The elementary/middle school class will be learning “The Gospel According to
Harry Potter” and will also learn about at least three Parables.
The high school class will be exploring three different paths of study. First,
they will be viewing selected portions of last year’s God In America series on
PBS, which (among other things) illuminates the development of Christianity in
America from the time of the first settlers, including the contributions of the
Methodist Church. Second, they will be upgrading their awareness of Biblical
history by reviewing the major people and events of the Old Testament that
provide the context for the coming of Jesus Christ. Finally, they will be using
the PBS web site Religion & Ethics Weekly to track the important religious and
moral issues of the week.

The adult class will begin the year with the series “Upside Living in a Downside
Economy” which will discuss topics such as Financial vs. Spiritual Investments,
Money and Marriage, and Personal Motivation vs. God’s Will.

As your Pastor and friend I want to tell each of you at Elmgrove UMC, “well done, you good and faithful
servant and that I love you and care for you greatly!” You may ask, “How can a person who I have only
known for two months love and care about me so much?” My response comes from what the Lord has
gifted me with, “You are a child of God and your life has worth in the eyes of God. How could I not love
you already!!”

You have made it through yet another pastoral change (hopefully the last pastoral change for many
years)! You have made it through a change in music directors! And you have remained faithful to God’s
house in which you have been called to worship and serve in! “Well done, you good and faithful
servant!” Now, can you even begin to imagine the joy our hearts will be filled with to hear God say that
to us one day? What an awesome God we have.

In our servanthood to the Lord Jesus, our number one purpose is to share the same love and hope we
have encountered with other people. Matthew 28: 19-20, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and
make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.”
In each of our respective ministries, whether serving as a Trustee, usher, educator, prayer warrior, or
preacher our main focus has to be making disciples of Christ. If we continue to make this our priority
surly the Lord will be with us and bless our efforts. Each of us have different gifts and talents to share.
Each differing gift and talent come from God and make us one body.

Read what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12: 4-8, “For as in one body we have many members, and
not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to
us: prophecy in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in
exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”

We are all servants in Christ and we each have different gifts that the Lord is asking us to use for His glory.

You can begin a ministry, Bible study, mission trip or outreach that has been on your heart for some time in this church! All you have to do is talk to me or someone from Leadership about it and we will help you.
My heart is so filled with joy because of you and the Lord Jesus. Hopefully this article touches your heart
and creates some thought within you. Well done, you good and faithful servant!

Peace and Grace,
PK