IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER VIA EMAIL WEEKLY, ALONG WITH OUR COMMUNITY COMMUNICATIONS, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO MELISSA: office@mountvernonsda.com & REQUEST TO BE ADDED TO OUR EMAIL LIST.
May 7, 2021
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of you Mothers and those who Mother others :). I can’t tell you how many women in my life have “mothered” my children or me without having their own children, and I am forever grateful for each one. God created a nurturing, caring person into each one of us, regardless of gender and parental status because it is His nature to nurture and care as well.
Sabbath Services
Bible Study: 10am – 10:45am
Adults – We are doing a hybrid of the Quarterly with plenty of discussion so please join us in The Gathering Place (previously known as The Fireside Room).
Children/Youth classes
- Beginners – Kindergarten
- Juniors (8-11)
- Earliteen – Youth (12+)
- Please arrive in plenty of time to check in your kid(s) before class starts!
Worship Service:
11am-12pm Join us this Sabbath for a sermon by Pastor Don Bryan called “God Our Mother”. God is our Mother! As we celebrate our Mother’s let us acknowledge the Feminine beauty of our Heavenly Mother. God is 100% Male and God is 100% Female according to scripture. As we allow God, through the Spirit to Mother us, then we can truly grasp the beauty of “Mother’s Day!” Join us in person Or join via our livestream on YouTube or Facebook or directly on our Homepage. Church Service Online!
Tithes & Offerings
- In the Foyer we also have our Little Church for Children’s Ministries, as well as a black lockbox for tithes and offerings collected on site. Use an Offering/Tithe envelope to specify a specific ministry if desired. All loose offerings will remain for our local church. Please no foreign coins.
- You can give online via our website here: Giving. There is also a mobile app: iPhone/iPad users: Adventist Giving on the App Store; Google Play: AdventistGiving.
church family
Worship on Wednesdays!
- 5-6pm Bible Study
- 6pm Simple Supper – Come eat with us, then stay and pray with us!
- 7-8pm Prayer Meeting via Zoom or in person
Kids/youth ministries
Youth Night Friday May 14 – Skate Night! RSVP to Pastor Bri ASAP. Youth 12+ years, please join us! (3rd Friday of each month)
NEXT Gen Night Saturday May 15 – Movie Night! Kids ages 8-11 years, please join us! (3rd Saturday of each month)
Kids’ Fest – June 26 – Join us with your families to enjoy breakfast, worship, and fun activities including a bounce house, balloon animals, and much more! This will not be your ordinary day of worship! We will have Handy Andy back for the event. Please sign up this week to volunteer!
VBS – July 5-9 in the mornings!
*If you would like to volunteer to work with our children/youth, please contact Pastor Bri through her email: children@mountvernonsda.com.
Upcoming
May 21-23 – Church Family Retreat! At Rosario – Please get me your reservations for an accurate headcount for lodging and meals. We have sponsorship available.
- May 8 – Mother’s Day Celebration
- May 15 – Guest Speaker Nitza Salazar will be here to give us effective guidance on discipling our children and youth. This is an important opp
- June 19 – “Chalk Talk” – Calling all those who like to draw/create with chalk! Join us for a fun and interactive Sabbath activity.
- June 26 – Kids Fest 10am-2pm – Don’t miss out on a day of faith and fun here at the church!
- July 2-10 Lee Venden will be here to share “All About Jesus”.
- VBS – July 5-9 in the mornings!
Have you ever felt like you have outlived your purpose, if only in some situations? Recently, with our foster daughter going to live with her biological father, I and my family have experienced something like that. As we prepared her to transition into her father’s care, we made sure to do nightly video chats with him so that she would become more and more familiar with him. Once she started staying with him, we switched to being on the other side of the video chats. And we are slowly weaning off of those. And regardless of how pleased we are to know that we were instrumental in God’s plan for little Velma’s life, it’s still hard. Last night, God reminded me of a story in the Bible from John 3 that really impacted my thoughts on this. John the Baptist’s disciples were wondering what to make of people leaving his group and joining Jesus’s ministry. So John likens himself to the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices at the voice of the bridegroom and says essentially that his purpose has been fulfilled and his joy is complete. Then he drops this profound message: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30). And I began to see how he was able to do so, because John the Baptist was not only wise, but humble. He never meant to be center stage for the duration of his ministry. His calling was to prepare the way for his cousin Jesus. And today, I am content, knowing that I have not been called to be a primary fixture in Velma’s life. Our family must and will decrease our contact with her so that she is able to increase her contact in her father’s family. My joy is complete in knowing that she is where God has placed her, and also in gratitude that we can continue to be part of her life going forward.
Isn’t this the goal of each of us as part of the body of Christ? That we are content in having less and less of us, replaced by more and more of Him? So now, I invite you into Sabbath rest. It is my hope that you will join us tomorrow for our Worship Service. Remember, we are one Sabbath closer to Jesus coming back!
Smiles,
Melissa Baskett
Admin Assistant
Mount Vernon SDA Church
360-416-0443 / office@mountvernonsda.com
www.mountvernonsda.com
*CDC recommends the following people NOT wear masks: Children under age 2; Anyone who has trouble breathing; Anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated or can’t remove a face mask without help.