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Presbyterian ‘Connection’ April 2017 Volume 24 Issue 4

“HE IS RISEN!”

Easter is almost here. This year, Easter will be celebrated on April 16th

in our tradition. Eastern Orthodox churches use a different system for dating Easter each year than do churches in the western tradition. “HE IS RISEN!” with the traditional response of “He IS RISEN INDEED!” has been used by Christians from the earliest days of our faith to reinforce our acceptance and belief that Jesus arose from the dead. The Apostle Paul shared this resurrection faith of the risen

Christ with the early church at Corinth (1 Cor. 15:3-8)---

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

We have a resurrection faith. Because we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we will be resurrected from the dead. When we leave this world, we go to live eternally with Him and enjoy the glory of the presence of God. We have a message to share with our friends, acquaintances, and the world. It is the message of John 3:16---

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Let us be sure not to just say it but take action on it by sharing our risen Savior with others.

God bless! Fred

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Our Church Face Book page

https://www.facebook.com/presbyterian.shoals

Church phone # - 870-445-4622

Our church email address

presch@suddenlinkmail.com

Connection Online

If you would like to read the “Connection” newsletter

online, go to our website;

http://www.presbyterianchurchofbullshoals.com

Click on the ‘Info Center’ tab at the top, then on the

drop-down menu, click on “Presbyterian Connection”,

then choose the month of the newsletter you would

like to read. The most recent newsletter will be at the

top.

Coffee & Fellowship

Be sure to drop in for coffee, maybe a

Danish or cookies and wonderful fellowship on

Thursday mornings at 10:00 a.m. in Memorial

Hall!

February Income - $3,699.00

February Expenses - $5,551.77

THURSDAYS, FROM 11:00 A.M. TO NOON IN

MEMORIAL HALL. MEN & WOMEN WELCOME.

Golden Opportunity Day’s

Theme

Shine, Shine, Shine for Jesus

Date - Sunday May 7th, 2017

Pot Luck after Church, Deacons furnish

meat. Speaker “Home Instead”.

Date - Thursday May 11, 2017 - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch at Whispering Woods. 4245 Hwy 177

South, Jordon, Ark. (15 Minutes South of

Mountain Home. (car pool if needed.)

Date - Friday May 12th, 2017

Clean Sanctuary 9 a.m. to noon. Deacons

will furnish coffee & pastry.

Date - Sunday May 14, 2017

“Mother’s Day”

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WORSHIP IN APRIL

APRIL 2nd

“Is Something in the Way of You and the Lord?”

Matthew 19:16-30

COMMUNION

APRIL 9th

PALM SUNDAY

“Does Jesus Rock Your Soul?”

Matthew 21:1-11

POT LUCK

APRIL 13th

MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE 6:00 P.M.

APRIL 16th

EASTER SUNDAY

“Where Have You Put Him?”

John 20:1-18

BLESSING OF THE FOOD PANTRY

APRIL 23rd

“Commissioned to Forgive”

John 20:19-31

APRIL 30th

“Are We Missing Something?”

Luke 24:13-35

MINUTE FOR MISSION

~5th Sunday Sing at Methodist Church - 6:00 p.m.~

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CHURCH USHERS/GREETERS COMMUNION SERVERS

April 2 - Ken Hobart & Dr. Simons Ed & Peni Lloyd

April 9 - Celia & Roger Millard

April 13 - Sandy Erickson & Meg Simons (Maundy Thursday)

April 16 - Linda Allensworth & Sandy Erickson

April 23 - Irene Bere & Betty Craig

Apirl 30 - Irene Bere & Faye Brackett

PRAYER LIST FOR CONGREGATIONS, PRESBYTERY OF AR.- 2017

April 2 - Mt. Comfort, Fayetteville First, Dardanelle

April 9 - Good Shepherd, Greenwood Presbyterian Church of Bella Vista

April 16 - Central, Fort Smith Active Deacons

April 23 - Alpine Church, Amity Cleburne Ave, West Helena

Apirl 30 - First, Lonoke Vaughn, Bentonville

PLEASE NOTIFY PAT ERLEWINE IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO SHOULD BE ON OUR PRAYER LIST.

BIRTHDAYS

April May April 10 - Betty Craig May 7 - Meg Simons

April 19 - Norma Taylor

April 19 - Garrett Carpenter

ANNIVERSARIES No April Anniversaries May 19 - Robert & Tywllah Schauer

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LIBRARY LINES - APRIL 2017

We have several new books and some non-fiction audio CD’s The CD’s are: C.S. Lews - THE ABOLITION OF MAN & THE GREAT DIVORCE; Here are two classics of moral philosophy from one of the most revered Christian voices of our time.

In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis reflects on society and nature and the challenges of how best to educate our children. He describes what public education should be and how far from this standard modern education has fallen. Lewis eloquently argues that, as a society, we need to underpin reading and writing lessons with moral education.

In The Great Divorce, Lewis presents his vision of the afterworld. A fictional narrator boards a bus on a drizzly English afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell, where he meets a host of supernatural beings and comes to some significant realizations about the nature of good and evil. Beth Moore - PRAYING GOD’S WORD, JESUS, THE ONE AND ONLY, & THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.

The new fiction books are: Angel Island Series by Thomas Kinkade: THE INN AT ANGEL ISLAND, THE WEDDING PROMISE, THE WANDERING HEART, THE WAY HOME, & HARBOR OF THE HEART. Also by Thomas Kinkade: Cape Light series: A NEW LEAF, A CHRISTMAS PROMISE, THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL, ON CHRISTMAS EVE, & A SEASON OF ANGELS. Quilts of Lancaster County series by Barbara Cameron: A TIME TO LOVE, A TIME TO HEAL, A TIME FOR PEACE, & ANNIE’S CHRISTMAS WISH.

Featured book: A TIME TO LOVE “War correspondent Jennie King thinks she’s just a temporary guest in her grandmother’s Amish community while she recuperates from the devastating injuries sustained in a car bomb attack that changed her world. But when she meets Matthew Bontrager, the man she had a crush on as a teenager, she wonders if God has a new plan for her. Jennie has emotional and physical scars and though she feels she has come home to this man and this place, she's not sure she can bridge the difference between their worlds.”

Featured book: THE INN AT ANGEL ISLAND “Liza Martin arrives on Angel Island eager to sell off the rundown inn she inherited from her aunt and return to her busy life in Boston. Back home await an unstable career as an advertising executive-and a broken marriage. Angel Island is just one more burden. But as Liza recalls the golden summers of her childhood, she begins to have second thoughts. And she wants to know more about Daniel Merritt, the charming handyman who's helping repair the inn, but Liza doesn't have time for romance... or much else. Sometimes Liza sees her life flying by-and, at the same time, going nowhere. It may take a band of angels to mend her broken wings and redirect her soul.” Enjoy the books and CD’s

Faye Brackett, Librarian

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MISSION MINUTE

APRIL 2017

“Self-Development of People achieving positive change: “Self-Development of People Grant” helps open doors for ex-offenders.”

Olga Pedraza was looking forward to a new life and career, but her chances seemed to be fading. Jobs are scarce in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where Olga lives. This city of 40,000 people is filled with abandoned factories that once fueled the local economy. But the job search is especially tough for people like Olga who have a prison record. After serving time on a drug-related charge and beating drug addiction, she completed training to help others overcome substance abuse. Olga was excited to start her new career as a counselor, where she could draw from her own experience to aid in others’ recovery. But the job required a driver’s license, which Olga didn’t have. Her driving privileges had been revoked upon her conviction, and the state demanded more than $4,500 to have them restored, money she had no realistic hope of raising. However, rather than plunge into despair, she went to work to remove this burden for both herself and other people. She joined Neighbor to Neighbor, an organization that works with other groups to promote investment in jobs and education rather than prison.

This coalition began a campaign called Jobs Not Jails, which strives to change public policy to decrease incarceration rates and help reintegrate ex-offenders into society. Not long after Olga got involved, the coalition scored a major legislative victory: On March 20, 2016, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law repealing automatic suspension of driving privileges for most drug offenses and abolishing the fine that accompanied it. Finally, Olga now works as a counselor. “More than 7,000 lives are being transformed, thanks partly to a grant from the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People,” says Lena Entin, an organizer with Neighbor to Neighbor.

“This victory means that stories like Olga’s will be repeated over and over again.” “Self-Development of People” works with grassroots groups in the United States and internationally that seek to change structures perpetuating poverty, oppression, and injustice.”

Our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing enable SDOP to participate in the empowerment of people like Olga. In Holyoke, our gifts are helping to stop the school-to-prison pipeline through changes in both policy and attitudes. “We’re educating people to shift public views on mass incarceration, so people will start calling for change,” Entin says. From 1973 to 2009, the US prison population grew from 200,000 to two million, and people of color are disproportionately incarcerated, so standing against mass incarceration is a matter of neighbors helping neighbors. One Great Hour of Sharing enables Presbyterians to extend neighborliness across the United States and around the world to impoverished and oppressed people.”

Submitted by the Mission Committee

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APRIL PUZZLE

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COLOR ME

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Till We Speak Again APRIL 2017

Dear Millie: We have had a surprisingly mild winter this year. The trees have started to bud, the flowers have started to bloom…..then surprise a mid March snow, Nothing like setting your clocks ahead for daylight savings time with snow on the ground, can’t say as I remember that one before. It was a perfect snow, pretty to look at but didn’t impede travel or daily activities in any way.

It sure made me think of Easter. Jesus washed away our sins on the cross, and made us whiter than snow. That old Hymn sure was appropriate for our Lenten Saturday night snowfall. As Easter rolls around let’s remember to pray for others as well as ourselves,” To break down every idol, cast out every foe. Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”!

God Bless and Happy Easter,

Luv, Millie

Thought for the Day: Don’t look above, but in your heart look for God.

NOTE OF THANKS FROM NORMA

Dear Members and Friends of Presbyterian Church of Bull Shoals,

Thank you and may God Bless you for your many prayers and best wishes on my behalf.

God is so good and so are each of you!

The cancer itself is gone, removed by surgery. I still must see the Radiologist and

Oncologist this next week. So keep the prayers coming.

Thank you for your Love and concern for me.

Love You More!

Norma

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RECIPE FOR APRIL

Tater Topped Casserole

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup sliced celery

1 pound ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted

1/2 package (32 oz) frozen Tater Tots

1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook onion, celery and ground beef over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain. Stir in salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into a greased 12” x 8” x 2” baking dish. Spread soup over meat

mixture. Top with Tater Tots.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

Sprinkle with cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is

melted.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Submitted by Irene Bere

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THIS WE BELIEVE FOR APRIL

“GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF

THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU.”

“Matthew 28:19-20“

~MISSION STATEMENT~

“We will be scripture-based to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ

and spiritually led to guide all people to be active doers of the Word”

Approved by Session on November 16, 2007

CHURCH STAFF

Pastor: Fred Taylor, Clerk of Session: Vicky Bair, Church Treasurer: Ken Hobart,

Secretary: Christi Partee, Financial Secretary: Elaine Miller

DEACONS

Class of 2017 Class of 2018 Class of 2019

Ed Lloyd Pam Hobart Sandy Erickson

Amy Johnson Vacancy Pat Erlewine

ELDERS

Class of 2017 Class of 2018 Class of 2019

Meg Simons Ken Hobart Vicky Bair

Peni Lloyd Steve Broskovak Vacancy

Presbyterian Church of Bull Shoals

P.O. Box 305

Bull Shoals, AR. 72619