The Bangor Liberty Bell

Sharing the News and Views of

Bangor Liberty Friends Church

 

June 2010   Volume 31, No. 6

Nathan McCracken, Pastor

 

 

Trust in Jesus

 

          “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!  How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!  Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!  O for grace to trust Him more!”

          Those words you just read have been with me for years.  Ever since I can remember going to church I can remember singing this hymn.  Can you name it?  Do you know the title without Googling it or singing through some of the verses?  There's a funny thing about learning a hymn at a young age.  First I learned the words and the melody.  Then as I got older I learned the tenor and bass parts and together my family would sing the four parts as my brother played the piano.  We would sing and proclaim how we trusted in Jesus every time this hymn showed up in the bulletin.  So after a few years, I could sing most of the words by heart, in three of the four parts, and if someone asked me what the chorus at the beginning of this devotion belonged to I could easily tell you the hymn, “'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus!”  However, after 20 some years of reciting this hymn I am learning the truth behind these words!

          Anyone can sing about trusting in Jesus and just taking Him at His word but how many people actually do that?  For years I proclaimed my trust in Jesus from behind the pew on Sunday but then went about my week as though Jesus was not a trustworthy God and would carry my burdens and fears without resting upon His promises.  Instead of living by His word and letting Him make me into a new creation, I would harbor my identity, giving Him pieces here or there but never total control.  Does that sound familiar to you too?  The truth is that it is very hard to give up control of what most consider “my life.”  I talk about “my life” all the time, but if I have my trust in Jesus then I have surrendered “my life” to His!  So when I sing verse three where it says, “Just from sin and self to cease” and “Taking life and rest,” I am proclaiming the same thing Paul does in Galatians 2:20 where he says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”  When we trust in Jesus we are giving Him our lives, our sin, our humanness and we are ceasing to exist the way we did.  We are now a new creation, saved by grace, and no longer living in “my life” but in His life. 

          Trials?  Yes, I still have trials.  Burdens and fears?  Yes and yes.  But when I have my trust in Christ I know that He is bigger than all my trials, burdens and fears and because I am now IN Christ and He is IN me I can seek peace and rest where I could not before.  “Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!”  Have you been singing these words, or living them?

                             -Pastor Nathan

 

 

Remember In Prayer     

~Sam & Becky Barber in Belize preparing to return to Iowa for the summer,

~Nathan & Brianna Martin in Cambodia, ~Victor & Brenda White at Tama

~Morgan Martin with InterVarsity

~Quaker Heights Camp staff, volunteers & campers during June camps

~Youth Group fundraising forWashington trip in July

~Joyful volunteers for VBS

~Our Prayer Partners

 

Praises

~New youth leaders

 

 

Wednesday Night Classes

Summer Program began June 2 - Aug.18:

Nursery

Preschool-5th Grade - Moose Mountain

Youth Group, 6th-12th - Scary, Gross &

Weird Stories from the Bible

Bible Study - The Life of Jacob

Book Study - The Power of Enough

Come Join Us!

There’s something for everyone!

 

 

Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer for

High Seas Expedition VBS:

 

10. Only a scallywag would miss this unforgettable week.

9.  Soak up a week of sea breezes during the hot summer.

8.  A chance to show off your swash buckling skills.

7.  Everyone looks good in a sailor hat.

6.  Shiver your timbers as your kids learn about God.

5.  Don’t be marooned in your home – set sail with us.

4.  A week at sea without getting sand in your shorts.

3.  You won’t have to swab the poop deck.

2.  Kids will splash a smile on your face.

And the #1 reason you’ll want to sign up:

1.  Because VBS is not just about one week…it’s about eternity!           

                                                    

Join the expedition each evening August 8-12!  Invite kids age 3 through grade 6 and see Kris or Margaret to volunteer for a vast voyage through God’s Word this summer!

 

 

Bangor USFW

          The ladies of Bangor USFW are planning a field trip to the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid on Tuesday, June 15th.  Contact Margaret Good or Peggy

Martin for details.

 

 

BLFC Youth Group will be holding a garage sale in Marshalltown on Saturday, June 26th at Mike & Charlene Martin’s home from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m.  The youth are accepting donations of items in good and working condition.  Items may be brought to the church before Wed., June 23rd.  No clothing above children’s size 6 please!

 

 

90th Birthday Celebration

for Evelyn Sparks

July 18, 2010

Methodist Church Fellowship

Hall, 1036 7th Street, Nevada, IA

2:00-4:00 p.m.

No gifts please!

 

 

Bangor Liberty’s

Concert Under the Stars

Sunday, July 18

6:30 p.m.

 

Specials & Blessings

Please contact Lucas or Kari McCracken (June) or Don Davis (July) if you would like to volunteer a special/blessing for Morning Worship or if you would have a suggestion.

 

 

“Bringing the Good News”

Isaiah 52:7-8

Iowa Yearly Meeting’s

Annual Sessions

Thursday, July 29th through

Sunday, August 1st

at William Penn University

 

Schedules are available at the church.  Patrick Nugent will be

the speaker for the evening and

Sunday morning services.

 

 

HOC Meal Report

On May 27th 17 were involved in preparing, serving a meal for 53 guests.  All the sandwiches that were made were eaten and all but a few servings of fruit and soup.  Men who came in around 6:00 were especially hearty eaters after working hard outside during the day.  Many hands make the work go quickly and it is certainly more enjoyable.  Join in the fun next month, June 24th.  We are sure you’ll find it a worthwhile time of Christian fellowship.

 

 

Mission Update   

From Sam & Becky Barber in Belize:  “Thanks to the Bikes for Boys Summer Project we will have a new bike in the hands of each of our students by the end of school. The bikes are an incentive for wearing a uniform, good behavior, doing homework and attendance. Because so much money was raised we were also able to purchase 12 laptop computers. (Laptops were stolen in 2/09.) The new laptops will be used as soon as new security measures have been implemented.”

“May is extremely busy. We have Career Day when professionals, picked according to the students’ interest, come to school. Another day we invite 8th graders to see what we are all about and our students showcase a math or science project. We prepare 25 information packets for the nearby primary schools. Graduation is the 30th. Then we pack for our visit to the states. We appreciate your prayers.”  The Barbers will be sharing at BLFC in August.

Joyce Ajlouny reports: “Ramallah Friends School graduates are being accepted at Harvard, Yale, Boston College, MIT, Stanford, Earlham and Guilford colleges. A construction project to build a kindergarten center and auditorium at Friends Girls School (the co-ed primary school) is nearing completion.”

From Quakers in Cuba: “Today the church sends out a new call, as Jesus did to his disciples: ‘Pray for laborers for the harvest. Wake up! Come quickly.’ The love and mercy of God is among us bringing ideas for renewal and for the preparation of all those willing to work in this great vineyard. We plan to commit our gifts to the work of evangelism beyond mere words, showing it through our active hands. Starting from our small community spaces may it spread like the living yeast and transform the great harvest within our Cuban society...”

 

 

Library Ledge:             

Building Men of God

          Our church library has a good selection of books and audiotapes geared to men in all stages of life. Raising a Modern Day Knight and Becoming a Man of Honor are both for fathers to help their sons become strong believers.  Middle Age and Other Mixed Blessings looks at growing older in a humorous light.  Victory by AC Green and Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy (CD’s) are for all who desire a life of integrity.  Check out these materials of growth and encouragement on the library ledge during June.

 

 

The Perfect Father

        Parishioners Tom Beckett and Sue Seibel of Mantua United Methodist Church set out to describe “the perfect father” for the Father’s Day issue of the church newsletter.

          They concluded: “Alas, there is only one perfect Father, God, and only one perfect Son, Jesus.  Most of us live a life of trial and error.  We fall down.  We make mistakes.  We need to get back up on our feet and go on.  This is how we grow.

          “Instead of trying to be a ‘perfect father,’ we can only pray to God and do the best job we can.  The most important thing in parenting is to love your children as God loves us and support them in all they do.”

          “May God bless all the imperfect fathers of the world who try to raise their children perfectly.”