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The Newsletter of the
United Methodist Church
1104 A Street, P.O. Box 293
Aurora NE 68818-0293
Telephone: 402.694.6471
Website: www.umc-aurora.org
Sunday Worship: 9:00 a.m.
Sunday School: 10:15 a.m.
November 2014
Wednesday Evening Casual Worship: 5:30 p.m.
Pastors: Rev. Ron Harris & Mary Scott
All Thanks Be To God
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NRSV)
Throughout time people have offered their thanksgivings to God in many ways. God's people showed their thanks, we are
told in the Bible, through sacrifices, offerings, prayers, singing, and service. There was an understanding that God is the
source of all of creation, of all life. These thanksgivings offered to God lift up our appreciation for that life and for the
blessings that God continues to create from that life.
From ancient times it has also been customary to set aside or devote a portion of a person's income or property to God.
This was another means of giving thanks, of acknowledging that God was ultimately the source of all things. Farming
makes one very aware that a person can do all the right things, but ultimately the success of a crop is beyond our control.
In Leviticus 27:30 it states that "All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are
the Lord's; they are holy to the Lord."
Paul's letter to the Thessalonians reminds us that we should give thanks to God for all things. Thanks is easy to give
during the "good" times, but more difficult during the "bad" times of trial and crisis. This November with our Church
Celebration on Nov.16th and Thanksgiving at the end of the month we should be mindful of how we are giving thanks for
the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us. Let me close with some further words from Paul:
"Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)
All thanks be to God,
Pastor Ron
Pastor Mary’s Posting
November 16, 2014 is an exciting day in the life
of our church and a vital portion of our
Stewardship Campaign. We will celebrate our
commitment to the ministries of the Aurora
United Methodist Church. Yes, celebrate! No
phone calls, no speeches, no series of letters or
dinner reservations.
Everyone is invited to share in a light family-style
brunch following worship in the Fellowship Hall on
Sunday, November 16. You will be treated to
morning breads, pastries, fruit, coffee, milk and
juice. This will be your opportunity to learn
about the various ministries and missions of our
church in an informal setting. Dave Ziska has
graciously agreed to serve as emcee. He will be
sharing
information
about
our
churches’
ministries and missions by inviting ‘contestants’
to take part in our own AUMC version of the
game show “Cash Cab”. On the show, questions
are answered by riders in a taxi cab. If the
contestant does no know the answer they are
able to phone a friend or shout out to someone
nearby on the street. When a contestant has
acquired three strikes, aka three incorrect
answers, they must exit the cab.
While this is a light-hearted way to learn more
about the ways in which we make disciples for
Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,
funding our church budget is not a light-hearted
matter. It is a time of prayer and personal
discernment. Are we willing to faithfully share a
portion of what we have been blessed with? Are
we sincerely dedicated to training our children ‘in
the way they should go’ as Proverbs 22:6
instructs us?
Do we create opportunities for
people of all ages to study and grow in their
faith?
Are we growing together in mission,
sharing the light of Christ with others in our
community? Are we actively taking part in our
connectional effort to share the gospel with the
world?
I hope you will join us November 16 for brunch
following worship. With each of us responding to
God’s love with our financial commitment we can
ensure heart-warming worship, vibrant ministry
and life-changing mission in 2015.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Mary
IMPORTANT CHRISTIAN
EDUCTION DATES
Senior High Youth will host a breakfast on November 9th
following service. Please join us for great food &
fellowship!
There will be no JumpStart or Youth Group the week of
Thanksgiving!!
There will be no Sunday School on Sunday, November
16th!!
Middle and High School Youth are invited to attend
“The One Event” at the Heartland Events Center in
Grand Island on Jan 3&4. To download a flyer with more
information
please
visit--------------------------http://greatplainsyouth.org/files/2014/08/TheONEeven
t2015.pdf . This event sells out quickly so please call Lori
Ziska ASAP if interested!
This year the Children’s Christmas Program will be held
on Sunday, December 14. A different twist this year,
the program will be held during our 9:00 a.m. Worship
Service. More information will be printed in bulletins
and announced in church. Braden Garwood is this
year’s program director. For more information or
questions please call the church or email Braden at
braden.garwood@gmail.com
NOTES FROM THE PARISH NURSEStarting in November a Bereavement Group will be
starting on Tuesday afternoons from 1:00 p.m. until
2:30 p.m. and will run 6 weeks. The group will be led
by a social worker out of Tabitha. The minimum
number of people needed to qualify is 3. Ideal class
size is 12, everyone is welcome. Please call the Parish
Nurse office at 402-694-6471 ext 26 if you plan to
attend no later than November 6th. Class dates will be
November 11, 18, and 25. December 2nd, 9th and the
final class will be the 16th. There will be no charge for
these classes only your commitment to come.
Good News! According to the October 6, 2014 edition
of Chemical and Engineering Science Magazine:
Reprogrammed T cells from the immune system shows
promise at beating blood cancers!
1. T cells are extracted from the patient.
2. At the lab a virus carrying an antigem receptor
is inserted into T cells that recognize specific
cancer cells. The virus in this case are
inactivated HIV strains. The cells start to
divide and multiply.
3. Reprogrammed cells are expanded in a
bioreactor with the help of magnetic beads
coated with anti-bodies that signal T cells to
proliferate. The beads are washed out after 10
days.
4. The patient is given chemotherapy to lower
other white blood cells, increasing the chance
that the body will accept the modified T cells.
5. Reprogrammed T-Cells are infused back into
the patient once in circulation they search and
destroy cancer cells.
These cells continue to multiply inside the body and
even “stick around” if cancer returns. The draw back is
that the body has a hard time dealing with massive
protein breakdown from dying cancer cells. So
“doseage” needs to be fine tuned. The “medicine” is
living cells that came from the patient themselves.
This hasn’t reached mass production nor does it have a
long “shelf-life”. So far it does not work well for solid
tumors. BUT HOPE IS YET TO COME!
-C Rahrs, RN, Parish Nurse
Election Day Soup Supper
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
5-7 pm
Bradshaw United Methodist
Church
150 W. Fulton
Bradshaw, NE
Chicken noodle and chili, sandwiches, homemade
pie and desserts
will be available for you to enjoy. Free-will
offering to benefit
community ministry efforts.
Ring the Bell with the Salvation Army
Looking for a mission
opportunity you can share
with your family? Why
not step up and ring the
bell for the annual
Salvation Army fund
raiser.
The Salvation
Army is a Christian
Church Organization that
has
a
very
strong
commitment to reaching
out and helping others.
The help provides funds that are used throughout the
year to give aid to travelers and others in time of need.
One of the Salvation Army’s big fund raiser to support
these ministries is ringing the kettle bell during the
Christmas Holiday season. Volunteers from the
community are invited to ring and stand next to the
kettle. Our church has committed to standing by the
kettle on Friday evening, November 28 and Saturday,
December 20th during the day. If you are interested
ringing the bell for an hour please contact the office or
sign up at church.
TLC PRESCHOOL UPDATE
October has been an adventure here at TLC Preschool. We went on a nature walk and found all sorts of
amazing things that God created for us to use and enjoy. We were very excited to see peanuts just
harvested from the church garden. Thank you Bonnie Kruse for sharing your peanuts from the garden
with the 3 year old class. The teachers were just as amazed as the students were!
During fire prevention week the students at TLC Preschool practiced a fire drill, learned how to
“Stop, Drop, and Roll”, and made fire engines with Oreo’s for the wheels. Thank you to the Aurora
Volunteer Fire Department for bringing your fire truck to the preschool for the 3 year old class and for
the tour of the fire station with the 4/5 year old class!!
Check out our preschool hallway to see the farm scene complete with a pumpkin patch and ears of
corn made by our students!!
*** Parent – Teacher conferences for the 4/5 year old class will be held Wednesday, October 29, in
the afternoon and Thursday, October 30 in the morning. ***
November brings the excitement of Thanksgiving, learning about the Mayflower, pilgrims, Native
Americans, and a lot of discussion of what it means to be thankful and to share with others. Stop by and
look at our “Thankful” tree in the hallway during November. We will also be learning about the story of
Jesus feeding 5000.
Happy Thanksgiving from TLC Preschool!!
Bonnie Kruse sharing peanut plants with peanuts from her garden with the TLC 3 year old class.
TLC 4/5 year old class on their nature walk.
***STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY IS NOVEMBER 16***
Bazaar - Bazaar - Bazaar
Thursday, November 6 is the date for our
Church Bazaar. Hope you all can come! Coffee
and delicious rolls will be served from 8:30 to
10:30 am. BBQ pork sandwiches, salads galore
and quite a selection of pies will be served from
11:00 to 1:00. Come early for the Bake Sale and
Craft Sale…….choice items go fast !
United Methodist Women
The Conference UMW set a goal of collecting
2014 Birthing Kits to be delivered at the
October 17-18 meeting in Lincoln. The Aurora
UMW assembled 69 kits!!! Thank you ladies for
being part of collecting over 3000 Birthing Kits
at the Great Plains Annual Conference of United
Methodist Women! The theme for the National
Assembly of United Methodist Women last April
was “Make It Happen”. When the challenge
went out to the ladies in the Great Plains
Conference to collect 2014 kits………….the United
Methodist Women got busy and exceeded the
goal! They “Made It Happen”.
Thank you Pastor Mary for sharing highlights
of your trip to the Holy Land. It was inspiring to
see the sights and hear the stories through your
experience.
Epworth Village had their annual fund raiser
on October 23 at the York UMC. Twelve people
from Aurora attended and had a wonderful
evening.
Ladies who have contributed salads and/or
desserts for dinners at the church --- please
pick up your dishes.
God’s blessings,
Roberta Cool
UMW President
Ladies, if your donation is some kind of food,
please label your containers. Address labels
tend to wash off when they get wet, therefore,
try a permanent marker. We thank you very
much if you would return soon after the Bazaar
to claim your bowls and pans.
If you did not receive a flyer about the Bazaar,
please contact me at 849-2628. We do not want
to leave out anyone.
See you November 6th……………bring a friend or
two.
Roberta Cool
The Giving Tree Christmas Project
The Outreach/Evangelism Committee will be placing
a Christmas Tree in the narthex on November 23.
We would like to provide a Christmas gift for the
children attending Head Start and for their siblings.
The tree will contain tags with gift requests from the
children at Head Start as well as from their siblings.
Please take a tag that includes a child’s age, sex,
clothing sizes and toy request. Cost of the gift is in
the $20-$25 range. Each child is identified by the
number on the tag to insure privacy. There is a clip
board by the tree so please fill out your name and
phone number by the tag number you have taken.
Please wrap your gift and secure the number sticker
on the OUTSIDE of the gift. We need gifts returned
by December 15th as school is out for Christmas
break on December 19th.
Thanks you for helping to make a Merry Christmas
for many children.
The Outreach/Evangelism Committees
JUMPSTART FOR KIDS
JumpStart is going strong, with 70 kids in attendance!! It melts my heart every week when I have little
friends running up to hug, and hang on me. One little friend hugs me and calls me ‘his Kris’, I just can’t
help but give him a huge squeeze right back!!
We have been busy the past few weeks and have lots planned in the month of November.
I am currently working on a Thanksgiving lesson that we will be doing for 3 weeks in November before
the Thanksgiving break.
October started us with the lesson “Pets are a Blessing”. We had very special visitors spend some time
with us….Moses and Eddie the Comfort Dogs. They are the sweetest dogs and the service they provide is
amazing. Eddie and Moses come from the K9 Ministries in Cairo and Grand Island. They travel the US
providing comforting service to kids and adults in situations ranging from tornado to school disasters. As
well as special events such as weddings and meeting kids like they did with us. Each dog has their own
‘business card’ so if you would like more information about their service let me know.
We also spent a couple of weeks learning about praying and who to pray for. “The Five Finger Prayer”
showed us to pray using our fingers as a guide….strange it may seem but it is a really neat way to help
kids remember who to pray for. Using your fingers helps remember the following. Your THUMB is
closest to you, reminding you to pray for those closest to you, (parents, family, friends). Your POINTER
finger reminds us of those who point us in the right direction (leaders, teachers, pastors). Your MIDDLE
is your tallest finger, praying for those that lead us (government, city/county authority). Your RING
finger is your weakest, reminding us to prayer for those who are sick, in pain or in trouble. Lastly is your
PINKIE, your smallest finger representing ourselves and our own needs. We made handprints with the
reminder on each finger and on the flip side some names to pray for daily. Worksheets included a word
scramble, searching in the bible to answer the questions “Does God always answer our prayers” and the
little ones worked on let us pray coloring pages.
“The Lord’s Prayer” was our next lesson, dissecting it into 9 parts. We all know the Lord’s prayer and
how to say it, but do we really know what it means? Each of the nine parts we worked on explained the
meaning behind those words.
The older kids (2nd-5th) played a couple of games while learning the meaning of the prayer. With
scrambling the nine parts they were grouped and worked on putting it back in order. They also used the
nine parts and did a relay race randomly picking a part and putting in into their own words/prayer. This
lesson also showed us that our prayer time with God is not a relay race. The little ones (K-1st) made an
‘itsy bitsy’ Lord’s Prayer book. Oreo cookies were also used as a lesson of how we can feel empty but by
praying we ‘stick together’ with God. Worksheets included a word search and a crisscross matching page
October 22nd was a night of fun and games for Halloween. We had a variety of games in each class. K-1st
played pin the wart on the witch and pumpkin patch musical (similar to musical chairs). Grades 2 nd-3rd
played pumpkin bowling and Witch Pitch (a bean bag toss game) and kids in 4 th and 5th grade had
skeleton relay races, Halloween word scramble relay races, and pick your goblin (a name matching game).
Despite the rainy evening and our outdoor plans being cancelled I think fun was had by all.
Reminder dates for NO JumpStart are November 26th, Thanksgiving break.
Blessings & Happy Thanksgiving!
Kris Wilson – JS Direct
November 2014
Saturday, November 1
Sunday, November 2
FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION
9:00 a.m. Worship/Chanel Choir
COMMUNION
10:15 a.m. Sunday School
Fellowship Coffee
5:30 p.m. Community Dinner
Monday, November 3
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi
6:15 p.m. Prayer Group
Tuesday, November 4
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse @ Senior Center
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:30 a.m. W.I.C.
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
6:00 p.m. Praise Band
7:30 p.m. Rachel Circle
Wednesday, November 5
9:00 a.m. TLC Pre-School
10:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m. Yarn Spinners
5:30 p.m. Recharge Worship
5:30 p.m. JumpStart
6:30 p.m. Bell Choir
7:00 p.m. Chancel Choir
7:30p.m. MS/HS Youth Group
Thursday, November 6
BAZAAR-8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
6:00 p.m. Praise Band Practice
Friday, November 7
Saturday, November 8
Sunday, November 9
9:00 a.m. Worship/Bell Choir
10:15 a.m. Sunday School
YOUTH BREAKFAST
5:30 p.m. Community Dinner
Monday, November 10
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi
6:15p.m. Prayer Group
7:00 p.m. Trustees
Tuesday, November 11
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
9:00 a.m. Deborah Circle
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
7:00 p.m. Sarah Circle
Wednesday, November 12
9:00 a.m. TLC Pre-School
10:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m. YarnSpinners
5:30 p.m. JumpStart
6:30 p.m. Bell Choir
7:00 p.m. Chancel Choir
7:30 p.m. MS/HS Youth Group
Thursday, November 13
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
6:00 p.m. Praise Band Practice
Friday, November 14
Saturday, November 15
Sunday, November 16
9:00 a.m. Worship/Chancel Choir
Blood Pressure Checks
NO SUNDAY SCHOOL
STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY
5:30 p.m. Community Dinner
Monday, November 17
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi
7:00 p.m. Worship Committee
7:00p.m. United Methodist Men
7:00 p.m. Christian Education
Tuesday, November 18
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
7:00 p.m. Finance Committee
7:00 p.m. Administrative Council
Wednesday, November 19
9:00 a.m. TLC Pre-School
10:30a.m. & 7:30 p.m. YarnSpinners
1:00 p.m. UMW Mission Team
5:30 p.m. JumpStart
7:00 p.m. Chancel Choir
7:30p.m. MS/HS Youth Group
7:30 p.m. Prayer Group
Thursday, November 20
9:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
Friday, November 21
Saturday, November 22
Sunday, November 23
9:00 a.m. Worship/Children’s Choir
10:15 a.m. Sunday School
FELLOWSHIP COFFEE
Monday, November 24
10:00 a.m. Tai-Chi
10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Bloodmobile
6:15 p.m. Prayer Group
Tuesday, November 25
9:00 a.m. &12:30p.m. TLC Pre-School
9:00 a.m. Parish Nurse
10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Bloodmobile
10:30 a.m. Tai-Chi Class
Wednesday, November 26
10:30 a.m. & 7:30 p.m. YarnSpinners
5:30 p.m. Recharge Worship
NO YOUTH ACTIVITIES
Thursday, November 27
HAPPY THANKSGIVING-OFFICE CLOSED
Friday, November 28
Office Closed
Saturday, November 29
Sunday, November 30
9:00 a.m. Worship
10:15 a.m. Sunday School
SPECIAL OFFERING STUDENT SUNDAY
Fellowship Coffee
FOOD PANTRY REMINDER
CHECK THIS OUT:
On Thursday, November 6, a new fellowship group
will meet. We will have a light meal at 6 p.m. at the
home of Bruce and Kathy Ramsour (720-17th Street).
We will meet for four or five weeks. Each week on
Thursday we will eat, discuss topics that are timely to
the group, and be done so that if you have a 7:30
meeting you can make it! Singles and marrieds, with
or without children...all are welcome. Questions?
Call The Ramsour’s at 402.631.9686.