Celebrate!

WCC

WATERFORD COMMUNITY CHURCH - 11:00am SUNDAY WORSHIP

by: Kim Rushing

07/21/2021

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Welcome to edition #100 of Waking Up!  So how about if we celebrate a little?  Maybe you could shout a little "Woo Hoo!" or do a little dance or blow up some balloons or drink an extra cup of coffee - however you like to celebrate … just go for it!

Full disclosure - I actually have no idea how many editions of Waking Up! have been sent.  But I'm thinking we have done at least 100, right?  I suppose if you are one of those people who never cleans out your inbox you could go back and count for us.

But since we haven't celebrated up to this point, I feel a little rah-rah is appropriate
because ... we could do with a little more celebrating in our lives.  We enjoy so many good things in life, yet we often forget to celebrate them.  We get so easily distracted by our problems, and often miss our blessings.  So even if this email is not edition #100, let it serve as an encouragement to throw a little personal party of your own today … just go for it! 


Lemonade - other important things

One of the highlights of last summer was our church-wide lemonade stands - and they are back for an encore performance this weekend.  Five families will be hosting lemonade stands, and all proceeds will be going to Oakland Hope to help fight food poverty in our community.  Last year we raised over $1000  - and we're hoping for a another big response this year!

To make it more fun, we're adding "punch cards."  If you make it to four of the five lemonade stands we're sponsoring, you can bring your card to church on Sunday for a special treat.  So here are your options (including one on Friday!). 

Friday from 2:00-6:00 p.m.

The Stone family
6023 Hatchery Road - Waterford

Saturday from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

The Grider family
2720 Edgefield Drive - Waterford

The Hamilton family
6411 Pine Valley Road - Clarkston

The Corso family
2540 Campellgate Drive - Waterford

The Miles family
 4123 Oceania Avenue - Waterford
  

If you cannot make it to the lemonade stands but still wish to contribute you can do so through the offering basket on Sunday.

*We do not have a rain date scheduled so in the case of inclement weather we're still going for it!  (Just put on your "wellies" and come on out!)


We've Been Wondering...
  

We've been wondering a lot of things this summer.  

  • First, we wondered how many chapters of John we could read as a church.  Way over 500!
      
  • And then we wondered how many days of prayer we could offer for our kids/grandkids.  Almost 150!
      
  • Last week we wondered how many small acts of kindness we could do.  The total reported was 85!  Nice!  Way to go WCC!
      
  • And now this week we're wondering how much money we can raise for Oakland Hope... what do you think?


On the calendar...
  

Sunday, July 25 / Young Adults Lake Party
After the service on Sunday all young adults in the church (and if you have any friends you want to invite to come with you, please do!) will be having a lake party with swimming, boating, tubing, and eating. The meat/chicken will be provided but please bring a dish to share. Questions? Contact Pastor Mark. markamanzer@gmail.com
  

Sunday, August 1 / Communion

We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper a week from this Sunday as part of the service.  In addition to our observance, we would like to encourage you to consider contributing to our "fellowship fund" which is used to help people our church experiencing financial hardships.

 

Sunday, August 8 / Church in the Park

We're bringing back this summer favorite and heading off to Baycourt Park for an outdoor service, picnic and games.  Please note that the service that morning will begin at 11:00 a.m. instead of the usual summer start time.  (But no worries if you forget and come early; you can help with set-up!)

 

Sunday, August 22 / Church with New Springfield (and Farmers' Market Day)

We're excited to have Pastor William Parker and the people of New Springfield Church join us for our morning service (Pastor Parker will be bringing the message).  Afterward, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Farmers' Market, so be planning now on what you can bring and trade - garden vegetables, home-baked goods, crafts, etc.
  

Sunday, September 12 / The Grand unReopening

It's been a long time since things at church were running on all 8 cylinders.  The pandemic has been largely responsible, and then summer came along.  But come September, our plan is to have everything up and running full-speed, and to kick everything off with a super Sunday on September 12.  So we are giving you an advance notice so that you can make your plans in such a way that you can be present that day! (And then every Sunday after that.  It's going to be a awesome fall!)


"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

So how's your Latin?

Need a little help? Translated it reads "faster, higher, stronger" and it has been the motto of the Olympics for decades. Until this week.

The motto has represented the essence of the games - to compete and to excel. But that is not all that the Games are supposed to be about. Every four years the nations of the world gather to celebrate our common humanity in positive ways. We compete with other nations, and we cheer for our own. Yet we promote sportsmanship and goodwill as part of it all. And we remind ourselves that in spite of the differences of race and nationality and language and culture, we are somehow still the same. We all share the desire to love and be loved, we all want to matter and feel like we matter, we all want to believe and achieve and contribute and hope that we make the world a better place.
 

The Games will be back this week.  Hopefully that's a good thing.  Hopefully the pandemic will not be a factor.  Hopefully we can experience some fun and excitement.  And hopefully our world can come together just a little bit.

And that's why this week the motto was officially changed by the International Olympic Committee. They didn't change much, they simply added one more Latin word - communis.  It means together.

So the desire of the Olympic organizers is that we experience togetherness.

And maybe we will. Maybe we will as citizens of the world. And maybe we will as a nation. It would be a good thing. For too long we have been mired in divisiveness. We have vilified those who don't look like us or speak like us or vote like us or think like us or act like us while forgetting that those people are like us. Yes, they have opinions. Yes, they may be difficult to reason with. Yes, they may be selfish. So yes, they are people like us. Even in all those frightening ways.

But divisiveness is not just a threat to our world or to our nation, it's also a constant threat to the church. The enemy peddles in divisiveness. He encourages us to gossip. He tempts us to criticize each other. He somehow convinces us that judgmentalism is an act of righteousness. He tells us how important it is that we look out for number one. He suggests that it's ok to be bitter and distrustful and cynical.

 But what really causes divisiveness? I suppose many things, but here are three to consider.

  • Pride.  We have to be right.  We need to have things our way.  We want to be better than someone - or seen as better than someone.  We want to look good.
      
  • Power.  We want to be in control.  We want to make the decisions.  We want to be waited on.  And we want all the perks.
      
  • Fear.  We want to feel safe - and we feel safe with people like us.  And we feel safe when we can minimize people not like us.
But these things are not from God. he's about togetherness. And Jesus? He prayed that his followers would be as one, and that they would love each other.

The Olympics are not going to solve the world's problems. Without a doubt in the next week we will be subjected to poor sportsmanship, political gamesmanship, and individual showmanship, but can we try look past all that and remind ourselves of the power of communis - especially as followers of Jesus, as united followers of Jesus?


The Last Word(s):
  

"The unknown is the doorway that leads to adventure."  (Bear Grylls)
Blog comments will be sent to the moderator

Welcome to edition #100 of Waking Up!  So how about if we celebrate a little?  Maybe you could shout a little "Woo Hoo!" or do a little dance or blow up some balloons or drink an extra cup of coffee - however you like to celebrate … just go for it!

Full disclosure - I actually have no idea how many editions of Waking Up! have been sent.  But I'm thinking we have done at least 100, right?  I suppose if you are one of those people who never cleans out your inbox you could go back and count for us.

But since we haven't celebrated up to this point, I feel a little rah-rah is appropriate
because ... we could do with a little more celebrating in our lives.  We enjoy so many good things in life, yet we often forget to celebrate them.  We get so easily distracted by our problems, and often miss our blessings.  So even if this email is not edition #100, let it serve as an encouragement to throw a little personal party of your own today … just go for it! 


Lemonade - other important things

One of the highlights of last summer was our church-wide lemonade stands - and they are back for an encore performance this weekend.  Five families will be hosting lemonade stands, and all proceeds will be going to Oakland Hope to help fight food poverty in our community.  Last year we raised over $1000  - and we're hoping for a another big response this year!

To make it more fun, we're adding "punch cards."  If you make it to four of the five lemonade stands we're sponsoring, you can bring your card to church on Sunday for a special treat.  So here are your options (including one on Friday!). 

Friday from 2:00-6:00 p.m.

The Stone family
6023 Hatchery Road - Waterford

Saturday from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

The Grider family
2720 Edgefield Drive - Waterford

The Hamilton family
6411 Pine Valley Road - Clarkston

The Corso family
2540 Campellgate Drive - Waterford

The Miles family
 4123 Oceania Avenue - Waterford
  

If you cannot make it to the lemonade stands but still wish to contribute you can do so through the offering basket on Sunday.

*We do not have a rain date scheduled so in the case of inclement weather we're still going for it!  (Just put on your "wellies" and come on out!)


We've Been Wondering...
  

We've been wondering a lot of things this summer.  

  • First, we wondered how many chapters of John we could read as a church.  Way over 500!
      
  • And then we wondered how many days of prayer we could offer for our kids/grandkids.  Almost 150!
      
  • Last week we wondered how many small acts of kindness we could do.  The total reported was 85!  Nice!  Way to go WCC!
      
  • And now this week we're wondering how much money we can raise for Oakland Hope... what do you think?


On the calendar...
  

Sunday, July 25 / Young Adults Lake Party
After the service on Sunday all young adults in the church (and if you have any friends you want to invite to come with you, please do!) will be having a lake party with swimming, boating, tubing, and eating. The meat/chicken will be provided but please bring a dish to share. Questions? Contact Pastor Mark. markamanzer@gmail.com
  

Sunday, August 1 / Communion

We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper a week from this Sunday as part of the service.  In addition to our observance, we would like to encourage you to consider contributing to our "fellowship fund" which is used to help people our church experiencing financial hardships.

 

Sunday, August 8 / Church in the Park

We're bringing back this summer favorite and heading off to Baycourt Park for an outdoor service, picnic and games.  Please note that the service that morning will begin at 11:00 a.m. instead of the usual summer start time.  (But no worries if you forget and come early; you can help with set-up!)

 

Sunday, August 22 / Church with New Springfield (and Farmers' Market Day)

We're excited to have Pastor William Parker and the people of New Springfield Church join us for our morning service (Pastor Parker will be bringing the message).  Afterward, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Farmers' Market, so be planning now on what you can bring and trade - garden vegetables, home-baked goods, crafts, etc.
  

Sunday, September 12 / The Grand unReopening

It's been a long time since things at church were running on all 8 cylinders.  The pandemic has been largely responsible, and then summer came along.  But come September, our plan is to have everything up and running full-speed, and to kick everything off with a super Sunday on September 12.  So we are giving you an advance notice so that you can make your plans in such a way that you can be present that day! (And then every Sunday after that.  It's going to be a awesome fall!)


"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

So how's your Latin?

Need a little help? Translated it reads "faster, higher, stronger" and it has been the motto of the Olympics for decades. Until this week.

The motto has represented the essence of the games - to compete and to excel. But that is not all that the Games are supposed to be about. Every four years the nations of the world gather to celebrate our common humanity in positive ways. We compete with other nations, and we cheer for our own. Yet we promote sportsmanship and goodwill as part of it all. And we remind ourselves that in spite of the differences of race and nationality and language and culture, we are somehow still the same. We all share the desire to love and be loved, we all want to matter and feel like we matter, we all want to believe and achieve and contribute and hope that we make the world a better place.
 

The Games will be back this week.  Hopefully that's a good thing.  Hopefully the pandemic will not be a factor.  Hopefully we can experience some fun and excitement.  And hopefully our world can come together just a little bit.

And that's why this week the motto was officially changed by the International Olympic Committee. They didn't change much, they simply added one more Latin word - communis.  It means together.

So the desire of the Olympic organizers is that we experience togetherness.

And maybe we will. Maybe we will as citizens of the world. And maybe we will as a nation. It would be a good thing. For too long we have been mired in divisiveness. We have vilified those who don't look like us or speak like us or vote like us or think like us or act like us while forgetting that those people are like us. Yes, they have opinions. Yes, they may be difficult to reason with. Yes, they may be selfish. So yes, they are people like us. Even in all those frightening ways.

But divisiveness is not just a threat to our world or to our nation, it's also a constant threat to the church. The enemy peddles in divisiveness. He encourages us to gossip. He tempts us to criticize each other. He somehow convinces us that judgmentalism is an act of righteousness. He tells us how important it is that we look out for number one. He suggests that it's ok to be bitter and distrustful and cynical.

 But what really causes divisiveness? I suppose many things, but here are three to consider.

  • Pride.  We have to be right.  We need to have things our way.  We want to be better than someone - or seen as better than someone.  We want to look good.
      
  • Power.  We want to be in control.  We want to make the decisions.  We want to be waited on.  And we want all the perks.
      
  • Fear.  We want to feel safe - and we feel safe with people like us.  And we feel safe when we can minimize people not like us.
But these things are not from God. he's about togetherness. And Jesus? He prayed that his followers would be as one, and that they would love each other.

The Olympics are not going to solve the world's problems. Without a doubt in the next week we will be subjected to poor sportsmanship, political gamesmanship, and individual showmanship, but can we try look past all that and remind ourselves of the power of communis - especially as followers of Jesus, as united followers of Jesus?


The Last Word(s):
  

"The unknown is the doorway that leads to adventure."  (Bear Grylls)
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