Momma, what is a tithe?

My husband had just said to me that he had forgotten his tithe two Sundays in a row. There are Sundays when we are in such a hurry to get out the door that we forget to write the check or just leave the check on the counter. We make sure we have our sermons in our hands (both of us are preachers), but our tithe check gets lost in the shuffle sometimes.

My five year old asked the question. And, so we tried to explain what a tithe is. The simplest answer is, "Well, sweetie, a tithe is 10% of any money that you receive. You are expected to give that to the church as it is the representative of God." Not that simple after all. That is true enough, but how can these words describe why it brings pain to his father when he forgets that check two weeks in a row.   We used to make our money decisions out of fear. (That idea was prevalent in the sermon last week. See Matthew 6:24-34.) We convinced ourselves that God did not want us to suffer, so our giving to the church was done when everything else was paid. Our giving to the church never happened! Now, we make our money decisions with our priorities in order and the fear over money has subsided.

Most people become very uncomfortable talking about their own money or even when someone else is talking about money. I've never understood that. Jesus talked about money more than anything else. When my five year old asks me what tithing is, I want to be able to express the joy with which we give to God. That is a difficult thing to express to a five year old, or to anyone for that matter.   We tithe because it is a command, but more so because we long to show our love to a God who loves us whether we tithe or not. We give because we have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the ministries of Jesus Christ on this earth. When we cast our fears over money aside, focus on our love of Christ instead, and set out on the adventure of being disciples, our worries, our fears will soon be no more. Only God is capable of doing that for us!  

God’s Blessings,

Tiffany

Tiffany's Contact Information is:
919 Dickinson Street Memphis, TN   38107   901-606-6604  

 

9th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gen. 6:9-22, 7:24, 8:14-19; Ps. 46;
Rom. 1:16-17,3:22b-28 (29-31);
Matt. 7:21-29

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gen. 12:1-9; Ps. 33:1-12; Rom. 4:13-25,
Matt. 9:9-13, 18-26

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gen. 18:1-15 (21:1-7); Ps. 116: 1-2,
12-19; Rom. 5:1-8; Matt. 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gen. 21:8-21; Ps. 86:1-10, 16-17
Rom. 6:1b-11; Matt. 10:24-39

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gen. 22:1-14; Ps. 13; Rom. 6:12-23
Matt.10:40-42

 

June 1
Graham Memorial, Forrest City
Elkins Church, Elkins

June 8
Grace, Little Rock
First, Malvern

June 15
Barr Memorial, Norman
Hopewell Church, Morrilton

June 22
First, Mountain Home
First, Newport

June 29
First, Pocahontas
Presbytery Staff

 

Another year has come and gone.

Hope everyone will have a great summer.

Thank you for your generosity.  $144.00 was collected for the PW Birthday Offering.  PW will adjourn until Sept.  Our bible study for next year will be "Jubilee!  Luke's Gospel for the Poor".

Lee Ann Scheiderer

 

Another good crowd of MOC guys were treated to a wonderful meal and program by Jeff Dunaway, Fred McMurry, Bob Sohn, Jeff DeBuhr, and Charlie White. The meal was thick and tender ribeye steaks that Jeff had cut to order from his favorite Hughes grocer. They were delicious as always and Kevin Lewey showed up once again to over-see the grilling. The steaks were seasoned, basted and charcoal grilled to perfection. We had baked potatoes, a nice green salad and rolls also.

After that great meal we were all honored to hear the true life hero war stories of Col. “Sandy” Sanfrantello. Col. Sanfrantello had his parents sign for him as a Brooklyn teenager to volunteer into the army during WWII. He was very pleased to have “three hots and a cot” , and said he felt like he’d never had it so good.” Boy, have times ever changed!

It’s time for us to take our summer break now. We hope you all have a safe and happy vacation time and I’ll try my best to have barbeque, etc for us on Wednesday, September 3rd at 6:00 pm. Hopefully Rich Trail can give us a Mustang update then.

John Burks

4 ~ Mr. & Mrs. John Alderson
10 ~ Mr. & Mrs.Bonner McCollum
14 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Jim Hargraves
21 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Joe Elphingstone
23 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Richard Withrow
27 ~ Mr. & Mrs.Larry Ross
28 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Lewey
29 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Rausch Hodges
30 ~ Mr. & Mrs. Keith Cranford

The Session of Graham Memorial met on Sunday, May 4th for a regular monthly meeting.

Elder K.K. Parker reported on the Bible School which will be held with First United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church. Volunteers are needed to help with this event.

The Congregational Care Committee reported that we have continued to have monthly dinners for the congregation. The big news is that plans are in motion for an old fashioned Home Coming that will be held the weekend of the Ridgefest celebration. Members of GMPC need to start thinking of people who need to be on our invitation list. We hope to have a Saturday Vespers service which includes children of our church who have become ministers. Think FOOD, FUN, and FELLOWSHIP!

An update on the new organ was given. We hope to have everything in place very soon. Envelopes will be placed in the pews soon to give everyone to make a contribution towards this installment.

The session voted to donate $500.00 from the Almighty’s Dollar account towards disaster relief in the Earle area. The money was sent to the Presbytery Disaster Assistance Office for disbursement.

Summer is upon us. Plan to be in worship as often as you can this summer. We are back in our sanctuary and will soon be enjoying the music from our new digital organ.

In Christ,

Nancy Dunaway

 

 

The first celebration of Father’s Day is thought to have been in July 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. Grace Golden Clayton suggested the special observance to her pastor after a deadly explosion in a nearby town killed 361 men.

Soon after, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, wanted to show her gratitude to her father, who’d cared for the family after his wife died. Dodd asked her pastor to choose a June Sunday to honor all fathers, and he selected June 19, 1910.

In 1924, President Coolidge suggested that Father’s Day become a national holiday. In 1966, President Johnson designated the third Sunday of June to be Father’s Day. Six years later, President Nixon instituted Father’s Day as a national observance.

A father’s Influence

Studies show that if the mother of a family attends worship, there’s a 16 percent chance that the rest of the family will also attend. Yet when a father attends worship, there’s a 93 percent chance that other family members will be present, too.

Just think, Dad, of the clout you have. Hope to see you in church this weekend.

Makes 12 muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1/2 cup unsalted butter—creamed
Add: 3/4 cup sugar and 1 lg. egg—mix until combined
Stir in: 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 cup sour cream. DO NOT BEAT.
Combine and add: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Fold in: 1 cup frozen peaches (chopped while frozen) and 1 cup chopped pecans

Grease tins or use papers. Fill 2/3 full.
Mix 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 cup butter Until crumbly. Put on top of muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Nancy Ross tags Suzanne Gentry

We would like to thank Sam Harris for the good job he did
as acolyte during the month of May

Our acolyte for the month of June is Billy Rauscher Hodges

 

Scripture is filled with many famous — and infamous — fathers and sons. Match the name of each father on the left to the name of his son on the right.

1. Noah    A. Dan
2. Jacob   B. Jonathan
3. David    C. Ham
4. Saul     D. Solomon

Click and drag between the arrows to see the answers.

1. C, 2. A, 3. D, 4. B

Vacation Bible School dates are June 9th – June 13th. This year we will be joining First United Methodist Church and The Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. It will be held at the First Methodist Church. We are in need of volunteers to be teachers, to help with recreation and music. Please call the church office and let us know if you can help. Thank you.

 

Please mark your calendars for November 8th and 9th for a Graham Memorial Homecoming! We have tentatively planned a Vespers Service and meal and visiting on Saturday November 8th and a wonderful Sunday Service with dedication of our new organ and a Pot Luck lunch. Members past and present-we want YOU to help us celebrate God in this very special way.   If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the church office or Kim Danehower at 633-2576.

We go to church to be with others who either know God or wish to know God. The church is a place of acceptance, friendship and fellowship. It’s a place to honor and worship our loving Creator who accepts us as family.

In church we pray to God, sing about God, hear God’s Word for us and find support and direction for whatever challenges face us. In church we find comfort in our sorrow, encouragement in our struggles and the Holy Spirit’s assurance that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28, NRSV).

We are finishing a third successful year of the Backpack Program sponsored by Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church in Forrest City.

The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas in Jonesboro delivers our supplies six times a year. During this school year, the food for the program cost the Food Bank well over $13,000. These are not donated or outdated items. They are purchased in large quantities at regular commercial outlets for the full price. This enables the volunteers for the Food Bank to make choices that are appropriate for the children's' needs and tastes.

Locally, our group of 26 volunteers from 4 churches processed weekend food for over 70 kindergarten through fourth grade children who otherwise would go hungry. We unloaded 6 food shipments in all kinds of weather, and we filled and delivered a total 2,125 sacks.

These numbers are impressive, but they do not show the human component of the program. At our volunteer luncheon, we met Katrese Davis, a social worker with Stewart Elementary, who personally knows the individual children we help. She spoke with contagious enthusiasm of the children and how much they look forward to getting their weekend food supply.

Butch Murray, at Central Elementary, told recently of a particular little fourth-grade boy with "beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes" who has been sincerely worried lately about his family's troubles, about which he was able to go into great detail. This weekend food supply helped him contribute to his family's needs and meant a great deal to him.

There are many other local children who are carrying burdens they shouldn't be carrying at that age. The Backpack Program eases some of those very real and specific concerns.

Please remember that there are five ways you can contribute to the Backpack Program:

1. You can help unload food shipments.
2. You can sack food into plastic Wal-Mart sacks donated by members of several local churches.
3. You can deliver filled sacks to the elementary schools.
4. You can contribute financially to the Food Bank of Northeastern Arkansas.
                 and/or
5. You can pray for the program and the children.

Each of these ways is equally important to the program, and we need all of them to keep it going.

Edith Fisher, Coordinator, Forrest City Backpacks for Kids Program

Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church
402 Dillard
Forrest City, AR 72335

Phone: 870-633-4424
FAX: 870-633-1114
Email: gmpc@sbcglobal.net