Prayer Requests/Announcments 10/25

Happy Monday! We had a wonderful time in class yesterday morning. We discussed Chapter 9: Who Really Lives That Way?  We read some amazing stories of other believers who said "Yes" to God and followed His plan.  It was great to get to hear everyone's stories & who inspires their spiritual life -- in-laws were even on the list!!  Next week will be the final week of Crazy Love.  We hope everyone will be able to make it for the final chapter. 

We need to start thinking about where we want to go from here.  The book Experiencing God was mentioned and looks great!  (You can go to the previous post to read a few pages of the book)  It was also suggested that we move away from the book study and dive into a book of the Bible to study in-depth.  Please be thinking and praying about what YOU would like to learn to help guide future lessons/studies.

Prayer Requests:
Group - Pray that we will all learn to have faith to trust that God will handle our situations.
Brooke - a former co-worker has recently lost a baby at 7 months.  She had to go through with the delivery.  Please pray that this woman's relationship with the Father will be strengthened and that she will seek comfort from Him through this difficult time.
Reed - his sister, Anna, is pregnant and due in January.  Please pray for a continued healthy pregnancy for both mom and baby.
Julie - pray that her brother will be able to find a job soon
Matt - his sister is at home recovering well.  Pray for continued healing and peace of mind as she heals.
Megan - her step-dad had surgery and is at home recovering.  Pray for a quick recovery so he can get out of the house!  Pray also for Megan's mom as she keeps him entertained while he is cooped up in the house!
Megan/Ali - job interviews this week!  Megan's is at 11:00 on Wednesday & Ali's is on Tuesday.  Pray for God's direction & that their true talents will be expressed in the interviews. 
Brian - his brother is in the process of trying to move out of Montgomery and find employment in Birmingham. He is pursuing a career in Youth Ministry.  Please pray that God will open doors for him to this rewarding and challenging profession!
Stacia - her grandmother fell (doing aerobics!) and broke her hip.  She is currently recovering from surgery.  Please pray for a quick & complete recovery. 
Stacia's sister is pregnant and due in January!  Pray for a healthy pregnancy for both mom and baby.
A friend of Stacia's brother-in-law was pregnant with a baby who died because of heart complications.  The parents had to go through with the delivery.  Please pray that this couple will trust and lean on God during this very difficult time in their life.

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." - Luke 17:5

Announcements:

Halloween Carnival - Wednesday, October 28  6-8 - Our class will be working the tattoo booth.  Remember to bring your candy, bowl & sponges!  Lauren is making us a new sign in case our one from last year can't be found!

Pumpkin Carving Party - Thursday, October 29 7-??? - Come the King's house for some pumpkin carving fun!  Bring your pumpkin & favorite Halloween snack!  We'll send an e-mail with directions to the house.

Wednesday Night Dinners - Our class will be serving Wednesday night dinners the first Wednesday of every month.  We'll need 3 volunteers each time.  I'll put a list on the sidebar so we can keep up with it!

Future teaching - please be thinking & praying about this!!  We want to learn what God wants to teach us!!

Ushering - November 15 our class will be ushering.  Please be sure you are at Sunday School to help!!

Festival of Three Kings - We are hoping to sponsor at least 2 children, but possibly more!  The class decided to donate $10 a person to go towards the gifts.  If you would like to give more, feel free!  We'll sponsor as many kids as we can.  Megan is keeping the money, so please give it to her as soon as you can.  Money will be due November 22.  This will give us 2 weeks to shop for the gifts.

Prayer Requests/Announcements 10/18

We hope everyone had a wonderful week this past week! We missed those of you who couldn't make it today, but look forward to seeing you next week. Here are the prayer requests and announcements from class this morning.

Prayer Requests:

• Andrew would like us to pray for direction and clarity in his Master's course 
• Matt's sister is in the hospital with a blood clot in her leg and two clots in her lungs -- Please pray for wisdom for the doctor's as they complete tests and a quick recovery for his sister 
• Megan has a PRAISE! 3 couple's they know have recently gotten engaged! Pray for stress free planning for each of the 3 brides 
• Jeremy would like to pray for a quick recovery of Brooke who is sick and also for a friend of his mom's. The friend's daughter, who is 9 years old, was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Please pray for strength for the little girl as she begins her road to recovery. Pray that God will use this situation to show His ultimate power over the things of this world. He is bigger than it all!! 
• Rachel wants to pray for her brother-in-law who has a big job interview coming up
• Julie would like to pray for her brother who is currently searching for a job after graduating this past August

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.
 - John 16: 12-13

Announcements:

• Wednesday night supper - we are going to talk with Betty Hottenstein to volunteer to serve supper once a month. We will need 3 volunteers each time we serve 
• Festival of Three Kings - we are going to sponsor at least 2 children as a class. We are going to ask each person to donate $10 to go towards the gifts for the children. If you would like to give more, feel free! We will sponsor as many children as we can! Money will be due November 22. This will give us 2 weeks to shop for presents. Megan will be collecting and keeping up with the money!! 
• Church of the Reconciler - Teaching/managing Sunday School and serving lunch after their service -- hopefully we'll have a specific date and duties next week. 
• Food Pantry -- along with our normal responsibility of ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, there is a great need for a few other items. Check the sidebar for the specifics! 
• BPUMC Halloween Carnival - the carnival will be on Wednesday, October 28 from 6-8 PM. Our class will be sponsoring the tattoo booth again this year. The church is providing the tattoos, but we'll need to bring sponges, bowls for water and candy to give out to the kids. We'll sign up for times and discuss this more next week. 
• Pumpkin Carving Party - We finally set a date for the October social! We'll be having a pumpkin carving party on Thursday, October 29 @ the King's. We'll bring directions to class next week.

Crazy Love is coming to an end. This has been an incredible study and I think we have all learned a lot and been challenged in several ways to serve and love God more wholeheartedly. We need to begin to think about where we want to go from here!

Rachel mentioned starting a series called Experiencing God. If you click on the link, it will let you flip through and read the first few pages of the book. It looks like it will be about 10-15 pages per week, similar to Crazy Love. It looks like it will be a challenging (in a good way) book, much like Crazy Love was. Check it out and see what you think. We'll talk more about it next week.

We'll see everyone next Sunday for chapter 9 of Crazy Love: "Who Really Lives That Way?"