From Annette

Pastor's Business Card 

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners.  At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.  
 
Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote 'Revelation 3:20' on the back of it and stuck it in the door.
 
When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned.  Added to it was this cryptic message, 'Genesis 3:10..'
 
Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' And Genesis 3:10 reads, 'I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid for I was naked.'
 

Remember when the funniest jokes were the clean ones? They still are! 

Pass it on "A cheerful heart is good medicine."       (Prov. 17:22)

From Annette

When the menus were presented, we ordered salads, sandwiches, and soups, except for Jim who said, "Ice Cream, please. Two scoops, chocolate.
I wasn't sure my ears heard right, and the others were aghast. "Along with heated apple pie," Jim added, completely unabashed.
We tried to act quite nonchalant, as if people did this all the time.. But when our orders were brought out, I didn't enjoy mine.
I couldn't take my eyes off Jim as his pie a-la-mode went down. The other guys couldn't believe it. They ate their lunches silently and grinned.
The next time I went out to eat, I called and invited Jim. I lunched on white meat tuna. He ordered a parfait.
I smiled.. He asked if he amused me
I answered, "Yes, you do, but also you confuse me.
How come you order rich desserts, while I feel I must be sensible? He laughed and said "I'm tasting all that is Possible.
I try to eat the food I need, and do the things I should. But life's so short, my friend, I hate missing out on something good.
This year I realized how old I was. (He grinned) I haven't been this old before."
"So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I had ignored.
I haven't smelled all the flowers yet. There are too many trout streams I haven’t fished. There's more fudge sundaes to wolf down and kites to be flown overhead.
There are too many golf courses I haven’t played. I've not laughed at all the jokes. I've missed a lot of sporting events and potato chips and cokes. 
I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face. I want to sit in a country church once more and thank God for His grace.
I want peanut butter every day spread on my morning toast. I want un-timed long distance calls to the folks I love the most. I haven't cried at all the movies yet, or walked in the morning rain. I need to feel wind on my face. I want to be in love again. So, if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before night fall, I'd say I died a winner, because I missed out on nothing. I filled my heart's desire. I had that final chocolate mousse before my life expired.."With that, I called the waitress over.. "I've changed my mind, " I said. "I want what he is having, only add some more whipped cream!"
 

HCF Renovation PHOTOS

Bible Study

Just wanted to let you know that Paulette is bringing taco soup for Bible Study. Just a word of warning for everyone: The fumes from the new oil based paint on the Sanctuary ceiling is very strong, there are no lights in the entryways since they have all been removed for texturing, and the parking lot is soft with ice and you will have to be careful pulling in and leaving. I got stuck up there today in the slush. Hopefully it will melt off more before tomorrow night. Just thought I should make you aware of those things.

Rick Kinnard

The following is the obituary for Debby Langolf's brother Rick Kinnard:


Richard Alan "Rick" Kinnard
Richard Alan “Rick” KinnardThe TimesRichard Alan "Rick" Kinnard April 23, 1953 - Feb. 13, 2011Richard Alan "Rick" Kinnard, 57, of Noblesville passed away Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville. Born April 23, 1953 in Noblesville, he was the son of Billie G. Kinnard, Sr. and Floretta Ann (Lowe) Kinnard. He attended Hamilton Heights High School and was employed in the construction trades as an iron worker and carpenter. He had been self employed and also worked with various contractors.Survivors include his sister, Debbie (Connie) Langolf of Cicero; son, David (Dawnn) Kinnard of Paragon, Ind.; daughter, Kelly Kinnard Martin of Charlotte, N.C.; grandchildren, Chelsey Kinnard, Dakota Kinnard, Maddison Shores and Dawson Kinnard; niece, Michelle Kinnard; great-neice, Brooke Kinnard; two aunts; and several cousins and many friends.He was preceded him in death by his parents; and brothers, Billie G. Kinnard, Jr. in 1985 and infant David in 1959.Visitation is 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hartley Funeral Homes Cicero Chapel, 209 W. Jackson St. Funeral service is 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home with the Rev. Robert Stubbs officiating. Graveside rites will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Cicero Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, c/o Hartley Funeral Homes, P.O. Box 407, Cicero, IN 46034. Online condolences may be made at www.hartleyfuneralhomes.com.

Rick Kinnard

Debby Langolf sent me an email this morning saying that her brother, Rick Kinnard passed away at 5:00 a.m. this morning. Debby has been through so much in the loss of her father and mother in the past couple of years and now her brother. Let's all lift her in our prayers as she goes through this tough time. We ARE her family.

E-MAIL from Annette

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose-Driven-Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're about to go into one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ's likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through dark times, then you go to the mountain-top, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is, my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that inspite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her - It had been very difficult for her, and yet God had strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, inspite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call 'The Peace Plan' to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD..
If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to pass it on to a friend....just like I have done.
God's Blessings

MONTHLY MEETING

Monthly Meeting which was originally scheduled for this Sunday has been postponed to next Sunday, February 20th immediately following Worship Services. Due to the inclement weather and committees unable to meet to present their reports, John Chambers, our Clerk decided to hold off another week to give ample time for the Committees to meet.

PRAYERS NEEDED FOR RICK KINNARD

I received the following email from Debby Langolf about the condition of her brother Rick Kinnard. I know Debby would appreciate all of yours prayers during this tough time in their lives. I thought I'd just post her letter which explains his situation best.

Bob,
My brother Rick has taken a decline. He is now at Riverview in the TCU on the 4th floor, room 4408. He is in in-patient Hospice, they will probably start a morphine drip today. He has had several visitors including 2 chaplains, one from Riverveiw and one from Hospice. The chaplain from Hospice is named Carol, she says they have someone available as much or as little as we need. She sang Amazing Grace to Rick, her voice is beautiful. His spirit is good, and they are keeping his pain managed. Rick's daughter Kelly is here from North Carolina and we are taking turns staying with him. Kelly's been staying at night. Tuesday night Rick told her "I would sure like to see Mom again." I will keep you updated.

Kelsey Stewart UPDATE

Hello All,

This morning Kelsey met with the Radiologist to go over his MRI results from yesterday, and it is with great joy (and relief!) that I tell you that the MRI was "all clear" of the brain tumor in this latest image that was taken. Such fantastic news!

He will continue on the treatment plan he is on for quite awhile (many more months), and will go back in for another MRI in two months.  Also, his infection from a couple weeks ago is doing much better, and it doesn't look like any surgery will be needed to go in there to fix that problem. More good news!

THIS is from an email I received today from a friend of the Stewarts. WHAT WONDERFUL NEWS! So amazing! THANK YOU everyone for continuing to pray for Kelsey! 

~Kelly 

ICE AT HINKLE

Good morning,

This was a wise decision that Will made about cancelling Bible Study and M&O up at Hinkle. I went up there yesterday afternoon and fell twice on the ice. With all of the ice and the melting and re-freezing it is extremely dangerous up there. You can hardly walk on that parking lot let alone all of the ice on the sidewalks. As a public facility, we have to be cautious for liability reasons when we have meetings there. I can remember sometime back when we had a couple of accidents up there and our Insurance Company had to pay for emergency room visits and follow-up doctor visits. So, it is a wise decision to just wait until things are in better shape up there. Just wanted to caution anyone who might venture up there as to the conditions up there. I worry about people trying to get in carrying food for the Bible Study and anyone who has trouble navigating in normal circumstances. If you go up there for any reason, PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND AWARE OF ALL OF THE ICE!!

Bible Study Cancelled and Ministry & Oversight Meeting Postponed

Hi all. Tomorrow night's bible study (2/8/11) is cancelled due to some resilient ice still plaguing the sidewalk and parking lot outside the church in Cicero. Also, for those in M & O, our February meeting has been postponed until next Wednesday, 2/16/11 due to the same pesky ice.

God is love,

Will

A Prayer Request

Please pray for my friend Helen Dingman. Helen has been a family friend of ours since I was a young girl.    She is at Riverview Hospital this evening. She lives alone and has become disoriented and confused.  I'm not sure what they can do for her but I just pray that she feels comfortable and safe while she's there. I don't know if she will be able to go back to her home or not.
Thank You,
Kelly

CHURCH CANCELLED TOMORROW

Wanted to let everyone know that Services are cancelled for tomorrow due to the ice still on walks and parking lot up at Cicero and now with the snow on top of that - it makes it extremely hazardous for our Church Family. It will be put on Channel 13, but if you know of someone who does not have access to a computer, please give them a call so they don't get out and try it tomorrow. I will also send out a mass email to all who I have email addresses for as well. Let's all spend the morning tomorrow in prayer and worshipping in our own way. Please stay in and be safe!