Church Phone No.: (856)456-3364 Church Fax No.: (856)456-3812 District Website: www.chogeast.org National Website: www.chog.

org

Highland Park Church of God

Gods People on Gods Mission!

Pastor Bill e-mail: revwddilksjr@juno.com Office e-mail: highlandparkcog@yahoo.com Web Site: www.highlandparkcog.org

March 2012

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed
1

Thu
(Psalm 1)

Fri
2
(Psalm 2)

Sat
3 (Psalm 3) 10:00 AM DVPA Meeting

5:45 PM Rotary

Noon Retirees Lunch 7:00-9:00 PM March Madness Fun Night at MEC

4 (Psalm 4) 11:00 AM Communion

6 (Psalm 6) 9:00 AM Mens Bible Study 7:00 PM Ladies' Bible Study at Deb's
(Psalm 5)

7 (Psalm 7) 7:00 PM In-Home Study @ the Skramstads'

(Psalm 8)

5:45 PM Rotary

9 (Psalm 9) 7:00-9:00 PM Mens Basketball-MEC

10

(Psalm 10)

Tonight!
11
(Psalm 11) Sr. Usher Luncheon/ Meeting following Worship 7:00 PM Trustees Meeting Daylight Saving Time Begins

12

(Psalm 12)

13

(Psalm 13)

7:00 PM Ladies' Bible Study at Deb's

14 (Psalm 14) 7:00 PM Bd. of CE Meeting 7:00 PM Kid's Club

15 (Psalm 15) 1:00 PM Ministerium Meeting 7:00 PM Board of CE Meeting 22

(Psalm 22)

16 (Psalm 16) 7:00-9:00 PM Mens Basketball-MEC

17 (Psalm 17) 9:00 AM Mens Fellowship Breakfast Work Day to Follow St. Patricks Day 24
(Psalm 24)

18 (Psalm 18) 7:00 PM Council Meeting

19

20 (Psalm 20) 9:00 AM Mens Bible Study 7:00 PM Ladies' Bible Study at Deb's Spring Begins
(Psalm 19)

21

(Psalm 21)

7:00 PM In-Home Study @ Dilks Sr.

5:45 PM Rotary

23 (Psalm 23) 7:00-9:00 PM Mens Basketball-MEC

25

(Psalm 25)

26

(Psalm 26)

27

(Psalm 27)

28

(Psalm 28)

29

(Psalm 29)

7:00 PM Ladies' Bible 9:30 AM Friendship Group at Gorman Study at Deb's Manor

7:00 PM In-Home Study @ Al and Gerry's

30 (Psalm 30) 7:00-9:00 PM Mens Basketball-MEC

31

(Psalm 31)

(Glouc. City Easter Celebration)

Monthly calendars are subject to change. Please feel free to contact the church office to confirm events.

March 2012

Dear Church Family and Friends, I have been thoroughly enjoying my chapter-a-day Bible readings through Romans this month in Dr. Eugene Petersons translation, The Message. I have read Pauls letter to the Church at Rome hundreds of times and studied many commentaries on it, but I am finding myself delighted and refreshed as I encounter those thoughts and words expressed in new ways that are more in keeping with my daily life in our modern world. For instance, I have set to memory Romans 12:1-2 in the NIV and NRSV versions of the Bible, still I find myself delighted as I read it in The Message: So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary lifeyour sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lifeand place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. I especially loved Instead, fix your attention on God. Youll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. No its not word for word accurate but it hits the nail on the head and drives home the essential point of the passage. Once when I was teaching adult Sunday School in the Missionary Church in New Carlisle, Ohio, someone asked me what I believed was the best translation of the Bible, to which I replied The one that you enjoy reading, the one you just cant wait to pick up. For me right now in my chapter-a-day readings that is The Message. Also remember that Gods Word is a guidebook for His People, an instruction manual helping us to understand how best to live our lives so that they are pleasing both to God and to our fellow man. If an instruction manual can be made clearer with better pictures or practical illustrations, then perhaps we should be open to hearing Gods Word in a new way. May Gods Spirit guide us as we seek to be transformed from the inside out, so that we may be more like Jesus, each and every day. Studying the Word,

Pastor Bill

Gems of Wisdom from Our Seniors God is more interested in how you handled what happened to you than He is in what happened to you. ~~Darlene Brown~~

From Church Council . . .

In keeping with what was proposed and discussed at the October 19th annual business meeting, the Church Council asks that before any fund raising is done by individuals (including children) on the church properties for noncongregationally sponsored causes/events that permission to do so be obtained in advance from the Church Council. Thank you.

Kid's Club
We are adding one more Kid's Club meeting to our calendar during Lent before we end Kid's Club for this year 2011-2012 year. On Wednesday, March 14th, at 7:00 we are hoping to see as many kids as possible in grades K-6th attending. We will be talking about the events of Holy Week and taking part in or acting out some of the things that happened that week in the hope that it will not just help the children to better understand, but also enable them to have these events hold a little more significance in their lives. So, please try your best to see that your child attends. Please note there will be no meal prior to this evening. Okay Kids . . . in February our lesson was on "What is Love?" We took the scripture from 1 Corinthians 13. If any of you can come to Mrs. Ritchie on any Sunday before our next meeting and tell her three things that either "love is" or "love is never" she just may allow you to pick a prize from her prize bag. Congratulations to Richie, Julie, Nick, and Andrew for reciting scriptures pertaining to love last month. They were given the opportunity to choose something from the bag. It is so important that we all read our newsletter because sometimes we miss some great opportunities. God bless, Mrs. Ritchie

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

GET READY
FREE 100 GALLONS OF OIL STARTS NOW To take advantage of this great offer, contact Citizens Energy at 1-877-563-4645 with your oil dealer's I.D. number. You can call Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It was suggested that you begin calling just before 9:00 AM and keep trying!

Special Thanks . . .
Hope Hill Children's Home in Kentucky and Covenant House of New Jersey extend warm thanks to our congregation for the donation of our Christmas Eve offering. Each facility received $310 to be used in their ministry to young people in need. Covenant House would like to share just one story, which illustrates the difference all of this makes in the life of just one youth: Before coming to Covenant House, Travis had a long history of drug and legal problems. He managed to get himself clean, but his parents were still addicts. He was forced to leave home when the power was turned off and he had run out of money. He found himself in a terrible shelter and learned about Covenant House from some kids that were there. Travis is on a great path now. He has been in our program for seven months, recently achieved his GED and is employed by the Altman Group as a full-time telemarketer. He dreams of attending college, owning his own home and having a family. He has already saved $2,400! Thank you again and warmest wishes for peace and prosperity in 2012. Warmly, Jill Rottmann

Some participating local dealer numbers are: 7 Oil - (786-0707) I.D. #103880 Anyzek Oil - (456-5953) - I.D. #103921 Blaylock Oil - (456-2220) - I.D. #104595 Eagle Oil - (456-2220) - I.D. #104089

FOCUS 40 CALLING ALL KIDS 4 YEARS OLD THRU 6TH GRADE

Beginning February 29th and running through April 8th, our church family will be taking part in a program which calls all of us to fast and pray in the hopes of winning souls for Jesus. Just because you are young, it does not mean that you will not be asked to take part. You all are a very important part of our church family so you are included in this as well. We are asking all of you to pray. Mrs. Ritchie has put together a special prayer calendar much like the ones the adults will have. Each day when you are getting ready to pray, you are to look at your calendar for that day and do what the calendar is asking you to do. Just imagine the wonderful things that will happen when the entire church family, including you, prays. We can trust that God will do great things when He hears all of us. Be sure to come out to church on February 26th because Mrs. Ritchie will be giving out the calendars during the service and she might just have a little something else for you to go along with them.

OUR HOLY WEEK PRAYER VIGIL

For many Christians, Lent is a time of self examination as we consider our current relationship with the Lord. For many it is also a time of growing closer to Him through prayer, and also this year, through the fasting we are doing through the Focus 40 program. During Holy Week, in addition to our prayers for Focus 40, we will also be setting aside time to pray for others needing prayer as well as ourselves. Beginning March 4th and running through March 18th, there will be an insert in your bulletin for you to write down your prayer requests. You may drop them into the offering plate or give them to Gloria or Sandy. During Holy Week we will all be in like mind for those concerns that are upon your hearts for family, friends, and you. We will also be praying and thanking God for His great sacrifice for all of us. As Christians, this should be one of the most sacred times of the year for ALL of us, and spending more time with the Father in prayer should be something that we all desire. One thing more: Some of you may be carrying burdens that are of a personal nature that you may not want to share with everyone but yet you are so desirous of having others help you through prayer. If that is the case all you need to write is that you have an "unspoken request" on your paper. God already knows what that request is and we, as a church family, will ask Him to look upon your heart and help. Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV Jesus said: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." 1 Peter 5: 6&7 NKJV "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Wednesday Evening Lenten Study/Prayer Time: Jesus as Lord

That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9) Date February 29 March 7 March 21 March 28 Topic Lord Over Our Circumstances Lord Over Our Speech Lord Over Our Actions Lord Over Our Decision Making Hosts Pastor Bill and Kim at the Parsonage Joyce and Arvin Skramstad Bill and Jaunice Dilks Al and Gerry Conner

All meetings will begin at 7:00 PM.

Dear Pastor Dilks and Members of the Highland Park Church of God, I am humbled and excited to be the new Executive Director of The Saints Prison Ministry and want to personally thank you for your recent generous gift. Your commitment of reaching the "least" (Matthew 25:45) is not only appreciated, it shouts out Christ's love in action! As I began to write you, my computer "dinged" that I had a new email. It was from our Colorado Director. I'd like to share part of it with you. "We made a visit to Trinidad Correctional Facility in Trinidad, Colorado, last Saturday. it is only the second time in seven years we were able to start our season in January, due to weather conditions in the past. The weather was great and we had a good indoor soccer game. We had a guest visitor with us. He is a missionary in Mexico. He did not play soccer but shared the Gospel message in Spanish, and the inmates really tuned in to what he said. He also got to pray with a couple of inmates that accepted Christ. We had 13 inmates accept Christ. Praise the Lord!" Your support helped make this happen. I have only been in my position a few short weeks, but the many stories of a life "changed" have greatly touched my heart. These testimonies are the fruit of your willingness to partner with our ministry. The only reward I can offer you here is my gratitude. However, God has a special Crown of Rejoicing (I Thess. 2:19) reserved for you when you finally go to glory. Wishing you love, light and blessings always, James A. Hall, Executive Director The Saints Prison Ministry, Inc. P.O. Box 681 ~ Moorestown, NJ 08057 ~ Phone: 856-866-9428 www.saintsprisonministry.org

All ages welcome to come and kick off March Madness by showing off your basketball skills! (Even if you dont have many!) There will be lots of fun competitions giving everyone an opportunity to run a little and laugh a lot. Following the competition we will grab some water and cheer on the Friday night mens basketball teams. Bring your familybring your friendsjoin the madness!!