What is Happening This Week 2/18-2/21/21
  Wow! What a week! Hope you are well, safe and warm as you receive this email. No one could imagine the week we have had. If you were lucky enough to keep power and water this week – you did well! Many struggled and are still struggling! What a way to begin Lent! Lent is a season of wilderness walking – but really after the year we have had, who needed any more time in the wilderness with wild beasts? This Sunday we will begin our Lenten worship services. They will be reflecting on things in our lives that pull as away from a God that want to be in our lives. Through our prayers, our scriptures, our songs, our witness we will feel the presences of our Living God with us! Even in the messiness of our daily struggles. Hope you will tune to join Holy Covenant’s livestreaming worship on Sunday morning at 10:30. In the meantime, during these first days of Lent, find time to pray, enjoy the daily devotionals sent from family members of HCUMC, and be faithful in your fasting. I am praying for you! Pastor Cheryl  We hope you are joining us for online worship on Facebook Live. We will be on Facebook again this Sunday at 10:30 am. If you have missed any of the services, or do not use Facebook, you may also find them on our website hcumc.org. Outside Sunday Worship – Suspended  OUTSIDE WORSHIP – Suspended until weather warms up. Sunday, February 21 First Sunday in Lent Scripture: Mark 1:12-13 Prayers of the People  Please keep the following people in your prayers this week: The Lathrop and Roberts family; Andy Edwards; Helen Mayo; Mary Harrison; Tyler Ackerman; Jojo Sain; Mike and Susan Bragg; our friends at Atria Carrollton; and those impacted by the winter storm.  Attention Parents! We have a gift for your child! Heather Hinton has created a Lenten craft for every Sunday. They are ready for you to pick up at the church. The church will be open for pick-up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9-3. We hope you will come by and pick up a bag. There will be additional activities and events for Holy Week. We hope you and your child will enjoy these activities. They follow the theme of the worship services every week. We hope you will find a way to include your children in your Lenten journey. Prayer Reminder Remember to set your alarm for 12:30 pm each day to pray for our church family.   Food Pantry Due to cold and inclement weather, we cancelled our Food Distribution last Sunday. Our next Distribution will be on February 28th. Please go to signupgenius.com to volunteer to either pack food or to work the Distribution. Someone will be at the church Thursdays and Saturdays to accept donations between 10 am and noon. We need: Hearty Soups Pasta Sauce Canned Chicken Chili Dog and Cat Food Thank you for your continued support of the Food Pantry. Save the Date  Micah Sunday Presentation MARCH 7th 9:00 am. Advocates for Justice and Peace will present, “A Report on Our Neighborhood – a Panel Discussion on Housing Insecurity.” Panelists will be: Tracy Eubanks, CEO of Metrocrest Services Chris Lopez, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6 Adam Polter, Carrollton City Council Member, Place 2 A Neighbor Within the Crisis This presentation will be on Zoom. The link will be included in the weekly email the week of the program and will also be sent out the morning of the program to the congregation.  Lent 2021 Devotionals We still need devotionals! Please volunteer to write a devotional that we can share with the Holy Covenant family each morning during Lent. Please select a favorite scripture and write a belief reflection and a prayer that we can email out to everyone each day of Lent. Send them to Elise at [email protected]. If you are one that does better with suggested themes, below are the themes of the weeks. If you would like to have your devotional fit into the theme of the week, please select one of these: Feb 21 – Lent 1 – Healing Feb 28 – Lent 2 – Self- Compassion Mar 7 – Lent 3 – Grace Mar 14 – Lent 4 – Hope Mar 21 – Lent 5 – Faith Mar 29 – Holy Week Feel free to contact Pastor Cheryl [email protected] for suggestions. We want to hear your witness, your story, your passion for Jesus! Finances  Thank you for your continued generosity! If you typically write a check, please consider online giving. February Regular Donations/Pledge Payments: Needed $37,604 Given to Date $27,911  Online Giving Donate Here. You may set up regular giving by choosing the Donation Frequency.  Volunteers Needed! Would you like to help with our online worship? We need volunteers for our worship streaming ministry. You will be asked to commit to 2 worship services per month to operate either a video switcher or a camera. Experience welcome–but not required! There will be training. If interested, please contact Tim Shepardson at [email protected]. |