Pastor Charles Reflections

A little girl ran to her Grandfather, jumped into his arms and gave him a great big hug. Then she ran her fingers along his balding head and down the side of his wrinkled face. “She asked, “Did God make you, Granddad? He replied, “Yes honey, he made me.” She then felt her own cheek and the asked, “Did God make me too?” “Yes, honey, he made you too,” was Granddad reply. Well, she shrugged, Don’t you think he’s doing a better job now than he used to?” It is normal to get wrinkles as we grow older and wiser. So many other things change in our lives that often confuses us out of our minds: We change in size (oops), in our energy level (ouch), in our hearing, in our vision, in our looks, in our remembering power, in our attitude, in our aches and pain level, in our habits, in our circle of friends, as some go home to be with Jesus, in the frequency of our grown children visiting with us and hopefully our Christian maturity is evident as we mentor the younger generation. Things change whether we want them to or not. Some of these changes are good and some not so good and we often just grin and bear them reluctantly. When Lord Douglas, author of “The Robe”and other novels, attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse. A retired, wheelchair-bound professor resided on the first floor. Each morning Douglas would stick his head in the doorway of the teacher’s apartment and ask the same question, “Well, what’s the good news?” The elderly man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of the wheelchair, and say, “That’s middle C? It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C.” For the child of God, there is a middle C in our lives and that middle C is Christ Jesus our Saviour and coming Lord. All of us have had enough change in our lives for a lifetime. Relationships change, health changes, weather changes, but the Yahweh who ruled the earth last night is the same Yahweh who rules it today. Same convictions, same plan, same mood, same love. Our Yahweh God never changes. You know that, I know that, but I wanted to remind anew that you can depend on Him never changing in His love, mercy and grace for His children. Paul said in Romans 8:39 after listing most of the circumstances of our life, that “nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You may have days when you feel that no one loves you or cares for you the way you think they should, but let me remind you that there are many people who love you, but because they are busy with their families and lives, they do not express that love and caring spirit to you as often as you think they should. Keep on loving and praying for them and be assured the sun will rise in the morning as God said it would. The middle C in your life will sustain you through all of the circumstances of life as you lean on Him who is life abundant. See you Sunday, if Jesus tarries and remember you have a pastor that loves and appreciate you. In His Grip, Pastor Charles

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There has been some concern regarding the amount the Finance Committee has encouraged our church family to give weekly toward our budget and the new building. The committee did not ask you to increase your giving by $80.00 a week, but consider giving a total of $80.00 a week. Some are giving much more than that and we trust they will continue doing so. We are aware some are unable to give $80.00 a week due to financial circumstances, medical bills, etc., therefore we are grateful for your faithful support, for without you, we would be unable to meet our financial responsibilities. The bottom line is “Give as God has blessed you.”

Our Baptismal service will be held at the home of Katie Hill who lives at 4632 Channing Parkway, Rock Hill, S.C. Our four candidates are Christie Adams, Britney Inglefield, Gladys Nichols, and Ashley Williams. We will begin at 3:00 P.M.

Months ago, we planned to have a Church Wide Picnic on Sunday, July 4th. When we were blessed with 200 volunteers to build a Family Life Center, the Church Council changed our July 4th event to July 11th to kick off our week of construction, evangelism, sports camp and welcoming our volunteers. NOW! We will have around 200 volunteers, plus our Sunday normal crowd to feed. We need to cook enough for our family AND fifteen or twenty more. Please go overboard for this Sunday and lets have enough food for everyone. The Social/Kitchen Committee is coordinating this event and we thank them for their work.

IT IS NOT TOO EARLY TO START DONATING From The Food Committee for our building project. As you are aware, we are responsible for feeding the 250 volunteers coming in to build our new facility for eight days and a group of 50 who will arrive early for three days. Many of you will be asked to donate your time during July 8-17 to help us prepare these meals. If you are available, please contact Linda Tanner (817-1818), Bill Gordon or Ann Gordon (329-2657), the Food Committee for this project.
The items we would like you to donate are as follows: 16 oz. Styrofoam cups, Divided Plates, Salt, Pepper, Napkins, gallon jars of Mayonnaise, gallon cans of powered Lemonade, gallon cans of Bushes baked beans, gallon cans of Peaches and Pears. Other items will be needed later. If you are unable to shop yourself, please feel free to donate money to the Food Fund.
Please let Linda Tanner know of any donations being brought so she can inventory them and keep you posted on our need list. If you have questions concerning donations, please call her at 817-1818.

Faith, Family and Freedom Celebration with Steven Curtis Chapman, Superchick and Newworldson will be held on Saturday, June 26th at 6:00 P.M. at the Z MAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5555 Concord Parkway, South in Concord. See Michelle Goodman or Christie Adams if interested.

On Tuesday, June 8 at 7:00 P.M. the Youth Choir from Barnwell Baptist Church will present a concert at NewKirk. Mark your calendars and be present for this night of Christian music.

Hey! Senior Adults we ARE GOING to tour the Billy Graham Library this Saturday, May 29th, eat lunch and return to Rock Hill in mid-afternoon. We will leave the church at 9:00 A.M.

New Facility Committee will meet this Thursday, May 27 at 6:30 P.M. with our architect.

Our Mission programs invite you to attend our annual Mission Recognition program on Wednesday, June 2nd at 6:45pm. We will recognize our Mission Friends, children in Action, RAs and Acteens for their achievements over this past mission year. Cake and punch to follow.

Regular mission programs will go on hiatus for the summer. Child care will be available on 06/09 and 06/16. Beginning on Wednesday, June 23rd, our children and youth will begin a special mission project called NewKirk Build: MISSION ACHIEVEABLE. They will be making posters and flyers advertising our Sports Camp, stuffing witnessing bags for the Evangelism Team, making welcome notes for the visiting mission team from Barnwell, leading a prayer walk for the build team, for the revival of NewKirk’s mission to reach our community, and the community itself where we will be witnessing, As the title states, it is achievable if we follow God’s plan and work together.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! Please come Friday afternoon as soon as you can and give as much time as you can in order to pull up and move the playground equipment. This has to be done in order to start the necessary work toward building our new building. Thank you for your time. Building and Grounds

Pastor Charles and Mrs. Linda will travel to Muskegon, Michigan to perform the wedding ceremony for our own Kallie Chauvez and Trent Cromer on June 19, 2010. We will leave Rock Hill in the evening on Sunday, June 13 and return to Rock Hill on the evening of June 22. The Rev. Charles F. Hodges will bring the morning message on June 20th.

Have you prayed for the miracle we need to get everything in order to begin the construction of our Family Life Center? Please pray for the City of Rock Hill Planning Board, City licenses for Greenwood Construction, Barnwell Baptist Church and other volunteers who will be on our campus in July, NewKirk Family as we do our part, for the New Facility Committee as they work to complete all the necessary plans and work for this project. Pray for the Sports Camp Coordinator, Lee Ann Seay and those helping her, our Food Committee coordinator Linda Tanner and those helping her and our Evangelism Committee coordinator Roxie Trotter and those helping her, and donations. Pray that the Holy Spirit is already working with those with whom we will reach out to during our exciting week. Pray that God will open doors to a good discount on the material used in the construction and even some freebies. Pray, Believe and see what God can do for and through those involved in building to His glory. Pray that tempers will be under control, feelings will not be so tender wanting to be hurt, bodies will have plenty of energy, and God will supply all our needs. Pray.

OTHER MINISTERS FOR SUNDAY, May 30, 2010
Children's Church: Gaylyn & Kristen Massey
Infants’ Nursery— Denny & Terry Saverance
Usher/Greeter Teams– Ray Goodman, Josh Goodman, Trent Cromer, Bucky King
TELLER: Tuesday, June 1—Judy Redman

CHURCH CALENDAR
May 29—9:00-Seniors visit Billy Graham Library
May 30—9:45—S.S., 10:45—Worship, 5:00—Youth
May 31—MEMORIAL DAY—OFFICE CLOSED
June 1—7:00-GROW “G”
June 2—6:45– Mission Recognition—7:30—Choir Practice
June 5—Bogue/Kelly /Wedding @ Westminster Church