He Knows My Name

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)


Last night at Faith Weaver Friends I was so excited about the new name tags that Barry has made for us. Wearing name tags are great ways to get to know each others names. I was thinking about the many times that I forget peoples names. God never forgets our name. It is engraved on His hands. There is a praise song about that. It is sung in churches all over the world telling us about the God who knows our name.


"He Knows My Name"
by Tommy Walker

I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands.

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
He hears me when I call.


The story behind the song is found in the Scriptures. It begins with God speaking to a young boy by the name of Jeremiah. "Before I started to put you together inside of your mother, I knew you. Before you were even born, I set you apart; I chose you to be a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah heard God and he understood what God wanted him to do, but he was afraid. He answered God and said, "Oh, Lord! I can't be your prophet. I don't even know how to speak; I am only a child."

God answered Jeremiah and said, "Don't say, 'I am only a child.' You must go wherever I send you and do what I tell you. Don't be afraid, because I am with you." Then the Lord touched Jeremiah's mouth and said, "See, I have put my words in your mouth. Today I have chosen you to be over the nations and the kings."

That is amazing that God had some mighty big plans for Jeremiah. Well, God may have some pretty big plans for you too. He knows your name. He knew you before you were even born and he has a plan for your life. When God asks you to do something, don't say, "I'm only a child!" Don't be afraid, do what God tells you to do, because he will be with you no matter what he asks you to do.

Father, thank you for being a God who knows us by name. Help us to remember that when you show us the plans that you have for us, there is nothing to fear, because you are with us. Amen.

All Saints Party!!!!

Parents!

     We (the FUMC Youth Group) will be hosting our annual All Saint's Party for your children THIS Sunday (November 1st) From 5 to 6:30. Bring your child dressed in their favorite (church appropriate) costume for an evening of food, stories, games, and fun! Starting at 5 in the fellowship hall, there will be registration and pizza. From there your children will be doing a variety of things from smashing piñatas, listening to a story, making crafts, and other great activities! The evening will conclude at 6:30, so be sure to pick up your child then. You are of course welcome to join your child if you wish, but we want you to know that everything will be taken care of by the youth group!

We are excited to see you Sunday!

God's Toolbox

As I looked through my toolbox with the children yesterday in search for the right tool to fix my watch I was reminded that we are all tools for God's use. Each one of us was created by God because He loves us so much and He gave each of us a special purpose. God says that He has "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." He gives us a purpose like the hammer was created for a purpose. Not to smash watches (although that can be fun) but to pound in nails into hard surfaces. There are some of us who were created to care for others. To take care of the sick. To take care of the people who are hurting. The tape measure helps us to know how long things are and make sure we have things straight. Some people were created to teach and to preach. They are the people who steer us in the right direction and give us deeper knowledge. God gave each of us a purpose so we can give thanks to Him and serve Him in special ways. By allowing God to use us for the purpose that He has for us we are helping God to spread His love and to lead others to Him.

Over the next three weeks in Sunday School the kids will be learning about stewardship and what it means to be a good steward of what God has given us.

Praying for and with your children

A great blessing that we can pass onto our children is prayer. Not only the prayers we say for them but teaching them how to pray too.

John Maxwell, a well known pastor who speaks a lot on leadership, wrote a message entitled "What Parents Owe their Children." Within this message he gave 12 ways we can pray for our children. Here they are: 12 Beautiful Ways to Pray for Your Children

1. Pray that they will know Christ as Savior early in life.
2. Pray that they will have a hatred for sin.
3. Pray that they will be caught when guilty.
4. Pray that they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: spiritual, emotional, and physical.
5. Pray that they will have a responsible attitude in all of their interpersonal relationships.
6. Pray that they will respect those in authority over them.
7. Pray that they will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong kind of friends.
8. Pray that they, as well as their mate, will be pure until marriage.
9. Pray that they will be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one.
10. Pray that they will totally submit to God and actively resist satan in all circumstances.
11. Pray that they will be single hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ.
12. Pray that they will be hedged in so that they cannot find their way to the wrong people and wrong places and that the wrong people cannot find their way to them.


Helpful Tip:
Its the flu and cold season once again. Lots of hand washing and tissue using will be done. But here is a website that has some great tips on how to make it through the sick days and to prevent them from happening: http://health.kaboose.com/kids-health/sick-days-supply-kit.html


Fun Site and Fact about Bekah
I love pop tarts! Especially the blueberry ones... well... maybe the smore ones... Okay I love them all!

More Fall Fun and a FaithWeaver Moment

Make a fall craft

Here is one that I like to do:

Autumn Leaf Sun Catchers
Decorate your windows with these wonderful Leaf Sun Catchers! You will need contact paper, tissue paper in fall colors, permanent marker, leaf shape patterns.

Cut a 5 x5 inch square of contact paper, put tape on the dull side and tape it to the table for each child. Peel of the backing so that the sticky side is facing the child. Have the children cut or tear small pieces of tissue paper and completely cover the piece of contact paper. Cover the first 5 x5 piece with another piece so that the tissue is now between the two pieces of contact paper. Trace a leaf shape onto the contact paper and cut out the leaf shape. Use a couple of pieces of clear tape to adhere the leaves to a window where the sun will shine through them.

Variation: You can sprinkle the tissue with water to make the colors bleed into each other. Let it dry before putting on the second piece of contact paper.

________

In KidsWorship the children learned about the Isrealites building the Tabernacle. The story is found in Exodus 35:4 - 36:38. Our focus was that we can all serve God.

Does serving God mean telling your friends about Jesus, or is it helping out those in need so they can see God through your actions? Maybe it’s both. Talk about ways each of you can serve God this week, and commit to keeping each other accountable as you seek to serve God.

God, thank you for the unique set of talents and skills you’ve given each of us in this family. Help us use our abilities to serve you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Fall!!

I love fall. I love the smell of the rain as it comes in. The beautiful leaves changing colors. Carmel apples! I love the crisp air that nips at your face as you walk outside.

Here is a story about fall...

The Three Apples

The old apple tree stood in the orchard with the other trees, and all summer long it had stretched out its branches wide to catch the rain and the sun to make its apples grow round and ripe. Now it was fall, and on the old apple tree were three great apples as yellow as gold and larger than any other apples in the whole orchard. The apple tree stretched and reached as far as it could, until the branch on which the three gold apples grew hung over the orchard wall. There were the three great apples, waiting for some one to pick them, and as the wind blew through the leaves of the apple tree it seemed to sing:

"Here in the orchard are apples three,
Who uses one well shall a treasure see."

And one morning Gerald came down the lane that passed by the orchard wall. He looked longingly at the three gold apples, wishing, wishing that he might have one. Just then the wind sang its song again in the leaves of the apple tree and, plump, down to the ground, right at Gerald's feet, fell one of the three gold apples.

He picked it up and turned it round and round in his hands. How sweet it smelled, and how mellow and juicy it was! Gerald could think of nothing so good to do with such a beautiful ripe apple as to eat it. He put it to his mouth and took a great bite of it, then another bite, and another. Soon there was nothing left of the apple but the core, which Gerald threw away. He smacked his lips and went on his way, but the wind in the apple trees sang, sorrowfully, after him:

"Here in the orchard are apples two,
But gone is the treasure that fell for you."

And after a while Hilda came down the lane that passed by the orchard wall. She looked up at the two beautiful gold apples that hung on the branch of the old apple tree, and she listened to the wind as it sang in the branches to her:

"Here in the orchard are apples two,
A treasure they hold for a child like you."

Then the wind blew harder and, plump, an apple fell in the lane right in front of Hilda.

She picked it up joyfully. She had never seen so large and so golden an apple. She held it carefully in her clasped hands and thought what a pity it would be to eat it, because then it would be gone.

"I will keep this gold apple always," Hilda said, and she wrapped it up in the clean handkerchief that was in her pocket. Then Hilda went home, and there she laid away in a drawer the gold apple that the old apple tree had given her, closing the drawer tightly. The apple lay inside, in the dark, and all wrapped up, for many days, until it spoiled. And when Hilda next went down the lane and past the orchard, the wind in the apple tree sang to her:

"Only one apple where once there were two,
Gone is the treasure I gave to you."

Last of all, Rudolph went down the lane one fine fall morning when the sun was shining warm and the wind was out. There, hanging over the orchard wall, he saw just one great gold apple that seemed to him the most beautiful apple that he had ever seen. As he stood looking up at it, the wind in the apple tree sang to him, and it said:

"Round and gold on the apple tree,
A wonderful treasure, hanging, see!"

Then the wind blew harder, and down fell the last gold apple of the three into Rudolph's waiting hands.

He held it a long time and looked at it as Gerald and Hilda had, thinking how good it would be to eat, and how pretty it would be to look at if he were to save it. Then he decided not to do either of these things. He took his jack-knife out of his pocket and cut the gold apple in half, straight across, and exactly in the middle between the blossom and the stem.

Oh, the surprise that waited for Rudolph inside the apple! There was a star, and in each point of the star lay a small black seed. Rudolph carefully took out all the seeds and climbed over the orchard wall, holding them in his hand. The earth in the orchard was still soft, for the frost had not yet come. Rudolph made holes in the earth and in each hole he dropped an apple seed. Then he covered up the seeds and climbed back over the wall to eat his apple, and then go on his way.

But as Rudolph walked down the lane, the orchard wind followed him, singing to him from every tree and bush,

"A planted seed is a treasure won.
The work of the apple is now well done."

Children's Sabbath

Thank you to all who helped with children's sabbath, you all did a great job!
A special thanks to David, Aaron, Jordan and London for doing the Liturgy. To Betsy for reading the Lord's Prayer and being flexible/ forgiving first service. Thanks to Grace who at the last minute was willing to read the scripture for the day. You all should be proud of yourselves for how well you did!

Children's Sabbath Oct. 11th

This coming Sunday is our Children's Sabbath!

If your child is part of the children’s choir please have them wear their choir shirts. If you child does not have a shirt, their shirt is missing, or is in need of being replaced please contact Bekah as soon as possible.
We will also have extras on hand on Sunday.

If your child has a speaking part please have them
practice during the week. If you would like your child to practice in the sanctuary please give Bekah a call and we can set up a time.

Please make sure all children are in the Fellowship Hall by 8:10am. Children who have speaking parts or are helping with offering will do a quick run through.

Parents we ask that you sit with your children during the service. Thank you for all your help and commitment to making this a great day for the children and the
congregation!

FaithWeaver Friends!

Last night was my first night to be at FaithWeaver Friends with everyone and I had so much fun! I was reflecting on the lesson we learned tonight and I was thinking how awesome our God that we serve is. He is so worthy of our praise and love. Our lesson tonight was on the Big Ten, the Ten Commandments. The story taught us that if we love and honor God we should obey Him no matter how tough it is.

Our verse for the evening was:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you
today are to be upon your hearts” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6).

God wants us to love Him with all that we are and all that we have. He asks that we take His commandments or rules and put them on our heart. That means He wants us to make them a part of us or to make it a routine for us to follow Him. Sort of like when we wake up in the morning we know that we need to brush our teeth and get clothes on soon we don't have to think or be reminded it is just something we do. That is like it should be for us following God's rules. We may sometimes forget to brush our teeth and we may sometimes forget one of God's rules and that is okay. He just asks for us to do our best.

Read: Exodus 20:1-17 and Matthew 22:34-40

Some 10 Commandment Fun:

Ten Commandments for Family TV Viewing

1. Let TV expand and enlarge your world views.
2. Establish limits on how much TV your family watches.
3. Plan your TV viewing.
4. Develop Family Guidelines for selecting programs.
5. Make TV watching an interactive family event.
6. Question all media.
7. Don't hesitate to reject media that violate your family's values.
8. Don't hesitate to uplift media that reinforce your family's values.
9. Recognize media stereotypes.
10. Explore your child's culture.

Ten commandments courtesy of the Center for Media Literacy and the National Telemedia Council, Inc. Used by permission of the Center for Media Literacy.

Ten Things God Wants You to Remember

1. God will be with you (Gen 26:3)
2. God loves you (Jer 31:3)
3. God will guide you (Is 58:11)
4. God will keep you (Is 42:6)
5. God is for you (Deut 23:5)
6. God will provide for you (Gen 22:14)
7. God will not fail you (Deut 31:6)
8. God will strengthen you (Ps 29:11)
9. God will answer you (Jer 33:3)
10. God will bless you (Deut 15:6)

Lord, teach us to show you and others around us how much we love you. We want to honor you by following you every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.



Blessings,
Bekah