The Beacon
Blue Mound UMC November 2024
God, I have a day off from school and work.
There are parades and memorial commemorations. TV news specials.
So much busy-ness surrounding Veteran’s Day.
Please help it be more than another day on the calendar.
Even as I enjoy the holiday, help me remember those who made it possible,
the men and women in uniform who served. Life, liberty and happiness
come with a price. On this Veteran’s Day, help me remember those who
paid for freedom with their life and those who came back to live it.
Amen
God Gave Us Our County
The Men and Women in the Military of the USA over the years have secured
our freedoms in many cases with their lives. We set aside Veterans Day,
November 11 to honor these people. One of the freedoms they protect is
the right to Vote. Election Day, November 5 th is one of the days we have
established as a time to Vote.
Jesus Christ secured a superior freedom and peace by His sacrifice.
Thank God I’m Free!
I’ve been asked a couple of times recently about apportionments. The main way we
support the ministries of the global United Methodist Church is through our apportioned
funds. Together, through our connected congregations, we accomplish what no single
church, district or annual conference ever could hope to do alone. In this way, each
individual, each family, each congregation gives a fair share for the church's work. We
combine our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness to make a significant difference
in the lives of God's people.
The general funds include the World Service Fund, Ministerial Education Fund,
Episcopal Fund, Black College Fund, Interdenominational Cooperation Fund, Africa
University Fund, and General Administration Fund. Today, we’ll learn a little more about
the World Service Fund.
The World Service Fund supports health all over the world. One of the four areas
of focus for the United Methodist Church is Abundant Health for all. This initiative has a
vision to reach 1 million children with life-saving interventions. We believe every child is
a life filled with promise and potential, yet, every five seconds a child dies from
preventable causes. The United Methodist Church has a sacred calling to ensure abundant
health for all children, engaging disciples to be agents of God’s healing transformation in
the world by educating, administering direct health services to those in need, and
increasing access to medical care. There is a global movement to significantly improve
health for all people by 2035.
The World Service Fund also helps to develop principled Christian leaders. The
United Methodist Church needs leaders – clergy and laity – to fulfill God's mission for
the Church and the world. United Methodists believe nurturing God's call to Christian
leadership is essential. One of the four areas of focus for the Church is the calling and
shaping principled Christian leaders. We celebrate the many innovative approaches to
developing principled Christian leaders, but also see the need to strengthen a culture of
call throughout the Church so that every disciple's leadership potential can be realized.
This work is supported through the World Service apportioned funds.
Pastor’s Corner – Apportionments Page 2 of 2
The World Service Fund also creates new places of worship for new people.
Creating new, vital, faith communities is critical to the task of making new disciples and
transforming the world. One of the four areas of focus for the Church is to create and
sustain new places for new people with a vision of 1,000,000 new disciples who profess
their faith through renewed and new faith communities around the world. A faith
community is a group that gathers under the lordship of Jesus Christ to worship, engage,
and send. It is within faith communities that we receive new disciples through professions
of faith and increase professions of faith. Some of this work is accomplished through the
World Service apportioned funds.
The World Service Fund also addresses poverty and ministry with the poor. Vital
congregations reflect God's transforming love into their communities and around the
world. As United Methodists, we will challenge and transform broken systems and
structures that create and perpetuate poverty. Leveraging connections and partnerships
within and beyond The United Methodist Church, we can transform communities and
open doors for children to a more promising future. Through the apportioned giving
through the World Service Fund, we envision the people called United Methodists
engaging in at least 400 partnerships that focus on ministry with poor people and
communities.
And the World Service Fund also provides funds for the administrative structure of
our church. It represents the minimum needs of the denomination's general agencies
which serve as a resource to local churches and as an extension of local churches in
ministry and mission on a conference, national and world level. The major thrust in
mission giving in our church begins here. Because our contributions to World Service
Fund cover overhead expenses for our general agencies, every dollar given to relief
efforts goes directly to people in need and every dollar given to support the work of
mission personnel goes directly to those personnel.
I hope this helps you better understand where some of our apportionment dollars
go. Next month we’ll try to understand a little more about how our apportionments
support the Ministerial Education Fund.
Peace be with you, Buster
November
Birthday
02 Bonnie Mika
Dave Rasmussen
08 Jimmy Regan-Leaupepe
14 Miriam Klein
16 Shayne Wright Miller
21 Joe Ewing
22 Karan Muns
24 Stephanie Hutson
25 Jeannie Hardin
28 Robert Hokamp
30 Billy Wright
Anniversary
17 James and Heather Cox
Jeremy and Sausley Kraft
21 Billy and Dana Wright
Happiness Keeps You Sweet
Trails Keep You Strong
Sorrows Keep You Human
Failures Keep You Humble
Success Keeps You Glowing
But Only God Keeps You Going!
Kids Zone
Thanksgiving Prayer You Can Say!
Dear Lord, Thank You for this gift of food
You’ve placed upon our table
And help us all to do Your work
In any way we’re able.
Amen
Calendar
03 Holy Communion
Daylight Saving Time Ends
05 Election Day
10 Second Sunday Lunch, Noon
11 Veterans Day
23 Family Fellowship Night, 6:00 pm Fun, Games, and Food.
28 Thanksgiving Day
Fall Back Saturday Night November 2 nd ,
Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday November 3 rd .
BLUE MOUND UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
8421 N. Interstate 35, Denton, TX 76207-1537 (940) 382-0825
Midway between Denton and Sanger at Exit 473
Sunday School: 9:30 am, Sunday Worship: 10:45 am
Website: www.bluemoundumc.org
Linda Boyer, Newsletter Editor
Need to contact Pastor Buster Noah?
Email: pastor@bluemoundumc.org
