MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WALNUT GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
AUGUST 2016 – VOLUME 8
Church Events
 Free Rummage 8/6
 All Church Picnic 8/6
 Youth Mission Trip 8/78/12
 Council Mtg. 8/8
 Deeper Roots 8/9-11,
16-18, 23-25, 30-9/1
 Deacons Mtg. 8/14
 Eunice Club 8/15
 Nursing Home Church
8/21
 Meals on Wheels 8/2226
 Team Mtgs. 8/22
New Deeper Roots Series!
Each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
through the month of August!
(Details inside)
Eunice Club
will meet on
August 15th at
Mandy
Chupp’s
home.
All Church Picnic is
Aug 6th at 4pm. Bring
side dish, lawn chair &
a life jacket if you want
to swim!
Jelly &
Canned Fruit
Office hours
have resumed
back to normal.
Monday – Friday 8am – 1:30pm
In August we
will begin our
next study called Life Apps by Andy Stanley.
There are hundreds of thousands of phone
apps available for download. These apps can be used to wake you up, to show you
where to shop, to help you count calories, or to log your exercise minutes. But they
can’t actually make you get up, control your spending, manage your diet or force you
to exercise. The App Store isn’t the only place you can find apps. Did you know that
the Bible has also given us many apps to enhance and improve our lives? In this 6 part
series, Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson identify five life applications worth living by:
the forgiveness app, confession app, rest app, trust app and encouragement app.
Please join us at one of the following locations:
Tuesdays: Edwards’ Funeral Home at 1pm & Jerry & Julia Hudson’s home at 6pm
Wednesdays: Vaughn & Debbie Plunkett’s home at 6pm
Thursdays: Frances Hudson’s home at 8:30am
Sign up under the Deeper Roots Connection Board in the North Entryway.
From our Pastor...
Pop quiz! Can you guess the Greatest Public Works Project in American history? It is a project that has
impacted every single person living in our country; it radically reworked commerce, exploration, and
economics. The answer is literally where the rubber meets the road. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956
when it was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower revolutionized transportation. Whether you are a
snow bird driving down to Florida to escape from another blustery winter or you are just taking in an Illini
game in Champaign, it is all dependent on the interstate and infrastructure.
I know what you are thinking: Roads are boring. They can be annoying when there is construction that slows
us down, they can be confusing after we take a wrong turn, but they are pretty straightforward beyond that. As
long as you have something with four wheels, whether a shiny Cadillac or a rusty red ’84 Ford Fiesta (my first
car) you can access millions of different destinations.
Infrastructure is something we usually take for granted until it stops working. When you are driving over a
bridge you don’t usually stop, get out, evaluate the structural integrity and then carefully roll across.
Why does this matter to you? Since Walnut Grove Christian Church is the church at the crossroads and we
have had a presence in the community since 1889, it might be a good time to look at our infrastructure. I’m
not thinking about the building itself, but rather the bridges we have constructed out into the community and
the experience people have walking through our doors. Next Sunday, I want you to try a unique experiment.
As soon as you drive down 1700N or Filson Road, start viewing the experience from the lens of a new
guest/first time visitor. Pretend you just saw the sign off highway 133 or 130 and you stopped by to
experience a Sunday morning at WGCC. When is the first time you are greeted? Do you know where to drop
off your children or where to get more information about getting plugged into deeper community?
In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth, he told them something radical about his own life and mission of
making disciples. (1 Corinthians 9:19,22-23) Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself
a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have
become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the
sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Where can we become what those who have yet to
know Christ need? Christian journalist Rob Dreher recently pointed out “two-thirds of millennials who were
raised religiously unaffiliated still have no denominational identity today.” If as Paul said, we exist as a church,
“for the sake of the gospel” where do we need to change our methods to achieve our unchanging mission of
making disciples?
Let me know what you see when you look at the church from the eyes of a first time guest. Whereas the
interstate system opened up millions of new destinations, we can offer people a relationship with Christ that
will go with them regardless of where their four wheels stop and which will last into eternity. That is by far the
GREATEST PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT of all time!
- Steven
To finish out the summer, the Seconds class is headed to the bayou for August!
“Honk, honk-honk-honk, honky-honk-honk.” If you are a fan of the TV show, “Duck Dynasty” you
probably understood that call!
Translation for all you yuppies: join Phil, Alan, Jep, Jace, Willie and Uncle Si
Robertson for “Faith Commander” a study on how to apply New Testament
lessons to your everyday duck hunt life.
The Robertson family discusses some of the Bible’s most-loved parables. You
will learn how to build a legacy of faith and apply five faith-based values to
your life. With their trademark humor and commitment to faith in Jesus, the
Robertson family will challenge you to live a new kind of life.
Join us as we meet in the church basement – classroom across the hall from Pre K/K class at 9:30
am to study “Faith Commander” during August.
Mission of the Month: Illini Christian Missions
The Mission of Illini Christian Ministries is to glorify God by restoring and empowering families.
Since 1967 Illini Christian Ministries, Inc. (located in Champaign) has focused on protecting and
caring for children at risk and preserving families. Numerous children and their families are
served yearly by our dedicated Christ-focused staff. Whether the problems are abuse, neglect,
crisis pregnancy, infertility, a runaway or behavior-problem child, a parent's inability to care for
their child, or family dysfunction, ICM can help.
Everything they do in the ministry of ICM requires partnerships and collaborations. It is about
connecting those who are in crisis with those willing to serve. It is about connecting with people
and churches who share a vision and passion for a compassionate ministry to children and
families in crisis in their own community and the state of Illinois. It is about connecting resources
and people who can help each other.
There are multiple ways you can help out at ICM. You can become a Prayer Partner, Giving
Partner, Family Care Partner or a Network Partner. To find out about these serving opportunities
or more about ICM, check out their website at www.icmfamily.org.
August 2016
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
Deeper Roots
@ 1pm & 6pm
Auxiliary to
Heartland
Deeper Roots @
8:30am
Free
Rummage
from 8am
– 12pm
Admin Mtg.
Deeper Roots @
6pm
7
10
All Church
Picnic @
4pm
Cara Edwards
Brent Pedigo
Breanne Pedigo
11
12
13
19
20
8
9
Council Mtg.
@ 6:30pm
Deeper Roots
Deeper Roots @ Deeper Roots @
@ 6pm (1pm is 6pm
8:30am
CANCELLED)
Karen
Coombe
Youth Mission Trip
14
15
Jesse Babbs
Mildred Babbs
Julie Ashworth
16
17
18
Deacons Mtg. @ Eunice Club @ Deeper Roots
8am
9am @
@ 1pm & 6pm
Mandy
Chupp’s
Deeper Roots @ Deeper Roots @
6pm
8:30am
John & Hope
Nisbet
Rick Biggs
Steven Stern
Jaye Roberts
21
22
23
24
Nursing Home
Church @ 2pm
Team Mtgs.
Deeper Roots
@ 1pm & 6pm
Deeper Roots @ Deeper Roots @
6pm
8:30am
Jayde
Hoshauer
Allison Boothe
Emerson &
Norma Jean
Moore
29
30
31
Deeper Roots
@ 1pm & 6pm
Deeper Roots @
6pm
Meals on
Wheels
Mike & Kay
House
28
Lynn Leffler
Don Munson
Cody Coombe
25
26
27
`
Often times we get discouraged. Whether that is at work when things don’t go right, or when the bills come in.
Other times we get discouraged because of stagnation. We find that we are sitting still when there should be
progress. That raise didn’t come like we thought it would, or we look in the mirror and we find that the diet isn’t
working as fast as they said it would. I find that many times when we get down and out it is because we lose sight
of the big picture. We get so microscopic with our focus that we can’t really see forest through the trees.
Many times the big picture takes much longer to develop than the small ones so we run right passed the larger
view of our situations and get caught up in the small minutia of daily life. What we need to realize is that just as
God had long suffering, we need to realize that our life is more of a marathon than a sprint. This is common sense,
but we get so caught up in the speed of everything around us that common sense is left at home on the counter
like many of our breakfasts.
I find myself many times trying to go so fast in this life that when at the end of the day I can think of four to five
things that I should’ve done or forgot to do entirely, mainly because I was so focused on a remedial finish line
rather than the end goal. The race we are on is not a short quarter mile sprint or jog, but instead it is a long path
with bends and hills and valleys and distractions and “shortcuts” and detours.
This life is a long road. If you find yourself discouraged, down and out, not stacking up or not meeting your
expectations, remember this: we must run the race laid out for us. When we run the race laid out for us, that
means not running the race that others must run. It also means that the race isn’t just a day, week, month, or year
long. It is a life time. We are all on the long road. Take a deep breath. Rome wasn’t built in a day; neither will your
spiritual life. Sometimes our race requires baby steps. May the God of peace equip you with all you need for this
journey. Blessings and joy to each of you.
`
Published and mailed by
Walnut Grove Christian Church
12930 E County Road 1700N
Arcola IL 61910
Office Phone (217)-856-2155
www.walnutgrovecc.org
WORSHIP
10:30am
SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30am
FELLOWSHIP
9:00am
Steven Stern………Pastor
Aaron Boothe ………Youth Pastor
Tera Arnold……….Ministry Assistant
Deanna Woolley…….Bookkeeper
Diana Groff…….… Custodian
OR CURRENT RESIDENT