Christmas Eve Service

During the Christmas Eve service, Kelly and Alyssa sang O Holy Night.



Caroline and Sheila sang Away In The Manger.



Caroline and Robyn sang God Is With Us. If you enjoyed this song, you can find it on Casting Crown's Christmas album called Peace on Earth.

January Newsletter and Calendar

January Newsletter



January Calendar

Adult Sunday School Lesson - December 28, 2008

The lesson will be on 2 Samuel 3. We will be discussing how Abner defects to David's side, but then is murdered by Joab.

Christmas Movie 2008

The youth of our church created a Christmas movie this year that told the story of the birth of Jesus. This was shown at our service on December 21, 2008. Thank you to Robyn for all of her hard work writing the script and organizing this. We all enjoyed it very much!

Anthony, Jody, Bill, and many others also played a big part in getting this together. The movie is split into two parts. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

Part 1 of 2



Part 2 of 2



For those of you interested in how this came about, you probably noticed for the past month that there were sets all around the church. The youth used many church locations and props that were mostly found around the church, and the Junior High boys filmed the scenes. The Junior High boys then used a computer to splice the movie together, add images to the narrations, and add the transitions. So this was a great way to use modern technology to tell the story of the birth of Jesus in a new and exciting way!

Service - December 21, 2008

The choir performed a second cantata. Notice all the new members in the choir? Some of them think they were only in choir through Christmas. So be sure to encourage them to keep singing with the choir! The music was wonderful!!

The first song was Come Let Us Worship The King.



The choir then sang Welcome To Our World, which included a solo at the beginning by Jane.



The third song was Christmas Hallelujah.



This was followed by The Way In A Manger.



The cantata closed out with Oh How Joyfully.



Brian and Caroline sang I Can Only Imagine as our offertory.



Brian and Michelle became members of our church, and they were baptized along with their daughters Alyssa and Karyssa.

Service - December 14, 2008

The choir treated us to the first of two cantatas this Christmas. The congregation joined in on many traditional Christmas carols.

Caroline and Greg sang the Song of Mary and Joseph.



Jane and Robyn sang a song about Mary and Elizabeth called Nothing Is Impossible.



The choir closed out the cantata with Child of Bethlehem.



Several of our youth participated by dressing up as the characters in the Christmas story.



The 3rd Advent candle was lit by Brian, Michelle and Karyssa.



The service concluded with the baptism of Will and Levi.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - December 14, 2008

We will be discussing 2 Samuel 2. Our discussion will focus on the beginning of a long civil war between Judah in the south under David's command, and Israel to the north, under Ishbaal's rule (Saul's son).

This story sets up the hatred that Joab has for Abner and introduces a lot of new characters that will be central in upcoming lessons.

Christmas Parade 2008

Our church had a float in the Boonville Christmas Parade this year. We all had a blast! Thank you to Carla for organizing this event and to everyone who helped decorate the float!!

We had a great turnout. As you'll see in these videos, our float was overflowing with people!

There are two videos available for your viewing. Remember, if you click on the video while it is playing, it will launch at YouTube and you'll have options to view the videos in higher quality.

The first video is the parade highlights. It is about 3 minutes long. Be sure to turn up your audio so you can hear the comments being made :)

In this video, you will hear Matt and Joe desperately trying to control the kids and adults riding the float, and constantly encouraging them to calmly toss their candy to the innocent bystanders. We salute Matt and Joe for their valiant efforts.



The next video is the raw footage taken at the parade. It is a little over 7 minutes long.

Service - December 7th, 2008

During our service, we celebrated the Hanging of the Greens. It began with a reading by Jeff L. that talked about the Christmas tree. While he read, the children decorated the tree.



The remaining readings for the service were done by Bill and Jody.



The 2nd Advent candle was lit by TJ, Abbie, John, Marshal and Lillie. In future services, the remaining candles will be lit by the families of the recent and upcoming baptisms.



The offertory was The First Noel.

Ever Had One Of Those Days?

Adult Sunday School Lesson - December 7, 2008

We will be beginning our study of 2 Samuel. This lessons centers on David's reaction to hearing the news that Saul has been killed.

Service - November 30, 2008

Kyle opened the service by playing a piano solo that he recently played at a piano recital.



The choir sang a Christmas medley that consisted of Joy to the World, Silent Night, and Go Tell It On the Mountain.



Lois, Will and Levi lit the first advent candle. In the upcoming weeks, the families who participated in the recent and future baptisms will continue to light the candles.



Speaking of baptisms, Dillon was baptized during the service. His mother, Danelle, sang I Hope You Dance prior to the baptism.



Many members of Dillon's family were present to be a part of his baptism. In case you haven't met little Dillon, he is the grandson of Diana and Noble.

December Newsletter and Calendar

Here are the newsletter and calendar for the month of December.





As we come out of this season of Thanksgiving, I want to take an opportunity to thank Sheila for all the hard work she puts into the newsletter, calendar and prayer list each and every month. We all really appreciate it!

Lights! Camera! Action!!

The Sunday School classes are joining forces to make a movie about the birth of our Lord and Savior. The scenes will be filmed in various locations throughout the church, so please excuse our recording and lighting equipment! Be sure to watch for the signs that say "Quiet on the set."

The actors and actresses are our very own 3rd through 6th grade students, who will be in costume for the next couple of weeks. Our 8th grade class will be filming the entire movie, directing the scenes, and editing the film until it is in its final form.

Don't miss the world premiere of Hemenway's first movie production. Coming soon to a church service (and this blog) near you!!

Service Music - November 23, 2008

The choir sang a Thanksgiving medley.



The congregation sang two Thanksgiving songs. The first was For the Beauty of the Earth.



The second hymn was We Gather Together.



Allison treated us to some special music during the musical interlude and again during the offertory.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - November 23, 2008

This week, we will be fast forwarding through the life of Saul, beginning with his anointing as king, and continuing up through his death.

We studied Saul's life in detail in Summer Sunday School a few years back, so this is just a review to lead into our upcoming detailed study of David's reign as king.

Service Music - November 16, 2008

The choir sang We Will Stand.



The offertory was Restore My Soul.

Lillie's Baptism - November 9th

Lillie was baptized during the service on November 9th. This is the first of 6 baptisms that will take place in November and December at our church!!

Adult Sunday School Lesson - November 16, 2008

We will be discussing Saul and how Samuel anointed him as king, as well as the people's reaction to this.

Service Music - November 9, 2008

The choir sang a good ole Gaither song called The Church Triumphant however I totally forget to get the camera out in time! They did a wonderful job.

Greg then sang Turn Your Radio On.



Lillie was baptized during the service, so some members of her family led the the songs for the congregation. The first was As The Deer.



The second song for the congregation was Here I Am To Worship.



John played his two recital pieces on piano as the offertory. He will be performing these at a contest on November 15. Several other kids from our church will be playing in the same contest.

Service Music - November 2, 2008

Cheryl and Sheila sang Sheltered in the Arms of God.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - November 9, 2008

We will be discussing how Saul first meets Samuel, while out searching for his father's lost donkeys.

Old Pictures of our Church

While browsing the Internet today, I came across a website selling some old postcards with pictures of our church. I didn't see the year the pictures were taken, but the surroundings sure look different than today, and you don't see many cars today like the one parked outside the church in the color postcard.

If you are interested in seeing them, click below.

View 1st Postcard

View 2nd Postcard

Who Am I?

Be sure to look to the right to see the new Who Am I? poll. This poll has been designed as an effort to get to know more about your church members.

The stunning Miss Loge can be viewed in a larger version by clicking on the image itself.

Enter your guess below the picture, and if you would like to make a comment, just click Comments below this article and add one.

Service Music - October 26, 2008

The service opened with the choir singing Holy Holy Holy.



The Sunday School teachers - Robyn, Anthony and Cheryl - helped lead the congregational songs. Fortunately for all in attendance, Matt (also a Sunday School teacher) kept his mouth firmly shut!

The first song was Shout to the Lord.



The congregation then sang Do Lord. I'm not sure what happened here, but if you look closely enough, you might even see a few Presbyterians tapping their fingers and toes along with the music :)



Robyn and Caroline sang If We Are The Body. We didn't film that one as a version of it is already posted on the blog, but they did a wonderful job as always!

Adult Sunday School Lesson - October 26, 2008

We will be discussing how the Israelites demanded an earthly king, in spite of the warnings from God and Samuel.

October 19, 2008 Service Music

The choir opened the service with I Will Sing of My Redeemer.



The congregation joined the choir in singing Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus



The next hymn was Old Time Religion.



The piano offertory was a song called Redeemer.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - October 19, 2008

This Sunday, we will be discussing the Philistine attack that occurred shortly after God returned the ark to the Israelites. (1 Samuel 7)

Service Music - October 12, 2008

The choir opened the service with Your Grace Still Amazes Me.



Caroline sang Precious Lord, Take My Hand.



The congregation sang the praise song Lord I Lift Your Name On High.



The opening of worship concluded with the congregation singing Victory in Jesus.



Matt played How Great Thou Art on the piano as the offertory.

October 5, 2008 Service Music

Oct. 5th was World Communion Sunday. Caroline sang How Beautiful.



The choir sang a medley that included Wonderful Merciful Savior and We Bow Down.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - October 12, 2008

We will be discussing how the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites in 1 Samuel 6, and the mistakes made by the Israelites upon its return.

Mess Olympics

This has to be the most requested video since we started this blog. I keep getting asked when it will be ready to view. Well after a long wait - here it is!!

This video will once and for all answer the question ... "Did he really eat that dog food?" If you don't know what I'm talking about, just watch the video.

Thank you to Ted and Linda for the hospitality and willingness to let us all mess up their yard!! We had a great turnout and a whole lot of fun getting messy!!



Note: To view this video in higher quality, once it starts playing, click anywhere in the video. That will take you to YouTube. Under the video in YouTube, click the link that says "watch in higher quality". You will see a significant increase in the quality of the video!

BBQ Fundraiser

The BBQ Fundraiser last weekend was a huge success! Thanks to everyone who helped - especially those who got up at 5 AM to cook the meat. Around our house, we are still enjoying all that wonderful food!!

Service - September 28th

Unfortunately the guy with the video camera forgot to bring his equipment this week, so we won't have any videos.

The service opened with a testimony about the story of Mary and Martha and their questions to Jesus about where he was when their brother Lazarus died. Caroline sang a song called Four Days Late. This is a southern gospel favorite written by Aaron Wilburn that was made famous by the group Karen Peck and New River.

Because that dumb video guy didn't bring his camera, here is a link to Karen Peck and her group singing the song:



Continuing his series on credit/investing, Pastor Rob spoke about how we need to invest if the church is to experience growth. He laid out the following points:

1. Focus on a gift-oriented ministry
2. Exhibit passionate spirituality
3. Empowering leadership (not empowered leadership)
4. Form follows function
5. Inspiring worship
6. Small groups
7. Sharing the gospel
8. Love quotient that is higher than can be experienced anywhere else

Adult Sunday School Lesson - September 28th

The Adult Sunday School Class will be discussing 1 Samuel 5. This will cover the events that occurred in the Philistine cities immediately after they captured the Ark of the Covenant.

More Camping Trip Pictures

Here's a link to some more camping trip pictures. I'm still looking for the ghost that scared so many of our youth, but haven't found it yet :)



View Camping Trip Pictures

Youth Group - September 21, 2008

At Youth Group, our lesson was about the Weight of Sin. We talked about how a lot of little thinks (such as lying, cheating, not respecting your parents, etc.) adds up to a big mess. Special thanks to Shelby for helping with the illustration. She said her arms were quite sore afterwards!



The youth were also treated to another special lesson - old school video gaming. While they weren't impressed with the graphical capabilities of the older systems, they were clearly impressed with the fact that their dads still had some game left in them. They looked good playing on that Mickey Mouse TV as well...



Oh yeah, and Josh lost to Matt at soccer... again :)

Service Music - September 21, 2008

Robyn's Sunday School class opened the service with Pharaoh Pharaoh and got the congregation involved. Note the wonderful rhythm of the guy in the front pew - rumor has it Shelby lost a dance-off to him...



Caroline and Sheila sang Are You Walkin' and a Talkin' For My Lord.



Note the piano player at that video nicely telling the guitar player to check her volume before beginning - and the resulting "whatever" hand wave from that guitar player :)

The congregation sang Sweet Bye and Bye.



That hymn was followed by Redeemed.



The choir sang a medley of songs that included Behold the Lamb, Above All and The Old Rugged Cross.



John played You Are My All in All for an offertory, and as always did a wonderful job!

A Nice Hello

We received the following message from Carol Byers the other day, and I wanted to highlight it for everyone!


Dear Hemenway Presbyterian Church family, Now that my parents, Rip and Helen Byers, have moved to Greenwood, Indiana, and are not able to attend the Boonville Presbyterian Church on a regular basis, I appreciate being able to follow the activities of the church through the internet. Vienna, Austria is watching! With great affection, Carol Byers

September 14, 2008 Service

Better late than never, here's the videos from the service on September 14th.

The choir was back from their break and sang a medley that included Spirit of God and Abide With Me.



The congregation then sang two old time favorites, Are You Washed in the Blood and When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.





The offertory was More Precious Than Silver.

Sunday School Kickoff Party

Last Sunday, following the service, there was a Sunday School Kickoff party at Carla and Joe's house. We had a great turnout and tons of delicious food. Thank you to Carla, Joe, Collin and Chase for once again opening their home to the church.

This video shows some highlights of the party, including the cannonball contest. Make sure you watch until the end so that you can see the last of the "kids" doing his cannonball.



Note: To watch a higher quality version of this video, click anywhere in the movie and it will launch Youtube. Below the video on the Youtube page, you can click "watch in high quality".

Adult Sunday School Lesson - September 14th

Here is the Adult Sunday School lesson plan for September 14th.

We will be discussing how the Israelites lost the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines, and also the deaths of Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phineas.

Chicken n Dumpling Fundraiser

Last Saturday was the Chicken n Dumpling Dinner Fundraiser. Thanks to everyone who worked tirelessly to prepare such a delicious meal! We had a lot of great musical entertainment all throughout the evening.

We raised around $1,300 that will go the elevator fund.

Click Here To View All Pictures

Camping Trip Pictures - First Batch

Here's the first batch of camping trip pictures. Special thanks to Kelly, Jeff and everyone else who worked so hard to make this such a wonderful trip for everyone!

I will have more pictures in the near future. From what I've heard, these pictures include some of our boys scared by the ghost in a nearby graveyard. I'm looking forward to these!!

Click below to see the entire album of pictures.

View All Camping Trip Pictures

Testimony - September 7, 2008

The opening words of Judi's testimony provided a challenge to us all - "Are you a liar"? Judi talked about how easy it is (and how destructive it can be) to act one way at church, and then the minute you leave, you become a different person. She talked about how our example needs to be there all the time, because you never know who is watching.



Judi also quotes two great theologians - T.J. and Matt :)

The family theme continued following the testimony with John, Allison, Marshall, Bill, Robyn and Judi singing The Altar and the Door.



If you enjoyed this song, be sure to check out Casting Crowns' album entitled "The Altar and the Door".

Service Music - September 7, 2008

The service music was all about family this week.

Robyn and Allison opened the service with a mother-daughter duet by singing Come Follow Me.



Alyssa and Karyssa, who are twin sisters, and Caroline sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High.



The church family then sang Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Special thanks to Glenn for dragging people on stage - we look forward to more of the same in the future. It is great to see so much of the congregation getting involved.



Be sure to watch for Lillie's dance on the 3rd verse. It is great to see people getting into the music! At Hemenway, we literally dance on the pews :)

Matt played Sing Alleluia as the offertory.



Fortunately for everyone involved, Matt did not dance or sing!

Hemenway Sponsored U6 Soccer Team Schedule

Our church is sponsoring a U6 soccer team this year. Lillie and William are members of this team. If you would like to attend their games, here is the schedule. All games are played on the soccer fields at Boonville Junior High.


Saturday, Sept. 6th, 10:00 AM
Saturday, Sept. 13th, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Sept. 20th, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Sept. 27th, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Oct. 4th, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Oct. 11th, 10:00 AM
Saturday, Oct. 25th, 10:00 AM

August 31, 2008 - Testimony

Robyn gave a testimony that talked about who are we, that God would notice us, no matter we are doing.



She followed it up with a song called Who Am I by Casting Crowns. She was accompanied by her son, Kyle, on piano.

August 31, 2008 - Service Music

The piano prelude to start the service was Shine Jesus Shine.



Cheryl and Caroline sang God of All, with Kyle playing the piano.



During the opening of worship, the congregation sang Above All.



The last song in the opening of worship was Come Now Is the Time To Worship.



It is great to see so many volunteers ready to help lead the songs.

Alternative to Elevator?

Earlier in the week, the Session looked into an alternative for the elevator. Please watch this video below, then click on Comments to share your thoughts on this proposal.

Hard at Work

The work for the Chicken n Dumpling dinner has begun already. Thanks to everyone who came Saturday morning to roll the dough for the dumplings.

Just a reminder to everyone that next Saturday (Sept 6th) is the Chicken n Dumpling dinner. This is a fundraiser sponsored by the Adult Sunday School class to help raise money for the elevator.

See below for further information.

New Ride At Holiday World

OK, I'll admit this has nothing to do with anything church related, but I do know a lot of our families get season passes to Holiday World. Check out this new water ride they are building - it looks amazing!

Service - August 24, 2008

Caroline sang the song "Lord Here Am I". This is a great song about the willingness to live a life where you are always available to do what God asks, regardless of the task or the consequences.



Robyn led Children's Time and talked about "being in a pickle". This video shows her illustration of the Israelites being in a pickle of their very own, as they were trapped between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea.

Testimony - August 24, 2008

One of the newest additions to our service is the "Testimony". In this section of the service, a congregation member has an opportunity to present any sort of testimony that they desire.

While this has often been described as the most difficult part of being the liturgist, it has also been described many times as one of the most meaningful and powerful sections of the service. Thank you to everyone who has taken this opportunity to share with the church.

Here is Caroline's testimony about Colossians 3:17.

Adult Sunday School Class

The Adult Sunday School class is just beginning a study of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. We would like to invite everyone to come join us! Everyone meets around 8:45 AM in the basement for donuts and coffee, and classes begin at 9:00 AM.

Here's the lesson plan for last week and this week:

Chicken & Dumpling Dinner

The Adult Sunday School Class will be hosting a Chicken & Dumpling Dinner on Saturday evening, September 6th. Serving will begin at 5:00 PM; Dumplings will be sold by the quart beginning at 6:30 PM.

Adults: $7.50
Children under 12: $4.00
Quart: $5.50

Carry out and home delivery will be available. Watch your email and the Sunday bulletins for names and phone numbers to call to place your order for home delivery. Please, do not call the church to place a home delivery order.

Entertainment will also be provided during your meal! Come and enjoy an evening of good food and fellowship!

Proceeds will be used for elevator repair.

Service - August 17th

In the opening of worship, we talked about Elisha and the miracles performed at Shunem. You can find these stories in 2 Kings 4. Caroline and Robyn sang a song called "It is Well (Elisha's Song)".



This song was made popular by a southern gospel group called The Isaacs. They have several albums out full of beautiful harmony and songs in the same style as this one. I strongly recommend them if you want some good uplifting music. You can find several of their videos on YouTube by searching for "the Isaacs".

Matt played a good old Gaither classic "I Will Serve Thee" as the offertory.

Youth Group - August 17th

Thank you Carla and Joe for having the Youth Group to their house for a pool party. We all had a great time.

For our lesson, we used an object lesson to talk about misleading people. The youth were mislead into thinking they were searching for hard to find objects in the pool, only to later discover that the objects weren't even in the pool. They also discovered the pool was VERY cold as Joe had just filled it :)

We talked about how easy it is to mislead people with our own lives if we live one way on Sunday morning, but a completely different way the rest of the week.

Here's a video of that first cold splash into the pool (and Tyler getting into the pool whether he wanted to or not...)

Flashback to Christmas 2007

I finally got around to getting this video put online. This is the Charlie Brown Christmas play performed by our youth last Christmas. Carla did a wonderful job as writer, director and producer!! We look forward to another production this year. (hint hint!!)



Pay special attention to Chase at 4:08 into the video :)

August 10th Service

Caroline sang "Here I Am To Worship" to open the service.



Matt spoke about looking for success in the church in new ways. Rather than relying on just the numbers to determine success, it is better to look at the individual victories that may not always be noticed. Caroline drove the point home by singing Ray Boltz's song "Thank You". If you ever get discouraged that your best efforts are not "good enough", come and listen to the words of this song and your perspective will change!

August 3rd Service Music

Here is a song called "Breathe" that was played as an offertory at the August 3rd, 2008 service.

Hemenway Goes Global!

I thought everyone would be interested in knowing that our videos have been viewed by people in many different countries so far.

To date, people from the following countries have viewed one or more of our videos: USA, Canada, Brazil, Philippines, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Moldova, and Croatia.

New Poll

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback through the last poll.

There is a new poll available down the right hand side of this page. Please take a moment to respond!

Youth Group - August 3, 2008

We had a great time at Youth Group on August 3rd. Caroline made homemade ice cream sandwiches, sloppy joes and fried macaroni and cheese. Tyler brought a friend for the second Youth Group in a row, however lost the $50 hockey challenge (10 to nothing if anyone is counting...) Anyone who brings a friend gets to play Matt at table hockey - the first one to beat Matt gets a $50 gift certificate to either Best Buy or Circuit City.

For our lesson, we talked about the past and how easy it is to dwell on bad things that have happened before. As an object lesson, some of our youth walked backwards using a mirror and tried to avoid obstacles laying on the floor. We contrasted this to how much easier it was when facing forward and walking through the same obstacles (which demonstrates looking towards the future, rather than the past).

Here's a video of some of our "contestants".

Controversial Reading Library

What started as a hobby for Matt and Anthony has turned into a cabinet full of books and audio books that will challenge you to really think about your faith in new ways. This "Controversial Reading Library" is available to anyone at church. The library is located in the tall cabinet in the Adult Sunday School classroom. Some of the books will be highlighted here over the next few weeks.

The first two books I recommend are entitled "A Skeleton in God's Closet" and "More Than a Skeleton". These books are a bit of a tough read, however are well worth reading. The first looks at a situation of what would happen to worldwide Christian faith if the bones of Jesus were dug up today, and the second looks into a man that is in Israel who is performing miracles and fits all of the signs of being Jesus.



I guarantee these books will challenge your faith and make you look at things with a very different set of eyes.

Be on the lookout for more information about the books and audio books in the library. Please see Matt or Anthony for more information.

August Newsletter and Calendar

July 27th Service

This week I have received more requests than ever to get these videos online - I think that goes to show how much everyone enjoys the choir at the church. The choir performed at the annual Choir Appreciation Sunday and did a wonderful job. They performed 5 of their favorites songs (all available below).

Be sure to thank the choir members for all of their hard work throughout the year. The choir will be taking the month of August off for a much needed break and will resume sometime in September.

1. For the Glory of the Lord



2. Amen So Be It!



3. Amazing Grace



4. Old Time Religion



5. I Feel The Spirit



The offertory was a song called "I Worship You, Almighty God".

Bulletin - 07/27/2008

Downtown Bible School

Thank you to everyone who helped the past 2 Saturdays by canvassing the local neighborhoods downtown to invite people to Bible School. The Bible School will be held this Saturday at First Ave. Presbyterian Church.

On the first Saturday, Josh, Shelby, Joe, Matt and Rob passed about approximately 300 fliers and on the second Saturday, Shelby, John, Jody and Matt passed out another 300. We should be proud of our youth for willingly giving up their Saturdays to help others.

On the two Saturdays, our youth were treated to greasy cheeseburgers (Zesto and Big Top) followed by golf at Walther's Golf-N-Fun. I posted the score card from the second Saturday - please note the 35 and the 42 were shot by the adults (on a par 46 course). :)



(Josh, if you are reading this - and I know you are - that 35 is an average of 1.9 strokes per hole)

July 20th Service Music

Here is a piano solo of In Christ Alone. This arrangement comes from Anthony Burger (the same guy who wrote the arrangement of Old Rugged Cross that you'll find down further in this blog). He used to tour with the Gaithers and has several CDs out if you like the music.

Youth Group Update

At youth group, the challenge was made to draw a picture of God. I've posted the resulting pictures here for all to see. (click on the picture to view a larger version)

It is interesting to see the various ideas of what God might look like. You will see a purple mass (which represents a robe), an angel, a ball of light, a figure that resembles Mary, a robed king with no face, and then my personal favorite, the "Jay Leno" God (thanks Dakota!).

We discussed why everyone has a different view of what God looks like. We then talked about how when someone is in need (be it spiritually, physically, financially, etc.), their picture of God is the picture that we show them. The way our lives reflect God is the picture that other people begin to form in their minds as to what God looks like.



Josh finally decided to show up for the big soccer video game match and actually managed to win in a shootout at the end of the game. Unfortunately, this victory built up his ego so much that he challenged Matt to a game of air hockey. After quickly going down 6 to nothing, he complained that his fingers were bruised and bloody (which by the way, anyone who has played Matt knows it is part of the game...) and walked away from the match.... another forfeit. I was all prepared to blog about his wonderful achievement in winning a game, but after he refused to play through the pain, I just don't feel I can do it. Sorry Josh!

Sermon - July 21st Service

If you have always wondered what Sonic's tater tots and the kingdom of heaven have in common, you had all of your questions answered last Sunday in Rob's sermon.

Here is the video clip he started the service with - it got more than a few laughs.



On a side note - Sonic's tots with chili and cheese are actually quite good. Should we schedule a church trip to Sonic to further research this point? :)

Baby Pictures!

Dakota brought some pictures of Kileigh to Youth Group last night so I wanted to share them with everyone. She's a cutey!!

Opening of Worship - July 13th

The service opened with Sheila and Caroline singing an old time southern gospel favorite, Wings of a Dove.



John treated us to a piano solo called Jellybean Rag. Great job John!



The offertory was an Anthony Burger arrangement of The Old Rugged Cross.

Sermon - July 13th

Pastor Rob discussed Hebrews 12. The theme was how to run the race of life with endurance - a race that requires each of us as participants to move towards a destination, with some preparation, and always, always keeping our eyes upon Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Then we can make the adjustments that are necessary in changing circumstances.

Paul's presentation in Hebrews 12 shows how necessary it is to give up both sin and extreme preparation since each encumbers believers and keeps them from effectively running (living) a life a faith and practice.

Here is the video that was shown to demonstrate this point:




Side note: I thought the theme of this video was that you should break in your new shoes before running - but ends up, there may actually be a deeper meaning :)

Pastor Rob also used Collin, John and Lillie to demonstrate not being prepared, being too prepared, and fitting somewhere in the middle.

Church Bulletin - 07/13/08

July 13th - Adult Sunday School Class Lesson

July 13th begins our review of the books of Genesis thru Ruth. We will start with a brief overview of each book and then look into the details of the events in the book of Genesis.

The lesson can be accessed below.

Marshall's Baseball Game

This morning, several members of the Hemenway Sports Fellowship Team were in attendance at Marshall's game.

Marshall played great and his team won the game, due to a lot of good hitting and fielding.

If you click below, there are several full size pictures available of Marshall playing.

View All Pictures of Marshall

Several church members met at McDonalds for lunch following the game, as Gattis doesn't open until 11:00 AM. Whatever happened to the good ole days where you could get lunch at 10:30 AM? :(

Our Sports Fellowship Team will be planning further outings to watch our youth play in the near future. Please contact Matt or Caroline for more information.

Wii Fit

There's a lot of us at church that have a Nintendo Wii. We just got our Wii Fit today and you definitely need one of these.

Here's William doing the Short Run where you get to chase a dog. I'm still not sure how I feel about a video game calling me fat, but if you can get your hands on one of these, we definitely recommend it (although I'm already sore!!)

As of today these things are nearly impossible to find, however if you want some tips on how to find one online, come talk to Matt.

Hemenway Bible

I was browsing around on the Internet today and came across an interesting article. It discusses the Hemenway cemetary and plans for the Hemenway Bible to find a home at our church (at the very bottom of the article).

That bible is currently located in a display case in the back of the sanctuary thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Johnson who donated it. It is great to have such a nice piece of our church's history there for all to see.

Read the article

New Baby Has Arrived!

Congratulations to Shelley and Mike for the birth of their new daughter Kileigh. She weighed in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

We stopped in to see them all last night, but only caught a quick glimpse of Kileigh as she was a bit startled by Lizzie yelling "Kylie Kylie Kylie" at her. We weren't able to get a picture, but Shelley promised to provide one soon for everyone to see.

Mom, Dad and brother expect to return home this evening with their beautiful little girl.

July 6th Church Service

You can view the bulletin for the service in one of the postings below. Pastor Rob told the story of Ruth in a very different way, by leaving out the actual names of the characters and instead relying on the meanings of their names. It showed how the story can easily apply to any time and any place.

The service began with a piano solo of "His Eye Is On the Sparrow".




The choir paid another 4th of July tribute with "Let Freedom Ring", a song made popular by the Gaither Vocal Band.



Caroline sang a popular Phillips, Craig and Dean song called "Only You".

Bulletin - 07/06/2008

Here's the bulletin from the service on July 6th.

Congratulations Marshall!

Congratulations to Marshall for winning his baseball tournament last night. He showed up with a huge trophy to show everyone when dropping John off at Youth Group.

Just a reminder - we have a church outing planned to attend Marshall's game on Saturday, July 12th at 9 AM. The cost is $5 for adults, and free for kids. Please contact Matt if you would like to attend. We plan to do lunch afterwards.

For anyone participating in a sport, please provide your game schedule to Matt or Caroline so that we can continue to come enjoy fellowship together as we support our youth.

Tball Pictures

Here are some pictures of Collin, Chase and William in action on the tball field. Click below to access an entire album of pictures of them playing.

View Entire Set of TBall Photos

2nd Batch of Bible School Pictures

Thank you Carla and Joe for the new set of Bible School pictures. I have updated the album with these new pictures.

View Bible School Photos