JULY NEWSLETTER

  

 JUly 2022       

The Newsletter of Jones Chapel United Methodist Church

Independence Day is an important day for our nation, but Jesus was the first to give us our freedom.                                                                                    

We are still having internet issues between our internet and both the joneschapel.net and the church Facebook page, so please excuse us. Also, these blogging pages are free thus they are very imperfect and a little harder to get right. As you can see below. I put all the prayer requests lined up and in order. But when I published the newsletter you see below what I got.

Thank you again for your patience!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Viola Underdown                    Peggy Self                                                          

Bill & Terry Aikens                 Mallory Arp                                            

Beth Heaton                             Jeff Ward 

Kim Babb                                Brianna Winters                                                                                            Darlene Cooper                       Maynard Wilson                        Judy Brewster                        Dan Kizer                                  Jerry Low                                Clifford Lowe                            Abby Hardin                          Bo Shugart                              Amanda Farris                         Family of Ann Waldrop            All moving pastors 1st Sunday, July 3                                    

Louise Wattenbarger                Leonard Waldrop                      Tammy Barker                       Megan Barker                         Coach McPhail’s family          Roger Robertson                       Marty Hochertz                      Hubert Wilson                                 Rodney Kiser                           Sally Curtis                               Area Opioid Crisis                 Karen Rodgers                       Savannah Blair                        Grace Trew                                William Daughtry                  Crowder Family                  Claude’s friend                        Rodney Kiser                             Judy Watkins                         Sandy Lambert Angie Moses                            Jake Duggan                             Tim Crabtree                                                 Mary Lou Haynes                    Jane’s friend’s mother               Cheryl, Joy, Renee, Janie, Ramos            Pickel Family                          Roger Taylor                              Shelly McAllister                                           Always pray for your Pastor                                                      Unspoken requests                Tyler Bain                             Jay Boatman                            Clayton Clenden                        Our Church/Israel                 Dot Humphrey                       Our Nation/Leaders/Military   Ruth Turner                               Kim Wood                            Ukraine war                             Jenny Self                                Carl Ledford                              Family of Ann Underdown                        Justin Coleman                        Stacey & Doug Alberta             Williams Family                   Traveling safety                  Frank Clark                              Diann Gibson                            Steve Davis                           Chad Smith

But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread                                                                    and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.                                                                       Exodus 23:25

                                                                                                                 

Pastor Brad’s Ordination at Holston Annual Conference                 

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain                             faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."                                                      John 8:31-32 (NLT)

Pastor Bert’s Thoughts: 

    Monday is the 4^th of July as we all know. I pray we will all safely celebrate this most monumental day in our nations founding. We all know and look at the founding father’s of our great land. George Washington, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin to name just a few, as there were 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence. All of whom pledged not only their fortunes, they also, by signing this document we hold so dear, were pledging their lives if caught by the British, as they would be tried and executed for treason against the crown. So these men and thousands of others gave up much, and some all, to give us our most precious liberty and freedom we most certainly enjoy. There are many such heroes still giving of themselves to preserve those gifts we enjoy.

    As you celebrate these heroes, also pause and consider the One who gives us more than the relative few years of freedom we enjoy here in this life. John 8:36 (NIV) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jesus great love for us brought us the ultimate freedom for all eternity. Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our real freedom is the gift from our Heavenly Father who gave us His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ. 

    This nation we love, and rightly believe in, was given to us by God, and will only be kept free by Him. Psalm 33:12 (NIV)  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance. So this 4^th of July, thank the heroes past and present who brought us this great nation. But let’s never forget, as God’s people, to thank Him this day and every moment of every day for His freedom and love He brought to us through Jesus Christ.    Amen! 

Pastor Bert

July Church Notes: 

• Sunday Eve. Worship starts at 6 PM in the Chapel.
• Wed. Night Bible Study 6 PM in the Chapel.
• Welcome to Pastor Bert!
• July 25, Wesleyanna-Jones Chapel monthly meal 6 PM.
• Please remember to bring Blessing Box items anytime.
• 3rd Qtr. Mission Offering-TBD
• Any inspirational items you may have for the Newsletter, please give to Pastor Bert, Perry, or Leslye. Or text to Leslye at 423-506-4139. You can text your favorite Bible Verse, also. Thank you to those who have sent items.
• Any church questions, Pastor Bert. Financial questions, Kim Farris.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do                                                                   not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.                                                                           Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY  TO:

2 David Riden

2 Julie Farris

4 Bruce Huber

11 Ann Conry

14 Wes Farris

22 Mary Ellen Shugart

26 Evelyn Rowland (In memory)     

A Devotion for 4th of July

By Carol Knapp from     Daily Guideposts

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you…—Romans 15:7 (RSV)

It was a cloudy, quiet July Fourth for us, that year of 1988. My husband worked. There were no parades. We’d decided not to spend the extra money on fireworks. You can barely see them, anyway, in Alaska’s summer twilight. We didn’t even have a picnic. Yet it’s the Fourth of July that I remember and treasure the most.

The two-story log home where we were living was not our own. We were house-sitting for the summer for our friends Lou and Elsa, who were visiting their native Czechoslovakia for the first time in twenty years. As a young married couple, they had fled the streets of Prague in terror when Soviet tanks swept through the city in 1968. For days before, Elsa had hidden beneath the bed in their cramped apartment with her two little girls. When they left, they could say good-bye to no one. They simply disappeared.

Lou and Elsa found a welcome in the United Sates, eventually making their way to Alaska. They learned English and worked hard. Lou, a master craftsman, fitted each log in their home with mortar and hope. Elsa tended a fruitful vegetable garden and produced wonderful aroma from kettles simmering in her tidy kitchen.

I was alone in Lou and Elsa’s living room in the afternoon on that Fourth of July, when I suddenly burst into tears. This is it, I thought. This is the real Fourth of July. They came to America to find “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and here I am, standing in the middle of their dream. I had a glimpse of how precious this beautiful, bountiful country of ours really is. And so I waved the only flag I had … my tears, genuine and proud.

She’s Yours, Lord, but You’ve allowed us to call her ours. Thank You from sea to shining sea.

I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.               Psalm 119:30-32 (NIV)

JONES CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Pastor Bert Beria (Leslye) 

Services: 590 County Road 778, Athens, TN 37303

Phone:     423-507-5760                                                                                              

Jones Chapel Facebook Page (in the process of being updated but still usable);                                                                                    

Website: joneschapel.net  

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