THE SALT SHAKER

Issue #03-2016

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The Salt Shaker

March 2016 LOVING GOD – GROWING TOGETHER – SERVING OTHERS

My Words from God’s Word by Paul Veerman At a recent conference we were challenged by the speaker to take a Biblical passage and rewrite it in our own words, based on our feelings and thoughts at the time. We were given four options from Scripture, paper and pen, and the time by ourselves to reflect and write. I chose Isaiah 62:3, and 5 with smatterings of Philippians 4:1 and 1 Peter 2:9. This is how the passage was given to me. “You are a crown of splendor in my hand, a royal diadem (crown) in the hand of your God. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so I, your God, rejoice over you” . . . “For I love you and long for you, my joy and my crown” . . . “my special possession.” What follows is my interpretation of that passage. Here goes!

Hi Paul, You are put in a position of honor in my Family. You are not alone. My hand is upon your shoulder. We walk together as beacons of light moving in a dark world that is too preoccupied with itself to care. I care. I rejoice over you, my son. I am your adopted Father and I love you as much as I love my only Son. You bring joy to me even as we walk through life one step at a time, occasionally taking wrong turns and stepping in stuff. It doesn’t matter. Stepping in stuff is not a reflection of my disappointment in you. Let’s move on...together...in joy...with honor and without guilt. You are not alone…ever. When you remove my hand from your shoulder, I am still here. When you wander, I am following and watching and waiting for you to ask me to guide you and again put my hand on your shoulder.

Turn to me and see that I am smiling at you. Turn to me to know that I have never ever left you alone. Turn to me so we can again walk together, our lights illuminating the path before us. Turn to me, feel my hand on your shoulder, see my light directing your path, know that I am smiling and delighting in being with you. – God My reinterpretation went beyond the passage, but it was cleansing to put the passage into my own words and it helped me to verbalize my feelings. When the exercise was done, I actually sensed His presence through it all. It is my encouragement to you to take the time to read a passage of Scripture and put it into your own words. It will help you to grasp a more personal meaning, especially during this Lenten season. There are Five Sundays in Lent. Do one each week. This is my suggestion: (continued on page 2)

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Service Ministry by Bill Morin, Chair

Thank you for your Christmas gifts! In December, your faithful service provided Covenant Church the great privilege of being Christ’s Christmas blessing to 23 children of Gethsemane Assemblies of God Church in Bridgeport as well as giving added gifts for families of the Bridgeport Rescue Mission. The smiles on the kids’ faces at Gethsemane Assemblies of God Church tell it all! The families were so blessed by your generosity.

Easter Basket Opportunity to keep helping kids in need. . . You can bless some”bunny” for Easter by providing an Easter basket for the children (ages 1-11) of

Gethsemane Assemblies of God Church. Look for a signup poster in the Welcome Center beginning Sunday, February 28th. Baskets need to be returned to church prior to Palm Sunday, March 20th. Feel free to contact Charlene Skok for any questions (203.373.0547 or [email protected]). What a great way to share the gift of Christ’s resurrection and love for each of us.

EASTER BASKET OPPORTUNITY Check out the poster in the Welcome Center beginning Sunday, February 28th where you can bless a child at Gethsemane Assemblies of God Church in Bridgeport this Easter.

My Words from God’s Word by Paul Veerman (continued from page 1) 1. Block out an hour of time in a quiet room. 2. Select a passage of Scripture. 3. Pray that the Lord will give you special insight. 4. Start writing. Be honest and personal. No one will read it, but you. Suggested passages for Lent: 1st Sunday – Luke 4:1-13 – Jesus tested in the Wilderness 2nd Sunday – Psalm 27:1-5 – The Lord is my stronghold

3rd Sunday – Psalm 63:1-8 – The longings of David while in the desert 4th Sunday – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 – New creations in Christ 5th Sunday – Philippians 3:7-11 – Righteousness that comes from God Other passages are: The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13; Vine and branches – John 15:5-9; Love chapter – 1 Corinthians 13:1-7; Thanksgiving & prayer – P hilippians 1:3-11; Respecting authority – 1 Peter 2:13-17

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Tenebrae Service of Shadows Holy Communion We commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples.

Tenebrae Tenebrae means “darkness”. It is a worship service experienced in the 4th century that helped Christians enter into the darkness of our world that led Jesus to the cross. Together we will be called to listen, reflect, and pray . . . allowing the Holy Spirit to impact us as He will!

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BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 3/2 3/3 3/4 3/7 3/8 3/10 3/11 3/15 3/19 3/21 3/23 3/24 3/27 3/28 3/30

Colleen Herrmann Zach Wirth Karen Domena Jessica Estrada Phylis Linder ♥Bob & Ruth Lewis♥ Crista Forstrom Nick DelBuono Chuck Forstrom Missy White Ron Koenig Ashlely Austin Dylan Lindeberg Kristina Meyers Ann Boyle Logan Meyer Dylan Meyer Terry Morgan ♥Bob & Linda Fiscus♥ Bob Lewis

EASTON BOY SCOUT TROOP 66 ANNUAL GOURMET BREAKFAST Easton Boy Scout Troop 66 will be hosting their 10th Annual Gourmet Breakfast on Saturday, March 15th from 7:30 am to 12:00 noon at the Easton Community Center, 364 Sport Hill Road. Chefs will be cooking made-to order omelets, Belgian waffles, crepes and Danish Ebelskivers along with other traditional meal choices. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

Treasurer’s Report by Bob Fiscus, Treasurer

The Financial results of the General Operating Fund for the one month ended January 31, 2016 were as follows: Offering Receipts $42,869 Investment & Other Income 314 Total Income $43,183 Expenses $39,458 Excess of Income over Expenses $3,725

First, the good news. Offering Receipts for this January were nearly $11,000 higher than a year ago and this year’s monthly surplus was much better than last January’s $12,000 deficit. There were seasonal reasons for this improvement. There were five Sundays in 2016, versus four in 2015. Moreover, church was cancelled in one of those four last year due to snowstorm. There was a storm one weekend this year, which diminished worship attendance and offering receipts. Compounding the low offerings last year were higher (than 2016) expenses due to three, rather than the normal two, staff payroll periods.

On the other hand, Offering Receipts for January 2016 averaged $8,574 per week. In order to meet project expenses for this year, Offering Receipts must average $10,713 per week, which means we are heading into the next eleven months with a need to overcome the $10,695 shortfall in January’s Offering Receipts. While it is encouraging that we had a “bottom line” surplus in January, it is very important to bear in mind that much higher expenses will occur in the coming months that will quickly extinguish the early surplus. The high quality ministry of this church can only be maintained through generous and consistent giving by everyone in the congregation. If you have not already joined them, please pray that the Lord will provide the means to lead you in that direction. Remember, the ministry continues even if you have a missed a Sunday or two.

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Children’s Ministry by Roseann Slater, Director of Children’s Ministry

Family Easter Event We’re having a choose-yourtoppings breakfast bar, accommodating different dietary needs. Invite your neighbors!

SAVE THE DATE 2016 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL July 25-29

Brochures with more info are available on the Children’s Ministry Bulletin Board (near the kitchen) and in the Welcome Center.

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9 to 10 am! We are studying the Gospel of John.

Youth Ministry by Debbie Packnick, Director of Student Ministry First, I’d like to offer a sincere thank you to our congregation for the beautiful Christmas gift I received in January. I was so touched when I received that check. May the Lord bless each of you for your generosity and the support you give to me every day. I absolutely LOVE my role here at Covenant Church of Easton and feel so blessed to be a part of this community of saints who love God, grow in their faith and serve others with such passion! Our High School and Jr. High winter retreats were a HUGE success! We experienced the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in so many amazing ways! We heard some excellent, Biblical teaching, experienced an intimate time of Holy Communion, prayer and sharing, indoor mattress sled riding, winning a pogo stick from the Price is Right, an amazing answer to prayer, silly pranks and so much more! Thank you to those of you who graciously helped fund some of the scholarship needs we had so that every youth who wanted to attend, was able to go. Our Foundations class had to (sadly) say goodbye to Ethan and Daniel

Skyping with the Lingls

Lingl when they moved to Florida late last year. But Mr. Kyle (Lent) and Mr. Bill (Austin) decided to use modern technology to Skype in to the Lingl’s home last month to help keep them connected to their Foundations class via computer screen! We had an opportunity to head into Bridgeport on Sunday, January 17th with several car loads of youth to bless the folks living on the streets with warm coats, shoes, clothes, scarves, hats, gloves, blankets and other items we were able to collect from our closets and friends and family. Our youth are some of the most generous and compassionate kids I’ve ever worked with. I wish you could have seen them ministering to the people we met that morning! We plan to visit the people of Bridgeport again soon to bring the items we collected from our “clothing swap” we held on February 17th. The following is our weekly schedule (Encourage your youth to invite their friends!): OASIS (High School) Youth Group Wednesdays - 7 to 9 pm

More information about Youth Ministry programs are available on the church website or by contacting Pastor Debbie (203-668-5350 or [email protected]). An email goes out to all youth/families each week with details about our topics and upcoming events. Contact Debbie if you’d like to be included in this weekly email.

Saturday, March 19, 10 am-1 pm All Jr. High and High School youth are invited to join us in the Fellowship Hall to help work with children to coordinate craft projects for Easter Baskets.

Monday, March 21 OASIS youth are invited to meet at church at 4:30 pm when we’ll visit Cesar Battala School in Bridgeport for local Easter mission project.

JHAMS (Jr. High) Youth Group Thursdays - 7 to 8:30 pm

Wednesday, March 23

CROSSFIT Youth Bible Study Sundays - 9 to 10 am

Thursday, March 24, 6:30 pm

ALL High School youth (and Foundations graduates in 8th grade) are invited to join us for our Crossfit Youth Bible study on Sunday mornings in Pastor Cary’s office from

NO OASIS All OASIS and JHAMS youth are invited to join us for small group time prior to the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service.

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IMAGINE    

BATHING your child in polluted water! Your TOILET gets emptied into your drinking water! Being a parent whose child is ill due to dirty water/sanitation who has to decide whether to sell their chicken or livestock to buy medicine vs cooking the chicken for the family’s dinner? AND with dirty water, the child will get sick again. . .thus a vicious cycle! Strapping a 25-40 pound water container (aka “Jerry Cans”) on your back every day to fetch water – dirty water – for your family!

FACTS      

2.5 Billion people (35% of the world’s population), including almost one billion children, live without basic sanitation Every 20 seconds a child dies as a result of poor sanitation – that’s 1.5 million preventable deaths each year 783 Million people in the world (roughly 11% of the world’s population) do not have access to safe water In developing countries, 70% of industrial waste is dumped untreated into waters where they pollute the usable water supply SAFE water is the first step toward breaking the CYCLE of poverty Every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates at least $4 in increased economic opportunity

A CALL TO ACTION A team has been organized and goals have been set to . . . . 1. Raise $10,000 by June 30, 2016 for Covenant World Relief Project Blue 2. Work with the people of Haiti, and possibly the town of Fond-Des-Blancs 3. Help fund, support, AND SUSTAIN a clean water system (i.e. Water House, Water Well or Pump, or Water Filtration) 4. Pray, pray, and pray some more

MAKE A DONATION TO CCOE – PROJECT BLUE - HAITI To make a donation to help provide clean water, copy & paste this link into your web browser:

https://give.covchurch.org/fundraiser.aspx?asset=48

MISSION STATEMENT & PURPOSE CCOE – PROJECT BLUE – HAITI We as a community have been called to serve those in need, enabling transformation in communities through access to clean water leading to better health, education, and opportunity. For ALL are worthy of dignity and respect because we are made in the likeness of God to be transformed more into the likeness of Jesus, our Lord.

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THE SALT SHAKER

Issue #03-2016

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Sunday

Monday

*3/15 = SALT SHAKER DEADLINE

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BOOK SWAP 9 am Worship, Adult Sunday School, Foundations & CrossFit 10:45 am Worship & Children’s Worship

4 pm Outside Group 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm AA

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9 am Worship, Adult Sunday School, Foundations & CrossFit 10:45 am Worship & Children’s Worship

6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm AA

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21 4:30 pm Youth Easter Mission Trip 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm Council 7:30 pm AA

Regular Sunday Schedule

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28 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm AA

Regular Sunday Schedule

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Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

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9:30 am CBS Leaders 11 am InterVarsity 5:30 pm King’s Kids 6:30 pm Friends Night Out 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7 pm Prayer 8 pm InterVarsity

8 9:30 am CBS Leaders 11 am InterVarsity 5:30 pm King’s Kids 6:30 pm Friends Night Out 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7 pm Prayer

15* 9:30 am CBS Leaders 11 am InterVarsity 5:30 pm King’s Kids 6:30 pm Friends Night Out 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7 pm Prayer

22 9:30 am CBS Leaders 11 am InterVarsity 5:30 pm King’s Kids 6:30 pm Friends Night Out 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7 pm Prayer

29 9:30 am CBS Leaders 11 am InterVarsity 5:30 pm King’s Kids 6:30 pm Friends Night Out 6:45 pm Women’s Life Group 7 pm Prayer

9 am Outside Group 10 am Prayer @ Avila home 6 pm OASIS Leaders 6 pm Project Blue Committee 7 pm OASIS NO Choir

7:30 am Women’s Life Group 8 am Outside Group 7 pm JHAMS 7:15 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm Men’s Life Group

9 9 am Outside Group 10 am Prayer @ Avila home 7 pm OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

16 9 am Outside Group 10 am Prayer @ Avila home 7 pm OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

23 9 am Outside Group 10 am Prayer @ Avila home NO OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

30 9 am Outside Group 10 am Prayer @ Avila home 7 pm OASIS 7:30 pm Choir

10 7:30 am Women’s Life Group 8 am Outside Group 7 pm JHAMS 7:15 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm Men’s Life Group

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10 am Joyful Sisters Life Group 7 pm AA 7 pm Croasmun Life Group

11 10 am Joyful Sisters Life Group 7 pm AA 7 pm Croasmun Life Group

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7:30 am Women’s Life Group 8 am Outside Group 7 pm JHAMS 7:15 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm Men’s Life Group

24** 7:30 am Women’s Life Group 8 am Outside Group 6:30 pm Youth Small Groups 7:30 pm Tenebrae Service

10 am Joyful Sisters Life Group 7 pm AA 7 pm Croasmun Life Group

25 9:30 am Children’s Family Breakfast 10 am Joyful Sisters Life Group 7 pm AA 7 pm Croasmun Life Group

6 am Men’s Prayer 8 am Men’s Breakfast 9 am Choir 10 am Band Rehearsal

12 6 am Men’s Prayer 8:30 am Women’s Breakfast 10 am Band Rehearsal 5 pm Chili Cook Off & Square Dancing

19 6 am Men’s Prayer 10 am Youth Mission Project 10 am Ober Life Group 10 am Band Rehearsal 12 pm Outside Group

26 6 am Men’s Prayer 10 am Band Rehearsal

31 7:30 am Women’s Life Group 8 am Outside Group 7 pm JHAMS 7:15 pm Women’s Life Group 7:30 pm Men’s Life Group

**Thursday, March 24 7:30 pm

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The Salt Shaker Covenant Church of Easton Loving God, Growing Together, Serving Others

1 Sport Hill Road Easton, CT 06612 (203) 371-8335 www.coveaston.org

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