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Plans for the
March UMW
are to go out to supper andhave the meeting at that site.
So--
Come and eat supper with the United Methodist Womenat Parkway Café.We have reserved the back dining area for 6:30 PM.Meet us there on March 10
th
at 2715 North Dirksen Ave.The specials on Tuesday are Monterey Chicken andHomemade Meatloaf.We look forward to seeing you there!
WHY I BELIEVE IN SUNDAYSCHOOL
 
Part 2
I believe in Christian Educationin general and Sunday School in par-ticular because it constitutes opportu-nity for spiritual growth and practice, while also providingfellowship and relationship building. This month I want toshare a recent episode in the Teen Sunday SchoolClass.The lesson that week came from Mark 14:43-51,about the betrayal and arrest of Jesus shortly before hiscrucifixion. The class observed that Jesus’ courage infacing arrest and death came through replacing his fear with confidence in God. The application of the lessonwas to think about letting their own fears be replaced byconfidence in God’s plan for their lives.Working anonymously, they listed some of their own fears: heights, snakes, clowns, roller coasters, fly-ing, people close to them dying, asthma attacks whilealone, burning alive, having kids, haunted houses, scarymovies, loose hair in the swimming pool, and dying.These are real fears, many of them shared by those of us who are not teenagers as well.At the end of the lesson the class came up withtheir own definitions of courage, again working anony-mously. Some of them are listed here:1. Stepping out of your comfort zone and doing or standing up for what you believe2. The act of being brave; intrepid; showing no fear 3. Having the bravery to do a task4. Being willing to do or be near what you fear 5. Having the will to do something without fear of being persecuted6. Being brave in the face of a hopeless situation inwhich everyone else runs away7. To believe in yourself and do brave thingsThese thoughts are both practical and profound.The thing I like most is that, unlike public school andmany other settings the teens experience, in SundaySchool, these things were discussed in specific rela-tionship to the sacrificial courage modeled by JesusChrist, who had complete confidence in his heavenlyFather’s plan while facing his terrifying circum-stances. These are lessons that will serve the teens,and all the rest of us, well throughout all of our lives.Thank you, Sunday school teachers!Pastor Jonathan Dixon
 
 
Riverton First United Methodist Church
M
ARCH
1, 2009
 T 
HE 
O
AKS
 
LOOK WHO HAS A NEW FACE ON THEINTERNET
If you have not looked at our church website lately, youneed to check it out. Ralph Shank has taken over asthe new Webmaster, and has made it very attrac-tive and informative. Our sincere thanks toRalph for taking on this very importantrole. Look for more content in thefuture; and now you can even find this news-letter online before it goes to press!Come visit us at:
www.rivertonfirstumc.org
 
United Methodist Men
Aluminum Can Collection Program
The United Methodist Men are sponsoring an aluminum can collection drive. Proceedswill go to assist the Riverton Food Pantry. You can drop your aluminum cans off at theParsonage garage. A barrel will be available to deposit your cans. For bulk pickupsplease contact Dave Bumgardner at 629-8799.
 
LENTEN OPPORTUNITIES
 During Lent we try to exercise spiritual disciplines to draw close to God and prepare for the Easter celebration. One such activity will be a weeknight Bible study. Pastor Dixon will lead it on Wednes-days at 6:00 PM before the choir practices at seven, beginning March 4.Pastor Dixon will also preach a series of sermons during Lent in our regular morning worship. They will address thefive practices of fruitful congregations, based on the book of that name by Bishop Robert Schnase. These practicesare part of the nine ideas for 2009 of which he wrote in the January newsletter.Our church belongs to a group of similar United Methodist churches in the Springfield area called the OtterbeinCluster. The cluster will hold special joint services at 6:00 PM during Lent. The first service will be at Jerome UMCMarch 1. Our bishop, the Rev. Gregory Palmer will speak. The March 8 service will be at Asbury UMC. On March15 we will host the cluster here at Riverton. March 22 will be at Kumler UMC. On March 29 we, Riverton UMC,have a prior commitment to participate in a community singing celebration here in town at Riverton ChristianChurch. The special Palm Sunday will be jazz worship at Grace UMC at 4 o’clock.Enclosed in this newsletter is one more participation opportunity, a Lenten offering envelope. Please prayerfullyconsider making a sacrificial gift to the ministry of Christ through the church this season. We are struggling to meetour budget this year, but we hope to continue all our ministries as God provides the means through his people.
SCRIPTURE SEEKERS’ SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
The Scripture Seekers’ Sunday School Class has been studying God’s committed fol-lowers of the past. These have included men and women from the Bible, such asMary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Rahab, Nathan, and Isaiah, and considering our owncommitment. The last lesson of the Winter quarter was Isaiah, who answered God bysaying, “Here am I; send me!”We urge any adult in the church who wishes to strengthen his or her faith through Bible lessons and discussionwith others, to join us for class each Sunday. We use the “Adult Bible Studies” from Cokesbury as our resource.We begin our Spring quarter on Sunday, March 1, exploring the creative nature of Christ as it affects human life.Scripture sources will be from Ezekiel, Luke, Acts, and Ephesians. We meet immediately after the worship hour and dismiss by 11:30 AM – in plenty of time for lunch!!
 
MARCHMARCHMARCHMARCH
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat1
First Sunday of Lent
9:30 AM Worship6:30 PM Youthgroup
 2
7:00 PM TrusteesMeeting
3 4
7:00 PM ChoirPractice
5 6
Forged in the Fire,Evangelism Train-ing at Pawnee UMC
7 
 3:00 to 7:00 pmChili SupperForged in the Fire,Evangelism Train-ing at Pawnee UMC
8 Lent
 
2:00 AM DalylightSavings Time Be-gins9:30 AM Worship6:30 PM FinanceComm.7:15 PM Adminis-trative Council
9 10
7:00 PM UnitedMethodist Women
11
6:00 PM BibleStudy 7:00 PM ChoirPractice
12 13 14
7:30 AM UnitedMethodist Men
15 Lent
9:30 AM Worship5:30 Inner City Mission6:30 PM Youthgroup;Newsletter Dead-line
16 17 
St. Patrick’s Day 
18
6:00 PM BibleStudy 7:00 PM ChoirPractice
19 20 21
Iron Shapes Iron; A Men’s Gathering atSpringfield FirstUMC;
22 Lent
9:30 AM WorshipBaptism In Worship
23 24 25
6:00 PM BibleStudy 7:00 PM ChoirPractice
26 27 2829Lent
9:30 AM Worship6:00 PM Commu-nity Singing Cele- bration at RivertonChristian Church
 
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