Carl O. Bickel, Ph.D.
Pastor
Office phone & fax (301)249-6411
Home phone (301)249-5885
Church School 10:00 a.m.
Worship 11:00 a.m.
web page http://www.unitedparishbowie.org
| United Church of Christ | Presbyterian |
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Carl O. Bickel, Ph.D. Pastor Office phone & fax (301)249-6411 Home phone (301)249-5885 |
| MITCHELLVILLE AND
MT. OAK ROADS Church School 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:00 a.m. |
email pastor@unitedparishbowie.org web page http://www.unitedparishbowie.org |
| If you are new to the Bowie area, we invite you to worship with us at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. A nursery is provided. Christian education for children, youth and adults is Sunday at 10 a.m. We are affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Church of Christ. |
As part of the Christian Education program, we have been meeting together for a brief worship service the first Sunday of the month. On March 3, the children were fortunate to hear about India from Josi Hillary. They learned of the Sarojini New Life Center, an orphanage in southern India. This orphanage started with 20 girls in 1979 and is currently taking care of and educating 70 girls. Our children also learned that the orphanage is in need of funds to continue their mission.
As part of our monthly worship, we have been taking an offering. Our children have decided that their offering should be used to support the Sarojini New Life Center. Soon, your child will be bringing home a small bank to collect their offering, which they can then bring to Sunday School on the first Sunday of the month. We will be working with Josi Hillary to forward the funds to the orphanage. If you have any questions about this mission effort, please feel free to contact me.
Marva Connolly, Christian Education Coordinator
The following talk was given by Brie Cianelli, a member of the United Parish, following a recent Wednesday night Lenten dinner.
Years ago when the adult Sunday School class met in the church house, I was fortunate enough to participate in a remarkable experience. We were eight to ten adults who met every Sunday morning. We studied some profound books--and the group itself became profound--the questing, the growing and the learning was so intense that that experience has never been replicated, and now I believe it never will. It was an amazing 4 or 5 years--hardly any of us ever missed a Sunday--there was such an open free flow of ideas.
One of the books we studied that affected me profoundly was called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. There were 12 disciplines listed and as a group, we decided to read about the discipline and then try to put it into practice. Then we reported to the group how it went. Some of these disciplines that we practiced were new to me. Some of the things we tried, I liked so much, I continued doing them for years, and some even until today, 20 years later.
Of the 12 disciplines, I will discuss only 4. The others may be more useful or helpful to you, but this talk is designed just to encourage your interest. Foster's book is in the library--you can read it and experiment with the disciplines yourself.
Meditation: If you are not familiar with meditation, Foster recommends you begin seated in a comfortable chair. Try to meditate at the same time and place every day 5-10 minutes to start. First, learn to "center down." One activity is to begin by placing your palms down--turn all your concerns over to God--be specific (p. 24). Then turn your palms up and pray (p. 24). Spend the last moments in silence--do not ask for anything--allow the Lord to commune with your spirit, to love you. Foster offers other suggestions to try when you begin meditation. He suggests you meditate on an aspect of nature, meditate on scripture (p. 26). Or picture yourself walking down a lovely forest path (p, 27-28). God speaking to us to do ordinary things has been very true for me.
A huge influence for me was the discipline of fasting--fasting was common among Bible personages. I learned a lot from experimenting with it. Scripturally fasting meant abstaining from all food, but not water. There are all kinds of interesting benefits to fasting--increased effectiveness in prayer, guidance for decisions, increased concentration, revelations. God rewards those who diligently seek him.
Begin with a lunch to lunch fast--skip 2 meals (p. 49). Then try a 24-hour fast drinking lots of water. When your stomach complains, tell it to settle down. I remind myself that God designed us to be hungry and those feelings are good and acceptable--nothing needs to be done. Use the time you would spend eating on meditation and prayer. Do not tell others what you are doing--you are fasting for holy rewards--not to impress others.
I practiced fasting for 36 hours, 3 meals, lunch, dinner, breakfast for 18 months. My goal was 2 years, but I stopped because it made me so much more concerned about food--I would daydream about meals or desserts and anticipate eating even when I wasn't fasting. And it caused me to gain 10 pounds. BUT the spiritual rewards during that time were fascinating; I learned things about myself and God I never would have known.
Simplicity: I remember in our class we all agreed to give away something that we dearly loved. It had to be something that we felt we couldn't live without. Foster wrote that our culture has encouraged us to develop an insane attachment to things (p. 70). Jesus made it very clear in numerous instances--more than any other single social issue. Seek God's kingdom FIRST--and everything else will fall into place in its proper order. We need to cultivate an inward spirit of trust--we don't always share our goods because we are anxious about tomorrow. Foster lists 10 excellent principles one of which was: reject anything that produces an addiction in you--eliminate addictive non-nutritional drinks like coffee, alcohol, Coke. Eliminate chocolate, TV. Simplicity is freedom, not slavery. Refuse to be a slave to anything but God.
Getting back to what we would give away, Foster gave away his beloved bike. I remember thinking if I truly took this book seriously, I would give away my horse. It made my blood run cold to think of it--it was too close to giving away my child and I didn't/couldn't do it. I can't remember what I did give away--we all did give away something we dearly loved.
Learn to enjoy things without owning them (p. 80).
Obey Jesus' instructions about plain speech (p. 81). To this
day, I try not to say I'm starved,
or I'm
exhausted.
Worship: God actively seeks worshipers. It must come from the heart--God must touch and free our spirits before we can enter his realm.
We must come to worship with a holy expectancy.
(p. 141 top)
We cultivate this holy expectancy. In our class, we practiced entering the sanctuary early and with reverence. No talking or greeting people noisily. We prayed for Carl and Shirley--lifted them up in prayer with our minds, imagined God's radiance surrounding them and empowering them to speak the truth boldly, (p. 142 4th paragraph). Another example we tried was to pray for people in cars next to us at red lights.
These are just some examples of things we learned from this book about Christian discipline that I put into my life and continue until this day. Again I urge you to check out this book and read it for yourself. You will live differently from then on.
A six-year-old was overheard reciting the Lord's Prayer at a
church service: And forgive us our trash passes, as we
forgive those who passed trash against us.
A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon
dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and
whispered, Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let
us go?
After the christening of his baby brother in church, little
Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His
father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy
replied, That priest said he wanted us brought up in a
Christian home, and I want to stay with you guys!
Once upon a Tree, a cantata written by Peter Choplin, will be presented Sunday, March 17, at 11:00 a.m. at the United parish of Bowie. Music rendered by the Adult Choir will depict divine-human suffering and the Messiah's ultimate victory over death. The story will lead us through the range of human experience: the celebration of Christ's triumphal entry, the struggle of Gethsemane, the tenderness of a mother's grief, and anger in the face of injustice. The choir is directed by Diane Eades, and the accompanist is Sue Kennedy. For more information please call (301) 249-6411. Visitors are welcome.
The last of six Lenten Dinners will be from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on March 20. Following a meal together, we will have a brief worship service. The meal is provided by volunteers from the Church who sign up to bring the various parts of the meal. There will be a cost of $2.00 per adult and $1.00 for children. Child care will be available following the meal. This is a good way to mark the season and to have an opportunity for fellowship.
On Maundy Thursday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m., we will have a special service at the Church consisting of a dramatic reading by members of the congregation followed by the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The Easter celebration of the resurrection of Christ will be 11:00 a.m., Sunday morning, March 31.
On April 7, Dr. Kwasi Kwak-Kye-Nuako, Professor of World Religions at Howard University, will speak at 10 a.m. at the United Parish on Islam in the world today. This lecture is part of the church's series on Islam. All are invited.
The Book of Job is probably the oldest book in the Bible and thus one of the earliest pieces of literature known to man. Yet, it speaks quite plainly and powerfully to the modern man and provides insights into thoughts and struggles of the human soul. It also deals with the age-old question: "Why the righteous suffer?" Job does much soul-searching after suffering bone-crushing experiences and finds comfort only when he encounters God and recognizes His sovereignty.
In addition to the Bible, we will use the book, The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation, written by Bill McGovern, Journalist, Environmentalist and a Sunday School Teacher.
The sessions will start May 5, at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings at the United Parish and meet six times and be led by Nikki Hillary.
Please sign up in the narthex or phone (301) 249-6411.
Are you sitting around home on Tuesday nights looking for something to do? Do you want to make new friends and have a good time? If so, The United Parish of Bowie has something for you. The UPB Young Adults group meets every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for a time of fellowship and Bible study. All young adults are welcome to join us at the church.
Do you want to deepen your faith and become more involved in
Bible study? Women of the church, their friends and neighbors
are invited to a six-week Bible study for women which will
begin after Easter. The first meeting will be Friday, April 12
from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Please take an hour to reflect with us
on these six Fridays. Babysitting will be provided. The
biblical book or study will be announced shortly. If you are
interested or have questions, please speak to Kay Eisinger,
Brenda Clyde or Shirley Bickel.
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The senior high youth group continues to meet on Sunday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 at the church. We have games, treats, and Bible discussions in our meetings.
Seven of us went skiing and snow-tubing at Ski Roundtop in January. The weather was great with snow showers in the morning and blue skies in the afternoon.
Ten of us are going to Ocean City for a 3-day Senior High Christian Conference on March 22-24. The conference will feature nationally known Christian speakers and popular Christian rock bands. We are looking forward to a very rewarding weekend.
Please contact Brian Hunt or Gene/Jan Barbato if you have questions related to the youth group.
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