Gifts of the Spirit - hilltopumchurch.org 2018.pdf · sus' Resurrection. All are welcome to bring flowers to place on the cross in the Narthex. VBS Mark your calendars! Vacation Bible

N E W S L E T T E R O F H I L L T O P U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H

March 2018

Gifts of the Spirit Galatians 5: 22-23: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,

peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and

self-control. There is no law against such things.

Galatians 5: 19-21: Now the works of the flesh are obvious: … impu-

rity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger,

quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and

things like these.

Paul is big on the idea of the Spirit. The Spirit is clearly an important theological idea

for Paul. References to the Spirit fill Paul’s letters as he coaches his far flung flock.

One is quoted here. Paul was having trouble with Galatians Community UMC.

Things had fallen apart after he had left.

I personally like to think of the Galatians readings in terms of car dashboard lights.

When we are in proper relationship with God, our fellow co-laborers in the church

and ourselves our dashboard lights are green. Love, joy, peace and other good things

are displayed consistent with what Paul enumerates in Galatians 5: 22-23. The ma-

chine should work well when the lights are all green. However, we need to check

our spiritual engines when the dashboard lights are red with strife, anger, factions,

envy and the like. In the car dashboard world, green is normally good, red is nor-

mally a problem. Fruits of the Spirit are good; Works of the Flesh are not. Galatians

5 helps us understand and measure how we are doing with this relationship stuff.

The passage is an indicator of relationship.

The issue here is how we use our gifts in order to produce Fruits of the Spirit. Some-

times we know what those gifts are: I am good at numbers and I am not particularly

good at small engine repair. But I didn’t know I was good at numbers until I got

dropped into a position in 1973 that called for me to be a numerical analyst. I strug-

gled for a while but mentors and coaches helped me and turned that struggle into

strength. What we now see as a gift was at one time not a gift. It was honed and de-

veloped by others, plus my own willingness to be coached to success. I had to be a

numbers disciple, a student, for a while. In reality, I am still a numbers disciple, con-

(Continued on page 4)

2 Hilltop Highlights

Denied Pain “Courage is forged in pain, but not in all

pain. Pain that is denied or ignored be-

comes fear or hate.” Brené Brown, Brav-

ing the Wilderness

I think many of us know the expression,

“What doesn’t kill you makes you strong-

er.”

As Brené Brown offers in Braving the Wil-

derness, that expression is sometimes, but not

always, true. Courage can be forged, but

fear or hate might be as well.

Too often those in pain try to talk to

someone, you, me, or another friend,

about their pain. On our best days, we

listen. On our worst, we tell them to be

tough and soldier on. I have, too often,

witnessed this danced out with exactly

this be tough and soldier on choreogra-

phy when asked to deal with depression.

Sadly, I have led this dance myself more

than once.

A person has a broken ankle and we stop,

cast them, operate if necessary and show-

er them with special care. A person has a

broken heart stemming from life’s pains,

and we often, too often in my opinion, tell

them to suck it up and drive on.

On forced road marches in the Army, I

often heard non-commissioned officers

telling soldiers to “take two salt tablets,

put your mind in neutral, and drive on.”

It worked. Often in fact. Not always.

When I comment that we need to be pre-

pared to listen for the pain, it is the deep-

er pain that is being denied, or ignored.

That is the type of pain that leads to anger

and/or fear.

A powerful, insightful, book I read last

year was Hillbilly Elegy. The author deals

well with the deep pain of living in a cul-

ture where that pain is denied or ignored.

To re-quote Brown: “Pain that is denied or

ignored becomes fear or hate.”

I think there are movements in this coun-

try right now feeding from the trough of

denied or ignored pain. These movements

are across our political landscape, and not

isolated to any one group.

As preached in January during our Un-

afraid series here at Hilltop, how people

are often moved to action is through a

careful, intentional dose of hatred that is

used to stoke the ovens of fear, and I used

the pre-Civil War Southern press as an

example of how this was done.

What we have too often is a single coin,

with two sides: one side – fear, the other -

hatred. Fear and hatred are two sides of

the same coin, minted by those who use

that coin to fund and fuel dissension and

separation.

We live longer, have less poverty, are

better educated, and are generally healthi-

er than at any time in human history. But

still we live so often in fear. Communities

lock down because of a shooting and heli-

copters fly over our heads shaking us out

of a world of confidence into a world beset

(Continued on page 3)

Pastor’s Musings

3 March 2018

important. Allowing yourself to be sup-

ported by others serves to help release

that pain.

Sometimes we minister by quietly sitting,

quietly listening.

Sometimes we minister by moving from

sitting and listening to rising so that we

are instruments of change in a world that

might too often be guilty of the charge of

not listening for the pain.

Sometimes, two salt tablets and putting

our minds in neutral is not the Christ-like

response. You figure that out by listening,

and being open to not believing every-

thing you think.

Sometimes what doesn’t kill you, makes

you meaner or more fearful. Learn to rec-

ognize that in yourself. Be alert to seeing

it in others.

Every one of those sometimes contains a

suggested Christ-like response: be a friend

to those to whom love is a stranger.

Selah, Pastor Dennis

Pastor’s Musings

with basic human fear, and we ask do I

face this and rise, or do I flee, and if I do

flee, where do I go that is truly safe?

So often FEAR is Forgetting Everything is

All Right, and that is a basic element of

the human condition. I was told after

Week 1 of Unafraid here at Hilltop, there

are 365 times we are told to Fear Not in

the Bible.

In Romans 5:3-5 we are told “we know

that suffering produces perseverance; per-

severance, character; and character, hope.

And hope does not put us to shame, be-

cause God’s love has been poured out into

our hearts through the Holy Spirit who

has been given to us.” Each of us has a

role in the steps here from suffering to

hope. Moving from suffering to hope is

not a personal, singular journey. Each of

us is a potential messenger of the Gospel

on this journey.

Our task, our sacred call, is to listen deep-

ly for the pain in others (or ourselves) and

be agents that cause that pain to not be

denied or ignored. Listening to others is

(Continued from page 2)

Pastor Dennis’s Electronic Hangouts

His sermons can be found at mantuan.podbean.com.

You can read his thoughts at mantuan.blogspot.com.

4 Hilltop Highlights

Children’s Ministry

Children's Ministry Volunteers Children's Ministry is successful because

of the many dedicated volunteers that

serve on Sunday mornings. This year we

are a few volunteers short. If you are able,

please consider serving the youngest

among us. There are volunteer spots

available during both 9:00 am and 10:30

am worship services for March, April, and

May. To volunteer, please contact Caitlin

at

[email protected].

Easter Egg Hunt The Easter Egg Hunt will be Saturday,

March 31 at 9:00 am. We will have break-

fast, activities for the kids, and of course

the egg hunt! Bring your own basket and

join us!

stantly looking at web sites and articles

about how to better display data so that it

becomes information, but I digress.

I had to trust others to see that gift in me

that I didn’t know that I possessed.

In my learning and growing here, I didn’t

become angry or exercise poor self-

control. In fact, this endeavor became an

object that lead to joy. When it comes to

being a numerical analyst, my dashboard

lights here were never red, always green.

Gifts of the Spirit (Continued from page 1)

Flower Cross On Easter Sunday, Children's Ministry

will host a Flower Cross to celebrate Je-

sus' Resurrection. All are welcome to

bring flowers to place on the cross in the

Narthex.

VBS Mark your calendars! Vacation Bible

School will be mornings June 18-22. Chil-

dren's Ministry is looking for someone to

co-direct with Marilyn. If you can fill this

need, please contact Caitlin Collins

([email protected])

or Marilyn White

([email protected]).

Look to the dashboard lights and cross-

check them against Galatians 5. Green is

good. Red is not good. Listen to your

heart. Listen to others. Listen for

God. Remember that God some-

times speaks in a small, still, voice,

except when small, still isn’t work-

ing.

Selah, Pastor Dennis (This is an edited version of the May, 2016

Pastor’s Musings)

5 March 2018

Member News

The Bionic Porcupines III robotics team

won the 2018 Northern Utah State First

Lego League (FLL) Championship held

February 10 at Weber State University.

The team received the Champions award

for best overall team and won the Robot

Performance award with 395 points out of

a possible 540 points. Because of the team-

work, values and focus exhibited by the

team and their coaches, the Bionic Porcu-

pines III earned an invitation to the FLL

World Championships in Houston, Texas

on April 18th through the 21st.

The team consists of Eric Snaufer, Allie

Drennan, Katie Drennan, Timothy Holt,

Kassie Holt and Carter Lechtenberg.

Team member’s ages range from 9-14

years old and they attend schools in the

Sandy city area. The team coaches are

Mark Snaufer of Orbital ATK, Ben Holt

and Annie Drennan.

Robotics champions are selected not only

because of their robot’s ability to run the

highly sophisticated and autonomous

“missions” but also on the team’s ability

to create a project that gives back to their

community and repre-

senting the highest

standards of profes-

sionalism, cooperation

and competitive spirit.

This year the Porcu-

pines were recognized

for all of these judging

items, including their

community impact.

“Hydrodynamics” is the 2018 FLL project

theme and deals with the use of water.

The team created an iPhone application

that was adopted by the city of Sandy as

part of the city’s water conservation pro-

ject. The Porcupines’ app, called “Water

Bank, “actually allows Sandy city resi-

dents to monitor and adjust their water

usage in an attempt to reduce the wasting

of water. The Porcupines used the princi-

ples of gamification, as taught to them by

Chris Wasden at the University of Utah,

in their app to make it not only education-

al but fun to use. Water Bank is patent

pending.

Additional information on the team pro-

ject and on helping the team go to the

World Championship may be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/

bionicporcupines/

http://bionicporcupines.com/

The Bionic Porcupines gratefully

acknowledge the support given to them

by the Orbital ATK Club Hub Robotics

Club throughout the season. Three other

Orbital ATK supported teams also partici-

pated at the Champi-

onship event, Hard As

Ice, Plasma Storm and

Tie Die Bots.

From left to right, Eric

Snaufer, Carter Lechten-

berg, Timothy Holt,

Kassie Holt, Katie Dren-

nan, Allie Drennan

Bionic Porcupines III Robotics Team Win 2018 North Utah State First Lego League Championship

6 Hilltop Highlights

The lyrics of the song, “O Divine Redeem-

er” written by Charles Gounod in the ear-

ly 19th century contain the following texts:

I pray Thee grant me pardon, and remember

not, remember not my sins. Forgive me!

This an impassioned cry that we all may

have uttered aloud or thought in silence

when we realize that we have failed in

our understanding of what it means to

follow our Lord, or find ourselves having

taken the wrong road. We mistakenly

misunderstand the basic commandment

that love is the basic action required in all

our creations, relationships, actions and

thinking.

Artistic expression in its many forms com-

municates intense feelings and under-

standings; and as we grow in these under-

standings we will find ourselves being

thankful in our new or renewed vision,

seeking forgiveness and learning how to

be “walking in the light of God’s love.”

As we consider it our ministry to bring joy

and enlightenment to those around us, we

sometimes misjudge their interests, our

abilities, and their attention span. It’s an

awkward situation and we, in response,

may misread a lack of a response. We are

disappointed; forgetting the joy we feel as

we build our skills, and performing sensi-

tivities, as we practice singing a song,

ringing bells, playing a flute, perhaps

dancing, or writing a poem. We ought to

celebrate the creative spirit intended by

our Lord as a gift, escape our self- absorp-

Roberta Shimensky

Music Director

801.571-5777

tion, and give praise and thanksgiving to

the source of such wonderful gifts.

God has given us gifts that have brought

joy to all of us. We often forget that He

hears “in perfect” that which we offer. He

has forgiven our imperfections and al-

lowed us to “walk in the light.”

In our recent Fund Raising Concert we

celebrated the gifts of many and shared

with many listeners and members of the

community and as well as our congrega-

tion. We not only celebrated the making

of music, but those who enable worship

and concerts by their support skills. The

sound booth operators enabling our hear-

ing, those whose introductory words gave

an understanding of the mission of each

group, the ushers, and those who prepare

the bulletins (programs). All have partici-

pated in “walking in the light”, and shar-

ing our mission with you.

The choir has an anthem in its library

(Nancy Price/Don Besig) which contains

the following phrase: we will walk in the

light… as is our hope to do so as we sing.

Amen.

Mary Jean was the Co-founder of Hilltop’s

Children’s Music program; the Co-founder of

the Music & Arts Camp, is a former Chancel

Choir member, and is the Co-director and Ac-

companist for Silver Songbirds.

Music & Arts Ministry

Forgiven: Living in the Spirit By: Mary Jean Davison

7 March 2018

Missions

Chili Cook-off March 18th

Start your crock-pots for HUMC’s Super

Bowl of chili. Contestants, who have been

tweaking their recipes over a lifetime or

who have a new one to try on, will be in

Fellowship Hall by 11:45 or so to begin

dishing out their tasty offerings. Try them

all and vote for your favorite with your

money. All proceeds benefit Wa-

ter@Work.

Our BHAG (Big, Hairy Audacious Goal)

has been to raise $8,000 to build a water

filtration system/community water plant

in a community in the Dominican Repub-

lic through Water@Work. Last year

Hilltop sent $3,000 towards that project.

This year, we’d like to fulfill this goal in

full, therefore, all proceeds from the cook-

off will go to this project. This year an

anonymous donor will match donations

up to $800.

All are invited to participate in the chili

cook-off. We welcome vegetarian, moose,

beef, and chicken chili any kind of chili. If

you want to enter, contact Claudia Bilbao

at [email protected].

Mission Trips If you are interested in going on a mission

trip to Puerto Rico or the Dominican Re-

public, dates of both to be determined, let

me (Marilyn White) [email protected]

know. While there, we might skip over to

the DR to see the water projects.

Sanctuary Church Twenty-one or so members of the congrega-

tion attended the meeting on the SLC Sanc-

tuary Solidarity Network (of churches.)

Kristin Knippenberg, an organizer of the

SLC Sanctuary Solidarity Network, and

Sven Haynes, their volunteer coordinator,

told us about the why and how this local

network of churches provide sanctuary.

All acknowledged that there is a problem,

but we disagree over some of the solution

(s). Some have serious misgivings about

HUMC being involved; others are ready to

sign up to help host at First UU. Others at

the meeting were ready to help host. If you

want to volunteer to help local churches

providing refuge/sanctuary to immigrants,

contact Sven Haynes,

[email protected].

Marilyn, [email protected] ,will be glad to

email you a copy of the meeting handout.

We will be looking for presenter(s) with dif-

ferent points of view and others with more

information on local particulars. We will

take no corporate action on HUMC becom-

ing a part of the network without more in-

formation and discussion.

UMCOR Workday Join your friends from Hilltop as we go to

work making emergency relief kits at the

United Methodist Committee Relief Depot

this Saturday, March 10. We’ll meet at

8:30 am at the church to carpool to the

depot. For more information, contact

Betty Brown: 801-571-1004 or palmtree-

[email protected].

8 Hilltop Highlights

Evangelism

It Begins with You…

Making Hilltop a Friendly Church By Betty Long

If you survey churches and ask what their

strengths are, almost every church would

include that they are a friendly church.

Surveying different websites on “friendly

churches” some of the visitors who made

comments, whether as a visitor, the

church they attended was friendly, I

found the opposite perception.

Many members look at the issue of friend-

liness from the inside out, not outside in.

From their perspective, they are experi-

encing a friendly atmosphere. They sit

with their friends during the worship ser-

vice and they socialize during coffee fel-

lowship with their friends. The truth is

these members are friendly to the people

they already know, but not to others.

Many church growth studies have found

a direct correlation between friendliness

and potential growth. The friendlier a

church, the greater its potential for

growth. We only have one chance to make

a good first impression. First impressions

are lasting ones. So how do we change the

perception that we are not as friendly as

we think we are? The best remedy is

EVANGELISM.

Now don’t stop reading just because you

have read the word Evangelism. There are

few people that actually believe they have

the gift of evangelism. Many don’t even

want to evangelize because of the stereo-

types that surround evangelism. We don’t

see ourselves standing on a corner carrying

a sandwich-board sign that reads, “THE

END IS NEAR.” We can’t imagine ringing

doorbells and imposing ourselves on com-

plete strangers, or passing out tracts on a

sidewalk somewhere. Others feel as if they

don’t have the personality of an evangelist.

They’re not good at sales, or they’re shy or

they’re not quick at coming up with a re-

sponse.

Here’s the GOOD NEWS! A simple ap-

proach to evangelism is being friendly and

interested in everyone you come across

during the day. It’s genuinely seeing more

people that are part of your everyday rou-

tine, including Sunday mornings. Go out of

your way to interact with people, everyday

and Sunday mornings at church. During

the week greet the cashier, your coworkers,

smile and wish them a good day. On Sun-

days take the time to walk up to someone

you don’t know (visitor or newer member)

and introduce yourself to them, ask ques-

tions about who they are, what do they do,

spend five minutes talking to them. Invite

them to sit with you, invite them to coffee

fellowship, introduce them to others that

they might benefit from meeting.

Basically, there are two things that visitors

or new members within the church are

looking for. One is a meaningful worship.

Did the church do a good job of providing

an environment to connect with God? The

(Continued on page 9)

9 March 2018

disgusted with others, I understood I am

part of it all. I’m a sinner in need of grace-

no different than everyone else.

Forgiven. Living in the Spirit. What does

that mean? For me, first and foremost it

means coming to the (almost daily) reali-

zation that I am in need of forgiveness

and being able to accept that gift of grace.

People differ on their views of for-

giveness. Some find it a hard concept to

grasp that they can ever be forgiven in the

first place, while others (me- if I’m being

honest) can accept grace and forgiveness

for ourselves but can get confused (dare I

say angry?) when God forgives those we

deem unworthy. I need a constant re-

minder to live in a state of asking for/

receiving forgiveness and praying for oth-

ers as well.

In grad school, one focus of a spiritual

disciplines class was practicing ‘unceasing

prayer’ for 48 hours. Our professor as-

signed us the task of praying “Have mer-

cy on me, a sinner” repetitively for two

days in order to try and establish a

rhythm. At the time, I was living in Or-

ange County and taking the train two

hours (through Compton and Los Ange-

les) to commute to work daily.

These rides were often full of difficult in-

dividuals, so I usually kept my head

down and stuck to myself. One particular

night was especially bad, and it just so

happened to fall within that 48 hour time

frame of prayer. I’m sitting there, getting

absolutely disgusted with people and un-

thinkingly muttering my prayer under my

breath when I realized what I was saying.

In the midst of being utterly fed up and

Melissa Dolloff

Youth Director

youth@ Hilltopumchurch.org

Youth News

second thing visitors and newer members

are looking for is to make some type of per-

sonal connection with others within the

congregation. They want members to no-

tice them. They want to find out what their

story is. It is more than just a hello or a

handshake; it is a genuine interest in who

they are. Evangelism is not just the respon-

sibility of the Evangelism Committee; it is

the responsibility of the entire congrega-

tion.

Evangelism (Continued from page 8)

10 Hilltop Highlights

Priscilla Circle Priscilla Circle will meet MONDAY,

March 12 at 7:00. We will have a program

from the Upper Room. All women invit-

ed!

Consignment Sale Children’s and Maternity Consignment

Sale. Calling ALL Volunteers. Every

spring and fall, UMW sponsors a Con-

signment Sale at Hilltop. Our next sale

will be Friday, April 13 and Saturday,

April 14th. Volunteers are essential to a

successful sale! Volunteer shifts are 3

hours and you can earn one ticket to the

private pre-sale on Thursday, April 13th.

or a $10 sales voucher for working 2

shifts! Help is needed with set-up, check-

in, check-out, sales floor, and break-

down. Please log in to Hilltopsale.org if

you’ve previously volunteered or contact

Connee Schoon

([email protected] ),

Kris Garrison ([email protected]) or

Sandy McCormick([email protected]) if

you are a new volunteer. Thanks so much

for your service!

Call to Prayer and Self-Denial Learning for a Lifetime: Developing Lead-

ers is the theme for UMW’s 2018 Call to

Prayer and Self-Denial. Lent is a time of

resolution to simplify life and eliminate

those distractions that keep us from focus-

ing on Jesus Christ. Give it a try! During

this month, deny yourself a fun activity

and spend that time in prayer. Deny your-

self a special treat and give the money to

this special offering. These offerings will

support national and international pro-

grams that develop leaders of all ages.

These programs will offer educational

opportunities to the underserved and

marginalized. Your offering may be given

to Judy Stevens.

Courageous Leadership Through Christ The UMW will host a workshop and

luncheon on March 24 from 9 - 2. The

theme of the program is Courageous

Leadership Through Christ. There will

be discussion on examples of courageous

leadership by following God’s

plan. Learn how to build and be a coura-

geous leader in the church. Lunch will be

provided. This event is free and ALL gen-

ders are welcome to attend. Please con-

tact Sarah Burton ([email protected])

with a positive RSVP or questions.

United Methodist Women

Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14th

11 March 2018

Daily Devotions We have The Upper Room daily devo-

tional guide available to anyone

who would like one. The Upper

Room magazine’s mission is to

provide a model of practical

Christianity, accessible in varied

formats, to help people feel invit-

ed and welcomed into God’s

presence. You may pick up a

copy from the basket in Fellow-

ship Hall. Although there is not a

charge, $1 donations are appreciated.

From the Office

March Birthdays Jennifer Strickland .......................March 1

Steph Pettibone .............................March 2

Mary Bilbao ..................................March 4

Sarah Welliver ..............................March 5

Gabe Murray ................................March 5

Matt Pettibone ..............................March 6

Tony Gentilcore ............................March 8

Camille Cole .................................March 8

Stu Long ......................................March 11

Sammy Steinke ...........................March 12

Derik Hendrickson ....................March 15

Brian Welliver.............................March 15

Tim Cantrell ................................March 19

Ruth Eden ...................................March 22

Jim Woodmansee .......................March 22

Mary Jean Davison ....................March 23

Judy Stevens ...............................March 23

Kristin Breding ...........................March 24

Marge Dropek ...........................M arch 27

Linda Shaul .................................March 29

Pastor’s E-Note If you would like to receive Pastor Den-

nis’s weekly e-notes, please send your re-

quest with your e-mail address to

[email protected]

Gratitude My brother Robert and I are so blessed by

the thoughts and prayers of the Hilltop

family. He is finally home to stay. Your

abundant generosity for my hike in sup-

port of the Nazareth Hospital is also deep-

ly appreciated. I am so humbled.

Thank you, Cheryl.

Thanks Thanks for all the cards, calls, emails and

visits I've received while I've been out of

commission with this broken leg.

Elaine Shaw

Birthdays We want to recognize your birthday in the

newsletter. Send your birthdays to the of-

fice, with or without the year. You may cel-

ebrate a birthday by purchasing chancel

flowers, and that person will be lifted up.

You are also welcome to provide and serve

cake at coffee fellowship.

Hilltop United Methodist Church

985 East 10600 South

Sandy, Utah 84094

Published monthly by:

Hilltop United Methodist Church

985 East 10600 South

Sandy, Utah 84094

801-571-5777

[email protected]

www.HilltopUMChurch.org

Sunday Schedule

Sunday School for All 9:00 am

Worship 9:00 am

Fellowship Time 10:00 am

Worship 10:30 am

Fellowship Time 11:30 am

Pastor C. Dennis Shaw

Email: [email protected]