It's SHOEBOX time!

Operation Christmas Child delivers great joy and the Good News of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world through

gift-filled shoeboxes. For many, it is their first gift ever! Delivered by our

local church partners, shoebox gifts provide an opportunity to present the Gospel to boys and girls in a clear, child-friendly way. DEADLINE NOV 12th !!

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Philippians Bible Study

The book of Philippians will be the subject of 16-week Bible study beginning in mid July. Using the Bible study method-Precept Upon Precept-we will begin with a thorough investigation of the Word, and then learn how to use outside reference sources to enhance our understanding of the Scriptures. The goal of this Bible study method is to teach the student how to effectively study any Book of the Bible.

If you are interested please call Peggy Cabrinha as day and time is determined by class members. (785)626-0171

GENEROSITY IN OUR COMMUNITY

 

Community Feast - Desert Chapel will serving a FREE dinner every Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm. This is open to our church family as well as the community.

 

Clothes Closet - is open from 11 am to 2 pm Saturdays.   Adults and childrens clothes and shoes are availble for those in need.

MONTHLY CHURCH MEETINGS

 

The Leadership Board will meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 4:00 pm. 

Message from Our Lay Leader

Since I have been away for most of the last month, I must rely of messages I have received and phone calls for information regarding the concerns/joys of our congregation. We did attend a former Methodist Church, now nondenomination- al, in Abilene, Kansas one Sunday. This congregation disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church in 2022.

This Church is quite dynamic and survived the dissociative process with apparently few problems and is flourishing. I know very little about this process, but I feel that at a minimum, Desert Chapel should seriously consider our options during this time of turmoil in the UMC.

Their announcements and greeting process ended with what was our old custom of “stand and greet each other and make our guests feel welcome”. Handshakes and hugs were a bit of a surprise, but I/we felt very comfortable and welcome. we will be bringing some of the welcoming literature back for review.

On a personal note, as I have traveled this past month, I have usually taken the non-Interstate highways. I come upon many small towns and the outskirts of several larger cities. I tend to notice churches. My first impressions are nearly all positive from an aesthetic perspective. Granted, few of these impressions are in a desert setting, but I still compare other campuses with ours. Ours just seems a bit shabby.

I take some responsibility for this shabbiness, in that I sought to hire a landscape company to remove weeds and generally clean up the landscape of our property. Unfortunately that company initially did an adequate job, but then failed to follow-up. Added to that, the pre-emergent weed and grass killer was totally ineffective! The parking lot paving, again my responsibility, has failed to provide a long-term surface appearance that is better than “shabby”!

As Lay Leader, I feel a responsibility to help make the first impression that a future visitor to our campus , match the warmth and compassion of our congregation. I’ve asked the Leadership Board to consider in our planning, the appearance of the exterior of our campus. Landscaping, parking lot, signage, paint, dumpster location, lighting, driving/parking on sidewalks, and other aesthetic items are worthy of our attention. I am pleased to report that we have already installed some new exterior lighting fixtures. More improvements are in the works.

Pastor Philip often begins his message with the words: “We are a praying congregation”. I usually let this slip by my conscious worship experience. However, during the past few weeks of travel, I have felt the power of that prayer on several occasions. Most impactful was on a stretch of Kansas highway just west of Kansas City. As I pressed the brake pedal on our newly reacquired old motorhome (long story), I felt and heard a loud “KER CHUNK” and a pull to the right! Fortunately we were within a short distance of our daughter’s in-laws home. (answered prayer #1). I crawled under the RV to investigate and found a badly work ball joint. Nancy started calling repair shops. She found one willing to take us the next day. (answered prayer #2). The repair guys found multiple critical items needing immediate attention.

I’ll spare you readers of the quite long story, but suffice to say that prayer for “safe travels” might seem a trivial comment we all make from time to time, but this time the blessings of that invocation are still fresh and appreciated. We felt our praying congregation arms around us countless times. I promise I’ll be more conscious of our praying congregation.