February 28, 2020
15 Passenger Van
In light of our church’s growing needs for van-type transportation and because of ever increasing rental fees, the elders are recommending the purchase of a pre-owned fifteen passenger van. This van would be used frequently by our kid’s and student ministries, the basketball team, and no doubt, adult outings and possible mission trips. The specific vehicle has not been selected, but it is expected to cost around $35,000. We will not go ahead with the purchase until we have all the cash in hand, but we are almost half-way there having already been blessed with just over $15,000 in “seed money”! If you feel led to donate toward the purchase of the van, you may do so on-line through Simple Give or by marking your offering envelope with “Van Purchase.” Thank you.
- Saturday, March 7
- Rm 101
- Meet at 7am
- Breakfast at 7:30am
ECC Students
Girls’ Retreat
- Kalahari: March 13 -15
- Register by March 12
- Cost $115
ECC Students’ Girls will be studying Jesus’ prayer to The Father in John 17. We will use this time, and Jesus’ prayer as a platform to develop an intimate prayer life in each of our teens. We will have some great time to spend in God’s Word, but will also swim, water slide, surf, and more at one of the world’s biggest water parks.
Guys’ Retreat
- Walnut Ridge: March 20 – 22
- Register by March 20
- Cost $115
We will spend time eating good food, hiking, playing dodgeball and paintball, and much more. Most importantly, we’ll look at John 17, and how Jesus prays to the Father. This can be a launching pad to develop a similar prayer pattern in the lives of each young man that attends the weekend.
Register for either retreat at Eatoncommunitychurch.org/ministries/ecc-students.
Challenge 2020
- Kansas City: July 12-18
- Registration Deadline: March 15
- $100 deposit required. More info on our website.
Etch
Due to the weather, we are cancelling Etch for tonight.
February 21, 2020
Directory Photos
Today is the first day of photography for our new Church Directory. There are a few spots still available. Call the office, 937-456-5507, if you would like to schedule your family photo. If you already have an appointment, please arrive 10-15 minutes before your scheduled time. There is a brief form to fill out. Thank you!
Baptism – Sunday, March 1
Christian baptism is a clear command of Jesus for all believers (Matt 28:19), and offers an opportunity for a new believer to profess faith in Jesus publicly. To discuss baptism with a pastor or for children with Miss Coleen, please contact the office, 937-456-5507 by February 26.
Summer Spiritual Spectacular Movie Needs:
- Volunteers to build the set
- Volunteers to decorate the set
- 2-3 pairs of winter overalls for the actors to wear
- Volunteers to help with the camera or sound during filming
Please contact Miss Coleen if you are able to help.
February 14, 2020
ECC Student Fundraiser – Saturday, Feb 15
- 4:30 – 7:30pm in the Great Rm
- Tickets can be purchased at the door
- Adults: $12; Kids 10 and under: $8
Baptism – Sunday, March 1
Christian baptism is a clear command of Jesus for all believers (Matt 28:19), and offers an opportunity for a new believer to profess faith in Jesus publicly. To discuss baptism with a pastor or for children with Miss Coleen, contact the office, 937-456-5507 by Feb 26.
Church Directory
We want you to be in our new directory. There are still appointment times available. Schedule your portrait time at the Kiosk. Please contact Dee in the church office, 937-456-5507, if you have any questions.
February 7, 2020
Conversation with Elders
Sunday, February 9, 6pm, Rm 101
Some of the topics include:
- Financial review
- Staffing
- Building expansion fund
ECC Student Fundraiser – Saturday, Feb 15
- 4:30 – 7:30pm in the Great Rm
- Purchase tickets at the Kiosk in the Gathering Area
- Adults: $12; Kids 10 and under: $8
If you have a snowmobile that you would be willing to loan for use in filming the Summer Spiritual Spectacular movie, please see Miss Coleen.
January 31, 2020
Membership Class
Here at E.C.C. our call from the Great Commission is our specific God-given mission of “Sharing Life, Sharing Christ.” We believe this is best lived out by committing to God and one another in covenant membership.
If you have not become a member of Eaton Community Church, I would like to personally invite you to participate in our upcoming membership class beginning Sunday, February 9 from 12:15-2:30. (lunch included) We will gather for six weeks and learn about God’s design for the bride of Christ, His church, and His unique call on Eaton Community Church. Please call the church office at 937-456-5507 or email conni.deaton@eatoncommunitychurch.org by Wednesday, February 5 to sign up for the class.
We hope you will take a step and join us!
Sharing Life, Sharing Christ
Pastor Dan
ECC Youth Fundraiser – Saturday, Feb 15
- 4:30 – 7:30pm in the Great Rm
- Purchase tickets at the Kiosk in the Gathering Area
- Adults: $12; Kids 10 and under: $8
Summer Spiritual Spectacular Movie
ONLY TWO ROLES LEFT to be filled for this year’s SSS movie! “What movie?”, some of you may be asking. This is a full-length action-adventure movie used to capture the children’s hearts with what God wants to say to them each year. During our busiest filming season (MARCH – APRIL), we film one night a week and either Saturday or Sunday. We choose filming dates by comparing calendars and finding dates that will work for all of us. We’ve seen God use people in powerful ways who have never even acted before! If you’ve ever thought about serving God in a unique way, maybe God is calling YOU.
- Man, age 35 – 50, in good physical condition
- Woman, age 30-45, in good physical condition
See Miss Coleen to find out more.
SHEMA – Stop and Listen Follow-Up
As we move forward in accomplishing the vision God has set before us at Eaton Community Church, let us continue to seek the habit of STOP and let us LISTEN to the one who as the Psalmist says is “abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure (Psalm 147:5).”
On Sunday, we preached about God’s desire for us to shema (listen to) him. He’s calling us to commune and unite with his purpose. I originally had wanted to show a video, but due to time constraints, needed to cut it. It’s the first in a series of videos about The Shema. The series itself is a great series, but this video fits well with what we talked about on Sunday.
Some Extra Resources
I provided you with some ideas of how to get the ball rolling in our listening to God. Be sure to check out our audio of the sermon when it hits our website. Until, then… here are some practical resources to help us put our cellphones down and empower us to control them instead of them controlling us.
Each heading is a link for you to click on…
The Center for Humane Technology
The Center for Humane Technology’s goal is to provide people with information about the dangers of cell phones (or any technology), and give simple and practical ways to help us use technology to support our lives in healthy ways. The link above take you to their Take Control page on their website. It has practical ways to make your cell phone support your needs. I have personally adopted most of these suggestions, and they’ve changed how I use my phone and the amount of time I spend on it each day.
Undigitize.Me
Undigitize.me is a website designed for informational content and to create an online community that raises awareness of cell phone addiction across the globe. This global community creates initiatives and invites many to join in actively living a life free from control of our cell phones.
6 TED Talks That Will Change How You Look At Your Phone
This last site was a blog post I stumbled upon that gives six TED Talks focused on how cell phones and social media have not only changed the way we operate in society, but also changed us physically, mentally and more. If you like TED Talks, then you’ll enjoy these. I highly suggest the 6th video by Professor Cal Newport who is a technology professor, but has no social media. Quite interesting stuff.
My prayer for us as a church is that God will open our lives to more opportunities of silence, and rest as we STOP and LISTEN to his calling in our lives. When we do this, we can then fully embrace what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
With Love,
P. Josh
January 24, 2020
Summer Spiritual Spectacular Movie
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE? Most of us can name a movie that had a profound impact on us, or one that we’ve come to love. There’s something about that movie that resonates with us – and it stays with us…forever.
Imagine taking the powerful truths of God’s Word and weaving them into a movie that will capture the hearts of children! That’s what we’re getting ready to do this summer for the children who will be coming to Summer Spiritual Spectacular, our week-long summer family event that creates wonderful memories for children – and can change their lives.
God can use people like you to create this movie. No, we’re not asking you to be a Steven Spielberg or a Brad Pitt. But there are things that you CAN do, resources that you could loan, people that you know – who could make the difference in creating this movie. See list below of the needs to make this year’s movie. If you can provide any of this, please contact misscoleen@eatoncommunitychurch.org.
Be in the Movie:
- Man, ages 35-50, in good physical condition
- Woman, ages 30-45, in good physical condition
- Man, Age 25-45, in good physical condition
- Man, Age 50-65, in good physical condition
- Be an Extra (1-3 lines, students and adults only)
Filming locations/Big items needed:
- Warehouse or large indoor area where we can leave a set up for 4 months
- Snowmobiles
- Work truck
- Building that could look like an abandoned military base on the inside
- Boss’ office
- Industrial living quarters
- Heavy outdoor winter clothing
Help create the movie-behind the scenes:
- Record sound for the movie
- Operate the movie camera (adults only)
- Build set or igloo
- Movie Assistant
Yours for His children,
Miss Coleen
Quarterly Financial Update
Below is a Rolling 12-Month Trend Report which uses the running total of the giving and expenses for the last 12 months plus a graph. This Trend Report and graph is presented to the congregation quarterly. Hard copies are available at the Information Desk for anyone who does not have access to LifeShare. See a member of the Finance Team or an Elder if you have any questions.
Covenant Membership at ECC
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” — Romans 12:3-4
Membership at Eaton Community Church is our way of committing to the work God is doing in us and through us as a community of believers. Our hope is that in becoming a member we will actively engage in greater ways by intentionally committing to covenant with other believers to be the church.
A covenant is a promise by which we commit ourselves to one another. Covenant means “to agree, to be of one mind, to come together”. This agreement is grounded in relationship with God and other believers and is instrumental for living as God’s church in accountability, responsibility, vision, and purpose.
It’s important to understand that as a Christian you actually have two covenant memberships… AS A BELIEVER in our Lord Jesus Christ, you are a member of the entire Body of Christ. AS A BELIEVER in our Lord Jesus Christ, you have the privilege of committing to a local church (Body of Christ). Every local church is important. 1 Cor. 12:12-27
Therefore, we must remember from scripture that there are three primary reasons for believers to commit to covenant membership in a local body of Christ.
- AS A BELIEVER you are called to be and designed to be in community. Gen. 1-2, Gen. 6-9, Matt. 10:1-4
- AS A BELIEVER you have a purpose to discover and a role to fulfill within the local church. Phil. 1:6
- AS A BELIEVER you will be more able to clearly identify the presence and power of Christ in your midst when you are a distinct part of the whole body. Matt. 18:20
David Platt, pastor and author, says it like this in his book about discipleship entitled, Follow Me, “…to identify your life with the person of Christ is to join your life with the people of Christ.”
Here at E.C.C. our call from the Great Commission is our specific God-given mission of “Sharing Life, Sharing Christ.” We believe this is best lived out by committing to God and one another in covenant membership.
If you have not become a member of Eaton Community Church, I would like to personally invite you to participate in our upcoming membership class beginning Sunday, February 9 from 12:15-2:30. (lunch included) We will gather for six weeks and learn about God’s design for the bride of Christ, His church, and His unique call on Eaton Community Church. Please call the church office at 937-456-5507 or email conni.deaton@eatoncommunitychurch.org by Wednesday, February 5 to sign up for the class.
We hope you will take a step and join us!
Sharing Life, Sharing Christ
Pastor Dan
Youth is NOT wasted on OUR young…
I’ve heard the phrase “Youth is wasted on the young” before. While this statement has been proven to be true, I’d like to challenge it with a group of young adults that are making a difference.
For the past two-ish years, Amanda and I have been hosting a “young-adult” small group at our house on Monday evenings. We thought the majority of them were of the Millennial generation, but came to find out most were actually of the GenZ generation. Therefore, we jokingly call our group the MillenialZ.
MillenialZ Retreat
We spent the past weekend at a rental home downtown Cincinnati enjoying each other’s company, playing sardines, board games, having great meals and good conversation all the while studying the Prophet Joel – and it was their choice on what we studied over the weekend!
You heard me correctly. They chose to study the book of Joel in the Old Testament, which is no small feat! And believe me, it was difficult at times. The whole time of discussion was filled with questions (some that didn’t get answered), philosophical debates and theological discussions.
Joel is difficult because it is full of ambiguity and is very broad. Most scholars don’t give it an official date in which it was written, so the context of the passage is hard to determine. It was neat, though, to watch how many chimed in and discussed, while other listened. There may have been a few moments that dragged on a bit too long, but who’s counting the minutes? :). In the end, this is what I came away with…
Joel is a book that spans generations. It’s a warning and a call to repentance. A message of destruction with a glimpse into a future of hope. No matter what, this remains true:
…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved… Joel 2:32
It doesn’t matter where you are in life… It doesn’t matter if you’re experiencing devastation or joy… ANYONE who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED. That is a promise worth holding, because God has always followed through with his promises.
Are you a young adult and interested?
Our typical Monday evening consists of gathering for snacks, talking about nonsense, then moving to our living room and reading and studying God’s Word in some fashion. We spent 8 months on the Gospel of John, a few months on Hot Topics, 7 months on Paul’s letter to the Romans, and now we’re reading a science fiction novel by the great C.S. Lewis! We begin at 7:30PM, and if you need directions you can contact me: josh.harpold@eatoncommunitychurch.org.
What I find so encouraging about this group is how involved they are in the life of ECC. Women’s ministry, youth ministry, basketball ministry, setup/tear down, Etch and the list goes on. They all have stakes in what is happening at ECC, and even more so beyond! For most their age, who turn 18 and decide to leave the church, these young adults have chosen to do the opposite and invest in the church. I believe this deserves some commendation.
LifeShare 