Franklin GroveUnited Methodist Church

223 W. Middle St.

P.O. Box 348

Franklin Grove, IL 61 031

phone: 847-722-6357

www.franklingroveumc.com

Pastor Jin-Ho Hong

email : hjhj lm66@hotmail .com

Sunday School 9:00 a.m.

Church Service 1 0:1 5 a.m.

Page 1

Franklin Grove United

Methodist Church is

Gathering

Growing

Going

If your heart is where ours

is, come and join us!

Please let us

know your Bits

of News and

prayer requests

so we can keep

you in our

thoughts and

prayers.

May 201 2

The Cross & FlameF r a n k l i n G r o v e U n i t e d

M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h

Shalom!

I hope our gracious God keeps you and your

family.

May is a month offamily. We always begin

to realize the importance offamily at this time

ofyear. There is a proverb, (Ka Hwa Man Sa

Sung), in South Korea. It means “If yourfamily lives happily together, everythingis going well.” It explains the importance of

family in our life.

Let us imagine together: Someone has

great power and fortune to control the world.

However, ifhe/she does not have a family who

always supports and loves him/her, their life is

unhappy. All Christian’s parents realize the

grace ofGod through dedication and fostering

for their beloved children and grand-children. Similarly, all

children understand God’s grace and love through their

parents who are a safe fence and a shadow. We also realize

God’s grace and love through relationship between family and

family. Therefore, a home is a small Heaven. When all

families love, understand, and serve one another, we can

experience the beautiful life ofthe Kingdom ofGod in our

home. Thanks to the grace ofGod and your consideration, I

realized this truth again in South Korea. While Imet with my

parents, sisters, and brothers whom I have not seen for a long

time, I keenly felt the importance offamily again.

Loving Franklin Grove’s family,

Let us experience God’s grace and love through your beloved

family during this coming May. When we recover joy and

importance ofa small Heaven in our life, everything is going

well in our life. It is the reason why God gave us our beloved

parents, children, and grand-kids. I pray the grace and love of

God will be in your life, family, business, and Franklin Grove

church during this coming May. I love you in Christ Jesus.

From South Korea….

Pastor Hong.

The year is quickly coming to an end forour Sunday School year. May 20th will beour last day of Sunday School. We havehad some very faithful Sunday Schoolstudents this year and so we are planningseveral things for the end of the year, soplease keep your eyes open for fliers withthe details...(There are rumors of a trip tothe bounce house, either in Sterling orRockford.. possibly even a trivia challenge,...sodon't miss out on any announcements.) †

Sunday School

End of the Year

The Main Depot is in Baldwin, La. There are smallerregional depots around the country, as you can see on themap. A seventh one has been added since this picture,which is located in Decatur, Al. They all work together.Mary will be going to Midwest on June 3rd. Anyone whowould like to go with should contact her. It is only nearSpringfield so you need not stay the whole week. †

UMCOR

2,756 Volunteers61,695 Volunteer

WorkHours35,281 Mealsserved

toVolunteers7,952 FoodBoxes to

LocalSeniorCitizens

80 CommunityHousing

ProjectsCompleted

UMCORESagerBrownStatistics

Relief Supply Network Statistics$$$ Total Value $8,370,166Domestically $2,698,866Internationally $5,671,300Health Kits 442,139School Kits 142,227Cleaning Buckets 25,745Sewing Kits 3,680Layette Kits 7,277Bedding Kits 2,846Clean Birthing Kit 17,475

VacationBibleSchool"NationalParks"

June11- 15th

PresbyterianChurchFranklinGrove, Illinois

"The Stephen Series is a complete system for training andorganizing laypeople to provide one-to-one Christian care tohurting people in and around your congregation.

With Stephen Ministry, Pastors don't carry the burden of beingthe congregation's sole caregivers. They have a team of gifted,trained, committed lay caregivers ready to minister to hurtingpeople inside and outside the congregation.

Laypeople have a chance to use and strengthen theirleadership and caregiving gifts in meaningful ministry--servingothers while experiencing tremendous spiritual growth."

People who are hurting no longer suffer alone. A caringChristian friend comes alongside them to provide emotionaland spiritual care for as long as the need persists."

May05, 2012(Saturday)

9:00AM-1:00PMWestminsterPresbyterianChurch

2821NBellSchoolRdRockford, IL

VacationBibleSchool"NationalParks"

June11- 15th

PresbyterianChurchFranklinGrove, Illinois

Heavenly Father,

"Every good gift and perfect giftcomes from You. You are a faithfulGod and Your mercy endures forever.

We come before You once more,seeking Your forgiveness and mercy.You, O God, are our only hope…Hear our prayer and, for Yourhonor’s sake, shine Your face uponthis nation.

Give our leaders the desire to seekYour wisdom and the courage tofol low Your guidance… and watchover the men and women of ourarmed forces as they sacrifice forthe cause of freedom.

We give You thanks for al l You havedone for us, and we earnestly praythat You wi l l help us become, onceagain, a nation whose God is theLord. Amen Dr. David Jeremiah

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Heavenly Father,

"Every good gift and perfect giftcomes from You. You are a faithfulGod and Your mercy endures forever.

We come before You once more,seeking Your forgiveness and mercy.You, O God, are our only hope…Hear our prayer and, for Yourhonor’s sake, shine Your face uponthis nation.

Give our leaders the desire to seekYour wisdom and the courage tofol low Your guidance… and watchover the men and women of ourarmed forces as they sacrifice forthe cause of freedom.

We give You thanks for al l You havedone for us, and we earnestly praythat You wi l l help us become, onceagain, a nation whose God is theLord. Amen Dr. David Jeremiah

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Once again we will begin the

preparation ofMax's garden.

The garden will be available

to anyone and everyone

within the community. So,

please inform people of the

many lovely items we have

available for them to come

pick and enjoy.

Susie Arnolts will be at the

church garden every

Wednesday evening from 6 to

dark, until further notice. All

input and labor will be

welcome. †

Community Garden

There are times when only a mother's love

Can understand our tears,

Can soothe our disappoints

And calm all ofour fears.

There are times when only a mother's love

Can share the joy we feel

When something we've dreamed about

Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a mother's faith

Can help us on life's way

And inspire in us the confidence

We need from day to day.

For a mother's heart and a mother's faith

And a mother's steadfast love

Were fashioned by the angels

And sent from God above.

Issue 1

Everybody wanted ahug from the bunny,

even the Pastor

EasterEggHunt

Issue 1

The joyous

music by the

FGUMC choir,

directed by

Amy Malm,

was enjoyed by

all during the

Easter service. †

EasterSundayCelebration

Franklin Grove UMC

CALENDAR

Recurring Each Week:

Sundays: 9:00am Sunday School 10:15am Worship 11:30am Coffee Hour Wednesdays: 7:00pm Praise Group

Sunday, May 6 10:15am Worship (Dennis&Charlene Loescher’s Play) 11:30am Coffee Hour Friday, May 11 Diane Smith’s Birthday Saturday, May 12 Annie Etchison’s Birthday

Sunday, May 13 10:15am Mother’s Sunday Worship (Special Testimonies of Dawn Summers and Kelly Viall) 11:30am Coffee Hour Tuesday, May 15 7:00pm Hub Cluster Meeting Sunday, May 20 10:15am Worship 11:30am Coffee Hour Tuesday, May 22 Kasi Summers’ Birthday Sunday, May 27 10:15am Worship 11:30am Ad. Board Meeting,

Coffee Hour Monday, May 28 Community Church Council Meeting Tuesday, May 29 Jodi Thompson’s Birthday