Grand Valley United Methodist Church
August 2026 Newsletter
In this newsletter:
1. From the Pastor
2. Mission Minute
3. Grand Valley Days
4. Birthdays
5. Calendar
6. Group Details
7. Church Reports
8. Just for Fun
From the Pastor….
I was reading Ronald Allen’s book A Faith of Your Own. What he said about faith I could not have said it any better. He writes: “What is at stake? Why is it important to be clear about what we believe (and what we do not)? Because what we believe determines not only how we see God, ourselves, others, and the world, but also what we expect from God and from ourselves and from the world. What we believe determines how we pray and how we act. When I pray, for instance, what can I count on God to do? Moreover, what we believe shapes the kind of world for which we work. When we lie dying, what we believe determines how we approach what comes next.
We tend to become like the things that we believe. Indeed, we often embody what we believe. If we believe in a large, loving, compassionate, generous God, then we become large, loving, compassionate, and generous people. If we believe in a small, rigid, legalistic God, then we tend to become small, rigid, and legalistic.”
Faith is a living set of relationships that helps you understand where you are connected with others and where you differ from them. Over the years hopefully your relationship with God has changed as well your faith. One has influenced the other. Allen’s book can cause a person to do a lot of thinking about their faith and relationship with God.
I hope you are reading books that helps you in your walk with Christ. God Bless you in your spiritual journey.
Shalom,
Michael
Mission Minute
Friday, August 7th is our day to distribute the shoes for school children. Please let Laurel know if you can help in any way.
August has 5 Sundays, so there will be a Potluck on Sunday, August 30th. Plan on staying after our Worship Service for good food and fellowship!
Even with the drought, our garden is doing incredibly well! You can even start to see some cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, and I’m sure there are some zucchini hiding in there!!! Thank you to all who are lovingly tending this garden.
Grand Valley Days – Red, White, and Bucking Blue – August 13-16
Grand Valley Days is coming! On Saturday, August 15th, we will be holding our annual Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale. All men are invited to help with the Pancake Breakfast – be at the church at 6 a.m. to start cooking and to help put up the tent for the ladies’ bake sale. The more hands, the better!
August Birthdays
2 – Liz Larson
4 – Sharon Temple
5 – Karen Gibson
6 – Zoe Fowler
22 – Al Reuter
25 – Dan Temple
27 – Roxann Ingersoll
28 – Ron Olson
29 – Luke Smith
Our Seekers Class(Adult Sunday School) meets every Sunday morning at 8:30. We invite all to attend.
Tuesday Bible study will reconvene on September 1st at 10:30. We will be covering the last two lessons on 2 Peter on the 1st and 8th. We will not meet on September 15th, but will start a study on Faith on the 22nd. If you have not been attending, but would like to come (and we would love to have you), please let Penelope know, 231-383-0488, so she may order you a book.
Choir and bells are on summer hiatus – they will start up again next month. We are always looking for participants, so if you would like to join either of these wonderful musical groups, please contact the office at (970)285-9892 or by email: office@grandvalleyumc.com
Prayer Partners meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 10:30 at Mesa Vista. If you have anyone that you would like to add to the Prayer Partner list, please contact the office.
Church Council Report
There was no meeting held in July, so therefore no minutes! We will resume with our normal meeting in August.
Treasurer
No report
Lord, Your timing is perfect, even when it feels painfully slow to me, even when delays frustrate me, even when I can’t understand why You’re waiting when action seems so obviously needed.
Perfect timing doesn’t match my timeline, doesn’t align with my urgency, doesn’t make sense from where I stand watching the clock tick while nothing seems to be happening.
Teach me that Your timing accounts for what I can’t see, coordinates details I don’t know about, waits for preparations I’m unaware of, working behind scenes I’ll never witness.
I want things now, You say wait, I think I’m ready, You say not yet, and the gap between my timing and Yours tests my faith, my patience, my trust in Your goodness.
Help me surrender my timeline to Yours, to stop fighting the wait, to trust that when You finally move it will be exactly the right moment even though my moment felt like it was months or years ago.
Remind me of times Your timing proved perfect in hindsight, when I saw why the delay was necessary, why earlier would have been wrong, why Your timing really was better than mine.
Give me patience to wait on Your perfect timing, faith to trust it when it conflicts with mine, peace with delays that feel anything but perfect from my limited perspective.
Let me rest today trusting Your timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t feel perfect, even when I don’t understand it, because You see what I don’t.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Church Contact Information
PO Box 125
Parachute CO 81635
(970)285-9892
office@grandvalleyumc.com
www.GrandValleyUMC.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesday – Friday
9:00 – noon