It’s a Family Thing...
Be part of our New Church Directory. The scheduled dates for photography and
portrait viewing are Friday, February 8th,
and Saturday, February 9th.
If you have questions, please contact Sherry Baker at 238-2221 or
Michael Kelpe at 238-5012.
United Methodist Men – Valentine
Dinner
The Valentine Dinner will be Saturday, February 16th, at 6:30 PM in Fellowship
Hall. The menu will be kettle beef or
fried chicken with mashed potatoes, green beans, and dessert. Cost is $8.00 per person. Tickets will be on sale at the church. Get your tickets in advance so that UMM will
know how much food to order!
Don’t know about you, but we’re all looking forward to the
Valentine Dinner. Fellowship Hall
becomes a magical work of art; and the evening will embrace delicious food,
enchanting entertainment, and wonderful fellowship. So, buy your tickets and mark your calendar
for Saturday, February 16th.
BIRTHDAY PARTY!
Friends of Elnora Myers will celebrate her 90th
birthday on Friday, February 29th,
2008, at 11:00 AM with a lunch at Jer’s
Restaurant. If you would like to come,
please let Sue Brewer know so we can be sure to have plenty of tables
available. Elnora is firm on NO GIFTS –
but we can smother her with cards, fun memories, old stories, and best wishes!
WERE YOU THERE?
Were you there? That’s not only a good question, but I
believe it is the title of a very good book and what I hope will be a very good
Lenten Bible Study. The Bible study will
begin on Wednesday, February 13th, at 6:30 PM at the church and run
each Wednesday until Easter – six sessions total. The book is Were You There? Finding Ourselves at the Foot of the
Cross, by Erik Kolbell.
In this compelling and hope-filled book, Erik Kolbell shows us that in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion
and resurrection, we hear the story of one person, but the echoes of many. Though we read the story to find out who
Jesus was, it is in the stories of the other characters who
were present, from the disciples who followed him to the high priests who spoke
falsely about him, that we can discover much about ourselves.
Kolbell shows us how our ideas and views
are reflected in each of the characters, ranging from Pilate and Herod, to the
Centurion, to the women who look on from afar, to Thomas, and several others
with major and bit parts.
Please join us in the study by calling Michael at 238-5012
immediately so he can order a book for you.
Be assured: Thos who participate will be asking you, “were you there?”?
~ Michael
The
Lenten Journey
There is a line toward the end of T. S. Eliot’s poem, Ash Wednesday, that says “This is the time of
tension between dying and birth, the place of solitude where three dreams
cross.”
In the infant years of the church, there was a long period
of preparation that led up to one’s baptism.
It was a time observed through fasting, solitude, prayers and
reflection. The one who was about be
baptized, then, was living between dying and birth, between and end to the old
self and a rebirth to new life as a child of God.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. We will move through Lent being
“Cross-examined,” arriving at Holy Week prepared for the Passion of our Lord.
In Lent, as each of lives between the tension of dying and
birth, we are led by Christ into new possibilities for ourselves, our families
and our church. Indeed, it was Martin
Luther who suggested that repentance was a continual crawling back to the font,
the baptismal womb-of-our-faith. Our
Lenten journey can be an occasion for renewal focused on our baptismal
remembrance and centered upon Christ’s death and resurrection. It can be a time when our lives are changed
and our Lord and his church are placed in proper relationship to one’s total
life.
~ Charles R. Wertz
Giving is Healthy for Us
Abraham Brunk, a professor and
researcher in the Netherlands, found that people oriented toward giving and
sharing are more physically and emotionally fit than their self-focused and
less generous peers.
Brunk’s study showed that givers use 50
percent fewer sick days. They also have
lower blood pressure and higher self-esteem.
The anonymous poet who wrote the following words was right
on target:
Give strength, give thought, give
deeds, give of your wealth,
Give love, give tears, and give thyself.
Give, give, always giving.
Who gives not is not living.
The more
you give, the more you live.
Why Ash Wednesday?
Traditionally, the Christian church has observed the seven
weeks before Easter as a time of penitence and spiritual self-examination. Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of
Lent, derives its name from the ancient practice of marking the foreheads of
worshipers with ashes from the unused palm branches of the previous year.
Ashes historically have had a dual significance. First, they are Old Testament symbols of
sadness and humility. Job, in the midst
of all his troubles, cried out to God from the ash heap. The second symbolic meaning of ashes is as a
reminder of our mortality. Each of us
faces the inevitability of physical death.
Our bodies and material possessions eventually will turn to dust and
ashes. This is a reminder that we dare
not trust in things that crumble.
But Lent does not leave us on the ash heap. It begins with Ash Wednesday, but ends with
Easter. And Easter proclaims that,
through Christ, God resurrects us from our dust and ashes, makes us new
creatures, and bring life out of death!
Lent Begins
On Ash Wednesday, February 6th, Lent begins. During this 40-day period, Christians
reevaluate their spiritual lives. It’s a
time for us to have a spiritual check-up and to strive to live the Christian
life more faithfully and more intentionally.
One might go on a spiritual retreat, for example, spending
time with a prayer warrior, Bible expert or theologian. During Lent, attending the various church
services and study opportunities can help people grow spiritually and become
more informed about the Christian faith.
Our pilgrimage through Lent should inspire us to serve God
more faithfully in our daily lives.
Thoughts for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day, a time when thoughts
turn to love. But what is love? Is it a box of chocolates or a pretty
valentine? Is it a red rose – or maybe a
dozen? Is it a peck on the cheek, a fond
embrace, or a big bear hug?
Well, sometimes love is known in those ways. But love – real love – is how we relate to
God and to one another to make life what it ought to be… beautiful!
LIBRARY CORNER
Which Bible verse was the first you memorized and the one
you probably remember still? Chances are
that it is John 3:16. Max Lucado examines these 24 words in his book, 3:16, and shows how they define our
belief as Christians. This short, but
powerful, book is like oatmeal… it goes down easily, but fills you up and stays
with you a long time! 3:16 was the basis for the latest
Women’s Prayer Breakfast and, if not checked out already, can be found on the MUST READ shelf.
FEBRUARY MISSIONS
February is a short month with a big heart with many
opportunities to exercise your heart
in mission!
·
Our
Food Pantry is a perpetual need… HELP!
·
The
Elementary Sunday School Class, Jars of
Clay, has begun a collection to “CHANGE THE WORLD” by bringing in loose
change and putting it in a half-gallon drink bottle. Our goal is to fill the bottle by the middle
of April, when the money will go Rainbow Network for their FEED THE HUNGRY
program. Rural children receive hot
lunches six days each week for about ten cents per meal. Will you find a box, bottle, old shoe, or
lunch pail and start saving your loose or found change? Will you start a “CHANGE THE WORLD” campaign
in your Sunday School Class, too?
·
Learn
about UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Check out the bulletin board near the
restrooms. Watch the bulletin for items of information. With a little study, you will be prepared to
celebrate with us the One Great Hour of
Sharing on Sunday, March 2. Your
first item: Lent is the season of repentance, self-examination, and awareness
of the hurts of the peoples of the world.
One Great Hour of Sharing
calls the Church to “share the goodness of life with those who hurt.” (Book of
Discipline 2004)
·
Lavish
your time on someone. Telephone or visit
someone whom you haven’t seen in a while.
Wait until you are over that cold… you don’t want to kill them with your
kindness. Send a note of thanks to
someone who has a thankless job. Send
kind thoughts to someone who is difficult to like. February is Heart Month. Give your heart
regular exercise, and it will become stronger and even more loving!
·
Dig
out and dig into your Bible. See if
something in Isaiah 58: 1-12 speaks to your heart and moves you to action!
United Methodist Women
Women of the church!
Don’t forget to come to the monthly UMW meeting on Tuesday, February 12th,
at 7:00 PM for fellowship, spiritual strengthening, and to put your two dents
into planning for our Soup-Chili-Grilled Cheese-Potato Bar Supper to be held on
Friday, March 7th. With all
those menu choices, we will need lots of help to plan, execute, and clean up!
WHAT IS A CHURCH?
A CHURCH
IS MANY THINGS…
It is a building with a soul… it is a building with a heart…
it is a building that breathes… and sings… and feels… and prays…
It is a Church.
A Church is more than bricks and wood and steel and
concrete… and pews and drapes and stained glass windows.
A Church is hope and heart and faith
and love and kindness… and people.
A Church is more than land and lights and windows and doors…
A Church is warmth in a man’s heart, comfort in a woman’s
soul, faith in a child’s eyes…
There are small Churches nestled in quiet valleys… there are
large Churches towering on city boulevards…
There are rich Churches… and Churches not so rich… but large
or small, towering or tiny, all Churches have the same
quiet dignity, the same warm glow…
There are mighty cathedrals, hamlet chapels… wayside
Churches and New England meeting houses… there are Churches for a thousand
souls, and Churches for but a few…
However, large or small, on Sabbath
mornings they have a similar spiritual brightness.
A Church never dies.
It can be crippled by bombs, blackened by fire, shaken by earthquakes,
threatened by bigots and zealots and weakened structurally through the years…
But its spiritual foundation never withers… its strong beams
of spirit never crumble…
It is a building erected on the strong foundation of
humanity, held together with the mortar of Christian faith. It is built with the bricks of love, made
strong with the timbers of hope, and roofed with the shingles of kindness.
It is the purest of buildings, the most serene of
structures… it stands night and day as a beacon for the lost… it is a
lighthouse for the lonely and troubled.
A Church is a building of truce, standing in the middle of
the battlefield of life…
A Church is a house of ethics, a
house of worship, a house of prayer, a house of
meditation.
It is the echo of a hymn on a summer Sunday morning. It is the music of bells across a snow-flaked
prairie. It is the symphony of an organ
resounding across the green grass of spring.
It is an island of serenity in the Sabbath of a great city…
It is a building with a tower… a center of light. It is built on the foundation of
forgiveness. It is a citadel of
hope. Its roots are buried in the past…
its tall spires hold out arms to tomorrow.
A Church knows laughter.
A Church knows tears. A Church
knows peace of mind… A Church knows serenity in troubled times.
Great men have said great things about Churches. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “I never weary
of great Churches. It is my favorite kind of scenery.”
An old French proverb says, “A Church is God between four
walls.”
It’s a mansion built by man, dedicated to God… the hope of
peace in the world.
It’s a Church.
~ Dan Valentine
IT
Where, oh where has IT gone?
Will IT ever reappear?
Will ever a new day dawn,
To herald IT loud
and clear?
What happened and how did we lose
IT?
This God-given gift to mankind.
Did we stifle, ignore, and abuse IT?
Did it just slowly die on the vine?
When speaking of IT, it is best
To speak of IT in the past tense.
So what is this IT about which we
jest?
IT is plain, down to earth
COMMON SENSE!
~ Phil Ossifer
