Lunenburg United Methodist Charge
On our walk. . . . .
January 31, 2008
Pastor’s Message –
This poem
was given to me and I thought I would share it with you.
The Difference
I got up early one morning and rushed right into the
day.
I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to
pray.
Problems just tumbled about me and heavier came each
task.
I wonder, “Why doesn’t God help me?”
He answered, “You
didn’t ask.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled
gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “But you didn’t seek….
I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my
keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”
This morning I woke early.
I paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish that I had to
take time to pray.
Prayer is our means of communicating with God. God taught Jesus to pray so He could teach us. It is what God wants us to do. I know that you will call your best friend or spouse or mother and father frequently. In fact, you probably will do it daily. You call your boss and fellow workers, friends just to say, “Hi!” How often do you call God and talk to Him? Do you take time everyday to talk to Him? You don’t have to ask for anything, just say, “Thank you.” I’m sure He will be pleased just to hear from. Make time everyday for God. He’s waiting on the line.
God Bless
Upcoming Events – January 31, 2008 – February 6, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Men’s Breakfast @
Monday, February 3, 2008
Evening
Bible Study @ Antioch @ 7:00 PM
Tuesday February 4, 2008
Bible Study@ Audrey
Smith’s @ 10:00 AM Cancelled
Council
Meeting @ Antioch @ 7:00 PM
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Ash
Wednesday Service @
Worship Events –February 3, 2008
Service Theme: Jesus’ Transfiguration
This week’s reading will be: Sermon Text Matt 17: 1-9
Hebrew Text Psalm 99
Pianists: Nancy Turner
Leigh Ann Bacon
Men’s Breakfast at Antioch
On Saturday, February 2, the Antioch Men’s Group will
meet at the church at 8:00 AM. They will leave from there and got to a local
restaurant for breakfast. This is a time
of fellowship and all those who have been attending have had a good time. If
you would like to join us meet us at the church at 8:00 AM and enjoy breakfast.
Ladies Tea
On
January 26 Williams UMC Monthly Ladies Tea was held at 10:00am. This month they
made soup to take to the shut-ins in our community. Thirty quarts of chicken
vegetable soup was made and distributed to those who have a hard time getting
out. After the soup was made all those who assisted in making the soup enjoyed
a time of fellowship with hot cups of tea and refreshments. If you
would like to join them at their next tea, it will be held on February 23. The
theme for February is chocolate.
150th Anniversary
Throws Throws are still available. These beautiful throws
will make a great present for a family member. Our supply is running low –
about 5-6 left. The cost is $45.00 each. Please call Jane DiStefano if you would like
to order a throw or have any questions.
434-676-2314
Cookbooks are still available. The
Administrative Board has authorized the Cookbook Committee to order an
additional 400 copies. If you would like
to obtain copies for the upcoming Christmas Season please contact Susan Moseley at 676-2081, Gayle Grant at
676-3531, Trudy Wilkins at 676-4458, or anyone at
Prayer Gram Initiated. The Antioch
Evangelism Committee with the assistance of Williams has started a prayer gram.
The note is signed by all who are in
attendance on Sunday morning and it is mailed to all those who are on our
prayer list. This week we mailed 28
letters to those on our prayer list and we had 63 signatures. Imagine how you
would feel if you were sick or house bound and couldn’t get to church and you
received a letter signed by 50 to 70 members saying they had prayed for you
that week. It is an awesome experience
as can be seen by the notes we have received from those who have received the
Prayer Gram.
Administrative
Council to meet. The Antioch Administrative Council will meet
on Tuesday, February 5th at 7:00 pm. The council will be receiving
written reports from all the committees of the church on the activities of the
past year and the plans for the coming year. It should be an interesting meeting as we plan
the upcoming year and all the activities to make disciples
of Christ.
Williams
Library & Prayer Room. Everyone
is invited to visit the Library/Prayer Room at Williams. We have done a little remodeling and added an
altar for prayer and some comfy chairs, but the room still houses the original
Library and we are hoping to add more books.
It’s a great place to sit quietly and read a book, or spend some time
with the Lord. Or just stop by to borrow
a book or two to read.
Sunday
School is
available each Sunday morning. The
importance of Sunday School is that, though you may think hearing the word will
suffice for you, you really need to be in attendance at Sunday School to gather
all the information that you can in an open discussion classroom. Jesus’ word cannot be totally understood just
by listening to a sermon. You have to
interact with it and with other Christians to learn what He was saying to us. This is a life long study and you should take
part. There is a class for every age so
please plan on joining us to learn more about our Lord, Jesus Christ. Sunday
School at Williams begins at 10:45 AM and at
Evening Bible Study. Evening Bible study will continue on February 4 at
7:00PM at
Morning Bible Study. Morning Bible study will not meet this week as Rev
Ed has a meeting at the District. We will resume on February 11 at 10:00AM at
Audrey Smith’s. We will begin our study of Deuteronomy. We will focus on
chapters 1-10 that week. If you are looking for a study of God’s word join us
not only for the study, but good fellowship.
If
you cannot reach Rev. Ed at the parsonage, you may call him on his cell
phone: 252-532-0952. He can also be reached via e-mail at revedumc@yahoo.com . If you would like to receive e-mail messages
from the pastor send an e-mail to him at revedumc@yahoo.com
and we will add you to our list.
Please keep the following families in
your prayers:
|
Marjorie Thompson |
Christian Sutton |
Bertha Arthur |
|
Sarah Agnes Callis |
Sheila Cage |
Paul & Argy Turner |
|
Bobby & Virginia Overby |
Sara Sutton |
Jeff Hendricks |
|
Earl "Chuckie” Barnes |
Our Military |
Nathan Hendricks |
|
Edna & Wilson Bagley |
Alan Green |
Maria Kay |
|
Phyllis Goin |
Elsie Pennington |
Frances Hawthorne |
|
“B” & Teewah Hayes |
Sophia Jones |
Elizabeth Biggerstaff |
|
Becky Eades
& boys |
Thomas Taylor |
Bernard Bottoms |
|
Agnes & CV Thompson |
Tom Tanner |
Cathy Mitchell |
|
Doreen Marie Saunders |
Delores H |
Jason McReynolds |
|
Kenneth Chandler |
Michelle |
Lily Grace Coleman |
|
Averette Family |
Alice Wright |
Kenneth McDaniel |
|
Nancy & Grayson Bagley |
Gertrude Hite |
Elizabeth Reese |
|
Gussie Abernathy |
Tommy Cage |
Hilda Ozlin |
|
|
Nick Holden |
Virginia King |
|
Harry & Margaret Smith |
Grace DiStefano |
David King |
|
Jane DiStefano |
Micky Narron |
Dorothy Ann Irby |
If you have
anyone who is in need of prayer, please place their names on the Prayer List
and lift up their names in prayer during worship service and throughout the
week.
The
Methodists
often come to a position of balance between strongly opposed views. Rather than
an “either /or theology”, Methodists often move toward a “both/ and” theology.
This approach is the full harvest of a beginning point of the energy of God’s
grace coupled with an awareness of human free will. ( In
other words, even though God could make
us love God, God chooses not to make us love
God. God initiates the relationship and invites us to respond. This
understanding balances the power of God and the freedom of human response.) Both.
Methodists
views of baptism express this “both/and” understanding. In the Confession of
Faith ( which came to United Methodism from the Evangelical United Brethren
Church), baptism is describe as (signifying) entrance into the household of
faith, and as a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of new birth in Christ Jesus
and a mark of Christian discipleship. Entrance into the
household of faith? That sounds like an infant…. Or a
youth or adult. Repentance? That sounds like a
youth or adult. Both/And.
In fact, the
Confession of Faith specifically names children as “acceptable subjects for
Christian Baptism” because they “are under the atonement of Christ and…. heirs
to the
John Wesley
wrote in a sermon entitled “The Marks of the New Birth” – that being born again
(born of the spirit, child of God, born of God, having the Spirit of Adoption)
are “privileges, by the free mercy of God that are ordinarily annexed to
baptism” ( John 3:5). Yet the biblical truth is that we can sin away that grace
given by God in baptism. That is why a person baptized as an infant later is
called to make a personal profession of faith. That is why persons seek
occasions to renew the baptismal covenant, not because God has changed God’s
mind but because we have not kept our end of the covenant: faithful
discipleship. There is no occasion to
baptize a seconds time (God is faithful), butr there
is frequent occasion for confession, repentance, profession, and renewal in
order that we might let God’s Spirit blow away the dust that has accumulated on
our faith journey. When that dust is gone, once again is revealed the
unchanging mark “claimed by God in Jesus Christ.”
In our
baptism we put on Jesus Christ: “As many of you as were baptized in Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal. 3:27). We have put on Christ’s death, so
in a sense we have already died. (There is no need to fear death now if we have
already died!) But we have also put on Christ’s resurrection, so in a sense we
have already begun eternal life. (W e are admitted
into heaven not on our own ticket, but only if we present the ticket made valid
by Jesus Christ.)
But you ask,
“How much water does it take to bring this off?” Not much. Or
a lot. The water is a sign of the refreshing, cleansing power of the
Holy Spirit, washing away sin and restoring to new life. Immersion (dunking the
candidate completely under water)reminds us of our
death to the old life and our emergence into new life(Rom 6: 3-5,
“Being Methodist in the Bible Belt” F. Belton Joyner, Jr.
The
Walk to Emmaus
This week we
continue our new series about “The Walk to Emmaus”. The following information comes from “What Is
Emmaus?” We hope you find it informative and we hope it clears up any
misconception there may be about the Walk to Emmaus
Rev Ed
How Can
Emmaus Foster Reconciliation?
For the first time in my country, there
is hope for life. For the first time in my life we could share ---- blacks and
whites around a table. I couldn’t believe this could ever happen.
--Lay Person
from
On the
Emmaus walk, the walls that commonly separate people by claws, stratus, race,
and church gradually crumble. Participants become aware of their essential
unity in Christ with all God’s children. People are given an opportunity to let
go hurts, resentments, and fears that continue to divide them from their
brothers and sisters. The focus on God’s transforming grace makes real change
possible.
One layperson from
I had been on a downhill battle
with my spiritual life for the last four-plus years, thinking that I could
handle all things that had completely taken over my life. Then, on the Walk to
Emmaus, I found out differently. During the communion service at the Walk, I
felt God’s love, grace, and mercy come over me changing my life. When the
service was over, I had lost all my hate, bitterness, and forgiveness. People
can see the difference in me, and I praise God that I can feel the difference
God has made in me.
The design
of the Emmaus Walk intentionally downplays the social statue and occupational
identities of the participants. In some cases, persons do not share certain
personal background information until late in the weekend. This delayed sharing
allows relationships to develop, free from people’s typical prejudgments based
on job and social position.
A
clergyperson from
The most deeply penetrating aspect of our life together was centered in celebration
of the Lord’s Supper. I was extremely moved on those occasions! As I sat in the
splendor of an outdoor sanctuary under a canopy of falling leaves between a
retired postal worker and a cardiologist, I sensed the unseen Presence in our
midst.
On the Walk
to Emmaus, every pilgrim is a son or daughter of God. Participants are invited
to open their eyes an “see what love the Father has given us that we should be
called children of God” (1 John 3:1). No investment of effort and care is too
much to adequately communicate the depth and height, breadth and length, of
God’s love for each and every one.
The team
members who lead the Walk and the background helpers who support it come
together from every station in life. They represent a mixture of persons of
high and low estate in the world who are one in Christ. As members of an Emmaus
team, they assume the identity and practice the role of Christian servants.
Their humble service is to express and embody God’s love in spirit and deed
through their assigned tasks. They work together under the direction of team
leaders and within the discipline of selfless love. Leaders minimize practices
that create unnecessary distinctions between pilgrim and team. While
celebrating and using the gifts of all, tem members learn to express their servanthood in ways that give glory to Christ and not
themselves.
Though the
community that develops among pilgrims on the Walk lasts only three days, those
three days are enough for many to experience a new dimension of living together
in the realm of God’s love. Participants emerge from the Emmaus Walk with a
fresh vision of the church as a community of grace and reconciliation in the
midst of a broken world.
In
In many
other communities, the Emmaus Walk becomes a point of unity and cooperation
among Christians of different denominations and traditions. Emmaus highlights
the Christian community’s essential unity in Christ, not the age-old
differences over doctrine and ritual. In one area, for example, churches that
had traditionally denied fellowship with other Christians began to open up and
participate in community worship services. In another community, church leaders
credited Emmaus for the recent development of a local food bank and a variety
of other human services. Emmaus events and follow-up groups had become points
of convergence among Christians from a variety of churches who were otherwise
isolated from one another. Emmaus had become an opportunity to transcend
differences and to work together for what really mattered – the welfare of all
God’s people in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
This
concludes our discussion of the Walk to Emmaus. If you been following the
articles you have learned that Emmaus is not a secret society, a church, or a
sect. Emmaus is to bring potential leaders of God’s church closer to Him and to
give them a better sense of what His grace is all about. What His Son means to
us in His church. What the Holy Spirit can do for us in His church. If you would like to know more talk to someone
who has attended the Walk to Emmaus. They will be more than glad to tell you of
their experiences during the weekend and what it has meant to them. At
In
the Library
Do We Still Need the Ten
Commandments?
by John H. Timmerman
From the Publisher
John Timmerman revisits the Ten
Commandments and pronounces them very much in date, particularly when viewed as
positive, grace-full, empowering provisions intended for our blessing and
fulfillment as human beings.
The Message New Testament (Audio
tapes)
by Eugene H. Peterson
From the Publisher
Bringing out the expressive, earthy
flavor of New Testament Greek, The Message allows today's readers to experience
firsthand the same power and directness that motivated original New Testament
readers to change the course of history centuries ago. Now available in
paperback, this bold rendering sold more than 200,000 copies in hardcover in
less than a year.
Synopsis
Written in a language you would use to
write a letter to a friend, The Message is designed to read like any
other book. With no distracting verse numbers or formal language, you'll read
chapter after chapter and find fresh encounters with familiar passages. Working
from the original Greek and Hebrew text, Eugene Peterson tells the stories of
the biblical past in a way that makes them come uniquely alive in the present.
Coincidence
is when God chooses to remain anonymous!
Have
a Blessed Week