Lunenburg United Methodist Charge
Antioch UMC Williams UMC
On our walk. . . . .
May 21, 2009
2 Corinthians 5
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
The apostle John tells us of Jesus’ reaction when hearing that a dear friend of His, Lazarus, had died. We have learned it as the shortest verse in the Bible, two simple words—“Jesus wept.” Yet, if the Son of God could weep over the passing of a mortal man, then surely so can we. Jesus’ actions after this are more important, though, for Jesus overrode death and called Lazarus from the grave. In another example, we can take comfort and gain assurance—Jesus restored the life of a young girl, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. The apostle Mark tells us He prefaced these actions with the statement, “…The child is not dead but asleep.” These mortal remains we grieve on this Memorial Day are not the ones who gave all for us. The true veterans, his essence, his spirit, his love of country, is in the presence of God. The Bible tells us we are made in the image of God; that we are, in essence, a reflection of Him. David tells us in Psalms 19 that, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” If we are made in His image, and the world declares His glory, then we should be able to see all the veterans who gave their all in everything around us.
A poem largely attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye, was written to friend.
Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I did not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there, I did not die. Don’t look for all the men and women who died in service to our country in their graves because you won’t find them. Look for them in the gently falling snow, in the brilliant bloom of spring’s flowers, in the bright stars at night, in the gentle sounds of waves lapping on the beach. Look for them in the freedoms we have. Look for them in the services we attend each Sunday. They gave all they had so that we can be there, free in a country like none other in the entire history of the world! We acknowledge the reality of death. Although it separates us from our loved ones, make us aware that it is only for a brief time. Although it brings grief, may we look to your spirit to bring comfort and peace to those who are left behind. Although it brings disappointment, give us faith to look to the future with hope and confidence and courage as they did. Have a blessed week Rev. Ed
This Weeks Event:
Saturday, May 23
Williams Ladies Tea @ 3:00PM
Monday, May 17
No Bible Study @ Antioch @ 7:00 PM (let’s all spend time with family and remember those who sacrificed for us.)
Tuesday, May 18
Bible Study @ Audrey Smith’s @ 10:00 AM
Wednesday, May 19
Prayer Meeting @ Williams @ 5:45 PM
Choir Practice @ Williams @ 6:30 PM
Worship Events –May 24, 2008
Service Theme: Ascension
This week’s reading will be: Sermon Text – Luke 24:44-53
Hebrew Text – Psalm 47
Special Worship Events: Acceptance of Clare Armstrong as a member of Williams UMC
Special Announcement Marianne Cundiff
GRADUATION SUNDAY
We will be celebrating all the new graduates in our churches on Sunday, June 7th. Please plan on attending this special occasion to help us lift up all of the graduates who have worked so hard through the years. Let’s make sure they know we are proud of their accomplishment. If you have someone who is graduating, please be sure to let me know by June 1st.
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 Antioch at 10:00 AM.
Evening Bible Study Evening Bible study will continue at 7:00PM at Antioch on Monday, June 1st. We will be reviewing Jeremiah. We will discuss the events depicted in the book. If you are looking for a study of God’s word join us not only for the study, but good fellowship.
Morning Bible Study. Morning Bible study will continue at 10:00AM at Audrey Smith’s house. We will be reviewing Jeremiah. We will discuss the events depicted in the book. 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 or 252-537-5705. 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.
Weathering the Storm
Southside Virginia Community College will be presenting a program called, “Weathering the Storm” This program will be at the Cavan Workforce Development Center on the Alberta Campus. Nancy Eckert will give two seminars dealing with how to cope with job loss and how to reinvent yourself when the work we have always done is no longer available. So if you have been laid off please bring a resume’ and dress professionally and plan on attending this day of help as employers will be available on campus. The date to remember is June 17, 2009 at the Cavan Center starting at 9:00 AM and lasting till 12:00 noon. Bring a sandwich; chips and beverages will be provided.
"4 Cans 4 Conference"
SE VA Food Bank this year has already served the same number of meals that they did for all of last year. Their shelves are dry! There are 2,500 of us United Methodists planning to come to Norfolk in mid-June for Conference 2009, and IF each of us brings just 4 Cans, then our gift to the SE VA Food Bank may well add up to 10,000 Cans! (Roughly speaking, at about 1 pound per can, that means about 5 TONS of food for the hungry of Tidewater.
But think about each of us in our churches sending 4 cans from each family how much more we could do to relieve hunger in Hampton Roads. If each family sent 1 can of meat, 1 can of vegetables, 1 can of soup or stew, and 1 can with something good inside we could easily fill the shelves in Tidewater.
If you would like to take part please bring your cans to either of the churches before June 14. We will see that they get delivered to SE VA Food Bank during Conference.
Sweet Shoppe
Once again, the Kenbridge Wild Game, Stew & BBQ Cook-Off is asking Lunenburg County church congregations for help in providing baked goods to the Sweet Shoppe. Everyone is looking forward to more of the delicious goodies you donated last year!
1. Desserts that can be served in individual portions are best, for example:
Cookies, Brownies, Pies, Layer Cakes, Sheet Cakes, Pound Cakes
2. Please wrap all items securely.
3. If bringing cookies or brownies, please bag them:
three (3) to a sandwich bag if small
two (2) to a bag if large
4. Bring baked goods to the Cook-Off site – at Lunenburg Commerce Centre/Lunenburg Industrial Park (out Main Street and just across from Barnes Manufacturing) on Friday, May 22, between 12 noon and 4 PM – look for the refrigerator truck and the Sweet Shoppe sign.
Prayer Gram.
Please, when putting somebody’s name on our prayer list, PRINT their names and addresses if you have them. This will help us get the prayer grams out sooner and it will also make it easier to read during services.
Prayer List
Please keep the following families in your prayers:
Arthur Graves
Mary Hayes
Gayle Grant
Becky Eades & boys
Edna A. Bagley
Dee Welch
Harry & Margaret Smith
Edith Parham
Bernard Bottoms
Carolyn Moseley
Tommy Cage
Bertha Bottoms
CV & Agnes Thompson
Grace DiStefano
Betty Reese
Nathan Hendricks
Gertrude Hite
Betty Yerby
Vincent Callis
Ed Murphy
Bertha Arthur
Sgt Christopher Thompson
Warriner Lewis
Allen Alcock
Elizabeth Biggerstaff
Elizabeth Crowder
Grover Sheldon
Ann & Bobby Hanks
Elaine Pearce
Layton Powell
Fred & Denise Harper
Ann Bailey
Alicia Clary
Chris & Karen Armstrong
Ruthie Turner
Laura Dutzman
Tib Brown
Albert Watts
Justin McDaniel
Miriam Rowlett Family
Sheila Loftis
Gayle Vaughan
Marjorie Thompson
Dennis Moore
Lucille Bragg
Frances Hawthorne
Ronnie Pennington
Allen Green
Christopher Thompson
Sheila Cage
Tom Fowler
Linda Dundlow Family
Lucille Clary
Jeff Hendricks
Audrey Green Family
Red Tanner
Mae Overby
Kathy McReynolds
Becky Bagley
Mrs. J. B. Morris
Kay Thompson & girls
Grace Marshall
Maria Kay
Earl "Chucky” Barnes
Dorothy Driskill
Bobby Mills
Bobby & Virginia Overby
Sam Armstrong
Dorothy Shields
Dwight Callis
Justine Mc Henry
Betty Roegge
Herman Brier family
Rev. Robert Day
Bobby Seamster
David Jones
Sue Barnes
Betty Chumney
Charles Hopgoode Family
Rose Whitby
Miranda Eley
Mildred Cabiness
Barbara Evans
Norman Yerby
Who says Jesus doesn’t know how to use a computer?
Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.
Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.'
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.
They moused.
They faxed.
They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments.
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets!
They wrote reports.
They created labels and cards.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports .
They did every job known to man.
Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.
Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off. Must have been in Lunenburg County
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.
Jesus just sighed.
Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:
'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!'
Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.
Satan observed this and became irate.
'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?'
God just shrugged and said,
JESUS SAVES....
Have a Blessed Week!!!!
