Last Sunday we welcomed Jerry Middleton as a new member during the 10:50 worship service. Please welcome Jerry to our congregation the next time you see him.
Safe Gathering Training
The training required to work with children, youth, and developmentally delayed adults within the bounds of the Kansas East Conference is now online. For more information visit www.kansaseast.org/safegatherings or contact John or Jenny.
Voice of the Day: Brueggemann
“Did you know that the Bible never uses the word create with a human subject? We may “make” or “form” or “fabricate,” but only God creates, only God works a genuine new possibility, a new thing beyond our expectations and our extrapolations. It belongs to the mystery and holiness of God to call to be that which is not yet. Because this is God’s world, the world is not closed, either by our hopes or by our fears.”
— Walter Brueggemann, The Collected Sermons of Walter Brueggemann
It’s always good to be reminded that the world is not limited by our actions or even our imaginations.
Note to My(earlier)self
This morning I was listening to music from the 80’s (specifically, “Take On Me” by a-ha) when I was reminded of all the things I used to worry about (e.g. Would I make it through college? Would I find someone and get married? Would I be able to land a job?) It occurred to me that none of my fears from back then had been warranted. I wish there was some way that I could tell myself (the me of the 80’s) not to worry and that everything was going to turn out fine. Later it occurred to me that when this life is complete and I’ve crossed into the life to come, I’ll look back and realize that I really didn’t have anything to worry about. Then it occurred to me that God seeks to give the exact same assurance to the me of the here and now. And I had this profound, Spirit-given experience of the peace that surpasses all understanding.
It’s not that I believe that God intervenes to make sure nothing goes wrong for Christians, that all the roads are smooth and all troubles and difficulties eliminated, it’s rather that God has promised to be with us through anything the world can throw at us and that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”
The me of right now would like to tell the me of the 80’s not to worry, the me of the future will undoubtedly like to tell the me of the here and now the same thing and the God of back then, here and now, and the yet to come whispers the same promise.
How the Book of Discipline Comes to Be
A solid, detailed, article for polity geeks telling how the actions of General Conference become The Book of Discipline. My favorite quote:
“It takes almost six months — and a process defined by the rules of the General Conference — before the denomination knows exactly what happened after its big legislative assembly.”
More Books on the Way
So far we’ve had a great response to the upcoming book study on Seeing Grey in a World of Black and White by Adam Hamilton. Fear not more books have been ordered and are on the way. More information in this earlier post.
New Prayer Ministry Begins Tomorrow
Beginning tomorrow morning (Sunday, June 24, 2012), we’ll be taking our prayer ministry up a notch by making cards available to be signed by the gathered congregation and sent to those for whom we have prayed. The cards feature a quote from 1 Thessalonians: “We always give thanks to God for … you and mention you in our prayers.” You’re invited to take a blank card, address it to the person you are praying for, write a short message, sign the card and then leave it to be signed by others before being mailed the next day.
Book Study: Seeing Gray
Our next book study will be on Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics by Adam Hamilton. This will be a five session study with group sessions featuring a DVD with clips from the original sermon series preached at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. For individual study there are two options: the original 242 page hardback book (suggested donation $22), a 109 page “participant study guide” (suggested donation $12), and the Kindle edition of the original book. We’ll meet on Sunday evenings at 5:00 and Thursday evenings at 6:30 (you need only come to one or the other, whichever works best for you). Sessions will begin July 1. You can sign up online or by calling the church office at 620-251-3240.
Church Council Meeting
The Church Council will meet this coming Monday (June 25, 2012) at 5:15pm.
VBS Yard and Window Signs Available
Yard and window signs for Vacation Bible School are now available. The yard signs are 18″ by 24″ and have stakes that are intended to be pushed into the ground. The window signs are 8 1/2″ by 11″, printed on card stock and can be hung in many areas other than windows. Putting a sign in your yard, business window, community bulletin board, apartment door, etc. is an easy way to help with VBS. Thanks for showing your support.
Another Bible Reading Plan
I’ve received a few queries about Bible reading plans from people who enjoyed our the New Testament in 90 Days reading plan during Lent and Easter. There are a multitude of plans out there, but I thought I would share my personal devotional practice which is to read one chapter from the First (Old) Testament and one chapter from the New Testament every day. I’ve found this to be more helpful than simply reading two consecutive chapters.
Voice of the Day: Jaroslav Pelikan
For those of us who love and treasure tradition, Jaroslav Pelikan issues a reminder of an important distinction that we forget at our peril:
“Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”
— Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition Vol. 1, 9.