Tomorrow, Jenny will be preaching on Mark 1.21-28, 32-34 an talking about the demons we face in the here and now. Clark Williamson will be gone due to a family illness, but Tom Miles will direct the choir in Goin’ Up to Glory at the 10:30 service. Also at the 10:30 service, Ben Luty on the guitar will be joining Angie Hoerner on the piano for accompaniment.
Sermon — January 25, 2015
After a long hiatus, I’ve posted another sermon online. This is my sermon on Jonah preached at Abilene First United Methodist Church on January 25, 2015.
Link: https://soundcloud.com/revcollins/sermon-2015-01-25-john
Reminder: All-Church Potluck
A reminder: an all-church potluck has been scheduled for Sunday, February 1, 2015 following the 10:30 worship service. Since it’s a potluck, most of the food will take care of itself, but let us know if you’re interested in helping with drinks, clean-up, etc.
Open House for Neva Heck’s Birthday
The family of Neva Heck invites you to join them as they celebrate her 90th birthday with a Birthday Open House. It will be Saturday, January 31, 2015 at the Hickok Room in the Hitching Post Restaurant from 1 pm to 2:30 pm.
Youth Superbowl Food Drive and Fundraiser
Received from Wendy Robinson:
Who do are you rooting for? The Patriots or the Seahawks?
Either way, you can help your team win the 8th Annual Abilene Area Food & Clothing Center (AAFCC) Super Giving Bowl by donating nonperishable food items such as canned goods, peanut butter, crackers, instant noodles, etc. Place the items in the box of the team that you want to win. (There will be a box for each team in the Narthex outside the doors to the sanctuary.)
Or if you’re not as much for one team as you are against the other, you can make the other team lose by placing paper goods like paper towels, toilet paper or tissues in their box. For every item you put in, the given team will lose points.
Thank You!
Blue Prayer Request Cards
Do you have a prayer request you would like the church to pray for? Please help us know your prayer requests by filling out a blue prayer request card, located in the pews or in the church office, or calling the church office to let us know. We can list your name or your loved one’s name in the bulletin insert, put your prayer request in the prayer chapel for the weekly prayer vigil, put out a card for the congregation to sign, assign the person a prayer partner to pray for them or it can be for the pastors only. The blue cards help us know the nature of your prayer request and what information you would like to be shared and how.
In addition, if you know of someone who is in the hospital and would like a visit from a pastor, please let us know (we would rather hear about it from several people than to miss someone).
Jonah in Four Chapters
This Sunday I’ll be preaching on Jonah 3.1-10, but I’m going to talk about the entire book of Jonah, and the entire book is only four chapters. If you have a little time, I encourage you read through it before Sunday. I think it will help you get a lot more out of the sermon.
Cancer Support Group Update
The Cancer Support Group has decided to change from an evening to a morning meeting time. The group will still meet on the second Tuesday of the month, but the time has changed to 9:30 am. We welcome anyone to join the group who would like the support of others who have been diagnosed with cancer. The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 10, at 9:30 am, in room 200.
The One Event Summary
On January 3-4, 2015, 10 youth and 2 adult sponsors from Abilene First UMC traveled to Grand Island, NE, for The One Event, a conference event for youth in 6th-12th grades, all over Kansas and Nebraska. Over 1200 people attended the event which featured energizing music, an amazing illusionist, a drumming group, and a dynamic speaker. To read a summary of the message the speaker, Rev. Kirstie Garnes, shared with the group, follow this link: http://www.greatplainsumc.org/newsdetail/679318 or ask for a copy from the church office.
Those who attended The One Event were: Sydney Burton, Zac Carroll, Liz Collins, Jack Graefe, Anna Holmes, Kate Luty, Brenna Riffel, Rae Schwarting, Audrey Unruh, Miller Unruh, and sponsors Karlene Taylor and Pastor Jenny Collins. Plans are already underway for The One Event next year which will be held on January 30-31, 2016.
Why I Celebrate
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I wanted to share with you why this day is important to me and why I believe it should be important to you. I observe this day, to remember not only Martin Luther King, Jr., but all those who participated in the civil rights movement. I observe this day, to celebrate what was achieved for racial and economic justice and rededicate myself to the work still to be done.* But mostly, I observe this day to remember what the church can accomplish when we put the teachings of Jesus Christ into action.
The civil rights movement was Christian to the very core of it’s being. Meetings were often held in churches. The Christian faith was invoked by the hymns that were sung, scriptures the were read, and the sermons that were preached. Faith provided both the inspiration to get started when the odds looked overwhelming and much of the courage to continue on when the going got difficult. The non-violent practices it adopted to achieve it’s goals were those of Jesus.
This is not to say that Christianity was the only source of inspiration. Ideas and inspiration were taken from non-Christian sources as long as they were compatible with the movement’s Christian goals and Christ-like means. A monumental accomplishment of the movement was its success in converting many non-Christians and nominal Christians to its worldview and course of action even if it could not convert them to its faith. This is a success that subsequent movements have not only failed to accomplish, but failed even to attempt.
The civil rights movement put a deep and profound faith into action to make a difference in the world. I believe that the movement’s goals were an expression of the gospel. Not only that, but the means by which they sought to accomplish those goals through peaceful, loving, non-violent action was also an expression of the gospel. They put the teachings of Jesus into practice and changed the world for the better and left us a great example of what the church can accomplish. That is why I celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and that is why I celebrate this day.
*All too often as a nation, we sanitize the struggle for racial justice, forget the work that was done for economic justice, and act as if both have been fully realized.
God Knows Us Throughly and Loves Us Fully
In her sermon this morning, Jenny had a great quote that she shared from her research. I wanted to share it with you in print:
“Because the God who knows us thoroughly loves us fully, our lives have a worth that cannot be taken from us—by others or ourselves. The value of our lives does not come from what we achieve or possess or what others may think of us. It comes fro the God who knows and names us, from whose steadfast love nothing in all creation can ever separate us.” —Allen C. McSween, Jr., Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 1.
Sunday’s Sermon
Jenny will be preaching on Psalm 139.1-6, 13-18 this Sunday. The two other scripture readings will be 1 Samuel 3.1-10 and John 1.43-51. At 8:15 we’ll have special music from Ward and Lisa Turnbull and at 10:30 the choir will be singing Step by Step.