Author: John Collins

Yesterday evening the youth met and worked to better understand the Lord’s Prayer by putting it into contemporary language. Here’s what they came up with:

God in heaven,
reveal your holiness, your kingdom come.
Set the world right, the same way it is in heaven.
Let us have enough to eat.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but keep us away from evil,
for this is your kingdom.
From you comes the power and the glory. You are ablaze always.
So be it.
Amen.

They put a great deal of work into this, looking at and taking the best from numerous translations of the Bible. We’ll be using their work this coming Sunday.

Topeka First UMC also has two screens. In this case the screen comes up out of the wood case and covers almost all of the wall hanging.

Topeka Grace UMC has two screens for projection in their sanctuary. Above is a picture of the screen to the right of the altar, the screen to the left of the altar matches this one. Above it is deployed and ready for projection. Below is what it looks like when it is not in use. You can’t tell from these pictures, but the beam that the screen rolls up into when not in use very much matches the architecture of the sanctuary. Thanks to Wesley Gately for helping me get these pictures.

I’ll post a picture from Topeka First UMC soon.

Daily devotions are a wonderful way to be shaped by God’s Word.  We currently have print versions of The Upper Room Daily Devotionals and Devo’zine, a devotional magazine for youth, in the office at the church.  In addition, The Upper Room Daily Devotionals are available by e-mail.  If you would like to sign up for this free E-Mail Devotional please visit: http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/email/.

The Upper Room site has many things to assist you in your daily walk with God.  There are resources for all ages.  Check out:   http://www.upperroom.org/pockets/  for the Pockets section for children which has activities for children and their families.  Youth–check out the Devo’zine section to access the magazine and other resources on line.

No posting (alright no more posting) today. It’s our sabbath.

We’re back from Topeka and I plan to be posting pictures soon. The Bible Study on A Crucified Christ in Holy Week had excellent discussion tonight. I really appreciate everyone who is participating.

Jenny and I are in Topeka tonight. We worshiped at Grace UMC’s Wednesday Night Gathering and took pictures of their projection system to share when we get back. Tommorrow we’ll be visiting Topeka First UMC to look at and get pictures of their projection system.

My daily devotions sometime include readings from Frederick Buechner’s book, Beyond Words. I thought I would share his thoughts on the incarnation:

“The Word became flesh,” wrote John, “and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1.14). That is what incarnation means. It is untheological. It is unsophisticated. It is undignified. But according to Christianity, it is the way things are.

All religions and philosophies that deny the reality or the significance of the material, the fleshly, the earthbound, are themselves denies. Moses at the burning bush was told to take off his shoes because the ground on which he stood was holy ground (Exodus 3:5), and incarnation means that all ground is holy ground because God not only made it but walked on it, ate and slept and worked and died on it. If we are saved anywhere, we are saved here. And what is saved is not some diaphanous distallation of our bodies and our earth, but our bodies and our earth themselves. Jerusalem becomes the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2). Our bodies are sown perishable and raised imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:42).

One of the blunders religious people are particularly fond of making is the attempt to be more spiritual than God.

I’ll try to get a copy of Beyond Words for the church library. You can also purchase a copy at Cokesbury.

First UMC participates in the UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Coffee Program. Fairly traded coffee, cocoa, and hot chocolate from Equal Exchange are now available in the office. They’ve been moved from the entry way because we were having some problems with inventory slippage. The hot chocolate is not as sweet as those of us in the U.S. are used to, but extra sugar and milk take care of it. Follow the link to learn more about the UMCOR Coffee Project.

Next time you’re in the sanctuary, take time to check out our "Children’s Corner." Books and bags filled with paper, pencils, crayons, etc. for our youngest members are available there. They’re updated every week. This is part of our continuing effort to be more welcoming to little ones.

The church website has been redesigned, but it’s very simple and very sparsley populated at this point. Take a look and send  us your suggestions for content. You can follow the link at right.

The warm weather seems to have cut into numbers, but “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” went smoothly with thirty-six adults and children. Everyone (even the adults) liked the show. Lesson learned: provide each child with only one bean bag.