|
And a Meadowlark Sang
The man whispered, "God, speak to me!" and a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, "God, speak to me!" and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said, "God let me see you," and a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.
And the man shouted, "God show me a miracle", and a life was born.
But the man did not know.
So, the man cried out in despair saying, "Touch me, God, and let me know you are here!"
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
- Ravinda Kumar Karnani
"Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way you expect."
Grace and peace to you in the Name of Jesus.
Summer is a great time to reconnect with God and reclaim our relationship with God through our walk with Jesus. As it has been said before. Our faith is not a religion, it is a relationship. The goal is to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. How is your relationship with Jesus going? Do you spend time with him in prayer, Bible study, worship, fellowship or missions? Just like any relationship our return is in direct relation to our investment in that relationship. As the poem above illustrates; God is reaching out to you. How sad it is when we are not prepared to receive because we have neglected to spend time with God.
When we say, “Touch me God, and let me know you are here” and then not change our ways we will not experience the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I stand at the door knocking, IF anyone hears my voice and lets me in....”.
I will be praying for you this summer in relation to your walk with the Lord. I pray that you will devote sometime each day for prayer and open your heart to all the ways Jesus is reaching out to you.
As we celebrate Joan Olson’s 11 years of ministry as Parish Nurse and ask God’s blessing on her retirement we also welcome our new Parish Nurse Lisa Shufflebarger. Lisa has been a member of FUMC for many years and all who know her are overjoyed she has answered the call to be our new parish nurse. On June 6 we will be welcoming Lisa and introducing her to the congregation. Joan will work with Lisa for a few weeks and will help us make the transition.
On June 6th- after the 10:30am service we will be having one of our Friends and Fellowship luncheons. This is a free lunch to bring us together as a church family. It is designed to welcome new visitors to the church and to provide fellowship for the entire church family.
Children’s Sunday will be June 13 and on June 20 we will begin our summer schedule of having just one service- 9am.
Let us pray for the monumental cleanup effort due to the oil rig disaster. As stewards of God’s creation we must be faithful in doing all we can to prevent and repair damage to the environment.
As I always say-- there is never a time to take a vacation from church. I applaud everyone who honors the sabbath throughout the summer. We have been doing very well the last few summers but we can do better. Many people have shared that when they go to church, out of obedience, God has something special in store for them on that Sunday. If you do go away on vacation make sure to visit a local church and bring blessings from FUMC.
There is always something happening at FUMC and at Grace UMC. If you are not on my Encouraging Word e-mail list please send me an e-mail to join up. You will get the latest news from church as well as encouraging words to uplift you in your journey of faith.
Pray for our ASP (Appalachia Service Project) mission trip where over 80 of us are traveling to Buchannan County Virginia to serve those in need from July 10-18. I will be part of the leadership for this mission but assure you that we will have wonderful guest preachers for July 11 and 18. You are part of our ASP mission through your faithful financial support, love and prayers.
We are looking for people to sign to help with a new ministry at FUMC next Fall. We will be part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) as we offer some space at church for homeless families to sleep for one week.(Sept 26 - Oct 3) Please let the church office know if you would like to sign up to help... 1)provide a meal 2)help serve a meal or 3) sleep over at the church for a night while our guests are present.I know God will bless our efforts to reach out to homeless families.
Let us be open to all the ways God is reaching out to us and not miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way you expect.
Have a blessed summer!
In Christian Love,
Pastor John
|
