|
9/26/2016 0 Comments September 26th, 2016 A Hike in the CloudsRecently we had a day with some free time, so we decided to make use of it to go on a hike in the mountains - something we enjoy but rarely have the time to do. Despite the fact that it was foggy in the Valley and cloudy at the top of the Ridge that morning, we chose to hike Humpback Rocks in hopes that it might clear up by the time we made the drive and hike. As we drove to the trailhead, it became obvious from the dense fog and clouds that our hopes were unlikely to come to pass. Despite knowing that we would not be able to enjoy the beautiful views of the Valley below that the vista is known for because of the clouds, we parked and began the steep climb. At the top, we came to the outcropping of rocks and were greeted with clouds blowing up the mountainside. We could see patches of forest to our left but other than that it was all wisps of clouds and fog. Still it was remarkable to see the tendrils of fog and clouds twirling in the wind and passing by so close. As we looped our way back down, passing through forest of trees surrounded by ferns and other underbrush, the haze hung close by limiting how far we could see up and down the mountainside. Through the fog, the beauty of towering trunks and unfurling fronds was amazing. We finished our hike and returned to the visitors center to prepare for the drive home. There, one of the rangers asked how the hike and had been and whether we had gotten any of the views of the Valley. When I replied with a "no," she apologized for the weather and hoped we would come back. Another hiker questioned whether to set out on the path if there were no views to be had. I protested that we had seen some beautiful sights even if we had not seen gotten the far-off views of the Valley; in fact, I wonder if we would have even noticed the beauty right there beside us if the fog had not limited our vision. How often do we miss the wonderful things that surround us everywhere because we keep looking for things in the distance? How often do we overlook the blessings we already have because we are worried about what is coming over the horizion? Blessings on the journey, Jim Thrive: Growing in Godly Living and Giving This fall, we are reading Paul's closing words of wisdom in his First Letter to Timothy on how to live in a godly way that will transform our lives. Sunday's Sermon Snippet: What We Compete For (1 Timothy 6:11-17) When we left off with Paul's advice to Timothy last week, he had warned against the dangers of making money and the things it buys the driving goal of our lives. As Paul continues, he urges Timothy to run away from such distractions and pitfalls. Instead, he encourages the young man to pursue the godly life and chase it down, to compete in the good fight of faith, and to grab hold and wrestle with the blessing of eternal life. Using these images of running a race, boxing in a fight, and wrestling in a match, Paul shows the struggle that is following Jesus. Being a disciple is not easy and requires the same kind of effort of an athlete competing to win. These images echo Paul's counsel to the Corinthians that they run the race in order to win the prize of eternal life. He encouraged them that winning takes self-discipline and keeping the goal in clear sight. For us, self-discipline comes in our spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, worship, giving, fasting, serving, and remaining accountable to one another. We share the goal of eternal life, but each of us should also keep in sight the goal of what God has called us specifically to do and the life we leave behind. Keeping our sight on our goals of faith, each day we must wake up and make the decision of whether we will pursue, fight for, and grab hold of them. May we run the race of faith in pursuit of our goals as those prepared to win! Looking Ahead in Worship Paul has warned Timothy - and us along with him - to avoid making money the driving goal of our lives. This is a difficult thing that Paul asks of us, because money does drive so much of our lives. We cannot live in our world without it, and life obviously has some benefits when we have more of it. So how are we to balance this need for money with the danger of making it our goal. Join us this Sunday as we consider "What We Hope For"! Administrative AssistantThe Staff-Parish Relations Committee is accepting resumes to fill the position of Administrative Assistant. The position requires roughly 10 hours a week, mostly in the church office. Computer, organizational, and interpersonal skills are a must. If you are interested, please submit your resume to the church office or by email to Pastor Jim by October 10th. Please direct any questions to Pastor Jim or to the chair of the committee, Jeff. Wednesday at the Port Adult Bible StudyOur new Wednesday at the Port Adult Bible Study led by Dianna will kick off next week, October 5, with the topic of prayer. This short study will start at 7:15 and finish at 7:45. Parents needing to pick up their children from other classes at 7:30 are welcome to join and leave when needed along with additional notes. We hope to see you there! Living in CommunityThanks to Curt for continuing to keep our church park looking so wonderful! The food pantry is in GREAT NEED at this time of year. There will be a Harvest Table in the upstairs vestibule for the whole month of October. Please help us fill the shelves with food for the ERMA Food Pantry. Thank you for your support – PRUMC Food Pantry Volunteers. Thanks to Brad and Keith for leading our praise band this past Sunday! This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, September 28 9:30 - 2:00 - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, September 29 9:30 - 12:00 Office Hours Sunday, October 2 9:30 am - Worship with Communion: "Thrive: Where Our Hope Lies" 11:00 am - Sunday School 12 noon - Youth Prepare for Chili Cookoff Looking AheadChili Cookoff and Silent Auction for Youth Missions, October 15
Charge Conference, October 23 Drive-thru Nativity - December 9 & 10
0 Comments
9/19/2016 0 Comments September 19th, 2016 A Blessing a DayA couple of weeks ago we celebrated God's Labor Day in which we were all invited to participate in small mission projects - praying for the school, writing cards, talking with neighbors, and making a small token of blessing to share with others. A few folks shared with me other projects they had chosen for themselves like making home-made bread to share with neighbors. After returning from RENEW mission camp this summer in which they went out into the world to be a blessing to others, our youth group decided they wanted to continue their work by being a blessing to those in our local community throughout the year. Over the last few weeks, they have put together baskets of goodies and delivered them to folks going through trying times in life This week, I delivered two boxes full of supplies needed at the elementary school's clinic that you brought in. Nurse Jan is thankful for the support that allows her to care for the kids in her charge. Like those who have gone before us in the faith, we have been blessed by God so that others may be blessed through us. It is my hope that we will let blessings flow through our lives each day. Blessing others is not something we should limit to one day on the church calendar, to one mission trip, or to one project of the church Blessing others is what we should be about everyday. What would happen in our world if we tried to pass along a blessing a day? Blessings on the journey, Jim Thrive: Growing in Godly Living and Giving This fall, we are reading Paul's closing words of wisdom in his First Letter to Timothy on how to live in a godly way that will transform our lives. Sunday's Sermon Snippet: What Money Can't Buy (1 Timothy 6:2b-10) The Apostle Paul wrote to his young protege Timothy whom he had sent to address conflicts in a struggling church. Throughout the letter he offered advice, encouragement, and rules for congregational life, and here he closes the letter with some final words on the necessity of leading a godly life especially in comparison to those who have made money their primary goal in life. Paul warns Timothy to teach what has been passed along to him, because to stray away from that leads down a dangerous path - one that ends with replacing godliness with the pursuit of money. Paul points to those teachers who have sought to enrich themselves and see godliness as a means to great wealth. This is a danger because making riches our goal in life ends up hurting others and ourselves. This danger is tempting, however, because money can buy so much in our lives: pleasure, a sense of security, power, status, and the like. Paul says that godliness is indeed profitable - not in a material sense but rather in a broader sense - when we are satisfied with what we already have, because godly living buys one thing money cannot - contentment and joy. This may seem a bit naive to us. After all, who among us would not like to have a bit more money. It is important to note that Paul does not condemn money in and of itself. Money can be a good thing - it allows us to go to the grocery store, buy medicines, pay bills, keep the lights on, and help others as well. Paul warns us that it is instead the love of money that leads us into danger. It is when we replace our love of God and pursuit of faithfulness with the love and pursuit of money that we stray away and wind up hurting ourselves. From Paul's letter to Timothy, we see that the problem is not with money itself but when we make money our primary goal in life. This begs the question of what our main goal in life is: to be a millionaire? to be famous? to be the best? to have power? to be admired? to be called good? to merely make it through each day? to follow Jesus with all that is in us? As Christians, we know which one it should be, but all the others are so tempting and alluring to dream of. So let's dream: What do we dream our legacy will be when our lives are over? What will be the legacy of our faith? What goal do we need to have for how we will follow Jesus to make that legacy a reality? Dream boldly! Looking Ahead in Worship We want to follow Jesus and live the best life we can. We want to make a godly life our goal, but often we fail. Why is it so hard? What do we need to do to thrive? Join us this Sunday as we learn "What We Compete For"! Living in CommunityWelcome to Will and Laurel who confirmed their faith and joined the church last week! Congratulations to Trenton and his family on his baptism this past Sunday! Thank you to everyone who made our Wednesday at the Port a success last week! Please lift up Rad and his family on the passing of his father. Thank you to everyone who brought in supplies for the clinic at South River Elementary! This Week at Port ChurchTuesday, September 20 6:45 pm - Lay Leadership Nominations Meeting Wednesday, September 21 10:00 - 12:00 - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Thursday, September 22 7:00 pm - SPRC Meeting Sunday, September 25 9:30 am - Worship: "Thrive: What We Compete For" 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking AheadHarvest Table in October
The food pantry is in GREAT NEED at this time of year. There will be a Harvest Table in the upstairs vestibule for the whole month of October. Please help us fill the shelves with food for the ERMA Food Pantry. Thank you for your support – PRUMC Food Pantry Volunteers. Chili Cookoff and Silent Auction for Youth Missions, October 15 Charge Conference, October 23 Drive-thru Nativity - December 9 & 10 9/13/2016 0 Comments  Wednesday at the Port Returns! This Wednesday at 6 pm, we begin our fall session of Wednesdays at the Port! This is a great time of Food, Faith, and Friends. Join us this week for a delicious, home-cooked meal of beef barbecue sandwiches with slaw, mac & cheese, and applesauce followed by programs for children and youth. Beginning in October, we will also offer a short study for adults beginning at 7:15 to give time for clean up after the meal. Please pray for all of our leaders: Sue, Debbie, Joyce, and Pat in the kitchen, Tara coordinating meal volunteers, Randy and Mark running the bus, Dinah, Steve, Meg, and Chris working with youth, Lee and Holly working with kids, Liz teaching music, Barbie in charge of the nursery, and all of our many other volunteers that make this ministry possible each week! We could not do this without the help of all of you! We also cannot provide this free meal and programming for our community without your continued financial support. While there is no charge for the meal, a donation of even $5 for the delicious meal helps cover the cost of your meal and part of the cost of a meal for one of the many children from the community who join us. Please considering making a contribution as you are able. Invite a friend and join us this Wednesday! Blessings on the journey, Jim It Takes a Village...This past Sunday, we finished up our series on the importance of community with a blessing of our first responders and a consideration of how God calls us to respond as a community in times of tragedy. Sunday's Sermon Snippet: to Heal the Brokenness! (Luke 13:1-9) When tragedy strikes, whether near to us or far away, one of our first instincts is to try to make sense of why it happened and who is to blame. By finding reason and pointing the finger, we separate ourselves from the pain we feel and try to regain some sense of control and order in a chaotic world. It is how we respond to tragedy. Jesus encountered this reaction in his time - people trying to make sense of tragedy. In his time (and still in our day if we are honest), it was common to place blame on the victims themselves. Understanding God as just, many people speculated that if something horrible happened to someone that God would only allow it if they deserved it. Viewing tragedy as a punishment for sin was and is a way of making sense of it. But Jesus confronted this understanding among the crowds that gathered and dismissed the easy answer. Giving two examples - one of human violence and another an accident - Jesus pointed out that the victims were no worse than those who heard him now. And yet, he said, those who heard him would die as well if they did not repent. This is not a threat but likening spiritual death of living apart from God to tragedy. For life is precious and fragile, and none of us knows when tragedy may befall us. Life is too precious and fragile to squander even a moment away from God. So how do we make sense of the tragedies we see, from the big ones that make headlines to the ones that happen everyday and everywhere in individual lives? It is in how we respond - looking to heal the brokenness and give another chance as the gardener in Jesus' parable does. God has chosen some among us to be first responders who remind us that God is with us even in the darkest of moments. But we are all called to be responders - the second responders who pray for and support the emergency personnel and victim and begin the work of recovery. We as members of the household of faith are called especially to be last responders too - sticking with survivors until we are the last folks to leave the site of a tragedy. Why do tragedies occur? We do not know, but we do know we are called to respond. It takes a village of first responders and communities of faith to heal the brokenness that occurs in our world! Thrive: Growing in Godly Living and Giving What difference does following Jesus make in our lives? Does following Jesus help us get by each day, or does it completely change everything about how we live our lives. Following Jesus deeply transforms our lives and helps us to thrive even in the hardest of circumstances. This Sunday, we kick off our new series "Thrive: Growing in Godly Living and Giving" as we look to some of the wisdom that the Apostle Paul left for his protege Timothy about following Jesus. Join us this week as we look at "What Money Can't Buy"! Last Call for Items for South River Elementary ClinicThank you for the abundance of items you have brought in for the South River Elementary Nurse's Clinic! If you still have any items, please bring them in this week. We will be delivering items early next week. Items needed are: Flushable wipes, Belts, Underwear: womens 7 and girls 14-16, Jello cups, Granola Bars (no nuts/peanut butter), Clorox Wipes. Living in CommunityThank you, Keith, Dalton, Steve, and Eli for installing our new basketball goal! Thank you, Dinah, for sharing how the village has helped you and Chris through your times as first responders! Thank you to all of our police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and other public servants who protect and serve our community every day! This Week at Port ChurchTuesday, September 13 7:00 pm - Administrative Council Wednesday, September 14 10:00 - 12:00 - Office Hours 6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port Sunday, September 18 9:30 am - Worship: "Thrive: What Money Can't Buy" Baptism 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking AheadChili Cookoff and Silent Auction for Youth Missions, October 15
Charge Conference, October 23 Drive-thru Nativity - December 9 & 10 9/7/2016 0 Comments September 07th, 2016 Past, Present, and FutureSeptember 11th is one of those days of which, for those of our generations, we will always remember where we were when we heard the news of the attacks. As we approach the 15th anniversary of that fateful day this Sunday, our memories are likely to be brought back to the forefront. After all, we are a people of memory. So much of what we do, so much of our ritual, is based on remembering what God has done in our lives during the good times and the bad. Worshipping God means remembering in faith how God has been faithful to us in all circumstances. But as God's people we do not only remember days past. We also remember the promise of days to come. We remember that there is a day to come - the Day of the Lord - when God's kingdom will be made complete, a day when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when swords will be beaten in plowshares. We remember in hope that there are better days in the future. Even as we remember the past and look forward to the future, we are called to live fully into this day - the only day we have now. Because of our faith in what God has done and our hope at what God will do, we live today in the love of Jesus Christ. In faith we remember the past, in hope we look toward the future, and in the present we live in God's love. Because in all times - good and bad - these three abide: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. Blessings on the journey, Jim It Takes a Village We are finishing up our series on community and how we are called to work together this Sunday. Sunday's Sermon Snippet: to Change the World! (Luke 10: 1-11, 17-20) The problems that families in our community and across the world face are enormous. It is overwhelming to consider how we might begin to tackle the larger problems when we face so many problems already in our own homes and church that are already challenges. Thankfully, it is not just up to me or to you to change the world. It takes a village working together through the power of God's Spirit. In the middle of his ministry, Jesus called 72 of his followers and sent them out to change the world. We can glean a few things from the instructions he gave these first missionaries about how we are called and sent out into the world. 1) Jesus told his followers to ask the Lord to send harvesters into the abundant harvest because there were so few workers. When we are overwhelmed by the problems of the world, we start with prayer for God to help us. Changing the world starts with prayer. 2) Jesus sent them two by two - working together is the key. If we see a problem to face in the world, we need to find someone to work alongside us. Changing the world is not a solo job. 3) Jesus told the missionaries to take nothing with them. Changing the world does not take a big bank account or a crowd folks; it just takes trust and faithfulness. 4) Jesus told his followers to simply go out, live among the people, proclaim the message of God's kingdom, and heal those who were sick and oppressed - all simple things (yes, even healing is simple when we consider that healing can mean more than physical healing but also emotional and spiritual - a timely word of encouragement, a listening ear, and a kind presence can all lead to healing). Changing the world begins not with huge programs but with simple acts. 5) The missionaries returned to Jesus to report what had happened, and Jesus taught them that, though he was proud of what they had done, what they should be excited by is that they belong to God. Sometimes we may fail but God still loves us. Changing the world leads us back to Jesus and his love for us. May we be so bold as to go out to do the small things that together will change the world. May we be the village church with a mission to the world! Looking Ahead Join us this Sunday as we recognize and thank our first responders and live out how "It Takes a Village to Heal the Brokenness!" Supporting South River Elementary SchoolAs school has gotten started, Nurse Jan has let us know of a few of the items she needs for the clinic to help children be ready to learn and grow. Flushable wipes Belts Underwear: womens 7, girls 14-16 Jello cups Granola Bars (no nuts/peanut butter) Clorox Wipes Be a part of the village supporting our students, and bring any of the above items to church this Sunday! Reminder: Leading Our ChurchAs we prepare for the upcoming year and the ministries we will undertake in Jesus' name, we will be looking to identify leaders of our church for 2017 and beyond! To help our nominating committee in their discernment, please fill out the short survey that can be found online here. You will be asked to complete a short spiritual gifts inventory, share your interests, and let us know if you feel called to any particular ministries or to step back from ministries you are already involved in. This should take only about five minutes but will help our church tremendously. Your input will help us to better match leaders to roles God has gifted them for. Thanks for your help! Living in CommunityThank you to everyone who participated in God's Labor Day! We had 10 folks pray over the school and 3 folks head out to meet out neighbors, while others made 32 Cups of Blessings and 15 Cards of Encouragement. Thanks for making a difference in our community! Volunteers needed for Wednesday at the Port: Servers and cleaners needed - whether you can help one week or many, you are what makes this ministry possible! See Sue for more information. This Week at Port ChurchWednesday, September 7 9:30 - 2:00 - Office Hours Sunday, September 11 9:30 am - Worship: "It Takes a Village... to Heal the Brokenness" Blessing of First Responders Confirmation 11:00 am - Sunday School Looking AheadWednesday at the Port kicks off on September 14!
Chili Cookoff and Silent Auction for Youth Missions, October 15 Charge Conference, October 23 Drive-thru Nativity - December 9 & 10 |
News and UpdatesFind out what is going on at Port Republic UMC this week and in weeks to come! Archives
January 2019
Categories |
RSS Feed