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The
Messenger (A
note from the pastor: I first sent you this “message” in the summer of 2007.
This summer I am making plans to leave next week, as a part of the senior
UMYF mission trip to Maine; the week after that is VBS (vacation Bible school)
here in Mexico; the week after that Maggie and I will be at Casowasco, as
chaplain and camp nurse! I send this message to you-again-because it is one that
I need to hear. I hope that some of
you need to hear it, too.) Over the years I’ve written dozens of these “articles” for church newsletters. I’ve had the chance to air my opinion on many and various topics, to ask for things (like more attendance on Sunday, more “participation” in Bible study, etc.), and just to be “preach-y” in general. Each time that I’ve written to the folks in church I’ve assumed that each one of you has paid close attention to my nuggets of wisdom, and has been richly rewarded as you’ve carefully followed my sage and pastoral advice. So, to uphold this time-honored custom, I have some wise counsel for each one of you this summer: STOP!! Stop all the rushing and running. Stop your regular routine of trying to pack at least 26 hours of activity into a 24 hour day. Stop trying to be all things, to all people, all of the time. Stop. Just stop.
And then, listen. Listen for that “still, small voice”, the voice of
God that can only be heard when we really take time to listen. And then, look
for God. Look in the beauty of a summer morning, in the majesty of a sudden
thunderstorm, in the cool of dusk. Look for God in the faces of happy children,
and contented old-timers. And then, take time to talk with God. Tell God about
your hopes, your cares, your joys. And then, let God speak to your heart. Let
God talk about the hopes for you which God has in mind! Before I close, I ought to tell you that there are some things that you SHOULDN’T stop this summer. Don’t stop praying, or loving God and all of God’s beloved ones. Don’t stop living each day to the fullest, don’t stop working on your relationship with the Creator of all things. (And, as I slip back into the “pastor mode”, don’t stop coming to Sunday worship at 9:45 each week!)
Enjoy the all too short summer, and may God bless your “stopping”. Sincerely, Bill ---------------------------- A
Place for You Psalm
15 Words
in boxes are from the Bible. Words in brackets, ( ), are not in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 15 v1
LORD, who will stay in your house? v2
He/she that is always: v3
He/she says nothing bad. v4
He/she does not like bad people, v5
She/he does not lend money to get more money. Word
list move
~ here it probably means "make him go away from God". The
story of Psalm 15 David
had a house in Jerusalem for the LORD. It was a tent. It was made from goat
skins. (Look at the end of Psalm 4) Holy means very, very good. Only God is
really holy. David called his tent the house of the LORD. David thought that God
lived in it. God is holy, so David said this made the hill of Zion holy too.
People that loved the LORD came to his house. They asked, "Who can come
into the house of the LORD?" The answer is in verses 2-5. It was probably
said by a priest of the LORD. A priest is a special servant of God. Psalm 15
says the same things today. If we want to What
Psalm 15 means The
doing-words (called verbs) in Psalm 15:2 are different from those in Psalm
15:3-5. This is in the Hebrew Bible. David spoke Hebrew. He wrote Psalm 15 in
Hebrew. The words in verse 2 tell us what believers are like on the inside. A
believer is a person that believes in the LORD. Only God sees inside us. Verses
3-5 tells us what believers are like on the outside. This is what everyone sees.
There is no temple today. It was destroyed about 2000 years ago. Jesus told his
friends that he would make them another house. It will be in heaven. Christians
believe that Psalm 15 is about that house in heaven. © 2001, Wycliffe Associates (UK) January 2001 Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BABY BOTTLE
TALLY Over $858.00 in coins and checks was collected from Mother’s Day (May 9th ) to Father’s Day (June 20th) in the Friendship Circle’s annual fundraiser using baby bottles as collection receptacles. The money was designated to be split between the Maine Mission Trip and our Vacation Bible School. Thank you to all who donated to the mission of the Maine Trip and the Ministry of Vacation Bible School! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, How Did the
Maine Mission Trip Go? A
total of fourteen team members took the mission trip to Maine to help folks in
an economical depressed area. The
team painted the new drywall in a completely refurbished church operated thrift
store, salvaged a church and parsonage, sorted food at a food bank and made
several visits to two area nursing homes. At the end of the trip the team
members were asked what they will remember most about the trip and/or what they
learned from the mission experience. Given
the length of their answers this will be continued in the September issue of the
Messenger.
The team is very thankful for your support and will share their
experiences during the September 12th coffee hour following worship.
Everyone is invited. Lori
Behling:
They were hungry, so we fed them.
They were naked so we clothed them.
They were thirsty, so we gave them a drink.
They were homeless so we gave them shelter.
They were sick so we comforted them.
What a great week to see Gods work in all we did.
Thanks for everyone’s support to help us accomplish our missions. Carol
Watros:
Most memorable:
The vast amount of food distributed by volunteers at the Good Shepard
Food Bank;
The youth and their willingness to participate in this mission trip. Emily
Yerden:
So many great things happened on this trip and I feel that I’ve
grown so much.
My favorite part of this trip would have to be seeing how happy and how
much the elderly nursing home patients’ days were made when we came to visit
them.
Steven
Watros:
My most memorable experience was meeting the elderly at the nursing
home and realizing the joy they withdrew from our simple visit. Jenna
Behling:
I enjoyed salvaging/demolishing at a church soon to be torn down.
On this trip I learned how to be a team player to accomplish many tasks.
Louie Arena: My most memorable moment was demolishing, well ‘salvaging’, an old church. I learned a lot from this experience. I definitely learned a lot of new graces and prayers. I thank everyone that made it possible for me to go on this mission trip. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our church now has an email address:
fumcmexico@verizon.net ASAP
UPDATE Thanks to your pledges, some very generous memorial gifts and monies from the Family Fun Day, we are over one third of the way to funding the church elevator, currently having approximately $27,000 in the ASAP account. At the last ASAP meeting, a number of ideas for future fund raisers were discussed. About 69 individuals have taken ASAP "seed money". The Harvest Sunday will be September 26th. It will be very interesting to see the original and unique ideas some people have planned. How is YOUR seed money doing? Are you making it grow? If you need ideas, just contact any ASAP committee member.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Accessibility
and Safety Achievement Project Gift Card Request I request a gift card in honor or memory (please circle
one): Person
Honoring or Memorializing:_____________________________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________ Occasion:_________________________________Amount:__________________________ Donor
Name:_______________________________________________________________ Donor
Address:_____________________________________________________________ Please
deliver this form and check (with “ASAP in memo section), to the church office
or mail it to: Mexico
First United Methodist Church, PO Box 255, Mexico, New York, 13114 Thank
you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECIPE CORNER: This
month’s seasonal recipe comes to us from Sue Morton.
“I
got this recipe from Ruth Ziemer back in October of 1999,” says Sue.
“Ruth and her husband, Rolf, are also members of the Syracuse Sail
& Power Squadron –our boating group.” Caramel Peach Crunch Ingredients: ½ cup flour ¼ cup white sugar 1 cup uncooked rolled oats (old fashioned O.K.) 1 teaspoon cinnamon* ½ cup light brown sugar, packed ½ cup butter or margarine, melted 3-4 cups fresh peaches, sliced Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange 3-4 cups sliced (or chunked) fresh peaches in a lightly buttered pie plate or a 10” x 6” x 2” Pyrex baking dish. (I’ve also mixed fresh fruit in season, such as blueberries for color.) In a mixing bowl combine flour, oats, sugars, spices, and melted butter. Mix well. Sprinkle on top of the fruit. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Makes 6 servings. *Especially with peaches, I use at least ¼ tsp ground cloves and a little less cinnamon, and a good dash of nutmeg. This delicious desert can also be made with apples instead of peaches!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can
anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?
Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are
persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?
(Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we
are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through
Christ, who loved us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THANK
YOU, THANK YOU TOO… ~
Ed and Nancy Murray for counting the monetary contributions collected in the
baby bottles. ~
all who cook and serve for the funeral dinners at our church. ~
Sue Morton for organizing this year’s Vacation
Bible School. It was a grand
success. ~
to all those who cooked for and/or served at the Unity Acres Cook-Out on July
10. Thanks to the UMMen for donating
the meat, rolls and cheese. ~
all who contributed to Vacation Bible School. ~
to Wayne Green for providing the sound system for the VBS music on the float in
the Firemen’s Field Day Parade. ~
the Behlings for providing the wagon for the float and Jim Smith for driving the
tractor. ~
Esther Granger for clearing brush on the south side of the church parking lot. ~
Jim Smith for a waxing the fellowship hall and kitchen floor. ~
Bonnie Loforte for organizing the carwash for the Senior High Maine Mission
Trip. ~
all who contributed to the funds to allow the mission team to take the Maine
Mission Trip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMPORTANT
DATES: August
7: Bloodmobile, 8am –
1pm **Molly Freihofer and Alyssa Sprague will provide (sitting services with entertainment and snacks!), as their “ASAP Seed Project”. Cost is a donation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONGRATULATIONS
TO…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congratulations
to… Franklin L. Ladimir
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Go
often to the house of your friend, for weeds soon choke up the unused path.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special
Thanks too… Dave
Martin for
his time and talent used to build the handsome trunk that led to his generous
contribution to ASAP and the handicap accessible elevator project.
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