Daily Quote

Good News

Some Levity for the New Year

Actual Announcements From Church Bulletins

• Don't let worry kill you -- let the church help.
• Thursday night -- Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow.
• Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
• The rosebud on the alter this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
• This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.
• Tuesday at 4:00 PM there will be an ice cream social. All ladies giving milk will please come early.
• Wednesday, the Ladies' Liturgy Society will meet. Mrs. Jones will sing, "Put me in My Little Bed" accompanied by the pastor.
• Thursday at 5:00 P.M. there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers club. All wishing to become little mothers, please see the minister in his study.
• This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the alter.
• The service will close with "Little Drops of Water." One of the ladies will start quietly and the rest of the congregation will join in.
• Next Sunday a special collection will be taken to defray the cost of the new carpet. All those wishing to do something on the new carpet will come forward and do so.
• The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind and they may be seen in the church basement Friday.
• A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
• At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

You Might be a United Methodist if...

Pardon to all those who are not United Methodist… but if you are not you may learn a bit about us from this…

You Might be a United Methodist if...

.. you don't take Rolaids when your heart is strangely warmed

... you know that a circuit rider is not an electrical device

... The Upper Room is as essential to your bathroom as the toilet paper

... you felt that the NCAA penalties against SMU football were too harsh

... you've ever owned a pair of cross and flame boxer shorts

... tithing is encouraged but widely ignored

... half the people sitting in your pew lip-sync the words to the hymns

... the word apportionment sends a chill down your spine

... names like Aldersgate, Asbury, and Epworth are vaguely familiar

... you consider the monthly potluck a sacrament

... you've ever attended an Annual Conference and actually enjoyed it

... you have an unexplained yearning to visit Wesley's Chapel in London

... your church is named for a geographical location rather than for a saint

... you've never heard a sermon on Hell and don't feel you're missing out

... you realize that VBS isn't a sexually transmitted disease

... your pastor moves every four or five years and you like it that way

... there's at least one person in every church meeting who says, "But we've never done it that way before"

... your congregation's Christmas pageant includes both boy and girl wise men

... you accept the fact that the hymn "O, for a thousand tongues to sing" has almost as many stanzas as tongues

... you know that the Wesleyan Quadrilateral isn't a trick football play involving four lateral passes

... you realize that the Book of Discipline is not a guide to getting your child to behave

... you understand that an "appointment" has nothing to do with keeping a lunch date

... you think "UMW" stands for United Methodist Women rather than the United Mine Workers

... you know the difference between a "diagonal" minister and a "Diaconal" minister

... "Good morning" has the status of a liturgical greeting in the worship service

... you say "trespasses" instead of "debts" in the Lord's Prayer and have no idea why

... your annual conference spends most of its time debating resolutions that nobody reads

... you'd rather be branded with a hot iron than serve on the Nominating Committee

... you've ever sipped Welch's grape juice out of a plastic shot glass during Communion

... you're asked to donate money to a "special offering" every other Sunday

... you pore over the Conference Journal with the same intensity you would read a John Grisham novel  (yeah .. sure… uh huh.. you bet)

... you have to fight through a cadre of greeters to get into the sanctuary

... when the worship service lasts for more than one hour, the beeping of watch alarms drowns out the final hymn

New Year's Resolutions

Here we are coming up on the New Year. And, for many it is a tradition to make New Year’s resolutions. You know, when you think about it, all New Year’s Resolutions basically fall into 3 categories.  We could call the categories Longevity, Prosperity, and Peace. They  generally deal with:

1. Things to make us look better and live longer, ( like losing weight, exercising more, etc.)
2. Things to make us have more, (like saving up for something, or, for some people, opening a new credit card or buying more lottery tickets.)
3. Things that will help us to get along with everyone, (like patience, and biting our lip before putting our foot in our mouth.)

All of them are aimed at making ourselves better persons.  Here might be some suggestions worth considering by all of us.

When William Sangster was told he was dying of progressive muscular atrophy, he made four resolutions and faithfully kept them:

1) I will never complain;

2) I will keep the home bright;

3) I will count my blessings;

4) I will try to turn it to gain.

Preacher Charles Swindoll several years ago made these resolutions, which he got from Jonathan Edwards:

Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence.

Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general.

Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

Resolved, Never to speak evil of any one, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive, myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

          (Quoted in Sanctity of Life, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, p. 90-91.)

Christmas Sermon Sunday December 26

Isaiah 9: 6

Philippians 2:5-8

Luke 2:1-20

Christmas

Those words, "There was no room for them in the inn," remind me of an experience my family had several years ago.  We were on our way from New Jersey to Michigan, going up through part of Pennsylvania, and then New York State. We had been busy packing and then traveling all day, and we were trying to find a motel where we could spend the night.  It was getting late, and the children were tired and fidgety. As we drove along the highway, our hopes were downed time and again by the sight of NO VACANCY signs.  We drove and drove and drove, until finally, many, many miles beyond where we had planned to stop, we found a vacancy.

Think of Mary and Joseph.  How much worse it must have been when they arrived in Bethlehem and found no rooms available.  I can imagine Joseph pleading with the manager of the inn, telling him of Mary's condition and their desperate need for a suitable place where she could give birth to her child.  Luke tells us, "there was no room for them in the inn," and that when Mary gave birth to Jesus she "wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger."

Today, 20 centuries later, millions of people have no room for Jesus. Although they participate enthusiastically in the festivities of the Christmas season, they keep Christ out of their lives. The "No Vacancy" sign is there, in their hearts.

Sometimes this is because of lack of belief. Sometimes it is because they think that being Christian removes their freedom to live a “normal” life, the kind of life they see around them every day and on TV, the kind of life that is so seductive to us and our children in this day and age. After all, isn’t it true that if we believe, we then have to give up our Sunday mornings of freedom, to come to church and participate in inconvenient activities at inconvenient times. And church services can be so uncomfortable and boring. Right?

Sometimes the “No Vacancy” is there because of fear. Fear of the unknown. Perhaps fear that the story of Jesus may not be true and therefore a waste of time. Or perhaps it is fear the story might be true and shatter our complacency, and force us to face God directly. Too many of us have been taught that if God does exist, He is a God of wrath and we will be punished for all the things we have done wrong, and all of us have done many wrong things in our lives. Too many people have forgotten that the story of Christ’s birth is the beginning of the Good News of God’s unconditional love for us, His yearning to bring us close to Him, and His forgiveness of all our sins if we simply choose to believe.

In the Christmas narratives, there are several "fear nots." In the Gospel of  Matthew there is the "fear not" of immediate obedience: "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto you Mary as your wife :.. Then Joseph ... did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him". Think of all that had to be going through Joseph’s mind when Mary to whom he was engaged told him she was going to have a child. He knew it wasn’t from him. But to believe that it was from God? Too much to believe wouldn’t you think? He was afraid for what should happen to her under the law. If he publicly broke their commitment to marry, she would be stoned to death. He was afraid for himself if he did not break from her. But then the angel came and said, “fear not”.

There is the "fear not" of salvation: "And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings...which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord". Can you imagine the fear of the shepherds all alone out in the fields when all of a sudden this tremendous light flooded them? Then there is the "fear not" of the humanly impossible: "Fear not, Mary:... the Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you:...For with God nothing shall be impossible".  Mary must have had some fear along the way. She knew the penalty for unwed births. Would Joseph ever believe her? Would anyone?

Another is the "fear not" of unanswered prayer: "Fear not, Zechariah: for thy prayer is heard; and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John". Zechariah was a humble priest, in the linage of David, whose wife could not have children. Then one day when he entered the temple while on duty there, an angel appeared to him. Can you imagine the sudden rush of fear that entered him when this stranger came out of nowhere in what was supposed to be an empty room where only he should have been present as the priest on duty?

In the Gospel of John first chapter we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

In one moment, one seemingly insignificant measurement on the span of time, "The Word became flesh". In that moment undiminished Deity became humanity. What an incomprehensible thought. In one moment the one who created all things became a person, like you and me—Emmanuel, God with us.  In one moment "the Lord of Glory” became a child of earth. The tiny Babe lying in the manger of Bethlehem was the One who had been present at the creation of all the universe and all we know. The tiny, chubby baby hand upon the cheek of his mother was the hand of Him who holds the universe in the hollow of his hand. The baby arm about the mother’s neck was the arm of the one whose everlasting arms are underneath all things. The first words of the toddling Child of Nazareth were the words of the One who spoke the earth into being and who created a universe by the Word of His mouth.

We don’t like to think of him as being "just like us", but the "King of the Jews" sometimes had a dirty diaper. The "Rose of Sharon" sometimes needed a bath. The "Altogether Lovely One" sometimes needed to comb his hair, brush his teeth and wash his face. There may have been times when he had a cold or the flu or maybe heartburn from his mother’s chili.

In one moment spirit became flesh. The very God of very Gods entered the womb of a teenage peasant girl. In one moment God took on skin and hair, teeth and toenails. In one moment the invisible God became the visible, touchable, pierce-able, whip-able, nail-able, Emmanuel—God with us.

In one moment divinity took on the garb of humanity so that you and I could experience the full love of God and His gift of salvation. In that one moment, all our sins could now be blotted out. But that would not accomplished with decrees from the courts of law. It would be accomplished, it was blotted out because in one moment the Word became flesh. In one moment true grace appeared and we received grace and truth by Jesus, the baby who was the Christ.

Christmas is the story of the beginning of our salvation by a great and mighty God who chose to reveal himself to us as a child born in a stable to a teenage girl and a poor hard working carpenter. It is the story of pure love come to earth so we might be served and forgiven. It is the story of God fulfilling our every need by becoming one of us so we could see His love poured out for us.

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

Amen

Promise

Numbers 23: 19

Hebrews 6: 10-12

Matthew 1: 18-25

Promise

In Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation, a story is told of Mary Wilson, presently of Dallas, Texas. You would never know by looking at this modest woman that she was the recipient of the Silver Star and she bore the nickname "The Angel of Anzio." You will recall that when the Allies got bogged down in the boot of Italy during World War II, they attempted a daring breakout by launching an amphibious landing on the Anzio Beach. Unfortunately, the Allies got pinned down at the landing site and came dangerously close to being driven back into the ocean. It looked like another Dunkirk was in the making.

Mary Wilson was the head of the fifty-one army nurses who went ashore at Anzio. Things got so bad that bullets zipped through her tent as she assisted the surgeon in surgery. When the situation continued to deteriorate arrangements were made to get all of the nurses out. But Mary Wilson would have none of it. She refused to leave at the gravest hour. As she related her story years later, she said: "How could I possibly leave them. I had made a promise to take care of them. I was a part of them."

Mary Wilson certainly had her own safety and welfare to be concerned about at Anzio. But her promise was more important to her than her life. A promise made, and kept.

Joseph certainly had his own honor and good standing in mind when he decided to break his engagement to Mary privately. But he was primarily, we are told, concerned for her honor and perhaps for her very life. What Joseph learned from the angel in a dream was that his promise to wed Mary mattered, and had to be fulfilled, because it was part of God’s plan to fulfill his far greater promise to bring into the world a savior from sin and death. This conception was like no other conception in all of human history because the child of Mary was the Immanuel that Isaiah promised.

Just imagine what Joseph's emotions must have been. How confused and torn he must have been. We don’t know exactly what happened after the dream, but imagine what it must have been like for him in that society. We have no idea how or if Joseph tried to explain the miracle to relatives or friends, or what they believed, we can only imagine—but from a human point of view this was far from the solution to his problems. His problems were only beginning. He made a promise to Mary, and with God’s presence he kept it. He had to make a long miserable trip with Mary to Bethlehem, where he could not find a proper place for Jesus to be born. He had to flee to Egypt to save his child’s life.

What stands out in this brief story about Joseph is his faith. It is important to see that Joseph was not a gullible man. He did not believe Mary's story at first, any more than we would have if we had been in his position. And Matthew's narrative implies no blame for that. If ever a man was justified in feeling righteous anger, it was Joseph. Joseph had every reason, culturally, legally, religiously, to put Mary aside. He had every right not only to cast her aside, but to do so publicly and watch her be stoned for adultery. In fact that was what his family, his society expected of him and even his religious leaders required of him.

Joseph’s refusal to sidestep the issue of an uncomfortable pregnancy outside of wedlock reminds us that it is precisely in the common events of family and relationships that God's salvation takes place. Often overlooked in Christmas celebrations is the fact that it is Joseph, not Mary, who holds center stage. We overlook that it is Joseph, a good Jewish man knowledgeable of Jewish law and raised and educated to be obedient to that law, who risks all for the sake of Mary and a child not his own. It is Joseph who risks disobedience to the traditions of his society and the law of his religion for the sake of obedience to the command and promise of God, given through the angel in a dream.

Like Joseph we have the word of God in the midst of trouble and turbulence. The promise spoken by Isaiah and repeated by the angel to Joseph is not for him alone but is good news for all people: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”. The promise stands sure even when the Christmas season may come for some with suffering and loss. Indeed, the story of Joseph as told in Matthew serves as an antidote to an overly sentimental Christmas. Yet what we have in this text is not a bucket of cold water that douses our celebration. Rather, we have the living water of God’s promises fulfilled— the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Matthew doesn't want Joseph or any of us to get stuck in the dream. Matthew wants to bring us back down to earth, back to our waking reality, by invoking the name of Immanuel. Because if the Jesus, whose name was given to Joseph in a dream, is to do us any good, he'd better meet us and be with us in all those times when dreams end and when the crushing weight of a miserable world comes crashing down around our shoulders again. If he is only Jesus, the one who saves us from our sins, it would still be too easy to turn him into the one who also saves us out of the real world. But if he is Immanuel, then we realize we don't have to go anywhere to meet him other than the hurly-burly reality of our Monday mornings and our Thursday afternoons. We don't have to go find him in some other realm because he has already found us in exactly this realm and this world.

Immanuel is God-with-us in the cancer clinic and in the Alzheimer's ward at the local nursing home. Immanuel is God-with-us when the pink slip comes and when the beloved child sneers, "I hate you!" Immanuel is God-with-us when you pack the Christmas decorations away and, with an aching heart, you realize afresh that your one son never did call over the holidays. Not once. Immanuel is God-with-us when your dear spouse or mother stares at you with an Alzheimer's glaze and absently asks, "What was your name again?"

I find it strange that God has never deserted me. I don't understand that kind of grace frankly. I do not deserve his eternal presence, nor do any of us. Yet, God has forever identified with the human dilemma. There may not be a soul in the world who truly understands your feelings. God understands. All in your life may fall away. God will never fall away.

Ever and always Jesus stares straight into you with his two good eyes and he does so not only when you can smile back but most certainly also when your own eyes are full of tears. In fact, Jesus is Immanuel, "God with you" even in those times when you are so angry with God that you refuse to meet his eyes. But even when you feel like you can't look at him, he never looks away from you. He can't. His name says it all.

Our God is a loving God. He does not desert us in our hour of need. He heard the cries of his people, Israel. He hears the cries of the church. He hears the cries of his children, you and I. Personally. Christmas is about God's eternal identification with us, each one of us.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  And, the Promise of God. In Joseph we see The Promise believed. In Mary, we see The Promise conceived. In Jesus, we see The Promise received. For you and I, we have the Promise given.

What one young person has done .. from Methodist News Service

Microloans for Christmas

Download high-quality versions: QuickTime (MP4) | Windows Media (WMV)

INTRO:

A college student in Pennsylvania has created a unique Christmas present. It’s a delayed gift that sends your money to Africa before returning it to your chosen recipients. Reed Galin shows us how the simple idea is changing lives.

SCRIPT:

(Locator: Meadville, Pennsylvania)

In December, northeast Pennsylvania can look like a winter wonderland. Students at Allegheny College don’t let a foot and a half of snow keep them from classes or their Christmas lists.

Student: “It’s actually a pretty cool gift idea…yeah, it is.”
In a corner of the bustling student union, Ben Dempe is encouraging his friends to partner with a farmer in Zimbabwe. Ben is selling Christmas cards that give twice – first to a microloan program and then back to the gift recipient when the loan is repaid.

Ben Dempe: “That money is going to go to your parents, or whoever is receiving the gift, but first it will be given to an entrepreneur in Zimbabwe.”
In 2008, Zimbabwe’s economy collapsed. Farmer Kanyora Naison is trying to recover. He’s seeking a $550 loan for an irrigation system.

Michel Maiorana, Allegheny College: “This way you actually know it’s going to a particular person.”

Nikki Johnson, Allegheny College: “You know that the money is going to go to what it should go to, and it's going to actually help the irrigation system. It’s gonna help this man pay for his kids to go to college.”

An economics major, 21-year-old Ben designed the microloan program himself.

Ben Dempe: “We focused with agricultural programs, raising chickens, buying and slaughtering cows…”

He was the first intern for the “Nyadire Connection” – a United Methodist organization which serves an area of 500,000 people with a hospital, orphanage, school, and training programs for teachers and nurses.

Ben helped select the first two loan recipients from 24 worthy candidates.

Ben Dempe, Microloan Program Creator: “A lot of these people have already done projects like this. They just need the money to be fronted and they can start the projects and pay all the money back to us and we can take that money and go find another individual.”

The Rev. Kimberly Greway, Ben’s pastor from Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church, suggested the internship. She is pleased with the outcome.

The Rev. Kimberly Greway: “That Ben, a rising junior, can have impacted families in ways that are going to help educate their children, to survive during droughts, it’s just incredible.”

The Christmas cards are the first step in Ben’s dream – to be able to grant 100 loans.
Ben Dempe: “I never want to forget my experience with the people. I have a picture of me with the kids and that’s so I can never forget my summer.”

If you are interested in helping The Nyadire Connection, visit www.nyadire.org. There’s also a link to Ben’s blog about his time in Zimbabwe. You can contact Ben Dempe through his church, Mt. Lebanon United Methodist at 412-531-7131.
Posted: December 15, 2010

Strangers

The other day I spent awhile in a hospital waiting room, with a family whose loved one was in surgery.  This is not an uncommon privilege; as a pastor and volunteer hospital chaplain I have spent a lot of hours in such situations. This was a large hospital, so there were many individuals waiting for news about their patient. Some were obviously close knit family groups (as was the family I was with), some showed signs of tension within their group—not anxiety about the person in surgery but signs of strained relationships. Others showed concern, in the way they talked with each other, the way they looked at the clock or the way they could not sit still.  Still others were relaxed and cheerful. For some the wait was long, but seemingly expected. For others as the wait lengthened the concern level increased.  Body language and unconscious behavior tells a lot.

From early on there was a teenager nearby. He was alone, quiet, intently playing an old handheld electronic game.  After while, when the family group I was with had left for a break, he pulled a Styrofoam tray with two long filled pastries out of his backpack. He offered me one, and his expression showed relief when I said no thank you. Otherwise, he sat wordless playing for quite awhile, and then disappeared.

Soon after he left, my family came back and an older gentleman sat down and struck up a conversation with us. He was a fascinating individual, having worked in the medical insurance field for several years. Retired, he took up photography. He was waiting for his wife, who has to have dialysis three times a week, and who was having a related surgical procedure.  Unlike the teenager who had been so quiet, he was talkative with lots of stories from a well-lived life. It came out after while that his wife was declining, and one could tell he was aware the end was coming for her in the near future, but he was dealing with it. Yet, talking seemed a way for him to relax, as it became apparent the procedure was taking longer than expected. Finally the doctor came out, and he was off to see his wife. Before he left he gave me a copy of a poem he had written. He prefaced this by saying he was not a religious man, but a very spiritual one. (He and his wife were very musical, and had led choirs and sang solo in one of the larger churches in town.) It is a poem with a lot of depth, and I may share it with you here sometime.

Then the teenager came back. This time he was anxious, and very talkative. No more games. He wanted to talk. He had been there, totally alone, for over 8 hours while his mother was in surgery and he was becoming more than anxious as the expected time for the surgery to end passed—fear was taking hold and he was trying to fend it off by talking. Before I left, with uncertainty he asked if I would pray for his mother. I sat and listened to him for a long, long time as he flitted from one subject to another, talking faster and fidgeting more and more as time went on. He had no one supportive with him, and was at a loss how to deal with his emotions or where to turn.  I was relieved when the doctor finally came and took him off to tell him the outcome. He was going to spend the night in the room with his mother.

Encounters with two strangers, one with a lot of life experience, a depth of spirituality and friends a cell phone call away that gave him strength and something solid onto which to hold.  He might not be religious, in that he does not find any one church group having what he needs, but he has no doubts about a power greater than us all who can give peace, strength, and a sense of purpose. He is at peace with God as he has encountered God.

On the other hand, a teenager whose only source of support was his mother who could not provide any comfort at all now when he desperately needed it. No one had given him the tools with which to cope alone. He had no one to call, no idea how to pray let alone to whom to pray. Deep loneliness and fear, fear of the unknown and what the future might hold, were almost too much for him to bear by the time the doctor came by to tell him his mother had done okay. My relief was almost as great as his.

As an on-call chaplain I have sat with a lot of individuals and families, all strangers, at times of emergency, or worse. I am there because they are at a loss how to cope with what is happening, and they do not have a pastor or a church family for support. At this moment of crisis, they reach out to grasp at what they suddenly realize they have needed for their lifetime but have no idea now how to secure.  Too often for their loved one it is too late. Life is fragile and now is gone. The tragedy of their loss is magnified by the tragedy of finding themselves without the hope or the kind of support only a relationship with God can bring.

Those of us who do have a relationship with God are called to be attentive to those around us who are not only not religious, but who give no thought to God at all.  We are called upon to stand out by the way we live, so that others will see our belief and faith in our behavior. As we go through our lives, we are observed by everyone we meet, sometimes intently, especially by children and others with whom we are around often. Words we might speak have no meaning if we behave no differently than those for whom God is unknown and therefore irrelevant day to day. Scripture teaches, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” What do others see in us and from us?  What does God?