Journeys 10-15-06
Today we celebrate “Children’s Sabbath” at all three worship services. Our United Methodist Women have taken charge of bringing Children’s Sabbath (a program of the Children’s Defense Fund) to Centenary for several years. The goal is to raise awareness of the needs of children. If you Google it you’ll find that they have “A Compact with America's Children,” that:
I. No child shall be hungry in America.
II. No child shall be homeless in America.
III. No child shall lack health care in America.
IV. No child shall be poor in America.
V. No child shall be unsafe in America.
VI. No child shall be illiterate or lack the education and skills needed to work and support a family in America.
VII. No child shall be left alone or in unsafe care when parents work in America.
VIII. No child will be abused, neglected, or exploited for personal or commercial gain in America.
IX. No child will be discriminated against because of race, poverty, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability in America.
X. Every child will be respected and protected by family, community, state, and nation as a citizen with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Part of the ministry of the UMW is to children. At a recent UMW program by our school Superintendent, Dr. Dale Kruse, the women were considering how they could be mentors to elementary age children in our school system.
At Centenary, we minister to the children of our community by offering Sunday School, Kids Kamp, Vacation Bible School, various day trips offered by our Children’s Council, (we’re going to Rocca Berry Farm today!), Faith Factor Middle School Youth Group, four High School God Parent Groups, (the Crittendon’s, the Woodward’s, the Husa’s & the Clabaugh’s), and, work mission trips for Middle School and High School age youth. We hire a part-time Youth Ministries Director (Mrs. Janine Harvey) to coordinate our youth groups and Kid’s Kamp. We have Kid’s for Christ Children’s Choir, Youth Bells, and two musical productions directed by our Music Director, Dr. Jon Gruett.
The sad thing here in Beatrice, is that with all the programs of the churches and community, there are still kids on the edge, kids who fall through the cracks and are vulnerable to the predators on the underside of our society. Today, we stop to consider what else we can do to show the love of God to the children and youth of our community. If you get a chance, say thanks to our UMW, and Mrs. Patti Crittendon, (this year’s Children’s Sabbath Coordinator), for giving us this opportunity.
Grace & Peace,
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Journeys 10-8-06
Journeys 10-8-06:
I love the fall; the fullness of the trees and the fields before the emptiness of winter. This year we have color in the turning of the leaves; more gold than yellow now, with promises of red to come. The rains have left the corn to dry while huge green and red monsters create moving clouds of dust through the bean fields. The grass is in one last growth spurt before the frost. And Indian Summer wants to happen in-between the rolling storm fronts. Maybe we’ll have a slow Fall instead of a fast one this year.
This fall, I’m proud to have the duties of a Drum Major Dad. Since our oldest, Katie, was chosen to be one of the Drum Majors for the Beatrice High School Band, Cindy and I have inherited certain responsibilities as a Major Dad and Major Mom. Cindy dove right into the lion’s share of tasks in helping organize the band parent’s support efforts. In my limited physical state, I do what I can do right now. And one thing I can do, is hold the ladder.
During the pre-game and half-time band performances, I hold Katie’s ladder while she stands up high to direct. The ladder sways to the rhythm of her waving arms, and I push the legs down and out. I can’t carry the ladder out to the forty yard line, or, bring it back. But I can hang my cane on one of the support beams of that ladder and hold on and add my weight to the base. And that moment when Katie runs over and steps up on that first rung, smiles, and looks me in the eye and says, “Hey Daddy,” makes all the pain and work of rehab and physical therapy worth it. I whisper my standard prayer of thanksgiving, “God is good.” And I thank God for letting me be there for my daughter for this one simple thing.
I am on the field, under the lights, once again. The band plays and goes through their steps as the sun sets to the west and the smell of the grass takes me back to my days of high school football playing and refereeing. My fall is full, once again. “God is good.”
Grace & Peace,
I love the fall; the fullness of the trees and the fields before the emptiness of winter. This year we have color in the turning of the leaves; more gold than yellow now, with promises of red to come. The rains have left the corn to dry while huge green and red monsters create moving clouds of dust through the bean fields. The grass is in one last growth spurt before the frost. And Indian Summer wants to happen in-between the rolling storm fronts. Maybe we’ll have a slow Fall instead of a fast one this year.
This fall, I’m proud to have the duties of a Drum Major Dad. Since our oldest, Katie, was chosen to be one of the Drum Majors for the Beatrice High School Band, Cindy and I have inherited certain responsibilities as a Major Dad and Major Mom. Cindy dove right into the lion’s share of tasks in helping organize the band parent’s support efforts. In my limited physical state, I do what I can do right now. And one thing I can do, is hold the ladder.
During the pre-game and half-time band performances, I hold Katie’s ladder while she stands up high to direct. The ladder sways to the rhythm of her waving arms, and I push the legs down and out. I can’t carry the ladder out to the forty yard line, or, bring it back. But I can hang my cane on one of the support beams of that ladder and hold on and add my weight to the base. And that moment when Katie runs over and steps up on that first rung, smiles, and looks me in the eye and says, “Hey Daddy,” makes all the pain and work of rehab and physical therapy worth it. I whisper my standard prayer of thanksgiving, “God is good.” And I thank God for letting me be there for my daughter for this one simple thing.
I am on the field, under the lights, once again. The band plays and goes through their steps as the sun sets to the west and the smell of the grass takes me back to my days of high school football playing and refereeing. My fall is full, once again. “God is good.”
Grace & Peace,
Journeys 10-1-06
Journeys 10-1-06
Today is World Communion Sunday. Churches all over the world are celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion today.
We here at Centenary celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month. So this congregation has it 12 times a year plus Christmas Eve. Other denominations (Catholic, Lutheran, Disciple) celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday. These churches take more seriously Jesus’ request that his disciples “do this when ever you gather in my name.”
The story I like to tell confirmation classes is that early Methodist Pastors were used to serving Communion every time worship happened. In the days of western American expansion, pastors preached in circuits of sometimes up to 30 churches. So those churches got communion once every 30 weeks. When the Preacher wasn’t there they had Sunday School and prayer meeting and singing.
When there became enough ordained ministers so that there could be one for every two or three towns, the pastors expected communion to be served every Sunday when the people were used to it every quarter, or twice a year. There was no firm “rule” on the matter, just as long as communion was offered on a “regular basis.” So the people won out. Once something is done twice in the church it is, after all, a tradition. By the time Cindy and I went to seminary (circa 1981-84) most U.M. churches celebrated Communion on a monthly basis.
In the United Methodist Church, our founder John Wesley was adamant that this sacrament be “open” to anyone who came forward. He believed that the ability of God’s grace to work in our lives is not limited by our understanding. God can work on, in and through us whether we understand it or not. So children under the age of “understanding,” mentally handicapped, un-churched, un-baptized, all can receive God’s mysterious saving grace through the sacrament of Communion even if they don’t fully understand how it works. The same goes for the rest of us.
Wesley believed in “Prevenient Grace,” the grace that happens before we respond; before we make a choice and decide for God. He believed God works on our souls to get us to the place of making a conscious decision about our belief in God, then God helps us do something about it with what Wesley called “Justifying and Sanctifying Grace.” The Cliffs Notes version of this is that God is with us, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.
So as you come forward to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion today, my hope for you is that God’s grace brings you a sense of forgiveness, peace and power; that you feel once again connected to all disciples of Jesus Christ and feel empowered to serve as Jesus served where you live and work and play.
Grace & Peace,
Today is World Communion Sunday. Churches all over the world are celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion today.
We here at Centenary celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month. So this congregation has it 12 times a year plus Christmas Eve. Other denominations (Catholic, Lutheran, Disciple) celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday. These churches take more seriously Jesus’ request that his disciples “do this when ever you gather in my name.”
The story I like to tell confirmation classes is that early Methodist Pastors were used to serving Communion every time worship happened. In the days of western American expansion, pastors preached in circuits of sometimes up to 30 churches. So those churches got communion once every 30 weeks. When the Preacher wasn’t there they had Sunday School and prayer meeting and singing.
When there became enough ordained ministers so that there could be one for every two or three towns, the pastors expected communion to be served every Sunday when the people were used to it every quarter, or twice a year. There was no firm “rule” on the matter, just as long as communion was offered on a “regular basis.” So the people won out. Once something is done twice in the church it is, after all, a tradition. By the time Cindy and I went to seminary (circa 1981-84) most U.M. churches celebrated Communion on a monthly basis.
In the United Methodist Church, our founder John Wesley was adamant that this sacrament be “open” to anyone who came forward. He believed that the ability of God’s grace to work in our lives is not limited by our understanding. God can work on, in and through us whether we understand it or not. So children under the age of “understanding,” mentally handicapped, un-churched, un-baptized, all can receive God’s mysterious saving grace through the sacrament of Communion even if they don’t fully understand how it works. The same goes for the rest of us.
Wesley believed in “Prevenient Grace,” the grace that happens before we respond; before we make a choice and decide for God. He believed God works on our souls to get us to the place of making a conscious decision about our belief in God, then God helps us do something about it with what Wesley called “Justifying and Sanctifying Grace.” The Cliffs Notes version of this is that God is with us, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.
So as you come forward to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion today, my hope for you is that God’s grace brings you a sense of forgiveness, peace and power; that you feel once again connected to all disciples of Jesus Christ and feel empowered to serve as Jesus served where you live and work and play.
Grace & Peace,
Journeys 9-24-06
Journeys 9-24-06
Harvest has begun. I saw combines in corn fields on the way to Lincoln this week. I love the sight of a full field turning from green to brown. The edges have been mowed and everything is ready for harvest. For two weeks here the anticipation has been building. Grease guns were working overtime as farmers crawled out the combines and trucks and started getting them ready for the fall push. Implement parts and service people were working overtime to get that old combine up to snuff, one more time.
Sure the choppers get it going. Those dairy farmers get out early and chop that tall green stuff up for feed, leaving the field with a crew cut. But you know the real harvest is not far behind. The farm families I’ve talked to try and describe the urgency that’s been bred into them for several generations. They say, “Unless you’ve lived it, its hard to understand.” You gear up for Harvest in August and September, then all human resources are put toward getting the crop in from late September through November. It’s something you do together. The old timers down at the coffee spots tell me that back in the hand picking days, harvest happened all winter. That it was nothing to be harvesting in the snow. But now, in the mechanized age, it’s about getting that corn or beans or milo in and dried to the best selling condition, ASAP.
Somehow, everybody knows who’s combine gets in the field first. The weight and crop dryness numbers are attached to that piece of ground and it’s owner. Reputations and value as a farmer are at stake. Everybody knows about the inequity of the weather. But you’re still measured by the results of your harvest. As a stranger, getting those final big numbers out of a farmer is like asking your wife of 40 years what she weighs today. It’s just not done. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you. That’s knowledge for family and friends. The people who operate the scales at the grain elevator can tell you what that farmer’s face looks like when he or she feels good about their crop, and when they don’t.
So pray for our farmers this week. Pray that the rain stops now. Pray for the multiple support systems that have to be there for this single focused activity to get completed. Pray for safety, calm, patience, and compassion. Harvest is a time for prayer.
Grace & Peace,
Harvest has begun. I saw combines in corn fields on the way to Lincoln this week. I love the sight of a full field turning from green to brown. The edges have been mowed and everything is ready for harvest. For two weeks here the anticipation has been building. Grease guns were working overtime as farmers crawled out the combines and trucks and started getting them ready for the fall push. Implement parts and service people were working overtime to get that old combine up to snuff, one more time.
Sure the choppers get it going. Those dairy farmers get out early and chop that tall green stuff up for feed, leaving the field with a crew cut. But you know the real harvest is not far behind. The farm families I’ve talked to try and describe the urgency that’s been bred into them for several generations. They say, “Unless you’ve lived it, its hard to understand.” You gear up for Harvest in August and September, then all human resources are put toward getting the crop in from late September through November. It’s something you do together. The old timers down at the coffee spots tell me that back in the hand picking days, harvest happened all winter. That it was nothing to be harvesting in the snow. But now, in the mechanized age, it’s about getting that corn or beans or milo in and dried to the best selling condition, ASAP.
Somehow, everybody knows who’s combine gets in the field first. The weight and crop dryness numbers are attached to that piece of ground and it’s owner. Reputations and value as a farmer are at stake. Everybody knows about the inequity of the weather. But you’re still measured by the results of your harvest. As a stranger, getting those final big numbers out of a farmer is like asking your wife of 40 years what she weighs today. It’s just not done. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you. That’s knowledge for family and friends. The people who operate the scales at the grain elevator can tell you what that farmer’s face looks like when he or she feels good about their crop, and when they don’t.
So pray for our farmers this week. Pray that the rain stops now. Pray for the multiple support systems that have to be there for this single focused activity to get completed. Pray for safety, calm, patience, and compassion. Harvest is a time for prayer.
Grace & Peace,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)