Dear Friends,
We have had an amazing summer so far…And yes, it’s been more than a little busy. We had an awesome Kid’s Club in June with the highest number of kids that we have ever had and more than half had not been at Kid’s Club before. 4th of July brought about some incredible opportunities for the church to have a presence in the community and to serve the community in some new and wonderful ways. The mission trip to Cincinnati was a holy experience as we met God in some challenging places and offered our service to a community that although a different context, faces some of the same challenges we do. Vacation Bible School was nothing short of incredible as those who were there learned about Jesus and his miraculous power through story, song, games, crafts, and relationships. Of course there have also been the meetings of the church to share about the ministries and business and worship services at both Sheridan & Norway and in the community…I don’t know about you, but I am tired! Oh, it’s a good tired, but tired none the less…
The month of August will be treated as a kind of Sabbath month. Our monthly meetings will still take place like usual and worship will continue as an important part of our faith journey. Sabbath is a command from God to rest, reflect, renew, and rejuvenate. In our Sabbath month together, we will reflect on our legacy. What is the legacy we want to leave for ourselves and what is the legacy that we as Sheridan & Norway United Methodist Churches want to leave. The sermon series for this month will use Randy Pausch’s book The Last Lecture to guide some of our conversation and reflection on what our legacy will be. If you are interested in purchasing the book, please contact the church office to place an order or it is available at most bookstores or the library.
This is an important time in our life together as we live into legacies and what God has called us to do and to be as Christians. As Christians we are all called into ministry, but it takes different forms for different people. Let’s explore together what we are called into.
Blessings,
Pastor Melissa
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Legacy Conversations
Legacy Conversations
In addition to worship and meetings, there are also some special opportunities to have conversations about what your legacy will be and what our legacy as the church will be. There must be at least 3 people signed up for a day in order for the session to take place. The sessions are grouped in days of 4—4 Sundays & 4 Wednesdays. Sign-ups will be at the back of the sanctuary at both Sheridan & Norway.
Sunday August 10, 17, 24, 31 @ 1:30 -3:30pm at Sheridan UMC
Wednesday August 13, 20, 27, & September 3 @ 10:00-11:30 am at Norway UMC
In addition to worship and meetings, there are also some special opportunities to have conversations about what your legacy will be and what our legacy as the church will be. There must be at least 3 people signed up for a day in order for the session to take place. The sessions are grouped in days of 4—4 Sundays & 4 Wednesdays. Sign-ups will be at the back of the sanctuary at both Sheridan & Norway.
Sunday August 10, 17, 24, 31 @ 1:30 -3:30pm at Sheridan UMC
Wednesday August 13, 20, 27, & September 3 @ 10:00-11:30 am at Norway UMC
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Plastic Bottles
Plastic Bottles
Due to lack of a sponsor, Terracycle (the company that recycles plastic bottles) no longer accepts plastic bottles. We also no longer need to collect them for VBS. Please recycle your plastic bottles at home. Thank you!
Due to lack of a sponsor, Terracycle (the company that recycles plastic bottles) no longer accepts plastic bottles. We also no longer need to collect them for VBS. Please recycle your plastic bottles at home. Thank you!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
A huge thank you to all who helped with Vacation Bible School this year. We had an amazing time learning about Jesus’ miraculous power and the kids learned about and experienced God’s love in some amazing ways. The most kids we had on one night were 86 and there was not less than 78 every night! Wow! How amazing that many kids have learned about Jesus’ miraculous power through our churches! VBS can’t be done without the help and support of so many—from those who brought donations of food and craft items to those who worked with the kids to those who prayed for VBS. Thank you so much!!!
A huge thank you to all who helped with Vacation Bible School this year. We had an amazing time learning about Jesus’ miraculous power and the kids learned about and experienced God’s love in some amazing ways. The most kids we had on one night were 86 and there was not less than 78 every night! Wow! How amazing that many kids have learned about Jesus’ miraculous power through our churches! VBS can’t be done without the help and support of so many—from those who brought donations of food and craft items to those who worked with the kids to those who prayed for VBS. Thank you so much!!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
I'm Hungry!
I’m Hungry!
The past week I was on a mission trip with part of our cluster—people from congregations at Serena, Harding, Marseilles, and Seneca joined together to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to work and learn and experience God together…There were 11 who traveled from IL to the city and we picked up one of my former youth when we arrived. I do have to share with you that there were no other participants from Sheridan and Norway other than myself who joined on this trip…I share that not as a guilt trip or as a shock factor…But I share that as information to encourage you to very strongly and prayerfully consider what that means to you and what that means for you…Mission trips are not something that are just for youth or just for children…They are for all people…Mission trips are also not just for those who we are serving, but also for those who are serving…Whenever I come back from a mission trip the struggle is always on how to share what has just been experienced…I can share with you the statistics and the list of what we had done and what we saw and the places that we visited…We left the church we were staying in Sharonville Ohio every morning at 9 to begin work by 9:30 and sometimes didn’t return home until 10 or 11 at night. Yes, they were long days but they were filled with so much activity both by what we were doing and filled with activity from the Spirit…We worked primarily at 2 different mission sites…There was a team who was working on painting at York Street United Methodist Church—they were painting an old house which had been transformed into the place for their children’s ministry program. The walls were white when they started using the house and have been transformed into some of the brightest colors you have ever seen! Pastor Janine Walker is the pastor at York Street and grew up in the Over the Rhine neighborhood which is the area that we worked. Some of you may have heard of this neighborhood in Cincinnati before as the place where several years ago the riots happened in Cincinnati…Following police brutality and years of resentment in the community, it overflowed into riots throughout the city, but primarily focused in the Over the Rhine area…I can tell you about the poverty in this area, but it’s something that you have to experience for yourself to get the full effect of what is there…I can tell you about the buildings in this area—how many of them are boarded up and abandoned or have been claimed by many of the homeless population in the area…I can tell you about Wesley Chapel Mission Center which is under the direction of Becky Costello…During those riots in Cincinnati and the Over the Rhine area…Almost the entire city was shut down, but everything in Over the Rhine was shut down…Except Wesley Chapel Mission Center…The children arrived safely at Wesley Chapel everyday for their after school program…You may wonder, well how did that happen? If there was violence in the streets and riots, why would the children be so safe?? Well, it’s because the drug dealers became the security for those children. They protected both the children to and from school and to and from Wesley Chapel…I can tell you about the Vacation Bible School we did while we were at Wesley Chapel…I can tell you that every day we had 50 or more children…I can tell you about the Deshyla curling up in my lap and cupping my face with her hands and saying, “Tell me about Jesus.” But that’s something that you also have to experience for yourself…I can tell you that those children sang the VBS songs very well and knew every word and every action…And I can also tell you that I have never heard a group of children sing VBS songs with more passion, enthusiasm or heart…I can tell you that, but that’s something that you need to experience…I can tell you about serving breakfast on Sunday morning at Nast Trinity UMC—waking up at 3:30 eastern time and serving at 5:00 am…I can tell you that we went through 900 eggs, 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and served over 600 people…But again, you need to experience the people’s laughter, tears, anger, frustration and gratitude as they came in…I can tell you about the man who came to my station and offered to trade his services of cleaning up the church just so he could get 2 cups of juice…I can tell you about the men and women who came through and said “thank you for being here. Thank you for smiling…Thank you for caring.” I can tell you about worshipping with New Covenant United Methodist Church which is a new faith community that is a worshipping community of Africans…I can tell you that they have been formed for 18 months and that they have done community outreach, that people drive to this service from Kentucky and Indiana…I can tell you that there were less than 20 people in the service…I can also tell you that I have been in very few worship services where I have felt as much joy and gratitude to God…That those 20 who sang the songs and hymns sang louder than a congregation of 100…That every single person in that service either lead a prayer, sang a song, read scripture or shared their testimony…I can tell you about State Ave UMC which is another small membership church…On Sunday morning they may have 2-15 who are worshipping together in the sanctuary…I can tell you about Pastor Nilsa Silaceti who is the pastor there and Miss Tracy who offers a children’s program on Tuesday evenings where children hear stories about Jesus, learn life lessons, and know that there is someone who cares about them…I can tell you about the stacks of donations that need to be sorted in their closet—some that are junk and some that are prizes! I can tell you about their sanctuary and feeling the presence of God in their midst…And I can also tell you that as you look at the stained glass windows with the beautiful pictures of Jesus, you will see the bullet holes that have pierced the glass…I can tell you about the extreme poverty and desperation in that area called Lower Price Hill and those children who attend State Ave…I can also tell you about Kimmy and Miteya who are in jr. high & high school and are planning on going into college to study business and photography because of what they have experienced in places like State Ave UMC…Or Sammy & Binsea who were so in awe of scissors—new scissors that they used each one to cut their paper…
I can tell you thousands of stories about our trip…I can even share with you the amazing stories of grace that we experienced…The moving of the Holy Spirit…Christ being lifted up in the middle of the city…The places where I saw God…I can tell you all those things and you better believe that I will…But I also have to tell you that it’s something that you just have to experience for yourself…To hear about the joy is very different than to experience the joy…To hear about the children is very different than seeing the children…Hearing about the children on my lap is very different than feeling two small arms around your neck…To talk about the hunger that these our brothers and sisters in Christ have is something far different than to see it for yourself…
Our story from Genesis is the story of Esau & Jacob….I have said it before…Genesis is a book that is filled with some really dramatic stories…Some of it has to do with understanding the cultural norms of the time, but cultural norms aside…These are some really fascinating stories that come from the book of Genesis…Over the past few weeks we have heard the stories of Abraham & Sarah—unable to have children, then having children in their old age…The story of Ishmael & Hagar being cast out into the wilderness…The story of Sarah’s death and Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah…And that’s where we pick up…Isaac & Rebekah’s relationship.
As a somewhat continuing theme, Rebekah & Isaac have trouble conceiving a child until both prayed to God and she conceived a child…But as soon as those twins were in her womb, she almost regretted it and wanted to die herself. You see these weren’t like other babies…These two babies in her womb fought constantly…It was incredibly painful for her to feel the struggle happening inside of her…She prays to God to find out why this is happening…And God tells her that this fight and struggle will continue outside of the womb too…Her two sons will constantly fight and the younger will serve the older…
When the children are born she & Isaac name the firstborn Esau because he was covered with red hair…Esau becomes Isaac’s favorite child…The second child born was holding the heel of Esau and was named Jacob and became Rebekah’s favorite child…This struggle of being each parent’s favorite continues their whole life…As Jacob prepares a meal, Esau comes in so famished and so hungry that he sells his birthright to Jacob…He gives Jacob the right to be called the firstborn—which means that he gets all of the rights that being the firstborn gets—a special blessing, all the property of his father, all of the inheritance…He gets everything being the firstborn and Esau sold Jacob this right for a bowl of soup…
Have you ever been that hungry that you would sell everything that you had just for a bowl of soup? That you would do whatever it takes to get full? I saw that over and over in Cincinnati…Sometimes it was literal hunger as people pushed one another to get to the front of the line at the soup kitchen or as the children ate snacks at Wesley Chapel which may have been the first food that they had eaten all day…But there is also the spiritual hunger…Those that were willing to risk everything just to experience God…Those that walked out on a limb because God told them to step out in faith…That kind of spiritual hunger that you are willing to give up everything to be filled…Have you felt that spiritual hunger? Have you risked everything just to be filled by God? I don’t know if you have or not…That’s a question for you to ask yourself and answer honestly…I can tell you for myself that I thought that I could answer that I had risked everything to be filled by God until I talked with Becky Costello at Wesley Chapel Mission Center and they don’t know if they’ll have enough money to continue running, but they’re still going to keep doing ministry until the money runs out…I thought that I had risked everything until I sat with Nilsa and she told me each one of the children’s stories at State Ave…I thought I had risked everything until Janine Walker talked about the after school program that they have at York Street which happens only sporadically in the summer because they have no air conditioning in their buildings…I thought that I had risked everything for God, but now I’m not so sure…Have you risked everything just to be filled by God? How hungry are you?
Esau was so hungry for a bowl of soup that he gave away everything that he had…Now, for him it really was a silly decision that he made…He was filled for a little while and then was hungry again…The hunger that he felt came back again later…But when God fills our souls, it’s a satisfying fullness…It’s a true fullness…It’s not a passing and fleeting hunger…
What are you hungry for? Are you hungry to see justice in our community? Are you hungry to see more people know the love of God? Are you hungry to see more children sing the songs of Jesus? Are you hungry to share the Good News of the Gospel with everyone that you meet? How hungry are you? Are you hungry enough to risk everything so that God can fill you? Are you hungry at all???
My friends, my prayer for you is that you are in deed hungry…And that you are so hungry that you risk everything to fill that hunger…Because the fullness that you receive from God is something that I can tell you about…But it’s something that you just have to experience for yourself…
The past week I was on a mission trip with part of our cluster—people from congregations at Serena, Harding, Marseilles, and Seneca joined together to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to work and learn and experience God together…There were 11 who traveled from IL to the city and we picked up one of my former youth when we arrived. I do have to share with you that there were no other participants from Sheridan and Norway other than myself who joined on this trip…I share that not as a guilt trip or as a shock factor…But I share that as information to encourage you to very strongly and prayerfully consider what that means to you and what that means for you…Mission trips are not something that are just for youth or just for children…They are for all people…Mission trips are also not just for those who we are serving, but also for those who are serving…Whenever I come back from a mission trip the struggle is always on how to share what has just been experienced…I can share with you the statistics and the list of what we had done and what we saw and the places that we visited…We left the church we were staying in Sharonville Ohio every morning at 9 to begin work by 9:30 and sometimes didn’t return home until 10 or 11 at night. Yes, they were long days but they were filled with so much activity both by what we were doing and filled with activity from the Spirit…We worked primarily at 2 different mission sites…There was a team who was working on painting at York Street United Methodist Church—they were painting an old house which had been transformed into the place for their children’s ministry program. The walls were white when they started using the house and have been transformed into some of the brightest colors you have ever seen! Pastor Janine Walker is the pastor at York Street and grew up in the Over the Rhine neighborhood which is the area that we worked. Some of you may have heard of this neighborhood in Cincinnati before as the place where several years ago the riots happened in Cincinnati…Following police brutality and years of resentment in the community, it overflowed into riots throughout the city, but primarily focused in the Over the Rhine area…I can tell you about the poverty in this area, but it’s something that you have to experience for yourself to get the full effect of what is there…I can tell you about the buildings in this area—how many of them are boarded up and abandoned or have been claimed by many of the homeless population in the area…I can tell you about Wesley Chapel Mission Center which is under the direction of Becky Costello…During those riots in Cincinnati and the Over the Rhine area…Almost the entire city was shut down, but everything in Over the Rhine was shut down…Except Wesley Chapel Mission Center…The children arrived safely at Wesley Chapel everyday for their after school program…You may wonder, well how did that happen? If there was violence in the streets and riots, why would the children be so safe?? Well, it’s because the drug dealers became the security for those children. They protected both the children to and from school and to and from Wesley Chapel…I can tell you about the Vacation Bible School we did while we were at Wesley Chapel…I can tell you that every day we had 50 or more children…I can tell you about the Deshyla curling up in my lap and cupping my face with her hands and saying, “Tell me about Jesus.” But that’s something that you also have to experience for yourself…I can tell you that those children sang the VBS songs very well and knew every word and every action…And I can also tell you that I have never heard a group of children sing VBS songs with more passion, enthusiasm or heart…I can tell you that, but that’s something that you need to experience…I can tell you about serving breakfast on Sunday morning at Nast Trinity UMC—waking up at 3:30 eastern time and serving at 5:00 am…I can tell you that we went through 900 eggs, 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and served over 600 people…But again, you need to experience the people’s laughter, tears, anger, frustration and gratitude as they came in…I can tell you about the man who came to my station and offered to trade his services of cleaning up the church just so he could get 2 cups of juice…I can tell you about the men and women who came through and said “thank you for being here. Thank you for smiling…Thank you for caring.” I can tell you about worshipping with New Covenant United Methodist Church which is a new faith community that is a worshipping community of Africans…I can tell you that they have been formed for 18 months and that they have done community outreach, that people drive to this service from Kentucky and Indiana…I can tell you that there were less than 20 people in the service…I can also tell you that I have been in very few worship services where I have felt as much joy and gratitude to God…That those 20 who sang the songs and hymns sang louder than a congregation of 100…That every single person in that service either lead a prayer, sang a song, read scripture or shared their testimony…I can tell you about State Ave UMC which is another small membership church…On Sunday morning they may have 2-15 who are worshipping together in the sanctuary…I can tell you about Pastor Nilsa Silaceti who is the pastor there and Miss Tracy who offers a children’s program on Tuesday evenings where children hear stories about Jesus, learn life lessons, and know that there is someone who cares about them…I can tell you about the stacks of donations that need to be sorted in their closet—some that are junk and some that are prizes! I can tell you about their sanctuary and feeling the presence of God in their midst…And I can also tell you that as you look at the stained glass windows with the beautiful pictures of Jesus, you will see the bullet holes that have pierced the glass…I can tell you about the extreme poverty and desperation in that area called Lower Price Hill and those children who attend State Ave…I can also tell you about Kimmy and Miteya who are in jr. high & high school and are planning on going into college to study business and photography because of what they have experienced in places like State Ave UMC…Or Sammy & Binsea who were so in awe of scissors—new scissors that they used each one to cut their paper…
I can tell you thousands of stories about our trip…I can even share with you the amazing stories of grace that we experienced…The moving of the Holy Spirit…Christ being lifted up in the middle of the city…The places where I saw God…I can tell you all those things and you better believe that I will…But I also have to tell you that it’s something that you just have to experience for yourself…To hear about the joy is very different than to experience the joy…To hear about the children is very different than seeing the children…Hearing about the children on my lap is very different than feeling two small arms around your neck…To talk about the hunger that these our brothers and sisters in Christ have is something far different than to see it for yourself…
Our story from Genesis is the story of Esau & Jacob….I have said it before…Genesis is a book that is filled with some really dramatic stories…Some of it has to do with understanding the cultural norms of the time, but cultural norms aside…These are some really fascinating stories that come from the book of Genesis…Over the past few weeks we have heard the stories of Abraham & Sarah—unable to have children, then having children in their old age…The story of Ishmael & Hagar being cast out into the wilderness…The story of Sarah’s death and Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah…And that’s where we pick up…Isaac & Rebekah’s relationship.
As a somewhat continuing theme, Rebekah & Isaac have trouble conceiving a child until both prayed to God and she conceived a child…But as soon as those twins were in her womb, she almost regretted it and wanted to die herself. You see these weren’t like other babies…These two babies in her womb fought constantly…It was incredibly painful for her to feel the struggle happening inside of her…She prays to God to find out why this is happening…And God tells her that this fight and struggle will continue outside of the womb too…Her two sons will constantly fight and the younger will serve the older…
When the children are born she & Isaac name the firstborn Esau because he was covered with red hair…Esau becomes Isaac’s favorite child…The second child born was holding the heel of Esau and was named Jacob and became Rebekah’s favorite child…This struggle of being each parent’s favorite continues their whole life…As Jacob prepares a meal, Esau comes in so famished and so hungry that he sells his birthright to Jacob…He gives Jacob the right to be called the firstborn—which means that he gets all of the rights that being the firstborn gets—a special blessing, all the property of his father, all of the inheritance…He gets everything being the firstborn and Esau sold Jacob this right for a bowl of soup…
Have you ever been that hungry that you would sell everything that you had just for a bowl of soup? That you would do whatever it takes to get full? I saw that over and over in Cincinnati…Sometimes it was literal hunger as people pushed one another to get to the front of the line at the soup kitchen or as the children ate snacks at Wesley Chapel which may have been the first food that they had eaten all day…But there is also the spiritual hunger…Those that were willing to risk everything just to experience God…Those that walked out on a limb because God told them to step out in faith…That kind of spiritual hunger that you are willing to give up everything to be filled…Have you felt that spiritual hunger? Have you risked everything just to be filled by God? I don’t know if you have or not…That’s a question for you to ask yourself and answer honestly…I can tell you for myself that I thought that I could answer that I had risked everything to be filled by God until I talked with Becky Costello at Wesley Chapel Mission Center and they don’t know if they’ll have enough money to continue running, but they’re still going to keep doing ministry until the money runs out…I thought that I had risked everything until I sat with Nilsa and she told me each one of the children’s stories at State Ave…I thought I had risked everything until Janine Walker talked about the after school program that they have at York Street which happens only sporadically in the summer because they have no air conditioning in their buildings…I thought that I had risked everything for God, but now I’m not so sure…Have you risked everything just to be filled by God? How hungry are you?
Esau was so hungry for a bowl of soup that he gave away everything that he had…Now, for him it really was a silly decision that he made…He was filled for a little while and then was hungry again…The hunger that he felt came back again later…But when God fills our souls, it’s a satisfying fullness…It’s a true fullness…It’s not a passing and fleeting hunger…
What are you hungry for? Are you hungry to see justice in our community? Are you hungry to see more people know the love of God? Are you hungry to see more children sing the songs of Jesus? Are you hungry to share the Good News of the Gospel with everyone that you meet? How hungry are you? Are you hungry enough to risk everything so that God can fill you? Are you hungry at all???
My friends, my prayer for you is that you are in deed hungry…And that you are so hungry that you risk everything to fill that hunger…Because the fullness that you receive from God is something that I can tell you about…But it’s something that you just have to experience for yourself…
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!!
Jim Bristol, Howard Buckle, Virl Hallett, & Dave Pfoltner worked very hard to make some repairs to the church building. The front sidewalk has been leveled to be easier to walk on and safer for everyone! The roof has been caulked to ensure that there is no flooding or damage to our ceilings! Don Jackson installed a cold air return in the Sunday School classroom to help provide a better flow of air and make to room cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter! Thank you all so much for your hard work and service!
Jim Bristol, Howard Buckle, Virl Hallett, & Dave Pfoltner worked very hard to make some repairs to the church building. The front sidewalk has been leveled to be easier to walk on and safer for everyone! The roof has been caulked to ensure that there is no flooding or damage to our ceilings! Don Jackson installed a cold air return in the Sunday School classroom to help provide a better flow of air and make to room cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter! Thank you all so much for your hard work and service!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Know Your Role
Know Your Role
So, back in the day, I used to watch professional wrestling…Yes, it’s true…It had to be about 10 years ago when the then WWF was in its peak…I knew the top characters and their signature moves and tag lines…Can you smell what the Rock is cookin’? The People’s elbow…Stone Cold Steve Austin…Okay, it was probably a phase that lasted for maybe about 6 months, so I can’t really be labeled as hardcore and please really don’t ask me any questions…But every once and awhile I remember some of those tag lines and that’s what the title for the sermon is this morning… “Know your role.” Now, I can’t tell you who said this and I’m pretty sure that there’s more that goes with it, but that’s not relevant for this morning…The phrase “Know your role” describes what’s happening in our passage from Genesis this morning and it also gives us some insight in our own lives…
We’ve heard the story of Abraham, Sarah, & Isaac…Abraham was chosen by God to be the Father of many nations…the song “Father Abraham” is about this Abraham! God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars if Abraham would do what God told him to do…Then in old age, Abraham & his wife learned that they would have a son after many years of waiting and giving up on having a child, Sarah gave birth to Isaac and she made sure that he was considered to be the first born son of Abraham. Isaac grew up to be a happy healthy man…As Isaac grew up, Abraham and Sarah continued to age as everyone does and as a young man, as Isaac was at the age to be ready for marriage, his mother Sarah dies…After Abraham has buried his wife—Isaac’s mother, he sends his chief servant Elizar to find a wife for Isaac…Elizar prays for the way to know who Isaac’s wife will be and starts on his journey…
Rebekah is chosen to be Isaac’s wife…And she’s chosen for many reasons—she’s not a daughter from the land of Cana…So, she’s not a Cananite. That will be important later in the life of the Jewish people…the Canaanites would be considered to be unclean people and not chosen by God…So, keeping them out of the lineage early on in the history of the Jewish people is important…Abraham doesn’t know what’s to come, he just knows the type of woman that God has told him that Isaac should marry…And there are some very specific instructions! The woman who comes out to Abraham’s servant and asks for water and then offers water to him and his camels, that’s going to be Isaac’s wife…It seems like a strange way for us to choose a spouse…Presumably Isaac & Rebekah had no interaction before this! This was really an arranged marriage…After the servant recognizes Rebekah as Isaac’s wife, he puts a ring on her nose and bracelets on her arms…That may have been a cultural marking of engagement or readiness to marry…An engagement ring of sorts…I wonder if that will come back in fashion? Anyway…Rebekah was marked for her new role…No longer would she be known as the daughter of Betheul, but now she would be known as the wife of Isaac…She was entering into a new time in her life and taking on a new role…
The servant then goes and makes sure this marriage is okay with Rebekah’s family and Rebekah agrees that she will marry Isaac, so they start on their journey to see Isaac and for the marriage of Rebekah & Isaac…As they approach Isaac and his home…Rebekah notices him coming forward and she is introduced to her husband…Then, Isaac is told that this will be his wife…Now Isaac has a new role as husband…
To further cement Rebekah’s role as Isaac’s wife and thus the new matriarch of the family, Rebekah goes to Sarah’s tent…Now this tent was like Sarah’s grave…Throughout Sarah’s life, she had a specific role as the matriarch of the family, but in that role there was certainly a lot that she did…She had a large role in the small community that was building…as Abraham is the father of many nations, Sarah is certainly the mother of many nations…and she kept things together in the family when they wandered around from place to place as God called them to move to other places…After her death, there wasn’t anyone to fill the void that she had left…That is until Rebekah was brought by Isaac to Sarah’s tent…Rebekah assumed the role of matriarch of the family…
Rebekah had some role shifts during her life as I’m sure we all do…We go from being someone’s child maybe to someone’s spouse, or as someone’s employee, or someone’s grandchild, or someone’s friend…Our roles shift throughout our lives. And then there’s the role that we have as children of God and as the church…
Know your role…What’s your role in the Church? That would first take knowing what the role of the Church is, wouldn’t it? And I know that there is confusion around this issue because I have heard chatter of members of this congregation asking what the mission of the church is…The mission of the Church universal, that is the Church as all branches and denominations—Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist and others…The mission of the Church universal is to make and create disciples for the transformation of the world…That’s the mission of the church. Now Sheridan UMC further identifies this mission as printed in your bulletins every week… To share the Word of God through inspiring worship, Christian education, fellowship and mission outreach to our community and the world at large. Do you know your role in that?
As members of the church, you have promised to uphold the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service…At the last General Conference, which is the legislative body of the United Methodist Church…General Conference happens every 4 years and church law & policy is debated, discussed, and decided on as the ministries of the church are shared…it’s the same thing as Annual Conference (which you’ll hear about next week), except on a global level as 1,000 delegates gather from every annual and central conference around the world…In May at the last General Conference there was a change made in the membership vows…We still promise to uphold the church by our prayers, presence, gifts, and service, but now we also will uphold the church by our witness…By sharing our stories of faith…By sharing the Gospel story of Jesus Christ…By our witness…
By extension, that makes every member of the United Methodist Church and evangelist…Your role is to pray, be present, give, serve and witness…So, how do you do that? Well, we have many different opportunities here to do that! You can cook, clean, teach, organize, sing, read, greet, light candles, advertise, make popcorn, sell water, paint faces, make pies…well, the list goes on…
Now some of you may be thinking about what your role is in the church and maybe you’re thinking of something specific that you do within the church…Is it something that only you can do? Well, I’m the only one that knows this part of the church’s story…I’m the only one that can bake this particular pie…I’m the only one that can organize this event…I’m the only one that teach this class…Well…Your gifts are certainly needed and appreciated…but….You’re not the only one that can do something within the church…There are others that can do that too…Because let me make this very clear…The ministries of the church do not belong to one person…There is not one person who owns any of the ministries of the church…You have ownership of them as much as you have answered God’s call to serve…But, the ministries of the church are not yours and yours alone…If you think that you are the only one that can do something, then you have missed a huge opportunity to share your gifts and allow someone else to share their gifts as well…Because what happens if you’re not here? And I’m not necessarily talking on a permanent level, but what if you’re on vacation? Or what if you’re sick? Now be sure that the church will still function…and it will function okay…but part of the story will be missing…If you think that you are the only one who can do something or knows something, you need to find a group or a few people really quickly to share what you know and what you do…It may mean that it won’t happen the way that you had always done it or it may not be in the same words that you use…but the core part of the story will be carried on…
When we take the membership vows in the United Methodist Church we promise to do a lot…we promise to pray, be present, to give both our time and our money, to serve, and to witness…We promise to belong to the church…Now as much as the ministries do not belong to you…The Church does not belong to you…You belong to the Church…You do not own the Church…the Church owns you…Do you see the difference? Your role is to follow God and uphold the mission of the church—to make and create disciples for the transformation of the world…
Maybe you’ve been feeling a strong calling to something…a ministry that’s happening in the church or for something new within the church…We have many opportunities for service…If you have something that you feel particularly called to or an idea that is just bubbling over…we want to hear it! We have several committees who are charged with upholding the vision statement of the church—To share the Word of God through inspiring worship, Christian education, fellowship and mission outreach to our community and the world at large…Maybe you’re not sure where to take your idea or calling…Talk to me, I’d be happy to direct you to the person that you would need to talk with and the committee that would best help support your calling…
The other role that we have within the church is to support one another…To care for one another…There are times when we, being the human beings that we are…we don’t always like everyone…There may be someone that you just can’t get along with or just don’t like…Well, guess what….God loves them whether you do or not and you better get used to the fact that everyone is welcome here…Our role within the church is to support and love one another…If we can’t love one another, why would someone think that we can love them? Our role is to love one another as we love ourselves…
Our role as members of the Church is huge…it is a huge responsibility and one that isn’t taken lightly…But to follow what it is that God has called you to…to answer that call to a particular ministry…to share your gifts…To belong to the Church…It’s amazing to belong to a community of believers who uphold one another, who celebrate one another’s differences, who grieve one another’s losses…Who are joined together in the Body of Christ…Who celebrate their faith and share it with others—sometimes with loud words and sometimes with loud actions…You belong here…You belong to the Church…You belong to God…It’s pretty amazing to think that you may not fit anywhere else in the world, but you belong here…Know your role as a child of God…
So, back in the day, I used to watch professional wrestling…Yes, it’s true…It had to be about 10 years ago when the then WWF was in its peak…I knew the top characters and their signature moves and tag lines…Can you smell what the Rock is cookin’? The People’s elbow…Stone Cold Steve Austin…Okay, it was probably a phase that lasted for maybe about 6 months, so I can’t really be labeled as hardcore and please really don’t ask me any questions…But every once and awhile I remember some of those tag lines and that’s what the title for the sermon is this morning… “Know your role.” Now, I can’t tell you who said this and I’m pretty sure that there’s more that goes with it, but that’s not relevant for this morning…The phrase “Know your role” describes what’s happening in our passage from Genesis this morning and it also gives us some insight in our own lives…
We’ve heard the story of Abraham, Sarah, & Isaac…Abraham was chosen by God to be the Father of many nations…the song “Father Abraham” is about this Abraham! God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars if Abraham would do what God told him to do…Then in old age, Abraham & his wife learned that they would have a son after many years of waiting and giving up on having a child, Sarah gave birth to Isaac and she made sure that he was considered to be the first born son of Abraham. Isaac grew up to be a happy healthy man…As Isaac grew up, Abraham and Sarah continued to age as everyone does and as a young man, as Isaac was at the age to be ready for marriage, his mother Sarah dies…After Abraham has buried his wife—Isaac’s mother, he sends his chief servant Elizar to find a wife for Isaac…Elizar prays for the way to know who Isaac’s wife will be and starts on his journey…
Rebekah is chosen to be Isaac’s wife…And she’s chosen for many reasons—she’s not a daughter from the land of Cana…So, she’s not a Cananite. That will be important later in the life of the Jewish people…the Canaanites would be considered to be unclean people and not chosen by God…So, keeping them out of the lineage early on in the history of the Jewish people is important…Abraham doesn’t know what’s to come, he just knows the type of woman that God has told him that Isaac should marry…And there are some very specific instructions! The woman who comes out to Abraham’s servant and asks for water and then offers water to him and his camels, that’s going to be Isaac’s wife…It seems like a strange way for us to choose a spouse…Presumably Isaac & Rebekah had no interaction before this! This was really an arranged marriage…After the servant recognizes Rebekah as Isaac’s wife, he puts a ring on her nose and bracelets on her arms…That may have been a cultural marking of engagement or readiness to marry…An engagement ring of sorts…I wonder if that will come back in fashion? Anyway…Rebekah was marked for her new role…No longer would she be known as the daughter of Betheul, but now she would be known as the wife of Isaac…She was entering into a new time in her life and taking on a new role…
The servant then goes and makes sure this marriage is okay with Rebekah’s family and Rebekah agrees that she will marry Isaac, so they start on their journey to see Isaac and for the marriage of Rebekah & Isaac…As they approach Isaac and his home…Rebekah notices him coming forward and she is introduced to her husband…Then, Isaac is told that this will be his wife…Now Isaac has a new role as husband…
To further cement Rebekah’s role as Isaac’s wife and thus the new matriarch of the family, Rebekah goes to Sarah’s tent…Now this tent was like Sarah’s grave…Throughout Sarah’s life, she had a specific role as the matriarch of the family, but in that role there was certainly a lot that she did…She had a large role in the small community that was building…as Abraham is the father of many nations, Sarah is certainly the mother of many nations…and she kept things together in the family when they wandered around from place to place as God called them to move to other places…After her death, there wasn’t anyone to fill the void that she had left…That is until Rebekah was brought by Isaac to Sarah’s tent…Rebekah assumed the role of matriarch of the family…
Rebekah had some role shifts during her life as I’m sure we all do…We go from being someone’s child maybe to someone’s spouse, or as someone’s employee, or someone’s grandchild, or someone’s friend…Our roles shift throughout our lives. And then there’s the role that we have as children of God and as the church…
Know your role…What’s your role in the Church? That would first take knowing what the role of the Church is, wouldn’t it? And I know that there is confusion around this issue because I have heard chatter of members of this congregation asking what the mission of the church is…The mission of the Church universal, that is the Church as all branches and denominations—Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist and others…The mission of the Church universal is to make and create disciples for the transformation of the world…That’s the mission of the church. Now Sheridan UMC further identifies this mission as printed in your bulletins every week… To share the Word of God through inspiring worship, Christian education, fellowship and mission outreach to our community and the world at large. Do you know your role in that?
As members of the church, you have promised to uphold the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service…At the last General Conference, which is the legislative body of the United Methodist Church…General Conference happens every 4 years and church law & policy is debated, discussed, and decided on as the ministries of the church are shared…it’s the same thing as Annual Conference (which you’ll hear about next week), except on a global level as 1,000 delegates gather from every annual and central conference around the world…In May at the last General Conference there was a change made in the membership vows…We still promise to uphold the church by our prayers, presence, gifts, and service, but now we also will uphold the church by our witness…By sharing our stories of faith…By sharing the Gospel story of Jesus Christ…By our witness…
By extension, that makes every member of the United Methodist Church and evangelist…Your role is to pray, be present, give, serve and witness…So, how do you do that? Well, we have many different opportunities here to do that! You can cook, clean, teach, organize, sing, read, greet, light candles, advertise, make popcorn, sell water, paint faces, make pies…well, the list goes on…
Now some of you may be thinking about what your role is in the church and maybe you’re thinking of something specific that you do within the church…Is it something that only you can do? Well, I’m the only one that knows this part of the church’s story…I’m the only one that can bake this particular pie…I’m the only one that can organize this event…I’m the only one that teach this class…Well…Your gifts are certainly needed and appreciated…but….You’re not the only one that can do something within the church…There are others that can do that too…Because let me make this very clear…The ministries of the church do not belong to one person…There is not one person who owns any of the ministries of the church…You have ownership of them as much as you have answered God’s call to serve…But, the ministries of the church are not yours and yours alone…If you think that you are the only one that can do something, then you have missed a huge opportunity to share your gifts and allow someone else to share their gifts as well…Because what happens if you’re not here? And I’m not necessarily talking on a permanent level, but what if you’re on vacation? Or what if you’re sick? Now be sure that the church will still function…and it will function okay…but part of the story will be missing…If you think that you are the only one who can do something or knows something, you need to find a group or a few people really quickly to share what you know and what you do…It may mean that it won’t happen the way that you had always done it or it may not be in the same words that you use…but the core part of the story will be carried on…
When we take the membership vows in the United Methodist Church we promise to do a lot…we promise to pray, be present, to give both our time and our money, to serve, and to witness…We promise to belong to the church…Now as much as the ministries do not belong to you…The Church does not belong to you…You belong to the Church…You do not own the Church…the Church owns you…Do you see the difference? Your role is to follow God and uphold the mission of the church—to make and create disciples for the transformation of the world…
Maybe you’ve been feeling a strong calling to something…a ministry that’s happening in the church or for something new within the church…We have many opportunities for service…If you have something that you feel particularly called to or an idea that is just bubbling over…we want to hear it! We have several committees who are charged with upholding the vision statement of the church—To share the Word of God through inspiring worship, Christian education, fellowship and mission outreach to our community and the world at large…Maybe you’re not sure where to take your idea or calling…Talk to me, I’d be happy to direct you to the person that you would need to talk with and the committee that would best help support your calling…
The other role that we have within the church is to support one another…To care for one another…There are times when we, being the human beings that we are…we don’t always like everyone…There may be someone that you just can’t get along with or just don’t like…Well, guess what….God loves them whether you do or not and you better get used to the fact that everyone is welcome here…Our role within the church is to support and love one another…If we can’t love one another, why would someone think that we can love them? Our role is to love one another as we love ourselves…
Our role as members of the Church is huge…it is a huge responsibility and one that isn’t taken lightly…But to follow what it is that God has called you to…to answer that call to a particular ministry…to share your gifts…To belong to the Church…It’s amazing to belong to a community of believers who uphold one another, who celebrate one another’s differences, who grieve one another’s losses…Who are joined together in the Body of Christ…Who celebrate their faith and share it with others—sometimes with loud words and sometimes with loud actions…You belong here…You belong to the Church…You belong to God…It’s pretty amazing to think that you may not fit anywhere else in the world, but you belong here…Know your role as a child of God…
Food Pantry
Food Pantry
Don’t forget to bring your non-perishable food items for the food pantry! Norway UMC collects food on the 1st Sunday of the month & Sheridan UMC collects on the 3rd Sunday. All donations are greatly appreciated!
Don’t forget to bring your non-perishable food items for the food pantry! Norway UMC collects food on the 1st Sunday of the month & Sheridan UMC collects on the 3rd Sunday. All donations are greatly appreciated!
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