Hello
Emmanuel,
Ever
want a do-over?
Vacations
are counter-intuitive to the human condition.
In some ways, vacations are nothing more than an attempt to fool
ourselves into thinking we don’t really want what we inherently want…… routine
and predictability.
I’ve
watched others become so controlling and intentional in planning and spending
their vacation that they have just as much irritable stress as they have in
their ‘regular’ life. I shake my head
(smh for those in the texting world) at how silly that looks on the surface. It’s one of the reasons I like to cruise. I don’t have to stress and plan. I buy a plane ticket. I buy a boat ticket. Then wherever the boat takes me is where I
go. Kim is a little bit different. I won’t go there. It’s Monday and it will get me off to a rough
start on the week.
But
sometimes I want a do-over.
I
didn’t go on a cruise last week. I
stayed around town. In addition, I didn’t
turn my phone off. I didn’t turn my
email off. I didn’t turn my facebook
off. I didn’t turn my texting off. In the kind of world that we live in now, I
suppose I wasn’t really on vacation because I didn’t vacate much of anything
that I would normally be connected with.
The only difference is that I didn’t respond to most of that which
demanded my attention. Instead I let it
pile up until that day when I ‘got back to work’. Guess what?
Today is that day. Yea for me!
Sorry
if I sound a bit grumpy. It’s another
silly reality of vacations. Watching
people get back to the grind is a whole lot more entertaining than being the person
who is experiencing such. So I’ll stop
complaining now and perform an exercise that will help me get back into a
healthy mind-set. My iced tea is in
front of me at Panera. Ready? Here we go:
The
annual Craft Show is this Saturday. We fill the church with crafters and make
money to spend for missions. There is
also food! It isn’t free, but it still
tastes good.
We
are collecting shoes for the local
schools. Bring them in. It will fill a basic need for many kids which
will make Jesus happy.
We
are collecting candy for the Community Boo Bash on October 25th. It will fill a perceived need for kids which
will at least make them happy. I don’t
know how Jesus feels about sugar rushes, but the community will once again feel
welcomed at Emmanuel.
October 20th
starts the Grow Class intended to
help people ‘grow’ in discipleship at Emmanuel.
It is a 6-week class from 7:00-8:00 (on Tuesdays). The cost is $11. Sign-up at church or call me (833-5219).
The
next food pantry at Emmanuel is October 23rd. Help is needed from 9:00-1:00.
October 24th
is the bonfire at Ron Hill’s house (4039
Amelia-Olive Branch Road) at 6:00. This
is carry-in style. Bring your food to
roast and your chair to sit in and your heart with which to fellowship.
October 15th
(every Thursday at 7:00) starts a new Bible
Study. This one will be on 1st
and 2nd Corinthians.
This
Wednesday there will be a memorial service for David Bowman at
the church building. Russ’s brother
passed away unexpectedly. Visitation
will be from 6:00-7:00 with the service starting at 7:00. This is one of those opportunities to show
love and life even in the midst of death.
A
meeting was held Sunday for those interested in helping in the Nursery ministry. Contact Nicole Georg (Nicky.eby@gmail.com) if
you are interested or call me (833-5219).
Charge
Conference is this Sunday. This means that Emmanuel leaders will be
getting together to worship and prepare for the 2016 calendar year alongside
other leaders of other UM churches. This
year the worship will take place at Amelia
UMC at 3:00 with the conference following at 4:00. Feel free to join us if you wish.
I
know I didn’t get everything. There are
youth meetings and Finance meetings and Vision meetings and visits to make and
prayers to pray and papers to fill out and small groups to group with and new
ministry ideas to think up……
Busy
enough? Maybe. But in the midst of it all, remember why we
do it.
It’s
because, when we really needed it, Christ gave us a do-over.
God
is Good,
Pastor
Joe
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