From the Pastor s Desk

Transcription

1 THE HARBOR UNITED METHODIST CHURCH -Connect - Grow - Serve - Reach Out- 55 First Parish Road Scituate, MA Church harborscituateumc@gmail.com Church website: Office: (781) / Pastor Cell: (978) The pastor s private revdrmoyo@yahoo.com My Dear Brothers and Sisters, From the Pastor s Desk May 18-25, 2016 This last Sunday we had a wonderful service. The preacher was my good friend, counselor, mentor and psychologist Rev. Dr. Barter who just retired from serving at St. Insgar Lutheran Church in Portland, Maine. Both the preacher and our guest Organist Kathy Gernhardt moved our church this last Sunday in ways that we have never experienced before. I pray and hope that we can secure the services of Kathy Gernhardt. Let me warn you folks, if we secure her services, you may have to put me on a leash. Otherwise I would be uncontrollable. I will not be surprised if many of you will join me in my worship excitement or craziness, as what happened on the day of Pentecost. Remember, when the Holy Spirit descended on the early church some people ridiculed the apostles saying they were just drunk or being foolish: Acts 2:13: Some, however, made fun of them and said, They have had too much wine."

2 True worship or prayer can sometimes be ridiculed by those who need it most, or by other church members or pastors. Notice that it was not only the disciples who were ridiculed for what others thought was uncontrolled worship behavior. Hannah also was ridiculed by her church pastor in (1 Samuel 1:12-17). We read that when she was in deep prayer at the altar, her pastor priest Eli, ridiculed her because he thought she was acting drunk. Here is what the priest said to her: As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine. Not so, my lord, Hannah replied, I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief. Eli answered Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. The story of the Apostles and Hannah shows us that people will always criticize us no matter how we worship. If we make noise, jump or clap our hands in worship, we are going to be criticized for being fanatical or acting foolish or going to the extreme. If we pray quietly or in our hearts like what Hannah did, we will again be criticized for being too passive and not excited for God. So listen ~ no matter what we do or how we worship, we will never please everybody. But I believe the best thing to be when going before God in worship is to be who you are. When the Holy Spirit descended on the early church, they made noise and spoke in different tongues; they we ridiculed and called names and some even described them as intoxicated and crazy. Hannah came to the temple altar praying quietly and only moving her lips so she was labeled drunk and weird. I feel God s plan for our church right now is to go in a new, different and exciting direction of worship. When we do that we are going to discover something wonderful which we have never experienced before. Job said it so well when he wrote: God knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold, (Job 23:10): There is a story by an unknown source about a missionary couple who once brought some African pastors to the United States for a big meeting. During their free time, these pastors wanted to go shopping. Even though they were in a small town, the missionary knew there was a chance one of them might have some difficulty finding their way around or get lost. So the missionary gave each pastor his phone number in case of an emergency. In less than an hour the missionary s phone rang and one of the pastors said, I am lost. The missionary replied, May you go to the street corner and find out the names of the two streets, and come back and tell me. In a few minutes the African pastor returned and reported, I am at the corner of Walk and Don t Walk.

3 The challenges our church has faced over the years sometimes make us feel lost and unstable. There are times both you and I feel directionless and don t know which way to turn. Sometimes it even seems that there are no good options. But listen: when we are standing at the corner of Walk and Don t Walk, we need to understand that God often allows these challenges and trials in our lives or among us so we will lean on him and experience new life and stability through his strength and grace. God has given us his phone number: prayer and the Holy Spirit. When we are at the fork of the road or at the corner of Walk and Don t Walk, we need to stop and call this number for direction. In (Proverbs 3:5-6 :) the Bible says: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. I am so excited in all that we have been able to achieve together this year. Another week is behind us and another is before us, let s come together to worship God our heavenly father in Spirit and truth. Amen Love in him, Pastor Abi Announcements 1. Bible Study will take place every Sunday at 9.30am-10.25am up to June 30, The month of May we are focusing on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gift. 2. This Sunday, May 22 Rodger William III from the Gideons Bible Society will address our Bible Study Group on Spiritual Gifts and their importance. We thank God for this man of God who comes to teach us the word ~ free of charge. 3. Women s Bible Study is every second Tuesday of the month at Christy Bruccoleri s house (10 Lauren Dr., Scituate, MA 02066). Hope to see you there. If you need to learn more about the Bible Study or for directions or for questions, call the facilitator Chris Longman. Her number is (517) For free.

4 4. We thank God for the Preaching of Rev. Dr. Bill Barter on May 15, Rev. Dr. Bill Barter is a minister of the word, a counselor and psychologist who began his ministry as a priest in the Roman Catholic and then worked for many years as a Lutheran Church pastor at The St. Insgar Church in Portland, Maine. He is also a licensed counselor and psychologist in the state of Maine. He also works with the United Methodist as a counselor and psychologist. 5. July is the month our church has been assigned to raise money at the transfer station. A sign-up sheet will be made available for people to select the dates they may be available to help with the fund raising project. For more information on this endeavor, please ask Judy Ward or call the pastor s office. 6. Book Group will meet on Thursday, May 19 th at 7.30pm at the Home of Lisa Ryan, 400 First Parish Rd. Scituate, Congratulations to Adrianna Crowell and Madeline Ryan who are graduating from high school! Our Youth Coordinator Chris Longman is looking into how these two incredible people may be recognized by the church. 8. Please do not forget to fill the Connection Card to help the pastor know that you were present in the church or you need a visit or phone call from him. 9. Let us not forget our pledges, tithes and offerings to church. If we do not give, there is no way we can pay our bills or fund our most depleted music budget. So let s roll! 10. A questionnaire was sent to all our members. May you please take time to fill it out and return it by mail or by just dropping it in the offering plate. It will help your pastor and team leaders to plan for our future and know what is going right and what you think your pastor should make an effort to change. Prayers of the People

5 "I urge, then first of all that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people," ( 1 Timothy 2:1). A. Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving from Peggy: John Marini is coming home from the nursing home this week...god is Good! B. Prayers for those fighting cancer...for healing, strength, comfort and courage for the journey ahead...please, God, grant that all are able to tolerate the treatment necessary to fight each person s cancer From Alice: Pray for my daughter, Sandy Sullivan 2. From our church family: Prayers for Cindy McCall and Merry Foxworth 3. From Leanne: Please pray with me for my friend Donna and her daughter who is fighting cancer. 4. From Estelle: for friend Jane Guy who continues to have treatment and fight leukemia and ongoing health challenges that also require treatments 5. From Mary Sheehan. For Roxanne Griffin's mother who is fighting brain cancer and has suffered a seizure. 6. From Ann White: For Elyse Tatreau, 39 years old (Doug and Rev. Ellen Tatreau s daughter) who s just been diagnosed with cancer and given little time C. Prayers for all who have been hospitalized recently for surgeries and are now recovering. Prayers for strength, comfort and that they continue to recuperate quickly and completely: 1. From Alice: for Patrick White as he continues to regain his strength at home 2. From Jane: for Sue Hands now at Life Care Center in Scituate D. Additional Prayer Requests: 1. From Alice: Please pray for Wayne Ross...he is back in the hospital and will be having surgery this week...this means more time in the hospital...prayers also for John and Mary Ellen who will be going back and forth to visit their son Wayne. 2. We also ask you to pray for Lucy Morris and Evelyn Murphy who are in Queen Ann s Nursing home in Hingham. 3. From Meghann: Sophie has been having a lot of symptoms from her EDS disorder and the doctors have no answers for relief. We are frustrated and losing some hope. Please pray for relief and for strength and comfort. 4. From Joanne: Prayers for our son, Chris, that a new medicine will stop recurrence of his MS flare ups. Please also prayers for Chris wedding this month. 5. From Judy: for Janet Hawver s granddaughter, an infant, who has suffered a brain hemorrhage, she's at Children's Hospital...prayers for healing 6. From Jane: Please keep the prayers coming for 7 year old Ryan...he is still struggling...also prayers for Sue Hands and Wayne Ross 7. From Christy: Please pray for my Mom, Ann Jones, who is in Hospice Care. 8. From Barbara: Prayers for Joann Johnson for healing after her fall 9. From Shirley: Prayers for Peter Burrows, he had triple bypass surgery at Mass. General...also, continued prayers for one of my sons and his family in dealing with some problems. May they turn to you, oh Lord, for help? Please pray for all those in the service of our country and also for health care workers where ever they may be.

6 10. May we also not forget to pray for Pastor Abi, his wife and family as they work with us and among us and also our church family to be united and find a way to move forward and for the spirit of forgiveness to take root among us? Please note, if there are other prayer concerns that you wish to have on the Prayer Chain, please contact Alice at or Mary at ( zackzipp@aol.com). If you have updated information on any of the above prayer requests, please let us know. From Robin Smith, SPRC Chair: Please join me in a special thank you to Ann White who has graciously volunteered to support Pastor Abi and our church by helping with the Bulletins, Weekly Flyer and Channel Marker. Her support is greatly appreciated and will allow Pastor Abi to more fully focus on the other needs of our congregation. All chairpersons of all committees are requested to forward Ann at annvan34@gmail.com any information they wished put into the Channel Marker (May/June). Anyone already submitting information to Robin Smith does not need to resubmit their information. Let us also thank Kathy Gernhardt who has been providing us with some great music over the past two weeks. Her energy and her spirit have surely blessed us! Kathy has prior commitments over the next few weeks but will be our guest organist again later next month. Kathy is in prayerful consideration of our current open Music Ministry position. Let s all support her as she is guided in this decision and join her in praying for God s will in this matter. This week, we joyfully welcome our guest organist, Parnell Bailey. Parnell has always lifted up our worship services and our church conferences in the past and we look forward to seeing her this next Sunday.