From the Pastor… (Page 6)
Three Things This Week
Three Things From Pastor Dave I pray that you enjoyed a safe Independence Day celebration. I’m getting over a summer cold (not COVID), and I chose to keep things a bit simple. But, as time goes by, the freedom and liberties that we enjoy mean more and more to me. I pray they do to you, as well. First, remember that we worship together this Sunday at 10:30AM in the CLC. Sunday School will precede the service, and Godly Play…
This Week at FUMC
First Church Family: I pray that you are well. Our youth and adults returned from BigStuf in Panama City, Florida on Tuesday evening. I must tell you that it was all that it was said to be: incredible worship and instruction for the students, tremendous instruction for all of us youth leaders, great small group time, and recreation on the beach. We have a wonderful group of kids, led by our graduating seniors: Molly Triplett and Cary Carpenter, and they participated fully. Our youth leaders, Sonya Triplett…
July News
Three Things From Pastor Dave: I have been a Green Bay Packer fan since I was a little boy. During pro football season, I get an email from a Packer’s site several times a week. The theme of the email is: Three Things About the Packers. I’ve realized there is something special about that number of highlighted issues. So, for the next several weeks, I am going to use the theme of “Three Things From Pastor Dave” when I communicate…
Three Things…
Three Things From Pastor Dave Eleven of us leave the church Friday morning at 5:30AM for BigStuf Christian Youth Camp in Panama City, Florida. Please remember: Meredith Cline and Sonya Triplett (who, with me, will be counselors on the trip) along with: Reagan Cline, Molly Triplett, Cary Carpenter, Dillan Earp, Cody Barlow, Mason Gaetes, Ross Watts, and Zach Crowe. Many of you have supported the trip financially. Please pray for the growth of our faith and for our safety. Secondly, on Sunday July 10 at 4:00PM in the afternoon, our…
Lay Leadership Sunday
First Church Family: It is my prayer that you are making it through this week’s heat wave. Wow, it’s been draining; and it’s brought out the Japanese Beetles! Beginning yesterday, my roses have been covered with them! I can remember my grandmother telling me: “David, in life you have to take the bad with the good!” But is there really anything good about Japanese Beetles? If you can think of something, I’d like to hear from you. I will be going to Lake…
July Schedule
First Church Family: As I drove into the church early this morning, I was struck by the beauty of the Easter lilies that surround our buildings. They bloomed late this year, but they are beautiful! Ride around the church in the next couple of days and appreciate their beauty. But don’t stop there. Let the lilies remind you that everyday is Easter for us, because God the Father raised Jesus the Son from the dead – and through the Resurrection we…
Youth Sunday
First Church Family: I pray that you are enjoying the end of spring. As the song from “Carousel” chronicles: “June is bustin’ out all over…” My gardens are growing, and who knows, I may have a ripe tomato by the 4th of July! Please remember the important things that are happening this month. This Sunday, June 5, we will celebrate Youth Sunday and honor our graduating high school students: Molly Triplett and Cary Carpenter. Theirs is a small class, but the two…
June News
First Church Family, I pray that you are enjoying the end of spring. I’ve had opportunities to be out in my gardens and offered prayers of thanksgiving for the health and strength that God has provided me to tend to His creation. Have you ever noticed that God knows our needs and provides? We certainly needed the rains we received at the end of May. And though God is not a heavenly rain man, those rains were provided.…
Our Heart Breaks
First Church Family, First Buffalo, then Laguna, and finally Uvalde. What should our response be to the horrors that continue to pervade our country due to gun violence? Innocent victims, this time including 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders have been sacrificed needlessly. Of course, there are numerous possible responses, most of which lead us into the theatre of politics. We won’t go there. But we do decry such violence as evil. And we pray: * For the innocent victims. “LORD,…
May News
First Church Family, Several weeks ago, in a conversation with our Pete Kidder, Caldwell Habitat for Humanity executive director, I came to understand that: * there are houses within a mile of our church where families with children live on dirt floors.* more than 7,000 houses in our county are heated by portable kerosene heaters and by opening the oven.* 7,764 families in our county spend almost one-third of their total income on housing.* and many mobile homes in our county are so poorly…
FCY Fundraiser Lunch
First Church Family: I love this time of year, when the mornings are cool and the days are warm. I’ve already “put out” a number of vegetables in the garden, and am hoping we don’t have a killing freeze! This Sunday is the first day of May, and the month of May is one of the busiest months of the year for us, with Mother’s Day, school year ending programs, graduations, weddings, etc.. This Sunday is especially big for two reasons.…
Easter Announcements
First Church Family: What a blessed Lent we have had, through the Palm Sunday’s “The Last Supper Tableau”! Tonight at 6:00PM, we will continue to walk with Jesus to the Cross, as we participate in a Maundy/Holy Thursday Communion Service. For the first time in two years, you will have the opportunity to receive elements of bread and juice from the pastors. (The cellophane, pre-packaged wafers and juice will also be available, should you prefer that.) Then tomorrow, we will gather at St. Stephen’s…