Friday, January 6, 2023

Greetings Friends!   

In 1982, Eddie Espinosa read once again the great words from Isaiah 64:8 and wrote these words...

          "Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. 
           Change my heart, O God, may I be like you.
           You are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.
           Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. 
           Change my heart, O God, may I be like you."

Sometimes the best I can pray is "Change my heart, O God." I think about those times when the solution to a problem seems just beyond my grasp or I realize that not only is there a problem... but I am part of it! And then I have to turn once again to Eddie's words that implore God to change my heart. And the good news is that God is always in the heart-changing business! So when you realize that your heart too needs changing... give thanks for a God who is always willing, able, and ready to help you do just that! 

Here is what we have planned for this weekend and the week coming up....

1. We worship on Sunday at 8:30am and 10:00am. This week we hear about the Baptism of Jesus and we will all have a chance to renew our own baptismal vows at the baptismal font! My message, "God Has Come to Be With Us" will have me looking at the many ways God continues to guide us when we turn to God. We will save you a seat in our beautiful Sanctuary and, of course, we will be "live streaming" the 10:00am worship service on the church's Facebook page.  And, following the completion of the worship service, we will "upload" the recorded worship to our YouTube channel for you. If you join us on Facebook don't forget to leave us a comment, please! We love having the chance to offer you greetings in return as soon as the worship service is over!  
2. In worship at 10:00am we will welcome Alex Beavers, as our new Kidz Club Coordinator. Alex will start her service to our young people and has some fun things planned for the kids! Lori Z. will also have the nursery open for our youngest kids (ages 5 and under) at the 10:00am worship. KIDS... make sure you are here for all the fun!  
3. Following worship... It's our annual CHILI/CHOWDER COOKOFF in the Fellowship Hall. Many of our best cooks are preparing a pot of their best offerings for us to sample and then vote on. We'll have prizes for all the winners and we all get to sample the very best recipes our cooks can prepare! We hope you signed up and can join us! 
4. Our Finance Team meets at 6:00pm on Tuesday night, January 10th in the Fireside Room... while our SPRC meets at the same time in the Nursery next door! So Finance and SPRC members, please mark your calendars for these important meetings. Then our Administrative Council meets at 7:00pm that same night in the Fireside Room. Lots of meetings for one night.... but we hope to complete lots of business items! 
5. Then next Sunday we receive a special, second mile offering for the work of the United Methodist Church's Human Relations work. This work is done by pastors, churches, and community ministers who work for racial justice in our country and around the world. Look for the special offering envelopes that will be in the Narthex next Sunday. Thanks for your support of this important work. 

Enjoy this day and ask God to change your heart whenever it's needed!   
​Pastor Jack ​