Friday, June 2, 2023

​As a new month is upon us, I read these words from the Book of Job...

                "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way
                    prosperity will come to you."     (Job 22:21)

So many times in our lives we seem to lose track of God's promise of peace. We get running on the treadmills we create for ourselves moving from home obligations, to work obligations, to family obligations, to church obligations.... and after a short period of time we begin to feel like the proverbial mouse on the treadmill. And the old adage, "The hurrier we go... the behinder we get" seems to describe our daily lives!  
   
In these times in my life I usually find that I have gotten really far away from submitting to God. I get so wrapped up in trying to do it all myself and the result is that not only am I miserable, I can make life miserable for people around me. And then some very wise person will remind me that God doesn't ask me to accomplish all things at the same time! Only God is capable of doing that! I, as a frail human being, need to take things in stages, at a controlled pace, and according to God's timetable... not mine! But boy is that often hard to remember!  
   
Today... as summer schedules begin to take effect... I invite you to be more intentional about submitting to God and really resting in God's peace. You will suddenly find your life so much easier and God's true prosperity will increasingly become more a part of your life. And that's why God gives us seasons... in our weather and our lives! Thanks be to God!  

          BE STILL IN MY PRESENCE. THIS IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO RECEIVE MY PEACE. --- GOD 

+++ Your prayers are requested for our Upper NY Annual Conference gathering taking place at the SRC arena on Thursday-Saturday of this week. Immanuel is represented by Helen Forward, Pam Kelsey-Gossard and myself. Please pray that God's will would be done in our Annual Conference this weekend!

+++ This week is our last for worshipping at both 8:30am and 10:00am until after Labor Day. Our 8:30am worship will have us  celebrating Trinity Sunday... while at 10:00am we have some celebrations planned. We will celebrate Alex's ministry here at Immanuel as this is our last day for Kidz Club until the fall and we will also celebrate with Dan and Lisa and our musicians as they get ready to take a summer break. Look for our Facebook "live-stream" at 10:00am and then we will "upload" the recorded service to the church's YouTube channel. We'll have lots of music, lots of laughs, and we'll hear from John Wesley about how we should worship through singing. We will also celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion at both worship services.  

+++ Following the 10:00am worship we will gather for our Church Picnic in the churchyard. Hopefully you are planning to join us and bring a dish to pass. We need some really good cornhole players for the tournament as well!

+++ We will also deliver our June installment of our Shut-in Meal Ministry on Sunday! Thanks to Sam and those who prepare the meals and to Marilyn and all those who make these important deliveries each month. 

+++ Our Board of Trustees will be meeting on Wednesday, June 7th at 4:00pm in the Fireside Room. All members please try to be present to help us complete this important work!

+++ The deadline for Campership Requests is June 9th! Please let the church office know which camp your young people are attending and we will make sure the church's sponsorship support is there when the kids arrive at camp! We are so blessed to be able to support our young people as they head off for church camp! 

+++ Next Sunday, June 11th, we begin our summer worship schedule with one worship service each week at 9:00am in the Sanctuary. We will also switch our Facebook live-stream to 9:00am as well. Our summer schedule will continue through Labor Day weekend.

Make this day a great day and take time to be still in God's presence today!   
​Pastor Jack