Consider the ancient ship especially those they had during the days of Christ. Above is an example. Notice there are two methods of powering the ship. The first was the sail. The sail depended on the wind for propulsion. At times the wind blew strongly and at times hardly at all. It could come from all directions and sail driven ships were designed to take advantage of the wind no matter what direction it came from nor how little it blew.

As the Scriptures remind us, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone born of the spirit.”

The second mode of moving a ship was the use of oars. Whenever needed they could move the ship and add to the movement of the ship. In ancient ships, the oarsmen sat with their backs to the front of the ship. It is easier to pull the oars than to push them. As a result, the oarsmen couldn’t see where they were going nor their final destinations. They had to trust the helmsman for that.

The final main thing I want to point out is that at the rear of the ship there was an oarsman who was able to see where the ship was headed and could turn the ship with a relatively small oar no matter how great the ship was. Believe it or not, even great ships today are steered with a relatively small rudder.

Now in the case of the church, we are in essence something like a ship. The Holy Spirit fills our sails and gives us the power we need. We add to that God given power with our own efforts. The truth is that we know what is our ultimate destination but we must trust in God to give us the power to get there.

In the case of the church, our helmsman is Jesus Christ. Only He can clearly see our destination and goal and we must trust in Him and in Him only.

Now, there is one last thing to think about. On the ancient ships, the oarsmen pulled together. If one side pulled harder than the other, the ship would go in a circle. If some didn’t pull their oars as hard as others, the ship would not progress as rapidly.

You and I all need to trust in the course of our great ship. In other words, trust God to give us the power and trust Christ to give us the direction. Then let’s work together each pulling our weight and our share. After all, when we do, God gets the glory and we reach the safe port called the Kingdom of God.

Not peace and grace but Ahoy Mates. Reed.

Bishop Schnase is coming to our area to give talks on The 5 Practices Of Fruitful Congregation in Mansfield on November 14. We have the brochures and information in the church office. I am planning on going and I want to offer you a chance to attend. I know that we underwent the study and we have implemented a lot of the ideas that we created. Still, hearing from the source is getter than getting it from books and dvd’s.

One day after we did the 5 Practices, I was in a restaurant in Waxahachie. Two ladies sitting across the room kept looking our way. I seemed to recognize them as well. After lunch, they came up. They were members of First United Methodist Church of Ennis and were there when we swapped pulpits.

Both were so excited about having gone through the experience of Keith and I acting like homeless guys and then springing the trap about greeting strangers among us. Anyway, one of the ladies told me the she had called her daughter and told her all about it. Then she said, “So I told my daughter, ‘Dear, I flunked church today!!’”

 Now that means that we did the study, impacted Ennis and through a member being excited may have excited her daughter in the Way. You see, what we do in our church does not siimply effect the ones who attend but can in fact impact someone we don’t even know about.

That’s why I want to encourage you to go the the Schnase event. We need to remind ourselves and perhaps if we called someone up we wouldn’t have to report we flunked church. Try to come November 14th.

Peace and grace. Reed. 

While we have undergone the 5 Practices here at our church, we have a great chance to hear Bishp Schnase himself present the 5 Practices in our area. On Nov. 14 He will be at First U.M.C. in Mansfield. We have the borchures in the office if you are interested in attending and you can go on line at www.ctcumc.org and follow the directions to leard more.

Hope you can all plan on going.

Faith Builders is ministry of First United Methodist Church that endeavors to provide maintenance services to homeowners in our community that need assistance. This ministry,which was started in the spring of this year, is planning a workday for October 17.

A meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 9 at 6:30 pm to coordinate and plan the workday.  The preparation work involves identifying projects, meeting with clients, planning for tools and equipment, collecting needed supplies and materials, and recruiting people for work team, refreshment/lunch preparation, publicity, photos, and communication activities. Everyone can participate in one way or the other.

Anyone interested in learning more or participating in some way, however limited, is encouraged to attend the September 9 meeting. This ministry is a “hands on” way of providing service to others and is a component of the practice of “Risk-taking Mission and Service” described in the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations study that we conducted early this year.     

Starting next week we will start a Bible study we hope you will enjoy. Let me talk about what to expect. Because of the length and depth of the study and some books and some passages, we won’t dig in too deeply. What we are going to do is to give some data and thoughts as we go.

The first task will be to go through each book of the Bible and give some history and background material. After that, we will then go through each book a little more in detail.

We hope that you will enjoy the study and will follow along.

Next week: Genesis.

As we are trying to become a church that practices radical hospitality, we are taking several steps. We now have bags to hand out with some materials about the church. We will have those in the foyers starting this Sunday. However we need your help.

What we are going to do is greet each other each week. If you meet someone who is visiting, ask them if they have received the bag. If not, simply go and get one for them. Then inform them there is a registration card inside. Ask them to fill it out and put the card in the plate during the offering time.

How simple is that? However, this is something that we all must do. It can’t be left up to the greeters, ushers or someone else. We all have to do it together. So this Sunday be sure to greet someone and ask them if they are new to us. If so, you can bag a visitor.

Up to now we have called our new emphasis Servant Evangelism but that name is owned by the church that started it. So we are going to call our effort Servants Witness which has the same goal and identification.  Here are our first events. We will write more about them and how you can help as we proceed.

 Remember, our goal is to serve and provide a witness from the church to our community.  We feel that as we do so, some may come to the church who need a church home.  We hope that as we have fun, you may join us.

June 21st. Father’s Day. 2:00p.m. We will be handing out glass cleaning packets with the church’s message to father’s at Walmart.  Cathy Justus will spearhead the project.

July 4th. Parade. We will have a trailer/float and get members to ride and throw candy but we are also going to have tote bags to hand out to people along the route. The bags will have the Growing In Grace logo as well as the web site. These bags can be used instead of plastic bags when you go shopping. Warren will be in charge of the float and Nora Jean is seeing to the bags.

August 22nd. Free Child Care for Tax Free Weekend form 10 - 2. Free care in a safe environment for kids while mom stimulates the economy.  We hope to work with the mall and maybe get on the big billboard. Eleanor Elam is taking charge and will get others to help.  We will be advertising outside the church but we will need reservations as well.

Go Texans B :B Q and Antique auto show in September. Cathy Williams is going to get bottles of water and we will hand them out (FOR FREE!!)

 As you can see, we are off to a great start. We want you to participate. If you can help with even something as simple as putting labels and note cards on the items, give us a call.

Oh and by the way, we will have a supper meeting some time in late June to schedule our next events and assess how the first event went.

Twenty men and women met on Saturday morning, May 9, to enjoy a pancake breakfast and to discuss the implementation of a new ministry called Faith Builders sponsored by the United Methodist Men.  The project is an outgrowth of the Five Practices of a Fruitful Congregation study recently completed by the church and focuses on the practices of risk taking mission and service as well as extravagant generosity.  A report by Jeff Grady of Mansfield United Methodist Church explained his church’s similar efforts which they call Hands of Christ.  He reported that their project began small, but now occurs 6 times each year serving mostly non-church members who are homeowners and are, by reason of age and/or circumstances, unable to perform fairly simple household repairs or outdoor projects.  The suggested names come primarily from 2 sources:  recommendations from Meals on Wheels representatives and suggestions from the staff of the church’s Wesley Community Center which provides counseling, job assistance, financial assistance, and operates a thrift shop.  They celebrate each year’s projects with an end of the year dinner, complete with recognition of those who have participated by working or donating money and materials, as well as hearing from clients they have served. 

Attendees were asked to fill out a simple questionnaire to check off areas in which they might provide assistance for this worthwhile activity.  The first project is planned for June 13, but at least one more event will be undertaken before the end of the year.  Painting and hammering are two important skills, but providing lunches for the workers, presenting a devotional before work or during lunch, making phone calls, assessing needs of prospective clients, gathering supplies, taking photos, coordinating communications, etc. are also vital parts of the ministry.  Everyone can help!  See Henry Moore, Tom Neely, or any member of United Methodist Men to volunteer your services. 

Following are some scenes from Saturday’s breakfast meeting:

The place to be Saturday morning at 8:30 is at the informational meeting of Faith Builders. This is your invitation to come for a  pancake breakfast and hear about this new ministry of our church. Faith Builders is an outgrowth of the Five Practices Study we had at our church during January and February. It addresses the practice of Risk-taking Mission by helping those in our community who need help in maintaining and repairing their houses.

While the Methodist Men are sponsoring this program, the need for workers to perform services in a number of ways far exceeds the capabilities of the Methodist Men. If you can use a telephone or make a sandwich (or swing a hammer, or use a paintbrush, saw, drill, etc.) there is a need you can fill.

If you attend the Saturday informational meeting, you will hear about a similar service project at First United Methodist at Mansfield and gather some information on how we will get started within a few weeks.

The place: First United Methodist Church Family Life Center

The time: 8:30  Saturday, May 9

Who is invited?  You!

In a book titled “The American Church In Crises” David Olson outlines why the Church is in decline and crises. He was interviewed in The Central Link the conference newspaper. I have included some of the interview for you with editing to shorten it and make it fit.

“In 1990 only 20.4% Americans went to church regularly. By 2007 it was only 17%.”

“Evangelical churches are faring better than main line churches but are not keeping up with the population growth.”

“Main line and existing congregations don’t grow because they do not notice what’s going on around them and pretty much just stay the same.”

“What is needed to abate the problem? New churches need to be started.”

(But what about church like ours that has been here for over 150 years?) According to Me. Olson, “It’s probably 5 to 7 times easier to plant a new church that to help an established church … to restore it’s vitality.”

Now the question before us, you and me, as members of a great church with a lot of vitality is really simple. What can we do to not become part of this statistical nightmare?

I think there are two answers. First we need to re-invent ourselves in a vastly changing world. Let me give you one example. This article is being written on a blog site on the Internet and will be posted in about 5 minutes. It will be there about 4 days before you get it in the mail. This is just one way the world has changed and we as a church must embrace it and make it work for us.

Second, we need to act like a new church. While we should embrace and love our traditions (both as a denomination and locally) we should also recognize, change and alter those that only serve our interests and not those who are around us. In other words. be willing to be a new church every day.

It is hard to do but not impossible.

Peace and Grace. Reed.