Offerings Off The Wall “Do Not Be Afraid”
Remember the song Doris Day released in 1956 "Que Sera Sera" = What will be will be? I was only 8 years old, but I remember it well. As a bit of trivia, it was first heard on the soundtrack of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year. I can even remember the first verse without looking it up: "When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother what will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me: Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be; the future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera; what will be, will be." Today we live in a society where consultant-type people get paid mega bucks for profiling big business, projecting and predicting "outcomes" if they go this way or that, choose this course of action or that. Why do such people exist? Because we have become obsessed with what tomorrow will bring; we want to have a stake in “the future.” We have come to believe that with the right formula we can control the future, or at least be fully prepared for what is to come. With the right tools and equipment, the right data, we can plan for what lies ahead. "When I was young, I fell in love; I asked my sweetheart 'what lies ahead? Will we have rainbows, day after day?' Here's what my sweetheart said: "Que sera, sera..."
There has to be something for 21st century human beings to embrace that lies between the 20th century — frankly -- fatalistic message of Que sera, sera, and the 21st century, hell-bent, obsession with having control over the future. We who call ourselves "people of faith" have at our disposal that very word: “FAITH.” Ask yourself how your faith is made evident in your life. Is your faith evidenced by your appearance in church on Sunday morning? Do we recognize God at work in the life of the church, in our own lives? In our finance committee meeting, two weeks ago, we discussed the fact that we had borrowed $20,000 from our parsonage fund to complete our apportionment payment to the Annual Conference. As members of the denomination known as the United Methodist Church, it is an obligation we must live up to. What was most interesting to me was the following: in the moment we decided to meet our obligation and pay the remainder of our apportionments the annual conference, the treasurer informed us that, approximately, the same amount borrowed would be coming back to us over the next few months in the form of reimbursements paid to those churches who helped the Annual Conference with the Pacific Homes debacle back in 1984. I said to the committee: "Isn't that interesting. When we stepped up to the plate to pay 100% of our apportionments, something wonderful happened, which will help us pay back the amount we borrowed from ourselves." I was a bit bummed out at the lack of response from the members of the Finance Committee. No one appeared to be moved by what I viewed as very profound evidence of God at work in the life of the church. I wanted to jump up and cheer and dance around!
Perhaps the most important words spoken to humankind in scripture, by God, by angels, by Jesus, by Apostles and disciples alike, were the words: "Do not be afraid." In the gospel of Luke when Peter said: "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man." Jesus responded: "Do not be afraid."
I did a quick count of the number of times this phrase appears in scripture and came up with 53 times. Someone else did a more detailed tabulation and wrote that in the New American Standard Version of the Bible the phrase "Fear not" appears 4 times; "Do not fear", appears 57 times and "Do not be afraid," 46 times. I guess I thought it would be more, but 107 times said three different ways is probably enough to drive the point home. The scriptures we embrace invite us not to fear, what is and what is to come. We have the promise that God is with us through it all, even to the end of the age! Let us trust in God and not be afraid. Amen.
Blessings,
Rev. Amanda
MISSION, CARE & HOSPITALITY (BLUE) TEAM: SERVICE PROJECTS
Samaritan Sunday: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH
The Mission served over 130,000+ meals in 2011 - The new Mission opened just in early November; the staff though it would take a couple of months before they would double their occupancy to fill the new site. Well, it took a couple weeks!! Residing at the Mission are more families than ever before, and more children with their mothers than a year ago! Distribution of food boxes to the hungry in the surrounding neighborhoods is UP, UP, UP..
MORE THAN EVER your donations do make a difference in the lives of people in our community!
ITEMS NEEDED:
Cooking oil: Vegetable, Canola, Corn, Olive oil; sugar and brown sugar; all-purpose flour; taco seasoning, seasoning salt, salt, pepper, garlic; mustard, mayonaise, ketchup, pickle relish; salsa and enchilada sauce, coffee and coffee creamer; drinks for sack lunches: 12 oz. water, boxed huices; pancake mix; pancake syrup, jams and jellies; oatmeal, grits, dry cereals; pasta: all shapes and sizes; rice: white; canned corn, green beans, peas; canned fruit and juices (bottled or canned); mushroom soup, celery soup; canned hams, tuna and other canned meats.
ALSO NEEDED ON A REGULAR BASIS: napkins, paper towels, all sizes of baggies
Call Lois Giannopulos @ 760-992-5282 to sign up for future dates - or sign up in the Fellowship Hall, on the blue tri-fold poster board.
The Mission, Care & Hospitality Team (Blue) would like to thank our congregation for their amazing generosity in May! God Bless You All!
JOSHUA TREE BREAKFAST PROJECT
The service dates for MISSION TEAM UMCPS up in Joshua Tree for 2012 are the following Saturdays:
February 3, May 12, August 4, October 27 and December 22
We have a "core" group volunteers and we eagerly welcome new folks to join us - we can take new folks with us each visit. WE HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME CRAFTING, COOKING & SERVING OUR GUEST... and we'd love to have YOU, too! If you would like to join us March 3rd, e-mail Lois G. at lgiannopulos@dc.rr.com or call 760-992-5282 to reserve march 3rd to driveup the hill!!
Jubilee Bibles: honoring our 50th Anniversary Jubilee & the
Coachella Valley Rescue Mission
What you see BELOW is the bookplate that is being inserted inside the front cover of the Bibles our church donated to the Mission.
NOW YOU MAY REMEMBER, OUR PLAN WAS to raise enough money to
purchase 50 Bibles in honor of our 50th Anniversary Jubilee … and you all were so generous that we raised enough to purchase 60!
WELL, those 60 Bibles did a “loaves and fishes” on us; they have
multiplied and the Mission was able to purchase 100 Bibles with our gift of $1,000 – beautiful hardback, large print Bibles. PRAISE GOD !!
An additional order of 50 more bookplates are on their way & our gift will be ready for the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission’s “Grand Opening” event for the community on February 21st at 2:00 P.M.
– YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO ATTEND !
