Love in Action

8/5/2020

Praying for the tough-to-love

A few months ago, I preached on the importance of love in action and challenged you to pray for those you find tough to love. Many of you took my challenge to heart, and have truly wrestled with it. Praying for someone is an act of will, a conscious choice to send good vibes in the direction of someone who has hurt or wronged you. It is counter-cultural, against our intuition and training, it's absurd.... a lot like Jesus's call for his followers to turn the other cheek. When someone disrespected their subordinate in those days, they slapped the person with the back of their hand. When Jesus encouraged turning the other cheek, this was not to invite more abuse - but to force the abuser to slap with the open palm of the hand, a gesture reserved for equals. This was to elevate slaves and servants in the eyes of their owners and commanders; to add an awareness for the lack of basic human dignity inherent in unjust systems. Today, many social movements are also encouraging us to see these inequalities. Our divisive public discourse (or the way we speak and write to one another) has reached new lows. We all need a call to action, a challenge to love, and an invitation to pray for those we find problematic or troublesome. Join us this Sunday at 10:30AM (in person or online) to learn more about how....

LOVE and blessings, Pastor Emily Flemming

Worship LIVE this Sunday 08/09/2020 at 10:30AM, Prayer is Love in Action

Our Habitat for Humanity Build Faith Build is a GO!

After getting pushed back the foundation has finally been poured and September 5th is our Build Day! If you, or someone you know would like to volunteer, no experience is required. Please consider your own health before volunteering (we'd prefer those 65 and older to wait until it is safer for you to contribute physically).

Covid-19 precautions and regulations are in place; no more than 8 people will be allowed on the jobsite at a time. Masks will need to be worn and social distancing will be kept, along with providing hand sanitizer, etc. You must also provide your own sack lunch. If you are interested, please reach out to Cheryl Gerstner (740-683-4459) or Cathy Bell (719-640-9374) to join this exciting work!

Dare to Dream Grants
Do you have a dream for our Church or town? The UMC Mountain Sky Conference has recently funded: irrigation system for large church garden to provide community food, bee-keeping ministry, storage shed for UMCOR disaster response materials, Senior fitness center in rural community, church kitchen upgrades to increase outreach possibilities, facility renovations for childcare, etc. Financial grants are now available to help us realize our dreams. Click the photo to see the application, and share your ideas with church leaders!

Celebrations this week
Happy Birthday to Perry Cogburn & Josh Savage (today, 8/5), and Brett Freitag (8/11).
Happy Anniversary to Trin & Ned Chapin, and Tara & Dan Overton (8/10), and Rev. Emily Flemming and Regis Schoedel (8/11). Click the image to share your special dates.

Prayer Requests
John and Sandy Lee and family in passing of John's mother Miriam at age 102 this week; Alexia Cunningham-Baca's healthy pregnancy (due 12/16); Eric H. another cardiac stent 8/7; Ken’s friend Steve Galindo; Caplinger's friend Richard Gebauer; Terri's friend Emily; Ann Guy and family; healing/strength for Debbie B., Sandy E., Margaret H., Heather and Mike Reed, Tony P. and family, and Brett Abernathy; ; back-to-school stress; SPC Lizzie Przygoda. Click the image to add your prayer requests!

As some of you may already know, school is nearly back in session, but not as we are used to. During this time all we can do is offer our help to anyone who is struggling with making hard decisions and navigating the waters of several months of online learning. If your family is facing the uncertainty of what's to come please reach out. We love you and want you to know that we're here to help out in any way!