Pentecost 14: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1-14

August 29, 2010    I was pleased to see the electronic sign board lit up announcing the "5th Sunday Breakfast" for all the community to see as they drove by this week. I did panic a little when I considered how many from the community might actually show up this morning. Will we have enough food prepared? Will we be ready to welcome whoever comes? Will we be glad they are here?

    This is like the Block Party we had a few weeks ago isn't it? The community welcome and no charge. And while we are on the topic of food and meals, the fall Chicken Dinner will be Oct. 9. You should make a note of that. We will need everyone who is able to volunteer their time and labor to help prepare the food and serve. For this we do expect the community to come even from Springfield. And so we need to be ready to welcome everyone and show our gladness that they are here.

    What wonderful opportunities these are to share the hospitality of Sherman...

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Pentecost 12: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

Aug. 15, 2010

    Recently I was over in Champaign to check on my mother who is in a nursing home there. And she is doing relatively well, not great (she will be 92 in September) but she can still stand and walk short distances and likes to visit. I have to talk louder, but she still laughs and smiles.

    On the drive over in the summertime I always keep an eye on the crops. From the highway everything looks good and I was much impressed how clean the fields are again this year, especially the beans. By clean, of course, I mean free of weeds and by "again this year" I mean that weed control has come a long way since I was teenager back in BC time, Before Chemicals.

    I remember some of the weeds I wrestled with as a youth like the cocklebur. It was very prolific and could quickly crowd out the beans if you didn't get with it and do something. Its tiny burs that stuck to your socks and pant legs like Velcro were a nuisance too. In fact cockleburs were the inspiration for the invention of Velcro. The plants don't grow erect either which as I remember made it difficult at times to find a good spot to whack them with my machete. And also according to the sunlight they can blend in so well with the beans that you can walk right by and not notice them. I remember crawling along on my hands and knees at times to clean out patches of these. ...

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Pentecost 11: Hebrews 11:1-16; Luke 12:32-40

August 8, 2010

    The news this week was very interesting. After weeks of watching the oil spew out of the broken well deep under the Gulf it turns out not only is the leak now stopped, but even more astounding is that a major portion of the spillage is now gone. And how is that possible? Well, it turns out that in addition to the human efforts to burn, skim and disperse the oil with chemicals over the last few weeks, there has also been another force at work that has done even more.

     Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press writes: "Much of the reasoning behind the disappearing oil has to do with the natural resilience of the Gulf itself which is teeming with microbes that eat oil." Apparently oil in seawater has a natural tendency to evaporate and dissolve to half its volume in about a week. And even critics of the report acknowledge this as fact. Overall it is estimated that human efforts gotten rid of 35 million gallons of oil. But Mother Nature gotten rid of 84 million gallons which leaves an estimated 53 million gallons still around, somewhere. ...

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Pentecost 8: Amos 8:1-12; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:38-42

July 18, 2010

    One of my all time favorite tv commercials some years ago went like this: Two people are talking in a noisy room. One says: "My broker thinks this would be a good investment. What does your's think?" And the other says: "Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton and E. F. Hutton says …" Suddenly a hush comes over the room as everyone strains their ears to listen in. And a voice says: "When E.F. Hutton talks, (pause) people listen." Right?

    Well, its important to listen in a lot of ways. But listening is most important in our faith. One of the regular practices of Jesus we read in the gospels is he would often draw apart from the crowds and even his closest followers to be alone.

"Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed."(Mk 1:35)

"After saying farewell to them (crowds), Jesus went up on the mountain to pray."(Mk 6:46)...

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Pentecost 5: Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-56

June 27, 2010

    When our youngest son left for a year in Korea many asked if we were not concerned for his safety. Of course, we were. But now that Jean and I have been there ourselves, we can make a much better assessment. We stayed in the city of Seoul 8-9 million people. David was our tour guide.

SLIDE 1: Airport with students

 



 

    From the moment we arrived until we left we never felt any danger. In fact it was just the opposite. We saw the fruits of the spirit as Paul describes in Galatians 5 - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." As we were waiting for David to meet us in the airport we were approached by 3 high school students who asked if they could interview us. They asked where we were from, why we had come to Korea, and so forth. Their assignment was...

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Pentecost 4: Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 6:6b-13, 30

June 20, 2010

    During college I would hook up with a friend in Chicago to ride with him across Indiana and Ohio on Interstate 80 to and from school in Connecticut. He owned an old Plymouth, 8 cylinders with high tail fins. It was a heavy car that he nicknamed: "Sherman" as in Sherman tank. Little did I know back then that some years later I would be riding along that same stretch of Interstate 80 a week ago Friday in another big vehicle with the name Sherman as in Sherman United Methodist Church printed on the sides.

    I was reading on the bus and came across this Chinese proverb. "If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people." To piggyback on this, our mission team this year was all about growing people as disciples of Jesus Christ.

    We stopped to spend two nights in Sandusky, Ohio so our group could enjoy a day at Cedar Point...

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Pentecost 2: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; John 16:12-15

May 30, 2010

    He was born in the state of Vermont where he became a blacksmith. When his business played out he moved to Illinois and re-established his blacksmith shop. He listened to farmers complaining about how hard it was to plow the thick muddy prairie soils. Every few feet they had to stop to scrape the gummy dirt sticking to the cast iron plowshares. The work was back breaking and took forever.

    The young blacksmith saw an opportunity and set his mind on finding a solution to this problem. He came up with the idea of a steel share that would scour itself clean as it sliced and turned the heavy black soil. His invention proved to be revolutionary in transforming agriculture and opening the prairies to large scale settlement. It played a huge role in transforming the Midwest into the breadbasket of the world we know today.

    The young man's name, of course, was John Deere and the rest is history as they...

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Easter 6: Rev. 21:1-10, 22-22:5; John 14:8-14, 21-29

May 9, 2010

We have had some wonderful days recently with full sun, not too hot, not too cold, just right. There's plenty of moisture. The grass is a deep green and trees fully leafed out. The corn is up and going and bean planting right behind. Flowers are blossoming, gardens growing. This is the most beautiful time of year for me.

In the news this week was the death of Robin Roberts, the Hall of Fame pitcher from Springfield. It was inspiring to read what was said about him. He was the son of immigrant parents from Wales. He is remembered as a good and decent person who not only had a gift for striking out batters, but also for helping others.

Jason Werth of Chatham was one of those quoted about Roberts. He is the 3rd generation on his mother's side to play in the major leagues. His family story is an inspiration too despite the fact he hit a couple of home runs against the Cardinals this week.

Every time I drive by the Old...

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Pastor Mike Pennell

Easter 5: Acts 11:1-18; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:33-35

May 2, 2010

One of our favorite programs on weekends is the "Prairie Home Companion" show with Garrison Keillor. Each week Keillor tells the story of a small town in Minnesota called Lake Wobegon where 'all the women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average.' In a good natured way he frequently pokes fun at various religious groups, frequently the Lutherans, but also Methodists.

"You know you are Methodist when its 100 degrees and 90 percent humidity and you still have coffee after the service. You hear something funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can. Donuts are a line item in the church budget just like coffee. When you watch a Star Wars movie and they say, "May the force be with you," and you respond, "and also with you." And lastly you'll know you've been in the presence of a Methodist, if it takes 10 minutes to say good-bye!"

These are fun ways of type...

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Easter 4: John 6:32-35, 51; 12:32; Matthew 21:22; 1 John 3:2                     April 25, 2010

    "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever."(Jn 6)

    "To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God."(Jn 1)

    Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? (Mt 21)

    "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is." (1 Jn 3)

    "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (Jn 12)

    These scriptures show that...

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