Pastor Sheryl, Someone you should know!
See KWWL's Special Feature!
"Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good deeds,
and praise your Father in heaven."
Jesus--in Matthew 5:16
What people at St. Paul's most often say they want in a church is warm and inspiring worship, a clear understanding of the Bible, and to see ways that the Bible and genuine Christian faith apply to real life today. This is what we work for and we have a wonderfully fun time doing it!
The church has one full-time ordained clergyperson, the Rev. Sheryl Eash Campbell, often known as Pastor Sheryl. Our staff secretary is at the office Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8am until noon. We have other excellent part time staff as well--a custodian, organist/choir director, and nursery staff. We have many volunteers, including a treasurer, more musicians, Sunday school teachers and helpers, committee chairpersons and members, excellent cooks, and various other organizers, planners, workers, and prayers.
The Trustees are in charge of building and property. Finance Committee oversees financial matters and helps with stewardship. The Nurture Committee is responsible for planning and administering the educational work of the church, and the loving care of our members. Other boards and committees include Outreach/Mission, Memorial, Altar, Music, United Methodist Women (and circles), United Methodist Men, and several adult classes and other groups. The Administrative Council meets monthly to coordinate the programs and correlate the activities of the entire church.
St. Paul's is in the Northeast District of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church denomination of the Christian religion. The Rev. Gregory Vaughan Palmer is the Bishop of the Iowa Conference, and the Rev. Anne Lippincott is the Conference Minister of the Northeast District.
Although we have much in common with other United Methodist churches, we might not be just like another UMC church you may know. We invite you to get to know us, and let us get to know you, as we seek together to worship God and to preach, teach, live and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sermon-November 16, 2008
We enjoyed considerable sharing from our members on Sunday, especially on the topic of "Extravagant Generosity," and "Risk-Taking Mission," which are two of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations we have been studying and meditating on. I may put more about that down here in the near future. for now, I will print here the message that "bumped" my sermon on Mercy to next week--when mission team leader Jim Sehorn, who led a group of nine adults from Georgia here to Iowa for flood recovery and rebuild in October sent me his report on Saturday, I knew it was too good to keep it to myself. It reads aloud even better than in print! I changed the name of the family during the sermon just for their own privacy, but since then I called the "mom" of the family, and she said it was fine to use their names, and the photos of their farm. So here is Jim's article in its entirity--it certainly did make a good sermon.
God Bless--in Jesus' Name--Pastor Sheryl
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF WARNER ROBINS, GA
IOWA MISSION TRIP, 9-17 OCTOBER 2008
The final decision on the destination for the 2008 fall mission trip did not come easily. It had been a summer of floods in the "Heartland," hurricanes along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas and tornadoes right here in central Georgia. Needless to say the opportunities for mission work were numerous and available both near and far. The final decision was influenced in no small way by the onset of fall weather and the forecast for freezing temperatures in the upper Midwest. The thought of families driven from their homes by floods in Iowa and not being able to get repairs done before the bitterly cold winter temperatures set in helped make the decision. The Rebs decided to once again go north. But this time the Rebels from the Deep South crossed the Mason-Dixon heading north, not with songs of "Dixie" on their lips, but rather with hammers, and saws in their hands and the Spirit of the Lord leading the way.
We were blessed in so many, many ways on this trip. Not the least of which was the fellowship that blossomed among the members of the team. One of the tremendous blessings of any mission trip is the friendships that result from working close together from sunup to sunset. You can sit in the same pew next to the same people year after year during worship and you will never get to truly know your "neighbors" as well as you will after the first week of sharing time and getting involved in the Lord's work on your first mission trip. As Richard Simmons might affirm, there is something bonding about "Sweatin' to (or with) the Oldies". And this was a group of missionaries whose average age did not put us in the ranks of the "spring chickens," I can assure you.
Because of the time required to get to our destination in Waterloo, IA, we ended up needing to make it a two day trip both coming and going. Our midpoint stop was in Paducah, KY at Massac United Methodist Church. We were tremendously blessed and most warmly welcomed by Pastor and Mrs. John Smithmier and many members of the congregation upon both of our arrivals. Our initial stay was a vivid reminder that wherever any two Methodists gather together they will eat and have a meeting and not necessarily in that order. John's folks went way overboard in making sure that no one would leave Paducah hungry. After stuffing and overstuffing ourselves we shared devotions with a wonderful group of brothers and sisters in Christ from Western Kentucky.
Massac UMC is a wonderful, small rural church set at the intersection of a couple of country roads. The church is filled with some of the warmest and most dedicated brothers and sisters in Christ that it will ever be your blessing to meet. The entire local community extended their hospitality to the Rebs from Middle Georgia. The church did not have any shower facilities, but that did not stop John and his folks from ensuring that we had an opportunity to wash the trail dust off at the end of day. About a half-block down the road was the local volunteer fire department. Pastor John was able to secure their approval for us to use their shower facilities. You know, it's been a long time since I walked between two big red pumper fire trucks on my way to take a shower. Let me assure you, those volunteer fire fighters keep their shower facilities just as clean as they do their equipment. I was almost embarrassed to wash the dirt off in their shower. Up in the morning and to no surprise, the Massac folks had a very lovely continental breakfast awaiting us prior to our departure.
It wasn't long after we departed Kentucky that we began to see the first signs of the "Heartland". The terrain soon began to flatten out, the pine forests giving way to the hardwoods with all the spectacular colors that you would expect in October. The Good Lord really knows how to paint a beautiful landscape. We crossed over the mighty Mississippi with a clear view of the giant arch that symbolizes the "Gateway to the West" on the western banks of the river in downtown St Louis. It wasn't long until the corn fields that are the hallmark of our Iowa destination began to appear, and we knew that we were getting close.
St. Paul's United Methodist Church would be our home away from home for the next four to six nights, more on that later. We received another wonderful reception from Pastor Sheryl Campbell and everyone at St Paul's. Those of us that went on the mission trip are now of the opinion that whenever you get to travel extensively, you should strongly consider local Methodist Churches for lodging and meals, they just can't be beat, and you meet such great people. St. Paul's not only provided wonderful hospitality, but the facilities were some of the finest that we have ever had the privilege to use on a mission trip. The church made a wonderfully equipped kitchen available to us for use in preparing both morning and evening meals, a significant factor in reducing the cost of the trip. A clothes washer and dryer allowed us the opportunity to head home without having a suitcase full of dirty clothes. A large meeting hall allowed us not only a place to eat together, but a great place for devotions as well.
We had anticipated that when we got to Iowa we would be fully engaged in helping folks recover from flood damage, and we certainly did some of that. The first day that we were there; we helped folks that had in fact experienced significant flood damage. Most of the work involved removal of flood damaged items from the homes, and spraying to kill and prevent mold and mildew from spreading. At the end of that day and upon returning to the church we were asked to focus our efforts in a completely new direction.
While most folks would anticipate the damage that arises out of flood conditions, many of us do not appreciate that the same storms that give rise to those incredible deluges of water can also spawn violent thunderstorms, hailstorms and tornados. It was a phone call from a family desperately in need of assistance in recovering from severe tornado damage that awaited us as we returned to St. Paul's the second night. Brian and Julie Rottinghaus had literally lost everything in a tornado that ripped through their home, barns and storage buildings in May of 2008. The attached photos graphically display the complete destruction wreaked upon their home by a lightening-storm spawned tornado. The tornado completely leveled barns, storage buildings grain elevators, a garage and damaged the main house to the extent that it had to be completely destroyed.
This was not just the home of Julie's and Brian's family, this had been the homestead and farm for several generations of Julie's family. More than the loss of their farm home, buildings and equipment was the loss of all the visual reminders of great family memories. Those can never be replaced, but the response of friends and neighbors to the Rottinghaus' tragedy has already begun to establish new and lasting memories of true friends and the love of Jesus Christ.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The irony of Julie's and Brian's situation was that because they had the initiative to take out storm insurance, FEMA would not provide them any assistance in rebuilding their home. All of the assistance they had received had come from the sweat of their own brows and from neighbors that had generously donated their own time and support. But then this is what you come to expect from folks who truly call themselves "neighbors" in the Heartland of America. These are strong, independent and proud Americans with incredible fortitude in the face of adversity. We are proud to have had the privilege of letting the Lord's love for them be demonstrated through us. What a blessing it was for us.
Let there be no doubt, folks in the Heartland know how to feed a harvest crew. Julie insisted on feeding us lunch every day that we were at their home, and these were not snacks these were full blown, home made Iowa banquets. Every day Julie prepared not only meat, potatoes, vegetables, salad, tea, but she topped it off every day with at least four pies or huge sheets of brownies and ice cream. This lady knows how to take care of "the help"! And in addition to all this, Julie was teaching catechism in the evening at their church.
The dilemma that Julie and Brian faced was that before they could occupy their new home there were some rather labor intensive tasks that had to be performed. The tasks that we helped them with included doors and windows in the garage, some lateral bracing in the roof of the garage and sheet rocking the family room and bedrooms in the basement. After two days, it became apparent, that we were not going to be able to finish the work in time to meet our scheduled departure on Tuesday. Two members of the team were able to stay longer while the majority of the team left on Tuesday and returned to Georgia in time to make Wednesday night supper at FUMC. Like I said before, two things we Methodists do well is meet and eat!
By the time Wednesday night rolled around the garage work was finished, the sheetrock was up and Julie and Brian were a great deal closer to being able to move into their new home. The things left to be done were to install: the soffits under the eves, the main door on the garage, the vinyl siding on the outside of the garage and complete the finish work on the sheetrock in the basement. Yes when we left there was still a lot to be done, but at the same time there was a lot less to be done then there had been four days earlier.
As the sun was setting over the corn field behind their home the entire family gathered to say "goodbye". As you can imagine it was tough to leave them knowing that the house still wasn't ready for them to come home to, but at the same time we had made some giant strides. And those strides weren't all in just cutting and placing sheetrock, or roughing in windows or wrapping siding; we had shared the love of the Lord with some folks that needed to know that He cares. He does, and they know it!
Be blessed Rottinghaus' the Lord blessed us by letting us get to know you and all the wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ in Waterloo, Iowa and along the way. Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime, somewhere in the corn fields. And please know that the Rebs love "Ya'll"!
Sermon-November 9, 2008
Matthew 25:1-13
1 "At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there were ten young women who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them, 4 while the wise ones took containers full of oil for their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was late in coming, so they began to nod and fall asleep. 6 "It was already midnight when the cry rang out, "Here is the bridegroom! Come and meet him!' 7 The ten young women woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, "Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.' 9 "No, indeed,' the wise ones answered, "there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the store and buy some for yourselves.' 10 So the foolish ones went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The five who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was closed. 11 "Later the others arrived. "Sir, sir! Let us in!' they cried out. 12 "Certainly not! I don't know you,' the bridegroom answered." 13 And Jesus concluded, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. 15 What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. 16 There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; 17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 So then, encourage one another with these words.
Mr. Bob Thomas read from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, and this is one of four parables-in-a-row that Jesus taught, apparently together. Do you notice that these parables are not in chapters 1, or 2, or 3... but are in Matthew 25, which is near the end of the book of Matthew? The only things that are written after this are about the plot to kill Jesus, Jesus and his friends together, paying off Judas to betray Jesus, and then we come to the Last Supper—we all know that it was after the Last Supper that Jesus was arrested in the Garden and taken away to be killed. (We are glad to know he was raised on the 3rd day--but the point today is that it was near the end of his life on earth he was teaching these things...)
This chapter 25 appears to be part of what Jesus was telling, teaching, his disciples in a time just between him and them. And what he knew, and the disciples didn't quite yet know, was that these would be some of the last opportunities for teaching—certainly the last in this kind of manner, or context.
I've been reading a very interesting book called, "Chasing Daylight:How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life.” It was written by a 53-year-old business executive who, after experiencing only mild symptoms, was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer, and told he only had a few months to live, at best. He used a businessperson's approach to the decisionmaking opportunities that come with knowing you are going to die and that your time is very limited. Systematically he did what needed to be done, and chronicled it in the ultimate how-to book—hoping to leave a permanent legacy not only for his wife and daughters, but also for thousands-if-not-millions who would take the time to read this book and get a clue as to the value of making the most of life before it is too late.
I experienced many impressions during the reading of this book; in fact I read it twice—long trips on airplanes give me an opportunity to do things that I don't always find the time to do otherwise—and I read several sections multiple times. You read a book like that and it tends to really do things to the inside-of-you... That, and being married to a Hospice Chaplain—and, being one myself who “does” funerals several times a year-- those of you who ATTEND funerals several times a year consider this as well.... You think about life, you think about death, you think about what is most important, and what is least so... at least, one hopes that we do.
One of the things I noticed is that I was following right along with the author's plans—after resigning from his beloved job and making sure other good people were in charge, he made a list of things he for sure wanted to do. In that, he created a chart of people who had been significant to him, and he set about making time with each of many of them to create a “goodbye...” To share a walk, a dinner perhaps—to write a note, or make a phone call. He did this in reverse order, saving those closest to him for last—not that he didn't spend time with his close family all along—he DID—well, once he was diagnosed with a terminal illness he did... But he saved for last the resolutions, the “final” goodbyes, with his mother, brother, and daughters—spending his last hours indeed with his wife of 30 years.
We might say he was “lucky” in some ways—he died with little or no pain, surrounded with love, and because he was a successful big-business-type, he also had all the help he needed, and money with which to secure anything that might seem to be missing.
...But as I was following right along with what he was doing, and who he was doing it with, and what he was thinking in the midst of it all, the narrative stopped suddenly. One minute you're reading his words about this day in particular, and that day. You turn a page and realize that the next words—and the rest of the book—is written not by him, but by his wife.
Even though he knew with great certainty that the brain cancer would eventually kill him, it still seemed to come as a surprise when “the day” came that he could write no more. His wife finished telling “us readers” about what happened, and how things got wrapped up, and how some things never did.
The scriptures in today's lectionary readings remind us that “the day” comes. And in the four parables-in-a-row that Jesus tells, including this one of the foolish and the wise young women, we are reminded that we don't always get the time to wrap things up neatly. The moment of reckoning could come at a time that we are not ready.
And so it would be very interesting to continue on about how the coming of the Lord will be at a time that we cannot predict--”like a thief in the night”--
The Apostle Paul writes about the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord coming down from heaven--Those who have died believing in Christ rising to life, we who are living at that time then being gathered up to meet the Lord in the air... And some of us have read books or seen movies or sung songs that suggest what it might be like if we were to be in the middle of living our lives when Christ will return...
But we know also, that like Paul, for some of us, "the end" on earth for us may well come by means of death—and that for some, we will see it coming, and for others, it may come quite abruptly and without warning.
And so, it would be very interesting to talk about how we must always be ready, get your life insurance bought—really--get your wills done—really--write down which pictures and jewelry and china and that-favorite-tool THIS child or grandchild gets, and THAT one...
And yes, all that is important—VERY important.
But it is not quite what the Matthew 25:1-13 scripture is about today.
You see, the difference between the wise young women and the foolish ones was NOT whether or not they were eagerly awaiting the bridegroom—BOTH groups very much looked forward to his arrival. The difference was NOT whether some slept or some stayed awake...in this particular parable, everyone slept some, and even of the wise ones, it wasn't until the call went out, "here he comes!" that they woke up and again attended their lamps.
No, the difference between the wise and the foolish—
was that the wise ones were prepared for the bridegroom's delay.
To bring along an extra flask of oil is a signal that they were prepared for the bridegroom to come, early OR late. If the groom had arrived on time, if he had come when he was predicted to arrive, then all the bridesmaids—foolish as well as wise—would have cheerfully greeted him, and waltzed merrily into the banquet. But the bridegroom, like the kingdom of heaven, did not arrive promptly; he was delayed, and some two thousand years later, the kingdom is still delayed. The wise ones in the church are those who are prepared for the delay; who hold onto the faith deep into the night; who, even though they see no bridegroom coming, still serve and hope and pray and wait for the promised victory of God.*
What will it mean to you—in your own life—in your family—in this CHURCH—St. Paul's UMC, to be one who is wise—who brings along the extra flask of oil—who is prepared if the coming if the kingdom is not today, or tomorrow, but is actually down the road a-ways?
Yesterday, several of us attended another "Fruitful Congregations" retreat. We came away inspired, and with various ideas—the two topics especially lifted up yesterday were to make Ministry Action Plans for "Risk Taking Mission and Service." AND, "Extravagant Generosity." (here we read an excerpt from the Fruitful Congregations book about a man who was touched during his grandchild's baptism...see this below**)
The point of this teaching in Matthew 25, and of several other of Jesus' parables is, don't hide it away—don't sit and wait—and for Heaven's sake, don't be caught doing the exact opposite of what God designed that we should do—and what Christ died for so that you could live, and have life in such great joy and abundance.
Be prepared in case it should all end today.
AND, be prepared in case you yet have quite some time...
BE the Lord's.
And take someone with you.
Encourage one another with these words—and with your actions.
*(this paragraph from Tom Long p. 281 "Matthew")
**"One of My Own" from Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase, pp. 107-108 (one of the practices is Extravagent Generosity)
A long-time member and proud grandfather stood at the baptismal font with his daughter. Another infant from another family that was new to the congregation was baptized at the same service. Folloiwing the service, the two families intermingled at the front of the church as they took turns having their pictures taken. At one point, the mother from the new family needed to get some things out of her bag, and the grandfather from the other family offered to hold her baby. Other church members were mixing and greeting, and several commented on the grandfather with the baby, and he found himself saying several times, "Oh, this one isn't mine; I'm just holding him for a minute."
Monday morning the grandfather called the pastor at the church office and said he wanted to see him right away. The pastor assumed the worst, thinking somehow the long-term member was upset about something from the day before. When the grandfather arrived at the church office, he told the pastor, "I want to change my will to include the church, and I want to talk to you about how to do that." The pastor was stunned and couldn't help asking about what brought the grandfather to this decision. The older man's eyes grew moist as he said, "Yesterday I realized something while I was holding that other baby, the one from the family that just joined the church. I kept telling people that wasn't my child, but then it dawned on me that it was part of my family, part of my church family, and that I have a responsibility for that little boy just like I have for my own granddaughter. I've been a member of this church for more than forty years, and in God's eyes I'm a grandfather to more than just my own. I've taken care of my own children with my will, but I realized I also need to provide for the children of the church. So I want to divide my estate to leave a part to the church as if the church were one of my children."
Those who practice Extravagant Generosity have a God-given vision and faith to plant seeds for trees whose shade they will never see.