The

Messenger

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who

believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"True Love...Have You Seen It?"

            This being the month of February and St. Valentine's Day, I turn our attention to not just the topic of love but "True Love." I ask you the question "Have You Seen it?" Have you experienced "True Love" in your life? Now with all the searches available on the internet people are looking for that "Special Person." Most of us see this special person as someone who is going to be able to love us for who we are, to be a giving person, a forgiving person, a person with a good disposition, a caring person and on and on. Have you found that person? Well if we are to find that person we have to Be that type of person.

            I have seen true love in the following forms:

1. A medical doctor I had stay in my home back in the 1960's who was a Missionary to Africa. He was a young man with a great love for his Lord who worked in this far off land. He was with me trying to go from church to church to raise funds for the work that he was called to do. His suit was well worn and he had little of the possessions of this world. He could have been in practice in this country and made a good living but he chose not too.

          3. A soldier serving his country in time of war and giving his life in the process.

5. Countless young couples proudly showing me their new born child and learning not to think of themselves anymore but thinking of this precious gift that had been giving them.

6. Countless men and women who sat in front of me at the funeral for their beloved spouse who entered into eternal life ahead of them and had to relearn life without them.

7. A young couple who had experienced separation, betrayal of each other’s affections with other people but came back together again to raise their two children. Love turning to pain back to love again.

Now you can add many more examples to this list and I can go on and on with more and more examples of the types of love we have experienced. True love....if you have ever had a dog own you, you know how much that animal loved you regardless of what the happenings of life were. One definition of love is : That which is unselfish, benevolent, concern for another, brotherly concern or appreciation.

Some of the quotes from the scripture: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. None has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 12-13), "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." (John 3:16) "Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude..it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." (I Cor. 13:4-8a)

Have you experienced this love? Have you given this type of love? If you have you have been touched by God's hand.

Your Pastor,                         
Duane Buddle

Sermon Snapshots

Feb. 6 - “Lent” Isaiah 58: 1-12

               (Ash Wednesday)

Tonight we have entered the season of Lent. The original meaning of Lent was a season of special discipline and preparation for baptism: only later did the association of it with the period of our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness arise. Today its meaning is forty days of closer attention to the things of the spirit.

Some people associate lent with fasting. Now that is not a bad idea of some people, including myself, but the Lent that God wills is not a Lent taken up only with attention to our own souls but one that results in meeting social needs about us by service and sacrifice.

Tonight I suggest three things that we might do to observe Lent 2008:

1. Deepen the channels of our own lives so that the spirit of God can flow through us more constantly and more freely.

2. We ought to be doing more and better witnessing through our lives and through our words to the people we are thrown with every day.

3. We ought to find our part in helping to resolve some of our society’s problems by loving our neighbor and being the keeper of our brothers and sisters.

I think God would approve that kind of Lent.

Feb. 10 - “Our Lives” Matthew 12: 21-26

What are you living for? What is the meaning of life? Does life actually have a goal or a purpose? These are questions that come to us and that we struggle with. Methodism, as well as Christianity in general, sees our lives as a process of “becoming who we are meant to be or going onto perfection. We have choices to make and in today’s scripture that choice is to follow Him...to follow Him into a difficult way of life, to give up thinking only of oneself and live a life for others.

Feb. 17 - “The Body of Christ” I Cor. 12

We are now in that season of the church year known as Lent, a season of repentance and renewal in preparation for the victory of Easter. Traditionally it has been a time of remembering the sufferings and death of our Lord and the great cost of our redemption and for taking seriously the Master’s call to take up the cross and follow.

As the Church...we are the Body of Christ...a community of reconciliation. Most human associations are based upon likeness. They must meet certain standards. But the Church is the Body of Christ, a fellowship of reconciliation. Her very existence is grounded in the reconciling acts of God in Christ, the very heart of the gospel.

As the Church...we are the Body of Christ...a community in mission. The Church is sent into the world to accomplish a task to fulfill a mission. Wherever there are people there is mission.

As the Church...we are the Body of Christ...an organism. Like any other body, the body of Christ is an organism, an articulated structure whose members have diverse functions and are each dependent on the others. We are not just a body of Christians we are the body of Christ.

If this Lenten season is to be the season of renewal it is intended to be, then a good beginning can be made by each of us discovering and fulfilling his/her ministry, priesthood, and function within the Body of Christ.

Feb. 24 - “The Freedom of Christian Living”

                  Acts 10: 1-35

God shows no partiality...but in every nation (Acts 10: 34) is the text of this sermon. The story of the 10^th chapter of Acts has two main characters, Simon Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius was a soldier, a Roman centurion. The other character is the familiar apostle, Simon Peter. He was living at Joppa. He has an experience on a flat rooftop which changed the direction of everything. Up until this day Peter believed that the people of God were confined to the Jewish people.

The promise, then, of Christian freedom is exemplified in this story in three ways:

First of all, these words of Peter indicated that God is the Judge of all nations. Second, the words of Peter remind us that Christ is Lord of every nation. Thirdly and finally, the Holy Spirit is the power back of this kind of life.

“Each One Bring One”

My pastor’s article for January’s Messenger was the goal of our bringing people to Christ and His Church. I suggested that if each of us brought, at least, one more person then it would be a wonderful year for our Lord. Now who may we be able to bring? Some suggestions are:

1. A person who is already a member but who has been inactive for a while for one reason or another.

2. A family member who is not attending worship anywhere.

3. A neighbor who has not been attending worship elsewhere.

4. A friend.

Just inviting people to attend with you, giving them encouragement on their spiritual journey is a start that some people just need.

Let’s work on our 2008 goal of “each one bring one.”

The Cake Walk Is Coming February 24

On February 24, the Sunday School will be raising money for the Children’s Home of Binghamton, NY. This home for children is supported by our Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The

Children’s Home provides a great variety of services to children that reside there as well as other children through outreach services. Information about the Children’s Home will be on display in the Fellowship Hall on the day of the cake walk. 

What is the Cake Walk? For those not familiar with our Cake Walk, it works like this. Children pay 50 cents to play the game. Circles are marked out on the floor in the Fellowship Hall and each circle is partitioned into 8 pieces. The children march around a circle to music. When the music stops, the children stop on a numbered piece of the circle. A number is drawn and any child on that number wins a cake. All others will be given a cup cake or cookie. We ask each family to supply a cake for the event. The teaching staff will supply cup cakes or cookies. Cash donations are also appreciated and everyone is invited to join us for the event. We will start the cake walk about 10:10.

The Rummage Sale is Coming

The rummage sale is scheduled for Friday, March 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 (noon) in the Fellowship Hall. Saturday will be a bag sale – all you can get in a

large paper bag for $1. If you have clothing, household goods, toys, sporting goods, or books that you would like to donate, you may leave them in the boy scout room in the basement. Starting March 2, you may leave items in the Fellowship Hall.

We will be setting up for the sale after church on March 2. A light lunch will be provided, but donations of food would be appreciated.

We will be sorting and pricing items during that week. A schedule will be announced in church. Any help with the rummage sale will be appreciated. And, of course, we will need help with clean up at 12:00 on Saturday.

  Joan Robinson

6 - Vance Kenneth Dyke

11 - Melanie Puertas

16 - Al McDowell

20 - Dan Klinkenberg

22 - Tyler Mentz

2/ 1992 - Karen & Tom Reynolds

6/ 1960 - Mary & George Pardonner