The

Messenger

The Newsletter of the Saugerties United Methodist Church

Church Office # 845-246-7802                                                              Dr. Buddle’s Cell Phone # 1-845-706-0418

“Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” Romans 12:9

            One of the wonderful aspects of childhood is being able to play “pretend.” Pretending is like living in a world of imagination that is real, but not real. Play, we are told is a child’s preparation for adulthood and is very important in our development. So children pretend that they are someone else. Some time ago one of my grandchildren, John Duane, was in his church’s nursery school when his father went in to get him. He asked for John Duane but was told that no one by that name was there, but they did have a “Peter Parker.” My grandson is a great admirer of Spiderman and guess whose alter ego is...none other than “Peter Parker.” One summer afternoon while sitting in front of their home in New Jersey, Spiderman in full dress came up to me to surprise me. So John Duane became his hero. How wonderful childhood is.

            Has anyone, however, told you to “get real”. I have been told that so many times I can’t count that high. Usually they are saying to me that I am very naive, unrealistic in my expectations and if I lived in the real world I would know better. However, I am proud of the fact that I have expectation as to what we should do as people and certainly as Disciples of Christ. Our calling is to come higher raising the standards of life so we might not only see The Christ but the Christ in each other. Certainly Jesus lived in a real world that was full of harsh realities, but that didn’t stop him from proclaiming His message. The Apostle Paul encourages us to love and to “let love be genuine...love one another with mutual affection.” To me that is what being real is all about.

                                                                                                            Your Pastor,

                                                                                                            Duane D. Buddle

Sermon Snapshots

April 9^th - “Neither Life nor Death”

                   Romans 8: 31-39

Paul concludes the 8^th chapter of Romans with a stirring affirmation of faith that I would like to turn our attention to on this Palm Sunday morning. “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come...will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When Jesus went to His Cross on that first holy week he died not for good people, but wicked. This needs to be said this morning because our usual assumption is that we tend to believe that God loves us so long as we are good and faithful people. This is why so many are afraid of God. We view God as being one setting up standards that realistically we can’t meet thus setting us up for failure. As a result we try harder and harder to be worthy of His love and setting up legalistic rules for ourselves and others to meet. This is injurious to us. But there is another form of legalism that people take that is just as hurtful and that is summed up in the following statement, “I don’t have to attend church or support a church or do anything in respect to God because I lead a decent life and that is about as much as anyone can expect.” This makes people self-righteous also. The only ones Jesus really condemned were the self righteous.

The abiding motive of love of God and love for fellow people is missing. The word love is frequently misused by us as Christians because we make it a weak kind of love where anything goes. The love of God and the love of humanity for our lives by our Lord is a tough minded love. Tougher, more realistic than anything we know. It is a love that requires us to love those that, under normal circumstances, we would hate. It is a tough minded love that knows that God doesn’t let us off the hook that easy. As Christians we live in a tough world that seduces us to lower our standards to the point where God Himself is left out of the equation of life. We all must realize that there are areas of our lives where God has not come under control of our lives and we make poor choices and we suffer as a result. Then when that happens we are convinced that God really doesn’t love us anyway. Friends turn against us. Loved ones disappoint us. Associates betray us.

This tough-minded love required Jesus to go to His Cross for you. This love requires a response. Do you accept it or reject it?

        

     

April 13^th - “The Great Drama”

                     Phillippians 2:1-11

Sooner or later pain and suffering come to every person. Jesus’ dealing with that is the core of our faith; it is the Great Drama and it has its center in the cross. Why is the cross so significant? It is because it deals with the fundamental theme of the Great Drama which is simply “ALL CREATION MOVES THROUGH SUFFERING TO VICTORY.”

It is safe to say that no life is fulfilled on its own terms. God is in control. What do we do about this great drama? First, we may resent it and run from it. But we can never escape it. It always catches up. Secondly, we bear it bitterly or bravely. Third, we may accept it, transform it and by creative suffering use it as a tool for victory. This is the challenge of the Great Drama. This is the way God is. He is the God who brings order out of chaos, love out of hate, salvation out of sin, the new person out of the old person, beauty out of ugliness.

On this Holy Thursday evening let me suggest to you the hero in the drama who is Christ, the plot to accept the sufferings of life as a part of the grand design and the climax to the drama as victorious fulfillment. Jesus faces his cross of pain and turns it into a tool for the redemption of the world and serves as the model of what we can do with our pain and suffering.

April 16^th - 8:30 a.m. - “Rabboni” John 20:11-18

The scripture this morning has been called the greatest recognition scene ever told. To Mary belongs the glory of being the first person to meet the risen Lord. Suppose you had been first at the Garden that morning. Would you have recognized the risen Lord? Mary had some difficulty because she was looking for a dead Jesus and He was alive. Today we make a different mistake. People by the millions, some of them in this community and all of us to varying degrees, are looking for a historical Christ in the tomb of history; the one who walked the paths of Palestine many years ago; who lived and taught and suffered in a most impressive way once upon a time. But if the Christ you know is only historical, if he came to earth, ministered, was crucified, and rose again– but it was to other people, who lived at another time– then what people do now, or say, or write, may well take him from you, and you will not know where they have laid him. If Easter is mainly a date on your calendar, then when the music of Easter is stilled, when clothes are no longer new, when egg hunting is finished– Easter will be over and lifeless for you. My friends it ought not to be so! Every worship service held in this sanctuary any Sunday of the year is an acknowledgment of Easter. Any morning you rise and drink in the beauty of a new day– it is entirely appropriate to exclaim from the depths of your soul: “Hallelujah, Christ is Risen.”

We cannot truly know the reality of Christmas and Easter until between those dates we know the central figure in them. The expression “Rabboni” will not be just a word from a forgotten language but an exclamation of your soul.

Mary said “I have seen the Lord.” Have you seen the Lord? The Easter story becomes alive when you have met Him.

April 16^th, 10:45a.m.-“Jesus Still Lives,Hallelujah”

                   Matthew 28: 5-6

On the darkest day that ever dawned the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. He lived a wonderful life but they killed him anyway. There is something the crowd didn’t know though...they were carrying out the Eternal purpose of God. It was His purpose to give His only Begotten Son as an atonement for the sins of the whole world. God simply used people as instruments in His plan. Now when Jesus died the disciples, all eleven of them, had their hearts broken with sorrow. Now their hopes were as dead as He was. But on the first day of the week He came back to them. They became new people. A lot of years have gone by since that Easter morning and we are here to proclaim that HE LIVES.

The question is where does Jesus live? Answer...

  1. Christ lives where His people are in need or in trouble.

  2. Christ lives at the place of prayer.

  3. Christ lives along the road of Christian duty.

  4. Christ lives with those who go down through the valley of the shadow.

Thank God He lives, Hallelujah! There is one more place that He needs to live and that is in YOUR HEART AND VERY SOUL.

April 23^rd -“The Myth of the Self-Sufficient”

                     Romans 1: 8-17

In my years in the pastorate, I have seen many empty people declaring, “I don’t need anyone.” We have three basic needs: 1. The need to love. 2. The need to be loved. 3. The need to be useful. Unless all these needs are met people develop illnesses. All of our needs demand people for fulfillment. We don’t live unto ourselves. We all owe a great deal to others whether we want to admit it or not. You and I were born owing people. We owe our parents, we owe our teachers in the public school, we owe the community or communities that we were raised in and on and on. We need to ask ourselves, “can we ever pay back all we owe?” St. Paul’s answer would be NO! Others are a gift from God to us and the greatest gift is God Himself. Let us live our lives in debt for what we have experienced in our lives. This is the kind of debt that God loves.

April 30^th -“In Praise of Perseverance”

                    Luke 18:1-8

The parable of the unjust steward, read for the scripture lesson is a lesson in perseverance. The widow would not give up. The subject this morning is praising perseverance.

Look at this matter of perseverance in terms of education, not being content to the present limitation, but moving on. Consider how important perseverance is for the good causes of life and then thirdly, the importance of perseverance with regards to your religious life and growing into the faith and in the faith. Consider finally that only in perseverance can you keep faith with those who have loved you and have invested time, prayer, money in you. Don’t fail those who have helped you thus far.

Special Palm Sunday Offering

At the request of the N.Y. Annual Conference Bishop Jeremiah Park, we will receive a special offering on Palm Sunday, April 9^th.

Bishop Park Writes: “Even though to date United Methodist have shown their exemplary generosity through gifts exceeding $60 million for humanitarian relief in affected areas (from Hurricane Katrina), the need to rebuild facilities (churches, retreat centers, retirement homes which were under insured), pay clergy and staff salaries, purchase Bibles, hymnals and other church supplies, and build ministries for a new future, is still urgent.”

Bishop Park reports that in Louisiana as many as 30 churches may have to be torn down or rebuilt. In the New Orleans District alone, 78 churches will need major work. He writes, “Bishop William Hutchinson of the Louisiana Area, reports that there is a need for $1.3 million for salary and benefits, not to mention housing costs.”

In the Saugerties Church we have contributed, to date, $938.00 to Hurricane relief in 2005. Your gifts have already been placed to good use and now we ask that you once again consider this special appeal that represents ongoing needs from this tragic event in the lives of so many of our fellow United Methodists.

                                                                                                                                     Duane Buddle

1. New Church Policy: The Church Council voted at its February 28^th, 2006 meeting that we not cancel any worship services because of the weather. If the weather is not good we advise you to use your best judgment about attending, but the service will be available to those who do come.

2. Easter Services: April 16^th

            8:30 a.m. Service of Holy Communion

            9:30 a.m. Brunch in Fellowship Hall

            10:45 a.m. The Service of the Resurrection

Please note that there will be no Sunday School classes held this day.

3. We are requesting EVERYONE to please submit their e-mail address to the church office. Please complete the enclosed yellow form and return it to the office.

4. Honoring Women: We will have a special insert in the bulletin on May 14^th, Honoring All Women. Fill out the enclosed pink form and return it to the church office by May 8^th.

Results of the Rummage Sale

We made a profit of $1,045 on the rummage sale this year. We had a tremendous turnout on both days. Thanks to everyone who helped.

The Cake Walk

The Sunday School raised $111 from the Cake Walk, which will be sent to the Children’s Home located in Binghamton, NY. The Sunday School staff thanks everyone who donated a cake for the event.

Brunch on Easter Sunday

Join us for brunch on Easter Sunday between the two services. There will be juice, coffee, rolls, hard-boiled eggs, and coffee cake. Join us in the Fellowship Hall from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Donations of food would be appreciated. If you would like to help with the Brunch, contact Joan Robinson.

The next Celebration of Us is scheduled for Saturday, May 6. It will start at 5:00 p.m. with a covered dish supper. Beverages and dessert will be provided. This year we celebrate the Choir. There will be fun and music. Come join us!

Asbury Cemetery Clean Up

The Friends of the Asbury Cemetery are organizing a spring clean up of the cemetery grounds on Saturday, April 22^nd, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. If you would like to help, either meet us at the cemetery, located off the Old Kings Highway in Asbury, or call Audrey Klinkenberg (246-8329). Garbage bags will be provided, but please bring work gloves.

Ring a joyful noise to the Lord!
 

   

Bring a bell

to ring at the

Easter 10:45 AM Service and

Ring in the Resurrection