October 24, 2018 - Sunday was the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Sunday morning was crisp and cool and we all had a taste of autumn in the air. Gene came early and lit the heaters and our Sunday School class was nice and warm. Our Sunday School lesson continued the theme of creation and spoke of the miracle of Abraham and Sarah having a baby at an advanced age. A woman past her time that she could conceive having a baby was a common theme in the Hebrew Scriptures and always points to something wonderful and miraculous. Our lesson was to open us to the wonders of the Divine which occur all around us.
We were in double digits Sunday morning and it was great seeing everyone. In our business meeting the church voted to give $500 to CASA and $200 to Community Christian Services for Christmas gifts. The church also voted to double our gift to Gideon’s International to $400. This month we are collecting peanut butter and jelly for Community Christian Services. Next month we will collect rice and beans. Last week volunteers gathered Tuesday at Holiday for our monthly program. This Thursday we will head to Lakeside. Our Gideon speaker will be at Paxton on November 11th. Later that afternoon will be the program at the historic courthouse marking a hundred years since the end of WWII. Theresa, Joy, Carolyn, Larry, and Gene have been working on this program for over a year!
My scripture was based on the Hebrew Scripture for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time which comes from Job 38: 1-7. In these verses Job gets his one-on-one with God and probably didn’t hear what he wanted. I think one of the most important lessons to take from this ancient book is that doubt, fear, and questions are a necessary part of faith.
“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
