Luverne United Methodist Church

Greetings dear faith family,
As we continue through this very interesting time, which is challenging us in many ways, we also continue to lean upon our God who has made numerous promises. And though it seems like we turn around and another branch of this time takes our breath away. We continue to pray and hope, using this time as an opportunity to grow in our faith.

We live in this land of promise freely, it is a tremendous gift. And the best part of this gift is that, as we receive it, as we embrace it and as we learn from it, we go deeper in the knowledge that we have a God who loves us so much that he has provided everything we need to survive in the here and now, while also securing eternal life for us.

In our recent services, we have spent time with Noah, learning that trust was essential in the request God made to Noah. We found it interesting that Noah, nor anyone, had ever heard of rain. This made it even more fascinating that Noah followed God’s direction to the letter. God had rendered Noah faithful and worthy to take on the task. Noah, and all of us were given a promise through a rainbow that we would never face death by a flood from God’s hands again.

Abraham came on the scene when he was 75 years old, but we know little about him. God chose him because he believed. He wasn’t perfect, but he agreed to follow God’s direction to leave his home and go for a land God directed…but the most significant piece of this was that Abraham believed. Period. He even got a little testy at one time…we get this don’t we?

 

It’s not easy limiting our social experiences. But despite this, his belief was solid, that’s why God chose him…and he went on to be the father of many nations, filled with promise. And as such as God has made it possible, we, too, are heirs of this promise. The promises of God are many, it is hard to put the words to all that God expected of us, but jumping in and learning…going deeper…embracing the history…taking the time and giving value to all that he left us, makes a tremendous difference not only in our faith, but in our lives.

We might not feel confidence in what our tomorrows hold right now, but in the promises of God, we have more hope than we could ever find anywhere else. Join us on Sundays for a while and learn about some of these promises and what they mean for us.

 

Be blessed dear faith family…

 

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings Dear Faith Family,

 

I would like to share with you from the book…

 

This book of prayer has been an inspiration and a Godsend in many ways, the words touching my spirit especially in ways I needed most. I share with you “The Healing Power of Joy”.

 

 

Say not within your self, “Where is God?” for I am within you, yes, even in your heart, and my hand is upon you. You have looked in vain for Me because you have sought to see me in circumstances and in people and have said, “I cannot find him.”

 

Oh, my child, Look to Me directly, and rest your heart in me. Do so with as little distraction as would be easy to do if you were the only human being in the world and therefore would have no one else to look upon and no one else with whom to converse.

 

Praise Me. This I ask of you in times when it seams indescribably difficult to do so. I ask it of you in love that is stern at this point because I know unequivocally that praise is your only hope for survival.

Distress of soul and grief of heart can only bring on destruction of body. Joy alone is a healer, and you can have it in the darkest hour if you can force your soul to rise to Me in worship and adoration. I have not failed you and you have not failed Me. It is only that you have failed yourself or the disappointment has come on the human plane, not on the divine. Why should you allow any human experience to alter or affect your divine relationship with your Father?

 

Bring me your sorrow, and watch for the sunrise of the resurrection. Yes, truly there comes always a resurrection—a morning when hope is reborn and life finds new beginning. Wait for it as tulip bulbs anticipate the Spring. The rarest blooms are enhanced by the coldness of winter. The snow plays her part in producing Spring’s pageant. But when the blossoms break through, we do not then turn back to thoughts of winter, but instead we look ahead to the full joys of the coming summer.

So you must do also. Your God is your Maker. He is your defender. And He is mighty to save. Yes, he is might to save not only from sin, but He is mighty to save your from despair, from sorrow, from disappointment, from regret, from remorse, from self castigation, and from the hot, blinding tears of rebellion against fateful circumstances. He can save you from yourself, and He loves you when you find it hard to love yourself.

Let his peace flow in you like a river, carrying away all the poison of painful memories, and bringing to you a fresh, clear stream of pure life and restoring thoughts.

This is not the end. Press On. The goal line is out ahead, and you yet may be a winner in the race of life.

 

                              Be Blessed!

                             

 

 

 

 

 

I pray for each and every one of you during this continued time of separation.We are currently trying to discern the best way to move forward and with each step we take, we keep you in mind!  We will have an outdoor service and will use this time to be together and talk!  We haven’t gotten to do this as a faith family very much and I look forward to seeing you and talking about what it’s been like for
you, the things you have learned, and how you might see us move forward. It would be good for us and I think, in a sense, we need it!  We have quite a special space in our backyard and it will be perfect for us to gather!

“The New normal” is getting to be the catch phrase recently and I wonder if anybody has really thought about what “normal” might look like in our future. For me, in the ups and downs of what has been for the last three months, I have discovered that my “new “normal” continues to be my relationship with Jesus and, if anything, it has moved deeper and gained strength. I am grateful for that, which reminds me how I have learned to be more grateful for my own normal and doing that normal with Jesus.

 

I have realized more so than ever that this normal with Jesus allows for consistency and stability, no matter the storm, just as Jesus has
taught us. I pray that each of you, too, have grown closer to Jesus and you have discovered in your own way how important it is to be
close to Jesus, to walk in relationship with Him, striving to make Him your best friend and keeping Him at the CENTER of your lives.

 

If I have learned anything, I have learned that the world around us is not consistent and stable, we will always face something.
Hopefully not ever as serious as the storm of which we are in the middle. But how do we know? Can we be sure? Paul encouraged
us to be IN the world, but not OF the world…very appropriate for our here and now…he goes on to say that we should be transformed
by the renewing of our mind.We renew our mind by being in relationship with Jesus and learning from him and being nourished by Him in doing so.

One of the ways I do this is by reading this wonderful devotional called, “Come Away My Beloved,” and it was given to me by someone very special!The words, on a regular basis, feed me and nourish me. I would like to share one of the paragraphs from this book…

“Behold, I have sent you out alone, but I have gone ahead to
prepare your way; yes, through the darkness to bear a light. I ask
you only to follow Me for I will surely lead you on a safe path,
though dangers lurk on every hand. Yes, I will be your protection. I
will be your comfort. I will be your joy.”
~ Come Away My Beloved

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who would have thought…You know, I have said that and typed that more often than I would have liked to over these last weeks…But it’s

Manny and I and some of our youth just returned from a youth trip in Des Moines when everything began to get very serious, in fact; we were learning about school dismissing for two weeks on Sunday morning when we were getting ready to head home. The kids, of course, were animated and it sat us down to talk about the COVID 19 virus and what it could mean for life as we knew it. But I have to say, we never imagined it would have turned into what has now become the day to day life before us.

When we go away on youth trips such as this, it becomes our habit to take turns praying at appropriate times, giggle at appropriate times,
discuss biblical topics, laugh out loud at appropriate times, share the things we have learned throughout our day, smile and poke fun at
appropriate times, and put our day in motion with the things God expects of us. And oh yeah…the food…very important!

 

And in the midst of these things, as we were discussing some of the things we had learned throughout the day, one of the kids just happened to say something profound…and yes, profound because of its impact… but even more profound because of what is now our day to day life.

 

Obviously, this became our theme for much of what was left of our time and will become something so significant, they just might not get
the depth of that single statement for a long time to come.

Today, we maybe just don’t understand what this is all about, but one day we will. The important part is that we know God has us in the
palms of hands…watching out for us, working out the tomorrows ahead of us…we are called only to trust!

Wow, kids…how cool is that? Thank you for reminding me, that this is all in the hands of God! And someday…well, someday it will all make
sense!

AMEN! Hang in there….we will get through this! God promises!

 

 

We are already approaching March…will it come in like a lion or a lamb. Don’t forget we are now in the Lenten Season and our Wednesdays and Sundays will be full of activities. And hopefully we will be welcoming some great weather along the way. Stay connected to all that happens here with our website, our phone app, bulletins and newsletters.

 

As we continue our series on learning about the administrative work of our church, we will venture a little deeper into the role of those on the Church Council. As we shared last month, the Church Council is made up of Chairpersons from the various committees represented on the Council. It is there that the Chairpersons bring the activity and decisions their committees have been involved in for the last period of time.

 

The Church Council is to be the formal place committees go for final approval for their actions. As an example, the Trustees put in the work of determining the need and best way to move forward with the decision of doing the heating and cooling project, but before they could move forward, the Church Council needed to give its final approval and recommendation.

 

Currently we have Chairs and Representatives from the Trustees, the Staff Pastor Parish Relations, Worship and Music, Membership and Missions, Schwartz Scholarship, Endowment, Memorial Committees. We also have a Website and Technology leader, two young adult representatives and three representatives for the Education area. We have a Lay Member of Annual Conference and a Lay Leader, as well as two members at large.

 

As we move through this series, we will describe all these areas in detail. The Chairpersons of the above committees are in charge of planning meetings and activities specific to their work area, including the dissemination of information. If anyone has any questions about
the work of the chairpersons or specific work areas, please feel free to ask. We will begin to share information about the various committees and their work in the coming months.

 

Hello Everyone,
As part of the new year, we have decided it appropriate to share about how our church works. For the next few months we will be sharing
about the structure of our church. This month we will focus on our Church Council.

Basically, it is the Church Council’s job to coordinate its business of the church in the following ways: its committees, hearing reports,
encouraging direction and supporting recommendations in an effort to keep the church flowing in its vision.

The Church Council:
• Plans and administrates the organizations of the church.
• Empowers the vision and programming of the church
• Meets at least quarterly.
• Sets goals, authorizes actions, determines policy, receives and accepts/rejects motions presented to the council.
• Validates budget, sets financial plans.
• Members present and voting at any duly announced meeting constitutes a quorum.

 

All committees are responsible to the church council; including Reporting, planning, financial approval and final acceptance of recommendations.

 

Below is a demonstration of the basic organization of a local United Methodist Church. The diagram shows which member or committee
is responsible to answer or report progress, concerns or any church based recommendations to.

 

 

I hope that this will shed some light on what it is the Church Council is here for and how it works to keep our faith family growing and working together efficiently to do so.

 

It is a special time; we are entering a new decade…it’s 2020! When I reflect on that it seems almost unbelievable! Memories of past years flash through my mind and I realize I have been in ministry in one way or another for 25 years! I think of all the people I have been blessed with working alongside throughout the years and the special times we’ve shared, the friendships we’ve gained. Just recently, I reminisced about a youth trip way back in 1996 to Chicago and all the great memories of that time! Wow! I am humbled by the awesome responsibility I have been given and the ways God has used this path to create and accomplish many things!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Sunday, not too long ago, several of us stood at the altar of our church and prayed for God’s continued presence and direction. As we now do every Sunday, we ended this time of prayer with a very obvious and dedicated “AMEN!” It was then that some of us looked to
the back of our church and saw the fellowship, laughter, talking and connection that was happening. We felt blessed!

 

For those of you who enjoy research, you may be able to find reports that most church members would describe their church as friendly. But once you go deeper in that research, the guests would typically find those same experiences as unfriendly. In doing some checking into the same kind of research within our church, one would find many of the opposite things to be true. Most guests and new members would tell you that our church is of the warmest.

 

In Acts 2:42-44, God’s Word says,

 

Notice that when Luke wrote this account of the early church, he didn’t write, “See what great buildings they built.” He said, “See how
they love one another.” A recent author wrote that this is “a crucial mark of a world-changing church. A church that makes a difference in
its community is one that truly loves one another.”

 

Rick Warren writes, “when God has a bunch of baby Christians and soon-to-be baby Christians, he looks for the warmest incubator he can
find. God blesses a warm church with new believers because he doesn’t want them in the church of the Frigid-Air. He wants them in a warm environment where they can grow.”

 

In the beginning chapters of Acts, we keep hearing how the early church was unified…and we know the scripture that speaks about God
adding to their numbers everyday. Luke talks about heart and purpose and spirit….unity, and being united in thought throughout those
chapters….It is love and caring and concern that holds relationships together.

 

In spite of the more common concerns that most churches have, (concerns we will certainly take care of, thanks to the presence of God),
one thing we can hold up and embrace, is the relationships and love that is growing in our faith family. More than ever there is a unified
spirit among us…a spirit that strives to work together to bring us even closer to a God who loves us so…..Let’s keep celebrating the ways the Spirit is moving and how God is working among us…..

 

Way to go church….keep it up!

 

                                             Hugs,

                                                       

 

 

A five-year study that culminated a few years ago, revealed that “only 10-25 percent of the families in the church tithe.” If we would try to put a picture to that, we learn that out of the 247 million US citizens who claim Christianity as their religion, only 1.5 million tithes. The math tells us this is less than 1%.

 

We talk continually of what it takes to support our church and not only through money, but also in way of service, presence, prayers and witness, just like it says in our membership promises. But for some reason, we find ourselves cringing when it comes to talking about our finances. It is a real piece of this church and what we are doing.

 

Let’s think about this study and put our own words and pictures to this…We have approximately 175 active members, let’s say they average about $15,000 in an annual income and multiply that by 10%, which is the tithe that God calls us to, our church would receive $262,500 annually for their yearly budget. Say instead, there is an average annual income of $25,000 and they decide they can only give 5%, that gives us $218,750 for our annual budget. While the first amount offers money on top of our budget, both scenarios would support our current ministry, but you see the difference….and though the point is not so much about having enough, its more about the idea of giving back to God, who then works at providing ways for us to share his love in more ways.

 

Besides that, we know that often we fall below tithing. And often, we look at our giving to church differently than what the Bible tells us.

 

What if every member of our church tithed? Would we be able to make an even greater difference in our church, community and/or world if we were to give as God called us to? How many more people could be reached with the gospel if we had the means to share it even more? We already touch many, many people through the things in place now. We have added regularly to our membership for a bit now and this is not the norm in the United Methodist Churches, and we can thank Jesus for bringing people to us. Can you imagine if we were to continue to add to our membership? What a blessing that would be!

 

Many of you have all kinds of stories about how God has provided amazing moments of clarity and presence. This letter is written to try and prompt a thought process and call all of us to a deeper sense of prayer about how we support our church. There is not a doubt that we can raise a great deal more than the numbers provided here. Throughout the next three months, you are going to hear lots about giving and supporting your church, so please be prepared. We will also do several things to try to raise the money we need to meet our budget for the end of the year:

 

 

We are also going to collect notes and letters from people who are a part of this Faith Family in varieties of ways, in order to hear from others how they feel about what happens here. Please read this note and those to come in the manner they are written. Giving and supporting your church is one of the most difficult yet fulfilling and meaningful pieces of church life, and something very important to our ministry to all of God’s people. It is also important to note that many churches are struggling right now.

 

We have made a difference in many lives and we can make a difference in even more people’s lives with your help. And remember, that is more than just dollars and cents! We need you as well! You are sometimes the only Bible some people will meet.

We need to continue building our strength to do so…

isn’t that a great thing!?