• 8:15  Sunday School
• 9:00  Fellowship
• 9:30  Worship

 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?    I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19

This month we begin our Lenten journey for 2012.  It’s a journey that ends with the glory of Easter.  It’s a journey that every Christian should take every year.  It’s a time of special focus when you listen to what God is saying through the story of the events leading to the Cross and how they are relevant to life issues you are experiencing right now.  It’s a time to take stock in how we have been living our lives and how we should live as we keep moving forward.

Christian poet M.S. Lowndes said,

“Don’t be afraid to keep moving on,  For what was before, now has gone,  And God wants to accomplish so much more,  But we need to move forward in the Lord.”

In Sunday School, I remember hearing as a boy the story of the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness.   I thought, who would be so dumb as to do something like that?  I wanted to get where I am going and I would never get lost like they did.   But then life happened.  I found out that I could get lost with the best of them.  Growing into my teenage years and into adulthood my life took many twists and turns and I wasn’t even attempting to follow the Lord most of that time.

Our family splintered.  My brother and I went to live with my Grandmother and then not long after that we went out to live on our own.  My step father and mother constantly were at odds.  No help there.    I longed for real and loving family relationship with them but it was not to be.  So I joined the military and my life took many more turns until I met my wife Kathy and we decided we would go to church together.

The children of Israel finally made it to the promised land and would look back with gratefulness to God for His deliverance and leading that they finally sought.  But they wandered a long time (40 years) before they did. I kind of know how they felt (and it wasn’t 40 years for me).   It is good to remember how far you’ve come – to look back and then up to God with gratefulness.  Because when we do – we realize that He wants to lead us on to even better things from the place where we are now.   God always wants to do new things in our lives that will benefit us and bring us closer to His will.

In the reading of that bible story, we are given the big picture of what happened and how God delivers and blesses.  Lent helps us do that anew each year so that again we will not be afraid to move forward.

When we are living our own story we cannot see beyond the next curve of the road.   We don’t know how this chapter of our story will turn out and so often we are afraid.  But we need to reminded that the opposite of fear is love.  1 John 4: 18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”

God loves us with perfect love and has said that we will never be given tests that are beyond our strength.  We should take comfort in that.  God prepares us for what’s next?   And God is always faithful to lead us where His grace will keep us.   We can rest in the promise that we will have what we need when we need it even though your fears probably won’t want to let go easily.

Dear Downs UMC family, as we look down the road before us, we can’t see what’s ahead but we can sense that God is leading us in a new direction.   As we go when we are unsure, let us think of the Children of Israel where the whole story that leads to the Cross tells us that God is making a way.  Then we can anticipate with excitement that something good is just ahead.

Following Jesus Always,

 Pastor Ron

As believers in Christ, it is not just simply saying to yourself, I will do this and I won’t do that anymore.  It is more about seeking the Lord’s help each day, realizing that you can trust Him and then growing deeper and deeper in your faith and love for Him.  If you do this, your focus will be much more on the things of heaven and not exhaustively on all this earthly stuff.   A great New Year resolution is to have a deeper commitment, a deeper love, and a deeper worship for the Lord.     “…Seek FIRST the  kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  ~Matthew  6:31-33

Something tells me this passage isn’t just talking about Sunday mornings for an hour.

Jesus in HIS LIFE words and actions said, “I am more than enough. I am more than enough in every area of your life.”   He wants our undivided attention and devotion especially and precisely because He knows we can face so many challenges and  temptations in our lives.  He wants to help us through each one.

If he is your main focus then this could be the best New Year of your life. The Christmas message taught us that Christ was born so we can be filled with love and hope and joy peace which gives us inspiration and direction. Why should every year be the same as the one before with not much really changing?   Perhaps it’s the kind of New Year’s resolutions we’ve made in the past that we too soon give in and up on.  The reason our track record on resolutions is not so great is usually related to a lack of inner strength and will (“I know I shouldn’t eat that third helping but….”).

As Christians sometimes we can feel stagnate in our relationship with the Lord.  It is in those times that we tune out his voice distracted by all the noise and demands of the world.   Perhaps now at the beginning of a new year, is the time to rekindle the love we have for Christ recognizing the love he has for us.   In fact, I know it is.

May God Bless You With a Wonderful 2012!     Pastor Ron

As in the past, you are encouraged to dress casually (bring your children in pajamas, if you wish!), and come for a delightful and meaningful time of Christmas praise and worship including: carol and candles, special music, poems, readings, skits, prayers, a Christmas message, “Silent Night” by candlelight, treats for the kids, and more!

Come with your Christmas spirit to just relax and enjoy, or, if you wish, bring gifts to offer the Christ child in the form of: singing a song, playing an instrumental, offering a Chrisstmas reading, poem, skit, or other.

Please call the Downs United Methodist Church office at 309-378-2651 or Reverend Ron George at 309-378-2650 by Wednesday, December 21, if you have a special gift you’d like to share.

We hope to see you there!

I believe the answer is in the sights and sounds and smells that we experience each year, the sense of wonder, beauty, and anticipation that is in the air. It was in the music we heard everywhere, especially in church, the look of joy on people’s faces when they were getting ready for Christmas putting up decorations, and sharing the Bible stories in class and in plays and live nativity scenes, not to mention enjoying the most delicious treats – like Christmas cookies fresh from the oven and ready to ice. It was in the companionship of our family and good friends, present and past generations. We were all talking about Christmas during the Christmas season and all the things we were going to do each year to celebrate.

How often did our Christmas really live up to our expectations? Well, at least a little here and there – at least enough enjoyment where we were ready to do it all over again the next year – and we ARE still doing it! Yes, I know Christmas at its worst can be a crass, commercialized, empty, exhausting, and very expensive ritual that drags on until we can’t wait for it to be over. But that’s not how it should be.

Christmas cannot automatically be all that we want it to be. We have to believe it and seek it like the wise men to see it as more than a manmade holiday. Christmas at it’s worst cannot bring harmony to your home. Christmas at it’s worst cannot bring peace on earth. Christmas at it’s worst cannot bring happiness that lasts. Only Christmas at it’s best can do that.

And what is Christmas at its best? It is God who gave us the ultimate Gift (Emmanuel – GOD WITH US – Christ) along with plenty more besides – Salvation now with a glimpse of things to come. Celebrating Christmas at it’s best is the beauty of knowing the deeper meaning of the True account of the birth of the son of God, praising Him with worshipful music and singing joining the adoring angels, sharing the warmth and resources of life in ministry, cherishing the promise, the Hope of Peace and Love born in us. . .gifts for now along with things promised to us in a life to yet come.

Christmas is a promise that is still being fulfilled when we all gather in God’s Kingdom. That is really what we are longing for deep inside and working for as God’s Church in the world. That’s enjoying Christmas at it’s best.

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Ron

It all happens on Sunday, Dec 11, after the 9:30 am service (approximately 10:30 am).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

About twenty years ago I took a test as part of a seminary class to help us understand how we had been making decisions in our work and personal lives.  My seminary professor instructed us to select the answer to each question that most resembled how we might respond to a given set of circumstances.  One of the dimensions of the test was designed to distinguish between the tendency of being a cold, methodical thinker verses that of a warm, compassionate person. My final score indicated that I was then a much more methodical thinker than a person of compassion.   I felt bad about that considering I was taking steps to enter the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ who was all about compassion.   But the more I thought about it and reflected on my work and life up to that point, it gave a pretty accurate picture.  I didn’t always give much thought to how much my decisions and attitude impacted other people’s lives.

I thought about some of the specific decisions that I made in my previous jobs for instance, and I know that my response would be very intentionally different in a lot of cases if I had it to do over.   Why is that?   I think you know the answer.   God has been working on and in my heart.

Thanksgiving always reminds me to try to take another spiritual look at myself.  And one of the questions I ask myself is what are some of the ways in which I can see that I have changed a little more for the better ~ for Christ’s sake?  One of the ways is that I am able with God’s help not to become personally offended so easily as in the past and my patience with people has grown.   And if you are involved in any way in ministry this is very important.  Because, it is not a matter of if something (some kind of misunderstanding or conflict or disappointment) will occur but when.  And people’s spiritual lives (young, old and in between) that we each have been impacting for Christ are on the line.   

The truth is that I cannot take any credit for this change in me that has happened over the years.   As that test clearly indicated, the change I now see in me is not of my own will. The Bible teaches us that as a part of the Salvation process God gives us a new heart. 

With the new heart comes spiritual gifts that we can use to serve Him in this world in a way that doesn’t take or give offence.  Over time, God miraculously changes our heart–the way we look at and respond to life situations.  In other words, He has given us and so equips us for “…the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the most wonderful holiday season.   Let us enjoy it by being thankful most of all for God’s loving work on our hearts and in the world.

For His Glory,
Pastor Ron

Thanks, Jen and Laura!