Blog Archives

June 22, 2014

6/25/2014

      Laura Leatherwood had a decorating session for vacation bible school after church last Sunday. We punched holes in silver stars and ran fishing line threw them so that they could be hung from the ceiling in the fellowship hall. There is a “space ship” being made to go in the hall also.   A lot of fun and tasty food is planned for our school. The VBS is July 8, 9, and 10. We have work sessions scheduled for Sunday, June 29 after the church singing and dinner, then again Sunday, July 6 after church. Young folks need to pitch in and help, it will look good on your resume.

      Laura says the other churches have had a good turnout for their vacation schools also, and we are happy for them and encouraged by the news.

       On Sunday, June 29 there is a joint pool party and music with the Deleon First Methodist Church. We will party 6:00 till 8:30 p.m. Yes, we will meet ourselves coming and going, Pastor Ken has devised a way to keep us from straying; no time for it.

       Items needed for VBS are boxed cake mixes, cans of frosting, boxes of little birthday candles, small toys, large empty coffee cans or large institutional size food cans, and pocket change for the Rocket Bank Mission.

       We were relieved to see Lee and Betty Lusk back in church. Lee thanked everyone for their cards and phone calls, the church for his flowers, and Pastor Ken for his prayers and presence.

       Norma Parks has had a fall and broken a hip, she has had surgery and is recuperating in Senior Care Home in Stephenville. Pray for Norma, her husband Jack, and her family.

       It was nice to have Kathy Stonum, her daughter Dallas and Kathy’s mom, Gail Turk in the congregation last Sunday.

      Rev. Ken Lunsford preached on “God’s promise to us.”

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June 15, 2014

6/18/2014

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      This past Dublin Reunion was bigger and better than ever.

      The Class of 1964 invited former Dublin Band Director, Carter Cook and his wife, Martha, to their 50th anniversary of graduation party.   The Cooks are now retired and live in Austin.

      Carter and Martha were past members of Dublin First Methodist Church and they came to worship with us Sunday. They caught a glimpse of Stormy Armstrong and exclaimed, “Isn’t that Stormy Humphries, she was a majorette in the band!” Well it has been a while since we thought of Stormy that way.

      Jim Leatherwood was pleased to see the Cooks, it seems Carter and Martha bought Jim’s parents’ home which was across from the north end of the football field . Jim and the Cooks had a lot of shared memories.

     Carter Cook and Pastor Ken Lunsford were hunting and fishing buddies in the sixties. They enjoyed reminiscing about old adventures over a long Sunday dinner at a local restaurant.

     We are getting ready for vacation Bible school and making plans. Our “blast off” will be Tuesday, July 8 at 6:00 p.m. The team is planning an outer space theme. Get your children or grandchildren ready for the fun!

     Community Table is Wednesday, June 25 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. We will be serving fried fish so plan on being there and bring a friend. This meal is for the Dublin community and it doesn’t matter whether you are young or old or have 12 kids in the family, load ‘um up and enjoy the meal.

      Nancy Wooldridge acted as Worship Leader and Cole Moore served as acolyte. They both did an outstanding job.

      Doris Morton had granddaughter and great-grandchildren present with her. I didn’t get the names, but they were all pretty.

      Tanya Brown is a former member and was back in Dublin for reunion day and she visited in church on the 15th.

      Prayer were asked for local Judge Latrell Cain who has lost a son, his name is Michael. It was only a short time ago Latrell’s daughter passed away. Only those who have experienced the same pain as losing a child can imagine the sorrow that Latrell is suffering.

       We added Barbara Stevens’ daughter, Dana, to our prayer list. She has recently had surgery.

      Laura Leatherwood talked to the youth and children about Father’s Day. Laura had a list of “sayings” that fathers use with their children such as “this hurts me more than you and go ask your mother.” Then Laura read from Proverbs about listing to what your father has to say. Next she instructed the youngsters to love, honor, show respect, and say thank you to their fathers.

      Pastor Ken asked the youngsters to hand out Father’s Day lapel pins to the men in the congregation. The pens were “gold” tone with a cross and faith of our fathers written on it.

     The theme of Rev. Ken Lunsford’s sermon was changed early last Sunday morning as the Holy Spirit called him to preach on something else. So, the church bulletin was wrong but no one seemed to mind.

     The Pastor talked about the seasons that come and go. Dublin has its seasons and the soul has it’s also; “There is a time to be born, a time to die.” The Bible has seasons too, the biblical New Year begins at the appearance of the first new moon of spring. Our church calendar recognizes seven “seasons,” Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Easter, Pentecost, and Kingdom-tide.

      In our faith we like to insure a witness to the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why we honor the lectionary and the seasons of the church. At advent we touch upon the doctrine of God incarnate, at Easter we talk about the resurrection, at Pentecost it is the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. God has shown Himself in three ways: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

     Jesus referred to God as Father and also as Abba, which is the Hebrew word for Daddy. Can you imagine referring to the creator of an endless universe as Daddy?

     Pastor said we are all, to a certain extent, a theologian, because theology is what you think about God. If an atheist shouts I don’t believe in God, well that is his theology.

     God may seem incomprehensible, but in Jesus Christ He makes Himself knowable.

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June 8, 2014

6/10/2014

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     The Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church was held 6-8 to 6-11 at Mansfield, Texas. Pastor Ken Lunsford and Alford Havens attended the conference and represented Dublin First Methodist.

     Remember Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday are 6-15.

     Jimmy and Laura Leatherwood were pleased to have their granddaughter Ally and grandson Silas with them in church. They were keeping the children while their parents Gabe and Meagan Leatherwood were celebrating their 8th anniversary.

     Kathy Logan was happy as always to have her brother, Carl B. Sanders, visiting with her.

     We had a couple staying out at Proctor Lake worship with us Sunday, they are Gene and Patty Hunter.

     Former member Kathy Stonum was visiting in town and she brought her mother, Gail Turk, to church.

     Our congregation was relieved to know that Lee Lusk was back home and recuperating nicely from surgery. We will keep Lee and Betty in our prayers.

     Laura Leatherwood talked to the children about a red balloon. She asked “what can you do with a balloon?” The children said blow it up and play with it. Next Laura told the children about Pentecost and what happened to the disciples while they were in the house together. The disciples heard a rushing wind, saw tongues of flames, and spoke in languages they did not know. They were filled with the Holy Spirit that day and 3,000 people who heard the disciples’ story were baptized in Jesus’ name!

     Laura said like the balloon is filled with air we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and go tell people how wonderful God is.

     Rev. Ken Lunsford’s sermon was about Pentecost also. He took his lesson from Acts 2: 1-21.

     At the beginning of the 20th century about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe. Today more than a third of all Christians live in North or South America and about one in four Christians lives in sub-Saharan Africa. Asia and the Pacific have about one-in-eight of the world’s Christians.

      We think the United States is a Christian Nation but China is out pacing us at spreading Christianity. Their churches are growing while ours are declining.

     There are more than two billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the global population. If there is a sleeping giant in the world today, it is the church of Jesus Christ.

     Do I need to remind you of the purpose toward which every Christian should be working? That someday every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That someday the love of Christ shall live in every heart. There is no other hope for the world than this one. But how will that day come unless we have a new Pentecost in the western church? Could the church of Jesus Christ become what He intended it to be? How shall we regain our passion as a people?

     We begin by praying for our church and its mission. Also we need to recapture our original purpose. Next we should serve Christ with absolute passion. There was nothing half-hearted about those early believers in Christ.

      How will we awaken the sleeping giant?

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June 1, 2014

6/4/2014

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     We had a lot of fun at our Community Table on the last Wednesday of May. We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, mixed fruit salad, and off the charts desserts. That fruit salad cancels out the cobbler, cake and pie you know.

     The work crew at the Dublin Swimming Pool had a delivery of sandwiches and cake to keep their strength up.

     June 1st was Food Pantry Sunday and that is the day especially recognized to bring supplies for the pantry.

   Mary Haley announced that 32 people had received boxes of food in May from the First Methodist pantry.

Mary asked for more beans, rice, and peanut butter. She said as prices rise more people are seeking help.

We appreciate the help that the Dublin area has always given to the Food Pantry. The pantry is available to those in need during the same hours our church office is open which is normally Monday through Friday till noon.

     Stormy Armstrong served as Worship Leader and did a great job, Stormy has a strong, steady voice.

     Our June birthdays are Mary Haley on 6-29. The anniversaries are Ken and Judy Lunsford celebrating on 6-5 and Cliff and Nancy Wooldridge on 6-9. Many happy returns of the day to them all.

     Our congregation extends heartfelt sympathy to the family of William Kelcy. William is the son-in-law of Sam Morton and the grandson-in-law of Doris Morton. William leaves behind a wife and three young children

     The children’s lesson was about strength in numbers and staying unified. Laura Leatherwood had sticks in her tote bag this time. She gave out plain ole little sticks to the children and asked them to break them. They all could break the little sticks. Then she gave the bigger children two sticks together and they broke them. Next Miss Laura got out a bundle of small sticks tied with twine and said “Can you break this?” No one could, the bundle was too strong to break.

      Laura said just like these sticks a group of people is stronger than one or a few. She said Jesus was worried about His disciples and what could happen to them after He was gone from them. Jesus prayed for the disciples to stay unified.

      Pastor Ken Lunsford took his sermon from John 17:1-19. This section of the Book of John tells of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. Many scholars call it Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.    Jesus prayed this after the Passover meal in the upper room was over. He knows His crucifixion will occur within hours and He will leave the disciples alone in the world. Jesus goes before God to intercede for them and us also and expresses His concern. It is also here that Jesus delivers the meaning of eternal life and in essence the meaning of life itself.

     “And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

      The meaning of life is that we have a relationship with God, and His Son, Jesus Christ! That is the long and short of it. But Jesus knew how difficult it was going to be for His disciples and the rest of us to come to arrive at this simple realization. So He prays for our protection from the world and He prays that we might know God, not like we know our ABCs, but in our heart of hearts. This lesson is not just for the lost but to the Christian Community also. Will you pray to come to know God more deeply so that you may become truly connected?

     And now a personal comment. Come to church and enjoy the fellowship of those trying to be better people. The “Church” is the body of Christ at work in the world. It has been called the bride of Christ. It is a hospital for sinners not a country club for saints. It is not full of hypocrites, but that is alright because you might feel right at home with them. It is not where people go to show off new clothes; I have seen some wearing jeans or worn out Bermuda shorts. And they were my relatives!

     Where ever you feel the call to attend; go to church.

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June 22, 2014

June 15, 2014

June 8, 2014

June 1, 2014

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