First United Methodist Church News
August 25, 2019
 
     I better get our August birthdays while we have a day or left in the month.  They were Patty Hirst, Neva Smith, Ola Mae La Baume, Paul Beaty, Joann Herrin, and Joe Salinas. 
     Couples celebrating an anniversary were, Jim and Laura Leatherwood, Bob and Irene Sohm, and Ray and Ola Mae La Baume. Congratulations to all.
     We are so happy to see retuning guests with us on Sunday.  We enjoyed two first time guests worshiping with us also.
     James Sage brought his son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Kelsey Sage, and their sweet baby girl, Dakota.  It will be too quiet at James and Leta’s home without little Dakota there.
     Pastor Ken asked any teachers and students to come forward.  He honored them with a reading from the Holy Bible and a responsive reading, next he prayed for their safety.
     Nancy Wooldridge served as our Worship Leader and Cole Moore was acolyte.   Nancy asked that we pray for her sister-in-law, Mary Jane Stine, who is extremely ill.  Our hearts go out to the family.
     It is time to refill the Food Pantry!  The pantry can use any food that does not require refrigeration.
We need boxes to pack the food in also.  The boxes should be about the size of a case of Dublin Bottling Works soda.  Our church office is open four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. for the delivery of non-perishable food and boxes.
Pastor Ken read the letter from the Council Of Bishops President Bishop Ken Carter to the People of the United Methodist Church concerning the mass shootings and the violence we are experiencing from white supremacy and a fear of immigrants (xenophobia).  The use of presidential role granted for the purpose of serving an entire people for white privilege does great harm to us and are rooted in a cynical desire to divide us along racial lines. According to counterterrorism experts, the president’s racial rhetoric is fueling an incipient and violent white nationalist movement in our nation.  According to 2 Corinthians 5; Christ died for all; and in this he loved us and gave himself up for us (Ephesians 5).
     The scripture lesson was from Luke 13:10-17.  This lesson tells about Jesus healing a woman who had been bent over for 18 years.  He did this in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath and the leader of the synagogue was incensed. 
     The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it to drink? Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” 
     The synagogue ruler was insensitive to the woman’s plight; and he had the law on his side.  But Jesus had a greater principle to follow, that of compassion.
     This was not an emergency case; the woman had been bent for 18 years.  Jesus was making a point, that people are more important than rules.  The ruler had dehumanized the woman and once you dehumanize someone, you can easily dismiss them.  You become legalistic and ruled by the rules.  We do need to have rules, but we must remember Jesus said: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
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First United Methodist Church News
August 18, 2019
    
Pastor Ken and I took his second vacation week off and went to Denver, Colorado.  We enjoyed visiting our daughter Jacque’ Sack and her family. The “kids” are so good to us and feed us well.  Our granddaughter, Kendall, drove us to see the movie “Lion King,” which we enjoyed very much.
 It is nice to be back home and get back into a familiar schedule.
Community Table is Wednesday, so get ready to volunteer for cooking, deliveries, and cleaning up! 
I brought a beautiful sofa throw to show our congregation.  It is red, white, and blue with the pledge of allegiance to our flag printed around the edge.  We bought it at Mt. Vernon on our trip to Maryland to see our son.  I will put it in the live auction during the “Lord’s Acre” planned for the fall.
Juanita Duncan continues to recuperate at home and her many friends continue to pray for her. Let’s find out what we can do to make Juanita’s life easier.
Irene Sohm is spending more time off her feet and resting.  She and Robert came to church last Sunday and told us about their son, Chris, who was care-flighted from Stephenville to Plano Saturday.  We are very concerned about Chris and keep him in our prayers.
Neve Smith’s daughter is feeling better with her pacemaker.
Our congregation extends sympathy to the family and friends of Louetta Taylor Rovetto.
Pastor Ken performed the funeral service for Louetta who was a school mate from Carlton.
Laura Leatherwood served as Worship Leader and read our scripture lesson from Luke 12:49-53.
We see many warning signs each day such as Caution! Wet Floor!; Slippery when wet!; Caution! School Zone!; Railroad Crossing, etc.  The words from Luke today are dramatic and a warning! Jesus says, “I came to cast fire upon the earth. I wish that it was already ablaze! “  
Jesus came to bring the fire of the Holy Spirit, we will either be baptized by this fire or be consumed by it. Jesus has a warning for His followers, that is if we choose Him as our Savior and Lord, then we may very well face criticism and rejection, even with our family.    
We suffer from many divisions today: politics, values, culture, and ethnicity. We want our churches to be the voice of unity and peace.  But, upsetting the status quo is the reason Jesus was crucified.  It is why His followers are tortured and imprisoned.  Many churches across the world must meet in secret.  How do we deal with that?
It requires commitment and sacrifice and passion. It is putting God above everything.  Above our families, even our own lives. Either you are for Jesus or against Him. You must pick a side.
We believe God’s infinite love is available to all, call us at 254-445-2157 or email at fumcdublintxsecretary@gmail.com , our website is http://fumcdublintx.com .

First United Methodist Church News
August 4, 2019
     
D.J Klutts announced the head count for last week’s Community Table was about 300.  It is hard to get a clear count because some people eat twice and get another plate.  D.J. does know that we fed 88 folks “in house.”  That is one of our best attended meals!  A total of 320 meals were served.
     Gee whiz, if we can throw a party that quick, I think it is time we had a “Lord’s Acre” fund raiser.
We just need to settle on a date for it, and menu.  
      I have a story to tell!  Juanita Duncan’s oldest son, Terry, told Pastor Ken Lunsford that his younger brother Tommy saved Juanita’s life. Terry said if Tommy had not insisted and taken Juanita to the emergency room at Stephenville, she would not have survived!    Juanita now has a pacemaker and she is much better. God bless and keep Juanita and for sure, God bless Tommy.
     We have a much-improved parking lot.  It has been repaired and re-striped.  Many thanks to Gene and D.J. Klutts for their generous gift to our congregation.
     We are thrilled to see three guests back with us Sunday.
     The chairs donated by Robert and Irene Sohm are very comfortable. Come and try one out, you will be like Goldie Locks, and find just the right one.
     Pastor Ken’s good friend, Kevin Caraway, will bring the message this Sunday and Kevin’s lovely daughter-in-law, Sarah Caraway, will sing for our congregation.  Please be here to hear it.
     Lisa Leatherwood served as Worship Leader and read the scripture from Luke 12:13-21.
     Rev. Ken Lunsford’s lesson was titled. “Be Rich Toward God!”
     In Luke, Jesus warns against all kinds of greed.  Jesus told a man to guard himself because one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, not even for the very wealthy.  Then Jesus told a parable about a man whose land produced a bountiful crop.  He thought he would tear down his old barns and build bigger ones to hold all his grain.  But God said to the man, “Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared.”  Jesus warned, “This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and are not rich toward God.
     Money is important. But it is only a means by which we reach higher goals. It is all right to make investments if we understand that the best investment that we can make is in the Kingdom of God. 
     All that we have is on loan from the Lord God. When we share and freely give, we acknowledge that. Let us store our money in the stomachs of the hungry, the bodies of the sick, and the spread of the Gospel.  Then we shall be rich toward God!
   “Right Now, Media” provides streaming Christian content to over 16,000 churches world-wide. Dublin First Methodist makes this available via the internet to our members, our friends, and neighbors for free.  Go to our web site http://fumcdublintx.com – click on More, scroll down to Links and Resources, then click on the Right Now Media link.  Register and explore the site.
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