Brown's Daily Word 9-14-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. We will meet for our mid-week gathering this evening at 6 PM with a meal followed by Bible study at 6:30 PM. We are excited about this new short term study, "Why? Making Sense of God's Will". As in the days of Noah, the floods here have receded. The work of rescue and restoration has begun. Praise the Lord for every one who is willing to serve and give of themselves.
The great and beautiful salvation story and the event do not exclude the wilderness experience of the people of God. The people called by His name wandered. They rebelled against the Lord who loved them and who redeemed them. Life can be like a wilderness experience at times. Periods of our life can seem like such a struggle to survive. Sometimes it is a wilderness of our own making. Sometimes creating difficulty for ourselves is what we are about, only we cannot see it until we are surrounded with barren existence. Sometimes we do not realize we are in the wilderness, until we are there in the middle of it. At other times, it seems the whole world against us. We may not deserve what we have been dealt. We didn’t create the problems but, regardless, we find that we are in the wilderness. Sometimes, it even appears there is no way out of the wilderness.
In 1 Corinthians 10 we are reminded that there is nothing new about the trials and tribulations we face. They are the same ones people have faced down through time. They are the same ones our family, friends, and co-workers face today as well.
Through it all we are reminded that our Lord God is faithful. We are also reminded that God will not let us face anything beyond what we can bear. He also reminds us that in such times God will provide us a way out of our dilemma, or support us so that we can stand it.
John Short from the Interpreter’s Bible put it this way: “If sin is near, so is God.” Von Unruh, from his book “Finding Christ, Finding Life,” added, “When temptation draws near, God draws even nearer.”
In Christ,
Brown

http://youtu.be/RpRCClg8pEY

Please pray for our upcoming ministry events:

We will be back to our Wednesday schedule, including Bible study, fellowship, and prayer, starting TODAY.. We will meet with a meal at 6 PM, with the Bible study beginning at 6:30 PM. We will begin a 4 week study on the theme, "Why? Making Sense of God's Will", by Adam Hamilton. Topics include, "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?", Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?", "Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?", and "Why God's Love Prevails". Following the completion of this study we will be using Rick Warren's study, "Forty Days of Love". This will lead us to the beginning of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. More information will follow in the church newsletter.

Please mark your calendar for our prayer conference, which will begin on Friday, October 14 and continue through Sunday morning, October 16.
The Key Note Speaker: Kelly Johnson from Memphis TN.
Prayer Team will include: Sunita and Andy, Rob and Jenn and Meredith from Washington DC.

The tentative schedule follows:
Friday, October 14 at 6 PM - opening session at Union Center UMC
Saturday, October 15, 9 AM - noon - concert of prayer at UCUMC
Prayer teams will be available to pray for people for salvation, restoration, healing, deliverance...
Saturday, 5:30 PM - banquet at First UMC, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott
6:30 PM worship service, including an open invitation to pray at the altar following the worship service. I invite you to be a part of the prayer team during that time.
Sunday morning worship at 8:30 and 11 AM. at UCUMC Kelly Johnson will be preaching. There will be a time for prayer / a concert of prayer

Our first Saturday evening service will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 6:30 PM (Coffee Fellowship at 6 PM) at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott. Rev. Earle Cowden will be preaching, and Laureen Naik will be leading the worship. One of our ministry teams, led by Lynn Rosenbarker, will be preparing and serving a meal at noon on 9/17, as part of our outreach ministry.
Our youth will be attending the Word of Life Superbowl at the arena and other sites on November 4 & 5.
Our annual Thanksgiving Banquet will be held on Saturday, November 19.
The Russian Men's Ensemble will be in concert on December 3.
We are planning for a trip to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Extravaganza on December 6, leaving here at 6 AM, spending the day in NYC, and attending the show at 5 PM. There are optional sites to visit, including the Ground Zero 9/11 Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The trip costs $90 per person, including the bus ticket and a ticket to the show. Anyone who wants to reserve a spot on the bus should make their check payable to Union Center United Methodist Church, memo "Radio City Christmas Extravaganza".
September 18, we will go back onto the regular schedule with services at both 8:30 and 11 AM and Sunday School at 9:50 AM. Wesley will resume meeting at 9:30 AM.
Here at Union Center- Wesley- Endicott, we focus on " World as our Parish"., We remind ourselves that we serve under a captain who has never lost a battle. Jesus Christ the Head of the Church is Faithful . We are invited to embrace 7 holy habits of Christian faithfulness. We are called to FOCUS on our prayer life, our relationship with Christ, reading the Bible, faithful worship attendance, financial gifts to Christ and His Church,, serving Jesus with our hands, and sharing the good news of His Great Redemption,with others. May Christ be praised.
A memo from our District Superintendent :
Friends,

Here is a brief update on the latest around the District. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Dave Masland

1. General Comments… bad news: We have 5-6 churches that have sustained MAJOR damage, and another 7-8 that have sustained significant damage. It is hard to think of a community in the District that does not have some families adversely effected by water and mud. In some towns (Owego, Westover, Tioga Center, Barton, etc) nearly 100% of the homes/families/businesses have been effected. The roadsides of these towns are piled 4-5 feet high with mud-covered belongings from every home. The odors of mud, oil, gasoline and sewage hangs everywhere. The thought I keep having is: "The loss for these folks is so huge… the most significant thing we can offer is a listening ear, and kindness."

2. General Comments… good news: After six days of difficult travel due to closed roads, today under God's warm sun, many bridges and roads were re-opened, making travel more possible. Fire companies from all over the Northeast are here pumping out people's basements. NYSEG workers from all over the state are here working non-stop to get people's gas and power back up and running. Representatives from dozens of church and secular organizations met this morning to do their best to coordinate relief and rebuilding efforts in the months to come… and came away with a plan. There are good people being kind neighbors in every corner. UM Church people are doing amazing things: Feeding people with free food every day. Collecting food. Building flood kits. Helping muck out, tear out and throw out wet things. Offering worship space to folks from flooded churches. Everywhere I go, I see people being kind… talking to strangers… offering thanks… showing patience. God is clearly here.

3. Specific Reports…
Owego UMC… Thanks to tireless firemen pumping water for two straight days, at 4 PM Monday the building was finally water free. Sadly, 10+ feet of water has left mud on everything. This church needs help NOW! PLEASE send people this week to help muck out, carry debris to the curb, and begin tearing out wall board so things can dry out. Hundreds of families in homes need similar help in this town!
Tioga Center UMC… Volunteers from the church and community have done a lot of work to pull out wet things. 30" of water in the sanctuary have created unique challenges. Power turned back on today brought new hope.
Nimmonsburg UMC… Volunteers have removed all wet items, and the work of tearing out wet wallboard has begun.
Westover UMC… The parsonage basement has been cleared and cleaned. Volunteers removed a bunch of items from the church today. Much more work needs to be done. They can use some help on Tuesday, if people want to come.
Lounsberry UMC… Water receded slowly. Mucking out and tearing out has been started.
Maine Federated Church… had a bunch of water in both of their buildings used for ministry. Volunteers removed wet items, drying out is well under way.
Barton UMC… had water that filled their basement. Volunteers have removed wet items. Work continues.
Vestal Center UMC… had water damage in both church and parsonage. Volunteers have removed all wet items, drying out has begun.
Nichols UMC… Parsonage and church both had significant water in basement. Volunteers have done much work to remove wet materials, and begin to dry out.
Jenksville UMC… took on water from the West branch of the Owego Creek. Work of cleaning out and drying out has begun.
Newark Valley UMC… Water in their lower level damaged Sunday School/Nursery School spaces. Volunteers have removed all wet items. Wall board needs to be removed.
Central Endicott UMC… For 3-4 days, ground water seeped up thru the lower floors of the church. Volunteers have worked tirelessly to stay ahead of the water, have torn up wet floor coverings, and seem to have finally won the battle. Through it all, ministry to others has continued.
Castle Creek UMC… had some water in their basement, but volunteers have cleaned it up, and drying out has occurred.

With the help of Greg Forrestor and Carl Chamberlain, we are setting up three sites where volunteer teams can gather, get trained, prepare food, get showers and sleep. While the mucking out of churches and homes is a short term project (most of it will be complete in the next week or so), the rebuilding after drying out will likely last for 2+ years. We are getting a system in place to receive people and send them where they are most needed. More details on who to contact to schedule a VIM trip here will be coming soon.