Brown's Daily Word 9-27-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for some summer-like days the Lord has given us here in New York. It will be very warm again today. Alice and I walked for over five miles last evening in one of the beautiful parks that had fully flooded during the recent floods. Though the park was closed for few days it is open now. The Lord is displaying brilliant Autumn colors all around us. It is a feast for human eyes. Blessed be His name.
The Old Testament reading for last Sunday was taken from Exodus 17: 1-7 God delivered the Israelite people from the cruel and oppressive hands of the Egyptians, yet still their faith in God’s deliverance was weak. When the Egyptians pursued them, they grumbled. Trapped against the seashore with the Egyptians coming quickly, they believed their fate to be death, but God parted the seas, providing safe passage, and saved their very lives. They passed through and escaped death.
From there the barren and difficult desert lay before them. The people complained once more. What would they eat? What would they drink? How would they survive? Once again, God provided for them. He sent bread - called manna - which fell from heaven. On manna the people were fed throughout their wandering. There was also water, miraculous water, that poured from a rock at God’s command. It was a life giving source.
Yet, there were many more uncertain, even rocky, times ahead for the Israelites. God found little to be pleased about with these people. It wasn't long until some put their faith and trust in idols, believing that the idols would sustain them in the frightening and barren wilderness. Others became sexually promiscuous and immorally lax on their journey. Where was their faithfulness to God and God’s ways then? Still others tested the faithfulness of God and, in spite of all they had witnessed, still others continued to grumble and complain, unhappy in their faith.
These were not simultaneous events, but the faithless exercises the Israelite people as they wandered in the wilderness for many, many years.
Paul retold the story of the journey of the Israelites, including the Lord's invitation to them, gently saying “Keep going, keep going!” Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 10 to be careful not to make the same mistakes. “If you think you are standing firm,” Paul said, “be careful that you don’t fall.” Remember the Israelites in the desert.
Life can be like a wilderness experience at times. Periods of our lives can seem like such struggles to survive. Sometimes we are lost in a wilderness of our own making. Sometimes creating difficulty for ourselves is our primary end, only we cannot see it until we are surrounded with barren existence. Sometimes we don’t realize we are in the wilderness, until we are so far in there that we cannot see any way out.
At other times, it seems the whole world against us. We may not deserve what we have been dealt. We did not necessarily create the problems, but here we are all the same. What do we do? How do we handle it? What is the path to take? Sometimes that’s not so clear. Sometimes, it appears there is no way out of the wilderness.
Paul’s then took time to remind us that there is nothing new about the trials and tribulations we face. They are same ones people have faced down through time. They are the same ones our family, friends, and coworkers face today as well. Paul also reminds us that God is faithful. God will not let us face anything beyond our strength to bear it. He 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.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/UWndDW_271g

We will be back to our Wednesday schedule, including Bible study, fellowship, and prayer, starting September 14, 2011. We meet with a meal at 6 PM, with the Bible study beginning at 6:30 PM. We began 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.
September 24.2011
Praise and worship service:
First United Methodist Church , Endicott
Sponsored by Union Center UMC
6PM Gathering- Coffeee- Fellowship
6.30PM Worship
Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Rev William Puckey


Please mark your calendar for our prayer conference, which will begin on Friday, October 14 and continue through Sunday morning, October 16.
The Keynote Speaker: Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
The 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
The 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

Saturday, September 24 at 6:30 PM (Coffee Fellowship at 6 PM) at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott.
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".
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.