Brown's Daily Word 9-30-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this last day of September. Praise the Lord for this Friday. Sunday is coming. Pray for our weekly TV outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Channel 4. Praise the Lord for so many from various churches who are involved in laboring tirelessly in the recovery and restoration work in our region after the recent floods which devastated the area. There is a team coming from Danville, NY tomorrow, which will be working in our neighborhood. We are providing meals for this team. The team coming from one of our Methodist churches in Danville Area.
We will gather for our Saturday Evening worship at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott at 6 PM for coffee fellowship followed by worship at 6:30PM. We will gather for worship Sunday at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM at Union Center UMC and at 9:30 AM at Wesley.
We read in HEBREWS 10:25, "Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
There was trouble in little "Critter-town" USA, in that squirrels had overrun three particular congregations. The Elders of the first church decided that the squirrels were all predestined to be there, and that they would not interfere with the sovereignty of God and His eternal decrees. The second church determined that they could not harm any of God’s little creatures, so they tenderly gathered them all up, and set them free on the outskirts of town. In two days they had all returned. It was only the third church that succeeded in keeping these little critters away. The Elders baptized all the squirrels and registered them as members, and now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.
The writer of Hebrews has listed three preceding directives before the one he mentioned in Hebrews 10:25. They are: (1). Let us draw near to God (v.22). (2). Let us hold firmly to our hope (v.23). (3). Let us stir up one another to love and to do good deeds (v. 24). The fourth directive is, as written in Hebrews 10:25, is "Let us not give up meeting together..." (v. 25). There is a sense that our assembly together should not be neglected and that it should remain "frequent."
Individually, we each need to gather for worship, prayer, and the study of God’s Word, along with ministry and witnessing. Collectively, we need each other's presence, fellowship, strength, and encouragement.
The phrase, "as you see the Day approaching", refers to the Lord’s return. Even in the early church some had fallen out of fellowship, and in this verse we are encouraged to "exhort one another" toward remaining attentive to our attendance.
"Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple." (Psalm 65:4). "My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you." (Psalm 84:2,4).
"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." (Psalm 84:10).
"...I rejoiced with those who said to me, ’Let us go to the house of the Lord.’" (Psalm 122:1).
A little old man was seen every Sunday morning walking to church. He was deaf, so he could not hear a word of the sermon or the music of the choir, or the hymns sung by the congregation. A scoffer asked, "Why do you spend your Sundays in that church when you can’t hear a word?" He replied, "I want my neighbors to know which side I’m on!"
See you in church.
Brown

http://youtu.be/5kX8xlW04jQ

Saturday , October 2.2011
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, October 1.2011 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.