We have truly gotten a Christmas miracle early!

     Thanks be to God for the gifts that come our way! Deerfield UMC asked the church the Sunday before Thanksgiving to help meet our budget shortfall of $34,000 and to give their pledge or gift before November 30, when our finance committee is to meet again. So the response back from the congregation is our reason to offer the huge praise. Not only did we meet the challenge, at the end of the day one week after we asked the church to raise the funds, we had raised $37, 880.00! That's right, more than we asked for.  We asked our members to give their regular gifts and to give to the challenge before our church above and beyond their regular giving, and the response to that request has given us evidence of the hand of God working in our midst. To come from a shortfall of $34,000 to now being able to pay out our apportionments in full and to meet all of our ministry needs is a great reward.
     Saturday evening at about 3:45pm, a challenge came in from a member of the church that if we could raise $5000 in pledges or gifts to come in before the end of December, that the member would match our gifts with another $5000. We accepted the challenge. I sent out an email to the church members to let them know of the challenge, and that I had a dinner that I had to go to in about 15 minutes and I was going to be gone for the rest of the evening, and then leading in worship the next morning. If we were going to meet the challenge, it was going to be up to them to get on the phone and call people and for them to give and make the most of the offer. So I prayed that God would move on the hearts of the people, I honored the commitment to our members that night and went on to the dinner. I trusted and I prayed. I shared the challenge with them, and they also joined me in prayer. Some how God worked a fabulous work in the hearts of his people. The phone lines were hot here in Boone Saturday night, and by Sunday morning, the phone was ringing early here at the parsonage to put in a pledge in time to meet the challenge. Yes, a lot of people have played a part in this great story. People have sacrificed what they were going to give each other for Christmas to donate to the church. Our lead donor had to have a nudge from the Lord to make the first move, and we give the Lord praise for that nudge and for the obedience to lead our church in financial commitment. We praise the Lord for so many families accepting the responsibility to do what they could. For some that was a large gift and for some that was a small gift. What is important is that we have each given above and beyond our regular gift to meet the present need, and God blessed the gift and mulitiplied it. Yes, you have to have great leadership to do this, and we can give the Lord the credit for the leadership of the Holy Spirit. For without the Holy Spirit, pulling us together in one accord, we would still be scratching our heads wondering how would we pay what we owe before the end of the year. God has moved on the people here in Boone, and if you could see me now, I am doing grown up cartwheels in my heart. It has been an exciting challenge and a great reason to give the Lord our constant praise. Let all that we do, all day long, be our worship. God brought us a Christmas miracle early, and we pray the same for you and your church. It is a thrill to see the hand of God.

Possum in the tree?

    When was the last time something really funny happened to you in worship? Well yesterday in worship we all got a really good laugh. The choir was singing their anthem, and the tune was not familiar, but it was really nice. I listened and enjoyed the tune. As I heard the choir sing about the beauty of the possum in the tree, I couldn't believe my ears. So, I thought, I have never heard this song before, I need to see if they are going to come back to that line again. They didn't repeat the same line, but they had me hanging on every word. So when the anthem was done, and it was time to step into the pulpit to preach, I turned and asked the choir if they said anything about a possum in the tree, and they shouted back, "Blossom! Blossom in the tree!" You can just imagine the congregation. Laughter rocked the house! You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.
    The soft tone was helpful to lead into a tough message. The message yesterday was from Haggai Chapter One. Haggai challenged the people to put their priority on the work of rebuilding the temple first in their lives. He challenged them to give sacrificially to make the work happen, and to get on with it. He delivered a word from the Lord to remind the people to take courage because God was with them. In the life of our church, these words are also right on time for us. We have huge challenges before us. But we have to remember, God will give us courage and God himself will be with us. God stirred the hearts of the people in Haggai and they got to work on the temple and finished it in 4 years. It is my prayer that God will stir the hearts of his people, and the work will be done that is set before us. Deerfield UMC, God is with us and will make the way. Remember, God is with us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to New Member

     We welcome our first new member since I came here in July to Deerfield UMC. He was 61 years old and joined by baptism and profession of faith. What a beautiful day! On this same day the message was on the resurrection and what happens to us when we die for those who place their trust in Christ to be their Lord and Savior. After this passage was selected, we had two folks in our church family die. One funeral was on that same Sunday afternoon, and the other funeral was yesterday. If there was ever a time to be thinking about the resurrection as a church family, this has been a really good time to remember that we are a people of hope, because we place our hope in Jesus Christ and even with the sting of the grief of death, we know it is not the end. In Christ we live eternally in the presence of the living God.
    So for the coming Sunday, we are looking forward to taking in another new member, and having our fall bazaar this coming Saturday. Our thanksgiving meal will be this Sunday after church and I know that will be great.
    I challenge our church to spend some time with the time left before Sunday morning reading from Haggai Chapter one. Our theme this week is on taking care of God's business first and how the scriptures help us get our priorities straight.
    We have several folks in the hospital and life is pretty normal for the church. We are holding on to our faith, and praying for God's healing power to be with those who are sick, and for his grace and consolation to be with those who mourn. We praise the Lord that God is able to celebrate with us when we have reason to celebrate, and to comfort us and put people around us to help us and strengthen us, when we are weak or suffering. God's work is amazing, and this day we give him the praise for health and strength to serve him yet another week. Peace to you.

How much do you love lost people?

     After the elections on November 2, there are lots of new starts getting ready to happen. For some that is good news, and for some that is sad news. Some are happy with the changes that are to come, some are not. Look at how life in the church is not disconnected from the society that surrounds us. That is not so different for the life of the church as we wrap up one year and make plans to head into the new year. Goals change. Leaders change. Budgets are adjusted and recreated year by year to meet the present needs. And the work of Christ remains our constant challenge, year in and year out, our commission is the same: to teach people how to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
      In Boone on Saturday night, I saw my first snow flakes of the year. A great way to remind me that winter is close at hand and all the business of fall that has not been completed needs to be addressed.  We still have before us the setting of our goals for ministry for the coming year.  I had a pastor friend tell me to read what Bishop Goodpaster had preached on November 2, 2010 to the Council of Bishops in Panama. So, having some time on my hands last night, I searched the net until I found the sermon. I do recommend it to you. It is a huge challenge to the whole United Methodist Church to re-think how we are doing church because if we keep doing what we have been doing, and keep getting what we have been getting, it will be a disaster for the church because our present course is not sustainable. I hope you will take a couple of minutes to read the sermon and receive the challenge before our whole connected United Methodist Church.  I am really proud of our Here is the link to the full sermon by our bishop: http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=4569383&ct=8853557. I am really proud of our bishop for taking a stand to help our church get more on task for making disciples for Jesus Christ.
   Have we grown so content with just trying to find people to fill the slots and doing our business as usual Sunday to Sunday, and trying to raise enough funds to keep our doors open, that we have lost the main focus of winning lost people to Christ? I think that is an important question that the Bishop addresses. How successful is your church in making disciples for Jesus Christ? Do we talk about who we are trying to reach? Do we care? I challenge you to give thought and prayer to the love we display to our community for people who are lost and living far from Christ? My prayer is that God will put a love in the hearts of the United Methodist Church to love lost people like God loves lost people. Rev. Evelyn Lemons