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Sammy Speaks

I'm Ba-ack!
June 23, 2008

It’s exciting to be reappointed to this great church family at FUMC, Irving for another year. When Bill Monty made the announcement, he referred to the fact that my hours were changing a little. This is due to two reasons. First, being gone for the full day on MWF has become a little difficult to manage with some of the needs I have at home with Barbara. Secondly, I have been asked to help get the Annual Conference Video Production Studio up and running. I’ll spend a few hours one day a week out there. I will still be in Irving on MWF but the hours will be less and more flexible. I’ll be making hospital calls primarily on Mondays and Fridays. Sean will be visiting the hospitals in Irving on Wednesdays. I place a high value on the opportunity to visit and pray with people, so please feel free to call me at home or on my cell phone at any time. If you don’t have those numbers, you can get them from the church office. If you want to see some of my woodworking projects, you can check them out at www.samswoodshop.com. There are also pictures of my grandkids there.

This coming Sunday we will be having members from Bethlehem Christian Families with us in the Narthex. They will have a table with hand carved items from the Holy Land. These are available for purchase and all the proceeds go to help Christian families in the city of Bethlehem, Israel who are in danger of losing their businesses due to the political problems there. I bought a few pieces when I was in Israel several years ago, and I look forward to seeing what they have. The olive wood is quite beautiful. It’s a very good way to get a jump on some Christmas shopping.

Blessings to all,

Sammy

 

Number Crunching
When I'm 64 ...

November 26, 2007

This week I will have my 64th birthday and it got me thinking about age and numbers. There are 7 of us in this congregation who share the same birthday (Hope you all had a good day). There are fourteen 63-year-olds and there are fifteen 64-year-olds. Then I started wondering about the age distribution in our congregation and I ran some numbers on the computer. Keeping church computer records accurate and up to date is almost impossible, but the chart below is based on what is currently in our computer for those who have given us a birthday year. The surprise was that the largest group on roll is in the 20-29 age category. Then I ran the numbers for age groups who had been in worship at least 10 times this past year. The largest group on roll (20-29) had the lowest percentage of attendance (7.58%), and it was the 70-79 year old group that had the highest percentage of attendance (81.82%). When you look at how many attended worship at least 20 times this year, the younger group had 4 (3%) and the older group had 43 (78%).

You can interpret numbers and statistics in a wide variety of ways, but however you look at it, there are some serious implications for the future. These trends are similar to what is being experienced by most United Methodist congregations. Our forthcoming Centennial Celebration gives us a good opportunity to work on getting our membership information as current and accurate as we can, and it also is incumbent on us to look at our membership trends and do what we can to insure the continued strength and viability of this great congregation.

Age Range

Number in Computer 

Number in worship 10+ times 

Percentage in worship
10+ times
(averaged)

0-2

18

0% 

3-5

25

11

44%

6-12

78

20

26%

13-19

81

20

25%

20-29

132

10

8%

30-39

102

15

15%

40-49

80

20

25%

50-59

90

32

36%

60-69

81

50

62%

70-79

55

45

82%

80-89

57

36

63%

90+

10

5

50%

 

 

 

 

Totals

809

264

32.63%

 

A Prayer for the Church
A Prayer for the Ephesians (and for FUMC, Irving)

October 29, 2007

For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

As I was thinking about what I wanted to write for the paper this week, my attention was directed to the above passage. It is a great blessing and joy to be one of the pastors of this flock, and in the role of a pastor, you increasingly become aware of the many concerns and needs that are shared by members of the congregation. In the year and a half that David and I have been here we have visited many of you in the hospital, and as our All Saints service showed yesterday, there have been a significant number who have gone home to be with the Lord. Consequently, there are many who face life daily without the company of a loved one. The surviving spouse bears the burdens of illness, maintaining a home, and paying the bills alone. Others face serious illness, either their own or that of a family member. I could go on listing issues that we deal with, but the reality is that we have problems and needs in our lives. In this passage from Ephesians, Paul speaks powerfully to our need for strength and encouragement. Along with David and Sean, I pray that you will be strengthened in your inner being through the Spirit of Christ, and I pray that all of us will be reminded that God is able to do far more that we can even think or ask. To God be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen!


Someone requested that I print Sunday evening's sermon in the newsletter so here is a brief recap.
August 20, 2007

Title: Our Need for One Another
Scripture: Acts 2: 42-47

From this passage we see that the early church was devoted to four things:

  1. The apostle's teaching - sound doctrine in a confusing world.
  2. The fellowship - participating, sharing and communicating with others.
  3. Breaking of bread - less formal times of friendship, eating, laughing and relationships.
  4. Prayer - the source of their power.

Various studies have shown that people are less involved with others than they used to be. They are attending fewer political meetings, signing fewer petitions, signing fewer letters to the editors, attending fewer club meetings, entertaining less friends at their home, attending fewer church services and giving less blood. For too many, "it's all about me." 2Timothy 3:1-2a says, "but mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves." Social isolation is a painful issue. The question for us is: "Why do we need the church and why would we bother to come to worship and other such activities?"

1. The Church protects its members from outside threats.

1Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." The most vulnerable members of any herd, flock or family are those who have strayed or have been left behind. In john 10, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep."

In days when there is so much confusion in our culture, we need the sound teaching of Scripture to keep us straight.

2. The church is your primary source of encouragement, support and accountability.

Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others." Too many folks have a consumer mentality when it comes to church. They shop to find what pleases them. If they don't like the music or the preacher or being asked to do more than sit in a pew, that's too bad. So they fins another [church] or just quit looking. Worship is essential but events like ice-cream socials are important, too. We truly bond when we laugh, play and pray together.

3. The church needs you and your gifts in order to operate effectively.

Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." There are people you know that no one else in the church knows. There are lives you can touch that no one else can touch. The church and its leaders especially need your prayers. If we really want revival, that is where success will be found. Prayer was the source of power for the early church, and if we want power to make a difference in our world, prayer is where we must find it too.

1Cornithians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

Sammy Speaks
on Scripture

Sammy Hargrove

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