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 |
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:
- The apostle's teaching - sound doctrine in a confusing
world.
- The fellowship - participating, sharing and
communicating with others.
- Breaking of bread - less formal times of friendship,
eating, laughing and relationships.
- 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." |
