Black Widows

Good morning Trinity Tribe,

I had a bit of a fright over the weekend. I was trimming bushes around the parsonage…trying to get all the vines out and the dead branches. I was trying to get rid of a volunteer pecan tree intertwined with an azalea clipped out. I looked at my clippers and saw a huge black widow spider within an inch of my finger. And when I say huge, I mean huge. Her body was the size of the end of my thumb. I screamed like a girl and backed away from the bushes. Mark thought I had been bitten by a snake. We worked together as a team to catch and murder the black widow. It really upset me, so I was done trimming for the day after that. However, I will have to face my fear and get back to trimming. The landscaping needs some serious TLC. However, this time I will actually wear gloves. I don't like gloves because I like getting my hands dirty and it is easier to grab things. However, I forgot about the dangers of the out of doors. I didn't take good care of myself. Now, I think I have learned my lesson!

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul reminds us that we must take care of our bodies. "9Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

So, how are we going to take care of our bodies this week? Are we going to walk for 15 minutes? Are we going to wear clothing to protect us from the sun? Are we going to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables? Let's take good care of our gift from God today and every day!

Seals

Good morning Trinity Tribe,

Starting yesterday, Hanna started sounding like a seal with the
wonderful barking cough of croup. Croup is one of those illnesses you
cannot do much about. You shut the person up in the bathroom with the
hot water from the shower making steam and it helps…until you step out
of the bathroom. You can go out into the cool night air…and it helps
for a moment. But no cough medicine available at the drug store will
do a thing.

Sin is like that. We can try to wash off our sins on our own…but they
are still there. We can try to do good things to make up for our bad
ones, but that doesn't help. There is only one prescription to get
rid of the symptoms of sin: the life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Only when we admit our sin and ask for forgiveness can
our sins be wiped away. Jesus already took care of all of them two
thousand years ago.

In Hebrews 4 (Message version) it explains it this way: Now that we
know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to
God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest
who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and
testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to
him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the
help.

In 1 John chapter 1 it says: If we claim that we're free of sin,
we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On
the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he
won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins
and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned,
we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like
that only shows off our ignorance of God.

God sets us free from the burden of our sins through Jesus Christ. We
just have to ask for that freedom by confessing our sins. Let's get
set free and ask for the help of Jesus!

Stewards

Good morning Trinity Tribe,

I hope you are well this morning! We have had an interesting morning
so far! We have a Ford Expedition. It has been a wonderful car for
carpooling and for bringing friends home with us and of course moving
all our worldly possessions to Red Springs. However, in the last
several weeks it has refused to start. The battery keeps dying. And
Ford has had a hard time diagnosing it because when you jump the car,
it resets the computer inside the brain of the vehicle. So, today, it
was towed to the dealer dead as a doornail so that they can fix what
is wrong! (hopefully!) However, it did give us an opportunity to
walk to work today.

Yesterday, at a wonderful Laity Sunday, Roger Sheets reminded us why
driving a big car like that which only gets 18-25 miles to a gallon
isn't such a good idea. To be blunt, we are killing our planet with
our addiction to plastic and driving big cars and the like. God gave
us creation to live in yet we tear down the forests, drive animals to
extinction, and destroy mountains in order to burn coal.

The message is hard to hear. We feel hopeless. However, Psalm 71:5
reminds us, "For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my
youth." And Romans 15:13 tell us, "May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy
Spirit you may abound in hope."

There is hope. The earth does not have to be completely destroyed.
However, it will take actions from people like you and me. What are
we each willing to do? What conveniences are we willing to give up?
Could we stop using styrofoam? Could we walk to church or the bank or
the grocery store? Could we bring our own boxes for our leftovers
from restaurants? Could we bring our own fabric bags rather than use
the plastic ones at the grocery store? Let's share our ideas for
cutting down waste, plastic use, and ways to use less energy. If you
would like to continue the conversation Roger started yesterday, he
has several interesting videos that we could watch and discuss.

What are we willing to do to be good stewards of God's creation?

98…99….100

Good Morning to you in the Trinity Tribe,

Today is a special day! It probably isn't on your calendar, but it is definitely on mine! Today is my 100th day at Trinity as your pastor. My doesn't time fly! I have been reflecting on what this first 100 days with you have held. We have said goodbye to some wonderful women who were important to us. We have dined together at the Lord's Table four times. We have spent a lot of time reading the Bible. We have started new Sunday School classes and new Bible studies. We had an AMAZING Family Fun Night! We have enjoyed some amazing Trinity cooking! We have had a few meetings. We have done a lot of renovation to the parsonage and some to the church building itself. Unfortunately, we have not had a full house on Sunday mornings at worship or in Sunday School. We have only taken in one new member who happens to be my husband. We have lost 4 members to death and had two transfer to other churches. And the financial picture for Trinity of late has been uncomfortably slim.

So, what are you willing to work on during our next 100 days together? I will continue to put good work into my sermons. However, I was serious in my sermon yesterday. I would like feedback. Do the sermons walk and talk out in the world on Monday morning or do they remain in the sanctuary? I will continue to visit people who invite me. So, please invite me! I will continue to work on balancing the paperwork aspect of being the pastor, especially without secretarial support, with the important part of being with people. I continue to pray about who we can invite to be a part of our congregation that isn't with us on Sundays already and continue to be invitational to the people I meet. I will continue to raise the issue of giving to the church and to the world. Gathering money on a Sunday morning is about spiritual health, about what real life is all about, and about acknowledging who’s we are rather than the pastor trying to get a raise. I will continue to pray fervently for you.

What else do I need to focus my time on? What do you think are the burning issues for Trinity? Who has not been to church that might need a note or card or personal invitation to come back? Where can you and I partner together to provide radical hospitality to others as well as take risks in mission and ministry to the world? Where can you and I work together to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for intentional spiritual development for all ages? Where can you and I partner to make sure we have passionate worship? What must you and I do to help people understand that extravagant generosity blesses the giver even more than the recipient?

Where will we be 100 days from now? Where will we be 1000 days from now? Where will we be 10,000 days from now?

I pray that you have a wonderful day!

Important Calendar Items to Note:
1. Remember that tomorrow night is Charge Conference at 7:30. (I had it incorrectly in last week's bulletin for 7pm. It is definitely at 7:30.) We will worship together and then go over all the business for the church for the year.
2. Bible study will meet Wednesday morning at 10am. Nurture committee will me right afterwards.
3. I will be at a meeting about rural church ministry tomorrow (Tuesday) all day. So, please call my cell phone if you need something immediately. However, I will be out in a rural area, so I can't promise to have signal!
4. No choir this week because of Charge Conference. Please sit with your families and friends this Sunday.
5. This Sunday is Children's Sabbath. Make sure that your kids and grandkids are here! It will be a special day!
Please send in your vote for the Lay Ministry of the year. I have attached a ballot or there are plenty available at the church. Help us select the most effective ministry for 2010.

Homecoming is Coming! For all you out of town folks, don't forget that the last Sunday of October is Homecoming! We would love to see you on October 31st at 10:45 for worship and then in the Fellowship Hall for lunch afterward! Put it on your calendar!


I wish we had the capability of showing videos during worship. If so, this would be the perfect one to have for the Sunday closest to Veteran's Day. I invite you to watch it. It was very thought provoking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KTb6qdPu8JE