FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Tuesday, November 17th, 2020
The “Hanging of the Greens” has been cancelled on November 22, 2020
Youth Wreath Fund Raiser
The annual wreath sale will continue amid Covid-19! We have moved the order form to an online format or you can call the church at 937-696-2502 to place your order. Orders are due Wednesday, November 25th and they will be delivered to your home by a youth/church member on Saturday, December 5th (local deliveries only, please). Contactless delivery is available – just note your preference on the order form. Checks (no cash) must be sent to the church with “Wreaths” on the memo line to complete your order. This fundraiser benefits the youth group to support their endeavors throughout the year. We thank the congregation for your continued support! Here is the order link: https://forms.gle/B2m79eahm3RQH9Ms8
Mission and Community Outreach
The Mission Team is partnering with the Dayton Women’s New Life Center collecting donations in the form of new or gently used baby items. Items can be dropped off at the church or call to arrange a pick up.
Scripture – Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
Reflection – In Your Going
The word ‘make’ in this phrase has always bothered me. It seems a little dehumanizing to ‘make’ people something. So I was greatly inspired to learn the phrase ‘go make disciples’, could just as easily be translated ‘in your going, make disciples’.
So let’s look at this. You have some sense of the light of God that is within you. It changes the way you live. Your conscience does not keep you up at night. You feel good about the way you interact with your world. You pray or do daily devotion, like this one, or you take part in some spiritual practice which gives you strength, hope, or direction.
So how can you, ‘in your going’, share this light? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Tell a friend or co-worker how church, God, devotion or doing mission has shaped you.
2. While driving, if you can safely do so, call someone having a tough time. Pray for them all week, and then call them again at the end of the week.
3. Before you go to the grocery, add items to your list that have been requested by the food pantry, which we show on the slides after worship.
4. While poking around on Facebook or other social media, invite someone to watch our service. Or just send them a private message of encouragement.
5. Double up on dinner portions and take them to a family on the ‘meal train’.
In all of these situations, you have already done or already are doing most of the work. Add another 10 percent to your effort, and amazingly, you have reached someone in God’s name. Maybe this is where that phrase, ‘Give 110 percent’ comes from?
These are dark times for so many. In my experience, sharing my light has often mattered much more than I could imagine. I am confident you will have this experience too. It is just the way God works, when we let him work through us.
God, who spoke through Jesus and still speaks through the Bible and the Holy Spirit today, when we have so much to do, it is hard to think of adding another task. But with a little effort on our part, You can help us multiply the work we have already done. Help us prioritize making disciples, or at least reaching out to people in love and in Your name. We are thankful for the light You pour into our lives. Help us, we pray, prepare to regularly share this light as we go through our day. Amen.