World Communion Sunday - October 3rd

"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

This Sunday we celebrate World Communion Sunday. This is one of six Sundays throughout the year in which we take a special offering to support the ministries of the United Methodist Church. Envelopes will be provided at the worship service to make a donation. Any money donated will support:

• World Communion scholarships, administered by the General Board of Global Ministries with at least one-half of the annual amount for ministries beyond the United States.
• ethnic scholarship and ethnic in-service training programs related to the General Board of High Education and Ministry.

World Communion Sunday is not just celebrated by the United Methodist Church. The first Sunday of October is celebrated as World Communion Sunday by many different Christian denominations. We are a diverse group, but this is one day when we come together to show that we are one body. We are united as the body of Christ. When we gather this Sunday for the bread and wine, let us remember what Christ did for each one of us and let us remember that we are all one in Christ.

I hope that you will be able to join us this Sunday. Our worship service will have a different format than usual, with various members of the congregations participating in the worship service. The scripture readings for this Sunday are:

• Mark 14:22-25
• Hebrews 10:12-18
• Matthew 13:33
• 1 Corinthians 10:14-17
• 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Evening Worship Service

At 7:00PM this Sunday, we will also have a worship service at Tabor UMC. The service will have more contemporary music and will have a more informal feeling to it. The focus of our scripture readings and the message will be around the idea of Sabbath and how we might be able to practice Sabbath in our hectic lives.

First Confirmation Class for 2010-2011

Last night was the first Confirmation class for 2010-2011 at Oakfield and Tabor. We have grown to a class for four 8th graders! I was warned that they were going to be quiet group. ;-). After our first class, I think they were doing just fine!

Last night we took some time to get to know each other better and we took a little "pre-test" about what we knew about Christianity and the church.

Next week we will dig into the first lesson of the CREDO curriculum: Creation. If you are interested in learning more about this curriculum, you can see it HERE.

I am excited for what this year holds. Last year was my first attempt at Confirmation. I thought some things went well and some other things didn't go so well. I like this new curriculum and I think it offers opportunities that I did not have last year.

Stay tuned for future Confirmation updates!

Stop Complaining!

"Do everything without complaining." - Philippians 2:14

During a commercial during lunch today, I read the devotional from The Upper Room. It was titled "Complain, Complain" and it talked about how we can model Christian behavior at all times. It said don't complain.

I had been mulling this over in my head in a ride over to Waupun. I had to stop at the grocery store to pick something up. I had one item. The woman in front of me had a full cart of stuff. In my head I thought, "She's seen my one item...she'll let me go in front of her." Not so, she continues on with her transaction.

I found myself getting frustrated. Granted, I had no one to complain to at the moment, but I was complaining to myself. I was letting this get to me.

Then I realized something. If I really thought it was that important to go next, I could have asked. Maybe she was also in a hurry. In the end, her purchase took but a few minutes and I was still early to my appointment. It wasn't an issue. I let it become an issue. If I knew I had a little extra time, I could said taken some time for prayer. Why get angry?

How easy can it be for us to read something, think we understand it and then totally blow an opportunity to practice it? Patience, patience, patience...and quit complaining!

Pork Chop Supper Complete!

Another Pork Chop Supper at Oakfield United Methodist Church is in the books! While the final numbers won't be available for a few days, the preliminary results are very promising. Based on submitted tickets, we served over 400 folks at the event. We will make close to $3000 for the event after our expenses.

It will be wonderful to see that money going out into the community to support local mission projects!

Thank you to everyone who attended Saturday's event and for the many, many folks who put in long hours to make it happen. What a blessing!

Preview of Sunday, September 26

"For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows." - 1 Timothy 6:10

The popular saying goes, "Money is the root of all evil." If you took at the opening verse to this E-mail, Paul doesn't tell Timothy that money is the root of all evil. Love of money is a source of evil. To be rich is not sinful. But to love and hoard your wealth, to allow money to become the focus of your life...then you have strayed away from the faith. Paul ends his letter to Timothy by talking about how to lead a good life, a life filled with good works.

Jesus shares a parable in our Gospel lesson for Sunday. It is a similar call to decide what you will do with the riches and wealth that you are given. Listen to a message helping to explain the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. What can we do to not overlook the people in need around us?

The Scripture lessons for this Sunday are:

• Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
• Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
• Luke 16:19-31
• 1 Timothy 6:6-19

Sunday Evening Worship

We will be having an evening worship service at 7:00PM at Oakfield UMC. If your work schedule, or you sleep schedule, make it difficult to come to our morning worship services, I hope you might be able to join us for our evening service. We celebrate Communion at every service and we swing more contemporary music. We will also take some time to examine the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus.

Pork Chop Supper - This Saturday!

I wanted to extend an invitation to everyone who might be nearby and would enjoy a wonderful meal cooked by the members of Oakfield United Methodist Church. Please join us for the:

Pork Chop Supper

September 25, 2010

4:00-8:00PM

Oakfield UMC - 220 South Main St.

The menu includes: pork chops, parsley/butter potatoes, green beans with bacon, homemade applesauce, pineapple cabbage salad, dinner rolls, homemade tortes, and coffee & milk.

Tickets are $9.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. They can be purchased on site. Carry outs are available. We will be selling candy bars and will all be having a silent auction in the narthex to support our Summer 2011 mission trip.

I hope you can make it!

The Joys of Technology

Christa tells me over and over how much she doesn't like technology. My usual response is that she just better get used to it because we are getting more and more reliant on technology, whether she likes or not.

We do not have an iPad, an iPod Touch, DVR, BluRay and many of the other cutting edge technologies in our home. We are content with an HDTV and a DVD player. We seem to be getting by just fine.

A few months ago, after much thought, I upgraded my phone and got a "smartphone." This of course meant a "data plan" which means that I need to spend extra money for the phone and the plan.

So far, I have enjoyed having the phone and the plan. I have discovered lots of applications through my phone that have helped me to be more organized in work and life. I especially found a task list program that works really great!

Two issues within the last two weeks:

• While getting ready on a Sunday morning, my phone slipped out of my hands an landed screen down on the floor. The glass now looks more like a spiderweb...but the phone still works. Not wanting to drop the money for a new phone and too cheap to by the insurance, I used some packing tape and the phone still functions.
• When upgrading from a free to a paid version of my To Do list application, I did not know that my doing the upgrade, all of the tasks that I had thus far would be deleted. I tried to remember the 68 tasks that I had in there before. I got up to 59...so we'll see what I foget to get done in the next few weeks.

Oh the joys of technology!