WEEKLY CALENDAR

SUNDAY MAY 31 ** New Broadcast Schedule **
Day of Pentecost
10:00 a.m. R.L. Pope Class Broadcasts “Pre-Recordings” each Sunday on WGOS AM 1070
11:00 a.m. Live Online Worship via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070
We will be recognizing our high school graduates in this Sunday’s 11:00 a.m. worship service.

MONDAY JUNE 1 – FRIDAY JUNE 5
10:00 a.m. 10 @ 10 Weekday Devotions via Facebook

WEDNESDAY JUNE 3
The Weekly Update via Facebook

SUNDAY MAY JUNE 7 ** New Broadcast Schedule **
Trinity Sunday
10:00 a.m. R.L. Pope Class Broadcasts “Pre-Recordings” each Sunday on WGOS AM 1070
11:00 a.m. Live Online Worship via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070

UPCOMING DATES

YOUTH REUNION POSTPONED: The Youth Reunion originally scheduled for Saturday June 6th has been postponed. The new date has not yet been set.

WOMEN’S RETREAT, SEPT. 4-7:  The Women’s Retreat originally scheduled for this month has been rescheduled for September 4-7. Mark your calendars for this special opportunity, and contact Lynda Hepler to confirm your registration or with questions.

ONLINE WORSHIP CONTINUES

The Pastors and leaders of Memorial UMC are aware of the recent exemption of churches from the Executive Order regarding mass gatherings. Even though the exemption has been made, the imminent dangers related to the transmission of the Covid-19 virus remain. Because of our love for one another and our neighbors, we are of one mind that the safest venues for worship will continue to be via Facebook Live and WGOS 1070. We will not resume worshipping face to face until a later date. This decision is in keeping with the recommendation of our Bishop Paul Leland and other denominational leaders.

We look forward to that time when we can worship together and we are making plans to provide for the safest experience possible. Thank you for your continued efforts in taking care of one another during these “different times.” May God’s grace and peace be abundant in your life.

PRAYER CONCERNS

If you or a loved one would like to be added to the prayer list, please contact Lorna McCullough at 336-259-5814. If you put a name on the list, please keep in touch to let us know how that person is doing, as names are removed after three weeks. During the coming week, please pray for:

The United Methodist Church
All Military Personnel
Our UM Missionaries
Tracy Brinkley
Chris Eddinger
Tim Priska
Tyler Oldaker
Dallas Hutchens
Dave Ogren
Evelyn Tew
Andrea Cain and Family
Kim Henderson
Robert Miller
Debbie Mayer-Mathews
All those affected by Coronavirus
Our First Responders, Medical Community, and Essential Workers
Finley Price Family
Peggy Lawrence
Josie Laumann
Rob James
Brandon Rorie
The Family of Frances Cook
The Family of Janie Manuel
The Family of Frances Brinkley
The Family of Sarah Grove
Michelle Smith

We extend our prayers and sympathy to Judy Smith and the family of Baxter Gallimore, Judy’s brother-in-law, who died May 25, 2020.

Obituary for David Baxter Gallimore 

PANTRY ITEMS NEEDED

Thank you for your continued giving to CCM. Current needs are listed below. You may drop off donations at the church, placing them on the Mission Racks in the breezeway.

CLOTH FACE MASKS BENEFIT SALE

Memorial’s Doris Link is selling handmade cloth face masks for $5 each, with all proceeds going to offset medical expenses for her daughter’s journey toward a kidney transplant. You may reach Doris at dlinksewgirl@gmail.com. She wants you to know she may be slow to respond to email as she is also working, but she will follow up with you to arrange delivery and payment (cash is preferred). Fabric options are shown in the photo at left, numbered so you can let her know your choices.

CLERGY AND STAFF ARE AVAILABLE

You may contact members of the staff directly or by calling the church office at 336-472-7718 and following the instructions on the recording. Here is a list of staff phone extensions and email addresses, for reference:

Danny Leonard, Senior Minister – Ext. 16; dleonard@mumctville.org
Peggy Finch, Associate Minister – Ext. 15; pfinch@mumctville.org
Rodney Denton, Minister of Youth and Young Adults – Ext. 18; rdenton@mumctville.org
Lynda Hepler, Minister of Children and Families – Ext. 11; lhepler@mumctville.org
Brian Russell, Director of Contemporary Worship – Ext. 20; brussell@mumctville.org
Danny Frye, Director of Music – Ext. 12; dfrye@mumctville.org
Susan Frye, Secretary – Ext. 14; sfrye@mumctville.org
Peggy May, Financial Secretary/Treasurer – Ext. 13; pmay@mumctville.org
Jarry Oldaker, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds – Ext. 17; joldaker@mumctville.org

FEATURED DEVOTION

We close this week’s eNews with an excerpt from the 10@10 devotion shared by Lynda Hepler on March 23, 2020.

One of the blessings of being a part of a church with multiple clergy is that we each bring our own unique personality and thoughts to share with you each day. I appreciate greatly the words of Danny and Rodney last week. Both gave us words of comfort and glimpses of hope in this time of challenge for us.

This morning I’d like to begin with a prayer that I use each day before I begin my devotional:

Father, you created us and put us on earth for a purpose.
Jesus, you died for us and called us to complete your work.
Holy Spirit, you help us to carry out the work for which we were created and called.
In your presence and name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we begin our reflection.
May all our thoughts and inspirations have their origin in you and be directed to your glory. Amen.

Our scripture today is from 1 John 3:18. “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” I love how the Good News version writes this verse. It goes: “Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.”

I wonder how many of you have been doing a little TV binge watching? I have, a little, while staying around the house in our self-imposed quarantine. Something my family loves to do together is watch movies. We love family movies with lots of humor. My youngest daughter loves slapstick humor. We recently watched a movie called Nine Lives. It’s about a business guru who is obsessed with his business. He has a family—wife, son, and daughter. But he spends all his energy in promoting and building his company, his name, which coincidentally is “Brand.” In the movie he goes to buy his daughter a cat for her birthday, and he gets into an accident and wakes up inside the cat. The pet shop owner tells him he has one week to reconnect to his family or he’ll stay a feline forever.

Over the week he spends a lot of time trying to convince everyone of who he is, but cats can’t talk. His antics are very funny to watch but exasperating for the family until he finally sees how much his little girl is hurting over his accident and needs a friend. He finally decides to be a cat and be the friend that she needs. Over the course of the next few days the family begins to see glimpses of the man in the cat through his acts of love and companionship. I won’t spoil the end of the movie for you if you haven’t seen it, but I share this as an example of letting our love show through our actions.

Our scripture says that our love should not just be words and talk; it must be true love which shows itself in action. I once heard a preacher say that the opposite of love is not hate, but fear. The more I think about that, the more I believe it is true. Fear manifests itself in many ways. It can make us hate; it can make us greedy and selfish. Many people are living in fear of scarcity. We’ve all seen the news and Facebook videos of people hoarding toilet paper and standing in lines at the local meat markets. I want to remind us that we should live in love not fear. The Bible shows us over and over again how God so abundantly loved us first.

God is always showing his love through action. I think back to the Exodus story where the people of God are following Moses out into the wilderness and they get thirsty for water. They whine and complain, and Moses prays to God; and God instructs him on how to get water by striking a rock with his staff. Then the people get hungry and God provides again by sending manna and quail each day. Here’s the interesting part of the story. God wouldn’t allow the people to hoard extra food for their family. It would immediately spoil. They could only take what they needed for that day. The people had to learn to put their trust in God to provide. And God did provide, faithfully showing his love for his people. I think of the passage from Luke 12, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”

God does and will provide for us because he loves us. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world at this time. We are to show true love, agape love, through acts of selflessness.

This is a lesson the children’s choir has been learning over the last couple of weeks as they prepare and continue to prepare for our spring musical called “Unselfie.” The premise of the story is that rather than taking selfies of ourselves that are self-serving, we should take selfies of ourselves helping others. Let’s put our love into action this week. Call and check on a friend or family member. Share what you have with someone in need. Maybe God has given us this time to learn what it means to be in community, what it means to show real love in our actions. Maybe this is our time during this season of Lent for our own transformation into a new creation in Christ.

Will you pray with me the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Thanks for joining me today!

YOU CAN WATCH AND READ ALL 10 @ 10 DEVOTIONS HERE.