MEMORIAL UMC’s MISSION…

We are CALLED by Christ to GROW in faith, BUILD relationships, and SERVE all people.

WEEKLY CALENDAR

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 6
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
10 a.m. R.L. Pope Class by Kyles Wallace via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070
11 a.m. Live Worship Online via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7
Labor Day
9:00-11:00 a.m. Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook
5:00-7:00 p.m.  Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8
8:00 a.m. Men’s Prayer Meeting Online via Zoom (contact Brian Russell)
9:00-11:00 a.m. Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook
5:00-7:00 p.m.  Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)
5:30 p.m.  Outdoor Yoga in the Church Back Yard (Weather permitting)

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9
The Weekly Update via Facebook
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook
6:00 p.m. Youth Small Groups via Zoom (contact Rodney Denton)

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10
9:00-11:00 a.m. Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook
5:00-7:00 p.m.  Internet Access Remote Learning Cafe (Fellowship Hall)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
10 a.m. R.L. Pope Class by Allen Brown via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070
11 a.m. Live Worship Online via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070
6 p.m. Evening Vespers Outdoors (See announcement below.)

UPCOMING DATES
SEPT. 17   RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE
SEPT. 30   CCM MONTHLY DROP-OFF EVENT

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…

Katie Ballard and family
Charlotte Rorie
Carol Kaiser
Nancy McLain
Josef Walker
Sam Branson
Dean Sharpe-Austin
Kay Eanes
Jim and Barbara Westmoreland
Grant Brinkley and Family
Finley Price Family
Robert Miller
Andrea Cain and Family
Dave Ogren
Dallas Hutchens
Tyler Oldaker
Tim Priska
Chris Eddinger
Tracy Brinkley
Peace and justice in our nation, state, and city
Our First Responders, Medical Community, and Essential Workers
All those affected by COVID-19
Our UM Missionaries
All Military Personnel
The United Methodist Church

We extend our prayers and sympathy to the family of Jeanette Branson, who died August 27, 2020. The obituary for Jeanette is found at www.jcgreenandsons.com/obituary/JeanetteCarolynElliott-Branson.

We extend our prayers and sympathy to Brandon and Carrie Rorie and family on the death of Brandon’s father, Robert Rorie, August 30, 2020.

OUTDOOR VESPERS SERVICE TO BEGIN   

CHURCH LAWN
SUNDAYS AT 6:00 PM
BEGINNING SEPT. 13

We are pleased to offer an additional opportunity for you to share in worship! On Sunday September 13 at 6:00 p.m.,  you are invited to bring your lawn chair and come join others for a time of worship on the church lawn. We will sing familiar hymns and share prayers, scripture readings, and a homily. We hope you will dress casually and find this time to be both inspirational and relaxing. This service allows us to gather safely, yet still come together for worship. Our plans are to continue the service each Sunday evening until the time that we can safely return to the sanctuary.

We will continue live-streaming worship at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday morning on Facebook Live and WGOS 1070 AM.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES DRIVE 

It’s Back to School time and we are collecting needed supplies for area students. Collection bins are set up outside of the church reception door at the Mission Racks for easy drop-off. Thank you for your generosity helping students with the learning materials they need.

  • Paper
  • Notebooks
  • Glue Sticks
  • Folders
  • Safety Scissors
  • Crayons
  • Markers
  • Erasers
  • Highlighters
  • Colored Pencils
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Sanitizing wipes

WE NEED YOU!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

School will begin for the Thomasville City Schools on August 17, but the school buildings will remain empty. Students will learn remotely for a while. It will be imperative for children to have access to the Internet and there are some who do not. We are pleased to partner with TCS to provide an Internet access site for remote learning for students. We will open the church for two-hour periods on select days during the week for students needing Internet access.

In order to accomplish this, we will need church folks who will give a couple hours of their time to be present. This is not a tutoring service. Students will sign up, and we will limit the number of children at each session. All safety precautions will be followed. Tables will be set up to ensure social distancing, and students will be expected to wear masks, wash their hands prior to entering, and have their temperature taken. Children K-8 must be accompanied by an adult.

The church will be open on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m.  Two volunteers will be needed for each session. To sign up please use the Signup Genius link here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0545A8AF28A02-remote.

STUDENT REMOTE LEARNING INTERNET ACCESS CAFE  

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP or call the office at 336-472-7718.

Please sign up one time slot for each child in your family who will be using internet access for remote learning. Children grades K-8 will require an adult chaperone. High schoolers must pre-register but no chaperone is required. This service is to provide internet access only. We will not be able to provide tutoring.

Students and chaperones will be required to wear a face mask, sanitize their hands, and have their temperature checked by a volunteer before entering the space. You will have an assigned table.

Parents please note if you have more than one child attending so that we can group you as close together as possible.

Location: Memorial UMC Christian Enrichment Center

101 Randolph St, Thomasville, NC 27360

A/V VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WORSHIP 

Do you enjoy photography? Interested in the latest information technology? We need a few good men and women to train as video camera operators. If you have any interest in helping us take this step forward in virtual broadcasting, please notify Susan Frye (sfrye@mumctville.org or 336-472-7718) or Harold Vannoy (hvobwnknob@gmail.com or 336-240-9524) who will get you in touch with the right persons. We will need this help in the near future to execute this critical outreach mission. Thank you!

R.L. POPE CLASS NEW ONLINE LESSONS

SUNDAYS AT 10:00 A.M. on WGOS

The R. L. Pope Class is excited to announce the return of new, weekly online lessons. Tune in to WGOS on your radio or computer.

Teaching Schedule:
September 6   Kyles Wallace
September 13   Allen Brown
September 20 Harold Vannoy
September 27   Richard Herman

PUMPKIN UPDATE

There is mixed news in the pumpkin department. We have made the decision not to host a pumpkin patch in 2020. We do this with the health of the many volunteers in mind–both those who download and those who manage the pumpkin sales and interact with the public. We WILL be setting up our traditional fall harvest photo backdrop in the church yard, and it will be available for photo ops October 10 through November 1. We regret that the change in plans will come as a disappointment, and we appreciate your understanding of a difficult decision. We eagerly anticipate the return of our pumpkin patch in October 2021.

 

Peace

This is an excerpt from What does the Bible mean by “peace”? You can read the full article HERE.

…  In the New Testament, Paul begins his letters, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The bishops explained, “Paul’s letters announce that Jesus Christ is “our peace.” It is Christ who “broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us,” creating one humanity, overcoming enmity, so making peace (Ephesians 2:14-19)*.”

 

United Methodists recognize that “God’s earth is aching for peace. Domestic strife, interpersonal violence and abuse, civil conflict, ethnic and racial clashes, religious schism and interfaith rivalry, terrorist attacks, wars between nations, and threatened use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons—all of these prevent us from achieving God’s shalom.”

When we pray for peace and offer one another the peace of Christ, we become channels of God’s never-ending peace that reorders the world toward wholeness.

 

When we act in the spirit of Christ, we can “sow love where there is hatred, can dispense pardon where there is injury, can cast light where there is darkness. As instruments of peace and justice, we can seek to replace discord with harmony and to repair the brokenness that shatters the wholeness of shalom.” …

 

* Ephesians 2:14-19

14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body[through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

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
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

FINANCIAL GIVING OPTIONS WHILE THE OFFICE IS CLOSED

Thank you for your ongoing generosity to Memorial. While the office is closed, there are three options for making gifts to Memorial:

The address for mailing checks is:
Memorial UMC
P.O. Box 428
Thomasville, NC 27361-0428

Online gifts can be made securely at https://onrealm.org/mumctville/give/now which can also be accessed from our website homepage.

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) giving can be set up for your recurring tithe. For information on how to arrange this, please email or leave a message for Peggy May, Financial Secretary, at pmay@mumctville.org or 336-472-7718.

FEATURED DEVOTION

We close this week’s eNews with a 10@10 devotion shared by Rodney Denton on July 17, 2020.

Weight on God

This morning I want to talk a little bit about being weary. Not just tired or sleepy, because a good night’s rest is usually the cure for those. The weariness that I am talking about is the result of long-term emotional stress. The kind of stress that one might encounter, say, if one were to live through a public health crisis such as the one the U.S. experienced with the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, or an economic emergency similar to the Great Depression which affected the U.S. in 1929, or the civil unrest akin to the race riots that erupted in our country in 1968. These are all events from our history that made the people living through them feel … weary. However, that’s NOT exactly what we are experiencing right now. Instead, condense all three of these stress-inducing, fear-filled, no-end-in-sight disasters into less than a four-month period—now that is the kind of weariness that I’m talking about this morning. This doesn’t even take into account “murder hornets,” an impeachment trial of a U.S. President, and quite possibly the hardest thing to come to terms with in 2020, a Carolina basketball season that (thankfully) came to an abrupt and much anticipated end! It’s one thing to watch all of this unfold a day at a time, but when I look back on the first half of this year, there is so much to come to terms with. I know with the few people I have had conversations with that I am not the only one who is feeling weary, burdened, and in need of a break! That brings me straight to my scripture this morning. This passage comes from the Gospel of Matthew, and it is a promise from Jesus himself who knows a thing or two about carrying heavy burdens. I love this passage, because it not only provides hope, but it also gives us a purpose for our lives, which seems to be in high demand these days. Now, hear these words from Matthew, Chapter 11, verses 28-30:

28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

This sort of indirectly reminds me of a situation that I found myself in when I was in sixth grade. That year, I made the school basketball team. I was a power forward for the Wallburg Lions! I definitely didn’t play a whole lot, but I did take pride in the fact that I was on the team, and I was able to call myself a basketball player. I got to hang out with the other guys on the team, and, of course, they were all much more popular and cooler than me, so making this team immediately raised what we used to call my “Cool Points” to my all-time high! (Yes, my “cool points” have been on a downhill slide ever since!)

Perhaps the best part about making the basketball team was that my dad took pride in this accomplishment as well! He always loved the game of basketball, and when I made the team, he would not only come and watch the games, but he was there at every practice as well. He would encourage me, and eventually we had a goal erected next to our carport so I could work on my shooting. And occasionally Dad would come out and help me work on different aspects of my game—passing, rebounding, etc. It was a one of those situations that really brought me closer with my dad. Eventually, I got to a point where I really understood the game, the different aspects of defense and offense, and I had this great desire to be the best that I possibly could be. There were just two areas that I could not conquer, and is probably the reason that I decided not to pursue a career in the NBA. Those areas were the running part and the jumping part. Like I said, I had the desire, but I just wasn’t made to play with the big boys. And to this day, put me on the court with elementary school students and even some middle schoolers—I can hold my own. But when they start hitting their growth spurts, I have a little more trouble.

So, in order to help me with the weaker aspects of my game, my dad went out and bought me a set of 5-pound ankle weights. Now, I don’t know if you have ever seen ankle weights, but they are basically sand bags that you can strap around your ankles. The idea is that as you walk around with these sand bags, and in my case run and (try to) jump with them on, they build up the muscles that are needed to run, jump, walk, and whatever you do. Then when you take them off, the idea is that you will be able to run much faster and jump much higher.

So, I used these ankles weights throughout my entire sixth grade basketball career. I would wear them to school, I would wear them to run errands, I would put them on in the morning and they would not come off until I went to bed at night. I wore them every day. I even tried practicing with them a few times. I played hard and did the very best that I could, but I never started a single game. In fact, I was one of those people who only got into the game when the score was so lopsided that it didn’t matter who was playing; the final outcome was certain. And, most disappointing, I never even scored a basket. The truth is that by the end of the season I began to wonder why I ever wore those stupid ankle weights at all. It was hard enough for me to run and jump without them, and all they seemed to do was make me tired. Playing basketball was a whole lot more fun when I just played like I was. I certainly didn’t need any extra burdens to hold me back.

Of course, years later, I look back on those days and realize that those ankle weights are a metaphor for moments of my life that have only been made worse because I kept myself encumbered with unnecessary burdens. For example, deciding to go on a diet and thinking that I can continue to carry the burden of going to a pizza buffet with my friends on a daily basis. Deciding that for my very first college midterm I could carry the burden of waiting to catch up on ALL the semester reading for the exam the night before the exam, so that it will all be fresh in my mind. (I ended up being so tired that I fell asleep around 10 PM, having done hardly any of the reading and without studying my notes.) Or even after being told by a retired, veteran minister at my first church that I should have a sermon “in my back pocket,” just in case, I decided I could easily carry the burden of gambling that I would never really need it, when the senior minister was admitted to the hospital at 9 PM on a Saturday. (YIKES!) Then there was the time that I was going through the Board of Ordained Ministry and I decided to carry my burden of working out my frustration with the itinerancy system (which is something that all Ordained United Methodist Elders must commit themselves to). The problem was that I decided to make my misgivings known during the final interview process. Not a good call. I ended up getting passed a few years later, but that year I was rightfully deferred.

My point is that we end up carrying self-imposed burdens as if they were ankle weights. Sometimes these weights come in the form of self-sabotage, or bad habits, procrastination, fear, perfectionism, guilt, shame, or a whole host of other ways that we strap on heavy limitations and try to trudge through life, making any task much more difficult than it needs to be and making us more and more weary. Those are the weights that we impose on ourselves—the weights that we can control. This does not even account for the weights that take their toll on our lives that other people impose on us or that happen in our world. Basketball is a hard game, and in order to get better you must work hard. The ankle weights helped me to work hard, but what if I had decided never to take them off? What if I had become so used to them that I began to believe that I could actually play better with them on? What if I had found security in wearing the ankle weights as a reason why I couldn’t jump or run as well as I wanted? I would have looked pretty silly out on the court with ankle weights on, trying to play with guys who didn’t have any extra hindrances at all. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves in this way as well when we fail to allow God to free our lives from the weight in our lives. According to this passage, Jesus promises to give us “rest” and to “free us” from those things in our lives that weigh us down. Jesus promises us that he will “lighten our load” and even “carry” our burdens.  Jesus is offering an opportunity to live what the Bible describes as an “abundant” life, avoiding self-imposed obstacles which tend to hold us back.

Now, typically, I am very careful about carelessly throwing around religious-sounding figurative language, like “abundant life” and “salvation” and “grace” because I believe these words (and other words like them) can be overused, or misunderstood, or even twisted by both believers and non-believers. They end up becoming cliché responses to very complex issues. Unfortunately, even well-meaning believers throw these words around without really offering a much-needed explanation about what they mean and how they tend to affect a person’s life. I mean, I could say that “I am so blessed that Jesus has offered me grace and I glorify His Holy name for carrying the weight of my sin!” Now, that may sound really spiritual and may even make sense to some people, but it could also be relatively meaningless to people who didn’t grow up in the church. And, for that matter, it may be sort of ambiguous for some who did grow up in the church. My point is that when I say the words “Jesus carries my burdens,” I say that with the careful understanding that this is sort of a metaphorical way of expressing how Jesus’s love and acceptance empower me to be who I was created to be! Likewise, the words “Take my yoke upon you…” could be interpreted by some as “Do what I tell you to do.…” But, instead, it is about living life serving a grace-filled God who wants to make us the best we can be. The knowledge of God’s relentless, endless love and care for us is freeing. When the world around us is so full of heavy problems and weighty issues, God is there to remove those spiritual ankle weights and strengthen us to face life’s journey with unencumbered faith and trust.

At the end of my basketball career, way back in 1981, I was talking to my dad at the end of the season about how disappointed I was that I never scored in a game. I felt like perhaps I had just not worked hard enough or perhaps I should have worn heavier weights. As we talked, my dad began to explain that the coach had told him that I hadn’t made the team because I was a great rebounder or ace jump shot shooter.  I had made the team because he saw how much effort I put into the game. My love of the game and my regard for my teammates was why my coach wanted me there. The truth was, I hadn’t let anyone down; in fact, just being there and doing my best day after day at practice and putting everything that I had into the team and into my teammates was exactly what was required of me … ankle weights or no ankle weights. It was my heart and my dedication which won me a place on that team. At the end of that season, I hung up those ankle weights and never really felt the need to put them back on, understanding that my gift to the team was more intangible than anything that would show up in the box score. The same can be said you, of every one of us, today; there are plenty of weighty, weariness-inducing events happening in the world, BUT that does not mean we can’t allow God to provide us the freedom and strength to live the way we were intended to live and be the people we were created to be. With that, I have a second verse this morning that I think fits in quite well. It comes from Philippians 4:13:

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

May God give you the strength to boldly do the things that He has called you to do in this world and the courage to cast off the weight that holds you down! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN!

Join us for virtual Sunday School and Worship this Sunday at 10 AM and 11 AM, here on Facebook Live and on WGOS 1070 AM.  Have a great day. And stay healthy, people!

YOU CAN WATCH AND READ ALL 10 @ 10 DEVOTIONS HERE

(Note: If you prefer to access past recordings using the church website page listing, rather than the Facebook page, check back later this week, when it will have been updated. To access this page, look for the “MUMC Recordings” helpful link on the www.mumctville.org homepage.)