A Light in the Window

A Light in the Window
Susan Hoyle, pastor Trinity United Methodist Church

There are superheroes all around us. Some of them leap from tall buildings and fly through the air. Others climb up those tall buildings from the outside! Then there are those superheroes who save the world from certain destruction. And if you don’t know the latest superhero just ask a child. He or she probably has the action figure and can tell you the whole, exciting story. Most of us remember Superman, Batman and Robin and the Power Rangers. But do we ever think about superheroes in the Bible? People who take risks and follow God even when it doesn’t make any sense at all.

Genesis is filled with stories about superheroes. How about Noah who kept building that boat even when his neighbors were laughing at him? He continued to build that boat because God told him to. It certainly didn’t make any sense but he knew it was what he had to do. Noah “saved the day” didn’t he?

Abraham and Sarah were superheroes, too. They continued to follow God for 24 years after God said they would have a child in their old age. Oh, they weren’t perfect people and they got impatient with God and Abraham had a son with Sarah’s maid. But God continued to promise them that son. And they believed and eventually Isaac was born. And as God had promised, Abraham had more descendents than stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach.

Joseph is another superhero in Genesis. He was born when his father, Jacob, was very old and he was his father’s favorite son. Joseph has lots of older brothers and they knew he was their father’s favorite. Now that doesn’t make for healthy family dynamics, does it? Joseph could interpret dreams and he told his brothers that he had a dream that they were all bowing down to him. Not a smart thing to tell his older brothers! Jacob even had a coat made for Joseph that was unlike any coat in the world. It was made with fine fabric and had many colors in it.

One day, Jacob asked Joseph to check on his brothers as they were tending the flocks. Well, let’s just say that one thing led to another and those older brothers wanted to kill him. But instead they sold him as a slave and took that coat, tore it and put blood on it. They took it to their father and told him wild animals had killed Joseph. Joseph was sold in Egypt to a man and his wife made advances towards Joseph and he said, “no, thank you.” But she was angry at him and told her husband that he had attacked her and he was put into prison. After awhile he interpreted a dream for the king and told him that there would be 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine. He also told the king to take a portion of everyone’s crops during the 7 years of abundance so there would be food during the famine. The king saw that Joseph was a wise man and he was put in charge of the whole kingdom.

The dream came true and during the famine a group of men came to buy grain and guess who they were? They were Joseph’s brothers and they didn’t recognize them. After a while, Joseph told them who he was. He told them that even though they sold him and that was wrong, God took that and made it right by helping him save thousands of people from starvation.

Now, as we look at the story of Joseph, was he a superhero because he could interpret dreams or because he saved thousands of people from starvation? Or was he a superhero because he forgave his brothers? You see, superheroes go beyond their human nature. Joseph depended on God more and more and God’s strength filled him so he could forgive his brothers. Forgiving others who have hurt us or our family members is the most difficult thing we ever try to do. And we can’t do it on our own. Forgiveness comes when we rely more and more on God and God gives us the strength to forgive.

Perhaps there are people who have hurt you and you’ve tried to forgive them but you just can’t seem to do it on your own. It may be time that you and God had a long conversation about your pain and suffering and you take that pain to the cross of Christ and lay it down. When we offer Christ our pain and suffering, He will hold it for us and we truly can forgive others.

Why not read Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament, and find some superheroes for yourself…

Trinity Talk...A Weekly Newsletter

Trinity Talk – July 18
TONIGHT – Don’t miss the picnic at Trinity – 6 p.m. It’s the kind of
picnic we like this time of year—indoors with no insects, heat or
humidity. (Are we spoiled, or what?) Anyway, come out for
hotdogs and banana splits!! If you care to, you may bring a side dish to accompany the hotdogs, or just come and enjoy.

TUMC GIRLS do it again. This is regarding a man who works with Sarah Dumey at the Puxico Nursing Home as a CNA. He is a young family man who is a hard worker and is struggling to keep his head above water financially. He has been trying to wear broken eyeglasses as he cannot afford the extra burden of getting new ones. Sarah called her TUMC GIRLS group to see if enough funds could be allocated for him to get a pair of reasonably priced glasses. Marcia e-mailed her TUMC GIRLS members and the response was over-the-top. Not only were the funds approved from their treasury, but many offered individual contributions. Once again, the spirit of “reaching out” has been put into practice.

TOWN & COUNTRY GROCERY in Bloomfield once again cooperates with
Trinity in an effort to help with the Food Pantry. They have set up a
container near the south door for the food items to be picked up for the
Assembly of God Food Pantry. As you do your grocery shopping, it
will be convenient for you to purchase items for the Food Pantry
and just leave them at the store – saves taking them home then on to the church. Thank you, Town and Country, for assisting Trinity in its outreach activities.

Sympathy is extended to Genevieve and J.C. Arnold and Cathy and William Chasteen and their families on the loss of John Henderson, their brother and uncle respectively. He passed away at the Golden Living Center last night about 7 p.m. John was a member of Trinity. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m. on Monday with the funeral service at 11--all at Rainey Funeral Home in Dexter. Please remember these families in prayer.

Mary Jo and Jim Goforth hosted a fish fry for their dinner-for-8 at their home on Saturday evening. Attending were Cathy, Joe, Wyatt, and Katie Hendley, Norman and Pat Snider, Barb Rice and Rosemary Walker. Thanks to the Goforths for such a nice evening and wonderful food.

UP-COMING ACTIVITIES:
Wednesday evenings, 6 p.m., JOY Service.
Church Council meeting – 12 noon – Sunday, July 25 – open to all.
United Methodist Women – 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 28.

Trinity Talk...A Weekly Newsletter

Trinity Talk – July 11, 2010

There’s a new look in the Children’s Sunday School Room – new children’s
chairs. They have white frames with mesh seats/back of coral, blue and lime
green hues. Also, there are new white comfortable chairs for the adults who
accompany the children. These were purchased by the TUMC Girls, using
part of the yard sale money.


The annual TUMC Girls' Birthday Party was the evening of July 8th. The large group of 22 met at El Tapatios and enjoyed sharing a meal and having a gift exchange. Some of the gifts were "stolen" from each other and everyone had a great time. As usual, there was lots of lively conversation and laughter.

Some items of business were discussed and taken care of at the end of the get- together. Lara Thorn was congratulated for her recent Modern Woodsman award and commended for her hard work with the Diaper Ministry at Trinity. It was voted to give a monetary donation to help the women in Mozambique with some needs that also came to our attention.

Women and friends of the church are encouraged to become a part of either (or both!) groups. In addition to the commitment to helping others, there is a bond of friendship and support.

ATTENDANCE AND OFFERING FOR MONTH OF JUNE:
Date Attendance Offering

June 06 108 $1,967.00
June 13 123 2,610.00
June 20 120 2,652.00
June 27 103 1,761.00

Average weekly offering: 2247.50
Budgeted weekly salary needed: 2946.70
July 6 loan balance: 83,562.71

JOY – THERE IS A SMALL GROUP MEETING EACH WEDNESDAY AT 6 P.M. THAT MANY
OF YOU ARE MISSING. THOSE WHO ATTEND FEEL THAT THIS IS A MID-WEEK BOOST
TO THEIR SPIRITUAL LIFE – A TIME OF SINGING, PRAYER, SCRIPTURE READING,
MEDITATION AND FELLOWSHIP. IF THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT YOU WILL NOT
BE IN CHURCH ON SUNDAY, THE JOY SERVICE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORSHIP AT
LEAST ONCE DURING THE WEEK. WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY?

Trinity Talk...A Weekly Newsletter

Trinity Talk - July 4, 2010


Thanks to Cissy Williams and the Trinity
Singers for the beautiful music today;
It was a wonderful celebration of
America and the freedoms we enjoy as
citizens of this country. It is the soldiers
of land, sea and sky who have given us
our many freedoms and allowed us to
remain a Christian nation. Let us not
forget to pray for them each and every
day.


Today is the day in the Missouri United Methodist Conference for all ministers who are moving to a new appointment to take their new pulpit. Trinity is fortunate to have Pastor Susan to return to us for another year. Welcome, Susan. We pray that this will be a productive year for you and for Trinity.

This week’s activities:
Wednesday evening, 6 p.m. JOY service at the church. This is a wonderful time of singing, Bible study, prayer, meditation and fellowship led by Pastor Susan
Thursday evening, 6 p.m. TUMC Girls’ annual birthday party at El Tapatios
Sunday afternoon, the 11th, Stephanie and Josh’s baby shower, 2-4 p.m.
CEREAL is the food of the month for the Food Pantry

Our Healthy Church Initiative Coach, Dr. Rev. Royal Spiedel, visited with us last Sunday, speaking at both worship services, urging us to talk to God, confess our sins, read the Scriptures and listen to Jesus. He explained how our community would be different when all people walked with Christ. During the time after lunch with many of the church leaders, he went over the five prescriptions for Trinity and discussed how plans should be progressing for each one. As a reminder, here are the prescriptions:
1) A day of Visioning to be completed by the last Sunday in August; Ministry audit completed by chairpersons of all Ministry Groups by July 11, 2010. This has been completed.
2) Leadership Development Team recommendations by December, 2010.
3) Discipleship Development – Discipleship formation plan in place by December, 2011.
4) Worship Services in place – 8:00 a.m.; 9:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to be implemented by October 4, 2010 and a mass mailing to everyone in the 63825 zip code area to invite them to our new worship services.
5) Completed by June 30, 2010 – New signage for guest parking and an entrance sign, it is difficult for guests to see our entrance because of the hill.

Thanks to Marcia Metcalf for the daily prayers. This is a good method to start you on your own personal prayer life. Questions: Has your dinner-for-eight met lately? Have you invited someone to worship lately? Have you attended the JOY service on Wednesday night? Have you prayed for Trinity and its leaders lately? Have you offered a helping hand to someone who needs it lately? These things and lots more are small things that you can do to enhance your spiritual life. Blessings to all of you.