Lunenburg United Methodist Charge

 

Antioch UMC                                                           Williams UMC

On our walk. . . . .                 

July 31, 2008

 

1 Kings 11:1-13, NIV

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.  They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtorethver  the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. 

On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. 

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.  Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord's command. So the Lord said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.  Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.  Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.

1 Kings 11:1-13 is the narrative of King Solomon’s biggest mistake.  It shows how power corrupts completely when God‘s commands and laws are not followed.  Solomon’s unfaithfulness will lead not to his fall but that of his son and the division of his kingdom.  All this will happen because Solomon wanted his wives, wealth, and power so badly that he would place himself above God’s law.  This story of sin, idolatry, and punishment without repentance, and its affect on Israel, is a continuing story of greed and power gone astray in Israel.  The unfaithfulness of Solomon has its beginning in the first of Solomon’s reign when he marries Pharaoh’s daughter and continues throughout his reign with his attaining of wealth by all means.

 

Looking at the story of Solomon is like reading most of the early text of the Bible --- Israel fails; God warns; Israel fails in its response; God punishes; Israel repents.  This time there seems to be a discrepancy to this formula.  Israel, Solomon, doesn’t repent.  It’s hard to believe that Solomon didn’t learn from his father that repentance was necessary in order to be true to God.  Solomon, instead of having everything, loses it all because he can’t obey the laws that God gave the Jews.  The whole basis of this story is the fact that God will punish if pushed to the point where nothing else will work.  God could have punished Solomon at anytime for his discretions, but our God is a forgiving God and gave Solomon more than enough time to repent.  Solomon, however, never repented.  He wore out God’s tolerance and God responded.  In today’s world how many “Solomons” do we see?  From corporate big shots, to professional athletes, to religious leaders, to elected officials, to church leaders, we have seen them fall because they all feel they are above the law, be it biblical or secular.  In most cases we hear the guilty ones come up with an excuse as to why they failed; poor advisors, thought I wouldn’t get caught, didn’t know it was wrong.  Seldom do you hear them repent.  It is never their fault.  Solomon was the same.  He knew it was wrong to be as wealthy as he was, but he was above the law.  He knew it was wrong to marry foreigners, but Solomon was above the law.  And Solomon, after finally wearing out God’s tolerance, suffered the punishment that God had for him.  If we learn anything from Solomon’s foibles it is that, although God is tolerant, you can end up wearing out his patience and the punishment will be significant.  We need to realize that this message of sin, failure, punishment, and repentance is not just for Solomon but for all of us today. 


Have a blessed week      Rev. Ed


This Weeks Event:

Friday, Aug 1

Closing Ceremonies Williams VBS 7:00PM

 

 

 

Worship Events –

August 3, 2008

 

This week’s reading will be: Sermon Text –  Matt 21:33-46                                                         

                                               Hebrew Text – Isaiah 5: 1-7

Communion

Piano Accompaniment: Leigh Ann Bacon   Nancy Turner

 

 

Sunday School is the formation of Christian discipleship. It is both an inward journey and an outward journey for faith. It provides over time the spiritual formation process that will shape us according to the image of Jesus Christ. The importance of Sunday School is that, though you may think hearing the word on Sunday morning during worship will suffice for you, you really need to be in attendance at Sunday School to gather all the information that you can in an open, objective discussion.  Jesus’ word cannot be totally understood just by listening to a sermon.  You have to interact with it and with other Christians to learn what He was saying to us.  This is a life long study and you should take part.  There is a class for every age so please plan on joining us to learn more about our Lord, Jesus Christ.   Sunday School at Williams begins at 10:45 AM and at Antioch at 10:00 AM.

 

 

 

 

Evening Bible Study   Evening Bible study will be on hiatus for the month of August. It will resume in September.

 

Morning Bible Study Morning Bible study will be on hiatus for the month of August. It will resume in September.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Williams Vacation Bible School – Beach Party

 

This year’s version of VBS has gotten off to a great start. On Monday there were 26 children, all having fun learning about Jesus and riding the water slide! Tuesday saw the group grow to 27 and they heard the story of King Saul. Wednesday the group grew again as they learned about forgiveness. This morning we added our 29 th child and the word for today was bold. Each day the children are served breakfast and lunch by the very talented crew. They spend the beginning and the ending each riding the water slide, wading in the pools and playing in the sand. Friday night there will be closing ceremonies held at Williams at 7:00 PM

 

 

The Great Give Away

 

On Saturday, August 23 Antioch will be sponsoring a morning of giving. They intend to gather clothing and essentials and give them away to least of our community. They will also give away to the first 50 children a bag of school supplies. The church community of Lunenburg County has offered to help with this enterprise. If you have something(s) in good condition and they are taking up space in your shed or garage bring them over to the church. For more information or you would like to help  contact Betsey Hendricks, Brenda Barnes, Robin Fowler, Dianne Overby

 

Mission Trip

 

Our own Brenda Barnes is off on another mission trip to the Gulf Coast helping in the recovery of that area from Hurricane Katrina. Please keep her in your prayers as she works to help those in need.  If there is enough interest we can try to put together a mission trip to help our brothers and sisters. Please contact Brenda when she returns.

 

Dead Seas Scrolls

 

In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd found clay pots with 2500 year old manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. I had a chance to view these artifacts while at Duke this. They are on display at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Resources in Raleigh.  If there is sufficient interest I would be glad to put together a day trip to the exhibit. The exhibition will run through Christmas.

 

The Outreach Committee

 

Missions, Evangelism, and Family Ministries have partnered to form a blanket committee. They will function as a group and individually as we work for the growth of our church. There plans for the upcoming months include a homecoming, revival, senior’s luncheon. Watch the bulletin and this news letter for more of the exciting events to come to Antioch and the charge.

 

Prayer Gram.
 
Please, when putting somebody’s name on our prayer list, PRINT their names and addresses if you have them.  This will help us get the prayer grams out sooner and it will also make it easier to read during services.

 

If you cannot reach Rev. Ed at the parsonage, you may call him on his cell phone:  252-532-0952.  He can also be reached via e-mail at revedumc@yahoo.com .

 

 

 

Please keep the following families in your prayers:

Marjorie Thompson

Christian Sutton

Bertha Arthur

Sarah Agnes Callis

Sheila Cage

Jeff Hendricks

Earl "Chucky” Barnes

Sara Sutton

Nathan Hendricks

Edna A. Bagley

Our Military

Maria Kay

Ellen & John Gentry

Thomas Clegg

Frances Hawthorne

Becky Eades & boys

Gertrude Hite

Elizabeth Biggerstaff 

Unspoken

Tommy Cage

Bernard Bottoms

Buford Perkins

Grace DiStefano

Ann Rash

Walter B. Moseley

Joe Coleman

Janet Holdford

CV & Agnes Thompson

Junior McHenry

Elsie Pennington

Rachel Crowder & Family

Katherine Sheffield

Grace Ann Hite

Margaret J. Conner

Tessie Barnes

Carol Wood

Bonnie & Junior Conley

Brenda Barnes

John Dolan

Dorothy Ann Irby

Layton Powell

Ashley Grant

 
Just a Note: When I was appointed to this charge one of the requests that was made of me was to keep the Antioch Men’s Breakfast going.  Now as I enter my third year we have experienced a dramatic drop in the number of men who attend the breakfast.  If you would like to join us for breakfast and fellowship please do!  We meet the first Saturday of each month at 8:00 AM and we are willing to cook if there are enough men to join the five or six regulars who attend.  If you would like to join us please contact Earl Callis, Tommy Barnes, Wayne Hendicks or me.  Our next breakfast is scheduled for September 6; Hope to see you there!!  
 
 

The Methodist Way The Doing

 

Methodists also believe that God’s grace gives assurance to those in whose lives that grace is working. (Holy living is certainly one sign of that assurance.) Although John Wesley changed his mind from time to time, he most often felt that persons who were justified (saved from the power of sin) had assurance of that justification. Perhaps  the most quoted words written by John Wesley are those words that describe his own experience of assurance.:

In the evening [ May 24, 1738], I went unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while h  e was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

There are days I take comfort in the fact that Mr. Wesley went unwillingly to this Christian group meeting! He went even though he did not much want to and God still blessed him. (Suppose I should remember this the next time the alarm clock goes off for Sunday service.)

      Being Methodist in the Bible Belt” F. Belton Joyner, Jr.

 

Remember:

Ø      If you were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you???'

Ø     

Ø    Ask someone to join us in worship.  Have a blessed week