Message to Trinity -- Richard Nichol Funeral, 4H Fair Games, First Friday

 

Greetings Trinity Family,

            We are in the hottest time of the year and I hope everyone is staying cool. The climate in our church buildings feel great now that we have air-conditioning in our Education Building. Thank you to Ed McWilliams who spent time in our sanctuary’s very hot attic clearing out the AC vents and ducts. Thank you to Gregg Betz who has worked tirelessly to repair leaks in our sanctuary’s AC lines. We all feel better because of the clean, cool air.

RICHARD NICHOL FUNERAL SERVICE

Our faithful brother-in-Christ, Richard Nichol, passed away a week ago. Tomorrow, everyone is invited to his funeral service at 10 am in our Sanctuary.  The Nichol family is concerned about the spread of Covid and we are requesting that everyone wear a mask during the service.  There will not be a visitation/greeting time before the service. Afterwards, the burial will be private.  If you would like to send a card of condolence to Dolores, call the church office and we will share her address with you.

4H FAIR GAMES – VOLUNTEERS ARENEEDED!!

Trinity will be leading games at the annual 4H fair in Creamery. The fair is August 11, 12, and 13. We will need a lot of volunteers.  If you have suggestions or ideas for games, please let Pastor Amelie know and also let her know if you are able to help.

Volunteers are needed on Thursday between the hours of 3 pm and 9:30 pm, Friday between 8:30 am and 9:30 pm, and Saturday between 8:30 am and 4 pm.

SIGN UP SHEETS FOR VOLUNTEER TIME SLOTS WILL BE IN THE CHURCH NARTHEX THIS SUNDAY!

TRINITY MEN’S BREAKFAST

All men are invited to breakfast the second Saturday of the month. We will gather on August 13 at the 4H Fair for breakfast since our church is volunteering to do games at the fair. The concession stand with breakfast items opens at 8:30 am. We meet for fellowship, conversation, and a good meal. Our men’s breakfasts will continue into the future on the second Saturday of the month. Please join us!

SKIPPACK FIRST FRIDAYS-

The good weather is here and we are in the midst of the Skippack First Friday season.  Each month, Skippack stores stay open late on the First Friday of the month. Non-profits are invited to have tables set up around town to promote our agency. Trinity needs volunteers to run our church’s table – we share brochures about our, invite people to upcoming activities, pass out prayer squares, and usually like to have activities to engager our younger neighbors. This year, our remaining Skippack First Fridays are August 5, September 2, and October 7. If you are able to help, we need volunteers to run the table from 6 to 8 pm at each First Friday. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you can help

TRINITY COMMUNITY GARDEN

Thomas Updike has built a community garden on the upper corner of our cemetery meadow for a part of his Eagle Scout project. There are now six plots for anyone that would like to cultivate them. Please call the church office if you would like a lot: 610-584-4054

DAILY BREAD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY

We continue to collect food and toiletry items for the Daily Bread Food Pantry.  They can be left at the doors of the church or in the baskets next to the sanctuary doors.

The Daily Bread's Current needs change every few weeks. This is their latest list of needs:

Personal Care (which cannot be purchased with food stamps):

Laundry soap, children's toothbrushes/ toothpaste, tissues, dish soap, DEORDORANT, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, paper towels

Food:

                        Dried Spaghetti, Cookies, Canned Fruit, Canned Pasta, Jelly,

 Canned Peas, Baked Beans, Rice, Shelf Stable Milk, Skillet Dinners,           

Stuffing, Pancake Syrup, Broth,  

Baby Care:

Diapers

Pet Care:

Dry cat food, Litter, canned dog food

DON’T GIVE UP MOVEMENT

Our Outreach committee is inviting everyone in our congregation to join us in sharing messages from the “Don’t Give Up” movement.  This outreach was started to encourage people who are considering suicide to not give up.  We have yard signs, postcards, stickers, and business cards with messages that say things like “You are Enough” and “Your Mistakes Don’t Define You.” These messages are especially important right now as many people are struggling with their mental and emotional health after the many months of our pandemic.  Please pick up yard signs at church and other signs to promote this message of love for our neighbors.  Here is more about the movement:  https://www.dontgiveupsigns.com/

WORSHIP SERVICES

On Sunday mornings, you are invited to join us in-person and on Facebook:

Join us for our Sunday morning hymn sing at 9:45 am and our 10:15 Worship. 

If you are watching from home, you can find us at our "Trinity Christian UCC Skippack" facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

SUNDAY BIBLE  STUDY

We have a Sunday morning Bible Study in-person and on ZOOM at 9 AM.  This is a new meeting time. Here is the link to log in:

Amelie Sell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Trinity's Wired Word Discussion Group
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76933813590?pwd=Nzc0MkthZFBkdmVNTGYycjVtRXkwUT09

Meeting ID: 769 3381 3590
Password: 7qLSWw

LUNCH BUNCH MEETS WEEKLY!

Lunch Bunch is our Tuesday afternoon Bible Study.  Everyone is invited to join us on Tuesdays at 12 pm.  Please bring your own lunch. (In the past, we had a potluck lunch, but for now each person will bring their own food.)  Lunch Bunch typically studies the portion of the Bible that will be the focus of our worship service on the upcoming Sunday. 

TRINITY BLOG

Trinity now has a blog where I am posting notes to the congregation and the text of my sermons.  If you would like to read these notes and messages, you can find them at: www.trinityskippack.blogspot.com

I will see you in worship on Sunday!

 Many blessings!!

Pastor Amelie

Jesus the Light Through the Darkness -- A Message for July 17, 2022

 

            This weekend, the children and volunteers at our Vacation Bible School talked about how Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus guides us when we are afraid and acts with sacrificial love towards us. The Bible stories we learned about at VBS were the event when Jesus calmed a storm while he and his friends were out on a boat, Jesus’ resurrection from death to life, and Jesus’ miracle of healing a man of his blindness.  We are going to read a portion of the latter story. In the midst of this healing, Jesus said of himself: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

            Listen now to the word of God as it is written in John chapter 9:

Scripture Reading                        John 9

As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 

“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 

Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

“Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

 

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Message                              Jesus, the Light of the World              

            The Oxford English Dictionary has three definitions for the word “light.”

·        Light is the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. We see where we are going and don’t bump into as many things because light makes them visible.

·        The second definition says light is “an expression in someone’s eyes indicating a particular emotion or mood.” When we say, “the grandmother’s eyes light up when she talks of her grandson,” this is the kind of light we mean. It is when our eyes show joy and pleasure and pride.

·        And, the final definition of light is when a person comes to solve a problem or a mystery, when they experience “en-light-en-ment.” We talk about this when we say we see the light “dawning” on someone’s face, when they solve a riddle or a crime.

Jesus is the light of the world. And, when it comes to these definitions of light, Jesus is the light all three ways.

How does Jesus make things visible? When Jesus came to earth in the 1^st century, the world at the time was in crisis. Many people had been conquered by the Roman Empire. People were coming into contact with new ideas, visitors from other lands, and oppressive government leaders.

In the midst of a world of uncertainty, Jesus was born. And, for a people who were grappling with how to be faithful to God in a changing world, Jesus preached a message of love, inclusion, care for the weak, and peace. Jesus “shed light” on what God wanted the people to do, how God wanted the people to believe, and how God wanted the people to practice their faith. Jesus also expanded the Christian message – all people were welcome to have a relationship with God, not just those people born into Judaism. Jesus’ message is for all of the people of the world.  Jesus made the truth visible to people who wanted to know about the divine, who wanted to know how to worship, who wanted to know they are not alone and there is more to life than what we can experience in our daily lives. Jesus made “the holy” visible to people who were searching for the truth.

The third definition of light is when a mystery is solved. People are in search of the holy. We want to know that we are not alone on this little planet, hanging out in the middle of the Milky Way. When we come to have a relationship with Jesus and with God, we see the “light.” We know that we are not alone.

The German Reformed church, our predecessor church, had their young people memorize a little book about what their church believed, called a catechism. The first question in that book asks, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” And, the answer is: “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ” We are not alone….we are not alone in this world, but we belong to Jesus Christ.  The answer is longer than this first sentence, and it later says, “Jesus watches over me in such a say that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven.” Nothing we do is hidden from God. Nothing we experience is unimportant from God. No mistake we make is unforgiveable by God. With our faith in Jesus, and in God, we are enlightened to the truth.  Jesus is the light of the world, and though Jesus’ teachings, we learn about God.

     The second definition of light is the special expression a person gets in their eyes when we are full of joy. Jesus taught us the greatest commandment from God is for us to love God and for us to love each other. God loves us. We can imagine God’s eyes lighting up when God sees us, and our eyes lighting up when we see God. Jesus’ words echo to us through the centuries: “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s one and only Son, that whoever believes in God shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send God’s Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  We are God’s precious human children, and God delights in us. God’s eyes light up when God sees us, and God appreciates us.

In the story we read from the scripture today, Jesus heals a blind man so that he can see.  Sometimes, even when we can see things, we don’t understand them. When the formerly blind man’s neighbors saw him after his healing, they had trouble recognizing him because he wasn’t what they expected, he wasn’t just the blind man begging beside a pool. And, then when the formerly blind man told them what had happened, that a man came and healed him, they had an argument about Jesus – about who Jesus was and who Jesus’ represented. But, things were simple for the once blind man – he was always blind, but now he could see. He was blessing with sight. And this miracle came from God and came from a man of God.

     Part of our work is to see what is before us. We are called to notice the world around us. We are called to see the people we encounter – not just in a superficial way, but really take note of the people around us. Often, we can see on people’s faces and see in their eyes that they are hurting. They are lonely. They are sad. Part of our work is to share the “light of Christ” with others….to tell them they are not alone, God is with us. To tell them about Jesus and his love. To invite them to church and to experience the support and care we offer each other as a response to our faith in God. Our work is to help bring the Light of Jesus to others, because we know our lives are enriched by our faith, and we want others to experience the joy we have in knowing that we are God’s precious children, and we are not on our own in life, because God is with us.

May we work to tell others about Jesus the light of the world. Amen. 

Message to Trinity -- Vacation Bible School, Church Picnic, 4H Fair

 

Greetings Trinity Family,

            I hope this email finds you doing well.  Vacation Bible School starts tonight and we are really excited to welcome kids to our congregation for the fun and learning that will happen here.  This year, our church has been transformed into a series of caves and the kids will learn about how Jesus is “the light of the world.”

CHURCH PICNIC – THIS SUNDAY!!!!

Our church picnic will be July 17! Everyone is invited, including your family, friends, and neighbors.  And, our air-conditioning project will be complete so we will have our picnic both in our education building and outdoors. Our Christian Education Committee provides the meat course and everyone is invited to bring a dish to share. Our picnic will commence when worship is concluded!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL – JULY 15, 16, and 17

Tomorrow, we will have a Vacation Bible School decorating party starting at 8:30 am. Please come and help us transform our church into many caves.

This year, our focus is on “Jesus, the light in the darkness.” We learn about Jesus bringing us the “true light”, make a cave, do cave drawings, play games, and have a great time!

Planning and orchestrating our VBS will require many adult volunteers. Each volunteer will have to have all of their PA State background checks before our VBS.  Talk to Pastor Amelie if you want to volunteer and she will make sure you have the paperwork you need to obtain your background checks.

VBS MISSION PROJECT

Our Vacation Bible School kids will assemble “Welcome Backpacks” for refuges being resettled in our country and in welcoming nations. The Backpacks are part of Church World Service’s outreach to refugees.  We will collect items for the backpack in the church narthex in the baskets next to the door. If you would like to contribute towards the backpacks, here is a list of what we need:

Backpack – 17″

All-season blanket – 50″ x 60″

Coloring book

Crayons – 24 pack

2 pads of paper – 8.5″ x 11″

3 pens

1 two-pocket folder

5 fruit leather strips

4 protein bars

10 granola bars

6 fruit & grain bars

4 trail mix pouches – 1.75 oz

1 reusable travel water bottle – 24 oz

2 bottles hand sanitizer – 2 oz

1 Chapstick

10 hair ties

1 small travel hairbrush

4 toothpaste/toothbrush packs

3 packs of tissues

10 disposable masks

1 travel deodorant

10 tampons

10 sanitary napkins

1 pack of cleaning/baby wipes

TRINITY MEN’S BREAKFAST

All men are invited to breakfast the second Saturday of the month. We will gather on August 13 at the 4H Fair for breakfast since our church is volunteering to do games at the fair. The concession stand with breakfast items opens at 8:30 am. We meet for fellowship, conversation, and a good meal. Our men’s breakfasts will continue into the future on the second Saturday of the month. Please join us!

4H FAIR GAMES

Trinity will be leading games at the annual 4H fair in Creamery. The fair is August 11, 12, and 13. We will need a lot of volunteers.  If you have suggestions or ideas for games, please let Pastor Amelie know and also let her know if you are able to help.

SIGN UP SHEETS FOR VOLUNTEER TIME SLOTS WILL BE IN THE CHURCH NARTHEX THIS SUNDAY!

READING PHILLIES – AUGUST 20, 2022

Take me out to the ballgame!  We will resume our church activity of watching a Reading Phils game together on August 20, 2022. Everyone is invited, and friends are welcome to join us. If you would like tickets, please let Nancy or the church office know….610-584-4054.

SKIPPACK FIRST FRIDAYS-

The good weather is here and we are in the midst of the Skippack First Friday season.  Each month, Skippack stores stay open late on the First Friday of the month. Non-profits are invited to have tables set up around town to promote our agency. Trinity needs volunteers to run our church’s table – we share brochures about our, invite people to upcoming activities, pass out prayer squares, and usually like to have activities to engager our younger neighbors. This year, our remaining Skippack First Fridays are August 5, September 2, and October 7. If you are able to help, we need volunteers to run the table from 6 to 8 pm at each First Friday. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you can help.

TRINITY COMMUNITY GARDEN

Thomas Updike has built a community garden on the upper corner of our cemetery meadow for a part of his Eagle Scout project. There are now six plots for anyone that would like to cultivate them. Please call the church office if you would like a lot: 610-584-4054

BANNER TEAM – CALLING ALL CRAFTY FOLKS!

The Worship Committee is looking for volunteers to help make new banners for our sanctuary.  This project is in its infancy, but if you are interested in helping, please tell Pastor Amelie.

DAILY BREAD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY

We continue to collect food and toiletry items for the Daily Bread Food Pantry.  They can be left at the doors of the church or in the baskets next to the sanctuary doors.

The Daily Bread's Current needs change every few weeks. This is their latest list of needs:

Personal Care (which cannot be purchased with food stamps):

Laundry soap, children's toothbrushes/ toothpaste, tissues, dish soap, DEORDORANT, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, paper towels

Food:

                        Dried Spaghetti, Cookies, Canned Fruit, Canned Pasta, Jelly,

 Canned Peas, Baked Beans, Rice, Shelf Stable Milk, Skillet Dinners,           

Stuffing, Pancake Syrup, Broth,   

Baby Care:

Diapers

Pet Care:

Dry cat food, Litter, canned dog food

DON’T GIVE UP MOVEMENT

Our Outreach committee is inviting everyone in our congregation to join us in sharing messages from the “Don’t Give Up” movement.  This outreach was started to encourage people who are considering suicide to not give up.  We have yard signs, postcards, stickers, and business cards with messages that say things like “You are Enough” and “Your Mistakes Don’t Define You.” These messages are especially important right now as many people are struggling with their mental and emotional health after the many months of our pandemic.  Please pick up yard signs at church and other signs to promote this message of love for our neighbors.  Here is more about the movement:  https://www.dontgiveupsigns.com/

WORSHIP SERVICES

On Sunday mornings, you are invited to join us in-person and on Facebook:

Join us for our Sunday morning hymn sing at 9:45 am l

10:15 Worship. 

You can find us at our "Trinity Christian UCC Skippack" facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

SUNDAY BIBLE  STUDY

We have a Sunday morning Bible Study in-person and on ZOOM at 9 AM.  This is a new meeting time. Here is the link to log in:

Amelie Sell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Trinity's Wired Word Discussion Group
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76933813590?pwd=Nzc0MkthZFBkdmVNTGYycjVtRXkwUT09

Meeting ID: 769 3381 3590
Password: 7qLSWw

LUNCH BUNCH MEETS WEEKLY!

Lunch Bunch is our Tuesday afternoon Bible Study.  Everyone is invited to join us on Tuesdays at 12 pm.  Please bring your own lunch. (In the past, we had a potluck lunch, but for now each person will bring their own food.)  Lunch Bunch typically studies the portion of the Bible that will be the focus of our worship service on the upcoming Sunday. 

TRINITY BLOG

Trinity now has a blog where I am posting notes to the congregation and the text of my sermons.  If you would like to read these notes and messages, you can find them at: www.trinityskippack.blogspot.com

I will see you in worship on Sunday!

Many blessings!!

Pastor Amelie

A Plumb Line -- A Message for July 10, 2022

 

This week, as the Lunch Bunch crew read over our scripture lesson for today, we talked a lot about plumb lines and the struggle of applying wall paper straight. Plumb lines are ancient tools used to help make a straight line. We don’t have a lot of occasions to use plumb lines in our daily lives. But, in the ancient Near East, people had to learn how to do a lot of different jobs – when it was time to harvest a crop, everyone harvested a crop. When it was time to dig a trench, everyone dug a trench. When it was time to build a new barn, a barn with even lines and straight walls, everyone built a barn. So, a plumb line was an every-day tool in the tool box of most people of that day and age.

            In this morning’s reading, we read about a prophesy God made through Amos, a farmer-turned-prophet.  Amos’ words were not welcomed by those who heard him, but he wasn’t afraid to share what God wanted him to say.  Listen now to God’s Holy word as it is transcribed in the Book of Amos, chapter 7, verses 7 through 17:

Scripture Reading                        Amos 7:7-17

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 

And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 

For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 

Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 

But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 

Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

“Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Message                              A Plumb Line         

            Amos came to Israel from the neighboring country, Judah. When Kings David and Solomon ruled the land, the countries were united, but by Amos’ lifetime, the two kingdoms were separate. Amos’ work as a prophet is believed to have happened between 760 and 750 BCE, during the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel. Both the land of Israel and the land of Judah were prosperous during this time period.

            Sometimes, when things are going well in our personal lives, we get cocky. Sometimes, when things are going well in the life of our nation, we get over-confident. This has happened in the US off and on over the past two-hundred and forty-six years. And, this also happened in ancient Judah during the several decades of military success and prosperity when Amos was called by God to be a prophet.

            God was concerned that the leadership of the land of Judah -- the rulers, the priests, the wealthy class – had become too comfortable with their wealth and military victories and were turning away from God. Instead of appreciating God, they became very proud of themselves. And, God was not happy about their behavior and lack of appreciation. God was not happy about their extravagance and love of excess.

            God sent Amos to prophesy in Israel….God sent a foreigner to tell the people to straighten up and get right with God. And, as we read in the scripture this morning, the leadership of Israel was not happy about Amos’ words.

            Americans can relate to this. We don’t appreciate it when people are critical of our country. We don’t like it when we are “outed” as not being “the” example of freedom and liberty for the rest of the world. We don’t like it when our fellow Americans criticize our government and its policies and we don’t like it when people from other countries come here and criticize us.  

            The King of Israel and his high priest Amaziah didn’t like it when Amos criticized them. They told him to go back to his own country. They told him to essentially “shut up.”

            In 722 BCE, Israel was conquered by the Assyrians.  So, about thirty years after the Israeli royal family and their chief priests told Amos to knock it off, their children and grandchildren were conquered and forced into exile. The events Amos foretold came true.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

            God’s message through Amos is about responsibility. God is paying attention to us….God is with us as the Holy Spirit and is here to help guide us. We are responsible for what we do and what we choose not to do.  Fortunately, God gives us a lot of help. Throughout time immortal, God has forgiven us when we mess up. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. God came to earth as Jesus, to demonstrate how God wants us to live with each other – God asks us to love God and God wants us to love each other.  God invites us to be generous and compassionate. God is here with us in the form of the Holy Spirit, to encourage us and to share with us a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, and a spirit of knowledge and reverence for the Lord. God helps us in our quest to live according to God’s teachings and God’s way of life.

            As we read the word of God as it was witnessed to by Amos, we can take away a reminder that we are called to be responsible to live as Christians in a world that doesn’t always make it easy for us to hold true to our faith. We don’t always take criticism well. We don’t always get everything right. But, God is with us as God’s Holy Spirit to help us, to encourage us, and to guide us.

            We thank God for God’s love and grace and for the impact Jesus has made on our lives.

            Let us live out our faith in love. Amen. 

Message to Trinity -- Vacation Bible School, Church Picnic

 

Greetings Trinity Family,

            I hope this email finds you doing well.  We have been busy clearing out attics and garages here at church, as we do a bit of a summer cleaning. We are also looking forward to our upcoming Vacation Bible School Weekend.  I hope we will see you all at Trinity.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL – JULY 15, 16, and 17

Tomorrow, we will have a Vacation Bible School decorating party starting at 8:30 am. Please come and help us transform our church into many caves.

This year, our focus is on “Jesus, the light in the darkness.” We learn about Jesus bringing us the “true light”, make a cave, do cave drawings, play games, and have a great time!

Planning and orchestrating our VBS will require many adult volunteers. Each volunteer will have to have all of their PA State background checks before our VBS.  Talk to Pastor Amelie if you want to volunteer and she will make sure you have the paperwork you need to obtain your background checks.

VBS MISSION PROJECT

Our Vacation Bible School kids will assemble “Welcome Backpacks” for refuges being resettled in our country and in welcoming nations. The Backpacks are part of Church World Service’s outreach to refugees.  We will collect items for the backpack in the church narthex in the baskets next to the door. If you would like to contribute towards the backpacks, here is a list of what we need:

Backpack – 17″

All-season blanket – 50″ x 60″

Coloring book

Crayons – 24 pack

2 pads of paper – 8.5″ x 11″

3 pens

1 two-pocket folder

5 fruit leather strips

4 protein bars

10 granola bars

6 fruit & grain bars

4 trail mix pouches – 1.75 oz

1 reusable travel water bottle – 24 oz

2 bottles hand sanitizer – 2 oz

1 Chapstick

10 hair ties

1 small travel hairbrush

4 toothpaste/toothbrush packs

3 packs of tissues

10 disposable masks

1 travel deodorant

10 tampons

10 sanitary napkins

1 pack of cleaning/baby wipes

TRINITY MEN’S BREAKFAST

All men are invited to breakfast on Saturday July 9. In July, we are breakfasting at Trinity so that we will be on-hand to help with decorating for Vacation Bible School and helping fill a dumpster with our build-up of bulky trash. We usually meet for fellowship, conversation, and a good meal. Our men’s breakfasts will continue into the future on the second Saturday of the month. Please join us!

CHURCH PICNIC – NEXT SUNDAY JULYL 17

Our church picnic will be July 17! Everyone is invited, including your family, friends, and neighbors.  And, our air-conditioning project will be complete so we will have our picnic both in our education building and outdoors. Our Christian Education Committee provides the meat course and everyone is invited to bring a dish to share. Our picnic will commence when worship is concluded!

READING PHILLIES – AUGUST 20, 2022

Take me out to the ballgame!  We will resume our church activity of watching a Reading Phils game together on August 20, 2022. Everyone is invited, and friends are welcome to join us. If you would like tickets, please let Nancy or the church office know….610-584-4054.

4H FAIR GAMES

Trinity will be leading games at the annual 4H fair in Creamery. The fair is August 11, 12, and 13. We will need a lot of volunteers.  If you are available to help, you will need to have up-to-date PA security clearances and background checks. If you have suggestions or ideas for games, please let Pastor Amelie know and also let her know if you are able to help.

SKIPPACK FIRST FRIDAYS-

The good weather is here and we are in the midst of the Skippack First Friday season.  Each month, Skippack stores stay open late on the First Friday of the month. Non-profits are invited to have tables set up around town to promote our agency. Trinity needs volunteers to run our church’s table – we share brochures about our, invite people to upcoming activities, pass out prayer squares, and usually like to have activities to engager our younger neighbors. This year, our remaining Skippack First Fridays are August 5, September 2, and October 7. If you are able to help, we need volunteers to run the table from 6 to 8 pm at each First Friday. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you can help.

TRINITY COMMUNITY GARDEN

Thomas Updike has built a community garden on the upper corner of our cemetery meadow for a part of his Eagle Scout project. There are now six plots for anyone that would like to cultivate them. Please call the church office if you would like a lot: 610-584-4054

BANNER TEAM – CALLING ALL CRAFTY FOLKS!

The Worship Committee is looking for volunteers to help make new banners for our sanctuary.  This project is in its infancy, but if you are interested in helping, please tell Pastor Amelie.

DAILY BREAD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY

We continue to collect food and toiletry items for the Daily Bread Food Pantry.  They can be left at the doors of the church or in the baskets next to the sanctuary doors.

The Daily Bread's Current needs change every few weeks. This is their latest list of needs:

Personal Care (which cannot be purchased with food stamps):

Laundry soap, children's toothbrushes/ toothpaste, tissues, dish soap

Food:

Boxed Mac and Cheese, Oatmeal, Canned peas & baked beans, Pancake Mix, Jelly or Jam, Rice

Baby Care:

Diapers

Pet Care:

Dry cat food, Litter, canned dog food

DON’T GIVE UP MOVEMENT

Our Outreach committee is inviting everyone in our congregation to join us in sharing messages from the “Don’t Give Up” movement.  This outreach was started to encourage people who are considering suicide to not give up.  We have yard signs, postcards, stickers, and business cards with messages that say things like “You are Enough” and “Your Mistakes Don’t Define You.” These messages are especially important right now as many people are struggling with their mental and emotional health after the many months of our pandemic.  Please pick up yard signs at church and other signs to promote this message of love for our neighbors.  Here is more about the movement:  https://www.dontgiveupsigns.com/

WORSHIP SERVICES

On Sunday mornings, you are invited to join us in-person and on Facebook:

Join us for our Sunday morning hymn sing at 9:45 am live-streamed from the Trinity Christian UCC Skippack facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

10:15 Facebook livestream Worship.  You can find us at our "Trinity Christian UCC Skippack" facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

SUNDAY BIBLE  STUDY

We have a Sunday morning Bible Study in-person and on ZOOM at 9 AM.  This is a new meeting time. Here is the link to log in:

Amelie Sell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Trinity's Wired Word Discussion Group
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76933813590?pwd=Nzc0MkthZFBkdmVNTGYycjVtRXkwUT09

Meeting ID: 769 3381 3590
Password: 7qLSWw

LUNCH BUNCH MEETS WEEKLY!

Lunch Bunch is our Tuesday afternoon Bible Study.  Everyone is invited to join us on Tuesdays at 12 pm.  Please bring your own lunch. (In the past, we had a potluck lunch, but for now each person will bring their own food.)  Lunch Bunch typically studies the portion of the Bible that will be the focus of our worship service on the upcoming Sunday. 

TRINITY BLOG

Trinity now has a blog where I am posting notes to the congregation and the text of my sermons.  If you would like to read these notes and messages, you can find them at: www.trinityskippack.blogspot.com

I will see you in worship on Sunday!

Many blessings!!

Pastor Amelie

May Peace Be -- A Message for July 3, 2022

 

This morning, we focus on Jesus’ delegation of the work to share his message to 72 of his followers. When Jesus came to earth, he knew he could not do all of his work by himself. As Jesus started his ministry, he gathered his 12 disciples. And, as he became known throughout the land, more and more people began to follow him. In our reading for this morning, Jesus sent out 72 of his disciples to prepare for the way of the Lord and to share the good news in places Jesus hadn’t yet visited. Hear our reading as it is found in Luke, chapter 10, verses one through eleven and sixteen through twenty:

Scripture Reading                        Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 

Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 

Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 

If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 

Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 

But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 

‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

O God, by your Spirit tell us what we need to hear, and show us what we ought to do, to obey Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

            With the spread of the internet and smart phones, we began to receive news and information differently than we had in the past. We didn’t need to turn on the television news or read about world events in a newspaper; instead, we could look at our phones and instantly know what was happening at soccer games in Serbia and during severe rain storms in China. The world was opened up to us in a wholly new way.  With just a few clicks of our fingertips, the news of the world is in the palm of our hands.

            One of the phenomenon that has risen out of this change is that sometimes things “go viral.”  This is when an image, video or link is spread rapidly because people share it through their social media accounts. A few years ago, hundreds of people were posting videos of themselves pouring buckets ice over their heads to raise money for ALS.  We all know about long lines of cars who have paid it forward at Starbucks drive-thru’s as people paid for the coffees for the cars behind theirs.  This week, people have been gleefully peering at videos and photos of a Burger King untouched since the 1980s that was hidden by a wall in a mall in Delaware.  Sometimes, it seems that completely random stories captures people’s imagination and therefore spread like wildfire, virtually.

            When Jesus walked the earth, it took a lot more effort to spread information from person to person. Most of the time, people were isolated from each other in their villages. The men possibly left for religious festivals in Jerusalem, but most of the people stayed very close to home. Word did not travel far.

            Jesus came to earth to reveal the Good News to the people here.  And, Jesus couldn’t do his work alone. He needed people to help him spread the word. He needed his followers to spread the word. So, he used a first century approach to nudging a message to go viral—Jesus sent his followers out in pairs, to visit all of the towns and villages between where they started and Jerusalem. Even when he was on earth, Jesus knew he needed assistants to spread his message.

            This carried on after Jesus left the earth. The story of the early church includes the many missionary visits made by Jesus’ followers to cities in the Roman world. They didn’t rely on the word spreading by word-of-mouth; but instead, the Apostles went from town to town, city to city, to tell people about Jesus and his love.  From their efforts, and the efforts of faithful missionaries through the ages, the message of Christianity spread throughout the world.

            Now we are entering a new missionary age. Although non-Christians may be aware of Christianity, sometimes they have misconceptions that keep them from embracing our faith for themselves.  In an era of “if it bleeds, it leads” news broadcasts, sometimes the strangest voices in the room or the loudest voices in the room are held up by the media as representatives of Christianity.  And, those folks don’t always present the Christian faith in a manner that represents us, the good people of Trinity Christian United Church of Christ.

            We must to work to represent our interpretation of the Christian message.  First and foremost, we are people of the Greatest Commandment of Jesus. Jesus calls on us to love God and love each other. This love is not conditional—We are called to love other people…..people we agree with, people we disagree with; people who look like us and people who don’t; people who are young, old and in-between; people who have families that look like ours and every other combination of families under the stars; people who make choices we approve of and people who make choices we disagree with. We are called to love each other.  When we treat others with love and affection, despite our differences, we spread a positive example of what it means to be Christ-like.

            We are also called to love God. We are called to appreciate God and God’s goodness. God loves us despite our foibles, despite our failures, despite our flaws.  We are created in God’s image, and God knows our hearts and intentions. Sometimes we mess up, and God loves us anyway. This is Good News, and is a message other people need to hear. God loves us no matter what.

            Sometimes, it hurts when people reject us and reject our message. Jesus counselled his missionaries to not let rejection devastate them or paralyze them.  We are to shake the dust off of our feet and move on. I look at our work as Christians as people who scatter seeds. Sometimes, the things we do or say immediately click for the other person. Sometimes, it takes a long time…some people need to hear the message over and over again, from a bunch of different people, with a bunch of different strategies.  We will never know the end result of our efforts to spread the Good News of Jesus and his love. But, we are responsible to spread the word, to treat others with love, and to love God. In our words and actions, we reflect the message of Christ.

            As followers of Christ, we are called to be reflections of Jesus to others. Let us work to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

            Amen.