Shelby County Today

March 17, 2016 - Shelbyville United Methodist Church is assembling health kits for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) on Tuesday, March 22 at 2:00pm in the church Fellowship Hall.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the humanitarian relief and development agency of The United Methodist Church, a worldwide denomination.

We are inviting all of the community to be part of this hands on mission opportunity. If you are able to, we are looking for the following items for each kit so we can have these to assemble the kits. We have a goal to assemble at least 25 kits. [Health Kit value: $12.00]
- 1 hand towel (15"x25" or 17"x27") (kitchen, cleaning, and microfiber towels not accepted)
- 1 wash cloth
- 1 comb (needs to be sturdy...no pocket or picks please...rattail combs and combs without handles are acceptable)
- 1 metal nail file or nail clipper (no emery boards or toenail clippers please)
- 1 bath size soap (3 oz. and larger sizes only in original package)
- 1 toothbrush (adult size only in original package)
- 6 adhesive packages (3/4" to 1" size common household band aids)
- 1 plastic bag (one gallon sealable bags)
- $1.00 to purchase toothpaste 

If you are able to assemble beforehand and would like to bring to the church, the assembly instructions are:
- Set the $1.00 for toothpaste aside to be included in a separate envelope.
- Lay out the hand towel flat on a table.
- Lay the washcloth flat in the center of the hand towel.
- Place all remaining items on top of the wash cloth.
- Fold over the sides of the hand towel to cover all the items.
- Fold over one end of the hand towel so that it covers all of the items.
- Grasp the bundle of items tightly and roll over the remainder of the hand towel tightly.
- Place the tightly rolled bundle in the plastic bag.
- Remove as much air as possible.

NOTES:
- For this mission project, all items must be new.
- Items do not need to be washed.
- Please remove all packaging.
- All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations.
- Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items - nothing more.
- Please do not include any personal notes, money, or additional material in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and could delay the shipment.
- UMCOR is purchasing toothpaste in bulk to be added to health kits before shipping to ensure the product does not expire before being sent. 
- Please do not put single dollar bills in each kit.
- All monies collected for toothpaste will be put in a separate envelope with the completed kits.

Thank you for your support for this mission project. We live in a time when disasters strike at any time. Anything we can do to assist people and communities helps remind them of the tangible presence of God. We always have opportunities to show the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ.

In Christ,
Pastor Ryan Stratton
Shelbyville UMC and Short UMC

March 15, 2016 - God’s great love; what is His great love, how does it work for Christians, how can I receive this great love myself?

These are all questions one might ask if he or she were struggling, wandering in the darkness of the sins of this world, or seeking for answers to a better life.

So, what is God’s Great Love? It is His saving grace, it is salvation for all who ask and who accept His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It is a love so great that God was willing to sacrifice His only Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary that all people might be able to receive salvation for their souls and redemption for their sins.

Jesus gave up His princely role in heaven to come to earth, to be born of a woman, to live a perfect life, to be wrongly convicted and eventually crucified in order that the sins of all men, for all time would be, once and for all, paid-in-full. Such is God’s great love and it is freely available for all to receive, just for publicly accepting Jesus as Lord.

For faithfully believing that He died and the Father raised Him from the dead and that He sits now at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

That is the saving grace of God, the love of God toward all people. Our scripture today tells us of this great love.

(Ephesians 2:4) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,” (Ephesians 2:5) “even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,” (Ephesians 2:6) “ and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:7) “that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

We see clearly from these scriptures just how God’s grace works. We are kept from our just rewards of sin by God’s great mercy. Not one of us is worthy of His grace, of salvation, by anything we have done or could do, no, we are saved by His amazing grace and that alone.
God saves those who do accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. While we were still sinners, while we were turned away from Him, He loved us before we loved Him. That is His great mercy and grace.

He raises us up together, a part of His heavenly family, cleaned of all sins by the precious blood of Jesus shed upon the cross of Calvary. Raises us up to be with Jesus, washed clean as snow by Jesus’ blood.

He protects us in His grace through this age so that in the age to come, the “kingdom age” we will see His great love for us when we are able to claim, through faith, our heirship to His throne, His Kingdom in heaven.

ALL saved peoples will then forever spend eternity in heaven with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If you do not know Jesus as Lord, please ask Jesus to save you today then go to a local church and worship Him each week. Salvation is there for you, but you must claim it. God will not force it upon anyone, we must accept it for ourselves

March 14, 2016 - Sunday was the Fifth Sunday in Lent. Oftentimes during Lent Christians would give up something for forty days as a sacrifice and a way to prepare their minds and souls for the coming Easter. The two scriptures that served as the readings for this Sunday came from Luke. I am preaching a series on that last week of Jesus, and this Sunday the focus was on Tuesday. On Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem; on Monday Jesus cleared out the money lenders and others from the temple grounds. In Mark, the next day, Tuesday, was a very important day. We know it is Tuesday because Mark says, “In the morning…” To the surprise of the temple elite, Jesus and his disciples return to the Temple. The temple leaders send out people to follow Jesus and try to trip him up with theological questions.

As Tuesday comes to an end, Jesus is asked what the most important commandment is. Jesus recites the “Shema” which is one of two prayers that all Jewish children were taught and knew by heart. “We are to love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind.” To these important words Jesus adds that we are to love our neighbor. The Shema is to be prayed every morning and every evening; the Birkat Ha-Mazon is grace at meal time.

We had a small crowd at Paxton this morning. After such a rainy week, I’m sure looking forward to some sunshine this week. I hope everyone remembered to “spring forward” this weekend. It is only an hour lost, but I found myself yawning and sleepy all day. This month we are collecting chili for local food banks.

Easter is fast approaching, and everyone is invited to the Watson home for Sunrise Easter Service and breakfast afterward. Fannie says she isn’t worried about anything. I imagine that Fannie and her family are old pros when it comes to the sunrise service, since they have done it for 28 years! The sunrise service will start at 7:00 AM. My wife is not a morning person and has often wondered why it couldn’t be a sunset service. It just wouldn’t be the same!

Ms. Hilda, Fannie, and Sue reported that everything went well at the Green Acres ministry last week. Sue said they were very lively in their singing. This Tuesday at 2:00 will be our ministry at Holiday Nursing Center.

“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:15 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed!

March 14, 2016 - “The spider is in the king’s palace…” Pro. 30:28

Most of us don’t like spiders. Whether it’s a whip, wolf, or water spider… they’re all loathsome. 
When Solomon found one in his palace, he wrote: “The spider takes hold with her hands and is in the king’s palace”.  Spiders sometimes climb into elevated places. Even the glorious church can become a place of slander and backbiting ---if a spider gets in! 

Our homes are our castles where kindness and love should reside.  But jealousy can creep in, then a little lie… later a big one.  Soon our castle becomes a place of dissention and dissonance.  A spider’s in the palace. I don’t know what Solomon did with the spider….but I have a good idea.

And if we’re wise, we’ll do the same.