Greater
Greater
De Colores Community,
Our March Gathering
was incredible, and the Board meeting went well, too. The Holy Spirit was
definitely making His presence known in our hearts. I just love this Emmaus
stuff.
Hope to see ya’ll on
April 17th for the Gathering.
We are planning another
Emmaus Picnic in September at the Clarksburg Field Days grounds. The exciting
thing is this year we’ll be making a weekend out of it. Huh, an Emmaus weekend. What a novel idea! We’ll
meet Friday night for a bonfire, camping and to start the hog roasting. The
picnic will be on Saturday. Probably some will be able to attend both Friday
and Saturday and some may only Friday or Saturday. But I’m sure whatever time
you can spend at the campground will be fun. Bring the entire family. There are
electric hookups and facilities. We are setting our date early enough for the
entire community to be able to make plans for the weekend. So here is your official “Save the Date:“ It’s Friday
evening, September 26, and Saturday morning and afternoon, September 27. Exact times will be determined later. Let’s
start praying now for good weather.
Did you know there
are Emmaus Celebrations from time to time at different cities throughout the
country and all Emmaus people are welcome? It might make a great getaway
weekend to a city where you’ve never been before. There was one April 4-6 in
I want to tell you
about a close friend of mine who always seems to be targeted. Targeted? For what - you ask. Targeted by people waiting on her in stores
or in restaurants, constantly calling her by endearing names. Let me tell you,
she is sweet and dear and precious. But constantly being called sweet names by
total strangers really bothers her. It bothers a lot of people. It happened
again yesterday and she finally told the manager of the restaurant how
offensive it was to be called Baby Doll by someone who doesn’t even know her
name.
That may seem pretty
harmless to you, but imagine your server, usually a person you’ve never seen
before, calling you Honey, Sweetie, Darling, Precious, Dear, Baby Doll,
Sweetheart and more, over and over again.
It happens to her a lot. Would you want to be constantly addressed by
total strangers, with such endearing names? I’m sure it would quickly get
pretty annoying. Wouldn’t you rather hear it from someone really special, like
your spouse? Wouldn‘t it be much better coming from them, than hearing it from
a stranger in a restaurant looking for a bigger tip?
I wonder how it feels
to Jesus to be called Lord, by people who have not given Him lordship of their
lives? By people who can talk the talk
but who don’t walk the walk. Maybe it feels very empty to Him. When we call Him,
“Lord,” He knows our real relationship with Him. He knows if we really love Him
or we are just wanting something from Him. Does He feel like my friend feels
when the phony sweetness is poured on? He can spot the phony stuff.
Let’s make an effort
to GET REAL with Jesus. The relationship is worth it. When it’s real, our endearing words will be music
to His ears.
Hope to see you at
the April 17th Gathering at
De Colores!
In Him,
Pat Arthur
From Our Spiritual Director . . .
The lectionary
reading this year for April 6 was the familiar story from Luke chapter 24 about
the walk to Emmaus. I always relish the opportunity to use the Emmaus text for
a sermon.
What a week this had
been for the followers of Jesus. It had started with his dramatic entry into
The next day he
visited the temple area and found the money changers and traders in livestock
cheating the people as they came to the temple to pay their annual tax and as
they brought sacrifices to be made. He was angered and drove them out of the
temple.
On Thursday night, he
gathered with his disciples and had his last supper with them.
Then came the arrest,
the illegal trial, the trumped up charges, and finally the crucifixion between
two thieves.
After the
crucifixion, the bottom seemed to fall out of the lives of the followers. All
of their hopes and dreams disintegrated on Friday when Jesus died on the cross.
Early on Sunday
morning the women rushed to the tomb and came back with the news that the tomb was
empty.
The very afternoon of
the report of the empty tomb, two people--Cleopas and an unidentified fellow
traveler--set out for their home in Emmaus.
I can’t say for sure but I think that these two were utterly defeated
and were throwing in the towel and going home.
On the way they met a
stranger. It was actually the risen Christ but they did not recognize him. Part
of the delight of this story is that we know something that the two travelers
do not know. We know that it is Jesus who joined them.
Jesus and the two
travelers talked about current events. The news was that the one that they
thought would rescue them from the grasp of the hated Roman government had been
crucified. They had hoped that he would be the one who would redeem
Jesus quoted to them
from the wisdom of the prophets. He
accused them of being slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken. They believed
part of the word of God but not all of it. They were guilty of selective
believing. Their understanding of the scriptures was based on preconceived
assumptions.
This is the way heartbreak
happens. We think that God should do something based on our preconceived idea of
who God is and what His role in our lives should be. The problem is not with
God but with us.
The two travelers
reached the end of the journey and invited Jesus to join them in the evening
meal. For some unknown reason, Jesus became the host of the meal for he broke
the bread at the beginning of the meal. They immediately recognized him in the
breaking of the bread.
After Jesus had left
them, they talked about their hearts being on fire when Jesus revealed the
wisdom of the scriptures to them.
The truth is God
wants to set all of our hearts on fire. He wants to give us a burning passion
for life. God gave to these two travelers a reason for living and an intense
desire to share what they knew about the risen Christ. We know this because they
could not wait until morning. The two travelers immediately headed back to
The long discouraging
walk to Emmaus had become a joyous run back to
What a great message
for all of us, Can you remember the time when Jesus was walking with you and
you did not recognize him? Then came the day of realization when your eyes were
opened and you now know that He was with you all of the time.
What would getting on
the road mean to you? Maybe you have been traveling fast and furious and it is
taking a toll on your spiritual life. Maybe you are drifting from God. Hope is not lost and Jesus wants to re-energize
you for the journey. Buckle up and rely on Jesus to get you through the
dangerous sections of the road of life.
The two travelers to
Emmaus got back on the road to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
De Colores,
Les Grooms
Spiritual Director
2008 Walks
Women’s Walk # 40
Lay
Director, Laura Miller
Men’s Walk # 30
Lay
Director, Danny Morris
Women’s Walk # 41
Lay
Director, Linda Morris
2008 GSVE Board Members
POSITION NAME TERM YR. PHONE eMAIL
Agape 1 Pat Cook 2 740-634-3277 pcook1529@gmail.com
Agape 2 Savilla
Ruggles 1 740-998-4843 huge@bright.net
Chairperson Pat Arthur 2 740-776-6501 pattiarthur@verizon.net
Chrysalis Joanne Charles A 740-354-4494 jcharles@shawnee.edu
Computer Kevin Pancake A 740-703-8782 pancake@bright.net
Good Shepherd Karen Edmonson 1 740-998-5650 bk_edmonson@yahoo.com
Housekeeping 1 Dena Benner 3 937-981-4162 db0142@dragonbbs.com
Housekeeping 2 Richard Schumacher 2 937-981-4296
Kairos Jim
Mathers A 740-983-2120 jmathers@columbus.rr.com
Kitchen 1 Lorri Stewart 1 740-775-2379
Kitchen 2 David Burriss 1 740-947-8194 dpburriss@roadrunner.com
Kitchen 3 Harley Barney 3 740-998-6523
Leadership Ed Ruggles 3 740-998-4843 huge@bright.net
Music Dick
North 1 740-776-7420 rcnorth@verizon.net
Newsletter Amy Edler 3 740-642-2938 amyedler@horizonview.net
Outreach Rick Harper 1 740-998-3882 jrharper@horizonview.net
Purchasing Jim Penix 1 740-852-2792 jpenix1@columbus.rr.com
Registrar, Men Tony Siders 2 740-884-4622 tsiders@mail.gsn.k12.oh.us
Registrar, Women Denise Kiger 2 740-335-0016 kigerd@nationwide.com
Secretary Laura Miller 2 740-332-6003 laurabeth@wildblue.net
Social 1 Danny Morris 3 740-437-7472 capmorris@hotmail.com
Social
2 Jim Skinner 1 740-993-2118 2skin4him@earthlink.net
Special Projects
Spiritual
Director Les Grooms 2 937-549-2113
Sponsorship Candy Dishong 1 740-596-4353
Treasurer Arla Bush 3 740-773-7865
Hats Off
Our host
church, Trinity United Methodist, has a policy that hats, especially ball caps,
are not to be worn inside the church. So we ask that whenever you enter,
whether to worship or to serve, please remove your hat. Let’s comply with this
simple request from our gracious host.
Cast Iron Christians
Think about a cast
iron skillet. An alloy of iron, carbon and silicon – very common earthy elements
-- is melted and poured into a mold to shape into a useful item. Cast iron is
not highly refined and shiny like stainless steel. But it’s tough, useful and
enduring. Its fruits are some pretty good things: fried chicken, fried potatoes,
corn bread, gravy. Mmm! Doesn’t it make your mouth water?
I still use my
mother’s and grandmother’s well-used cast iron skillet. It’s sleek, black and
perfect for its purpose. But it didn’t look like that when it was new. Then it
was kind of a dull dark gray. And it would gather rust spots by just sitting in
the cupboard. You see, raw cast iron is very susceptible to oxidation. The iron
readily converts to iron oxide when exposed to moisture in the air. And the carbon
and silicon in the iron are like speckles or lumps of impurities scattered
throughout the material. The iron is in grains that are surrounded by flakes of
carbon. Carbon and silicon in the amounts contained in cast iron are undesirable
elements in steel. You may think of them as impurities. But these impurities
are a part and parcel of cast iron, so it has to be seasoned to be useful.
To season cast iron,
you rub on oil (or some form of grease) and put it in a hot oven. The cast iron
expands when heated and the oil penetrates and reacts with the carbon and
silicon, forming a protective coating to the iron. Let’s see—oil—that usually
symbolizes the Holy Spirit. And heat—usually analogous to trials and tribulations.
But if you’ve ever
had a new cast iron skillet, you know that one seasoning usually doesn’t do it.
As soon as you wash the skillet or scratch its surface in any way, the
seasoning layer is damaged and it begins to rust again. You have to keep
seasoning it. Every time you use the skillet, you apply heat and oil to add to
the seasoning effect. The oil gradually penetrates the surface with each reheating
until it reaches a depth where moisture no longer penetrates.
I think you can see
the picture of a Christian in the cast iron skillet. We are made of common material,
formed by the Master into a useful shape when we accept Christ. But we are
raw—unseasoned, and prone to corruption—oh, we’re still skillets—errr… Christians,
when we are marred by the rust spots of sinful thoughts and deeds. But we
aren’t very useful until we are seasoned. We are seasoned by the application of
the Holy Spirit, obtained through life in the Body of Christ, prayer, study,
worship and Christian action. And the Word of God penetrates our surface when
we are heated in the trials of life. The heartaches, physical pains and trials
that beset us all expose our inward selves to the oil of the Holy Spirit so
that the impurities in us can be converted to material that strengthens us and
makes us useful in God’s kingdom.
Cast iron has another
characteristic that makes it perfect for skillets. It’s tough. The carbon
between the grains makes it resistant to shattering. You can drop it or drop
something on it and it doesn’t break or dent. Seasoned Christians are resilient
,too — when we fall we get up, unbroken, uncrushed by the weight of the
struggle. So be like the Apostle Paul when adversity comes. Count it all joy
and rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer and grow — seasoned like a
cast iron skillet.
While we walk on this
earth we have the treasure of God in earthen vessels, vessels that are prone to
decay. But when we step into eternity, our bodies will be changed into
incorruptible bodies that will shine with purity. Until then we endure the heat
and we praise God that He is able to make us into useful vessels for His service.
I pray that you will
endure the heat and the chastisement we all must sometimes face and grow in the
grace of God.
DeColores,
Amy Edler
See you at the next Gathering,
April 17, 2008, 7 PM at Trinity UMC,
Main and Mulberry Sts., Chillicothe OH.
Parking
If
you are serving on a team or in the kitchen, we ask that you do not park in the
parking lots behind the church on Sunday morning. Please have consideration for
the worshippers at Trinity. If you are a team member and parked there during
the rest of the walk, please go out early Sunday morning and move your car to
the Horizon parking lot across the alley behind and slightly west of the
church.