L: God has planted within and among us the seed of the gospel.
P: And through baptism and the Holy Spirit irrigated it with living waters.
L: Parents and family, teachers and friends, pastors, counselors, and churches have each cultivated us.
P: Yet it was always God who gave the growth!
U: May the fruit of patience ripen among us and be shared so others taste and see that the Lord is good!
Scripture
(James 5:7-11; Galatians 5:22)
Our first reading comes from the letter of James.
7Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
9Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!
10As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Our second reading comes from the letter to the Galatians.
22The fruit of the Spirit is patience.
Here ends our readings. May God bless our understanding.
@Copyright by Rev. Troy Sybrant Sermon: “The Fruit of Patience” (James 5:7-11; Galatians 5:22) Sunday May 28, 2017
“The Fruit of Patience”
Sermon Video:
Sermon Slide Video:
Announcements:
May 27, 2017
Tuesday May 30, 2017
Friday June 2, 2017
Fri. June 2, 2017
We’re hosting the Middletown (KY) DOC high school singers on their Midwest tour and musical “Where Jesus Is.” Light dinner at 6:30, program at 7:30. Spread the word, invite a neighbor, friend, coworker!
L: God has planted within and among us the seed of the gospel.
P: And through baptism and the Holy Spirit irrigated it with living waters.
L: Parents and family, teachers and friends, pastors, counselors, and churches have each cultivated us.
P: Yet it was always God who gave the growth!
U: May the fruit of peace ripen among us and be shared so others taste and see that the Lord is good!
Scripture:
(Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 5:22)
Our first reading comes from the letter to the Ephesians.
11So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—
12remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,
16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.
17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;
18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
21In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
22in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Our second reading comes from the letter to the Galatians.
22The fruit of the Spirit is peace.
Here ends our readings. May God bless our understanding.
@Copyrighted by Rev. Troy Sybrant Sermon: “The Fruit of Peace” (Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 5:22) Sunday May 21, 2017
Please plan to meet after church this Sunday, May 21. We have some very important tasks ~
¨ Evaluate this year’s Bible Study classes
¨ Plan for next year’s Bible Study
¨ and plan Youth Activities
Everyone’s input is very important!
We will have about 2 hours to meet, discuss, plan and have lunch while the children eat pizza & watch Moana.
For lunch we will participate in the Linger Longer fundraiser “long-distance.” Here is how: Before Sunday, please place & pay for your order online on the City Barbeque website. (Don’t order drinks as they will be provided at church.) Someone from CCC will pick up the pre-ordered food and bring it back to the church.
Please contact Carol Y. ASAP (no later than Fri. May 19) at 513-238-8055 or frammamomma@gmail.com with the following information:
¨ How many adults will attend the meeting?
¨ How many children will attend the movie?
¨ If you place an order for pick-up, what name is it placed under?
¨ How many children will be eating pizza?
May 27Reach Out – opportunities to make a difference:
“Get Your Teal on for Shawn”
Help the Heltons
The following is from a Facebook post;
Announcing a benefit for the family of Shawn Helton, Pam Helton’s daughter-in-law who died of cervical cancer May 2.
Only 32, Shawn left behind a husband & 3 children.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Mt 11:15
God is constantly active in our world in ways both subtle and profound. Our task is to wake from our slumbers, opening eyes, ears, hearts, minds, and spirits to become aware of God’s ever-present nearness. Like Jacob at Bethel we awaken and exclaim, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” (Gen 28:16). One way to awaken is to ask, “Where have I seen God today?”
Two occurrences happened in the last few weeks among our church. After being informed that a fellow Ablaze youth choir member was at the Grand Canyon over spring break, this youth left a note in the prayer box reading, “I hope Luke doesn’t get bit of a snake.” I texted this church family to let them know that our youngest were praying for them. When I spoke with this family on Easter morning they said that phone reception was bad in the depths of the canyon, and hadn’t gotten the message until they were back at the top. They had also seen a snake while below, and it had been…well-behaved. God was seen in the prayers of the young for members far away!
The second occurrence happened during the Saturday of the Nashville pastor’s class trip. One of our stops was at a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, within which is a 41’ reproduction of Athena. Given this backdrop, I’d written a worship service based around Acts 17:16-33 where Paul visits Athens and discovers the altar “to an unknown God.” He tells the Athenians who this God is and about Jesus. Our plan was to visit the Parthenon and then worship outdoors.
As we were gazing upon the giant gold-covered statue of Athena, we suddenly heard voices singing a haunting and gorgeous song a capella. I discovered something new about the Parthenon—it is acoustically perfect for singing. I surmised that since there was a Kidsville event (arts and crafts for younger children) happening that day, that perhaps a local high school group had been recruited to demonstrate the Parthenon was indeed a worship space. Annmarie sought out the director and discovered this group was the Salem Chamber Singers from Salem, MO.
They sang a South African song “Indodana” in isiXhosa whose translation is, “The Lord has taken his Son who lived amongst us, the Son of the Lord God was crucified.” God was heard in beautiful voices singing of Christ before the statue of Athena! They sang at the Grand Ole Opry and took Gold/1st Place at the Worldstrides competition, being invited back to Carnegie Hall for the 3rd time. Here’s a recording by The Salem Chamber Singers of Indodana: The Salem Chamber Singers
God’s impeccable timing in two events over the span of 9 days! God is constantly active in our world, ever-present and near: Where have you seen God today?
Pastor Troy Sybrant
Other opportunities to volunteer and serve:
14th Annual HUNGER WALK & RUN
Benefit for the Over-The-Rhine Kitchen
May 29, 2017 9 am
Dear Friends of the Kitchens and Pantry:
If you are looking for a great way to enjoy a beautiful holiday and help to fight hunger in our community, this is a wonderful opportunity! The walk kicks off at 9:00 am!
Do you have a group of family or friends to walk with you? Then you’ve got a team!
To sign up your team for the Hunger Walk, go to http://www.cincinnatihungerwalk.org/2017/, fill out the registration, and list Over-The-Rhine Kitchen as your beneficiary.
You can also join an existing team or sign up as an individual.
Additional donations can be made through this site as well.
We hope to see you there!
Pat, Joann, Stefanie, David, Duane,
Keith H., Andre and Keith M.
May 30 5 pm Stepping Forward Dinners
We will meet at Faith Community United Methodist Church on Cox Road in W.C. about 5:00 p.m. and partner with Bethany UMC of Liberty Twp. to prepare and serve dinner to over 150 deserving members of our community.
2017 SUMMER LUNCH PROGRAM
Compass Christian Church is scheduled to provide volunteers for the Faith Alliance Summer Lunch Program at Gettysburg Estates, Mon.-Wed., August 7-9. To volunteer at Gettysburg, contact Laura D. (Volunteers are still needed at other sites.
TO SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER CLICK ON THE SIGNUP GENIUS LINK BELOW. PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING FOR EARLIER WEEKS FIRST. Thank you for caring for our children!
According to Sue Mahlock, Faith Alliance Director of Outreach, “Even though the Food Bus staff will be serving lunch to the children, volunteers are needed to assist the young ones with their lunch, monitor the lunch and clean up, and offer much needed mentorship to children who are many times left alone all day. Volunteers bring sports equipment or crafts, or even books to read with the children.”
Because there is a time with no lunches provided before school starts, Compass Christian Church will also participate in a food drive to provide boxes of food for the families before school starts.
Mother’s Day Blankets
Blanket the world with love –
Blankets were generously given in honor of or in memory of.
In 2016, thousands of blankets were delivered around the world reaching families fleeing their homes, recovering from disaster and more.
Father’s Day Church World Service “provides empowerment for people”
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE TOOLS
Empowering families. Strengthening communities.
Contributions to CWS Tools mean Church World Service will be ready to help people around the world gain the resources and develop the skills necessary to sustain themselves and their families and to build viable communities.… CWS reaches out to those who have nothing to “fall back on,” equipping them not only with solutions, but with resilience.
Church World Service “provides empowerment for people” world-wide through donations of tools and materials.
For instance:
$50 can provide 100 chicks, helping families find their way from need to nourishment with a self-propagating food source.
$100 can provide tools for such trades as carpentry, plumbing and tailoring for refugees, asylum-seekers and survivors of trafficking who have skills but lack the necessary tools.
$225 can provide gardening tools and materials to build three small raised beds for vegetables.
$1250 can purchase a share of a sand dam—a concrete wall built across a seasonal riverbed, which allows sand to build up behind it, trapping seasonal rains for year-round use by families.
Choose a gift with meaning:
All these gifts are examples of how Church World Service works in partnership to find effective ways of tackling poverty and injustice. Whatever gift you choose, you will provide vital support to those in need through CWS development programs. CWS is recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, so your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
“This is probably the most important issue affecting our community,” said Lynda O’Connor, C3’s president. “We think it’s important to hear from those who are in the struggle daily.”
The program is free and open to the public, with lunch included.
Miami University—VOA Learning Center
7847 VOA Park Drive
Local leaders in the struggle against drug abuse and the mental health crisis will participate in a panel discussion & program presented by the Caring Community Collaborative (C3). Among the “Through Our Eyes – What Really Happens Out There” panelists are the following: Richard K. Jones,Butler County Sheriff; Joel Herzog, West Chester Twp Police Chief; Rick Prinz, West Chester Twp Fire Chief; Capt. Troy Banfield, West Chester Fire Dept; Dr. Lisa Mannix, Butler County Coroner; Dr. Elizabeth Leenellett, Medical Director, West Chester Hospital Emergency Department; Lori Higgins, President, Envision Partnerships; and Scott Rasmus, Executive Director, Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board.
What Is It Like To Have an Environmental Illness?
By Rev. Dr. Sharon L. Kiesel
From the Buckeye Disciple May-August 2017
Imagine leaving behind ten years as an intentional interim pastor because your throat closes up with exposure to fragrances, chemicals and mold. Imagine sleeping in your car during a snowy winter. How do you protect yourself when a compressor station for a natural gas pipeline, emitting tons of hazardous chemicals annually, is planned within five miles of your home?
A specialist diagnosed me with a chronic inflammatory disease, triggered by a genetic susceptibility to mold, exposure to water-damaged buildings and numerous toxins in my environment. For example, researchers believe immune systems become overwhelmed by the overuse of fungicides causing “resistant strains of fungi,” like the use of antibiotics has fueled antibiotic resistant bacteria. I also developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Sixteen percent of us are unusually sensitive to chemicals and 6 percent are disabled by chemical exposures. More studies are linking environmental pollution to the epidemics of asthma, allergies, autism, diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
Being an MCS survivor and a pastor who has ministered with other victims has helped me understand the daily struggles to survive with an environmental illness. Avoidance is the best means to accommodate this disability. My conviction is to prevent others from being sickened by the uncontrolled release of toxins into our environment.
Daily I cling to Jesus, even when I cannot safely attend worship. I read the Bible, journal, enjoy nature, and relish all my relationships, especially the unbelievable support of my husband. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our strong connection with Jesus continues to guide us through this wilderness to where I can once again bear fruit.
Library Corner: May is for Mothers
LET US PRAY!
JUNE PRAYERS
Local ~ Increase in area church participation to strengthen the services of our Faith Alliance group.
Regional ~ Continued support for programs addressing drug abuse problems.
National ~ Reduction of animosity & fault-finding in our political parties, with the purpose of the coming-together of our country.
REGIONAL WEB SITES
You can learn more about each regional ministry by visiting their web site:
L: God has planted within and among us the seed of the gospel.
P: And through baptism and the Holy Spirit irrigated it with living waters.
L: Parents and family, teachers and friends, pastors, counselors, and churches have each cultivated us.
P: Yet it was always God who gave the growth!
U: May the fruit of joy ripen among us and be shared so others taste and see that the Lord is good!
Scripture (John 16:13-24; Galatians 5:22)
Our first reading comes from the good news according to John.
And Jesus said,
13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
15All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
16”A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”
17Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
18They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”
19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’?
20Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.
21When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.
22So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
23On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
Our second reading comes from the letter to the Galatians.
22The fruit of the Spirit is joy.
Here ends our readings. May God bless our understanding.
@Copyrighted by Rev. Troy Sybrant Sermon: “Fruits of Joy” (John 16:13-24; Galatians 5:22) Sunday May 14, 2017
Those defined as one of the most vulnerable citizens of our region, the elderly, struggle with isolation and loneliness. The experience of aloneness is compounded when an illness or fall necessitates a stay at the hospital. As the staff chaplain at West Chester Hospital, Jeff Perkins, also a Faith Alliance board member, witnesses daily dozens of elderly patients summon the courage to survive their circumstances. Most elderly patients are just longing for a caring person to provide company during their hospital stay.
There now is an opportunity to provide an answer to prayer for these older patients.
The Caring Companion Program at West Chester Hospital, is a newly Endorsed Program by the Faith Alliance. The program is currently looking for volunteers to be Caring Companions.
Participation as a volunteer could look like this:
-Volunteer 4 hours once per month as a Caring Companion at West Chester Hospital spending time with 2-4 of our older patients.
-Caring Companions will utilize appropriate “activity boxes” during patient interaction. These boxes consist of books to read, towel/wash rags to fold, various arts and crafts items, and tablets upon which to play music. In some circumstances, the patient will only require simple conversation.
-OPTIONAL: Some Adult Caring Companions will serve as mentors for Youth Caring Companions during the summer months. These Adult Caring Companions serving as youth mentors will be needed at the hospital 4 hours per week during the summer months (as defined by the Lakota School Calendar).
-Training for Caring Companions will consist of a 2 hour West Chester Hospital Volunteer Orientation event led by Mrs. Christine Martin (hospital materials, background checks completed, flu shots during flu season, tb shots, and official ID badging). The second component of training will be Caring Companion Program specific. This event will last two hours. During this time they will delve into the nuts and bolts of the program. Finally, the Caring Companions will meet for one hour quarterly for additional and ongoing training/debriefing.
The adult (18+) volunteer program runs year round and encompasses many different areas of the hospital, from the information desk, to the gift shop, same day surgery, marketing, maintenance, and many more. Applications can be a submitted at any time, and applicants are contacted periodically throughout the year as opportunities become available.
Requirements:
Volunteers must be available for a minimum of one, four-hour shift per week for a minimum of six months
Volunteers must purchase a volunteer uniform, consisting of a jacket or polo shirt
Volunteers must attend a mandatory orientation and training session
Volunteers must pass a tuberculosis (TB) test, provided at no cost by West Chester Hospital
Volunteers are required to have an annual influenza (flu) vaccine for their own protection and the safety of our patients.
Sun. June 4 ~ Pentecost
