Luke Spurgeon

Minister of Youth & Young Adults

Lost in the Clouds

As a young person, it can be difficult to think about heaven, the place we hear about so often in church. It is a place that many of the older people in our congregations seem excited to reach because, in their eyes, they are closer to heaven than they are to earth. I have heard people in their 80s say many times, “I can’t wait until He takes me home,” or “Why can’t God just take me to heaven already?” That one always cracks me up because, all my life, I have heard older people tell me, “Don’t wish your life away.”

Don’t get me wrong, heaven sounds like the place I want to go to after I have lived a full life here on earth.

But what does a full life really mean?

Does it mean that when I reach 65 and retire, I’m done? Have I served my time? Is that what a full life looks like?

I think about these questions often, especially when I talk with my 93-year-old grandma. She can’t physically do the things she once did for her church, but she still prays all the time. She may not be able to serve in the ways she once could, but she is still living, still loving, and still praying. I believe she is living her full life to the extent that she is able.

So, I have to ask myself: Am I living the full life that people speak of?

I would like to believe I am.

Sometimes, I think we can get lost in the clouds. We spend so much time thinking about where we are going that we miss what God has for us right now. We can become so focused on making sure we don’t lose our ticket to heaven that we miss the train to earth.

Maybe living a full life isn’t about reaching a certain age, retiring, or waiting for heaven. Maybe it is about being present where God has placed us today. Maybe the full life is the one we are already living, the one filled with opportunities to love, serve, pray, grow, and make a difference while we are still here.

Heaven can be our destination without becoming our distraction.

We don’t have to stop looking forward to heaven. But while we are here, we should make sure we don’t miss the life God has placed right in front of us.

This Sunday’s sermon, “Jesus, the Genie”, will be based on Matthew 11:1-6 and will conclude Pastor Jake’s sermon series “Not What I Thought”. Read the scripture to prepare for worship, and invite someone to join you as we continue to walk with Christ.

Sundays at 10:30 a.m., join us in person,

or participate in our live-streamed worship service

on either our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/forrestburdettemumc

or our YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ForrestBurdette/videos

Sunday School classes for all ages meet at 9:15 a.m.

New frames. Different specs…

They’re often the result of the dreaded eye exam. Ugh (Do they still do that awful puff test?). Sometimes we don’t know how bad our sight has become until we take the time to look through a lens that corrects what we were sure we saw sharply.

What’s true of the frames through which we see is also true of the faith on which we stand.

We may be slow to concede it, but many of us stumble on our spiritual walk and ometimes even forfeit our faith altogether because the images we adopted, adapted or generated about Jesus just weren’t…genuine.

I don’t know about you, but I’d hate bearing the regret of living long lengths of time before realizing: Maybe it wasn’t the Lord who let us down, but rather the lenses we were looking through.

It might be time to take a second look. Through the month of September, the eye chart that is the Gospel will challenge us to review, refocus or reframe the concepts we’ve attached to Christ. It just might shock you to say,

“He’s not what I thought.”

The new semester of Wednesday classes begins THIS Wednesday! Please click here to read about the classes that are being offered this semester. Branch out. Dig deep. Grow together.

Fellowship dinners are catered by Shonet’s Country Café of Milton and begin at 5:30 p.m., starting this week. The cost of each dinner is $14. We ask that you sign up at the Connection Center or call the church office by Tuesday morning to RSVP. You do not have to attend a class to join us for dinner! Volunteers are needed to set up and clean up each Wednesday.

Join us this Thursday, September 17, at noon in the fellowship hall for our monthly covered dish luncheon! Our guest speaker is Megan Tarbett from the Putnam County Library. Prepare or buy some food to share, and come out for a good lunch. Friends are welcome!

If you are interested in the children’s Christmas play, plan for a Meet & Greet at the church at 3:00 p.m., on Sept. 20, with practices beginning Sept. 27. This year’s play will be held on December 13. Questions? See Julie Harris or Jayné Kirk.

This year as in the past, the Stewards of Fellowship Sunday School class has organized this year’s apple butter making for Saturday, October 3rd, here at the church under the covered driveway entrance. Lighting the copper kettle will be at 5:30 a.m., and the plan is to bottle around 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

We encourage anyone to stop by and help stir and experience this truly Appalachian tradition, especially the youth. We would really appreciate help bottling around 5:30. Feel free to bring snacks any time, and we would also accept donations to offset our cost of jars and apples. Proceeds will help support BackPack Buddies and Kairos Prison Ministry. Apple butter will be available for sale around 5:30. Come join us for a day of fun!

At FB Xplore you’ll find the following:

• New connections with others who want to share Christ with our community
• A greater understanding of who we are, where we came from and why it matters
• A space where you can ask questions about what binds us together as well as what makes being United Methodist unique
• A broader idea of how you can grow as a disciple of Jesus and transform the world around us.

Interested? Sign up @ the Connection Desk located in the lobby. Room # TBA.

Join Pastor Jake and others during the Sunday School hour (9:15-10:15am)

Oct. 18 & 25

Nov. 1 & 8

Please click here for all the information about this year's church picnic at the Grant Farm: Sunday, October 4th. Sign up sheets for how many are attending, who needs a ride in the van, and what you can bring are available in the Connection Center!

With the school year beginning this month, our BackPack Buddies ministry is ready to start packing weekend meals and snacks for 100+ local school children. Bags are packed weekly. If you are interested in packing bags, please see the sign-up sheet at the Connection Center desk. Training will be provided! We welcome food and monetary donations. A cart for food donations is located at the Connection Center.

Here are some ideas for individual sized donations: oatmeal, Nutri-Grain bars, Pop Tarts, ramen noodles, Beanee Weenees, cans of chicken noodle or tomato soup, mac & cheese pouches, snack sized mandarin oranges or peaches, fruit snacks, and Rice Krispie treats.

Applications for crafters and vendors for the annual UMW Fall Festival are available to print by clicking here, or pick up a copy at the Connection Center or through the church office. The Fall Festival will be Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fee is $20 per space. Spread the news and date of our event!

*If you are coming to walk in the mornings, please note that you must use the preschool entrance before 8:30 a.m.

9/14—Jax Anderson

9/15—Christopher Lipinski, Aaron Persinger, Betty Wilson

9/16—Betty Bailey, Kara Hughes, Carol Proffitt

9/17—Kevin Lawhon

9/18—Sheila Andrews, Gary Beckett, Sarah Logan

9/19—No birthdays on record today

9/20—Harold Bennett, Jeff Rowsey, Mary Russell

The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.