August 2019 Greeting Friends,
You have likely heard the phrase “seeing is believing.” Before truly believing we sometimes must see it with our own eyes.
Cornelius was a truck driver that hauled cows. He hauled live cows, and he also hauled dead cows. Some of his funniest stories were about the dead animals he had to haul.
In his career he even had to haul dead elephants. The first time he had to do this he received a phone call on April 1st. The caller said, “Yeah, I have a dead elephant for you to pick up in Los Angeles.” Cornelius replied, “Yeah right! You aren’t going to get me on that one!” The guy said to him, “No, seriously, I have a dead elephant for you to pick up.” Cornelius again said, “You aren’t going to fool me today buddy!”
Cornelius didn’t want to be the object of a prank on April fool’s day. So, he told the guy that if he drove all the way to Los Angeles to pick up a dead elephant, he would charge him double and the caller would have to pay for the tow truck that he would need.
The other man agreed, if there wasn’t an elephant he would pay as requested. Cornelius made the trip and sure enough, there was a dead elephant. Cornelius didn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.
Our culture today leans towards that of skepticism. It is one where we tend to doubt before believing. When it comes to many things, we need to have proof.
Both the Ogilvie and the Mora congregations have what some might say are “see it to believe it” projects. But you tenacious believers serve a BIG God and both activities are successfully underway.
Instead of holding an in-house Bible or book study this summer the Ogilvie congregation is leading a study at an apartment building across the street. Members of this faithful congregation, that would normally attend studies in the church, are now sharing in a study with the apartment residents in the building’s community room. Wow talk about reaching out into the community. Way to go Church!
The Mora UMC demonstrated their faith in our mighty God by deciding to add a new hire to the staff to oversee the birth – high school programing. They demonstrated their faith by committing to raise the start-up financing. At the time of this writing $11,045 of their goal of $15,000 is in the bank! On faith and faith alone, they jumped in head-first and are well on their way to having a new hire.
It is easy for me to be proud of you and of the work you are doing. God is so good, and our future is worth believing in. I don’t have to see it to believe it.
Blessing,
Pastor Deb
Pastor’s Vacation
Pastor Deb and Rod are on vacation August 24 thru September 8. A pastor to be identified later will be on call for any pastoral needs.