First Congregational Church of Cannon Falls

A New Identity

Barbara Martin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:25:28 +0000

When I think of a new identity, I think about being a pastor. Ministry is a vocation, a calling more than a job, and the role of pastor has placed a new identity onto me. People turn to me for spiritual guidance and prayer as well as leadership or maybe just a hug. This new relationship with people has changed my outlook on life and inspires me to live in God’s way.
Sunday’s scripture text Philemon 1-21 is not only Paul’s masterpiece of church diplomacy but it also challenges us to see a person previously called ’slave’ as one who is now called brother. A brother through faith, a brother in Christ.
How does having a relationship with someone change you?
How does your relationship with God inspire you to live in God’s way?
If this cross of hands is a window,
how do you see God through it and how does God see you?

UCC Issues $300,000 Appeal for Pakistan Flood Relief

Barbara Martin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:24:41 +0000

Today the United Church of Christ issued a special disaster appeal seeking $300,000 to support the emergency relief and long-term rehabilitation initiatives of Church World Service in Pakistan. The torrential rains and flooding that have affected Pakistan in recent weeks continue, with at an estimated 1,600 dead and 17.2 million affected. Some 1.5 million people are now homeless. The floods which began in the northern parts of country have spread to four provinces covering over 132,000 square kilometers, or about 82,000 square miles. (Pakistan’s total square miles: 340,132.) According to Church World Service, some 186 villages in Sindh have been affected in seven local municipalities, affecting 38,656 individuals, thus far. Read more.
You Can Help Now:
1. Pray for the people of Pakistan, their leaders, and all emergency response workers.
2. Please help the people of Pakistan by sending gifts payable to your congregation marked for “Pakistan Flood Relief” with the request they be sent through your Conference office on to Wider Church Ministries. If you would like to see the expanse of the disaster or donate online, go to this link at ucc.org.
OR
Send gifts, made out to Wider Church Ministries and marked in the memo portion
“Pakistan Flood Relief” to Wider Church Ministries,
700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115.

What does your ‘table hospitality’ look like?

Barbara Martin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:13:54 +0000

Imagine a banquet table spead with all your favorite foods and plenty of them. Your family is there, some of your neighbors, but also tattered people, criminals, famous people, the President of the United States, even. Who would you imagine to sit at the head of the table?
Most of us would say, ‘well, the President of the United States, of course.’
Not in God’s realm! In the Gospel according to Luke 14: 1, 7-14 Jesus tells a parable about the kin-dom of God where the tattered person will sit in the most honorable place at the table. That’s what God’s realm looks like – all of God’s children at the same table and no preferences! COME, join us in co-creating God’s kin-dom on earth. There’s enough for everyone and then some!

What does God’s reign look like?

Barbara Martin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:33:03 +0000

This Sunday’s theme, “Healing Reign,” is what God wants for our world. What a wonderful image of God’s kin-dom on earth! An earth where we accept each other for who we are, respect and care for the earth’s natural resources - living the way God would have us live.
In Luke 13: 10-17 we hear about the radical nature of Jesus’ ministry. He helps us to understand the spirit of the Law in a new way when he liberates the woman from her affliction on the Holy Day of the week. Making people more whole takes precedence over human rules … that’s how God would have us live and love!

Restore us, O God …

Barbara Martin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:44:57 +0000

The gospel according to Luke 12: 49-56 tells us that Jesus confronted the crowd about God dividing and judging them. Wow! What in the world is Jesus talking about here? Is he talking about the church or families or both? Is he talking about the cost of discipleship?
Join us for worship at 9:30 a.m. Sunday and we’ll explore this troubling passage together in sacred space.

Living into the Promise

Barbara Martin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:53:22 +0000

Who are the ’saints’ of your faith? Who in your life has taught you about God and what it means to have faith? The theme for August 8th is “Living Into the Promise.” People of the Hebrew Bible like Abraham were promised a place of their own and many heirs to their faith {Gen. 15}. Though they never saw these promises realized, they kept on living their lives trusting God’s promises would be fulfilled.
What does faith mean to you? Have you ever been asked to prove your faith, by whom, and did you?
How is God active in your life today?
In this sculpture by Luis Salvador Carmona, ‘the veil symbolizes the impossibility of knowing sacred evidence directly.’ Yet, as Christians, we act in and through our faith despite the lack of evidence {Hebrews 11: 1-3} but with confidence that God is at work. Come join the conversation …

Shaped by Prayer

Barbara Martin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:44:57 +0000

When I was in 1st grade my grandmother gave me a prized possession, a necklace with a pendant of praying hands and a small opening where you could read the entire Lord’s Prayer. This is one of the first prayers children commit to memory in Sunday School and yet today we tend to recite it without much thought. What does Jesus’ Prayer really mean? What does it say to you?
The theme of worship this Sunday is “Shaped by Prayer.” How are you shaped by prayer?

Work Camp Mission Trip leads worship July 25th …

Barbara Martin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:33:47 +0000

We are excited to welcome back the participants of a week-long work camp mission trip. 9 youth and 5 adults went to Midland, Michigan where they were blended with youth and adults from other churches, split into several groups, and sent out to peoples’ homes to do projects from painting to building. These work campers will lead worship and share their experiences with us. Our Praise Band, All For You, will be playing, too. See you at 9:30 a.m.!

Not Q & A but Q & R …

Barbara Martin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:47:22 +0000

When I was a teenager in church, I always wanted to ask the pastor questions about the sermon. I wanted a chance to ask what those ‘churchy’ words meant and I had to fight the urge to raise my hand as I did in school.
Well, THIS SUMMER you can do that here! Not Q & A, but Question and Response. July 11th, we’ll be reading and discussing the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who was the injured man? What would it feel like to be helped by someone you hated? How do we know who to help? …
What questions do YOU have?

Summer time at First Congo …

Barbara Martin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:37:57 +0000

It’s summertime in beautiful Cannon Falls and being outside is great way to spend our weekends.
While you’re feeding your fun side, don’t forget to feed your spiritual side, too.
Worship begins at 9:30 a.m. and lasts one hour so you’ll have the rest of the day to re-create in God’s amazing outdoors.
We look forward to your visit in worship!