May 2014

May 2014

Life Works News Youth and Children of Lebanon UMC

Greetings!  Spring is here!!  Summer is just around the corner.  We have lots of fun things in store for the summer so mark your calendars for the following dates: ·        VBS!  June 16- 20 6pm – 8:30pm ·        Girls Night (6th -12th)  June 27 5:30pm ·        Youth Water Day   (6th -12th)   June 28  1pm ·        Children’s Water Day  July 6  1pm ·        Girls Night  (6th -12th)  July 11 5:30pm ·        Youth Camp at Loucon (6th -12th)  July 27 – 30 (Sign up online)

Next Wednesday April 30 Mission Night! Children will meet at the church like normal and do missions projects here at the church. Youth we will not meet at the church but here is your assignment for the Wednesday: Our mission as Christians is to not only come to church but to invite people to come to church with us.  So for this Wednesday I want you to go out and be the church to someone else and to invite them to church with you. Is there someone who goes to school with you that does not know Christ? a.     If you answered yes, who is it?                                                                i.      Send that person a message, call them or talk with them at lunch and invite them to church on Sunday b.    If you answered no, ask your friends if they go to church and if they don’t invite them to come to church with you on Sunday

236 North Spalding Ave Lebanon, KY 40033 lebanonumcstudents@gmail.com Bekah’s cell – 859-576-0057

Scrapbook Party

Our finished Nursery

April showers bring May flowers

The children during our Kid’s Worship time will be going through a new series call Faith Builders.   It is a curriculum that will teach our children to build faith one block at a time.  We will be using Legos to tell the stories of our faith.  Children ages PreK – 5^th grade are invited to the Life Works Chapel on the third floor.

During Sunday School we will be learning about all the Gross things in the Bible.  Children 1^st – 12^th grade are invited to the third floor Sunday School room for a time of lesson, prayer and fellowship from 10 – 10:40.

Wednesday Nights in May we will be talking about families and friends relationships.   On May 28^th we will have our last Wonderful Wednesday by celebrating with food, fun and fellowship! 

Youth Group during the month of May will be talking about relationships.

Youth Girls will be meeting May 9^th at 5:30pm we will be talking about relationships and love language.

The movie Heaven is for Real is out and we are going to take a group to go and see it.  We will leave the church at 1pm on Sunday May 4.

Sunday

Easter Sunday

And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

1 Corinthians 6:14

Sunday Prayer

Lord, you have been powerfully raised from the dead.  In you, I have life and power over death.  Ignite my life with your power, O Lord, and let me take up my cross and follow you for all eternity. Alleluia!   Amen.

Sunday Meditation

Your love is stronger than death.  Your divine love breaks through the prison of death and destruction and becomes manifest again your risen body.  O Lord, who will ever be able to understand the heart in which your divine love became flesh!  Again I look at you.  You rose from the dead, and now you appear to me.  You say to me, “Peace be with you,” and you show me your wounded hands and your wounded side.  Yes, the wounds of your cross are visible on your risen body.  I look up at you and know that the marks of your totally self-giving love have found forever a place in the glorified body with which you are ascending to your Father and mine.

Henri Nouwen

Saturday

Holy Saturday

The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing.

Isaiah 14:7

Saturday Prayer

A peculiar quietness fills the air today.  You hung your head and gave up your spirit, Christ Jesus.  Still, a peculiar excitement fills the air, too.  My Lord and my God, I wait with bated breath for your resurrection!  Amen.

Saturday Meditation      

It is the water from the Jordon through which the people and the Ark of the Covenant passed to enter into the Promised Land.  It is the water that flowed from the Temple, becoming deeper and deeper.  It is the water with which you yourself were baptized by John.  It is the water that became wine at Cana.  It is the healing water of the pool of Bethesda.  It is the water with which you washed your disciple’s feet.

Yes, Lord, the water flowing from your side is all of this, but much more than this too because it is the water by which you give us your innermost self and make us part of your communion with your Father; it is the water that becomes a spring in us welling up for eternal life.

-          Henri Nouwen

Friday

Good Friday

And in the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” 
which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark 15:34

Friday Prayer

Forsaken by both God and man, my Savior, you went through hell; you conquered it, Christ Jesus, by obliterating the gates of hell on the cross.  My God, let me know the love that you have for me.  Let me know the price that has been paid on my behalf.  The crosses that I carry are nothing compared to your cross.  Yet I take up my crosses knowing that you, O Lord, have taken up the far greater cross for me.  Amen.

Friday Meditation

How often have I missed the spiritual fruits of the season without being aware of it?  But how can I ever really celebrate Easter without observing Lent?  How can I rejoice fully in your resurrection when I have avoided in participating in your death?

Yes, Lord, I have to die – with you, through you and in you – and thus become ready to recognize you when you appear to me in your resurrection.  There is so much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience and stinginess, O Lord, I am self-centered, concerned about my self, my career, my future, my name and fame.  Often I even feel that I use you for my own advantage.  How preposterous, how sacrilegious, how sad!

-          Henri Nouwen

Thursday

Maundy Thursday – Holy Thursday

A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:34

Thursday Prayer

Far above are the trees you cause to grow.  Father above are the mountains you carefully crafted.  Even father yet are the stars you placed in the sky.  Yet Christ Jesus, you stooped down on bended knee to wash the feet of your followers.  Though it makes me uncomfortable to think of you doing such a lowly task, I know it was done out of your own free will.  Give me a spirit of readiness to carry the crosses of faith.  O Lord, I want to get my hands dirty.  Amen.

Thursday Meditation

Jesus says give me that little life, and he took it and he blessed it, he broke it and he gave it away, and it multiplied in the giving.  That’s what our life is supposed to be.  To be taken, blessed, broken and given away so that it can multiply.  Your life is called to multiply and be fruitful far beyond your little clock time, your little 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years that you will live.  That’s just so little.  But if you live it as the one who is taken, blessed and broken your little life will be fruitful far beyond the boundaries of your little existence.  That’s true of Jesus’ life and that’s true for everyone who lives in the Spirit of Jesus.

-          Henri Nouwen

Wednesday

Wednesday of Holy Week

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

Wednesday Prayer

The cross of Christ began as a seed.  You, O Lord, provide soil to nourish that seed.  You brought forth rain and sunlight to sustain its growth.  You painstakingly prepared the tree upon which your Son would one day die.  And you did all of this for me.  Who am I that you would go to such lengths for me?  A willing ear, O Lord, is what I desire.  The work of your hands brought forth the cross of Christ.  Let the work of my hands take up my cross and follow you.  Amen.

Wednesday Meditation

Every prayer of petition becomes a prayer of thanksgiving and praises as well, precisely because it is a prayer of hope.  In the hopeful prayer of petition, we thank God for His promise and we praise Him for his trust.  Our numerous requests simply become the concrete way of saying that we trust in the fullness of God’s goodness, which He wants to share with us. Whenever we pray with hope, we put our lives in the hands of God.  Fear and anxiety fade away and everything we are given and everything we are deprived of is nothing but a finger pointing out the direction of God’s hidden promise, which we shall taste in full.

-          Henri Nouwen

Tuesday

Tuesday of Holy Week

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.

Matthew 26:1-2

Tuesday Prayer

Death causes me to tremble.  Like many people, I desperately cling to life and fear the prospect of death.  O Lod, I want to be more like you.  Taking on frail humanity, you went to the cross for me.  Taking on tremendous pain, you freely sacrificed yourself.  Christ Jesus, let me look upon my own death with your eyes.  As I carry the crosses of faith, I want to praise you for the breath of life and the breadth of my days.   Amen.

Tuesday Meditation

There were five South African trapeze artists (at this circus), three flyers and two catchers, and they danced in the air!   I was fascinated and told me father that I thought I’d missed my vocation,  that what I’d always really wanted to do was to fly  like that… The leader recently said to me, “Henri, everyone applauds for me because when I do those leaps and back flips, they think I’m the hero.  But the real hero is the catcher.  The only thing I have to do is stretch out my hands and trust, trust that when you come down from a triple somersault, your catcher will be there to pull you right back up again.  So just stretch out your hands and trust the God of life.

-          Henri Nouwen

Monday

Monday of Holy Week

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 9:23

Monday Prayer

When I survey the wondrous cross, O Lord, I am captivated by the great price you willingly paid for me. This great love demands my soul, my life, my all.  I admit that I am not always willing to take up my cross daily and follow you.  In my times of self-preservation give me a spirit of self-sacrifice.  Teach me to take up the crosses of faith, recklessly abandoning my old self, and wholeheartedly follow you.  Amen.

Monday Meditation

Today, O Lord, I felt intense fear.  My whole being seemed to be invaded by fear.  No peace, no rest – just plain fear: fear of mental breakdown, fear of living the wrong life, fear of rejection and condemnation, and fear of you… I feel so powerless to overcome this fear.  Maybe it is your way of asking me to experience some solidarity with the fearful people all over the world: those who are hungry and cold in this harsh winter, those who are threatened by unexpected guerrilla attacks, and those who are hidden in prisons, mental institutions, and hospitals.  O Lord, this world is full of fear.

-          Henri Nouwen

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

Hymn #278

1. Hosanna, loud hosanna, the little children sang, through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang. To Jesus, who had blessed them close folded to his breast, the children sang their praises, the simplest and the best.	2. From Olivet they followed mid an exultant crowd, the victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud. The Lord of earth and heaven rode on in lowly state, nor scorned that little children should on his bidding wait.
3. "Hosanna in the highest!" that ancient song we sing, for Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven our King. O may we ever praise him with heart and life and voice, and in his blissful presence eternally rejoice!

Sunday

Palm Sunday

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:8

Sunday Prayer

Christ Jesus, you are the King of kings and Lord of lords.  It is disheartening to live in a world that does not always recognize you as King.  Although I fall at your feet with shouts of “Hosanna,” many of my family and friends refuse to do the same.  Gird my heart, O Lord, as I carry the many crosses of faith.  Prepare me for this Holy Week.  And prepare me for an eternity of service in your Holy Kingdom.   Amen.

Sunday Meditation

Every death that we live, whether it’s the small deaths during life or the big death at the end, is to make us more able to give ourselves, to be more fruitful.  That’s the mystery of the life of Jesus.  He died so that we could live, so that we could have His spirit, His intimate communion with God, so that we could participate more fully in that childhood.  He wants us to live with that spirit, and you and I are called to give ourselves to others so that they can bear fruit.  I had a little glimpse of that.  I was nearly dead two years ago because of a car accident. I was suddenly faced with death.  To my great surprise, I was not afraid.  I suddenly realized that Jesus says that you are there to give yourself, and if you die, don’t be afraid because your death is meant to be for others.  It’s not for yourself.  Your death is a gift for the world.

-          Henri Nouwen

Saturday

Saturday

My dwelling shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel 37:27

Saturday Prayer

Lord, you have set supervisors over me at work.  There are times that I wholeheartedly agree with the decisions made by those above me.  You know there are just as many times that I thoroughly disagree with the decisions that are made at work.  Among the many crosses that I carry, O Lord, there is the cross of having a manager.  I admit that there are times when I want to be my own boss.  Give me patience for my supervisors.  Amen.

Saturday Meditation      

If what I say out of my experience somewhere connects with your experience then something new can happen in you.  I am here with the intention, and it’s a big intention, that I want something to happen.  I want God to happen among us.  I don’t really care if you feel that you can do something with what I am saying, but I do care whether you can connect in your heart and that God creates something new in you that wasn’t there before.  That’s why I am here: to tell you about my life with God simply to help you discover your life with God which is a different one.  So that when I leave you can continue to live with God in a new way, and I can listen to you and live with God in a new way.

-          Henri Nouwen

Friday

Friday

His master saw that the Lord was with him and that
the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

Gensis 39:3

Friday Prayer

Success, O Lord, is hard to come by some days.  I have too many projects receiving too little of my attention.  It is terribly disappointing when something for which I have worked hard does not succeed.  Lord, when it is your will, cause the work that I do to succeed.  On the occasions that success does not befall me, O Lord, give me patient trust in you. Keep me from trusting in my own efforts. Amen.

Friday Meditation

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor,” he is speaking not just of the poor economically but of each of us, his beloved brothers and sisters, when we experience our human fragility.  That basic human weakness is never more evident than when people fall sick or face the reality of their death.  People seldom consider themselves “Blessed” when weakness befall them.  We want to help.  We want to do something for people in need.  We want to offer consolation to those who are in grief and alleviate the suffering of those who are in pain.  There is obviously nothing wrong with that desire… But unless we realize that God’s blessing is coming to us from those we want to serve, our help will be short-lived, and eventually we may feel burnt out.

-          Henri Nouwen

Thursday

Thursday

He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

Psalm 105:7

Thursday Prayer

Heavenly Father, I confess that I often wonder what life would be like if I had a different job. My speculation quickly turns into envy: if only I had “that” job, then life would be better.  Lord, keep me from envious thoughts about work.  You have blessed me with a job that I have.  Give me a tranquil heart and teach me to take up the crosses of work with contentment.  Teach me to love my vocation and to serve you and my neighbor through my work. Amen.

Thursday Meditation

In judging, we deal with our own fears by putting other people into little boxes and, in effect, declaring them dead.  “Oh, I know him,” we say.  “I know that type.  He’s not worth talking to.”  In doing this, we take the position that new life is no longer possible in our relationships with people.  We have already decided who they are.  We don’t want to be bothered anymore.  That is why Jesus says, “Do not judge.”  Labeling people prevents us from seeing them as brothers and sisters and from developing community with them.

-          Henri Nouwen

Wednesday

Wednesday

If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth,
and the truth will make you free.

John 8:31-32

Wednesday Prayer

Uncertainty in the workplace causes me a great deal of angst, O God.  Unemployment is a lingering concern in many households.  Though I may have a stable source of income, I know of so many people who do not.  How can I be still and free from worry with so much uncertainty swirling about at work?  Fill the earth with your peace.  Let your peace prevail in the marketplace so that stable employment might be plentiful.  As I take up the crosses of work, remind me to care for those without work.  Let me be a source of peace and comfort to them in their time of need. Amen.

Wednesday Meditation

The basis of the Christian community is not the family tie or social or economic equality, or shared oppression or complaint, or mutual attraction… but the divine call.  The Christian community is not the result of human efforts.  God has made us into his people by calling us out of “Egypt” to the “New Land,” out of the desert to the fertile ground, out of slavery to freedom, out of our sin to salvation, out of captivity to liberation.  All these words and images give expression to the fact that the initiative belongs to God and that he is the source of our new life together.  By our common call to the New Jerusalem, we recognize each other on the road as brothers and sisters.

-          Henri Nouwen

Tuesday

Tuesday

Pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.

Numbers 21:7

Tuesday Prayer

Razor-thin margins and tight budgets result in a great deal of pressure.  Heavenly Father, do not let the pressures of work tempt me to do harm to my neighbor.  Through lean times and times of plenty, remind me that I am constantly to seek the well-being of my neighbor.  The crosses of work can be overwhelming, Lord.  Free me from the temptation of exploiting my neighbor for personal gain.  Bless me with all that I need so that I may bless my neighbor in turn.   Amen.

Tuesday Meditation

O Lord, this holy season of Lent is passing quickly.  I entered into it with fear, but also with great expectations… Let me be thankful for your gentle way.  I know you are at work.  I know you will not leave me alone.  I know you are quickening me for Easter – but in a way fitting to my own history and my own temperament.  I pray that these … last weeks, in which you invite me to enter more fully into the mystery of your passion, will bring me a greater desire to follow you on the way that you create for me and to accept the cross that you give to me.  Let me die to the desire to choose my own way and select my own cross.  You do not want to make me a hero but a servant who loves you. 

-          Henri Nouwen

Monday

Monday

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Psalm 23:5

Monday Prayer

Long hours and even longer days have taken their toll on me, Lord.  Work leaves me both physically and mentally drained; it is as if I live to work rather than work to live.  My God, strengthen me to carry the crosses of work so that I can more clearly see your work in and through me.  You know of the struggles I have at work, even those that I hide from everyone else.  Breathe new life into my vocation.  Amen.

Monday Meditation

Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.  It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.  It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment.  It is not an educated intimidation with good books, good stories and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that words can find roots and bear ample fruit.  It is not a method of making our God and our way into the criteria of happiness, but the opening of an opportunity to others to find their God and their way.  The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness  where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances.

-          Henri Nouwen

Sunday

Fifth Sunday of Lent

I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

John 11:25-26

Sunday Prayer

Worry begins to fill my mind, O Lord, at the prospect of resting from my labors. Trouble may arise at work that requires my assistance.  Opportunities may pass me up if I am gone for too long.  Lord, you have made it clear that the crosses of work must be set down from time to time.  Give me Sabbath rest when I need Sabbath rest; give me comfort and peace knowing that my work will be there when I return.  Precious Lord, all that I have comes from your hand of blessing.   Amen.

Sunday Meditation

The final meaning of your life is – are you ready to give it away?  Are you ready to die in order to be able to give? I never personally was very much in touch with that until I was nearly dead because I got in a terrible car accident and nearly died.  I had to face my own death, and suddenly I realized that my death had to become a gift for others.  It couldn’t be – No, I want to live as long as possible; I’m going to hold on to my life … Ministry finally means to help others give away their lives so that it can bear fruit.  Not just on the end of their lives, but every time something happens we are asked to die a little bit.  Whether it’s leaving school or leaving the country or whether it means leaving a relationship or whether it means letting go of something very precious – leaving a friend.  Every little death has to be the source of new life, has to become a gift.

-          Henri Nouwen

Satuday

Saturday

The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Proverbs 12:26

Saturday Prayer

You chose your disciples carefully Christ Jesus, knowing that they would be the ones to carry your message to the ends of the earth.  Your followers carried the message of the cross with them wherever they went.  Lord, as I carry the crosses of my relationships, help me to choose my friends carefully.  Though the friends I choose may not be influential or of noble birth, they are nevertheless used by you to build up my faith.  Surround me, O God, with the right people. Amen.

Saturday Meditation      

Jesus is a very interesting person; His words are full of wisdom.  His presence is heart-warming.  His gentleness and kindness are deeply moving.  His message is very challenging.  But do we invite him into our home?  Do we want him to come to know us behind the walls of our most intimate life?  Do we want to introduce him to all the people we live with?  Do we want him to see us in our everyday lives?  Do we want him to touch us where we are most vulnerable? … the Eucharist requires this invitation.  Having listened to his word, we have to be able to say more than, “This is interesting!”  We have to dare to say, “I trust you; I entrust myself, with all my being, body, mind, and soul to you.  I don’t want to keep any secrets from you.”

-          Henri Nouwen

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.