Let's Talk About Stone Soup

Let's gather Sunday 11/22 at 5 p.m. at the Wesley Cottage.
We'll first talk stewardship and look at Luke 12:13-21, 32-34.
‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

Then we'll make some plans for Stone Soup for the coming year.

Then around 6 p.m. we'll head up to Orchard Hill (Judd's Peak) where we can picnic in the dark as we do some star gazing. The skies are supposed to be clear and the temperatures low, so dress very warmly and bring blankets. I'll bring celestial binoculars. For food, just bring simple things that will be easy to eat in the dark.
We should totally be able to see the Andromeda Galaxy with our own eyes!

Sermon on the Amount

I couldn't help but use this title for a sermon on Stewardship. And yet the more I thought about, the more I realized there was some great wisdom in going to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to think about our relationship with money and resources as well as giving.
So I'm inviting Stone Soup to join the 11 a.m. worship group at the Saluda UMC for Sunday Nov. 15.
I will be traveling to DC Sunday evening.

Here's what we'll be using:

Pslam 23 #754

Matthew 5:17-26

Hymns

1.For the Beauty of the Earth vs1-2, 6  #92

2. Fairest Lord Jesus #189

3. Take My Life #399

Quotes to think about...

“Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.”
John Wesley, The Use of Money, 1744  

“Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice Extravagant Generosity. These churches teach, preach and practice proportionate giving with a goal toward tithing. They encourage their members to grow in the grace of giving as an essential practice of Christian discipleship."
Bishop Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

• “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” — D. Elton Trueblood (1900-94), American author, educator, philosopher and theologian
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• “When it comes to giving until it hurts, most people have a very low threshold of pain.” — Anonymous
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• “The Dead Sea is the dead sea because it continually receives and never gives.” --Anonymous

Thanksgiving Service will be at the Episcopal Church on Wed. Nov 25 at 7 p.m

Peace,

Rob

I've Always Wondered About That...

I'm encouraging everyone for Stone Soup to come to the 11 a.m. worship service in Saluda. The scripture for the service juxtaposes the "Vengeful God of the Old Testament" with the "Grace of God in the New Testament" exhibited in Jesus. How did we get the differences in understanding and confusion that brings. Is God different in that way? Does it say more about our understanding of God? We'll work on some of those issues on Sunday November 8th at 11.
We won't be meeting in the afternoon.
Look at how a Canaanite would be treated differently...
Deuteronomy 7:1-6
When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you— and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles, and burn their idols with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

Charge Conference

For Stone Soup on Sunday November 1, we'll meet at the church around 5 and carpool down to our Charge Conference to be held at Bethlehem UMC in Mill Spring. It starts at 6 p.m. There will be the regular business as required but also a time of worship and preaching from our District Superintendent, Dr. John Boggs. Come on out. I anticipate getting back to church around 7:30. We will not have a meal.
Peace,
See you then...
Rob