Christmas Carols

I love Christmas carols. Singing them or listening to them transports me into the joy of the Christmas spirit. Can you imagine Advent and Christmas worship services without them? Fighting the crowds at the mall would become even more difficult without hearing them over the chatter of voices and ringing of cash registers. Ed Whipple was walking down the hall a few days ago whistling a caroland I caught myself humming it the rest of the day. They are contagious. But even more than that, they wonderfully convey the message of the season. John and Charles Wesley believed that singing the hymns of the faith taught the beliefs of Christianity better than either preaching or teaching. So singing carols at Christmas time keeps our minds and hearts on the true meaning of the holiday; continually reminding us of the promises of the faith.


So what do you sing at Christmas if you are not a Christian? Do you just sing about Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman, sleigh rides and chestnuts roasting? Do you sing the carols proclaiming Christ’s birth without the joy of the faith resonating in your heart? One of our church members, Tom Peal, sent me the link to a Steve Martin You Tube video entitled, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs.” Give it a listen; it will make you laugh, but as you do, be thankful for those carols that remind us of why this season is so special. Click here to watch the video.

I hope to see you Christmas Eve night to sing the carols and be thankful for the story of the birth of Jesus in our lives again.

3:00 - Interactive Family Service - Celebration Hall
5:00 – Candlelight Service – Celebration Hall
6:00 – A Contemporary Christmas Celebration – Robertson Activity Center
7:00 – Candlelight Service – Celebration Hall
9:00 – Candlelight and Communion Service – Celebration Hall
11:00 – Midnight Candlelight and Communion Service – Celebration Hall
(Childcare is provided at the 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 services.)


Grace and peace,

John Mollet

An Apistle from Juarez

If you look closely at the New Testament, you quickly realize most of it is made up of letters. These letters were sent to churches and individuals about the work God was doing to grow the church and what was then a fledgling Christian faith. Most of the letters were sent by St. Paul, who felt God had personally sent him to share and spread the love of Christ throughout the known world.

This past week, we received letters from our missionaries who God sent to Proyecto Abrigo in Juarez to build houses for the poor. Trey Worley is the author of the letters. I hope they give you a feel for the work our church does in Mexico and call you into that ministry.


Letter One

The family we are working for told Kimberly Watson today that they are
so happy to get a new home as they hear their children all night
crying about how cold they are. It was tough to hear, but the reason
Proyecto Abrigo started. For the first time, I feel that we are
addressing the suffering. This will allow these children to sleep at
night without two layers of clothing. I am sure we will patch holes
tomorrow more than ever to make sure there is no draft.

We are having to wheelbarrow sand into the house to level the floor.
Seems a bit ridiculous to me to be shoveling so much sand when that is
all there is around here.

The work is so limited here now that three maestros (those who lead
our work groups)are splitting the wages of two. We plan to take a love
offering to pay them all in full if not more.

In bed by 9:00 both nights. Smaller group maybe? Rather than saying
that we are all old and boring, we are claiming the time change means
it is really 10:00 for us, plus the recent time change really means it
is 11:00.

Please thank everyone for the prayers. We feel them and appreciate the
efforts and support.

There has been no difference in this trip and previous ones, other
than us being on alert at all times

God Bless and see you soon…

Letter Two

Well we finished the house, no injuries, and it is still standing. The
team was very emotional at the dedication due to my emotions getting
the best of me when telling the family that it was my prayer and
blessing that their children would not have to cry about being cold at
night anymore. I couldn't help picture my children in such vulnerable
positions and being so helpless for them.

The family was speechless, but the tears that fell from Berta Reyes
Torres' eyes said it all. As we left, she ran to give Dave Neeley one
of the red roses she had growing in her flower and pepper garden. It
brought him to tears. The red rose symbolizing the love she had for
him and his hard work, the house symbolizing the love he had for her
and her family. Both the love of strangers bridged by the love of
Christ. It was a beautiful moment and one that will stick with me and
the team, but most likely Dave.

Jose Luis took us by the new church he built in Loma Blanca. The
beginning of his 500 person compound still standing nearby. Once his
vision of expanding a ministry that built hundreds of homes a year,
now only building the tenth house halfway through November. This
struggle and violence has dashed dream after dream against the rocks,
but they remain steadfast. The street vendors and a carnival continued
in a neighborhood we drove through on our way back to dinner. Jose
Luis and his family have not experienced the violence firsthand. They
just trust in the Lord to protect them and deliver them from evil.
Pretty simple right? You would think so. I guess it was for the 10 of
us. That is why we are here. FAITH.

Can't wait to see you all soon and begin the plans for next November's
trip.

Trey


Thanks to all ten of you; for your faith, your strength, your commitment and for sharing your experience with us. Your letters might just make the next testament.



Happy Thanksgiving,

John Mollet

Some New Additions

You will notice some new additions to our landscape the next time you are at the church. One of our members gave a donation to make us a Super Sponsor of the Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney. This puts our church on the Crape Myrtle Trail maps given to visitors to and residence in our community. Being a Super Sponsor requires us to have 200 crape myrtles on our property. We already had 30 trees which were planted as a part of our 3 building phases, and we have just added 63 more (also donated). The remaining 107 trees will be planted over the next few years. You will be able to read more about the unique planting design in the upcoming edition of Pathways. Let me thank the team that worked on this project: Kathy Stevers, representing our Trustees, Tom Pearce, church member and Crape Myrtle Trails board member, Kurt Roy, church member whose company, “Landscapes, Lawns and Beyond”, planted the trees free of charge, Susan Owens from the Crape Myrtle Trails board and Cindy Moreland from our staff. Great job in beautifying our campus while highlighting our church to the community.

Also, you won’t be able to miss the new 10 Commandments Monument as you come through the church office entrance on the north side of the church. We should have the monument in by the end of next week. This was a donation from the 2008-2009 Disciple One Bible Study Class. The class was taught by Bill Appleby and Dan Casey. Class members were Tim and Heather Brister, Alex and Michelle Carter, Christopher and Brandi Dooley, Kim Miller, and Jim and Keira Tollefsrud. Shannon Cain from the church provided and donated the concrete work. There will be a garden area that surrounds the monument. Interest earned from our Endowment Fund last year will help pay for the plants. Thanks to everyone involved for the spiritual guidance the commandments will give us every time we enter the Lord’s house and exit into the world.

One last thing, let me update you on our 2011 stewardship campaign. This week we received another 24 pledges to add to the 248 we received last week for a total of 268 pledges. Please help us break the 300 mark this week by offering your pledge this Sunday in worship, mailing it in to the church office or filling out an online pledge card through the "Give Online" page at www.mysumc.org. (Click here to go directly to the online pledge card.)Thank you for your generous spirit and your support of Christ’s ministries through this church.

Welcoming the Stranger

What a wonderful kickoff to our 2011 stewardship campaign! It was fun to see and hear Karen Horan and Terri Swan again and to remember what a blessing it is to be a part of the ministries of this church. Already, 247 of our families have made their financial commitment to the ministries of our church, totaling just over $1.1M. We are so thankful for your faith and generosity. There are still more than 70 families that committed last year that have not pledged this year. For those of you that have not yet turned in your pledge card, we ask that you bring them to church this weekend or mail them to the church office. You can also click here to submit your pledge online.


Cindy Moreland told me a story about a first-time visitor that she met on Sunday. He was standing at the back of the RAC with his young daughter and said that it was not only his first Sunday at Stonebridge UMC, but his first Sunday in Texas. His family had moved here this week from out of state. On Saturday, his wife had been out jogging and cut through the church parking lot. There she was met by one of our members who invited her to worship. She was told it was going to be Commitment Sunday so it would be a little different than usual, but they decided to come anyway. He said that on their way into church at least 30 people had stopped them to welcome them and ask them if they needed help finding something or just to say hello. He was excited about the energy of the church and looks forward to coming back next week.


We thank all of you for how you welcome guests into our church family. This is why we continue to be ‘the most joyful place on earth.’ As Jesus said to the trustworthy one in his parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), “Well done, good and faithful servant...” Keep up the good work!

The Joyful Journey of Faith

Mark your calendar now for a very special Sunday morning celebration. On Sunday, October 17, two of our former associate pastors, Karen Horan and Terri Swan, will return to Stonebridge UMC to share in our worship services. Karen is now pastor of Gruene United Methodist Church in central Texas and Terri is the associate pastor of Salem-Ladue United Methodist Church in St. Louis. On the 17th, we will be having our Commitment Sunday for the 2011 stewardship campaign, “The Joyful Journey of Faith.” Pastors Karen and Terri will be reminding us of the road that has brought us to where we are as a church family and the road that will take us into the future that God has envisioned for us.

For that Sunday only, we will be having one Celebration Service in Celebration Hall at 9:30 and one Bridge service at 10:45 in the RAC. Terri and Karen will be in both services. (We will have a shortened prayer service for anyone who comes at 8:15, but Terri and Karen will not be in that service.) There will be an opportunity for every family in our church to make their financial commitment for 2011. You should have already received your campaign materials in the mail that included the Joyful Journey of Faithcommitment card and the 2011 Trip Planner and Financial Road Map narrative budget. I hope you will prayerfully consider your financial support of the church for 2011, fill out your pledge card and bring it to church with you on the 17th.

We expect a full church on Commitment Sunday! To be able to fit everyone in, we will need to know which of the two worship services you plan on attending that Sunday. In the next two weeks, you will be receiving a call from one of our church family members asking you which service you plan to attend. Please make every effort to let them know your plans so that we can be prepared for appropriate seating in each service.

The theme of this year’s campaign is “The Joyful Journey of Faith.” Remember, it is through your giving that we are able to make that journey possible for you and your family as well as those who come to our church searching to be one that journey with their Lord.


Grace and peace,
John Mollet

P.S. We are pleased to announce that last year’s stewardship campaign was honored by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Dallas chapter with an Award of Merit at the 2010 IABC Dallas Quill Awards. Congratulations to Cindy Moreland, Amy Pawlak, Jay Prudhomme and Scott Oberle for their hard work!

In All of God's Wisdom

The first “scary” movie I remember watching was The Day the Earth Stood Still. I reluctantly went to see it at the theater with my neighbor Don Boynton.Don was a year older and a lot braver than I was and he talked me into it. Actually, I think my sisters took me to a scary movie before that; something about a man who, due to an unearthly phenomenon, grew to a huge height and wreaked havoc on an unsuspecting public. But, I don’t think you could say I “watched” it. I had my eyes covered through most of the movie.

Somehow these early movie experiences made me a Sci-Fi fan. One of my favorites is H.G. Well’s classic, War of the Worlds. I first saw the 1953 Americanized movie version of the 1898 British book. It begins with unexplained flashes of light emanating from the planet Mars. It would later be discovered that these flashes were actually the result of the launching of a Martian invasion force headed for an attack on Earth. The Martian forces were so technologically advanced there was no stopping them. That is what made the story so frightening. In fact, in 1938 Orson Wells narrated a radio version of War of the Worlds. The format of the broadcast was so much like a newscast that many listeners believed an alien invasion was actually happening and began to panic. There was also a television version of the story and the 2005 Tom Cruise remake; neither of which measured up to the originals .

The book and movies end with the Martian invading aircraft mysteriously losing power and crashing into the ground. What happened? These unstoppable powerful invaders were being overcome and dying, but by and from what? The answer was simply, by bacteria; bacteria to which human beings had long ago become immune. As Wells wrote, “But there are no bacteria on Mars, and directly these invaders arrived, directly they drank and fed, our microscopic allies began to work their overthrow. Already when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed, dying and rotting even as they went to and fro. It was inevitable.” The Martians had succumbed to the effects of microbes which were harmless to humans. Then comes my favorite line from both the book and the movies. The Martians were dead “…slain, after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.&r dquo;

Recently, I read an article by environmental writer, John Carey on Yahoo! News that stated, “Nearly two weeks after BP finally capped the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil slicks that once spread across thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico have largely disappeared.” Where did it go? The article goes on to say that maybe as much as 40% of the oil evaporated when it hit the surface and recent high winds and storms accelerated the evaporation process. Some of the oil sunk into the sediment on the ocean floor. A small percentage of the oil (1 to 2%) has been skimmed by the 4,000 boats in the cleanup operation. What has happened to all the rest of the millions of gallons we have watch flowing into the gulf? “Perhaps the most important cause of the oil’s disappearance, some researchers suspect, is that the oil has been devoured by microbes. The lesson from past spills is that the lion’s share of the cleanup work is done by nature in the form of oil-eating bacteria and fungi. The microbes break down the hydrocarbons in the oil to use as fuel to grow and reproduce. A bit of oil in the water is like a feeding frenzy…” In other words, “…after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.” Thank the Lord; God is still cleaning up our messes.

Back to School

The Back–to-School season is already upon us. The last days of summer vacation are quickly fading away. Our Sunshine Kids pre-school is beginning to gear up for the fall. Stores are stocking their shelves with notebooks, pencils and calculators. I fondly remember going with Mom to shop for school supplies. It was just about the only good thing about the summer ending and school starting. When I was growing up, we could get our educational provisions at either M.E. Moses Five and Dime or Skillern’s Drug Store. (Yes, I know, I’m old.) Both offered an incentive to buy your supplies at their establishment. Moses offered a free candy bar if you spent enough money on supplies there. But I always wanted to shop at Skillern’s, because they had a soda fountain and offered a free Big Shake with your purchase. I hate to admit it, but I also remember having to get a used cigar box to hold my pencils, scissors, paste and ruler. We were truly high tech in those days. At least I used the term “teacher” rather than “schoolmarm.”

You can still participate in the joy of buying school supplies – even if you don’t have school age children. Our Hearts and Hands for Malvern project is collecting school supplies for the children of our adopted school, Malvern Elementary. Malvern is one of the Title One schools in McKinney and many of the children’s families are unable to afford the supplies they need for school. Here is a list of supplies they need. I hope you will add it to your shopping list and bring them to the church by Sunday, August 8.

Malvern Elementary Supply List
Glue sticks
16 ct. Crayola crayons (no Rose Art)
24 ct. Crayola crayons (no Rose Art)
8 ct. Crayola Washable thick markers
12 ct. Crayola thin classic markers
12 pack #2 pencils (yellow)
200 count wide rule notebook paper (NO college rule)
70 count wide rule spiral notebooks (NO college rule)
100 count wide rule spiral notebooks (NO college rule)
White copy paper
Plastic pocket folders with brads
Paper pocket folders – NO brads

Also, our First Sunday Communion Offering for August will be collected for school supplies for Malvern.

I hope you will join others in our congregation and share one of the most joyful parts of school starting with the children of Malvern Elementary School. And maybe it will help you reminisce your good ol’ days.