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EPUMC WEEKLY MEMO
You Are WELCOME AT EDEN PRAIRIE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Empowered by God's love, we are a community of Christ's disciples, centered in worship and fellowship with:
OPEN HEARTS to live and serve with compassion and to share God's love OPEN MINDS to seek spiritual formation and encourage each person's faith journey OPEN DOORS to invite and welcome all to join in discipleship
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Weekly Memo from Prairie Church –
April 6, 2008 Blessings
to you in these Easter days! The
church celebrates the season of Easter for fifty days concluding on the
Day of Pentecost. This Sunday we continue with the biblical stories of Easter
as we read Luke’s story of the resurrection appearance on the “road
to Emmaus”. You can find this story recorded in The Gospel of Luke
24:13-35. Jesus is “known” to two of the disciples when
he breaks bread at a meal. There is a clear reference to communion in
this story. The title of my message is: “Easter
Food”. I think of communion as the resurrection meal.
This Sunday we will eat together as we celebrate the risen Christ. We have
received $3,933 for the Easter offering. Thanks for supporting the
continuation of our Covenant Partnership with the student ministry in
L’viv, Ukraine, started by Fred and Stacy Vanderwerf. The Easter
offering will be used to help sustain the $2,500 covenant we have with
this program. The balance of our Easter offering will be used for the
mission and ministry of Prairie Church as we reach out with the love and
compassion of Christ. Easter offering envelopes are provided in the
pews. Our Mission
Work Team returns this Sunday evening. We will hear of their
experiences in the coming weeks through stories and photos. Keep them in
your prayers as they conclude their work and travel home. As we
think about the mystery of the resurrection and the mystery of the
sacrament of communion, these words from Celtic theologian John
O’Donohue’s book To Bless the Space between Us remind us of the
sacredness of life. We
seldom notice how each day is a holy place Where
the eucharist of the ordinary happens, Transforming
our broken fragments Into
an eternal continuity that keeps us.
Somewhere in us a dignity presides That
is more gracious than the smallness That
rules us with fear and force, A
dignity that trusts the form a day takes.
So at the end of this day, we give thanks For
being betrothed to the unknown And
for the secret work Through
which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one. This Sunday we gather once again
as the “risen body of Christ” to celebrate the power of God’s
boundless resurrection love. I look forward to worshipping with
you in the sanctuary this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. Be
Blessed, Pastor Mike Miller
mikem@prairiechurch.org
Weekly Memo from Prairie Church – April 13, 2008 Grace
and peace to you and your household. This Sunday is often known as “Good
Shepherd Sunday”. The scripture readings traditionally used
for this week are Psalm 23 and John 10:1-10.
Jesus uses imagery of sheep and shepherds to describe the nature of his
relationship with the early church. The title of my message is: “God
is My What?” The Chancel Choir will sing at both
worship services. Our
Mission Work Team returned this past Sunday evening bringing back
stories and memorable experiences of working among people in great need.
We will hear of their experiences in worship on April 27. Speaking
of Mission Work Teams, our Youth will be going
to Chicago for a week this summer. They are raising funds for
their trip by hosting the upcoming “Italian
Dinner and Silent Auction” on April 20. Tickets
for the dinner will be available this Sunday in the Fellowship Hall
after each worship service. If you have an item to donate or
a service to offer for the auction, please drop them off at the church
office. The
following prayer is taken from the book Becoming A Blessed Church. The
Church Ministry Council read and discussed this book last year. This
prayer, written by Graham Standish, author of the book, nourishes me
spiritually. May it be so for you. Holy
God, Beloved Trinity, let me always be rooted in you So
that I may live in you and you in me.
Bless me so that your grace may flow through me, Allowing
me to bear your fruit to a hungry and helpless world.
As I wander, prune me of all that inhibits your growth in me.
Let me do nothing apart from you so that your joy may be complete in me.
In Christ’s name I pray. Amen. This Sunday we gather once again
to celebrate the gift of God’s compassionate, steady love. I
look forward to worshipping with you in the sanctuary this Sunday at
9:00 or 10:30 a.m. Be
Blessed, Pastor Mike Miller
mikem@prairiechurch.orgWeekly Memo from Prairie Church – April 20, 2008 Greetings to you. The season of Easter continues. This Sunday our scripture readings are Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 and John 14:1-14. This selection from the Gospel of John is part of Jesus’ farewell message to his disciples. He speaks about his unity with God and about preparing a “place” for them. The title of my message is: “A Place With God”. Do you think this place is about location or relationship? Some believe this place is “up there” somewhere. Yet, you may wonder how that can be since we no longer live in a three story universe, but rather with the understanding that the world is round. This
Sunday the Praise Band will provide
musical leadership at both worship services. This
Sunday the Staff Parish Ministry Team invites you to give a gift
to the scholarship for theological education, established in my name
through Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
I also would like to encourage and thank you for your gifts. Increased
costs of education make it difficult for ministry students to pay for
all expenses on their own. Scholarships such as the one established in
my name will help future students. This Sunday
evening the youth of our church are hosting an “Italian Dinner and
Silent Auction”. Tickets for the dinner will be
available this Sunday in the Fellowship Hall after each worship service.
Tickets will also be available at the door Sunday evening. The silent
auction starts at 5:30 p.m., the dinner at 6 p.m. The funds
raised from this project will help cover expenses for the Youth
Mission Trip to Chicago this summer. Your financial support
and prayers of encouragement are appreciated. Here’s
a thought which comes from Jane Smiley’s book A Thousand Acres. In the
book she tells about a family that had many problems. In spite of their
troubles they were faithful in their attendance at church each Sunday.
Here is how the novel’s narrator sums up their religious commitment: “We
came to church to pay our respects, not to give thanks.” May you find gratitude in your
heart as you pray the following prayer of thanks from John Wesley’s
Covenant Service:
O God, the fountain of all goodness, you have been gracious to me
through all the years of my life. I thank you for your loving kindness
which has filled my days and brought me to this time and place. You have
given me life and reason and set me in a world which is full of your
glory. You have comforted me with family and friends and ministered to
me through the hands and minds of other people. You have set in my heart
a hunger for you, and given me your peace. You have redeemed me and
called me to a high calling in Christ Jesus. You have given me a place
in the fellowship of your Spirit and the witness of your church. In
darkness you have been my light, in adversity and temptation a rock of
strength, in my joys the very spirit of joy, in my labors the
all-sufficient reward. You have remembered me when I have forgotten you,
followed me even when I fled from you, met me with your forgiveness when
I turned back to you. For all of your good gifts, I give you thanks, O
God. Amen. This Sunday we gather once again
to give thanks for the power of God’s love at work in our church and
in the world through the Risen Christ.
Let us give thanks for the living Christ as we join together in worship
and prayer. See you in the sanctuary this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. Be
Blessed, Pastor Mike Miller
mikem@prairiechurch.org
Weekly Memo from Prairie Church – April 27, 2008 May you know God’s abundant and generous grace in these springtime days. This Sunday in worship, Pastor Lisa and the Katrina Mission team will be sharing experiences of their recent trip to Mississippi with photos and video. The scripture readings are I Corinthians 13:1-8a and John 14:15-21. The title of Pastor Lisa’s message is “Looking for Home”. The Chancel
Choir will sing at both worship services. Don Prestly and
Daniel Cherrix will provide Special Music for the Offering. Thanks to the youth for
hosting and serving the annual “Italian Dinner” this past Sunday
evening. Your participation and support continues to be a great help as
they plan their mission trip to Chicago this summer. With your help, the
youth earned over $7,500 from the dinner and silent auction this past
Sunday evening! As I think about the
generous work of our Katrina Mission Team, and all the other work teams
that go out from our congregation, this prayer seems appropriate. It is
one of the great prayers from the Iona Community of Scotland: O
Christ, the Master Carpenter who at the last, through wood and nails, Purchased
our whole salvation, wield well your tools in the workshop of Your
world, so that we, who come rough-hewn to your bench, May
here be fashioned to a truer beauty of your hand. We
ask it for your own name’s sake. Amen. This Sunday, gather in worship once again with the
Master Carpenter and the Mission Team, to celebrate the ways God’s
love is at work in our church and in the world through the Risen Christ.
We continue with our Sunday winter/spring worship service schedule in
the sanctuary at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. [This
is a vacation week for me. Nancy and I will be spending time in New
Mexico. I will be back in the office on April 28.] Be
Blessed, Pastor Mike Miller
mikem@prairiechurch.org
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