THIS SUNDAY
October 3, 2021
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“What Are You Doing More Than Others?”
Christians are different.
World Communion Sunday
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In Person
Rev. DeeDee Autry
Solo “Lord Jesus Christ, Life-Giving Bread”
Participants Debbie Underhill, Soloist
Nancy W. Vernon, Organist
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In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube
Rev. DeeDee Autry
“Makes Us One”
“Love”
“Your Love Is Extravagant”
“Endless Alleluia”
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In Person, Facebook Live, YouTube, and FM 103.5
Rev. DeeDee Autry
Anthem “More Love to Thee, O Christ
Communion Anthem “Lord Jesus Christ,
Life-Giving Bread”
Participants
Chancel Choir
Gaye Mings, Choir Director
Nancy W. Vernon, Organist
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Sunday, October 3
8:30 am Chapel Service
9:00 am Connexion Worship, In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube
10:10 am Sunday Small Groups
11:10 am Sanctuary Worship, In Person, Facebook Live, YouTube & FM 103.5
3:00 pm Tech Volunteer Orientation
4:30 pm Middle School Youth, Loft
6:00 pm High School Youth, Loft
6:00 pm Staff Parish Relations
Monday, October 4
12:00 pm River Valley Adoption Coalition, Fireside room
6:00 pm Scouts
6:00 pm The Prayer Course, Zoom
Tuesday, October 5
6:00 pm Introducing the New Testament, Zoom
7:00 pm Young Adult Ministry, St. Paul UMC
Wednesday, October 6
9:15 am Jesus and Women Bible Study, Fireside room
10:00 am Ladybells, Bayliss Hall
5:30 pm Evening Prayer, In Person and Facebook Live
6:00 pm Wednesday Night Life & Classes
6:30 pm Praise Band practice, The Great Hall
7:00 pm Chancel Choir, Choir room
Thursday, October 7
10:00 am Knitters & Knotters, Fireside Room
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Loss of loved ones and friends:
- Floyd Sagely - husband of Jimmie Sagely.
- Lewis Kircher - husband of Jo Ella Kircher.
- Ruth Keethers - Aunt of Janet (John) Mailer
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A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD |
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On September 21 and 22, Patti Cox, the executive director of our FUMC Foundation, DeeDee Autry, Diane Wing, and I had the honor and privilege of delivering community grant checks to 18 deserving agencies around Fort Smith. These eighteen deserving ministries work with children, families, elderly, poor, homeless, hungry, and special needs people in our own community. Helping them is part of our call as a church to love people in the name of Jesus and transform this community for good. |
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It was humbling and heart-warming to get to talk and pray with each of these recipients. Tears were often shed, and smiles and words of appreciation abounded. These are two of my favorite days of the year! |
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We started the Community Grant program three years ago, and each year we have given away about $100,000 to these deserving ministries. (We published the grant recipients last month; you can go to the website and find the list.) The reason we began the grant program was to be faithful to the donors who had given or bequeathed money to the Foundation for missions. We are committed to using up to 4% of the endowment each year for the designated purposes, and only money designated for missions is used for community grants. As we looked at our mission field in Fort Smith, we saw so many good things happening, and almost every good thing had FUMC people involved. So rather than “re-invent the wheel,” the Board of Directors of the Foundation decided to partner with existing non-profits who were doing what we would do anyway. |
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The results have been amazing, and the missions are so grateful, because many of them had to cancel fundraising events during the pandemic. |
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The stated vision of the Community Grant program is “To shine the light of Christ (Matthew 25:40) in the community, region and world through a grant program designed to empower and engage others in meaningful mission.” Though these funds are the product of endowments, I believe this is a mission every member of FUMC can be proud of. The Foundation belongs to all of us. |
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However, if you would personally like to help endow perpetual ministry through our Foundation--through a simple bequest, estate gift, charitable annuity, or direct gift--you can visit with me or Patti Cox at any time. We would love to increase your joy! |
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The largest Community Grant went to our own Child Enrichment Center to support the wonderful ministry they do with children. Pictured are Bud Reeves, Patti Cox, Christie Jacobs, CEC director, and Sally Ware, children’s school supervisor. For pictures of all our grant presentations, go to the website https://www.fsfumc.org/foundation.html. |
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- Trying to keep the church vital in this pandemic season has been a challenge and has required us to experiment with new things.
- We tried a different worship schedule to accommodate our in-person and online worship, three services, and Sunday school on Sunday morning.
- The new schedule hasn’t worked as well as we hoped, so we are “pivoting” back to the former Sunday morning schedule.
- It will take some time to get the personnel in place and the logistics worked out, but we hope to shift back on November 7.
- Here’s how you can help:
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Renew your vows to uphold the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.
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Volunteer, especially for the Worship Tech Team. Orientation this Sunday, October 3, at 3:00 p.m. in the Great Hall and Sanctuary.
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Contact and invite your friends to come back or to visit our church.
- Renewing and rebuilding the church will not be easy. With God’s help, we are confident we will emerge stronger. Your pastors and staff are “all in.” Will you join us?
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Are You Stuck? Consider Changing Your Focus! |
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If you sometimes feel as though you’re caught in life’s quicksand, you have a lot of company. We work, we struggle, we try to do everything we possibly can to move on to a higher level of well-being but it seems like the harder we work, the more stuck we get. If you’re approaching a Category 5 frustration level, you might give this a try… |
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Switch your focus from that really nice – but frustrated – person in the mirror to one or more of the other folks who inhabit this good earth. |
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I realize that it’s important to watch out for number one – ourselves. We need to set goals, lay out plans and then do those things we need to do so that we can at least make some progress toward our goals. We need to demonstrate personal financial responsibility, plan for retirement and frequently just cover our backside so it doesn’t get chewed off by one or more of life’s rodents. |
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However, what frequently happens is that we become so over-focused on ourselves and our own personal well-being that we wind up building huge walls. We lose the ability – or even desire – to see the bigger picture and the possibilities that life presents to us. We become so focused on “me” that we sometimes begin scrutinizing even the most insignificant events to determine their potential impact on our personal lives. We become victims to ourselves. And to be real honest about it, we sometimes just become so busy being busy that we lose track of where we thought we wanted our lives to wind up in the first place. |
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One possible solution as I mentioned earlier is to change our focus from “me” to “others”. From being the receiver to being the giver. And no, I’m not even implying that this requires any major change in the things we do every day. It may eventually lead to that but it’s not a critical part of the initial process. |
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Here’s what I mean. No matter what you do to earn a living or keep the household moving in a logical direction, somewhere down the line a real person will probably benefit from what you do. Think about it. The work we do is not just to stuff computer systems full of information or help machines work better. It’s not just to take people’s money so we’ll have a paycheck at the end of the week. It’s not just filling out forms, nailing pieces of boards together, assembling electronic devices, hauling packages, going to meetings, etc. Somewhere, sometime (and maybe immediately) another human being will likely be positively affected by what you do. |
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If you are caught in the quicksand, take a few minutes to really think about the people – the individuals who will be better off, healthier or happier because of what you do. Think about how you are giving of your time and talents so that others will profit in some way from your efforts. |
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Do you see what can happen here? When we change our focus from “me” to “others”, our work – the things we do every day – starts taking on a new significance. We are now a giver. Our life honestly is meaningful. We know that what we do is truly important to someone else. That’s pretty special, huh? |
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If you’re having to really stretch your imagination to see at least one other person benefiting from the things you do and it’s really not fitting together, you might consider looking into doing something different – or at least a different way to spend your free time. There are a bunch of people who could really benefit from your talents. Think about what you do well – what you enjoy doing that could help others have a better life. Then go do it. You’ll be out of the quicksand before you know it. |
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Worship Tech Team
Want to help?
Orientation
Sunday October 3, 3:00 pm
In the Great Hall
Important ministry - Cool toys - and a t-shirt!
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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry |
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How do you know when to say yes to something? How do you know when to say no to something? Our lives are the results of what we say “yes” to and what we say “no” to. Saying “yes” to one thing is to say “no” to thousands of other things. Our “yes’s” and our “no’s” add up to make us who we are. |
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“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
- Dallas Willard
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So, if we are to live the lives that we were made for, it’s important that we begin to say “yes” to the things that matter most, and “no” to the things that don’t. Basically, for all of our yes’s and no’s to add up in the way that we would like for them to, we will need to put first things first. While this good piece of advice sounds easy enough, if we’re being honest, we can be pretty bad at prioritizing, can’t we? If you’re anything like me, we’ll admit we need help in this area, right after we take a nice big bite of humble pie. Yum. |
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My sense is that one of the barriers for us is the difficulty we have in saying “no”. |
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We have a hard time saying “no” because we don’t want to miss out on anything! #FOMO! Yet we need to learn that “no” can be a complete sentence. When we have a hard time saying “no”, chances are, we begin to sign up for things we don’t really feel are important. All of our “yes’s begin to add up in a hurry. Soon enough, we’ve said “yes” to so many things that we’re driving ourselves crazy because we’re overbooked, stressed out, and plain exhausted from trying to keep up with our unrealistic to-do lists. We find ourselves living in a chronic state of “hurry” just to manage. Nobody wants to live like that! That can’t be the good life! |
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As with all things, we can look to Jesus as our example. Jesus lived an unhurried life. There are many examples we could use to learn from the pace of Jesus, but one story that stands out to me is the death of Lazarus in John 11. What did Jesus do when he got word that his dear friend Lazarus was close to death? He waited. The followers of Jesus knew that he had the power to heal Lazarus. They were upset with Jesus because he hadn’t gotten to Lazarus sooner (see 11:21, 37). While Lazarus’s death was tragic, what happened next is glorious. After Lazarus had spent four days dead in his tomb, Jesus called for the stone to be rolled away. He spoke Lazarus back to life (11:43). What a glorious thing to witness! It’s one thing to heal someone who is alive; it is another thing to bring someone back to life. All of this happened because of God’s sovereign, unhurried timing. |
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In more subtle stories, the gospel authors show us the unhurried rhythms of Jesus’ life through the things he said “yes” to. He said “yes” to waking up early in the morning to pray. He said “yes” to devoting time to the Father. He said “yes” to faithfully and habitually participating in synagogue life. He said “yes” to studying the Scriptures. He said “yes” to keeping company with sinners and religious folks. Ultimately, he said “yes” to laying down his life so that the world might know the love of God. The “yes” of Jesus made space for you and I to enter into the Kingdom of God. I wonder- what will your “yes” to God look like? |
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The kids are learning all about the Fruits of the Spirit at Wednesday Nite Life this semester. The first night we learned “Love is putting others first”. In Sunday School that very same week we learned about the Good Samaritan; if we see a need, we should work hard to meet that need. With those thoughts in mind, we have started our fall mission project. We will be collecting blankets for the homeless. We collected SO MANY socks for our Summer Mission project. I know we can collect just as many blankets! Blankets are important. How many times have you gotten chilly at a football game or lounging on your couch and easily grabbed a blanket to warm you up? Imagine living outside or in a shelter where you don’t have much to begin with. How wonderful would it be to have your own blanket? Blankets can give us a sense of safety and security. |
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Wednesday Nite Life is in FULL swing, but it’s not too late to get involved. We have children’s choir at 5:00 where the kids sing and learn hand bells with Miss Nancy. We get to enjoy a delicious dinner all together. Then we have our Kid’s Time at 6:30. It had been a BLAST so far! We have played games, done activities, sang songs about the fruits of the spirit, and we even made a smiley face pillow last week. |
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We have so many fun opportunities for fellowship and enrichment coming up in the next couple of months. Be sure to tune in to make sure you’re up to date on the latest info! |
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We now have the capability of emailing giving statements to contributors if we have your current email address. You should receive your next statement on or around October 15. If we do not have your email address, we will mail a paper statement to you. If you currently have a Realm login (our church management software), you can print or view your giving statements at any time. If you need assistance logging into your Realm account, please contact the church office,
(479)782-5068. Thank you for your continued support!
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FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT |
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As part of the complete renovation of Bayliss Hall and Massey Music Center, we have had the memorial plaques updated and reframed.
All new flooring, ceiling tiles, painting and carpeting has been completed.
Come see our beautiful new digs!
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Thursday, October14 @ Noon
in the Fireside Room in the Family Life Center
First United Methodist Church,
301 North 16th Street, Fort Smith, AR
We will have mixed green salad with chicken strips,
sherbet and cookies.
Topic: Breast Cancer Awareness
Pillar: Physical Health
Our speaker will be Dr. Donna Shipley
Nursery is available upon request.
Please RSVP by Noon on Tuesday October 12th or
call Gail: 479-782-5068 or 479-459-0479
Save the Dates
December 4 at 10:00am – Christmas Brunch
December 12 at 2:00pm – Worship Service,
Modern Widows Club Service of Hope
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Chris and Barbara Jetton joined our church by transfer from another United Methodist Church. Chris works for FedEx, and Barbara works for ACHE, as well as playing the organ for Central Presbyterian Church.
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Barbara Kennedy joins by transfer from another UMC. She is retired, but volunteers with the public schools and is involved in our congregational care and missions at the church.
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Phillip and Lori Poston join by transfer from another denomination. Phillip is the CEO of the new Hytrol plant in Fort Smith, and Lori works in the field of children’s mental health. They have a son Cameron, who attends Central Baptist College.
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In Memory of:
Martha Jane Weber
The Weekday School
Richard & Ann Appleton
George & Carole Beattie
George & Carole Beattie
Discussion Sunday School Class
Richard & Ann Appleton
Marvin & Linda Mumme
Robert Dawson
Larry & Janet Nelson
Kathryn Newman
Mike Willis & Lori Hardin
Robert Dawson
Chip & Elizabeth Paris
Ronnie & Lynda McDaniel
Ronnie & Lynda McDaniel
Jim & Pat Bolin
David & Karen Hutcheson
Friends Sunday School Class
Richard & Jan Beauchamp
Jack & Louanna Green
In Honor of:
Mary Booth
Eric & Lynda Jackson
Mary Booth
Mary Booth
Rex & Nancy Cochran
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Pastor on Call
M-F 8:30 AM-4:30 PM: (479) 782-5068
Weekends and Evenings: (479) 459-5060
When there is a hospitalization, a death in the family, or any other time you may need urgent pastoral care, we encourage you to use these numbers. The pastors rotate on-call responsibilities to assure that one of them is always accessible.
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FIRST UNITED METHODIST NEWS published weekly except the last week of the year by First United Methodist Church 200 North 15th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901. |
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