Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Halloween Party
Charge Conference Meeting
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
New Pews and Improvements
The Rileys scheduled for Gospel Night at the Madison County Fair
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.
As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.
As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."
As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.
"Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."
We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget what God can work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. And remember with God, a mere spider's web becomes a brick wall of protection.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Ash Wednesday Service
Feb. 25th, 6:00pm @ Presley Chapel UMC
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the church season called Lent. “Lent” is an old English word for spring, and it designates a 40-day period before Easter (excluding Sundays) where Christians are invited to strengthen their life-giving connection to the Risen Christ through taking up a special spiritual practice or giving up something in order to jolt us out of our routine and awaken us to deeper levels of awareness of God’s sacrificial love for us. At the service the churches will be challenged with a church-wide spiritual practice.
The service will be brief (about 30 minutes), and will involve the invitation for you to come forward and have your forehead marked with ashes in the sign of the cross. Ashes in the Bible represent repentance and mortality. This act of worship is a way of centering our lives on the love of God that conquers sin and death.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Valentine's Day Party
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration Day 2009
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands - one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
"A Prayer for Renewal"
Free us on this day, O Lord,
From all fear of the future,
From all anxiety about tomorrow,
From all bitterness towards anyone,
From all cowardice in face of danger,
From all laziness in the face of work,
From all failure before opportunity,
From all weakness when Thy power is at hand.
But fill us
With Love that knows no barrier,
With Sympathy that cannot be shaken,
With Faith strong enough for darkness,
With Strength sufficient for my tasks,
With Loyalty to the Kingdom's goal,
With Wisdom to meet life's complexities,
With Power to lift us to Thee.
Be Thou with us for another day, and use us as Thou wilt.
In Christ's name we pray.
Amen.