The hunger games are full on and millions are drawn to the story of an unlikely hero who becomes an icon social change and revolution.  The books and movie give rise to some really great questions and pull at the hearts of each one of us in some ways. 

We are going to take the next few weeks to look at themes in the hunger games an ask what they might have in store for us as people of faith.  In doing so we are going to be using the beatitudes found in the first part of Matthew 5 as a guide on the journey and in the conversation. 

Come and join in the fun as we @ MUMC talk about the Hunger Games and the Gospel. 

This past week we began our series that will take us up to Easter. 

Have you ever thought about how powerful it would be if we all gathered around one mission with one cause to make the world a better place?  That is what we are called to do and we are reminded of this in one of the final prayers of Jesus in John 17.  His prayer is that we are all of one mind.  As we are pulled in so many different directions, it is hard to imagine that we could all be called to do one thing.  But that is just it.  We are all made to make god that #1 priority.  If God is the foundation that everything else rests on then we can come together in ways that will change the world.  Having God as the foundation doesn’t mean that we will al be the same (dress the same, listen to the same music…) but is does mean that we would all be seeking the same goals. 

Come explore with us how we might live out the “ONE” thing that is most important and make an impact with our friends, family and school. 

Throughout the rest of advent and into the new year we are going to be in conversation about the prodigal son and what this parable has in store for us during this Christmas season. We are going to be looking.at the different characters and relationships between these cahracters.

each week we are going to be in the scripture:

Luke 15:11-32 NLT

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Money. Sex. Pride. Drugs. Glory. The lure of temptation is strong, and all it takes is one bite to get hooked sometimes for life. Temptation is everywhere! Even if you’re not experiencing temptation at this moment, it will be knocking at your door in no time.

‘

This four-week series covers:

• Identifying and dealing with temptation
• The importance of positive friendships
• God’s plan to help us break the cycle of temptation
• How Jesus is the model for us to follow

When we think about sharing our faith with other people it can be a little lot intimidating. Throughout October we are going to be engaged in a teaching series called “How to Shout Without Screaming.”  No one likes to be yelled at, but we can get our point across and influence others.  We don’t share our faith so that we score points for our team, but rather so that others can come to know the full love God has in store for them, to the point that Jesus would die on the cross. 

As we work through the series we will also have some take home “field work” pieces too. 

I am excited about this series because we are going to be talking in real and practical ways about how you can be you while still sharing your faith and not being one of the offensive screamers that turns off people to the promise God has in Store for them. 

October 9th-         Faith sharing by being a good friend (Field work: Listen to at least to people share their faith story with you.  Focus on listening to their story)
October 16th-     Corn Maze
October 23rd-        Faith Sharing by living a good life (Field work:  After listening to someone’s story and getting to know them deeper, share your faith story. 
October 30th-     Trunk or Treat
November 6th-     Sharing the Good News of God’s Love (Field work":  Now that you know each other’s stories, share how you both have simular stories in that God is working in both and wants the best for both of you)

Journeying Together Toward Deeper Discipleship
LifeForceYouth.com

Serving is a great way that we put into play all of the things that we understand to be true about our faith as we are called to have an eye for those others forget. 

START NOW-Bring in items for cleaning buckets (list in the narthex or click here for a PDF version)

Saturday October 1st
Trip to Serrv International in New Windsor meet at church at 8:15 am– 4:30pm

Sunday October 9th
Dresses for the World in the social hall 8:30-1:00pm
Cleaning bucket packing event beginning at 9:45am click here for a PDF version of the packing list
Food Packing event at Camp Manidokan 1:00-5:00pm
Food Drive groups leaving from MUMC at 11, 12 and 1pm
Middletown High School Grounds Cleanup 2:00-4:00pm
Nursing home visitation 2:00-4:30pm

Chili Cook-off and Evening Worship
Return to church at 6:00pm for a chili cook-off dinner and vote for your favorites dish ($1 per vote). The proceeds will go to the food bank. Then stay for worship where we will share our experiences of how God has moved throughout our time of service during this weekend.

Saturday October 15th
Trustee Clean-up day at MUMC 8:00am-Noon
Everyone is invited to come and work around the grounds of the church

Love the smell of fresh mulch in the morning?  On Saturday, May 21 starting at 9:30 a.m., Hope Alive needs our help to mulch their playground area.  They are looking for 15-20  people to work as a team to move and spread mulch on their playground area.  The playground is definitely not bigger than our church playground.  They will need volunteers to bring wheelbarrows, shovels and rakes.  The purchase of the mulch is being  sponsored by another organization.

If you can help with this project please let me know by Friday, May 13

Make your pick now for who will come out on top on Super Bowl Sunday.  Also don’t forget to pick up your Super Bowl subs at church on Sunday.  We are also having a bake sale put on by our Sunday School to help support Feed My Starving Children.  Gabe some goodies and hunker down for a good game.

Cast your vote here: