Time to Clean out the Pantry?

This was on the Herald Times Online this morning (thanks, Carly!)

If you can give, please do so!

After Monroe County United Ministries had a disappointing food drive last weekend, the Salvation Army is asking the community to donate canned, packaged or unopened food products for its food pantry.

Both nonprofit agencies are among the many that receive food from the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, but not nearly enough to meet the needs of their clients. That is why they must have their own food drives.

Monica Clemons, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, said this year the agency has provided food to more than 3,000 people, more than twice the number it helped three years ago.
“We’ve been buying food at Aldi’s for the last few weeks because our food pantry was pretty much empty,” Clemons said. “We need everything, but mostly peanut butter; and canned tuna, fruits, vegetables and soups.”

Donations can be brought to the Salvation Army office at 111 N. Rogers St. in Bloomington from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or dropped off at the adjacent store between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Last weekend, the Monroe County United Ministries collected 15,200 pounds of food for its food pantry, but the amount fell short of last year’s collections.

“We still need food, primarily canned meats and fruits,” said Rebecca Stanze, MCUM’s development coordinator. “People can help by dropping off those items (at 827 W. 14th Court) Monday through Friday.”

Stanze said from 2003 to 2006, the number of food requests from MCUM’s food pantry doubled to 1,229, while the amount of food donations increased by only 45 percent.

copyright 2007: Herald Times Online, Bloomington, Indiana

Involved - Life on Loan

Intro:
What does it take for God to do something amazing? All the disciples could muster was five loaves and two fish to feed a hungry crowd of over five thousand. But this was all that Jesus needed. When you do what you can do and trust God to do what only He can do, the results will be astounding. So how will you get involved?

Questions:

• Read Matthew 14:13-21. What did the disciples learn from this miracle?
• When have you seen God do amazing things when you or someone else surrendered your time and ability to Him?
• How has your life, or the life of someone you know, been impacted by those who volunteer to serve on Sunday mornings?
• What could God do if each one of us invested our time and ability into the church?
• Where have you volunteered in the church in the past? What was your experience?
• Where in the church do you plan to invest your time this year?

Think about it: So, what are you waiting on? Will you do what the twelve did? Will you do what countless volunteers do each Sunday? Will you take your ordinary stuff – time and ability- and make them available to your Heavenly Father? What is keeping you from being involved on Sundays?

What will you do?
Marilyn is looking for small groups to serve together in the Toddler Spot. She needs 7-8 people at the 11:00 service . This group is the walkers. 1-2 people would do the front desk check-in , then 3 helpers in each of the 2 rooms doing child-care. If you are not in a small group your help is wanted and needed also. She is wanting you to commit for an entire month. You can email her at mkinkead@socc.org or call her at 334-0206 ext 203 during the week, and 333-0421 at home in the evenings.

Sunday Nights for Everyone!

If you are not a part of the Sunday morning class or have to miss for any reason, you can still take part in the Life on Loan series . Join Mark and Marilyn in the Fireside Room on Sunday evenings for the discussion questions. We will be leading small group discussions on the Life on Loan series for six weeks for all 20-30year olds, single or married. This is a great chance to be a part of the church-wide study. Come hear what others your age think about each weeks sermon and its application to you. All the fun begins Sunday, September 2 at 6:00pm in the Fireside Room.

Service Opportunity

Stadium Seat Installation "The Final Chapter!"

According to the contact person at IU, the shipment of supplies to finish the job will be there on Thursday. We will gather at the Memorial Stadium at 5:00pm this Thursday evening. We will work at least from 5:00pm until 9:00pm. If you cannot be there until 6:00pm that is ok, too. We will finish the job that night. Please come join us that night to finish this project. I really appreciate the hard work that been given already. Let's finish it off that night. See you at 5:00pm this Thursday evening at Memorial Stadium. Thank You, Kevin King

If you can help, contact Kevin at kevinking722@hotmail.com

Baptism...

We had some great discussion on Baptism and covered a lot of ground. I did forget to mention that if you would like to be baptized or talk about the issue more, please email me directly at kinkeadmm@sbcglobal.net I look forward to helping you on your faith journey and discussion about what God has to say to us on this, and any other topic.

A additional thought...as we ended class we were discussing if baptism was connected to salvation. Remember the process of converting to Judaism both concluded and began the process of being Jewish...as the convert washed (baptized) himself of his old ways he finished the process, and began the life commitment of being Jewish. In our Christian conversion we confess with our mouth, and then are obedient to what Jesus asked us to do and we are (baptized) washed of our old life and identified with Jesus death, burial, and resurrection...and then we begin our life of commitment of being Christian. (Christ-like)

The two are meant to be inter-connected...like marriage, two of you agree to get married and make the commitment to each other. You then have the public ceremony that lets everyone know of your desire for the rest of your lives. In baptism you are forgiven by the confession of your mouth, and then publicly begin your life as a Christian. The thief who hung on the cross and confessed to Jesus, was told by Jesus, "this day you will be with me in paradise." There was no chance to baptize him, and yet Jesus said he would be with him. He had no life to live beyond that moment.

Now lets finish the lesson and I would love your feedback... What are the fears that the church tries to address in it's own versions of what is necessary, or when, or how someone is baptized.

1) Infants: People understood that we are all born with a sinful nature, and yet are fearful that their infant will die before reaching an age that they can accept Jesus forgiveness for their sins, thus we get a (church) understanding that we can baptize a child and in some way hold on to their salvation until they accept it for themselves. ( I come from a United Methodist background and can address that churches ideas if you come from that background) . We know that salvation is individual and something that each person has to decide for themselves. So we must acknowledge that we are under the authority of Scripture, and not under the authority of a church doctrine. Thus, this church idea is not based in Scripture, and meant to give parents a comfortable answer, at the cost of also giving a false sense of salvation.

2) Time between accepting Jesus and being baptized: Some of us have had people in our lives who were baptized as infants, as they got older decided to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior,and then wanted to accept the baptism that was done on their behalf when they were first born. Or maybe made a decision at a young age and never were baptized for one reason or another. Now when they ask " Am I saved if I have asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins, and I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior?" We find ourselves in uncomfortable land....because there is so much in Scripture that indicates the two, while separate, are connected....part of a process if you must. An illustration: remember the wedding couple...if you were to ask someone to marry you, and commit to them, and then come to them and say" I just don't think it is necessary to have the public wedding, or to let anyone else know we are married." What does that say about the understanding of the life long commitment of marriage? It might be reasonable to question if that person really meant it when they said they wanted to be married.

Again it is fearful as a parent or friend to hear someone say they do not want to be baptized, yet they consider themselves to be a Christian. Everything in the Scripture indicates it is the end of what Jesus did for you (saved you) and the beginning of what you will do for Him (live your life for him).

Remember as you study Scripture you must see who it was written to, when it was written, and what was the purpose of the writing.

Interesting ideas from today's lesson:

• Jesus did not baptize anyone
• Jesus was baptized
• Jesus took two common Jewish ideas, Communion from the Passover feast, and Baptism from the conversion ceremony to Judaism and gave them New Testament applications.
• We are connected to all other Christians throughout all time in these two actions we share in. All of us who have been believers have shared in Communion, and Baptism.
• This is not an problem for anyone who is a believer and has been baptized
• The unchurched see us fight about this topic and it is repulsive to them.
  

Jesus saves us...and asks us to commit to Him publicly through baptism, our only part in salvation is asking for it...our part in living out the Christian life is enormous.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. - Matthew 28:19

I hope this has been challenging and helpful as you seek answers. God is not afraid of our questions. I reserve the right to change my opinion as the Holy Spirit instructs me and I grow. :) Mark