Author: lakewooducc

Weekly Update 11/27

This Sunday:  This Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent.  Come early at 10:15 to sing songs of the season.  The candles on the Advent wreath will be lit each week.  And this is a communion Sunday.  In this season of hustle and bustle, we listen for the invitation to come home, to be home in God.  

Communion Sunday: The first Sunday of the month is a Communion Sunday.  That means the communion offering will be received.  This offering is used to help people in the church and the community with basic needs such as rent and utility assistance, bus passes, prescriptions, etc.  There has been heavy need for these funds in recent weeks.  Please consider how you can help the community through this offering.

Lakewood UCC Choir: Throughout the five Sundays of Decembers, choir rehearsals will begin at 9:40am instead of the usual 9:00am.

Advent/Christmas Season Ahead: “Come Home for the Holidays”Sunday Dec. 1 is the First Sunday of Advent.  This is a 4 week season of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  Following worship on Dec. 1, the sanctuary will be decorated for the season.  Plan to stay to be part of the festivities.  There will also be an opportunity to make ornaments.  Please pick up a collection can to use for the Christmas Eve offering which will provide rent, utility, and other assistance to people in the congregation and the community.  This assistance helps people to have a home and to feel connected to others as family.  After all, we are one human family and everyone deserves a home. 

Joy of Singing: Each Sunday of Advent, the congregation is invited to join in singing favorite Christmas songs at 10:15 before morning worship. May the music of Christmas inspire joy this holy season.

Christmas Caroling: Join with others to bring the joy of the season to folks from the LUCC family who are not able to come to church. Everyone is welcome regardless of singing ability! If you aren’t feeling merry, being part of this ministry will bring joy to your heart! Please gather at the church Sunday afternoon Dec. 15 at 3:00p.m. Jim Andrews and Janet Blair will have the arrangements made and carolers will visit the homebound members of the church family.

Daily Devotions:Look for a new devotion each day in your email or at the church website to help inspire your reflection about what it means to “Come home for the holidays.” What does home mean? Where do we find it? How do we create a sense of home with others?

Sundays in Advent: Each Sunday, singing songs of the season at 10:15 and lighting the Advent wreath during worship.

Dec. 1        Communion. Making ornaments after church. Dec. 8        Fellowship with home made cookies after church. Bring your favorite homemade cookies to share. Packages will be made and delivered to homebound members of the church family. Dec. 15      Christmas Caroling in the afternoon. Dec. 22      A special intergenerational, interactive service that will end with lining the cradle in preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Christmas Eve: 6:30      Music of the Season 7:00     Service with candlelight and communion. All ages welcome! Transportation provided. please contact the church office.

Straw Labyrinth: Come home for the holidays. There will be a straw labyrinth installed on the church grounds. This is an opportunity to reflect on what “home for the holidays” means to you through walking meditation. The walking will provide an image for making our way home to God in this holy season. The labyrinth will be open and available for use all the time. Come at your convenience. There will be printed sheets provided to guide your reflection.

During the Advent season there will be two opportunities to be part of a group-guided walk on the labyrinth. These will be held Wednesday Dec. 11th and Wednesday Dec. 18th at 3:00p.m. There will be a time for gathering, reading of scripture, reflection, and walking. All are welcome!

Rev. Wells Away: Kim will be away Tuesday Nov. 26-Friday Nov. 29.  For pastoral care concerns, please contact Rev. Victoria Long at vlongrunner@gmail.com .

Advisors for 2020: It’s time to think about who will serve as advisors for the church for 2020.  The advisors are responsible for overseeing the life of the church including finances, personnel, property and grounds, and other administrative concerns.  In addition, they help to “advise” about all aspects of church life.  The term is for one year.  Are there people you would like to see serving as advisors next year?  Would you like to serve as an advisor?  There are forms available at church for you to fill out with the names of people you would like to see as advisors including yourself.  Please put the forms in the Leadership Selection envelope on the bulletin board at church.  The names suggested will provide the pool of people to be considered to serve for the next year.  Many thanks for your participation in this important process at LUCC!

Winter Wonderland: Toy snd Gift Collection  for Maximo Children Dec. 1-Dec. 8. LUCC, you may bring your toys/gifts to the church and they will be delivered to the school!  Or put a donation in an envelope marked “ Winter Wonderland.”  The children will be  choosing gifts  for themselves and/or others so small gifts for parents are also needed.  Maximo Elementary serves 16% homeless families and according to the on site social worker 99.5% under privileged families.

LUCC’s Education Ministry Team  will be collecting unwrapped toys and gifts  that folks bring to church the next four Sundays.  These will be delivered to the school.  If you are unable to shop but want to give a toy/gift  give  a donation  to the church and designate it  for “winter wonderland.”  Help plant a seed of wonder in a child’s life!  Thanks everyone!

Immigration News: “Witness at Tornillo,” a new documentary, will be shown at Tampa Theater on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 11:00, followed by a panel discussion and community conversation.  This screening is being presented by the nonprofit FL Institute for Community Studies (FICS) and is FREE and open to the public, but reservations are required.  To register, go to https://tampatheater.org/movie/witness-at-Tornillo/.  For carpooling from LUCC, see Sue Sherwood.

The film follows Josh Rubin, a Brooklyn-born activist who draws attention to the horrors of family separation and child detention on the southern border. The goal of his witnessing – which he calls “the radical act of seeing” – is to shut down the Tornillo camp and free the 2,800 migrant teenagers being held there.  He has also witnessed at Homestead, FL, and will be leading a group to Tornillo in January to bear witness at the border and offer food and support to those waiting for asylum.  The Pinellas Coalition for Immigration Justice will be organizing a group to go as well, which is open to any LUCC folks who are interested in joining this first-hand witness. 

Letter Writing: A letter writing station has been set up at church. Look for opportunities to share your faith perspective on immigration, the environment, and gun safety with elected officials.

 Roy Book Binder Concert: The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. on December 6th. Suggested donation of $20. All proceeds go to the artist. Please feel free to contact the church with any questions! lakewooducc@gmail.com or call at 727-867-7961.

Operation Attack: Operation Attack is very much in need of clothes for men, boys, and girls as well as diapers and peanut butter and canned fruit. Donations may be placed in the shopping cart in the entryway to the sanctuary. LUCC volunteer nights include sorting clothes and bagging food. All are welcome to volunteer! The next opportunity is Dec. 4 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Operation Attack is an ecumenical effort serving families with children located at Lakeview Presbyterian Church, 1310 22nd. Ave. S., St. Petersburg. LUCC was a founding member of Operation Attack in the 1960’s!

Hearing Augmentation: Devices are available from the usher in the sanctuary during worship.

November Birthdays: Lucille Ruga 11/9, Emily Bell 11/15, Sue Sherwood 11/15, Ed Kaspar 11/21, Lorne Palmer 11/21, Bert Lee 11/22, Bill Lindsay 11/23, Wally LeBlanc 11/23, Kai’Lyn Washington 11/27, Jane Diven 11/29. Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.

Circle of Concern: Tony Rogers, David Rowland, Sherry Santana, Jen DeGroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, Earl Waters, and Ann Rogers.

Recent Posts:

Weekly Update: If you are involved with an activity or event that you would like to share with the LUCC family, please send the information to the church office by Tuesday since the Update usually is sent out on Wednesday.

Advent Giving Calendar

This is a season to show our love to family and friends. The Christmas Eve offering at Lakewood will be used to help people in the congregation and the community with basic needs such as rent, utilities, and medication. This is a way to extend our sense of family beyond those who live in our homes or attend our church. It is a way to let people in the community know that they are part of a wider family that cares about them and their needs. See the calendar of giving as a way to inspire your generosity. You can pick up a giving can at church and put your donations in each day and then bring the can to church on Christmas Eve.

Sermon 11/24 Gifts of Gratitude

Date: Nov. 24, 2019 Thanksgiving Sunday
Scripture Lessons: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Luke 17:11-19
Sermon: Gifts of Gratitude
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Really, what is God going to do with a shock of wheat? Or a pomegranate? Or an
olive? Even the people of Bible times didn’t expect their super hero-like God to
literally eat food. So we could easily pass over this ritual of the giving of first
fruits that we heard about from the book of Deuteronomy as something only for
olden times. And that would be our mistake.

In the brief eleven verses that we heard the word ‘gift’ is used six times. And every
time it is used it refers to God: God has given the land, God has given the harvest,
the food, the first fruits. God has given freedom from slavery, God has given
provision to a people who were once landless and destitute. These verses show
God as the giver, the generous giver of life, supporter of life, and giver of identity,
and hope. God gives. And people benefit from God’s giving.

The simple ritual of offering to God a basket of the first fruits of the land shows
this orientation toward life. Life is possible because of God and God’s gifts. The
giving of first fruits conveys this understanding of reality. And this is why they are
to do this. And it is as significant in the time of Deuteronomy and as it is in our
time of advanced technology and artificial intelligence.

The giving of first fruits is an affirmation that we are benefitting from what God
gives to us including the gift of life. The key idea is that we have been given life
and what is needed to sustain life, like land and plants for food, and freedom. We
have received this. And on this foundation, we base our view of reality, past,
present, and future, with a sense of gratitude and hope. This forms the identity of
the community.

This way of looking at life is very important. It shows that we are dependent on
God. We are alive because of what we have been given. There is no room for the
idea that we are self-made. That we have pulled ourselves up by our boot straps.
That we have succeeded through rugged individualism. That all that we are and all
that we have we have achieved ourselves. I have done it. I have made it happen. I
have earned it. Everything we do, and we can do a lot, can be done only because
of what we have already been given.

There is a story about a pastor who was new to town. She went to visit
someone from the congregation who was a farmer. The farmer showed the pastor
around the farm. The pastor commented about how God had been so good to the
farmer. God? the farmer replied. You should have seen this place when God had
it.

This is not the view we see in the first fruits story. The first fruits remind us that
the land itself was a gift to humanity. The farmer can only grow things because
God has created the land in the first place. He can only work the land because it
has been provided. Given.

When we think we are the ones fully responsible for the good things in life we get
a mistaken view of ourselves and others. And the idea that we are self made can
lead to another lie: The idea that if someone is not successful, not well-off, it is
their fault. They are not working hard enough or applying themselves. This view
of reality can also be false. In this country, we can see that past laws and policies
have favored white, male people. People of color and women were not given the
same rights as white men. And today we continue the process of changing that
system of inequality so that we might move closer to that more perfect union in
which there is liberty and justice for all in this country.

This simple ritual of giving first fruits that we hear about in Deuteronomy provides
a basic orientation toward reality that acknowledges all that we are given, simply
given. It is a celebration of the gifts we receive from God. This act takes power
away from the idea that we are self made. That we create the world. That we
deserve all the credit. The simple ritual of the giving of first fruits reminds us that
we have received gifts from God: the gifts of life and all that supports life. These
gifts are intended for all. Everyone is to benefit from the generosity of God not
just some people. With this orientation toward reality, we see the gifts around us.
We live breathing the air of blessing. We have a sense of abundance and hope.
This reality helps us to be generous because we realize that what we have is really
not ours, but has been given to us. And so we are freed to give and share.
There is no more scrambling to get mine, to protect what I have. There is no more
it all depends on me. I have to do it. I have to go it. Alone. There is no more ‘I’
at the center of my universe. The giver, God, is the center of our reality. And the
gifts are for everyone.

I have a book from my childhood called Me by William Saroyan. It was written in 1936. It goes like this:
“Once upon a time there was only one word – me. If you wanted to say here I am,
you said – me. And that’s how it was when you wanted to say give me the orange,
or look at the tree, or listen to the bird, or what is the moon.
“Some people said it in a loud voice; some people said it in a soft voice. Some
laughed, some cried. Some giggled, some sighed. Only people said it. Animals
said other things.

“The dog said bark bark, take me to the park park. The cat said purr purr, I am the
Queen, be kind to her. The cow said moo moo, I am a cow. What are you? The
horse said ha ha, there is my Ma, and there is my Pa. The pig said hunk a chunk of
pumpkin pie, you can watch me get fat – but you will never see me fly. The
caterpillar said I was never a cat and I never saw a pillar. I’m a soft green feller
with a belly full of filler. The butterfly said what I was I’ll never know. Watch me
stop, watch me go, unafraid in light or shade. The fish said hush in the water. I’m
waiting for a letter from my only daughter. Father or mother, each of the animals
said something or other. Other things said other things.

“The white rose to the red rose said hello there redhead. The lamppost said I’m the
most from coast to coast. The train said watch me go to Buffalo. . . . But people
went right on saying the only word they knew how to say – ME”

By the end of the book, people have progressed from the word me to the word no
and then on to many other words. [On a side note, there are only male humans in
the book. It is past time to move on from that male orientation.] But I think the
message of the book is that we need to move on from the word me; that I am the
center of life, that I matter most. We need to move on from a view of reality
centered on one person to a view of reality that is based on the universe, the entire
web of life, and all of humanity.

The giving of first fruits is a celebration of the whole creation and our place in the
world. It reminds us of all that we are given and that we are not in charge of
everything. We did not create the world and we did not give ourselves life. We
didn’t create plants for food so that we can live. All of this was given to us. And
just that simple ritual of giving first fruits is a celebration of all that has been given.
This creates a life orientation of abundance and generosity and community. It
opens us up to a bigger world view. It helps us see the goodness in life. It is an
antidote to stress, competition, and worry. When we see all we are given, we are
filled with awe and wonder. The simple ritual of first fruits, of gratitude, saves us
from thinking we have to do it all and connects us to abundance and blessing.
So this Thanksgiving, and every day, remember what we have been given. And
give. Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For
additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

Weekly Update 11/20

This Sunday:  Sunday, Nov. 24, will be a celebration of Thanksgiving.  As part of the service, the congregation is invited to bring something that represents what they are thankful for and place it on the altar.  Rituals of Thanksgiving are especially significant when times are challenging.  This is an opportunity to uplift one another. 

Advent/Christmas Season Ahead: “Come Home for the Holidays”Sunday Dec. 1 is the First Sunday of Advent.  This is a 4 week season of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  Following worship on Dec. 1, the sanctuary will be decorated for the season.  Plan to stay to be part of the festivities.  There will also be an opportunity to make ornaments.  Please pick up a collection can to use for the Christmas Eve offering which will provide rent, utility, and other assistance to people in the congregation and the community.  This assistance helps people to have a home and to feel connected to others as family.  After all, we are one human family and everyone deserves a home.  Look for additional information about the season soon!  

Advisors for 2020: It’s time to think about who will serve as advisors for the church for 2020.  The advisors are responsible for overseeing the life of the church including finances, personnel, property and grounds, and other administrative concerns.  In addition, they help to “advise” about all aspects of church life.  The term is for one year.  Are there people you would like to see serving as advisors next year?  Would you like to serve as an advisor?  There are forms available at church for you to fill out with the names of people you would like to see as advisors including yourself.  Please put the forms in the Leadership Selection envelope on the bulletin board at church.  The names suggested will provide the pool of people to be considered to serve for the next year.  Many thanks for your participation in this important process at LUCC!

Winter Wonderland: Maximo Elementary will open up a “Winter Wonderland”  room at the school for their children the third week in December.  The room will be filled with  donated toys and gifts ranging from  small things like books and games to large items like bicycles and helmets.  Children at the school are receiving tickets earned for good behavior.  These tickets will be used to select toys and gifts for family members, friends and themselves.

LUCC’s Education Ministry Team  will be collecting unwrapped toys and gifts  that folks bring to church the next four Sundays.  These will be delivered to the school.  If you are unable to shop but want to give a toy/gift  give  a donation  to the church and designate it  for “winter wonderland.”  Help plant a seed of wonder in a child’s life!  Thanks everyone!

Congratulations Jim Andrews: In September of this year, Jim Andrews completed the process for commissioning and ordination with the Federation of Christian Ministries (FCM).  FCM is a progressive organization which ordains chaplains and others involved in public ministry.  Jim is grateful to everyone at LUCC for their encouragement and support through the years.  

Letter Writing: A letter writing station has been set up at church. Look for opportunities to share your faith perspective on immigration, the environment, and gun safety with elected officials.

Mountain Dulcimer Lessons Bring your dulcimer and a music stand and willingness to play! Join us for a great lesson on Wednesday November 20th at 4:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.

 Roy Book Binder Concert: The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. on December 6th. Suggested donation of $20. All proceeds go to the artist. Please feel free to contact the church with any questions! lakewooducc@gmail.com or call at 727-867-7961.

Operation Attack: Operation Attack is very much in need of clothes for men, boys, and girls as well as diapers and peanut butter and canned fruit. Donations may be placed in the shopping cart in the entryway to the sanctuary. LUCC volunteer nights include sorting clothes and bagging food. All are welcome to volunteer! The next opportunities are Nov. 13 and Dec. 4 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Operation Attack is an ecumenical effort serving families with children located at Lakeview Presbyterian Church, 1310 22nd. Ave. S., St. Petersburg. LUCC was a founding member of Operation Attack in the 1960’s!

Hearing Augmentation: Devices are available from the usher in the sanctuary during worship.

November Birthdays: Lucille Ruga 11/9, Emily Bell 11/15, Sue Sherwood 11/15, Maurice Gunyon 11/16, Ed Kaspar 11/21, Lorne Palmer 11/21, Bert Lee 11/22, Bill Lindsay 11/23, Wally LeBlanc 11/23, Kai’Lyn Washington 11/27, Jane Diven 11/29. Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.

Circle of Concern: Tony Rogers, David Rowland, Sherry Santana, Jen DeGroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, and Ann Rogers.

Recent Post:

Weekly Update: If you are involved with an activity or event that you would like to share with the LUCC family, please send the information to the church office by Tuesday since the Update usually is sent out on Wednesday.