Preparing for Sunday
Spring time is finally here; Summer is on the way. For Christians, this means that the weather is finally good enough to take a walk through our neighborhoods, like people used to do fifty years ago. The snow and ice are gone, the birds are singing, and it’s time to meet our neighbors. It is time to show those people in our neighborhoods we don’t yet know that we are happy, kind, and nice people. It is time to make a difference in our world.
So often, we wait for other people to introduce themselves to us. But it is the people of the church who were told by Christ to “go into all the world”. If you work for a living, introduce yourself to every customer that comes to your business. If you are retired, walk around your neighborhood and introduce yourself to all of your neighbors and the children in the neighborhood. Be different! Be the friendliest person your customers and neighbors know. Be a reliable friend. Bake cookies, help neighbors by bringing tools when they are working on vehicles and their lawns.
Make an attempt to meet at least one new person every day when the weather is good.
For a couple of years, we lived in an 800-person apartment complex in New Jersey. As you would expect, the people in the complex mostly kept to themselves. But Saundra stayed at home during the day. Well, not exactly. She took walks every day when the weather was decent. She made friends with the neighbors, the mothers who pushed strollers around, the people who spent the summer at the swimming pool. And over the months, she developed great relationships. By the time we moved to Atlanta, she had made friends with Norwegians and Italians, with Taiwanese and Poles who had moved to America, as well as people who had grown up in New Jersey. When I moved to Atlanta a couple of weeks ahead of her, she spent the time eating dinner at their apartments. They called her the “mayor” of the apartment complex. Just because she wasn’t afraid to introduce herself to people.
You can do the same. After all, Jesus has your back - what are you afraid of? This is how our world is changed for the better - one relationship at a time.
Personal
Say “Happy Birthday” to Saundra this weekend!
Announcements
The Spring Sale is almost upon us. Bring in your extra clothing, your shoes, your furniture, your books, and your knick-knacks. The sale runs Thursday May 2, 8 am to 5 pm, and Friday, May 3, 8 am to 6 pm. Hot dogs, desserts and drinks will be available for purchase. Clothing by the bag.
The Fellowship Hall is packed this week, so meetings will be held upstairs.
The Sunday Evening Questions group will meet at the Parsonage at 6 pm - Cheryl’s closes at 2 pm. Bring a camp chair if you have one.
Weekly Schedule
· Sundays, 9:00 AM – Worship at Vaught Chapel with Facebook Live. Sunday School follows
· Sundays, 9:00 AM – Radio broadcast of previous week’s sermon, WVVV-FM 96.9 FM. Also available on Tune-in App and in emailed podcast.
· Sundays, 9:30 AM – Sunday School at Cedar Grove UMC
· Sundays, 10:30 AM – Worship at Cedar Grove UMC with Facebook Live.
· Sundays, 2:00 PM – Worship at Cedar Grove Assisted Living (Except 3rd Sundays)
· Sundays, 6:00 PM - Questions and Answers with light meal in Fellowship Hall
· Mondays, 7:00 PM - Help & Hope - Support Group for parents of addicts at Cedar Grove UMC
· Wednesdays, 7:00 PM – Bible Study and Discussion at Cedar Grove UMC
Monthly Meetings
· 1st Tuesday, 9:00 AM – Breakfast at Cheryl’s, all welcome
· 1st Tuesday, 7:00 PM – Amateur Radio Club Meeting, Cedar Grove UMC
· 2nd Thursdays, 12:30 PM – United Methodist Women, Cedar Grove UMC
· 3rd Mondays, 10:00 AM – CEOS Service Group, Cedar Grove UMC
· 3rd Thursdays, 6:00 PM – CEOS Group, Vaught Chapel
· 4th Monday, 7:00 PM, Odd -numbered months – Administrative Council, Vaught Chapel
· Last Tuesday, 6:30 PM – Finance Committee, Cedar Grove
· Last Tuesday, 7:00 PM – Administrative Council, Cedar Grove
· 4th Thursday, - Gideon’s, Cedar Grove – See Brooks Layman for details
Special Upcoming Events
Mother’s Day Dinner at Columbo’s will be May 18, 5:30 pm. Please let Donna at the Church office know head count.
Sermon
“A Chance Encounter”. Great things happen when we go with the Spirit’s guidance.
Readings
First Reading – Acts 8:26-40 - Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch
Psalm – Psalm 22 - We will proclaim the Lord’s righteousness!
Epistle – 1 John 4:7-21 - Let us love one another.
Gospel – John 15:1-8 - Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.
Songs
Warmup Song “Here I Am to Worship” SCREEN WBB-3
Vaught – “I Love Him because He first loved me” Green 214
Praise Song: – “In Christ Alone” Screen WBB-4
Hymn: “In the Garden” UMH 314
Vaught – “Near to the Heart of God” UMH 472
Hymn/CG/Vaught “I love to Tell the Story” UMH 156
Closing Hymn – “Soon and Very Soon” UMH 706
Vaught – “We’ve a story to tell to the Nations” UMH 569