THE MESSENGER St. John

Wood River, Illinois

2017 No matter who you are…

…or where you are on life’s journey,

YOU are welcome here.

In This Issue

February

Calendar,

Birthdays

& Prayer list

From the Pastor:

Early draft of

The Bible,

Twitter Version

Kids Klips

A new

opportunity

For Spiritual

Enrichment at

St. John’s

Pancake and

Sausage dinner

Feb. 28

Movie Night

Feb. 19

Anniversary Sunday Celebration Sunday, Feb. 5

Vintage Worship—Pot luck afterwards! Worship, Enjoy and Celebrate!

11th Annual All You Can Eat

Pancake & Sausage Supper

Shrove Tuesday, February 28

4pm -7pm Tell your friends, tell your neighbors!

Come & help in the kitchen or the serving line.

Ash Wednesday March 1

Noon in the Gathering Room Imposition of ashes.

Brief order for Word and Sacrament

7pm in the Sanctuary Imposition of ashes.

Time of silent prayer and meditation. Communion station to receive the

Sacrament.

Our Open & Affirming Team invites You to a viewing and discussion of

“for the BIBLE tells me so” Sunday, Feb. 19 6:30pm

Popcorn and drinks provided Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families—including

those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson—we discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member. “POWERFUL! A noble effort to heal a gaping wound in our society.”—SALON.com Offering healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity, this landmark film “boldly takes on the loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally, the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears.”—Seattle Times

Why do we sing when we gather?

There are many reasons, but consider just one: sacrifice. Worship music as offering is an important concept in Reformed theology. Singing praises, giving loud voice to our faith, is one of the most natural and purest expressions of gratitude, love and joy that we can bring. I encourage people to sing with gusto in worship not because they are expected to, but because it is an opportunity to give back to God, and to openly share our thanks and praise with those around us. Like most forms of giving, our own lives are enriched in return.

Sing, even when the song is unfamiliar. Every favorite song was new until it wasn’t.

Sing, even when the notes are too high or too low. No one to my knowledge has blown a vocal cord singing “Amazing Grace,” even if it does make you reach.

Sing, even if you don’t like your voice. Hymn singing is about neither humility nor performing. As with monetary offerings, give joyfully whatever you can. Your gift is worthy.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly

profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is

pleased. (Heb 13:15-16 NIV)

—Jared Faulkner

A few of us pastor types

were talking about how e-

mails and the even briefer

texts and Tweets can be so

easily misunderstood. We

all had heard of church

members who had been

hurt by misunderstanding

someone’s text.

We started imagining

how Paul, Isaiah or Jeremiah would be received

today with their long, flowing prose and poetry.

How would Paul or the prophets shorten their

message for our modern day abbreviated attention

spans?

Wanting ideas and instructions short and clear,

however, is not an entirely new phenomena—think

of the lawyer who wanted Jesus to summarize the

laws and the prophets into something simple. “You

shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all

your soul and all your mind. …And the second is

like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

On these two commandments hang all the law and

the prophets.” More than 140 characters but still a

very good condensation. And we do allow multiple

tweets in a string, at least for Jesus. It’s annoying

when other people do it. Post it in a blog if you are

going to be that wordy.

Anyhow, we started thinking, which is always

dangerous. While there are a few sites that offer

twitter versions of the Bible, I think we need to

create our own. Let’s start with some tweets for

Paul:

Xns grieve + hope. Others, SAD. (1 Thess 13)

Faith, hope, love all around. Love BEST.

(1 Cor. 13)

Hoping for a Jesus-like death + resurrection. Not

yet, pressing on. (Phil 3)

Dress for action. Under Armor + Kevlar. Devil

fights dirty. (Eph. 6:11)

For Isaiah:

Big throne, scary angels, hot coal, burnt lips.

Volunteers? Here I am. Oh boy. (Is. 6:1-13)

Jesse’s tree, deep roots. New sprout. Changes

everything. Shalom. (Is. 11)

New day, new plan. Heads up, open your eyes!!

#newthingscoming (Is 43:19-21)

Or for some of the Old Testament stories:

Moses, burning bush, holy ground, excuses. Just

shut up and go. #dontarguewithYWH (Ex. 4:1-17)

K.David, Bathsheba, TMI. Get a room!

#uriahwatchyourback (2 Sam. 11)

Naaman balked, took bath, all better. ROFL

#listentoslavegirl, #servantsknowbest (2 Kings 5)

Or some Gospel stories:

Big storm, disciples scared, wah, wah, wah.

#Jesussaves. (Mark 4:35-41)

Pigsty son returns. Happy dance! Party! Bbq beef.

#olderbrothersulking (Luke 15:11-32)

What are your favorite passages from the Bible and

how would you reduce them to a tweet? More

importantly, how do you distill them down to a way

of life that communicates the message? Do people

“see Jesus” around you and through you even

without a tweet?

We’ll set up a Facebook post asking for your

responses. Post them in the comments section.

Our study of

Genesis

continues.

Wednesday

nights at 6pm

Come and explore how these ancient stories

inform and guide our faith today.

Coming Events Around St. John UCC and the Conference

Spiritual Retreat Reflect on the

Transfiguration of Jesus

Prayer stations for all ages, for the visual, listening, active and

contemplative mind, incorporating ancient

and contemporary practices, and founded on Scripture.

Come spend time in God’s lap

A few minutes or an hour or 4

from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m

at the church

February 18

Get your tickets NOW!!!

Kindercottage Invites you to a Night of

Laughter, Frivolity & Jocularity

Featuring Ed Reggi & The Paper Slips Improv Theater

“Whose Line Is It Anyway?” type improv meets the church & Kindercottage!

April Fool’s Day!

Saturday, April 1, 2017 Doors open at 5pm

Show, Dinner, Show at 6pm

At St. Paul UCC 115 West “B” Street Belleville, Illinois Tickets include

dinner and show: $40 Personal and Corporate Sponsorships Available

Call 618-874-6505 for tickets or information

February:

1 - Kathleen Hall, Kim Sheraka

2 - Alex Frazar

3 - Donita Crockett

5 - Josh Manescalco

9 - Rene Butler, June Niehaus

11 - Jim Stille

12 - Tom Thorp

13 – Caleb Sutton

14 - Gene Abernathy

Before you were born, I had a purpose for you.

15 - Lois Cotton 18 - Greg Farrell 20 - Gladys Abernathy, Nathaniel Crockett 21 - Wyatt Hill 25 - Ed Hamlin 27 - Hayleigh Rhodes 28 - Brian Kichline, Meghan Stamper

Please Pray for: Friends and family hospitalized or with ongoing health concerns Mason (one of our Cub Scouts) Dale Noble Tamara Wiegand

Child Sponsored by St. John: Vimbai Dziya, Mt. Selinda Mission, Zimbabwe

Staying Close to Home/Ongoing Health Concerns Rachel Abert Margaret Rowden Lucille Aubin Beryl Shoemaker Don Schueler Lin Cox Jim Sutton Mary Goforth Overseas Teacher/Diplomatic Leigh-Ellen Kichline In Nursing Homes Amy Tohill Ed Hamlin Margaret Hinkle, Hitz Home We keep the family Jim Jones, Rosewood of Art Hanfelder in prayer. Ginny Mitchell, Morningside Art died Jan. 25. Services were Bob Hall, Bethalto Care Center Jan. 30. Serving in the Military Dustin & Ashley Richards, Blake Sabolo and Brandon Southcombe

The monthly Treasurer’s report and the last approved Ad Team minutes will be available on the church

website under “Reports and Minutes.” Here are the links to take you directly to each report. Print

copies will be available at the church. Treasurer’s Report for December

http://stjohnucc.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/170105-Treasurers-Report-as-of-December-2016-for-Operations-Account.pdf

Ad Team December Minutes

http://stjohnucc.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Minutes-12222016.pdf

The Messenger is a monthly publication of St. John United Church of Christ, 228 N. Sixth St., Wood River, IL 62095; phone 618 254-6682. E-mail @sjucc@sbcglobal.net Access our home page at www.stjohnucc.net. Worship is at 9:30 a.m. Messy Church is the 2nd Sunday of the month, 4pm-6pm Our Pastor is Rev. Mike Southcombe, cell phone (618) 558-5014 The Messenger editorial staff includes, Evalena O’dell and Marlene O’dell.

All guests are welcome.

“always caring, always sharing”

St. John United Church of Christ 228 N. Sixth St. Wood River, IL 62095 Return Service Requested

Mission Statement for St. John UCC

St. John United Church of Christ, Wood River, Illinois

is a Christian Community:

Worshiping the Triune God

Claiming the historic faith of the church

Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ

Nurturing for Christian discipleship

Ministering to one another through fellowship and caring

Serving our community and the world

Connecting with other Christians for witness and service