“Madness”
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:1
Yesterday (Thursday) began one of my favorite times of year – March Madness. There was a time where I was so into college basketball that I would do my best to arrange my schedule so I could watch as many games as possible on this opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. For those of you not completely familiar with March Madness, it is a 64 team basketball tournament to determine the college basketball national champion. On the opening 2 days of the tournament, all 64 teams play, and more often than not, some of the teams that are expected to be superior lose to teams who are not given much a chance. This time of year you hear a lot about cheering for the underdog and for the emergence of Cinderella stories.
One of the many traditions around the NCAA tournament is for fans to fill out a bracket – predicting who they think will win each of the 63 games. More often than not, when I have filled out a bracket, the upsets I pick don’t happen, and the ones I don’t pick do. Every year a different company sponsors the “million dollar bracket challenge” – promising the grand prize to anyone who can accurately predict every game. To my knowledge this has never happened because during the tournament, madness and chaos often reign supreme.
Our world and our lives are not unfamiliar with chaos and madness. Just like when I try to predict the results of a basketball game, when I try to predict the outcome of much of my life, chaos seems to reign. Whether it be a decision I made that wasn’t in my best interest, or something that happened as a result of another’s bad decision, we know what it is like to experience disruption. We experience chaos at work, at home with our kids, while we are driving, even sometimes in our sleep. Yet we are not alone in the chaos.
Since the beginning of time chaos has existed. It is referenced in our baptismal liturgy: “Eternal God, When nothing existed but chaos, you swept across the dark waters and brought forth light…” This comes from the book of Genesis, and is an acknowledgement that when there was nothing other than a formless, empty, chaotic world, God was there. Genesis tells us: “In the Beginning, God…” We declare that “when nothing existed but chaos, God…” When chaos and madness reigned, God was there.
I find it comforting when everything seems like madness and chaos, to remember that God has been there through all the chaos and will be with me too.
Blessings, Chris
Mission
To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Vision
Nelson Memorial UMC seeks to be a place where all God’s broken, hurting, and imperfect children discover wholeness and community while experiencing the warm and welcoming love of Jesus Christ. We seek to connect with one another to grow in our knowledge and love of God, to encourage each person to live out their unique calling to serve God, and to make a difference in the Boonville community and throughout the world.
Priorities
Developing and Nurturing Faith in Children and Youth
Fostering Growth and Community in Worship and Small Groups
Provide Opportunities to Serve God in Boonville and Beyond
Worship This Week
This Sunday we continue our message series for the season of Lent titled “Dear Heavenly Father.” This series is focused on the spiritual practice of prayer and seeks to provide some practical tools for increasing your practice of prayer. This week our message is titled “Rejoice” and will focus on the scripture in Psalm 66, verses 1 through 6.
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great in your power that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praises to your name.
Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!
He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot – come, let us rejoice in him.“
Our services will begin with the song Might Get Loud by Elevation Worship. Our hymns for the morning include O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing, and Into My Heart. Our praise song will be Great Are You, Lord. Additionally, we will have some special music presented to us by Leah and Cheryl.
Virtual Worship Information
In addition to in-person worship, each Sunday we will live-stream our 10:20 worship service. The service can be viewed on our Facebook Page. The service will start at approximately 10:25 following our gathering song. Additionally, we post a recording of our message each week to our website by early Sunday afternoon. We are excited to be able to extend our worship services in these ways.
COVID Updates
We would like to thank everyone for their flexibility with our Covid practices over the past two years. Currently, the Covid infection and hospitalization rates are low and we encourage you to continue to practice the measures you feel necessary during this time. No mandates are in place at this time, but we do encourage everyone to continue to consider and respect the boundaries others are setting. Again, thank you for your diligence over the past couple of years and hopefully we are now learning to live with this terrible virus in ways that are safe for ourselves and others.
Announcements
Men’s Retreat and Camp Sagrada Work Day
The Men’s Retreat and Workday at Cam Sagrada has been postponed to the weekend of April 1 & 2. All men and male youth are invited! We will leave the church at 4pm Friday and carpool to the camp. (You may meet us there later if this works better.) We will have a dinner at the camp and devotion Friday evening. Saturday we will have breakfast, work through the morning, have lunch and finish up projects in the afternoon. We plan to be back home by about 6 pm Saturday. If you are interested in attending, please sign up on the sheet in the East Wing. If you have any questions, please talk with Tim VonEnglen or call him at 660-882-3348.
Card Shower for Ann Hartman – Ann Hartmann will be celebrating her 100th birthday on Tuesday, April 2, 2022 and we are going to shower her with cards. Please send a card to Cedarhurst of Sedalia, 3751 W. 10th Street, Sedalia, MO 65301. Thank you!
Come and Make a Joyful Noise – Our Choir and Praise Band are looking for a few more members. The Choir is looking for a few more voices, specifically men, but all are welcome. The Choir practices the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. Please talk with Leah Gumbel for more information.
The Praise Band is also looking for a few more members. A bass player or drummer is being sought, and an additional guitarist would be welcome as well. Vocalists are also welcome. The Praise Band rehearses the second and fourth Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm. Childcare is available during Praise Band rehearsal. Please talk with Larry Long, Sara Snyder, or Philip Wooldridge for more information.
Easter Lily Orders – It’s that time again to order your Lilies for our Easter Sunday services. Those of you that would like to purchase an Easter Lilley in memory of or in honor of a loved one, please fill out a form that is located on the table in the refreshment area or by the front doors. Please return the form to the church by Sunday, March 28th or place it in the offering box. This will give Marcey from Stella’s Florist plenty of time to order the lilies. Please make checks payable in the amount of $12.00 to Nelson Memorial, UMC, and in the memo line write Easter Lily. The lilies will help beautify the sanctuary for Easter and will be displayed at the Easter services. You may take your lily home after the 10:20 a.m., Easter service.
Events this week:
Sunday, March 20: Financial Peace University, Noon, Church Lounge
Monday, March 21: TOPS, 9:30 am, Foundations Classroom
Al-Anon, 8:00 pm, Church Lounge
Wednesday, March 23: Women’s Bible Study, 10:15 am, Church Lounge
Al Anon, Noon, Church Lounge
Thursday, March 24: Community Prayer Breakfast, 7:00 am, Isle of Capri Ballroom
Praise Band Rehearsal, 6:00 pm, Sanctuary
Friday, March 25: Al-Anon, 7:00 pm, Fellowship Hall
Closing Words of Wisdom:
God doesn’t break things so He can fix them; He fixes broken things so He can use them.” – Bob Goff
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.