Announcements

Before today’s reading was ours to ponder, it was offered to a people who had watched their nation be ripped apart; first from within, and then oppressed from without. “One nation under God,” became divisible. We know what that looks like, don’t we? We witnessed it right here – 160 years ago – North and South divided – at odds, and at war with one another. Recent days have freshened our collective memory.

“One nation – under God – indivisible – with liberty and justice for all.” The words roll right off of our tongues. We’ve recited them since we were children. Hebrew children learned another pledge of allegiance: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Isaiah invites his people to cease their complaining and remember the call to listen; to hear a word from God.

Isaiah declares that the people will see a great light. This light will be like none other. It will break through the darkness and shine across the land. It will bring freedom from their oppressors, and it will come just in the nick of time. As the weary peoples’ whining subsides, Isaiah interjects a word on behalf of God – practices to lay down, and practices to take up.

get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—

Isaiah 58:9-10 (Message)

Listen! Do you hear the gurgling springs of grace whispering hope in your desert place? Where do you see God’s abundant light and full life breaking into our world, even in places that previously seemed empty?

Rev. Jon Strother is the Sound District Superintendent

A Duke Divinity student from our conference, who is working with RAFI and Resourceful Communities this semester, is creating a map of creation care ministries throughout the North Carolina Annual Conference. RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation, Int.) and Resourceful Communities are two nonprofits in North Carolina who work to assist local farmers, rural communities, and rural United Methodist churches throughout the state.

Imagine someone in your church wants to start a community garden. You think this is a great idea, but you have no clue where to start. But what if another United Methodist church in the next town over has had a community garden for the last five years? Perhaps you could partner with them or have the leader of that ministry help your church get started. All too often, though, we’re unaware of the ministries of our neighboring United Methodist churches.

Can you take this brief, 5-minute survey to have your church included in this mapping project? The goal is to develop a map that will connect churches who are doing similar work, or to provide models for churches who are wanting to begin a creation care ministry. In this way, our connectionalism can be leveraged to better care for God’s creation.

Creation care, also known as conservation or environmentalism, can include many different things. Some common examples are recycling, cleaning up rivers or oceans, or conserving electricity in your church or home.

Food and farming also play a major role in creation care. Things such as having a church garden, serving a community meal with fresh produce, being involved in a CSA or farmer’s market, or any way in which your church works with the land, are all acts of creation care.

If your church has a ministry that is working to care for God’s creation, we would love to know about it! Ultimately, we hope to create a network of churches and ministries that can support one another in this important work.

You can find the survey by following this link: https://forms.gle/rFNZQT8uJNXrQFYt9.

Thank you for your time!

For the last 5 years, I have lived close enough to walk to the ocean in about 5 minutes. When you step outside, the air smells salty and kind of fishy. From the parsonage porch, when it’s hushed out, you can hear the waves. And while it’s good to be close to the ocean, it’s even better to be sitting on the sand, watching the sunrise over the waves.

Some nights I invite my closest friends over for a sleepover. We will stay up late eating snacks and watching movies, but we plan to get up to see the sunrise. So we set 17 alarms to wake up in time to jump up, put on shoes with our pj’s, and drive over to the ocean. On cold mornings, we gather on the sand in a penguin huddle, waiting to see the first peek of light. Often, we’re there just to take pictures for Instagram. Other times we’re just there for us, for a quiet time to be together. But every time, we’re amazed at the beauty of it all, and we find a few minutes to pray.

If we stayed home, we probably would not pray together, not gonna lie. Something about the ocean leads us to talk with God. It’s a beautiful, peaceful, Spirit-filled place. The sound of the water, the peace of the moment, restores my soul. When I talk with God, when I let God in, God is watering me, restoring the parched and dry land where I try to take care of everything myself. God reminds me of where to find real water, how to stay spiritually hydrated.

Emily Lain is Conference Youth President for North Carolina Conference Youth Ministries