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From the Pastor's Desk:
One of the lessons we all learn sooner or later is to let go of the hope for a better past. Despite the obvious futility of this universal hope, we see people wasting years of their lives hanging on to it.
Over 60 years ago, a Russian writer named P. D. Ouspensky wrote a novel entitled Strange Life of Ivan Osokin. It is the story of a man who wanted to amend his mistakes by living his life over again. "If only I could get back all the chances which life offered me and which I threw away," he said. "If only I could do things differently."
Ivan visits a magician who reluctantly and magically gives him a chance to live his life over again but warns him that nothing will be different. Ivan watches his life like a screenplay. As he watches the repetition of his strange life, he sees himself helplessly reliving the bitter failure of his school days, the sweetness of early life, and the reckless experiments of his particular temperament. He does the same absurd things the second time around, right down to the smallest detail.
Ivan desperately pleads, "What am I to do?!" The magician said to him: "Remember, if you go back as blind as you are now, you will do the same things over again. Repetition is inevitable unless you first change yourself."
Louise Fletcher Tarkington once wrote a poem, "The Land of Beginning Again," with a verse that any reflective and sensitive person can identify with.
I wish there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
and all our poor, selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never be put on again.
The possibility for a better future begins when we let go of the hope for a better past. Remember, Jesus gave us the chance to know new beginnings. Let us take this moment to thank God for all the good and wonderful things He gives us, and let us try to let go and let God guide us in our Future.
See you on Sunday,
Misty
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Chicken & Dumplings, Turnip Greens, Lima Beans, Cornbread, Honeybun Cake
Served By: Truth Seekers
Please check the Midweek Dinner page on our website for additional upcoming menus.
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Worship Arts Notes ♫
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was blinded by an illness as an infant, but she lived a long life full of joy and accomplishment. She entered the New York School for the Blind at age 15 and remained there for 35 years, first as a student and then as a teacher.
She wrote poetry when she was a child and published her first book of poetry, A Blind Girl and Other Poems, at age 24.
Fanny Crosby is best known for her hymns. She wrote more than 9000 hymns during her lifetime. Many, such as “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” and “Blessed Assurance,” quickly became standards––and are still included in many hymnals a century after her death.
Fanny wrote “To God Be the Glory” around 1870 and included it in a collection of hymns entitled Brightest and Best. However, while many of the hymns in that collection became quite famous, this one didn’t catch on––at least, not in America.
But Evangelist Ira Stankey published the song in his Sacred Songs and Solos and took it with him during his travels to England. It caught on well enough there to be included in several hymnals in England but wasn’t included in many hymnals in America.
Then, in 1954, Billy Graham went to England for his London Crusade. Someone gave a copy of the song to Cliff Barrows, Graham’s songleader, and suggested including it in the songbook they were compiling for the crusade. Barrows had heard the song on an earlier visit to England and was impressed with its strong note of praise––so he included it in the songbook and used it in the crusade. The crowd responded so enthusiastically that he sang it nearly every night.
Upon returning to the United States, Graham and Barrows introduced the song to an American audience for the first time at their Nashville Crusade. Once again, the crowd responded enthusiastically, so Graham and Barrows adopted the song as one of their standards. Because of their influence, the compilers of hymnals of all denominations began including it in new hymnals.
Hymnologist William J. Reynolds, writing in his hymnal companion Hymns of Faith (1964), documented the return of this hymn to the USA: “It is most extraordinary that this long-forgotten American gospel song should have been imported from England and become immensely popular during the last decade.”
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Aldersgate has partnered with Reality and Truth Ministries since 2011. On September 9 of that year, we began serving meals to the homeless on the second Friday of every month. At the time, the ministry was located at the Dexter Avenue UMC. Since then, meals have been served in a number of different locations. Currently, they are being served nightly at 108 Camden St. where there is limited space for a clothes closet, but no other services.
The ministry hopes to open their One Church Mission Center soon at 506 Montgomery St. where they will be able to provide the amenities of home to the homeless and poor, including showers, laundry, clothing, home furnishings, groceries, financial management guidance, Bible studies, daily dinners and weekday lunches. Recently, the Go Lead Team sent $2,000 in Faith Promise Going Deeper funds to Reality and Truth to purchase a stove for the kitchen at the new location. They still lack some basic kitchen appliances and two HVAC systems, but they hope to be fully operational soon.
Contact Patsy Eiland if you or your group would like to help with preparing and/or serving one of the Friday meals.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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The website now has a page for the church calendar under resources.
The church calendar is available for all church ministries and organizations to post meetings and events as needed. We welcome your events! All events need to be submitted ASAP for next month’s calendar. All ministry leaders are responsible for submitting their events annually even if they are reoccurring.
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Weekly Scripture
Ephesians 1:15-19
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength
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Join our Aldersgate Prayer and Praise email list! Prayer requests, the weekly prayer list, and notes of praise are sent several times a week to our more than 140 different current and former Aldersgate members. You can join our email list by sending an email to
office@aldersgateumc.org
or call the church office at 334-272-6152.
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Please click to contact a specific member of our staff.
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