OUR WEEK-AUGUST 1ST - 7TH

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 28TH —
Worship Service at New Homestead in
Guthrie Center - at 10 A.M.Adair AD Council @ 7 P.M.
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THURSDAY, JULY 29TH —
Pastor Lynn plans to take vacation days
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
If you should have an interest in how she may spend
her time,she has a new baby grandson, born July 24th,
weighing in at 11 pounds, 3 oz., and 23 inches long.
Mom, Dad, Baby Rhys,
[pronounced Reece: a Welsh given name, famous
in Welsh history. Welsh origin means "dragon"],
and Grandma are all doing well.
I think perhaps football coaches across America are
quietly putting Rhys on their "keep a watchful eye"
list.
Congratulations to the entire Josh Sheppard family!
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FRIDAY, JULY 30TH —
Pastor Lynn on vacation.
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SATURDAY, JULY 31ST —
Pastor Lynn on vacation.
WHAT? THE END OF JULY ALREADY?
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SUNDAY, AUGUST 1ST —
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
COLOR: GREEN
HOLY COMMUNION TODAYSCRIPTURE READINGS ARE:
HOSEA 11:1-11 (The Message)
The opening imagery is of a father helping a
young child learn how to walk. In Israel, the
father would have used rope or bands of cloth
for the child to hold as he led the child forward.

Hosea is called to deliver a message
(destruction of the Northern Kingdom) that can
only bring pain. God speaks of His tender
affection for Israel like a father teaching an infant
child to walk, and so how hard it is to see Israel
continually rejecting God's ways.
Israel, the Northern Kingdom to which Hosea
prophesied, was in fact not restored once the
Assyrians over-ran it and drove the wealthiest
and most able into an exile. This is why we speak
of the "ten lost tribes" - - lost because we find
almost no reliable evidence of them in historical
records ever again. Assyria resettled the land with
a variety of people from nations they had captured.
God will not again destroy Ephraim after the
coming exile, but intends to come to their rescue -
some day.

1 "When Israel was only a child, I loved him. I called
out, 'My son!' - I called him out of Egypt.
2 But when others called him, he ran off and left me.
He worshiped the popular sex gods, he played at
religion with toy gods.
3 Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim. I rescued him
from human bondage, But he never acknowledged
my help,4 never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon,
That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek, that I bent
down to feed him.
5 Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to
Assyria - anything but return to me!
6 That's why his cities are unsafe - the murder rate
skyrockets and every plan to improve things falls to
pieces.
7 My people are hell-bent on leaving me. They pray
to god Baal for help. He doesn't lift a finger to help
them.
8 But how can I give up on you, Ephraim? How can
I turn you loose, Israel? How can I leave you to be
ruined like Admah, devastated like luckless Zeboim?
I can't bear to even think such thoughts. My insides
churn in protest.
9 And so I'm not going to act on my anger. I'm not
going to destroy Ephraim. And why? Because I am
God and not a human. I'm The Holy One and I'm
here - in your very midst.
10 "The people will end up following God. I will roar
like a lion - Oh, how I'll roar! My frightened children
will come running from the west.
11 Like frightened birds they'll come from Egypt,
from Assyria like scared doves. I'll move them back
into their homes." God's Word!
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PSALM 107:1-9, 43 (UMH 830) (The Message)
A psalm of thanksgiving ending almost as a
wisdom psalm:
"Consider the steadfast love of the Lord."
PSALM 107:1-9
1 Oh, thank God - He's so good! His love never
runs out.
2 All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell
how He freed you from oppression,
3 Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.
4 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
looking but not finding a good place to live,
5 Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering
and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
6 Then, in your desperate condition, you called
out to God. He got you out in the nick of time;
7 He put your feet on a wonderful road that took
you straight to a good place to live.
8 So thank God for his marvelous love, for his
miracle mercy to the children he loves.
9 He poured great draughts of water down
parched throats; the starved and hungry got
plenty to eat.
PSALM 107:43
43 If you are really wise, you'll think this over -
it's time you appreciated God's deep love.
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COLOSSIANS 3:1-11 (The Message)
Live the fullness of what happened in your
baptism, Paul commends. Strip off the old self
and its practices. Be clothed with the new. Paul
says "Put to death," "get rid of" and "strip off"
the former, "clothe yourself" in the new.
1 So if you're serious about living this new
resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the
things over which Christ presides.
2 Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed
with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be
alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where
the action is. See things from his perspective.
3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your
real life - even though invisible to spectators - is with
Christ in God. He is your life.
4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up
again on this earth, you'll show up, too - the real you,
the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity,
like Christ.
5 And that means killing off everything connected
with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity,
lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel
like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy.
That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of
by God.
6 It's because of this kind of thing that God is about
to explode in anger.
7 It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff
and not knowing any better.
8 But you know better now, so make sure it's all
gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness,
profanity, dirty talk.
9 Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old
life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've
stripped off and put in the fire.
10 Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every
item of your new way of life is custom-made by the
Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are
now obsolete.
11 Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and
irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and
uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now
on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is
included in Christ.
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LUKE 12:13-21 (The Message)
Jesus moves from a request to arbitrate an
inheritance dispute to warn against all forms
of greed -- all desires to obtain more that what
one needs - and tells the story of a successful
grain farmer as an example. "A rich farmer had
terrific crops - so much he needed larger
granaries to store it all. So he decided he'd
build bigger granaries. Sound familiar?
You don't have to be rich to get caught in this
trap. It affects us all, bathes us all, surrounds
us all in this culture. It seeks to and often does
possess us absolutely. We cannot live from the
popular culture around us. Not now.
That way of life may destroy us. We must
choose rules and laws that ensure our survival.

13 Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order
my brother to give me a fair share of the family
inheritance."
14 He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any
of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?"
15 Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care!
Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life
is not defined by what you have, even when you
have a lot."
16 Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain
rich man produced a terrific crop.17 He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn
isn't big enough for this harvest.'18 Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down
my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods,19 and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well!
You've got it made and can now retire, take it easy,
and have the time of your life!'
20 "Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool!
Tonight you die. And your barn full of goods -
who gets that?'
21 "That's what happens when you fill your barn
with Self and not with God."
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MONDAY, AUGUST 2ND —
This is Pastor Lynn's day off.The office will be closed.
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 3RD —
Bible Study in Adair U.M.C. - 9:00 to 11 A.M.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4TH —
ADAIR U.M.W. RETREAT AT ANITA STATE PARK—— EVERYBODY WELCOME. ——
• MEET AT THE ADAIR CHURCH BY 8:30 A.M.
• BRING BIBLE,
• LAWN CHAIR AND
• SACK LUNCH
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 7TH —
NAOMI RETURNS FROM THE OZARKS
Welcome back lady!
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GLANCE AT THE PAST —
The recipients of the
27th Annual Governor’s Volunteers Awards for 2010
have been announced and a celebration was held in
Storm Lake.
The Governor’s Volunteer Awards are given to honor
the amount of community service time given by
individuals and organizations throughout the
state. Several UMC Churches, along with the
BLOCK BY BLOCK program received the Governor's
Volunteer Award for 2010. All awards received by
the church were given for assistance in disaster
flood recovery.
“The devotion of these volunteers has helped
Iowa achieve the second highest state volunteer
rate in the country,” said Governor Culver.
Second only to Utah.

SEVERAL UMC CHURCHES RECEIVED AWARDS
DURING THE CEREMONIES.
• Bethel UMC of Zearing (nominated by the Dept. of
Transportation) for years of road side clean up.
• Geneseo UMC of Dysart (nominated by Dept. of
Transportation) for years of road side clean up.
• Living Water UMC of Marion (nominated by the
Flood Recovery office of United Methodist Church)
• Oakville UMC of Wapello (nominated by Melissa
Bracht-Wagner) for flood relief work.
• Shueyville UMC of Swisher (nominated by Melissa
Bracht-Wagner) for flood relief work.
• Springville UMC of Springville (nominated by the
Flood Recovery Office of United Methodist Church)
• St. Pauls UMC of Waterloo (nominated by the
Hawkeye Area Agency on Aging) Meals on Wheels
work and (nominated by Melissa Bracht-Wagner)
for flood relief work.
• St. Pauls UMC of Cedar Rapids (nominated by
Melissa Bracht-Wagner) for flood relief work.
The BLOCK BY BLOCK Program has been
instrumental in reviving many homes that were
nearly unlivable after the floods of 2008.This is very impressive and we should be proud of
the people who have worked long and hard to make
our little part of the world a better place.
Our scripture readings spoke of showing love to our
neighbors. These projects certainly must be front
and center.
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RAGBRAI - 2010 IS PLAYING OUT THIS WEEK.
Drink plenty of water, folks! This is summer in IOWA.
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FUTURE FOCUS —
CALLING ALL IOWA STATE FAIR FANS!
• • • FAIR FUN! AUGUST 12-22, 2010 • • •
Iowa United Methodist Church will have a presence
in the AIR-CONDITIONED Varied Industries Building.
We need volunteers to staff the booth from 9am to
9pm on a daily basis, and have divided those 12
hours into three 4-hour shifts.
GROUPS – WE LOVE YOU!
Could you send in 12 people for the day and take
turns rowing the boat?

Shift times are:
9 am – 1 pm
1 pm - 5 pm
5 pm – 9 pm
In return for your time, we will provide free
admission into the Iowa State Fair
for the day you work.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT DARCI HATMAN

SHE WILL NEED:
• Name, Address, City, State and Zip Code
• Telephone number where you can be reached
during the day
• The date you are interested in volunteering
• The shift you are interested in working
(morning, afternoon or evening)
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Our lives can become quite congested and I am very
grateful for all of the volunteers we have in our
midst locally. Case in point - Vacation Bible School.
We never could have done it without the time and
effort of a large number of people. I thank you for
your energy, for your smiles, and for your
"Love Thy Neighbor" spirit. You rock!

God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Lynn