Wednesday April 22^nd 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Happy Earth Day,
 
Here’s a traditional African Canticle:
 
All you big things, bless the Lord. 
Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria, 
The Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plain, 
Fat baobabs and shady mango trees, 
All eucalyptus and tamarind trees, 
Bless the Lord. 
Praise and extol Him for ever and ever. 
 
All you tiny things, bless the Lord. 
Busy black ants and hopping fleas, 
Wriggling tadpoles and mosquito larvae, 
Flying locusts and water drops, 
Pollen dust and tsetse flies, 
Millet seeds and dried dagaa, 
Bless the Lord. 
Praise and extol Him for ever and ever.
 
 
News:
 
Your Money. Thank you for keeping your pledges up to date. None of your church’s expenses have stopped, though income has slowed. We’ve received about a dozen gifts (that I know about) to help our Covid-19 relief efforts. Thank you for this above-and-beyond generosity. If you know of anyone experiencing food insecurity, please let me know. I have grocery gifts cards. Thank you. Thanks be to God.
 
Graveyard Walks: Thanks for telling me your stories about the Mount Hope/Roselawn cemeteries. I walk there regularly. Please keep the stories coming. 
 
The Outreach Committee is beginning a relationship with international students, faculty, and professionals via a campus group called International Friendships Inc. Their spring newsletter is below. If you skim through it, you’ll find a picture of a perfect new born that will make you smile. 
https://mailchi.mp/29c5591cd164/outreach-to-international-students-continues
 
 
Humor: Where do you take someone injured in a peek-a-boo accident? To the ICU. 
 
 
Good Word:
 
Genesis 1:29-31
Then God said, “I’ve given you
        every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
    And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
        given them to you for food.
    To all animals and all birds,
        everything that moves and breathes,
    I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
        And there it was.
God looked over everything he had made;
        it was so good, so very good!
 
 
Let us pray:
Holy God, 
forgive us for taking the bounty and wonder 
of your creation for granted. 
 
We give you thanks for the beauty 
of earth and sky and sea;
for mountains, plains, and rivers;
for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. 
 
Help us that we may safeguard 
these holy gifts for our posterity.
Forgive us when we have not cared
as we ought for the bounty of life 
surrounding us. 
 
We ask it the name of the one
who is Lord of Creation,
Jesus the Christ, AMEN
  
Much love to you all.
  
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church