Thursday April 22^nd 2021
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
I am looking forward to our Cuba Celebration weekend on Saturday and Sunday May 1^st and 2^nd. See details, times, and Zoom links below.
 
Our partnership with our sister church, the Luyano Presbyterian Church in Havana, is revitalizing. Here’s a short essay from our travel journal from our winter trip in 2019.
 
* * *
Cuba Journal/ 
 
            Pastor Daniel is somber. Some days, he said, “I feel like I’m running with twenty pounds of rocks in my pocket.” He was talking about modernity in Cuba. The internet wasn’t working that morning and there was, we were told later, a shortage of salt.
 
            The church van is a carousel of squeaky springs, grinding gears, and uneven engine roar. Carlos swerves ably and often to avoid the larger of the multitudinous pot holes, the seismically faulted road plates, and rough railroad tracks. The van objects every time Carlos yanks the steering wheel or stomps the clutch. A 22-passenger Toyota that isn’t sold in the States, she lets out a fantastic array of groans, screams, pops, sizzles, and clanks, walking tenderly like an old, arthritic woman over red, hot coals.
 
            The grinding, crashing gears are particularly cringeworthy; she doesn’t go into second easily, and sometimes first is impossible, despite Carlos’ fierce yanking at the gear shift. His rocking in the driver’s seat doesn’t help, either, but twisting his face up does work some kind of alchemy and she shifts easily into gear, and we lurch onward. The shift changes are accompanied by a terrifying sound akin to the slamming of sheet metal against stone. 
 
            Every time Carlos coaxes this machine into first gear, I fear the transmission will simply fall out onto the road with a final crash of pipes and automotive guts. Even on a smooth road, which I have yet to discover in Havana, the van bounces and yawls protesting with woeful yelps. 
 
            Hanging from the rearview mirror is a budded cross, which swings in astonishingly graceful circles as from the hand of a transcendent dervish.
 
            Calamity-on-wheels delivered us windblown, jiggled, and shaken but safely to each destination. I should never have doubted Toyota or faithful Carlos, our intrepid driver, who weaves through traffic tapping the horn, beep, beep, beeping his way through traffic and around slower vehicles, leaving flatbeds carrying workers and pipe, anemic vans and scooters, and slow Buick taxis behind. Carlos is an honors graduate of the Dale Earnhardt School of Offensive Driving.
 
            We’re in good hands.
 
* * *

News:
 
Drop off your Styrofoam this Saturday, April 24, between 9 and 11 in the alley between the Church and the Education Building.  Our Environmental Committee will be there masked and ready to recycle it for you.

* * *

Don’t forget to RSVP if you want to come to church on Sundays.  Call the church office 217.356.7238 by noon on Fridays to let us know you are coming.

* * *

Cuba Celebration weekend on Saturday and Sunday May 1^st and 2^nd. Mark your calendars now for our Cuba Forum on Saturday, May 1, for the Annual Cuba Forum at 10 am.  In the meanwhile watch
firstpres.church/cubakeynote about Cuba and Cuba-US Relations 2015-2021. Then join us Saturday with your questions for Professor Jacobsen. You can link into the Forum on May 1 at 10 am

On Sunday, we’ll worship with a Cuba theme with special prayers for our partner church in Havana, the Luyano Presbyterian Church. Later Sunday afternoon, we’re having a Cuba Two-Step 

Shared Worship  Sunday, May 2         9 AM at FirstPres.live. 
Cuba Two-Step  Sunday, May 2          1 PM

For more information, contact the Church Office at 217-356-7238 or zoom@firstpres.church.  The links for the Cuba Forum, Shared Worship and Cuba Two-Step will all be live on their designated dates and times.

* * *
 
What a great Wednesday night zoom last night, huh? What moment in nature has absolutely taken your breath away?
 
* * *
 
Humor
 
George Carlin asks if we have ever wondered…
 
…Why don’t you ever see the headline ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?
…Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word?
 
* * * 
 
Good Word:
 
Psalm 98 (The Message)
 
Sing to God a brand-new song.
He’s made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
2 God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
3 He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel—indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look—God’s work of salvation!
4 Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
5 Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred-voice choir.
6 Feature trumpets and big trombones,
Fill the air with praises to King God.
7 Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.
8 Let ocean breakers call out, “Encore!”
And mountains harmonize the finale—
9 A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.
He’ll straighten out the whole world,
He’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.
  
Let us pray
 
A prayer for wisdom.
 
* * *
 
A Dove in April Snow
 
You ask me how I like it here. 
 
These plains are cold and grey in winter,
and winter feels forever when you’re in it,
and heavy like layers and layers of slate. 
What pandemic hasn’t driven indoors,
this cold snap has. And everything
and everything and everything is blurring. 
Time, for one thing, whip-snaps like sheets 
on the clothes line in a stiff wind, 
or a flag yanking at its pole, flailing.            
My eyes weep away the spring cold,
and my nose runs from allergies, and everything,
everything is a blur, red buds, dog woods, 
flowers dusting creation in yellow pollen, 
vision, breath, life—a blur of sneezing, 
and for two days in a row, this is late April,
snow slashed from bruised skies,
obscuring tulips in the park across the street,
acres of newly-mown grass frosted in slush.
 
 A dove is nesting in a light fixture 
beneath the eaves above our new porch. 
She reminds me not to rush—she isn’t, anyway.
She is sitting on eggs, no pecking away on her cell phone,
no playing Scrabble with her neighbors,
no fretting a deadline, just sitting, sitting,
maybe in deep thought or prayer, writing 
a novel in her head, feathers puffed up, 
face tucked in, plonked in that nest of twigs.
Bliss may come from sitting waiting watching.
 
* * *
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

•       Give Me the Old Timers Religion
•       Precious Lord, Take My Hand, And Help Me Up 
•       Just a Slower Walk with Thee
•       Go Tell It on the Mountain, But Speak Up
•       Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing
•       Guide Me O Thou Great Lord God, I’ve Forgotten Where I’ve Parked The Car
•       Count Your Many Birthdays, Count Them One By One
•       Blessed Insurance
•       It Is Well With My Soul, But My Knees Hurt

* * *
 
Good Word:
 
Psalm 98
 
1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
    have gotten him victory.
2 The Lord has made known his victory;
    he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the victory of our God.
 
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
 
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.
 
Let us pray
 
Dear Lord. Snow? In late April? We delight in this world you’ve created, the lovely greening of spring and a full day of snowfall. What a surprise. What a gift.
 
Thanks, God. 
 
Snow is too fantastical a gift. And praise is too small a word. 
 
AMEN.
 
Much love to you all.
  
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Monday April 19^th 2021
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,
 
Poems from the Corn
By Kathy Villegas
(Submitted by our Tom Gilmore, Kathy’s brother)
 
Too deep to sing
(except by birds)
First hope of Spring
Suns even words
 
Too soon to paint
It’s chartreuse tint –
Pale buds so faint
The only hint
 
The winds of March blow wild
Fierce and Bold –
One day is mild
One gray and cold
 
But under guise
A promise waits –
It’s paradise
Anticipates
 
Dark sepulcher –
Winter’s tomb –
From this cloudy myrrh
The rose will bloom.
 
Aerial born –
A spirit bright –
Death’s pail outworn
Transcends the night
 
To risen sun
And pristine air –
New life begun!
How old – how rare
 
* * *
 
News:

Sunday we had 22 people enjoy the sunshine and conversation in West Side Park. Join us next Sunday, April 25, 11:15-noon and then starting in May, the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month.  We hope to see you! 

* * *
 
Need a song? Try this:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=reconciliation+tommy+mcdonald+youtube&type=E211US105G91506#id=1&vid=7fdaa41dc73d8233614ff538e447648a&action=click
 
 * * *

Humor
 
Thank God for Bill Gambel’s humor: From the pilot’s perspective, flying is long periods of boredom separated by a few seconds of sheer terror.
 
* * * 
 
Good Word:
 
Psalm 139
The Message
 
1-6 God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in!
 
7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.
 
13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.
 
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
    God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
    all the men and women who belittle you, God,
    infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
    see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
    Your enemies are my enemies!
 
23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.
  
Let us pray
 
Holy God, we look back on this week giving you thanks that you are the God of history, maker of time, unraveller of the colors and warmth of Spring. 
 
As we look back, we thank you. As we look forward, we ask you, again, to guide our steps and open us to the song of your Holy Spirit. Help us be faithful witnesses of your amazing grace.
 
This week, we remembered special anniversaries—
 
The American Civil War began on April 12^th 1861. Franklin Delano Roosevelt died that same day many years later in 1945. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated that same week (April 14) in 1865; the world seemed then to be slinging itself apart—even in the warm beauty of Spring.
 
We remember last week when Galileo was put on trial for his scientific views of the solar system. It turns out he was right. The Earth does, indeed, revolve around the Sun. Your church has always been wary of change and scientific discovery; those who thought and spoke of such were deemed criminal. Forgive us then—and now.
 
The Titanic sunk on April 15 in 1912. And we thought the best work of human hands was invincible. 
 
Leonardo da Vinci was born last week in 1452. We’ve been gathering around his painting of the Last Supper—looking at it like a Mona Lisa—pondering our place at that long table in that upper room with our Lord telling us to love one another. 
 
And yesterday in 1924 the first book of crossword puzzles was published in NYC. Our thoughts of You are like a crossword: every word connects to the other, and every word is another word for Thanks and Praise. Such is the language of prayer, the spilling out of words like the colorful trains on long dresses racing through our summers.
 
This weekend, the Covid death toll climbed above 3,007,838 souls worldwide. In the United States that number has passed 572,155. Hear our cry. We are numbed by numbers. We’d like the pandemic to be over, O God, and in many places we are behaving like it is. May we remain wise stewards of the fragile life entrusted to our care.  
 
We long for the day when we can sing and gather more closely and numerously to praise you. However, if our praise now is anemic—it is not because we lack hymn and chant in great crowds. It is because we are tired. You, Great God, surely understand this half-heartedness. Forgive us where our praise of You has been stingy, and our relations with neighbor have been sharp.
 
Coax from us a better song.
 
AMEN.
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Friday, April 16^th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
  
Friends,
 
Eric preaches this Sunday. A lot of preachers seldom get a break from preaching. I get breathers regularly, for which I’m grateful. But when I’m not preaching, I get to hear other good preachers, Eric Corbin among them. I am doubly blessed.
 
And so are you.
 
Join us THIS Sunday.
 
Remember: FirstPres.Live for on-line, and State and Hill Streets, big green doors, for in-person.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
matt@firstpres.church
 
* * *
 
What is a strong congregation? Strong congregations are places where people (1) are growing spiritually, (2) engage in meaningful worship (where notions of “joy” and “awe” are not alien themes), (3) are active in the work of the congregation, (4) have a sense of belonging (“Relationship, Relationship Relationship”), (5) care for children and youth, (6) focus on the community (“Mission, Mission, Mission”), (7) share their faith, (8) welcome new people, (9) are challenged to use their gifts in ministry (“empowering leadership”), and (10) look to the future. (Cynthia Woolever & Deborah Bruce, Beyond the Ordinary: Ten Strengths of U.S. Congregations.)

* * *

From your Nurture Team — Last week’s photo challenge received many correct guesses, starting with Amy Born, who identified Nicole Miller! 

  
Here’s this week’s photo.

Visit http://fb.com/groups/firstpreschampaign to make your guesses, or email them to photos@firstpres.church.  
 
Please join in the fun!  We are running low on photos, so we would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to photos@firstpres.church.
 
* * * 

Marge Olsen shares this–a story and an amazing bass voice…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8HffdyLd0c
 

Thursday April 15^th 2021
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
I can’t wait for you to meet Janice Harrington. She’s a local poet, U of I professor, children’s book writer, and generally cool person.
 
She’ll be joining us for a Wednesday night zoom in May. I’ll give you plenty of warning. Here’s one of her poems that I’ve shared before (in a sermon, and in these mailers). It’s worth experiencing again:
 
REVIVAL
Janice Harrington
 
Through the cooling dark,
they walk, Lillian, Webster, Riley, Anna,
MacArthur and Eurel, returning
from Heavenly Father and Yes, Jesus!,
from paper fans with little brown
girls in Sunday bonnets “M-hmmmm”
from the communion of sour juice and crackers,
ah weh-lll, from church mothers in nurses’ 
uniforms and rills of sweat spilling from black brows.
Have mercy on us, Father.
Look down upon us, Father, and give us
your blessing, in Jesus’ name . . .
Above a darkened bough, a wing
beats, and in the pitchy shadows crickets
shrill, and a frog repeats, repeats,
repeats. Maybe Anna holds her father’s
hand. Maybe the boys tussle and pitch
stones into darkness while their mother
watches, humming and holding
her Bible more firmly than an ax handle,
or maybe they go weary on and quiet.
It is only their steps you hear, only shifting sand.
 
On a rural route, a family walks
while the night begins its long sermon, 
and the miles go by, and the miles go by.
If an owl calls from that darkness,
then someone will die. If a hound keens
one long, longing vowel, they will shudder.
If a star plummets, that too will have meaning.
This is faith, the road that takes them home.
 
 * * *
 
News:
 
Have you registered to come to church this Sunday?  If not, contact the church office by noon on Friday.  We would love to see you!

Sundays in the Park resume this week but this time at West Side Park.
Join us this Sunday, April 18th and again April 25th from 11:15-Noon.  Starting in May it will be the 2nd and 4th Sundays, same time. Masks will be required.  And yes, Westside park so in-person worshipers can just walk over and join us. 

* * *
 
Humor
 
Thank you, George Carlin: Only in America do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
 
 * * *
 
Good Word:
 
(another angle on) Psalm 22
 
 ¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
 
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;

My hands and feet have shriveled;^[b]
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.
 
²⁴ For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me, 
    but heard when I cried to him.
 
Let us pray
 
For me, be it Christ/
be it Christ hence to live/
If Jordan above me shall roll/
No pang shall be mine/
for in death as in life/
Thou wilt whisper/
Thy peace to my soul.
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Wednesday April 14^th 2021
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,
 
Our Wednesday Night Zooms are an opportunity for fellowship, chuckles, prayer, and learning. Tonight, our Spiritual Formation Teams leads a discussion about a Rachel Held Evans talk. She says that some of the biggest mountains are those of our own making that we put in God’s way of getting to people. In this video she comments on the roles of women in churches and how God participates in times of suffering.  Join us? Here’s the Zoom link: 
Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
 
* * * 
 
News:
 
Sundays in the Park resume this week but this time at West Side Park.
Join us April 18th and 25th from 11:15-Noon.  Starting in May it will be the 2nd and 4th Sundays, same time. Masks will be required.  And yes, Westside park so in-person worshipers can just walk over and join us. 
 
* * *

Humor
 
Bill Gamble reminds of that Will Rogers said,  “An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make people laugh.”
 
 * * *
  
Good Word:
 
(More from) Psalm 22
 
 ¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night, but find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried, and were saved;
    in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
  
Let us pray
 
Just for today,
what does it matter, 
O Lord, 
if the future is dark? 
To pray now for tomorrow 
I am not able.
Keep my heart 
only for today,
grant me your light—
just for today. 
Amen. 
[Teresa of Lisieux (1873–1897)] 
 
Much love to you all. 
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

 
The Heart of Mission
April 13, 2021
 
Silence is praise to you,
            Zion-dwelling God,
And also obedience,.
            You hear prayer in it all…..
 
Oh, visit the earth,
            Ask her to join the dance!
Deck her out in spring showers,
            Fill the God-River with living water.
Paint the wheat fields golden.
            Creation was made for this!
Drench the plowed fields,
            Soak the dirt clods
With rainfall as harrow and rake
            Bring her blossom and fruit.
Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,
            Scatter rose petals down your paths,
All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
            Set the hills to dancing.
Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,
            A drape of flax across the valleys.
Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
            Oh, oh, let them sing!
– Psalm 65, selected verses (The Message)

 
The photo is from my recent walk at the Japan House gardens! It was truly inspiring. Spring is here! As Earth Day approaches, find a moment to thank God for this bountiful gift that we have in the Earth. Below you will find a schedule for Earth Week culminating on Earth Sunday. Also, take a look at the Annual Cuba Forum weekend schedule and the opportunities there. You cannot talk about Spring without remembering our wonderful trips to Cuba and the wonderful hospitality of our sister church in Luyano.  We want to give you plenty of time to put it on your calendar. We will be joining the hills in virtual dancing among other things! And, as always, pray for our mission partners at work in the world.
 
Peace,
 
Rev. Dr. Rachel Matthews, Mission Coordinator
 

Planting the Story Garden in 2019
 
Environmental Stewardship Committee –  (reprinted from April’s newsletter)
 
April is the month we celebrate the gift of God’s great Earth.
 
Saturday, April 17, 8 AM join others for a cleanup of litter along State Street.
 
Thursday, April 22, is the 51st Earth Day. The evening zoom gathering on Wednesday, April 21, at 7 PM will focus on this.
 
Saturday, April 24, Styrofoam Collection from 9 to 11.
 
Sunday, April 25, the worship service will celebrate Earth Day with words and song.
 
(And after Earth Week, you are invited for a few more stewardship of the Earth opportunities.)
 
Monday, April 26, register for the Clean Energy Advocacy Day with Faith in Place.
Wednesday, April 28, register for the Green Transportation webinar. Registration can be done on the Faith in Place website, www.faithinplace.org
 
Sunday, May 2, at 8 AM Grand Prairie Friends online Plant Sale. You can access their plant catalog at https://www.grandprairiefriends.org First year plants in 4″ pots are $4 each. Buy 18, and receive 3 free (get $72 value for $60).

Salt and Light: Curbside online grocery at Salt & Light Urbana. Order Here: https://shop.saltandlightministry.org/shop
 
CU at Home:  I will share just a piece of this week’s newsletter from Rick Williams, CU at Home’s Ministry Development Assistant:
 
The coming of Spring also means our C-U at Work program has kicked off its second season partnering with the City of Champaign Township and Prosperity Gardens to bring fresh produce to local markets! A new crew went through orientation this week and set right to work filling new raised planter boxes with fresh, rich soil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwffi5ylzec). Seeds for “cold crops” like lettuce, radishes, and chard are ready to go in in the east plots!

You can learn more about volunteer opportunities, the C-U at Work program, and weekly Bible studies at our website. THANK YOU, as always, for your prayers and support

Let us keep all our mission partners in our prayers, those who are waiting to go back to their place of ministry and those who are able to work where they are. Listen for God’s call to you in their ministry.
 
Our PC(USA) Mission CoWorkers:
 
Mark Adams and Miriam Maidonado Escobar (Mexico)
Farsijanna Adeney-Risakotta (Indonesia)
Jeff and Christi Boyd (Central Africa)
Bob and Kristi Rice (South Sudan)
 
Our regional and global mission partners:
 
Kemmerer Village (and Camp Carew)
Lifeline Pilots
Marion Medical Mission
Mission Aviation Fellowship
Opportunity International
Friends of Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan Presbyterian Cuba Partnership
Special Offerings of the PC(USA)
Theological Education Fund
Young Adult Volunteers
 
Here in Champaign – Urbana:
 
CU at Home
CANAAN S.A.F.E. HOUSE
CANTEEN RUN
COURAGE CONNECTION
DREAAM
eMPTY TOMB, INC
FAITH IN ACTION
JESUS IS THE WAY PRISON MINISTRY
THE REFUGEE CENTER
RESTORATION URBAN MINISTRY
SALT & LIGHT
 
Here at First Presbyterian Church
 
FPCC Amateur Preachers
FPCC Environmental Committee working with Faith in Place
FPCC Presbyterian Women
FPCC ESL
FPCC Children, Youth and Families
FPCC Mission Possible/Go and Serve
FPCC Mission Team, World Mission and Community Mission Deacons

 
 

 
  302 W. Church Street
  Champaign, IL 61820
  217-356-7238
  info@firstpres.church

Monday April 12^th 2021
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,
 
God, you print the name of Christ upon our spirit.
You lead our walk through hills and ocean sand.
You will each one of us a heritage of riches.
You hold all life inside a healing hand.
 
Help us to be your church. 
Equip us to follow,
to live into our high calling.
Guide our earnest steps and
catch us in our falling,

* * * 
 
News:
 
Sundays in the Park resume this week but this time at West Side Park.
Join us April 18th and 25th from 11:15-Noon.
Starting in May it will be the 2nd and 4th Sundays, same time. Masks will be required.
And yes, Westside park so in-person worshipers can just walk over and join us. 
 
* * *
Humor
 
Tom Gilmore writes: Why did the man name his dogs Timex and Rolex? Because they were watchdogs.
 
These are from Marilyn Shimkus:
 
I’ve finally told my suitcases there will be no holiday this year. Now
I’m dealing with the emotional baggage.

If you’re not supposed to eat at night, why is there a light bulb in
the refrigerator?

My dad died when we couldn’t remember his blood type. As he died, he
kept insisting “be positive,” but it’s hard without him.

Don’t let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started
out as a basket case.
 
 * * *

Good Word:
 
Psalm 22
 
 ¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night, but find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried, and were saved;
    in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
⁶ But I am a worm, and not human;
    scorned by others, and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock at me;
    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
⁸ “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
⁹ Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ On you I was cast from my birth,
    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹ Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
¹² Many bulls encircle me,
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my mouth^[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs are all around me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;^[b]
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.
¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
    O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my life^[c] from the power of the dog!
²¹     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
 
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued^[d] me.
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;^[e]
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,^[f]
    but heard when I^[g] cried to him.
²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
²⁶ The poor^[h] shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
    May your hearts live forever!
²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before him.^[i]
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.
²⁹ To him,^[j] indeed, shall all who sleep in^[k] the earth bow down;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    and I shall live for him.^[l]
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord,
³¹ and^[m] proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
    saying that he has done it.
 
Let us pray
 
Write your blessed name, 
O Lord, upon my heart,
there to remain so indelibly 
engraven, that no prosperity, 
no adversity,
shall ever move me from your love.
Be to me a strong tower of defense,
a comforter in tribulation,
a deliverer in distress,
a very present help in trouble,
and a guide to heaven
through the many temptations and dangers of this life. 
 
[Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471)] 
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Friday, April 9^th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Friends,
 
This week’s sermon is drawn from this text. Jesus appears to his disciples after the resurrection like this:  “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord (John 20:19-20).
 
Notice the distance between what Jesus said and what he did. I’ll be exploring that on Sunday.
 
We all carry wounds. All of us bear scars. Jesus did, too.
 
He’ll be with us in worship on Sunday. I hope to “see” you there. 
 
Remember: FirstPres.Live for on-line, and 302 West Church Street, big green doors, for in-person.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
 
 
What is a strong congregation? Strong congregations are places where people (1) are growing spiritually, (2) engage in meaningful worship (where notions of “joy” and “awe” are not alien themes), (3) are active in the work of the congregation, (4) have a sense of belonging (“Relationship, Relationship Relationship”), (5) care for children and youth, (6) focus on the community (“Mission, Mission, Mission”), (7) share their faith, (8) welcome new people, (9) are challenged to use their gifts in ministry (“empowering leadership”), and (10) look to the future. (Cynthia Woolever & Deborah Bruce, Beyond the Ordinary: Ten Strengths of U.S. Congregations.)
 
Last movement, Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Px44IuVKM
 
 
Jesus is the Great Physician
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0GhjlmlEwQ
 
Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand
I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can
Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?
‘Cause I have wandered through this world
And as each moment has unfurled
I’ve been waiting to awaken from these dreams
People go just where they will
I never noticed them until I got this feeling
That it’s later than it seems
Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what you see
I hear their cries
Just say if it’s too late for me
Doctor, my eyes
They cannot see the sky
Is this the prize
For having learned how not to cry?
 
* * *

From your Nurture Team — the photo challenge is back from a little break.
Here’s this week’s photo.   

Visit http://fb.com/groups/firstpreschampaign to make your guesses, or email them to photos@firstpres.church.  
 
We are running low on photos, so please join in the fun!  We would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to photos@firstpres.church.