Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-04-21
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 1st and 2nd. 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 a
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
To get us in a Cuban state of mind, I’ll be sharing short essays I wrote about our trip in 2019. Rachel and I, along with Robert Ferrer and Judi Geistlinger, left the winter cold of Champaign/Urbana for 82-degrees and sunshine in Cuba. The trip was eye-opening and wonderful. Deepening kinship with our church friends there was sweet and holy.
Our partnership with Luyano is important, putting feet on Jesus’ injunction to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Help us to celebrate this partnership in a few weeks.
* * *
Landing in Havana
Parked alongside the runway as we landed sat a ghost fleet of several junked airliners: jets without engines on their wings, fuselages peeling paint, chocked wheels with flat tires.
The terminal, by contrast, is modern enough, like a swooping bird, grey wings with red trim. Our Delta Airlines plane parked neatly between an airworthy Columbian Avianca and Aeromexico. We walked down steep ladder-steps into a shuttle that took us to the terminal.
Daniel and Yamilete seemed happy to see us after we made it through customs and got our religious visas. I was happy to be on the ground, and the warm air was delicious.
The drive to the church was an adventure. I hung my head out the window part of the time and, the other, watched Daniel orchestrate directions to Carlos with large hand signals like a conductor. Old American cars filled the road, as well as Puegeots, Toyotas, Hyundais, and a plethora of Lada (Russian) taxis. There were motorized three-wheelers, horses and buggies, motorcycles with sidecars, scooters, and bicycles. Everything was old.
I had seen the dilapidation in pictures. It looks different in real life, quaint, maybe, but sadder. A little dog stood on the roof of a carport looking down at the patio below where old men sat playing chess. We passed the couple who barely fit on the small motorcycle as they puttered up the hill; on the way down, they flew past us.
We were heading to our home away from home and I couldn’t wait to arrive.
* * *
News:
Join us tonight at 7 pm for our Mid-Week Gathering. Nearly everyone knows about Sir David Attenborough, one of nature’s most ardent explorers and defenders, still going at 93! His recent film, “A Life on Our Planet” is well worth watching on Netflix or YouTube, but it’s too long for a Wednesday evening gathering of an hour. In observance of Earth Day, April 22, we’ll celebrate the evening before with a film in which people ask Sir David questions about the world today. It’s a great opportunity to experience this articulate champion of creation. Email zoom@firstpres.church for the link.
See you at 7 tonight.
* * *
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.
* * *
Need a good TedTalk?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Celebrate What’s Right with The World, DeWitt Jones
* * *
Humor
Hymns for People Over 50:
- 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
