The Messenger Volume 1

Colo & Collins United Methodist Churches January 2016

Pastor Lewis Flanigan

Church Phone: 641-377-2534 Email: coloumc@yahoo.com

“The Wrong Door?” The boiler inspector was supposed to meet me at the

church at 9:15 a.m. At 9:30, I realized he wasn’t there. So,

I looked outside, and saw a black car on the North side of

the building. I wondered if it might be him, but didn’t go

to check, thinking that if it was, he would at least try to

open the door. At 9:45, he came in and went down to

inspect the boilers. Later he asked me what time I had arrived. He was surprised to discover that I had

been here since 8:45 a.m. He had tried another door. It was locked, so he drove around to the North side

of the church and waited for a car to arrive.

The next morning, I was supposed to meet a representative from AmeriHealth at 10:00 a.m. About

10:15, he called and asked if I had forgotten our meeting. I told him I was inside the church, working and

waiting for him. He said he had tried two doors, and they were both locked, so he was sitting in the

parking lot waiting for me to arrive.

Have you ever done that—gone to the wrong door, and waited for someone to arrive? Sometimes I

wonder if people do that with God. There are some who go to the door of “good works”, thinking that

will get them in to see God. They volunteer for every community endeavor. They take part in every

activity to care for the less fortunate. In other words, they do “good works”, but never turn to Jesus as the

door to get them in to see God.

Then, there are those who go to the political door. This one seems to show itself every couple of

years. This political party or candidate seems to the one with all the answers—just ask them. There are

others who try to be the most ‘Godly’. If only we would just vote for the right person, or party, then we

would usher in God’s kingdom on earth, and we would get in to see God.

How about those who go to the door “doing the right thing”? Know someone like that? They listen

to the radio or TV preacher, read their Bible, and even pray. They can be counted on to “do the right

thing”. Yet, they seem to pass judgment on those who don’t measure up, and are quick to tell all they

know about those who aren’t as good as they are. These are sure they are going to get in to see God. As a

side note, did you know that according to the Pew Report, even a majority of those who say they don’t

believe in God pray? I wonder to whom do they pray?

Jesus said, “I am the door (gate)…whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out

and find pasture.” (John 10:7, 9) What strikes me about those verses, is that Jesus is saying that we are to

go in and out through Him. That says, to me, that we are live our lives as though we were in the presence

of Jesus. Whether we are coming or going, we are to go through Jesus to get there. I think that means we

are to pray about everything we do and everywhere we go, then go and be as Jesus would in that time and

place.

One more thought—every year I choose a theme verse(s) for the year. John 10:7, 9 are my verses

for 2016. I believe they are telling me to choose doors wisely, and to make sure that I choose Jesus.

Have you asked God for a theme verse(s) for 2016? I would be interested in knowing what you choose.

Pastor Lewis

UMW January

Bible Verse: John

15:11 “I have told you

this so that you will be

filled with joy. Yes,

your joy will overflow.”

My wish for you is that the joy of the

Christmas season will continue through the New

Year.

A very special thank you to those who made

our Unit Christmas dinner so fun, another time to

remember. To those of the Joy Circle and those

who furnished cookies for the Cookie Walk to

make it a success. The profit was $730.00. That

plus $247 from the Unit goes to W.O.W.

We also gave $1,000 to the church budget

($200 of which was designated for the Youth

Group, and $553 to the parsonage fund. We

consider this our local mission.

Congratulations to Kim Halferty, Vicki

Wilson, Kim Heidemann, Amy Lennie, and

Pastor Lewis, who have helped our church to

grow! Sue presented them with Special

Recognition pins and money was given to

mission in their names.

Sewing day is still continuing. The ‘kits’

they are making will make it easier for girls in

many countries. Karen Cody is to be

commended for organizing this mission project.

Dates to remember is January are: Pledge to

Mission; Advocacy Day in Des Moines on

January 28th

; and Father and Son Banquet on

January 31st, 5:30 p.m. Miriam Circle has

program and decorations, Rachel Circle has the

dining room, and the Joy Circle has the kitchen.

Continue other on-going missions by saving

box tops for education, Campbell soup labels,

and stamps.

A big thank you to Sue McKinney for the

years that she served as our President, for leading

us in a Christian way, and her dedication to

United Methodist Women. Sue was also

presented with a Special Recognition pin in

December, and a gift to mission was given in her

name. I will look forward to any support that

she can give me.

I am looking forward to working with all of

you. May God help us to always be Christlike in

the things we say and do.

Bonnie Florke, UMW President

UMW Reading

Program Report

There are more

reading books which

I want to introduce to

you and intice you to

read this winter. I

just finished reading the new book I AM

MALALA written by Malala with Christina

Lamb which is a national bestseller. Malala is the

youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize as

her book tells about her campaign for education

and her miraculous recovery from the shot in the

head by the Taliban in 2012. She won Pakistan’s

National Youth Peace Prize in 2011 because of

her working to have girls be allowed in school.

This book is in the category of Leadership

Development.

Another new book for 2016, is TILLY by

Monique Gray Smith and a story of Hope and

Resilience. Tilly will bring strength, comfort,

and peace to all who read it and inspire the

reader. Tilly realizes her mom is Aboriginal and

loosely based on the author’s own life. This is a

work of nonfiction and tells the story of Tilly

coming of age in the 1980’s, and is in the

category of Spiritual Growth.

THE WEIGHT OF MERCY by Deb

Richardson-Moore is another Leadership

Development book for 2016. Deb spent 27 years

as a novice pastor on the city streets in the Deep

South and accepted a post at a run-down inner-

city church where the homeless gathered. She

found that sometimes the best person to handle a

situation was a drug addict or that Jesus has the

face of a prostitute and all were welcomed into

this strange church family.

In the category of Nurturing for Community,

we have new the book HOUSE OF PURPLE

CEDAR by Tim Tingle. This is the story of Rose

Goode’s upbringing in Indian Territory. The

once-thriving Choctaw community, was

destroyed by landgrabbers, and the arson of the

Academy for Girls on New Year’s Eve in 1896.

Rose was the only girl of 20 who escaped the

fire. Her grandfather decided to follow the path

of forgiveness and overcome hate.

I am introducing you to a new book in our

library but not on the Reading Program List----

NICK, A YOUNG HERO

REMEMBERED, written by his mother Erin

Hulshizer who is a member of our

congregation. Reading this book will give you a

close connection to Erin as she shares her heart,

dreams, and heart aches plus her search for

strength from God, as she goes on her path to

healing and inner peace.

You will be glad you took the time to read

this book.

You can read from former years back to

2011. When checking out the books, please write

your name on the card which is inside the cover,

and leave the card in the box on the shelf. When

returning the book, replace the card and cross off

your name on the card. Questions?--- Ask

Dorothy Dadisman, 377-2552.

United Methodist Men’s Group All men are

welcome to join us at

Niland’s Café at 6:30

a.m., the second

Thursday of each

month. The next

gathering will be January 14th. (Each person pays

for their own breakfast.)

U.M.W. Cookie Walk & End-of-the-Year Donation

At their last meeting (December), the Colo U.M.W. made a donation of $2,753 to the church. This money came from profits from the Chicken & Biscuit Dinner and the Cookie Walk (profit of $753, a lot of cookies). This money was dispersed in the following way (by direction of the UMW Executive Committee, and approved by the Unit): $1,000 to the General Fund; $1,000 to W.O.W.; $200 to the Youth; and $553 to the Parsonage Fund! A $200 local mission check was also sent to the Colo Food Pantry.

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

Colo

1 Robert Wilson 2 Gannon Short 3 Andrea Coyle 4 Abigail Hostetler, Mailey Short 5 Sue Zeisneiss 6 Elliot Morgan 7 Carrie Britten, Shelby Patterson, Jeff

Wilson 9 Colby Edel 10 Bobby Meller, Nathan Wilson 11 Joe Harper, Drew Robinson 12 Keith Hindman 13 Jerry Hill 14 Emma Lennie 16 Virgil Robinson 17 Shane Hall 20 Lindsay Upchurch, Dale Yeazel 21 Marianne Johnson, Kathy Mens, Amy

Swigart 22 Alexandria Webster 23 Clint Buffington 24 Ryan McKinney 26 Lisa Whitaker 27 Myra Fish, Meridith Wilson 29 Natalie Swanson 30 Richard Crane, Harrison Henry, Staci

Springer

Collins

2 Cecil Ogburn 5 Scott Brownfield 7 Dorothy Pointer 11 Judy Sesker 13 Bernice Huntrods 17 Chad Struthers 18 Barb Moses 20 Christina Wright 21 Mary Beth Kingman Elliot

Collins January Anniversaries

8—Bob & Alta Titus 11—Chad & Merinda Struthers

25—Bruce & Judy Sesker

Father/Son Banquet January 31, 2016

5:30 p.m. $8 for adults - $4 for children 6 and under

All kidding aside. The ladies are planning the annual Father/Son Banquet. No humans will be on the menu! Please call Nancy Tucker at 377-3737 for reservations by January 24th. There will be a sign-up in the Fellowship Hall in Colo.

Newsletter by Email??? If you would prefer to receive the Messenger

only by email, please let us know. It is also

available on our Colo Facebook page.

Messenger Deadlines/Assembly All articles to go in the Messenger are due in

the church office by noon on the 20th

of each

month.

The Messenger will be assembled and

mailed on Thursday, January 28th

, beginning

at 9:30 a.m. All volunteers are welcome and

encouraged!

On Monday, February 8th, there will be a kitchen clean up day at the Colo UMC. Please plan now to attend and help with the clean up. It will begin at 9:30 a.m.

As many of you already know, the Colo United Methodist Church has partnered with others in the Colo/Nesco school district to help sponsor the Colo/Nesco Backpack program. This program provides meals for deserving children in the Kindergarten thru 4th grades. For our part in the program, we will be picking up food at the Iowa Food Bank in Des Moines during the months of January, February, and May. Therefore, we will need volunteers who are willing to go and pick up the food, and bring it back to the church on Monday or Tuesday each week. The food for this program will come pre-packaged and pre-boxed. There will be approximately 4 boxes each week. We will make the arrangements ahead of time with the Iowa Food Bank. Currently there are 30 students signed up for this program, with 1 having a nut allergy. There is no cost to us, or others in this district, except the cost of transporting the lunches. If you are willing to help, please let Pastor Lewis know as soon as possible. We begin this program during the week of January 18th!

Colo & Collins United Methodist Churches Non-Profit

602 Fourth Street U.S. Postage Paid

P.O. Box 266 Permit # 2

Colo, IA 50056 Colo IA 50056

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

ADDRESS LABEL

January 2016 Messenger