Pastor’s Walk
This time of year just seems to lend itself to
looking back and “remembering when” as we
gather around hearth and table with friends
and family whom we do not often see.
Inevitably, during these gatherings someone
will say those magic words…”Do you
remember when” or “Let me tell you a story
about your Uncle such and such.” Very
often, these are stories and memories we have
heard time and time again but somehow we
do not mind hearing them again for they are
stories that define who we are…they are
stories filled with nostalgia and good
feelings…they are stories that make us feel
good about who we are and from which we
came.
But…can you imagine what it would be like
to gather around the dinner table every night
and hear the same stories and memories over
and over again.
How un-magical and
annoying those stories and memories would
become for us. I suspect, after a very short
time, we would be tempted to stand on the
table and yell, “Enough already…will you
just move on and be quiet!” We would long
for the present…the here and now…the
today. That is why we ask…”So, how did
your day go today dear” instead of “So how
did your day go 10 years ago dear.” We are
people of the present…the here and now and
we are called to live our lives in that present
and here and now. We are wired by God to
realize that living in the past keeps us from
moving forward…keeps us from growing.
Yet how many of us find ourselves spending
more time in the past than the
present…because the past just seems so much
safer…so much more understandable…so
much more inviting than the present. How
many of us in the church seem to prefer the
past to the present? How many of us seem to
talk more about the “good-ol days” rather
than the challenges facing us here today?
Magrey deVega writes in his book “Awaiting
the Already” that we tend to “cast anchor for
the past, back to the ‘good ol days,’ quickly
forgetting that the nature of change makes
such a return impossible.” We do not live
static lives and rarely do we live those lives
in straight lines forward. Our lives are more
like “undulating waves,” progressing forward
then retreating…meandering to the left and
then to the right…on pace and off pace.
However, in Matthew we are reminded that
no matter what life throws at us God is in
it…God is in it all and God is calling us
forward into the here and now…into the
present…even when that present may be
scary or unsure or pain filled.
Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t
go home again?” As someone who grew-up
moving it is a lesson I have had to learn time
and time again. I remember vividly returning
to Memphis, TN to visit after moving to
Pennsylvania. It had been a year or so and I
was excited to see all my high school friends
from there…to see the old house…to walk
the old neighborhood.
My excitement,
however, soon turned to disappointment as
everything had changed. The new owners of
our old house were not keeping things up and
they had repainted the house an ugly
yellow…they had begun to tear down the
woods I played in as a kid for a road
expansion and to top it all off all my friends
were somehow different…they had grownup.
You see, what had happened is
everything and everyone had gone on living
there in Memphis…gone on growing…gone
on changing. I knew this intellectually…I
mean I had grown and changed also but
emotionally, I wanted everyone and
everything back to the way I remembered
them…I wanted them to stay frozen in time
just as they were in my memories. I learned
on that visit, you can’t go home again and it
is unfair to ask people to stay stagnant so that
you can.
As we move into this New Year, let us
remember with fondness and reverence the
past and those great stories that begin with
“do you remember when?” To forget our
past would dishonor all those who came
before us, but we must also be aware the God
is calling us to be present in the “here and
now.” God’s work here on earth is never
static. God is always moving forward with
God’s plan. Jesus came those many years
ago to invite us…to encourage us…to create
a path so that we too could join God in His
plan.
Go ahead, spend some time this season
“remembering when” then take those feelings
of good will and all those memories and do
something new and exciting with them here
in the present…create and find new and
exciting memories. Create ministry and
memories that people will one day sit around
the hearth and table and fondly “remember
when” such and such came up with this crazy
idea to minister to those folks! Man was that
ever a great day…I can’t wait to see where
God will take us now!
Grace,
Rev. Steve Kurt
Prayer Group
The Prayer group meets every
Wednesday from 10:00-11:00am at Mary
Pearre’s home. If you are unable to attend,
you can drop your prayer concern(s) in the
prayer box located in the Narthex.
Christmas Eve Service
Saturday, December 24th
5:00pm
Worship Schedule
December 24th
Christmas Eve - Communion
Scripture: Luke 2: 1-20
Sermon: “Right Now!”
December 25th
Christmas Day - Communion
Scripture: John 1: 1-14
Sermon: “To Begin Again”
Merry Christmas
Our Prayer List
Wanda Broome (daughter-in-law of Helen
Broome), Pat Inman
(sister of Jackie
Samuels), Martha Lee, Ec Little, Sheila
Paquette (niece of Jackie Samuels), Donna
Pruitt, Martha Stafford (sister of Janice
Rose), Rita Stafford (niece of Janice Rose),
Charles Stephenson, Carl and Frances
Stinson
The Staff of Commonwealth Church
wishes each of you a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year! Thank you for being a part
of our church family.
Steve Kurt and Patience Brumley – Pastors
Margie Medure – Secretary
Janice Rose –Choir Director and Organist
Ron Medure – Treasurer
Honorarium
Budget
In Honor of: Frances & Ron Lynch
By: Frances Pridgen
In Honor of: Ruby Agnew and
Jack Harwell
By: Jack and Wanda Broome
Nursing/Assisted Living Care
Irma Fields, Maxine Kincaid, Hazel Lands,
Sarah Lever, Jean Stoneman, Margery
Weaver
Church Office Closed
Monday, December 26th
Great Grandbaby Arrived
Congratulations!
January Birthdays
Wesleyan Circle Meeting
Tuesday, January 3rd
12:30pm
Church Office
1
7
13
30
Leonard Laye
Leigh Beaver
Olivia Weaver
Glen Garlick
Commonwealth would like to
congratulate Bob and Jackie Samuels and
family on their new great granddaughter,
Perry Laine Coxe, born Sunday, November
20, 2016 and weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. Her
proud parents are Brittany and Griffin Coxe
and her grandparents are Karen and Daryl
Earnhardt.
Tai Chi Chih Classes
Administrative Council Meeting
Sunday, January 22nd
Immediately following worship
Fellowship Hall
Tai Chi Chih Classes will be starting up
again in January in the Fellowship Hall.
Starting Monday, January 16th there will be a
morning class from 11-12pm for 8 weeks.
Starting Tuesday, January 17th there will be a
evening class from 6-7pm for 8 weeks.
Instructor: Pia Roe 713-449-0192
Email [email protected]
Reserve Advent Box
Don’t forget to bring your donations
that you have been collecting for the
Reverse Advent Box to the church by
Christmas Day. Sandy and Dawn will delivery
these items to the 2nd Harvest Food Bank.
Our Vision
Our Stewardship
With God’s help and guidance, we are a
prayerful and welcoming United Methodist
church community.
A community dedicated to making of
disciples for Christ – one that is flexible,
intentional, inviting to others, and a safe
place to explore and grow spiritually.
We will be all those things in Christ by taking
small prayerful steps, keeping in mind that,
although we may be limited in our abilities,
the Spirit of God knows no such bounds and
will work within and through us to
accomplish wondrous and great things!
November 20, 2016
Sunday School - 11
Church Attendance - 28
Offering - $369.00
November 27, 2016
Sunday School - 14
Church Attendance - 32
Offering - $2,239.75
Commonwealth
United Methodist Church
2434 Commonwealth Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28205-5132
704-376-4924
December 4, 2016
Sunday School - 7
Church Attendance - 25
Offering - $2,305.00
Memorial Gifts
Budget
In Memory of: Sarah Rhodes
By: Phyllis Batts
By: C W A Local 3603
Retired Members Club
In Memory of: Mable Davis
By: Amy Pitts
In Memory of: Larry Shepherd
By: Alice Shepherd
In Memory of: Robert Pridgen and
Martha Widders
By: John Widders
December 11, 2016
Sunday School - 5
Church Attendance - 34
Offering - $1,064.00
December 18, 2016
Sunday School - 13
Church Attendance - 56
Offering - $1,826.00
December 20, 2016
Steve Kurt – Pastor
Patience Brumley – Pastoral Care
In Memory of: Gene Helms
By: Kay H. Little
Sunday School – 10:00am
Worship Service - 11:00am
In Memory of: Helen Broome and
Bernice Harwell
By: Jack and Wanda Broome
Office Hours
Mon. – Thurs. 9am to 1pm