Thank you Lincoln and Logan County!

Thank you for being with us from the beginning and faithfully sharing a measure of your time, talents, and resources with the Harvest of Talents for World Hunger ministry that now celebrates its Silver Anniversary!!
At Monday night’s City Council meeting, Harvest Founder, Pat Snyder, and Harvest Chairperson, Carolyn Neal, graciously accepted a special Proclamation from City of Lincoln Mayor Elizabeth Davis-Kavelman that officially proclaimed the fourth Saturday of October 2008 as ‘Harvest Day’ in Lincoln. The Mayor commended the efforts of those involved with seeing the Harvest welcome its 25th anniversary.
Harvest of Talents began in 1984, when, inspired by a sermon given by Gene Shepherd at Lincoln Christian Church that challenged everyone to use their God-given talents and abilities to help others in the name of the Lord, Pat Snyder envisioned an ‘every person ministry’ that would involve people of all ages and ‘harvest’ their talents to raise funds for hunger relief. The church leadership fully endorsed the new venture, and the first Harvest raised $20,816.45! Since then, every penny raised has been disbursed by International Disaster Emergency Service, a 4-Star Charity (see www.ides.org and http://www.ides.org/hungerprograms.php), through missionaries to aid hunger victims in 19 countries (including the U.S.A.). Over $1,272,000 has been raised in the past 24 years in Lincoln alone, in addition to that raised through four other Harvests we have mentored in Illinois and Indiana.

The Harvest now encompasses more than offering the ‘work of our hands’ for sale on the fourth Saturday of October; it has grown into a year-round ministry that involves people from across the nation and even the world! The Harvest now recycles aluminum, saves coins, has special event license plates, authors an annual prayer calendar, and hosts ‘Spring for Tea in Lincoln’, ‘In the Garden’ garden walk, ‘Golf Play Day’, ‘Musical Offering for World Hunger’, ‘Harvest Run’ (in cooperation with the local YMCA), ‘Holiday Homes on Tour’, and ‘Wrapping up the Harvest’ cookie walk for Christmas. The 22-member Harvest Ministry Team works throughout the year to plan and coordinate all Harvest events.

Thousands of people die each day from hunger-related causes. Through the Harvest, we have a way to turn our talents and resources into food for the hungry. We are better when we give. Lincoln and Logan County can be proud of the generosity and compassion of its talented people expressed in many ways, but certainly through the Harvest of Talents for World Hunger, a home-grown original idea that became an exciting and victorious ministry ~ victories in lives that are changed ~ both the life of the giver and that of the receiver.

On our Silver Anniversary, we highlight God’s faithfulness through the blessings of this ‘every person ministry’, recognizing that each person has a talent (1 Peter 4:10), that we are blessed to be a blessing, and that each Harvest is a success because people are fed physically and spiritually while bridges of hope are built in Jesus’ name. We want to be found faithful to Matthew 25:35, ‘For I was hungry, and you fed me.’

A special Celebration Sunday Worship Service will be held at the Chapel of Lincoln Christian College and Seminary on October 26, at 10 a.m., with guest speaker, Tom Gerdts, former preaching minister of Lincoln Christian Church for 20 years, and featuring special music, a ‘Parade of Flags’, and brief remarks from Rick Jett, Executive Director of International Disaster Emergency Service (a 4-star charity), Pat Snyder, Harvest Founder, and Carolyn Neal, Harvest Chairperson. The amount of funds raised so far this year will be announced with the presentation of a check to I.D.E.S. for hunger relief around the world. Funds raised through the remainder of the year will be sent to I.D.E.S. in late December.

Come to the 25th Anniversary Harvest this Saturday!

Come with your family and friends, as there’s something for everyone. The excitement is building as we look forward to celebrating the Harvest’s silver anniversary! The doors to the Family Room of Lincoln Christian Church at 204 N. McLean Street will open at 7 a.m. with fall décor, fresh-baked homemade cinnamon and pecan rolls, lots and lots of handcrafted items for sale, outside snack tents with tasty treats, and new this year: outside entertainment!

There is no admission fee, but Harvest will gratefully accept non-perishable food items for donation to the Lincoln/Logan County Food Pantry all day Saturday; shopping carts will be available at the entrances to place your donated items in ... let’s fill them to overflowing! We recycle aluminum all year long, and you’re welcome to bring your aluminum cans to Harvest as well. Every penny counts and goes a long way in places like Haiti, where $3/month will purchase a year’s supply of rice for one person ~ or in India, where $10 will fee one person a meal a day for one month ~ and in Zimbabwe where $4.50 will provide a meal for 16 kids.

Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the music and entertainment outside while you choose from hot chocolate, cider, flavored coffees, tea, soft drinks, and bottled water to go with your muffin, scone, snack & trail mixes, walking taco, hot dog, caramel apple sundae, curly fries, gingerbread cookies, apple cake, caramel corn, popcorn balls, or smoked pork sandwich! And don’t miss the new CUPcakes ~ easy to enjoy in a complimentary mug. We even have ‘stroller snacks’ for our toddler guests.

Step inside to savor a bowl of H.O.T. and hearty vegetable soup made in the big black kettles outdoors. You’ll love the homemade bread and pie. (Yes, we have carry-outs if you need to get back to work or on the road.) Place a bid at the silent auction, get your face or hand painted with a cool design, stop by the calligraphy table for a personalized pressed flower bookmark, and sign the Harvest Guest Book fireside in the hospitality room where you can learn more about the Harvest and get your favorite Harvest logo wear. Get everyone together for a professional photo, suitable for framing or as your holiday card ~ processed at the photographer’s booth while you wait or shop. For your convenience and a small donation, you’re welcome to take advantage of the monitored coat check room to store your stroller, coat, or packages to save a trip to the car.

Commemorating the 25th anniversary are limited edition silver 3-D Harvest logo ornaments and a new cook book with over 700 of our favorite Harvest recipes. These make great gifts at $10 each. Be sure to bring your holiday gift list with you on Harvest Day, as you’ll find all kinds of neat items made and donated to the Harvest by talented people. We recommend you come early for best selection from the popular specialty areas that include refurbished vintage objects, fun things for your pet and gardens, beautiful Christmas decorations and silk floral arrangements, gifts from around the world sent by our missionaries, bracelets and accessories, needlework and quilted items, and gifts for babies, children, and sports fans. Now’s the time to stock up on homemade jellies, jams, salsa, pickles, candies & sweets, and all kinds of baked goods, including homemade pies, breads, rolls, cookies, muffins, and cakes!

The Harvest is also thrilled to announce the return of the fun ‘Harvest Run’, in cooperation with our local YMCA. Sign up with your friends and family to take part in the 5K Run/Walk that begins at 8:30. Participants will receive a water bottle and breakfast; the first 25 persons to sign up will also receive a t-shirt. Awards will be given for top male and top female in each age division.

We love the little Harvest Hands and have special activities planned inside for Kindergarten through 4th graders. Over 25 years, we have had the good fortune to see the third and fourth generation of Harvest families. Through the Harvest, we can help our children develop compassion for others and share their own talents and resources.

We’re fortunate again this year to receive a semi-truck load of freshly harvested potatoes from the Maynard family farm in South Dakota. 50# bags are available for $10, and a few 20# bags are $5 while supplies last. Many of us cannot use that much, but we can still buy them and have them delivered free to the local food pantry, Inner City Mission in Springfield, or Home Sweet Home Mission in Bloomington.

Always lots of fun and suspense is our live auction at 2:00. Mike Maske will donate his auctioneer services and the opening prayer will be given by T. Lunkim, missionary and minister from northeast India’s Kuki Tribe. We never know what to expect for sure til later in the week, but we have received word that there’ll be a hickory chest of drawers, an oak bookcase made from church pews, a little Illini rocking chair, a signed original cartoon by local artist Julie Larson, creator of ‘The Dinette Set’ syndicated cartoon series, fine needlework, a framing of A. Lincoln, and heirloom quality hand-stitched original design quilts and other treasures! We have received a quilt from Indonesia, illustrating how the Harvest has come full circle, since some quilters there learned the art of quilting from our own Harvest of Talents quilters. Another stunning quilt has been received that was made for the 25th Harvest in memory of a loved one.
Of course, the focus of this Harvest Day is at the heart of missions. As visitors enter the church’s family room, one of the first things they’ll see is a large 7’x8’ globe in front of 23 flags, representing some of the countries where we know missionaries. We trust the Lord of the Harvest to multiply our efforts and funds to help provide lots of rice and beans for His hungry children near and far. While we are all facing tough economic times, we have resources not found in most of the world’s poorest countries. Even in these times, we are grateful to have something to share. On behalf of those who will receive much needed food in Jesus’ name, thank you for your generosity. You are storing treasure in Heaven

For more information, contact:

Carolyn Neal, Harvest Chairperson, 737-9170 (cell)
Lincoln Christian Church, 732-7618
http://www.ides.org/hungerprograms.php/harvest@lincolnil.us

Value is Relative

Value is relative. You have only to watch Antique Roadshow once to realize that one person’s trash is an antique dealer’s treasure. So let me ask this question…when is a gallon of gas not worth $5? The answer is…when no one will pay that much. Things are worth what a person is willing to pay for it. A watch that sells for a thousand bucks in New York City is less than worthless to someone in the desert who needs a drink of water. A house purchased in Lincoln in 2003 for $300,000 is not going to sell easily today. It is just not worth the price that was paid.
I heard a preacher tell a story a number of years ago about a woman he was counseling. The minister, Peter Lord, was trying to get at the bottom of her feelings of worthlessness. After a long session with no progress, he handed her a Bible and told her to go into a room by herself and ask God what she was worth. “Come out when you hear from Him,” he told her.
A good amount of time passed and the woman finally emerged from the room, her face showing all the signs of an emotional breakthrough. Mr. Lord asked her what she learned and she responded, “I felt him tell me, ‘You are worth the price I paid.’”
 

Memory Verse:
Romans 5:8 (New International Version)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 

Thank you, Lord, for the blood that bought us from the slavery of sin and for the grace you lavished on us. Help us to remember the value you placed on us and treat others with the same worth.

Lincoln Church of the Nazarene to celebrate centennial Oct. 5

When you find them, they might be together inside worshiping Christ or outside working or playing in the yard. But when they part and drive away, these folks know they've still got important work to do -- to be the hands and feet of Jesus to show his love to people.

This is what the Church of the Nazarene has been doing for the last 85 years in Lincoln. "A fellow minister once quipped, 'When I first came to town, I drove by your church with a friend who said, "Those people know where Jesus came from, but they don't know why he came."' At first that remark irritated me," says Pastor Greg Wooten. "Now I let it guide my focus. I'd rather equip a small congregation to serve quietly than have us spend all our time trying to make headlines. That's the difference Jesus has made in my life. And, if I read the Bible correctly, that's the difference Jesus would have us make in the world."

This little church family is part of a much bigger family that will be celebrating a major milestone on Oct. 5 -- the 100th anniversary of the birth of the denomination known as the Church of the Nazarene. In 1908 in the little town of Pilot Point, Texas, two holiness church groups merged. Both groups believed that God calls his people to be holy -- to be like Christ -- and that he also makes this possible by the real presence of the Holy Spirit within the hearts of fully devoted believers. These Northern and Southern Christians put away years of unhealed divisions dating back to the Civil War and sealed their union with a time of worship and celebration that ended in a "Hallelujah March" around the tent where they were meeting as they sang a song of unity to the tune of "Dixie":

With forces all united,
We'll win! We'll win!
We'll preach a gospel o'er the land
That fully saves from sin!
Praise God! Praise God!
Praise God for full salvation!

Now, 100 years later, the Church of the Nazarene serves Christ and his kingdom in 151 world areas in more than 20,000 local congregations made up of over 1.5 million people.

Lincoln Church of the Nazarene will join in this centennial celebration with a day full of special events on Oct. 5. At 9:45 a.m. there will be a special lesson highlighting the history of world missions in the denomination. During the worship hour at 11 a.m. the church will unite with every Nazarene congregation across all 24 times zones by sharing communion, reading the same Scripture and hearing the same message preached. Included in the service will be highlights of denominational history as well as local church history, as several special families will be honored whose faithfulness and commitment have made the church's existence possible today.

Following the worship hour will be an old-fashioned potluck dinner. Then, finishing the day's activities on a high note, a concert featuring Barry Wilson from Bourbonnais will begin at 2:30 pm. Wilson is a Nazarene pastor-turned-recording artist with a great sound and a great sense of humor.

Lincoln Church of the Nazarene invites all their brothers and sisters in Christ to join them for any or all of the day's festivities.

For more information on the centennial celebration of the Church of the Nazarene, call Pastor Greg Wooten at the church office at 732-8362 or e-mail him at pgw@netzero.com.