There's a lot going on at the 

Weston United Methodist Church

1.   Five Practices of Fruitful Congregation:  Small Group Study

Pastor Oh invites All to the “Passionate Worship” session Sunday, Oct. 1.   Small Group Study (90 minute session) will begin around 12:00 p.m.   

2.   God’s Blessing Station, Outreaching ministry upcoming dates/times:

Kendal Green:

 Dates:  Monday, October 2 and Wednesday October 25

 Time:   5:20 pm - 5:40 pm

Lincoln Station:

 Dates:  Wednesday, October 11 and  Monday, October 30

Time:  5:30 pm – 6:40 pm

Waltham: 

Dates:  Monday, October 16

Time:  5:15 pm -- 6:20 pm

3.   Invitation to Fruitful dialogue and a Christian holy conversation with Pastor Oh

Pastor Jung Sun Oh would like to meet with, and listen to church members who would like to share his/her concerns especially caused by changes at WUMC.  With an open mind, and heart, Pastor will listen to your thoughts and opinions.  He can meet you in Pastor's office or your house or other place.  If you wish to make an appointment, please call the Church office or send email to Shari.  

4.   Saturday, October 7^th is the Fall Church Work Day.  See the October  BEAMS for all the details.  Work begins at 8:30am and will go until the work is finished.  More hands make less work for everyone.

5.   Coffee Hosts

Coffee hosts are needed for the month of October. Please sign up in the Narthex.

6.   Volunteers for Morning Greeters

We are looking for volunteers to be greeters before the service each week. Please sign up in the Narthex on the Greeters signup sheet if you would like to greet people as they arrive for church. Please be here 15 minutes prior to the start of the service.

7.   Continue to pray for the people impacted by Hurricane Harvey and all those responding to their cry for help. Through our denomination's United Methodist Committee on Relief, YOU can make a difference, immediately, by donating online at http://www.umcor.org/Search-for-Projects/Projects/901670, where 100% of your donation will help survivors recover. Alternatively, you may write a check payable to WUMC with memo "US Disaster Response" or write that on an envelope with cash, and place it in the offering plate today or in the coming weeks. For more info, see: http://www.neumc.org/disasterresponsenews

8.   Our next serving day at Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen in Waltham is Monday, October 9th.

Please sign up during Coffee Hour on the two sheets in Parish Hall to contribute one or more food items and/or to assist with reheating or serving the meal.

9.   Installation Service and Fellowship

Myung and Pastor Oh (with their children Esther, Aiden, and Becky) deeply appreciate your preparation, participation, and prayers for the Installation service and fellowship.  Pastor Oh’s family gives thanks to God and WUMC members.  WUMC presented a Bible, Water, the Bread and Cup, a Hymnal and Book of Worship, a Book of Discipline, a Globe, and a Stole to Pastor Jung Sun Oh.

10.  Stewardship Campaign Committee 2017 (Previously known as Finance Campaign Committee)

Pastor Oh, Joe Kerr, Nancy Mack, and Bob Hicks will begin the Stewardship Campaign 2017 with God’s guidance, blessings and your support. 

11.  Worship committee at WUMC

Pastor Jung Sun and church council will begin the process of adding a worship committee to WUMC.  The Worship committee will develop a "Biblically faithful and Culturally Relevant United Methodist Sunday service." for WUMC.

www.westonunitedmethodist.org

How to Create a Daily Prayer Practice? 

(From Openings by Rev. Larry J. Peacock)

Creating a daily prayer practice takes discipline.  The goal is not to be rigid but faithful.   Here are some hints to guide you:

• Find a time that works for you.  Spend from fifteen minutes to an hour.   Many people find early mornings best, before activities take over the day.   I strongly suggest early morning.
• Find a space that works for you.  Choose a quiet place where you can be uninterrupted, a warm, and inviting place.  Light a candle (if you like), open a Bible, and consider creating an altar or table with objects that may aid you in prayer.
• Find one or more postures that work for you.  Sitting is most common, but sometimes kneeling or standing or walking may open you to deeper ways of prayer.  Sometimes you may incorporate several postures during your time of meditation.
• Find a balance of sound and silence that works for you.  Allow for solitude.  This is a time not only to talk with God but also to listen.  Minimize distractions and interruptions.
• Consider using music as an aid to prayer and as a way to move from the noise of the day into a time of prayer. 
• Keep a Bible, a journal for writings reflections, and this book with you as your prayer companions.
• Consider writing your own prayer for each month.  

O Lord! Hear my (our) Prayer.   Amen.

Greetings,

I would like to share a wisdom of Prayer and Practice with you.   To have a life of prayer, we must pray either in silence or spoken words.    I hope and pray that this information provides thoughts, reflections, and practices to help you.  The practice of prayer under girds the heart of people. 

You can pray in the comfort of a chair in front of a fireplace at home, or in the company of a church member, or in the company of a choir singing or listening to “Bach’s Matthew Passion” or Handel’s “Messiah.”  I pray with Taize Songs.  Your prayer practice may involve serving God’s people at Bristol Lodge and God’s children at Whittemore School in Waltham.    My prayer practice also involves offering God’s Blessing Station ministry at Kendal Green Station in Weston, Lincoln Station in Lincoln, and Waltham Station in Waltham.    You as an individual, and also in a group or community can practice various ways of prayer.  Sometimes, or many times, we as church members can be easily overwhelmed with the abundance of varieties of prayer.   However as children of God we should begin to pray somewhere and sometime.

Friends, NOW is a good time.

I hope and pray that your practice of prayer shapes your identity as children of God.   Let’s learn the lesson from the gospel of Luke.  “Then, Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) And “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17).    I invite you to move from saying prayers to living a life of prayer, a life constantly aware of the presence of God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Such communication and communion with God can happen in the ordinary activities of life. Our time of focused prayer helps and equips us to be able to express our genuine and honest gratitude and thanksgiving to God and also connectedness with others,  nature as God’s creation, and to ourselves. 

How to Create a Daily Prayer Practice?

 - Creating a daily prayer practice takes discipline.  

Peace,

Pastor Oh

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.... Because you are precious in my sight and honored and I love you (Isaiah 43:1-4).

Beloved sisters and brothers in Christ at WUMC.  With gratitude and thanksgiving, I share this story with you.   This is an amazing story of God's Blessing Station outreaching ministry.  When Carole, Joe and I arrived at the Lincoln Rail Commuter Station parking lot around 5: 30 p.m. last Friday (September 8), a person approached us and asked for help.  After listening to her, I introduced myself and gave her my name card (with WUMC church name and address).   Carole and Joe also introduced themselves and greeted her with a beautiful smile.  She, then, asked us "Are you from Church?" We replied to her. "Yes.  We are from the Weston United Methodist Church in Weston."  Then she responded with a beautiful smile and shared her needs with us.   We also talked to her brother over the phone.  Her brother asked me to baptize, and eventually accept her as a WUMC member.  I promised her brother I would.   Carole and Joe helped her on Friday evening and brought her to church on Sunday morning.  She worshiped with us at WUMC.  She will continue to worship with us every Sunday. 

Friends!  On our third day of God's Blessing Station ministry, God sent a beloved God's child to WUMC, a beloved community, and asked us to love, care and live with her.   I will start "the process to become a WUMC member" with her. I am asking you all to continue to welcome her and pray for her and her family.  Let's continue to carry on God's Blessing Station outreaching ministry with deep gratitude and thanksgiving.   Thank you for your prayers, support, and participation.  

And let's continue to remember the scripture, "... and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47).   God adds numbers!  God will continue to send God's children to WUMC through God's Blessing Station outreaching ministry.  We believe in God who is who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8).

Lincoln Blessing Station

8 September 2017

Weston Kendall Green Blessing Station

6 September 2017