From the Pastor:
In our walk
with God, it's easy to get caught up in doing things for Him—serving,
volunteering, and trying to live a good life. Sometimes we focus so much on
checking off our spiritual to-do lists that we forget why we're doing any of
it. But the truth is, what we focus on, we empower. When we put all our energy
into doing, we risk missing the chance to be truly present with God, even as we
work in His name.
Instead, God
invites us into a deeper relationship where being comes before doing. Being
means resting in His presence, listening for His voice, and letting our
identity as His children shape everything we do. When we prioritize being with
God—through prayer, quiet time, or simply remembering His love—our actions
begin to flow from a place of love and connection rather than duty or pressure.
This shift
from doing to being doesn’t mean we stop serving or helping others. In fact,
the opposite happens: when we focus on being close to God, the doing arises
organically. Our service becomes more meaningful, our hearts more open, and our
actions more aligned with His will. It’s a gentle reminder that our
relationship with God isn’t about what we accomplish, but about who we are in
Him.
Upcoming
Events:
Sunday
School 9:00
Tuesdays
10:00 Bible Study
May
10 Mother’s Day, Blanket Sunday
May
16 Cerro Gordo High School graduation
May
17 Council Meeting after worship
May
26 12:00 Women’s Fellowship lunch
June
14 Strawberry Festival
June
28-July 2 Annual Conference
We have an interim pastor! David Biggs
officially starts May 15. He will set office hours to be available as much as
possible. David’s phone number is 217-329-4785. Email is devdrk476@gmail.com
Birthdays and Anniversaries
May
12 Michelle West
17 Larry & Cathy Traxler
27 Alice Kinney
June
5 Bill Traughber
6 Glen Kussart
7 David Sawyer
9 Ron & Jackie Born
10 Kathy Gentry
11 Kaylin & Blake Born
12 Shannon Born
16 Tim Wright
18 Robin
& Chelle Shively
22 Jodi Baker
23 Dave & Beth Sawyer
24 Randy West
26 Cathy Traxler
27 Randy & Jodi Baker
In Our Prayers
Pray for
peace with Iran!
Pam and Tommy Trone; Ruth Siburt; Martha Wood; Bill
Traughber; Randy and Michelle West; Martha Lynch; Mike and Kathy Gentry; Nancy Fansler; Doug Larrick; Ron Petersen;
Debbie Garvey Leibrock; Dorthea Wood; Nancy Gorrell; many unspoken requests;
victims of disasters; victims of shootings; shut-ins; the Nigerian church;
Haitian Brethren; Ukraine; Israel and Gaza, Sudan, other places where violence
is happening; immigrants
Military and Other Services and their families
Brethren Volunteer Service workers; Disaster project workers
***
Needed:
There is always a need for volunteers for the children’s message during the
service and/or for a children’s lesson/story time in the nursery during the
sermon. Please sign up in the back of the sanctuary.
Needed:
Annual Conference delegate for June 28-July 2 in Ft. Wayne, IN. It is close
this time—a good opportunity if you have been thinking about going. The church
pays the delegate fee and has some funds for expenses. Let Carol know by May 17
if you would like to do this. Delegates participate in business on June 29, 30,
and July 1. Worship takes place each evening and on the morning of July 2
before the end of conference.
Looking
forward: District Conference will be November 6 and 7 in Polo, IL. We need
delegates for this conference. We can have 3. Let Carol know of your interest.
Watch
for sign up sheets for help with the Strawberry Festival! Put Saturday, June 13
on your calendar for strawberry stemming.
"All women are mothers of the world.
All of us give birth to something bigger than ourselves." by Lisa R.
Delman
"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe
to my Angel Mother." Abraham Lincoln
“A daughter is happy memories of the past, joyful moments of the present,
and the hope and promise of the future.”
Unknown
Mothers’ Day History
If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will
tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her
mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in
the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death
caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and
reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men
who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage
people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power
to change society.
The women who had watched their hale and healthy men march off
to the Civil War were haunted by its results. They lost fathers, husbands,
sons, and brothers. The men who did come home were scarred in both body and
mind.
Modern war, it seemed, was not a game.
But out of the war also came a new sense of empowerment. Women
had bought bonds, paid taxes, raised money for the war effort, managed farms,
harvested fields, worked in war industries, reared children, and nursed
soldiers. When the war ended, they had every expectation that they would
continue to be considered valuable participants in national affairs, and had
every intention of continuing to take part in them.
However, this was not to be for many years yet.
Howe was drawn to women’s rights because the laws of her time
meant that her children belonged to her abusive husband. If she broke free of
him, she would lose any right to see her children, a fact he threw at her
whenever she threatened to leave him. She was not at first a radical in the
mold of reformer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who believed that women had a human
right to equality with men. Rather, she believed strongly that women, as
mothers, had a special role to perform in the world.
As Howe worked to unite women, she came to realize that a woman
did not have to center her life around a man, but rather should be “a free
agent, fully sharing with man every human right and every human
responsibility.”
She threw herself into the struggle for women’s suffrage,
understanding that in order to create a more just and peaceful society, women
must take up their rightful place as equal participants in American politics.
While we celebrate the modern version of Mother’s Day on May 10,
it’s worth remembering the original Mothers’ Day and Julia Ward Howe’s
conviction that women must have the same rights as men, and that they must make
their voices heard.
Love God,
Grow with others,
Serve faithfully,
Reach the lost,
