Pastor Grady Roe

We hope you enjoy our monthly newsletter, "The Echo." Extra copies are available from the church office. Drop on by and ask for one in the church office. If you'd like to be on our mailing list to receive The Echo, that can be arranged through the Church Secretary, Machille Wilke.

Welcome!

Roe-ving Around
In last month�s newsletter, I shared with you one-half of my report to Church Conference. The second half is printed below. Who knew?

--We support several of our folks individually as they raise funds for Relay for Life, Literacy Council and other community projects.This year, 60 Operation Christmas Child boxes have been picked up send to needy children around the world�We became a teaching congregation by establishing a relationship with a seminary student and are contributing $50 a month to her pension account, and a $250 a year scholarship, and the UMM gave $200 for her first ever pastor's robe (It is her choice to volunteer her time instead of being salaried; that way she can come and go as she wants).

UMW has continued to budget for and plans to give scholarships for two college students. UMM gave funds to Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Marble Falls High School--We paid for two youth to attend church camp at Mt. Wesley. We support Ray Zirkel via generous monthly giving.We are co-hosting a golf tournament to support the "Nothing But Nets" segment of the "Imagine No Malaria" campaign.We open our doors weekly to three local AA groups and applaud the good things they do. (They are also here for important fellowship events on Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Eve)

We supported a Llano mission team fundraiser which will help them get to Costa Rica to work with Ray Zirkel.We are helping two members be part of that mission team through donations and support of a fundraiser (coffee sales).Through the Mertie Mae class, an orphan in Costa Rica was sponsored for school. We renewed our charter with the Cub Scout pack and, the UMM is paying for the charter expense. Also, we supported Scout fundraising events that cover their expenses for activities such as a campout on the Lexington, Camporee, Pinewood Derby, etc.

We are increasing our budget for Sharing the Harvest and adding a new budget item of $100 a month for Methodist Home at Waco.Half of our Christmas Eve offering was sent to Methodist Home at Waco. The other half was given to Methodist Mission Home. At the end of 2011, we will give 10% of our anticipated n the black funds to local missions, such as A Place of Hope and Sharing the Harvest.

Also, about $160 from poinsettia sales will be shared with those same organizations�We sponsored a deserving family at Christmas, with food, toys, clothes. There's more, but I am out of time.
We are, once again, a Five Star Church, and in fact, would qualify to be a Six Star Church if there were such a thing. Well done, good and faithful servants. Very well done.

THANKS!!

In the United Methodist Church, the end of the year always means some leaders rotate out of positions they have served, and others move into leadership positions. We offer thanks to those wonderful folks who are completing a term of leadership�your devotion keeps us going! And, we say welcome to people who have agreed to come into leadership positions---thanks for doing your part!

Winter Awakening Preaching Mission Feb. 12-14
What do Sue White, Wesley Putnam, Tom Fuller, and John Thornberg have in common? All have visited us for a series of worship/spiritual development events. And now, thanks to our Spiritual Growth Committee, HLUMC will host Rev. John McMullen-- former pastor at one of the largest churches in our Conference-- for this year's event--a three day time of joy-filled learning.

McMullen is known for his preaching talent, and widely respected by laity and clergy in the Conference as an intuitive, resourceful, leader. Our pastor says that John is, ��one of the most dynamic preachers I have ever heard.
 
He will be our guest in the morning worship service on Feb. 12, and at the covered dish dinner that day, he will lead us in a follow up. He will speak again on Monday prior to a light lunch, and speak again just before lunch on Tuesday.

This will be in informative, inspiring, and enlightening three days, and we are fortunate to have John as this year's "Winter Awakening" guest speaker.

Q: I've been reading through Exodus in the Bible, and it seems to me that Aaron manages to get away with some shenanigans. What do you think?
A: I would have to agree. Some scholars refer to Aaron as rebellious and guilty of treasonable conduct. Bible scholar Dr. Herbert Lockyer remembers Aaron as he ...of the molten image and many untold transgressions. His main transgression would be the creation of the Golden Calf while Moses was on the mountain getting the 10 Commandments.
 
Aaron seems to have had a lot to offer in the beginning. For example, in Ex. 7: 1, both Aaron and Moses are chosen by God to confront Pharaoh. (By the way, Aaron is 83 when this happens, which proves you are never too old to do something for God). Anyway, later on, Aaron yields to public pressure when Moses is away. You would think that he would have been smitten (smited?) down for that, as were some of the ringleaders, but in Deut. 9:20, Moses intercedes with God on Aaron's behalf.
 
The plea seems to work, for Aaron lives 40 more years. Numbers 20 tells how he dies on the edge of the Promised Land and the people mourn his death for the next 30 days.

Someone once said to me, �Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. I have to confess my own spiritual confusion when some good people suffer and some bad people seemed to live charmed lives. If I were in charge of the universe, I would not allow it to rain on the just and unjust alike, as that Bible verse says. I would let the rain to go right up to the fence line of the unjust and not allow a drop to fall on the other side. I have many opinions about how God is running the cosmos, but thus far, God has not asked me for any. I can only guess that Aaron had two things going from him�his good behavior and obedience during the Exodus, and the fact that Moses vouched for him. So, I guess we all need to do two things. First, accept the fact that life isn't always fair. Second, try to get on the good side of some of the more godly people in our church.