Please pray for the family and friends of a dear congregation member, Jack Hulette, who passed away in his home this past week. May the light of Christ shine forever upon Jack and all who loved him.

Luke 8:11-15 -- “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

As a young man in the process of learning to fly small airplanes, I shared with my half-brother, Robert, that I had begun taking flying lessons. Robert was an experienced, multi-thousand-hour pilot. He said, “Let’s go up together and I’ll show you a few things.” So we climbed into a Cessna and he took us off from the Gulfport, Mississippi field, turning right to fly out over the Gulf of Mexico, climbing to about a mile above sea level.

At that point Robert said, “The controls are yours.” I flew for a few minutes, steady and level, getting the feel of the airplane. Robert asked, “Everything OK?” I replied, “Yes.” As soon as I’d said that, he reached out, turned off the key to the engine, and pushed the yoke all the way forward, immediately putting the plane into a dead-stick nose dive, heading straight down toward the gulf below.

I could feel my eyes sinking back into my head from the G-force, but I grabbed the yoke, leveled us out, and quickly restarted the engine. In just those few seconds, we’d lost almost 4,000 feet -- and in another handful of seconds would have crashed into the Gulf.

I was about as angry as I’d ever been at my half-brother. “What did you do that for?” I screamed. “You almost killed us both!” Robert calmly replied, “I wanted to see if you had the makings of a pilot in you. You’ll do fine.”

This is the same brother who, when I was about four years old, tossed me into a river to see if I could swim or not. I survived that test, too.

There are millions of folk in this world who claim to have faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a relatively simple profession to make. God has deliberately made it easy to begin a life of faith in His Son. But at some point in our lives, often when least expected, such easy faith may be tested.

May God grant us, each and all, the strength to meet the test when it comes, and thereby deepen our faith. Amen.

-- Excerpted and Adapted from Dr. Dave Ring's 2019 devotional book, "Reflections 365"

This devotional has been contributed by Dr. Dave Ring, a retired United Methodist pastor affiliated with St. John's. They are taken from his year-long daily devotional guide published in 2019. If you would be interested in obtaining a personal copy of this book, you may search for and buy it on Amazon.com or contact Dr. Ring directly by e-mailing davering@davering.net.

The congregation of St. John's came through in a big fashion with the project to provide food to the neighborhoods around the John Marshall Community Center on Walter SE. Over fifty of the St. John's families provided food for sixty of the families of the South Valley. People shopped from a suggested list of food (which typically ran around $60) for standardization (though many added more items plus cash donations.) Then the shoppers boxed the food up and delivered the boxes to the west parking lot early Saturday morning, Dec. 19, 2020.

In the parking lot an intrepid band loaded the boxes into several pickup trucks, drove the boxes to the Center, and then unloaded the boxes onto dollies. Because of COVID restrictions, the staff of the Center wheeled the boxes into the Center where they arranged them by number, 1 through 60 (plus eight boxes of extras.) After organizing the boxes, the staff arranged for families to come by at intervals the rest of Saturday to pick them up.

The director of the Center, Jeanette, was effusive in her thanks to our congregation. The need this year has been huge and has stretched their resources; for instance, they didn't have enough food to provide their usual Thanksgiving project, so this outpouring of truckloads for Christmas was, literally, manna from heaven.

Thanks to the many food shoppers, the volunteer loaders/truckers (Roy Walston, Vance Behr, Stan Mortimer, John Pierce, the Dale Amends, and the Bob Bowmans), and Jack Nuzum for organizing it all.

United Methodist Women will meet Thursday, January 7th, at 10 am via Zoom. For our program, Ann Edenfield Sweet will share a little of her story and why she started the Wings for LIFE program. We'll learn what they're doing during this unusual time of Covid, as well as how God has opened doors never imagined. Wings is an empowerment program that provides life skills, education, training, and support for children and family members of prisoners to reduce generational crime and imprisonment. As always, our meetings are open to everyone (including men). If you aren't a circle member and would like to join this Zoom meeting, simply email Regina Hampton at hamptonmason1@msn.com, and she will send an invitation to you! We hope you'll join us on the 7th!

Church Women United, an ecumenical Christian women’s group, will gather together via Zoom on Friday, January 8th at 9:30 am. Following a fellowship time, we will participate in the Human Rights Celebration, “United to Serve.” A special speaker, Kari Lenander, Executive Director of Border Servant Corps, a ministry of Peace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces, will share information on their humanitarian aid to support the 1300 refugees and asylum-seekers residing in a network of 11 shelters and homes as well as those being returned to Ciudad Juarez. Anyone wishing to join us in this Zoom meeting should contact Marilyn Stoops at mstoops@swcp.com.

Susan Brumbaugh, staff mental health counselor at St. John's, is offering a FREE weekly gathering on FRIDAYS (normally at 9:30 am) to practice mindfulness meditation. Each 30-minute session begins with a brief welcome, a description of the focus (e.g., breath, body, senses, emotions, thoughts), a 15-20 minute guided practice, and an opportunity to debrief and share experiences. Anyone is welcome--no experience is necessary. (And, yes! It's okay for Christians to meditate.) If you want to learn more prior to starting, the sessions will be similar to ones she leads and records on YouTube. Each session will be hosted on Zoom. HERE is the zoom link. Please contact Susan Brumbaugh, counselor@stjohns-abq.org, or 505-506-6716, if you have questions.

St. John’s will live-stream a worship service on Sunday morning at 9:30 am (Contemporary) on the Abide Facebook page and 11:00 am (Traditional) on our Youtube Channel. We hope you’ll worship with us! (Pastor Pam will lead, along with Shea Perry, Jim Ahrend, and Matt Greer). We hope that you’ll participate by singing and praying at home! Any questions? Email Matt at mgreer@stjohns-abq.org.

Sunday Community Activities: Click HERE to view all Sunday School Classes & groups! Join us in the virtual Sonshine Coffee Zoom immediately following the 11:00 am Worship with church Leadership Team members hosting. Zoom registration is HERE

Women's Bible Study, Jonah, navigating a life interrupted by Priscilla Shirer

Women's Bible Study, The Names of God, His character revealed by Melissa Spoelstra

Youth Parent Meeting Jan 10th. Parents, come join on Zoom early on Sunday afternoon January 10th from 3:00PM-3:30PM for our Spring Semester Parents Meeting. Let’s check in and chart a course for the semester head. Zoom link HERE.

New Youth Group Spring Zoom: Happy New Year! Not only is there a new year, but a new Zoom, at Sunday youth group with new games, new series, new discussions, and new faith-building activities every Sunday from 4:00-5:15PM! Click HERE.

Most Requested Non-Food Items needed:

Please write "SILVER HORIZONS" in the memo field of your check

Contact: Kathy Dieruf (kadieruf@gmail.com) with questions

  The pandemic has led to some significant long term changes for Family Promise. The families have been housed in one church since last March and other churches, including St. John's, have been providing meals and supplies on the usual rotating basis but without personal contact until Covid is behind us.

      That has worked well and the decision was made to obtain a permanent location which will double the number of families that can be served from 4 to 8. The good news is that a building has been found, but as you can imagine the costs are significant. Churches will continue to provide meals. Contact Jen Shields at 450-9878 if you are interested in helping.

  But the biggest way we can help now is to help pay the mortgage for the new location. Family promise has helped so many families find permanent housing, get jobs, learn parenting skills and more over the past 17 years. Let's help it continue to do this for the next 17 years. Please give generously throughout the month.

www.stjohns-abq.org

(505) 883-9717

2626 Arizona St NE | Albuquerque, NM 87110

Office Hours (call only): Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm