Tuesday 31 March 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,
 
Joe Park is CEO of Horizons, a church stewardship consulting firm. (No, I’m not asking for money!). He wrote this:
 
I recently watched the TED Talk, Embrace the Shake, that really inspired me. The speaker was an artist who developed a tremor that kept him from expressing his creative urges the way he had been previously. For a period of time, he left art behind completely and was devastated.
 
A doctor encouraged him to embrace the shake and learn to make art in fresh ways. That’s exactly what he did. Today, Phil Hansen is creating art in places and spaces that is inspiring artists and non-artists alike.
 
The Coronavirus has shaken up our lives. Our routines have been turned upside down. Our sanity has, maybe, quivered. How are you “embracing the shake”? 
 
Stay cool. Laugh. Call somebody on the phone to chat. Look out your window. Turn off the news for a few hours (or days). Pray. Crack open that dusty Bible. Strike up an email conversation. Send a piece of snail mail (!). 
 
Embrace the shake.
 
Much love to you all.
 
News:
 
The Heart of Mission: See this update from our Mission Partners:
 https://archive.firstpres.church/HoM20200327
 
Tax Returns: What are you doing with your tax return? A generous family has given their tax refund to our church in the form of grocery gift cards. If you don’t need it, share it. 
 
Palm Branches: If any of you wish to drive through the alley between our Sanctuary and Education buildings on Thursday afternoon between 1:00 and 2:00, you will be met by a gloved volunteer(s) who will hand you through your open car window a palm branch for every member of your family. The palms have been boxed for over a week, so they carry no infection, advises Peter Yau. We will make no flesh-to-flesh contact in the exchange. 
 
Email us a picture: We’d like to share a picture of you with palm branches, picture of you with your cat, picture of you in your worship space, picture of you…where ever. We’re attempting to stay connected during this season of physical-distancing. Email a picture to live@firstpres.church.
 
Prayer Service on Thursday night: At 7:00 on this Thursday night, we will have a service of prayer live on Zoom.  Bring your prayer concerns.  Instructions will be provided soon.
 
A Video Message from Matt: https://youtu.be/5YF7syP7iso
 
The Good Word:  
 
Jacques 5:13-16 La Bible du Semeur (BDS)                    
13 L’un de vous passe-t-il par la souffrance?? Qu’il prie. Un autre est-il dans la joie?? Qu’il chante des cantiques. 14 L’un de vous est-il malade?? Qu’il appelle les responsables de l’Eglise, qui prieront pour lui, après lui avoir fait une onction d’huile au nom du Seigneur. 15 La prière faite avec foi obtiendra la guérison du malade[a] et le Seigneur le relèvera. S’il a commis quelque péché, il lui sera pardonné. 16 Confessez vos péchés les uns aux autres et priez les uns pour les autres, afin que vous soyez guéris. Quand un juste prie, sa prière a une grande efficacité.
 
James 5:13-16        
13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 
 
 
Prayer:
 
God,
good beyond all that is good, 
fair beyond all that is fair,
in you is calmness, 
               peace, 
               and concord.
Heal the dissensions that 
divide us from one another
and bring us back to a unity of love
bearing some likeness to your divine nature.
Through the embrace of love
and the bonds of godly affection,
make us one in the Spirit
by your peace which 
               makes all things peaceful.
We ask this through the grace,
                mercy, 
                               and tenderness
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
 
(—Dionysius of Alexandria, d. 264 CE)
 
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138

Monday 30 March 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Jeff Kellam was to be our Theologian-in-Residence during the Roger Ebert Film Festival in April. The Coronavirus had other plans. Jeff and his wife, Joan, are old friends of me and Rachel. Jeff contributes these words:
 
“I’ve always disliked the term “shut-in.” I preferred the warmer term “at-home friends.” Now, here we are, all “at home” and frankly feeling “shut-in.” But churches are learning to stream worship services and resources to us so we continue to feel part of the community of faith. Last Sunday, I joined three very different Presbyterian worship services on my computer and found value in all three.
 
“The simplest offering came from a rural pastor who set up a YouTube channel, and recorded some church news and pastoral concerns, along with the four Lectionary readings and her brief meditation, using just her cell phone camera. Her setting was her home, and her approach was warm and personal.
 
“The most sophisticated of the three came from a large suburban church with obvious technical resources on hand. Streamed “live,” the multiple cameras captured an hour-long service from the sanctuary, with leadership from what I took to be the whole church staff and several musicians. The service followed the same format as a typical Sunday. But except for that leadership, the large sanctuary was empty. 
 
“The third service came from a 150-member church, again with no one but church staff involved in leading the at-home congregation in simple liturgy, music, proclamation of the Word, and prayers. The setting was the sanctuary but empty pews were never shown. The service was clearly designed to communicate more intimately with the viewers, knowing that those who joined the live stream were watching alone or with just a family member or two. The pastor’s message was warmly conversational.
 
“When it comes to our learning new ways to reach out, it is clear again that one approach won’t fit every church, but that we strive for faithful creativity and integrity is of upmost importance.”
 
 
News:
 
Good news: a family have given their tax refund to our church in the form of grocery gift cards. How cool is that?! This grace is a surprise—and it’s amazing.
 
Prayer Service on Thursday night: At 7:00 on this Thursday night you will all get an invitation for a Zoom service of prayer. Bring your prayer concerns. We’ll be streaming live.
 
 
The Good Word:  
 
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (CEB)                               
There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.  A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good.
 
 
Prayer:
 
We are your people, Lord, by your grace. 
You dare to make us Christ to our neighbors 
of every nation and race.
Glad of tradition, help us to see in all life’s changing
where you are leading,
where our best efforts should be.
                                                     (Brian Wren, from Faith Looking Forward)
 
PEACE, 
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Friday 27 March 2020
 

Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois  

Dear Friends,

I miss seeing you face-to-face. 

firstpres.church/vlog 

Please plan to worship on Sunday with your church. Last week there was streaming trouble with the whole world trying to stream at the same time. Sorry for that glitch. We think we have a good ‘work-around’ for this week. Find us on Facebook OR firstpres.live If Facebook doesn’t “stream,” which is beyond our control, go to

firstpres.live

See you on Sunday!

* * *  

Many in our church have a close relationship with the Pakistan Presbyterian Education Board (PEB), and most of us have met Executive Director Veda Gill. She reports,

“The PEB main office is working in shifts . . .  the poorest of the poor are going to suffer the most, either by the virus or by hunger.  It’s a heart wrenching situation.”

Explore the PEB website: https://www.peb.edu.pk/

Veda is concerned about her students and about finances, in that order. Our Pathways to Peace/Pakistan Study Group will keep us informed about how we can help. For now, let us pray for Veda. 

And as we pray for Veda and PEB, how can your church pray for you? What do you need? 

What do others around you need?

* * * 

During this surreal season of Coronavirus, focus on things besides television news.

               Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.

                              Be amazed.

                                              Tell somebody.

I can’t wait to worship with you again on Sunday.

PEACE,

Matt Matthews

864.386.9138

Matt@FirstPres.Church

In last week’s movie suggestion, I forgot to make clear the movie I meant. The 2007 version of Death at A Funeral is a hoot. The later version, less so. Roger Ebert rated the original directed by Frank Oz three out of four stars and commented: “The movie is part farce (unplanned entrances and exits), part slapstick (misbehavior of corpses) and part just plain wacky eccentricity. I think the ideal way to see it would be to gather your most dour and disapproving relatives and treat them to a night at the cinema.”

This week I suggest another double feature. The Right Stuff is a fun, America-can-do drama about our race to space. A lot of the early space program happened in my hometown in Hampton, VA, at NASA, formerly NACA. A Prairie Home Companion is a subtle comedy—but a little off the beaten path. 

ENJOY.

Friday night at the movies:

Ebert’s take on the movie The Right Stuff

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-right-stuff-1983

Friday night at the movies:

Ebert’s take on the movie A Prairie Home Companion

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-prairie-home-companion-2006-1