Wednesday, September 2^nd, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
I’m inspired by the articles, posts, and blogs you suggest I read. There are too many suggestions with which to keep up. Here’s a blog from my pastor friend in Cincinnati, Kevin Murphy. 
 
Let’s remember to keep our teachers, administrators, staff, students, and families in our prayers. Tell me about some of your memorable teachers. I’ll print your responses in this space in the coming days.
 
* * *
 
 As schools have reopened this week, I’ve had the students, their teachers and staff in my prayers – mostly the teachers and staff. After all, the students will be there. They have little choice and many of them enjoy learning or at least they enjoy being with their friends. But for the most part, the teachers and staff are there because of a deep desire to work with young people. It is a job like few others. They are not paid particularly well and many times they use their own money to buy needed supplies because the school is underfunded. They spend hours outside the classroom preparing lessons, grading assignments, doing administrative tasks and meeting with students and parents. This year there is the added anxiety over staying safe and keeping the students safe from COVID-19. But the classroom time is why they do what they do. It’s there they come alive. Those who are really good at teaching find new and exciting ways to engage the curriculum and empower the students to learn. It’s amazing to watch a student blossom and come alive simply because a good teacher found the right angle to get through to her or him. I have to think of that kind of teacher is one who has discovered their gift, has honed their skill and employed that gift for the common good. 

Paul is pretty convinced that whenever we express a talent or skill for something, we do it well and we love doing it because of God’s Spirit moving in our lives. I have to agree with him on that. God gifts each and every one of us with unique skills and talents. Some excel in math and become great engineers. Some are great in biology and become nurses, therapists and doctors. Some are really good with their hands and become chefs, mechanics and carpenters. Some are gifted with artistic talents and may become great musicians, dancers or painters. Some possess the gift of nurturing and become super parents, teachers or caregivers. Whether or not someone uses their gifts to provide for their livelihood is not important. The sharing of those gifts for the common good is. Whatever our gift God is the giver of them all and the Spirit activates them in our lives. We are the happiest and most productive when our passion and our gifts meet the world’s great needs and we use those gifts for the common good. 

Teachers are at the heart of all this, coaxing, nurturing, instructing and helping students discover their gifts. Teachers are usually the first to recognize these gifts in their students and are the first to see them bloom. I am very thankful for the good teachers in my life and I am very thankful for all the good teachers in our community today. May God bless them as they use their gifts to be a blessing to their students.

News:
 
Sign up for our congregation/community-wide book study on “White Fragility” by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. 217.356.7238 /  Patty@firstpres.church

Humor (Hard times need godly laughter): 
 
These are jokes. Really.
 
Q: Why was the road nervous?  It was getting graded.
 
Q: Why did the dinosaur refuse to wear deodorant? It wasn’t interested in becoming x-stinked.

From Tanya Deckert…

 
 
 
Good Word:
First Corinthians 12:4-7                    
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 
 
Let us pray:
 
Bless our teachers, Holy God,
in the name of the Christ
who taught us how to pray,
live, and serve. 
 
Unswerving is your grace.
Help our students lean upon you.
Strengthen their resolve.
Guide their steps.
 
Grant us all humility and grace,
and, above all things,
love.
 
AMEN
 
Much, much love to you all.
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Monday, August 31^st, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Here’s an important message from Kathy Kinser: 
 
Dear Friends, On behalf of my family, I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for your comforting cards and letters following the recent death of my husband, Dave. I have been lifted in body and spirit by your prayers and your loving kindness. It has been a great joy for me to be part of our Presbyterian Congregation as well as having children with high-tech ability to guide me wade through a stack of paperwork!  Blessings to everyone.
 
Hugs with Much Love,
 
Kathy Kinser
 
* * *
 
Remember, HELPING HANDS: The Presbyterian Women at First Presbyterian has a committee called “Helping Hands”.  The committee’s goal is to check with people in the congregation that might need help with meals or errands for a period of time due to personal or other family events.   Examples might be:

• Meals needed after surgery or during an illness.
• Help with meals while family is visiting for a funeral service.
• Assistance with grocery or pharmacy pick-ups.One of our biggest challenges is knowing about those who might need our services.  

Please help us out by passing on referrals to Marcia or Patty in the church office or to Clemmie Ackermann at coletta.ackermann@gmail.com or at 217-377-7901.  The other members of this committee are Lola Rutmansdorfer,  Claudia Kirby and Marty Edwards.  
 
News:
 
A message from Sandy Carr.            
“I am ashamed to say how oblivious I was to the many examples of oppression in America. Yes, I knew slavery was wrong. And yes, I knew segregated schools and housing were wrong. But  the day-to-day struggles of Black Americans was not a part of my daily life. Through my reading on the Compassion, Peace, and Justice Committee at church, NOW I know.  And the question is: what am I going to do about this oppressive inequality?”
 
* * *
 
You are invited to a congregation-wide book study on race.

• WHAT? White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk about Race? by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018).   
• WHEN? The study begins on the week of September 14 (either on Monday night at 7:00, or Thursday afternoon at 11 a.m. Exact times TBA).  
• HOW? Sign up by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. We will meet on-line via Zoom. 217.356.7238 /  Patty@firstpres.church 
• WHO? Everyone in our congregation and community is invited. Pastor Matt Matthews will facilitate. Our Compassion, Peace, and Justice Committee will host.             
• WHY? Having conversations about race may open us to whole new ways of being “neighbor” and give us ideas about how we can help heal the divisions that divide our nation along racial lines. 

I’m eager to be challenged by this book and by our conversations around it. I have a lot to learn about race, about myself, and about our complicated, beautiful human family. I’m eager to grow. Join us!
 
Those who have studied the book say this:

• It is not a fluff book.
• It is thought provoking.
• There will be uncomfortable parts.  
• It will challenge us to think about things we’d rather not think about. It is a journey of learning and awareness.
• I became aware of little things in daily life I never noticed before. 
• It gives an understanding of our white culture I never had before. 
• It is an opportunity to consider cultural blind spots that might inhibit how fully we live out Christ’s call on our lives as His disciples.

Together we can identify and practice ways to build our capacity to listen and to speak about race, faith and justice in a manner that builds up the Body of Christ. 

Humor (Hard times need godly laughter): 
 
I’m looking for some intellectual humor. Until then, answer me this:
Q: Why was the road nervous? 
Q: Why did the dinosaur refuse to wear deodorant?
 
(Answers on Wednesday! Email me directly if you’re dying to know.)
 
Good Word:
Philippians 2:3-4       
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others
 
Let us pray:
Holy God, 
you call us to venture where 
we cannot see the ending;
Forgive us for not trusting 
you to lead us.
 
You call us to venture by 
paths as yet untrodden;
Forgive us for not 
following you.
 
You call us to venture through 
perils unknown. 
Forgive us for allowing 
fear to paralyze us.
 
Give us faith to go out 
with courage, not knowing 
where we go, but only that
 your hand is leading us 
and your love supporting us. 
 
When we lack trust in you, 
have mercy and patience,  
and help us to be your light 
in the world. 
 
We ask this in Christ’s 
holy name. 
 
AMEN.
 
Much, much love to you all.
 
 Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
 

Friday 28 August 2020
 
Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends, 
 
Nancy MacGregor wrote an email seeking prayer for a student whose family home burned to the ground this week. She lifts her student up for prayer. 
 
Nancy doesn’t know this, but she is living into the sermon I’m preaching on Sunday about, of all things, midwives. Much to your surprise, perhaps, you, too, are living into this sermon. The care you bring to your vocation, the holy touch you bring to your neighbors, the ways you stand humbly for justice, the ways you invest in our community.
 
Midwives? you ask. 
 
See you on Sunday. Shiphrah and Puah (look them up) will be there. Invite a friend.
 
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
            Be amazed.
                        Tell somebody.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
 
* * *
 
PHOTO Challenge! 

From your Nurture Team — Congrats to Brandi Lowe for being the first to guess last Friday’s photo was of Gary Peterson!  

Here’s this week’s photo.

Visit http://fb.com/groups/firstpreschampaign to make your guesses, or email them to photos@firstpres.church.  
 
We are getting low on photos, so please join in the fun!  We would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to photos@firstpres.church.
  
* * *
 
Two things I miss. Chicago. Symphony. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syLm-9JyhuY
  
* * *
 
Christmas in August in Liberia via Atlanta (?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX3Hi5PGSDo

Thursday August 27^th, 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
 Dear Friends,
 
This prayer/poem of Sandburg’s has always moved me. I share it with you again. 
 
Prayers of Steel
Carl Sandburg  (1878-1967) 
 
Lay me on an anvil, O God.  
Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar.  
Let me pry loose old walls.  
Let me lift and loosen old foundations.  
  
Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.  
Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together. 
Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders. 
Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper through blue nights into white stars.
 
News:
 
BOOK STUDY: You are invited to a congregation-wide book study on race via Zoom. White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk about Race? by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018). Begins the week of September 14. Sign up by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. 217.356.7238 /  Patty@firstpres.church
 
Claudia Kirby says this about White Fragility:   “I first started to learn about racial terms and ideas during our studies and projects through our Compassion, Peace and Justice small group at our church.  My first eye opener book was, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.  It shook my life to the core. But as we have studied and discussed more and more, I realized that until I understand my own whiteness I cannot truly understand the brownness issues. Then change can happen. Christ tells us to love one another and learning about our “White Fragility” will get me closer to that humble love.” 
 
Join us for the BOOK STUDY!

A picture of our friends Ginny and Jack Waaler. 

 
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter): 
 
Sometimes the jokes are super corny. Please send your intellectual jokes asap. These come from our friends the Petersons. (Blame them!)
 
Why did the man get fired from his job at the coin factory? He stopped making cents.
Where did article on the famous owl research appear? In the “Who’s Who.”
Why didn’t the dental hygienist like her award? It was a plaque.
 
Good Word:
 
Exodus 1:15-22         
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 
 
17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 
 
18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 
 
20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 
 
Let us pray:
 
Holy God, in your mercy, 
forgive what we have been, 
help us to amend what we are, 
and direct what we shall be, 
so that we may delight in your will 
and walk in your ways, 
to the glory of your name. 
A M E N .
 
Much, much love to you all.
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church