2025 E-Navigator                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Address: P.O. Box 9, 

                                             Syracuse, IN   46567                                                                     

                                                        Email: syrcalv@kcaccess.com

                                                 Website: www.syracusecalvaryumc.org

 

Do you love your neighbor?

When Jesus was asked about the most important commandment in the whole Bible, he said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself." The first part, if I may be a bit glib, is easy. All you have to do is think for a while about how badly you messed up your life, and how miraculously God saved you, and you really can't help but love him. You can love him by yourself in the desert, like the ancient saints used to. Loving people while living in a world surrounded by them, on the other hand, is much harder.

That's because people are annoying. People are the ones who drive slow in front of you, take fifty-eight items into the ten-items-or-less lane, play their music too loud after your bedtime, and come to your workstation five minutes before closing with something urgent that's going to take an hour. Who can love their neighbors, honestly? Yet that's what we're commanded to do.

Many of us think that we're loving people because we love the people who we spend a lot of time around, the people who love us. What credit is it, really, if we love our friends? As Jesus said, "Even the pagans do that." I think there's a really good way to measure how loving we really are, and it's by gauging the way we treat two groups of people who are the hardest to love: strangers and the people who hate us.

The Bible does talk a lot about loving strangers. It usually refers to a few specific types of them: widows, the fatherless, and people who are traveling through the land. The common theme between those people, and the thing that makes loving strangers such a sacrificial act, is that most of them are utterly unable to give anything back to you, except perhaps for the joy you get from serving. The quintessential story of stranger-love in the Bible, the parable of the Good Samaritan, was compelling because the Hebrew and the Samaritan were strangers, not even from the same country. If they'd been best friends, the tale might not have had the same impact. Giving to strangers strikes at the heart of selfishness, which even in saved people, is often the strongest instinct there is. The last time I went out of my way to really help a stranger was several months ago. When did you last part with a major chunk of money that you really shouldn't have given away? When did you last pick up something that somebody dropped or even let someone cut in line in front of you?

I've heard other Christian writers talk about how people often speak of love using economic metaphor. You "invest" in a relationship. You "spend" time with people, and you "pay" them attention. Trust is "earned." Words are power, and without even realizing it, we think of love the same way we think of money, and the end result is that we frequently only spend our love when there is something in it for us. Showing love - which usually means parting with our time and/or our money - to strangers gives us nothing in return. To use economic metaphor, it gives us no return on investment. There's no compelling reason to do it at all, except that God says to. Because there's nothing in it for us, because there's no reason to do it except for personal conviction, it's a great measure of how loving we really are.

The second way to gauge our love is to see how we react to the people who don't love us. This might mean different things for all of us. For many of my Christian friends, it simply means the people who have different Christian beliefs. The most natural reaction is to lash out against these people with the pain, indignation, and frustration than their actions seem to deserve. Yet again, what credit is it to us if we treat the people well who treat us well and treat the people poorly who treat us poorly?

Actually, many of the same things that made it difficult to love strangers also make it difficult to love these people, and those difficulties are often multiplied. While loving a stranger is hard because you don't gain anything and may never see them again, loving a co-worker is hard because you see them almost every day, and loving a parent or spouse is hard because it's such a deep emotional relationship. Rather than simply gaining nothing from your love, you actually stand to lose a lot, by opening yourself up to the pain of rejection or the chance that they may take advantage of your kindness. If you've ever loved someone who's hard to love, you know what I'm talking about, and you probably understand why it's such a rare occurrence, even among Christians. But the difficulty of it is precisely what makes it another accurate gauge of whether we're loving people or not.

I think that most of us, upon looking honestly at how we treat the strangers and the haters in our lives, have no choice but to admit that we fall pretty short of the standard that Christ laid out. Those people, though, represent the pinnacle of love. There's no reward for giving them time, attention, or money. Yet, as Jesus said, what reward can there be if we merely give people the love or unlove that their actions deserve? We are called on to love unconditionally. That is the example set by Jesus, dying for you and me rather than giving us the condemnation that our actions so justly deserve. Let us all strive to follow his example, spreading love and kindness to friends, strangers, and enemies alike.

 

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul

                                              Pastor Paul Burris Weekly Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Church: 574-457-3778 Pastor’s cell phone: 260-609-9260

Church Office Hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm

 

Calvary United Methodist Church

Breakthrough Prayer Initiative

Miraculous God of Breakthroughs, speak, show, and inspire us where your Spirit is leading next for Calvary Church and in our own lives. Open doors that will usher in a new season of creativity, faithfulness, and fruitfulness in the name of Jesus. And together grant us boldness, courage, and power without limits to step through the doors you open, in Christ’s name. Amen.

 

Upper Room

 

The January/February issues are available in the narthex for your free copy.

 

Please Pray for our church family and friends: Paige Maloney (Paige’s mother, Joanie), Scott Abbs, Brandon Conley contracted lime disease now has ALS was given only 2 years, Bob Vallera.Tim broke hip fighting infection, Anne Mullet health issues, Becky Fox Alzheimers, Jemma cancer, Joyce Miller undergong radiation, Nancy Brake has Alzheimer’s,  Evenly-Jennifer Harrel’s sister went into cardiac arrest, Jason help with addiction, Cindy Taylor Alzheimers is getting worse, Lisa Glon’s coworker Tina has breast cancer, Joyce Selvey and family, Barry Lambert had heart surgery and is having severe complications, Jim Hamby has heart problems, Daniel Hamby health is declining, Kenny Harrell, Marcus possible stroke, Yvonne having chemo treatments, Mitch Stiddims had lung surgery is on chemo, Ashlynn Korn was just diagnosed with Leukemia , Mona Lou Brumm hip replacement, Aaron Meyer recoverying from surgery, Unspoken prayer request.

 

NOTE: Only names written on the prayer cards, given directly to Pastor Paul, or called into the office will be on the prayer list and Guidelines for Prayer. Prayer requests will remain on the list until the person who requested it asks to have it removed.

 

                                                     

One person can make a difference!

 

NURSERY! Needs your help to take care of the little ones for an hour during Worship! If the Lord lays it on your heart to help guide these little ones to know Jesus, please sign up for Nursery time on one Sunday a month!

 

Where Are you called to Serve at Calvary?

 

As part of our recent (ongoing) Prayer Initiative, we have all been challenged to come to a better understanding as to how the Spirit is moving in our daily lives. A big part of the process is coming to the realization that we have all been gifted with special talents that are to be utilized in building the kingdom at Calvary UMC and in the community that we serve. In I Corinthians chapter 12 Paul reminds us that every gift from God is special and important. We are created by God, and He loves us. By acknowledging the spiritual gifts from God, we are glorifying Him. Each gift has the ability to help draw others to a relationship with the Lord. God’s people are like a body with many parts, yet those parts work together. Even though there are many people in the world, we can work together to share His love and glory. Every person has a purpose and is gifted by the Holy Spirit.

 

  

We are looking for people who are willing to provide much needed leadership which would enable us to carry out God’s mission here at Calvary. There are several areas, and committees you could serve such as: Trustees, Worship, Finance & Stewardship, Administrative Council, Staff-Parish Relations, Missions, Congregational Care, Prayer Team, Funeral Dinners, Nominations etc. etc… Please carefully consider where God might be calling you to be in ministry. If you feel you have been called, or need more information, concerning any area of ministry please feel free to contact Pastor Paul or Roz Schwartz. We are all part of the same body here at Calvary. It is going to take a group effort for us to make a difference in the community that we serve.

                                      

                                                                  

Food Pantry

 

Food Pantry Sunday is the first Sunday of each month. Specific items you can bring for February are Apple sauce and Mac and cheese. These items can be placed in the narthex and a volunteer from our church will take them to the Syracuse Food Pantry.

The Outreach Missions continue to support the food pantry will be Pack the Pantry with food four times a year.

 

Please keep the ones in need in your prayer!

 

 

February 2025 Church Calendar

 

MONTHLY CALENDAR     

                                                                                                                                           

February 2025

          Tuesdays         Ladies Bible Study                                       1:00 pm (4, 11, 18, and 25)

14       Friday             Free Community Dinner                             5:30 – 6:30 pm

25        Tuesday         Gideons                                                         6:00 – 8:30 pm

26        Wednesday   R.O.M.E.O.S.                                   11:30 am at Channel Marker

26        Wednesday   Martha/Ruth Circle                                       1:00 pm

   Calvary United Methodist Welcomes our community.

Our long-standing Free Community Dinner (2^nd Friday of the month) is scheduled for Friday February 14, from 5:30-6:30. Take-out or dine in options are available.

Family Fun Night is canceled for now.

Adult Sunday School is now studying Psalms.

Greeter for February is Gary Green.

Reminder to get your Project 52 cards into the office. Thank you!

We need a volunteer to take over J.U.L.I.E.T.S. if you are interested, please call the office.

                                                       â€‹Three Simple Rules Study

February 2, 9, 16, 23

Sunday, February 2. Pastor Paul will introduce our month-long study in worship. Please plan to stay after Worship for snacks and conversation on Three Simple Rules by Bishop Rueben Job. For your devotions this week: Galatians 5:22-23.

Sunday, February 9. Do No Harm, topic of Pastor Paul’s message and worksheet in Sunday Bulletin. For your devotions this week: Romans 12:1-8.

=Sunday, February 16, Do Good, topic of Pastor Paul’s message and worksheet in Sunday Bulletin. For your devotions this week: Romans 12:9-21.

Sunday, February 23, Stay in Love with God, topic of Pastor Paul’s message and worksheet in Sunday Bulletin… Plan to stay after Worship for snacks and conversation on our month’s study and applications for the ministry of Calvary Church. For your devotions this week: Psalm 10-5:4, Colossians 2:6-7

 

 

                                   Altar Flowers Needed                                

                                                                        Every Sunday

 

If you would like to contribute or donate to altar flowers, in honor or remembrance please call the church office at (457-3778) or email the church at syrcalv@kcaccess.com. Some ideas are flowers for anniversaries, birthdays, our children, and grandchildren and to God’s glory. NOTE: If you have silk flowers you no longer need, consider donating them to the church. Sherri will use them to make arrangements for the church. You can leave them on a shelf upstairs across from the Peace Room.

                                      

Thoughts from Bashor Home

Sometimes it can feel like we get stuck in a rut in life. We all have been in or are in a place where it feels like we are at our limit, we have reached our breaking point. For those of you who have been in a tough situation, you might know that a relationship with God is oftentimes most powerful when we feel our weakest. I wanted to share some scripture from 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” So many of us have experienced hard things in life, but we have also endured to get to this point. This verse from 1 Corinthians tells us that “God is faithful.” Not only does God care for each and every one of us, but God is actively involved in our lives. Know that God is faithful to you, always wanting to help when you are struggling.

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