4/26/2023 6:55:45 AM
Wednesday, April 26
May 2023
E-Navigator
Address: P.O. Box 9, Syracuse, IN 46567
Email: syrcalv@kcaccess.com:
Website: www.syracusecalvaryumc.org
Church: 574-457-3778
From Pastor Paul:
One of my favorite Easter stories comes from the Gospel of John. It takes place a few days after Easter, Jesus has appeared to the disciples twice now. And one day Peter and a few other disciples decide to go ï¬shing. It seems like a perfectly normal thing to do, after all they have spent the majority of their adult lives ï¬shing.
And so now that their time following Jesus around Galilee seems to have come to an end they return to ï¬shing.
But they were not very successful. They ï¬shed all night and they did not catch a single ï¬sh. They are discouraged and frustrated, and then just after dawn they hear a man standing on the beach asking them if they have no ï¬sh. When they honestly reply that they do not, he tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat because there they will ï¬nd ï¬sh.
So, ï¬guring it can't hurt to try, they cast their nets to the other side. And they cannot even haul the nets into the boat because they were so full with ï¬sh.
Immediately they recognize that this stranger on the beach is the risen Jesus and they quickly go to shore to meet him, build a ï¬re, and feast on ï¬sh with him.
I love that the disciples, at a loss for what to do now that Christ has risen, return to something familiar. They return to what they know.
But they ï¬nd that it does not quite work out for them anymore. And here comes this man with a ridiculous suggestion that the problem is simply that they are ï¬shing from the wrong side of the boat! The man tells them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. Like all ï¬shermen at the time, the disciples were ï¬shing from the left side of the boat. This is because the steering apparatus was located on the right side of the boat and thus ï¬shing from that side risked tangling the net with the steering apparatus when a full net of ï¬sh was raised into the boat.
This meant ï¬shing from the right side of the boat could result in damage to the boat or the net, something any ï¬sherman would want to avoid. And yet the disciples ï¬nd, when they allow the risen Jesus to change their old ï¬shing habits they get an abundant catch.
We are so like those disciples returning to ï¬shing. After celebrating the Easter season many of us return to our old habits, routines, and patterns of life. Like the disciples, we too return to what we know.
Jesus does not admonish the disciples for returning to their old way of ï¬shing. Instead he offers them a small but signiï¬cant transformation, a twist on the old way that has huge results.
The risen Jesus offers us a twist on the old way, we are called to respond to the Resurrection with fearless love that transforms even our smallest habits, routines, and ways of life.
What would it look like for you to ï¬sh on the other side? What would it look like for you to go about everyday life responding to the call of the risen Christ?
Cast your nets to the other side. Allow familiar ways to be transformed by resurrection love.
See You Sunday, Pastor Paul
Pastor Paul Burris Weekly Office Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 9:00 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
Breakthrough Prayer Initiative
Calvary United Methodist Church
Join us in prayer renewal of our own hearts and of Calvary’s life together and ministries for our community and world. Please devote 5 to 10 minutes two or three times per week, offering this prayer and then listening for Spirit-nudges for any area of Calvary’s life.
God, please break through and open doors to new
hopes, dreams and possibilities for our church and
in our own lives…and we will surrender and faith-
fully follow Christ onto the open road adventure of
Your new and unknown future.
May your will be done. Amen!
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Project 52
You’ve probably heard the term, “Project 52,” around Calvary. It is sponsored by our Missions Team and the idea is to give a dollar a day or more (preferably as one payment for the year) to one or more to one of the many outreach missions we support. Examples are Redbird Mission in Kentucky and Habitat for Humanity. These offerings also include local missions such as the Syracuse Food Pantry. The campaign is held the first two months of the year but gifts may be given to any mission at any time. This year $946 was given to ten different missions. “One person can make a difference.
NURSERY NEEDS YOUR HELP: One Sunday a month if you could help in the nursery with the precious little ones that would be great! Please contact the church office to set up your Sunday.
You will be a blessing to the little ones and you will be blessed!
Mothers Day
Take time to thank your Mother for all that she does for you or has done for you! Pray for her daily! Pray for many blessings for her! Many blessings for all of the Mothers as we celebrate Mother’s Day!
MONTHLY CALENDAR
May 2023
1 Mon. Purple Hearts Ladies, 9:00 am, activities room
Trustees meeting 6 pm
4 Thurs. Staff Parish meeting, 5:00 pm, Fellowship Hall
6 Sat. Bake & Plant Sale 9 – 1 pm
9 Tues. Ladies Bible Study, 1:00-2:00 pm, activities room
Church Council meeting 6 pm
11 Thurs. Red Cross, 12 - 6:00 pm
12 Fri. Community Dinner, 5:30-7:00 pm, Fellowship Hall
14 Sun. Mother’s Day!
15 Mon. Purple Hearts Ladies, 9:00 am activities room
16 Tues. Gideon’s 6 – 8:30 pm
23 Tues Ladies Bible Study, 1:00-2:00 pm
24 Wed. R.O.M.E.O.S 11:30 am Hammers
26 Fri., Friday Fun Night at 5:30 pm at the church. Details to follow!
28 Sun. Pentecost Sunday
31 Wed. Martha / Ruth Circle 1 pm
Food Pantry
Food Pantry Sunday is the first Sunday of each month. Specific items you can bring for May are flour and vegetable oil. These items can be placed in the narthex and a volunteer from our church will take it to the Syracuse Food Pantry.
Altar Flowers Needed
Every Sunday in May
If you would like to contribute altar flowers, sign your name on the date of the hallway calendar at the north end of the building, or call the church office at (457-3778) or email the church at syrcalv@kcaccess.com. You may deliver or we will have someone deliver for you. 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. Mary Hursh will use them to create altar arrangements with them.
Bashor Home Celebrates 100 years of Ministry
Our United Methodist Bashor Children’s Home, we nurture God’s most precious gift; His children. We work with children who have been through horrendous storms in their lives. They may have been abused, neglected, have addiction problems, or have no family to take care of them. As a result, they have become withdrawn, angry, or guarded. The “dirt” they have encountered in their young lives is with then when they come to Bashor.
Every day we work with these children to help them wash away this dirt and help them discover their true beauty beneath it. We help children to love themselves, trust others, and care about the world around them. We help children find joy and a sense of peace. We do this by showing them unconditional love.
Please pray for these children that we have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives and give them ”Help for Today and Hope for Tomorrow”
Bake and Plant Sale
Event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Anything that doesn’t sell will be available to the congregation on Sunday at a discount.
If the weather is nice we may set up the bake sale under a tent outdoors to draw people in.
Volunteers are needed for 8-10 a.m., 10-12 a.m. and 12-2 p.m.
Other items/Help needed for Plant/Bake sale on May 6:
Gently used, CLEAN plant containers, garden décor and tools.
- Any seed starts that you’ve grown and have thinned out.
- House plants and any divided perennials.
Bake Sale – would LOVE a chairperson(s) to oversee this.
- Cookies, brownies, pies, cakes, quiches, breads, casseroles.
- Any plates, platters and other dishes that you are willing to donate.
Amy Rensberger
Report on Breakthrough Prayer Initiative
Presented to Administrative Council for Approval, March 14, 2023
Calvary United Methodist Welcomes our Community
Calvary United Methodist Church in Syracuse offers several events for the community this spring.
Join us for our new Friday Family Fun Night each 4th Friday of the month, May 26. We’ll begin the evening at 5:30 with a free light meal (no carryout for this) and move into games for the whole family (all ages, young and old). Everyone is welcome, families and individuals.
Our long-standing Free Community Dinner (2nd Friday of the month) is scheduled for Friday, May 12, from 5:30-6:30. Take out or dine in options are available.
Our May Friday Fun Night will be held May 26, beginning at 5:30.
Saturday, May 6, our Bake and Plant Sale returns, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This indoor event features luscious baked goods and plants for your spring garden.
Friday evening, May 12, we offer our Free Community Dinner from 5:30-6:30.
And Friday, May 26, join us for the Friday Family Fun night beginning at 5:30.
July 23, After Worship Dinner with Birthday-theme Tables and entertainment, Carol Elder and Linda O’Connor
Additional Events
Community Center 4-6 week courses, Dan Sharp
Series for parents, Lauren Jamison
September 17, Reunion Sunday, with special singing group, Carol Elder