Loving and Learning in Lodi, July 19, 2020    

                                     Lodi United Methodist Church

“There’s no place like home,” says Dorothy in one of my favorite movies The Wizard of Oz. It is a sentiment most of us would agree with most of the time, but during this Covid crisis most of us have been home far more than we would like!  Our scripture lesson this week “The Prodigal Son”, Luke 15: 11-32, teaches us many lessons about what it means to come home and to be at home with God, with ourselves, and with the community. 

Through the penitent prodigal and his self-righteous older brother, this rich parable reminds us that even more important than where we are, is who we are!  While the older brother hunkered down in his father’s house, he was never really at home with God, with himself or with others. May our hearts be open to the Father’s embrace so that they may become a sacred space. As God lives within us and works through us, we will always be at home - in Kansas, in Oz, or right here in Lodi!

Pastor Pam

Luke 15:11-32    The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Hymns:    “How Can We Name a Love”                       #111    (Tune:  This Is My Father’s World)

                “Near to the Heart of God”                           #472 

                “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”                       #557 

           

Announcements:  ~As you know, our reopening committee is hard at work. They are gathering information and working on plans to reopen.  Please send back the survey information, as soon as possible, so they can begin to move forward in hopes of reopening some time in August or whenever things are safe.   

~Please save your plastic caps & lids for a “buddy bench” at Sylvia Anderson’s great nephew, Braden’s school.

School My Sheep update from Katrina:   We collected $880.00 on our Facebook Fundraiser! These monies along with our congregational gifts have allowed us to send 175 kids back to school!

15 Preschoolers 

50 Cloverleaf Elementary 

50 Non-Cloverleaf Students

60 Middle School and High School students

     Thank you is not enough. What an amazing church we have that we can still meet needs despite the pandemic.

     We're working with the schools and are looking at a drive-through supply giveaway, possibly on Aug. 22nd. It would really help if we knew whether we have volunteers available:  email or call Katrina please.

     We aren't collecting any more adult clothing as we're at capacity and still unsure of what a clothing giveaway may look like right now.   Stay tuned! Stay Safe!

I just returned from being out of town.  I will have the offering and balances updated next week.  Thank you for your patience.  Dottie

*****Pastor Pam is settling into the parsonage and our little Lodi.  She does not have her home office computer set up as of yet, but her phone number and e-mail (which she gets on her phone) are open to everyone! 

Rev. Pamela Buzalka       (216)-704-0307        pamelab23@hotmail.com