An aspect of our relationship to God and to Jesus Christ, is that we must help those who cannot help themselves. As the scripture of Proverbs states, “Speak Up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” There are many people who, for one reason or another, are unable to help themselves, and because of that, We must be willing and able to step forward to help them. The history of our denomination requires us to be involved in situations where we are helping others. One reason that we are involved with others lives is because we are a “connectional church”, where through our apportionments to our conference and our own locally organized projects we can make a difference in peoples lives. Our Breakfast for Liberia is a great example of us being connectional with others and doing our Good Works for others.

We also reflected on the greatness that was Martin Luther King Jr and what he stood for. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a force to be reckoned with in the civil rights movement. His principle reason for being involved was that he believed that everyone should be treated equal. There should no longer be segregated schools, lunch counters, someone being forced to the back of the bus just because of the color of their skin. They should be judged by others because of the content of their character. That was his fight, and he fought through his own ministry, and through the government working to make changes that would change the country. Dr. King saw people like God wanted people to be seen, and wanted them to be treated as God wanted them to be treated. If you have an opportunity to read or listen to any of Dr. Kings speeches I would recommend it. My personal favorite is his “I have a Dream” speech, part of which reads “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” We as a people in this society are all created equal, and the more we should demand that our leaders treat us like God wants us to be treated, and the more we should treat others equally. Amen.

The discussion today was about Time, and not managing your time better, but realizing that as we go through our daily lives things will happen to us. These things that happen may be bad or good, and they don’t happen to us when it is convenient for us. Things that happen in life happen with God’s timing in mind and not ours. The scripture reference used was Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13 and a general description of it is that God proclaims that there is a time for everything. Our discussion today first focused on verse 8 which states “a time to love, and a time to hate”, especially when we are taught that we should “love your neighbor as yourself”. Seems that there are mixed messages but as we dig further into scripture, we find in Psalm 5:4 and 5 that we should take no pleasure in wickedness and to not tolerate the sins of the wicked. From this we can discern that we should hate the actions of the sinner but we should nurture the sinner themselves. We do this so that maybe the sinner will follow our example rather than continue participating in sin.

We also discussed verse 2 of the scripture which states that there is “a time to plant and a time to uproot”. We as Christians can continue to plant the good news in others hearts by leading by example. Living our lives and celebrating Christ and performing Good Works to leave our world a better place not only physically but spiritually. Celebrating Christ can also be done by what we are taught in Verse 7 which is a part of being “a time to be silent and a time to speak.” In my own spiritual journey I have been developing the gift of speaking so that I can continue to spread The Word of God to the local churches and to my own church. I must do what I can to no longer be silent, which means that my time to speak has arrived.

We also discussed Revelations 21: 1-6, which describes “a new heaven and a new earth”. The new earth that we have been waiting for, where God will walk among us and he will make everything new. I brought up some ideas that I had regarding what I thought it would look like. In my mind I think it would look like an ultra-modern city with tall, glass buildings. Roads that lead through the city and go out towards green, rolling hills where family and friends would enjoy each others company. Everyone would be healed from illnesses and injury, and would have no other stresses in their lives. The roads wouldn’t have any bumps, potholes or even road construction zones.

Christians must be prepared to encounter any scenario in life as we don’t know what we will run into. God has prepared us by telling us that there is a time for everything whether we like it or not. Just remember the motto that the Boy Scouts of America go by, “Be Prepared”, and be prepared for what life throws at us. Amen.

The beginning of 2011 found both Bobbi and I both battling health issues. Bobbi had a surgery that revealed to us that she had a very early but aggressive form of breast cancer that would need treatment. She went through 6 weeks of radiation and numerous follow up appointments and was declared cancer free as of this month. I started having dizziness and severe headaches that started in late 2010. Starting with a doctor appointment in May, a CT scan and a number of MRIs and an MRA, and a visit with an ENT doc and two neurologists, it was determined that I was having migraines that were inducing vertigo spells. No cure for them but with some monitoring we hope to find the trigger that is causing the migraine spells. Needless to say we are excited about moving on into 2012.

2012 will be bringing some changes to our household, our 17 year old will be graduating from high school this spring and will be starting the next stage of his life. Andrew has had an exciting year, finishing his junior year at MRHS. He became a certified Lifeguard last spring and became a lifeguard for the YMCA and Monmouth College. He spent two weeks this summer as a counselor for an All-Sports Camp at Monmouth College. Andrew also went through training and certification for SCUBA diving in Basic and Advanced, he took the training and started assisting his instructor in teaching SCUBA to some beginners as well. The school year has kept him busy with studies, he has also busy in the fall playing his trombone with marching band and with pep band for basketball season. He plans to continue working with the SCUBA Instructor in teaching more classes, and will be making a decision soon regarding which direction he wants to go regarding continuing his education.

Daniel had a busy year between school, sports and his friends. MR Junior Titans Basketball kept Daniel busy on weekends through mid-February. School kept him busy through the end of May, and so did Lions League Baseball with practices and games starting late in May. He continued with the baseball through the end of June, then was chosen to be on the Lions All-Star Traveling team. School started back up in September, and found Daniel on the gridiron playing football for the MR Junior High 7th grade team as a receiver and a running back on offense and a defensive back. His season was cut short though after a broken pinky finger put him in a cast to protect the break just next to a growth plate in the finger. School and playing his saxophone in band has been keeping Daniel busy too. Late fall came and so did basketball season, with practices starting in November. The team has been improving and Daniel has been having a good year as the floor general for the team.

Bobbi has had a busy year this year, not only with her health, but she was elected to the MR District 238 School Board. Monthly Board and committee meetings kept her busy but this fall they held a search for a new Superintendent to lead the district. Those extra meetings kept her busy. My work stayed consistent this year, but slowed down enough that they used me in Galena on Illinois Dept of Transportation inspections from September to November, spending the weeks up there and home on the weekends. We did get a weekend away to go to the Illinois Association of School Boards Conference in Chicago. We ate at the world famous Billy Goat Tavern and had a reception at the Shedd Aquarium for a couple of highlights of that trip.

We are looking forward to the adventures that we will be involved with in 2012 and hope that you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Uddin Family,

Jeff, Bobbi, Andrew and Daniel

First UMC has been very active with a number of different ministries and events that has presented the “Light of the World” to the community and I have been very proud of them for the work they have done.  I brought up a discussion about other ideas that have been implemented in other areas, as possibilities for future ministries.  The first ministry I brought up was a ministry that exists in Hayward California and developed by Community of Grace.  It is an Auto Repair Ministry that was started in March of 1998, that serves those who may not be able to afford to get a car repaired under normal means.  People that want to be a part of the ministry must apply for acceptance, but if accepted the service and/or repairs that they need will be completed at the cost of the parts only.  Imagine how nice that would be for those who cannot afford repairs but still need their vehicles.  The second was an organization known as Alliance Medical Ministry that was started in the Raleigh, North Carolina area in 2003.  It is a full service medical ministry whose mission is a “Faith-led medical ministry serving the working uninsured in need of affordable health care.  They averaged 1,100 patient visits per month in the second half of 2010 which is a 20% increase over the previous year.

To conclude, I tied the whole concept together by using an example of an LED flashlight.  A single LED itself is bright, but with a group of LEDs bundled together, the light can be extremely bright.  So it can be with our church and the congregation coming together to work as one bright light, spreading the word and the light of God.

The three Laws that I referred to were the Law of Solid Ground, the Law of Empowerment and the Law of Sacrifice. Jesus started his life already having the Law of Influence, because he came to the Earth with a name and a story already, God supplied that for him through his teachings and through angels. Because of the nature of Jesus’ ministry, he was going to have to have people trust him, which is the Law of Solid Ground. If a leader doesn’t act do things that will establish trust through his employees, followers, etc., then they will never be able to truly lead. They have to be standing on solid ground to be able to lead effectively.

After the Evaluation contest, we moved on into the International Speech Contest.  The ISC is a wonderful forum to participate in, this was my second year and I think I was more nervous this year than last year.  Last year I didn’t know what to expect so I went into the speech ready to have some fun.  That changed after I found out that I had been the only one that went in planning on using notes for the speech.  Needless to say I wanted to compete at the same level as the rest of the participants, so I did my best and went without notes.  I had a blast and I felt like I did a good job even without the notes, and feedback from the crowd was positive as well.  This year went well, but I felt more nervous this year than last.  I felt that I prepared well and that the script for the speech was ready.  The nerves were running overtime though and I think it was more that I was in the competing mode rather than just surviving.  Once I got started though it went very well.

Our Toastmasters Club has given me the confidence to continue pursuing excellence in the speaking world and I look forward to my next event.

Forgiveness is a very important quality and ability to possess.  We all do things that don’t follow the teachings of Jesus, some people do them on purpose where others may not realize that they are.  We as humans are a broken people, none of us live up to the examples that God, and Jesus have set for us.  I commented on a situation that happened to me just a few weeks ago (Feb 25th) and how that motivated me to take on this topic for my message.  I had woken up early in the morning (3:00 A.M.) with the realization that something just didn’t seem quite right.  Turned out that I had let my dog out before we went to bed for his nightly pottie break before bedtime.  I had apparently forgotten about letting him back in because I found him at the door just waiting for me.  I felt horrible because it is not like it is summertime in west central Illinois and it was warm.  It was in single digits and I left my dog in a situation that could have been deadly to him.  Needless to say I think he forgave me because he still likes to get close to me and sit in my recliner with me in the evenings, even though I made his life rough for the first ten minutes he was back in as I poked and proded him to make sure nothing was frozen.

  An example of the ultimate in forgiveness was the time back in 1981 when Pope John Paul II was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca, just because of what he stood for.  After recovering from the gunshot wounds that almost killed him, the Pope reached out to his attacker and befriended him and his family to the point where even when the Pope was on the last legs of his mortal journey in early 2005, Agca wrote letters to him wishing him well in his battle.  How would we act if we were thrust into the same position the Pope was.  Would we forgive our attacker?  Could we forgive our attacker?  Jesus when dying on the cross, said “Father, forgive them, for then don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)(NLT)  Could you imagine hanging on the cross, hands and feet on fire because of the nails that were driven into the, and  still forgiving those who did it?  It would definitely be a test of faith.

Please remember as we go through life, to forgive those who sin against us, so the Father will forgive us of our sins.

 Have you taken a special vacation?  One of the topics I have spoke on was a special vacation I took with my oldest son.  I had the opportunity to attend an Adult Leader Training Session down at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimmaron, New Mexico.  We felt that this could be a chance of a lifetime so the two of us signed up and we drove out the following summer.  We made it into a vacation by visiting relatives in Des Moines, IA. and Fort Collins, CO. as two of our stops on our trip.  We also stopped at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. to check things out.  Andrew and I had an awesome time during this trip, as I attended my daily training sessions he had a group of other youth his age and they participated in a number of activities including dayhikes.  We returned home at the end of the week with many memories from our trip, and I have used portions for different speeches I have done.

 First, start with what you know and make a list.  Write out your list and continue to add to it as you think of new events to add.  This will be your best resource for stories that are the meat of your speeches.  The best formula for speech writing is to tell a story, make a point, tell another story, and make another point.  I learned this from studying Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, who was quoting another great speaker.  Your resource of stories from your own life is what will make the speech interesting and relatable to your audience.  You definitely want to include the bad, or “what I learned from this” type stories as well.

 We as speakers are our greatest resource for our speeches, be sure to use plenty of your own stories, people can and will relate to these and it will make the point you are trying to make much more identifiable to your audience.