“This is My Father’s World”

“This is My Father’s World”

This is my Father's world,

and to my listening ears all nature sings,

and round me rings the music of the spheres. 

This is my Father's world: 

I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees,

of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought. By Maltbie Babcock

I think this wonderful hymn explains so well the reason why Creation Care is so important!! I know that creation has played such an important part of my spiritual journey. I came to Christ praying on the beach at Ocean City, Maryland. Youth retreats at places like Manidokan, West River, Catoctin Mountains, and the Colorado Rockies, connected me with the beauty of God’s creation and, as I result, I found my heart,  mind, and spirit open to the reality and power of God.

This Sunday will be a special time of worship, as Rev. Doug will be leading us in a medley of hymns and songs that help us to experience the power and beauty of God’s creation as we sing! Our message will challenge us to think about what Jesus might say if he was preaching a sermon at Bel Air. Also, our Stewardship Team will be giving a gift to every family as you enter church this Sunday! As part of our Fathers’ Day celebration, we will be celebrating a couple baptisms!! And our Men’s Chorus will provide the special music at our 9:20 service.

I hope to see you this Sunday!

In Jesus,

Barry
PS Some good resources for Creation Care are
http://www.creationcare.org/
http://www.blessedearth.org/

Creation Care!!

Hello Friends,

²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground." ²⁹ Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.³⁰ And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground-everything that has life." And that is what happened. ³¹ Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:27-31

There was something very special when God created us and asked us to care for His creation! Creation Care is something that the Church should regularly practice, but growing up in the church, I never remember hearing much about that.  I am so thankful for growing up on a farm and seeing and living among so much of the variety of God's creation. Yet, not everyone understands that the church is called to be the leaders in caring for this earth!

We have been given a great gift - the world we live in and on! I want to invite you to join in a three week sermon series called Creation Care! We will look at what the Bible tells us about how important it is to be Green! We will start this week looking at some key insights from Genesis 1.

A couple of years ago, I read a great book called "Serve God and Save the Planet" by Dr. Matthew Sleeth. It helped me to see how one person can make a huge difference in living out Creation Care. Take a couple of minutes and watch this video about how he came to Christ and discover what became his life calling.

In Jesus,

Barry

http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=1723949&ct=6796965&undefined 

http://www.blessedearth.org/