Welcome to the Marbury Church of God official website! We hope you’ll be enriched by what you see here. Remember: “God is good, all the time!” Please browse all the links, and come spend time with us when you can.
Testing a plugin for John 3:16 [+/-], Psalm 23 [+/-], Isaiah 50:10 [+/-], Psalm 116:1-4 [+/-] and similar kinds of references
Our church is known for its prayer ministry. People sometimes will call just to get a name on the prayer list, because it is well known that we take prayer seriously, not being unrealistic but asking in faith, and, often, seeing miraculous results. But there’s a curious thing about human nature: it’s easy to just move on to the next need, the next urgent problem, and lose track of the victories we have seen along the way. So as a way of reminding one another of God’s goodness, some of our leaders got together and constructed an “answers to prayer” tree. It was set up in the narthex on New Years Day 2008, and will remain there until the turn of the next new year. Here’s how it works.
In the basket to the left of the “tree” is a supply of paper “leaves” and some mini-clothespins. Whenever a significant answer to prayer has been received, members are encouraged to take a “leaf,” then write, if they choose, the nature of the answer on the back of the leaf, and using one of the mini-clothespins, attach that leaf to the tree. Each week a few more leaves appear on the tree. We’ll let that process go forward and see how “fruitful” our tree is by the end of the year.
Over the last several months, some members of the congregation have committed themselves to a ministry designed to help bring hope for some of our neighbors. As a result, the Alpha Room (our name for the small building which was the original structure for the church’s meetings beginning back in 1912) has been converted from a Sunday School room to a clothing bank, the Closet of Hope.
Closet of Hope
This ministry was officially launched August 3 of 2007. Members have collected new or “nearly-new” clothing to be made available to those who may need good clothes for school or work. Open the first and third Friday of every month, other hours by appointment. For information or to donate clothing, contact Jennie at 301-753-5877 or DeLoris at 301-753-5192.
Many friends and supporters of the church’s ministry have brought new or “good as new” clothes to be sorted and displayed by our hardworking volunteers for the benefit of those who may be in need. This is not a thrift shop; the clothing is not sold, but is made available for free. Already some families have been able to benefit, including at least one whose home had been lost to a fire.
In connection with this ministry a fledgling food pantry ministry is also being established. Foodstuffs are brought by church members on the third Sunday of each month, and presented in a processional as part of our offertory. Our goal and prayer is to become a resource for the community, a place where the love of God is not just talked about (though we love to talk about it!) but also demonstrated in multiple ways.
a litany
I am deeply connected with all of humanity, and with every person in particular.
So long as anyone remains unloved, I am lonely.
So long as anyone remains hungry, I am not satisfied.
So long as anyone remains in need, I am poor.
So long as anyone remains imprisoned, I am not free.
So long as anyone remains in danger, I am not safe.
So long as anyone suffers from illness, I am not well.
But when my heart aches for the unloved, Christ is with me.
And whoever spends themselves on behalf of the hungry, Christ is with them.
And for those who dare to see the needs of others, Christ is their light.
And for the prisoner, Christ is the open door.
And for the fearless warrior for peace, Christ is the shield.
And to those who attend to the wounds and sickness of this world,
Christ, the Great Physician, lends his skill, his care and compassion.
Bob Buehler, December 2006
Edge: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE By Steven Pinker
An excerpt:
The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon, visible at the scale of millennia, centuries, decades, and years. It applies over several orders of magnitude of violence, from genocide to war to rioting to homicide to the treatment of children and animals. And it appears to be a worldwide trend, though not a homogeneous one.
Friday evening I was driving through the rain.
It was a beautiful drive, in a way; thick fog, bursts of heavy rain, down a country road where I was late for a homegrown arts program in a little part of the world that nobody goes to unless that’s where they’re going. As I drove through the rain, late for my meeting, I thought of those nearby who have no car to drive. I remembered the warm bed and the dry clothes waiting for me at home, and I thought of those nearby whose roofs would leak this very night, who would wake up to a day of cleaning as best they could the damp and the mildew that can’t be separated from their lives. What good does it do, I asked myself, to sing of a God of love, without letting that love somehow get past me and to someone else? Of course, the benefits I enjoy, plenty of food (too much!), a warm place to sleep, a means to go from here to there, and people nearby who care about me: these are the things that are characteristic, are they not, of the kingdom of God. ”Give us this day our daily bread” we are taught to pray; indicating that the wise man who taught that prayer thought it appropriate for everyone who prays it to have enough to eat. ”If we have food and covering, we shall therewith be content” says the apostle who carried that wise man’s message to the nations. But oh, how far from content we are!
It’s hard enough even to be content with food and covering for oneself, since it seems to be built into the modern mind to want so much more: not just clothes but fashion, not just good solid food but the best we can find to satisfy a discriminating palate, not just a warm place to sleep but a house with many mansions, prepared for us right here on earth. We want to own, to have enough and to spare; not to spare for someone else, of course, but to spare for our own rainy days, for that rainbow’s end of retirement, for the days when we can use our savings in toys and travel; maybe even for our children, if we’re nobly responsible; but not for someone else’s children, not for someone outside of our circle.
But ancient wisdom speaks and says, Woe to those who add house to house and field to field (Isaiah 5:8 [+/-])! And I’m not content with my covering nor with my food if someone is cold and hungry.
I could tell stories. I know what it’s like to be on the street, without a warm place to sleep. I’ve slept in fields and under picnic tables by the side of the highway, drowsed in cars and in doorways, pulled an all-nighter in a bus station, crashed in a chair in someone else’s apartment, lived out of a suitcase, lost the suitcase, set out on the road with the clothes on my back and a borrowed pair of shoes, walked all day for days on end. In a pinch, no doubt I have the skills to live such a life again; but Providence has allowed me to echo the words of Jacob in Genesis 32:10 [+/-]: ”With my staff I crossed over this Jordan, but now I have become two bands.”
With such blessing comes responsibility. On this comfortable Sunday afternoon, comfortable in a house I can call my own (based on a debt to match) with my family nearby, food in the cupboard and cars in the driveway, I think of those within my reach who need to know that the simple blessings of a warm place to sleep and enough food for the day are not out of their reach. Lacking great financial resources, what can I do? I can speak, write, show up as an advocate and say that as a Christian I know God pronounces blessings on the poor, and as an American I hold dear the ideal of equality, and as a human being I have to remind all my neighbors that we are in this together, and none of us can be comfortable while some of us are cold and hungry. So I try to help anyone I can find who is making an effort to ensure that food, housing, health care, transportation, sanitation, the basic decent comforts of life, are not denied to anyone because of the discontent of others like me who already have more than enough.
The Marbury Church of God held its annual Costume Party on Saturday October 27 at 6:00 -8:00 PM in the church fellowship hall.
Thanks to all who came! We had 51 persons in all, children and adults. Thanks to Lisa Abell for doing the pony rides, and a special thanks to Cathi Tanner for all the planning and the games, and to all the workers and helpers who put together the food, decorations, games, prizes and activities for the evening; and thanks to God who smiled on us and gave us the first dry day after several days of (much-needed!) rain!
ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Marbury Church of God will hold its annual Costume Party this Saturday at 6:00 -8:00 PM in the church fellowship hall. There will be
and a great time of fun and fellowship for children, youth and adults. We always enjoy the creative costumes that appear on the scene. This annual event is sponsored by the Board of Christian Education. SEE YOU THERE
Pastor’s Report 2007
Annual Business Meeting,
Marbury Church of God, September 20, 2007
Highlights
Pastor’s History
Pastor Shannon Ordained
Recent Gains and Losses
Accomplishments
New Compassionate Ministries
Renewal
The Present and Future
Natural Church Development
Local Outreach
Christian Education
Technology
Changes Past and Future
Milestones
In September 1996 when I brought my first pastor’s report, we celebrated the church’s 85th anniversary. Already some of us are talking about the 100th, which comes around in 2011. Many people look to the church as a place of stability in the midst of uncertainty and change; at the same time, it is our mission to change the world. Change is both difficult and exciting. The last two years especially have been times of change, much of it difficult, for our congregation. Many of our dearly loved elders have passed on. Others have relinquished their duties and some have become homebound. All this is part of the normal life cycle of a church, and if these losses by attrition were the whole story, no church would survive the passing of its first generation of leaders. A recent review has shown that of those now attending on a typical Sunday morning, most were not a part of this congregation ten years ago. Of those who were, even though each of us is ten years older than we were then, on average we are younger! The challenge has always been one of learning how to attract newer, younger members while upholding the faith and values that have been passed on to us.
Highlights - See sidebar
Local Focus,
Community
Ministry, Transformation
You may notice that I have quietly been promoting the vision statement adopted last January by the Church of God Ministries in Anderson, Indiana:
Transforming Culture by Being the Body of Christ
. Charles County and Marbury are changing around us, and with us. We have the opportunity to become known as a
Christ-centered, active, community church
, focused on fulfilling the
Great Commission
, to
go make disciples
of all nations, by living out the
Great Commandment
: to
love God with all our heart, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourself
. We’re going to be making a lot of effort in the coming months to be sure our neighbors know that we are here, ready to love them to life in Jesus’ name.
