Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-03-27
Friday 27 March 2020
Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
I miss seeing you face-to-face.
Please plan to worship on Sunday with your church. Last week there was streaming trouble with the whole world trying to stream at the same time. Sorry for that glitch. We think we have a good ‘work-around’ for this week. Find us on Facebook OR firstpres.live If Facebook doesn’t “stream,” which is beyond our control, go to
See you on Sunday!
* * *
Many in our church have a close relationship with the Pakistan Presbyterian Education Board (PEB), and most of us have met Executive Director Veda Gill. She reports,
“The PEB main office is working in shifts . . . the poorest of the poor are going to suffer the most, either by the virus or by hunger. It’s a heart wrenching situation.”
Explore the PEB website: https://www.peb.edu.pk/
Veda is concerned about her students and about finances, in that order. Our Pathways to Peace/Pakistan Study Group will keep us informed about how we can help. For now, let us pray for Veda.
And as we pray for Veda and PEB, how can your church pray for you? What do you need?
What do others around you need?
* * *
During this surreal season of Coronavirus, focus on things besides television news.
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
Be amazed.
Tell somebody.
I can’t wait to worship with you again on Sunday.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
In last week’s movie suggestion, I forgot to make clear the movie I meant. The 2007 version of Death at A Funeral is a hoot. The later version, less so. Roger Ebert rated the original directed by Frank Oz three out of four stars and commented: “The movie is part farce (unplanned entrances and exits), part slapstick (misbehavior of corpses) and part just plain wacky eccentricity. I think the ideal way to see it would be to gather your most dour and disapproving relatives and treat them to a night at the cinema.”
This week I suggest another double feature. The Right Stuff is a fun, America-can-do drama about our race to space. A lot of the early space program happened in my hometown in Hampton, VA, at NASA, formerly NACA. A Prairie Home Companion is a subtle comedy—but a little off the beaten path.
ENJOY.
Friday night at the movies:
Ebert’s take on the movie The Right Stuff
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-right-stuff-1983
Friday night at the movies:
Ebert’s take on the movie A Prairie Home Companion
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-prairie-home-companion-2006-1
