PUMC Celebrates Community with a Car Show (9/14/24)

September 14 2024 was a sunny Fall day; it turned out to be a perfect day to invite the community over to the church! PUMC’s “First Annual Car Show” was a huge success- in many ways. The 73 cars on display filled the parking lot. And it’s estimated that somewhere between 500-600 people dropped by to admire the cars, grab a bite to eat, and to share in the fellowship of community.

Community…

The church isn’t meant to be an “island” separated from the rest of the community. PUMC is home to groups such as NA, HOPE, and Kiwanis. Its doors are open to the Red Cross for blood drives, county Health Board for vaccinations, and the borough for elections. Church volunteers helped direct traffic, provide music, and to welcome visitors to the show. Car owners had the chance to chat with visitors about their cars and to trade notes with other owners. The parking lot was filled with cars, but it was also filled with people.

Here are a few of them….

Cars…

In a large sense, it can be said that the “stars of the show” were the cars. The parking lot looked a “bit different” from the cars occupying the lot during a normal Sunday worship service! Cars of all ages and makes were there: from the 1920’s to the 1980’s. From Packards, to Corvettes- stock cars that you might have owned, and race cars that you might have watched. Cars of all makes were represented: Chevys, Fords, MG, Porsche, and many unfamiliar brands lined the parking lot.

Here’s a glimpse of the cars that were on display…

Where’s God in a Car Show???

Why would a church host a Car Show??? The church’s purpose is to “create a climate where spiritual growth occurs.” In other words, PUMC exists to talk about Jesus! We’re here to do what Jesus would do and to model our lives after the things of God. The church builds relationships with neighbors and seeks to help them with things like the food pantry, summer lunch programs, and hosting groups that wean people from substance abuse, comfort widows(-ers) who recently lost their spouses, or help families through mental health issues. PUMC supports relief ministries around the globe that provide clean water, food, and even solar powered lights to Ukrainians trying to live in a war zone.

But all of that springs from a desire to know God and to grow into a deeper and deeper relationship with Him every day. God shows up in subtle ways: thoughts, phone calls, nature, or other things we might call “coincidences” (but God’s behind them).

And there are even lessons we can learn from a car show. Here are some ideas that can draw us closer to God…

Where’s Jesus in All of This???

Even church members are part of the community! Some of us may go to church every week and have friends in the pew next to us, but all of us have neighbors next door or down the hall. We all have co-workers or friends. God didn’t call His church to be an island and shut off from the community. In fact, Jesus told us to “love our NEIGHBORS as ourselves.” Things like like Trunk or Treat, Easter Egg Hunts, and Car Shows break down that “island” mentality that sometimes comes between a “church” and the community that it’s a part of. We need each other!

Getting a sense of how life can be filled with hope and joy because of Jesus doesn’t mean you have to endure someone handing out tracts or “thumping a Bible.” Grasping the hope and joy that God offers comes from relationships, conversations, and observations. As we walked around the display of cars, there were actually things there that reminded us of our everyday lives in Jesus.

Here are some examples and practical suggestions (“down to where the rubber meets the road...”) of how we can use our experience at the car show to connect with Jesus.

Click/tap each tab to see the connections…

Beauty, Craftsmanship…..

If you’ve seen “American Pickers” or if you have an old car parked on your yard, we’ve seen the damage that time can inflict on a car: Rust, critters, missing parts. But the cars on display look like they’re brand new. The marks of time have been removed by a skilled craftsman.

Someone put a lot of time and love into that car to restore it to its present beauty, and as we wander through the display, we can appreciate the labor of love that the owner had taken to transform an ugly rusted out shell into a beautiful factory-fresh machine.

If you’re really honest about your own life, there’s a lot of rusted out ugliness in us too: jealousy, greed, anger, etc, etc. Parts might appear to be in good shape, but there’s no denying that we all need some “restoration.”

By dying for us on the cross, Jesus is like that skilled craftsman who transformed his rusted out car into a thing of value.

There’s a song that says “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, and the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Christians are a work in process.

God is always at work behind the scenes to challenge us with new opportunities and difficulties which help us to look more like the people Jesus wants us to be. It’s not easy, but if we work on it we can begin to see those difficulties as opportunities. Bad times and challenges are opportunities to look for God in our lives and to turn to Him in prayer. When we do, difficulties become “strangely dim…” and are replaced with hope and peace.

As you consider the skillful and dedicated work of the folks who restored the cars, remember that God is working to remove the “rust” from our own lives. He wants to replace ugliness with the beauty of a fulfilling and purposeful life.

Memories…

We can all remember our first car. We remember our parent’s car that took us on a trip across the country. We remember our grandfather’s car. Old cars connect us with life, and the car show is bound to exhibit at least one car that brings back a flood of memories from a special event or period of your life.

When taking the baby Jesus to be dedicated at the Temple, Mary was met by people longing for the Messiah (the King that God promised to send). She treasured these things in her heart. During the last supper, Jesus told His disciples to remember Him whenever they ate the bread and drank the wine. After the resurrection, Peter longed to return to Galilee and go fishing; he went to a place where He had seen Jesus. He later wrote about a special memory he had on “that holy mountain” when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah.

The disciples’ experiences with Jesus left them with memories of special places or people which they treasured throughout their lives.

Places, people, or things (even things like cars) can take us back to important moments in our lives. Some of those experiences were difficult; they challenged us and we learned from them. Others were uplifting; they inspired us and strengthened our faith. If you attended a Christian retreat, a T-Shirt souvenir can remind you of the weekend. If you were moved by a special worship service, a song can pull you back into that experience.

As you scan through the car pictures on this page, look out for memories- even those inspired by cars. Difficult memories can bring back important lessons and help you deal with current situations. Positive memories can draw you closer to a moment when you were closer to Christ and can help you to use the current circumstances to grow even closer.

Comradery, Friendship, sharing common interests….

As you wander through a car show, you might come across an example of an “old” car that you owned when you were younger. You can talk to the owner about your experience with that car, and maybe even pick his brain on the things he had to do to restore it. You can exchange stories about the good and bad aspects of that car’s design.

The owner of that car knows it through and through, and you can talk to him/her about things that nobody else would understand.

The book of Hebrews reminds us to “continue meeting together” to “spur one another on to love and good deeds……” Jesus told His disciples that they must remain connected to Him; a branch will wither away if it’s not connected to the Vine.

Jesus also talks about the Holy Spirit who will fill us with faith and commitment and lead us into the things that will keep us connected to Him.

At a car show, you can talk to the owner of a restored car to learn more about restoration. In the same way, through prayer, through relationships, through friends who are close enough to tell you the hard truth, God gives us ways to talk to Him. Like the owner of a restored car, redeemed people belong to Jesus.

During the party atmosphere of the car show, you may have made new friends or engaged with some old ones. Think of your relationships, and draw closer to the ones that can bring you closer to Christ.

Who Are These???

Here’s another exercise that will help connect this car show to to God….

God knows us by name. He knows when we rise and when we sit (see Psalm 139). Paul said that people will recognize the Holy Spirit in us by the “fruits” we show in our behavior and attitudes (see Galatians 5:22-23) And there’s a popular hymn that says “they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

Not to stretch an analogy, but, you can identify a car by its logo. The names and logos might be on a fender, on the hood, or even on a shiny hood ornament. If the Holy Spirit is guiding us, people will know our Maker by the way we act.

Below is a slider of car logos and ornaments. As you click through them, see if you can identify the car’s maker by the logos.
(click/tap the “next” or “previous” buttons to view each photo)