Join us this Wednesday for Dinner and a Blessing. Following Family Night Supper, we will join our Youth as they lead us in a time of worship on the site of the new building. Click here to make reservations for dinner.
First Steps – September 3, 2018
I have a child who loves acting. Broadway is her happy place. When she performs, she radiates a sense of joy and fulfillment. Unfortunately, there is a side of acting that has nothing to do with the stages, sets, comedies, or tragedies. It is the false reality where most people live.
For instance, when there is a reluctance to admit weaknesses, we inadvertently live a lie. Often we pretend everything is okay, only to hide behind the mask of competence, self-sufficiency, and perfection. The unintended consequence is isolation from those who are closest to us. Fearful that someone would notice that we don’t have-it-all-together, we exhaust our energy maintaining this false reality.
The remedy is to do the one thing we think will be the most painful: Admit/Confess our weaknesses. If we do, we think it will bring the whole house down. What we think will be painful actually becomes the means to freedom.
As you begin this week, take a moment to center yourself before God. Pray this prayer:
O God, you are always more ready to hear than I’m ready to share. Help me to come out of the shadows of the false reality that I have created. Lord, help me to be authentic and live knowing that any level of perfection stems from you in me and not what I generate. Lord, as I live each minute in this week to come, strengthen me to be comfortable in my own skin knowing that I’m loved first by you. Cover me with your love and acceptance. Amen.
This week’s reading:
- Monday – 1 Thessalonians 5
- Tuesday – 2 Thessalonians 1
- Wednesday –2 Thessalonians 2
- Thursday – 2 Thessalonians 3
- Friday – Romans 1
Please Pray for:
- The United Methodist Church
- Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
- Our nation and our leaders.
- Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
- Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
- Upcoming activities and studies planned for this fall/winter.
Your Invitation to a Study of John’s Gospel
Join us for an 11 week study of the Gospel of John starting September 9.
John is often the Gospel given to Christians new to the faith; but in fact it is not the simplest of the four to understand. Yet it is so important and unique that I invite you to come with us on a journey through the Gospel. Come and see the Jesus who calls and talks, argues and prays, breaks bread and washes feet. Come and see what it means to follow the Jesus who claims to be living water, the true light, the way, the truth, and the life—our life.
Click Here for More Information
This Past Sunday’s Children’s Sermon
FIRST STEPS – AUGUST 27, 2018
Someone asked me the other day, “How do you not worry?” The question stemmed from one’s reading of Matthew 6:25-34, where Jesus told his audience to not worry about food, clothes, or tomorrow. Though one can make a case that the context of the scripture is geared more toward one’s basic financial needs, the real remedy for our worry is in understanding the difference between our wants and our needs.
In the text, God is the caregiver to our needs. Jesus reminds his audience that God will take care of our basic physical needs. Jesus eloquently cited examples like the birds of the air and flowers of the field to show that God provides for both. They do not go wanting. He provides for their needs. But what we wish for is more than our needs—what we really desire is our wants. There lies the rub and often the source of our anxiety. Think about it for a moment, what do you worry about the most? What you are going to eat? What clothes to wear? Probably not…for so many, those aren’t the concern. The anxiety stems more from our abundance, not from our scarcity.
Therefore, maybe we need to press the reset button again. Take a moment today, to sit quietly, take inventory your life, and see all that is already provided for you. Pray for a changed heart to be satisfied with what we already have and not what we want. Take this opportunity to surrender yourself into God’s hands. Know that is enough and nothing else is needed. Allow God to harness your worry, calm the panic, and assure you that God cares about who you are and what is taking place in your life.
This week’s reading:
- Monday – Matthew 28
- Tuesday – 1 Thessalonians 1
- Wednesday –1 Thessalonians 2
- Thursday – 1 Thessalonians 3
- Friday – 1 Thessalonians 4
Please Pray for:
- The United Methodist Church
- Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
- Our nation and our leaders.
- Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
- Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
- Upcoming activities and studies planned for this fall/winter.
Adult Study Starting September 5, 2018
