Matthew 5:1-12 – Peace with Justice Sunday

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Matthew 5:1-12 – Peace with Justice Sunday

Peace with Justice Sunday is one of the six special Sundays designated by the United Methodist Church to bring awareness to special needs in our own communities, our country, and globally. Peace with justice is a faithful expression of shalom in the Bible.

We believe that in loving both God and neighbor, we must pursue God’s command of justice, liberation, and flourishing for all people. We must work for the civil and human rights of every person. By following Jesus’ commandments, we can be His hands and feet in helping to establish Peace with Justice.

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Go! I Will Always Be With You – Matthew 28:8-10, 16-20

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Go! I Will Always Be With You – Matthew 28:8-10, 16-20

Several questions are worth pondering as we seek to be better disciples of our faith’s beliefs and values.

  • Who are we following – both religious and non-religious – and what are we learning from them?

  • Who are we leading and what are we teaching them?

  • How can we be better students and teachers of the Good News of God’s love?

Much like Jesus’ disciples, the Kingdom of God is filled with people from all backgrounds. Let’s work on inviting others to walk with us in this unique and amazing community as we all learn and grow together.

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Luke 3:2b-16 – The Advent of JOY, "Jesus is coming. Look busy!"

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Luke 3:2b-16 – The Advent of JOY, "Jesus is coming. Look busy!"

Jesus calls us to a more personal, more immediate, and more intimate expression of sacrifice. When we share with others, we are worshiping; we are thanking God for what we have AND for the opportunity to bless others.

Putting our faith into action is a critical part of a healthy, functioning spiritual life. As someone in our Bible Study asked, “What outward expressions would be worthy of the change we’ve felt inside of us?”

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John 13 – Washing Feet / Communion at a Small Country Church

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John 13 – Washing Feet / Communion at a Small Country Church

The disciple Peter plays a prominent role in today’s story. He is almost comically imperfect as he responds to Jesus’ expression of love – first by saying he wants none of this, then saying he wants it all, and later overestimates his loyalty to Jesus. It’s easy to criticize Peter’s lack of understanding and allegiance. But as someone said, “Peter is there to give the rest of us mere mortals courage.”

During this service, we celebrated Holy Communion. The next time you participate in this ancient, sacred sacrament, I urge you to pray, “Lord, what would you like to share with me through today’s bread and juice?”

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John 12 – Mary Anoints Jesus (a $40,000 pedicure?!?)

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John 12 – Mary Anoints Jesus (a $40,000 pedicure?!?)

Mary’s actions were her way of honoring God’s presence in her life. Her extra-ordinary generosity celebrated Jesus’ life of extra-ordinary service to others AND symbolically prepared Jesus for His extra-ordinary execution and resurrection.
Two questions for us today should prod us to consider how we utilize the resources we have.

  • In what ways can we sacrificially give as an act of acknowledging and worshiping God’s presence among us?

  • In what ways can we serve those in need while we confront the systems that neglect and oppress others?

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John 9 – Seeing with New Eyes

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John 9 – Seeing with New Eyes

Awaken... It’s an action-oriented word. It’s a word focused on looking forward, not back. It’s a word that calls us to be intentionally mindful of our immediate surroundings. When Jesus healed the blind man, his newfound eyesight awakened him to new realities, new possibilities, and a new understanding of God’s presence and power.
To what is God trying to awaken each of us?

Make no mistake, this whole eye-opening, awakening stuff can feel overwhelming – much like seeing color for the first time. Once God reveals something to us, we can’t unsee it. This is when the power of a faith community is so important. We NEED to discuss what we hear and see (what God “puts on our hearts,” to use churchy language) so that, together, we can better understand the world around us and how we should respond to it.

Consider adding this simple request to your morning prayer, “Lord, help me SEE Your presence around me more clearly today. Help me SEE Your presence in other people. And help me BE Your presence to people who need to hear, see, and feel Your love, Your grace, and Your peace.”

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2 Corinthians 8:1-14 – Margie Meserve – Happiness is the Joy of Giving

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2 Corinthians 8:1-14 – Margie Meserve – Happiness is the Joy of Giving

Paul’s letter centers on financial giving as a mean of sharing God’s grace. Financial giving can be expanded to include other areas in how we give. There are numerous ways to be good stewards. When we join the church, we promise to contribute our prayers, presence, gifts and service to benefit our faith community.

In 2 Corinthians 9:7 Paul writes, “We all should give what we have decided in our hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” A “cheerful” giver is one who give out of love. The Macedonian churches and the Corinthian church were happy to give all they could, and they did so because they loved God. Giving and serving from love brings happiness. In giving financially and of ourselves we extent God’s blessings and grace to others. Our resources are not infinite, whether it is money or time, but everyone can experience the joy and blessings of generosity; because everyone has something to give.

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1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20 – Samuel's Call Story

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1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20 – Samuel's Call Story

From Hannah, we learn that God may respond to our prayers through the words and actions of people around us as Eli did for Hannah. And we learn to patiently await the fulfillment of answered prayers.
From Samuel, we learn to be active listeners, and we learn that neither our age nor our qualifications or accomplishments – OR lack thereof – prevent God from speaking to us directly.
From Eli, we learn the value of the wisdom we’ve acquired throughout our lives and the importance of nurturing younger generations despite our own failings. We are never Unqualified for God to use us.

As we, individually and collectively, look to our future, let us all pray with Hannah’s deep passion, let us all listen with Samuel’s attentiveness, and let us all serve those around us with Eli’s nurturing wisdom. As much as we are able to explore and express our faith in these ways, we will continue to create moments where God’s love is able to irrupt in our homes and in our community.

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Nurturing Our Childlike Faith – Mark 1:21-39

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Nurturing Our Childlike Faith – Mark 1:21-39

Whatever Jesus preached, He backed up with undeniable demonstrations of His message put into action. Today, our actions of service should reflect our words of faith. As our faith grows deeper, we can expect our actions to grow bolder as we share the Good News that EVERYONE is a precious child of the living God created in God’s loving image, designed to serve as God calls each of us.
Today’s story presents us several challenging questions.

  • First, listen: are we listening for God to speak to us in new ways and, perhaps, through unlikely people?

  • Second, grow: are we open to letting God’s activity in our lives increase our childlike faith – our willingness and capacity to believe in the mysterious?

  • Third, share: when we do experience God’s activity in our lives, are we willing to share that to encourage each other and attract others?

  • Fourth, reconnect: as much as we believe we are called to put our faith into the actions of serving others, are we willing to disconnect from everything so that we can reconnect with God through intentional one-on-one time?

  • Finally, clarify: are we willing to let the lure of God’s Spirit guide our lives rather than the lure of what our culture seeks from us?

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Accepting God’s Invitations – Mark 1:16-20

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Accepting God’s Invitations – Mark 1:16-20

When God calls us, it’s an invitation to become a more active participant with God as we, together, strive to live into Jesus’ command for us to love God, love ourselves, and love each other (Matthew 22:34-40). Every time we answer yes to God, we grow the Kingdom of God in our hearts and in our communities. In the coming days and weeks, I encourage each of you to pray, “Lord, I am available and willing. What do you have in mind for me?” With that as our prayer and God as our partner, our future is filled with incredible possibilities!

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Generosity as Thanksgiving – Matthew 25:31-46

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Generosity as Thanksgiving – Matthew 25:31-46

According to this story, God’s only qualification for being “righteous” is quite simple: Did you actively try to alleviate the suffering of your neighbor? Recall the lesson from the story of the Good Samaritan, everyone is your neighbor, no exceptions.

As you give thanks to God this week for your many blessings, I encourage you to ask God to give you wisdom, direction, opportunities, and the courage to combine all of those into action. If we continually ask God for that package of blessings, we will certainly make God’s loving presence known to ourselves and to the people around us.

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