Looking Toward Sunday

All Saints/Laity Sunday

November 3, 2013

This Sunday we remember and celebrate the saints who have gone on the the "Church Triumphant" since last All Saints Day. As part of our observance, we will read the names of our departed saints aloud and light candles in their memory.

This Sunday we are also observing Laity Sunday.  Laity Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate the ministry of all lay people. Grace Von Tobel will deliver the message in an unusual way (no hints - you'll have to come to find out the details!) and other lay folks will lead the prayers, scripture readings, etc.

Join us as we celebrate the saints who've gone ahead of us, as well as the saints who serve among us now.

See you on Sunday!

Looking Toward Sunday

"Declarations of the Heart"

Commitment Sunday

October 27, 2013

For the last two months we've been studying and discussing United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase's Five Practices of Fruitful Living. The fifth practice, "Extravagant Generosity" has been our focus throughout the month of October. The entire congregation has been using an insightful devotional book entitled, Practicing Extravagant Generosity: Daily Readings on the Grace of Giving. We've been completing "heart cards" each week that share what we love about our church, who has contributed to our spiritual growth, and our hopes and dreams for Pleasant Street United Methodist Church. Storytellers have shared their responses to the heart cards each Sunday, and our completed cards have been posted all over the church entryway.  It's been a time of giving thanks for and celebrating the generosity of others, and an invitation to practice that same sort of generosity ourselves.

This Sunday we'll be invited to express our Extravagant Generosity through the offering of our Estimate of Giving Cards for 2014. Our scripture lessons for the day are 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 24 and John 3:16-17. (You can click on the links to read them.) Worship will focus on our gratitude for all that God has done for us and through us. And we'll think about how the year ahead can be an opportunity for us to both express our love for God and grow in generosity through the practice of giving.

Join us as we consider how our offerings to God through the church represent a "declaration of our heart".

See you on Sunday!



Looking Toward Sunday

"The Central Question"

First Sunday after Pentecost

May 26, 2013

This Sunday we'll be looking at Psalm 8 (you can read it here) and pondering the central question asked by the psalmist: "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"  

It's easy to feel insignificant in a world as large as ours - even more so when you consider the incomprehensible vastness of the universe.  And yet, as the psalm reminds us, each one of us matters to God. Join us as we take a closer look at Psalm 8 and our place in the scheme of things.  

See you on Sunday!

Looking Toward Sunday

"The Spirit of Pentecost"

Pentecost Sunday

May 19, 2013

This week we'll be using the traditional reading for Pentecost from the Book of Acts (you can read it here) as five of our youth make their Confirmation. They have been working with their mentors since September in preparation to make their profession of faith and become full members of Pleasant Street United Methodist Church. 

Join us as we celebrate these five young people's decision to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.  May the Spirit of God fall afresh on them (and us!)

See you on Sunday!

Looking Toward Sunday

"Plan A"

Ascension Sunday

May 12, 2013

This week we observe Ascension Sunday by reading the opening verses of the Acts of the Apostles (you can read the text here).  It's the story of Jesus' departure from earth and ascension into heaven.  As he leaves his somewhat confused apostles behind, Jesus commissions them to "be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth".  While it may have seemed risky to entrust the gospel to the apostles with all their foibles and faults and flaws, they succeeded spectacularly. The Christian movement grew like a raging wildfire.

These days that wildfire seems to be burning itself out - at least for mainline Western-world Protestants. Could it be that we have stopped being Jesus' witnesses?  (Hint: One church consultant claims that the average United Methodist shares his or her faith with another person once every 38 years.)  Can we take the call to be Jesus' witnesses as seriously as his first followers?  And what would it take to do that?  

Join us on Sunday as we think about what the "Great Commission" means for us.

Looking Toward Sunday

 "Houseguest"

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 5, 2013

This week's reading is an excerpt from Jesus' "farewell discourse" - his final teachings and instructions to the disciples at the Last Supper. (You can read the passage here.) The discourse covers several chapters in the Gospel of John, but this small section includes Jesus' promise that his followers will not be left alone when he leaves them.  (Remember that this meal takes place the night before Jesus' crucifixion.) The Spirit will remain with them in Jesus' absence to give them peace and to continue the work that Jesus began in them.

We'll be focusing on the opening verse - Jesus' words, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” What does it mean for Jesus to make a home with us? How do we receive such a houseguest? And what would happen if that houseguest were to take up permanent residence with us? Join us as we reflect on those questions, and on our readiness to invite Jesus in to "make his home with us".

See you on Sunday!

Looking Toward Sunday

April 28, 2013

"Moving the Fence"

As evidenced in "The Acts of the Apostles", the early Church struggled with the question of whom to include and whom to exclude from the Christian community.  In this Sunday's reading (you can read it here), the Apostle Peter has a vision that challenges his understanding of the borders between clean and unclean, acceptable and unacceptable.  The revelation convinces him that it's God's will to move the fence separating the Gentiles from the Church.  "If God gave them the same gift that we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" asks Peter. 

Over the millennia since, the Church has found it repeatedly necessary to move its fences in order not to hinder God. (Think Galileo and the Inquisition, banned divorcees, and the prohibition against female clergy.) This week we'll consider a fence that's being moved by many mainline Protestant denominations - the one that excludes LGBT folks. We'll talk about the official United Methodist position on the inclusion of LGBT persons and about our congregation's decision to explore becoming a "Reconciling Congregation".  Join us on Sunday to learn more.