Friday’s Word

Silence Can Be Harmful

My sermon title for Sunday: What Jesus Said about the Gay Issue.

Do we really have to talk about this?

Yes! We do!

Silence is part of the problem.

We have let the bigots set the agenda. The preachers who know the truth have been afraid to say the truth.

Some preachers were shocked when their United Methodist congregation voted to leave the UMC.

But so many of these preachers had never led their people toward the truth.

The Gospel must be proclaimed! We must be willing to speak God’s unconditional love for all people.

We must make it clear that, with God, there is neither “male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free.” Nor gay or straight.

These are not categories that God cares about.

We must be willing to say that Paul was wrong and Jesus was right on the issue.

But did Jesus even talk about it? Yes!

And quite clearly.

We will look at the passage called “Jesus’ definition of marriage” this Sunday.

What he ends up saying is really interesting: that one size does not fit all. He lays down the rule and then says it can’t apply to everyone.

Why? Because people are different.

People come in a variety.

People have different needs.

The law was unbending.

But love meets us where we are and takes us to where we need to be.

This Sunday at 11:00—and after that on recording.

+++

No concert this month.

Christmas Show in Dec.

Max’s Corner

It’s Not Just for Us

Sermon this Sunday: “What Jesus Said about the Gay Issue.” We may not need this sermon, but a lot of people do.

Last time I spoke on a controversial subject (“Jesus Invented Woke”), 400 people joined us on-line for the service. They did not all stay for the full service, but many of them did.

We have the capacity to teach people the Gospel truth who are beyond the walls of this church.

One reason so many Methodist churches left the denomination is because too many preachers failed to proclaim the simple and honest truth about the gay issue: God does not care about sexual orientation. Bigotry needs to end.

Request: until we can get the new close-up lens for our second camera (our best camera), please make sure those front pews have people in them.

At the moment, we must show the eight or ten front pews from time to time. We can have good attendance and the church look empty if no one is sitting forward.

Your help is appreciated.

Big Things Coming

Bake Sale and Silent Auction—Saturday, Nov. 18—10:00 to 2:00.

The next day–Thanksgiving Dinner after worship–Sunday, Nov. 19.

“The Christmas Show”—plus dinner—plus Santa—on Saturday, Dec. 16—6:00 p.m.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service—on Christmas Eve at 6:00 p.m.

See you Sunday!!
God bless—

Note: We received the heartbreaking news today that Darrell, son of Peggy Becker, has died. (Both were in our choir a few months ago.) We will let you know more when we know more.

Mary’s Corner

Greetings to everyone in the name of Jesus the Christ,

I am grateful for the wonderful crowd we had this past Sunday and for your engagement in the topic of leading the UMC into the future. As a reminder, Bishop Saenz has a vision for the congregations from north Texas that includes these 5 Strategic Priorities:

1. Multiplying Followers of Jesus

2. Championing Children and Youth

3. Maximizing Care and Healing

4. Pursue and Embrace Diversity AND Inclusion

5. Telling Our Story

Our straw poll indicates that our interest lies in championing children and youth, maximizing care and healing, and pursuing and embracing diversity and inclusion. I believe that #1 will happen naturally if we are focused on #2, 3 and 4. I also believe that telling the story of the UMC can be interwoven in some of the activities of #2, 3 and 4.

Our next step is to meet with the church staff and volunteer leadership to create a plan for each of these 3 priorities and set an annual calendar with activities that support each priority. If the Holy Spirit compels you toward any of these activities, please send me an email, mary.teague@saintmatthewumc.com.

Even if you are not able to come to the church, there will be things that can be done remotely to support these priorities. I look forward to working side by side with you as we move forward in our journey to being great ancestors of our faith tradition. Blessings, Mary

Kids’ News

We have been talking for some time about the twins, Esau and Jacob. In last week’s lesson, Rebecca helped her son Jacob fool her husband into bestowing Esau’s birthright onto Jacob. When Esau discovers he has been robbed of his birthright, he wants to kill Jacob. Esau is very upset, angry, and confused. Rebecca sends Jacob away and Isaac finally does give Esau a blessing; however, the blessing is more like a banishment. Isaac says Esau will move far away and will serve his brother. Everyone in this story must have felt overwhelmed. It is easy to get overwhelmed when life gets hard.

When there is chaos all around us, we sometimes lose our ability to think clearly; and we don’t always respond in helpful ways. This story shows us what to not do. But this story allows us to act differently. We can proceed by asking God to be with us and strengthen our faith, to be able to be healthy and whole. See you in church on Sunday. Blessings.