Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

Author: Max Brennan

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Life just goes on for most of us, even as our
    country changes around us.

    The horrors hardly touch us.

    We have a secret police force now, extravagantly
    funded and growing.

    The ICE police wear masks. And they disappear
    people.

    They pick our neighbors up, carry them off, and
    no one knows where they take them.

    They are Imprisoned, somewhere, often in a
    foreign country.

    As far as their families are concerned, just gone.
    We used to hear about this in other countries. It
    was inconceivable in America. Now, it is our everyday
    reality.

    The 21 year-old daughter of a New York
    Episcopal priest of Korean heritage was recently
    disappeared in this way. Gone.

    Some are detained in this country before being
    shipped off.

    In one detention center, the ICE police make
    migrants eat like dogs from dishes placed on the floor.
    Authoritarians are good at this: dehumanization.

    Look at Hitler’s bunch.

    They found endless ways to dehumanize the Jews.
    And when you have corruption at the very top, it
    works its way down.

    When the leader is an amoral bully, those below
    have permission to do as they wish.

    Sending a person to a prison in Libya is not the
    same as sending him to the gas chamber.

    But for the man’s wife and children, this loved one
    is just as gone.

    Still, for most of us, life goes on. But it’s not
    the same. Because we know.

    Under our government, people like you and me
    are being fed like dogs.

    Lord, hear our prayer.

    saintmatthewumc.com
    [email protected]

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    The Passing of Morton H. Meyerson

    Mr. Morton H. Meyerson, businessman and philanthropist and partner of Ross Perot, has died at age 87 following a two-year battle with cancer.

    What does that have to do with St. Matthew?
    Mr. Meyerson, who was Jewish, has sent several thousand dollars in gifts to St. Matthew over the last few years.
    He sometimes read Friday’s Word and appreciated my stand against some of the political forces of our time.
    He even came to the church to meet me three years ago. We had a great time together.

    His name lives on in the Dallas Symphony Center named after him, and in my memory as a gracious man with a warm heart and a sense of humor.
    He also lives on in the same heaven we will all be going to. May God be praised.

    Watching Online

    Jason is on vacation and, at this writing, I am not able to find our service online, but it may be there later.
    We did the microphones a little differently last Sunday. I want to see if it worked.
    I am uncertain when the audio/video work will be completed. I am sure it will be finished by the time Jason gets back on the 17th.

    My Class

    We continue with the chapter on suffering from my as-yet-unpublished book, Discovering God. We have some exciting accounts to consider.
    You are welcome to this class.
    At 9:45—followed by breakfast.

    Breakfast This Sunday

    It’s a “We-bring” Sunday.
    Help, if you can.
    At 10:30.

    Concert Confusion

    We have two concerts coming up.
    One is our great MSB Gospel Choir concert on Saturday, Sept. 20, for which we are selling tickets.
    The other one is a Sunday morning concert on Oct. 31—moved to this date to make sure our new audio/video equipment is in and working.

    This Sunday

    Sermon: It’s All About Love.
    The scripture will be the 13th chapter of Corinthians.
    I look forward to gathering with you this Sunday in the house of the Lord!

    Come, let us be uplifted, encouraged, through worship and thanksgiving.

    God bless—MB

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    We are upgrading our online presentation to make it better represent our worship services.
    Better picture, better sound.
    I asked for a special lens to slim and de-age the pastor. To which the tech guys replied:
    “We don’t do miracles.”
    The first Sunday with the new equipment in a couple of weeks will be the trial run. It may even be a bit bumpy. Our “tech folk” will be getting used to some new stuff.
    I’m talking about this because I want you to do something. I want you to subscribe to us on YouTube.
    Find us on YouTube: Saint Matthew United Methodist, Fort Worth.
    Or look up our website: saintmatthewumc.com.
    Click on “video.”
    Our Assistant Pastor, Mary, preached last week.
    Her sermon will come up.
    Choose “Watch on YouTube.” And subscribe.
    We now have 228 subscribers. Our first goal is to push that to 400.
    Then beyond.
    I talk to you weekly in this little box.
    I hope I have more to say to you than this.
    If you can take this much of me each week, you can take more.
    I’d love to see you in a pew.
    If not, I want you to see me online.
    I want you to enjoy our great singers. And this fall, our great choir, directed by our great choir director, Blake Glass.
    Is everything great at St. Matthew?
    Judge for yourself.
    But you’ll have to tune in to find out.
    Look us up on your device—and subscribe!
    This Sunday: What the Church Got Wrong About Salvation.
    11:00 a.m. and after.
    saintmatthewumc.com
    [email protected]

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    New Equipment—A New Day

    As I look out at our sixty to seventy people in the pews on Sundays, I think about something most people do not know.
    We are not supposed to be here.
    This church is supposed to be dead by now.
    Every other United Methodist church like ours in Fort Worth is either dead or dying—old churches hidden up inside an old community.
    You need to understand how remarkable it is that we are still here. We must be doing something right.
    God has blessed us. We have made a lot of right decisions through the years. And now it is time to make another one—a new emphasis on our online ministry.
    We want people in the pews.
    If we can’t get them there at first, we want to reach them online.
    We now have 228 subscribers to our online ministry. Our next step: we want to build that to 400.
    And then beyond.

    Watching Online

    Our new sound booth was not built properly, so it is being re-fabricated. It will be next week when Chuy and the guys from 4Stage will begin installation and move all operations to the downstairs location in the new sound booth. Jason (head of our audio/video operation) will return from vacation on the 15th. The new set-up (with new cameras) may begin with the concert on the 16th and morning worship on the 17th. That’s two weeks away.

    My Class

    What can we learn about the problem of suffering through religious and near-death experiences?
    Turns out—a lot.
    That’s our subject this week.
    At 9:45—followed by breakfast.

    Breakfast This Sunday

    A great Winston breakfast this week.
    Feel free to help.
    At 10:30.

    Our Church Family

    Carol Bennett is recovering after breaking her hip and having it replaced. It is still painful. Our love is with her. Lynette Coleman Falck had hip replacement Monday and is back home. Lord bless her. Velma Metcalf, Vicki Giese’s mom, was in an auto accident and is in pain from broken ribs. Lord be with her. Leslieann Griffin is facing surgery on the 18th. She will be in our prayers through it all.
    Let us pray for these we love.

    This Sunday

    “What the Church Got Wrong About Salvation”
    That’s the sermon title.
    Expect some songs about grace.
    Why?
    Because that’s my subject.
    And that is what it is all about.
    How I look forward to gathering with you this Sunday in the house of the Lord!

    WELCOME! NEW MEMBER—

    Carl Britton. We rejoice in receiving Carl into our church family.
    God bless—MB

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Mary Up to Bat

    Mary will be preaching this Sunday.
    That makes for an easier week for me.
    You’d be surprised how long it takes just to get a service ready—not including the sermon.
    I can spend hours just selecting the music. Kristi (our organist) accused me of having a “new hymn book” last week.

    “You’ve got a new book, Max. I know you do.”

    Truth is, I usually pull music from several hymn books. But last week, I really shook things up: two new hymns and a third one so old you had to be old to know it.
    It all went well—and I loved the music we sang.

    And the duet—The Prayer, sung by Shannon and Julian—was glorious.
    I think Blake will return this Sunday. I’m looking forward to that.

    Watching Online

    Whatever the video guys (Jason and Robert) did to improve the organ sound—worked.
    Kristi’s prelude is something we all look forward to each week. Last week, it sounded full and wonderful in the recording.

    The music recorded beautifully—at least, what got recorded.
    We had a glitch: the end of the duet was cut, along with the end of the sermon and the service.
    I’ll just have to preach the whole thing again. (Yes, I’m kidding.)

    My Class

    Last week, I ended class with a question:
    Was what the disciples found in the empty tomb enough for them to believe in the Resurrection?

    The “Beloved Disciple” looked—and believed immediately.
    There was something about the scene that told him the body wasn’t stolen. Something very strange had happened.
    What did he see?

    Come visit this week. I’m looking forward to it.
    9:45 AM—followed by breakfast

    Breakfast This Sunday

    The usual great Winston breakfast last week—but this Sunday is “We Bring.”
    So let’s bring. I’m hungry.
    10:30 AM

    The Work Begins

    Jason (Hardy) met with Chuy from 4Stage twice this week, and the work begins next week. It’s a big project:
    • New sound booth
    • New cameras
    • Complete rewiring of the sanctuary sound and video system

    Two new pews will be added at the back of the sanctuary—one regular length and one three feet long, beside the sound booth, behind the two short pews currently there.
    This is because the new sound booth will go back one row farther than the current one.

    To make the new pews, the crew will shorten two long choir pews currently stored in the transepts. That will leave two pews on each side—just what we need.

    (This should be very exciting to Methodists: there will be new back pews to fight over.)

    We’re really just putting pews back where they used to be before the 1992 remodel. (You can tell—there’s no carpet where the pews once were. After this project, the carpet will be correct again.)

    The chairs at the back will have to go—no room for them. The ushers will have to sit on the floor!

    A Morning Concert

    Our morning concert originally scheduled for August 10 will move to August 17, as Jason (our sound/video guy) won’t be here on the 10th.

    But go ahead—get excited!

    And remember, tickets are now on sale for our big concert with MSB Gospel Choir on Saturday, September 20.
    Grab a few to sell!

    ⸻

    How great it is to worship.
    Come! Let us rejoice together.
    God Bless—
    MB

    No Friday’s Word this week. There’s one in the newspaper, but you’ve seen it.