Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

Author: Max Brennan

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    I’m Back

    For what it’s worth, I’ll return Sunday after a three-week absence following my collision with a concrete slab.

    Great thanks to Mary for her loving and excellent work in my absence. I know you’ve enjoyed her sermon series—and so have I.

    And online, Mary ended up doing a couple of solos last week when all help deserted her.

    She was preacher and songleader. (Shannon and Julian were out, and Blake left early.)

    But Mary’s a singer. She’s in our choir—one of her many hats.

    I’m excited about being back.

    If ministry were not at the heart of my life, I would have retired years ago.

    But I warn you—I’m not moving very fast.

    I know! I know!—I moved like a turtle before the accident.

    Well, now I move like a dead turtle.

    Been Watching

    I’ve been watching online like many of you.

    I now realize that the primary microphones for picking up the organ are the ones on the pulpit and lectern. These are usually off at the beginning of the service, which makes the organ sound distant online.

    Big in-house. Distant online.

    We also hear almost no congregational singing, which is why Mary sounded like she was doing a solo. This is also why we mic Blake, Shannon, and Julian during the hymns.

    Breakfast This Sunday

    If Winston is present, he’ll be doing breakfast.

    Feel free to help. Breakfast is at 10:30.

    Come early and eat. This fellowship time is lovely.

    My Class

    I’m easing back into things.

    Preaching and Communion will be enough for my first Sunday back.

    My class, Discovering God, will resume the following week—July 13.

    Our topic: What NDEs Tell Us About Salvation—Who Gets In, Who Doesn’t?

    New Procedure

    I’m asking our musicians to get music titles to me by Wednesday morning by email or text. (It may not work this week.)

    If you have announcements, get them to the church office—or to me—by Wednesday morning.

    There will be an announcement page in the bulletin so that we do not have to take worship time for announcements—at least not much of it.

    Veta will run the bulletins on Thursdays.

    This Sunday

    It’s Communion Sunday.

    My sermon title is: All Are One

    We’ll talk about the first great truth of our existence: that we are all one with one another—and one with God.

    I’ll share a couple of wonderful and surprising stories.

    We will sing.

    We will gather at the Lord’s Table.

    And I will have the joy of being back in church.

    Come—let us rejoice together.

    God Bless,

    MB

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Atheists are under severe threat.
    There is a minefield of evidence that God is real—and at any moment, the atheist may find his worldview blown to bits.

    In my convalescence from my fall onto concrete (bruised but not broken), I’ve watched a lot of YouTube.
    And I watched a couple of NDE accounts, which triggered the algorithm—bringing up hundreds.
    My YouTube is wall-to-wall NDEs.

    Many have titles like: Life-long Atheist Dies and Meets God.
    And suddenly, those lifelong denials are shattered in seconds.

    Their experience of God is undeniable.
    The NDE is said to be more real than anything in this world.
    And they don’t want to deny it.
    Because the God they meet in their NDE is truly what they have looked for all their lives.

    Yes, they have lived as atheists. They have not accepted Christ or held any religious beliefs.
    That does not change God’s love for them.

    The atheist encounters in heaven the unconditional love Jesus told us about.
    It’s a love so powerful and so transforming, words cannot describe it.

    Now—anyone, atheist or otherwise, who has lived an evil life may have a less pleasant experience.
    But most people are not evil.
    And most atheists just do not know enough to believe.
    They are, simply, ignorant about reality.

    Everyone will eventually believe in God.
    We can resist God in this world.
    But the instant we die—God is there.
    Loving us.

    So—
    Why wait till we die to enjoy that love?

    (I will return to the pulpit on July 6—in one week.)

    saintmatthewumc.com
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  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Got one more Sunday off—this Sunday.

    I will return on July 6.

    My doctor, Maria Gaydos, commented on my dress shorts. She had never seen me in shorts—nor have you. Nor has anyone else in the world. I don’t wear shorts.

    I have no shorts. To keep the cloth of my pants off my wounded knee, I shortened the legs of a regular pair of pants. The cut was jagged and uneven. Looked pretty sad. This is what elicited the response from my doctor. She could not believe I did not have a regular pair of shorts.

    Sorry. I’m just not a shorts person.

    I’ve still got swelling and bruises, but Brian and Doug have the wheelbarrow ready, and I am returning on July 6. Brian and Doug will roll me down the aisle while the congregation sings Roll, Jordan, Roll.

    I enjoy watching our services from home.

    I could hear the piano last week. That problem was fixed.

    But Julian and Shannon do not need to share one microphone. Couldn’t hear them. Could not hear a word of the hymns. Have no idea what the words are to that new hymn Mary likes.

    Sounds pretty, though.

    Thinking Differently

    So—I have been in the place of the home viewer. That home viewer is becoming more and more important to churches. Before people visit churches these days, they usually check them out online. That first impression is everything.

    And we sometimes have more watching from home than we have in the sanctuary.

    I got an e-mail recently from someone who watches regularly from Houston.

    Let’s give thanks—and get excited!

    Breakfast this Sunday

    It’s a “We-Bring” Sunday.

    If we don’t bring—no breakfast.

    Breakfast at 10:30.

    Come early and eat.

    This fellowship time is lovely.

    July Experiment

    During July, we will experiment with an “Announcement” insert in the bulletin each week.

    And there will be a brief-as-possible moment after the offering for vital information the congregation needs.

    Please get all announcements to Vita, our church secretary, by Wednesday.

    Bulletins will be printed on Thursday.

    Worship is a kind of drama. We are going to see what it feels like to let the drama of worship play out without interruption. From Winston’s eloquent welcome to Kristi’s postlude—just worship.

    That’s our July experiment.

    For a whole month, let everything we do in worship—be worship.

    A Mighty Thanks

    It has been hard just doing the ordinary things after my fall.

    My sister has carried extra work—especially in the days following the accident.

    The food from the church has helped us carry on more normally. And the love and well-wishes have encouraged us.

    A mighty thanks to all of you.

    A special thanks to Mary Teague for just doing her thing and doing it so well.

    I look forward to her sermon this week: How We Talk to God.

    See you Sunday on my TV.

    See you on July 6th in person.

    God bless—MB

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    I took a tumble onto concrete two weeks ago.

    Nothing broken.

    A lot that is bruised, swollen, and painful.

    Nothing on my face, so my movie career is not over. But my days with the Dallas Cowboys are kaput.

    I will return to the pulpit on July 6, the Sunday following the 4th of July.

    We would usually have on that day some nod to the nation.

    But not this year.

    No Rah! Rah! Ray! until we are a democracy again.

    This evil will pass. Some of the voters who brought it on us are tiring of it.

    They are seeing that evil is not selective. It will roll over all in its path.

    Evil is driven by fear and vengeance and lust for power. It cares for no one but self.

    And this is showing.

    It can’t be hidden.

    And most people have that common decency.

    The tide will turn.

    So, we will again sing America the Beautiful and My Country ‘Tis of Thee—but we will wait until it is again.

    This year, we will have a simple prayer for our nation and a time of thanksgiving for those who have served and bled and died to keep us free.

    That dying will not be in vain.

    America will be beautiful again.

    And then we will sing.

    Then we will shout.

    Then we will give thanks to the Lord who has brought us safe thus far and will surely lead us home.

    In my absence, Mary will preach each Sunday.

    Mary Teague is our Associate Pastor.

    Until full ordination, she is also a nurse with a heart for people and a loving presence.

    Give her a listen.

    And be blessed.

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    An Unexpected Vacation

    With trepidation, I just unwrapped the bandages on my wounded right knee. (I must take a bath tonight. I see the doctor tomorrow.)

    Looked better than I feared. The healing process is underway. I have fairly full movement in my right elbow now. (Yeh! I can put my fork back in my right hand!) I can’t claim to be comfortable all the time, but much of the time. Going in the right direction.

    My unplanned vacation from church will last another two Sundays. I will (without unforeseen difficulties) be back in the pulpit on July 6—even if Doug and Brian have to roll me down the aisle in a wheelbarrow.

    Discovering God Class

    My 9:45 class will resume on July 13.

    Don’t want to try too much on that first Sunday.

    But my “vacation time” is allowing me to work much more on my book. We’ve got some exciting stuff ahead of us.

    Breakfast This Sunday

    As I read it, this is a “We Bring” Sunday.

    Enjoy the fellowship. At 10:30.

    Watching from Home

    I enjoyed watching the service from home last Sunday.

    For this Sunday, someone needs to remember that the piano microphone is not presently hooked up. If it is used this Sunday, put a mic on it. (It could hardly be heard last week.)

    No need to fix the piano mic connection because the whole sound and video system is soon to be rewired. If work begins while I am gone, this is one thing that will get me back to the church to check it out. I know nothing about the wiring, but I do know how the new sound booth should look.

    I am excited about the new cameras. I have requested state-of-the-art slimming and de-aging cameras that will put a light halo around the preacher’s head. I will look like both Tom Cruise and St. Paul at the same time.

    Jesting aside, I see the future of this church as depending heavily on the quality of the product we put on YouTube.

    The new system will help us be our best in the service of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

    I will see you Sunday, from my green recliner chair in my den.

    You will see me on July 6.

    Thanks, Mary, for your loving ministry at St. Matthew UMC.

    —MB