I suppose we have canceled church before, but I don’t remember it. This time, there was no choice.

This Sunday will be cold, but the roads are clear.

We will have church.

I will teach my class at 9:45 a.m.

We will have breakfast.

(It’s a Winston Sunday.)

Choir rehearsal will begin.

And we will gather at the Lord’s Table.

All of our worship forces will be back in place for a joyful service. I also want to remind you of Lynette’s beautiful solo at our last service.

Come, let us worship.

God bless,
Rev. Max Brennan
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

A question to ponder:
If someone asked you for evidence that Jesus is Lord, what would you say?

We may not have worship this Sunday because of the weather. There is no good reason to put people at risk.

How will our members know?

Simple. If the roads are dangerous, we will not have church. If there is ice on the roads, we will not
have church. But is there any question?

The weather people on TV sound pretty certain.

Listen—just the cold alone will be enough for folks to stay home. The cold itself is dangerous if the
car stalls or you get stuck.

Even if we got to church in that kind of cold, we would not be happy.

Let’s take a stand!

We will not risk someone getting hurt.

We will NOT meet for worship this Sunday.

NO service at St. Matthew this Sunday.

We can miss one week.

And live to tell about it.

Last Sunday and Coming Events

Hey! We have another soloist in our midst. Lynette’s solo last week was really beautiful. We
resumed the Pastor’s class with all seats full. (It will also skip a week, of course.)

The choir was scheduled to resume rehearsal this Sunday. That will be delayed one week to Feb. 1st.

And on Feb. 1st, all of our worship forces will be back in place for a great service.

See you—but not THIS Sunday.

God Bless
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

I told you Sunday that, as I understand things now, I will be replaced as your pastor.

I have a few months left to serve, but I will set the date of my departure from preaching and leading worship.

And it will not be a complete departure.

I will continue to teach my class on Discovering God, which will also be set up as a podcast.

This will continue to be helpful to the church.

It will be my ministry.

On Sunday, we committed ourselves to be yoked to Christ and to let him lead.

That is what we are going to do.

There are disappointments in life.

But if we let our Lord lead, we are guaranteed to end up with him—and where he wants us to be.

The Pastor’s Class

Discovering God class resumes this Sunday, the 18th. It will be so good to resume our journey. Time: 9:45.

Breakfast this Sunday

It’s a “Winston” Sunday—but feel free to help.

At 10:30.

God Bless
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

Part of my job is to keep us honest about how we got here—and where we are going.

Now that Friday’s Word is gone, you will hear some around the church say that we can grow our church from the neighborhood around it.

Do not believe it.

Handley and Eastern Hills Methodist also had neighborhoods around them. These churches died.

But our great new playground will bring children into the church, and their parents will follow.

Handley had a successful daycare center. It was a lively place during the week. Neither parents nor kids came on Sundays. Handley died, ending a 145-year history.

When I came to pastor St. Matthew in 1982, there were three strong Methodist churches on the East Side—and one dying one.

Two of the strong ones are closed. The third, Meadowbrook, has merged with another once-great church—Poly Methodist—and is now no bigger than St. Matthew.

The one dying in 1982—St. Matthew—is still here.

It has taken extraordinary measures to maintain the life of St. Matthew—primarily the longevity of the pastor and Friday’s Word.

Friday’s Word is gone.

It will require new extraordinary measures for this church to continue to live.

One thing we will do is start a new YouTube channel devoted to the class I teach on my book, Discovering God. I am willing to say that this is an important book. It makes a difference.

We will need to advertise this new channel in every way we can. (This will cost a little money—but I will pay part of it.)

I am hopeful about the future.

We have made it this far together.

By the power and grace of our Lord, we will move on—all of us serving our Lord Jesus Christ in a New Year.

Truly, truly, the best is yet to come.

A New Picture Directory

We will have a new pictorial directory in 2026. The date for photographs has not yet been set, but we will aim for March.

Connie Michael has produced the most accurate list we have of present members and regular visitors. We will try to get everyone on that list pictured in the book.

Providing Rides

There are older folks at home and in a local retirement center who would love to attend St. Matthew. We need to provide rides. We also need to run a shuttle in the local community for children who want to come to Sunday school. We need a large van (or small bus).

Mary’s Ordination

Mary, we hope and pray, will be able to remain as our Associate Pastor when she is ordained in June. But this involves changes. Mary will have to be paid more when she is full-time, but our budget cannot bear any more. So, we will take the money we used for Friday’s Word to add to Mary’s salary. And my salary will have to be lowered to raise Mary’s.

No church the size of St. Matthew can afford two full-time pastors, but we can if both pastors are willing to make a sacrifice.

St. Matthew lives by being the exception to the rule. We can do it.

First Sunday of the New Year

Epiphany Sunday.

We will be just where we long to be as we begin a new year—at the Lord’s Table.

What a privilege! What a joy!

Sermon: Something New in the World

If you are able, come Sunday.

Your witness is our strength.