Author Archives: Max Brennan

Max’s Corner

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The number is 10.

Christmas Schedule

There are five important dates:

  • Thursday, Dec. 12th @ 11:30 AM: Ladies of Saint Matthew Luncheon @ St. Matthew.
  • Friday, Dec. 13th @ 6:00 PM: Annual Monreal Sisters Enchilada Dinner @ St. Matthew.
  • Sunday, Dec. 15th @ 2:30 – 5:30 PM: Christmas Open House @ the Brennan Home.
  • Saturday, Dec. 21st @ 6:00 PM: The Christmas Concert with dinner and Santa @ St. Matthew.
  • Tuesday, Dec. 24th @ 6:00 PM: Christmas Eve Candlelight Service @ St. Matthew.

These events are important. Let them be for you.

The Class

Do you truly want to understand Christian theology? Do you want to know how God works in the world? Do you want to renew your sense of awe before God—your sense of living on holy ground?

Come to this class. Start at any time.

Every week at 9:45—breakfast after.

Speaking of Breakfast

We must bring it this week. Help, if you can. I’ve got pigs-in-a-blanket covered.

Food and fellowship at 10:30. Followed by worship.

Church Facebook Page

Are you on it?

We have a goal to get everyone who has a computer to join the St. Matthew Facebook page. Someone Sunday will be talking to you about how to do that.

Come, let us worship together. This Sunday.

God Bless,
—MB

Friday’s Word: First Sunday of Advent

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In the midst of the disaster that has come upon us, there are some things we must remember.

This is still God’s world.

And God, too, has intentions for us as individuals and for the world.

And God does intervene.

I cannot talk of God’s grand design. But I know a thousand stories of God’s intervention in individual lives.

This is from Rosemary Thornton, author of Remembering the Light.

One night when I was 22, I was driving on a dark road with a light rain falling. Visibility was poor.

I had an old car, and the defroster didn’t work too well.

I wasn’t going very fast, but I heard a voice urgently demand that I stop the car.

I ignored it at first.

But the second time, the voice was yelling and said, “Stop the car now!”

I didn’t know what was happening, but I slammed on the brakes. The car stopped immediately.

I put it in park and exited the vehicle. Less than two feet in front of the car stood a tiny toddler in only a diaper and looking very frightened.

I scooped him up in my arms and moved to the side of the road and stood in the rain, holding him close as I figured out what to do next.

Rosemary says that’s when the child’s mother ran from a nearby house, screaming and crying. She had fallen asleep on the couch and awoke to find her baby gone.

God, too, has intentions.

God does intervene to work God’s will.

We are, at all times, loved, watched over, cared for. That’s my comfort in hard times. Be encouraged.

Trust God.

Max’s Corner

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Please remember this. I will ask you this Sunday.
The number is 10.

ADVENT

Yes—the four-week countdown to Christmas begins this Sunday. The colors go all purple, and the music gets sweet and tender—all for the Baby Jesus. Mary will preach on Advent 1.

We will light that first candle.

The Class—Discovering God

Did you see my little article this week on God’s intervention in our lives? That was a voice from an unseen presence. But what about physical interventions in the created order? That’s what we will talk about in class this week. Should be interesting.

Class at 9:45—breakfast after.

Speaking of Breakfast

Yep—Winston is up to bat this week. (Bring something if you wish.)

Food and fellowship at 10:30, followed by worship.

Christmas Schedule

I’m working to get ready for our Christmas Open House at my place on Sunday, Dec. 15. We’ve had some badly needed work done recently, so the house is a mess. That has got to change pretty quickly. And I will need to get my tree up earlier than usual.

+++ We will need some of you to help with the refreshments. +++

The purpose of this event is just to give us a time of Christmas fellowship. And you may find the house interesting. Everything in it is pretty old—including me.

That’s from 2:00 to 5:00 on December 15.

Our Christmas concert is late this year due to our singers’ schedules: Saturday, Dec. 21, at 6:00 p.m.

But!!—you will be glad to hear, Christmas Eve remains on the 24th. Some things do NOT change. That’s also at 6:00 p.m.

God Bless,
MB

Thanksgiving Service—Dinner After

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There are some 40,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Most of us are familiar with 15 or 20 of them.

It sounds neighborly to say that we all basically believe in the same God.

But that’s not true.

The God I believe in is summed up in Matthew 5:38-48 and Luke 6:27-36 (mostly the same material). I call this “core scripture.”

Here, Jesus gives us His picture of God as loving all people all the time. He says God is kind even to “the ungrateful and the wicked.”

The word for this kind of love is “grace.”

Unconditional love.

And Jesus says this is the only kind of love that makes a difference.

Loving those who love you is easy. “What reward do you get” for doing that? He asks.

Many Christians do not share this understanding of God.

How do I know?

We all know Christians who believe things that contradict Jesus.

Many Christians believe God destroyed the world with a flood.

They believe God decided creation was a mistake. God goofed!

Then God tried to correct the blunder by wiping out everything that would not fit on a big boat.

And then regretted that!

This angry, unhappy, vengeful, mistake-prone God is not the God we know in Jesus Christ.

This is not the God who loves all people all the time. If Jesus is right about God, the Flood Story is wrong.

So—

Which do you choose?

• • •

Try St. Matthew.

We choose Jesus.

Thanksgiving service at 11:00. Dinner after.

Max’s Corner

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Please remember this: The number is 10.

Thanksgiving Worship

This Sunday will be Christ the King Sunday as well as our Thanksgiving Service—a double celebration and always a big deal!

We are providing the meal—thanks to those who signed up and anyone else who wants to help. The menu includes both turkey and ham, so any side dishes that go with those will be perfect.

BUT—you do not have to bring anything to eat.

What we really want is for all of you to join us for both worship and dinner.

The Class—Discovering God

This week’s topic is conversion experiences. You’re welcome to join at any time.

• Class starts at 9:45 AM.

• Light breakfast will follow.

Speaking of Breakfast

This Sunday, we’ll enjoy a light breakfast of pigs-in-a-blanket and donuts, with orange juice and coffee available. To keep things organized, the breakfast table will be at the south end of the fellowship hall to avoid interfering with dinner preparations.

• Food and fellowship: 10:30 AM

• Worship: After breakfast

• Thanksgiving dinner: Following worship

Christmas Schedule

• Christmas Concert: Saturday, Dec. 21, at 6:00 PM. This will also include our Christmas dinner and a visit from Santa for the kids!

• Open House at the Brennans: Sunday, Dec. 15, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

Advent begins the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, with Mary preaching that day.

God Bless,

MB

The number is 10. Can you remember that this Sunday? I’ll ask for a show of hands from those who know it. The number is 10.