Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

  • Mary’s Corner

    Mary Teague

    Hello dear church and friends,

    We lost Curtis Anderson on Monday morning. He passed peacefully in his sleep. Linda we are praying for you and your family. Linda and Curtis have been members of the United Methodist Church for a long, long time. They even have some original artwork from a Methodist circuit preacher from BEFORE the UMC was united at all. I wonder how all of those circuit riding preachers would feel about the UMC if they could see us now? And the lay ministers who served in between visits from the circuit riders, what would they think of the church today? It was a very conservative time then and a little bit now; but, the UMC is slowly making progress in the areas of affirmation and inclusion. I am proud to say that our congregation moves faster than the majority. I say all that to tell you that I found out that Curtis and Linda Anderson are also trained and certified lay speakers for the UMC. They preached many years ago at Eastside UMC. I know how they feel about the church today. They love Saint Matthew and have become an important part of our history and community. Funeral arrangements are pending. You will receive a special email with the details.

    I am back from my vacation to the beach. It was a peaceful and restful time for me. I hope to share some photos with you soon. Mostly, I hope to see you in church on Sunday. Love to all, Mary

  • Kids’ News

    Sue Kelcey

    Jesus was walking along the shore of the Galilean Sea when he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, fishing with nets. Jesus called to them: “Come, follow me! I will teach you how to fish for people.”

    They dropped everything and followed Jesus. Further along the shore, Jesus saw two brothers, James and John, fishing with their father. He called out to them the same invitation and they left their father to follow Jesus.

    The phase “to fish for people” is Jesus’ invitation for us to truly follow him. This is a calling for everyone. When we accept this calling, we are invited to be disciples and to share this message with the world. Everyone is called. We can all be a follower of Jesus; we are all included.

    Thanks for being in church with us to learn more about this invitation.

    Blessings

  • Saint Matthew Today for January 24th, 2024

    Jason Hardy
    2024-01-24-St-Matthew-TodayDownload

  • 2403 – The Source of Power

    Jason Hardy
    YouTube player

    Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

    https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/saintmatthewumc/episodes/The-Source-of-Power-e2g2hfc
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    Romans 7:14-25 New International Version

    14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a]For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

    21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

    So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[b] a slave to the law of sin.

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  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan

    The Book of Revelation

    The final decision at the Council of Hippo in 397 was to include the Book of Revelation in the canon of the Bible.

    It was a mistake.

    After that, it has been hard to get Christians to listen to the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels.

    Our natural inclination is toward revenge, and the Book of Revelation is a book of vengeance. In it, both God and his Son are rough customers.

    God pours out bowls of wrath on the earth and sends fire and earthquakes.

    And Jesus rides in on a white horse with a sword in his mouth and cuts off the heads of his enemies.

    And that’s it.

    That’s the undoing of the image of God we have in the Gospels.

    That wipes out the essential teaching of Jesus—that God loves us, even if we are the worst of sinners. For God loves God’s enemies.

    Jesus says God is “kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked.”

    So, Christians face a choice: They must choose bowls of wrath or grace.

    They must choose a Jesus who cuts off heads or dies for us on the cross.

    They can’t have both.

    And many Christians, particularly evangelicals, choose the image of God from Revelation.

    That tells us why a political figure who is all about vengeance has the support of so many people who claim to follow Jesus Christ.

    That politician was once asked to name his favorite verse of scripture.

    He said, “An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Yes, the very verse Jesus quoted to say that it was wrong.

    And so is that “book of vengeance” in the Bible.

    It is wrong about God.