Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

  • Mary’s Corner

    Mary Teague

    Dearest Church and friends,

    I do not know how we have been so very blessed to hear the kind of music we have heard from the Davidson family and from Blake Glass! I could listen for hours, and I have been humming “Blessed Assurance” since Sunday. These performances have been pure joy for me. I am looking forward to more experiences in the future. For example, we have finally settled on a name for these concerts, “Second Saturday Concerts.”

    Our next Second Saturday is August 19th. I will be talking to Blake and Shannon about a plan for this one. Max will perform at our September event and the October and November events are yet to be finalized.

    Please tell your friends. These concerts started out as fundraising events, but I have enjoyed them so much that I have completely forgotten everything except the overwhelming happiness I am feeling afterward. I know you feel the same way. Thank you to our performers and to Blake and Shannon for all the hard work it took to become this talented.

    Remember this week that God has known your name for all of eternity. There isn’t a time when you have not been known and loved by God. Blessings to you all.

    STAY INSIDE UNLESS YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. IF YOU NEED WATER, GROCERIES OR ANYTHING AT ALL, PLEASE CONTACT THE CHURCH!
    Mary
    [email protected]

  • Kids’ News

    Sue Kelcey

    Sunday when we told the kids we were going to talk about Daniel, the kids got very excited and Remi told us about Daniel before Miss Vickie could start the story! The Hebrews were living in a foreign land, surrounded by people who worshiped different gods. These circumstances made remaining faithful to the Living God a challenge.

    Some of the king’s advisors were jealous of Daniel and went to King Darius and tricked him into making a law that people should worship him and nobody else. King Darius agreed to their suggestion that anyone that broke the law should be fed to the lions. So, the trap was set! Daniel makes a courageous choice to continue praying to God three times a day in front of an open window just like he had always done. Daniel is reported to the king by his advisors, and even though he tries to find a way out, the king must order Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den. However, Daniel’s faithfulness is rewarded when God sends an angel to close the mouths of the lions and Daniel escapes harm. The king is so impressed by this demonstration of God’s power that he begins to worship God also and sends out a decree that everyone in the kingdom should worship God. By choosing to be faithful to God and not hide his faith, Daniel set an example for the king and others in the kingdom.

    Our Back-to-School Bash is this Friday. We will have a movie and dinner for all our kids starting at 6:00. This includes all our kids—grade school, high school, or college!! Come see us for dinner, movie, and a prize! See you on Friday and again on Sunday for church!

    Blessings, Mrs. Sur, and Mrs. Vickie

  • St. Matthew Today for August 2nd, 2023

    Jason Hardy
    2023-08-02 St Matthew TodayDownload

  • 2333 – “If My People”

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

    2 Chronicles 7:14 New International Version

    14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

    John 10:27-28 New International Version

    27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

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  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan

    Houston Smith, who died in 2016 at ninety-seven, was a great scholar of world religions. He was a Christian.

    But as a young man, he was attracted to some of the Eastern faiths.

    He could not abide by the Christian teachings of hell.

    On a retreat, he met a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was fascinated by him. He talked to him and missed other retreat activities.

    He told the priest he could not settle on the Christian faith because of eternal punishment in hell.

    The priest said, “Listen, you know that story where Paul was taken up to heaven?”

    He meant Paul’s NDE, his near-death experience. (II Cor. 12)

    Paul was so reluctant to share the story he put it in the third person. But it is clear Paul was talking about himself.

    Paul said he was told in heaven things he could not repeat.

    “I know what he was told,” said the priest to Houston Smith. “He was told that all people will be saved.”

    That did it for the young man who would become the great scholar. He then felt free to become a follower of Jesus Christ.

    And Paul did let the secret out. He said in Romans 11:25 that “the full number of Gentiles” would be brought to faith and then “all Israel will be saved.”

    Well—that’s everybody.

    Is there a hell?

    Of course, there is. There must be a place for evil people when they die.

    Hell is in eternity— another dimension. But hell is not forever.

    There is no limit on God’s forgiveness nor on God’s saving power.

    Through Christ, the world is reconciled.

    We are all loved.

    We are all forgiven.