Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

  • Mary’s Corner

    Mary Teague

    Greetings in the name of the risen Christ! Thank you so much for your great singing on Sunday morning during worship. I love standing up front and listening to you. I promise we will have more opportunities to learn and sing with each other. And bless you for listening to so many sermons from the same passage of Scripture. If you have a sermon you especially liked that I have preached, let me know. I have to submit one more to the Board of Ordained Ministry by December 1.

    This weekend I will be traveling to Michigan for the celebration of my brother’s 30th year at his church. They used to call him the hippie preacher because he had long hair and progressive ideas. Now he is bald, and I have no idea what they call him!

    I will be back on the 12th. Love to all,

    Mary

  • Kids’ News – The First Passover

    Sue Kelcey

    Last week, we learned how Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he refused to let the Israelites go. God showed His power through mighty acts, beginning with the plagues. The Nile River turned to blood; the land was filled with frogs, gnats, and flies, and the Egyptians’ livestock fell ill. Yet each time, Pharaoh’s heart grew harder, and he still would not listen.

    The plagues continued. Painful sores covered the people, hail destroyed crops, locusts devoured what was left, and darkness covered the land for three days. Through it all, God showed that His power was greater than all the gods of Egypt. Finally, God sent the most serious plague: the death of the firstborn. However, God provided a way for His people to be saved. They were to place the blood of a lamb on their doorposts, and the Lord would “pass over” their homes and protect them.

    This became the first Passover, a moment so important that the people of Israel still celebrate it today. It reminds us that God delivers His people and keeps His promises. Just as God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He frees us from sin through Jesus, the Lamb of God.

    What We Learned

    • God’s power is greater than any ruler or false god.
    • God protects His people, even in the hardest times.
    • The Passover points us to Jesus, who delivers us from sin and death.

  • Newsletter for October 1, 2025

    Jason Hardy
    2025-10-01 St Matthew TodayDownload

  • Lenses

    Jason Hardy

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

    Philippians 2:1-4 New International Version

    Imitating Christ’s Humility

    2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

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  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan

    Getting Jimmy Kimmel back is a small victory.

    And it’s a step in the right direction.

    But the Heart of Darkness has three more years of vengeance and chaos. We can hope that some members of his cult will see the light. But so far, not many. It’s hard to leave a cult. Good people get drawn in. It’s like good kids who join sides with the bully in high school.

    They may even realize how mean the bully is, but they are on the power side. The Heart of Darkness once said, “To exercise power is to instill fear.” That’s what bullies do. That’s what dictators do. They make people afraid of them.

    We are now a nation run by bullies, and they govern by instilling fear. And, so far, it’s working. Heads of corporations are afraid. University leaders are afraid. Heads of big law firms are afraid. Teachers in classrooms are afraid. The brazen, lawless use of power to instill fear is working so far.

    But that’s—so far.

    It cannot continue.

    Because the trajectory of God’s creation is toward love, not fear. The foundational principle of the universe is love. God, who is the source of all things, is love.

    You can stand in the river with arms stretched out to stop the water, but the water will overwhelm you. You can oppose the foundations of existence only so long. Finally, there is no power against God’s grace.

    “Perfect love,” says John, “casts out fear.”

    It will get darker for a while. Then comes the sun.

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