We give thanks for the many ways God’s love is shared through the life of our church. We give thanks for Rev. Mike Love and Susan for their presence among us during this season. Through their leadership, care, and steady faith, they have helped guide us with grace and compassion. We are grateful for the ways they have walked alongside our congregation, offering encouragement and reminding us of Christ’s constant presence.
We are thankful for the ways our church continues to come together in worship, fellowship, and service. Each week, through music, prayer, and shared life, we experience the love of God in meaningful and lasting ways.
As we look ahead, we do so with gratitude for where we have been and hope for where God is leading us. We give thanks for each person who shares their gifts so faithfully, helping us experience the joy and presence of Christ together.
St. Matthew Congregational Business and Ministry meeting Sunday, April 26th, immediately following services.
Good Wednesday, St. Matthew and friends,
I pray for love and peacefulness to fill your hearts and lives continuously through the power of the resurrected Christ.
I am recovering well from my knee surgery last week. Thank you for your prayers and support. This one has been a bit easier than the first, as I remember it, and the pain has been well controlled with over-the-counter medications. I am grateful to God for the excellent care I received during the surgery and since returning home.
We will have a guest preacher this weekend, Hannah Newcomer Sliva (pronounced “sleeva”), Associate Director of the TCU Wesley Foundation. The Wesley Foundation is a ministry of the United Methodist Church serving college campuses across the United States. Hannah has had a variety of experiences on her way to being called by God into full-time ministry, including serving as a youth minister, a 4th and 5th-grade teacher, a 6th-grade choir director, and a foster care specialist.
Hannah is currently in the Master of Divinity program at TCU’s Brite Divinity School. She believes God called her to the Deacon track because “the church has to leave its walls.” She also shares, “God is always there through prevenient grace, making ready whatever is next for my life.” Hannah is involved in a program through Princeton University called the Polaris Program, where she is writing a theology of aging. You can learn more about her work here: A Theology of Aging with Hanna Newcomer Sliva – part 1. She believes God created us to experience life “in its full capacity, anticipating joy always.”
Please join me in making Hannah very welcome at St. Matthew. She will preach for us this week and possibly again in the future. I am so thankful for this support at this time in my ministry. God has put us all here together at the perfect time to be the love of God in our world, and I am excited to be in this ministry with you.
Following worship on Sunday, April 26, we will gather for a Congregational Family Business Meeting. This will be a time to share updates on the life of our church, reflect on where we are, and look ahead to the opportunities before us.
We will also discuss ways to serve and participate in the ministries of Saint Matthew, including opportunities for committee involvement and volunteer support.
We invite you to join us as you are able, as we continue to move forward together in faith.
In the days after the resurrection, we find the disciples gathered behind closed doors, holding both hope and uncertainty. Thomas, who was not present when Jesus first appeared, longs for something more than secondhand testimony. He wants to see, to touch, to know for himself. In this familiar story from John’s Gospel, we are reminded that faith often grows in the space between doubt and encounter. Jesus meets Thomas where he is, not with judgment, but with peace, inviting him into belief through relationship.
Rev. Mike Love invites us to consider how we see Christ, not only as risen, but as the one still marked by the wounds of the cross. Thomas does not simply seek proof of life. He seeks the crucified Christ, the one who bears the marks of suffering and love. In the same way, we are called to recognize that our faith is shaped by the full story of Jesus. The wounds are not erased in the resurrection. They remain as a witness to God’s redeeming love, reminding us that healing and new life often come through places of brokenness.
As we reflect on this encounter, we are invited to consider how our own experiences shape the way we see and follow Christ. Like the disciples, we gather in spaces of comfort and community, yet we are also sent beyond them. The Spirit breathes life into us, calling us to carry the presence of Christ into the world. In our own wounds and in our shared life together, we become witnesses to the grace we have received. Even when we have not seen, we are blessed as we continue to believe and live out that faith each day.
Take Time to Reflect
Where in your life are you longing to see or understand Christ more clearly?
How have your own wounds shaped your faith and your ability to care for others?
In what ways is God calling you to move beyond comfort and be a witness to Christ this week?
John 20:24-29 New International Version
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
