March 26, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother Jesus. Sunday was the Third Sunday in Lent. We had such a nice week, and spring has officially sprung. It was really good to get out into the yard and garden, but I couldn’t help thinking about those hot summer days that are sure to come. I should just be satisfied with the now, but I am not always that mindful. We had a small group at church this morning. Fannie shared that she had a good, newsy visit with Keith. We certainly do miss Keith and Vera and hope Keith is feeling better. All this month we have been collecting cans of chili for Community Christian Services. In April we will collect toothpaste and toothbrushes.
Fannie had a really good lesson for Sunday school, as always. We heard the familiar story of Zacchaeus but with a few new twists. The crowd certainly wasn’t pleased when Jesus singled out Zacchaeus and went to his house for dinner. Too often, religious folks become convinced of their righteousness and look down on others. The scripture from Luke said the people saw and they grumbled. In my sermon I mentioned that of the many faults Paul was highlighting to his readers and listeners, the biggest fault was grumbling. Uh oh! Guilty!
In my sermon I carried on the Lenten idea of life being a journey and pointed out that like our spiritual forefathers and foremothers, the Jewish people, we too are wanderers. Paul spoke of falls—spiritual falls. Falls, whether physical or spiritual, are unplanned and unexpected events. And we know that our human condition tells us we will have falls along the way on our journey toward God.
Last week was our program at Holiday Nursing Home. I was the first one there, my wife second, and Pastor Matt third; we hung around outside the building, desperately hoping for a piano player. Even our musical Nora said she couldn’t help us out. And then…up drove Minnie and Hilda—not one piano player but two! We trooped into the dining room to crank up our program. Minnie played so Hilda could sing. I emceed and shared some surprising details of St. Patrick’s story from last week’s sermon. Pastor Matt read two contradictory passages about the death of Saul, concluding that they had self-serving politicos in that day just like we have today. Sue read a funny book called The Day the Goose Got Loose, in which pandemonium ensued. Nora did a “serious” song about Jesus and then flung us into a hand-clapping rendition of “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” This week we head to Lakeside Assisted Living on Thursday at 2:00.
Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
