October 16, 2017 - Sunday was the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The weather folks on TV are promising us that fall is coming this week. The Christian Year is coming to a close. Soon our attention will be on preparing for the Christ Child and the season of Advent. We have been in the very long season of Ordinary Time. From Pentecost until All Saints Day, there are no holy days like Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost. But even in ordinary day-to-day living we can still get glimpses of the Divine.
The Gospel Lesson for Sunday was Matthew 22:1-14, the third parable Jesus told during Holy Week at the Temple Mount. All the parables were aimed at the priests and elders who were supposed to be close to God and protectors of the faith. In this third parable the King invites his guests to the wedding feast for his son. The invited guests don’t seem interested and at the end of the parable the King sends out servants to round up anyone on the street. This parable was full of meaning about the Kingdom and what we should all be about.
Fannie’s Sunday school lesson stuck with the theme of covenant. This week’s lesson was God’s Written Covenant. The scripture came from Exodus 20:18-26; the people of Israel have witnessed thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and smoke covering the mountain. They were quite content to let Moses be the go-between.
This past Thursday our volunteers went to Focused Care in Center. We had a small crowd, but Nora, Jo, Hilda, and I enjoyed visiting and singing many songs. This Tuesday we go at 2PM to Holiday Nursing Center. Our church voted to send money to Gene and Joy’s grandson to buy wreaths for soldiers in cemeteries across the nation—a Boy Scout project. We also decided to help out financially with additional hurricane relief. All this month we are collecting peanut butter and jelly to take to Community Christian Services. We are also going to contribute to buying Christmas gifts for children through Community Christian Services.
“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. Godspeed.
