July 15, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother Jesus. We are in the midst of Ordinary Time, and unfortunately, as I start writing my article for next week, Barry is churning in the Gulf. Saturday morning I took my puppies and our granddog to the park. It wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been all week, and there was a gusty wind blowing. I sure feel for those on the coast and hope people stay as safe as they can—but I’m enjoying the scraps of the storm we’re getting.
The title of our Sunday school lesson was “Jesus Teaches Us to Love One Another,” but the scripture from Matthew 5 sounded harsh to our modern ears. Our author also spent quite a bit of time talking about human brokenness. Toward the end of the lesson, the author reminded us that God has a one-item agenda: reconciliation, AKA learning to care for each other.
My sermon was based on the Gospel Lesson in which Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan. I titled my sermon, “The God Rule,” which is to love God completely and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes quite sure that his listeners understand that everyone on God’s earth is our neighbor.
We had a small crowd this morning, but we all had a good time visiting. Joe and Hilda kept our music going. Sue, our liturgist, led us in our Psalter Lesson, affirmation, and the Gospel Lesson. Our announcements reminded us that Tuesday at 2PM is our Holiday Nursing Home ministry. Also, July is our month for collecting cans of spaghetti and ravioli to donate to Community Christian Services in Joaquin.
Sue told us of seeing Pastor Jody, whose church is home to Community Christian Services. He said how much he enjoys seeing the many volunteers—from other churches and many areas of life—working so well together. But something else has been happening to give him additional joy: Those who are the clients of CCS have often become its volunteers as well. Our church is so happy to help in some small way with this worthy effort.
Our worship time is 10:00 AM; we would love to have you come to worship with us. I know how very busy everyone is: Our early meeting time enables you to move on to family get-togethers or jobs afterward. Not to mention naps, which my wife says are best on Sunday afternoon. 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.
