September 14, 2015 - Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus. Sunday was the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The scripture I used for my sermon was actually last Sunday’s Gospel Lesson—Mark 7: 24-30. I used the Epistle Lesson from James last week. Both these two scriptures are so important I decided to use the Mark Gospel and its story about the Syrophoenician woman. In the Matthew story this woman was a Canaanite woman. Both descriptions refer to someone who is a Gentile and despised by the Jewish people. This woman who is first ignored by Jesus is very persistent because her daughter was very ill. I wish this woman was given a name by the Gospel writers because I view her as very important and pivotal in the Jesus movement. Even though this lady is ignored and then treated dismissively gets what she comes for. Her daughter is healed and this woman has faith that even a Gentile hated by most of the Jewish people would be welcome into the Kingdom that Jesus talked about.
We had a smaller crowd than we usually do. Gene filled in for Joe who wasn’t feeling very well. Gene selected some “crowd favorites” and we appreciate Gene and Hilda for our music. It was Joe’s birthday so we sang Happy Birthday and we hope he felt the love coming his way! We discussed the Charge Conference and spoke of the challenge our District Superintendant laid down. He is hoping that many churches will help fund the Zoe Project. We will discuss and vote on that next Sunday. On Monday Bishop Huey will be in the East District. She will meet with laity and pastors at Lufkin First Methodist. This will the last year she will be our bishop. Bishop Huey has been an inspiration to all of us over the last twelve years.
This past Tuesday around eight Methodist Churches in Shelby County joined together and had a Charge Conference. It was so nice to see Rev. Ortigo from Joaquin Methodist and many folks from Joaquin. Joaquin Methodist will always have a special place in my heart. It was wonderful to hear about all that they are doing. Fannie Watson spoke for the Paxton congregation and did a splendid job. Fannie is such a good speaker and told about many of Paxton’s ministries. Rev. Huffman, the District Superintendant of the East District gave a heart felt devotion and showed a video about a wonderful new ministry that every church no matter how small can help out. It is called “Zoe” and is set up to help orphans and vulnerable children. The ministry is not a hand out but a hand up. It is very similar to World Vision that helps people by given seeds, livestock, helping drill a new well etc.
This coming Tuesday will be the Holiday Nursing Center ministry. I plan to be there and am looking forward to seeing our friends at Holiday . The next day I head to Houston for a check-up and screenings at M. D. Anderson. This past week I went to the Logansport Library to return books and check some out. Linda Foreman is the head librarian and told me that husband Buck is undergoing chemo. Our prayers and thoughts are with Linda and Buck.
“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 9:15 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!
