June 19, 2017 - Sunday was the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, denoting major religious and festival celebrations being over until fall. We had our usual crowd at Paxton this morning. Cynthia graciously came by and played the piano for us on the way to her own church. Joy and Gene brought produce from their garden, set up two long tables full of delicious looking vegetables, and even brought plastic bags to hold what we wanted. They also had their canned pickles and hot sauce. It was a real farmers’ market right there at church! I know everyone appreciated the veggies and the effort Joy and Gene made.
Our Sunday school lesson was from Judges, “Jephthah Answers the Call.” The twelve tribes came together only when they were under attack. In normal conditions they were unwilling to surrender power or authority to one or two powerful tribes or leaders. But the Ammonites were making life miserable for the twelve tribes, so they once again united, calling on Jephthah to raise an army to defeat the enemy. Jephthah appealed to the Lord for help and promised he would make a sacrifice to the Lord. He was victorious, but the sacrifice he promised would be far greater than he could imagine.
Our Gospel Lesson for Sunday was Matthew 9:35-42. Matthew’s Gospel was written for a Jewish audience. There are five major discourses in Matthew, just like there are five books in the Torah. In today’s lesson Jesus warns about empty words. There are two Greek words for “good” used in the earliest New Testaments. One means “to do good things,” and the other means “to be of good character.” We need to strive for both. I read a quote this week: “I would much prefer to see a good sermon lived than a good sermon spoken.” A helpful reminder for us all.
Sunday was Father’s Day, which has been a national holiday since 1924. Paxton Methodist wishes all good and loving fathers—including those men who are role models for others—a Happy Father’s Day. This week Sam Watson celebrates his 20th birthday, and Liz and Mike celebrate their anniversary. All during the month of June, Paxton Methodist is collecting paper towels and toilet paper for Community Christian Services. Tuesday we will head to Holiday Nursing Center for our monthly program, which begins 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. Godspeed.
