May 31, 2021 - Grace and peace from our friend and brother Jesus. It is Memorial Day morning, and I am running late with my newspaper article and weekly church newsletter. Sam, Gunter, and I finally made it to the park for our morning walk in the beautiful weather. I finished some of my early chores and decided to sit down to write the News from Paxton Methodist. Saturday we had a phone call from one of our favorite people—Ms. Hilda! She sounded really good! At church Joy said she called Hilda during the week, and they had the nicest talk. We still haven’t heard from Carolyn, but I imagine they have her pretty busy up there in Pennsylvania. (I wonder if it’s spring up there yet.)
Since we resumed in-person worship, our music has been on CD. And we are reminded yet again how much we miss Hilda being here. But this week we sang the Gloria Patri and the Doxology along with “America, the Beautiful.” We relied on CD instrumental versions for these songs since we don’t have a piano player. We did OK but it was questionable whether it was a joyful noise—or just noise. Our final hymn was Christy Lane singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” for which we all rose. In our prayers and in the sermon, we remembered all those folks who served their country with pride and distinction.
The scripture for our Sunday School lesson was the Epistle lesson (1 John 4: 7-21) a few Sundays ago. The author said we are to embrace and celebrate God’s all-encompassing love. To me, John’s words are key to understanding Jesus and the Peaceable Kingdom of God. Growing up Lutheran, I heard a lot about punishment and doom and not so much about love. But after all, God is love.
The Gospel lesson for Trinity Sunday was probably the most well-known of all Christian scriptures. The Gospel lesson included John 3:16. Even though the Trinity is not discussed in the New Testament, by the fourth century CE it was certainly part of the church doctrine. We read this morning as our affirmation The Nicene Creed, which the emperor and the church hoped would clarify the relationship of the Trinity’s three parts. It didn’t work: People still don’t understand it (I don’t for sure) and still argue over what they don’t understand.
In June we will collect paper towels and toilet paper for Community Christian Services. I will drop of f the bounty of canned fruit that the church collected in May, as well as some checks from the church folks.
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, and Open Minds.” 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 your email address to the Paxton email address, and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
