September 7, 2020 - Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen. Sunday was the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. This has been a tough week for those in southwestern Louisiana as they are still digging out of the destruction brought on by Hurricane Laura. Most people in Shelby County finally got their power back on within the week. But many in those hard- hit parishes are still waiting for lights and some air conditioning.
September is here and tomorrow we celebrate Labor Day—the working man and woman. We are especially grateful for all those front-line workers who keep our country going and oftentimes do not earn a living wage or have health insurance for their families.
This was the first Sunday of the month, so we celebrated Holy Communion at Paxton. We are doing communion differently, trying to stay safe. Sue and I will deliver last month’s collection of checks and children’s underwear to Community Christian Services this week. During September we will collect macaroni and cheese.
With this new month, we also had new quarterly Sunday School books. Fannie had a really good lesson planned out and was able to tie many of the ideas in the main scripture—Acts 9: 1-20—to the present day. The scripture spoke of Paul’s conversion but also of his need to let go of the anger that had built up inside him. Our author said that one’s anger and the way one deals with it can serve as a test of spiritual maturity.
At church time, I continued looking at Paul’s letter to the Roman Jesus followers. One of the resources that I use in sermon preparation said that Romans serves as the textbook for Christianity. In this textbook the most important word is LOVE. Love here is seen as compassion, deep caring, and sense of belonging to one another—not passion or romance. The word “love” is so overused that we sometimes don’t realize how very central it is to our faith.
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.
Randy & Sue Smith/Paxton United Methodist Church
