This evening (February 16, 2022) at 5:15, we’ll have a Bible study on the meaning of the temple in the Bible. You can attend in person in room 200 or you can join us via Zoom at https://wp.me/P3IZ7l-nZ. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. (Most people don’t.) We’ll begin with a five minute video introduction and then continue the discussion from there. If you want to watch the video or study the materials ahead of time you can go to https://bit.ly/36kJtCL.
Worship — Sunday, February 13, 2022
If you want to follow along with bulletin you can follow this link or the link in the menu above.
If you’re having trouble streaming our worship videos, you may want to simply download the entire video to your device and then play it. You can do that by clicking on the link in the Vimeo logo above and then selecting download.
You can make a contribution online via tithe.ly. Other options can be found here.
Previous worship services can be found at abilenefirstumc.org/onlineworship/.
Voices: Believe God
Today’s voice is an excellent summary of why the ends never justify the means.
We should always remember that the ends never justify the means; rather, the means are the ends in the process of becoming. — Brian Zahnd [1]
[1] Brian Hand, Postcards from Babylon: the Church in American Exile (Spello Press, 2019).
Bible Study: The Temple
This evening (February 9, 2022) at 5:15, we’ll have a Bible study on the meaning of the temple in the Bible. You can attend in person in room 200 or you can join us via Zoom at https://wp.me/P3IZ7l-nZ. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. (Most people don’t.) We’ll begin with a five minute video introduction and then continue the discussion from there. If you want to watch the video or study the materials ahead of time you can go to https://bit.ly/34Guzpw.
Worship — Sunday, February 6, 2022
If you want to follow along with bulletin you can follow this link or the link in the menu above.
If you’re having trouble streaming our worship videos, you may want to simply download the entire video to your device and then play it. You can do that by clicking on the link in the Vimeo logo above and then selecting download.
You can make a contribution online via tithe.ly. Other options can be found here.
Previous worship services can be found at abilenefirstumc.org/onlineworship/.
I’m Moving
In last year’s Appointive Recommendation, The Staff Parish Relations Committee indicated to the Bishop and his cabinet that: “Our [Abilene First UMC’s] mission can be met with our current pastor, but we would also be open to a new pastor who has gifts/skills in the area(s) of [a] fresh perspective to re-invigorate and help the church grow.” I agreed with this assessment wholeheartedly. For the same reason, I indicated that I was ready for a move on my own appointive recommendation.
After a process of careful discernment, the Bishop is appointing me to Manhattan College Avenue UMC effective July 1. The Bishop and Cabinet will work hard to discern the pastor who will take my place and make that announcement as soon as possible, but I will continue to serve as your pastor until the end of June.
Voices: Believe God
In today’s devotion from Frederick Buchner, he makes an important distinction:
“Believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud’s method of interpreting dreams or the theory that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Romeo and Juliet.
Believing God is something else again. It is less a position than a journey, less a realization than a relationship. It doesn’t leave you cold like believing the world is round. It stirs your blood like believing the world is a miracle. It affects who you are and what you do with your life like believing your house is on fire or somebody loves you.” [1]
The whole essay thing is well worth the read. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll forward the entire email to you. Or, if you have his book, Beyond Words, you can read it there. Either way, believe God.
[1] Frederick Buechner, “Believing,” in Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2004).
A Story about the Little Free Pantry
This coming Sunday (February 6, 2022) is the first Sunday of the month and that means that it’s Little Free Pantry Sunday. Here’s a story from Lisa Divel about how important this ministry is:
“Every time that we have been at the Little Free Pantry and someone in need was there, they have all commented about how thankful they were for the Little Free Pantry. The story that I love most is of a woman who stopped at the church, and I helped her put food items in the Little Free Pantry (she was donating). I told her, ‘thank you,’ and she said, ‘no, thank you. There have been times when I needed the Little Free Pantry, or we were not going to eat, and I’m paying it back.’ “
Bible Study: Witness
This evening at 5:15, we’ll have a Bible study on the biblical concept of being a witness to the good news. Because of the weather, tonight’s study will be online only. You can find the link to join us at https://wp.me/P3IZ7l-nZ. You don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. (Most people don’t.) We’ll begin with a five minute video introduction and then continue the discussion from there. If you want to watch the video or study the materials ahead of time you can go to https://bit.ly/344dHJy.
Funeral Services for Sara Burwell
Sara Burwell died yesterday (Monday, January 31, 2022). A funeral service will be held at the Wilson Funeral Home in Minneapolis, Kansas, this Saturday (February 5) at 10:00 a.m. A full obituary can be found at the link below. Please keep Bill and the rest of her family in your prayers.
Link: https://bit.ly/3olfUqS
Church Activities Cancelled Tomorrow
Because of the weather, Abilene Schools have canceled classes and activities tomorrow (Wednesday, February 2, 2022). Therefore, following their lead (as is our policy), the Church office will be closed tomorrow, and activities will be canceled. The exceptions are that the 5:15 p.m. Bible Study and the 6 p.m. Communion Service will both be held as scheduled—but only over Zoom.
Voices: I Have Decided to Stick With Love
I plan to preach on 1 Corinthians 13 this Sunday. Love is not easy, love is hard. But love is worthwhile. Indeed love is really the only viable option because, as King knew, “hate is too great a burden to bear.” The more complete quote can be found below. (The emphasis is mine.)
“I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. And I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. I’ve seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens’ Councilors in the South to want to hate, myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities, and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren’t moving wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.” — Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. [1]
I urge us all to “stick with love,” it’s hard, difficult work, but “hate is too great a burden to bear.”
[1] Martin Luther King, Jr., “Where Do We Go From Here?,” in The Radical King (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2016), 175-176.