Author Archives: John Collins

Church T-Shirts This Weekend

I’ll plan to preach on Micah 6:1-8 this Sunday (January 29, 2023). In verse 8, Micah tells us that God desires that we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. On our church t-shirts, this is phrased as “seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly,” but the meaning is the same.

Worship — Sunday, January 22, 2023

Here’s the YouTube link: youtu.be/JKGqNwwmoCY

IWe again had problems with the livestream again today. We’ll make some more adjustments and try again next Sunday. One of the problems with figuring out what’s wrong is that everything works just fine in the middle of the week and then goes south on Sunday morning.

Looking for a previous service? Here’s the College Avenue United Methodist Church YouTube page: www.youtube.com/c/caumcMHK

Livestream Fixes In Place

The tech crew has made several changes to our livestreaming system. These include increasing our internet transfer speed and throttling the wi-fi (to leave more data available for the livestream). Hopefully these will work. If you’re watching from home, please let us know whether it works or not. If we have problems, you can catch the recorded service later at https://bit.ly/3vcil1Y.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ve titled this post “Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” because I want to emphasize something that is often overlooked or obscured in our celebration of today’s national holiday. What is commonly overlooked or obscured is the religious nature of the civil rights movement; the way that faith in general, and Christian faith in particular, undergirded and provided the foundation for what was accomplished. Before he was a civil rights leader, before he rose to national prominence, before he had a federal holiday named after him, Martin Luther King was a pastor. For that reason it seems appropriate to share this quote from one of his many sermons:

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.”

— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Loving Your Enemies,”
delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery Alabama, November 17, 1957.

 

2023 MLK Community Prayer Breakfast

The 2023 Community Prayer Breakfast for Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be held at 9:00 a.m. on January 16, 2023, at the Douglass Annex, 900 Yuma Street. The speaker will be Dr. Rana Johnson, Kansas State University’s VP for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Rev. E. Fletcher of Bethel AME Church will lead those gathered in prayer.

The buffet breakfast will be served beginning at 9:00 a.m. In addition, art and writing contest entries and awards will be presented. You’re encouraged to view the displays before and after the speaker’s presentation.

The Water

The next Wednesday Night Adult Bible Study on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again will be today, Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 7 p.m. We’ll be discussing pages 141-164, “The Water” and “Gospel Stories.”

Worship — Sunday, January 8, 2023

We had some trouble with our internet service provider while attempting to livestream the service this morning, but things seem to be alright with the recorded service above and below.

Here’s the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/qbmsaTJ5TnI

You can find the bulletin here: www.caumcmanhattan.org/bulletins

Here’s a link to the “Patience” song: https://bit.ly/3Cxmq4O

Looking for a previous service? Here’s the College Avenue United Methodist Church YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/caumcMHK