Peakland UMC

Andrew's been reflecting on communion and what it means to him. He's also been eating a lot of bread that Pastor Joe's been baking. It shouldn't be surprising he's somehow found a connection between them...

From Pastor Joe:

This past Sunday was the birthday of my wonderful wife Kim. She and I and our sons had lunch together after church. We had cake, and birthday cards from her friends and family. There were presents for her and I sang Happy birthday to her badly.

It was a happy celebration, and I’m so grateful to God for the past year that we’ve had together.

How does your family celebrate birthdays? Are there parties and presents? Some folks downplay birthdays particularly as they get older. Each of us celebrates birthdays in our ways.

From Pastor Dave:

The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church includes a section on the Doctrinal Standards for the people called Methodist. It is here we find the Twenty-Five Articles of Religion . Please note that the Constitution of The United Methodist includes the following Restrictive Rule: The General Conference shall not revoke, alter, or change our Articles of Religion or establish any new standards or rules of doctrine contrary to our present existing and established standards of doctrines.

From Pastor Joe:

For today’s devotion I’m again using This Day, A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, created by Rev Larry Stookey, a United Methodist pastor and worship professor at Wesley Theological seminary. This is the prayer book that I use most days for my morning devotion.

From Linwood:

Goodbye World, Goodbye is one of those southern gospel tunes that just makes you want to smile and tap your foot.

Last week my flugelhorn friend Lynn Nash, well, he’s actual a childhood friend - his father passed. As our former pastor John Vest would put it, he claimed the promise of the ressurection . I was asked to play for the funeral service, of which I was honored to do so. The only song they wanted played was Good bye World, goodbye. Lynn’s father, Bill, had heard the song somewhere and had leaned over to his wife and said I want they song done at my funeral.

Ok, so I was trying to figure out how you play that very uptempo song at a funeral service and try to retain some of the funnest of the song without being disrespect able - you know it’s a funeral service and everybody knows you have to tone everything down. It would appear not! When I expressed my concern over how to try and accomplish a respectable version, both the pastor and Mr. Nash’s wife said, just turn it loose.

I started and restarted this arrangement a half dozen times it seems like. I have gotten it to the point that I’m happy with it and what you heard was pretty close to what I played at the service. I have been tweaking it some and will continue to do so as Lynn has expressed an interest in adding a Flugelhorn part to the song. Of course he can - it was his dad this arrangement was created for and it would be only fitting to have it play.

Bill Nash was a quiet man. But when he cleared his throat to speak, everyone got quiet cause Bill always had something very good to share. It usually summed up everything that needed, or should have been said. You could count on him for that. For a quiet man, we raise this un-quiet song of tribute.

The Man who helped from the Gospel of Luke. In the story a person gets hurt. Who will help him?

What do we do when life is not what we expected or particularly wanted? Is there a word from the Lord when life is challenging and not going the way it ought to go. There is indeed and we’ll hear that word from the Prophet Jeremiah and from Jesus in just a moment.

Andrew reflects on an experience with a preschooler and how it relates to the ways we gather together in worship.

From Pastor Joe:

One of the first questions that I received when I arrived at Peakland was What’s my vision for Peakland. What do I think Peakland should do and be? It’s an important question, a critical question for a church to know where we’re headed. But it’s not my role to impose my vision for what Peakland could be.

I believe Christ has a vision for Peakland. I believe Christ has a path for Peakland to take and discerning what Christ would have Peakland be and do is the work of all us Peakland.

From Pastor Dave:

This week, I continue to focus on some of our major beliefs as United Methodist. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, known for its rules and procedures is also an excellent resource for learning about the history and doctrine of the denomination. I encourage you to borrow a copy from your church library and read the first 100 pages. These pages are the resource for my devotion.