Peakland UMC

From Pastor Joe:

Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain died during the first full week of September. She was 96 years old and had reigned for just over 70 years.

I don’t really know anything about the Queen. I’ve seen several depictions of her in movies and TV. Helen Mirren played the Queen in the movie The Queen which covered the days right after the death of Princess Diana Clair Foy and Olivia Coleman each played Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series the Crown,

From Pastor Dave:

Like many of you, Linda and I are watching with great interest the celebrations going on in the UK regarding the life of Queen Elizabeth and the beginning of King Charles II reign.

This morning I share a devotion I first recorded more than a year ago. The focus is on Samuel and Susanna Wesley and prayers for the King.

From Pastor Joe:

I’m learning more and more about the wonderful ministries that Peakland offers. We are a church that worships our One Trinity God, nurtures our Christian faith and reaches out with love and compassion to each other and to our neighbors.

One of the ways that we offer care and compassion to each other is with quilts like these. Made by hand by our church members, these lap quilts are offered to folks who are sick, who are grieving, and those who are struggling.

These quilts have been blessed and prayed over by our church folks and they are a visible, tangible reminder of our love for each other, and for God’s love for each of us.

These quilts embody everything that is blessed about the church.

From Linwood:

It’s Friday morning. Well. It’s Monday morning, or possibly later for you, but I’m recording this on a Friday morning. AS I was drinking coffee this morning with my wife I mentioned that I needed to record a Music Monday today, but really didn’t have any idea as to what I might do. I mentioned that I felt like it might be a hymn, or hymn medley today. Without much hesitation, Tricia said You know How Deep The Father’s Love For Us? You could pair it with In Christ Alone. Thanks my love.

Here’s my musical thoughts on on those two pieces that I call God’s Love.

from Peakland United Methodist Church In Lynchburg, Va.

From Pastor Joe:

In our Gospel passage this morning, Jesus tells two stories about lost items, a lost sheep and a lost coin. As Jesus tells the story, imagine which character you are in the story. Are you the shepherd or the woman looking for something that is missing in your life? Are you feeling like a lost lamb yourself? Are you the good sheep that stayed where you were supposed to stay? We’ll consider that in just a moment.

From Pastor Joe:

Let’s listen to our story from the Bible which was adapted by Ella K. Lindvall.

The Man who said thank you from the Gospel of Luke.

Andrew reflects on the part of worship he enjoys most, and how it inspires him to do more in his own life.

From Pastor Joe:

I’m here in our church library which is right next to the pastor’s office here at the church. I’ve been near libraries most all of my life. One of the first things I do when I move to a new town is to get my library card. My first library card was at the New Albany Floyd County Public library in Indiana where I grew up. My first job was at the New Albany Floyd County Public library, and I worked there throughout high school.

I worked at the libraries of Indiana University and Wesley Seminary, and when I lived in Lexington, I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rockbridge Regional Library. One of the happiest days of my life was then they gave me the passcode to go into the library whenever I wanted.

Peakland has one of the finest most well-organized church libraries I’ve seen. What a blessing this place is.

From Pastor Dave:

This morning I share two poems by Charles Wesley simply titled “Morning Hymns”. You will find many such hymns in his collections some for the morning and others for the evening. They reflect the fact that both John and Charles were committed to daily prayers. I will close with a birthday Poem.

from Linwood:

. . . . . so through all this I have come back to the realization that having your own thriving relationship with God is the really important thing to focus on. WE are not called to sit in judgment over anybody - that’s God’s job - not ours. Nor is it our calling to criticize others in their interoperation of God’s word. There are a litany of things that are “wrong” according to certain interpretations, that have no Biblical basis whatsoever, but I suppose that’s a topic for another day.

So what’s the point here? That is to learn more about God, develop a stronger relationship with him, share the good news ( plant some seeds in other’s lives) and then leave it up to God to water the seeds and provide the sunlight.