It’s the birthday of the Church!  No, not Crozet United Methodist Church, but THE Church of Christ that is bigger than any denomination, because it includes ALL denominations.  This Sunday we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ word with the arrival of the Holy Spirit to stay with us and dwell within us, giving us power […]

Have you ever seen a Bible covered in dust, languishing on a shelf, or neglected in an otherwise thriving home?  If we all followed this week’s means of grace: searching the Scriptures, then more Bibles would take their rightful place as a crucial part of the disciple’s life.  A Bible only helps when it is […]

This week’s means of grace is prayer both communal, corporate prayer and private, individual prayer.  They are both part of Christian tradition, established in Scripture, and part of our communication with our God and King.  Through prayer human beings can reach God who reigns in the highest heaven, and this is exactly what God has […]

In the United Methodist Church, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, an outward and tangible sign of an inward and spiritual grace conveyed by God.  While we can be truly cleansed of our sin through the confession and pardon that is part of Holy Communion, it is also a means of grace to faithfully partake […]

Our second means of grace in our post-Easter Worship series is the ministry of the Word.  Many Christians have a Bible, but does it work for you?  God gave us the Scriptures to help us, guide and guard us.  In order for our Bible to really fulfill its divine purpose, it takes some work.  God […]

This week we begin a new Worship series exploring the means of grace God provides through the Church, the Body of Christ.  They have been given to nurture our spirituality, fuel our faith, and create a family of faith.  Every year the number of people who claim to be spiritual, but not religious grows.  Jesus […]

Sometimes we take Easter for granted: “Of course, He’s risen.  He’s risen every Easter.”  Getting people to celebrate seems to get more difficult every year, but when we consider what it was like trying to convince his closest friends and followers that Jesus was risen that first Easter, we realize that every year we tell a […]

As recorded in John’s gospel, on his last night before his betrayal and arrest, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and then gave them a new commandment to love one another as he had loved them. This year, we gather together on Thursday evening for a worship encounter of both Holy Communion and hand […]

Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, and beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  In the tension between a triumphant entry into the Holy City and the impending betrayal and death of Jesus, we find ourselves in celebration and sorrow.  We love the joy of this day, but we fear the intense […]

It is all too easy to dismiss this Sunday’s Scripture as a miraculous healing that we could never duplicate today, but that is to disregard the words of Peter in the text.  Peter, the rock of the Early Church, was going about his daily life, about to tend to his prayer discipline, when he encounters […]