Wiccopee Community United Methodist Church

Merry Christmas

Our advent Bible study has several options. You can download the Bibble App and participate that way. Join the Facebook group page (comment or PM for invite) and purchase or download the official Everlasting Covenant Study from their website. https://lovegodgreatly.com/lgg/everlasting-covenant/ Would you read the Bible Plan, Love God Greatly: Everlasting Covenant, with me? https://bible.com/p/356245/10d8834863f21af963a7ce09e4eae76a

Trees in front of mountains A Prayer for Unity Take heart, I have overcome the world. Immediately after Jesus spoke those words, He prayed for the future Church to be united, just as He and the Father were, that way the world would know Him.... What is unity? Unity means to be joined in purpose and passion, and involves exchanging our will for Christ’s will. Even though unity is difficult, Jesus seemed to believe it was necessary if the world was going to know Him. When we cultivate unity in the body of Christ, we acknowledge that Jesus is in control and that His grace is sufficient to cover our differences. Today, let’s seek God’s heart and ask Him to draw His Church together as one, so that the world will believe in the One that God sent to unite us. Jesus, Thank You for overcoming the world. Because of that, we can experience unity with You. And because we can be unified with You, we can experience unity with each other. It’s by You all things are held together. As we seek to center our lives around You, help us to see all the ways You are at work in the world. Draw us closer to Your heart so that we begin to see each other the way You see us. Would that encourage us to look out not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. We want Your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, so unite us in purpose so that nothing keeps people searching for You from believing in You. May we experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent us and that You love them unconditionally. Come, Lord Jesus, and do in our lives what only You can do. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Music by Mark Dema ,Readings by Youth and Message- Pastor Darlene

Sunday Worship Service with Communion this Sunday at 9am. All who attend MUST complete temperature check, Health Questionnaire and MUST wear a Mask. Communion will be individual sealed communion cups with regular or GF wafer. Service will also be available via Zoom invitation.

My message this week; "God who calls us to become a community and then to go out into the wider community"

Yes, the Gospel text is not about the hospitality we provide, but about the hospitality we receive. Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me (v.40).

Thank God for Dads. Think about all the father figures who have spoken into your life. Shared some timely wisdom. Offered you encouragement. Protected you from harm. Looked out for your interests. Shown up right when you needed them. This Father’s Day, let the special men in your life know how much they mean to you. It only takes a moment to show them honor and say thanks

So today we are asking for the Spirit to open our ears to the voices striving to be heard, the voices of truth that God is sending us through what have become the most unlikely of sources. So, how do we hear those voices? Today might be a day for listening to those outside the churchthose who cry for justice, yes, but also those who work for justice from a different perspective. They are partners with us. Today is the day to listen to music that might be called secular, and ...yet has themes of redemption and resurrection and hope. Today might be the day to find a poem or a story in which the Jesus we know by name is hidden or longed for. What movie tells a story we need to hear? Venture out of our enclave, though. Don’t just turn to Christian films or books or writers. We’re trying to hear all the people, to hear other voices. Of course, we have limits; this isn’t about shocking and offending the people in the pews, although the gospel is often shocking and offending. But this is about listening to other voices. Not only outside voices, however. There are inside voices that are rarely heard. How can those whom no one pays attention to be given voice on this day? The underrepresented communities among us? From whom should we in worship on this day where we hope to Open Our Ears? Rev. Dr. Derek Weber

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it: a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor; a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them; a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect; a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.... Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. See more

How do you count? Count what? Count the days; mark the passing of time. One of the things that season after Pentecost can do is remind us that we are walking in the power of the Spirit. We are the church empowered, equipped, and sent by the God we worship and the Christ we offer. By counting the days, or the weeks, all season long, from spring through summer into fall, we are saying we have a mission, we have a purpose. We don’t just gather to worship for ourselves. We aren...’t just about taking care of our own souls. We are being shaped; we are practicing how to offer Christ to the world. The songs we sing with one another to God in worship are the songs we sing to the world. The prayers we pray to God with one another are the prayers we pray on behalf of the world. The testimonies we rehearse in worship together are the stories we tell in our communities and neighborhoods and world. See more

The first Sunday after Pentecost is also called Trinity Sunday. One explanation reports that this is the Sunday where you explain the Trinity. Good luck with that. The Trinity is one of those concepts that defies explanation. Oh, we can get close; we can provide hints or glimpses of the reality of the totality of the God we worship. But can we ever say to have explained the complexity that is the interrelationship of the Godhead? Probably not. What we’re left with then, is de...scribing God the way God consistently self-describes: In relationship with us. Notice that the Trinity Sunday Gospel text was chosen because of the Trinitarian formula that Jesus invokes: [B]aptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (v.19). But the bulk of the passage isn’t about God; it’s about us. It’s about what we will do in the name of God. It’s about what we’ll do because we belong to Jesus. When we focus on God, we always understand ourselves better. That’s how this works. See more

These Hands: A Prayer (People stand, hands over chest.) We take a few deep breaths. (Pause for at least three breaths. Then make fists and raise them line by line.)... We live in a time of clenching fists: In anger that threatens, In greed that clutches, in worry and fear that tense and tighten. This is no way to live. (Open hands and thrust them outward, as if breaking chains.) And so, we let go. We take a few deep breaths. (Pause. Lower hands, palms open, facing upward, raising them line by line.) Our hands are empty. We acknowledge our powerlessness. We are not in control. We are but humble protagonists in your great story of love. We receive your grace that heals, forgives, and liberates. This is the way to live. And so, we open our hands, our hearts, our minds, our doors. Ahhh! We take a few deep breaths. (Facing palms outward, raise them line by line.) We extend our hands in blessing. As we have been blessed, so we bless. We hold no weapons and make no threats. We seek peace with all and we make peace for all. It is better for us to give than to receive. Make us instruments of your peace, Living God. We surrender our lives to your purposes. May your Spirit fill our lives and work through these hands. Amen!

Pentecost still has something to say to us. It is a word of comfort and a word of inspiration, a call to action, and reminder of a presence. Then the real question is, Whether because of Pentecost, do we have something to say to the world?