A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Sunday Morning Road Trip - Old Town UMC

Cindy Liming, a member of Faith Community, is in the process of visiting all 15 Common Cup churches on Sunday mornings so she can become better acquainted with her fellow Common Cup brothers and sisters in Christ.

I asked Cindy to send me a brief summary of each of her visits as a way of highlighting how Christ is at work in each of our Common Cup Churches. Here are her reflections from her recent trip to Old Town UMC:
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"This morning I had the privilege to visit Oldtown United Methodist Church. What a joy my visit turned out to be. As I opened the front door, I heard many voices chattering away and when I opened the doors to the sanctuary I saw why- everyone inside was visiting with each other as if they were all at a family reunion. I met Pastor Hemming and several others and was welcomed as only a family can welcome a visitor.

I knew a few of the members because of Common Cup and Marietta Koloszi took care of making sure I met other members as well. We sang some familiar hymns and members contributed to the service with news or updates about absent members. We prayed together and took Communion at the rail.

The Gospel reading was from Mark about how a man possessed by an evil spirit was the one who recognized Jesus. Pastor explained that the devil feared Christ and knew why he was among us. I didn't realize that the possessed man was the only one who knew this until Pastor Hemming talked about it. Of course, Jesus freed the man from the demonic possession and then Pastor segued into how we should let our faith be known through the way we live our lives. I am bad at paraphrasing things others have already said better, but that is the nutshell as I understood his words.

Once again, I am so happy to say the Spirit of the Lord is alive and well within the walls of one of our Common Cup Churches and I will be happy to visit Oldtown again."

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