First United Methodist Church

Service Times

9am Contemporary | 11am Traditional

Welcome Jared Tucker, our new Director of Student Ministry

Jared holds a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry with a Youth Ministry Minor from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a Master of Divinity and a Certificate in Christian Theology from Nazarene Theological Seminary. He has eleven years of ministry experience, nine of them being in youth ministry. Jared is passionate about youth ministry and equipping students and their families with resources and opportunities to encounter Christ and Christ’s love. His favorite aspects of youth ministry are empowering students for leadership and ministry and discussing difficult questions about life and faith.

Jared and Lauren have been married for six and half years and have a son (Asher 10 months). Jared enjoys exploring with Lauren and Asher, reading theology, making and drinking coffee, watching Netflix, playing basketball, listening to podcasts, and working out. He is excited to become part of the community at FUMCWP and to live in a warm climate.

Jared will be here on campus starting on March 21st and our teens will have their first opportunity to get to know Jared at Elevate on March 27th (6-8PM). We are so excited to welcome the Tuckers into our church family and begin this new era of Student Ministry.

Worship Conversation with Pastor David & Chevalier Lovett!

Holiness & Wholeness | Devotion from Pastor Rachel

As we continue to wrestle with the story of Nehemiah and the way in which his witness effects the renovation of our faith, we were asked this weekend to think through the unforeseen problem. That problem, as was unpacked in the Sermon, was all about Nehemiah’s understanding of HOLINESS. As Pastor David rightly acknowledged, we could do an entire sermon series on HOLINESS because we have all learned something about this in our faith traditions growing up and in our own practice and pursuit of it as we work to center ourselves on loving God and loving neighbor.

In one way of understanding HOLINESS, it is a journey and a process. HOLINESS is done in community and in connection with others and lastly it is prophetic and stands in contrast with the current culture. Pastor Philip lead us through a devotion yesterday about our role as Holy Ambassadors in the world to come; and I love that way of thinking about it as well. Today, I share another way of thinking through HOLINESS as WHOLENESS. I love that word and yet I’m confused by it. I feel whole when I eat too much pizza or when my calendar is bursting at the seams. I feel Wholeness after a good night’s sleep, or a sacred moment with my children or a date night with my husband. But Spiritual WHOLENESS can be tied back to the passage that has become my life verse.

Luke 10:25-28 NRSV

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

In leading up to the well-known Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is cornered by this Lawyer who has bitten off more than he can chew. How I interpret this final line, verse 28, is that Jesus is both affirming his answer and challenging him to wholeness. Because in this connection, the Law of the Prophets was foundational for Jewish Holiness. But was we heard Sunday, Jesus came to interrupt the intent of the Law and not the letter of the Law. And so I find it beautiful that Jesus ties following the Law into the ability to “truly live.” And while being Law-abiding Jews in those days didn’t make one necessarily holy, the law, as interrupted by Jesus can lead to it.

Here’s what I mean.

What if our unforeseen problem is our misunderstanding of love? What if we have always understood loving God with heart, soul, mind and strength as a fundamental deprivation of ourselves and not a connection to it. Said another way, if I don’t love myself, how in the world can I love God? I am made in God’s image, am I not? I am a masterpiece, made and loved and redeemed by God, as affirmed over and over in Scripture. But if I don’t love myself, spend time knowing myself in connection with the Redeemer, re-creating myself with the great Artist and deeply forgiving myself with the Great Spirit, how then can I love the God that made me?

As I look at Wholeness and Holiness as two sides of the same coin, I have to think seriously about how my love of neighbor may actually increase my own self-love. As I get to know a stranger and learn from them, aren’t I getting to know a deeper part of me? As I reach out to my neighbor, aren’t I using the gifts that God has given me to enrich someone else’s life? For me, HOLINESS comes down to seeing love the way God sees love and then letting that love transform us.

You know by now that I read a lot of Father Richard Rohr and so he used the writings of Thomas Keating, a Catholic Monk and Priest that wrote prolifically throughout his life to unpack this further. From the book that Keating wrote, “Heartfulness: Transformation in Christ,” Rohr shares these words.

God looks at us and always sees Christ, and God thus finds us always and entirely lovable. God fixes God’s gaze intently where we refuse to look, on our shared, divine nature as God’s children (1 John 3:2). And one day our gaze will match God’s gaze. We will find God entirely lovable and ourselves fully lovable in the same moment. Why? Because it is the same set of eyes that is doing the looking. “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

And so my question for you to ponder this week, as you pursue a deeper understanding of Holiness is, have you received God’s gaze? Meaning, are you looking at yourself and others with the eyes of God? Are you able to love yourself through your love of God and in so doing come to understand a deeper sense of wholeness?

I pray these words encourage, protect and spur you on to love your neighbor more!

AMEN

A Devotion on Holiness | Pastor Philip Allred


Click here to view the blog post from Brian Zahnd referred to during today’s devotion.

Lenten Small Groups!


To enquire about or lead a weekly Lenten group (virtually or in-person) please email Jennifer Hatchitt at JenniferH@fumcwp.org. You will receive more information about training and how your group will be formed.

Family Life Can be Wild Sometimes… Taming The Lions

We all have experienced tumultuous times at home one time or another… but there are sometimes situations where families cannot move past their problems effectively. Whether it’s navigating issues within a newly blended family, setting boundaries for teens, helping couples with conflict resolution, or seeking better knowledge of oneself, when your thoughts resemble a lion’s den rather than a calm respite, it’s time to consider getting a little help!

You may discover that help is much easier to find than you thought! 4Pillars Counseling & Enrichment Center has recently opened on our second campus, known as Reeves Center. The newly remodeled Reeves Center is just 15 minutes south of First United Winter Park, at 1100 N Fern Creek Ave., Orlando.

Running & Faith | Devotion from Pastor Rachel

 

Click here to learn more and register for the Inua 5k!

 

 

Devotion on Liberation | By Pastor Philip

Joy Ukelele Club

 

 


In 2018, a group of aspiring ukulele players formed the Joy Uke Club. Since then, we have come together each week to donate our time and talent to provide musical outreach to the Winter Park community.  In the last Christmas Season, our club performed sing-a-longs for over one hundred people in assisted living programs, community centers, churches, and civic clubs.  Our biggest program in 2021, took place at the Reeves Center where we had so much fun singing for the crowds at the ‘Awesome Autumn’ event.

What we have learned in all these years, is the music of the ukulele always brings joy!  One can’t help but smile!  The singing is rewarding for both the strummer and the sing-along participants for whom we sing and play.


Learn To Play The Ukulele!!

We are now offering a lesson series entitled “Learn the Ukulele In Five Easy Lessons”.  This popular little instrument is easy to play and is sure to put a smile on your face.  You don’t have to read music or have any experience in playing an instrument, to join this class.

All that you need is a ukulele, the love of singing and having fun!

Lesson Dates:
February 23, March 2, 9, 16, & 23
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Don’t have a ukulele?  The Winter Park Library can lend you a ukulele, (yes, just like a book).

Already know how to play?  Join us every Wednesday afternoon from 1:00pm-3:00pm.

To sign up for this series, contact JenniferH@fumcwp.org

All are welcome… Come Sing, Strum, Smile!

 

Sunday School Performance 2021
Ventura Country Club Performance 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUMC Rehearsal 2021
Joy Meeting Mead Gardens 2021

Reeves Center Update – February 2022


Great things are happening at Reeves Center, our second campus located in the Colonialtown N Neighborhood!

  • The 4 Pillar Counseling and Enrichment Center is open with three therapists consulting with clients who may be having issues like anxiety, life transitions, grief, loss, and/or family conflicts. For more information about the therapists, visit their webpage or email 4pillars@fumcwp.org.
  • A lay team has begun research in developing a business plan for a community coffee house ministry with the intent to create a neighborhood meeting space in the community. Be on the lookout for more information coming soon!
  • Working with the Colonialtown North Neighborhood leadership, our dance ministry Studio 150 will be offering dance and exercise classes starting soon at the Reeves Center.
  • We are excited to be celebrating our second annual Pet Blessing Community Celebration on April 9 from 10am-12pm at the Reeves Center. There will be a petting zoo, a dog treat hunt, games, hands-on crafts, and much more. Everyone is invited to join us for this spring celebration! For more information or if you would like to volunteer contact Denise Meyer at denisem@fumcwp.org or call the office: 407-644-2906 ext. 281

The mission of the Reeves Center is to build disciples through belief and action by serving the community with the love of God and love of neighbor.