Author: FUMCWP Admin

When I was a Team member at Warren Willis Camp, every week we would take our Small Groups to the Ropes Course early in the week to create a sense of strong communication and teamwork. I have served as a counselor for four years and have worked with elementary, middle school and high school individuals in this formidable time as they ask questions about faith, the Bible and how we are to follow Jesus in today’s world. In every Rope’s Course activity, we have what is called the Trust Fall and it can be done two different ways. One way is in a circle where you close your eyes, link up your hands, fold in your arms and plant your feet. Once you close your eyes, you lean back in the circle and hope and pray that your fellow campers catch you. The other way of doing this activity is up on a 6-foot ledge that you fall from and hope that you fall into a group of campers and adult volunteers that catch you like you are crowd surfing at a concert. Both experiences require some trust and both experiences bring up some anxiety for folks because we are conditioned early on to look out for ourselves and to not just fall blindly where we cannot see. They also teach us about Trust and relying on grace.

When I think about this Lent Week Three focus, I am reminded of this image of the Trust Fall. This classic activity at camp is the foundation for all that we do in faith, because much of what we hope in is outside of our control. When we trust Jesus with our callings and career choices, we don’t know where we will end up. When we trust our marriages and child-rearing to Jesus, we may feel more vulnerable than we would like. When we trust Jesus with our finances, we may worry about scarcity or lack of security. When we trust Jesus with our anger and bitterness, we may not get to have the final word.

And so why do we do it? Why is it often times difficult to trust and what does it mean to rely on grace?

If we carry through with the metaphor of the Trust Fall, our faith in Jesus means that we are sometimes not in control. By closing our eyes and locking our hands we are signaling that we don’t know what happens next and we can’t control the outcome. This is a scary notion and one that takes trust to see it through. The lack of control is an essential part of trusting Jesus because He orders our steps and walks beside us in uncomfortable situations. I remember the words of a seminary professor who told us that Jesus came to comfort the afflict and afflict the comfortable. I feel that I am the latter one in that example and I have lived a mostly comfortable life. And so trusting that Jesus will walk with me through situations that I don’t choose and that I might not feel ready for is a part of that trust. Remember Jesus never asked us to believe in Him, but to follow him. When we rely on grace, we are choosing to follow even if it all doesn’t make sense.

Stick with the Trust Fall example for a moment longer, and picture the first way of falling in a circle, surrounded by the group of other campers. I fall in whatever direction the group gently nudges me. While I trust the community of faith that surrounds me, really relying on grace is the peace we feel when we know that whatever we walk through, we have a community of Jesus followers that surround us, support us and hold us in prayer.  And that is the gift of grace. When we can’t do it alone and we run out of steam, it is the community of Jesus followers that gently nudges us, directs us and protects us. I have watched this happen over and over again in the churches I serve and in the faith communities that I am connected to because this is the incarnation of grace. And by relying on God’s Grace, it stretches us and reminds us that we are all connected.

And so I ask you to think this week about where you are struggling to trust. Is it in your fear of the unknown? Are you struggling to trust a person, a leader, a system? Are you struggling to trust yourself or friend or a loved one? Name that, know that and bring it to God in prayer. And then I invite you, as you pray over that area of distrust to look for the people that might be able to hold you up and support you as you find your way. That is where grace enters in and that is how God’s Spirit strengthens us through community.

 Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

                        Psalm 28:6-7

Over the past few months, there has been a steady rhythm of work happening across our campus, some of it visible and some behind the scenes, all focused on caring for the spaces where ministry happens every day.

Several important projects are currently underway. Work continues on the Marcy Chapel windows, restoration of the MFLC façade, and the Wesleyan Building door along Morse Boulevard. We are also addressing essential systems, including a boiler repair in the Wesleyan Building, AC repair in the Reeves Fellowship Hall, and modifications to the Sanctuary lighting to enhance worship and visibility.

At the same time, several major projects have recently been completed. The MFLC roof has been replaced, ensuring long term protection for that space. A makeup water line for the chiller was replaced to support our cooling systems. On the first floor of the Wesleyan Building, the men’s restroom wall and urinals were updated, and the Fellowship Hall drain line and flooring were repaired. In the MFLC, ceiling tiles and insulation on the second and third floors were replaced, and new first floor heaters were repaired for MSEE.

All of these projects have either been completed or initiated within the last few months. While not always glamorous, this work matters. It supports safety, stewardship, and the everyday ministries that fill these rooms with life, from worship and children’s programs to community gatherings and outreach.

Thank you for being part of a church that cares not only about what happens inside these walls, but also about faithfully maintaining the spaces entrusted to us.

Good News of Great Joy | Rev. Philip Allred

The angels announce it plainly in the Christmas story: “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” Not a command. Not a task. Not something to achieve or manufacture. Joy arrives as good news, a gift given before anyone asks for it, earns it, or even knows what to do with it.

So often we treat joy like a responsibility. We assume we have to feel it, create it, or prove it. But Advent reminds us that joy comes to us the same way Christ does. Unexpected, unearned, and beyond our control. The gospel is not advice about what we must do, it is news about what God has already done. Joy flows from that reality. It is rooted in the truth that God has come near, that love has taken on flesh, and that the world is being healed from the inside out.

We cling to control, especially in anxious seasons. We prefer producing to receiving because producing gives us a sense of power. Receiving requires surrender. And that is what makes joy difficult for many of us. Joy asks us to loosen our grip, to stop striving, and to trust that God’s gift is enough. Grace changes us precisely because we cannot control it. It meets us where we are and transforms us from the inside.

This Advent, you do not have to create joy. You do not have to feel joy on demand. You do not have to prove joy with a smile or a song. You are simply invited to receive it. Let the good news of great joy penetrate your heart. Let it interrupt your fear, soften your resistance, and reshape your life. The beauty of Christ coming to save us is that it means we could not do it on our own.

Joy has come.
The gift has been given.
The question is…

Will you receive it?

This past week, I have felt love all around me. Our theme from Sunday tells us that God loved us enough to send his one and only Son to be our Savior, our Lord, our Friend. And that gift came from a place of love; not anger or disappointment.

Over this last busy week, I have watched LOVE show her face in places big and small. I have watched my children forgive each other and show kindness. I have watched the love of three daughters and a wife who grieve the loss of a loved one be swept up in the love of this church and community. I have watched love shared through the talents of music and worship during an incredible Festival Gloria Sunday. The pastors shared God’s love with our young friends at MSEE through Chapel as we told the story of the birth of Jesus. I have felt the love of my parents who help care for my children during an afternoon of church meetings and then I ended the week learning more about the love of unexpected blessings at Residing Hope and the youth whose lives are transformed there.

Love has been in most places that I have taken the time to look for it in. And isn’t that the story of the Gospel?! When you seek, you will find. God is there, sharing, showing and spreading love in the most unexpected ways. So let us pause with this truth for a moment longer, because the busyness of this holiday season moves us along too quickly. I invite you to sit with this and don’t move past this, because so much in us asks us to move faster and forward to the next big time. But what if love is best felt in the small, mundane moments where grief, or anger or busyness reside? What if we are missing out on love because we are afraid to wade into the uncomfortable moments during this season? What if that is where love is hiding all along? If it is, how are you actively looking for the love in the midst of sadness or shame? How are you tuning your ears to hear the embrace of the Spirit in the times that we aren’t at our best or we have let someone down?

On Tuesday, I spent the day at Residing Hope, formally known as the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home. I have served on their Board since I was pregnant with Charlie, and will therefore be starting my 8^th year this Summer. I continue to serve this organization because I see God show up in the most unexpected ways and transform lives again and again. During our Ministry Moment, our Chaplain introduced us to a young girl who had a message to share. All of the youth at Residing Hope had entered a T-shirt designing contest and this young girl, who had at that time only lived at Residing Hope three weeks, decided to design a T-shirt and enter the contest. This young girl ended up winning the contest and designed the shirt that I am wearing in this picture. It says, “Say No to Hate, and Yes to Love” on the front. On the back she wrote, “You are unique and special in your own way because that’s how God made you so be proud of that.”  What an important reminder in today’s world. This simple message acknowledges that there is both Love and Hate, but that we get to choose what we fuel, what we spend energy on and what we will to be known by.

Love takes more work, I can promise you that. But it is where God shows up and where transformation takes place. Sometimes we need to slow down to see it. Other times we have to focus our eyes and our ears to speak it and share it, but through the gift of Jesus, who showed up in an unexpected way, we have the ability to say YES to love each and every time.

May the God of grace help you see LOVE and choose LOVE today.