Becoming a member of FUMCWP is not a requirement for attendance or involvement, but we believe you’ll find the process both enlightening and enjoyable.
Despite the COVID-19 shutdown the Reeves Center continues to move forward! Orange County Planning and Zoning has approved the future ministries on this campus. The following ministries will be joining the TCA Preschool at the Reeves Center:
Counseling Center
Coffee Shop
Dance Studio
Foundry
Celebrate Recovery
This approval is very exciting as we continue to fulfill our vision in the Colonialtown Neighborhood!
We have also completed the landscaping around Building 200 as well as a pathway from the parking lot to the meeting space. For more information about the Reeves Center, contact Denise Meyer at denisem@fumcwp.org.
It’s Movie Monday! Join us on Rightnow Media to watch the following selection.
For Preschoolers and Elementary Kids: Bible Force, Season 2, Episode 18 – Jesus Ascends Into Heaven
What happens to Jesus after the resurrection? Kids of all ages can enjoy and learn about what Jesus taught his disciples and what He has done for all of us.
The ’72 Impala was gassed up and ready to go! Its trunk loaded with all my worldly possessions crammed into a couple of boxes and two suitcases. Eager to get the goodbye’s over with, I kissed my parents and headed off to college. I distinctly remember being filled with mixed emotions. Excitement about starting a new chapter in my life. Sadness over leaving my family. And anxiety over what lay ahead. Mostly because I didn’t know what to expect.
For the next year, I lived into a whole new way of being. All the norms of my high school existence were slowly replaced by a new normal of college life. For the first time, I had a roommate! Now I had a brother to share late nights and stupid stunts. Food no longer magically appeared! But I got to eat whatever I wanted when I wanted. Much to the consternation of my waistline. Best of all, I had total freedom. I didn’t even have to go to class if I didn’t want to. Well, for a time anyway. It was AWESOME!
Of course, it wasn’t without its bumps and bruises. Evidently, money didn’t grow on trees! And believe it or not, professors hold you accountable even if you don’t attend class. I never want to go through that first final’s week again. I still have nightmares about it! And yet, looking back, college was this wonderful time of preparation for what was next in life.
I got to thinking about this the other day when I came across a wonderful devotion by Richard Rohr. In it, he talks about liminal time. Liminal comes from the Latin word meaning “threshold”. Liminal time is a time of transition. A season of moving into a new normal ahead. Like heading off to college. Or starting your first career job. Like getting engaged. Or having your last child move out of the house.
Or going through a pandemic. We are in a threshold time. A season between what life was like pre-covid-19. And what life will be like after this time of isolation. We don’t fully know what life will be like “on the other side”. And that not really knowing, has filled us with mixed emotions. Including anxiety.
In his devotional, Rohr talks about we often wish for times like these to be over. To move as quickly as we can through the disorientation. But, he asks, what if instead of rushing to get through it, we choose to experience this liminal time as a place of creativity, of construction and deconstruction, choice and transformation? In other words, Rohr challenges us to re-frame our experience. To re-focus on what we can become out of this season. To use this time as a time of re-development. Rather than just survive it.
Rohr argues that by intentionally leaning into this liminal time we will learn to draw on resources and possibilities we have not tapped before. And that – if we attend, we can feel the Holy Spirit moving in us in a way that we may not be aware of in more settled times. Is it possible that this season of isolation will deepen your connection to God’s Spirit?
The Scriptures say that God is able to use even the difficulties in life to bless us. Romans 8:28 says – And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. What is God doing in your life right now? What is God creating within you during this season of pandemic? Are you encountering His presence today differently than you did 6 months ago?
I am confident of this: God is with you. And God is at work within you. Using even this transitional time for your benefit. For the benefit of your neighbor. And for the benefit of God’s Kingdom! May you feel the Holy Spirit moving in you in new and exciting ways today. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever caught your dinner? When I was ten, my father took me charter fishing on Lake Michigan. If you have been to Lake Michigan you know it’s a GREAT BIG lake. Thousand miles around. Waves can get over twenty feet. That afternoon I caught my first Coho salmon. A solid 8 pounder. We took it home and ate it for dinner. And it was delicious! No offense to my vegetarian friends, there is something about catching your supper that brings satisfaction.
Have you ever been caught for dinner? It’s a silly question considering you are still here watching this. But my favorite book in the Old Testament is Jonah. There is so much in just a few pages that even though I have been studying it for years, and I am still discovering hidden gems in it. You know the story. Jonah is a prophet who has been called by God to go to Nineveh and preach repentance. Jonah doesn’t want to go. So, he boards a ship and heads in the opposite direction. Cue the large storm. Jonah being thrown over the side. And a GREAT FISH sent by God. Now the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17
Sometimes preachers will jump through all kinds of hoops to explain this part of the story. They discuss fish size. They point to various examples of folks being swallowed by a fish. And explain different ways someone might possibly survive. But here is the thing. The Book of Jonah is not a history textbook. It’s a theological allegory. It’s a story that makes a point about God. The question isn’t if someone can live inside of a fish. The real question is this: what do you do when a GREAT FISH has swallowed you?
The truth is, at some point or another, we all encounter our whale. A challenge, a threat, an overwhelming problem that swallows us up. It might be health. It might be grief. It might be financial crisis. It might be loneliness. It might even be this difficult season of isolation during the pandemic.
The Good News is that God is greater than the Great FISH that swallowed Jonah! The Bible says that the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. And God is greater than any GREAT FISH that we will encounter! God is not confined by our isolation. God is not limited by a lack of resources. God can overcome the darkest of places. Even the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean. As resurrection people, we know that God is not even stopped by death. Thanks be to God!
Again, the question is, what will you do when a GREAT FISH swallows you up? Jonah prayed. Specifically, he prayed the Scriptures. Eight times in ten verses he quotes the Psalms. What threatens to swallow you today? What is causing your life to stink? Where do you feel out of options? Talk to God about it. And as you do, draw on phrases from the Psalms. Phrases like – In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me (Psalm 120:1).
Some scholars argue that Jonah didn’t start praying until after three days and three nights. But I think Jonah had barely cleared the tonsils before he began to talk to God. There is something about being in the belly of a whale that brings perspective. And there is something about prayer that opens us up to the power of God. The apostle Paul says that the very power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us as followers of Jesus!
It is my prayer that as we continue in this season of isolation, God will fill you with His resurrection power and deliver you! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peterson family shared their worship experience during Holy Week! For them, Thursday night involved laying outside and hanging on the dome climber while meditating with Jesus in the garden. Good Friday was done during dinner by candlelight. And, Easter Sunday was celebrated in their living room with communion and coloring. Thank you to the Peterson’s for sharing your story and worshiping with us even at home!
We love hearing from our church family. Share your experience by emailing marketing@fumcwp.org.
*Technical difficulties led to twice deleted audio files. Look for audio devotion coming soon!
Happy Monday! Here are some of the best articles around the Christian web right now.
Tish Harrison Warren is one of my favorite Christian writers today. In this article she clearly and without apology lays before us as readers implications of the resurrection on our faith in Christ. And though it is a day late, a little extra meditation on the empty tomb always does the soul good!
N.T. Wright addresses the, “Why God?” of this Coronavirus season without a trite answer, but an invitation to faithful lament. View the article here.
Lastly, the best I have read in terms of organizational leadership in our Coronavirus reality is by Andy Crouch. It is written from a Christian perspective, but equally relevant across many different sectors. In this article, Crouch lays out the reality that for the vast majority of organizations, that to move forward means to approach this season as a start up. Crouch invites leaders to look not just at the ‘blizzard’ conditions in which we find ourselves, but also forward to the “winter” which is coming. (A heads up, this one is a little long but absolutely worth the read)
A quote I have been meditating on: “When the grace of Jesus sinks in, we will become the least offensive and least offend able people in the world.” – Scott Sauls (Lord, may it be so!)
Show us how your family is celebrating Easter Sunday! Kids, during the Easter live-stream service, color the “He is Risen” flower cross and take a picture of your family with the piece of art. Post your pictures on social media and tag us @fumcwp and #FUMCWPonline or #FUMCWPfamily.
We want to see how you are spending this special day with your family at home. Happy Easter!
Despite the COVID-19 shutdown the Reeves Center continues to move forward! Orange County Planning and Zoning has approved the future ministries on this campus. The following ministries will be joining the TCA Preschool at the Reeves Center:
