Grace United Methodist Church

Hey gang!
   I have to share this–only because I’m fairly certain none of you asked the question.
   On Christmas Eve afternoon, I received a phone call at the church office, inquiring about the times of the candlelight services that evening.  This was the exact question:  “Can you tell me what time the 7:00 service is this evening?”
   At first, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or not (I did not), so I politely replied, “The 7:00 service begins at 7:00, with some prelude music probably starting about 6:45.” Â
   Obvious question, huh?  Try this one:  when the apostle Paul (then named Saul) was walking on the road to Damascus before becoming a Christian, he was literally “blinded by the light” as He encountered the voice of Jesus, asking him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
   Saul’s answer was another obvious question: “Who are you, Lord?”  In asking his question, he answered his question–for it was the Lord.  When you encounter Jesus, you will know it is Jesus.  His love and His awesome presence will make themselves known.
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   How’s your heart?  I had a brief scare Sunday night into Monday afternoon, as I spent an overnight at Warren Hospital with severe chest pains.  But after several heart tests (EKGs ECGs, enzyme blood labs, chest xrays, etc.), the pain was diagnosed as a severe inflammation in my lungs, due to a cold from 5 weeks ago.  Fortunately, the doctor prescribed aspirin (the modern day equivalent goes like this:  take 650mg of aspirin every 4 hours, and schedule an appointment with your own primary physician in the morning!)
   How’s your heart?  Every day, we should do a spiritual checkup to make sure we are not only filled with the joy and love of Jesus Christ (our intake) but that we are sharing this joy and love with others (our output).  Check in with your spiritual Great Physician (Jesus) each day!
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   An influential Londoner wound up a business trip to the Orient with a visit to Taipei.  At a luncheon, he was asked to say a few words.  Since he spoke not a word of Chinese, his address was to be translated by an interpreter, sentence by sentence.  “I want you to know,” he began, “I’m tickled to death to be asked here today.”
   A look of panicked confusion appeared on the interpreter’s face.  “This poor man,” he said in Chinese, “scratches himself until he dies, only to be with you today.”  

However it’s translated, I’m tickled to death to be with all of you in this new year, celebrating and sharing the love of Jesus Christ each day!
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev
Note:  Don’t forget that after worship this Sunday, Jan.4th at 12 Noon, we’re holding our SOUP & PIE STRIP TREES PARTY, a chance to enjoy some homemade soup and pie, and then lend a hand as we take down our church’s Christmas decorations and store them away.

Hey gang!
   What a sight this morning–a fresh blanket of snow!  People are probably having various reactions today to the snow, from the joy of some children to the groans of some adults.  Yesterday, I drove to/from Pittsburgh, and the sides of the roads were marked by blackened snow, leftover remnants of past plowings, saltings and grittings–which were quite nasty to see.  But today, imperfections are covered by this blanket of fresh snow, creating beauty in its place.
   Tomorrow is New Year’s Day–a fresh new year!  People are probably having various reactions to the new year, from joy to groans.  But each day is a gift from the Lord, and a new year is like a blanket of fresh snow–a new start, a new opportunity to grow in our faith with God, a new chance ot share His love with others around us.
   I guess it’s all in the way we look at things…
   Embrace grace–and have a blessed new year! Â
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
Count your blessings:
   If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
   If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
   If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
   If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
   If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are move blessed than three billion people in the world.
   If your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare, even in the United States.
   If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
   If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.
   If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Count your blessings, and pray for those for whom you might be a blessing today!
   Embrace grace! �
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   Ministers, like any public speakers, are sometimes called on to face unexpected circumstances.  Early in his ministry, a pastor was well in to the morning sermon when he noticed the congregation was more interested in the choir (seated to his right) than to the message.  He looked at the choir and saw them waving off a hornet flying overhead.  Since he was anxious to get back into a worship mood, he stopped speaking the prepared message and shouted, “Kill him,” thinking only of ending the distraction.  To the congregation, this remark of the pastor was understandable, and humorous. Â
   But to the shut-ins who listened to the recorded message about Jesus healing the man lame from birth, the preacher’s unexpected shout of “Kill him!” needed a lot of explanation!

   Seeing and hearing the Word are both important.  We are called as disciples to speak the Word to people’s hearts, but we are also called to show (or to live) the Word as well.  Quite often, the most effective messages for God we can deliver are those we give without words.
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   Advent means coming, depicting the wait for the coming of the Christ Child 2000+ years ago, as well as the second coming of Christ in final victory at the end of time.
   But for me when I was a child, Advent meant waiting…and I hated to wait.  The anticipation of Christmas was excruciating to this former hyperactive child!  Many a Christmas Eve was spent in sleepless wonder (and I mean sleepless in that I would lay awake all night long, sometimes pacing the floor of my room) until Christmas morning would arrive.
   Becoming a parent myself, I can only imagine what I put my parents through (they slept on the first floor while I had an attic room above them) each Christmas Eve.  I wonder how late they needed to stay awake until they could do their Christmas Eve duties under the tree…
   I still eagerly anticipate Christmas Eve, not only because of what Christmas morning brings (who doesn’t love giving and receiving presents?) but also because of what Christmas Eve itself brings–one of the most glorious nights to worship the Lord.  I love the carols, the story from Luke’s gospel (to be told in a rather unique way at the 7:00 PM service… in rap!), the music from our incredible Grace Choir (at the 11:00 PM service), and the glow from the candles, illuminating the faces of God’s faithful people in our congregation.  Even now, as I write this, I almost giddy with joy!
   See you in church on Christmas Eve–and embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   Many people simply don’t know what to make of Christmastime.  I heard somebody once say that Christmas is when we sit around a dead tree and eat candy out of our socks.
   But it’s so much more than that, and it’s more than the memories we make of it as well.  Sure, the candy canes and Christmas trees are great, along with the carols, the yuletide logs, the exchanged gifts, and all the lights.  Christmas is about Jesus–how He came to earth to be born, in order to die our death on the cross, so that we might have the gift of salvation.     There’s no getting around it–THAT is the gift that keeps on giving (not the “Jelly-of-the-month” club in my favorite Christmas movie “Christmas Vacation”)
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Note: Invite someone to join you in worship this Christmas Eve to celebrate or to find this greatest gift of God’s love for themselves!

Hey gang!
   Control - Alt - Delete:  three keys that are known to almost everyone who uses an IBM Compatible PC.  The three keys that, one way or the other, will get you out of almost any situation you have encountered.  Three keys that perform what is know as a Reboot.  And rebooting can be very useful:  when the computer locks up and you cannot go on: reboot.  When the computer gets lost performing a calculation and never returnson: reboot.   When the modem tries to disconnect, but the host computer just will not let goon: reboot.  It is simple, efficient, easy to execute: CTRL-ALT-DEL, and the computer starts over.
   Try it with your life as well:  CTRL: give your control to the Lord.   ALT: alter your path by following Jesus Christ rather than your own ways.  DEL: delete the sins of your life by confessing them to Christ and then repenting of them in life.   Give yourself a reboot each day!
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev

Hey gang!
   According to legend, a Russian countess was driven to the theater by her coach on a bitterly cold evening.  To be sure she wouldn’tt have to wait afterward, she ordered the driver and footman to remain outside until she returned.  She cried during the play when a loyal servant was being mistreated by an uncaring lord.  When the performance ended, it was snowing heavily outside and a small crowd had gathered around her carriage.  She demanded to know what was going on.  The driver fearfully told her that the old footman had frozen to death.  The lady was appalled.  How could a sensitive woman who cried at the plight of fictional characters be so callous about the comfort and safety of her own servants?  Â
   Sometimes people see only what they want to see and knowonly what they want to know.  It’s a form of willful blindness that afflicts many of us who profess grand principles of caring and respect but ignore them when we deal with people in our own lives.  We see parents who want their children to be happy, self-confident, and honest, yet brutalize their kids with relentless criticism and confuse them by cheating on their taxes or lying to get them into better schools.  Sometimes well-intentioned coaches ignore injuries, emotionally abuse young athletes, or work them as if they were in a slave-labor camp, all the while convincing themselves it’s for the athletes’ own good.  We see executives in companies who advocate employee well-being and family values but who look the other way when employees, either out of fear or the desire to please, work excessively long hours and neglect their families, causing stress and conflict. Â
   We all have moral blind spots.  The challenge is to have the humility to find them and the character to fix them.  We must turn to Jesus and allow His Spirit to convict us from within.
   Embrace grace!
   Rev Kev