First United Methodist Church News
February 24, 2019
 
     My goodness I missed out on a fine Sunday last week!  I was not feeling well and stayed home from church.   Our wonderful friend, Julia Broussard, joined the Dublin First United Methodist Church. Welcome Julia!
     We say we don’t “need for much” here at First Methodist, just membership, and we invite anyone seeking a relationship with God, Jesus and others to come and join us.
     Community Table continues to be a success.  We have great cooks, dedicated volunteers, faithful drivers to deliver to the home bound.  But these good folks are not all members of our congregation. They show up from many denominations to help make this food ministry work!
     Pat and Lisa Leatherwood brought their grandson, Liam and granddaughter, Landry, to church last Sunday.  They were good children and we enjoyed them.  I hear that is not always the case at home.
     Jaxson and Joe Salinas were our acolytes, they do a good job of leading Pastor Ken out of the sanctuary at the end of the service.
     Nancy Wooldridge was the Worship Leader and she read our scripture lesson from Luke 6:27-38.
     Pastor Ken asked for prayers for Bill Traweek, Bill fell and broke a hip. Bill was Ken’s agriculture teacher in high school.   
     Laura Leatherwood presented the children’s lesson.
     Laura asked the youngsters if they knew what opposites were.  Yes, they certainly did and gave her several good examples.  There was big and small, happy and sad, and love and hate. Laura said it is easy to love people who love you and are nice to you.  It is hard to love those who hate us or treat us badly. But Jesus said we should love and care for those who treat us badly.  Laura said the children must learn self-control and not to act hateful when others behave that way. That is what makes Christians different from other people.
     Rev. Ken Lunsford preached from Luke about judging others.
     What is your philosophy of life? Do you think about the set of beliefs that drive your worldview? It comes out of us in subtle ways: how we treat people, how we handle a new situation, what we spend our time, energy, and money on. 
     This life philosophy is our guide, our GPS, down the pathway of our entire life.
     The best source for a guide is Jesus, because He is the Word of God come down from heaven according to scripture.  He is God’s revelation of the way we should pattern ourselves.
     Jesus was speaking before a mixed crowd, there were ordinary Jews, and also the ruling Jews called Pharisees, there were pagans from Tyre and Sidon, and Roman soldiers who oppressed the Jews.  They heard Jesus say, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.  If someone takes your coat, give him the shirt also.” Jesus also said, “Do onto others as you would have them do to you.”
     Jesus continued by telling them “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged.”
     This was His message, it was rooted in love.  I am amazed how many Christians miss that truth. Maybe we never really listened to Christ’s teachings.  But to those who do listen He offers hope for this life and salvation in the next.  Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors.  If you are looking for a church home, we invite you to come and give us a chance to share Christ’s love.  Thanks for reading

First United Methodist Church News
February 10, 2019
 
     Our church office will be closed on Monday to honor President’s Day.
     We sang “Happy Birthday” to Jill Moore and Lee Lusk who were born in February.
     Pastor Ken and I attended a barbeque dinner and award ceremony honoring Dr. Rodney Schneider, Dublin ISD Superintendent, last Saturday night.  The Dublin Masonic Lodge presented Dr. Schneider with their “Community Builder Award.”  This award is presented to persons that are not Mason’s but live a life exemplifying how a Mason should live. 
     Laura Leatherwood served as Worship Leader and Jaxson and Joe Salinas were our acolytes.  
     Our congregation extends deep sympathy to the friends and family of Tommy Sperry and Bobby Williams.
     Laura Leatherwood gave the children’s lesson.  Laura brought a clear plastic bag with a chicken egg and a lemon in it.  She asked the children “what do these two things have in common?”  The children gave several answers, but Laura said the items are hard on the outside and soft on the inside.
     Laura said that people can be like that, they can act mean or tough and uncaring, when they really feel different on the inside. She asked, “why would people act that way?” The children had excellent answers for her.  They said they could have no food and be hungry, or someone might have been mean to them, or someone in their family passed away. 
     Laura told the youngsters not to let unhappy things harden your heart and to read the Bible.
     The scripture lesson was from Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, and 1Corinthians 15:1-11.
     Rev. Ken Lunsford preached about three men changed by God. 
     Isaiah saw God sitting on a high throne and the edges of God’s robe filled the temple. He saw winged creatures stationed all around God. They had six wings, they used two wings to cover their faces, two wings to cover their feet, and flew about the temple with two.  Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send Me!”
     Jesus was preaching on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.  He got into Simon’s boat and asked him to push Him out a little so he could speak to the crowd on the bank.  After Jesus finished preaching, He told Simon to “put out into deep water and let down the nets.”  Simon did not want to but did because Jesus said to.  Two boats put out and drew in nets so full of fish they almost sank. Peter fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man.”  Jesus told the fishermen to not be afraid, from now on you will be fishing for people.”
     St. Paul wrote in a letter to the Corinthians reminding them, I passed on to you as most important what I also received:  Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, He was buried, and He rose on the third day.   Paul said I am the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle because I harassed God’s church. I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing.
     Not everyone is going to have an experience like Isaiah, Simon Peter, or St. Paul had.  But we can, in our way, experience God and be transformed into something more beautiful.  We need to pray that God will help us to undergo His amazing grace and power.
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