First United Methodist Church News
February 14 & 18, 2018
Ash Wednesday Service was well received. Pastor Ken said it felt a little strange to celebrate Ash Wednesday on St. Valentine’s Day.
Pastor Ken passed out small heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolate candy to everyone attending the service. Then he preached from Joel 2:12-17.
True love is a beautiful thing. The most beautiful love of all is the love God has for you and me. This service helps us prepare our hearts for the season of Lent.
In this lesson from Joel the story stats with a disastrous invasion of locusts in Israel. The swarms reach for miles over the land and they eat and destroy all the plant life. The animals and the people suffered, and many died from starvation.
The locust plague was greater than ever before in Joel’s time. The distraught people ripped their clothing and ask God to save them. Joel writes, “Even now, declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
This past Sunday Laura Leatherwood served as Worship Leader. She read the scripture lesson from Genesis 9:8-17.
We sang “Happy Birthday” to Corbin Gordon, Beckham Velasquez, Jill Moore, and Lee Lusk.
Community Table this month will serve Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, ice tea and desserts. Plan to come to the Clay Annex to help cook, deliver, or eat! Who in Dublin needs a meal on the last Wednesday of the month? If you do or know who does, give the office a call. We would love to have you come to eat with us and enjoy the fellowship. I certainly do.
Irene Sohm said their son, Chris, is healing from foot surgery, Lee Lusk’s 90-year-old sister has the flu, and Paul Beaty is not doing well.
Our congregation extends sympathy to the family of Dr. Weldon H. Newton. Dr. Newton is the uncle of Mary Haley and Lisa Leatherwood.
We were happy to have Kylie Williams of Fort Worth with us Sunday. Kylie was visiting our grandson, Jacob McCarley.
“Noah and the Robots” was the title of Rev. Ken Lunsford’s sermon.
When God created us, He gave us the freedom to decide our own destiny. Many believe that is what Genesis means when it says that God created man and woman in His own image. God is Spirit and we are flesh. We have no idea what God looks like.
We can however, decide what is in our best interest or the interest of others we share this earth with. We are free to be all the good we can be or to destroy ourselves. God knew we might disappoint Him, but He did it anyway. God did not want a bunch of puppets.
If you read about the future, you are aware that one of the great fears of bright people is the rapid development of so-called artificial intelligence or AI as it is popularly known. Siri on your iPhone, Cortana on your computer, or self-driving cars are a form of AI and they are already being used. When we think of intelligent machines we think of robots. Many worry that the robots will grow smarter than humans and decide they don’t need us.
In Genesis it tells us that God regretted that He had made humans and His heart was deeply troubled. The story of Noah and the Flood is the culmination of that disappointment. But God allowed a remnant to remain because God never gives up hope on His beloved people. The waters recede, and God puts a rainbow in the heavens as a sign of His eternal grace.
February 14 & 18, 2018
Ash Wednesday Service was well received. Pastor Ken said it felt a little strange to celebrate Ash Wednesday on St. Valentine’s Day.
Pastor Ken passed out small heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolate candy to everyone attending the service. Then he preached from Joel 2:12-17.
True love is a beautiful thing. The most beautiful love of all is the love God has for you and me. This service helps us prepare our hearts for the season of Lent.
In this lesson from Joel the story stats with a disastrous invasion of locusts in Israel. The swarms reach for miles over the land and they eat and destroy all the plant life. The animals and the people suffered, and many died from starvation.
The locust plague was greater than ever before in Joel’s time. The distraught people ripped their clothing and ask God to save them. Joel writes, “Even now, declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
This past Sunday Laura Leatherwood served as Worship Leader. She read the scripture lesson from Genesis 9:8-17.
We sang “Happy Birthday” to Corbin Gordon, Beckham Velasquez, Jill Moore, and Lee Lusk.
Community Table this month will serve Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, ice tea and desserts. Plan to come to the Clay Annex to help cook, deliver, or eat! Who in Dublin needs a meal on the last Wednesday of the month? If you do or know who does, give the office a call. We would love to have you come to eat with us and enjoy the fellowship. I certainly do.
Irene Sohm said their son, Chris, is healing from foot surgery, Lee Lusk’s 90-year-old sister has the flu, and Paul Beaty is not doing well.
Our congregation extends sympathy to the family of Dr. Weldon H. Newton. Dr. Newton is the uncle of Mary Haley and Lisa Leatherwood.
We were happy to have Kylie Williams of Fort Worth with us Sunday. Kylie was visiting our grandson, Jacob McCarley.
“Noah and the Robots” was the title of Rev. Ken Lunsford’s sermon.
When God created us, He gave us the freedom to decide our own destiny. Many believe that is what Genesis means when it says that God created man and woman in His own image. God is Spirit and we are flesh. We have no idea what God looks like.
We can however, decide what is in our best interest or the interest of others we share this earth with. We are free to be all the good we can be or to destroy ourselves. God knew we might disappoint Him, but He did it anyway. God did not want a bunch of puppets.
If you read about the future, you are aware that one of the great fears of bright people is the rapid development of so-called artificial intelligence or AI as it is popularly known. Siri on your iPhone, Cortana on your computer, or self-driving cars are a form of AI and they are already being used. When we think of intelligent machines we think of robots. Many worry that the robots will grow smarter than humans and decide they don’t need us.
In Genesis it tells us that God regretted that He had made humans and His heart was deeply troubled. The story of Noah and the Flood is the culmination of that disappointment. But God allowed a remnant to remain because God never gives up hope on His beloved people. The waters recede, and God puts a rainbow in the heavens as a sign of His eternal grace.
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