Today was Father’s Day! This is a great opportunity to thank all Christian men whether they are parents or not. This is a short video that we shared our dads in worship. Blessings to you today!
June 2016 Sermons at Cheatham Memorial
The Cheatham Memorial Family invites you to join us for worship at 10:00 am each Sunday. We have a variety of activities and service projects that you can check out at our WEBSITE!
Do you ever feel like you have lost direction? We will discuss ways to “Face the Fire by Faith”. What do I do with faith in a world that seems so random. Transformation is a mystery that begins and ends with faith. The fun stuff lies in the middle. Find your way with us as we seek Christ together.
June 5: The 3rd Sunday of Pentecost, Communion Sunday,
Text: 1 Kings 17:8-24 “Now What”
Transformation in the soul is built by our experiences in the day to day. We need companions for the journey and our eye on God. With each day’s ups and downs, let’s face it, faith can just be difficult. And yet we grow through these experiences.
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June 12: 4th Sunday of Pentecost.
Text: Galatians 2:15-21,” Faith is Dead Right”
The way to faith is faith. God is faithful to plant the seeds of faith within us and water them with our experiences. Faith expressed leads us to faith experienced. “Paul speaks of what kind of sinner he is and asks, “what kind of sinner are you?”
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June 19: 5th Sunday of Pentecost, Father’s Day
Text Luke 8:26-39 “Hey, those are my pigs!”
A dad’s promise does not come from a perfect life but by following a perfect Jesus. Faith opens our eyes to our own brand of distress and randomness. Rather than excuse our lives as “Just the way it is”, a new way is given, by faith, to all who will fearlessly face the challenge.
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June 26: 6th Sunday of Pentecost
Text: 2 Kings 2:1-14 “Pass it on”
Faith is not a possession to hold but one to nurture and pass on. Our companions in life feed our faith but also depend on us to build them up too. Leadership is successful when we let god and watch another grow.
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Check our out main website at cheathamumc.net
May 2016 sermons at Cheatham Memorial UMC
The Cheatham Memorial Family invites your to a brand new year of Spiritual Growth in Jesus Christ? We worship at 10:00 AM each Sunday with activities for disciples of all ages and places. The Theme for May is preparation for Pentecost and titled, “God Led Change” and focuses on spiritual unity and prayers of discernment. Mother’s day is May 2016
Check out our website for more information about our ministry
May 1: The 6th Sunday of Easter, Communion Sunday,
Text: Acts 5:17-40, “ The First Church of the Cup Holder”
The question is asked, will we attend a church where we aren’t in control. The answer is yes because control is illusion to we who are in Christ. Discernment and not management are the goals for Christian living and the peace that it provides.
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May 8: Mother’s Day and the 7th Sunday of Easter. Prayers for General Conference
Text: John 14 23-29 “ ‘Cause Momma Says…”
Discernment is obedience, Obedience requires Discernment. True peace in our childhood came when we did what our parents said to do. However, that came with the comfort in knowing, even when we did not show it, that they wanted only what was best for us. Our heavenly father operates in that same loving way and is worthy of our trust. We will follow someone or something in our daily living. God offers a peace that we cannot find anywhere else.
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May 15: PENTECOST SUNDAY
Text Acts 2:1-21, “The Pouring”
You cannot discern what God wants apart from the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit IS God. Pentecost is not the beginning of the Holy Spirit but the pouring of that precious facet of God into the Church.
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May 22: Trinity Sunday
Text: Romans 5:1-5, “Produce the proper Produce”
Faith is where the life in Christ starts. The produce is character that proclaims truth and spreads the message of eternal hope. The Holy Trinity is merely a framework of understanding. How scary it is to pray for faith though! Faith is access, the open door and worth the risk
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May 29: Memorial Day Weekend, Annual Conference Kick off
Text : Galatians 1:1-12 “Winning”
Half of the struggle in Discerning God’s will for our lives is knowing what a “win” is. What is the goal line of the life in faith, What is a win for the church. Where is the win for our lives? Our congregation? Our Conference? Jesus has a direct and final answer!
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Praying hope when hope is hard to find
Our congregation is a praying congregation and I am a blessed pastor to serve here. Payer is a craft and a learned skill. Part of our teaching focus this year, and one of our three key drivers, is “Developing skills for ministering” and one key skill is praying with and for hurting people. (Note: we have two other ‘drivers’; loving God’s word, and deepening our prayer life.) But how do you pray for hope when things seem hopeless? In times of hospice care, terminal illness, tragic accidents, catastrophic relationship breaks and other final and un-fixable situations, how do you pray with the hope of Jesus Christ in the face of hopelessness? Here are some things to think about and you are welcome to comment your thoughts below. The scriptural focus will be 1 Corinthians 15.
In Christ nothing is hopeless even if it cant be seen. This may be a hard sell to the wounded, especially if this person does not have a faith foundation. The caregiver needs to firm in this fact and know scriptures of comfort. It seldom a good care to preach them in a time of stress. Pick one and offer it as a comfort, a medicine, but not a magic spell. To an unchurched person it is probably better to paraphrase. God has your back, caregiver, and God has healing for the hopeless.
Look at death from a God’s eye view. “Where o death is your victory,
where o death is your sting”. (1 Corinthians 15:54-56). Flesh and blood is not the point of life and living is eternal in Jesus Christ. Death is not the enemy but sin is-anything that separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus for you. Death is the human condition. From God’s perspective, death is merely a way to show us how precious life is and how crucial to make our lives matter by investing them in Faith. Tragedy is not a punishment! They are the product of a broken world.
Here are four things to remember. Four ways that this craft works out in the real world.
Ask permission to pray. If the answer is yes then you have an opportunity to open the door to the Holy Spirit in a situation that does not immediately point to hope. If the answer is no, then you have been given permission to pray without speaking and pray you must. This is God’s domain and not ours anyway. It is not our spoken words that heal but God’s movement within them. When you can’t put hope into words, pray to the God of all hope to make it known.
When you pray aloud, pray what you know and not what you do not know. How do you pray when a person is in agony without any treatment options left? No one wants them to die, yet the comfort of a faithful persons death is peace. One of our church members who was attending to a dear friend said, “When I don’t see the way to pray, I simply pray for mercy, and then take the opportunity to prayer for myself.
Hopelessness is often forced change in disguise. A lengthy process of dying will often bring faith to a whole family. A tragic accident can bring about major changes to people who would have never considered. and a situation from bad choices that has only bad solutions can bring a person to their knees and see God. The situation may be dire and unfair but the God led outcome can bring a victory that we cannot ask for or imagine. Caregivers can always pray for guidance for a person that is on a dark path even if they cannot know what the destination might be.
Never Give up and never give in to hopelessness. I believe in prayer for impossible things because that is where God intersects our lives. Even when the outcome is not what I have chosen, God has spoken. Who am I to put words in God’s mouth. Who am I to think that I have the big picture at hand. Pray like you mean it and know that God will meet you there. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58.
What on Earth does Maundy Mean?
Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries) is a Holy Week tradition. Most Christians celebrate “Maundy” and we in the western church have ours on the Thursday before Easter. This a church term is from the latin word “Mandate” or commandment and speaks to Christ’s command to take care of the poor.
For the last 1000 years or so, the Church would have Maundy to wash the feet of the poor as an act of servanthood. This evolved into a service around the scripture’s story of Christ washing the feet of his disciples. Later was added the gift of Holy Communion, (or Eucharist) described at the last supper discourse. After that last supper, they sang a hymn and went into the garden to unknowingly wait for the crucifixion. We remember this in the silence of Saturday before the feast and joy of Resurrection morning.
What is truly represents is what the photograph shows-IT IS ABOUT WORK OF THE CHURCH. The sacraments, caring for people and worship are the work and craft of the Christian disciple. Holy Thursday is a work day in the highest sense of the Kingdom of God. Faith in Christ is not a possession, it is a calling a compulsion to be like Jesus. Maundy shows the privilege and responsibility to serve as the plain scriptural command of Jesus.
On this Holy week you are invited to attend this special service at 6:30 at our church, Cheatham Memorial UMC in Edgewood Texas. If you are not in our area, find your place in a faithful congregation to share a service with. Our website with the particulars is cheathamumc.net. Our table is open to all who claim the name of Christ and this service is open to all who simply want to worship as a sign of devotion to Him. Join us and experience the story beyond a mere reading. It may sound corny but Jesus is waiting for you here.
Blessings to you and may every week be Holy Week as you rejoice in the Risen Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.
The April 2016 Sermon Schedule
April brings the spring and a newness to our faith journeys. Easter has given us the faith of an empty tomb! These scriptures have been chosen to reflect the four gifts of the cross-the final point of our Lenten sermons. Forgiveness, Righteousness, Faith-Sight, and Ministry are given to us at the cross and lived in the resurrection in everyday life. These gifts are for the here and now as well as the hereafter. Come and join us in worship! For more details check us out at Cheathamumc.net
April 3: The second Sunday of the Easter Season “Every Eye” Revelation 1:4-8
The first gift of the cross is that of a Jesus focused sight. In Christ we simply see things differently. The tomb is empty and is the bedrock of the Christian’s faith. It is a place of victory and eternity rather than a place of death and finality. Seeing our everyday with the focus of Jesus makes for healthier and eternal living.
April 10: The third Sunday of the Easter Season “Right Away” Acts 9:1-20
The second gift of the cross is the forgiven life. With our ransom paid at the cross we live with the righteousness of Jesus as our guide and goal. By faith through Jesus’ gift to us we have this righteousness! It is a responsibility as well as a privilege! Living out of Jesus’ righteous freedom makes for healthier and eternal living.
April 17: The fourth Sunday of the Easter Season “Healing Right Away” Acts 9:36-43
Jesus is still in the healing business but not always in the way that we imagine it should be. The final gifts of the cross are being forgiven and made worthy for ministry. Peter had denied Jesus and squandered many opportunities for faith. Yet, this story show him to be used of God for a dramatic healing event. Being healed of our sin puts us in a position to minister in a way that makes for healthier and eternal living
April 24: The fifth Sunday of the Easter Season “Laity in Ministry Sunday”
Our lay leadership, with Judi Yarbrough bringing the message, will share our ministry from the last year in pictures, word and song. This will be an exciting service of praise for the shared ministry of Cheatham Memorial UMC!
See you Sundays at 10:00!
THE THOUGHTFUL PASTOR 