An Honest Joe: Worship and Study Guide

July 27, 2017August 9, 2017 / Rev. Alan Van Hooser / 2 Comments

honest joe source slide in jpg The Bible is a living connection to God and people. In Joseph, the son of Jacob/Israel, found in Genesis 37-50 is a life full of those connecting moments. Honest Joe’s story is more than just a colorful coat and contains tips for successful living. Our Cheatham Memorial United Methodist Church family will being studying through these chapter in our August 2017 sermons.

We welcome you to follow along and comment. Begin with this “Infographic”, follow the study guide and make comments from your own experience. Everyone is welcome to comment. Check out our Cheatham Memorial website for more details. ( Put your US Mail address in a comment and I will send you a paper copy if you wish)

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Here are the four topics that I picked and a 30-Day reading guide. This is less than one page per day f reading! Please leave comments to those things that gave you something that adds value to your life!

August 6, 2017: Weekley Reading Genesis 37-39
Genesis 37:12-28 “Faith is a Journey”.

August 13, 2017: Weekly Reading: Genesis 40-42
Genesis 39:1-23 “Life Can Be a Dream”

August 20, 2017: Weekly Reading: Genesis 43-46
Genesis 45:1-18 Forgiveness: A New Beginning”

August 27, 2017: Weekly Reading Genesis 47-50
Genesis 50:22 “Faith Gives Birth to Faith”

Where do you find yourself in Joseph’s story? LEAVE A COMMENT! Thanks for reading along with us! Looking for a church home? We have a great church family. Join us!

WELCOME HOME!

Cheatham Memorial United Methodist Church

SUNDAY WORSHIP 10:00 AM

Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 9 am – 3 pm
205 South Houston Street/P.O. Box 800
Edgewood, TX 75117
Tel: 903-896-4935 Fax: 903-896-4935
www.cheathamumc.net
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Fire, Shipwrecks and Serpents: Worship for Preparation and Easter

March 8, 2017March 9, 2017 / Rev. Alan Van Hooser / Leave a comment

Pour it out4

You are invited to join our Cheatham Memorial Church family for worship! This is a brief sketch of our Lent and Easter worship. You can also follow us on Facebook and our website www.cheathamumc.net . If you are in our corner of East Texas, don’t drive by, drive in. We would be honored to show you our “Welcome Home”. Here is our worship journey toward Easter

We need a breakthrough. In our hearts, homes and communities we need that breakthrough of awareness of God. God is already at work in the parts of our lives that hold us spiritually hostage. Have we intentionally sought God? Have we taken personal responsibility for a breakthrough of Grace. What we lack is the intimacy with God that is key to breaking the chains.

For our part of the breakthrough, we will focus on three spiritual practices. They are to GIVE-time talent or tithes, FAST-at least missing lunch on Wednesdays, and PRAY-specifically for that particular move of God we desperately want and need. This is not a weight loss program nor manipulating God for a new car but a celebration of the living resurrection of Jesus! God will provide direction and BREAKTHROUGH

Where is God moving in your life? What is holding you hostage-habits, addiction, relationship, employment, finances fear, health, or other?

The sermons are a 5 part journey through Acts . We will gather each Wednesday Evening at 5:30 for studies, centered on our Spiritual Gifts and practices. We will have many of our traditions but our goal is to be prepared for a personal, walking around, and living resurrection.

March 1: Ash Wednesday

Matthew 4:1-11 “The Desert Journey”. We are setting the stage for our Lenten preparation by meeting in the desert. In the desert we are all on the same level and totally reliant on God. The contest for the Christ’s will is the same temptations that we experience in our daily living. Where will our BREAKTHROUGH come? It starts with intentionally becoming more intimate with God.

March 5: The First Sunday of Lent , Lent Begins, Holy Communion Sunday

Acts 2:42-47 “A Community on Fire”

Pentecost started a spiritual fire in the homes and workplaces of the believers. After the overwhelming breakthrough, the new “Christian” community responded by church worship, personal worship, prayer, charity, and fellowship. Faith was for everyday living. Where are we being led to take the Pentecost fire?

March 12:The Second Sunday of Pentecost

Acts 6:8-7:3, 7:54-8:1 “Discipleship’s Cost

The walk with Christ is free of charge but very Costly. What will we pay? What riches will be receive?

March 19: The Third Sunday of Pentecost- We will have a guest Preacher, Jesse Brannen

Acts 8:25-40 “Living Water Alive” (This is my study text for the series.

We wear our baptisms and others find the living water for themselves. There is not shame in needing a guide! In our words, ways and relationships, we will share our water with others.

March 26: The fourth Sunday of Lent

Acts 9:1-31”The New Transfiguration

Paul’s conversion mirrors the Christ at the mount of Transfiguration. Where did God meet you on the road. Where is the road before you headed?

April 2: The Fifth Sunday of Lent Holy Communion

Acts17:16-31 “Knowing the Unknown”

God is made known to us with the images and experiences of daily living. God is shared with those who live with and around us. It is not accidental that we have the story in the exact way we need to share with those around us.

April 9: Palm Sunday: with a reading by a child at the beginning, A Children’s Play, Special Music, Procession of Palms!

Matthew 21:1-11 read by a young person or persons and possibly using the “Voice” version as a format.

Acts 28:1-23 “The 29^th Chapter of Acts”

Help me read the 29^th chapter of acts! Oh wait, you must write it first. The Holy Spirit is writing it through you! Thank you Terry Teykl-Check out his book here!

April 10-15: Holy Week

We will focus our attention on a Good Friday ,“7 Final Words Service, with several speakers . We will also offer a prayer Labyrinth and a time of praying through the Scriptural Stations of the Cross. Pat and are using the stations with Children’s Church. We will plan further use of the art work throughout the church.

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April 16: Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday will be tradition rich with special music, breakfast at 8:30, Easter Eggs by age group at 9:00 and rousing worship! Watch for further details on the CMUMC Website

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Cheatham Memorial September 2016 Worship!

August 27, 2016September 1, 2016 / Rev. Alan Van Hooser / Leave a comment

The theme for September is is “A Work in Progress” and the image is the cross. Yes, we have a cross in every sermon but these four message will give it more weight. Do our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness flow from the cross of Christ or just adorn our t-shirts? I am asking this of myself during quiet time. What amazing power the cross has in our everyday living….when we choose to access it. How do you do that? Come to worship and see. We will also explore prayers of blessing and host a two-week short course on prayer, September 15 and 22 at 6:30 PM. See cheathamumc.net for details

September 4, 2016: 16^th Sunday of Pentecost Jeremiah 18:1-11 “The Potter’s House”

We are all a work in progress. Even when life is under pressure, faith can build us even if circumstances are trying to get us down. The greater the pressure, the stronger the earthen vessel.

September 11, 2016: 17^th Sunday of Pentecost, remembrance of 9-11, 1 Timothy 1:12-17 “Strength for the Falls”

The promise of redemption if from Jesus himself. People of faith are strengthened for the everyday “falls” that inevitably come. Like physical fitness or a baby learning to walk, it is through our trials that we are strengthened in faith. This gift from the Christ is for all who believe and for all who don’t. We are all walking redemption’s path.

September 18, 2016: 18^th Sunday of Pentecost, Gideon’s Sunday with special offering. 1 Timothy 2:1-7 “Levelling Prayers”

In the prayer closet, kings and paupers are judged the same. This epistle is inviting us to seek God rather than asking God to seek us. How are we praying for our own spiritual formation? How are we praying for our political and church leaders in their life’s seeking of God?

September 25, 2016: 19th Sunday of Pentecost. Luke 17:5-10 “A starting place”

This service will be an old school revival Sunday and include our favorite “Methodist Roots” hymns in an upbeat and tradition filled worship experience! The vision of a victorious end is the start of all good journeys. Where is our starting place in the Christian life? The truth is that we have many starting placed in Christ. It is a journey of many steps. We don’t begin our life of salvation all mature and filled many answers. We start at the foot of the cross with the harsh reality that we are not finished yet, we continue with the present reality that we don’t journey along, and we live for the completion of our journey with eternity in Christ. That being said, how do we begin?

Coming Events: Charge Conference! Fall Festival on October 15 and a celebration of our fund raiser on October 16!

June 2016 Sermons at Cheatham Memorial

May 18, 2016 / Rev. Alan Van Hooser / Leave a comment

compass of faith

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.

June 12: 4^th 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?”

June 19: 5^th 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.

June 26: 6^th 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.

Check our out main website at cheathamumc.net

Praying hope when hope is hard to find

March 23, 2016March 23, 2016 / Rev. Alan Van Hooser / Leave a comment

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.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16