Sermon Preview for 2.20.22 "About Us..."

This Weekend: Sunday at 10:30am “About Us…” Scriptures: Philippians 2:1-13 and Matthew 21:23-32.Pastor Christopher Eshelman preaching.

We are in the midst of a significant transition here at First - after serving for almost 15 years, our secretary Marla Gorman, is retiring. We have, in turn, hired Zandra Hood as our new secretary. We also just revamped our web site and added an “About us…” page that, very briefly, gives an overview of United Methodist history and beliefs and how we seek to live those out here at First. Marla was a longtime member, but joined another denomination when she married. Zandra served as secretary another church, where she is still a member, for 15 years prior to joining our staff. We respect both of their paths and denominations - and it’s a good time to think about who we are. The mission of First UMC Fort Scott is: “to share the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and to exemplify the love of God by knowing Christ, growing in Christ, serving Christ and sharing Christ” Knowing Christ is more than an intellectual assent, it's a transformed heart, a soul filled with the power and fullness of Christ. John Wesley, an Anglican priest and the founder of Methodism, struggled with his faith, until one day his "heart was strangely warmed" at a Moravian prayer meeting. Wesley suddenly understood God's love and grace, revealed through Christ, in a new, more complete way. Sunday, we will talk about Wesley’s journey, which started a renewal movement in the Anglican church of his day, and we’ll talk about our own journey of faith. Who is Jesus and how do we know? We’ll look at our approach to faith, drawing from the wonderful summary found in hymn form in Philippians 2, and we’ll consider the parable that Jesus tells about our response in Matthew 21. As we’ve looked at several ways recently, our Methodist understanding of Christian faith emphasizes a both / and approach - saying and doing - a lived faith offering our prayers, presence, gifts, witness and service. We look forward to worshiping with you, in person or online, Sunday at 10:30am. We will also hold a reception to say “thank you and farewell” to Marla after the service.