Rev. Missy Turbeville *Excerpt from October 2023 FUMC Newsletter
Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit…
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
-1 Corinthians 12: 4, 7
This month starts with gifts! And I cannot wait for the unwrapping to begin! For the first time, I am impatient as I type these words. Usually, I like preparing us for what is ahead and hopefully creating a sense of anticipation around what we are to hear in the word shared and lived. But this month, I wish we had already experienced what I believe will be a profound and beautiful worship service on October 1 when Sheila Faramarzifar is going to be baptized.
Sheila grew up in our school and has been worshipping with us in person and online. She is so excited to be claimed by God in this special way and join us in the church within the body of Christ. She can hardly wait and neither can I. You see, Sheila and I talked about how while baptism is God’s gift to the church, in claiming and empowering us to be the hands, feet, and heart of Christ in the world, the church we join is God’s gift to the world.
So that is how we are beginning the month: with gifts! Gifts from God. Witnessing Sheila being claimed by God and receiving her as a sister in Christ. She is a beautiful gift to our church family. We become more than we were before she joined us and together we are a greater gift to the world. Her joy and enthusiasm are contagious and we will be more resilient with her in our lives as we live Christ in the world together.
And because Sunday, October 1 is World Communion Sunday, we will have communion together and our new sister will help serve us. Around our planet, the gift of God to the world -the church- will be gathering at Christ’s table to meet him in the bread and cup. We will all leave the table empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the body of Christ in the world. The ones gifted become the gift. We are blessed to be a blessing. The grace of Christ abounds!
During this month of World Communion Sunday, our School’s 50th Anniversary celebration, hosting 6 churches for Charge Conference, and all our other ministries (including our new YOUTH GROUP!!!) we will talk about love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, integrity, and humility. With Sheila, we will remember our baptism, be thankful, and celebrate what a glorious gift it is. We will remember who and whose we are and the gift we are called to become in Christ. We will be met by the word of God and discover how we are to act as the church in conflict. We will search our hearts as we hear Jesus tell us parables that make us uncomfortable.
In the remembering, empowering, hearing, and searching, we will be made stronger in the presence of our Savior. Stronger individually and stronger together. And just in case in all these words, it was not clear, YOU ARE A GIFT, also! You are a fearfully and wonderfully made person who has been claimed to be God’s gift in the world or … God is ready to claim you as soon as you ask!
Yes, there is often reclamation work that goes on after the claiming. It is not easy. That’s why we share in life together encountering the stories of Jesus. That way when we are confronted by conflict in a merciless world that finds grace to be incomprehensible we are supported by the Holy Spirit as we remember Jesus’ forgiveness and grace. And when there are temptations to sidestep our responsibilities to follow Christ or forget that God is the source of all our blessings we are sustained by our siblings in Christ and reminded that we are not alone and Christ walks this road with us. If that isn’t a cause for celebration, I don’t know what is!
With love in Christ, -Pastor Missy
Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit…
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
-1 Corinthians 12: 4, 7
This month starts with gifts! And I cannot wait for the unwrapping to begin! For the first time, I am impatient as I type these words. Usually, I like preparing us for what is ahead and hopefully creating a sense of anticipation around what we are to hear in the word shared and lived. But this month, I wish we had already experienced what I believe will be a profound and beautiful worship service on October 1 when Sheila Faramarzifar is going to be baptized.
Sheila grew up in our school and has been worshipping with us in person and online. She is so excited to be claimed by God in this special way and join us in the church within the body of Christ. She can hardly wait and neither can I. You see, Sheila and I talked about how while baptism is God’s gift to the church, in claiming and empowering us to be the hands, feet, and heart of Christ in the world, the church we join is God’s gift to the world.
So that is how we are beginning the month: with gifts! Gifts from God. Witnessing Sheila being claimed by God and receiving her as a sister in Christ. She is a beautiful gift to our church family. We become more than we were before she joined us and together we are a greater gift to the world. Her joy and enthusiasm are contagious and we will be more resilient with her in our lives as we live Christ in the world together.
And because Sunday, October 1 is World Communion Sunday, we will have communion together and our new sister will help serve us. Around our planet, the gift of God to the world -the church- will be gathering at Christ’s table to meet him in the bread and cup. We will all leave the table empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the body of Christ in the world. The ones gifted become the gift. We are blessed to be a blessing. The grace of Christ abounds!
During this month of World Communion Sunday, our School’s 50th Anniversary celebration, hosting 6 churches for Charge Conference, and all our other ministries (including our new YOUTH GROUP!!!) we will talk about love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, integrity, and humility. With Sheila, we will remember our baptism, be thankful, and celebrate what a glorious gift it is. We will remember who and whose we are and the gift we are called to become in Christ. We will be met by the word of God and discover how we are to act as the church in conflict. We will search our hearts as we hear Jesus tell us parables that make us uncomfortable.
In the remembering, empowering, hearing, and searching, we will be made stronger in the presence of our Savior. Stronger individually and stronger together. And just in case in all these words, it was not clear, YOU ARE A GIFT, also! You are a fearfully and wonderfully made person who has been claimed to be God’s gift in the world or … God is ready to claim you as soon as you ask!
Yes, there is often reclamation work that goes on after the claiming. It is not easy. That’s why we share in life together encountering the stories of Jesus. That way when we are confronted by conflict in a merciless world that finds grace to be incomprehensible we are supported by the Holy Spirit as we remember Jesus’ forgiveness and grace. And when there are temptations to sidestep our responsibilities to follow Christ or forget that God is the source of all our blessings we are sustained by our siblings in Christ and reminded that we are not alone and Christ walks this road with us. If that isn’t a cause for celebration, I don’t know what is!
With love in Christ, -Pastor Missy
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Worship on Sundays at 10:30AM both at the sanctuary and streamed online on our Facebook page.
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