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Remember Your Baptism - February 28, 2016
Today is the third Sunday in the season of Lent, which means we are almost halfway through this holy time. You may remember that Lent began as a time of preparation for candidates who would be baptized on Easter Sunday. Over the years it expanded to be a time of renewed devotion to God for all Christians. Even those baptized years ago, perhaps as infants, can use the forty days of Lent to reflect on the meaning of their baptisms. Remember your baptism and be thankful.
In our reading this morning from I Corinthians, the Apostle Paul challenged the Christians in Corinth to reflect on their baptisms, though his imagery is so bizarre it takes some work to unpack it. We've been reading from Corinthians since before Lent began. I've been telling you how they divided into factions and fought about spiritual gifts. Just prior to our reading today, Paul had challenged them to work together so that those whose faith was stronger supported those with weaker faiths. The issue for
Lenten Lessons in Love - February 14, 2016
Today we celebrate the 40+ Club – couples who have been married for a long time. 72 years for B&CB. What an example they and all our others provide for us. Included in your worship guide today are tips they've given for how to have a long lasting marriage. Together they offer us all wisdom for love for a lifetime.
Happy Valentine's Day. My thanks to the Romeo's for singing for us today.
Valentine's Day is a time for romance. Our 40+ club knows that it is important to make time for romance. They also know that long lasting marriages are about more than hearts and flowers. Next to parenting, (which I have not done), I think marriage is the most challenging thing most of us do, and I've only been married for 24 years
It's no coincidence that the marriage vows say, "for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health." Health crises, either of one's own or of other family members, economic challenges, and just plain hard times make marriage difficult.
The Moments That Change Everything - February 7, 2016
One of the highlights in the Bible is when Moses climbed up Mt. Sinai to meet with God. God gave to Moses the tablets of what we now call the Ten Commandments. Moses' encounter with God was so powerful that he became radiant – the skin of his face glowed and the people feared to come near him. So Moses wore a veil to shield them. From time to time, Moses and God continued to meet. Moses took off the veil when he was with God but donned it later to protect the people.
Read more: The Moments That Change Everything - February 7, 2016
Parts Is Parts - January 31, 2016
The ad from Wendy's restaurants shows a fast food customer receiving an order of chicken nuggets and asking what part of the chicken they came from. The clerk explains they came from many parts. The customer looks confused and a bit revolted. "What parts?" he continues to ask and the clerk concludes, "Part is parts."
Do you know how many parts there are in the human body? According to my commentary and backed up by that source of all information, Google, there are 206 bones, 639 muscles, about six pounds of skin (on an average person, whatever that means), and miles of blood vessels, nerves and, of course, ligaments and other tissues. Parts is parts, right? Except, of course, the thumb bone and the skin on my nose and all my other parts are each distinct from each other even if they are all on the same body.
Opening the Spirit’s Gifts - January 17, 2016
Just a few weeks ago, most of us gathered with families to open Christmas gifts. They were wrapped in brightly colored paper or placed beneath mounds of tissue paper in lovely bags. We pulled from them toys, books, clothing, and electronic gadgets, among other things. Some gifts are practical. You know you are truly an adult when socks and underwear top your Christmas list. As a child those were boring gifts that hardly rated as gifts at all. As an adult I am pleased. Other gifts are just for fun. I'm excited by my tickets to see The Book of Mormon. Some gifts are glamorous and others are every day.
Gifts come from many sources: friends, family, and of, course, Santa Claus. My thanks to those of you who donated to the Staff Christmas gift, which is paying for groceries these days when I shop at Winco.
Our reading today from I Corinthians talks about another sort of gift: spiritual gifts. You won't find them in a box neatly tied up with ribbons and topped with a bow. You won't pull them out of a gift bag. Spiritual gifts are both practical and things of great delight.
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Sunday morning parking at the church is available in the high school parking lot on Third Street across from the church and in the city lots west of the church. These lots are available only on Sunday mornings. A small lot for handicapped parking is available just off of Adams Street on the north side of the church, with an accessible entrance directly into the sanctuary. A lift operates between the Fellowship Hall (3rd Street level) and the Sanctuary. William Sound System Receivers and Headsets are available to assist with hearing problems.
322 East Third Street
Moscow, ID 83843
Church Mission
The First United Methodist Church of Moscow, Idaho takes as our mission to be the body of Jesus Christ, ministering to a community which draws strength from its diversity. Our mission centers on the worship of God, expressed through varied forms of prayer, preaching, music, and ritual. See more...