You Are Always Invited

…And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full…

Matthew 14:20 (NRSV)

Any time spent in the gospels will bring you, before long, to an illustration of God’s abundance. We are inclined and encouraged to ration, to conserve, and to hold back. Where we might see a crowd in a deserted place and think it best to send them home, Jesus says “you give them something to eat.” 

This is a worthy place to reflect this morning: the foundation of this world is God’s abundance. There is always enough and then even more when we share and trust.

If you missed last month’s Courageous Conversation around America’s Original Sin, it’s not too late to join in this week either in person Sunday at 11:30am or over Zoom Tuesday at 2:00pm. Because we are using the language of “sin” as disciples of Jesus, it’s only appropriate to move to repentance. Christians don’t just say “This is bad.” We work to transform this world in the name and image of God, work that begins with each of us. 

The authors of the New Testament understood sin as hamartia, a way of “missing the mark” in the things we do or fail to do. Just as sin turns us away from the love of God and one another, repentance is the means of turning back, of returning to wholeness and life through, simply, dealing with our stuff. The good news reminds us that God’s abundant love and forgiveness are always there as soon as we acknowledge our need for them and turn away from the sin that warps, distorts, and disorders our relationships. 

Remember, though: you are always invited to God’s abundant table. It’s never too late to throw up a hand and say “Help!” 

Grace and Peace, 
Pastor Ben
 
Announcements
In-person Worship Requires Helpers (Like You!)

Each week we will work to create a safe, inviting space for worship for those who participate in person while also live-streaming for those participating at home. If the desire for in-person worship increases, we will add an additional service to maintain necessary distance between worshippers until the pandemic is over. If you have questions or would like to help out, please reply to this message.

To make it plainer: we need help to do this well. 

Nominations Season is Here
Each year we invite new people to lead different aspects of the church’s ministries. If you are eager or interested in giving your time please contact Pastor Ben. If you are asked, consider it an invitation to something good and worthwhile and say “yes!” This is a particularly exciting year to answer the call as we are moving from separate boards to a Leadership Council to free up time and energy for mission. More news and information to follow, but your gifts are needed at this table now. 

Zoom Coffee Hour Pause For the Next Two Sundays
“Zoom fatigue” is a well-documented aspect of month five of COVID-19 life. With this in mind, we are taking a break from these weekly opportunities to catch up, returning on August 16th. Please delete all previous Zoom links and use this one going forward:

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/387187084?pwd=eHU0cmRmVE56OEthUmpidVc0QkVpUT09

This should help bring everyone back together to catch up soon. God bless!

Worship with Flemington UMC on Facebook
Each Sunday at 10:30am, reach for your phone, tablet, computer, or other internet-connected device for a time of music, prayer, scripture, and preaching. Watching live gives the opportunity to comment in real-time with prayer requests, updates on your life, and more, but if you view the service later you can still comment and share prayer requests and experiences from your life with your church. 

If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can simply visit the church’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/FlemingtonUnitedMethodist/

The videos are all accessible there without the need to create an account or login. If you have technical questions, please reach out.