Weekly Greeting - May 30, 2025
Greetings friends,
In my preaching and other contexts over the past few months, I have encouraged us to focus on the four questions Pastor Adam Hamilton from the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas has identified as important for all churches to spend time contemplating:
1. Who is Jesus?
2. Why is Jesus important?
3. Why is the church important?
4. Why is the church I attend important?
It is easy for us to lose focus as a church if we do not put Jesus first. The questions Hamilton has identified help us keep Jesus in the center of our life together and to be reminded of why the church is important.
As we move toward the Season of Pentecost and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church it is helpful to remember that the gift of the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus as described in the Gospel of John:
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” – John 20:21-23
Through the gift of the Holy Spirit Jesus gives us the incredible gift of announcing God’s forgiveness. It is not that we choose who is forgiven or how God forgives, but that we who have received the Holy Spirit become the living embodiment of grace to all people.
I want to encourage you to continue to spend time reflecting on Hamilton’s four questions. Jesus is important. The Church is important. Bethlehem United Methodist Church is important. We are all important as members of the body of Christ as we help share the love and grace of God with our world. Thank you for your faithfulness and dedication to the way of Jesus.
Blessings,
Craig
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We are officially into our summer worship season with June 1 coming up. Before the schools start up and vacations end, we will have a lot of reasons to come to worship whenever we can. We will celebrate with Craig Goff as he retires. We will celebrate with Mary Beth Bernheisel as she moves to Bethlehem as our new pastor. We will have a lot of good music. We will have a Bluegrass concert and also our Summer Music worship series. Please try to be in person for as much as you can.
This Sunday, June 1, we will celebrate our unity as Terry Carty preaches a sermon titled ONE. And we will have the opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.