Dear Holland’s Family, Grace and peace to each of you in the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This coming Sunday we will continue our sermon series, Summer School: Lessons from Levi. The preaching text is Matthew 14:13-21, and the sermon is entitled More, Please. I was excited to see this morning an email containing a message from Bishop Hope Morgan Ward highlighting this text. More exciting is that Bishop Ward’s message includes a short video clip of Ray Broadwell and me presenting the check for land purchase for Emmanuel Church in El Salvador to Rev. Juan diDios Pena, the President of that denomination. You recall that we presented this check, which was made possible by the Fairway District and Holland’s Church, while our mission work team was in El Salvador a few weeks ago. The Bishop’s message runs about 2 minutes. Follow this link to see it: nccumc.org/bishop/helping-people-helps/ Several years ago a survey was conducted among college students who were also National Merit Scholars. The survey revealed they all had one thing in common. The commonality was found not in their family incomes, the level of their parents’ education, or geographic location. No, the common element in these scholars was that as children and youth their families regular sat down and had dinner together. Eating together is important in the Family of God as well. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, reminds us that the celebration of Holy Communion is “literally indispensable in the Christian life.” In his journal entry dated December 25, 1774 he writes: “During the twelve festival days we had the Lord’s Supper daily.” On this coming Sunday we will come to the Lord’s Table to receive a bountiful supply of God’s sustaining grace. The scripture reading for Sunday is Matthew’s (Levi’s) account of Jesus feeding the multitude. This is a story of a great miracle. Beyond that important aspect of the story, it is one that reminds us that our God is generous and wants to give in abundance to everyone. You will recall that in the story Jesus’ disciples’ first reaction to the hungry crowd was to “send them away” (vs. 15). Jesus then reacts to their request by saying something that must have come as a great surprise to them: “They need not go away. You give them something to eat” (vs. 16). You know the rest of the story – five thousand men, not counting the women and children, were fed that day with a mere five loaves and two fish. And, there were abundant leftovers! Bill Gaither wrote a song in the early 1970s that said, “There’s plenty of room in the family … plenty of room at the table, no need to economize there!” We will come on Sunday with our hunger for direction, solace, reconciliation, and strength for the journey ahead. As we come, let us remember what Jesus said: “They need not go away.” So, come and sit at the table where there is plenty of room for all God’s family. Again, the sermon is entitled More, Please. I hope to see you at the place of abundant supply this weekend. Abundant blessings, Pastor Gary
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 18:23:23 +0000
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