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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
You know what is really wonderful? God longs for us. God longs for a relationship with us. God loves us. God loves us so much that he sent his only son to live with us, as one of us, and to die for us—painfully—so that we are finally freed from the power of evil and sin. Wow! And what do we have to do to be eligible for this gift? Nothing. It is a free gift from God. God just asks us to return that love, through belief in Jesus, our Lord and our Risen Savior. Another ‘Wow’!
When we accept Jesus in our hearts we have the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit to go out and transform other people when we tell them about this ‘Wow!’ news…when we show them we are Christians by our love and by the way we act and the way we treat others.
At Acushnet-Wesley UMC we come together to worship and praise God. Our faith embraces Christ’s offer of the living water. Our faith offers us the opportunity for a personal relationship with Jesus. Our faith offers us the privilege of sharing the opportunity for salvation with others, open to all of humankind. Our faith reminds us that we are all made in God’s image.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, believed that the way to walk that journey with Christ to God is through the means of grace. In the United Methodist Church we recognize the means of grace as ways in which God works invisibly in us as disciples, quickening, strengthening and confirming our faith. Believers use the means of grace to open their hearts and lives to God's work in them.
The means of grace include the individual practices of prayer, fasting, studying the Bible (giving over our minds to God), and healthy living. They also include communal practices such as talking with other Christians in small groups (holy conferencing), engaging in Holy Communion, and works of mercy such as visiting the sick, helping the needy, and doing good in the community and the world. As John Wesley said: ‘we may not all believe alike but we can all love alike’.
Summer is on its way, in spite of the persistent chilly weather. Some of you will be scattered, traveling, enjoying the beach, working in your yards, etc. Please remember to always keep God at your center, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Go to worship and group Bible study as often as you can. There will be different opportunities for group study at Acushnet-Wesley over the summer so check the schedule or call me.
Remember the importance of worshiping together. Imagine a burning hot coal, glowing with light and warmth. If that coal is in a group of hot glowing coals it continues to burn brightly and to live out its purpose. But what happens if you separate a hot, glowing coal from the others and put it in a separate place? It dies. It doesn’t radiate either light or warmth any longer. It doesn’t live out its potential.
In worshiping together we worship and honor God and we are fed and sustained in return. One date that everyone should put on their calendar is Sunday, June 26, when our District Superintendent Seok Hwan (pronounced sir quwon) will be preaching at Acushnet-Wesley. Come of meet him!
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Kathy Macedo
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