Our beautiful little white church
Today our pastor preached a wonderful message from the book of Mark, chapter 6:30-44, about the feeding of the five thousand with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. I will get into the "meat" of that in a minute, but first I want to request prayer for our pastor. He was not feeling quite up to par all morning, but persevered to the end of the sermon, and then at the time of the benediction he started to sway, and collapsed down safely to the pew in front of him with the help of some quick thinking people. He remained conscious, but very weak and faint. 9-11 was called, and he is now at the hospital having some tests run. Please keep him in your prayers. His name is "A.C."...which stands for something wonderful I am certain...not sure exactly what, so we just call him A.C. Only a couple of weeks ago our pastor announced his plans to retire in June, so we were already feeling the sadness of seeing him leave our little church after seventeen years of ministry. Now we pray that he will be able to finish out his remaining months with us before his retirement commences, and that he will have a blessed and healthy retirement. I know he and his wife (and our congregation) would appreciate everyone's prayers. So thank you!
Here are a few pictures of our little church. Most of these you may have already seen. Our little flock is a very conservative, Bible believing, Spirit-filled and happy group of people. I would ask you to pray for our church not only as our Pastor is recuperating from whatever illness this may be, but also as we begin the process of selecting a new pastor to lead our flock when he retires. This will not be an easy transition for us since our pastor is dearly beloved and has been here, as I said, for about 17 years.
Also, please pray for the denomination of the United Methodist Church at large, as next week they will be voting on some very serious issues that plague many churches today. It seems as though Satan is trying to destroy God's church in any way that he can in these last days...causing division and strife and sorrow for many. Pray for a strong and mighty movement of God's Holy Spirit in the hearts of the leaders of our denomination, pointing them to turn to God's Word for clear direction and to seek biblical, scriptural responses to those who would seek to have their own way regardless of the truth of God's Word. May God's Holy Spirit prevail, and may God's people stand strong in their faith in Jesus Christ and the truth of His Gospel. Many of us are praying and watching and waiting to see what is going to be decided, and the results of that decision may bring about big changes for many of our churches. And that will lead to each of us making personal decisions regarding the direction of our local churches. May Jesus Christ be glorified and honored and exalted, and may His Church stand strong.
The Fellowship Hall...and the building on the far right is a little house that holds our church's Thrift Store Ministry, which supports several ministries in the church, including a housing ministry for recently released prisoners who need a place to live.
This little building (above) used to be the parsonage many years ago, but now is used for our ladies' quilting ministry. They make beautiful lap quilts for use at the Ronald McDonald House, Hospice, and VA hospital. (btw...the camellias are gorgeous all around the church right now!)
This is our Sunday School and office building, including a lovely prayer chapel.
Lovely camellias
The windows inside the sanctuary
Those same windows from outside.
Now, to the sermon notes. First of all...the Church is not really about the building at all...it is about the people inside the building...and also those same people inside taking the Gospel outside that building to the world. That is essentially what our sermon was about today...here are the notes as best I can tell you:
- The compassion that Jesus was showing to the multitudes of people who were following Him is an example of something He wanted us and His disciples to learn...
- Look at Mark 6:30-44, and then especially at verses 34-36:
"34. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.
35. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, 'This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.
36. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."
But look at what Jesus told the disciples in verse 37:
"You give them something to eat."
Of course, the disciples were rather surprised at this idea...they could only think of the physical means of feeding all those people, when all they had was a few loaves of bread and few fish...they really didn't see how they could feed so many with so little...
But Jesus showed them how...and He is showing us how today...we are to be the church to the LOST...those who have not heard the gospel...those on the outside of the church walls who are waiting to hear the gospel. It's not about US, who already are the saved...but about those who are perishing without Christ. We've already been "found"... but the Church isn't supposed to be just for the "found" ones, but for the "LOST and FOUND". We are to take the Gospel outside the walls and feed the hungry...not just those who are physically hungry, but those who are hungry for the truth...hungry for the love of Christ to touch their lives.
We may be like the disciples who look at the multitude and say, it is too great a task for us to feed them...send them somewhere else. We don't have the money or resources to take care of such needy people. But when we listen to the call on our lives from Christ...when we answer that call and open ourselves to the Lord God Almighty...He will make a way..
Even though Jesus Himself was tired and hungry (see Mark 6:31), He still was moved with compassion on the multitudes (vs. 34), "because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things."
Have we ever been so tired or busy that we missed an opportunity to introduce someone to Christ?
When we decide to show the love of Jesus, we will never want to send them away...we'll never say we don't have enough.
- Jesus took something, blessed it, and made it more...
- We say to ourselves that we don't have enough time, desire, money, energy...
- Rather than trust in Jesus we drown under our own fear of failure...we want to send them away to someplace else...
- Jesus has called to each one of us in an appointed place of worship...to go out and reach people...
- That's not the preacher's job...that's OUR job. ("You give them something to eat!")
- God wants to open our hearts to people who are hurting
- We need to pray and ask Jesus..."Where do I go, how do I get there?"
- He will lead us as we follow Him.
Our closing hymn was "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"
Have YOU decided to follow Jesus? No turning back, no turning back....
Thank you for your prayers for our pastor and our church. May Jesus Christ be praised.
Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 2/17/2019
Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.
