Pastor Tom and his family Joined our church family in July 2005. They are true Blessing for us all.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Acts 2:42-44 (NIV)
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him and led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
The pastor reached the door to leave. His host said, with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your visit, and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”
I recieved this story via e-mail a few months back and was reminded of it once again in a recent phone conversation. The person I was talking to was explaining how they disagreed with much of ”organized religion.” They weren’t much for the ‘church thing’ - too much politics and all. They still went to church, mind you; but to deal with all the things that get in the way of worshiping God and fulfilling our mission as the Church, their solution was make their worship an individual, personal thing. I’m sure you’ve heard that before: “I don’t have to go to church to worship God.” or “I don’t like to talk about my faith because it’s personal. I believe what I believe.”
The verse from Acts 2 above stands in direct contradiction to this modern belief that our faith is a “Me Thing” and tells us just the opposite; faith is a “WE Thing” and we live out our faith in community. After all, I personally don’t think we will have a private room in heaven, but we will live in perfect harmony, union, and community, surrounded by the glory and love of God. We’re here on earth to practice for that day! I know what you’re thinking: if that’s true, why are there wars, crime, racism, and all the other -isms that tear our world apart? Because we live in an imperfect world, and the best we can do is try to make a sliver of heaven a reality here on earth.
That’s what we try to do at Harrison United Methodist Church. We aren’t perfect, but we try to live out our faith in community with one another and as part of the larger community surrounding our church. We take great pride in caring for one another, sharing each others’ burdens and living a life that reflects Jesus’ transforming love for us. If you are looking for a place to live out your faith, we hope you will consider Harrison UMC.
All are Welcome Here!
Because He Lives,
