Grace United Methodist Church - Franklin, IN
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • What to Expect
    • What We Believe
    • Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
    • Institutional Partners
  • Classes & Small Groups
    • Adult >
      • Classes and Spiritual Formation Opportunities
      • Small Group Locations & Times
    • Youth
    • Children
  • Missions
    • Service Opportunities
    • Ministry Partners
  • Give
    • Giving
    • What is tithing?
    • Narrative Budget
  • Preschool
    • Home
    • Classes
    • Calendar
    • Kroger Community Rewards
  • Resources
    • Sermons
    • Blog
    • The Kids These Days podcast
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • What to Expect
    • What We Believe
    • Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
    • Institutional Partners
  • Classes & Small Groups
    • Adult >
      • Classes and Spiritual Formation Opportunities
      • Small Group Locations & Times
    • Youth
    • Children
  • Missions
    • Service Opportunities
    • Ministry Partners
  • Give
    • Giving
    • What is tithing?
    • Narrative Budget
  • Preschool
    • Home
    • Classes
    • Calendar
    • Kroger Community Rewards
  • Resources
    • Sermons
    • Blog
    • The Kids These Days podcast

The Importance of Hope - Romans 8:14

7/26/2022

0 Comments

 
On Sunday, Dr. Kent Millard shared about the importance of hope, drawing on the apostle Paul’s passage in Romans 8, where Paul writes that “hope does not disappoint us” (8:14). Kent went on to speak about hope during a time of loss in his life and how God provides even in times of darkness. Because of what God has done in Jesus Christ, we have hope.
Kent ended his sermon by sharing the famous hymn we sing to proclaim such hope and to remember where hope abides:
     My hope is built on nothing less
     Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
     I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
     But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

     On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand.
     All other ground is sinking sand.
     All other ground is sinking sand.

 
It is upon this Rock that we have Refuge, that we have Hope.
 
As we move into August, where do you see this hope? How did Dr. Millard’s words help to comfort you?
 
We have been through a time of suffering, but that suffering does not compare to the glory to come. This is our hope.

Dr. Kent Millard 
 

0 Comments

Treasure in Clay Jars - 2 Cor. 4:1-12

7/19/2022

0 Comments

 
When the apostle Paul was writing his second letter to the Corinthians, he was having one of those days. We know from other parts of the letter that the Corinthians were a difficult bunch. There were rival preachers and evangelists who were criticizing Paul for not being a good speaker; he just wasn’t charismatic enough. There were also members who were causing trouble and making life difficult.  

Paul was going through tough spell. Indeed, by the time Paul writes the Corinthians, he must have looked the sight – all those beatings, the times in jail, the stoning at Lystra, the broken bones, the bruised back (Acts 14:19). He was having one of those days, if not years. In fact, don’t let anyone tell you that the Bible presents a rose-tinted picture of the life of faith. It doesn’t. Here, in Paul’s case, he lists the hardships of a pastor and a preacher in such terms that he seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

It is why this passage of scripture is so fascinating, for Paul begins it by saying, “We do not lose heart” (4:1). Even after facing such hardship! We do not lose heart, and the reason why we don’t lose heart is because we have this treasure, this treasure in clay jars. This treasure, Paul says, is the gospel. More specifically, this treasure is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (v. 6). It is a mouthful, but it is this treasure that keeps us from throwing in the towel.  

The clay jars part of the equation is Paul’s way of reminding us that we are creatures of God, made from the dust of the earth, fashioned from the hands of the potter. We are human, all too human; i.e., we are breakable, weak, disposable, but we carry what is eternal, everlasting, and life giving; and it is this treasure, the gospel, that matters most.
​

How may we share this treasure with others? How may we understand that our weaknesses is what God seeks to accept and redeem, giving us power? How may we give thanks for this gospel of life?

Pastor Andy Kinsey


0 Comments

Our Witness to the World - Acts 1:6-9

7/11/2022

0 Comments

 
There are passages in the New Testament that show us how important the restoration of the kingdom to Israel was a major concern in the hearts of the people. It was a legitimate hope for those who were bruised, oppressed, and deprived of freedom.

Therefore, when the disciples ask the question to Jesus if he was going to restore Israel, he tries to correct them, and he tells them that it is not the time to ask such a question. The word Jesus uses for time is here Kronos, which is a time to count, or clock time. The disciples want to know:  Is this the time to end the reign of the Romans so that we can talk about our reign? Is this the time to dominate? Is this the time to inflict evil on those who have inflicted evil on us? 

This is the type of kingdom the disciples ask Jesus for: a kingdom which has people on the left and the right, or a kingdom who has the greatest, a kingdom that breathes hatred and revenge on others, a kingdom of people who only plead for their children to be first.

All this time, during which Jesus spent with his people, he did not stop talking to them about the kingdom of God. 

It is why in response to their request Jesus told them that it was not for them to know the time or the day that the Father had set. Jesus gives them a priority as disciple and uses a different term from theirs for time: He uses the word “Kairos,” or a favorable time. Jesus tells them that they should seize this favorable time to bear testimony to Christ beginning in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea, and to the ends of the earth. Jesus diverts them from their conception of this kingdom without God, and tells to install a kingdom where love reigns and everyone considers themselves as brothers and sisters. Now is the time for the church to speak of this kingdom of justice for those who are oppressed. Now is the time which is favorable for the disciples to deliver those who are still in the grip of violence.

Therefore, our witness and our testimony is summed up to preach the love of God for humanity by sending Jesus Christ to save us now, and to go and present this love of God to the world now.

Indeed, I have read our Church newsletter, and I ask you to continue to serve your God and bear our witness to the world. If you are feeding the hungry, it is because you love them, if there are people in this church who devote their time to praying for the city, the mission and all our programs, it is because they love the Lord. And they are doing so now!

Jesus commends them not to watch what is happening but to be witnesses of God's love – now – this love that unites. This consoling love. This love that has no left or right. This love where the greatest is a servant. 
​

May the Lord Bless us as we continue spreading this love as we witness to the World. Amen.

​Reverend Joseph Mulongo


0 Comments

Fragmented but Blessed - John 6:1-15

7/5/2022

0 Comments

 
In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus lowers the walls and builds bridges among people who come to see him. He takes what might appear as insignificant fragments or pieces of food to feed the crowd and to create community, to bring people together. It is a story where the disciples don’t see how they are going to deal with the problems of so many people who have different expectations of Jesus and who are hungry on the one hand, and where Jesus doesn’t see a problem but an opportunity to display God’s glory on the other. 

Indeed, Jesus stands in the center of it all and he knows in his gut that this is a God-moment, even as he knows in his gut that some folks who have gathered have other ideas in their minds as to who he is (Jn. 6:11). After all, the people who have approached Jesus are there because they have witnessed him healing the sick. They are coming with a sense of expectation that he could help them. But Jesus has other things in mind, as Jesus usually does. He is about to reveal God’s abundant love for them. 

And so, as someone with good organizing skills, Jesus tells the crowd to sit down, most likely in small groups, which is itself a miracle! (Think about organizing over 5,000 people!) He then takes what Andrew and Philip give him from a small boy on the scene, five small barley loaves and two small fish, and does what any rabbis would do on the Passover: He takes the bread and blesses it and then he gives it to the people. Even the leftovers are used, the fragments and pieces, nothing is wasted. Twelve baskets full of pieces of bread! A sign of God’s abundance. 

But notice how Jesus’ instincts kick into action when the people, having been fed, try to make him king by force (Jn. 6:15). After being at the center of the crowd and all the action, Jesus withdraws from the crowd (Jn. 6:15). It is an interesting move, as Jesus instinctively knows that the people there are no longer keeping him as the true center. Instead, they are trying to use him and make him into someone he is not – no longer seeing him as the Bread of life, whom God gives to the world, but as a king who will give them what they want. The trust is gone.  In fact, the crowd becomes a kind of mob. 

Yet all but the fragments of the bread remain. And the fragments remain blessed. They are, after all, signs of God’s abundant love, but they are also signs of how Christ’s own body itself has been broken and blessed for us – acting as a bridge over troubled waters, as a center whose life is everlasting life (Jn. 3:16), and as a gut-check to what truth is really is – or better, to who truth really is. To Jesus, our Lord and God, to Jesus the Bread of Life. Amen.
​

Pastor Andy Kinsey
0 Comments

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018

    RSS Feed

Grace United Methodist Church
1300 E Adams Dr,
Franklin, IN 46131

Phone: 317-736-7962
Email

Weekend  Worship Services
Saturday: 5:30pm 
Sunday: 9:00am & 11:00am

Picture