Verdigris United Methodist Church

Verdigris United Methodist Church We are a welcoming church where family & God meet to carry on the work of justice & mercy of Jesus

Join us for food, fellowship, and bible study! I’ll save you a seat!
09/08/2026

Join us for food, fellowship, and bible study! I’ll save you a seat!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 ~ Read Exodus 14:19-21It can be tempting to breeze through the parting of the Red Sea. We might miss...
09/07/2026

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 ~ Read Exodus 14:19-21

It can be tempting to breeze through the parting of the Red Sea. We might miss the essence behind this fantastically familiar Sunday school story. The treasure lies in the “why” behind the extraordinary show of power. This is a story of belonging that informs whose we are. It is also a profoundly human story.

Feeling alone, cornered at the end of all possibility—that’s the plight of Israel in this text. They literally have no place for safety. They are on the run, at the mercy of an army chasing them. With the sea ahead and soldiers approaching from behind, where can they go? How is this going to work?

Despite the millennia that separates us from this story, it elicits emotions on a visceral level for me. While I’ve never been chased by an army, I have felt hunted by fear and anxiety over circumstances beyond my ability. I have felt swallowed whole. Hardships push against our limits, leaving us needy and broken. We see no path to move through and no protection from what feels like imminent pain.

The pillar of cloud and fire, we are told, is the very manifestation of God. The angel of the Lord moved from the front to the back of them, to guide them and then to guard them. “One did not come near the other all night.” Standing between the people and Pharaoh’s army, God then caused the sea to divide, making a path of dry ground walled by the waters of the Red Sea, which obeyed the Lord’s command through Moses.

While this is a rescue operation of literally biblical proportions, it is also a statement of ownership. These people belong to the Great I AM. That belonging determines God’s personal involvement and presence. God guides, shields, and takes them as God’s own.

God, teach me to live like I belong to you, the Lord Almighty, my guide and shield. Amen.

Courtesy of The Upper Room Disciplines 2026

Happy Labor Day!Today we give thanks for the gift of work, the people who serve our communities, and the opportunity to ...
09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day!

Today we give thanks for the gift of work, the people who serve our communities, and the opportunity to use our hands and hearts to make a difference.

May your day be filled with rest, gratitude, and time with those you love.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. — Colossians 3:23

09/06/2026

Technical difficulties! We’re sorry we’re unable to livestream worship this morning. We’ll keep working on it and hope to have it up and running soon. Thanks for your patience and understanding! ❤️

It’s going to be HOT tomorrow. Like, *100-degree, stay-in-the-house, melts your ice cream* hot. But we’ve got a cool pl...
09/05/2026

It’s going to be HOT tomorrow. Like, *100-degree, stay-in-the-house, melts your ice cream* hot. But we’ve got a cool place to be. 😉

Come worship with us tomorrow, take a deep breath, find some encouragement, and spend a little time with people who are glad you’re there.

10:45a, Sunday morning. Come as you are. We’ll save you a seat!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 ~ Read Matthew 18:15-20The clear message Jesus gives and Paul reiterates, to love your neighbor as...
09/05/2026

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 ~ Read Matthew 18:15-20

The clear message Jesus gives and Paul reiterates, to love your neighbor as yourself, is apparently not enough. Still we sin against one another, enough that Jesus and Paul must speak out about how we interact with one another. Even in the community of
believers called into being through love, that which opposes love—sin—rears its ugly head.

Many orders of worship provide worshipers the opportunity to confess our collective sin. We are sinners learning through grace, and since we are sinners, we do in fact sin. At this point, the words of the Lord’s prayer come to mind: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” It is interesting that this is the only part of the prayer that puts a condition on what we ask for. We ask God to forgive us the same way we forgive others. If that is truly what we wish, shouldn’t we absolutely rush to forgive those who hurt us? Do we not hope for community’s swift forgiveness when we sin?

Sometimes it seems God is like a school teacher—knowing us, teaching us, guiding us, helping us. And Jesus, seeing us clearly, gives us guidance about how to deal with sin in our community: honestly, with kindness and openness, increasing love through
mediated forgiveness. When someone trespasses against us, we should not respond by telling even more people about what they’ve done. We face the issue head-on, go to the source. If that doesn’t work, we return to the source with witnesses. And if that still doesn’t work—we go on our way. For we are all sinners, saved by grace, with hearts yearning to live ever more deeply into the love of God.

Guide us, God, as we live with and sin against one another. Help us to face our problems head-on with love. Amen.

Courtesy of The Upper Room Disciplines 2026

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 ~ Read Romans 13:8-14In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is approached by a Pharisee, one who has studied the...
09/04/2026

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 ~ Read Romans 13:8-14

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is approached by a Pharisee, one who has studied the law. This Pharisee wants to know which commandment is the greatest, or most important. Matthew’s Gospel says the Pharisee asked this question “to test him” (22:35). The Pharisee wanted one law; Jesus gave him two.

Paul only states the second here in his letter to the Romans, saying the bulk of the commandments (see Exod. 20:1-17) can be summarized in this one. Some of those original commandments did instruct on how people were to act with one another, while others instructed how people were to act toward God. But what if the first commandment Jesus says is most important—to love God—is only fulfilled through the second? If the God we so dearly love is a God who “so loved the world” (John 3:16), then that must affect how we view the world.

Isn’t that how it is with us and those we love? Your son or daughter wants you to meet a “friend” who just might be more than a friend—such an introduction should lead you to regard that friend not only with kindness, but with a hope for the friend’s goodness and well-being, hope that your child is safe with that friend. Love for your child opens you to love those who are important to your child.

We love a God who “so loved the world,” so we must view the world through the lens of God’s love. How is it, then, with that world? Is there laughter and joy? We delight in the joy and share in the laughter. Is there suffering and pain? We mourn for the pain and seek ways to help. Loving God is manifested in how we care for that which God loves—and God so loves the world.

God, let me work with you to relieve pain in whatever way is possible— through prayer and the actions that accompany prayer. Amen.

Courtesy of The Upper Room Disciplines 2026

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 ~ Read Romans 13:8-14Paul’s letter to the Romans is a personal correspondence to a specific Chris...
09/03/2026

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 ~ Read Romans 13:8-14

Paul’s letter to the Romans is a personal correspondence to a specific Christian community. He has not yet met these Roman Christians, but, in Christ, he sees them as neighbors whom he is hurrying to meet. He loves them. In his letter, he extols the teaching of Jesus, who summarized the law thusly: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-40). Paul echoes this teaching, reminding the Romans of Jesus’ words and their connection to Moses’ law.

The definition of “neighbor” moves from the intimacy of one’s own circles of family and friends to the wider circles of persons within one’s community—one’s nation, one’s alliances— eventually toward the aim expressed by Julian of Norwich: “All shall be
well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

How is it possible to care for the well-being of so large a company? It may be easiest to show our love for others in our own communities, where we respond with active love to the needs of others through our churches’ ministries, local food banks,
transportation services, and support groups. But global organizations such as United Methodist Committee on Relief, Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International, and the United Nations Food Program serve needs that are beyond what we can do locally. May God help us grow in our capacity to care and grant us wisdom and courage to give care to neighbors we have not yet met.

O God, give me eyes to see and hearts to care for those I am called to love. Amen.

Courtesy of The Upper Room Disciplines 2026

Some seasons are just hot.The kind of heat that makes you slow down, seek shade, and remember you were never meant to ru...
09/02/2026

Some seasons are just hot.

The kind of heat that makes you slow down, seek shade, and remember you were never meant to run on empty.

Life has seasons like that, too.

If you’re in one right now, maybe today is your reminder to pause. Breathe. Find some shade. Let God refresh you.

You don’t have to push through everything.

Sometimes grace looks like simply resting in His presence. ❤️

“He makes me lie down in green pastures… He refreshes my soul.” — Psalm 23:2–3

Join us this Tuesday at noon for Tacos with Tommy Bible Study! Come take a break from the week, grab some tacos, dig int...
09/02/2026

Join us this Tuesday at noon for Tacos with Tommy Bible Study! Come take a break from the week, grab some tacos, dig into Scripture, and enjoy some good fellowship.

No need to have all the answers. Just bring yourself, and maybe an appetite.

Address

8936 E 530 Road
Claremore, OK
74019

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 12:30pm

Telephone

+19182664161

Website

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