Bennett's Corners Community United Methodist Church

Bennett's Corners Community United Methodist Church Since 1845, our Church at the Crossroads has been preaching and teaching the word of God through missions, ministry and community.

02/04/2024

Being patient is difficult. Do you remember the old antennas we used to capture TV signals? One person would wiggle the ears on the TV until he or she finally found a good signal. A great deal of patience was required. And then, we had to watch the commercials on TV. No fast forwarding. And if you wanted to watch a whole episode of any show, you had to set aside a scheduled time to watch it. No recording devises to help us manage our TV time. Remember waiting for someone to pick you up from somewhere? Without a cell phone you had to make prior arrangements and hope your ride remembered to come and get you. Sometimes you had to wait.
Today, we tend to be impatient. If our computer takes longer than 3 seconds to boot up, we wonder what’s wrong with our internet connection. We want our food delivered now. We don’t want to take the time to prepare a meal. No one wants to wait inside a bank for a teller when there is an ATM machine. Patience is an old-fashioned concept.
And yet God teaches us patience. When we pray, we learn patience. God answers our prayers in God’s own time. A.B. Simpson in a sermon printed in Our Daily Bread said this: "Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now. Yes, each day affords countless opportunities to learn patience. Let's not waste them.”
Next time you are speeding to your next activity and the person in front if you is traveling a little more slowly than you would like, take time to thank God for an extra moment in which to experience patience.

09/21/2022

Jesus is again teaching by way of a parable. He was in the company of Pharisees and scribes, disciples and followers, and people in need of hope. Perhaps he was prompted to tell this story after he was surrounded by wealth in the home of a Pharisee. And as he joined the people waiting for him, he witnessed the disparities: the very rich and the very poor. And he told the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
Lazarus garbed in ragged clothing, was thin from a lack of food, beaten by the weather, his skin sore and scarred. While the rich man had plenty of everything. Lazarus waited for a crumb to fall from the rich man’s table. And then the two men died.
The rich man went to Hades, was uncomfortable, hot and dying of thirst. While Lazarus was finally comforted as he stood next to Father Abraham. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to wait upon him. Abraham, kindly and with compassion explained to the rich man, that Lazarus would not and could not pass into his world. The two men had lived in vastly different worlds when among the living and now in death continued to exist in vastly different worlds. The rich man, while living, could have had compassion for Lazarus, given him water, food, a place to stay and clothing to keep him warm. But he chose not to. And now it was too late.
This is a cautionary tale. The world is full of the haves and the have-nots. We aren’t kind enough or generous enough or compassionate enough to eradicate the vast chasm. But we are called to see the hopeless and offer a hand up. To value each person we meet and to love one another as sisters and brothers, each of us a child of God. To be God’s hands and feet in this world.

09/15/2022

We are continuing to look at the parables told by Jesus at the Pharisee’s dinner party. Jesus told the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal son. And then, in order to reach the money driven Pharisees, he told the story of the Dishonest Manager.
The manager found himself in a pickle. He was cooking the books and his boss ordered an audit. The dishonest manager shrewdly began to call those with debts and to make arrangements to lessen their debts. While doing this, he attempted to save his own skin while making friends with the debtors who might help him when he lost his job. Win, win! Then he goes tremulously before his master and presents the paid debts. And miraculously his boss congratulated him on his creativity in handling debt.
Jesus works outside the lines. He didn’t follow the rules set by the Pharisees and leaders. He healed on the Sabbath. He ate with sinners. Was friends with prostitutes, widows and children. And he loved without boundaries. Jesus was tried and sentenced to death… dishonestly. He was completely innocent and yet was found guilty. Jesus would go to any length to save us. To find us when we are lost. To bring us back into the fold. Jesus has creatively reduced our debts.

09/08/2022

You are never lost. No matter what we do, who we think we are, our path is lit with hope and light, forgiveness and grace. When we are in the midst of turmoil, loss, addictions, grief, it seems that we will never feel good again, or be good again. We are like the sheep that left the flock, wandered off in search of the bright shiny apple and found ourselves in the dark, shivering from fear, looking the wolf in the eye. We cower, afraid of what might happen, afraid of what God may think or say to us. But our God lights our path, welcomes us home, wraps us in warmth and loves us still. It is so difficult to see ourselves as worthy of God’s love. Quite frankly, we aren’t God’s love surpasses the need for worthiness. But there is a requirement. We need to ask for forgiveness. To turn to God and love God in return. Our broken hearts and lives can be mended, restored and made whole. Prayers will be answered by our loving grace-filled God.

09/01/2022

Jesus was invited to dine with the Pharisees one Sabbath afternoon. Along the way he met a man in need of a cure. He asked the Pharisees watching him, if healing the man on the Sabbath was right or wrong. The Pharisees remained silent not wanting to appear uncompassionate. Jesus healed the man.
Jesus arrived at the dinner and he witnessed the guests vying for the best positions at the table. Jesus reminded the guests that it is best to be humble and to seat one’s self in a lower position avoiding the possibility of embarrassment if asked to move. In all places, in all things exhibit humility.
Jesus also noticed that the Pharisee’s neighbors and the poor walking the streets around the Pharisee’s home were excluded from the invitation. Jesus told a story. What if all the best people, the ones expecting an invitation choose not to attend? They come up with all kinds of excuses. The Host, prepared to welcome guests, will extend an invitation to all the people. Everyone! And those who accept will be treated to a feast, the best of everything and find themselves in the midst of a loving family feast.
However, Jesus also reminds us that the invitation is not without cost. It comes with expectations. We are to arrive in our best robe, washed and ready to be presented to the Great Host. Place our priority on God and discover a new world. A feast. May we RSVP with a resounding, yes!

08/18/2022

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, declared words of warning and destruction to the people. Turn again to God. Stop worshipping idols and sacrificing your children. Jeremiah suffered for speaking truth to power. But he didn’t stop.
We are called to unstoppable discipleship. To give ourselves completely to God. Even to the point of losing things we may hold most dear. But the suffering we may encounter is fleeting. And in the midst of suffering, God is with us. God forgives us. God loves us. God is filled with grace.
We are molded and kneaded and shaped by God throughout our lives. At times our shape may be less than perfect. But God keeps working with us, as a potter continues to work his lump of clay. Turn to God and be made perfect, into a beautiful work of art.

08/04/2022

The story of Hosea and Gomer, the adulteress wife, is one of scandal. A scandal is something that trips us up. It is a story as old as the hills. God told Hosea, the prophet, to marry Gomer. Gomer turned out to be an adulteress wife.
This story may be true or it may be allegorical. It may be the story of a man and a woman or it may hold the deeper meaning of God’s relationship with the Israelites. This relationship then may also be compared to our relationship with God.
The truth behind the story points to our abusive relationship with God. How we choose to worship other “gods” such as wealth and success. Just as Hosea trusted his wife Gomer to be true to him, God trusts us to be true to God. But we often fall into sin. We chase after the things that we shouldn’t have. We desire the things that lead us away from God.
God calls us to be faithful. To be trustworthy. To seek companionship with God. And to keep it sacred. We learn from this story of adultery, that even when we do our best to disengage with God, God keeps loving us and keeps the door of grace and forgiveness open.
May the scandalous gospel of Jesus Christ, the Words that keep tripping us into a right relationship with God, be ever in our hearts. Blessings, Amy

07/07/2022

Amos was a minor prophet, only because his book is shorter than other prophet’s books. But he had a lot to say. He was a prophet during a time of prosperity. A time when the people turned their back on God because they didn’t need God anymore. They could do everything themselves. And if they needed a god (small ‘g’) they would call upon the god of fertility or rain or any number of specifications. But the BIG God, the only real God was ignored and relegated to the back shelf. Hmm… sound familiar?
Aren’t we living in a prosperous nation, with freedom and hope and opportunity? Have we got it all? Maybe that is why many in our population do not believe in God anymore. Many claim to be spiritual but not religious.
Amos lived in that kind of place. And in that place he brought words of caution and impending doom for the people if they didn’t change their ways. Turn back to God. Get in line with God, he announced.
It’s time for all of us to reexamine our relationship with God. We do not only need God when we are sad, hurting and scared to death. We need God when we are prosperous so we don’t forget about those who have fallen in the cracks. We need God when we are happy so we don’t forget to love those who are hurting. We need God when we are secure because our security is fleeting and we need the strength of a God-filled relationship to see us through. Read this story in Amos 7:7-17 and set a plumb line in your life. See if you are in line with God today.

06/29/2022

What about that Naaman? A general in the Aramean army! A man of great power and influence, and yet he has a problem. He has a skin condition and cannot find any relief. Have you ever been so itchy you can’t stand it?
General Naaman led the Aramean army against the Israelites and won. During a battle a young girl was captured and was sent to serve Naaman’s wife. This young girl witnessed Naaman’s problem and offered some advice. She knew of a prophet who could cure the general. The prophet lived in Israel.
Naaman decided to give this prophet a try. He asked the King of Aram for permission to cross the border and go to the prophet Elisha. Naaman brought with him a ton of money and 10 sets of clothing (odd!). After approaching King Jehoram of Israel, he was directed to Elisha’s home. But Elisha didn’t even come to the door. He sent a servant to tell the general to go to the river Jordan and wash 7 times. What!?! The nerve of this upstart prophet! He didn’t even address the general properly. Elisha didn’t jump up and down and create a scene around his healing. The general was sent to wash in the inferior river Jordan! Well, he never!
And yet his servant talked him down and Naaman went to the river. And there Naaman was healed. The lectionary reading stops there, but let’s read one more Scripture. In verse 15 we discover that Naaman became a believer in God. Sometimes our faith makes us whole and sometimes an action pushes us to become faithful.
This passage tells us a few truths: God doesn’t care about borders, or someone’s religious, God cares about a person’s heart. God works with all people in vastly diferent ways for reasons we may not understand. And so we, as faithful believers, must do the same. Ignore the borders, the things that stop us from loving someone, open our doors and minds and hearts to all and allow people to discover God in their very unique way. How might you find God today? How might you help another to discover God at work?

Address

47 W 130th Street Ste 2
Hinckley, OH
44233

Opening Hours

Wednesday 9am - 1pm
Sunday 9am - 12pm

Telephone

+13302255623

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