Jefferson United Methodist Church - Jefferson Hills PA

06/14/2026

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06/11/2026

Join us on Sunday for part 2 of our series, Re-Shaped!

Last week, we talked about how we were made for change. Like a lump of clay on the potter’s wheel, we are created to be the unique vessels God desires us to be. This Sunday, we’ll talk about how change begins from the inside out. We are transformed.

Please join us for this week’s worship on June 14. Worship services are at 8:30am (Traditional) and 11am (Blended). The Sunday morning Adult Small Group meets from 9:45am to 10:45am in the Fellowship Hall.

Our discussion this Sunday is from the Wired Word. Everyone is welcome!

06/11/2026

Here is our weekly “Pastor Ponderings”! We encourage you to reshare this post to spread the word with your friends and family!

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Matthew 9:35-10:1

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness.36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

Harvest is plentiful but the workers few. Jesus says we need people who will plunge in and do it! It is a call from Jesus to get to work. He appoints us as workers for the Kingdom of God.

Are we a crowd or a community? What is the difference? There is a crowd mindset and a community mindset. Which are we? Which one is Jesus looking for? Jesus wants us to be a community.

A crowd is a collection of individuals who have come together with common hungers and needs. They occupy the same space, but each person is there to meet individual needs, to satisfy individual hungers. They are consumers.
They come in, and they go out, and the value they place on their gathering is on whether their needs were met or acknowledged.

Community, on the other hand, exists for one another and is open to those who have not found their way. Community is a place of welcome and does not intrude on my space. The community is not worried about having too many. Community is about building relationships, belonging, and serving. Community puts others before self, setting aside personal preferences. Community people don’t starve themselves of their own needs but are satisfied by the labor in God’s harvest.

Jesus did not establish the church to be a consumer church. Instead, he created the church as a service organization or community. If the church was just a consumer church, then many of us probably would no longer be here. Jesus created a community of service to others in the name of Christ. He established a group of people to be on the road, representing him. It worked! The church has grown from a small band of 12 disciples to 70, to today’s 2 billion Christians worldwide.

Let’s not forget that Jesus has given us the church as a training ground and launching pad for his mission in the world

Jesus sent disciples out and asked them to trust that the resources they needed to accomplish their mission were within reach. He told them not to focus on what they didn’t have or couldn’t afford, and not to use that as an excuse. Instead, he told them to work with what was available to them. Work with what you have already.

So, let’s be a community that serves in the name of Christ, using the resources available to help grow the Kingdom of God.

Blessings,
Pastor Tom

06/10/2026

Worship with us outdoors this summer! ☀️🌳

On the third Sunday of June, July, and August, we will gather for one combined worship service at 9:30 AM in our Outdoor Chapel, followed by fellowship time at 10:30 AM.

📅 June 21
📅 July 19
📅 August 16

Please note that on these dates, the 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM services will not be held. We look forward to worshiping together in God's beautiful creation and sharing fellowship as one church family. We hope you'll join us!

06/03/2026

On Monday, June 1st, several members of JUMC volunteered at Cribs for Kids, an organization dedicated to providing infants with safe and healthy sleeping environments. The team filled 220 gift bags with layette items and packed them for future distribution by the organization!

05/29/2026

June is right around the corner, which means so is Summer Bible Study! Mark your calendars now, everyone is welcome!

Join us this summer for a Bible study on the book of James as we explore what it means to live out our faith in everyday life. ☀️📖

We’ll meet every other Wednesday from 6:30–8:00 PM in the church courtyard beginning Wednesday, June 10. This study is open to everyone—all are welcome!

--> Invite a friend!

05/29/2026

Please join us for this week’s worship on May 31! Worship services are at 8:30 AM (Traditional) and 11 AM (Blended). Our message from the text of Matthew 28:16-20 is titled “Don’t Park It.” The Sunday morning Adult Small Group meets from 9:45 – 10:45 in the Fellowship Hall. Our discussion this Sunday is from the Wired Word.

Everyone is welcome!

05/29/2026

Here is our weekly “Pastor Ponderings”! We encourage you to reshare this post to spread the word with your friends and family!

—

Genesis 1:31-2:1 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude.

Where have you seen some of the most breathtaking landscapes? Perhaps it is the mountains or the beaches. Maybe for you it is the sunrise or sunset. The moon and the stars in the sky are also breathtaking. Forests, rivers, and streams are also a beautiful part of God’s creation.

I often wonder why God gave us such a magnificent gift. Maybe it’s because nature enables us to see and experience God's presence. That, in turn, stretches our physical and spiritual boundaries and opens us to the possibilities of radical change. 70% of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament, are set in nature and the wilderness. These are the places where much renewal occurred for Israel. This is where their covenant with God was renewed and where they were vulnerable and had to learn to depend on God.

Genesis 1 is about God ordering and forming the world for a purpose: for life, for humanity. This is the stunning glory of the creation story. It's not so much about the how but about the who. Here, God is revealed in order, beauty,
goodness, and rest. Here God created us for a relationship. Our relationship with God and God’s creation.

Many early church fathers and mothers went into nature to experience God's presence. They left urban areas for the desert and nature, where they came face to face with themselves and God, finding their center.

So, it is for us. Nature brings us into the present moment and into God’s presence, where we also find our center. We leave our concrete jungles, let go of our baggage, our busyness, and our distractions to be in God’s presence. Sure, we can be in God’s presence anywhere and everywhere, such as in worship, at home, at work, school, and wherever we are. But there is something about nature that seems to help us reflect more on God.

Spending time in nature gives us time to think, pray, reflect, and re-center ourselves in God. I encourage you to find a place in nature to sit, walk, run, or bike. Then let go of all that weighs you down and distracts you from God. Experience the presence of God. Re-center your life on God.

Blessings,
Pastor Tom