St John United Methodist Church

09/06/2026

09/03/2026

Last week was a hard week for many of us...Dolly passed away unexpectedly, and our neighbor and dear friend, Burl Lovin, went to Heaven exactly one day after Dolly. They were not that much alike at first glance...and yet, they both left behind a Godly legacy...what we should all strive for. You know, I guess they did have a good bit in common - we'll discuss how on Sunday morning. Come join us as we will also celebrate Holy Communion - always a special time 🙏 Shirley Lovin

09/02/2026

Devotional for 9-2-26 – Run a strong race and finish well

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:3-4 – “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”

What it means

In Paul’s second letter to his protégé Timothy, he is imploring Timothy to do two main things: Run a strong race, and finish well. Finishing well involves spiritual growth on our part, and if we do this correctly, it will probably involve some suffering along the way – just part of it. We need to follow the principles of exercising disciplined faith on a daily basis…we can’t just go at this part-time, this is an every day exercise that we must enlist for. Like a good soldier, we need to overcome the obstacles that we will inevitably encounter as we try to live a Godly life and keep growing…and finish well. The next few verses of this passage talk about athletes and farmers – not the same profession, but similar in that both require hard work, and discipline, which result in 1.) victories for the athlete, and 2.) a bountiful harvest for the farmer. There is an end goal for both, and it involves being dedicated to the cause at hand – but God provides us all with strength and perseverance to achieve what He wants us to achieve.

What it means to me

This message sounds a little old-school to me, compared to what we might encounter in the world in current times. Back in the day, it was all about hard work, perseverance, earning everything that we get…not as prevalent today. But if we can manage to put a little effort into this – spending time with God in prayer, reading His scriptures…we will begin to see God at work in our lives more and more. He will multiply our efforts and bless us with more and more of Him – which is what we should ultimately want to begin with. He will 1.) Help us when we are in a battle, 2.) Reward us with a prize at the end of the race, and 3.) Bless us with a harvest of a rich crop of blessings…can’t ask for much more than that, can we?

Love you guys, take care, see you on Sunday!

In Christ,

Brian

08/28/2026

Ever had more than you thought you could bear? And, you asked God to make it somehow go away, and this was His response: "My grace is sufficient." Not the answer we wanted, but is that true? Is His grace truly enough? Let's talk about it Sunday morning and see!

08/25/2026

Devotional for Aug.26, 2026

Scripture: Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

What it means

Here’s more wise advice from the Apostle Paul, sharing with us the benefits of living a spirit-filled life as opposed to a life that is defined by the world and what it has to offer. This comes right after the fruits of the spirit, and what they should look like in our lives. Right before this in verse 24, we are told that followers of Jesus should make every effort to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. Now, is he telling us to stop having any type of fun that the world has to offer? No, I don’t think so…but don’t live for that. Don’t make all your important decisions and priorities based on your fleshly desires, because while they may seem quite desirable, they are 1.) temporary, and 2.) ultimately, not really what God wants for us. We should have fun – even fun within the world’s parameters, but at the end of the day, “let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

What it means to me

The idea of living a spirit-filled life can be tricky. It’s definitely not anything that we learn from the world, or are taught by many…but it’s worth the effort to learn much from wise, Godly people who are in tune with The Holy Spirit. Everything just clicks when we are looking at our lives from an eternal, spiritual perspective. We make better choices, our decisions are more sound and Godly, and we find ourselves satisfied and happy. And not just temporarily satisfied and happy, but happy in a way that doesn’t shift if we have some difficult circumstances arise in our lives. And we all have those, don’t we? But they don’t have to define us…they don’t have to determine our joy, or lack thereof. That’s the job of The Holy Spirit – encouraging, prodding us to make good choices, and convicting us of areas of our lives that might need shoring up a bit. So live by the Spirit, and keep in step with The Spirit…He will keep us on the straight and narrow!

Love you guys, see you in church on Sunday!

In Christ,

Brian

08/23/2026

The whole crew 😀

08/23/2026

Kids club today - remote control cars for the boys and nails/jewelry for the girls. Grateful for a fun day with our young ones 🙏

08/22/2026

Just a reminder that we're having Kids' Club tomorrow after church - lunch provided, all are welcome!