The Farmhouse

05/30/2026

What we'll be talking about Sunday morning.
Metamora United Methodist Church Sunday service, 10am.

"Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." (Acts 2v43-47)
The world sometimes has this mindset that everything is a zero-sum game. A "zero-sum game" is a situation where one person's gain can only happen by another person's loss. The only way one person can win is by causing another person to lose.
This mindset arises out of what is known as the myth of scarcity,
that is, that resources are finite, and there is only so much to go around. So if I’m going to get what I want or need, it will have to be at your expense.
There are three core myths that keep us locked in an economy of scarcity:
1. There’s not enough to go around: If you think this way, you might decide that if there’s not enough for everyone, then making sure you get what you need and taking care of yourself and your own, even at others’ expense, may be unfortunate but is unavoidable and somehow valid.
2. More is better: This kind of thinking is what drives a competitive culture of accumulation, acquisition, and greed. It can also make us judge others based on what they have, or have accomplished, rather than their inherent worth as a person.
3. That’s just the way it is: that’s the way the world works and there’s no way out. We can never live in a just world, so we better make sure we are on top.
So when we consider these mindsets in light of our scripture reading, we can ask:
Does the world function as the picture we see at Acts 2? And the answer is obviously, No.
Second question: what does the author, in relating this story in Acts, want to remind us of? What are we in danger of forgetting?
The Church should be different.
Jesus resurrected, and that was not just a one-off event. As soon as the disciples heard of and responded to the resurrection, they became participants in resurrection. And as the church began to form, it also became that resurrection. Jesus promised his spirit would come, and this moment we read about in Acts is where that happens, and we as the church were formed into the body of Christ. We become the incarnated presence of Christ. And so we have to look like Jesus and teach what Jesus taught; and Jesus began his ministry with the proclamation that the kingdom of God was here. Everywhere Jesus went, the kingdom of God was manifest. In healing, feeding, releasing people captive to evil forces and death, he showed us what that kingdom is like.
That’s our job now. We have to become Resurrection, we have to bring the kingdom of God to wherever we are.
And I think we get confused, thinking that this kingdom of God is in heaven, and we don’t get there till we die. But you are already alive in Christ. The kingdom of God is here, and that isn’t just a spiritual idea; some esoteric sophistry about what heaven is or where we go when we die, or the end of the world. The kingdom is a real thing, the way the United States is a real thing. You can’t grab hold of it or see it maybe, but it exists as an imagined reality that impacts the world right now.
And it has an economy, and that economy is not based on the myth of scarcity.
It is based on the crazy paradox of resurrection.
The Myth of Scarcity = not enough to go around; vs a Resurrection Economy = manna in the wilderness/Jesus feeding thousands/the abundance of creation
The Myth of Scarcity =more is better; vs Resurrection Economy = giving of yourself for the sake of your neighbor
The Myth of Scarcity = that’s just the way it is (human systems of power telling you things can’t change so they can control populations); vs Resurrection Economy = anything is possible with God (liberation from "Egypt", sin, and death)
In light of this, how will resurrection shape how you view your life? Do you hold to the myth of scarcity, or the posture of resurrection?

Sunday service 10am, Pentecost, part II

05/16/2026

Another wonderful barn party in the books and added to our memories. This place is made of all the people who offer their gifts and talents, show up, welcome each other and give their time and energy to creating community together. The music was amazing, the food was delicious, and the conversations with friends so good.

05/15/2026

Bliss is playing our barn party tonight! Doors st 6, music at 7. We have food and drinks, craft soda and beer.
Come out for a Bliss-ful evening!

05/14/2026

What we're doing this Sunday at 10am!
Please feel free to Join Metamora United Methodist Church in our flower Communion Service.

This Sunday we will celebrate our Flower Communion Service.

What is Flower Communion?
It is a reminder that there is a unique beauty at the heart of all things, and when we come together as a community, we benefit by recognizing that beauty in each other. Beauty in this case is far more than an aesthetic judgement; it is deeply spiritual. What I mean by spiritual is that it is fundamentally about how we find the divine presence the world, how we find that in each other and ourselves and how that makes us interact in this present moment.
It was created in 1923 by Norbert Chapek ,Unitarian minister living in Prague during the N**i occupation. He had been a Baptist minister, but somehow the Baptist teachings didn’t work for him. He came to the US and met his wife Maya, and together they joined the early Unitarian movement and took it back to Czechoslovakia. There they founded a new church -quite unique, as churches go. Clergy did not wear vestments, there were no religious symbols in the building, and the services were designed to attract all kinds of people, anyone who was seeking some kind of spirituality or meaning. Because of that, the congregation had members who were not necessarily all of the same faith. There were Jewish people alongside Catholics, mixed in with people who were humanists or atheist, Christians like some of the Baptists who liked Capek and so followed him to his church, and people who were still trying to figure out where they fit.
What are you going to do with a crowd like this? Chapek wasn’t Methodist, or he would have known John Wesley’s quote: “Though we do not think alike, can we not love alike?” But he knew the spirit of that sentiment, and so in order to bring this very diverse group together, he created the flower communion.
If you’ve attended any of our services or events, you may have noticed that we’re are also a pretty weird church. We don’t look like other churches. We do unique things and we have a lot of unique individuals.
We foster a respect for uniqueness at this church, a respect for being ourselves, and finding our own way. We also foster awareness that none of us is alone on our way. We are still part of a larger worldwide church, and we value our United Methodist connection. We are always aware that our fresh way of doing church is still rooted deep in the Methodist tradition and the teachings of our founder John Wesley.
That awareness is made tangible during the Flower Communion. We do this to remind ourselves to be a single flower; unique, particular, and wondrous. Also seek to be part of a bouquet – to find ways to connect to one another, try things, and encourage one another in new ways that still integrate and honor the old.
The flower Communion is a beautiful way to consider this. The idea behind it is, you bring a flower, and then you take a different flower from the one you brought. You might not know who brought the flower you chose. You don’t know if they agree with you on politics, or who they voted for; you don’t know what they believe about God; you don’t know what sports team they support or even if they’re a cat person or a dog person or don’t like animals at all. But you do know this: They are present with you in the room, and they care enough about this community to participate in it with you. Somewhere, you both share a common value or belief.
And that both of you -along with the other people, and the flowers in the vase, and any stray bugs that might have come in on the flowers, -are under grace.
And that’s all it takes to be welcome here.
Sunday service, 10am

05/09/2026

Metamora United Methodist Church
Sunday service, 10am

The Bible is a book written by men, about men mostly.
We women can read it and benefit, but the fact is, that is true. Women have to read the thoughts and struggles and theologies of men and translate those lessons into our own feminine experience. And so, in honor of the half of the room that represents the demographic without which none of us would be here, we are going to be talking about women, mostly mothers, definitely active characters with something to tell us.
And we are starting at the very beginning of the New Testament:

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…

…and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” Matt 1v1-16

I’m always studying about the women in the gospels, and one very interesting place to start is with the ancestresses of Jesus. His grandmothers.
So, to begin with, what’s unusual about this is the fact that women are mentioned at all. If you went by those ancient Bible writers, we apparently had little or nothing to do with actually bringing forth children into this world; look at it: so-and-so was father of so and so and the father of this person, and so on.
But women are present in Jesus’ genealogy, and what’s more, these are some rather sketchy gals, and some of their stories are a little shocking to our modern sensibilities.
Here are their names:
Tamar
Rahab
Bathsheba
Ruth
Mary

Tamar tricked her father-in-law into impregnating her to carry on the family line.
Rahab was a Canaanite pr******te.
Bathsheba was a victim of s*xual assault by a powerful ruler.
Ruth had been left destitute along with her mother-in-law, and had to take some questionable action.
All these women ended up in Jesus’ lineage through circumstances we might find distasteful, or morally ambiguous.
One of my favorite things about the Bible, though, is its paradox. One of my favorite things about this whole big story, is that it is never what we expect it to be, or what we might want it to be, to suit our own ideas about who is right or wrong, who is in or out.
If we try to read it as if it is a moral scalpel to cut out those who we think don’t belong, the Bible gives us liars and pr******tes as the heroines and heroes of its stories. If we merely read with a clinical, academic interest in history or literary genres, we find ourselves unable to look away from the real human emotions present in the stories; grief, love, faithfulness and courage. Who is too far gone for God’s grace? Who gets to participate in the outworking of God’s purposes?
We don’t get to decide that. And thank heaven, because none of us might measure up to our neighbor’s standards.
The best way to read the Bible is to find our own selves in the people. Maybe none of us have had to go to the extremes of behavior they did, but how do we learn from these women and their struggles?
First, I think we start by remembering them.
For every man in every genealogy, there was a woman too. We usually elevate the big characters in the biblical narrative: Moses, the prophets, David; culminating, of course, with Jesus.
But behind all these figures were mothers and grandmothers, and wives and sisters.
Even Jesus.
These women did more than carry Jesus’ ancestors in their wombs. Every single woman had a unique personality and identity.
They had hopes, dreams, and their own relationship with The Divine. They passed down their faith, raised their children in the eyes of the Creator and sacrificed for their families.
Jesus’ grandmothers witnessed God’s revelations throughout all Israelite history. Some of whom we will never know their names, stories, and experiences.
There are those who have called these women sinners. But the text calls them ‘righteous’. They went beyond cultural norms and the failures and stupidity of those who were in charge of their lives to shape their own vision of what it meant to be faithful. They did not respond in kind; they did not sit passively and blame their circumstance; they took action.
Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Ruth only present a fraction of women’s stories, surviving in a culture that was often unjust to them.
We can also learn from them that we don’t have to let our past define us. Our stories, including the story of our mothers or our motherhood, can still be changed. Today we talk about the reality of that. We are all the result of women who were flawed, who struggled, and who were their own person, although we don’t see that as children, sometimes not until years later as adults
And we can take note of the woman who culminates this genealogy:
“Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.”

Jesus. Who will ultimately bring justice to these women, to all women who have had to struggle with a world of inequality, and of men too, who want a just world; men who love God and their neighbor, and love their wives and children and want a place they can live and thrive together. Men who also suffer under a culture that keeps them from being their best selves.
Messiah is born out of our uncertainty. We can know that however we might think we’ve screwed up, done wrong, ruined that relationship or messed up our kids, our story is not over. Any more than these women’s stories were over. God continues to be found in our failings, our limitations, and our histories.
We are all both the person we are from our past, and the person we are capable of being. May you both recognize and honor what you have inherited, and also continue to move the story forward as these women did, bringing forth the best they could out of human frailty, and transforming it into gospel.

Mother's Day Sunday service, 10am

05/01/2026

We've got a great month of events for May!

Sunday, May 3, 2026
Card Making Workshop with Laurie Gombash
Sun 5/3/2026 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Saturday, May 9, 2026
Grateful Dead & Worship workshop - Mike Clemmer
Sat 5/9/2026 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Sunday, May 10, 2026
Discipleship with Tyler
Sun 5/10/2026 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Monday, May 11, 2026
Farmhouse Board Meeting
Mon 5/11/2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Friday, May 15, 2026
FARMHOUSE BARN PARTY - Bliss
Fri 5/15/2026 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Sunday May 17, 2026
Kid's Sunday
Sun 5/17/26 10-11am

Wednesday, May 20, 2026
CAST
Wed 5/20/2026 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: 116 E Main Street, Metamora, OKH

Sunday, May 24, 2026
Discipleship with Tyler
Sun 5/24/2026 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Music Jam
Sun 5/24/2026 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Send a message to learn more