06/05/2026
Pastors Moment:
Worship: More Priestly or More Pressly?
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” (Acts 16:22-28 NRSVue)
What type of worship do you seek? Too often the pastor will assume that he/she knows what is the desire of the church family to the method and means of worship. Do we desire a more theological message that digs deep into the interpretation and meaning of the biblical text? Do we seek a message that interprets the Bible story into terms that we live today? Do we search for a message that is less from the Bible story but instead messages of hope and promise of our world? Can we all agree? Look into our region and even within our community and communities of faith. There is a population of those seeking worship (no matter your faith, doctrine, or denomination) that satisfies their traditional beliefs and practices of worship. There is a population who gravitates toward a worship that is of high energy where the message is found in the music. There is a population who would much prefer to shop around online while sitting at the kitchen table in their PJ’s. Who do you see or identify our church family as we find our comfort in our worship? If you “Ask the Pastor” he would say that we have a very diverse and accepting community of faith who enjoys a variety of worship types. Over all we are fairly traditional in our worship structure but through our Praise Team and other musical selections we are willing to learn new hymns and to share in a worship message that is biblical based but also relevant for our community today. We sing, we laugh, we find the joy of fellowship. We share in many missions bringing the love of Christ into our community. We want to learn, to ponder, to inquire how we can live as John Wesley instructs us in the three Wesleyan guidelines: Do no harm (Avoid actions that injure others, yourself, or your relationship with God), Do good (Actively seek opportunities to help others and promote their well-being), Attend upon all the ordinances of God (Participate in practices that nurture faith, such as worship, prayer, Scripture reading, Communion, and fellowship. In modern language, this is often paraphrased as "Stay in love with God."). Who is the Mora UMC? Search your heart to what warms your heart and if there is something you would like to try, talk to the pastor and he will see how we can make it work.
Bread Distribution: Our church family has embraced the opportunity to share and break bread with our community. If you would like to help out with repacking of the bread for distribution and to help manage the tables as we share the bread with all who come. If you would like to help out and have not yet, give the church a call and we’ll share how you too can help out.
Cup of Grace. Come and join Pastor Dean and other members of our church family as we share with our community a free cup of coffee and some quality time to chat about almost anything going on in your lives. Your cares, concerns, and joys are shared. We are always looking for volunteers to come and welcome our community to share in a cup of brewed coffee, and to share a good morning to all.
A Cup of Grace
Come and share in our Mora UMC Fresh Expression as we share the love of God to our community one cup at a time. We are sponsoring black coffee every Wednesday during bakery hours at the Mora Bakery on Union Street.
All are welcome, and invite your friends. We sponsor coffee all day, but our church will be present with conversation from 9:30-11:00. Come for coffee, laughter, and a few stories. Don’t forget they do have some great donuts!
