Lake Harbor United Methodist Church

06/07/2026

June 7, 2026 Our Daily Bread Devotional

Remembering Who We Are

Ruth replied, . . . “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
- Ruth 1:16

Today's Scripture
Ruth 1:11-18

Today's Devotion

A restaurant employee discovered an unconscious man beside a dumpster. He was sunburned, bitten by ants, and showed signs of blunt force trauma. He had no memory of who he was. The man, later self-named “Benjamin Kyle,” lived in limbo for more than a decade. He couldn’t work, collect benefits, or even reclaim his past. His healing began when a community of strangers helped him rediscover his identity through genetic testing and investigation. “I have a history,” he said. “I’m not just some stranger that materialized out of thin air.”

The story of Ruth in the Bible can also be seen as one of rediscovered belonging. After losing her husband and leaving her homeland, she chose to bind herself to her mother-in-law Naomi and her people. She said, “Where you go I will go . . . . Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth connected her identity and destiny to that of Naomi and her people in life and in death. She was “determined to go with her” (v. 18)—prioritizing community over clarity, belonging over certainty. In doing so, she stepped into God’s redemptive story and is remembered forever as part of the lineage of Christ (4:18-22; Matthew 1:3-5).

When we as believers in Jesus forget who we are—or when life’s pain leaves us disoriented—God often uses community to reconnect us with our most authentic identity. In Him we’re beloved, chosen, and known.

Reflect & Pray

Who is God using to help you remember who you are in Him? What does it mean to be known by Him?

Dear God, please help me remember who I am in You.

Today's Insights

Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi was a hard choice that carried with it the prospects of great difficulties. Ruth, a Moabitess, would’ve faced tremendous challenges in moving to Bethlehem. Moab, though a distant cousin of Israel, had become Israel’s enemy (Judges 3), resulting in significant hostilities. Additionally, being a widow in a strange land where she didn’t have the support of family and friends (aside from Naomi) would’ve been potentially dangerous. Through Naomi’s extended family (Boaz), however, God would provide both sustenance and safety (Ruth 2:1, 8-9). Ruth would eventually be enfolded into that community as the wife of Boaz and would become the great-grandmother of King David (4:17). For us today as well, God often uses community to remind us of His great care for us.

https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/Remembering-Who-We-Are?ts=1780790400000

06/07/2026

June 7, 2026 devotional from The Upper Room

Breaking Down Walls
April Bogert (New York, USA)

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. - Hebrews 11:30 (NIV)

The people of Jericho probably felt safe and confident in their fortified city. What threat was there to fear from nomads who had been wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years? Their marching around the city daily may have seemed strange, perhaps a bit unsettling, but surely great force would be required to bring down such walls.

Like the residents of Jericho, I sometimes think I can keep myself secure behind barriers I have created. Instead of placing my faith in God, I try to maintain the illusion that I am in control and safe on my own. But God is all-powerful and stronger than any physical or emotional wall.

The walls of Jericho fell because the Israelites put their faith in God’s power and obediently followed God’s instructions. We do not have to keep hiding behind fallible walls of our own creation. Through faith and prayer, being open to God’s love and guidance, and studying scripture, we can gain God’s protection and peace.



Today's Prayer

Dear God, may the walls we have created on our own tumble as we trust in you — our peace. Amen.

https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals/en-2026-06-07

06/07/2026

June 7, 2026 11am

06/06/2026

TOMORROW - SUNDAY, June 7, 2026:
TWO Worship Services at 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.
Join us in-person or on our livestream on our church page at Lake Harbor United Methodist Church.

We continue a new series called Jesus at the Lake. The Scripture focus is Luke 5: 1-11, and the message is "A New Kind of Fishing." We'll celebrate Holy Communion.

You can still make a gift to our special offering for Peace with Justice Sunday as we seek to transform the world through acts of peace, reconciliation, and justice. This offering supports programs that work to reduce conflict, promote fairness, and create lasting change both in our Michigan Conference and beyond.

We serve Family Promise beginning this Sun., June 7 through Sat., June 13. Thanks to all who have signed up to provide meals and items. You can still sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Otdb1iP-VF9P4iNi00lBBWf5yyxVglNjoM1wH6b4SH4/edit?tab=t.0

Our June noisy offering supports Henderson Settlement, whose mission is Meeting people where they are with what they need. This is where our HS Youth Mission Team will serve in July.

We're collecting new socks and underwear for MAP Clothing Closet this summer. We have ongoing collections for Kids' Food Basket and Mission for Area People (MAP).

06/06/2026

June 6, 2026 Our Daily Bread Devotional

God’s Provision

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. - Psalm 23:1-2

Today's Scripture
Psalm 23:1-6

Today's Devotion

I was putting my grandson to bed during a sleepover. When his Bible bookmark opened to Psalm 23, he objected, “We already read this one.” After I suggested we might learn something new, he read aloud, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastries.” Green pastries?! I explained that the word was pastures, not pastries. Hours earlier, he’d stood before a bakery shelf, selecting treats. His interpretation came into focus: To him, a bakery conveyed a place of rest and enjoyment.

Psalm 23 may be so familiar to us that we miss its deep offering. David, a king well acquainted with shepherding, describes God’s provision over a lifetime of things both idyllic (vv. 5-6) and challenging (v. 4). He points out that our good God leads us to places where we can partake of His presence, be rejuvenated, and prepare for what will come. “Green pastures” (v. 1) and “quiet waters” (v. 2) are such dwellings for sheep, and we are God’s sheep (v. 1).

My grandson’s innocent interpretation opened my eyes to the “green pastures” God provides for me—places of rest and enjoyment in everyday life where He restores me. A gold-hued sunset. A verdant field. A quiet corner. A bakery shelf of green pastries, wafting out delight. I’m so glad we read Psalm 23 again!

Reflect & Pray

What unexpected “green pasture” moment have you experienced? How does Psalm 23 invite you into the provision of God’s presence?

Dear God, please open my eyes to the “green pasture” moments You provide. Help me to enter Your presence each day.

Today's Insights

Despite David’s failings, he was a man who loved God and was loved by Him. We see this clearly expressed in the psalmist’s writings. Psalm 23 is a classic example that still speaks to us today. With God as our “shepherd,” we truly “lack nothing” (v. 1). He leads, refreshes, guides, and comforts us (vv. 2-4); and our “cup overflows” with His blessings (v. 5). He surrounds us with His love and goodness in this life and for all eternity (v. 6). With such a God, we don’t need to live in fear (v. 4). In Psalm 27:4, David exudes, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Like David, may our longing be for God. In His presence, we find rest and restoration.

https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/Gods-Provision-6392?ts=1780704000000

06/06/2026

June 6, 2026 devotional from The Upper Room

The Strength to Endure
Emily C. Marszalek (Idaho, USA)

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. - Exodus 15:2 (NIV)

It had been a difficult couple of months. Health challenges left me chronically fatigued. Staff shortages and extra responsibilities at work caused me constant stress.

One morning, after another restless night, I woke up with a throbbing headache and felt sick to my stomach. I did my best to prepare for what I knew would be a challenging day. As I drove to work, I spoke the only prayer I could muster: “God, I cannot get through this day without you. Please help me. I need you.” While my headache didn’t magically disappear nor did my nausea subside, I felt a wave of peace come over me.

In spite of not feeling well, I survived the workday. Through God’s strength and grace I was actually highly productive. On the drive home that evening, my prayer of desperation was replaced with a prayer of thankfulness: “I made it through today only because of you. Thank you for strengthening me.”

We are not intended to operate only on our own strength; when we try to do things on our own, we end up overburdened and exhausted. Our strength comes from God, who gives us all we need to endure.



Today's Prayer

Dear God, thank you for being our strength. Remind us to rely on you each and every day. Amen.

https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals/en-2026-06-06

06/06/2026

Blessings on this Friday after some needed rain!
First, I want to thank you for your prayers for our Michigan Annual Conference last weekend. Here's a link to a wrap-up video: https://vimeo.com/1197840666

Join us for worship this Sunday, June 7 at 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. We continue a new series called Jesus at the Lake. The Scripture focus is Luke 5: 1-11, and the message is "A New Kind of Fishing." We'll celebrate Holy Communion.

You can still make a gift to our special offering for Peace with Justice Sunday as we seek to transform the world through acts of peace, reconciliation, and justice. This offering supports programs that work to reduce conflict, promote fairness, and create lasting change both in our Michigan Conference and beyond.
Remember that our livestream is available to join us online.

We serve Family Promise beginning this Sun., June 7 through Sat., June 13. Thanks to all who have signed up to provide meals and items. You can still sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Otdb1iP-VF9P4iNi00lBBWf5yyxVglNjoM1wH6b4SH4/edit?tab=t.0

Our June noisy offering supports Henderson Settlement, whose mission is Meeting people where they are with what they need. This is where our HS Youth Mission Team will serve in July.

We're collecting new socks and underwear for MAP Clothing Closet this summer.

We have ongoing collections for Kids' Food Basket and Mission for Area People (MAP).

Important reminders for this week:
*Upper Room Devotionals are available at church and online as daily posts on our page.
*Please send your God moments to Fred Yonkers ([email protected]).
*Our June newsletter is available at church.
*Summer Office Hours are 9:15 a.m.-3:15 p.m. on Mon.-Thurs.
*Bible study on Tues., June 9 at 10:00 a.m. in the Lounge and on Zoom.
*Lunch Bunch at Russ' on Tues., June 9 at 12:00 p.m.
*Serve at MAP Clothing Closet on Tues., June 9 & Thurs., June 11 at 12:15 p.m. at Temple UMC.
*80+ Spring Luncheon on Wed., June 10.
*Memorial service for Phyllis Jones on Sat., June 13 at 11:00 a.m.

COMING UP:
*Vacation Bible Camp is June 22-25.
*The Pine Rest Church Assistance Program is available. Please check out the video: https://vimeo.com/814713332

See you on Sunday,
Pastor Mary

This is "AC 2026 Summary Video Final" by Michigan Conference UMC on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

06/05/2026

June 5, 2026 Our Daily Bread Devotional

Running to God in Prayer

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
- Jonah 2:1

Today's Scripture
Jonah 2:1-10

Today's Devotion

One moment Adrián Simancas was kayaking in the Strait of Magellan in Chile with his father. The next, the twenty-four-year-old was engulfed in the mouth of a humpback whale. “I thought I was dead,” Adrián told a news outlet. After a few seconds, the whale released Adrián into the frigid waters. His life vest caused him to float to the water’s surface, and his father helped him to safety.

The Old Testament prophet Jonah also had an encounter with a large sea creature. Jonah refused to follow God’s directive to preach a message of repentance to the Israelites’ enemies, the Ninevites, so he boarded a ship in the opposite direction of Nineveh. When the ship got caught in a storm, Jonah convinced the crew to throw him overboard (Jonah 1:11-12, 15). “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (v. 17). Jonah went from fleeing from God to crying out to Him: “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God” (2:1).

God heard Jonah and rescued him (v. 10). Then Jonah preached to the Ninevites, and they repented (3:8-10).

If God could hear Jonah’s plea from inside a big fish, He can hear us and rescue us from wherever we are. Instead of running from God, let’s run to Him in prayer, knowing that He will answer us when we cry out to Him.

Reflect & Pray

Why do you sometimes run from God? How can you run to Him today?

Dear God, thank You for the rescue You alone provide.

Today's Insights

The Bible records various places where people cried out to God. Samson prayed while chained in a pagan temple (Judges 16:28), Jesus prayed from a cross (Luke 23:46), and Paul frequently prayed while in prison (Philippians 1). One of the most unusual places of prayer was in the belly of “a huge fish” (Jonah 1:17; 2:1-9). Imagine how different his story might have been had Jonah prayed while still at home, rather than after God had pursued him to the depths of the sea. When Jonah cried out to God in prayer, He delivered him and gave him a second chance to fulfill his mission (3:1-2). Running from God only makes our problems worse. But when we walk in obedience to Him and cry out to Him in prayer, He’ll hear us and do what’s best within His perfect plans.

https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/Running-to-God-in-Prayer?ts=1780617600000

06/05/2026

June 5, 2026 devotional from The Upper Room

A Great Legacy
Jhonatan Torres (Atlántico, Colombia)

Paul wrote to Timothy, “I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
- 2 Timothy 1:5 (KJV)

A beautiful memory of my childhood is when I saw my mother, Carmen, participating in a Bible lesson one day. I asked her teacher if I could receive the same discipleship lessons, since the crossword puzzles and word-search puzzles in the lesson booklet had caught my attention. Another day, Mom gave me some colorful magazines with cartoons of various characters such as Moses, Joseph, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus. Reading the picture stories was exciting for me, and it gave me the knowledge to be able to raise my hand to answer my Sunday school teacher’s questions.

In a similar way, my grandmother Judith’s faith inspired me. I loved to sing Christian songs at the services that were held on the terrace of her house. She is now with the Lord, but she will always be in my heart.

In the Bible, we read about how Eunice and Lois were very influential in Timothy’s life. They provided a great legacy of faith for him. Their examples remind us of how a mother and grandmother can be greatly used by God and leave an eternal impact by raising children well.



Today's Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank you for the mothers, grandmothers, and elders who have left a legacy of love and faith in our lives. Amen.

https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals/en-2026-06-05

06/03/2026

June 7, 2026 God moments