First United Methodist Church - Rantoul

09/06/2026

Bell Season is upon us! Looking for something new to try? We have the bell for you!

09/06/2026

Welcome to the Rantoul First United Methodist Church Worship!
We are glad you're here! And we are a place to belong, and ALL Are Welcome! Check in below!

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

Can you believe it? It's Bell Season!

09/02/2026

🪞MIDWEEK REFLECTION: KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS??

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
— Romans 12:18

Lately, I’ve begun to wonder just how much kindness it actually takes to kill someone.

Seriously, though. 😉

We’ve all heard the saying, “Kill them with kindness.” Usually it means that when someone is rude, difficult, or standing firmly on our very last nerve and grinding it under their foot, we should just keep being ridiculously nice. Eventually, surely, they’ll feel bad about how they’ve treated us and change.

Except…what if they don’t?

When I sit with Paul’s words in Romans 12, I don’t hear a promise that if we love our enemies well enough, they’ll eventually become nicer people. Paul tells us not to repay evil for evil. He tells us to feed our enemy when they’re hungry and give them something to drink when they’re thirsty. He tells us to overcome evil with good.

But he also says something I think is incredibly important: “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

Maybe there’s a little bit of the Serenity Prayer tucked into those words—the wisdom to recognize what we can change and what we can’t.

I can change how I respond. I can choose kindness instead of retaliation. I can pay attention to what anger and resentment are doing inside my own heart.

What I can’t do is control how another person responds.

I can’t kindness someone into remorse. I can’t love someone into apologizing. And I can’t pile up enough good deeds to force someone’s heart to change.

That part isn’t mine.

Love and kindness aren’t weapons we wield to change another person’s heart. They’re ways we choose to live because Christ has already changed ours.

That doesn’t mean our kindness won’t affect someone. Maybe someone will see Christ alive in the way we respond and begin to wonder what makes us different. Maybe a seed will be planted. Maybe a relationship will change.

We can hope for all of those things.

But we love without requiring any of them.

Because our hearts know the difference between genuine kindness and kindness with an agenda. One says, I’m choosing love because this is who Jesus calls me to be. The other quietly says, I’ll keep being nice until you finally become who I want you to be.

And sometimes that person standing on your last nerve may never move their foot. They may never apologize. They may never understand the hurt they’ve caused.

But choosing kindness can still change something.

It can change how we carry the interaction. It can keep resentment from taking root. It can keep someone else’s behavior from hardening our own hearts.

So maybe we don’t need to “kill them with kindness” after all.

Maybe we need the wisdom to change what we can—our responses, our choices, our hearts—and the grace to release what we can’t.

Do the part that belongs to you.

Choose love. Choose kindness.

And trust God with the part that never belonged to you in the first place.

📣 Call to Action 📣

☕ Think about someone or something you’ve been trying to change through your own actions.
❤️ Ask yourself what part of the situation actually belongs to you.
🙏 Release the other person’s response—and their heart—to God.
🌱 Choose kindness today simply because love is how Christ calls us to live.

🙏 Let’s Pray 🙏

God, sometimes we spend an awful lot of energy trying to change things that were never ours to change.

Give us the wisdom to know what belongs to us and what we need to place back in Your hands. Help us choose kindness without an agenda, love without expectations, and grace without keeping score.

When someone hurts us or stomps all over our last nerve, keep resentment from settling into our hearts. Help us respond in ways that look like Jesus, not because we’re trying to change somebody else, but because You are still changing us.

And when we’ve done the part that belongs to us, help us let go and trust You with the rest.

In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 🙏💜🙏

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
— Romans 12:21

Have a Blessed Day,
~Yvonne Waters

09/01/2026

✨ A Little Bit of Awe

The view from my home office is awesome. If I lift my eyes above my computer screen, I can see the entire upper portion of Bayles Lake. Each day, I watch as the temperatures, wildlife (mostly migratory birds) and colors change. Unfortunately, it seems that they are changing faster each year, but I am still amazed and am literally filled with awe.

The word “awe” or “awesome” are used 53 times in the New International Version of the Bible. The first time we find it is in Genesis 28:17 when Jacob awoke from his experience with God and “He was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’” The last time we find this “awe” is in Hebrews 12:28 when the Apostle Paul recommended that “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. In between, we are pointed to God being awesome in terms of deeds, power, glory, strength, majesty and name. We read that people stand in awe at the God who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments.

So, where do we find awe in our world? My bucket list includes seeing the Northern Lights. I want to be absorbed into the colors floating all around me. But we can find awe without having to travel to some cold, foreign location. I find it as I look closely at the veins of a leaf or let the aroma of my first cup of coffee in the morning fill my nose. I find awe as I allow the vista of a multicolored sunset to soak into my eyes.

Angela Haupt, in her July 27, 2026 Time Magazine article entitled 5 Ways to Experience a Little Bit of Awe Every Day, suggests that we can lower our stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness and even physical inflammation by figuring out what really amazes us. It might be nature, music, art, sports, or seeing the world through the eyes of a child. As I stated earlier, for followers of Jesus, it happens as we interact with God in our lives.

Haupt suggests that we think small. Awe doesn’t just come from the finale of a fireworks show. Awe is found in a smile, the twinkle of an eye, or a memory of a good experience between two friends. For many, watching extraordinary human achievement, or nature documentaries brings about awe.

Awe can act like a reset button as we recall a moment or two of courage or love in the midst of pain and suffering. Just a brief replay of a joyful experience can redirect our lives in ways that bring pleasure.

Haupt believes that many of us feel a sense of awe when people exceed our expectations for kindness, courage, generosity or grace,

Regardless of how or where you experience awe, I pray that your life is made just a little more meaningful as you open yourself to savoring awe that helps you reconnect with God’s full intention for your life.

~ Pastor Steve

09/01/2026

News You Can Use!

09/01/2026

☀️ Tuesday Morning — Answers 61–70

🧠 How did you do with last night’s Bible Trivia?

61. What did God change Jacob’s name to before his meeting with Esau?
✅ Israel.

62. How many brothers did Joseph have?
✅ 12.

63. Who was Jacob’s second son with Rachel?
✅ Benjamin.

64. What did Jacob give Joseph that sparked jealousy from his siblings?
✅ A coat of many colors.

65. What did Joseph tell his brothers about his dreams that upset them?
✅ That he would become greater and rule over them.

66. How did Joseph’s brothers get rid of him?
✅ They sold him to slave traders.

67. What did Joseph’s brothers tell their father had happened to him?
✅ That Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

68. Where did the slave traders take Joseph?
✅ Egypt.

69. Who bought Joseph?
✅ Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guards.

70. Who got Joseph thrown into prison by lying about him?
✅ Potiphar’s wife.

🎉 So, how did you do? Tell us your score in the comments!

🌙 Come back next Monday night for another round of Bible Trivia!

09/01/2026

🌙 Monday Night Trivia — Questions 61–70

🧠 It’s Monday Night Bible Trivia time!

No Googling, no peeking, and no giving away the answers!

61. What did God change Jacob’s name to before his meeting with Esau?

62. How many brothers did Joseph have?

63. Who was Jacob’s second son with Rachel?

64. What did Jacob give Joseph that sparked jealousy from his siblings?

65. What did Joseph tell his brothers about his dreams that upset them?

66. How did Joseph’s brothers get rid of him?

67. What did Joseph’s brothers tell their father had happened to him?

68. Where did the slave traders take Joseph?

69. Who bought Joseph?

70. Who got Joseph thrown into prison by lying about him?

How many do you think you’ll get right?

☀️ Come back tomorrow morning to check your answers and see how you did!

08/31/2026

Are you look for a place to seek comfort and support as you go through your grief journey? We will be hosting a 13 week session of grief support using the Christian based program of Griefshare.