08/25/2026
August 30, 2026 Whiteside UMC
14th Sunday after Pentecost Year A
Greetings
Today we find ourselves looking at Matthew 16: 21-28. In this we see Jesus, who has limited His travels and ministry mostly to the region of Galilee in northern Israel, begins to show the disciples that He must go to Jerusalem. This is literally the headquarters—the home territory—of the enemies who hate Him the most. He predicts He will suffer many things from those elders, chief priests, and scribes. Ultimately, He will even be killed. Of course, Jesus also mentions that He will be raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21).
Peter seems to have gained too much confidence from Jesus' recent praise. He does not merely disagree with Jesus, he rebukes Him. Peter is scolding the same Man he recently identified as Messiah, because Jesus is not meeting Peter's expectations. In what must have been a devastating reply to Peter, Jesus shockingly refers to Peter as Satan. Peter's mind is set on human things, including human preferences and human traditions, and not the things of God (Matthew 16:22–23).
Jesus repeats an earlier message to those gathered nearby. Anyone who would come after Him must take up their cross of self-denial and follow Him. Crucifixion, in that era, evoked concepts like humiliation, dishonor, shame, agony, misery, and death. Christ is not speaking about tolerating minor inconvenience; He's speaking of willingness to sacrifice everything associated with the world. Those who live for themselves—clinging to worldly things and earthly ideals—will lose their eternal lives. Those who lose their earthly lives will find true eternal life. Jesus frames this in a common-sense rhetorical question: what good would it be to gain all the temporary things of the world, only to suffer an eternity of loss? Judgment will come, for all people, and those who reject Christ will be lost (Matthew 16:24–27).
The final comment made by Jesus in this chapter is a reference to "some" of these disciples seeing Him coming into His kingdom before they die (Matthew 16:28). This is a reference to the transfiguration: the very next thing described by Matthew (Matthew 17:1–2). In that event, Peter, James, and John will witness a glorified scene which foreshadows Jesus' rule on earth. (BIBL REF)
Yours in Christ
Bro Scotty
Events for the Month of August
• August 2nd 10th Sunday After Pentecost
• August 2nd International Friendship Day
• August 9th 11th Sunday After Pentecost
• August 9th Board Meeting
• August 9th Laity Club at Wartrace at 6pm
• August 13th International Left Handers Day
• August 16th 12th Sunday After Pentecost
• August 23rd 13th Sunday After Pentecost
• August 26th –September 5th Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration
• August 30th 14th Sunday After Pentecost
I do want us to keep in mind that through it all God is still in control. Here we go again it seems as of right now we are back at our beautiful Midland Road campus on the outskirts of Shelbyville. As of now we are able to see all the smiling faces and hearing the people talking with each other. For those not joining us in person please continue to take advantage of the chat feature in the Facebook stream to say “Hi” to me and to your friends. We will have worship in some form every week as long as I am able to serve. But for now, we are continuing in person worship.
Traditional Apostles creed will be used in our worship celebrations. During the service I will line out the Creed, as the early church did, with me reading a line and you repeating that line. I have included the Traditional Creed below:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
*Traditional use of this creed includes these words: “He descended into hell.”
**universal
And if you are wondering we had 8 people in person last week and 73 online views. We are still serving God and are still living out our call to ministry. I invite you to share the link with your friends and family so we can continue to be a presence for God from our church in the world. I look forward to our times of worship this coming week. As we look forward to where God is leading us, we are entering a time of continued celebration.
It was good to hear from some of you this week. As we continue to worship, I am posting the Scriptures for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A. I hope to hear from each of you as you sign in to the message.
I have been asked several times online and in private how people can donate to the ministries that we have and help us continue to grow. I ask you to be purposeful in donating to the ministries of this Church. I am thankful and excited to see that God is working in and moving you to help be a part of our growth. To answer that question, I say that at this time the only way to donate is by mail. You could mail your contributions to:
Whiteside UMC
%Gwen Dehne
279 Mullins Chapel Rd
Shelbyville, Tennessee 37160
Scriptures for Sunday August 30, 2026
Psalter Psalm 105
Old Testament Lesson Exodus 3:1-15
Epistle Lesson Romans 12:9-21
Lesson Matthew 16:21-28
Prayer List Whiteside UMC 8/30/26
Penny Barns
Brad Bergmann
Cindy Birdsong
Charles Birdwell
Allice Bonds
Francis Bonds
John Brewer
Christopher Campbell
Marie Cartwright
Frank Cartwright
Judi Cartwright
Ann Childers
John Christie
Kelly Clark and family
LA
Marie Collins
Ray Collins
John Colton
Cathy Crossman
Dude Crowder
Gwen Dehne
Lindsey Dehne
Lily Dehne
Bonnie Eblen
Betty Farrar
Adam Faulk
Linuya Fralix
Dale Farell
Rhonda Garrard
Hannah Garrard
John Gentry
Ann Gibson
Nichol Hall
Debbie Hammerstein
Lisa Harvey
Americus Hill
Gay Irwin
Catherine Jackson
Clyde Jackson
Mack Jackson
Spencer Jackson
Lynn Kelley
Cordell Lavvorn
Richard Lavvorn
Darlene Lipford
Lori Lovins
Kris Martin
Kathy Mason
Tonya McAdams
Mike McDow
David McGhee
Shirley McGhee
Dorothy McWhorter
Randy Mealer
Krista Meeks
Tina Montgomery
Tina Neeley
Clayton Norman
Nathaniel Nutt
Diane Parker
Donna Pitts
Josh Raggio
Bonnie Raymond
Ella Russell
Schools
Berl Shavers
Judi Shephard
Bill Simmons
Corinne Smith
Wilma Smith
Elizabeth Sorrells
Kathryn Sorrells
Jerry Summers
Jana Swann
Kim Taylor
Milo Turner
Travelers
Amanda Underwood
Visitors
Sandy Walton
Danny Watterson
Carl Willis
Martin Wilson
Cody Williams
Kathryn York
Lee York
Unemployed
Unspoken
Youth of the world
Bedford County
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