St Mark Methodist Church Tupelo

10/03/2026

This week's edition of St Mark Weekly for Sunday, October 4, 2026. Please feel free to share, if you are so inclined. TYIA

10/02/2026

“Many, Yet One”
MORNING GRACE for Friday, October 2, 2026
Good morning, dear friends.
Have you ever been part of a family photograph?
Getting everybody into the picture can be an adventure.
Somebody is too tall.
Somebody is too short.
Somebody blinked.
One child is looking in the wrong direction.
And there's usually at least one person wondering, “Are we finished yet?”
But when you finally look at the picture, something wonderful has happened.
Nobody stopped being themselves.
Yet somehow, all those different people belong in one picture.
That's a little like the Church.
Paul says:
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10: 17).
Listen to that again, “We who are many are one body.”
Notice that he doesn't say we stop being many.
This Sunday, Christians will gather around the Lord's Table in places all over the world.
Some will worship with organs.
Some with guitars.
Some with drums.
Some may have no instruments at all.
Some will worship beneath stained glass.
Some in storefronts.
Some in tiny country churches.
Some in hospitals, nursing facilities, military chapels, prisons, homes, and places where gathering openly as Christians may carry a terrible cost.
They will speak different languages.
They will sing different songs.
They will have different customs and traditions.
They won't all look alike.
They won't all sound alike.
And they won't agree about everything.
Yet Paul says:
One bread. One body.
Why?
Because our unity doesn't come from being the same.
Our unity comes from belonging to the same Jesus.
And that's not only something to remember about Christians thousands of miles away.
It matters at home.
It matters at work.
It matters in church.
It matters when the person sitting three pews away sees something differently than you do.
Sometimes we quietly begin believing that unity means:
“We'll get along just fine—as soon as everybody agrees with me.”
Good luck with that!
Christian unity asks something harder.
Can I love someone without requiring them to become a copy of me?
Can I listen before I judge?
Can I disagree without becoming disagreeable?
Can I remember that the person who sometimes gets on my last nerve may belong to the very same Body of Christ that I do?
Beloved, we don't create the unity of Christ's Church.
Jesus already has.
Our calling is to live like it's true.
Let Us Pray.
Lord Jesus,
You have gathered people from every nation, language, culture, and story and called us Your Church.
Thank You that we do not have to be identical in order to belong to You.
Forgive us for the times we have allowed differences to become divisions, preferences to become walls, and disagreements to become excuses not to love.
Teach us to listen with patience.
Teach us to disagree with grace.
Teach us to see Your image in people who are different from us.
And as Christians around the world prepare to gather at Your Table, remind us that there is one bread because there is one Savior.
Make us one in You.
In Your holy name we pray.
Amen.
Carry This Grace Today
Here's our Friday challenge:
Spend some time today with someone who is different from you.
And instead of trying to convince them of something...
listen.
Ask a question.
Hear their story.
Learn their name.
Notice something you have in common.
And when somebody irritates you today, before deciding what you think about them, quietly remind yourself:
“Jesus loves this person too.”
That little sentence might change the entire conversation.
Because unity isn't pretending our differences don't exist.
Unity is refusing to let our differences become greater than the Christ who holds us together.
Many people. Many places. One Savior. One bread. One body.
Go live the grace.
Best of all, God is with us.

10/02/2026

**Many, Yet One.**

We don't have to look alike, worship alike, or agree about everything to belong to Christ. Our unity isn't found in our sameness—it is found in **Jesus**.

As we prepare for World Communion Sunday, remember: there is one bread because there is one Savior, and in Christ, we who are many are **one body**.

**Many people. Many places. One Savior. One bread. One body.**
Go live the grace.

** **

10/01/2026

“The Bread We Break”
MORNING GRACE for Thursday, October 1, 2026
Good morning, dear friends.
Have you ever noticed that bread isn't very useful if nobody ever breaks it?
You can admire a beautiful loaf.
You can smell it.
You can set it in the middle of the table and talk about how wonderful it looks.
But sooner or later, if that bread is going to feed anybody...
somebody has to break it.
Paul says, “The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16).
“The bread that we break.”
Those words point us toward Jesus.
Jesus did not love us from a safe distance.
He entered our world.
He touched people others avoided.
He sat with people others rejected.
He stopped for people others hurried past.
He washed feet.
He carried a cross.
He gave Himself.
And this Sunday, when we receive the bread at Holy Communion, we remember:
Christ gave Himself for us.
But perhaps the bread asks us another question:
If Christ has given Himself for me, how am I giving myself for others?
That question becomes very practical on a Thursday morning.
Maybe somebody needs ten minutes of your time.
Maybe an elderly neighbor needs a phone call.
Maybe your spouse needs you to put the phone down and actually listen.
Maybe a coworker is carrying something heavy and needs someone to notice.
Maybe the cashier at the grocery store has had a terrible day, and a little patience would mean more than you know.
Maybe somebody simply needs to hear:
“I've been thinking about you. How are you doing?”
We sometimes imagine serving Christ requires something enormous.
Usually, it doesn't.
Sometimes being the body of Christ looks like a casserole.
Sometimes it looks like a phone call.
Sometimes it looks like sitting beside a hospital bed.
Sometimes it looks like forgiving somebody.
Sometimes it looks like listening without trying to fix everything.
And sometimes it is simply showing up.
Beloved, we receive the Bread of Life...
and then Jesus sends us into a hungry world.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus,
You did not love us from a distance.
You came near.
You entered our brokenness and gave Yourself for us.
Thank You for the bread that reminds us of Your body given for us.
As we prepare to gather at Your Table, teach us not only to receive Your grace but to live it.
Open our eyes today to someone who needs kindness.
Open our ears to someone who needs to be heard.
Open our hands to someone who needs help.
And open our hearts so completely to You that Your love becomes visible through us.
Having received Your grace, make us willing to share it.
In Your holy name we pray.
Amen.
Carry This Grace Today
Here's Thursday's challenge:
Find one person you can intentionally serve today.
Don't make it complicated.
Make the phone call.
Send the text.
Hold the door.
Listen to the story.
Buy the coffee.
Visit the lonely.
Encourage the discouraged.
Forgive the irritating.
And if somebody asks why you're being so nice...
you don't have to preach them a sermon.
Just smile.
You might simply say:
“I've been given a lot of grace.”
Because the bread we receive on Sunday becomes the grace we live on Thursday.
Grace Received. Grace Lived. Grace Shared.
Many people. Many places. One Savior. One bread. One body.
Go live the grace.
Best of all, God is with us.

10/01/2026

The Bread We Break

09/30/2026

In Thanksgiving for the Preservation of Life Aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073
Beloved,
This morning, the world watched a frightening situation unfold aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
As details continue to emerge and authorities investigate exactly what happened, there is much that we do not yet know. Therefore, we should be careful about speculation.
But there is something we do know:
Today, many lives were spared. And for that, we give thanks to Almighty God.
We give thanks for the courage and presence of mind shown in the midst of an unimaginable crisis.
We give thanks for the wounded pilot who, even after suffering serious injury, reportedly managed to release the cockpit door so others could respond.
We give thanks for the crew members and passengers who stepped forward, subdued the threat, cared for the wounded, and helped secure the aircraft.
We give thanks for the relief pilots aboard the flight who assumed control of the aircraft and brought it safely to the ground.
And we give thanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and those at Tabuk who received an aircraft in distress and provided a safe place for it to land and care for those who were injured.
But as I have prayed about today's events, something else has remained on my heart.
For those terrifying moments aboard that airplane, the labels by which our world so often divides people suddenly mattered very little.
Israeli. Arab. Emirati. Saudi. Jewish. Muslim. Christian. Nationality. Politics. Borders.
There was a wounded human being who needed help.
There was an aircraft full of human beings whose lives were in danger.
And people responded.
They worked together.
They cared for the wounded.
They protected one another.
They helped bring an airplane full of people safely home.
Perhaps there is a lesson there for all of us.
This coming Sunday, Christians around the world will observe World Communion Sunday. We will come from different nations, cultures, languages, races, and traditions, yet gather around one Table and remember the words of Scripture:
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
— 1 Corinthians 10:17
Today, thousands of feet above the earth, people discovered something the Church must never forget:
Our common humanity is greater than the divisions we create between ourselves.
At the Lord's Table, we discover something greater still.
We belong to God.
We are called to love our neighbor.
We are called to care for the wounded.
We are called to seek peace.
And when another human being is in danger, we do not first ask where they were born, what language they speak, or which side of a border they call home.
We reach out our hand.
Today could have ended in unspeakable tragedy.
Instead, an aircraft landed safely.
Families will embrace loved ones they might otherwise have lost.
And tonight, people who began the morning as strangers will forever share the story of the day they needed one another — and found one another.
So today, St Mark gives thanks.
We pray for the healing of those who were injured.
We pray for the passengers and crew who will carry the emotional scars of these frightening moments.
We pray for the investigators seeking the truth about what occurred.
We pray for peace among nations and peoples.
And we pray that what happened aboard one aircraft might remind a divided world of something we too easily forget:
Before we are nations, races, languages, or political divisions, we are human beings created in the image of God.
And this Sunday, when we gather around Christ's Table, perhaps the bread will mean just a little more.
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body.”
Thanks be to God for lives preserved.
Thanks be to God for strangers who became neighbors.
Thanks be to God for courage in the midst of fear.
And thanks be to God for the reminder that even in some of humanity's darkest moments, grace can still break through.
Best of all, God is with us.
Rev. Rick Wells Jr., Pastor
St Mark Methodist Church — A Global Methodist Congregation
Tupelo, Mississippi

09/30/2026

Good morning, dear friends.
Our Scripture reading for this morning is from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 10, verse 16; “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?”
Most of us learned pretty early that if you want something, you have to earn it.
You work; you receive a paycheck.
You study, you earn the grade.
You save; you can finally buy what you've been wanting.
You prove yourself; you earn someone's trust.
That's how much of life works.
And sometimes, without realizing it, we bring that same thinking into our relationship with God.
Maybe if I'm good enough.
Maybe if I pray enough.
Maybe if I go to church enough.
Maybe if I can straighten myself out first.
Then perhaps God will love me.
But when we come to the Lord's Table, Jesus places the cup before us and reminds us:
Grace isn't wages.
You don't earn it.
You receive it.
Paul calls it “the cup of blessing.”
But that blessing came at tremendous cost.
The cup points us toward the blood of Christ—toward a Savior who did not wait for us to become worthy before loving us.
Jesus gave Himself for us.
Not because we had finally gotten everything right.
Not because our record was spotless.
Not because we deserved a seat at His Table.
But because God loves us.
Beloved, there are days when we know we've fallen short.
We said something we wish we could take back.
We lost our patience.
We ignored someone who needed us.
We promised God we wouldn't do that again—and then we did.
And that's when the old voice whispers:
“You ought to stay away until you get yourself straightened out.”
But the Gospel says something very different.
Come to Jesus.
Come honestly.
Come repentantly.
Come with empty hands.
Because the very grace you think you must earn is the grace you desperately need to receive.
This Sunday, when the cup is offered, don't just go through the motion.
Remember what it says:
Christ gave Himself for you.
You are loved.
Forgiveness is offered.
Grace is here.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus,
We spend so much of our lives trying to prove ourselves.
Sometimes we even try to prove ourselves to You.
Forgive us.
Remind us today that Your love is not a paycheck we earn but a gift we receive.
Thank You for giving Yourself for us.
Thank You for mercy when we fail, forgiveness when we repent, and grace that meets us where we are and refuses to leave us there.
As we prepare to gather at Your Table, empty our hands of pride and fill our hearts with gratitude.
And having received such costly grace, teach us to offer grace freely to others.
In Your holy name we pray.
Amen.
Carry This Grace Today
Today, notice the moments when you feel that you have to prove your worth.
Maybe you make a mistake at work.
Maybe someone criticizes you.
Maybe you look in the mirror and don't particularly like the person looking back.
Maybe yesterday wasn't one of your better days.
When that happens, remember the cup.
And say quietly:
“I don't have to earn God's love. In Jesus Christ, I am invited to receive His grace.”
Then here's the harder part:
Look for someone else who doesn't deserve grace today...
and give them some anyway.
Because that's what Jesus did for us.
Many people. Many places. One Savior. One bread. One body.
Go live the grace.
Best of all, God is with us.

09/30/2026

The Cup of Blessing

09/29/2026

“Faith That Thinks — and Lives”
MORNING GRACE for Tuesday, September 29, 2026
“I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.” — 1 Corinthians 10:15
Have you ever caught yourself doing something simply because that is the way you have always done it?
Maybe you drive the same route to work without thinking about where you're turning.
Maybe you sit in the same chair at the kitchen table.
And let's not even talk about somebody sitting in your pew at church!
Some things become so familiar that we can do them without thinking.
Even things of faith.
We can say the Lord's Prayer and suddenly realize our mouths were several words ahead of our hearts.
We can sing a hymn we've known for fifty years without noticing what we're singing.
And yes, we can receive Holy Communion without stopping to consider what the bread and cup are telling us.
Paul says, in effect:
Think about this. Pay attention. Consider what it means.
This coming Sunday, Christians around the world will gather at Christ's Table.
We will take bread.
We will receive the cup.
But Communion is more than going through familiar motions.
The bread tells us:
Christ gave Himself for you.
The cup tells us:
You are forgiven by grace.
The Table tells us:
You belong to Christ—and because you belong to Christ, you belong to one another.
And then comes the part we sometimes overlook.
What we believe at the Table ought to follow us when we leave the Table.
If I believe I have received grace, can I offer grace to the person who irritates me?
If I believe Christ has forgiven me, can I begin loosening my grip on an old grudge?
If I believe the person beside me is part of Christ's body, can I treat them with patience and dignity?
If I believe Jesus welcomed me, is there someone I can welcome today?
That's faith that thinks.
And that's faith that lives.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus,
Keep our faith from becoming merely habit.
Open our minds to understand Your truth and open our hearts to live it.
As we prepare to come to Your Table, help us see again the wonder of Your grace.
And when we rise from the Table, send us into the world as people who forgive because we have been forgiven, welcome because we have been welcomed, and love because You first loved us.
Make what we believe visible in the way we live today.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Carry This Grace Today
Before you react to someone today, ask yourself:
“What does what I believe about Jesus call me to do right now?”
At the grocery store.
In traffic.
At work.
At school.
At home.
On the telephone.
Even with that person who knows exactly which button to push—and apparently enjoys pushing it!
Faith isn't only what we believe on Sunday.
Faith becomes visible in what we do on Tuesday.
Many people. Many places. One Savior. One bread. One body.
Go live the grace.
Best of all, God is with us.

09/29/2026