Urbana Methodist Church

01/16/2023

"You’ve heard the saying, it takes a village to raise a child. I’d say it takes a church hosting the kingdom of heaven. What might it be like if we got ourselves out in front of a generation and not always trying to play catch up? Think about that today."

The church of Jesus Christ is a supernatural community where the presence of God inspires divine imagination in human beings to sow love through extravagant generosity.

12/21/2022

C'mon, tap your toes to...

Provided to YouTube by Centricity MusicGood News · UnspokenGood News℗ 2020 Centricity MusicUnknown: Bob BoydProducer: Seth MosleyComposer, Lyricist: Chad Mat...

12/21/2022

Sing, friends!

Official Lyric Video of “His Name Is Wonderful” by Chris TomlinListen to Christmas Day: Christmas Songs of Worship: https://christomlin.lnk.to/christmasYDSub...

12/21/2022

May this warm your heart this Christmas season. Pastor Susan

Listen to full work here: https://apple.co/2R8ImvmSir Colin Davis conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, Susan Gritton, Sara Mingardo, Mark Padmore, Alastai...

11/22/2022

"Christians should never surrender to the supposed consensus of any time or culture. Nothing of this world is permanent, and the church’s perspective is eternal... Self-protection and social toleration are not the church’s ultimate goal, which is to proclaim the Kingdom of God."

The redefinition of marriage is harmful but is not likely our civilization’s finale.

10/03/2022

In this harvest season, read this encouraging post and renew your commitment to daily devotions. Seedbed's Daily Text as of today will be called "The Wake-Up Call." If you are not already signed up for these daily devotions to arrive in you emails each day, sign up here: https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall/ Pray for our harvesters in this season! Grace and peace, Pastor Susan Higdon

If we are to understand the ways of God we must be taken deep into the realities of earth and sky, soil and seed, of cultivation and irrigation, plowing and pruning, and yes of reaping and harvest.

08/19/2022

Tune in to the presence of God.

The first time I walked through the doors of the downtown mission chapel I knew I was searching for something. I was spiritually hungry. A man sat at the well-used grand piano at the front of the room. We stood as he began to play the first song. The singing was passionate. I looked around and saw p

06/29/2022

Words for Wednesday
A Weekly Devotion for the RUSA Charge
June 29, 2022
Associate pastor Sue Ney
I took a couple of Wednesdays off – for vacation and to recharge my brain.
Today I’m enjoying some summer. The sky is blue, the temperature is in the mid-80s, there is a breeze, and the birds are loud in my trees. I love these days, and I encourage you to reflect on majesty of God, specifically from Psalm 8

1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
One of my good friends is a photographer and she is fascinated by nature – she photographs creatures on her acreage which backs up to a creek. She catches deer and squirrels and egrets and herons and butterflies and bugs. She loves the sky, especially at sunrise and sunset, and then watches for the perfect shot of the moon in all its phases. Every time I see a photo, I marvel at her gift for capturing God’s creation and the wonder of the moon and stars which God set in place. I marvel at her patience in waiting for hummingbirds to come to the feeder. Every photo is a reminder of the grandeur of our world.

Please pray with me:
Thank you for the artwork of the cosmos!
Thank you for being transcendent and powerful!
Thank you for even glancing at me, much less knowing me perfectly!
Thank you for caring for me!
Thank you for giving me value and purpose!
Thank you for giving me a role in praising you!
Oh Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

06/08/2022

Words for Wednesday
A Weekly Devotion for the RUSA Charge
June 8, 2022
Associate Pastor Sue Ney
Sunday, June 5 is a day I will never forget. On that day, I, along with three others, were recognized as Course of Study graduates, a scapular (vestment) was placed over our robes by a retiring clergy, and we assisted in serving communion. I sat and listened, and I was moved to tears as I heard Bishop Deborah Kiesey preach the sermon. I have heard many ordination sermons in my time as a United Methodist, but this one was for me. She reminded us that we have one Lord, one faith, one baptism; that we are all called to ministry, whether it is ordained or commissioned or licensed or lay servant or lay speaker or lay member.
This afternoon I listened again to Bishop Kiesey’s message when it became available on the conference website. And there are some things I would like to share with you.
Bishop Kiesey is a friend of mine – she worked along side me when I was conference secretary and she chaired the committee on business and agenda. In 2004, I was at the jurisdictional conference when she was elected a bishop out of Iowa and she was sent to the Dakotas Annual Conference to serve.
As she stood before me last Sunday, she reminded me that Paul begged us to answer the call to live this worthy life. Not ask or request, but beg all of us to answer the call to a worthy life. This comes from his letter to the Ephesians as wrote of how all of us have a calling of some kind.
She also spoke about how all of us are committed to a lifetime of servant leadership – and my friends, it is not just those ordained, commissioned, or recognized – but all of us can find a place of servant leadership within our local churches. What a day! Thank all of you and Amen.

06/01/2022

Words for Wednesday
A Weekly Devotion for the RUSA Charge
June 1, 2022
Associate Pastor Sue Ney
After Annual Conference, Pastor Susan and I will be preaching a series on these two verses from Galatians: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 5:22-23 (NIV)
Each facet of the fruit of the spirit is worthy of our attention and our efforts to follow what Paul was hoping for in his letter to the Galatians.
Cultivating the fruit of the spirit is not an overnight accomplishment. Like a quality garden, fruit must be cultivated, shaped, and cared for day after day. In the musical Godspell, after the disciples have been called away from the everyday lives, they sing “Day by Day.” The lyrics speak to how we can cultivate our lives, our hearts, our spirits – “Day by Day, day by day, o dear Lord, three things I pray – to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day
As a farmer waters the plants, we need to include times of spiritual refreshment like worship, Scripture reading and prayer in our lives. Farmers prune, w**d and treat pests. Likewise, we need to remove from our lives anything that is counter-productive to our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ. Like a farmer works the soil, we, too, need to get our hands dirty by serving our neighbors and friends, living as citizens of God's reign in the world today.
“The Greek word translated “fruit” refers to the natural product of a living thing. Paul used “fruit” to help us understand the product of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside every believer. The fruit of the Spirit is produced by the Spirit, not by the Christian. As we grow, all the characteristics of Christ will be manifested in our lives.
“Yet, like physical fruit needs time to grow, the fruit of the Spirit will not ripen in our lives overnight. Like a successful gardener must battle against w**ds to enjoy the sweet fruit they desire, we must constantly work to rid our lives of the “w**ds” of sin that want to choke out the work of the Spirit.
“As we give the Spirit more control of our lives, He begins to do in and through us what only He can do - to shape us and grow us to look like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
“Since God’s goal for all His children is for us to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29), the Holy Spirit constantly works to rid our lives of the “acts of the sinful nature” (Gal 5:19) and display His fruit instead. Therefore, the presence of the “fruit of the Spirit” is evidence that our character is becoming more like Christ’s.” (Katie Howard, Crosswalk.com)
This week, pray for our Annual Conference and those who are preaching on Sunday. And pray on these precious words from Galatians. Amen and Amen.