UMW University UMC Wichita Falls

04/16/2017

Holy Saturday,

During the Great Three Days, from sunset Holy Thursday to sunset Easter Day, we celebrate the saving events of Jesus Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. In the development of Christian worship, each event came to be remembered on a separate day. In the earliest centuries, however, these events were celebrated as a unity in an extraordinary single liturgy that began Saturday night and continued until the dawn of Easter Day. It was known as the great Paschal (Easter) Vigil. Preceded by a fast day, it was the most holy and joyful night of the entire Christian year, for it proclaimed and celebrated the whole of salvation history and Christ's saving work.

Scripture for today:
Job 14:1-14
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16 (UMH 764)
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66 or John 19:38-42

excerpted from UMCDiscipleship.org

An agency of The United Methodist Church, Discipleship Ministries helps local church, district, and conference leaders fulfill the shared dream of making world-changing disciples. The agency connects leaders with needed resourcing, training, consulting, and networking that support spiritual formatio...

04/13/2017

Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday

Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, marks the last conversation Jesus has with his disciples, a conversation grounded in what he calls a new commandment (mandatum in Latin, hence our English word “Maundy”). He illustrates and underscores the new commandment by washing the disciples’ feet: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Scriptures for today:
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 (UMH 837)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

01/31/2017

Two opportunities to serve on a mission trip are coming in spring 2017. Trips are planned for Leesville, Louisiana, and Rio Bravo, Mexico.

07/02/2015

Ephesians 6:10-20 NIV
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

05/23/2015

Take time to meditate on Scripture every day.
Luke 10:38-42 (NRSV)
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing.[a] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

courtesy of biblegateway.com

05/08/2015

Use this in case of emergency!

05/02/2015

"Life can be unpredictable at times. However, one thing you can always do something about is your attitude. Make up you mind each day to stay positive and upbeat, no matter what happens. Mistakes are excellent teachers, so never be hard on yourself if you make one - be proud of your newfound wisdom!"

04/29/2015

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." -- Mother Theresa
-- She opens her mouth in skillful and Godly wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness (giving counsel and instruction). -- Proverbs 31:26 AMP

04/29/2015

A Prayer for Wednesday:
In the middle of the week, good Lord,
assure me again of your presence
in the midst of life.
Renew my strength and determination
to do your will on earth,
even as it is done in heaven.
Save me from self-contentment,
from a vision that is too narrow.
Enable me to reach
beyond my parish (church), into my community;
beyond my community, into every corner
of your anguished world.
Help me to see even beyond this world
into the vast expanses of your universe,
created as a sign of your extraordinary love
and of your enduring power.
This I ask through Christ,
through whom all things were made,
in whom all things hold together. Amen
(found in This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer by Lawrence Hull Stookey)

04/28/2015

Last Sunday - April 26 - was Blue Sunday, a national day of prayer for child abuse. This is a prayer from the Blue Sunday site:
Prayer & Challenge
Lord, thank You for our children,
For them we kneel and pray.
Help us teach them of Your kindness,
Of Your mercy and Your way.
Help us show them of Your love,
Your strength and safety, too.
Help us show them who You are.
Help us treat them like You do.
-- to learn more visit www.BlueSunday.org

Blue Sunday 2014 Accomplishments Over seven million people around the world participated in our April Blue Sunday Day of Prayer for Abused Children Helped 1,300 foster children get together, many with siblings who were not housed together Helped with emergency groceries and rent for famil…

04/06/2015

RESURRECTION REJOICING!
Resurrection Sunday: April 5, 2015
John 20:1-18
20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."

20:3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.

20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

20:5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,

20:7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

20:8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

20:9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

20:10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

20:11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;

20:12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

20:13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."

20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."

20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher).

20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

REJOICE, EASTER PEOPLE!!
for more texts for today go to:
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=85

04/04/2015

Lenten Lectionary
HOLY SATURDAY/EASTER VIGIL
1 Peter 4:1-8 (NRSV)

4:1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin),

4:2 so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God.

4:3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

4:4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.

4:5 But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

4:6 For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

4:7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.

4:8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

For more passages for holy Saturday go to:
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=83

Full text of the Revised Common Lectionary readings for Year B - Holy Week - Holy Saturday