Pastor’s Page | June 11th, 2026
Sermon Prep (Read Ezekeil 10-11)
My Dad had heart issues since I was a small kid. Now it is true that my dad never really took care of his body. He ate the wrong foods, engaged in a little too much adult beverages, never exercised, and was a chain smoker. So, at the age of 40 he was having heart attacks, and then by the age of 50 he had so many major heart attacks that he was placed on a heart transplant list. Prior to the operation, his blood pressure had gotten to the point where it was practically non-existent. They tried medicine, they tried tilting his bed, I’m sure they even tried pep talks. Nothing would help except one thing…he needed a new heart. The process was a painful one. They had to rip his old broken heart out and replace it with a new one. Not only that, but once he was put on the list, he was given the ultimatum that if they found even one hint of nicotine in his system then he would be disqualified from the transplant list. The rehab was intense, and he had a whole team to support him once he had the operation and to help him afterwards.
Once my dad had the operation, the change was almost automatic. He was literally a new man. He felt better than he had ever felt before. My dad could have changed a lot of things in his life, he could have punished himself for the way he had lived and not taken care of his body, but none of that would have helped. He needed a new heart.
In Ezekiel 10 and 11, we will be speaking about how God’s presence leaves the temple (which is awful), but that is not where the chapters end. God’s presence does not cease to exist; nor does it cease to be with His people. Instead, His presence goes to where the people are in exile and then God gives them an amazing promise. He says that He will give them a new heart, an undivided heart that is made out of flesh and not stone. There are a lot of implications for this that we will be looking at on Sunday, but what I want us to remember is that God’s desire is that His people return to Him and be revived in Him. The prophets can be very discouraging, but we need to keep reading. The point is not the inability of the people to follow God, but rather the faithfulness of God to not only forgive His people, but to promise us the hope of a new undivided heart that seeks Him above all else and loves Him and our neighbors fully.
As you read through the texts this week, try to see the hope that is in these texts. What is the purpose of Exile to Babylon? How is God’s grace evident even in the discipline? What does it mean for us to have a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone? Finally, how does this point to the Gospel? Where do you see the promise of Jesus in these passages?
June Sermon Series
Crazy Times and a Steady God:
We Smell Like Sheep and Wolves
06/14 - Departed Glory - Ezekiel 10-11
06/21 - Lying Preachers - Ezekiel 13-14
06/28 - Unfaithful People - Ezekiel 15-16
Updates, Thoughts and More
Vacation Bible School begins this Monday. Please be in prayer for all the kids who will be attending this year. I want to invite the entire church to begin praying that God will move in the hearts of these kids and so on Monday thru Thursday, take time between 9am and 12:30 pm to pray for these kids and the volunteers.
Acton Celebrates America is going to be bigger and better then ever this year. We are celebrating the 250th birthday of America and it is going to be a celebration at Acton Methodist! We have some postcards for you to pass out to your friends and family. Please pick them up in the Lobby and pass them to as many people as you can.
Even though summer is a slower time here at the church, don’t think that we have slowed down completely. We still have lots of opportunities for you to get involved in studies and serving. Check the calendar to see all the opportunities available.
The Spurs are laying an egg in these finals. As much as I don’t like the city of New York, basketball is better when the Knicks are good. They have been bad so long, it is good to see them back on top. The Spurs can still turn this around but it will take a miracle. They better get those nuns praying.
College football is only a few months away. I know people love summer, but we need for it to hurry up and end so college football can begin.
What’s Going On This Week
Sunday (06/14)
Worship Services — 9:00am & 10:30am
Monday (06/15)
Vacation Bible School — 10:00am-12:30pm
Alzheimer’s Support Group — 10am
Stitching Angels — 1:30pm
Church Council Meeting — 6:30pm
Tuesday (6/16)
Men’s Prayer Breakfast — 7:30am
Vacation Bible School — 10:00am-12:30pm
Wednesday (6/17)
Prayer Warriors — 9:00am
Vacation Bible School — 10:00am-12:30pm
Sip And Share — 10:00am
Choir — 7:00pm
Thursday (6/18)
Vacation Bible School — 10:00am-12:30pm
Joke of the Week
(You’ll need to love 80’s music to get this)
Three things Christ promises he will never do: Won’t leave you broken-hearted (Psalm 147:3), won’t reject you (John 6:37), and won’t leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:15).
So in essence, Jesus is… Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you!
Memory Verse of the Week
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
~Ezekiel 11:19-20 (NIV84)
Quote of the Week
““And his way is truly the way of the heart, or spirit. If we would walk with him, we must walk with him at that interior level. There are very few who really do not understand this about him. He saves us by realistic restoration of our heart to God and then by dwelling there with his Father through the distinctively divine Spirit. The heart thus renovated and inhabited is the only real hope of humanity on earth.”
~Dallas Willard
