Pastor’s Page | September 11th, 2025
Sermon Prep (Read Ephesians 4:1-16)
My heart is heavy today. The news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk has left me both angry, hurt, and discouraged. I am typically not a very political person. I have my political beliefs but I appreciate the open discussion of ideas and respecting those with whom you differ. I enjoyed listening to Charlie Kirk because he was willing to have a conversation with people who had differing ideas than his. He would go to college campuses, which used to be the beacon of diverse thought and where your thinking was challenged, and he would have an open mike and allow people to ask questions and talk about issues. He was always respectful to the people, at times even admonishing the crowds around him to be quiet and respectful to the questioner, and I thought he was always thoughtful and deliberate in his responses. Even if you didn’t agree with every belief he had, you had to admire his willingness to talk about things in a respectful way. He would often say that the way to bring about unity is to not silence other voices, but to have the free exchange of ideas. Last night, I spoke to my son-in-law who admired Charlie Kirk for his Christian witness and patriotic values and he too was heartbroken over it. One thing I reminded him that as Christians, death is not the end but the door to an eternity with our Lord and Savior, and also I reiterated to him that we can not ever allow any incident to cause us to become overcome with hatred. As Paul said in Romans 12, “Do not overcome evil with evil, but evil with good.” I don’t ever want to allow the evil of this world to change my love for others. At the same time, you can’t allow evil to silence you. I think that the shooter’s goal was to silence beliefs that he didn’t agree with, yet I truly believe that this will only embolden others to speak truth and to encourage discussions more. The courage to boldly speak up and at the same time to not hate those who disagree with you and try to silence you is the kind of attitude that changes our culture and our world.
The connection to this week’s message is that our focus is on unity in the body of Christ. What attitudes are necessary for there to truly be peace amongst us? And this is not just relevant to the church body. As Christians, we are to be the example of Christ for the world to see. What example of unity do we take outside the church walls and into our homes, our jobs, our communities?
To piggy-back off of last week’s message, when we receive and accept the calling to follow Christ, we then are called to live a life “worthy” of that calling. This Sunday we will be talking about what it means to live a life worthy and how that is a response to the calling, not a prerequisite for the calling. Also, in the context Paul ties the idea of living a life worthy to our effort to maintain unity. As you read through verses 1-4, notice all the stepping stone attitudes Paul mentions for paving our way to unity. Which of these do you exhibit the most and which do you struggle with the most? On Sunday, we will look at how these virtues are often misunderstood (such as the desire to create unity as being weak and afraid of conflict) and how these attitudes are missing in our churches and our society. What happens in a relationship when there is no humility, no bearing with each other in love, no patience, and no gentleness?
As you study this, also think about the difference between unity in the absence of truth and unity because of truth. Also, notice in verse 3 that Paul tells us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. What effort do you think Paul means? Why do you think he says “Keep” and not “Create”? Also, what is this unity in?
Tying this back in to how I began this discussion, one of the things that I have had to do last evening and this morning was to pray that God would keep me close to Him. My prayer last night was for Charlie Kirk’s family, our nation that is so divided, and also that God would prevent me from having a hardened heart. It was hard after reading the reactions of some who celebrated the assassination, but we must not allow hatred to have the last word.
1 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Acts 4:32, John 13:35, Philippians 2:1-5, Romans 14:19, John 17:23, Psalms 133:1-3, and make sure to red Romans 12:9-21.
Updates, Thoughts and More
This church runs on Jesus, Coffee, and Volunteers. We have a great staff, but the staff would not be able to do what they do without the great work of the numerous volunteers. On September 24th at 2 pm, the staff would like to have you as our guest for our Volunteer Appreciation party. This is for all of our volunteers at church. Who are the volunteers? Anyone who serves on a committee, sings in the choir, works at the front desk, sticks around to help put up chairs and tables, helps with the kids and youth, serves in our community, prays for our church and her mission, and anything else you can think of that involves volunteering of your time and gifts in the church. We as a staff want to say thank you for the giving of yourself to the Kingdom of Christ. We will have some snacks, drinks, and Dr. Rawlianne Rangel and our new associate music director Daria Dodonova will be sharing their gifts of music with us. We do ask that you call the church office to RSVP so we can ensure we have enough food for everyone.
Our Choir will be singing at The American Revolution Experience in downtown Granbury this Saturday. Join us at 11am on September 13th and we encourage everyone to wear an Acton Methodist Church T-shirt at the event.
We kicked off our Table Talk series this past Wednesday on the topic of World Religions. We looked at how difficult it is to try to define religion, why is there so many different religions, how do we relate to each other in regards to different religions, and why and how did religion start in the first place? If you missed it, I have copies of the notes I can pass on to you. This week we will be looking at Judaism and what it believes in a post temple world and how it connects to the Christian faith. Come join us this Wednesday at 5 pm in E101.
I didn’t do too bad in my picks last week in the college ranks but I was pleasantly surprised in my wrong choices in the NFL. So here are my picks for this week’s college games and we have some good ones. First, I think Alabama has woken up and will steamroll over Wisconsin. The Badgers have fallen off the radar here lately. Georgia and Tennessee will be the game of the week. Tennessee always has lots of offense, but I think Georgia will come out on top. They are playing at Rocky Top so I would not be shocked if Tennessee won. LSU will steamroll Florida and the Gator fans will once again be calling for their coach to be fired only to have him pull off two or three key wins late in the year. And finally, Texas A&M will get their revenge on Notre Dame and pull away in the fourth quarter.
For the NFL, it was one of the best first week of games I have seen in a long time. This week, the best games are the Chiefs and the Eagles in a rematch of the Superbowl. I think the Eagles are the superior team, but since they lost last week they may feel like they have something to prove. Plus, the Eagles looked beatable against the Cowboys (thanks for the drops, CeeDee!). I think that Mahomes does his magic in the fourth quarter. The other game that will be good is Washington and Green Bay. Green Bay looked like a complete team last week against Detroit. I still am not the biggest fan of Jordan Love, but they don’t really have any weaknesses. They remind me of the early 2000’s Patriots. I think Green Bay wins easily. The other games I think will be good is Chicago and Detroit, which Detroit will win. And Denver and Indianapolis. Who knew Daniel Jones could throw the ball like that? Let’s see if he is that good or if Miami was just that bad. I think Denver wins in the fourth quarter.
What’s Going On This Week
Sunday (09/14)
Sunday Service - 9am & 10:30am
Monday (09/15)
Stitching Angels - 1:30pm
Church Council - 6:30pm
Tuesday (09/16)
Men’s Meeting - 7:30am
Armor of God Bible Study - 10:00am
Wednesday (09/17)
Prayer Warriors - 9am
Sip and Share - 10am
Stitching Angels - 1:30pm
Table Talk (World Religions) - 5pm
Youth and Kids - 5pm
Bell Choir - 6pm
Choir - 7pm
Open Gym - 7pm
Thursday (09/18)
Psalms Bible Study - 9:00am
Saturday (09/20)
Mexican Fiesta - 6:30pm
Learning our Faith
Catechism of the Global Methodist Church (Ecumenical Affirmations)
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
Do you believe that there is but one baptism?
Yes. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. (Eph. 4:4-6.)
What is Baptism?
Baptism signifies entrance into the household of faith and is a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of the new birth in Christ Jesus, and a mark of Christian discipleship. (Acts 2:37-39; Rom. 6:1-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Gal. 3:27-28; Col. 2:11-14; Heb. 10:19-22)
Joke of the Week
A Bible group study leader says to his group, “What would you do if you knew you only had four weeks left before the great Judgment Day?” A gentleman says,” I would go out into my community and minister the Gospel to those that have not yet accepted the Lord into their lives.” “Very good!” says the group leader. One lady speaks up and says enthusiastically, “I would dedicate all of my remaining time to serving God, my family, my church, and my fellow man with a greater conviction.” “That’s wonderful!” the group leader comments. One gentleman in the back finally speaks up loudly and says, “I would go to my mothers-in-law’s house for the four weeks.” The group leader asks, “Why your mother-in-law’s home?” “Because that will make it the longest four weeks of my life!”
Quote of the Week
Being disconnected from the local church, for whatever reason, is a dangerous way to live. Not only do these “lone rangers” miss out on the blessings of functioning within the context of the body of Christ, but like lone sheep away from the safety of the flock and the watchful care of the shepherd, they are vulnerable to predators of every sort.
~Nancy Leigh Demoss
