Skip to main content


Receiving, Opening, and Using the Greatest Gift

 

This is the season when we celebrate the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ, sent to be the salvation of all humanity and the entire created order! Christmas reminds us that, even during the most difficult of circumstances, God is among us to bring us healing and hope, and to show us the way forward. Through the gift of Jesus, God gathers us together as a congregation meant to worship and serve in the name and power of our Savior. Even as circumstances have required us to rethink almost every aspect of our mission and ministry, God has consistently gifted to us what we need to continue to be a faithful and vital church!

 

We continue to offer high-quality worship in three ways – live in our sanctuary, through livestreaming and through a recorded version of the live service available on our website (www.newtownumc.com) and Facebook page. We continue to offer meaningful ministries to children and their families both online and live through such events as Vacation Bible School and the restart of our in-person Sunday morning nursery and Sunday School classes (with COVID mitigation measures in place). We continue to add new followers of Jesus to our congregation through new member classes and confirmation classes. We continue to seek new ways to be connected to one another and sup- port and encourage each other. We continue to be involved in ministries of outreach locally, nationally and globally. Nothing has stopped the Newtown United Methodist Church from receiving, opening and using the greatest gift of Christmas! The gift of Jesus Christ continues to work around us, in us and through us – even in 2021, 2022 and beyond!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?   CONSIDER THE FOUR L’S! The mission statement of the Newtown United Methodist Church is “Helping Christians Grow and Growing New Christians.”   This statement raises a very important question: What does it mean to be a Christian?   Arriving at a shared understanding of what makes a Christian a Christian is crucial for us at NUMC if we’re going to fulfill our mission! One understanding of what it means to be a Christian is that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus.   The word “disciple” is based on a word which means “a pupil of a teacher” or, simply, “a learner.”   Jesus said that we are to be making disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20).   Another understanding of what it means to be a Christian is that a Christian is one who follows Jesus.   Jesus also said that we are meant to follow him (see Matthew 16:24-26).    Another understanding is that a Christian is a miniature version of Jesus or “a little...

DUST, DEATH AND DISCIPLESHIP

Lent is that forty-day period before Easter that many churches have set aside as a time of reflection upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and our response to that sacrifice.   Lent, basically, is a season of spiritual inventory. In Genesis 2:4b-7, we read how God created us out of dust.   In Genesis 3:1-19, we read how we will return to that dust.   Physically speaking, our origin and our destination are one and the same – dust! Do you know that household dust is made up mostly of the discarded skin cells of the occupants of that house?   Sometime, when you’re brave and you can handle a sobering dose of biblical reality, lift up the bedspread from where it touches the floor, get on your hands and knees and stare your mortality square in the face! Doing so is part of what Lent is all about.   That’s why some people have cross-shaped smears of ashes put on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday.   Those smears are a reminder that we are all returning t...
30, 60, 90 AND BEYOND! What is the best way for a new pastor to get started in a congregation?   That’s a question I’ve been asking myself quite a bit since I moved to the Newtown United Methodist Church! There are many ways to answer that question.   One is answer is that the best way to get started is to make some big decisions shortly after arriving so the people in your congregation realize that the new pastor is a decisive leader.   Another answer is that the best way to get started is to quickly begin a new program (which is guaranteed to be a success) so people realize that the new pastor is effective at making things happen.   Another answer is to rapidly make changes where needed while the “Honeymoon Effect” is still in full swing so as to get the maximum strategic leverage from the start up period. My answer is to that question is a little different from those above.   Even though my hope and prayer is that you will realize that I am an e...