Outside the Box with Pastor David Christy: “Be” Church

Dear Fellow Ministers,

We are so very blessed to get to “be” Church. Thank you for the countless ways you live your faith. It excites me to see the ways your faith is lived “outside the box” in everyday relationships and in the ways you extend the reach of Matthews UMC into the community. It is an honor for me to get to introduce myself in the community as one of the pastors of Matthews UMC. You, and those who have gone before us, have created a positive impression of God. That is a gift.

I believe that one of the reasons this church is seen so positively in the community is because of your willingness to deal with “real” life. One of the emphases of our Conference is on us becoming a “trauma-informed church.” The simple truth is that people have been hurt by The Church. We have people coming every Sunday who are struggling with very real things to them that none of us know about. We have people who bring a lot of hurtful things into Sunday School, small groups, and worship. What a great opportunity we have to meet people with the Good News of Jesus Christ!

This Sunday, in our morning worship services (8:15, 9:30, and 11 am), we will be blessed to have Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath with us to share how God cares for those who have been through trauma. I invite you to read through Acts 10 in preparation for her sermon. After worship, at 12:15 in The Commons, we will have some time with Dr. Heath to share more in depth and for Questions & Answers (please register). Special thanks to our Mental Health Ministry for planning this great day!

As always, we celebrate the ways God was proclaimed on Sunday. Our Family Worship and our traditional worship were filled with praise, honesty, and joy. Sharing these services is a great way to invite someone to our church. Feel free to refer friends to any of our social media or our website where they can learn a lot about Matthews UMC.

Thank you all for joining in on the quest to be “ALL IN” with our faith. We are going to be talking about different aspects of living out our faith holistically as we prepare for Commitment Sunday on November 9. This Commitment Sunday will be a chance for us all to “bring all of our gifts” for God’s glory. Thank you for considering the ways we can support God with our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness!

Please continue to pray for our church and its ministry. Each day we draw closer to moving back into our Sanctuary (view this week’s photos and my video update). Your financial support and your generosity of being flexible is much appreciated. Thank you. I look forward to being in ministry with you this week!

In Christ’s Service,
David

Did you know that our MUMC family contributed $17,045 to the Western NC Conference for Hurricane Helene assistance as we remembered those impacted on the one-year anniversary? This is an updated final total from what we shared last week. We are blessed by your generosity to those in need!

Did you know that this week’s Family Worship Service was full of surprises as we focused on how Jesus always showed acceptance and love, even when it wasn’t expected? Kids got creative by representing each of our Bible stories with some real time sculpting.

Did you know that over 140 friends from MUMC and our greater community enjoyed a fun-filled evening of food, dancing and bingo at our Fall BINGO Night this past Friday?