Taking the Bible Seriously

14^th Sunday after Pentecost
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say what a remarkable weekend: volunteers with Home2Home Ministry driving all over the area picking up and delivering furniture; vaccines being administered at our vaccination clinic; youth kicking off the United Youth season; families with small children gathering for fun and community; folks from several Matthews’ churches gathering at our Hug-A-Cop event at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church saying thank you to nearly two dozen law enforcement officers; and a beautiful new hymn (written by our very own Darlene Prestbo) for the church sung in the 11 am worship hour for the very first time. I love the privilege that is mine to serve alongside each of you who give and serve so devotedly.

In my sermon this past Sunday, I mentioned about seeing a sign in the Nashville, TN church lawn that said, “People Matter to God. We are a church where Everyone’s Welcome because one of the things we’ve learned is Nobody’s Perfect, and with Jesus, we believe Anything’s Possible.” This past Sunday we dug deep with Jesus about how Everyone is Welcome. You can watch my sermon here.

To Serve in Jesus’ Name

Within the last days, we’ve witnessed two significant international tragedies.  On August 14, one of the poorest countries in the world (Haiti) experienced another devastating earthquake.  Thousands of people are presumed dead from the disaster.  I ask you to pause at this moment and pray for the people of Haiti.

Simultaneous with this physical earthquake, the world watched in horror at the unraveling of Afghanistan. Reminiscent of the heart-wrenching images at the end of the Vietnam War, people clamored for a way to escape the violent and oppressive wave. Women and children are particularly at risk, and the small minority of Christians are experiencing increased persecution. Pause at this moment and pray for the Afghan people as they cling to the slim edges of hope.

As events unfold, Matthews United Methodist (MUMC) will continue to monitor the situation for Kingdom opportunities to help and serve in the name of Jesus.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river who streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
– Psalm 46:1-5

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my “Taking the Bible Seriously” devotional for today. Please click here to watch.

Inclusive Grace

Soon after the 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, a number of MUMC faithful banded together and formed Inclusive Grace to support and celebrate LGBTQIA+ persons, their families and friends, both within and beyond our church community. To read more about their ministry, please click here. Recently a couple of outstanding videos have been produced telling the stories of people involved and people supported. I invite you to watch one of them here.

A Note from our Ad Council Chair, Jon Pollack

Jon Pollack is the Chair of our Administrative Council, the governing body of MUMC. He provides a summary of the focus initiatives from our Faithful Next Steps here.

This Sunday in Worship

We invite you to join us in person or online this Sunday at 9:30 am (contemporary), 11:00 am (traditional) or 12:30 (Spanish – in person only).

In our Spanish-speaking CCH community, Pastor Roldan is going baseball on us with the sermon title Don’t Neglect Your Bases from Colossians 1:21-23.

At 9:30 am and 11:00 am, we continue our People Matter to God worship series. This Sunday, I’ll be preaching the second sermon in the series. It is titled Nobody is Perfect. Please read Luke 18:9-14 in preparation.

And now, as always, during these strange, uncertain, tumultuous, perilous, and hopeful days of pandemic remember … God does God’s best work in moments like this.

We are in this … together,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know that Global Impact has made a contribution to the relief and recovery efforts in western NC following the damage caused by Tropical Storm Fred? This was made possible due to your generous giving to our Disaster Relief & Recovery fund which allows us to rapidly respond once a “crisis event” occurs. We plan on organizing teams to go and help once opportunities to go and serve become available. Please visit give.matthewsumc.org, then specify “Disaster Relief” under fund to contribute.

Did you know Pastor Chuck officiated at the marriage of Masha Koval and Chris Guffey at the Separk Mansion in Gastonia on Sunday, August 22, 2021? Chris is the grandson of Lou Christopher and son of Alice Guffey. Congratulations, Masha & Chris!

Did you know that Hank Donaghy was celebrated on August 14th with a retirement dinner? Hank has served in insurance and financial planning services for over 65 years! Does anyone really think Hank is going to retire?

Did you know Home2Home Ministry had their largest turnout ever on Saturday with 18 volunteers making way for lots of pickups and deliveries? Twenty-five pieces of furniture were picked up and 48 pieces were delivered.