The Beauty In Being A United Methodist Christian

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

… to say it was wonderful to gather at Matthews United Methodist (MUMC) this past Sunday to worship God and celebrate our nation’s birthday. What a glorious day! Moving music, great patriotic outfits and hopefully a little inspiration along the way. If you missed it, I hope you’ll watch here. You can also experience our Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra sharing America, the Beautiful below.

By the way, I’m so profoundly grateful to be an American. Ours is not a perfect country. Our goal, stated clearly in the Preamble to the Constitution, is to have “a MORE perfect union.” We are a nation constantly striving for improvement and greater perfection.

There is no place on earth that offers greater freedom of opportunity than the United States. That’s why people all over the world want to immigrate here.

I heard someone say the other day that we should think of a nation as a basketball court. The court surface makes it possible to play the game. Stephen Curry wouldn’t be able to dribble, and LeBron James wouldn’t be able to dunk if the court was in the middle of the Sahara desert. America is like a hard surface that makes the life we enjoy possible.

If you think you’re responsible for all of your success, consider what life would have been if you had been born in Bangladesh.

At some point in these July days, I hope you will click here and read this essay from Arthur Brooks on patriotism, nationalism, and happiness. You’ll be glad you did.

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my “The Beauty in Being a United Methodist Christian” devotional for today.  Please click on the arrow below to watch.

Incredible Commitment to Fruitful Labor & Celebrating Madeline Kamp

For the last 16 months our work as the MUMC Staff Community has been demanding of innovation, strenuous in its labor, constant in its juggling with an ever-changing future, and isolated from the community that our staff community normally enjoys with ease. I know this has been true for practically all who have worked inside and outside the home these last several months. While all the above has been true, our work has also been productive and fruitful. I am so proud of the staff community at MUMC and their incredible commitment to being a team, working hard, and supporting one another. With life resuming more normalcy, we have returned to our building and opened through the week. I feel an ease in their presence and laughter filling our hallways after this hard season. We are blessed at MUMC to have a staff community that truly enjoys one another! I am very, very grateful!

Much has changed in the last 16 months but our desire to serve this community the best we can has only grown. Likewise, this staff’s commitment to one another and our love for the community at MUMC has deepened as we have seen the ways this family of faith has supported one another and worked together through this unprecedented season.

Spending time with our staff community reminds me we have much to look forward to in our future. We have loving people working hard to nurture our community of faith. At MUMC you can trust we are surrounded by friends who have a commitment to keep widening the circle as we continue to find ways to be a transforming community for ALL.

After serving nearly 30 years on staff, Madeline Kamp will leave a huge hole in our hearts as she retires on July 15. I hope you can be present on Sunday to help us celebrate this remarkable woman. Her faithfulness to the children of our church and community is beyond compare. We’ll be celebrating her this Sunday (July 11) in worship and at a reception in The Commons following the 11 am worship hour.

We also hope you will express your thanksgiving for Madeline with a special love gift. If you’d like to contribute to a love gift for Madeline, you can do so with a gift to her directly (non-taxable for Madeline) or you can mail a check (taxable for Madeline) to MUMC with “Love Gift – Madeline Gift” marked in the memo line or click here to make your gift online.

I know you will join us in celebrating this remarkable servant of God!

Disciple Bible Study is About to Begin

Nothing has done more to bring about vitality and renewal in The United Methodist Church than Disciple Bible Study. At MUMC, dozens and dozens have made their way through these remarkable studies. If you’ve never been a part of one of these important small groups studying the Bible, then today it begins for you. All four classes are being offered. These small study groups help to make for deep connections. I hope you’ll take to time to get signed up here.

This Sunday (July 11) 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 will be preaching from Joshua 14:6-12 with his message titled, Don’t Let Your Passion Fade.

At 9:30 am and 11:00 am, we embark on a journey to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a United Methodist Christian. We are calling the worship series, Why I Am Enthusiastically a United Methodist Christian. Pastors Paul and Brad will join me in preaching/teaching in this series.  I’ll begin on Sunday with a sermon titled, Because God Gave Me a Brain (and Heart and Hands) from Ephesians 3:14-19.

In addition, at the 11 am worship service our prelude will feature a brother/sister duo. They are both concert pianists who have performed at Carnegie Hall. You will want to be in your seats a few minutes early to listen.

And now, as we are excitedly making our way slowly and carefully out of a global pandemic, may we never forget to 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 a team of four serving in missions through July 16 at Kidron Valley in Uganda? Please continue to pray for the group as they as they serve as the hands and feet of Christ at the orphanage with Pastor John.

Did you know that our halls have been filled with the sound of music as the Choir and Praise Band rehearse and prepare special worship music to be shared each Sunday? If you’ve missed worship, you want to be sure to attend when you’re ready to come back on campus. (Our Facilities Team continues to make every effort to deep clean and sanitize throughout the week and on Sundays.) Every Sunday is phenomenal here at Matthews!