June 2023 - Page 2 of 2 - First United Methodist Church of Galax

Sunday Sermon June 11, 2023

June 13, 2023/in From the Pastor/by Diane Palumbo

Sunday Reflection (June 11, 2023)

June 13, 2023/in From the Pastor/by Diane Palumbo

In this week’s Scripture Reading (Matthew 9:9-13) a carpenter who was also the son of a carpenter gives an imperative, a command. Interestingly, Jesus did not say, “Accept me as your personal Lord and Savior,” but “Follow me!” This entails much more than the heart; it is the heart and soul and giving it our all. It is like that Great Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus Christ certainly lived such a life, and he invites us to “Follow him.”

Yes, we are not disciples in the sense of the twelve disciples, but we are the fruit of their labors in Christ’s Church. We are learning, like them, to become disciples who follow Jesus. May we, like Matthew, rise up and follow Jesus and bring healing and restoration to the world.

Prayer for the Week (June 11-June 17, 2023)

June 13, 2023/in From the Pastor/by Diane Palumbo

Let us pray that our faith and love be deep and authentic: God of love and mercy, to our surprise your Son Jesus said to wavering, erring people, “Come, follow me.” May we realize that it was to us he spoke. Give us the courage to give up our pride and reliance on our own achievements and practices. May we follow in faith and love the call of Jesus Christ and to reflect your love and mercy. Grant this through Christ our Lord who eternally dwells with you and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday Reflection (June 4, 2023)

June 5, 2023/in From the Pastor/by Diane Palumbo

This Sunday we celebrated the mystery of Trinity. God has not left us without a spiritual witness that leads us to God: Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. To listen to the Spirit is to listen to the Son and to listen to the Son is to listen to the Father. In the first three verses of Genesis the Word of God and the Spirit originate in God and proceed from God to embrace creation (Genesis 1:1-3).

God is not a distant, impersonal God who demands blind obedience or no obedience at all; rather, the Holy Spirit moves from God and brings us into fellowship with Christ, each other, and the Father whom we address as “Our Father who art in heaven.” In Jesus Christ God’s Word was enfleshed (or the Latin word, “incarnate”) and lived among us (John 1:1-5, 14). Through this move from God to us, Christ is formed within us and among us (John 1:15-17). As a response to this move from God to us, God invites us to participate in the move of God’s compassion to the world by learning to be his disciples and teaching others to be his disciples (Matthew 28:16-20).

Prayer for the Week (June 4-June 10, 2023)

June 5, 2023/in From the Pastor/by Diane Palumbo

Let us pray to God our Father who sent his Word, Jesus Christ, to bring us truth and the Holy Spirit to make us holy. Through your Word and Spirit, may we come to know the mystery of your life. Draw us to you so we share in your life and your love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who eternally dwells with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever more. Amen.
(Sunday Missal, alt.)