Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? [Matthew 2:1-2a]
I wonder what they saw in the sky that first night—What it was that got them thinking? What was it that motivated them to pack their bags and begin a journey to who knew where? Something had been revealed to them—But what was it? Was it a star in the sky, or was it something in their mind or their heart, a premonition perhaps?
They came from the East; some have speculated they were from Persia. We like to think that there were three of them, but the gospel of Matthew doesn’t say for certain. We call them Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar but those names didn’t come to us until the seventh century. And what about “the star?” It has been viewed as a supernatural phenomenon, just a regular star, a comet, or sometimes as a conjunction or grouping of planets like we experienced earlier this past month.
This anonymity and lack of historical information is a reminder that this story, this Epiphany journey, is not just the wise men’s journey; it is everyone’s journey. The truth of sacred scripture is never limited to or contained only in the past but includes what the divine has in store for us in our futures—it is a living story of hope! Join us this week at Sedona United Methodist Church as the Rev. Fred Mast shares a message entitled “If Only We’d Look Up” based on the story of the “Epiphany” found in Matthew’s gospel.
Sunday mornings we enter the spirit of worship at 9:30am featuring meaningful and uplifting music, special times of prayer and passionate life changing messages designed to move you closer in your relationship with Jesus Christ and others. We look forward to seeing you!
As we strive to keep our congregation and community safe and healthy, we will observe physical distancing and limited seating worship so visit our website or call our church office to reserve your seat for worship. We will continue to also offer an amazing Spirit Filled On-Line Worship experience each week—You are invited to access worship or information through our website (www.sedonaumc.org) or by calling the church office (928-282-1780).
Visit our beautiful nativity exhibit in our front parking EXTENDED thru January 6th—our theme is “Lord, Hear Our Prayers” an interactive display providing the community the opportunity to submit their Christmas prayers which will be prayed over by our prayer ministry. Come and bring your heartfelt prayers to the manger.
We offer so many great missions, ministries and study opportunities at Sedona UMC—Visit our website at us on www.sedonaumc.org and “Like” us on Facebook. We would love to pray for you! —Prayer requests may be submitted online or by calling us at 928-282-1780. We are conveniently located at 110 Indian Cliffs Road off the Back O’Beyond roundabout on Route 179 in Sedona. All are welcome at Sedona UMC—We look forward to seeing you!—Come and grow with us!
