Have you ever, when reading a book, snuck a peek at the end of the book to see how it ends? Apparently, there are people who do. It's like Billy Crystal's character says in the movie When Harry Met Sally—"When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case something happens to me before I finish, at least I know how it ends." What
"At once the Spirit made him go into the wilderness, where he stayed forty days, being tempted by Satan." [Mark 1:12-13] It's a humble journey, the one we begin to look at this week—Unlike other journeys in our lives, journeys that start off with the excitement of loaded suitcases, wedding licenses or retirement gifts. It's a humble journey we begin, this Jesus-journey. Humble? Really? This scripture from the gospel of
This week at Sedona United Methodist Church we celebrate the festival of the Baptism of Our Lord—Each year this Holy Gospel reading brings us the account of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan at the start of his earthly ministry. This year we hear the account from the 3rd Chapter in the Gospel of Matthew— “At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be
Currently, Covid-19 infection rates in Arizona seem to be increasing at very concerning rates. With the holiday gatherings and events, the rates in Yavapai County have increased significantly. After consultation with several of our leadership and our Administrative Council, I sadly must announce a suspension in our in-person worship (effectively immediately 01/02/21) for a two-to-three-week period in which we hope rates will drop to pre-holiday numbers. Recorded worship will continue
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
Please join Sedona United Methodist Church for Sunday worship. This first Sunday after Christmas Day, Wayne Light will lead our service with a sermon entitled "What Do We Do Now?". 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
“The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel—Which means ‘God is with us’.” (Isaiah 7:14) There are many reasons why a baby named Jesus was born into our world, but one of the most important was so that we would never have to be alone—so that you would never have to face a dark night or a cold world or
Lord Hear Our Prayers at Sedona UMC— In the midst of very challenging times one of the greatest gifts God has for the world is prayer—a personal and intimate opportunity for conversation with the creator. In prayer we begin with who we are; God’s people seeking to understand how to live out of God’s presence with us in the world. As we all struggle to know how to respond to
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) Luke is the only writer in the Bible to use the word manger in the New Testament. And what he does with this one word — what God does with this one feeding trough — is enough to make us leap
