The Beacon
Blue Mound UMC – January 2024
New Year Thoughts
♥The New Year’s beginning filled with hopes and dreams ahead.
♥Just let go of your past and start off with the new. Forgive all those who hurt you and be open to making new relationships. It’s the New Year, so make it “New”.
♥You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
♥Just the moment you feel like giving up, victory is always within reach! Remember this moving into the New Year.
♥Celebrate endings–for they precede new beginnings.
♥No one can go back in time to change what has happened, so work on your present to make yourself a wonderful future.
♥Be so busy loving your life that you have no time for hate, regret or fear.
♥End each year with a few good lessons and start the new one by showing that you have learned the lessons of the past well.
Happy New Year!
As 2023 comes to an end and we begin 2024, Paul’s analogy of the church being like a body comes to mind. Just like each part of the body plays an important function for a person, each person in the church has an important role to play in the life of the church. Some of us serve in various roles in our worship together. Others of us serve in various roles in our fellowship together. Some of us serve in discipleship. Still others of us serve in various ministry and mission roles. Some of us serve in evangelism and hospitality roles. And still others serve in various administrative roles behind the scenes.
Just like in Paul’s analogy of the body, none of these roles are any more important than the others. Every person’s service is important, and it takes each one of us growing in our ways of service for our church, the body of Christ, to continue to get stronger and stronger. So, I thank you for the various ways you’ve served our church family in 2023, and I look forward to growing together with you in 2024. Christ, our Lord, has given to us the awesome responsibility of being his hands and feet. May we continue to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Now we continue with part four of What are the Sacraments? Through baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we enter into covenant with God and grow in our relationship with God. Partaking in these sacraments is part of what it means to live in the Holy Spirit. Yes, prayer is important, as are Bible study and devotional time. But God has given to us through the Church these two special means of grace to lead us more deeply into a relationship with God. When we accept Christ, then, it really is important that we are baptized. It is equally important as we progress in our journey of faith that we nourish our souls with the Lord’s Supper.
All Christians agree that baptism and the Lord’s Supper have a special place in the life of the Church. They go right back to Jesus, and from experience we know that they are indeed means of grace. God has promised to meet us in these practices. However, all Christians also agree that God meets us in other practices. In preaching we hear the word of God, and in fellowship together in the church we experience the Spirit.
Maybe the most important truth about the sacraments is that it is the risen Christ who presides and gives grace at the sacraments. Of course, he works through human and earthly instruments, but he is also the One who is present.
Next month we’ll begin looking at What Are the Bible and Creeds? I pray that you may come to understand and believe more and more with each passing day, just how special and loved by God you are!
Peace be with you, Buster
January
Birthday
03 Sharon Knappe
05 Debbie Martin
11 Taylor Kraft
Sondra Trietsch
Kyle Kraft
15 Linda Boyer
16 Dorothy Smith
Sandra Schertz
20 Robert Franklin
Susie Schertz
22 Linda Brandenberger
23 Dorothy Franklin
24 Eula Belle Roberson
25 Bob Howell
27 Dana Wright
Lisa Smith
Joe Regan-Leaupepe
Anniversary
08 D’Lynn and Joe Ewing
Karan’s Pink Barbie Christmas Tree
Did You See It?
01 New Year’s Day
07 Holy Communion
14 Second Sunday Lunch, Noon
27 Family Fellowship Night, 6:00 pm Fun, Games, and Food.
A Japanese tradition is watching the first sunrise of the new year. Before the sun rises on the first day of January, many people like to go out and find a spot to see the first lights of the day. The act symbolizes the hopes one has for the new year and to bring a fresh start to one’s life.
BLUE MOUND UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
8421 N. Interstate 35, Denton, TX 76207-1537 (940) 382-0825
Midway between Denton and Sanger at Exit 473
Sunday School: 9:30 am, Sunday Worship: 10:45 am
Website: www.bluemoundumc.org
Linda Boyer, Newsletter Editor
Need to contact Pastor Buster Noah?
pastor@bluemoundumc.org