The Beacon
Blue Mound UMC June 2023
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
The proverb “home is where the heart is” means that, wherever you are and whoever you are with, a home and family provide the greatest emotional bond. The saying applies to your home and any location where you feel connected to the space, people or culture.
The phrase “home is where the heart is” doesn’t have any physical connection to a structure and buildings or hearts. It’s an emotional state describing your attachment to a place where you feel you belong in the world.
A home is only as solid as its foundation. If a foundation is weak, it will split and the house will collapse. The same is true with a home spiritually. If a home, or a family, is to be solid and strong and unified then it must be built on the firm foundation of truth: the Word of God. (Above from Christian websites regarding Home)
For me I see that each of us create a special place, our home. We decorate it with things that we enjoy, things that make us feel comfortable. We want it to be a warm, welcoming and safe haven we can come to after a difficult day “out there.” Although, we cannot carry our homeplace with us in our day-to-day activities, we can carry with us the idea of home.
When our heart is where Christ abides, unlike our earthly home, we can take Christ with us wherever we go. The believer not only is well assured by faith there is the promise of an abundant life while we are here on this earth and we have the good hope, through grace, of heaven as a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place. God is the Builder and Maker. He has prepared a place for those who love him.
In John 14, Jesus says: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
… What Is Salvation (Part Five)
We now conclude our look at What is Salvation with a series of questions and answers.
- How does God reach out to sinful human beings?
- The Holy Spirit unceasingly calls us to repentance.
Philippians 1:6 says: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
- What do we call this invitation to repentance? A. We call it prevenient grace.
- Can we reject God’s call to repentance? A. Yes. We have free will.
- What is repentance?
- It is a recognition that we have acted wrongly before God, and a desire to live according to God’s will.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 says: “Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. For goodly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.”
- What happens if we accept God’s call to repentance and accept Jesus Christ?
- Two things: justification and regeneration.
Philippians 3:8-9 says: “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.”
- What is justification?
- It means that, through our faith in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we are accounted righteous before God.
Romans 5:1, 18 says: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…. Therefore, just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”
- What is regeneration?
- It is the renewal of human beings in righteousness through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature and experience newness of life.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.”
- What is the effect of regeneration?
- We are enabled to serve God and live as God would wish. This is also called sanctification.
John 3:5-6 says: “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.’”
- Is it possible to live without willfully sinning?
- Yes, it is called entire sanctification. It is a state of perfect love.
2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.”
- What is the end of our salvation?
- We will be raised from the dead and live eternally with God.
Colossians 3:4 says: “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.”
Next month we’ll begin our discussion of What Is the Church.
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
Oh, Happy Day!
June Fun
Birthday
07 Bettie Brandenberger
08 Carrie Trietsch
12 Shanelle Haisler
Joshua Harding-Sheets
18 Hannah Levelle
27 Kiefer Hardin
Anniversary
16 Ricky and Susie Schertz
26 Herf and Wanda Graham
Celebrate All Fathers! June 18 is Father’s Day.
Daddy’s hands were soft and kind when I was cryin’
Daddy’s hands were hard as steel when I’d done wrong
Daddy’s hands weren’t always gentle but I’ve come to understand
There was always love in daddy’s hands (From the song Daddy’s Hands by Holly Dunn)
Display Your American Flag Proudly > Flag Day, is a holiday observed annually on June 14. It is a day that commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States that took place in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.
June Calendar
04 Holy Communion
11 Second Sunday Lunch, Noon
14 Flag Day
18 Father’s Day
21 First Day of Summer
24 Family Fellowship Night, 6:00 pm Fun, Games, and Food.
Your To-Do List
“Put something on your To-Do-List that you have already done
so you can have something to check off.”
> From TV Game Show, Weakest Link, Host Jane Lynch
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?
Email: pastor@bluemoundumc.org