The Beacon
Blue Mound UMC JUNE 2025
The “Lazy Days of Summer” refer to the hot summer months. Even if they are still 24 hours in every day, having more daylight can make the days feel longer. Your natural rhythm may be impacted by longer hours of sunshine. This might lead to daytime fatigue and may make you feel lazy. There are health studies that show when it is nice outside, our thoughts tend to focus more on what we’d like to be doing instead of what we are doing. Daydreaming. When your routine gets more challenging, sometimes it can leave you feeling less motivated to get things done. Of course, this can happen in any season of the year. Summer is often associated with carefree youth and playful innocence. For kids there is no school -a lack of some activities. Schedules are adjusted for things like youth camps and seasonal programs and to fit around vacation time.
Summer in the Bible is described as a season of growth, abundance, and harvest and it symbolizes rest, joy, refreshment, fruitfulness and more. While the specific meaning may vary depending on the biblical passage, the concept generally indicates a period of time for our own spiritual grown and the production of spiritual fruit.
Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
This verse assures us that God has established a natural order for the world. Just as summer follows spring, seasons of fruitfulness and blessing follow times of preparation. This serves as a reminder that life has cycles, and we can trust in God’s faithfulness to sustain us through every season.
I came to be a follower of Jesus as an adult. I was in my early thirties when I began going to church at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church. My first pastor was Don Benton. Don would sometimes weave into his sermons an affirmation that went something like this: ‘God loves each one of us like there’s no one else to love, and yet he loves each one of us the same.’
I have always been grateful for Don Benton saying it often enough that it seeped into my spirit and became a foundational belief for me. Thirty-five years later I’ve come to understand that Don’s affirmation didn’t originate with him. It is actually a statement attributed to Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine said: ‘God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.’
In an article by Sandy Mittelsteadt, she said that although in the great scheme of things we are just a small speck in a huge universe, we have a purpose, and this purpose is larger than anything we could possibly envision. We have been made for God himself.
But we in the church, are not doing a good job of teaching about the love of God (or at least we could be doing a better job of it). In an article about ten years old now, “Googling for God”, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz shared that the three most googled questions about God are:
Who created God?
Why does God allow suffering?
Why does God hate me?
I don’t know about you, but this is kind of shocking and sad for me. Why do many people in the world feel that God is indifferent to them or chooses them to be troubled and ill-treated? This seems just the opposite of what I believe to be true. I think this has happened because there are so many ideas about God floating around that seem incorrect to me. And God forgive me if I have added to any of these incorrect ideas about God by being less loving than I could have been.
Pastor’s Corner Page 2 of 2
This quote by Don Benton, or before him Saint Augustine, invites us to claim our true identities in God. God loves you like you are an only child, and God loves me like I’m an only child.
God, who created the universe and who is the most powerful force that there is and that has ever existed, loves you personally. God does not only love people in general, but God loves you as a person and as His child!
God wants to be a part of our lives and to have a relationship with us! God wants the best for us. There is nothing we can do to change God’s love for us. We cannot lose it, because God is love and He first loved us, according to 1 John 4:19. God wants us close to Him because this is where we belong. We are his beloved!
God loves you as if there were only one of you, because you are the only one like you in the whole universe. Thanks be to God!
Peace be with you, Buster
God
Loves
You!
JUNE
Birthday
07 Bettie Brandenberger
08 Carrie Trietsch
Hayden Muns
12 Shanelle Haisler Bershad
Joshua Harding-Sheets
18 Hannah Levelle
27 Kiefer Hardin
Anniversary
16 Ricky and Susie Schertz
26 Herf and Wanda Graham
Congrats to Emma Bowland
Blue Mound is so proud of her. Graduating on May 20, 2025. She is one of over 700 graduates. She was in the top 10 per cent of students.
Her future plans include attending A&M.
We are proud of all our youth
- Kay Trietsch
Blue Mound Prayer Table
Do you have a prayer request? We have prayer request cards; this is a valuable way to let us know who needs prayer.
Do you want to send someone an encouraging card or prayer gram from the church? We have them. Everyone is encouraged to stop by and sign them.
The Prayer Table is located in the foyer area.
Please take time to check out the table when you are at church.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
Family Game Night
On the 4th Saturday of the Month, Blue Mound has a Family Game Night starting at 6 p.m. Food > Fun> Fellowship > We have a Pot Bless Meal to start the night. Just bring a favorite food, salad or dessert of your choice and add to our table for a Pot Bless Meal. Then check out the games and join the Fun. Fellowship comes with us getting together.
Everyone Welcome!
Hello Summer!
June Calendar
01 Holy Communion
08 Father’s Day
Second Sunday Lunch, Noon
1st day of Annual Conference
14 Flag Day
20 First Day of Summer
28 Family Fellowship Night, 6:00 pm Fun, Games, and Food.
Every Sunday Morning at 9:30 meet for Seeker’s Adult Bible Study and Children’s Time. Then at 10:45 we have Sunday Worship.
Don’t Forget
Come Early and Visit the Hospitality Table for Coffee, Tea and Treats.
June 8, 2025 Annual Conference Theme
“One – One with Christ,
One with Each Other, One in Ministry to All the World.”
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
