Travel Bug

My recent 20-year anniversary cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean reminded me how much I love to travel. I enjoyed seeing amazing sights, meeting interesting people, and enjoying new cultures. It’s a luxury that we should all take advantage of. Our modern world is very connected. It would be a shame to not see more of the world in person.

Traveling taps into that innate desire humans have to leave home, explore, and meet new people. As the famous vacation writer Rick Steves says, “Travel is a political act. When we travel thoughtfully, we bring back the most beautiful souvenir of all: a broader perspective on the world that we all call home.” Travel helps us understand humanity better rather than sitting in front of a TV or computer making up our minds about those people without ever meeting them.

Travel can be Biblical, too. You’ll remember that the Disciples left home, explored and traveled with Jesus around Galilee – meeting people who were similar and different than themselves. It was a challenge to travel and meet people different than themselves, but God was doing a new thing. God opened heaven to all people in the world. After Jesus ascended, The Holy Spirit told the first Disciples to travel with the gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. The Holy Spirit didn’t tell them to go home and be fisherman again.

Traveling also reminds us of where we come from. Traveling to a family reunion or traveling to a historical site, reminds us of our roots. We are all from someplace else. Traveling back to our roots connects us with the past and teaches us about who we are. Travel humbles us as we realize that we are only a small point on a line of human history.

Related to traveling and getting back to our roots, I’d like to invite you to go to England next May on a Wesley Heritage Tour. All the denominations of Methodism find their beginnings from man named John Wesley. The tour is a well-traveled path that explores the origins of Methodism as well as give you a great tour of England. Come to an information session on August 4th at 5:30pm in the Asbury Gathering room. Tentative plans for this tour will have us traveling 9 days starting May 7, 2025. The cost is around $4,000-$4,500 including airfare. Come and see what this trip might look like as it helps us understand who we are today by traveling back to where we’ve come from.

The travel bug bite is good one to get. I pray you’ll scratch that itch!
Peace,
Zack@madisonfumc.com

The Faith of a Farmer
By: Larry Wayne
The Upper Room

A few white clouds drifted in a blue sky over the Smoky Mountains. In the distance I could see a farmer on a tractor, tilling the field for planting. The farmer could not know what the weather would bring or whether the seeds would produce a bountiful crop. Yet, undaunted, the farmer has faith that the seeds will produce an abundant crop and prepares the land.

The words from James quoted above came to mind. As followers of Christ, our witness is like the seeds a farmer plants. We don’t know how well our seeds will grow or whether they will bear fruit. But like a farmer who returns each spring to plant once again, we must have faith that some of our seeds will land on good ground and produce a harvest that will bear much fruit for the kingdom of God.

I pray my faith remains as strong as that of a farmer and that my witness will bring an abundant harvest.

Let me have the unwavering faith of a farmer.

Isaiah 30:18-26

Musical Worship?

The story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 is one of the most beloved tales of the Old Testament. It has everything that people like in a good story—jealousy, revenge, sex, power, plot twists, forgiveness, and a rags to riches ending.

You’ll remember that Jacob, one of the patriarchs of ancient Israel, had 12 sons, but he favored Joseph more than the others. The arrogance of Joseph and his dreams causes his brothers to fake his death and sell him into slavery. Joseph winds up in Egypt as a slave to an army officer, but he gets framed for sexual assault by the officer’s wife and is imprisoned. Miraculously, Joseph, with his dream interpretation abilities, makes his way into the Pharaoh’s court. The story gets better!

A famine strikes the land, but Egypt is ready with storehouses of food Joseph saved. The brothers who almost killed him are now coming to him begging for food. They don’t recognize him, so Joseph plays games with them. Eventually, Joseph reveals himself and forgives them for what they did. All is well that ends well.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of this bible story is called “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” debuting in 1974. It has been performed for years on Broadway and literally in thousands of colleges, high schools, and community theaters around the world. For the 50th anniversary of the Broadway production, you will have two chances to see it live! Right here in the Wesley Worship center our VBS kids, youth, volunteers and special church member cast will perform 2 shows: Saturday, June 22nd at 10:30AM and Sunday June 23rd at 10AM. 

Next week, Music Camp will have the perfect combination of musical and traditional VBS to embed Joseph’s story in the hearts of adults and children alike. I hope you’ll invite friends and family to attend these performances. I promise you’ll enjoy the story, the music, and the deep sense of how God works in amazing ways in his children’s lives. Rarely, if ever, does a worship service and a Broadway musical make such an impression. Come and see our children, youth, and adult volunteers bring this ancient story to life.

Have you ever done a lot of work on something, but no one will ever notice?

Last weekend I worked hard to finish up some projects around the house. I rerouted downspout water runoff on both sides of the house. I installed three squirrel proof birdfeeders on 10 foot poles outside our family room windows. I laid about 70 bags of mulch in beds that needed some bare dirt covered. There were several more projects too small to mention. The point is that these projects took longer to finish and cost more than expected.

Like any project around the house, there were problems, mistakes, and difficulties along the way. I discovered that 4½ inch drain pipes are not compatible among manufacturers. I cut poles too short. A bag of mulch doesn’t go as far as it used to, and I had to buy more. There were multiple trips to the store to get what I needed and problems in the store as well. When it was all said and done, I added a few coins to the cuss jar.

I tried to explain my work to a friend, but he really couldn’t see hours, sweat and tears, frustration, and money I spent. All he saw was some nice landscaping and some nice birdfeeders. That’s all I saw as well…but I WORKED SO HARD!!!

When we do work and no one notices we can feel resentful, unappreciated, and angry. So much work gets done because of unsung heroes all around us at church, at work, at home, and in our country. Memorial Day reminded us of the fact most of the men and women in the military who died in the service will never be fully appreciated for what they did for their fellow citizens. Be thankful for them even though you’ll never know what they’ve done.

Paul writes to the church members Colossae, “Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans…”(Col. 3:23). Do work for the Lord as if your soul depends on it. That’s a different way to think about our work. Strive to do your work not to please other people but do your work to please God. People will let you down with their appreciation, but God loves what you do when you use your gifts and talents he gave you to help others.

So use your gifts and talents to Christ’s purposes. Do it as if your soul depends on it as for the Lord, not for humans.

Zack@madisonfumc.com

Yesterday, our staff met for a full day of reflection on the past almost 12 months and to plan the next 12 more for the 2024-2025 year.  We went around the table and shared our experiences in our job positions, our triumphs and how we could use support going into the next year. Some of us are tenured in working in the church and some of us are brand new to it, yet we were all there together as one body to give life and love to our church and community. We all agreed that each one of us has amazing strengths and talents that are unique to each of us and we couldn’t do it without each other! While we all have other obligations and responsibilities in our life, together as a staff we will serve God with a purpose to grow our church and spread the Good News to our community. Yesterday we were able to focus on how we can continue to move forward as one body and what that will look like in the next year to come – it was a great day!

Mary Frances Carroll
Communications Director

This week’s devotion is from the Upper Room, and hopefully will allow you to reflect on God’s important purpose for you in your life.
An Important Purpose

In many of the apostle Paul’s greetings to the early churches, he stated that he was an apostle of Christ by the will of God. While Paul recognized his life’s purpose, often as believers we feel less assured of our purpose and wonder if God is using us in our present circumstances. Sure, God called great theologians like Paul to serve God. But we who work in factories, drive trucks, care for children, do clerical work, teach, farm, and live in all kinds of circumstances can also be used by God.

God has a purpose for each of us just as God had a purpose for the young servant girl we read about in 2 Kings 5. She served the wife of Naaman, army commander for the king of Aram. Her faith changed the course of Naaman’s life and helped alter his hostile view of Israel.

Many of us can’t fathom how God could use us, but God is continually working in and through our lives. We don’t have to be great theologians to be used mightily by God. We just need to trust that we have been called to follow God, whatever our circumstances. We can trust that God has a purpose for our lives.

Scripture

2 Kings 5:1-14

I trust that God has an important purpose for my life.

Faithful God, thank you for the ways you work in and through our lives. Help us to focus on how you might use us this very day. Amen.

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