Can You Hear the Buzz?

Can you hear the buzz? The noise is popping up all over the church. It began on Sunday mornings last year, as we gathered for worship and greeted each other at the beginning of our worship. The last two Wednesday evenings it was present again as we gathered around tables to share a meal before breaking into our study and activity groups. It is feeding our rapidly growing children’s ministry. It is spreading down the hallways and spilling over into the parking lot. Can you hear it?

The buzz is the sound of community. The joyful noise of the people of Stonebridge talking, sharing, caring, and offering words of encouragement and hope. The more we share the stronger the buzz and connection of community grows. People need community now more than ever. People are coming back to church, and community is the connection that our Lord uses to spread the good news of the Gospel. Lives are changed, marriages are transformed, families are healed, and hope is multiplied as we share together what God is doing through Jesus Christ. 

Stonebridge UMC is becoming the church that God is calling us to be as the buzz grows stronger. Keep it up. Thank you to those who with joy and anticipation are stepping forward to make things happen. No matter what the task, there are always those who are stepping up to make our ministries great. Thank you. 

This Sunday we continue our journey toward Easter. We will look at Mark 14:22-25. It is the account of the Last Supper Jesus ate with his disciples. Jesus knew how important it would be for the depth of his sacrificial love to be passed from one generation to the next. So, on the night he was betrayed, he took time to mark what he was doing with a meal that would remind us of the forgiveness and grace that God is offering us. A meal that would proclaim God’s love, grace, and forgiveness offered for us each time we share it. A meal that would unite us as brothers and sisters in Christ. A meal where we can leave behind the burdens of life and experience the delight God has for us.

The Last Supper reminds us of the victory and power of the cross. When we partake of this meal, it is as though we are transformed two thousand years into the past. We are there with Christ on that final Passover. We are there with the disciples in the presence of Jesus. We are proclaiming for all to see that Jesus is Lord of our lives and we will not be silent. 

Jesus calls us to lay everything at His feet - to trust God with the most important things of life as well as the most painful.  

Invite someone to worship this weekend. Come celebrate God’s love for all as we worship, hear the word, and share Holy Communion together. Come be part of the buzz that is Stonebridge UMC. 

Pastor John Allen