Would you like to learn more about First United Methodist Church of Gilbert? Do you want to know what it means to be a Methodist? Have you considered joining this church? We have an opportunity for you! On Sunday, May 5, from 2:00-4:00pm, an Explorer’s Class will be held in
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Last Sunday we talked about Mary, the mother of Jesus, who may have been as young as 13 or 14 when the angel Gabriel came to visit. She faced such a difficult choice, knowing that the world would not understand her pregnancy; knowing that she might be ostracized or cast
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It is the season of thanksgiving – one of my favorite times of the year. I long ago discovered that once I start noticing the gifts God has given me, they seem to multiply. So I thank God for the day, and the weather, and the church, and family and
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If you were in worship last Sunday you probably noticed a number of things that seemed a little different. I certainly did! The first thing I noticed was how many faces I had never seen before. A number of folks identified themselves as winter visitors – a surprising number showing
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In my sermon on Sunday we talked about the immensity of the good news that is ours in Christ Jesus: the freedom we have as his followers; the new life that is ours when we choose to commit our hearts and lives to him; the forgiveness that gives us a fresh start
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As we move into November we move into the season of thanksgiving. We begin next Sunday as we give thanks for the saints who have gone on before – the men and women of First UMC whose lives served as living letters from Christ to the world and to each
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The Beatitudes don’t make a whole lot of sense for people like us who live in this crazy and frenzied world that is so focused on self: always focusing on protecting ourselves, watching out for number one, nurturing our sense of self-entitlement. In our world blessings are given to people
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With our examination Sunday of the final phrases of the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” we complete our reflection together on this precious legacy of our faith. As I said on Sunday, while we may be done talking about it together on Sundays,
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Our examination of the Lord’s Prayer draws to a close this week as we encounter the phrase “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil….” (we will close out the series on prayer on October 28 as we look together at prayer always and for everything). In
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In my daily Bible reading for Sunday I came across this challenging section of Luke 13, which I read in Eugene Petersen’s translation, The Message. Jesus is speaking in response to the question, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He probably surprised them with this answer:
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