Weekly Update// Pastor Chris
Dear Asbury Family,
Happy New Year!
I hope you enjoyed a blessed Christmastime with your family and friends, and that you’re ready for all that 2022 has to offer.
As I begin this note, I want to quickly remind us that our new series of sermons begins THIS SUNDAY (January 9). The series is entitled “Help My Unbelief.” Inspired by the story in Scripture where a man admits his unbelief to Jesus (Mark 9:24), this series is going to explore tough questions of faith. Here are the questions we’ll be looking at:
Why are Christians hypocrites?
Is free will worth all the suffering?
Isn’t the Bible full of myths?
Are we allowed to question God?
Why would an all-powerful God require prayer?
How does a Christian make sense of other religions?
Why didn’t God save my loved one from dying?
By no means are any of the above easy questions. (Where would the fun be in that?) But they’re important questions that deserve our attention.
The sermon this Sunday – the inaugural sermon for the series – is going to tackle a frequently asked question by non-church-goers (and maybe even some church-goers): Why are Christians hypocrites? Join us for worship (in person or online) as we look at what Scripture has to say about this question.
By the way, I also plan to let us know how much money we collected for our 2021 Advent Project. As you may recall, this money will go to support both a school and medical clinic affiliated with the Evangelical Methodist Church in El Salvador. Thank you to all of you who donated. God is going to use your generosity to change lives!
2022 is gearing up to be a busy year. Stay tuned as our pastoral and program staff plan events designed to help us connect to God and each other.
Blessings,
Chris
p.s. In our traditional service last Sunday, I shared this prayer that John Wesley and the early Methodists would pray at the start of each year. I encourage you to commit this prayer to memory and pray some version of it each day. It’s called the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer.
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O Glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.