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2015 Worship Guide
A LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM PUBLICATION
First United Methodist Church
The best news... Jesus,
a gift to the broken
God has been on a rescue mission to heal people
and the world since the beginning of the world.
We're part of that healing mission RIGHT HERE
in Lincoln and Logan County.
God recruited his first human partner in that res-
cue mission and said, "I WILL bless you; BE a
blessing!" And after working through those people
for over 2000 years, God came into the world in
the person of Jesus to fulfill His rescue mission.
That's the best news the world has ever received;
the Bible makes it clear that
"God did not send
his son into the world to condemn the world
-- He sent his son so that the world might be
saved through Him."
(Direct quote from the
account of Jesus' life written by John, found in
the Bible in what we call John 3:17) That mission
continues now and will continue until people and
the world are restored to wholeness.
Sadly, too many people in the world don't see
THAT as the face of God to the world. Instead,
people see God as a shamer and a bully . . .
mainly (and devastatingly) because that's how too
many followers of Jesus have presented them-
selves or have presented God in that way. While
Jesus has revealed the way to wholeness -- a life
of following and trusting him and what he taught
-- God came to bring that news to people who
know they are broken and imperfect.
The Bible says that God showed his great love
by seeking us while we were fighting and kicking
against him to keep running down roads that lead
to further brokenness.
God's mission goes on. YOU are the mission . . .
the people you go to school with are the mission
. . . the people on your softball team are the mis-
sion.
The coworker you don't like is the mission. How
will YOU bring light and hope into the world?
That's the kind of community local churches are
called to create -- a group of broken people in
recovery, a people who are seeking through the
power of God to lose behaviors and habits that
harm themselves or others. We're local chapters
of Sinners Anonymous. Just like any recovery
group, people in churches will continue to flub it
up, but like any recovery group we're committed
to growing beyond that. And we're committed to
seeking out and welcoming any who wish to be
healed and made whole to gather with our Sinners
Anonymous meetings. Because that's what God
did. That's who Jesus is. That's His Christmas gift
to us every year, and every day. We'd love to share
that gift with you.
Pastor Michael Paulson
First United
Methodist Church
