FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Thursday, October 8th, 2020
I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness…
Reflection – Faith of the Outsider
In the story we have been reflecting on this week (Matthew 8:5-13) Jesus praises the centurion, someone we might call an ‘outsider’, as having a faith greater than anyone in Israel, the home of God’s chosen people. He then goes on to utter the words you just read above.
Sometimes the people of God, the church, can seem quite ordinary. We can be petty, slow, thoughtless, and even downright mean at times. While it may be somewhat normal to lose faith in the people that are the church, we make a big mistake to lose faith in God, and in what God calls us as the church to be.
Jesus own followers showed some significantly faithless moments. At one point, Jesus said of them, ‘How long must I put up with this cruel and faithless generation.’(Matt 17:17) But he did not quit his followers. He did not quit his God. He continued to respond to God’s call. He gave his life for those too easily faithless disciples.
I believe in the ‘Church Universal’, the United Methodist Church, The West Ohio Conference, and Farmersville United Methodist Church, even when I am given reason not to. Without my faith in God and the church God has called into being, I might find myself in that ‘outer darkness’. I might find my faith weaker than that of an ‘outsider’.
Have faith in God and in God’s people. The world needs the church which faithfully follows God. And thank you, for every day you have served God’s church in faith.
Prayer:
God who called the church into being, we confess that we sometimes lose faith. Sometimes we lose faith even to the point where someone who has not been around as long or knows a lot less seems to surpass us on our pilgrimage. Help us maintain our faith in You, in Your Holy Church, and in all God’s people, even when we are given reason not to. Remind us that Jesus gave his life for these sinners, too. Amen.