FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Thursday, October 29th, 2020
Worship – November 1st – 11:00am In-Person – All Saints Day
We are no longer requiring a reservation system for in-person worship. We will reinstate it when our attendance gets closer to 40. We will not be having communion. But we will be celebrating ‘All Saints’.
How are You Doing in the Pandemic? Sunday after In-Person Worship
Following the 11am In-Person worship on Sunday, we will break into small groups to talk about the blessings and the challenges of this pandemic and what God may be expecting of us in this very unusual time in our collective lives. We will maintain social distance and wear masks for this event, too.
Halloween – Beggar’s Night in Farmersville
Taking the kids out for Beggars night? Please stop by the church for candy and hot chocolate. We look forward to seeing you, your kids, and the costumes. (Oct 31, 6-8.)
Mission – Meal Train
A Meal Train has been set up for Beth Hull of our congregation, as she is recovering from a challenging hospital visit. We would like to provide a meal for the m on Wednesday and Sunday. For more information or to sign up follow this link: https://mealtrain.com/042w74.
Scripture – Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Reflection – Conviction
You can purchase books that ‘prove’ the existence of God. These writers confuse faith with knowledge.
The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that faith is something different than knowledge. When Job said, ‘I know my redeemer lives’, he was speaking out of faith, a very strongly held faith to be sure, but he could not produce a business card, a photograph, an address, or a phone number of his ‘redeemer’.
Christian conviction is a wonderful thing. In faith we believe God exists. In faith we believe God is loving. In faith we believe God is active in our lives. In faith we believe God will rescue us, even from ourselves and our own sin. Any of these statements without the other fails to give ‘conviction’ the full weight the writer of Hebrews intended to communicate and undoubtedly felt in his own life.
I know my own conviction is not strong in every moment, and for me that is because I am too easily caught up in the world of what can be seen.
But when I consider the unseen world the writer of Hebrews speaks of, whether it is the moon on the other side of the world effecting tides of the oceans on our side of the world, or the power of a fond memory, or the mysterious workings of God in heaven who loves even me, then yes, I come back to that place of conviction.
What is one ‘unseen’ thing about God of which you are convicted? How is your life different because of it?
Prayer:
God who is the great ‘I Am’, God who is love, God who gives abundantly to His children, we give you thanks for the gifts of this life, both seen and unseen. On this day we are particularly thankful for those unseen gifts; the gift of hope, the gift of faith, the gift of conviction and the assurance it brings. We give you thanks Lord, for the mysterious and wonderful works of you hand that greatly enrich our lives. Amen.