Please join us for our 170th Anniversary Celebration!
RSVP your lunch by Friday, October 7, 2022. Kindly fill out your responses HERE
Watsonville First United Methodist Church
Watsonville, CA
Please join us for our 170th Anniversary Celebration!
RSVP your lunch by Friday, October 7, 2022. Kindly fill out your responses HERE
You are invited to in-person worship this Sunday, September 11 at 10 am. *Masks are optional. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. It will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Season of Ordinary Time
Sunday, September 11, 2022, 10 am
This Sunday is In-Person Lego Sunday!
First, children will be in worship. Following the Special Music,
the teacher, Joan Culbertson, will lead our children to the Nursery Room.
Children’s Time: “How Jesus Sees Us” by Pastor John
Choir Anthem: Look for the Beautiful
Matthew 13:44-45
Buried Treasure Hidden in a Field
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and
reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;
46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Message Entering the Word of Icons Rev. John Song
Part 7: “The Christ of Sinai”
We are reaching the end of the sermon series of “Entering the Word of Icons”. I admire your dedication of showing up each Sunday during the icon tour to deepen your understanding and appreciation of each of these beautiful icons that informs our Christian faith.
This Sunday we will be learning about the Christ of Sinai icon. This icon is considered one of the oldest Byzantine religious icons and is the earliest known work. It is painted on a wood panel dating back to the 6th century from St. Catherine’s Monastery located in Sinai, Egypt. We are created in the image of God. Along the way our images got distorted. This icon, I believe, is the key to restoring our original image.
“All of us who are human beings are in the image of God. But to be in God’s likeness
belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God.”
~ Diadochus of Photike
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
~ Marcel Proust, the 20th century French novelist
“Our deepest fears are the dragons that guard our greatest treasures.”
~ inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke
Join the Holy Walkamolies Beach Outing this Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. This is an easy to moderate walk along Pajaro Dunes and Palm State Beach (2660 Beach Rd, Watsonville CA 95076) Bring water and snacks. Meet at the entrance of Palm State Beach. Parking fee is $10 and supports the park. Free parking is also available outside of the state park parking lot.
You are invited to in-person worship this Communion Sunday, September 4 at 10 am. *Masks are optional. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. It will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Worship During Ordinary Time ~ Holy Communion Sunday
Sunday, September 4, 2022, 10 am
“I am a hole in a flute that God’s breath moves through. Listen to this music.”
~ Hafiz, the 14th century Persian poet
Message “Let Your Life Speak” Rev. John Song
This Sunday we are going to take a break from the Icon sermon series to use the Labor Day to examine if we are living the life that God has called us to live and explore the meaning of the word “Retirement”.
Do we have the whole “work to retire” thing all wrong? Why aspire to retire if working sparks joy? Labor Day, our national holiday to rest and appreciate the achievements of American workers, is actually the perfect time to discern what matters most — responding to your calling. We are an unfurling chrysalis, readying to emerge with new stories and next chapters.
George Gray
By Edgar Lee Masters
I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire—
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
You are invited to in-person worship this Sunday, August 28 at 10 am. *Masks are optional. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. It will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Worship During Ordinary Time
Sunday, August 28, 2022, 10 am
Children’s Time “How Jesus Sees Us” Pastor John
Message Entering the Word of Icons Rev. John Song
Part 6: “The Christ of Sinai”
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female God created them.”
~ Genesis 1:27
We are reaching the end of the sermon series of “Entering the Word of Icons”. I admire your dedication of showing up each Sunday during the icon tour to deepen your understanding and appreciation of each of these beautiful icons that impact the formation of faith.
This Sunday we will be learning about the Christ of Sinai icon. This icon is considered one of the oldest Byzantine religious icons and is the earliest known work. It is painted on wood panel dating back to the 6th century from St. Catherine’s Monastery located in Sinai, Egypt.
“All of us who are human beings are in the image of God. But to be in God’s likeness
belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God.”
~ Diadochus of Photike
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.”
~ Marcel Proust, the 20th century French novelist
“Our deepest fears are the dragons that guard our greatest treasures.”
~ inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke