You are invited to the in-person Sunday Service on February 25 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
ttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441 or Meeting ID: 965 881 6441
You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Second Sunday in Lent
Sunday, February 25, 2024, 10 am
Children’s Time: “Cracking the Code: Why People Bully” by Pastor John
Choir Anthem The Upper Room
Words & Music by Robert J. & Betty C. Hughes
Message: Holy Disunity: What Separates Us Can Save Us
Part 4) “Legalistic Moral Religion or Life Flourishing Religion” by Rev. John Song
We will pick up where we last left off as we conclude the 4-part sermon series on “Holy Disunity.” Our United Methodist denomination will be holding the quadrennial General Conference this spring on April 23 – May 3, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina to determine our faith position on homosexuality. Currently the church is going through schism over L.G.B.T.Q. policies.
I’ve learned over the years in ministry, people who are initially attracted to religion are people who like social order. They think God came to earth to be a policeman and to police what you can do and cannot do in life. The danger is that heavy emphasis on moralism leads to a syndrome of “I’m holier than thou.” No wonder religious people are more concerned with being right than being compassionate. If we claim to be followers of Jesus and faithful to the teaching of Jesus and the Gospel, where should the Church stand on this issue? What does life flourishing religion look like?
“Learn and know the law very, very well,
so you can break them appropriately in the service of love.”
~ Dalai Lama
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor.
Hence love is the fulfillment of the Law.”
~ Romans 13:8-10
“Why is the church always a taillight rather than a headlight?”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
