A Light in the Window

A Light in the Window
Susan Hoyle, pastor Trinity United Methodist Church

The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5-7 gives us a clear understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Sometimes we can be a bit confused about the word disciple. We may think that disciples of Jesus were the twelve that we also call the apostles. Then other times we think that anyone who follows Jesus is His disciple. And both statements are correct. The twelve who Jesus called to learn from Him during His earthly ministry were disciples just like we are and all of our faith ancestors through the last 2000 years. The word disciple is defined as someone who followers a particular teacher. So we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

As Jesus’ disciples, the Sermon on the Mount teaches us what it means to live a life that honors God. In these three chapters, Jesus teaches us The Lord’s Prayer, to be the “light” of the world, to ask ourselves what we really treasure, to love our enemies and The Beatitudes, which means blessed.

Why not take some time to read these three chapters in Matthew? You will discover how we are to live our lives following in the footsteps of Jesus. It isn’t easy to follow Him because He asks us to see the world through His eyes. He asks us to do things that don’t make any sense to us like loving our enemies and letting His light shine through us, even as flawed as we are. Why does Jesus work through us? Whether we understand it or not, Jesus counts on us, you and me, to be God’s love on earth. And that should take our breath away. Jesus, the Son of God, has such deep, abiding faith in us, His disciples, to be His hands, His feet and His heart so that others will know that His love really is alive. And the love of Christ is what changes us and changes the world.

So as you read the Sermon on the Mount and that we are to be His light and to love our enemies, don’t try to make sense of it. Just say “yes, Jesus” and He will show you the way-the way to the Kingdom of God on earth. Amen.

Trinity Talk...A Weekly Newsletter

Trinity Talk
June 6, 2010


WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A LITLE MORE JOY IN YOUR LIFE? Trinity has just the thing for you and it begins on Wednesday, June 9, at 6 p.m. Pastor Susan will be leading a worship service
unlike any of the other services we currently have at Trinity. As many of you
know who have attended her special Advent, Holy Week, and other special-
day services, she expresses her creativity and special talent in putting
together heart-warming experiences. She will do this with the JOY services –
(Jesus-Others-You). Mark your calendars and plan to add JOY to your lives.
* * * * * *
NEXT SUNDAY IS WEST PLEASANT VALLEY DAY. Rev. Geoff Posegate, former Trinity/WPV pastor, will be the guest speaker. Dinner on the grounds at 12 noon.
* * * * * *
Healthy Church Initiative Update: Our coach, Rev. Dr. Royal Speidel, met with Trinity leadership in April and May. Royal brings a wealth of experience to Trinity. He has served in small, rural churches as well as a large downtown church in Chicago. He has written a book on evangelism in the small membership church and has done extensive work with small groups.

His time together has been filled with lively discussion about the prescriptions and the time frames. We’ve also discussed the ministry audit which looks at each ministry and its effectiveness in leading people to Jesus Christ. Team leaders will receive a ministry audit form in the next two weeks to be discussed at team meetings. Each area of ministry will have its own audit form. For example, the mission team will look at Operation Christmas Child, Trunk or Treat, Community Easter Egg hunt and other outreach ministries. We will discuss the purpose of each ministry, along with how it reaches out to create new disciples. This audit will help us to think as evangelists. We look forward to our next meeting with Royal in June.

May Offerings

May 02 - $3,756.00 This is vacation time and it is everyone’s desire to get
May 09 - 2,088.00 away from the routine and experience some mental
May 16 - 3,851.30 and physical rest and renewal; but don’t forget your
May 23 - 2,449.88 your church. Its needs continue in the summer
May 30 - 1,948.50 whether or not you are able to attend—the bills keep
coming (just as they do at home).
Average weekly May offering: $2,818.74
Budgeted Amount needed per Sunday: $3,183.04
Loan Balance - $85,142.15
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At the June 1st TUMC Girls meeting they decided to use some of the yard sale proceeds to purchase colorful chairs for the Children's Room as well as additional white tables and much needed pans for the kitchen.
They also worked on their Healthy Church Initiative forms regarding the various activities that TUMC girls sponsor. “Reaching out to others in the name of Christ” is their focus as they work on their HCI forms regarding the activities they sponsor.

The Assembly Church is sponsoring a 5K run on June 19th at 8:00 a.m. Trinity will have some participants running and will also have a table of refreshments/information set up for the runners. It is a great outreach for those in the community to learn more about our church. Other local churches will be helping out, also. Come out to the school to encourage the runners and visit awhile!

FYI Trinity

We have three worship opportunities at Trinity. There is an 8:30 a.m. chapel service. It is a smaller, more intimate worship experience and our music is from the United Methodist hymnal. We have an 11:00 a.m. service called The Blend. The Blend is a larger service with Children's Time and Children's Worship. The worship music is provided by Trinity muscians on some Sundays and other Christian musicians from our area on other Sundays. There may be a praise band one week, a gospel quartet another week and Trinity Singers, too. We are touched by God in different ways and Trinity offers unique worship experiences just for you.

We're beginning a new worship experience called JOY (Jesus, Others, You) on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 p.m. It will be a "come as you are" time of worship as we offer God our praise and prayers. We hope to see you for worship on Sunday, June 6 and our new mid-week worship on June 9. Come and find out what "more" there can be as we worship God together...

The Journey

The Journey


"When people are on fire for God,

others will travel for miles to watch them burn. "
John Wesley

This is a powerful statement from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who believed when God's people come together in worship, no one is ever the same. When we are open to God's Spirit we are energized and excited in ways that we never imagined. We want to worship more, serve more and witness more. When we live our lives for Christ, it's all about "more."

So join us on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 p.m. for our new mid-week worship service. It will be a "come as you are" time of worship as we offer God our praise and prayers. Come and find out what "more" there can be as we worship God together...


Susan