The Evangelical Messenger January, 2021 Sunday Morning Worship Sharon United Methodist Church In – Person We are taking a break from in-person worship due to the current Covid-19 19980 Pleasant Lake Road situation. Please read the weekly email with Pastor Pete’s Ponderings for PO Box 543 updates on resuming in-person worship. For now, we hope you will Manchester, MI 48158 continue to worship with us in one of the following ways. 734-428-0996 FaceBook Search for the Sharon Church, Manchester, MI page to watch the live or Rev. Peter Harris –Pastor pre-recorded service at 10:30 am. [email protected] If you miss it, you can watch the recorded service later. cell phone: 734-323-6201 YouTube Sharon Stockard – Secretary A recording of the service will be posted to YouTube under Sharon UMC. [email protected] 734-428-0996 Website Video sermons from the past several Sundays can be Nancy Flint – Newsletter Editor found on the website. www.sharonumchurch.org [email protected] 734-417-3460 WEBSITE www.sharonumchurch.org FACEBOOK Sharon Church, Manchester, MI Come. Partner with God. Follow Jesus. Serve the Community Pastor’s Message Together. Getting a grand-child to let go of a favorite dress, shirt or jacket that has been out-grown is nearly impossible. A special toy, blanket or stuffed animal, anyone understands a reluctance to let go of those cherished items – I still have stuffed animals from my childhood, don’t you? But an article of clothing that is obviously too small to be worn anymore begs the question why anyone would hang onto such an item. Clothes can become too small for changing bodies! And it seems the same is true for our souls and walk of faith. Old attitudes, behaviors and even understandings of who God is and how much God loves us can become out-dated. What we once believed as a child concerning God doesn’t seem big enough to cope with become out-dated. What we once believed as a child concerning God doesn’t seem big enough to cope with all the complexities of our life today. St. Paul wrote: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) Letting go of an old, comfortable, albeit childish way can be difficult. Old ways of believing and relating to God and others are known ways; ways that we have practiced so much they become ingrained in us to the extent we can’t imagine acting, thinking or believing any other way. Change is hard in any area of our lives whether it be how we relate to others, how we view our relationship with God, or how much our waistline has changed. If we’re going to change it will require us to say good-bye to some “old” ways, and for many, this feels like abandonment of a cherished part of our lives. God asks us to change. It’s true. Again and again, God invites us to risk letting go of the old ways of being and embrace the new life offered to us in Jesus Christ. If we are to follow the way of Jesus, there is only one thing we have to change: everything. And the Good News is that we can with the help of the Holy Spirit. More than 250 times in the Bible we hear how God either is doing something new or asking someone to do something new. Here is one such passage that pertains to our faith – Ephesians 4:21-24, (The Message) “(21) You leaned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. (22) Since then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! (23) And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, (24) a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately produces his character in you.” There has been so much change since March, 2020. And, no doubt, more changes are coming in 2021. Some will be welcomed; some resisted; and some, even ignored for as long as we are able. Through all the changes, God is present offering strength, hope, peace, and His loving presence. Something new that will be offered in February-March of 2021 is an opportunity to join a small group and read through the New Testament. Look for details in this newsletter. May 2021 be filled with all the newness of Jesus Christ in these changing times! Pastor Pete Harris Thank you to everyone for making Christmas special for those in our community by filling Christmas stockings and “adopting a family” through the A special thank you to Pastor Pete, Richard Manchester Family Services program. Schaffer and Michelle McCalla! They have Also, thank you for your contributions for the Christmas gift for given many hours of their time over the past Pastor Pete and Jan. We are thankful for such a giving months and especially the Christmas season congregation. to bring us the on-line worship services. You Marlene Uphaus are all very much appreciated! Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh? Medicinal uses of frankincense may help explain the gifts of the magi Biblical Archaeology Society Staff Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense. Since the early days of Christianity, Biblical scholars and theologians have offered varying interpretations of the meaning and significance of the gold, frankincense and myrrh that the magi presented to Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew (2:11). These valuable items were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil. In fact, these same three items were apparently among the gifts, recorded in ancient inscriptions, that King Seleucus II Callinicus offered to the god Apollo at the temple in Miletus in 243 B.C.E. The Book of Isaiah, when describing Jerusalem’s glorious restoration, tells of nations and kings who will come and “bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6). Although Matthew’s gospel does not include the names or number of the magi, many believe that the number of the gifts is what led to the tradition of the Three Wise Men. In addition to the honor and status implied by the value of the gifts of the magi, scholars think that these three were chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself—gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming—an interpretation made popular in the well-known Christmas carol “We Three Kings.” Still others have suggested that the gifts of the magi were a bit more practical—even medicinal in nature. Researchers at Cardiff University have demonstrated that frankincense has an active ingredient that can help relieve arthritis by inhibiting the inflammation that breaks down cartilage tissue and causes arthritis pain. The new study validates traditional uses of frankincense as an herbal remedy to treat arthritis in communities of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where the trees that produce this aromatic resin grow. Did the magi “from the East” know of frankincense’s healing properties when they presented it to young Jesus? January 6 is the feast day of Epiphany. An article from Wikipedia tells us of this day: “Epiphany (/ɪˈpɪfəni/ i-PIF-ə-nee) is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation (theophany) of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. “In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings' Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide. “Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. The spot marked by Qasr el Yahud in the West Bank, and Al- Maghtas in Jordan on the east bank, is considered to be the original site of the baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist.” Chalking Your Door “Either on Twelfth Night (5 January), the twelfth day of Christmastide and eve of the feast of the Epiphany, or on Epiphany Day (6 January) itself, many Christians (including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, among others) chalk their doors with a pattern such as 20 ✝ C ✝ M ✝ B ✝ 20, with the numbers referring "to the calendar year (20 and 20, for instance, for this year, 2020); the crosses stand for Christ; and the letters have a two-fold significance: C, M and B are the initials for the traditional names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), but they are also an abbreviation of the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat, which means, May Christ bless this house." 20 + C + M + B + 21 Worship Plans for 2021 How do we “know” God? The face of God comes into clearest focus in the life and person of Jesus Christ.