Maunie United Methodist Church issued the following announcement on April 9.
Good morning, fine Maunie UMC friends and family! It is cool this morning after a very warm day yesterday. Hope all of you are staying in as much as you can, and are having family time or just reading or watching tv. I am going to post this short devotional on this page today and then, on Easter Sunday, will post my Easter message on Crossville UMC Facebook page.
I wanted to explain why we cannot meet in any fashion for the time being: Our Bishop, Frank Beard, has given us strict guidelines on what we can do and what we cannot do during this time of sickness. Essentially they tell us that no gatherings of any kind will be allowed in any UMC building or premises. If things change, I will let you know. For now, this is going to have to suffice. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me or let someone know from this amazing church family. Please be reminded that the church is not the building, it is all of you and the love you have for God and each other.
Okay, today's lesson begins with a story, imagine that! I guess I begin most messages with stories. You may have heard this before but it is perfect for this message. Once upon a time, in a faraway desert, there was a very hot and dusty traveler who really needed water in order to stay alive. His canteen was empty and he was beginning to get delirious. He saw something ahead which he first believed was a mirage-a water pump! It was located straight ahead.
As he got closer and closer, it didn't disappear and he finally walked right up to it and discovered it was indeed real! He looked it over and grabbed the handle pump but it actually had a note attached to it which read: "The pump needs to be primed before you can use it. If you dig in the spot marked with a bucket over it, you will find a jug of water. You can use that water to prime the pump and you will be able to get as much water as you want. Please drink and take what you want but put the jug back in the ground and the note back on the pump."
The man dug up the jug of fresh, sealed, cool water and walked over to the pump and then had to make a decision:
What would you do? Drink what is available or trust that the pump can be primed and actually work? if you think about this, our lives may be just like that jug: we struggle to pour out anything in our lives. but, we have no problem asking God for miracles when they might help us. We all have situations in our lives where we pray to God for some kind of healing miracle or a health issue miracle cure, or something that we want to happen with His help. We do this all the time and I want to think about this, "Are we pouring out anything in ourselves without stepping out on what God says for us to do?" God tells us what to do all the time but if we refuse to pour out ourselves to Him, it may never happen.
Think about how bottled up we are with anger, resentment, and bitterness toward God because, in our experiences in the past, perhaps God has "let" bad things happen to us or others. We wait impatiently for things to happen, and God says if you will just pour out from your heart all the anger, bitterness, and all the hurt that we carry around inside of ourselves.
If we can just pour out some of this stuff, God will transform you and you just might start serving others, and you might start giving your efforts and resources to others so that they might be blessed as you will be. All that is God's love that he will pour into your heart if you just pour out all that which is in your heart now. God wants to do mighty and amazing things in your life.
Friends, The streams of God's love are full and God wants to pour it out upon you! He is able and waiting on you-so, the questions is: What are you waiting for? Amen and amen.
Let's pray: Dear Father in heaven, as we continue to follow Jesus through Holy Week and ultimately to the cross, we ask that you continue to pour out your blessings upon each one who is reading this today. We pray for those who are stepping up to be with the Covid 19 patients and bless those who are suffering losses of family from this disease. Keep us safe and being us back together soon. Help us to release some bottled up feelings toward others and keep your love flowing into us so we can let it flow into the hearts of others. All this, we ask in the sweet name of Jesus and let all the wonderful people say.Amen..
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Original source can be found here.
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