Category: Sermon

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WORSHIP MUSIC | FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

🎼🎸🎻🎺🎵”O God of every nation, of every race and land, redeem the whole creation with your almighty hand. Where hate and fear divide us, and bitter threats are hurled, in love and mercy guide us, and heal our strife-torn world.”🎼🎸🎻🎷🎵

On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, we will have a music performance featuring the PUMC Children’s Choir singing “Lenten Love Song” by Helen Kemp.  “God Made from One Blood,” a hymn set to a Welsh folk melody, refers to Acts 17:26, which tells us that from one man [Adam], God made all the families of the whole earth. It also deals with the reality of the modern family. The hymn  “O God Of Every Nation” is an appeal to God who created all races and the whole world, to deliver every nation and heal this strife-torn world. It also pleads for truth, love, and justice for all humanity and a bright future with an end to hate and division.  Joaquín Turina’s classical music including “Berceuse From Niñerias” is a favorite of PUMC.  Thank you Julia Hanna for playing such beautiful music! Our music and hymns always give us hope with renewed faith, especially this Sunday, as we mark one year of virtual worship. We look forward to going back to worship in our beautiful sanctuary.

Video “Sanctuary”

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary (Haz de mí, Dios, hoy, un santuario Vivo).” The authors of the text of “Sanctuary” are Randy Scruggs and John Thompson. Born in 1953 in Nashville, Tennessee, Randy Lynn Scruggs is a music producer, songwriter, and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13. He has won a Grammy Award and was twice named “Musician of the Year” at the Country Music Association Awards. He was one of the authors of “Lord of lords, King of kings.” The  hymn “Sanctuary” is asking God to make us “pure in our devotion to his love and holy in our commitment to obey his call.”

                                       [Image: – singing in our PUMC sanctuary]

If you’re looking for inspiration: Come worship with us at PUMC.  If you suffer or grieve, you will find healing here. If you are burdened with sin, you will find forgiveness here. If you are exhausted, you will find rest here. There is a place for you here in our beloved PUMC community, where you will have the love and support of others.

Click here to join us as we share in songs, prayer, music, scripture, and listen to Pastor Skitch’s Sermon.

 [Video Source: YouTube]

Written by Isabella Dougan

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

In her sermon on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Pastor Jenny explained the terms “false self” and “true self’ that she quoted from Thomas Merton. She said the broken pieces inside us reside in the ‘false self,’ while the “true self” is our belovedness, or “the secret beauty of our hearts.” “Are you afraid of the darkness inside you? Are you afraid of being truly alone in solitude with yourself?” she asked. The way to that true self is to let God into those dark places with us. “God will help us look at those broken things inside us, and they will start to dissolve, and we will see something beautiful come out of us.” Our true selves – our compassion – will come out shining as bright as the sun. 

In Lent, as we journey to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let’s see if we can be less afraid of the dark. To do this, we should keep our minds off earthly things and look to divine things. Come worship with us at Princeton United Methodist Church. God will help us show compassion to others.  Click here to watch the worship service and listen to Pastor Jenny’s sermon.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

In her sermon on the Third Sunday of Lent, Hyelim Yoon explained that this is a story of two sons. The prodigal son, who had left home but dared to come back despite his past mistakes, asking for his Father’s forgiveness and receiving a generous welcome and so much more than he could have imagined. The elder son, the beloved child who stayed at home with his Father, but felt entitled to more recognition and love, was not very welcoming to his brother. 

One of the  reasons Jesus is telling this parable is to show that just like the elder son, we too are much broken from God even though we live in God’s home and profess to be righteous. We are as much broken from God as many others who live without Christ. When we live in a broken world, the brokenness comes into our hearts to become part of our lives, no matter how hard we resist.  Hyelim reminds us that we are God’s children, and like the prodigal son, we have to accept that we are in desperate need of God’s grace. To receive God’s love fully, we must ask God to help us face our brokenness. 

At Princeton United Methodist Church, we can learn to overcome our brokenness by being part of this beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service and listen to Hyelim Yoon’s sermon.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

In her sermon on Sunday, Pastor Jenny reminds us that we are broken from creation. “If we stop struggling against nature, we will find wisdom and healing and loving and harmony,” she says. “Only then will we be able to reconnect those broken pieces.” “God is always providing a way for us, she adds, “therefore we must  give him and the earth thanks because the things that we touch and eat are from the earth.”  At Princeton United Methodist Church, we can learn to overcome our brokenness by being part of this beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service and listen to Pastor Jenny’s sermon.

 

 

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

We would like you to reflect on this Quote from Pastor Jenny. Also,  listen to her sermon on the topic  “Broken Things: Sin,”  reminding us that Jesus died for our sins and God can repair our broken relationships. “Sin is like a disease that is present within us. It is always acting on us in our hearts from the inside out,” says Pastor Jenny. “But, we also have the choice and the power to overcome it,” she added.  At Princeton United Methodist Church, we can learn to overcome sin and our brokenness  by being part of this beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

We invite you to reflect on this Quote from Pastor Skitch.  Also, listen to his sermon on the topic “Weave us Together in Joy” on this Valentine’s Day, Sunday, February 14, 2021, and receive the love and joy that God offers you, especially now that it is so much needed. Also, try to see what others need at this moment to feel loved. “Joy as Christ names it in John 15:1-17,” says Pastor Skitch, “is found when the community is living as Christ calls it to live.” At Princeton United Methodist Church, you can experience God’s love and joy in a real way while being part of a beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

We invite you to reflect on this Quote from Pastor Jenny on Sunday, February 7, 2021, listen to her sermon, and receive the comfort that God offers you at this time of uncertainty.  At Princeton United Methodist Church, you can experience God in a real way while being part of a beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Parker Palmer: Creating spaces for the self to show up

“In this culture, we know how to create spaces that invite the intellect to show up, to argue its case, to make its point. We know how to create spaces that invite the emotions to show up, to express anger or joy. We know how to create spaces that invite the will to show up, to consolidate effort and energy around a common task. And we surely know how to create spaces that invite the ego to show up, preening itself and claiming its turf! But we sem to know very little about creating spaces that invite the soul to show up, this core of ourselves, our selfhood.,” Parker Palmer

Pastor Jenny Smith Walz quotes Parker Palmer today, February 7, 2021. For those of us (including the communications team member making this post) who are new to Parker’s work, here are some introductory links:

Parker Palmer’s Thirteen Ways  of Looking at Community 

The Six Pillars of the Wholehearted Life, as reported in Brain Pickings 

 

 

 

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Even though we are all distinguished from each other, together, we are the Body of Christ. We each have a particular role that we play, but we all affect one another in significant and powerful ways. Our commitment to diversity, to justice, to truth-telling – these are the things that hold us together.”

We invite you to reflect on this Quote from Pastor Jenny’s Sermon of Sunday, January 31, 2021  and receive the comfort that God offers you at this time of uncertainty.  At Princeton United Methodist Church, you can experience God in a real way while being part of a beloved community. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service and listen to the sermon.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Hymns & Music for Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

🎼🎶“Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us; teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace. Be present, Lord, among us and Bring us to believe: we are ourselves accepted and meant to love and live.”🎼🎶

ENJOYING FELLOWSHIP THROUGH WORSHIP

Experience the Peace of God!

During worship, we at PUMC play or sing:

  • Classical music 
  • Sacred music. 
  • New and well-known hymns 
  • Gospel and Folk songs

Our music ministry includes: 

  • Handbell choir
  • Children’s choir
  • Youth choir  
  • Adult choir 

We use our music to spread the Gospel, praise God, give Him thanks, proclaim the truth, encourage and impact one another. When we praise God,  we get rid of worry, concern, and fear. We receive His peace. Thanking God opens the doors of blessings.  We pray that singing and performing will inspire us and help us find faith and hope.

Our hymns today relate to our scripture passages “Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16, 25-32, 5:1.” They also correspond to Pastor Jenny Smith Walz’s sermon, “Weave Us Together In Promise.” Pastor Jenny’s message is about the promise or covenant – the agreed-upon guidelines for our behavior in our community. Let us therefore listen to Pastor Jenny explain how God is inviting us to become a more beloved community. And let us sing together these two hymns among others:

                            Video “Help Us Accept Each Other”

The writer of the hymn “Help Us Accept Each Other” (1994) is Fred Kaan, born in Haarlem, Netherlands, who sought to address peace and justice issues. This hymn addresses reconciliation, forgiveness, and the healing power of laughter. It also asks God to give us grace to accept all people unconditionally. This song, which is also a prayer, reflects on Romans 15:7 and Ephesians 4:15. We, therefore, implore everyone to care for all God’s people as they are. Philippians 2:12-13 admonishes us to use Christ’s love to work out our salvation. We can do this by replacing the hate in the world with unconditional love.

                       Video “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”

British-born Baptist theologian, pastor, and hymn writer, John Fawcett, wrote the hymn “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” in 1782 to the tune DENNIS (Nägeli). It became a favorite hymn for Christians facing separation, affirming that friendship and community are real wealth assets. This song states that love binds the body of Christ together and that we love and suffer together. It refers to the unity and diversity of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 and love in 1 Corinthians 13. Pastor Fawcett was always full of praise for the beauty of the beloved community in the church.

If you want to share in a more beloved community, invite someone to church this Sunday. Click here to watch the PUMC worship service, listen to the beautiful music, the children’s story time, the scripture readings, the sermon, the prayers, and the story sharing.

Images Source: Google Images

Written by Isabella Dougan