QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This quote would be powerful because it’s a rallying call from Rev. Jenny Smith Walz to the church’s inclusivity.  Here, she encourages us to love others as ourselves, particularly those who live in poverty. “Who do you prefer to worship with?” asks Pastor Jenny, adding, “Who do we struggle to worship with?”  She is asking us to put our love and faith into action. Indeed, the world would be a better place if we were all kind to one another. “Do our beliefs and actions match up?”  Rev. Walz preaching at PUMC on the Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost based her sermon on Scripture from James 2: 1-17

“Who do we as a church seek to welcome and embrace within our Christian fellowship?” Pastor Jenny inquires. She explains, “As a church, we must seek to welcome and embrace everyone, without partiality, within our Christian fellowship. As Christians, let us do things that bring a different social order in this world.” Her quote impacts me personally because I see everyone coming to worship while sitting at the back of the church.

Princeton United Methodist Church welcomes everyone.  Join us for worship on Sundays as we share the good news of God’s love revealed through Jesus Christ. To watch our worship service on Facebook and Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preaching, click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This quote from Rev. Jenny Smith Walz puts the degree of our relationship with Jesus to the test. She reminded us that faith and action go together, and when we allow God to transform us, we can change the world,  just like Jesus did. 

“What difference does our faith make for us, for our family, our church, our community, our world,” asked Pastor Jenny. “Does it lead directly to practical compassion, making us kinder, more empathic? Is it liberating the people around us and us, or is it keeping them separated?” “Is it lifting people and filling them with love and compassion, or is it condemning, judging, and keeping them away?” 

Rev. Walz was preaching at PUMC on the Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost. She based her sermon on Scripture from James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 15-15, and 21-23. 

Join us at PUMC as we share the good news of God’s love revealed through Jesus Christ. Pastor Jenny wants us to look at ourselves more closely and ask God to show us how to conduct our lives, taking Christ-like actions. To watch our worship service on Facebook and Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preaching, click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Rev. Jenny Smith Walz’s quote lends a fresh perspective to the interpretation of Ephesians 6: 10-20  on this Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost. She tells us that we should put on God’s armor to fully claim God’s help for us to move through this world and when we face things that are too big for us to handle on our own. It would be good if we apply this principle to our life. 

“We must let go of the false armor we put on to secure safety, security, and power in our world,” Pastor Jenny admonishes us. She tells us that we must pray continually to get God’s armor and win the fight against the power of evil. It’s also true that the more we pray, the more we also come up against our propensity for evil, injustice and oppression, and sin and brokenness within ourselves.

Pastor Jenny reminds us that Jesus had a different way of bringing about change in the world, of bringing about God’s kingdom. “Jesus subverted the laws that kept people oppressed and marginalized, crossed boundaries, and brought people in. His strength came from abiding with God, his father, a life of prayer, vulnerability, authentic self, love, and giving of himself. He had a steadfastness about him,” she explains.

Worship at PUMC just got twice as interesting. Join us as we share the good news of God’s love revealed through Jesus Christ. “We are not alone,” says Pastor Jenny, “not only because we have Christ but also because we have each other.” To watch our worship service on Facebook and Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preaching, click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

This quote highlights why children are essential in God’s kingdom. “Something child-like remains in all of us that plays out in our adult life in a lot of ways,” stated Pastor Rebekah Anderson in her sermon on the Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost, August 15, 2021. “Our child-like way of seeing the world is in line with the kingdom of God,” she added.  She also related the story of an eight-year-old girl asking her mother this question, “Mom, do you drink beer because you like the way it tastes or because you like the way it makes you feel?”

Pastor Rebekah preached on “The Kingdom of God in Us,” a theme based on Scripture from Luke 17:20-21 and Luke 18:15-17.  Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God is  among you.” Jesus also said, as he blessed children, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 

Come worship with us and be a member of our beloved PUMC family. To watch Pastor Rebekah preach, Click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Be inspired by this quote, which highlights one of our everyday problems that need solving. On Sunday, August 8, 2021, the Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost, Pastora Ashley Gonzales, Kingston United Methodist Church pastor, was our guest preacher and preached on the theme, “Food In A Famine,” based on Scripture from 1 Kings 19:4-8.  Elijah, feeling overwhelmed, told God he had had enough. Pastora Gonzales admonished us, saying, “sometimes, when you feel like you’re going to die, all you need is a snack and a nap.” 

We’re delighted to have had Pastora Ashley Gonzales here with us. Thanks to the new partnership that PUMC has with KUMC, she is now part of our clergy team. On behalf of PUMC, we welcome her on board! It was an enjoyable service, with many of our Kingston UMC siblings worshipping with us in person.

We invite you to come worship with us on Sunday. “When you’re isolated and lonely and have nothing more to give, God listens and responds to your cries,” says Pastora Gonzales. “Elijah was not alone, after all, and neither are you,” she also noted. To watch Pastora Ashley Gonzales preach, Click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

On the Tenth Sunday After Pentecost and Communion Sunday, Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preached on ‘Shalom.’  This ‘Shalom’ quote from the pastor resonates with us all.  The Hebrew word “Shalom’ means peace. It’s also about completeness, wholeness, welfare, safety, prosperity, rest, harmony, fullness. Rev. Walz said, “God has put everything in place that we need. Yet, we are unable to trust God’s providence for us.” We continue to ask ourselves if God will take care of our needs.  “So it becomes easy for us to shift our trust, loyalty, and attention to things that are not of God,” she added. 

Pastor Jenny based her sermon on Scripture from Luke 12:22-34.  Here, Jesus tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything. We should trust God to provide for our basic needs. At the same time, we must be generous to others. We must note, however, that Jesus is not advocating that people should be idle or not work. 

Click here to watch Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preach about Shalom. She invites you to offer yourself to be a part of our Jubilee community and help us become a Jubilee community more fully.  

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

On the 9th Sunday After Pentecost, Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preached on Joy. I love this quote which tells us that God will throw a party for us because that’s what God does. Rev. Walz reassures us that God treasures and delights in each one of us, and when we go missing, He will search until he finds us.  

Pastor Jenny stated that the joy we experience from God, we must bring to others. “When my well-being and your well-being are caught up in something together, then we can feel with one another,” she added.  She also noted, “It’s better to focus more on ‘We’ and ‘Us’ than on ‘Me’ or ‘I’ or ‘You.’

She based her sermon on Scripture from Luke 15:1-10.  Here, Jesus tells the “Parable of the Lost Sheep when Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with sinners.”

Click here to watch Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preach about Joy.

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

During her sermon on the 8th Sunday After Pentecost, Rev. Jenny Smith Walz explained the real meaning of Justice. My take-away from her sermon is this beautiful quote, and I think we can all live by it. 

She stated that we resort to Charity because Charity is a lot easier for most of us than Justice work is. “Justice work makes us uncomfortable,” she added. She preached on the topic of the “Parable of the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge” based on Scripture from Luke 18: 1-8.  In this story, we see a poor widow constantly asking a corrupt judge to help her get justice. Pastor Jenny concluded by saying, “If we want justice for others, we must love and respect them.”

Click here to watch Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preach about “Justice.”

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It is an inspiring quote on forgiveness by Rev. Jenny Smith Walz. During her sermon on the 6th Sunday of Pentecost, also Communion Sunday, Pastor Jenny admonished us about the merit of continued forgiveness. The Scripture was from Matthew 18: 21-35.

“Jesus freed people from their sins over and over again, and it got him crucified,” reminded Pastor Jenny. “Yet Jesus went from that Cross, into death and resurrection,” she said, “showing us that Freedom from all of those sins is released through God’s long action of love and forgiveness.” “Forgiveness frees us from captivity,” she added. Failure to forgive holds us captive to our bitterness and keeps us in a cycle of revenge. Forgiveness requires us to name the pain and the hurt while we see those in need of forgiveness as also God’s beloved children.

What now?

“What if we were to have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that allows people to tell their stories of pain and victim hurt, that allows the pain and hurt to be felt, and Freedom to be found?” Pastor Jenny mused. “Then, we can love each other and together transform the world!” Ask yourself: Where is it that you need to be set free? Where is it that you need to be redeemed?

Click here to listen to Rev. Jenny Smith Walz preach about “Forgiveness.”

Written by Isabella Dougan

QUOTE OF THE DAY

 

On the Firth Sunday of Pentecost, Pastor Rebekah Anderson preached on “Baptism” while “Exploring the Depths” and left us with this quoteThe Scripture was from Mark 1: 1-14. 

Pastor Rebekah reminded us that we are all incredibly vulnerable, and our vulnerability connects us. She stated, “Baptism calls us to open our hearts to the vulnerability of ourselves and others so that we can recognize that we are all inextricably linked through God’s love. At Baptism, God’s redeeming grace washes the old away and creates in us a new life.” 

Even though we are baptized once, we must return what our Baptism means, over and over again. This way, we open our hearts to be made new each day. There is a new life for us in Baptism, again and again when this happens. This new life offers us the forgiveness that we can give to ourselves for hurting others and, to people who have caused us harm. 

What to focus on now:

    1. Return to what Baptism means for us.
    2. Dive in again and again deeply into the depths of these waters.
    3. Take a hard look at ourselves and the world’s brokenness and recognize our culpability in its pain.

It will wash away hurt and resentment in incredible ways that will make more room in our hearts for love and joy. “May we find that path to the water and dive in again and again, together,” said pastor Rebekah. Click here to listen to Pastor Rebekah preaching about “Baptism.” 

Written by Isabella Dougan