A Note from Pastor Travis 12/24/20

Dear FUMC Family and Friends,
 When the Israelites were taken into captivity to Babylon, they lost more than their freedom. They felt that they had lost their connection to God too. At that time, they believed that God’s earthly dwelling was in the Holy of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem on Mount Zion. If you wanted to connect to God then you needed to go to the temple. However, the Babylonians destroyed the temple and had taken them over 400 miles from Judah. How could they worship God without a temple and so far from home? We can hear their grief in Psalm 137:

"By the rivers of Babylon-there we sat down and there we weptwhen we remembered Zion.On the willows therewe hung up our harps.For there our captorsasked us for songs,and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!'How could we sing the Lord's songin a foreign land?"  

In Babylon they were separated from everything they knew and loved.  How could they worship God in their grief? How could they worship God in their isolation? How could they worship God in a foreign land? How could they worship God outside of the temple? 

It was in this moment of loss that their theology began to evolve. In fact, it developed in a dynamic way that forever changed Judaism. A part of this shift in their theology was born from their experience of being able to connect to God even in Babylon. They begin to understand that the God who spoke creation into being could not be limited by geography. God was not limited to the temple in Jerusalem, even though it was a sacred place. God was with them always and they could worship God, even in Babylon. 

This year we have been social isolating, which means that we have also been separated from our church family. We miss worshiping together. We miss seeing each other. It was hard not to be together on Easter, and it is hard to be apart on Christmas Eve. However, God is with us in our isolation, and we can worship God from home too. We can worship together virtually, even as we are apart. 

We invite you to join us on Christmas Eve at 6:00 pm for our Virtual Christmas Eve Service. It will be on MMTV, Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/fumcmelrose/posts/10158243293388462?notif_id=1608682051410523¬if_t=live_video_schedule_broadcaster&ref=notif, and YouTube https://youtu.be/Z1TvHpXNaMg.

Communion will be part of the service, so prepare your Communion elements ahead of time. Virtually we will worship together, welcoming the Christ-Child into the world! 

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Travis