Arlington United Methodist Church

True gratitude is found when we experience moments of grace as unexpected gifts and not simply part of God's "job description".

Faith in the God who raised Jesus from the dead is not something we can ever fully understand- we simply stand in awe of the mystery. Thoughts for the week: What do you place your faith in? Is it something you can fully understand or control, or something much bigger?

We always live in the tension between the joy of life and the sorrow of death, but God's promise is that death will ultimately defeated by life. We celebrate Holy Communion to renew and strengthen our faith in this promise.

Our actions should demonstrate the love of God so clearly that words are unnecessary. Thoughts for the week: How do your actions demonstrate the love of God to those around you?

When we are able to forgive others, we are set free from the prison of anger and resentment. Thoughts for the week: What are the healthy relationships in your life? What are the difficult relationships? What would it take to find forgiveness in those difficult relationships?

When we faithfully give from what little we think we have, God uses it to bless many more people than we ever thought possible. Thoughts for the week: What do you have to share with the world? Could God use what you think is very little to bless a large number of people?

Lent is a time for us to focus on our own mortality, embrace simplicity in our lives, and open ourselves to ways that God can use us as part of his work of redemption in this world. Thoughts for the week: Where is there excess in your own life? What would it mean for you to remove the excess and embrace simplicity in those areas?

God brings life out of places that seem completely overrun by the powers of death and destruction.

The bodily Resurrection of Jesus demonstrates that the ultimate power of our world, death, does not have the last word in creation. That last word belongs to God, who continues to redeem and shape this world to the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. Thoughts for the week: Where do you see the power of death ruling in the world? How do you experience God breaking that power? What would it mean for you to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God?

God offers us free grace and forgiveness that is beyond our ability to comprehend or grasp by our own power. We repent and begin to allow God to change our life in response to the grace we have already been given. The person who truly grasps the depths to which they have been forgiven then extends it to others who may not understand their need for it or unwilling to repent, trusting that God’s grace will work through us and be made known to them. What do you need to be forgiven for? What do you need to forgive someone for?

The church is called together and empowered by Jesus to carry on his ministry in the world. We do this through our example of freely sharing all we have with whomever has need, just as the three persons of the Trinity fully share of themselves with one another. Through that example, we demonstrate that discipleship is a way of living. What does the church mean to you? Does church make a noticeable difference in your life? How?

After Jesus gave the Great Commission, died and returned, Jesus shared that He would be departing forever, so that the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, could come and live with people forever, if they invite the Holy Spirit into their hearts.  Peter, John and others had invited the Holy Spirit to live within and were able, by the power of the indwelling of Christ’s Holy Spirit, to perform with boldness, miracles and healings. The people expressed amazement at the changes in the Apostles. Peter and others explained that if the people could profess their belief in Jesus Christ and confess their sins, then they could ask for and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well.  The bold new style of Peter that Peter received as a gift from the Holy Spirit continues to encourage people to this day as people seek to live spirit-filled lives for Jesus Christ. Also, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Ed Owens gives a tribute to Dr. King

How is it that Jesus can be fully God and fully human? Isn’t impossible to be 200%? We often think of those two things as being contradictory, separated by a wide gulf because of our sin. But God created human beings in God’s own image, and nothing can change that. The Word that was present with God from the beginning is able to be made flesh because our flesh was already made in that image. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God shows us just how close we are to one another and demonstrates the full potential that God created in each of us. How do you see Jesus? What does your understanding of him say about who God created you to be?

Week 1 of our six week journey through the Apostles' Creed We affirm that God is the “creator of heaven and earth”, and yet the way we articulate who God is to the world often communicates a vision that falls short of God’s greatness and ultimacy. Like the parable of the blind men feeling the elephant, each describing their own experience but making the mistake of assuming there can be no other experience or something beyond the reach of their senses, we, too, paint a picture of God that is far too small. We must recognize our own limitations and not be too quick to cram God into a box in the shape of our own prejudices or keep God on a shelf, to be taken down only when we need it. Who do you understand God to be? Does your image of God help you realize God’s greatness or hold you back because it’s too small?

When we encounter the living Christ, we walk away changed.

The most powerful gift God ever gave the world came in the form of a human baby- the weakest and most dependent creature there is.

We truly experience God’s love when we open ourselves up to radical forgiveness and then practice it.

God’s idea of perfection is very different than ours- correcting imbalances and healing deep wounds.

God’s greatest blessings don’t always look like blessings at first.

The authority we grant to Jesus in our lives is demonstrated through our actions.