January 19th, 2024 | Rev. Dr. Mark Charles

Yesterday, our church and wider community gathered to celebrate the life of Chris Bryan.  There was laughter and there were tears as we remembered her with great fondness and love.

In my comments, I recalled our last conversation in which I got to look Chris in the eye and tell her that she was a difference-maker. Throughout her lifetime she has made a difference in our church and community, understanding that what is good for the whole community was worth showing up for and supporting. This understanding is what prompted her to offer her gifts, leadership, and time to the many organizations she was part of. But Chris wasn’t only a difference-maker on a community wide level; her impact was also personal. In recent days I have heard so many people talk about the warmth and kindness with which Chris encountered them.

Every time I would experience Chris’s actions of service, kindness, and generosity, I would take time thank her personally, and each time I would say those words to her she would say the same thing to me: “I’ve been blessed.”  Chris had a faith-filled understanding that from what we have been blessed with we are called to bless others -  an idea we encounter right at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 12:2)

All of us have been blessed in this life, right?

So, let me ask you: How might your life be a blessing to others today?

How might we all be difference-makers in our community and world?

Blessings,

Pastor Charlie

(A sign about Chris and her family that hangs at Baptist Nassau, one of the many organizations to which she gave her time and talents.)

January 12th, 2024 | Rev. Rachel Williams

Friends,

I have a confession to make. These past few years have, from time to time, have distracted me from my belief in the power of God’s transformative action. And how easy it has been to be distracted in the last few years, what with political dissension, a global pandemic, personal hurdles, natural disasters and everything in between happening. It’s not necessarily that we’ve lost faith or belief, but we get bogged down in messaging that causes us to forget that in the midst of everything we worship and serve an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God who is able to do the miraculous even when our actions fall short, and things move out of our control.

I was grateful for that reminder in this week’s Dynamite Prayer. If you’re joining us on this journey, you’ll have read on day four about unbelief. In the final sentences of the devotion for the day, the authors give us some advice: “beware of any type of faithless resignation about ‘what is,’ and choose instead to view everything and everyone with potential for God’s transformation-including yourself.” When we find ourselves thinking, “that could never happen,” we have the opportunity reframe our thinking and our prayers in a way of believing to say, “God can do this. With God, all things are possible.” Will we always see our prayers answered in the way that we ask? Maybe not, but dynamite prayer helps us expand our vision to dream bigger, to pray on a God-scale. Let’s work to pray without hesitation, for all things, knowing that God is with us in everything, always and hears those prayers.

I hope you’ll join us for the remainder of these weeks in Dynamite Prayer. We still have books in the Partin Center and worship spaces, and the good news is that you can jump in with us where we are at any point.

I also want to invite you to be in prayer for and join us for the Martin Luther King, Jr. parade this Monday, January 15th. Meet us at the Peck Center (at the corner of Elm Street and 11th Street) at 11:30AM wearing your red “Love Shows Up” shirt. The route follows the regular parade route, so if you are not walking you are invited to watch from the church steps. This is just one of the many ways that we can live out our calling in the community. It’s a busy time in the life of our church as we enter this new year, and I’m excited to serve alongside of you in the coming months!

With Love and Peace,

Pastor Rachel

January 5th, 2024 | Rev. Dr. Mark Charles

This weekend we celebrate Epiphany - the time when we recall the journey of the magi who followed a star all the way to the place where Jesus was. We remember the extravagant joy they had when they got there, how they worshipped Jesus when they saw him, and how they gave generous gifts as part of their worship.

Epiphany reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world, and that his birth and life really is good news for all people. This Sunday morning, we will be thinking about what it means for us that Jesus is the light of the world.

This Sunday also marks the beginning of our 28-day prayer initiative: Dynamite Prayer. Throughout the remainder of January, we are inviting you to join with the United Methodists of the northeast district in Florida as we complete a short daily devotional and listen for the voice of God's spirit together.

Here at Memorial, we will have a couple of points during each week at which you can gather with one another to share your Dynamite Prayer journey insights and reflections. On Wednesday nights at 6:00PM in the Multipurpose Room (and online) I will lead a dynamite prayer check in time. I’d love to see you there. But if you can't make that gathering, Pastor Rachel will be doing a similar thing with our Thursday Lunch and Learn group. They meet in the multipurpose room at 11:30AM every Thursday.

This is an exciting season of prayer for Memorial and for our district. Let's dive in, take advantage of the Dynamite Prayer resource, and see where God's Spirit leads us.

Blessings,

Pastor Charlie