Newsletter - July 2022

Newsletter – July, 2022

Greetings from the desk of the Pastor! As many of you know, every July I celebrate the anniversary of my arrival in Flushing as your pastor. I have officially completed my FOURTH year as your pastor and am now entering my fifth year. It may not seem like that long, but as a young pastor - this is the longest I have been in a single church as a leader. I cannot express how grateful I am for this incredible community and how wonderful you all have been for my family and I. For the first time in my life, we have started to put down roots with long term plans because we have found a place we hope to call home for many years to come.

This year our vision statement is “Today’s footprint, is tomorrow’s legacy.” This will be our guiding principle for the upcoming year – the fact that where we put our feet today will determine the legacy we leave for the church of tomorrow. Today’s footprint is tomorrow’s legacy. If we want to see revival in this church tomorrow, we have to plant those seeds today.

I’ve been thinking a lot about revival in the church. There has been so much struggle – economic troubles with gas and groceries, social unrest, political divisions and even trouble up at the denominational level of our church. And yet – even with all these new problems, the solution remains the same. The recipe for revival in the church is the same as it has ever been: Trust in Jesus, and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I recently wrote a series of blog posts called “How To Experience Revival In Your Faith” (which you can access by clicking HERE).

To plant the seeds of revival in your faith (and in the life of the church) – to make today’s footprint, tomorrow’s legacy – there are three things you must do. We must know Christ (feed the spark in worship), follow Christ (fuel the flame through Christian education), and Share Christ (feel the warmth through outreach and missions). It’s the process we use to grow personally, but also the manner in which we bring life and growth to our church as well. Plant the seed, experience REVIVAL in your faith – no matter what else is going on in your world, it is still possible to grow closer to God. Today’s footprint is tomorrow’s legacy.

Here are some upcoming events and announcements

July 10th – Pizza With the Pastor!

There is a lot of confusing information swirling around about the future of our Church and the United Methodist Church as well. After second service on July 10th, I will be in the fellowship hall with a pile of pizzas and time to answer any questions you might have. I’ll also give a presentation on recent developments.

August 21st – OUTDOOR WORSHIP and POTLUCK!

Last year we tried a new thing, and we worshipped outside on our beautiful lawn, and then hosted a gorgeous potluck while the church kids played on the new playset we had built for them. It was such an incredible success that we felt we simply must do it again. We will have a combined worship service at 10am, with a potluck to follow! I hope you can join us for this delightful tradition.

COMBINED WORSHIP SERVICES

Another tradition we have not utilized in a long time is combining worship services for the month of August. There have been a lot of requests for this, but I resisted because the worship styles are just so different. However, I’ve decided that this year it will be very life giving and joyful to combine our worship services (for 5 weeks only) so that we can gather as a full and united church at the end of the summer. All services will be held indoors (except for August 21). The world is still pretty chaotic, but inside the walls of Flushing United Methodist Church we are going to keep loving God and loving our neighbor. We will plant the seeds of revival by knowing Christ, following Christ and sharing Christ every chance we get. Because today’s footprint is tomorrow’s legacy. I’ll see you on Sunday.

Pastor JJ