Philip’s Focus

Our Lent Sermon Series, “The IAM” will start on Sunday, February 26.

During Lent we will seak to kmow all we can about God by using the “I AM” sayings of Jesus throughout the gospel. Each saying offers a way that God is working to reveal himself to the world through Jesus in a way that all of us can easily see and understand. During Lent we will uncover that not pnly do we want to know and understand God more, but God also desires to be known by us. God has moved toward humanity in Jesus. Our Hope in each saying we study every week is that you might see the love of God, accept this love, and share this same love with others.

The Gospel of John has one main function that it is seeking to convey to all who read it: “Jesus is the revelatory body of God.” From the first words of John, we see that Jesus has not only come as the son of God, the messiah, but Jesus is in fact the Word of God. This means that through the incarnation, we get a true glimpse of the self-revealing nature of God, So, the more we can know about Jesus the more we can know about God, and the more we know about God the more we can know about who God called us to be!

Shalom, Philip Page 10 is Another Word From Bishop Graves

As I have stated before, we are blessed to have the ministry and discipleship-mindeed Bishop David Graves, as our resident bishop, in this time of denominational turmoil. He is a gifted writer and speaking when it comes to difficult subjects. As our church continues to discern the future, please take a moment and read Bishop Graves’s letter. You need to know that I have experienced the same pain, as a pastor with my family as he shares in this letter. You also need to know I not only identify with his reflections but also agree with him.

Lead Pastor

Dr. Philip McVay

philip@shalimar-umc.org