Holy Week! -- It is Finally Here

Pastor’s Note

The Journey of Holy Week

Dear Church Family,

It is finally here- Holy Week! Our Lenten journey has led us to the most sacred and powerful days of our Christian faith. This is the week that changed everything-a journey from the shouts of “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday to the sorrow of the cross on Good Friday, and finally to the joy and victory of Easter morning.

Holy Week invites us to slow down, to reflect deeply on the love of Christ, and to remember the cost of ou

"Awaken My Sight"

A Note from Pastor Marge  

"Awaken My Sight"

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “If it were a snake, it would’ve bit you?” It’s a phrase said humorously when one is looking for something that is right in front of them. This is the phrase I thought of as I was reading through Luke’s account of Palm Sunday. This upcoming Sunday is indeed Palm Sunday, the day that marks the beginning of Holy Week and commemorates Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday of Passover.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

     We are in week five of our Lenten sermon series called, “The Seven Last Words,” in which we are walking through Jesus’s seven last sayings on the cross. This week, we are going to look at this saying: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The question becomes, is God turning His back on His Son, Jesus, in His greatest time of need and does God forsake?

     The explanation is quite complicated (come to church this Sunday to hear all about it!) but the answer is

Woman, behold, your son…Behold, your mother!

     In the final moments of Jesus’ life on the cross, the Gospel of John gives us a profound glimpse into the power of relationship. As Jesus suffers, surrounded by a crowd, He turns His attention not just to His mission of salvation, but also to the people He loves, offering them a deep act of care and connection. 

     John 19:25-27 recounts the presence of several women at the foot of the cross, including Jesus’ mother, Mary, and the disciple whom He loved (often under

Today, you will be with me in Paradise

     During this Lenten season, our church will be exploring the profound significance of “the seven last words” of Jesus Christ spoken from the cross. Each week, we will reflect on these final declarations, words of forgiveness, salvation, relationship, distress, abandonment, triumph, and reunion, that reveal the heart of Christ’s sacrifice and the depth of God’s love for humanity. As we journey through Lent, we will draw closer to the cross, allowing Jesus’ words to sha

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing: The Church

Do you remember your favorite birthday party you were invited to as a kid? When I was in elementary school, I was invited to a hotel sleepover at the Embassy Suites on Baymeadows Road in Jacksonville, Florida with some of my best seven-year-old friends. It was the first time I had stayed in a hotel without my parents, and it was so awesome. I mean it was truly awesome.  We went to the pool, we took really long, hot showers, we used the nice lotion in the bathrooms and not

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing: The Holy Spirit

     For the past five weeks, we as a church family have explored some of the main doctrines of our Christian faith in our sermon series, “Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing.” One of the main doctrines of our faith is the Trinity, which is the belief that there is one God who exists in three equal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The word “Trinity” is not necessarily found in the Scriptures but the idea of one God in three persons is found in the very

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing: Jesus Christ

Regardless of what your worldview is, I think we can all agree on the fact that something has gone horribly wrong with the human experience. Something is wrong. You can call it what you want to but for Christ followers, the term we use to describe this is sin. All throughout human history, every people group has tried to build a bridge back to perfection, back to eternity, back to God. In fact, every major world religion is built on that premise. But the unique claim of C

What Is Love?

Love. There is so much power in that one word, isn't there? It has the power to completely transform life. However, I think it is funny how we sometimes use this word in our current culture and society. Just last week, I was telling Chris how much I love animal crackers. How can in one sentence we tell a family member, a friend, a significant other, or a spouse, "I love you" and in the next moment, profess our love for animal crackers? It doesn't make any sense. Since Val

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing: Humanity

This is the third week in our sermon series called, “Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing,” which is a series all about the core beliefs we hold to in the Christian faith. The first week we looked at the Bible, which is the decisive source of our Christian witness and the authoritative measure of the truth in our beliefs. Last week, we explored the Trinity, specifically the first person of the Trinity, God the Father. God is our good, good Father that lavishes His love a

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing: God the Father

We are officially in our second week of our sermon series called, “Keeping The Main The Main Thing.” This is a series that is all about the core beliefs of the Christian faith and the core beliefs we hold to here at First United Methodist Church of Plant City. Last week, I preached on the Bible, on how the Bible is the decisive source of our Christian witness and the authoritative measure of the truth in our beliefs. This upcoming Sunday, I am going to be preaching on the

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing: The Bible

Last Sunday, I shared with you some of the few lessons I have learned in ministry so far. One of those lessons I preached about was “keeping the main thing the main thing.” Well, one of the “main things,” not only here at First UMC Plant City but in our Christian faith, is the Bible. 

As Christians, we believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation of who He is and what He has done in redemptive history. We believe that the Bible is “God-breathed” and gets its true, au