Happy New Year, Auburn FUMC!
Today (January 6th) is the Feast of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men who came from the east to worship Jesus. It also marks the end of the Christmas season, which means that it’s finally time to take down the lights, the trees, and the Nativity sets until next November. Here at the parsonage, the toddler is a little bit concerned about the Christmas tree being “broken” and put back into the box—but we’ve managed to appease her by keeping all of the snowman-themed decorations out for her to play with!
We’ve got some great things coming up at Auburn FUMC as the new year commences. We’ll be launching our brand new website next week, some of our young people will be joining other United Methodist youth in Salina for “The One Event” later this month, and we’ve got some exciting sermons in the works! Here’s what you can look forward to in worship during the month of January:
January 8—Baptism of the Lord Sunday
On Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we will be reaffirming our baptismal vows and giving God thanks for the sacrament of baptism. We will also be celebrating Holy Communion.
January 15—Human Relations Sunday
Human Relations Sunday is a special giving Sunday in the United Methodist Church; one which focuses on caring for at-risk youth, marginalized and oppressed populations, and communities in need. And because January 16th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we will be celebrating Human Relations Sunday by reading portions of one of Dr. King’s sermons. (It’s called “Paul’s Letter to American Christians”, and MLK delivered it over 60 years ago…but I think that you’ll find that it’s still shockingly relevant to us today!)
January 22—Ecumenical Sunday
January 22 is “Ecumenical Sunday”, and we are going to celebrate this with our Presbyterian sisters and brothers here in Auburn! Our congregations will be worshiping together at 10:00, here at the United Methodist Church, and the service will feature leadership from both congregations.
January 29—A New Sermon Series!
January 29th will mark the beginning of a new lectionary-based sermon series that will run until the beginning of Lent. It’s called “Lofty Goals”, and is based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the meek, do not worry about the future, you can’t serve God and wealth, avoiding anger and lust…we’ll be hitting all those topics and more!
I hope that your New Year is off to a fabulous start! See you in church!