"Midweek Friends" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 04/28/2021

 

Hello friends,

We are in the last week of our worship series on friendship, and it has been fun renewing friendships and making new friends. 

But, when Jesus called us “friends,” he may have been thinking of friendship a little bit differently than we typically think of it.  We tend to think of friends as a private relationship between two people or a group of people.  We are possessive of our friends.  We claim them saying things like “Sally is my friend.” Friendship is personal. 

The people in Jesus’ day had a different understanding of friendship.  At that time, being a friend was a role you learned.  When Jesus called people together, they learned how to be friends, maybe the way we might learn how to be a musician or a chef.  They learned friendship by following Christ and practicing things compassion and caring, sharing and mercy, empathy, and forgiveness.  When a musician becomes skilled, they share their music with the world.  When a chef becomes good at preparing food, they cook for a broader audience. In Jesus’ day, when you became skilled at being a friend, you lived as a friend in the world in all your encounters.  You were a friend to God and people and the entire world.

Jesus wasn’t looking for a clique of followers.  He was forming disciples who could live as friends to the world for God.  

Kind of interesting, don’t you think?  What if each of us, as followers of Christ, lived as a friend in the world—not just to particular people, but to everyone?  What if we all listed “friend” on our resume as our profession?  What if a church was a place where friends gathered to practice and improve their skills at being friends so that they could be better friends in the world? 

It all just has me thinking. I will soon need new business cards. What if my new business cards simply read “Friend”?  Could I live up to that? 

BTW:  what’s on your business card? 

According to Jesus, what should be on all our business cards? 

Blessings and see you Sunday,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.

Worship!  (Where people become friends!)  We worship in person at 8:30 on Sunday mornings.  That service is live-streamed and available all week long.

And at 9:30 we post an online worship service.  Worship in the way that is right for you!  This Sunday we will be sharing in Holy Communion. 

WDMUMC News!

Hello Edgewater!  We will resume worship services with the residents at Edgewater this Sunday.  We have missed you!

All Church Picnic!  Mark your calendars!  May 12th at 5:30 at a shelter at Raccoon River Park.  Bring a lawn chair and we will provide the food! 

Memorial Service for Jackie Johnson This service will be held in our sanctuary on May 7th at 1:30.  Please keep Bob and his family in prayer. 

 

"Midweek and Thinking About Friendship, Pt 2" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 04/21/2021

 

Good morning--

"I have called you friends.”  Those are Jesus’ words.  Here at wdmumc, we are exploring friendship and it has been fun. 

A couple of questions for you today.

Question #1:  What do you look for in a friend? 

Honesty.  Integrity.  Commitment.  Kindness.  Compassion.  

All that, and I like friends who are engaged in life, who like to learn and explore, who enjoy people, and are ready to have an adventure living out their faith.  I like friends who help me see the world in new ways. 

And I like friends who can see the humor in life and laugh more than they whine.  I like friends who forgive themselves and others.  I like friends who understand that sometimes life just is and you have to roll with it.  

I like friends who like ice cream and appreciate a good cookie.   

Question #2:  (a bit harder)  What kind of friend am I?  (That prompts more questions.) 

I look at all those qualities above and I have to ask, do I live those qualities in my friendships? 

Have I been a good friend?  Friendship has two sides, receiving and giving.  

(Groan.)  That takes some soul-searching. 

Can you remember a moment when you were a really good friend?  Can you relive that moment? Just relish it and enjoy it all over again?  

Make a list of what you like in a friend.  Do you live those qualities?  Are there some you would like to strengthen?  

Might be a good day to talk this all over in prayer. We have a friend in Christ who will listen.  

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org. 

We worship

In-person at 8:30 Sunday mornings—early enough for you to get to the golf course or soccer game before noon!  Please mask and social distance! 

And online at 9:30.  Worship in the way that is right for you!

A Thought on This Morning

Yesterday Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the death of George Floyd.  I, like so many of you, have followed this story.  One man is dead.  Another will go to prison.  Our court system has done its justice work.  Our country has a history of division concerning race.  Today we are sorting through all that, working to be a land of freedom and equality.  Today I want to hold this all in prayer, seek God’s guidance as to how we have come to this tragic moment, and how we live out of it.  Jesus, lead us.

Memorial Service for Roy Messerschmidt

Roy Messerschmidt died on November 16, 2020.  Due to the pandemic, his memorial service was postponed.  It will be held this Friday.  This is a private service for immediate family only. Roy was an impressive person.  He loved this community, and he loved our church.  He had been a member of the church for 60 years.  He served in many leadership roles. He participated in the State Fair Stand and the Men’s Choir.  He was one of the original cast members of the Last Supper Drama.  Please hold Jan and their family in prayer as they honor Roy on Friday.

All Church Picnic!  Raccoon River Park May 12 at 5:30.  Mark your calendars! 

 

"Midweek and Thinking About Friendship" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 04/14/2021

 

Good morning!

I think the world needs more friends right now. 

So this Sunday we are launching a new worship series about friendship. 

I am so jazzed about this.  For the last few weeks, I have been reading, thinking, and praying about friendship.  Friendship is such a rich good gift.  It makes me happy just to think about it.

Just so you don’t think this is Pastor Cindy off on a tangent, this is all based on John 15:15.  In that verse, Jesus tells his disciples they are his friends.  Jesus, just like us, needed friends.  And he told them so.  Have you ever done that?  Told someone “you are my friend”?  It feels like really putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, but Jesus did it.  He claimed the people around him as friends. They were disciples for sure, but more than that, Jesus held them in a mutual relationship. That’s what friendship is, a mutual doing for one another.  Jesus needed friends, and they needed him. 

Preparing for this worship series has felt like opening a treasure chest.  Friendship is rich, deep, and complicated.  Friendship is an expression of love between imperfect people.  It is a risky adventure.  Friends love, and care, AND disappoint, and fail.  They draw us into celebrations and adventures and they lean on us in times of heartache. 

Jesus’ friends will bear their soul to him and he will bear his to them.  They will share everything.  But sometimes, he will be furious with them (Matthew 16).  They will try to manipulate him (Matthew 20).  They will fall asleep when he is weeping (Matthew 26) and when he needs them the most, they will run away.  Sometimes he must have felt very much alone. 

And yet they remain his friends. Because something draws us together.  The big yawning ache of life and all its uncertainty has us always yearning for the support of others. 

As I have been preparing this series, memories of friends have been flooding my mind.  That has been delicious.  College friend Chris, solid to the core.  Lee, a seminary friend, sharing dozens of commutes to Kansas City.  Jo, my opposite friend who takes me in directions I would never think of myself, and I am the better for it.  Mary, my high school friend, I would not have survived those four years without her.  Jeanne, mom-friend, caring for each other’s children like they were our own. 

So as we prepare for this Sunday, I would like you to spend some time remembering friends, those people who entered your life when you needed them.  Can you see the hand of God in your friendships?  Nudging you toward each other?  As you remember your friendships, reach your hand out and ask God to bless those who have blessed your life.   

There’s so much more to friendship, but we’ll start here. 

Blessings, friends,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.

We worship in person on Sunday mornings at 8:30.  Please mask and social distance.   This service is also live-streamed. 

Our On-Line service posts on our Facebook page every Sunday at 9:30. 

Worship in the way that is right for you!

Looking Ahead at WDMUMC

We’re Planning a Picnic!

Sue Williams and Liz Finch are hosting an All-Church Spring Picnic on May 12 at 5:30 at Raccoon River Park.  The picnic will be outside—so bring your lawn chair!  They need some help!  Please contact Pastor Cindy if you would be willing to help set up and serve.  It is time to party in the park together! 

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and author is thinking about friendship too.  You can find his thoughts at https://cac.org/love-and-friendship-2021-04-11/