8:00-8:45
We offer prayer, reflection , ashes and a blessing while you are in your car. Stop by as you start day. All are welcome.
7:00 PM
Through the service of ashes on the first day of Lent, we come before God recognizing our humanity, repenting of our sin, remembering who are, whose we are and who we can be.
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Are we paying attention to the holy ground beneath our feet? Where do we see burning bushes in our world today, and what are they calling us to do? Do spiritual encounters in our lives have holy consequences in the world around us? Many of us want to understand how to integrate our personal spiritual lives more actively with our engagement in working for justice and the liberation of the oppressed and marginalized. Hard and Holy Work provides a space for just that, helping readers participate in Lent in a new way by becoming attuned to God’s boundless presence in our world and waking up to and taking action for God’s justice through exploring stories from the book of Exodus that have inspired the work of liberation for centuries.
Pastor Mary Alice Birdwhistell and Hebrew Bible scholar Tyler Mayfield reflect on the brave action of the midwives Shiphrah and Puah and other faithful women in Exodus, Moses’ awakening to the plight of the Hebrew people, Moses’ life-changing encounter with the burning bush, the Israelites taking the risk of crossing the Red Sea, and more, alongside numerous contemporary stories to help readers to see anew and contemplate how God is calling them to respond to what is not right in the world: racial injustice, especially borne by women of color, houselessness, and discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities.
Lent is traditionally a time of self-reflection and action that prepares followers of Christ to walk more intentionally in the way of God. Hard and Holy Work takes readers through a unique Lenten journey, encouraging us to see those who are marginalized or suffering as God sees them; contemplate how privilege, fear, risk, and feelings of uncertainty can cloud our attention; and practice endurance for the messy middle of justice work, leaning on God’s provision and rest when the way forward is unclear.
The book is available at Cokesbury, Amazon and where ever you buy books.
Sunday’s class is lead by Suzanne Morgan. Wednesday class is lead by Brenda Weikel.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
Interested in another opportunity for yoga at CUMC? CommUNITY yoga would like to invite you to practice with us every other Thursday for a Vinyasa style flow with a body positive focus. Amber Lawless will lead the practice and incorporate variations on traditional poses that will bring accessibility for all levels of mobility and athletic backgrounds. Using the breath to bring mindful awareness of the body’s needs you will experience a practice that will both stretch and strengthen your body, mind and spirit. You will need a mat for the practice but we will supply all other props needed. We will meet every other Thursday at 5pm for this session.
Yoga Practices: 2/24, 3/10 and 3/24. Childcare is available. Please RSVP to Leyla at LeylaATcumchb.org.
You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
Ephesians 2: 8–9
You are invited to a 4 week workshop on discovering or re-discovering that place that best reflects your unique personality, natural and spiritual gifts, passions and values. Hopefully you will come away come away being able to articulate your mission in life which best encompasses all the above.
Week 1: What is the sweet spot.? Your divine design.
Week 2 : Knowing your natural and spiritual gifts.
Week 3: What do you value?
Week 4: Putting it together in a personal mission statement?
Bob became a Methodist pastor at 47 after chasing after success in the business world. He jokes about writing his story someday “How to Be a Successful Failure”
He has led numerous workshops on this topic which have always been enjoyable.
Jesus provided his disciples teachings for how to follow Torah, God’s word; he told them parables to help them discern questions of ethics and of human nature; he offered them beatitudes for comfort and encouragement. But sometimes Jesus spoke words that followers then and now have found difficult. He instructs disciples to hate members of their own families (Luke 14:26), to act as if they were slaves (Matthew 20:27), and to sell their belongings and give to the poor (Luke 18:22). He restricts his mission (Matthew 10:6); he speaks of damnation (Matthew 8:12); he calls Jews the devil’s children (John 8:44).
In The Difficult Words of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine shows how these difficult teachings would have sounded to the people who first heard them, how have they been understood over time, and how we might interpret them in the context of
the Gospel of love and reconciliation.
(C) Community United Methodist Church, Huntington Beach 2025