As we engage in another program year, it is a good time to ask ourselves some questionsWhat is this year going to be like? Is it going to be like last year? Is it going to be a year of growth and if so what is that going to look like? How are we going to grow both personally as well as the Body of Christ, His Church? If we are not growing and journeying in faith then we are stagnant and are not doing what God has planned for us.
We are creatures of habit and the more we do something the more it becomes a habit and the more we become comfortable with the status quo and we just keep doing the same thing. God is never stagnant in living his faith or in his time of Prayer. Jesus continuously found new ways to live his faith and share his gifts with us. He never let a routine or a habit slow him down, or interfere with progress in his ministry. We too have been called to live our faith in a unique and energetic way. Faith is not an added burden to our life but one that gives us energy and purpose. Faith should not grow old or boring, we need to realize that God has put us here in Brimfield Illinois in 2023 for a reason. He has given us the gifts and talents He needs us to make the community of Brimfield and the world a better place. He is waiting to see how we are going to be creative in how we use his gifts and talents. We have been given a wonderful gift from God– The ability to share in the plan that God has for us, and the world around us. May this year be a year marked with growth and faithfulness. May this year be marked with us building a community that is eager to serve, and do whatever God wants us to do. We can only know what God wants if we stay connected to him through Worship and reading His Word. Faith is only really faith when we move it from our head to our hearts. We can not just have the knowledge of faith but we have to live it out everyday and in every situation. Jesus called us to be dedicated to him all the time. The story that we are living is the way that we experience God and show him how much we love him. It is us connecting our lower story with his Upper story. He does not want disciples who just talk about faith, he wants us to live our faith in our daily lives. So every moment of everyday is part of our Story of Faith. Every time we focus on our faith or we make a decision and share our faith it will make our faith stronger and more alive. We get to experience how close Jesus is to us and how much he loves us. He is not a God who is up in heaven only—He is with us every minute of everyday, loving us and sharing his love with us. Jesus continuously gives us opportunities to grow into the disciples he wants us to be. May this year be filled with an outpouring of His Holy Spirit and love. May we grow in our discipleship both to Christ and to one another. With God’s blessings, Pastor Steve Barch What does it mean to be a Christian mean in our day and age? How does going to church on Sunday change who I am or what I do the rest of the week? Does Christianity change us, or do we change Christianity to fit our schedules today? These are all questions that lead to us really looking at who we are and what we are about. Christianity calls us into the body of Christ and what does that mean? We say that God has given each of us different gifts and those gifts were given to share – the way we do that is up to us and God.
Our Church needs you and your gifts – Belonging to a family means that we need to do things to help that family stay strong and active. Our church committees and council have room for more voices and ideas. Our committees and council are for the congregation. They are volunteers from our church family to help make decisions and vote on the direction that the church will go. As a committee member you will help to direct the future of our church. As our congregation continues to change, we need people to step up and help out. We are asking that you prayerfully consider where and how you can help us. Union Church is a wonderful congregation that is called by Christ to serve the community in Brimfield, Illinois. As we look forward to another program year, we really need you to join us in serving in whatever capacity that you are able. We are blessed to have you part of our family and we thank God for you. May The Lord Bless and Keep You, Rev. Stephen W. Barch As we deal with the heat of the summer, we all like to slow down and take a break, which is great and well deserved- as life is hectic and stressful. There is more to summer than relaxing on the beach. Taking advantage of the many restoratives and personally fulfilling opportunities that this unique season provides. Here are some ideas for living out your faith this summer.
Strengthen your Relationships. We are called to live our faith in our relationships with family, friends, and those who God has put into our lives. We are created to be in relationships – so summer is a great time to be intentional about strengthening those relationships that are important to us. Get reacquainted with Your Bible As you have a change in your schedule it is a great time to dedicate some of your reading efforts to your Bible. You can join a bible study or pursue reading at your own pace. Either way getting into God’s word is a great practice to start in the summer months. Expand your reading list The bible can form the basis of an excellent summer of reading. It is also a great time to look at our other books and you will find plenty of literary options for both insight and entertainment. Set aside a few minutes at the end of the day and curl up with a faith-based book. Relearn to pray If you have fallen out of the habit of praying daily, or only praying on Sundays, or when we are worried about something, it is time to break out of the trap and establish a more routine prayer life. Prayer is the communication with God. Just spend some time telling him what is in your heart and mind. He just wants to hear from you. He loves you and misses you. Embrace a spirit of service Opportunities for volunteerism abound all around us and we are all busy but you will find that if you give of yourself and your time the reward will be worth it. It does not take much time to make a difference in someone’s life. Offer to help someone and watch the smile it puts on their face. Make this summer a season of intention. There is nothing wrong with relaxation , but you will come away feeling far more fulfilled and rested if you start a new habit this Summer. With Christ’s blessings, Rev. Steve I am so proud of this church family. We talk about how church membership means that you are part of a faith family. Well, if “family is a group of people related either by consanguinity or affinity. The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society.” (Google definition). Then Union Church is a family. I feel so loved and appreciated as I celebrated my birthday last week and the outpouring of cards, prayers, and treats was amazing. I think I put on 50 pounds in a couple of days. But I was more amazed at the way that we care for each other and celebrate when they are celebrating, and we hurt when someone is hurting. God has blessed us in so many ways and being part of this family is one of my blessings.
As we move into the summer months, I want to invite you to still attend worship and continue to grow as a family. Love grows as we experience life together and we deal with the daily challenges together. Union church is such a wonderful and strong family, and we need you to be present and active even in the summer months. We all need vacations to clear our head and to refocus on the things that are important. Remember that faith is always important. We are always looking for new ideas and new things to do so if you have any ideas, please feel free to contact me at any time. May God bless your summer months and may he fill you with his peace and love. In Christ love, Rev. Stephen W. Barch As we continue in our Easter Season and move into Spring, it is a great time to look at how we grow in our faith. We are Easter people, and we need to take the Easter season into our daily lives. What does that mean to you and how does that change the way that we act? We have a long history of people who put their faith into action and stepped up when things needed to be done. Now it is our turn, what legacy are we going to hand on to the next generation? How are we going to show them that our faith makes a difference in our lives? This is the time to really find ways to grow in our Faith journey.
I believe that there are three important ways to grow in our Faith : 1. To Attend Worship 2. To spend time daily in prayer 3. To study God’s word Let me explain each of these and tell you why I believe that they are essential to growing in our Faith life. Attending Worship is important because it puts us in communion with other believers and helps us to connect with others. When we do not attend worship on a regular basis then we grow weak, and we tend to fall away from the practice of our faith. We let little things slip and then we tend to forget about our faith, and it does affect our daily lives. We now have alternative ways to attend worship. If we are homebound, we can attend on line. If we can get to church, it is always better to go in person. Worshippingtogether as the body of Christ is what we were created for. Taking time out of our busy lives to pray daily. Prayer involves both speaking to God and allowing God to speak to us. The group practice of prayer is one form of communion with God, where we gather as his body of Christ on earth and we support one another and care for one another. By praying together, we encounter God in the tangible love and care of the community who journeys with us. “Prayer is none other than an expanding of our hearts in the presence of God” – John Calvin Studying God’s word is just as important. The more that we understand God’s word and how it applies to our lives the better we can learn from it and grow into it. Sunday sermons can not fulfill this aspect as the time of sermon can not give us the depth and challenge that a bible study or taking time to study ourselves can give us. Bible study also allows the scriptures to come alive for us and as we better understand the message that they contain we also see how they feed our lives. The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote. “Rejoice always, pray without ceas-ing , give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.: - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 As we continue our Easter Season may all of us find a new way to grow in our Spiritual life and May we all grow in our love of our Mothers the first and best teachers of God’s Love. THANKS MOM Sincerely, Rev. Stephen W. Barch Our Lenten sermon series and our Lenten focus has been Our Journey in Faith. It is that season when we come away with Jesus and look at our relationship with Christ and we focus on inner life, spiritual life, personal investigation and contrition. We look at doing the intentional work of seeking a change of heart or actions. Reflection and change take work, hard work. Lent can be like a long journey, taking determination and commitment to really coming away with Jesus and spending some quiet time with him. We walk this season together, demanding the best of ourselves, ready to support one another, and prepared to see truths that shatter our self-understanding.
The readings in this season are full of lived human experiences from creation to death and new life. It is this journey that Christ has invited us into and we walk this season with him by our side understanding everything that we are going through. This journey gives us a chance to come away with Christ and then we can look at the journey that He has invited us on.
As our journey continues towards the cross, we then walk with Christ through Psalm Sunday and into Holy Week. This is the greatest week of our faith Journey as we walk to the Cross of our Salvation. This Journey is one that will allow us to grow in our love for Christ and the life that he has called us into. We can walk confidently knowing that Jesus walks with us everyday and through every situation. We also grow in our ability to live a wholehearted faith. May God bless us through our observance of our Lenten practices and on our Journey that we have walked and will continue to walk. In Christ’s Love, Pastor Steve Lent is the season that we take a step back and look at our relationship with God and how we are doing at growing in that relationship. All our Lenten observances are intended to bring us closer to God and one another. Do I need to forgive someone, or talk to them, maybe send a card to someone? These practices are meant to help us grow in our faith. It is a time to remember that God gave us faith to reach out to others, to build the body of Christ here on earth. If all I do is share the gifts with those around me then am I really building up the body of Christ? We are called to reach out to the least, the lost and the forsaken. Lent is a wonderful time to challenge ourselves to find a new way to live our faith and to reach out to someone who we do not know or someone who is hurting and offer what God has given to us.
Lent may bring up memories of giving something up, or something that makes us uncomfortable and we don’t seem to follow through with our good intentions at the beginning of lent. But what if we look at the Lenten Season as a second chance? Each year the church gives us six weeks to take a long , loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Some of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s plan for our lives. Lent is that time that we have a second chance. Forty days to Make God the priority that he should have been all year long. The season is marked by practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. How am I doing in these areas – Do I honor God in these areas ? Is there something else that I could or should be doing? Lent is the way that we honor God by making our faith come alive in a new way. If Jesus was able to be led by the devil to be tempted, so that he could then live the life that God had called him to, then we too need to take time to spend with God and asking what he needs us to do and what he needs us to set aside. May this Lenten season bring you closer to God and to one another. In Christ’s love - Rev. Steve Have you ever wondered what people are talking about when they say they’re giving something up for Lent? Do you want to understand what Lent is and how it relates to Easter? Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Easter.
What Are the Key Days During Lent? Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. You will notice people with a smudged, black cross on their foreheads. Those are ashes from the Ash Wednesday service. The ashes symbolize our grief for the things we’ve done wrong and the resulting division of imperfect people from a perfect God. Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday. It commemorates the night before Jesus died, when He shared the Passover meal with His closest friends and followers. Good Friday is the day Christians remember Jesus’ death. The “Good” reflects how Jesus’ death was a sacrifice on our behalf so we can receive God’s forgiveness for our wrongs, or sins. Easter Sunday is the joyful celebration of Jesus rising from the dead to give us the opportunity of eternal life. While people still die, Jesus made the way for people to have a relationship with God in this life and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. What Happens During Lent and Why? The three main things people focus on during Lent are prayer, fasting (abstaining from something to reduce distractions and focus more on God) and giving, or charity.
It’s important to note that doing these things can never make us earn or deserve Jesus’ sacrifice or a relationship with God. People are flawed and will never be good enough for a perfect God. Only Jesus has the power to rescue us from ourselves. Jesus sacrificed Himself on Good Friday to bear the punishment for all our sins or wrong doings, and offer us forgiveness. He was raised from the dead -on Easter Sunday to overcome death and to give us an opportunity to have a relationship with God for eternity. Spending time during Lent praying, fasting, and giving can make Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter even more meaningful. May God bless you. Rev. Stephen W. Barch Happy New Year!! What an exciting time of year. Everyone is in the Christmas spirit and they are
more generous and friendlier than other times of the year. It is also that time of year that everyone seems to make New Years resolutions. (Well maybe you have made one and broke it by now) . So many of us are going to lose weight, exercise more, get out of debt, stick to a budget, stop smoking, save for the future, or spend more time with the family. No matter what the resolution is we set our heart on it and start off really good and then we lose heart. It made me think –Is there a Christian new year resolution list and what would it look like: 1. Pray More: He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord.. Mot by might nor by Power, but by my spirit says the Lord (Zechariah 4:6) 2. Invest in my spiritual gifts Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 3. Care for myself spiritually Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for with Christ Jesus took hold of me (Philippians 3:12) 4. Make the tough decisions I know are best. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I a going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the lord Jesus has given me.—The task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace and Love. 5. Confront the patterns of sin in our lives Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with erseverance that race marked out for us. ( Hebrews 12:1). 6. Do the hard work to build community: If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you, if he listens to you, you have won your brother over (Matthew 18:15) 7. Quit comparing myself to other Christians, other leaders and other churches Turning his head, Peter noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him he asked Jesus , “Master, what’s going to happen to him?” Jesus answered “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you? You follow me.” (John 21: 20-21) 8. Prioritize my family A Christian must be well—thought of—committed to his life. Attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God’s Church? (1 Timothy 3: 2-5) 9. Be more open to change See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19) 10. Stayed focused on the vision They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe of the many wonders and miraculous signs that were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common, selling their possessions and goods, they gave to everyone as he had need. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2: 42-47 niv) May we honor God by committing to one or more of these resolutions for the year 2023 and beyond. May God bless us all. In Christ, Rev. Steve Barch As we move into December it is a very busy month, let us remember :
Twas the night before Christmas & all through the house Not a creature was praying—not one in the house Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care Because Mom and Dad were to busy to share. The children were dressing to crawl into bed Not one ever kneeling or bowing their heads Mom’s wrapping gifts to put under the tree While Dad’s making sure there’s nothing wrong with the Wii. When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter Dad sprang to his feet to See what was the matter Away down the hallway he flew like a flash looking for the culprit That caused such a crash. He stopped in his tracks to take in the sight Of Angels declaring the real reason for this night. It was Jesus they said not Santa or Elves: Now Peace! Now Joy! Now Goodness and Love On Mercy & Grace! Now look above For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son The gift of Salvation– A gift you can not buy. They told him to enjoy the real reason for Christmas and spend some time with this God that loves you so much. Enjoy Christmas with your family and remember to thank God for the greatest gift you ever received. In Christ’ Love Rev. Steve |