Welcome. The Season after Pentecost is a time for growth in faith under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Easter’s celebration gives way to the hard work of Christian discipleship in grateful response to God’s love. Our text today recounts an extraordinary experience of comfort and promise in the midst of fear and challenges. Our community gathers also this evening in Church Conference session to consider exciting updates to the Comprehensive Plan for Relocation. How does God’s comfort and promise speak to each of us, and to the congregation as a whole? Are we aware of God’s calming presence-even in the midst of our fears-as we reach out and grow in love and service in God’s world? Less

Welcome. The Season after Pentecost is a time for growth in faith under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Easter’s celebration gives way to the hard work of Christian discipleship in grateful response to God’s love. Our text today recounts the unlikely anointing of David, shepherd son of Jesse, as future king of Israel. Today we also reflect on our national observance of Fathers’ Day. Our 11:00 a.m. worship adds the Baptism of Mary Kathryn Barnhart, daughter of Ryan and Liz. When you think of yourself as a child of God, is that rich in the sense of God as divine parent? How does God’s divine parenting, made known especially in the gift of Jesus Christ, inspire your practice of love in God’s world? Less

Welcome. The Season after Pentecost begins with Trinity Sunday. Rev. Tom Starnes, formerly interim senior pastor of Epworth, is our guest preacher. Rev. Jack and others from our congregation are representing the congregation at the closing session of Annual Conference. We are pleased to have you as part of our worshiping community on this day. Consider what do the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit contribute toward your understanding of God? How does the love of God expressed through Christ and the Holy Spirit influence your practice of love for others in God’s world? Less

Welcome. The Easter season is fifty days, a week of weeks. It culminates in today’s Pentecost celebration, in which the church remembers the gift of the Holy Spirit, descending like tongues of fire upon the assembled crowd. Our Pentecost worship includes Holy Communion. The elements we use are wheat bread and unfermented grape juice. All are welcome at the table of the Lord. As we prepare for worship, you may wish to consider your sense of Easter’s continued presence, and its influence in you and others. How does the Easter Spirit of Christ inspire you to love in God’s world? Technorati tags: religion, church, bible, sermon, sermons, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth, reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind, podcast Less

Welcome. Our focus in Easter is the presence of the risen Christ, through which we discover new life for ourselves. Today’s keyword is “joy.” We celebrate the joy made possible through Christ’s ascension to God in heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit among us. Rev. Leonard Hatch is our guest preacher. Rev. Jack returns from vacation on Tuesday morning. How does Christ’s Spirit manifest itself along the journey of your life? How are we called to joy in God’s world Technorati tags: religion, church, bible, sermon, sermons, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth (tag), epworth (blog), reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind, podcast, sharing, spirit, joy, ascension, sunday, leonard, hatch More info: epworth.typepad.com Less

Welcome. As we continue our celebration of the Easter season we rejoice in a special way today. The word for today is COMMUNITY and what a right and fitting word it is. Today we honor those who have completed a year of study in the three Disciple Bible programs. We honor as well the students of our Sunday School programs and all of our teachers and facilitators. The word traditionally used at a graduation is “Commencement” signifying that the end of the school year is really a beginning. As we anticipate Ascension Thursday and Pentecost can you find the place for new beginnings in your life? Technorati tags: religion, church, bible, sermon, sermons, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth, reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind, podcast Less

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Welcome. The Easter season is fifty days, a week of weeks. Our focus is the presence of the risen Christ, and the resulting discovery of new life for ourselves. Our worship format is contemporary at all three services. Our choir is away at St. Mark’s in Wilmington for its annual exchange. Today’s keyword is "understand." The Gospel describes the risen Jesus opening the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures. What does understanding mean to us? How do you understand the Scriptures? How are we called to manifest an inspired understanding in God’s world? Gospel Lesson Luke 24:36-48 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Technorati tags:religion, church, bible, sermon, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth, reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind, john, 24:36-48, easter, luke Less

Welcome. The Easter season is fifty days, a week of weeks. Our focus is the presence of the risen Christ, and the resulting discovery of new life for ourselves. Today’s keyword is “peace,” Jesus’ gift to the disciples in his appearance to them in the Upper Room as described in the Gospel of John. Have you received this gift? Do you know peace? How does serenity manifest itself amid the storms and tribulations in your world? How are we called to manifest peace in God’s world? Gospel Lesson John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Technorati tags: religion, church, bible, sermon, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth, reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind Less

Welcome to our Easter celebration. Also known as the Great Fifty Days, Easter is the most joyous season of the Christian year. Its focus is the resurrected presence of Jesus in the sacramental community under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Our Easter worship began last night with a vigil that included Word, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. This morning we gather again for Word and Table in celebration of new life from God through Christ Jesus our Lord. As we prepare for worship, consider the ways you might seek to discover the presence of a saving Lord. New Testament Lesson 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you- unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. Gospel Lesson John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. Technorati tags: religion, church, bible, sermon, theology, beach, rehoboth, delaware, united, methodist, epworth, reconciling, ministries, network, community, open, heart, mind, discover, jesus, easter, podcast Less