Knowing Who We Are

“Dreaming the Future” is a four-week stewardship series built on “Earn. Save. Give.: Wesley’s Simple Rules for Money” by James A. Harnish and “Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity” by Adam Hamilton. As United Methodists, we promise to support the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, and that is the whole of stewardship. Questions about money often start with amounts: how much we earn, how much we owe, how much would be enough. Scripture: Proverbs 3:13-18;…

This is the final week of our fall series, six weeks drawn from Rev. Dr. Laceye Warner’s book Knowing Who We Are. Methodists speak of going on to perfection, growing in grace across a lifetime. That growth is slow, and much of what forms us happens through repetition, in work that seldom feels like formation at the time. This week we consider how our own work and God’s work within us belong together. Scripture: Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 (CEB)

We’re nearing the end of our series, drawn from Knowing Who We Are by Rev. Dr. Laceye Warner. This week we turn to the texts that inform and shape us, examining how sacred text can bring us relief, wisdom, and understanding, and what it means to read for the sake of salvation. Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-10 (CEB), Psalm 119:97-104 (NRSVue)

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-4 (NRSVue)

Methodist churches have never operated alone. A congregation in La Jolla is tied to congregations across California and to congregations on the other side of the world, and that tie shows on ordinary Sunday mornings more than you might expect. In worship this week, we ask what it means to be cared for by people we did not choose, and to be counted on by those same people in return. Scripture: Romans 12:9-21 (NRSVUE)

This Sunday begins “Knowing Who We Are,” a six-week series in our year of considering what it means to be United Methodist. We begin with grace: God loves us first, makes peace possible, and continues to work in us. Jesus calls disciples who worship and doubt at the same time, then promises to remain with them. We explore how receiving God’s grace prepares us to join the work God is already doing. Scripture: Romans 5:1-5; Matthew 28:16-20 (CEB)