February 28th, 2025 | Rev. Dr. Mark Charles

Friends,

Next week sees the beginning of another Lenten season and this year I want to invite you to join me in a deeper reflection on our faith and our relationship with Christ. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, a time to examine our lives and to draw closer to the heart of God.

Lent is not just about giving up something. While giving up something can be a meaningful way to focus on our spiritual growth, Lent is more than six weeks of personal sacrifice. It is an invitation to take stock of our lives, to examine our priorities, and to realign ourselves with Christ.

It is a time to deepen our prayer life. To spend more time in silence and reflection, to listen for God's voice, and to allow our hearts to be transformed by His love.

It is a time to serve others. To reach out to those in need, to offer our time and talents, and to live out our faith in tangible ways.

It is a time to study Scripture. To delve deeper into the bible, to learn more about Jesus, and to allow His teachings and example to shape our lives.

I encourage you to embrace this Lenten season as an opportunity for spiritual growth, to use this time to draw closer to God, deepen your faith, and live out your calling as a follower of Christ. 

A special part of our Lenten journey will be our weekly services with our downtown ecumenical partner churches. I invite you to join us each Wednesday at 12 noon for a short worship service together. Information on where we are gathering and who will be preaching each week can be seen in the image below. I hope to see you there.

Blessings,

Pastor Charlie

February 21st, 2025 | Rev. Rachel Williams

Dear Friends,  

We are heading into the last two weeks of our sermon series, “All the Feels”, and, if anything, I hope it has helped you reflect on what you do with your emotions, especially as a Christ-follower. Perhaps it has also ignited a desire in you to read through some of the oft-overlooked books and passages of the Old Testament.

This week, we will continue to engage the Old Testament as we examine our feelings of anger and what happens if that anger, left unchecked, leads us to intense feelings of rage. Usually, I don’t prescribe homework before a sermon, but I wonder if you will sit and consider the things that make you angry. Is your anger a righteous anger- anger in response to injustice and harm done to God’s creation and God’s people? Or is your anger fueled by something else? Were you taught that you couldn’t be angry? What happens in your body when you experience anger? How do you handle your anger?

Think on these questions as we enter into Sunday. Anger, like so many of our other emotions, can signal that something is amiss in our life or in the world around us, but it can also direct us to harm the people we care about, our neighbors, and people for whom we are not particularly fond. And more so, how can we turn our feelings of anger toward the injustices of this world in such a way that we become peacemakers? Let us explore these things together this weekend.  

With Love and Peace,  

 Pastor Rachel  

February 14th, 2025 | Rev. Rachel Williams

Dear Beloved Friends,  

Did you get a chance to catch Pastor Charlie’s sermon this past Sunday? If you didn’t, I can assure you there were some major surprises in there. SPOILER ALERT The prophet Elisha curses some young men for calling him bald, and then two she-bears come and maul 42 boys. It’s truly horrific, and there is an understandable reason why we do not normally preach on that specific passage. However, All the Feels is not a normal sermon series, and both Pastor Charlie and I have found that the Old Testament seems specifically inclined toward tales of the extremes of human emotions. And those emotions are relatable for us all. We have all been embarrassed. I hope it has not led you to curse your neighbor. I really hope she-bears have not been involved. In the final weeks, I hope you will tune in to hear about more stories, incidentally all from the Old Testament, in which we look at what it means to feel “bleh”, rage, and doom and gloom.  

Additionally, we have a lot of exciting options for connection in the coming weeks. Are you a male? Have a delicious breakfast with other Memorial men at the men’s ministry breakfast this Saturday. Do you like music? Join us at 3 PM on Sunday in the sanctuary to hear a fabulous concert by Claflin University Choir. Do you need to eat dinner? If you have not had the chance to attend a Wednesday Night Dinner or Wesley Dinner Club, next week is your week to do both! You’re not going to get a better meal or fellowship for the price. If you long to be connected in new ways at Memorial, I hope you take advantage of one or many of these events! I’ll be there right alongside you.  

With Grace and Peace,  

Rachel