Rest in the Word

  4 generations of the Underwood family 04.19.26 <The Garlic that Braved the Winter> Dear, sisters and brothers in Christ. Do you know what this is? This isn’t just your average grocery store garlic; this is a "Winter Survivor." Every year, my family and our After-School kids plant garlic before the snow hits. A few years ago, our dear Paula gave a children’s sermon about planting garlic in late autumn to harvest in the summer. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first. I thought, "Planting this in the frozen Maine ground? Is that a gardening plan or a test of faith?" But we planted it anyway, tucking each clove into the earth with our hopes and even our hardships, praying they would grow strong. For six months, those cloves slept under a heavy blanket of snow and bitingly cold winds. But when spring arrived, I saw it—tiny green faces peeking through the straw! By summer, we harvested garlic with a fragrance and flavor that was out of this world. On...

Majorie is teaching Brandy to play the piano after service  (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18) 4.12.26. Stetson Memorial UMC < Every Day Easter > Dear brothers, sisters, and my precious young friends, Christ is Risen! How was your Easter last week? Here in Maine, we looked out our windows and saw the messy mix of sleet, slush, and snow. Meanwhile, our friends down in Florida were basking in the sun and enjoying blooming flowers. But even though our Easters looked different on the outside, we shared one glorious thing in common: we all rejoiced that Christ is Risen! It did not matter what we had for dinner, what the weather was like, or where we were sitting. We shared resurrection joy with one another. But I have been thinking: How many days should we celebrate Easter? Is it just one Sunday a year? Is it the fifty days leading up to Pentecost? My friends, I believe we should celebrate Easter every single Sunday—actually, every single day! Resurrection is not just a dusty...

Easter Sunday | April 5, 2026 The Flashlight with a Dead Hope Dear brothers and sisters, imagine a man who walked a mountain path every night. He carried a flashlight passed down through generations in his family. It was a sturdy, high-end brand, wrapped in a beautiful leather case. From the outside, it looked perfect. Yet, strangely, this man constantly lost his way. He tripped over stones and stumbled in the dark. One day, a passerby asked him, "You have such a magnificent flashlight; why do you keep falling?" The man replied, "Because it has no batteries." How are the batteries in your spiritual flashlight today? A flashlight or a camera, no matter how expensive the brand or how precious the family heirloom, is useless without power. Many of us are living our faith with "Dead Hope"—a flashlight that looks good on the outside but flickers or remains dark because it lacks the internal power of the Resurrection. Among all the seasons of the chu...

  Good Friday Online Service | April 3, 2026 Good Friday Today is Good Friday. Children often ask us, "Why do we call the day Jesus died 'Good' Friday?" Death itself usually means separation, suffering, and pain. However, Jesus’ death is "good" for us because it gave us life. Although we cannot gather in person today due to the weather, I believe we are gathered as one through the Holy Spirit, who works beyond any physical location. I feel a bit of sadness holding my last Good Friday service with you online. But I believe God is speaking to us today—telling us that wherever we may be in the future, we will always be one in Him. Originally, I planned to walk the "Way of the Cross" with 16 readers. Instead, I invite you to meditate on this word from your own homes. If possible, please prepare a single candle to light during our time together. Lydia will assist me by reading the Holy Scriptures.   The Lamb in the sacrifices of Leviticus  To understand...

  (Matthew 21:1-11, Ephesians 2:14-18) 3/29/26   < The "F.I.N.E." Mask: "I am not okay, but I am still here" > Peace be with you! Shalom! In Korea, we greet one another by saying, "Annyeong-haseyo?" It carries a similar weight to Shalom(Hebrew) —it is a prayer that the other person is well, whole, and at peace. When we ask, "How are you?" the standard response is, "I’m fine." But I recently learned that "F.I.N.E." is often an acronym for: F reaked out, I nsecure, N eurotic, and E motional. We stand in the foyer, put on our "Sunday Best" smiles, and say, "I’m fine," while our lives feel like they are falling apart. We mask deep-level struggles with surface-level celebrations. What is taking away your peace today? Is it the invisible weight of trauma? Is it the grief of a hidden loss? Perhaps it is the anxiety of our four churches waiting for new pastoral leadership, or the overwhelming news of divisi...

  Date:  March 22, 2026 Location:  Stetson Memorial UMC  The Mystery of Grafting Friends, have you ever imagined a single tree bearing  40 different kinds of fruit ? Professor Sam Van Aken, a sculptor from Syracuse University, created a  "Tree of 40 Fruit"  using the technique of grafting. On this single tree, you can find peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, and nectarines. By choosing the biblical number "40"—reminiscent of the 40 days and nights of Noah’s flood—he artistically expressed growth, hope, and resurrection rising out of hardship. This principle of grafting was a very familiar agricultural technique in the ancient Near East. In  Romans 11 , the Apostle Paul uses this imagery to explain the salvation of the Gentiles. Normally, farmers graft a high-quality branch onto a sturdy wild olive root to increase the yield. However, Paul presents a stunning  reversal : God took us—the "wild olive branches" who could not bear good fruit—and g...