Rest in the Word

                                                      1 John 4:7-21                   May 10, 2026 (Mother’s Day)   < Finding God in the Shack> Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Happy Mother’s Day. I want to begin this morning by asking a question: Have you ever read the book or watched the movie 'The Shack'? It is a powerful story that has brought healing to many, including myself. In the story, the main character is paralyzed by the tragedy of losing his daughter. He is angry at God, lost in a 'Great Sadness.' But then, he is invited to a cozy, warm house to meet the Trinity. The first time I watched the movie, I w...

                                        (Hebrews 12:5-12, James 5:15-16) 4.26.26                                                    The Pussy Willow Evangelist Dear sisters and brothers in Christ! Have any of you decorated your homes with pussy willows recently? Now, I have to be honest—back in Korea, I knew about pussy willows, but I didn’t realize we had a "Pussy Willow Evangelist" right here in our midst! I’m talking about Bonnie Quint in Hodgdon UMC. She has been on a mission, sharing these fuzzy branches with the children and the women in our Bible study. She even taught us the "secret" to decorating with them: if you don’t put them in water, they stay fuzzy and perfect all year long. It’s like a permanent sign of Spring! As I looked at these bra...

  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...