Rest in the Word

  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...

(2 Corinthians 3:1-3, 7:8-11) 3/15/26  <  Memorable Letters  in  Our Lives  > Dearly beloved sisters and brothers in Christ. What is the most meaningful and memorable letter in your life? Is it a love letter from your spouse, or a letter from your parents who have passed away? Perhaps it is a letter of encouragement, or one where you wrote things that were hard to say in person. I once wrote several letters to my brother, but he didn't read them because I wrote so much.  He didn ’ t read my  pastoral  letter, but called me.  I also learned that writing can be a unique form of discipline; the other day, I asked one of my children to write me a letter about her bad behavior. She wrote,  "I am so sorry for my bad attitude toward you..." From this, I learned something good: writing letters is a nice punishment! I’m thinking of having my children write an entire book as a punishment, and then I will publish it. ”   Nursing home res...