ÿþ <html> <head> <title>Welcome to First United Methodist Church, El Dorado, AR,  DNA of a United Methodist: When We Are at Our Best </title><!--- Sept 26, 2010 --> <meta name="description" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. First Church, First Methodist, Methodist John Wesley, Methodist, United Methodist Youth, United Methodist women" /> <meta name="keywords" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. 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Hill Street, El Dorado, AR 71730&nbsp; </font></DIV> </TD> </TR> </TABLE></TD> <TR> <td width="20%" valign="bottom"> <tr valign="top"> <td> <div align="center"> <table width="800" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#000000" align="center"> <!----- center white area table code----------------> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td width="15%" height="85" bgcolor="#f5eacc"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right"> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"> <td height="2"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="/graphix/faded.jpg"> <tr> <td> <div align="center"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> </tr> <!--------------------- left nav bar ------------> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr><td><br><br></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td> <font color="#000000" face="CAC futura casual" size="3"><b><a href="/staff.html">Ministry Staff</a><br><br> <a href="/Events_Announcements.html">Coming Events<BR> Announcements</a><br><br> <a href="/AboutUs.html">About Us</a><br><br> <a href="/Activities.html">Activities</a><br><br> <a href="/SS.html">Sunday School</a><br><br> <a href="/sermons.html">Sermons</a><br><br> <a href="/Music.html">Music Ministry</a><br><br> <a href="/Kindergarten.html">Kindergarten</a><BR><br> <a href="/Ithappened.html">It Happened</a><br><br> <a href="/Memorials.html">In Memoriam</a><br><br> <a href="/links.html">Links</a><br><br> <a href="/contact.html">Contact Us</a><br><br> <a href="/index.html">Home</a></b></font><BR> <tr><td align=center><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <img src="/graphix/taupeflame.jpg"></td></tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> </table> <br> </div> </td> <td width="66%" height="65"> <div align="center"> <!----------------------- MAIN CONTENT ----------------------> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" colspan="2"> <td width="600"> <div align="left"> <br><br><br> <p align="left"> <img hspace="5" src="/graphix/united-methodist-church-h60.jpg" align="left" vspace="5" border="0"><br> <font face="verdana" color="#003300" size="4"><b>  DNA of a United Methodist: When We Are at Our Best </b></font><BR> <br> <p align=center><font face="verdana" size="3"><b> Sunday, October 17, 2010</b><BR> Part 5 of 7 </font></p></center> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2">  They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> It was an exciting time to be alive. As news of Jesus resurrection spread, and as word of the amazing experience at Pentecost passed from one person to another, people began to respond. Young and old, rich and poor, workers and leaders alike heard a new message about grace and love and forgiveness. Hope sprang forth, and people began to give their lives to Christ and to devote themselves to the Church. All were accepted, regardless of their background, and people were awed by the wonderful displays of God s power. The experience was so real, so personal, that it couldn t help but change their lives. People who before may have had nothing in common began to eat, worship, and fellowship together, and gladly helped one another when personal needs arose. As they shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with all who would hear, they began to grow. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Those were exciting times while they lasted. As the years went by, however, the Church became organized. Doctrine was codified, leaders became entrenched, the Church became an institution, and the excitement began to wain. Periodically over the next 2000 years revivals would be needed to rekindle that excitement, movements and leaders would rise up to call the church back its roots, and the enthusiasm and power that had once characterized the Church would be rediscovered. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> One such revival took place in the early 1700's in England, when God used two Anglican priests - John and Charles Wesley - to light a fire and spark an apathetic nation, and to excite the people again with the gospel. In 1784 the Methodist Episcopal Church would be formed from this movement, eventually leading to the United Methodist Church. Our roots are deeply planted in the soil of spirit-filled revival. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> In the beginning the Methodists were much like the early church described in Acts. To paraphrase, <i> [The Methodists] devoted themselves to the [Wesley s] teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many [wonderful things] were done. All the believers were together and had everything in common. [Often] selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone [who] had need. Every day they continued to meet together in [small groups]. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. </> It was the church at its best. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Those were exciting times, but they didn t last either. Eventually the Methodists became organized. Doctrine was codified, leaders became entrenched, the movement became an institution, and once again the excitement began to wain. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Many today believe that it is time for another revival, another call back to our roots, for the excitement that once characterized us as well as the early church to be rediscovered. Maybe they re right. I believe, however, that there is still something in our DNA that is exciting. I believe that when the United Methodist Church is at its best, it is still very good. As I close this series, let s take time to think about who we are when we are at our best. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b>At our best we are warm-hearted and broad-minded.</b> I love the United Methodist Church because we believe in a warm-hearted faith. Methodists understand that God s grace leads to a personal, convincing, transforming, heart-warming experience that changes lives, forgives sins, relieves fears, sets us free, and leads us home. When a person is touched by grace, they will soon have a heart that is on fire! </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> We believe in warm hearts, but we also believe in broad minds. We are broad-minded in our understanding of the truth. That is not to say that a person can believe anything and be a United Methodist, as some of our critics would like to say. Oh, no; we take our theology seriously. There are some very definite things we believe, all scriptural, all very much mainstream, and in these essential core beliefs we expect unity. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> In non-essentials, however, it is our way to be broad-minded. Does the amount of water used at baptismal really matter? Is the style of worship or the instruments used really a barometer of spiritual vitality? Does the frequency of communion truly determine the faithful? Is any statement about the end of the world conclusive? Are we going to heaven or hell based on what we believe about abortion? At our best we are broad-minded as we help people think critically about their faith. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2">  In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity. That is the United Methodist way, and at our best that is what makes us strong. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b>At our best we are a people of grace. </b> We know that the grace of God offered through Jesus Christ is real, personal, and life-changing. We know that God s grace is all around us, constantly reaching out to us, calling us to him, receiving us into God s family, molding us into Christ s likeness. At our best we know that this message of grace is the most important message we have to share. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> We also know that we have not been called to simply talk about grace, but to live and to share that grace. Our unofficial slogan is steeped in grace:  Open hearts, open minds, and open doors: the people of the United Methodist Church. At our best we welcome all people to our church, believing that our job is to love them as God does until they love God as we do. At our best we are a people of grace. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b> At our best we are in mission to the world.</b> As Brittany has repeatedly pointed out these past few weeks, our mission as United Methodists in to  make disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We take seriously our call to go and share the good news of Jesus Christ to the world, and also to help ease the pain of people in the world. United Methodists have always been as concerned with  walking the walk as with  talking the talk. From the beginning, Wesley taught his followers the importance of helping the poor, the downtrodden, the hungry, and the sick. The early Methodists organized feeding stations and hospitals as a tangible way of sharing the grace of God. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> We still do. We have over 1000 full-time missionaries in our employment, and almost 120,000 lay persons who engage in mission trips and projects every year. We give over $460,000,000 a year through apportionments to ministries beyond our local churches. We have known, seemingly from day one, that the quickest way to see Jesus is in the face of the neighbor who needs us, while the quickest way to miss Jesus is to pretend that we have no neighbor, or that they have no need. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"><b> At our best we are united.</b> For us the word United Methodist has deep meaning and gives us great strength. We literally believe that there is only one United Methodist Church in Arkansas, and that each congregation is simply a mission outpost of that one Church. We understand that together we can accomplish things that we could not possibly accomplish otherwise. We pool our money through the apportionments, we support one another in missions, we deploy our pastors in ways that best support all congregations. I take great comfort in knowing that I can go to any UMC and feel at home. We are at our best when we are united. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Of course, we are not always at our best. We don t always agree with how money is spent, or the stand one agency or board takes on a particular social issue, or when or why a pastor was moved. We can become so entrenched with the ways we have always done things that we make it difficult for any change to take place. Sometimes we become self-centered, reaching out only to people like us, wanting to use our limited resources only on ourselves, forgetting that the world is our parish and instead making the parish our world. We are not always at our best. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Perhaps it is time for a revival. Maybe it is time for some soul-searching. However, I for one think that if we want to rediscover the passion, excitement, and fervor of the early church, perhaps it is simply time for us to remember what for over 200 years has made us strong. At our best we have always been a warm-hearted, broad-minded people, united by grace, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> I pray that you will join me in working to make this congregation of the United Methodist Church the very best that it can be! When we are, we will be very good! <br><br> Amen </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> At our best we are __________ - __________ and __________ - __________.<br><br> At our best we are a people of __________. <br><br> At our best we are in __________ to the __________.<br><br> At our best we are __________.<br><br> </font></p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> <TABLE width=800 border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <TR bgcolor="#d8d2d8"> <TD width=800 valign="baseline" bgcolor="#d8d2d8" align=right> <!--- beige F2F2E6 ----> <font face="verdana" color="#000000" size="1"> This site designed and maintained by <a href="http://www.hipdogwebdesign.com">HipDog Web Design&reg;</a><br> Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved.</TD> <TD width="19%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>