God calls us to be disciples of Jesus, building community through
service and fellowship and sharing the love of Christ with all.

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No In-Person Worship Service this Sunday, February 16

Due to the predicted inclement weather again this weekend going into Sunday morning, we will not be holding our in-person worship service at 9:30 am. INSTEAD, join us ONLINE Sunday for our pre-recorded service of Pastor Jinyong's message "The Sermon on the Plain" (Luke 6:17-26) at www.umcw.org/sermons.  See below for a summary of Sunday's message.

Jesus called his disciples into the ministry of "fishing for people," as we reflected on during last Sunday's Gospel reading. Immediately after answering this call, they traveled with Jesus from village to village, witnessing his healing of the sick and his proclamation of renewal and repentance.

As their journey continued, they came down to a level place - a plain - where a great crowd had gathered from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. There, Jesus delivered a message not only to the Twelve but to a ‘great crowd of his disciples,’ offering them a kind of job description - a vision of how to live as his followers. This teaching, known as the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-26), stands alongside the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12) as one of Jesus' most profound teachings, revealing the paradox at the heart of discipleship in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

Unlike Matthew’s account, which focuses solely on blessings, Luke presents both blessings and woes, holding them in tension. The blessings assure us of God’s deep care for the poor, the hungry, the grieving, and the rejected, while the woes serve as a warning: those who are satisfied, praised, and rich—especially through the empty flattery of false prophets—may find themselves distant from God and estranged from God’s Kingdom.

This paradox challenges us to reflect: Where do we seek true fulfillment? Do we long for the blessings of the Kingdom while resisting the call to empty ourselves? Jesus teaches that in losing ourselves, we are found; in pouring out, we are filled; in embracing the challenges of discipleship, we discover the deep and lasting joy of God's grace. As we navigate the tension between blessings and woes, may we seek not just comfort but transformation, not just assurance but faithfulness, trusting that God's way leads to life in its fullest. 

Luke 6:17-26