Community United Methodist Church
616 Harvey Ave. Daytona Beach, FL 386.252.3655
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WELCOME TO COMMUNITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Thank you for visiting us on the Internet. We invite you to visit our church in person. Community United Methodist Church is comprised of people just like you -- real people encouraging and caring for one another and our community as we experience God. Our worship service begins at 10 a.m. every Sunday.  Coffee hour begins at 8:30 am on the back porch.  We are located at the corner of Harvey and Grandview, and look forward to seeing you.  Dress is casual.  Nursery is provided as needed.  Need a ride?  Our phone number is 386-252-3655.  The address is 616 Harvey Ave., Daytona Beach, FL 32118  Email:  cumc616@bellsouth.net


July 1, 2007, Community United Methodist Church welcomed our pastor, Ken Zimmerman, and his family to our family of faith.  Since Pastor Ken has been with us we are experiencing his inspiring leadership, community outreach, and continued growth through Christ.  Attendance is up among all ages!   In addition to Pastor Ken's current sermon (below), more of his exciting sermons may be found on "Message From the Pastor" page - just click on the side link.   Pastor Ken may be emailed:  pastorkenz@bellsouth.net

The Children's Moment with Pastor Ken is an important part of each Sunday's service.

Radical Gratitude: Simply Sacrificial!

 

Luke 7: 36-47

November 16, 2008

 

How grateful are you to God? 

How giving are you?

I want us to find out if our attitude of gratitude is reserved, complex and calculated or is it radical and simply sacrificial?

How do we find this out?

Through a bottle of coca-cola classic, a bottle of perfume, and a ring.

 

I want to share with you a story about the most incredible bottle of coca-cola I have ever tasted in my life.  I have never tasted such an incredible bottle of coca-cola classic as the one I want to tell you about. 

 

Now some of you coca-cola classic fans may be thinking to yourself, “The formula is the same so no matter where you get a coca-cola classic, it will taste the same.”  That is true. The taste of coca-cola classic is the same no matter where you drink it.  However, it is the experience of drinking a coca-cola classic that makes the difference.  It can be the location or the event or the significance of that bottle of coca-cola that causes it to taste better than any other bottle of coca-cola classic you have had in all your life.

 

The bottle of coca-cola classic that I want to tell you about is one that I had in the country of Tanzania.  I was with a small group of folks who ventured into a remote rural area to visit two churches.  After a long and dusty, bumpy, dirt road ride in a jeep, we arrived at the village of mud huts and a concrete block church.  There were no stores, or towns for miles. 

 

After the brief time of celebration and dedication of the church building we went outside.  We were each offered a bottle of coca-cola from one of the church leaders.  I was hesitant to take it but our guide shared that it was their way of thanking us for being there with them that day.  I drank the bottle of coca-cola classic.  It was not ice-cold.  It was room temperature.  It was not served in a glass with ice.  I drank it from the bottle in front of a hundred on-looking church folks.  I thanked them for the drink and it was time for us to load up and head to the next rural village and church.

 

Thirty minutes later we arrived at a similar remote village.  The scenario was played out the same as from the first church we visited.  Celebration…dedication…bottle of coca-cola classic as a gift of thanks.  The first bottle of coke had been shaken up in my stomach from the jeep ride.  I really didn’t think I could drink another bottle. 

 

However, the top was popped on the bottle and it was handed to me.  I took a drink and then noticed over 50 set of eyes of children looking  at me.  One little boy had a small plastic cup in his hand.  I poured some into it.  Then I began to pass the bottle of coca-cola classic around to allow some of the children to take a sip.  My fellow travelers did the same.

 

I gave the empty bottle back to one of the church members and thanked him for the coca-cola.  We got back in the land rover and waved to a group of folks who had shared with me the greatest bottle of coca-cola classic I have ever experienced.

 

As we were riding back to where we would be staying for the evening it occurred to me the cost of that bottle of coca-cola classic.  Let me share with you the cost:

The average yearly income of a person living in Tanzania is $300.

Divide that by 12 to get the average monthly income of $25.

Divide that by 4 to get the average weekly income of $6.22

Divide that by a 40 hour work week to get the average hourly pay of 15 ˝ cents.

 

A bottle of coca-cola classic cost 50 cents.

That means that an average wage earning Tanzanian would have to work three hours to afford a bottle of coca-cola.

 

Now let’s bring it closer to home.  In our state the minimum hourly wage is now at $6.55.

If we, like the Tanzanians, had to work three hours to afford a bottle of coca-cola classic, that bottle of coca-cola would cost us $19.65.  How many of us would be willing to pay almost $20 for a bottle of coke and then give it away to a stranger? 

 

My heart was overwhelmed when I realized how much sacrifice and gratefulness went into that bottle of coca-cola I had received that day.  It has been the greatest bottle of coca-cola classic I have ever experienced in my life.  It was a bottle of coca-cola that taught me a great lesson on extravagant gratitude.

 

There was a similar experience that Jesus had with a bottle of perfume in one of the most unlikely settings from one of the most unlikely individuals.  Listen to this story:

Jesus was invited to have dinner at a religious leader’s home.  In the Eastern style of that day and time, Jesus was reclining at the low table, His bare feet stretched out behind Him.

 

A woman with a bad reputation snuck into the home.  She slipped in behind Jesus and knelt at His feet.  She started crying.  Tears were running down her face and landing on the feet of Jesus.  Realizing what was happening the woman took her long hair and began to dry His feet from her tears. 

 

She then pulled out of a pouch a small alabaster jar of perfume.  It was priceless and would have cost her a lot of money.  In fact, it would have cost her over a year’s salary.  She broke open the jar and smoothed the rich ointment on Jesus’ heels.  The aroma of the perfume filled the house.

 

The religious leader, the host of the dinner was disgusted.  He thought Jesus would have known what kind of person the woman was and why would He allow her to touch Him.  Jesus sensed this in the Pharisee and so Jesus tells him a story.

 

It was the story of two men who owed money to a lender.  One owed five hundred dollars and the other owed fifty dollars.  Neither could pay the lender.  The lender decided to cancel their debts.  Jesus then asked the religious leader, “Which man loved the lender more?”

 

“I suppose the one who had the greater debt canceled,” said the Pharisee, grudgingly.

 

“Correct!” said Jesus.

 

Jesus knew that woman.  He knew of her sin and her shame.  And he forgave her…extravagantly.   This woman realized the extravagant love that had been shown to her and she responded with radical gratitude that was simply sacrificial.

 

The religious leader had committed several social errors regarding Jesus as a guest at his dinner table.  The Pharisee neglected to wash Jesus’ feet, a common courtesy extended to guests because sandaled feet got very dirty. 

He also failed to anoint Jesus’ head and to offer him a kiss of greeting.  Did the religious leader some how feel that he was too good to treat Jesus as an equal?

 

The sinful woman, by contrast, lavished tears, expensive perfume and kisses on her Savior.  She willingly, sacrificially and freely from her heart expressed her love and gratitude to Jesus. It is the grateful prostitute and not the stingy religious leader who displayed the radical gratitude sacrificially towards Jesus.  It was one of the most memorable moments of radical gratitude Jesus experienced from one of the least likely individuals in one of the least likely locations.

 

The woman displayed the words of the psalmist:

“Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  Psalm 73:25,26

 

There is provided for us in this experience God’s sacrificial love and the challenge of our response to be one of sacrificial gratitude.

God’s radical and sacrificial love…how much of it do you realize and understand and appreciate?

 

John Piper’s words from his book, Don’t Waste Your Life, can help:

 

“All we deserve from God is judgment…Therefore every breath we take, every time our heart beats, every day that the sun rises, every moment we see with our eyes or hear with our ears or speak with our mouths or walk with our legs is, for now, a free and undeserved gift to sinners who deserve judgment.

 

I say ‘for now’ because if you refuse to see God in His gifts, they will turn out not to be gifts but High Court evidence of ingratitude…

 

But for those who see the merciful hand of God in every breath they take and give credit where it is due, Jesus Christ will be seen and savored as the great Purchaser of every undeserved breath.  Every heartbeat will be perceived as a gift from His hand.”

 

God is love.  He loves you!  It is the very nature of God to delight in communicating Himself.  God has no selfishness; God keeps nothing to Himself.  God’s nature is to always be giving, simply and sacrificially.  He loved us enough to send Jesus.  He loves us enough that He died so we could be with Him forever.  God delights to pour out His love to us.

 

Do we grasp how incredible, sacrificial, and freely given is God’s love for us in Jesus?  Do we understand how much we have been forgiven? 

 

Overflowing love is the natural response to forgiveness and the appropriate consequence of faith.  But only those who realize the depth of their sin can appreciate the complete, sacrificial and forgiving love of Jesus.  Jesus has rescued us from sin and death.  He has offered to us the gift of life eternal.  This gift of love is given to the worst of sinners as much as it is offered to those who are conventionally good.  The question is, “How do we respond to such radical and sacrificial love?

 

How do you express your gratitude to God for all the love He has poured out into your life?  Do you neglect even common courtesies of thanks?  Do you fail to recognize the worth and value of His sacrificial love?  Are you so familiar with the story that it no longer brings you to tears?   Do you recognize daily the life He has breathed into you?

 

How do you respond?  Do you have a response of calculated gratitude or radical gratitude?  The Apostle Paul asked this question of the Corinthian Christians with this reminder:

 

“Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop.  I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give.  That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting.  God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.  God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.”  II Corinthians 9:6-8 Message Bible.

 

Radical Gratitude…simply sacrificial gratitude…giving to God is not something you have to do.

Radical Gratitude…simply sacrificial gratitude…giving to God is something you want to do, delight to do.

 

Simply sacrificial love, simply sacrificial giving comes from those who realize who and what Jesus has done for them.  The tears of love flow from their hearts when they hear again, taste again the most incredible experience of life they have ever lived…Jesus’ forgiving love for them while they were yet sinners.   Jesus’ daily grace and love to guide and strengthen them through each day.  Jesus’ radical, sacrificial resurrecting love gives eternal life.

Radical Gratitude…simply sacrificial gratitude is to be our response!

 

We have talked about the bottle of coca-cola and the bottle of perfume…but what about the ring?

 

This ring belonged to a woman named Diane.  She was part of our church for about 4 months.  There were some nights she slept on the Backporch because she had no place to stay.  She was homeless and on the streets.  All she had was one bag of clothes.

 

She came up to me one day before church and asked if it would be okay if she put a ring in the offering plate, because that was all she had to give.  She shared how thankful she was for Jesus in her life and for this church being here.  She shared how welcoming this church was to her just as she was and she wanted to express her gratitude not only to Jesus but to this church.

 

The following Monday, the counters brought me this ring.

 

It is not worth much in the world’s eyes.  It is beat up on the outside but still smooth and shiny on the inside.

In the middle is a cross.  On each side of the cross is a heart.

 

Diane left the following week.  It has been close to a year since I have seen her.  Diane’s ring reminds me of a radical gratitude for Jesus’ forgiving and saving love in her life.

Diane’s ring is radical gratitude that was simply sacrificial.

 

You and I have lived a life that is representative of Diane’s ring.  We may be tarnished, scratched and beat up on the outside by the world, but on the inside is the simple and sacrificial love of Jesus.  We are reminded of His love by the cross. 

 

The question is how does our heart respond to His simple and sacrificial love?

Is our gratitude reserved, complex and calculated?

Or is our response radical and simply sacrificial?

You see your love for Jesus will dictate your response of gratitude and giving.

Jesus simply gave his life for you because he loves you.

Jesus sacrificially gave his life for you because he loves you.

Jesus radical love has been given for you on the cross.

 

What is your heart’s response?

 

A bottle of coca-cola…a bottle of perfume…a ring!

 

Radical gratitude…simply sacrificial.


To receive Pastor Ken's past sermons in this series see the Pastor's Page.







Angel Tea

December 6th

Don't miss it!

Details on the News page.


Thanksgiving Baskets - Cookout

This outreach ministry of our church will take place on Saturday, November 22nd. We need volunteers to come at 9 am to put together the baskets for the families. We are also looking for folks to bring side dishes (baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, potato chips, rolls, desserts, sodas and water) for the chicken barbecue that day.

The barbecue will be served at noon and the baskets given out following lunch. All helpers are invited eat lunch with and visit with the families.


RECIPES NEEDED…

     Carol Johnson is reminding the cooks in the congregation to submit recipes for their favorite dishes to her NOW!  Be certain to add your name to the recipe so you get credit for your contribution.  Sunday, November 23rd will be the last day to submit recipes. Give them to Carol Johnson or Grace Krouse,  or turn them in to the church office.  You may also email them to cumc616@bellsouth.net  Thank you.


Biketoberfest Thanks

Thanks to all the volunteer workers logging hours and providing food for the Biketoberfest event. There will be an update in next week’s bulletin and in the November/December “Communicator” newsletter.


Make a Joyful Noise! Sing! Try it!

A choir is being formed to sing on Sunday Mornings during worship services and during other special services.  Anyone high school age and older is welcome to sing - you do not need to be able to read music - you just need to love singing.  No auditions!  Everyone welcome who loves to sing, or wants to give it a try.  Practice is Sunday immediately following worship in the Sanctuary.  See you there!


Tropical Storm Fay Relief Fund

If you would like to contribute to the Florida Conference Disaster Relief fund to help assist those flooded by Fay, you may do so by making your check out to the church and designating it: "Relief Fund."  Your gift, over and above yur tithe to the church, will be sent to the Conference so it can be used immediately in areas of greatest need.

Eight of our District's churches sustained water and wind damage: Stewart Memorial, Bear Lake, Covenant Port Orange, First Apopka, First DeLand, Orange City, Palm Coast, Riverview, and Tuskawilla. 

The Annual Conference Disaster Response Team(s) are ready when called upon to help with clean-up and restoration where needed.


Volunteer of the Week!

Marc Jennetten

He attends worship services and the Steadfast Sunday School Class faithfully. He is a regular participant in the Back Porch Bible Study.  He helps out with the sound system and other projects of cleaning and construction around the church.  He enjoys helping out with Bike Week and other special events of the church.  He is a great servant of the Lord.  A tremendous word of thanks goes to Marc Jennetten, our volunteer of the week!


Wish to Join Community UMC?

If you would like to join the church, please call Pastor Ken or email him at pastorkenz@bellsouth.net .  He will make an appointment to meet with you individually to prepare you for your joining Community United Methodist Church.

We welcome you to our community of believers.


Families off the street!

Last month you generously contributed more than $300. to help a homeless family of 4 children and 2 adults get off the streets.  This family "disturbed" our church and you "disturbed" them with such an outpouring of love!  God bless you as you have blessed others with His "disturbing" love!

You did it again - another family has been enabled to have a place to live!


 District Opportunities may be found on the News Page


Back Porch Bible Study Group

Back Porch Bible Study

November 21st

It's time to attend the Friday evening Bible Study! The study of Acts starts at 6:30 PM every other Friday on our beautiful new patio.  Buddy Johnson  leads this exciting study of Acts.  Mary Johnson takes care of dinner for you - and it's always a treat. 

Acts is believed to have been written by Luke about the time of Paul's first imprisonment.  The book is a history of the establlishment and extension of the Church.  Luke arranges this historic material in such a way that the progress of the Gospel is immediately evident. 

The purpose of Acts is best explained  in Acts 1:8:  "But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."


NEWS?

Are you checking the news  page daily?  Did you know your daily Bible readings are on the News page?  Did you miss out on something because you didn't check the calendar?  Every effort is made to keep this web page up to date, and you can help by letting the webmaster know of your group's activities.  Email GStuart1@cfl.rr.com with the event.


"The Twenty-two Questions Members of John Wesley's Holy Club Asked Themselves Every Day in Their Private Deovtions More Than 200 Years Ago" may now be found on the Message From the Pastor page.


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