First United Methodist Church - DeRidder, LA Rev. Lamar C. Oliver

Ever feel as though we are all alone and/or no one could possible understand our situation? In the next-to-last installation of our "Be it Therefore Resolved..." series, we catch five brief verses from Hebrews that address the reality that we are, indeed, not the first, as in Christ God experienced the reality of full humanity and every emotion.

Drawing upon the old-fashioned party line that was reality for so many Americans in the 20th century, we see in this week's excursion to Mark's gospel that following Christ means that as we follow his example and his teachings, life will change and it will be noticed because encountering and embracing Christ is a transformative experience.

The first of two consecutive Sundays in the first chapter of Mark's gospel calls us to the reality that if we are truly serious about following Christ, many things in our lives will change...and this change comes about because our motives behind our actions are transformed as our souls are awakened to the presence and power of God's grace at work within us by love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the second of our "Be it Therefore Resolved..." New Year's worship series, we find in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians the sometimes uncomfortable yet absolutely essential reality that as ones who have been given, by grace alone, God's eternal and relentless love through salvation by faith we have responsibilities that transcend our personal felt needs and wants.

In the first of our New Year's worship series - Be it Therefore Resolved: Beliefs and Truths that Can Transform Your Life in the New Year - we explore Ephesians 3:1-12 and discover that through Christ's life, death, and resurrection, ALL are invited and welcomed to share in God's creative and redemptive story, no matter where we have been or what may have been in our past!

Christmas Eve - the culmination of the Advent journey! We finish our "Why?" series by addressing the most fundamental question of all - "Why Him?" Why the one born in the most unlikely of circumstances to the most unlikely of people? Why would God go about saving the world in THIS way???