May 24, 2022    Weekly Missive 

(HUMC, 15395 Highway 17N, Hampstead NC 28443; office@hampsteadumc.org

William’s Wanderings

Good Day, Saints,

    This Sunday, 27 May, has only one service at 10:00.  After the 10:00 service there will be a Fellowship Meal in the FLC.  Bring your favorite dish and share a meal with fellow congregants.  For information call Linda Nipper.

   Our lesson for this Sunday comes from John’s Gospel, chapter 17, verses 20-26.  These are the concluding words of that moving prayer that begins early in this chapter.  In our passage for Sunday Jesus prays, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (vv.20-21).

   This prayer has always moved my heart.  In this last major prayer prior to His arrest, Jesus is praying not only for His disciples, but also for us.  He is praying that we would be one…that we would be unified…so that the world might believe in Him.

   This Sunday is our union service.  This is the opportunity we have on these fifth Sundays for the three church services to come together as one.  There will also be the opportunity for those who desire to share a meal together.  (I recognize that not all are at this point-of sharing a meal-but I have been informed that more than few desire to do so; thus, I have agreed to it.)  But the main thing is that we are able to worship as one.

   Listen, my friends, I believe that the world around us is looking for some unity.  I truly believe that we at Hampstead have a wonderful opportunity to be a viable voice for Jesus, if we will continue to keep our focus on the Message that Jesus has given us to proclaim…and if we do so, then our voice can’t help but be as one.

   I invite each of you to attend our union service this Sunday at 10:00.

   Stay encouraged; stay faithful.   

Still in His Peace,

Pastor William

Website and Livestream: Are you not able to be here on Sunday morning?  Catch us at: hampsteadumc.org.   We are livestreaming our 8:30 and 11:00 Sunday morning worship services, or you can watch the recorded version at your convenience.