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The latest at Irvington United Methodist Church

Stay up to date with the happenings of Irvington United Methodist Church by visiting our blog. You'll find information such as announcements, sermon notes and thoughts from our pastor to encourage and challenge your walk with the Lord.

Let God Do a New Thing in You

by: Denise Robinson

08/02/2021

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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

A new month is now beginning and it's a good time to remember that in our lives we constantly face opportunities for new beginnings. We usually think of January 1 and the new year as our time for a fresh start and a time to make resolutions for change in our lives tha...
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Take Time to Restore Your Soul

by: Denise Robinson

07/30/2021

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"Remember, remember, you are more than flesh and bones. You are a soul needing grace and salvation on the narrow journey home." (words by Morgan Harper Nichols)

John Wesley was fond of asking the question, "How is it with your soul?" We get so busy, day to day, thinking about the practicalities of life (flesh and bones) that we forget to check-in on the status of our soul. Here are a few Bible verses for this morning that remind us of the importance of taking time to restor...
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Living Alive

by: Denise Robinson

07/29/2021

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“Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  (Theologian Howard Thurman)

Have you found what makes you come alive? It should be a question easy to answer, but if we're honest with ourselves it isn't. We can chase after things that give us temporary pleasure, but those things don't last. Thurman isn't advocating that we go do what gives us pleasure NOW, he is sp...
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Thoughts about God

by: Denise Robinson

07/28/2021

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This morning, in my devotional time, I was reading from 1 John and in v. 5 he writes: "This is the message we have heard from him (Jesus) and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness." it reminded me of a quote by the American priest and author, Thomas Merton: "Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him."

I know that in me is darkness. There are times in my life (more now than there used to be) when the light shines through; but I also kno...
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Fix Your Eyes on the Unseen

by: Denise Robinson

07/27/2021

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"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  (2 Cor 4:16-18).

Do you feel like your life is being renewed daily or do you feel like you're on a treadmill going nowhere? The ...
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Walking the Path

by: Denise Robinson

07/26/2021

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As Methodists, we share a common heritage with the Church of England (Anglican Church). The Book of Common Prayer offers prayers, meditations, Scripture readings, etc. for different seasons of the year and different times of daily living. I offer the following words as a reflection and as a prayer:

O God, by whom we are guided in judgment,and who raises up for us light in the darkness:Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties,the grace to ask what you would have us to d...
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God, Don't Give Up On Me (Please)

by: Denise Robinson

07/23/2021

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I came across this poem/prayer in my devotional time written by The Rev. Ted Loder, pastor of The First United Methodist Church of Germantown (Pa.) for almost 38 years. I read it, then re-read it, then prayed it - and knew I wanted to share it with you:

Holy One, there is something I wanted to tell youbut there have been errands to run,bills to pay,arrangements to make,meetings to attend,friends to entertain,washing to do . . .and I forget what it is I wanted to say to you,...
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Faith Tested

by: Denise Robinson

07/22/2021

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"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4). "Test" is not my favorite word. I suspect that's true for many of you as well. From our earliest memories, we recall having to take tests - sitting in desks, no. 2 pencils at the ready, a teacher watching to...
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What Do You See Ahead?

by: Denise Robinson

07/21/2021

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I wonder, this morning, what our lives might be like if we didn't have the baggage of our past. Below is a quote from author and theologian C. S. Lewis (of Chronicles of Narnia fame): "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Jesus made a promise in John 14 that he was going ahead of his disciples to prepare a place for them, so that when they passed from this life to the next they would be with him again, reunited with him and with one another. Th...
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Love that Makes Mountains Sing

by: Denise Robinson

07/20/2021

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"Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake the way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and return to our God, for he will abundantly pardon ... For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." (Isaiah 55:6-7, 12).

If you need words of encoura...
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Plant a Seed

by: Denise Robinson

07/19/2021

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"He (Jesus) also said, 'The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.'"  (Mark 4:26-29)

Time and again in the Gospels, Jesus uses imagery to explain to his disciples, ...
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Habakkuk's Prayer

by: Denise Robinson

07/16/2021

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"O Lord, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy." (Habakkuk 3:1).

These words are the beginning to the prayer of Habakkuk, an Old Testament prophet about whom we know very little. From the words of the small book, it is clear that Habakkuk, as he looks at events around him affecting himself and his nation, feels God is absent. He is aware that it is more...
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Don't Be a Stumbling Block

by: Denise Robinson

07/15/2021

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"Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be spoken of as ...
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I Will Bring You to My Holy Mountain

by: Denise Robinson

07/14/2021

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"Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil. And [those] who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—these I will bring t...
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Living a Worthy Life

by: Denise Robinson

07/13/2021

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The Apostle Paul wrote a large percentage of our New Testament and many of his words give us insight into his thoughts about faith and living as followers of Christ. This morning's words come from Ephesians 4:1-6:

"I (Paul) therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in...
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