Our Vision: We are a growing community of God's Love.
Our Mission:
To reach out and bring individuals to Christ's saving grace
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR JASON:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6) It’s been a blessing to get started on the cottage meetings / listening sessions and begin to get to know you all. Once again, thank you all for your hospitality and generosity. Thank you also for your willingness to be completely candid and even vulnerable. We’ve only just begun, and already there has been open and honest sharing about people’s passion for ministry, hopes for the future, and opportunities for growth. With this kind of sharing, lots of possible plans for how we might move forward together are lifted up, and while it’s tempting to launch off down one road or another toward various ministry, mission, fellowship, worship, or discipleship initiatives, one very clear calling of God upon us has already been made abundantly clear, and perhaps it is something we should have lifted up from the very beginning. Fortunately, it’s not too late for us to start! That calling upon our life together is prayer. Starting this coming Monday, August 1st, I would like to invite you to join me in a 40 day season of prayer and fasting for the future of First United Methodist Church of Burnet. Of course, I know that we are always supposed to be about the very important work of prayer – God’s Word entreats us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and already I have come to know many faithful prayer warriors who engage in this very task. However, I think it’s crucial, for any time that we have an important decision before us, or when we are seeking new direction, to intentionally bring God into the conversation, seeking his will above all else, and for a church, it’s important for everyone to take a season together to talk to God and listen to God about the same thing. Regarding fasting, the most obvious type is fasting from food, but for some of us that may not be medically advisable, or perhaps it is just because God laid another kind of fast on your heart. The basic principle of fasting is to give up something you enjoy, on an intentional, disciplined basis, in order to connect yourself more deeply to God. For some of us, that may be a fast from a meals for a 24 hour period during each week, like the type of fasting in which John Wesley engaged on an ongoing basis. If our dietary or medical needs don’t permit this, we might give up a particular food or beverage item we enjoy for this 40 day season. For others, it may be a media fast or a screen fast, during which we give up recreational "screen time" with our televisions, computers, tablets, or smart-phones. Whatever the case, I want to encourage you to earnestly and prayerfully consider adding the practice of some kind of fasting to your prayer discipline during this season.
By my calculation, if we begin this season of fasting on August 1st, we should reach the culmination of this period on September 9th, which is within a week of the conclusion of the listening sessions, and we’ll be into our next worship series: "Will This Be on the Test?" As we listen to one another, may we also listen to God with hearts open to his will. I am trusting that He will already have begun to do some amazing work and reveal some inspiring things among us. May God continue to bless, inspire, and encourage First United Methodist Church of Burnet in Jesus’ name.
First United Methodist Church of Burnet
Welcome Message from Pastor Jason Teague
Our Vision:
We are a growing community of God's Love.
Our Mission:
To reach out and bring individuals to Christ's saving grace
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR JASON:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6)
It’s been a blessing to get started on the cottage meetings / listening sessions and begin to get to know you all. Once again, thank you all for your hospitality and generosity. Thank you also for your willingness to be completely candid and even vulnerable. We’ve only just begun, and already there has been open and honest sharing about people’s passion for ministry, hopes for the future, and opportunities for growth. With this kind of sharing, lots of possible plans for how we might move forward together are lifted up, and while it’s tempting to launch off down one road or another toward various ministry, mission, fellowship, worship, or discipleship initiatives, one very clear calling of God upon us has already been made abundantly clear, and perhaps it is something we should have lifted up from the very beginning. Fortunately, it’s not too late for us to start! That calling upon our life together is prayer. Starting this coming Monday, August 1st, I would like to invite you to join me in a 40 day season of prayer and fasting for the future of First United Methodist Church of Burnet. Of course, I know that we are always supposed to be about the very important work of prayer – God’s Word entreats us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and already I have come to know many faithful prayer warriors who engage in this very task. However, I think it’s crucial, for any time that we have an important decision before us, or when we are seeking new direction, to intentionally bring God into the conversation, seeking his will above all else, and for a church, it’s important for everyone to take a season together to talk to God and listen to God about the same thing.
Regarding fasting, the most obvious type is fasting from food, but for some of us that may not be medically advisable, or perhaps it is just because God laid another kind of fast on your heart. The basic principle of fasting is to give up something you enjoy, on an intentional, disciplined basis, in order to connect yourself more deeply to God. For some of us, that may be a fast from a meals for a 24 hour period during each week, like the type of fasting in which John Wesley engaged on an ongoing basis. If our dietary or medical needs don’t permit this, we might give up a particular food or beverage item we enjoy for this 40 day season. For others, it may be a media fast or a screen fast, during which we give up recreational "screen time" with our televisions, computers, tablets, or smart-phones. Whatever the case, I want to encourage you to earnestly and prayerfully consider adding the practice of some kind of fasting to your prayer discipline during this season.
By my calculation, if we begin this season of fasting on August 1st, we should reach the culmination of this period on September 9th, which is within a week of the conclusion of the listening sessions, and we’ll be into our next worship series: "Will This Be on the Test?" As we listen to one another, may we also listen to God with hearts open to his will. I am trusting that He will already have begun to do some amazing work and reveal some inspiring things among us. May God continue to bless, inspire, and encourage First United Methodist Church of Burnet in Jesus’ name.