Church staff 

In his sermon, “The Old Man & the Baby” from Luke 2:22-40, Rev David Diller shows Luke giving an alternative to both pagan & Jewish understandings of New Year.

            Ancient pagan cultures gave us the image of “Old Father Time” & “Baby New Year.”  For pagans life was an endless cycle of disintegration & renewal.   Time is like a giant pool that gets polluted during the year.   When the culture’s myth is told & the proper ritual is rehearsed at New Year, the pool is drained, cleaned, & refilled.  Typically this pagan drama involved a final casting off restraints with excessive partying & drinking, making new resolutions, & starting the cycle over again with the New Year.   

The Jews, however, understood New Year as 10 Days of Repentance, self-examination & prayer.  At the climax, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the Temple was cleansed & the sins of the people were carried off into the wilderness by the scapegoat.  But the Exodus modified Jewish thinking.  Concepts of “freedom,” “covenant,” & “history” were born.    As God’s liberated people, they were no longer bound to an endless cycle of slavery & paganism.  God’s people move from the past in freedom, but freedom is true freedom only in obedience to God in covenant, an agreement to live & grow together in love.  The essence of the covenant is Leviticus 11:45: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  The direction of growth is likeness to God’s own holiness, so time becomes history, a chart on which we measure progress in approaching the goal of God-likeness.   The aim of history is the coming of the Day of the Lord or the Messiah, when final measurements will be made.  Luke 2:22-40 says the time is fulfilled, the Messiah has come. 

January 7 at 6:30 we begin the New Year with a Covered Dish Supper & guest speaker Jane Patrick speaking about how we can help others have a new life.

Payne Springs UMC hosts a Walk to Emmaus reunion group every Tue at 5 pm.   Meetings are open & everyone is invited to bring a snack supper & join us.  

All are welcome to join us for Disciple Bible Study in 2009.  Classes resume Jan 22 as we continue looking into the story of the early Church.
         
            Payne Springs UMC is a caring church family learning to follow Jesus. Our purpose is to help every person grow to full maturity in the image of Jesus Christ in the twenty-first century. With open hearts, open minds, and open doors, we combine both traditional & contemporary styles. We invite you to come learn about God and Jesus, the Bible and the Church each week. Sunday school is from 9-10am. At 10am coffee, juice, & snacks are served in Fellowship Hall. Worship is from 10:30-11:30am. Nursery care is provided. Sunday evenings we invite you to an in-depth study of Matthew at 5 pm. If you have questions or need directions, call our church office at (903) 451-2978 or go to www.paynespringsumc.  Or http://www.paynespringsumc.org.