Resurrection UMC Hastings

Love Stories

It's Valentine's Day—time to share some stories about love and how it motivates us to do what we do (like ministries and building renovations) at REZ church.

And Are We Yet Alive?

Once a year, the Methodist circuit riding preachers would meet together in celebration and thankfulness, not knowing how many would still be alive or when they could gather again. We talk about how this relates to us today.

Surviving January: Don't Pout. Praise.

January in Minnesota can leave us feeling sorry for ourselves, especially if we have friends in Florida or Arizona who remind us how much warmer it is elsewhere. But pouting won't help.

Surviving January: Don't Worry. Wait.

We could worry about many things as we sit inside and stare out at the snow and cold – jobs, family, nation, world. So why does waiting work better than worry?

Surviving January: Don't Grumble. Grow.

Stars shine especially bright in the cold January air. We can, too, if we grow instead of grumble this month.

Surviving January: Don't Hibernate. Help.

People weren’t made to hibernate, especially Christians. We were made for action, for being doers of the word, and for helping others – even in January.

New Clothes

The turn of the calendar to 2021 doesn’t necessarily change everything for the better. Committing our lives to the Lord in this new year does.

Advent, Week 4: Repeat the Sounding Joy

Advent series: Finding Christmas in the Carols | Mark Miller, speaker
We explore the songs born from our joy that Christ has entered the world as we find Christmas in the carols.

Christmas joy finds its greatest expression in song, but the song we most associate with singing joy at Christmas (Joy to the World) doesn’t mention anything about babies, mangers, Mary, shepherds or wisemen. Isaac Watts didn’t set out to write a Christmas song. He wanted rework the Psalms of David (Ps. 98 here) in light of Jesus. It can be read as much about the second coming as the first. As in all of advent we see in this song the promise (Psalm 98), the fulfillment in Jesus’ birth and the ultimate fulfillment when Christ comes again and all creation is restored. So past, present and future let us sing for joy.

Advent, Week 3: Then Pealed the Bells More Loud and Deep

Advent series: Finding Christmas in the Carols | Mark Miller, speaker
We explore the songs born from our joy that Christ has entered the world as we find Christmas in the carols.

The song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” was written by a worried father during the Civil War. In it he sees the sound of the cannons drowning out the sound of the carols and he despairs. Where is this “peace on earth” the angels promise? But he ends with this affirmation: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Historians say that many of the traditions we associate with Christmas in America today were born out of the worries, fears, and anxiety of the Civil War and the desire for loved ones to be gathered together at home in peace. The worries, fears, and anxieties of our lives today may drown out the message of the carols but Christ is the Prince of Peace. In Him we find peace.

Advent, Week 2: Hark, How All the Welkin Rings

Advent series: Finding Christmas in the Carols | Mark Miller, speaker
We explore the songs born from our joy that Christ has entered the world as we find Christmas in the carols.

The song “Hark! How All the Welkin Rings” (an awful title) was originally put to music from a cantata about the printing press (#boring), but God used these less than stellar things to bring us the carol we know and love today, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." God is always using things of little value or notoriety, ordinary common things (like Mary), to accomplish his purposes. Mary’s song from Luke 1 (The Magnificat) celebrates this theme. Today, God still uses ordinary people like us to glorify Him and accomplish His purposes.