Rev. Andrew's Adventures

Community UMC, Quincy “In the Name of Jesus Christ: Faith…that Makes Us Strong” Pastor Andrew Davis April 15, 2018 Acts 3: 12-19 Luke 24: 36b-48 How many of you remember the children’s story “The Little Engine that Could?” If the story is new to you, it was written in 1930 by Watty Piper and is about a train carrying toys and other fun stuff “for good little girls and boys,” when their engine up and breaks down.   The clowns, dolls, and animals on the train try in earnest to find an engine that could haul the train over the mountain to its destination before the children awake, but with little success. [i]   After being passed over by several other locomotives who felt they were too good, too busy, or too tired, a little blue engine stops, shows empathy to everyone on the stranded train, and is willing to help take the toys, dolls, and good things to eat for good little girls and boys over the mountain, even though she had never been over the mountain be

Community UMC Quincy “In the Name of Jesus Christ...Testimony to the Resurrection” Pastor Andrew Davis April 8, 2018 Acts 4: 32-35             Last week after Easter dinner with my parents, I was perusing Facebook and came across a little comic that says it all for clergy on Easter Sunday and the following week…”Christ is Risen…the clergy is dead.” Holy Week and Easter are among the highest points of the Christian year next to Advent and Christmas, and there is definitely a lot of extra work that goes into the season…extra studies, extra services, extra bulletins, not as much sleep or rest as we’d always like.   You get the idea.   As our Plumas-Lassen UM Circuit met on Wednesday morning, all four of us pastors concurred that it felt like a post-Easter coma this last week, hence why many of my colleagues take vacation the week after Christmas and Easter, or why my colleagues who are pastors of larger congregations with an associate pastor or seminary interns have the asso

Community UMC, Quincy “Love Leads the Way” Easter Sunday: April 1, 2018 Pastor Andrew Davis John 20: 1-18             In conversations with many of my clergy colleagues leading up to today, many of us are convinced that God really has a sense of humor this year.   Back in February, we began the 40-day journey of Lent on Ash Wednesday, although Ash Wednesday happened to fall on Valentine’s Day.   So, if anyone was giving up chocolate or candy since Lent is often associated with giving stuff up, God may have had the last laugh there.   Likewise, today happens to fall on April Fool’s Day as we celebrate this beautiful Easter morning.   Typically, on April Fool’s Day, we may want to pull some fun pranks, or maybe engage in a little holy mischief here and there.     On the other hand, one of my favorite comics I like to read regularly is “Coffee with Jesus,” from Radio Free Babylon, which puts Jesus in a contemporary setting, business suit and all, having coffee and conversa