Rev. Andrew's Adventures

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3: 22-23, NRSV) By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against such things.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.  (Galatians 5: 22-26, NRSV) Dear Members and Friends of Community UMC, Quincy,              By now, the results are in and the reality of last night’s election has begun setting in for many of us, with Donald J. Trump elected as the 45 th President of The United States.  For many, this outcome may be viewed as a new da...

For the beauty of the Earth, for the glory of the skies, For the love which from our birth, over and around us lies; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise (UMH, 92). It feels like the weather has changed over very quickly this year, as Fall has arrived here in Quincy and the surrounding areas at the time of writing this month’s Adventures .  The first sign is that when I’ve taken my regular drive up to Bucks Lake, there is hardly anyone there.  It’s almost like I have the whole shoreline to myself at Sandy Point while walking the growing shoreline as the water level in the lake goes down.  Then there is the explosion of colors on the trees, the vibrant reds, oranges, and golds that are a feast for the eyes whenever we are outside or even when we are driving around.  Then we have the smell of fireplaces and burning leaf piles beginning to perfume the air, another sign that Fall has fully arrived.  As we approach Thanksgiving,...

Community UMC, Quincy “Keep on Trusting in God’s Mercy” October 23, 2016 Pastor Andrew Davis Luke 18: 9-14        What a great joy it was last week to hear Susie preach a powerful message about prayer, faith, and patience as we celebrated laity Sunday last week.  As we pick up with our series, “Keep On,” we have talked about the need to obey - aka just do it - when it comes to what Jesus commands us to do.  We have talked about the need to keep on healing all who we encounter, even when it means crossing barriers.  We had the reminder from Susie last week to keep on praying while staying faithful and patient.  And now, we come to today’s text from Luke, “keep on trusting in God’s mercy,” which is an extension of prayer.  But whenever we pray and ask for God’s mercy, we also have this amazing opportunity to experience that mercy firsthand and share about that experience with others!  Before we engage with our text...

Community UMC, Quincy “Keep On…Keep on Healing All” Pastor Andrew Davis October 9, 2016 Luke 17: 11-19           I love a good medical drama on TV!!   There ’s something about the intensity of it, the subplots, and all the intriguing storylines that move us to tears or leave us on the edge of our seats.   When some of my friends would watch Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix in the lounge while living on campus at Wesley, it was so easy to get hooked in.   Or I would find myself equally captivated when ER was still running on NBC, being glued to the show each week to see what was next.   I have also been rather intrigued by the NBC show, Chicago Med, which I first thought might be the second coming of ER.   Nevertheless, even though the action on these TV shows is fiction, it portrays stories and plots of both healing and sorrow that take place in the ER and hospital, which happens in real life too, but withou...

Community UMC, Quincy October 2, 2016 “Keep on…Keep on Obeying” Pastor Andrew Davis Luke 17: 5-10   B eing a child of the media and growing up in the 1980 ’s and 90’s, I remember when Nike had the slogan, “Just Do It!” Since shoes and athletic wear is what Nike is most well-known for, Nike encouraged people during that time to just do it, just go for it, go and do what you love and let your passion burn brightly.   But then while I was thinking of Nike’s slogan and other slogans I vividly remember, I also thought about Sprite’s slogan that began in the 1990’s, “Obey Your Thirst” which entices viewers into consuming Sprite when feeling thirsty.   Not so sure that’s really healthy, as I tend to reach for water before Sprite when it comes to obeying my thirst, but it was effective and is still in use today.   So naturally, as I was writing on Thursday and struggling with what to talk about when it comes to obeying the Gospel, just like we are e...