Mercy and Grace

I went home to see my parents this weekend, as I like and often do, and recently they've started attending a new Church in Hamburg, called Bethany United Methodist Church. I really like it, not just the people and the pastor and the teaching, but the Church building itself. I personally don't prefer modern, contemporary Church buildings. Especially ones that don't believe in outward decorations, like images in stained glass windows and pictures of Jesus and things. Personally, I think that sucks. I absolutely love and adore old Churches, they have so much character, and they're just so beautiful. Bethany Methodist is no exception. The architecture of the Church is just amazing. The old wood, the style of the pews, the fact that the Church is round on the inside, the GLORIOUS stained glass windows they have... it's so pretty. On the outside it looks like a castle or fortress sort of. Here's their website so you can see a picture. http://www.gbgm-umc.org/bethanyhamburgpa/

But as much as I love and admire the old Church buildings, I do know that worship is not about the building, which is why I still love my Presbyterian Church in Lansdale- despite the fact that they're remodeling it, I still think it's plain and ugly. But I love it there because I love the people there. They are such fabulous examples of what it means to be the body of Christ. And Bethany United Methodist is great because not only is it a great building ;) the people and the Pastor are great, too.

I attended a Methodist Church while at college, and I loved it. My favorite pastor in the world, Pastor Steve Taylor, preached there while I was at school, and I miss him a lot. He's at a Church in Ephrata now (Methodists move their pastors pretty frequently). Anyway, one cool thing about Methodists is that they're open to not just men preachers, but women as well. If you have a heart for preaching, your gender doesn't matter. And it just so happens that Bethany Methodist has a woman Pastor, Pastor Andrea. She's actually still in seminary, but for being a new Pastor, she's really great. I really enjoyed her sermon today. One of the things she mentioned really struck me. It was about mercy and grace, and how they differ. She said,

"Mercy is God NOT giving us what we actually deserve, and Grace is God GIVING us what we don't deserve."

I really loved that, and it really is true. What we all deserve is pain and suffering and punishment for all our sins, yet God took that on himself so we don't have to- his mercy is so great. And in doing that, he offers us the opportunity to accept that gift so we can freely be and walk with him, pure and blameless- his grace is so abounding.

Thank you Father, for your infinite mercy and grace!