Author: First UMC

Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:18

Next week, First United Methodist Church, Sarasota, begins a new era of ministry under the leadership of Pastor Brett DeHart. Our Lord Jesus Christ has initiated this new beginning. With much prayer and spiritual discernment, two bishops and their cabinets have been part of the decision to appoint Pastor Brett to FUMC. The Lord is about to do something new in this congregation and in our community.

What can the congregation do to make this new beginning a success?

Giving Christ “first place in everything” will make the Lord’s will clear, grow the desire to accomplish Christ’s mission and ministry, and fill you with the joy of serving in the church and community. As you adjust to new leadership and discern new directions, remember the church is the only institution that does not exist for its members’ sake but for Christ’s sake.

This is my last devotional as your pastor, but my prayers for you continue. I have confidence that God will accomplish great things in you and through you in the coming months and years.

In God’s amazing grace,

Dr. Sam

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” (Matthew 5:11)

As part of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells people that they are to be happy when they are scorned for their beliefs in Jesus as the Messiah, for they are doing what is right and good by declaring the good news of Jesus Christ. Do you tend to keep quiet when others talk about religion?

Do you hold back your thoughts when people make negative comments about church or those who attend? Sometimes others say negative things because they don’t know what to believe. Perhaps they have heard about some of the scandals in some churches. Sometimes they are afraid to even ask a question for fear others will condemn their curiosity.

Feel free to say that you are a Christian. Be happy that you are blessed to be loved by your savior. If others don’t feel the same way, that’s okay. It’s not up to you to engage in an argument about the merits of your beliefs. Pray, instead, that those who hear you say what you believe, without condemning the beliefs of others, may see that a God who allows peace amidst disagreement might be worth learning about. 

–Pastor Woody

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:15-16)

Last week Dr. Sam, Rev. DeHart, and I attended the Florida Annual Conference, along with our Lay Delegate, Leah Pittard. This was an amazing time to gather in fellowship and truly experience the theme of the Conference: “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!” Between the singing, the sermons, the Bible studies, the prayers, the Laity and Committee reports, and the licensing and ordination of clergy, this was a time of inspiration, education, understanding, and connection.

Missing from this Conference were the people trying to leave the United Methodist Church or change the church through condemnation of our views on love, peace, and social justice. This year all people attending looked toward the future and to the tremendous impact that the United Methodist Church has on people around our state and in our world. It was easy to see who was a member of Christ’s Church, for they clearly bear fruit and show by word and deed that they are following the path of Christ’s Holy teachings.

Praise God for His grace and mercy!

-Pastor Woody

We always thank God for all of you when we mention you constantly in our prayers. (1 Thessalonians 1:2)

We are very grateful to everyone for Sunday’s wonderful reception for Yvonne and me. You all were so kind, gracious, and generous. We appreciate all the different ways you showed your love for us—the music in worship with favorite hymns and the kids singing, the flowers, the color of the lovely decorations, the corsages, the delicious food, the photos, the generous gifts, the cards, the line of heartfelt goodbyes that lasted two hours, our favorite Irish blessing, and more. Many of you mentioned how God has used us to bless your lives. That is certainly how we feel about you. You have been such a blessing to us. We are humbled by your expressions of love. Thank you!

May God bless you in every way. You remain in our prayers.

Dr. Sam & Yvonne

 In the same way, I urge you who are younger: accept the authority of the elders. And everyone, clothe yourselves with humility toward each other. God stands against the proud, but he gives favor to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

My wife and I moved to Florida in the summer of 2018. I had been appointed as Associate Pastor at a church in Maine until then, and began trying to transfer to the Florida Conference before we left. However, transfers between conferences don’t always go smoothly. Dr. Sam proposed hiring me as an Assistant Pastor, assuming I’d soon be approved by the Florida Conference. I was finally appointed by the Bishop as Associate Pastor in 2022.

I thank Dr. Sam for his trust and faith in my abilities to be a positive part of First UMC, and for allowing me to grow and try new things while here. In addition to taking over the duties of the former Marketing Director, I was able to start the GriefShare ministry, bring the Ukrainian Support Group to our church, and begin a school partnership with Gocio Elementary. I also performed pastoral duties and kept things going during the senior pastor’s vacations and retreat. I have learned and done things during this time which will help me in my new role as senior pastor at my new church in Bradenton, and I am humbled by the love and acceptance shown me by the congregation.

May we all find people willing to guide us in our faith journey and beyond.

– Pastor Woody

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth… The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose… For we are God’s servants, working together.

(1 Corinthians 3:6-9)

Looking back on eight years of pastoral ministry at First United Methodist Church, I ask myself, what have we accomplished? As senior pastor, I know that I accomplish very little. It’s you, the congregation, who does the work. In terms of individual and congregational spiritual growth, accomplishment may be hard to measure. However, we can point to several things this congregation has accomplished in eight years. We have continued supporting local missions and added several more, including two additional sister churches in Cuba for three. We adopted our two successive classes of orphans in Zimbabwe through Zoe Empowers. We started Day4Hope which has helped prepare needy children for school for the past eight summers. We greatly improved and expanded our online presence and Zoom capabilities to reach more people. We celebrated 125 years of ministry in downtown Sarasota. We added GriefShare, led by Pastor Woody. Our music program has flourished under Michael’s capable leadership for the past six years, reaching children and teens, as well as adults. Since 2020, we’ve been on an upward trend, adding 46 new members in 2023 and growing our in-person attendance by 17% while keeping our online audience of about 200 each Sunday. We did this and much more in spite of COVID-19, political divisions, and church disaffiliations from the UMC. I can’t wait to hear what God will do with FUMC in the coming years. Blessings!

Dr. Sam

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

I worked for a small printing company in West Palm Beach during college. We became like family. The owner (84) ran the front office. Her daughter (62) set the type, and I ran the presses. Neither of their husbands returned from World War II. The daughter struggled with depression. She’d often say, “Life is tough, then you die.” To her credit, she recognized when she was feeling sorry for herself. She would go down to the nursing home and visit patients to encourage them. She told me, “It does me good to visit them. It lifts me from my depression. I encourage them. And when I see the condition they are in, I recognize, but for the grace of God, I could be there.”

Life is tough and can be discouraging. Let’s encourage each other and everyone we meet with the grace and love we have experienced in Christ Jesus. 

Dr. Sam

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (John 20:26-27)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. (1 Peter 4:10).

I had a dream that the Rev. Dr. Debbie Allen (our District Superintendent) had asked me if I’d be willing to serve a small church in retirement. I remember saying, “Yes,” but immediately regretting that I’d have to be at work on July 1, but I will take three weeks of vacation at the end of June.  Then I woke up.

That afternoon, Dr. Allen emailed a few of us pastors asking if a retired pastor in our congregations was willing to serve a part-time church in Bradenton. I emailed back, told her about the dream, and offered to serve. I don’t put much stock in dreams but believe in serving.  As Jesus said, “… the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

Mandatory retirement means I will leave the itinerant system of appointments at the end of June. Then, on July 1, I’ll be appointed as a retired part-time pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Bradenton. As some of you predicted, I will continue to stay busy. Maybe I “failed” retirement before I started. I prefer to think of it as continuing to serve to fulfill the calling of God’s grace in my life in retirement—something I see many of you doing. Blessings!

Dr. Sam

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” (Genesis 1:26, TM)

According to Genesis, God put humans in charge of the planet. As managers for God, we are responsible for the planet and all its creatures. Humans were not put in charge so that we could wipe out entire species because of greed. (A bluefin tuna can be worth $100,000 on the Japanese market.) We are not given dominion to pollute the oceans. Yet, one large garbage patch in the Pacific contains 1.8 trillion pieces of trash. The floating mass covers an area twice the size of Texas.

Yesterday was Earth Day. I admit it bothers me when I throw away a piece of plastic that doesn’t recycle because I know it may take 1,000 years to break down and become part of the soil or end up floating in the ocean for centuries. The best thing we can do as Christians is to reduce the trash we create, reuse items we can, and recycle. We can do a better job as God’s managers.

Dr. Sam

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20a)

Pilot over intercom to passengers: “I have good news and bad news. The good news is we are ahead of schedule. The bad news is we are lost.”

Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of everyone.  That is where the church is always to be headed—in the direction of others to bring them to Christ.  There is no one method of doing that.  All the ways to evangelize involve teaching others through word and actions the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.  That is our purpose and our goal.  It’s easy for the church to be distracted and get lost in all the different ideas about what a church should be and do and what different people want and expect.  Jesus’ instructions focus on where we should be going and what we should do.  May God keep us on course.

Dr. Sam

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Matthew 28:18-20.

When I was an American Baptist pastor, a search committee would contact me. If I were interested in serving that church, I’d send them a resumé. After they studied my resumé, they’d set up an interview with me, hear me preach at a neutral location, have me come to the church to preach a trial sermon, and then have the church vote on whether to call me to serve as their pastor. I went through that process four times and, as a result, had the privilege of being called to serve four different ABC churches from 1978 to 1994.

When I became a United Methodist pastor in 1994, I agreed to go wherever the bishop sent me. United Methodist pastors are sent, not called. We are appointed by the bishop, not hired by the church. The bishop’s concern is not just for one church to have the right pastor but for all the churches in the conference to have the right pastors. So, the bishop meets several times over months with the district superintendents in careful study and prayer to match as much as possible the gifts and graces of the particular pastor with the ministry needs of a particular congregation or ministry setting. Over the past thirty years, I’ve been appointed to five UMC congregations.

I’ve experienced God’s grace in the “called” and “appointive” systems and in all the congregations I’ve served. I have complete confidence that God is going to send the right pastor to FUMC. Let’s be in prayer for her or him, for FUMC, and for the congregation, she/he will leave as we prepare for this transition.

Dr. Sam

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Early Christians expected the imminent return of Jesus. So, when members of the Christian community in Thessalonica died, new Christians were confused about what they had been taught. Paul assured them that those who had died in Christ would be raised as Jesus was raised from the dead. We all grieve when we lose someone we love, but Christians have hope that death is not the end and that we will see our loved ones again. That is Easter hope. It is powerful. Easter hope has sustained many of us in the face of devastating losses and will continue to carry us until that day.

Dr. Sam

Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor. Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:7-8)

I’m not looking forward to calculating income taxes this year. I anticipate I will owe the government money. The only question is, what do I owe? Of course, I will pay whatever taxes are due. That’s what Paul taught in Romans. We are to pay our obligations. It’s better not to owe money to anyone.

However, each of us has an obligation that surpasses all others—to love one another. It’s a debt we always owe and must pay as Christians—to love others as Christ loved us. That’s the bottom line for Christians.

Dr. Sam

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:13-15)

Jesus made many friends. As he traveled, he befriended many people along the way—the Samaritan woman at the well, the wealthy tax collector Zacchaeus, and Mary Magdalene. Peter, James, and John were his inner circle among the twelve. Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were also good friends. In the above passage, he addresses eleven of his disciples as his friends (Judas had left to betray him.). Jesus was open and honest with his friends. He shared with them what God had revealed to him. In the end Jesus laid down his life for his friends. Through his sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus expanded his circle of friends to include us. Thanks be to God.

Dr. Sam

“We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, and their cities are huge and well-fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.” But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. (Numbers 13:27-28, 30-32, The Message)

The Israelites had journeyed to the point where they were poised to claim the land God had promised them. Moses dispatched a dozen spies to survey the land and devise a strategy for conquest. However, fear gripped ten of the spies, clouding their vision. It was only Caleb and Joshua who, with unwavering faith, saw the opportunity that lay before them. Unfortunately, the fear spread,
and the people retreated and wandered in the wilderness for forty years. I’ve been privy to unsettling rumors about the future of First UMC, Sarasota.

Some fear that the next pastor may lead FUMC out of the UMC (I assure you that will not come to pass). Others worry about potential changes within the church, such as the loss of beloved ministries. When fear and rumors are allowed to spread, they paralyze us. Let’s follow the example of Caleb and Joshua, who had faith that the battles before them could be won.

Let’s echo the positive voice of Caleb, who said, “We can do it.”

Dr. Sam

Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.         (John Wesley)

A woman called me today. She recently experienced a stroke and has yet to recover.  She wants to return to work but has not been given medical clearance. She has been a caregiver all her life.  Our volunteers at Caritas paid part of her water bill so that her water would not be shut off. They gave her my number because her electricity would also be turned off. Through the church’s Benevolence Fund, I covered her electric bill. She was very grateful for the assistance the church could give because of your generosity. We could not solve all her problems, but through the listening ears of volunteers and your gifts, she knows our church cares.

Thank you for the good you do every day and for your generosity.  Our church is known in our community for helping the down and out, a witness to God’s love and mercy.

Dr. Sam

At present, we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but one day we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole, like God’s knowledge of me.

(1 Corinthians 13:12, REB)

Lent is a time of self-examination which is very important. Even Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I personally find it difficult to see myself clearly. Paul taught in Romans “I say to everyone among you: do not think too highly of yourself, but form a sober estimate based on the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you.” (12:3)

Many of us probably are intoxicated with our own opinions of ourselves, while others may be more sober in their self-evaluations.

Even though Paul gave this advice in Romans, he admitted in 1 Corinthians that he struggled to see himself clearly, to see himself as God sees him. How do we measure or judge ourselves? He tells us in the next verse. “There are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of the three is love.”

As we examine ourselves, love is the measure that we use. Love in the biblical sense is other-centered, self-sacrificing, and action-oriented (not based on feelings). The Spirit fills us with this love for God and one another—and even for ourselves.

Dr. Sam

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15

The calendar combines both days tomorrow. It’s a day to celebrate love, examine ourselves, and repent of our sins—a strange combination.

At times life juxtaposes happiness and sadness. On the same day in the same hospital, I visited an elated mother and father with their newborn and a family receiving bad news in an ICU waiting room.

I attended a wedding where the families were celebrating. After the couple left for their honeymoon, the mother of the bride received terrible news that her brother had taken his life. Grief displaced joy.

The disciples were filled with joy on Palm Sunday when the crowds hailed Jesus as king but grieved on Good Friday when the crowds shouted for him to be crucified.

As we fulfill the Lord’s command to love one another, may the Holy Spirit fill us with compassion so that we may celebrate with one and grieve with another.

Dr. Sam