Come and Call Upon Jesus
Pine Valley United Methodist Church’s Pastor Tim shared a letter with us he received from Rev. Belton Joyner, the founding minister of PVUMC. While going through some things, Rev. Joyner found the bulletin that was used on June 11, 1961, the groundbreaking day for our church! At the groundbreaking, the people, with the minister, read, “Almighty and everlasting God, who art ever exalted yet always nigh; grant that we may worthily offer unto Thee, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this ground upon which we stand, to be made holy with sacred aspiration and divine purpose, as a place upon which to build a temple and a sanctuary where thy glory shall be manifest among us, and where all people shall come to call upon thy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.”
Fifty-nine years later and PVUMC is still exalting the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This ground continues to be holy with sacred aspiration and divine purpose! I would say many people come here knowing they will find Jesus! The one thing I continue to hear from visitors is that they feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as soon as they walk in. John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” The water is flowing at PVUMC!
Our mission is connecting hearts to Christ and one another. I am sure you have heard Pastor Tim refer to the “Four E’s” which are our values. They stand for extra mile caring, engaging spiritual formation, excellence in worship, and expressive faith sharing. When we join the church, we are asked to uphold our discipleship vows: our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. It takes all of this to be a disciple.
I think the group at the 1961 groundbreaking would also love to know that even during a pandemic, we are wise stewards of our money. 96% of our operations budget has been collected through tithes and offerings. Only 86% of our operations budget has been spent. God continues to open pathways for PVUMC. God is moving in a mighty way! During this time of uncertainty, we have learned that PVUMC is building people, not buildings. Even during a pandemic, we are growing! It is a very humbling thing to see how people are coming back. Humbling to see the cars dropping off our Wee Care children. They are up to 60% occupancy. It is humbling to see our youth come together. Some of our Bible studies and Sunday School classes are regathering. We have Stephen Ministry training and Celebrate Recovery coming back! While no environment is 100% sterile and we each have to take personal responsibility, the staff has worked so hard to lower anxieties as people come in.
Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.” Thank you for giving God the first portions of your life! He is blessing us in ways we cannot imagine! This is not just about money. If you give God the first portion of your day in prayer and study, you will be unbelievably blessed! I believe “barns will be filled with plenty, and our vats will be bursting with wine means we will have more than enough! We will be satisfied and have peace!
Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Jesus tells us that God will pour back more than we gave. And it will be “running over.” This is all about having the faith to trust God with our time, energy, and money. The only time we are told we can “test” God about our tithes is in Malachi 3:10, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.’” You will find no better investment anywhere!
I pray that we will continue to be guided and governed by the Holy Spirit and that people will know that PVUMC is a place where they can come and call upon Jesus!