Mt. Zion United Methodist Church

Lent is traditionally understood as a time of self denial and sacrifice, as we give up something that we value and enjoy so that we are better able to give to worthy causes and to those in need.. During the five Sundays of Lent, the people of Mt. Zion UMC will have the opportunity to make a special gift to a number of different missions.

This Sunday’s special designated offering will go to United Methodist Family Services, a ministry to children at risk. Please review carefully the information enclosed in this Sunday’s bulletin; and, as you see fit, please write your check to Mt. Zion UMC, putting the initials UMFS on the memo line.

Throughout Lent, we will also collect food for the Caring Hearts Food Pantry, a 24 / 7 provider of food located on Route 230 and operated by the local Mennonite church. Several boxes will be provided to hold the donations; and the food will be delivered to the food pantry on a weekly basis. Thank you for reaching out during this special time of the Christian year.

Sunday, February 28, at Walker’s UMC, the pastor will begin a multi- week Bible study and teaching series called “The Seven Marks of the Body of Christ.” This series, based on a letter from Martin Luther, will seek to answer this question: what is necessary for a church to become both vital and faithful? In this series we will look at seven marks of a faithful church and what they mean for us today. We will begin by examining the sermon – or the Proclaimed Word;

This teaching series, which will look at right practice (othopraxy) will serve as the complement to the sermon series on right belief (orthodoxy). All members of the charge are strongly encouraged to attend. It will be held most Sundays at 6:00 PM.

This Sunday, the pastor continues the Lenten preaching series on the great heresies of the faith – those mistaken beliefs that threatened the integrity – and even the existence of the Early Church and that continue to cause havoc in churches today. This morning’s message is “Hearing, Heeding, Doing;” and it will examine the heresy of Montanism – and how that heresy gets lived out in today’s church

Montanism, named after its primary founder Montanus, appeared in northern Africa and Asia Minor sometime between 135 and 157. Montanism was known for its ecstatic forms of expression in worship where both the worship leaders and those in attendance would be transported to physically exhausting and often unintelligible emotional heights.

Basing their authority in part on Genesis 2: 21 (“the Lord sent Adam into a deep sleep”) and Acts 10:10 (“Peter fell into a trance”),  Montanus and his two female assistants Prisca and Maximilla would routinely undergo a public spiritual trance, claiming to be God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Montanus would often say that he was “possessed by God,” claiming in these trances, “I am the Father, the Word, and the Spirit.” Montanists often claimed that the revelations that they received in these ecstatic experiences were the “newer” New Testament, more authoritative than the Scriptures or the words of Christ.

Montanists were particularly rigid, judgmental, and unforgiving regarding many forms of human behavior. They forbid remarriage and saw chastity as the best preparation for a person to have religious visions. Montanists also believed that a sinner could neither be redeemed nor forgiven and could only be returned to the Montanist church after severe acts of penance. Equally severe were their methods of fasting and their strong avoidance of anything from the outside world. This severity in church practice was directly linked to their belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the total destruction of the material world.

Montanism grew very popular in the first two centuries of the church, mostly in the rural villagers of Africa and Asia Minor. The emotionality of the worship events and their strict, even severe church discipline created a large, fervent and loyal group of believers. While Montanism was declared a heresy around 177, it continued as a sect well into the 5^th century.

This Sunday, the pastor begins a Lenten preaching series on the great heresies of the faith – those mistaken beliefs that threatened the integrity – and even the existence of the Early Church and that continue to cause havoc in churches today. This morning’s message is“Knowledge Puffs Up” and it will examine the heresy of gnosticism – and how that heresy gets lived out in today’s church

Gnosticism is not the name of any specific religion. Rather, it is a category of a wide range of religious beliefs and practices that emerged during the Church’s first two hundred years. It is the earliest and the dangerous of all the heresies. You see Paul responding to gnosticism’s presence in his letters to the churches in Corinth, Colossae, and Ephesus.

Gnosticism played upon certain recognizable unattractive aspects of human nature. Among these are our world weariness and our insistence that the world in which we live is broken beyond repair; our need to always be in the know; our belief that we can secure salvation by having all the answers; our infatuation with secret societies or elite groups; and our tendencies to have a do-our-own thing ethic.

Gnosticism took many forms; but the theology- and the ethics that resulted from it – was always the same. Gnostics hated the created world and had no use for the God who created it. Gnostics saw human beings as unfortunate refugees stranded on earth, with only secret knowledge as the means to escape earth and find personal salvation. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “to know.”

Because Gnostics saw the world as a temporary way-station, they were either self-denying ascetics who abstained entirely from many foods and from sexual relations –or they were self-indulgent libertines who ate what they wanted and engaged in anonymous sexual relations.

The most dangerous forms of gnosticism were those that used parts of Scripture and that placed Jesus somewhere in their story, for this was especially attractive to early Christians. Valentinianism was one form of gnosticism that incorporated Jesus into its overall theology. In this form, there are several Christ figures, including one simply called “the only begotten,” another called “the Cross,” and yet another called, “the perfect fruit of the heavens.”

Gnosticism is the source of far too may other heresies to mention, including “docetism” which believed that Jesus wasn’t truly human – that he just seemed to be. The heroes of the Early Church worked hard to protect the Church from the temptations of gnosticism. From time to time, that work, sadly, still needs to be done today. For more information about Gnosticism, please feel free to call or email the pastor

The pastor’s mother – Nancy Jenkins Follett-MacDonald – eighty four years old… resident of a nursing home…confined to a wheel chair for the past three decades… afflicted with diabetes, heart disease, and kidney complications… soon to have two toes amputated… has been given permission by the owners of the nursing home to begin a library. The owners of the nursing home have set aside a room in the activities area for the central library. They are building shelves on each ward as “branch libraries.” They have found an assistant to help his mother; and they have made rubber stamps to mark the books.

What Mrs. Follett now needs are the books – hard cover, good quality, and in good condition. If you can spare some books of this kind, please bring them to church during Lent. We will ship these books the least expensive way – by putting them on the bus where the pastor’s sister can pick them up in Massachusetts. Boxes and cartons will be available next week to receive whatever books you wish to bring. Many thanks.

“I can still hear the singing”–a drama/worship event on behalf of Habitat for Humanity.
This event will chronicle in a sermon/dramatic monologue the spirit and dynamics of the camp meeting and will begin at 6:00 PM.

(click a picture below to see more photos)

Beginning next week (August 16)–and for several weeks to follow–we will distribute a form for you to complete that will have two primary goals:  updating our prayer chain so that all who wish to be on it are;  and to update our membership directory so that the information that we have for our members is accurate and complete.  Please make every effort to fill out this form.