Greetings Topeka First UMC,

I hope that you are having a great week! 

How is your Lenten journey going so far? Did you give something up? Add a spiritual practice? I want to encourage you to give yourself grace. If you miss a day of a spiritual practice, thats ok! Start again today. The idea of lent is to remember who we are in Christ, to turn back to God, and grow in our love for God, each other, and ourselves! 

Coming up on Sunday is the 2nd week of our sermon series "A Wesleyan Journey with Jesus." Last week we started at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, and the beginning of our faith journey. Baptism is a sign and a symbol of God's presence in our life, and our first step in faith. This Sunday our theme is "Go!" Within the church, it becomes easy to look only to ourselves and what is happening inside our church. On Sunday we will see how Jesus called the disciples (and us) to go into the world. Much of John Wesley's preaching was outside, not even in a building. What does outside preaching and Jesus sending out the disciples have to do with us? I hope you will join us Sunday as live into our calling and Go!

This Sunday at 12:15 p.m., there will be a Topeka JUMP meeting in Room 105, and all are welcome! Lunch will be provided. JUMP is a coalition of churches that pursues justice in Topeka through focusing on issues that are impacting our community, researching solutions, and advocating for decision makers to implement those solutions. Currently, JUMP is focusing on issues around predatory payday lending, affordable housing, mental health, and violence. A key ingredient for JUMP's success is the people (you) who show up to demonstrate support for the solutions JUMP is advocating for. The more people who show up, the more likely decision makers are to listen! Come to the meeting on Sunday to learn about JUMP's progress on the 4 issues mentioned above and to prepare for JUMP's big assembly coming up on May 1st. 

See you Sunday,
Pastor Brad