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Dr. Tim Bruster — Is Anything Worth Everything?
Other Sunday Morning Offerings

Red, White, Blue — and Brass!
The Smith Brothers in Service
Meet Our New Associate Youth Director!
The Safe Side of First Church
Baptism 101

Monthly Emmaus Ministry Fourth Day Reunion Group
Monday Musers Summer Study Group
Pastor’s Bible Study
Wednesday Morning Summer Study Group

Vacation Bible School

July Mission Sundays
Desperate Need for Water at the Mission

DFW Brass
MorningSong

Vacation Bible School Volunteer
Camp Barnabas

Traditional Worship | 9:40 am | Chapel | 11:00 am | Sanctuary | Dr. Tim Bruster

Children First | 9:45 am | Sanctuary | Mister Mark Burrows
Theme: “How Can I Help You?”

DiscipleChurch | 7:20 am | Community Breakfast | Wesley Hall
8:30 am | Chapel | Rev. Lance Marshall
9:30 am | Discussion Groups

Chapel Communion | 10:35 am | Chapel | Dr. Len Delony

nine:thirty-nine | eleven:eleven celebration | 9:39 & 11:11 am | Wesley Hall | Rev. Tom McDermott

Click here to view and download PDFs of our worship bulletins, posted weekly as soon as details are finalized!

“Is Anything Worth Everything?”

Dr. Tim Bruster

Matthew 13:44-46

Fifth in the series: “Parables of the Realm of God”

Dear friends,

Continuing our “Parables of the Realm of God” sermon series, we will examine together the “Parable of the Treasure.” Jesus says that the realm of God “is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field.” The finder sold everything to buy that field. Is anything worth everything?

This is an intriguing idea. How do we even imagine a single thing that is worth everything — all that we have and all that we are? This takes us straight to the fundamental question about what we value most.

The late Rev. Fred Craddock, who taught homiletics and New Testament at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, told a story about a missionary family in China who was forced to leave the country shortly after the communists took over. One day a band of soldiers knocked on the door and told this missionary, his wife, and their children that they had two hours to pack up before these troops would escort them to the train station. The couple were told that they would be permitted to take with them only two hundred pounds of stuff. That led to two hours of wrangling: What should they take? What about this vase? It’s a family heirloom, so we’ve got to take the vase. Well, maybe so, but this typewriter is brand-new and we’re not about to leave that behind. What about some books? Got to take a few of them along. On and on it went, putting stuff on the bathroom scale and taking it off until finally they had a pile of possessions that totaled two hundred pounds on the dot.

At the appointed hour, the soldiers returned:

“Are you ready?” they asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you weigh your stuff?”
“Yes, we did.”
“Two hundred pounds?”
“Yes, two hundred pounds on the dot.”
“Did you weigh the children?”
“Um . . . No.”
“Weigh the children!”

And in an instant the vase, the typewriter, and the books all became trash. Trash! None of it meant anything compared to the surpassing value of the children. Jesus’ parable forces us to ask the question of what matters most and what is of greatest value. In the ring vows in a wedding each one of the couple says to the other, “With all that I have and all that am, I honor you.” What are they saying? They are giving themselves — everything — to one another.

A few years ago Susan and I attended a reunion of my youth group at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana — a downtown church very much like ours with youth coming from a number of schools throughout the city. We circled up for the benediction that we always used. It was a different benediction from the one most youth groups use. In fact, it was not really a benediction, but a vow that we said every time we parted from one another. That vow challenged me and still challenges me today:

“All that I have and all that I am I give to Christ and to his service.” 

All that I have and all that I am. That’s everything. Is there anything else? Is there anything worth everything?

I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we ponder this challenging parable.

Grace and Peace,

Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor

 Other Sunday Morning Offerings

The Gathering | 9:30 am | Room 350 | Rev. Lance Marshall

This new and different First Church Sunday morning offering led by Rev. Lance Marshall offers a casual and relevant opportunity for prayer, study, topical exploration, and high-spirited connection free from typical worship or Sunday School structures.

nine:thirty-nine celebration | 9:39 am | Wesley Hall | Rev. Tom McDermott

This engaging experience of laughter, storytelling, and message, infused with the music of Elizabeth Wills, Brad Thompson, and the Revolution Band, offers a nontraditional, unorthodox, and transformative 50-minute worship experience. If you’re ready to “reconnect your spirit without disconnecting your mind,” join us Sunday mornings at 9:39 or 11:11 am in Wesley Hall. Discover new insights into radical community, the universal love of God, and living for the healing and transformation of our world. Come casual, bring your family, and join the celebration!

Connections | 10:30 – 11:00 am & noon – 12:30 pm | Garden & Wesley Hall

Each Sunday, Wesley Hall will be set up and ready to offer members, visitors, and guests from all our different Sunday morning worship and study opportunities a chance to visit, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy a Sunday morning treat.

This Sunday Only!

DFW Brass | 10:30 am | Connections in Garden | 11:00 am | Sanctuary worship

DFW Brass, an acclaimed brass quintet, will be with us on July 3 at 10:30 am in the Garden to perform some of the most beloved patriotic and hymn repertoire, including “Armed Forces Salute,” “National Anthem,” “Washington Post,” “Shenandoah,” and “Old Rugged Cross” (Dixieland style). The group will also perform “Simple Gifts” and “Stars & Stripes” at 11:00 am in the Sanctuary. Come hear this brass quintet and get in the spirit of the Fourth of July holiday!

Click here to see classes meeting this Sunday, July 3

Every Sunday morning, groups of adults meet in FUMCFW Sunday School classes to enhance their spiritual growth and enjoy fellowship with other Christians. We have classes for a variety of demographic groups, with many different class personalities and styles.

Visit the Adult Sunday School page to learn more!

Celebrate the 4th at FUMCFW!

Lisa Helm 

Someone recently shared a playlist of patriotic songs to get me in the mood for the Fourth of July. I honestly can’t imagine celebrating this holiday without hearing “Stars & Stripes,” the “National Anthem,” or the “Armed Forces Salute.” The music associated with the birth of our nation is as much a part of the celebration as fireworks!

As we take time this weekend to celebrate the birthday of the United States, our FUMCFW Music Ministries is giving us not one but two opportunities to hear the acclaimed brass quintet, DFW Brass, as they play not only patriotic music to help bring in the 4th, but also add their special musical styling for worship during our 11:00 am service.  Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Lisa

Children First Sunday

Mark Burrows

Hi Families.

Two quick things:

Thing One — This Sunday is Children First (Woo-hoo!) and our theme is How Can I Help You.

9:45 am — in the Sanctuary.

Thing Two — A week from today — Tuesday, July 5, at midnight — is our absolute hard deadline for VBS registration. Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Mark

Kat Bair Joins Our Youth Ministries Team

Andrew Mochrie

Hello All!

I am very excited to announce that Kat Bair will be joining our FUMCFW Youth Ministries team this summer! Thanks to all of you who put in the hard work to help get her here. Kat is going to be such an excellent addition to our team and our church, and we are ready for her to be here. Her official visit date will be on Sunday, July 10, and her start date is the following Monday, July 11!

Kat grew up in the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, meaning she knows what good large church youth ministry looks like. Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Andrew

Experiences with Homeless Guests

Kim Bushlow

I started working with the homeless in 2010 while I was on the Street Outreach Services (SOS) Team for Catholic Charities Fort Worth. Prior to that I had not been in contact with homeless people beyond seeing them on the street and walking right by. During my time with SOS I learned so much about:

Survival

People experiencing homelessness must take survival very seriously while living in the brutal Texas elements. Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Kim

Introducing Fit First, Our New Fitness Ministry!

Jennifer Stephens

“I have some exciting news to share! It is about a vision — a vision to reach out to our community in a unique way sharing God’s love where there is a need.” 

Hi! I am Jennifer Stephens, a member here at First Church. I have been attending FUMCFW since 2013, with a temporary move to care for some needs, and I recently returned in June of 2015. I have worked in the Health and Fitness Industry since 1997 with a degree in Exercise Sport Science from North Carolina University. And I am now starting my first semester at Brite Seminary with hopes to become ordained in the United Methodist Church. Click here to continue reading.

Costa Rica Team Requests Prayers

Rev. Chuck Graff

Eighteen amazing individuals giving of their time, resources, and energies to serve others in Costa Rica — while representing you and First Church — will be leaving for northern Costa Rica this Friday.  We will help build two parsonages for pastors in this rural, agricultural area of the country (and possibly offer to finish work on the medical clinic we have been building) and lead amazing Vacation Bible School sessions with the children (our theme this year is “Let the Children Come Unto Me”) offering Bible stories, crafts, songs, games, and gifts for the children. We are also taking medical supplies, shoes, towels, toys for the children, and other needed items to the Methodist Children’s Home (orphanage) which we will visit on Saturday. Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Chuck

Reflections from the Road: Glue that Binds Histories

Hans Grim

We’re still on the road, but I want to share a few reflections with you as we round the final turn of the 2016 Cornerstone Youth Choir Tour to Branson, Missouri. This week I watched inhibitions disappear (in a good way!) in this special group of young people.

As we sang in a series of retirement and nursing home settings, I was amazed to watch them go out and sit with the residents, talk with them, and sing with them as if this was something they did every day — even those for whom this was their first choir tour. I didn’t tell them to do that — they just did it all on their own with no urging or encouragement beyond a few simple instructions at the start of the tour. Click here to continue reading.

Has God Left the Building?

Rev. Tom McDermott

You have probably had that experience where someone told you an amazing story about some unbelievable moment in their life, where the unexpected completely transformed the moment . . . and the story gets summed up with “it was a real God moment.”

We’ve all heard these incredibly moving stories from others. Perhaps many of us have experienced such unique, memorable moments that have marked time for us at a certain point in our lives. Things were pretty dire, stressful, depressing, frightening . . . and then “God showed up.” A friend recently shared a similar experience with me the other day, a deeply moving narrative that caught me up with sadness and hope and then exhilaration and happiness . . . But then I suddenly found myself thinking, “Wait — what? Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Tom

From Soil Analysis to Organic Gardening

Dr. Len Delony

I believe that the community — in the fullest sense: a place and all its creatures — is the smallest unit of health and that to speak of the health of an isolated individual is a contradiction in family or community or in a destroyed or poisoned ecosystem. 

— Thomas Berry

I’m still thinking about Dr. Tim Bruster’s sermon from last week on what he called “The Parable of the Soils.” And I’m especially intrigued by the metaphor of “soil analysis.” Click here to continue reading.

Click here to read more posts from Len

BIRTH

Piper Joy Torres was born on Friday, June 24, 2016.
Proud family includes: parents, Katie & Chase Torres,
brother, Brandon, & grandparents, Joy & Dan Brandon.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

Dorothy Casten
Sarge Hill
Spencer “Monty” Brown

IN MEMORIAM

Carolyn Ferguson

BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday, Baker!

Baker Wood will turn 100 on July 2. He and his wife, Evelyn, have been members of our church since 2007. A reception will be held on Saturday, July 2, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm in the Longhorn Auditorium at Trinity Terrace — all are welcome! For more information, contact Carolyn Porter (cmp952@yahoo.com).

Click here to see a list of upcoming programs and events.

Red, White, Blue — and Brass!

This Fourth of July weekend, First Church will let freedom ring through DFW Brass, brought to us courtesy of our FUMCFW Music Ministries. Between services at our 10:30 am Connections in the Garden this acclaimed brass quintet will perform its all-American tribute of beloved patriotic and hymn repertoire, including “Armed Forces Salute,” “National Anthem,” “Washington Post,” “Shenandoah,” and “Old Rugged Cross” (Dixieland style). Then the stirring musical stylings of DFW Brass will continue during the 11:00 am Sanctuary worship service with “Simple Gifts” and “Stars & Stripes.” Come enjoy this salute to our country in the Garden and special musical offering during worship in this extraordinary pre-Independence Day First Church family celebration.

The Smith Brothers in Service

As an article in the May 1945 Mineola Monitor noted, the Joe Smith family (of our very own Dr. Lamar Smith) was well-represented in the armed forces with five sons serving during World War II. This Sunday’s altar flowers are dedicated in loving memory of Lamar’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Smith, as well as their five sons, for whom there is much to remember and honor this Fourth of July weekend.

Four of the Smith brothers served in the Navy and one in the Army, three in the South Pacific. Don, GM 2-c, was aboard the USS Sands somewhere in the Philippines. Sgt. Glenn Smith was stationed on New Guinea and the Philippines. Joe “Jody” Smith Jr., AMM 1-c, was based on Guam in the Marianas. Everett Smith, of the Communications Division of the Navy, served at Camp Elliot, California. The youngest of the five, Lamar, was nearly rejected by the Navy because of his eyesight. However, he says that he finally talked his way into that branch of the military service. As an SKD 3-c, he served in the office that kept pay records and paid the men on the ships permanently stationed in San Diego Bay.

Watch the video below of the National World War II Museum’s oral history interviews with Lamar to learn more.

You can also check out a copy of this DVD from our FUMCFW Library, now located on the first floor of the main church building, just across from Wesley Hall.

Meet Kat Bair, Our New Associate Youth Director!

FUMCFW is excited to welcome Kat Bair as our new Associate Director of Youth Ministries! “Over the next three years Kat will be making her way through the Center for Youth Ministry Training (CYMT), the same organization where I received my training, to get her theological education and practical training,” says Andrew Mochrie, Director of Youth Ministries. “Our church will benefit greatly from this partnership with CYMT and with Kat as a part of our youth ministry team.”

Kat received a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Comparative Politics from the University of Miami Ohio. She decided to pursue youth ministry instead of politics, so far through both church youth ministry internships as well as youth mission internships, including missions in Asia. Kat grew up in the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, so she is no stranger to large church youth ministry. “She has a love of Christ, a passion for youth ministry, and some cool facts that everyone will have to ask her about,” adds Jillian Voelker, Youth Search Committee Chair. Kat and her husband, Andrew, live in Grapevine.

Click here to read more in Andrew’s blog. Kat will join us on Sunday, July 10, to get to know our youth community and family, and then she will start working with our Youth Ministries the following Monday. Let’s all give her a warm First Church welcome!

The Safe Side of First Church

FUMCFW is in the process of upgrading some of the security features throughout our church. From cameras on door keypads to motion detectors in hallways and much more, we’re stepping it up when it comes to safety. So if you notice some new additions that you hadn’t seen before, you’ll know our church family is in good hands. Instructions will be on the new door keypads soon; however, if you need assistance or have questions about these new measures, please contact Don Lee, Director of Security (dlee@myfumc.org), or Sandy Williams, Director of Operations (swilliams@myfumc.org).

Baptism 101

Sunday, July 3
11:00 am | Room 230 | Led by Dr. Mike Marshall | Registration required

Baptism 101 must be attended by first-time parents and/or parents whose older children were not baptized in a United Methodist Church. At the class, a pastor will discuss the history, theology, meaning, and responsibility of baptism. We will also go over logistics and steps to scheduling. Not to mention it’s a great chance to meet other young families. It is offered the first Sunday of every month at 11:00 am in Room 230. While the nursery is available during class time, babies and children are more than welcome to join! There is no cost to join the class; however, we do ask that you register online, or by contacting Gayle Ammerman (gammerman@myfumc.org) at 817/339-5091, so that we can prepare accordingly.

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Monthly Emmaus Ministry Fourth Day Reunion Group

First Wednesday of every month
Begins Wednesday, July 6
Noon | Room 230

Everyone who has been on an Emmaus Walk, or is interested in learning more about this vital ministry, is invited to attend our new group that will be meeting on the first Wednesday of every month beginning on July 6 at noon in Room 230. You can bring your own lunch with you for the first meeting, and the group will then decide about meal plans for future group meetings beginning in August and beyond. This meeting will focus together on sharing our faith stories, spiritual growth, and our wholeness and well-being. Men and women are invited to attend. For more information, please contact Jeff Donahue (jldonahue75@gmail.com), Fred Cantu (fcantu@carterpark.com), or Rev. Chuck Graff (cgraff@myfumc.org) at 817/339-5065.

Monday Musers Summer Study Group

June 13 – August 29 (Not meeting July 4)
Mondays | 1:00 – 2:15 pm | Foundation Building, Room 271
Led by Dr. Mike Marshall