Vista Ridge United Methodist Church

A Night at the Ballpark

vrumc — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 20:31:57 +0000

Churchwide Baseball Game

VRUMC family and friends will gather at the ballpark Tuesday, July 3, 2018, for a Frisco RoughRiders game and Stars and Stripes Celebration. Game time is 7:05 p.m., with gates opening one hour early. Purchase your tickets for $7 each at Kroger prior to the game. Bring the whole family, a blanket and meet on the lawn area of Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco. After the game, go on the ball field for a special fireworks display.

The post A Night at the Ballpark appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Behind the Scenes on Sundays

vrumc — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 20:35:00 +0000

Reel Faith Worship Series Join us at 9:45 a.m. Sundays for Behind the Scenes. We’ll get together as part of the Reel Faith worship series to dig deeper and unpack our weekly movies. This intergenerational class will Read More

The post Behind the Scenes on Sundays appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: June 7, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 20:30:59 +0000

New Faces New Spaces

Every year in early June, United Methodist clergy in North Texas gather for our annual conference, along with lay persons who represent United Methodist churches in North Texas. Angie Christoffersen and I spent Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday at First UMC in Richardson at the 2018 North Texas Annual Conference. I’ve been attending annual conference since June 1991, when I first was exploring a call to ministry. I’ve only missed one since then: June of 2005 when I was on maternity leave and home with a 2-week-old!

To be honest, I left the church on Sunday after worship thinking that I just didn’t have time to be at annual conference. But I must tell you, I left annual conference on Tuesday evening tired but re-energized and re-invigorated for the work that God has for us to do together in the year to come! The worship was inspiring and beautiful. The keynote speakers, Reverend Adam Hamilton and Reverend Leanne Hadley (both of whom I’ve heard before), were prophetic and pastoral and gave me hope for the future. And the vision cast by Bishop Mike McKee and the conference leadership team is creative and responsive to where the church is today and how we can engage with our culture.

New Faces New Spaces is a challenge to go, gather new faces in new spaces and grow these new faces in discipleship. St Luke “Community” UMC in Dallas, one of the leading African-American churches in North Texas, began asking the question, “Where do young African-American men gather?” The answer: the barber shop. So, St. Luke began hosting a Bible study in a local barber shop on Monday evenings.

New spaces take on many different shapes and forms; however, in every new space, new people come together with disciples and are formed in the Way of Christ. How will we, Vista Ridge United Methodist Church, be open to the New Spaces that God is calling us to create?

I’m praying for you. I hope you’re praying for me.

Glory to God!
Pastor Mary Beth

The post Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: June 7, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 31, 2018

vrumc — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:53:26 +0000

Life-Giving Water

“I assure you that everybody who gives even a cup of cold water to these little ones because they are my disciples will certainly be rewarded.” (Matthew 10:42)

Temps are forecast for the upper 90s to low 100s for the foreseeable future, so despite what the calendar says, Texans know that SUMMER IS HERE! So for the third consecutive summer, Vista Ridge UMC will provide free, cold, bottled water for our neighbors. If you’re at the church during the day and early evening, you’ve probably noticed our neighbors walking through our parking lot. Some are on their way to work at Whataburger or Market Street or Rosa’s. Some are exercising their dogs. Some have a daily, early evening ritual of taking a walk with their spouse. Sometimes they stop to play on our playgrounds or sit on the benches by the fountain. In many ways, our corner provides an oasis on a hot day: a bit of shade, the sound of splashing and a cup of cold water.

If someone were to ask me who Vista Ridge UMC is, this is probably the first thing I would talk about. We are a community of Jesus Followers who care for and care about our neighbors. And cold, bottled water on a hot summer day is just one of the ways we do that.

If you want to be part of this Oasis Ministry, you can bring cases of bottled water to the church during office hours or on Sundays and leave them in the kitchen. You can also give to support this ministry through the offering on Sunday, or by giving online through our website (or Text to Give – text GIVE to 972.587.7820) and water will be purchased on your behalf.

Life-giving water. It’s what we have to give. I give thanks for you and the ways you share a cup of cold water.

I’m praying for you. I hope you’re praying for me.

Glory to God!
Pastor Mary Beth

The post Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 31, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

A Night at the Ballpark: June 3, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 24 May 2018 20:18:04 +0000

Churchwide Baseball Game

VRUMC family and friends will gather at the ballpark Sunday, June 3, 2018, for a Frisco RoughRiders game. Game time is 7:05 p.m., with gates opening one hour early. Purchase your tickets for $7 each at Kroger prior to the game. Bring the whole family, a blanket and meet on the lawn area of Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco.

The post A Night at the Ballpark: June 3, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Blood Drive: June 3, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 24 May 2018 20:14:08 +0000

Give life to your community by signing up for our upcoming blood drive on Sunday, June 3, 2018. All donors will receive an exclusive Texas Rangers T-shirt and a BOGO ticket voucher for a Texas Rangers game. Carter BloodCare has appointments available from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Make an appointment below.

The post Blood Drive: June 3, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Feed the Kids

vrumc — Thu, 24 May 2018 20:09:49 +0000

Vista Ridge is partnering again with The Salvation Army for Feed the Kids this summer. A handful of volunteers will be needed each week to fill 100 bags with a salty snack, a sweet snack, a packaged fruit snack and a bottle of water. Donations of the needed packaged items will be accepted throughout the summer. The filled bags will be handed out to children by The Salvation Army throughout the summer. Sign up in the narthex.

The post Feed the Kids appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 24, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 24 May 2018 20:06:56 +0000

A Surprising Sermon

Perhaps you are one of those who set your alarm and got up early Saturday morning to watch the wedding of Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle, broadcast across the world from Windsor Castle in England. I did not, but later in the day, I happened to be listening to a news broadcast that replayed their wedding vows. I was struck by the simplicity of their vows amidst all the pomp and pageantry of a “royal wedding.” They were the same vows I’ve heard repeated by countless other couples as I’ve presided over their “royal weddings.” They are vows about the love being experienced by the couple in the moment and about a commitment to continue to love from that moment on, in good moments and bad, straight paths and rocky, scarcity and plenty, sorrow and joy.

But while people are talking about the dress, the hats, the famous guests, what I will remember is the wedding homily by Bishop Michael Curry. (If you haven’t heard or seen it, it’s worth 14 minutes of your time!)

It was a stunner, unexpected by the millions who were watching—and probably by most of those in the chapel that day! The sermon, which was written to celebrate the love of the couple, reminded all that the essential teaching of Jesus, love of God and love of neighbor, has the power to transform the world. Bishop Curry invited his listeners to envision a time when we put aside petty hatreds, when we stop thinking about refugees as enemies, when we embrace our friends at home and abroad as neighbors. A time grounded in the love of God, which only becomes visible when we act in a loving manner, treating our neighbors as we ourselves would like to be treated.

Thanks be to God!

I’m praying for you. I hope you’re praying for me.

Glory to God!
Pastor Mary Beth

The post Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 24, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 17, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 17 May 2018 21:50:04 +0000

Graduate Recognition Sunday

This Sunday, we will celebrate with the Senior Class of 2018 as they graduate from high school. These 11 young adults are remarkable for several different reasons. Several of them have been at VRUMC since they were babies. Almost all of them went through confirmation class together as sixth graders. They represent several different high schools and are going many different directions in the next year.

But what has most caught my attention as I’ve watched these young men and women for the past eight years is how committed they are to Jesus and to their church. Despite the busyness of life for 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds, who usually have cars, jobs, sports, and friends in addition to school, these 11 have remained committed and active participants in ministry through Vista Ridge. They regularly participate in the praise team and chamber winds, Sunday School, youth group and mission work. Not only do they participate—they lead!

I want to remind you, however, that these 11 young women and men are who they are because of you. You have been walking with these young people: teaching them in Sunday School, singing VBS songs with them, playing music with them, listening to them, celebrating with them, crying with them, teaching them to build porches, dancing with them, and praying for them. As their pastor and your pastor, I thank you for that. You’ve made a difference in their lives and in our world.

The Senior Class of 2018 will lead us in worship this Sunday. You will be blessed by their faith, their joy and their witness.

Heather Elrod
Macy Kunke
Lindsey Holland
Savannah McCaskill
Michael Mylar
Allison Oropeza
Kaylee Packer
Jordan Perkins
Mary Elizabeth Sander
Bradley Sykes
Joseph Wright

I’m praying for you. I hope you’re praying for me.

Glory to God!
Pastor Mary Beth

The post Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 17, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.

Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 10, 2018

vrumc — Thu, 10 May 2018 19:03:50 +0000

Celebrating the Wide Spectrum of Mothering

In this week leading up to Mother’s Day on Sunday, I’ve been reminded that it is assumed that the mothers we are celebrating are our “biological” mothers. But oh my, oh my, oh my—there is a wide spectrum of mothering! Writer Amy Young can help us celebrate the wide spectrum of “mothering.”

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you.

To those who lost a child this year—we mourn with you.

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains—we appreciate you.

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you.

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment—we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms—we need you.

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children—we celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, heartache, and distance with your children—we sit with you.

To those who lost their mothers this year—we grieve with you.

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children—we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be.

To those who step-parent—we walk with you on these complex paths.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year—we grieve and rejoice with you.

To those who placed children for adoption—we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart.

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising—we anticipate with you.

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

By Amy Young (http://messymiddle.com)

I’m praying for you, I hope you’re praying for me.

Glory to God!
Pastor Mary Beth

The post Pastor Mary Beth’s Musings: May 10, 2018 appeared first on Vista Ridge United Methodist Church.