Fountain City United Methodist Church

Making Disciples. Changing Lives.

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Fountain City UMC
212 Hotel Road
Knoxville, TN 37918
(865) 689-5175
spirit@fountaincityumc.org

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Blog Archive

  • Happy New Year from your FCUMC staff! For a lot of us, 2018 was a mixed bag. Whether or not you're ready to kick 2018 to the curb, let's focus on what January 1 can mean. Here's to a fresh start, a new dawn, a whole new year! In case you need some ideas for a new year's resolution, we share some of our goals for 2019! . We resolve: "Not to lose my religion at the I-640/Broadway exchange..." -Tom Ballard, senior pastor, probably not future Uber driver; "To count every moment." -John Gargis, associate pastor, reigning corn hole champion; "To have a piece of chocolate every day." -Melissa Greene, administrative assistant, scheduling czar; "To make healthy choices!" -John Patterson, director of operations, lead chaos wrangler; "To share laughter with a coworker, family member, and friend every day." -Donna Lewis, director of children & family ministries, benevolent pied piper; "To not make any resolutions." -Daniel Doubleday, director of youth ministries (probably speaking for ALL OF US, let's be honest); "To walk myself to better health while seeing the sights of Fountain City." -Jenny Cook, early childhood ministries coordinator, baby whisperer; "To stop thinking I can cut my own bangs." -Jessie Buttram, director of communications, fashion novice. What are some of yours?
  • I don't know how it happens every year - the date never changes - but every year I find myself on the threshold of Christmas day wondering how we got here so fast, standing in a daze covered in cookie crumbs and an irreverent amount of glitter and scotch tape. (You feel me.) . Despite all of its hype, its frantic kinetic energy, its mall traffic and long lines, Christmas is really just the culmination of a season of waiting, of keeping watch for what's to come. We've said it many times here, #Advent is anticipation. And as we finally cross that threshold of Christmas, we hope you have a place to stop for a moment and focus on what we as the Church believe is paramount: for unto all of us, a Savior is born, Jesus Christ the King, born to die and resurrect and reconcile. If you don't have a place to hear that good news, we invite you and your family to join us during any of our Christmas Eve services or Christmas Day televised programs. #fcumc #fcumcadvent
  • Let it be healing. . For many, the holiday season can be bittersweet. Sometimes, for some, just bitter. For some, it’s something heavy when the whole world around you celebrates while you hold grief and pain in your heart. . Pain, by design, demands notice. It’s a way for our bodies to tell our brains and our hearts that something isn’t right. The long story is, we aren’t meant for this dim existence. We were created for eternity and wholeness, yet here we are, fastened to a life that can be brutal. . We believers subscribe to the truth that God - in His infinite kindness - brought that eternity and wholeness back down to where we are, right here, right now. He gave us His creation, His Spirit, His Son. Here on earth, we get glimpses of heaven, of how God always intended for life, and life abundant, to be. . Here on earth, we get a God who delights in the healing; of body, of mind, of spirit and soul. . We pray this season of #Advent brings you a sense of healing, of wholeness. If you need prayer or just someone to reach out to you this holiday season, call us or leave us a comment and a pastor will reach out. . #fcumc #fcumcadvent
  • Let it be peaceful. . On this second Sunday of #Advent we light the candle symbolizing peace - the hope for peace and the working toward it. For those of us who struggle with the virtue of patience (::raises hand::), any season of waiting and anticipation does not feel peaceful. Rather, it feels charged, anxious, fidgety. But one of Jesus' divine titles is the Prince of Peace. His arrival long-awaited, and often not patiently so, and with Him comes redemption, triumph, and yes, finally - at last - peace. Join us this Sunday of peace as our chancel choir and gifted musical guests testify to this Advent season, ushering us into God's presence through music. You have two chances to catch this program live - this afternoon at 3pm and tomorrow evening at 7:30pm. Join us! #fcumc #fcumcadvent #fcumcchoir
  • Let it be blessed. . This photo was taken during our Adults 50+ Ministry excursion to Pigeon Forge to kick off this #Advent season! We as a church and as the Church are blessed with the wisdom of so many in our congregation! See any familiar faces? #fcumc #fcumcadvent Photo credit: pastor Tom Ballard
  • Let it be unfailing. . “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” -Exodus 15:13 (#NIV) We’ve said it before and we’ll probably say it again. #Advent is the season of anticipation, of the coming arrival. Biblical scholarship tells us there are roughly 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New; centuries of silence from a God who was at once involved and interested, in love with a favored people. That’s a long time to wait, y’all. That’s a whole lot of generations turning over and anew, stories of a once-present God passed down, further and further removed from the storyteller, from the promise of God’s unfailing love and guided redemption. And yet, hundreds of years after final prophetic words from the God of Abraham and Isaac, we still see the way His people anticipated the fulfilling of God’s covenant. We wait - a month-ish, you guys - before celebrating the arrival of Jesus our Redeemer. Let us sit with that anticipation more intentionally, more actively, listening for God’s silence and watching for His signs. #fcumc #fcumcadvent
  • Let it be true. . "For the word of God is alive and active." -Hebrews 4:12 (#NIV) The truest force in all of heaven and earth is love. Our best stories are driven by love. What is the Word and deed of God if not one great big love story to His creation? This morning of #Advent, as we look toward the horizon and study the signs of what is coming, may we rest in the truth and permanence of God's love. #fcumc #fcumcadvent
  • Let it be powerful. . But it is God whose power made the earth, whose wisdom gave shape to the world, who crafted the cosmos. He thunders, and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches wind from his warehouse." -Jeremiah 10:12-13 (#theMessage) Storms - physical, emotional, spiritual - have a tendency to make us feel very small. When howling winds shake the walls of our homes and of our hearts, there is not much we can do but curl into tight, tiny balls and wait for it to pass, hoping when the morning comes the storm has not swept us bare. We humans are very small in this wide, wild world. And nothing makes us more aware of that than the storms. Jeremiah describes God as the storm - the power, the thunder, the wind and rain, the most impressive display of something unstoppable, untamable in our natural world. Listen, I love the stories of our loving God, a reconciling God smitten with His creation, the tender and still, small voice of hope and healing. The babe in a manger. So much so I tend to discount the God of righteous power, of wild and reckless love. I tend to forget the impassioned rage of the God who would rescue us from ourselves, in such a brutally beautiful way and with such finality. A babe in a manger, yes, but One who will grow up to be fully man yet fully God. The Son sent to shake awake this dark world decaying beneath the Curse. The Son sent to disrupt Death itself and lay our hearts bare. #fcumc #fcumcadvent #advent #photoaday

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