Genesis 1: 14 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.”
During our old-time worship service a few weeks ago, my message to you was a comparison to the Old Farmers 2025 Almanac and biblical references to weather and how much they are similar. One of the points I made was the changing of the four seasons every year. In our lives there are many references to changing seasons from early childhood to young adults to mature adults and, yes, to our senior years, each change having its own time and season.
Galatians 4:10 “You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years.”
In a year, we have four seasons, we move from winter to spring to summer to fall and then return to winter. The church has a very distinctive four seasons in its life too. With this writing we are moving from summer into the fall season. Our church fall season begins with a secular holiday, Labor Day, followed by the return of some worshipers from the summer life. During the summertime, we do much traveling, visiting, and having others visit us, and the consistency of being in church is somewhat interrupted at times. When we move into fall, we celebrate the return of those we may not have seen for a while and renew friendships and make new friendships. For most churches, the fall is also the beginning of the educational season with the beginning of Sunday School, and for junior high and high school youth in many churches it is the start of confirmation class that will take them into a spring confirmation.
For Claybanks UMC, the fall is the beginning of Adult Sunday School and the return of Movie Night with potluck dinners. We will offer Movie Nights in October and November. Fall is also a time for much planning and organization as we prepare for our Annual Church Charge Conference.
For Claybanks UMC, the winter season begins the following Sunday after Thanksgiving, with the beginning of Advent which takes us through Christmas and New Years. The winter season can be difficult because of weather, and for some, getting to church is a little more of a struggle and even at times during harsh weather, we will have to cancel worship services and other activities for the safety of our church family. Shorter days during the winter season means less travel because darkness comes early, and because we have a senior congregation, we reduce the number of activities that we offer after the sun has set and darkness has come over our community.
As we begin to leave the winter season, we experience the beginning of Lent and a time where we prepare to engage ourselves more as followers of Jesus Christ, leading up to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. For the Christian Church, this is considered the beginning of the spring season of the church.
We, at Claybanks, mark the spring season with our annual outdoor cleanup. Spring brings the return of movie nights because the days are now longer, and we feel more comfortable driving in the evening before it gets dark.
Matthew 24: 32 “From the fig tree learn its season: as soon as its branches become tender and put forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.”
For us as United Methodists, and myself as a pastor, summer is marked by our Michigan Conference gathering in Traverse City during the first week of June, traditionally. In the beginning of summer, we welcome back those we have not seen for some time who are returning to the lake and the Claybanks area. Summer can be a busy time for us with our Strawberry Social, our annual Old Time Worship Service and church picnic. All of this is done working around the vacations and travel of our church community.
I believe that the changing of seasons not just for our weather but for our church is an integral part of what God wants for us as we journey on our spiritual walk with the Lord. Each time a season changes we have an opportunity to renew our direction and commitment which helps us refocus on our spiritual life.
With the changes from summer to fall now in our midst I would encourage you to look at your spiritual journey. Maybe it is time to do a little more in scripture reading, devotions, volunteer service, becoming a liturgist for worship, or stepping out in new areas to serve the church and our church family. It is a time when we can recommit ourselves to growth spiritually and with the power of the Holy Spirit move into new possibilities in life, in service, and in a deeper and extended walk with Jesus.
Claybanks United Methodist Church 