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We are glad you are here and we hope this place and these people feel like home to you. Whether you are a first time guest or a regular attender, we are better with you here. We are #TogetherForTheGood. Use this information to stay connected, follow along, and engage your faith and the community during the week. Feel free to explore this site to learn more about our church and liturgy.
We welcome everyone here, regardless of who they are or where they have been. We receive communion (the Eucharist) weekly and practice an open table – all are welcome to participate. To eliminate any and all barriers to participation we use grape juice and vegan, gluten free bread.
If you have a little one here, we want you to know we are unbothered by noise and activity and a child being a child. There is an area toward the back where they can play if you’d like. If you need a quiet place for whatever reason, including diaper changes, the last room on the right is set aside for your use.
Today
Sunday, March 23, 2025 | Third Sunday in Lent
Our main text for today is from the book of Luke, Chapter 15. Read it here.
Announcements
LENT IS here
Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, just before Easter. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted and preparing to begin his public ministry.
Lent is a time of repentance, fasting, and preparation. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by new converts and then became a time of penance by all Christians. Today, Christians focus on relationship with God, growing as disciples and extending ourselves, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of ourselves for others.
Suggested Lenten practices (choose one or two or find something to fast from or add to your routine):
- Abstain from social media and/or cable news and/or television
- Add periods of prolonged (5, 10, 20 minutes) silence to your daily routine
- Avoid going out to eat
- Fast a meal during the week and spend time in prayer
- Sign up for email Lenten reflection from the Center for Action and Contemplation
- Give up something you find yourself depending on
- Go to bed early or rise early or both
- Practice the Daily Examen (in an 8 minute audio form here)
- Take a daily walk
- Add some Sabbath routines to your week
- Don’t listen to anything in the car
- Engage with 40 Days of Giving from the Evangelical Lutheran Church, focusing on world hunger
- Downsize your stuff, intentionally, and donate items to people in need
- Read a book meant to grow your faith (here are some options from Cokesbury Publishing or a list from Good Reads)
Upcoming dates
- 4/10 – Justice Together Solutions Rally – 6pm – First UMC
- 4/14-4/19 – Holy Week in Wichita (more listed as they are posted)
- Thursday
- 7:00 p.m. – Experiential Worship Recalling the Last Supper at East Heights United Methodist
- Good Friday
- 7:00 p.m. –Tenebrae Service at East Heights United Methodist
- Thursday
- 4/20 – Resurrection Sunday – Egg Hunt and Family Dinner
- 5/3 – Wichita Mural Walk
- 5/8 – Justice Together Nehemiah Assembly – 6pm – WSU Metroplex
- 5/31 – Wind Surge Night – 6pm – Reserve tickets here
Signal App
Join our Signal messenger group to keep up to date and be in contact more regularly.
Children’s Church Schedule
If you’d like to be added to or removed from this schedule, talk with Sarah W.
Hospitality Bar Schedule
If you’d like to be added to or removed from this schedule, talk with Chris.
Upcoming Scriptures
If you like to read ahead to prepare for our gathered worship times, these are the texts we are planning to explore.
- 3/23 – Luke 15:1-32 – The Lost Is Found
- 3/30 – Luke 16:19-31 – The Rich Man and Lazarus
- 4/6 – Luke 18:31-19:10 – Zacchaeus
- 4/13 – Luke 19:29-44 – The Triumphal Entry
- 4/20 – Easter -Luke 24:1-12 – Jesus Has Risen!
For daily Scripture readings that work through the story of Scripture, click here or download this file:
Prayer
We focus prayers on the needs of our community both as a congregation and outside our walls. Each week we ask you to pray for the ministries and health of a church in our city, as well as a group of people who are likely to need the extra prayer support.
Wichita Area Church: University Congregational Church
Special Focus: This week we pray for those who are experiencing violence, both near and far. We pray God’s protection, rescue, and presence. We pray for peace and justice to prevail.
Additional Resources
We encourage you to find ways to engage your faith beyond Sundays. The things we focus on and the actions we take help form our faith, values and lives. We sometimes post suggested practices on social media on Mondays, but we also encourage you to:
- Read through the bible in a year with The Story that Changes Everything. A brief, daily podcast to help you navigate each daily reading. More information here.
- Do you like podcasts? Here are a couple that we listen or have listened too on things of faith. You may not always agree with them, they come from a variety of backgrounds, but they can help you grow and stretch your faith.
- Forward Movement – Multiple podcasts for daily prayer or devotional reading from the Episcopal Church. Podcasts are a great way to add prayer and reflection to your daily spiritual practice. Listen on your morning walk, evening commute, or anywhere in between.
- BEMA – The BEMA Podcast is a walk-through of the context of the Bible and the Text itself, as well as surrounding history. We deconstruct our common readings of the Bible and attempt to reconstruct them through the lens of historical context.
- The Bible for Normal People – A weekly podcast talk show having serious talks about the sacred book. Hosted by Peter Enns and Jared Byas.
- Bible Worm – A weekly look at the Narrative Lectionary text we look at in our worship gatherings. One host is a Christian pastor and one is a Jewish rabbi.
- Spend time in prayer (private, out loud, journaling, whatever) about what new thing(s) you’d like God to do in your faith, life, church, community? What might it look like for you to work toward these things? What new things have you experienced in the recent past?
Information
If you are new or have questions about our church we’d love to connect with you. Text CONNECT to 316.333.7275 or click this button.
You can also reach out on social media and at [email protected]
If you’d like more information about what happens in our gatherings, click here.
Giving
We believe in living a life of generosity as individuals and a faith community. We long to be a resource for the needs of our city and world through radical generosity. We invite you to follow Jesus and worship God through giving as you are able – and we commit to sharing those resources in ways that benefit those who need it.
You can give financially via website, by texting GIVE to 316.333.7275, or by placing cash or check in the giving boxes in our gathering space.
Financial transparency is something we value. We will be updating our financial information here in the near future.