Luke Spurgeon

Minister of Youth & Young Adults

Prayer - Are you there?

Why do we pray? Does prayer really mean anything? This week, we heard from Pastor Jake about prayer, and it brought me back to different times in my own life when prayer was at the forefront. You might think that meant I was praying often and had a strong, healthy prayer life, but when I look back, I wonder if my prayers were really as meaningful as I thought they were. When I was in college, I prayed a lot about the things happening in my life. I prayed for certain experiences to work out the way I wanted them to because I believed that was God’s will for me. I thought that if I prayed enough and remained faithful, God would help things go the way I believed they should. But was that really prayer?

Think about Jesus in the garden before His arrest. He was praying to God, something that we can all do, but look closely at what He was praying about. He was having a real conversation with God in the middle of His pain, suffering, and sadness. He asked that God’s will would be done. Wow. Can we honestly sit down and pray for God’s will to be done, not our version of what we think God’s will should be, but His actual will? When I was in college, I didn’t understood the difference. I was looking at God through a childlike mindset. I thought that if I prayed and was faithful, God would give me the things I was asking for. I confused what I wanted with what God wanted.

What I had forgotten is that the life of a Christian is not promised to be easy. Sometimes it is painful, brutal, and crushing. Jesus prayed in the garden, but His prayer did not remove the suffering that followed. He still went to the cross. He still experienced pain, rejection, and death. His prayer was not about convincing God to change His circumstances; it was about surrendering Himself to the Father’s will. As Christians, we can ask God for what we need. We can bring Him our fears, hopes, pain, and desires, but we also have to be willing to say, “Your will be done,” even when His will looks completely different from what we hoped for. Sometimes following God means taking up our cross and following Him to Calvary.

So, the next time you sit down to pray, take the time to listen. Don’t spend the entire prayer telling God what you want Him to do. Be quiet long enough to hear what He may be asking of you. Don’t drown out the voice of God with your own version of who you think God is. Instead, come before Him honestly. Bring Him your pain, uncertainty, and desires, but then surrender them. Because maybe meaningful prayer isn't about getting God to follow our plan. Maybe it is about allowing God to change ours.

This Sunday’s sermon, “Does God Send People to Hell?”, will be based on Luke 16:19-31. This will continue our “What If?” series. Read the scripture to prepare for worship and invite someone to join you as we continue to walk with Christ.

Sundays at 10:30 a.m., join us in person,

or participate in our live-streamed worship service

on either our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/forrestburdettemumc

or our YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ForrestBurdette/videos

Sunday School classes for all ages meet at 9:15 a.m.

This year's Charge Conference will be structured differently than in recent years. Forrest Burdette will host a Parish Charge Conference for the Greater Putnam and Lincoln Parishes (made up of 12 charges) this Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 4:00-6:00 p.m. Each church is encouraged to attend as we worship, serve, and celebrate the connection that makes United Methodist ministry so impactful.

District Superintendent Lauren Godwin will gather the group for an opening hymn sing, followed by a hands-on mission opportunity. While the mission opportunity is ongoing, she will pull each charge out one-by-one to do the voting pieces required at a charge conference. We will close the session with a hymn and sending forth.

All voting members of Forrest Burdette are invited and encouraged to attend. If you are not an official member, you are also welcome to participate. This schedule will not conflict with The Branch evening classes. If you are planning to eat at our weekly fellowship dinner (5:30 p.m.), feel free to leave the conference before its closing.

The new semester of Wednesday classes has begun, but it's not too late to be a part of The Branch! Please click here to read about the classes that are offered this semester. Branch out. Dig deep. Grow together.

Fellowship dinners are catered by Shonet’s Country Café of Milton and begin at 5:30 p.m., starting this week. The cost of each dinner is $14. We ask that you sign up at the Connection Center or call the church office by Monday at noon to RSVP. You do not have to attend a class to join us for dinner! Volunteers are needed to set up and clean up each Wednesday.

This year as in the past, the Stewards of Fellowship Sunday School class has organized this year’s apple butter making for Saturday, October 3rd, here at the church under the covered driveway entrance. Lighting the copper kettle will be at 5:30 a.m., and the plan is to bottle around 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

We encourage anyone to stop by and help stir and experience this truly Appalachian tradition, especially the youth. We would really appreciate help bottling around 5:30. Feel free to bring snacks any time, and we would also accept donations to offset our cost of jars and apples. Proceeds will help support BackPack Buddies and Kairos Prison Ministry. Apple butter will be available for sale around 5:30. Come join us for a day of fun!

Please click here for all the information about this year's church picnic at the Grant Farm: Sunday, October 4th, at 2:00 p.m.. Sign up sheets for how many are attending and what you can bring are available in the Connection Center. Join us for a wonderful afternoon!

At FB Xplore you’ll find the following:

• New connections with others who want to share Christ with our community
• A greater understanding of who we are, where we came from and why it matters
• A space where you can ask questions about what binds us together as well as what makes being United Methodist unique
• A broader idea of how you can grow as a disciple of Jesus and transform the world around us.

Interested? Sign up @ the Connection Desk located in the lobby. Room # TBA.

Join Pastor Jake and others during the Sunday School hour (9:15-10:15am)

Oct. 18 & 25

Nov. 1 & 8

If you are interested in the children’s Christmas play, practices are held on Sundays at 3:00 p.m., at the church (no practice on October 4th because of the church picnic). This year’s play will be held on December 13. Questions? See Julie Harris or Jayné Kirk.

Once again, we are collecting socks and undies for all ages to support families in need, through October 18th. All sizes of new boxers, briefs, underwear, t-shirts, thermal underwear, socks, an training pants will be collected for mission projects within the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Please bring your donations to the bin in Connection Center.

Our BackPack Buddies ministry is once again packing weekend meals and snacks for 100+ local school children. Bags are packed weekly. If you are interested in packing bags, please see the sign-up sheet at the Connection Center desk. Training will be provided! We welcome food and monetary donations. A cart for food donations is located at the Connection Center.

Applications for crafters and vendors for the annual UMW Fall Festival are available to print by clicking here, or pick up a copy at the Connection Center or through the church office. The Fall Festival will be Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fee is $20 per space. Spread the news and date of our event!

*If you are coming to walk in the mornings, please note that you must use the preschool entrance before 8:30 a.m.

9/21—Sandy Hanning, Mandy Spurlock

9/29—Bob Alexander, Holley Johnson

9/30—Tim Bowie, Evan Davis, Larry Embrey, William Held, Sheri Johnson, Paula Limanen, Sandra Mayhew, Bob Petryszak, Devin Schamp

10/1—Jill Newman

10/2—Evelyn Gregory, Stephen Jones, Kevin Marra, Harold Quigley

10/3—Amy Golden, NIck Oxley, Casen Proffitt, Nate Vance

10/04—Jill Coulter, Meredith Thompson, Heather Wyatt

The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.