Belmont United Methodist Church

On April 12th, Pastor Larry offered the message from John 20:19-31. This is the story of Thomas after the resurrection of Jesus. He was in the room when Jesus appeared to the other disciples. He has been labeled as doubting Thomas but in reality he needed to see the evidence. Jesus came to him later and he believed. Jesus meets each one of us where we are in our faith journey. This is a story of grace.

On this Easter Sunday, we celebrated the risen Christ. Pastor Larry offered the message from John 20:1-18. We looked at the life of Mary Magdalene and how she responded to the ressurection of Jesus. Mark Blankenship led the choir in music with a solo by MaryKaye Cochran.

Good Friday Service– At Belmont, we will offer a Good Friday service on April 3rd at 7:00 PM. This will be a tenebra service. A Service of Tenebrae, or “Darkness,” is an extended meditation on the passion of Christ. Easter Service– We will gather at 11:00 on April 5th to celebrate the Risen Christ in our Easter Service. This will be a great time of worship and celebration as we gather to experience the presence of God as we worship…

On this palm Sunday, we worshiped with our annual Easter Canata. Rev. Gwen Andrews offered a message based on Matthew 21:1-11 which depicts the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem with the crowds praising him with loud Hosannas which means “Save Us”. Mark Blankenship led the choir with some musical selections for our Canata.

On March 22nd, Rev. Jim Melson offered the message based on John 11:17-27. This is the story of Lazarus being resurrected from the dead after he had been in a tomb for 4 days. Rev. Melson challenged us to live in the present as the Kingdom of God exists in the hear and now. Brad Berkely led the choir in music and Brendan Paget served as worship leader.

On March 15th, Pastor Larry offered the message taken from John 9:1-12. This story involves Jesus giving sight back the the man who had been blind since birth. The message challenged us to see things through spiritual eyes, in a way that we see each person as a beloved child of God.

On March 8th, Rev. Gwen offered the message based on John 4: 5-15. This is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. The story is a picture of how Jesus came to break down the barriers that exist between people as he offered living water to the Samaritan woman. She then went and told everyone about Jesus.

On March 1st, Pastor Larry offered a message from John 3:1-17. This is the story of Nicodemus as he had an encounter with Jesus at night. Nicodemus wanted to have some time alone with Jesus to learn from him. The message challenged us on how we can live life in the way of Jesus. Mark Blankenship led the choir in music.

This conference was held on February 28th. The keynote speaker was Rev. Ben Campbell, founder of Richmond Hill and longtime advocate of civil rights. There were 84 attendees from a number of churches in the Richmond area and throughout Virginia. Breakout workshops were led by Rev. Tom Baynam (Spiritual Formation as Resistance), Rev. Lan Wilson (Conversations as Resistance) and Rev. Jim Melson (Non-violent direct action as Resistance). Rev. Tom Baynum served as worship leader.

On this first Sunday of Lent, Pastor Larry offered a message based on Matthew 4:1-11. This is the story of the temptation of Jesus. The message offered ways that we can overcome the temptations that we face in live. Mark Blankenship led the choir in music. Brendan Paget served as worship leader. The service can be seen here or on our Facebook live site.