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My name is Mark Smiley, and I am privileged to be the pastor for Hiss United Methodist Church in Parkville, Maryland.
These are just a few of my thoughts, hopes, and dreams about how we can best follow Jesus Christ in a world that
desperately needs a touch from God.
The Power of Mission
I believe that there is great spiritual power in giving oneself away. I have a particular love for hands-on mission work
as a way in which we can make God's word become flesh for all who hunger for a better way of living. The picture on your right
shows me and a team of Hiss members repairing a home in Louisiana that was affected by Hurricane Rita. As we work, and sweat,
and strain under the hot sun, I believe that we can both share and receive the empowering love of our unbelievably good God.
I encourage you to participate in some sort of hands-on mission work in your community, for you may embody even the hands
of Christ as you serve, and love, and give.
The Power of Community
I believe that God is the essence of community: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit united as one, each sharing in one another's
vitality and activity. As God is community, so are we called to be community with one another. Frankly, we need each other.
No person on earth can claim to be truly self-sufficient, for we all depend on each other and on those who have gone before
us.
I believe that perfect community can only exist in the kingdom of Heaven. Nonetheless, we can catch glimpses of it, sneak
peeks at it, and take a whiff of its scent in the church of Jesus Christ. The church, while not a perfect community, nonetheless
strives to be like that community that exists perfectly in the kingdom of Heaven. I encourage you to become part of the church,
specifically, of a local church in your community. No, that church won't be perfect, but the goals and aims of that church
community are higher than in any other organization in the world. As imperfect persons, we join an imperfect institution,
always striving to be better tomorrow than we are today.
God Believes in You
Some say that they do not believe in God. Thankfully, no matter what we do or say, we have the assurance that God still
believes in us. I believe that God wants the best for us, and that nothing we do can stand in the way of God's love. Oh, we
often do things that I know grieve the heart of God. God is saddened, even angered, when we hurt others through either our
actions or inactions. But God never stops loving and believing in us. I pray that we will respond to God's belief in us with
gratitude and humility, and that we will believe and hope in one another just as God believes and hopes in us.
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