The Midweek Message

Dear Hyde Park Family, We are now nineteen days from the general election, and along with encouraging you to practice your civic duty to vote, I offer you some words of wisdom from John Wesley. In October 1774, John Wesley was preaching in some small English towns...

Dear Hyde Park Family, “I believe, therefore I am.” - Eberhard Jungel, German theologian Not long ago I found an online message board in which people were asked to complete the sentence, “I believe...” Many of the responses were profound. Some were pretty hilarious. I...

Dear Hyde Park Family, So, did you watch survive the first presidential debate? People may have disagreements about political ideologies and policies, but perhaps we can all agree that this debate was the single worst political spectacle we have ever seen. For me, it...

Dear Hyde Park Family, A modern-day parable of hope, straight out of recent news headlines: Last summer, a woman named Dr. Elaine Soloway harvested 111 dates from a date tree, then she sampled one. She said it had a “honey or caramel aftertaste.” Nothing really...

Dear Hyde Park Family, This week’s special Midweek Message comes in the form of this video update from me! Please watch the video below and go to hydeparkumc.org/innovations to find out more. Grace and peace, Magrey The Rev. Magrey deVegaSenior Pastor, Hyde Park...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Do you remember where you were on Monday, Sept. 10, 2001? No? Me neither. The day was largely forgettable, and the news headlines were mostly unremarkable. Michael Jackson rang the opening bell on Wall Street. Disgraced Senator Gary Condit was...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Okay, 2020. Let’s recap what you’ve brought us so far, shall we? A global pandemic has infected over 25 million people and killed nearly 900,000 around the world. We’ve had a series of jarring reminders of the ongoing presence of systemic racism...

Dear Hyde Park Family, First, I invite you to pause for a moment and offer this prayer with me, for the people of Texas, Louisiana and all those affected by Hurricane Laura: God of Power and Provision, our hearts are joined in prayer for the people facing the ferocity...

Dear Hyde Park Family, He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8 Our journey through the Old Testament concludes with one of the best-known...

Dear Hyde Park Family, This Sunday our journey through the Bible makes a familiar stop at the story of Jonah. It’s a fun story that many of us have known since childhood, and has an endearing, “Aesop’s fable” kind of quality to it. It’s no wonder when the producers of...

Dear Hyde Park Family, I have fond memories of a church member named Mary Carter during my years as an associate pastor here. She was a grand and spunky Southern gem from South Carolina and a member of our Altar Guild. The candles that we light on All Saints’ Sunday...

This is the weekly newsletter from our senior pastor, the Rev. Magrey deVega. In this edition, Magrey considers the relationships we have with our fathers and offers a prayer for us all.

Dear Hyde Park Family, I invite you to read to the end of today’s Midweek Message, for the latest information about our guidelines for resuming on-campus ministries, as well as an important announcement about the potential purchase of additional property for the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, These have been very difficult days, on top of very difficult weeks. We join lamenting the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, along with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the countless other African Americans and persons of color who...

Dear Hyde Park Family, The greatest Pentecost hymn you’ve never heard of was written by Dr. Henry More, an 18th century British theologian that one contemporary called “the most holy man he ever knew.” One of his poems caught the attention of a young Anglican preacher...

These have been unsettling days for our country and our world, and we are likely still months, rather than weeks, from resuming on-campus ministries, which I will discuss more in a moment. But God continues to do amazing things through this church, as many of you...

Dear Hyde Park Family, “Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10 This verse was part of last Monday’s Bible Project 2020 readings, and is a favorite for many people. I have used it to quiet my spirit when I feel unsettled and to slow down my pace when I am...

Dear Hyde Park Family, As a follow up to my Midweek Message a few weeks ago in which I offered ten helpful Bible verses for during this pandemic, I offer you these seven beautiful quotes from some of Christian history’s most beloved writers. May they speak to you as...

Dear Hyde Park Family,   Last Sunday across the state of Florida, United Methodist churches announced pastoral changes in their congregations. We shared that Sally, Vicki, Justin and I would be returning for another year, for which we are grateful. We also shared the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, In case you need a reminder, today is Thursday. These days and weeks just seem to linger and blur together, don’t they? So, for today’s Midweek Message, I offer you a simple set of ten biblical principles that you can claim and adopt into your...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Christ is risen! Alleluia! I trust you and yours had a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter Sunday, and thank you for joining for our services last week. More than 5,000 persons joined us in experiencing the joy of the resurrection on Easter,...

Dear Hyde Park Family, One of traditions we often observe this time of year is a good old-fashioned Easter egg hunt. Gathering with extended family and friends in a backyard to hide, search and open those little multi-colored treasures has been a fun ritual for...

Dear Hyde Park Family, One of the last commands Jesus gave his closest disciples on the night before he died was to remain with him, stay vigilant, and not fall away. (Matthew 26:38) The disciples discovered how hard it was to heed that command, as they gave in to the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, We continue to be in prayer for you and your loved ones, along with all those affected by the coronavirus. We pray for our health care workers, first responders and government officials as they face this global pandemic. And we pray for workers,...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Our church is joining the global efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, protect those most vulnerable to disease, and mitigate undue stress on our medical systems. We have decided to suspend all on-campus programming, including worship...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, In William Paul Young’s bestselling book The Shack, Jesus has a lengthy conversation with the main character Mack, who admitted to Jesus that he was not quite as handsome as he had imagined him to be. “I just thought you’d be better-looking,” he...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, Most of the time, I write these Midweek Messages. And on very rare occasions, the Midweek Message comes to me. Such was the case last Monday night, when a member of our Vision Implementation Team (who wishes to remain anonymous) offered an...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Is the story of Joshua true? First of all, if you’ve been reading along with us in The Bible Project 2020, congratulations for making it to today! We have officially finished the Pentateuch, and with today’s start of Joshua, we are back to good...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, 7:20 p.m. Daydreaming a bit while watching the Oscars’ red carpet coverage … Ryan Seacrest: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our very special broadcast. We’re here, live from the red carpet just outside Jerusalem, awaiting...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Here’s a tidbit of trivia: There are 613 commandments in the Torah, from Genesis through Exodus. Some Jewish traditions explain that the total number can be broken down into 365 “negative” commandments (“Thou shall not …”) corresponding with the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Today’s daily reading in our Bible Project 2020 finds the wandering Israelites in the middle of a harsh, vast wilderness, somewhere between the bondage of Egypt behind them and the promise of Canaan ahead. Yet as hard as their plight was, just...

Dear Hyde Park Family, “The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice.” Those are the stirring words of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and activist who has spent the last thirty years advocating for reform in our criminal justice system. He has...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Today is my 47th birthday, which means among other things, I have a lot of renewing to do. I have to run over to the DMV and renew the registration on my car. While Grace is back for a break from college, we are going to renew our passports,...

Dear Advent Pilgrims: In last Sunday’s sermon, I referenced these alternative lyrics to the popular song “Mary, Did You Know?” by a woman named Jennifer Henry. Here is the full text, which I think best captures the fierce tenacity of Mary’s liberating word for the...

Dear Advent Pilgrims, As you continue making plans to celebrate Christmas with family and friends two weeks from now, I have a different question for you: What are your plans after Christmas? After the gifts have been exchanged and the decorations put away, what will...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Is God on your Christmas list? That’s an appropriate question, given that Christmas is about Jesus’ birthday, after all, not anyone else’s. So if anyone deserves a present from you, it is the one who was given as a gift for the world. And the...

Dear Thanksgiving Celebrants, On behalf of the clergy, staff, and lay leadership of Hyde Park United Methodist, I wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving Day. I invite you to spend a brief moment today reflecting on these words from Abraham Lincoln, who officially...

Dear Hyde Park Family, During dinner with my family in St. Petersburg last Sunday night, while most of us were discussing the misery of another Bucs loss and catching up on life, my father turned to me out of the blue and asked me: “Did you know you can be paid $1,000...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Not long ago I came across a wonderful poem titled “The Church Resides in Us” by Travis East, which you can read in its entirety here. I was particularly drawn to this last stanza: Lord, help us to remember We are the shadow of your cross That...

Dear Hyde Park Family, My daily devotional time this year has been spent following the same Scripture reading plan that we will be following next year for The Bible Project 2020, which you can learn more about here. I’m excited that in the few weeks since we opened...

Dear Hyde Park Family, I attended a conservative Christian school from kindergarten to high school, which formed me in the faith in ways that still shape me today. But I also remember many of the prohibitions imposed on us students: No listening to secular rock music....

Dear Hyde Park Family, Who knew that such a good spiritual truth could come out of the American Bar Association? A few years ago, a lawyer friend of mine sent me an article from the ABA website with this delicious lead sentence: “An Ohio man who appeared in court on...

Dear Hyde Park Family,   One of my favorite comedians growing up was Paul Reiser, star of several 80s sitcoms and a very funny author. I remember reading his book Couplehood in college, and to this day I remember his reflections on showering:   I’ve...

Dear Hyde Park Family, I don’t remember the first time I ever heard the phrase “Bloom where you’re planted,” but the phrase has stuck with me. Basically, it’s an invitation to make the most of your circumstances and look for ways to turn the most miserable situation...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Several years ago, when I was going through a particularly difficult time, I found it hard to envision brighter days ahead. I woke up one morning earnestly praying that God would give me some “manna” for the day, some tangible reminder that God...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Some of the most serendipitous privileges of ministry occur when I am planning a funeral with a family, and they hand me their loved one’s personal Bible. Its pages often contain highlighted scriptures, underlined words, and handwritten notes in...