Welcome to a new format for The Methodist Church of Aztec’s online newsletter. If you prefer to receive the newsletter in hard copy format, just let Caroline know to keep printing them up for you. They’ll likely always be available in the back of the sanctuary. It will be mailed to those that are home bound that want it.
Pastor’s Note
Following Pentecost, the church calendar moves into a space called Ordinary Time. What does that mean?
It means that there are no big events such as Christmas, Easter or Pentecost to focus on. We can take a breather, or can we? What does it mean that we as a church and as individuals are to go about living our ordinary Christian lives. As always, we should take a clue from our scriptures.
Acts 2:42-47 tells us that following Pentecost that,
“42 The people of the church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
It appears that after Pentecost the church continued to live its ordinary life in extraordinary fashion. They focused on prayer and to the teachings of the Apostle’s, which was the retelling of Jesus teachings. Because of that signs and wonders abounded. They added to that a powerful testimony of community that is possible for those who really embrace Jesus Christ. They were generous with each other, full or joy and God continued to add to their numbers that who accepted the salvation offered in Jesus Christ.
My hope is that we might continue to live our ordinary Christian live, which to the world will appear extraordinary.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Jay
Notes from the Trustees
Your Board of Trustees has been busy this spring and many of you may have noticed some changes around the church.
Our first (and biggest) project has been the new flooring in the Education Building. This is a project that was started last year but stalled over the winter. Well, it’s complete now, with new vinyl tile entrances and new carpet throughout the rest of the hallways. We have more plans for upgrades in the Ed Building, but we are happy to have this first step completed. Come check it out!
The other big item this month is the new sign on the Chaco side of the building. For more than a year we have discussed the need for signage to inform members of our community and visitors about the times and activities in our church and now we have it!
Behind the scenes, we have made upgrades to our internet service, and are looking at making similar improvements in the phone service. We now have internet access in the Education Building!
Our next big project is new pew cushions and new carpet in the sanctuary. We have already purchased the foam for the cushions and are waiting for quotes on the upholstery fabric and the carpet options. We will keep you in the loop as more info is available. Right now we are looking at starting this project in the fall.
Check back here every month for more information on what your Leadership is doing around the Church.
Books of the Bible – Answers
Last month we gave you an odd paragraph that was basically a word search puzzle with 30 books of the Bible hidden within the paragraph. Here’s where they are (look for the bolded text in dark blue).
The Answers – Highlighted
There are 30 books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, the books are all right there in plain view hidden from sight. Those able to find all of them will hear lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind that punctuation and spacers in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember there is no need for a mass exodus, there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in the paragraph waiting to be found.
If you can’t see the bold blue text to see the books’ names… here’s a list for you in the order they are found in the paragraph:
- Amos
- Mark
- Luke
- John
- Joel
- Judges
- Job
- Hebrews
- Esther
- Acts
- James
- Ruth
- Romans
- Titus
- Matthew
- Genesis
- Philemon
- Chronicles
- Daniel
- Nahum
- Hosea
- Lamentations
- Revelation
- Timothy
- Samuel
- Numbers
- Malachi
- Peter
- Exodus
- Kings
Christogram: Alpha-Omega
I’m back with a new Christogram, a combination of letters that symbolize the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Earlier, I discussed the Chi-Ro Christogram: ⳩ (looks like an X super-imposed over a P). Then I talked about the Iota-Eta-Sigma Christogram which, in English, is the IHS abbreviation. This article will report on a more known version of a symbol of our God, the Alpha and Omega: Α and Ω (upper case) or α and ω (lower case).
Check out the north stained glass window for our version of this Christogram.
In my recollection, I seem to think that I see this Christogram more often with the lower case alpha and upper case omega, but I could be totally wrong (it’s been known to happen): αΩ. Of course, now that I look for these examples, I can’t find them. But there are examples with a mixture of upper/lower case letters.
Wikipedia shows a picture of a coat of arms for a town in Germany surrounding the Chi-Ro using upper case letters for both (Α and Ω). And a picture from some catacombs in Rome which has the Chi-Ro Christogram surrounded by the capital alpha (Α) and lower case omega(ω).
But how do these two Greek letters equate to our God? Where did this come from?
Most of you already know that God is referenced in the Bible as the Alpha and Omega; if not from the Bible then at least from songs we sometimes sing. Without looking it up, however, I couldn’t remember where it came from.
It turns out that it is found in the Book of Revelation three times:
As John introduces himself at the beginning of Revelation, he references what Jesus tells him in his vision.
1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
Then John repeats what God tells him just after the new Earth and heaven appear to him.
21:6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Lastly, during his warning and invitation to join Him, our savior, Jesus Christ tells us
22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
So why those two letters? It turns out that Revelation was originally written in Greek which has 24 letters. The first is alpha (Αα), the last is omega (Ωω).
Much like in our alphabet when we say we’ve got everything covered from A to Z. When God tells us He is the Alpha and Omega He is telling us that He is everything: the beginning, the end, and everything in between!
Amen.
Now, just because of who I am, I’m wondering why the Bible translators who’ve translated most everything to English for us didn’t change Alpha to “A” and Omega to “Z”?
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Birthdays
| Marty Snowbarger | Jun 1 |
| Roy Taylor | Jun 1 |
| Sophia Lightner | Jun 3 |
| Leona Bernard | Jun 7 |
| Dorie Marshall | Jun 7 |
| Marlene Berry | Jun 14 |
| Dianne Hall | Jun 17 |
| Melissa Lightner | Jun 21 |
| Debbie Noland | Jun 23 |
Anniversary
| Doug & Joetta Thomas | Jun 27 |
Upcoming Meetings
You can find the AA and Al-Anon, men’s breakfast, and Sarah’s circle meetings schedule on the calendar page of the website: https://aztecmethodist.org/events/
Beyond that, we also have these meetings happening in June:
- June 9: Vacation Bible School Meeting on, Tuesday, June 9, @ 2pm. I will see you there. Yes, that means you.
- June 10: Visioning Team Meeting @ 6:00pm This will be an important meeting so those who are on this committee, please mark your calendar.
- June 14: Leadership Team Meeting @ 11:00am
- June 16: Finances @ 5:30pm & Trustees at 6:30pm
2026 Church Directory
In case you missed it at church, the church directory is completed. However…
If you received a directory on the first Sunday it was out, there are two families that are missing from the address area. The corrected pages are in the back of the sanctuary. Bring your first edition directory to church and Shannon will replace the pages for you.
One of our historians also pointed out that there was an error in the church history section which has also been fixed. The second edition directories (currently in the back of the church) has these errors already corrected.
And, since the 2nd edition was printed, it turns out there was an error in the Hancock phone number. It should be 505-516-4844.
A few days ago everyone (whose email we have) was sent an electronic version of the directory with all of these errors corrected. If you missed that email, you can download the directory with this link.
Finances & Attendance
| May 3 | May 10 | May 17 | May 24 | |
| Giving | $3266 | $1438 | $2253 | $2541 |
| Worship | 55 | 40 | 52 | 40 |
| Sunday School | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| May 31 | ||||
| Giving | $3775 | |||
| Worship | 40 | |||
| Sunday School | 8 |
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
—2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ESV)
Bible Crossword
Before you go… here is an AI generated Biblical Crossword Puzzle for you. Answers to be provided next month. How much of it can you complete WITHOUT looking at your Bible (or using the internet)? Can you beat Shannon? He got all of them but ONE clue.
Click the button below to download and then print it.