Join Us For Holy Week

Sunday, April 10

8:15 am/10:45 am – Palm Sunday

Thursday, April 14

7:00 pm – Maundy Thursday Service

Friday, April 15

7:00 pm – Good Friday Service at Greenwood UMC. 1505 East Walton Avenue, Altoona, PA 16602

Sunday, April 17

7:00 am – Easter Sunrise Service

8:15 am – 9:15 am – Easter Breakfast. Please let us know if you and your family plan to attend Easter breakfast. Please RSVP using the following link. Easter Breakfast RSVP

9:30 am – Easter Worship (Combined service)

On Doubting Thomas

Church, we are in the season of Easter. What a glorious time of the year that we can celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Let’s keep celebrating the empty tomb, our resurrected Savior, and the faithful call that He has placed on our lives to go and share the good news! Today I just want to reflect on this interesting but profound piece of scripture in John 20:24-29, the narrative of Thomas doubting the resurrection. In looking at this piece many things come to mind and here are a few observations:

  1. It is okay to doubt. I think we as the body of Christ have this idea that it is wrong to doubt. Wrong to question and wrong to wonder. I do understand the theology that if Jesus said it, scripture recorded it, and we should accept it does have a strong footing in our churches and in many of our lives. However, there are many who that’s not them. Doubt can arise through areas of theology, areas of personal experience, areas of different relationships, or doubt can have its roots in another place. Regardless, I want you to know that God is okay with your doubt. God will not cower away, lose power, or lose authority because of your doubt. It’s okay to question, okay doubt, and okay to wonder.
  2. Work through your doubt. One of the big mistakes we make is to let our doubt fester and let our doubt eat away at our soul. Work through your doubt. Prayer for the questions you may have. Talk with a teacher, pastor, loved one, or a trusted friend about where you are having doubts in your faith and also be humble enough to really listen to what they’ll tell you. The prayer and hope is always that your working through your doubt would strengthen your faith.
  3. Know that God will use your doubt for something great into the future. As human beings there is not one experience that we will encounter that will be in vain. Meaning that the good and bad moments in our lives serve a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is the consequence of our sin, sometimes the purpose is sadly the pain that another person inflicted on us, and sometimes the purpose is not known by us just yet. But God knows the purpose. God works in all experiences of our lives to bring about His glory and to expand His kingdom. So know, that if you are doubting your faith today that God is at work in you. Know that scripture rewards great faith, and finally know that God is with you always.

Covid Guide

Hello, and welcome to Second Ave. UMC’s website we’re glad you are here. As a church we have adapted a COVID-19 policy that applies to our life together, if you are looking to come visit us in person please review our policy so we can ensure your experience with us in person is meaningful and safe.

1) Currently, if you come to our indoor worship service at 8:15 on Sunday mornings we do ask for you to please wear a mask, please sanitize your hands when you enter the sanctuary and when you leave, and please look to remain six feet apart from people not your in family.

2) Please enter Second Ave. Church for our 8:15 or 10:45 service through any of the three doors on our Second Ave. side. The alley door and Second St. door will be locked.

3) Please look to wash your hands for 20 seconds after you use the restroom, and if you could please use the disinfectant spray in the restroom to spray any touched areas that would be appreciated. 

4) If you are experiencing any COVID symptoms, have been exposed to someone who has symptoms, or have been around either a person who received a positive test or someone waiting for a test result we do please ask if you could utilize our virtual worship option which will begin Sunday morning at 10:45 on Facebook, if you’d like a link to that service please contact our Church office at 2ndaveumc@gmail.com.

5) This final guideline is tough, but we are asking if you could please refrain from hugs and handshakes that would be greatly appreciated. There are many fantastic ways to show someone you care about them: a wave, a phone call, a conversation, a prayer, or even just a friendly hello. 

Faith in the Ordinary

Church, I am a person who loves big moments. I enjoy parties, weddings, birthdays, celebrations, baptisms, and more. I enjoy and really like the spotlight. I really crave the big moment. But, life is not filled with big moments, in fact life is filled with the ordinary moments. Moments that many of us wouldn’t deem extraordinary or grand but rather just ordinary. These moments shape us. These moments define us. These moments shape who we are and who we will be in the big moments of life, so my question today in this post is how is your faith in the ordinary? How, do you do on a regular day in and day out experience where nothing grand or celebratory occurs? If you’re like most people they go from spiritual high/celebratory moment to the next spiritually high celebratory moment and often times just go through the motions on a regular Tuesday or a slow Friday. It can be really tough to develop and sustain a powerful, vibrant faith in the ordinary moments of life. Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Spend time in silence each day. I would encourage you to start with thirty seconds and work your way up. In a world filled with noise and chaos silence is refreshing. Silence is good for the soul, silence also allows our hearts to hear when God speaks be silent.
  2. Listen. Listening is a great personal and also spiritual tool and gift. My encouragement: learn to listen. Listen intently. Listen well. You will be more invested in the ordinary moments in people’s lives if you listen more. Listen.
  3. Finally, and there are many ways to develop a vibrant, faith in the ordinary moments. I encourage you to attend worship regularly, pray constantly, and dive into God’s word. But, my final suggestion is to read something every day that brings you closer to Christ. Read a passage of scripture. Read a daily devotional. Read from different authors of different perspectives. Read from people you may disagree with. You don’t have to agree with them, but it helps to learn where people who disagree with you are coming from. Read something every day that brings you closer to Christ and that will help you develop a vibrant faith in the ordinary.

On COVID-19

I’ll be honest these days of COVID-19 have produced beliefs, opinions, articles, arguments, moments of joy, and moments of frustration in a way that I’ve never seen before. We as a society have become more on edge, more frustrated, and more irritable than I have noticed in a long, long time. If you are reading this I will readily admit that I don’t know much about infectious diseases and my scope and experience is limited but I do want to share a few things I’ve noticed.

  1. God didn’t cause COVID-19. I’ve heard people speculate COVID-19 is a judgment, God sent COVID-19 as a way to get people to refocus on Him, and other different speculations about this awful pandemic. God loves people. God loves people so much that He died for them. But, God also gives people free will, humanity has fallen into sin way back in Genesis 3. Humanity fell in Genesis 3, but God also shared that Adam and Eve’s disobedience also affected all of creation as well. With that being said disease, disaster, brokenness, inexplicable pain, death, and fear are all part of a fallen creation. God sees the brokenness. God understands the pain. God has not left us alone during this time. God is moving to bring about a glorious, new future let’s hold on the present. God did not cause COVID-19.
  2. Let kindness be your default reaction. I’ve seen communication from many people over these past several months concerning COVID-19, racism, political topics, and numerous other topics. The default reaction I’ve noticed has been frustration, combative arguing, and name calling, and I must say this breaks my heart. I’m not downplaying anyone’s frustrations, and I cannot possibly know all of what many of you have walked through, but what I can say is how we communicate as believers in Christ show to everyone the inner condition of our heart. Communicate better. Speak kindness, speak life, there will be others who disagree with you. Pray for them, God will correct them, God will guide them, but you are called to love them as you love yourself.
  3. Let us love our neighbor unconditionally. Many have suffered physically during these days, but others have suffered financially, others have suffered emotionally, and others have suffered socially. Let us love one another in ways that show people we care. Let us connect with people over the phone, be intentional in prayer, send letters, support one another through social media, speak kindly about people behind their backs, and let us show the love to one another that God has shown us. We’ll get through this, and we can get through this if we love one another.