Yesterday we were reminded by Jesus to be persistent in our prayers. We are to not give up and continue in our prayers. We are to continue to pray when we feel like God is responding, but also when we are not sure that God is responding. We also took some time to offer our prayers to God.
I have already received a few notes about how important our prayer time was for some of our church family. Several felt God has already answered their persistent prayers from yesterday. I also saw many tears in the congregation which is often a sign of God being at work. It is truly a blessing to have some prayer time with your church family.
I also preached about being taught to pray by Jesus from Luke 11 at two services at Highland Ridge yesterday afternoon. I led one service in the care center and one in the main building with both independent and assisted living spaces.
As I preached persistence in prayer I saw on the faces of these mature Christians smiles of hope. The sense I got from the faces and comments after the service was that these believers have been persistent in their prayers for many years and they were encouraged to not give up. I know many parents and grandparents that need to be reminded of the hope we have as we persistently pray for those close to use who seem to be moving in the wrong direction from time to time. Even when we do not always see a bright future we can continue to hope in our prayers for God to work.
So I do want to encourage everyone to be persistent in prayer and persistent in hope. God is still good and still responds to our requests.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Mystery of Prayer
Have you ever wondered how or why prayer works? I do. I mean there are times I pray for someone to be healed and regain their health and they do. Yet there are other times I pray for someone to be healed and regain their health and they don't. To an outside observer it looks like one prayer was answered and one was not.
(You could also say God seems to answer prayers from Hawkeye fans as we knocked off the former #3 Penn State. While Iowa State's prayers have not been answered with a win lately.)
So then the question becomes, if one prayer is answered and the other is not, then what is the point of praying in the first place? Maybe God already had in mind to heal one person and not the other. Do my prayers really make a difference?
From the outside looking in I think these questions are normal and natural. However, my faith tells me there is more to prayer than just the outside appearance. First, I trust God knows what he is doing. I believe he is guided in all things by his love. Now I do not always agree with what I think he is doing, but I do trust he knows best. He is God and I am not.
Second, prayer is about more than getting answers. The value of prayer should not be found in the resulting answer of "yes," "no," or "wait." The value of prayer is found in the transformation it causes. When we spend time in prayer, God is transforming our hearts and minds. We are speaking to God and he is speaking with us and if we are open this will make us different. As we draw closer to the Lord through prayer he helps us take on more of his heart and mind.
So for me, this reminds me to continue in prayer because I do want to have more of the heart and mind of Christ living and working in me.
What has prayer taught you? Or what struggles do you have with prayer?
(You could also say God seems to answer prayers from Hawkeye fans as we knocked off the former #3 Penn State. While Iowa State's prayers have not been answered with a win lately.)
So then the question becomes, if one prayer is answered and the other is not, then what is the point of praying in the first place? Maybe God already had in mind to heal one person and not the other. Do my prayers really make a difference?
From the outside looking in I think these questions are normal and natural. However, my faith tells me there is more to prayer than just the outside appearance. First, I trust God knows what he is doing. I believe he is guided in all things by his love. Now I do not always agree with what I think he is doing, but I do trust he knows best. He is God and I am not.
Second, prayer is about more than getting answers. The value of prayer should not be found in the resulting answer of "yes," "no," or "wait." The value of prayer is found in the transformation it causes. When we spend time in prayer, God is transforming our hearts and minds. We are speaking to God and he is speaking with us and if we are open this will make us different. As we draw closer to the Lord through prayer he helps us take on more of his heart and mind.
So for me, this reminds me to continue in prayer because I do want to have more of the heart and mind of Christ living and working in me.
What has prayer taught you? Or what struggles do you have with prayer?
Monday, November 3, 2008
What can we do?
I shared some yesterday about the difference one church is making in the world. Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio over four years has raised $3 million to help the people in Darfur to become self-sustaining with clean water and food. They are making an impact in the world in Jesus name. And so I am wondering what can we do?
That church has on average 4,000 people in services over a weekend, so we do not need to set our sights on a goal their size just yet. But we still can find a place and make a large impact. I want to talk with UMCOR, our United Methodist Committee on Relief, who is a partner with Ginghamsburg in their efforts and find out what kind of options are out there for us. UMCOR does a great job and we can partner with them to do what they do best with our resources.
We could partner with Ginghamsburg as well and serve those in Darfur. We could find something closer to home like Mexico or even in this country because there are needs here as well. I personally thought we might want to find an orphanage or some place that ministers to children and partner with them.
I would like it to be a place where we can send some of our people from time to time and not just resources. I would also like for us to open it up and try to find other partners in the community to join us in this mission to make a difference.
Right now it open to be guided by God's calling, so I invite everyone to pray with me for God's passion for a mission to be poured on our congregation. Let me know if there is something God lays on your heart.
That church has on average 4,000 people in services over a weekend, so we do not need to set our sights on a goal their size just yet. But we still can find a place and make a large impact. I want to talk with UMCOR, our United Methodist Committee on Relief, who is a partner with Ginghamsburg in their efforts and find out what kind of options are out there for us. UMCOR does a great job and we can partner with them to do what they do best with our resources.
We could partner with Ginghamsburg as well and serve those in Darfur. We could find something closer to home like Mexico or even in this country because there are needs here as well. I personally thought we might want to find an orphanage or some place that ministers to children and partner with them.
I would like it to be a place where we can send some of our people from time to time and not just resources. I would also like for us to open it up and try to find other partners in the community to join us in this mission to make a difference.
Right now it open to be guided by God's calling, so I invite everyone to pray with me for God's passion for a mission to be poured on our congregation. Let me know if there is something God lays on your heart.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Can I Change?
This past weekend I went to the "Change the World" Conference at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio. Many of the messages of the main speakers was about the need for Christians to start to change this world that has been falling apart. A specific focus was on the idea of pastors to stop asking people to make a decision for Jesus, as in a one time commitment to God, but to rather dedicate themselves to Jesus' mission, which is to continually work to transform this world.
This challenged me to remember everything that is going on in the world like the fact that 9 million children die each year from preventable diseases. Did you notice the word "preventable" in there? And of course there are staggering numbers of those starving, homeless, and in need of basic necessities. And we can make a difference. If we are truly being Christ's church and followers of Jesus we should be making a difference in the world.
So I want to start by changing myself. I need to become more aware of the world that is not our American Christian world. I need to open myself to be changed by God, that I might lead others to change the world as well. I believe 2009 will be a year where our world will change here at St. Paul's UMC and in Williamsburg. Can you change? And can we together change the world?
This challenged me to remember everything that is going on in the world like the fact that 9 million children die each year from preventable diseases. Did you notice the word "preventable" in there? And of course there are staggering numbers of those starving, homeless, and in need of basic necessities. And we can make a difference. If we are truly being Christ's church and followers of Jesus we should be making a difference in the world.
So I want to start by changing myself. I need to become more aware of the world that is not our American Christian world. I need to open myself to be changed by God, that I might lead others to change the world as well. I believe 2009 will be a year where our world will change here at St. Paul's UMC and in Williamsburg. Can you change? And can we together change the world?
Monday, October 20, 2008
New Ideas
I have had some suggestions for our church to go green. One was to get hand dryers for the restrooms that blow hot air instead of using paper towels. This does then use some energy, but it cuts down on the use or over-use of paper towels. This suggestion was given by our Facility Manager who also has to clean up all the paper towels that are thrown on the ground, so it would save him some time and energy to not have to clean that mess up.
We continue to try to use email instead of sending letters and even newsletters to save paper and postage. This works well for those who use computers often, but it does not work for everyone.
We also have programmable thermostats for different areas of the building, but one problem we still have is people adjusting them and forgetting to reset them to the programed temperature.
Since our church building is new I know we are as energy efficient as we can be with insulation and all of those kinds of things, but I still would like other ideas of how we can invest in going green.
We continue to try to use email instead of sending letters and even newsletters to save paper and postage. This works well for those who use computers often, but it does not work for everyone.
We also have programmable thermostats for different areas of the building, but one problem we still have is people adjusting them and forgetting to reset them to the programed temperature.
Since our church building is new I know we are as energy efficient as we can be with insulation and all of those kinds of things, but I still would like other ideas of how we can invest in going green.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Going Green
For a month in our church we are going to focus on "going green." I would like for us to be mindful of the ways we can save our resources as we also preserve the earth. As a church we have worked at using real dishes and cleaning them instead of always using paper products. We have decided not to by Styrofoam products because they are not good for the environement. We are working to make recycling easy in the church building.
I hope we will find more ways we can be green and that the congregation will join in finding ways to be friendly to our environment. Sometimes it takes extra work from us to save the earth, but it is worth it. Other times it is not that difficult, but the church needs to be reminded of the little things we can do.
In my opinion, Christians should be the best at "going green" because it is a call God has placed on us. When we work to save the earth we are participating in an effort to be responsible for the creation of our God. If we truly believe God created all of this then we should be taking care of it. We should take seriously the responsibility God has given to us to care for the environment.
I do not think this means we need to go overboard and say we cannot take anything from the earth because God also gave us instruction to use the resources of the earth. God gave those resources to us, so we should use them. However, we need to be responsible in the way we use them.
So join me along this journey of "going green." Share with me any ideas of how the church can be better at this and how Christians can be better as well.
I hope we will find more ways we can be green and that the congregation will join in finding ways to be friendly to our environment. Sometimes it takes extra work from us to save the earth, but it is worth it. Other times it is not that difficult, but the church needs to be reminded of the little things we can do.
In my opinion, Christians should be the best at "going green" because it is a call God has placed on us. When we work to save the earth we are participating in an effort to be responsible for the creation of our God. If we truly believe God created all of this then we should be taking care of it. We should take seriously the responsibility God has given to us to care for the environment.
I do not think this means we need to go overboard and say we cannot take anything from the earth because God also gave us instruction to use the resources of the earth. God gave those resources to us, so we should use them. However, we need to be responsible in the way we use them.
So join me along this journey of "going green." Share with me any ideas of how the church can be better at this and how Christians can be better as well.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Walk With It
For the last month I have been working through this idea of walking each and every day in a way that reaches out to other people. It is amazing what happens when you focus on a subject for that long. It just kind of leaks into your life. So I have personally been more aware of opportunities each day that I can share God's love and grace with those around me. I think I now walk a little different, especially when outside the church building.
I now walk slower when I am around other people because I want to give myself more time to feel God nudging me towards someone. I take a little more time to talk with people in restaurants, at the grocery store, or anywhere else I am in public. I want to not be in such a hurry when I am out in public. So many times I am on a mission. I am focused on that gallon of milk I have to get that I forget there are people around. But God is teaching me to be present with the people that are around me. And I am learning that the little things like a smile, a hello, and actually listening and talking with people can be meaningful and lead to bigger things.
God can do amazing things with the little changes we can make in our lives. With our little gestures to others God's Spirit can do more than we can imagine. So I encourage all of you to walk with that sense of expectation that God will use each word that comes from your mouth. Expect God to use each moment you pause to help someone. Expect God to transform the lives of people around you (and yourself) as you walk for him.
I now walk slower when I am around other people because I want to give myself more time to feel God nudging me towards someone. I take a little more time to talk with people in restaurants, at the grocery store, or anywhere else I am in public. I want to not be in such a hurry when I am out in public. So many times I am on a mission. I am focused on that gallon of milk I have to get that I forget there are people around. But God is teaching me to be present with the people that are around me. And I am learning that the little things like a smile, a hello, and actually listening and talking with people can be meaningful and lead to bigger things.
God can do amazing things with the little changes we can make in our lives. With our little gestures to others God's Spirit can do more than we can imagine. So I encourage all of you to walk with that sense of expectation that God will use each word that comes from your mouth. Expect God to use each moment you pause to help someone. Expect God to transform the lives of people around you (and yourself) as you walk for him.
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