Prayers for our Nation #4

 Dear Church Family

 

   We continue to pray for our nation. Today and over the next few days, you can follow these prayer suggestions and prayers along with prayers for the health of our President and those in government who have been affected by Covid-19. Let us also remember the 205,000 plus families who have lost someone at their table or network to this pandemic. Blessings on your effort to keep prayer as the center for this season.

 

Day 9

 

Prayer Points

Thank the Lord for His promise of protection for the servants of the Lord. Ask the Lord to raise up a shield of protection over our nation. In the name of Jesus, resist the Enemy’s attacks on the godly foundation of the United States. 

 

My Prayer 

Father, Your promises are always sure. Thank You that You give Your servants the privilege of walking in victory and refuting every word spoken against us. Now, Lord, help us in wisdom to do this on behalf of our nation. Lord, awaken Your people out of apathy and help us to stand against the attacks of Satan against our nation. Forgive us for our passivity. May no weapon of the Enemy prevail against our nation, but may every one of those weapons come to naught against our Shield and Deliverer!

 

Day 10

 

Prayer Points

 Ask the Lord to reveal clearly to you where your treasure is. Pray for your heart to be clearly focused on the Lord. In Jesus’ name, tear down the idol of mammon (money) that has taken up residence in America today. 

 

My Prayer 

Lord Jesus, You spoke so often about money and the danger it can represent to us. Yet, You also used the wealth of the rich to accomplish Your mission. Help us to walk in that biblical understanding of both the danger and blessing of money. Forgive us for making an idol out of money or material things. Especially, Lord, forgive us when such idolatry happens in Your church. Help us to live lives that are free from greed and coveting, that we might be a prophetic voice to our nation. May we become a nation that treasures You far more than we treasure gold.

 

Day 11

 

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to fill you with His peace. Pray that you will be a person who brings the peace of Christ into the lives of others. Pray that the church in America will live in such a way that the peace of Christ comes into the councils of our nation. 

 

My Prayer 

Forgive me, Lord, when I walk in anxiety and stress, failing to allow Your peace to rule in my life. Breathe Your peace into my heart. Help me to bring that peace with me into every situation I face. Lord, may Your peace so pervade Your church in America that it begins to mark us as a nation. We understand that we live in a time of troubles. You told us it would be that way. Help us in a miraculous way to experience Your peace in the midst of trouble.

 

Day 12

 

Prayer Points 

Ask the Lord to help you learn to wait on Him. Pray for the church in America to begin to model the stable lifestyle of waiting on the Lord. Pray for a movement of the Spirit that creates a dramatic cultural transformation in the United States, bringing about a nation that has learned to put its hope in the Word of God. 

 

My Prayer 

Lord, it isn’t easy to wait. There are so many things to do. Forgive me for not waiting on You and running ahead to do those things that seemed good to me. Teach Your church to be a good model of those who do not rush into every trend or fashion but who have learned to wait upon You. Lord, show us how waiting on You is not inactivity but an active lifestyle of drawing near and of keeping our eyes upon You. May You so transform Your church that it flows over into the life of this nation. Slow us down, Lord. Teach us to wait on You, so that Your purposes and plans might be lived out in America.

 

Butts, David. Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America . Audio Ink Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

 

   Please remember to pray for our Global Faith Community as we celebrate World Wide Communion on Sunday. Please remember to gather the bread and juice you wish to use for our virtual celebration.

 

Blessings

 

Pastor Jeff

 

40 Days of Prayer for USA

Dear Church Family

   We are entering an enormous challenge and opportunity within 40 days, the General Election for 2020. This will require a lot of prayer for our nation, leading up to that important moment. I'm writing to you to urge you to pursue with me a solemn 40 day vigil of prayer for our nation. I will be sending, starting tomorrow 9/24, the 40th day away, a letter with some devotional ideas and I hope you join with me in praying the prayers. I will send the next group of 3 or 4 devotionals a couple of days later with more inspiration. I do hope you pray for our country, whether you use these scriptures or not.

   I know we have a variety of opinions and reasons for thinking about the way we are going to vote. In our Methodist world, John Wesley knew we would not all be of the same mind. But he urged us to all want to love one another in the best way possible. So our prayers can be for one another to grow in love, even in the middle of the challenges that are before us.

   One of my great appreciations for our country and our faith is that we have been able to look past our differences and realize we are all children of God. I hope we can keep civility and respect and compassion for one another, even during this awkward time. Some of our troubles have been because  we judge someone who doesn't see the way we do, as  "an evil, horrible, must be destroyed person" and that just isn't Christ like or even basically an attitude of America. So I invite you to pray for civility especially.

   Here are some ideas for starting this journey together. And if you don't mind, let me know your thoughts as we go along this pilgrimage of prayer together.

Day One

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:7

Prayer Points

Pray that the United States will repent of its corporate rejection of the Word of God as a basis of law. Pray that a holy fear of God will sweep across our nation, leading us back to a place of wisdom. Pray that courage born of wisdom will be given to Christians in places of leadership in government, the courts, and law schools across the nation so that they will stand for a godly basis for law.

Day Two

"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to turn the hearts of the citizens and leaders of the United States to Himself. Invite the Lord to be your refuge and your stronghold. Pray that our nation will increasingly see that God is our only refuge in the midst of the troubles of this world.

  from 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts

This should get you started. I'll share more in a day or two.

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

 

An Hour in Prayer #12

 Dear Church Family

 

   Where has the summer gone? A lot like Spring too. It’s after Labor Day, and we are wrapping up the twelfth and final installment on how to pray for an hour with 12 five-minute segments. Tonight we look at Praise and the power it has to help us grow closer to God and to receive the strength and wisdom and help we need to face the challenges and stresses of our lives now.

 

   Praise is to exalt and glorify God, to tell the Creator that you know what God has done and to whom you are reaching out to in prayer. This is a way of saying that we trust the Great I AM with our supplications. Let your Amen be strong at the end and confirm that you Believe God has heard you and will answer you. Amen means its true and sure, so shall it be. It’s a way of saying thank you before you even know how God has answered your request.

 

   Next week we will make AWE a little shorter so that we can share in the book reading Think Like Jesus, a book that helps us see that living as a follower of Jesus in this very complex world with all it’s issues and challenges, will require that we understand what it means to follow Jesus in a way that will help all this make sense. There is a video from Randy Frazee and a discussion book with homework, to help explore the important dimensions of understanding our faith so that we can actually live a Christ like life.

 

   The sessions include: Who is God?, Does God Care About Me?, How Do I Have a Relationship with God?, How Does the Bible Guide My Life? Who Am I in Christ?, What is the Purpose of the Church?, How Does God Value People?, What is Eternity Going to Be Like? All very interesting thoughts we each have at some point in our spiritual journey or pilgrimage.

 

   The class has a companion book for even more reading should you like to explore the topic even further. You can have both for $20. They are in the church office and if you call you can arrange to pick them up, or you can get a Kindle copy of each and read along that way. These topics will also be the theme of the worship services from now through All Saints Sunday. We will move into a Fall, Thanksgiving and Advent season.

 

  

   May God Richly Bless you as we move into this fall season together. Remember we urge you to share this with a friend. See you in Zurch.

 

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer # 10 Meditation

 Dear Church Family

   Today we look at the resources for meditation, mindfulness for our spiritual lives, as we continue our series on how we can pray for an hour, looking at five-minute intervals. Today we are up to 10 out of the 12 and it’s meditation. How we specifically slow down and reflect on what God is doing in us and around us, so that we can handle all that this current lifetime is giving us.

 

   I’m going to provide a list of resources for you to consider, so that you can find a place to grow in your meditation and grow in your sensing the help that God can give you for each challenge you are facing.

 

Upper Room.  www.upperroom.org/devotionals   It can be emailed or an app for this

 

Our Daily Bread.  https://odb.org/  it can be email or an app for this

 

Lection 365.  /www.24-7prayer.com/dailydevotional.  There is an App available for this

 

You Version.  www.youversion.com  there are several resources here

 

Biblegateway.  /www.biblegateway.com.  there is a whole bunch of resources here, app and others

 

Back to the Bible.  www.backtothebible.org   app devotions, videos on various topics etc.

 

Heartlight.  www.heartlight.org    devotions, articles, artwork

 

KINDLE resources like

 

30 Day Spiritual Walks.  A summary of famous spiritual giants set up in a 30 devotion, a great introduction to them.

 

Anxiety Elephants.  A 31 day devotional to Help Stomp Out Anxiety. Scripture and exercises and journaling

 

On This Day.  What happened on this day in the Christian world, famous people or events

 

Near to the Heart of God.  A one year devotional the story of famous hymns and their writers or composers

 

Jesus Always.  A One Year devotion on the words and stories of Jesus and how it can encourage you each day.

 

A Year with God - Richard Foster.  A yearlong study of the great characters, themes, passages to grow spiritually

 

Right Here Right Now – Amy Oden.  To develop a mindfulness on Scripture and God’s love for us, eyes to see it.

 

Face to Face – Ken Boa.  Vol. 1 & 2  3 months of daily devotions based on the relationship to God

 

A Year with C S Lewis.  A year full of daily readings from his Classic works, across his set of books

 

   I hope you find something here that might help you strengthen your walk following Jesus and find that your time in prayer is more beneficial to you, providing the strength to endure, and a knowledge that God is with you every step of the way.

 

   Remember both the AWE and the Sunday Morning Worship Zoom connections are the same for each week, unless we are hijacked by an intruder. So keep your AWE and your Flash email in a folder so you can join us. Send it to a friend too.

 

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer # 7

 Dear Church Family

 

   I’m writing letter # 7 on how to spend an hour in prayer, and this week it is on intercession. Praying for others. Last week as you may recall, we were dealing with petitions, which gives us permission to pray for the things we need, now we are praying for the lives and needs of others.

 

   “Intercession is to pray for others, to concentrate on the needs and distress of other people, to stand in the gap for someone else. When you intercede you stand at God’s side and you work with God for the salvation or benefit of someone else, and you remain standing until you have the assurance that God has heard you and releases your burden to pray for the issue.” From the book, The Hour That Changes the World. By Dick Eastman.

 

   In St. Paul’s letter to the Timothy he says, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,” 1 Timothy 2:1-3.

 

   I am so glad that we, the church family of North Bethesda UMC take prayer time and intercessions so gracefully, and that so many are being prayed for by each of us, together in worship and on our own during the week. We hope that you take advantage of our prayer list and those flash emails, requesting prayer for friends, neighbors, family and acquaintances we know, and for the world around us and those who we don’t know. I’m blessed when I hear of the answers to prayer coming back in reports of gratitude.

 

   May we continue to pray for our leaders (local, state, national & global) and all those in authority, that we may live peacefully with each other. May we continue to pray for healing of those who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and all those responsible for caring for them. May we continue to pray for healing for those who have been wounded because of negative attitudes toward one another, and the powerful effect of policies and procedures that have kept people from the opportunity to fulfill their God given tasks and to provide properly for their families, because they happen to have a different skin color or language or background.

 

   I invite you to join with your church friends and family as we explore the Lord’s Prayer over the next five Sundays in worship. There are 5 basic petitions that Jesus gave his followers for their prayer lives and we will look carefully at each. We ask that God’s glory be extended, we ask that God’s plans would come true, we ask for what we need each day, we ask for forgiveness and to be able to forgive, and we ask for help against temptations of this world and other choices we make. We will look at each one separately in the next few Sundays.

 

   We must pray for our church family to be well during this time. There was a church worship service in Ohio in July where one person attended service and 91 people came down with the virus as a result. Many were in the church service he attended, and others were infected, because they took their contact with him home to their families, friends and co-workers. That is a lot of suffering in that community, and we are trying desperately to avoid the same fate.

 

   Thank you all for your prayers, you truly bless one another when you say a word to God on others behalf.

 

May God’s peace be with you, while we are absent, one from the other.

 

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer # 6

Dear Church Family

 

   I continue to write to let you know you are all in my prayers several times a day.

 

   An Hour of Prayer number 6, half way through the list, today is Petitions, you get to ask for things you need. Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount, Ask, Seek, Knock, and give us this day our daily bread. We have permission to pray for those things, as a part of others.

 

   On that note, I am asking you to pray about our petition to you for your financial support, and being generous. Especially in this difficult time, we really need everyone to increase their giving. We can continue to make a difference and change people’s lives for the better. There is more to come about this really soon. Watch your mail boxes.

 

   It looks like this pandemic is going to be with us at least through the rest of the calendar year, so I want to offer small group support to as many as would be interested. For August, we will do an old fashioned John Wesley small band/class idea. More details to come,

 

   When September rolls around I would like you to sign up for a small group study, daytime or night time versions, on Think Like Jesus, ways to grow in your faith and understanding for living in a world where we really need to know for ourselves what our faith is all about. It’s the first of a three part series going for about 8 weeks each of Think Like Jesus, Be Like Jesus, Act Like Jesus. This study will match the sermon series in the fall.

 

   We would love to share your talents with our church family. If any of you have recordings of something that happened at our church, it would be great if you send them to me, so I can use them in our zoom worship experiences. Let me know if you have something you would like to share. We can certainly add them to our You Tube Channel.

 

   I’m afraid that we are not going to get back to the way things were in February, so we have to learn new ways of being a church family. It is more difficult than we first imagined, and so we are trying to be a church, much like the first century, that met in small groups, since there weren’t any church buildings until nearly 300 years into Christianity, when Emperor Constantine declared that Christianity would be the official faith of the Roman Empire and designated buildings for that purpose. Partly to make sure that all the citizens where actually going to worship. We don’t live in that kind of world anymore.

 

   I used to joke that being the pastor of a church was like playing chess on three different levels at a time. I saw that once on Star Trek, but now I’m convinced it’s even harder than that because we can’t do church the way we had gotten into the habit of doing. We are letting the Holy Spirit, show us a whole new way of thinking. We are still in the business of making disciples. So your thoughts on how can I help you be a better follower of Christ is what I’m trying to figure out, and then help you with that.

 

Blessings and Peace,                        Pastor Jeff    

An Hour of Prayer # 5

Dear Church Family

   Here is the fifth week of our learning to deepen our prayer lives during this pandemic. It seems our need for prayer is increasing with the rising number of Covid-19 cases. Three days in a row now, over 1,000 people have died from it across the country. Please pray for the families of those who have died, for the first responders who are again being overwhelmed with responsibilities and pray for the development of a vaccine, soon. See we have a hard time waiting because we know we want the cure now.

   Those comments can help us to think about what to pray for. By watching what is going around us we will see what needs to be prayed for. Watching will also give us a glimpse of what God is doing to help sustain us in this time.

   Watching is a time of spiritual observation (perception), to be on the look out, to be spiritually aware of matters to pray for. Ask God for insight, discernment, wisdom, to know on what to focus, and what your priorities should be. Ask the Lord what is on God’s heart and on God’s agenda. An opportunity to do what Jesus said “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else you need will be provided.”  Matt. 6:33.

   Watching is also a way of learning so that we can grow in our spiritual journey with God. Jesus often asked the followers to come and see what he was doing. To come and see where he was staying, so they could learn from him by being present. I’m watching several webinars to help improve my skills at leading our church in this very different time than any of us had anticipated. Watching how to help us raise the money we need so that we don’t close down our ministries. Watching how to do zoom meetings, so that they can go better. I’m very close to learning how to do a Bible Class all online in zoom and will be doing those shortly.

   Watching is also how we will discover that God is creating again, new things that will bless us as we go along. On Sunday I’m sharing some ideas about how we can watch what God is doing in other places, that will benefit our life together as God’s family. I’m inviting you to watch our zoom and to invite as many people as you can, to watch along with you. When the Zoom information goes out on flash, you are encouraged to mention this to your friends and neighbors, those in your apartment complex, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your children’s friends etc. so they can join you in seeing what God is doing to help us in this time of stress and discouragement.

   Pay attention to how God is working around you, so you too can say, see what new things God is doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. God’s blessings be upon all of you, while we are absent, one from the other.

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer 4

Dear Church Family

   As we gather tonight for prayer at 7 pm for AWE, let me offer a couple of ways to deepen your prayer life and find strength to deal with the challenges and uncertainties we find ourselves in.

   Week Four in the spending an hour with God covers Praying Scripture. It’s realizing that the Bible is full of prayers of God’s people, like us, who find ourselves in a variety of difficult circumstances. By becoming more familiar with the Bible, especially the book of Psalms, we will find a lot of prayer lessons and examples on how to pray.

   Praying Scripture is to feed you spiritually and to pray according to God’s agenda and revelation. The Word is our prayer manual, so pray God’s promises to Him, creating faith in your heart. Ask God what promises you can claim and how you can apply His Word in your own life and prayer time.

   Jesus offered us the power of answered prayers if we followed the will of God for those requests, knowing ahead of time, that God loves to move God’s program and love into the world, God will gladly answer prayers that do the same. You might want to try reading 5 Psalms a day and pray the prayers you find there for yourself. Put your situations and challenges and setbacks into the prayers of the Psalms, and you will see what I mean.

   James, the brother of Jesus, who became a part of the disciples after the resurrection said we don’t have answers to prayer, because we don’t ask.(James 4:2b) So we need to be willing to ask, following the promises of answers when we follow the plans God has for us.

   I’m ask God to influence all of us for greater generosity. We all need to pray that NBUMC will have the financial resources, especially in this pandemic time, to be able to keep doing the things that are important to us. So if you would begin, maybe pause at 10:10 am or pm, and ask God to help provide financial resources for our church that would be awesome. You can be an answer to all our prayers with an increase in your giving. Even a $5 or $10 dollar a week increase will make a huge difference when we are just under our target of keeping everything and everyone in place for ministry.

   May God bless your prayer time and your growing awareness of God’s work in the Scriptures and in the community, the family of God right here. Be sure to tell your friends, and send them the email that comes each week, for joining us on Zoom.

Prayer for Our Community:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world. Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen. (From Richard Rohr, email devotions)

   May God’s peace be with you all.

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer 3

 Dear Church Family

   We are beyond the fourth of July now, and heading into the slow(?) part of summer. We have the time to continue our prayer for an hour journey with today’s third segment. As I have said in the past, we can use all twelve to pray for an hour or develop each 5 minute segment and let it guide us in developing a stronger prayer life. We need more prayer now more than ever. It will be helpful to have more resources and tools for that struggle in this time of waiting and wondering in the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases around us.

   Week Three is about Confession. Confession of sin and humiliation is an act of admitting your sinfulness to God and of cleansing you, as the Temple of God, allowing you entrance into God’s presence. This is a time of introspection and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal all unconfessed sins. Don’t ask God to change your circumstances, but to change you and forgive you. Sin can be doing something wrong, or simply missing the target that God had hoped for you.

   Confession allows you time to talk to God, knowing that God already knows everything about you. You don’t have to worry about hiding anything, God already knows all about it. Confession allows us to deal with the challenges we face and to ask God to make better, what has gone wrong, or we have done poorly, or have misunderstood about God’s intention.

   Confession is all about getting a second chance to get this right this time. Confession helps download or remove the obstacles, the clutter in the way, so we can have a clear and clean workspace. It can be the beginning of a great relationship to God and through God to others. Sometimes we confess to God, sometimes we should confess to one another so that we can get that fresh start. There may be something in the way, that once taken away and dealt with, can begin a great new relationship. This could be in families, neighbors, workspaces, fellowship groups etc. wherever some trouble has been brewing.

   The result of the confession is of course feeling and knowing deeply that you are forgiven and loved more than you thought possible. Forgiveness is our theme this Sunday and in the midst of struggles in our culture over the way we have treated people who are different than we, confession and pardon might be just the power to renew us all, as a community and as a country.

   Join us on Wednesday nights for our AWE service at 7 pm. It is a time for prayer and reflection for equipping us for life in this world we live in. Next week’s five minute prayer thoughts are on Praying Scripture. Where do we find help for our prayer life?

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer 2

Dear Church Family

   Today continues an attempt at a weekly letter to our church family as we endure the pandemic we know as Covid-19. I hope that you can find these components of growing your prayer life helpful to your own journey of faith. We need a deeper connection to God, the first great commandment of Jesus, to help us navigate both the suspension of normal life because of the pandemic, and the attempts to find a way forward with the social challenges related to racism and our need to find ways to connect to our neighbors, the second great commandment of Jesus.

   On Wednesday June 24, at our AWE service, I offered how to pray for an hour, by dividing up the hour into 12 5 minute segments. It is based on an article I read summarizing the book The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman Blessings on the ways you grow in prayer. You could even just emphasize one element for a few days.

2. Waiting on the Lord

Waiting on the Lord is an act of surrender to, and of love and admiration for God, and is often wordless worship. During your silence before God, tune into God Himself and direct your whole being to Him and commit yourself to Him anew. During this time, do not express your thoughts in words, simply concentrate on God the Father, His Son Jesus your Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit.

   We have a really hard time with waiting. Just look at how we are reacting to the Cabin Fever experience around this pandemic. We are dying to get out of the house, and in some cases, literally. Eight states have now set new records for daily cases of Covid-19. God can help us with that, but it’s called waiting. One of my favorite passages of Scripture, because I find it so helpful, is from Isaiah 40:29-31 “He give power to the faint, and strength to the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young shall fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (NRSV)

   Waiting is like watching the toaster after you have pushed the bread down, something good will pop back up, but you stare and hope that it won’t take as long as it normally does. We should recognize that waiting for the Lord is so that something good will pop up, but it’s in God’s timing not ours. One of the things we can do is count to ten, by naming ten things you are thankful for from God’s gifts to you. Look around, and maybe come up with something you have not thanked God for in a while. Look back a year or two and see if you’ve forgotten an answered prayer along the way.

   Remember it’s the Lord we are waiting on. The Creator of the Universe, the one who loves us so much that all is forgiven, and eternal life is promised for those who rely on the Lord. Just think how the disciples felt both over the weekend after Jesus was crucified, and the ten days between the Ascension of Jesus back into heaven the coming of the Holy Spirit.

   Join us for AWE tonight at 7 pm. Remember we will celebrate a Virtual Holy Communion on Sunday. Be prepared with your own version of the elements, bread and juice/wine.

   Blessed day to every one.

Pastor Jeff

An Hour of Prayer 1

Dear Church Family

   Today begins an attempt at a weekly letter to our church family as we continue to endure the pandemic we know as Covid-19. I am hoping to provide spiritual nurture during this very awkward time in our church life together. I hope that you can find these components of growing your prayer life helpful to your own journey of faith. They are offered to help you add to or expand your prayer life. We need a deeper connection to God, the first great commandment of Jesus, to help us navigate both the suspension of normal life because of the pandemic, and the attempts to find a way forward with the social challenges related to racism and our need to find ways to connect to our neighbors, the second great commandment of Jesus.

   On Wednesday June 24, at our AWE service, I offered how to pray for an hour, by dividing up the hour into 12 5 minute segments. It is based on an article I read summarizing the book The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman. I know most of us would have a very difficult time praying for an entire hour, even with 12 five minute intervals. But each interval can teach us a segment of our prayer life that we can nurture and develop. So I offer here the beginning of the 12 steps of prayer in hopes that there is something you can gain from this. Blessings on the ways you grow in prayer.

1.    Praise and Worship. Praise and worship is an expression of admiration and devotion to God. Worship God for who God is, for God’s unfailing Word, for your relationship to God in Jesus, and God’s creation. Exalt God with your words, your whole being, and with your attitude in prayer.

   In other words, take time to remind yourself as a part of your praying time, of the ways God has impressed you. Where are you in AWE of God? What have you learned about God from reading scripture? What do you see as steps for your own walk as a follower of Jesus? How have you thought of what God could do in your life and faith? It’s good to reflect and name the ways you have seen God around you. Nature, as St. Paul reminds us, speaks to us of God in ways words may never do. Celebrate, which is another way to say worship, how God has touched your life, maybe recently or even long ago.

   Praying in 5 minute segments may be difficult, maybe a 3 minute egg timer would help you start in the right direction. Most phones and some watches have built in timers that might help you set a timer to keep you focused on prayer. Our minds wander so easily, don’t beat yourself up if you find you do change thoughts, work on bringing yourself back on track. It will give you skills in many areas as well.

   Think of your going on a walk with God to share ideas, reflect on your life and challenges and use this time to simply talk about what is going on. If you need a coach for this, look at Jesus walking with the couple from Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-35) Use this time to remind yourself of what God is doing in your life.

   May your faith journey, even in the separated time of Covid-19 grow. Next we will look at #2, Waiting on the Lord. See you next time.

   I want to thank Rev. Joye Jones, for leading worship this Sunday as Elaine and I take some time off.

Blessings,  Pastor Jeff

Trinity Sunday

Hello Church Family

   I’m sharing this theological presentation in hopes that it will make our experience of Holy Communion online make a little more sense. The Church In History, continues to wrestle with the meaning and because of that tries to make sure we don’t abuse the importance. St. Paul warned us not to partake in the communion unprepared, or in poor taste, because he said, that might lead to some getting sick and dying.

   I’ve decided after much prayer and conversation, that we really didn’t expect this pandemic to affect us so much and for so long. I also know and have heard from many of you, how important the sacrament is for you. After hearing Adam Hamilton, author and pastor of our largest UMC congregation, say he changed his mind too, and decided to go with online communion, because it was so meaningful to the congregation. His experience afterwards was very moving for him as well.

   SO, I’m inviting you to be ready for our sharing in this sacrament, by providing your own elements for communion. I will pray and consecrate, to make holy, the elements you have in front of you, online this week. We will then eat the bread and take the cup at the same time online on Sunday. You may choose to use intinction, dipping the bread into the cup, or traditionally eating the bread first and then taking a sip of the cup.

   You may send me an email, after you have experienced this together, to let me know if this was helpful to you, the sharing of the sacrament in this particular way, and the information that I’ve included in this letter.

   Be Blessed, and know that I pray for you all the time.

Pastor Jeff

Theology – a question of ‘Presence’

A chief theological question or problem with the Eucharist is the question of the Real Presence. Is Christ in some way really present in the physical elements and/or ritual of Holy Communion? There is no shortage of literature for one to read that talks of the different streams of thought and debate on the question of the Real Presence. There are basically three legacy thought frameworks to consider the question of Christ’s Presence in the Lord’s Supper.

·       Transubstantiation is the orthodox Roman Catholic position: the substance of the bread and wine are changed into the substance of the physical body and blood of Christ during the prayer, while the “accidents” (see Aristotle and Aquinas) remain those of bread and wine.

·       Consubstantiation is Luther’s view. On the understanding that the bread and wine do not magically become the body and blood of Christ.  They remain bread and wine, but the presence of Christ is said to be “in, with, and under the elements.”  Therefore, in receiving the bread and wine, one also symbolically receives the body and blood of Christ. Lutheran’s essentially make the shift from actual to symbolic presence, that is, they share a symbolically invoked/achieved physical presence.

·       Spiritual Presence is Calvin’s view. Here, Christ is seen to be spiritually present by the Holy Spirit, so that the Supper is a true communion with Christ, who feeds us with His body and His blood. Clearly, this essentially abandons any notion of the ritual being an actual physical connection with Christ and plainly claims a symbolic spiritual connection and union with Christ.

John Wesley and United Methodism are aligned most nearly with Calvin’s real, spiritual presence of Christ in the sacrament. A real, albeit symbolic communion with G-d in Christ.

Prayer for Our Nation

Dear Church Family

“Today, as another black man is gratuitously killed before a crowd of witnesses while unsuccessfully appealing to the humanity of a white police officer, we are reminded that the traditions of hate and murder are alive and well and actively venerated. We can see that the worship of the godling of racist hate and murder survives in the act of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed man as he cries out, “I can’t breathe!”

(From an article in RNS, Religious News Service, by Cheryl Gilkes)

   I write to our NBUMC family to cry out to God in prayer for the end of racism in America. This action and the many like it are unacceptable to our Creator. We are approaching Pentecost, when the Breath of the Holy Spirit came upon us and all nations, that we might be closer to the nature and quality of life, of Jesus Christ, and God’s love for one another.

   Can we take a moment for prayer for the end of racism, at noon, for instance? Our Baltimore-Washington Conference Bishop Easterling, has invited us to pause and pray the Lord’s Prayer each day at noon. The prayer is that the will of God be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The prayer asks God to forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And it is asking God to help lead us not into temptation. Surely the racism and hatred that is shown is a temptation that must be eliminated. Prayer does make a difference.

   So please, during this day and every day, pause to pray for peace in our country. Pray that we recognize that Black Lives Matter. Pray that God’s love means all, will spread out and make a difference, regardless of our color, ethnic heritage, sexual orientation, life experiences etc. All Means All.

   We are fighting a challenge brought on by a physical sickness in the Covid-19. We also are fighting a more invisible internal sickness of racism, prejudice and hatred, that needs just as much, healing as the other.

   May you sense that God will supply the Holy Spirit to us and to our world that so desperately needs to learn a better way to love and treat one another.

   Remember to pray, a lot, today and the days that are ahead.

Pastor Jeff

More Than A Memorial Day

Dear Church Family

   This is a special letter to invite you to join us on Wednesday May 27, yes tonight, for a special AWE (Alternate Worship Experience) for what I’m calling More Than A Memorial Day. It’s never too late to remember our armed forces men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice, so we could have our freedom of worship.

   Tonight’s More Than a Memorial Day, is also part worship in remembering those who have died during this Covid-19 Pandemic. The count is over 98,000 and climbing. We are praying for the families of those who have died, and praying for those who are working so hard to help save those who have it, and to those who are working so that we all don’t get sick.

   Tonight’s More Than A Memorial Day, is also a time to give thanks for those who have blessed us spiritually, to remember those who helped us in our faith journey. We want to remember and give thanks for those who have nurtured our faith, and pushed us, and lived an example before us to help us to mature in the faith.

   I hope this can be a time of reflection, giving thanks to God, for the work and sacrifice of others, and to know that you are not alone in this struggle. A recent webinar that I attended for pastors shared with us that about 1/3 of our communities are suffering some form of depression, discouragement, grief and stress over the impact of this pandemic. Prayer and worship, and the presence of God in a community of loving people is very import.

I hope you join us, and I hope you share this invitation with people you know who could really use some encouragement and support. God loves them, and so do we.

Blessings on our church family, and all those who we can touch with God’s love and support.

Pastor Jeff

Long Weekend Ahead

Dear Church Family

   Halfway through May 2020 and we are in the midst of many areas opening up for more participation, and more opportunities to spread the virus. A church in Georgia, even with careful distancing, had almost half of their congregation get sick, they have shut back down. Texas, one of the first to open up opportunities has a 1,000 more cases two weeks later. We are practicing John Wesley’s Do No Harm, as best we can, by remaining out of our building and share our worship gathering via Zoom. We will continue to do so, until it really is safe.

   This weekend has many features and I invite you to join us in them. Wednesday night at AWE, we will celebrate Ascension Day, a day early, it’s usually a Thursday. Ascension is the remembrance of Jesus’s final day on earth before returning to his Father in Heaven. We want to invite you to join us for our AWE, even if you haven’t before, so we can see how God is preparing us for times like these. In many ways it’s a celebration of Mission Accomplished. Jesus has done what he planned to do, and is now going home. We look forward to a mission accomplished moment for our congregation and we will have that gathering someday.

   Sunday is Aldersgate Day, when as Methodists, we commemorate John Wesley’s conversion experience. He saw it as one of his most important days in his life. We get a chance, with these stay at home times, to participate more fully in the celebrations that normally collide at this time in May. This coming Sunday can be Ascension Sunday, Heritage Sunday, Memorial Day worship all rolled into one. But doing that can be a mess. My youngest brother Kelly was born on Dec. 22 and in a pastor’s household, with all the Christmas and Advent activities, he felt really gipped, they all rolled into one and he felt like he missed something. We are spreading out this festival combination more carefully this year, because we can.

   Monday is Memorial Day, we when pause to give thanks to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up their tomorrows, so we could live ours. Please pause to give thanks, and to remember the women and men who died defending our country. In this pandemic, even Arlington Cemetery is restricting visitors to immediate family only, by appointment and only to the area where their relative is buried. But we can choose to stay home and recall their sacrifice. I’m in the process of preparing a moment to remember and will give you more details about that opportunity to pause and pray on Monday. Details will be shared on Sunday.

   This week is the Homiletics Festival, a great celebration of preaching and it’s usually packed with pastors seeking to be inspired and encouraged. With the pandemic, it’s online this year, and also free. I’ve been grabbing some moments here and there for my own inspiration. I’m thankful to hear from others, so they can help me do a better job with the Message.

   In today’s sermon from a UCC pastor Dr. Otis Moss, III, I’ve been reminded of the Road to Emmaus story and the importance of letting each of us grieve the losses we are feeling right now. It stomps on our heart in big ways. We need to have permission to share that grief. On the Road to Emmaus, Jesus invited his walking companions to pour out their hearts and concerns. The second gift was the gift of companionship. We will recover and encourage each other if we value the companionship. Even if it’s on the phone, or facetime, or zooming after church. You might want to pick up the phone and call someone to share in this journey through the uncertainty and the changes we are facing because of this global health crisis.

   May God bless you and keep you, while we are absent one, from another.      

Pastor Jeff

The Joy of Zoom

Dear Church Family

   There has been a lot of discussions around us about returning to, or opening up since the quarantine and lockdown process began. There have been several presentations made by zoom, from our Annual Conference and the CDC and advisors from all over the country related to church and worship gatherings. Most recommendations are not yet, until we find a vaccine or we see a drastic reduction in the number of cases. One of our challenges is that most medical professionals warn that those who are over 60 and who may have preexisting medical issues, need to stay home. That pretty much includes a majority of our church and most of our staff. We value your health and safety above everything else. So I think we are looking at waiting in place for a while.

   I also know most of us have some form of cabin fever and are longing to get out of the house. As the weather gets better that only adds to the desire to be back to normal, back with friends, joining in worship etc. We have to be very careful.

   So I understand what we are going through, and I long for a time that looks more like what we have known. That is not going to be possible for a while. So let’s make the most of our situation and keep on sharing together in zoom, our worship, our meetings and as we improve our ability to use high tech, gatherings and Bible Studies that we will benefit from.

   I am writing to you as the provider of our worship zoom experience to share with you some of my thoughts related to what is being planned and what you have seen so far and what is yet to come. We are blessed with a very strong and supportive turnout for our zooms (zurch – zoom+church). We are also very blessed to have more and more non members finding us and joining us in worship this way. I urge you to keep inviting your friends to join our zoom. All you have to do is forward the flash with the code, when it comes, to several of your friends who might enjoy being with you in worship. These conditions have raised the spiritual needs of many people, and we can provide a place and a source of comfort through our zooms.

  We are also recording our services and putting them up on youtube, on our channel, so they could watch us at a better time for them. We just cannot put the zoom information on our website, because some have been known to jump in and provide insults, pornography and other very bad material in a zoombombing effort, when they find the direct access to our zooming on a website. That’s why we ask for individuals to share the code with friends.

   We may be at this for a while, so we will continue to be creative with our services. It is easier to be in our sanctuary, but that is not an option, so we must be creative. I am keeping in mind both our current congregation and our future potential congregation, with a balance of material in zoom. I’m also keenly aware that as we all watch from our phones, laptops, computers or TV’s the importance of the visual impact of the presentation. Therefore, I look for music and videos that are beautiful from a photographic and inspirational nature, It can’t just be words on the screen only. Unless that is the only way we can share a good song. I am also aware of the blessings that our congregation already has of many styles of music preference, so I try carefully to vary the music in honor and recognition of all the varieties of preference in our midst. This means of course, that what touches your heart, may not touch the heart of someone else. So I try to be as flexible as I can to find that something in the music and service will touch your heart, maybe not all of it. But I am also touching the heart of those who are longing to connect to God, and I hope you can bear with me, when I try to reach someone else’s heart.

   Our most important responsibility is to help people connect to God. Our second important responsibility is to connect God to each other. Our third important responsibility is to connect ourselves to making a difference in our world. I pray that our zoom experience will connect us to God and God’s comfort in our trying times. I pray that our zoom experiences help you connect to one another. I hope that the zoom experience is clearly focused on the message of God’s love to us. That message is the focus and it inspires the songs to reflect the message. It inspires the prayers to reflect the focus. I shapes the scripture and message to reflect that focus. The choices of the music will always be to tell the old old story in ways that we can understand and reinforce the focus and the message. Not every song will fit any service. They are chosen to be reflective of the focus. They are chosen to touch the heart of somebody in our midst. Hopefully they will touch your heart.

   May God bless each of us as we journey together in this unusual time. Let’s continue to pray for one another as well.

Blessings,   Pastor Jeff