United

One heart, of one mind
sharing all their possessions
all they had, in common
living as a single congregation
as a community dependent on one another
Giving all of their wealth, all their property
to the disciples, to the apostles
giving all, to reap a greater bounty
no one in need, all provided for
according to that need


April 19, 2009
Galatians 6:8-10
Acts 4:32-35
and sermon, “All For One and One For All”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 19, 2009

Other Wealth

They were living, pursuing
seeking after other wealth
not the material trappings of life
not holding back, giving all
selling what they had
laying all at the apostles feet
turning their lives over
to the call of the community
to the commission of God
living together, one people
all gave, and all received
as each had need


April 18, 2009
Galatians 6:8-10
Acts 4:32-35
and sermon, “All For One and One For All”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 19, 2009

As the disciples had done

A common purse, the people together
as the disciples had done
when Christ walked the earth
all sharing, all contributing
as they were able
Sharing, as any had need
so were they given
all from the common purse


April 19, 2009
Galatians 6:8-10
Acts 4:32-35
and sermon, “All For One and One For All”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 19, 2009

The Joy of the Word

Sharing, bringing forth
the joy of the Word
the living waters of God
through the mechanics, the process,
the ways for the sermons to come into life
The writing process, the research, the sweat
all of that yes, to a point
But there is joy in the letting go
in the opening up, in the giving over to God
listening, letting the Spirit speak
from deep within us
to turn our minds, our hearts, our spirits
to the living, indwelling Spirit of God
to let the scripture come
to let the words flow as they will
onto the written page
letting inspiration join perspiration
finding, retaining the joy of the Word
coming alive, so we may speak
the message waiting to be proclaimed


April 18, 2009
Isaiah 6:1-8
John 3:1-17
Romans 8:12-17
Advanced Lay Speaker class
sermon writing process
inspiration and perspiration

Offers are Unlimited!

Pray now, offers are unlimited
so ended the sermon,
as it had begun,
sharing thoughts on the offering of God
to become part of the family of God
explaining the Trinity,
Father, Son and Spirit
in the words of our merchantile
our commercial world
Like so many sale items
offering not one but three Gods
But, unlike the products that fade, that fail
no purchase necessary
no phone to call, no hidden charges
an offering, paid by his blood
redeeming each one of us
all of us, open to all
if we but call on the Lord
Offers are unlimited!


April 18, 2009
Isaiah 6:1-8
John 3:1-17
Romans 8:12-17
Advanced Lay Speaker class

The Family of God

We are children, adopted
redeemed into the family of God
Father, Son and Spirit
and each one of us, heirs
members of the family
entering in, by water,
by the Spirit, burned clean
washed pure, redeemed by his blood
entering in, to the loving arms of the creator
journeying, yoked to the savior, forgiven
led by the calling of the Spirit
indwelling within each loving heart
beating within each member
of the family of God

April 18, 2009
Isaiah 6:1-8
John 3:1-17
Romans 8:12-17
Advanced Lay Speaker class

Sermon - "Reborn, The Spirit Within Us" - given at Advanced Lay Speaker Class, April 18, 2009

Prayer

Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, I pray that You, who gave your Son for our reconciliation with You, would grant me peace and a heart open to Your call this day, so that you may speak through me the words that you would have me share with Your people.

We pray that Your Spirit would grow within us, giving us the strength and faith to persevere though the trials of our lives. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our spirits be pleasing to You our rock and our redeemer, and we pray all of these things in the strong name of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Reborn, The Spirit Within Us

Today is Trinity Sunday, so named to celebrate one God in three persons, revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator and Sustainer, Redeemer, and Guide. It is the First Sunday or Ordinary Time, the Season after Pentecost, which ends with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian year, before the start of the beginning of Advent.

Just as we shout, proclaim Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning, just as we are fired by the Flames of Pentecost, there is nothing Ordinary about the Trinity!
The idea of Father, Son, and Spirit, gives a richness to our faith, to help us to comprehend the infinite in more discernible ways. When we call out to God the Father, it is the Spirit within us speaking, crying out to our Father, and when we invoke the name of our redeemer, the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, we are completing the triangle, because he is our brother.

(How awesome it that!)

The scripture passages this morning include some of my favorite pieces of scriptures.

1. In Romans 8:12-17, in his letter to the Romans, Paul proclaims our adoption into God’s family as heirs to the riches of Heaven, to life eternal, with our brother, the risen Lord, Christ Jesus. With a spirit of Adoption, a loving Father taking us into his fold, calling us by name, as he wished from the beginnings of the earth.

2. In Isaiah 6:1-8 One of the bible’s greatest answers to the calling of God, where he said simply, “Here I am; send me!”, which is the title of a poem I wrote.

A prophet answering
the direct call to action
by the Lord God Jehovah
to bring truth to the people
foretell a trial they must face
Whom shall I send?
Here I am; send me!

Oh that we could be so bold, so confident, so faithful, as Abraham, as Isaiah, as Paul, each called by God, each going where God willed.

and

3. We have the words of our Savior, trying to speak to the deaf, trying to show the blind Sanhedrin Nicodemus the revolutionary thought, that we must be reborn, of the Spirit, that the water and the Spirit are needed for a true baptism into the faith, in the wonderful, magnificent passages in John 3:1-17.

What Nicodemus could not even begin to understand, the living Christ in his presence, Isaiah proclaimed, the glory of God’s heavenly court. Can you see it, can you picture the imagery Isaiah’s song creates? Can you visualize the hem of his robe, filling the temple? (pause) I was gifted with a poem, The Hem of the Robe, which reads,

Like shafts of light, woven together;
sheets of flowing luminous light
like a wall of falling water
a curtain of silent thundering rain
so must the hem of his robe have been
filling His Temple on earth
flowing down from his heavenly throne
down from high above
filling the temple with light

Isaiah was redeemed and reborn, by his answer. He was living by the Spirit. Isaiah was reborn, as surely as any who have followed. He was redeemed, reborn of the Spirit.

Isaiah was transformed, not by his action; but by the grace of God. Not justified by the Law; but by confessing his sin, submitting his body, his all, to the voice of God, an indwelling of God’s Spirit within him.

Unlike Nicodemus, the unwise teacher, this member of the Sanhedrin, Isaiah was able to see the throne room of God, was able to gain even a glimpse of the Creator’s glory. Nicodemus was blinded by his station, by the Law. He spoke with the same unclean lips as Isaiah.

Where Isaiah was transformed, changed, his unclean lips burned away… Listen to the words of this poem, Burned Away

A live coal in the grasp
of a six-winged seraph
a burning ember of
a sacrifice
touched to the seer’s lips
sin scorched away
so truth could pour forth
untainted and pure
for the nation of God

Nicodemus, coming to Christ in the dark of night, could not.
Even with the Messiah, the living Word of God, the Son of God speaking truth to power, speaking directly to him, he would not see. He could not understand the truth, revealed to him in the words of Christ in the lesson in the Gospel of John.
Nicodemus could not offer himself; he was not redeemed. He was stuck in his place, in the trap of trying to live, to measure himself with the Law. He could not understand and did not want to lose his position, his authority. To be reborn, of the Spirit, that meant everything of his past was loss, as surely as Paul proclaimed in Philippians 3:7 that, after his encounter with the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, all his gain was viewed as loss.

What Christ was telling him, oh if he could have only understood… I wonder if it is like this poem, written when I read this scripture almost 2 years ago.

He is the one who said it

A minor epiphany
at the dinner table tonight,
reading the devotional
the familiar story, the
wondrous words, of God’s love
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son”
Words that nourish, that uplift
that remind us of the Father,
the parent; But, the context,
the speaker, is the story
This is Jesus proclaiming
the love of God in giving
Himself, to save us
this broken world
by His presence on Earth
without mincing words,
with no sugar coating.
I am here, on his earth
because the father loved, loves
will always love
the living Son,
proclaiming
the Father’s
love

There are so many times in the gospels when Jesus seems to be speaking to “Duh-sciples”. How this conversation must have seemed to him.

Beyond His Ken

Like a professor
explaining theoretical physics
to a wide-eyed preschooler,
so must it have been
the divine and the human
Meaning, full nuanced meaning
lost on the listeners
stuck within the here, the now
understanding only the heard, the seen
Nothing beyond his ken
All of us needing that
singular expert witness,
and repeated instruction

And we, using the scripture from Romans, are each called to be born of the Spirit, to live as Isaiah did, redeemed by the grace of God, our lives turned toward the Father, yoked to the Son, walking, sharing, witnessing, with the power, the authority of those flames of Pentecost that we heralded in worship last week.
Heirs with our brother, to the kingdom of God, called as He was, to listen to the Spirit, indwelling within us.

Oh, I pray that we, that you and I , can answer as boldly as Isaiah when we are called by God the Creator - reborn of the Spirit, living as children of God, as the brothers and sisters of Christ.

Here I am, Send Me!

Amen.

Sermon - "An Adoption at The Cross", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Good Friday service, Wesley United Methodist Church, Concord, NH

John 19:26-27


A couple of years ago, Ray and I, with the girls, went up in front of a judge. It was a special day for our family. Ray was adopting Shyanne and Shanequa. The girls would now have the Foss name. The Foss family got a little larger that day. They were adopted, grafted into the Foss family. It was a day of joy and celebration for our families. It is a day I will never forget. Ray was saying out loud that he would be there for them, that he would care for and protect them from harm.

In the scripture that I read from John, we see another adoption in the shadow of the cross. Jesus was making the beloved disciple part of the family. Even though all the others deserted Him, this one disciple, the beloved one, was there at the cross. This disciple was being adopted into the family. But why would Jesus do this in His last hours? His father was still alive…He had brothers and sisters that could take care of His mother. So what is the significance of this adoption at the cross? Well…some scholars believe that this adoption scene symbolizes the beginning of the creation of the new family of God.

At this pivotal time in His ministry…as He was completing His work on earth…Jesus wanted to have His ministry continue through His disciples…His extended family. As Jesus went through His ministry on earth, He spent a lot of time with these disciples. They ate together, slept together, prayed together and healed and cast out demons together to bring healing to those around them. He wanted the family of disciples to grow until there is not one left behind in the final days. This symbolic adoption was a sign of things to come as His disciples, past, present and future would bring about change and healing to the least, the lost and the forgotten.

So…who is able to become part of this family tree? What do we need to do in order to be considered for the adoption process? Mathew 12:46-50 gives us the answer to those questions. I like how the Amplified Bible phrases the scripture. It reads; “46Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47[Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You. 48But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? 49And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers. 50For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother! All who were there…not just His disciples…He opened the adoption process to all who do the will of the father.

Being a disciple of Christ makes us all one family. We are joined together, graphed into, adopted into a royal priesthood and are co-heirs with Christ. We are “indoctrinated” into this family by our baptism when we become one with Christ and one with each other. There…at the cross…in His final moments…Jesus is connecting the dots of what His whole ministry was about. It doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentile to receive this coronation…It is through the blood of the Lamb slain, the final sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world that we receive forgiveness, mercy and that crown of life. We are one! We are brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers to each other. Each one with a gift to share…a call to follow…a road to follow, but in order to do so, we need our family’s help, our family that began at a cross.

Now, Jesus is the one who set the standard of who can become part of the family. He is the one who opened heaven’s gates to all who come in His name. So why is it so many times we try to put up a no vacancy sign in our church windows? Why is it that we let only a select few into our “special secret society’? Who are we to judge who is worthy? Why must we look at our differences and not at our similarities? Why must we shut the door on those who are searching to fill that empty spot in their hearts that only the Risen Lord can fill?

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and she told me a horrible story. She has been searching to fill that empty spot in her heart and have been to a few different churches. At each church she was told that she was welcomed there but there were conditions to her welcome. She was not invited to share her gifts with the congregation but told thanks but no thanks. She has many gifts from God to offer, many talents to share. “You can come here but we are not interested in what God has gifted you with…you can come and bring us your tithe but you cannot give back, not share the gifts you have with us…no thanks, there is no room for you here.” She turned away in silence. How can we put a condition on a gift that God has given to share? How can we turn away someone who is searching for the everlasting arms of our Creator? How can we say you cannot be a true brother or sister here and take part in the work that Christ began so long ago? She’s still searching. I pray she finds a home for her homelessness.

We are all part of God’s design. We are designed to be a family, together, working out our salvation, helping each other along the way. Jesus started the adoption process at the cross on Golgotha’s hill. In the last moments of His life He wanted to ensure his ministry would go on…the ministry of adoption into the royal priesthood. Is there part’s of you today that still hold on to that exclusive crowd instead of the inclusive one? Are there things that you need to let go of in order to begin the healing process in the family? Do you still think that you are not worthy for the family business? I would ask today that you would leave them at the foot of the cross and be embraced by the loving arms of our Risen Lord, hearing him say “welcome home my brother, welcome home my sister, welcome home my mother. I have work for you to do and I will help you do it.”

AMEN

Pastoral Prayer, Easter Sunday, by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH

Creator, Sustainer, Almighty God, You who made a way for us to receive salvation through your Son Jesus Christ, we thank you for this Easter Morn. We thank you that we may come into your house and worship you today. Christ has risen, yes He has risen indeed. When we think back on this Passion Week we stop and ponder what you have done for us. Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ came into the city a Messiah and left a criminal. He endured the mocking and scourging for us. Without a word He bore our sins on the cross so that we may have new life with you in Paradise. He rose again, on the third day, conquering sin and death for us. For this we are thankful.

We come before your throne today not as sinners but as a forgiven people, redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. We come with our prayers of celebration and of concern. Hear our prayers O Lord, those that are spoken and those that are within our hearts. (Prayers of the people) We pray for those who are ill, we pray for healing…we pray for those who are alone on this Easter Morn. And we ask that they will feel your presence. We pray for those who live in fear and are weak and ask that you would give them strength. We pray for those who are homeless and hungry and pray that you would provide for them all that they need. We pray for those who have no voice and ask that you would help them find their voice. We pray for freedom for the oppressed, set the captives free. But most of all…we thank you for your Son Lord Jesus Christ who taught us to pray… (The Lord’s Prayer) He has risen…He has Risen indeed!

AMEN

All the Difference

Through Christ Jesus, and his gift of himself
all the difference, all the change, all the growth
all the joy in my life come from this act of obedience
this gift of the Father, carried out by his son

This child growing to manhood, to ministry
to teaching and healing, to a following of disciples
to a death on the cross, in submission to the prophesy

Rising from death, from the grave
rising to bring salvation
if we but call on his holy name.
Enter into the father’s kingdom, come.

April 14, 2009
search “inspirational poems about Christ making a difference”
by which someone in Bridgetown, Barbados
came to my blog this morning.

THE STORY OF EDITH BURNS... received via email Easter 2009

received from a dear friend Easter Sunday. I don't know if it is a true story or not; but I liked the simple message. We are commissioned to share the good news of our salvation through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I hope you enjoy this story.

Happy Easter!

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns.

One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.

Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.

Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"

Beverly said, "Why yes I do."

Edith said, "Well, what do you believe about Easter?"

Beverly said, "Well, it's all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing up." Edith kept pressing her about the real meaning of Easter, and finally led her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Phillips said, " Beverly , don't call Edith into the office quite yet. I believe there is another delivery taking place in the waiting room.

After being called back in the doctor's office, Edith sat down and when she took a look at the doctor she said, "Dr. Will, why are you so sad? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying?"

Dr. Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the doctor and you're the patient" With a heavy heart he said, "Your lab report came back and it says you have cancer, and Edith, you're not going to live very long."

Edith said, "Why Will Phillips, shame on you. Why are you so sad? Do you think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I'm going to see my precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my friends. You have just told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having difficulty giving me my ticket!"

Dr. Phillips thought to himself, "What a magnificent woman this Edith Burns is!"

Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips. Christmas came and the office was closed through January 3rd. On the day the office opened, Edith did not show up. Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr. Phillips and said she would have to be moving her story to the hospital and said, "Will, I'm very near home, so would you make sure that they put women in here next to me in my room who need to know about Easter."

Well, they did just that and women began to come in and share that room with Edith. Many women were saved. Everybody on that floor from staff to patients were so excited about Edith, that they started calling her Edith Easter; that is everyone except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse.

Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because she was a "religious nut". She had been a nurse in an army hospital. She had seen it all and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She had been married three times, she was hard, cold, and did everything by the book.

One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick.

Edith had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, "Phyllis, God loves you and I love you, and I have been praying for you."

Phyllis Cross said, "Well, you can quit praying for me, it won't work.. I'm not interested."

Edith said, "Well, I will pray and I have asked God not to let me go home until you come into the family."

Phyllis Cross said, "Then you will never die because that will never happen," and curtly walked out of the room.

Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into the room and Edith would say, "God loves you Phyllis and I love you, and I'm praying for you."

One day Phyllis Cross said she was literally drawn to Edith's room like a magnet would draw iron. She sat down on the bed and Edith said, "I'm so glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special day"

Phyllis Cross said, "Edith, you have asked everybody here the question, "Do you believe in Easter but you have never asked me."

Edith said, "Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until you asked, and now that you have asked." Edith Burns took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter Story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Edith said, "Phyllis, do you believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and that He wants to live in your heart?"

Phyllis Cross said, "Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart, and I do want Jesus in my life "Right there, Phyllis Cross prayed and invited Jesus Christ into her heart. For the first time Phyllis Cross did not walk out of a hospital room, she was carried out on the wings of angels.

Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and Edith said, "Do you know what day it is?" Phyllis Cross said, "Why Edith, it's Good Friday."

Edith said, "Oh, no, for you every day is Easter. Happy Easter Phyllis!"

Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis Cross came into work, did some of her duties and then went down to the flower shop and got some Easter lilies because she wanted to go up to see Edith and give her some Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.

When she walked into Edith's room, Edith was in bed. That big black Bible was on her lap. Her hands were in that Bible. There was a sweet smile on her face. When Phyllis Cross went to pick
up Edith's hand, she realized Edith was dead. Her left hand was on John 14: "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, and then lifted her face toward heaven, and with tears streaming down here cheeks, said, "Happy Easter, Edith - Happy Easter!"

Phyllis Cross left Edith's body, walked out of the room, and over to a table where two student nurses were sitting. She said, "My name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"

More Hearts

There were more hearts
smiling in the sanctuary
Singing with joy, in deeper tones
More young faces in Easter finery
bonnets and bows, pastel and lace
Bright flowers blooming on the altar
songs of praise for our savior
A full congregation in praise
and humble thanksgiving, singing
this Easter morn’.


April 12, 2009 and April 13, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 12, 2009

If Christ came into our midst

Almost a chill, a real physical presence
came washing over me
as the pastor spoke these words,
“If Christ came into our midst”,
into this sanctuary this day.

I wanted to turn
to look over the smiling faces,
looking toward the open door
the light streaming in
to see our Lord, triumphant,
like a bridegroom down the aisle

But I didn’t have to do this
for he was here,
right here with us
in our midst,
living in your heart and mine

His presence is what I felt
the joy of this Easter morning
This is Christ living within me, within you
even if for the first time
this bright and glorious day.


April 12, 2009 and April 13, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 12, 2009

Moving Stones

Healing lives, changing us
the stones rolled away, removed from the fields
Moving stones and changing lives
the power of the resurrection
the Easter star shining
Using metaphors of moving stones,
good Yankee stones,
and the stones by the road
on Palm Sunday morn’
ready to sing if the crowds had gone mute
The stone guarding the tomb
rolled away Easter morn’
to reveal his glory
Our these stones changed lives,
healing us, making fields to grow
hearts to be mended
and a harvest of souls
to be brought home to the Lord


April 12, 2009 and April 13, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 12, 2009

Seventy Souls Singing

We were all singing, the opening hymn
seventy souls singing the words of joy
Christ the Lord is Risen Today,
how sweet that sound
this morning, amid the smiles,
the joy that came this day
The angels rolled the stone away
and the world has never been the same since.
Amen!


April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH

Going to the Grave

His mother, the others, the women
going to the grave of Christ
not knowing the stone was rolled away
going, to anointed, to put spices,
to prepare his body.
Going, not knowing how they would enter in
trusting in God to enable
to make the way straight
not knowing what they would find
but going anyway
Finding him gone, risen
God had found a way!


April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH

Feeling His Presence

Kneeling at the rail
the altar festooned
overflowing, the bright flowers of spring
a stone, rock, to remember,
the crown of thorns still on the cross
Words of praise, of joy,
an invocation, calling him into our midst
Feeling the presence of Christ
here in the sanctuary
walking into our worship
sitting with me,
raising his voice
in those of the pastors
Calling us from winter’s slumber
Easter people, smiling
Joy in the morning
He is risen, and with us this day


April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH

For Joy this Morning

We thank you this morning, Oh Lord
for the joy this morning
the resurrection, the reconciliation
the stone rolled away, the savior Lives
and through his dying, through his raising
We live too!

Alive, new creations
transformed in that instant, that moment
death defeated, our sins forgiven
new people, of the faith,
walking as Abraham, as your disciples
going where we have been called

New beings, this Easter morning
for there is joy within our hearts
swelling within us
Easter people, reborn
Because you gave yourself, for us
and because the stone rolled away
and we live too!


April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH

Our Risen Lord

Claim him this morning
this glorious Easter morn’.
Not merely the risen Christ,
Our Risen Lord, personal and for us
our brother, our shepherd, our savior.

Walking beside me, beside you
down from heaven, his spirit within us
Guiding our way,
our path in the world
Blessing us with his sacrifice
with his gift, of himself
washing us clean.

And on this morning, oh on this morning
rising, rising from the tomb
to bring joy in the morning
to bring us, each one of us
salvation, new life in paradise.


April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Pastoral Prayer
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Luke 24:1-12
and the sermon, “Rocks”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
and a search “the rising of our christ poems”
by which someone in Neuwied, Germany
came to my blog this morning.

The rising of our Lord

May the rising of our Christ, our savior, our Lord
may this reality, this joy
be for you a moment of grace
realized, believed, as if for the first time,
this day, this glorious morn’
entering into your heart more fully
transformed and transforming

A risen Christ,
present tense and powerful
a presence walking with you
waking this morning
Easter people arise!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed.



April 12, 2009
Easter morning

A Risen Savior

On this holy morning,
Christ transformed, is transforming, history
A Risen Savior, then as now
risen, at the right hand of God
the Father, the Son, one Holy Spirit
Triune and triumphant
death defeated, our deaths redeemed
on the altar of the cross
a sacrifice for our sin
in the empty tomb salvation, redemption
if we but seek, if we seek to serve
our Risen Savior
Amen; He is risen,
He is risen indeed.


April 12, 2009
Easter morning

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 28,680+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live. 

CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!!