July 13, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series on “All My Day: A Summer of Prayer”
Inspired
by Marcia McFee
Sermon
3 of series-
“Letting
Go”
Psalm 33:20-22 Common
English Bible
Psalm 25:1-3
Common English Bible
Romans 8:30-32
Common English Bible
Matthew 11:28-30
Common English Bible
“In The Letting
Go We Find. . . !”
Let us pray. . . (Pray for God’s illumination. . . )
A reading from the book of Romans,
chapter 8, verses 30-32. . . listen for a word from God to you and me the
people of God. . .
30 Those who God
decided in advance would be conformed to his Son, he also called. Those whom he
called, he also made righteous. Those whom he made righteous, he also
glorified.
31 So what are we going
to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He didn’t
spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all
things with him?
I
have a friend who is just awesome with dogs. She is very patient in their
training as she teaches them how to be social animals but also to be obedient
to her. She has this one thing she does when she teaches them that really
amazes me. I can’t believe how obedient they are. She would have them bring one
of their favorite toys to her and she would tell them “Drop it. . . leave it. .
. ” and they would do just that. She can walk away from them, even with her
back turned, and they would just sit there and not touch the toy until she told
them it was OK. They may sit there staring at their toy. . . really wanting to
pick it up and play with it. . . but they have been told to leave it and they
do.
Now
I think it is very cool so I have even tried it with the girls. You know when
they touch something or pick up something that belongs to one of their sisters.
Well. . . I haven’t gotten it to work yet. Every time I turn my back they pick
it back up. They just can’t let it go and leave it. But then again, we as
humanity have a hard time with letting go. We can tend to hold on to things
that we really don’t need to hold on to and we wind up carrying all this
baggage. . . like David Broadbent talked about last week when he came to preach
for us. I can just see God in heaven going, “Drop it. . . leave it. . . no I
said leave it not pick it back up. . . ” Why can’t we just leave it alone and
not keep picking things back up after we give it to God? Or even give it to God
in the first place instead of carrying it around with us like an old worn out,
heavy suit case. . . ?
This
summer, we are invited to pray “All My Days” and to make a habit of prayer
wherever you are. Each Sunday in worship we will focus on one of the steps of
the prayer beads but you are encouraged to pray these categories all summer
long. I hope that you to bring your beads with you to church as we spend the
summer sitting at the feet of God spending time in prayer. My continued hope is
that our Summer Sermon Series “All My
Days: A Summer of Prayer” will help us learn a way of prayer that will
bring us closer to the maker of all we survey.
Now,
last time we talked about the first bead on our string of beads, the “Adoration Bead”, the one that reminds
us to begin our prayer time in adoration of God. This week we are going to the
second bead. . . the bumpy bead. This bead reminds us to tell God our worries
and leave then there with God.
Now
Marcia McPhee states that, “As we move
into times of prayer and devotion, we are often faced with the distraction of
those things that are worrying us, that are demanding our attention and focus.
Letting go of these worries, even if for a while, is a practice of trust in
God. This Sunday we wrestle with the difficulties (and the joys) of “letting go
and letting God.”
Letting
go. . . how hard is that at times? At times we have stresses and worries and it
is so hard to stop thinking about them and redirecting our thoughts and hearts
towards God. But how can we give our whole selves to God without letting go of
those things that take up so much of our thoughts?
Now
I don’t know about you but for me it can be really hard. I start with prayer
and adoration of God and then all of the sudden thoughts and worries start
creeping in. . . thoughts about what I have to do that day. . . thoughts of
someone who may have wronged me. . . worries about how Shyanne is doing with
her diabetes. . . worries about family and friends. These thoughts can take over my whole prayer
time with God. But. . . but. . . there
are those times that as soon as they come to mind I let them go to God. In the
letting go we can find peace. In the letting go we can find healing. In the
letting go we can find peace.
In
the Psalms from this morning we heard how our God is faithful. We heard that
our hearts can rejoice in the God who is our shield. We heard how putting our
hope in the God that created the universe is a source of joy and blessings. We
shall not be put to shame. We can trust God with our deepest, darkest fears and
He will give us peace in knowing He is in control. . . as Romans 8 tells us. .
. if God is for us, who can be against us.
God
wants us to have peace and hope in our lives. Mathew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” As we let go and let God we are
blessed beyond measure. Our burdens in life are so much easier to carry. . . our
worries disappear. . . when we give it to God and let God be God.
Letting
go of what troubles and concerns us is never easy, and sometimes the act of
placing these worries in the care of God and the care of others can help us to
release them. So this is what I want you to do. As we sing our last song I
would like for each of us, as the Spirit leads, to come forward with the note
card that was given you this morning with your worries written on them and
place them in the basket here up front and I will put them on the altar as we
given them to God. But we all must remember to “drop it and leave it” with God.
Now during prayer time if you start thinking about these things I want you to
say to yourself “I have given it to God and I know that He is moving in my life
and will take care of this worry for me. He is for me and not against me. I
will trust and not be afraid.”
Letting
go is never easy but in the letting go we are blessed beyond measure because we
receive peace, joy and hope. In the letting go we enter the heart of God. What
can be more precious than that?
Let
us pray. . . pray about letting go. . .
Amen
July 13, 2014
Psalm 33:30-22
Psalm 25:1-3
Romans 8:30-32
Matthew 11:28-30
Sermon 3 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
Bumpy Bead – Letting Go
children’s message by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and sermon,
“In the Letting Go We Find”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 12,
2014
&
June 29, 2014
Psalm 105:1-6 Common English Bible
Exodus 15:1-3 The Living Bible
Psalm 89:1-18 The Message Bible
Closing Hymn – “As the Deer”
Sermon 2 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
children’s message by
Pastor Ruth Foss
-
Sabbath rest,
time with God outdoors, in nature
and
sermon, “All My Adoration. . . !”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 29,
2014
&
June 22, 2014
Matthew 6:5-14
“Jesus Teaches About
Prayer” (NCV)
(including Lord’s Prayer)
Romans 12:12
Ephesians 6:11-18
Sermon 1 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer Sermon Series on Prayer
children’s message by Ray
Foss
-
God fills in the
words we pray
based on Upper Room Daily
Devotional for June 9, 2014
Romans
8:26 (NRSV)
Romans
8:22-27
Upper
Room Daily Devotional
“Guided
by the Spirit”
by
Milly Ibanda
for
March and April 2014
-
spontaneous
prayer, wait for God’s answer
(based on Shanequa’s
prayer for a puppy July 21, 2006)
opening and welcome by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon, “Stop, Look and Listen”
by Sally
Drew
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June
22, 2014
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2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights
reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.
See all 31,330+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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