August 17, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series on “All My Day: A Summer of Prayer”
Inspired
by Marcia McFee
Sermon
7 of series-
“Concern”
John 17:6-25 NIV
Bible
“A Weight Upon
The Heart”
Let us pray. . . (Pray for God’s illumination. . . )
Have
you ever had anything that was just a weight upon your heart? You know. . . that
thing that keeps you up at night. You are truly concerned about a person or
situation and you just can’t get it out of your head.
Now
that the girls are getting older, I find myself in prayer more often than
before. I never really thought much about them going out into the world. I know
they have been brought up knowing God and God’s love for them. I find myself
praying for them as they leave the house. It is hard for kids, I think, living
in the world as it is today. There are so many things that bombard their minds
during the day, things that are of this world, things that could lead them to
stray away from God, things that could be dangerous for them. The list just
goes on and on. They are near and dear to my heart and at times it really
weighs upon my heart. It truly concerns me that they are going out into the
world sometimes. . .
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 have focused on one of the steps of
the prayer beads but you are encouraged to pray these categories all summer
long. I would ask that you take out your beads if you brought them with you
this morning. 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
see.
I
hope we have learned a few things as we have been going through the beads on
the string. Remember. . . the Gold Bead.
. . which reminds us to begin with adoration and the second bead. . . .the
bumpy beady. . . .that is to remind us to let go and let God. The “holey
Bead” invites us to sit in silence, listen for what God has to say. Then
the steeping stone bead, our journey of faith. The next bead . . . the
black...the black and white...the grey bead...we are reminded to bring our
spiritual struggles to God. The next bead, the green bead, represents concern.
What concerns you most in life?
Now.
. . we’ve talked about the worry in our lives. . . about “Letting Go and Let God”. . . but what about our concerns. Are we
not trusting God if we have “concerns”? Now there is a difference between worry
and concern. . . we learned that in the
book study of Mary and Martha.
·
Concern=Involves a legitimate threat, is
specific (one thing), addresses the problem, solves problems, looks to God for
answer.
And
·
Worry=is often unfounded, is generalized
(spreads to many things), obsesses about the problem, creates more problems,
looks to self or other people for answer.
Jesus
modeled prayer for you and me. We read many accounts in the bible of when Jesus
went away, by Himself, to pray. We read some of those prayers in the bible and
some are about things and situations that concerned Him about humanity. As a
matter of fact, Jesus, just before He was betrayed and arrested, prayed prayers
if concern. Three of them are found in the Gospel of John chapter 17. . . as a matter of fact it is all of chapter 17.
The first in this series of prayers was for Him-self. It was time for Him to complete the purpose He came for and now it was
time for Him to do his final ministerial act for humanity. He was about to die
for all of humanity.
The
next part of the prayer is the one I read this morning as Jesus prayed for the
disciples that were with Him as He was healing and bringing the Good News to a
hurting, still hurting, world. Jesus was
concerned for them. He wanted them to be protected from the evil one who is in
the world. He was concerned for them because they have now become in the world
but not part of the world because of their faith in Jesus.
And
then Jesus does something that is truly hope and life giving to me. In the
third part of the prayer, Jesus prays for all believers to come. Listen to this
part of His prayer that is found in John 17 verses 20-25. . . now as I read this prayer, I want you to put
your name in where ever you hear the word “their, they and them” because Jesus
is praying for you and for me. . . future believers. . .
Jesus
Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not
for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am
in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent
me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we
are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete
unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as
you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want
those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the
glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father,
though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have
sent me. 26 I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you
known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself
may be in them.”
Jesus,
who taught the first disciples how to pray, was modeling a prayer of concern
for those around him and those yet to be. Even the Lord Prayer that we prayed
just a few minutes ago has a concern. . . request. . . from God. . . give us this day our daily bread. . . .forgive
us of our trespasses. . . and lead us not into temptation. . .
So.
. . is it a matter of distrust if we have concerns in our lives. It becomes a
matter of distrust of we don’t
bring those concerns to God. We doubt
God and His goodness and mercy when we keep them to ourselves. It is an act of disbelief when we think God is not
concerned with our concerns. If even Jesus. . . the perfector of our faith. . .
brought His concerns to His heavenly
Father. . . well. . . you get the picture.
Are there things that
are concerning you and you don’t know who to turn to for help? Are you having
trouble believing that God wants to hear you “silly concern”? Is your heart
heavy laden with concern? Come to the cross of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ who
knows what it is like to have concerns upon the heart. Come to the One who will
share your concern with you and lighten your load. Come and lay your concern
down at the feet of the Shepherd and rest in the meadow by the still waters of
our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, and live. . .
Let
us pray. . . pray about those concerns
that we bring to God. . .
Amen
====
August 17, 2014
John 17:6-19
Christ’s prayer for his
disciples
John 17:20-25
Christ’s prayer for all
believers
Sermon 7 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
Green Bead – Your Special
Concern
children’s message
-
Mystery Box
– picture of our cat Moe sleeping
-
God wants us to be
at rest, at peace
by Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon, “A Weight Upon the Heart”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
August 17,
2014
&
prayer of the people
printed in the bulletin,
including the following
prayer:
“For our church that it
may be safe for all people
and an active witness to
the truth of Jesus Christ.”
Genesis 32:22-28 Common
English Bible
Psalm 139:1-14 NIV Bible
Sermon 6 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
Grey, Black and White, Day
and Night Bead – Spiritual Struggles
children’s message
-
Mystery Box
– dog treats and squeaky ball
-
God gives us
treats
-
God wants us to
play
by Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon, “G.W.E.” (God Wrestling Entertainment)
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
August 3,
2014
&
Romans 10:12-15 (GOD’S
WORD Translation)
Luke 12:12-15
Luke 12:1-6 Common English Bible
“The Long and Winding Road” The Beatles
Sermon 5 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
Stepping Stone Bead –
Journey of Faith
children’s message by Ellen
Alward Dickinson
reading story – A Black
Bear and Four Boys
and
sermon, “A Long And Winding Road”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 27,
2014
&
Psalm 37:5-7 (Common English Bible)
1 Kings 19:9-23 (NIV Bible)
Sermon 4 of “All My Days: A Summer of Prayer”
Summer
Sermon Series on Prayer
Bead with a Hole - Silence
children’s message by
Pastor Ruth Foss
-
Mystery Box
- a blank space
-
God starts with a
blank canvas,
God fills in the picture until
a masterpiece
is created and we come home
and
sermon, “Is Silence Really Golden?”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 20,
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
-
Mystery Box
– a broken set of prayer beads
-
God can make
something beautiful of all the broken pieces:
-
Dad can you fix
this? Yes I can…
and sermon,
“In the Letting Go We Find”
by Pastor
Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 13,
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
-
Mystery Box
–
-
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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