August 14, 2016
Patten Pioneer Days
Worship in the Park
I
have noticed that when people come together they are no longer just a person;
they become something much larger than themselves. They become a community…they
are no longer all alone. I have seen it happen in so many different ways. When
teens get together they become extended family with one another. Even the
parents get to become part of their community at times. I don’t know how many adopted children I have had that are my daughter’s
friends.
We
as adults seem to do the same thing. When we have friends that are close they
become family members to us. When things go the way God plans them to go, we
become members of Christ’s body…we become brothers and sisters in Christ. We
were born into a community, our families, and we need community to thrive and
become who we were created to be and to fulfill the purpose that only we can
fulfill.
I
love how Patten gets together and celebrates Patten Pioneer Days. I grew up in
a town that celebrates a homecoming week just as Patten does. It has been like
turning back the clock to when I was young. A time when community came together
to celebrate a time in its history…a time when community set aside it’s
differences…it’s pain…it’s sorry…and finds one common bond to celebrate. There
truly strength in community. In community we find hope.
You
hear about communities coming together after a tragedy on the News. These
communities have suffered some sort of disaster but they make the choice to
bond together and help one another out. It is within this choice that they find
hope for each new day…it is within this choice that you see God working…it is
within this choice that you hear of people’s strength and resolve that can only
be attributed to God who gives strength and courage in the face of diversity.
But
being in community can be risky business. The world in which we live give us a
lot to fear. What if that person hurts me
when I try to reach out to them? What if they are trying to scam me? I know
what is going to happen if I help…They are going to rob my house while I am
away. That person deserves where they are…they did it to them self…why should I
help? They are only going to it again… We have to actually reach out to
those who are on the outskirts of our society…the outskirts of our towns…the
outskirts of our community to be a real community. In order to be in community
we have to act a way that is totally against our culture…that alone can be
risky business. We have to change from doing to being…through which the Spirit
within us does the work. Not so much doing God’s work as being God’s work in
community.
But
we can’t do this alone…we need God’s help…and we need each other’s help. When
we come together in community we will see the “risk factor” go down because we
are not alone but united as one. There may still be issues within our community
but as we band together …the issues don’t seem so hard because we are doing it
together and not trying to take the task on by ourselves.
Strength
is found in community. There are many cultures throughout the world that their
strength is found in community. Without community their whole way of life would
be destroyed. We find peace and we find hope in community.
When
we reach out with love and hope to someone in need we give them strength for
the journey. When we help our neighbor rebuild their life again we give them
hope for the future. We find peace and we find hope in community.
When
we come together as a community and set aside our differences and concentrate
on our similarities we are a force to be reckoned with. We can conquer our
trials and difficulties because we are strong when we bond together. We
find peace and we find hope in community.
But
it all begins within you and within me. How are you…how am I going to answer
the call to community? What is going to be our answer to those on the outskirts
wanting…no not wanting…needing to become part of community…our community? Those
who are outsiders…so to speak…are in need of our help…in and as community. How
are we going to answer the call to love, hope and a future?
The
Book of Habakkuk bible has a beautiful passage that are words of hope even when
all around seems to be falling apart. It reads:
17
Though the fig tree does not bud
And there are no grapes on the vines,
though
the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though
there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he
makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Try
as we might…we can’t do any of this alone. It is through and in God that we are
strengthen…it is in and through God we have a new vison of who and what others
are…it is through and in God that we become community. No we can’t do it all
alone…but as we partner with God…that is when the impossible happens…when the
miracles are seen.
Community
may be risky business but I wouldn’t have it any other way…to be a community or
not to be a community…that is the question…what is your answer going to be?
====
August
28, 2016
August
25, 2016
what
price do we pay
August
25, 2016
willing
to take risks
edited
August 24, 2016
If
Jesus was here with us
August
24, 2016
not
matching up
edited/
renamed August 23, 2016
If
Jesus was here with us
August
23, 2016
If
Jesus was alive today
August
23, 2016
speaking
truth to their power
August
23, 2016
their
words become lies
August
23, 2016
shattering
what they believe
edited/merged
August 22, 2016
in
the shattering, something new emerges
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/08/in-shattering-something-new-emerges.html
edited/new August 22, 2016
something
new emerges
edited/new
August 22, 2016
in
the shattering, in the breaking
August
22, 2016
in
the shattering
edited
August 22, 2016
Love
above all else – v2
edited
August 22, 2016
Truth
to change us – v2
August
21, 2016
love
to set them free
August
21, 2016
Love
to set us free
August
21, 2016
Truth
to change us
August
21, 2016
Love
above all else
August
21, 2016
you
bless us
August
21, 2016
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Sermon
Series:
Risky
Business
“Risking
It All”
Psalm
103:1-6
Mark
5:21-43
Mark
6:1-29
message: “Risking It All”
video:
text:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
and Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
&
edited August 21, 2016
in the face of adversity – 2 – v2
August
21, 2016
we
judge, we divide
edited
August 21, 2016
How
can we love – v2
August
21, 2016
How
can we love
August 21, 2016
How can the light shine
August 21, 2016
we must pull together
August 21, 2016
We judge our neighbor
edited August 21, 2016
We damage the fabric – v3
August 20, 2016
in the face of adversity - 2
August 20, 2016
in community we find hope
August 20, 2016
we repair the breach – 2
August 20, 2016
binding the cords
August 20, 2016
stitching the wounds
edited August 20, 2016
We damage the
fabric – v2
August 20, 2016
We damage the fabric
We damage the fabric #2
We damage the fabric #1
August
14, 2016
Worship in the Park (indoors)
Scripture:
Habakkuk 3:17-19
message: “Worship in the Park”
video:
text:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
praise music led by
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church Praise Team
Director, Chuck Loucka
opening prayer
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
prayer over the offering
by Pastor Franklin Randall, Jr.
Patten Pentecostal Church
&
August 7, 2016
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Sermon Series:
Risky Business
Psalm 146
Mark 1:21-45
Mark 2:1-22
sermon “Nothing Held Back”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
August 7, 2016
&
August 9, 2015
Worship in the Park
Scripture:
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
John 13:34-35
John 15:1-17
Lord’s Prayer
message: “Community”
by Raymond A. Foss
&
praise music led by
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church Praise Team
Director, Chuck Loucka
&
opening prayer
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
&
prayer before the offering
and songs of praise over the offering
by Pastor Franklin Randall, Jr.
Patten Pentecostal Church
&
Pastor Rodney Lord’s sermon, 2014
Worship in the Park
======
Psalm 133
Psalm 84:5
Revelations 4:11
Revelations 5
Deuteronomy 5:16
Leviticus 19
John 4
1 Peter 3:15
Jeremiah 29:11
Hebrews
Romans 15:13
&
message by Pastor Rodney Lord
August 10, 2014
Patten Academy Park
Patten, ME
&
Pastor Ruth Foss
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV
sermon
“There is Hope in Community”
Worship in the Park
Patten Pioneer Days
August 11, 2013
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted
by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at
Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)
for usage. See all 41,570+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
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