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Sunday, August 28, 2016

sermon, Patten Pioneer Days, by Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, August 14, 2016, Patten, ME



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?








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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
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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