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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

sermon, "This Living Hope", by Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, Patten, ME, July 23, 2017





God’s July 23, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With Hope”)
“This Living Hope”
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Jerimiah 29:11-14a AMP
Romans 5:1-5 AMP
John 3:16-17 AMP


This Living Hope

The Lord be with you…let us pray… (prayer for the Spirit’s indwelling as bring God’s words of hope this morning…)

Please stand for the reading of the Gospel according to St. John, chapter 3, verses 16-17. Listen to the love sonnet of God for the people of God…

Christian hope is when God has promised that something is going to happen and you put your trust in that promise. Christian hope is a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.

What is so important about Christian hope?
If our future is not secured and satisfied by God then we are going to be excessively anxious. This results either in paralyzing fear or in self-managed, greedy control. We end up thinking about ourselves, our future, our problems and our potential, and that keeps us from loving.
In other words, hope is the birthplace of Christian self-sacrificing love. That's because we just let God take care of us and aren't preoccupied with having to work to take care of ourselves. We say, "Lord, I just want to be there for other people tomorrow, because you're going to be there for me."
If we don't have the hope that Christ is for us then we will be engaged in self-preservation and self-enhancement. But if we let ourselves be taken care of by God for the future—whether five minutes or five centuries from now—then we can be free to love others. Then God's glory will shine more clearly, because that's how he becomes visible.
When God satisfies us so deeply that we're free to love other people then he becomes more manifest. And that's what we want above all.


Good morning. Over the past weeks we have taken a look at hope. We have decided that we are going to “let our guard down” and allow hope in.  Without hope…I don’t know where I would be. I have just given you the:
©     Definition of Christian Hope
©     Why hope is important for as Christ followers…
How about you? What is your definition? Give time to answer. Why do you think it is so important? Give time to answer. Hope is a hard thing because you can’t see it, ouch it, or taste it. Hope is just something you must trust in. It is the reason we stand. It is the reason we come back here every Sunday, to get a new perspective on hope… We believe and trust in the foundation of our faith…John 3:16. For Gods so loved the world that he sent His Only Son, and who so shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life…that’s
life with God eternally…forever…and ever…and ever more…

There are many promises in the bible that give us “hope”. My favorite one of course is Jeremiah 29:11-14 which states:
Jeremiah 29:11-14Amplified Bible (AMP)
11 For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you. 13 Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

We believe and trust in God’s word…right? And His word says that He does have a plan…a good plan for our lives…believe He cries out from heaven to you and I …this whole world of chaos… We are promised a good future and hope amid this hopeless world.

We have this hope that when we seek God...earnestly with our whole body, mind, and soul…He will hear our prayers and answer us. When we cry out from our desert places He will hear and bring us out of those places and into His glorious presence where we were before we entered that land of captivity.

As we seek and find Him and we will find Him, He will restore us. We will have our peace back. We will have our first love back. We will have our joy back. We will have our hope back… When we seek Him, we are never too far away for us to find Him.

This is the hope we proclaim. This is the hope we are called to share. This is the hope that will break down strongholds of the enemy, this is the hope that will heal relationships. This is the hope that causes us to say “Glory!” this is the hope that this town needs…this county needs, this country needs…the world needs! But my question is this. As we share this hope with others…as we bring hope out of our sanctuary into the world, however that may look, does hope happen overnight? The moment we tell others about hope, does hope live in them…immediately? Give time to answer.  Why? Give time to answer again.

Your right, This Living Hope doesn’t just happen overnight…it is sort of like from glory to glory. Hope is birthed in our lives and in our hearts. It is living and breathing in you and me. We want others to have this same Living Hope but the only way for that to happen is for us to plant that seed and pray. Pray like nothing ever before because we live in a world that people lose their hope too easily. But what is their real hope? In the trappings of this world or is it much more than that?

How is something that we can’t see be birthed? What does it look like? Well, Romans 5:1-5 gives us a picture of how hope is born in our hearts. It states that:
Romans 5:1-5Amplified Bible (AMP)
Results of Justification
5 Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our [a]hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power]. And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation]. Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Within this we see that hope is a process… I see it as a “9 step process”. This is what I am proposing to you church. So that we do not lose hope as we go out with joy to share the Gospel, I would like for us to look at the process of a growing of hope. I believe that as we look at each step in the process we are going to be encouraged. Think about it for a moment. We have been praying and praying for someone and we don’t see the hope there. We may have “given up hope” that it would ever happen. What it…an I am going out on a ledge here, as we are looking at the process we suddenly realize that the person we have been praying for is somewhere “in the process” and we never realized it. How would that make you feel? What would you do with your own renewed hope?

We call ourselves “A Hope Giving Church”, and as such, we can’t give up and lose hope on the very ones that are needing us to give them hope…to help them cultivate the hope inside. So, what do you think? Are you in or are you out? Maybe, just maybe, not only will we see others within this process, we might even see ourselves within the process of This Living Hope when we may have lost hope ourselves…individually and as a church. The challenge is out there. Are you going to take it or not?

Let us pray…pray for the Spirit of Hope to be evident in our lives as we go forth in Jesus’ name.

Amen!



edited August 29, 2017
our hope cannot stay hidden – v2
August 29, 2017
our hope cannot stay hidden
August 29, 2017
we are called to witness – 2
August 29, 2017
we each are the witness
edited August 29, 2017
only Christ can redeem us – v2
August 29, 2017
only Christ can redeem us
August 28, 2017
none of us are worthy - 2
August 28, 2017
he told her about Jesus
August 27, 2017
he shared his faith
August 27, 2017
offering her hope
August 27, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
 (Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With Hope”)
“Bearing Hope”
Psalm 138
John 15:1-8 GNT
Philippians 1:9-11 GNT
and sermon, “Hope Bearer…”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
August 27, 2017
&
August 20, 2017
Help me go grow
August 20, 2017
before I gave my life to Christ
edited August 20, 2017
August 20, 2017
I have been you
August 20, 2017
whatever your station
August 20, 2017
slave or free
August 20, 2017
grow there
August 20, 2017
give to them willingly
August 20, 2017
show them compassion
August 20, 2017
offer mercy, grace
August 20, 2017
do not resist them
August 20, 2017
strip them of power
August 20, 2017
may hope find a home
edited August 20, 2017
may hope abide – v2
August 20, 2017
may hope abide
August 20, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
 (Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With Hope”)
“Residing with Hope”
Psalm 133
Luke 3:10-14
1 Corinthians 7:20-24
Jeremiah 29:4-7
and sermon, “Where Hope Resides”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
August 20, 2017
&
August 19, 2017
nurturing hope
edited/ new name August 19, 2017
if the seedling isn’t planted
August 19, 2017
if the seed isn’t planted
August 19, 2017
It is hard to believe
August 19, 2017
Hope begins to sprout and root
edited August 19, 2017
Hope germinates and grows – v2
August 19, 2017
Hope germinates and grows – v1
August 19, 2017
hope is like a seed
August 19, 2017
a flickering of something
edited August 19, 2017
a kernel of hope – v3
edited August 19, 2017
a kernel of hope – v2 (2)
August 19, 2017
a kernel of hope (2)
August 19, 2017
seeds of hope within us
August 13, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With Hope”)
week 4 - “This Living Hope”
Psalm 105:1-6
Mark 4:1-8 NIV
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
John 4:13-14
Zephaniah 3:17
Romans 12:12
Romans 15:4
and sermon, “Nurturing Planted Hope”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
August 13, 2017
&
August 10, 2017
our roots are anchored in Christ
August 10, 2017
we are grounded in Christ
August 10, 2017
our hope is grounded
edited August 6, 2017
we must accept the seed – v3
edited August 6, 2017
we must accept the seed – v2
August 6, 2017
we must accept the seed
edited August 6, 2017
for hope to grow – v2
August 6, 2017
for hope to grow
edited August 6, 2017
Hope is planted – v2
August 6, 2017
Hope is planted
August 6, 2017
the roots going deep
new name/ edited August 6, 2017
the seedlings planted
(editing “the young plants planted”)
August 6, 2017
let your roots grow down
August 6, 2017
cultivate the hope inside
August 6, 2017
plant the seeds of grace
August 6, 2017
plant the seeds of love
August 6, 2017
get them in the ground
edited August 6, 2017
germinated seeds – v2
August 6, 2017
germinated seeds
August 6, 2017
the seed growing
August 6, 2017
living in hope
August 6, 2017
may our hearts be open
edited August 6, 2017
that we might understand – v4
August 6, 2017
the young plants planted
August 6, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With Hope”)
week 3 - “Planting Seeds of Hope”
Mark 4:1-8
Parable of the Sower
Psalm 145:7-8; 14-21
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
Colossians 2:6-8 NLT
Sermon, “Planting Seeds of Hope”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
August 6, 2017
&
August 2, 2017
hidden in our flesh
August 2, 2017
growing in our soil
edited/ new name August 2, 2017
growing in the good soil
August 2, 2017
growing in the ground
August 2, 2017
hidden in the ground
edited August 2, 2017
After the planting – v2
August 1, 2017
We must water and feed
August 1, 2017
Like seeds, like yeast
August 1, 2017
that we might understand – v3
August 1, 2017
we must understand
August 1, 2017
not in riddles but parables
edited July 31, 2017
that we might understand – v2
July 31, 2017
that we might understand
July 31, 2017
we must hear God’s word
edited July 31, 2017
we are seeking, searching – v2
July 31, 2017
We are seeking, searching
July 31, 2017
We have the seed planted
merged July 31, 2017
Before the planting – v2
July 31, 2017
After the planting
July 31, 2017
Before the planting
July 30, 2017
We want to be the good soil
July 30, 2017
we need that hope to work within us
edited July 30, 2017
we must embrace the seeds – v2
July 30, 2017
we must trust in God
edited July 30, 2017
a little more hope – v3
(editing original again)
edited July 30, 2017
we must embrace the seeds
edited July 30, 2017
embrace the seeds
July 30, 2017
embrace the seed
July 30, 2017
hope is alive within us
July 30, 2017
hope planted within us
&
July 29, 2017
we are the soil – v2
July 29, 2017
do we nurture the seed – v2
July 16, 2017
do we nurture the seed
edited July 16, 2017
do we care for the message – v2
July 16, 2017
do we care for the message
July 16, 2017
do we welcome the seed
July 16, 2017
are we the soil
July 16, 2017
we hold the seed
July 16, 2017
we are the sower
July 15, 2017
we are the soil
edited July 15, 2017
held by the thorns – v2
July 15, 2017
held by the thorns
July 15, 2017
choked by the briars
Matthew 13:18-23
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The Upper Room Disciplines for 2017
“The Promise and Work of God’s Word”
July 10, 2017 to July 16, 2017
by John Adcox
devotion for July 15, 2017
read July 15, 2017
&
edited July 29, 2017
a miracle in the seed – v2
July 29, 2017
searching, seeking - 2
July 29, 2017
a miracle in the seed
edited July 29, 2017
seeking treasure – v2
edited July 29, 2017
Finding Treasure – v2
merged/edited July 29, 2017
Seeking treasure, Finding treasure
July 29, 2017
seeking treasure
July 29, 2017
Finding Treasure
Matthew 13:44-52
The Upper Room Disciplines for 2017
“Treasures from God”
July 24, 2017 to July 30, 2017
by Chris Folmsbee
devotion for July 29, 2017
read July 29, 2017
&
July 28, 2017
tiny acts of love
edited July 28, 2017
out of God’s great love – v2
July 28, 2017
the kingdom of God growing
Matthew 13:31-33
The Parables of the Mustard Seed
the Parable of the Yeast
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The Upper Room Disciplines for 2017
“Treasures from God”
July 24, 2017 to July 30, 2017
by Chris Folmsbee
devotion for July 27, 2017
read July 28, 2017
&
edited July 27, 2017
Germinating Seeds of Hope – v2
July 27, 2017
Germinating Seeds of Hope
July 30, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
“A Future With Hope”)
week 2 - “This Living Hope”
opening prayer
video
Psalm 128
Matthew 13:1-9
Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:18-24
Christ explaining the Parable of the Sower
Psalm 139:13-16
Matthew 13:31-33
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the Yeast
prayer before sermon
and Sermon, “Germinating Seeds of Hope”
text:
video:
by Raymond A. Foss
Children’s Message
by Raymond A. Foss
closing prayer
video
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
July 30, 2017
&
edited July 26, 2017
a little more hope – v2
July 26, 2017
a little more hope
July 26, 2017
we are imprisoned by our fears
edited/ new name July 24, 2017
we are strangled by anxiety
July 24, 2017
immobilized by fear
July 24, 2017
freed by hope
July 23, 2017
Hope is Trust
July 23, 2017
why are we so anxious
July 23, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
“A Future With Hope”)
week 1 - “This Living Hope”
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Jeremiah 29:11-14 Amplified Bible
Romans 5:1-5 Amplified Bible
John 3:16-17 Amplified Bible
and Sermon, “This Living Hope”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
July 23, 2017

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, and 2017. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 44,830 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Christ, Spirit, God, Faith, love, grace, hope, prayer, Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, Luke 3, Psalm 138, John 12, Philippians 1, poem, seed, home,

#Christ #God #Spirit #Faith #prayer #love #grace #hope #poem #seed #Luke3 #Psalm138 #John12 #Philippians1

Christ, Spirit, God, Faith, love, grace, hope, prayer, Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, John 3, Jeremiah 29, Romans 5, Psalm 139, disciple, Jesus, sermon,

#Christ #God #Spirit #Faith #prayer #love #grace #John3 #Jeremiah29 #Psalm139 #Romans5 #disciple #hope #Christianhope #poem #sermon

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