August 13, 2017
Worship in the Park
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series: This Living Hope
(Adapted from Marcia McPhee’s
A Future With
Hope”)
“Planting Seeds of
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
Nurturing Planted
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. Mark, chapter 4, verses 1-8. Listen to the love sonnet of God
for the people of God…This the perfect scripture when we talk about planting
and growing a Living Hope.
As she sat in the bac of the church, trying to remain in the background,
tears began to flow. What she thought had grown cold was beginning to glow…even
if just a little…there seemed to be flicker of something she hadn’t felt for a
long time…hope… She wasn’t sure just what to do now. She had felt lost and
alone for so long that she wasn’t exactly sure what to do next.
After the service, as she was leaving, the pastor stood at the back of the
church, shaking hands, and hugging the congregation as they left. She kind of
stood back so that others could go before her. She wanted a chance to talk with
the pastor without having a lot of people around. She had lived her life alone
and didn’t like people all that much. She knew how they are and how they
operate. She had learned many hard lessons about humanity and wasn’t sure she
wanted to begin another chapter right now.
“Thank you for coming and worshipping with us this morning. My name is
Pastor Roy. What’s your name?” the pastor asked as he shook her hand. Something
about the way he smiled and shook her hand made her believe that he was
actually happy to see her, again, something she hadn’t felt in a long
time…wanted and accepted. “Hi pastor, I was wondering if I could talk with you
for a minute. I know that you may be too busy and I understand that but I just
don’t know what to do.” She said, a little uneasy. “I have all the time in the
world. How about now. Rick can you take over for me here. I need to step away
for a few moments”. “Sure” said this man dressed in just jeans and an old
t-shirt “My pleasure.”
“Let’s talk in my office” pastor Roy said as he began to walk towards his
office in the back. “No right over there would be fine” she said, she wasn’t
completely sure about this person and she was taking no chances. “The song that
the choir was singing…Flawless I think it was. Is that really true or is that
one of those make you feel good thing so you would think you had a snowballs
chance in Hell that you would be accepted by God…excuse the hell thing,” she
asked. Well actually…yah, it really is that simple. When you accept Jesus as
your Savior, He comes in and cleans you up and makes you, well flawless like
the song said,” pastor Roy explained. He could tell that something was
happening within her, something that God was doing in her life.
“I just don’t get it. What you are saying is anyone one can be made
flawless…anyone?” she asked, “I don’t know about that. Some people have done a
lot of bad things in their lives. It is hard to believe that it can all be
forgiven.” she said. “Look why don’t we go down to my office and talk some
more. It would be more comfortable there.” Roy suggested. “No thanks. I just
wanted to ask a couple of questions. Thanks for your time. It was real nice of
you.” She said as she turned to go. “Wait, I wanted to just…” she was gone out
the door. Pastor Roy bent his head and began to pray… “Father God, watch over
that young lady. She is right there on the edge of accepting Your Son. Please
bring her back again so that I, no we as a church, can help her in her search
for You. Amen.”
Good
morning Patten! What gives you hope? We live in a world that seems so hopeless
but what gives you hope? Hope doesn’t happen overnight and it is a process. And
once we have this living hope in us it is as if a light is turned on in our
lives, a bright light. But how do we hold on to this hope we have? 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 if…and I am going out on a wire
here, what if we suddenly realize that the person we have been praying for is
somewhere “in the process” nurturing hope of their own and we never realized
it? What would you do with your own renewed hope?
So
the process of Hope, It is germinated in our lives. Hope is like a seed it
begins to germinate and grow. It begins to sprout and take root. Then it needs
to be planted. Now I know there are
plenty on you out there that knows that if you don’t plant something it will
wither and die.
The girls and I decided
that we wanted to plant sunflower seeds this year. So, we went out and got some
of those giant sunflower seeds. We also got one of those little green houses
where you plant the seeds and after they are grown so much…after they have
germinated and started to grow…we had to plant them in the ground outside. Well
ll went well until it came planting time. I had put them out on the porch and
they never got planted in the ground. They ended up dying because the roots
couldn’t go anywhere (kind of like the seeds in the rocky ground). They needed
to be planted in the ground so that the roots could go down deep into the soil.
If
hope is not planted it is a lot like those poor sunflowers. There is no
grounding…no growth. It is shallow and when trials of life some scorching in it
is dried up and withers…
The
only way to withstand the pressures of life our hope has root itself in good
soil where it receives water…Living Water. When this hope…our hope is grounded
in the good soil of God’s Word and in our Hearts, we are filled with Joy, Love
and Faith. It is in the tilling of the soil…the preparation before planting
that the seeds of love and hope begin to grow and sprout new hope within us and
within those who Go calls us to plant within.
Now
that we have planted the seedlings I can just walk away. Right? Give time to answer. Well why can’t I
just walk away. I’ve done my part so now I can just sit bac and relax until
harvest time…right? Give time to answer.
Plants need to be nurtured. They need food and water to grow. They need
sunlight too to grow.
What
happens if we just plant our hope and do nothing else? Do you think it would be
like the seeds in the good soil or the seeds in one of the other types of
ground in the Mark scripture this morning? Give
time to answer.
Ephesians
3:16-19 tells us what happens as we nurture hope in our lives…as our faith
grows:
16 I pray that out of his
glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your
inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power,
together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
As
we are rooted in the “good soil”, we grow in faith and love. This hope within
us grows as we draw closer to Christ and realize whose we are.
I
think Romans 5 verses 1-5 gives fa pretty god account of how our hope grows. It
reads:
Right with God
5 Now that we have
been put right with God through faith, we have[a]
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 He has brought
us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so
we boast[b] of
the hope we have of sharing God's glory! 3 We also boast[c] of
our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance
brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope. 5 This
hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by
means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.
It
does not disappoint us…It’s a process that’s end product far outweighs the
means of getting there…
We,
ate SMUMC, call ourselves “A Hope Giving Church”, and as such, we will not give
up and lose hope on the very ones that are needing us to give them hope…to help
them nurture the hope inside. We are not here for our own glory but for God’s
glory. Think about it…if no one ever shared their hope with you, would you be
who and where you are now with your walk with God? If you are in need of hope,
you need a place where you can find and cultivate that same hope. What if we
got together and shared our hopes and dreams and help each other along the way.
Maybe…just maybe…there would be a change in our community. Maybe…just maybe…this
community will become a great harvest…one seed at a time…
Rejoice
in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the
power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
The LORD your God is in
your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with
gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud
singing.
Jesus
said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up
to eternal life.”
There is hope to be found
by you and I. Where there is hope…there is possibilities…
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
I have been
you – v2
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2017/08/i-have-been-you-v2.html
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2017/08/i-have-been-you-v2.html
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, Luke 3, Psalm 133, Jeremiah 29, 1 Corinthians
7, Jesus, poem, seed, home, abide,
#Christ #God
#Spirit #Faith #prayer #love #grace #hope #poem #seed #Luke3 #Psalm133 #1Corinthians7
#Jeremiah29 #home #abide
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