August 12, 2018
Worship in the Park
Patten Pioneer Days
Luke 10:25-37 NIV
Psalm 100 NIV
Habakkuk 3:17-19
1
John 3:16-18 The Voice (VOICE)
Community
Prayer for God to speak
through me...
Good
Moring Paten! I have a question for you…in what do you find hope? It can be
hard to find it in the world we live in. There is an aura of hopelessness and
despair around us. How can we keep our hope as we are surrounded by such a
heavy force? Well, hope needs to be cultivated in our lives. And not only that,
we are called to have more than enough so that we can share with others.
Now…I’m going to tell you something that may shock you…hope doesn’t happen
overnight, it’s a process that you go through your whole life until you and I
are called home… But as we begin to have a living hope in us, a light is turned
on in our lives, a bright light. But …how do we hold on to this hope we have?
I
believe that one place we should be able to find hope is within community…that is not always true but as I said…this
is my belief… It is hard when a community…a family has so much despair and
brokenness… But that is when we should ban together not just as God’s people
but as a community on the whole… I am reminded of the Prophet Habakkuk. He too
wrestled with this same question...about hope and where to find it.
He
saw the wicked prosper while the faithful suffered. He saw the pain and sorrow
of the people and needed some answers. So the Prophet decided that he needed to
have a dialog with God about this. I think that his vision he had from God is
one that we too need to hear and experience. In his vision he discovers that
these things were not of God that were happening but of the world in which they
lived. God is always there wanting His people to turn to Him. Then…then they would feel the joy of the
Lord again…if they would turn from their ways and back to the ways of the Lord…
Let
me read for you the last part of Habakkuk’s prayer at the end of his vision. It
gives us hope for each day…it gives us assurance even in the darkest times. It
is found in Habakkuk 3:17-19. Here the words of hope…
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.”
And
where can we find the strength to pray this prayer for ourselves? The 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.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that is all about
itself and not about caring for others…especially if they are different from
us. In the scripture I read this morning from Luke, we hear this bright, young
religious scholar. Now this man knew the Law of Moses. But her was looking for
a loophole. This young man wanted to be able to pick and choose those that he
would associate with and consider his equal. But, Jesus, as always, had a
different “eye sight” than that of the world. These people were from the temple,
religious men. But they lacked one thing, compassion for others…not just those
who were of the “elite” as they were but true compassion for their fellow
man…or woman. That seems to be the state of many churches. Not wanting to
touch those who are different, not to associate with one of those, not wanting
to bind the wounds of the least of these…
(1 John 3:16-18 The
Voice (VOICE)
16 We know what true love looks like
because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives
for our brothers and sisters.
17 If a person owns the kinds of things
we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it
even possible that God’s love lives in him? 18 My
little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it
your true way of life, and live in the
pattern of gracious love.)
What happens
when we extend hope to others? Give time to answer. We end up giving
hope to others. The person who was left on the side of the road to die, he had
no hope at all and his situation got even more hopeless as the others walked
by. But all of the sudden there was a shadow that came across his face as
someone actually stopped to help him. Now it doesn’t tell us who this man is,
but it tells us it was a Sarmatian that stopped to help him. Now the
Samaritan’s were considered low life people that just didn’t fit into society.
They were once “Jews” but they didn’t agree upon where to worship God so they
split from their country men and women and became their own people. (Sound familiar…?)
I think that the point of this is that we are no better than our fellow human
and we need to look out for each other and give hope to one another. However,
that may look.
Some of you may have heard me say that
I am not only appointed to this church but also to this community. In being
such, I am concerned for all of you here, but I am even more concerned with
those out there who are not a part of the sheepfold, Now I am not talking about
just our sheepfold. I am talking about the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd. You
all are part of a sheepfold and are safe behind the gate area. You have a
shepherd that would fight off any bad…fill in the blank…for you. But they are
out there all alone with no one to sit in the gate area and keep them safe.
I have this
analogy that I would like to share with you…why I feel that community is so
vital and important to humanity. You see this is how I see it. Like any
other artisan who puts a piece of themselves in their creation, God too does
the same thing. He created humanity with a little piece of Himself in it.
Now…as we come together in community that piece of the Divine in each of us
connects with that piece of Divine in others. As we connect we are made
stronger. Just think about it…the Divine in you reaching…touching…the Divine in
another… Now you may not feel as if
you have any bit of the Divine within you…you may feel that there is no way God
lives within you…you may feel that you are worth nothing at all…but I am here
to tell you that God doesn’t make junk and that all that God has made is of
sacred worth...God did say when finished creating human kind that it was very
good…it is within community that we find that piece of the creator within the
created… We find peace and we find hope
in community.
We
are works in progress and in being… such, we have room for improvement and
growth…expansion...maybe even a whole renovation project. But know this…there is hope, to be found by you and me.
Where there is hope…there is possibilities…
Church,
we, as Christ followers, cannot give this whole “loving others thing” just lip
service. We need to give it life service. Jesus gave us the example of how to
love others with a radical kind of love. We are called to be the image of Jesus
in the world and that also includes showing His love and compassion. People…Love
is not just a word…it’s a noun and a verb and we need to not be hiding it
because that would be absurd… my word.
Amen
================
edited August 24, 2018
invite the other – v4
edited August 24, 2018
invite the other – v3
edited August 24, 2018
invite the other – v2
August 24, 2018
invite the other
August 23, 2018
part of the family – 2
August 23, 2018
we are not alone - 5
August 23, 2018
a journey into the desert
August 23, 2018
We are Family - 2
edited August 21, 2018
everyone is included – v2
August 20, 2018
everyone is included
August 20, 2018
we are all family
August 19, 2018
Sermon Series - “A Sprout in the Desert”
Week 6
Psalm 111
Mark 3:20-21, 31-35
and sermon: “We Are Family”
video
text
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
8AM Live
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten,
ME
August
19, 2018
&
August 19,
2018
make love real
August 19,
2018
when we help
our neighbor
August 19,
2018
pulling
together - 3
August 19,
2018
a light turned
on
August 19,
2018
reaching
touching
edited August
18, 2018
a spark of
eternity – v2
August 17,
2018
a spark of
eternity
edited August
17, 2018
with each
thread added
edited August
16, 2018
with each cord
added
edited August
16, 2018
we are made
stronger – v2
edited August
16, 2018
bind their
wounds – v2
August 16,
2018
we are made
stronger
edited August
15, 2018
within the
created
August 15,
2018
a piece of the
Creator
August 15,
2018
a piece of the
Divine
August 15,
2018
give hope to
one another
edited August
14, 2018
they lacked
compassion – v2
August 14,
2018
they lacked
compassion
August 14,
2018
they showed no
mercy
August 14,
2018
bind their
wounds
August 13,
2018
look straight
in the mirror
August 13,
2018
compassion for
others
August 13,
2018
we are weak on
our own
August 13,
2018
strength for
the journey - 2
edited August
13, 2018
hear these
words of hope
August 13,
2018
words of hope
- 4
August 13,
2018
hope is a
process
edited August
13, 2018
we must stand
together
(replacing
band with stand)
August 13,
2018
we must band
together
August 13,
2018
our hope in
community
edited August
12, 2018
demons raging
– v2
August 12,
2018
demons raging
August 12, 2018
Patten Pioneer Days
Worship in the Park
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Psalm 100
Luke 10:25-37
Parable of the Good Samaritan
Habakkuk 3:17-19
1 John 3:16-18
and sermon: “Community”
video
text
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
8AM Live
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Worship
in the Park
Patten
Academy Park
Patten,
ME
August
12, 2018
&
August 13, 2017
Patten Pioneer Days
Worship in the Park
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
sermon blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s
Message
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
August 13,
2017
&
August
14, 2016
Patten
Pioneer Days
Worship in the Park (indoors)
Scripture:
Habakkuk 3:17-19
message: “Worship in the Park”
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
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 9, 2015
Patten Pioneer Days
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
======
Patten Pioneer Days
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, 2017, and 2018. All rights are
reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for
usage. See all 47,530 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
Christ, God, grace, hope, love, community, family,
Spirit, forgive, Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church,
prayer, Patten, ME, Patten Pioneer Days, honor, America, forgiveness,
#UMC #God #Christ #love #grace #hope #Methodist #prayer
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