Standing by our convictions
what we hold dear
So must we ever claim
the rock of our faith
whatever the cost
to this we must stay true
No matter what men may say
the doubts, the things they may raise
trying to change us from your path
needing to stand upon the rock of our faith
to trust in God and his plan
January 24, 2010 and January 25, 2010
Showing posts with label discern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discern. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Affirmations with the Butterflies
The butterflies, within me
testing my faith
not the whole story
not in the least
Affirmations with the butterflies
from all around the globe
prayers raised for me
something I know in my heart
That my act, my choice
my stepping out in faith
will bear fruit for the kingdom
as I am called to serve
January 12, 2010
testing my faith
not the whole story
not in the least
Affirmations with the butterflies
from all around the globe
prayers raised for me
something I know in my heart
That my act, my choice
my stepping out in faith
will bear fruit for the kingdom
as I am called to serve
January 12, 2010
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Discerning, through the eyes of faith
A question the world cannot answer
blind to a different measure, a calling
from deep within our hearts
a stirring, the still small voice speaking
words they cannot understand
Discerning, the calling of God
the nature of our path, our cross
gifts we have been given
for the service of the Lord
Discerning, through the eyes of faith alone
a far different measure
like the fishermen, Peter, James and John
heeding a different master
when they left their nets, their lives
to travel with the carpenter
fishers of men instead
October 28, 2009
blind to a different measure, a calling
from deep within our hearts
a stirring, the still small voice speaking
words they cannot understand
Discerning, the calling of God
the nature of our path, our cross
gifts we have been given
for the service of the Lord
Discerning, through the eyes of faith alone
a far different measure
like the fishermen, Peter, James and John
heeding a different master
when they left their nets, their lives
to travel with the carpenter
fishers of men instead
October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
How Do We Know
How do we know
when the call is from the Lord
How do we know
when we should
leave our nets and go
Where do we turn
to discern your plan for us
What do we do
when others
question our choice
October 26, 2009
Ephesians 3:20
book, “Walking with Christ Everyday:
365 daily devotions for men”,
http://www.parable.com/parable/item.Walking-with-Christ-Every-Day-for-Men-Devotional.9781583344774.htm
Day 296, “Dream Big”
read 10/23/09
&
Jeremiah 29:11-13
&
what was written of me, in May 1978,
in the Stevens High School class will, where it said
“Ray Foss leaves to become the next John Steinbeck”
when the call is from the Lord
How do we know
when we should
leave our nets and go
Where do we turn
to discern your plan for us
What do we do
when others
question our choice
October 26, 2009
Ephesians 3:20
book, “Walking with Christ Everyday:
365 daily devotions for men”,
http://www.parable.com/parable/item.Walking-with-Christ-Every-Day-for-Men-Devotional.9781583344774.htm
Day 296, “Dream Big”
read 10/23/09
&
Jeremiah 29:11-13
&
what was written of me, in May 1978,
in the Stevens High School class will, where it said
“Ray Foss leaves to become the next John Steinbeck”
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
My Brother
my master, my savior
my brother, the Christ
yoked to my brother
I learn of his love
striving to discern
the work he would give to me
gifts abundant, grace abounding
name above all name
Jesus my Lord
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
my brother, the Christ
yoked to my brother
I learn of his love
striving to discern
the work he would give to me
gifts abundant, grace abounding
name above all name
Jesus my Lord
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
Holy One of God
The singular, holy one of God
so was the wisdom
the urgency of Peter’s response
Christ, the teacher, his master
offering life in the power
the majesty of his words
spirit, words of eternity
bread, wine, water,
the harvest to come
the road to the cross
the vineyard, the fields
walking with the Lord
gaining discernment
step by step
knowing, in part
at whose feet he sat
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
so was the wisdom
the urgency of Peter’s response
Christ, the teacher, his master
offering life in the power
the majesty of his words
spirit, words of eternity
bread, wine, water,
the harvest to come
the road to the cross
the vineyard, the fields
walking with the Lord
gaining discernment
step by step
knowing, in part
at whose feet he sat
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
Understood as Spirit
His life, his presence
the Christ walking the earth
His sacrifice, foretold
told in parables
discerned, within our hearts
only truly understood as spirit
his time on this mortal coil
temporary, transitory
living as flesh and blood
as bread and living water
words of life, the words of spirit
eternal hope, in his days on this path
leading to the cross, to the grave
returning to spirit
so must we all
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
the Christ walking the earth
His sacrifice, foretold
told in parables
discerned, within our hearts
only truly understood as spirit
his time on this mortal coil
temporary, transitory
living as flesh and blood
as bread and living water
words of life, the words of spirit
eternal hope, in his days on this path
leading to the cross, to the grave
returning to spirit
so must we all
August 25, 2009
John 6:63b and John 6:68b
&
John 6:60-63
&
John 6:56-69
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/22/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
Alive Now Daily Reflections for 8/23/09
http://alivenow.upperroom.org/daily-reflections/daily-reflections-for-august-17-23/
&
John 6:56-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 22, 2009
&
John 6:66-69
Upper Room Disciplines for 2009
for August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Calling Him
Calling Him
into our presence
the Lord who is already here
forgetful mortals, feet of clay
help us Lord
in our unbelief
in the limits of our discernment
Here in your church
in this sanctuary
may we have eyes to see
and ears to hear
may we sense your presence
already here.
August 16, 2009
Unison Prayer:
“Creator, Sustainer, Loving God, we have come into
your house to worship you this day in Spirit and in Truth.
We pray that you would be with us, that Your Spirit would
fall down upon us gathered here this morning. We pray
that our worship of You would be pleasing in Your sight.
Speak to us we pray so that we may be guided by
Your still, small voice this day and all the days of our lives.
As we come before Your throne,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, hear our prayer.
Amen.”
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
www.suncookumc.org
Suncook, NH
August 16, 2009
into our presence
the Lord who is already here
forgetful mortals, feet of clay
help us Lord
in our unbelief
in the limits of our discernment
Here in your church
in this sanctuary
may we have eyes to see
and ears to hear
may we sense your presence
already here.
August 16, 2009
Unison Prayer:
“Creator, Sustainer, Loving God, we have come into
your house to worship you this day in Spirit and in Truth.
We pray that you would be with us, that Your Spirit would
fall down upon us gathered here this morning. We pray
that our worship of You would be pleasing in Your sight.
Speak to us we pray so that we may be guided by
Your still, small voice this day and all the days of our lives.
As we come before Your throne,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, hear our prayer.
Amen.”
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
www.suncookumc.org
Suncook, NH
August 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Our Gift
Finding, searching
discerning our gift
the one thing God has for us
our special niche
our unique bit of service
our part of the plan
Listen to God’s calling
the stirring deep within
follow where God will lead
make a difference
where you stand
July 28, 2009
Psalm 92:1-4
Isaiah 43:18-21
Luke 12:54-56
and sermon, “The View from Seven Decades:
The Power and Danger of Paradigms”,
by the Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
July 19, 2009
and
Psalm 100
Luke 4:16-21
Isaiah 43:1-3a
Isaiah 43:18-21
and sermon, “The Power of Vision”,
by the Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
including, The Star Thrower Story by Joel Barker,
inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley,
Suncook United Methodist Church
July 26, 2009
discerning our gift
the one thing God has for us
our special niche
our unique bit of service
our part of the plan
Listen to God’s calling
the stirring deep within
follow where God will lead
make a difference
where you stand
July 28, 2009
Psalm 92:1-4
Isaiah 43:18-21
Luke 12:54-56
and sermon, “The View from Seven Decades:
The Power and Danger of Paradigms”,
by the Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
July 19, 2009
and
Psalm 100
Luke 4:16-21
Isaiah 43:1-3a
Isaiah 43:18-21
and sermon, “The Power of Vision”,
by the Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
including, The Star Thrower Story by Joel Barker,
inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley,
Suncook United Methodist Church
July 26, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sermon - "Reborn, The Spirit Within Us" - given at Advanced Lay Speaker Class, April 18, 2009
Prayer
Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, I pray that You, who gave your Son for our reconciliation with You, would grant me peace and a heart open to Your call this day, so that you may speak through me the words that you would have me share with Your people.
We pray that Your Spirit would grow within us, giving us the strength and faith to persevere though the trials of our lives. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our spirits be pleasing to You our rock and our redeemer, and we pray all of these things in the strong name of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reborn, The Spirit Within Us
Today is Trinity Sunday, so named to celebrate one God in three persons, revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator and Sustainer, Redeemer, and Guide. It is the First Sunday or Ordinary Time, the Season after Pentecost, which ends with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian year, before the start of the beginning of Advent.
Just as we shout, proclaim Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning, just as we are fired by the Flames of Pentecost, there is nothing Ordinary about the Trinity!
The idea of Father, Son, and Spirit, gives a richness to our faith, to help us to comprehend the infinite in more discernible ways. When we call out to God the Father, it is the Spirit within us speaking, crying out to our Father, and when we invoke the name of our redeemer, the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, we are completing the triangle, because he is our brother.
(How awesome it that!)
The scripture passages this morning include some of my favorite pieces of scriptures.
1. In Romans 8:12-17, in his letter to the Romans, Paul proclaims our adoption into God’s family as heirs to the riches of Heaven, to life eternal, with our brother, the risen Lord, Christ Jesus. With a spirit of Adoption, a loving Father taking us into his fold, calling us by name, as he wished from the beginnings of the earth.
2. In Isaiah 6:1-8 One of the bible’s greatest answers to the calling of God, where he said simply, “Here I am; send me!”, which is the title of a poem I wrote.
A prophet answering
the direct call to action
by the Lord God Jehovah
to bring truth to the people
foretell a trial they must face
Whom shall I send?
Here I am; send me!
Oh that we could be so bold, so confident, so faithful, as Abraham, as Isaiah, as Paul, each called by God, each going where God willed.
and
3. We have the words of our Savior, trying to speak to the deaf, trying to show the blind Sanhedrin Nicodemus the revolutionary thought, that we must be reborn, of the Spirit, that the water and the Spirit are needed for a true baptism into the faith, in the wonderful, magnificent passages in John 3:1-17.
What Nicodemus could not even begin to understand, the living Christ in his presence, Isaiah proclaimed, the glory of God’s heavenly court. Can you see it, can you picture the imagery Isaiah’s song creates? Can you visualize the hem of his robe, filling the temple? (pause) I was gifted with a poem, The Hem of the Robe, which reads,
Like shafts of light, woven together;
sheets of flowing luminous light
like a wall of falling water
a curtain of silent thundering rain
so must the hem of his robe have been
filling His Temple on earth
flowing down from his heavenly throne
down from high above
filling the temple with light
Isaiah was redeemed and reborn, by his answer. He was living by the Spirit. Isaiah was reborn, as surely as any who have followed. He was redeemed, reborn of the Spirit.
Isaiah was transformed, not by his action; but by the grace of God. Not justified by the Law; but by confessing his sin, submitting his body, his all, to the voice of God, an indwelling of God’s Spirit within him.
Unlike Nicodemus, the unwise teacher, this member of the Sanhedrin, Isaiah was able to see the throne room of God, was able to gain even a glimpse of the Creator’s glory. Nicodemus was blinded by his station, by the Law. He spoke with the same unclean lips as Isaiah.
Where Isaiah was transformed, changed, his unclean lips burned away… Listen to the words of this poem, Burned Away
A live coal in the grasp
of a six-winged seraph
a burning ember of
a sacrifice
touched to the seer’s lips
sin scorched away
so truth could pour forth
untainted and pure
for the nation of God
Nicodemus, coming to Christ in the dark of night, could not.
Even with the Messiah, the living Word of God, the Son of God speaking truth to power, speaking directly to him, he would not see. He could not understand the truth, revealed to him in the words of Christ in the lesson in the Gospel of John.
Nicodemus could not offer himself; he was not redeemed. He was stuck in his place, in the trap of trying to live, to measure himself with the Law. He could not understand and did not want to lose his position, his authority. To be reborn, of the Spirit, that meant everything of his past was loss, as surely as Paul proclaimed in Philippians 3:7 that, after his encounter with the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, all his gain was viewed as loss.
What Christ was telling him, oh if he could have only understood… I wonder if it is like this poem, written when I read this scripture almost 2 years ago.
He is the one who said it
A minor epiphany
at the dinner table tonight,
reading the devotional
the familiar story, the
wondrous words, of God’s love
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son”
Words that nourish, that uplift
that remind us of the Father,
the parent; But, the context,
the speaker, is the story
This is Jesus proclaiming
the love of God in giving
Himself, to save us
this broken world
by His presence on Earth
without mincing words,
with no sugar coating.
I am here, on his earth
because the father loved, loves
will always love
the living Son,
proclaiming
the Father’s
love
There are so many times in the gospels when Jesus seems to be speaking to “Duh-sciples”. How this conversation must have seemed to him.
Beyond His Ken
Like a professor
explaining theoretical physics
to a wide-eyed preschooler,
so must it have been
the divine and the human
Meaning, full nuanced meaning
lost on the listeners
stuck within the here, the now
understanding only the heard, the seen
Nothing beyond his ken
All of us needing that
singular expert witness,
and repeated instruction
And we, using the scripture from Romans, are each called to be born of the Spirit, to live as Isaiah did, redeemed by the grace of God, our lives turned toward the Father, yoked to the Son, walking, sharing, witnessing, with the power, the authority of those flames of Pentecost that we heralded in worship last week.
Heirs with our brother, to the kingdom of God, called as He was, to listen to the Spirit, indwelling within us.
Oh, I pray that we, that you and I , can answer as boldly as Isaiah when we are called by God the Creator - reborn of the Spirit, living as children of God, as the brothers and sisters of Christ.
Here I am, Send Me!
Amen.
Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, I pray that You, who gave your Son for our reconciliation with You, would grant me peace and a heart open to Your call this day, so that you may speak through me the words that you would have me share with Your people.
We pray that Your Spirit would grow within us, giving us the strength and faith to persevere though the trials of our lives. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our spirits be pleasing to You our rock and our redeemer, and we pray all of these things in the strong name of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reborn, The Spirit Within Us
Today is Trinity Sunday, so named to celebrate one God in three persons, revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator and Sustainer, Redeemer, and Guide. It is the First Sunday or Ordinary Time, the Season after Pentecost, which ends with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian year, before the start of the beginning of Advent.
Just as we shout, proclaim Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning, just as we are fired by the Flames of Pentecost, there is nothing Ordinary about the Trinity!
The idea of Father, Son, and Spirit, gives a richness to our faith, to help us to comprehend the infinite in more discernible ways. When we call out to God the Father, it is the Spirit within us speaking, crying out to our Father, and when we invoke the name of our redeemer, the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, we are completing the triangle, because he is our brother.
(How awesome it that!)
The scripture passages this morning include some of my favorite pieces of scriptures.
1. In Romans 8:12-17, in his letter to the Romans, Paul proclaims our adoption into God’s family as heirs to the riches of Heaven, to life eternal, with our brother, the risen Lord, Christ Jesus. With a spirit of Adoption, a loving Father taking us into his fold, calling us by name, as he wished from the beginnings of the earth.
2. In Isaiah 6:1-8 One of the bible’s greatest answers to the calling of God, where he said simply, “Here I am; send me!”, which is the title of a poem I wrote.
A prophet answering
the direct call to action
by the Lord God Jehovah
to bring truth to the people
foretell a trial they must face
Whom shall I send?
Here I am; send me!
Oh that we could be so bold, so confident, so faithful, as Abraham, as Isaiah, as Paul, each called by God, each going where God willed.
and
3. We have the words of our Savior, trying to speak to the deaf, trying to show the blind Sanhedrin Nicodemus the revolutionary thought, that we must be reborn, of the Spirit, that the water and the Spirit are needed for a true baptism into the faith, in the wonderful, magnificent passages in John 3:1-17.
What Nicodemus could not even begin to understand, the living Christ in his presence, Isaiah proclaimed, the glory of God’s heavenly court. Can you see it, can you picture the imagery Isaiah’s song creates? Can you visualize the hem of his robe, filling the temple? (pause) I was gifted with a poem, The Hem of the Robe, which reads,
Like shafts of light, woven together;
sheets of flowing luminous light
like a wall of falling water
a curtain of silent thundering rain
so must the hem of his robe have been
filling His Temple on earth
flowing down from his heavenly throne
down from high above
filling the temple with light
Isaiah was redeemed and reborn, by his answer. He was living by the Spirit. Isaiah was reborn, as surely as any who have followed. He was redeemed, reborn of the Spirit.
Isaiah was transformed, not by his action; but by the grace of God. Not justified by the Law; but by confessing his sin, submitting his body, his all, to the voice of God, an indwelling of God’s Spirit within him.
Unlike Nicodemus, the unwise teacher, this member of the Sanhedrin, Isaiah was able to see the throne room of God, was able to gain even a glimpse of the Creator’s glory. Nicodemus was blinded by his station, by the Law. He spoke with the same unclean lips as Isaiah.
Where Isaiah was transformed, changed, his unclean lips burned away… Listen to the words of this poem, Burned Away
A live coal in the grasp
of a six-winged seraph
a burning ember of
a sacrifice
touched to the seer’s lips
sin scorched away
so truth could pour forth
untainted and pure
for the nation of God
Nicodemus, coming to Christ in the dark of night, could not.
Even with the Messiah, the living Word of God, the Son of God speaking truth to power, speaking directly to him, he would not see. He could not understand the truth, revealed to him in the words of Christ in the lesson in the Gospel of John.
Nicodemus could not offer himself; he was not redeemed. He was stuck in his place, in the trap of trying to live, to measure himself with the Law. He could not understand and did not want to lose his position, his authority. To be reborn, of the Spirit, that meant everything of his past was loss, as surely as Paul proclaimed in Philippians 3:7 that, after his encounter with the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, all his gain was viewed as loss.
What Christ was telling him, oh if he could have only understood… I wonder if it is like this poem, written when I read this scripture almost 2 years ago.
He is the one who said it
A minor epiphany
at the dinner table tonight,
reading the devotional
the familiar story, the
wondrous words, of God’s love
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son”
Words that nourish, that uplift
that remind us of the Father,
the parent; But, the context,
the speaker, is the story
This is Jesus proclaiming
the love of God in giving
Himself, to save us
this broken world
by His presence on Earth
without mincing words,
with no sugar coating.
I am here, on his earth
because the father loved, loves
will always love
the living Son,
proclaiming
the Father’s
love
There are so many times in the gospels when Jesus seems to be speaking to “Duh-sciples”. How this conversation must have seemed to him.
Beyond His Ken
Like a professor
explaining theoretical physics
to a wide-eyed preschooler,
so must it have been
the divine and the human
Meaning, full nuanced meaning
lost on the listeners
stuck within the here, the now
understanding only the heard, the seen
Nothing beyond his ken
All of us needing that
singular expert witness,
and repeated instruction
And we, using the scripture from Romans, are each called to be born of the Spirit, to live as Isaiah did, redeemed by the grace of God, our lives turned toward the Father, yoked to the Son, walking, sharing, witnessing, with the power, the authority of those flames of Pentecost that we heralded in worship last week.
Heirs with our brother, to the kingdom of God, called as He was, to listen to the Spirit, indwelling within us.
Oh, I pray that we, that you and I , can answer as boldly as Isaiah when we are called by God the Creator - reborn of the Spirit, living as children of God, as the brothers and sisters of Christ.
Here I am, Send Me!
Amen.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Surely Not I
Surely, not I, slyly, smugly
said he who was, who was to betray
As if still not understanding
who it was he was addressing
unable to discern,
a heart hardened by greed,
by his own cause.
Not knowing the truth
of who He was.
Failing to comprehend
ever after his ministry
the purposes of God.
For a few small coins
crucifying our Lord.
April 10, 2009
Holy Thursday service
and service of Tenebrae
Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 9, 2009
Tenebrae – The Service of Shadows
1. THE SHADOW OF BETRAYAL
Matthew 26:20-25
2. THE SHADOW OF INNER AGONY
Luke 22:40-44
3. THE SHADOW OF LONELINESS
Matthew 26:40-45
4. THE SHADOW OF DESERTION
Matthew 26:47-50,55,56
5. THE SHADOW OF ACCUSATION
Matthew 26:59-67
6. THE SHADOW OF MOCKERY
Mark 15:12-20
7. THE SHADOW OF DEATH
Luke 23:33-46
Hymn: Were You There…
FINAL READING
John 1:1-4
said he who was, who was to betray
As if still not understanding
who it was he was addressing
unable to discern,
a heart hardened by greed,
by his own cause.
Not knowing the truth
of who He was.
Failing to comprehend
ever after his ministry
the purposes of God.
For a few small coins
crucifying our Lord.
April 10, 2009
Holy Thursday service
and service of Tenebrae
Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
April 9, 2009
Tenebrae – The Service of Shadows
1. THE SHADOW OF BETRAYAL
Matthew 26:20-25
2. THE SHADOW OF INNER AGONY
Luke 22:40-44
3. THE SHADOW OF LONELINESS
Matthew 26:40-45
4. THE SHADOW OF DESERTION
Matthew 26:47-50,55,56
5. THE SHADOW OF ACCUSATION
Matthew 26:59-67
6. THE SHADOW OF MOCKERY
Mark 15:12-20
7. THE SHADOW OF DEATH
Luke 23:33-46
Hymn: Were You There…
FINAL READING
John 1:1-4
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sermon - "Fire Walker", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, February 22, 2009
Isaiah 43:1-10
New Living Translation
(Video ‘Consuming Fire”)
(Reading of the Scripture from Isaiah New Living Translation)
Prayer:
Holy, Loving, Compassionate, Almighty God…We thank you for Your word. We pray that your Spirit would fall down upon us. We ask for the Spirit of discernment…of knowledge…of wisdom. We pray that we would have ears to hear, eyes to see and a willing spirit as we listen for what you would say to us today. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer. May your message be heard through me or in spite of me. Speak Lord for your servants are listening. Amen.
Have you ever seen the movie “Fire Starter” with Jodie Foster and Kurt Douglas? Boy that was such an action packed movie. It’s a story of a little girl who has this gift…she can start fires with her mind. Everyone wanted to capture her so they could harness her gift for themselves. In one scene…she starts this fire…all you can see is fire all over the place…everything is all ablaze. Then…out of the fire…you see her coming out of the fire. She is not getting burned as she walks through. It’s almost as if the fire itself gave way for her walking through.
This scene in the movie reminds me of the scripture from Isaiah 43 this morning. Walking through fire and not getting burned…walking through the waters and not being overcome by them. I don’t know about you but I have had my share of walking through situations that feel like I am walking through fire. It seemed like every situation around me was a test to see what I would do. And if you are like me…I would rather not have to go through these times in my life. Some have been caused by what I have done and some are caused by what others have done…either way…you feel lost and alone as you go through the fire. You feel as if you will be consumed by the fire from below. You stand there…looking up to heaven…and say, “God…where are you? Why can’t I feel you? I need you! Save me!” But what you hear is silence…hopelessness.
But in the Isaiah passage (and many others) there is hope. In verse five God says, “Do not be afraid…I am with you…” I…am…with you…and not only is God with us but in verse ten God says, “But you are my witnesses…You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God.” We are witnesses, servants and chosen…we have hope! We are precious, honored and loved! Our God is the God of comfort, of compassion, of peace and of hope and joy. There is hope and strength in the Lord our God.
Ok…so may ask…why do we have to go through these trials…why do we have to go through this “Fire Walking 101” any way? What good is it any way? What do these times hope to produce? Well I think I may have figured out a piece of this mystery. We go through this fire so that the things in us that need to be consumed…the things that need to be changed in our lives in order to live it to the fullest…what God had intended for us. This fire also brings us closer to God. We have to rely on God grace and love in order to “make it through to the other side. But when we make it through to the other side…we are not the same…we are closer to the image that God intends for us…what God planned for us since the beginning of time.
Uh…OK…it’s like this…Ray gave me a copy of what he found on the internet about the “Refiners Fire”. There was a story on the web site therefinersfire.org. The story goes something like this,
“Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures, and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." One lady's opinion was that it was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject.
She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her. "But Sir" she said, "do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."
The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had forgotten to mention that the only way that he knows when the process of purifying is complete when he sees his own image reflected in the silver....”
God uses these times…this refining fire of our lives. Through these times our rough edges are smoothed. God allows these times so that we can be made into the image of Christ from glory to glory until God sees His reflection in us…but..not just for His viewing…oh no…others will also see His refection in us. The fire doesn’t consume the masterpiece but the impurities that lay within…below the surface. We are not consumed but this consuming fire brings us closer to our God and creator, and fills us with the Spirit of strength and enables us to withstand even the hottest oven.
Beloved…are you feeling as if you are going through a “Walk in the Fire”? Has life gotten you to the point that you just can’t take the fire anymore? Have the situations in your life got you on the “hot seat”? Take heart in knowing that the Eternal source of Peace is there with you…sitting by the furnace to be sure His masterpiece is not injured or destroyed. Beloved daughter and son…the source of deliverance and help is not far…even when you don’t feel Him there…waiting for the right time so that you may shine as the purest refined silver…to Him be the glory both now and forever.
Let us pray:
Creative source of all being, Almighty God, You who are the creator of all that is good and pleasing…help us, we pray, as we go through the Fires of life. Give us strength and endurance through these times so that we may shine with your image for all the world to see. May we be consumed with a passion for you and your will for our lives. Pour out your Pentecost fire upon us gathered here so that we may be ignited again and able to withstand the fires of this world. Revive us again. We pray this in the name of the perfector of our faith, our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. All honor and glory is yours now and forever.
Amen
New Living Translation
(Video ‘Consuming Fire”)
(Reading of the Scripture from Isaiah New Living Translation)
Prayer:
Holy, Loving, Compassionate, Almighty God…We thank you for Your word. We pray that your Spirit would fall down upon us. We ask for the Spirit of discernment…of knowledge…of wisdom. We pray that we would have ears to hear, eyes to see and a willing spirit as we listen for what you would say to us today. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer. May your message be heard through me or in spite of me. Speak Lord for your servants are listening. Amen.
Have you ever seen the movie “Fire Starter” with Jodie Foster and Kurt Douglas? Boy that was such an action packed movie. It’s a story of a little girl who has this gift…she can start fires with her mind. Everyone wanted to capture her so they could harness her gift for themselves. In one scene…she starts this fire…all you can see is fire all over the place…everything is all ablaze. Then…out of the fire…you see her coming out of the fire. She is not getting burned as she walks through. It’s almost as if the fire itself gave way for her walking through.
This scene in the movie reminds me of the scripture from Isaiah 43 this morning. Walking through fire and not getting burned…walking through the waters and not being overcome by them. I don’t know about you but I have had my share of walking through situations that feel like I am walking through fire. It seemed like every situation around me was a test to see what I would do. And if you are like me…I would rather not have to go through these times in my life. Some have been caused by what I have done and some are caused by what others have done…either way…you feel lost and alone as you go through the fire. You feel as if you will be consumed by the fire from below. You stand there…looking up to heaven…and say, “God…where are you? Why can’t I feel you? I need you! Save me!” But what you hear is silence…hopelessness.
But in the Isaiah passage (and many others) there is hope. In verse five God says, “Do not be afraid…I am with you…” I…am…with you…and not only is God with us but in verse ten God says, “But you are my witnesses…You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God.” We are witnesses, servants and chosen…we have hope! We are precious, honored and loved! Our God is the God of comfort, of compassion, of peace and of hope and joy. There is hope and strength in the Lord our God.
Ok…so may ask…why do we have to go through these trials…why do we have to go through this “Fire Walking 101” any way? What good is it any way? What do these times hope to produce? Well I think I may have figured out a piece of this mystery. We go through this fire so that the things in us that need to be consumed…the things that need to be changed in our lives in order to live it to the fullest…what God had intended for us. This fire also brings us closer to God. We have to rely on God grace and love in order to “make it through to the other side. But when we make it through to the other side…we are not the same…we are closer to the image that God intends for us…what God planned for us since the beginning of time.
Uh…OK…it’s like this…Ray gave me a copy of what he found on the internet about the “Refiners Fire”. There was a story on the web site therefinersfire.org. The story goes something like this,
“Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures, and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." One lady's opinion was that it was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject.
She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her. "But Sir" she said, "do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."
The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had forgotten to mention that the only way that he knows when the process of purifying is complete when he sees his own image reflected in the silver....”
God uses these times…this refining fire of our lives. Through these times our rough edges are smoothed. God allows these times so that we can be made into the image of Christ from glory to glory until God sees His reflection in us…but..not just for His viewing…oh no…others will also see His refection in us. The fire doesn’t consume the masterpiece but the impurities that lay within…below the surface. We are not consumed but this consuming fire brings us closer to our God and creator, and fills us with the Spirit of strength and enables us to withstand even the hottest oven.
Beloved…are you feeling as if you are going through a “Walk in the Fire”? Has life gotten you to the point that you just can’t take the fire anymore? Have the situations in your life got you on the “hot seat”? Take heart in knowing that the Eternal source of Peace is there with you…sitting by the furnace to be sure His masterpiece is not injured or destroyed. Beloved daughter and son…the source of deliverance and help is not far…even when you don’t feel Him there…waiting for the right time so that you may shine as the purest refined silver…to Him be the glory both now and forever.
Let us pray:
Creative source of all being, Almighty God, You who are the creator of all that is good and pleasing…help us, we pray, as we go through the Fires of life. Give us strength and endurance through these times so that we may shine with your image for all the world to see. May we be consumed with a passion for you and your will for our lives. Pour out your Pentecost fire upon us gathered here so that we may be ignited again and able to withstand the fires of this world. Revive us again. We pray this in the name of the perfector of our faith, our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. All honor and glory is yours now and forever.
Amen
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sermon - "Righteous Say When", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, January 25, 2009
Matthew 25:31-40
The Message Bible
A reading from the gospel according to Matthew…it is the parable of the Sheep and the Goats: (I am reading from the Message Bible this morning)
The Sheep and the Goats
31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
I would ask that you would pray with me…Loving Creator, Almighty God…you who poured out your Spirit on the day of Pentecost. I ask that you would again pour out your Spirit on all of us gathered here today. By the power of your Spirit may we discern what it is that you would have us hear this morning. May your message be heard through me or in-spite of me. May the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be pleasing to you oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
Have you ever noticed (Like Huntley has mentioned before) that Jesus talks in parables so that we ordinary people can understand. These parables make us think of our lives and how these parables are much like what we are going through…are doing…are thinking…or even what we are seeing around us. When I read the Scripture from Matthew this morning…the first thought that came to mind was the Suncook United Methodist Church. It made me think “I am glad that I am shepherding sheep rather than goats!” Don’t get me wrong…we all have those times when we are like the goats…times when we think of self first…times we don’t see the suffering and hurt around us…but for the most part…I see this church more like sheep. (Amen!)
When I read…I was hungry you fed me…it made me think of the Our Families Table. You reach out to those around you with a hot meal…fellowship…and love. When I read…I was thirsty and you gave me a drink…I thought about how you open the doors to all who thirst for Christ in their lives…how you welcome all who enter these doors as if they have been coming here for a life time. They are welcomed with the love of Christ. If I met anyone thirsts for Christ in their lives…I would direct them to 152 Main Street in Suncook, NH where the love of Christ overflows to all who enter there. When I read…I was homeless and you gave me a room…it made me think about how this church opens their doors to people who may not have anyplace else to go. You have NA and AA Meetings each week, there is a Daisy Scout Troop who meets here every other Tuesday, there is a CAPS Meeting every fourth Tuesday of the month…the list goes on. The part about being sick and you stopped to visit me made me think about how much you love and care for each other here. If someone is missing from the flock…you make sure that someone calls or visits them, when they are in the hospital…you visit them…if they are home bound…you make sure they get a bulletin and a copy of the sermon.
The last part….when I was in prison you came to me…made me stop and think. When I was in Prison you came to me… I want you to imagine with me this morning (I know it’s early but I’ll talk you through it). You are sitting in a jail cell…no one seems to care about you. You know that you have done wrong but that doesn’t make you worthless. You want to make the changes you need in life but you just don’t know where to start. You feel lost and alone…maybe even angry about life. You don’t know anything about the power of forgiveness that can be found in our Lord Jesus Christ…heck…you can’t even forgive yourself never mind someone else for giving you. You may be thinking that you are too bad…you have done too much wrong in your life to be forgiven by Jesus. These types of thought and feelings happen every day in the lives of prisoners. They live with guilt and self hatred…hey live with the feeling of being worthless.
You may be asking yourself “What can be done to help change their lives around? How can they hear the Gospel of Grace? How can they see there is a better way?” I am glad that you asked these questions…it shows you are thinking “out of the boat.” Well…I can tell you, from experience that we can reach those who think they are unreachable and help them on the road to recovery. About four years ago, when I was at Wesley UMC, I heard the call to reach out to those who are behind bars in prison. As I began this ministry I learned that they not only were behind physical bars but they were also behind those invisible bars that we put in place ourselves.
I was working with the women at the Shea Farm Half-Way House out on Iron Works Road in Concord. I began by teaching Bible Study to them…I believe it was the Sisters Bible study that teaches how to apply Scripture to the everyday life of women…it started out with only two or three women but quickly grew into a class of ten. What made this study grow? What was it they were getting out of it that made them spread the word about the study I was teaching? Well…I actually asked these questions to these women and the answer I got gave me great joy and also humbled me. The great joy part was that they wanted to hear more about how to apply scripture to their lives so that they could make a change for the better. They were beginning to understand that God has a purpose in their life and it was a lot better than the life that they believed that they were destined to live. The humbling part was that I was the teacher and how they felt about me. They felt that I was there not to judge them but to help them…they knew that I would sit and listen to them as they told their stories and give them some glimmer of hope in my reply to them. They felt as if Christ was speaking to them, through me, and felt His presence each time we met. (Boy…how humbling is that…and a little scary too. I was there as Christ’s Ambassador and they were seeing Christ in me…I thought “boy, I better not mess this one up!” I knew the only way to reach them was to let Christ rule over the study…not me)
At another time, over the last 4 years, I taught a Recovery Bible Study with the women there. As we began to study and share stories of our lives, the Holy Spirit did an extraordinary thing (But then again…I am awe struck…all the time…at how the Spirit works in human beings), they began to see the places in their hearts…in their souls…that needed mending…that needed to touch the garment of Jesus Christ and be healed. They looked forward to our meetings each week and if I was not there for some reason, they began to meet with each other anyway. If I was sick or one of my children were sick, they prayed for me or my children. (Something they didn’t do before. They were beginning to become a congregation of people not just “Lone Rangers”). Jesus met them…right where they were…and began the healing process with them. Some of them even began to come to church and join Wesley when they reached the point that they could go out into the community with a curfew on when they needed to be back at the house. If someone hadn’t gone to visit them while in prison who knows where they would be now? Don’t get me wrong…some turn back to what they were doing before the studies (they had what some call “jailhouse religion.” They are all religious while they are in jail but as soon as they get out they set it aside and forget about it.) But there were some who continued to follow Christ and make the changes they needed to in their life.
I was in prison and you came to me…I have just been recertified for entrance into the prison system. I have been asked to do some one-on-one with the inmates not only at the Shea Farm but also those who are still in the “prison” with the “big walls”, as well as bible study with them (no that doesn’t mean that I am leaving Suncook. This is my “allegiance” lies) you see…this is one of the passions God has given me. It is not easy work but it has its own rewards. Jesus said to His Disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” These men and women need our help, they need our prayers, and without them they may just never hear the Gospel of Christ. My question for you today is this…is there a Spirits prompting for you to go out in the vineyard? Are there gifts and talents that you have that you could share with these men and women…these other sheep that have wandered from the sheepfold? Listen…do you hear a voice on the wind calling you to action? If so…consider spending some time with these “goats” to help then become the sheep that God has intended them to be all along.
Amen.
The Message Bible
A reading from the gospel according to Matthew…it is the parable of the Sheep and the Goats: (I am reading from the Message Bible this morning)
The Sheep and the Goats
31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
I would ask that you would pray with me…Loving Creator, Almighty God…you who poured out your Spirit on the day of Pentecost. I ask that you would again pour out your Spirit on all of us gathered here today. By the power of your Spirit may we discern what it is that you would have us hear this morning. May your message be heard through me or in-spite of me. May the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be pleasing to you oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
Have you ever noticed (Like Huntley has mentioned before) that Jesus talks in parables so that we ordinary people can understand. These parables make us think of our lives and how these parables are much like what we are going through…are doing…are thinking…or even what we are seeing around us. When I read the Scripture from Matthew this morning…the first thought that came to mind was the Suncook United Methodist Church. It made me think “I am glad that I am shepherding sheep rather than goats!” Don’t get me wrong…we all have those times when we are like the goats…times when we think of self first…times we don’t see the suffering and hurt around us…but for the most part…I see this church more like sheep. (Amen!)
When I read…I was hungry you fed me…it made me think of the Our Families Table. You reach out to those around you with a hot meal…fellowship…and love. When I read…I was thirsty and you gave me a drink…I thought about how you open the doors to all who thirst for Christ in their lives…how you welcome all who enter these doors as if they have been coming here for a life time. They are welcomed with the love of Christ. If I met anyone thirsts for Christ in their lives…I would direct them to 152 Main Street in Suncook, NH where the love of Christ overflows to all who enter there. When I read…I was homeless and you gave me a room…it made me think about how this church opens their doors to people who may not have anyplace else to go. You have NA and AA Meetings each week, there is a Daisy Scout Troop who meets here every other Tuesday, there is a CAPS Meeting every fourth Tuesday of the month…the list goes on. The part about being sick and you stopped to visit me made me think about how much you love and care for each other here. If someone is missing from the flock…you make sure that someone calls or visits them, when they are in the hospital…you visit them…if they are home bound…you make sure they get a bulletin and a copy of the sermon.
The last part….when I was in prison you came to me…made me stop and think. When I was in Prison you came to me… I want you to imagine with me this morning (I know it’s early but I’ll talk you through it). You are sitting in a jail cell…no one seems to care about you. You know that you have done wrong but that doesn’t make you worthless. You want to make the changes you need in life but you just don’t know where to start. You feel lost and alone…maybe even angry about life. You don’t know anything about the power of forgiveness that can be found in our Lord Jesus Christ…heck…you can’t even forgive yourself never mind someone else for giving you. You may be thinking that you are too bad…you have done too much wrong in your life to be forgiven by Jesus. These types of thought and feelings happen every day in the lives of prisoners. They live with guilt and self hatred…hey live with the feeling of being worthless.
You may be asking yourself “What can be done to help change their lives around? How can they hear the Gospel of Grace? How can they see there is a better way?” I am glad that you asked these questions…it shows you are thinking “out of the boat.” Well…I can tell you, from experience that we can reach those who think they are unreachable and help them on the road to recovery. About four years ago, when I was at Wesley UMC, I heard the call to reach out to those who are behind bars in prison. As I began this ministry I learned that they not only were behind physical bars but they were also behind those invisible bars that we put in place ourselves.
I was working with the women at the Shea Farm Half-Way House out on Iron Works Road in Concord. I began by teaching Bible Study to them…I believe it was the Sisters Bible study that teaches how to apply Scripture to the everyday life of women…it started out with only two or three women but quickly grew into a class of ten. What made this study grow? What was it they were getting out of it that made them spread the word about the study I was teaching? Well…I actually asked these questions to these women and the answer I got gave me great joy and also humbled me. The great joy part was that they wanted to hear more about how to apply scripture to their lives so that they could make a change for the better. They were beginning to understand that God has a purpose in their life and it was a lot better than the life that they believed that they were destined to live. The humbling part was that I was the teacher and how they felt about me. They felt that I was there not to judge them but to help them…they knew that I would sit and listen to them as they told their stories and give them some glimmer of hope in my reply to them. They felt as if Christ was speaking to them, through me, and felt His presence each time we met. (Boy…how humbling is that…and a little scary too. I was there as Christ’s Ambassador and they were seeing Christ in me…I thought “boy, I better not mess this one up!” I knew the only way to reach them was to let Christ rule over the study…not me)
At another time, over the last 4 years, I taught a Recovery Bible Study with the women there. As we began to study and share stories of our lives, the Holy Spirit did an extraordinary thing (But then again…I am awe struck…all the time…at how the Spirit works in human beings), they began to see the places in their hearts…in their souls…that needed mending…that needed to touch the garment of Jesus Christ and be healed. They looked forward to our meetings each week and if I was not there for some reason, they began to meet with each other anyway. If I was sick or one of my children were sick, they prayed for me or my children. (Something they didn’t do before. They were beginning to become a congregation of people not just “Lone Rangers”). Jesus met them…right where they were…and began the healing process with them. Some of them even began to come to church and join Wesley when they reached the point that they could go out into the community with a curfew on when they needed to be back at the house. If someone hadn’t gone to visit them while in prison who knows where they would be now? Don’t get me wrong…some turn back to what they were doing before the studies (they had what some call “jailhouse religion.” They are all religious while they are in jail but as soon as they get out they set it aside and forget about it.) But there were some who continued to follow Christ and make the changes they needed to in their life.
I was in prison and you came to me…I have just been recertified for entrance into the prison system. I have been asked to do some one-on-one with the inmates not only at the Shea Farm but also those who are still in the “prison” with the “big walls”, as well as bible study with them (no that doesn’t mean that I am leaving Suncook. This is my “allegiance” lies) you see…this is one of the passions God has given me. It is not easy work but it has its own rewards. Jesus said to His Disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” These men and women need our help, they need our prayers, and without them they may just never hear the Gospel of Christ. My question for you today is this…is there a Spirits prompting for you to go out in the vineyard? Are there gifts and talents that you have that you could share with these men and women…these other sheep that have wandered from the sheepfold? Listen…do you hear a voice on the wind calling you to action? If so…consider spending some time with these “goats” to help then become the sheep that God has intended them to be all along.
Amen.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Sermon - "We Are One", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, November 9, 2008
Acts 15: 1-19
Have any of you ever pledged a Sorority or a Fraternity while you were in College? I have…boy, I had to go through so many tests and initiation in order to be part of the “group”. I had to pass all of their tests that they gave me or I would not be able to be part of this “esteemed” group of people. I look back now and think to myself how dumb all the things were that I had to go through and in the end I was no better than anyone else. Well…in some churches today…you are not accepted unless you are part of the group. In some churches…you can’t take part in the Lords Supper unless you are part of the congregation…or you have to be baptized as an adult in order to take part in the feast that was laid out for all who believe. This is not the way it should be. We all receive the grace and love of God…We are all able to receive the Spirit that guides us…We are all able to receive the redemption and salvation that is given through our Lord Jesus Christ. So…what happened…why is there so much religiosity in the church. Well…this problem is not a new one. Acts 15:1-19 shows us that the problem has been around for a long time.
In Acts 15:1-19…there is trouble amongst the saved, there is a scuttlebutt within the church…and it takes a time of “Holy Conferencing” to discern how one is saved. The passage reads (and I’m reading from the Message Bible): (read scripture)
Peter and James knew the truth…they were with Jesus and learned from Him. They knew exactly what He meant…Jesus came for all…He came to offer salvation to ALL who believe. The only difference between “us and them” (meaning the unsaved) is that we are forgiven and redeemed. We can’t tell a person’s heart or change what God has done. We can’t make up our own rules to be followed. God made the rules and stamped them with His final approval. Just because, at some time in the churches history, some people got together and decided that they would make special rules for their “denomination” because of how they interpreted the Bible it doesn’t make it right. You can’t change the words…they are eternal and forever alive; it is that living water to our souls. Jesus came so that we “ALL MAY BE SAVED”.
We need to open the doors to all of God’s children (and we are ALL God’s children). We need to set aside our differences, as the redeemed, and work together as one body in unity to further the Kingdom of God here on earth. We all need to realize that being a Christian doesn’t make us perfect but makes us saved through the blood of Jesus. “We Are One”…and together we will make a difference but alone we will only affect those in our “elite” group. Which would you rather do?
I would like to share with you a poem that really hits the nail on the head about how we should feel and act as Christians. It is by Maya Angelou and it is called Beautiful Christian Sister but I believe that it also goes for our brothers in Christ as well. It reads:
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not shouting 'I'm clean livin,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm
found and forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I
don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ
to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His
strength to carry on.
When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm
not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to
clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I
am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still
feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His
name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received
God's good grace, somehow!
May we always remember who we are, where we came from and our true purpose to bring others into the sheepfold of Christ. Not by our rules but by the rules that stand the test of time.
AMEN
Have any of you ever pledged a Sorority or a Fraternity while you were in College? I have…boy, I had to go through so many tests and initiation in order to be part of the “group”. I had to pass all of their tests that they gave me or I would not be able to be part of this “esteemed” group of people. I look back now and think to myself how dumb all the things were that I had to go through and in the end I was no better than anyone else. Well…in some churches today…you are not accepted unless you are part of the group. In some churches…you can’t take part in the Lords Supper unless you are part of the congregation…or you have to be baptized as an adult in order to take part in the feast that was laid out for all who believe. This is not the way it should be. We all receive the grace and love of God…We are all able to receive the Spirit that guides us…We are all able to receive the redemption and salvation that is given through our Lord Jesus Christ. So…what happened…why is there so much religiosity in the church. Well…this problem is not a new one. Acts 15:1-19 shows us that the problem has been around for a long time.
In Acts 15:1-19…there is trouble amongst the saved, there is a scuttlebutt within the church…and it takes a time of “Holy Conferencing” to discern how one is saved. The passage reads (and I’m reading from the Message Bible): (read scripture)
Peter and James knew the truth…they were with Jesus and learned from Him. They knew exactly what He meant…Jesus came for all…He came to offer salvation to ALL who believe. The only difference between “us and them” (meaning the unsaved) is that we are forgiven and redeemed. We can’t tell a person’s heart or change what God has done. We can’t make up our own rules to be followed. God made the rules and stamped them with His final approval. Just because, at some time in the churches history, some people got together and decided that they would make special rules for their “denomination” because of how they interpreted the Bible it doesn’t make it right. You can’t change the words…they are eternal and forever alive; it is that living water to our souls. Jesus came so that we “ALL MAY BE SAVED”.
We need to open the doors to all of God’s children (and we are ALL God’s children). We need to set aside our differences, as the redeemed, and work together as one body in unity to further the Kingdom of God here on earth. We all need to realize that being a Christian doesn’t make us perfect but makes us saved through the blood of Jesus. “We Are One”…and together we will make a difference but alone we will only affect those in our “elite” group. Which would you rather do?
I would like to share with you a poem that really hits the nail on the head about how we should feel and act as Christians. It is by Maya Angelou and it is called Beautiful Christian Sister but I believe that it also goes for our brothers in Christ as well. It reads:
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not shouting 'I'm clean livin,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm
found and forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I
don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ
to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His
strength to carry on.
When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm
not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to
clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I
am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still
feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His
name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm
not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received
God's good grace, somehow!
May we always remember who we are, where we came from and our true purpose to bring others into the sheepfold of Christ. Not by our rules but by the rules that stand the test of time.
AMEN
Sermon - "It's Not the Size That Matters", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, September 14, 2008
Acts 3:1-10
Have you ever gotten a gift for someone and thought it was just a little something that you bought because you were thinking of them or gave them something they needed and you knew that without you buying it for them, they never would have gotten it on their own? You may have thought it was something that was in significant but when you gave it to them it was as if you gave them the world. Or…have you ever done something for someone…just because you know it would help them…and their reaction is as if you solved the world hunger problem?
I remember once when Shanequa lost her favorite blanket she sleeps with. She had looked everywhere for this blanket. She came to me with tears in her eyes and exclaimed “Blanky is lost and I can’t find her!” Well…I went into her room and searched with her for her beloved blanket. When I finally found it…after what seemed to be forever, remember…she is distraught and crying the whole time…it was if I had given her the moon. I all of the sudden became “Super Mom”. You see…it’s the little things that count in life. You may not have a lot of money but you do what you can. It’s not the size that matters but the reason…the agenda…behind it.
As we have embarked on our journey of discerning God’s plan for our church, we are looking at the church in Acts…the first church. We are looking at the beginnings of a new and radical way of life. When the church first began, they didn’t have a lot of money. They were men (and women) that went around doing good and preaching the Gospel of Peace. Our question, as a church, is how did they cause the church to grow?
What did they do when they had meager resources? They weren’t like the Mega churches we have today. They didn’t have a lot to give but what did they have that attracted the masses? How can we get “back to the basics” that the church was founded on?
Well…in the reading from Acts this morning, we see what Peter and John did in order to reach out to those around them with the love of Christ. This man, who was crippled from birth, was brought to the temple gate called beautiful every morning to beg for a handout so that he could sustain himself. The story doesn’t tell us how old this man was so we don’t really know how long he had been doing this. All we know is that he was crippled from birth. Now when the two disciples came to the temple, the man began to beg from them. Peter and John had no money…they had no discretionary fund that they could draw from…so they gave this man what they did have.
They gave him healing in the name of Jesus Christ. And what did the man do? He walked and jumped and praised God the whole way to the temple as he followed the disciples. The only thing these men had they gave him and he did “back flips” when he received this irreplaceable gift. The man wanted money to sustain himself but Peter and John gave him what he needed. He needed the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to be healed not just money to get by. And this is not the first time when something that was given was small and it became something big. Remember the little boy with the two loaves and five fish. He gave what he had, although it was meager, and it fed 5,000 men plus women and children. Jesus went around giving what some may have called meager at the moment and created miracles that changed lives forever. He offered prayer and healing to not only heal the body but to heal the soul within.
The story from Acts reminds me of myself and how I may feel in life…you too may also feel this at times. There are times that I think that what I have to give is not enough only to find that what I have is exactly what is needed. It may be an ear to listen…or maybe to just sit quietly with someone with neither of us saying a word, just to be present with them. Or it may be just…as I call it…a random act of kindness. Things like holding open a door for someone or letting someone who has a few things go ahead of me in the grocery line. It doesn’t matter…it’s the little things that convey the love of Christ (as long as it’s for His agenda and not our own).
We here at Suncook may not be a Mega church but the little things that we do is what draws people to our Risen Lord. We reach out with our “meagerness” and touch the lives around us. We reach out through Our Families Table, offering a meal to those who may not have one. We reach out to those around us through our Vacation Bible School; it may not be as large as the bigger churches but the children (and the adults) have a great time learning about God. We reach out to those around us by the way we greet them at the door, how we let them know all are welcome. Our church has begun to grow just by our “meagerness”. It’s not the size that grows the church; it’s the agenda…the reasoning…behind their efforts. If you ask me…there is no such thing as meager when it comes to the Kingdom of God because when you stack one small thing on top of another…just as the first church in Acts did when they pooled their meager resources to help others...it becomes something that you never imagined it could be on its own.
AMEN
Have you ever gotten a gift for someone and thought it was just a little something that you bought because you were thinking of them or gave them something they needed and you knew that without you buying it for them, they never would have gotten it on their own? You may have thought it was something that was in significant but when you gave it to them it was as if you gave them the world. Or…have you ever done something for someone…just because you know it would help them…and their reaction is as if you solved the world hunger problem?
I remember once when Shanequa lost her favorite blanket she sleeps with. She had looked everywhere for this blanket. She came to me with tears in her eyes and exclaimed “Blanky is lost and I can’t find her!” Well…I went into her room and searched with her for her beloved blanket. When I finally found it…after what seemed to be forever, remember…she is distraught and crying the whole time…it was if I had given her the moon. I all of the sudden became “Super Mom”. You see…it’s the little things that count in life. You may not have a lot of money but you do what you can. It’s not the size that matters but the reason…the agenda…behind it.
As we have embarked on our journey of discerning God’s plan for our church, we are looking at the church in Acts…the first church. We are looking at the beginnings of a new and radical way of life. When the church first began, they didn’t have a lot of money. They were men (and women) that went around doing good and preaching the Gospel of Peace. Our question, as a church, is how did they cause the church to grow?
What did they do when they had meager resources? They weren’t like the Mega churches we have today. They didn’t have a lot to give but what did they have that attracted the masses? How can we get “back to the basics” that the church was founded on?
Well…in the reading from Acts this morning, we see what Peter and John did in order to reach out to those around them with the love of Christ. This man, who was crippled from birth, was brought to the temple gate called beautiful every morning to beg for a handout so that he could sustain himself. The story doesn’t tell us how old this man was so we don’t really know how long he had been doing this. All we know is that he was crippled from birth. Now when the two disciples came to the temple, the man began to beg from them. Peter and John had no money…they had no discretionary fund that they could draw from…so they gave this man what they did have.
They gave him healing in the name of Jesus Christ. And what did the man do? He walked and jumped and praised God the whole way to the temple as he followed the disciples. The only thing these men had they gave him and he did “back flips” when he received this irreplaceable gift. The man wanted money to sustain himself but Peter and John gave him what he needed. He needed the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to be healed not just money to get by. And this is not the first time when something that was given was small and it became something big. Remember the little boy with the two loaves and five fish. He gave what he had, although it was meager, and it fed 5,000 men plus women and children. Jesus went around giving what some may have called meager at the moment and created miracles that changed lives forever. He offered prayer and healing to not only heal the body but to heal the soul within.
The story from Acts reminds me of myself and how I may feel in life…you too may also feel this at times. There are times that I think that what I have to give is not enough only to find that what I have is exactly what is needed. It may be an ear to listen…or maybe to just sit quietly with someone with neither of us saying a word, just to be present with them. Or it may be just…as I call it…a random act of kindness. Things like holding open a door for someone or letting someone who has a few things go ahead of me in the grocery line. It doesn’t matter…it’s the little things that convey the love of Christ (as long as it’s for His agenda and not our own).
We here at Suncook may not be a Mega church but the little things that we do is what draws people to our Risen Lord. We reach out with our “meagerness” and touch the lives around us. We reach out through Our Families Table, offering a meal to those who may not have one. We reach out to those around us through our Vacation Bible School; it may not be as large as the bigger churches but the children (and the adults) have a great time learning about God. We reach out to those around us by the way we greet them at the door, how we let them know all are welcome. Our church has begun to grow just by our “meagerness”. It’s not the size that grows the church; it’s the agenda…the reasoning…behind their efforts. If you ask me…there is no such thing as meager when it comes to the Kingdom of God because when you stack one small thing on top of another…just as the first church in Acts did when they pooled their meager resources to help others...it becomes something that you never imagined it could be on its own.
AMEN
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sermon, "It’s Not the Size That Matters", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, September 14, 2008
Acts 3:1-10
Have you ever gotten a gift for someone and thought it was just a little something that you bought because you were thinking of them or gave them something they needed and you knew that without you buying it for them, they never would have gotten it on their own? You may have thought it was something that was in significant but when you gave it to them it was as if you gave them the world. Or…have you ever done something for someone…just because you know it would help them…and their reaction is as if you solved the world hunger problem?
I remember once when Shanequa lost her favorite blanket she sleeps with. She had looked everywhere for this blanket. She came to me with tears in her eyes and exclaimed “Blanky is lost and I can’t find her!” Well…I went into her room and searched with her for her beloved blanket. When I finally found it…after what seemed to be forever, remember…she is distraught and crying the whole time…it was if I had given her the moon. I all of the sudden became “Super Mom”. You see…it’s the little things that count in life. You may not have a lot of money but you do what you can. It’s not the size that matters but the reason…the agenda…behind it.
As we have embarked on our journey of discerning God’s plan for our church, we are looking at the church in Acts…the first church. We are looking at the beginnings of a new and radical way of life. When the church first began, they didn’t have a lot of money. They were men (and women) that went around doing good and preaching the Gospel of Peace. Our question, as a church, is how did they cause the church to grow?
What did they do when they had meager resources? They weren’t like the Mega churches we have today. They didn’t have a lot to give but what did they have that attracted the masses? How can we get “back to the basics” that the church was founded on?
Well…in the reading from Acts this morning, we see what Peter and John did in order to reach out to those around them with the love of Christ. This man, who was crippled from birth, was brought to the temple gate called beautiful every morning to beg for a handout so that he could sustain himself. The story doesn’t tell us how old this man was so we don’t really know how long he had been doing this. All we know is that he was crippled from birth. Now when the two disciples came to the temple, the man began to beg from them. Peter and John had no money…they had no discretionary fund that they could draw from…so they gave this man what they did have.
They gave him healing in the name of Jesus Christ. And what did the man do? He walked and jumped and praised God the whole way to the temple as he followed the disciples. The only thing these men had they gave him and he did “back flips” when he received this irreplaceable gift. The man wanted money to sustain himself but Peter and John gave him what he needed. He needed the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to be healed not just money to get by. And this is not the first time when something that was given was small and it became something big. Remember the little boy with the two loaves and five fish. He gave what he had, although it was meager, and it fed 5,000 men plus women and children. Jesus went around giving what some may have called meager at the moment and created miracles that changed lives forever. He offered prayer and healing to not only heal the body but to heal the soul within.
The story from Acts reminds me of myself and how I may feel in life…you too may also feel this at times. There are times that I think that what I have to give is not enough only to find that what I have is exactly what is needed. It may be an ear to listen…or maybe to just sit quietly with someone with neither of us saying a word, just to be present with them. Or it may be just…as I call it…a random act of kindness. Things like holding open a door for someone or letting someone who has a few things go ahead of me in the grocery line. It doesn’t matter…it’s the little things that convey the love of Christ (as long as it’s for His agenda and not our own).
We here at Suncook may not be a Mega church but the little things that we do is what draws people to our Risen Lord. We reach out with our “meagerness” and touch the lives around us. We reach out through Our Families Table, offering a meal to those who may not have one. We reach out to those around us through our Vacation Bible School; it may not be as large as the bigger churches but the children (and the adults) have a great time learning about God. We reach out to those around us by the way we greet them at the door, how we let them know all are welcome. Our church has begun to grow just by our “meagerness”. It’s not the size that grows the church; it’s the agenda…the reasoning…behind their efforts. If you ask me…there is no such thing as meager when it comes to the Kingdom of God because when you stack one small thing on top of another…just as the first church in Acts did when they pooled their meager resources to help others...it becomes something that you never imagined it could be on its own.
AMEN
Have you ever gotten a gift for someone and thought it was just a little something that you bought because you were thinking of them or gave them something they needed and you knew that without you buying it for them, they never would have gotten it on their own? You may have thought it was something that was in significant but when you gave it to them it was as if you gave them the world. Or…have you ever done something for someone…just because you know it would help them…and their reaction is as if you solved the world hunger problem?
I remember once when Shanequa lost her favorite blanket she sleeps with. She had looked everywhere for this blanket. She came to me with tears in her eyes and exclaimed “Blanky is lost and I can’t find her!” Well…I went into her room and searched with her for her beloved blanket. When I finally found it…after what seemed to be forever, remember…she is distraught and crying the whole time…it was if I had given her the moon. I all of the sudden became “Super Mom”. You see…it’s the little things that count in life. You may not have a lot of money but you do what you can. It’s not the size that matters but the reason…the agenda…behind it.
As we have embarked on our journey of discerning God’s plan for our church, we are looking at the church in Acts…the first church. We are looking at the beginnings of a new and radical way of life. When the church first began, they didn’t have a lot of money. They were men (and women) that went around doing good and preaching the Gospel of Peace. Our question, as a church, is how did they cause the church to grow?
What did they do when they had meager resources? They weren’t like the Mega churches we have today. They didn’t have a lot to give but what did they have that attracted the masses? How can we get “back to the basics” that the church was founded on?
Well…in the reading from Acts this morning, we see what Peter and John did in order to reach out to those around them with the love of Christ. This man, who was crippled from birth, was brought to the temple gate called beautiful every morning to beg for a handout so that he could sustain himself. The story doesn’t tell us how old this man was so we don’t really know how long he had been doing this. All we know is that he was crippled from birth. Now when the two disciples came to the temple, the man began to beg from them. Peter and John had no money…they had no discretionary fund that they could draw from…so they gave this man what they did have.
They gave him healing in the name of Jesus Christ. And what did the man do? He walked and jumped and praised God the whole way to the temple as he followed the disciples. The only thing these men had they gave him and he did “back flips” when he received this irreplaceable gift. The man wanted money to sustain himself but Peter and John gave him what he needed. He needed the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to be healed not just money to get by. And this is not the first time when something that was given was small and it became something big. Remember the little boy with the two loaves and five fish. He gave what he had, although it was meager, and it fed 5,000 men plus women and children. Jesus went around giving what some may have called meager at the moment and created miracles that changed lives forever. He offered prayer and healing to not only heal the body but to heal the soul within.
The story from Acts reminds me of myself and how I may feel in life…you too may also feel this at times. There are times that I think that what I have to give is not enough only to find that what I have is exactly what is needed. It may be an ear to listen…or maybe to just sit quietly with someone with neither of us saying a word, just to be present with them. Or it may be just…as I call it…a random act of kindness. Things like holding open a door for someone or letting someone who has a few things go ahead of me in the grocery line. It doesn’t matter…it’s the little things that convey the love of Christ (as long as it’s for His agenda and not our own).
We here at Suncook may not be a Mega church but the little things that we do is what draws people to our Risen Lord. We reach out with our “meagerness” and touch the lives around us. We reach out through Our Families Table, offering a meal to those who may not have one. We reach out to those around us through our Vacation Bible School; it may not be as large as the bigger churches but the children (and the adults) have a great time learning about God. We reach out to those around us by the way we greet them at the door, how we let them know all are welcome. Our church has begun to grow just by our “meagerness”. It’s not the size that grows the church; it’s the agenda…the reasoning…behind their efforts. If you ask me…there is no such thing as meager when it comes to the Kingdom of God because when you stack one small thing on top of another…just as the first church in Acts did when they pooled their meager resources to help others...it becomes something that you never imagined it could be on its own.
AMEN
Sunday, September 14, 2008
We Too Can Offer
Like Peter, like John, the faithful
a humble congregation, growing in faith
serving with joy, with praise, with laughter
offering what they did, the healing of the Lord
In our path, our walk with God,
discerning always his will for us
Offering hope, the risen Lord
our savior, our brother
Living water, life giving bread
as the body of Christ
here and now
we too can offer
healing to the lame,
sight to the blind
the love of God
September 14, 2008
Acts 3:1-10
John 4:1-42
The Samaritan Woman at the well
and the sermon, “It’s Not the Size That Matters”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church
a humble congregation, growing in faith
serving with joy, with praise, with laughter
offering what they did, the healing of the Lord
In our path, our walk with God,
discerning always his will for us
Offering hope, the risen Lord
our savior, our brother
Living water, life giving bread
as the body of Christ
here and now
we too can offer
healing to the lame,
sight to the blind
the love of God
September 14, 2008
Acts 3:1-10
John 4:1-42
The Samaritan Woman at the well
and the sermon, “It’s Not the Size That Matters”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Discerning - haiku
Listening, quiet
letting God’s voice speak now.
Guide my steps today
September 5, 2008
written at the Agape Café coffeehouse
Wesley United Methodist Church
(one of 24 written there that night)
letting God’s voice speak now.
Guide my steps today
September 5, 2008
written at the Agape Café coffeehouse
Wesley United Methodist Church
(one of 24 written there that night)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Connected Messages
A single voice, or so it would seem,
a wondrous truth, the call of this congregation
and the love of God
woven in the connected messages
the pastors, the two voices,
the many voices of the congregation
each thread, each message
intertwined, woven into a single whole
moving us forward, as a community
the wave building, the call growing louder
waiting, listening for discernment
but doing the work of the kingdom
here and now, in community
within our community, our fellowship
engaged already in the master’s work
spreading his love wider,
touching other lives,
grounded in the connected messages
of our two pastors
August 24, 2008
Colossians 2:6-15a and
sermon, “Freedom”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
and the series of sermons she
and Reverend Huntley Halvorson
have shared in the last 8 weeks
Suncook United Methodist Church
a wondrous truth, the call of this congregation
and the love of God
woven in the connected messages
the pastors, the two voices,
the many voices of the congregation
each thread, each message
intertwined, woven into a single whole
moving us forward, as a community
the wave building, the call growing louder
waiting, listening for discernment
but doing the work of the kingdom
here and now, in community
within our community, our fellowship
engaged already in the master’s work
spreading his love wider,
touching other lives,
grounded in the connected messages
of our two pastors
August 24, 2008
Colossians 2:6-15a and
sermon, “Freedom”,
Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
and the series of sermons she
and Reverend Huntley Halvorson
have shared in the last 8 weeks
Suncook United Methodist Church
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A Shared Journey
They each evoked, spoke of, shared
a sense of a shared journey,
we all are on together
finding our way anew,
with one another
discerning, listening,
being guided by an unseen hand
a call to ministry once more
transition continuing, evolving
in this shared journey of faith
believing we can, with the help of God
never alone, never on our own
being the hands, the feet, the voice of God,
the face of Christ to the world
July 23, 2008
Sermons of Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
and Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Suncook United Methodist Church,
Suncook, NH 7/6, 7/13, and 7/20/08
a sense of a shared journey,
we all are on together
finding our way anew,
with one another
discerning, listening,
being guided by an unseen hand
a call to ministry once more
transition continuing, evolving
in this shared journey of faith
believing we can, with the help of God
never alone, never on our own
being the hands, the feet, the voice of God,
the face of Christ to the world
July 23, 2008
Sermons of Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
and Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Suncook United Methodist Church,
Suncook, NH 7/6, 7/13, and 7/20/08
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
