Sermon (June 2) “The Life of David: Watch Out What You Pray For” by Rev. Robert McDowell

June 2, 2024 Sermon

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

    Several years ago, I was serving a church that was considering a major change.  Some of my key leaders felt that God was calling us to begin a new ministry that if implemented would dramatically change our church.  

     While we were looking forward to the possibilities this new ministry would bring, we also knew that not everybody in the church would share in our excitement.  It would involve a significant rethinking of what it means to be the church in a new day and age.  And it would involve a lot of adjustment and commitment on the part of the congregation.  

     One of those key leaders who felt God was calling our church to move in this direction was a retired accountant.  He called me one morning and said, “Let me pick you up for lunch so we can think about this new possible direction together.”  

     When he arrived at the church, I got in his car.  And off we went.  I didn’t realize how fast retired accountants like to drive.  He pulled out of the church parking lot as if he was responding to a fire.  I checked again to make sure my seat belt was firmly buckled.

     As we were driving down the highway at Daytona 500 like speed, I was sharing with him how I had been praying for our church and this new ministry opportunity.  He responded by telling me something that I will never forget. Weaving in and out of traffic, he said to me, “Watch out what you pray for because you just might get it!”

     This wise and experienced member of my church who was ready to take on the challenge of this new ministry just wanted to make sure that this young and naive pastor knew what he was getting himself into.

     “Watch out what you pray for because you just might get it!”  

     When the Israelites gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, this is the kind of message that Samuel offered to them.  The Israelites were tired of the injustice they had been experiencing as well as the poor leadership they had been given.  They wanted to be like the other nations who had kings, highly organized militaries, state of the art weapons, and plenty of wealth.

     The request for a king was understandable.  At the time, Israel was a very poor nation with no centralized leadership. They were also at the mercy of the mighty Philistines who lived on the coast, were successful traders, had a highly organized military with iron weapons, and controlled the strategic geo-political highway between Egypt and the Fertile Crescent.

     While Samuel was well aware of Israel’s limitations and the advantages in having a king, he also knew that there were also many disadvantages.  The biggest disadvantage was that Israel already had a king, the Lord.  If only they would have obeyed the Lord as their king, they wouldn’t be in the position they were in now.  

     The second disadvantage was that an earthly king would demand tremendous sacrifice on the part of the people.  And Samuel goes on to spell this out.  

     “He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his couriers.  He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.  He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work.  He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.”  

     And then Samuel asks them one more time: “Do you still want a king?  Be careful what you pray for because you just might get it.”

     Samuel then consults the Lord about this and surprisingly the Lord tells Samuel to go ahead and grant their request.  Samuel had done his job.  He warned them that a monarchy would come with a great price.  

     So, Israel got their first king when Samuel anointed Saul just three chapters later.  Over time, Samuel’s words of warning proved to be true.  Some of the kings were good and some were not.  More battles were lost than won.  At one point, the whole nation was carried off into exile and for several centuries, they didn’t even have a homeland to protect!

     Over the next several weeks, our Old Testament readings will focus on the life of one of the greatest names in the entire bible, David.  David became Israel’s second king after Saul and is known as the man who was after God’s own heart.  

     This doesn’t mean that David was perfect, far from it.  But as king, David led the people of Israel during their glory years.  And it was through David’s lineage that Jesus Christ, God’s own Son became king and who continues to reign as king forever and ever.  Because of all of these reasons, David will be our main focus throughout these summer weeks.

     For today, as we set the context for David’s arrival on the scene and Israel’s desire to become a monarchy, I want us to think about the importance of being bold with our prayers.  That’s the way our prayers need to be.  Bold!  Audacious!  Risk-Taking! 

     They need to be the kind of prayers where someone like Samuel or my retired accountant friend are prompted to remind us, “Watch out what you pray for because you just might get it.”

     Be bold!

     A church began preparing for a church wide focus on prayer and faith sharing. They had a very ambitious goal of having 40 small groups with 400 people participating in those small groups.  They couldn’t have picked a more difficult time to begin forming these small groups, right before the Christmas and New Year’s holiday! 

     They were nowhere near their goal when their team met to discuss the situation.  They felt discouraged and very overwhelmed coming into that pre-holiday meeting.  They didn’t have a lot of positive responses with potential small group leaders, and it looked like they might have to settle for half that number.

     But somebody at that meeting broke through the status-quo and reminded them that all they needed to do was pray.  And right there on the spot, they prayed, and they gave their concerns to God.  

     It wasn’t that long after they had celebrated Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus Christ that a miracle happened.  In a matter of a week and a half, the number of people willing to lead small groups almost doubled.  They were now in a position to reach their ambitious goal.

     They had ordered 450 small group books to give out to their congregation over the span of the next six weeks.  After just one Sunday, they had already handed out all of those books and they needed to order another 150 books!  The response was phenomenal!  God was answering their prayers.

     When their planning group met later that same week, the pastor jokingly told them that maybe they needed to stop praying because now they were at a point where they couldn’t keep up with God!

     “Watch out what you pray for because you just might get it.”

     My brother was the Music Director in our home church which is located in south central Pennsylvania. He retired in the fall of 2022. In 2018, he had watched the musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar” on TV. I remember watching it as well.

      After he watched it, he felt a tug at his heart that maybe God was calling his church to use this musical as a way to connect with the unchurched population of the surrounding area. 

     This would be no small feat because there were a lot of unanswered questions like would he have the musicians and the singers to pull something like that off? Where would they be able to perform the musical? It would need to be at a place that would be able to attract a large crowd with plenty of space for the performance. 

     And those were just a few of the things they would need to begin to fall into place before he would be able to move forward to turn this bold dream into a reality.

     After a couple of months of praying about it, he called me to tell share how God was answering his prayer. He said that he was beginning to get discouraged because the places where he thought it could be held were just too expensive and not practical, so he said a prayer one morning. 

     He said, “God, if you really want this thing to happen, you’re going to need to give me a sign that this is what you really want me to do.”

     And he said, “You won’t believe what happened to me yesterday after I prayed that prayer. Somebody told me about the perfect venue to hold the musical, the local winery that has a huge outdoor venue space. 

     He said that their price to rent the space was very reasonable. My brother said, “That was the sign from God that I needed.”

     And then he said, “But that’s not all, on that same day, I go back to the church. And as I’m walking down the hallway, you won’t believe this, I could hear our church custodian casually singing one of the songs from ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’”

     Now, this custodian had no idea that my brother was even thinking about performing this musical, and here he was singing one of the songs. 

     My brother said, “It was pretty obvious that I need to go after this.”

      After even more answers to prayer, that included a church that raised over $250,000 to cover all the costs; the recruiting of talented local musicians, and actors; the many church volunteers who arranged everything from securing food-trucks, selling tickets, and to renting buses to provide off-site transportation, my brother’s bold prayer became a reality.

     Four years later in April of 2022, over 2,000 people ended up attending the performances that week. It was a huge success. He held the 3 performances during Holy Week, and I ended up surprising my brother by driving in from Ohio to attend one of those performances. 

    “Watch out what you pray for because you just might get it.”

     The Israelites who came to Samuel might not have had the best of intentions when they asked Samuel to give them a king.  Like us so much of the time, they didn’t fully realize the impact that their request would have on them and on the nation as a whole.  Having a king would set them on a whole new direction, a bold future, and an exciting adventure in being God’s people.

     David was certainly a man who lived boldly, who prayed fervently, and who lived courageously.

     So maybe it’s no coincidence that my brother’s name is David. 

     Join us for our summer journey as we follow these Old Testament stories about the life of David.

     And remember to be bold! And to pray boldly! Because you just might get what you pray for!

Sunday (June 2) Pastoral Prayer

June 2, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

O God, thank you for this opportunity to not just hear a sermon about prayer, but to actually now, spend some time in prayer.

 

As we begin this new summer series on the Life of David, we pray that these Old Testament stories of faith will lead us into a closer relationship with you. Our audacious prayer today is that this series will help us to grow in what it means to be a person after your own heart, just like David sought to do in his life.

 

And just us David had his ups and downs along his faith journey, be with us whenever we stumble along the way. When we sin against you, remind us to learn from our mistakes, seek reconciliation, and receive anew your mercy and forgiveness. And when we are faithful in living out who you have called us to be, remind us to rejoice and celebrate your goodness and many blessings for you are a gracious and loving God.

 

As we seek to be a people after your own heart, we lift up to you those who are close to your heart this day; those who are experiencing health concerns, those who are worried about the future, those who are struggling to care for their needs, those who are grieving and have heavy hearts, and those who are low on hope and in need of encouragement and a sign of your presence.

 

We lift all of these needs to you, not to mention our own personal prayers that are on our hearts and minds this day. Grant each person here today, including this preacher, an extra assurance that with you, we have more than enough peace, more than enough grace, more than enough mercy, more than enough hope, and more than enough strength to face any situation that may come our way.

 

With you, all things are possible, and this is why you call us to pray boldly and with confidence these words that Jesus taught us to pray together…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Sermon (May 26/Trinity Sunday) “Children of the Triune God” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 26 (Pentecost), 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

     Every year for Memorial Day Weekend, I can’t help but to think about my hometown’s community softball tournament. Our church always had a team in this tournament led by a church member who was our coach and pitcher. He also was the only one who had a bunch of bats and balls for us to use. 

     The tournament would begin on Friday evening and last through Monday afternoon of that long holiday weekend. There were about twenty adult teams who participated.  Our team consisted mostly of teenagers but also had some really old guys and by old, I mean guys in their 40s! To us younger players, that was really old.

     For a team that was pretty young and inexperienced, we did really well, even winning the tournament a couple of times. The church member who was our coach did a really good job of helping us to play as a team. The only broken bone I have ever had came from playing in one of those softball tournaments. 

     Since this was a community and not a church softball tournament, we were the only church team and the only team that prayed before each game. Theologically, I don’t think that our prayers had anything to do with our winning or losing, but it did remind us that we were representing our church when we took the field. It also taught us a lot about teamwork and giving our best.

     In our Romans scripture reading for today, the Apostle Paul is reminding me a little of our softball coach. Like a good coach, Paul is reminding the church in Rome that they are children of God. They are teammates. 

     He uses this phrase, “children of God” three times in this one passage of scripture. We are children of God. We are teammates who represent Christ and his church. Win or lose, we belong to God. “We are joint heirs with Christ,” Paul says. 

     I love this image of the church being like a team where we are connected with each other and with God who has made us his children. Which brings me to the Trinity Sunday part of this scripture passage.    

     Paul refers to all three persons of the Trinity in this very short passage. He says that when we cry, “Abba, Father,” it is that very Spirit that bears witness with our spirit that we are teammates, we are children of God. 

     And then Paul says, that as God’s children we are all heirs with Christ. There you have it. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It only takes Paul two verses to include all three members of the Trinity and he does so in the context that we are children of God. 

     This is what is beautiful about being part of the church. We all have this in common where God’s Spirit keeps us from falling back in fear by reminding us that we are heirs with Christ. We are reminded of this every time that we offer our prayers to the Father. 

     This scripture reading is at the very middle of Romans, chapter eight, probably one of the most hope-filled chapters in all of the Bible. It concludes with this incredible exclamation point of who we are because of this God who is known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

     After giving us this long list of things that might separate us from God and each other; things like rulers, worry about the future, powers, height, depth, and even death itself, Paul concludes this chapter by saying, “None of these things will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

     We remind each other of this hope that we have together in a variety of ways. Through our weekly worship, through bible studies, through the sharing of testimonies, and through prayer requests that we receive each week.

     Those prayer requests always remind me that we are children of God. Every church that I have served has had some type of prayer chain like we do here at the Upper Richland Charge.

     In my previous church, I’ll never forget this particular prayer request that was shared by a member of the church who has been fighting cancer the past eight years. 

     He updated our prayer chain to let us know how our prayers for him over all these years have helped him to beat the odds of this disease and that he is truly blessed. He says “I am a winner in so many ways! Let’s celebrate!”

     That was one of our teammates sharing this with his church family. That was a member of our team letting the church know that our prayers had been a lifeline to him, especially during the many months of being separated because of the COVID19 precautions. 

     As children of the Triune God, Paul wants us to be reminded again and again that we have much to celebrate. We are joint heirs of Christ and nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have the Spirit who Paul says will not allow us to fall back into fear but always keeps us moving forward in hope.

     Heirs of Christ, children of God, Paul says. I like that. Children of the Triune God.

     In reflecting on this passage, gifted speaker and author, Heather Murray Elkins says that “Trinity relationships are ties that bind and loosen at the same time. We are family because we’ve been adopted by the triune One whose nature and name is Love. We are heirs of God, not by right, not by ancestry, but by grace.” 

     This is what binds us together in the church, God’s grace, God’s unconditional, inclusive, and all-embracing grace. And it’s because of this grace, that the Triune God loosens us from our fears and doubts. We are freed from all that would enslave us and keep us from being the people that God has called us to be. 

     In two weeks, hundreds and hundreds of clergy and lay delegates, representing the 900 United Methodist churches from all over our South Carolina Conference will be meeting together in Greenville. Even though I am still a clergy member of the West Ohio Conference, I will be participating in some of the meetings here in this conference. 

     The purpose of Annual Conference is to receive new clergy into the conference, recognize pastors who are retiring, adopting a conference budget, voting on various legislation issues, and sharing in worship together. 

     By far, my favorite part of attending Annual Conference is to worship with over a thousand other United Methodists in the same place. It’s very inspirational.

     One of the hymns that many annual conferences sing when we gather is the Charles Wesley hymn, “And Are We Yet Alive.” It’s a powerful hymn to sing when we’re all together because it’s a hymn that reminds us to celebrate these opportunities when we can gather as children of the Triune God.

     The first verse says, “And are we yet alive, and see each other’s face? Glory and thanks to Jesus give for this almighty grace.” The 3^rd verse says, “What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past, fightings without, and fears within, since we assembled last.”

     This leads to verse four, “Yet out of all the Lord hath brought us by his love; and still he doth his help afford and hides our life above.”

     These verses build upon each other in describing what it means to be children of God together. We are a family. We are “heirs of God” as Heather Murray Elkins says so beautifully. We are heirs of God, not by right, not by ancestry, but by grace. 

     This is what makes us children or teammates of the Triune God.

     Speaking of hymns, in one of the churches I served, the church building prior to the current church building had burnt down back in 1955. And in the historical archive room of that church, they had a glass encased hymnal that had been salvaged from the fire. It was partially burnt. 

      And if you look closely at it, the hymn that is at the top of that burnt hymnal is the hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” It was our opening hymn for today’s worship service. It’s a hymn that celebrates the Triune God. “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” 

     It would be three years later in 1958 when the congregation would be able to worship for the first time in what is now their current building. I can’t even imagine what it must have felt like for the congregation to worship for the first time there. 

     They say they even needed forty ushers that first Sunday to accommodate the crowd. On that Sunday, February 9, 1958 they truly were children of the Triune God, teammates, brothers and sisters who together by God’s grace were able to start anew.

     I’m sure that this church has been through many challenges over its long history. Like the Apostle Paul at the end of this eighth chapter, maybe the people from our church’s treasured history have asked this same question when faced with all kinds of challenges that have come our way, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or peril, or a leaking roof, or a global pandemic, or a shortage of funds, or denominational strife?”

     And the good news of our faith is that we can answer that question with confidence. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Why? 

    The Apostle Paul reminds us: Because we are children and teammates of the Triune God!

Sunday (May 26/Trinity Sunday) Pastoral Prayer

May 26, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are grateful to be able to share our prayer needs with you this day. We know you hear our prayers to you during the week, but there’s just something very special about being able to pray together here in church.

 

Whenever we are together in this place, we are reminded that we are your children and we’re all on the same team. There is no we and they. It’s only us. Thank you that we are teammates always growing in what it means to be your faithful disciples.

 

And so, as your children, hear our prayers on behalf of those who are on our church’s prayer list. Grant to them your healing, your guidance, your grace, and most importantly your love in whatever they may be facing.

 

On this Memorial Day weekend, we also pause to remember and give thanks for those who have served in the armed forces and who are no longer with us. May their sacrifice for the sake of freedom and justice throughout the world not be forgotten. This weekend reminds us to pray even more fervently for there to be peace on earth.

 

And today, we also give thanks that you are one God, known in three persons. May these words from hymn writer and poet, Carl Daw Jr., be our prayer today and throughout this week: “Triune God, mysterious being, undivided and diverse, deeper than our minds can fathom, greater than our creeds rehearse; help us in our varied callings your full image to proclaim, that our ministries uniting may give glory to your name.”

 

And now as teammates and children of the Triune God, let us pray the words that Jesus taught us to say together…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Sermon (May 19/Pentecost) “The Searcher of Hearts” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 24, 2024

Pentecost

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC 

    There are so many names for God throughout the scriptures. It’s striking to me that we so often focus on only a couple of these names especially in the way we address God when we pray. “God” is probably the most common name we use when we pray to or speak about God. And on this Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of another name for God, “Spirit.”

     And of course, we have other standard names for God like, “Lord” and “Heavenly Father.” These names for God usually get top billing.

     I’m amazed at how many times I continue to uncover new names for God, at least new to me. In today’s New Testament reading from Romans, the Apostle Paul slips in another beautiful name for God. “Searcher of Hearts.”

     We find this name for God in our Romans passage. The New Revised Standard Version which is what we commonly use for scripture readings during our worship services and bible studies makes this name sound more like a description than a name, which is why I like how one New Testament scholar translates this verse.

     His translation of Romans 8:27 based on his understanding of the Greek language which Paul is using here says, “And the Searcher of Hearts knows what the spirit is thinking, because the spirit pleads for God’s people according to God’s will.” “The Searcher of Hearts.” What a great name for God!

     This name, “Searcher of Hearts” reminds us that God is active. I like that. God is a searching God. This name reminds us that God is always on the move.

     One of my favorite chapters in the four Gospels is found in the 15^th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. This one chapter contains three parables where Jesus is describing God as a searching God. It begins with the parable of the Lost Sheep. “Which one of you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

     The second parable is the parable of the Lost Coin. “What woman having ten silver coins if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” 

     And the third parable is the parable of the Son Son, the Prodigal Son. That parable concludes with the father saying to the elder son after the younger son had returned home, “We had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

     These parables all point to a God who is always searching for what is lost. And at the conclusion of each of those parables is a time of rejoicing because what was lost is now found.

     In our Romans scripture reading, Paul writes “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” And the Spirit does this because God is a searcher of hearts.”

     In theological language, this is what we refer to as God’s prevenient grace. “Prevenient” means to go before, to go ahead of us, to prepare the way which means that God is always the primary actor. God is the one who is initiating a relationship with us and who first reaches out to us before we even think about reaching out to God.

     Or let me describe prevenient grace in this way. There is never a moment, there is never a second, and there is never a time in our lives, when God is NOT searching for us and reaching out to us. When we take a moment to let that sink in, it really gives us this powerful picture of a God who is the one who always makes the first move toward us. That’s prevenient grace.

     The word that Apostle Paul is using here for “search” is a Greek word that was often used in reference to the lighting of a torch in order to search for something in the dark.  And when Paul says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness which he defines as those times when we don’t know how to pray, this becomes an even more powerful image for us. 

     I love this thought of the Searcher of Hearts lighting a torch in the depths of our soul to help us communicate what is so deep down in us that we can’t even find the words to tell God what we are feeling.

     If you ever find it too difficult to pray because what you are feeling is so raw and inexpressible in that moment, then this scripture reading offers us a powerful word of hope. The Searcher of Hearts is lighting the way in our troubled souls.

     Maybe that darkness is related to a grief that you are experiencing. It might even be a grief that you didn’t even know you had until the Searcher of Hearts revealed it to you.

     A few years ago on a late afternoon, I was driving down the road and listening to the radio. I wasn’t able to concentrate that whole day and I knew that something had been troubling my soul, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

     Something was telling me to turn off the radio, so I turned it off and there was this eerie silence as I continued down the road. But that’s when I finally realized why I was so down and distracted that whole day. It was like a light revealed what was troubling my soul. 

     All of the sudden, it came to me. It was my dad’s death anniversary. And that time of silence in the car is what helped God’s spirit to connect with my spirit and then led me to be able to name what was troubling me so that I could receive God’s healing and comforting grace. 

     Whether it’s grief or past wounds or a regret or feelings of disappointment, this Searcher of Hearts is helping us in our weakness. This Searcher of Hearts is shining the light of love and grace in whatever brokenness we may be experiencing.

     This is a dimension of Pentecost that I never really gave that much focus until I noticed this new name for God buried in this passage of Romans. “The Searcher of Hearts.” God’s grace and love are always going before us. This Searcher of Hearts has already been lighting up the darkness of our souls to help lead us to healing and wholeness.

     This Friday, May 24^th, marks the anniversary of when John Wesley, the founder of Methodism had his heart-warming experience in London, England after suffering through a very long time of spiritual dryness. 

     It’s kind of interesting that it was when Wesley was hearing someone read from this letter of Romans that led him to stand up and tell everyone at that prayer meeting that he felt his heart strangely warmed.

     Strangely warmed. The Searcher of Hearts had been lighting a torch in Wesley’s despondent soul leading him to be awakened to God’s joy, hope, and mercy. Wesley went on to share his heart-warming faith with others who like him were in need of God’s reassuring love.

     Methodists are known for our wonderful casseroles and our love of committee meetings, but we are most known for being a people of warm hearts. We are known for our warm hearts because the Seeker of Hearts is always lighting the darkness of our souls. 

     God’s prevenient grace is always going before us, preparing us, inviting us, wooing us, beckoning us, and reaching out to us with a love that fills our hearts. This God who is known as The Searcher of Hearts.

     Several years ago, I served as a Christian camp counselor at one of our United Methodist camps. I was sitting with four or five other camp counselors around a blazing campfire. Our hearts had been warmed by the testimonies of several of the campers who just shared how they had experienced God’s love in a very real way because of that week of camp.

      Some of the young campers had shared how they had received Jesus in their heart for the first time because of our week together. Others shared that they experienced God’s love in a new way, and they were now ready to make a recommitment in being Jesus’ followers.

      And as I sat there with the other camp counselors around that campfire, one of them questioned why these same spiritual experiences weren’t happening in our local churches. There was some silence as we thought about that questions. 

     And then I said, “Well, maybe tonight wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the local church that sponsored them to come, that shared God’s love with them through Sunday School, youth group, and worship. Maybe God was already at work before we even arrived here this week for camp.”  

     This Searcher of Hearts is always going before us lighting the way and preparing us to have hearts that are strangely warmed. 

     On that first Pentecost, we are told that a tongue of fire rested on each of the disciples and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

     Spirit, Searcher of Hearts, so many names for this God who is always on the move, always lighting the way before us and who is always helping us in our weakness.

Sunday (May 19/Pentecost) Pastoral Prayer

May 19, 2024

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

O Searcher of Hearts, O Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on each one of us.

 

May the light of your torch shine upon the depths of our souls, especially when we are feeling lost, or weighed down by grief, or anxious about the future. Thank you that you are the searcher of our hearts and that you always know how to find us because of your prevenient grace, your grace that is always reaching out to us in any given moment. And whenever we are feeling lost and experiencing darkness in our lives, remind us to just pull over and take a moment to allow your light to shine upon our troubled souls.

 

May the light of your torch shine upon those who are on our church’s prayer list. We pray that your healing and guiding presence would be with them so that they would be restored to health and wholeness.

 

May the light of your torch shine upon all who are in need of your light this day, especially those who are unable to care for their needs, who feel alone, and who are in need of a new beginning.

 

May the light of your torch shine upon those who are graduating from High School and College. Lead them to pursue a career path that will enable them to use their gifts and abilities to help make this world a better place.

 

And may the light of your torch shine upon our community and world through the ministries of our church. Lead us to continue to be a beacon of hope through the offering of our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and our witness.

 

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us, as we pray the words that Jesus taught us to say together…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Sermon (May 12/Ascension Sunday) “Power!” by Rev. Robert McDowell

May 12, 2024 (Ascension Sunday)

Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

Rev. Robert McDowell

     When I was growing up with my older brother, I can remember standing in the middle of our garden, and I was wearing tbright red boots, blue pajamas, and a red cape.  

     Our white-haired dog at the time also had a red cape tucked underneath his collar and there we were standing together ready to save our hometown from imminent danger.  

     You see, my dear brother was in a Superman craze, and he had convinced me that I could become superman and fly.  That is, as long as I wore those red boots and that red cape.  I could be as powerful as Superman!

     He actually said to me, “Little brother, if you concentrate really hard and say over and over again to yourself that you can fly, you will be able to fly like Superman.  But you have to really want to fly.”  Keep in mind that this was before we had adequate laws against child endangerment.

     And so, with my shiny red boots and long red cape, I can remember walking into the middle of our garden behind the barn, and saying over and over to myself, “David said I can fly.  If I can just think hard enough, I’ll be able to fly.”  

     But no matter how many times I would jump into the air, gravity would always pull me back down.  It was exhausting in trying to be Superman. And you know, now that I reflect back on that experience, it’s a really good thing that I didn’t try this from some higher elevation! 

     But we all know that you don’t have to have to be Superman to possess power. All you need to have is that look that your mom used to give when you were in trouble. Do you know what “look” I mean? That “mom look.”

     Someone once told me about a time when they and their three siblings were in school. She said how their mom would line all four of them along the wall every year on the first day of school from oldest to youngest.  And she would say to them as she wagged her finger back and forth,

      “I expect each one of you to behave in school because if you get into trouble, it will be twice as worse when you get home!” “Twice as worse.”

     So, I asked the question that you probably would have asked this person – “So, did each of you behave?” And they told me, “Are you kidding, me? Of course we behaved! And that’s why all four of us did so well in school!”

     Oh, the power of a mother!

     Many of us are familiar with the name, Susanna Wesley. She was the mother of John Wesley, the founder of what is today, the United Methodist Church. The Wesley family, which included John and eighteen other children, grew up in England during the 1700s. Half of them died when they were still in their infancy.

     At one point, Susanna’s husband, Samuel, who was an Anglican Priest, was sent to debtor’s prison. Here’s what Susanna wrote to her husband while he was in prison. This will give us a little glimpse of this remarkable and powerful woman of faith. She wrote: 

     I am a woman, but I am also the mistress of a large family. And though the superior charge of the souls contained in it lies upon you, yet in your long absence I cannot but look upon every soul you leave under my charge as a talent committed to me under a trust. I am not a man nor a minister, yet as a mother and a mistress I felt I ought to do more than I had yet done. 

     I resolved to begin with my own children; in which I observe the following method: I take such a proportion of time as I can spare every night to discourse with each child apart. On Monday I talk with Molly, on Tuesday with Hetty, Wednesday with Nancy, Thursday with Jacky, Friday with Patty, Saturday with Charles.”

     When it was becoming apparent that her children were spending too much time playing and not enough time studying, she resolved to have them focus more on their education. 

     The children were not permitted to have any formal lessons until they had reached their fifth year, but the day after their fifth birthday is when Susanna taught them more formally in their home. She had them learn the alphabet on that first day. And they would be taught for six hours every day after that. 

     The children got a wonderful education, thanks to their mother. Daughters included, they all learned Latin and Greek and were well tutored in the classical studies of that time period. This was one powerful woman!

     But that’s not all! While Susanna’s husband was in debtor’s prison, a substitute priest led the worship services in his absence. Since he was not a very effective priest, Susanna resolved to have her own Sunday worship services for her family.

     When the locals heard that she was very good at leading these family worship services, they began attending these services in her home instead of the ones at the church. Over 200 people came to these services which were held in her kitchen, while the church would only have a handful of people on Sunday mornings.

     I think that there are many mothers out there who know a thing or two about power and what it means to use that power for good. Susanna Wesley certainly did!

     This is what the Apostle Paul wants each one of us to know from our Ephesians scripture reading this morning. We have been given God’s power and we are called to use this power to bless the people around us.

      The Apostle Paul wants us to know that through Christ, we have received the riches of his glorious inheritance! He wants us to know that through Christ, we have been given the immeasurable greatness of his power!

     When this letter was first read to the various churches located in the greater Ephesus area around the middle of the first century, it must have been mind boggling for these congregations to hear these words.  

     At the time they first heard this letter, they were living in or near a city which was a very powerful city, a city which was home to powerful Roman leaders, and a powerful pagan religion which used powerful displays of magic to impress its followers.

     This was the kind of city that would give a new religious movement like Christianity, an inferiority complex.  What power could this new religion possibly have?  Certainly not anything that can rival the glamour and prestige of a progressive major city that is adopting Roman culture and customs at a fast and furious pace.  

     In writing his letter for the churches located in or near the city of Ephesus, the Apostle Paul, is reminding these congregations that what they have been given in Jesus Christ puts them head and shoulders above anything their surrounding culture can ever hope to offer.

     Paul doesn’t want them to ever forget what they have received through Christ.  It’s an impressive list:  Wisdom, hope, a glorious inheritance, and power.

     Power.  Paul uses this word four times in this short passage of scripture.  Obviously, he wants the church to not only know about this power, but to live out this power through their ministry.

     Several years ago, I had lunch with a member of a rapidly growing church in Ohio. He told me the fascinating story of his church. He told me at that time that about five years ago, the church was going to close its doors because it had dwindled down to just a few members.

     Located in a strategic and growing area, over the past several years, this church had lost its vision and passion in reaching the people of its community. Just when they were about to close the church, a denominational official decided to give this church one more shot. 

     Over the past five years, this church has grown to over 500 people.  So, I asked this church member over lunch, “What’s the main reason why your church has turned things around in a short amount of time?”

     His eyes lit up and without even thinking about it, he said, “It’s because we pour ourselves out and share the love of Jesus in our community.”  

     And for the next sixty minutes he proceeded to tell me several ways that their church was pouring themselves out.  One of the ways they were pouring themselves out is by partnering with the local school district to help children and families in need. 

     After our lunch and on my way back to the church, I couldn’t get that phrase out of my mind.  “Poured out.”  I thought to myself, “That’s a great image for what the church is meant to be.”  We are to be poured out for the sake of the world.

     Out of curiosity, I did a google search to find this church’s website.  I clicked on their mission statement, and sure enough, here’s what it says:  “We are committed to building a church that is real, transformed, connected, and POURED OUT.” Poured out.

     No wonder he used that phrase over and over again.

     Ascension Sunday, it’s a Sunday in which the church remembers when Jesus ascended to be seated at the right hand of God forty days following his resurrection.  

     Ascension Sunday reminds us that when Jesus ascended, he literally ascended to his throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is kingly language that is being used here.

     The Apostle Paul refers to Jesus’ ascension in our Ephesians scripture passage this morning when he writes that God’s power was at work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

     But let’s remember the events which preceded this King’s ascension.  This King gave it all.  This King gave his life.  This King was “poured out” for the sake of the world.

     So, when we hear scriptures like this one from Ephesians which talk about power, we’re not just talking about any power.

    On this day, we are invited to remember what real power is.  

     Think about Jesus, the Son of God, being placed in a manger.  That’s power.  

     Think about Jesus telling the disciples to love their enemies and to do good to them.  That’s power.

     Think about Jesus hanging on a cross to take upon himself the sin and pain of the world.  That’s power.

     Think about the resurrected and ascended Jesus, now seated at the right hand of God, victorious over sin and death.  That’s power.

     Whenever the church pours itself out in the name of Christ for the sake of others, that’s a church that knows what real power is.

     Happy Ascension Sunday!