Pastoral Prayer (July 30) Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 30, 2023

 

O God, we offer to you our songs of praise and thanksgiving out of gratitude for your many blessings in our lives. Whenever we struggle to find the right spoken words to offer to you in prayer, may the hymns of our faith be our prayer. Thank you for hymn writers and poets like Isaac Watts, Fannie Crosby, and Charles Wesley who help us to express what is deepest in our hearts and minds. Thanks to them, there is within our hearts a melody. 

 

And especially on this Sunday, we are reminded of just how grateful we are for those who offer to you their gift of music on our behalf and to your glory. Thank you for Jared who accompanies our hymns, who provides beautiful special music, and music that helps prepare our hearts for worship every week here in worship. 

 

O God, just as the psalmist from our call to worship this morning encourages us to “come into God’s presence with singing,” we do so because of your steadfast love and faithfulness. We reflect back on our week, and we can see how you were there for us when we were dealing with a difficult situation at work, or when we got an unexpected bill in the mail, or when we were just feeling a little down and discouraged and we needed some encouragement, in so many ways, you were there for us. Together, we rejoice, we give thanks, and we sing our praises to you.

 

Our prayer hymn this morning is reminding us to pray when the Spirit says pray and so we lift up to you, O God, the joys and concerns that have been shared this morning including the many names that are on our prayer list. Be with each of these persons, and even in this very moment, may they know of our love for them and that they are not alone. Just as your are present with us here in worship, we are grateful to know that you are also reaching out to them with your guiding, caring, protecting, encouraging, and healing love. 

 

O God, may we always sing when the Spirit says sing, and may we always pray when the Spirit says pray just as you are inviting us now to 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 “A Sow-Sow Church” (July 23) by Rev. Robert McDowell

July 23, 2023

     I do not like weeds! They drive me crazy! And this might be why I am drawn to this parable that Jesus shares with us from our appointed Gospel reading for today. It’s a parable about what to do with the annoying weeds that can ruin a beautiful garden.

     Jesus begins his parable by saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. So, when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.”

      I’ve heard of stories of people who get back at people they don’t like by toilet papering their front lawn, bashing in their mailbox or egging their house, but I’ve never heard of someone doing something like this! Planting weeds in someone’s garden while they sleep at night???

      But in a way it does make sense because I know how much I can’t stand weeds. They drive me nuts! My mom who loved to garden instilled in me a strong work ethic to weed our garden every single day. As long as there was one weed out there, it needed to be plucked so the good plants would be able to grow. 

     Rarely does a day go by where I don’t pull at least one weed from the landscape around our house. It’s my life mission to eradicate weeds from the face of the earth. Even when I’m taking our dogs for a walk, it’s all I can do to not stop to weed around someone else’s mailbox when I see weeds growing on their property. I know, I need help!

     Removing weeds is a never-ending process. And I haven’t found the perfect way to get rid of them. I’m reluctant to use weed spray because those sprays can be unsafe. A friend of mine gave me a wonderful homemade spray that has worked for her. 

     You just need some white vinegar, some epsom salt, and a little bit of hand dish detergent from a squeeze bottle. You mix that together in a spray bottle and then spray the weeds. It works pretty well but I have found that it clogs up the bottle making it hard for any spray to come out. 

     So usually, I just use the old-fashioned method of plucking each weed out by hand. But of course, that hurts the back and it takes forever which brings me back to this parable about weeds. Maybe Jesus will offer us the best way to get rid of weeds! What is Jesus’ solution?

     Sorry to disappoint but Jesus actually tells us to leave the weeds alone because we just might pull out the good plants with them. And yes, I have been known to pull out some good plants now and then when thinking that they were just weeds. 

      So, what do we make of Jesus advice to just let the weeds and the good plants to grow together? Well, before we become too disappointed with Jesus’ weeding advice, it’s important to know that when Jesus is referring to weeds in this parable he is using a Greek work that refers to a particular kind of weed that closely resembles wheat.

     And the only way to tell the difference between that particular kind of weed and wheat is by waiting for both the weeds and the wheat to grow and mature. And once they both mature, the ears of the real wheat will drop while the ears of the weeds will remain straight up. You can only tell the difference between the two by waiting for both to mature. That’s when the harvesters come to separate the two. 

     While this weeding advice doesn’t offer me a new way to deal with the weeds around my house, it does offer all of us an important long-term perspective on what it means to live out our faith. It’s going to take time to root out the weeds that we encounter as people of faith. 

      When Jesus is referring to weeds, he’s referring to the injustices, sins, brokenness, pain, and suffering that we see in our world. But of course, we know that pulling the weeds we find in our flower bed is very different than pulling out the weeds of selfishness, greed, and exploitation that we see in how people treat one another especially those who are most vulnerable and marginalized. 

     This is why I admire people of faith who have worked tirelessly in the pursuit of making this world a better place. They know that it’s not going to be an overnight process. They know that it takes a lot of time before we see the change that we want to see in the world. Change and transformation often take years before we see God’s new creation breaking forth.

        This Saturday, July 29^th marks the death anniversary of William Wilberforce. He died in 1833 at the age of 73. He was a devout Christian who lived in England during the 18^th & 19^th centuries in England. He was a member of the British Parliament from 1780 to 1825.  He is best known for abolishing the slave trade and slavery itself in all the British territories.

         He can trace his calling to May 12, 1787.  Sitting under a large oak tree, a friend challenged him by saying, “Wilberforce, why don’t you give notice of a motion on the subject of the Slave Trade?  You have already taken great pains to collect evidence and are therefore fully entitled to the credit which doing so will ensure you.  Do not lose time, or the ground will be occupied by another.”  

     Wilberforce’s response is not recorded, but he later declared in old age that he could distinctly remember the very knoll on which he was sitting near Pitt where he made his decision.

     It took William Wilberforce 18 years to get his motion to abolish the slave trade passed. 18 years. And then just four days before his death, Parliament finally passed a motion to end all slavery in the British territories.  A year after William Wilberforce died, almost one million slaves were set free from the evil force of slavery.

     One of the reasons why Wilberforce didn’t give up during those long 18 years was because of a letter of encouragement that he received from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.  Wesley wrote that letter of encouragement just before Wesley died.

     Here is what Wesley wrote to him: “Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God?  O be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun shall vanish away before it.”

     Whenever I get frustrated when seeing the injustices in the world that are so persistent, I think of people like William Wilberforce who spent much of life focusing on a cause that would lead to freedom for those who had been enslaved. Some weeds don’t come out very easily but through prayer, the encouragement of others, remaining patient, and continuing to sow seeds to make this world a more beautiful place, in God’s own time, those annoying weeds will finally be uprooted. 

    Depending on the weeds, they might not get uprooted in our lifetime, but as we live out our faith from generation to generation, God will do the rest. Jesus even tells us in this parable that a day will come when justice will be done. Our Romans scripture reading for today offers us these encouraging words, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

     Being patient and continuing to sow seeds that will lead to this world becoming a better place is a good word for us to hear today. We are called to be a “sow-sow” church and by that I don’t mean a “so-so” church that just tries to get by, but a “sow-sow” church in which we continue to sow seeds of God’s love all around us. 

     By the way, I would be careful in sharing with people that we are a sow-sow church. They might not take it the right way and wonder why you are bragging about being a mediocre church.

     Every Sunday when we receive the benediction, we are reminded that God has called us to be a “sow-sow” church in a good way. Each and every person here today is called to sow and sow and sow seeds for God’s kingdom knowing that the weeds will not win in the end. This is our good news for today. The weeds will not win! 

     Say that with me… “The weeds will not win!” That is music to my ears!

     As we prepare to hear the benediction at the end of our service today, let’s ask ourselves, “Lord, what seeds do you want me to sow this week to help make this world become a better place?” 

     Let’s be a sow-sow church that is always sowing seeds of God’s love all around us. 

Pastoral Prayer (July 23) - Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 23, 2023

God of light, shine upon all of the joys and concerns that we are lifting up to you in prayer this day. Shine upon those who are unable to be physically with us for worship. Shine upon those who are health concerns. Shine upon those who are facing difficult decisions in their lives. Shine upon our community, the families who live near this church, our law enforcement, our first responders, and our community leaders.

 

O God, of light, shine upon us this day so that we will allow your light to shine through us in the way we offer compassion, a listening ear, an encouraging word, an act of kindness. Help us to be a sow-sow church where we keep our focus on planting seeds to help make our community and world a place that reflects the beauty of your kingdom made visible here on earth. 

 

And grant us the patience and the focus we need to not allow the weeds of injustice that we see all around us to keep us from being the joy-filled, and loving people that you have called us to be. 

 

On this day that we think of Jesus’ parable about seeds and planting, we are also thankful for this time of year where we are able to see growth happening all around us. For ripe tomatoes, for corn on the cob, for freshly cut flowers that we bring in from our yards, thank you for this season of growth. Lead us to continue to plant those seeds that will lead to even more goodness and love in our world. And thank you for giving us examples of people like William Wilberforce who didn’t allow the weeds of injustice around him to get in the way of planting the needed seeds that would lead to the liberation of 800,000 enslaved people. 

 

O God of light, this is why our prayer for today is, “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”

Sunday (July 16) Pastoral Prayer - Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 16, 2023

Gracious, loving, and forgiving God, it is well with our soul whenever we affirm your friendly reminder to us today that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

Thank you for reminding us again and again of this good news of our faith. You know how life can be so hard and demanding and how easy it is for us to forget what you have done for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Help us to always remember our baptism and be thankful. Help us to always remember the words we hear following our opening prayer of confession. “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.”

 

Open our minds and our hearts to those daily reminders that you send our way, reminding us of our true identity, that we belong to you and that our self-worth is not about our achievements or our failures but in knowing that we are your blessed, beloved, and beautiful children of God, made in your image.

 

On this day, we especially lift up to you anyone who may be struggling with their self-worth or mental and emotional health. May they know that they are not alone and that it’s OK to not be OK. You know us far better than we know ourselves. You know our frailties, our brokenness, and our hurts. Thank you for being a God who cares when it seems like nobody else does. And thank you for the many ways that you offer your healing presence in our lives; whether it be through remembering our baptism, cutting out a prayer from the bulletin and taking it to school with us, or like today, just being reminded that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

 

And dear God, we also lift up to you all of the prayer needs that we have shared today and that are on our church’s prayer list. May they know this day of your deep and abiding love and presence in their lives. We pray this in name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen. 

Sermon “Your Friendly Reminder” (July 16) by Rev. Robert McDowell

 July 16, 2023

     Do you ever get these kinds of texts or emails sent from your dentist, doctor’s office, or oil change place?

     They say something like, “This is just a friendly reminder that your car is due for an oil change.” Another one might say,“This is just a friendly reminder that you have an upcoming dentist appointment. Type the letter ‘Y’ to confirm.”

     These places of business know what they’re doing. They know that we tend to forget these basic needs in our lives. How sweet of them to make sure that they get our money!

     Actually, I like it that they offer these little reminders just in case we might have forgotten to put it in our calendar.  I have to remind myself of these little, but important things that I need to be aware of on a regular basis. We are prone to forget.

     I think this is why the Apostle Paul is sending us one of these reminders from our Romans scripture reading this morning. It’s like Paul is sending us a text that says, “This is just a friendly reminder that there is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Press ‘Y’ to confirm.”

     Now, if we are faithful in attending church and spending some time reading the scriptures on a regular basis, we get these little reminders all of the time. And that’s really good because like dentist appointments and oil changes, we can easily forget. 

     What a wonderful thing it is to get a reminder like this. “There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Holy Spirit is wanting us to type the letter “Y” to confirm that we got this very important reminder today.

     Several years ago, worship scholar and author, Laurence Hull Stookey wrote a book entitled, Baptism: Christ’s Act in the Church. In his book he refers to our susceptibility to spiritual amnesia and how easy it can be for us to forget what Christ has done for us and who we are in Christ Jesus.

     In referring to this spiritual amnesia which comes and goes, he says that our baptism is what can help us to remember that God loves us and that we belong to God. He writes in his book that baptism is what helps us to remember that through faith in Christ; we have been born again, we have been cleansed from our sins, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that through baptism, we are part of the church family.

     Think of baptism as our ongoing text reminder, that “there is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation! 

     There are many people who struggle with their sense of worthiness and acceptance. I think not feeling worthy or accepted is one of the most difficult challenges that we can face.

     You might remember when the talented US gymnast, Simone Biles withdrew from each team event and all but one of her individual events due to mental health concerns. When she went public with this, she received a lot of support across the world, but sadly she also received a huge wave of criticism and judgment. 

     All of that judgment against her was so sad, because nobody can possibly know what it must have been like for this world class athlete to feel like she had to live up to those very high expectations that people had of her. Talk about pressure! She was living with that tremendous pressure every single day. 

     Thankfully, she was able to come back from her mental health recovery to return for her final individual event and win the bronze medal. She was able to return to her high-pressured gymnastic environment because she took the needed time to be reminded that she was more than a world-class gymnast. She was a human being who needed reassurance and a renewed sense of confidence. 

     This is why we gather each week for worship. We gather to receive a reassurance and a renewed sense of confidence that we belong to God no matter what others may think of us, not to mention the pressure that we put on ourselves.

     Our country and our world are experiencing a large-scale mental health crisis. My heart breaks for people who are in need of emotional and mental healing in their lives, but who end up not seeking that help and support because of fear or a sense of unworthiness. It’s OK to not be OK. 

     Let me say that again. It’s OK to not be OK. Life can be hard and it’s important to take time and be reminded that God loves us, sent Jesus who died on a cross for us, and who rose again for our sake so that we can be made whole. So that we can be made whole and to be the people God has called us to be. 

     We don’t have to carry the expectations and the weight of the world on our shoulders. And the good news of our faith is that God is always reaching out to us, reminding us that we belong to God. 

     I know that I’m getting ahead of myself because two Sundays from now, our appointed Romans reading has the reminder of all reminders that we belong to Christ no matter what other voices or those voices in our head might say about us. 

     At the end of chapter 8 of this magnificent chapter, Paul writes, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

     Type “Y” to confirm this reminder about who you are. Or better, yet, just say, “Amen” to that reminder of who you are! Amen! Let’s say it again, “Amen!”

     I attended a United Methodist conference event a few years ago that included a testimony of a young man, named Patrick who recently was baptized at a United Methodist Church. Here’s a portion of the testimony that he gave that day that might help us to remember the good news of our faith as well:

     At this event, he shared these words, “I was an alcoholic and a drug addict. My life was going nowhere. It had no meaning. If I had to use one word to describe it, it was hopeless. I looked up an AA group which was meeting at a United Methodist Church that I had attended when I was a little kid.

     People from that church would see me coming in for the meetings and they kept inviting me to attend worship on Sunday morning. So I decided to attend worship one Sunday. From the moment I walked through those doors, there was nothing but love. These people treated me better than my own family. I kept attending every week and ended up getting baptized.”

     Now listen to what he said next about what a difference his baptism has made in his life:

     “When I was coming out of that water, it was like all the muck and mire and nastiness that I had subjected myself to, it was rinsed off and laid at the bottom of that pool. And I’m nobody special. This could happen to anybody. And honestly, without the UMC, I would probably be dead right now. But praise God that he saw to it to bring me back! I now have joy and happiness and I love serving in the church.”

     That church ended up helping Patrick to reclaim his faith and he was reminded through the love of that congregation and his baptism that Jesus loved him unconditionally. Unconditionally. 

     How does the Apostle Paul put it? “There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation. 

     Type “Y” to confirm. 

     Patrick typed “Y” and confirmed his faith by being baptized and allowing Christ to be his Savior and Lord. 

     My heart always breaks for anyone who feels shunned or unwelcomed in the church. I don’t want anybody to feel excluded or unworthy of God’s love. So, about four years ago, I started thinking of some intentional things that our church could do. 

     We already had a hospitality team and our congregation was known to be very friendly and welcoming. But then it dawned on me what we could do differently on a weekly basis. That’s when I thought about the benediction. That’s something that churches do every Sunday at the end of worship. 

     What if the benediction became a weekly reminder for everyone; long-term church members, new members, worship guests, and anyone who would be attending worship on that particular Sunday, that they are loved unconditionally by God? 

     So, I came up with these words for a benediction that we ended up saying every Sunday at the end of worship. The beginning of that benediction goes like this: “You are a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God. There are no exceptions, asterisks, or loopholes.”

     That benediction became our weekly reminder that every single person is a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God. There is nothing that we can do to make God loves us more and there is nothing that we can do to make God love us any less. God just loves us. God loves us unconditionally because we have all been created in the image of God.

     I would find out a year or so later after our church had been using this benediction, that one of our teenage youth had this benediction printed out and she would take it to school with her. And every time that she was bullied or was feeling down, she would pull out this little reminder that God loves her and that there are no exceptions, asterisks, or loopholes.

     So friends, this is your friendly reminder from the Apostle Paul; “There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus.” 

     To confirm, please say, “Amen!”

Thin Places (July 9) by Rev. Robert McDowell

July 9, 2023

     Last Sunday, I encouraged us to be on the look-out for the “thin place moments” that happen in our everyday lives. “Thin place moments” come to us from Celtic Christianity which emphasizes how heaven and earth often overlap, creating these thin spaces in which we experience God’s presence in the course of our everyday lives.

     We also refer to these thin places as “God moments” in which Christ is made known to us in ways that gives us holy goose bumps. Those goose bumps are like those “aha moments” we sometimes have when it dawns us that we are in the presence of God.

     Some thin place moments are more dramatic than others. Many are more subtle. And some of them just have a way of putting a smile on our face like this story about a woman named Kelly Ramey in Missouri who says that she found Jesus in a bag of Cheetos. 

     When she opened her bag of Cheetos, she noticed a mini orange sculpture that resembled Jesus. She has even given it a name. She calls it… “Cheesus” not with the letter “J” but with the letters, “CH.” “Cheesus.” 

     I’m not sure if that fits the definition of a “thin place moment,” but who am I to judge? I would rather us err on the side of seeing “Cheesus” than on the side of not seeing “Cheesus.” If we believe that God is present everywhere than why wouldn’t we have more of these God sightings through our day-to-day living, even while eating snacks.

     As I mentioned last Sunday, being alert to these holy moments and then sharing our “thin place moments” with others are what help us to have a growing personal relationship with God. These thin places remind us that we are not alone! God is with us in a very real way.

     Today’s appointed Psalm reading is Psalm 145. It’s a psalm that encourages us to share our “thin place moments.” Listen again to verse 4 in which the psalmist is praying to God, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”

     I love it that we can gather every Sunday to worship and praise God for all of God’s mighty acts. Psalm 145 is a psalm that emphasizes the importance of worship. It’s where we encourage each other by sharing how we have experienced God’s presence in our lives.

     I have been in pastoral ministry for almost 40 years now, which means that I have preached many, many sermons, like probably around a thousand sermons! That’s a lot of hot air! 

     You would think that I would eventually run out of new things to say. But I don’t because there are always going to be new “thin place moments” to share; not just my “thin place moments,” but other “thin place moments” that people have shared with me. 

     Sometimes, I know on the spot that I am experiencing a “thin place moment” and other times, it’s only upon reflection, that I look back on a time and then realize, “wow, God was with me in that situation and I didn’t even notice it. That was a ‘thin place moment.’” And I also wonder how many “thin place moments” I miss just because I wasn’t attentive or open to God’s presence in my life.

     I also wonder how many thin place moments that I, for whatever reason, end up not sharing with others. Today’s psalmist wants us to share our God moments with each other because that’s what it means to share our faith the good news of Christ with others.

     Last Sunday, I shared one of my “thin place moments” with you about the time when Penny and I were waiting to be introduced at a new church appointment and I noticed that my initials were on a sign at the local shopping mall. It turned out that those initials weren’t about my name but about the name of that shopping mall. I still think it was more than a coincidence that my initials were on that “floor is wet caution sign!”

     Here’s another “thin place moment” which happened to me during my time at that church a few years later. Some thin place moments just stick with you for a long time and this is one of them.

     A couple of years into my ministry at that church, a church member told me about this family who had a young boy in elementary school. They weren’t affiliated with any church and this church member wanted to know if I would be willing to make a pastoral visit with this family. And of course, I said yes. This little boy’s name was Brandon and he had terminal cancer. 

     I quickly learned in just the first few minutes of our conversation that Brandon was a very special young boy. He had an incredible sense of humor and asked me all kinds of questions about heaven and God. And then he wanted to know if I would be willing to baptize him. He didn’t have any connection with a church and yet he had all of these questions about faith. 

     I told him that I would be glad to baptize him during my next visit with him. So I shared with him about the meaning of baptism and I remember him listening very intently to every word I was saying. He was like a sponge, absorbing all of this. But then, he put his hand in the air because he had a question.

     And I said, “What’s your question?” And with a serious look on his face, Brandon said to me, “I have to pee.”  That was Brandon. Just a fun, loving, young boy who wanted to learn about God and his faith. 

     And the thing that stood out the most for me about Brandon was that he wasn’t afraid about talking about dying. In fact, he would bring this up several times when we met. And one of the things he said to me and to his family over and over again was that he would be sending us butterflies from heaven to let us know that he was OK. 

     During my next visit with Brandon, a brought a couple members of my church, and there in the living room of Brandon’s grandmother, I baptized Brandon. He was so happy, and it meant so much to him.

    Brandon ended up dying just a few months later and I ended up officiating for his funeral. One of the items that the family had on display next to his casket was his baptism certificate. That’s how much his baptism meant to him. 

     A few months following Brandon’s funeral, I needed to make some visits at the hospital. And for some reason, instead of going my typical route on the main roads to the hospital, I went a back way which was longer and took me through neighborhoods.

     And this route took me by the house of where Brandon lived. As I was driving by, I noticed that Brandon’s grandmother was sitting on the front steps of the house, and so I decided to pull over and see how she had been doing since the funeral. 

     She was so glad to see me, and with tears in her eyes, she said that a little later that morning, she would be going to the cemetery to watch them place the personalized headstone at Brandon’s grave. 

     Together, we shared a few stories about Brandon, how he had a great sense of humor and how he showed so much faith in facing his death. We laughed and we cried as we sat together on those front steps of her home.

     And then the strangest thing happened that I will never forget. As this grandmother was sharing with me, a butterfly gently landed on her arm. And we both became silent, and then we just looked at each other in disbelief. Neither of us had to say a word in that holy moment. Brandon was already sending us butterflies from heaven. 

     After a few moments of silence, this grandmother’s tears of sadness became tears of joy. And then we prayed together, right there on those front steps, thanking God for sending us that butterfly at just the right moment.

     Here’s what I love about “thin place moments.” They can happen to us in any given moment, and when we least expect it. And they remind us that God isn’t just wait up in heaven somewhere but is instead closer to us than we can even imagine. 

      This is why our psalmist today is praying, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”

     God gives us many opportunities for us to experience a little of heaven on earth. We refer to these opportunities as “means of grace” which help us to be more alert and attentive to God’s presence in our lives.

     Means of grace include worshipping together on Sunday mornings, sharing in the Sacraments, reading our bibles, spending time in prayer, serving those in need, being part of a small fellowship group, enjoying God’s beautiful creation, and sharing with each other how God has been present with us through times of joy as well as times of sorrow. 

     What a privilege it is to be a co-traveler with you on this faith journey. You just never know how God will be made present in ways that will sometimes leave us speechless.  As the psalmist says in his prayer for today, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!”

Pastoral Prayer (July 9) Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 9, 2023

O God, this is our prayer for each one of us today that you would open our eyes that we may see glimpses of truth you have for us.  

 

Like today’s psalmist, open our eyes so that we can not only see your mighty acts but share how you are at work in our lives with those around us. Open our eyes to the thin place moments that happen all around us often in very subtle and timely ways.

 

Open our eyes to those butterflies that land on our arm at just the right time or that bible verse we read one morning that helped us with a situation we faced later that same day. 

 

Open our eyes to the new ways that you are calling us to stretch and grow in our faith so that we can become more like you; more loving, more caring, more gracious, more giving, and more understanding.

 

Open our eyes to the opportunities that you give us to share with others how you are at work in our lives. 

 

Open our eyes to the many needs and concerns that we shared a few moments ago. Surround and bless those we have named in this time of prayer so that they may know that you are a God who heals, who saves, who guides, who protects, and who forgives. 

 

And dear God, open our eyes to the many joys and blessings that surround us in any given moment. We look back our week since we last met, and can see how you were present in our lives in so many beautiful and mysterious ways. No wonder that our Psalmist for today offers these words of praise and worship, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!” 

 

We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, who deserves all of our praise and all of our worship, and who has taught us to pray together saying…

 

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.

Set Free! (July 2) by Rev. Robert McDowell - Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 2, 2023

     I just want to give you fair warning. It’s been three weeks since I last preached so I might be a little rusty! But it’s been good to get back into that weekly holy rhythm of preparing sermons. You know, pastors don’t really retire, we’re just sent out to “pastor.” 

     Sorry, bad joke.

     Over the past several years, I’ve worked on my sermons every Monday. I refer to Mondays as my “Mondays with Jesus.” It’s a day for me to listen to what God is calling me to say to share with the people I’m serving. 

     Over these years, I’ve noticed that there are some Mondays when Jesus has a lot to say to me and I can’t type fast enough. BUT there are other Mondays where Jesus seems more silent. But even on those Mondays, I have discovered that if I listen carefully enough, if I listen carefully enough, Jesus will give me the words to speak for not only my congregation on Sunday mornings but for me, the preacher. 

     So, thank you for giving me this opportunity to be in pastoral ministry with you. I love pastoral ministry, even in retirement! 

     In my last sermon which was back on June 11^th, and which seems like forever ago for me, I focused on the appointed Old Testament reading that Sunday from the Book of Genesis where God calls upon Abraham and Sarah to leave their home and follow God to a place that God would show them. 

     The title I gave for that sermon was “All that You Can’t Leave Behind” in which I invited my congregation to think about the transitions we go through in life. There are some things that God calls us to leave behind when we start a new chapter in our lives. And that can be a very healthy thing even though it can also be challenging as well. 

     Penny and I have been in the process of moving from a large church-owned parsonage in Ohio to a one floor ranch house here in South Carolina. We had learned over the years to not accumulate a lot of things because as a clergy family, we knew that we would be moving to different churches, but for this last move, we were amazed at how much unnecessary stuff we really had!

     When we were going through our many belongings in the basement, we found several unpacked boxes of stuff that we had never even opened from our previous move. We didn’t even know these boxes existed until we were going through everything!

     So we ended up sorting through all those boxes to only take the things that we couldn’t leave behind. That’s not always easy to do, right? 

     I have to be in the right mood to part ways with what I think are things I want to keep. So, for example, over the past 37 years and the six times we have moved to new churches, I have always taken my seminary papers with me. Those seminary papers date back to 1985…Carted them from one church to another over all these years. Do you know how many times that I have referred to any of those brilliantly written papers over the course of 37 years of pastoral ministry? [ZERO!] Probably time to part ways and lighten the load. 

     So I come back to that question; what is it that we just can’t leave behind? That was the focus of my sermon three weeks ago. And as I reflected on that scripture about God calling Abraham and Sarah to leave their home and go to a new place that God would show them, that’s when I discovered the one thing that we should never, ever leave behind when we are going through a time of transition in our lives. And that one very important thing is God’s blessings! 

     God told Abraham and Sarah that he would bless them and begin a new nation through them even though they were up in years and it seemed like their best years were behind them instead of in front of them. God was telling them, “No, your best years are ahead of you, because I am going to bless you and others through you.”

    I went on to share with the congregation the many blessings that Penny and I would take with us from our time in serving with them; blessings in which the people of that church reminded me again and again of God’s presence and faithfulness during the good times and the more challenging times. 

     But it’s not just the blessings from the past that would be good to take with us. It’s also, and maybe more importantly, the blessings yet to come. Blessings like this new opportunity today where we can begin this new journey together in what it means to be the church, what it means to keep our focus on Jesus, what it means to pray for and with each other, blessings of encouraging each other, blessings of worshipping together, blessings of laughing together and crying together, blessings of God’s unexpected surprises that will lead us to offer thanksgiving and praise to God. So many blessings that await us, together!

     That’s what we can’t leave behind. God’s blessings; past, present, and future!

     I like to refer to God’s blessings as “Thin Place Moments.” This is a phrase that comes to us from Celtic Christianity which emphasizes how heaven and earth often overlap in our everyday lives creating these “thin places” that remind us of God’s presence in a very real way.

     I love this phrase because it reminds us to be alert and on the lookout for these “thin places” that happen more often than we can even imagine. 

    Our New Testament reading for today from Romans, chapter 6 talks about how God sets us free from our old way of living to a new way of living in which we receive abundant and eternal life. On this Independence Day weekend, we celebrate our nation’s freedom, so how appropriate that this New Testament reading also refers to the freedom that we have through Jesus Christ. 

     And the Apostle Paul says that this freedom is God’s gift to us, something we can’t earn; we can only receive it. I like to think of “thin place moments” as ways that God is reminding us that we have been set free and that we are not alone. God is with us, offering us life and life abundantly. 

     And so, as we begin our journey together, I invite us to be on the lookout for these “thin place moments” in our lives and to share these moments with each other and with the people we encounter in our daily lives. I love to hear how God is at work and being made present in our day-to-day living. 

     And these “thin place moments” don’t need to be overly dramatic. They often turn out to be those more subtle holy moments where deep in our souls, we know that God is sending us a sign of God’s presence. 

     So, here’s a “thin place moment” that happened to me several years ago. I was reminded of this as I was preparing this sermon for today, because this “thin place moment” was during a transition that Penny and I were experiencing when we were being asked to move from a church we loved dearly to serve at a new church appointment. 

     The District Superintendent set up a Staff/Parish Relations Committee for us to go and be introduced as the new pastor of a church that was about an hour and a half from where I was currently serving. During those couple of days leading up to that meeting, I was praying for God to send us some reassurance, some sign that God had indeed called us to serve in this new appointment. I was praying for God to send a “thin place moment.”

     So Penny and I left in plenty of time in case traffic was bad. We didn’t want to feel rushed to arrive at this new church. And it turned out that we ended up arriving over an hour before the meeting was to begin, so we had some time on our hands.

     We decided to check out the shopping mall that was on the outskirts of that city and we noticed it had a food court. And so, we’re all dressed up and we’re sitting there, nervous as anything, thinking about that meeting. We each bought a soda, found a table and just sat there for a while. 

     After we wasted some time there, we decided we should probably head out and go to the church. And as we were nearing the main exit of that mall, there was this yellow caution sign there on the floor, one of those caution signs that lets you know the floor had been recently wet mopped. 

     And believe it or not, this caution sign had the initials of my full name. I was like, “what??” My full name is Robert Vincent McDowell. And this sign had the letters, “RVM.” 

     And I turn to Penny as we were walking by that sign, and I said, “Look, those are my initials on this sign! This is literally a sign from God for us to go to this church!”

     And I’ll never forget this. Penny looked at me, just shook her head, and she said, “Uh,dear… Those are actually the initials of this mall. This is the River Valley Mall. That’s why it says, “RVM.”

     And I said, “Oh.”

     You know, I don’t totally understand how God works. But I do know that God definitely has a sense of humor, and I also believe that God gives us these little reminders along the way that we’re not alone especially as we face transitions in life. And for the record, I still believe those initials, at least in that moment stood for Robert Vincent McDowell. Let those who have ears to hear, hear. 

     I am so looking forward to this new holy transition, not just for us, but for all of us together. Thank you for your warm welcome; your off the chart southern hospitality; and for already helping us to feel at home here.

     So, a little about us. Penny and I recently celebrated our 38^th wedding anniversary. We are both from Pennsylvania. We met as college students at Temple University in Philadelphia. We got to know each other through a couple of different campus ministries, plus we were in the same dorm building. Let me explain. 

      My dorm room was on the 1^st floor right next to the stairwell. Penny’s room was on the 2^nd floor. And one day, thinking that she was entering the stairwell to go up the stairs, she walked into my room by mistake.

      So, we laughed about that and introduced ourselves. And she noticed… And I’m super embarrassed to share this with you. But one of the posters on one of my dorm walls had the United Methodist cross and flame. When I went to college, my Methodist faith was very important to me and that’s why I had the Methodist logo on my wall.

     But guess what? She noticed that Methodist cross and flame and she said to me, “I’m a United Methodist, too!”

     And the rest as they say is history! We have a son and a daughter and son-in-law who live in Ohio and we have two west highland terriers who are incredibly spoiled! 

     As we begin our journey together here at Upper Richland Charge, I invite us to think about all that we can’t leave behind. Think about God’s many “thin place moments” in our lives and the blessings that are yet to come. And let’s celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ. 

Pastoral Prayer (July 2) Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC

July 2, 2023

O God, this is our song for there to be peace throughout the world. On this long weekend that we celebrate our nation’s independence with fireworks, cookouts, and projects around the house, may our song be for there to be liberty and justice for all. 

 

O God, this is our song to celebrate the freedom that you made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank you for freeing us to be the people you call us to be and the church you call us to be.

 

O God, this is our song to offer this prayer on behalf of the many, many prayer needs in this congregation. We pray for your healing presence to be with those who are facing medical challenges and health problems; for your comforting love to be with those who are grieving and with heavy hearts; for your guiding care to be with those who are facing difficult decisions; for your abiding presence to be with those who feel lonely and uncertain about the future. 

 

And O God, on this first Sunday of July, this is our song to give you thanks for new beginnings. For Jared, our new pianist as he begins his time here. And for the many new pastors who are beginning their new pastoral appointments here in the Columbia District and throughout the South Carolina Annual Conference. May this Sunday of new beginnings in the United Methodist Church lead us and all of our churches to continue to sing a song of peace and your grace that sets us free from our sins so that we can be the people you call us to be.

 

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, the One whose allegiance we offer our pledge and who taught us to pray this prayer 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.