Online Worship (January 15) Athens First UMC

Welcome to our 

January 15

online worship service!

Athens First UMC

2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701

[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]

Holy Hump Day (January 11) with Pastor Robert

Today’s Focus:

Winter Ordinary Time 

& Steady Spiritual Growth

Sermon (January 8/Baptism of the Lord Sunday) by Rev. Robert McDowell

    I’m sorry, but for the sermon today, I feel the need to address something that is very controversial which is why we don’t talk about it very much. Since I’m now in my 8^th year with you as pastor, I feel that I can bring up sensitive topics like this from time to time. 

     And we’re probably going to have a lot of different opinions on this but please, let’s all be respectful especially toward others who may disagree with you and it might even be someone sitting next to you. Now with that said, here is what I want to know. [Deep breath.]

     What is your favorite color?

     Now, hear me out. This is a safe space to share our opinions on this. I want to know what is your favorite color.

     And we’re not even going to do this by secret ballot. In a little bit, I’m going to ask you to stand and cast your vote.

     Here are your color choices so you can look them over. In a moment, I’m going to say these colors out loud and when I get to your personal favorite color, please stand. And I’m going to need you to help me to see which colors are the most popular here in church: Are you ready? I want you to stand when your favorite color is named. Here we go!

     Pink – Red – Violet – Green – Yellow - Periwinkle Black – Blue – Brown - Magenta – Turquoise – Beige – [And please stand if your favorite color wasn’t on this list.]

     Based on this survey, the most popular color is __________.

     Crayola Crayon has conducted surveys on people’s favorite colors and here are our favorite colors in order of popularity out of all the ones on this list: 

     Blue was #1. Then in order of popularity, we have the colors Red, Violet, Green, Pink, Black, Turquoise-Blue, Blue-Green, Periwinkle, and Magenta.

     Brown, Yellow, and Beige did not make the top 10.

     The reason I bring up this very controversial topic is because when we think of the meaning of baptism which we are doing on this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we might first think of the color, blue. Blue is a color associated with water. That makes sense.

     But based on our Acts scripture reading, I wonder if green is the better choice for us today. Green is a color that is closely associated with a traffic light. Green means “Go!”

     I love it when the traffic light stays green and you can keep on going. Red, not so much. And for some people, they seem to think that red also means go. I think they’re getting their colors mixed up!

     When we think of a traffic light, green means go. And when we think of baptism, think of the color green as well. And here’s why…

     In our Acts scripture reading we have the Apostle Peter preaching a sermon in the home of a non-Jewish family. This was a place where Peter would never have visited because of the strict religious purity laws of his day. 

     According to Peter’s long-held beliefs, this should have been a red light moment for him because faithful Jews should never enter into the home of a Gentile family. They would be considered ritually unclean. 

     But the only reason that he violated his own religious rules was because earlier, God sent Peter a powerful vision that he was to go and share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with this Gentile family. It would be like someone telling you or me that the red color in a traffic light means to go and the color green means to stop. That would not be easy for us to make that transition. 

     And by the way, please don’t. I’m just using this as an illustration of how difficult this would have been for Peter to know that he now had the green light to go to places beyond the religious boundaries of his day. 

     And the reason why God was giving Peter the green light to do something that would have been counter to how he was raised in his faith was all because of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.  Jesus’ resurrection changed everything! 

     It not only defied the laws of nature when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, it also broke down previous well-established religious boundaries that had become so entrenched in Peter’s day. And one of those religious boundaries was to not enter the house of someone who was non-Jewish. 

     To think of doing such a thing was a red light for Peter. But now, in light of Jesus’ resurrection, Peter was discovering that God was dismantling those boundaries. 

     The Book of Acts also has the name, “The Acts of the Apostles” because it offers us these stories of the apostles being given the green light to go and share the good news of Jesus with everyone, and not just with those who were Jewish. This new green light faith in widening God’s circle to include all people meant that those apostles needed to rethink their faith.

     And the other thing that we learn about when reading the Book of Acts was that it was the Holy Spirit that was constantly nudging, and indeed pushing those first disciples of Jesus out of their comfort zones. That’s the whole reason why just before Jesus ascended into heaven following his resurrection, he told his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come. 

     Jesus told them to wait because they would need the Holy Spirit to push them out of their nests in order to learn to fly so to speak. They were to wait for the Holy Spirit because they needed to rethink everything about their faith and see their faith in light of Jesus’ resurrection.

     Peter wouldn’t have gone to that non-Jewish house without the Holy Spirit and the dream that God had given to him earlier in chapter 10 of our Acts scripture reading where a sheet was lowered down to earth from heaven. And on that sheet were all of these ritually unclean animals that faithful Jews would never even  consider eating. Peter immediately thought, “Red light! No! Can’t do that!”

     But then a voice from heaven said to him, “They are not ritually unclean anymore. The good news of Jesus has changed everything. You now have a green light to go and share this good news with all people, even those who you have considered to be outside of God’s grace and love.”

     Reluctantly and still processing all of this new way of looking at his faith, Peter obeyed that vision from God and traveled to that ritually unclean house, well, not considered ritually unclean anymore, and proclaimed the good news of Jesus with them. The Book of Acts is really about rethinking our faith not so much as a red light faith but as a green light faith where all people are included in God’s circle of love.

     If Peter and those first apostles needed to rethink their faith, we need to as well in our own day and age. This is a never ending process and one that needs to continue throughout our lives.

     Dave Tomlinson is an Anglican Priest who has a podcast ministry that offers thoughts on what it means to be a Christian who is constantly rethinking what it means to be a people of faith. This can be a scary thing for many of us to do since we tend to gravitate toward our past assumptions and beliefs about who we are and what God is calling us to become.

     In one of his podcast interviews, he offers this helpful way of rethinking our faith. He says,

     “Picture three boxes. The first is order, the second is disorder, the third is reorder. We’re all raised in the first box of order. We were given our explanation of what reality means and what God means. It gives us so much comfort that most people want to stay in the first box forever.

     But what has to happen between your 30s and 50s, is the glib certitudes of the first box have to fall apart. Who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s holy and who’s a sinner – I know these beliefs gave your ego great comfort – but if you stay inside the first box, it creates angry people, rigid people and unhappy people. When you leave the first box, it feels like dying. When I had to leave my early Christian faith certitudes it felt like a loss of faith.

     But that wonderful early Christian faith understanding holds you strong enough to endure the second box and not throw the baby out with the bath water. In the second box you realize ‘it wasn’t as simplistic as I was told, but it’s not all wrong either.’ If you can let God lead you through the second box while hanging onto order, God can lead you to the third box, reorder.”

     Tomlinson goes on to say, “People want the first box at all costs but it doesn’t make them love Jesus. The crucified one who identifies with the poor and tells the outsider ‘never have I found such faith inside Israel’ – you see why they killed Jesus! He was so comfortable with disorder inside of his own highly ordered religion. Be Jesus never throws it out – Jesus still respects the Temple. But he doesn’t waste much time there.” 

     And then Tomlinson concludes with this thought: “This is the position we’re in. I live with that same tension – figuring out what was good about the tradition I was given and what was accidental and arbitrary.”

     This three box illustration helps me to know that it’s not only OK to live within the tension of what I believe to be certain and unchanging, but also to be willing to live in the discomfort of being pushed out of the nest so that I can be open to new perspectives, new experiences and new ways of widening God’s circle.

     It seems to me that Peter was willing to move into the next box through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to rethink his faith, and to be willing to go to places he had been unwilling to travel, like to a ritually unclean city and share God’s love with a ritually unclean family.

     This image of the three boxes of order, disorder, and reorder is what helps me to keep evolving in my faith.

     It is what helps me to accept and not ignore the complexities that we find in the scriptures. It is what helps me to appreciate the historical context of when the scriptures were written. It is what helps me to see the Bible from other people’s unique perspectives that will often challenge my own long-held beliefs. It is what has helped me to have a more inclusive faith for people and groups who have often felt excluded and judged by the church. 

     On this baptism of the Lord Sunday, as we think of the color green and how God is calling us to go to new places, meet new people, and encounter new experiences where God’s love is being extended beyond the boundaries as we have known them, let’s renew our baptismal covenant with God. Let’s invite God to push us out of our nests as uncomfortable as that may be. 

     May green be our favorite color at least for today, and may we remember that we have been baptized to go and include even more people in God’s wide embrace.

Baptized to Go!

Sermon Discussion Question

Acts 10:34-43 & Matthew 3:13-17

January 8, 2023

For our worship focus this week, we begin by asking a very controversial question…

What is your favorite color? 😁 Choose from [Pink – Red – Violet – Green – Yellow - Black – Blue – Brown - Magenta – Turquoise – Beige]

Based on Crayola Crayon polls, they have discovered that these are people’s favorite colors: 1. Blue 2. Red 3. Violet 4. Green 5. Pink 6. Black 7. Turquoise 8. Blue-Green 9. Periwinkle 10. Magenta. 

Which of these colors do you most associate with baptism?

Pastor Robert suggests that even though blue is a color associated with baptism because of water, green might be the better choice. Green symbolizes “to go.” In our Acts 10 scripture reading, Peter responded to God’s calling to go (green!) to a ritually unclean city and to a ritually unclean gentile house in order to share the good news of Jesus and baptize the whole family! Peter had taught been taught that as a faithful Jew, he shouldn’t do this but God’s calling prompted him to rethink his former beliefs and be open to the new thing that God was doing.

Share a time when you sensed that God was calling you to rethink your faith and be open to a new biblical/theological understanding. What was that experience like for you? Difficult? Easy?

Dave Tomlinson, an Anglican Priest offers the illustration of 3 boxes to help us be open to those times when God is calling us to go (green) even though it might be going against our current biblical/theological understandings. These 3 boxes are 1) order 2) disorder 3) reorder. When God calls us to go, sometimes that might mean that we first need to move from the box of order and move into the 2nd box of disorder, so that we can eventually be faithful to God. Tomlinson emphasizes that the process of moving from the box of order toward the box of reorder does not mean that we throw everything away from the 1st box of order. It just means that we are willing to have open minds and hearts in the new direction God is calling us to go.  

Why do you think we sometimes want to remain in our box of order rather than move to the other boxes of disorder and reorder in how we approach our faith? 

Pray this prayer from Sunday’s worship service that invites us to be like Peter who was willing to be obedient go and baptize a gentile family even though it meant that he needed to rethink his faith:

Gentle Spirit, Holy Dove, reclaim us through the waters of our baptism. We confess our reluctance to live as your beloved children and to go and share your message of love to those around us. As we long to be more than we have become, remake us through the power of your spirit. In our yearning to taste the fullness of life, restore us through the wonder of your grace. Spirit of the Living God, lead us to be a light to the nations and a source of hope to those who sit in darkness. Amen.

 

Online Worship (January 8/Baptism of the Lord Sunday) Athens First UMC

SPECIAL NOTE: Due to a power outage,

this service was recorded on a smartphone.

Welcome to our 

January 8/Baptism of the Lord Sunday

online worship service!

Athens First UMC

2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701

[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]

Holy Hump Day (January 4) with Pastor Robert

Today’s Focus:

Epiphany & A Star Trek

Sermon (January 1) by Rev. Robert McDowell

 

    With New Year’s Day falling on Sunday this year, I thought it would be good for us to think about New Year’s resolutions from more of a faith perspective. 

     I was reading what some of the top New Year’s resolutions people make each year.  They are pretty much what you would expect.       

     In order of most popular, here are the most common resolutions from last year.  Exercise & lose weight, Spend more time with family and friends, (This next one is interesting) Be more aware and taking care of our mental health. Other include, sorting out finances and cutting back on spending, Traveling more, Taking up a new hobby, sport or other interest, Being more environmentally friendly, and Looking for a new job. 

     All of these look like good thing to have as New Year’s resolutions.

     If those are really good things, why do we find it difficult to stick to these resolutions throughout the year?  It seems like we make it through January and maybe even a little bit of February, but then things go downhill from there.

     It’s not easy to stick to our resolutions.  

     This is why I like to think of New Year’s resolutions in a different light.  Instead of calling them “resolutions,” maybe we should call them, “covenants” instead.  I think the language we use can make a huge difference in helping us to go after these worthwhile goals during the year.

     What do we mean by the word, “covenant?”  Well, first of all, it’s a biblical word.  I did a word search in my bible concordance and I discovered that the word “covenant” appears 380 times in the bible.  And by the way, for comparison sake, the word “resolution” appears zero times.  

     We even divide the bible into two parts that we call “covenants.”  We use the word “testaments” but it’s really referring to the word “covenant.” 

    We have an Old Covenant and a New Covenant.  The Old Covenant begins with the creation story all the way up to the time before Jesus was born.  And the New Covenant begins with the birth of Jesus and goes all the way to when the church spread throughout the Roman Empire.  We’re not talking about two covenants.  It’s one covenant, but it’s through Jesus Christ, that God’s covenant is fulfilled.  

     Here’s a biblical definition of the word, “covenant” so that whenever you hear this word, we’ll think of this.  A covenant is God’s promise to always be faithful.  I really like that definition.  A covenant is God’s promise to always be faithful.

     And this is why I like the word “covenant” over the word “resolution” because a covenant means that we always have someone that we can rely on and that someone is God.  By its very definition from a biblical perspective, a covenant is thee most dependable thing you can ever have in your life.

     Let me give a contrasting example.  When our kids were in school, there were a few years where Penny and I had to take turns picking them up at the Middle School.  And so I resolved to pick one of them after school on my designated days.

     Well guess what happened?  I forgot to pick our son up on one of my days!  I was like 30 to 45 minutes late.  And my family just loves to remind me of that one day when I was late.  Ok, maybe there were two or three days I was really late.   But even if I would have been late only one day, that still shows the difference between the meaning of the word, “covenant” and the word, “resolution.”  

     A covenant is God’s promise to always be faithful.  With God, you can never lose.  God will always be faithful.  Resolutions are based on our good intentions which are not always reliable.

     This word, “covenant” first appears in the Book of Genesis when God establishes a covenant with Noah that his family and the animals will be saved from the flood.  And just a few chapters later, God forms a covenant with Abraham in which Abraham would become the father of many people.  

     And from there, God formed a covenant with Abraham’s descendents who were known as the people of Israel.  God promised to be their God and that it would be through them that God would bring salvation to the entire world.

     This covenant of God’s faithfulness continued when God sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world.  Jesus suffered and died on the cross to fulfill God’s covenant so that our world would be made new again, and that we might have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.

     I John 1:9 reminds us of God’s covenant faithfulness when he writes, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  The key word in that verse is the word, “faithful.”

     In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they are invited to participate in this new life with him.  Jesus uses the image of a vine and branches.  Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.

     And because of God’s faithfulness in Jesus, we are given these words of assurance, “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.”  A little later he says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

     But that’s not all.  Jesus then says, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

     How would you like 2023 to be filled with joy and an assurance that God will be totally faithful in your life?  It almost sounds too good to be true.  All of this is possible because of God’s covenant that we see throughout the bible.  God is consistent and God is always faithful and will never ever let you down.

     Whenever I meet with couples for pre-marital counseling, we talk about how important it is to know that God will always be faithful.  And I say, “Whenever you face a difficult situation in your relationship, know that you always have God to turn for guidance and direction.  God will always be there for you.”

     I have a beautiful framed art design of a cross in my study and I point to it and say, “That shows you just how faithful God is.  Jesus was willing to die on a cross for you because that’s how much he loves you and will be faithful to you to the very end.”

     And then I tell them that it’s because of God’s faithfulness that they can take the risk of sharing difficult things that need to be shared.  They can do this because their marriage is based on God’s faithfulness.  

     Knowing that God is always faithful can make a huge difference in our lives and how we approach this New Year. 

     But there’s more than just knowing that God is faithful.  There’s another dimension of this word “covenant” that’s important for us to consider.

     Like Abraham, Israel, and the disciples, God invites and calls each one of us to intentionally be in covenant with God.  In other words, we get to choose if we want to accept God’s invitation to be on the receiving end of a life that is filled with joy, forgiveness, and God’s purposes.

     In the Old Testament, there’s a wonderful scene in the book of II Kings.  Josiah, was the King of Israel at the time and he was one of the good kings because he was committed to following and trusting in God, unlike many of the other kings of Israel.  

     Living during a time when the people of God were following after other gods, Josiah was amazingly able to bring the people together and make an agreement that they would obey and follow the God of Israel only.  

     We are told that everyone went into the house of the Lord and Josiah read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.  And it’s the final part of verse 3 of this passage that really stands out.  It says, “All the people joined in the covenant.”  “All the people joined in the covenant.”

     If you’re familiar with the Bible, you know that the people of God didn’t always live out their part of the covenant that they made that day.  And there are times when we don’t keep our end of the agreement.  But here’s the difference.  God is always faithful.  God never gives up on us.  Even when we don’t keep our end of the covenant, God continues to be faithful. 

     We’ve already mentioned the many common resolutions that people make for the New Year.  Getting more exercise, eating right, paying off bills, just to name a few.  Those are all important resolutions we can make for this New Year.  Instead of calling these resolutions, what if we would use more biblical language and call them covenants instead?  

     I don’t know about you, but I like my chances a whole lot more if I know that God is faithful and will give me the strength to hold up my end of the covenant.  And when I do fall short, I can know that God will still be there for me offering forgiveness, hope, and a new beginning. 

     Knowing that God will never fail me and will give me the strength to live out my commitments can make all the difference in the world.

     If you’re still thinking about your New Year’s resolutions or as I’d like us to call them, our New Year’s covenants for this year, here is a sampling of covenants that some Christians have made.  They have made these covenants knowing that they need to depend on God’s faithfulness and strength to live these out.  Here’s a sampling.

     I will practice daily devotions, including reading scripture and praying for myself and others.

     I prayerfully pledge to practice responsible stewardship of my God-given resources: my body, my artistic abilities, my finances, and my intellectual gifts.

     Knowing that my body is the temple of God, I will prayerfully plan my work and leisure time.

     I will be faithful in participating in worship each Sunday.

     I will be aware of opportunities to share my faith with others.

     I will find ways in getting to know and serving disadvantaged people in my community.

     I will express genuine appreciation to at least one person each day.

     Each week, I will seek to offer compassionate service and encouragement to those outside my normal circle of contacts.

     When I go to a restaurant, I will encourage those who are serving me.

     I will intentionally invite friends, neighbors, and co-workers to attend worship with me.

     I will get to know at least one person of a different ethnic background in my community.

     I will refrain from participating in racial, social, and sexual prejudicial actions and words.

     I will seek to help a family in need somewhere else in the world.

     Those are just a sampling of many covenants that we can make for 2023.  What are your New Year’s Covenants?

     In our Methodist tradition, we have a way of renewing our covenant with God each year on New Year’s.  It’s called the Wesleyan Covenant Service.  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism encouraged those early Methodists to participate in this service on New Year’s Day.  In that service, there is a prayer that is called the Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan tradition.

     Today, we have the opportunity to allow this prayer to become our prayer for 2023.  It’s a prayer of surrender as we invite Jesus Christ to be first in everything we do this year.  It’s a covenant prayer in which God promises to be faithful and we respond by offering our very best to God.

     Let’s pray this pray together:

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low by thee.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.  And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.  So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.  Amen.

A New Year’s Covenant

Sermon Discussion Questions

II Kings 23:1-3 & Matthew 2:1-12

January 1, 2023

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions for 2023? If so, what are they?

The Bible doesn’t refer to “resolutions.” Instead, the Bible talks a lot about covenants. The word, “covenant” appears 380 times in the Bible! The biblical meaning of the word, covenant is “God’s promise to always be faithful.” By making using the word, “covenant,” rather than word, “resolution,” it reminds us that keeping our commitments is not all up to us! God will be with us and will always be faithful!

What does this distinction between resolutions and covenants mean for you as you approach this New Year?

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfilled the covenant that God made with Israel to be their God and to redeem the world. God is faithful! Pastor Robert mentioned how the symbol of the cross can help remind us that God is faithful thanks to Jesus’ death on the cross which then led to his resurrection. 

What helps you to remember the powerful symbol of the cross and of God’s faithfulness to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

In our Old Testament reading from II Kings 23:1-3, we have the story of when King Josiah led the people of Israel in renewing their covenant with God. The last part of that reading says, “All the people joined in the covenant.”

Knowing that God is always faithful and that God will be with us to help us keep our New Year’s covenants/resolutions, what are some covenants that you would like to make to help you be a more faithful follower of Jesus in 2023?

Our own United Methodist tradition has a long history in the importance of making and keep our covenants with God. John Wesley who began the Methodist movement encouraged those early Methodists to pray this “Covenant Prayer” on New Year’s Day. Close your time by praying these words:

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low by thee.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.  And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.  So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.  Amen.

Online Worship (January 1/Epiphany Sunday) Athens First UMC

Welcome to our 

January 1/Epiphany Sunday

online worship service!

Athens First UMC

2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701

[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]