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]

Holy Hump Day (December 28) with Pastor Robert

Today’s Focus:

Special Holy Hump Day Year in Review!

Sermon (Christmas Eve) by Rev. Robert McDowell

    For the past several Sundays, we have been preparing for this holy night by singing and reflecting on the Charles Wesley Advent hymn, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” If you’ve been hanging out here at our church these past several weeks, tonight marks the 5th time you have sung this hymn. 

     And if you come back here tomorrow morning to worship, you will get to sing it a 6^th time! See what I’m doing here? Extra points if you come to church tomorrow morning!

     But after tomorrow’s worship service, we are going to retire this hymn until next Advent. It needs some well deserved rest from it’s busy schedule this year. But I sure hope that we will continue to sing this hymn in our hearts well into the New Year!

     I love this hymn. The lyrics are meant to help us receive the joy of this holy night in all of it’s fullness and glory.

     Over these past several weeks, we have been focusing on this line from verse 1. Let’s say it together in unison:

     “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.”

     Tonight, we are going to conclude our focus on this hymn by looking at this last phrase in verse 1, “Joy of every longing heart.”

     So be prepared, because later in this service, after the goose bumps part of the service where we sing Silent Night and light our candles, we are going to raise this roof when we sing these wonderful words, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

     “Joy to the world!” “Joy of every longing heart.” 

     Christmas is about joy.

     So as I’ve been reflecting on the Christmas story, I am struck by just how much joy was present when the shepherds were told that the Savior of the world was born. We are told that while they were tending sheep that night, an angel of the Lord appeared to them saying, 

     “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

     There’s the Christmas joy! “Good news of great joy,” the angel told them. This is one of my favorite phrases in the Bible. What a great way to describe our faith! “Good news of great joy!”

     I think I’ll start introducing myself to others by using this phrase. “Please say your name and what you do for a living.”

     “Hi, my name is Robert McDowell and I’m a preacher of good news of great joy for all the people!” 

     No wonder Charles Wesley included this phrase in his hymn, “Joy of every longing heart.” If you have a longing heart, the angel has an important message to give you, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people!”

     I mentioned this a couple of Sundays ago when we were looking at the first phrase of Wesley’s hymn. Notice the creative poetry Charles Wesley uses in how he repeats the word, “born” several times in these two verses of his hymn. 

     “Born to set thy people free,” is what we sing at the beginning of verse 1. And then he creatively uses that word three more times in verse 2. “Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king, born to reign in us for forever.”

     Jesus was born a King to deliver us from our fears and sins, and to reign in us forever! The birth of Jesus is good news of great joy!

     As a pastor, I have always worked really hard in having the Season of Advent be a time for us to wait expectantly for the joy of Christmas. I’ve always looked at Advent from our perspective in how we need to patiently wait for Christmas to come.

     This year, I’ve been thinking more about what it must have been like for God to wait for Jesus to be born.  Just think what that must have been like for God to wait for the right time to send Jesus into the world. 

     The reason I say this is because this is a God who yearns for our world to be made new again. This is a God who longs for our world to be filled with peace. This is a God who desperately wants there to be justice and righteousness for all people. This is a God who wants to reconcile the world to himself. And this is a God who longs to be in a loving relationship with each and everyone of us.

     Just think what it must have been like for God to wait for Jesus to be born in this world. God knew that the gift of his Son would make all the difference in our lives and in our world. The good news of Christmas is that there is hope for our world.

     In Marilynne Robinson’s book, Lila, one of her characters says this powerful line, “If there is no Lord, then things are just as they look to us.”

     The good news of Christmas is that there is a Lord who has sent us Jesus to help us see things not just as they look to us, but in a new way and from God’s point of view. Maybe this is why Christians get up, get dressed and come to church every Sunday morning when we could just sleep in and do whatever. 

     The good news of Christmas points us to a God who isn’t just some distant deity, wishing us good luck from afar. This is a God who was willing to become one with us by sending us Jesus and who points us to a new and transformative way of looking at ourselves and the world around us.  

     I’m sure that God couldn’t wait for Mary to give birth and for this good news to be unleashed in the world. What else would you expect from a trinitarian God who speaks, who shows up, and who intervenes? This is a hands on God who is willing to do surprising things like have some shepherds out in the fields to be the first ones to hear about Christ’s birth.   

     Speaking of hymns, there is this wonderful line in the hymn, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” that we will be singing a little later in our service.

     “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin Where meek souls will receive him still The dear Christ enters in.”

     “Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in.”

     We receive the joy of Christmas when we, like Mary, become Christ bearers. God invites us to give birth to Jesus Christ in our own lives. This is what changes the world as we all give birth to this good news of great joy.

     Spanish, mystic, St. John of the Cross who lived during the 16^th century once said, “For each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.” 

     Christmas is a time for us to open every aspect of our lives to God’s transforming and redeeming love, which in turn leads us to seek the change that God wants to see in the world. It’s what reminds us again and again that things don’t just have to be “as they look to us,” to quote that line again.

     When we allow our longing hearts to be filled with the joy of Christ’s birth, we become a transformative force of love that changes homes, workplaces, communities, and even the world. And our work continues until Christ comes again in final victory and reigns over all creation. 

     The good news of great joy that the angel shared with the shepherds that the Savior of the world was born, led them to go to Bethlehem to experience it for themselves. And then Luke tells us that after they saw Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger, that they made known what had been told them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.  

     The last verse is the really fun verse in the Christmas story. Luke says that these shepherds, who probably weren’t what you would call the most religious people that God could have chosen to first hear the good news of Christ’s birth… these shepherds, we are told “returned, glorying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

     That night, those shepherds found joy!

     Last year, one of our neighbors told Penny and me that we needed to go and see a house that was known for having a lot of Christmas decorations. They said, “You won’t believe how many Christmas lights and decorations this family has around their house. You really need to go see it.”

     Looking back on that day, this neighbor reminds me of that angel telling the shepherds to go and see this good news of great joy.

     So, one night we decided to drive around in the different neighborhoods and see Christmas lights which were nice. We were going to head back home when we remembered about this one house that our neighbor told us we needed to go and see.

     It’s a house that is kind of tucked away off a main road. We only found it because our neighbor gave us very detailed directions in how to get there. It was kind of off the beaten path. Maybe a little bit like Bethlehem, not the place you would expect to find anything special.

     And so, we followed this narrow dirt road toward this house. We kind of wondered if we were heading in the right direction. This is where he said we would find the most amazing Christmas lights? This house was tucked back in the woods.

     And that’s when we noticed the radiating and beaming glow of lights that were just ahead of us. And as we pulled up to this house, we realized that this family took Christmas decorating to a whole different level!

     Here is what greeted us upon our arrival at this house…

     The word, “Joy” with spectacularly large letters and all lit up so brightly! 

     I took a picture of it and then later posted it on Facebook with the caption, “I found joy!!!” And we did that night!

     The angels have announced to us where we can find true joy. Go to Bethlehem, down this dirt road, and you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

     This is where you will find the joy of every longing heart.

Online Worship (Christmas Day) Athens First UMC

Welcome to our 

December 25, 10:30 AM 

(Christmas Day)

online worship service!

Athens First UMC

2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701

[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]