Devotional 8-21-08

David’s Lament
Lamentations 3:22

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When our medical machines can no longer keep us alive or solve our problems we ask --- Why God!!!!

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When we keep our taxes low and our profits based on a short-term focus while our societal safety net crumbles we ask ---- Where is God?

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When we invest in pleasure and self-indulgence only thinking of ourselves and not others in our world by the burning of forest, global warming, unsafe environmental practices and our lifestyle implodes we ask --- Who is God?

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When business lay low-income workers off and give bonuses to management based on those decisions – We wonder about justice?

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When our government official’s former companies make billions from a war that they promote while our children are killed and maimed in that war which was uncertain to begin with -- It angers us.

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When we continue to eat, live, and act unhealthy and find ourselves dying from diseases and causes that are related to the way we have lived, eaten, and acted. We want God to fix our problems. When He doesn’t we say it is God’s will.

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When and oil company Exec makes $ 50 million in salary and bonuses a year and responds to a questions about the price of gas by saying he is only charging what the “free Market” will bear and that it is his “right” to make a profit, we have to wonder where profit becomes greed. We ask does only that which is limited have value?

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Leader: When a society can produce financial crisis’s such as the junk bond collapse, the saving and loan bailout, the disintegration of the tech stock market, the real estate balloon burst and foreclosure, Enron’s debacle, the Bears and Sterns implosion and still believe to not be motivated by self centered desires – We wonder when God?

Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.

Rev. David Johnson

Devotional 7-18-08

Surely the Presence
Last Sunday, before Sunday school, I stood in the JM sanctuary. I know it's just a room, but often when I stand there, when it's empty and quiet, I feel like it echoes with the presence of God. Maybe the quiet just makes finding Him easier, or maybe there is a spiritual memory of all of the times He has made himself known to me in that room, but often when I need a moment with God, I can find Him there.

One of the lectionary readings this week is Genesis 28:10-19a. It is the story of Jacob. He is on the run, leaving home, when he falls asleep in the wilderness. He sees angels ascending and descending a ladder. God is standing next to Jacob, and He retells him about the promise made to Abraham and now to Jacob, and then says, "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

When Jacob wakes up, he says, "Surely the LORD is in this place -- and I did not know it!"

Sometimes I think that we come into church -- the building or the group of people God has formed into His Church, and we don’t think to look for God. If He were to walk up to us, and stand beside us, retelling us of His promises to us, we would be surprised to find that He was in church at all.

With our Vision and Mission before us, we are in the process of stepping out in faith. Andy Stanley, a minister in Georgia, says that the bridge between hope and faith is the promise of God. God promised Jacob, and He promises us that He will never leave us; He is always with us.

Surely the presence of God is in this Church.

There will be risks that we will be asked to take as we live into God's dreams for His Church. There will be times when we might be afraid. Stepping out into unknown is frightening. I know that it is. We should never forget that the presence of the Lord is in His Church. This Church -- this body of Christ that is assembled and meets on the corner of 5th Avenue and 10th Street -- is the dwelling place of God. Do not be afraid, for He is with us.

Jacob called the place where he found God, "Bethel ." Bethel means "house of God." This building, this sanctuary, this assembly of God's Children into the Body of Christ -- all of them are the dwelling places of God.

We are blessed by God to be a blessing. Do not be afraid. Just step out of the boat and walk on the water.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
I can feel His mighty power and His grace
I can hear the brush of angels' wings
I see glory on each face
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
(lyrics by Lanny Wolfe)

Kim Matthews

Devotional 6-6-08

Come Follow Me” and “Go Where I Send Thee
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33:1-12; Romans 4: 13-25; Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 9:1-2

I’m not always compliant when someone orders me to do something. I’m much more likely to comply if the situation is explained and the time frame is reasonable. The best approach for me is some sort of request that can be refused if necessary, but God doesn’t often work that way, at least in our Bible stories. It seems that God does a lot of ordering, especially in the Old Testament. I cannot imagine the faith that Abraham had in God to do as God commanded—to leave his homeland and move his entire ‘clan’ to a new land he knew nothing about. I know I could find at least a million excuses for not paying attention to a message like that. Even in the New Testament, the disciples left their jobs and families when Jesus said: “Follow Me.” I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do that, if Jesus walked the earth today. But, what is God calling me to do?

The Bible has many stories of ordinary men complying with God’s commands (Noah, Samuel, etc.). We also have stories of those who tried to ignore God’s wishes at first hearing and the consequences of their actions (Jonah, Jacob, Moses, etc.). I know that God speaks to us through our prayer conversations, through our readings and music. He speaks to us through our leaders (ministers and teachers). God speaks through any number of friends and family members. He speaks through the beauty and wonder of nature. God also speaks to us through ordinary situations and in ordinary circumstances. The point is: ARE WE LISTENING? What is God calling you to do today? What task is on your heart? Where will you be asked to go? And then: WILL YOU DO AS GOD COMMANDS? The hymn below helps put into words my fears and concerns about God’s calling.

The Summons (from the Faith We Sing Hymnal p. 2130)

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around
Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
by John Bell

Dear God, we come to you asking for the faith to open our lives to your call. We know your gifts are all that we need for any situation or command. We know that you will lead us through any situation with all the necessary skills and knowledge for the task. Be with all of your ministers who have been called to serve new congregations this summer. We know that you are already at work in their lives and in the hearts of those they will serve. Please, help us all to open our hearts and minds to your commands and then send us the courage to follow. Here am I, Send me. Amen

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 5-15-09

In the Garden

If you are a man, think about the first time that you drove your date to the prom. If you are like my husband, I imagine that you paid special attention to the car. You made sure that it was spotless, perhaps waxed, swept inside. The car needed to look perfect. Now imagine if you did all of that work – paid all of that attention to the car – and then forgot to pick up your date.

Years ago, I was in a bible study class. One of the guidelines we were taught to follow as we explored the Bible was to think of it as a cart carrying cargo. God’s message – the cargo – is much more important than the cart which carries it. The prom date is (hopefully) more important than the car.

Consider one of this week’s lectionary readings – Genesis 1:1-2:4a. It’s the first creation story in the Bible. Our society often gets trapped in arguing about the cart. We engage in court action to make sure that intelligent design is taught in our schools. We argue over the existence of dinosaurs and the age of the earth. We buy bumper stickers which portray a large Christian fish eating a small Darwin fish. We debate the validity of evolution.

But none of that is God’s message. Concentrate on the message, because the message will change your life.

In the beginning, God – The first four words of the Bible are hugely humbling. “In the beginning, God…” tells us that we are NOT God. God existed before anything else. When I consider all the ways in life that I attempt to be God, I find enormous relief in the truth that I AM NOT GOD, and neither are you.

God created – What more do we really need to know? God created. He imagined the world and spoke it into being. His methods are the cart. His action of creation is the message. God created the world and everything in it. It is His. We are His.

God created humankind in his own image – We are not God, but we are His children, created in His own image. Has anyone ever said to you, “I knew your parents before you were a twinkle in your father’s eye”? When God breathed life into the first man and woman, you became a twinkle in his eye. When Eve’s heart started beating, God could hear the echo of your heartbeat in his mind. When Adam stood in the garden, staring at awesome wonder at all that God had created, God took joy in it, and dreamed of the day that you and He would stand together, as you held your daughter for the first time, amazed at her existence.

You are a child of God, created in His image, and loved beyond description by the God who dreamed you into existence. Don’t miss the message, because it will change your life.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known. (Austin Miles)

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-4-08

I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of Egypt while all the nations watched. I, the Lord, am their God." --Leviticus 26:45

The Man at the Top of the Stairs

When my third son, Marty, was about 7, he showed me a picture he drew in Sunday School. The teacher had asked the students to draw something about their church. His drawing showed a stick figure with a series of horizontal lines under it. Not sure what I was looking at, I asked, "Is that Dr. Wood preaching?" "No," he said, "it's the man at the top of the stairs." I must admit, it took me a minute and a few more questions before I realized he was talking about Dan Handloser, who during those years, stood at the top of the steps at the 10th Street door (the door used by those coming to Sunday School) to greet people and assist any visitors looking for a Sunday School class. How sweet and uncomplicated that, for a child, the church was symbolized by a friendly face at the top of the stairs.

During my childhood, the man at the top of the stairs was Hansford Welch, one of the saints of Johnson Memorial, who passed away this January at the age of 97. Hansford served as Sunday School Superintendent for 20 years, and proudly took his place at the top of the stairs Sunday after Sunday. Several years ago, my Sunday School class sent him a collective birthday card. The next Sunday he came to our class and asked if he could say a few words. He shared with us his vision for our church and told us we were its future leaders. It was as though he was passing the mantle of leadership onto us. What a responsibility to live up to his example!

This Sunday is Native American Sunday in the United Methodist Church. Here is a Native American prayer:

Oh great Spirit of our Ancestors,
I raise my pipe to you,
to your messengers the four winds,
and to Mother Earth who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love,
to respect and to be kind to each other
so that they may grow with peace of mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things
that you provide for us on this Earth.

Anita Gardner Farrell

Devotional 9-7-07

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel , just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel . Jeremiah 18: 1-6 (NRSV)

In this section of the lectionary from Jeremiah, it reminds us that we are all shaped by the Lord’s hand. By allowing God to mold us like clay, we as individuals and as a nation are better suited for the work the Lord has intended. Even when our first attempts seem like failures, God can use the effort for good by helping us to re-shape it.

As people of God, we need to remember that even though we have made different choices, or see the world from different angles, we are all still molded by the same hand. This hand guides us all toward the same goal even though at times it may appear that life is moving us in different directions. Through faith we can be assured we are moving in the direction that has been set for each of us to do the work of the Lord.

This weekend, is also Grandparents’ Day. This day has three main purposes. To honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.

It is amazing how God guides us along life's journey by placing choices in our path. Many times choosing the right path is very difficult. These choices can be made easier through the wisdom and love of our grandparents.

As grandchildren, we listen to the stories of their lives. Then, as we begin to make decisions on our own, there is a basis of values and memories that help us to make the correct choices toward the path God desires for each of us.

Dear God, we thank you for our grandparents. Bless them and keep them in your loving care. Allow them the ability to share their wisdom with others, and give all grandchildren the ability to accept that wisdom. Lord, May we all continue to be molded by Your masterful hands so that we may do Your work, Amen.

Hulse Budd

Special Note: One of the long time recipients of the email devotionals from Johnson Memorial UMC lost her battle with cancer this week and passed away. Please keep Sharon Ryan-Coil, her family and friends in your prayers. Sharon lived in Arizona; she continues to live in heaven.

Devotional 8-10-07

What Does God Want

Isaiah's vision about what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem really is a case against his children. God tells Judah and Jerusalem to learn to do good, seek justice, punish those who hurt others, help the orphans, stand up for the right of widows (Isaiah 1:17). Also still good advice for us today, wouldn’t you say? A few more questions.: Do you think the world today follows this advice? Do you think the United States follows this advice? Do you follow God’s advice? Do you like what is going on in this country, or are you complacent, not wanting to be involved, just happy with our own little part of the world? Isaiah says in (verse 18) “The Lord says: “Come let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool.” We do not often think of inaction as a sin. I wonder what God thinks?

In the 19th verse the Lord says: “If you become willing and obey me, you will eat good crops from the land.” Do you believe the Lord still talks to us? What do you think he would say to you, to the United States , to the world today? Most of us in the United States do not have to worry about food, but we still say “Give us this day our daily bread,” when we say the Lords prayer.

I have always thought that God has a plan for my life, I’m not sure I always listen to him when he speaks to me, and I am sure there are many in this world that do not ask. It is so easy to just live our life day by day without thinking about what God wants. Even if we do go to Sunday school and church we are not often taken out of our comfort zone. We may go to Common Ground on Thursday nights, which can take us out of that zone, but for the rest of the week are we aware of the needs of those less fortunate then us?

Do you think that God just wants us to worship him on Sunday morning, maybe read our Bibles occasionally during the week, but forget about the 137 or so street people who have come through our doors on a Thursday night How about the other hungry people in the world? I’m grateful to the members of our church who do work on the homes destroyed by hurricane Katrina, for the youth who go on mission trips, for those who help support these endeavors with money when they are physically unable to do the work.

My dad died in 1976 and in 1978 Gene Hoak was instrumental in the E. T. Jones Bible Class publishing a booklet of several of dad’s poems.. Among them the following:

THE VOLUME YOUR BEING WRITES

What volumes do your words of mouth – your deeds’
Reveal. How well they show just what you are
Because you make your own the best of creeds
To whch the hearts of men have clung thus far.

I read it from your eyes, your lips – your mein,
As much as from the things you do or say.
Your tiniest, fleeting smile’s a pictured scene
O kindly acts you’ve done along life’s way.

Yet does your retrospection find them not;
And well enough, for all unconscious acts
Blend with one’s being: are moreover, wrought
Into the texture of eternal facts
And these eternal facts show forth the you
Of yesterday – today – tomorrow, too.
Percy Peek

Yesterday is gone as is today. But what will you do with tomorrow?

Gloria Peek

Devotional 7-20-07

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. --Deuteronomy 32:2

Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. --Ecclesiates 12:9

In late May, I was distressed that I couldn't attend the funeral of a friend. It was the same morning as the last day of class for my 3-year-old preschool class. I called two substitutes who help us regularly, but neither could come, and I didn't want to leave "my" kids with a stranger on the last day of school. I consoled myself with the thought that John Paul Childers would certainly understand putting one's students first.

John Paul was one of the true saints of our church. He taught the College Class way-back-when, and all of us who were his students felt the warmth and commitment of one who put us first. It's not unusual for college students to drop-out of church for a few years, but John Paul kept us coming Sunday after Sunday. I recall one Sunday he showed up and announced he'd returned from vacation a day early because he didn't want to miss being with us. My friend Jean Simmons tells that several years later he came to teach the Sunday following his own son's tragic death in an automobile accident. I will always remember him hugging me the Sunday morning after the Marshall plane crash and saying, "Tears are for the living."

When I think back on those days, I can't recall many specific lessons, but I do remember that J.P. made us feel valued and loved and special. Many of John Paul's students are still active members of churches today. Hopefully we have made him proud.

Well done, good and faithful servant! .....Come and share your master's happiness!' --Matthew 25:21 Rest in peace.

Anita Gardner Farrell

June 29, 2007 Devotional

Waiting and Listening
“Life comes at you fast”, is a slogan used by a national insurance company to advertise their services for helping consumers prepare for life…”whenever it happens”. Humorous as these ads are, they do depict a reality that sometimes things just happen. However, when inevitable delays or unforeseen events upset our universe, it is important to remember that life does not revolve around you–it revolves around the Son!

It is easy to feel anxious and look within our own abilities to create more desirable outcomes, especially when something does not meet our expectations. But it is in these trying times that we can experience God’s work in our lives on a more personal level by waiting and listening. Yes, waiting and listening is difficult. We may want to hear what God has to say, but we don't take time to listen. As a result, we forget that God is not a puzzle to be solved. Rather, He's a friend to be known and enjoyed. And He’s telling us, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10, KJV). For it is in stillness that we come face to face with the living Lord who knows and loves us beyond our imagination.

David knew about waiting. Samuel anointed the young David as king of Israel, but he did not automatically become king. As a military leader, few people experienced as much success as ; David. Yet David slew a bear and a lion long before he encountered Goliath. Was David fearful or anxious? Maybe, but God was working in David during his shepherd days, giving him experiences that would build his courage and prepare him for what was to come. As such, his faith grew as he prayed and saw the Lord’s presence during these memorable experiences.

And so it is with us today. True, often we want too much, too soon. It is common for us to become fearful or angry when tragedy strikes, and at times, immediately seek an internal means to conquer or escape the situation. But the Lord works in us over time, helping us to develop and hone certain skills, in the end making us effective and successful. Have you waited to hear what He has to say during times of trouble? Pray and be still. In doing so, you will discover that waiting on God's timing always rewards you with His very best.

Mike Little

June 22, 2007 Devotional

The Courage to Depend upon God

I Kings 19:1-15a

Elijah had exhausted himself serving the Lord. Read chapter 18 of I Kings, and you will find Elijah being incredibly strong in his work as a prophet. He had confronted the 450 prophets of the Canaanite God Baal on Mount Carmel and challenged them to ‘dueling altars.’ They had prepared their altar, but instead of lighting it, had called upon Baal to light it. Nothing happened. Then Elijah had water poured over the Lord’s altar, and prayed for the Lord to ignite it. The altar was completely consumed by fire. Then he had proclaimed to Ahab the King that the drought that had lasted for over three years was going to be broken by rain, and it was. But being the conduit of God’s power and work in that way is exhausting.

Thus it was that shortly thereafter he fled from Israel and went to the mountain of God. It was there that God found him in the cave and spoke to him in the still, small voice after the earthquake, wind, and fire. And as God spoke in that voice, Elijah was strengthened and challenged to return to Israel and to return to the work to which God had called him.

It is a real temptation, friends, to fill our lives with activity, even church activities, that keeps us busy from sun up to sun down, day after day. And yet, without the time for God’s still, small voice to be heard we cannot sustain our efforts. I don’t think any of us have called down fire from heaven or have commanded rain from the clouds lately, but we find all kinds of things to fill our time, and those things are all incredibly important.

But, if we don’t stop and spend time alone with God we won’t hear the still, small voice that gives us strength for whatever lies ahead. Take time each day to listen to God.

…take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord!

Amen.

Joe Shreve