Devotional 3-28-08

Song of Praise

The chorus of praise began
With the angels
Their song a gentle melody
Whispered on the breeze
The notes pure tones
Of majestic glory.
Flawless in its simplicity
Nothing could compare
To its greatness.

And yet, the praise was not complete.

The sun, the moon, the sky, the stars,
Added to the symphony.
Darkness and light,
An antiphonal response.
The ocean rose against the sand
Clapping God’s honor.
Even the rocks contributed their stony silence
Created in perfection

And yet, the praise was not complete.

Trees, reaching toward heaven
Arms outstretched.
The flowers joined in the hymn
Heads nodding in assent.
All sang of his glory.
Bright colors, dancing rainbows
Seeds flew on the wind
Extolling God with their potential.

And yet, the praise was not complete.

Rhythm was added to the song
As the crickets chirped
And the bullfrogs joined in the percussion.
Glory had a voice
In the singing of the birds,
And the howling of the wolves.
The song finally had body and strength,
As elephants trumpeted,
And joy, as hyenas laughed.

And yet, the praise was not complete.

For one moment, one small break in time
He came to teach his children how to sing.
“This,” he said, “Is how you do it.”
And he stretched out his arms,
As a conductor, directing them into songs of love.
His dying breath a note of silence.
Creation brought to its knees
As the song of praise ended.
Angels shocked into pause.
And all waited to see if the song would begin again.

Haltingly, faltering, the children began
Their notes discordant,
Never perfect, far from complete.
But they did sing,
And creation picked up their tune.
Urging them along
Encouraging, helping,
Harmony at its finest.

And finally, the praise was music to God’s ears.

Poem inspired by a line from one of Rev. Suzanne's Ellis’ sermons -- On Holy Ground -- in which she said, "And the praise was not complete."

Kim Matthews

Lenten Devotionals

During Lent, we will be posting our Lenten devotionals at http://www.jmlent.blogspot.com. Please join us there for our Lenten journey.

Devotional 2-1-08

Mountaintop Experience
Please read Matthew 17: 1-9

The Gospel passage is Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration. The context in which this passage takes place sheds new light on it. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks his disciples who people say that he is. Peter confesses Jesus as Christ, and is told that he is the rock upon which the Church will be built. But then, just moments later, Peter is strongly rebuked to “get behind me Satan” when he protests Jesus’ telling of what lies ahead in Jerusalem.

Six days later, Jesus takes with him Peter and the brothers, James and John—the inner circle—and they go up a high mountain. While they were there, Jesus changed from the inside out; his clothes became a dazzling white and his face glowed. Right there with him were Moses and Elijah. Can you imagine such a powerful sight?

Peter wanted to stay on the mountain.

I can understand Peter’s desire to stay there and worship, especially since he knew now where Jesus’ ministry would be headed. But there was a crowd of people waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain, and they needed healing.

I am involved in the Walk to Emmaus®[1], a three-day weekend experience that is intentionally designed and structured to strengthen and reinvigorate the faith of Christians. For many people, it is a mountaintop experience. As the weekend is concluding, it is tempting to want to stay there—the food, the friendships, the service of other Christians who want to make sure you have a great experience of God’s grace—why go back to the real world and the problems we left behind?

But I think there is a “so that” to mountaintop experiences like the Transfiguration and the Emmaus Walk. An incident of God’s nearer presence—whether you call it a Mountaintop experience, a moving worship service, a glory sighting, or a Hallelujah moment—is “so that” we can be renewed and reinvigorated to then use the gifts God has given us to do our ministry.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for mountaintop experiences where we feel so close to you that our lives our transformed. Thank you for equipping us for ministry and giving us opportunities to bring others to experience your transforming grace. Amen.

[1] The Walk to Emmaus® is grounded theologically and institutionally in The Upper Room ministry unit of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. For more information, please see http://upperroom.org/emmaus/ or http://www.ashlandemmaus.com/


Jeff Taylor

Devotional 1-24-08

Our seven grandchildren range in age from twelve to twenty-five. Sometimes it's hard to believe they have grown up so quickly, and we have added that many years to our age since the first one was born. When birthdays and Christmas come around we no longer go shopping for a gift we hope they will like; we take the easy way out and buy gift cards or send cash. They all enjoy that and mostly remember to say thanks, although we have been known to hint to their parents that appreciation is not only appropriate but very necessary.

So it was surprising when I awoke in the middle of the night two weeks after Christmas and, as sometimes happens, my mind found a myriad of thoughts to keep me from going back to sleep, one such thought being which grandchild had remembered to say thanks for the gift we sent and which one had not been heard from. I remembered hearing from the oldest grandchild and the youngest, but what about the others? No word from them, time to prod Mom and Dad.

I believe there's a faith connection in everything we do or think and so my nocturnal ruminations on the grandchildren led me to question my own gratitude to our heavenly Father for all that he has given, and daily gives, to me. My scripture reading later than morning led me to Psalm 136 v.1 "O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever." I began to wonder, do I have to be prodded to thank Him for everything He bestows upon me day by day? How can I express my thanks to Him? Definitely through prayer and praise but what service can I give that shows my love and thanks in a tangible way?

It's like a television program I enjoy called "Crosswords" where the host says to the contestant, "This is a question only you can answer". Indeed, how true. It is a question only each one of us can answer.

The light of God surrounds me,
The love of God enfolds me,
The power of God protects me,
Wherever I am, God is.

O give thanks unto the God of heaven for His mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 136 v.26

Jean Dean

Devotional 1-18-08

"I desire to do thy will, Oh my God." Psalm 40: 8
My faith has always been very personal to me and its hard for me to talk about very personal things. Some people do such a beautiful, natural job of sharing their faith. I wanted to be able to do that-the words just wouldn't come. I felt I was letting God down, letting myself down. So I prayed (and am still praying) for God to use me, to give me the courage, and the faith, and the knowledge that I needed to speak up for Him. I had been writing devotionals for sometime before I realized that maybe this was Gods answer to my prayer-allowing me to share my faith with many without saying a word!

God answers our prayers in ways we do not expect (almost always in my experience!). I had never thought of myself as a writer. Those 500 word essays that were due every Friday for my freshman English class were like a black cloud hanging over my head all week. But, I really enjoyed my first devotional book, and sitting in church the next year when the forms appeared in the bulletin a voice in my head kept saying "You can do this Margaret" and it kept it up until I filled out the form. Gods been helping me write ever since!

First Corinthians 1:1-9 tells us that every Christian has a job to do, a role to take, or a contribution to make and all are important. Be available, and God will use your talents-even some you may not realize you have!

The hymn "Here I Am Lord" asks 'whom shall I send?'. The refrain answers:

Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

Margaret Williams

Devotional 1-11-08

Reuben’s Story

Matthew 3:13-17 ; Mark 1:9-11
Reuben -- Hebrew -- means "behold, a son"

Reuben had stood at the edge of the river
Witness to what had begun as something ordinary
One man, approaching another
Greeting each other as friends.
He hadn’t been able to hear what was being said,
But finally, the one named John,
The one who had at first seemed resistant,
Smiled ruefully,
And had baptized the one named Jesus.

Suddenly, the ordinary had become miraculous.
After the baptism
Jesus lifted his head
And looked toward the sky.
The heavens parted,
The voice of God reverberated
Across the water.
It echoed with a fullness
That shook Reuben
Down to his soul.

God had said,
“You are my son.
I love you;
With you I am well pleased.”
A glow of happiness lit Jesus’ face
A light that was so extraordinary,
So full of pleasure,
That it could light the world.
Water and tears slid off his face together
And his smile was astonishing.
Laughter sprang from his lips
And filled the air with his joy.

Reuben carried all of this home with him.
He felt transformed.
Changed.
Remade.
Life would never be the same again.
He had always – all his life – believed in God,
But now he had heard His voice
And seen His son.
And nothing would ever be the same.

He walked onto his farm
And stood at the edge of a field.
He saw his son working.
Since his son had become a man
They had not been close.
Some days they barely spoke.
Reuben was bursting with this news.
How could he explain it to his child?
How could he describe the voice of God?
The look on the face of the son?
Reuben realized that he had never seen
His own son with such joy on his face.

He walked across the field,
Laid a hand on his son’s shoulder,
And said,
“You are my son.
I love you;
With you I am well pleased.”

Surprise, and then disbelief,
Crossed his son’s face.
Finally, all was replaced with wonder.

A glow of happiness lit his face
A light that was so extraordinary,
So full of pleasure,
That it could light the world.
Tears slid off their faces,
And their smiles were astonishing.
Laughter sprang from their lips
And filled the air with their joy.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 11-23-07

How many times I have heard the statement “I don’t know how to pray.” Maybe we are afraid of speaking aloud, maybe we fear making grammatical errors, or we are afraid that the content of our prayer may seem trivial to another person or to God. You may have another reason to believe you can not pray. There is nothing to fear as God is a loving God.

First of all what is prayer? It’s talking to God. From the book “Hearts on Fire,” Carlo Maria Martini says that when a person explores his or her deepest desires or questions-and talks about them with someone else who is on a similar journey- each person in the conversation receives new understanding, new insight. A good reason to pray.?

We may be concerned about what to say to God. What would you like to tell your mother, father or your best friend ? These are the exact same things God wants to hear about. God wants to hear about your joys, your hurts, what you want to do with your life, mistakes you have made, things you would like to change in your life, your deepest needs and desires.

There are prayers of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of intercession (praying for others), prayers asking for forgiveness, prayers asking for protection, and prayers that search for a closer relationship with your God. In Matthew 6 we are given some guidelines for praying. Prayer always pleases God if we pray with sincerity, thinking of what we are saying. God loves a prayer that does nothing but give praise to God. Have you ever tried to stay on track and utter a prayer that has just one theme, as being a prayer of praise or of thanksgiving?

In Matthew we are told to go into our closet and pray. In other words find a quiet secluded place. It may be in your home, as you walk, in the car, or even in church. The emphasis needs to be on God. So get comfortable, look forward to talking to your best friend, and share with him. If there are times when you can not think of the right words, it’s all right, just spend some quiet minutes - God knows. Then don’t be surprised when you feel “strangely warmed.” Pray as often as you can, as often as you would want to talk to that best friend, as often as you feel drawn to Christ’s calling. And you might be surprised to know that God sends a lot of the answers that you have been trying to find, and along with the answers a wonderful sense of peace and joy, and a connection with God and with those around you.

Marilyn Holleron