Dear Friends in Christ-
Psalm 146:5-10 sings of God who made heaven and earth and is mindful of the most vulnerable among us. God is a God of justice: feeding the hungry, supporting those who are disabled, and removing oppression. God watches over the strangers and the widows and orphans, all those who are pushed to the margins of society. Those who do not follow God’s ways will meet their end, but those who are faithful will know God’s faithfulness. Psalm 146:5-10 New International Version 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-- he remains faithful forever. 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. If you were to write a hymn honoring God, what would it say? It's an interesting exercise to try this. Another option: what Advent/Christmas hymn best explains this season to you? Why? Would you change any part? What questions arise? In His Service, P Jim ♥️⚓️ ♡ Special thanks to Rev. Mindi, workingpreacher.com, Hope for the Broken Hearted and/or Star Bright Angels for their contribution to this effort of Daily Prayer and Study. All scripture is taken from the Revised Common Lectionary and, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New International Version of the Bible. The intent of this effort is to inform our faith and grow closer to God, while preparing for next Sunday's Worship. ~James 4:8 <x>< Dear Friends in Christ-
Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, which means “Rejoice.” The third candle of the Advent wreath is a pink candle. In the early tradition of Advent, the season was forty days, mirroring Lent, and a period of fasting. Gaudete Sunday was a day to break the fasting and celebrate, for Christmas is drawing near. The readings from the Hebrew Scriptures continue to follow Isaiah in this Advent season. The prophet turns to hope of return from exile in 35:1-10. Before the “voice cries out in the wilderness” in 40:3, the prophet notes the wilderness and desert rejoice and blossom because of the glory of God. The prophet encourages the people to have courage because God is coming to deliver them, to lead them out of exile to home. Isaiah uses images of people with physical disabilities, including those who are blind, deaf, mute, or paralyzed, to symbolize spiritual limitations. In the time of Isaiah, people with disabilities were often excluded from the greater community, unable or unallowed to participate. The prophet uses these images to show that the limitations have been removed from the people. As twenty-first century readers, we need to focus on the liberation from the limitations of societal participation, for that was the image Isaiah was invoking, not a miraculous curing. All will be called to God’s Holy Way. The unclean—those who will not keep God’s ways—will fall away, but all others will follow God’s holy way into liberation. Isaiah 35, New International Version Joy of the Redeemed 35 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. God’s joy may come through unexpected places and in surprising ways for those who draw near. Think about the crocus that appears to spring from the snow. This metaphor helps one realize how God works through suffering. What are you doing such that God’s joy may overtake you? Share some examples as you think and pray. In His Service, P Jim ♥️⚓️ ♡ Special thanks to Rev. Mindi, workingpreacher.com, Hope for the Broken Hearted and/or Star Bright Angels for their contribution to this effort of Daily Prayer and Study. All scripture is taken from the Revised Common Lectionary and, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New International Version of the Bible. The intent of this effort is to inform our faith and grow closer to God, while preparing for next Sunday's Worship. ~James 4:8 <x>< Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; ♡Matthew 3:1-1212/3/2022
Dear Friends in Christ-
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent- dedicated to Peace- the Gospel turns to John the Baptizer in Matthew 3:1-12. The writers of all four Gospel accounts link John the Baptist to Second Isaiah, where in 40:3 the prophet declares that a voice cries out from the wilderness. Second Isaiah was writing of the time when the people returned from exile in Babylon, around 520 B.C.E. However, the Gospel writers identify this as John centuries later, who came from the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Some scholars believe John may have been part of the Essenes, a group of Jews who gathered near the Dead Sea and prepared for the Day of the Lord to come. They had similar practices of not eating meat, and the Jewish practice of the mikveh, a ritual cleansing in water immersion, was practiced more rigorously by the Essenes. John came from the wilderness and proclaimed this baptism, and people from all along the Jordan came to him. However, when some of the Sadducees and Pharisees, two other different Jewish groups, came to be baptized, John warned them not to rely on their identity or ancestry, but that they must go through the inner transformation, to bear fruit worthy of repentance. John declared that one was coming after him who was more powerful, one whose axe lay at the foot of the tree and whose winnowing fork was on the threshing floor. The one coming after John would work on them and they might not like it, for anything bad would be cut off, anything chaff would be torn from the wheat and would be burned. In other words, the one coming after John was coming to purify and cleanse. The masks any of us wear for the world, the things we hide behind—our religious identity, our lineage, wealth, power—whatever it is, it will not hold up to the truth of God—it will be torn away. We can’t hide who we are from God. Too often we want to hide our faults and shortcomings. But if we allow God to work in us, God can help us bear good fruit. Matthew 3:1-12, New International Version John the Baptist Prepares the Way 3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” This is a season where we'll have many opportunities 'to bear fruit.' What does this mean in practical terms? What is your plan to move forward, slow down, re-focus and re-prioritize, in order to bear fruit for the coming and already here Kingdom? What questions will you bring to Worship? In His Service, P Jim ♥️⚓️ ♡ Special thanks to Rev. Mindi, workingpreacher.com, Hope for the Broken Hearted and/or Star Bright Angels for their contribution to this effort of Daily Prayer and Study. All scripture is taken from the Revised Common Lectionary and, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New International Version of the Bible. The intent of this effort is to inform our faith and grow closer to God, while preparing for next Sunday's Worship. ~James 4:8 <x>< Bring them to church. Saturate their lives with the Word of God. Even if they lay on the floor. Even if they need 437 goldfish and a sucker to be quiet. Even if you stand in the back swaying back and forth holding them. Even when it’s hard. Even when when your row looks like a small hurricane just came through. Bring them to church. Let them see you worship. Let them see you pray. Let them see you running toward the Savior ... because if they don’t see and learn these things from you, who are they going to learn them from?
The world will teach them it’s not a priority. The world will teach them it’s okay to lay out, not to pick up their Bibles. The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough. The world won’t teach them about Jesus. That’s our job. Bring them to church. We love your kids and look forward to seeing them here often! Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; ♡ Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-1212/1/2022
Dear Friends in Christ-
The Epistle reading continues in Romans with 15:4-13. Paul writes that the scriptures written before were to give us hope in the here and now, by God’s steadfastness and encouragement through the ancestors of our faith. Paul gives instructions to the church in Rome to welcome one another—indeed, throughout the letter Paul has encouraged the Jewish followers to welcome in the new Gentile converts. According to Paul’s explanation, Jesus was Jewish to confirm the promises made through the ancestors of the faith, but Paul also quotes the scriptures where it lifts up the Gentiles as people who also praise God. Finally, Paul quotes Isaiah, linking Jesus as the one who will come from the root of Jesse. It is important for us to remember that while Paul and other early Christians made this connection to Isaiah and Jeremiah, there are other interpretations among Jews about the Messiah, from before and after Jesus’s time. Romans 15:4-13, New International Version 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 'Root of Jesse' is a metaphor found in Isaiah 11:10: “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.” The term root of Jesse figuratively stands for the "Messiah" (Jesus the Christ). From Acts 13:22-23: "After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.” We are to put our faith in the prophesy that was fulfilled in Christ. The promise from Biblical history is realized! Thus, in this understanding, when we put our trust in Him, we will be filled with joy and peace. This truth begs the question, that as we wade into December: can I re-focus, re-prioritize, even re-new my faith, in order to be filled with joy and peace? What a promise. What a prize. This is another good opportunity to think...pray...share... In His Service, P Jim ♥️⚓️ ♡ Special thanks to Rev. Mindi, workingpreacher.com, Hope for the Broken Hearted and/or Star Bright Angels for their contribution to this effort of Daily Prayer and Study. All scripture is taken from the Revised Common Lectionary and, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New International Version of the Bible. The intent of this effort is to inform our faith and grow closer to God, while preparing for next Sunday's Worship. ~James 4:8 <x>< |
ZOOM WORSHIP SERVICE
SUNDAY @ 11 AM To join by phone, dial (929) 205-6099 and enter the meeting ID and password below: Meeting ID: 876 1875 9099 Password 333 PrayerGracious Loving Lord, please keep all of your children safe in these trying times. Guide us. Open our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our minds to understand and our hearts to know and be your love to others. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Want to support RLUMC and our missions? Donate Today
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For those wishing to activate our Church Prayer Chain, contact Barbara Hurley 518-307-8238 If you want the concern to remain confidential among prayer chain members only please feel free to make that request when calling. Archives
September 2023
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