A Different Kind of Fast

Isaiah 58:  6-7

Is not this the fast that I have chosen?  To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?  When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

For many people, fasting and Lent are inseparable.  In fact, some religious groups go as far as specifying rules for fasting during the season of Lent.  I often hear people talking about what they plan to do during the season…what food they plan to give up…what activities they plan to restrict.  In preparation for writing this devotion, I began to wonder about the official position of the United Methodist Church on fasting during the Lenten season.  According to the UMC website, the UMC views. 

Lent as a very personal time, therefore there are no strict guidelines on fasting.  According to the website, however, there is a clear biblical basis for fasting.  Fasting has long been a part of the United Methodist tradition.  In fact, John Wesley felt that fasting was an important component of the Christian life and fasted every week.  Wesley believed that fasting was more meaningful if combined with increased emphasis on prayer and charity. 

John Wesley’s approach to fasting seems to parallel the approach described by the author of Isaiah.  What opportunities do we have in our own community to “undo the heavy burdens” or “deal thy bread to the hungry?”  Perhaps in our preparation for Lent we should look not only for foods or behaviors to avoid, but for meaningful activities to put in their place.

Written by Lynn Carter

It's not too late to heed Lynn's advice and challenge yourself to Do Lent Generously!

www.40acts.org.uk

Don't worry about anything...

Phil. 4:4-7 Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.

Someone once told me, “Charles, if you’re praying, you’re not worrying, and if you’re worrying, you’re not praying.” Although simplistic, I think this is the essence of Paul’s and Timothy’s message here to the Philippians so long ago and to us even today. There is no better time than Lent to check our prayer lives, and one way to do this is to ask ourselves the following rather simple, but, I think, important questions: Am I remembering to pray or ignorantly trying to carry the burden all by myself? Am I worrying too much about how to pray or concentrating on just talking to God? Do I really believe that He hears me? Do I really believe that my prayers can change my life and the lives of others?

The older I get, the more I know how tenuous and fragile this life really is. We have no assurances except God’s presence with us. Therefore, with God’s help, I am using this year’s Lent to concentrate on my prayer life. My first prayer is to ask God to forgive my unbelief and to strengthen my faith in the power of my own prayers and the prayers of others. Whether it is that my father--who turns 90 this year--won’t fall or that my 2-month-old great nephew--who has severe birth defects--will prosper, I need to pray constantly.

As the verse above commands us, the job is basically simple after all--pray, believe, and trust. We just need to believe that God hears every one of our prayers and will continue to care for and heal those in them. We need to be alert to His answers that are right before us, be patient for prayers we don’t see answered (or may never see answered) and, meanwhile, be an answer ourselves for others’ prayers in our midst.

Written by Charles Moore

Are you an Eagle or a Chicken?

Isaiah 40:28-31

Once upon a time a farmer found an eagle’s egg lying on the ground.  He took the egg and placed it with one of his hens. 

Some weeks later an egret emerged and joined the baby chicks in the yard.  It learned from his chicken siblings to do as they did.  It believed resolutely and absolutely it was a chicken.

One day, late in life, the eagle happened to look up into the sky.  High overhead, soaring majestically and effortlessly, was an eagle!

“What’s that?” cried the old eagle in awe.  “That’s an eagle,” replied a nearby chicken.  “That’s the King of the birds, it’s a bird of the air, not like us.  We’re only chickens,  birds of the earth.”

With that they all cast their eyes downward once more to the dirt.

And so it was that the eagle lived and died a chicken because that’s all it believed itself to be.

I heard this story several years ago and many of you have heard it before, too.   I repeat it here because it is so meaningful to me. 

God created each of us with a unique purpose intended for our lives and it is only through prayer and trying our best to do what we believe God wants us to do that we will discern that purpose.  With a birthday on the near horizon I am reminded that time passes so very quickly and that I want to be an eagle if that is God’s will for my life. 

As the Isaiah writer says…”They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

PRAYER:  Father, you made us, you love us, and you want only the best for us.  We, in turn, need daily to try diligently to do whatever it is that will glorify your name and to become whatever you want us to be. Amen

Written by Brenda Whicker

Momma didn't raise me to SLEEP IN on Sundays

1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1

I was raised going to church every time the doors were open and attending church remained, for the most part, an important aspect of my adult life as well. But a couple of years ago I found myself not only without a church that I felt I could call home but without much desire to go, even if I did. I had spiritually stagnated; and I was fine with that. I visited a few churches now and then, including Central when friends invited me to see their Christmas program but most Sundays found me at home on the couch. This past fall my conscious began to get the better of me, after all my momma didn't raise me to sleep in on Sundays, and I decided it was time to get back in church.

I have friends that attend Central, and it’s a beautiful building, the music is wonderful, the folks friendly and I thought if I’m going to go somewhere it might as well be here. Now, while I did grow up in church it was not the Methodist church, in fact I knew little about Methodism, and I thought perhaps I should read up on John Wesley and find out just what was this method of his. The more I read about Wesley and his teachings the more I realized that my life was not what it should be. Here was a man striving for spiritual perfection while I was happy not being the worst person I knew. My coming back to church had been for comfort and familiarity not for a longing for spiritual renewal, and yet that’s what I found in the example of the life of John Wesley. Paul tells the church at Corinth to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ. A Godly example can make the difference between just going through the motions and being fully engaged in following Christ. I have a long way to go on my spiritual journey, but it is my heart felt prayer that someday I can, like Paul, unabashedly tell others to follow my example. Will you be an example of Christ for others?

Written by Chad Spurling

Refuge & Strength

Psalm 46:1-11

The shelter of God’s peace is something I hope to communicate in this Lenten devotion today.  Sometimes, we all feel a steady stream of worries such as global catastrophes, politics, terrorism, pollution, economic and financial concerns.  Then, we mix in those internal struggles involving interpersonal areas of conflict, feelings of failure and guilt, and the constant search for meaning and worth.  It is even so in the church because the world is also a part of the church and sometimes all of these worries are a real recipe for despair.

In verse 2, the Psalmist tells us “we will not be afraid.”  How can we say this when we are so prone to be afraid, unforgiving and self-centered?  How can we know peace in a world that seems so “out of control?”

The Psalmist begins by telling us that “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.”  God is our peace and Jesus showed us that He too often needed God’s strength within.  God is in control.  We  must pause, rest easy and not always expect life to make sense.  We should not fear because those surprises occur; but remember that nothing takes God by surprise.

An emergency room nurse, who is a friend of mine, tells the story of an event when she was in her 20’s.  A Christian father lost not one of his two teenagers in a car accident, but both of them.   He handled the event with such trust in God and such peace that it transformed my friend’s life forever to witness his faith.   She is now the friend who fifty years later has a prayer box in her home and prays daily for the worries and concerns of her friends and the world at large. 

Consider the first three stanzas in this Psalm.  First, even if the whole world should crumble, we can find refuge in God.   He is our strength.  Then, even through floods and nations collapsing, God is our stronghold.  Finally, the Psalmist invites us to witness the works of God.  He is exalted, along with us and the stronghold.

If we provide others with the witness that this church, the body of Christ, can be to the community; then He will be exalted even in the midst of all of our struggles.

Now let us pause, give some time to God, to pray and let Him give us the peace that passeth all our understanding.

Written by Anne Wray

Andrew Moments

John 6:8-9: Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among many? 

One of the best parts for me about teaching Sunday School to the youth of Central is how I am the one that usually learns something! In a recent lesson, I learned that one of the Disciples was named Andrew. Andrew is rarely mentioned in the Bible. I guess this is why I didn't know about him. One of the most well known miracles in the Bible is when Jesus feeds the 5,000. As Jesus and the Disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, a large crowd gathered and was seeking out Jesus. As the restless group assembled, Jesus asked Phillip about buying bread for the people to eat. Phillip responded that bread was too expensive…Jesus was only testing Phillip.

As the scripture tells us, Andrew informs Jesus of a young boy with bread and fish. Little did Andrew know what would happen next.

In the few other passages regarding Andrew, he seems to be the Disciple that brings people to Jesus. A simple task but a task that was rewarding to many.

When I shared this lesson and story in my Sunday School class, I asked the youth if any of them had been like Andrew. Had they ever experienced an “Andrew Moment”?! Every day we have a chance to do a simple act that could lead to a fantastic result. I may never be able to introduce the young boy who helped feed the 5,000 but I CAN introduce someone in need to the proper program or agency. I CAN help someone find the tools to help improve or help someone find a way to “give back”. In this time of Lent, and throughout our year, may we all have many “Andrew Moments”.

Written by Will Rucker

The Empty Water Jar

The Prayer of the Empty Water Jar

By Macrina Wiederkehr OSB

Jesus, I come to the warmth
of your Presence
knowing that You are
the very emptiness of God.
I come before You
holding the water jar of my life.
Your eyes meet mine
and I know what I'd rather not know.

I came to be filled
but I am already full.
I am too full.
This is my sickness
I am full of things
that crowd out
Your healing Presence.

A holy knowing steals inside my heart
and I see the painful truth.
I don't need more
I need less
I am too full.

I am full of things that block out
Your golden grace.
I am smothered by gods of my own creation
I am lost in the forest of my false self
I am full of my own opinions and narrow attitudes
full of fear, resentment, control
full of self pity, and arrogance.
Slowly this terrible truth pierces my heart,
I am so full, there is no room for You.

Contemplatively, and with compassion,
You ask me to reach into my water jar.
One by one, Jesus, you enable me
to lift out the things
that are a hindrance to my wholeness.
I take each on to my heart,
I hear You asking me
" Why is this so important to you ? "

Like the murmur of a gentle stream
I hear You calling,
" Let go, let go, let go! "
I pray with each obstacle
tasting the bitterness and grief
it has caused.

Finally
I sit with my empty water jar
I hear you whisper
You have become a space for God
Now there is hope
Now you are ready to be a channel of Life.
You have given up your own agenda
There is nothing left but God.

(Shared by Stacey Watkins-Griffith)

Vocabulary of our Faith

Romans 5:1-5

In my fourth grade classroom we tend to dig deep into our text that we are reading and look at the vocabulary, context clues and pull in several other reading skills to analyze what we read.  Therefore, for this scripture Craig and I broke it down into vocabulary first.

Our list was: tribulations, peace, faith, perseverance, character, hope

Next we took these words and selected characters from movies that represent all of these words. 

Katniss from Hunger Games:  She volunteered herself, fought hard and won!

Godzilla:  We all know how he persevered until defeat was his!

Rocky:  Fighting as a sport led him out of the slums to a better life!

Cinderella:  She persevered through her dirty, rough life and in the end was rewarded with love!

  

Obviously all of these characters had tribulations and persevered through them.  Think about your own tribulations/trials.  We all have them!  While in the midst of these storms of life do we turn our face to the Lord and remember the faith we can hold tight so as not to be blown away? This faith is a guarantee of peace. So as we use these weapons in our warfare to persevere our character is developed.  We really do become stronger people when we push through and lean on faith.  Now think about it… don’t we have a certain hope to reach at the end of the storm?  Of course we do!  And in the end there is salvation and freedom!  Glory be to the Father!  So stand strong, have faith, persevere, have hope and SALVATION is yours in the end!

Written by Craig & Holli Goforth

Who is Holding Your Rope?

“It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in man.” –Psalm 118:8

We live in confusing times. There are too many people who have no personal relationship with God. There is no place on earth that doesn’t need The Word. Just as the farmer spreads his seeds upon the fields, we need to spread The Word of God over the world.  Does the farmer sow his seeds from his front porch swing?  No, and neither should we stay in one place as we plant seeds of salvation.  God wants us to reach outward.

We cry for the hungry children.  We tremble with the reports of evil in our midst.  We weep for people forced from their homelands.  We can help!

It’s not just the know-how of sowing we need.  We must embrace the warmth of love and the closeness of prayer.

My love of old books yielded a story about several men of science who were exploring the Alps for a certain flower.  On a day of sun and excitement the scientists saw the flower in a ravine on a part of the mountain valley below them.  Their only descent was sheer rock straight down.

All day a native boy had been watching them.  The scientists told the boy they would give him three pounds if he let them lower him by rope into the valley to get the flower.  He told them he would do it but he had to leave for a short while.  When he returned he had a man with him.  The boy announced, “I’ll go over the cliff to get your flower if you let this man hold the rope.  He’s my father and the only one I can trust not to let go of the rope.”

We give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the trust we have in Him.  He gave us The Word, but he doesn’t leave us on our own to follow it’s precepts.  He guides us as we walk the roads of our earthly home.  He shows us the path to our eternal destination. 

Written by Billie Ann Haynes

You Just Had to Be There

"Jesus is faithful to God, who appointed him, in the same way that Moses was faithful when he served in God’s house. Jesus deserves more praise than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house is praised more than the house. After all, every house has a builder. But the builder of everything is God.” Hebrews 3:2–4
My entire adult life has been spent being involved with the design and building of houses and other structures. I take pride in the buildings I have worked on. I have never, however, considered my structures even close to the beauty of God’s creations. What I have done pales in comparison.

I have sat in art classes to try to learn how to paint in watercolor. When I look at the sky and clouds for instance, and try to paint it on paper, there is no way that I can even come close to the beauty of what God has created. I can only make a clumsy attempt to copy what He has done. I marvel at the beauty of a sunset, clouds in the sky, or a tree or flower. We are placed on this earth that is filled with seas, mountains, trees, flowers, and animals, and He covers it all in a beautiful sky, and I am in awe of this every day.

Even in my photography work I try to capture nature, and I find that it is impossible to capture an image in my camera that really shows the beauty of a beach scene or a mountain view. As the saying goes, “you just have to be there and see it for yourself”. I’m sure you have experienced going on vacation, taking pictures, and returning home, and showing them to your family and thinking, this really doesn't begin to reflect the true beauty of what I saw!

When you look at an old house that is in the stages of deteriorating and falling to the ground you begin to realize that everything that man builds is only temporary, and eventually turns back to dust. What we create is only here for a short period in God’s time. He takes care of, and provides food for, even the little birds, and creates mountains out of the sea. Truly God is the “master builder” of this beautiful world in which we live.

Written by Jim Kunkle

Ash Wednesday

Genesis 3:19

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the season of Lent. During an Ash Wednesday service, ashes are put on the forehead of the Christian as a sign of repentance. In the Old Testament, ashes were often used as a sign of Israel’s need for repentance following their sin as a nation.

What is an ash? An ash is the residue of that which once was. It is the leftover after having been burned. What remains, the ash, is unable to make itself whole again. On Ash Wednesday, one comes forward to have ashes placed on their forehead as a reminder of their mortality, but also as a symbol of each person’s need to be made whole again. The person who comes forward realizes that without God we are an ash. We have simply become the residue of what sin has done to our lives. We need someone to help, someone to restore, someone to make us whole. The ash is placed on one’s forehead in the sign of a cross. When a person leaves the Ash Wednesday service, the ashes in the sign of a cross are on their forehead as a reminder of something. The ashes now have also become a reminder of God’s love, God’s restoring power, God’s goodness, God’s wholeness. That God has done something for the person that he/she could not do for themselves. Alone we are simply the residue of what sin has done to our lives. We are the “leftovers” of our hurtful actions, words, thoughts, and deeds. The cross on our forehead is a reminder of what God, our creator and redeemer, has done when we “confess our sin” and allow him to “make all things new”. We leave the Ash Wednesday service reminded that though we are but ashes and dust ourselves (Genesis 3:19), we serve and place our faith in a God who is in the business of restoring lives, giving hope, and putting us on the right path in our pilgrimage of faith.

God offers a restored life to each one of us today and at this very moment. Although we are “mere dust” (mere ash), the cross points us to God’s love and redemption. Allow the cross to transform your life, your head, and your heart. Experience the miracle of restoration and redemption (from the residue of sin), and being placed on a new path which leads to both abundant and eternal life.

Written by Pastor Joe Collins