Celebrating Our Faith with a Joyful Noise 

When I go to my recently expanded pillbox, which I do twice each day, I don’t break into song about the prescriptions I am about to take. Quite the opposite in fact. But when I sit down in front of my television set, I can’t help but notice the growing number of prescription drug commercials that come with catchy jingles. The last thing I feel like doing when I prepare to swallow my pills is sing. Only in America would people celebrate prescription drugs through song. 

When it comes to our faith, however, we are encouraged to rejoice by singing. Even if we don’t have a trained voice, we are invited to “make a joyful noise!” True, most Americans are not inclined to celebrate their faith this way, including me because I do not sing well at all.

Still, we are reminded to be joyful. For example, Psalm 95 invites us to “Sing for joy to the Lord” and to “Shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” This is a message for us to be bold about our faith and not be reluctant to boast about our relationship with the Lord. Psalm 71 further encourages us to joyfully proclaim our faith with this passage in Verses 23-24: “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I whom you have delivered. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long.”

It is, indeed, not just acceptable, but also advisable to celebrate our faith with joy and thanksgiving. So don’t hold back. Let the Spirit move you, and raise your voice to the Lord!

Guardians of the Geese 

When I drive to the church office each morning, I like to take the shortcut from Mechanicsburg Road to Old Lincoln Way. I don’t know that I save all that much time by turning onto Venture Boulevard, but I enjoy watching the geese that gather near the Aspen Racquet Club, especially this time of year when the adorable baby goslings make their way from one side of the road to the other. What really intrigues me is the way the older geese guide and guard the young ones to safety. Usually, one of the adults is at the front of the line while the other is near the back, ensuring that no harm comes to little ones.  

Crossing the road with six or eight goslings can be dangerous, but my guess is that the older geese would lay down their lives to save the lives of the younger ones, just as the Lord laid down his life for us so that we could live eternally in the Father’s Kingdom.

This calls to mind Psalm 91 (9-11), which states,  “If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

This passage is difficult to fully understand because, although we trust God implicitly, we know that occasional harm and even disaster intersects our lives, and yet we know that God is always with us, commanding his angels to “guard [us] in all [our] ways.”

That reassurance is good enough for me — that in joyful times and troubling times, He is always by our side, illuminating our path and protecting us on our passage — just like the geese on Venture Boulevard.

A Busy Weekend for Our Church

It will be a busy weekend for our congregation, and it all begins on Saturday morning when the men meet for their monthly breakfast. We will gather at the Bob Evans Restaurant (550 Robinson Boulevard) just off of Route 30 at 8 a.m. Join us for a time of food and fellowship.

Later that day, Bishop Tracy Malone will present an open forum with the GC delegates, regarding the recent policy revisions that were voted on at the United Methodist Church’s worldwide General Conference earlier this month. All are welcome to the session, which will be held on Saturday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. at Wooster United Methodist Church (243 North Market Street). To view a video and for more information on General Conference, go to eocumc.com.

We will wrap up the weekend with a worshipful Pentecost service outdoors here on the church grounds on Sunday morning. Pentecost celebrates the birth of the church and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most sacred days of the year. Remember to wear RED to church this Sunday.

Following the service, the men of the church will host a picnic lunch with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad and so much more. (In case of inclement weather, we will worship in the sanctuary and eat downstairs in Fellowship Hall).

We invite you to bring your favorite chair if you have one (if not, one will be provided), and join us for our worship service out front in the Serenity Garden, and then stay for a time of food and fellowship.

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but this one actually is. All we ask is you consider inviting a friend, neighbor, co-worker, family member, or anyone else you think might enjoy this time of worship and fellowship.

Nutshell – Back in the Saddle and Out on the Trail 

I have never ridden a horse — not even a pony as a child — but I am so grateful to be “back in the saddle” at Oak Chapel. This is, of course, a figure of speech, meaning that after my recent hospitalization, I am thrilled to resume my pastoral duties and be at your service!

In addition to my administrative duties, I am anxious to get back to providing comfort and support for those in need, as you did for me during the past three weeks (and the past nine months as well).

Visiting others is such a blessing. Taking time to lift the spirits and pray with another person who is going through a difficult time gets to the essence of what we are called to do as disciples of Christ. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus advises his disciples, and in turn, all of us, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, and care for the sick.

What he didn’t say is that those who follow these instructions will be greatly blessed. Not that that should be our primary motivation, but I believe that it is affirming and uplifting.

So, if you have some free time, make plans to visit someone in the hospital or assisted living. If you’re pressed for time, pick up the phone or send a text or a card. A simple encouraging message or act of kindness can go a long way in making someone’s day.

John Wesley traveled by horseback, planting churches along the way. The rest of us can use modern transportation to plant seeds of hope, encouragement, and goodwill for those in need.

Paying taxes has never been popular among the general public, but most of us realize that it is a necessary practice to enable the government to manage our infrastructure and provide funding for essential programs and projects.

In Biblical times, tax collectors were regarded as “sinners” because they extorted
excessive sums on behalf of the Roman authority, often using methods of torture to collect payment. Now that’s pretty extreme.

Today’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents may not be held in high esteem, but most
are law-abiding citizens who are doing their best to ensure a flow of financial resources to keep the government operating at an effective and efficient level, although to the general public, it may sometimes feel like torture..

As we know, the April 15th deadline for submission of our tax returns passed earlier this
week, so you have most likely completed the process for the past year. What is interesting is the precise nature of the IRS formula — albeit complicated and convoluted — while the guidance we receive in our faith giving is much more abstract and imprecise. True, the Bible encourages tithing in the Old Testament, but the closest we come in the New Testament is this from II Corinthians (9:7), which tells us that we “should give what [we have] decided in [our] heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

This is by no means a plea for increased giving. Our congregation has a long history of
being extremely generous. This is simply a reminder that there is great joy in serving the Lord through a giving heart and not an imposing tax.

Cause for Alarm 

Whenever the phone rings between midnight and 6 a.m., I always think the worst. In most cases, I am roused from a deep sleep and fearful about who is on the other end of the line and why they are calling at such an ungodly hour.

I had a similar experience last month when Safeguard Security, the firm that oversees our alarm system, called to report “movement” in the lower hallway of the church. I glanced at the clock in my bedroom where the red numerals boldly showed that it was 1:54 a.m.

I usually dismiss such a call as a false alarm, but in this case, I couldn’t take a chance, so I asked the attendant to call the sheriff and ask that an officer be dispatched to check on our beloved church.  

A short time later, the phone rang again. This time it was the responding officer who had checked the premises and gave the all-clear. I was grateful, but wide awake. Getting back to sleep would take another hour.

In our faith journey, there are many things that can “alarm” us, including our own behavior. We need an internal alarm system to steer us away from temptation and evil. Some call it a conscience, but as followers of Christ, we refer to it as the Holy Spirit.
There are plenty of references in Scripture to the Holy Spirit, including this from Romans 8:28, which states, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” And there is this promise from Ephesians 1:13, which says, “when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, [you] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

God’s Covenant Predates Facial-Recognition Software

Not too many years ago, facial recognition software would have been categorized as science fiction. There would be no way that a computer or phone screen could distinguish the features of one person from those of another…or so we thought. But here we are in this “Digital Age,” and such software is not only accepted, but it is also expected.

Like many of you, my smart phone allows me to access it through facial recognition, but just last week, something happened; my normally reliable smartphone no longer recognized my face. It was like my phone had amnesia. In order to gain access, I had to punch in my code, but even after that, I was unable to activate some of my apps because they function only through facial recognition.

As I searched for ways to re-install facial recognition on my phone, I started thinking about other areas of my life, namely my spiritual journey, and I wondered what would happen if God no longer recognized me. Through my iniquities, I pondered whether He would ever forget me. Fortunately, I gained reassurance by falling back on the Scriptures, primarily this passage from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy (31:8), which states, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

That worked wonders for my fragile psyche. Despite our persistent sinfulness, God promises to remain with us, and in that we can take great comfort and solace. Now, if I could only get my smart phone to recognize me again!

Springing Forward in Pursuit of God’s Light

I’ve never been much of a morning person. I like to stay up late, but I dread getting up early. That’s why I’m not looking forward to this coming weekend, when we set the clocks ahead one hour. So consider this a friendly reminder that while our worship service will remain at 10:30 a.m., it will feel more like 9:30. 

There is, of course, a silver lining in this annual ritual: We will gain an extra hour of daylight on Sunday evening, and that additional daylight will continue to grow until late June when we experience the Summer Solstice — the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the precursor of the longest day of the year in terms of daylight.

As humans, we are naturally attracted to the light. It gives us warmth, comfort, guidance, and assurance. But very often, we find ourselves straying into the darkness, usually by choice, but sometimes by circumstance. Either way, there is a compelling reason for all of us to actively pursue and follow the light.

Scripture is filled with passages about God’s light, including this from the Gospel of John (12:35-36), which quotes Jesus speaking to his disciples: “Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”

As followers of Jesus, we are, indeed, “children of the light,” and in that role, it is imperative that we reflect and even illuminate his light through our words and through our actions, so that all may be “enlightened.” 

Tracing Our Physical and Spiritual Roots

Genealogy has become a very popular pastime for many people since the completion of the human genome project more than two decades ago. Most families are not able to trace their heritage further back than a few generations, but the pursuit is growing, thanks to such websites as Ancestry.com, Legacy Tree, and 23 and Me, among others.

Sheri’s cousin has taken a particular interest in this area, and he has helped me to trace my family’s roots back to my great grandmother, whom I never met. He was even able to locate a photo of her. Now, I am really curious about my ancestors — Who were they? Where did they come from? What did they do? What sort of life experiences did they have? 

When it comes to our spiritual origin, we don’t have to look far. Thanks to the scribes, prophets and disciples, as well as other contributors to the Bible, we can draw a straight line from our existence to the God we serve — the creator of the universe — along with his Son, Jesus Christ, who became our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, who guides us in our daily journey.

In the Book of Genesis (1:26) we know that God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

In other words, he created us with a plan and a purpose. We don’t need a website to trace our lineage to God. His Word and His wisdom are enough to make an everlasting covenant.

An Invitation to Worship and Fellowship This Sunday

People rarely complain about having a day off, but I must admit that I felt a little out of place last Sunday when I was not with you during worship. Our Staff-Parish Relations Committee very kindly and generously afforded me a day off, and Steve Moore volunteered to deliver an excellent message, which was uplifting, encouraging, and inspirational. 

While out of town with the family last weekend, I searched the Internet for local Methodist Churches, but none had a service time that fit into our schedule, so I wound up missing an opportunity to worship, and, frankly, I felt a little lost. I guess I had forgotten how much I rely on weekly worship services to energize myself for the week ahead. It reminded me that when I miss church, I really miss church (if you know what I mean).

As we begin this Lenten season, we have an opportunity to reconnect with our Lord. It’s not that we haven’t been faithful, it’s just that we have been a little busy and perhaps somewhat distracted.

It’s not essential that we attend worship every Sunday, but I would suggest that some sort of connection with God on the Sabbath is both wise and beneficial. 

This coming Sunday, we will have an opportunity to worship and reconnect with others after the service during our monthly Fellowship Dinner. We encourage everyone to come, and, if possible, bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share.

God wants us to remain united with him and with one another. What better time to do that than with devout worship and a hearty meal on Sunday! Hope to see you there!