Reflect and Rejoice

P.R.A.Y.

Reflect and Rejoice

Colossians 3:15-17

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on the nice and cool summer day… oh wait, Summer doesn’t start until Tuesday. Never mind. Let me say, welcome into the cool worship space as we lift our voices to God and celebrate all that God is doing in us and through us.

I also want to say, Happy Father’s Day. To the Dads, Father’s in Law, Grand Fathers, Step Fathers, mentors and guides of our lives, Thank you. We do get the short end, but hopefully you enjoyed the little gift we had for you this morning. It’s too hot for ties, so I thought I’d recommend something a little different, and who doesn’t love bacon?

Today is also Juneteenth, a day that I have been a part of celebrating since a child, having grown up in East Texas, but a day now, that the entire nation recognizes, and rightly so. If you do not know the history and the significance of this day, do a little reading. Our neighbors deserve it.

Now, Before I forget, I bring you greetings from the Central Texas Annual Conference, our new Bishop Rueben Saenz, and our pending District Superintendent Danny Tenney. I’ve asked Priscilla to come a give you a report about the Annual Conference.

Report of Annual Conference

Thank you Priscilla.

PRAY

Today we return to our PRAY series. Last week, we remembered the importance of pausing, of stopping everything to spend a few moments with God. Remember, You have you’re prayer devotional as a guide. Someone told me, “It’s pretty simplistic.” And I reminded them, it is only the beginning of your time of pausing, of reflecting, of asking, and yielding to God. It should only take you a few minutes to read, but it should be something that guides you into a much longer time of prayer. As you have read through the first week, I hope you are becoming familiar with the ideas of pausing, of reflecting, of asking, and yielding.

Today, we move on to the “R” of PRAY. In the devotional, there is a clear focus on reflecting, but to that, I will add the idea of rejoicing. But first, Reflecting.

The first passage of our time together comes from Colossians 3. Turn with me to Colossians 3, beginning in verse 15.

Colossians 3:15-17

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

[Prayer]

PRAY

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Maybe I could have used Joshua 1:8 where we are reminded to meditate on the Word of God day and night.

Or, maybe Psalm 119:11, and the fact that we hide God’s Word in our hearts that we might not sin against God.

Or the verse later in that chapter that says, that God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path.

There is no shortage of verses throughout the Old and New Testament that remind us of the importance of reflecting on God’s Word, of reflecting on the prayers and writings of Godly people.

A crucial part of a life devoted to God is time spent in God’s Word. I have told young people before, “It is OK to search. It is OK to question God. But as you question and as you look for books to read about new age spirituality and the pantheon of god’s out there, don’t forsake God’s Word. If you are reading everything else, but abandoning the Word of God that you were raised on, then you aren’t being honest with yourself. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, until your horns get stuck in the fence and you can’t get them out.

Goat

You know what happens when a goat get’s his horns stuck in the fence trying to eat the grass on the other side? He starves to death. He is surrounded by grass, but he neglected the grass around him, reached for something else and starves to death as the green grass grows around him.

Don’t be a dumb goat… don’t forsake the Word just because something else looks more appealing. Study the other, read about the other, but don’t forsake your spiritual heritage in the process.

Pray

As we as a church consider the decisions ahead of us, we can’t forsake the Word of God. We must be reading and reflecting on God’s word, we must meditate on it day and night, we must hide it in our hearts, we must let it dwell richly in us.

So, first the “R” represents reflecting… but it also should represent rejoicing. A part of our prayers should be a time of rejoicing in all that God is doing in and through us. Some of you have heard me say this before but it certainly bears repeating.

Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Paul is writing this passage early in his ministry. Just a couple of years after he encountered the Risen Lord and his life was radically changed. During this early period of his ministry, when he walked into a Jewish gathering, he was respected and honored. When he walked into a gathering of Christ followers, he was welcomed. When he walked into a Roman setting, he was recognized as a citizen of Rome. His ministry was growing, there was peace, there was no adversity, no animosity, and what did he tell us during this time?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Rejoice, pray, give thanks… this is God’s will for us.

Pray

Isn’t it easy to give thanks when things are going well? Think back to a time not so long ago where gas was under $2. You could go to the grocery store and buy what you went there for. Computer Chips were available for new trucks. Our shop owners could get what they ordered when they ordered it. Gun violence didn’t seem to dominate the headlines. Friends and families hadn’t died of COVID-19. Putin was just a maniacal leader, not a warmonger and maniacal leader. Our denomination was talking about the possibility of some kind of split eventually, but it wasn’t a reality.

Back then, it was easy to rejoice. It was easy to pray. It was easy to give thanks. Amen.

But today, things are different. Life is different. A mom going to buy baby formula finds it hard to rejoice.

A Trucker filling his 300 gallon gas tanks and spending $1,800, when he’s only going to make $2400 on his run has a hard time giving thanks.

An electrician needing to buy a new work truck or a Soccer Mom looking for a new Expedition has a hard time being thankful and rejoicing when there’s no vehicles available.

Maybe prayer is about the only thing that comes easy these days.

But, Paul knew a little something about adversity too.

Paul’s life looked much different as he sat in a prison in Rome, awaiting his hearing with Caesar that was almost certain to lead to his execution. By that point Paul had been stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, snake bit, tortured by Roman Soldiers 3 times, and become an outcast among his Jewish peers. Our times aren’t great… but they were nothing compared to what Paul went through.

You would think, with all that Paul went through, he would say, “Sometimes it’s OK to complain. Sometimes it’s OK to be grumpy. Sometimes, It’s OK to say, God, why me?”

But what did Paul say at the very end of his ministry? We find his words written in Philippians 4:4.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Not only does he say rejoice… Paul doubles down. He emphasizes it. It’s almost as though Paul is saying, “Once I said it is important to Rejoice in the Lord, now, after all the mess of life, I think it is even more important… Rejoice… all the time… everywhere… in all things… I’ll say it again, REJOICE.”

Our prayers must contain a spirit of rejoicing.

An often quoted phrase from John Wesley is,

The best of all, God is with us.

Ladies and gentlemen. Regardless of the outcomes of any discussions that take place over the next weeks and through the summer, remember this, give thanks in this… know this.

God is with us.

When you are at the gas pump… remember, God is with you.

When you are sitting in or by the hospital bed… remember, God is with you.

When you are facing difficult decisions like what we are facing, remember the fact that God is with you.

Pray

Ladies and gentlemen, that is why we are able to pray as we do. We don’t need a mediator. We don’t have to pray to saints, or pray through priests, or burn incense, or sacrifice animals, or fly to another country, or be in a certain building. God is with us where we are. All we have to do is lift our eyes up to the hills and see our help coming from the Lord.

We don’t have to wait for Christmas for Emmanuel, we live a daily Emmanuel, God is with us.

So… when we pray – Pause, stop what we are doing and spend time with God.

And When we pray – Reflect on God’s Word and God’s goodness and Rejoice in the Lord.

Let us pray!