Sorry I have not been able to post my sermons for a while. Here a series I just finished on Prayer. May it bless your reflections this Lenten season.
Three Part Sermon Series on Prayer
“Everything by Prayer”
Scripture Psalm 36: 5-10 and Philippians 4:5-9
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ January 20, 2013
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Sunday
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana
Psalm 36: 5-10 read responsively
In the heart of this psalm are words of praise and of trust
in the wideness of God's mercy which extends not only to all people of the
world but also to all of creation.
5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the
heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6Your
righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great
deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
7How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All
people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They
feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of
your delights.
9For with you is the fountain of life; in your
light we see light.
10O
continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the
upright of heart!
Philippians 4:5-9
Paul writes this letter full of love from a Roman
prison.
Often, prisons of this kind were
dug out of solid rock and were underground. Prisoners, their guards, and their
provisions were lowered through an opening the size of a manhole. This manhole
was the only means of entrance and exit. Rain and debris often dropped into
this "house of darkness." Waste rarely found its way out.
Out of such a pit comes these words of hope.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is
near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally,
beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9Keep
on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in
me, and the God of peace will be with you.
SERMON
There are many times in our lives when we need to make quick
decisions.
When driving a car, or
something catches fire requires quick decision making.
Not much time for reflection of even prayer
except the proverbial “Oh My God!”
But
to make good decisions in such moments of crisis there usually has been time of
training or refection on what to do if…
so Paul from his prison tells the church in Philippi to put everything
through the discipline of prayer.
That
means that if you are praying throughout your day, prayer will become a common
source of wisdom for your actions even rapid ones.
So as we walk through this journey to better
understand pray, I ask you to practice at least daily prayer.
If this is new to you, you are going to learn
some amazing things about God, about yourself and about your relationship with
God.
If you are a long time participant
in a conversation with God, I will ask that you spend more time in silence
waiting on the Lord to reveal your purpose and direction for these days.
If you have picked up the annual report, you have seen my
official notice of retirement at the end of May this year. I ask that you be in prayer for your new
pastoral leadership. What form and who
that will be God really only knows. But
if a whole congregation is in prayer for new leadership, God will be able to do
even more amazing things for Unity. Here
is a little snippet as to why I ask you to pray. It is very common that ordination exams are
given during the month of February.
These are five intense examines on the Bible, Exegetical Study, Polity,
Worship and Theology. If God has called
a new seminary graduate to be your new pastoral leader, you can then say “Even
though I did not know you, I was praying for you when you were taking your
exams.”
When Paul was still Saul he was blinded by the light of God
on the road to Damascus.
In his prayer
he sees a man laying hands on him named Ananias.
Ananias also in prayer is told by God to heal
Paul.
He does not want to do this
because Saul has been persecuting the church
But the power of pray is that in conversation with God we
see the world in a whole new way.
I have always loved hidden pictures. When you first look as this picture you see
like an old wrinkled face in the center and part of a hand to the left. On closer examination there is a profile of a
dragon to right of the face. Now examine
the picture rotated to the right and see a woman and child praying. Here is something amazing. Turn the picture back and you still see the
woman and child. Prayer rotates our view
and we see the world in a whole new way.
We see enemies as friends, strangers to be welcomed and love
abounds. Amen.
Teach Us to
Pray
Three Part Sermon Series on
Prayer
Scripture Psalm 19: 7-14 and
Luke 11: 1-13
Preached by Linda Jo Peters
~ January 27, 2013
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 19: 7-14
Here is a prayer to God asking for direction and affirming
God’s place in both nurturing us and instructing us in right living.
7The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the
soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;
8the
precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the
Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;
9the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10More to
be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11Moreover by them is your servant warned; in
keeping them there is great reward.
12But who
can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults.
13Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent
of great transgression.
14Let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
Luke 11: 1-13
This is a wonderful example of Jesus’ teaching style. He gives an example to follow and then tells
a story to illuminate our understanding of his message.
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had
finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John
taught his disciples.”2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father,
hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.3Give us each day our daily
bread.4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone
indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”5And he
said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight
and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;6for a friend
of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’7And he
answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and
my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’8I
tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is
his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him
whatever he needs.9“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you;
search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.10For
everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone
who knocks, the door will be opened.11Is there anyone among you who,
if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?12Or
if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?13If you then,
who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will
the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
SERMON
Our model of prayer which we call The Lord’s Prayer is simple and so beautifully elegant it has
become a liturgical prayer used throughout the world. But it was originally used as an example in
Jesus’ teaching. There are many forms
and styles of prayer but none so easy to remember and use than this gentle
prayer of petition. In worship we are
more likely to know prayers of confession, intercession and thanksgiving than
petition. Petition is what we need from
God. It is about laying our burdens down
so we can pick up what God has called us to do. In that light let us look at
The Lord’s Prayer as a model of communal prayer. Though it speak of many thing that we need as individuals:food, forgiveness and protection from evil forces. It speaks in the plural format. For in community we are stronger and healthier when we share what we need. So as you pray these very familar words be conscious of all those who pray with you.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
For individual prayer I believe we have to begin with the
practice of breathing. The fine art of breathing the breath of God into our
lives gives us a chance to exhale all that harms us. Breathe in the positive and exhale the
negative. (take time to practice breathing deeply, holing your breath and then exhale slowly do this three times) Not how you feel after this practice.
Prayer and movement: In a sedentary life such as many of us live,
prayer can be done by walking through the park or following a labyrinth path or
dancing.
Studying God’s Word as prayer called Lectio Divina (Latin for divine reading) is a traditional Benedictine
practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote
communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word.
Taking from our
Luke passage to “… ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will
find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. The four stages of Lectio divina as taught by John of the Cross follow this admonition
of Jesus: to Seek in reading and you will find in meditation;
knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation.
Silence – “Be
still and know that I am God.” Taking time to be quiet and listen to God speak to you. This is the most precious time of all. Quiet all the "grocier lists of things you want and problems you have. Be very still and just listen. Look at scripture from which this wisdom comes.
Psalm 46
1God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we
will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in
the heart of the sea; 3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble
with its tumult. ..
10“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted
among the nations, I am exalted in the
earth.” 11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our refuge.
In our silence
we can hear the voice of God. Amen.
In All Things Give Thanks
15See that none of you repays evil for evil, but
always seek to do good to one another and to all.
SERMON
The year that is drawing towards
its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the
heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of
Almighty God.
From our own Book of Order, the elements for worship include a Great Prayer of Thanksgiving of which the gathered community of God offer thanksgiving for:
a thorn was given me in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.8Three
times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,9but
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the
power of Christ may dwell in me.10Therefore I am content with
weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of
Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
The next time you suffer offer up this simple mantra:
It will change you and bring you closer to God who is our
strength. For us he was born, for us he
died and on the night he was betrayed by a friend, he gave thanks. Amen.
