Standing in the Need of Prayer

 June 8, 2021

 

Hello church family and friends near and far!

I hope and pray that you are enjoying the sunshine and the growing things all around us. It brings a lot of work in yard maintenance and weed control, so I hope you have good help around you for that. Even though it’s work God gave us from the beginning, that some of us enjoy, not all of us are up to the physical work of it. Personally, I have a new appreciation of how much work it is just to bend down, and then to get back up again! And an associated new appreciation for letting the growing things go wild as God intended. Only sort of kidding.

I had my very last (praise the Lord) chemo treatment last week, and I want to tell you that I absolutely felt your prayers! Though it has been no fun at all, it has also not been nearly as difficult as I feared, or as others endure. That is all because of your care and faithfulness. Prayers work, friends. The next six months will be radiation and immunotherapy, and then it’s DONE. Halleluia. Already starting to feel my energy coming back, and though I know I won’t be 100% for a long time yet, I fully expect to be better. Thanks, too, for your leadership and teamwork in keeping our ministries strong and healthy. Epworth is SUCH an important part of our community, and you are a source of light and hope.

This month is a special one, for a whole bunch of reasons. A bunch of different historical events
mark June as a time of welcoming the outcast, of healing divisions, of moving toward perfection in love. The first Memorial Day was in June, held by a group of newly-freed slaves who wanted to honor those who had given their lives to save them. June 19, also known as “Juneteeth,” is the day slaves were officially freed in the last holdout state of Texas. June 12 is National Loving Day, which marks the day in 1967 when interracial marriage was finally made legal. And though it started with something ugly and violent, June has become a celebration of love, acceptance, and diversity in Pride celebrations all over the world. In worship we will be singing and praising God for loving us all, with good old hymns and gospel songs, many of the best of which come from the Black gospel tradition. Like Standing in the Need of Prayer, which we will sing this week.

Like many African American spirituals, God only knows when Standing in the Need of Prayer was written, and by whom. As far as I can tell, it was first published in 1925, but it had been sung for decades before that. Here is a quote from an anonymous enslaved person, about this song:

I pray now and just tell God to take me and do his will, for he knows every secret of my heart. He knows what we stand most in need of before we ask for it, and if we trust him, he will give us what we ought to have in good season (Johnson, 1969, p. 58; cited in Guenther, 2016, p. 124).

            We all need it, don’t we? Every one of us, standing in the need of prayer, trusting God to help us in trouble and grow our hearts to love God and one another truer and better. May our prayers this week (and always) bring us ever closer to the Lord our God, and to perfection in love.

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Judges: Lessons from the Worst Book in the Bible

Part 2: A Smashing Salvation

This week, we continue our worship series through the strange, strange  book of Judges. There are some of the most well-known stories in scripture there (like Sampson and Delilah), and also some very, very weird stuff. Some violent and hard to understand stuff. Some wild and wonderful characters. It will be good to study, and good to talk about as we look for the wisdom and the grace of God in it. This week, we will hear the story of Deborah and Barak and Jael in Judges 4-5. See you there!

 

After worship, stay for coffee and fellowship, and then adult Sunday School. Stay tuned for info about kids Sunday School and new Bible studies beginning!

Ordinary People, Strangely Warmed

 May 24, 2021

 

Happy Aldersgate Day church family, and friends near and far!

Probably none but the most dedicated church nerd would know what Aldersgate Day is, so lemme explain. First, some background.

John Wesley, Methodism’s grumpy but faithful founder, was raised by an Anglican priest and his wife, and grew up to be an Anglican priest himself. While in university completing his education, and before he was officially ordained, he and his brother Charles (who also eventually became an Anglican priest) started up the “Holy Club” that would become the foundation of a major revitalization of the church. Rather than just leaving one’s Christian faith in church on Sunday, the brothers and those who joined them longed for a real, vital, lifegiving faith that made a real impact on individuals’ lives. They covenanted to pray together, to confess their sins to each other, and to follow Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 25 by visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and caring in other ways for those in need.

These class meetings became a rapidly growing movement, and after a few years the Wesley brothers went to the colonies to “evangelize the natives” and start their successful movement there. In 1735 they landed in Savanna, Georgia to serve a church there at the invitation of James Oglethorpe, who had founded the colony. It didn’t go well. 

Two years later, John was kicked out of Georgia and headed back to England, discouraged and feeling that he had lost his faith. Having encountered on the voyage a group of German Christians known as Moravians, and being very impressed with their faith, he found himself on May 24, 1738 at worship at a Moravian church in Aldersgate Street in London. There, during a sermon on the book of Romans, he writes that he felt assurance of Jesus’ love for him for the very first time.

 

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

 

Can you imagine? After being raised a Christian, and spending 12 years as an ordained priest, and leading an explosively successful movement that was revitalizing the church in profound ways, he just now truly felt that he was loved and saved by Jesus. And that, beloved, is Aldersgate Day.

Our Christian history is filled with imperfectly faithful people who are loved and used by God. So if you ever question your own faith, your own value, your own belovedness, remember Aldersgate Day. And may your heart be strangely warmed.

Singing our great Redeemer’s praise with far more than a thousand tongues,

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Ordinary People in the Hands of an Extraordinary God

This week, we begin our study of the book of Judges. There are some of the most well-known stories in scripture there, and also some very, very weird stuff. Some violent and hard to understand stuff. Some wild and wonderful characters. It will be good to study, and good to talk about as we look for the wisdom and the grace of God in it. See you there!

 

After worship, stay for coffee and fellowship! A bunch of wonderful folks have signed up to provide goodies, and set up and clean up so that we can spend time together. As we continue to observe Covid protocols, we will have masked and gloved servers to give you your refreshments, and we encourage everyone to keep friendly distance from those outside your household. The rules are a bit vague right now, so let’s grant each other an extra measure of grace and kindness as we navigate it all.

Baseball, Pentecost, and Heaven on Earth

 May 18, 2021

 

Happy almost-birthday Church family, and friends near and far!

This Sunday is Pentecost, when we celebrate with the church around the world and across time, in nearly every known language, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church. It is, hands down, my favorite church holiday. Yes, much more than Christmas and Easter. Which makes me a church nerd, I realize, but here we are. If you are reading this on our website, you might like to click on the latest newsletter, where you will find an excerpt of an interview about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost with Dr Jack Levinson of Perkins School of Theology. Check it out!

In the meantime, let's talk about baseball.

Near the end of the movie “Moneyball,” as Billy Beane is grappling with tough decisions and an emotional collision of success and failure, he says “It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.” I’ve never been a huge baseball fan myself until kinda recently, so I’m still learning a lot, but he’s right. And what I’m about to write might sound over-romantic. But this letter isn’t about baseball. It’s about the church.

See, in last night’s game against the Nats, two excellent and well-loved former Cubs players returned to Wrigley Field for the first time to play against their former teammates. They both got standing ovations from Cubs fans, and a lot of welcome and affection from Cubs players. Mr Kenny Coval was telling me a similar story the other day about the Cardinals. Apparently this is normal in baseball! It happens all the time! I mean…I just…I find that incredible. And just the coolest thing ever.

It makes me think of other things, too. Like the way players of all kinds, on every team, cheer for each other when they make a great play, and stand by each other when they don’t. The camaraderie of competitors as they chat together between pitches. Their playfulness with each other, on opposing teams, even while being fierce competitors. I grew up on football, not baseball, and that is a WHOLE different ballgame (heh). Now obviously it isn’t always all sweetness and light; there is plenty of normal competitive frustration and some occasional poor behavior, too. But it seems to me as a newbie to the whole thing that there is a culture of respectfulness and grace that is evidently nurtured and expected in baseball, and I find it all shocking, in the best way.

I’m probably not explaining it very well, but here’s the thing. In this life, and in the church, we can walk through life as though it’s a competition between the good guys and the bad guys. As though everyone who isn’t with us is against us. As though everywhere around us are sides we need to take, and people and circumstances we need to be prepared to fight. 

Or, we can recognize that we are all in this together, and we do better when we ALL do better. We can stand and fall and play and work together, and love one another as Christ first loved us. We can see each other, even when our perspectives seem diametrically opposed, as fellow humans, all known and loved by God. We can refuse to participate in making enemies, and instead we can be the Body of Christ in a way that is marked by humility, empathy, understanding, and grace. If we did that, especially in this polarized and bitter day and age, I suspect we would shock everyone around us in the best way.

And thereby, bring a little heaven to earth.

Come Holy Spirit.

          Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Pentecost Sunday: Come, Holy Spirit

It’s Pentecost!! Well, almost. We have been spending the past few weeks praying about and thinking about the way Jesus’ disciples and apostles lived and worked as people of the Resurrection. This Sunday, we celebrate where it all started, enter into the mystery and power of the Holy Spirit, and celebrate the birthday of the church. See you there!

 

After worship, we will share in-person coffee and fellowship. After more than a year of Covid restrictions it has been very good to enjoy each other’s company in person once again. We are so thankful that almost all of us have received our vaccinations, to make this possible. As we continue to observe Covid protocols, we will have masked and gloved servers to give you your refreshments, and we encourage everyone to keep as much distance as makes you feel most comfortable. The rules are a bit vague right now, so let’s grant each other an extra measure of grace and kindness as we navigate it all.

Whispers, and Compassion

 May 11, 2021

 

 

Hello church family and friends near and far!

 

As I sit today in the chemo chair, I am thinking of all of you and our ministry together. I pray that, wherever you are and whatever life is bringing you, that you know yourself surrounded by the love and power of God. I pray that the Holy Spirit is giving you all kinds of things to see, and hear, and touch, and taste, and do, and know that bring you peace, hope, and joy.

 

In the course of preparing my sermon for last week, I ran across the story of a woman named Karen Armstrong, a former Catholic nun and academic who speaks and writes about the importance of compassion. She is deeply respected around the world, has spoken in several countries including three times at the White House, and has written several books on compassion and comparative religion. I found her when I stumbled across an initiative she started in 2008, called the Charter of Compassion. 

 

I didn’t get to include her story, or the Charter, in my sermon on Sunday. But it is she who reminded me of the story of Hillel, the famous Torah scholar who lived about 100 years before Jesus, who (as the story goes) was once approached by a nonbeliever who said, “I will convert to your religion if you can recite the entirety of its teachings while standing on one leg.” Hillel stood on one leg and said, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. All else is commentary. Go and study it.” (Incidentally, the apostle Paul was a student of Gamaliel, Hillel’s grandson. Gamaliel is mentioned in Acts 5 at the Council of Jerusalem, and is the one who convinces the Sanhedrin to stop persecuting Peter and Paul and the rest, saying that they might well be opposing God himself!) Hillel and other rabbis in the Mishna affirmed that compassion is the heart of God, and the heart of the law, and that if in our study of scripture we do not find grace and compassion, then our study is incomplete and our interpretation is wrong.

 

The Charter of Compassion evolved and expanded a lot after Karen Armstrong proposed it in 2008. From it’s beginnings in Seattle, people from over 100 countries participated in writing it, and it has now been signed by over 2 million people around the world, including the Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Queen Noor of Jordan. From the Charter, community action groups have emerged around the world to foster the value of compassion, as part of an initiative called the Campaign for Compassionate Community. It sounds incredible, and includes a 4 step “toolbox” that teaches how to…well, how to change the world starting with your own neighborhood. If you’d like to read more about it, like I plan to do, we can start with their website: charterforcompassion.org. If you look, tell me what you think. Who knows, maybe it will inspire us with new ways to share the Gospel right here in Fallon, or wherever we are. 

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Listening to God’s Whispers

This week, worship will be led by Ron Evans, who will share a wonderful message about the quiet but powerful ways God shows up in our life and gives us his love and guidance. Join us, and bring a friend!

 

After worship, we will share in-person coffee and fellowship! After more than a year of Covid restrictions it will be good to enjoy each other’s company in person once again. We are so thankful that almost all of us have received our vaccinations, to make this possible! As we continue to observe Covid protocols, we will have masked and gloved servers to give you your refreshments, and we encourage everyone to keep as much distance as makes you feel most comfortable. The rules are a bit vague right now, so let’s grant each other an extra measure of grace and kindness as we navigate it all.

Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Sacraments

 

May 4, 2021

Hello church family, and readers near and far!

Somewhere deep in my bones, there is some kind of as-yet-unnamed and undefined attraction to the spiritual connection between food and faith. Between growing and/or cooking food, and God. I’m not sure when that started, because it wasn’t always there (or at least, I didn’t always notice it), but it’s grown stronger over the years.

I remember back in seminary, in a class on meditative prayer, we were asked to write a short paragraph describing a moment from the previous day, focusing on the senses: what did we see, hear, smell, feel, taste in that moment? The moment need not be special, our instructor told us; in fact the more ordinary the better. So I described making lunches for my kids in the rush before school, something I did without thinking every weekday. It was the most mundane thing I could think of; unlike some parents, I didn’t take any particular pleasure in it or feel any particular way about it. But in the describing of it, and in the reading of it out loud to my prayer partner in class the next day, I found myself astonished by the presence of God. Like a bright, warm flood of light, I was brought to tears and thought, how had I not noticed this before? How had I been paying so little attention? That moment may have been the beginning of my noticing this connection between food and God, though I can promise you, friends, *any* moment when we pay careful and prayerful attention we will find the presence and power of God in it.

Anyway, there is something that has been forming itself in my own ministry around this. Something around meals together, and neighborhoods, and home, and welcome, and history, and health, and sacrament, and the real meaning of holiness. First Covid and then cancer treatment have created very annoying obstacles to experimenting and enacting anything around this with you, but still it has been percolating. And then, just a couple of weeks ago, a beloved church member – who doesn’t know any of this – handed me a book she no longer needed, called “The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast”, which is a cookbook of Biblical foods AND full of stories about the connection between food and faith!

It’s a sign, I think.

I didn’t know anything about the Frugal Gourmet before this very morning. Probably many of you already know this, but he (Jeff Smith is his actual name) was a United Methodist minister! He considered his ministry to be all wrapped up in cooking and eating together, and both his books and his TV show were peppered with historical and Biblical references. I feel as though I’ve discovered a long-lost brother.

Now, I am not a great cook. Far from it. I am a passable cook, who nevertheless loves cooking and sharing food. (The other day, Dennis was looking for a personalized recipe book for me as a Mother’s Day gift, and he proposed naming it “Dawn’s Delights and Honest Attempts” which I thought was hilarious and fully endorsed. I’m giggling here, just thinking about it.) Maybe you are not a great singer, but nevertheless love to sing. Or maybe you are a clumsy sort of wood worker, but still love to make things. Or an imperfect parent, who desperately loves their kids. Thankfully, God does not require us to be perfect, but rather uses our honest attempts to lead us into the messy imperfection of joyful, abundant life.

Pay attention this week, friends. To the smallest, most mundane moments and imperfect people. In doing so, you might discover a new joy…and you will most definitely find our living, loving, laughing God rejoicing in you.

May the fourth be with you,

Pastor Dawn

P.S. Very sadly, the Frugal Gourmet's legacy is tarnished by accusations of sexual abuse from when he was a young man. When it came to light in 1998, it ended his television career and his time in public life. When I first read about that, I wasn’t sure I could rightly use or enjoy his book after all. But then I remembered perspective from a counselor I knew, who reminded me that the world is not divided into perfect people and monsters. Human beings are flawed, sometimes catastrophically so. And capable of great good, and great faith, too. We are complex creatures.

 

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Living the Resurrection: Comforters

When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was suffering. He was in jail somewhere, though it’s not clear where. And yet, the tone of the letter is sweet and confident, encouraging and comforting. He repeatedly expresses gratitude to God and to the church at Philippi for the “gifts” they had sent him. He claims this present suffering as something God continues to use for good. And he encourages the church that they need not worry about anything, and can hope and rejoice, because the Lord is near.

In Henri Nowen’s “Wounded Healer”, he writes that God uses the things we struggle with as a source of compassion and comfort to others. Paul certainly shows that in his life, in powerful ways. As you prepare your heart for worship on Sunday, you might like to read and pray with Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and see where God might draw your attention or touch your heart.

After worship this week, we will share a time of snacks and fellowship out on the front lawn. A bit of a sort of Mother’s Day garden party. Because of this, we will not have our usual Zoom coffee hour. Hope you can join us!

Heroes and Healers

 April 27, 2021

 

 

Hello church family near and far,

 

Once upon a time, I used to read voraciously. I was part of a book club for years that met once per month, but I always finished the assigned book within two or three days and had time to enjoy others. I loved movies too, and stories of all kinds. This, while continuing my education, raising three amazing kids as a single mom, and serving my first church. I couldn’t have imagined starting a book and not finishing it, even if I didn’t like it. Now, I have a stack of books on my nightstand and in my office that are half-finished – ones that I loved, even! Novels and devotionals and inspiring books about church and faith – and I fall asleep through nearly every movie I try to watch. I am absolutely a nerd at heart, but God help me if there are drawn out battle sequences in a movie; I fall asleep in seconds. It drives me crazy.

 

So there I was, watching “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” with my beloved, and getting into a fascinating philosophical discussion about its deeper themes with my son via text, when I realized that there was a bunch of background information I needed to understand what the heck was going on in the show. I had seen most of the Avengers movies, but again, slept through at least half of them. And in my youth, I was MUCH more an X-Men nerd than a Marvel nerd, so I knew nothing about Captain America and the rest. So Dennis and I have started the movies from the beginning.

 

Hang with me here.

 

This morning, I also resolved to pick up one of those half-finished books. It’s called “Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again” by Rachel Held-Evans, an amazing young storyteller and theologian who died in 2019 after a sudden illness at the age of only 37. In the very first chapter, she tells the story of an imagined Israelite family in exile in Babylon, and the father telling his young and impressionable son the story of creation from Genesis. The son, Haggai, has come home full of the scary and exciting Babylonian creation story, because the festival celebrating it is going on in the city. It’s the story of Marduk and Tiamat, a story historians know as the Enuma Elish. (Incidentally, this story was first discovered in the ruins of Ninevah in the mid 1800s, written on clay tablets dated to the 7^th century BCE. Can you imagine?! The story itself is even older, the oldest known creation myth.). Full of war and death and betrayal, the story is similar to many around the world: the war results in Marduk making himself king of the gods, the world is created from the blood of his enemies, and human beings are created as the servants of the gods and of the earthly king who is Marduk’s emissary. The creation story from Genesis is set in stark contrast, full of beauty and wonder and holiness.

 

“You mean there is no great battle?” Haggai asks.

“No battle,” Papa says.

“No grandmothers getting split in two,” Mama adds.

“And all people are God’s emissaries, not just the king?” Haggai asks.

“Yes. All people are God’s emissaries,” Papa says. “We are each created in God’s image, charged with watching over creation. We are not slaves, my son.”

 

We are not slaves. Each of us is beloved, wanted, created with purpose and intention from the boundless creative power of a loving God.

 

Battle is not our natural state. Compassion is. Relationship is. Understanding, and forgiveness, and love is. Because we are made in the image of God.

 

In the mythology of Captain America, a sickly young boy longs to take his place among those who fight evil and restore order. His defining characteristics are compassion and the courage to put it to work. And it is not the super strength he gains that makes him a superhero, but the way his compassion and courage – the core of who he is, according to the scientist who chose him – are increased as well. 

 

Like Haggai, and like the beleaguered characters in superhero movies of all kinds, we are constantly drawn into battle. Physical or verbal or ideological, we can become addicted to the fight, reveling in what divides us. We relish the stories of supposed evils done by those different from us, regardless whether or not they are true. Battle – even when it’s just an internal dialogue of self-justification – can be fun and exciting, affirming ourselves as Right and Good, and everyone else as Wrong. 

 

But this isn’t what God wants from us, or for us. This is not who we were created to be. We must not be silent in the face of evil; far, far from it. But it must be our compassion and courage that leads us. It must be humility and wisdom that guides our discernment. And it must be love that does the work, because that is the only power that can.

 

We are not slaves, beloved. We are free. We are emissaries, made in the image of the one true God. Stand tall, as the beloved one you are, and carry agape with you wherever you go.

 

In God’s wondrous love,

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Living the Resurrection: Healers

This Sunday, as we explore the faith of the earliest church and see what we can learn from the way they loved and practiced it, we will join the apostle Paul and the church in Ephesus. Life was not easy for any of the new and struggling churches that were springing up all over the known world, but they were on fire in their faith, healers of bodies and hearts and communities. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We will talk about all of it in worship, as well as what some of the other apostles had to say about healing bodies and spirits in the name of Jesus Christ. 

 

And then, join us for virtual coffee hour after worship at 10:45am. If you have never joined us, we hope that you will consider doing so, especially for the sake of those who can’t join us in person for worship yet. Gathering together in this way is a great gift you can give to yourself and your church family. You will get the link in your email as always; if you prefer to join by phone, we can share that with you, too. If you've never joined us but would like to, call the church office at 775-423-4714 or shoot us an email at office@eumcfallon.org. We'd love to connect!

Jesus Happens

 April 20, 2021

 

Hello beloved members and friends of Epworth UMC!

 

Sitting here once again in the chemo chair, and feeling so blessed to be in ministry with all of you. I’ve been thinking back over the summer and how much we got to do together, providing desperately needed food to folks in our community, working together with the Fallon Food Hub and so many great people, finding ways to reach out to each other and to our neighbors in new ways. We are once again in kind of a state of unknowing, getting ready to get back to some version of “normal” but not quite knowing what that should look like, or what the next weeks and months will bring. It makes me excited to think what surprises God has in store for us, and how God will use us all to bring hope and Good News to our community and beyond. 

 

I was talking with a friend of the church just this morning, and she shared with me a powerful sermon she heard recently called “Jesus Happens” by the Rev Dr Curran Reichert. She sent me the link, and WOW Curran is so much fun! Before she was in ministry she sang in “musicals, TV, and movies” according to the church website, and she has a stunningly beautiful voice. In her sermon, she says that Jesus happens, and there is nothing we can do to stop it, or prevent it, or ruin it. No matter how imperfectly we do life, Jesus happens. No matter where we are or what we are doing, Jesus happens. No matter how flawed our understanding, Jesus happens. And keeps happening

 

I find that an incredibly comforting thought. Maybe instead of trying to change things or fix things or invent things, we should “stock up our spiritual shelves, and be ready for when Jesus happens.”

 

Yeah. Maybe. Probably.

 

Stocking up our spiritual shelves, so to speak, is always the first thing. Jesus made sure to do that, taking time away to pray before and between and after doing anything else. Putting some focus on our spiritual health every day taps into the Source of our hope, and joy, and peace, and spiritual energy. It enables us to be more fully present and wise in our relationships, in our church, in our community, in our own lives. And inevitably, without fail, Jesus shows up. Like he did with the disciples, showing up out of nowhere and “scaring the daylights out of everyone” (that’s from Curran, too ), Jesus happens. He surprises us with comfort, love, challenge, and miraculous grace.

 

In our lectio divina prayer services on Friday nights (before I had to suspend them for awhile…hoping to get back to them soon), we considered in our prayers what God might be calling us to do, or be, or change. When Jesus happens, sometimes we respond in one of those ways. Other times, we are just grateful. 

Praying that Jesus happens for you today, beloved.

Pastor Dawn

Children of God

This season, we are spending time in the letters of Peter and Paul, John and Timothy and the rest, as we take ourselves back in time to the earliest church. Written just a few short years after Jesus’ resurrection, when many people still remembered vividly Jesus’ miracles and teachings and expected his return any moment, these letters are a powerful witness to how the church lived as people of the resurrection.

 

We began last week in the letters of Peter, and his powerful story of personal transformation and the ministry of reconciliation. This week, Margaret Knox will bring us a message from the letter of 1 John, about the joy and responsibility of being children of God. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with 1 John 3:16-24, and see what special message God has for you.

 

And then, join us for virtual coffee hour after worship at 10:45am. If you have never joined us, we hope that you will consider doing so…especially for the sake of those who can’t join us in person for worship yet, gathering together in this way is a great gift you can give to yourself and your church family. You will get the link in your email as always; if we don't have your email, reach out to us at office@eumcfallon.org or 775-423-4714 and we'll make sure you are plugged in.

Living the Resurrection

 April 13, 2021

 

Hello beloved members and friends of Epworth UMC!

 

This time of year, when the weather is getting nicer and the busy time of Holy Week and Easter Sunday is past, I always start thinking of new and exciting things we can do together as a church. I find myself wanting to find a new Bible study to lead, some kind of spring event to create or thing to do to bring some smiles and joy to our neighbors, creative ways to improve our ministry to children and families and homebound folks, neat new things we can do with video to improve our online presence and invite more people to experience the love and grace of God. All kinds of stuff. You all know me well enough to know by now that I have FAR more ideas than there is time and energy to accomplish. But still! I find this time of year very inspiring.

 

But now, I especially have to remember that, whatever new things we might begin together, we have to do them as a team. I can’t just run off and do whatever sounds interesting to me, and do it all alone, because I am the world’s most unreliable person on earth right now. As chemo continues, I find that it takes a bit longer to recover after each treatment, and the recovery isn’t as complete either. So I’m tired, and forgetful, and kinda anti-social too. It is very annoying, I have to tell you.

 

It is also a very good and important lesson.

 

I’ve been spending time reading the letters of Peter and Paul and the rest, and one of the VERY important themes that repeats often, over and over in different contexts, is that the early church thrived because of the active participation and leadership of MANY. They worshiped together, and rejoiced in it, lifting their voices together in song and prayer and praise, sharing their testimonies and talking openly about answered prayers and the ways God was working in their lives. They served together, sharing what they had to help those in need, leading and participating in ministries of mercy and service. They supported each other, leaned on each other, encouraged and advised and protected and uplifted and prayed for each other. They did all of this together, participating in the life of the church using whatever gifts and resources God had given each person. Church was not a building, but a community.

 

As we return to in-person life together as a church -- and continue to bring church to folks at home in some of the new ways we have learned over this past year -- let’s keep our eyes and hearts open to the new things God is doing. Let’s worship and serve and create, pray and praise and teach and learn and love one another in spirit and in truth. And rejoice, for Christ is risen! 

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Living the Resurrection

This season, we will be spending our time in the letters of Peter and Paul, John and Timothy and the rest, as we take ourselves back in time to the earliest church. Written just a few short years after Jesus’ resurrection, when many people still remembered vividly Jesus’ miracles and teachings and expected his return any moment, these letters are a powerful witness to how the church lived as people of the resurrection.

 

We wil begin together in the letters of Peter. We will learn some history, some archaeology, some theology…and we will hear what the early church can teach us about being people of the resurrection today. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read Peter’s letters in their entirety…to read them both will take you only about 10 minutes. Or, you might like to focus on the passage we will hear on Sunday, 1 Peter 1:22-25. 

Morning Has Broken

 APRIL 6, 2021

 

 Happy Eastertide, church family and friends!

Ya know, for my entire life I have always said that fall is my favorite season. Probably I will say it again in a few months, knowing me. And I do love it, as the world kind of starts winding down for winter sleep, and the colors change, and the weather gets cooler. I love all the sounds and smells and meaning of it. But I gotta tell ya, now that I have – in an extremely amateur, faltering way – taken up gardening, spring is giving fall a run for its money.

Seeing my 3 year old dwarf peach tree absolutely COVERED with pink blossoms makes me ridiculously happy. Hoping my first attempt at compost works out, and excited to learn how to do it well. Looking forward to planting new kinds of things, and being careful not to do my spring cleanup too early lest all the good pollinators lose their winter sleeping habitat. Seeing the earth start to wake up at church and at home, with little bits of green popping up all over the place promising fresh flowers. It’s all just so sweet and good.

I find a lot of deep spiritual meaning in the fall season, as human beings probably have from the beginning of time. While we as a species look toward winter and depend on the fall harvest to get us through, there is tremendous gratitude and hope and trust in God that infuses the season. In the spring, it’s much more like awe. Happy surprises everywhere. The fulfilment of the hopes we have held onto through the winter. Evidence of new life around every corner, like answers to prayer. It makes lines from the Song of Solomon echo in my mind, about the rains being over and the flowers appearing, and all the God-loving hope expressed in that…and that passage from Lamentations 3:22 about God’s mercies being constantly renewed.

One of my favorite songs to sing at an Easter sunrise service is “Morning Has Broken.” Though Cat Stevens made it popular 50 years ago or so, it was actually written as a Christian children’s hymn in 1931 by famed children’s author Eleanor Farjeon as “a song to give thanks for each day.” It is set to a beautiful Scottish tune first published some 50 years before that.

 

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world.

 

Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

 

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day.

This is all just about flowers and rain and bees, and how sweet and good and even awe-inspiring all of that is. But 2000 years ago, a small group of women and men were just waking up to the impossible fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead. It changed absolutely everything. Everyday miracles of new life are astounding if we are paying attention, but this was – this IS – something else entirely.

It means everything God has been trying to tell us is true. Not just metaphorically true, religious-scholar-debate true…but literally, physically, right-here-in-real-life true.

For God so loved the world that He gave the Son, so that whoever believes him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.

What if we lived like we believed it?

Christ is risen, beloved. He is risen indeed!

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

Living the Resurrection

We are blessed to hear a sermon from our District Superintendent Rev Dr Blake Busick this Sunday! We love when he is able to bring us the message now and then. He will join us by video during worship, and the rest of worship will be filled with prayer, music, scripture, and the special joy of the Body of Christ worshiping together. Hope to see you there! If you will be worshiping from home, you can also find us on KVLV at 9:30 as always, and on Facebook Live (if the Facebook gremlins permit. It’s a frustratingly imperfect technology.) As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with our scriptures for Sunday, John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35.

No Greater Love

March 30, 2021

 

Hello church family!

It is so good to be in worship together! As we move into the warmer weather and continue to love one another by keeping Covid protocols carefully in place, it is so good to be able to be in one place to pray and praise God and learn and worship together. We know that the church *never* closed, and the people of God never stopped praying and worshiping, we just did it mostly outside the building…but still, there is something special and powerful about being physically together in the presence of God. There is plenty of room for us to be safely distant, even when most of us are there all at the same time. And if it turns out that we get a bit too crowded, I am very prepared to add a second service at 11:15am when we need it. One way or another, I and your church family look forward to the day when even more of us will feel safe coming back to worship. It is such a joy.

Since preschools are authorized to be open, we hope to be able to open our nursery soon, too, and re-launch children’s Sunday School. We are exploring what we need to do to make that happen safely, so stay tuned.

We are going to hold off on coffee and goodies for now, because we can’t be separated enough in the Fireside Room. As the weather warms, I am thinking we can move the fellowship outside on the lawn with our tables and chairs and goodies and coffee served by our masked and gloved Hospitality Team. 

Slowly but surely, things will get back to normal…and, with the power and grace of God, an even better version of normal. Thank you for your love and faithfulness as we continue to be the church in God’s ever-changing world.

This Sunday is Easter Sunday, and in context I can’t help but think of the disciples of Jesus – not just his close friends, but the thousands and thousands who had gained hope and healing through Jesus – and how their entire world was turned upside down. In Jesus’ brief time with them, their whole understanding of life and God changed. For most, it was change for the better! But for many, including the disciples, it was confusing and frightening, and very hard to accept. And of course, for the religious authorities, it was terrible religious lawbreaking and blasphemy. No wonder there was so much conflict, despite Jesus’ consistent message of love and peace. And then he is killed, and the world is turned upside down again…and then, he is resurrected and – for those who believe – the world is not just turned upside down but absolutely explodes. 

And he appears to them, and their hearts are filled with joy. Impossible, explosive joy. And awe…that feeling of witnessing something impossible that is nevertheless completely real.

And what comes after is the need to embark on an entirely new way of life. Even different from the life they led when Jesus walked with them in person. Entirely new. But they did it. With the power of the Holy Spirit, they laid down their lives even while they were living became the seeds that planted the church. And here we are.

A new seed is planted every time a person says yes to following Jesus. Not just the first time, when we give our lives to Christ, but every time we go about in the world faithfully following his new commandment to love one another. When we do that, every time, we help plant a seed in another heart. 

Every time someone sees your car pull up to church on Sunday (or any other day!) a seed is planted in the hearts of all who see it. Every time we leave our doors open so that the sound of worship goes out into the neighborhood, a seed is planted. Every time we welcome friend and stranger with a real smile and genuine greeting, a seed is planted. Every time we serve selflessly and lovingly, a seed is planted. And the power of the resurrection is made real in a world that doesn’t believe in such things.

Friends, the obstacles we face are in some ways exactly the same as, and in some ways far less than what Jesus’ disciples faced in those days. With the power of the Holy Spirit they persevered and gave the world God’s greatest gift, and it grew and grew and grew until it covered the earth. Seed after seed was planted, every day for weeks and months and years and millennia, until someone shared Jesus with each of us and brought us here to sweet and wonderful Fallon, Nevada. No matter how our world is changing, the Holy Spirit is still alive and active, and we can plant new seeds every day. 

This is what it is to live as people of the Resurrection. Let’s worship every day in spirit and in truth, and give our lives while we are living in faith in Jesus Christ. 

Happy almost-Easter!

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

WORSHIP ON EASTER SUNDAY!

Join us for a worship service of joy, thanksgiving, and praise at 9:00am in our beautiful sanctuary. There will be music from our Praise Team, art that expresses our Easter joy, and an Easter message from Pastor Dawn. Hope to see you there! If you will be worshiping from home, you can also find us on KVLV at 9:30 as always, and on Facebook Live (if the Facebook gremlins permit. It’s a frustratingly imperfect technology.)

Good Friday Walk to the Cross

On Friday April 2 at noon, Kathy Fraker will lead a Walk to the Cross. We will meet in the parking lot of the Churchill County Cemetery, where you will receive the elements for Holy Communion and a booklet of the story of Jesus arrest and crucifixion from the gospel of John. Folks are invited to walk at their own pace, to take their time remembering these events in Jesus’ life, and praying as their heart leads them.

Also beginning at noon, the church will be open from 12:00 noon until 3:00pm for anyone who might like to come in and spend some time in prayer. Candles will be lit, and lights will be low, and Bibles will be in the pews for any who might like to read the story of Good Friday in John 18:1-18:42. 

Palm Sunday: The Power of a Suffering King

 Hello church family!

I’ve learned some very important things in the past few weeks.

1. It’s hard to find excuses to stay in the warm shower longer when you have no hair.

2. Buttered popcorn is the most horrible of the Jelly Belly flavors.

3. There is some kind of hormonal thing that happens when husbands turn 50 that makes them obsessed with Corvettes.

4. Very occasionally, when the dog whines to go outside at 2am, his intention is not to chase cats and dig holes and irritate his humans. Sometimes, he really needs to pee.

5. You won’t be able to find any cabbage at Walmart on March 17, no matter how much you want it.

6. Dennis literally just showed me another Corvette for sale, while I’m sitting here writing. It’s blue, and in Ohio.

Anyhoo.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, when we remember Jesus coming triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey like the King of Peace that he is, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah from 700 years before. In John, it all begins 6 days before Passover with Jesus coming to Bethany and having dinner with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus whom he had recently raised from the dead. The Jewish leaders are plotting to kill Lazarus, too, we are told, because of the testimony he gives about Jesus. The time they share together is colored by this tension.

At dinner, Mary “anoints” Jesus’ feet with costly perfume, and dries them with her hair. The other gospels tell this story, too, all a bit differently (Luke’s is my favorite). John (and Mark, too) intends us to see here not just a loving gesture but the anointing of Jesus as King and as Messiah, and a foretelling of his death. Then, after this anointing, Jesus rides into Jerusalem knowing that his time is growing short.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, then it bears much fruit.” Nobody knows what he means, really, when Jesus says this. But we do. We live in the miraculous result of Jesus’ resurrection truth.

The thing is, this saying of Jesus applies to us, too. When a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies in fertile ground, it becomes more and more wheat. In the same way, when we give the best of ourselves in goodness and love, goodness and love is multiplied. But we, in Christ, are a new creation. When we give up what is not good in us for Jesus’ sake – our ego, our pride, our self-loathing, our anger or hatred or destructiveness – that, too, dies and bears glorious, miraculous fruit.

In this last week before Holy Week, what needs to die in you?

In faith, hope, and love,

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

PALM SUNDAY: The Power of a Suffering King

Join us on Sunday to celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as Holy Week begins. We will sing Hosanna and praise the Lord, and then walk together with Jesus into the most important week of his – and our – lives. If you feel ready to join us in person, we would love to see you! We remain committed to healthy protocols including masks, distancing, and careful sanitation as we worship together.