The power of RE-
Bless God, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all God’s benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
— Psalm 103:1-5
Even as the kids get older, there are still days when , in the midst of a melt-down, I will hear Kathy calmly saying, “Would you like a do-over? OK, let’s stand quietly for a moment and breathe… Now, let’s turn around a few times… stop… take another deep breath… and we will start again.”
Our faith is based on such do-overs. We hear the Bible stories of beginning and beginning again. We understand that in God’s great compassion and grace there is always room for forgiveness, and a second chance. Jesus teaches us to forgive even more than 70 X 7 times.
And our Christian vocabulary is full of words which recognize this. In English, many of these words start with RE: Repent, Renew, Restore, Remember, Recover, Recompense… In our church work we receive, reflect, re-imagine, and re-establish. I caring for God’s world, we recycle and reclaim. God never gives up on us. The “Re-” words serve as the, well, reminder of this. Come Christmas we will once again “repeat the sounding joy!”
If only it would be that easy to start 2020 over again! Most of us would like a series of do-overs! Yet even now in the midst of everything, God is re-forming us, re-freshing us, re-newing us!
For this reason, the focus of our Stewardship Campaign this year will be “REVIVAL!” God is bringing us back to life and God is doing a new thing in us. Over the next few weeks we will be focusing on how God has been, is, and will be at work through Community UMC.
Bless, O God, our hearts and minds, that we may be open to what you are doing through us. Open us to new possibilities. Grant us imagination and vision. Strengthen our relationship with Christ and with each other, that we may see and serve Jesus in all that we do. We pray this in His precious name. Amen.
Questions for this Sunday’s worship services:
- What is the difference between being restored and being reformed?
- When have you experienced restoration?
- How can God use you in the ministry of restoration?
George