Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
The Heritage We Carry

  • Hearing God: Listening in a Noisy World

    Last week I asked if you ever had a problem praying to God, knowing what to say, what to think, what or who to pray for. Prayer is our ultimate deep relationship with God, so it is the best way that we can individually and collectively mature and deepen our connection with God. This week we will discuss how to hear God in a very noisy world.
    Hearing God means we are actively listening and in-tune with God’s voice, God’s prompting, God’s encouragement, God’s motivation, and God’s Spirit. Listening is an intentional act of inviting an outside force into your mind that will offer new information, new data, that could possibly change who you are, confirm who you are, and encourage your present day walk.
    Think through your life and how so much has changed, yet one force that has change, and yet remained, is the noise of life. When you are younger, you have the noise of your ever developing body, your parents/guardians, grandparents, siblings, extended family, friends from the neighborhood, friends from school, rules of school, rules of home, rules of the community you live, and the list goes on and on.
    When you get older your noise changes into adult responsibilities. You have the noise of paying bills, the noise of fixing things that are broken, the noise of family, employment, government, neighborhood, other people’s opinions, and the list goes on and on.
    In your retirement the noise changes again but is still present. You now have noises much like when you were younger and your body is doing things that you’ve never experienced before and you may not like it. You also have the noise of hoping you will have enough money to live on, wanting to be available to have fun, desiring to be with family, more medical appointments than you desire, traveling to new places, and the noise of silence as you see more friends start to leave you one by one.

    God speaks in many ways

    In all of noise of life, in every stage of your life, God still speaks. When you’re younger God speaks in a way that is relevant to a youthful age, in your busy adult years God is speaking above, in between, and beneath the cracks of life, in your maturing years of retirement God is speaking in the silence, the mundane, the unwanted, the joy, and the freedom that this life stage provides. God is always speaking but does so in many different ways so that every age and every culture will be able to hear, and hopefully listen.
    So, in the noise of your life, in whatever stage you are in, how does God speak to you? As a United Methodist Christian how does God speak to you? Looking upon our United Methodist heritage, God is said to speak to us through Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience.
    God’s voice is heard through scripture as it is a collection of 66+ books/letters/poems/songs that were constructed to evidence God engaging in relationship with humanity throughout many millennia. Scripture is one of our ultimate guides for reflection of religious interaction with a holy God and humanity on the onward and upward holiness progression of love. Mark Twain said,
    Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand.
    Mark Twain
    For non-Christians scripture can still speak to their existence but other religious or humanistic writings may play a larger role, this is to be expected but for us United Methodist Christians, scripture is still essential in our overall understanding of how God can speak through the generations.
    Tradition is another way God can speak to us. Tradition in the USA in 2024 is going to be different than Tradition in Rome in 1200 or Babylon in 300BC. God will speak through the present day culture in a way that is significant, symbolic, while emphasizing God’s holiness and illuminating human understanding through the ever-present and moving Spirit. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said,
    We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Traditions can come and go depending on the nature of what is needed and necessary for the people, at the time. Some Traditions can also last too long where no one understands why we do this specific act anymore. Traditions can also be good and deepen a prayerful relationship with God. God definitely speaks through the ritualistic acts that we, as a people, choose to do.
    Reason proclaims the active and ongoing knowledge that humans gain over time. You may have heard the phrase before, “we don’t check our brains at the door of the church”, this should be true of every church that you enter. If something simply does not make sense and new knowledge or data on a certain topic proves otherwise, especially if it speaks against a traditional interpretation of scripture, then reason should be highly considered as more relevant. Francis Bacon said,
    A little philosophy inclines men’s minds to atheism, but depth in philosophy brings men’s minds about to religion.
    —Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon (Philosopher)
    God speaks through education as we learn more about this world, we do learn more about God and can learn to hear God’s voice in new and exciting ways. Reason is good so don’t easily cast it away when you may not fully understand something new.
    Experience is not new but was an addition from Wesley to the people called Methodists. Wesley added experience to the 3-fold Scripture, Tradition, and Reason from the Church of England. Experience is the active voice of the Holy Spirit in the daily life events, activities, and ever evolving culture of humanity. Humanity must listen to God through experiencing life for the maintenance of old relationships and the establishment of new relationships all consists of new and maturing experiences of life. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said,
    We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
    God definitely speaks through experiences that are new, frightening, uncomfortable, and confirming.
    Tradition, Reason, and Experience all speak to Scripture, as Scripture also speaks to Tradition, Reason, and Experience. God throughout time has spoken when there was no Scripture, no Tradition, and very limited Reason and Experience.

    The Role of Discernment

    This bring us to discernment. We all have the ability to perceive or recognize differences to judge what is right and wrong, good and evil, the voice of God and the will of humanity. Unfortunately, we’ve all come across people who who have very little discernment. There is a quote from an unknown author that says:
    ​
    Little [people] with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.
    Unknown
    In other words, there are some people who simply do not have any common sense to see life with another person’s vision or walk through this world in another person’s shoes. In our 1Kings scripture reading , we have the story of Elijah running for his life after the prophets of Baal were killed. Elijah proclaimed God’s word, held to his cultural traditions, reasoned with his real life circumstances, and experienced God anew in a relational conversation. The bookend of this experience was God questioning Elijah, “Why are you here?” God spoke with Elijah to confirm who he was, confirm his prophetic action, confirm that throughout all the noise around him that God is not in the noise of the world. God is ultimately received and heard in the thin, quiet moments of reflection, discernment, and interpretation while journeying in all the noise of this crazy world. Catherine of Siena said,
    The core of pride is impatience and its offshoot is the lack of any discernment.
    Saint Catherine of Siena
    Discerning God’s voice, while in the noisy moments of life, help us to do what the Psalmist invites the readers on multiple occasions-SELAH, to pause, to sit, to reflect, and then act. When one has a prayer life whose foundation is built upon divine discernment then you will have a pray-er who intentionally seeks God’s will as God’s ambassador not the world’s warrior. When we take time to discern we then will be able to hear the voice of God. John 10.27 says
    John 10:27 CEB
    My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.
    In the stillness of life we are able to be attentive to the voice of our Savior, to hear, to listen, and then to follow.

    God desires genuine relationships

    The busyness of life can be so noisy that we, at times, choose to deny God the relationship of his desire. That relationship is to give and receive love with you. The God/human relationship is one of intimacy in prayer, intimacy in action, intimacy in private, and intimacy in public. God never stops pursuing you for there is not an end point to a relationship. In prayer we continue to communicate with God and time with God is needed especially when the world’s noise can be too distracting. Thomas Schreiner says,
    Love for God cannot be sustained without a relationship with him, and such a relationship is nurtured by prayer.
    Thomas Schreiner
    A deeply held prayer life does not have to be one that is outlandish where you are always the person asked to pray in public settings; don’ worry that is always reserved for the pastor, even if the pastor don’t want to do it. A deeply held prayer life can also be very subtle. A deeply held prayer life can be very private. A deeply held prayer life is true prayer. R.T. France says,
    True prayer is not a technique nor a performance, but a relationship.
    R. T. France
    A true relationship with God must have true prayer from the believer or the seeker of the divine. Prayer enters one into the presence of God. Prayer strengthens the relationship with God. Prayer emboldens the faith of the believer in a noisy world. When you are soaked in prayer then you are transformed into your prayers. Warren Wiersbe says,
    Prayer is not something that I do; prayer is something that I am.
    Warren W. Wiersbe
    As we continue to develop our prayerful skills, we develop our listening skills, which develop our divine loving skills. A prayerful heart that listens to and connects with God is an act of love. Saint Augustine said,
    What you love you worship; true prayer, real prayer, is nothing but loving: what you love, that you pray to.
    Saint Augustine of Hippo
    As we pray to that which we love, our words and our actions will unite together as one. Our relationship with God will grow, the deafening noise of the world will extinguish, the words from our tongue will be praise, and people will see a prayerful life of love in action. So whether we are asleep or awake a life of prayer will guide us and help us to hear God more. John Wesley said,
    The moment I awaked, ‘Jesus, Master,’ was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him, and my soul waiting on Him continually.
    John Wesley (Founder of the Methodist Movement)

    Silent Reflection and Mindfulness

    As we enter into a new week, I encourage you to take time in silent reflection and mindfully focus upon God in prayer. Last week I invited you to pray the open-hearted disciples prayer. This week I invite you to say a prayer that has been said for many generations, The Jesus Prayer.
    Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner
    Amen.
  • Faith of Our Fathers
  • Trust and Obey

      • Hebrews 11:1–2CEB

      • Hebrews 12:1–3CEB

  • Friends, on this All Souls’ Day we lean into memory, not to get stuck in the past, but to receive our shared story as a gift that steadies our feet for the next faithful step. Scripture names faith as “the reality of what we hope for and the proof of what we don’t see,” and that means memory becomes hope’s companion, opening us to God’s future as we recall those who walked before us. When we remember, we are not merely reminiscing; we are joining the communion of saints in an act of worship that forms our courage for today. 
    What Faith Looks Like Here and Now
    Hebrews says the elders were “approved” because they showed faith, and their lives teach us that trust looks like saying yes to God when the road ahead is foggy and the outcomes aren’t guaranteed. Their stories don’t erase complexity, they dignify it, because faith isn’t pretending everything is simple, it’s choosing to keep walking with God when everything isn’t. Our heritage is not a museum exhibit; it’s a living stream that flows into our present, calling us to be the kind of people whose trust opens doors for others to walk through. 
    The Cloud Around Us
    The writer of Hebrews paints a picture of a vast crowd surrounding us, encouraging us as we run, which is a gentle way to say that no one has to carry their grief or their calling alone. We’re invited to drop the baggage that slows us down and the sin that tangles our feet so we can run with perseverance, not sprint with perfection. Keeping our eyes on Jesus doesn’t mean ignoring our pain; it means cooperating with Jesus as you both set the pace and shape the route so that endurance grows from love rather than fear. 
    Reading the Names, Blessing the Ache
    In a few moments we’ll say the names of those special to us out loud, which is a holy practice of the church across centuries, a way of praying with our memories and trusting that love still matters before God. Christian communities have long made space on this day to remember and commend the faithful departed, not to conjure them, but to entrust them and ourselves to God’s keeping. So, as we speak these names, we consecrate both our gratitude and our ache, acknowledging that grief is love with nowhere to go but into God’s heart. 
    As I prepare to read the names you submitted to the church, I ask that you honor and respect this time as we lift the legacy of our faith heritage up to God. The names I read are part of the body of Christ that is living in the realm of victory and glorious triumph. When the name is read, if it is one that you submitted, I invite you to stand, if you desire to do so. As the name is read, a bell will toll in honor of their life and faithful legacy. Let us enter a time of solace and thankfulness. 
    The Jesus Focus
    Hebrews reads to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith,” which tells us that our ancestors ran their race best when they took their cues from his life, cross, and joy. He endured for the joy set before him, and that means our endurance doesn’t have to be grim; it can be grounded in a joy that is deeper than our circumstances. When Jesus is the focus, our traditions are guided, our decisions are clarified, and our steps are steadied by a love that knows how to suffer and still bring life. 
    An Open and Relational Way
    In the open and relational vision that shapes our life together, God’s power looks like persuasive love inviting real cooperation, not control that overrides our agency.
    That’s why the text leans on encouragement, endurance, and keeping Jesus in view because God works with willing hearts and courageous communities to bring about the good. Our faith heritage matters because, in God’s gracious economy, the yes of one generation becomes strength for the next, and then the next, and then ours. We, then, have to be cognizant of what we pass down to the next generation.
    Foundational and Transformational
    Friend, this faith heritage is foundational because it anchors our identity, and it’s transformational because it expands our imagination for what love can do through us, right here, right now. The cloud of witnesses isn’t a pressure campaign; it’s a chorus that helps us hear the next faithful note to sing with our lives. 
    So let’s allow memory to do its good work, rounding us and stretching us, to become the kind of ancestors our descendants will thank God for. If we want to run with endurance, we have to set down the weights we’ve grown used to carrying, fear that freezes us, cynicism that shrinks us, and resentment that steals our joy. 
    We also need to name the sins that keep tripping us, quiet compromises with injustice, indifference to a neighbor’s pain, and grudges that calcify our hearts. The invitation is not to shame but to freedom, because throwing off what binds us makes space for mercy to move through us. 
    A Pastoral Word for Today
    Now, for those still grieving the loss of your loved one, hear this: your love is holy, and moving at the speed of breath is still moving, because the one who runs ahead of us also walks beside us. For the tired and weary, know this: you are surrounded, and even when your prayers feel thin, the cloud of witnesses cheer and Christ holds your place in the race. For all of us, grace says start where you are, not where you think you should be, and trust that small obediences add up to a life that matters. 
    A Prophetic Nudge for Tomorrow
    Siblings of God, honoring our saints means continuing their work: repairing what is broken, lifting what is heavy, and refusing to pass along harm in the name of God. In an open and relational frame, God’s everlasting love invites our courageous participation, not our passive agreement, so today’s remembrance becomes tomorrow’s action. Let’s ask where love needs a witness this week and then risk a faithful step in that direction. 
    Practicing a Living Memory
    When we light candles, utter names, sing, and pray, we do not do so for the sake of sentimentality. Instead, we engage in these practices to cultivate hope that transcends time and extends its reach into our community. We visit graves and gather at the Table and tell true stories, because these humble habits train our hearts to recognize grace when it arrives. All Souls’ Day reminds us that remembrance shapes discipleship, and discipleship shapes communities where mercy can breathe. 
    Everlasting Love
    Let’s call God everlasting, because God stays with us in time, receiving our tears, welcoming our trust, and meeting our yes with fresh possibilities for good. This is why our ancestors’ faith still matters: their yes opened doors, and ours can open doors too, right where we live and serve. Everlasting love doesn’t cancel our agency; it dignifies it, weaving our choices into God’s ongoing mending of the world. 
    An Altar of Names
    When we read the names, I hope you imagined Christ receiving each one with joy and the witnesses standing with us as we promise to carry the baton in our stretch of the race. Let this be an altar where memory becomes mission and grief becomes generosity, a place to set down what hinders and pick up what heals. 
    May this moment seal in us a holy resolve: to run with endurance, to love without stinginess, and to hope as if joy really is set before us. My fellow heirs of faith, this is our inheritance: a living heritage that doesn’t chain us to yesterday but frees us to walk faithfully into future possibilities that we co-create with God in our present reality. Fix your gaze on Jesus, listen for the voices that cheer, and take the next step that love, and your faith heritage, is giving you today. Amen.
Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
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(740) 869-3577
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