Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
Witness the Joy in Christ

  • 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.
  • God of Grace and God of Glory
  • We've A Story To Tell To The Nations

      • 1 Peter 3:10–16NRSVUE

  • Joyful Resistance in Christ
    Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the pressures of the world, as if the challenges around you threaten to silence your joy or drain your hope? It’s a feeling many of us know well, especially when we face opposition or hostility for standing in faith. Yet, Peter invites us into a deeper reality: “Love life and see good days.” These aren’t hollow words of optimism but a sacred call to a way of living that embodies resilience rooted in God’s abiding presence. Peter reminds us that our joy isn’t fragile or dependent on circumstances; it is a profound, Christ-shaped joy that refuses to be overturned by outside pressures. This joy calls us not to escape suffering but to stand strong in it; to actively resist evil, relentlessly pursue good, and become beacons of peace in a fractured world. It’s a courageous invitation to embody hope as a form of spiritual defiance, rejecting the fear imposed by oppressors and embracing the everlasting love of God.
    Standing Strong: The Call to Righteousness
    This call to live righteously is not merely a code of moral behavior, but a holistic call to embody the character of Christ in word, deed, and spirit. John Wesley’s teachings on sanctification resonate here, inviting us to a daily becoming, an ongoing transformation shaped by grace that moves us from self-centeredness toward Christ-centeredness. Peter’s challenge for his community to keep their tongues from evil and lips from deceit is foundational. It underscores the power of our words to either perpetuate harm or cultivate healing. This restraint is an active form of love, a refusal to participate in cycles of retaliation, which disrupts both communal peace and personal wholeness. Our pursuit of peace, then, is not passive but profoundly active as it is rooted in the conviction that the Spirit of the everlasting God walks with us.  God motivates us to bless in the face of a curse and to stand firm in mercy when it would be easier to respond in fear or anger.
    In the frame of Open and Relational Theology, this call to righteousness is never abstract or isolated. It is God’s call into a shared, dynamic relationship in which we are invited to co-labor with God’s love that is always present, always inviting, and never coercive. This means that our standing strong is not a product of human will alone but a response to the God who loves us beyond all limits, shaping our lives in the midst of challenge.
    Exposing the Power of Fear
    Perhaps one of the most insidious threats to our joy and witness is the subtle power of fear. Fear that the world’s oppressors often proclaim through politicians or tv show hosts to control and silence us. Peter’s admonition can be heard as a profound resistance to this spiritual tyranny. Fear, when it takes hold, distorts our view of God and diminishes our capacity to embody the hope given to us in Christ. Friends, our theological tradition, deeply rooted in Wesleyan thought, understands that perfect love truly casts out fear. This journey of living in perfect love is not merely emotion but a transformative reality. God’s love liberates us from the bondage of anxiety and control, enabling us to participate within God’s relational attentiveness rather than the deceptive powers of domination.
    When we refuse to let the fear of oppressors become our god, we are reclaiming the gospel’s radical promise that even in suffering, we are free to love fully and hope boldly. This freedom is not naïve but is a courageous trust in the open future God nurtures, a future where justice, peace, and compassion prevail through faithful human participation empowered by divine grace.
    Witnessing in Word and Deed
    The Christian witness Peter describes is embodied, holistic, and deeply relational. It transcends mere verbal proclamation and is revealed in the consistency of our lives marked by righteousness. The invitation to keep a clear conscience and to live so that our deeds commend the gospel even when falsely accused, calls us to a prophetic lifestyle, one of integrity and vulnerability that challenges the powers of slander and division. Our witness flows from God’s initial aim of creative relational love calling forth new possibilities surrounded by woundedness and conflict.
    In this light, every act of kindness, every word spoken with gentleness, and every choice for peace becomes a sacred resistance. We live not to protect ourselves from harm alone, but to reflect the character of Christ who suffered without retaliation, who loved without reservation, and who trusted the everlasting love of God even unto the cross.
    Joyful Endurance: Choosing Gentleness and Respect
    Peter’s instruction to answer opposition “with gentleness and respect” invites us into a strength not grounded in domination or force, but in the dignity and power of Christlike love. Gentleness here is the spirit of humility that refuses to perpetuate cycles of violence. It takes courage to respond to accusation without bitterness, to answer hostility with respect, and to live as witnesses whose power is made perfect in weakness.
    This, my fellow siblings in Christ, is sanctification in process. It is our Christian journey of becoming more like Christ through every trial. Our faithfulness in gentleness and respect is a formidable witness to a watching world, showing that true power lies in love freely given, not coercion or threat. This posture invites transformation in both self and others while modeling a path of hope for communities struggling under oppression.
    God’s Presence in the Church’s Witness
    Central to this entire call is the sustaining presence of a God who is not only everlasting but dynamically relational with the sufferer while inviting all into a co-creative partnership. The church, called to be the body of Christ in the world, is empowered by this relational grace to embody righteousness and to be prepared always “to give a reason for the hope that is in us,” but to do so with a spirit of gentleness and reverence.
    For those of us who are grounded in a United Methodist tradition, this is a familiar dance of grace and personal responsibility, divine initiative and human response. It assures us that our efforts are neither futile nor forced but dynamically engaged with God’s loving, ongoing work in the world.
    Living the Sermon
    In our daily lives, Peter’s exhortation becomes a practical guide to spiritual resilience. We are called to cultivate words that heal rather than hurt, to pursue peace with unwavering intent, and to name the idols of fear and control that oppress us. Each day is an opportunity to choose to embody gentleness and respect in our relationships, especially with those who misunderstand or oppose us. This is not passive acceptance but active engagement shaped by faithful love while accompanied by God’s Spirit.
    Here is the good news: living this way is not about perfect achievement but faithful participation in a divine/human dance of transformation. God’s everlasting love bears us, shapes us, and invites us into new life during every challenge.
    The Everlasting Invitation
    Peter’s letter is ultimately an invitation into an everlasting relationship that calls us beyond fear into the joyful freedom of God’s never-ending, uncontrolling love. To stand strong in Christ, my friends, is to become a living sign of God’s peace. In cooperation with God we transform into a beacon of gentle strength and a testimony to the power of grace at work in a world that often seems ruled by fear.
    May we embrace this call, trusting that as we choose righteousness, gentleness, and respect, we participate in God’s unfolding promise of new creation. In this, our joy is made complete and remains deeply rooted in the everlasting God who calls us beloved. Amen.
Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
sterlingfirstumc@yahoo.com
(740) 869-3577
http://www.sterlingfumc.com
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