Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
Refreshing Your Mind

  • 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.
  • It Is Well With My Soul
  • My Faith Looks Up to Thee

      • Romans 12:1–3NRSVUE

  • The start of a new year always brings questions about how we think, what occupies our attention, and which voices shape our imaginations. Our world runs on mental noise—news alerts, social media arguments, endless comparison, and the pressure to think our way into control. The mind, God’s wondrous gift, can quickly become a battlefield of anxieties and self-constructed fears. Yet the Spirit continues whispering a gentler call: be renewed in your mind. To “refresh your mind” is to quiet the unnecessary noise, remember who you are in God, and participate in divine wisdom to reshape your patterns of thought and attention.
    The big idea is simple but life-altering: the renewal of the mind begins in humility. To be humble is to make space for peace, to calm anxiety, and to rest in God rather than grasp for control. True mental renewal happens not through overthinking but through surrender, and, I dare say as a United Methodist, just a little proper preparation for the tasks ahead. This week’s scriptures invite us to loosen our grip on self-centered striving and open our minds to the peace that only divine presence can sustain.*
    Humility and the Renewed Mind (Romans 12:1–3)
    Paul urges believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice and to avoid being “conformed to this world” but to be “transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Now, I talked about refreshing the body last week, so I won’t rehash that encouragement to you. I direct you to notice how Paul immediately ties the renewing of the mind to humility: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.” In this passage, transformation does not begin with more information or stronger willpower; it begins with release. Humility is not humiliation—it is the quiet turning of one’s thoughts from self-absorption toward divine awareness.
    Many of us have been taught that spiritual growth depends on doubling down on effort—read more, plan more, fix more. Yet, Paul’s vision is far more relational. The mind is renewed when it stops trying to dominate life and begins to rest in honest communion with God. To refresh your mind, you must let go of the illusion that you can think your way into security. The anxious ego loves lists, resolutions, and comparisons, but God invites trust instead of tension. This is where I truly believe we, United Methodists, stress ourselves out. Our historical roots have been engrained to “be like John Wesley” and it is, and has been, an unsustainable chokehold. A little cursory reading of Wesley’s journals and letters reveal a mind overwhelmed with obsessive records. John Wesley simply went too far. The Christo-centric renewed mind, that scripture describes, doesn’t panic for control when life shifts, nor does it need to record every jot and tittle; a renewed mind breathes and remembers that God is already here, working toward good within every possibility.
    To be renewed in mind is to cultivate holy perspective—self-examination without self-condemnation and discernment without arrogance. The Spirit, with our cooperation, reshapes our inner narratives until our thoughts align with love rather than fear. When that humility settles into our thinking, anxiety loses its throne. The renewed mind becomes a resting place of peace where our decisions and relationships emerge from calm trust, not frantic striving.*
    Investing in Godly Thoughts (Philippians 4:8–9)
    Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers one of the purest invitations to mental peace: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing…think about these things.” This is not an escapist optimism—it is disciplined attention toward what builds life rather than drains it. What we habitually dwell on becomes the soil of our character. Minds preoccupied with cynicism, gossip, or constant outrage cannot easily bear fruit of peace. Minds trained to perceive beauty, love, justice, and kindness begin to emit the same qualities they gaze upon.
    Paul also offers a practical key: “Keep 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.” In other words, peace of mind is not random; it grows through the practice of faithful focus and the imitation of positive models. We become like the voices we trust. This is why mentors matter, why community can heal distorted thought patterns, and why returning to prayer, Scripture, and mutual encouragement recalibrates our mental health.
    A renewed mind does not mean a vacant mind, but one that invests only in thoughts that harmonize with Christ. Every day presents a thousand invitations for despair or distraction. Yet the Spirit nudges us toward what pleases and praises—the small graces that turn anxiety into thanksgiving. As we train our minds to attend to what is good, the God of peace does not merely visit us; God abides with us. The result is not shallow “positivity,” but deep-rooted serenity that holds firm even when life grows turbulent.*
    Mindfulness in God’s Wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:10–16)
    In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds the church that spiritual discernment cannot come from the wisdom of the world. “The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” God contrasts the restless striving of human reason with the calm discernment of those who have “the mind of Christ.” This is not an abstract claim—it describes a form of spiritual mindfulness where thoughts are centered through communion with God.
    In a world addicted to overstimulation, mindfulness in God is countercultural. It refuses to let information overload replace genuine wisdom. To center one’s thoughts in God is to cultivate emotional serenity that reflects Christ’s own stillness amid chaos. Peace of mind arises not from suppressing emotion or fleeing reality, but from allowing the Spirit to anchor perception in love’s larger field. God’s wisdom does not generate, nor is God the author of stress headaches; the Spirit of God quiets the churning that worldly success and constant comparison create.
    Paul’s point is deeply relational: the Spirit helps us discern “the gifts bestowed on us by God.” In other words, our clarity returns when we stop striving for control and simply receive what God is already offering. Pragmatically, centering our thoughts in God can involve simple acts—silent prayer, slow breathing, meditating on a verse, or practicing gratitude. In that stillness, the noise of ego begins to fade, and discernment becomes an act of communion rather than calculation. The prophetic edge here is that modern faith often mirrors the world’s anxiety more than Christ’s calm. Refreshing the mind calls the Church itself to renounce the myth that stress equals significance. God does not author anxiety to prove devotion; God offers peace as the foundation for transformation.*
    Living the Renewal
    So, what might it look like this week to refresh your mind? Start by releasing the compulsion to solve everything. Let humility reframe the constant “why” of anxiety into a quiet “with”: God, be with me in this. Choose to direct your thoughts intentionally. When cynicism appears, answer it with gratitude. When perfectionism shouts louder than grace, pause and breathe the name of Christ. When anger swells at headlines, look for a person you can bless. The Spirit works through these small redirections, transforming weary thought patterns into channels of peace.
    You may also find the Spirit guiding you to silence the noise of comparison. Step away from voices that feed restlessness and spend time near those whose minds radiate peace. Seek mentors whose presence steadies rather than agitates you. The peace of Christ is not found in endless consumption or argument but in presence—the kind of presence that reminds your nervous system it is safe to rest in divine care.
    To refresh your mind is to reclaim its sacred purpose: to notice God at work in all things, to imagine possibilities shaped by love, and to think with the Spirit rather than against it. Every faithful thought becomes a prayer; every peaceful focus becomes a quiet act of resistance against the chaos of the age. As we let humility and love rewire our minds, we begin to carry Christ-like compassion into every conversation and decision. Friends, it’s time to refresh our mind. Amen.
Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
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(740) 869-3577
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