Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this fabulous Friday. We are excited about the prayer conference that begins today. Pray for our Friday Television Outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4. I am including the schedule for the weekend. Please join us in prayer. Sunita and Andy got home Wednesday evening. Their friends Rob, Jenn and Melanie from Washington will be here this evening. Kelly Johnson is with us also. Those of you live in the area please join us for various sessions for the weekend.
Our Lord talked much on prayer. In Luke 18,we have in record of the story that Jesus told his disciples about an absolutely horrible judge. This judge hated people and he hated God. Unfortunately, appearing in his courtroom was a poor widow who needed justice but had nothing. She had no money, she had no husband, she had no standing, she had no power, and she had no resources. She had nothing. She was so insignificant, she probably could not have received justice in a good courtroom with a good judge, but here she was in the courtroom of the worst judge in the land.
The one thing that she did possess was the capacity to to annoy. So she annoyed this judge constantly. She yelled out in his courtroom: “Give me justice! Give me justice! Give me justice!” The judge responded by granting her the justice that she so vociferously demanded. She was a feisty character pounding away on the doors of justice, crying out, "Give me justice, give me justice". The word here that is translated “she kept coming to him.” Perhaps that’s the way God wants us to pray, pummeling the doors of heaven with our wants.
Edward Bennett Williams was a legendary and very powerful Washington criminal attorney. At one time he was the owner of both the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Orioles. He was Frank Sinatra's lawyer and even defended President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. One day, as Mother Teresa was trying to raise money for an AIDS hospice program, she called for an appointment with Williams. Edward Bennett Williams and his partner Paul Dietrich had a charitable foundation that she hoped would help by making a donation. Before she arrived for the appointment, Williams said to his partner, “You know, Paul, AIDS is not my favorite disease. I don’t really want to make a contribution, but I’ve got this Catholic saint coming to see me, and I don’t know what to do.” After they talked it over they agreed that they would be polite, hear her out, but then say no because they had used up all their funds for the time being.
Mother Teresa arrived and sat like a little sparrow on the other side of the big mahogany lawyer’s desk. She made her appeal for the hospice, and Williams said, “We’re touched by your appeal, but no we don’t have any funds available at this time for your project.” Mother Teresa looked at him and said simply, “Let us pray.” Williams looked at Dietrich; they bowed their heads and after a rather lengthy prayer, Mother Teresa made the same pitch, word for word, for the AIDS hospice again. Again Williams politely said no. Mother Teresa looked at him and said, “Let us pray.” Williams, exasperated, looked up at the ceiling and said “All right, all right, get me my checkbook!”
The Good News of the story is to Pray always and don’t lose heart. Jesus' story is not only about an incorrigible judge and an annoying old widow. It is about God and it is about you and me. This story says if a poor widow, a nobody with no power, no authority, no influence can get justice out of a judge with no honor or integrity how much more will the children of the Most High God, whom He formed in the womb, whom He loved so much that He sent His son to die for us, find our God willing to hear and answer our prayers.
The Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. Pray always without losing heart." Because Jesus says, God will hears your prayers and will answer them quickly!
Tom Long, a professor at Emory Candler school of theology told this story: "I had a friend growing up who had the ugliest bicycle I’d ever seen. It was a hand-me-down made from the parts of other bicycles. It was so ugly it didn’t even have handlebar grips. He was always complaining that his hands would slip off the slick handlebars. He pestered his dad to buy him some handlebar grips, but his dad kept refusing.
"One day his dad took him to the Western Auto hardware store. Near the front door there were some new handlebar grips for sale. They were plastic and had long streamers hanging from the ends. He said, “Daddy, daddy, I’ve just GOT to have these handlebar grips! Please daddy!” His dad looked and him and said, 'No son, you don’t need those grips. Now come with me to the back of the store.' As he followed his dad, my friend was bitter and frustrated. Under his breath he was muttering, 'I never get ANYTHING. It’s just a lousy three dollars! My dad sure is mean!' When they got to the back of the store the owner wheeled out a shiny, brand new bicycle–complete with handlebar grips with plastic streamers. My friend’s dad said, 'Here son, it’s an early birthday present. I wouldn’t buy you any handlebar grips because I had something better in mind!' My friend was ecstatic!"
Always pray without losing heart, for our God is a sovereign just God who loves his children! He hears your prayers and will answer them.
In Christ
Brown
http://youtu.be/uAbaqzk66Vc
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Union Center United Methodist Church:
128 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York 13760
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Friday October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011
Need hope?
Need a reason to continue?
Need joy?
Need peace?
Need an answer?
Need rest?
" COME TO JESUS AND LIVE "
Need NEED LIFE?No matter what you need…
JESUS says “Call to Me & I will Answer!”
~ Jeremiah 33:3
Join us for a weekend of Hope, Joy, Peace & Life!!
Friday Oct. 14 – 6:00 pm: Opening session at Union Center UMC with Kelly Johnson from Two By Two Ministries
Saturday Oct. 15:
9 am – Noon at Union Center UMC: Open Prayer Time: A refreshing time of personal prayer and community prayer for any storm you’ve weathered. Prayer teams available to pray with those who desire it.
5:30pm – Community Dinner at Endicott First Methodist
6:30pm – Worship service with Kelly Johnson at Endicott First Methodist.
Sunday Oct. 16 – 8:30 & 11:00 am at Union Center UMC– Join us for morning worship with guest speaker Kelly Johnson.
***Please note our two locations for these events***
Union Center United Methodist Church is located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott
Endicott First Methodist is located at 53 McKinley Ave. Endicott
For information please call 607-748-6329-748-1358 or 427-4359
If you are unable to come but have a need you’d like to have us pray for, please email it to umcgospel@aol.com attn: Prayer Team
We praise the Lord for the following who will be leaders in the Prayer conference:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
Sunita and Andy from Washington, DC
Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC
Melanie from Baltimore
Laureen from Binghamton
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 10-13-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. He is the Christ in every crisis. He is in control of all of our times. Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans”? Often we have the course of our lives all mapped out - what we want or what we plan to do - and then life happens and our course is changed. Sometimes, if we remain bent on what we have mapped out, never looking up, life can just pass us by or overwhelm us. If we truly live and experience life, we soon discover we cannot control life, that it never goes quite as planned, and that there are plenty of surprises along the way.
Even in the Bible things of this nature happened. Jesus had His course mapped out, planning to go to heal Jairus’ daughter ( Mark 5). Then life happened. The woman with the hemorrhage came in and His plans changed a bit. He had to pause on his way to the healing to take care of this woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. As a Jew she was considered unclean. She was segregated from all that was holy in order to keep her from defiling it with her uncleanness. She was suffering not just physically, but socially and spiritually as well.
Then, after twelve long years of this, Jesus came by and she was healed. For twelve years she suffered indignity and isolation, not to mention the physical discomfort of her condition! Why did God let her suffer for so long? You would think that the Son of God would have better timing than that! It would be logical to think that it would have been better if Jesus had arrived 11 years, 11 months and 3 weeks earlier and saved her years of pain and anguish. Wasn’t Jesus just a little late? No!
The Bible tells us that this woman had heard of Jesus and that she took it upon herself to touch his cloak so that she could be healed. This was a bold act. She was unclean. What would people say? What would they do if she touched the Holy Rabbi? He might rebuke her. The crowd might stone her. She reached out to Jesus anyway. This was a desperate act of faith by a desperate woman. Jesus was not late. He was right on time - God’s time (KAIROS). If Jesus had come any earlier she would not have been ready to take the chance she took. She would not have been ready to make that leap of faith, to take a chance on further ridicule and death on the belief that Jesus could heal her. When Jesus found her He said, "Your faith has made you well." Because Jesus came when he did, and not a day sooner, this woman was able to step out in faith. Because she stepped out in faith she was healed.
Meanwhile, the second person in our story, Jairus, was waiting. Jesus had been on a mission to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when the woman with the hemorrhage disturbed the “plan”. One can almost sense the impatience and anxiety Jairus must have been going through during this time. Anyone who has ever had a sick child…no matter how old or young the child may be… knows how a parents heart aches when a child is sick. Jairus' daughter was sick, even to the point of dying. Jairus had heard of this new teacher named Jesus who healed the sick. So, as fast as he could, he ran to find this Jesus. Even though leaders of the Synagogue were not supposed to believe in charismatic prophets like Jesus, and even though it would look bad on his social resume to be seen with Jesus, he went.
When Jairus found Jesus he pleaded for Him to come quickly or his daughter would die. Jesus agreed to see her and they took off down the road. However, when Jairus looked back Jesus was just standing there with the crowd, and
before they could get Jesus moving again Jairus’ friends arrived with the news, "Your daughter is dead. It's too late." One can imagine the rage that welled up in Jairus, but before Jairus could put his rage into words Jesus reached out to him and said, "Do not fear, only believe." Jesus then went to the child, and took her hand and said, "Little girl, get up!" Then she stood up and began to walk, and they were all amazed.
The good news of the gospel is that no matter how “bad” the timing may seem to our eyes, Jesus is never late! He has perfect timing…God’s timing. Whatever is happening in your life, know that Jesus is there.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/VAJ4y48MLXM
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Union Center United Methodist Church:
128 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York 13760
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Friday October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011
Need hope?
Need a reason to continue?
Need joy?
Need peace?
Need an answer?
Need rest?
" COME TO JESUS AND LIVE "
Need NEED LIFE?No matter what you need…
JESUS says “Call to Me & I will Answer!”
~ Jeremiah 33:3
Join us for a weekend of Hope, Joy, Peace & Life!!
Friday Oct. 14 – 6:00 pm: Opening session at Union Center UMC with Kelly Johnson from Two By Two Ministries
Saturday Oct. 15:
9 am – Noon at Union Center UMC: Open Prayer Time: A refreshing time of personal prayer and community prayer for any storm you’ve weathered. Prayer teams available to pray with those who desire it.
12.PM Feeding ministry at the First United Methodist Church. Endicott. Co-coordinator: Lynn Roenbarker.
5:30pm – Community Dinner at Endicott First Methodist
6:30pm – Worship service with Kelly Johnson at Endicott First Methodist.
Sunday Oct. 16 – 8:30 & 11:00 am at Union Center UMC– Join us for morning worship with guest speaker Kelly Johnson.
***Please note our two locations for these events***
Union Center United Methodist Church is located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott
Endicott First Methodist is located at 53 McKinley Ave. Endicott
For information please call 607-748-6329-748-1358 or 427-4359
If you are unable to come but have a need you’d like to have us pray for, please email it to umcgospel@aol.com or you can mail it to the Union Center UMC address listed above attn: Prayer Team
We praise the Lord for the following who will be leaders in the Prayer conference:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
Sunita and Andy from Washington, DC
Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC
Melanie from Baltimore
Laureen from Binghamton
Praise the Lord for this new day. He is the Christ in every crisis. He is in control of all of our times. Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans”? Often we have the course of our lives all mapped out - what we want or what we plan to do - and then life happens and our course is changed. Sometimes, if we remain bent on what we have mapped out, never looking up, life can just pass us by or overwhelm us. If we truly live and experience life, we soon discover we cannot control life, that it never goes quite as planned, and that there are plenty of surprises along the way.
Even in the Bible things of this nature happened. Jesus had His course mapped out, planning to go to heal Jairus’ daughter ( Mark 5). Then life happened. The woman with the hemorrhage came in and His plans changed a bit. He had to pause on his way to the healing to take care of this woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. As a Jew she was considered unclean. She was segregated from all that was holy in order to keep her from defiling it with her uncleanness. She was suffering not just physically, but socially and spiritually as well.
Then, after twelve long years of this, Jesus came by and she was healed. For twelve years she suffered indignity and isolation, not to mention the physical discomfort of her condition! Why did God let her suffer for so long? You would think that the Son of God would have better timing than that! It would be logical to think that it would have been better if Jesus had arrived 11 years, 11 months and 3 weeks earlier and saved her years of pain and anguish. Wasn’t Jesus just a little late? No!
The Bible tells us that this woman had heard of Jesus and that she took it upon herself to touch his cloak so that she could be healed. This was a bold act. She was unclean. What would people say? What would they do if she touched the Holy Rabbi? He might rebuke her. The crowd might stone her. She reached out to Jesus anyway. This was a desperate act of faith by a desperate woman. Jesus was not late. He was right on time - God’s time (KAIROS). If Jesus had come any earlier she would not have been ready to take the chance she took. She would not have been ready to make that leap of faith, to take a chance on further ridicule and death on the belief that Jesus could heal her. When Jesus found her He said, "Your faith has made you well." Because Jesus came when he did, and not a day sooner, this woman was able to step out in faith. Because she stepped out in faith she was healed.
Meanwhile, the second person in our story, Jairus, was waiting. Jesus had been on a mission to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when the woman with the hemorrhage disturbed the “plan”. One can almost sense the impatience and anxiety Jairus must have been going through during this time. Anyone who has ever had a sick child…no matter how old or young the child may be… knows how a parents heart aches when a child is sick. Jairus' daughter was sick, even to the point of dying. Jairus had heard of this new teacher named Jesus who healed the sick. So, as fast as he could, he ran to find this Jesus. Even though leaders of the Synagogue were not supposed to believe in charismatic prophets like Jesus, and even though it would look bad on his social resume to be seen with Jesus, he went.
When Jairus found Jesus he pleaded for Him to come quickly or his daughter would die. Jesus agreed to see her and they took off down the road. However, when Jairus looked back Jesus was just standing there with the crowd, and
before they could get Jesus moving again Jairus’ friends arrived with the news, "Your daughter is dead. It's too late." One can imagine the rage that welled up in Jairus, but before Jairus could put his rage into words Jesus reached out to him and said, "Do not fear, only believe." Jesus then went to the child, and took her hand and said, "Little girl, get up!" Then she stood up and began to walk, and they were all amazed.
The good news of the gospel is that no matter how “bad” the timing may seem to our eyes, Jesus is never late! He has perfect timing…God’s timing. Whatever is happening in your life, know that Jesus is there.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/VAJ4y48MLXM
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Union Center United Methodist Church:
128 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York 13760
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Friday October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011
Need hope?
Need a reason to continue?
Need joy?
Need peace?
Need an answer?
Need rest?
" COME TO JESUS AND LIVE "
Need NEED LIFE?No matter what you need…
JESUS says “Call to Me & I will Answer!”
~ Jeremiah 33:3
Join us for a weekend of Hope, Joy, Peace & Life!!
Friday Oct. 14 – 6:00 pm: Opening session at Union Center UMC with Kelly Johnson from Two By Two Ministries
Saturday Oct. 15:
9 am – Noon at Union Center UMC: Open Prayer Time: A refreshing time of personal prayer and community prayer for any storm you’ve weathered. Prayer teams available to pray with those who desire it.
12.PM Feeding ministry at the First United Methodist Church. Endicott. Co-coordinator: Lynn Roenbarker.
5:30pm – Community Dinner at Endicott First Methodist
6:30pm – Worship service with Kelly Johnson at Endicott First Methodist.
Sunday Oct. 16 – 8:30 & 11:00 am at Union Center UMC– Join us for morning worship with guest speaker Kelly Johnson.
***Please note our two locations for these events***
Union Center United Methodist Church is located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott
Endicott First Methodist is located at 53 McKinley Ave. Endicott
For information please call 607-748-6329-748-1358 or 427-4359
If you are unable to come but have a need you’d like to have us pray for, please email it to umcgospel@aol.com or you can mail it to the Union Center UMC address listed above attn: Prayer Team
We praise the Lord for the following who will be leaders in the Prayer conference:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
Sunita and Andy from Washington, DC
Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC
Melanie from Baltimore
Laureen from Binghamton
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 10-12-11
Good morning,
The Lord has blessed us with summer like days this past week. The Autumn colors are in full splendor. It is absolutely stunning. I drove around the country- side this past Monday and took some pictures of Autumn Scenes. I am posting them on my Face Book page. You can visit my Face Book page and see the colors of Autumn in Broome and Chenango Counties. This morning devotion is also being posted in Facebook.
We will meet for our Wednesday Gathering this Evening at 6 PM. We will start Bible Study on the Book of Hosea.
There is a story I read on the Internet some time back about a little girl whose friend, in the course of a day of play, lost her favorite doll which she had brought over to play with. She was heartbroken, and sat on the steps and began to cry. When the first little girl’s mother came outside to check on the girls, she found them both sitting on the step sobbing. When she asked what was wrong, she was told through the tears that the little friend, Suzie had lost her favorite doll. The mother looked puzzled for a bit, then asked her daughter, “did you lose your doll too?” “No”, the daughter sobbed. “Then what’s wrong with you?” “Nothing” she sobbed. “I’m just helping Suzie cry.” That is empathy: when our heart breaks for another.
There is a song in our hymnal which we sing, “There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.” What beautiful, comforting words. But the prophet Jeriamiah cried out, “no”. (Jeremiah 8) For him there seemed to be no balm for comfort. He is wept inconsolably, not for his own problems, but for those of his people. He cried, “my joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick…for the hurt of my poor people I am hurt. I mourn and dismay has taken hold of me…my eyes are a fountain of tears, so that I might mourn day and night.” He was not weeping for himself; he was weeping for his people. God had given him a great sense of empathy for his people. Even as he delivered news of judgment, Jeremiah’s heart was breaking.
The prophet Jeremiah lived in a time of great tumult and transition. The nation of Judah was undergoing a period of political and social decline. Leaders were weak and ineffective, and all around him the prophet saw people who were not living up to the covenant with Yahweh. The Lord called Jeremiah to preach repentance to these sinful people, but their resistance led towards their eventual destruction. Chapter 8 describes an upcoming invasion from an enemy in the north. Soon the people would undergo intense suffering and tragedy. The amazing thing about the prophet Jeremiah is that he did not revel in being right. He had told them time and time again of the need to repent and the coming consequences of their sin if they did not. And time and time again, they refused to listen. Now they were about to bear the consequences of this continual sin and refusal to repent.
Often, human nature revels in seeing the wicked punished. We like to see the bad guy get theirs…as in westerns. Jeremiah, however, did not stand aside and preach condemnation to the masses, or even point a finger saying, “see, if you had listened to me you wouldn’t’ be in this mess.” At the close of Chapter 8 we find him weeping inconsolably for the brokenness of his people, a man in pain for those who died in the wars, for those who alive and begging to be rescued by the very God they turned their backs on, and even pain for the heart of God, breaking over the pain of God’s people from the mess got themselves into. This weeping of Jeremiah over his people is reminiscent of Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem.
How often do we find ourselves mourning for the sinfulness or brokenness of our world? Each day we hear reports of children killing children, children who are abused, of violence and addictions and sexual perversions, corruption in our governments, and terrorists attacks throughout our world and threats at home. It is enough to make one sick at heart. God’s heart breaks even more than ours at all this - at the loss of life, loss of morals, loss of hope, loss of fullness of life with which we are surrounded today. That is why he calls us to empathy- not a kind of empathy that simply feels sorry for folks (sympathy), but an empathy that leads us to deeds of mercy and justice - i.e. to action in His name. That is true empathy.
True empathy is a vital part of our call to ministry. We are moved to ministry when we allow our hearts to break with the things that break the heart of God. Only when we allow ourselves to truly see the needs of the world around us, and feel the pain of their lostness can we be moved by God into action. We, like Jeremiah are called to be “weeping prophets” as we develop a sense of true empathy for the brokenness of the world around us. Sometimes it is tempting, when we see pain, suffering, brokenness, and consequences of sin around us, to pass by on the other side. Perhaps we don’t want to be bothered or get involved, but in order for real ministry to happen we have to get involved. We have to risk caring, investing ourselves, and be truly saddened by the violence and hatred in our world to the point of action. We are called to ache over those who don’t have their basic needs met, those who are struggling with addictions, those who have taken the wrong path, people who are lonely, lost, afraid, suffering, in need of grace, comfort and strength and to walk with them through the valley, offering the hope and healing balm found in Christ.
A disciple is one whose heart is broken over the things that break the heart of God. God’s love is a healing balm and so, as disciples, our task is to show people to the truth that we all can find healing, wholeness, renewal, forgiveness, and strength in Christ, who waits with arms outstretched. May we, like Jeremiah, have out hearts broken with the things that break the heart of God. Only then our lives will point people to the Christ - to this balm of Gilead that makes the wounded whole. There are opportunities to make a difference one life at a time all around us.
We have an open door during our prayer conference that begins this Friday to come before the Lord of mercy and grace on behalf of others to pray for healing and deliverance. The Lord places before us an open door to be involved in caring ministries to respond to the needs of people with love and compassion.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/rZQ-jjhlyFM
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Union Center United Methodist Church:
128 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York 13760
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Friday October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011
Need hope?
Need a reason to continue?
Need joy?
Need peace?
Need an answer?
Need rest?
" COME TO JESUS AND LIVE "
Need NEED LIFE?No matter what you need…
JESUS says “Call to Me & I will Answer!”
~ Jeremiah 33:3
Join us for a weekend of Hope, Joy, Peace & Life!!
Friday Oct. 14 – 6:00 pm: Opening session at Union Center UMC with Kelly Johnson from Two By Two Ministries
Saturday Oct. 15:
9 am – Noon at Union Center UMC: Open Prayer Time: A refreshing time of personal prayer and community prayer for any storm you’ve weathered. Prayer teams available to pray with those who desire it.
5:30pm – Community Dinner at Endicott First Methodist
6:30pm – Worship service with Kelly Johnson at Endicott First Methodist.
Sunday Oct. 16 – 8:30 & 11:00 am at Union Center UMC– Join us for morning worship with guest speaker Kelly Johnson.
***Please note our two locations for these events***
Union Center United Methodist Church is located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott
Endicott First Methodist is located at 53 McKinley Ave. Endicott
For information please call 607-748-6329-748-1358 or 427-4359
If you are unable to come but have a need you’d like to have us pray for, please email it to umcgospel@aol.com or you can mail it to the Union Center UMC address listed above attn: Prayer Team
We praise the Lord for the following who will be leaders in the Prayer conference:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
Sunita and Andy from Washington, DC
Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC
Melanie from Baltimore
Laureen from Binghamton
The Lord has blessed us with summer like days this past week. The Autumn colors are in full splendor. It is absolutely stunning. I drove around the country- side this past Monday and took some pictures of Autumn Scenes. I am posting them on my Face Book page. You can visit my Face Book page and see the colors of Autumn in Broome and Chenango Counties. This morning devotion is also being posted in Facebook.
We will meet for our Wednesday Gathering this Evening at 6 PM. We will start Bible Study on the Book of Hosea.
There is a story I read on the Internet some time back about a little girl whose friend, in the course of a day of play, lost her favorite doll which she had brought over to play with. She was heartbroken, and sat on the steps and began to cry. When the first little girl’s mother came outside to check on the girls, she found them both sitting on the step sobbing. When she asked what was wrong, she was told through the tears that the little friend, Suzie had lost her favorite doll. The mother looked puzzled for a bit, then asked her daughter, “did you lose your doll too?” “No”, the daughter sobbed. “Then what’s wrong with you?” “Nothing” she sobbed. “I’m just helping Suzie cry.” That is empathy: when our heart breaks for another.
There is a song in our hymnal which we sing, “There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.” What beautiful, comforting words. But the prophet Jeriamiah cried out, “no”. (Jeremiah 8) For him there seemed to be no balm for comfort. He is wept inconsolably, not for his own problems, but for those of his people. He cried, “my joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick…for the hurt of my poor people I am hurt. I mourn and dismay has taken hold of me…my eyes are a fountain of tears, so that I might mourn day and night.” He was not weeping for himself; he was weeping for his people. God had given him a great sense of empathy for his people. Even as he delivered news of judgment, Jeremiah’s heart was breaking.
The prophet Jeremiah lived in a time of great tumult and transition. The nation of Judah was undergoing a period of political and social decline. Leaders were weak and ineffective, and all around him the prophet saw people who were not living up to the covenant with Yahweh. The Lord called Jeremiah to preach repentance to these sinful people, but their resistance led towards their eventual destruction. Chapter 8 describes an upcoming invasion from an enemy in the north. Soon the people would undergo intense suffering and tragedy. The amazing thing about the prophet Jeremiah is that he did not revel in being right. He had told them time and time again of the need to repent and the coming consequences of their sin if they did not. And time and time again, they refused to listen. Now they were about to bear the consequences of this continual sin and refusal to repent.
Often, human nature revels in seeing the wicked punished. We like to see the bad guy get theirs…as in westerns. Jeremiah, however, did not stand aside and preach condemnation to the masses, or even point a finger saying, “see, if you had listened to me you wouldn’t’ be in this mess.” At the close of Chapter 8 we find him weeping inconsolably for the brokenness of his people, a man in pain for those who died in the wars, for those who alive and begging to be rescued by the very God they turned their backs on, and even pain for the heart of God, breaking over the pain of God’s people from the mess got themselves into. This weeping of Jeremiah over his people is reminiscent of Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem.
How often do we find ourselves mourning for the sinfulness or brokenness of our world? Each day we hear reports of children killing children, children who are abused, of violence and addictions and sexual perversions, corruption in our governments, and terrorists attacks throughout our world and threats at home. It is enough to make one sick at heart. God’s heart breaks even more than ours at all this - at the loss of life, loss of morals, loss of hope, loss of fullness of life with which we are surrounded today. That is why he calls us to empathy- not a kind of empathy that simply feels sorry for folks (sympathy), but an empathy that leads us to deeds of mercy and justice - i.e. to action in His name. That is true empathy.
True empathy is a vital part of our call to ministry. We are moved to ministry when we allow our hearts to break with the things that break the heart of God. Only when we allow ourselves to truly see the needs of the world around us, and feel the pain of their lostness can we be moved by God into action. We, like Jeremiah are called to be “weeping prophets” as we develop a sense of true empathy for the brokenness of the world around us. Sometimes it is tempting, when we see pain, suffering, brokenness, and consequences of sin around us, to pass by on the other side. Perhaps we don’t want to be bothered or get involved, but in order for real ministry to happen we have to get involved. We have to risk caring, investing ourselves, and be truly saddened by the violence and hatred in our world to the point of action. We are called to ache over those who don’t have their basic needs met, those who are struggling with addictions, those who have taken the wrong path, people who are lonely, lost, afraid, suffering, in need of grace, comfort and strength and to walk with them through the valley, offering the hope and healing balm found in Christ.
A disciple is one whose heart is broken over the things that break the heart of God. God’s love is a healing balm and so, as disciples, our task is to show people to the truth that we all can find healing, wholeness, renewal, forgiveness, and strength in Christ, who waits with arms outstretched. May we, like Jeremiah, have out hearts broken with the things that break the heart of God. Only then our lives will point people to the Christ - to this balm of Gilead that makes the wounded whole. There are opportunities to make a difference one life at a time all around us.
We have an open door during our prayer conference that begins this Friday to come before the Lord of mercy and grace on behalf of others to pray for healing and deliverance. The Lord places before us an open door to be involved in caring ministries to respond to the needs of people with love and compassion.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/rZQ-jjhlyFM
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Union Center United Methodist Church:
128 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York 13760
PRAYER CONFERENCE:
Friday October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011
Need hope?
Need a reason to continue?
Need joy?
Need peace?
Need an answer?
Need rest?
" COME TO JESUS AND LIVE "
Need NEED LIFE?No matter what you need…
JESUS says “Call to Me & I will Answer!”
~ Jeremiah 33:3
Join us for a weekend of Hope, Joy, Peace & Life!!
Friday Oct. 14 – 6:00 pm: Opening session at Union Center UMC with Kelly Johnson from Two By Two Ministries
Saturday Oct. 15:
9 am – Noon at Union Center UMC: Open Prayer Time: A refreshing time of personal prayer and community prayer for any storm you’ve weathered. Prayer teams available to pray with those who desire it.
5:30pm – Community Dinner at Endicott First Methodist
6:30pm – Worship service with Kelly Johnson at Endicott First Methodist.
Sunday Oct. 16 – 8:30 & 11:00 am at Union Center UMC– Join us for morning worship with guest speaker Kelly Johnson.
***Please note our two locations for these events***
Union Center United Methodist Church is located at 128 Maple Dr. Endicott
Endicott First Methodist is located at 53 McKinley Ave. Endicott
For information please call 607-748-6329-748-1358 or 427-4359
If you are unable to come but have a need you’d like to have us pray for, please email it to umcgospel@aol.com or you can mail it to the Union Center UMC address listed above attn: Prayer Team
We praise the Lord for the following who will be leaders in the Prayer conference:
Kelly Johnson from Memphis, TN.
Sunita and Andy from Washington, DC
Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC
Melanie from Baltimore
Laureen from Binghamton
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