All Saints Day
On this All Saints Day we gathered to join the multitude of saints across the generations, from all tribes, all peoples and languages to proclaim salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the land. We come to remember to grieve and to celebrate those states who have come before yet whose life and witness continues to teach us. Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the land. We gathered today as a family of Christ, siblings and saints, diverse yet united by grace to live the lives that declare Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb. May we be guided today by the Lamb who is our shepherd, the one who gathers us conferences, and Tensas may we join in the word of the shepherd to bring about a world with no more hunger, no more thirst, no more suffering and no more pain that all the saints of the past, the present and the future may share in God's abundant love. Amen. You may be seated. And as Karen waters she would come forward and give us a special operatory message. Good morning. I'm Karen Ward, tinned here at Bethlehem and I work for the General Board of Higher Education and ministry. I've just recently returned earned from a visit to Africa University in Zimbabwe, and wanted to give you a brief history and an update on the university in 1982 of our African bishops took the lead in advocating for a university that would serve all of Africa. The 1988 General Conference, approved the funding of Africa University and committed to provide some financial support in the way of an apportionment fund. The university raised or had grants for all of the rest of the money for the infrastructure and is still debt free. GVH GM was appointed as the agency to make the university happen. And so work began. In 1992, the Republic of Zimbabwe approved the charter making Africa University the first private recognized university in Zimbabwe, and the university opened that year with 40 students from six African countries. Enrollment is currently around 2500. And more than 50% that are enrolled now are women. There's a Health Sciences Research Lab at the University that does extensive malaria research. They offer bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in areas such as accounting, economics, business marketing, but also things like public policy, pacing, governance, human rights and law. The university has 8000 ish graduates that are now seminary presidents, faculty members, district superintendents, hospital managers, farmers, government leaders, mediators and peace builders in conflict zones across Africa, and even bishops in our United Methodist Church. It's something like 97% of the students upon graduation go back and serve in their home countries. The students and families of the labs that have been changed. Thank you. Hi, thank you GBH em, thanks, you, Africa University. Thanks, you are general church. Thanks you. It's your ties and gifts here at Bethlehem each Sunday. That helped make a difference in our world. I invite our ushers to please come forward. And what you see on the screen is the chapel at Africa University. It was the first building that was built there Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for all that you have blessed us with. We thank you that as The Connectional United Methodist Church we are blessed to make a difference in our world in your holy name we pray amen. sat next week is Operation Christmas Child packing parties who can join us at 430. Next Sunday if you want to bring toys that's great if you just want to bring your hands and willing spirit to help pack that space to you will be in the sanctuary. Signup genius for the drop off week started on Wednesday afternoon and it's completely full. So we're a drop off location for the community and we will be opening from the 13th through the 20th every day for to anywhere from two to five hours. But we have volunteers for all of those ships. I also want to thank you for showing up in a big way to help pack rice and beans that was a pretty fast process this morning. So we have 3000 pounds of rice and beans Loving and generous God we come to you hungry and thirsty for your word. satisfy our hunger quench our thirst nourish our soul. Teach us to listen and heed your promises and receive the abundance of Your grace. We pause to remember the faithfulness of your servants from all generations here at Bethlehem and beyond who shared your word and love and indeed. And now we respond to your call to carry the good news of Jesus Christ, beginning and here in our community and to the ends of the earth. Send us in the power of your Holy Spirit to join the mission of bearing witnesses to Jesus Christ. Just like the saints we remember today did for us amen. You may be seated. The children are now dismissed for children's church, please make sure that they are signed in Scripture today is from the book of Isaiah. And it says, For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear I will help you. This is a word of God for the people of God. Thank you Good morning. I'm not a preacher. Writing this has given me extraordinary respect for what Craig does every week to write a sermon and deliver it from memory. What I can do is tell stories. And my favorite laity sending messages have been from the saints like Melvin Tucker, and justice Hyde. And even last year, from Chris Richards, they all told stories about how they had experienced God in their lives. And this morning, I hope to do the same. My name is Rebecca little. My husband Neil and I have been members here at Bethlehem since March 1980 43 years. During that time, I served as director of the preschool, children's ministry, adult ministry. And as it said, in my job description, a bunch of other stuff. It's been a blessing to me and to kneel, to witness the stories that your lives have told to us over the last 40 plus years. As a children's Minister, I had a tradition surrounding third grade Bibles, one of which we saw presented this morning. At the end of the first full week of school, we would have a sleepover here at the church with the third graders. It involved a lot of pizza, several very active Bible learning gangs, training and how to be an Acolyte. And when we were all exhausted, we rolled out our sleeping bags, and one of the Sunday school classrooms, I'd pop in a Disney movie, and we'd all go to sleep. At least that was the plan. Now, some years it worked better than others. But the older I got, the harder it was to sleep on the floor. One year, I got up with the sun, made myself a cup of hot tea, which is my morning beverage of choice. And came in here in the sanctuary to pray. When I sat down, I realized that I was really still too tired to form coherent sentences. So I asked God, if God would like to get a morning drink of choice, whatever you like God. And maybe we could just be together. We could just spend some time together. And as an afterthought, I said, and if there's something you would like to tell me, I'm listening. Immediately, I felt God say, I love you. And it was obvious that it wasn't. I love you, because you just spent the night on the floor with a bunch of third graders. It was you are my child. And I love you. And that's enough. I was surprised, I hadn't really expected a response. But some times one of the ways that I know God is speaking, is because that's not the direction my brain was headed. God loves you, because you are God's child. And you are enough just the way you are. Now, several years later, I had a big decision to make. And I wanted God's input. Actually, I just wanted to guide to agree with what I had already decided I should do. So I went to a place where God and I could talk without interruption. Someplace with a big sky. I presented the pros and cons of the decision I needed to make and what I thought was the right path. Now, what I wanted to happen next was for the clouds to form a giant thumbs up so that I would know that God liked my idea. But what happened instead, was I felt God say trust me Again, this is not what I was expecting, and not what I wanted. But I tucked it in my heart and carried it with me for a time. During the next six months, we went through job changes, I was diagnosed with cancer, and my father died. To say it was a rough patch would be an understatement. But with every struggle that came about, I would go back to what God had told me, trust me. And I knew that nothing that was happening was a surprise to God. Just like the scripture verse that Joe read this morning, God was there with me. And I didn't have to be afraid. Now, that doesn't mean that those days weren't hard. They were. But I knew that God could be trusted. And that God was there to help. Now and 2023 has brought a new challenge. Two weeks from tomorrow, my mother will turn 97. And she had a really good brain for about 96 of those years. Gradually, my family realized that we were going to be a part of her journey through dimension. Now, I'm a planner, you give me a project, and I'll give you a plan to make it happen. I'm sure Gao wasn't surprised when I came and asked for a plan for how to navigate this journey through dementia. At first to ask and then, when things became more serious, it was more like a demand. And then I not only wanted to plan I wanted an itinerary to how long was this going to last months, years? God let me rant. But I didn't hear anything. But I'm not sure I was listening very well, either. After a time, there was a nudge. The story kept coming up about how God had called Abram, later known as Abraham to go to the promised land. I knew the story was in Genesis, but I wasn't sure where it was. But it kept coming up often enough that I thought I should go back and read it. So when I opened my Bible, and the heading for chapter 12, where I opened it was God's called to Abram. I thought I must be on the right path. Base. Basically, the story says, God told Abram to go to a place that God would show him. And in verse four, it says, So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old, when he departed from hearing. He packed up everything he owned, and just went. So I my next conversation with God, I told him, I guess I'm not getting the plan in that temporary. This is gonna be one of those walk by faith, not by sight, times, isn't it? Okay, then, one day at a time. But God, there's something else I'm gonna need. I can already tell that I'm gonna need lots of patience, and kindness, and gentleness. And I think it was about when I got to the third item on the list, that I realized that this list was had the same things on it as another list, a list that Paul writes about in the fifth chapter of Galatians, verses 22 and 23. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. In other words, God was willing to give me everything on my list, and more. Now it was God's turn to say, But Rebecca. Yes. God says I'm not Costco, you can't come once every several months and stock up on what you need a more like Cy market. You have to come by every day and pick stuff up. But I knew with God, it was never going to be closed. And they were never going to be out of stock on the kind of fruit that I was going to need. Some days, I have to stop by God's corner market multiple times a day. And there are days that are hard, but God is always faithful. Now, you've heard me say, what I said and what God replied. And you may be skeptical about totally believing anyone who puts words in God's mouth. If our places were reversed, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. So I want you to know that I have a filter that I use before I think any message is from God. It's from John Wesley, and we call it the Westly quadrilateral. The primary filter is scripture. Verse John tells us, God is love. So it's what you think you're hearing from God, something that love would say, Scripture is primary. The other three parts are tradition, experience, and reason. God has given you a good brain, and he wants you to use it. In my experience, sometimes God surprises you. And sometimes, God will ask you a question and give you time to try and figure it out. It's all poor part of pointing us in the right direction. The soul sisters, my Monday night, Bible study group had been studying a book by Anne Lamott, and says, it's funny. I always imagined when I was a kid, that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools, the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then, when I grew up, I found out that life handed you these rusty bent old tools, friendships, prayer, conscience, and honesty, and said, Do the best you can with these. They'll have to do and mostly against all odds. They do. And it's God's guidance through prayer. That is my biggest help. Now, I'll close with a portion of a spoken word poem from Amina brown. It's her response, when a woman asks her, how do you know when you're hearing from God? I want to tell her, God is always waiting, lingering after the doors close. And the phone doesn't ring and we're finally alone. God is always saying, I love you. I'm here. Don't go, stay, please. I tried to explain how God is pleading with us to trust, to love to listen. That God's voice is Melody and bass lines and whisper and thunder and grace. Sometimes, when I pray, I think of her how the voice of God was lingering in her very question. How so many of us, just like me, just like you are still searching. Still questioning. still doubting. I know I don't have all the answers. I know I never will. That sometimes, the best we can do is put our hands in the middle of our chest. Feel the rhythm there. Turn down the noise in our minds in our lives. And whisper God, whatever you want to say. I'm here. I'm listening. And this is all in the name of the creator and the Redeemer and the sustainer. Amen. It's time now to celebrate holy communion with all saints, some of whose names we will hear a little bit later in our service of great Thanksgiving. In the United Methodist Church, we practice what's often called Open communion or an open table, which means that if you desire to draw strength and grace from Christ, you're welcome to share in the bread and the cup. Whether you're a member of our church or any church, our chancel, real offering this morning will go to support the turkeys that we're providing to go along with the with the boxes that will pack for share the feast day, there's our goal this year is 400. I think they're $20 a piece so give generously as you're able and join me now if you will. And the great Thanksgiving is found on the screen or page 12 of your hymnal. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right in a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to You Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. God of Abraham and Sarah, god of Miriam, and Moses, God of Joshua and Deborah, God, if Ruth and David, god of the priests and the prophets, god of Mary, and Joseph, god of the apostles, and the martyrs, God of our mothers and our fathers, God of our children to all generations. And so with your people on Earth, and with all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending him saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power, and my heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest, bless, it is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest holer you And blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant, by water in the spirit. On the night in which He gave Himself for us, the Lord took bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, Take eat, this is my body broken for you do this as often as you eat it in remembrance of me. And when the Supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you loving God, gave it to his disciples and said, Drink from this all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. And so in remembrance, of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves and praise and thanksgiving as a holy living sacrifice. in union with Christ offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ risen, Christ will come and pour out Your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we might be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by His blood. Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those we now name before you. Mary Jane mccannon Jeanette No. Lucy Mashburn Gail Watson Are there other names that you'd like to lift up friends who have died this year? Bob moment since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, by Your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at the heavenly banquet, through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, and your holy church. All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God now and forever. Now there's praise Jesus taught us saying, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us to continue but deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever. you know I can't think of a better way to celebrate and observe all saints Sunday and ladies Sunday then to pack rice and beans for those who are hungry in the gym. Amen. But I've got some good news. I've got some bad news. The bad news is, it's all done. We can't go out and do it anymore. You're one Okay, so what's the good news? Saturday mornings common, all right. We get to do it all over again on Saturday morning we get to pack food for our neighbors who are hungry, show up bright and early and bless somebody Nothing says Bethlehem United Methodist Church like a good mission project. Amen to that. So here this benediction as those surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses emogene Mary Jane, everybody. Go now out into the world to serve God. And back to the church, Jim this Saturday, in body or spirit. Hopefully, embody to make God's love real and may the blessing of our most wonderful God, whom the saints have known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Be with you as you go this day, every day and forever. Amen. Let's join hands and sing