The Power of Prayer

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4: 6-7 NIV

Since 1952 our United States Congress has challenged this nation to “turn to God in meditation and prayer.”  The National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for us as individuals and as a local body of Christ to turn our prayers outward and lift up our nation and the nations throughout the world.  As we look over this past year and think of the highs and lows of everything from a growing economy to school shootings there is a lot to pray about.  It seems fitting that as we are reading about God’s presence in the tabernacle (big tent for worship) that we would come to a tent to pray for our nation.  And so on Thursday, May 2, 2013 we will have a tent in the front yard of the Delhi campus open from 2-7pm for prayer.  And these prayer events are not limited to adults.  My 7 year old daughter,  Adeline cherishes each time she is able to engage with hands on prayer, whether Stations of the Cross, Stations of the Crib, or National Day of Prayer. So don’t be afraid to bring your kids!  We need prayer, our nation needs prayer, and the whole world needs our prayers.

But prayer is more than a day.  Prayer is our life-line to God and to others.  This church has a foundation of prayer that streams through it’s nearly 200 year history.  And yet 10 years ago a group of faith-filled disciples of Jesus Christ began a prayer ministry targeted at praying for the needs of the people at Shiloh and the surrounding community.  Today over 50 people are a part of the prayer ministry and hundreds of people are prayed for every single day.  In fact when you turn in a prayer request at Shiloh it is prayed for everyday.  So in honor and celebration of 10 years of faith-filled ministry we will be celebrating the power of prayer and the Shiloh Prayer Ministry on the weekend of June 1 and 2, 2013.  You will not want to miss worship!   

As always continue to lift each other up in prayer.  There is power in prayer! 

Prayerfully, 

Pastor Rachel 

  

Why Boston?

Running the Boston Marathon has been a long time dream of mine and high on my bucket list.  Since I’ve completed a marathon, I’ve dreamed of the day when I could qualify for the Boston.  But yesterday as I sat in the comfort of my office and heard the horror that was the end of the Boston Marathon, I must admit there was this jump in my heart.  And it was fear.  I’m sure many people experienced fear as the news traveled that two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.  For some of us it was the fear of national security, for others it was fear concerning loved ones and friends, still for others it was that plaguing fear that asks the question, “Are we ever safe?”  With three persons killed by the blast and over 130 injured it may seem that the answer to that question is “No.”  “No, we are never safe from these kinds of evils in the world.”  Evil is perhaps the only word that I can faithfully use to describe what happened.  Hundreds of family and friends encouraging, cheering, and believing in the runners they long to see cross that finish line, and in the matter of seconds shocked into a world of chaos, destruction, and horror.  That’s evil.  And it’s easy to want to quickly point a finger and say, “that’s where the evil is coming from.”  But evil is not so easily named or even contained.  We want someone or something to blame to ease the fear, to dismiss the danger, and to ignoring the probing question, “Why?”  Why Boston, why the marathon, why now?
The truth is, we don’t know why.  And we may never know why.  Some people of faith will be quick to blame, quick to blame sin, quick to blame individuals, even quick to blame God.  But frankly blame it’s not helpful.  In fact as people of faith in the face of evil and fear we need to be quick to proclaim hope, light, and life.  Why?  Because we have the audacity to believe that God has overcome even this present evil.  We are an Easter people, a people claimed by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are in the season of Easter, and this season is a daily reminder that God has the power to overcome:  God overcomes the evil, overcomes the darkness, overcomes even death with Jesus Christ’s glorious life and light.  God’s overcoming is continual, it’s moving, it’s flooding in, and it’s bringing a healing to the whole world--that even includes Boston.   
This week I want to challenge you to pray that Boston be covered in God’s glorious life and light.  Pray for the families and friends directed affected by those bomb blasts, pray for those responsible for this evil, and pray for one another that we wouldn’t allow the fear of evil to cloud our vision of God’s power and love.  

In Prayer, 

Pastor Rachel       

Who influenced you?

This week I was asked the question, “What lay people (not pastors) have influenced your life?”  As I began to reflect on that question my mind immediately went back to my days at South Perry United Methodist Church.  South Perry was a small country church with no more than about 50 people attending worship and pastors came and went on a really frequent basis.  Some influenced my life others I barely remember, but there were so many lay people, men and women who not only lead me to faith in Jesus Christ, but also helped me discover God’s call on my life.  I think about Bob Voris: my Sunday School teacher with no more than a 9th grade education, Maggie and Darrell Arnett who always encouraged me and invested in any ministry with youth and children, Narcie and Roy Stahr who set aside funds monthly so that I and others could participate in United Methodist Conference and District events.  Not to mention the Gladys Schaws who spoke encouraging and prophetic words over us like, “Could God be asking you to do something special?”  Many people in my life and the life of my peers stood up, raised their hands and said, "yes I will make a difference, I will invest in a young person!"

Perhaps you should ask yourself the same question: what lay people have influenced your life?  Maybe you too will have a Bob Voris or a Gladys Schaw in your story.  But we are not invested in, influenced and encouraged to leave it there, no it’s our turn.  It's our turn to raise our hands, to stand up and to speaks words of life into the next generation.  You may not realize it but we have 9 confirmands, junior high students, who are making a commitment to Jesus Christ and Shiloh.  Another 13 high schoolers and young adults that are exploring their calls in life through MAC (Ministry as Career) Change the current.  And this weekend 40 plus DRIVE high school students will be on retreat growing in their relationships with God and others.  It  is incredible to think about the opportunity we have to influence children, teens, and young adults in our church and throughout our community.  But it doesn’t stop there, this summer we will have two summer interns through the Matthew 77 project and the generosity of this church.  And I want to challenge you to consider investing in a young persons life.  When you contribute to the Matthew 77 project you are helping to pay for expenses, but more so a scholarship for a college student who spends the summer exploring youth ministry and a call into ministry through Shiloh.  This is a great opportunity and I want to invite you to invest in it.

Although I am not a child, a teen or even a young adult, I also want to thank you for the influence you have had and continue to have on my life.  Your faithful service to Jesus and to Shiloh has inspired me to be a better pastor, leader, wife and mother.  So continue to claim this church, community, city, nation, and world for Jesus Christ by investing in others.

Blessings, 

Pastor Rachel  

Life bursts forth....and it brings change!

Easter always brings change.  Easter changed the way the disciples and followers of Jesus saw themselves, it changed their identity, it even lead to the movement we now know as Christianity.  This Easter for Shiloh certainly brought forth life, but it also brought forth change.  

Numerous lives were touched by our Holy Week and Easter Services.  Over 270 people experienced The Living Last Supper on Maundy Thursday and saw the Bible come to life in the stories of the individual disciples and their haunting question, “is it I?”  On Good Friday several people prayed through The Stations of the Cross remembering and reflecting on the last moments of Jesus’ life.  Then at Delhi Campus nearly 700 people worshipped together including Saturday Night, Sunrise, and Sunday Morning worship services.  An additional 115 people worshipped in Price Hill, 108 came for Sunday Morning Breakfast and we had 30 children for the Easter Egg Hunt!  Incredible!!!!  

Every inch of our buildings were teaming with life, new life found in the Resurrected Christ!  But with new life, with Easter, comes change.  Many of you may have noticed the changes in the weekly bulletin that were made to incorporate Shiloh @Price Hill.  We are now one church two locations: Shiloh @Delhi and Shiloh @ Price Hill.  And in order to effectively communicate to everyone in both campus’ we are going to experience some changes.  And we want to do our best to communicate those changes.  So for example we will be adding a section in the bulletin that clearly highlights what is happening at the Delhi Campus and a separate section to highlight the Price Hill Campus.  We also will be removing the weekly calendar that only covered Delhi Campus events.  First because we have already ran out of room for what is happening at the Delhi Campus, but also we can not create a clear calendar that incorporates both campus’ on the back of the bulletin.  So for those of you who really rely on the Calendar for events, there is an up to date Calendar on the website: www.shilohumc.com under the tab “calendar.” And for those who do not have internet access contact Sandy Dietz our Executive Secretary and she will print you out a hard copy, 513-451-3600# 101.  Eventually we will have a place where you can obtain a hard copy of the month’s calendar.  

As changes continue to be made we will do our best to communicate those changes, because change without communication equals a messy life.  And we will do our best to avoid the mess!  As always thank you for your service to Jesus Christ and to Shiloh!  

Blessings 

Pastor Rachel