New Life

New Life is always something we marvel at: from the birth of new babies to the tree buds of spring.  New life fills us with wonder, anticipation and a sense of hope.  And even though our mornings of late feel more like fall than the heart of summer, new life is all around us: a new Shiloh campus in Price Hill, a regular stream of new faces in Delhi,  and even a new order of worship in all Delhi services!  This weekend we will have passed out 800 back packs at Shiloh Fest to families eager to prepare for this new school year.  Our building will be full to over flowing with people looking to the future in the faces of their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.  It’s an awesome experience!  But Shiloh Fest isn’t just about the back packs, it’s about relationships.  We want to build relationship with people in our community, people in our church, and ultimately we want our relationships to point people to a relationship with Jesus Christ! We want people to experience the new life that only comes from Jesus!  Whether you’ve been a Shiloh for a while, or you are brand new, a relationship with Jesus can bring a renewed hope to our lives every single day.  And we need it!  We need that regular reminder that new life is possible, that abundant life is possible!   In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.”  Jesus wants us to live and I mean really live.  No matter what we are experiencing in our everyday lives, Jesus can bring a hope, a refreshment, and a renewal that will open our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls to the new life all around us!  He is making all things new!  

Hopefully as you are reading this, I am celebrating new life!  Like the rest of my kids, David Isaiah Billups has decided to take a few extra days to hang out in the womb, but I know I will not be pregnant forever.  New life will happen!  Not only in my life, but also in yours.  Jesus has come to bring us life!

Blessings, 

Pastor Rachel 

Hurry Up and Wait

“Wait for the Lord;  be strong and take heart  and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27: 14 NIV).  

I’ve got to be honest, I hate to wait.  I’m not naturally a patient person.  I don’t like to wait in lines, I don’t like to wait for my Wifi to work, and I certainly am not found of waiting for big events to happen in my life.  So you can imagine that I am not doing a great job of waiting on the Lord these days.  As I write today’s blog I am 12 days and counting from my due date.  If the past is any indication of the future, I may have to wait a few extra days before I meet the child that has occupied my body over the last 9 months.  You could say, “it’s worth the wait.” True, but in the midst of being uncomfortable, anxious, and just in general as busy as I can possibly be, waiting is the last thing on my to do list.  

You might find yourself waiting.  Maybe it’s not a baby that you are waiting for.  Maybe it’s an answer, a decision, a job, or even a friend.  But a lot of life seems like a hurry up and wait.  If we don’t pay attention to the waiting, we will miss a lot.  In our “need for speed” sometimes we can fail to reflect, fail to enjoy, and fail to wait for the presence of the Lord in our lives.  Just as a new born baby is worth the wait, so is the presence of God.  God is worth the wait.  I wonder do you ever spend time waiting for the Lord.  Sitting in a quiet place: on a porch, in the woods, or even just at your kitchen table; quiet, listening, waiting on the Lord?  It’s not easy, especially for hurry up and wait people like me, but it makes all the difference.  It gives us time to breathe, it gives us time to reflect, it gives us time to live in the present moment.  

I may be in a hurry to have this baby but I don’t want to miss the opportunity to wait for God.  

Blessings, 

Pastor Rachel   

What does it mean to be ordained?

Throughout the last couple of weeks we have been talking about the next steps that our Associate Pastor and Director of Discipleship Ministries (birth-college age), Brent Dearnell, is taking toward becoming an ordained pastor in The United Methodist Church.  This Wednesday, July 17, at 7pm, we will be having a Charge Conference to confirm the SPPRC’s (Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee) decision to affirm Brent’s request to become a Certified Candidate for Ordained Ministry.  Now some of you might be asking yourselves what does all of this mean?  

In The United Methodist Church we have a process for everything so it shouldn’t be surprising to note that there is a lengthy process for ordaining pastors within our denomination.  It takes years--a call from God, an education (both college and graduate school), and prayerful discernment both on the part of the person who is called and the people that are affirming that calling.  So what are we doing on Wednesday Night?  We are affirming the call on Brent’s life.  We are asking ourselves the question, “Do we see the fruit of pastoral ministry in Brent Dearnell?”  Although the Leadership Council will be the group to take the official vote, if you would like to be a part of the conversation you are more than welcome to attend Wednesday Night’s Meeting in Class Room 1.  

This is an exciting time in Brent’s life.  Not only is he taking the next steps toward his call in ministry, but he is also growing as a spiritual leader here at Shiloh.  That’s why it’s without hesitation that I will be passing the baton of leadership to Brent while I’m on maternity leave.  In other words, Brent is in charge!  Don’t hesitate to contact Brent with any pastoral care concerns or ministry concerns you might have.  He can be contacted at brent@shilohumc.com or 513-451-3600 #106.  Please join with me in praying for Brent while he takes these next steps in his faith journey.  

As always pray for your pastors.  I need it, Brent, Danny, and Dorian need it.  It is truly an honor to serve Shiloh United Methodist Church.

Blessings, 

Pastor Rachel 

   

A Real Treasure Book

When I was growing up, I can remember a book that my mother kept by her night stand.  It was a cloth- bound, bright red book with very old images throughout it.  It looked kind of like an ancient treasure book- with it’s funny pictures and fancy lettering.   It wasn’t until I got older that I discovered that this mysterious treasure book was none other than an old book of Psalms.  One could say that the book of Psalms is a treasure book.  

The book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, and it contains the longest chapter of the Bible- Psalm 119.  Written over hundreds of years, many of it’s chapters are attributed to Bible giants like David and Moses.  It seems that the book of Psalms was written as a kind of hymn book (book of liturgies) purposed for worship, first in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple.  Most of the Psalms are set to song.  You may notice as you read through the book of Psalms headings that describe the type of instrument that would have been used for a particular psalm.  For example Psalm 5, “For the director of music.  For flutes. A psalm of David.”  For thousands of years people have been using the book of psalms as a song book for worship.  One of the founders of the Reformation movement in the 16th century, John Calvin believed the book of Psalms to be the perfect book of worship.  He wrote, “There is no other book in which we are more perfectly taught the right manner of praising God, or in which we are more powerfully stirred up to the performance of this exercise of piety.”   His beliefs on the book of Psalms lead some Protestant faith traditions to limit their hymn singing to the psalms.  Although we, as United Methodist, don’t limit our praise to the Psalms, many of the songs found in our hymn book and modern worship songs are inspired by or a direct quote of a psalm.  

But these scriptural treasures are not just songs of praise, they also include words of lament (passionate grief), prayers of confession, declarations of trust, and words of wisdom.  In essence it is a treasure book, a book filled with expressions of our deepest emotions, our frustrations, our victories, our hopes, and our dreams.  My mom still keeps that little cloth book on her self, she still reads from its pages, she still sings it’s songs, and she still prays it’s prayers.  Reading through and praying through the book of Psalms is a great way to connect to God.  So throughout the month of July I want to challenge you to read the book of Psalms and discover it's treasures for yourself! 

Blessings, 

Rachel