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 

It’s Real.

Around this time of year a little confusion swirls in the heads of my 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son. For them it’s a bit difficult to distinguish between the legend of the Easter Bunny and stories from the Bible.  Now I know there are parents out there that struggle with the question of whether or not to share the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus with their kids, but my perspective is that legends like these build our children’s sense of wonder and imagination.  The difficulty is when they ask really challenging questions like, “does Jesus talk to the Easter Bunny?”  And, “why does Santa get all the attention at Christmas?”  And this quick witted theologian answers with a profound, “well honey....”  The truth is kids are not the only ones asking these questions.  Many people want to know, “is it real?” And “it” meaning all of it: Jesus’ birth, his riding on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the cross, and certainly the Resurrection.  But unlike the legends of Santa and the Easter Bunny, more than our childhood is at stake.  This is about our faith, our story, what claims us as the church.  And people are asking us the question, “is it real?”  Our answer: YES!!!  But people need more than a yes, they need to experience it for themselves.  That’s why we do some of the things that we do during Holy Week.  On Maundy Thursday, March 28 we will be experiencing the Living Last Supper at 7pm.  This is not a meal, it’s an opportunity to see what the disciples were like and to hear their story.  It’s the Bible come to life!  And then on Good Friday, March 29, 10am to 7pm I want to encourage you to come to the sanctuary to experience the Stations of the Cross.  This prayer exercise prepares us to be ready for Easter.  And let tell you, it’s one of my 7 year olds favorite things that we do here at Shiloh.  It’s intense, but once again it’s the Bible made real.  Is it real?  Yes, but don’t just take my word for it, come and see yourself.

Blessings, 

Pastor Rachel  

Smoking or Non-Smoking: The Gift of Discernment

On Tuesday, March 12, 115 Roman Catholic cardinals from throughout the world gathered at the Sistine Chapel of St. Peter’s Church in Rome for the conclave.  This gathering marked the beginning of the discernment process for the next Pope. The conclave is a spirit filled process bathed in prayer not only by the cardinals themselves but also by Christians throughout the world.  People are eagerly anticipating the sign of election: smoke.  Black smoke indicates no Pope has been elected and white smoke is the sign that the 266th Pope has been elected.  And it’s not just Catholics who are watching and wondering in anticipation, churched and unchurched alike are watching wonder who God’s going to pick.  

But on Tuesday as the world was checking CNN, FOX news, and the latest twitter feed,  The Board of Ordained Ministry for The West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church was also gathered together for a process of discernment.  But this one was non-smoking.  We were gathered to interview candidates making requests in the process for ordination.   I didn’t miss the spiritual significance of having people: clergy people, pastor people, and lay people gathered together to seek God for guidance and direction on the same day that the cardinals were gather for their process of discernment. In Ephesian 1:17-18  the Jesus follower Paul writes, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (NIV). Discernment is a spiritual gift, given to us by God.  It’s when God opens our minds and our hearts to God’s will, God’s plan, God’s wish for the world.  Discernment isn’t easy and it doesn’t just happen in a moment; discernment takes time.  

Maybe you don’t have to choose the next Pope, perhaps you have zero plans to help determine whether or not a pastor is called to ordination, but all of us have decisions to make.  Decisions that affect our lives and the lives of others, and so I want to encourage you to go to God to pray and to ask God to open your eyes and your heart to God’s will, God’s plan, God’s wish.  

Our prayer is that God is with the cardinals, God is with the Board of Ordained Ministry, and that God is with us as we make choices everyday of our lives. 

We may not be looking for smoke from our chimneys but we are certainly looking for God’s help.   

Blessings 

Pastor Rachel 

Now That’s Team Work

Yesterday marked a second day’s work on Mrs. Campbell's house.  And although 11 adults from Shiloh have come to New Orleans help Mrs. Campbell and her family move into her home, hundreds of other volunteers will come and be a part of the incredible process it is to rehab a house from ruin.  It’s really does take a lot of team work, not only team work among the group from Shiloh, but also team work among the many volunteer and servant groups who come to work in partnership with St. Bernard Parish.  

For the most part we will have worked on filling the house with insulation and putting up dry wall, but many groups will come after us and mud, paint, and do many of the things that have to happen to ready Mrs. Campbell for the day she and her family will walk in the front door and call this house home.  

 But church isn’t that just true about the kingdom of God?  We are always working together to do our part, our piece that adds to God’s kingdom work.  So often we can get caught up in “my” thing- “my” passion, “my” ministry, even “my” church- that we fail to see what God sees!  God sees it all!  Every project, every mission, every church and leads us to work together on God’s team.  We are all on God’s team!  Now we are not only on God’s team to get the job done, but we are also on God’s team because we need each other: helping each other, encouraging each other, and certainly praying for one another.  

Let me say I praise God because we are on the same team, and we are working together to claim the community, the city, the nation and the world for Jesus Christ.

Your teammate 

Pastor Rachel