TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church Gaithersburg MD

REST AND RENEWAL IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

EPISODE 22 January 2021

God has carved out  boundaries for the rivers and  lines for the mountain peaks against the clearest sky.

Do you have boundaries in your life?

Do you have boundaries which according to Psalm 16:5 create pleasant places?

Rest and renewal require boundaries. Deepening in joy, grace, peace require the space to enter into things abundantly.

Carey Niewhouf suggests that many of us spend January re-orienting how we will spend the year. We plan for greater efficiency and effective work towards our physical, spiritual relationship goals. But at some point, no new efficiency  can create the space we need.

We must prioritize. We must say yes to some things in deeper ways, and no to others. We must have boundaries in order to rest.

Psalm 16 describes the security and protection we can find in the boundaries of God. It ends with the promise that we can find  the true path of life, fullness of joy.  and unending pleasures.

Bring us to the beauty of your boundaries God - that we might have space -

Space  for open sky with clear mountains that do not obstruct but heighten the landscape, and  space for running rivers that feed life but do not overwhelm the land.

Psalm 16

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”[a]

3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,

in whom is all my delight.

4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b]

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

I have a goodly heritage.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

8 I keep the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;

my body also rests secure.

10 For you do not give me up to Sheol,

or let your faithful one see the Pit.

11 You show me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy;

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church Gaithersburg MD 

REST AND RENEWAL IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

EPISODE 21 January 2021

What burden is so big, it's blocked your ability to see?

What weight is so heavy you’ve lost the joy of life?

Renewal, rest, re-creation give us a lighter heart and the joy of being carried -like on river waters or on eagle wings.

Romans 12:2 suggests Our minds can be renewed so that we can see the good and perfect and acceptable will of God.

Carrying the weight of the world makes it impossible to see anything - let alone God's vision.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Suggests  that we cast our anxieties on God and out of love and kindness God will carry them for us.

Giving God what was never ours to carry is the only thing that gives us the lightness to make it through the WHOLE JOURNEY.

Let God's care hold you. Give yourself days to float in that love. And trust that what you think ONLY you can hold, are precisely the things God wants to take from your heart.

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church of Gaithersburg MD

REST and RENEWAL IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

Episode 20 January 2021

Have you ever felt something was too far gone to be repaired?

Has your life been in too many pieces for God to bring wholeness?

Rest and renewal in the Word of the Lord can restore ALL THINGS!

Ezekiel 37 is the powerful chapter of Scripture in which God tells Ezekiel to speak the word of the Lord over a valley of bones so old they have dried out. Scattered and weak, God pulls them together - first growing tendons, then flesh, than standing beings, then the breath of the Lord, then an army of the Lord.

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church of Gaithersburg MD 

REST AND RENEWAL IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

EPISODE 19 January 2021

Have you ever tried to rush your process of rest or renewal?

Have you ever desired renewal or healing to happen in one day because you think that’s all the time you can spend?

Not surprising -God doesn’t often work this way.

In Jeremiah 31 God promises to watch over Israel as they build and plant again.

If you have planted or built you know results do not come overnight.

They are slow growing -one brick and one sprout at a time.

Today, consider your timeline for rest and renewal and how open you are to the process of healing and wholeness with God.

Like the colors of an unfolding sunrise or the steps of a heron taking flight - our walk with God is not a quick fix, but a renewing healing salvation!

I took this picture in Palm Harbor Florida on the morning I officiated my Grandpa Hamilton's funeral. Like every process - the recovery from this grief and the integration if his life witness into mine continues still today.

Rest and renewal are not an escape. They are a daily trusting in the ongoing work of a God who is always watching over what we build and what we plant. May our lives bear fruit to God's glory.

REST AND RENEWAL IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

18 January 2021

God offers us home  and belonging. And rest that comes from the being held in the arms of one who loves us just because. Sometimes rest needs to be the belonging of home.

Galatians 4:6 -7 Because you are his children, God, sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out Abba Father. So you are no longer a slave, buts Gods child and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Children carry the genetic imprint of their parents. We, as heirs, carry the richness of Gods grace, wisdom, strength, and peace if we allow the gifts of our inheritance to flow through us.

As this nation celebrates Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man the white establishment pursued, persecuted, and sought to silence, may our rest be renewal to continue the work for justice and peace. It is amazing what one person set free by the Spirit and Beloved of God can do if we know whose we are and from where our strength comes!

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY

Did you know God offers us rest as a loving gift?

What other -only God- gifts have you experienced?

Does it soften your heart to know God gives to you as an intimate expression of love?

Do we receive Gods gifts given?

Listen to @Epworth United Methodist Church Gaithersburg Maryland podcast

Psalm 127 verse 2 Says God gives rest

Will you receive the gift today?

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church Gaithersburg Maryland

What are you standing on today?

PSALM 62:5-6 Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone: my hope comes from God. God alone is my rock and my salvation: God is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

One thing God has spoken and two things have ....I heard that you, oh God, are strong and that you, oh Lord, are loving.

There’s nothing like being in the mountains to sense the magnitude and fortitude of rock. Hundreds of thousands of years are present before your very eyes. And to look out from the one rock upon which you stand and see the rest of the mountainous formations gives an amazing sense of the strength and the love and creative care of God.

I have heard it described that Satan can overwhelm us with a flood of words. Words that fill our life and thoughts and that overtake our hearts such but there is no space to hear the word of the Lord  or to sense God‘s unchanging power in the midst of so many voices. Psalm 62 asks how long were you assault an individual? Will all of you throw him down this wall, this tottering fence? Are you fully intending to topple him from his lofty place and take delight in lies. With your mouth you bless but in your hearts you curse.

Satan may attack us with a flood of words, some  that even come through the mouth of others as supposed blessings,  but our soul is called to find rest in the Lord. We are called to hope in God. We are called to stand on God as the unshaken rock and foundation.

Today, may you see God —but not in a flood  of words, but in the sheer silence as you stand upon the rock and look out on the magnitude and fortitude of all God has created for you and for me.

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY Podcast by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church Gaithersburg Maryland

DO YOU HAVE A PLACE WHERE YOU DRAW STRENGTH FOR EACH DAY?

And if not, how can you possibly make the long journey??

Psalm 1: 2-3 says

Blessed is the one who delights in the word of the Lord and on God’s word meditates day and night. This person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yield fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither.

I love that God invites us to a place where we continually and quietly  in underground unspoken ways  draw water and strength daily from God.

I invite us in these days when the journey is long and justice continues to need to be sought, and the pandemic rages on and we feel tired and weary, I encourage us to plant ourselves beside streams of living water that will feed us.

These are days to be fed by God for the long journey

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church of Gaithersburg

What sustains you daily?

Philippians 4:13 is known for emphasizing ALL THINGS we can do through Christ who strengthens us

But starting the verse before enriches even further.

Philippians 4:12 is Paul laying out the daily strength he has found in God. He says - I have learned to be content or rest in all things whether I am well fed or hungry. - This daily undeterred rest is essential in hard times.

Similarly Joshua 1:6 Is famous for God encouraging Joshua to be strong and courageous. But Joshua 1:8 outlines how Joshua is to find that courage. It is by daily meditating on the word of God.

Learning to rest and find renewal and strength in Christ is not just on vacation or sabbath, it is necessary to be sustained each day. Courage, strength, and rest in all circumstances, come when we are sustained by God's word and when we DAILY feed our spirits not just our bodies. Especially in hard times we are tempted to lean only on our understanding, analysis, effort. Let us cling more tightly now to the spaces God speaks to us.

TRANSFORMED BY FAITH TODAY by Rev. Jennifer Fenner of Epworth United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg Maryland

Where are you headed this year?

When Jesus was tempted by Satan He reminded us all that we cannot live on physical bread alone -we must be fed by the word of God

When Elijah is pursued on every side God reminds him -that God is found

not in the wind that breaks mountains into rocks.

Not in the earthquake that moves foundations,

not in the fire that burns too hot

But in the sheer sound of silence

God speaks when we stop long enough to hear!

Isaiah 40:30 reminds us that those who wait, rest, hope in the Lord will be renewed

This pandemic is far from over

There is clear resurgent boldness amount white supremist

Our Capitol was assaulted

And our financial pressures are great!

How will you enter 2021?

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We cannot make it even today without the word of the Lord