Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

O Holy Night Follow-up

Philippians 2:5-30 – The Message

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Christmas Eve 2025 is past with the beautiful music of the carols, special music, solos, choirs, a moving message by the pastor, and the ringing sounds of “Silent Night” sung by the congregation with each holding the candlelight of Christ in their hands. And prayerfully many carried that light with them in their hearts as they left for the sharing of gifts, food, fellowship and family.

Christmas Day continued the time of celebration, and maybe even some travel to be with family and friends as the joy of the celebration of Christ’s birth continued. Now, the beautiful wrapping paper is gathered into the trash, dishwashers wait to be emptied, leftovers consumed, while this momentous pause of celebration fades into our memories. Is that it? Today does life now simply resume to where it was, as if nothing had happened?

This year I suggested our entire congregation be invited to sing “O Holy Night” as led by the soloist, for I believe it is such a moving hymn: and don’t we all just want to sing along? And so we did – wonderfully, as it turned out.

“Oh, holy night. 
The stars are brightly shining. 
It is the night of our dear savior’s birth. 
Long lay the world in sin and error pining 
‘till he appeared and the soul felt it’s worth. 
The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices 
for yonder breaks a new and glorious dawn.”

Words that are so truly spoken. It was a holy night – a night different from any other, even the stars poured forth their light. This night was “holy” because the God of creation left the splendor of heaven to enter his created world: in purple majesty? Robed in splendor and riding in a chariot of gold? On roads carpeted with diamonds and pearls? Did Christ come to a castle with vast riches and servants to address his every desire?  

No! This King of kings. This Lord of all creation stepped out of heaven’s glory. He became a completely helpless infant, delivered by a young teenage mother and a bewildered step-father (the Holy Spirit was his father). He was not laid in a soft and luxurious cradle but a cattle trough in a stable meant for sheltering the livestock from stormy weather. The baby Jesus was wrapped is swaddling cloths – there was no baby shower of gifts awaiting him. He was wrapped in strips of cloth as he would be after his crucifixion. He was wrapped in cloths to protect this ultimate perfect sacrifice of God for our sins in the same manner the shepherds who gathered round him would wrap their perfect lambs to protect them for sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. This child, Jesus, is the perfect lamb of God, come to restore us to right relationship with his heavenly Father.

Is not all this news causing us to “fall on our knees” in awe and worship? Don’t we hear the angel voices? What a holy night! This night of Christ’s birth is, indeed, divine.

Verse three sums up his life:

He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, Truly for the slave is our brother,
and in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!

Don’t let this past Christmas Eve and Christmas Day just be for you and your loved ones just one more Christmas celebration. Rather, let the wonder and glory of it all, the humble birth, the humility of God in the infant Jesus, this child’s life becoming a fully human man full of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, who came not to judge the world but to redeem it, to restore it to right relationship to God the Father. He came to transform us from our sinful, prideful, selfish, hurtful selves into persons of his original design and intent – to be as Christ to one another and to the world.

May it be so in your heart and life, today, tomorrow, and forever. Praise be to God!

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Oh Sing. Sing Unto the Lord!

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Psalm 96:1-2 ESV

I love the music of the church and have sung in a choir nearly all my now seventy-nine years. My earliest memories of singing praises to God were in the children’s choir at First Methodist Church in Marquette, Michigan. Dr. Allen Niemi from the college (now University) led us with his violin. In this season of Advent I am loving the great variety of Christmas Music available on the Internet and I can’t stop continually praising God for the awesome talent: from the great inspired lyricists, music composers and arrangers, talented musicians – instrumental and voice – and even the gifted and talented technicians with the beautiful backgrounds, videos, and more. Every morning following my morning Wake-Up Call from Seedbed (https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall/) I allow Youtube to just continue to lead me in a most worshipful time of watching and listening to the blessed music of the season. What an awesome, comforting, and worshipful experience is mine. I would pray the same for you.

Of course, the theme and purpose of all is Immanuel, God with us, who is Jesus, the Christ, our Messiah. As I reflect on the hymnody of the church Charles Wesley’s “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” is front and center, reminding me immediately of the heavenly chorus of angels surrounding frightened shepherds on the hills outside the little town of Bethlehem, inspiring them as the first seekers to go in search of the promised birth of the Savior.  Wesley’s Carol is a favorite staple of the church, and beyond. Charles Schulz included this carol in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (available via the Internet).

Wesley was always diligent to quote scripture and include theological interpretation in his hymn writing. Today’s hymn has undergone numerous changes from Wesley’s original composition, which was quite typical  He wrote this in 1739. The familiar melody, adapted by William H. Cummings, comes from a cantata by Felix Mendelssohn, though Wesley originally wrote it to a different tune. The hymn has, in fact, undergone a number of changes from Wesley’s original composition. C. Michael Hawn in his “History of Hymns” on the United Methodist Discipleship Ministries website (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-hark-the-herald-angels-sing) wrote: “Changes in hymn texts are quite common. The average singer on Sunday morning would be amazed (or perhaps chagrined) to realize how few hymns before the twentieth century in our hymnals appear exactly in their original form.”

Stanza 1:

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Refrain: Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!”

May I suggest going back and reading those lyrics aloud. Notice how they are true to scripture and tell the story of Christ’s birth. Wesley even put lines 2, 3, and 4 in quotes. And what is the universal response to Christ’s birth? “Joyful, all nations rise and join the triumph of the skies and with the angels proclaim, again in quotes, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”. And then in the refrain we join the angels to sing “Glory to the new-born King!”

Verse 2:

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.

Again, take a moment to read those lyrics and discover there the wonderful truths of scripture and of theology. Christ: none other higher, he the everlasting Lord. He came to earth in the fullness of time via the womb of a virgin. Jesus is none other than God himself clothed in human flesh – incarnate. And Christ is not ashamed to be clothed in humanity but pleased to be one with us – our Immanuel, God with us.

Verse 3:

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth. 

From heaven now to earth , Christ comes to bring peace to our troubled world. He is our Prince of Peace, our Sun of Righteousness. I love that play on words “sun of righteousness” for he is the light of the world come to reconcile with us and to receive us to himself, declaring not judgement but declaring us right with him, righteous. He offers himself to all, no exceptions. He lifts us, healed of our sins and failures with his mighty wings. His humility is real, claiming no glory to himself. He comes to us to bring salvation with his gift of the Holy Spirit as we are born anew, and all will be raised earth to heaven.

Such is the gift of the music of the church: from the teaching of the lyrics and to the inspiring melodies lifting our Spirits, bringing us peace, delivering solid hope and joy for tomorrow. Sing out, sing out world in praise of our Immanuel, God come to earth. Christ’s peace and joy be yours today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

We wait . . .

“…they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31, ESV

On this 12th day of Advent, we are thirteen days from our Christmas celebration of Christ’s coming. God’s own son, Immanuel – God with us – born in a humble stable in Bethlehem. December 25, is the day settled upon by Christ’s Church to mark Jesus’ arrival two-thousand years ago.

Looking up the word “wait” on the Internet yielded many meanings. This one – “wait” used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen. As a child I remember being eagerly impatient for Santa’s delivery of toys and gifts, the joy of being surrounded by discarded gift wrap all around the Christmas tree.

Zechariah waited in silence, unable to speak, after the angel announced to him that he and his wife Elizabeth in their old-age would finally conceive and bear a son – and name him, John. That John would prepare the way of the Lord. On the day of John’s birth Zechariah was asked for the child’s name. He wrote John on a tablet and immediately his voice returned. Nine months of silence, quiet contemplation, and now the fulfillment, of God’s promise through the angel.

Mary also received an angelic announcement of her pending conception of God’s own son by the Holy Spirit, and waited nine months, and then thirty years as God’s promise was fulfilled. Joseph too had to wait for the fulfillment of a dream that his betrothed was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and would give birth to God’s Son. All Israel – all the world – waited in great anticipation that God would intervene to bring his light into this dark, dark world.

This season of the Christian year has, over the years, provoked so much beautiful Christmas music that one hardly knows where to begin. Even today in 2025 the world awaits. We wait for peace in Ukraine, in Gaza, between the U.S. and Venezuela and trading partners around the world, between tribal and religious factions, even divisions in Christ’s church in Africa. And we certainly wait with great anticipation for peace and unity in our nation’s capital as well as in every state, county, city, town, and school board. Even in our own families and, yes, even in many of our churches where there is confusion, stress, tension, and conflict that rages on.

Mary cuddled and nursed her little baby, filled with love and joy, but also filled with wonder about his future, not knowing that as she hugged him he would one day hug her from a cross and save her to eternal life. Joseph, still listening and following God’s directions, given to him in dreams, provided love and care to Jesus who would one day care for him eternally.

And so, we pray, O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive ___________ that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O _____________.

Fill in the blank as you are led by the Lord to do so. Certainly, Immanuel came for you, for your family, your church, school, city, state, nation, all of humankind. We wait knowing God’s promised Messiah came two-thousand years ago. We wait having experienced his coming to us by his Spirit as we were born anew, spiritually – made alive in Christ. And we wait with the joy-filled promise that Christ will come again to make all things new.

We, who believe, do not wait without hope and joy. We wait, in the midst of the chaos of this world and all that surrounds us, with the faith-filled promise Christ comes to us by his Holy Spirit, moment by moment, day by day, to empower us and support us, to guide and direct us as citizens of his Kingdom, and as his brothers and sisters to reach out in loving care, offering Christ’s gifts – free gifts – of grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and acceptance to a world so much needing and desperately seeking the same.  

We wait. But not without the joy of God’s fulfilled and fulfilling promise of salvation. A joy we cannot hold hidden within us, but joy bubbling up and bidding us to allow it to escape our fleshly bodies to touch, heal, and embrace all with the light and love of our redeeming Lord. Go, praising and serving the Lord and one another.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

We Shall Behold Him, Face to Face

During the season of Advent we have long listened to Christmas Carols as we ramp up to Christmas Day. There are some churches and pastors who resist the singing of traditional carols during Advent, deeming them not yet appropriate. One problem is there are not a lot of truly Advent hymns. Yes, there are a few. While listening to “hymns of the season” this morning I was reminded of one very special song written in 1980 by Dottie Rambo.

Dottie was born Joyce Reba Luttrell on March 4, 1934, in Madisonville, Kentucky. She was inspired to start writing country music at age eight and after having an experience of Christ she was singing and writing gospel music by age twelve, when her father who disapproved of her singing Christian music, gave her an ultimatum: quit singing Christian music or leave home. She left and in the course of her lifetime wrote some 2,500 songs, of which, “We Shall Behold Him”, was one of her most famous. Two other notable songs were: “I Go to the Rock,” and “Sheltered in the Arms of God”.

Dottie married Buck Rambo in 1950, and together they formed the trio “The Gospel Echoes,” later known as “The Singing Rambos”. Tragically, Dottie died on May 11, 2008 in a tour bus accident. Many of her songs have been recorded by noted artists including, Sandi Patti, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, and Dolly Parton. Dottie specifically requested Sandi Patti to make a recording of “We Shall Behold Him.” A most stunning and inspiring recording it is. Hear it here: https://youtu.be/KZ3H3lg9NZM

Advent season reminds us of the world’s desperate need of a savior (that never changes) and leads us to celebrate the promised coming of Christ in the stable of Bethlehem on Christmas Day nearly two-thousand years ago. But Advent also points us to Christ’s promise to come again. (Matthew 24:30; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Christ came, not in judgement, but for salvation, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” While we celebrate the birth of the savior, Jesus, we also look with hope to Christ’s promise to “come again.”

One day we shall behold him, face to face. The Apostle Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 13:12, ”For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We may not see his face fully now but we can know him personally, as friend, savior, and Lord. This inspired song by Dottie and sung by Sandi, helps lift my spirit to the wonderful presence of my Lord Jesus, though his face may not yet be fully “in my face” but I have the hope and joy today that one day I will behold him, face to face. May it be your hope and joy also. Praise be to God the Father. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Pregnant with a promise

This past Sunday, November 30, 2025, we began a new year in the life of the church with the season of Advent. “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” meaning “coming” or “arrival”. It is a time of waiting and preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (his first coming) and to anticipate his future return (his second coming).

We read in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1:26-38, the story of the angel Gabriel coming to Nazareth to Mary, a virgin, pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary has found favor with God and will become pregnant with God’s son – pregnant with the promise of God. After inquiring how such a thing could be, since she is a virgin, Gabriel explains “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. For no word from God will ever fail.” (emphasis added) I may be a male, but, can I not also be pregnant with the promise of God? Let us ponder that thought a bit. Like Mary, I ask, with this twist, how can this be, since I am a male.

Can I be pregnant with the promise of God? Certainly not in the same way Mary was pregnant with God’s promised Son. The word Pregnant comes from Latin, and literally means “before giving birth” — prae-, like pre- means “before” and gnasci is a root that means “be born.” Pregnant can also mean “filled with something,” like inspiration or “rich in significance or implication,” like a pregnant pause before answering a question.

In John 3 the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night – to avoid discovery by other Pharisees? – seeking answers to the mystery of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus tells him that he must be born again. As he was born of flesh he must be born of the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is the promise of God delivered at Pentecost and ever since to all whom will believe that Jesus is the promised Son of God and Savior of the world. The Spirit comes to us in faith, even as small as a mustard seed, which Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Just as God’s Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant with God’s promised Son so, each of us is born a promise of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and invited His Spirit to dwell in me and me in Him, in that moment I was justified as his son. My faith as a mustard seed began small but grew and continues to grow in sanctification and holiness as I move on to Perfection in Christ – being more and more like him, day by day, moment by moment. The promise of God in me can no longer be contained within me but continually births forth from me as God’s instrument inviting others to be born of the Spirit as well.

So, am I not pregnant with a promise? You? Have we – are we – giving birth?

Lord God, I pray your Spirit in me, and in all who claim your holy name, is pregnant with your promise and we are actively giving birth to your promised Spirit in our every action, thought, and word. Forgive us where we fail and renew in us your Spirit of faith. Come to us anew in this season of Advent in new and mighty anad powerful ways. To your glory and in your holy name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Thoughts of Thanksgiving

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” ~ Psalm 69:30

That is just one of many scripture passages that remind us to praise God in all times and places.  Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States so our hearts and minds naturally turn to our annual Thanksgiving holiday celebrations. The gathering of family, whether close or from afar, around a roast turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato bake, dinner rolls, and, of course, pie. Oh, the pie. Your favorite? I love them all!

This holiday, while it can be filled with wonderful memories, may also be a challenge when this occasion is the first without the presence of a recently departed dear family member or friend. Yes, we miss those who were such a treasured part of who we are today, yet we can still praise God with thanksgiving for that important role they played in our lives. The Thanksgiving holiday was implemented to thank God for the harvest, but I think there is so much more for which to be thankful than just the fruit of the land. How about thanksgiving for freedom of faith and thought? How about thanking God for our wonderful parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters? Thank him for our education, jobs, careers – even retirement. Thanks be to God for our loving and caring spouse, children, grandchildren, and our extended family. Certainly thanks is in order for our health, in spite of whateve challenges may be ours. I bid you, continue this train of thought and continue to count your many blessings. We have so much to be thankful to our mighty, all powerful, all loving and caring God. And, how can we not Include thanksgiving for the awesome gift of salvation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Amen?!

Perhaps this traditional Thanksgiving hymn written in 1897 by Johnson Oatman, Jr. may be helpful for all of us as we gather around the table of plenty today: (sing it if you will)

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

1 When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]

3 When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]

4 So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. [Refrain]

May you have a blessed day of Thanksgiving today, and everyday forward. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Blessed Assurance

Where have you seen God at work in your life or the lives of others today? This week? In the last few moments? I know in my heart he is always with me—even when I’m not paying attention. But oh! What a difference when I am listening and watching—waiting upon the Lord if you will.

This morning I had this nudge, this urge that I believe was from God to share a message with you via The Circuit, but what? With some anticipation for inspiration, I waited upon God’s Spirit to give me some direction. As I went through my morning devotions and emails and then Facebook, there it was. One of those popups on Facebook that at first glance I was about to pass over. This morning it stopped me as it was addressed “To My Son”. So here is what I read but with one modification, let me change the addressee to, 

To My Child
While on this ride called “Life” 
You have to take the good with the bad 
Smile with the sad, love what you got
And remember what you had
Always forgive, but never forget
Learn from your mistake
But never regret 
People may change
Things may go wrong 
Just remember the ride goes on
And when you’re too afraid to look ahead
Look right beside you
I will always be there 
Love, Dad

Now I must admit that I was mulling a message on John 3:16 – For God so loved the world. Just those six words. I invite you to go back and reread “To My Child.” Then read it again, slowly, carefully, evaluating every line.

It is so easy to get caught up in the news of the day. This morning it is hurricane Ida, the end of the airlift in Afghanistan, fires out west, the drought in the southwest, flooding in Tennessee, ever increasing hospitalizations and deaths from the Delta variant, and masks once again. Oh, and still no Best Timers gathering this month. It is enough to make me want to stop the ride of life so I can get off.

But when you are so discouraged that “you’re afraid to look ahead.” When hope is nearly gone, we remember that “God so loved the world.” The “world” means you and me. And that is Good News: that God is with us. Our hope is restored. God’s only son Jesus died for you and me – he died for the world that death is not the final answer. All this disheartening news is not our tomorrow. Our every tomorrow is Christ in us and we in Him. “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” Not just tomorrow but the rest of today. How about you?

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

What Is Your Response?

Luke 23:44-46 NIV

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

What is your response? What is your response to the event on the cross of Good Friday?

Yesterday as I sat with my laptop in my lap responding to emails, reading the newspaper on-line and scrolling through Facebook all of a sudden what was a quiet morning was shattered with the sounds of many sirens as my local fire department responded to a call. It sounded like every vehicle in the department came up the street, sirens blaring and made the corner behind my home and headed out of town, somewhere. I don’t know where. But they got a call and immediately jumped into action to respond.

When there are gunshots or a scuffle or some similarly dangerous situation our typical response is to run, to hide, lest we be hurt. In those same situations our police run to the scene rather than run away. In our present time of concern over the coronavirus COVID 19 we are told to stay home. Yet there are whole armies of folk who are “essential” to our survival who refuse to stay safe at home. Many respond to serve even while risking their own health and that of their families, especially those in healthcare. We immediately think of doctors and nurses, but we can’t stop there. They have a whole supportive staff of desk clerks, janitors, laundry, food service and on and on. All have responded to a call to care for others in need. The cost of their response could very well be their lives.

This is Good Friday, the day our Lord was scourged and beaten, mocked and spit upon and then marched under the weight of the cross beam upon which he would be crucified to Golgotha where, from 12 to 3 pm, as the sun refused to shine, he hung. He hung until 3 when he called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” … and breathed his last. Jesus answered the call of God the Father and gave himself—he committed his spirit into his Father’s hands. He suffered and died, giving himself 100% to his Father’s will. All was done for you and me at a tremendous cost to himself.

As those firefighters immediately responded to a call and gave themselves to care for others what is our response to Jesus’ 100% commitment to God the Father? God sent his Son, our Lord to earth in one grand finale, last ditch effort to get us to repent of our sins and turn out lives back to him.

What is your response to God’s call to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”? (Matthew 28:19-20) We have the assurance—the promise—as we respond to God’s call of his eternal presence. What have we to fear? We have everything to gain—eternal life.

Can you, will you say it with me, say it with Jesus: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit? To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

It’s Monday

Good morning, and this is Monday of Holy Week. I say that because some mornings I must look at the calendar on my laptop as I look for my emailed morning devotions, just to make sure I know what the day of the week is, much less the date in the month. This morning I knew it was Monday, tomorrow’s another day. I hope you were able to attend Palm Sunday worship yesterday in the safe confines of your home. With almost every church in the country now forced to do on-line worship in some fashion, you had a lot of worship to choose from—and you didn’t even need to shower, get out of your pj’s or burn some currently cheaper gasoline on your drive to morning worship. And isn’t that a hit?–cheap gas and we’re not allowed to go anywhere. Bummer!

Who would have ever thought the Internet could be such an awesome tool of worship? Here’s what I mean. On CBS This Morning a pastor of a mega church—I don’t remember where—said his Sunday morning attendance grew from 11,000 to 45,000 because their worship services were now streamed on-line. Wow! You think maybe this is one good thing from our household quarantine?

Recently a retired pastor friend in a Zoom meeting introduced me to a different Bible translation. One I had never heard of called The Passion Translation. I looked it up and discovered it is one of the translations available on www.biblegateway.com, my “go to” Internet quick source for all-things Bible. Most of us are familiar with, maybe even have memorized Paul’s word in Romans 8:28–here, from the New International Version: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Compare that to this translation from The Passion Translation: So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. Sure, its what we call a paraphrase, but doesn’t it help us feel more intimately Paul’s passion and meaning as he wrote those words two-thousand years ago?

I repeat again, this is Holy Week. Also often referred to as Passion Week as it is the last week God’s Son, Jesus Christ is incarnate on Earth. He rode into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday to shouts of “Hosanna”, literally “save us” with Palm branches waving everwhere and laid on his path, much like a red carpet. By Friday that self-same crowd shouted “Crucify! Crucify him!”. If you missed it, Pastor Harold Zimmick at Asbury UMC in Madison, WI had a powerful message entitled When the Cheering Stopped. The video is available for you at www.asburymadison.com.

Jerusalem, the Holy City, was swelling with massive crowds of people there to participate in the Jewish Passover. I have a vision of people shoulder-to-shoulder. Today Israel is restricting international travel and requiring those traveling into the country to Home Isolation. Here in America where daily our streets and highways were filled with people there now are very few out and about. Our streets are abandoned.

Sequestered in our homes, we have a wonderful opportunity to find and dust off our Bibles and read the stories from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last week. They begin in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19:28, and John 12. May God richly bless you in your reading and meditation.

And don’t forget to pray for your church, community, friends and neighbors—and for our leaders as we all look to God for guidance, direction, good health and safety through this pandemic.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

O Lord, I’m a Televangelist

Three weeks ago I, along with almost every preacher in America was thrust in front of a camera when the coronavirus COVID-19 forced state after state to require its citizens to quarantine themselves in their homes and banned any public assemblies of ten or more. There went religious worship as we then knew it. For the last three weeks I’ve led worship to a sanctuary composed of an organist, a preacher, myself as worship leader, some camera persons and our media tech. We try to stay six feet apart at all times and keep our numbers below nine of us in the sanctuary at all times.

It just suddenly dawned on me: I’m a televangelist. We preach, sing, and invite people to give via television or computer monitor. I lead the hymn singing and pray in front of several cameras to a completely empty sanctuary. The audience–congregation sounds so much better–sits at home watching on their Smart phones, tablets, laptops and Smart TV’s and hopefully is participating in worship, as best they can.

For our mid-week Lenten Wednesday services there is no longer a meal served at the church at 5:45 with worship following in the chapel at 6:30. Now I sit at home and record a video of myself presenting my PowerPoint message with that video image in the corner. Then I simply email presentation to our social media staff person Ryan to post on our Website and church Facebook page.

I do miss the immediate follow-up words of appreciation in the narthex (gathering space adjacent to the worship space) from you when you’re in worship. Thank you to those of you who text or email those words of appreciation later. But more importantly what I miss is the opportunity to shake hands, visit and catch-up with one another. As I reflect on that the Safe at Home program is forcing the church to be more intentional in how we connect individually, one-on-one. Yes, there are social media–even the good old telephone. But it still is not the same as face to face. Personal visitation is a no-no. I don’t want to transmit the virus from place to place and person to person should I be a carrier and not know it. Nor, do I want to unknowingly pick up that virus in a visit with a parishioner, whether in the hospital, a nursing facility or at home.

So, I write this blog, send emails, make phone calls, write notes and mail an occasional letter along with volunteers in the congregation doing the same. And I pray. I pray this quarantine will soon be over. I pray for my parishioners and former parishioners in churches I’ve served. I pray for my family and friends. And in my prayers I ask God to watch over you, protect you and give you peace–peace as only he can give it. I pray all of us have trust in his eternal presence alongside us. And that is a promise we can take to the bank. We can literally deposit it in our hearts.

Do you have Christ in your heart? Have you put your trust completely in him? We read in the Book of Acts 4:12 that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” In the spring of 1991 amidst some job frustrations and in the depth of a long Bible Study I heard Christ’s call to full-time ministry–to give my life fully to him. I’ve never been sorry. I’ve also learned it is a continual thing, putting your trust in God, it must be renewed daily, moment by moment.

So while our world–literally, the WORLD–is upset with the coronavirus, God’s still in control. He’s got us and got this situation firmly in hand. Will we return to normal soon? I don’t think so. I think there will be a new normal, whatever that will be. It is my prayer that the world’s new normal has much more of Christ in it than our old normal ever did. But knowing our Lord, he will faithfully lead us and I firmly accept this promise from Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God has always desired our companionship and fellowship–it was his design from day one of his creation. God’s design also mandated that we have the free-choice to accept his love and direction. We are assured in the Book of Revelation that in John’s vision he saw a new heaven and a new earth coming down out of heaven “from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2) And John heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (21:4)

Yes, our lives have all changed and though we are a people who resist change we’ve also learned that change is a constant in our lives and the best alternative, I believe, is to embrace it and move on. So, televangelist or not its how we have to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ today. And as I think about it maybe its a good thing to our getting that message beyond the four walls of a building. And shouldn’t the church–Christ’s church not be a building but God’s people being as Christ about in the world? The church is the body of Christ dispersed. Perhaps now it may be easier to invite our “none churched” friends who wouldn’t dare darken the door of our churches to push a button or two on a computer and watch our message–Christ’s message–away from prying eyes in the safety of their homes. Are not all things possible with God? Let’s embrace our technology and be a part of the movement to invite one and all to come and see–taste and see that the Lord is good and learn what Christ might do for them.

So here is my televangelist plea: not for funds but to help spread the word of our on-line ministry. Help us get the word out about Asbury’s on-line worship. http://www.asburymadison.com. But my plea goes further than just Asbury. Just about every church is on-line in various ways. Invite friends to search the Internet and find an Internet church “home” or two that they are comfortable with and then make it a point to check in regularly.

Together, with God’s help and direction, we can transform lives all over the world. Thank you.