For my "hope" file...

I am sad I missed Pastor Mike's sermon at New World last Sunday... If this is what was left over I can only imagine how great the sermon was.


From Pastor Mike...
In preparing for Sunday’s sermon, I had some things left over that either didn’t fit or seemed repetitive. For example, there were these wonderful poems by Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti:
"Hope’ is the thing with feathers"
By Emily Dickinson
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all
And sweetest-in the Gale-is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm
I’ve heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb-Of Me.
De Profundis
By Christina Rossetti
Oh why is heaven built so far,
Oh why is earth set so remote?
I cannot reach the nearest star
That hangs afloat.
I would not care to reach the moon,
One round monotonous of change;
Yet even she repeats her tune
Beyond my range.
I never watch the scatter’d fire
Of stars, or sun’s far-trailing train,
But all my heart is one desire,
And all in vain:
For I am bound with fleshly bands,
Joy, beauty, lie beyond by scope;
I strain my heart, I stretch my hands,
And catch at hope.
There were some great quotes that didn’t make it into the sermon, either. For example, these ideas from Patricia E. deJong and David Booz:
"We do not lose heart; rather, we live with our hearts broken open so that compassion, caring, and God’s reckless love can find a way into our hearts and the heart of the world."
"Advent is more than a time to hear promises about God. Advent becomes a season of attentiveness to the presence of God already among us."
Finally , there were these passages of Scripture that also touched on points in the sermon:
2 Cor 2:9 What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"-
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if
you seek me with all your heart…
Isaiah 40:31 ...but those who wait for the Lord shall re-new their strength, they shall mount up with wings like ea-gles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Perhaps you can add these to your "hope" file.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Mike
www.nwumc.org

OK, my New World friends...Jill will be needing a cd of that sermon!

Our Hope was named from Jeremiah 29:11. Such a powerful scripture. Such an awesome word. Awesome.