"Midweek and I Have a Lot of Questions" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 09/09/2020

 

Hello friends,

In September, our worship series is called Healing in a Time of COVID.  Healing? 

Right now friends and loved ones are facing serious illnesses.  Some have received a diagnosis that breaks our hearts, ALS, cancer, Alzheimer’s.   And were it in our power, we would do whatever it takes to rescue them from their suffering.   

One young family is waiting as their baby recovers from a difficult birth. 

Several people have asked for prayers for troubled marriages. 

My husband Dave is waiting for the results from a COVID test.  Two days ago, late in the evening, he spiked a temperature.  No other symptoms, just a fever.   To our knowledge, he has not been exposed to anyone with COVID.  We are pretty careful.  He was tested yesterday and now we are waiting for the results.  (I will let you know the results.) 

With all this, does it makes any sense at all to talk about healing?  I admit I have more questions than answers. 

Is healing the same as a cure? Is there any value in suffering?  Why do people suffer?  

Treatment, recovery, medication, chemo, therapy, vaccines.   What role do they play in healing?

Can someone be perfectly healthy when it comes to their physical health and be very sick in their soul?

And can the opposite be true?  Can we be physically sick, but healthy in all other ways? 

Talk about faith healings may conjure up images of old-time pastors standing before vulnerable sick people calling for demons to flee and sicknesses to be instantly cured.  I am a pastor but I have no faith in myself that I could do this.  Am I supposed to be able to carry out faith healings?  Is it simply that I have too little faith to do that?    

I read the scriptures.  I believe that Jesus did restore sight to the blind.  This Sunday I will preach about the incident when the paralyzed man was set before, Jesus and Jesus released him from his paralysis.  I do not doubt that the man was healed from paralysis.  If Jesus was so good at healing, why didn’t he open a medical office?  He would have been wildly popular.

And something else curious, he healed lots of people.  People were being restored.  Community health improved, and yet the powers of the day were opposed to what he was doing, so opposed they put him to death.  Why didn’t they appreciate what he was doing?  Is there something in the world that does not want us to be well? 

Are you well?  In what ways are you healthy? In what ways are you unhealthy? 

My understanding of God comes from scripture and conversations with others and prayers.  And honestly, sometimes it seems to come from the thin air, from a sense in my soul as I move through the world around me.   And right now, in the midst of all that is happening in our world and the lives of loved ones, I feel more than I ever have in my life, that God wants to heal us.  Maybe God grieves for us. Maybe God grieves that we have never really fully received the full healthy lives God intended for us. 

Bodily wholeness, emotional well-being, mental functioning, spiritual aliveness.  That is the definition of health we have been using.  I am convinced that God wants this sort of healing for all of us and our neighbors. My heart aches for this.  How do we get there?  I don’t know the way, but I am certain God does.    

I suppose pastors are supposed to have all the answers.  I don’t.  I could berate us all about how sinful we are and describe how we all fall short.  That’s not really how I do things, and besides, would I be telling us anything we didn’t already know?  (Note: I am included in the sinful and the fallen short.) 

So today, maybe we place all these questions before God.  Maybe they can all come together in a bigger question:  God, what would you like us to be, think, do, to fulfill your hope for a healthy world? 

Asking questions and listening for God.

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.  Join us for worship at 9:30 on Sunday morning on line and follow our posts all week long. 

This week at WDMUMC

Children’s Sunday School begins this Sunday!  Zoom with your Sunday school friends on Sunday morning and learn about God with Pastor Trevor and Super Teacher Alice!  Contact Pastor Trevor to learn how you can join in. 

What Is the Bible? How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories can Change the Way you Think and Feel About Everything  That’s the title of a book by Rob Bell and Pastor Trevor and the Cross Training Class are inviting you to read it with him.  The reading group begins this Sunday.  Contact Pastor Trevor if you are interested. 

Third Grade Bibles!  The church would like every third grader to have a bible. Bibles will be dropped off at every third grader’s home and on Sunday, September 20 during morning parking lot worship we will have a special moment to bless them.  If you have a third-grader or someone older who has not received a Bible, please let Pastor Trevor or Alice Burress know. If you have a grandchild or neighbor child who would like one, we would love to share it with them as well.  Many thanks to Alice Burress for her work in children’s ministry.  And special appreciation to Ken Clark and the memorial to his wife Nancy that makes these bibles available. 

Mondays at 8 am join Pastor Cindy on Facebook for Monday morning prayer.   

And Monday at 10:30 we will ring the bell in memory of those in Iowa who have died from COVID in the last week. 

Thank you for being the church!

 

"Midweek and Ready for Healing" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 09/02/2020

 

Hello friends,  

We are beginning a new sermon series this week called Healing in a Time of COVID.  And I am excited about it.

I know.  I know. 

Thousands and thousands of people have COVID.  Here in Iowa right now we have one of the highest rates of transmission in the world.  This impacts our schools and our health care systems and our economy.  All this has created stress and emotional suffering.  More than 1,100 people have died in Iowa.  Racism has created a painful wound in our country.  Our prayer list is long.  Many people are facing health issues.  I know people who are struggling in their marriages. 

There are all sorts of really good reasons to question whether healing is possible. 

And yet, in my soul, I am convinced God is inviting us to heal.  I find myself looking around for the flow of grace and wisdom, evidence that God is waking us up to the healing God is offering.   

Healing, according to the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, is “the process of being restored to bodily wholeness, emotional well-being, mental functioning, and spiritual aliveness.” 

• A process. It takes time and involves steps.
• Restored.  Getting back to the well-being God intends for us.  Back on solid ground. 
• Bodily wholeness.  A physical sense that our body is whole and healthy.  Nothing of our bodies is shameful.  I know there are those who face serious medical issues.  I think the healing described here includes physical issues but is more than physical health. 
• Emotional well being.  Contentment. Satisfaction.  Free from anxiety and fear.
• Spiritual aliveness.  Alive!  Ready for our souls to dance in the Spirit.  Breathing in goodness.  Greeting the day with expectation. 

Healing also mends relationships, brings social justice, and peace to communities and nations. 

What better time than now to set up our radar and watch for healing and follow where it leads us? 

In John 5, Jesus approaches a man who has been sick for 38 years.  He offers excuses as to why he has lingered so long in his illness.  And then Jesus asks, “Do you want to be made well?”  The obvious answer would be “of course!” but like the man who has been sick for so long, often we are not ready to give up what has made us sick.  Do we want to be made well?  Enough to give up unhealthy patterns of thinking and living?  Enough to risk giving up the familiar?  Enough to step away from greed and selfishness? Enough to do what needs to be done so that our neighbors can be well too? 

Lots of questions to ask.  I don’t have all the answers. 

I just know that I am feeling the healing presence of God.

And I also believe God will not stop until we are well. 

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church

720 Grand Avenue

West Des Moines, Iowa 50265

515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at WDMUMC.org. 

We worship on line on Sunday morning at 9:30 and post our service so you can watch it any time.  Join us!

This week at WDMUMC:

New Sermon Series begins this Sunday.  Pastor Trevor will kick off our new sermon series Healing in a Time of COVID. We’ll be exploring the ways that Jesus discusses healing. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 to prepare.

Helping Out In Cedar Rapids.  The Missions Team is pulling together two small trips to Cedar Rapids to help with clean up from the derecho. Both trips will be only one-day trips. Contact Pastor Trevor if you are interested. 

What Is the Bible? How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories can Change the Way you Think and Feel About Everything  That’s the title of a book by Rob Bell, and Pastor Trevor is inviting you to read it with him.  Contact Pastor Trevor if you are interested. 

Third Grade Bibles!  The church would like every third grader to have a bible. On the week of September 20, bibles will be dropped off at every third grader’s home and on Sunday morning during worship, we will have a special moment to bless them.  If you have a third-grader or someone older who has not received a Bible, please let Pastor Trevor or Alice Burress know. If you have a grandchild or neighbor who would like one, we would love to share it with them as well.  Many thanks to Alice Burress for her work in children’s ministry.  And special appreciation to Ken Clark and the memorial to his wife Nancy that makes these bibles available. 

And Monday at 10:30 we will ring the bell in memory of those in Iowa who have died from COVID in the last week. 

By the way, I need an army cot or a stretcher as a prop for my sermon.  Does anyone have one?  

 

"Midweek and You Are Strong" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 08/24/2020

 

You are strong.  That is pretty much the message for this midweek.

I watch the people of the church and the way you have found a way during this time. 

I see you finding connections when so many connections have been restricted. 

I see how brave you are when there is so much fear in the air.

I see your courage in the face of anxiety that wants to worry us to death.

I see you asking good questions and searching for good answers, which is hard in this new territory where we have so little certainty to go on.  I think this is especially true of teachers and parents at this time as they seek the best educational experience for their children.  Pray for teachers, parents, and the children they love this week. 

I see your resilience, keeping on when on particular days we all want to run out into the streets and shout “I am so tired of this.” 

I see the joy in you.  Last week someone texted me and voiced their stand.  There was a curious joy in that.  Last night our church council met, discussed the current position of the church, and then as they were breaking up, seemed to pause just for a moment to appreciate one another, a sense of joy about being together. 

You are strong.

I think this all comes from a deep well of character found in every one of us.  In differing ways and at differing rates, God is helping us discover the depth of that well. 

It feels like a birthing, and labor pains are uncomfortable.  They take time.  This pandemic is not something any of us enjoys. 

But I think something is being born in us and among us, some new truth, some new understanding of who we are and what holds us together.   I am trusting God is doing what God does, loving us, and loving all creation.  And the strength released in that runs through you.

You are strong.

You may not be feeling that today.  I don’t feel strong every day, but God shows up in big and small ways opening up that well, digging deeper. 

You are strong.  That’s today’s message.   That is today’s hope. 

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.  And join in worship on Sunday mornings at 9:30 on Facebook. 

This Week At WDMUMC

Climbing Mountains with Jesus That’s the title of the sermon for Sunday.  Jesus spent a lot of time in the mountains and those mountain experiences were some of his best ministry.  You can follow Jesus through the mountains by reading Matthew chapters 4, 5, 14, 15, 17, and 28.  On each mountain, something important happens.  We’ll talk about it on Sunday. 

Confirmation Worship Service!  This Sunday at 6:45 our students will be confirmed in a Parking Lot Worship Service.  The students (and their mentors) are: Dennese Devine (Morganne Reinboldt & Carolyn Cunningham), Nick Dreyer (Mark Willson), Izaac Hawkins (Brian Helland), Keaton Moll (Dave Hickman), Sam Pawlowski (Hollie Welch), and Ryan Stein (Jerry Slagter). If you would like to send a card of encouragement, you can send it in care of the church and we will get them to the students.  Many thanks to their mentors who walked with them this year!  We will also celebrate a baptism!

School Supplies!  Our missions team is gathering school supplies.  You can place them in the bin just inside the lower level entry.

The Upper Room for September-October is available.  You can pick up yours at the lower level entry or call the church and we will send you one. 

The Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection  Each year Church of the Resurrection hosts a leadership institute for church leaders.  It is always inspiring.  Thousands of church leaders attend.  Adam Hamilton preaches and offers his insights. This year it is on-line and that makes it more accessible and more affordable, just $49.  It will be held on September 24-25.  If you are interested you can register at sharechurch.com.  Scroll down to find the registration information.   

Cedar Rapids Cleanup Missions is pulling together two small trips to Cedar Rapids to help with cleanup from the derecho. Both trips will be only a one-day trip. One on a weekend and one during the week. Details TBD as planning has just begun. Please let Pastor Trevor or Marnie Stein know if you are interested.