Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? Luke 18:1-7 One question that we may ask ourselves is, “Why pray if God knows everything?" Or sometimes the question is, “Why bother?,” if after praying and praying and praying we see no results. This is the question that the disciples seemed to have asked Jesus in the above Scripture. And as usual, Jesus answers their question by telling a story. But what does the story about justice for the widow have to do with prayer? Author Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, wrote about this topic of prayer and relates a story about her granddaughter, Madeline. At Madeline’s seventh birthday party she was asked to blow out the candles and to make a wish before she blew them out. But Madeline didn’t want to make a wish. It seems that every wish she ever asked for over a birthday cake didn’t come true. So why bother? Rev. Taylor considers how to explain to her granddaughter the difference between wishing and praying. Many times in our lives the line between wishing and praying is blurred and sometimes we use the terms interchangeably. And just like Madeline, we can adopt the stance, “Why bother?” if after praying and praying and praying, we see no results. Taylor ponders how she would answer her granddaughter if she was asked “Why pray?” “Does prayer really work?” She writes, “Of course it does. It keeps our hearts chasing after God’s heart. It’s how we bother God, and how God bothers us back. There’s nothing that works any better than that. … What I want Madeline to know is that the best thing about prayer is the relationship itself.” There is more to prayer than the answer to prayer. There is also the pray-er, the one who is shaped by the praying. You may be in a dry spell in your prayer life now. You may have given up on prayer for any number of reasons. You may have never had a prayer life. Yet there is power in talking with God. For God listens to every prayer. He cares. He may not answer our prayers in the ways that we want, but He does answer our prayers in a way that we need. Don’t lose heart if it seems that nothing is happening. Keep praying. Prayer changes things. God is eager to do what is best for you. Knowing that God desires to hear the prayers of our hearts, what would you pray for today? What do you want to tell God? What is the burning desire, the hope for your life, the ache that you feel, the situation you want to lift up to him? What or whom would you pray for today? #aplaceforgrace #prayer

David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. 1 Samuel 23:14 The wilderness is a common setting for events in the Bible. We read in the book of Exodus the story of the Hebrew people wandering in the wilderness for forty years after escaping from Egypt. The prophet Elijah hears that Jezebel wants him killed so he flees into the wilderness (1 Kings 19:3-5). And where does Jesus go to be tempted by the devil after being baptized? Into the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). The wilderness of the Near East is a desolate place, unfit for habitation. The wilderness, with its challenges, is often a place in Scriptures for a time of testing and time to encounter God. Naturally, it is a challenging place to live, so the wilderness became a symbol for isolation. In the Bible the wilderness marks a turning point for those who enter it. A time for them to get away from the distractions of the world. In their aloneness, they come to grips in knowing who they are and whose they are. It also must be noted that the wilderness is always a temporary stopover. For God desires for us to be together in community. There are typically two reasons for venturing into the wilderness: one is either running away from something—away from danger, or is driven into it for a time of testing. Either way, the wilderness can be frightening place, with lots of unknowns as they enter in, plus the shear terror of the experience of being alone. The crucial question for these wilderness moments is like the question of our current sermon series. When faced with such a challenge, how do we respond? Does it drive us toward God, or away from God? In 1 Samuel chapters 23-24, we read of the encounter of David being pursued by King Saul. Saul was jealous of David, of his military conquests and his popularity with the people, and wanted to kill him. David ran into the wilderness (although he was not alone for his army accompanied him.) Saul was so obsessed with hunting him down that he personally went after him with his military might. David hid from Saul going from cave to cave. At one point, Saul entered the cave where David was hiding. David could have easily killed him. But he did not. For Saul was still the King of Israel. Later when Saul and David meet and Saul learns how his life was spared, he was very moved. Saul saw God’s hand in what had happened. He gave up his pursuit of David, for the moment at least. In the wilderness, Saul, with blinders on, was running after David. That is all he could see. Meanwhile David, in the wilderness, was running after God—and found him. David was able to comprehend that God filled the wilderness. The desolate wilderness was still filled with God’s presence, security, and generous love. #aplaceforgrace #wilderness

This week we were in Atlantic Beach enjoying some vacation time away. We ended up watching lots of movies due to Elsa’s arrival. One movie we enjoyed was called, Nomadland (2020), about a woman who after losing everything in the Great Recession, begins a journey as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. Through her travels she encounters other nomads, creating a community of friends with her fellow travelers. It is her community that helps her survive the challenges of living without a permanent home. This reminded me of a season in my life when the community around me carried me through a season of loss. We sat together as a group, about twenty seminary students, silently waiting. In the next room our friend Jon slowly died as the nurses removed the life support system from his body. It had been six long days of ups and downs following Jon’s head-on automobile accident. He had never regained consciousness and on that day, March 11,1997, his body finally gave out. So, we sat, stunned by this turn, not able to feel or comprehend the death of our friend. Never before had I lost a best friend. Never had I been so completely surrounded by a loving support system of fellow believers. For one week, life had stopped as students put their classes and homework aside to sit with those of us who were closest to Jon. Food and bedding were brought to the hospital waiting room. A prayer vigil was maintained for days as we were cared for by those who lived around us. As the nurse announced the time of death, we clung to each other and wept with aching hearts. As I look back at those days and the long hours of sitting and waiting, I am overwhelmed by the love within this community of believers. My understanding of John 15:12 was expanded as I experienced the power of this verse, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” The older I get, the more I recognize the universal need for community. Whether you are a nomad or a long-time member of this church, you need community. As a new member to the family of St. Andrew’s, I have felt the love of this community, embracing our family as we moved into Brandon last summer. Honestly, every church should be defined by John 15:12. Anyone who comes to worship at St. Andrew’s should experience the excessive love of Christ overflowing from the community. Of course, this is dependent on each one of us and our willingness to love as we have been loved. This weekend, look around you. Who can you reach out to and share the love of Christ? I promise you—you will not have to look far. Everyone needs community. #aplaceforgrace #community

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Most of us are familiar with this well-known statement on human rights from the Declaration of Independence. It is interesting that the Founding Fathers declared that we are endowed by our Creator with certain rights and that one of them is the pursuit of happiness. The author Ken Myers writes, “Happiness is roughly synonymous with the biblical idea of ‘blessedness’ … In Christian terms, the pursuit of happiness meant recognizing that God had created us to flourish in the context of obedience to Him so that our image-bearing nature might display His glory.” Yet do not think that the pursuit of happiness is an individual pursuit on a personal level—pursuing “what makes me happy.” The Christian faith is not an individual experience. We journey together in our faith and in our service to God. So, it goes without saying that a Christian understanding of the pursuit of happiness is not an individual experience as well. Happiness or joy comes from being part of a community in which we celebrate God’s abundant goodness that is shared and enjoyed by all. Peter writes in his first epistle this advice for the Christian community, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” 1 Peter 2:16-17 NIV The pursuit of happiness involves striving to find blessedness in obedience to God. We strive to find happiness in God and not in our personal indulgences. Peter says that we are to live as free people, but to not use our God-given freedom to do evil against others. Likewise, we are to not use our Declaration of Independence as a permission slip to deprive others of this happiness. Putting what’s good for us ahead of what’s good for all simply isn’t Christian, nor is it an American ideal. Advancing ourselves at the expense of others simply is un-Christian and un-American. When we work for the good of all—honoring everyone, loving the Christian community—the entire community advances and greater happiness is shared. And this is what we celebrate and honor each and every Independence Day. #aplaceforgrace #independenceday #freedom

"Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance; they exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness." Psalm 89:15-16 This past Tuesday night, Bill Bryan, Lay Leader of our church, and I attended the Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field. I would say that this is one of the official responsibilities of being a Lay Leader—to attend baseball games with the pastor. But I would be fibbing. We are just both baseball fans. That Tuesday night marked a momentous occasion in Rays history because they were calling up the number one prospect in all of baseball. His name is Wander Franco and he is a mere 20-year-old. That evening he was putting on a Rays uniform for the first time and would play in his first major league game. His arrival had been long anticipated, as he is a baseball prospect that comes along maybe once in a generation. Everyone was there to see what Wander would do in his first game. Would he have a slow start? Or would it be a memorable first game? Would he even get a hit? Well, he did. Not only was his first big league hit a home run, but a three-run homer that tied the game. The crowd erupted. I had never experienced a din that loud at Tropicana. It was deafening as well as exhilarating. We were “high five-ing” total strangers around us. It was a joyous experience to behold. Psalm 89 declares, “Happy are the people who know the festal shout.” “Festal shout” is a phrase you may not be familiar with. I know I wasn’t. A festal shout means an acclamation of joy or a battle cry of victory. Yet, it is not simply a shout of triumph, celebration, or joy during times of victory. Nor is it necessarily a cry going forth into battle against an enemy you are sure to defeat. Christian author Kristen Smelzer writes, “Anyone can shout for joy when things are going their way or when triumph is a certainty. But what about when it appears all hope is lost? What about when the odds are not only against you, but victory seems impossible? What about when your unyielding circumstances are washing over you in waves, and you feel you are about to drown?” We can still cry out a festal shout. Faith in Christ allows you to shout in faith and victory when all looks grim—when all evidence is to the contrary. The mark of the community of God is that those who can lift up the festal shout together during these times, that their hope is still in Christ. We gather as God’s people in the church because we “know the festal shout.” #aplaceforgrace #festalshout #faithinchrist #hopeinchrist

This past week our country has endured dangerous record heat waves. My brother lives in Nevada and sent me a screen shot of the temperature, it was 118 degrees! Out west they are having a drought and some areas of California are having to limit their water usage. In the southern Midwest they are concerned about flooding today. For those of us in the Brandon area, we are going to have a gloomy day with lots of clouds and maybe a bit of rain. I mention the weather because I feel like the weather often mirrors the different seasons of our lives. Like droughts and storms, there are times in life of extreme troubles and like the weather, we cannot control them. Sometimes life just happens, and we are forced to make our way through a path we have never traveled before. We wander without a map and without any idea of when we will reach our destination. That path may be an illness, a lost job, a wayward child, a struggling marriage, mental health issues, the list can go on and on. This is when our faith can be most comforting. While the book of Isaiah has many words of warning, it also is full of words of hope. Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.” This is a beautiful reminder that sometimes it may feel like we are walking blindly through life, but the truth is that God is there leading us and guiding our steps. He is actively smoothing out our path to keep us safe and help us move forward in our journey. While it may feel uncomfortable and certainly scary at times, God’s presence is continual and steadfast. He will walk with us until we walk back into the light and once again feel the warmth of the sun and the comfort of a cool breeze. Have a blessed Friday, Pastor Jayne #aplaceforgrace

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another … [Hebrews 10:24-25] I recall a science fiction movie back in the early 1980s that featured a fictional company where everyone in the entire organization was named John. Suffice it to say, it made for a very confusing atmosphere. You can almost say the same thing about the organization of the United Methodist Church, where it seems that everything is called a “conference.” A conference can refer to a geographical area, a body of people, or an actual event. Let me explain. A local church, like St. Andrew’s is part of a group of churches organized in a geographical area called a district. A district superintendent (DS) is an appointed clergy that provides administrative and spiritual leadership for the churches for that district. We currently have an interim DS, the Rev. Dr. Sharon Austin. All the districts in a particular geographical area make up an annual conference. We are in the Florida Annual Conference, which includes all the state of Florida, except the panhandle. And this is where it gets a little confusing because “annual conference” can refer to either the geographical area that makes up the grouping of local churches or to the annual meeting of lay and clergy members within that geographical area of the annual conference. A bishop presides over an annual conference and sometimes presides over two. That will be the case for the current Florida Conference bishop, Bishop Kenneth Carter, who on Sept. 1 will also become the bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference. The reason that I am giving you this quick tutorial of the UMC organization is that today, June 11, marks the beginning of the Florida Annual Conference event, a time when an equal number of lay members and clergy members gather to conduct the business of the conference organization. Yet the conference is more than just a business meeting. It is a time to worship together, pray together, hear the achievements of the many agencies and ministries that make up the Florida Conference: its youth ministries, associated colleges and seminaries, mission work, initiatives on addressing hunger in our communities, and the initiatives on addressing anti-racism, just to name of few. It also is a time to ordain new ministers, celebrate church anniversaries, announce church appointment changes, honor those retiring and remembering those who have passed. For the second year in a row, this year’s Florida Annual Conference will be virtual, which is unfortunate because one of the values of the yearly Conference is being reunited with other clergy and lay people—those you went to seminary with, served together in previous churches, attended spiritual retreats together, and served together on ministry teams. It harkens back to the days of the circuit riders, where Methodists would be scattered across the landscape, sharing the message of Christ and making disciples, yet each year would gather together at the annual conference for spiritual renewal and refreshing. It's a special time for getting reacquainted with old and new friends, with the ties that bind us together with a common mission. For the United Methodist Church is said to be a connectional organization. Connectional simply means that all United Methodist churches are linked to all other United Methodist churches by organization and by purpose as they go about the work of making disciples. The structure of the UMC encourages conferencing. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, considered Christian conferencing among the spiritual disciplines through which God’s grace may be made known to us. Conference may seem to be an overused term in the UMC, yet we understand as we conference together, serve together, worship together, and fellowship together, we can more fully experience and realize the grace of God that is offered to us through His son, Jesus Christ. What a blessing this is! #aplaceforgrace #annualconference

If you have never read the book of Esther in the Old Testament, take some time to sit down and read it. It only takes a few minutes to read. I cannot get into the whole plot right now, for that would take up quite a few paragraphs of this devotion. Yet the story of Esther is a remarkable story and unique for a variety of reasons. For one, if you searched all through the text of the book you will not find any mention of God, or prayer, or any worship practices. But even though God is never mentioned specifically in the text, as you read the story of Esther, you cannot help but see the handiwork of God interwoven all throughout the story. God’s guiding presence can be seen throughout the story as certain events unfold. How often do we go about our business unaware of what God is doing in our lives? We never see a huge neon sign come out of the clouds pointing to something that says, “God is here.” Just like the book of Esther, we do not see signs of God’s work spelled out in big block letters. But the evidence of God is all around us. How often do we fail to detect it as we go about living our lives? There is an anonymous poem that captures this sentiment. “Oh, where is the sea,” the fishes cried, As they swam the Atlantic waters through; “We’ve heard of the sea and the ocean tide And we long to gaze on its water blue.” Just as these fish swim about looking for the sea, we today live and move about in an ocean of God’s providence, but we cannot see the ocean for all the water. We are unaware that God’s presence is all around us. We live in a world where the direct activity of God is comprehended as other things, other reasons. To quote the author J. Wallace Hamilton, “In a world that could not for one moment exist without the activity of God, we have conditioned our minds to a way of thinking that leaves no room for him. So many of our wants are provided by what seem natural and impersonal forces, that we have lost sight of the great Provider in the midst of providence.” It is no wonder that we feel like the fish in the poem, looking for the great ocean of God’s presence among all the water, when it turns out that the ocean is all around us. We are swimming in a sea of grace. #grace #aplaceforgrace #lookforGod

There is an odd little verse that always caught my attention as a child. It was a verse that addresses the issue of divorce in the Bible and its descriptive language made me puzzle over what it meant. Jesus is being tested by the crowd He is preaching to and someone asks Him about divorce. To the question Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning." (Matthew 19:8) It was that part about the men having hard hearts. It clearly was a bad thing and I think I equated it to the Israelite men in the Old Testament who traveled through the dessert for forty years because they complained too much. When you are a kid, life often feels pretty black and white. We think it easy to determine right from wrong. Do you know why Moses allowed the men to divorce their wives in those ancient times? The option of divorce was enacted so men would not hurt, be cruel or even murder the wives they no longer wanted. It was a protection plan for the women who lived in a patriarchal society that gave women very few rights. But what is a hard heart? What causes someone to have a hard heart? It is funny how the longer we live, the wider our perspective becomes. Hard hearts are not a male issue. All people can get a hard heart unintentionally. We get hurt and sometimes our hearts fail to heal. We get busy and distracted and one day we find ourselves struggling with the relationships that mean the most to us. Everyone is susceptible to a hard heart. We just need to set aside our pride and ask God to soften our hearts so that we can love well the people in our lives. Beginning June 6, we will start a new sermon series called Marriage and Other Difficult Relationships. I hope you will join us in worship as we take a practical look at how we can grow and strengthen the relationships God has given to us. Blessings, Pastor Jayne #marriage #aplaceforgrace

This summer, seven girls from St. Andrew's will spend their summer working at Warren Willis Camp in a variety of positions. This is the Florida Conference camp located in Leesburg. I think as a parent of one of these girls, I am so grateful to God that my daughter gets to use her faith this summer to help expand the Kingdom of God. Do I think Gary and I or the other parents of these girls get all the credit for raising a child who would spend a summer helping other kids in their faith journey? Not really. If the parents of these girls are like Gary and me, none of us did it alone. I am so grateful for all the nursery workers, Children’s Directors, Youth Directors, and volunteers that helped us raise our kids in the faith. Thank goodness it was not just up to us. Everyone in the church community is called to serve, yet many do not. My thanks to everyone who takes 1 Peter 4:10 seriously. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” I think it always comes back to God’s grace. If something works, that is God’s grace. If all our efforts to raise kids in the faith do not work, well we still look to God’s grace to be with our kids. It is always grace and grace alone. I do want to say to all the girls: Kayla Wood, Laura Bober, Meredith Rideout, Emily McGinn, Grace and Ellen Oldham, Mabel Kerker, thank you! Thank you for representing St Andrew's this summer with you gifts and talents. I also want to thank their parents for intentionally raising them in the faith. Finally, I want to thank everyone who gives of their time and talents in Christian service to help raise St. Andrew's kids in the faith. #warrenwillis #useyourgifts #aplaceforgrace

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. Exodus 33:7-8 It seems that much of my own prayer life is what I would call “on the run.” As someone who needs prayer comes to mind, I say a short prayer for them at that moment. When I need to ask God for wisdom for a difficult decision, strength to get me through the day, or just to give God thanks for the wonderful and blessed life he has given me, I lift up that prayer right then. Whether I am driving in the car, sitting at my desk, going for a walk, or even taking a shower. Now there is nothing wrong with such prayers. God still hears and responds. Yet sometimes we just need to intentionally get away from the busyness and clamor of the world and be totally focused in praying to God. Give God our undivided attention. Talk to God when we are not distracted or in the midst of the rush of our life. Just as there are times that I need to push aside the commotions of the day and give my total attention to Jayne so that we can just talk and I can truly listen to what she is saying, we need to do the same with God. We need to take that walk to the tent, like Moses. The passage in Exodus tells the account of Moses when he needed to have a talk with God. He took that long walk to the tent of meeting, outside of their camp. I am sure as he took that walk, he slowly unbound himself of the hubbub and commotion that was going on in the camp. He was leaving the distractions behind as he took each step. The people knew it, for they stood at their tent doors and watched. No, “Wait, Moses—I have a quick question for you.” Moses was making that walk, intentionally and deliberately to meet with God. I’m sure there were people that needed attending to, tents that needed repair, camels that needed to be fed, but they could all wait for now. Moses had the discipline to walk away from them for the moment. He needed undisturbed time with God. Don’t we all? But it is so hard to carve out time. Or when we do, to not be distracted by our “To Do” list, or the dings on our cell phones. That’s when we need to take that deliberate walk. The walk away from the noise of the world to the quietness of God. We need to make that walk to the tent. #timewithGod #themeetingtent #aplaceforgrace

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Romans 16:13 NIV In most of Paul’s letters in the New Testament he closes with a personal greeting to a variety of people to those he knows in the church to which he is writing. The longest one is in the book of Romans. It goes on for 27 verses and includes greetings to unfamiliar and foreign-sounding names such as Ampliatus, Aristobulus, and Epenetus. Tucked in the middle of these greetings is a special greeting to Rufus. And not only to Rufus, but to his mother, “who has been a mother to me, too.” We don’t know much about Paul’s mother, for he never mentions her in his writings, for some unexplained reason. Yet here he does have a special relationship with this mother of Rufus. Why would Paul take time out to specifically mention her? Mother’s Day is a day where we take time to celebrate and honor our mothers. It is a day to indulge, pay tribute, and pamper our mothers with gifts, a family meal, and a special time with them. Yet, for others, it is a bittersweet day—for those who do not have children and so dearly want them, for those who no longer have their mother, and for mothers who have lost children. And there are those whose relationship with their own mother can only be described as strained. All these emotions and sentiments can be wrapped into this day, making it a joyful day or a heartbreaking day. Yet Paul’s mention of Rufus’ mother can make us realize that this thing called motherhood has a whole lot more to do than just biology. Maybe there is a whole lot more to motherhood than genetics. What did Rufus’ mother do for Paul for him to say that she has been a mother to him? Was it a gift of encouragement, was she someone who prayed for him, comforted him in time of trials, listened to him, inspired him, cherished and loved him as her own son? Someone who accepted him and believed in him when no one else would? All of these things are qualities of a good mother. My own mother was that for me. Mother’s Day is bittersweet for me, for my mother died three days before Mother’s Day in 2019. I had already bought flowers for her to have sent to her home and had to hurriedly call the florist to cancel the order. Yet there were others that I would describe as being like a mother to me. They had those motherly traits that made me feel loved, accepted and supported. I remember as a child going to church and being surrounded by women who were like that. That is why I always felt comfortable, safe in the church, and felt at home, because I was surrounded by “mothers.” My Sunday school teacher Mrs. Turpen who was one of the first that opened my eyes to the wonder of Scripture. Miss Zelma, who never had children of her own, but treated all the children in the church so caringly and lovingly. Those who taught me about Christ and showed me the love of Christ through their example. This is what God has embodied in this gift of motherhood that we honor this Sunday. Whether it is from a biological mother, or one like a mother, the love of a mother is a Godly love. For as Isaiah 66:13 says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you …” The gift of motherhood is something worth celebrating and honoring—for it is a gift that comes from God. #mothersday #celebratemoms #aplaceforgrace