Skip to main content

Epworth Devotional 2021

Responses to Hope in the Wilderness 

This year’s devotional, Hope in the Wilderness, was put together with input from members of the congregation. Some submitted photos, pictures they drew, coloring pages, essays and poetry they or someone else wrote, and quotes. Then everyone was invited to join in conversations with friends and family or on Facebook. 


Below are some of the responses received on Epworth Facebook pages. Responses were sparse and far apart timewise. Clearly we missed the fellowship of in-person Lenten Study.


 

February 19

I decided to color today’s Lenten Devotion. I was praying for people I’ve had the privilege to teach, coach, and train. I recognized the things I learned from those same folks. Who are you nourishing? Or what are you nourishing that will grow and bloom?

 

March 5

Today’s entry has me meditating on change, constancy, time, and perspective.


What does this devotion raise in you?

  • My earliest childhood memories include our garden roses and the song of the robin. According to fossil evidence, there have been roses for 35 million years.
  • The glory of the Lord shall be revealed in the beauty roses, rocks, and the song of the robin. A task in my lifetime is protect nature from abuse and destruction.
  • She's sitting on a rock bringing to mind these lyrics: "On Christ the solid rock I stand / All other ground is sinking sand." I went in the opposite direction and focused on the sinking sand -- things that change and our own mutability.
  • I was also thinking about how sometimes a thing can seem to last forever (maybe like winter), but years of life inform us that winter gives way to spring every year.

 

March 16: Family

It has been a little while since I posted about the Lenten Booklet. I would LOVE to hear your answers to the second question from today: how is BEing Church like being family? GO

  • Common threads that bind.
  • According to a commercial on TV, family are the people you cook for. Can you say "potluck?"
  • Family are people you love through disappointments, disagreements, conflicts, and frustrations. We are called into God's unconditional love "to act with justice, to love tenderly, to serve one another."
  • Family are people who celebrate your joys with you, support you through loss, and respond "when you need somebody to lean on."

 


March 20

This was the coloring page the week Pastor Steve announced his new appointment and we learned about possible return to in-person worship.

 

Some Devotional responses, including coloring pages, were mailed in but the Echoes has not yet been at church to retrieve them. 

 

You can continue to post online or mail to the church and we will continue to share them in future Echoes.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pastor’s Column

  God’s timing, God’s plans Fellow Epworthians - As I sit here in my dad’s hospice room on the cusp of Holy Week, many things are rolling around in my head and in my heart. Obviously, I have a basic overlay of grief and sorrow. Infused into that are unsurprisingly disappointment, frustration, and perhaps some anger. Additionally, there are some warm feelings brought about by precious memories. Perhaps finally, for me, there is a both intellectual and spiritual curiosity – the desire to understand, especially to understand why. I’m sure you’ve all felt these very same feelings, perhaps recently. Over the last couple of weeks, my mother has regularly said an oft spoken idea, “God’s timing is perfect.” I’ve heard this same brought into conversation in challenging moments, especially when patience is required. Let’s think about God’s timing together. First, there is no Scripture that states unequivocally this understanding of God’s timing. Ecclesiastes 3:1 does say, “For everything there i
Post a Comment
Read more

Sorrow, blessing, faith

Pastor Steve appointed to new congregation By Nancy Meisel Youngman, SPRC Chair   On March 14, Pastor Steve Reiser announced that Bishop David Bard has appointed him to a different congregation in the Twin Cities.  After five years of serving at Epworth, Pastor Steve and his family will begin a ministry at, ‘Silver Lake UMC Fresh Expression.” The Resiers will begin this new ministry as of July 1, 2021.  Twin Cities District Superintendent Dan Johnson is working with Epworth’s Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee to appoint a new pastor for our church.  As Pastor Steve Reiser said in his letter to the congregation, “Our church’s profile, past consultations, our current ministries and God’s direction will inform the new appointment.”  As a congregation, we have journeyed together through the Year of Love and the Year of Action. Now our focus is on a Year of Justice. We extend our gratitude to Pastor Steve and Berri Reiser for guiding and accompanying us on this journey. We were also b
Post a Comment
Read more