I preached yesterday at Burks UMC. The topic and title was "Peace and Hope". The scripture was from Romans 5:1-8 (CEB).
The music by Roy Treiyer and Bradley Bee and the band were perfect for the service, as they typically are.
I knew one of the praise band songs, "Holy Spirit". The last song was new to me, but a powerful song and Bradley ended it with a "rip" on the piano. It was "Sing Wherever I Go" by We The Kingdom.
Lyrics:
I enjoy preaching. It gives me life. It has since my first sermon in 1989. It has been a gift for me to be able to pulpit supply preach during my Voluntary Family Leave of Absence (VFLOA). My preaching averages out to almost once a month. When my schedule allows, I fill in for colleagues primarily in the UMC and the ELCA.
I have recently preached at Burks UMC three times-- Pentecost Sunday in May, a week ago in June and yesterday.
Here is yesterday's sermon. The transcript isn't always the exact version of what gets said in a service, but it is fairly close and gives you an idea. I invite you to read it, to see if anything catches your attention.
Peace!
Rev Deb
Sermon:
Romans 5:1-8 (CEB)
June 14, 2026 (3nr Sunday after Pentecost)
Burks UMC
Will you pray with me?
"God, open our hearts and minds so we can fully receive the Truth we need to hear today. Kindle your Truth in our hearts so others would see it revealed through our lives. Following Christ we pray. AMEN.". (Prayer for Illumination)
As
we dig into today’s passage, here are some questions for us to consider:
·
Where
do you need hope? Where do you find hope?
·
Where
do you need peace? Where do you find peace?
· What gives you hope? What gives you peace?
Verse 1 tells us that we have peace through Jesus Christ. It seems straight forward and easy enough, doesn’t it? Yet, how do we access that peace? And before we can answer that question, maybe we need to define what peace is.
Weekly we pass the peace of Jesus Christ to one another in worship. What is it that we are sharing? Jesus greeted the disciples with the expression “peace be with you” in several Scriptures.
John
14:27—Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
John 20:19, 20—after Jesus’ resurrection, he went to the upper room where the disciples were behind a closed door, Jesus appeared and said “Peace be with you”. He then showed them his scars and said again, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus is offering the disciples “peace”—tranquility and calm in times of chaos, grief, uncertainty.
That’s the peace we offer one another. It’s a peace that brings us together in unity, it is a peace that shows we are reconciled to God and one another, it’s a peace that transcends understanding.
Peace
is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
Peace is used in opening and closing greetings in the writings of Paul and others.
Now that we’ve looked at what it is, how do we access it? How and where do we find it?
Peace begins within us, in our inner beings. When we slow down, reflect on Scripture, engage in other spiritual practices, we can experience peace.
Breath prayers are a way to breathe in deeply and meditate on Scripture, focus on God. “Be still and know that I am God.” Or “Peace, be still.” Are ones that are my go-to verses. Let’s try the breath prayer. Breathing in, say the first part: “Peace”. Breathing out, say the 2nd part: “be still”. Take deep breaths and repeat it a few times.
Praying
a labyrinth can give us peace as we walk in to the center praying about the
people and situations on our minds. In the center we can “be” for a moment. In
walking back out we can give thanks to God for the things that come to mind.
That time with God always gives me peace. I enjoy the labyrinth we have here at
Burks, on the back of the property. It’s easily accessible and a good place to
even sit and “be” on the benches on the outside of the labyrinth. Labyrinth
prayer walk times are a top spiritual practice for me. So much so, that for
this year’s World Labyrinth day in May, I made a labyrinth out of rocks in our
back yard. It’s small. It doesn’t take long to pray it, but it offers me peace.
We will find peace as we let go of the things we cannot control.
We can find peace in nature—whether it is a special place or listening to the birds outside. Being in and observing nature offers us peace. It calms us.
Maybe there is another way that you find peace. Think about that. Do it. Engage in conversation with others to find out their peace practices.
Last week we sang “Praise ye the Lord” together.
We could sing “Peace like a river” (I’ve got peace like a river in my soul) and do the motions, but we won’t. J I will admit that I enjoy the songs from “old” and VBS.
Hope.
Hope
comes at the end of a list in today’s passage in verse 4: “Endurance produces character and character
produces hope”. The endurance mentioned is through difficult times and
situations or trouble. So, basically, hope comes to us through the hard times.
That’s counterintuitive, right? We grow in hope as we go through difficult
times. How can that be?
Perspective. It’s about perspective. When we are going through difficult times, we can recognize that the situation, the moment isn’t the entire picture. We can look beyond the circumstances, we can offer gratitude for things and people in the midst of whatever we are going through.
Noticing a birds’ nest with eggs, seeing the first hummingbird of the season, watching the sunrise, seeing the plants bud and bloom. These are things that can offer us hope.
Acts of kindness offer us hope in humanity. As we do things for others and see others doing things for others, hope grows.
I mentioned offering gratitude. Some people keep a gratitude journal. They write down 1-3 things a day for which they are thankful. Think of one thing right now for which you are grateful. Write it down. (Ask people to share.) As we reflect on gratitude, hope can not NOT grow.
Being in community with others offers us hope. We share our struggles and our joys with one another.
Romans 12:12 (CEV—Contemporary English Version) Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying.
As we practice peace and hope, we grow in peace and hope. Not only will they become a part of us, they will overflow into the lives of others.
As the band comes to set up, I will share one more verse with you from Romans 15:13 that brings together today’s themes. Write down the reference. Look it up later.
Romans 15:13-- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Repeat it.)
Romans 15:13-- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Will you pray with me?
God of peace and hope, we don’t always feel peace or hope. However, we believe that peace and hope can be ours. Help us find ways to live into peace and hope, to be beacons of peace of hope for others. Fill us with the joy, peace, and hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. DD 6/14/26
