June 14 2020 "How Does A Garden Grow - Disciples?"

June 14 2020 Matthew 9.35-10.8 “How Does a Garden Grow – Disciples?” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

This is our eleventh week of quarantine! We have celebrated graduations in ways that we could not have imagined, we have weathered thunder storms and power outages leading to interruptions in what some in the world experience as luxuries – running water, television, air conditioning, phone, and computer usage. In all things, we give thanks for the God who loves us and never leaves us empty handed. We are always, always blessed.

Our June series of messages focuses on discipleship. Last week it was “Go – Make Disciples.” We make disciples by being a good example. This week the focus is “How Does a Garden Grow – Disciples.”

In the church we are glad when others offer a helping hand. Someone approached me one evening after a big church dinner and said, “Pastor, I am going to help wash dishes today because I realize every time I come to a church dinner, I just eat and fellowship and go home. This time I am going to help with the cleanup.” That was a delight to hear. There is always room for more people to help clean up. Another time, someone mentioned that they had shared good news tracts on a busy street corner and invited people to come to church so more people knew about the good work in the church and may want to participate. Others invited their friends and neighbors to come to church and some even joined. More than anything else, positive affirming relationships working in unity to do the good God gives us to do helps to grow disciples, and helps the church to grow.

There is always, always enough to do in the church. As Jesus reminds us in  Matthew chapter 9 verse 37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. There are many acts of kindness that are needed. There are many souls who would be blessed, enriched, and healed in a relationship with good Christians who are involved in good works that build God’s kin-dom 

Jesus had twelve disciples that he counted on to study his teachings and to meet regularly in a garden and plan their steps for ministry and mission. They were all men on the front lines, but we know that women had a key role. 

We know that women displayed much physical strength, creativity, and ingenuity in their ministry, too.

Just like Jesus sent the early disciples to minister, he sends us to minister. Many of us think that we have no right and no authority to speak for God and to do certain jobs. We may think we are not good enough or we may fear that we will be rejected or criticized.

There are certainly enough examples to inspire us not to give up. Martha Stewart went to jail for fraud and came back with a new cooking show.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, whom we know as Dr. Seuss, was rejected by 27 different publishers. Now the world can’t seem to get enough of him. His books have sold in the millions.  A few weeks ago Kim offered a series of our Sunday morning Facebook lessons using Dr. Seuss books to teach the children how to share, care, and to be inclusive of people from all places.

Oprah Winfrey was fired from a job as an anchor before she owned her own network and became a billionaire. 

Of course, there have been countless missionaries and ministers who have flourished when they could have given up and made excuses for not doing good. 

Rev. Jarena Lee among the first women preachers was born free, though she preached in an age of slavery. Dr. Eric Law an Episcopal priest

 founded the Kaleidoscope Institute that, among other things, trains communities and police forces to burn with passion without consuming each other. Missionary Jim Elliot was sharing the gospel in Ecuador in 1956. He was killed in the process,

 but his wife Elizabeth Elliot forgave the Ecuadorian people and decided to leave her home in Brussels and go to South America to the same people who killed her beloved husband, and she served as a missionary there for two years. Rev. Lydia Moore

has pastored several churches in our Conference. She still rises after taking many lumps and bumps caring for immigrants who suffer.

It is good to keep on keeping on and to not allow fear or failure to knock us off course. We know God has a purpose and a plan and it is so good. If we would just give God a chance.

The gifts and talents God gives to each of us, the bible says, make room for us. They take us in a certain direction and grant us opportunities to earn a livelihood, to be encouraged, and to build others up and to build up the kingdom of God. Romans 14.17 says, the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. What can be better than that? It’s like the Garden of Eden that God designed from the beginning of time.

We all know right living, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is beautiful and we ought to do our best to tend to them and help them grow wherever we can.

Our Christian journey may have a few potholes, a few detours, a few discouragements and disappointments, but there will always be joy in the journey. There will always be a result that shows God loves us, cares for us, and has never left us.

As members of the church, you have a certain authority given you by the church. You represent the church because you legally, according to the laws of the Church, are a member. You know you have gifts. You know you are called to serve, and the church authorizes you to do so, just like Jesus gave authority to the 12 disciples.  Peter and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John; ³Philip, Bartholomew; Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon, and Judas.

Jesus gave them authority, according to verse 10, over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. That is certainly a lot of authority. Medical doctors can cure every disease and every sickness, but not always every time or everywhere and to every degree possible.

Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, healing is a process.  Just as we are growing in our understanding of the Corona virus, we are growing in our understanding of ways to protect ourselves. We all have a part to play in healing and restoring and helping the world to be a healthier place to live.

In one way or another, we are all healers. We all have been given something that repairs and restores others. We endeavor to daily let go of anything we have in our hearts and minds that hurts and hinders the hope of God’s good will.

There may be Christians and others with reputations for having authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. They may be doctors, psychologists, ministers. Still, I believe that all of us have healing in our hands and in our hearts. To one degree or another, at one time or another, we are called and authorized to use our words, our information, our insights, our actions, and anything else we have to cast out an unclean spirit and to heal sickness and disease. All the good we do makes a difference. All the good we do heals and helps somebody somewhere. The bible even tells us how to overcome evil. Romans 12.21 says, overcome evil with good. 

We do good with the understanding that not everyone wants to be healed or delivered. Not everyone wants a cure for what ails them. We all know from personal experience that at times we hold on tightly to heavy burdens that weigh us down and keep us from receiving God’s peace and wholeness we so desperately need. Like a child with a splinter, we pull back from the remedy after we realize that pain and discomfort may come along with healing.

There is a price to be paid for healing. That cost may be emotional or financial. Gaining healing may mean losing face, prestige, position. Or it may mean letting go and letting God or the doctors or someone else be in charge. Healing has a cost.

This one thing is sure, if we want to grow to be the best disciples we can be, we will pray and study and stay in healthy relationships until we find the hundreds of ways God has for us to heal from our broken heartedness and to help others to heal. We will surrender to God’s will and restore the beauty that God designed for all of us to enjoy.

Are you ready to answer God’s call to heal and restore? Are you willing to repent of the way you may have torn down instead of building up? Are you ready to be healed? If so, pray with me now.

Wonderful God, every move we make reminds us that you are the God who heals and restores. Reveal to us this day ways we can build one another up, and if there is any wicked way in us, cleanse us and make us whole. We pray for preachers, teachers, leaders, and missionaries of every nation and station that you would use them to build and restore as you make all things beautiful in your time. We pray as you taught the disciples:

Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 

Benediction – Go forth and grow something beautiful for God’s sake and the sake of all who are hurting and in need of healing.

Next week on father’s day, a father of 6, and a grandfather as well, will share a wonderful Father’s Day message.

If you would like to make your contribution to the ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is  Bethelumchurch.com 

Or you can send to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. God bless you!

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June 7, 2020 Matthew 28.16-20 "Go - Be Disciples"

June 7, 2020 Matthew 28.16-20 “Go – Be Disciples” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

On this the tenth week of our quarantine, this is also Peace with Justice Sunday. It comes with a week of mourning and bewilderment for all that is happening in our country right now. Jesus’ call for us to “be disciples” is a call that is so critical to answer in such a time as this. 

I have to ask. Do you think of yourself as a disciple or do you describe yourself in another way, such as “religious” or “faithful” or “a good member.”

You may have been called a “Chreaster” – one who attends church mostly for Easter and Christmas services, or you might be a “pew warmer.” Today, I want you to think of yourselves as “disciples” because that is who we are at our best. We are followers of Jesus, disciplined in our studies and our behavior because our intention is to be more and more like Jesus.

In the gospel of Matthew chapter 28 Jesus tells the disciples to focus on one thing in particular. You may hear it as I read verses 16-20.

 ¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 

 ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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Jesus asks us to go and make disciples of all nations. That is easy enough to understand. We want to teach by our good example and invite the whole world to love their neighbors as they love themselves.

 It is easier said than done, though, isn’t it? A wise persons once said, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

Jesus asks us to go and make disciples. 

The founder of Methodism was John Wesley. He was, incidentally, born during slavery and the brutal industrial age when children as young as 3 years old could be found working in factories before child labor laws were established.

Wesley took Jesus’ mandate to be a disciple very seriously. 

 He learned well from his mother Susanna who was an extraordinary disciple. Susanna bore 19 children. Eight of them died as infants. She was known for her many methods that led to good discipline. 

She made sure her children managed their time, their minds, and their behavior. She had a method that worked. Her strong teaching is the root of how we became known as Methodists.

The legacy of studying, especially studying God’s word enabled Wesley to read Greek and Latin at the age of ten and graduate from Oxford at 21.  To this day there are 112 schools, colleges, and universities recognized by the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church: 88 colleges and universities, 13 seminaries, 11 historically black institutions and several private secondary schools. That is not to mention the hundreds of workshops, seminars, webinars, podcasts, and opportunities to study that we have at our disposal every year.

Wesley was famous for nurturing class meetings, small groups that prayed, worshipped, studied and kept a holy conversation going. The conversations were designed to help disciples stay in the path of holiness. Discussions involved asking how is it with your soul, confessing ones faults and being forgiven, getting back on the right track, getting right with God and making things right with each other.

In order to make disciples, we must be disciples. Take God seriously. Take each other seriously. Exercise our faith by studying, thinking, praying, serving, and before we know it, someone may suspect that we are Christians by the way we talk and the way we act.

On this Peace with Justice Sunday,

 we would all agree that the world is a better place when there are more of us loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. That is exactly the work of a disciple.

Ralph went deep sea fishing as a part of his birthday celebration and family reunion down south. Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen so I gleaned Ralph’s insights as to how the work of fishing is the same work it takes to be a good disciple.  First, 

Ralph’s team was a team that loved, trusted, enjoyed, and cared for each other as family. They left in the dark of dawn, traveled by boat to the middle of the ocean, two hours away from the safety of land.  He said, “Above all else, you have to have faith that all will be well when you are out there.” 

 You have to have faith.

Second, they looked to the captain who knew exactly where to stop for the best catch. Jesus is our captain.

Thirdly, like the first century disciples, they endured whatever weather came their way. At one point, the rain poured.

 The boat rocked and reeled with very rough waves, some as high as six feet breaking onto the deck. At least one, wished he had brought Dramamine.  

Fourthly, it was helpful that the surrounding seafarers cooperated. All were gracious and polite enough to leave plenty of room for each other.

 The team was not distracted by hostile neighbors. Their total catch was 300 pounds. Each fish weighed from 30 to 220 pounds! They rotated in teams of three as they wrestled with the heavy weight. The youngest people on the boat, ages 26 and 30, caught the biggest fish. 

God does mighty work through young people.

Finally, after waiting patiently for the fish to be cleaned, they spent four hours together cutting and bagging them, preparing to celebrate then and in the future.

Ralph’s birthday celebration was complete with an old fashioned fish fry dinner that evening. It included birthday cake. He never mentioned how many candles were on the cake, but we can certainly see that the work and the rewards of being a good fisherperson are similar to the work and rewards of being a good disciple.

In order to make good disciples, we must be good disciples. Trusting, caring, and working together are critical. Remembering we have a captain is key. Weathering every storm is a must. Faith and patience is important. Making room for the younger folk is urgent. Working and praying for peace and cooperation is primary.

All this we do in order to celebrate the presence of God working the wonders of God’s love in us and around us. We can celebrate because he rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove, the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love. Amen.

I am going to end with the prayer our Bishop Peggy Johnson shared this week as our District began Zoom conversations on race relations:

Gracious God, break our hearts with the things that break your heart.

Lord, heal our land.

Lord, help us find a way forward.

Give us voices where we have been silent.

Give us compassion.

Give us eyes to see our common humanity.

We pray this in Jesus' name.  Amen. (Bishop Peggy Johnson June 2020)

We pray as you taught the disciples.  Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  

Benediction – Keep your eye on Jesus and follow him if you want to be a good disciple. Amen.

If you would like to make your contribution to the ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is  Bethelumchurch.com 

Or you can send to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. Join us next week as we look at Matthew 9 and the topic “How Does a Garden Grow – Disciples?  God bless you!

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May 31,2020 Pentecost, Youth Sunday, "Let Jesus Have Your Heart"

May 31, 2020 Youth Sunday Acts 2.1-21 “Let Jesus Have Your Heart” Pastor Jacqueline Hines and Bethel Youth.

This is the ninth week of quarantine and it is Fifth Sunday which is our Youth Sunday.  We are also celebrating this day as Pentecost. “Pente” is the Greek root of the word fifty. This being the fiftieth day after Easter’s Resurrection Sunday.

Pentecost is a commemoration of the day that children of God gathered and the Holy Spirit entered the room like a windstorm and wildfire. They were held so tightly by the consuming, fiery love of God that they did not know what hit them. It was then that many began giving their hearts to Jesus.

Two thousand years later we are keeping that fire burning. We need the fires of Pentecost in order to fight fire with fire as firefighters do when a forest fire breaks out. Firefighters run ahead of a fire and intentionally start a new fire that clears enough land so when the destructive flames arrive, there is nothing but empty space and the destructive fire goes out.

We need the fires of Pentecost to set our hearts afire with the power of God’s love so there will be less need for fierce firearms or firebugs, sprinkling communities with sparks of hatred. We need a Pentecost fire to erase hot red-lined districts and to keep volcanic cancer alleys cool.

Pentecost reminds us to build fires 

 that melt cold hearts with the kindest words, the gentlest deeds of mercy that nurture the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Those fruit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The young people you see in a moment will share what they will remember most about this time of sheltering in place, where they see God, and what acts of kindness they have been able to accomplish during this trial by fire.  God has provided them with their own Pentecost fire. They have caught the Spirit and we want to listen to them.

We will start with a reading from Acts 2 verses 1-4 

 2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 

 ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Youth presentations. 

Click on the video or copy and paste this link in your browser to view the youth presentation: 
Part 1 - https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=df1e58021d&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1668045962514709393&th=172616f718b6bb91&view=att&disp=safe
Part 2 - Lucas Starner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckj_qC_WYYQ

Thank God for our youth and their families and youth workers supporting them.

My pastoral advice to every young person about everything is this: 1.   Look for God everywhere 2. Pray about everything 3.Love everyone.

Let us pray: God, we thank you for blessing us with young people who keep the fire going. Bless them to give you their hearts every day. Bless us to be good examples that they can pass on to their families and all those who come their way.

We pray as you taught the disciples.  Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  

Benediction - May the fire of God’s love burn in your hearts and lives forever. Amen.

If you would like to make your contribution to the ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is 

Or you can send to    952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. Join us next week as we look at Matthew 28 and the topic “Go – Be Disciples” God bless you!