Pastor Scott's Musings

  [Slide] Keys to Revival: Ongoing Repentance (Psalm 51:1-17)   [Slide] Revival is renewing our love for God. If we long to see revival in our hearts, families, schools, churches, and nation, it must begin with us. It takes our urgent effort to be renewed in God’s love, realizing our future depends on God reviving us, this church, and our nation.   [Slide] When we pursue revival, we will meet obstacles: distraction and sin. Distraction pulls our attention in a hundred directions. [Slide] Remember the blessing-judgment cycle of the Bible. Comfort makes us complacent. We drift into sin. We place other things above God. We pursue other things with more attention and passion than we do our relationship with God.   When we sin, we feel shame. [Slide] Shame tempts us to hide. We hide from God as Adam and Eve did in the garden. But we can’t hide from God. Like a loving Father, He calls us home. The way through sin and shame is repentance: turning away from ...

  Standing On The Promises (2 nd Corinthians 1:16-23)   A couple want to have children, but can't get pregnant...so they go to see their priest. The priest tells them they came just in time. His bishop is sending him to Rome for 10 years, and he's leaving tomorrow. 'As soon as I'll get there, I'll immediately light a candle for you,' he promises. After 10 years, the priest returns his parish. The first thing he does is visit the couple's home. He can hear a crazy loud noise when he knocks on the door. The wife opens the door; three little children on her arms, a couple of them hiding under her skirt, and others behind her playing around. The priest counts as many as ten of them! 'Well this is quite a pleasant surprise,' exclaims the priest. 'It seems like God listened to my prayer. But where is your dear husband?' 'My husband traveled to Rome,' says the wife with a tired look on her face. Rome? Why is he in R...

  [Slide] URGENT & DEPENDENT (1 st Samuel 17:40-51)   The Revival Project studied every major renewal of faith and discovered 6 essential keys to revival. Today we are learning about the first. Let’s first define revival.   David and Goliath: A Revival Story [Slide] At its simplest, revival is you renewing your love for God above all else. Every day, our love for God is in competition with our love for self, for comfort, for every other thing. It’s great to rejoice in other things like Halloween candy and cute kids in costumes. It can be exciting to cheer your favorite team. But do you show the same enthusiasm for God? Revival happens in your heart when you do everything you can to renew your love for God.”   [Slide] Psalm 85 says, “Restore us again.”   Revival happens when God’s people choose to work for revival. It’s a choice we make to place God at the forefront.   Over these 40 days, remind yourself, “I am going to do whatever it ta...

The Old Rugged Cross (1 st Corinthians 1:18-25)   I have a friend who writes songs about sewing machines. He’s a Singer songwriter … or sew it seams What's the difference between a puppy and a singer-songwriter? Eventually the puppy stops whining. George Bennard Composer of The Old Rugged Cross As a songwriter myself, I know that some songs come quickly while others come with difficulty like birthing a baby. The Old Rugged Cross came through a long difficult labor. George Bennard was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1873. When he was still a child his family relocated to Albion, Michigan. Then again to Iowa. Bennard was 16 when his father was killed in a coal mining accident. He assumed his father’s responsibilities and worked in the coal mine for 8 hard years, providing for his mother and siblings. In 1897, he began working for the Salvation Army together with his wife, Araminta Statler Beeler, who he married in 1894. George and Araminta were members of the Methodist Episcopal ...

  Be Thou My Vision (Rom 8:26-39) We are talking about the beloved hymn, Be Thou My Vision. It comes to us from England. Be Thou My Vision is a favorite of King Charles. The hymn was sung at his 2023 coronation. Be Thou My Vision has been published in over 200 hymnals through the years. It consistently makes top 10 or 20 lists of popular hymns in Christianity.     St Patrick Inspiration for Be Thou My Vision Be Thou My Vision started as a 6 th century Gaelic poem, Rop tu mo Baile. It was written in Middle Irish by a blind monk named Dallán Forgaill. His name means little blind one, for he lost his sight from intense study by candlelight. The poem was used as a prayer among the monks. Forgaill wrote the poem in honor of St. Patrick. It was inspired by an earlier monastic poem St Patrick’s Breastplate . You can hear it in the original 3 rd stanza, which is excluded the United Methodist Hymnal.   Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; Be Thou my...