Our Church Speaks

                 

(Psalm 24, 51)

November 2, 2025 — Stetson Memorial UMC

My Psalm in Gratitude Month

Dear Stetson Memorial UMC family, over the past two months, we have been writing our own Psalms and listening to one another’s. We also celebrated many church ministries through beautiful testimonies. If you still have a Psalm in your heart, please share it this month as we continue My Psalm in November.

I invite you to read through the Book of Psalms this month. The Psalms are songs and prayers that give us words when we are overwhelmed or unsure how to pray. Reading them can help you discover your own Psalm.

There are 150 Psalms. If you read five a day, you can finish in November. Or, if you read one of the five sections each week, you will finish by December 7. That day, we’ll have a small ceremony to celebrate those who have completed the reading.

November is also our Gratitude Month. A Thanksgiving tree will be set up in the back of the sanctuary. If you are thankful for something this past year, write it on a leaf and hang it on the tree. You may also bring a special offering of gratitude this month. Next Sunday, we will celebrate Gratitude Sunday as faithful stewards of God’s blessings.

 

All Saints Sunday

Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday. The early church began honoring Christian martyrs around the 4th century. By the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV set November 1 as All Saints’ Day to remember all believers—known and unknown—who have gone before us in faith. We observe it on the Sunday following November 1.

Who are the saints? They are not perfect people but faithful followers of Christ whose lives point to God. Their examples encourage us to run our race with faith and endurance.

Hebrews 12:1–2 says,

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

In Our Church Speaks, Benjamin Terry Lansing and Daniel John Marotta Sr. describe how saints quietly reflect God’s light in a world obsessed with fame:

The celebrity demands, “Look at me!”
The saint whispers, “Look to God.”
The celebrity says, “Try to be like me, but you never will.”
The saint says, “Why would you want to be like me? Who has God made you?”
The celebrity climbs higher for glory.
The saint kneels lower to serve.
The celebrity offers everything you want but can never keep.
The saint offers what you fear but what will redeem your soul.
The celebrity is a Ferrari on the highway, music blaring.
The saint is a quiet stream beside the road, almost hidden, yet still singing.
Those who have ears, let them hear. Our church speaks.

 

David’s Psalm 51

Even saints are human. They are not perfect; they are forgiven.

King David—called “a man after God’s own heart”—committed great sin when he took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and arranged Uriah’s death. Yet when the prophet Nathan confronted him, David did not deny or defend himself. He repented and cried out to God.

Psalm 51 came from that repentance:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” (v. 1)

David wrote this Psalm, even though it was shameful, because he wanted others to learn who God is. He said,

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will return to you.” (v. 13)

Through his failure, David became a teacher of grace. His story shows that even in our guilt, we can lead others back to God’s mercy. Our church speaks.

 

St. Augustine’s Confessions

St. Augustine of Hippo lived in the 4th and 5th centuries. Before meeting Christ, he lived for pleasure and pride, while his mother, Monica, prayed for him for over thirty years.

When God finally captured his heart, Augustine wrote Confessions—not as a record of shame but as a testimony of grace. It was both a prayer to God and a teaching for the Church. He wanted believers to see how God’s mercy can reach even the farthest heart.

He wrote,

“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Through Confessions, Augustine became one of our teachers—one of our church’s voices. His honesty helps us look inside our hearts and believe that no sin is too deep for grace. His life says, “Transformation is possible.” Our church speaks.

 

My Psalm 51

Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, in their book Lead Like Jesus (2005), say that true leadership begins with the heart. A leader is not someone distant, but one who influences others through humility, service, and love.

When I think of those who influenced me most, I remember my grandparents. They were not famous, but they are my saints. Their simple rule of life—“Only Jesus”—taught me to read the Bible, pray, and trust God. Every day they got up at 3:00 am. I owe my calling as a pastor to their faithful example.

However, after becoming a pastor, I also had to write my own Psalm 51. One day, while reading Eugene Peterson, in The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, he warns that busyness is “the enemy of spirituality.” He wrote, “The adjective ‘busy’ is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection.”

Also, while reading Rev. Kim Young-bong’s A Preacher’s Week, I realized how guilty I was as a pastor. I had been busy doing many things, but not the most important things—praying, preaching, and listening. I wept and repented for several days.

God forgave me and gave me another chance. Through that grace, I learned again what it means to be a shepherd under the real Shepherd. Now my desire is not to be a busy pastor, but a praying, preaching, and listening one. God has spoken to me through all the saints in their writings. Our church speaks.

 

 The Journey to Be a Saint

A few weeks ago, several people in our community passed away. I attended three funerals in one week. Funerals remind us that we cannot choose our birthday or the day we die—but we can choose how we live between them.

Every life speaks a message. Some lives show us the right path; others warn us what to avoid. Saints in our lives still speak today.

Psalm 24 was sung when Israel carried the Ark into Jerusalem. It asks,

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.”

The gates in Psalm 24 symbolize Jerusalem, the Temple, and the gates of heaven. When Christ returns, those gates will open wide for the saints who have been cleansed through His blood.

Are we ready to be called saints for the next generation? Let us live as the communion of saints—speaking God’s mercy through our lives.

“The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

There is nothing but the blood of Jesus that can make us saints. Our church speaks. Amen.

 

Let us pause in silence and pray:

“Lord, create in me a pure heart. Cleanse my iniquity. Reveal my sin. Have mercy on me.”

 

Closing Prayer

Merciful God,
We come before You as sinners, with humble and broken hearts.
Forgive our transgressions, as You forgave David, St. Augustine, and all the saints.
Our sin is great, but Your mercy and love are greater.
Happy are those whose sins are forgiven!
Thank You, Lord, for reminding us that there is power in the blood of Jesus.
Help us to walk this journey with You and with all the communion of saints.
In Jesus’ holy name we pray, Amen.