This week we are looking at Hannah’s story of faithfulness and persistant prayer even when everything seemed stacked against her. In a place that seemed barren and hopeless, she dared to believe that new life was possible, not just for herself and her family, but for all of Israel.

What holy longing keeps you returning to God even when nobody else understands? How is God’s grace meeting you in the waiting and uncertainty along the way?

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

A bit of background on this new sermon series: Where Grace Meets Shiloh.

In January, Grace United Methodist & Shiloh United Methodist merged and became a single congregation at Shiloh.

The next four weeks, I’m looking at the historic “Shiloh” in scripture to see how the people of Israel encountered God’s grace in that holy place and what lessons their experience might still hold for us today.

This week we’re looking at God’s call for the people not to get too comfortable at Shiloh, and to keep going out to fulfill what God had called them too. In our case, it’s not about conquest, but about being a blessing to the community beyond our walls.

Just like he said to the people of ancient Shiloh, God still says to us, “What are you waiting for?”

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

This week is a bit different and shorter than usual. Three or four times a year, we have “Breakfast Church” where a large portion of the service is spent in table conversations around the message topic.

This week, the topic is prayer.

This podcast episode offers my brief reflections on how our prayer lives change and adapt over time and concludes with the questions we disucussed at our tables.

I invite you this week to reflect on how your own prayer life has changed and to consider what is most life-giving in your current way of praying and what challenges you may still have with prayer.

The linked reflections offer a list of many different forms of prayer you may want to try to deepen your own relationship with God.

Enjoy

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa