Coronavirus Response

  • Home
  • A-Z List
  • About
    • About the NCC
    • Connectional Table
    • Staff
  • Calendar
    • Events
    • Google Calendar
    • Past Events
  • Churches
  • Contact
    • Find Us
  • Districts
    • District Office
    • Beacon
    • Capital
    • Corridor
    • Fairway
    • Gateway
    • Harbor
    • Heritage
    • Sound
  • Employment
  • Search

NC Conference

Healthy Congregations and Effective Leaders in Every Place Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World

  • Discipleship
    Developing Disciples
    • Christian Formation
      • Children
      • Church & Society
      • College
      • Differently Abled Persons
      • Educational Ministries
      • Older Adults
      • Status & Role of Women
      • Young Adults
      • Youth
    • Church Revitalization
      • Coaching
      • Disciple Making Way
      • Evangelism
      • Grants
      • MissionInsite
      • Real Discipleship Survey
      • Shift
      • Spiritual Life
    • From the Bishop
      • Bishop’s Bookshelf
      • Bishop’s Sermons
      • Church Transformation
      • Conflict Transformation
      • Connections
      • Discipleship & Learning Plan
    • Multicultural
      • Anti-Racism
      • Asian
      • Hispanic-Latinx
      • Native American
      • Strengthening the Black Church
    • Stewardship
      • Apportionments
      • District Remittances
      • Financial Discipleship
      • Grants
      • Insurance
      • Mission & Service
      • Pension
      • Treasurer Training
  • Leadership
    Strengthening Leaders
    • Bishop’s Office
      • Appointment Book
      • Bishop’s Sermons
      • Church Transformation
      • Conflict Transformation
      • Connections
      • Discipleship & Learning Plan
    • Ministerial Relations
      • Board of Ordained Ministry
      • Called to Ministry?
      • Extension Ministries
    • Board of Laity
      • Certified Lay Minister
      • Lay Servant Ministries
      • Local Church Lay Leaders
      • United Methodist Men
      • United Methodist Women
      • United Methodist Youth
    • New Faith Comm.
      • Called to Plant?
      • New Room Society
      • Our Communities
    • Conference Offices
      • Center for Leadership Excellence
      • Christian Formation
      • Communications
      • Conference Secretary
      • Connectional Ministries
      • Information Technology
      • Multicultural Ministries
      • Outreach Ministry
      • Treasurer’s Office
  • Service
    Ministering To The World
    • Local Outreach
      • Church Construction
      • Church Loans
      • Restorative Justice and Mercy
      • Disciple Bible Outreach
      • NCC UMVIM
      • Seed Funds
      • Mission Projects
        • Health Ministry
    • Global Outreach
      • Imagine No Malaria
      • Love for Liberia
      • Missionaries
      • Project AGAPE
      • Sierra Leone: Mission of Hope
      • ZOE
    • Disaster Ministries
      • Donate to Storm Response
      • Hurricane Florence
      • MERCI
      • Response Plan
      • Response Team
      • UMCOR Kits
    • Giving
      • Advance/Rainbow Covenant
      • Apportionments
      • Give to Storm Response
      • Mission & Service
      • The Gary Wayne Locklear Mission Endowment
      • New Room Society
      • Special Sundays
    • Ministry Partners
      • Camps & Retreats
      • Partners In Ministry
      • Robeson Co. Church & CC
      • UMF
  • Resources
    Supporting Ministry
    • Conferences
      • Annual Conference 2020
      • Annual Conference 2021
      • Charge Conference 2020
      • General Conference
      • Pilgrimage
      • SEJ Conference 2016
    • Media Center
      • Catalog
      • Labyrinth
      • Ministry Tools
      • Online Resources
      • Weekly Newsletter
    • Online Resources
      • Anti-Racism
      • Archives & History
      • Church Lookup
      • Online Data Collection
      • Online Learning
      • Pastor Lookup
      • Podcasts (NCCUMC.FM)
      • Ramus: Web Hosting
      • Video (Vimeo)
    • Publications
      • Advent 2020
      • Appointment Book
      • Bible Study
      • Conference Directory
      • Conference Journal
      • Every Day Grace
      • Lenten Reflections
      • Mission & Service
    • From UMC.org
      • Agencies
      • Communications
      • Discipleship
      • Finance & Administration
      • Global Ministries
      • Graphics Library
      • Relief
      • Status & Role of Women
  • Bishop’s Office
  • About Bishop Ward
    • Biography
    • Bookshelf
    • Calendar
  • Appointment Book
  • Events
    • 2020 Asia Mission Initiative Summit /Vietnam Consultation
  • Reports & Rulings
    • Episcopal Rulings
  • Sermons
  • More
    • Conflict Transformation
    • Discipleship Plan
    • Emmaus
    • Lenten Reflections

connections: praying for those that labor

August 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

As Labor Day approaches, Bishop Ward asks us to be mindful of the workers, the laborers, in our communities and in our counties, and to give thanks to God for the opportunity to work and for justice for all laborers.

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ asked the disciples long ago, “Who do you say that I am,” and Peter answered, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was pleased and said, “Yes, Simon Peter, you are Peter, the rock. On you I will build my church, and the gates of the underworld shall not prevail against it.” The Common English Bible uses that word, “underworld.” What an image that is. The powers of evil unleashed in the underworld. The power of God unleashed to be victorious over it.

We, who are United Methodist people, know the strong Wesleyan tradition of personal and social holiness, and as we hear this strong text in this particular week, as we approach Labor Day, we give thanks for the work that God gives us to do in the world. We give thanks for a vocation. We give thanks for meaningful work and we also recognize the stresses and troubles of those for whom work is a burden.

Very recently, members of Parliament visited here in North Carolina. They came to visit the fields in which laborers were at work, and being objective outsiders, they were astonished and dismayed by the conditions in which many farm workers labor day by day. Let us look around in our neighborhoods, in our communities, in our counties, and be awakened to the realities of our responsibility as God’s people to create laboring conditions for everyone who toils.

This Labor Day, let us pray for workers in every place. Let us pray for those who employ and supervise workers. Let us pray for workers who feel trapped and afraid as they work. Let us pray for their families, even their families who are far away from the place in which they labor. And let us be determined in our own time, to be the rock upon which God is building the incoming, in-breaking realm of Jesus Christ. And let us work for justice and peace day by day in every place.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: Connections Tagged With: Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Connections, justice, labor, peace

connections

connections: Native American Ministries Offering

connections: Second Chances

connections: Vigilance

connections: Unbind Them

connections: UMAC Communicator of the Year

connections: Mothers in Israel

connections: Connected in Profound Ways

connections: Welcoming the Stranger

connections: Joy & Sorrow

connections: Dust and Ashes

NC Conference of The United Methodist Church · 700 Waterfield Ridge Place · Garner, NC 27529
Phone: 919.779.6115 · Toll-free: 800.849.4433 · Fax: 919.773.2308

Copyright © 2021 · Privacy Policy · Powered by WordPress · Site Admin

  • Español
  • 한국어