Beginning Again 09.06.2026 w/ Rev. Cathy Joens

Sep 06, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Backpacks filled with more than supplies

The weight children carry into new beginnings isn’t just notebooks and pencils. For those emerging from instability, a backpack holds both practical needs and invisible burdens—fear of abandonment, shame from lack, or memories of neglect. Yet consistent care can transform these burdens into hope. When communities provide not just materials but steadfast love, they mirror Christ’s relentless commitment. Every lunchbox packed, every ride to school, every patient tutoring session becomes a sermon in flesh: You are seen. You belong. [27:41]

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
(Ephesians 4:2-3, NIV)

Reflection: What tangible act of care could you offer this week to help someone carry their burdens lighter? How might your consistency reflect God’s unwavering love?

Day 2: When “I’ll pick you up” becomes a covenant

For children who’ve known abandonment, promises like “I’ll be there after school” feel risky. Trust is built through repeated faithfulness—showing up, remembering details, choosing gentleness over frustration. This mirrors how Christ’s love stays present even when we doubt. Foster parents, tutors, and mentors become living parables of a God who never leaves, teaching wounded hearts to hope again. [31:19]

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
(1 John 4:18, NIV)

Reflection: Where has someone’s faithful presence helped you trust again? How can you create safe spaces for others to risk believing promises?

Day 3: Bulkier muscles, stronger hearts

The young man lifting weights to make the football team didn’t just build physical strength. With each rep, he gained confidence that effort leads to growth—a truth his mentors embodied. Spiritual muscles form similarly: humility grows when we prioritize others’ needs, gentleness strengthens through patient practice, and love endures by choosing sacrifice daily. [26:31]

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
(Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)

Reflection: What “spiritual muscle” is God strengthening in you this season? How can you encourage someone else’s growth today?

Day 4: Graduation gowns over orphan labels

The girl who caught up two school years didn’t just earn credits—she shed lies of worthlessness. Every tutoring session declared, Your future matters. When the church invests in marginalized youth, we reject society’s hierarchies and proclaim Christ’s upside-down kingdom. Success isn’t just diplomas but dismantling shame, replacing “orphan” with “beloved.” [29:01]

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
(Galatians 3:26-27, NIV)

Reflection: What false label have you or someone you love struggled to shed? How can you affirm God’s truer name over them this week?

Day 5: Communion as the ultimate new beginning

The table resets everything. Here, the football player, the once-failing student, the foster parent, and the weary volunteer kneel together. Bread and juice remind us that every fresh start flows from Christ’s sacrifice. As schools reopen and programs relaunch, this meal whispers: Your labor isn’t yours alone. My body broken for you fuels your breaking-open for others. [42:18]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
(2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: What “old” thing is Christ inviting you to release at His table? What newness might He birth through your surrendered yes?

Sermon Summary

New beginnings show up all around the fall season. School starts, schedules fill up, Bible studies and Sunday school crank back up, and families settle into a new rhythm. Epworth’s children are stepping into that same season, but many of them carry more than new backpacks and school supplies. Neglect, fear, missed school, uncertainty about meals, and the question of who will pick them up after school can all come with them.

Epworth’s staff and foster parents make room for children to begin again. A young man who worked all summer can walk onto his high school football team. A young woman who came in two years behind can start tech in Columbia and move toward becoming a teacher. God uses patient people, tutors, foster parents, churches, and steady care to help children catch up, feel valued, and see that their lives can go somewhere.

The consistency of love matters because so much has been given and taken away from these children. Christ’s love says, “I’m gonna love you no matter what.” The church puts that love into motion when it supports foster families, provides what children need, and stands behind graduates, even when those children may not know every hand that helped them get there.

Paul urges the church to “live a life worthy of the calling” it has received. The passage names the kind of love that makes room for wounded people: complete humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. Humility takes the focus off personal convenience and asks what another person needs to become the very best they can be. Gentleness does not mean loosey goosey or saying yes to everything. Gentleness stays calm and clear. Clear is kind, and sometimes firm is kind.

The body of Christ becomes a place of safety when it says the same thing together: every child has great value. The children learning Noah’s story, singing that there is no fear in the love of Jesus, and growing confident in faith are evidence of a beautiful new beginning. New beginnings call the church not to rush ahead, but to pay attention. God gives fresh opportunities to shift thinking, love deeper, give in new ways, and do what once seemed impossible.

The holy meal gathers that calling into one place. Christ unites his people through his body and blood, and the table reminds them that every new season begins in the love that has already held them.

Key Takeaways

1. Consistency of love builds trust [32:43] The consistency of care matters deeply when a child has learned that good things can disappear without warning. Christ’s love does not make a promise and then pull it back. The church reflects that love through presence that remains, care that follows through, and relationships that do not run away when fear acts out. [32:43]
2. Gentleness stays calm and clear [36:10] Gentleness is not weakness, vagueness, or giving in to every demand. Gentleness can say no without becoming fast and furious. Clear boundaries can become a form of kindness when they show a child that love is steady enough to tell the truth. [36:10]
3. Every child carries great value [37:18] A child’s background does not determine a child’s worth. Foster children, adopted children, children in residential care, and children raised in stable homes all need adults who see more than behavior or baggage. The body of Christ bears witness to God’s image in every child when it makes that value visible through care. [37:18]
4. New beginnings invite deeper obedience [40:51] New seasons can become more than a return to busy schedules. God can use a restart to shift old patterns, deepen love, and open doors for service that once felt out of reach. A faithful beginning pauses long enough to ask what God is giving and what God is asking.

## [40:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[23:35] - A Season of New Beginnings
[24:39] - School, Church, and Fresh Rhythms
[26:10] - Epworth Children Starting School
[28:21] - The Baggage Children Carry
[29:36] - A New Beginning Through Education
[30:53] - Foster Care and Steady Presence
[32:43] - The Consistency of Love
[34:22] - Paul’s Call to Humility and Patience
[35:52] - What Christlike Love Looks Like
[37:18] - Every Child Has Great Value
[39:15] - Supporting Foster Families
[40:51] - Paying Attention to Fresh Opportunities
[42:18] - United at the Holy Table

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Ephesians 4:1–3
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” [34:22]

1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who

Sermon Clips

83s

#LoveLikeChrist

“I'm gonna show you the love of Christ. And it's gonna look like this. It's gonna look humble. So, you know, it's not gonna be about me. It's gonna be about you and what you need to be the very best you can be. It's gonna look gentle. let me be clear, gentle doesn't mean loosey goosey, and it doesn't always mean yes. Right? Gentle means that we're calm and clear. Gentle means that we're not fast and furious. It looks like hope. It looks like kindness. And let me be clear, clear is kind. Right? Sometimes firm is kind. But that's what it looks like.”

80s

#ChildrenHaveValue

“It looks like hope. It looks like kindness. And let me be clear, clear is kind. Right? Sometimes firm is kind. But that's what it looks like. it looks like, especially when we, the body of Christ, Christians in the faith journeying together, it looks like we are together on it. And we're saying the same thing. All children, regardless of their background, regardless of whether or not they're adopted, whether or not they're foster, whether or not they're in a residential living, whether or not they're in our homes, and they're our very own, birthed They have great value, and they are learning to be in this world.”

86s

#LoveBeyondLimits

“You see, when you're working with any child, these lovely, wonderful children down here, a foster child, an adopted child, a preschooler who has mental or cognitive delays or physical delays trying to get ready for preschool. Anytime we're dealing with this, it requires a love that is beyond human ability. You know what I mean? That something that calls you beyond yourself, that something that says and looks at another human being and says, you are valuable. And even though you don't act like it sometimes, even though your fears get a hold of you and you act out, I'm gonna show you the love of Christ. And it's gonna look like this. It's gonna look humble. So, you know, it's not gonna be about me. It's gonna be about you and what you need to be the very best you can be.”

62s

#GentleButFirm

“It's gonna look gentle. let me be clear, gentle doesn't mean loosey goosey, and it doesn't always mean yes. Right? Gentle means that we're calm and clear. Gentle means that we're not fast and furious. It looks like hope. It looks like kindness. And let me be clear, clear is kind. Right? Sometimes firm is kind. But that's what it looks like.”

57s

#OpportunitiesToRestart

“that when you are beginning again, it's really important to pay attention to the opportunities of restarting. The opportunities to shift our thinking, the opportunities to love deeper, the opportunities to give in in more ways, the opportunities to do things that you may not have ever thought that you could do. I just, had Charity, come up and speak to me before. Y'all know Charity back there? Charity and her husband, her family had been here for one year. And today, the first time she came was a year ago when I was here preaching with you and celebrating with you.”

35s

#BeginAgainOpportunities

64s

#HumbleService

“Anytime we're dealing with this, it requires a love that is beyond human ability. You know what I mean? That something that calls you beyond yourself, that something that says and looks at another human being and says, you are valuable. And even though you don't act like it sometimes, even though your fears get a hold of you and you act out, I'm gonna show you the love of Christ. And it's gonna look like this. It's gonna look humble. So, you know, it's not gonna be about me. It's gonna be about you and what you need to be the very best you can be.”

57s

#TogetherForEveryChild

“it looks like, especially when we, the body of Christ, Christians in the faith journeying together, it looks like we are together on it. And we're saying the same thing. All children, regardless of their background, regardless of whether or not they're adopted, whether or not they're foster, whether or not they're in a residential living, whether or not they're in our homes, and they're our very own, birthed They have great value, and they are learning to be in this world.”

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