By what authority do you speak?

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Mark 1:21-28 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Year B By What Authority Do you speak? Introduction: the authority to get a ticket I should have known that the offer was too good to be true. I saw in the paper, and add that said that a new movie theater was opening, and that all movies were free on that day. There was even an ad for free popcorn. So off to the movies I went that night. The movie was free, the popcorn was free. The speeding ticket that I got while driving to the theater was $90. The policeman turned on his lights, stopped me, and told me what I did wrong, and rubbed it in, and was it really worth it to speed to the theater. What is the authority of the police officer or pastor – the office I tell that story, because we all know that if we see flashing lights behind us that we need to stop. We know that the law tells us that we are to cooperate with the police whenever they stop us. but by what authority does a police officer have control over our actions? It is not in who the police officer is, it is in his/her office. Their authority is in those flashing lights, in that uniform, in who they are as a police officer, not in who they are as a person. It is sort of like being a pastor- the authority of what I preach, teach, and manage is in the office of pastor, not in the personhood of Harriette Cross. Today we are going to talk about power and authority. Where does power and authority come from. What was it that gave Jesus power and authority? Why was he able to speak with such authority? How did Jesus end of speaking in the synagogue? Jewish society was a very ordered society. Jewish worship was very ordered. There were assigned roles for everyone. It was the rabbi who spoke and interpreted the scripture. The synagogue was the place of teaching and remembering. Worship consisted of coming to the synagogue, listening to a lay person read scripture and the rabbi interpreting it. There was no singing, no liturgy, and no work of the people. It was a very ordered service. When Jesus starts his ministry in Capernaum, he goes to the synagogue every Sabbath, every Friday night. But for some reason, the rabbi allowed him to give the message. He speaks on a regular basis. But you still have to ask the question, what was it about Jesus that gave him power and authority to speak. He had no formal training, no office, no clergy robe, and no assigned role – and yet he was able to speak – and his words always seemed to hit the spot and make a difference in the lives of those he was talking to. Even when the rabbi and the scribes would speak – they did not speak under their own authority. They didn’t use their own words, they would always say – scripture says. Mark 1:21-22 says – he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. I wanted to avoid this sermon It is funny how the Holy Spirit works, because as I prepared for this sermon, my plan was to play it safe and talk just about the power and authority of Jesus. I had no intention of speaking on the situation at hand of Jesus driving out an evil spirit from a man. I didn’t want to talk about evil spirits. But unfortunately, the scripture never tells what Jesus taught, or what made his talk so powerful. It says that a demon recognized Jesus and started to speak. Spirits in the ancient world What was the demon doing in the church in the first place? Spirits were a part of the understanding of the world of the early church. Spirits would have been a part of the understanding of the world of the Jews of Jesus time. The Jews inherited the belief from the Persians and the Babylonians, and the Canaanites. Ancient people believed that spirits were present everywhere. But they particularly liked to hang out in unclean places. They were in the cemeteries, and places where shady things were done. Spirits were responsible for everything. Spirits in the Disney world Spirits are a part of the world view of almost every group of people in the world. I found it interesting to learn that there is an underlying spirituality even in the creation of Disney world. Disney speaks of magic, of fairy dust, and other things that are a part of the European understanding of the spiritual world. If you go to the magical kingdom, you will see no depiction of anything African or Asian. When you speak of conjuring spirits (as Mickey as the sorcerer is depicting as doing)- there is a whole difference understanding of spirits in Europe than in Africa or Asia. Not wanting to be involved in spirituality that they didn’t understand, they just left it alone. Until 20-30 years later when they developed Animal Kingdom, instead of the Magical Kingdom that deals specifically with African and Asian culture. They realized that when they excluded the spirituality of a people, they also excluded the culture of a people. I first went to Disney the first year that the animal kingdom was opened and decided that it was one of those spiritual places for me. I have been to the magical kingdom 2 times, but every time I go to Orlando I have to visit animal kingdom to be in touch with its spiritual nature. Spirits in the Israel world Spirits had a large place in the worldview of Israel also. They believed that spirits were everywhere. They believed that there were 10,000 spirits on your right side, and 10,000 spirits on your left side. They believed that they were responsible for all manner of situations on one’s life. If you were sick, it was caused by a spirit. There is a Jewish book in the apocrypha – that comes between the old testament and the new testament – called the Testament of Solomon. In this book, you can find the names of certain demons, how they can harm you, and how to get rid of them. Interesting. It was believed that if you called a demon by name, you had power over it and you could control it and get rid of it. If you look at our scripture, Jesus doesn’t call any demon by name. It is the demons that call Jesus by name – They call him Jesus of Nazareth, The holy one of God. Deuteronomy says that there will be a prophet who is responsible for speaking the word of God to the people. That is the power of Jesus. How did the demon get in the church? What I find interesting about this story was how did the demon get in the church in the first place. Demons were supposed to hang out in unclean places, and wasn’t the house of God a holy place – a clean place? If all of the people were spiritually pure – how did a demon get in the church? The church had an open door policy – anyone was welcome to come in, no matter where they were spiritually. I found it interesting that even in the story, people weren’t so concerned about the fact that a demon had made its way in the church, but that Jesus knew exactly what to say to it to get it to respond. Demons that cause harm It was believed that all wrong was caused by demons. The Hebrew name for demon was Mazakim – one who does harm. But it was also believed that a person would know when they were possessed, and that they had to the power to ask to be healed. There were demons in the church back then, and the truth is that there are demons in the church today. Some say that demons love to come to church – because it reminds them of heaven. But I want to be clear that I am not speaking about people. Not speaking about who people are – we are all children of God, we are all from heaven. But the truth is that there are things inside of all of our souls that do us harm. There is good and evil inside of each of us. We are all struggling with those things inside of us that can destroy us. Demons inside of us Kathleen Norris – a spiritual writer says “when I think of demons that I need to exorcise, I have to look inward to my heart and soul. The demon inside of her was her anger. Her husband pointed out that she could be very mean at times. She realized that her anger was destroying her marriage. First she needed to recognize it, then acknowledge the damage it was doing and make a commitment to change. Another friend – a pastor. Talked about getting a divorce, and experiencing all sorts of negative emotions – anger, shame, jealousy, and pain. He didn’t have to strength to preach, but he needed to be in the church. He needed to be in the presence of God, in the presence of the Word, the worship, in the presence of Jesus. What is it about Jesus that invites the unclean spirit, the disturbed soul, the diseased life to come out of hiding and cry out? And can we trust the power of God to be there - to be here, to hold it all together and bring healing and wholeness to us in a way we never quite master? Can the order of our worship of God somehow include the dis-order of our lives and of the world around us? He asks. There is power in the presence of God that heals us, that transforms us, that takes away our pain. God’s word is awesome, overpowering, and touches us deep inside. What is the demon doing in the church? The spirit inside of us knows Jesus, and it asks for healing. I want to end with this famous story.. "There is a wonderful story from a renowned professor of preaching named Fred Craddock. He often tells the story of a young minister, newly graduated from the seminary who is serving in his first church. He gets a call telling him that a church member, an elderly woman who has given nearly her entire life to the church, is in the hospital and not doing well. The woman suffers from severe breathing problems and now has pneumonia and doesn’t appear to be getting any better. She is so weak that she cannot get up out of bed and the doctors are not holding out any hope for her recovery. So with this dire situation the family calls the church and asked for the young pastor to come and pray with her, anoints her and gives her a final communion. All the way to the hospital he is thinking about what to say to this Christian woman, what words of comfort he can give her to prepare her for her eminent death. He thinks of how young he is and how completely unprepared for this moment and he mumbles a quick prayer that God will give him the strength and courage he needs. When he finally arrives at the hospital he heads up to her room for a visit. The room is darkened and the hospital wing is quiet. The nurses move in and out of the room gently so as not to disturb her final hours. The young pastor sits on a chair next to the bed and talks with her for a few minutes, just small talk really, nothing earth shattering. When he finally makes ready to leave he asks the old woman if she would like him to pray for her and she answers, Yes of course. That’s why I wanted you to come. He then politely asks, And what would you like me to pray for? The old woman looks him straight in the eye and says in a bit of a surprised voice, Why, I want you to pray that God will heal me. The young pastor is a bit surprised by the question and he takes her hands and starts fumbling over the words. Still, somewhere in the entire blizzard of words he ends up praying for what she asked – that God would heal her. When he finally says the Amen at the end of the prayer, the woman says, You know, I think it worked! I think I’m healed! And she gets out of bed and begins to run up and down the hallway of the hospital yelling, Praise God! I’m healed! Praise God! I’m healed! Meanwhile, the young pastor in a stupor, stumbles to the stairwell, walks down five flights of stairs, makes his way to the parking lot and somehow manages to find his car. As he fumbles to get his keys out of his pocket, he slumps back in the seat and looks heavenward and yells, Don’t you ever do that to me again! The power of the word of God There is power in the Word of God. Jesus was empowered to use that power and authority on our behalf. Jesus’ authority over unclean spirits lies in his ability to speak directly to our hearts, to speak directly to our needs, to call the negative our and leave us only with the love that God gives. If we listen to his voice and obey… Let us pray…

A Lifelong Relationship With God

January 15, 2012 1 Samuel 3:1-20 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Second Sunday after Epiphany Martin Luther King Day Year B A Lifelong Relationship with God Introduction - Start where we left off It is not often in a sermon that I get to start where I left off. There seems to be a natural procession for the year. We started the new year thinking of new beginnings, and then we went on to the meaning of baptism and how that empowers us to walk with God. Today, I want us to think about what it means to continue to walk with God. what does it mean to be called by God, and what are we supposed to do with a call. What does it mean to be called? I remember asking my pastor the question of what does it mean to be called. And as a pastor, many talk with me about what it means to be called. How do you answer God’s call? And I will always remember the lady who asked how did she know that it was really God that was calling her and not the devil trying to trick her. What is it that we are listening to? A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, the Native American said, “I hear a cricket.” His friend said, “What? You must be crazy. You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!” “No, I’m sure of it,” the Native American said. “I heard a cricket.” “That’s crazy,” said the friend. The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed. “That’s incredible,” said his friend. “You must have super-human ears!” “No,” said the Native American. “My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you’re listening for.” “But that can’t be!” said the friend. “I could never hear a cricket in this noise.” “Yes, it’s true,” came the reply. “It depends on what you’re listening for. Here, let me show you.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs. “See what I mean?” asked the Native American. “It all depends on what you’re listening for.” If you’ve tuned in to God, it doesn’t matter what’s going on around you, you can hear Him speak. The difference between God and the devil The voice that we are used to listening to is the voice that speaks to us. God always tells the truth, the devil always lies. If we trust in the words of the bible, then we will never be mistaken about whom it is that speaks to us Questions are not unique to us, been asked and answered in Samuel’s call story The questions that we ask about call are not bad questions. They are not unique to our time; these questions are the important point of our Hebrew scripture lesson – the call of Samuel. Overview of story of Samuel Samuel whose name means the name of God, was a young man left at the temple by his mother. She was barren, and prayed that if she could have a son, she would give him to God. She conceived a son, and left him at the temple to be raised totally in the service of God. Samuel was a young man when he heard someone calling him. He thought it was Eli (man of God), but it was God. Going through the motions We heard the story read to us, so I won’t go into it. But I love the way the message is set up. This story happened in the days when people were not listening to God, and no one seemed to notice God. It goes on the say that Eli, the priest could not see very well. Well it seems that not only could he not see with his eyes, he couldn’t see with his heart either. He let his children get away with anything, without disciplining them. He was a priest who knew what needed to be done, but he didn’t do it with feeling. Eli was a lot like a lot of us – he had stopped believing in what he was doing stopped caring, he was just going through the motions and not living out his call. Today we live in a world where God speaks through everything; god calls all of us to do something. But we don’t always take the time to realize what god is saying. The Priest’s job was to recognize the voice of God Ironically it was the priest who was responsible for speaking to God on behalf of the people. He also had a responsibility to train the younger priest in recognizing the voice of God. he didn’t do a very good job of training his own sons, but he did know enough to tell Samuel that it was not he who called him in the middle of the night, it was God. He trained Samuel to respond to God – Speak, for your servant is listening. Samuel grows up to be one of the most important people in the history of Israel. Not the king, but the kingmaker. The one who changed the course of history, just by listening to God. (first and second chronicles and first and second kings are about the kings – first and second Samuel are about why we have kings. Samuel was not called to leadership, but to listeningship, he was not a leader, but a servant, not great, but humble. Someone told me that a great pastor has to learn to be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage. Martin Luther King on being called When we think of the greatest intentional servant leader of our time, we think of Martin Luther King. On being called Dr. King says – if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper. That is a message for all of us, not just a message for a chosen few. His point is that we are all called to do something. Something in life and something for the kingdom of God. and that no matter what it is; we must do it for the glory of God. I Corinthians has a message that goes along those lines, our text for today ends by saying –for you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. Paul’s view on sin You see, Paul believed that sin was always something outside of ourselves. Something that stood in the way of us being the person God intended us to be. Sin is something that we put into our bodies that is not supposed to be there – what we eat, drink, inhale, who we relate to. So when he is telling the people not to eat the food dedicated to idols, or to have sex with the temple prostitutes, he is telling us to protect the openings of our body. 1 Corinthian 6:17 says – every sin that a person commits is outside of the body. Your body is a temple of the holy spirit within you – be careful what you put into it. Your body does not belong to you, it belongs to God. The only thing we own is our choice In life, the only thing that we really own is our choice. Our choice of who is our master – will it be sin or will it be God. will what I am doing, what I am thinking, what I am saying make me a slave to passion or a servant of God? the good news is that God came to save his people, not his monuments. God knows that we are all sinners in some way. Even Martin Luther King was a sinner Martin Luther King, Jr., A Servant of Christ This weekend is the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. I think, therefore, it is appropriate to look at his life in this regard. In the Union Tribune there was an article about him, which included an interview with Vincent Harding, a professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, a Methodist seminary. Harding said that King's detractors like to point out that he was a human being, that he had faults, human foibles. He was certainly not a saint, Harding points out. He made mistakes in judgment. He put his marriage to the test. He also suffered from human frailties, like anxiety and depression. But Christianity proclaims a God who came to us as we are, accepted us as we are, forgave us and gave us new life, and thus revealed that we do not have to be righteous in order to be loved by God. We don't have to have a pure life in order to follow Jesus. We just have to be faithful. He comes to us as he came to his disciples, and says to us, "Follow me." To "follow me" means, identifying with the poor and the oppressed, loving the sinner, and living sacrificially for others in this world, taking up your cross. That is the sole qualification for everybody to be his disciple - that you will take up your cross. Martin Luther King understood that, I think, probably better than anybody else in our time. Like all historical figures, he will be interpreted from different perspectives. But the way he would want to be interpreted is that he was a "servant of Christ." We are called to be faithful people We too are not called to be perfect, but to always be faithful. Not called to live up to someone else’s call – just be yourself. Life the way God created you, listen to the words of God, trust that there is a reason God is speaking to you. Not something special – birthright of all of us. Being called is having a lifelong relationship with God. it is committed yourself to listen as a servant listens. The Birmingham civil rights 10 commandments I was fascinated to learn that in order to be a part of the Birmingham civil rights rally – you had to sign a pledge to do 10 things daily. You had to basically promise to live as a Christian. “I hereby pledge myself—my person and body—to the nonviolent movement, therefore I will keep the following ten commandments!” 1. MEDITATE daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. 2. REMEMBER always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation—not victory. 3. WALK and TALK in the manner of love, for God is love. 4. PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free. 5. SACRIFICE personal wishes in order that all men might be free. 6. OBSERVE with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy. 7. SEEK to perform regular service for others and for the world. 8. REFRAIN from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart. 9. STRIVE to be in good spiritual and bodily health. 10. FOLLOW the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration. Samuel’s three commandments Samuel is an example for all of us to make a commitment to listen as a servant of God. 1 Samuel verse 3 Eli of all people, a sinful man teaches us all how to listen to Gods call. 3 easy steps. Go to a place where you here God speaking, Let God know your are listening, and them do what God says. The place where God speaks to us – the word of God – read your bible, the way in which you communicate with God - to pray, and the way you obey – live according to the word of God Read the bible, pray and live. As simple as that. Let us pray……

The Voice of God still Speaks (II)

Psalm 29 Mark 1:4-11 The Baptism of the Lord Year B The Voice of God Still Speaks The story of the drunk man and the plunge A church is at a river, some of its members are being baptized. Along walks a drunk man, which disturbs the pastor. The irritated pastor grabs the man and tells him he needs to find Jesus. He dunks him in the water, and asks if he has found Jesus. No replies the man, so the pastor dunks him again. Have you found Jesus the pastor Asks. At no, the man is dunked again and gives the same no answer. Upset, the pastor dunks him again and leaves him down there for almost a minute. Have you found Jesus yet? Asks the pastor. No says that man, are you sure this is where he fell in? That is the question of the day – Have you found Jesus? Where have you found Jesus in your life? What is the best place for you to go- and to know that Jesus will be. Jesus is found in communion and baptism In the church there are two places that we can go and know that Jesus will be there. We know that we can come here, and find Jesus in the singing, on our praying, in listening to the word. We can find Jesus in our praise. We can find Jesus in our children. We can find Jesus in the wonderful and special times and places in our lives. But for the church, there are two very special places that Jesus invites us to come. Two special sacraments – that the presence of God is with us. Communion and baptism Mark starts his story with baptism It is interesting that Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus – not the birth, not the childhood. Not even with the word. Mark chapter 1:1 says – the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah as it it written in Isaiah the prophet. Today as we begin our journey into Mark – we hear the story of how Jesus was baptized. His cousin John is out in the wilderness, all to come and listen to him and to repent and believe in God. Jesus comes to the water, comes to baptism – because that is the place in his life where he knows he can be close to God. John says that Jesus was with God in the beginning. He was not a sinner, He did not need John’s call of repentance. And yet he needed to hear God’s voice. He needed to know that God would be with him on the journey. And as he comes out of the water – the spirit of God says you are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. Jesus baptism important This has to be an important step in Jesus live and his ministry, because this event is notes in all four gospel stories. Mark is the only one that makes this a personal event. God talks to Jesus and says you are my son, not this is my beloved son. Jesus needs to hear those words of affirmation in order to go forward and start his ministry. Jesus has to come to the water in order to hear the voice of God. The voice of God is over the waters Psalm 29 says the voice of the lord is over the waters, the god of glory thunders. The lord thunders over the mighty waters. I think of looking over a still body of water, and looking and seeing the clouds hovering over the water. Before a storm hits – you can look over the waters, and see the clouds and the wind hovering over about to cause a storm. In Hebrew the spirit and the wind are the same word – ruach. When the ruach, the spirit of God blows into our lives – things start to happen, things start to change. When wind start to move the water- then a cool breeze starts to flow into our lives. In the summer, whenever I can feel a storm coming, I come out and welcome it, because it brings a fresh breeze into my life. There is something about wind storms and water, that speak God in a way that nothing else can. I go back to psalm 29 – the voice of the lord is over the waters. That is why water is the most important part of our baptism. The spirit of God is always in the water. Waters in the civil rights movement During the civil rights movement, when police aimed fire hose at protesters to discourage them, Martin Luther King said, we may not understand their motives for aiming water at us, but that is okay – as we march together in unity as Christians, we now the water. If we are Baptist, we are immersed in it, if we are Methodist, we are sprinkled in it, but as long as we are Christian, we know water, and whatever their motive for dousing us, we know that God is in the water. Clinton and repentance Even Bill Clinton understood the importance of the waters of baptism. When he was impeached, and all of the scandalous behavior that he was involved in came to light. He made a statement to the nation about repentance. About turning around and starting a new life. Clinton read this passage from the book: "Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways." Clinton's quote ended with this prayer: "Lord help us to turn, from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you. Revive our lives as at the beginning and turn us toward each other, Lord, for in isolation there is no life." That was the message that John was trying to get all to learn as he preached of one who was coming that was greater than he. That coming to God, meant turning away from yourself and your behavior. When we come to the waters of baptism it is time for us to turn around from self centeredness to community, from jealousy to understanding, from resentment to love. And the list goes on for us today. Little boy begins a new life A little boy came to his third grade Sunday school teacher after class one day. She had talked about baptism to the class, encouraging the kids to remember their baptism. He told her that all of his classmates had been baptized, but he had never been baptized. He wanted to be baptized to. But he told her, he did not want to do it in front of the church. He wanted it to be a private affair at the lake, with his best friend. Trying to help him understand the true meaning of baptism. She explained that it had to be done in front of the church. Remembering the story in Mark 1 he replied, but Jesus was baptized by his cousin. So why cant I be baptized by my best friend. But how will people know that I have changed? They will know that I have changed, when they see me acting different. When they see me being a better person, they will know that I have been baptized. Baptism is my chance for a new beginning. She realized that he may not know the true meaning of baptism, but he did understand the truth of baptism. This was not just an act to fit in, he had thought about this and been able to make a decision. And that this was his chance to start all over again, and to begin a new journey in his life. Why did Jesus come to the water? When Jesus came to the water to be baptized by John. He may not have needed to confess his sins and repent. But what he did know it that it was time to begin a new chapter in his life. That it was the time to acknowledge the power of a new start. he knew that the voice of God was hovering over the waters. And that he needed to come to the waters of baptism in order to hear God’s favor upon his life. The abc’s of baptism I want to tell you a little secret. The abc’s of baptism. Repentance, Affirmation, belonging, and continuation. The Christian alphabet starts with R. First of all when we come to the waters, we have to repent. But once we turn to god. We are given the gift of affirmation, belonging, and continuation. We too are given God’s favor, we too are baptized into god mission. We too hear God’s voice speaking to us, saying that we are all his beloved sons and daughters. We are God’s sons and daughters A famous governer talks about growing up in the 50’s without a father. Single parenthood was not so glamourous in those days. So he spent his life in shame. Whenever, he would go to church, he would always leave by the back so that he did not have to talk to the minister. He did not want to be acknowledged ever. One Christmas, it was so crowded that he could not sneak out the back. He got caught up in the crowd and had to go out the front and pass the minister. Having never seen the boy before, he asked who he was. Whose boy are you asked the minister, who is your father. The little boy was terrified, he had no idea of how to answer that. In his silence, the minister replied – oh yeah I recognize you now – you are God’s son. It was in that moment that the boy recognized the abc’s of baptism. Affirmation, belonging and continuation. No longer did he have to life in shame, he could live in God’s favor. The voice of God still hovers over the waters today. God is still creating today, every day with God is a new day with a new beginning. Every year with God brings us to a new chapter, a new journey with God. When we remember the power of our baptism, we remember the power of God in our lives. God’s voice brings with it peace, harmony, creativity, love, joy and the list goes on. Psalm 29 says the lord sits enthroned over the flood. The lord is enthroned as the lord forever. The lord gives strength to his people, the lord blesses his people with peace. When God speaks, how do you respond. I want us to continue with the commitment phase of our covenant. How will you walk with God this year. This is another tool to think and to pray and to listen with. The true meaning will unfold throughout the year. Amen.