Whatsoever is True

Whatsoever is True October 15, 2017 Philippians 4:1-9 19th Sunday of Pentecost Year A Children’s Sermon…… Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate the nearness of God. Props: None needed. Lesson: Good morning. Today I want you to help me with a game. The game is called "Near and Far." Would you like me to show you how it works? (response) Okay. Here goes. I will call out the name of something that is in this church, and I want you to tell me if it is near or far. Call out three things in the sanctuary that are far away and three things that are near enough to be reached by your hand. Have the children call out "far" or "near" depending on each thing. How did you know what was near to me? (response) Did you notice that I can reach out and touch with my hand everything that was near? [Demonstrate by quickly reaching out and touching the things that were called out as near.] These things are near because they are close to my hand. We have a phrase that means "near." The phrase is, "At hand," because things that are near are at our hands. Application: The Apostle Paul wanted us to remember that about Jesus Christ. He said that we should always be living for Christ because the Lord is at hand. So we don't have to worry when things look bad, because even when things go wrong, who is at hand? (Jesus) Yes. The Lord is at hand. So the next time you look at your hand, remember to say thank you to God for letting Jesus Christ be so near to us. Remember the Bible verse. Say it with me: The Lord is at hand. Let's Pray: Thank you, God, for Jesus Christ. Thank you that the Lord is at hand, that he is always near. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Children's Sermons A to Z, by Brett Blair Philippians 4:1-9Common English Bible (CEB) Stand firm in the Lord 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters whom I love and miss, who are my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord. Loved ones, 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to come to an agreement in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I’m also asking you, loyal friend, to help these women who have struggled together with me in the ministry of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the scroll of life. 4 Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! 5 Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. 7 Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. 8 From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. 9 Practice these things: whatever you learned, received, heard, or saw in us. The God of peace will be with you. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Northwestern won their game yesterday! Yeah! And Wilmington won their game also! So today we get to have another sermon about Northwestern. Today I want to talk about the Northwestern seal – which is a book written in Greek surrounded by rays of light. The greek in the bible, is written in latin right above the book. The book on the seal is the bible, and latin phrase – quaecumque sunt vera- meaning whatsoever things are true. The greek is more complete – in saying whatsoever things are true – think on these things. It is a sentence that comes from our text for today in Philippians 4:1-9. If you come to my house I have a hug picture in the living room with that verse on it, and if you get am email from me, you will see that it is my email signature. Northwestern is not the only university that uses that phrase as a motto – which is appropriate for a university to encourage people to think and carefully consider truth, and to see the value of thinking about things that are excellent, admirable, true, holy, just, pure and worthy of praise. I have actually been to Phillipi in Greece, it is on the ignation way – the main roman road going through Greece. If you keep driving 6 hours north on that highway you will get to Macedonia. Philippi is this little hole in the wall town off of the highway. It is no longer a living city, just ruins. There is not even a parking lot, we had to get off of the tour bus on the highway, even the souvenir shop was just a stop on the highway. A tour guide met our group and showed us all of the significant places in towns. The town could not have been no larger that a mile wide and long, but there were about 5 different churches in town. We saw the jail where Paul and Silas sang. And I remember the tour guide showed us church A. when they were formed as a congregation, they had decided that they were only going to build a building on biblical principle. If it was not in the bible, they were not going to use it to build the church – sounds like something a Baptist church would do. Well anyway- they built the church and within months it fell totally to the ground. And another church that you cant build a church just on biblical principles. You have to use some geometry and architecture skills which are not listed in the bible, but they are still from God. God is truth, beauty, excellent, thus God must be in the math. There are some things that are not found in the bible, and they are still true, thus they are still from God – Hence the phrase – whatsoever things are true think on these things. That is the story that the tour guide gave us and I am sticking to it. But this verse says so much more that reminding us that we are what we think. Paul would have been in jail in Rome when writing this letter. And he was addressing divisions in the church. Apparently Euodia and Syntyche were fighting over something, and Paul addresses them as colleagues in the field. He does not tell us what they were fighting over – and it does not matter. All fights are the same. One church decided that they were going to split over mashed potatoes. One group of ladies decided that the only way to serve mashed potatoes at the annual dinner was to make them from scratch, and another group of ladies insisted on making instant potatoes. Well I know which side I would be on in that fight, but the point was they could not agree and wanted to split. Paul says that instead of getting caught up in the details of the fight – that we should rejoice – rejoice in the lord and be glad. Like I said before – we are what we think. Thus it is important for us to think happy thoughts. According to Dr. Elinore Kinarthy, the average person has more than two hundred negative thoughts a day: worries, jealousies, insecurities, cravings for forbidden things, etc. Depressed people have as many as six hundred. We can’t eliminate all the troublesome things that go through our minds, but we can reduce the number of negative thoughts by changing our focus. (3) When Paul tells Euodia and Syntyche to not worry but be happy – he is not being facetious. And a lot of times the modern world tends to frown upon people who are happy all of the time, and not being grounded in reality. But you have to understand that Paul understood that this was an anxious congregation in an anxious town in an anxious situation. They were on the outskirts of Greece, I think it was a 2 or 3 hour drive from our hotel in Thessolonica. It was a town of retired roman soldiers, who were worried about how they were going to survive. And as the anxiety rose, so did the tension. And as the tension rose – the more people cared about how the mash potatoes were cooked and they started to attack one another. Paul gives two words of asvice – first of all take all of that conflict and turn it into compassion and gratitude. Be thankful for what God has done for you and celebrate it. Many years ago, Dr. Arthur Caliandro was asked to visit a woman who was hospitalized after a devastating plane crash. She was angry, bitter, and depressed. Dr. Caliandro tried to comfort her, but the woman rejected every positive thing he said. According to Caliandro, her philosophy seemed to be, "œThis is the day the devil has made, let us complain and be miserable in it." Even after the woman recovered fully, her negative attitude remained. On the other hand, Dr. Caliandro tells of another woman named Helen Baker. Helen has spent her life in pain from a rare nerve disorder. But she thanks God every day for the chance to witness to others through her illness. She even thanks God for the strength she has gained from her troubles. (4) He tells us to stand tall in your faith. And let your faith shine through no matter what. One colleague called that state – nonanxious prayerfulness. Instead of praying and constantly asking for something, asking for God to fix it. Just turn it over to God and leave it there. There is an old legend about three men and their sacks. Each man had two sacks, one tied in front of his neck and the other tied on his back. When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, "In the sack on my back are all the good things friends and family have done. That way they're hidden from view. In the front sack are all the bad things that have happened to me. Every now and then I stop, open the front sack, take the things out, examine them, and think about them." Because he stopped so much to concentrate on all the bad stuff, he really didn't make much progress in life. The second man was asked about his sacks. He replied, "In the front sack are all the good things I've done. I like to see them, so quite often I take them out to show them off to people. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes in there and carry them all the time. Sure they're heavy. They slow me down, but you know, for some reason I can't put them down." When the third man was asked about his sacks, he answered, "The sack in front is great. There I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I've experienced, all the great things other people have done for me. The weight isn't a problem. The sack is like sails of a ship. It keeps me going forward. "The sack on my back is empty. There's nothing in it. I cut a big hole in its bottom. In there I put all the bad things that I can think about myself or hear about others. They go in one end and out the other, so I'm not carrying around any extra weight at all." What are you carrying in your sacks? H. Norman Wright, The Perfect Catch (Bethany House, 2000), pp.28-29; submitted by Bonne Steffen, editor, Wheaton, Illinois In this week’s epistle reading, Paul offers to the congregation at Philippi a road map to a new kind of existence—-an existence free from anxiety, a life free from worry and gnawing doubt, a life filled and fulfilled by what the apostle called “the peace of God which passes all understanding.” It only takes six words—-three couplets give precise directions to this place of peace. Are you ready? Here they are. Here is my translation of this part of today’s text: Be . . . . . Anxious in Nothing Prayerful in Everything Thankful in Anything Can you say that with me? Be . . . . Anxious in Nothing Prayerful in Everything Thankful in Anything. Or here is how I say it in mantra form: Anxious: Nothing Prayerful: Everything Thankful: Anything . . . Can you say that with me? Anxious Nothing Prayerful Everything Thankful Anything. You want to experience the peace? You want the peace of God, “the peace that passes all understanding?” Then follow those directions and, Paul promises, you will find the “peace of God,” your own personal “garth” among the landscape. Once again, let’s say the six words together. Anxious: Nothing Prayerful: Everything Thankful: Anything. We are what we think. If we think negativity, we will live negativity and we will see it in others. But the God that we serve is a God of truth, excellence, holiness, worthiness, beauty. From now on, brothers and sister, if anything is excellent, and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things. All that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all the is love , all that is worthy of praise. Think on these things. And the God of peace will be with you! Let us pray…. Extra sermon illustrations…. You’ve heard the saying, "You are what you eat." I believe it is also true that you are what you "think." To understand, we "stand under" another. Behavior is what we do. Attitude is why we do it. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Pastor Paul urges the Philippians and us to embrace the mind of Christ. And, to think noble thoughts: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable" (Philippians 4:8). We Christians can disagree over some of the smallest, most ordinary things. Group therapy is now available for congregations who want to learn skills for getting along peaceably within the body of Christ. A congregational therapist tells the story of a church that almost split over the issue of mashed potatoes. I know it sounds a little trivial, but to the people involved, it was a most significant matter. The problem at hand was a proposed change at church fellowship dinners — whether to continue making mashed potatoes the old-fashioned way or to begin using instant potatoes. One faction declared that the only real mashed potatoes were the ones you lugged back from the supermarket in huge mesh bags, scrubbed, peeled, cut up, boiled, drained, and then mashed while you were adding milk, butter, salt, and pepper. The other group declared freedom, that a new day had dawned, and there was no longer time for so much preparation. The twenty-first century is a time to rejoice and give thanks for tasks made easier. Just boil water in the microwave, measure and pour potato flakes, stir, and, voila, mashed potatoes in minutes. And they most certainly are real. It says so right there on the box, "Real Mashed Potatoes." So, what is all the fuss about? The Visitor One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him, and the driver told him, "I always park there. You took my place!" The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit. You took my place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing. Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, "I took your place." - Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. --1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.-- 2 Corinthians 12:9 Remember the story about the little boy who went to the church one Sunday morning with his grandmother. Grandmother’s approach to religion was stern and puritanical. The little boy saw a friend and smiled at him. The grandmother slapped his hand and said in a stage whisper: “Quit that grinning! Don’t you smile like that in church!!” Mora Naba, a Mossi emperor in Burkina Faso, had conquered a powerful ethnic group in the south called the Kaesena. He extracted tribute from them once each year. One year, at tribute collecting time, the emperor made the mistake of sending his son, Nabiiga, a prince and his heir apparent. When the Kaesena saw Nabiiga with only a very small entourage of guardians, they overpowered the group and took the prince hostage. His kingly robes were stripped from him, and he was forced to walk around in only a loincloth. The prisoner received only one meal per day and was forced out into the fields each morning to work. Normally, manual labor would be beneath the dignity of royalty, so the Kaesena made great sport of him. The women would pass by and belittle him. While he was working in the fields, the children would throw pebbles and stones at him. But, to the great surprise of all those watching from day to day, the Mossi prince would work and sing. He sang cheerfully with a loud voice as he worked from sun up to sun down. At first his soft hands blistered and then bled as he was unaccustomed to using farm equipment. He lost significant weight, but he continued to be cheerful and to sing. The elders of the Kaesena were much troubled by his singing and buoyant attitude. “How can he possibly sing,” they would continually ask, “since we make him sleep on the ground and make sport of him each day? We give him very little food, and he is forced to labor from sun up to sun down. Our women and our children mock him, but he continues to sing!” After a month of watching, they finally called him before a council. He stood in his loincloth straight and proud in their midst. The elder spokesperson for the Kaesena people asked the Mossi prince about his behavior: “Why do you sing?” Nabiiga answered, “It is true. You’ve taken away my fine clothes. You have made me work, you give me very little food to eat, and you make me sleep on the ground in a common hut. You have tried to take away all my pride and all my earthly possessions. You have brought great shame upon me. Now you ask me why, in spite of all this, I can sing. I can sing because you cannot take away my title and who I am. I am Moro Naba’s first son. I am proud of that and will never react to your shameful behavior!” The Kaesena people learned that they could not bring shame upon the Mossi prince because he was at peace and, therefore, could continue to sing. The peace that the prince felt inside was an active virtue manifest in his behavior; peace was not simply the absence of violence and war in his life. To become peacemakers, as the story suggests, we must proactively act and speak. As we light the third candle on the Advent wreath and know by the calendar, as well as Saint Paul’s words, that Jesus is near, we must consider our response to the challenge to rejoice and, thereby, bring peace. "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Do you understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving? Paul writes in Philippians 4: "œThink about all you can praise God for and be glad about." That's what today is for. It's not just about family, feasting and football. It is about stopping for a few moments and counting our blessings and, if need be, adjusting our attitudes. Most of us, if we really started counting our blessings would have a need to say, "œThank you" to somebody.

The Ten Commandments

October 8, 2017 Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 The Ten Commandments Children’s time: 1. "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me." Hold up one index finger for the number one. We worship one God. 2. "You shall not worship idols." Idols, false gods, are not only things like statues, but anything in which we place our ultimate trust and allegiance — for example, money, possessions or weapons. Hold up two fingers. Should we worship more than one God? No, two is too many! One of them must be an idol, and we should not worship it! 3. "You shall not take the Lord's name in vain." Use three fingers to form the letter "W" which stands for "words." Watch your words! God wants us to use his name in loving, caring ways, as we pray and as we talk about him, not in swearing or in anger. 4. "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy." Hold up four fingers, and fold your thumb under to let it rest. The thumb has the right idea. It's the Sabbath, and the thumb is following the commandment to take a day of rest. God does not want anyone to overwork or be stressed, so we need a day to rest, to be at peace, and to worship with others. God also gave us the Sabbath so that working people would not be taken advantage of by their employers (Deut. 5:14) 5. "Honor your father and your mother." Hold up all five fingers on one hand as if you are taking a pledge, to honor your parents. God wants there to be peace and love in all our family relationships. 6. "You shall not kill." Pretend the index finger on your second hand is a gun, shooting at the first five fingers. God's sixth commandment teaches us not to do anything that would hurt another person unfairly. 7. "You shall not commit adultery." Hold one hand out flat. The five fingers and hand becomes the floor of the church. Two fingers on the other hand are the man and woman to be married, standing in the church, making promises to each other. This seventh commandment calls for couples to keep the marriage promises they make. 8. "You shall not steal." Hold up four fingers on each hand, for the eighth commandment. If you stretch out your fingers slightly, these become the prison bars, which hold someone who was been arrested for stealing. Our Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Study Catechism says "God forbids all theft and robbery, including schemes, tricks or systems that unjustly take what belongs to someone else." (Question # 112) 9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Hold up all five fingers on one hand and four on the other. Fold your second thumb under and turn your hand around, so the thumb is hiding. It is secretly going around telling the other four fingers on that hand lies and rumors about the five fingers on the other hand. It is "bearing false witness," as it talks behind people's backs, spreading gossip, criticizing others without talking directly to the people involved. Again, our Study Catechism teaches us "Negative stereotyping is a form of falsehood that invites actions of humiliation, abuse, and violence as forbidden by the commandment against murder." (Question # 115) 10. "Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor." Hold out your hands, palms up, and wiggle all ten fingers to show that they've got the "gimmies." Your fingers are saying, "Gimmie what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things my neighbor has." This is not the way God wants us to live. Exodus 20:1-4Common English Bible (CEB) The Ten Commandments 20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must have no other gods before[a] me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 7 Do not use the LORD your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the LORD won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way. 8 Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. 9 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, Exodus 20:12-20Common English Bible (CEB) 12 Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 Do not kill.[a] 14 Do not commit adultery. 15 Do not steal. 16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 Do not desire your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” Footnotes: a. Exodus 20:13 Or murder Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I didn’t make it to the football game this Friday. But last week sitting in the stands, I remember thinking – what would the game be like if there were no referees. It seems like every play that are blowing their whistle and throwing out a flag. Would the game be harder or easier if their were no rules, and the players were allowed to do what they wanted? What would our world be like if there were no rules. Would it be more fun or less fun. Ted Turner, a multimillionare – does not believe in God. Since we as modern American don’t like to be told what to do – he actually invented his own rules. Instead of calling them the ten commandments – calls them the to voluntary inititives. Here are his Big 10: 1. I love and respect planet Earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow species, mankind. 2. I promise to treat all persons everywhere with dignity, respect and friendliness. 3. I promise to have no more than two children, or no more than my nation suggests. 4. I promise to use my best efforts to help save what is left of our natural world in an untouched state and to restore damaged or destroyed areas where practical. 5. I pledge to use as little non-renewable resources as possible. 6. I pledge to use as little toxic chemicals, pesticides and other poisons as possible. 7. I promise to contribute to those less fortunate than myself to help them become self-sufficient and enjoy the benefits of a decent life, including clean air and water, adequate food, health care, housing, education and individual rights. 8. I reject the use of force, in particular military force, and back United Nations arbitration of international disputes. 9. I support the total elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and, in time, the total elimination of all weapons of mass destruction. 10. I support the United Nations in its efforts to collectively improve the conditions of the planet. He totally does not get what it means to live life in relationship to God. He totally does not understand the significance of the 10 commandments. Ronald Reagan once wondered that the10 commandments would be like if congress had designed them – would we have the same concerns. If there were no 10 commandments there would be no congress. Legal experts, historians, theologians all agree that the ten commandments were the cornerstone to people living in community. These are the 10 rules which are legal system is based on – that is why you can find them in so many courtrooms. They are known simply as the 10 words – you can find them in exodus and also in Deuteronomy 5. If you think that all of my sermons are about how we live in community – you are right- the bible is all about how we live in community. How we order ourselves in order to have peace and justice in our lives. – how we become the shalom community. The shalom community is a community that lives in concentric circles. God is in the center, then the family, the community and the rest of the world. The ten commandments give you rules about how to live in community. How to relate to each of those rings in the circle. – rule number 1 – there is only one God, and God always comes first. The next two are about how to have a relationship with God. Number 4 – is about creating a calendar and establishing holy time. Five is to honor the family – which your parents are the backbone. And the last 5 are about how to live in relationship to other people. A mother and her two small boys were having a serious discussion about stealing and why it was wrong. “Tell me,” she said, “Why do you think stealing is wrong?” Five-year-old Luke said that stealing was against God’s laws. He had learned about the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. Mother asked the boys if they knew any of the other Ten Commandments. Luke remembered two others: “You shall not murder,” and “Honor your father and mother.” But the boys couldn’t think of any other commandments, until little Patrick piped up, “I know one: “Pick up your toys!” It could be there somewhere – but the 10 commandments is about how we order ourselves in the world. A world where god always comes first. As a United Methodist elder – the book of discipline says that I have 3 main jobs - word, order and sacrament. I am supposed to give a sermon every Sunday, chase you down and make sure that you turn in your charge conference reports, and preside over the Lord’s supper. Of course there is a lot more that goes into the second job of keeping order. We are called Methodist – because there is a defined method for doing everything. John Wesley founded a religious club in college – they got the nickname Methodist and it stuck. Our method is contained in the book of discipline. It orders the way we are a church in everyway. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where we think we are supposed to be free to do anything. We have been conditioned to think that the law is bad – and the ten commandments represent the law. The quickest way to tell if a stick is crooked is to sit it next to a straight stick as a standard of measure. The law is our standard of measure to see how crooked we are. How crooked are we in our lives. What do we need to straighten out in order to get right with God? Someone has said that there was a reason why the Ten were written on stone instead of parchment. They were written in stone so that people could only keep them or break them -- they cannot bend them. We need to be disciplined in our living. The laws of the United Methodist Church, for example, are included in a document known as the Book of Discipline. It seeks to tell what United Methodists can and cannot do. Rather than a curse, it is a blessing because of its clarity. A Jewish Rabbi was addressing his congregation where the high school graduates were being recognized. He used an illustration of water. He stated that water which is allowed total freedom, soon loses its power and becomes still, constituting a swamp, breeding harmful insects. Water, on the other hand, that is totally free, but is confined by two banks, never loses its power and is called a river, generating power for electricity that will light up the whole town. We are to be like the water, disciplined by two banks so that we will never lose our power. The ten commandments give us the freedom to live our lives and to move forward as individuals and as a body. And not to destroy ourselves. The new testament does not negate the Hebrew testament. Jesus does not supercede Moses. Without the ten commandments – Jesus words mean nothing. Jesus' Two Commandments Jesus did not destroy the Law written in the Decalogue; he simply boiled the ten down to two. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Mark and Luke added, "and with all thy strength" This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-39) Colonel Sanders added the Extra Crispy to his Original chicken. Jesus did not do away with the Original Ten; he simply lets us know in this New Commandment that the relationship with God is not so much founded on obedience as on love. John Wesley wrote to Charles Wesley saying he had become convinced "the Law can be fulfilled evangelically by love." The religion of love," he said, "is the religion of the Bible. Moses, and the Prophets, and Christ and his Apostles, proclaim with one voice thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. They all declare that love is the fulfilling of the Law." Dr. Graham Scroggie was a well-known preacher of another generation, a powerful and forceful orator. One day, while preaching in England on the Lordship of Christ, he saw, when the crowd had left, a young college student who had stayed behind. He went to her, and asked if she needed any help. She replied, "Dr. Scroggie, your message was so compelling, but I am afraid to truly make Christ the Lord of my life. I'm afraid of what he might ask of me!" The preacher opened his Bible, turned to the story of Peter at Joppa, and began to read to her how God had taught Peter about his racial and cultural discrimination. Three times God brought down a sheet laden with animals which were unclean to the orthodox Jew, and said, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." Three times Peter replied, "No, Lord." Then the wise minister said to the young lady, "Do you realize it is possible to say 'No,' and you can also say 'Lord,' but it is not really possible to say, 'No, Lord.' You have to decide if you will say one or the other, 'No' or 'Lord'." He then left the young lady to think about it and to pray, and he went into another room to pray for her while the struggle went on. When he came back he found her with a pad and pencil in front of her, and on it she had written the word "No" and the word "Lord." As he looked over her shoulder, he saw that the word "No" was crossed out. Softly she was saying, "He's Lord, He's Lord, He's Lord." One Commandment is enough; if you can say "I will have no other gods before him; I will love him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength; he is Lord, all other rules will fall neatly into their proper place." Ultimately, there is only one commandment – love God, if you put God first, the rest of your life should fall into place, without the 10 voluntary initiatives. One Sunday school teacher asked her class if they knew what the last commandment was. One little girl proudly stood and said, “Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor’s wife.” Not quite thou Shall not Covet – But it can remind us order our steps in the name of God, our families, our church and one another. Amen. Additional illustrations…… One of our advanced students at Lutheran Northwestern Seminary, motivated by what he had learned in a missions class, went to Haiti a couple years ago with a local church group. Assigned to work at an orphanage, he was involved in the construction of a building. He was repairing a ladder one day when he noticed a young dark-skinned boy watching him. The boy spoke some English. The student said, "Hi," and asked the boy about himself, seeking information about why he was in the orphanage. The young boy answered, "My mother and father are dead. I live here with my older brothers and sisters." The orphan asked the seminarian about his family: "I have a mother and father and a sister," he was told. "No brothers?" the boy inquired. "No brothers," answered the seminary student. There was a pause and then the orphan replied, "But you do have brothers. Jesus is your brother," and adding after another pause, "And I am your brother, too." Recently, I read a little fable about a young girl who was walking through a meadow. She saw that a beautiful butterfly had one wing impaled by a thorn. Very carefully, so as not to further damage the wing, she released the butterfly from the thorn and it began to fly away. Then, the butterfly came back and changed into a beautiful fairy princess right before the little girl. "For your kindness," the fairy told the little girl, "I will grant you your fondest wish." The little girl thought for a moment and replied, "I want to be happy." The fairy princess smiled and leaned over and whispered something into the girl’s ear. Then, the fairy princess vanished into thin air. But, as the girl grew older, there was no one in the kingdom who was happier than she. Whenever anyone asked her for the secret of her happiness, she would only smile and say, "I listened to a beautiful fairy princess." As she reached the last years of her life, her friends and neighbors were afraid that her fabulous secret of happiness would die with her. "Tell us, please," they asked. "Tell us what the fairy said!" The little girl, who was now a lovely old lady, smiled and said, "The beautiful fairy princess told me that the secret to happiness is to realize that everyone, no matter how secure they seem, has need of me." One of the great secrets of life is to realize that everyone has need of us. And the willingness to give ourselves to others ... the willingness to develop a relationship with others the willingness to love others, is one of the rules of living ... which leads to a happy life. A young fellow answered matter of factly, “Adultery is when a kid lies about his age.” And, of course, there is that central commandment to all boys and girls, the fifth commandment: “Humor thy father and thy mother.” Sometime back the little newsletter of Christian humor, The Joyful Noiseletter carried what it called, “A Cowboy Ten Commandments.” I thought you might enjoy hearing how a cowboy might interpret this ancient code. It goes like this: First commandment: Just one God. 2. Honor yer Ma and Pa. 3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’. 4. Git yerself to Sunday meeting. 5. Put nothin’ before God. 6. No foolin’ aroun’ with another fellow’s gal. 7. No killin’. 8. Watch yer mouth. 9. Don’t take nothin’ what ain’t yers. 10. Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff. (2) here is a silly little story about Moses. It seems that Moses wasn’t feeling well and was very upset. He decided he would go up on the mountain and see God. “You know my life has not been easy. First my mother put me in a basket and floated me down a river,” Moses said. “Then I left Egypt for 40 years. You remember the burning bush, the plagues, and then the Passover.” God allowed that, yes, He remembered. “There’s a lot more,” Moses continued. “You remember everything, so I don’t have to tell you the rest. But I really can’t handle much more, and I have this splitting headache.” God looked at Moses and said, “Here, take these two tablets. That should help.” (3) The 10 Commandments List, Short Form 1. You shall have no other gods before Me. 2. You shall not make idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet.

October 15, 2017

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for October 15th: Exodus 32:1-14;Psalm 106:1-6,19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14 Philippians: Paul often uses references to running a race. He reminds us that faith is always moving forward. But this verse starts with Paul telling us to stand still. Stand still in the Lord. He continues to address the distress in the church, but he encourages reconciliation. For the sake of the mission, make up with the person you are mad at. He reminds us not to get caught up in believing rumors, but the believe in truth – to see truth. To know that God is always associated with the truth. Paul ends by reminding us that if we are able to stand still in Christ in the midst of chaos – there will be peace. A peace that surpasses all human understanding. Matthew: Jesus loves a party. He loves to gather people together. As a matter of fact, heaven will be a big party where everyone is invited to come. Unfortunately, not everyone who is invited will be willing to come. We come up with all types of excuses of who not to come when Jesus invites us. We are too busy, we are too tired, we have something else more important to do. In the end, no excuse is really good enough. There will be consequences for not coming to Jesus party. Always make time for the things of Christ, because you never know when it may be your last invitation. Our wedding clothes is the attitude that we bring with us when we come to church. Questions: How do you resolve conflict with others? How do you think about the truth? What does peace look like in your life? What areas do you need to find peace? What are your excuses not to accept Jesus invitation to a heavenly life? Where is there dissension in your life? Who do you need to make peace with?