The Spirit of the Lord is Upon us

January 23, 2022 Luke 4:14-21 The Spirit of the Lod is upon you 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Year C Opening Song Welcome COVID precautions Call to Worship Call to Worship (based on Psalm 19) The heavens are telling the glory of God May our worship reflect God’s glory. The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. May we see each other as the handiwork of God. Let our prayer and praise, our singing and proclamation project the love of God. We commune with Christians around the world, with Christians throughout time. With Christians across geography and across time, Let us worship! —from Jesus Sets the Table, resources by the United Church of Christ, posted on their Worship Ways website. Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship (inspired by I Corinthians 12:12-31a) Less than a month after Christmas, I wonder if you can name the greatest gifts you received? Writing to the people of the Corinthian church, Paul reminds the believers to “strive for the greater gifts”. Why? Because the gifts we’ve RECEIVED are also the gifts we’re challenged to put to use. Some of us would love to have different gifts, but this scripture in I Corinthians 12 instructs us to recognize it takes many members with many different gifts to make up the whole body. (use specific references to well-known gifts in your own congregation) As we come to a time of sharing our gifts, we recognize not everyone is able to give great plumbing ability, but ______ shares that with us. Not everyone has a gift of welcoming newcomers, yet we’re grateful for _______, who helps first-time visitors find their way. Not everyone is able to lift us to the heavens with music, but we are so often raised up when __________ shares her/his gifts. Here’s the thing. YOU are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Not everyone can do everything. Not everyone can write a check for $1000 (well, at least one which will not bounce [ 🙂 ] , but if that’s your gift today, we would be delighted to receive such a gift! But each of us, and all of us, are able to share because of the gifts God has given each one. Today, let us offer our gifts with glad and generous hearts, grateful for the ways we’ve received grace upon grace. Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, we thank you for instilling each of us, and all of us, with gifts to help build up the body of Christ. Receive what we’ve offered today. Bless each one in our giving. Help us use all these gifts to strengthen the body of Christ known as _______________ Church. AMEN Reception of New Members UMH 33 Scripture Luke 4:14-21 Common English Bible Jesus announces good news to the poor 14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. 17 The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, 19 and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[a] 20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. 21 He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” Sermon The Spirit of the Lord is Upon You There is a Facebook post that circulates for a while, that ask you to explain your job in very simple crude terms. I finally came up with a good answers. I set people free. Well actually it is not me who sets them free – it is the spirit, but I get to be the one to proclaim the good news to everyone. Jesus actually gets up in front of the congregation and says this exact thing. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to set the captive free. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his way home from being baptized. He has been traveling around in Southern Palestine, and now he is returning home to the North. Only Luke says that he is in Nazareth his home town. When a hometown hero returns and reads scripture at first they are proud of him. Until they realize that Jesus is not just talking to them, but talking about them. They are the captives who need to be set free. In his book 40 Days, Alton Gansky relates this story: "Harry Houdini made a name for himself by escaping from every imaginable confinement -- from straightjackets to multiple pairs of handcuffs clamped to his arms. He boasted that no jail cell could hold him. Time and again, he would be locked in a cell only to reappear minutes later. It worked every time -- but one. He accepted another invitation to demonstrate his skill. He entered the cell, wearing his street clothes, and the jail cell door shut. Once alone, he pulled a thin but strong piece of metal from his belt and began working the lock. But something was wrong. No matter how hard Houdini worked, he couldn't unlock the lock. For two hours he applied skill and experience to the lock but failed time and time again. Two hours later he gave up in frustration. The problem? The cell had never been locked. Houdini worked himself to near exhaustion trying to achieve what could be accomplished by simply pushing the door open. The only place the door was locked was in his mind. Faith is not a complex process. It is not the result of years of education, pilgrimages, or flashy supernatural experiences. The door to belief is ready to open and is locked only in the minds of those who choose to believe it is. Faith, Salvation; Works At some point I think all of us become prisoners to our habits, our thoughts, our expectations. And we get stuck there. Jesus came to open the doors for all of us. Liberation theology is a theology that strives for freedom of all people. It addresses the systems in our world that depend on the mental cultural prisons which say this is how life is and this is how it needs to stay. As Jesus told his hometown that it was time to change, they got so mad at him that they threw him off of the cliff. But that is the rest of the story. But that is not the scripture for next week. They did not get mad at him for quoting Isaiah. They got mad at him because he called them captives of their own beliefs. He had the nerve to say that gentiles and strangers were closer to God and would get to heaven before them. They were mad because Jesus challenged them to accept other people. That is like saying that a person who never goes to church, who doesn’t believe in God, who chooses to sleep in on Sunday is just as much a child of God as the person who comes to church every Sunday. It is sort of like saying that the person who chose to stay at home, stay out of the cold, and watch the service in their pajamas is just as much a part of this congregation as those of you who got up, got dressed, fought the weather to be present in church. And yet Jesus says that the spirit of the lord is upon me to each of us who hears. When Jesus quotes this scripture in Isaiah, he is talking about the jubilee year – every 50 years when the system was supposed to reset itself and all debt cancelled, starting all over again. But of course it has never happened – those who had the power were never ready to give it up, those who had money never gave it up. Imagine what the world would be like, if Jesus has never proclaimed freedom for all in our world? Once there was a church that decided to have a work day, on which members showed up to do heavy cleaning and light maintenance on the church building. A general call went out for volunteers. The usual suspects showed up – the ones who show up year after year. There was one other person who showed up as well – a new member, she brought with her the mop and bucket that all had been asked to bring. She even announced that she was here to work. No one payed attention to her, because they all had their assigned duties. They all laughed together, they socialized. No one bothered to talk with the newcomer. No one, or even make her a part of their activities. She went home that day wondering if she even belonged. There was a happy ending, with persistence she was able to get beyond the social understandings and become a part of the group. She soon realized that that cool reception was just a fluke. She was able to get beyond those ties of familiarity and friendship which served as a unintentional barrier. But what would have happened if she did not bring her broom and her persistence to church with her that day? Jesus came to set the captives free and sometimes we are the captives. I thought it was interesting that the scripture says that Jesus stood before the congregation and read the scrolls. I have to do a little more research- Jesus was a carpenter by trade, I was not under the impression that he could read or write. But my point is that Jesus did not really give a big speech, he just announced that the spirit of the lord was upon him. The message that he did give – is that those were not just ancient words – but living words. He said that the scripture had been fulfilled today. He opened the doors of the church, he gave us an opportunity to be in mission. How are those words being fulfilled here today? We have accepted new members in our midst, we will have an opportunity to support Methodist women in ministry to the community. But what else? What else needs to be done? Each year we follow the life of Christ, every year we learn about Jesus call to ministry, we think about our call to ministry, to follow jesus to be children of God. The spirit if the Lord is upon each of us. How do we fulfill this scripture in our lives today? Let us pray…. Prayer for others (I know it is long, but I am hoping with spacing that all of it can be included) Prayer for Others (inspired by Psalm 19:14) Creator God, we come before you asking prayers for those who lead nations cities churches homes. As you poured out your love in the Word may we hear your word and follow; may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts lead us to you. Holy One, we come before you - a people broken into shards of lives sick, poor, hungry hidden by the limitations of our eyes. Help us to see as You see as you poured out your love in the Word. May we hear your word and follow may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts lead us to you. God of Mercy, we come before you – seeking to live as you command, but often failing, and thus we are torn by cries of despair anger power control lost to foolishness and stumbling blocks despite your love in the Word Help us to hear your word and follow May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts lead us to you. Gentle God, we come before you giving thanks for all our blessings the gift of life hope faith love family friends all we care for this day. Help us to be Your hands. Incline Your heart, O gracious God, and teach us to love O Christ, our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. ~ written by Terri C. Pilarski, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/2012/03/11/sunday-prayer-lent-3b/ Lord’s Prayer Song Oh For a Thousand Tongues to Sing UMH 57 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook The Spirit of God is upon you. We go forth proclaiming God's love and liberation. The Spirit of Christ is upon you. We go forth to live lives of justice and freedom. The power of the Spirit is upon you. We go forth as one body, one spirit, one witness to the promises of our God. From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. Community Time Benediction You have been called and anointed. You have been strengthened and enlightened. You have become one body in Christ. Now go to spread joy and liberation in word and in deed to all the world. From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. Children’s Sermon People make promises every day. Sometimes we give something to another person as a sign of our promise, sometimes we sign our name to seal our promise, other times we just give our word to another person that we will do something. I'm sure you have all seen a ring like this. (Show the wedding ring.) When a man and woman get married, they usually make promises to one another. They say something like, "I promise to love you for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live." Then they exchange rings as a symbol of that promise. This is an ordinary letter like the ones we receive in our mail box every day. Right in the middle is the name and address of the person for whom it is intended. What do you see up here in the corner of the envelope? Right! It is a stamp. When the Postal Service sells you this stamp and you put it on a letter, it represents their promise to deliver it to the person to whom the envelope is addressed. It doesn't matter if it is cloudy or sunny, raining or snowing, hot or cold, the mail gets delivered. That is the promise that this stamp represents. You are too young to have a credit card, but one day you probably will. Most adults have a credit card which they use to buy things. When you buy something using your credit card, you have to sign a ticket. When you sign the ticket, you are promising that you will pay for the items you purchased using the credit card. Your signature is your promise. People make promises every day. Do they always keep their promises? Unfortunately, some people don't. God makes promises too. The Bible is full of God's promises. Does God always keep his promises? Yes he does! One of my favorite verses in the Bible is one that says, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. (2 Cor. 1:20) That is what our Bible lesson teaches us today. Jesus was in the city of Nazareth on the Sabbath day so he did what he always did on the Sabbath. He went to the synagogue. He stood up and began to read the words of the prophet Isaiah from the scripture. He read where it says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come." When he had finished reading, he sat down. All eyes were on Jesus. Then he began to speak to them. "The scripture that you have just heard read has been fulfilled this very day!" Jesus came to earth to fulfill the promises of God. All of God's promises are fulfilled in him. Wouldn't it be great if you and I were as faithful in keeping our promises to God as he is in keeping his promises to us? Our Father in heaven, thank you for your faithfulness in keeping your promises. Help us to be faithful in keeping our promises to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Additional Illustrations He Came to Help Us See Besides freeing us from fear and guilt, Jesus came to help us see. He wasn’t talking about physical blindness, but rather, spiritual blindness. We can’t see because we are trapped by habits, addictions and illusions of happiness. Therefore we are trapped, oppressed by our own choices and situations. Some of us are in denial. Others of us are reinforced through the enabling of other people. Consequently, we are not free. One night a tiger trainer was performing at a circus. He went into the cage with the tigers and a huge hush came over the crowd as the doors were locked behind him. Skillfully, the trainer put the tigers though their routine, entertaining the crowd. But, suddenly there was a "pop" and the all the lights went out under the big top. The trainer was locked inside the cage with the tigers in complete darkness. They could see him with their night vision, but he could not see them. All he had was a chair and a whip for protection. Finally the lights came back on and the trainer finished his performance. Later in a TV interview, the trainer admitted how scared he was. Then he realized that the tigers did not know that he could not see them. "I just cracked my whip and talked to them," he said, "until the lights came on." (from "Tigers in the Dark," God’s Little Lessons on Life for Dad, Honor Books) Keith Wagner, Liberated and Free Fulfilling Others? And the marvel is this: Jesus somehow fits the void in all the far flung instances of human longing. When medieval European artists painted the Holy Family, they usually painted them with typical German, Italian, or Flemish features. It was not imagination or prejudice which made them do so, but the instinctive feeling that Jesus belonged to them; he was one of their people. In our time, Christian artists in Africa and Asia paint the Holy Family with features and coloring appropriate to their world. Again, it is because they feel that Jesus belongs to them. The mountain church, where a duet twangs out country-western music on a guitar, may seem to have little in common with a Bach rendition from a four-manual organ; but each is seeking to show its adoration of Jesus in its own best way. Here is the common bond between a ghetto storefront church and the massive Gothic structure some miles away: they both bear the name of Jesus Christ; and they each seek, in their own way and setting, to fulfill the human longing. What about you and me? What is the longing in our lives which Christ has filled? "Today," Jesus said, "this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." For you, for me? To what degree are we in the business of fulfilling the scripture in the lives of others? J. Ellsworth Kalas, Sermons on the Gospel Readings, Cycle C, CSS Publishing Company Hope Do you remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek Mythology? The lovely Pandora was sent by Zeus to be the bride of Epimetheus. One of Pandora's more endearing charms was her curiosity, but that quality also proved to nearly be her undoing. One day Mercury, the messenger, sent a box to the young couple. It was meant for them to enjoy, but under no circumstances were they to open it. Well, of course, it is the old story of the forbidden fruit. Told that she could not do it, it became the thing that she desired to do the most. So one day she pried it open and peeked inside. Suddenly out flew swarms of insects that began attacking them. Both lovers were stung with the poison of suspicion, hatred, fear and malice. Now the once happy couple began to argue. Epimetheus became bitter and Pandora wept with a broken heart. But in the midst of the quarreling, they heard a tiny voice cry out: Let me out, to sooth your pain. Fearfully they opened the box again, and this time a beautiful butterfly flew out. It touched the couple and miraculously their pain was healed and they were happy again. The butterfly we are told was hope. It is hope that sustains us; it is hope that sooths our pain. Staff, www.eSermons.com.

Miracles Abound

John 2:1-11 Miracles Abound 2nd Sunday After Epiphany January 16, 2022 Year C Opening Song Welcome Reminder of COVID protocols Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 36:5-10, John 2:1-11) We come this day, Precious God, as people in need of your steadfast love: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. We gather this day, Water-changing God, as people looking for signs: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. We worship this day, Gifting God, as people who confess Jesus as our Lord: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. ~ written by Thom Shuman, and posted on Lectionary Liturgies. Stewardship Moment When we come to this moment in our worship, we often try rationally to encourage generous giving by each person. Looking to the story of Jesus and his Mom at a wedding feast, however, we see how this mother pushed Jesus into an act of generosity (even if it was to get his Mom off his back!). A contemporary poet puts it this way: What Makes You Think You Don’t Need It? This Jewish mother knew the score; She knew her son could do much more Than just sit back, all uninvolved; And so, this ponderer resolved That she’d weigh in, and speak her mind, E’en though, this son of hers, unkindly Snapped! Sometimes you need a push To get yourself up off your tush; And if that’s true of even God, Perhaps for you, it’s not so odd. Scott L. Barton https://lectionarypoems.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time-c.html Consider this your push to act out the generosity which God models for us each day: give to strengthen and encourage those who will receive a blessing from your gift! Prayer of Thanksgiving Giving God, Thank you for challenging us today to get off our tushes (or soften this language, i.e.: “challenging us to do all we can do to share our treasure.”) Please accept these gifts. Inspire each of us toward true generosity, and use what is provided to accomplish far more than what any one of us could, or would, do alone. We offer this prayer because of Jesus, who turned water into wine, and inspires us to turn our bottled-up natures into ever-flowing springs. AMEN Passing of the Peace Scripture John 2:1-11 Common English Bible Wedding at Cana 2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They don’t have any wine.” 4 Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby were six stone water jars used for the Jewish cleansing ritual, each able to hold about twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some from them and take it to the headwaiter,” and they did. 9 The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The headwaiter called the groom 10 and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first. They bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are drinking freely. You kept the good wine until now.” 11 This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Sermon – Miracles Abound There are 25 recorded miracles of Jesus in the bible. The book of Matthew tells us of 20 miracles of Jesus, the book of Mark records 18, Luke tells of 20 miracles. The book of John is much more conservative. And yet the miracles in John are not even mentioned in the other three gospels. John only tells 7 miracle stories. This is the first on them. It is not very flashy or even significant. No one is saved or healed, or even has a change in life. As a matter of fact, John does not even like the word miracle. For him, these are signs – events the direct us to the wonder of God. They are very subtle ways that we can tell that God has entered into history and is on our side. Usually, when we think of the word miracle – we think of something that happens that defies the laws of reality in order to make things go our way. Repealing the Laws Author Jay Kesler says that shortly after he got his driver's license he wrecked his dad's car. The crash tore away the front fender, two doors, and the rear fender. After Jay found out everyone was okay, he stood in the ditch and prayed, "Dear God, I pray this didn't happen." He opened his eyes and saw that the car was still wrecked, so he closed his eyes, squinted real hard, and prayed again, "Dear God, it didn't happen." Then he opened his eyes, but, he says, it happened anyway. Have you ever been there? Have you ever asked God to move Heaven and Earth over something trivial, something impossible, something absurd? "Oh, Lord, please don't let it rain for my daughter's wedding," (ignoring the fact that there are others who are depending on rain for their wellbeing.) "Lord, please let the answer to question 8 be four hundred years," (Do we really expect God to change history so that we can pass an exam?). "Oh, God, please let mine be the lowest bid." (Yes, Lord, take your heavenly eraser and blot out everyone's bid and make them higher than mine.) Have you ever asked God to repeal the laws of gravity, undo the past, change weather patterns or something equally as absurd just for your convenience? I suspect we all have at sometime or another. So, we can appreciate our lesson from the Gospel. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com We have all hoped for those kinds of miracles, and everyone once in a while we get lucky and those kinds of things happen in our life. But in reality, have those things really taught us anything of value about our faith or about the true nature of God. Delmonico told on radio: A man seated in a wheelchair at the Vatican suddenly got up and walked away. Everyone was amazed and shouted and praised God for the miracle. But the man hadn’t been ill. He was just resting for a little while in a vacant chair. God is accustomed to doing miracles every day and they appear quite commonplace. On the other hand, some things which seem miraclulous just aren’t explainable yet. God most often works within God’s own natural law. John uses this story to introduce us to the signs of God’s presence to help us to see the true miracles are very subtle. As I have looked back, I don’t choose to preach on this story very often. But this year I thought it fit into the epiphany theme of looking for signs of God’s presence in our lives. In this story we get to see the human side of Jesus. Jesus comes to a party to have fun and to forget about his work of saving the world. He even tells his mom, to leave him alone because a his time had not come. We also get to see firsthand his relationship with his mom. How did she know that he had the means to save the party by bringing more wine? Wine at a party was a sign of abundance, or celebration, of joy in life. Somehow she knew that the messiah would have all of these qualities. One thing that I learned just this year about this story - Jesus used the stone jars to store water for purification rites. These 25 gallon jugs would have been filled with water so that the guest could wash their hands and feet before entering into the party. By the time Jesus came to help, the jugs would have been empty, but the story says that Jesus filled them again. And the water tasted just like wine. Jesus is not just turning water into wine, he is calling for a whole new age. He is taking the water for obligation, and sin and guilt and turning it into something new and fun. He is turning a burden into a celebration. He turned a dead ritual into a live party. The point of John’s story – is this new wine made all of the difference in the world. The true miracle is that big changes start with small changes of the heart. This is the first sign of a new day. For John, Christ is the first sign of new life. Jesus loves to party, and when we invite him in it makes all of the difference in the world. When we look for Jesus we are never disappointed. Give Your Delimma to The Lord Dr. Charles Stanley, a prominent minister of a large church in Atlanta, tells the story of a time when their church needed two million dollars to relocate to a larger facility. The only problem was they didn’t have the money. One day, the board members told Dr. Stanley to get a loan from the bank because the deal sounded good. However, Dr. Stanley told the group that they needed divine direction, so they all packed their gear and took off for a state park for the weekend for a time of prayer. All weekend they prayed earnestly that God would give them direction and help them resolve the problem that they were facing. When they finally left the park, they still didn’t have any clear direction about how to purchase the building. But they were committed to waiting on God. A few days later, Dr. Stanley had a message to call a man He had never met. He lived in another state. The man said that he wanted to help Dr. Stanley’s ministry. Immediately, Dr. Stanley called him back, and the stranger said, “I have had you and your ministry on my mind the past several days. I notice that you never ask for money on the broadcast, and I was wondering if you have any needs.” Dr. Stanley explained the situation about the building and how they needed two million dollars to purchase it. The stranger said, “I think I can handle that.” And he gave that church two million dollars. That church had a problem; they gave their problem to Jesus; and their problem was solved. Keith Smith, Anything Is Possible With Jesus My point for the story is not to focus on the 2 millions dollar donation, but to focus on the fact that the gift came out of everyone going to God in prayer. Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coalmine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!" The little boy was on to something. Weddings are time of Joy. Have you invited Jesus to your party? Or are we like the town who Whole town bought water There was a town, who had a tradition that whenever there was a wedding, you were supposed to bring a jug of wine from home, and put in the collective pot – so that there would be enough wine for everyone. Well times have gotten tough for this one particular family – and they decided that instead of bringing wine to the wedding, that they would bring a jug of water. Their little jug of water would not make a difference in the collective pot of wine – so they thought. It turns out every family felt the same way – everyone bought water instead of wine. Jesus is the wine of our celebration! Jesus us the life of our party! Jesus is the source of our faith! Let us celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ – be in service to the world, but be in all that you do, be in faithful service to God! Let us pray….. Prayer Lord of Light and Joy, the daylight hours are becoming longer for us. Evening comes a little later, and the dawn is earlier, but the darkness in our hearts persists. We continue to look at the miraculous ways you work in our lives as mere stories or happenstance. How foolish we are! From the beginning of all that is, you have poured your love and light into this world and into our lives. You have offered us countless blessings and opportunities for service, some of which we have followed, and others that we have ignored. You have forgiven and healed our spirits. We continue to bring before you the names and situations of people that are in direst need. We ask for your healing mercies and yet we wonder if you really are with us. Turn our moaning and crying into songs of praise and hope. Give us spirits of trust and rejoicing, that we may truly be your people all of our days. Prepare us for joyful service in your world; for we ask this in Jesus' Name. AMEN. Lord’s Prayer Song They’ll Know we are Christians by our love TFWS 2243 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Look around you, dear people. God's joy is poured out for you so that you might be a blessing to others. God will continually walk and work with you, relieving your burdens and giving you strength. Go into God's world, rejoicing! AMEN. Community Time Benediction And now, from the One who is indeed the giver of all good gifts: go and share what God has given you; go and proclaim that God's love is here; go in the power of God's Spirit to make all things new. Children’s Sermon Hello, children of God! Have you ever seen a miracle? Do you know what a miracle is? It’s something that just shouldn’t be physically possible. It might even seem sort of like a magic trick. I want to show you a little trick now. I’m going to take this ordinary water (hold up water in a clear glass or bottle) and transform it into something new! Does that sound strange? Just watch. I mean, I like drinking water and all, and it’s great for hydration, but sometimes it can be a little boring. Sometimes I want something more exciting and flavorful. Well, what if I took this plain boring water, and I poured it into another glass? (As you speak, pour the water into another clear cup with drink powder hidden at the bottom. Watch as the liquid and powder blend to make a new juice.) Wow! It’s something completely new now! This will be a much more interesting beverage to enjoy. Well, that was not exactly a magic trick or a miracle, was it? In fact, that was just the trick of a little drink powder in the bottom of a glass. But there are a lot of times in the Bible when we read of Jesus doing amazing miracles. He did things to help people that may have been impossible. Yet nothing is impossible with God’s help! Do you know the first miracle that Jesus ever did? He transformed water, too! Only He didn’t use drink mix. You see, Jesus was at a wedding, and in those days weddings lasted a few days and included a lot of eating and drinking in celebration. Well, something unfortunate happened: the wedding ran out of wine! That would be like going to a birthday party and not having any cake. It would make the host look bad, and make the guests a little upset. Now, running out of wine might not seem like the most important thing to be concerned about, but Jesus’s mother Mary knew that He would care, and that He could do something about the situation. She came to Jesus and told Him what was going on. At first, He tried to tell her it wasn’t yet His time to be demonstrating God’s power. But Mary believed in Him. She knew He could do anything, and she told the servants to obey His instructions and do whatever He told them to do. Jesus told the servants to fill some large jars up with water, and serve it to the master of the house. They did what He asked, filling the jars with water. Only instead of plain water, when they served the master, he drank wine! Not only that, but the best kind of wine, and he commended the groom for saving the better wine for later in the celebration. With the belief of Mary and obedience of the servants, Jesus kept the guests well supplied! This miracle, the first one we read about in the Bible, reminds us of a couple of special things. First, it tells us that God truly cares about our lives, even the little details. He wants us to enjoy life, and even something like running out of drinks matters to Him. We also see how important it is to trust that Jesus can do anything. Do you know what else is awesome about this story? This was not the last miracle Jesus did! He did a lot of amazing things during His life on Earth, but did you know He continues to do miracles now? When you think about it, there are many marvelous little miracles that happen every single day. Even just waking up in the morning or taking a breath are miracles in a sense. Jesus is still present with us. He loves us and cares about us. He can make amazing things happen in our lives. Whether it’s something as simple as finding your favorite flavor at the ice cream store, or healing after being hurt or sick, God is working in every aspect of our lives. And He’s already done the greatest miracle, conquering death to pay for our sins! So we can give thanks each and every day for all of the moments, big and small, in which we recognize the presence of Christ. Let’s pray and thank God for marvelous miracles every day… Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener – Saving the Best Till Last The Jews attached great importance to the high moments of life. Thus a wedding was not just a brief ceremony, but an experience shared by the entire community. The typical wedding feast could last up to seven days. That sounds strange to our modern way of thinking, but this offered a bright interlude in an otherwise dreary existence. The ceremony would begin on Tuesday at midnight. After the wedding the father of the bride would take his daughter to every house so that everyone might congratulate her. It was a community experience. Weddings were a time of joy. At the wedding, which Jesus attended in Cana of Galilee, there was great joy but a problem developed. There was a shortage of wine. Not only was that a social embarrassment, it was also a symbol. For a wedding to run out of wine was an omen that there was little chance of this particular marriage reaching its full potential, maybe joy was not meant for this couple. So Mary approaches Jesus and asks him to do something. His response? "Why do you involve me woman?" Sounds harsh, so unlike him, and it has long puzzled biblical scholars... Inviting Christ Brings Joy Why do we bring Christ into the wedding ceremony? Because if we would only bring Christ into our marriages, we would have better marriages! A few years back psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers was quoted as saying that for about half of all American couples, marriage is a “quiet hell.” Many other marriages have degenerated into a “tired friendship,” as someone put it. I submit to you that this is a tragedy, and in order to prevent such tragedies, we ought to take the traditional marriage ritual seriously and invite Christ to be a guest at our weddings, just as He was invited to the wedding at Cana in Galilee. Above all, in this quaint and lovely little story, John is proclaiming the Good News that Jesus Christ is the Life of every party, that he is the one who livens things up, brings life abundant for all, even anonymous brides and bridegrooms in an out-of-the-way peasant village located somewhere (where, we are not sure) in the Galilee. As William Barclay put it in his commentary on this passage: “...whenever Jesus comes into our lives there enters a quality which is like turning water into wine. The trouble with life is that we get bored with it. Pleasure loses its thrill. There is a vague dissatisfaction about everything. But when Jesus enters our lives there comes a new exhilaration!” Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com A Whole New Era What about the underlying meaning? What did this strange first miracle signify? In a departure from custom, John fails to interpret for us the miraculous "sign," which for him almost always means a symbol, a kind of acted parable. Some commentators see in it a preview of the last Supper, when Jesus transforms not water into wind but wine into blood, his blood shed for all humanity. Maybe. But, I think not. I prefer a more whimsical interpretation. Tellingly, John notes that the wine came from huge thirty-gallon jugs that stood full of water at the front of the house, vessels that were used by observant Jews to fulfill the rules on ceremonial washing. Even a wedding feast had to honor the burdensome rituals of cleansing. Jesus, perhaps with a twinkle in his eye, transformed those jugs, ponderous symbols of the old way, into wineskins, harbingers of the new. From purified water of the Pharisees came the choice new wine of a whole new era. The time for ritual cleansing had passed; the time for celebration had begun. Prophets like John the Baptist preached judgment. Jesus' first miracle, though, was one of tender mercy. The lesson was not lost on the disciples who joined him at the wedding that night in Cana. Don't let it be lost on you! Adapted from Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1995, p. 168. _________________ In the middle ages, Thomas À Kempis wrote: "When you have Christ, you are rich. He is enough. He will provide everything you need so you won't have to count on others without him. People change and fail. You can't depend on them. Those that are for you today may be against you tomorrow. They are as variable as the wind. But Christ is eternally faithful." Mary Trusted. Mary knew that she could count on Jesus and so can we. Billy D. Strayhorn, Wedding Bell Blues Celebrating the New I once heard a speaker criticize the Lutheran Church by saying, "We have all the right words to a party, but we haven't learned how to pull it off, yet." Seldom do our worship services feel like wedding celebrations -- where 180 gallons of wine would be served during a week-long celebration. Maybe all this talk about 180 gallons of wine can encourage us to be more celebrative and joyful in our receiving and sharing of God's grace. At the same time, I often wonder what Sunday services would be like if we put in as much time, effort, and money as we do for weddings. The six stone water jars, each holding 20-30 gallons equals 120-180 gallons of wine! That's a lot of wine. I noted above that an abundance of wine was an OT eschatological symbol. The abundance of God's grace is a theme that can flow out of these huge jars. Something I hadn't noticed before is that these jars were empty. The servants have to fill them with water before the miracle occurs. Jesus is not transforming the purification water that was in the jars into the wine; but he is transforming new water that has been placed in the old containers. O'Day suggests: "New wine is created in the 'old' vessels of the Jewish purification rites, symbolizing that the old forms are given new content." Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes Humor: Miracles There is a time-honored story about a skeptic who was continually harassing the local pastor. His one delight in life seemed to be making the pastor appear inadequate intellectually. The pastor bore these challenges to his theology and faith with great restraint. One day the skeptic was heckling the pastor about his views on miracles. "Give me one concrete example of a miracle," the skeptic taunted. "One concrete example." Whereupon the pastor hauled off and kicked the skeptic furiously on the shin. The skeptic couldn't believe it! The pastor asked, "Did you feel that?" "Yes," the man said as he nursed his sore leg. "If you had not," said the pastor, "it would have been a miracle!" King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

Our Calling

January 9, 2022 Baptism of the Lord Acts 8:14-17 Our Calling Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (from Isaiah 43) One: Welcome to this time of worship, where we hear Good News! Many: We claim this truth: God has called us by name. We belong to God! One: Nothing will overwhelm us, for God is the Holy One. Many: So the song of the angels is for us: “do not be afraid!” One: God gives us God’s own name, and creates us to give God GLORY! Many: Remembering our baptism, we know we are redeemed. One: We are named and claimed! Many: Thanks be to God! Opening Prayer Holy God, even as we step into a new year, this 2022, we find it hard to “fear not”. We’ve been challenged by COVID, weather, storm, isolation and many other things. We’re eager to draw close to you. We’re eager to be filled with expectation. We’re eager to experience your Spirit descending into our lives. So claim us in this hour. Call us to rejoice in you, in Jesus, the Christ, and in your Holy Spirit, AMEN Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship Some of you may not be baptized yet, but for those who have been baptized, do you remember your baptism? I was baptized ______________ (describe where and when you were baptized, perhaps with 1 sentence of what that meant to you then). Usually when we baptize someone, we use their whole name, making sure to identify this specific person is voluntarily making a public affirmation of his/her faith. From that moment on, that person is one who can be called by God’s name! Just as there are expectations from your family of how to live up to your family name, we have expectations of how each of us, and all of us, will live up to being claimed as God’s own beloved daughters and sons. One of those expectations is that we will lovingly share our time, talents and treasure in the life of the Church. Today, I want to encourage each one of us to claim what a privilege it is to be baptized into Christ Jesus. As privileged people, we respond with our offering. Let the gifts you offer today, and throughout this new year, be gifts of gratitude for the privilege of being named “disciples of Jesus Christ!” Prayer of Thanksgiving Source of all being, Hear our thanks as we offer ourselves and these symbols of our daily living to you. May your Spirit pour into us, as it came into Jesus, for we truly want to be claimed by you as we follow him. Help us find ways to live the Good News of your love for one and for all, Help us use these gifts and our time and talents in service with Jesus, your Beloved Son, Amen. Scripture Acts 8:14-17 Common English Bible 14 When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted God’s word, they commissioned Peter and John to go to Samaria. 15 Peter and John went down to Samaria where they prayed that the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. (16 This was because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Sermon Our Calling We have been following the story of two cousins since the beginning of advent. John and Jesus were born close to one another. Even though they may have led different lives, they keep in touch with one another. It was John who started his ministry first. It was John who started baptizing people in the Jordan river. I don’t know that Jesus ever baptized anyone, he was not a priest. As a matter of fact, one of the last times that they were ever together – John baptizes Jesus. And Jesus hears God call him by name tell him that God loves him and confirms that he must go into ministry to tell the people the good news. Eventually John is killed and Jesus incorporates his ministry. Every year after epiphany, we remember the baptism of the Lord. The beginning of his ministry is the beginning of ours. The beginning of his call is the beginning of our call. The work that he does in the world – we are called to do the same. When we were baptized, we are called to continue Jesus ministry here on earth. I got a letter from Bishop Hopkins, as well as the chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry that on January 2 or 9 that it was important for us to remind everyone of our call to ministry. As we remember Jesus baptism that we should all remember our baptism. I grew up as a Baptist with Pentacostal cousins. So I learned about baptism coming and going. My mother said that I couldn’t get baptized until I was able to make a decision for myself. Even though my friends got baptized as a child, I couldn’t, because I couldn’t afford to get my hair wet. I finally got baptized at Second Baptist Church in Evanston when I was 21. Today I keep my baptism certificate in the same place as my ordination certificates. They all represent my journey into ordained ministry. The one thing that divides us as denominations is our views on baptism. Baptism is an act of water and the spirit. Not everyone agrees on how the water and the spirit interact. • Spirit vs Water- different interpretations (Lee C Barrett, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1) o Spirit occurs at the moment of conversion (being born again, adult baptism, etc) whereas Water is the outward sign for observers of what the Spirit is doing within o Pentecostal: These ar 2 completely different baptisms: One by water and a later one by the Spirit o Roman Catholic: Baptism by water (for the forgiveness of sins) is completed through the baptism of the spirit in confirmation o Wesleyan Holiness: Baptism of water is an initial sign of grace and baptism by spirit is the assurance of salvation and complete sanctification o Reformed: Baptism by water is the outward and visible sign of the invisible grace of the Spirit - i.e. the two are inseparable In the United Methodist Church the water is an outward sign of an inward grace. But the holy spirit works through the water. You don’t actually have to see God at work for God to be working. When people join the Methodist church and they have been baptized in another church, we don’t baptize them again. Whether you were baptized by the father the son the holy spirit or in Jesus name. Whether you were sprinkled or dunk, whether you remember your baptism day or you were too young. God has already touched you and God does not make a mistake, so your baptism does not need to be corrected. But I do think that all of us need to live into our baptism. Late Bloomers Let’s face it: as far as faith is concerned, some people are late bloomers. It takes a while for some people to gain understanding. Wil Willimon tells about a church gathering where people were taking turns giving testimonies about their religious experiences. One man stood and said, “I was a Methodist for 38 years before anybody told me about Jesus.” Wil said he scratched his head when he heard that. What the man probably should have said was, “I was a church member for 38 years before I really experienced my faith and began to live it.” That is, he had a delayed response. He was a late bloomer. The problem, Wil said, was the man sounded so smug when he said it. He made it sound as if there was an instantaneous experience that washed away his past. Well, says Will, what about all those teachers who put up with him while he was growing up in Sunday school? What about all of those preachers who tried their best to speak the gospel to him? What about all those Christians who tried to tell him about Jesus? Will felt like saying, “Listen, pal, it’s nice that your faith is coming together, but what do you think we’ve been trying to get through your thick head for the last 38 years?” William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company Rather than focus on the baptism story, where the water and the spirit acted together – I thought we should look at the book of Acts. A story of separation. Philip is a lay leader, who has been consrecrated to help the ordained leaders. As a Jew, he has been called to go into enemy territory and to minister to the Samaritans who hate jews. Philip has had some success in his ministry. He has even been able to baptize people and start a church. Yet scripture says that the people were baptized with water, but they did not have the holy spirit. The apostles, Peter and John had to come along to baptize them with the Holy spirit. Interesting concept. How did the apostles know that they did not have the holy Spirit. Maybe they were just Methodist, who don’t get excited when they worship. Anyway , the scripture says that they eventually did get the holy spirit. But this scripture teaches us that baptism is an act of God, but it is also a journey. The holy Spirit’s work within us changes over time. In the life of every man there are certain definite stages, certain hinges on which his whole life turns. It was so with Jesus and every now and again we must stop and try to see his life as a whole. The first great hinge was the visit to the temple when he was twelve, when he discovered his unique relationship to God. By the time of the emergence of John, Jesus was about thirty (Luke 3:23). That is to say at least eighteen years had passed. All through these years he must have been realizing more and more his uniqueness. But still he remained the village carpenter of Nazareth. He must have known that a day must come when he must say good-bye to Nazareth and go out upon his larger task. He must have waited for some sign. When John emerged the people flocked out to hear him and to be baptized. Throughout the whole country there was and unprecedented movement towards God. And Jesus knew that his hour had struck. It was not that he was conscious of sin and of the need of repentance. It was that he knew that he too must identify himself with this movement towards God. For Jesus the emergence of John was God's call to action; and his first step was to identify himself with the people in their search for God. Our Baptismal Call What if vocations seem to change in the course of life? What one once felt called to do or be no longer seems right. What then? Sometimes, of course, the covenants of the past must hold us in faithfulness. But sometimes new callings come and lives are remade in response. What of those who are adrift, unsure of any calling? Our lovely imagery of vocation then seems naïve, better suited for the supposed stability and limited choices of an earlier age. But consider this: the calling of Jesus is not about a job or a career. It is not a word of mission, sending him into the future. Not at the outset. The word of baptism is first of all about the delight of God in this beloved, this chosen, this child called by name. Not a call to do, but a calling that names. I was an adult with children of my own when I came across my baby book, the collection of precious trivia and wonder prepared for me when I was new in the world. Among its pages was my mother’s description of how on the day of my birth she held me on her belly and welcomed me to the world. With me there in that hospital room she offered up the great Laudamus in thanksgiving. As for Jesus, so for us. Our first calling, the baptismal call, is the one that simply loves and names: You are my child. I delight in you. The words embrace us and promise to hold us. This is where it begins, and this is also, we dare claim, the last word, the one that holds our future. John Stendahl, "The Outset," article in the Christian Century, Dec. 24-31, 1997, p. 1219. I know that over the years, I have shared my call story of how I became a Christian, why I am United Methodist, how I became a pastor in bits in pieces. It is a little late in this sermon to share all of that in one place. But when I think about my story I can see evidence of those life changing moments in my life, but I can also see the journey of the spirit. Those ordinary moments in life, when I had already made a decision to follow God, I just didn’t realize it. I can see those traces of how the Holy Spirit was working in my life and my situation. God's Getting Better at It Since the beginning God has attempted to get people’s attention and to call them into a commitment to live with principles, values, and sense of sacredness that God wants from all humanity. Sometimes the people heard and responded to God, and sometimes they ignored God. God kept trying. God kept working at getting their attention. I heard about a little girl who sort of understands that about God. She was sitting on her grandfather’s lap as he read her a bedtime story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again. Finally she spoke up, "Grandpa, did God make you?" "Yes, Sweetheart," he answered, "God made me a long time ago." "Oh," she paused, "Grandpa, did God make me too?" "Yes, indeed, honey," he said, "God made you just a little while ago." Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, "God’s getting better at it, isn’t he?" God got better at it. After untold efforts to win our allegiance and our hearts, God took on human form, walking among us and living with us so that we would understand. It is in the living, breathing person of Jesus that we really see all things we call holy, such as forgiveness, sharing, joy, vision, courage, perseverance, and especially love. We might think we understand love, for example, but when we receive totally unconditional love from another person, love takes on a completely new meaning for us. Jesus shows us the ultimate example of love, namely, God’s love. Seeing this example in the flesh makes all the difference in the world for us. Lane Boyd, What’s So Important about Jesus? The Holy Spirit comes to each of us at different times, in different ways. The holy spirit is a sign of the freedom of God, it shows up in unexpected ways. But how do we know that the spirit is at work. Someone to Call Our Name "After the death of her husband, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria said, "There is no one left to call me Victoria." I know there are a number of you here this morning who have experienced what this woman of royalty experienced. The death of a spouse or loved one simply means that you do not hear your name called the way you remember it being called for so long. Only time helps us to cope with that pain. In spite of her royalty, Queen Victoria needed someone to call her by name. That's what baptism is about. We are named by God as His child. In adult, or what we may call "believer's baptism," baptism becomes the sign of our return to our Father from whom we have wandered. By repentance and our profession of faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, we claim the inheritance God has offered us as His children. Maxie Dunnam What’s The Holy Spirit? A minister named Al was pursuing a doctoral degree in theology. He worked long hours on his dissertation, so many hours, in fact, that his children often entered the study to interrupt. “Daddy, can you come out and play?” “Sorry, kids,” he replied, “I have too much work to do.” “What are you working on, Daddy?” Well, he couldn’t really give the title of his dissertation, which was something like “the experiential dimension of the divine pneumatological reality.” So he said, “I’m writing about experiences of the Holy Spirit.” They looked at him with blank faces and said, “What’s that?” One day Al and his family were sitting in church. They had not expected much that morning, he says. The pastor was soft-spoken and meek. He never said anything very clearly, but everybody liked him. This particular Sunday was different. The pastor stood up and preached a powerful sermon on racial equality. This was during the sixties, in the South, in a white, middle and upper class congregation. People sat transfixed as the preacher laid his career on the line, perhaps even laid his life on the line. “The day is coming,” he said, “when all God’s children, white and black, will join hands in worship and service. And that day is upon us.” The congregation left in shock. People couldn’t understand how their mild, housebroken preacher could suddenly have been filled with such fire. On the way home, it occurred to Al what had happened. “Kids,” he said, “remember how sometimes I go up to my study to write about the Holy Spirit?” One of the children said, “Yeah, but Daddy, what’s the Holy Spirit all about?” Al said, “We got a good picture today, in church.” They saw the power of God, pushing us to a day when every hand shall join in mission, when every voice shall join in praising the Lord. It is no empty promise. Why, that power was given to us right over there ... at the baptismal font. William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company. The Water of Our Baptism Is Dangerous There was a multimillionaire businessman, known for his extravagance, who hosted an elaborate, spectacular summer party. Part of his decorations and part of the uniqueness of his party was that he had filled his swimming pool with sharks, barracuda and other assorted dangerous fish. After cocktails and dinner had been served and everyone was just standing around looking at the assortment of dangerous sea life. The business man announced to his guests that he would like to challenge any of them to try swimming across the pool. And to sweeten the challenge he offered a first prize of either a new home in the mountains, a trip around the world for two or a piece of his business. No sooner had he made the announcement than there was a splash and a man swam rapidly across the infested waters and bounded up out on the other side. The millionaire turned to the sputtering young man, shaking water off of himself and said: "That was an absolutely stunning performance. What prize do you want?" With a growl and a scowl the swimmer said: "Right now I really don't care about the prize. All I want is the name of the turkey who pushed me in." I can assure you that the water of our baptism is dangerous, it is filled with sharks, barracudas and other dangerous sea life. I can also pretty much guarantee that should you take the plunge, accept Christ and be baptized, you probably won't get a new home in the mountains, or a trip around the world for two. But I can promise that you will get a piece of the business, God's business. Kingdom business. The business of Redemption and Second Chances through Christ. Billy D. Strayhorn, Come on in, the Water's Fine! The holy spirit calls us by name, the Holy Spirit gets us out of our comfort zones, the holy spirit calls us to dangerous work, it calls us to erase barriers, to open doors, to fix divisions. The holy spirt calls us to put aside our differences and to come together in love. If We Could All Be Royal In his book, The Gospel For The Person Who Has Everything, William Willimon tells of a young friend, age 4, who was asked on the occasion of his 5th birthday what kind of party he wanted to have. I want everybody to be a king and queen, Clayton said. So, he and his mother went to work, fashioning a score of silver crowns – cardboard and aluminum foil, purple robes – crepe paper, and royal scepters – sticks painted gold. On the day of the party, as the guests arrived, they were each given a royal crown, a robe, and a scepter, and were thus dressed as a king or a queen. It was a royal site - all kings and queens. Everyone had a wonderful time. They ate ice cream and cake, they had a procession up to the top of the block and back again, and then when it was all over, everyone knew it had been a royal, wonderful day. That evening as Clayton’s mom tucked him into bed, she asked him what he wished for when he blew the candles out on the birthday cake. I wished, he said, that everyone, everyone in the whole wide world could be a king and a queen. Not just on my birthday, but everyday. My friend Willimon closed this story by saying, well Clayton, baptism shows that something very much like that happened one day at a place called Calvary. We who were nobodies became somebodies. Those who were no people became God’s people. The wretched of the earth became royalty. William Willimon, quoted by Maxie Dunnam The greatest sign of the Holy Spirit is community. When we come together as a congregation and we worship, we work we minister together, that means that the holy spirit at work. That is one reason why baptism and faith commitments are always done I the presence of the entire congregation. That is the place the the spirit is at work. et's Get Him Advertised There was a little boy named Richie. Two special events had taken place in his life and both had impressed him very much. First, he had recently been baptized, and second, he was the proud brother of a baby boy named Stevie. One Sunday his father asked if he wanted to go to church. Richie's answer was an enthusiastic, "Yes. And let's take Stevie and get him advertised, too!" Richie wasn't too far off the mark. You see baptism is never really a private affair. The inner changes and convictions, the inner workings of the spirit leading an individual to Christ are personal and private. BUT, the declaration of that faith can never be a private thing, for it is a time of advertising faith and grace. Billy D. Strayhorn, A Faith Odyssey He wasn’t wrong. Baptism is an advertisement for God. It is just that the advertisement doesn’t stop when we walk out the door. How we live our life as baptized people is also our advertisement for God. We are to remember our baptism in everything that we do. Let is remember our baptism and be thankful. Amen. Prayer Your word of light and hope floods into our lives, O God. We have lived in darkness, in despair and fear, doubt and strife. But on this day of celebration, you remind us that we are marked by you to be witnesses to your light of new hope. As the heavens opened at Jesus' baptism, so is your love poured out on us. We have brought before you names and situations which concern us, people who face illness and grief, whose lives are torn by poverty, war, alienation, addiction, and hopelessness. We ask for your loving mercy on them, O Lord. Heal them and bind up their wounds. Help us to be people who are ready to be involved in ministries of peace and justice, bringing the light of your hope to those who dwell in darkness and despair. We ask this in Jesus' Name, AMEN. Lord’s Prayer Song The Spirit Song UMH 347 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Remember, you are God’s beloved, called and claimed to love as you have been loved. May God bless you and keep you, this day and in the days to come. Amen. Terri McDowell Ott – Presbyterian Outlook Community Time Benediction People of hope and peace, go into the world. Bring God's healing love to all whom you meet. Help with ministries, which promote justice and compassion. In Jesus' Name, go in peace. AMEN. Children’s Sermon Greet the children, and ask a few questions... Hello, children of God! Do you see what I have here? What is this? (Hold up a glass, pitcher, or bottle of water.) That’s right, this is water! Now, what does water do? What can we do with water? (Encourage kids to come up with a variety of water uses, such as drinking, swimming, cooking, and bathing.) So water is powerful and important stuff. And did you know that your body is made up largely of water? That’s why it is essential that you drink it and stay hydrated. But water also makes me think of baptism. Do you know what baptism is?? Baptism helps us remember that God has saved us and washed our sins away! Some people do baptism in different ways… some sprinkle water onto people (feel free to demonstrate with a small toy and your water); some people dip all the way into the water; some baptize people when they are little babies; some when they are older…there are a lot of ways to do it. But it is a wonderful and important thing to be baptized because it shows us that we are new in Christ! We are born sinful, and will likely do a lot of bad things in our lives, whether we mean to or not. But we can rest assured that God will forgive us. He sent Jesus to take our place and die so that we can live with God. He loves us no matter what we do! And did you know that Jesus was baptized, too? Now, that might seem strange, because we know that Jesus never sinned…so why would He need to be baptized? Well, John asked that same question. Remember John, the camel hair-wearing, locust-eating guy? He baptized people in a river. Jesus came to him one day asking to be baptized, and John tried to send Him away. But Jesus insisted, saying He needed to do it. This lets us know that baptism is a blessing and a great thing. And when Jesus was baptized, something remarkable happened. Heaven opened up, Copyright © Ministry-To-Children.com – Permission granted for any non-profit use. Written by Kristin Schmidt . Illustrations from ChristianClipArts.com Scripture quotes from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove (hold picture of dove or toy), and the voice of God was heard, saying “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” So all parts of the Trinity were present at once. And God was announcing who Jesus was, His beloved Son. We can take heart that Jesus was and is who He proclaimed. That is a comforting reminder. He lived and died so that we might have eternal life, and be made clean and new in Him. This is something that we should help us to live joyfully every day. We are made in God’s image and we can live in His presence. We were sinful, but can be cleansed in Christ. So the next time you wash your hands or take a bath, remember how God has washed away our sins. Why don’t we Thank Him for that right now? MinistrytoChildren.com Additional Illustrations Baptism: Take My Good Name French writer Henri Barbusse (1874-1935) tells of a conversation overheard in a trench full of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men, who knew he only had minutes to live says to one of the other man, "Listen, Dominic, you've led a very bad life. Everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, here, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death." The Good News is that through Jesus, God makes a similar offer. Something wonderful happens to us when we are baptized. When we are baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus. We publicly declare our intention to strive to be like Jesus and follow God's will for our lives. When we are baptized, our lives are changed. We see things differently than before. We see other people differently than before. Baptism enables and empowers us to do the things that Jesus wants us to do here and now. We are able to identify with Jesus because He was baptized. And we are able to love as he loved. Such identification is life changing. That kind of identification shapes what we believe and claims us. Billy D. Strayhorn, Come on in, the Water's Fine! Wash Off the Stuff of The Day One of the most successful and personable people on television is Oprah Winfrey. Movies, book clubs, she does it all. Huge business operations. While all the other talk shows on television are tearing people apart and putting all their illnesses out for public humiliation, Oprah is helping put people and families back together again. . . In a Newsweek magazine interview the interviewer asked her, "How do you separate yourself from work?" Answer, "I take a hot bath. . . My bath is my sanctuary. (Listen to this) It's the place where I can wash off all the stuff of the day" ((Jan 8, 2001, p. 45). Baptism is a huge symbol -- it's the water of creation. . . .we are born anew. . . . life in the Spirit . . . all the "stuff" of the day is washed off. All of that is true. But at its basic level, baptism is the death of the old self. Before anything new can be born, the old has to pass away. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com. Adapted. Spiritual Perception Back when the telegraph was the fastest means of long-distance communication, there was a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a young man who applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. In the background a telegraph clacked away. A sign on the receptionist's counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man completed his form and sat down with seven other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. Why had this man been so bold? They muttered among themselves that they hadn't heard any summons yet. They took more than a little satisfaction in assuming the young man who went into the office would be reprimanded for his presumption and summarily disqualified for the job. Within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man." The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and then one spoke up, "Wait a minute--I don't understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair." The employer responded, "All the time you've been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse code: `If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his." A man's entire livelihood, indeed his life, depends upon his ability to discern the meaning of these words: "You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Gary Preston, Character Forged from Conflict. Buckley's Faith William F. Buckley, Jr., has earned the respect of some of his harshest critics with the publication of Nearer, My God. Many of his critics have been among the theologians who have had great difficulty with his rightist opinions. It is not that conservative viewpoints are not welcome, but Mr. Buckley has a penchant for delivering his thoughts in a cavalier style that betrays a snide manner of talking down to people. However, his book Nearer, My God is not offensive in its approach to Mr. Buckley’s confession of faith. A baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic from his youth, the author reveals a studied approach to the faith that reveals his struggles with the great questions that can trouble us all. Obviously quite satisfied with the strength that he gains from his faith, Mr. Buckley has refrained from making a public display of religious language in the public debates he enjoys immensely. When Buckley was asked by his publisher to write about his faith, his publisher suggested the title, “Why I am Still a Catholic.” Buckley flinched at that, because that suggests there is something wrong with being a Catholic. Likewise, he balked at the title, “Why I am a Catholic.” He wanted to express his faith as he understood it. While he does defend the authoritarian approach of the papacy, he also leaves room for critical observations of the practices of his denomination. When one reads the kind of personal confession we get from Mr. Buckley, we are reminded that all of us should be ready to give an autobiography of the faith that is in us. If we were to do so, there would be no better way than for us to begin where our spiritual journey began, namely, in holy baptism. On this First Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord, we are helped to understand what happened on that important day in our lives, and why our faith should be so important to us. Harry N. Huxhold, The Presence in the Promise, CSS Publishing Company Commentary – Jesus’ Baptism But in Jesus' Baptism something happened. Before he could take this tremendous step he had to be sure that he was right; and in the moment of Baptism God spoke to him. Make no mistake, what happened in the baptism was an experience personal to Jesus. The voice of God came to him and told him that he had made the right decision, but more--far more--that very same voice mapped out all his course for him. God said to him, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." That saying is composed of two text. You are my beloved son--that is from Psalm 2:7 and was always accepted as a description of the Messianic King. In whom I am well pleased--that is part of Isaiah 42:1 and is from a description of the servant of the Lord whose portrait culminates in the sufferings of Isaiah 53. Therefore in his baptism Jesus realized, first, that he was the Messiah, God's Anointed King; and, second, that this involved not power and glory, but suffering and a cross. The cross did not come on Jesus unawares; from the first moment of realization he saw it ahead. The baptism shows us Jesus asking for God's approval and receiving the destiny of the cross. William Barclay, Luke, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975, p. 37 A great violinist was scheduled to play a concert in Houston, Texas. The Houston newspaper, however, didn’t focus on the artist. It used most of its space to describe his original Stradivarius violin. In fact, the morning of the concert, the front page carried a picture of the great instrument he would play. That night, the hall was filled with people. The musician played extremely well. As he finished, the crowd thundered its applause. When the clapping subsided, the musician carefully laid his bow down. He carried a chair to center stage. Raising his violin over his head with both hands, he slammed it across the back of the chair. The violin smashed into dozens of pieces. The audience gasped. Walking back to the microphone, the artist said, “I read in this morning’s paper about how great my violin was. So I walked down the street to a pawn shop. For thirty dollars I purchased a cheap violin. I put some new strings on it. That’s the violin I played this evening, then smashed. I wanted to demonstrate that it isn’t the violin that counts most. It’s the hands that hold the violin.”3 In this image-conscious world you and I need to pause every now and then and reflect on the God who inspires our faith and is the reason for the existence of our churches, our Bibles, and our hope for eternal life. As Charlie Brown says, “Most of us live just about one cookie away from being happy." It sneaks in on us, doesn't it? Greed comes hunting for us in the depths of our souls. Perhaps you heard the story last year about the American soldier from World War Two who was determined to return a flag to Japan. Japanese soldiers in World War Two carried flags called “good luck flags.” Friends and family signed the white spaces of the flags, and then gave the flag to a soldier who was leaving for war. The soldier carried the personalized flag as a precious memento of home. In the Battle of Saipan, then-Marine Marvin Strombo got separated from his unit, and found himself behind enemy lines. He saw the flag and took it from the body a Japanese soldier who had been killed in the battle. The flag came home with him after the war. These flags were prized keepsakes among American soldiers in the dramatic, difficult days of World War Two. Strombo said he felt bad taking the flag originally, and was determined to return it. According to NPR, “Strombo had long desired to return [the flag]…It wasn’t until he visited a Japanese culture class at the University of Montana last year that Strombo learned what the Japanese writing on the flag was and what the flags meant to the families of the fallen” (NPR.org). Now in his nineties, Marvin Strombo didn’t know how much time he would have, so he contacted the Obon Society. The Obon Society has a mission of promoting peace by returning flags and personal artifacts to Japan. As the Greatest Generation comes to the end of their lives, there is a lot of memorabilia that former soldiers, or their families, want to see returned (ObonSociety.org). Reading the calligraphy on the flag, the Obon Society narrowed the search down to a region, and then a village, and then a family. They determined that the flag belonged to Lance Corporal Yasue. Yasue had left home in 1943, died in battle, and his remains were never repatriated. His family received a coffin full of stones. Strombo traveled to the small village in Japan where Yasue’s family still lived, and presented the flag to Yasue’s younger brother, now 89 and still working the family farm. Yasue’s family was grateful to receive the flag as a remembrance of the brother who never returned home. At that moment, Marvin Strombo and the Yasue family weren’t enemies divided by war, but people who shared a common experience of pain and loss. The gift of the Holy Spirit does the same thing. It leaps across every dividing line we can think of. It heals old divisions, and brings peace to old hurts. It reveals that we are all equal in God’s sight. It makes the Samaritan believers as good as the Jewish believers. It makes people who come later just as good as the people who start out in faith. It draws us all toward Jesus, and erases the lines we draw between ourselves.

The Light is Here, Let's Go

January 2, 2022 Epiphany Sunday Isaiah 60:1-6 The Light is here, Let’s Go Year C Opening Song Welcome Invocation O Christ, pass through the doors of heaven into our presence. You were not created by the Most High to recline upon the clouds in the company of angels. You were fashioned to make your home among the creatures of God. God has chosen the place where you shall erect your tent. There we shall meet you. And where you go we shall go, and where you lodge we shall lodge. Your people shall be our people; your God, our God. Stewardship Moment Invitation to the Offering We have seen the light of the world. We have been called to follow the star of promise. Like the Magi, let us bring our gifts to honor the babe of Bethlehem and bring the light to all the dark places in our community and our world. Offertory Prayer God of this day and all days! We can only imagine the darkness of the world into which you sent your son – a world that believed that salvation rested on our ability to follow the rules. Jesus came to bring light into that darkness, and into our darkness. As we bring our tithes and offering to you this day, transform them into light for the hungry, for the hopeless, for the forgotten and the oppressed. We will share his light in us! In Christ, we pray. Amen. (John 1:(1-9), 10-18) Scripture Jerusalem’s coming radiance 60 Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the LORD’s glory has shone upon you. 2 Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the LORD will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you. 3 Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance. 4 Lift up your eyes and look all around: they are all gathered; they have come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters on caregivers’ hips. 5 Then you will see and be radiant; your heart will tremble and open wide, because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you; the nations’ wealth will come to you. 6 Countless camels will cover your land, young camels from Midian and Ephah. They will all come from Sheba, carrying gold and incense, proclaiming the LORD’s praises. Sermon – The Light is here, Let’s go I have mentioned several times before, that it is always a challenge to know that theme to focus on for the first Sunday of January. Is it still Christmas, is it the New Year, is it epiphany. We just can’t cover everything. And even if I were to focus on the gospel lesson of the three kings, there is still a lot to cover. The lectionary scriptures for epiphany are always the same. I usually go with Isaiah 60 for this week. It is a lesson that we as the church have to be reminded of over and over again. The first line of Isaiah 60 – Arise! Shine! Your light has come! On a cold wintry day when the storms are raging outside and inside it is a message that we need to hear today. It is time to get up, to get to work, because all of the hope, the resources, the purpose that we have been waiting for is here. Isaiah needed to give that message to a nation that was overwhelmed with the work of rebuilding. Israel that of itself as the underdog. All of the nations around them had more people, more money, more power. They have been invaded and destroyed by these nations twice now. It actually took a strong king of another nation to have mercy on them and not destroy them, but let them go home. He even gave them the money to rebuild. Finally after years of praying to God they were free – but the task of getting back to normal seemed impossible. Until Isaiah reminds them to Arise Shine your light has come. The Christian church too has whethered a lot of storms. We too have to rebuild, we too are overwhelmed and wondering about resources and strength to do what needs to be done to move forward. Arise, Shine, your light has come. When I looked at this scripture this year, what stood out to me was that the light did not represent a great event, or a great celebration. After Isaiah’s words there was no great influx of resources or even a change in their situation. Isaiah was trying to tell them that the light they were looking for was God. God had been there all of the time. A customer service agent for a utility company in Rochester, New York, wrote about working during a horrible storm, when thousands of customers were without power and utility crews were working 16-hour days to repair the damage. One customer called the customer service line and complained about the power outage, then stopped raging long enough to ask, “How will I know when my lights are back on?” The customer service agent remained silent for a second, debating about the best way to answer such an obvious, even ridiculous question. How will you know when your lights are back on? Finally, she just said, “Um, it’ll be brighter than it is now.” The customer hung up on her. (5) Isaiah is telling us that the light has been there all along, we just have to see it. Epiphany is the oldest season of the church – it represent the time in our lives when we came to realize that God has been with us all along – we just didn’t realize it. Interestingly I learned last week that where ever there is electricity and light there is also magnetism. They go hand in hand. What is cool is that is the message of this passage. Light and magnetism. Isaiah’s second lesson is that as the people struggle to rebuild the kingdom of God, then other nations will be attracted to God and bring resources with them. The Luxor hotel was built in Las Vegas in 1993. It is a hotel and casino that is built like a pyramid. There is a single light beam that shines in the middle of it. That beam of light is actually the brightest light in the world – airplanes can see it for 257 miles away. Today, at sundown it only shines half strength and it is still the brightest light in the world. One thing that they discovered when they turned on the light – that it was a powerful attraction to moths. Moths from all over flock to the light. All of those moths attract bats. And all of those bats attract lots of owls. So now there is a whole new ecology surrounding the brightest light in the world. Of course there is a light brighter than the Luxor Sky beam and that light is Jesus Christ. And spiritually a lot of us Christians are like that lady calling Com Ed asking how will we know when the lights come back on. Many who heard Isaiah's summons surely responded, "What nonsense. How can I let my light shine?" "I've had a rough year." "I'm old and feeble." Or, "I'm young and restless." Besides, "I don't see any evidence of the deliverance of God." Perhaps there is someone here this morning who is of a like mind. You doubt that this can be a great year for you. You're too old for fantasies. Too cynical for fairy tales of better days ahead. Like many in Isaiah's audience, you see no evidence of the deliverance of God. Let me offer some items in evidence if I might--some reasons why you and I can have the best year ever. Here is why we are to arise and shine. The world is waiting for our witness. The world needs to see in us the truth of what we believe. Words are cheap. Too many people are trying to sell us that which they do not possess themselves. "Do you know," asks Maggie in her poem, "do you understand that you represent Jesus to me?" That is the cry of a world which is in "gross darkness," as the Scriptures put it. So this is our call for the new year. Arise, Shine. And when we do shine not only as individuals but as the family of Christ then the world will be a brighter, more inviting place. The light is not in us, it shines through us. As Isaiah reminds us again, "Arise, shine; for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (v. 1). Reach for the Light. Christ, the Light of the world, shines now in and for you." In 1992 California educator Dr. Norvel Young took his family to the Olympics in Spain. It was exciting for them to see the best athletes from the nations of the world compete in gymnastics, diving, water polo, and track and field. Most of all, Dr. Young was thrilled to see the love and goodwill exhibited between outstanding representatives of the many nations. It's a small world after all, says Dr. Young, and the Olympics are an example of goodwill and hard work. As they entered the stadium for the closing ceremonies, Dr. Young and his family were given a packet of items, including a flashlight. After a thrilling program, including the best of Spain in every area, such as music by Placido Domingo, all the lights were extinguished. A hush moved over the vast audience; then a shout of "Ah!" The entire stadium was lighted as thousands of spectators turned on their individual flashlights. From darkness to light not because one person flipped a switch on some giant stadium floodlights, but because each member of the audience did their part by turning on their tiny, individual lights. It was a poignant and powerful moment one Dr. Young says he will never forget. He compares it to Neil Diamond concerts he has attended, when Diamond begins to sing in his gravelly voice, "Turn on your heart lights." And one by one, people in the audience turn on different kinds of small lights whatever they have with them flashlights, candles, lighters. By the end of the song, the darkness in the auditorium has been dispelled, and light is glowing warmly everywhere. (4) And that is our purpose in the new year. As Jesus said to us, "No one lights a candle and puts in under a bushel, but on a lampstand . . ." (Matthew 5:15) We are to move boldly into this new year, because the light of Christ floods our hearts, giving us hope and wholeness. And then we are to shine our light so that others may know that the light of Christ still shines into our world. The darkness has not overcome it. Dr. Wingeier was one of my professors in seminary, says that the book of Isaiah is a book of encouragement written over several centuries by several different people, intended to remind God’s chosen people of the times when God was there and they did not realize it. Isaiah reminds them of light and magnetism. If you look in the dictionary,” writes Pastor Scott Coltrain, “the first definition for ‘light’ is ‘something that makes vision possible.’ In other words, light makes it possible for us to see. Without light, we are hopelessly blind--blind to our surroundings, blind to our situations and circumstances, blind even to ourselves. Light makes it possible for us to see clearly--things as they really are. Isaiah also has a challenge for the people of God. And it is a very important choice that not everyone makes. The challenge is are we going to keep our blessings for ourselves or share them with others. Do we become a community that serves ourselves or others? Jesus makes that choice for us. The light is for everyone. There appear to be several significant factors present in healthy, vital, faithful congregations. Although there are many variables, one principal feature has emerged. This is the eagerness of members to share faith stories, their journey in the Light with one another and in their neighborhoods. Members eagerly share "Where Is God In All This?" stories for themselves and their congregations. They share them as part of committee and choir devotions, in temple talks during worship, in Sunday School classes, and in parish retreats. No, they are not "fanatics." They are just like you and me, struggling against the darkness that threatens to overcome us all. More than today's typical "sideline" Christian, these folks have let God become the subject of more verbs in their vocabularies. They have taken seriously Isaiah's call to arise, and shine, for they know that their Light, our Light, has indeed come. How did they develop this amazing power of witness? In each congregation opportunities were provided for persons to share, at whatever level they felt comfortable. And share they did. They described their own experiences of darkness and their own perceptions of seeing the light of Christ shine through. There was no gimmickry here. There were no terrific techniques for this. They simply took advantage of every possible opportunity. The Light did the rest. The Light beckons; we do not. The Light gathers in; we do not. You and I are not contagious; but the Light is. Share the Light. Reflect it to others who walk in darkness. Reflect it to those who wake in chaos. As Isaiah reminds us again, "Arise, shine; for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (v. 1). Reach for the Light. Christ, the Light of the world, shines now in and for you." CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, Where Is God In All This, by Tony Everett Amen. Prayer Almighty God, as we consider your omnipotent power, we stand in awe. Called into your presence we can do nothing but join with all your people on earth and cry ‘Glory’ to your Name. You sit enthroned above all you have created, and you bless your people with peace. All praise to you this day and forever. You have promised your people that you would be with them in every trial of life. Too often we ignore your presence and rely upon our own strength. You count us as precious in your sight, and you have ransomed much for us. We do not act as honored people, and too often dishonor you. You have redeemed us, but we continue in our wayward paths. In your infinite mercy, O God, forgive and restore us to be your precious children. We have named before one another, and we name before you many, whose lives are in our hearts. In your power, give strength to those who are weakened by disease and injury. May your abiding presence comfort those who are alone. By your grace, attend those who are passing through the doorway of death. Hear now your people as we come to you in trust, for we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Timothy J. Crouch, OSL, Nancy B. Parks, OSL, Chris E. Visminas, Mark R. Babb, OSL, And Also With You: Worship Resources Based on the Revised Common Lectionary Year C, (OSL Publications, 1994), 25. Lord’s Prayer Song Lord of the Dance Celebration of Holy Communion Invitation to Communion (you don’t need to print all of this) This is Holy Communion for a Journey Sunday. It is the Second Sunday after Christmas, the Sunday three days after New Year, and three days before Epiphany, and, in the old song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” it is the ninth day – the day when the “gift” is nine people dancing. So come to this table of … one star for following, bread and cup for sharing, three days of New Year at least four still-traveling camels, and many, many hopes for the world. Come to this table, even if you want to be laying everything down because you are so weary of being fearful, isolated or essential to everyone but you. Come to this table if you are swimming in Zoom, virtual education, financial risk, or grief. Come to this table if you milked all the joy from Christmas – enough to carry you into 2021 … or not nearly enough. Come to this table, if you have stopped dancing, even though you are carrying many gifts, or you need to be healed by watching for the dance in snowflake or pohutukawa* in friend or stranger, in the old story of another path home, and the warm bread and sweet cup shared right now. Words of Remembering We remember in this New Year with the fearfulness of the pandemic and hope that it will be ended — not only the journey of the magi guided by a star, but all the oases where they rested and the people they met, who lived in those places, and shared their food. We remember a Child born to change everything and the endangerment of many children, and we remember that the baby named Jesus, grew up to help people in their hurting and loss, traveled as many roads as we do, and taught us with simple words we can understand, and stories we come to many times to find new meaning. At Passover he blessed unleavened bread. and poured wine and love freely. At Emmaus, he prayed and broke the bread, but sent us to find the cup in the world. Communion Page 13 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook We pray for confidence to share your Word with others and for the opportunity to proclaim it. Forgive our reluctance, our timidity. We pray for wisdom to know what should be said and the moment in which to say it. Forgive our reticence, our anxiety. We pray for knowledge of the fullness of your Grace and the willingness to live it. Forgive our ignorance, our self-reliance. Be the centre of all we are The Light by which we walk The blessing we bring to others Through Jesus Christ alone we ask. Amen Community Time Benediction O Christ, we know that the gifts of our hands are no substitute for the loyalty of our lives. As we leave this sanctuary, enable us to serve your creation as we have worshiped you, with ourselves as well as our gifts. Children’s Time Hello, children of God… Have you ever taken a trip? What kinds of things help you prepare to travel? Do your parents use something to help find their way? Maybe you use a map…there are many different kinds of maps (take out a few while you describe): you might have a big road map like this, that shows you which highways to take if you’re driving somewhere. Maybe you go to an amusement park or a small place, and you get a map like this that shows you how to get around. Or you might go hiking and get a little guide like this, that helps you follow trails and not get lost. You might also use a compass like this, that points to the North to show you where things are. Well, these days a lot of people have electronic versions (hold up phone or GPS), so all you have to do is tell it where you want to go, and you can get turn by turn directions and even voice commands that guide you along your way! Consider this, though: have you ever followed a STAR for guidance? Has the night sky told you where and how to go? That probably sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Well, a long time ago, a little bit after Jesus was born, God sent some special visitors to Him. There were men who lived far away, and they had studied Maybe you go to an amusement park or a small place, and you get a map like this that shows you how to get around. Or you might go hiking and get a little guide like this, that helps you follow trails and not get lost. You might also use a compass like this, that points to the North to show you where things are. Well, these days a lot of people have electronic versions (hold up phone or GPS), so all you have to do is tell it where you want to go, and you can get turn by turn directions and even voice commands that guide you along your way! Consider this, though: have you ever followed a STAR for guidance? Has the night sky told you where and how to go? That probably sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Well, a long time ago, a little bit after Jesus was born, God sent some special visitors to Him. There were men who lived far away, and they had studied Scripture and watched stars. They knew that God had promised to send a Messiah to rescue people. We sometimes call them “wise men” or “Magi.” These men saw a brilliant star shining in the sky, brighter than any other star. They knew this was something important, and they believed God sent the star to show them where to find the Messiah. They traveled a long way to find the place the star led, and they finally found Him. Well, they first came to Jerusalem and saw King Herod (there’s another story there…), and then made their way to where Jesus was. When they found Him with Mary and Joseph, they gave Him special gifts: valuable gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They knew Jesus was important and wanted to honor Him. They were willing to take risks, sacrifice their time and money, and go to a lot of hard work to find the Messiah, and trusted God to lead them. Well, we may not have brightly shining stars to guide us, but we do have a special instruction manual to show us where to go. Do you know what map God has given us for direction? (Hold up a Bible) This! God has given His word, the Bible, for us to follow. It is our compass, map, and recipe for life! When we read the Bible and seek to understand what it says, we can better understand what God tells us and what ways we should live our lives. Just like a compass always points North, the Bible points to Christ. All of its stories are true, and they guide us to Jesus just like the star guided the Magi. So whatever else we look to for direction, let’s look to the Bible for spiritual guidance. Ask God to help you understand the Bible. Study it, put it in your heart, and remember its significance. It will never steer you wrong! Additional Illustrations Dr. James Dobson once told about a friend of his who was piloting a small single-engine plane one evening just about dusk. He was headed toward a small country airport. Night fell more quickly than he anticipated, however, and by the time he reached the airport, it was impossible for him to distinguish the paved landing strip in the darkness. His little plane was not equipped with lights and no one seemed to be around the little airport to turn on any lights on the runway. He started circling the airport, uncertainly. For two hours he circled around in the darkness not knowing what to do and expecting at any moment he might run out of fuel and plunge to his death. What happened next had to be an answer to prayer. Someone on the ground heard the little plane circling the airport and guessed what the problem was. Immediately he jumped into his car and headed for the airport. Not knowing how to switch on any of the airport’s lights, he settled for driving his car up and down the runway with his lights on high beam showing the pilot the dimensions of the runway. Then he pulled his car off the one end of the runway with his headlights still beaming to guide the pilot to a safe landing. (2) Wouldn’t you like to beam such a saving light into some person’s darkness? It may be a friend having family problems or battling an alcohol or drug addiction. It may be helping a child get into a Sunday School program where he or she will be loved and nurtured in the Christian faith. It may be involving yourself in the life of a resident of a nursing home who has no one to talk to or with whom to share God’s love. God does not love Christians any more than he loves anyone else, but he has chosen us to accomplish the most challenging and rewarding task in the world--to be His body in the world. I like a story Dr. Eugene Brice once told that comes from a time when radio was our dominant form of mass media. A sheepherder in Montana wrote the NBC Symphony in New York, telling of a problem he had. He was an amateur musician, a violinist. He listened to the symphony each Sunday on his radio. But his violin had gotten badly out of tune, and in his isolation, he had no way to tune it. He needed a big favor. And so on Sunday afternoon, June 18, 1938, at the beginning of the program of the NBC symphony, a loud and clear note was sent out across the air. It was a beautiful and clear A note and from that A note a sheepherder in Montana got his violin in tune. Christ, of course, is God’s A note for this discordant world. And we are those whom he has called to sound that note in our time. We do that by modeling in our lives the unconditional love of God for all people. It matters not where they come from or what mistakes they may have made. All people are God’s children and are in need of God’s wondrous and complete love. It is like a children’s story that author James Thurber once wrote titled, “The White Deer.” “The White Deer” is about a beautiful princess who had been transformed by a witch into a white deer. A king named King Clode and his three sons (Thag and Gallow, the hunters, and Jorn, the poet) are out hunting game and they come upon this white deer and they raise their bows to slay it. Just before they shoot, however, the deer is changed back into the princess. King Clode and his sons take this beautiful princess home with them but she is unable to remember anything about her past including who she is. It is finally discovered that the only thing that will cause the princess to regain her memory is the unconditional love of a young man. In order to determine who this young man will be--Thag, Gallow and Jorn are each given perilous tasks to perform. It is Jorn the poet who ultimately wins the princess’ hand. He gives her the kind of love that allows her to remember where she came from and who she is. (3) My friends, is this not what God has called us to do for a fallen world? By His grace we are to show the world the unfailing love of God at work in our lives so that the world may truly see where it came from and why it exists. Following a long and bitter congregational conflict, a pastor was asked what kept her going until reconciliation and renewal finally resulted. She replied, "The Five P's of ministry: Prayer, Persistence, Prayer, Play, and Prayer." Notice that prayer was at the beginning, middle, and end of her list. Prayer connects us to the true Light. Prayer keeps the vision of the true Light in view as darkness threatens to overcome it. Prayer enables us to place one foot in front of the other in the long and difficult journey through unknown darkness. Reach for the true Light in prayer. Lift up your eyes to see the guiding light of Christ along your life journey. Pay careful attention to what our text says happens when we journey in this light. Using vivid imagery here, Isaiah states that nations surrounding Jerusalem will see what the Lord has done and come to pay tribute and join in the celebration. "And nations will come to your light ... They all gather and come to you" (vv. 3- 4). Listen again to this important promise: "... nations will come to your light. They will gather and come to you." Dr. Leonard Sweet, president of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, mentions in his book Quantum Spirituality something that sports journalist George Plimpton had written. Mr. Plimpton had written about a "mysterious component" in an athlete's life. He said that when this component is added to an athlete's natural ability, it gives a player "a kind of boost, like an afterburner kicking in, a psychic energy that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts." He called it the "X Factor" and called it a combination of "adrenaline, intelligence, confidence, concentration, and discipline." The "X Factor." Dr. Sweet then went on himself to say this:For Christians the difference between an ordinary community and an extraordinary, life-producing organism is one word: Christ. Christ is the "X Factor," the "Inner Power" that transforms an assemblage of individuals into a synergic [sic] community of healing and love. (From Quantum Spirituality, p. 137) A synergetic community of healing and love is one in which everyone is working together cooperatively with God and with one another. This happens through the Spirit of Christ revealed to us by our loving God. Have we forgotten the X Factor in our lives? Have we failed to keep up front in our minds and hearts the total life-changing power of God's love and life as revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth? Have we gotten sucked into the worst of the institutional church that keeps us busy doing good things, and forgotten the best of the church, its very purpose, which is bringing salvation and hope and joy and new life specifically through God's love known in Jesus, and then offering it to all the world? Early in January in northern Canada the sun peeks above the horizon for the first time after six weeks of hiding. An important dawn for Canada. Imagine how the lives of people in the northern latitudes would be different if they got used to the darkness and never even expected that a dawn would ever lighten their horizon again. The people to whom the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah witnessed and preached so long ago were a people whose hope for dawn had been all but extinguished. First the northern kingdom, Israel, had been conquered by Assyria and sent into exile in 721 B.C., and then the southern kingdom, Judah, was conquered by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., and exiled to Babylon, hundreds of miles to the east. A generation of Jews then lived with waning hope of ever seeing their homeland again, of ever walking through the gates of Jerusalem again, of ever stepping onto the porch of Zion, the temple of God, again. In 539 B.C., however, Cyrus, the leader of the Persian Empire, conquered the Babylonians, and in 538 B.C. decreed that the Jews should be allowed to go home (Ezra 1:2-4; 6:3-5). The experience was overwhelming, exhilarating. What was important just prior to this, though, was the vision of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, who, right in the midst of the worst of times, kept the vision of God's mercy and forgiveness alive. They predicted tthat the time would come when God would move the hearts and wills of appropriate leaders, and the exiles, the captives, would go home again to Jerusalem and Zion, the Mount of God. Rev. Richard Fairchild tells the harrowing story of an event that occurred on Sunday afternoon, June 1st, 1975. A man named Darrel Dore was on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Suddenly the rig wobbled, tipped to one side, and crashed into the sea. Darrel was trapped inside a room on the rig. As the rig sank deeper and deeper into the sea, the lights went out and the room began to fill with water. Thrashing about in the darkness, Darrel accidentally found a huge air bubble that was forming in the corner of the room. He thrust his head inside it. Then a horrifying thought sent a shiver down his spine. He was buried alive. He began to pray—out loud—and as he did, something remarkable happened. He said later: “I found myself actually talking to Someone. Jesus was there with me. There was no illumination, nothing physical, but I sensed him, a comforting presence. He was real, he was there.” For the next 22 hours that Presence continued to comfort Darrel. But now the oxygen supply inside the bubble was giving out. Death was inevitable. It was just a matter of time. Then a remarkable thing happened. Darrel saw a tiny star of light shimmering in the pitch-black water. Was it real? Or after 22 hours was he beginning to hallucinate? Darrel squinted his eyes. The light grew brighter. He squinted again. He wasn’t hallucinating. The light was real. It was coming from a diver’s helmet. Someone had found him. His 22-hour nightmare was over. Rescue had come. He was saved. (1) We are in a series of messages we have titled “Seeing God More Clearly in 2020.” It’s a little play on words, of course. But seeing God more clearly is what the season of Epiphany is all about. This is the Day of Epiphany, but it is only the first day of the season of Epiphany, a season in the church year that lasts until the beginning of Lent. The primary symbol of Epiphany is the star that led the Magi to the place where the Christ child lay. You were made to live in the light. You know that’s true if you’ve ever had the power go off for a few hours. No one has to tell you when the lights come back on. Your eyes, your mind, your very being is instantly aware when even the tiniest sliver of light enters your darkness. In the same way, when you understand that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God, you have a new vision for a life that reflects the reality of God. ravel writer Hugh Morris has an interesting online story about the Luxor Sky Beam. This beam of light—the strongest in the world—shines straight up from 39 xenon lamps on top of the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The Sky Beam has shone continuously into the Nevada sky since 1993. On a clear night, it is visible to aircraft 275 miles away. But what is fascinating to me is that the Luxor Sky Beam, this brilliant light in the evening sky, which shines straight up into the sky from a Las Vegas casino has become a waypoint for pilots, a kind of GPS marker to serve as a backup to their highly sophisticated navigational tools as they make their way around the world. Morris explains that the sophisticated technology at the center of modern aviation means planes basically fly themselves. And even when pilots are called upon to navigate, it’s mostly done by studying instruments and reading data. But when the cockpit’s inhabitants are called upon to look out of their window, there exists a system that helps pilots to find their way from A to B using what are called “waypoints.” While most waypoints are mere GPS markers, some are real, actual geographical landmarks—like the Luxor Sky Beam in Las Vegas tower and the Carowinds Amusement Park near Charlotte Airport, North Carolina. (2) Now we may not get all that excited about a beam of light in the night sky over “Sin City,” Nevada that serves as a waypoint for pilots. But I am excited about a solitary waypoint that points the way for all humanity to be saved. That waypoint is, of course, Christ. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it . . . The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Quite obviously it is our task to take the light of Christ to them. There is a time-honored story of a little girl who was shivering her way along a main street in one of our great cities. Seeing the beautiful lights of a church building and hearing the music coming from within, she went in and warmed herself as she listened. The preacher’s text was, “I am the light of the world.” At the close of the service, the little girl went to the minister and said, “Mister, did you say you are the light of the world, sir?” The minister replied, “No, young lady. Christ is the light of the world. I simply try to reflect his light.” The little girl looked at him for a moment, and said, “Well, sir, I wish you would come down and hang out in our neighborhood, ’cause it’s awful dark down there!” Followers of Jesus are, indeed, as the Master said, “the light of the world.” And we are to shine our light into all the dark neighborhoods of this world. (4) Jesus is the light of God that gives life and vision. Without light, there is no life. In Genesis 1:3, the first thing God creates to fill the heavens and the earth is light. God didn’t have to create darkness. Darkness is simply the absence of light. Darkness has no power and no purpose, except to obscure what exists. Light has both power and purpose. Light can nourish, it can illuminate, it can provide power and warmth. And repeatedly, the Bible equates light with the presence of God. “Did you know that an absence of sunlight causes blindness? Animals who live out their lives in a complete absence of light are commonly blind, even eyeless. Mules kept in mines also become blind. Horses kept in dark stables and denied sunlight become blind. Those who live in dungeons, cellars, prisons, mines, and similar places that are denied sunlight lose their sight. n one of his many books, Philip Yancey tells the story of Commander Richard Byrd. Bird once spent six months in a metal hut at the South Pole. The sun made no appearance during four of the six months he was there. Talk about darkness. Here is how Commander Byrd described that experience in his journal: “I find that I crave light as a thirsting man craves water . . . A funereal gloom hangs in the twilight sky. This is the period between life and death,” Byrd wrote. “This is the way the world will look to the last man when it dies.” Three weeks before the sun was due to shine again, Byrd wrote in his journal: “I tried to imagine what it would be like, but the conception was too vast for me to grasp.” When the sun finally did make its appearance, Byrd found it to be overwhelming. (6) Should we find ourselves in the presence of Christ, we would find ourselves overwhelmed as well--overwhelmed with his holiness, overwhelmed with the light of his love. Back in the 1770s or 1780s, a man named John Morris built a house in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Using flint and steel, John Morris started a fire in his fireplace. And nobody knows why, but it became a point of pride in the Morris household not to let that fire go out. When John built another cabin for his family later on, coals from the original fire were transplanted to the fireplace of the new house. Members of the Morris family proudly declared that they would keep the fire going, to honor the wishes of John, who had charged his family, "The fire must never be allowed to go out." That fire became the catalyst for passing down family history through the generations. In the 1920s, the care of the fire rested with one man, William Morris --the great-great-grandson of John Morris. William had never married or had children, and he was nearing eighty. He tried to inspire his nieces and nephews with tales of the family fire, but none of them seemed interested in keeping the fire alive after William was gone. The fire was 150 years old by now. It marked a proud family tradition, one that everyone in the area admired. Would that tradition end once William died? William took it upon himself to see that it didn't. From an interview in the Spartanburg Herald, his story spread to newspapers all over North Carolina. William was invited to Washington, D.C., to tell the story over a national radio program. He began getting phone calls and letters from all over the country, many from people with the last name Morris. The National Park Service considered buying William's cabin, fireplace and all, and moving it to one of their national parks, where it could become a tourist attraction and the park rangers could tend to the fire. By now the "Saluda fire," named after the town where William Morris lived, had sparked the public imagination. Preserving the Saluda fire seemed like a noble undertaking. One day, not long after the publicity stir over the fire had started, one of William's neighbors came to see him. The neighbor, Hamp Alexander Owen, had only one thing to say that day, "I've come to tell you that I'll keep your fire going." Owens wasn't doing it for the publicity or the glory. He just admired the legacy, and believed that it was worth preserving. We don't know when William Morris died. But when Hamp Alexander Owens died in 1948, his obituary stated that he was "the keeper of the Saluda fire." The fire itself had been burning continuously for more than 170 years. But that is the last record anyone has of the Saluda fire. Did it die out? Or is it still burning somewhere, tended by some anonymous soul who believes in what it stands for? We just don't know. (4) We are the keepers of a fire that has been burning for 2,000 years. That is a remarkable phenomenon, is it not? Wars have been fought, revolutions have turned history on its head, numerous secular philosophies have claimed their place in the sun, but the flame of Christ has kept shining through the darkness. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." This is our call as the body of Christ. BUT IT IS ALSO OUR CALL AS INDIVIDUALS. "Arise, shine; for YOUR light has come."