The Perfect Church

Acts 2:42-47 The Perfect Church 4th Sunday of Easter Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Prayer (Based on John 10:1-10) Our Good Shepherd calls. He knows us each by our name. Our Good Shepherd leads. We are here to listen and to follow. Our Good Shepherd protects and provides. We give thanks and praise for our Good Shepherd. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri McDowell Ott) Opening Prayer Caring God, we’re nurtured by you in every place, but today we give you thanks for this particular place where we gather. As we worship you, we’re filled with gratitude for your protective embrace. Encourage us, enable us, and then send us out with confidence, eager to do your will with our words and our deeds. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Precious Lord UMH 474 Children’s Sermon Title: Giving Together- Stewardship Lesson Scripture: Acts 2:42-47 Target Age Group: 3rd-5th grade Main Point: God (point upwards) uses his church (point at yourself and the kids) to spread blessings (spread arms in front of you.) Supplies: Bibles, paper and markers, giving coloring page Lesson Opening Ask: What are some ways that you care for your friends? How do your friends care for you? Ask: If you were in need, how do you think a good friend might help you? Say: In today’s story we’re going to hear about how the early church cared for each other during times of need. Pray that God would open their hearts to his word today and thank Him for the truth of our resurrected Savior! Tell the Story Ask: Have you ever experienced something so awesome that you just couldn’t wait to tell someone else about it? Say: That’s exactly what our story is about today! Our main point today is: God uses His church to spread blessings. Say: After Jesus rose from the dead and was taken up into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples. For the first time, God’s spirit actually dwelt within people! How amazing is that?! Say: The disciples were so excited about Jesus that they couldn’t wait to start sharing the good news. Ask: Have you ever gotten good news that you wanted to share with others? Ask: What good news did the disciples want to share? Say: They wanted to tell people about how Jesus died and rose from the dead to be the payment for sin. The disciples also wanted to share how Jesus wanted to welcome others into God’s Kingdom so they could experience a real relationship with God. That’s definitely good news! Say: In the Bible, God’s Word to us, we can read about the early church. It didn’t look much like our church building today. Let’s read from God’s Word together, and as I read, listen for the description of the early church. Read Acts 2: 42-47: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.” Ask: What did you hear about the church? Say: The early church wasn’t about a building! It was all about a community of people who believed in and were following Jesus. The people loved God and they loved each other. Ask: What are some ways that the people took care of one another? Ask: What were some things that they did together when they gathered? Say: That reminds me of our main point: God uses His church to spread blessings. Say: God used the early church to spread blessings to others, so the church could continue to grow. The Bible tell us that more and more people were believing in Jesus everyday! God uses the church today for the same purpose! God wants His people to love Him and share His love with other people. Ask: What are some ways that we might spread blessings to other people? Say: Let’s pray together now and ask God to show us ways each day to love others and spread blessings to them! Pray Review Questions • What was the main point from our lesson? • What was our story about? • What do we learn about God from this story? • What do we learn about how God wants us to live as followers of Jesus? • How can we practice generosity this week? (Ministry to Children.com, Beth Steward) Affirmation of Faith UMH 885 Scripture Acts 2:42-47 Sermon The Perfect Church If we were to associate the church with a color, what color would it be? There are a lot of colors, but there is only one that fits the church. It is a grand color – not my favorite color, but the color that I have a lot of respect for because of what it represents. Purple! Purple is the perfect color to represent the church. Purple represents royalty. Historically it has always been very costly to produce. One of the first Christans, Lydia, was a dealer in purple dye – she became an example to many generations. It is also the color that we associate with the crucifiction of Jesus. Purple is the color that you get when you combine red and blue – two respectable colors within themselves, but when they are mixed together they make an even deeper color. Purple is the color of sacrifice, it is the color of compassion, it is the color of love for one another. On my fitbit, when it wants to show that I am calm and at peace – it shows me the color purple. All that the church represents is present in the color purple. Our scripture this morning is all about the church and what the church represents in the world. The lectionary has had us looking at Acts chapter 2 for three weeks now. These verses are so important to what the church is, that Willow Creek uses the first verse as their mission statement. The beleivers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. As the church we should devote ourselves, share everything but especially a meal, pray. Our scripture also says that we should be united and share everything, help those in need, meet together, eat together praise God and most importantly – demonstrate God’s goodness to every one. “ Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. ” — John Wesley During lent, we had John wesley’s Love Feast – which I explained was a reenactment of the early church’s agape meal. They would gather together often in order to express their faith. They would share a meal with one another, but make sure that the whole community knew that they were free to attend and get something to eat if they needed it. During that meal, they would sing, pray, give testimonies of how God was working in their lives. And the most important part of the meal was collecting an offering in order to help those in need. In many ways the agape meal is still a part of our faith. There are many churches that still have a large meal after church. Many of our gatherings are around a common table. Every Sunday, we and many churches gather together in community in order to sing, pray and realize how God is working amongst us. The final verse says that as they had these fellowships meals amongst the community that more and more people came. Last week I talked about how 3000 people joined the church after listening to Peter’s Sermon. Sometimes when we read the story of the early church in the book of acts, we start to compare ourelves and we start to think that the spirit does not work in the same way today. We can never compare ourselves with what the early church did- because God works in each time and space in a different way. We start to think that perhaps we are doing something wrong – because we don’t see that kind of numbers in our church. So it was interesting when doing my research this week. That many people agree that Acts is an account of what happened in the early church. But not everyone agree’s whether it is true or not. Some people say that Luke was being idealistic – that he was giving an exaggerated view of the power of the church in order to tell a story. Some people say that Luke gives a view of all of the wonderful things that the early church did to get people to join. Everything was perfect for awhile, but eventually things fell apart. Others say that what we read in Acts did not happen at all. The book of Act is not a story of the early church, it is a story of how God used their actions to touch the lives of people. I think that it is important for us to read what the early church did, and to see the power of the church and to take account of how the Holy Spirit moves in our fellowship to make a difference in the world. It helps us to see how God is working today – Let's try an experiment. Look around you and find five things that have blue in them. Go ahead. It didn't take long did it. With a 'blue' mindset, you find that blue jumps out at you: a blue dress, a blue book, blue in the stained glass, and so on. Have you ever noticed how after you buy a new car, you start see that make and color everywhere. That's because people find what they are looking for. At times in our lives, God seems strangely absent or very distant, but the problem isn't that God has disappeared. The problem is that we simply lack a 'God' mindset. When we develop a "God" mindset through prayer, we begin to see God's work everywhere. The only church that ever matters is the church of here and now in the present. We don’t have to look back and compare ourselves with the past. But to see how God is working. Instead of looking for blue – look for purple. Where is the sacrifice, the compassion, the love today. We don’t have to be the perfect church, just strive to be the purple church. So earlier I said that the early church they devoted themselves to God, they shared meals, they prayed, they met together, they ate together, they praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to every one. There is one more thing that they did that I left for last – They were in awe of God. Instead of talking about what the church did verse 45 says what God did to and for them – it says that a sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. When was the last time that you were in a sense of awe at what God has done in our lives? The world encourages us to look for what is not happening. To look for what we don’t see. The book of Acts encourages us to look for what is happening. It took me a while to choose my final story – but I think this one shows the meaning of what it means to demonstrate God’s goodness to everyone. It happened a few years ago at a high school football game between the Lions and the Tornadoes. The Lions belonged to a Christian school with supportive and involved parents, up-to-date equipment, and a 7-1 record. The Tornadoes were from a state juvenile correctional facility. Many of the players had convictions for drugs and assault. Many had been disowned by their families. Their equipment was old and worn. Their record was 0-8. Kris, the head coach of the Lions, decided that this game was an opportunity to show what the love of Jesus might look like. He sent letters and emails to Lion parents and fans asking for volunteers to cheer for the Tornadoes. In his mes¬sage, Kris said, “Imagine if you don’t have a home life; if everyone had given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean if hundreds of people believed in you and even cheered for you by name.” At game time, the Tornadoes took the field running through a 40-yard double line of screaming fans and cheerleaders yelling, “Go, Tornadoes!” During the game Tornado players heard hundreds of fans behind their team bench cheering for them by their first names. When both teams gathered on the fifty-yard line for the customary post-game prayer, one of the Tornadoes players asked to lead. Coach Kris still remembers it word for word: “Lord I don’t know how this happened and I don’t know how to say thank you. I would never have thought there were so many people in this world who cared about us.” As the Tornadoes got back on their bus, they were each handed a bag containing a fast food meal, a Bible, and a letter of encouragement from one of the Lion players. Before the bus left, the tornado coach hugged Coach Kris, thanked him and said, “You’ll never be able to know what your folks did for these kids tonight. Thank you.” But who won the game? Jesus of course. He has framed, changed, and challenged us to show the same compassion to others. If we just keep being faithful, remembering the lessons of the bible, and sharing and caring – God will do the rest. Amen. Song They’ll Know we are Christians by our Love TFWS 2223 Prayer of Intercession Jesus, you are the shepherd of us all. I pray that those who need you in this moment would not be found lacking. You lead them to calm waters, infusing them with new strength. You guide them on the path of justice for the sake of your name. Although they pass through difficult and dark trials caused by evil forces, may they not be afraid because you are at their side and with them. It is you who supplies all their needs, laying out a banquet for them, even when surrounded by their enemies, anointing them, continuing to fill them with your Holy Spirit so that they can know that your kindness and love follow them all the days of their lives, and in the house of Jehovah the Lord, they will live every day now and forever. Amen. Written by Cláudio Carvalhaes, Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the Ends of the World,” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020), 154. Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship Most of us have little connection to sheep, open pastures, or sheepfolds. So rather than ask you to think about the Good Shepherd, let me as you to think about the Good Teacher. Do you know what often happens in a classroom of young students? Of course, if you’ve been, or are, an elementary teacher, you know. If you’re an elementary school child, an engaged parent, or active grand-parent, you know, as well. What’s the contrast between a classroom with a regular teacher, and that same classroom when the teacher is away? (tell a short memory of a moment you’ve experienced, or use the following description) A volunteer in a third grade classroom agreed to be the adult presence when the teacher left to pick up items at the school library. However, when the students realized their teacher was gone, the volume level of conversation escalated. Several students got up to get a drink, sharpen a pencil, retrieve something from their cubby…until the room was a loud, chaotic scene! Not a positive learning environment in that moment! So, imagine Jesus identifying the difference between a teacher and a volunteer. The volunteer finds the classroom descending into mayhem, until the teacher returns. The teacher flicks the lights, stands in the front, and declares “everyone in your seats NOW!” The teacher brings order and a return to a productive classroom. Jesus, the true teacher (the good shepherd), came so we all may receive what God intends for each one: abundant life! In gratitude for the abundant life we receive as followers of Jesus, let us offer our gifts! Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy God, you’ve provided for us with the wonders of creation, the blessing of community, and the covenant bonds of baptism. With thanksgiving, we return a portion of what we’ve received. Please accept these gifts as signs of our love and our desire to spread the Good News to all we encounter. May we put them to full use as we experience and share “Abundant Life”. AMEN Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook We stand in awe of our amazing God. We live guided by our Good Shepherd. We are commissioned for service by the breath of the Holy Spirit. We are a blessed people. Let us go and be a blessing to others. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri McDowell Ott) Community Time Benediction We have been refreshed and restored. We have been called and guided. Let us go forth knowing who our true shepherd is, following his path, secure in the knowledge that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Joanne Carlson Brown) Additional Illustrations The week before classes began, Harold, a high school history teacher, fell off a step ladder and injured his back. For the next three months he was forced to wear a plaster cast around the entire upper part of his body. The cast fit so well underneath his shirt and sport coat that it was not at all noticeable. On the first day of class, with the cast under his shirt, Harold discovered that he had been assigned the rowdiest and most rebellious students in the whole school. Walking confidently into his boisterous and disorderly classroom, Harold opened the windows and then busied himself at his desk until the bell rang to indicate the beginning of what looked like a very long history class. When a strong breeze started Harold’s necktie flapping in his face, Harold calmly picked up his desk stapler and stapled the unruly tie to his chest. That little demonstration got everybody’s attention. Harold had no discipline problems that semester. During the next few weeks, students began to look at Harold with new respect. Their grades improved, their attendance increased, and their number of detentions declined. Soon other teachers and even the school principal began to notice the changes in Harold’s students. One afternoon after students had gone home, some of Harold’s peers asked him how he had accomplished the impossible. Harold replied, “Well, I just did something ridiculous and humiliating that got their attention.” Then Harold described the tie stapling incident. Continuing on, Harold explained, “Well, you might have guessed that after a week or so, students began to realize that I was not a full-contact boxing champion and that I was actually wearing a cast. I was afraid that their old rowdy, disrespectful behavior would come back worse than ever. Fortunately, it did not. They had begun to appreciate the new respect from other teachers and students. Every day we challenged each other. It’s surprising, but we actually seem to like each other… most of the time anyway.” Hmmm… something ridiculous, humiliating, and impossible that changes everything. Sounds a lot like the crucified and risen Jesus, doesn’t it? On the cross Jesus framed us in the center of his love. Through his resurrection Jesus changed us from a people with little meaning and purpose into a new fellowship with mission and focus. Here is just one actual example of what that faithfulness looks like. Some of you may have heard about this. What was the secret of that magnetism? I believe it was that those early Christians saw their lives and their church, not as possessions to defend, but as gifts to be shared. Did you get that? They saw themselves and their church not as possessions to defend, but as gifts to be shared. Dr. Harrell Beck, professor of Old Testament at Boston University, tells a story that illustrates this point. He met a student one day in the halls of the university who seemed to be very sad. Dr. Beck asked the student what was wrong. “Oh, not much.” But when pressed, the student told his story. “My parents are both blind; have been since they were born. My father has had four seeing-eye dogs, the fourth one for ten years. His name was Scooter. “So?” “We lost Scooter yesterday. My father was going down town in Boston on the subway. When they came to the stop, Scooter, so anxious, wanting to help my father, didn’t wait quite long enough for the subway door to open, and his leg got caught and it ripped him from his thigh to his knee. Scooter didn’t even cry or whimper, so my father didn’t even know. They walked up the subway platform, and Scooter was bleeding profusely. A Boston socialite, you know they don’t care, she took off a white mohair sweater, wrapped it around the dog, and said “Sir, do you know you dog is bleeding profusely?” The young man continued. “A college student you know they don’t care came up and said, ‘Can I help?’ He went and got a taxi. A taxi driver you know they don’t care came rushing do a picked up the bleeding dog, gave his arm to the blind man and they went to the animal hospital. There the doctor said, “Your dog has lost so much blood, that I think he should be destroyed, but I cannot take his life without your permission.” The student said to Dr. Beck, “Do you know what it’s like to take the life of a loyal member of your family?” Then the student concluded - “That dog was more in the Spirit of Jesus Christ than I am.” You see that’s what was bothering the young man. He had seen a vision of selfless love which challenged him. That was the magnetisism of the Church of Pentecost: a people saw themselves and their church, not as possessions to defend, but as gifts to be shared; and I’ll tell you, when our church becomes that kind of church when that sort of Spirit permeates everything that we are - people will be drawn to us. We’ll keep praising God and having favor with the people who need us, who are looking for a fellowship in which they can find their life. A little boy came home after his very first Sunday School class; Mom asked who his teacher was. Little boy answered, "She was a real nice lady. I don't remember her name, but she must've been Jesus' grandma or something, because she didn't talk about anybody else all morning." (1) It's obvious this woman was a devoted teacher and a devoted Christian. The question this story and this passage asks us is: "Are we as devoted?" Do our actions and our conversation reflect our love for Jesus? Do our words and actions give away our relationship with the Savior? This passage is a living snapshot of the life of the early church. It reveals their devotion and faith. It reveals what was central to their lives and the character of their discipleship. The passage says they were devoted. But to what?

Preparing to Meet Jesus

Easter Sunday April 9, 2023 Year A Matthew 28:1-10 Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (Psalm 118, John 20) Christ is risen! God’s steadfast love endures forever. Death never gets the final word. God’s steadfast love endures forever. Rejoice in this day of salvation. God’s steadfast love endures forever. Alleluia! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Judith Bartlett) Opening Prayer (Psalm 118, John 20) Living God, rejoicing in this day of resurrection, we have come to celebrate the strength of your love— a love that triumphs even over death. As we exult in the miracle of your incarnate love, we thank you for the opportunity to encounter the Risen Christ here in our midst. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Judith Bartlett) Song Christ the Lord is Risen Today UMH 302 Children’s Sermon Easter Children’s Sermon (John 20:1-18) Colors of Hope Greet the children, and have a bag of jelly beans and/or several plastic eggs filled with jelly beans. Make sure that all colors are in each egg. Hello, children of God! He is risen! Happy Easter! What a special and joyous day this is. Easter is truly the most wonderful event we can celebrate in the Bible. What do you like to do at Easter time? (Take possible responses.) Those are fun things…maybe you’ve enjoyed an egg hunt, too! It just so happens I have some Easter eggs here. Would you like one? (Pass out one egg per child, filled with jelly beans.) What do you think might be in these eggs? Why don’t we take a little peek…open your egg carefully, but don’t touch what you find inside just yet… Jelly beans! Jelly beans are another item we see frequently at Easter time. Here’s an important question though: what are we talking about with the story of Easter? With all of the candy, the eggs and bunnies and flowers, what does it all mean? Well, we are going to go through the story, and these jelly beans will help. I want to look at one color at a time. Find the color as I discuss it, and we’ll think about what it represents in the events of Easter. (If desired, allow children to eat the jelly bean after reviewing the color; or wait until the end of the message.) Let’s begin with the green one. Can you find the green jelly bean? This one reminds me of a garden. Actually, there are three gardens in this story. The first one is the Garden of Eden. That’s where God first created the plants and animals and people and everything…but Adam and Eve sinned, and things got messed up. God had a plan, though, and Jesus was at the center of that plan. The other garden is the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s where Jesus prayed on the night before He was killed. He prayed that God might spare Him the pain of crucifixion if possible, but ultimately He surrendered to God’s will. And the third garden, well, let’s wait to talk about that one…After that prayer in the garden, Jesus was arrested. Let’s look at the orange jelly bean. This represents coins. One of Christ’s friends and disciples, Judas, betrayed Him, and sold Him for just a few coins (technically, they were silver, but we’ll use our imaginations). The people who arrested Jesus put Him on trial and beat Him with whips! *Note: orange could also be used to reference the fire outside the courtyard and/or rooster for Peter’s denial of Jesus. Next, why don’t we look at the purple jelly bean. The people who arrested Jesus and were doing cruel things to Him made fun of Him. They teased Him, and they hit Him. They made a crown out of sharp thorns, because He was called “king”, and they took a purple robe and put it on Him. They were mocking Him because they didn’t think He was truly a king. But we know that Jesus is truly royalty. He is the Son of God, and the king of all things! Well, Jesus was put to death on the cross. The red jelly bean (hold up red) makes us think of the blood of Jesus. His blood was spilled out, and by that blood our sins are covered. Look at the black jelly bean. Black reminds us of our sins, dark and black and awful. The bad things we do are as black as night…and black also reminds us of the darkness of night. When Jesus was killed, the sky grew dark like night, even though it wasn’t nighttime. Well, Jesus did die on the cross. That was also part of God’s plan, and Jesus knew that His blood would wash away our sins and make us clean and new. Look at the white jelly bean. It reminds us of a fresh new start. White also stands for the linens that wrapped around Jesus’s body when He was placed in the tomb. People put Him in a tomb in a garden—that’s the third garden. But that isn’t where He stayed… Look at the yellow jelly bean. On the third day, the sun rose as some women went to the tomb where Jesus was. They learned that He was not in the tomb! That’s because not only had the earthly sunrise come; the SON of God had risen, too! He was alive! And this gives us great delight and hope. Finally, take out the pink jelly bean. Pink is a joyful and happy color. It reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus. He lived, died, and came back to life! He did this for you and me. Because we have joy in Jesus, we know our black sins are washed away, we have new life and new hope in Him. So any time you look at an array of colors, eat jelly beans, or hear about Easter, think about these important events, and remember what Jesus did for you. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Let’s give God a prayer of thanks for all that He did for us through Jesus: Prayer (Have kids repeat each line) Dear God, Thank you for your marvelous plans Thank you for sending Jesus and giving Him important purpose Help us to trust you and remind us you are near Thank you for forgiveness Thank you for your love We love you, God! In Jesus’s name, Amen! (Children’s Ministry Kristen Schmidt) Prayer in Song This is the Day that the Lord Hath Made UMH 658 Passing the Peace of Christ I invite you to exchange signs of peace with one another using these traditional words that have been spoken by Easter Christians throughout the centuries: Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Judith Bartlett) Prayer of Preparation (John 20) Open our ears to hear your Word proclaimed in this place. Open our hearts to know your Love offered in this congregation. Open our eyes to see your Presence blessing us in this moment. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Judith Bartlett) Matthew’s Easter Story Matthew 28:1-10 Risen from the Dead 28 1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. 5-6 The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed. 7 “Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ That’s the message.” 8-10 The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.” Sermon Preparing to Meet Jesus Yesterday I was crucified with Christ, today I am glorified with him. Yesterday I was dead with Christ, today I am sharing in his resurrection. Yesterday I was buried with him; today I am waking with him from the sleep of death. Gregory of Nasianzus The Power of Belief in a World of Lost Hope Eric Butterworth tells about a young soldier who lost his legs in battle. Something died within this young man when he found he would never walk again. He lay in his hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He refused to talk to anyone who tried to help him. He refused to cooperate with doctors or nurses who wanted to help him to adjust. One day another inmate of the hospital strolled in and sat down on a chair near the bed. He drew a harmonica from his pocket and began to play softly. The patient looked at him for a second, then back to the ceiling. That was all for that day. Next day the player came again. For several days he continued to come and to play quietly. One day he said, "Does my playing annoy you?" The patient said, "No, I guess I like it." They talked a little more each day. One day the harmonica player was in a jovial mood. He played a sprightly tune and began to do a tap dance. The soldier looked on but was apparently unimpressed. "Hey, why don't you smile once and let the world know you're alive!" the dancer said with a friendly smile. But the legless soldier said, "I might as well be dead as in the fix I'm in." "Okay," answered his happy friend, "so you're dead. But you're not as dead as a fellow who was crucified two thousand years ago, and He came out of it all right." "Oh, it's easy for you to preach," replied the patient, "but if you were in my fix, you'd sing a different tune." With this the dancer stood up and said, "I know a two-thousand-year-old resurrection is pretty far in the dim past. So maybe an up-to-date example will help you to believe it can be done." With that he pulled up his trouser legs and the young man in the bed looked and saw two artificial limbs. The tap-dancing fellow with the harmonica was not simply a Pollyanna. He once lay where that young soldier now lay. He himself had known the power of a resurrection. He had learned to live life abundantly--even without his legs. Needless to say, the young soldier's own resurrection began that moment. Easter isn't just about dying. It's about the power of belief in a world of lost hope. It is about knowing that no situation is beyond God's redeeming power. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Hope is the word that God gave me to reflect on this Lenten and Easter season. Jesus came into the world so that we can have hope and have it abundantly. In his Easter vigil the pope said encourages us to have hope amidst the icy winds of war. I always find his messages encouraging and full of mission. I loved his message yesterday for the Easter vigil. And he and I agree that Matthews’s story of the resurrection has a very special message of its own. I don’t have to talk about the meaning of Easter hope – the scripture already lays it out. Each version of the story speak of the witnesses who came to the garden expecting to face death and instead encountering the resurrection. I always look forward to the years that we look at Matthew, because it has some very key differences. For Matthew – only 2 women come to the tomb, Mary Magdalene and another Mary. But they don’t have any spices, so they were no concerned about treating the body, they just wanted to come to pray. Also there is the earthquake that awakens everyone that is unique, and for Matthew the guards are not just mannequins standing there – they are a key part of the story. They are stirred into action to prevent the disciples from stealing the body. And finally in Matthew – Jesus is there at the tomb and speaks and interacts with the two witnesses. Scripture says that the guards are witnesses too – but they are frozen stiff unable to talk, move or do anything. They had no idea of what they were looking at, and couldn’t process it at all. They never experienced the resurrection, because they had either lost hope or they never knew what it was. A lot of us are like that – frozen and stuck in life because we have either lost the hope of Jesus, or never had it in the first place. We are at the scene of all of the action in life, but we can’t seem to move forward. Maybe we are here to find that hope to move us. The women on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening, they were able to find Jesus. They even talked with him and carry on a conversation with hope itself. Jesus gives them a hope, a promise, and a command. Hope that there is a way through even our deepest pain. A promise that the mission continues and a command to go – he tells them to go and meet him in Jerusalem. In that encounter with Jesus – they learned the point of their faith – have hope and keep moving forward. He tells them to meet him in Galilee. Galilee was the place that Jesus did his ministry. He developed a relationship with each of the disciples. He had hope and dreams for that place. Jesus tells them to go back to their life, the place where they found faith. To come home back to God. I truly believe that nothing in life is an accident or a coincidence – we are all here in this moment for a reason. We are here for a reason and that God has a plan and a purpose for each of us. There is a next step for each of us. But in order to understand that plan we have to return to the place where we found our passion. We have to be inspired to overcome our fear. Galilee is the place where we found love and peace. When is the last time that you have been to the place? Jesus’ message this morning – go and meet him there. Jesus message to us on Easter - go and find me. Where can you go to find Jesus? We can find Jesus in a place, a person, at a certain time. Usually in a mission. God has worked all night in this place, and God is still at work. Easter is the holiest time of year. We reflect on our faith. We reflect on the miracles that we have experienced in our life. When we encounter the resurrection – we take in the power to turn things around and help us to move forward. And God works in complete silence. If he can resurrect Jesus and make things right – there is a silent revolution going on for each of us right now, and we don’t even realize it. Easter is a little different for all of us. We are here for many different reasons. God speaks to each of us a little different, so our search for Jesus is different. With that rather earthy illustration, I would suggest to you that on that first Easter Sunday, those who were the followers of Jesus had a variety of needs as well. And further, I believe that the diversity of needs remain yet today. We’re not all drawn to this place for the exact same reason today. Some of you are here because you are curious. Others have come to keep peace in the family. Still others walked in because they have worshipped on Easter every year, and they cannot imagine being anyplace else. One size does not fit all. But the story of Easter is such a gripping story that it ultimately meets the need of every person in this place. Steven Molin, Passion, Proof, and Purpose That is the goal toward which the ongoing Easter draws us and transforms our dark, gloomy mornings into a shining doxology. We say with all the faithful of all of the ages, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfailing and undefiled, kept in heaven for you. Though you must go through various trials, all this is so that your faith may redound to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Without having seen Him, we love Him, and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls. F. Dean Lueking, Ongoing Easter Easter is the first day of the rest of our lives. It is the first day of many for us to get out there and go find Jesus. We have to have faith that Jesus is here to bring us forward. The church is the place were for to gain support and to know that we are not alone on the journey. God has a plan and a purpose for us all. The key to Easter is to have hope in the midst of our situation. The same power that raised Jesus is alive in you. It lives out in your mission. What does Easter compel you to do next? Go find your place in God’s universe. Go out in the world and make a difference. It is time to come out of your comfort zone and live. Make a name for God, not for yourself. There are people out in the world who are hungry for hope. How can you give it to them? Don’t be afraid – just look for Jesus. When we find Jesus – we learn that Jesus was there all along – we just have to adjust our hope in order to see. Easter is all around us – and it is not about spring, or warm weather, easter eggs, jelly beans, ham or even gathering with family. It is not even about going to church – it is about having hope and living our lives. Fulfilling our mission. When we go and find Jesus – every Sunday is Easter. Dear brothers and sisters, let us follow Jesus to Galilee, encounter him, and worship him there, where he is waiting for each of us. Let us revive the beauty of that moment when we realized that he is alive and we made him the Lord of our lives. Let us return to Galilee, to the Galilee of first love. Let each of us return to his or her own Galilee, to the place where we first encountered him. Let us rise to new life! (From Pope Francis) Amen. Song The Day of Resurrection UMH 303 Response to the Word (John 20) The stone was gone, so Mary assumed that Christ had been taken away. The tomb was empty, so Peter assumed that Christ had been taken away. The angels had come, so Mary assumed that Christ had been taken away. The linens were discarded, so Peter assumed that Christ had been taken away. And yet . . . [pause] Christ was risen. Christ was alive. Christ was in their midst. They saw the Living Christ. When our lives seem empty, we assume that Christ has been taken away. When our lives are full of pain, we assume that Christ has been taken away. And yet . . . [pause] Christ is risen! Christ is alive! Christ is in our midst! Let us open our eyes to see the Living Christ here with us today! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Judith Bartlett) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment The greatest offering comes from God, whose love is unending, and whose love we see clearly in Jesus raised up from death into Life. The work of ministry to which our congregation is called is not to build a shrine to a dead Lord, but to spread this Good News: Jesus Christ, ALIVE! invites us to demonstrate our desire to follow him by sharing our lives (including our tithes and our gifts) today. Our offerings help us shout out the news of resurrection, so all who long to encounter the LIVING GOD may join in the Way of Jesus Christ. Give, that we might share the great news of abundant life. Prayer of Thanksgiving God of the empty tomb, your grace astounds us, your generosity fills us to overflowing. Accept these offerings as signs of our gratitude and bless our work on Christ’s behalf. May we love as Christ loved. May we serve as Christ served. Call us forth into your world, guided by Christ’s Spirit. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri Ott) Announcements Benediction Like the disciples on the day of Resurrection, Like the disciples on the day of Resurrection, May we go toward the tomb A place seemingly devoid of life, May we find life in all its glory And spread the news that life prevails, that life redeems, And that love never fails. God in peace with resurrection purpose to love God, God’s children, and God’s creation. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Additional Illustrations Ongoing Easter Ongoing Easter gets us finally home at last, for life is not an endless circle but life is moving to an end point. The crowning achievement of the risen Lord is to bring us finally home together with the whole family of God in that transition from time into eternity. It is a great privilege to witness that transition in the lives of people and I think of one this Easter day. Her name was Augusta. She lived 100 years, raised in the prairies of South Dakota, faced every manner of hardship and heartache, but was buoyant and lived on the resurrection side of the cross, raised a family. In the last hour of her life standing with her daughters around her in the hospital room, I heard her bless her daughters. Being a mother to the very end and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at the faces of her daughters around her and pointed to them each one and said, "Too much lipstick," and then closed her eyes in peaceful death. Yes, There Is Hope In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope." This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope? Bill Self, Is There Any Hope? Don't Be Afraid of the Future - Matthew 28:1-10 Occasionally I fly back to South Carolina for a trustee meeting at a wonderful Methodist institution called Wofford College. On a recent trip I had an extra hour or two, so I decided to take a sentimental journey back to the little town of Greer. My father was pastor there when I was a little boy. Right away I noticed so many things that had changed. Our old house has been torn down and replaced. The yard has shrunk. I saw the tree from which my little cowboy friends almost hung me, accidentally, and I thanked God for my mother’s quick reaction and handy kitchen knife. The memories were fun, but thirty minutes was enough. I was ready to leave. Thomas Wolfe was right when he observed that you can’t go home again. You can’t turn back the clock. A woman named Mary Madgalene learned that lesson early on the first Easter morning. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the good old days, to pretend that the terrible crucifixion had never happened. When the risen Christ confronted her, she fell to her knees and clutched his feet, almost pleading with him to stop this crazy chain of events. She thought: perhaps the past few days were all a dreadful nightmare. Can we wake up now and go back to the good old days when Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee, performed healing miracles, and fellowshipped with his friends over supper? Can’t we turn back the clock? You and I should be able to empathize with Mary. We have lots of schemes designed to slow down or reverse the clock. We are part of a youth-glorifying, death-denying culture. After about the age of 29, we try not to get any older, or at least not to look like it. Rather than looking forward to the future, we try to fend it off. My purpose this morning is to so fill us with the Easter Good News that we will embrace the future rather than running from it. Easter proclaims that the future is good because the risen Christ owns it and guides his followers through it. God awaits us not only in heaven… Easter Fits All In the spring of 1981, the president of national hotel chain was speaking at a conference in Atlanta Georgia, and while he was there, he decided he needed a haircut. While sitting in the chair of a neighborhood barber, he struck up a conversation. “What are you doing for a vacation this summer?” The barber’s face brightened, “My wife and I are taking a road trip, and we’re driving to Phoenix.” “Really” the hotel president asked, “and where are you going to stay while you’re on this road trip?” The barber said “Well, on the way out there, we’re going to stay at the cheapest hotels possible, so that when we get there we can afford to stay in something really nice.” And the hotel president thought to himself, “This guy is never going to stay in my hotel, because when he’s driving to Phoenix, we’re too expensive, and when he gets to Phoenix, we’re too inexpensive.” He immediately flew back to his office in Silver Spring Maryland, called his Board of Directors together and announced “One size does not fit all! We need to diversify to meet the different needs of people.” And the result was a company that began to offer four different levels of hotels; The Sleep Inn, The Comfort Inn, The Quality Inn, and The Clarion. The name of the company is “Choice Hotels.” Time for Easter Dreams In a world of Good Friday nightmares, it is time for Easter Dreams. After the completion of Disney World, someone remarked, "Isn't it too bad that Walt Disney didn't live to see this!" Mike Vance, creative director of Disney Studios replied, "He did see it that's why it's here." Everything in life that we use or hold, eat or watch, wear, sit in or listen to in other words, everything that is a creation of human ingenuity started out as a dream. Before anything can become tangible, it must first become a reality in the mind of its dreamer. Only when the dream is real for one can it become real for all. Not until the dream is real for me can it become real for you. Zippers, Christmas tree lights, quadruple bypass heart surgery, combustion engines, cotton candy, x-rays, air conditioning, flush toilets, matches, eyeglasses, espresso all these things were once dreams in some person's mind. The dreams of others make our lives tasty, pleasant, sometimes even possible. So why is it that we live in a world furnished with the dreams of others, yet there are so many nightmares stalking the land? Why did we first nightmare up nuclear weaponry instead of dreaming up world peace? Why did we nightmare up high-tech security systems and gated communities instead of dreaming up communities of trust? Why did we nightmare up fast foods instead of dreaming up a way to feed every hungry child? Why did we nightmare up apartheid and slavery and Jim Crow instead of dreaming up societies of justice and equality? One member of the "buster generation" (those born between 1964 and 1983) put it this way: "I had a dream." Writing to his church's newsletter, this young man expressed the despair, cynicism and pessimism of his "buster generation" by speaking about the "death of idealism, of passion and dreaming ... of transforming vision." He spoke of an almost ubiquitous death of dreaming among his peers (as referenced by Sharon Dawn Johnson, "Vision in Mission," The Gospel and Our Culture 5 [September 1993]: 5). Because the Good Friday nightmare was transformed into the Easter Dream, the way has been opened for ending all nightmares and incarnating all dreams. The Resurrection means that Christians can expectantly: - dream of plenty in the midst of poverty; - dream of compassion in the midst of poverty; - dream of justice in the midst of inequity; - dream of holiness in the midst of hell; - dream of love in the midst of hate. Leonard Sweet, Easter Dreams, www.Sermons.com ___________________________________ Anticipation: What Is Going to Happen Today? In Winnie the Pooh, Pooh and Piglet take an evening walk. For a long time they walk in silence. Silence like only best friends can share. Finally Piglet breaks the silence and asks, "When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what's the first thing you say to yourself?" "What's for breakfast?" answers Pooh and then asks. "And what do you say, Piglet?" Piglet says, "I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" You and I can't really plan to meet the Risen Christ because we never really know when or where He's going to show up. But you can be sure of this, He will show up. If you believe, He will show up. And the attitude you need to meet him is the attitude of Piglet, "I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" Billy Strayhorn, Easter Heart Burn, www.Sermons.com

The Magic of our Faith

Acts 2:14, 22-32 2nd Sunday of Easter April 16, 2023 The Magic of our Faith Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (Acts 2, Psalm 16) My heart is glad! My soul rejoices, and my body rests secure! For you do not abandon me. You give me counsel. You are at my right hand. You show me the path of life. Your presence is sheer joy. You are my God; apart from you, I have no good. Blessed is your name! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Opening Prayer (Acts 2, 1 Peter 1, John 20) Stand among us once again, risen Christ, and bless us with your greeting: "Peace be with you." Stand among us once again, Exalted Brother, and breathe upon us your promised Spirit. Stand among us once again, You Who Have Escaped Death, and give us new birth into your living hope. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Song He Lives UMH 310 Children’s Sermon Affirmation of Faith (based on 1 Peter 1:3-9) We believe in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose mercy we are given new birth into a living hope through Christ’s resurrection from the dead. We believe that through Christ we are born into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading; and into a present salvation that will be revealed in its fullness in the last time. We believe that until that time, the Spirit works in us to grow the genuineness of our faith, that we may give praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, whom we love but have not seen, is revealed. Amen. Adapted from 1 Peter 1:3-9 by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, October 2022. Scripture Acts 2:14, 22-32 Sermon The Magic of our Faith A.W. Tozer, that great preacher of a previous generation, was right. Perhaps we Christians can be seen as a bit odd: We love someone we have never seen; we daily speak aloud to someone we do not hear. We are strongest when we are weakest and richest when we are poorest. We die so that we might live and give away so that we can keep. We see the invisible, hear the inaudible, and know that which is beyond knowledge. Christian strange? Are we delusional? No. We just know the end of the story and that makes all of the difference. The resurrection helps us to see life from a different perspective. It teaches us to look for the presence of God in every situation. It is that different perspective that helps is to see things that others cannot see. But it would not be the first time. Seeing Beyond Our Reality It is difficult to see things that are beyond our reality. We live lives that are narrowly focused, conditioned by our environment, traditions and habits. The name Hans Lippershey is not a famous one, but he made a tremendous contribution to the world of vision. In l600, he created the first telescope. He was a Dutch spectacle maker. One day two children came into his shop and were playing with some of the lenses scattered around. They put two together which greatly magnified a weathervane across the street. Lippershey capitalized on the discovery and made a profit selling his new lenses to the military. This all happened in Middleburg, Netherlands. Several others claimed to invent the telescope about the same time. Galileo is the most famous but even he credits Lippershey for its creation. Most everyone doubted the creation at first. It was hard for them in that time to envision things could be magnified. It was beyond their reality. Even when our vision is enhanced by technology it is sometimes impaired by our lack of faith. Ironically, it took two small children at play to make it all happen. An unexplainable event shaped the beliefs of society and enabled them to see. Keith Wagner, Faith Without Facts, ChristianGlobe Networks Inc. The telescope is only one way to be able to see beyond our present reality. Easter is another one. Jesus not only opened up our hearts, but he also opened up our perspective. Easter is our invitation to have hope and a new vision. Every Easter season we get a chance to go back to the foundation of the Easter vision and the beginnings of the church. Instead of reading from the Hebrew Bible, we read from the book of Acts. The disciples were witness to a miracle during the resurrection. We are here today because they felt that they needed to share that story with the whole world. The doors of heaven are open for anyone. The real miracle of the story is how lives of those who heard were changed immediately. They were able to see life so much clearly than before. In our scripture in Acts two – Peter is preaching his first sermon and 3000 people are baptized and want to become a part of that church. This is just one of the first things that the Holy Spirit did for that community. Today – the average congregation has 65 people present. After the pandemic 65% of congregations in the US have fewer people than that. With numbers like that – it is easy to here this scripture and either think that no one is interested in the power of the resurrection, or we are doing something wrong. We are not – just as Jesus crucifixion and death was a part of God’s plan – so is the waning and testing of our church. What does it mean to be faithful in time like this? The story of the disciples spreading the gospel is not intended to be a comparison, but an example. The gospel is still alive and well. God is still working in our faithfulness. God still performs miracles. We are all modern day witnesses to the power of the gospel. The gospel works one person at a time, one situation at a time. If God can change just one life, that is all that matters. Jesus is that one person that was able to make all the difference in the world. In Peter’s sermon he says that there are a lot of people who God loved and took care of. We have a lot of heroes and legends in the bible. Peter names David as one of those legends and heroes. David is an important person in our faith, and yet he died. But God raised Jesus up and even today we are witnesses to that fact. Is Jesus dead or alive today? Our answer makes all of the difference in the world. Thomas Jefferson thought Jesus was an important person. Yet he was convinced that Jesus was not raised from the dead. As a matter of fact, he rewrote the whole bible, taking out all of the miracles. Here is how his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed." It is very easy to rewrite history. To say, "that did not happen." But the story remains that the disciples were witnesses to these events. Thomas Jefferson is in essence calling the disciples liars and that they continued throughout the first century, for 70 years, to propagate those lies. Furthermore, Jefferson's Bible has been robbed of its power. I am convinced that the church does not accomplish 2000 years of life inside the walls of a closed dark sepulcher. There is no power in that dark place; rather, the Church is alive because He is alive forevermore. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com In your faith is Jesus dead or alive? In 1955, the Cambridge Humanist society was formed at Cambridge University in England. Sir julian Huxley explained that their purpose was to enable people to cope with their environment without resort to the idea that there is a God. He said that one hundred years hence people would find it hard to believe in God as they currently do to believe that the world is flat. A few years later, another distinguished man of science was asked to address the faculty of Cambridge. He opened his address with these words:”before my lecture, I want to tell you something. That I am a Christian. I was brought up in a Christian home with my brother, the two of us were the closest friends. We were both at the university together. My father and mother were deeply religious. My brother and I had no time for religion. We thought that religion was all right for old people, but we were scientist and we thought we had found our way through by what we were pleased to call scientific methods. Then my brother was killed. My parents had the resources to deal with that shattering loss. But I had no one. One night, brokenheaerted, and with all of my proud science in ruined uselessness at my feet, I knelt down. I did not know how to pray. I had scorned prayer. But I put out my hand – and found that it was grasped. I knew that someone was coming to my help and somehow I knew it was Christ. I have been Christian every since and no one, nothing, will take christ from me anymore. Belief in the resurrection gives us a perspective that other people do not have. The doors of heaven are open, and we get to see beyond the darkness of this world. The power to change the world is available to us as it was to the first disciples. How does Easter live in your life? We may never see 3000 people come to Christ in one day. If we witness just one that is all that matters. If we choose to live in the hope of the resurrection for all and not the death, destruction and bad news that we see everyday – then God’s spirit has made a difference. Rosie Lives! Once there was a man named George who was accustomed to driving his wife, Rosie, to church. They had a long and happy marriage; their love for each other was monumental. They did everything together; everything, that is, except one thing. When George drove Rosie to church each Sunday, she went in but he did not. He remained in the car, reading the newspaper. After 45 years of marriage, Rosie died. George was distraught with grief. On Sunday mornings George no longer made that drive to church, transporting Rosie. But several months after her death Easter Sunday rolled around. George drove to the church and he went in. The pastor delivered a stirring resurrection sermon and then closed with prayer. Then there were a few moments of silence as the pastor prepared to announce the final hymn. Suddenly George stood up and with deep emotion declared loudly, "Rosie lives!" Then he began to sing with a deep, rich baritone voice that song that he had always associated with Rosie--"My Wild Irish Rose, the Sweetest Flower That Grows..." The congregation was stunned at first. But several people in the congregation knew George and how he was grieving for Rosie. They stood up and joined in the song. Then more and more people joined into the song. Finally, the whole congregation was joyfully and tearfully singing a glorious, secular Easter hymn. Bill Bouknight, ChristianGlobe Networks If Rose lives on, then so does Jesus. I have really enjoyed having chapel with the preschool this year. They really seem to enjoy hearing the gospel story. I have been really surpised at how much they have gotten into jumping up at saying Halleleujah lately. This week, after hearing the Easter story – we were all looking for Jesus. And one little girl pipes up and shouts Jesus lives in my heart! Christ is alive today! Believe it, live it , witness it. God still has a few tricks up God’s sleeve. – we just have to be awake to see them………… Okay so that wasn’t God, that was magic. But it encourages us to see the little miracles that happen in our life every day – If God can do it for Jesus – God will do it for us – one person at a time. Amen. Song Easter People, Raise your Voices UMH 304 An Easter Prayer Good and gracious God, Our most glorious Creator, As we greet the signs in nature around us: Of Spring once again regaling us in bloom, In the songs of returning birds and fields soon to be planted, We give you praise for an even greater sign of new life: the resurrection of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we especially celebrate at this time. The sadness and despair of his death has given way to the bright promise of immortality. For the Resurrection is our guarantee that justice will triumph over treason, Light will overcome darkness, and love will conquer death. As we celebrate, we also dare to ask for your grace that we may live the promise given to us, By imitating the life of Jesus in reaching out to the poor, the marginalized, the least among us as we strive to be neighbor to all those we meet. We praise you in this Easter season. Change our lives, change our hearts to be messengers of Easter joy and hope. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord forever. Amen. Adapted from “An Easter Prayer” written by Fr. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship In some congregations, this first Sunday after Easter is known as “holy humor” Sunday, celebrating with jokes, funny stories and gratitude for the biggest joke of all, played out in the face of those who sent Jesus to the cross, when God raised Jesus from the dead! So I want to share a story of how two mice played a joke on a cat. Two mice out for a stroll when they were surprised by a cat. Just as the cat prepared to pounce on his breakfast, one of the mice barked. The barking so startled the cat, he turned and fled. The mouse who barked turned to her companion and said, “In times like these, it is always nice to know a second language.” Now, I believe most of us know two languages. Yes, really! The first is the language of possessiveness, and the second is the language of generosity. Our first language emerges early, when we learn to say “MINE!” It may be at home, at Sunday School, or in kindergarten, but often by the time a child is 3,4, or 5, “MINE” is a favorite word. Our second language may also emerge in childhood. It often comes when we’re encouraged to share our toys, our books, our clothes or our food. Often, when we manage to share, we get LOTS of affirmation! In the church, we continue to delight in the times we hear others (or hear our own language) offer to share time, responsibility, and money. Recently, I heard _____________________ (describe a moment when you heard someone offer to share). Today, we’re ALL invited to practice our second language, sharing what God has graciously provided for us. Let us offer our morning tithes and gifts. Prayer of Thanksgiving Giver of Life, You’ve raised us up to new life through our baptisms into Christ. You’ve given us all that we have, and called us to be stewards of your many graces. So we ask you to accept these gifts offered today. Help us put to wise use all that has been given, seeking to transform this money into shared blessings for the least and the lost, both here and to the ends of the earth. AMEN ( Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Let us step out into the world Knowing that we are not alone when doubts and fears surround us The Risen Christ is with us Empowering and encouraging us To transform our wounds into sources of liberation May the power of resurrection, the divine peace, and the empowering grace of the Triune God Be with us now and forever more. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Vinod Wesley) Community Time Benediction We leave this sanctuary a blessed people. Let us go now and be a blessing to others. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Additional Illustrations It's Time to Get Up Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church, and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of Taps, the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill instructed, as soon as Taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of Reveille - It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning. That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be Taps; it will be Reveille. The worst things are never the last things. John Claypool in Leadership, Vol. 12, No.1. God's Back It was Saturday, the day before Easter, and Joanne Hinch of Woodland Hills, California was sitting at the kitchen table coloring eggs with her three-year-old son Dan and her two-year-old daughter Debbie. She told her kids about the meaning of Easter and taught them the traditional Easter morning greeting and response, "He is risen...He is risen indeed!" The children planned to surprise their Dad, a Presbyterian minister, with that greeting as soon as he awoke the next morning. Easter arrived, little Danheard his father stirring about in his bedroom, so the boy got up quickly, dashed down the hall and shouted the good news: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, God's back!" David E. Leininger, "Laugh, Thomas, Laugh!" Professor Boltloose What follows is a factual story. There once was a seminary student who was having a hard time accepting this idea that the writers of the New Testament Gospels took poetic license with their accounts of the life of Jesus. He was particularly bothered by the extreme view of some scholars that Jesus might not have been an actual historical person at all! One day as a fellow student was playing around with his tape recorder, the two suddenly fell into a spontaneous mock interview with the troubled student pretending to be "professor Rudolf Boltloose" (a parody of the famous German biblical scholar, Rudolf Bultmann). Piously, professor "Boltloose" intoned - "I have come up with a new theory! There was no cross at Calvary. There were only nails. There was no body. There were only clothes. You see, they hung the clothes on the nails ... And this is important for us today!" Although totally spontaneous, this little episode of play-acting was a superb statement of the danger we face when we deal with the fact that the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus. Carl L. Jech, Channeling Grace, CSS Publishing What’s the Good Word? A student from Korea was complaining about how difficult it is to learn the English language. He felt that American idioms were particularly difficult to comprehend. He said that he had studied English for nine years in preparation for attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On his first day at the school, as he was walking across the campus, an American student casually greeted him with, "Hi, What's the good word?" The Korean boy stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself: "I don't know the good word! You would have thought that after nine years of studying English, someone would have told me what "˜the good word' was!" Later, trying to solve this puzzle, he decided to turn the tables and ask an American, "What's the good word?" and listen to his reply. So, approaching a fellow student, he repeated, "Hi! What's the good word?" The quick response was, "Oh, not much. How about you?" It was obvious that neither of these students knew what the good word was. It's a rather plastic greeting. But I can tell you the good word for today: Christ the Lord is risen. That's the Good Word. And because it is; it says a great deal about our lives. Brett Blair and King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com he Secret of the Power Thomas Jefferson ranks as one of our nations greatest intellects but not many people know that he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages, which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus' life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus' daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Humor: “I’ll Be Right Back” Sometime back, former talk show host Johnny Carson visited Harvard University to receive an award. After the ceremony he agreed to answer some questions from members of the press. One reporter asked, "What would you like to have inscribed on your tombstone?" Carson thought for just a second, then answered with the words he used before every commercial break on his television show. He wanted his tombstone to say, "I'll be right back." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Easter in Us The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote an ambitious poem entitled 'The Wreck of the Deutschland.' It commemorates the death of five Franciscan nuns drowned on the German ship Deutschland at the mouth of the Thames in the winter of 1875. One half-line especially intrigues me: 'Let him Easter in us.' Let Christ 'Easter' in us. A rare verb indeed, but it suits this sacred season, ... How does Christ Easter in us? In three wondrous ways: (1) By a faith that rises above doubt. (2) By a hope that conquers despair. (3) By a love that does justice. Walter J. Burghardt, Let Christ Easter in Us, Dare to Be Christ: Homilies for the Nineties (Mahwah, NJ.: Paulist Press, 1991), 51. Do we think he is dead or alive? In his book "Living Jesus" Luke Timothy Johnson declares: The most important question concerning Jesus, then, is simply this: Do we think he is dead or alive? If Jesus is simply dead, there are any number of ways we can relate ourselves to his life and his accomplishments. And we might even, if some obscure bit of data should turn up, hope to learn more about him. But we cannot reasonably expect to learn more from him. If he is alive, however, everything changes. It is no longer a matter of our questioning an historical record, but a matter of our being put in question by one who has broken every rule of ordinary human existence. If Jesus lives, then it must be as life-giver. Jesus is not simply a figure of the past in that case, but a person in the present; not merely a memory we can analyze and manipulate, but an agent who can confront and instruct us. What we can learn about him must therefore include what we continue to learn from him. Luke Timothy Johnson, Living Jesus. The Reality of the Resurrection Several hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a crucial battle occurred between the Greeks and the Persians upon the plains of Marathon. The battle raged for hours. In many respects it was a fight to the finish. Finally the numerically inferior Greeks, the underdogs, managed a tremendous tactical win, but there was a problem. Soon the Senate, many miles away in Athens, was to vote and would most certainly ratify a treaty of appeasement. In desperation they sent a runner in full battle gear to go the twenty-seven miles to tell of the news. By the time the young boy got to Athens he had run a Marathon. It is said he was totally spent, that he literally ran himself to death. In his exhaustion he was able to utter only one word to the Athenians: "Victory." Today we come to church with the sound of the Hallelujah Chorus still resonating in our ears. We have been to the empty tomb. We have heard the glad news of resurrection. And now it is time for the church to send a message back to the world. What should that message be? May I suggest that it could be a single word: Victory. Unfortunately, that single truth is not so self-evident to many people today even as it was not initially to the first century disciples. We fall short of victorious living. We must learn anew to live out the reality of the resurrection. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com A Church with Nothing to Offer Check out the church ads on the religion page of the Saturday edition of most big city newspapers and you find some impressive sounding places of worship. There, with sleek graphics and Madison Avenue phrases, a few select churches boast of their assets -- their choirs, their friendliness, their powerful preaching, their singles ministries, their ample parking, their family life centers, their sensitive child care, and their compassionate spirit. Some churches, it seems, have it all. Other churches, however, appear by contrast to have nothing, absolutely nothing. Take, for example, the church depicted in our text for today. Here, we get our first glimpse of the disciples gathered together after the resurrection, the first glimpse, in other words, of the church in its earliest days, and, all in all, it is not a very pretty picture. Near the end of his life, Jesus had carefully prepared his disciples to be a devoted and confident fellowship of faith. They were to be a community of profound love with the gates wide open and the welcome mat always out, but here we find them barricaded in a house with the doors bolted shut. They were to be the kind of people who stride boldly into the world to bear fruit in Jesus' name, a people full of the Holy Spirit performing even greater works than Jesus himself (John 14:12), but here we find them cowering in fear, hoping nobody will find out where they are before they get their alibis straight. In short, we see here the church at its worst -- scared, disheartened and defensive. If this little sealed-off group of Christians were to place one of those cheery church ads in the Saturday newspaper, what could it possibly say? "The friendly church where all are welcome"? Hardly, unless one counts locked doors as a sign of hospitality. "The church with a warm heart and a bold mission"? Actually more like the church with sweaty palms and a timid spirit. Indeed, John's gospel gives us a snapshot of a church with nothing – no plan, no promise, no program, no perky youth ministry, no powerful preaching, no parking lot, nothing. In fact, when all is said and done, this terrified little band huddled in the corner of a room with a chair braced against the door has only one thing going for it: the risen Christ. And that seems to be the main point of this story. In the final analysis, this is a story about how the risen Christ pushed open the bolted door of a church with nothing, how the risen Christ enters the fearful chambers of every church and fills the place with his own life. Thomas G. Long, Whispering The Lyrics, CSS Publishing. [Suggestion: Take actual church ads from the local newspaper from Saturday's paper into the pulpit and read the ads.] Devout of this World The devout of this world perform their rituals without guarantee that anything good will ever come of it. Of course there are plenty of scriptures and plenty of priests who make plenty of promises as to what your good works will yield (or threats as to the punishments awaiting you if you lapse), but to even believe all this is an act of faith, because nobody amongst us is shown the endgame. Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying, 'Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.' There's a reason we refer to 'leaps of faith' because the decision to consent to any notion of divinity is a mighty jump from the rational over to the unknowable, and I don't care how diligently scholars of every religion will try to sit you down with their stacks of books and prove to you through scripture that their faith is indeed rational; it isn't. If faith were rational, it wouldn't be by definition faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly know all the answers in advance to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be . . . a prudent insurance policy. Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love - Penguin ______________________________ ____________________________ A Backstage View Garrison Keillor said, "We always have a backstage view of ourselves." We let the audience see only the neatly arranged stage. But behind the curtain all kinds of things are lying around: old failures, hurts, guilt and shame. We hear that we are living in a shameless society, and that people are no longer bothered by shame. I don’t believe it. Shame plagues our souls. Psychologists tell us that shame sweeps over us when we overstep our abilities, or when our fantasy about who we would like to be encounters the backstage reality of who we really are. Nothing is more crippling to our souls than working at hiding shame. We lock up more and more doors, sealing off more and more rooms of the heart to prevent our true selves from being discovered. We think we are keeping the world out, but in fact we are keeping ourselves locked in. Craig Barnes, "Crying Shame," article in The Christian Century, April 6, 2004, pp. 19.

Maundy Thursday - John Wesley Love Feast

Matthew 26:17-20, Matthew 26:26-32 Passover with the disciples 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?” 18 He replied, “Go into the city, to a certain man, and say, ‘The teacher says, “My time is near. I’m going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’” 19 The disciples did just as Jesus instructed them. They prepared the Passover. 20 That evening he took his place at the table with the twelve disciples. Matthew 26:26-32 Common English Bible Last supper 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take and eat. This is my body.” 27 He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from this, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many so that their sins may be forgiven. 29 I tell you, I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 30 Then, after singing songs of praise, they went to the Mount of Olives. Predictions about disciples leaving Jesus 31 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Tonight you will all fall away because of me. This is because it is written, I will hit the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will go off in all directions.[a] 32 But after I’m raised up, I’ll go before you to Galilee.” Maundy Thursday Is the Thursday before the crucifixion. Jesus knew that his days were numbered, and yet he wanted to host a Passover meal for his disciples and friends. Over the past 2000 years, there have been a number of different ways to commemorate this day – services, hand and foot washing, communion, there are some churches that do a reenactment of the Lord’s Supper. Many churches have a Seder meal as Jesus’ last supper. There is no one way to commemorate Maundy Thursday. Maundy means commandment. When Jesus gathered with his friends, he gave them one commandment – to love one another. It doesn’t matter to Jesus what you do on this night, as long as it is done in love. Hence we are gathered here tonight to have a love feast or an agape meal. Agape means Christian love. The worship committee planned this meal 3 years ago before the pandemic. This was the first year that we were able to do it. I wanted to introduce it to the church, because it is an important tool to add to our ministry tool kit. Sharing a meal together has been a sacred time probably for as long as we have gathered together in community and family. The Passover meal was important to the Hebrew community. God asked them to have a time to remember how God set them free. They were to have this meal every year and to teach their children their history. The Passover meal was important to Jesus – he invited his friends. The disciples continued to gather at meal time and just as Jesus has commanded, they took care on one another and made sure that anyone that was hungry was fed. The early church continued this tradition. Some of these churches would gather to eat at least once a week. They would gather in fellowship, but if there were people in the community that were hungry and only came for the food that was okay. It was called a love feast because it was a time to make sure that the poor were taken care of. Today many Asian churches still have a tradition of serving a big meal open to anyone right after church. There were two traditions that evolved from Jesus’ Last Supper. Communion was one tradition that was adopted by many Christian communities – where you remember Jesus’ last meal with a ceremony using wine and bread. The love feast was a completely different tradition that was adopted only by certain communities where you served a full blown meal and honored Jesus using bread and water. Today Episcopalians, Methodist, German speaking denominations like the Moravians still do love feast. John Wesley started a renewal movement in the US and his home in Britian. He encouraged Christians to gather in groups to further their faith. His classes became the Methodist Church. While working here in America, he started taking bible study with the Moravians – who were German based community. They had Love Feast regularly. He adopted it for his movement and encouraged the Methodist to have love feast. I wanted to introduce the concept to you all – because it has 3 major functions that are important to Methodist mission and ministry. 1. Lay Leadership is critical to Methodism. As a pastor, he knew that he could not be everywhere as churches developed on the frontier. Methodist Pastors were circuit riders who rode to different churches to perform priestly functions, but lay people were the backbone to the church. Wesley wanted to make sure that lay people were empowered to do any function of the church in the absence of a pastor. So the first instance that you would do a love feast instead of communion is if the pastor was planning to be present, but was not able to come to a function. Serve water instead of grape juice and the lay leader is able to carry on. 2. If you are on a mission trip, and you want to have a holy service but no minister is with you on the trip. You can serve bread and water on the chalice and plate. During communion the pastor must says the magic words in order to turn the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. That is not necessary for the love feast. You can just say a prayer, sing a song, have a holy moment and make sure that everyone is served. 3. If you are having a meal or a holy moment with people from other denominations. It is interesting that we as Christians are called together in love, and yet we find so many different ways to separate ourselves, including communion. We have so many different views about what communion is. A Love Feast gets us beyond all of that. We can gather with Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians and even Baptist based on love and not the body of Christ. If you are inviting other denominations to dinner, then you should call it an Agape Meal and not John Wesley’s Love Feast. It cuts down on the arguments and misconceptions. You can even have a love feast with another Methodist denomination. 4. We like to have Seder Meals in honor of Jesus life. I love the seder meal, it is one of my favorite ceremonies of the year. But Jews don’t encourage us to have seder meals, because it is an important part of their heritage that we don’t always understand. The Jewish religion was established after Jesus crucifixion, so that was not the exact meal that he ate. An Agape meal is a Christian meal, we are not borrowing it from anyone. And it can be served at any time. Before we have our love feast and eat our meal I just want to point out the elements on the table. In honor of Jesus’ heritage, we have an Elijah cup filled with juice, and a Miriam Cup filled with water. When I left Englewood church, My friend John Ellis gave me a Wesleyan tea pot that would have been present at a John Wesley love feast. There is a tea cup that would have had two or three handles on it to symbolize unity. This is the cup that you would pass around and drink from. We wont be passing it around. The bread is cut up in cubes, so that we can pass it to one another. Water and towel to symbolically wash our hands. A Blessing Over the Water: This is the living water that flows through the ages. It is the water of the Red Sea, which split to save the Israelites from plight, and it is the water of the River Jordan, in which Christ was baptized. All the waters of the world are connected; now let us be connected and cleansed with this water. Let us pray: O cleansing and righteous God, it is you who can see all, both the filth of sin and the purity of love. You are the only one who can liberate us from the power of sin! Let us connect with this water you have given to us; and let us be cleansed from our sins. It was you who in humility washed your disciples’ feet. But it is we who in humility wash our hands in search of forgiveness from our sins. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Please submerge hands in your bowl of water. The Feast: Here before us, you will find some water and bread. It is important to know that this feast is not a Eucharistic feast, but one of love and fellowship. First time doing it, wanted to make sure that you had the explanation. In the future we will do both meals. Prayer over the elements. The Feast: Here before us, you will find some water and bread. It is important to know that this feast is not a Eucharistic feast, but one of love and fellowship. You are the Beloved Community. As you eat this bread, let us commemorate our unity through Christ and feast on the spirit of love who is Christ. Let us eat together. We know that water sustains our lives, and we know that you, O Lord, are the Living Water. Let us drink together. The Lord’s Prayer: (in the language closest to your heart) Pass them to one another Grace Be present at our table, Lord Be here and everywhere adored; Thy creatures bless, and grant that we May feast in paradise with Thee (John Cenick) There will be a little bit of closing – but say goodbye to those joining us on Facebook – Table Fellowship During the regular Love Feast, should take up an offering for the poor, and have testimonies. Scripture1 Corinthians 11:23-29 Song Were you There? Dismissal with no blessing

Hope in our Darkest Hour - Good Friday

April 7, 2023 Good Friday Service Hope in our Darkest Hour Open in silence Greeting Hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus UMH UMH 297 Something to Think about Hope, that is the word the God gave me to ponder this year during lent and Easter. Jesus came into the world so that we can have hope, and have it abundantly. It will be easy to speak about Hope on Easter Sunday. But I have to be reminded that real hope begins on Good Friday – the darkest day of the year. Real hope begins in the midst of our despair – those times in our life when our feelings are numb. We don’t know quite what to do or what even comes next. And we feel that God is being silent. Tonight in scripture we will be reminded of Christ last cry – My God My God why have you forsaken me? And what strikes me is that in the passion story, God never responds. There is no answer for what it happening. There is no justice, no defense – the events just happen. We actually, never get to see how God is at work in this situation. Hope is a process, hopes is a relationship, sometimes hope can be an adventure. For Jesus in this moment – hope becomes an act of extreme trust – that even in the midst of pain, maybe things are being worked out for the better. Tonight I didn’t want us to go through the entire passion story with words – I wanted us to have an image of Jesus in our minds. I love the Chosen series, and the actor Jonothon Roumie takes his role as Jesus so seriously. The chosen is now on season 4 – and they plan to have 7 seasons of shows – so Jesus has not been gone through death and resurrection yet. But there have been many scenes where he gets close. In this scene that we are going to watch – Jesus is meeting with the Roman authorities – and we know that they will be playing close attention to him and will eventually do everything that they can to erase his memory and his influence. Where is the hope in that? (watch the movie) How can you have hope, when everything in the world is trying to stop you. No one is willing to speak up on your behalf, no one stops the injustice even when they see it happening. And God is silent about the whole thing. There is a lot going on in the world on this Good Friday, there is a lot going on in our lives, in our faith. We would love for God to just tap God’s fingers and make it all okay. But when you think about it – there are times in our lives – when no answer would make it all okay. No explanation would be enough. And promises would still fall short. So God says nothing at all. We just have to sit, trust, hope in an outcome that we cant see right now. In God’s silence, God is still at work. We never do get to see how Christ was actually saved from the grave and yet…. Tonight we will continue to sing, to pray, to relive Christ passion. Our service will end peacefully, with a word. Leave and listen for the silence of God. Tomorrow is holy Saturday – a quiet day when nothing is said of Jesus’ death. Whatever you do tomorrow – I invite you to take an intentional moment to spend with God. Tell God what you hope for. God’s response will be silence – but be assured that even in the silence God heres, God cares – God is working it out. And I look forward to seeing you on Sunday at 9:30 when we all get to experience the next phase of hope. Peace Jesus Last Words to Us Matthew 27:45-51,54 Death 45 From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. 46 At about three Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”[a] 47 After hearing him, some standing there said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 One of them ran over, took a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 But the rest of them said, “Let’s see if Elijah will come and save him.” 50 Again Jesus cried out with a loud shout. Then he died. 51 Look, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what had just happened, they were filled with awe and said, “This was certainly God’s Son.” Christ’s Lament against his Faithless Church Lord’s Prayer Hymn Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross UMH 301 Go Forth into the Night