In the Spirit of the Lord

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington Romans 8:1-11 In the Spirit of the Lord 7th Sunday After Pentecost Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship One: The Word is a lamp and a light. The word illuminates our life. Many: We welcome The Word with praise and thanksgiving. One: The Word comes from the mouth of God and accomplishes its purpose. Many: We hear The Word that loves and embraces, challenges and convicts, renews and restores. One: The Word is life, offers a future with hope, and creates peace in the midst of the storm. Many: We receive The Word among us with rejoicing. We worship The Word in spirit and in truth! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Invocation Creator, your presence among us illuminates our lives. Make us fertile soil, receptive to the seeds planted by your word. Nourish us with Living Water and grow us through the energy of your empowered and healing rays of sunshine. Let us encounter you afresh as we gather in community. May our worship show our love for you and each other. Make your presence known to us and through us for your glory. Amen (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Song Spirit of the Living God UMH 393 Children’s Sermon By Lois Parker Edstrom Person presenting the lesson may want to sit on a stool demonstrating a “time-out.” Have you ever done something you shouldn’t have done and been asked by your mom or dad to stand in a corner or sit on a stool and think about what you have done? It is not fun to have a time-out. While you are sitting on that stool you may think of all the other things you would rather be doing – playing with your friends, riding your bike, or reading a book. But, when we make bad choices we must learn about consequences (the cost of our bad choices). The Bible tells us that the Spirit of Christ Jesus sets us free from sin (bad choices) and this applies to adults as well as children. When we let the Spirit of Jesus live in us, it is like being released from a time-out. We are free to be grateful, worship God, and enjoy the life he has given us. As we go about our day thinking of behavior and activities that are pleasing to God, we make better choices. The Bible tells us that “the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” (8:6). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan Responsive Reading Psalm 119 #840 Baptism Scripture Romans 8:1-11 Prayer for illumination In the reading of you Word, may we be given light to see. May your word rest in our hearts and minds and in so doing, transform us into your faithful people. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Tara Bulger) Sermon In the Spirit of the Lord As the lights in the movie theater dimmed, a young man loaded down with popcorn, cokes and candy paced up and down the aisle, scanning the darkened rows. It was obvious he was looking for the person or persons with whom he had come. After three or four unsuccessful trips he finally stopped and asked loudly, "Does anybody here recognize me?" (1) It's horrible not to be recognized isn't it? It's horrible to feel alone and cut off. Being recognized means you're connected, part of the family and that someone cares, someone is watching out for you. And that matters because Family matters. Does anyone know who I am? We ask that question every Sunday. The challenges of life pull us out of ourselves. When we come into the presence of God – it puts things into perspective. When we come to church we are reminded of God’s love for us. Furthermore, when we participate in a baptism service – we get a special opportunity to put on Christ. When we let christ into our lives – that makes all of the difference in the world. You know, it is funny but there are times when things work out perfectly. Serendipity is Gods way of reminding us that God is here and watches every thing going on. Our scripture for this morning is perfect for a baptism, and a baptism is the perfect illustration to help us understand what Paul is saying to us. B. A United Methodist Minister in Vermont tells how the Sunday School Superintendent of his Church was registering the children in Sunday School and she asked two brothers their ages and birthday. The bolder of the two boys said, "We're both seven. My birthday is April 8, 1976, and my brother's is April 20, 1976." The Superintendent was a little confused and said, "But that's impossible!" The quiet brother answered, "No, it's not, one of us is adopted." Before she was even aware that she had asked, the words were out, "Which one?" The boys looked at each other and smiled. Then the bolder one said, "We asked Dad that awhile ago, but he just said he loved us, and he couldn't remember any more which one was adopted." (3) Through our faith in Christ we are made heirs with Christ. That means that we have equal access to God. We are seen as equal heirs with Christ. There is no longer any distinction between us and Christ. We are brothers and sisters with Christ Jesus. God just loves us and can't remember anymore which ones of us are adopted. Why? Because Family Matters to God. And God wants each of us in His Family. That's what faith in Christ does for us. It puts us in God's family. We can hold our head high because we belong. We belong to God's family. We know our value, we know our worth. Not by worldly standards but by God's standards. Vera and Roxi are cousins born two days apart, but they are forever connected together in baptism. Today they both take on the identity as a child of God. They are siblings with christ. They are both claimed by the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the fact that God has wonderful things in store for their life. It Is such an honor to be witnesses to their faith. I have always said that Romans 8 is the one chapter in the bible where our entire faith is summed up. I feel like I preach on Romans 8 every year – this scripture comes up a lot. But it is not every Sunday that we get to put this scripture into action in the life of our children, our families and our church. Paul’s message to us – there are 2 ways to live our lives. We can live in the flesh or the spirit. The flesh ad spirit are two different attitudes. We can order our lives according to what is happening in the moment, or we can look at the bigger picture. We can be selfish and just life for ourselves or we can live in community and do what it best for all. We can live self centered or God centered. In the scripture Paul refers to a selfish life. Author Patsy Clairmont tells of the time her husband surprised her with two lovely apricot-colored rosebuds. Over the next few days, one of the rosebuds opened up and began to bloom. It was beautiful. The other rosebud stayed tightly closed. By the end of the week, the first rose opened into a full, gorgeous flower, while the second rose remained a small bud. By the second week, both roses began to wilt and shed their petals. As Patsy contemplated her flowers, she felt sad that one rose had never opened up. It had never revealed its greatest beauty. It had died in the same form it had lived: closed. How similar to those roses are we humans? How many of us never grow to our full potential? How many of us never display the full glory of God? How many of us stay tightly closed against the world all our lives, and die never knowing what we could have achieved? (6) So it is with those who never open their lives to the Spirit of the living God. Instead of beginning a relationship with God, they take unacceptable risks. Without even being aware of it, they live in rebellion against all that God has for them. And thus they never fulfill their full God-give potential. Isn't it time you take off the old patch of sin and put on the new patch of the Spirit of God? All of us are children of God. When we put Christ into our lives we get a boost of power and potential. We have a chance to live life to its fullest. When we open the connection between God and us, then we open our lives. Jesus, considered himself so close to God that he called God Abba – or daddy. There were a lot of people who were upset, because they felt that he had no right to claim a relationship that close with the creator of all life. Jesus shows us what it mean to be adopted into the family of God. The challenge then, as presented to us by Paul, is to be sure that we permit the Spirit to dwell within us. It is Paul’s quest that we all live spiritual lives. It is Paul’s mandate that we accept the disciples required to maintain a spiritual life. It is Paul’s inquiry of what will be the orientation of our attitude — flesh or Spirit. And Paul is very forthright in declaring that if we allow Jesus to dwell within our souls, we will be spiritual individuals. As Paul writes, “since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And it does take a proper attitude to be spiritual. It takes focus. It takes discipline. It takes desire. It means we engage in all the spiritual opportunities traditionally offered by the church. We engage in our own journey of personal prayer, Bible reading, and reading Christian literature When Carl Erskine, a former pitcher with the LA Dodgers, first came to the big leagues, he was asked a question by owner Branch Rickey. Rickey asked, "Do you go to church?" Carl said that he did. Rickey responded, "I ask that question of every young man that I sign. The reason that I ask it is that I've found if a person will discipline his life to sit in a place of worship and get his spiritual values in place, that person will develop a quiet confidence that he cannot get anywhere else." St. Paul writes, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." (v. 15) When Ernest Hemingway was struggling to make it as an author, he had a stroke of bad luck. He lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts--manuscripts he had been working on for months and which he had been planning to publish in a book. He couldn't conceive of redoing his work. He shared his predicament with his friend, poet Ezra Pound. Pound called it a stroke of good fortune! Pound assured Hemingway that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts. The new version would be better than the old. He encouraged Hemingway to start over with a sense of optimism and confidence. Hemingway did rewrite the stories and eventually became one of the major figures in American literature. (2) All Hemingway needed was to hear someone say that he could do it. That is all we need sometimes in our lives. Our problems loom so large. But they are not insurmountable. All we need is the confidence to tackle them. All great people have faced times when their confidence waned. When Abraham Lincoln was tragically killed, several items were found in his pockets: an embroidered handkerchief, a watch, and some confederate money. But most interesting of all was a ragged copy of a newspaper article. The article had been written during a time of great controversy and turmoil in the country. In the text of the article, the writer extolled Lincoln's virtues, approving of the decisions he had made in office. (3) Lincoln was one of the great men of history. But he needed, as we all need, some assurance that he was on the right track. We all need a word of encouragement at times. We need to know our lives matter--that we are not hopeless. The Good News for the day is that we are daughters and sons of God. We can take confidence that we are children of the King--offspring of the Most High. When we are willing to live life in the spirit – we have that little voice encouraging us onto be the best that we can. Most of our children have probably seen the Disney Studio’s animated movie Toy Story. Two of the characters are Woody, a toy cowboy and Buzz Lightyear, a “space ranger” action figure. Early in the movie Woody confronts Buzz Lightyear with the fact that he is not really a space hero. Woody shouts, “You’re not a space ranger! You’re an action figure a child’s plaything.” After failing in an attempt to fly, Buzz realizes the truth of Woody’s statement. Grief-stricken and disillusioned, Buzz hangs his head in resignation, declaring, “I’m just a stupid, little, insignificant toy.” Later in the movie Woody tries to undo the damage he has done. He seeks to comfort his friend by underscoring the love of the boy who owns them both. He says to Buzz, “You must not be thinking clearly. Look, over in that house, there’s a kid who thinks you’re the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a space ranger; it’s because you’re his.” As Buzz lifts his foot, he sees a label affixed to the bottom of his little shoe. There in black permanent ink is the name of the little boy to whom he belongs. Seeing the image of his owner, Buzz breaks into a smile and takes on a new determination and confidence. He knows the little boy who owns him treasures him deeply. (6) As we leave this place today, I hope that we will do so with a new determination and confidence because of the One who has adopted us as His own children. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children . . .” Life in the Spirit of Christ gives us protection, confidence and strength to do what we need to. Every moment – we are faced with ways of dealing with life. We can choose the way the world sees things, or we can choose the ways of God. We always have two choices, but one one leads to life. This is my final story. Stuart Briscoe, pastor of ElmbrookChurch outside Milwaukee, illustrates the power of feeding and starving with an observation about cuckoo birds. Cuckoos aren't merely the obnoxious noisemakers heard at the top of the hour in certain clocks. They are certifiably real. Two species, in fact, nest in America. To be more accurate, cuckoos rarely make their own nests. When it's time for a female cuckoo to lay her eggs, she will scout the local territory until she finds the nest of another bird that already has eggs -- often the nest of a thrush -- and wait until that mother bird is absent. Then she will dart in to the nest and deposit at least one egg of her own. Thrushes are apparently not overly skilled in algebra, for when the mother returns, she doesn't notice that there is an addition to her nest. She continues to go about the work of hatching the eggs. What happens when the nestlings appear? There are four tiny thrushes and one lumbering cuckoo, two to three times larger than the other birds. What happens at mealtime? The big bird gets the worm. The cuckoo continues to grow while the thrushes fight for survival. Briscoe remarks, "When I was a kid, you could always find a baby cuckoo's nest. You walked along a hedgerow until you found dead little thrushes, which the cuckoo throws out one at a time." God's children have two sets of desire in one nest. Which one shall we feed? We must feed the new desires and starve the old ones. We must feed the ones that strengthen our walk with Christ and starve the ones that have always taken us down. The more we choose the new desires, the stronger the Holy Spirit grows our personal resolve to choose the new desires the next time as well. We won't always succeed. Trying to become a spiritual person in a fallen world -- trying specifically to think, feel and live as Christ's person -- will always to some degree be exasperating. But through God's gift of grace, Christ's victory over sin, and the indwelling presence of the Spirit, we can know that we truly have the power to change. CSS Publishing Company, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, by Glenn McDonald Do you know Who you are? And Whose you are? Amen. Song Hymn of Promise UMH 707 Prayer God who plants seeds of hope and justice within our lives, we are so grateful for this community of faith and for all, anywhere, who hunger and thirst for your healing, reconciling word. You know all the things that are on our hearts today and you bring us together in love and support. We ask your healing mercies with those who struggle with illness of every kind, with feeling lost and marginalized; for those who mourn and for whom the darkness of sorrow enshrouds them. We ask your growth-producing love for all those who celebrate and rejoice today. Be with each one of us and all those whom we have named in our hearts before you. Help us to reach out to each other in compassion and support, for we ask these things in Jesus’ name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Summertime, and we can see the results of what happens when we “scatter sow” – that is, if we have a handful of seed and toss it out. Jesus shared the parable, and an explanation of it. Leaning into this parable, let’s think about what our giving says about the kind of “soil” we are. For some of us, the idea of giving financially to the church is absurd; we’re “hard”ly able to do what we want. Giving away any money at all seems crazy. For others, we’re willing to give a little when the appeal is great, but see no point in making weekly contributions; we’re easily distracted by the allure of other things to do with our money. Yet others agree giving regularly to the mission of the church is important, but we find there’s a big demand on our finances for basic bills, for treat times, and for participating in the “shop, see more, shop more” response to all the advertising present in our daily lives. And, for others, regular giving (and even sacrificial giving) gives us pleasure, counter-acts our “hoarding/stingy” genes, and builds up opportunities for caring for “the least, the lost, the lonely” of our sisters and brothers. Dolly Parton, world-renowned performer, grew up in poverty and in a strict Christian church. For years after becoming a wealthy woman, she has quietly shared financially, recognizing it’s one way of living her best spiritual self. She provides free books for young children (one a month for birth to age 5). She developed a program to encourage Tennessee youth to stay in school. She supported hundreds of folks for six months after they lost their homes in a wildfire. What kind of “soil” would you judge her to be? What about you? What kind of “soil” are you? Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, we thank you for the abundance in which we live. Speak to us through your word. Help us hear the challenge of Jesus’ parable, and respond as “good soil”. Receive what has been given today, Creator God, and work through this congregation and our giving to bring forth 30, 60 or 100 fold for the ministries to which you call us. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May we each go out to love and care, to find the Spirit’s leading and join in its work and to bless the world as we have been so richly blessed. In the name of our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Tara Bulger) Joys and Concerns Benediction As you have received the seeds of faith and hope; go now into God’s world to scatter the seeds of reconciliation and peace, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations