Discipleship is Costly

September 7, 2025 Luke 14:25-33 13th Sunday after Pentecost Discipleship is Costly Year C Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Wherever you go, from the top of the highest mountain or into the deep abysses of the earth, God knows you. Wherever we go, God knows our name. Whatever you do, from the time you wake up until you lay your head down again, God knows you. Whatever we do, God knows our name. However you live, from your inner thoughts to your public acts and everything in between, God knows you. However we live, God knows our name. We gather to worship God, who loves us, knows us, and calls us by name. We gather to worship God, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God who knows our name! Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, March 2025. OPENING PRAYER All-knowing God, We gather together with praise and thanksgiving for who You are, and for all that You have done for us. You know us better than we know ourselves— all our thoughts and actions— and yet You love us. No matter where we go or what we do, Your love encircles us—ahead and behind— gently leading and guiding and blessing. We praise You for Your love and Your faithful presence in our lives. May Your Spirit move in our hearts and minds as we worship together— examine our attitudes and actions, lay bare the things we need to confess, challenge us with Your Word, and guide us on to paths that lead to life. For we are Your people, called by Your name. Amen. Posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/07/opening-prayer-psalm-139.html. Song A Sermon for all Ages Bible Teaching (Luke 14:25-35) Counting the Cost of Following Jesus. (ministrytochildren.com. Kristen Hughley) Ask students about things that they enjoy or do well. Does anyone play sports? Musical instruments? Artistic endeavors? Discuss what they have to do in order to excel at these things. To be better in athletics, you have to practice, do the drills, and put in effort to improve. To play an instrument, you need to also practice and maybe even take special lessons. You also have to maintain your equipment, whether uniforms and pads or instruments and accompanying pieces. Is it worth all of this work? Well, it is if you are passionate about your pursuit and wish to do it well! Explain that when we talk about following Jesus, we have a similar calling. It isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s often quite challenging, and Jesus warned us of that. Have students look at the Gospel in Luke, and help them read what it says (or have them read, if they are able): Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. -Luke 14:25-27 Does that sound a little harsh? Is Jesus actually telling us we have to disown our families and hate people? That doesn’t seem like a positive way of achieving blessings, does it? Assure kids that Jesus does not want us to actually hate our families. After all, we are commanded to honor our parents. The warning here is that we are not to let families come before faith in Christ. Nothing should be more important to us than following Jesus, so He is admonishing people to check their hearts and be prepared to do whatever it takes to be a disciple. He warns them to be prepared… For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. -Luke 14:28-33 If you are preparing to take a drive, or play a sport, or go on a hike, or bake bread, or essentially do anything, you have to get ready first. You have to look over what is required before you pursue your goals. Here, Jesus is telling people that they have to be prepared to be disciples they have to understand what it means. And what does it mean? Put the cost of discipleship into more child-friendly terms. Fortunately, most kids (at least in first world countries) do not have to fear strong persecution for their faith. But there are things that they might have to set aside for the sake of Christ. Perhaps they can’t practice on the Sunday morning soccer squad, because they have church. Maybe they have to wake up a little earlier in the morning to read the Bible. Maybe they put a dollar into the offering plate instead of purchasing candy. There are smaller and larger methods by which young folks might be called to follow Christ. Remind them, though, that it is something we need to work at. If you want to follow Jesus, you do need to be disciplined to pray, read the Bible, and follow through. “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” -Luke 14:34-35 What does this mean? Explain to children that we want to continually, daily remind ourselves of what it means to follow Jesus, and we want to genuinely be doing that: taking care of others, praying, reading. HOWEVER, at the same time, it’s also essential to let kids know that this is not how we are redeemed. Jesus has already payed the price for our salvation. He is still doing the work. God is the one who brings grace. Practicing discipline and being willing to work for Jesus is important, but all things we do are still through HIM and not our own efforts. And there are great blessings that come when we are willing to do these things! Of course, we know that the greatest blessing will ultimately be our home in Heaven. But we also have the promise of wonderful things in this life. We have fellowship with God, creator and savior of the universe! That’s pretty spectacular. We also have the opportunity to grow God’s kingdom by bringing in more disciples. When Jesus called His first disciples, He demonstrated His power, and also told them they would be able to go out and make more disciples. Read this passage with children to emphasize the beauty of that ability and promise: But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. -Luke 5:8-11 We get to do great things as children and followers in God’s family. The best part is that we know we don’t have to do these things alone. God will be with us. All that we do is through Christ. We are learners, followers, disciples of Him. And as such, we have the greatest and most merciful leader we could ask for. What a blessing. Hallelujah! Close with prayer and thank God for giving us strength and hope. Ask for His help in following Christ and pursuing discipleship, and offer grateful awe for the opportunity to do so. Apostles Creed UMH 881 Scripture Luke 14:25-33 Sermon Discipleship is Costly Hate is such a strong word. As a matter of fact, hate was on the list of words that I couldn’t say at home. My mother would always say never say you hate someone or something. To say that you hate someone or something leaves no room for grace or forgiveness. So you could dislike someone, or something about them, but you couldn’t say you hated them. And yet here Jesus is saying that you should hate your parents, your siblings and your family. Why would Jesus tell his disciples to hate – the people that you love the most. And well Jesus has a history of telling us to choose him over family. And I’ve heard it said that you can only have an intense hate for people that you care about. If you didn’t care about them, you wouldn’t have intense feelings. Hatred is a very complex emotion- it is a combination of fear, humiliation, anger, resentment, rejection a a few other things all balled up into one. The good news is that in the bible - when Jesus says hate your family, he is not talking about an emotion, he is talking about a choice. Being a disciple is one of the most important decisions of your life. It supercedes every other decision in your life – even your loved ones. So our English word for the emotion hate is a very loose translation for the Aramaic word that Jesus used – sane (sanay). Sane means to love less, reject or prioritize. Myalis from blog Lectionary Greek: “The English term 'hate' generally suggests effective connotations that do not always do justice, especially to some Semitic shame-honor oriented use of μισεω (שנא in Hebrew) in the sense 'hold in disfavor, be disinclined to, have relatively little regard for.' In fact, BDAG even suggests translating it "disfavor, disregard" in contrast to preferential treatment" Jesus knows that family is important to us all. He knows that family has a big influence over who we are and what we do. When he days hate your family and follow me, he is trying to shock us out of our comfortable normal to realize that there is something bigger. When we put God first – everything else falls into place, even family. 2. The Call to Undivided Loyalty The word “hate” here is jarring. Jesus is not calling us to despise our families or ourselves, but to put Him above all other loves. • Our devotion to Christ must be so great that every other attachment looks small in comparison. • When loyalties conflict—family expectations, cultural norms, personal ambitions—Christ comes first. • The cross we carry is not just suffering in general; it is the daily choice to live for Jesus rather than ourselves. Application: This means our decisions—how we spend our money, use our time, and treat our relationships—are all shaped by the Lordship of Christ. (ChatGPT) Introduction In Luke 14:25–33, Jesus is traveling with large crowds, and instead of making it easier for people to follow Him, He makes it harder. He says: • “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—cannot be my disciple.” • “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” • “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” These are hard words. They’re not the kind of words that grow a crowd—they’re the kind that test whether we are serious about following Jesus. 1. Discipleship is Costly Jesus is reminding us that discipleship is not about convenience; it is about commitment. • We often prefer a faith that makes life easier, but Jesus calls us to a faith that transforms life. • He uses two images: a man building a tower and a king going to war. Both must “count the cost” before they begin. • In the same way, we must recognize that following Jesus is not a hobby—it is a lifelong surrender. Illustration: Think of starting a home renovation project. If you don’t check the budget first, you’ll be. (ChatGPT) Imagine If We Told the Whole Truth Barbara Brown Taylor says Jesus wouldn’t have made a very good parish minister, andjudging from what he says here, I think she has a pretty good point. And that was just for starters. He goes on to talk about carrying one’s cross, about counting the cost, about giving up all one’s possessions. “Whoever does not...” Jesus is saying to them, “cannot.” Yeah, I would think that would thin out the crowd in a hurry, don’t you? In fact, some of you, after hearing these words, might even be tempted not to come back to church. We certainly hope that won’t be the case, of course, but you never know. If Jesus wouldn’t have made a very good parish minister, you can also figure he wouldn’t be an effective church-growth consultant. I’ve been to the seminars, have read the books and articles. I know what it takes, according to the experts, to build a church these days. In addition to the right demographics (I wonder if Jesus would appreciate or use that word, “demographics”), you have to create an environment where people feel accepted and have their primary needs met. Coffee shops in the foyer, that sort of thing, with the church’s own unique “house blend.” In other words, you have to give them what they want, which appears to be the exact opposite of what Jesus is doing. “Whoever does not... cannot.” Imagine if we told our greeters in the foyer to welcome our guests by saying something like this... “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? After all, the Jesus whose name we are about to invoke in worship says we’ve got to hate our families and ourselves in order to follow him, and we have to give up our possessions. Think twice about it now, three times even. This is a hard, hard life you are being asked to choose. Sit down right now, before you go into the sanctuary, and check off the list of things you like most about your life, and then be willing to give them up. So think about it. Really think about it. Oh, and just in case you don’t understand where all this leads, remember that you have to pick up your cross daily in order to follow Jesus.” Randy L. Hyde, Riot Control Not only is following Jesus costly, you have to commit to bearing your own cross. Jesus caried his cross, you have to carry yours. Bearing the Cross At long last, Laura McDermott had fulfilled her lifelong dream. All she could ever think of doing with her life since she was a kid was to be a doctor. Now no one in the McDermott family had ever been to college before, let alone medical school. Her parents, therefore, were constantly reminding her of the obstacles in her path. "Are you sure you know what you are getting into?" her parents would quiz her periodically. Laura's friends pointed to other obstacles. "Are you sure you want to put yourself through that much schooling? It's really hard work. Is it worth it?" Laura McDermott persisted. She got through college and medical school. Laura McDermott was a doctor at last. She had lived her dream. But the dream soon turned into a nightmare. Dr. McDermott was hired to work with a group of physicians. That's exactly as she had imagined it. She would be one of two general practitioners in a group which included many specialists as well. An ideal work environment she thought. And it started out well. Soon enough, however, problems began to emerge. The first problem that faced Dr. McDermott was that she was one of only two women doctors on the clinic staff. The other G.P. was a man with a few years' experience. It became clear to her quite soon that he was getting far more referrals than she was from the other physicians at the clinic. What was even worse, however, was that when she referred patients to some of the specialists they would quite often check out her referral with the other G.P. Her peers clearly did not trust her judgment. Laura did not know what to make of this situation. Was it because she was young that this happened or because she was a woman? She tried to find out. She asked hard questions around the clinic. But she got no straight answers. It was like a conspiracy of silence had formed around her. Dr. McDermott was devastated. The other problem was that she just didn't like some of the doctors with whom she worked. They were just not nice people she thought. Friction was in the air at the clinic all the time because of the personalities that worked there. It was not a good work atmosphere. She hated to go to work each day. The whole situation was just awful. The situation got so bad, in fact, that Dr. McDermott just had to talk to somebody about it. At her church she had met and made friends with another woman about her age, Doris Pagel, who worked for the local chamber of commerce. Laura thought that Doris might have some insights for her about the kind of people that made up their town. Maybe she had the situation figured out all wrong. She hoped Doris could help. Dr. McDermott took Doris Pagel out for dinner one night and told her sad tale. Doris' first reaction caught Laura by surprise. "Nobody ever said being a doctor would be easy," she said. Laura assured Doris that she knew that. It's just that so many other things had entered the picture that surprised her with the reality of just how hard it was for her to serve God by living out her vocation as a doctor. "Well you know," said Doris, "I read somewhere that we don't choose our own crosses. God just lays crosses upon us in the midst of our attempts to serve. Through our struggles God is often at work molding us into the kind of person God wants us to be."" Richard A. Jensen, Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit Jesus just wants us to know that discipleship is not easy- you gotta consider the cost, the sacrifices and the choices. But it will be the most rewarding journeys you will ever take. He is inviting us to a life with a deeper meaning. Are You Available? Writer Frederick Buechner tells about his wife's greatgrandfather, a man named George Shinn. Shinn was a pastor back in 1880. He was summoned one midnight to the bedside of an old woman who lived by herself. She had little money and few friends, and she was dying. She told Shinn that she wanted another woman to come stay with her for such time as she might have left, so Shinn and the old woman's doctor struck out in the darkness to try to dig one up for her. It sounds like a parable the way it is told. They knocked at doors and threw pebbles at second story windows. One woman said she couldn't come because she had children. Another said she simply wouldn't know what to do, what to be, in a crisis like that. Another was suspicious of two men prowling around at that hour of night and wouldn't even talk to them. But finally, as the memoir of Dr. Shinn puts it in the prose of another age, "They rapped at the humble door of an Irish woman, the mother of a brood of children. She put her head out of the window. “Who's there?' she said. “And what can you want at this time of night?” They tell her the situation, her warm, Irish heart cannot resist. “Will you come?” “Sure and I'll come, and I'll do the best I can.” And she did come," the account ends. "She did the best she could." This woman was willing. She was available. Is there a warmer word in our language? Available. It means, I'm here when you call. I'm ready, willing, able. Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them: "Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters yes, more than his own life otherwise he cannot be my disciple." Jesus was asking, "Are you available?" King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ______________________ When we choose to follow Jesus – it is all good in the end. 3. Letting Go to Gain Everything Jesus ends by saying, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” That doesn’t mean every Christian must sell everything, but it does mean nothing can own us but Christ. • We cannot cling to our stuff, our status, or our security. • True freedom comes when we hold everything loosely, ready to use it for God’s Kingdom. • The paradox of the Gospel is that when we lose our life for Christ, we find it; when we surrender, we receive more than we ever imagined. Conclusion Following Jesus is costly—but it is worth it. • A disciple who counts the cost and still chooses Christ will find life, joy, and eternal hope. • Jesus does not want fans in the crowd; He wants followers at the cross. Invitation: Today, let us examine our hearts. Are we willing to carry the cross, put Christ first, and surrender all we have? If so, then we are ready not just to admire Jesus—but to truly follow Him. (ChatGPT) Let’s pray Song Prayers of the People (Do not print) Let us turn to God in prayer. How often do we not appeal to others in love? The world around us is filled with hate, destruction and war. Our country is divided by grudges held between neighbors and family. Lord, allow love to be at the center of our world instead of hate. How often do we not appeal to others in love? We judge our neighbors who ask for help. We forget that you have formed us all, and as part of that formation, have connected us all to one another in your image. Help us remember that deep connection. Empower us to begin every interac- tion with love. How often do we not appeal to others in love? Lord, let us remember that love includes self-love. We look in the mirror and think about what we want to change. We forget that you have created and formed us as sacred, and that your love is reflected in everything that we see as our ‘imperfections.’ Let us be kind to ourselves, to our bodies, our minds, our spirits. Let us appeal to ourselves in love. How often do we not appeal to others in love? Fill us with love that we p2may support those who are sick, who are dying, who are hurting. May we show up with radical compassion. May those we encounter feel the love we bring on behalf of your people. Let love bring peace and comfort. God of love, hear our prayers. Continue to help us see your love, espe- cially in the ups and downs of this time and place. And now, let us pray as you have taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment We don’t often talk out loud in this congregation about the cost of discipleship. We presume folks know there is some cost to belonging to a church. Often, we think about that as a monetary cost. Connected to that thought, most of us expect a time in worship when the invitation is extended, deacons pass an offering tray, and we recognize we’re free to make a contribution or simply pass the tray to the person sitting next to us. Jesus, however, teaches the crowds traveling with him about the high cost of being a disciple. Hate your family. Carry a cross (the hated tool of Roman punishment and death). Give up all your possessions. Hard words! This serious business of being a disciple does not come easily. Today, as we receive our morning offering, I invite you to measure what you are giving (are you giving anything?) against the challenge Jesus offered the crowds. Focus on your time, your “stuff” and your money. Then, when you’ve measured the difference, perhaps when you’re alone, face yourself in a mirror and ask: What am I truly willing to give? What am I willing to DO, to truly identify myself as one of Jesus’ disciples? Prayer of Thanksgiving (connecting today’s Jeremiah and Luke texts) Great Potter of creation, thank you for moments you challenge us to be fully aware of you. Thank you for the reality-check which comes through scripture. Thank you for this opportunity to measure what we are, and what we offer, against the high bar set by Jesus. Thank you, most of all, for the gift of time, that we might take one step today and another one tomorrow, toward becoming true disciples. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Communion Invitation to Communion (do not Print) Our scripture from Luke 14 is sometimes called “count the cost.” Jesus, speaking to the large crowd, invites each one to count the cost of following him. Today, focused on this Table, I invite you to “count the cost” of following Jesus. Does it make a difference in the people you seek out? Are you giving time, talent, and treasure to build up this congregation (one part of the Body of Christ)? Can others see you are a Christian by the way you live your daily life? Jesus’ words and actions at the table are recorded later in Luke (22:14-20). Unique to Luke, Jesus opens his reflection by inviting the disciples to share a cup, then the bread, and then the cup after supper (perhaps in the sequence of the Passover meal). Jesus asked those with him to remember him each time they broke bread and drank from the cup. He clearly identified his own body in the bread; his own blood in the cup. Body and blood, given for YOU — given for me. However it is that we share these sacred elements, each time we participate, let us REMEMBER Jesus, counting the cost for each of us as we eat and drink. The Table is prepared, and there is a place for you. Come! Communion Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Community in Christ, our challenge as we leave here is this: reflect the love of God to both neighbor and stranger. Love those around you. It’s that easy; it’s that hard. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God the Creator, God the Re- deemer, and God the Sustainer be with you now and forevermore. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Julia Burkley) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Go, ready and committed To accept the cost and joy of discipleship, To be servants in the service of the whole human family To proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil To be the church in the world (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Additional Illustrations There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind and the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult. - Martin Luther _________________________ How Will the Church Be Lighted? Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece. But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship. "Each time you are here'" the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark" That's a poignant story, isn't it? And it makes a very significant point about the importance of our commitment and loyalty to the church. The poet Edward Everett Hale put it like this: Are You God’s Wife? A little boy about 10 years old was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, “My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?” “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” was the boys reply. The lady took him by the hand and went into the store and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little guy to the back part of the store and removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel. By this time the clerk returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, “No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?” As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, said, "Are you God’s wife?" Traditional What Does It Cost to Follow Jesus? We need to talk about evangelism and the Christian cultural push for larger growth and larger churches. It seems to me that we, the contemporary American church, are forever talking about the pleasures and benefits of belonging to a particular Christian congregation. We hear such phrases in our congregation as “We have a great schedule and you can even come for the “early bird special” when the church is open for business at the 7:30 AM worship. At the next service, we have a great church choir and the quality of music rivals the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At the next worship service, we have a great contemporary worship service with a band that excels all others. We have a great senior’s program with so many activities that a senior has an activity planned once or twice a week. We have a great youth program and your child will be influenced by Christian values and Christian friends.” And so information about a congregation is presented in such a way as to persuade people to join our congregation. … All the while, no one seems to talk about the fine print as to what this will cost. No, I am not referring to offerings to pay the bills, but what it means to be a Christian, to be a follower of Jesus Christ - what's it going to COST to follow Jesus? Edward F. Markquart, The Cost of Discipleship Knowing Our Business Some of us had the joy of listening to one of our generation's truly great preachers, Fred Craddock when he was chaplain at Chautauqua for a week. One morning he told a story from the early years of his ministry in Custer City, Oklahoma, a town of about 450 souls. There were four churches there, a Methodist church, a Baptist church, a Nazarene church, and a Christian church (where Fred served). Each had its share of the population on Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening. Each had a small collection of young people, and the attendance rose and fell according to the weather and whether it was time to harvest the wheat. But the most consistent attendance in town was at the little café where all the pickup trucks were parked, and all the men were inside discussing the weather, and the cattle, and the wheat bugs, and the hail, and the wind, and is there going to be a crop. All their wives and sons and daughters were in one of those four churches. The churches had good attendance and poor attendance, but the café had consistently good attendance, better attendance than some of the churches. They were always there - not bad men, but good men, family men, hard-working men. Fred says the patron saint of the group that met at the café was named Frank. Frank was seventy-seven when they first met. He was a good, strong man, a pioneer, a rancher and farmer, and a prospering cattle man too. He had been born in a sod house; he had his credentials, and all the men there at the café considered him their patron saint. "Ha! Old Frank will never go to church." Fred says, "I met Frank on the street one time. He knew I was a preacher, but it has never been my custom to accost people in the name of Jesus, so I just was shaking hands and visiting with him, but he took the offensive. He said, "I work hard, I take care of my family and I mind my own business. Far as I'm concerned, everything else is fluff." You see what he told me? "Leave me alone, I'm not a prospect." I didn't bother Frank. That's why the entire church, and the whole town were surprised, and the men at the café church were absolutely bumfuzzled when old Frank, seventy-seven years old, presented himself before me one Sunday morning for baptism. I baptized Frank. Some of the talk in the community was, "Frank must be sick. Guess he's scared to meet his maker. They say he's got heart trouble. Going up there and being baptized, well, I never thought ol' Frank would do that, but I guess when you get scared..." All kinds of stories. Dr. Craddock goes on: "We were talking the next day after his baptism, and I said, 'Uh, Frank, you remember that little saying you used to give me so much: "I work hard, I take care of my family, I mind my own business?"' He said, "Yeah, I remember. I said that a lot." I said, "You still say that?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Then what's the difference?" He said, "I didn't know then what my business was." David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, www.esermons.com _________________________________________ Hungry to Give "People are hungry to give their lives to something more important than themselves. It is a fact of life, not only that everything costs us something, but that, in our better moments, we are even eager to pay the cost." William Willimon Would You Still Be His Disciple If You Lost Your All? Jesus doesn’t call us to be "convenient Christians", he calls us to be committed Christians who put Him first above everything else — even if that means dad, mom, siblings, kids, work, vacations, playtime, money, homes, friends. This is where the Living Bible translation fits in. Jesus is saying to us as His followers, “Sit down, count your blessings and then renounce them all for me.” Would you still be His disciple if you lost your job? If you lost your savings? If you lost your health? If you lost your home? If you lost your wife and kids? Job said, “Though [God] slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Horatio Spafford lost all his earthly possessions in the Great Chicago fire. A short time later his wife and children were sailing to England when the ship sank and his children were lost. Immediately he went to join his wife in England. As his ship got to the spot where his children drowned he wrote these words, “When peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll — whatever my lot thou has taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’” It is this kind of Christianity Jesus is looking for ... not a convenience thing, not a faith that we turn on when we want to or when we need it! Jesus is not looking for followers. He is looking for disciples. He is looking for people who will count the cost of being His disciple who will then say, “Yes!” Jerry Ruff, Counting the Costs. Making Sacrifices We are not a people generally who are willing to make sacrifices. I know there are exceptions, but as a whole we have become a people in love with comfort. We drive comfortable automobiles and we live in comfortable houses and we even belong to comfortable churches. Doesn't it concern you at times that perhaps we have chosen the wide gate and not the narrow one, the easy road and not the road that leads to life? Chiune Sugihara was born on a day of new beginnings January 1, 1900. As a boy, he cherished the dream of becoming the Japanese ambassador to Russia. By the 1930s, he was the ambassador to Lithuania, just a step away from Russia. One morning, a huge throng of people gathered outside his home. They were Jews who had made their way across treacherous terrain from Poland, desperately seeking his help. They wanted Japanese visas, which would enable them to flee Eastern Europe and the Gestapo. Three times Sugihara wired Tokyo for permission to provide the visas; three times he was rejected. He had to choose between the fulfillment of his dream as an ambassador and people's lives. He chose the latter. He dared to disobey orders. For twentyeight days he wrote visas by hand, barely sleeping or eating. Recalled to Berlin, he was still writing visas and shoving them through the train windows into the hands of the refugees who ran alongside. Ultimately he saved six thousand lives. Sugihara was not only a courageous Japanese; he was also a committed Christian. He spent his remaining days in Japan, humbly selling lightbulbs. When his story was finally told, his son was asked, "How did your father feel about his choice?" The young man replied, "My father's life was fulfilled. When God needed him to do the right thing, he was available to do it." King Duncan, adapting Stephen Arterburn, The Power Book (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996),www.Sermons.com Missing the Obvious Martin Marty, in "Context" (November 1997), spoke of a financial planner who observed after many years of advise giving "When clients talk to me about their estates, they usually say, 'If I die,' not 'when I die.' Even 80-year-olds use the conditional." Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com Breaking Away to Follow Christ A while back Will Willimon, Dean of the Chapel down at Duke University, got a call from an upset parent, a VERY upset parent. "I hold you personally responsible for this," he said. "Me?" Will asked. The father was hot, upset because his graduate school bound daughter had just informed him that she was going to chuck it all ("throw it all away" was the way the father described it) and go do mission work with the Presbyterians in Haiti. "Isn't that absurd!" shouted the father. "A BS degree in mechanical engineering from Duke and she's going to dig ditches in Haiti." "Well, I doubt that she's received much training in the Engineering Department here for that kind of work, but she's probably a fast learner and will probably get the hang of ditch-digging in a few months," Will said. "Look," said the father, "this is no laughing matter. You are completely irresponsible to have encouraged her to do this. I hold you personally responsible," he said. As the conversation went on, Dr. Willimon pointed out that the well-meaning but obviously unprepared parents were the ones who had started this ball rolling. THEY were the ones who had her baptized, read Bible stories to her, took her to Sunday School, let her go with the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship to ski in Vail. Will said, "You're the one who introduced her to Jesus, not me." "But all we ever wanted her to be was a Presbyterian," said the father, meekly. Hmm. David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, Adapted from William Willimon, Pulpit Resources, September 10, 1995, p. 45. __________________ er of Mother Teresa • People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. • (and the meh song adaption “Do It Anyway” by Ben Folds Five) • up your cross o Karoline Lewis offers another way of thinking about this - other than “cost of discipleship” But, is it really a cost? Or a choice? Thanks, Deuteronomy 30:19. When it’s all about cost, it’s all about what you give up. What you sacrifice. What you deny. When faith is cast as cost, we become rather ignorant of the fact that life itself is costly, not just faith. Life is full of choices, of counting the costs, weighing the costs. The cross is not unique but representative of what life is. To carry your cross is to carry the choices and burdens and realities of a life that has made a certain commitment -- a commitment to a way of life that is committed to bringing about the Kingdom of God here and now. That’s certainly what it meant for Jesus. What a different way of being it would be if the cross were a way of choosing life and not fixated on death. In fact, if Luke is right, carrying the cross might result in life for another. This is not to say Jesus’ death doesn’t matter. It’s to push how and why it matters. How is the cross, especially for Luke, flying in the face of empire? A promise that God’s seeing us does not end in our death and burial? A certainty that release of the captives is a past, present, and future reality, but that that future depends on our choice to carry the cross of Jesus So, carrying your cross is a choice and ironically, it is a choice for life and not death. o DON’T TELL OTHERS WHAT THEIR CROSS TO BEAR IS o Discipleship calls us to self-denial - not in a destructive way, but in a way which puts forgiveness, love and justice about our own self interests and even self preservation. o Especially hard for churches. We too often focus on survival more than mission o Take up your cross- be willing to die for the sake of the Gospel - goes against every natural instinct - it is the foolishness of the cross o Inherent in our baptism- dying to the old and being born in the new o If you are unwilling to do this, then your are unwilling to fulfill your baptism • Possessions • How honest are you about the cost of discipleship? Do you talk about it in your new member classes? • What is keeping you from following Jesus completely? What things, tasks, obligations, guilt, prides, overwork, goals or failures are keeping you from being a true disciple of Jesus? Are you willing to let those things go? Why or why not? o “our need to acquire, our yearning for success, our petty jealousies, our denigrating stereotypes of others, our prejudices and hatreds, and more...These possessions keep us further and further away from the Christlike walk to which Jesus invites us in discipleship.” - Emilie Townes, Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4: Season After Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ). o What gets in the way of your church fully following the way of Jesus? Finances? Traditional programs? Inward focus? Being nice instead of being honest? Fear of conflict and change? Are you as a community willing to let go of those things?

At the Potter's Hand - repreach of 9/4/16

13th Sunday After Pentecost September 4, 2022 Jeremiah 18:1-11 At the Potter’s Hand Year C repreach of 2/4/16 Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (Jeremiah 18, Psalm 139) We come with praise for the wonderful works of God. Even before we speak, God knows us completely. The Holy One knows us and sustains us, even in our moments of confusion and doubt. Who can count the thoughts of God? They are more than all the sands of the desert. Like clay in the hand of the potter, we are shaped into vessels of divine will. We come with praise for the wonderful works of God. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Deborah Sokolove) Opening Prayer (Jeremiah 18, Psalm 139) Boundless Shaper of people and nations, you are beyond our knowing, yet closer to us than our every breath. You are before us and behind us, surrounding us with your love, and fashioning all of creation in the secret depths of your heart. With every thought, with every song, and with every prayer, turn these fragile, earthen vessels of our lives, into the Spirit-filled body of Christ. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Deborah Sokolove) Song – I was there to Hear Your Borning Cry TFWS 2051 Children’s Sermon – Clay in the fire Passing the Peace of Christ (Philemon) Grace to you, and peace from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of Christ be with you. The peace of Christ be also with you. (United Methodist Ministry Matters- Deborah Sokolove) Prayer for Transformation and New Life/ Words of Grace Unlike clay, we actively resist the diverse ways you shape us into what the world needs. We frequently struggle to trust in your vision for who we could become. We anxiously avoid facing the heat that protects and sustains us. We humbly confess to these and all our shortcomings. Moment of Silence God graciously chooses us despite our self-destructive ways. God repeatedly mends our broken places and unceasingly delivers us from harm toward wholeness. All thanks be to God! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways – Rev. Phiwa Langeni) Scripture – Jeremiah 18:1-11 Sermon – At the Potter’s Hand A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house." Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there. This story is a wonderful summary of both of our lessons for today. God’s word is amazing, because as I approach my 50th birthday, I felt that this was a wonderful reflection for today. If you didn’t know, the psalm lesson of the day is always a response to the Hebrew bible lesson. And today they fit the occasion perfectly. Jeremiah reminds us that God is the potter of our lives and we are the clay. As the creator of all things, God knows what the clay is capable of creating, because God created the clay. God shapes and molds our lives, God gives us a sense of purpose and God continues to lead us into that purpose. But the reality is that we are all cracked pots. No matter how hard we try, we are not perfect. Something in life has affected all of us. Ernest Hemingway said the world breaks everyone, but some of us are strong at the broken places. We are all broken pots, but some of us are strong at the broken places. In the times of Jeremiah, when a pot was broken, it was repaired with wax, and of course, when you put something hot in the pot, the wax would melt and leak. The definition of the word sincere, is without wax, solid. Sin means without, cere means wax. The Japanese would actually look forward to pots becoming cracked, they would fill the cracks with gold and call it a special pot. Some say that God fills the cracks of our lives with gold – that gold is called grace. We strive to be perfect, but the truth is, many of us would never know God if it was not for the cracks in our lives. It is our times of tribulation that God comes to us, ministers to us and shapes us into faithful people. And yet even though the cracked pot is the one that is much stronger and does the most good, we still strive to be the perfect pot. I think that is where we get into trouble and even get into a life of sin. We think that somewhere out there, there is the perfect life for us. One pastor puts it this way People sometimes ask me: "Bill, do you think that God has designed our lives so that there is only one right call for us to answer…..one right college for us to attend….one right career for us to choose….one right person for us to marry….one right home for the living, church for the going, and destiny for the finding?" And I say: "No." Because I think that such a philosophy limits both the potential in the clay and the imagination in the potter. Go back to the text. Even in the hand of God, stuff spoils…..life spoils….best laid plans spoil…..best made people spoil…. because in that wonderful dance between potter and clay that we call creation, stuff sometimes goes awry. We get into trouble because we don’t like change. No matter how much we know we are on a dead end street, we don’t want to move. We don’t want things to be different, we don’t want to change course unless we absolutely have to. And yet the scripture tells us that life is not intended to be permanent. Life is like clay, it should be pliable and willing to be molded, and shaped by God. If God does not like the way the pot is turning out, God can tear it down and reshape it all over again. God has reshaped and remolded my life so many times. I can truly understand God is the potter and I am the clay. We should be willing to ask God to shape us to remold us, to straighten our lives out again. If we are willing to be pliable, and shaped, the master creater will make us into a useful pot. The problem is some of us are silly putty. I never played with silly putty very much. But I do know that it is cool and very versatile. You can roll it into a ball, and even bounce the ball. You can roll it over the comics and it will pick up a copy of whatever is on the paper. It is very versatile, the problem is it is too versatile. You can shape it unto form. Make a bowl or a pot. The problem with silly putty is that minutes after you make your creation, it will melt into a blob of silly putty once again. It is able to shape a form, but it does not stay that way. Some people are like that with their faith. They listen to God, they are faithful, but only for the moment. Eventually they are back to the life that they started with. And then there is play doh. Play doh is a wonderful invention, of water, salt and flour. When I was a child there were only 4 colors of play doh- white, red,green and blue. Over the years there are many colors. Play doh is a great substitute for real clay. It is cheaper, easier to play with. The problem with clay do, is that unlike silly putty with is too pliable, after awhile, play do is too rigid. There is nothing more heart breaking then opening up a container of play doh and finding that it is as hard as a rock. And once it gets hard, there is nothing that you can do to soften it up. You can make wonderful pots with play doh, but eventually not only does it get too hard, it cracks. Some of us in the church are good for awhile, but after awhile we are so stuck in our ways, that you cant do anything with us. Now clay is a natural material. Clay is just a little dirt and water mixed together. Clay is soft enough to be shaped into something useful. But clay hard enough that it will stay into anything shape that you put it in. Potters have been using clay for years to make useful things, because it is so easy to work with. But the scripture says that clay has its problems. Sometimes it want to resist being shaped, sometimes it goes the wrong way. Sometimes it even has a mind of its own- sound like someone you know? When it gets out of hand, the potter has to ball it back up and start all over again. Reshaping, remolding, correcting, and making it anew. That’s our message for today. Allow god to mold our loves, let god mold us into what he wants us to be. There is God’s judgement for when we do wrong, but when we are forgiven- there is hope that we can begin again. We should welcome God’s guidance in our lives in order to be what God wants us to be. SERMON ILLUSTRATION God Won't Repent for You God will take nine steps toward us, but he will not take the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but he cannot do our repenting for us. Thomas Edison was a great, great man. When he was 67 years of age, he had a horrendous fire that burned up everything he owned in New Jersey. Every asset he had which at that time in 1914 was worth about $2 million dollars was totally uninsured. All of his experiments, all of his records, all of his equipment, all of his work, and all of his labor had gone up in smoke. He had a 24 year old son that came out to where the fire was roaring and burning up his entire life's work. The two of them tried to stop the fire, but they couldn't do it. The son were going up in flames." He said, "My dad was out there. The wind was blowing in his hair. His face was all red from the flames. He was pouring sweat and I didn't know what he was going to say to me." I couldn't believe what I heard. He said, "Son, go get your mother quick. She has never seen anything like this!" He went to get his mother just so she could see the fire. Later on this son said, "My dad was out there the next morning kicking through the embers and he said to me, 'Son, there is something wonderful about a fire like this.'" The son looked at him in amazement and said, "Dad, what in the world could be so wonderful about a fire like this?" He said, "Son, it just kind of seems to burn up all of your mistakes and failures and give you a brand new fresh start." Three months later that company presented to the world the first phonograph, because here was a man who didn't see his problems as the end, but simply a new start and a fresh beginning. This potter has nailed scarred hands, who can turn your scars into stars, your tears into triumph, your midnights into mornings and your darkness into daybreak if you will just let Him. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all things he is the potter and I am the clay. My message on my 50th birthday is to bless god in all things. God knows me better than I know myself. God knows what lies ahead. God knows when I make a mistake, god knows best how to fix me and how to fix the situation. I am grateful for all that God has bought me through. I have learned to trust god totally with my life. Silly putty and play doh are fun to play with. But lord help me to be clay in your hands, shaped and formed to be useful to God. Amen. Song – Help Us Accept Each Other UMH 560 Pastoral Prayer We are broken vessels, O God. You have watched us. You have called to us. You have blessed us and yet we have chosen our own flawed ways. Throughout the ages you have sent your prophets to help us return to you. Some people heeded your call and turned again to lives of love and witness. But others chose not to listen. Please help us to tune our ears and our hearts to you, O God. Help us to seek peace and justice rather than greed and complacency. As we have gathered here this morning to listen to your word, to sing praise, to offer our prayers, help us to remember that you hold us dearly in your hands. You cherish our lives and listen to our cries. You respond to our needs. Enable us to place our trust in you totally, that we may faithfully serve you all of our days. In Jesus’ Name, we pray.AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment – The Call of the Shofar Prayer of Thanksgiving Loving God, we give you thanks for the challenge of hard teachings. Help us continue to grow in our faith, and in our understanding, that we might be ever-growing disciples of Jesus Christ. Thank you, too, for this opportunity to share our gifts. Inspire us to look realistically at the abundance we have, and the needs of the world, so we might take daily steps to move more in line with the reality of standing out from the crowd and standing up as true disciples – followers of Jesus Christ. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Communion UMH #13 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook God has set before us life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us all. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Rev. Teri McDowell Ott) Community Time Benediction Before your birth, you were wonderfully and fearfully formed. Like clay, may God continue to reform and reshape you into your truest self, now and every day after. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Phiwa Langeni) Additional Illustrations

Stay on Faith Street

August 14, 2016 Hebrews 11 Year C Stay on Faith St. Steve Harvey gives a wonderful sermon, you can find it on Youtube – it is called How to stay on faith street. We don’t have screen where everyone can watch but I am going to let you listen to part of the sermon. Apparently when he gave this sermon, he was a new Christian, just learning what faith was. But he makes a good point that I want us to think about this morning. How to stay on faith street, when it is so much easier to take doubter drive and miss all of God’s blessings. This morning I want to continue talking about Hebrews chapter 11 – where we are thinking about what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. And we are reminded that having faith in Jesus Christ is not for the faint hearted. Having faith in Jesus Christ is not about being positive all of the time, and believing in the impossible. As a matter of fact, having faith in Jesus Christ, is intended for the ordinary person, living an ordinary life. Having faith in God is intended for the person who may have a bill due and have no idea of how its going to get paid. Or the person who has been praying for a miracle for a change, and it has been months and nothing changed. For the person who has been going to the doctor, hoping for a solution and they have not found one yet. Faith in Jesus Christ is intended for the person who is up to the neck in the water, and yet they still need to move forward in order to get through the situation. All of the book of Hebrews reminds us that it is only through faith that those who have gone before us were able to get through difficult situations. Not everyone makes it through bad situations, only those who have faith that they can make it survive. Only those who have faith in God that they can make it survive. The secret to success? A relationship with God. A relationship that helps us to believe that the power of life lies in the power of God. Everyone Has Some Kind of 'Faith' John Lennox, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University, argues that everyone has "faith" in something—even atheists. Lennox notes that the word faith isn't just a religious word. It comes from the Latin word fides, which means "trust" or "reliance. Lennox writes, "The irony is that atheism is a 'faith position,' and science itself cannot do without faith." Lennox backs up his case by quoting the famous 20th century scientist Albert Einstein who once said, "I cannot imagine a scientist without that profoundfaith [that the universe is comprehensible to our reason]." The contemporary atheist Richard Dawkins once wrote, "An atheist … is someone who believesthere is nothing beyond the natural, physical world, no supernatural creative intelligence lurking behind the observable universe …" Notice that the atheist believes there is nothing beyond the natural world because he or she can't actually prove it. The physicist Paul Davies, who is not a Christian, says, "Even the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act offaith the existence of law-like order in nature that is at least in part comprehensible to us." The physicist John Polkinghorne agrees, arguing that the entire study of physics depends on "its faith in the mathematical intelligibility of the universe." Adapted from John Lennox, Gunning for God (Lion UK, 2011), pp. 37-48 The book of Hebrews reminds us that in order to make it through, it is not just faith, but faith in God that makes a difference. You see, when God challenges us to have faith, God is not asking us to do something that God would not do himself. God is always going to go with you to give you the strength to get by. There is something about having faith in God that makes all of the difference in life. When we have faith in God, we have a goal, we are not just idling going through life, our goal is to be obedient, so that we can enjoy the joys of eternal life. We have inspiration at our finger tips, because we can read the bible. We have a handicap – because we know that we are always sinners. We have the means to get through – that means to get through life is a steadfast endurance, we have an example in the life of Jesus Christ, and we have a presence the fact that we know that God is with us each step of the way. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Trusting God When Miracles Don't Come In Holding On to Hope, Nancy Guthrie writes: We had Hope for 199 days. We loved her. We enjoyed her richly and shared her with everyone we could. We held her during seizures. Then we let her go. The day after we buried Hope, my husband said to me, "You know, I think we expected our faith to make this hurt less, but it doesn't." Our faith gave us an incredible amount of strength and encouragement while we had Hope, and we were comforted by the knowledge that she is in heaven. Our faith keeps us from being swallowed by despair. But I don't think it makes our loss hurt any less. Early on in my journey, I said to God, "Okay, if I have to go through this, then give me everything. Teach me everything you want to teach me through this. Don't let this incredible pain be wasted in my life!" God…allows good and bad into our lives and we can trust him with both.…Trusting God when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when there is only darkness—this is the kind of faith God values most of all…. I believe that the purpose of Hope's short life, and my life, was and is to glorify God. Nancy Guthrie, Holding On to Hope (Tyndale, 2002); submitted by Gary Smith, Ft. Myers, Florida Knowing God is the source of our strength. Jesse Jackson said that growing up as a fatherless child in difficult surroundings in a little home in South Carolina he had one asset. He went to Sunday School. And there he heard his teacher tell about the great heroes of the Bible. He knew in his little heart that if God could use them in great ways, God could use Jesse, too. That was the greatest influence, he says, in the kind of man he grew up to be. Knowing God is also the source of our happiness and piece of mind. SERMON ILLUSTRATION "Love's Unfolding Dream": Faith Versus Cynicism The movie Love's Unfolding Dream is based upon a series of books by Janet Oke. In this scene Belinda (Scout Taylor-Compton), an aspiring doctor in the little Western town of Anderson's Corner, is caring for Ms. Stanfordsmythe, a wealthy stroke victim from Boston, Massachusetts. Belinda is unaware that Ms. Stanfordsmythe lost both of her children to death, and Ms. Standfordsmythe is unaware that Belinda lost her mother and father when she was just nine years old. The conversation that ensues shows the stark difference between Belinda's resilient faith and Ms. Stanfordsmythe's cynical doubt. "How ya' doing today, Ms. Stanfordsmythe?" Belinda asks. "How do you think I'm feeling—being forced to endure these primitive conditions?" she replies. "You know, we're not all uncivilized here," says Belinda. "Really? Did I somehow miss seeing the opera house or a good library or even a hat shop with the latest from Europe? No? I thought not!" "Anderson Corner has other things to offer," replies Belinda. "Such as?" "Good people, and a church that welcomes everybody—including strangers. We take care of each other in difficult times," says Belinda. "You've never even been outside this small town, have you?" asks Ms. Stanfordsmythe. "Actually, I was born in New York," replies Belinda. "I didn't come here till I was 14. So I do know a few things about the world outside. But I much prefer Anderson Corner." "You actually like it here!" "Compared to New York, it's heaven on earth!" says Belinda. "I'm gonna miss it terribly when I leave to study to be a doctor." "Well, there's a surprising ambition for a farm girl," says Ms. Stanfordsmythe. "I believe it's what God called me to do," says Belinda. "God? Ha! Don't put your trust in God, young woman. He is unconcerned with your ambitions!" "You don't mean that," Belinda insists. "The only thing you have to rely on in this world is yourself!" Ms. Stanfordsmythe insists. "It must be awful lonely believing in nothing but myself," Belinda replies. "When you've had a little experience with the harsh realities of life, you'll abandon that naive faith!" Ms. Stanfordsmythe fires back. "I've had a great deal experience of harsh reality. Without my faith, I expect I'd be much like you." Ms. Stanfordsmythe looks puzzled: "How's that?" "Very unhappy," Belinda replies. Elapsed time: DVD, scene 6; 00:26:08–00:27:46 Rated PG SERMON ILLUSTRATION Cynicism: Frostbite of the Soul In his book Please Don't Squeeze the Christian, Scott Sernau reflects on the danger of cynicism—especially in the life of believers who claim a "living hope." He writes: Cynicism kills in the manner of frostbite: the only symptom is a deadening numbness. And even Christians are often tinged with this frostbite. Callousness and doubt numb us to life and joy. We find ourselves leaving the triumphant lyrics of the old hymns on the church doorstep, because they appear hopelessly out of step with the world waiting outside. Our problem is not that we've been taught to question our faith, but rather that we've been taught to reject any answers. Doubt can be a state of mind—or it can be a way of life. Scott Sernau, Please Don't Squeeze the Christian (InterVarsity Press, 1987), p. 109; submitted by David Tinberg, Berwyn, Illinois Collected Sermons by King Duncan Where are you in this Biblical drama today? Is your faith winning or whining? Is there someone you need to forgive today? What is the source or your power that enables you to be faithful for the full journey? If you were to give yourself to Christ in a deeper and fuller way, would it diminish you or elevate you? Our lesson for today is that it is so important for us to be able to stay on faith street. And not to be tempted to take the doubter drive. To keep focused and to make sure that we trust God. God can make a difference. Our lesson in Hebrews 11 is about the power of faith. And it gives story after story in the bible of how faith made a difference in people’s lives. The first story that Hebrews mentions is the story of moses and the exodus. By faith they crossed the red sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it they were drowned. This story was originally told in Exodus 14- we know the story of when moses went to Pharoah and said, let my people go. And as they went they went into the red sea. The Hebrews loved to tell stories, stories were their life. And how told the story was just as important as the story itself. In the Exodus 14 telling of the story, verses 21-29 frame a summarial story within the story, with verses 21 and 29 the bookends. Here is the ending of verse 21: “and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” Here is the ending of verse 29: “But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” Did you hear the difference? Let me read the bookends again. Here is the ending of verse 21: “and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” Here is the ending of verse 29: “But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” Now if we are just casually listening, those two sentences may sound the same. But they are vastly different. In the first sentence, the people walked in dry ground it says through the water. In other words for the people to get to dry ground they first had to walk through some water. As matter of fact, as they were walking, the probably got their feet wet as they walked through the sea. As they kept walking, the water went up to their ankles and the water kept rising. They probably kept walking until the water was up to the necks, and they did not know what they were going to do, and then all of a sudden the water started to part, and it started to recede on either side and there was a pathway to walk through. As a matter of fact, the second sentence says that the Hebrews walks on dry ground. You see God wanted everyone to be saved. But in order for that to happen, it took a group of faithful leaders who were willing to get wet, to the faith work. And then there were others who walked through on totally dry ground. In life, someone always has to go first, and then others will surely follow. Lee Eclov, Lake Forest, Illinois; source: Michael Hirsley, "Some Summit Meeting: 54 Conquer Everest," Chicago Tribune (5-17-02) Where are you in this story? Are you a leader or a follower? It doesn’t make a difference, because God is with both sets of people. But the author of the book of Hebrews reminds us of all of those who went before, to remind us that if they can do it then so can we. God is still in the faith business, and God needs us to have faith for our time. It was so important for me to go to Peoria to see Tracy become bishop. Tracy was in seminary with me – what 26 years ago. She said that she would be bishop back then. I would not have missed the moment that dream came into fruition for the world. Because if it is possible for her, what does God have in store for me. Watching her become a young African American women bishop means that anything is possible. On the night that Hillary Clinton was nominated for president, the glass ceiling was broken for girls all over the nation. Before that night, they could be anything they wanted except president. Today they can truly be anything – because they have seen it done before. If my great grandmother can do it, if my grandmother can do it, if my mother can do it, then so can I. If moses can do it, if Rahab can do it, if Gideon, if Jephthah can do it, if Samuel can do it, if David can do it, then so can I. I can stay on faith street. And light the way of faith for others. Let us pray….. Childrens Sermon Object: A big red "S" to hang on your chest (A cape would be nice, too.) Boys and girls, What is it that makes a hero? If I put this "S" on my chest and put a cape over my shoulders like Superman (woman), would that make me a hero? No, it's not what people wear that makes them heroes, is it? It is not even how big they are or how strong. A person is a hero when he or she is brave and good. A hero helps other people. A hero stands for the things that are right, even when other people are doing wrong. You know what? God wants every one of us to be heroes. And we can be. There were many heroes in the Bible. They usually were not great big or real strong. They didn't have super powers. They didn't wear an "S" on their chest or a cape. They only had one thing that made them heroes. They believed that God was with them, so they had the power to be brave and good. They could help other people and stand for the things that are right. You and I can be like that. All we have to do is believe that God is with us, too. God is still in the business of creating heroes today. Additional illustrations…….. SERMON ILLUSTRATION God Brings Out Our Best We are all asked to do more than we can do. Every hero and heroine of the Bible does more than he would have thought it possible to do, from Gideon to Esther to Mary. Jacob, one of my favorite characters, certainly wasn't qualified. He was a liar and a cheat; and yet he was given the extraordinary vision of angels and archangels ascending and descending a ladder which reached from earth to heaven. Madeleine L'Engle in Walking on Water. Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 8. The truth is mightier than eloquence, the Spirit greater than genius, faith more than education. Martin Luther, "Martin Luther--The Early Years," Christian History, no. 34. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Signs Follow Decisions In my experience, signs follow decisions. The way you overcome spiritual inertia and produce spiritual momentum is by making tough decisions. And the tougher the decision, the more potential momentum it will produce. The primary reason most of us don't see God moving is simply because we aren't moving. If you want to see God move, you need to make a move! I learned this lesson in dramatic fashion during the first year at National Community Church. We had been praying for a drummer to join our worship team for months, but I felt like I needed to put some feet on my faith, so I went out and bought a four-hundred-dollar drum set. It was a Field of Dreams moment: if you buy it, they will come. I bought the drum set on a Thursday. Our first drummer showed up the next Sunday. And he was good. He was actually part of the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. Rock and roll. I cannot promise that signs will follow your faith in three minutes or three hours or three days. But when you take a step of faith, signs will follow. God will sanctify your expectations, and you will begin to live your life with holy anticipation. You won't be able to wait to see what God is going to do next. Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah, 2008), pp. 32-33 [ read less ] [ read less ] ERMON ILLUSTRATION SERMON ILLUSTRATION Keeping Discouragement at Bay A man stopped to watch a Little League baseball game. He asked one of the youngsters what the score was. "We're losing 18-0," was the answer. "Well," said the man. "I must say you don't look discouraged." "Discouraged?" the boy said, puzzled. "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't come to bat yet." Stan Toler, God Has Never Failed Me, but He's Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times (Honor Books, 1995) SERMON ILLUSTRATION Leaders and Followers at Mount Everest The summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal towers 29,035 feet above sea level. On May 29, 1953, two men were the first to reach its summit. Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary became famous for their accomplishment. By 1970, 24 climbers had reached the top. Since then, another 800 climbers have successfully made it to the summit more than 1,460 times. A record was set on May 16, 2002, when 54 people conquered Everest on the same day, with many more waiting below at base camps. One of them was Tashi Wangchuik Tenzing, 37, the grandson of Edmund Hillary's Sherpa guide in 1953. Hillary's own son, Peter, was with one of the teams waiting to ascend. [ read less ] Save "Leaders and Followers at Mount Everest" Related Topics: