Remembering John

December 14, 2025 Third Sunday of Advent Matthew 11:2-11 Year A Remembering John Prelude Greetings Lighting the Advent Candle First Reader: In the midst of our waiting and longing for God to make the world right again, we cling to the truth that God has saved, God is saving, and God will save. So today, we join our voices with the prophet Isaiah, who calls us to live in the joy of the truth of God’s salvation. All: We choose to believe that the day is coming when “the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Second Reader: We light this candle of joy as a sign of the Truth that sets us free to live in joy as we wait and work for the day when all creation will flourish together. Light the third candle (pink) of the Advent wreath. (United Methodist Board of Discipleship) Call to Worship One: Rejoice! We’re halfway through this season of preparation! Many: Why is that important? One: We’re anticipating the coming of Jesus, celebrating because our lives can model the joy of connection to God’s Beloved, our Redeemer! Many: Isaiah proclaims, “Be strong! Fear not! God will come to save you!” One: As God’s people, we gather, sing, and drink in the gladness. Many: Today, we look for the signs. See how the land, the animals, and all God’s people celebrate God and the Holy Way which is coming! ALL: Let’s sing aloud! (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Opening Prayer Beloved, we come now seeking to recognize moments of delight when we feel connected to you. We bring our fragmented hearts filled with good cheer, gentle reverence, and utter amazement; we share our secret hopes, dependable comforts, and cozy moments of advent peace. Rise up within us as we cherish the divinity of all that is good. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Maria Mankin) Song Angels From the Realm of Glory UMH 220 A Sermon for all Ages So speaking of God moments when God comes to us in unexpected ways- I found this cool children’s time while doing my sermon research this week. I liked it, but it called for a bag of chocolate coins in foil. I decided that there was no way I would be able to find them by Sunday. But I went to the chamber of commerce Christmas party and what was on the table – lots of gold coins, the nobody wanted to take home. So I took that as my sign. There was a young man name Nicholas, who lived in the land of Myra. He loved Jesus with all of his heart, and he tried to do as much good as he could in life. Unfortunately at that time it was not safe to be a Christian. The emperor outlawed kind acts and put Nicholas in jail. Luckily there was another emperor, Constantine who loved Jesus as much as Nicholas. Not only did Constantine free Nicholas – he made him bishop of Myra. Now that Nicholas was free, he could continue doing good. There were three sisters who wanted to get married, but couldn’t pay the fees. Nicholas provided. When people were starving he have food. When people were poor, he gave money for basic needs. Nicholas sound familiar – Saint Nicholas – we know as Saint Nick. Nicholas is an example that we can follow this time of year. Give money, but doing acts of kindness – volunteering, helping each other, sending notes of love, eye out for ways to help others. Nicholas is our example then so it Jesus. Personal Testimony Scripture Matthew 11:2-11 Sermon Remembering John Think about how many of us have ordered something online and waited eagerly for it to arrive. You track the package. You imagine what it will look like. You expect it to come in a certain box, a certain size. Then it arrives—and at first glance, it looks wrong. The box is smaller than expected. Or dented. Or wrapped differently. For a moment, you wonder: Is this even what I ordered? It is not what you expected, and inevitably, your high expectations turn into disappointment. Well in some ways the bible is just like amazon, or in the olden days like a catalog company. The bible tells us of all of these wonderful stories of how God worked miracles, how people were rescued from danger, the bible even tells of all of these promises of people living in peace, a world where everyone has a chance to live in happiness and experience love. And then you listen to the news and hear of one more mass shooting where someone has been shot, or of elderly people being beaten and robbed in their own houses – and you are disappointing, God is not living up to what God promised. If only one person could come along and fix it – that person would be a savior, a messiah, or maybe even superman. You know, if you read the Hebrew bible, - this messiah is alluded to, but there is no set description of the messiah – because there was no set belief in someone coming to save the world. There were just a bunch of rumors and expectations of what this person would be when they came into the world. – by Jesus day, all of these expectations has grown. People were expecting the messiah to solve all of their problems. Matthew 11:2-11 is all about the expectations of a messiah in a world in desparate need of saving. In the interest of time I want to focus on just two lessons from this story. First, this story gives honor to the ministry of John the Baptist. We hear his story every advent. He was Jesus cousin, born six months before him. When Jesus disappeared from the scene for 30 years, John stayed with his people – gathering them at the water, helping them to take responsibility for their sin and turn their lives to God. Eventually John is imprisoned and killed for telling the truth to power. Only after John is killed does Jesus take over his ministry. In this story – Jesus visits John in prison. And John asks the question on all of our minds – are you the one or should we be looking for someone else. Why are you convinced the Jesus is the one? Imagine a friend coming up to you and asking – how can you be sure that Jesus is the one? What have you seen and felt in your own life that makes you so sure? Advent is our time to really sit down and come up with an answer to that question. Is Jesus the messiah or our we still waiting for someone else? Advent is also a time of expectations. How does one person line up with are expectations? All of us are different and all of us have different needs. And all of us have different expectations of what the messiah should be doing. If Jesus spent his time living up to all of our expectations, then when would he have time to be in ministry? I am just asking a question. Jesus answer to John is an answer to us all – I don’t have to live into expectations, because I am the messiah. My actions and my life speak for itself. – he says the blind see, the deaf hear, the poor are fed, - what more are you expecting. He even says a new beatitude – blessed are those who are not thrown off from their faith because of me. A Place of Dreams There was once a woman who was disappointed, who was disillusioned, who was depressed. She wanted a good world, a peaceful world, and she wanted to be a good person. But the newspaper and television showed her how far we were from such a reality. So she decided to go shopping. She went to the mall and wandered into a new store - where the person behind the counter looked strangely like Jesus. Gathering up her courage she went up to the counter and asked, "Are you Jesus?" "Well, yes, I am," the man answered. "Do you work here?" "Actually," Jesus responded, "I own the store. You are free to wander up and down the aisles, see what it is I sell, and then make a list of what you want. When you are finished, come back here, and we'll see what we can do for you." So, the woman did just that. And what she saw thrilled her. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air. She wrote furiously and finally approached the counter, handing a long list to Jesus. He skimmed the paper, and then smiling at her said, "No problem." Reaching under the counter, he grabbed some packets and laid them out on the counter. Confused, she asked, "What are these?" Jesus replied: "These are seed packets. You see, this is a catalogue store." Surprised the woman blurted out, "You mean I don't get the finished product?" "No," Jesus gently responded. "This is a place of dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. Then you plant the seeds. You go home and nurture them and help them to grow and someone else reaps the benefits." "Oh," she said, deeply disappointed in Jesus. Then she turned around and left the store without buying anything. Adapted by Susan R. Andrews, as told in Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life, F. and M. Brussat, editors (New York: Scribner, 1996), p. 359. __________________________________ Advent is our time to plant seeds of hope, knowing that God will water them and make them grow. What seeds are you planting? Our expectations point us to the places where God spirit can enter into the world in love. Look. Listen. Where mercy is practiced. Where the broken are restored. Where the poor hear good news. Where love shows up in unexpected places. The kingdom of God is already among us—and still coming. Good News for the Waiting Church Jesus honors John because John stayed faithful to his calling—even in the dark. And Jesus honors us when we keep pointing toward hope, even when answers feel incomplete. Advent reminds us that God often arrives not with fireworks, but with healing hands. Not with force, but with compassion. Not with certainty, but with presence. So rejoice—not because everything is finished, but because God is faithful in the waiting. The One who is coming is the One who has come and the One who is still at work among us. Let us pray…… Song Lo How Ere A Rose is Blooming UMH 216 Prayer God who approaches: you gather the ignored, so you can accomplish the unexpected for a world which no longer cares; with bread broken into pieces, you restore your shattered creation; as you let go of your Child, our emptiness is filled with immeasurable grace. Ever-new, always-scarred Jesus of the forgotten: through you, those whose voices are silenced hear the whispers of angels on hillsides and in shelters; by you, those who are knocked over lead the way into your kingdom; with you, those who wander in shadows are clasped tight in your love. Breath of Advent: you pour the promises of the Word into the shy and silent so they can carol of grace; you stretch out your hand to all in despair’s exile, to place them on the holy way of hope; you gather up the scraps of our scattered fears, to build a new crib for a refugee family. Come, God in Community, Holy in One, come to us, as we pray together saying…. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment The prophet Isaiah uses word pictures to draw us in and fill us with eager anticipation for what is not yet. Isaiah 35 poetically sings, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (If you can, show this image.) That’s the expectation of what happens when “the ransomed of the Lord shall return…everlasting joy shall be upon their heads…and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Sharing our gifts, our tithes and our offerings provides opportunity for us to step into this picture, and join the celebration. Come! Bring your best gifts! Let the joy of the Lord explode in this place! Prayer of Thanksgiving Creator God, Receive these tokens of our praise, given with joyful hearts. Open us to rejoice in the giving and the sharing of this offering. Help us serve you and your beloved world with these gifts and with all we are and all we have. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer God, lead us from this time of prayer and reflection with dancing! Allow the joy within each one of us to shine upon those who suffer. Let our light be magnified by your grace each and every day! Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Maria Mankin) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Advent people, go now in the blessing of God’s joy, confident that the day we await is close at hand and ready to cooperate with God in building the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2025. Timing Is Everything I was reading about steamships. It was a wonderful article in which the author said that the dream of a self-propelled ship had been a dream of humankind for hundreds of years. Then one day the time came when it was theoretically possible, but it was still not practically possible. The dream was kept alive for another hundred years or so by inventors and experimenters, some of whom were considered to be eccentric. Later on people looked back and said of them, they were just ahead of their time. Then the times changed. The next person to come along wasRobert Fulton. It was not so much that Fulton invented the steamboat, but that he just happened to be there when the time was right. As the author wrote, "The inventor's eminence may be more a trick of chronology than anything else, due to being active at the very moment when fruition was possible." It's a wonderful statement. It tells you that timing is everything. That's what we learn from the Bible. Look at our lesson for this morning. The disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus, and ask, "Are you the one, or do we look for another?" It is a critical question for John. John has preached that the time has come. The Messiah, he said, is about to appear, so repent, get ready, put your lives in order. He has devoted his whole life to the belief that the time has come. But he is in prison now. He is about to lose his head. So he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one that we have been waiting for, or do we still look for somebody else?" Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ___________________________________ Who Jesus Really Is I don't know where life may be defeating you this Advent. I don't know how Jesus may be disappointing you this Advent. But I would suggest to you this Advent that any disillusionment you feel may not necessarily be a bad thing. For what is disillusionment if not, literally, the loss of an illusion? And, in the long run, it is never a bad thing to lose the lies we have mistaken for the truth. Did Jesus fail to come when you rubbed the lantern? Then perhaps Jesus is not a genie. Did Jesus fail to punish your enemies? Then perhaps Jesus is not a cop. Did Jesus fail to make everything run smoothly? Then perhaps Jesus is not a mechanic. Over and over again, our disappointments draw us deeper and deeper into who Jesus really is ... and what Jesus really does. William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com __________________________________________ Only Jesus An anonymous author made this striking comparison: "Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men, who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from him. Jesus wrote no poetry but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by him. Jesus composed no music still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they composed in his praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth. His unique contribution to humanity is the salvation of the soul! Philosophy could not accomplish that. Nor art. Nor literature. Nor music. Only Jesus Christ can break the enslaving chains of sin. He alone can speak peace to the human heart, strengthen the weak, and give life to those who are spiritually dead." David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com _____________________________________ Matthew 11:2-11 – Time to Unpack Advent is an intentional season of “preparedness.” We think of Advent as a “journey,” to use Oprah Winfrey’s favorite word. We think of Advent as a progressive path we take in order to arrive at a destination — the sleepy village of Bethlehem. Preparing. Making plans. Charting a way. Scouting and scoping the landscape. Assessing and overcoming obstacles to avoid or override. Sounds like life as usual. Sounds like something we can get our heads and hands and hearts around. Sounds like something we can get down and get done. But wait a minute! Advent is not our journey. We are NOT in charge. Advent is not a journey we make, a journey we prepare for, a road that we navigate. No, Advent is the journey GOD makes. Advent isn’t a trip we prepare to go on. Advent is the time we prepare for God’s trip to us. Advent is the time we ready ourselves to RECEIVE God. The God who, against all reason and for our redemption, is making a journey TOWARDS us. This week’s gospel text reminds us just how long God had been preparing for this journey. Before the baby Jesus was even born, God had arranged for the ideal advance man, the perfect prophet to be conceived and born and nurtured to adulthood. Generations before John the Baptist there were other prophets whom God provided with selected slices of insight, like a freeze-framed GPS map. Moses and Isaiah, Malachi and Daniel: all provided peeks at the pathway God was paving… Pay Better Attention Annie Dillard tells of the pastor whose pulpit prayer included some wonderful petitions for the betterment of life in this world. Then, before signing off, he included these words: "But thou knowest, O God, that we ask for these same things Sunday after Sunday. So we confess to you our discouragement that so little progress is made." Said Annie: "His prayer was so painfully honest that I knew I had finally found a preacher who knows God." Frankly, I do not know why....if God is truly in charge....that things do not go better or happen faster. But when John raised a similar question to Jesus ("If you're the one, tell us what we're missing"), Jesus said: "Look again. Look closer. Pay better attention. Things are happening." Which, apparently, was good enough for John. And, most days, is good enough for me. William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ________________________________ When Jesus tells John's people what to look for, it's not big, grandiose stuff. As concerns signs of the kingdom, Jesus points to people who couldn't see much, seeing more...people who couldn't climb out of bed in the morning, playing Ring Around the Rosie in the town square...Previously untouchable lepers kissing their wives and hugging their children....and the poor, hearing a good sermon for a change. And I suppose if you're blind, lame, poor or your skin used to be all scales and scabs, that's big time stuff. But can you build a kingdom on it? Apparently, Jesus thinks you can. He doesn't care whether it's "big time stuff" or not. As concerns the kingdom, it breaks through in little ways. But it breaks through. As if to illustrate his point, he talks about a seed that nobody can see growing. But it's in there. I mean, it's already in there. You aren't going to see it come to maturity all at once. In the version we sang last Sunday: "First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn shall appear." No, you may not see it. But neither are you going to be able to stop it. It's like that dandelion that finds a crack in the asphalt. Or creates a crack in the asphalt. Not only does it have presence, but there is an inevitability to its appearance. William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

A Quiver of Arrows

June 16, 2013 Father’s Day Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Psalm 127:3-5 “Quivers of Arrows” Year C For me, Psalm 127 serves a very important message, it is especially for fathers. Unless the lord build the house, the builders labor in vain. Fathers are the foundation of our household. It goes on to say that children are a heritage from the lord. They are a gift from God. The last verses say blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. It was believed that not only were your children, a gift from God, but in many ways the children were an important blessing from God. Your children were the ones who took care of you when you could no longer take care of yourself. Your children were the ones who carried on the family name, and who represented your legacy once your were gone. That is why the psalmist says –“Blessed is the man whose quiver was full of them. The more children that you had, the better off your inheritance.” Without the children there would be no fathers. Today we honor the fathers in our life, for how they treat their children. For that they are to their children. What are the qualities that make a good father? Faith, adversity, teaching, helper, encouragement and reputation. How do we spell father? F-A-T-H-E-R. Faith, adversity, teaching, helping, encouragement and reputation. I want to go through each letter that spells out for us what a father should be to his family and his church. The first letter F stand for faith, the foundation of any good father. Studies show that families where the father has a faith, are 80% more likely to go to church and to demonstrate the faith of the father. The letter A stands for adversity. It is in the fires of adversity that our characters are shaped. When we learn to overcome obstacles we become a stronger person. Story of the farmer…. Many years ago, a farmer and his family, after a hard year of typical farm work, were rewarded with an unusually fine crop of grain. There were happy days ahead. Just a few days before harvest, there came a terrible wind and hailstorm. The entire crop was destroyed! After the storm was over, the farmer, with his wife and little boy at his side, went out to the back porch to view the field and the damage. The little boy looked at what was formerly a beautiful field of wheat, and tearfully looked up at his dad expecting to hear words of despair. All at once his father started to sing softly, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee...." Years later, the little boy now grown said, "That was the greatest sermon I have ever heard." The farmer had lost a grain crop, but because of his faith, manifested in great trial, he had gained forever for the Lord the soul of his son. The son saw the faith of a godly man in practice! The letter t stands for teacher – the scripture for today says to study the bible and to learn the commandments. But it goes on to say that what you learn and understand about God you should teach to your children. “Talk about the commandments when you sit at home and when you talk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” The father is a child’s greatest teacher. Their learning begins at home. They can only go far in school if they are nurtured at home. H stands for helper 1. A father helps with the homework, he helps with school projects, he attends the little league and soccer games, he takes time to be involved--he's always there with an arm to lean on. ILLUS: Ken Canfield, in his book, The Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers, said, "Effective Fathers are: Committed to their children. Know their children. Are consistent in their attitudes and behavior. Protect and Provide for their children. Love their children's mother. Are active listeners to their children. Spiritually equip their children. E stands for encouragement. We have to encourage our children in everything that they do. In order to encourage them, we have to be present to them. MY DADDY IS HERE! David Elkind, a psychologist, tells the story of visiting his middle son's nursery school class, at the request of his teacher. She wanted him to observe a "problem child" in the class. While he was there, he caught a conversation between his son and some other boys. There conversation went like this. Child A: "My daddy is a doctor and he makes lots of money and we have a swimming pool." Child B: "My daddy is a lawyer and he flies to Washington and talks to the president." Child C: "My daddy owns a company and we have our own airplane." Then David Elkind's boy said, "My daddy is here!" And he proudly looked in his father's direction. (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.197) Dads, your presence means more than anything else to your children - more than your money, more than your position at work, more than the toys you buy them. Your time means more to them than anything else, because it says, "I care." (From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Loving Leadership, 6/17/2010) The final ingredient to being a father is reputation. Proverbs 22:1 says a good name is rather to be chosen then great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Our good name comes from who we are in the eyes of God. Who is it more important to impress? Other people or God. How do you spell father? Faith, adversity, teacher, helper, encouragement and reputation. A father is a father in the way in which they treat their children. And in the way they are able to honor the ways of God in their lives. One of the ten commandments tells us that we should honor our mother and father. We honor them for giving us life. Some can see these characteristics very clearly in the men in their life, some are striving to – but have work to do. Some men attempt to be father’s without the guidance of God. But we honor them today – because they are the father God gave us. Just as children are a blessing to a father’s soul, they are a gift from god. The fathers we were given by God are also a blessing. We honor them because we love them. But we also honor because God reminds us that honoring our fathers is the beginning of our faith journey. September 2007 in Hampshire Rosemary Edwards left home without leaving any word or taking her things and has been missing all week. It was as a result of a her losing her job and her dads word which came to her explaining she would no longer be able to continue horse riding as a result the girl has run away from home – the Father since that day as been seeking his daughter on national radio and TV with an emotional appeal for the safe return of his daughter. We can be like Rosemary with God – God may say something, do something, expect something and we don’t like it we want things how they are (comfort zones) and so we run. But like the love of the father who is pursuing his daughter. God will pursue you, as he pursued Jonah because when it comes to the will of God in our lives we can run and spend our whole lives running but we cannot hide from God. By Aubrey Vaughan Jonah chapter1:Hide and seek. sermon c