Rise up and Reveal God's Grace

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Laity Sunday 19th Sunday after Pentecost Rise Up and Reveal God’s Grace Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship We are all invited to God’s nearness in Jesus Christ. We know Jesus is God’s grace for the life of the world. We look for grace revealed in our togetherness and in the lives those beyond our church walls. We know our together life in Christ is never gated or exclusive. In every place, we discover what it means to be faithful – with you – to make all things new. And we hear your invitation to help heal and repair the world’s shattered wholeness. Song - Here I am Lord UMH 593 Children’s Sermon Hello, children of God! Today I am going to need a volunteer…Who would like to be my special helper this morning? (Select a student, and hand him/her a pen and paper) Now, here’s what I need you to do. I am going to tell you what to write, and I want you to put it down on the paper, okay? So, write down what I say. (Come up with a simple phrase or sentence for the child to write on the paper.) Okay, guys, take a peek here. Who came up with the words on this paper? Did (student’s name) really think of what to say? She/he might have written the message down, but it came from my brain and mouth, didn’t it? These are my words, and I just used her/him to put them down and share with you. You know, this is how the Bible was written, in a way. Some people get confused, and they don’t understand how we can be sure that the Bible is true. After all, there are a lot of people who contributed to the Bible, right? Kings and prophets and poets and friends of Jesus and people writing letters…with all of those authors and people spanning such a range of time and area, how can we know that these are really God’s words? Well, there is a lot of research and history that goes into the authentic truth of the Bible, but for us it’s important to note that the Bible is the word of GOD and is given to us by Him. God used people throughout history to share His message, but the words are truly God’s words. He communicated to people and told them what to say, so people took the paper and wrote things. But the ideas and meaning all came from God. He inspired the Bible. Speaking of which, in our lesson today we heard that the Bible is “breathed out by God.” This is actually what is meant by the term “inspired”: it means it is breathed from God. Take a look at this (hold up party horn, instrument, or balloon): On its own, this is just a bit of floppy material. It can’t really do much, can it? But when I put my breath into it (blow into instrument/balloon), something happens! With the inspiration of my air going into this, it kind of comes to life! Well, that’s what happens with the Bible. God breathed out those words and gave the Bible life…and the Bible will help bring inspiration into our lives! There are a lot of amazing things in the Bible. You can read stories of people in the past, and you can read messages from God to His people. You can also find beautiful Scripture with poetry. You can read the story of the life of Jesus and how He came to earth. And you can find messages that help us know how to live our lives and be followers of Jesus. There is so much to discover in the Bible. It is a huge blessing that we have it There is so much to discover in the Bible. It is a huge blessing that we have it and that we can be confident of its truth and meaning for us. God wants to communicate His heart and how much He cares for us and loves us. When we read the Bible, we can be confident it contains the words of God. Isn’t that great? It is a gift from Him! Let’s pray to thank God for that gift, and don’t forget to read your Bibles! Dear God, Thank you for the Bible We know that it is true And it is inspired by You Help us to be faithful to read it And help us understand what it means Thank you for your love We love you, God! Thank you for Jesus In His name, Amen! Baptism (name of the baby) UMH 39 Affirmation of Faith UMH 885 Scripture 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 Sermon Rise Up and Reveal God’s Grace On this laity Sunday, our most important lesson for the day – the bible is relevant. John Wesley and many other church leaders tell us the scripture is primary to our faith. Martin Luther said By Scripture Alone! Preach the Gospel to Yourself Daily Preach the Gospel to One Another Daily Scripture for the Soul, Medicine for the Body Questions for Reflection The Bible will always be relevant. It will always speak to us because it is not from us, it is from God and it has some wonderful things to teach us. Especially in how God sees us. The world could care less about us. But listen to what God says about us in the N.T. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke--we are called the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In the Gospel of John we are called friends of Jesus. In Acts we are people of the Way. In Romans we are joint heirs with Christ, sharing his inheritance. In Corinthians we are a temple--a dwelling place of God. In Galatians we are sons and daughters of God--one in Christ. In Ephesians we're saints, citizens with the rest of God's family. In Philippians we are citizens of heaven, right now. In Colossians we are hidden with Christ in God. In Thessalonians we are chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. In Timothy we are those who have been given a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. In Titus we are those who have been set apart according to God's doing. In Philemon we are soldiers. In Hebrews we are those who have been purified by the offering of our great high priest. In James we are brothers and sisters. In Peter we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. In John's letters we are children of God who will resemble Christ when Christ returns. In Jude we are those who are called, beloved in God. And in Revelation we are those whose names are written in the book of life. Where else can you hear such powerful affirmation? Not out there. The world says your feet and breath stink, that you don't drive the right kind of car or eat the right kind of foods or dress right. But the Bible helps us walk a little taller. It says we are the children of God. The importance of scripture is the last lesson from 2 Timothy on what it means to be a church leader. This may well be one of the most important lessons – That we are to read the bible for ourselves. But it is also important to develop a relationship with the scripture in order to develop a relationship with Christ. The writer starts out this text by saying as for you young man, continue with the things that you have been taught all of your life. One of those things is to read the bible. An elderly man lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Tennessee with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early reading from his old worn out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?” The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The grandfather said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!” “So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.” (6) That is the work of God in our lives to change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of God’s Son. Millions of Christians though the ages will testify that is what happened to them when they faithfully studied the scriptures. God revealed Himself to them. God showed them what He wanted them to do. And God purified them and molded them into the image of Christ. 6. From the Internet. Source unknown. Many people read the bible for many different reasons. But it teaches each of us a lesson in life. I heard a story of a young fellow who desperately wanted a car for his sixteenth birthday. That is all he talked about and he knew his parents had gotten the message. When the day finally arrived, he looked out the window hopefully thinking that surely his new car would be there. But to his great disappointment, it wasn’t. There was no car at all. He asked his parents why he hadn’t gotten the car. The father responded, “Son, there are three reasons. First, your grades are bad and you never seem to study like you should. Secondly, you don’t go to church any more and you don’t read the Bible every night. And thirdly you have got that long hair and you won’t cut it.” “Well, what do I need to do,” asked the son, “to be able to get my car?” “It is very simple,” the dad said, “You need to study hard and raise your grades. You need to go to church and read your Bible every night and you need to get that long hair cut.” Six months passed and the young man came back to his father. “Dad, It has been six months now and I want you to know I’ve made a lot of improvements. In fact, I am getting three A’s and a B this semester. So you see, I have been studying hard. And I have been going to church every Sunday and reading my Bible every night.” The father’s said, “I know son, and I am proud of you. But you still haven’t gotten your hair cut.” The son’s face lit up. “Yes, dad, I know, but I have discovered in reading the Bible that Jesus had long hair too.” The fathers reply was really disarming. “Yes, son, I realize that, but if you will keep reading the Bible, you will also discover that Jesus walked everywhere He went!” Well, that is not all we’ll discover if we keep reading the Bible I still keep my first bible on my desk as a reference. My aunt gave it to my for Christmas when I was 7. We would have family bible study on the bible stories, and I wanted to read the stories for myself. I knew the stories, but I did not really know the words. As a teenager I was convinced that the bible was a magical book with the answers to all of my problems. When I would turn to a chapter and it didn’t name my friends and circumstance specifically I stopped reading it. In college, I went to a bible study that I loved. As a freshman I read the entire bible and got scared at all of the rules. At the end of college, I thought the world was coming to an end. When it didn’t’ I studied to understand what the bible actually said. From there I went to seminary to learn more. I finally came to understand what the bible said, when I had to teach it. UMW asked me to write a mission study on Corinthians. So I studied Paul for a year and went to Greece, Turkey and Rome. The best way to learn, is to have to explain it to everyone else. Now, I have a week long discipline of studying the text and prepping for my sermon every week. And even now, there is so much more for me to learn about the bible. The bible is a living text that can interact with our lives. It is a revelation of how God works in our lives to give us a message. Our text says that every scripture is inspired by God. Let's take that apart. The word "inspired" is a unique word. This is the only time it occurs in the New Testament. It refers to wisdom that comes from God, or quite literally, God's Spirit has been infused or breathed upon it. Therefore, more than just the creative thoughts or opinion of some authors writing on papyrus, scripture has a unique divine authority unlike any other writing. That authority, that power, is shown in what God's word accomplishes. It inspired faith with a wisdom that transcends human knowledge. It teaches, reproofs, and corrects. It trains people in righteousness, equipping them for every good work. The power and the authority of scripture are found in what it does. Scott Suskovic The church still struggles with that term inspired by God. What does it mean to live by the bible? For instance, in 1 Timothy, the writer says that women should never teach men. So does that mean that women should not be preachers? Some churches say yes, some say no. As the Methodist church struggles with splitting, on the surface it seems the disagreement is about homosexuality. When the disagreement is about is text – All Scripture is inspired by God. What does inspired mean? Do we take everything in the bible literally? How far do we go in interpreting what the bible teaches us. Our founder, John Wesley, had a particular notion about inspiration. He believed in double-inspiration. The Spirit of God not only inspired those who wrote it, but continually inspires and supernaturally assists those who read it with earnest prayer. Christianglobe Networks, Inc., Faith Breaks: Thoughts On Making It A Good Day, by J. Howard Olds We have to read the bible for ourselves in order to look at our faith. There are no easy answers for any of us. The writer tells Timothy – preach the word. Be ready to do it whether it is convenient or inconvenient. He says that the bible corrects, confronts, and encouraged with patience and instruction. The problem is Nearly 80 percent of Americans say the Bible is the most influential book in human history and 42 percent say reading the Bible is “very important” to them. Nonetheless, only 17 percent of Americans report reading the Bible daily and 45 percent say they rarely or never read it. (2) I’m not going to ask for a show of hands. You know which group you belong to. How many of us have actually read the bible to be inspired by it? Charles H. Spurgeon once said, "There is no need to defend a lion when he is being attacked. All we have to do is open the gate and let the lion out. The lion will defend itself." Martin Niemoeller was a German pastor who opposed Hitler during World War II and thus spent much of the war in German prison camps. They took from him everything except his Bible. After his release, Niemoeller gave this testimony about the Bible: "What did this Book mean to me during the long and weary years of solitary confinement and then for the last four years at Dauchau? The word of God was simply everything to me, comfort and strength, guidance and hope, master of my days and companion of my nights, the bread that kept me from starvation and the water of life that refreshed my soul." Dynamic Preaching, The Ritz Collection, by Eric Ritz The bible is everything to us – our inspiration, our revelation, our guidance, our example of what it means to be loved and to love others. Maybe you saw the special report Wednesday night about Paul Reed. Paul is a Viet Nam Vet who pulled out some of his souvenirs and booty from the war. Some of which was a Diary and pictures. He decided to translate. In pages of that diary found just another soldier, Nam Van Nia, who missed his wife and family. Who was lonely. Cold all those things he experienced. Decided to go back and take stuff back. When did, found the soldier. Meeting brought about healing. Paul Reed, holding the diary, told Vietnamese Vet, "This small book taught me not to hate you." If an ordinary diary can do that just think what the Bible can do. This small book teaches us just how much God loves us. The Bible is our Book, the foundation of all that we believe and the story of our relationship with God. Read it, get to know it. This is the word of the Lord for this day. Rising up and revealing God’s grace is living the love that we experience in the bible. Amen. Song – Seek Ye First UMH 405 Prayers of the People Merciful God, powerful and wonderful, eternally present and graciously close, we are grateful for what you have given us in Jesus Christ, life and love without end. Prompted by your Spirit and encouraged by your faithfulness, we lift to you the cares and concerns of our hearts, the burdens and the worries of our lives. We pray that the sick would be healed, that the broken would be mended, that the mournful would be comforted. We pray that warriors would yield to peace, that leaders would gain wisdom, that the forsaken would be gathered in. We pray that the sorrowful would be consoled, that the poor would be lifted up, that the anxious would be released. We pray for all that you would have us pray. We pray for those for whom no one prays. We pray all of these things in the name of the one ceaselessly praying for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Many of us live in a world where speed is valued. We’re surrounded by ads with runners who win the race, cars which reach top speed first, stocks which lead the market. Yet Paul’s writing encourages our persistence in standing on the foundation of our faith. He writes “continue in what you have learned…knowing from whom you learned it…be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.” Just the opposite of the push for “do it fast”. One place this makes good sense is in our stewardship of financial resources. Common wisdom says “slow and steady wins the race”, and “dollar cost averaging” to serve people best over a life-time. Here at ____________, we’re grateful for every offering, yet we also know it’s the regular, persistent, weekly or monthly contributions which are the foundation of our finances. So as you continue to grow in faith, let that show in the way you make a financial investment in this congregation and in our ministries. Persistent participation over “make a fast, one-time contribution” speed! Prayer of Thanksgiving We give you thanks, God of all creation, for your persistence in caring – and in challenging US to care — for all your creatures, and for the whole of this place we call our earthly home. May these gifts be utilized to their full potential, supporting the ministries of this congregation in this place, and to the ends of the earth. AMEN Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook We will go, Lord, into the world, telling and retelling the story with other believers, taking the gospel and making disciples among all the peoples with whom we come in contact. We will go, knowing you will be with us. You, O God, to whom we would in these moments, pour out our lives in service and in thanksgiving. But we know the barriers that stand in our way. We cannot pour ourselves out to you fully as individuals with unconfessed sin in our lives. We cannot pour ourselves out to you fully as your body when we are in conflict with others. So, hear our confession, forgive and deliver us, and give us courage to offer your peace to one another. Community Time Benediction Leader: Go into the world, sharing yourself and proclaiming God’s lovingkindness, justice, and peace, in words and deeds that bring life and hope. Pastor: The Triune God, Creator, Redeemer, and Living Spirit, is with you today and every day, forever and always. Amen Additional illustrations ChristianGlobe Network, Inc., , by Billy D. Strayhorn It is time we took seriously our Christbody responsibility to "learn the ABCs" - learn "About the Bible in Church." Unless we read it, study it, learn what's in it and feel comfortable with it in our hands and on our tongues, we cannot truly love the Word of God. Instead, we are intimidated by it, afraid of it, shocked by it or simply remain ignorant of it. LS There was a woman who called her pastor late one night in a panic and said, "Pastor, quickly, tell me what I believe." Another believer from a different church who challenged her about her beliefs had cornered her. She quickly found that she could not articulate the basic teachings of her church. "Pastor, quickly, tell me what I believe." There may be more than one person gathering in worship this morning who, if hard pressed, may be less than clear about what they believe. Are you one? Where does one start in establishing a baseline for belief? Church doctrine? Parental teaching? The local pastor? Inner instinct? Which verse is the most dangerous? It is this one that says, "All scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 2:16) or "All scripture is inspired," depending on which version or translation you use. To be perfectly honest, perhaps this is not the most dangerous verse, but as one writer says it is the mother of all proof texts. As the bumper sticker has it, "The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it." After all, this is God's word we are talking about. As to why I call this verse dangerous, stay tuned. There is another danger. People think that scripture — because it is "God-breathed" or "inspired" — is somehow magical in the way it can give guidance. "Pastor, can you give me a few verses that will help strengthen my marriage or help me be a better father or to get my daughter to clean up her room?" Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision and gone to the Bible for assistance? Eyes closed, Bible on its spine in your lap, let it fall open, finger points to a place on the page, and voilá, God's will for your life is before you. Have you ever tried it? My sweetie has, back in the days before her sanctification was complete. Christie grew up in Venezuela, but as is often the case with the children of Americans working overseas, when it came time for high school, she came back to the states to a school in New England. She came to dislike it intensely, as much for being separated from her family as anything else. She wanted to come home. She decided to get some divine guidance: Bible on the lap, eyes closed, and the moving finger magically guided. She opened her eyes to see what passage she had been "guided to" and read in astonishment from Jeremiah 38:2: "Thus says the Lord, he who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live." By the sword? The famine? Gracious! She was on the phone to Caracas that night and within two weeks she was back in South America. After all, "All scripture is inspired...." That is like using the Bible as an Ouija Board! William Sloane Coffin once bemoaned "Christians use the Bible much as a drunk does a lamppost — more for support than for illumination." David Leininger You laugh, but many adults wouldn’t fare much better in describing the New Testament. You may have seen that list on the Internet of the eight signs that you are not reading your Bible enough: 1. The pastor announces the sermon is from Galatians . . . and you check the table of contents. 2. You think Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have had a few hit songs during the 60s. 3. You open to the Gospel of Luke and a WWII Savings Bond falls out. 4. Your favorite Old Testament patriarch is Hercules. 5. You become frustrated because Charlton Heston isn’t listed in either the concordance or the table of contents. 6. Catching the kids reading the Song of Solomon, you demand: “Who gave you this stuff?” 7. You keep falling for it every time when pastor tells you to turn to First Condominiums. 8. And the No. 1 sign you may not be reading your Bible enough: The kids keep asking too many questions about your usual bedtime story: “Jonah the Shepherd Boy and His Ark of Many Colors.” (Author unknown) St. Paul writes to his young protégé Timothy and he gives him this admonition, “But as for you, Permit me an analogy. Imagine that there is a mosquito flying around your bare arm. Instead of swatting that mosquito, you decide to communicate with it. You try to convince the mosquito not to bite you. You suggest to the mosquito that your spouse is much tastier than you are. That would be a frustrating conversation, don’t you think trying to talk to a mosquito? Now, imagine the Creator of the universe trying to communicate with you and me. God is beyond space and time. We can’t even imagine a world without space and time. We say God is Spirit. What does that mean, really? Beats me. The only thing we really know about God is what God chooses to reveal. That is what the Bible is all about. The Bible is not a book of theology. Theology is, of course, the study of God. How absurd. We have the capacity to study mosquitoes. Imagine mosquitoes coming together to study us. It is just as absurd to say that, by forming a study group we are able to capture the nature of God. The Bible is not a book of theology, but of revelation. God wanted to communicate with human creatures. The Bible is God’s attempt to reach out to us. Through the Bible God seeks to reveal His nature and His plan. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” while back, one of our pollsters asked people whether or not they believed the Bible to be the “revealed Word of God” or merely a “great piece of literature.” Over 80% of them said they believed it to be the “revealed Word of God” - yet more than half of them could not name even one book in the New Testament. That reminds me of one of my most embarrassing moment. A few years ago I was coming from a trip overseas back into the United States through Chicago. I think it was the only time I’ve ever been through customs in Chicago. And, I think Chicago is the worst place in the nation to go through customs. As is always the case, I was happy to get back into this country, and anxious to move through customs. On that particular trip, I had a very close schedule with a place that would take me to Nashville. So I needed to get through customs as rapidly as possible. The customs officer obviously sensed my anxiety, and I guess she was trying to do as much as she could to facilitate the process. So, after I had told her about my close plane connection, she asked, “What is your vocation?” Now I don’t know what that had to do with it - but that was the question she asked. Without hesitation, I said, “I’m a preacher.” Without hesitation, she said, “Name the first five books of the Old Testament.” Now you may find this hard to believe, and I’m really embarrassed to tell you this - I went totally blank. Genesis, Exodus - and I couldn’t get any further. I went totally blank. I share that to make a point. The point is in a question: Is there any merit in being able to name the books of the Bible or in being the 80% of our nation who believe that the Bible is the “revealed word of God” if we are not making that Word “the whole and sole rule of our Christian faith and practice.”? So let me go on with my theme: The Bible is more than a book. Get a part of our scripture lesson firmly in mind, verses 14-17: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Note first that more than a book, the Bible is a revelation of and an encounter with the Living God. Moses experienced that encounter when confronted by the burning bush that was not consumed, and out of that bush heard the voice of God. “I want to know one thing - the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end he came from heaven. He had written it down in a book. 0, give me that book! At any price, give me that book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be “a man of one book”. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of man. I sit down alone: only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven.” (Sermons, I, 31—32) ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Maxie Dunnam Claude was a rather normal young adult. One day Claude decided he would read the Bible from cover to cover. He plowed through the Pentateuch, and found the war stories of Joshua, Judges, Kings and Chronicles to be surprisingly interesting. Then one day, while reading the Psalms, Claude came across Psalm 37:21. The verse reads, “The wicked borrow and do not repay.” Suddenly, Claude remembered the $500 he had borrowed from his parents and promised to repay, but never did. Convicted by the Scriptures, Claude asked God for forgiveness and wrote a check to his parents. Scripture, said Paul, is presently profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. It is possible to say the right thing in the wrong way and you wind up saying the wrong thing even though it is truth. There was a motorist that was driving in the country when he came upon a priest and a rabbi standing on the shoulder of the road and they were fishing. Next to them was a sign that read, "Turn around. The end is near." The motorist was a very unreligious person. He rolled down the window and said, "You bunch of religious nuts, why don't you mind your own business!" A few second later, the two fishermen heard tires screech and then a splash into the lake. The rabbi turned to the priest and said, "I told you we should have just written, 'Bridge out.'" There was a lady who was taking care of a little six year old girl while her mother was away and she wanted to really make sure she was a good hostess, so she got up early the first morning and prepared a big breakfast of ham and eggs. When the little girl came down she looked at her and said, "My mother always fixes biscuits." This lady, wanting to make sure that the neighbor felt like her daughter had been well taken care of, went to the store and bought flour, milk, Crisco, and slaved over a hot stove and put out the best home-made biscuits she could possibly fix. When she put one in front of the little girl the little girl looked at her and said, "No thank you." The lady said, "I thought you said your mother always fixes biscuits for breakfast." The little girl said, "She does, but I don't eat them." Don't get discouraged when you prepare a God-sized message. There are going to be times you are going to labor over the hot stove of preparation; going to pour your blood, your sweat, your tears, your prayer, your study, your hard work into that message and preach it to the best of your ability and people will not receive it, but that is not your problem. So, do you believe in the authority of Scripture? If you do, you know that the Bible is more than a book – it is the revelation and an encounter with the Living God. It is an invitation – an invitation to salvation and eternal life. And it is a blueprint for living. Within it is the guide for the way we are to pattern our life – and at the heart of that is the call to holiness. MaxieDunnam.com, MaxieDunnam.com, by Maxie Dunnam So, do you believe in the authority of Scripture? If you do, you know that the Bible is more than a book – it is the revelation and an encounter with the Living God. It is an invitation – an invitation to salvation and eternal life. And it is a blueprint for living. Within it is the guide for the way we are to pattern our life – and at the heart of that is the call to holiness. Grace comes to us in all sorts of ways. I had a marvelous visit this past week with Ernie Felts, a member of this congregation. Ernie has had a tough time of it; malignancy and extensive treatment for that interrupted by back surgery. Ernie came to see me on Labor Day -- called and said he wanted to bring us a little gift. He brought a cassette tape, aptly titled "Country Boy...City Boy" -- he thought I'd like the title, but he knew the music was exceptional and I would get great pleasure out of it. He also brought me a letter which I didn't read until after our delightful hour's visit. Let me read you a part of his letter. When the world gets sorta heavy on me, God directs my mind to my cupboard of miracles and memories there I receive sustenance for the present and nourishment for the future. What is in my cupboard? The Word of God -The Bible -, God's miracles, miracles of God that I have seen happen to others that I know personally, and miracles that have taken place in my life. Isn't that beautiful? Is the Bible in your cupboard? Are memories of God's grace working in your life in that cupboard? In our conversation last Monday, Ernie talked about all the people he had met during these months of suffering and illness, in the doctor's office, in the hospital, waiting for radiation treatment -- black, white, rich, poor. Our problems and sufferings, Ernie said, is the common denominator that brings us together. Then he added, "the ground around the cross is always level." "Bill Bentley moved to the mountains of Southern Mexico near Guatemala in 1938. He went there to translate the Bible into the language of a remote tribe in those mountains, the Tzeltals. His fiancee, Marianna, was serving a neighboring tribe. They went back to Pennsylvania to be married, but six days before the wedding Bill died of a heart attack. "Marianna was crushed. God had called her to go to the Tzeltals with Bill. Now, even without him she would go back. After spending six years there alone learning the language, Marianna was joined by Florence, a missionary nurse. For the first eight years their work met with suspicion, rejection, and hostility from the Tzeltals; the missionaries were unwanted and misunderstood. But they stuck it out. "By 1965, after more than twenty years, they had completed the translation of the New Testament into two dialects. Then a miracle took place. More than seventy congregations of Christians grew from the seed they planted. Suspicion became faith, rejection became acceptance, hostility became Christian love. The Tzeltals call God’s word `good seed’; it had taken root. Twenty-one years of life by two single women and the Word of God grew. They accepted another assignment. Twenty-one years later they returned. "What a reunion that was! Thousands of Tzeltal people lined the way to greet them. In the twenty-one years since they had left, the seventy-two congregations they founded had become 322. When they had left there were six thousand believers. When they returned there were forty-four thousand. One-third of the Tzeltals were practicing Christians. Hallelujah for the Word of God! "What other book could do that? If you left a physics text, a biography of a great man, a collection of short stories, a folio of poetry--could any of those books have done what the Bible did for the Tzeltals? No! Only the Word of God can do that. For the word of God is living and active." (1)

Seeing God with our own Eyes

February 23, 2020 Seeing God with our Own Eyes 2 Peter 1:16-21 Year B Transfiguration Sunday Children’s Time I am wearing my shiny shoes today, because today is a special Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday – the day that God told us a very special secret. The secret is that God loves us. God sent Jesus into our world – to who that love. Jesus was with his friends one day, and they noticed that there was a bright light, and they heard a voice say this is my son whom I love and I am proud of. Jesus asked that no one tell that story – was he embarrassed that his dad spoke to him? God’s secret. But is a story that God tells pretty often, there are a few times when God spoke about Jesus in public. Jesus told his friends to keep this a secret until the right time. The time is now – we all have a job to spread the secret until everyone in the world knows that God loves us all! Stewardship Moment As a little child we are all taught how important it is to share and to not be selfish with the things that we have. It is easy for us to think that the bible reinforces that lessons of not being selfish. But Jesus actually does not say a whole lot about being unselfish, Jesus tells us to be loving and giving. What is the between being unselfish and being loving – one is the a negative, and the other is a positive. One is a list of things not to do, one is a list of things that we should do. When we are not being selfish – we think about what we have and chose to give what is left over. When we are loving and giving, we help others in spite of what we have. God does not give to us out of what God has left over, God gives out of God’s heart. God does not give out of what God has, but out of what we need. If God can do that for us, then surely, we can do that for others. As we give today – give to the mission of our church to reach out, to make a difference and God has given to us…. scripture 2 Peter 1:16-21 Common English Bible (CEB) Christ’s return is true 16 We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the magnificent glory, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon I was on facebook a few days, and saved this post on how to identify fake news. 1. Read Past The Headline 2. Check What News Outlet Published It 3. Check The Publish Date And Time 4. Who Is The Author? 5. Look At What Links And Sources Are Used 6. Look Out For Questionable Quotes And Photos 7. Beware Confirmation Bias If a story looks suspicious or claims to reveal major news, search to see if other news outlets are also reporting the story. A single article from a suspicious source making a grand claim should be viewed with heavy skepticism. If no reliable news outlets are also reporting the story, then it’s very likely fake. 9. Think Before You Share Fake news sites rely on readers to share and engage with their articles in order for them to spread. In extreme cases, these fake articles can balloon out of control and have unintended consequences for those involved in the stories. After fake news stories claimed that Hillary Clinton was sexually abusing children at a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant, the business owner and his employees received death threats and vicious online harassment. The staff is still under attack even though these false claims have been debunked. More Resources For Spotting Fake News: • Snopes.com • Melissa Zimdars’ List Of Fake News Sites • On The Media Fake News Handbook • FactCheck.org • Poynter’s Tips For Debunking Fake News • TinEye Reverse Image Search • Washington Post Fact Checker In the world that we live in, we hear lot about fake news. And as we hear news everyday – and we can struggle with what to take seriously. Why are people telling us this story. The phrase fake news is a modern term, but the concept is not new. It has been going on for many years. Our scripture for this morning - 2 Peter was written to address this situation. Just who was this Jesus Christ anyway? And if he has not come back, is he really going to return? Some preachers were saying that he was coming back and some were not? In such a divided political climate, who do we believe? The author of 2 Peter makes the point that Peter was a witness to the transfiguration of Jesus. He was there, he heard the voice of God speak, he saw the face of Jesus shine and transform. More importantly – his life was changed from being present at that moment. In other words, Peter was not speaking from heresay, but personal experience. Peter was establishing himself as an authority figure on preaching the gospel. The words of Peter could be trusted. I don’t preach on this scripture very often, but it does offer a very different persective. Each of the gospels tell the story of the transfiguration. But this is the only reference to that day in the rest of the new testament. Peter tells this story in order to dispel the fake news of the day. Just as I gave the nine rules of spotting fake news. Peter says that he is an authority. The story of Jesus transfiguration and resurrection is not a myth – it is truth that Peter say for himself. He heard the voice and saw that sight for himself. The stories of Jesus should be a light to our understanding of the world. “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 2 Peter 1:17 After the experience on the mountain, The Voice tells the disciples to "listen to Him (Jesus)". Discipleship is nothing more or less than “listening to Jesus.” To move forward in faith is to listen to Him, to recognize His voice, The Voice that is a transfiguring power, the same power that created the world out of nothingness. This is The Voice that transfigures sinners into saints, that heals the broken-hearted and makes the wounded whole human beings. The Voice is the voice of change, of transfiguration, The Voice that transfigures water into wine, and wine into blood, and death into life, and transgressive people into transfigured people. Can you hear the voice of Jesus in your life? In our culture? Do you have a hearing problem? Can we hear the voice of Jesus over the drone of voices calling you elsewhere? Listening for Jesus voice is "serious" [siri-ous] business. To “Listen to Him” we need to do four things. 1) We need to mute other voices. 2) We need to learn to listen and be silent. 3) We need to recognize The Voice. 4) We need to megaphone The Voice. 2) Twenty-one centuries after Peter, we are still called to a voice-activated faith. Today the voices we hear may not be declaring, “This is my Son,” but they are declaring “these are my children, my sons and daughters.” The voices we are now hearing may be declaring, “I need help.” Or “my children and I are sleeping in our car.” Or “I’m not able to show and share my faith with my family.” Those are all voice-activated calls to faith that demand a faith response. It is not an accident that this story takes place on a mountain top. Jesus went up on the mountain top in order to find God, just as moses and Elijah before him. As a matter of fact, both of those prophets join him on the mountain top. Meanwhile, Peter, John and James are also there sitting in a corner watching all that is going on. This moment actually changes their lives, and inspires their ministry from this day forward. It is the moment where everything becomes clear and makes sense. We all have had those moments in our life when everything makes sense, and we can see clearly. Those moments when everything in the world seems to come together, and we believe that everything will be alright. We have all had those moments, but have you every realized that those moments in life don’t last forever. There come and they go. Peter, James and John wanted this moment to last forever, they wanted to stay on that mountain forever, and yet Jesus said it was time to move on and come off the mountain. Just as quickly as the moment came it passed. Just like it does in our life. I just learned about this, this morning. But if you climb a mountain. If you stand between a cloud and the sun, then a halo will develop around you. A round circle with a rainbow on the outside. The phenomenon is called a glory. But isn’t that how we spend most of our lives, somewhere in the middle of a cloud and sunshine? We all have those moments of sunshine, but most of our lives are lived in the clouds – of confusion, or yearning or wanting better. We see some clarity, and then it is back into to the clouds. Glimpses of God When I first heard Chet Atkins play guitar, it made me want to be a better guitar player. The intricate way that he played made me want to learn his style and to try to make a guitar sound that way myself. But the first time I heard B.B. King play guitar, one simple note at a time, hung out in the air, sighing breathlessly or screaming in pain, it made my heart hurt – and it made me want to ease the pain that caused that sound. When I see the babies who are brought to the altar rail here, I have to smile at them. They make me want to touch them and to tell them how beautiful they are. But when I saw my own children as babies, they made me want to be a better person, so that I could be what they deserved as a father. Glimpses of God call us to alter our lives and to begin to see and do things differently. John Bedingfield, Little Epiphanies An Hour of Glory on a Windswept Hill Dr. William Stidger once told of a lovely little 90-year-old lady named Mrs. Sampson. Mrs. Sampson was frail, feeble, even sickly. But Dr. Stidger said that when he was discouraged he always went to visit Mrs. Sampson. She had a radiant spirit that was contagious. One day he asked this 90-year-young woman, “What is the secret of your power? What keeps you happy, contented and cheerful through your sickness?” She answered with a line from a poem, “I had an hour of glory on a windswept hill.” Bill Stidger said, recounting this experience, “I knew she had been in touch with God and that was the whole reason [for her cheerfulness].” Listen again to her words: “an hour of glory on a windswept hill.” It sounds very much like the experience Peter, James and John had on the Mount of Transfiguration. King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com We Can’t Live on the Mountaintop A young woman made an announcement one morning to her co-workers, "My honeymoon is over and I am so relieved. Now we can get on with our marriage." That's the way it is with our mountaintop experiences. We can't live there forever. The light is too bright, the pace too frantic, and the demands too great. It is a relief to return to normal lives where we can be ourselves and let others be themselves, but that doesn't mean the honeymoon is forgotten. Just because we don't live on the mountain all the time doesn't mean we forget what happened on the mountain. William B. Kincaid, III, And Then Came The Angel, CSS Publishing Company The point of those moments of sunshine is to give us strength to live the rest of our lives. It gives us an experience of God that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. The transfiguration, was a glimpse of the glory of the resurrection. When the disciples left the mountain, the vision of Jesus stuck with them for the rest of their lives. Each of them had their own ministry. Each of them was willing to tell their story. What is interesting about the scripture in 2 Peter, it was written to address the fake news of the day – that Jesus was not coming back. It says that I Peter was a witness to the transfiguration – the moment when Jesus became the Christ, the messiah the one loves by God and called to bring salvation to the world. What is interesting is that this scripture was not written by Peter. It was written by a disciple of Peter, someone who was not a witness to the transfiguration. But the point of our lesson for the day – is that we should act and believe, not out of what we have heard , but what we experience in our hearts. We should all seek the personal experience, when God speaks directly to us to inspire us and give us the courage to go on. That moment of sunshine is our assurance that life is unfolding as it should. That God is leading us to a place where it will all make sense and we will understand God and God’s love. Faith Gives off Light A few months ago I read the best-selling novel Lying Awake by Mark Salzman. It is the story of Sister John, a cloistered nun, who is slowly drawn into the intimate presence of God through stunning, dazzling, disintegrating visions. An ordinary woman becomes a quivering mystic, disappearing into "pure awareness." She became an ember carried upward by the heat of the invisible flame ... until the vacuum sucked the feeble light out of her. A darkness so pure it glistened, then out of the darkness ... nova.... More luminous than any sun ... all that was her ceased to exist. Only what was God remained. Unfortunately for Sister John, there is a complication. Along with her visions come excruciating headaches, which demolish her for days at a time, making her unavailable for the work of the cloister and causing her to be a great burden to the other nuns. Finally, a doctor diagnoses her with epilepsy, a condition that will get worse unless she chooses an operation - an operation that will relive the pain, but most likely destroy the visions. What should she do? After an intense wrestling match, Sister John chooses the operation. Why? With great reluctance, she denies herself, for the health and well-being of the larger, convent community. And sure enough the debilitating pain disappears. But so, too, does the exquisite passion - those intimate, ecstatic encounters with God. She goes back to the ordered, plodding life of the community where she is but one of many, serving God in the mundane moments of daily discipleship. In a final moment of wisdom in the book, the Mother Superior offers Sister John words that sustain her after the mountaintop moments have disappeared, when her daily faith journey seems dull and tentative: "We stretch out our emptied hands to take hold of the Light. We may feel that our prayers are arid, or that God has abandoned us. Although we suffer deeply, those become our most precious hours, because only in complete darkness do we learn that faith gives off light." Susan R. Andrews, The Offense of Grace, CSS Publishing Company Consulting an oracle God presence is with us all of our lives – but we have to take special times to learn to move and navigate our way through the thickness and beauty of the Shekinah glory – of god’s presence on earth. Lent is one of those times. Time to get in touch with the cloudiness of God. In the midst of cloudiness many people consulted special people to get the answers to your questions. Perhaps you are still thinking about what to do in Lent – so I have a special way to help you think about what to do for lent…… Okay some of the suggestions may not really be helpful – you will have to eat something in 40 days, and it is probably not a good idea to stay in bed for 40 days. Only God can truly tell you what to do- to see God more clearly in your life. ( not used) May you enter into the clouds of lent, discover the sunshine of Christ in your life- and be willing to keep God’s little secret to yourself until after Easter. Amen. Let us pray…. Amen. Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener – The Voice-activated Life - 2 Peter 1:16-21 When parents are trying to teach their very young children basic social skills one of the first big lessons is “Use your words.” Instead of grabbing, hitting, screaming, or crying, we teach our children to communicate their needs and desires through the use of words. Instead of snatching a toy away from another child we teach our kids to say “May I please play with that for a while?” Instead of screaming and throwing a tantrum, we teach our children to say, “I’m really mad,” or “He was mean to me,” or “She hit me!” The power of our voices, the power of words, is the first power we want our children to tap into. Verbal communication is uniquely human and is a uniquely empowering gift. Despite all the image-based advances in technology, “The Voice” is still the driving force in electronic developments. Voice power is still the ultimate power. Every new, successful emerging technology — for the past seventy-five years -- knows that voice power means market power. Remember RCA? RCA famously advertised its first record player, the “Victrola,” by showing the family dog with its head cocked in curiosity as it listened to a record player. The advertising tag line was, “His Master’s Voice.” The “next best thing” in the past few years has almost always been a voice-based development. We now all routinely talk to our cars… Transfigured: Who Changed? Laurel A. Dykstra, a scripture and justice educator living in Vancouver, British Columbia, wrote the following in an article for Sojourners Magazine: "My first night at Guadalupe House, a Catholic Worker “transition house” where I spent nearly 10 years, I sat at the wobbly-legged table amid a circle of men’s faces, black and brown and white, and looked at the peeling linoleum, tattered sheer yellow curtains, broken couches, and roach-filled corners. I had never seen a place so ugly. After a week of hospitality, laughter, community, and connection, I sat in the same seat and caught myself thinking, 'What a kind and homey room this is.' Transfigured. "So I wonder: In Matthew’s story of the mountain, was it Jesus who changed or was it that John, James, and Peter could now see the face of God shining in the man they knew? Did the thin air and the elevated perspective contribute to their clarity of vision? When they came down from the mountaintop, did they take their new capacity to see into the low places and crowded city streets? Can we? And when we see the face of God shining through those who are familiar to us, do we truly, deeply listen to them?" Laurel A. Dykstra, "See and Listen," article in Sojourners Magazine Sermon Opener - Lessons from the Mountaintop Frederick Buechner in his book, Peculiar Treasures, writes about Moses in the following way: "Whenever Hollywood cranks out a movie about Moses, they always give the part to somebody like Charlton Heston with some fake whiskers glued on. The truth of it is, he probably looked a lot more like Tevye the milkman after 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali. Moses up there on the mountain with his sore feet and aching back serves as a good example of the fact that when God puts the finger on people, their troubles have just begun! Hunkered down in the cleft of a rock, Moses had been allowed to see the Glory itself passing by, and although all God let him see was the back part, it was something to hold on to for the rest of his life." Mountaintop experiences in our faith journey become those moments of revelation that give us something to hold on to for the rest of our lives. That certainly is the kind of experience Moses had on Mount Sinai, and the kind of experience our Lord had with Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. Any experience in which we recognize the Living God can be a transfiguration. It may take place on the summit of a mountain, or as we kneel in prayer on a wooden floor at sea level. It can happen in the midst of a service of worship where God becomes dramatically real to us, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ is our Living Lord and Savior. So as we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord, let us consider some spiritual lessons from the mountaintop. 1. The Value Of Spiritual Mountaintops 2. The Mystery In Mountaintop Experience 3. The Temptation Of The Mountaintop 4. The Urgency Of Spiritual Mountaintops Robert A. Beringer, Something's Coming...Something Great, CSS Publishing There is a story told of an old man and his grandson who were walking down a business street in a downtown district. As they walked along, the grandfather suddenly stopped, turned his head slightly, and tweaked his ear. After a moment he said to his grandson, “Follow me.” They slowly moved from where they were standing to a small planter box next to a sidewalk café. The planter was filled with various seasonal plants, but as the old man gently pushed back the flowers, behind them was revealed a small bird’s nest filled with baby chicks, their chirping almost indistinguishable from the din of lunchtime dinners and people on the sidewalk. No one seemed to pay any attention to the old man, his grandson or the little nest, but the grandson was amazed. After watching for a few minutes and then moving away the little boy looked up at his grandfather. “Grandpa, how did you hear the birds? There is so much noise, so much happening, how could you hear?” Without saying a word, the old man took several coins from his pocket and tossed them on the ground. With the tinkling of the coins on the sidewalk it seemed everything came to a stop. People turned around. Diners stopped eating to look their way. Several almost seemed to want to reach down and pick up the dropped coins. Then as quickly as it had happened – everything went back to the way it was. That’s when the old man spoke, “It’s all in what you are listening for, my child, it’s all in what you are listening for.” 4) We need to megaphone The Voice. This sanctuary is a sacred place to most of us. We meet God here. For some of us this is the most beautiful and meaningful hour in our week. We could pitch our tents and stay here all week long. Some of our most active members are thinking to themselves, “I might as well, as much time as I spend here.” But we need to remember the time-honored story of the lady who happened in on a small Quaker congregation. They were sitting in silence. “When does the service begin?” she asked a man sitting near her. His answer: “As soon as the meeting is over.” Hannibal was the son of a general around 220 B.C. in the days of the Roman Empire. His father, a Carthaginian officer, trained the young Hannibal to disdain the Romans. Later, after Hannibal's commander was assassinated, Hannibal, at age 26, was named commander in chief by the acclamation of those under his command. The Carthaginian leadership quickly affirmed the field promotion. Hannibal strengthened his armies until they were ready to confront Rome. Leaving Spain with approximately 40,000 troops, horsemen, and 38 elephants, he made his way through southern France (Gaul) and prepared to enter Italy from the north over the Alps. We remember Hannibal as the one who took the elephants over the mountains, but few remember the challenges he faced along the way. First the river. He crossed the Rh“ne using commandeered boats for his troops, and for the elephants, he built earth- covered rafts. But how would they find their way in the Alps? Some friendly, local Gallic leaders assigned guides to help with the complicated Alpine passes, but many Alpine natives were hostile. As Hannibal and his ten thousands threaded the precipitous mountain paths, local residents rolled heavy stones down upon man and beast from the heights above. His descent on an icy base covered with fresh snow caused animals and soldiers to founder, and a landslide blocked their narrow path, delaying progress for a day. After fifteen days crossing the Alps, Hannibal descended into Italy, with 26,000 troops and a few of the original elephants. So, Hannibal got the elephants over the mountains, with mixed results. For some time he controlled large sections of Italy, but he never reached Rome, and finally was driven from there. Unwelcome at home because of his perceived mismanagement of the Roman campaign, he died a man on the run, pursued by When Hannibal came down from the mountains to the plain of northern Italy, he expected to find there the enemy. And the enemy he did find: endless struggle, conflict, eventual defeat -- he was driven from that place. A temptation for us is to think that taking the elephants over the mountains will leave us the same -- unchanged. And that simply we need to arrive upon the plain and be on our way, which is never the case. We can, however, plot a new course and travel the plain differently and successfully. But there are a few things to keep in mind. When Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain, they saw only Jesus, which meant that their view of everything else had changed. Eventually Peter's ministry took him far and wide to unfamiliar places and people. When we come down from the mountain, learn the terrain. Learn in a new way the interests, the appetites, the gifts, of those around us and the special opportunities afforded by this location. Thoreau reminds us that the entire world may be seen in a few acres of ground if we will only see. So learn the terrain. Secondly: say "yes" to the plain. Hannibal came down from the mountain and expected to find the enemy, and he found strife and conflict, misery and defeat. Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain and saw Jesus only. When we in our life journey have taken the elephants over the mountains, who will we be and where will we find joy? Whom will we see? Whom will we expect to meet on the plain? Will we be ready to receive the treasures of a new place? Will we be ready to receive the blessings which are ours to receive as changed people? Will we patiently and gently come to know the worth of those we meet who are differently gifted than ourselves? And will we be free in an unexpected place to touch the fringe of his garment? From the lofty places to the plain, our descending approach can make all the difference. And Jesus, who Peter, James, and John saw differently on the mountain, after the Resurrection said to his disciples, "I am going ahead of you and I will meet you on the plain." ________________________________________ 1. "Hannibal," The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993 edition, vol. 5, pp. 683 - 685. My Special moment I have two questions for you – have you ever had that time in life, when everything came together for you? When life just seemed to make sense. It may have been your wedding day, or graduation, or birthday or some other special day that you felt that you were on top of the world. My second question is if you could talk to any two people, dead or alive to get advice, who would you ask. For Jesus those two people were Elijah and Moses. Thursday was that moment for me. I have not been that excited about anything in a very long time. I have not had a chance to sit on edge, and watch such an exciting scene unfold before me. A moment of intrigue, a moment where I question what is real. A moment where you can clearly see that there is a thin line between life and death, between the past and the future, between what you expect and what you don’t understand. It was that moment where you realize that there are those rare moments in our lives where all of our questions are answered, where we realize that the anticipation of waiting is finally fulfilled. But most of the time you realize that you have to spend most of your life in a cloud of confusion, that never goes away, because the answering of one set of questions, just brings about more questions. Perhaps Jesus did not have the season premier of the television series lost in mind when he bought his most trusted disciples with him to a mountaintop to pray. Season premiere or no, Lost is just a very clear mind game that is not scheduled to end until 2010. But Jesus must have known that there are those moments in all of our lives. The moments where the true identity of the Christ becomes clear to us. The transfigurations story When Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain – it must have seemed like a very cruel mind game to them. Jesus takes those 3 of the brothers that we talked about last week – Peter, James and John to the top of the mountain…….. The significance of clouds In the gospel, God talks to the disciples through a cloud and encourages them to listen to Jesus. In the Hebrew gospel God also talks and acts through a cloud. Moses takes his trusted helpers with him to Mount Sinai to talk with God to get the Ten Commandments. No one is allowed at the top except Moses. But once again a cloud covers the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day – a special day Moses comes out of the cloud with a message for the people. Now we tend to think of clouds as a bad thing- a bad time in our lives, a time of uncertainty, a time of confusion, a time when we are not able to see things clearly. What are the things that cloud your vision? What are the clouds in your life that prevent you from doing what you really want to do. The Shekinah Glory Clouds are actually a good thing in the bible. A cloud signifies the presence of God on earth. The presence of God was somewhere far away on a throne on heaven, but there is also a presence of God here on earth. God’s earthly presence is called the Shekinah glory – and you knew the Shekinah glory was present when you saw a cloud. It was a cloud that guided the Israelite to freedom by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was in a cloud in the mountain that Elijah was able to find the silence of God, it was a cloud that constantly talked with Moses to give him instruction to lead the people, it was a cloud that talked with the disciples to tell them that he was his beloved son listen to him, and when you think about it is that cloud of confusion, doubt, questioning, misunderstanding that constantly stays with us and shapes our faith journey. Cloudiness is a way of life for us. Moments of Sunshine When you think about it – those moments when things are totally clear and obvious are few and far between. An organization that I am a part of calls them moments of sunshine- those times when you are totally happy, when you are on the top of your game, when all of your questions have been answered, when you see life very clearly. The disciples hold onto that moment We are a lot like the disciples in those moments – we want to worship them forever – do you know anyone who still talks about that moment in high school. We want to build a temple so that moment can last forever, so that we can keep that feeling of clarity, so that we can live in that high of understanding. When the disciples asked if they could build temples for the appearance of Moses, Elijah and Moses, Jesus says no. Jesus usually reminds us that those moments in our lives are not intended to last forever. They come to give us perspective on the clouds, they come to give us a sense of hope to go on, and they come to give us special memories. But they always come to end Most of our lives are lived in a cloud Most of our life is to be lived in the cloud – a cloud of confusion and questions – because life is to be lived in the presence of an awesome, overwhelming, unknowable, mind boggling God. A God so big and so wonderful that we will never find the words to describe God. And yet a God who cares so much for you – that God is with you all of the time.

Inspiration

May 24, 2015 Romans 8:22-27 Inspiration Pentecost Year B Today is a special holiday for the church, but we don’t have to share this day with the world like our other days. No one knows what Pentecost is, I am sure that not all Christians even know what Pentecost is. And how much does a Penta Cost anyway. I got you – a Penta is a flower, and home depot likes to put them on sale at this time of year. But seriously, Pentecost is simply the birthday celebration of the church. The day the church was born. Jesus had promised that he would send his spirit to guide and comfort us. And on Pentecost, the spirit arrived. Pentecost is the festival of the wheat harvest. Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem. But this Pentecost they came to understand one another, even though they spoke different languages. There was a spirit of unity and communication. In the old testament when they gathered to build Babel, God sent them a spirit of confusion, lest they get too arrogant. But on Pentecost, God reversed that spirit. Even today, we don’t speak the same language. And even in the church, we don’t always agree with one another. Pentecost is not about uniformity, but harmony. In the midst of our differences, we can still put Christ first in our lives. Our unity comes from the power of God amongst us. There is no one of us that possesses the power of God alone. Clergy need laity and laity need clergy. The musicians work with the sermon, and the pastor works with the choir. We have to understand that our unity is a gift from God, equally bestowed. The purpose of the church is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to save souls. It is the Pentecost experience that gives us the power to do that. It is the churches birthday, because it is the day when we receive some very important gifts. But the gifts are not for us- they are through us- to be given to the world. Acts 2 quotes verses from the old testament book of Joel, where God says the I will pour out my spirit on all people. For Jesus, all people meant that there were no restrictions, no qualifications. All people meant all people. Whether it was the durg addict or the church mother, the young child or the middle ages woman, the sick or the healthy, the rich or the poor. God has a heart for all people, and God is doing whatever he can to save all people. The gifts of Pentecost are there for those who say that they are followers of Christ to have the power to bring salvation to any life and to any situation. Russ Blowers is a minister who is active in his local Indianapolis Rotary club. At club meetings each week a member gives a brief statement about his job. When it was his turn, Russ said: "I'm with a global enterprise. We have branches in every country in the world. We have our representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth. We're into motivation and behavior alteration. We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes. We care for our clients from birth to death. We are into life insurance and fire insurance. We perform spiritual heart transplants. Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking. (There's not enough money to buy it.) Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn't own a home, was misunderstood by his family, hated by enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial, and arose from the dead--I talk with him everyday." The church is the most amazing organization in the world! Russ Blowers The gifts of Pentecost are unity, understanding, power, purpose and inspiration. But we have to remember that the source of each gift is God. There is a pertinent dialogue in the sixteenth chapter of Judges. Delilah says to Samson: “Please tell me wherein your great strength lies” (v. 6). After three unsuccessful attempts to discover the source of Samson’s strength, Delilah renews her efforts. Finally Samson succumbs and declares his power is in his hair. You remember the rest of the story. He not only lost his hair, but he lost his strength. When we consider Christian ministry of all believers, irrespective of station or training, we must inevitably ask, where does the strength come from? First and foremost, it comes from God! “God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7). And it up to each one of us to remember – that the power in our life to truly be effective in ministry comes from our relationship with God. I asked us to wear red, orange or pink, today –because I wanted each of us to realize that the flame of Christ is personal. It is about us, our life, our faith journey. Each of us is a unique flame for Christ. We should be on fire for Christ, each in our own way. We get power through the ways we life out our faith. The representations of the holy spirit is a flame, but it is also a breath. Each and every one of us has a unique breath inside of us. Recently, I ordered this device called a spire. It measures my breathing all day long. Then it sends messages to my phone to tell me whether I am calm or tense. When it senses that I am tense, it sends a message that perhaps I should calm down and take a deep breath. Spire means to breathe. To inspire is to take a deep breath in. To conspire is to work closely with, to aspire is to hope for something better, even spirit comes from the root word spire – which is the power within each of us to live and love with God. The breath is God’s mark upon us that God has a plan for us. Even scripture says to let everything that has breath praise God. Breath, wind is an important symbol of the holy Spirit and of Pentecost. And I want to encourage each of us to use this Pentecost to look at our relationship with God and to be inspired to new life, a new mission, a renewed spirit. This Pentecost, be inspired to conspire with God and aspire to a renewed sense of mission. Let the power of God’s spirit flow through you, and have a use your gifts in order to bring salvation to God’s people. More than any other holiday in the church calendar – Pentecost is about the here and now. It is not about remembering a time in the past, it is not about what happened 2000 years ago, it is about what is happening now. Each and every year, we have to rekindle the Pentecost spirit inside of us. We have to look at what is going on inside of us and what it going on In the world. What is God calling each of us to do about it. Every Pentecost is different. Pentecost is not about what God has done for us, it is about what God is doing through us. The spirit has to be born anew, we have to be inspired anew. God says to each of us – I have given you my gifts, now I want to see what you are going to do with them. A young artist, who was studying under a great master, came one day to the studio to beg for permission to use his master's brush. The request was granted, and with a singing heart the young man went away to his own painting, thinking that now his work would be much better. A short while later he returned with the brush, complaining that he could do no better with it than he could with his own brush. An assistant in the studio, hearing the young man's complaint, said to him: "Friend, it is not the master's brush you need, but the master's devotion, the master's spirit."—Sunshine Magazine It is God’s spirit, but it is our life that makes the difference. God is saying that the future is so much better than the past. But I am depending on you to usher in the hope of the future. I am depending on you to do greater things than what is now in existence. One of the most theologically sophisticated screenplay’s ever written is the one written by Steve Koren, Mark O’Keefe, and Steve Oedekerk for the 2003 film “Bruce Almighty.” When things happen in Bruce’s life, Bruce blames God and finally declares defiantly that if there is a God, God is a bad God. God is bad at being God. In fact, Bruce says he could do God better than God does God. So God surprises Bruce and says, “Okay, go ahead. You show me how I can do God better. So now it’s “Bruce Almighty.” Here’s the conversation: God: “You have all my powers. Use them any way you like. There are just two things you can’t do: you can’t tell anyone you’re God. Believe me, you don’t want that kind of attention.” Bruce: “And the other?” God: “You can’t mess with free will.” Bruce: “Can I ask why” God: “Yes you can! That’s the beauty of it.” The film ends with God saying to a frustrated and defeated Bruce: “The problem is that people keep looking up, when they should look inside . . . You want to see a miracle—-then be a miracle.” The gift of Pentecost enables each one of us to be a miracle . . . an ongoing incarnation of the presence of Jesus on Earth. You want to see Jesus? Then be Jesus. We have not had testimony time in a long time. I think next Sunday will be a good time for us to continue this conversation. I am telling you this week, so that people can think about what they will say. But I want us to testify about the presence of the holy Spirit in your life? How is God at work in your life, What is God calling you to do in the future, What are you up to in your life, that only the spirit can help you to succeed? I would encourage everyone to think about those answers this week, so that some will be able to share with us next week. That is the greatest gift of the presence of the holy Spirit, is the ability to witness to the presence of God in our lives. Finally, Waiting to Exhale A character in John Updike’s novel, A Month of Sundays, reflecting on his youthful experience of the church, says, "Churches bore for me the relation to God that billboards did to Coca-Cola; they promoted thirst but did nothing to quench it." The Holy Spirit empowers the church to be the agent of change in the world, a counter-cultural entity. The task of the church is to breathe in the Spirit and be inspired by the Spirit to act on behalf of God. But the church has been waiting to exhale far too long. As the Spirit of God flows into us, it also ought to flow from us in the way we treat one another, the way we speak to one another, in the way we treat others in our community, in the way we live out the new life we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord. Staff, www.eSermons.com Let us pray this prayer Jesus, though you were of one age, you spoke to the ages. Jesus, though you lived long ago, you spoke words that continue to move, motivate, mature, and transfigured us. Jesus, though you were of Palestinian color and culture, you spoke to all cultures and colors. We thank you for your timeliness and timelessness. May the church that bears your name continue to reach out with love and compassion toward other members of the human family, no matter what age, culture, color, or context. –Leonard Sweet Children’s Sermon Human Rain Storm Activity This Activity is meant for Cub Scouts. Notes: This works great in a larger gathering. Instructions: The leader explains that a rain storm is coming but not to worry because it won't last long. If we listen, we can hear it come and go. Direct the scouts on the right side of the room to sit facing forward, but watch the scouts immediately to their left and do exactly what they do. Don't watch the leader or other scouts. Just watch that scout and listen to the sounds. Repeat the instructions across the room, having everyone watch the scouts immediately to their left, but keep sitting forward so the scouts on their right can see what they do. Then, the leader should stand at the left side of the room and tell those scouts on the far left to watch him. When the leader does an action, he should try to do it so scouts across the room can not see it. The leader does each of the following actions, and continues doing it until it has propagated across the room: • Rub hands together • Snap fingers • Clap hands • Slap thighs • Stomp feet • Slap thighs • Clap hands • Snap fingers • Rub hands • Hands on lap Extra illustrations…… A Harnessed Power Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Honda in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; His presence was like "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But He also works through the church--the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power. Unknown The Cape of Good Hope Do you know that the southernmost point of Africa has for centuries experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope. Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning Christ showed us. His disciples trembled in fear, even after seeing evidence of His resurrection. Eventually, Christ turns their Cape of Storms into a Cape of Good Hope with His appearance and the peace He brings. Pastor Buchs, Peace and Forgiveness The poet William Blake wrote a poem about Pentecost. Part of the poem says: Unless the eye catch fire, God will not be seen. Unless the ear catch fire, God will not be heard. Unless the tongue catch fire, God will not be named. Unless the Heart catch fire, God will not be loved. Unless the mind catch fire, God will not be known. William Blake An Amazing Organization Acts 2:1-11, vs. 6: And at the sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Object: A hand bell. [Begin with the ringing of the bell.] Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! How do you like that for starting a children's sermon? Did that get your attention? What does it mean to ring a bell like I just did? [Let them answer.] What do I want to happen when I ring the bell as I just did? [Let them answer.] That's right, I want all who are present to come together so that I can make an announcement, or tell everyone something that I think they should know. Do you think that would be a good way to do it? A long time ago people did it this way. A man might stand in the middle of the town, if it wasn't too big, and ring his bell, and when all of the people came together he would tell them something that he thought they should know. That isn't exactly what happened a long, long time ago, but it was pretty close. I want to tell you about something that happened in the world just after Jesus went back to live with his heavenly Father. I suppose you remember how disappointed the disciples were when Jesus left and returned to the Father. They were disappointed and afraid. Now, Jesus told them not to worry or be afraid, because very soon after he left, God was going to send someone called the Holy Spirit to them, and they would see more marvelous things happen than even the ones that Jesus did. Well, the disciples wanted to believe that, but they just couldn't. They were so afraid. Then one day, a large wind came to Jerusalem and it made an awful noise. The people were so afraid that they ran out of their houses and into the street. Even the disciples came out of their house where they were hiding and they stood outside with the people of Jerusalem and a lot of other people from a lot of strange countries that the disciples had never visited. This strange wind with the weird noise was kind of like my bell, because it brought the people together. But then even something stranger happened. People began to talk, and you can imagine what it must have sounded like. Everyone was speaking in their own language and they filled the streets with noise. Ordinarily, no one would have been able to understand anyone else, but on that day everyone understood what the others were saying. I told you that Jesus promised when the Holy Spirit came there would even be more marvelous things happen than had ever happened before. Well, this was just one of them. The Holy Spirit started the church that day, and he did it by letting everyone listen to Peter speak, and all of the people understood him. Three thousand people listened and joined the church on that first day, and the disciples believed that Jesus had kept his promise. God is still doing wonderful things like that, but the next time you hear anyone ring a bell, you think of the odd wind that brought people together on the birthday of the church.