Where are the angels in your life?

August 31, 2025 Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16 12th Sunday of Pentecost Year C Where are the Angels in our life? Prelude Greeting Call to Worship for Labor Day God said, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord.” Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest.” We come in the name of the Spirit, resting from our labors, Let us worship God this day! ~ posted on the Presbytery of the Cascades. Prayer for the Day In the face of all our realities: We are the people who heal each other, who grow strong together, who name the truth, who know what it means to live in community, moving toward a common dream for a new heaven and a new earth. In the power of the love of God our Creator, The company of Jesus Christ, And the leading of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Adapted from the people of Pitt Street Uniting Church (Sydney, Australia), Prayers Encircling the World: An International Anthology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 212. Song I was there to Hear your Borning Cry. TFWS 2051 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon Outline: God Never Changes – by Tony Kummer Introduction: • Start by asking children what they do in their morning routine, like brushing their teeth, getting dressed, and eating breakfast. • Explain that these routines involve small changes. Body: • Discuss other things in life that change, like weather, seasons, plants growing, and people growing up. • Mention that change can be good, like a baby growing and learning new things. • Acknowledge that change can also be challenging, even good changes, like getting new teeth or moving to a new house. • Share other examples of challenging changes, like changing teachers, pastors, or friends moving away. • Emphasize that sometimes we wish things wouldn’t change and that change can be scary. Lesson: • Introduce the concept that even though many things in life change, there is one thing that stays the same: God. • Read Hebrews 5:5-10 to teach children that Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) • Explain that this means God never changes, never leaves us, and always loves and cares for us, just like we take care of our children. • Share that even when things are hard or confusing, God is always with us. • Remind children that Jesus loves them and will never leave them, and they can always rely on him. Conclusion: • End by saying a prayer thanking God for never changing and always being with us. • Encourage children to trust in God and rely on him, even when things are changing. Teacher Script: Hello, children! Today we’re going to talk about change. Can you think of things in your life that change? (Allow children to share their answers.) That’s right! Many things change, like the weather, the seasons, and even ourselves! Change can be good, like when a baby grows and learns new things. But sometimes change can be hard, even good changes, like moving to a new house or making new friends. Do you ever wish things wouldn’t change? (Allow children to share their answers.) Even though many things change in our lives, there’s one very important thing that never changes: God! The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever. That means God never leaves us, never changes, and always loves and cares for us, just like we take care of you. So, even when things are hard or confusing, remember that God is always with us. We can always count on him and rely on his love. Let’s say a prayer together and thank God for always being with us. (Lead the children in a prayer.) Remember, children, God never changes, and he will always love you! Labor Day Liturgy (Put on Insert) Litany of Labor: A. Let us pray to the Lord of all creation, from whom comes life and work and purpose. Almighty God, when you formed us lovingly out of the dust of the earth, you breathed into us the breath of life and gave us work and purpose for living. C. You placed Adam in the garden of Eden to till and keep it. A. Through our work, you made us co-creators with you, shaping the world in which we live. C. You gave dignity to our labor by sending your Son to labor with us. A. By our labor, you enrich the world. C. By our labor, we enjoy the fruits of creation. A. By our labor, we find direction and purpose. C. By our labor, our families are made secure. A. For providing varieties of work and for blessing us by our labor: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who plow the field and those who make the plow; for farmers and farm workers, for steelworkers and machinists; for those who work with their hands and those who move the earth: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who tend the sick and those who seek new cures; for doctors and nurses, for scientists and technicians; for those who keep notes and those who transcribe: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who think and those who create; for inventors and explorers, for artists and musicians; for those who write books and those who entertain: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who work in offices and those who work in warehouses; for secretaries and receptionists, for stockers and bookkeepers; for those who market products and for those who move them: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who inspire our minds and those who motivate us; for teachers and preachers, for public servants and religious servants; those who help the poor and those who work with our children: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those whose labor is tidiness and cleanliness; for janitors and sanitary workers, for drycleaners and maids; for those who produce cleaning products and those who use them: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who sail the waves and those who fly the skies; for captains and attendants, for astronauts and deep sea divers; for those who chart and those who navigate: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. You bless us all with skills and gifts for labor. C. You provide us opportunities to use them, for the benefit of others as well as ourselves. A. Guard and protect those who labor in the world. C. Bless the work of our hands, O Lord. A. Look kindly upon the unemployed and the disabled. C. Give health to the sick, hope to the bereaved. A. Keep us from laboring only for greed. C. Make us loving and responsible in all that we do. P. Creator Lord, you are the source of all wisdom and purpose, you are the blessing of those who labor. Be with us in our labor to guide and govern our world. Give all men and women work that enhances human dignity and bonds us to one another. Give us pride in our work, a fair return for our labor, and joy in knowing that our work finds its source in you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. C. Amen. (Thomas L. Weitzel) Passing of the Peace Scripture Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Sermon Where are the Angels in our Life? What is the one thing in life that we all can’t live without? The one thing that is catching on life wildfire. 50 years ago, even 40 years ago, no one would have even cared. But as time went on – it became a part of everyone’s life. Now we take it with us everywhere that we go. If we forget about it, you will soon turn around just to get it. If you want to ignore it – there is something that draws you back in. It is a part of every aspect of your life, you can’t do anything without it. I would like to say that I am talking about Jesus, but I am talking about our cell phones. I would like to say that the pulpit is the one place where I don’t need my phone. But today I needed to make sure that it was fully charged, so that it can record the service. My phone has become my constant companion. When I am driving I have to bring it with me so that I can get driving directions and to listen to music. Even when I come the church and want to use my computer – I have to go back home to get my phone in order to get the code to sign in. If I exercise, I need my phone to record my steps, if I check my bold pressure I need to record it on my phone. The harder I try to disengage from my phone, the more dependent I become on my phone. What used to be true for boats is now equally true for cell phones. The best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “upgrade” from a version “3" to “4” to “5” . . . it seems that only minutes later there is a version “6.” Almost as soon as you can get out your credit card, you are the proud owner of a dodo or a dinosaur. Cell phone companies try to tie their customers to a strict “upgrade” schedule to keep them using their older model phones for two to three years. But lately the competition between all the big name “smart phone” providers has become so intense that the “upgrade” limits have been tumbling down or trashed altogether. All the major competitors seem to be welcoming the return of still warm “hot-off-the-presses” models in order to get new customers for their latest version of the twenty-first century’s “third eye” the eye that is a one-stop guide through an increasingly dense and entangled information jungle. The newest, biggest draw or more accurately, the most relationship-trashing, out-with the-old/in-the-only-moments-new draw among smart phone adversaries is how easy is the access and adaptability of the “home page.” Cell phone providers are focused on making it easier and more intuitive for you to completely customize your “Home Page.” The most advanced smart phones make it easy for you to simply touch the screen of your smart phone after finding a new “like,” and drag it to your personal home page. You might say one’s “home page” is the new “home land” — the habitation of all our personal loves and loyalties. Our “home page” is a small, safe, satisfying universe around which our lives orbit. Our home page is our “YOUniverse.” What’s on your “home page”? How do you decide what makes it onto the “home page” of your “youniverse?” What is it that you want personally to experience and engage every day? Shopping deals? Auction sites? Video clips? Breaking news? Stock updates? Gossip networks? Music trends? In this week’s epistle text, the final chapter of “The Letter to the Hebrews,” the author offers an alternative to all those self-interests. The “home page” today’s text downloads is totally devoted to Jesus. Jesus is our “home page.” What the Hebrews’ author is saying is that everything in your life, whatever it is, can be “touched” and then “dragged” back to our own personal Jesus “home page.” We can “touch” good stuff offering hospitality and welcoming those who are uprooted and unknown, touching the unclean, visiting prisoners, both in prisons made of steel bars and prisons made of emotional bars. All that is “good stuff” that can be touched and dragged to our home page. But even if we “drag” back some questionable quests to our “home page,” not to worry. Jesus will help us figure it out. The ethical, empathetic and, most essentially, loving software provided by Jesus’s spirit will clear out all the toxic viruses and soul-sucking spam that the world sends our way. After all, the human soul was not created for sin, but for the presence of God in all God’s purity, peace and power. That’s what belongs on our home page: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” (Phil.4:8), this belongs on our home page. Jesus is the constant in our lives. Scripture reminds us that cell phone technology is always changing. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus is our constant. The spirit of Christ is the one thing that we cannot leave home without. So, not only is Jesus the center of our lives- he is the source of our being. Jesus is our reason for being. Hebrews 13: 15-16 says 15 So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. 16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices. Praising Jesus is not just what we do when we come together on Sunday, it is how we live our lives. Hebrews gives us 3 ways to praise Jesus in everything. 1. Keep on loving – we should pass the love that we get from God onto to others. 2. Keep living by God’s law – Mutual love as the framework of the passage Keep what is mutual love? a. hospitality to strangers i. “The admonition ‘not to neglect hospitality to strangers’ sounds a bit grudging to modern ears, in which a more positive formulation would be welcome. Rhetorically however, the saying function to emphasize the importance of hospitality. In other words, not to neglect hospitality is to make certain that it is carried out.” (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year C, p. 492) b. compassion to prisoners i. “Prisoners had tmo depend on those outside for food beyond basic prison rations, for clothing and other items; guards sometimes required bribes even to grant this much access. Prisons detained people until trial or execution, but prisoners could remain in custody for long periods of time until trial.” (NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes p. 2180) c. faithful relationships d. extravagant stewardship e. sacrificial worship 3. Keep trusting in God’s word and direction. Verses 3-5 says it all: 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. 4 Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. 5 Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[a] Keeping Christ first boils down to mutual love and hospitality. Loving and sharing with one another, and showing hospitality to the stranger. A lot of times I think we make the mistake of thinking that as Christians we should do one or the other. Either we focus on loving the people we know, or we seek out those we don’t know. But In Jesus world, they are one in the same. As I think about God's best gift to us, I think of Jesus Christ. God so loved us that he gave us his only begotten Son. Every year during Advent, we sing carols that tell of his lowly birth. We picture that tiny babe of Bethlehem and remake how cute he is. We feel good, because babies always make us feel good. But we need to remember that with Advent comes a foreshadowing of Good Friday, a reminder that his purpose was all about sacrifice. I want you to think about your relationship with Jesus Christ. How has he blessed you? Has he been there in your trials and in those moments when you have needed a rock to hold onto? Think about the story of Calvary. He told you that his body was given for you, broken for your sin as an offering to God. He told you his blood was poured out as an offering to seal the new covenant of eternal life. Jesus gave us his best gift and then he promised that it was just the beginning. How are you going to respond to that? How will you offer your first gift of praise? Will you declare that you will come to worship him at church regularly for the next year? Will you declare that you will find a ministry that you can get involved with and take a lead so that your offering can bless others? Will you pick up your Bible and choose to read it regularly and even consider joining a Bible study so you can learn more about all of God's promises? Will you offer yourself to God and let him use you to bless your family, by promising to spend more time at home and with your children? Many of us have dedicated our homes to Christ and godly life. Will you find a way, a unique way that only you can find, to praise God in the coming months? Each of us was created in the image of God and yet we are each a unique individual with gifts given by God. Use your gifts to honor and praise God. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (Middle Third): God Is Rock Solid, by Clayton A. Lord We express the love that God shared with us to everyone. The CEB version of our scripture starts out by saying – Love each other like family. We have to keep expanding our definition of family. B. Dale Galloway told a great story years ago in his book, Dream a New Dream. It is about a shy little boy by the name of Chad. One day Chad came home and said, "You know what, Mom? Valentines' Day is coming and I want to make a valentine for everyone in my class." Mom's heart sank and she thought, "Oh, how I wish he would not do that." Because every afternoon she watched all the kids coming home from school, and they would be laughing and hanging onto each other, books under their arms, all except for Chad. He always walked behind the rest of the kids. But Mom was a good Mom, so she went along with Chad's idea. So glue, paper and crayons were purchased. For three weeks Chad painstakingly made thirty five valentines. When the day came to deliver the valentines, he was so excited! This was his day. He stacked those valentines under his arm and he ran out the door. His mother thought, "You know, this is going to be a tough day for Chad. I'm going to bake some cookies and give him some milk when he comes home from school and maybe that will ease the pain. He probably won't be getting very many valentines." That afternoon she had warm cookies and a glass of milk sitting on the table. She went over to the window to watch as the kids came home. Sure enough, here came the big gang of kids, laughing, valentines under their arms. They had really done well. And there was Chad, coming up behind. He was walking faster than usual and Mom thought, "Bless his heart, he is ready to burst into tears. His arms are empty." As Chad came into the house, and Mom said, "Mom has some warm cookies and milk for you." But Chad's face was all aglow. He just marched right by her and all he could say was, "I didn't forget a one, not a single one!" (1) That's the spirit of "philos," that's the spirit of mutual love. We may not be able to get everyone to love us in return, but that should never keep us from giving our love. Because love is the key to life and faith. The author reminds us that the measure of our new life in Christ is our ability to love. Radiate Love. "Let mutual love continue." Through love the stranger become family. Hospitality to strangers is a cherished tradition in Middle Eastern countries. There is an old legend that tells how Abraham pitched his great tent at a crossroad. The flaps of that tent were lifted on all four sides so that he might discern the approach of any stranger and hasten out to meet him. Once, when Abraham ran out to offer his hospitality to three strangers, he discovered that they were angels. They blessed him, of course. Maybe that is the story the writer of Hebrews had in mind. Hospitality. Kindness to strangers. It's something we are short on in this modern world. We teach our children to be fearful of strangers. And if a stranger pulls out in front of us in traffic, we become enraged. Hospitality. What a sweet concept it is--particularly when we are on the receiving end. “If you've ever been the stranger," writes Billy D. Strayhorn, “or the new kid on the block, then you know that it's frightening and unpleasant. And we don't like frightening and unpleasant. Who does? It ties our stomachs into knots and gives us nightmares. It unsettles our lives. “Jim Morrison and the Doors, a rock group from the sixties wrote a song with a haunting melody and lyrics titled "˜People Are Strange.' The song talks about being the stranger. Its words go: "˜People are strange when you're a stranger, faces look ugly when you're alone. Women seem wicked when you're unwanted. Streets are uneven when you are down. When you're strange, faces come out of the rain, when you're strange. No one remembers your name, when you're strange, when you're strange.' Then it repeats." (2) If you have ever been a stranger, a newcomer, then you know how great it feels to encounter any show of hospitality, no matter how small. Jesus said, “A cup of cold water given to a stranger in my name will not go unrewarded." (Matthew 10:42) Last week I was having lunch with a group of pastors. The owner of the restaurant comes up to us to make sure everything was okay. In the midst of talking, he shares his story. He explains that he has cancer and the doctors have told him that there is nothing more that they can do. We invite him to come back to our meeting so that we can pray for him. He comes back and shares more of his story and more of his preparations to die. In that moment, Juan moves from a stranger to family. I think of him everyday, and pray for his peace in the midst of an unthinkable situation. What does mutual look like in your life? How do you show mutual love to others? What does mutual love look like in the face of the general divisiveness of current culture? How do we promote and practice mutual love with those whom we greatly disagree? God is not the name of the supreme being. It is just the name that we use. God is not a person or thing that we touch, God is a way of being, a way of showing love. In other words, God is not the name of God. The word “God” which we thoughtlessly use for the name of God is really just a greeting. In the Talmud it states that “the name of God is peace” (shalom), and “shalom” is the most basic Hebrew greeting word. Our English “hello” is derived from the good-health greetings “Whole be thou,” or “Hail thou” (see Luke 1:28; Matthew 27:14) where “hail” means “healthy.” In the earliest forms of the English language, “God” was a hospitality greeting that meant “Hello there,” and “hello” is a shirt-tail cousin of greetings that incurred God’s peace, wholeness and the personal presence. The word “God” is not God’s name. The name of God is nameless. God has no name. “God” is not God’s Proper Name. God’s title is “I Am” or “YHWH” or “"that than which none greater can be conceived." The word “God” is actually an expression of Hospitality and Healing/Health/Wholeness. And “God” in English means “Hello There” or “Health to you.” If “God” is not “God’s” name, “God” is still the ultimate expression of the good, the true, the beautiful extended towards others. So every time you say “Hello” to someone, you are really dragging them to your home page and blessing them. “Hello” is nothing less than your hospitable extension to every person you meet of God’s healing and anointing presence, and your recognition that we all share the roles of host, stranger, and guest. “Hello” is an invitation to someone to share a home page. “Hello” is a welcome to God’s wholeness and well-being. And so is “Good-bye” . . . or “God be with you.” Let’s extend a “Hello” to each other this morning, but after inviting people to you home page with a “Hello,” say to each person you greet the gift you are really giving them: “wholeness and well-being.” The ultimate in hospitality is not giving and receiving gifts. The ultimate in hospitality is sharing one’s space, which is what we do as the body of Christ. The ultimate in a home page is being with another person, which is what brings wholeness and well-being. So this morning: “Hello — Wholeness and Well-being to you.” God is love in action. God is a being so that we can learn to be, God speaks to us so that we know what to say, God loves us so that we can love others. Love wins yesterday, today and tomorrow. Let us love one another like family and keep expanding on our definition to include the prisoner, the stranger, your spouse, your possessions and everything that God loves. Let love be a part of everything that we do! Let us pray for strength! Song Here I am Lord UMH 593 Prayer Yesterday, God of our days, when our hunger for hope had so weakened us we could barely speak, you fed us with the Bread of life, spread with the sweet honey of your grace. Today, Host to the poor, when we look for you in the powerful and the rich, among the superstar and celebrity, we will find you seated with the children, your knees squeezed painfully under the table, entertaining them with your stories. Tomorrow, Spirit of Service, when we will be scrambling for the seats of honor, you will be in the kitchen cooking dinner for the prisoners; making up the guest room for the immigrants; singing lullabies of love to the lost children of our world. Amen. Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman Lord’s Prayer DO NOT PRINT - God in Community, Holy in One: yesterday, today, tomorrow, always, we will pray as Jesus has taught us, Stewardship Moment Some of us may remember the 1960s. Others may have heard stories about the huge shifts in the cultural identity of people across the US. What do you remember or know about “counter-cultural” life? Often, reading the Gospels brings us to awareness of how counter-cultural Jesus is. Our reading from Luke 14 clearly points this out as Jesus teaches followers to function humbly rather than presumptuously at a wedding banquet. Once again, Jesus uses a common image to communicate about how God’s Realm works – a wedding banquet giving us an image for the heavenly banquet when all creation gathers. How counter-cultural is this: Don’t take the best seat! You might get bumped “down.” Rather, take the less desirable seat, from which the host might invite you to move “up” to a better seat. As we come to our offering, the counter-cultural idea might translate to “don’t flash your finances, announcing how much you give.” Or, don’t make sure everyone around you honors you for your giving. Of course, generosity is a high value but not when accompanied by bragging or boasting. Rather, let your giving be a loving response to the abundance of your life, and an eager sharing with those who struggle. All are invited to share financially in support of the “counter-cultural” Christ we seek to follow. Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, we offer these tithes and gifts as one sign of our desire to follow Jesus, who fully shared his life with the least, the lost, the lonely. No blazing advertisement, no blasting rock band, no boasting braggado; but grateful givers sharing symbols of our lives in check, coin and on-line connections. Accept our gifts, and help inspire us to use them to build up your Realm here in this corner of the cosmos. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Having listened to God's words, we are sent to serve others. Today and tomorrow, we will follow where God leads. Having joined in songs of praise and hope, we will carry these gifts into the world. Today and tomorrow, we will serve beside Jesus. Having been filled with the Spirit of justice, we will go to be with all who struggle. Today and tomorrow, we will bring justice and peace to those around us. (Lectionary Litrugies, Thom Shuman) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Children of God, go from this place in the blessing of the Triune God, our Helper and our Friend, offering your sacrifice of praise and sharing what you have as you spread the love of God in mutuality and care to the ends of the earth and back again. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, March 2025. Additional Illustrations In today's epistle text the writer of Hebrews concludes his remarks on the cosmic-wide shaking and quaking that will accompany God's final housecleaning with a point-by-point, action-by-action laundry list of good acts disciples of Jesus should do and be seen doing. Here's one of the great juxtapositions of the Bible: the juxtaposition between the shaking of heaven and earth by a vast omnipotent deity in chapter 12, and the small acts of solidarity, love, compassion, and steadfastness called for in chapter 13. At first flush they seem almost comically incongruous. What does it matter what each one of us may or may not do in our own lives, within our own families, in the midst of our own community of faith, when God is preparing to conduct a thorough, global, indeed cosmic shake-down? Tim Kimmel tells the story of love. In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden of Sing Sing Prison. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some twenty years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here's what he said: "I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls." She knew how to live a life pleasing to God. Catherine Lawes was a young woman with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn't stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went ... walking into the gym with her three beautiful children, she sat in the stands with the inmates. Her attitude was: "My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don't have to worry." She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind, so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, "Do you read Braille?" "What's Braille?" he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later, he would weep in love for her. Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921-1937. Then she was killed in a car accident. The next morning, Lewis Lawes didn't come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong. The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, meanest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, "All right men, you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight." Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, three-quarters of a mile to stand in line and pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. And every one of them checked back in that night. Every one. When you live a life of praise before God, it doesn't seem like a sacrifice — it seems like a blessing. Ask Billy or Mother Teresa or Catherine Lawes, and they will tell you it wasn't a sacrifice at all. In fact, they were blessed by their choice. Think about your own relationship with your children or grandchildren. You make sacrifices for them, and you do it out of love. It is as though you were offering your life to God. He follows these exhortations with teaching about sex and money, two important ways that we are called to be faithful. We all know how much hurt is caused by sexual infidelity. We see the pain splashed across our television screens, as celebrity marriages crumble from unfaithfulness. Let the church demonstrate to the world that we can practice self-discipline and build committed relationships. This is why doctrine matters. We need to understand Christ rightly. Hebrews teaches us of a Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We rejoice in that stability. Jesus still reveals God to us, still takes away our sins. Hebrews also teaches us of a Christ who speaks to us in ways we can hear. Let us open ourselves to the ways Christ speaks to us now. What need do we have? What pain are we carrying? In what ways do we need to grow? That is where we will find Christ. Hebrews teaches of a Christ who is always the same, but who will meet us where we need to be met. Amen. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. “Where have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. “It's fine," he told her, “I'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. “There was no real age to him," Melissa says. “No wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, “He was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." “Who was that guy?" she asked. “You're not going to believe me," Chris said. “Yes, I will," she answered. “He was an angel," Chris said. “My guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. “All I had to do was to look at him," she says now, “to know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. “After the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. “I worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. “Chris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. “I know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) Not everyone feels like that, of course. In the movie Red River, tough guy Walter Brennan looks out across the horizon and sees a stranger approaching. He has no idea what the man's intentions are, but he's not looking forward to the meeting. He explains his reasoning to John Wayne, “No stranger," he says, “ever good-newsed me." (3) Well, I've been “good-newsed" by many strangers. And so have you. One of the reasons that we ought always to be kind to strangers is that some of these strangers will bless us mightily. You see, angels come to us in many forms. It was a rainy night in New Orleans; At a bus station in the town, I watched a young girl weeping As her baggage was taken down. It seems she'd lost her ticket Changing buses in the night. She begged them not to leave her there With no sign of help in sight. The bus driver had a face of stone And his heart was surely the same. “Losing your ticket's like losing cash money," He said, and left her in the rain. Then an old Indian man stood up And blocked the driver's way And would not let him pass before He said what he had to say. “How can you leave that girl out there? Have you no God to fear? You know she had a ticket. You can't just leave her here. You can't put her out in a city Where she doesn't have a friend. You will meet your schedule, But she might meet her end." The driver showed no sign That he'd heard or even cared About the young girl's problem Or how her travels fared. So the old gentleman said, “For her fare I'll pay. I'll give her a little money To help her on her way." He went and bought the ticket And helped her to her place And helped her put her baggage In the overhead luggage space. “How can I repay," she said, “the kindness you've shown tonight? We're strangers who won't meet again A mere "˜ 'thank you "˜doesn't seem right." He said, “What goes around comes around. This I've learned with time - -What you give, you always get back; What you sow, you reap in kind. Always be helpful to others And give what you can spare; For by being kind to strangers, We help angels unaware. Maybe it won't be the kind of angel Melissa Deal Forth felt she met the night her husband died. Some experiences are beyond our understanding. But there are flesh-and-blood angels who can bring good things into our lives if we will give them the opportunity. Kindness to strangers is how we open ourselves and others to that opportunity. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers . . ." If you could win an Olympic medal, which would you prefer the silver or the bronze? The answer appears obvious, doesn’t it? The silver is for second place; the bronze is for third. Or is it as simple as it sounds? Kent Crockett, in his book I Once Was Blind but Now I Squinttells about a surprising study of Olympic medal winners. You would assume that the silver medal winners would be happier than the bronze medalists since they received a higher honor, but that isn’t always the case. The bronze medalists, who came in third place, were actually found to be happier with their performance than the silver medalists, who finished in second place. The former Olympians explained why they felt this way. The third-place winners were thrilled just to have won a medal. The silver medalists, on the other hand, felt like losers because they didn’t come in first. “This just goes to show,” says Crockett, “that what happens to you isn’t nearly as important as how you perceive what happens to you.” (1) Here is the first part of the formula: keep on loving. Now you may ask, love whom? And the answer is, of course, everybody. Love people you go to church with, people you live with, people you work with. But also love people you don’t even know. More than that, love people you normally wouldn’t even associate with. Jack was an insurance salesman, but he cared about his clients in a very real way. He was a leader in his community, a man of integrity, but also a man of humility. He treated everyone the same, the clerk in the convenience store and the CEO of the large corporation. He treated everyone with respect and dignity. Jack found time in his busy schedule to be involved in ministries to the homeless. He never judged them, never looked down on them. He only wanted to help them turn their lives around. Jack also took time to mentor young people not only in his industry, but also those who were struggling to get started in other areas of life. He was a positive, cheerful man who never said a mean word about anyone. He was a leader in the large Episcopal Church in his community, and when he died a couple of years ago, in his late seventies, his funeral attracted one of the largest crowds in the history of that church, for he had touched many lives. Jack was a man who kept on loving regardless of the circumstances. Friends, such people are not fictitious. They are real people, and they embody the kind of life that the writer of Hebrews is commending. Keep on loving. Love everybody family members, friends, co-workers everybody. In the most famous portion of our lesson the writer says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” The phrase “entertaining angels” refers to that memorable scene in Genesis when Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. Legend has it that the flaps of Abraham’s tent were lifted on all four sides so that he might discern the approach of any stranger and hasten to meet him. On this particular day he saw three men apparently needing help. This was not unusual. There were no motels, no fancy restaurants, no places for weary travelers to turn for hospitality. So people in the Middle East often prided themselves on their hospitality. Abraham did not turn away those in need of help. So, at the appearance of these three strangers, he sprang to his feet, called to Sarah for help, and the two of them quickly ministered to these men. It was fortunate that they did. Abraham discovered that he was host to three messengers of God in disguise. When he was the gracious host, God was an even more gracious God. God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child. The message of Hebrews is clear: love everybody, those you know and those you don’t. In fact, make a special attempt to be kind to strangers. The second is, keep on living by God’s law. Singer/songwriter Jack Johnson gives voice to a common lament when he asks, “Where’d all the good people go?/ I’ve been changing channels/ and I don’t see them on the TV shows./ Where’d all the good people go?” (5) Well. There are many good people in the world. They come of every race and creed. But we are drifting . . . Keep on trusting. Listen as the writer continues, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid . . .’” Successful living is a package and you cannot pick and choose among the core principles. You cannot live a successful life without these first two principles, “Keep on loving” and “Keep on living according to God’s law.” And the reason we are able to fulfill these two demanding challenges is that we trust God. In April 1988 a tragic event took place. A photographer who was a skydiver jumped from a plane along with a group of other skydivers in order to film the group as they fell. On the film shown on the evening network news, as this skydiving photographer opened his chute, the picture went berserk. Here’s why. He had absent-mindedly jumped out of the plane without his parachute. It wasn’t until he reached for the absent ripcord that he realized he was freefalling without any means of slowing his descent. (8) Faith in Jesus Christ is our parachute. It allows us to live triumphantly in a world that would beat us down. It allows us to love with great passion. It allows us to live according to our best values, whether or not our way of living finds favor with our peers. And when all is said and done, we discover this is living at its best. How do we know that’s true? Some of us are fortunate enough to see it lived out in those who were role models for us. Our parents, leaders in our community, Sunday School teachers, perhaps even employers people we know like Jack whom we mentioned earlier who lived successfully because they followed these principles. The writer closes this passage with these words, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” That’s what we want to know, isn’t it? Our parachute is secure. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Keep on loving, keep on living by God’s commands, and remember in every circumstance, God says to you, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Such an approach to life is a winner every time. I remember a story about Charlie Chaplain. He once read that there was to be a Charlie Chaplain look-alike contest. He thought it would be fun to enter anonymously, which he did. He came in sixth! He was right in front of them, but they didn't know him. Angels can bring us the word of God through human beings who appear to be anything but angelic. Our task is to be open, and offer hospitality to those who come seeking. They may have a message for us. And we might change their lives. B. There's on old movie, 1940, starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogard and Ann Southern. Brother Orchid is about Little Johnny Sarto, a big time racketeer who grows tired of the gangland activities. He tries to quit and pursue his quest for real class and refinement. After a not so successful trip to Europe Johnny finds his old haunts and colleagues not so welcoming. Johnny finds himself a marked man and narrowly escapes being murdered after the Humphrey Bogard character Jack and his boys take him out into the woods to finish him off. Johnny escapes, wounded, and finds his way to a secluded Monastery where he is taken in by the kindly monks and brought back to health. Along the way Johnny learns a few things about life. And what he regarded as initially an ideal hideout until he could plot his revenge against Jack, turns into a life changing experience and the one time hood becomes the placid, life appreciating "Brother Orchid." Despite the chance of reclaiming his turf, Johnny returns to the monastery where he at last finds the real "class" in life, not in possessions or money but in the company of decent, honest men who have their own class simply by who and what they are, not what they can get. It's not a great movie but it's got great ending. And points to the whole concept of "Hospitality" and how Christian love and care can effect those who receive it. Radiate Love. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers." You and I are called to Sow Love, or to Radiate Love wherever we go. We're called to a life of "Mutual Love that reaches out to both the Stranger and those outside our doors." Radiate the Love of Christ in all you do. • For love to be mutual- it must happen in community o Church is the community of mutual love o Mutual love is the foundation of “doing good and sharing what you have” o Mutual love is the foundation of being in relationship with God that we can confidently confess: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"

Angels Among Us (repreach 8/28/16)

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington August 28, 2022 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 12th Sunday of Pentecost Year C Angels Among Us Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship L: Jesus said, "Love one another, even as I have loved you." P: Love is more powerful than fear; it is mightier than hatred. L: Let the love which God has lavished upon us be poured out to those in need. P: Help us, O Lord, to witness to you by the ways in which we care for others. L: Remind us, Lord, that we are called to be your disciples. P: As we worship this morning, heal our hearts and spirits and prepare us for service. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Invocation God, we come this gathering of community where there are no barriers, and all our abilities are celebrated as gifts. We come to receive your hospitality of caring for each one of us and to learn from you how to offer such a celebration to stranger, friend, chosen family, those whose faces are unfamiliar to us, and the face who meets us in the mirror. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Maren Tirabassi) Song Shine Jesus Shine TFWS 2173 Children’s Sermon Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 Most of you probably know what this is. It is a kaleidoscope. When you hold a kaleidoscope up to the light, you see beautiful colors and designs. When you twist the end of the kaleidoscope, the designs are constantly changing. I can remember when I was a child. I would spend hours looking at the beautiful colors and designs in a kaleidoscope. Sometimes I would see a design that was so beautiful that I would want to save it, but when I would move the kaleidoscope ever so slightly, the image would change. No matter how long or how hard I tried, I could never recapture that image again. That is the way it is with a kaleidoscope, it is never the same. It is always changing. We live in a world that is like that. Our world is constantly changing. People change, the seasons change, knowledge changes. Nothing ever seems to stay the same. In a world that is constantly changing, it would be nice if there was at least one thing that we could count on to stay the same when everything around us is changing. Well, there is something that never changes. The Bible tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." When everything around us is changing and we don't know what to believe or what to think, we can always know that Jesus remains the same. His love for us remains the same. His truth remains the same. That is one thing we can count on. Thank you, Jesus, for your love that never changes. We are so thankful that we can count on you to remain the same when everything around us is changing! (Sermons4Kids) Prayer for Illumination Eternal God, your Word speaks truth into our lives. When we humble ourselves to listen, you mature us with knowledge and strengthened faith. Open us to your Word read and proclaimed today, so we might hear and embrace the message you intend for us. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Scripture Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Sermon Angels Among us August 28, 2016 Hebrews 13 This is the 4th week that we have been looking at Hebrews. Each of the last chapters of the book have a special message on what it means to be a Christian. Many scholars believe that the author takes a very sharp turn in the last chapter of the book, chapter 13. Some wonder if it was added later, but I think that it just wraps up the Christian life perfectly. When Christ is the head of your life, things are different. Your whole life just takes a different turn. You have different relationships, for different reasons and with different results. The theme of the Christian life is faith, hope and love. In chapter 11 we talked about faith, in chapter 12 we talked about hope and today in chapter 13 we put it all together with love. But not just any love – mutual love, the type of love that you can only get in community with other Christians. I got into an argument with a church member at church council, because I said that you cant be a Christian on a desert island. Reading the bible and thinking nice thoughts does not make you a Christian. The only way to truly be a Christian is to go to church and participate. What makes you a Christian is how you deal with people. How you interact with people. Not just any people, but people who have come together for a common cause. If the church is what it is supposed to be, it is not just a group of friends. The church should be a group of strangers, who have nothing in common, but who God called to journey to the same place together. Worshipping with People We Didn't Hand-Pick Writer and NPR commentator Heather King, a recovering alcoholic who has come to faith in Christ, reflected on her initial experience with the church: My first impulse was to think, My God, I don't want to get sober (or in the case of the church, worship) with THESE nutcases! (or boring people, or people with different politics, taste in music, food, books, or whatever). Nothing shatters our egos like worshipping with people we did not hand-pick …. The humiliation of discovering that we are thrown in with extremely unpromising people!—people who are broken, misguided, wishy-washy, out for themselves. People who are … us. But we don't come to church to be with people who are like us in the way we want them to be. We come because we have staked our souls on the fact that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the church is the best place, the only place, to be while we all struggle to figure out what that means. We come because we'd be hard pressed to say which is the bigger of the two scandals of God: that he loves us—or that he loves everyone else. Adapted from Heather King, "The Better Church," Shirt of Flameblog (10-23-11) If your patience is not being challenged, then it is not Christian community. The test of how well we are doing as a church is how well we are able to reach out to new people, and make them feel welcome. Not as we expect them to be but as God expects them to be. How well do we let them explore and use their relationship with God. And if we are all truly finding God in our lives, we are able to get along with one another. That is mutual love. The book of Hebrews gives several examples of places where mutual love is important. In prison, in encounters with strangers, with mentors, even while shopping and in marriage. Did you know that there is only one insurance company in America that will sell you marriage insurance, where you get a pay off if your marriage fails? You can have your fingers insured if you are a pianist, you can have your face insured if you are a model. But when you are applying for a marriage license, you cant buy insurance in case your marriage fails. You can sign a prenuptial agreement in order to protect your property. You can buy life insurance in case your spouse dies. But even money hungry insurance agencies realize that if you don’t have mutual love, then you don’t have a marriage. Your relationship with your spouse if between you and them, and God. All three of your all have to work at it. Mutual love means that God has to be a part of all of your relationships. And part of everything that you do. The scripture says Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. God will judge the person who does wrong, so that you don’t have to. We can love them even in the midst of doing what needs to be done for our wellbeing. That applies to our relationships with others as well. We need God in order to get along and connect with anybody. God should be a part of our relationships and our lives. In verse 5 and six, the scripture says Afterall he said that I will never abandon you that is why you can say the lord is my helper I will not be afraid. Because God makes a promise to us, we can rest assured, stay faithful and make the promises that we need to make. God said I will hold you in the palm of my hand, so we can say everything will be okay. God said I love you, so we can say I love you to others. God said I will provide for you, so we can freely give to others. As a Christian everything that we do should be about God. What God says to us, so we can do the same for others. That is mutual love – love where God cares for both of us equally. Hebrews chapter 13 starts out by saying treat each other life family. Open our doors to guest, because by doing so, we have entertained angels. That is a reference to the Abraham story, where Abraham invited three men into his house, not knowing that they were angels with a message from god. Tradition says that Abraham had a tent, and that he intentionally kept all four flaps of the tent open at all times in order to keep an eye out for strangers in need, in any direction. He was able to spot the 3 strangers in need from over a mile away. Now remember, the word angel means messenger from God. Angels come in all shaped and sizes. You never know who you are going to meet, who will bring a message from God. Just as I have learned to look for pennies on the ground everyday. I have learned to look for angels. Messengers who god sent into my life. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. Where have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. "It's fine," he told her, "I'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. "There was no real age to him," Melissa says. "No wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, "He was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." "Who was that guy?" she asked. "You're not going to believe me," Chris said. "Yes, I will," she answered. "He was an angel," Chris said. "My guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. "All I had to do was to look at him," she says now, "to know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. "After the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. "I worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. "Chris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. "I know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) Not everyone feels like that, of course. In the movie Red River, tough guy Walter Brennan looks out across the horizon and sees a stranger approaching. He has no idea what the man's intentions are, but he's not looking forward to the meeting. He explains his reasoning to John Wayne, "No stranger," he says, "ever good-newsed me." (3) Well, I've been "good-newsed" by many strangers. And so have you. One of the reasons that we ought always to be kind to strangers is that some of these strangers will bless us mightily. You see, angels come to us in many forms. I have been good news by a stranger many times. The message is for us to be hospitable to others, but it is much deeper than than. We have to live each day with God in our lives, we have to include God in all of our relationships. With family, with church members, with spouse, with others, and sometimes even with ourselves. When we have God with us, then we also have mutual love present. In order to be happy we have to have faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love. God is present when we show love. Amen, Song Pass it On UMH 572 Pastoral Prayer For some of us here today, Lord, we wish the summer would never end. We have enjoyed opportunities to travel, to relax, to break away from schedules and hectic calendars. For others, there is the thrill of entering the new season; looking forward to the challenges ahead. On this Labor Sunday we gather to receive your blessings once again, that we may recognize your presence in our lives and use the gifts that you have given to us in service to others. As we have offered names and situations to you in prayer for your compassionate healing love, we add our names as well. Heal our wounds, we pray. Enable us to be strong in our commitment to you by serving others in need. Keep us open always to your abiding love. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship (from Hebrews 13:16) “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (tell your own short story of sharing, or use this one) In another congregation, a man came to my office and asked if we could talk. “Of course”, I responded, and showed him to a seat. Before sitting down, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Jumping right into the reason he had come, he declared, “I was given an unexpected bonus at work, and I want your help, to pay some bills.” “I’d be glad to help.” “I want this to be anonymous. Would you take this cash to the utility company, and pay for a month of utilities for Elizabeth and another month for Thomas?” Dumb-founded, I saw he was handing me several hundred dollars to pay bills for two members of our congregation! I agreed to be the courier, and assured him this gift would be anonymous. He smiled, got up, lit up the room with his grin, and declared, “I think this is something that would make Jesus smile!” As we share our tithes, gifts and offerings, consider how you are doing something good as you share what you have. Imagine how your sharing will be pleasing to God! (or “Imagine how this moment would make Jesus smile!”) Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy Giver of Life, thank you for Jesus! Thank you for the teaching we continue to receive through the words of scripture. And thank you for this opportunity to “do something good”. May our gifts, and our lives, be sacrifices which are pleasing to you. AMEN (Disciple’s of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Practice humility and hospitality. Invite the lowly to your table. Remember the imprisoned and the tortured. Honor your covenants. Be content with what you have. Love God, and walk in God's ways. May the way we live offer praise to God, our helper and our strength. And may God feed you with the finest wheat and the sweetest honey. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Community Time Benediction Beloved of the Lord, go in peace, knowing that God's peace will be with you always. Go in service in God's world, helping those in need, sharing the gifts you have been given. Go in love, bring hope to all. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations

Living our Best Life

September 1, 2019 Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16 12th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Living Our Best Life Object: If you can find one, a ladybug. If not, a piece of fruit happiness into another person's life. Good morning, boys and girls. I brought this piece of fruit with me not because I want you to think about fruit, but because I want you to think about ladybugs. "œLadybug, ladybug, fly away home!" we say in the little rhyme. But we better know that ladybugs don't heed that advice. Ladybugs were imported to this country because they destroy pests that can kill fruit trees. They also protect other crops, like alfalfa. They're tiny little insects. You can cram 70,000 ladybugs into a gallon container. But without them, we would be in trouble. Who would think that such a small and seemingly gentle creature could be so important to us? They are like tiny angels watching over the food we eat. Looking at ladybugs we would never think of them being so important to us. But they are. Sometimes we look at other people and we don't see anything important about them either, but they are. The Bible tells us that other people can be like angels to us. They can bring good things into our lives and we can bring good things into theirs. Hey, that means we can be angels too. Everyone is a potential angel when they do their best to bring happiness into another person’s life. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Hebrews 13:1-8 The Message (MSG) Jesus Doesn’t Change 13 1-4 Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex. 5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me? 7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson Hebrews 13:15-16 The Message (MSG) 13-15 So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This “insider world” is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name. 16 Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson Do you believe in angels? What do angels look like anyway. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. "œWhere have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. "œIt's fine," he told her, "œI'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. "œThere was no real age to him," Melissa says. "œNo wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, "œHe was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." "œWho was that guy?" she asked. "œYou're not going to believe me," Chris said. "œYes, I will," she answered. "œHe was an angel," Chris said. "œMy guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. "œAll I had to do was to look at him," she says now, "œto know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. "œAfter the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. "œI worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. "œChris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. "œI know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) The word angel – means messenger. Someone sent by God to give us a message. I believe that angels come to us in all forms. My favorite kind of angels are living breathing angels that God sends to us in the form of friends. God always sends people into our lives to help us out. Ancient people were always on the look out for angels to come to them. They loved strangers knocking at their door, they believed they were from God. When our scripture says to be on the lookout for angels, he is referencing a story in the Hebrew bible where three strangers come to the tent of Abraham and sarah – Abraham is so excited to see them he offers them hospitality and asks for that special message from them before they leave. – they tell them that sarah is going to have her first child. Hebrews message to us to not only believe in angels, but to expect them. But to always be ready to entertain them. As a matter of fact – that is what church is all about. The Church Is Like a Hospital There was a minister who had a favorite slogan that he often repeated in his sermons. He said, "The church is not like a country club; it's more like a hospital." That's what Jesus was saying here when he gave us the direction, "... do not invite your friends ... or your rich neighbors ... invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind...." You and I are not in the church to impress one another or to win power struggles; we are here to minister to one another in our weaknesses. We are here to be hospitable. Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing We are not sure of where the book of Hebrews came from, or even who Paul is talking to. But it is a very special book, with a very special message. It tells us who to be, or more important how to be as followers of Christ. Show love to one another, just like family. Philadelphia – brotherly (and sisterly) love – or we can call it mutual love. A space where there is a giving and a take-. Paul point out that we should extend that mutual love to one another, to the world, and even to those who are not out equal. Soup Like Bread and Wine I love Fred Craddock stories and I haven't told you one in a long time. So here goes. A few years back, Fred was invited to lead some kind of preaching mission in Winnipeg (Friday night ... Saturday morning ... Saturday evening ... twice on Sunday ... you know the drill). When he finished Friday night, he noticed that it was spitting snow. His host told him not to worry, given that it was only mid-October. "Good," said Fred, "because all I brought from Atlanta was this little, thin jacket." Fred went to bed. But when he got up the next morning, he couldn't open the door for all the white stuff that was piled against it. Snow driving. Wind howling. Temperature falling. Phone ringing. It was the host calling Fred's motel room. I hate to tell you this, but we're going to have to cancel this morning's session. Can't tell about the evening. But things look pretty bad. Nobody saw this coming. City's not ready. Plows, not ready. Crews, not ready. Nothing's ready. Worse yet, nothing's open. In fact, I'm stuck in my driveway, meaning that I can't come down to fetch you. So I don't know what you are going to do about breakfast. But I do have an idea. If you can make it out of your room, walk down to the corner ... turn right ... go one block ... turn right again ... and you should be standing within shouting distance of the bus station. There's a little cafe in there. And if any place is gonna be open, it's gonna be open. So Fred curses his luck, zips up his jacket, busts out his door, and goes in search of the little cafe. Two rights. Bus station. There it is. Wonder of wonders, it's open. But it's also crowded. It seems as if every stranded soul in the universe is crammed inside. There is no place to sit. But some guy slides down the bench and makes room for Fred to squeeze in. Waiter comes over ... big burly guy ... non-shaven ... wearing half the kitchen on his apron. "Whatcha want?" he snarls. "Can I see a menu?" Fred asks. "Don't need no menu," the waiter answers. "Didn't get no deliveries this morning. All we got is soup." "Well then," says Fred, "soup it is. I like a little breakfast soup from time to time." So the soup comes in a rather tallish mug. Looks awful. Shade of mousey gray.Fred half-wonders if that's what it could be ... cream of mouse. So he doesn't eat it. But he does use the mug as a stove ... cupping his fingers around it ... warming them on it. Which is when the door opens once more. Wind howls. Cold surges. "Shut the blankety-blank door," someone shouts. Lady enters. Thin coat. No hat. Ice crystals in her hair and eyebrows. Maybe 40. Painfully skinny. Men slide over to make room for her at another table. "Whatcha want?" shouts the guy with the greasy apron. "I'll just have a glass of water," she answers. "Look lady," he says. "We're crowded in here. We don't give no glasses of water. Either you order something or you leave." Well, it quickly becomes apparent that she isn't able to buy something. So she rebuttons her coat and commences to leave. Whereupon a funny thing happens. One by one, everybody at her table gets up to leave, too. Followed by others ... at other tables. Even Fred (who still hasn't touched his soup) gets up to leave. "All right ... all right," says the soup master. "She can stay." And he brings her a bowl of soup. With order restored, Fred turns to his table mate and says: "Who is she? She must be somebody important." To which the guy says: "Never saw her before in my life. But I kinda figure if she's not welcome, ain't nobody welcome." Which pretty much settled the matter, to the point where all you could hear (for the next few minutes) were soup spoons clinking against the sides of the mugs. Even Fred broke down and ate his soup. Which wasn't half bad, really. Some might even call it tasty. Later on, he still couldn't make out the taste ... but he felt as if he'd had it before. But what was it? He couldn't remember. For the life of him, he couldn't remember. Then it hit him. Strangest thing, really. That cream of mouse soup tasted, for all the world, like bread and wine. That was it ... for all the world like bread and wine. William A. Ritter, quoting Fred Craddock, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com Hospitality has been described as creating space for people. Allowing people to be themselves – to feel comfortable in their own skin, around you. Things happen, people start to get the messages that were intended for them. There is a story of a young school boy who went to a Christian school – who said that he wanted to grow up and to become a minister. – when asked why because in chapel listening to the minister, that was the place that he saw Jesus for the first time. He didn’t remember what he was talking about, or even what the ministers name was – but he god God’s message. So my question to all of us – what type of hospitality do we need to be showing to the world today. This week I am just overwhelmed with all of the things that are going on. All of the people and places that need prayer. All of the people in the world that need a space to call their own. When we show mutual love – we are angels, but we are entertaining angels as well. We need to give them the message of Hebrews. Chapter we puts it all together. We are all God’s children – we need one another. We need to reach out to one another. Cross lines – and be willing to help out. Some of the most memorable lines in the bible are in the book of Hebrews. Entertaining angels. God is the same today yesterday and forever. In an everchanging world- there are 5 things that do no change – God, God’s word, God’s will, God’s love and God’s plan for our lives. People need to know that. That last line of Hebrews – give God the sacirifice of praise. Hebrew religion was of sacrifice animals, then it moved to ritual. But Jesus came to tell us not what we do, but why we do it. Praise is not just what we do together in worship, it is what we do in our lives. How we carry it out in our lives. Come together in love – be minister to. But the message for the world in so much turmoil – never give up on love. Show it to others – more importantly be willing to give it to others in all that we do. Amen.

A Faith Pleasing to God

September 1, 2013 Hebrews 13:1-6 15th Sunday after Pentecost “A Faith Pleasing to God” Year C Things that we need in life There are certain things that we need to have in our lives every day in order for us to be able to function. There are the obvious things like clean air, food, water, a safe environment, we need to sleep, we need to be able to take care of ourselves, we need to have family or others who love and encourage us, we need to do something that is meaningful for us, we need to have a safe space to feel ourselves. We spend a lot of time fulfilling those physical and mental needs. But we have to remember that we have a mind, and a body, but we also have a soul. Spiritual things that we need And just as the mind and body have needs – the soul has needs also. And without those things – we may not realize it, but our day does not go well. In order for us to live – we need prayer – it can be ours or someone elses, we need forgiveness, thankfulness, humility, hospitality, and charity. Because we cant always see those things – we tend to take them for granted. But we need them and we need them everyday. The book of Hebrews sums our spiritual needs in one word- we all need to have faith in order to survive. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the thing that we need to most, and there are moments that it is the hardest thing to hold onto. Hudson Taylor on Contentment "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One," said A. W. Tozer. 1. You have His assurance - "for he hath said..." Hudson Taylor the founder of China Inland Mission, was facing a lack of finances in his ministry. He retreated to office and read the Bible awhile, then prayed a while, and then looked again at the finances. Then he would pray a while, read the Bible awhile, and look again at the finances. Then he prayed awhile and read the Bible. After a while he left his office. His wife asked him, "What are we going to do?" "We have a twenty seven cents and all the promises of God...what more do one need!" (From a sermon by Jimmy Chapman, Covetousness, 1/30/2010) Faith and Fact Faith is not credulity. It is not believing in something you know is not true. Neither is faith a substitute for knowledge. Christian faith operates in the realm of meaning, not in the realm of fact. Faith recognizes fact but it is not out to obtain, contradict, or prove facts. Saint Augustine knew this when he said, “I believe in order that I may understand.” Faith Is: Hearing with the Heart An American missionary in Africa wanted to translate the English word faith into the local dialect. He could not find its equivalent. So he went to an old sage, who was himself a fine Christian, for help in rendering the needed word into understandable language. The guru studied it, and finally said, “Does it not mean to hear with the heart?” Strangers in our midst Hebrews 13 starts out with a message that may be familiar – be careful about how you treat strangers, because you never know when you are entertaining angels. In Hebrew culture, they looked forward to strangers. They believed that strangers were always sent from God to give them an important message. Every stranger that you met, you took care of because you just never knew what God had in store. I like this prayer that one woman prays every time their food pantry opens – Lord we know that you will be coming through this line today. So help us to treat you well then we see you today.” Put it briefly, the message of our text for today…. Let brotherly love continue, show hospitality, remember those who are being oppressed and tortured, hold marriage in honor, keep free from the love of money, remember the leaders of the past, continue to praise God, and to do good, it is pleasing to God. It is telling us how to live as Christians and how to treat others. Love those that we are with This message is good advice, and it is a good way to treat others. But the strangers that the message is referring to, are actually not visitors, not people that we don’t know, not people who have not met yet. The strangers the author is talking about are the strange people in this room with us now. Scripture says let mutual love continue – continue to be concerned about those who are in church with you. Always be open and understanding what you speak to one another. You might see that person’s face all of the time, but you never know what is really going on in their life, what they may be struggling with. And the difference a kind word from a fellow Christian might make in their life. Dangers without create dangers within You see, the Hebrew church was a persecuted church. There were a lot of people outside the church who were critical of Christians. There were a lot of threats to the church. There were a lot of people who were willing to attack people for being faithful. I think that we still face many of those threats today. Sometimes having to fight outside demons, creates inside demons which can be just as destructive. Sometimes when are are joined together to deal with the things going on outside the church – we don’t realize that those same issues are going on inside the church. Williams Barclay – who was a bible professor ways that there are two intentional threats to congregations who are trying to be faithful. First people get so concerned about being faithful, that they start analyzing and judging the behavior of fellow Christians. They think if I am being faithful then you are not. They feel justified in accusing others. And secondly, when they see someone else who is weak and doubtful, who is waivering in their faith, instead of supporting that person, they attack them and make then feel even worse. Without Christ as our center, the persecuted church can very easily become the persecuting church. So the message is to love one another, to help one another, to be understanding of one another. Keep the faith and to remember that those strangers sitting next to you are angels that God sent to walk with you on your journey. There are three types of organizations on the world. There are organizations that resolve around a strong leader, and the people get their power based on how close they are to the leader. There are organizations that resolve around the common needs of the people – they feel safe together and they all stay together in order to protect their common benefit. Third there is the organization that is centered around solid teaching, harmony and a way of life that honors, and respects, and loves those in it. There are churches of all kinds. But the kind of church that God wants is one that is centered about the teachings of Christ. One where people can come to be loves, and understood. Where people are intentional about the way they live on the inside, so that they can have some type of affect on the outside. The church is the place to find faith. Solid faith is our foundation for living our lives are a committed disciple of Christ. Discipleship means living a life of humility, hospitality and charity. Jesus does not change Verse 8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Ironically, no matter how hard we try – even in the church we are a part of a changing world. The world out there, throws the church in here in a tailspin. The church has to change on the inside just to survive in this world. It is during those times of church and transition that the people of the church are most likely to lose their faith. In a changing world we forget that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This was said 2000 years ago and it is still a message for us today. There are five things in the world that will never change – God, God’s word, God’s will, God’s love and God’s plan for salvation. My personal faith challenge You know I had been an associate in well off churches for 10 years of my career. And as an associate, I was very happy. I slept well at night, because whatever problems the church had, it was not my problem to worry about, I enjoyed my weekends because I did not have to worry about a sermon. I was in very stable churches – so I got paid very well. In 2007, when I was placed in a sole church – I had a big fight with God, because I just knew that he has placed me in the wrong church. I have always loved God, and never thought about leaving the ministry – but I just yelled at God to put me in a better situation. Something that I deserved, and would be happy. I wanted to be faithful, I just didn’t want the struggle that came with it. I told God that I wanted to be anything in the world but Methodist. God reminded me that it was my choice to join the Methodist Church and now that things were not going my way that it was my choice to leave the Methodist Church. God told me that I was free to walk away at any moment and find something else- that would make me happy. God reminded me that God had been faithful to me- and all he asked in return was to be faithful to the church. If I was baptized and of I took vows of membership- what did that really mean to me? More importantly what did that mean to God. If I was to leave in times of trouble – was I really being faithful. In the midst of a changing world there are five things that don’t change. God, God’s word, God’s will, God’s love and God’s plan for salvation. God’s answer God reminded me that in life there are no accidents, no coincidences, and no mistakes. What happens in my life, and where I am and who I am with – is where God intended me to be. And that the quickest way out of situation is not to walk away, but to persevere and endure and to walk through it to the other side. There is no place in the bible that says that walking away from the church makes things easier. And when we submit ourselves to God, them God always puts us to work bringing about his plan, God knows the needs of the world better then us, and he creates us as vessels to carry out his plan in his salvation. Bloom where are you planted, and finish the work God gave you. One thing that I have learned as an ordained minister, is that when God makes up in his mind that you are to do something, and he gives you a message to give to the world – just like Jonah in the belly of the whale – you can run, but you cant hide. You can argue with God – but in the end you will not win. There are five things in a changing world that never change – God, God’s word, God’s will, God’s love and God’s plan of salvation. God will always wins Sometimes it is easier to just be faithful in the first place. That is the lesson of Hebrews. Our only success is faithfulness Mother Teresa was once asked, "How do you measure the success of your work?" She thought about the question and gave her interviewer a puzzled look, and said, "I don't remember that the Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love. This is the only success that really counts." Amen. Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible. • Faith is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable. • Faith is idle when circumstances are right, only when they are adverse is one’s faith in God exercised. Faith, like muscle, grows strong and supple with exercise. • Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. —David Lloyd George • A little faith will bring your soul to heaven; a great faith will bring heaven to your soul. —Spurgeon • Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will! • Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. • Faith in God is indispensable to successful statesmanship. —Abraham Lincoln be described as follows: (1) High intelligence—Rev. 13:18; Dan. 7:8. (2) Great speaking ability—Dan. 7:8; Rev. 13:5. (3) Crafty political talents—Dan. 9:27; Rev. 17:12, 13, 17. (4) Strong physical appearance—Dan. 7:20. (5) Military genius—Rev. 13:4; 17:14; 19:19. (6) Morally, the worse personage (a) Materialistic—Dan. 11:38 (b) Blasphemer—Rev. 13:6 (c) Against the Law—II Thess. 2:8 (d) Selfish ambition—Dan. 11:36, 37; II Thess. 2:4. (e) Tries to change prophecy and history—Dan. 7:25 (f) Substitutes self for God—Dan. 11:36; II Thess. 2:4. Success that Counts Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com The Christian way When former British prime minister, Tony Blair, was running for office, his political philosophy was often called the “Third Way,” which has been described as a global movement dedicated to modernizing progressive politics for the information age. In May 1999, Blair was in Washington to attend a summit on Third Way policies. He tells the following account of what happened after he entered the large building where the meeting was to be held. He was unsure of which way to go in the building. So he asked a janitor, “In which room is the Third Way meeting?” The janitor, according to Blair, replied, “There ain’t no third way, sir; there ain’t but one way, and it’s straight ahead.” ebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Among the many parenetic admonitions in this text are the requirements of providing hospitality for strangers and care for those who are afflicted. Each of these admonitions is said to be especially important because of our faith in Jesus perceived as the Christ, who is the same person yesterday, today, and forever. It is through Jesus perceived as the Christ that we offer up our sacrifice of praise to God and share our resources with those who are in need. ILLUSTRATION… Discipleship Journal, 11-12/92 A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them: 1. Materialism 2. Pride 3. Self-centeredness 4. Laziness 5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness 5. (Tie) Sexual lust 6. Envy 7. Gluttony 8. Lying Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when… they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).