Ride or Die Faith

June 7, 2026 Genesis 12:1-9 Ride or Die Faith 2nd Sunday After Pentecost Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Like Abram and Sarai, God calls us to go into the unknown, trusting that God’s promises are true. Whether we are certain or full of doubts, God blesses us that we may be a blessing. God sends us into the world to journey by faith, believing that God’s blessings are greater than anything we can imagine. Whether the path is straight or winding, God blesses us that we may be a blessing. God gathers us today with trusted companions, those who also follow God’s call, even when it does not make sense to the world around us. Whether we journey with friends or feel all alone, God blesses us that we may be a blessing. As we gather to worship, may we remember that we are God’s people, blessed by God to be a blessing to our world that is hurting and desperately in need of good news. God, form us today as a family of faith, that your blessings might flow out of us and into our world, drawing all people into your promise of abundant life and flourishing. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2025. Invocation Wonderful God, we delight in your presence. We find shelter in your abiding and enduring love. You humble us, Holy Love, by gathering us as a people. Thank you for being our Companion and Guide on this journey. Receive our songs, prayers, and openness. Nourish us from the fountain of your word and the hospitality of your table. May we find hope and inspiration, courage and direction, community and resolve as we worship you. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Song I Come with Joy UMH 617 A Sermon for all Ages There are 3 faithful people. The first likes sports and has athletic ability. The person joins several teams, eats foods that build a strong body, exercise regularly, watches sports events on tv, and reads about sport heros. The second person likes to draw and draws well. This persob belongs to the art club at school, takes painting lessons, spends birthday money on paints, pays more attention to the pictures that the words in books and reads about great artist. We can see that these two have god given gifts, have accepted those gifts and are enjoying and developing them. They are faithful to their gifts. A third person believes that god made him or her a part of a family that includes everyone in the world. So this person treats everyone with kindness, stands up for other kids, refuses to laugh at jokes about people’s color or nationality, and contributes Christmas money to build a house for a family living in a shack. This person is faithful to God’s gift and promise that we are all one family Responsive Reading Psalm 33:1-12 UMH 767 Scripture Genesis 12:1-9 Sermon Ride or Die Faith Another legend: Abraham as a boy saw the multitudes of flocks surrounding his father’s tents, and he asked his mother, "Who is the Lord of these?" She answered, "Your father, Terah." Then the boy asked, "And who is Lord of Terah?" She responded, "Nimrod, the King." Then the boy pushed the quest one step further: "And who is Lord of Nimrod?" His mother answered, "Don’t push questions too far." But the lad, Abraham, "was already reaching out to the God who is the God of all." No one really knows why Abraham walked away from a successful life in search of something more. Why he listened to the voice of a God that he didn’t even know in search of something different. But we can all be glad that he did. Abraham is considered the father of our faith. In his hometown Ur, they worshipped the sun and the moon. And judging from the names of his family members, his family who all have moon related names, their family was deeply religious. Their family was held in high regard and well established. His family had many animals and servants. His dad had concubines who had many children. We know that Abraham had 2 other brothers. More than likely he was the youngest. His older brother Haran dies. Haran’s son Lot adopted his uncle Abraham to be his father figure. To Abraham, his father Terah was everything. His world. It was the father, Terah who got the vision to break away from the family and to travel to a new land. To his dad, traveling to a new land meant traveling to the next town. When Terah left – he took his younger son, Abraham, his daughter (now married to Abraham, Sarah, and his grandson Lot. As they were living in his father’s house – Abraham heard a voice of a new god – telling him that there was something else out there. In Genesis 1-3. God calls Abraham to walk away from his country, his relatives, and his father’s house. In those days – you had no reason to leave your father’s house. Your livelihood was there, you would marry a spouse from there, your mother was there, everything. As a younger brother, however, he must have realized that his father’s house would never be his. And even though he was doing well, he had no kids beside his nephew who was determined to carry on his own father’s name. So in the prime of his life, aged 75 – he hears the call of Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God. He follows God’s voice wandering throught the desert, with no idea of what his future would be. One night as he is camping in the sand, he looks up at the countless stars and God makes a promise that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. That his house will be bigger than anything that his father ever dreamed of. With that promise and no guarantees he steps out in search of his destiny in an unknown land. Thousands of years later, another son will leave the realm of his father’s house. Jesus comes to earth to teach us to listen to the voice of God and to trust God’s plan for us. We are told to follow God on a journey, to form a new family, to love and care for one another, to build a world on earth just like the Father’s house in heaven. Jesus gives us a new promise – in my Father’s House there are many mansions – enough for all of us to live happily. When I think of Abraham’s story I also think of my stepfather. Who is not much older than Abraham when he embarked on a new journey. As he has to discern a new way of life and a move into an unknown future. Presently he is contemplating moving our of his house of 53 years and going into assisted living. He is not happy about leaving the life that he built for 53 years, the memories of family, the familiarity to enter into a new life. It is a very hard and painful decision. And just like for Abraham – there are no guarantees only faith and promises. It is not faith until it is all that we have to rely on In our scripture – God made 7 promises to Abraham The seven promises God made to Abraham are: 1. "I will make you a great nation": God promised to take a childless man and grow his descendants into a vast, distinct nation (Israel). Christ Over All +1 2. "I will bless you": God promised to provide Abraham with divine favor, protection, and provision throughout his life. GospelBells Radio 3. "I will make your name great": God promised Abraham an enduring legacy of honor across generations and cultures. Christ Over All +1 4. "You shall be a blessing": God chose Abraham not merely to receive blessings, but to actively be a channel of divine favor to others. Christ Over All +1 5. "I will bless those who bless you": God promised His favor to anyone who supported or aligned themselves with Abraham and his descendants. Christ Over All +1 6. "I will curse those who curse you": God promised to bring judgment upon anyone who opposed or oppressed Abraham and his family. Christ Over All +1 7. "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed": The ultimate promise, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, declaring that the lineage of Abraham would eventually bring salvation to the whole world. Christ Over All +1 Abraham trusted those promises. But it didn’t become faith – until it was all that he had to rely on to step into the future. The truth is we all have those moments in life. When we have to move forward. We have no guarantees that things are going to turn out the way we expect. We have no guarantees that things are going to get better. All we have is Abrahams faith. We all have those moments in life, when we have to leave what we are comfortable with, and embrace our faith. Sometime it is a big step in our lives, but in reality no matter what stage of life we are in, moving forward everyday is a choice. Our Faith opens the door in the human spirit that allows an individual to step from one dimension of living into a higher dimension of living. Dr. Charles Allen tells of a desperate layman who called him one morning over the phone and urgently requested him to come to his office. The businessman continued, "Would you tell me what it means to be a Christian? I have got to know." We ministers are challenged by such a request, but how do we answer the question? It all begins with faith. Faith is a personal response to an inner glimpse of God. Faith is risking all of my life on what I believe about God. Once I was visiting in the home of a young adult couple. The husband asked: "When do I become a Christian when I believe or when I become perfect?" I had to answer, "Neither." You can believe and do nothing about it, and if you wait until you are perfect, you will never get there. You become a Christian when you launch out on a life pilgrimage committed to what you see of God in Jesus Christ. Faith is not being trapped in a static definition of life. It is a launching out in a new direction which you believe will unfold as you go. What do I believe in so much that I am willing to live by it? What is the basis of my decision-making? Whether it is true or false, good or bad, that is my faith. The scripture tells us they "journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb" (12:9). In that sense, we are always moving through some stage of life. Living is a continual journey. It is futile to think we can arrive at a certain place where everything will be safe and secure. We are on a pilgrimage from birth to death to eternity. We never get it all together. We never solve all the problems or remove all the dangers. Even if you arrive at a place called, "I got it made!" you soon discover it is not a permanent residence. It is only a rest stop on the road to whatever comes next. Even if we somehow attain a goal of making life safe and comfortable, it is an empty, meaningless victory. For life at its best is an on-going spiritual journey toward loving God. They say that the universe is constantly growing, that the number of stars continues to grow, may we take our place in the heavens among the stars- working to increase the children of Abraham through love and kindness. Song Rescue the Perishing UMH 591 Prayer for the Day Long before the change of name, before the first signs of new life showed the beginnings of promises fulfilled, You asked Abram to make his home among foreigners, and share the blessing that was to come. And now, O God, you ask the same faith of us: The faith to count ourselves among the least, to find our place alongside the poor and broken; The faith to trust in your mercy and your promises, and to share what we have received; The faith to wait expectantly for your reign of justice and equity, together with those who most need its gifts. Teach us to be children of Abram, sharers of the blessings we enjoy: The blessing of plenty shared with those who have need, The blessing of healing shared with those who are sick and wounded, The blessing of joy shared with those who celebrate and of tears shared with those who grieve, The blessing of friendship shared with those who are excluded, and of solidarity with those who fight injustice, The blessing of peace shared with those in conflict, and of confrontation shared with those who bring harm; And in some small way, may our faith and our sharing, help to bring your promises into being in our world. Amen. Written by John van de Laar on his Sacredise blog. Reposted at the Pilgrim WR Uniting Church website at https://pilgrimwr.unitingchurch.org.au/?p=11174. Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment The Gospels tell us story after story of Jesus as “healer.” The Matthew 9 text today tells of healing the daughter of a leader, and a woman who had bled for 12 years. He healed with a word, a touch, his own spit and dirt of the earth. In many cities around the world, we see hospitals, nursing homes, churches, and therapy offices where followers of Jesus use their gifts to bring healing today. Here, week by week, we invite you to share your gifts to help heal the hurts of the world through the work of this congregation and the work of the wider church. Time, talent, and treasure all are needed. Will you share your gifts this morning? You can do that by… [Describe several ways giving can happen – the offering plates, a note to offer help for a specific need, speaking to a leader.] We are one part of the body of Christ, still in the healing business! Prayer of Thanksgiving Blessed are you, Lord God, for the ways you inspire and encourage each of us to follow Jesus. We offer these gifts to you, grateful for the varied ways each and all are contributors to the health and well-being of the world you continue to love. Help us utilize each gift to the max, enabling Good News to be embodied here and now. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith ad Giving) Communion Invitation to Communion Do not Print just title Matthew reports (Mt. 9:10) that Jesus shared dinner one evening in a house where he sat with his disciples, tax collectors, and sinners. I wonder what a reporter might describe about us? That is, if someone could identify the activities of each and all of us, what might show up? How marvelous to have Jesus’ response: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” ALL of us are welcome to share in this meal. Our identities, both those visible and those that are invisible, do not demand that we should be excluded. Rather, we are each welcome and invited to share in bread and juice, remembering Jesus and gaining strength To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, Follow thee more nearly, day by day. (lyrics from “Day by Day,” 1971 Godspell) The table is prepared and there is a place for you. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Sending Prayer for YouTube Like Sarah and Mary, Abraham ad Aaron, we take those steps of faith offered by our God. With Jesus, as well as foolish and fallible followers, we dare go into those unknown places where hope is absent, where grace is empty. With Paul, with Phoebe, with people we know, we are willing to follow the Spirit on adventures into justice and compassion. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom M. Shuman) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Go now as the people of God, a family. (United Methodist Board of Discipleship) Additional Illustrations One never knows what's beginning and what's ending. Looking back we may, or we may not, be able to recall the insignificant little events -- a passing comment, a glance across a room, words on the page of a book, a thought as we stared out a window -- minor events which were the beginnings of something which shaped a significant aspect of our lives. What loving gesture, repentant prayer, word spoken or purposely not spoken, what discipline exercised, might indicate a new beginning in your spiritual life this week? Once, an elderly couple, hearts quickened by the promises of a living and gracious God, packed their belongings and set out with their family for a promised future. God works wanders! CSS Publishing, Caught In The Acts, by Gerald Whetstone It has been reported that there are some 33,000 promises in the Bible that God has made to his people. Would we not be wise to find the ones that apply to our present needs and situation and claim them for ourselves in the name of our Faithful Promiser? While it is unclear exactly what prompted Terah's initial move from Ur to Haran, there is absolutely no ambiguity about what inspired Abram's move. The Lord's directive to Abram is straightforward, both in its demand and in its promises. Genesis 12:1 does not try to sugarcoat or soft-pedal the things Abram is asked to give up. In fact, the text itemizes them. God commands Abram to leave his country, kindred and father's house - everything, in fact, that gave Abram his personal identity. In the tight-knit family/clan-oriented culture of this people, leaving family meant leaving not just personal or sentimental attachments. Abandoning the clan meant leaving one's only source of law, morality, safety, security and identity. For Abram to leave the enclave of his family was to put his future survival - both psychological and personal - very much at risk. This call from the Lord is unique in grammatical structure as well as in content. The phrase invoked by the Divine in 12:1 is lech lecha - literally an emphatic "Go, you!" There are only two instances in the entire Bible where God addresses anyone with direct personal command. The second occurrence of lech lecha, "Go, you!" is also spoken to Abraham - this time in Genesis 22:2. Although English translation almost invariably fails to reflect this parallelism, both God's initial call to Abram in Genesis 12:1 and God's shocking command to Abraham that he offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice are phrased with this lech lecha, "Go, you!" directive. This parallelism is significant. In both cases, Abram/Abraham is being asked to give up his own identity as a symbol of his commitment to the Lord Yahweh. In Genesis 12:1, Abram is asked to give up his entire past - his family, his land, all that has shaped him into his own self. In the case of Genesis 22, Abraham is asked to give up his future - the new identity he has carved out for himself but which is intimately tied to his beloved "miracle" son Isaac. God's command, "Go, you!" severs Abram/Abraham from everything human he would cling to for security and identity. In both cases the lech lecha order leaves Abram/Abraham solely with God - no past, no future, no family, no land, no people. Just God. This is not to suggest that Abram was emotionally detached from old family ties the moment he responded to God's covenant-command. The very aged Abraham orders his servant to find Isaac a wife among his own people - his old clan - not from among the Canaanites (Genesis 24:4). But after his call from God, the old loyalties, the old ways, the controlling definitions of family and culture failed to dictate Abram's life any longer. The covenant relationship God established with Abram began the process of creating a world of free but ethical behavior between God and all creation. Unlike the capricious or whimsical behavior of the gods in other ancient Near Eastern religions, the constancy of Yahweh's pledged word gave Abram and his followers a standard of security and a basis for living with enduring faith and ethical commitment. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Works, by Leonard Sweet Abraham and his nephew Lot had prospered in the land of Canaan. They had many flocks and herds and their herdsmen had begun to quarrel among themselves, and the two owners were in danger of becoming involved also. But Abraham said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between us for we are kinsmen." Then very generously he told Lot to make his own choice of the land where he would like to go and find pasture for his cattle and sheep. How greatly is the spirit of peacefulness needed in our world today. Quarreling, fighting, and killing seem to be the order of the day. Within the past two weeks the radio reported three such horrible events right within the families where there should be peace and harmony. "Be ye kind to one another, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:31, 32; 5:1) Young Ben's family was quite active in a church that emphasizes a personal commitment to Christ. Even though he was quite young, Ben had heard more than one sermon about the importance of surrendering one's life to Christ. And so, one morning as the family sat around the kitchen table eating Cheerios, little Ben announced that he, too, was ready to give his life to Christ. He then got up from the table and went upstairs. His mother and father looked at each other and then decided to follow Ben. They thought they might find him on his knees in prayer. They didn't. Instead, they found him folding his Star Wars pajamas into his Sesame Street suitcase. They asked, "Ben, what are you doing?" He answered, "Packing." "Why?" they asked. "To go to heaven," he said. In Ben's young mind, giving one's life to Christ was no small step. It meant the willingness to leave his family and travel immediately to be with Christ. (1) As I read this story told by Ben's mom I thought of that old Testament figure, Abraham. The picture we get of Abraham is of a man with the same kind of complete and unreserved faith in God that little Ben had. Booker T. Washington was a dreamer who backed up his dreams with action. Abraham must have been a man like that as well. We don't know how God spoke to Abramfor that was his name before he accomplished his dream. Could it have been an audible voice? Perhaps. A still small voice within the heart? Maybe. Somehow Abram knew that God was telling him to leave his homeland and to move to land which God would show him. There he would found a new nationa great nationa nation that would be a blessing to the world. What a dream! What a vocation! I don't know about you but most of my dreams seem inadequate and pathetic compared to Abram's dream. I believe in airplanes, but if I do not ever fly, it is probable that I have no faith in airplanes. Only when I fly do I have faith in planes. My life is defined by my faith. The one certain controlling thing at the center of my consciousness is my faith. I live by what I believe in. The questions are: What is truth? What is reality? What is the true purpose of life? What is God really like? What is God calling me to be? All of these questions have to do with faith. Others had asked questions: but Abraham acted on his questions. This is when faith becomes real. He put his life on the line. He dedicated his life to finding this God whom he had glimpsed. "And he went out, not knowing whither he went ... for he looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:8,10 King James) This God revealed himself to Abraham throughout the journey. And the Judeo-Christian faith was launched and became the most creative stream of life that has flowed through human history. What was there about the promise of this God, Yahweh, that attracted them? What would motivate a 75-year-old man whose family had lived in the area for generations to pack everything and move to an unknown place called Canaan? We must conclude something significant was missing in their lives. Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, suggests the family of Abraham must have felt as though they had no viable future in Mesopotamia.2 Their barrenness was more than childlessness. Their lives were empty. They were cut off from real meaning and joy. They had no foreseeable future, and cut off from God, they were without potential. They may have felt safe and comfortable in the Tigris-Euphrates River valley, but their lives were barren. To pump meaning into an empty existence they had no alternative but to step out in faith and go to Canaan. They had to leave security behind. They had to abandon the familiar. They had to trust God and step into the unknown. If they wanted a future, that was the only possibility. It was frightening and it was risky, but faith is always a scary, risky business. The story of Abraham and Sarah is also our story. If you want to get out of this life all it has to offer, you need to risk leaving what seems safe, secure and comfortable in order to trust God and step out in faith. loving people and serving the needs of others. To live any other way is to come up short. Robert Bly in his poem, "Snowbanks North Of The House,"3 uses the image of the "great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly six feet from the house." Unless we risk and keep striving on this journey, we become like the boy who never reads another book after high school graduation or like the child who loses contact with the family and quits calling home. We are cut off from the past and have no tools to open a future. For others, some event shatters the comfortable cocoon. The children are grown. They want nothing more than to settle back and enjoy life. Then one of their children dies. She was 33, but still their child. No pain surpasses that of burying one's child, no matter the age. They move through their grief in different ways and at different paces. They lose touch with one another. Before they emerge from the pain, they have lost their marriage as well as their child. For others, it can happen differently. One night at a party, the wife sees her husband across the room and realizes she loves him no more. There was no problem, no crisis. The caring simply left. They took their marriage for granted and the warm glow of love drowned in neglect. We are fellow travelers on this pilgrimage that goes from birth to death to eternity. We always move from place to place and stage to stage. It can be a frightening journey. Certainly it always involves risk. The alternative, however, is not promising. To fail to take a risk can make us like the woman who puts down her rolling pin and bakes no more. We know people like that. For reasons not fully clear, they run out of enthusiasm in mid-life. By the age of 40 he has no other work-related goal than retirement. She no longer even dreams of an exciting vacation in a faraway place or even relishes a simple task like cooking a meal. Life comes up short. They failed to grasp that life is a spiritual journey requiring risk to move from stage to stage, step to step. What a terrible thing when people give up on life. What a shock it can be to think you have it together only to discover there is always one more hill to climb, one more problem to face, one more crisis to endure. What a terrible thing to exist even for 70 or 80 or 90 years, but not to know the abundance of life. To live to the fullest means accepting that we are on a spiritual pilgrimage. We don't have the option of comfort and security. God always calls us out of the present moment to risk moving into the future. Like Abraham, we always go by stages toward the Negeb. We don't know what comes next. We only know that our security is in our relationship to this God who will not abandon us. This is the God who is in Christ Jesus calling us over the tumult of life's wild restless sea saying, "Christian, follow me." ________________________________________ 1. Gibson, Volume 2, p. 6.2. Brueggemann, p. 116.3. From The Man In The Black Coat Turns, (New York: Doubleday, 1981). CSS Publishing, Tenders of the Sacred Fire, by R. Robert Cueni It happened a couple of months ago. I was struggling with personal direction issues, but had also begun to think of the assignment of preaching on this occasion. The words of a young man named Nicholas in The Magus, a novel by John Fowles, popped into my mind. I went back into my files and retrieved it. “It poured rain the day I left. But I was filled with excitement, a strange sense of taking wing. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew what I needed. I needed a new land, a new race, a new language; and although I couldn’t have put it into words then, I needed a new mystery.” (John Fowles, The Magus, (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 965, pg. 150) The Promises of God Are True Tom Long says that while he was at Princeton, he went to a nearby Presbyterian church that prides itself on being an academic, intellectual church. Early on, he said, he went to a family night supper and sat down next to a man, introduced himself, told him he was new, and said, "Have you been here long?" "Oh yes," the man said. "In fact I was here before this became such a scholarly church. Why I’m probably the only non-intellectual left. I haven't understood a sermon in over 25 years." "Then why do you keep coming," Tom asked? "Because every Monday night a group of us get in the church van and drive over to the youth correctional center. Sometimes we play basketball, or play games. Usually we share a Bible story. But mostly we just get to know these kids and listen to them. "I started going because Christians are supposed to do those kind of things. But now I could never stop. Sharing the love of God at that youth center has changed my life." And then he said this profound statement. "You cannot prove the promises of God in advance, but if you live them, they’re true, every one." During this Lenten season how are you living the promises of God? Where is it that God is calling you to go? Our ancestors came from a very long way for us to get where we are – but we still have a long way to go – especially in our hearts and souls. The seven promises God made to Abraham are: 1. "I will make you a great nation": God promised to take a childless man and grow his descendants into a vast, distinct nation (Israel). Christ Over All +1 2. "I will bless you": God promised to provide Abraham with divine favor, protection, and provision throughout his life. GospelBells Radio 3. "I will make your name great": God promised Abraham an enduring legacy of honor across generations and cultures. Christ Over All +1 4. "You shall be a blessing": God chose Abraham not merely to receive blessings, but to actively be a channel of divine favor to others. Christ Over All +1 5. "I will bless those who bless you": God promised His favor to anyone who supported or aligned themselves with Abraham and his descendants. Christ Over All +1 6. "I will curse those who curse you": God promised to bring judgment upon anyone who opposed or oppressed Abraham and his family. Christ Over All +1 7. "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed": The ultimate promise, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, declaring that the lineage of Abraham would eventually bring salvation to the whole world. Christ Over All +1

The consequences of stupidity

Jeremiah 4:11-28 September 11, 2016 Ordinary Time Remember the line from Forrest Gump movie, Forrest would always say- stupid is as stupid does? Well my sermon today is about being stupid. Maybe it is just me, but I think that stupidity has become a national epidemic. There are a lot of stupid things going on in the this world. I remember at the jurisdictional conference I was talking with someone about Trump winning the republican nomination. I told her that I can’t wait for the day when common sense comes back in style. Because it certainly is not the style of the day. Growing up I lived in the illusion that the world was getting better for black people. That the nation was moving forward in its tolerance of people with a darker skin color. But then I hear the story of so many people upset with the young football player because he refuses to stand for the national anthem. Really? My mother never said the pledge of allegiance, because she said that it was not true. Her brother who was 20 years older than her, and he didn’t say the pledge of allegiance either. And they are just now noticing this one black man who refuses to stand for the national anthem. And besides that, what ever happened to freedom of expression? Whatever happened to this being a diverse nation where the rights of all people are protected? If a white player had refused to stand for the anthem, would we be having all of this conversation about it? There is still a double standard in the land of opportunity. And as quiet as it has been kept, the world has not changed for the better for people of color, the same attitudes and stupidity are running rampamt. Speaking of stupid, in our scripture for today – God calls his own people stupid. It is one thing to be stupid in worldy matters. But God’s people are stupid in spiritual matters. As a matter of fact, the two go hand in hand. God speaks himself in Jeremiah 4 and he says – my people are stupid, they don’t know me. They are good at doing wrong, but they are incompetent is doing what is right. God is not talking to people of the world in general – God says my people are stupid. My people should know better, but they don’t act like it. So the message for us this morning – don’t be stupid. As I was reflecting on scriptures for this week – Jeremiah 4 stood out to me as a very powerful message. It is a message of anguish and pain. Jeremiah says that he speaks out of his anguish. The sentence literally means that she speaks out of his bowels, that his bowels are wreaked in anger. You see the Jews believed that the bowels were the seat of deep emotion. The bowels, the guts were the place that you felt anger, pain, sorrow and any other deep emotion. A prophet is one who speaks to God’s people with a message from God. The prophets always speak from the bowel. Isaiah speaks from the bowel and so does Paul. But Jeremiah’s message always hits me the most. You have to know about his life in order to know why he cared so much about his message to the people. God started messing with Jeremiah as a child. Jeremiah said that he was too young and that his family was not a wholesome family. His dad was a royal priest, a levite. They were a well off family. But in Jeremiah’s lifetime he watched the destruction of his nation. Eventually everything was torn down and he and all of the rich and important people were taken away to another country. There was utter chaos and destruction everywhere. Jeremiah felt that he needed to talk his people through what was going on. Many people think Jeremiah was a message of doom. But it was actually a story of hope after the destruction. He wanted people to realize that all was not lost, and that things would be rebuilt. Jeremiah built property in the midst of the destruction, so that his family would have a heritage after it was all over. He preached that a remnant of people would survive the destruction so that God’s name could continue. 1918 was a bad year for my family. We lost at least 5 people in our family. In doing research, I learned that there was a flu epidemic that year that affected the whole nation. It hit rural families harder than others, because they had less access to a doctor. I explained to one of my students, that the good news was that even though every one was sick and many died. The good news of my family is that some people survived. Some people had a natural immunity. If they didn’t, I wouldnt be here speaking to you. In the midst of even an epidemic, God makes sure that a remnant survives in order to carry on god’s work. So there is good news for the stupidity epidemic. That is the message that Jeremiah felt so strong in his bowels. God's’people may be lost, but we are not down. We are broken but not destroyed. The strength is in our spirit. We cannot afford to be stupid or disconnected from God. Jeremiah’s deep message is not just about God’s people. He is not talking about them, he is talking with them. Their fate is his fate, that is why he cares. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah dies in exile. He never sees the hope that he talked about. But Jeremiah’s salvation is tied up in our salvation. God’s judgement always turns into God’s salvation because God always loves us, even when we are sinners. Al Mohler, Words from the Fire (Moody Publishers, 2009), p. 38; submitted by Robert Dawson, Lake Park, Georgia God Loves Me There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She is an active member now of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She wrote that years ago when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented. She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words: "God loves me." She finished the reading, put the pamphlet down. The teacher said, "I want you to read that last sentence again." So she picked it up, read it again, this time somewhat sarcastically, then put it down again. The teacher said, "Read it again." She read it again. Then she described what happened. "After about the seventh repetition I began to sense there might be some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Jeremiah’s message to us, as stupid as we are, we are still God’s people and God still loves us. We can live with God’s hope. God is on your side. God loves you and wants you to win. I chose this very morbid text because of its powerful message. God loves you, God is all powerful. But one thing that God will not do – he will not take away the consequences of your actions. The wages of sin is death. If you are stupid, there are still consequences of your actions. And remember, there is a difference between stupidity and ignorance. Ignorance means that you do stupid things because you did not know any better. God intentionally uses the term stupid – meaning you knew better and did it anyway. Do stupid things, you will suffer the consequences of your actions. The jews were exiled as a result of their political policies. When they were doing well, they did not think they needed to help other people. But you always reap what you sow, God cannot will not stop the process, not even for the people he loves. We forget that God is omnipotent, the God of all things. God controls not just our angels, but also our demons. God is the God of good things, but also the God of bad things. In our stupidity, we tend to relegate God to a corner. God is the God ofgood, but also bad. God is the God of love but also the God of hatred, God is the creator, but God is also the destroyer. If Genesis is the story of God’s creation. Jeremiah is the story of God’s destruction. The lectionary cuts out half of this scripture as God talks about his destruction of the nation that he worked so hard to create. The good news for us – we are God’s people. For us hatred turns into love, destruction turns into recreation, consequences turns into forgiveness and a newlife. Things always turn around for us. Love prevails in the end. Jerimiah 4:11 starts out by saying that a hot wind blows in. the hot winds are called the Socorro. The wind is so hot that it is miserable. I have found that change always comes in the form of a wind. Whenever the weather is about to change, the wind starts to blow. This is the second week of September. I look forward to this weekend every year. When I was pastor in Oak Park, the church would take a retreat in Lake Geneva Wisconsin on this weekend every year. And every year we would get the same warning that it was going to be too cold to sleep in the cabins, because the frost was coming today. And like clockwork there were always right. I always look forward to this weekend, because no matter how hot the summer has been, the cold winds blow in on this weekend. Winds are a sign that things are about to change. Fall is coming. The winds of change are starting to blow. The wind is a sign of God’s presence blowing through the land. The winds of change blew across a group of people gathered together to pray, and the wind made them into the church. The winds of change are blowing now for our church, our community, our world. This is the presidential season. Will the day come where black, brown and red lives matter? While this epidemic of stupidity turn to faith? Will despair turn to hope? Sickness turn to health? Death turn to life? Let us all pray for god’s salvation. Amen. Additional illustrations…. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Thinking about the Unthinkable David Seamands tells the story of the alchemist who sold villagers a special powder that he claimed would turn water into gold provided that when they mixed it, they never thought of red monkeys. Well, of course, no one ever got the gold, because you can't tell yourself to stop thinking about red monkeys or you'll just keep thinking about red monkeys. It doesn't work to say, "Well, I'm just not going to think about those things. I'm going to put all of that out of my mind." So often I see Christian brothers and sisters trying to do that. "Blessed Are the Pure in Heart," Preaching Today, Tape No. 83. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Buried Alive We must be careful what we bury in our heart. To bury something does not mean it is dead. It may simply mean we have buried something alive that will devour and destroy us from within. Maxie Dunnam in Let Me Say That Again. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 5. [ read less ] SERMON ILLUSTRATION Research Points to Our Belief in an "Ordinary God" Several years ago in Britain, researchers went door-to-door asking persons about their belief in God. One of their questions: "Do you believe in a God who intervenes in human history, who changes the course of affairs, who performs miracles, etc.?" When published, their study took its title from the response of one man who was seen as rather typical of those who responded. He answered, "No, I don't believe in that God; I believe in the ordinary God." How many of our friends and neighbors believe in "just the ordinary God"? Create Him Not The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel of Holiness stood and said; 'Create him not … he will follow that which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.' Brett Blair, Sermons.com When I Say I Am a Christian In 1988, the poet Carol Wimmer, became concerned about the self-righteous, judgmental spirit she was seeing in some people because she felt strongly that being judgmental is a perversion of the Christian faith. So, she wrote a poem about this. It’s called “When I say I am a Christian” and it reads like this: “When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not shouting, ‘I’ve been saved!’ I’m whispering, ‘I get lost!’ That’s why I chose this way. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t speak with human pride. I’m confessing that I stumble – needing God to be my guide. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not bragging of success. I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t think I know it all. I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I’m worth it. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I do not wish to judge. I have no authority – I only know I’m loved.” James W. Moore, quoting Carol Wimmer, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com _________________________________________ God Is Personal God loves you. So he tells you: don't be stupid! but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Children’s sermon…… Object: A difficult puzzle or something that requires a lot of patience to figure out. Good morning, boys and girls. Today I want to teach you something that is almost the hardest thing to learn. I know that you will not learn it today, but it may be a start, and if it is, then this will be one of the best lessons you have ever learned. I brought along a puzzle with me this morning. How many of you like to work puzzles? (Let them answer.) This is not a regular kind of puzzle. I want you to know that this is one of the hardest puzzles I have ever seen. I may never be able to work this puzzle, but it teaches me something that I must really learn. Do you know what I am learning from this puzzle? (Let them answer.) You are pretty close, but I must tell you the answer. I am going to learn about patience. We all like puzzles that are easy to work, because finishing them quickly makes us feel smart. But hard puzzles that do not have easy answers make us nervous, and even unhappy. Those kinds of puzzles are like problems that we have in living. We don't like big problems because when we do not have easy answers, we become nervous and unhappy. A hard puzzle teaches us patience because we have to work at it for a long time. Some of us are very hard "puzzles" for God. He works with us for as long as we live and maybe even longer. God is very patient with us. He will work with us every day to help us find the answers to the big problems in our lives. We know that he does this because we know that no matter what we do, he is ready to forgive us and start all over again with us if we only ask him to help. God is always ready to "work us out" and help us solve our problems, problems that we think, are too hard for us. God could do it another way. He could keep us from having any problems, but then we would not be people. We would be like puppets. God lets us have our problems or puzzles, and then helps us to work them out. That is one of the reasons why we think that our God is such a great God. God is very patient with us. Lots of people have found that out, but Paul, who wrote the Bible book of 1 Timothy, remembered how patient God was with him and he told us about it. The next time you have a really hard problem or puzzle and you don't find the answer right away, remember that you are being taught to be patient, just as God is patient with us. Then you will be glad for the love that God shares with you.

From Self Confidence to God Confidence - (repreach)

From Self confidence to God Confidence Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4-14 Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C (repreached from 3/21/10 Max Lucado is a pastor and has written many many books on the Christian faith and what it means to believe. He tells the story of taking his daughter Jenna to the park when she was a little girl of about two years old. While she was playing with the other children, and there were other parents around – he decides to go across the street to the dairy queen and get her an ice cream cone. He returns to the park to give her the cone, only to discover that not only has she been playing in the sand – she has decided to eat the sand. He can’t very well give her an ice cream cone – when she has sand in her mouth. In telling the story – Lucado asks himself – did I love her any less with dirt in her mouth? Was she any less my daughter because she had dirt in her mouth? No – was I going to let her continue to play with dirt in her mouth(especially while holding an ice cream cone) no. He took her to the water fountain and washed her mouth out. Lucado compaired this to the way God thinks about us sometimes. He catches us all of the time with dirt in our mouths, God loves us, god cares for us, and yet God feels the need to clean out the dirt in our lives – because there is something much better in store for us. Most of the time if left alone to our own devices, we want to play in the sand and eat it- and yet god wants us to see that there is a bigger life, a greater relationship that we can have with ourselves and with God – if we stop depending on our own devices and seek to learn the ways of God. I tell you that story because Paul can relate to it very well. It proves the point that he is trying to make in Philippians when he says that his life is dirt. All of the things that used to matter in the world, no longer matter because his whole perspective in life has changed. Now that is really strange – because Paul was not a bad person. And he did not have a bad life. And there was nothing in his life that he had any real reason to be ashamed of. He came from a good family. When many other jewish families were giving up their faith for new beliefs. Pauls family were true Hebrews among Hebrews. He grew up to be a teacher and defender of the faith. He fervently persecuted Christians who were trying to ruin his faith. He was very well respected. And when others may have been thrown in jail because there were not citizens, even though he was jewish, he was still a roman citizen, he had all of the rights and priveledges that would have been given to the best of people. There were people who were trying to put Paul down and say that he was not a true leader, and yet Paul wanted them to know that there were at least 7 things in his life that he could point to and say that he was indeed a good and respected person. Good and respected if his life were about him. The thing is – he realized that his life was not about him. His life was about jesus Christ. And even though those things mattered in the eyes of humanity – they were nothing in the eyes of God. Whatever gains I had, these have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and regard them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Rubbish – how do you come to call everything that you have accomplished in life a rubbish? As I pondered that question I remembered a time in my own life – when I was living with my boyfriend. And on this night our argument was not any more significant than they were on other day. We fought all of the time about any thing. But for some reason, on this night I remember he made a fist, and I remember in the moment between his fist hitting my face and my head hitting the wall – I remember taking everything inside of myself that valued, all of my self esteem, all of my pride, all of the things that I loved about myself – and hiding them onto the white wall. So that when he hit me – he wouldn’t hurt anything. In the days to come, there were many people who asked why I had a black eye – and I always responded the same – I walked into a wall – I am just clumsy that way. It is nothing serious. Until one day – my manager at work asked me how long I intended to lie to myself. And I had to face the fact that I needed to make up a tale, so that I did not have to deal with the seriousness of what was really going on. But it was that tale that kept my life in place- and allowed me to continuing to live in the midst of a bad situation. Dirt in the mouth, while God was trying to show me that there was a better way. Sometimes it is easier for us to hold onto the tales – then it is for us to let the truth in and deal with it. But I don’t want to get caught up in the intensity of the story – that is not my point in telling it. That was a long time ago, and my life has gone on since then, and I have had many experiences in life that supercede that one. That wasn’t the incident that finally got me to leave the relationship, it was the incident that turned my life around to listen more intently to God. But it is an illustration of the intensity of what Paul is saying when he is using the word rubbish in regards to his old life. I few days after that incident I remember saying – I wonder how I am going to get all of that junk off of the wall – all of the things that I admired about myself – now that they were totally worthless. They didn’t mean anything to me anymore – because now I had a new reality, on which none of that stuff applied. The greek word that Paul uses for rubbish is skybala. Skybala means junk, trash – but it also means human waste or excrement. That is a pretty strong word when you are talking about your life’s accomplishments. And yet his new life in Christ – was so much more important than the person that he used to be. He was able to taste the ice cream cone that God was offering. And was glad that he did. Are we able to do the same? Lent is our reminder to put old ways behind and to study more intently to see God’s new ways for us. And there are always new ways. There are always thought patterns and beliefs that no longer serve their purpose, there are resentment and fears that is time to give up, there are ways that we have been coping that need to be put away. There are allegiances to people that are no longer helpful. There is an old understanding of our relationship with god that we are being called to give up – in order to be open to what is happening in our lives today – which is leading us to a new understanding and a new relationship. There is dirt, a lot of dirt that we can stop eating. The good news for us is that junk can be recycled. Even excrement is used are fertilizer. The old ways of thinking make us who we are today- they are the pathway for the new. They inform our lives and give us a chance to truly understand Christ salvation for us. The story of our salvation is always part of the bigger story of salvation of the world. Our story is important because it is a part of God’s story. It shows us that God is always working to make us better people. There is always room for us to grown to mature, to make sense of why things happen to us. And to know that in the end – it always a story of God’s love. When we are able to put aside our own accomplishments and our own self confidence – we are free to take on God confidence. We don’t know what god’s final vision of the world will be – most of the time we have no idea of what God’s final vision for our own lives is. But we can give up the past in order to prepare ourselves for the future. Paul ends his pep talk by saying – beloved I do not consider that I have made it my own. But this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead- I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. It is time for us all to leave the past behind and press on to the destiny of Christ – let us pray…..

What do you need from God

August 19, 2012 Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost Year B 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 John 6:51-58 “What do you need from the Lord” A genie in a bottle Three women were walking down a street and found a bottle laying on the side of the road. They picked it up and a genie popped out. The genie said, “You will each get one wish.” The first woman wished she was 20 times smarter. The genie made her 20 times smarter. The second woman wished she was 30 times smarter. The genie made her 30 times smarter. The last woman wished she was 60 times smarter. The genie turned her into a man. God is not a genie We may laugh at the joke of what people ask. But the truth is, that is what a lot of us, even he faithful think about prayer. We treat God like the genie in the bottle, who is willing to grant us the wishes of our heart. We see things that we want in life, and we ask God for them. And we wait for God to complete our order, and to make it all better. We wait and expect for God to give us the desires of our heart. We have to be careful when we pray. Prayer is not about a genie in a bottle in the sky granting the desires of our heart. Prayer is genuine conversation with God. Prayer is not so much about what we want in life, but about what we need. The king talks with God to get wisdom When a king took over his office, it was expected that he would go into a sacred cave, and wait on a message from the Lord. Scripture says that Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. Solomon had a reputation of being a king of great wisdom, and Solomon had the honor of being the king who was allowed to build a house for God, the temple in Jerusalem. In the temple, Solomon did not have to travel to Gibeon to talk with God, he could talk with God in his own home. The Temple was built with an inner sanctuary, where the ark of the convenant stayed, with the presence of God. Solomon’s temple designed so that he could talk with God You know that only the Zadok priest where allowed to the inner sanctuary to care for God. But you may not know that the king was also allowed into the sanctuary in order to talk with God. The temple was built in a square, with four entrances. Ezekiel 40 gives the outline of the temple, so that the people can return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. God enters the building from the East. Once God enters the temple, no one else is allowed to enter on that side. The king has an entrance from the west, where he can walk all the way into the inner sanctum. No one else is allowed to come in that entrance. The priest come to temple from the north, the people come in to sacrifice at the south temple. I tell you this so that you know the temple was the place where Solomon could go to be with God. No longer did he have to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, he could sacrifice at home. Where do you go to be with God? Where do you go, when you need to be close to God? When you need to be in his presence? Is it the house of God? Is it the sanctuary? Is it a place in nature? The place that we go to find God is not a place at all- the place where God lives in our need to pray, to talk with God about our lives, to ask God for the things that we need. God wants you to ask Paul says that God already knows what we need in our lives, sometimes God knows better that we do. But he also wants us to be able to ask. To be able to articulate our needs, and to be confident enough to speak them, and most important to be in relationship in order to receive them from our Father who loves us. Asking has changed the world. Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him. They did, and Christianity has fundamentally changed this world. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked this nation to treat minorities with equality and it threw off much of the bigotry and injustice of his day. If you are married it is because you asked. If you have a job it is because you asked. Every day is an opportunity to ask God for his wisdom to know and do His purposes for your life. The great value of asking is it keeps us focused on the Lord. Yes, it may be a need in your life but for it to be meet or for you to have the wisdom to respond correctly, it will require the Lord’s help. Praying for wisdom keeps your focus on the Lord and his priorities. Let the spirit work in your life Words exchanged with God are not enough. We have to also be able to listen to what God has to say, and to see how it unfolds in our lives. Scripture says that Solomon’s prayer was for the ability to listen to God in order to lead his people. A heart to recognize when the holy spirit is working in his life to grant his and our request. This poem is called God says no, but in each case, I don’t hear God saying no, but God is saying trust in the work of the spirit…. ‘God Said, “No.”’ I asked God to take away my habit. God said, “No. It is not for Me to take away, but for you to give it up.” I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, “No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.” I asked God to grant me patience. God said, “No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned.” I asked God to give me happiness. God said, “No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.” I asked God to spare me pain. God said, “No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.” I asked God to make my spirit to grow. God said, “No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.” I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, “No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.” I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me. God said, “Ahhh, finally you have the idea.” Solomon knew that genuine success could be experienced only in discerning and doing God’s will. In each case God did not say no, he said that the answer to you prayer can only be found in time, in relationship. If we ask god for something, but don’t stick around for he answer. We walk away assuming that God said no. how many times have you prayed to God for something. But did not stick around long enough to get the answer? How many times have you expected something from God, but not prepared yourself for the changes that answer takes. They say if you pray for rain, then you should really invest in an umbrella. God loves you, God wants to hear from you, God wants to answer your prayer. But you have to realize that it is God who answer s in God’s own way. “Ask what I should give you?” Scripture says that when Solomon stood before God at Gibeon, God came to him and said – Ask what I should give you? Ask what I should give you? When you have to attention of God, what is it that you ask for? What is it that you need right now from God? Solomon understood that true wisdom is being able to ask God for what you need, and not what you want. We have To understand that the desires of our heart, come from being in right relationship with God; from being open to the movement of the holy spirit in our lives. And having an ongoing relationship with God. And trusting that God will always do what is best for us. when we pray. God’s answer belongs to God not us. God’s baseball game There was a baseball going on. The game was between God’s team and satan’s team. Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate named Love. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because "Love never fails." The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass. Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked because he never swings at what Satan throws. The bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Freddy said, "He sure doesn't look like much!" Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground. The roaring crowds went wild as the ball continued over the fence for a home run! The Lord's team won! The Lord then asked Freddy if he knew why Love, Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game. Freddy answered that he didn't know why. The Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, Faith and Wisdom will get you on base but only My Grace can get you home." "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."--Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NIV). It is not our desires that answer our prayer, it is God. It is God’s grace that helps us to see the work of the spirit in our lives. No matter what our concerns, no matter what our request, our prayer is for a God listening heart and spirit - True wisdom for is submission and obedience to God’s work in our lives. Let us pray…… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It wasn't long before I had classmates hanging out in my room nights before Physics tests, asking for my help. I was always glad to give them help, and they knew that I wouldn't steer them wrong. Imagine, though, if every time I explained a problem to someone, they had said to me, "Well, that's a nice idea, but I think this way will work just as well..." And then they proceeded to use a different method, arriving at a different answer. Don't you imagine that after awhile, I would say "Excuse me, if you're not ever going to listen to what I tell you, why are you even bothering to ask?"

Press On, Move Forward

Englewood UMC “Press on, Move Forward” Galatians 5:13-16, 22-26 Galatians 6:2-9 Philippians 3:12-14 138th Anniversary Celebration November 13, 2011 Story of 3 sisters who didn’t know if they were coming of going 3 sisters lived together. One was 96, one 95, and one 94. The oldest sister ran some bath water, began to step in the tub but she got confused, she couldn’t remember if she was getting in the tub, or out of the tub. Her middle sister decided to come up the steps to help her. But she had to stop halfway up the stairway. She couldn’t remember if she was going up the steps table eating breakfast. All she could do was shaker her head and knock on wood. Thank God her memory was not as bad as her sisters. I will be there to help you two figure out what is going on, just as soon as I see who it is that is knocking at the door. I want to ask you – are we coming or going? A church anniversary – is it time for us to look back at what the church used to be, or is it time to press on and move forward? A church anniversary is indeed a good time to reminisce. To look at pictures, to remember old relationships. It is not a time to rest on our laurels, to stay stuck on what we used to be, too just sit on our butts. It is time to Press on and move forward. Biblical referenced for Press on Move Forward Press on move forward – that is a good message for us this morning. The bad news is that it is not biblical. I spent all weekend looking for a biblical reference to those powerful words. Paul didn’t say those words, Jesus didn’t say those words, and the prophets didn’t say those words. The good news is they didn’t have to because the concept is everywhere throughout the bible. For instance in 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul says to run in such a way as to win the prize – that means to run forward – running backward won’t get you anywhere. In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward. In Luke 9:62 Jesus says no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. In Genesis 19:17 an angel tells Abrahams cousin Lot to flee for your lives, don’t look back and don’t stop until you reach the plains. Message is to move forward and don’t look back In all of these verses the message is not just to move forward, but don’t look back. No matter what the past may hold, leave it behind and move forward. In order to move forward there is something that we have to let go of. Something on our list that we have to forget about, something that we have to prioritize. The religion of the Jews is a religion that places a priority on history, on ancestors, on wisdom of the past. The religion of Jesus does not take away from that past- it just reminds us that our hope is in what lies ahead. People of faith are those who are moving forward. The logical reason – we face forward not backward And when you think about it that makes sense. When a baby is learning to walk – you don’t stand behind her and encourage her to walk backwards. You stand in front of her and encourage her to walk forward. You tell her to come here – God does the same for us. God calls us forward in everything. Our feet, are in front of us. Our face in front, our eyes in front. An interesting fact that I learned this year, If you pull aside the feathers on an owls face, you will discover that the owl has two totally different shaped ears. An owl has superior hearing because those two different ears are oriented in two different directions. An owl has superior hearing because he can hear what is in front of him, and what is in back of him at the same time. But humans, we don’t have eyes in the back of our head, and those big lobes on the side of our face – they are specifically designed to catch the sound in front of us, not in back. Why is it that all of our senses are in the front of us and not in back of us, who do we not have special tools to look behind us – because we are not headed in that direction. We don’t need to look back – there is nothing for us. There is nothing wrong with the past; we are just not headed in that direction. Press on, move forward. In Christ we are a new creation, we have a new life, our eternity is in the kingdom to come. The command is forward march – not backward march. The story of Alexander’s army Alexander the great was known for commanding his army to march upon a village and just taking over everything around him. Most kings were intimidated by the sheer number of his army. Once he met a king who resisted – why should I just surrender and give you control of my kingdom just because you asked for it. Alexander the great told him because he had a powerful army. The king was still not convinced. So Alexander had to give him an example. He gave the order forward march. On the army marched onward. They continued to follow the command of their leader, and marched on. They were near a cliff, but had not received the command to stop. It has been a long time since I was in marching band, so I forget the command to stop. But Alexander finally gave the command to stop. But it was not until 3 or 4 rows of the army had marched off the end of the cliff. Alexander turned to the king, what makes my army so powerful – they will do whatever I tell them to do. The king immediately surrendered. Alexander had an army that was willing to press on and move forward. Don’t we feel that we are falling off a cliff sometime? Just as in that story, do we sometimes think that moving forward is like falling off of a cliff for God. After all – move forward – move forward into what. Where are we headed as a church? What does the future hold for us? how can we look forward to a future that we can’t see? Who are the people coming behind us? what do we have to look forward to when there are more funerals than baptisms? What do we look forward to, when we can look back and see better days behind us? We can be tempted to think of a church anniversary as a time to look back and remember the good times. The cemetery with a church Okay I was going to save this story for another sermon, but I can’t resist. I have been looking online all weekend for sermons on church anniversaries, trying to find exactly what you say at a time like this. And I came upon the story of a pastor who like me, did an internet search and found a story that he was very interested in. It was preached at St. Matthew church, somewhere in England. He was really taken with the anniversary sermon and wanted to learn more about the church. What ministries did they have that warranted such a good sermon? What did they do for the community? He did an internet search, not only did they not have a website; he could find nothing about the church. The pastor, pastor Johnson had a website, but funny thing it didn’t say anything about the church. It was time for him to preach his sermon – and he was frustrated that he couldn’t find anything. So in desperation he decided that he would just look up pastor Johnson and call him personally. Pastor Johnson was in total shock. St. Matthew church had not been an independent church for 5 years now. They had merged with 3 other churches, and it had been 10 years since they were able to afford anything other than a student pastor. The only reason the name St. Matthew was still known was because the cemetery attached to the church was still open. The building was only used once a year. That sermon for the annual church anniversary – a fundraiser to keep the cemetery open. So much for a church anniversary sermon focused on the past. Galatians 6:9 Speaking of falling off cliffs, I thought that my sermon had fallen off a cliff this weekend, as I continued to do my planning for today. I picked this theme of press on move forward last month or so. But didn’t read Galatians 6:9 until Friday. The verse says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It is a great message - but doesn’t have anything to do with press on move forward. Somewhere along the way – I got my signals messed up. But I truly do believe that when it comes to the message of God – there are no mistakes. There is always a reason that a word is revealed. And for some reason God wanted those too messages to come together. I am I am not just saying that because I didn’t look at this text until Friday, and realized that I needed to have to say something that made sense on Sunday. Our faith is grounded in obedience If we look back at our story about the army of Alexander – it is an example of what it means to press on and move forward. But that is not the point of the story. The point of the story is obedience. Obedience to press on and move forward no matter what. God calls the church to be focused, and unwavering in our obedience to God. To press on and not look back, to trust God into an unknown future. To never grow weary in doing what is Good – because that is what God tells us to do. The harvest comes for us in the future, not in the past. The harvest is God’s and not ours. Our faith is grounded in hope The faith of the followers of Christ is grounded in hope. Hope in new life, hope in new creation, hope in things to come, not times gone by. Religions of the past got their meaning from where they come from, what they did, who their ancestors were. The religion of Christ is a religion of the future. We get our meaning from the future no the past. We walk toward where are going, no where we have been. We press on move forward, never growing tired of our task to do what is good, in world obsessed with what is wrong. The greeting of keep moving forward One man noted that whenever he visits the church that he grew up in, the usher always notices him. Mr. Cotton Jones always says to him – it is good to see you, keep on moving forward. His greeting - keep moving forward is a challenge. A challenge to learn more, to grow more, to achieve more, to live more fully. Press on Englewood – move forward! Let us pray….

Reverance to an Unkown God

May 29, 2011
Acts 17:22-31
John 14:15-21
Reverance to an Unknown God
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year A


Introductory story - a children’s story of love

"I love chocolate," mumbled Paul as he stuffed the last fragment of Mars bar into his mouth.

Matthew grinned. "I love bubble gum," he announced.

Carolyn refused to be outdone. "I love - whatever group is number one!"

All the children looked at Sam. But his face clouded and he shook his head. "I don't love anyone or anything," he said and pushed his hand into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

There was a pause. After a while Carolyn said, "You must love your mum and dad. Everyone loves their parents. You have to."

"Huh!" exclaimed Sam. "I haven't got a dad, and my mum's got a new boyfriend and I hate him. And I hate her too, because she doesn't love me any more, she only loves him."

Nobody knew what to say, for they all suspected Sam was right. He'd never really known his father except for occasional visits, and his mother had lived with a succession of boyfriends. Some of them had been quite kind to Sam, but none of them had lasted. Just when he cautiously began to like and trust one of them, that one would disappear only to be replaced by someone new. Sam was growing up into something of a loner; it was safer that way, you didn't get hurt.



What is true love for Christians?

Sam is a lot like a lot of children in our world – like a lot of people in our world today. Who are asking themselves what is love is, what is true love. A love that gives us meaning, a sense of peace, a sense of security, a sense of confidence.

Many of us here know, that the only true love that we have is the love of God. It is God’s love that underlies all of history. God’s love bought Jesus to our world, God’s love is the point of the resurrection. God’s love s what bought us here today, and God’s love is what brings meaning to our lives. If you don’t know God, you don’t know love.
We all know that God is the most important thing in our lives, and yet we too are a part of this story.

We freely talk about how we love ice cream, we love candy, we love the latest movie star. Sam asks each of us is that really love? Or is it somethings else, affection, affinity, a strong like, a bad habit? Even as Sam looks at his own life, at those who should love him, and he continues to ask the question of God really in that relationship? Is it really love? Is love a feeling an attraction. In the gospel lesson, John 14 – Jesus makes it clear that true love is obedience. If we really love God, then we obey his commandements. We do what God says, we live according to what the bible says, we have a relationship with God, we believe whole heartedly in Jesus Christ.


Commentary of John 14
John 14:17 says This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him, nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, he will be with you.

If you don’t know god, you don’t know love. We live in a world where the love of god is present, yet us unknown.

And yet we live in a world where people don’t know love, and yet they continue to talk about how much they love ice cream, candy and Justin bieber. There are plenty of substitutions available for the love of God.

Commentary on Acts 17
That is the world that Paul is talking to when he goes to mars hill in Athens, Greece and he sees a monument to an unknown god. I have been to the park that is now on mars hill. And seen the monument to an unknown God – just a small low level square stone.

Representing the hopes and dreams of the people. Showing the world that they were open to the religious. That they wanted to believe in something more, that their hearts were open to a change, but they like Sam, like a lot of people, had to admit that they did not really know love, because they did not know God.


What are our present monuments to an unknown God?
When you walk around the city, our city today – I think we still can see lots of monuments to the things that we love. How many liquor stores, fast food restaurants, ice cream stores, shopping malls are there- where people are flocking to trying to feel better. They have no idea of what love is, so they don’t know where to look for it.


Are churches monuments to an unkown God?
But something else to think about – how many churches do we have in our neighborhood, but do the people in them really know God enough to know God’s love. Jesus says that the only the only way to love god is to ……obey god. Keep God’s commandments in everything that we do.

To continue our story….



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Continuation of story of children’s story of love
"Anyway," continued Sam, "I don't know what love feels like. But I do know you can't love chocolate or bubble gum or pop stars. You can like them really, really much, but you can't actually love them."

"Well, I know what love feels like," exclaimed Carolyn. "Maybe I don't actually love any pop stars, maybe I just adore them and like them loads and - and almost worship them and want to listen to them all the time over and over again. And maybe that's not real love. But it's a bit like love."

"No, it isn't," argued Paul. "I love my parents and even my little sister, but I don't want to be with them all the time. I don't adore them, and I certainly don't want to listen to them over and over again! But I do love them, and I'd be really sad if they weren't around. I guess I kind of rely on them. Perhaps that's love."

Matthew was frowning. "This is boring," he said. "All that love stuff is boring. You should see my big sister. She's 15 and she's always mooning around some boyfriend or other. They're always kissing and cuddling, it's disgusting."

"You don't need love," declared Sam. "I get on OK without it. Nobody loves me and I'm never going to love anyone else ever again. Love's awful. I used to love my mum, and look what happened to me. I just got hurt. If you don't love anyone, you don't get hurt."

They all heard what Sam said, but it didn't feel right. Deep down inside they all felt really sorry for Sam. Somehow they knew he was missing out on something important, even though they weren't sure exactly what it was. But they were all aware that Sam was becoming a lonely and solitary figure, that most people kept away from Sam because he was somehow prickly, and that they were the only friends he had. They also had the feeling that they were very important to Sam because he had no other friends. And they vaguely suspected that had something to do with a mild kind of love.

Carolyn lay on her back, gazing up into the sky. "I know who I really love," she suddenly announced. "I love God. It's easy to love God because he somehow lives inside each human being, and if he lives inside me it's like he's part of me and knows me really well. God loves every human being more than anything in the whole world. And you don't have to trail round after him, or think about him all the time, he's just there. Always around when you need him, but never interfering or making a nuisance of himself. You could love God, Sam. God would never let you down, and he'd always be there if you felt hurt. God is great."



Not a part of the sermon
Sam stared at her, a small frown between his eyes. But he looked thoughtful, and for the first time there was a hint of hope in his eyes. Then he shrugged. "Come on," he said, "let's play football." And the children jumped to their feet and ran outside.

John 14 is Jesus final advice to us. He reminds of to love him, to love god , to obey God, the believe in God. He knows the world that we live in, and the challenges that we face. He knows that there are lot of Sams out there –looking for love with no idea of where to look. He knows that even we have questions about true love, how do we know that we are in relationship with God. What happens when we get lost?


Story of Jim Reed, his wife whispering in his ear
Many of you probably have stashed away in a drawer somewhere around your home the old 45 rpm records. If you have some from the 50s and early 60s you will have Elvis' grinding out "Hound Dog," Buddy Holly and the Crickets' hiccupping "Peggy Sue," Chuck Berry's joyful hot licks in "Maybellene," the Coasters' slapstick tour de force "Charlie Brown," the mournful "Tears On My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials, the impenetrable and probably scandalous "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen, and the teenaged gropings of the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me."
Here and there in these dusty stacks, one can find an occasional recording by the great blues master Jimmy Reed. A share-cropper's son, Reed brought the throbbing harmonica-and-guitar-driven black rhythm-and-blues of the Mississippi Delta into the popular rock-and-roll mainstream. Many of us, when we were in high school, fancied ourselves a budding rock band. My friends and I did. We would play and replay our 45s attempting in vain to capture the sound. But how do you imitate someone like Reed. The pain-soaked cries of his mahogany voice could not be imitated by our too-tight, too-white, suburban throats.
There's an interesting story behind the Jimmy Reed records. In placing the phonograph needle again and again in the grooves of Jimmy Reed's records, you began to notice something curious. If one listened very carefully, there could sometimes be heard, ever so faintly in the background, a soft woman's voice murmuring in advance the next verse of the song. The story that grew up around this -- and perhaps it is true -- was that Jimmy Reed was so absorbed in the bluesy beat and the throbbing guitar riffs of his music that he simply could not remember the words of his own songs. He needed help with the lyrics, and the woman's voice was none other than that of his wife, devotedly coaching her husband through the recording session by whispering the upcoming stanzas into his ear as he sang.
Whether or not this story is accurate, Christians will surely recognize a parallel experience. Jesus tells his followers that the role of the Holy Spirit is, in effect, to whisper the lyrics of the gospel song in the ears of the faithful. When Jesus was present, he was the one who instilled in them the right words, coached them through the proper verses, taught them the joyful commandments. But now that Jesus approaches his death, now that he draws near to his time of departure, now that the disciples will be on their own without him, that task is to be handed over to the Holy Spirit:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth ..." (John 14:15-17).


The Holy Spirit does the same thing for us
primary task, then, of the Holy Spirit is reminding the faithful of the truth, jogging the memories of the followers of Jesus about all of his commandments so that they can keep them in love, whispering the lyrics of the never-ending hymn of faithful obedience in their ears. It may surprise us to think of the Holy Spirit in this way, as a quiet, whispering teacher of the commandments of Jesus. Often the Spirit is advertised in flashier terms: The Spirit gives ecstasy; the Spirit evokes speaking in unknown tongues; the Spirit prompts dramatic and miraculous healings. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God does perform such deeds, but these are all derivative of the one, primary activity of the Spirit -- reminding the children of God about everything that Jesus taught and commanded (John 14:26), whispering the gospel lyrics into the ears of the forgetful faithful.
Conclusion
All of us are looking for loves, all of us have some monument in our lives to that search.

But only those who love God enough to follow his commendments have the presence of the holy spirit – in our lives, in our ears guiding us, leading us, revealing to us to love of God.
God with us, Jesus with us, the Holy Spirit with us – the promise of power, comfort and guidance.

Let us pray….