So that I can live

November 6, 2016 Daniel 7:1-3,15-18 All Saints Day I want to put you all on the spot. We read the vision and mission statement earlier in the service. How many of you can say it again right now? What is a mission statement? What is a vision statement. Our mission is who we are and what we value, the vision statement is how we live that out. We say it every sunday to remind us that we should be living out our vision statement in everything that we do. When visitors and others come in contact with us, and then hear our vision statement, they should immediately say- yes I can see that in them. Where did we get that vision and mission statement? By looking around our community and seeing what is possible for God to do in this community. But we also got it from those who came before us, what they saw to be possible in this world if God were fully present. A vision statement is not just about who we are, but who we aspire to be. If we lived in a perfect world, what would it look like? How would we treat everyone? We would we be doing for one another. We get our vision from those who came before us. It is our job to live out their hopes and dreams. There is a shirt going around the internet that says “ I am my ancestors wildest dream”. Everything that they hoped for us comes true in us, and we pass it on to our children. So that they can live in the world that we envisioned. On this day, we want to honor the visions of those who came before us. We honor family and church members who are no longer a part of the struggle. We honor those who have gone on before us. They were a part of the vision of God, but now they have gone on to perfection. We want to honor them for all they have given to us and to the world on this all Saint’s Day. We don’t deal with the book of Daniel very often, as a matter of fact, this is the only time the book of Daniel is in our readings. Many people are afraid of the Book of Daniel, because it talks about dreams and visions. It talks of Daniel’s vision of the endtimes and God’s final judgement. The judgement is only scary if you are on the wrong side. If you know God and you know that we you have not made God the center of your daily vision, they you should be afraid. It was Daniel’s intention not to scare people but to give them hope. He wanted to encourage the saints – to continue to live holy. It is not the end that we should be afraid of-life gets better. He wrote his visions and dreams down- to show people that the tough times we are going through only came to pass, not to last. Daniel has a vision of 4 beast that have come to destroy the world, and the ancient one of days sits on the throne watching it all and eventually ending it all. He comes to judge all that has happened to his people. But He saves those whose names are written in the books of life. One book for those who are faithful and one book for those who are not. Those who are faithful will be saved from tribulation. Those who are in the book of life are not those who have done everything right, but those who in the midst of their sinning, still called on the of God as their savior. If you read through the new testament and the words of Jesus, there are two terms used for the faithful in the bible. There is the word disciple and the word saint. The mission statement of the United Methodist Church comes from the last words of Matthew – go therefore and make disciples of all nations. And today we honor the saints of our church. A disciple is one who is a student, who aspires to be just like his teacher. In this case we are disciples of Jesus Christ. A saint is one who has been sanctified, made holy in the presence of God. A disciple is one who is walking toward the future, a saint is one inherits the future. A disciple works toward the vision, a saint lives in the vision. And interestingly enough, the book of Matthew uses these two terms interchangeably. We are both disciples and saints at the same time. When we have a vision, we live in the now and what is to come at the same time. Our victory is that the race has already been won, the work has been done by Jesus Christ. But he still left some work for us to do. When we look at the world, the community, we don’t have to be discouraged by what we see, because we know that Christ has already declared victory over despair. The real winner of next week’s election is Jesus Christ. But how Christ will work in this world is still being determined. When I was ordained, one of the questions that the bishop asked us was are you going on to perfection? Do you strive to be a perfect person. We all know that as long as I am alive- I will never be perfect. Well the reality, I have already been made perfect in God’s eyes through the blood of Jesus. And yet when I stand before God – thejudge- I will be deamed perfect through my faith, and God’s grace. The only way I can achieve perfection is to do all that I can here, and to stand before God and say I did all that I could do. Today we honor those who have been made perfect in God. Who have fought the faithful fight and now stand at their eternal rest. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, and Jesus. In our world of good and evil, there are times when we clearly are not in control of what is going on around us. But we are in control of what is going on inside of us. On days like this, we need to be able to ask ourselves what areas of our lives appear out of our control. Whatever they are, All Saints reminds us that we need to look toward the one who gives us life so that we can live our life as God would have us live it. Our God is the same God who acted in the past, in the present, and will act in the future to protect that which was so carefully created. Our faith needs to mirror that of those who have come before as we struggle today to become the saints God would have us be. The biggest lesson of today, is that everything is going to be okay. Today we may be in pain, we may be going through hardship, we as a church are a little far off from living out our vision. But that is okay – it just means that we have something to strive for. As the faithful ones we are both disciples and saints at the same time. But we take this time to honor those who have gone on to perfection, so that we can have the strength to move forward, to live out the vision, and to face the problems of this world. We take the time to remember, so that we can live another day. Amen. Children’s Sermon…… PREPARATION: None or bring a picture of a family tree LESSON: How many of you know what a family tree is? (Let the children respond) (If you have a family tree, show it at this time.) A family tree is very special because it lists everyone in your family from several generations back up to the present--grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. It is always fun to look and see how we are all related to each other, isn't it? Has anyone in your family been adopted? (children respond) If you have an adopted brother, sister or cousin, they have just as important a place on the tree as you do. That is what adoption means. Adoption means to take for your own. When someone adopts a child, they have all of the legal rights as a child born into a family. They are treated as their own. Did you know that all of us are adopted into God's family? That's right. God chose us and adopted us into his family through Jesus. That means if we love Jesus and ask him into our hearts, we have all of the same rights before God as His Son, Jesus. That is pretty awesome! Another amazing part of this is the last part of the verse. It says that adopting us gave God great pleasure. God is happy to have us in his family. PRAYER: Thank you for loving each of us enough to invite us to be members of your family. AMEN Collected Sermons by King Duncan

Holy Ground, Holy Purpose

August 31, 2014 Exodus 3:1-15 Holy Ground, Holy Purpose 12th Sunday After Pentecost Year A What are some of the problems of the world? We are living in some interesting times. There are so many different things going on in the world today. What are some situations going on in the world that you think need God’s attention…… The good news is that if you see it as a problem, God also sees. Sometimes when we hear the stories of the bible, we can start to believe that these stories are outdated, and say nothing about the world today. Nothing can be further from the truth. The God that we worship is a very hip and up to date God. He knows what is going on in the world – and he has a plan to fix this world up and to make everything right. What exodus says about what God can do 3. A Wonderful Experience. (v.7-10) (God replied with the following responses) A) "I have seen" (v.7a) B) "I have heard" (v.7b) C) "I know" (v.7c) D) "I have come down to deliver you" (v.8a) E) "I have seen the oppression" (v.9) We have all heard this story of Moses and the burning bush. It can be easy to be fooled into thinking that this is an old story, and that there is nothing new that we can learn from this story. But today, I want to encourage you to think about this story in a whole new way. I want to focus on things that we have not thought about. God is the center of this story not Moses. Story starts with God’s awareness of the world, not Moses answering God’s call. The message for today- God still appears to the faithful, God still has a plan. God still wants you and me to be apart of that plan to change the world. The importance of vision In the story, Moses had a vision to see beyond the ordinary, and to recognize God in the situation. Do we have that same vision? When we look at the world – what do we see? Do we see the situation, or do we see God’s future unfolding before our eyes. In order to see God, to have that special vision, you have to see with your eyes, but also see with your faith. The bush was burning, but was not consumed. Moses was able to see what was there, but to look beyond it and to recognize the presence of God. Is the world coming apart, or is the world coming together. It all depends on our vision. 5475 Mrs. Tan’s Vision Of Cross The New Grace Christian Church in the Philippines has a distinctively massive Cross outside its sanctuary. One mid-morning in 1976, Mrs. Julia L. Tan was returning home from a God-honoring project in Manila when she saw a beautiful, shining Cross over the church’s existing cross structure. Disbelieving her own eyes, she thought it must be a case of “double vision.” The shining Cross disappeared. But in another minute, the Cross again appeared over the roof of the church. This precious experience proved a great comfort and assurance to her in the ministry. Mrs. Tan co-founded the 5,000-student Grace Christian High School and Grace Bible Church, and started the Grace Gospel Church and Grace Christian Church. She still actively serves the Lord having completed over 50 years of educational service in the Far East by 1980. Count Zinzendorf owed much of his spiritual fervor to the casual sight of a picture of the crucifixion, with this simple inscription at the bottom: “All this for thee: how much for me?” In 1845, in the First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention was organized. As a tribute to the faith of the founding fathers, the church placed this inscription in the building: “Men who see the invisible, hear the inaudible, believe the incredible, and think the unthinkable!” The best way to see how God is at work in the world today, is to make sure that we see Jesus clearly. If we see Jesus in the world, we also see God’s plan. We come to know Jesus by reading the revelation in the bible. By practicing prayer, and most importantly by living our lives the way Jesus calls us to. If we do that – we will be blessed with a special vision – to see God in all things. And to know God is there, in places where others cant see him. The significance of taking off shoes the story – God tells Moses how to indeed stay close to God. He tells Moses to take off his shoes. In Middle Eastern culture, you always take off your shoes before entering a house. In a mosque, before you enter in you have to take off your shoes. It is disrespectful to bring the dust of your shoes into someone’s space. The dust from the ground represents a sinful world. You remove you sin as a sign of respect. But there are other stories in the bible of people removing there shoes. In Ruth when her husband dies, a relative must present his shoes to the judge in order to vouch for Ruth in court. But God has another reason for asking Moses to remove his shoes on holy ground. It is not so much a sign of respect. Shoes are a part of our persona- our presence to the outside world. You may walk around the house in your stocking feet, but when you go outside in the world – one of the things that you have to do is put your shoes on. That is a part of making yourself presentable to the rest of the world is putting your shoes on. God tells Moses to take your shoes off – take of the mask that the rest of the world sees. Become vulnerable, be yourself. Present nothing to God –but your innerself. One of the most dramatic and world-renowned shifts from "I" to God is the conversion of C. S. Lewis. This little man, who held the chair of medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, sat in his study without typewriter or secretary and penned the great masterpieces, which made him perhaps the most broadly read Christian writer of our century. C. S. Lewis was an agnostic, but was Surprised by Joy--the title of a book in which he tells about "The Shape of My Early Life" as Christ replaced the "I" in his life. C. S. Lewis describes the exchange between self-will and God's will in Beyond Personality (and his words are a challenge to you and to me): "Christ says, 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work--I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self instead. In fact I will give you myself, my own will shall become yours. Donald Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, Resource, 1992, p. 162 Yahweh and abba It is interesting that in this story- we learn God’s name I am who I am – or Yahweh. A name so sacred, that we are not supposed to even pronounce it. And yet Jesus calls God Abba- daddy. You can’t get any closer than a father to a son. Jesus takes all the pretense away in his relationship with God. There are no secrets, no walls, no shoes. He has given his whole self to God, and he came to help us understand that we too can do the same. As a matter of fact, if we are to be what God calls us to be – we have to be present with God. 3. A Wonderful Experience. (v.7-10) (God replied with the following responses) A) "I have seen" (v.7a) B) "I have heard" (v.7b) C) "I know" (v.7c) D) "I have come down to deliver you" (v.8a) E) "I have seen the oppression" (v.9) G) "I will send you" (v.10) (God is fully aware of what we experience in life. He is able to handle anything that we might face.) The God who gets things done In his conversation with God, Moses first ask who am I that you would ask me to carry out this important task. God replies, I will be with you. You are important enough for God to want a relationship with you, you are important enough that God wants to know all about you, you are important enough that God has entrusted you with the most important thing in his heart – to save his people. God wants to know if you are up to the task? Are you ready for the relationship? Are you able to be close to God? God’s name is I am who I am – or more importantly I will be who I will be. The world that God created will be so. You may not know that Yahweh also means the one who causes things to be. Our God is the one who knows how to get things done. And we live in a world that needs him desparately. We were able to identify so many things that are going on in the world today. Yahweh knows how to make a difference and make the world a better place for all of us. He is choosing you to help him out – do you chose him?Let us pray. Amen. Children’s Sermon….. Yahweh by B. Kathleen Fannin Passage: Exodus 3:1-22 • Lectionary: Proper 17 Item 1 of 1 | Back to Results "But Moses said to God, 'If I come to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you," and they ask me, "What is his name?" what shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' He said further, 'Thus you shall say to the Israelites, "I AM has sent me to you." ' " Theme: Self-esteem. Visual Aid: White posterboard with "YHWH" written in capital letters. As the children come up to the front of the sanctuary, I place the posterboard face down in front of me. Following my usual practice, I begin with a question. "Does everyone here have a name?" This brings laughs and giggles as the children nod. Of course everyone has a name! At this point, with a small group, I will ask each child to tell me her/his name. "Have you ever forgotten someone's name?" Several children indicate they have. "How did that make you feel?" I ask. "Dumb!" Nancy responds. "Embarrassed!" offers Matt. "Once I forgot my OWN name," says George, causing more giggles. "Has anyone else ever forgotten your name?" I ask him. He nods affirmatively. "How about the rest of you? Has anyone ever forgotten your name?" Several more children acknowledge this experience. "How did that make you feel?" I question. "Like I wasn't very important ..." "Like they didn't recognize me ..." "Like they didn't care about me ..." "And how do you feel when someone remembers your name?" I continue. "Good!" "Yes, it feels good to have someone remember our name, doesn't it? Our names give us identity. Our names tell us we are somebody; we exist. "Did you know that God knows the name of every one of you?" This brings everything from assured nods to looks of surprise. "And we know lots of names for God, too, don't we? What are some of those names?" "Father!" "Lord!" "Creator!" "God!" "Jesus!" "Love!" Out of the mouths of children ... And then one little girl of about ten really gives me a surprise. "Yahweh," she says quietly. I know immediately that this child has been paying attention in church or Sunday School or both. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I find myself responding to each reply. "Yahweh!" I repeat in startled wonder when it is pronounced by the girl. I reach down in front of me to pick up the posterboard. As the children look at what I have written, they look puzzled. "This looks funny, doesn't it?" I ask. They nod. "Why?" I question. After a moment's thought, one of the older children says, "There aren't any vowels." "That's right," I tell her. "The Hebrews didn't use vowels in their writing very often. This is an English translation of the Hebrew letters they used to write 'Yahweh,' the name of God." "After a while, the name of God became so sacred that the Hebrews wouldn't even pronounce it when they were reading scripture. They would substitute the name 'Adonai' instead. 'Adonai' means 'Lord.' "Well, what have we learned together this morning?" This is always a risky question with any group, but perhaps particularly with children because they tend to be so honest. "We've learned the name of God," Jerry responds. "And what is that name?" I ask the group, holding up the posterboard for all of them to see. "Yahweh!" a number of them reply. "So, we've learned the Hebrews' name for God was 'Yahweh.' What else have we learned?" An uncomfortable silence follows. "What if I call you the wrong name or can't remember your name?" I ask. "Oh, yeah!" Marian says, "I like for you to know my name and not mess it up when you say it." "And if I did mess it up, what would you do?" "Tell you how to say it right!" she assures me. And I have no doubt she would. "Are you telling me your name, your correct name, is important to you?" She nods vigorously. "In fact, each of your names is important to each of you, right?" I ask the entire group. Numerous little heads bob up-and-down affirmatively. "Sometimes we get down on ourselves. Sometimes we don't think we're worth much. If that ever happens to you, I hope you'll remember that you are important to God. In fact, you are so important, and God loves you so much, that God knows you by your very own name." Cows In Church, B. Kathleen Fannin, CSS Publishing Company, Inc, 1999, 0-7880-1346-7 Extra Illustrations…… NAME OF GOD...? If you’re in Lake City, Fla., one of these days and happen to run into a 50-something fellow with a sandy moustache, a receeding hairline, and aviator glasses, you may be in the presence of I Am Who I Am. Really. But that’s because Columbia County Court turned down his first request for a new name: God. The former Charles Haffey says he wanted a new identity because of lingering feelings of anxiety over his military service in Vietnam. (Source: 10/15/02 News Headlines from The Christian Science Monitor) Text Illustration: Life Examples: Moses: God’s Pattern for Success (Ex. 3:1-4) One of the greatest differences between the world’s message about success and God’s is this: The world seeks a single formula to produce one set of results for all people, while God’s plan is far more creative, far more individualized, and far more personal. Moses did not have a vision for success early in his life, although as an adopted son of Pharaoh he enjoyed a certain degree of privilege. After murdering an Egyptian, however, he ran for his life and then spent forty years tending sheep. But one day the Lord revealed Himself to Moses and gave him a specific life mission. Many of us go through difficult and even devastating experiences, and then one day come face-to-face with the reality of God. Is this the pattern that god seems to be implementing in your life? If so, stick with His plan, regardless of how unorthodox it may seem-The Promised Land lies in that direction! -The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible A Living Sacrifice There is, I think it is true to say, something a little bit depressing about Labor Day weekend. For Labor Day weekend signals the psychological end, at least, to summer with its periods of refreshment, and the start again, for many of us, of the more hectic rhythm of life and work at school, in college, at office or, in home. So let me ask you: How is your work? Are you giving of your self at work? Is work a place where you sacrifice for a cause? I find it helpful to remember the story of the little girl who, in the process of growing up, discovered that more than anything else she wanted to be able to mow the lawn. But each season she was told that she was too young. The great day came, however, when her parents decided that, at last, she was old enough to do the task. She did it with surprising skill and great delight, and having finished admiring her work, she began to cast long, envious glances across the fence at the neighbor's lawn, which also needed cutting. The neighbor, seeing her interest, said, "Sally, would you like to cut my lawn?" And the little girl enthusiastically said 'yes.' "Well, let's see...how about $3.00?" said the neighbor. The little girl's face fell, and she turned away, shaking her head. "What's the matter?" asked the neighbor. "I only have $2.00," said the little girl. Brett Blair, wwweSermons.com. Adapted from a sermon by Rev. C. Wayne Hilliker: "Living A Life That Matters" Back to Results | Item 1 of 1 Text Illustration: IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN A basketball in my hands is worth about $19 A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million It depends whose hands it’s in A baseball in my hands is worth about $6 A baseball in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth $19 million It depends whose hands it’s in A tennis racket is useless in my hands A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands is a Wimbledon Championship It depends whose hands it’s in A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea It depends whose hands it’s in A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands It depends whose hands it’s in Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce salvation for the entire world. It depends whose hands it’s in As you see now it depends whose hands it’s in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because It depends whose hands it’s in.(Author Unknown)

I am Glad to have this Opportunity

May 5, 2013 Acts 16:9-15 John 14:23-29 I am glad to have this opportunity Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C Dreams are the first place the spirit comes to meet us Dreams are an important part of all of our lives. The dreams that we have at night, have a lot to do with what we do in the morning. And have you noticed that we have different types of dreams, some dreams are happy, some dreams are not. Sometimes we dream of the same thing every night, ad yet lately for me, I know that I had a dream, but if I don’t get up and write it down, it is totally gone within minutes. Sometimes our dream is a dream, sometimes it is a vision, sometimes it is even a nightmare. But I truly believe that sometimes what we dream doesn’t matter within itself, what truly matters is what we do with it when we wake up. What feelings are we left with after the dream, what actions did you take because of it? Dreams were the way the spirit talked to the disciples As we have been reading stories from the book of acts, have you noticed that in each of the stories, it begins with a dream. God came to the apostles in a dream. The dream may have ended, but the apostle went on about is day, based on that dream. It was as if the holy spirit spoke to them, and when they woke up they were able to recognize the working of the spirit in their lives. Peter was told in a dream to take care of Dorcas, last week a dream told Peter is was okay to visit a gentile and to eat his food. This week Peter has a dream that someone needs him in Macedonia. Paul is headed for the middle east, but a dream tells him that he is supposed to go somewhere else. Somewhere that he doesn’t know, to do something the he’s ever known, in a situation that looked totally empty. But it was full of the promises of God. He just needed to be open to it. All because He had a vision from God. Vision is in our perspective Rick Warren gives the simplest definition of vision when he said, “Vision is the ability to see the opportunities within your current circumstances.” Perhaps you heard about the Yankee shoe salesman who went to Africa and wired his manufacturer, “I want to come home. Nobody wears shoes in this part of Africa.” So they brought him home and sent another salesman who shipped back order after order. He wrote the home office, “Everybody here needs shoes!” More on the story of Lydia Via Ignatia is a pretty significant highway now – the highway is much more significant and much busier then Phillipi. As a matter of fact if you don’t slow down and intentionally look for the stop on the side of the road you will miss it. It is a five to six hour highway drive to Macedonia from Phillipi. I could only imagine how long it would have taken to walk that journey. But a man appeared in a dream and told Paul that he was needed in Macedonia and he needed to make the trip. So he and Silas set off for Macedonia. On my trip following in the footsteps of Paul, we travelled down the via ignatia. There are two major roads from Rome – the via Appian and the via ignatia. They were actually built in 2BC – they were roads intended to connect all of the roman provinces to Rome. Soldiers followed this road in order to get anywhere they needed to be to keep order, supplies could be transported anywhere. More than 2000 years later- both roads are still used. It makes it pretty easy to follow in the footsteps of Paul. In his travels, Paul went where the people were. He followed the major urban areas of his time in order to spread the gospel. In the beginning, he stayed close to home, close to the middle east. The call to Macedonia was a call to reach out into the heart of the land of the gentiles. To reach people who would not have known Jesus Christ, yet and still knew the Holy Spirit. As I said, Macedonia was six hours away in a car- but he made the trip walking. Along the way he stopped by the river and met a group of women praying. Lyddia was the head of that group – she was not a jew- but she followed the jewish ways, she prayed and she believed in God. And she became Paul’s first convert. Since she was a wealthy woman, once she was baptized, that meant that all of her servants, her relatives and her household also became Christians. Today, you can still visit that place along the river. It has been left alone. I think that I still have water in my refrigerator from that river. And a little ways from the river is a small chapel, it is not a place of worship, it is intended just for baptisms. People come to baptize their babies at the place where Lyddia was baptized. We are all waiting for our destiny. Waiting for that person, the place, that turn down the street, that vision that will change our lives. Lyddia not only changed Paul’s life, but she changed the life of us all. She was the first European to be baptized, she was influential in her community so she was able to bring others to Christ. Phillipi is a long way away from Macedonia – and yet her conversion was proof that Paul was following the way of God. All of Greece followed Lyddia and became Christian. The greek flag is blue and white to represent the sea. But where our flag has 50 stars, the greek flag has a cross. The entire nation is Greek Orthodox. Because one woman praying next to a river saw the presence of the holy spirit in Paul and his message. From the via ignatia – the word spread all over the world. Water from Phillipi I am glad that we are studying this story today. I have had this bottle of water in my refrigerater for years, I have several other bottles of special water from the Jordan River, from Keosha Wisconsin, but I couldn’t remember why I had this bottle. It is from Phillipi. Lydia’s group didn’t have a synagogue to go to, so they worshipped in an empty place by the river. They called it the place of prayer. Where is our place of prayer? Paul must have asked God why he was called to come to an empty space. I think that today may of us feel that way. That we are in a place that is empty. A place where people don’t want to hear about God. A place where people don’t need the church. But the reality was, it was a place filled with the potential of God. God had a plan for the space, God came to Paul I a dream. Paul was in touch with God to believe in that dream. We all dream at night, there are dreams and there are dreams. We all have visions, there are visions and there are visions from God. We all have to know God well enough to discern when God is speaking to us. We have to trust God enough to understand that the Holy Spirit has been working on the situation way ahead of us. The hard work is done – all there is for us to do is to believe. Believe that God has a plan for our situation. Jesus gave us the gift of the spirit If you look at the gospel, once again we lose a part of the story. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the day that he will walk away from them. He is telling them that even though he is absent they don’t have to be afraid. Because the holy spirit will be with him. The disciple Judas (not Judas Iscariot) asks Jesus a question that we always have. Jesus, how is it that we will see you, but the rest of the world does not. It is because we have been trained to recognize the presence of the spirit. Every story that we hear in the book of acts is important, out of all of the things that happened in the life of the disciples, Luke felt that these stories are important for us to know. Lydia was the first European to be baptized, which meant that Christianity was well on its way to reaching the whole world. Jesus said that the gospel would reach beyond Judia and Samaria and reach the ends of the earth. Who were the people who felt that they were supposed to conquer the world – the Europeans. The holy spirit knew what needed to be done to get the work done. The book of acts is our guide to learning to listen to the working of the spirit in our lives, and in our situation. My gift of the spirit this week, and there have been many; was a conversation with a woman that I met at the planning session for the green festival. I told her I was a pastor, and we started talking about her church. I asked her what church she went to, and she said that she went to a small church that took the book of acts seriously. She said that her church intentionally tried to live out the book of acts. She said that they speak I tongues, and cast out devils and display all of the power of the holy spirit demonstrated in the book of acts. I laughed – because I thought we don’t get to read all of those stories about casting out demons, and speaking I tongues. But I told her that I am preaching on the book of acts, because I want my church to be an acts church too. A church that believes in the power of the holy spirit, and understands that power is available to them. The spirit is all around us, it is inside of us, it is behind us, it is in front of us. it is working on our behalf. We just have to believe in its power in all situations. Even our places of prayer – the places in our lives where we think nothing is happening. Starting a new ministry in the heart of an old place is daunting, going out amongst hostile people and believe that God is there is hard – but possible. A Greater Power Watching There was a nature show on television about a black bear that gave birth to two cubs. One cub died right away. Three weeks later the mother died and the remaining cub was left to fend for itself. An orphaned cub in that condition is like a walking buffet for predators. And of course the camera immediately showed a hungry-looking mountain lion. One day the orphan cub encountered a giant male black bear. The little cub cowered at the bear's sheer mass. The larger bear peered around and seemed to realize that the mother bear wasn't anywhere to be found. He gave the little cub a friendly nudge. The camera then showed the little bear happily trailing along after the larger one. The adoption papers were signed, sealed and registered at the county seat in that nudge. Papa bear proceeded to show the cub how to grub for insects and how to catch fish and how to scratch his back against a tree. One day the two bears became separated. The cub began to cry and looked frantically for his new father, but couldn't find him anywhere. The cub approached a stream where he'd learned to fish and something caught his attention. He looked up to see a mountain lion ready to pounce. That same mountain lion had stalked the cub for the entire show. There was no way that mountain lion would've gone for that cub with Papa bear around, but now.... The camera zoomed in on the cub. He automatically mimicked the posture of his adopted father when threatened. He stood on his hind legs and bared his teeth. Then, in the exactly the same way his new father would have done, this cub let loose a mighty growl that should have reverberated throughout the forest. But, only a tiny bear cub squeak came out. Well, you know what was coming. But, to everybody's astonishment the mountain lion lowered his head and ran off in the opposite direction. The camera panned back to the proud little cub still standing tall on his hind legs. And then all the viewers saw what that little cub Could Not: a few yards behind him, at full, ferocious height, his sharp, white teeth bared in a snarl, stood Daddy bear. He may not have made a sound, but he was there. And even though the cub couldn't see his father, his father stood guard, protecting his young. The little cub had power available greater than anything he could produce on his own. There was a greater power watching over him. Jesus said, [21] "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." Billy D. Strayhorn, What Difference Does It Make? The devil is watching and waiting to get us each and every day. Waiting for that moment when we are all alone, and he come in peace to destroy us. Jesus has taught us how to protect ourselves, how to make it through. If we believe start to see the presence of the spirit in our lives, if we start to do what we see the spirit do – that power is always with us in ways we may not even know. If we are willing to go through the motions. Then the spirit will do the work. ________________________ A Place of Peace Jesus was preparing his disciples for tough times. He was about to ascend to the Father and they would be on their own -- left to find their way through this world alone. And yet, they would not be alone. For he would be with them in the presence of the Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan battled for an entire year to find a passage around South America. There at the very tip of the continent, in its icy waters he encountered some of the worst weather anywhere on earth. Raging seas, towering ice floes, and a mutinous crew plagued his efforts. When he finally made his way through those straits (which today bear his name -- the Straits of Magellan), he entered into a great body of water that lay beyond, and as he and his men lifted their faces to heaven and gave thanks to God, he named the new ocean "The Peaceful One -- the Pacific Ocean." In his words this morning, Jesus desires to lead us in the same way to a place of peace. It is his hope to direct our feet and steer our lives from the paths that would lead to hell to his place of peace. "Let not your hearts be troubled," he says, "neither let them be afraid." Lee Griess, Sermons for Lent/Easter, CSS Publishing Company ___________________

Mountain Climbing

April 19, 2009
Mountain Climbing
Hebrews 12: 14-25
Repreached from March 13, 2002
Used for the Second Sunday of Easter

Introduction
One thing that an Associate Pastor has plenty of – are sermons for the second Sunday of Easter. There are two things that you can be certain about in life, no Sr. Pastor is ever going to let anyone else preach on Easter. ( I have lots of Christmas Eve sermons). And the Sr. Pastor is always going to take the Sunday after Easter off.
In looking back at my repertoire of sermons, I must really like to preach on resurrection. Those are some of my most memorable sermons. I have gone for two years now, preaching an old sermon only once. It is not that I have not wanted to preach old sermons, its just that when I wanted to preach – I could never find it. I was able to find enough of my favorite sermons, that the theme for the Sunday’s of Easter will be resurrection. I think that sometime we have a lot of misconceptions about why that is an important theme.
Those sermons will be interspersed with some other special Sundays.

The Story of the Young Lion

One of the things that I treasure the most about college was the stories. Stories used to help us think about our college experience and the impact it would have on our families.
When we first arrived on campus, one of our advisors told us the African tale of the young lion - learning to be king of the jungle.
While he was at home, it seemed that everywhere that he went – the jungle inhabitants showed him respect. He was so sure of himself, that he seemed to have confidence wherever he went. But that was before he had to go through his rite of passage ceremony to become a man. You see his people were from the valley, they knew nothing about the mountains. The rite of passage meant that a young lion had to go up into the mountains for one night and learn to survive. Many of the confident you lions came back from the experienced, changed, much more mature. So when the young lion did not return from his mountain trip the next, day, no one thought anything of it. When he was ready, he would return. Soon another day passed, and another, and another – and no triumphant return.
Finally, they sent an expedition out to find the young lion. And they found him frozen to death at the top of the lion. In a strange place – he had no idea of how to survive.
Our advisors told us that story to remind us to hold on to our roots in a new environment. Like the young lion, at home we were king of the jungle – we knew it all. But going off to college meant encountering many strange things. If we were not careful, we could end up like the young lion stranded – without the proper survival skills.




Mountain Climbing

I think that this is a fitting story also for as Christians, as we enter into the Easter season. A time of transformation and new beginnings for us too. Our spiritual journey is a lot like mountain climbing. During lent, we are climbing the mountain in anticipation of an encounter with God. Easter is our time at the top of the mountain. And post Easter is the time to come down off of the mountain. Mountains pay an important part, not only in rites of passage, but also in spiritual encounters with God. In the bible, the prophet Elijah comes in contact with God by passing God by on the mountain. Moses goes up to the mountain for 40 days in order to talk with God and to get the ten commandments. Martin Luther King, a modern day prophet , preaches his last sermon on going to the mountaintop to see God’s will for our nation in the future. He says that he gets the chance to see the promised land. Mountain are an important part of our faith, so my sermon for today is about instructions for climbing a mountain.
First let me ask, if any of you have ever been on a mountain climbing expedition. Most of us have probably not.
I was fascinated as I did a little research on mountain climbing. You probably realize that mountain climbing is very dangerous – but not for the reasons that you would think. You have to be well trained in order to climb a mountain, and there is a discipline that you have to follow very stringently. The consequence for not following the discipline is death.
The text for today come from the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12:14-25. The major themes of the book of Hebrews are the understanding that we have a complete picture of who God is in the life of Christ, the teachings of Jesus Christ are all that we need to live by, that faith in confident trust in God, and that we grow in our faith through the tribulations of life. Chapter 12 is on the subject of faith. Our scripture teaches us to live right. And to not take the rules that we have been given on how to treat others lightly. The scripture reminds us that encountering God is never something to be taken lightly. The people were afraid of God, which is why they sent Moses to the mountain to talk on their behalf. It is a reminder that mountain climbing is dangerous, and it too should not be take lightly. The text says that you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire…but you have come to mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.
I chose this text, because many of us may not take the time to climb physical mountains, but all of us know about climbing spiritual mountains. All of us here have some mountain in our life to climb. It may be a mountain of fear, of lonliness, of need, or even of despair. All of us have a mountain to climb, and all of us need some instructions on the process.

The Dangers of Mountain Climbing

The real danger of mountain climbing is not from slipping and falling. The real danger of mountain climbing comes from the change in the atmosphere the higher you go up. I bet you also didn’t know that your goal in mountain climbing is not reaching the top of the mountain. You mountain climb is not complete until you get back down safely.
Every day – mountain climbers are given a certain course to follow. You are given strict instructions to follow that course, no matter how physically fit you are, and no matter how determined you are to complete your journey. You are to stop at a designated spot, and to wait until further instructions. The air gets thinner the higher you go up, and there is more stress put on your body. As you go up, if your body has not adjusted to those changes, you won’t realize it, but you are destroying your body internally. So you have to take the proper time to give you body a chance to adjust to those changes before you climb higher.
That is why the goal of mountain climbing is not to get to the top of the mountain. It is getting down the other side safely, and having the strength to climb again.
There are many stories who, just like the young lion got to the summit of the mountain – and never made it down. They did not realize that the closer you get to the top, the thinner the air gets, the less oxygen that gets to the brain, the narrower your vision becomes. It is as if the closer you get to your goal, all you see is that goal. You lose sight of the fact that making it to the top is only a small part of a much larger goal. Your real goal is to live to tell about the experience, not the experience.
That is a good lesson for us this Easter Season. We have come to Easter, but now we are called to move on to something different. During the Lenten season we took a journey to the cross. And yet the cross means nothing with the resurrection. Resurrection means nothing without transformation. If we cant take that transformation into our everyday lives, then Easter means nothing. If we don’t live as witnesses to Christ, then why are we Christians? There is a saying, that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Easter is the first day of the rest of our lives.

The story of the Three People in the Throne Room of God

I learned another story in college, I was told that it was from the jewish tradition. But Paul also uses this story in his teachings. It’s the story of three people who went up to the throne room of God. The first went to the throne room to see God, and was dazzled by all that he saw. He wanted to stay with God for the rest of his life, but God reminded him that his life was not over and that he had to return home. When he got home he was never quite the same. He couldn’t function, because nothing in life compared to his experience with God. He was depressed for the rest of his life.
The second person had all of these expectations of what God would do and what would change in his life as a result of seeing God. When he got to the throne room he was disappointed – he told God that God was not real. Because God was so different from his expectations. He lived out his life as a very bitter, critical disappointed man. He told people that there was no God. The third man was totally elated by his time with God, it was amazing and he savored every moment that he spent with God. Like the other two men, God told him that it was time for his to return to his normal life, because his life was not over yet. He always treasured his time with God, but he also loved his life, his work, his family. When he lived his life he adjusted well- and he went on in total service to the will of God.
We all have a mountain to climb. But our goal in life is not to get to the top of the mountain – it is to get back down in a healthy state of mind, with the strength to go climbing again.
What was the difference between these three people? They all had the same experience, but a very different mind set. The first person was like our young lion, over focused on a goal and couldn’t see anything else, the second was disillusioned when he met that goal.
The third man was just an ordinary person in partnership with an extraordinary God. That man had a clear sense of what it means to be human and what it means to be divine.
He knew that the same God that was with him at the top of the mountain is the same God with him in the valley. He knew that the same God who whispered in his ear and gave him the strength to climb, was the same God who led him along the journey, was the same God who helped hi reach to top of the mountain, was the same God who gave him the peace of mind to get back down the mountain and to resume his everyday task.

The importance of our Faith in our journey

Mountain climbing is a discipline. Just as in mountain climbing, you are given strict instructions before you start on your journey, and you know that your life depends on following those instructions, no matter what you encounter while you are up there. We too, as Christians must follow a strict discipline on our spiritual journey.
We have to read the scriptures to make sure that we live our lives according to what it tells us, we have to listen to God in our prayer life, we have to see God no only our friends, but in the face of all people.
It is important that we not get to Easter Sunday with our new clothes on, the ham in the oven, hunting for Easter eggs, and not know how we got there. Hebrews 12 says “You have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to Jesus the mediator. We have to remember that the point is not who we are on Easter Sunday – but who we are on Easter Monday. If we believe that the summit of our faith is Easter, we end up frozen on top of the mountain life the young lion. There are a lot of people in the world frozen at a certain point in time, unable to just get over it and move on. But as the Easter people. We have to remember that God has given us a safety rope to get through the rest of our lives. That is our faith.
We can be sure that Christ is the complete revelation of God. As long as we have Christ on our journey – we have all that we need. Christ always intercede with fate on our behalf. If we believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven, the door has been opened for our transformation. If we truly have faith that Christ will transform our lives, our lives will be transformed. Faith is confident trust that Jesus is working it all out- and that it all will be worked out. Finally, life is a challenge. Whether you climb to top of the mountain, or you walk down the block. Tribulations are going to meet you. Tribulations are in ever life. But if you have faith, then tribulations are not our enemies, but your chance to see the face of God. A chance to grow in faith, a challenge to endure to the end. A chance for us as ordinary people to be in partnership with an extraordinary God.
What about you? Where are you on your journey this Easter season? Are you focused on your goal, or are you are you focused on God? Are you trying to make it to the top, or are you getting back down to the reality of life? All questions for us to ponder this Easter season. Amen.