Thanking God for Everything

September 22, 2013 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16:1-13 Year C 18th Sunday after Pentecost Thanking God for Everything Brer Rabbit Earns a Dollar-A-Minute A Georgia Folktale retold by S.E. Schlosser One fine morning, Brer Fox decided to plant him a patch of goober peas. He set to with a will and before you know it, he had raked and hoed out a beautiful patch of ground and he put in a fine planting of peas. It didn't take too long before those goober vines grew tall and long and the peas ripened up good and smart. Now Brer Rabbit, he'd watched Brer Fox planting the goobers and he told his children and Miz Rabbit where they could find the patch. Soon as those peas were ripe, the little Rabbits and Brer Rabbit would sneak on in and grab up them goobers by the handfuls. It got so bad that when Brer Fox came to the goober patch, he could hardly find a pea to call his own. Well, Brer Fox, he was plenty mad that he'd worked so hard on those peas only to have them eaten by someone else. He suspected that Brer Rabbit was to blame for this, but the rascally rabbit had covered his tracks so well that Brer Fox couldn't catch him. So Brer Fox came up with a plan. He found a smooth spot in his fence where a cunning rabbit could sneak in, and he set a trap for Brer Rabbit at that spot. He tied a rope to a nearby hickory sapling and bent it nearly double. Then he took the other end of the rope and made a loop knot that he fastened with a trigger right around the hole in the fence. If anybody came through the crack to steal his peas, the knot would tighten around their body, the sapling would spring upright, and they would be left hanging from the tree for everyone to see. The next morning, Brer Rabbit came a-slipping through the hole in the fence. At once, the trigger sprung, the knot tightened on his forelegs, and the hickory tree snapped upright, quick as you please. Brer Rabbit found himself swung aloft betwixt the heaven and the earth, swinging from the hickory sapling. He couldn't go up and he couldn't go down. He just went back and forth. Brer Rabbit was in a fix, no mistake. He was trying to come up with some glib explanation for Brer Fox when he heard someone a-rumbling and a-bumbling down the road. It was Brer Bear, looking for a bee-tree so he could get him some honey. As soon as Brer Rabbit saw Brer Bear, he came up with a plan to get himself free. "Howdy, Brer Bear," he called cheerfully. Brer Bear squinted around here and there, wondering where the voice had come from. Then he looked up and saw Brer Rabbit swinging from the sapling. "Howdy Brer Rabbit," he rumbled. "How are you this morning?" "Middling, Brer Bear," Rabbit replied. "Just middling." Brer Bear was wondering why Brer Rabbit was up in the tree, so he asked him about it. Brer Rabbit grinned and said that he was earning a dollar-a-minute from Brer Fox. "A dollar-a-minute!" Brer Bear exclaimed. "What for?" "I'm keeping the crows away from his goober patch," Brer Rabbit explained, and went on to say that Brer Fox was paying a dollar-a-minute to whomever would act as a scarecrow for him. Well, Brer Bear liked the sound of that. He had a big family to feed, and he could use the money. When Brer Rabbit asked him if he would like to have the job, Brer Bear agreed. Brer Rabbit showed him how to bend the sapling down and remove the knot from his forepaws. When Brer Rabbit was free, Brer Bear climbed into the knot and soon he was hanging aloft betwixt heaven and earth, swing to and from the sapling and growling at the birds to keep them away from the goober patch. Brer Rabbit laughed and laughed at the sight of Brer Bear up in the sapling. He scampered down the road to Brer Fox's place and told him that his trap was sprung and the goober thief was hanging from the hickory tree. Brer Fox grabbed his walking stick and ran down the road after Brer Rabbit. When he saw Brer Bear hanging there, Brer Fox called him a goober thief. Brer Fox ranted and raved and threatened to hit Brer Bear with his walking stick. He yelled so loud that Brer Bear didn't have time to explain nothing! Brer Rabbit knew that Brer Bear would be plenty mad at him when he found out he had been tricked, and so he ran down the road and hid in the mud beside the pond, so that only his eyeballs stuck out, making him look like a big old bullfrog. By and by, a very grumpy Brer Bear came lumbering down the road. "Howdy, Brer Bullfrog," Brer Bear said when he saw Brer Rabbit's eyes sticking out of the mud. "You seen Brer Rabbit anywhere?" "Brer Rabbit jest ran on down the road," he told the grumpy Brer Bear in a deep croaking voice that sounded just like the voice of a frog. Brer Bear thanked him and trotted down the road, growling fiercely. When Brer Bear was out of sight, Brer Rabbit jumped out of the mud. He washed himself off in the pond and then scampered home, chuckling to himself at how he'd escaped from Brer Fox and Brer Bear, and already thinking up a new way to get into Brer Fox's goober patch to get him some peas to eat. Why are trickster stories so important? My family used to tell Brer Rabbit stories all of the time when I was a child. I would always listen to see what Brer Rabbit was going to get a way with next. It seems as if we love to hear stories of the trickster. I think that they are especially important in cultures of oppression. It seems that in a corrupt world – where the odds are stacked against us, where the system always win, we like to hear stories of the one who is able to outsmart the system. If we cant get ahead, we like to hear stories or how someone with a little conniving does win. Why else would Jesus tell a story about a cheating steward who gets the best of his master. Why else would Jesus say that he has done well and should be commended for cheating. Doesnt every other story in the bible tell us that cheating is wrong? Why does Jesus tell the story of the dishonest steward? Well most of the bible tells us not to steal – and cheating is indeed a form of stealing. But Jesus seems to know that there is one story – where cheating is good for you. Jesus puts himself in the story as the conniving steward – who cheated the devil out of what was due him. For we are all sinners, and the wages of sin is death. But Jesus died on the cross so that we could be free of our sin. Our debts have been forgiven, we don’t owe the devil nothing. And we can be grateful for what Jesus has done for us. What does it mean to be a good steward? But the lesson that I want to talk about today from Luke 16:1-13 is the lesson of what it means not so much to be a cheating steward, but to be a good steward of what God has given us. This story is a lesson on our attitudes toward money, our attachments here on earth, how we give to others, and also how we are able to make friends. This story reminds us that whether we are in debt or not, we are not the sum of our possessions. No matter how much we have- it is all lent to us by God. And the day will come when we will not have any of it, because it will be left here on earth. It is not so much what we have on earth that is important, it is what we have with us when we go to heaven. What we have we will lose – but what we give to God will last forever. There is a saying that those that give help those in need in this world, but those in need help those who have in heaven. We have to be willing to be used by God in every circumstance that God puts us in. Like Running a Business There was an interesting legal question posed in The Saturday Evening Post recently. It seems that one lovely Sunday when the sermon was overlong, the congregation rushed, as usual, from its pews on the first syllable of "Amen!" Faithful Abigail, the only worshiper held entranced by the sermon, moved slowly and was trampled. She sued the church and its officials for damages. "Those in charge of the church knew that most of the congregation stampedes after long sermons," Abigail argued. "They should have recognized the danger in the situation. Not being prepared to cope with it, they were negligent." The church's attorney argued like this in response: "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business concern. Abigail, therefore, has no real claim." If you were the judge, asks the writer, would you award damages to Abigail? What I found interesting in this hypothetical situation was the characterization of the church. "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. . . No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business. . . ." Why not? What if we were as good at what we do as McDonald's is at what they do, or Coca Cola or Microsoft? What if we were as committed to spreading the good news of the kingdom of God as American business is to winning new customers? This is the point Jesus is trying to make. He wants people who bear his name to not only be nice people but to be people who make a difference in the world. Imagine what the world would be like, if the church was just as determined to be the body of Christ, as Apple was to make money? If everybody was as excited about the church as they were about the new apple phone – think of how many people we could reach. This lesson is also about learning to make friends with the world. Everybody was greatful to the conniving steward because he did them a favor, they all wanted to be his friend and welcome him onto their homes. How can we help people understand that Jesus has done so much more for them and they should be grateful. Even in our own lives – where do we place God amongst our priorities? We give to our hobbies, we give to the interest that capture our hearts, we give to our lives – what do we give to God? It is not so much about how much we give, it is about how much of our hearts do we give to God? Do we put God in one corner, and our lives in the other, or do we realize that God comes first in all things. And that we can give to God from what we have. The sons of light Luke calls Christians the sons of light. For Luke, sons of the age where the Jews, sons of the world were others, and sons of the light were those who were able to put God first in their lives. One God, One mediator, One Christ I am not focusing on the lesson of 1 Timothy today, but I think that it helps us to remember to put God first. It says that there is One God, One mediator, One Christ for all people. If there is one God for all people – then our hearts should be in one place. That is on the things of God. John Wesley a model of giving Before John Wesley became the founder of the Methodist Church he was a teacher at Oxford University back in the 1700's. When he began his career he was paid 30 pounds per year - in those days a lot of money. His living expenses were 28 pounds - so he gave 2 pounds away. The next year his income doubled - but he still managed to live on 28 pounds - so he gave away 32 pounds. The third year he earned 90 pounds - lived on 28 - and gave away 62. The fourth year he earned 120 pounds - lived on 28 - and gave away 92. One year his income was a little over 1,400 pounds - he lived on 30 and gave away nearly all of the 1,400 pounds. Wesley felt that with increasing income, what should rise is not the Christian's standard of living but the standard of giving. Increasing our standard of giving. What a great Christian man and what a great lesson he taught us. In a world were raises and extra income is scarce, we are free to determine how much of what we have can we give to God. Jesus’ stewardship sayings When I was doing my research last night, one commentary said that this lesson was do difficult, that I should find something else to preach. It is not that it does not have enough good news, it has too much good news to process. Luke quotes Jesus as saying whoever is faithful in a little, will be faithful in a lot, if you are dishonest in a little, you will be dishonest in a lot, and no slave can serve two masters – you can serve God and money. Each of those sayings is a sermon in their own right. You can steal our money, you cant steal our commitment to God But the bottom line is the he is reminding us to be good stewards with our money. As a matter of fact, being Christian is all about money. It is about how you spend it, what your attitude is about it, and about how your faith determines what you do with it. Are you on the earth to make a living or to make a life. is your treasure here on earth or is it in heaven? Only what we give to God will truly last, and what we do for God we do for others in need. One day a church was burglarized, and when the robber opened the bank bag he found $70,000 – in pledge cards. One can only imagine his disappointment. The burglar learned a lesson the unjust manager knew very well: that you can’t steal commitment. Neither can unprincipled people in the marketplace steal our commitment to be disciples of Christ. Amen. Children’s sermon 2 + 3 = 4? by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Luke 16:1-15 • Lectionary: Proper 20 Item 1 of 11 | Back to Results Object: Some notes with answers to math problems writ ten on them. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever heard of the word "cheating?" What does the word cheating mean? [Let them answer.] Those are pretty good answers. When someone cheats he hopes to get something that does not belong to him for nothing. When you cheat, or someone you know cheats, it can cost a lot. I want to tell you about people who cheat because they think that they can make friends by cheating. I want to show you some things that a teacher gave me that she took away from some of the people in her class. Do you know what these things are? [Show them the notes and let them guess.] These notes have answers on them. [Show them the inside of the note.] The person cheating was giving the answers away to other people with the hope that these people would be his friends. This person thought that the other boys and girls would like him if he wrote the right answers to the test on pieces of paper and gave it to anyone who did not know the answers. Of course, the person cheating did not think that the teacher would catch him. Some people think that they can make friends by cheating. God knows how men think and he also knows that we try to do things like this to win friends, but he warns us about doing them. Jesus told a story about a man who acted just like this boy. Jesus said that the friends you win like this only last for a little while, and soon the friends disappear and you still have to face God. Jesus taught us about honesty and said that to be honest is the best way. It may mean that we have to work a little harder and have a little less for a few years, but someday we will be glad that we are honest. There is no room in God's kingdom for a cheater and that is where we want to live forever. The teacher told the boy who passed the cheat notes about what God teaches and how little good it does for us to make friends by cheating. She thinks that the boy learned a lesson, and I pass this on to you so that you can learn also. These notes would not help anyone for very long, and they could hurt for a very long time. Paper Flowers And Disciples, Wesley T. Runk, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1977, 0-89536-197-3 From my sermon on the Wasteful Steward.) We have already been given all the energy and talent we need to feed the hungry, teach every child, settle disputes, and make it through the toughest times. These skills and resources are evident in our hobbies, our friendships, our grudges, and our schemes. We have it in us!. Jesus, as usual, uses an odd metaphor to point this out. And now, a poem: Often the gifts we have are really being used, They’re just aimed incorrectly and being abused. If you abhor waste and desire success Then love God and your neighbors with all you possess. Humor: You Took Me In Henry Ford was known for both his frugality and his philanthropy. He was visiting his family's ancestral village in Ireland when two trustees of the local hospital found out he was there, and they managed to get in to see him. They talked him into giving the hospital $5,000 dollars (this was the 1930's, so $5,000 dollars was a great deal of money). The next morning, at breakfast, he opened his newspaper to read the banner headline: "American Millionaire Gives Fifty Thousand to Local Hospital." Ford wasted no time in summoning the two hospital trustees. He waved the newspaper in their faces. "What does this mean?" he demanded. The trustees apologized profusely. "Dreadful error," they said. They promised to get the editor to print a retraction the very next day, stating that the great Henry Ford hadn't given $50,000, but only $5,000. Well, hearing that, Ford offered them the other $45,000, under one condition: that the trustees erect a marble arch at the entrance of the new hospital, with a plaque that read, "I walked among you and you took me in." Billy D. Strayhorn, Let's Make a Deal

God knows you better than you know yourself

September 8, 2013 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139: 1-6; 13-18 Year C 16th Sunday of Pentecost God knows you better than you know yourself Are you a salmon or a jellyfish? ((This jellyfsh and salmon illustration was borrowed from another Sermon Central contributor, Joel Smith) This will sound like a strange question to start off with, but let me ask you: Are you more like a salmon or a jellyfish? Okay maybe you don’t know much about them. I’ll describe each one and then you can decide. Salmon begin their lives in the fresh water rivers of the frigid Northwest. Not long after they’re born they begin a long swim down stream. Their destination is the ocean. It is here that they spend the majority of their adult lives. Then something strange happens. Scientists don’t even understand how, but at some point the adult salmon begins to swim back home. Though they may have swum thousands of miles from that original river location they head back home. That’s right! They swim upstream, against the current of the river. You’ve probably seen nature programs on TV that show them leaping out of the water to overcome waterfalls and other barriers impeding their progress. They face predators like bears and people. Incredibly, though they’ve been gone for years many of them return to the exact spot where they were born. I saw a documentary on one determined salmon that even swam through a maze of pipes and nudged open a grate to re-enter the hatchery where it was born. After an incredible effort the fish spawn and then does it and how He chooses to do it. God’s will is a way beyond our understanding, yet it is a way in which we are called to think and live. die. The new salmon are soon born and repeat the process. Does that describe you? Does your life have a destination? Are you going in a specific direction and are you willing to face all the obstacles to get there? If so, you’re like the salmon. Then there’s the jellyfish. There are numerous species of these yucky-looking little creatures. Some of them are tiny. Others have tentacles that can be measured in feet. Jellyfish are born in the ocean and die there too. They have limited movement, but never really use that ability to go in any particular destination. They’re moved along primary by the wind and waves and tides. They drift about stinging and surviving. Occasionally one will wash up on the beach and, if you’re not careful, you’ll step on it and mess up your vacation. circumstances or other people’s plans, but you really have no particular destination of your own. The difference between salmon and jellyfish is the same as the difference between people. Some have a direction. Most just drift. Which one are you? A salmon or a jellyfish? Someone who lives out your call or someone who just goes along with what is going on? The world expects us to be jellyfish It is not as easy as you think to live a life being called my God. As a matter of fact, the world encourages us all to be jellyfish. To wallow on our desires, abilities. Freedom means doing what we want and depending on ourselves for everything. A sense of call in our time is profoundly counter cultural.. the ideology of our time is that we can live an uncalled life, one not referred to any purpose beyond one’s self. Walter Bruggeman A man on tin roof prays for salvation until… A man was fixing his roof, a tin roof that had nothing to hold onto. He made a wrong move and started to fall off of the roof. And of course he called out to God to save him, until his pants got caught on a nail, and he was saved. He called out never mind God, I got it, I saved myself. Never even realizing that God can provide the nail, it was not just a coincidence. But that is how the world wants us to think- things just happen, they have nothing to do with God’s will. And unfortunately, the church does not make it any better. When we talk about being called, we save that term just for clergy. We think that there are special requirements to being called. Being called is something that applies to certain people. Bing called means living a life in the presence of God. It means living faithfully according to your relationship with God. God is present with everybody in the church, everybody has a calling, a meaning, a purpose. Martin Luther was one of the first to rediscover the ancient, biblical doctrine of vocation. The medieval world drew a sharp boundary between the sacred and the secular, but Luther said no, it isn’t meant to be that way. It isn’t just priest and monks, and nuns who have a vocation, but every Christian. Curiuosly, Luther uses the word vocation more often in his writing to refer to things like marriage, and familu then it does to paid employment. Vocation to him has to do with all of life, with it living it faithfully. We can have a calling to do anything, so long as it glorifies God. 1. 3446 “We Are Everywhere” 2. The growth of Christianity in the early centuries was phenomenal. By mid 2nd-century, an apologist said, “We are everywhere. We are in your towns and in your cities; we are in your army and navy; we are in your palaces; we are in the senate; we are more numerous than anyone.” 3. By AD 300, the church was spreading so fast that it appeared the entire civilized world could be evangelized by AD 500. 4. But Constantine decreed that every one in the empire was already Christian. And slowly the idea prevailed of a division between laity and clergy, for pagans could not evangelize nor did they know how. And Christianity’s movement was checked. When we started to put the presence of God in the church and not in our lives, we changed to definition of what it meant to work for God. More importantly we forgot that God is everywhere, in everything and in everyperson. It is like the young boy who was moving from Kansas to Minnesota. On the night before he moved, he prayed – God when we move we are going to miss you, but we will always remember what you have done for us while we were here. Not realizing that God was in Minnesota, long before he was. God is in Kansas and Minnesota at the same time. God is omnipotent and everywhere. Psalm 139 – reminds us that God is everywhere – where can I go that your presence is not already there?- nowhere because God is everywhere. It also reminds us that God knows everything. But more importantly, God knows you, God knows your purpose. in Psalm 139:1-6 You Examin You Know You Know You See You Know You Know You Go You Place 5. God Examins Your Heart Psalm 139:1 A. What is it to examin? B. What will God Find in Your Heart? 6. God Knows You Psalm 139:2 A. Your Actions B. Your Thoughts C. Your Words 7. God Sees Psalm 139:3 A. Your Travels B. Your Rest 8. God Goes Psalm 139:5 A. Before You B. Behind You 9. God Places Psalm 139:5 A. His Hand on You B. His Blessing My favorite verse in psalm 139 is that I am wonderfully and fearfully made. That is a reminder of God’s love for us. In a world that would like to tell us that we are uncalled. That we are unworthy of God’s service. That what we do is nothing special, and that work that we do is not sacred. There's a Great One Inside You During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out one big guard for his failure to "put out." It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called his guard aside and leveled his awesome vocal guns on him, as only Lombardi could. "Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower." The big guard dropped his head and walked into the dressing room. Forty- five minutes later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw the big guard sitting in front of his locker still wearing his uniform. His head was bowed and he was sobbing quietly. Vince Lombardi, ever the changeable but always the compassionate warrior, did something of an about face that was also typical of him. He walked over to his football player and put his arms around his shoulder. "Son," he said, "I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself." With these words, Jerry Kramer straightened up and felt a great deal better. As a matter of fact, he felt so much better he went on to become one of the all-time greats in football and was recently voted the all-time guard in the first 50 years of professional football. God often uses the least gifted people when some great service is neede. Because people who know their own weakness are fully open to the power that God offers God uses the least likely. A practical application of this is right here in the church. We are all gifted, we all have something that we can give to help the church, and there is a place in the structure of the church for us to be a part. When we see people participating, and helping, I think that we still place a value on that person, and what church they are from. It is not that individual who is doing a certain job, but a representative. As God is reshaping us, remolding us into a new church with a new mission, it is important for us to remember that we all have gifts, and the church is the place for us to explore and grow in those gifts. And it is our job as church members to honor the gifts of all people. We wouldn’t be here, if God was not using us. It is our collective gifts that do the work of the church. That is the message of Jeremiah – as God called him to go into the potter’s house. God often does not speak in words, but in images. Jeremiah saw that his nation was being remolded and reshaped for a new time and a new mission. God did not give up on them for their sins, God took the time to give them a new life. But many of us don’t want to be touched by God, we don’t want to be reshaped. And yet God sees the best in us, and prepares us for our destiny. I thought this poem said it best….. Written by Irenaues from the 2nd Century. From God’s Hands It is not you who shape God; it is God that shapes you. If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the Artist who does all things in due season. Offer the Potter your heart, soft and tractable, and keep the form in which the Artist has fashioned you. Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of the Potter’s fingers. He is the potter; we are the clay. He is the shepherd; we are the sheep. He is the Master; we are the servant. No matter how educated we are, no matter how much power and influence we may think we possess, no matter how long we have walked w/ Him, no matter how significant we may imagine ourselves to be in His plans, none of that qualifies us to grasp why He does what He does when He God takes our sin and turns it into service, God takes our weakness and uses it as a strength. God takes what is least, and makes it into the most important. God calls clergy, but God calls laity also. Remember when 5000 people on the beach needed to be fed. Jesus asked his disciples to feed them, but they were too stuck in their doubts and what makes sense with the world that they couldn’t do it. God used a little boy with 5 loaves and 5 fishes. When God needed someone to take care of his son as he came into the world – he didn’t send an angel to an older woman, but to a young girl. A young girl who willingly accepted his word, that she would be the mother of Jesus. She didn’t think about the consequences, she just accepted God’s word for her. We all have value in God, God knows us, God knows what we are capable of, God knows what we have trouble with, he knows what we cant do. And he uses all of that to shape us into a faithful servant, who can answer God’s call. It is in our willingness, our obedience, that we respond to God’s touch. Amen. Whither shall I go from Thy Presence? From thee is there some hiding place? The deed is a thing so private, so inside the prefect working of desire that its inward part seems known to me, to me alone. The ebb and flow of thoughts within my hidden sea, the forms that stir within the channels of my mind, keep tryst with all my hidden hopes and fears. The ties that hold me fast to those whose life with mine makes one, The tangled twine that binds my life with things I claim as mine, are held in place by folds of my embrace. The sealed stillness that walls around the heartaches and the pain, is held against all else that would invade. Awe-filled contrition emptied clear of violence and sin, seeps slowly from the wilderness of my deserted soul. Almighty joy mounts to the brim and overflows in wild array, with music only ears attuned can hear. And yet, always I know that another sees and understands every vigil with me keeps watch. The door through which He comes no man can shut, He is the Door! I cannot go from Thy Presence, there is no hiding place from Thee.

A Faith Pleasing to God

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

The Joy of Worshiping with Christ

August 25, 2013 Hebrews 12:18-29 The Joy of Worshiping with Christ 14th Sunday of Pentecost Year C The City has a sound Shhh, listen. Have you ever noticed that if you are quiet enough, you start to realize that there is a distinct sound to the streets of Chicago. If you listen close enough, you will see that every big city have a voice. People say that Chicago has a bass voice, whereas London has a baritone voice, and New York with all of its horn blowing and yelling has a tenor voice. Every church and community has a personality We have been studying the book of Revelation in bible study, and in the first chapters we were told that the book was written to the angel of the church. John’s point is that every organization, every community, every church has its own personality. It’s set way of understanding life. And it is impossible to lead in that community, or get anything done in that community, or even live comfortably in that community unless you understand and honor the personality. And you come to realize that personality is a living being determined to get its way; that is why John calls the personality of the church an angel. John was not the only writer in the new testament who understood the church as a living organism. That is why the books of the new testament are written to different communities. If you read the epistles the letters to the churches, you will see that each of them have a very similar message, that Christ is the center of our faith. But they each use different words- to help us understand the same message. It is said that Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews are all based on one verse from the old testament. Habbakuk 2:4 says “the Just shall live by his faith. Romans tells when it means to be a just or righteous person, Ephesians tells how a righteous person should live, and Hebrews tells what it means to have faith. All three books in every chapter of the book talk about Christ being the center of our righteousness, our lives and our faith. Christ is the author and finisher or our faith. Christ is the source of all that we are – whether we confess Christ or not. Another commonality of Romans and Hebrews is that they are not written to a specific church. They are written to a whole community of people. Every city has a personality, a way of dealing with things. Both Romans and Hebrews were written specifically to Christians in the city, reminding them to hold on the faith in Christ, in spite of what is going on around them that may distract them and pull them away from Christ. The text of hebrews Hebrews has been our text for three weeks now, and we still have one more week of the book of Hebrews. God told me that it was a good time to focus on the message of Hebrews for us to day. The message of Hebrews is basically keep the faith. That message was not written to a church but to a community. We don’t know who wrote Hebrews, or what city he was even talking about. It was a unique community because Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians were worshipping together in the same church. They had achieved what is impossible for most churches today. When I started out in ministry I asked if I could be placed in a multicultural church, where different races worshipped together. And was immediately told that there was no such thing in the whole conference. There were white churches that accepted ethnic people, but were still white in character, and there were ethnic churches that accepted white people, but were still ethnic. But there was no church that had a personality of acceptance of all people regardless of race. Churches have always been segregated into like minded people. But somehow, this church was able to overcome all of that and learn to live together. They had achieved the goal that Jesus had set for them to learn to put Christ first and their differences second. They had come up and were now heading down They had reached the heights of what a community of Christ was supposed to be – but leaders realized that instead of them climbing up to bigger and better things, that they started to go backward. They started to revert to their old understandings of life. The older jewish members started to believe that the newer gentile members had to become jewish before they became Christian. They needed to be reminded that we are saved by grace alone. Christ freed us from the law and set us free to be saved. Our salvation is in Christ, not the rules and not the past. I know I seem to say that I love all of the books of the bible, but I really do appreciate Hebrews. Paul was an amazing writer, but we know that this was not written by Paul, because the author of Hebrews has an amazing understanding of the jewish faith. This is the only history book that we have in the new testament. In each chapter of the book the author goes back into the old testament and reminds us of an element of faith. He talks about the angels, the prophets, the saints, the priest, and in each chapter he reminds us that what we had in the past was truly awesome, but what we have in a future with Christ is so much more awesome. The theme of Hebrews is the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and as mediator of God's grace. The prologue (1:1-4) presents Christ as God's full and final revelation, far surpassing the revelation given in the OT. The prophecies and promises of the OT are fulfilled in the "new covenant" (or "new testament"), of which Christ is the mediator. From the OT itself, Christ is shown to be superior to the ancient prophets, to angels, to Moses (the mediator of the former covenant) and to Aaron and the priestly succession descended from him. Hebrews could be called "the book of better things" since the two Greek words for "better" and "superior" occur 15 times in the letter. A striking feature of this presentation of the gospel is the unique manner in which the author employs expositions of eight specific passages of the OT Scriptures:Communications, Inc. The Book of Hebrews is one of the most profound sections of the Word of God. In it we get a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ as the God man more clearly than we do in any other portion of the Scriptures. Moreover, we understand by a study of this epistle that He is God's Apostle to the human family and our great High Priest. Because He is what He is and has done what He has accomplished for us, we have a covenant better than that of Israel; a sanctuary better than that of the Hebrews; a better sacrifice than the blood that flowed on Jewish altars; a better ministry than that conducted by the Aaronic priesthood; and better promises than those made to the Jews. In every way we have things better than those enjoyed by the Israelites. Comparison of Mt Sinai and Mt Zion On today’s lesson the teacher says that in the old days we used to talk about Mount Sinai, and moses and how moses had awe and wonder for God because he was told that he was on holy ground. But in the olden days people could not have a direct relationship with god. In the old days people were afraid of God, and they had these rules and rituals that they had to follow. Today we don’t need to go back to mount Sinai and its ways of doing things. Because today we have a new mountain, mount zion, a new way of understanding God and a new way of doing things. You don’t need to go looking for God because God knows where to find you. When god finds you there is not fear and judgment, there is joy and celebration. 3816 The Holy City Thirty men, red-eyed and disheveled lined up before a judge of the San Francisco police court. It was the regular morning company of “Drunks and disorderlies.” Some were old and hardened, others hung their heads in shame. Just as the momentary disorder attending the bringing-in of the prisoners quieted down, a strange thing happened. A strong, clear voice from below began singing: “Last night I lay a sleeping There came a dream so fair.” Last night! It had been for them all a nightmare or a drunken stupor. The song was such a contrast to the horrible fact that no one could fail of a sudden shock at the thought the song suggested. “I stood in old Jerusalem, Beside the Temple there,” The song went on. The judge had paused. He made a quiet inquiry. A former member of a famous opera company known all over the country, was awaiting trial for forgery. It was he who was singing in his cell. Meantime the song went on, and every man in the line showed emotion. One or two dropped on their knees; one boy at the end of the line, after a desperate effort at self-control, leaned against the wall, buried his face against his folded arms, and sobbed, “Oh mother, mother!” The sobs, cutting to the very heart of the men who heard, and the song, still welling its way through the courtroom, blended in the hush. At length one man protested, “Judge,” said he, “have we got to submit to this? We’re here to take our punishment, but this—” He, too began to sob. It was impossible to proceed with the business of the court, yet the judge gave no order to stop the song. The police sergeant, after an effort to keep the men in line, stepped back and waited with the rest. The song moved on to its climax: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sing for the night is o’er! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna for evermore! In an ecstasy of melody the last words rang out, and then there was silence. The judge looked into the faces of the men before him. There was not one who was not touched by the song; not one in whom some better impulse was not stirred. He did not call the cases singly- -a kind word of advice, and he dismissed them all. No man was fined or sentenced to the workhouse that morning. The song had done more good than punishment could possibly have accomplished. —Author Unknown Stumbling upon God Verse 18 begins by saying you have not come to something that can be touched. Come means you have approached, you have walked into. The old God was unapproachable, but Christ is fully approachable, he understands us because he came into the world as one of us. Our task in not just to look for God in the places and people we recognize, but to see God in all things and in all people. In Christ we worship a better God, so we need to be a better people. We need to continue to go forward, not backward, to go up and we have no reason to go down. The biggest message of our verses today is to trust the voice of God in all things. Do you listen to the sounds of the city or the voice of God. Hebrews tells us to listen to the voice of God. the city sometimes can mislead you, but God never does. The voices of the city can lead us away, but the voice of God is always the voice of faith. God shaking things up Hebrews also talks about God shaking our lives, and shaking anything that is not of the new kingdom out of our hands. We are given five important warnings as people of faith. We are warned of the danger of neglecting our faith, of allowing unbelief to take over, of falling back into spiritual immaturity, of failing to endure, but the message for today is don’t ever refuse God. it is not just our faith, but our life depends on it. Verse 25 says see that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven. Keep the faith in all situations and God will not lead you astray. HOPE AND A GRATEFUL HEART There is an old legend of a man who found the barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. On finding the seeds of discouragement more numerous than others, he learned that those seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. When questioned, Satan reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. "And where is that?" asked the man. He replied sadly, "In the heart of a grateful person." (From a sermon by Stephen Sheane, "Remembering the Blessings" 1/19/2009) We have been a superior faith – let us it We have been given a superior faith, when we put Christ as the center of our lives. We have been given a superior faith than those who came before us, because we have all that we need in the arms of Christ. Christ is our sanctuary, our salvation, our peace. There is a lot of stuff on Hebrews, it covers everything when it comes to faith. But the important thing to remember – that faith in Christ, and in Christ alone is the source of our salvation. Amen. ________________________________________ 7120 Seeing Other Mountains Talking with John Dewey several months before his ninetieth birthday, a young doctor blurted out his low opinion of philosophy. “What’s the good of such claptrap?” he asked. “Where does it lead you?” The great philosopher answered quietly, “The good of it is that you climb mountains.” “Climb mountains!” retorted the youth, unimpressed. “And what’s the use of doing that?” “You see other mountains to climb,” was the reply. “You come down, climb the next mountain, and see still others to climb.” Then, putting his hand gently on the young man’s knee, Dewey said, “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, life is over.” —Maxwell Droke 7122 They Saw The Goal Napoleon saw Italy, but not the Alps. He had an objective and knew where he was going. Washington saw the Hessians at Trenton. A man of smaller stature would have seen the Delaware choked with ice. The majority see the obstacles; the few see the objectives; history records the successes of the former while oblivion is the reward of the latter. —Healthways 4457 Every City Has A Voice High above a city, the medley of street noises is blended into one overall note, sound, or murmur. For instance, we are told that the overall note of Chicago is bass; of London it is baritone; and that of New York is tenor. The Book of Hebrews addresses three separate groups: believers in Christ, unbelievers who had knowledge of and an intellectual acceptance of the facts of Christ, and unbelievers who were attracted to Christ, but who rejected Him ultimately. It’s important to understand which group is being addressed in which passage. To fail to do so can cause us to draw conclusions inconsistent with the rest of Scripture. Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Hebrews.html#ixzz2cvybhecM There is an old story of a man who had just become a Christian. He was experiencing some of the difficulties that new Christians often have of uncertainty in his faith; he was wondering if he really was a Christian, and was feeling frustrated with his own lack of growth. He felt he had come to the place where he just could not stand any longer; he could not live as a Christian any more. He came into a church service where a pastor was speaking on the verses in Ephesians that tell of Christ being seated at the right hand of the Father, and that we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. He talked about Christ as the head of the body, and said that we are the body, and that Christ as the head is seated at the right hand of the Father. As the truth of this gripped this man's heart, and he realized that although he was struggling to swim against the current down here below, his head was seated in victory and triumph already at the right hand of God, he jumped out of his seat, and shouted, "Hallelujah! Who ever heard of anyone drowning with his head high above water!" That is what Hebrews does to us: it helps us to focus on the One who is already in the place of victory. We are fighting a battle already won, and that is what encourages us. When we walk in the flesh, we are fighting a battle already lost; there is no chance, no hope of victory; but when we walk in the Spirit, the battle is already won. The Book of Hebrews addresses three separate groups: believers in Christ, unbelievers who had knowledge of and an intellectual acceptance of the facts of Christ, and unbelievers who were attracted to Christ, but who rejected Him ultimately. It’s important to understand which group is being addressed in which passage. To fail to do so can cause us to draw conclusions inconsistent with the rest of Scripture. Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Hebrews.html#ixzz2cw36oneQ

Seek Christ in all Things

August 4, 2013 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Year C 11th Sunday After Pentecost “Seek Christ in all Things” What does it mean to be rich? No I am really asking that question? As the bill continue to come in the mail, I am really asking myself what would it be like to be able to pay everything and to still be comfortable. I have really always challenged that notion that money can’t buy happiness. I challenged God to give me that opportunity and to let me be the judge. Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy enough comfort that it doesn’t matter. Or does it? I guess that depends on your answer to the question, what does it mean to be happy? What is happiness truly? Jesus answers that question in today’s lesson. The rich young ruler had a happy life. As a matter of fact, things were going so well, that he needed to expand his storage barns. He needed more space to hold all of his abundance. It is God himself that reminds the man that happiness wrapped up in the things of the world is only temporary. We are temporary – we all go back into the box The problem is not so much the things – the things don’t go away, they stick around. The problem is in us – we are only temporary. We are here for awhile and then we are gone. God reminds the man that you cant every well enjoy your things- when you are not here. Things will sitck around for awhile, but your life is not guaranteed. So where should you be looking for happiness? Here on earth or in heaven? One of my favorite pastors, John Ortberg compares life to a monopoly game. You can spend hours playing the game and moving the men, but when the game is over all of the parts go back in the box. You cant take anything with you, not even yourself. C.S. Lewis wrote, "It is he who thinks most of the next world that does the most in this world." Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present. (From a sermon by Donald McCulley, Got Hope? 12/21/2010) Advice from Colossians The scripture in Colossians reminds us that when we are baptized in Christ, then all of our life is in Christ. If we die with Christ then we rise with Christ. Paul encourages us to make sure that we stay focused on things above, not here on earth. Our happiness is focused on the things of Christ – not on earth. Happiness is a Perspective Do you sing because you are happy; or are you happy because you sing? You’ve met the person. They always seem to have a positive attitude about nearly everything. They’re the people you see on the freeway in the midst of rush hour, bumper to bumper with frustration and impatience, singing sweetly inside their car as they slowly inch their way through traffic. You glance over at them and watch their lips moving and their head swaying back and forth as they watch the road, hit the brake and tap the accelerator. Your first thought might be, are they all there? How can they be singing when everyone else around you is pounding the dashboard and muttering under their breath? What makes some people better at coping with tension; coping with the multitude of everyday stressors that afflict us all? Are they possessed with a special gift that few people have or have they unearthed the secret to being calm when others are frantic that took them a correspondence course and several sets of behavioral modification tapes to discover? Over the years I have discovered a dusty old truth here and there. One that I perceive to be a real keeper is this. People who are happy are people who have made the decision that this is the way that they want to live their lives. Indeed they have discovered a great secret, but one that is not difficult to find. It is our choice to be happy or to be glum. People who can sing in traffic, however, have taken another step beyond just acknowledging that happiness is a choice. They have also discovered one additional maxim, the catalyst for singing when others are cursing. And this is the truth is not always what it seems. On the surface a traffic jam is an obstacle. In reality it may really be an opportunity. It is a matter of perception. Dr. John Maxwell writes: “When we become conditioned to perceived truth and closed to new possibilities, the following happens: We wee what we expect to see, not what we can see. We hear what we expect to hear, not what we can hear. We think what we expect to think not what we can think. (Take) the case (of) Henry J. Kaiser’s construction crew. While building a levee along a river bank, a violent rainstorm flooded the earth-moving machinery and destroyed the work that had been done. As Kaiser approached the work site to assess the damages, he found his crew bemoaning the mud and the buried earthmoving equipment. As his workers surrounded him, Kaiser asked, ‘Why are you so glum?’ ‘Can’t you see the disaster?’ they asked. ‘Our equipment is covered with mud.’ Smiling, Kaiser asked, ‘What mud?’ ‘You must be kidding. Look around you. We are surrounded by a sea of mud. How can you say you don’t see any?’ ‘Well,’ said Henry Kaiser, ‘what I see is clear blue sky filled with bright sunshine. I’ve never known mud to sustain itself against the powerful sun. Soon it will be dried up and then we will be able to move our equipment and start over. Furthermore, our attitude will not only affect how we see reality but will also affect the reality itself. Sun or mud, the choice is yours.’ The difference between sun or mud is a matter of perspective. Again, what we expect to see we see. This delightful story involving Henry J. Kaiser reinforces our choice to look at any situation from more than one point of view.”(Speaker’s Sourcebook II, page 50) People who sing in cars while others are cursing are not happy because they are singing, they are singing so that they might become happy. Where others perceive obstacles, they discover possibilities and opportunities. Singing takes them there and carries them beyond the perceived into the possible. These people are driving from their hearts and their heads, a pretty good combination. Where others see only mud, they see blue skies. Now they possess an attitude that is hard to put down. It feels too good. When the man in the crowd shouted out to Jesus to “make his brother share the inheritance” this is an example of mud-looking, not sky-gazing. He saw only the material implications of the situation, not the relationship possibilities that our Savior had on His mind. It was a matter of attitude. The man could choose to see greed and stinginess or he could, by overcoming the perception of these things, discover the possibilities that fixing the relationship with his brother was more important and far more satisfying. It simply was a matter of opening his heart to other opportunities. Values to put aside Colossians encourages us to put aside earthly values – which Paul names as fornification, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the last one he names if greed. In Luke, Jesus also talks about greed. A specific ugly kind of Greed. In greek the word used is pleonexia - pleon means more, echeion means to have – to get in the habit of having more and more. It is not just the sin of having more then you need, it is the sin of the more you get, the more you have to have. You start to seek more things to make you happy. The problem with that is that the things will last, you wont. Jesus advises us to be rich in the things toward God. What does it mean to be rich? To heavily invest in God’s will for your life and for the world. Happiness is a perspective – it all depends whether we are looking up or down. A Man focused in the things of the earth An article in a San Francisco newspaper reported that a young man who once found a $5 bill on the street resolved that from that time on he would never lift his eyes while walking. The paper went on to say that over the years he accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents a bent back, and a miserly disposition. But he also lost something—the glory of sunlight, the radiance of the stars, the smiles of friends, and the freshness of blue skies. I’m afraid that some Christians are like that man. While they may not walk around staring at the sidewalk, they are so engrossed with the things of this life that they give little attention to spiritual and eternal values. Perhaps they’ve gotten a taste of some fleeting pleasure offered by the world and they’ve been spending all their time pursuing it. But that is dangerous. When God’s children, who are “seated with Christ in the heavenlies,” give their affection and attention to a world that is A family rich in the things of God I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy 12, and my older sister Darlene 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money. By 1946 my older sisters were married and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially. When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. When we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill. Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us baby sat for everyone we could. For 15 cents we could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot holders to sell for $1. We made $20 on pot holders. That month was one of the best of our lives. Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the Pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering. The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change. We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before. That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering. We could hardly wait to get to church! On Sunday morning, rain was pouring. We didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from our home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet. But we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on their old dresses. I looked at them in their new clothes, and I felt rich. When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us girls put in a $20. As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch Mom had a surprise for us. She had bought a dozen eggs, and we had boiled Easter eggs with our fried potatoes! Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10 and seventeen $1 bills. Mom put the money back in the envelope. We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our Mom and Dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly. We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the spoon or the fork that night. We had two knifes that we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor. That Easter day I found out we were. The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed that I didn't want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor! I thought about school. I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class of over 100 students. I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor. I decided that I could Quit school since I had finished the eighth grade. That was all the law required at that time. We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor. We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way. Mom started to sing, but no one joined in and she only sang one verse. At church we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun dried bricks, but they need money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week. Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me ,and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering. When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "you must have some rich people in this church." Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100." We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so? This is a family that is truly rich in the things of God? What is your story? Let us pray…… There have been times when we have gone to a high school football/basketball game and the kids asked for some money to buy candy. I gave them $5 and they returned with some candy. I ask for a piece and their answer is “no.” Here is what they don’t realize. First – I could take the candy away and eat it all my self. Because I am bigger and stronger I could do that. Second – I gave them the money in the first place, I paid for the candy so really it is mine. Third – I could have bought so much candy that they couldn’t have possibly eaten all of it. Now look at this from God’s view when He blesses us with His power and everything else for that matter. 1st – He has the power to take it all away if/when He wants. 2nd – He gives us everything. 3rd – He can supply endlessly. This goes for our finances, health, and His power. He supplies power to the believer endlessly if we seek Him. "Self adaption from an Ed Young Illustration" By Susan Sauer I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them. I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts. I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you'd better know something. I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do. I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it. I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you a heartache for life. I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides. I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think. I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't. I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you. I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice. I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it. I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score. I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down may be the ones to help you get back up. I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated. I've learned that you should never tell a child her dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if she believed it. I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you too. --from my wise Uncle Bill Morgan & Aunt Carroll, about to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. John Tillotson said, "He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever." “Mud-Gazing?” Luke 12:13-15 Key verse(s) 13:“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, The Scottish preacher John McNeill liked to tell about an eagle that had been captured when it was quite young. The farmer who snared the bird put a restraint on it so it couldn’t fly, and then he turned it loose to roam in the barnyard. It wasn’t long till the eagle began to act like the chickens, scratching and pecking at the ground. This bird that once soared high in the heavens seemed satisfied to live the barnyard life of the lowly hen. One day the farmer was visited by a shepherd who came down from the mountains where the eagles lived. Seeing the eagle, the shepherd said to the farmer, “What a shame to keep that bird hobbled here in your barnyard! Why don’t you let it go?” The farmer agreed, so they cut off the restraint. But the eagle continued to wander around, scratching and pecking as before. The shepherd picked it up and set it on a high stone wall. For the first time in months, the eagle saw the grand expanse of blue sky and the glowing sun. Then it spread its wings and with a leap soared off into a tremendous spiral flight, up and up and up. At last it was acting like an eagle again. Perhaps you have let yourself be comfortable in the barnyard of the world—refusing to claim your lofty position as God’s child. He wants you to live in a higher realm. Confess your sins, and “seek those things which are above.” You will soon be longing to rise above the mundane things of this world. Like the eagle, it’s not too late to soar to greater heights again. – P R Van Gorder Look … • Look around and be distressed. • Look inside and be depressed. • Look at Jesus and be at rest. --Corrie Ten Boom OLOSSIANS 3:2 "VULTURE" APPETITES While driving along a highway, I have often seen vultures soaring high overhead, swooping down, and then rising up again with the air currents. Every so often, a small group of them can be seen sitting right on the roadway, tearing apart and gobbling up the carcass of some unfortunate creature. I get the impression that these ugly birds are on the lookout continually for what is loathsome and repulsive! Some people are like that. Nothing seems to satisfy them more than feasting on what is sinful, corrupt, and immoral. The books and magazines they read, the TV programs they watch, the conversations they engage in, and the activities they pursue reveal a vulture-like appetite. How much better is the spiritual diet the Bible suggests: "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things" (Phil 4:8-note). What kind of "food" do you prefer? Don't be like the vulture. Rather, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1Pe 2:2-note).-- Richard W. De Haan passing away, they lose the upward look. Their perspective becomes distorted, and they fail to bask in heaven’s sunlight. Taken up with the baubles of this world, they become defeated, delinquent Christians. Buttons, pins, and pennies, but no treasures laid up in heaven. The apostle Paul said, “If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Col. 3:1-note). To live for the things of this world is to miss life’s best. Let’s set our sights on the heights! P. R. Van Gorder

The Power of Prayer

July 28, 2013 Colossians 2:6-19 Luke 11:1-13 The Power of Prayer 10th Sunday after Pentecost Year C ROOTED FOR LIFE There was once a farmer who went to town to purchase seeds for his farm. As he was returning home, one of the squash seeds he had purchased fell from his pocket onto the ground. It happened that within a few feet was another seed of a different type. The place where the two seeds lay was rather fertile, and miraculously they took root. After about a week the squash seed showed signs of growth. The second seed showed none. After two weeks the squash began to sprout leaves. The second seed showed none. After seven weeks the squash began to show fruit. The second seed still showed no progress. Four more weeks came and gone. The squash plant reached the end of its life bearing much fruit in that time, but the other seed finally began to slowly grow. Many years later the squash was all but forgotten, but the other tiny seed, an acorn, had grown into a mighty oak tree. Many people want their faith to be like the squash. They want to experience it all right now...rather than be rooted for life. (From a sermon by Ajai Prakash, Rooted in Jesus, 4/29/2011) That story reminds me of psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:3 In order for us to be firmly rooted in life, our faith has to be planted in Jesus Christ. We have to know that it is Christ who frees us from our sin, and who loves us, who guides us, and who teaches us how to prosper. Let our faith grow along with our lives When we are rooted in God, we stay connected to God. But we also are willing to grow in our knowledge and understanding of who God is. Our spiritual life only goes as far as we are able to grow. Many people leave the church, because they learn about God, but they don’t do anything to grow in faith. When trials and tribulations come upon them, they are still praying to the God they learned about in high school. When things don’t turn out the way they think they should, there is something wrong with God, when really, their faith has not grown to fit the situations of their life. It is so important to be rooted in God, and to continue to let the roots of our lives reach for the nurturing of God. This morning, our scriptures give us two important lessons on staying rooted in the ways of God. Colossians main lesson is to make sure that Christ is the center of our lives. Luke – talks about the importance of prayer. When we pray – we learn to depend on God for everything in our lives. VACANT HOMES, VACANT LIVES TIFTON, GA — The most interesting thing about Tifton is an abandoned Victorian house filled with thousands of bats. Tift County declared the once-elegant house in the town’s historic district off limits after a bat specialist said that maybe 20,000 bats had moved in, apparently for good. Now, teenagers call it the bat house. People talk about the smell, which is an unholy mix of animal urine and decaying wood. "In the summer, ooh, does that place reek," said Linda Turner, 69, a retired nurse and neighbor. "You ain’t smelled nothing until you come back here on a hot day." Brothers and Sisters, I’m not going to visit that bat house. WHAT A SIGHT AND WHAT A STINK IT MUST BE! Vacant houses get infiltrated with all kinds of creatures and probably not just bats. And many of these creatures make a mess, create a big stink, and eventually ruin that dwelling. But it doesn’t just happen with vacant houses, it also happens with vacant lives! If a person doesn’t fill their life with good stuff, the bad stuff and sometimes, the evil stuff will move in and take over. What’s going on in your house? That is, the house you live in, the fleshly body you live in? Who has moved in? Who has taken over your residence and controlling your life? God wants us to stay clean in this world and that will only happen when we let Him move in, that is, when we fill our lives with worship, prayer and service. Thy word have I hide in my heart that I might not sin against thee! Ps. 119:11. The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible! (From a sermon by Steve Shepherd, Our Walk in This World, 4/4/2011) In her book A Practical Guide to Prayer, Dorothy Haskins tells about a noted concert violinist who was asked the secret of her mastery of the instrument. The woman answered the question with two words: "Planned neglect." Then she explained. "There were many things that used to demand my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, straightened the room, dusted, and did whatever seemed necessary. When I finished my work, I turned to my violin practice. That system prevented me from accomplishing what I should on the violin. So I reversed things. I deliberately planned to neglect everything else until my practice period was complete. And that program of planned neglect is the secret of my success." Colossians says don’t let anything or anyone disqualify you from growing in Christ. There are a lot of things going on in life. when Christ is in perspective however, the other things fall into place. In the last few years, used this week to talk about the meaning of the Lord’s prayer. Very important – teaches us what it means to put Christ first. What are we praying for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer "In a world too full of injustice, hunger, malice and evil, (this) prayer cries out for justice, bread, forgiveness, and deliverance." N. T. (Tom) Wright It is a prayer for material blessings of food to eat daily, but it is more so a prayer for spiritual blessings. The request not only for the ability to forgive, but for forgiveness in our lives. The strength to overcome temptation. These spiritual request are all things that support us in feeding our roots and growing in Christ. This prayer teaches us to pray in boldness and confidence for the things that we need. The life of a Christian, is a life of prayer. Luke speaks of prayer as a good gift from God. God provides for us our of God’s nature – which is always kind, merciful and generous. We think of this as the Lord’s prayer – but some have called it the disciple’s prayer. The prayer that we need in order to become disciples of Christ. For three years, the disciples learned by hearing Jesus preach and teach “as one who has authority.” They heard the sermon on the mount preached by the Son of God. They heard him condemn self-righteous Pharisees and encourage a woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more.” The disciples heard Jesus command the wind and waves (and witnessed their obedience). They heard him forgive sins. I suspect that they somehow knew the sins were forgiven. For three years, the disciples learned by watching Jesus do the impossible. They saw him heal the deaf, the blind, the lame, and the sick. They saw him feed 5,000 men plus women and children with a boy’s lunch. They saw him cast out demons. They saw him raise the dead. Incredibly, they did not ask Jesus to “teach us to teach and preach with authority.” They did not ask Jesus to “teach us to feed a multitude with a little.” They did not ask Jesus to “teach us to overcome disease, demons, and death.” Jesus was God incarnate. His divine power was beyond human comprehension. But the disciples noticed something he did that they could learn. Luke 11:1 - One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord teach us... to pray.” Jesus is the center of our lives as Christians, to be a christian, prayer must be the center of you life. Pray in boldness and confidence, for the right things in the right way, Christ will always answer. Active Prayer God is not passive, and neither are we. In fact, Jesus calls us to an active life. We tend to think of prayer as a passive affair, which in many ways it is. After all, prayer is listening before it is speaking. However, it is active listening. You know the difference between passive and active listening? Passive listening is the husband who has one ear to the television when his wife speaks. Passive listening is the wife who has her "to do" list between her and her spouse. Passive listening is the young person who hears everything through ears that are "bored" with anything and everything that isn’t more exciting than what is possible. Active listening, on the other hand, is giving 100% attention, and facing toward the One who speaks, putting aside remote-controls, "to do" lists, and boredom. Active listening is anything but passive. It’s really hard work, when you think about it. It’s not "zoning out." Far from it. Prayer is, in part, active listening. How do you receive daily bread from God, if you’re not faced in his direction, attentively reaching out? How does forgiveness become a reality if we don’t step into it - and how are we to step into it if we’re not walking in the direction of, toward the One from whom forgiveness flows? The Lord’s prayer, whether it be the version Matthew remembers, or the one Luke recalls, encourages active movement toward God on our part. As a rule, if I have used an story once in a church, I try not to repeat it again. At least not intentionally. Today I am going to break that rule. As I was looking at my old sermons, I have gone through the lectionary twice since being a solo pastor. And I used this story here in this church in 2010. But I think that it is an important lesson in active prayer as we look forward to a new worship service and a new way of being present in the community. Actively pray for people A church was having a friends and family day, and each person was asked to invite a guest. But before they were to invite them they were to pray for them for one week. One lady wanted to invite her neighbor Kate. She and Kate had sons that were on the basketball team together. She prayed for Kate, but it seemed the the opportunity to talk about church never came up. So she was convinced the prayer didn’t work and that Kate would never come to church. On the Friday before the friends and family she got a call from another parent, who told her that she and her son wanted to come to church with her. And o by the way, Kate was coming too. God works in mysterious ways. God hears our prayers. Let us make sure that this new beginning is firmly rooted in prayer. There may be a lot of things that need to be done as we move toward that day – but the most important thing always is to pray. The bring everything to God in prayer. If Christ is truly in the center of our lives, we can pray in boldness and confidence and know that God know better than we do. But he wants us to be rooted, and watered in prayer. He wants us to have an active prayer life, and to be willing to be challenged so that we can grow in our relationship. Lord, teach us to be faithful, to be knowledgable, to be grateful, but most of all Lord teach us to pray – in boldness, confidence and in faith. BURIED IN THE DEEPEST SEA Several years ago Rick Stacy baptized a man in Lake Superior. It was late October and about 9:00 PM. Rick had been talking with Myron and his wife about accepting the Lord as their personal savior and sealing that decision with baptism into Jesus. Myron was hesitant for a long time and then finally said, “Yes, I want to accept Jesus – and I want to be baptized tonight – right now in Lake Superior. In case you don’t know Lake Superior is cold. The average temperature (year round) is about 38 degrees. This was late October and the gales of November (remember the Edmund Fitzgerald) had come early. The waves were running 3 feet high. The water was very cold. They were going to walk out waist deep into the water, but only made it about knee deep. Rick laid Myron down and the waves washed over him as he was baptized in the name of Jesus. When they went back to Myron’s home for some hot cocoa and a hot soak for their cold feet, Rick asked him why it was so important that he do this that night in Lake Superior. His answer: “I was in the army, an officer in the infantry during Viet Nam. I saw and did things that no man should see or do. I wanted my sins buried in the deepest and coldest place…” Peter L. Haynes, Asking...Seeking...Knocking Keeping God Alive in Our Hearts Jesus prayed: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. In the novel "The Great Hunger," a newcomer comes to a farm community. He refuses all friendship with his neighbors and puts out the no trespassing sign. One day a little child from the town climbs underneath his fence to pet his dog. The vicious animal leaps on her and kills her. Hostility spreads throughout the community. When the newcomer comes to town no one will speak to him. Clerks refuse to wait on him. Spring comes and the merchants refuse to sell him seed. Finally, the father of the girl who was killed comes over and sows his field. This act of kindness is too much for the insufferable newcomer. “Why—you of all people?” he asks. The father responds: To keep God alive in my heart. The experience of forgiveness is basic to our spiritual health. It is the way that we keep God alive in our hearts. But there is more. The petition says: Forgive us as we forgive others. In other words, we are asking God to forgive in proportion to our forgiving. We become our own judge and jury. How do we forgive the unforgivable? By remembering that God forgives us for our sins against him. Staff, www.Sermons.com. For three years, the disciples learned by hearing Jesus preach and teach “as one who has authority.” They heard the sermon on the mount preached by the Son of God. They heard him condemn self-righteous Pharisees and encourage a woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more.” The disciples heard Jesus command the wind and waves (and witnessed their obedience). They heard him forgive sins. I suspect that they somehow knew the sins were forgiven. For three years, the disciples learned by watching Jesus do the impossible. They saw him heal the deaf, the blind, the lame, and the sick. They saw him feed 5,000 men plus women and children with a boy’s lunch. They saw him cast out demons. They saw him raise the dead. Incredibly, they did not ask Jesus to “teach us to teach and preach with authority.” They did not ask Jesus to “teach us to feed a multitude with a little.” They did not ask Jesus to “teach us to overcome disease, demons, and death.” Jesus was God incarnate. His divine power was beyond human comprehension. But the disciples noticed something he did that they could learn. Luke 11:1 - One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord teach us... to pray.”

It's Your Choice

July 21, 2013 It’s Your Choice Colossians 2:6-19 Luke 11: 1-13 10th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Create your own Adventure books While preparing for this sermon, I discovered these really cool story books – they are called choose your own adventure books. You read the story to a child, and in the middle of it, you start to ask questions of what the child wants to happen next. Depending on how they respond, you read a different section of the book. Even though you read the same book, you never really read the same story to the child. They get to choose how the story ends. I am always looking for Christian education resources – and I like this one, because it is important to help our children to make healthy choices. This book is entitled Always picked last, it is about a fairy who tries to do something so he wont be picked last in games. It is a little long, so I wont read it to you. Gospel a story of choices But actually it doesn’t matter because our gospel lesson is a lesson about making choices. Background information to the story Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, and along the way he stops by his friends, Mary and Martha to have a good meal, and to have a place to do the teaching he is desparately trying to do before he gets to Jerusalem. Even though we hear about Mary and Martha all of the time, This story only appears in Luke. As tradition would have it, the oldest girl always inherited her mother’s house. Martha is believed to be the oldest, because she had the obligation of keeping the house and offering hospitality to those in need. In greek, the name Martha means mistress of the house. And it is Martha who asks jesus to do something about her sister. Martha is doing all of the work, and Mary has decided to sit down and study with Jesus. When you think of this story – how many of us think of ourselves as Martha? How many think of ourselves as a Mary of the church? I think that we do a disservice to ourselves and to the church when we follow the traditional interpretations of this story. When I was at the Methodist church in Jamaica, I found it interesting that there was a whole body of service to the church called women’s work. In others words the women were supposed to do the cooking, and the cleaning, and childcare in the church. While studying, administration, and worship were thought of as the work of men. So in this story we go into this whole debate about what a women’s role is in the church. But the disservice goes further than than – because we start to debate which is better, faith or works; is it better to be active or comtemplative; do we choose between giving steadfast love or studying the word of God. But none of those are fair choices, and you really cant choose one without the other. But I also think the ways that we interpret this story is a disservice to Jesus. First of all in all of the stories that I know about Jesus. Jesus is not one to turn down hospitality. If someone is cooking for him, he is not going to tell them to stop. He wants to eat. For some reason in this story, we tend to belittle Martha and uplift Mary. When Jesus never says that Martha is wrong and that Mary is right. He never says that what Mary is doing is more important than what Martha is doing. But for some reasons we want to be judgemental. Jesus doesn’t say that Mary was better than Martha. Jesus says that Mary had a choice, and that she was right for making a choice. Verse 42 says Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her. Jesus does not judge between them. As a matter of fact, in my life, some days I am Martha and some days I am Mary. And it takes both action and comptemplation, faith and works, cooking cleaning and bible study to make a well rounded servant. It is really not how we serve, it is the attitude in which we serve that makes a difference. Martha was serving out of obligation, and Mary had found freedom. I read someone that Mary means a free spirit. That is what the gospel is all about – finding the freedom to chose a life of salvation. The pastor God cannot do without A pastor of a large church tells how he had gotten caught up in serving out of obligation. As the pastor everyone depended on his presence. One day he felt that he was getting sick, but he felt that there was no way that he could stay at home, because the church was expecting him to be present. He felt that God needed him, and that he could not afford to be sick. He showed up to church that day, but he felt awful. That night he prayed to god that he would got better, because he could not afford to be sick. When he fell asleep, he had a dream that God was worried about God could do without him. And that if he died tomorrow, then the work of God on earth would just continue without him. He realized that serving God was a choice, not an obligation. As a matter of fact, it was not his choice to serve God that mattered, but it was God’s choice to use him that made all of the difference in the world. I might need to say that again – serving God is a choice. A choice that we have the freedom to make. But it is not our choice that really matters, it is God’s choice that makes all of the difference in the world. The glorious, omnipotent all knowing all powerful God chooses us to spread love throughout our lives and throughtout the world! That is amazing. That is the lesson for us this morning in Colossians. Just think about it, if you had to choose a group of people to best represent the church at a very important meeting who would you choose? Would you choose a child who never sits still in church? Would you choose a teenager who walks around all the time with his pants hanging down? Would you chose a baby who cries all of the time, would you choose a young girl who is more concerned about her texts on her cell phone then she is in talking to those around her? Would you choose an adult, who is too busy at work to bother to come to church? Why or why wouldn’t you choose these people to best represent the church. Especially when in reality Jesus has chosen them all? If God chooses them, who are we not to accept their gifts? God chose them and God chose us. to be faithful, to be willing grow to Christian maturity, to be in service to God. As a matter of fact, any choice that we make in the name of Jesus Christ, Christ has the power to reconcile, redeem and use for the building if his kingdom. Colossians 1:28 says – it is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. If Christ chooses the likes of us – then we can make sure that Christ is in all of our choices. Amen. ____________________________________________________ There Is Always a Load Limit Dr. John Anderson tells about a cartoon that appeared in the NEW YORKER magazine. Approaching a small bridge plainly marked, "Load Limit 8 tons" was a truck, also marked on its side, "8 tons." When the 8 ton truck was about in the middle of the bridge with the 8 ton limit, a bluebird lighted on the top girder. At that point the bridge gave way and crashed with the truck into the river below, to the obvious surprise of the bluebird. The bridge was built as indicated for 8 tons; the truck weighed exactly that. The bridge could hold up under its load limit, but not under 8 tons and one bluebird. Of course, this story is wonderfully ridiculous. Most bridges could stand up under their load limit and several thousand bluebirds extra. But, to be sure, all bridges have a breaking point somewhere "that point at which the bluebird would be just much too much. But, friends, it really isn't the bluebird that breaks it down. It is the fact that 8 tons are already present. We all have bluebird troubles, don't we? We are all burdened by the facts of our lives which load us to the point of "load limit." We let little things get the best of us, little bluebirds of nothingness, tiny bluebirds of no importance, but just the thing to bring us down. Every person has a limit and we would do well to watch for the warning signs of one bluebird too many. There is always a load limit. Arthur E. Dean Windhorn, Sermons.com Worry has been defined as "a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained." Unknown __________________ Humor: When Anxieties Finally Come True For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. "Good evening," said the man of the house. "I am pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you." William Marshall, Eternity Shut in a Span __________________

Who is My Neighbor

July 14, 2013 Luke 10:25-37 8th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Who is my Neighbor? Who is my neighbor – that is the question for today. But in reality, the question goes much farther than that. Who is my neighbor. That was the theme of annual conference this year- as a matter of fact, the bishop said that would be the theme of all of our work for the next 4 years – working to serve our neighbors. Who is my neighbor? According to the book of law – a neighbor is someone who is related to you. Your kin folk – those around you. Those people who are safe to relate to and to be a part of. Jesus story in Luke – reminds us that being a neighbor is anything but safe. It requires us going out of our comfort zone. When I was a child, one of my favorite shows was Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. I think I liked it because it made me feel safe. At conference, we even sung the theme song – it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. It was Mr. Rogers, who made one of my favorite quotes to remember in times of trouble. He said that his mother told him that in times of disaster, or trouble to look for the helpers. In my times of crisis, and deep trouble – sure enough there is always someone who was willing to help, to bring comfort and peace. It has been through those people that I have come to know God. It is in those times that I came to know the meaning of God’s grace. Jesus us telling us in Luke – that we are supposed to be those people, those helpers, the ones that represent God’s grace when everything else in life fails. And everything else in life does indeed fail. In order to realize what jesus is really saying, you have to realize the story behind the story. First of all, scripture says that the lawyer comes to test Jesus. When the lawyer asks who is my neighbor, he knows the answer before he even says anything. He just wants to see what Jesus had to say, more importantly, what would he do. But there is another story line that we may not be aware of. We know that the Samaritans and the Jews do not get along. We know that Jesus is trying to make a point when he uses a Samaritan as the hero of this story. But we may have forgotten that in chapter nine – right before this story – Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem. He sends his disciples out to tell the good news to others. When they get to samaria – the samaraians totally reject Jesus and his message of God’s love for all. We assume that we are supposed to show love to our enemies, and if we make the effort then everything will be alright. But what do we do with the people that we try to love, who make it very clear that they don’t love us. They have no intention of working with us, or being understanding. The lawyers test to all of us – what do you do then? Do you take matters into your own hands or do you trust god? Jesus knew that test very well, and he wanted to make sure that the lawyer knew that he would trust God in all situations. The hatred of others would not stop him from following the ways of God in all circumstance. He would still believe in God’s grace – and he knew that God’s grace was even in the Samaritan. He wanted to lawyer to understand that there are some circumstances where the law cannot help us. We are learning that even today – the law is not always on our side, and does not protect our young men from being attacked. Many are in a state of despair today – we heard the verdict in the George Zimmerman trail. We are asking where is the justice in the law. What is our reaction to injustice? Do we take the law into our own hands? Or do we remember the good Samaritan story? This is not a story about being nice – it is a story about being faithful in the midst of injustice. In the facae of injustice, who are you going to be? – a follower of the law or a follower of grace? Which is easier? Which is logical? Which is right? Which is what God calls us to do? Jesus understood the test very well – he even tells the lawyer that you know better than I do what the answer is. You know what you are supposed to do – Jesus tells him to make sure that he does it. A neighbor is one who is willing to take action and do, when others want to sit around and debate. Jesus turns the question around, the question is not who is our neighbor, it is what does it take for us to be a neighbor. What is it that we need to be doing to help others. Being a neighbor is not about proximity – usually the closer we are to the problem, the less we think about being a part of the solution. A neighbor is not just a relative, it is anyone in need, that we can help. A neighbor is anyone is need of God’s grace. CARRY THEIR BURDEN A pastor gathered a group of people from his church to train them to witness. After some minimal training, he sent the group out into the neighborhood. When they returned to share their experiences, one young man said he had tried to tell an older gentleman about the love of Jesus. The old gentleman replied, “I feel none of the love of God. I feel nothing of God caring for my burdens. I am old and must take care of myself, shop for myself, and carry my groceries home from the store, by myself.” One of the other participants remarked, “Perhaps if you had offered to carry his load for him, he would have believed your words because he would have experienced them firsthand in you.” (From a sermon by Gaither Bailey, Is Your Name Written In Heaven? 7/1/2010) ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬________________________________________________________________________ LIKE LIMBAUGH AND CLINTON In the story of the “The Good Samaritan,” these men weren’t physical neighbor. The Jews & the Samaritans hated each other. Generations earlier, when the Jews were in Babylonian captivity, the Samaritans had taken over the land … and mixed their religion with the Jewish religion. This would be like a Cuban refugee finding Castro beside the road. Like an Indian finding a cowboy beside the road. Like Rush Limbaugh finding Bill Clinton beside the road. Like a Florida Gator finding an FSU Seminole beside the road. But according to this passage, these men were neighbors. What does it take to be a neighbor? SOURCE: Ray Scott in "The Good Samaritan" on www.sermoncentral.com. DEFINING A NEIGHBOR It’s been said, "One cannot define one’s neighbor; one can only be a neighbor." Haddon Robinson said, "Your neighbor is anyone whose need you see, whose need you are able to meet." A neighbor is someone who says, "What is mine is God’s and what is God’s belongs to my neighbor because my neighbor belongs to Him." (Larson) SOURCE: Victor Yap in "Hero" on www.sermoncentral.com FAMOUS NEIGHBORS Can you name some famous neighbors? *Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in his sweater and sneakers … “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood … won’t you be my neighbor?” *Dennis the Menace … “Helloooo Mr. Wilson!” *Ricky & Lucy Ricardo … Fred & Ethel Mertz. *Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor … Wilson. Have you ever had trouble with a neighbor? The story of the Good Samaritan is about neighbors, and it has all the elements of a movie: violence … crime … racial discrimination … hatred … neglect … unconcern … love … mercy. Who says the Bible isn’t relevant to the modern world? SOURCE: Ray Scott in “The Good Samaritan” on SermonCentral.