The Lighthouse Keeper

The Circle of Lent 5/5: Absolution and Reconciliation

2011-04-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

April 10, 2011
Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Circle of Lent: Absolution and Reconciliation
#5 of 5

2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2 and John 17:1-5, 20-23

God… reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
- 2 Corinthians 5:18

My sermon outline:

• One time on a college choir trip, stayed at hotel, rooms with connecting doors. Cool! But each room had to open the door to have free access.

• We’ve been examining relationship, started with picture of unity, harmony, agreed-upon plan. Then deviation.

After sin we took a look at two different perspectives: the righteous one forgives (regardless of sinner’s actions) and, motivated by sorrow for sin, the sinner does a few things: stops & confesses, turns around (repents, aligns with Christ), and offers some kind of meaningful demonstration of sorrow (penance).

A Catholic prayer of confession and repentance:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

• So far the actions of the two parties are independent of the other…
Forgiveness offered freely without any strings attached (by power of HS), the forgiving party opens the door.
Sinner confesses and repents and offers fruit of repentance (by power of HS) without any expectation of forgiveness, opens door.

And now that both doors are open we can entertain absolution and reconciliation, which require the joint effort of both parties… there can be no absolution or reconciliation without forgiveness, and there can be no absolution or reconciliation without the sorrow of sin.

Where forgiveness says You don’t owe anything, and confession/repentance/penance say My sorrow over my sin wants to do something to cover my sin, Absolution is the joint effort that frees the sinner from guilt. It’s when the righteous says I accept your apology, I recognize your penance… don’t worry about it. I can see how your sorrow is motivating you to remain on our chosen path with me.

And once the relationship is freed from guilt and there is no barrier between the righteous and the sinner, those hotel doors are open and it’s party time! For real, think about the reconciliation party at the return of the Prodigal! Renewed relationship should be celebrated! Harmony and unity can flower again

• Two things to point out, that it is by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that we can truly forgive one another, and it is by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that we can confess and repent and offer penance and be reconciled, that’s the first thing to point out. The HS is the door opening to reconciliation.

Second thing to point out is that the relationship after the reconciliation may be stronger than it was before the sin! When you break a bone and it heals it’s actually stronger than before because of the scar tissue. Not like a broken plate glued back together but new bone forms around the fragments like cement and concrete.
With people, relationships that have gone through difficulties are stronger than relationships that have not.

Thanks be to Jesus, whose prayer is that we would be one just as he and the Father are one, thanks be to Jesus that we can be reconciled to God who does not count our sins against us.

• There’s a door in front of you. Open it!

• Hymn 562 Jesus Lord We Look To Thee

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 65 in worship.
Appointment Announcement: It was announced today that Bishop Peggy Johnson has appointed Pastor Dennis Keen to pastor the Spring City United Methodist Church, beginning July 1, 2011.

The Circle of Lent 4/5: Penance

2011-04-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Lent

The Circle of Lent: Penance
#4 of 5

Ephesians 5:8-14 and John 15:1-12

You were once Darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord,
so live your life as children of Light.
– Ephesians 5:8

My sermon outline:

• (Recall three weeks ago, idea for sermon series as pictures came into mind illustrating various stages of relationship, including sin, confession, forgiveness, repentance, absolution.)

• First picture, two folks walking. In this picture possibly equals. Maybe married couple, maybe friends, maybe pastor and member.. two beings in relationship with each other, walking together in harmony. In unity. Same path.

• God wants your life to be in step with God and full and very good. Allow your life to be full and very good by seeking to be in step with God. Remember your purpose and seek to order your life.

• The new picture the people have stopped. The "righteous" one has stayed on the path, and has the opportunity to offer forgiveness, regardless of "sinner's" state. In this picture, the sinner has left the path but has also stopped, in a moment of confession. Both are actions at the beginning of the road to recovery of community.

• Two weeks ago(stopping) was before, and last week was the sinner literally turning around, choosing a new direction.
A two part action (before and after) of ceasing that which causes sorrow, and choosing a new direction.
Jesus is like a magnet, pointing in the right direction. You can take a nail and put it next to a magnet and all its parts’ll point in the same direction – they’ll turn and orient themselves according to the magnet.

• now oriented right, our new picture can be walking together again, walking intended path again. Sinner has received forgiveness

For a moment imagine parent and two children.
One child pinches the other.
What does the parent say?
(YOU TELL HIM YOU’RE SORRY!)
(SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT)

Two things wrong there: the apology is not motivated by sorrow, and it’s teaching the child to lie.

When Sashi sins against me (deviates from path) and says “sorry”, whether she is sincere or not, I accept apology, I forgive, and I am likely to say something like “I’ll know you’re truly sorry by how you act in the future... let your actions demonstrate that you’re sorry.

Today’s topic is penance... and though it sounds similar to repentance (which comes from the Latin word for sorrow) it actually shares a Latin root with penalty and penitentiary

• Penance is the name of the Catholic sacrament of confession. In its origin it has to do with punishment for sin, but another meaning, also original, has taken center stage, and as I’ve been skirting around, has to do with action motivated by sorrow for sin.

• You can think of sin and forgiveness and penance in financial terms.
Sin: debt is owed.
Forgiveness: debt is paid, debt is forgiven.
Penance: the now-cleared debtor offers token of sorrow. Token does not pay debt, does not pay for sin, but is instead motivated by it.

• A friend of mine once sorrowfully confessed to me that he'd drunk-dialed a girl the night before & he felt terrible about it. I suggested a few actions he might take to convey his sorrow and his true heart (i.e. picking up bottles in a parking lot, working in a soup kitchen with the young lady, etc)

Zaccheus (Luke 19) confessed and offered (as penance) 4x restitution plus half of possessions to poor (charity).

These are movements that go from disconnection to connection, that demonstrate sorrow and quality of being children of light instead of darkness.

• Many years ago some people had wandered away from God and they wondered what they could do to express their sorrow. (a thousand burnt offerings? Do justice... Micah 6:1-8)

• When you sin, stop. Confess. Turn around. Offer meaningful sign of sorrow. & live for Jesus.

• Hymn insert Living For Jesus

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 53 in worship.
Communion and Luncheon

The Circle of Lent 3/5: Repentance

2011-03-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2011
Third Sunday of Lent

The Circle of Lent: Repentance
#3 of 5

Ephesians 4:17-32

Change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires. Instead renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit... Ephesians 4:22-23

My sermon outline:
• (Recall two weeks ago, idea for sermon series as pictures came into mind illustrating various stages of relationship, including sin, confession, forgiveness, repentance, absolution.)

• First picture, two folks walking. In this picture possibly equals. Maybe married couple, maybe friends, maybe pastor and member.. two beings in relationship with each other, walking together in harmony. In unity. Same path.

• God wants your life to be in step with God and full and very good. Allow your life to be full and very good by seeking to be in step with God. Remember your purpose and seek to order your life.

• The new picture the people have stopped. The "righteous" one has stayed on the path, and has the opportunity to offer forgiveness, regardless of "sinner's" state. In this picture, the sinner has left the path but has also stopped, in a moment of confession. Both are actions at the beginning of the road to recovery of community.

• Last week (stopping) was before, and this week is the sinner literally turning around, choosing a new direction.

I’ve said before how the word “Repent” literally means “to turn around” and that notion comes from the Hebrew word teshuva. There’s another Hebrew word for repentance, nichan, which has more to do with the English roots of repent, and has to do with the sorrow that results from sin. While I’m at it, the Greek (New Testament) word is metanoia, which has to do with thinking differently after the fact... a change of mind accompanied by regret and change of conduct.

A two part action (before and after) of ceasing that which causes sorrow, and choosing a new direction.

• An hour ago, babyboyChase had not yet been baptized, and Scott and Pattie had not yet become members. (today's worship service included an infant baptism and the reception of two persons into church membership).

Both parties chose to take action, acknowledging This is the direction I wish to take, and These are the traveling companions I choose.
In bringing Chase for baptism, in making vows of membership, they’re saying I choose to put behind me the ways that cause sorrow. I choose to embrace the life of Jesus, to learn his ways, practice them, model them and teach them. This is the direction I choose.

Because Jesus lived perfectly and loved perfectly and I want to follow that.
Because in Jesus and through Jesus is the way to shalom, perfect peace & wholeness, harmony.

Jesus is like a magnet, pointing in the right direction. You can take a nail and put it next to a magnet and all its parts’ll point in the same direction – they’ll turn and orient themselves according to the magnet.

In baptism, in discipleship, we orient ourselves according to Christ.

• Throughout the old and new testaments God declares and desires and empowers people to change their hearts and lives, to choose for their path God’s path and to put the ways of the world behind them.

Without repentance there is no hope for reconciliation.
Without repentance there is death.
Without repentance there is no hope for achieving or living in harmony and unity.

• Let the wicked forsake their ways, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, for he will freely pardon. (Isa 55:7)

• So you ask yourself, what is your goal?
What direction do you want to go?
With whom do you want to walk?

I want to walk as a child of the light...
I confess that I do not always,
and I repent and I walk with Jesus.

• Hymn 206 I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 69 in worship.
New members received
Infant baptism

The Circle of Lent 2/5: Forgiveness and Confession

2011-03-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2011
Second Sunday of Lent

The Circle of Lent: Forgiveness and Confession
#2 of 5

James 5:12-20 and Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. – James 5:16

My sermon outline:

• (recall last week's intro... idea for sermon series as pictures came into mind illustrating various stages of relationship, including sin, confession, forgiveness, repentance, absolution. Fits nicely for Lent...)

• First picture is two folks walking. In this picture possibly equals. Maybe married couple, maybe friends, maybe pastor and member.. two beings in relationship with each other, walking together in harmony. In unity. Same path.

• God wants your life to be in step with God and full and very good. Allow your life to be full and very good by seeking to be in step with God. Remember your purpose and seek to order your life.

• The new picture is of people stopped... a "sinner" who has left the chosen path, and a "righteous" one who has remained on the path. Today we'll look at each person's point of view.

Forgiveness
• Says the “righteous” one: I do not count it against you that you walked in a different direction and that you hurt Harmony. I do not want that to be a barrier to our relationship. In other words, I forgive you. You don’t owe me. I waive my right to demand, receive, or expect restitution, you do not need to pay me back.

Forgiveness is NOT approving or condoning, it is NOT granting license to the sinner to sin. It is seeking and affirming relationship. Saying I choose not to hold a grudge (which is empty forgiveness at best).

• In many ways forgiveness is like love as described in 1 Cor 13:4-8… forgive me a little license:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails.
Repeat reading, replacing "love" with "Forgiveness".

• Forgiveness is not easy but it is necessary. We cannot simultaneously hold on to what separates other people from us and receive forgiveness mercy and grace from God or others. Consider what many would probably put in the top three relationship sins: infidelity. Only through forgiveness does the possibility of reconciliation exist; without forgiveness the broken relationship is irreparable.

Forgiveness not easy but necessary, and not necessarily deserved, but it is to be granted freely and without strings attached. It is good to be reminded of Jesus’ words that we cannot be forgiven if we ourselves do not forgive.

Confession
• Same picture, other POV. Sinner has stopped. Why? By grace of God, sinner realizes and acknowledges sin. “I admit that I am not walking in the right direction. I admit that I am hurting Harmony.”

(Repeat out loud: by grace of God are we able to recognize our sin.)

• Sinner confesses. To whom? To self. You’d be amazed the power of speaking these words out loud, even if alone.
To God. As a part of prayer.
And if possible to the offended party.

• Why did I speak on forgiveness first? Well I had to do one first, and it’s important to me that forgiveness be independent of conditions, including confession. Plus I’ll deal with sinner next week too, as confession leads to repentance.

• Scripture, reading from James which is about community of faith & solidarity. Both are actions at the beginning of the road to recovery of community.

• Homework: this week. Confess something. Forgive something.

• Hymn 358 Dear Lord & Father of Mankind

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 56 in worship.

The Circle of Lent 1/5: Harmony and Sin

2011-03-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

March 13, 2011
First Sunday of Lent

The Circle of Lent: Harmony and Sin
#1 of 5

Matthew 4:1-11 and Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:16-17

My sermon outline:

• I had an idea for sermon series: pictures came into mind illustrating various stages of relationship, including sin, confession, forgiveness, repentance, absolution. Fits nicely for Lent... (purple by the way, for royalty as well as suffering)

• First picture is two folks walking. In this picture possibly equals. Maybe married couple, maybe friends, maybe pastor and member.. two beings in relationship with each other, walking together in harmony. In unity. Same path.

Could be God. (think about the Footprints poem, walking with God.) Even in Genesis God walked in the garden. God was in relationship with people, talking with people.

• As we read in Genesis, though, people left the path.
God had a path for Adam & Eve. And how was it? It was VERY GOOD. What did they have? EVERY THING THEY NEEDED. More than they needed. God provided. But they left the path.

• I left the path once (once). Long story short, I knew I could find a better way home from the ski area than the printed pamphlet's directions. I ended up adding 2-3 hours of travel time to a 90 minute trip. (cue the music: Fleetwood Mac 1977 You Can Go Your Own Way... 1969 Frank Sinatra I Did It My Way)

• Jesus had a path. Had a purpose in life, which was to do the will of his father. My food is to do the will of the one who sent me (John 4:34). Spirit led him into wilderness, he went. Spirit led him to do Godknowswhat for 40 days in the wilderness, and that’s what he did.

Satan tempts him. Not to do something nasty or anything, just have some bread, use the power God gave you and make bread appear. Guess what, spirit wasn’t leading Jesus that way. No go.

Trust angels to save you. spirit wasn’t leading Jesus that way. No go.

Worship Satan... spirit wasn’t leading Jesus that way. No go. Jesus wasn’t gonna go where spirit wasn’t leading him.

Garden of Gethsemane, like to have a different path... Not my will but thine.

Jesus knew who he was and whose he was, clearly knew purpose

• www.marriagebuilders.com Willard Harley Policy of Joint Agreement:
Never do anything without enthusiastic agreement between you and your spouse.

Relating to God... never do anything w/o enthusiastic agreement between you and God.

• Does that sound restrictive or freeing? Recall garden God provided abundance not scarcity. Recall God’s map for you... study it. Include prayer and worship and service and humility.

God wants your life to be in step with God and full and very good.

Allow your life to be full and very good by seeking to be in step with God.

• Hymn 355 Depth of Mercy (read verses. Charles was 33yo, had been ordained for 5 years, strangely warmed for 2. verses 2 and 3 express separation. Thank God for the grace in 4. plea for change in 5. let this be your confession and prayer.

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 56 in worship.

Transfiguration Sunday

2011-03-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2011
Transfiguration Sunday

Matthew 17:1-9 and 2 Peter 1:16-21
...we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place... 2 Peter 1:19

My sermon outline:

• Jesus took Peter James and John to the mountain.
[Why? to be inspired. To commune with God. to pray.]

We frequently read of Jesus going off by himself to pray, but here he takes the boys.
[Why? To teach. To show. To share. Very high mountain – not easy meeting.]

• Jesus changes. Glows. Metamorphosizes. Receives divine visit from Moses & Elijah – affirmation from some major characters from the Old Testament.

Imagine putting on wet jeans and sweatshirt on day like today – that's the incarnation. Jesus is away from his heavenly home for a lifetime, and in the Transfiguration experiences a momentary respite.

Peter wants to preserve the moment but while he’s speaking, God speaks.

• This is my Son whom I dearly love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!

Public and divine encouragement for Jesus... attaboy and listen to this guy.

• reading from 2 Peter rightly acknowledges that this is not just an episode about Jesus, it’s about God the Father, God the giver, God acting in humankind, God the Father giving honor and glory to Jesus, setting Jesus aside, anointing him, claiming him as Son

• It's enticing to stay there and soak up the sun but that’s not the purpose of this divine episode.

Divine encouragement, public acknowledgement, commission.

Jesus didn’t stay on the mountain because there was work to be done.

Jesus didn’t allow the guys to stay on the mountain because there was work to be done.

But Jesus is Emmanuel God-With-Us, & having experienced God on the mountain, they return to “normal” life, with Jesus.

• We experience God, encounter God, are fed by God, but we can’t stay here, we go with Jesus into the world... so we can lead others to encounter God.

• Hymn 371 I Stand Amazed in the Presence

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 45 in worship.
Communion and Luncheon

Jesus' Picture

2011-02-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

February 20, 2011
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor 3:16)

My sermon outline:

As we gather this morning a Chrysalis weekend is in process. Next week one of our church members will preach while I help lead another one. Chrysalis is part of the Walk to Emmaus community, an international discipleship development & renewal retreat, largely lay driven, with purpose of deepening individual’s relationship with Christ, for the strengthening of the church body.

Driving in the car yesterday, thinking about where I was going, listening to the radio, Rolling Stones song, & thought of how music affects me. Sacred music generally lifts me, secular music notnecessarily. I'm not opposed to secular music, but I recognize that (like last week fitness) sacred music is strengthening. It's a constant reminder of sorts of who I am and who I love. I encourage it, happy to give suggestions.

Talking to someone yesterday who wasn’t sure if he’d met my wife, I pulled a picture out. Imagine if I instead surrounded myself by pictures of other women... Like the music, pictures are reminders of who you are and who you love. They affect relationship.

When I talk to couples about marriage I talk to them about learning what their partner likes, what their emotional needs are, and about “love-busters”, things we say or do to sabotage relationship.

• Everything I’m talking about is about foundation and building on good foundation.
Paul has a few points in 1 Cor 3:10-15:

- that it matters less WHO your leader is than that you’re building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

- that one is ultimately responsible for one’s own life of faith – I can’t build yours and you can’t build mine, and discipleship is expected of all of us... each is required to build (& build well) on the foundation of Jesus – not someone else’s work, neither work done once a long time ago.

- that we the body of Christ are the body of Christ when we each bring our discipleship to the table.

• What to do? Study & worship, as individual and as part of community, proclaiming what Jesus has done in your life, keeping his picture ever in front of you.

• Hymn 451 Be Thou My Vision

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 55 in worship.

On Maturity in Discipleship

2011-02-13T06:35:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2011
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

On Maturity in Discipleship
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow. – 1 Corinthians 2:7

My sermon outline:

• I ran every day of January. End of year I rose at 6am 4x a week for Bible and prayer and reflection. Now it’s 3rd week of Feb & I’m feeling the slack. I resist the discipline, but I like the fruit of the discipline. Feel healthier in body and spirit.

What has that to do with Corinth? On the surface nothing. Paul’s talking @division, @bickering, @immaturity. Honestly or naively we’re not really divided.

But Paul has an indirect point: okay he says it directly, but there’s a corollary...

• God provides the growth. Which means we can interfere. Which is what had happened with the Corinthians getting worked up about Paul and Apollos.

In addition to We can interfere, we can cooperate. We can work together. We can move towards maturity together.

• Hey, Paul talked about maturity in the beginning of chap 3. said the Corinthians were like babies.

That’s why I was talking about discipline. When I’m disciplined, it’s a kind a maturity. When I’m not, well, I’m not.

• So what are marks of mature disciplined disciple?

“As I reflected on the meaning of maturity, I realized that there is a central mark of maturity. In the human physical realm, maturity is gauged by when a person is able to bear or father children. A tree is mature when it bears fruit. A stalk of grain is mature when it can be harvested. In all creation, fruit-bearing is the preeminent mark of matuirity.
“Certainly the spiritual realm differs little. A mature believer bears fruit of two kinds. The first is that of character and holiness of life. The second is becoming a spiritual parent either by leading others to Christ or by adopting a baby or growing a Christian.” – Jerry White, The Power of Commitment, 130.

• Let us be about the business of growing disciples, and trust in the growth that God brings.

• Hymn 472 Near to the Heart of God

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 46 in worship.

How Do I Live Without You?

2011-02-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2011
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Souper Bowl of Caring

How Do I Live Without You?
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
...God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being... – 1 Corinthians 2:9

My sermon outline:
• 1997 Movie CON AIR (Nic Cage, Monica Potter)
Not exactly a blockbuster movie, but one of my favorites.
The movie is about Cameron Poe, who’s been in prison for killing a man in self-defense. He's out on parole when his transport gets hijacked while he’s on his way home to his wife & his 7year old daughter who was born while he was in prison... touching reunion scene at the end which never fails to make me cry, except for the song... Trisha Yearwood sings How Do I Live Without You?

How do I live without you?
I want to know.
How do I breathe without you
if you ever go?
How do I ever survive?
How do I live?
Songwriter: Diane Warren

Background, this movie (& song) came out 7 months after the death of my wife Tricia, and I was still alive. As much as I loved her and as much sorrow as I felt over her death, I was still alive. I didn’t stop breathing. I survived. & song took on a whiny feel for me. kwityerwhining, you’re not gonna die, you’re going to be sad but you’re not going to die.

• Paul... writing to church of Corinth, who he’d established a few years before & was writing to now in his absence & in their distress... It was not me, not my presence or cleverness or words or wisdom that bound you together, that saved you... it is one thing and one thing only, it is Christ crucified, let there be no mistake about it. The proclamation of the love of Jesus Christ & the forgiveness of sins & reconciliation available because of his crucifixion, this is the be-all and end-all. Question the current circumstances but TRUST GOD WHO “HAS PREPARED THINGS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM THAT NO EYE HAS SEEN OR EAR HEARD OR THAT HAVEN’T CROSSED THE MIND OF ANY HUMAN BEING.” (1 Cor. 2:9)

• & Christ wouldn’t want you to bicker about it but to proclaim it loud, from the mountaintops. I remember the first sermon I preached in PA was on Matthew 5:14 light of the world, city on a hill can’t be hidden... Not proclaiming look at me, look at Jesus! Live for Jesus, give every breath in his worship & service & praise.
Celebrate Jesus’ in our lives in the very elements of bread & cup, in which salvation is offered to us, through which Jesus is made known.

How Do I Live Without You? Now if that song were about Jesus, I’m all for it.

• Hymn In The Breaking of the Bread

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.
Communion Sunday
Appointment Announcement: It was announced today that Bishop Peggy Johnson has appointed Pastor Kerry to pastor the church at Campbelltown, beginning July 1, 2011. He has served the church at Spring City for five years and accepts this call with both grief and excitement.

My Stack of Change

2011-01-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2011
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

My Stack of Change
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed.
But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. – 1 Corinthians 1:18
It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus...
He made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us. – 1 Corinthians 1:30

My sermon outline:
• Comparing my 7-year-old daughter's money to my money to Bill Gates’ money... My stack of change doesn’t hold a candle to BG’s. Which is not to say that my stack of change is worthless – it’s necessary and it’s useful, it’s just not in the same league as BG’s.

Same with God’s wisdom, says Paul...

• Humanity ranks people. We compare grade point averages and even the names of colleges (a bachelor’s degree from a no-name college vs. a bachelor’s degree from Harvard). We remember that Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in the Olympics two years ago, but do we remember the silver medal winners?

British pastor George Duncan says that one of the most important lessons in Christian service is that of learning to play the second fiddle well. “Think for a moment,” he writes, “how often we come across those whose worth is seldom recognized by men, but I am sure will never be overlooked by God, and will certainly not go unrewarded. Many are prepared to recognize the prominent part played by Simon Peter among the disciples, but forget that if there had not been an Andrew who ‘brought him to Jesus’ there would never have been a Peter! The church universal gives thanks to God for Paul, the greatest Christian who ever lived, but forget that if there had not been a Barnabas there might never have been a Paul!” Duncan goes on to ask his readers how many of them recognize the name of Albert McMakin. But Albert was the young man who invited and took sixteen-year-old Billy Graham to the evangelistic services in which he accepted Christ as his Savior. “So before there could be a Billy there had to be an Albert!”
– p. 461, Preacher’s Sourcebook.

McMakin’s stack of change, like Billy Graham’s stack of change, are both necessary and useful and of value.

• And what McMakin and Graham and Barnabas and Paul and Andrew and Peter have in common is relationship with God, relationship with Jesus, for which there is no prerequisite, and without which one cannot be made righteous before God.

My righteousness is as good as Billy Graham’s – neither one of ours earns us favor with God; favor with God is given solely through Christ. Your righteousness is as good as St. Paul’s, and neither of yours makes you holy; holiness comes as the gift of God. It doesn’t matter if you’re the gold medal winner or the silver medal winner or if you didn’t even qualify for the race, that’s the wisdom of the world, not the wisdom of God.

And that is GOOD NEWS for us, good news for people who look at the Bill Gateses and Billy Grahamses and say “If only I had what they had, then God might look kindly upon me.” The world in its wisdom may say “It’s the money in your pocket or the degree on your wall that gets you what you need,” but God in his wisdom says, “That’s not how it works; righteousness and holiness are given, not earned.” And you DO have what Billy Graham and Albert McMakin and Barnabas and Paul and Andrew and Peter have: relationship with God.

The message of the cross is foolishness... but it is the power of God...

• It is neither our merit nor earthly wisdom that makes us righteous or holy but it is the cross of Christ.

• Handbell Anthem, then Hymn 301 Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 55 in worship.

On Unity Within the Church

2011-01-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after the Epiphany

On Unity Within the Church
John 1:29-42 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Christ didn’t send me to baptize but to preach the good news. – 1 Corinthians 1:17

My sermon outline:

• I was running through the country one day, passed a farm had a sign that said “Free – Lutheran kittens!” Curious, but I kept on running. The following week I was running down the same road, saw the same sign, but this time the word “Lutheran” had been crossed out and the word “Methodist” was written there. Now my curiosity got the best of me. I knocked on the door of the house, and asked the farmer, “What is this? Last week you had Lutheran kittens and now they’re Methodist? What happened?” The farmer replied, “Last week their eyes were closed. This week they’ve opened their eyes!”

I love that joke because you can put your favored group in the favored spot and poke fun at the group you want to poke fun at. And it’s all good.

• In a small group here at the church, a leader once asked everybody to explain why they’re Methodist. I went first, figuring I know that I find myself at home with the theology of the Wesleys. Some spoke of it being a family church, others spoke of it being a local church. One woman said, “I’m not Methodist. I love God and I come to this church because the people here love God.”

I love her for that answer.

1 Cor 1:10: Paul says to be not divided, but I don’t believe he’s talking about denominations... Paul is talking about division WITHIN the congregation

John 17:21 Jesus prays “that they may be one...” Jesus is concerned about the unity of believers.

• We get a snapshot from the life of John the Baptist in John 1, who previously berated the opposition (so you know he can be tough) but in this episode instead of seeking to share the spotlight with Jesus he completely turns the spotlight over to Jesus, submits to Jesus, edifies Jesus. He lost disciples to Jesus. John the Baptist was more concerned that the way of the Lord be prepared than having people behind him. Said He must increase and I must decrease. Are you on board with the Lord? Hallelujah, go with God, because it’s not about following me, it’s about following Jesus.

• Paul speaks on division within the church... in Latin, “separate apart” or dis-union... that word literally splits our vision, we don’t see eye-to-eye, our vision of ourselves and our brothers and sisters becomes distorted.

A remedy, I’d say, found in Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people, habit #5.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Sometime today or this week, practice this habit, perhaps even asking somebody with whom you know you disagree: “Let me see if I understand what you’re saying...”

As you gain understanding of another’s point of view, your vision becomes clearer, and even if you “agree to disagree” you may learn or affirm that you have a brother or sister in Christ. You become an effective communicator... Practice this so you can effectively communicate the gospel.

• Bottom line, says Paul, is my job is to preach the good news, to do the work of Him who sent me, to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love, to share the good news that in Christ there is forgiveness of sins. The church is not based on me, Paul says... The church is not based on Paul or Peter or Apollos or any preacher teacher or layperson, the church is based on Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and him is salvation.

• Hymn 562 Jesus, Lord, We Look To Thee

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 55 in worship.

Outside Looking In

2011-01-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2011
Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Outside Looking In
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
…you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. – 1 Corinthians 1:7

My sermon outline:
• I am something like the 74th pastor to serve SCUMC, to be called or appointed as pastor, over its 165 years. During many of those years, pastors were regularly moved every 2-3 years. There’ve been a few times where a pastor has served more than 10 years, and most of those longer appointments have taken place in the last 40 years.
74 pastors, and truly God knows how many members, over 165 years.

The church is not the pastor, it’s the people. There are some folks here who have been part of this church for 50 years or more! (perhaps a dozen in attendance today) That’s some longevity!

It’s an old church, and by that I mean that even with lifelong members, we don’t have any charter members, any founders. None of us were here when the Gospel was first celebrated in Spring City, none were here when congregation chartered, and I’m not sure that any were there when the sanctuary was built.

• Church of Corinth was not an old church. When Paul’s letters were first read to the church, there were probably charter members there, people who were there when the Gospel was first proclaimed in Corinth. The church of Corinth was made of rich and poor folks, probably mostly Gentiles, converts from local paganism. Paul had likely encountered the Corinthians for the first time a few years before as he traveled around the Mediterranean preaching the Gospel, establishing churches, taking up collections for the widows in Jerusalem, and sometimes going back. He had a variety of travel companions who joined him along the way, and he made good use of his status as an outsider.

Paul was an outsider. Not from here. & as outsider he could see some things that insiders maybe couldn’t see, and say some things that insiders couldn’t (or wouldn’t) say, but at the same time as an outsider he had to earn the right to be heard.

• The book of 1 Cor is Paul writing to the young church about some issues within the body.

• Claim authority. CALLED by God (not self or man) as APOSTLE (what’s it mean?) and added credibility of insider Sosthenes

• Writing to the church, the sanctified body, those called to be saints. How do you feel when you’re addressed as saints? Some good, some bad (conviction). And again, with emphasis on called, who has credit for putting this body together? God. Not individuals. And while Paul is claiming authority he’s not claiming superiority. He’s claiming unity.

• Claiming these things carefully (like when HS teacher says ladies & gentlemen)
Reminding folk in an edifying way, by grace of God you have been gifted to be the body of Christ together... and as the letter goes on, remember this. Remember my calling and yours. Remember who does the calling and who does the giving. And whatever happens, keep at the forefront your relationship with God who unites us.

• Hymn 452 My Faith Looks Up To Thee

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 61 in worship.

Incarnation and Inspiration

2011-01-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

January 9, 2011
Baptism of the Lord / First Sunday after the Epiphany

Incarnation and Inspiration
Isaiah 42:1-9 and Matthew 3:13-17

When Jesus was baptized... A voice from heaven said,
“This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.” – Matthew 3:16, 17
Take a good look at my servant...
He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.” – God, in Isaiah 42:1-2

My sermon outline:
• Remember homework? I used to wonder how well Jesus did in school. (his best).

When I took Chemistry in high school, I used to bet a quarter with a few friends (who were in the top ten of the class...) on who would get the lowest quiz grade. I usually won the bet.

Imagine my surprise when I went to college and chose to major in chemistry!

Then I got a job teaching chemistry lab. I was a good chemistry teacher because I remembered what it was like not to understand. I would study the night before so I understood what I was teaching. I even recorded my lectures a few times, to better connect with students, better understand the student point of view.

• In a way, this is what it means for Jesus to be Emmanuel, God with us.

• There was so much that Jesus didn’t have to do but he chose to do. This is the way it should be done, he said. This is what God wants. Jesus' life was an example of what God wants in humanity.

• The first step in discipleship (after birth) is baptism.

John the Baptist was astounded: I should be baptized by you, Jesus, I should be cleansed and purified and initiated by you.

John the Baptist had a limited understanding of baptism. Jesus literally immersed himself in humanity, received immersion by John the Baptist in order to fully connect with humankind. For Jesus, part of being fully human was receiving baptism. & in his baptism, John the Baptist's understaning of baptism expanded.

• for John the Baptist, baptism was a mark of repentance, a symbol of a changed life marked by immersion in water, cleansing.

• Jesus meets John the Baptist where he is, on his level...

And heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends, and God says Atta Boy, Jesus.

• Through baptism, like Jesus...

- Heaven is opened. We have direct access to God. Nothing shall separate us.

- We receive the HS. The word for spirit is directly related to the word for breath, inspiration. What better way of living Emmanuel than receiving inspiration/breath from God. We are empowered to do the will of God, thy will be done.

- Identity is declared. You belong to me. I am yours and you are mine. You belong to God. You bring pleasure to God.

• The scripture reading ends there, in fact the chapter ends there, but the final thing is related to what we receive in baptism: after his baptism, Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, goes. Goes into the wilderness. Prepares spiritually and mentally for ministry and mission.

How wonderful and how amazing is the incarnation and inspiration of Jesus, who chose to be like us so we could become like him.

• Hymn 267 O Love How Deep

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 58 in worship.

John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service

2011-01-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2011
Epiphany Sunday

John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service

Service outline: (taken from The United Methodist Book of Worship)

• Today we will be sharing in John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service as we re-dedicate our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service to Almighty God, with hope, confidence, and humility, seeking God’s blessings in 2011. Our hope and prayer is that you will keep this bulletin as a reminder of your covenant with God.

• OPENING HYMN: “Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine” No. 606
(Charles Wesley wrote this hymn specifically for this service)

A covenant prayer:
Let me be your servant, under your command.
I will no longer be my own.
I will give up myself to your will in all things.
Lord, make me what you will.
I put myself fully into your hands:
put me to doing, put me to suffering,
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and with a willing heart
give it all to your pleasure and disposal.

O righteous God, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
see me as I fall down before you.
Forgive my unfaithfulness in not having done your will,
for you have promised mercy to me
if I turn to you with my whole heart.

I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all,
covenanting with you that no known sin shall be allowed in my life.
Against your will, I have turned my love toward the world.
In your power
I will watch all temptations that will lead me away from you.
For my own righteousness is riddled with sin,
unable to stand before you.

Before all heaven and earth,
I here acknowledge you as my Lord and God.
I take you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for my portion,
and vow to give up myself, body and soul, as your servant,
to serve you in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

Jesus, I do here, with humbled heart, accept Christ
as the only new and living Way,
and sincerely join myself in a covenant with him.
O blessed Jesus, I come to you,
hungry, sinful, miserable, blind, and naked,
unworthy even to wash the feet of your servants.
I do here, with all my power, accept you as my Lord and Head.
I renounce my own worthiness,
and vow that you are the Lord, my righteousness.
I renounce my own wisdom, and take you for my only guide.
I renounce my own will, and take your will as my law.

I do here covenant with you, O Christ,
to take my lot with you as it may fall.
Through your grace I promise
that neither life nor death shall part me from you.

I do here willingly put my neck under your yoke, to carry your burden.
All your laws are holy, just, and good.
I therefore take them as the rule for my words, thoughts, and actions,
promising that I will strive
to order my whole life according to your direction,
and not allow myself to neglect anything I know to be my duty.

O God, you know that I make this covenant with you today
without guile or reservation.
If any falsehood should be in it, guide me and help me to set it aright.

And now, glory be to you, O God the Father,
whom I from this day forward shall look upon as my God and Father.
Glory be to you, O God the Son,
who have loved me and washed me from my sins in your own blood,
and now is my Savior and Redeemer.
Glory be to you, O God the Holy Spirit,
who by your almighty power have turned my heart from sin to God.

O mighty God, the Lord Omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you have now become my Covenant Friend.
And I, through your infinite grace, have become your covenant servant.
So be it.
And let the covenant I have made on earth be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

• Hymn 117 O God, Our Help in Ages Past

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 60 in worship.
Holy Communion

This Is My Gospel

2010-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

October 10th, 2010
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protect this good thing that has been placed in your trust through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. – 2 Timothy 1:13-14

My sermon outline:

• Paul tells us his gospel: This is my good news... (2 Timothy 2:8-15)
Jesus was THE Promised one, the promised king shepherd savior messiah son of David, the one the prophets foretold (and it’s not even Advent yet)... (Paul should know, he’s a scholar, he has personal experience too).
Jesus is the Christ (Greek for Messiah, for beyond the walls of Judaism).
Knowing I’m serving him makes it all worthwhile (Jesus redeemed me), even the prison, even the suffering. The gospel has great value, it is bigger than me, and Jesus is why I do what I do.

Remember this, Timothy, and remind people. Identity in Christ is the best place to be.

• Letter to Timothy. If today, perhaps an email. I posted this on Facebook the other day:

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.

Shared that little bit of wisdom on the computer, and a friend of mine (lives in Spring City, not a believer) responded “I'm confused. Are you saying it's all about the journey? Cause I do know you're an advocate for the destination...”

• In a way, he was asking me what my gospel was. In a way he was characterizing Christians in general as being primarily concerned with the destination: getting to heaven. Now, did my friend really believe that my primary goal as a Christian pastor is to get people to heaven? I don’t think so. Regardless, I took the opportunity to explain what my gospel is:

First of all, it's from a James Taylor song, and I'm in a JT mood, and you know me and lyrics.

Secondly, I would hope that Christianity in general, or at least my attempt at living Christ-like-ly, is substantially more journey than destination. "Follow Jesus so you can get to heaven" (or worse yet, "follow Jesus or you'll go to hell") is pretty shallow and mis-representative. "Follow Jesus because he's good" is much better, don't you think? Brother Lawrence (17th Century French monk, 'famous' for his posthumously published writings, The Practice of the Presence of God) earnestly desired that he could out of sheer gratitude do something for God without being noticed and rewarded by God, merely for the pleasure of doing something for God. That is how I would like to live. That is how I would like to be known.

My gospel is like Paul’s: Jesus is the Savior; through Jesus we have redemption. Jesus is a worthy model and it is worth it for me to live like Christ and to live for Jesus. My life is God’s gift to me, and what I do with it is my gift to God. My aim is not to attain heaven or to avoid hell, my aim is to celebrate God while I live.

• I was blessed by this interaction with a non-believer... opportunity to show who I am... There’s a holiday coming up in a few weeks that I believe we can use as an opportunity to show people who we are... All Saints’ Day, when we remember those who have died since the last ASD. Opportunity: ask those around us Have they lost anyone in the last year, could we lift them in prayer during our observation of ASD? Have they any other prayer needs? Invite them to remember & pray with us.

Remember & remind. Share load, share light. Be useful, effectual now, for kingdom.

• Hymn: Lord speak to me (463): use me here and now for thy kingdom thy glory. Prayer that others might know God as we do, & receive the comfort and blessing and forgiveness and challenge we receive...

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 55 in worship.

Bear One Another's Burdens

2010-07-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

July 4th, 2010
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Communion Sunday

Bear One Another’s Burdens
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ...
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right. – Galatians 6:2, 9

My sermon outline:

• CNN.com 7/2/10 article on Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence (234 years ago)... in a draft of the DofI in the grievances against King George, historians have determined that TJ initially identified himself as speaking for his “fellow-subjects” but he changed the wording to say “fellow citizens”. Subtle but important distinction. TJ not addressing King George as subject, as one under authority, but as citizen, from a position of freedom and equality. Subject: I am beholden to you, I am obeisant to you. Citizen: I give allegiance to representative government.

• Such is the song Paul has been singing in Galatians... TJ: not citizens AND subjects but citizens alone. Paul: not justified, not rectified, not become righteous by Christ AND the Law but by Christ alone.

• An excerpt from the New Interpreter’s Bible... (side note: the NIB contributor calls the Galatian leaders against whom Paul is speaking “rival Missionaries” who are teaching that adherence to covenantal law (i.e. circumcision) is a necessary step for converts to Christian faith)

The rival Missionaries are telling you that in order to be Christ’s people, authentic children of Abraham, you must be circumcised and obey the commandments of the Sinaitic Law. But I say to you, by contrast, that if you bear one another’s burdens, becoming slaves of one another through love – correcting one another gently instead of competing viciously as the Missionaries have led you to do – you will fulfill the Law as Christ has redefined it. (Richard Hays NIB/XI 333-334)

• Recall Jesus was asked What is the greatest commandment, Love God, Love neighbor... Let your eyes be made new by me so that you may see neighbor as I see, as God sees them. Your neighbors are not subject to you, you are not subject to them, you are both beholden to God, both under God. See them as God sees them, have mercy on them as God has mercy on you, bear their burdens as you bear your own, and keep on keeping on as Christ kept on for you.

• We opened today’s worship service with America the Beautiful, a raptured vision of Katherine Lee Bates as she traveled through the American west... It is a prayer and a vision. Hymn 696. My paraphrase of the verses:

Verse 1: By God’s grace may the crowning achievement of America be our connection as family

Verse 2: Gained by the sacrifices of committed unknown soldiers, may our resources and priorities be divinely guided.

Verse 3: May we be made righteous & may the fruits of the spirit abound.

• Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ... Let us not grow weary in doing what is right. – Galatians 6:2, 9
In short, let us imitate Christ in love and humilty, in sacrifice and in vision

• Hymn 581 Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 64 in worship.
Fellowship Hall

Life in the Spirit

2010-06-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2010
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Life in the Spirit
For freedom Christ has set us free. – Galatians 5:1
If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. – Galatians 5:25

My sermon outline:

• Verse 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Another stating of the keystone of the letter of Galatians: Righteousness through the faith of Christ, not through the law, therefore clinging to the law is saying Christ is not sufficient... Imagine sinking, lifevest, rescued. wearing lifevest after you’ve been safely saved: you trust the vest not the savior

• Called to freedom, however, is NOT license to do whatever you want. 5:13 not opportunity for self-indulgence. Driver’s license (speed limit, on roads, inspection), freedom of speech... these freedoms accompanied by obligations to be community-minded.

These will be indicators of living in the Spirit: in your life (in the life of the community) will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Living in the Spirit? These things will be evident. That’s why I pray that others may look at you, at us, and know that we’ve got something different, something good.

• Paul gives two lists, a list of some characteristics that will exist in community in Spirit, and a list of some characteristics that will exist in community of flesh... This is what’ll happen when people live self-gratifying lives, live without regard for others, there will be strive, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension, all kinds of anti-community stuff.

Lists are representative but not comprehensive, not all-encompassing.

• However worthwhile to note that “convenience” is not a FOTS.

Indeed, we’re called to service – a nice way of saying verse 13, do not use your freedom for self-indulgence but through love become slaves to one another. Decidedly not convenient.

• Unusual request for this community to witness via an inconvenient commitment to a singular circumstance... support of a homeless person (just got a PT job) who’s been receiving your indirect care (shelter)... request to make that direct care... to go beyond the “flesh” concerns and objections (no diploma, has been in jail, nimby)

• In the midst of our own personal financial difficulties, even in the midst of our church’s tight budget, I’m asking for us to come together as a community and give this person a home... if 15 who are here today will pledge $10 a week for six weeks, she’ll have a room for six weeks. Do you think we can come up with 15 people or couples who will make such a pledge with me?

Would you sponsor 30 minutes of phone use so she can be in touch with doctor and other concerns?

Would you give a grocery card or better yet invite for a meal? & give leftovers? & let her do laundry while she’s there?

Would you drive her to appointments on Monday? On Thursday?

• Unusual request to make, yet certainly a strong community witness, and way of living by and being guided by the Spirit.

• Hymn 500 Spirit of God, Descend upon my Heart

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 49 in worship.

Life in Christ

2010-06-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2010
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Father’s Day

Life in Christ
You all belong to the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:26

My sermon outline:

• 3:24: Law was disciplinarian. Contemporary negative image of disciplinarian. punisher, but in our time and Paul’s, discipline is good and proper, and in Paul’s time Disciplinarian had to do with instruction, raising up a person right. Paul saying Law = disciplinarian is not a bad thing.

Guy in traffic wants directions to Carnegie Hall… practice (discipline. effort, time, will. regular repeated behavior becomes learned natural). 1 hr/20 days >> 20 hrs/1 day

Knee surgery physical therapist. provides rigid and sometimes painful opposition for purpose of making right, of setting free.

• not beholden to non-life-givingsystem but life abundant in JC. (as opposed to may it go well with you)

• There is no longer Jew or Greek, Slave or free, male and female; all one in Christ Jesus. Abraham’s offspring, heirs. (3:28-29): Paul’s two points to end this section: Justified life, abundant life available to all, and, well, available to all.

Story of man and son in auto accident… gospel open to all

Story of me and father and anesthesiology… gospel for individuals.

• Gift of God that none may boast.

• Gift of love invitational, become children of God, heirs where earlier you couldn’t become an heir, that was by birth only.

• Hymn 408 Gift of Love

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 60 in worship.

I Am Resting All My Weight Here

2010-06-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2010
Third Sunday after Pentecost

I Am Resting All My Weight Here
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live,
but it is Christ who lives in me.
- from Galatians 2:19-20

My sermon outline:

• recap... last week, SCUMC proclamation of gospel of God’s gift of justification via Christ’s faith, plus God’s power to transform.

• This week: Paul’s context... no need (or stronger!) to compel non-Jewish followers of Christ to follow Jewish customs & laws...
Rather, faith in Jesus Christ, who lives in me.

• Church membership, couple times a year, next time is next month. What does it involve (declare identity... I belong to God) (prayers presence gifts service witness). Why join a church. (receive)

No need to join church AND make separate commitment to Christ, since c to C is already part of joining church.

Galatians 2: like dialysis (law. Do this and live.) ... But after a kidney transplant, no need to compel dialysis.

• A missionary was living among the people and translating the Bible to them but could find no word in their language for “believe.”
One day a runner arrived exhausted from another village with an important message. After delivering the message the runner collapsed into a hammock and uttered a single word, which the missionary did not understand.
“What did he say?” asked the missionary.
“He said, ‘I am resting all my weight here,’” he was told.
“That is the word for ‘believe’.”

Believing is simply casting one’s self unreservedly into the open arms of the Lord Jesus and saying, “Lord, on Thee I rest my soul for eternity. I am trusting Thee to hold me up and to keep me safe and secure forever! I am depending on You and on You alone to save me! I am resting all my weight upon who you are, and what you have done and what you have said.”

• Hymn 356 When We Are Living (We Belong to God)

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.

The Lighthouse on the Hill

2010-06-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2010
Second Sunday after Pentecost

The Lighthouse on the Hill
Galatians 1

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-4)

My sermon outline:

• Fortunate (maybe) to live in a time when not much controversy… (flip side is that only controversy when you’re doing something… if you’re in a parked car, you won’t get a speeding ticket. but you won’t get anywhere either)

• There are controversies that strike fear into the hearts of pastors and congregations alike. Should we offer an additional service? (Yes!) what kind of music? (oh no) Shall we paint the fellowship hall? (Yes it needs it) What color? (oh no) Shall we have communion the same way every time or try it different ways?

Some things are Let it be… how you answer doesn’t make you “more” or “less” Christian.

• Some things are not “Let it be”. Shall the church oppose Hitler or sit back and watch? Shall the church have anything to do with bringing down apartheid? Shall the church defend slavery as it did once upon a time?

• Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a letter to an established congregation (or region) about a controversy within the body, something Paul deems not to be a LetItBe.
We’ll get into that part later on, but Paul opens letter with a reminder of the Gospel through which we (he includes himself) are justified – made right with God – through faith of JC.
(note: it’s easy to hear faith IN JC, but it’s faith OF JC) but again, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Justification (rectification) is the gift of God through the faith of JC who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age.

• Paul says Here’s my credentials, you believed the gospel once, don’t let it be twisted around.

• What if no SCUMC? look first at history… why SC? (vision) Why UMC? (zeal)
current vision & mission. Trusting God, Demonstrating God’s Love.
Lighthouse on the Hill.

Vision… We are called to grow as a Church that is Christ-centered, open to the Holy Spirit and welcoming all people in its mission, outreach and witness.

Mission… to reach people in the community and developing surrounding areas and invite them to become part of a caring, believing church family that is growing in faith and commitment and in developing Christian education, fellowship and service opportunities to meet needs.

If no SCUMC, dark! Not because we provide the light – God does that – but like lighthouses we illuminate the safe passage, we illuminate that it is through grace that our present day conditions are dealt with.

• Paul reminds us of the power of God to transform amazingly.
We’ve seen transformation of Peter, who went from denying and locked up alone but was transformed into street preacher of boldness.
Paul’s transformation from defender of the Jewish faith to ancient day Billy Graham.
We look forward to our own transformation as we illuminate and celebrate the safe passage that is Jesus Christ.

• Hymn Insert: Living For Jesus

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: muggy. 70 in worship.
Communion Sunday

Triune Christianity

2010-05-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

May 30, 2010
Trinity Sunday
Peace With Justice
Memorial Day Weekend

Triune Christianity
...There are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. – 1 John 5:7-8

My sermon outline:

• The first of the Articles of Religion upon which The UMC is founded:
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

• John Wesley himself had nothing particularly exciting to add to the doctrine of the Trinity; he joined spiritual forebears in affirming it, declaring it central, and declaring it mysterious. Said we need not understand the sun to believe in it or receive its light and heat, we need not understand that Amazing love how can it be that Thou my God shouldst die for me but we can believe in the sacrificial love of Jesus and celebrate God because of it.

• Also not just one God three different hats like I am pastor husband and father, but God the Father is distinguishable from God the Son, etc. And it’s one God not three. The Father is Almighty, the Son is Almighty, the Spirit is Almighty, but it is not three Almighties but one Almighty.

Indeed we do not speak of Trinity because we can with authority, but we speak of Trinity because we must.

• Tis a doctrine born from scripture... JW believed one could not read the NT without constantly hearing of the sending of the Son by the Father and the Spirit’s enabling and fulfilling of the mission of the Son.

• Inasmuch as Trinity is not three different hats of the same God, we children of God are not God, and we can and do wear different hats, and there are multiple aspects of our life of faith that are important, without which our religion would be lacking. Part of our religion, our life of faith, is the confession of belief in Trinity, believing in God our Father who sent his Son Jesus who saves us and empowers us with the gift of God the HS.

• Part of our religion, our life of faith, is the sharing of the gospel, the good news that God loves the world, is in relationship with it and its inhabitants and that God both seeks and makes possible reconciliation, reconciliation between God and man and reconciliation between people. People who know you should know that you believe that God is real and that God is loving and that God takes an important place in your life. By the power of the HS make disciples of all nations...

• And part of our religion, part of our life of faith is mission to the world... to Is 58, to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the prisoner free, to share food with the hungry and provide the poor with shelter and clothes...
Not just people we like or people who believe like we do, but people.

• One of the ways we’re involved is Special Sunday Peace With Justice.
The Special Sunday supports programs that advocate peace and justice at home and around the world.

The United Methodist Church declares that peace with justice will be celebrated when all people have access to adequate jobs, housing, education, food, health care, income support and clean water. The denomination will further celebrate when structures and systems that reflect economic exploitation, war, political oppression and cultural domination no longer exist.

• Jessica is a 12-year old girl in Los Angeles, who every day deals with the stresses and abuses of the large school district she’s a part of. Jessica has also attended a Peace camp that was funded in part by The UMC’s PWJ offerings.
PWJ offerings make possible camps and courses that teach children and young leaders conflict resolution and communication skills, empowering them to bear peace and light in contexts we’re removed from.

• As Ascension people we are hands feet eyes mouths and wallets of God... we remember that we are lovingly created by our father, redeemed by our savior, and sent forth with power by the HS.

May Spirit of Gentleness add to your understanding of our Triune God and God’s calling on our lives.

• Hymn insert: Spirit of Gentleness

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 73 in worship.

Better late than never

2010-05-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

It happens time to time.
I get a little behind.
Or a lot behind.

I'll try to do a few a night (or week)
working backwards from the present
through Christmas, when the deficit began.

Hey, while you're reading this, say hey!

God of Chaos and Power

2010-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

May 23, 2010
Pentecost Sunday

God of Chaos and Power
Genesis 11:1-9 and Acts 2:1-12
...All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability... – Acts 2:4

My sermon outline:

• Tower of Babel, heard it before? Seems odd that God
- would punish the people for their unity
- who spoke order out of chaos would stir order up into chaos with purpose of making difficult communication

• Wherefore? The people wanted to make a name for themselves. Erect a monument to them. Bask in their own glory.
And in doing so, defy God’s order to “be fruitful and multiply” and fill the earth. (Gen 1:28 as well as 9:1) (sounds a bit like Go ye therefore into the world and make disciples of all nations)

God does not want the people to rest on the laurels of their mighty deeds, stay home and look at their trophies. God does not want them to be self-focused.

Not only, but bricks + bitumen = something out of nothing = Adam & Eve be like God

• Therefore chaos (or re-introduction thereof) is just what the doctor ordered.

• The story stands in contrast to the story of Pentecost (50 days... the people were gathered for the Feast of Weeks to celebrate the giving of the Torah, also a harvest holiday 7 weeks after Passover)
where God grants the power & ability to communicate, to break language barriers down.

• In contrast to folks from Genesis, who want to build selves up, folks in Acts proclaim not their own mighty acts but God’s mighty acts.
Earlier, they gathered behind closed doors for fear... where no one would hear the mighty acts of God... where they wait for God to send visitors.

Decidedly NOT self-focused.

• Juxtaposition of two stories has purpose: to get us out of self-focus of “here we are, let’s take care not to get too spread out, let’s make a name for ourselves”
but Let’s proclaim God’s mighty acts in a manner that’s meaningful to our surrounding people. Who may look different. Talk different. Think different. Have different backgrounds, questions, assumptions. Who are our surrounding people, what are their needs, and how can we address?

Not gather in fear and wait for people to fall in our laps but Let’s trust in God’s power to gift us with what we need to do that.

• Our worship, our budget, our actions, our mission should reflect that our primary concern, primary focus is God and what God has done, is doing, and wants to do in Spring City.

• To that end, leave you with this question: if SC UMC were to vanish, what then?

• Hymn 539 O Spirit of the Living God

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.

Ascension People, Raise Your Voices

2010-05-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2010
Ascension Sunday

Ascension People, Raise Your Voices
Ephesians 1:15-23 and Acts 1:1-14

“...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth...” – Acts 1:8

My sermon outline:

• Great Christmas songs. (Silent Night every time we have a hymn sing)...
Great Lent songs (when I survey).
Great Easter songs. (Christ the Lord is risen today, He lives, Easter People...)
Not too many great Ascension Day hymns.

Western church focus on Easter people (hymn 304).
What are we excited about? Forgiveness. Because we like to sin (JK) (What can wash my sins away, nothing but the blood of Jesus, hymn 362).

Eastern church gets more excited about incarnation. Where we’re Easter people, they’re Christmas people, and not because of Santa Claus but because the word became flesh and dwelled among us, Light has come into the world, and through him we become children of God. (Love came down at Christmas, hymn 242, Let all mortal flesh keep silent, hymn 626)

I wonder whether we ought to be Ascension people instead. (plus there’s no hallmark cards or family gatherings, no lines at the post office or airport).

• What has Ascension Day to do with us?

• First, over 40 days (six weeks) since Easter, Jesus has been with (Jesus has been with!), offering many convincing proofs of himself alive. That’s a big deal... yeah I was having lunch with the Pres the other day – wha??!

Series of unexpected events: the death was unexpected (though Jesus talked about it)... and they abandoned. the resurrection was unexpected (though Jesus talked about it)... they went fishing. Jesus has been around for 40 days again, & the disciples wonder when Jesus will take political power, and he up and leaves em staring at the sky! Unexpected!

As unexpected as his physical presence among us right now.

• Before he ascended, gave instructions: Don’t worry about kingdom of Israel. You’ll receive power from the HS. You’ll be my witnesses.

• Heavenly announcement from behind, in case they try to go fishing again. Jesus will come again. Remember his stories about landowners going away and leaving property in the charge of his servants...You’ve got your marching orders, now hop to it, get things done, he’ll be coming back, and there’s work to do.

• Why does Jesus ascend? Cuz if he stuck around, God would have two hands and two feet, two eyes, one mouth, and one wallet. If he delegates (& he does) then he’ll have the hands and feet and eyes and mouths and wallets of his followers, & many more things can be done. If he sticks around, folks will stand around aghast hoping he’ll do another miracle or give another sign, & if he goes, his followers will be witnesses, ambassadors, they’ll receive power & go & live & love & do.

The success of McDonald’s (& other ff) was reproducibility: getting others to do the same thing the same way. & we are little Christs

• We have been Easter people, forgiven & reconciled. Let’s be Ascension people, empowered & commissioned.

• Hymn 368 My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 52 in worship.

Paul's Vision of Macedonia

2010-05-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2010
Sixth Sunday after Easter
Mother’s Day

Paul’s Vision of Macedonia
Acts 16:9-15

“During the night Paul had a vision... [and we were] convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to [Macedonia].” – from Acts 16:9-10

My sermon outline:

• Some things you can’t do anymore (trash truck, seatbelts for kids, deal on a handshake)

Devil would love for us to believe that God doesn’t grant visions anymore, and that vision-worthy goals are unachievable because of the red tape.

Devil would love for us to believe this sanctuary will not be filled as it was in its glory days

Devil would love for us to believe that some problems are too great for us to handle. God is greater.

• Paul had a vision. God gives visions. Jesus said I will not leave you orphaned (Jn 14:18) and F will send HS to guide and teach (Jn 14:26). Sure enough, Paul receives vision.

Paul’s vision comes while P is active in ministry, seeking a venue.

Paul’s vision comes to him alone, and at night. & he shares.

• Paul has a small group of advisers. Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke. When he shares vision they immediately decide to pursue.

> aside: sometimes we wait until all ducks in a row before starting. All lights green. Not the case. You don’t go without forethought, but neither do you get bogged in the details.

They go into city, perhaps getting lay of the land, learning the people, perhaps preaching, perhaps selling. And they find faithful community by intuition on Sabbath. And God meets them there too.

• Vision may be to unexpected recipients. Prejudge not. They present gospel to a woman who is not a Jew and whose husband if she has one is not mentioned but who has a household. (scandal). Likely an ex-slave made rich by local trade, so she’s got savvy. God blesses, she supports.

• Hymn 128 He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 72 in worship.

Glorifying God

2010-05-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday after Easter

Glorifying God
John 13:31-35

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
– John 13:35

My sermon outline:

• What is glorify?
Example: Hannah Montana tv episode. Jackson (19 years old, older brother to Miley) wants to go out to a party past curfew. Father (Robby Ray) knows Jackson has lost cell phone. Eventually gives permission. Jackson doesn’t go, and fesses up that he lost his phone. “What kind of father are you?” “A proud one. You told the truth, and you didn’t have to!” Glory.

• Our choices to live lovingly & in obedience is glorifying to God.

- The Good Samaritan acted lovingly, went out of way to show humankindness to person in need. Does your love of God motivate you to go out of your way to glorify God through your actions?

- John 21: 18-19 I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.)

Peter’s humility and obedience unto death (sound like Jesus?) glorified God. Rather than saying I don’t know the man and save his skin, he said I will answer to God not to man, & if people will kill me for it they will kill me for it.

Sometimes love will take you where you do not want to go.
Jesus didn’t want to suffer, but he chose to say yes to God. Glory to God.

Christ condescended to human cruelty in order that humanity might begin to comprehend God’s love... Christ came into the world to reveal more fully the loving nature of God. And in this, God is glorified. I know I’m gonna go in there, and eventually they’ll kill me, but I’ma go in there anyway so I can save some.

• Ajax commercial (Ajax was here... and they’ll know we are Christians by our love).

In Christ and through Christ-like humility and obedience God is glorified and makes things new.

• Hymn 620 One bread, One body

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 57 in worship.

Hymn Sing!

2010-04-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2010
Fourth Sunday after Easter

Hymn Sing
John 10:22-30

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” – John 10:27-28

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 57 in worship.

Fish Fry At Dawn

2010-04-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

April 18, 2010
Third Sunday after Easter

Fish Fry At Dawn
Bishop Peggy Johnson, guest speaker

John 21

Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”
– John 21:17

(the following summary was printed in the newsletter)

Bishop Johnson wandered seamlessly back and forth between the scripture and Jesus’ hope for the church today, even our church. Jesus comes to the disciples even when they’ve apparently given up hope, and he guides them. The same is true today: Jesus comes to us in our times of grief and despair, and offers us holy presence and guidance. Jesus and the disciples share a meal together, something which gatherings of disciples have done since that very meal. Indeed, we shared in a fine meal in our fellowship hall following the worship service (hats off to the many hands that put their labors into the meal’s preparation and service and clean up – y’all did terrific).

The bishop’s message concluded with Jesus’ exhortation, encouragement, and commission to his followers to care for the Lord’s beloved ones. She pointed out that we are in ministry to our community and more when we tithe faithfully as individuals and when our congregation carries out its pledge to support the Annual Conference with our offerings. We are in ministry to our community and more when we are feeding the hungry and offering presence to the lonely and hope to the hopeless. We are in ministry to our community when we go beyond our walls and comfort zones and discover and address the needs of our neighbors, who are part of God’s great flock. We are in ministry when we share the good news of the life-changing and saving love of Jesus Christ with a world that is desperately in need of his grace.

It was a message that was both encouraging and challenging, and I pray that as you read this blog (and your Bible!) that you may be motivated to pray about how you can be faithfully involved in ministry. Jesus comes to us, nourishes us, reconciles us, and sends us. Hallelujah and amen!

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 72 in worship.

From Fearful to Fearless

2010-04-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

April 11, 2010
Second Sunday of Easter

From Fearful to Fearless
John 20 and Acts 5

“The doors of the house where the disciples met were locked for fear of the Jews.”
– John 20:19
“We must obey God rather than any human authority.” – Acts 5:29

My sermon outline:

• Easter: Christ is risen... & in that the fear of death is removed...
AND the promise of new life NOW is renewed.

• Eastertide (season of Easter) is about New Life empowered apostolically by Christ...
Making sure Good News is delivered to the poor, captives released, sick lame and blind restored, Kingdom of God is rebuilt and declared!

• Disciples move from fear (Jn 20:19) to BOLD (Acts 5:29) (Fearful to fearless)
The reading from Acts is about the power of God And the commitment of the disciples to break through the powers that be... powers and principalities
NOT to exist as victims but as Ambassadors... (Whom do you represent? Christ!)

• Disciples also pray & support church (Acts 4:23-32)

• Some ways you can & do pray & support church in Eastertide power of Christ
as we deliver good news to poor, captive, sick, lame, blind...:

HOTH visitation financial support sacrifice (service) SS VBS shovel&lawn
Maintaining Active Connection!

• Hymn 318 Christ Is Alive

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 72 in worship.

He Is Worthy

2010-04-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday

He Is Worthy
Luke 24:1-12

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” – Luke 24:5

My sermon outline:

• Passover question What makes this night different from other nights. Why this day different from other days? Time to retell, re-teach, re-member (bring to mind), re-live the story.

• We are here b/c people have heard the story and have been changed by it. Look at Peter the fisherman. Last week (Palm Passion) Peter cut off the ear of a soldier’s servant. He denied that he knew Jesus. This week he didn’t believe the women but he ran to the tomb and then went home, amazed. Also this week (Acts 10) Jesus is preaching and teaching. Tradition has it that before he was martyred, Peter returned to Rome, not repeating his denial from Jesus’ crucifixion.

Peter was moved from incredulity and insanity to encounter and empowered.

• As at Passover the story is told again, Peter tells the story time and time again, how Jesus lived humbly piously generously selflessly virtuously, performed miracles by the power of God, was put to death by wicked men, and God raised him from the dead – God declared Jesus’ worth by raising Jesus from the dead.

Jesus was found worthy of resurrection by God.

• The angel tells the women Why look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you... Jesus is trustworthy, worthy of our trust, worthy of our praise.

• & we are witnesses, checking in every week to celebrate God in our lives, to report what’s going on in our worlds, to learn, to pray, to worship, to celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.

To celebrate that there is LIFE in Jesus, there is Forgiveness in Jesus. To confess that life is better because of Jesus, to whom be the glory forever.

• Hymn 308 Thine Be the Glory

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 111 in worship.

Lent 3: Jesus cries out

2010-03-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

March 7, 2010
Third Sunday of Lent

The Suffering Savior’s Lonely Cry
Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46

My sermon outline:

• Throughout scriptures, assurance of God’s presence.

I shared at the Wednesday evening Lenten service how Jesus was our Passover lamb under whose blood we are saved from death, and how Jesus volunteered to be the ultimate (final, perfect, best) sacrifice, covering the sins of all.

Last week the message was on Jesus’ thirst and the physical & spiritual suffering he endured...

Today we witness Jesus crying out “My God, my God Why have you forsaken me?”

• Recall the agony of crucifixion & everything leading up to it. The insult of crucifixion, reserved for low criminals. Likely wearing nothing or next to nothing. Once again, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, abandoned by most... every source of comfort gone, perhaps unable to sense the presence of God so desperately wanted.

• On one hand, God was never closer than during the redemptive act of Jesus’ sacrifice: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). There was a cross in God’s heart before there was a cross on Calvary’s hill.

• On the other hand, God was never farther from Jesus: “God made him who had no sin to be sin...” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And Isaiah 53:4 he has carried our afflictions. And Isaiah 53:10 his life is made an offering for sin... & where there be sin, there God cannot be.

• In Jesus’ cry is the song of faith. He cries out “My God, my God,” the only time he addresses God without saying “Father”, yet also an intensely intimate address.

He’s quoting Psalm 22:1 which begins with the psalm writer crying out feeling far from God but concluding with the statement of trust that God hears the cry of the afflicted one (22:24) and will answer it. The psalm ends with praise for the goodness of the Lord.

• Matthew’s telling of the crucifixion is peppered with references to Psalm 22, including the soldiers gambling for his clothes (22:18), the leaders mocking him (verse 7) and saying He trusts in God, let God deliver him: (verse 8). Read Psalm 22 and see if it isn’t a description of Jesus’ crucifixion.

And Jesus’ cry out to God is a cry out to God.

• What’s it mean for us?
Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice is remembered when we share in Holy Communion, a sacrament re-enacting the brokenness of Jesus and remembering how through that brokenness we are saved from death and entered into a new covenant.

Jesus’ lonely cry causes us to believe that he is the way of salvation. Had there been some other way than the cross, surely God would have used it, and the Bible would have revealed it.

Your only hope of full, free, and eternal forgiveness is through faith in this Christ who died for your sin and who rose again that he might be your Savior. Some of you have delayed making a decision nto let his death be your death for sin. To reject his death for your sin is also to reject the life that he revealed following his resurrection. He died to save you. He lives again to offer you an eternal life of victory over the sin that destroys everything that is worthwhile. Respond to God’s invitation today.

• Hymn 165 Hallelujah! What a Savior!

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 75 in worship. Holy Communion.

Lent 2: Jesus Thirsts

2010-02-28T05:23:00.000-08:00

February 28, 2010
Second Sunday of Lent

The Suffering Savior’s Agonizing Thirst
Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
John 19:28

My sermon outline:

• I used to love the TV show ER, young doctors were always asked Why do you want to be a doctor? And pretty much the answer was always the same: I want to help people.
Teachers give the same answer to the question Why? I want to make a difference.
Racecar drivers Why? I want to drive fast :)
These desires, these thirsts fuel & motivate people.

& actually it’s important to have desire & thirst... just a few days to die w/o water... a great problem after natural disasters is fresh water supply. Many of world’s ills could be bettered by access to clean water. But that’s an aside.

• Jesus’ thirst. Keep in mind it was through thirst of people that Jesus’ first miracle occurred... turning water into wine (good wine) at the wedding of Cana. (Remember that Jesus’ ministry began with good wine). This first miracle indicates Jesus’ divinity, shows him fully qualified to do the work of salvation, which only God can do.

And it was through Jesus’ own thirst that the woman at the well was touched (John 4), she & her village. Jesus’ human-ness is revealed in his thirst, showing him qualified to be our mediator (for if he were not human he could not stand in for humans).

• Jesus was physically thirsty after events leading up to crucifixion... where along the way?
Last supper... praying in agony in garden... betrayed with a kiss... arrested at night.
Taken to Caiaphas’ house where... early in the morning he was condemned...
Taken to Pilate’s palace, then Herod’s, then back to Pilate’s, mocked and beaten.
Unjustly sentenced, severely beaten (i.e. massive blood loss)...
Carried cross (75 lbs? half a mile? From here to pretzel depot)

• Jesus longed for relationship with Father... (Canadian figureskater Joannie Rochette’s mom died Sunday and she skated on Tuesday, earned bronze medal... longed to share moment. Imagine any performer anxiously scanning audience for a last minute glimpse from mom or dad)

Jesus had given it all up (Philippians 2:5-7 made himself nothing, taking form of servant)

Jesus thirsts for divine blessing.

• Jesus thirsts for salvation of a lost world...

John 12:27 Jesus speaks to his own troubled heart, and steels himself up: this is why I came... to redeem the lost. (also 1 Timothy 1:15)

Desire to finish act of salvation kept Jesus faithful at temptation (a goal motivates and strengthens us)...

Desire to finish act of salvation kept Jesus faithful when ridiculed by townsfolk, dissuaded by disciples.

Desire to finish act of salvation kept Jesus from saying No in the garden of Gethsemane or on the cross... helped Jesus to complete the task, to drink the Father’s cup (John 18:11), to drink the sour wine on the cross (remember the good wine at the beginning).

• Jesus thirsts for fellowship
... with God (My God why have you forsaken me... next week)
... with disciples, who’d abandoned him
... with YOU (Revelation 3:20 I stand at the door and knock...) (that’s why he came)

• per Isaiah 55 it is in God alone that the thirsting of our souls are satisfied

• Remember the wedding feast at Cana and the good wine there? We want that to be a full celebration. Let’s get people to it!

• Hymn 452 My Faith Looks Up to Thee

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 65 in worship.

Lent 1: Suffering Savior's Concern for Sinners

2010-02-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

February 21, 2010
First Sunday of Lent

The Suffering Savior’s Concern for Sinners
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34

My sermon outline:

• Season of Lent, 40 days in prep for Easter, reconciliation, instruction. Self examination, reflection. Prayer, fasting, self-denial (giving up). Interestingly chocolate and Lent.

Take on a spiritual discipline. Fast and give.

Matthew 6 Jesus warns against practicing acts of piety in front of others, and I tell you my fasts and disciplines not so you’ll ooh and aah over me (but go ahead if you want) but so you’ll have the example of a leader before you who does acts of piety. Not for you, not for me, for God.

& as Ephesians 5, be imitators of God.

• During Lent talking on some of the things Jesus said from the cross, today’s on forgiveness...

• Forgiveness in the news this past week with Tiger Woods. Thanksgiving revealed affairs, been in an inpatient program for 6 weeks, made big public apology, public opinion about forgiving TW. A) he didn’t do anything to me, B) he makes some worthwhile points including that his real apology to his wife will not be proved by words but by his behavior over time.

• On a trip from England to America a traveler drank Governor Oglethorpe’s favorite wine, and the gov locked him up, livid, saying to his companion John Wesley “You know I never forgive” to which JW responded “In that case, sir, I hope you never sin.”

• Jesus said, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing."
For whom does Jesus ask forgiveness?
- the soldiers crucifying him, inflicting suffering, insults, gambling over possessions.
- the leaders who conspired out of self-righteousness and fear to have Jesus crucified
- Pontius Pilate, who delivered an innocent man to death for fear of the mob, and Herod, who treated Jesus as a performer and then sent him away
- Judas, for betraying
- the mob
- the disciples, for denying and deserting
- everyone... all have sinned, all must honestly declare “I am a sinner and in need of forgiveness.”

• Why might Jesus ask forgiveness for these people and circumstances?
Perhaps in intercession, to hold back the wrath of God upon those who were unjustly crucifying an innocent...
Perhaps that those who had sinned against Jesus might be granted opportunity to repent and experience forgiveness...
To experience forgiveness is to experience restored relationship – that what Tiger Woods hopes to experience with his wife & with the public.
To offer forgiveness is to say I do not wish for this sin to be a wall between us.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 : ...God our Savior... desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all... That’s why he came!

• A famous story of forgiveness Jesus tells is commonly known as the Prodigal Son... the father eagerly awaits the return (the repentance) of the son, with only desire to restore relationship.

To be forgiven is to enjoy the love of the Father’s heart and home... to enjoy the experience of restored relationship.

• Though not a condition for giving forgiveness, repentance is necessary for receiving forgiveness... Tiger Woods cannot receive forgiveness from his wife or public unless he asks for it, humbles himself and repents... the prodigal son could not receive forgiveness without humbling and repenting...

• Also part & parcel of receiving forgiveness is having faith, recognizing the possibility and clinging to the hope that reconciliation is possible, to the promise that God is about reconciliation, that that is why Jesus came, to forgive & bring us into right relationship & teach us to do likewise.

• We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us, and some evil in the bets of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

As an act of right relationship with God and with those whom God loves and came to save, it is our duty & hopefully is our hope to be about the business of forgiveness, as we have been forgiven.

Your Lenten challenge: to forgive someone... to say those words out loud to someone: I forgive you. And similarly to seek forgiveness.

• Hymn 390 Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 59 in worship.

O Holy Night

2009-12-24T05:33:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve

My sermon outline:

O holy night, The stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of Our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
Till He appeared And the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night, O night divine!

This is a night unlike other nights. It is a night set aside. (holy)
For some, a night of love and joy and warmth that bubbles up from within, fills the soul with peace.
For some, it is a reminder of grief and loss, of stress and distress, the depths of depression.
It is a night that is awaited and anticipated...
And for some its advent is dreaded and despised.

It is my prayer, and I believe it is the gift of God, that those who walk in darkness tonight may grasp the light and hope of Christmas, for the gift of Christmas was given for those who were suffering, for those who are not sure if there is hope to cling to. In the gift of Christmas God says I am working light into your world, I am working salvation into your world... you are not alone, you are not cut off. Listen! Look! There is light and hope and love!

Psalm 98:1-2
Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

That word salvation in Hebrew is yasha... just like yeshua, Jesus, God saves. Sing to the Lord, for he has worked Jesus... he has made Jesus known, he has made salvation known to all the nations through Jesus.
And we who have heard come and worship.

Led by the light of Faith Serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts By His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star Sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men From Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus In lowly manger,
In all our trials Born to be our Friend!

He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger;
Behold your King! Before the lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! Before Him bend.

Once upon a time I was a lifeguard. I was thinking about that word "save" and how it's applied in a lifeguard situation: the lifeguard jumps into the water, puts himself directly in the situation, takes hold of a person, is with them to bring them safely out. Get into situation, take hand, be with. That's what God did with Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us... got into the water to be with us and bring us safely out.
As God has done throughout the ages, God chooses to work through people to bring light and salvation to the world.

Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother
And in His name All oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in Grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us Praise His holy name!

Christ is the Lord, Oh praise His name forever,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim
His pow'r and glory Evermore proclaim.

As we receive the gift of Christmas this year, let us evermore proclaim the glory of Christ the Lord – let us evermore and actively reach out as a beacon of hope, throughout the years, motivated and renewed by this night unlike other nights... this holy night.

• Solo: O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau.

- Pastor Kerry

Tonight: 126 in worship.

Looking Forward

2009-11-29T12:27:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2009
First Sunday of Advent

Looking Forward
the Candle of HOPE

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 and Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. – Jeremiah 33:14

My sermon outline:

• Children’s sermon: Have kids tell story of Cinderella, of baby Jesus, of themselves... How’s this one end? In Advent we count down to Christmas, a story we know. But many years ago people didn’t know the outcome of the story – they had to wait, and cling to HOPE. And so we think about what that would be like, and we thank God that he loves us and gives us life. In Jeremiah 33:15 God says I will give you a good leader. So we trust in God’s promises.

• Children’s sermon is as much for me and you as it is for children, you know . We have something of a “Rest of the Story” a la Paul Harvey... we have the benefit of reading hundreds of years of history, of reading God’s promise of sending a righteous leader, salvation & redemption, a Messiah (anointed one, one set aside for divine purpose, for priestly ministry, making others right with God)

• Imagine living in Jeremiah’s time, hearing the words of this prophet who warns of God’s judgment, who admonishes and warns folks to repent. Imagine living in time & place of gross injustice and unrighteousness, power hungry leaders sapping the life strength out of povertystricken masses, imagine hearing The days are surely coming when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah... I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up... Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. (Jer 33:14-16)

That HOPE would be like a candle in a dark room, LOOKING FORWARD to the fulfillment of God’s promise.

• We read last week (on Christ the King Sunday) of this fulfillment, of the single candle of hope shining as a sun of righteousness, a light of God’s revealing for all people, when Jesus was born and presented in the temple, and Simeon praised God, saying

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised... my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. – Luke 2:29-32

We have the rest of story, we see the fulfillment of what people were LOOKING FORWARD to.

• Fast-forward a generation, salvation has come to full fruition in the sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection of Jesus, and the disciples of Jesus are planting churches, telling the Good News (which is what? The hope of redemption! God’s faithfulness!)

• Paul writes a letter to a church he planted but has been away from, a letter of encouragement, even as he’s just heard from Timothy how well things are going for the church in Thessalonica. Paul gives thanks and LOOKS FORWARD to the return of the Lord, Jesus’ fulfillment of promises to come again, to the fulfillment of righteousness and the crushing of unrighteousness.

Paul says “I’m so glad you’re doing well. Keep on holding fast, no matter what... be strengthened by God & be blameless so when he comes back, we’ll all be ready.

• & we LOOK FORWARD still, not knowing the rest of the story but trusting in the rock-solid promises of God, celebrating that Christ came and LOOKING FORWARD to his return.

• Hymn 110 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 53 in worship.

Christ the King

2009-11-22T04:29:00.001-08:00

November 22, 2009
Last Sunday in Pentecost
Christ the King Sunday

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. – Revelation 1:8

• Today we remember the Christian calendar, the liturgical year, in scripture and song. Each season or holiday has a liturgical color (although many of the holidays are “white or gold”).

No sermon today, but a verse, reflection, and hymn representing each season of the Christian year.

Advent. Purple or blue.
The Christian year begins with the anticipation of the arrival of God’s Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise. We often sing Christmas carols, although some say we should wait until Christmas to sing the Christmas carols, and sing songs of anticipation before Christmas. We light the Advent candles to mark our waiting. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas (12/25).
Reading: Luke 1:26-33
Hymn: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Christmas. White or gold.
The birth of Jesus Christ. God’s promised light comes to earth. Christmas is a 12-day season, going from December 25th to January 6th.
Reading: Luke 2:1-20
Hymn: Joy to the World

Epiphany. White or gold.
Celebrated in the Eastern churches as Christ coming to the world. In the Western churches (that’s us) it’s when we ‘remember’ the “wise men” who traveled far to worship the King. God revealed His light to all nations. January 6th is the day of Epiphany, and the season of Epiphany lasts until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Often about five weeks.
Reading: Luke 2:25-40
Hymn: Once in Royal David's City

Lent. Purple.
The 40-day (minus Sundays) season of preparation for Easter. Often marked by repentance, prayer, fasting or self-denial, Lent (which means “spring”) is also a time of Christian instruction. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (46 days before Easter) and goes through Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter.
Reading: Mark 8:31-38
Hymn: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Reading: Hebrews 10:16-25
Hymn: What Wondrous Love is This

Easter. White or gold.
The celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, his victory over sin and death. Though the date of Easter changes, it is always the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox (March 21). The season of Easter lasts fifty days, including Ascension Day (forty days after Easter) and ending at Pentecost (fifty days after Easter).
Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Pentecost. Red (for the day) and green (for the season).
Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival (50 days after Passover), and is now celebrated by Christians as the birth of the Church, the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost marks the beginning of “ordinary time,” the season that spans from the end of the Easter season until Advent. In “ordinary time” (aka “Kingdomtide”) the actions of the early church are remembered.
Reading: Acts 2:1-6

Christ the King. White or gold.
The “New Year’s Eve” of the liturgical calendar, Christ the King Sunday celebrates, well, Jesus Christ the King of Kings. Thus the Christian year begins, revolves around, and ends in celebration of God’s gift to the world in Jesus Christ.
Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8
Hymn: Crown Him with Many Crowns

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 68 in worship.

Happy Anniversary

2009-11-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

November 15, 2009
Twenty-fourth Sunday after the Pentecost

On the One Hundredth Anniversary of a Building
1 Corinthians 3:9-13, 16-17 and 1 Peter 2:5

Note: My church’s current building was built in two phases: a gray stone Sunday School Auditorium (with balcony) was built in 1909, attached to a brownstone sanctuary that had been built in 1873. In 1922/23 the brownstone sanctuary was torn down and an attached gray stone sanctuary (phase two) was completed.
The Sunday School Auditorium was dedicated on November 14, 1909.
We held worship in it and celebrated and rededicated it on November 15, 2009.

My sermon:

• We are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building... you are God’s temple, and God’s spirit dwells in you. – 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16

• Spring City UMC traces its birth to Main Street 1845 when the young Rev. Peter Cox was invited by Bethel Methodist Church member David Wells to preach the gospel to the people in the town that was growing at the Schuylkill River Bridge. Rev. Cox was a Methodist preacher from Pottstown whose preaching circuit of eight area churches included the young Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. There were churches of other denominations in the surrounding countryside, but after the Schuylkill river bridge was built in 1840, industry and people moved in, and where there were people, there was the need to preach the gospel.

Note again that a layperson (David Wells) saw a need (a new center of people) and worked with the clergy (Rev. Peter Cox) to proclaim the gospel.

For three years, five pastors from the Pottstown circuit preached the gospel to the people of Springville, and in 1848 the non-denominational Union Meeting House was built where our sanctuary stands today. Seven years later (1855) the pastors and the congregation of 12 members organized formally as a Methodist church.

• Move ahead 24 years to 1872... the church membership has increased from 12 to approaching 100... 1872 was a keystone year in Spring City: the bank was built, the Church Street School was built, the town was officially named Spring City, the Methodist congregation became incorporated, and plans were made to build a new building, as the Union Meeting House was no longer adequate to the needs of the growing congregation. (As the story goes, one pastor (Rev. John H. Wood) tripped on the rickety steps and declared it was time to build a new church before somebody broke his neck!).

In 1874 the Spring City Methodist Episcopal Church got its own pastor, the Rev. Eli Pickersgill... for the first time it was not shared with the Bethel or Pottstown churches. Also the brownstone church was opened for worship. The 30-year old congregation now numbered over a hundred members, with over two hundred in Sunday School. It had been served by 38 pastors, many who shared preaching responsibilities for 8 or 9 Pottstown area Methodist churches. The church had grown with the town, and where there were people, there was the desire to proclaim the gospel. This brownstone edifice, the second building on this site, would serve as the worship and teaching space for the next 37 years, until the building that we’re in right now was built, in 1909.

• Once again, as the town grew, so grew the need for the preaching and teaching of the gospel, and so grew the church. For 37 years the church struggled to make its brownstone space adequate to the needs of the congregation, but the church grew and grew, and plans for our current building were drawn up. It was a two-phase plan, and though the sanctuary wasn’t built until 1923, a picture like that on your bulletin cover was on bulletin covers even in 1911.

It was in 1909 that John Jones, founder of the Jones Motor Company, made two trips daily between Spring City and King of Prussia, and using a horse and cart, hauled the stones for the building of this Sunday School Auditorium. And November 14th, 2009, under the pastorate of the Rev. Edwin F. Hann, this Sunday School Auditorium was dedicated to the glory of God.

• You’ve heard me repeat a few times what I would call the founding principle of our church: that where there are people, there is the need to proclaim the gospel. Going right along with this is a second point: The pastor may be the preacher, but the proclamation of the gospel is the work of the preacher and the people together. In fact, where there is no proclamation of the gospel by the people, there is no church... and where people are proclaiming the gospel and teaching and building on what God hath established and founded in Jesus Christ, where people are doing this, there shall the church be found.

• We rededicate this building, this sacred space which was built on the efforts of so many laity and clergy, which was built by the prayers, the presence, the gifts, the service, and the witness of thousands of our forbears.

• We rededicate this building, this space which has been dedicated to God since 1848, but when it comes down to it, the bricks and mortar that God is most interested in are not the walls around us or the roof above us, but the living temples seated in these chairs, living temples that enter and exit these doors, yea that spend most of their time outside these walls, living temples that leave these walls and carry with them the good news that God is for us, God is with us, God is in us, God redeems us and makes us whole. We are living stones, working together with each other and in cooperation with God’s Spirit, being built into a spiritual house acceptable to God (1 Peter 2:5). So let your life be founded on the rock that is Jesus... let your life be shaped by God’s Spirit and guided by God’s Word... and dedicate to God yourself: your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness. To God be the glory, Amen.

• Hymn: Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 80 in worship.

If Everybody Tithed...

2009-11-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2009
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

A Stewardship Message
Mark 12:38-44 – The Widow’s Mite

“All the Israelite men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.” – Exodus 35:29

My sermon outline:

• The preacher stood up in front of the congregation one day and said, “There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to do the outreach project we want to do. The bad news is, it’s still in your pockets.”

• “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate!”
(Cool Hand Luke, 1967. Paul Newman)
Unfortunately things get left undone or underdone in life for the simple problem of not communicating.

Jesus is communicating something here in Mark 12: that motive not amount is important.

• A Tale of Two Givers: The widow & the rich folk.

Why does the widow give? Out of poverty. It’s not obligation. Trust. Worship.

Why do the rich give? Out of abundance. Perhaps to be seen. Perhaps to provide for the church or the poor. Given the context of the immediate passage before this one, it seems Jesus is making a negative example of these givers.

• Aside: ancient tithe was obligation, to support the priesthood and provide for the poor. Like a church tax. We believe now that God asks for our firstfruits, the first 10% of our resources, and we call that the tithe.

Paul encourages and praises such givers in 2 Corinthians 9:7: Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And check out this example from Exodus 35: (read 35:20-29)

• There’s a third giver in today’s gospel reading: you, the disciple, the observer with Jesus.

How do you give? Out of abundance or poverty? Obligation or worship? For show or for God?

• Many Christians consider the 10% tithe the starting place for giving, although the Barna institute reports that less than a quarter of Christians give 10% of their income... (actually only about 8 out of 100 tithe). Statistically 5 to 15 out of the 65 people in this room right now tithe.

Just some numbers for you: If everybody in this room tithed from a take-home income of $28K, their offering would be about $54 a week, and we would have to have a meeting to decide what to do with our extra income.

Conversely, a person giving $5 a week will give about $260 a year, which would be a tithe for an annual take-home income of $2,600... If all 65 of us gave $5 a week, the church would have $17,000 to pay for its mission and ministry, its minister and staff, its bricks and mortar, etc. $17K.

• My purpose in telling you all this is to honor Jesus, who knew that it wasn’t easy but who gave us his all (literally) and who praised the widow who trusted and gave her all,

and to challenge you to examine not only what part of your income you give, but why you give it, and are you satisfied and worshipful or are you guilty and pressured.

• Hymn 391 O Happy Day That Fix’d My Choice

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 73 in worship.

Death Destroyed

2009-11-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

November 1, 2009
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
All-Saints’ Day

Death Destroyed
John 11:32-44 and Revelation 21:1-6

God... will swallow up death forever. ...
Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. – Isaiah 25:7, 9

• (recap of children’s sermon: A dying woman instructed her pastor to make sure she would have a fork in her hand in her casket. The pastor asked why, and the woman told how throughout life, at parties and church luncheons, after the meal, someone would announce “Save your forks, the best is yet to come!”)

(After this children’s sermon, forks were passed out, and we held the forks high in the air as the names of the dearly departed of the previous year were read aloud.)

My sermon outline:

• Ask the people: Would you want to know when you were going to die? The manner? How might such knowledge affect your life? Would you tell anyone?
(talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes) (share answers)

• Re-reading a book A Prayer For Owen Meany (John Irving, 1989)... In the book, an 11-year old boy has a vision of his own tombstone, complete with date of death. A few years later he dreams about the circumstances but lacks the exact details.

He doesn’t tell anybody (rather he doesn’t admit it to anyone but his best friend who pries it out). But he does gain a kind of peace about life – imagine how you might face danger if you were convinced your time wouldn’t come for another 5 years.

He also lives life fully, making the most of what he’s got.

• Thoreau (30 y.o., 1840s) lived in the famous cabin for 2 yrs.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what they had to teach; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

• Death offers us the opportunity to embrace life.

• AND thanks be to God who gives us victory over death through our LJC. The saying will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is thy victory? Where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our LJC. – 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

• From today’s reading from Isaiah: the LORD will make for all peoples a feast (bring your fork)
And he will destroy the shroud that is cast over all peoples:
He will swallow up death forever.

• & so we live in the knowledge that we will live again, (& see loved ones again) & we break bread in a foretaste of glory to come.

• Hymn 710 Faith of Our Fathers

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 81 in worship.

God's Grace is Sufficient

2009-10-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2009
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

God’s Grace is Sufficient
Mark 10:46-52 and Hebrews 7:23-28
Lectionary texts from Job

Christ is able for all time to save those who approach God through him,
since he always lives to make intercession for them. – Hebrews 7:25

God’s grace is sufficient for me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9

My sermon outline:

• 3 scripture stories today, one of the faith healing of Bartimeus (Mark 10:46-52), one describing the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ’s self-sacrifice (Hebrews 7:23-28), and a resolution of sorts to the events of the book of Job.

Perhaps it’s not evident, but in each of these readings we get a pair of snapshots:
a picture of the world through human eyes,
and a picture of the world through God’s eyes.

• Bartimeus: human eyes: there’s an unhappy crowd, there’s unwellness. Blindman shutup!

God’s eyes: there’s faith (even Bart’s!) and healing and cause to sing I once was blind...

• Hebrews: human eyes: death, insufficiency of priesthood, continual atonement, weakness

God’s eyes: Christ, life everlasting, perfect sacrifice, once and done.

• Job: well, let’s talk more about Job.

• At the heart of the book of Job is the question “Why?” On one level it’s an individual’s question for personal suffering, but it can be taken to other levels as communities and nations wonder Why... where is God in this situation, how can God allow this to happen? Israel in exile. Jews in holocaust. Economic crisis. Abuse, addiction, murder. Where is God in this situation?

• In the storyline, Job’s friends offer unsatisfactory answers: more concerned with theology (and poor theology at that) than with the genuine suffering of their friend.

And Job, forever remembered as “patient”, loses patience pretty quickly and digs into something like a pitying self-righteous mode, more interested in defending his own character than seeking to understand or inquire of the character of God.

• God’s answer: Really? You think you have a clue about the nature of God?

• Story of Corrie ten Boom and her father (from the book The Hiding Place)... I would be a poor father if I made you carry that burden when you’re not big enough... trust me to carry it for you until you’re ready. (p. 27)

• Says God to Job: trust me with that knowledge until the fullness of time has come, and you’re ready. And in the end, I daresay by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, Job does trust, does humble himself before God and repent.

• What’s this mean? Why? God allows hurts to happen (not necessarily WANTS or CAUSES hurts to happen) and then God introduces and injects: possibility, hope, reconciliation. God will use a hurt if we let him.

God will...

...use an addiction or abuse survivor to meet folks where they are, and be incarnation.

...use a senseless act of violence to build relationship (child bee-sting, draw unto me) and witness

...use economic crisis to demonstrate that faith and trust in God are not dependent on circumstances.

• So, response to the events of LIFE, why does God allow, not interfere with atrocities like holocaust or murder suicide, etc...

I trust that within the answer is God’s grace is sufficient, (like young Corrie ten Boom, I’ma let God carry that case), God’s ability far exceeds my own comprehension or lack thereof, and I’ma do what I can do: witness, live for God, study and put into action, trust and obey.

• Hymn 467 Trust and Obey

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 66 in worship.

Hand to Heart Meditation

2009-10-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2009
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Laity Sunday

Hand to Heart Meditation

Today was Laity Sunday in The United Methodist Church
- as an aside, did you know that in the UMC, clergy and laity have equal representation and vote in the official business of the church?

Four people took vows of membership today.

The following meditation (not original) was shared by Mr. John Reed:

Now I’d like to share a hand meditation with you.
Listen closely and follow along and do as I say.

Sit as erect as possible; feet flat on the floor,
with your hands on your lap with your palms up.
This works best if you close your eyes.

Think of your hands.
Become aware of the air at your fingertips...
between your fingers and the palm of your hand.

Experience the fullness, strength, and maturity of your hands.

Think of the most unforgettable hands you have known...
the hands of a parent or grandparent, a neighbor,
a friend, a spouse, a child.

Think of the oldest hands that have rested in your hands.

Think of the hands of a newborn.
Hands with incredible beauty and perfection;
the delicacy in the hands of a child.
Just think. Once upon a time, your hands were the same size.

Think of all your hands have done since then...
so much that you have learned has been through your hands...
feeding yourself, turning yourself over, crawling,
walking, coloring, writing, driving, working, loving.

Remember at one time, your greatest accomplishment
was tying your own shoes.

Think of all the deeds your hands have done...
deeds we’re proud of and deeds we’re ashamed of.

Our hands are not just for ourselves but for others;
how often were they given to help another.

Remember the tears they have wiped away...
your own or someone else’s.

Remember how often they were folded in prayer,
both a sign of powerlessness and of power and love.

Now, raise your right hand slowly and gently place it over your heart. Press more firmly until your hand picks up the beat of your heart, that most mysterious of all human sounds, one’s own heartbeat... be aware of your heartbeat. A rhythm learned in the womb.

Press more firmly for a moment and then release and hold it just a fraction from your clothing.

Experience the warmth between your hand and your heart.
Very carefully, lower your hand to your lap as if it were carrying your heart.
For it does.

When you extend your hand to another,
it is not just skin and bone...
it is your heart.

Think of all the hands that have left their imprint on you...
heart prints that can never be erased.

Now without opening your eyes, extend your hands on either side of you and find another hand.
Do not simply hold it
but sense the history and mystery of this hand.

Let your hand speak to it and let it listen to the other.

Try to express your love and gratitude for this hand stretched out to you.

Now bring your hand back again to your lap.
Experience the presence of that warmth and love lingering upon your hand.

The afterglow will fade but the heart print is there forever.
Whose hand was that?

It could have been any hand and it could have been Christ’s hand... for it was!
For Christ has no hands but ours!

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 76 in worship.

World Communion Sunday

2009-10-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

October 4, 2009
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday

Job 1 and 2

Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and turned away from evil. – Job 1:1

My sermon outline:

• (during scripture reading: “Satan” in this instance is not the devil, more like a “devil’s advocate”...) While my messages are generally delivered to believers, it would be instructional for me to deliver a message to a non-believer, to see whether it flows, whether it makes unjust assumptions or leaps, etc. The book of Job has such a character, an accuser, a critic, part of God’s heavenly court. This character is referred to as “the satan”.

• Today’s reading from chapter two is very similar to chapter one, which we skipped, in which the satan challenges God, saying that Job’s righteousness is a result of all that he has, his family, his possessions, etc. God allows the satan to take his family and his possessions, but not to touch Job. Job’s sons and daughters and livestock and properties are all destroyed, and Job responds, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:21-22)

• Once upon a time... Ancient story of a man who is not like everyman but is the paragon of man, the ideal. Over-the-top righteous (not self-righteous). Perfectly wealthy in family and in materials. Not leave-it-to-beaver (everyman) but more like a hero, like Tom Hanks – has it all, has it good.

It’s a story of a good man and his response to life, his response to unwittingly being made a guinea pig.

The story poses the question Why do bad things happen to good people? We get to see the accuser in this story, but that’s rare. We can be bombarded with instances of innocent people suffering and dying, without knowing any cause. Thousands of poor people that have their homes and lives swept away by a typhoon or a tsunami. (UMCOR, by the way, is actively providing relief to folks in Indonesia, South Pacific, Philippines...) Lives shattered by natural disaster and by disease. Individuals and families wracked by course after course of cancer.

• As you read through the book of Job you’ll find plenty of reasons that don’t cut it... and ironically, you’ll find few if any reasons that bring satisfaction.

Instead, reading the book of Job can give you insight into how you view God, and how you speak to, speak of, and interact with God. Job is righteous, that is attested to, and when suffering happens in his life he does not blame God but praises God, but he also allows his suffering to consume his view of God... he becomes focused on his own righteousness, and loses sight of the forest for the trees... loses sight of God.

• Over the next few weeks we’ll work toward hopefully an understanding of God and ourselves through the book of Job. Your understanding will be greatly increased if you take the time to read through Job... (in addition to the daily readings from James... there is no relationship without commitment... )

• Today is World Communion Sunday, and though there is not a message about it per se, WCS arose out of a time of suffering in American history, the Great Depression, between the great world wars. A Presbyterian pastor from Pittsburgh sought to do something both real and symbolic to proclaim that God is God indeed, in spite of politics, economics and future shock... in spite of suffering beyond our comprehension. The idea spread slowly but grew as its message of interconnectedness in Christ was picked up by churches and nations. Through a unique kind of suffering, Jesus Christ offered himself for the reconciliation and redemption of the world, and across denomination and border and time we proclaim together that God is worthy of our praise, and that in all that we do, we, the children of God, need God every hour.

• 397 I Need Thee Every Hour

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 72 in worship.

Taking Action

2009-09-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

September 6, 2009
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Taking Action
James 2

Do you... really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? – James 2:1

You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – James 2:8

My sermon outline:

• Story of a pastor preaching in a crowded church, when a visitor enters late.... There was not a seat to be found, and the young man with jeans and sandals and tie-dyed shirt slowly made his way to the front of the church and sat down on the floor in front of the first pew. Attention gradually turned to a well-dressed usher who was slowly making his way down the aisle toward the young man. Everybody knew what had to happen, but nobody really wanted to watch. But you just don't act that way in church. The man finally got to the front of the church and slowly and carefully got down and sat on the floor next to the young visitor.

Said the preacher: “What I have said, you will never remember. What you have seen, you will never forget.”

• People judge Christians by their action (& inaction)

• Greet those who you don’t know... You could try sitting by other people once in a while.

• But there’s more than this gesture.

Due to Pennsylvania’s lack of a current budget, people are suffering needlessly. (examples given)

• Have faith but no works? Love neighbor as self? Join the bishop in writing a letter to your senators and representatives. (leave it here, it’ll get there) (print your name and address)

(see sample text of letter as a separate post)

If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.
~ Deuteronomy 15:7-8

• Once upon a time a father and son were considering the affairs of the world & the son said I can do something to help them. I’m comfortable here with you, but I’m going to get involved. And Jesus said, “I came that they might have life abundant.” I’m going to get down on my hands and knees and serve them, and if I have to, I’ll die for them But I’m not going to sit by and watch idly while they suffer.

• Jesu, Jesu 432

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 52 in worship.

A Letter to PA Legislators

2009-09-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

regarding the current budget stalemate

Dear (Governor, senator, representative, etc)

I am writing to you from the Spring City United Methodist Church. We are praying for you and our other leaders as Pennsylvania deals with an unconscionable budget crisis.

Communities are suffering because of the lack of a budget. Innocent people are being used as pawns. It is time for our leaders to set aside partisanship and reach a budgetary solution that will be good for all of Pennsylvania.

We expect our leaders to serve us – the people – and not their political ambitions. For ten weeks, funding has stopped for childcare, education, counseling, senior services, economic development, housing, foster-care and adoption. People are suffering.

Government has a moral obligation to protect the health and welfare of all Pennsylvanians. That is not happening during this crisis. Our leaders – both Democratic and Republican – have failed us.

We expect you to be part of the solution, and to set aside partisan concerns, as our leaders have done in many other crises over the years. Lives are at stake!

Legislative leaders must begin round-the-clock negotiations until the stalemate is broken. The solution must be a budget that does not cut necessary and vital services and jobs. We need a budget that is not only balanced on program cuts, but if necessary also includes reasonable revenue enhancements.

We believe God must be unhappy with what is happening in Pennsylvania. Because of politics, the poor, the hungry, the elderly, children, and families are suffering. This crisis must end now!

Sincerely,
(name and address)

(approximately 50 letters were signed and delivered from this worship service)

James 1/5 Being DOers

2009-08-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

August 30, 2009
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
First of five weeks in James

Being DOers
James 1

“...be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” - James 1:22

My sermon outline:

• What makes a person a biker? Combination of stuff, study, and action.

• What makes a murderer guilty? The act... not the thought.

• Says James, be doers of God’s word and not only hearers. Your actions should show you’re a disciple, a follower, a lover of God…

• About the letter of James? A “general epistle” (no specific audience or problem identified), first or second century, written by a brother or peer of Jesus’. It is like a letter of Paul in its excellent Greek, also strong 1st century Messianic Jewish perspective, but it is also clearly not Paul’s.

• Not a history, yet indicative of theology and relationship with God…
Along the lines of John Wesley’s “Advice to a People Called Methodist”
if you can trust God with your all, then go on in the power of his might.
Go on, I would earnestly advise you, Fourthly: "Keep in the very path wherein you now tread. Be true to your principles." Never rest again in the dead formality of religion. Pursue with your might inward and outward holiness; a steady imitation of Him you worship; a still increasing resemblance of his imitable perfections, -- his justice, mercy, and truth. (JW to ppl called Methodist)

• Regarding the date and author of James, it really doesn’t matter when or who. Its value is in its content and in its challenge… challenge to put action into faith.

• Be doers (1:22, also 1:27 (orphans, widows, purity), surely also Matthew 25: the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, prison)

• and not merely hearers (posers.. start out deceiving others, end up deceiving selves) (This was a driving force of Methodism)

• who deceive themselves (deceit is greatest detractor from life in God)

• but those who look into the perfect law… (God who made us gifted us and provided mirror and guide if we will look at it) and persevere… they will be blessed

• God is not looking for religious nuts, but spiritual fruits

• If you were on trial for being Christian, would you be found guilty? May your actions, your lifestyle, your words, your attitudes reflect Christ. NOT so that you may receive attention for piety or works but so that Christ may be illumined.

• Apostles’ Creed (881), followed by Hymn 405 Lord I Want to Be A Christian

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 53 in worship.

No God Like Our God

2009-08-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

August 23, 2009
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

No God Like Our God
1 Kings 8

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath,
keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart. - 1 Kings 8:23

My sermon outline:

• A plane was going through some particularly rough turbulence when a passenger turned to the priest seated next to her and said, “You’re a man of God; can’t you do something about this?” Replied the priest, “Lady, I’m in sales, not management.”

I point to God. As Jesus said, My food is to do the will of the one who sent me. (John 4:34). And says Paul in Acts 20:24, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”

• We’ve spent the summer in the lectionary with the Kings of Israel, beginning with Saul back in June, spending all of July with David, and introducing Solomon last week. And believe it or not today’s the last day of the kings in the lectionary. Hello and goodbye, Solomon. We won’t be getting into Solomon’s downfall or the falling apart of the kingdom or the succession of kings where each one was worse than the last. No today we celebrate one of Solomon’s great achievements, the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The earthly dwelling place of the God of Israel. THE central place of worship and sacrifice. Using the finest materials and craftsmen available (as well as forced labor!), it took Solomon seven years to complete the Temple… and 13 years to complete his own palace and houses, but that’s another story...

• I was drawn to two verses from today’s reading: 1K8:23 and 1K8:27.

“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart…”
- 1 Kings 8:23

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!”
- 1 Kings 8:27

• There is no God like our God... Search through other religions and you will not find a God like the God of Christianity, who enters into relationship with his people, who loves and offers wholeness and newness of life, who asks us to be like him and therefore gave us a model to follow and a Spirit to empower, who lives within us, thanks be to God. Point to God, be in God sales, give God glory.

• 1 Kings 9:3 I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

• #540 I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 51 in worship.

Weighing Solomon

2009-08-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

August 16, 2009
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Weighing Solomon
1 Kings 3:3-14

Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people,
able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?
1 Kings 3:9

My sermon outline:

• The NFL preseason opened this week. Kickoff in 4 wks. Preseason news of note is the Eagles signing ex-con Michael Vick, much to the chagrin of Eagles' fans.
Will the haters change their tune if Vick gets victories?
Time will tell.

Let's make pro and con lists of some folks, weigh their deeds.

Weighing Vick

(cons)
- dogfighting
- financing of the industry
- positive drugtest.

(pros)
- 1,000 yards of QB rushing in one season
- greatest QB yards per carry of a season
- running 100 yards in a week
- his pro-bowl history…

Weighing David

(cons)
- adultery & conspiracy/murder
- wives & power

(pros)
- love God, heart after God
- military victory
- piety, enthusiasm
- goodlooking, musical

Weighing Solomon (David’s son by Bathsheba)

(cons)
- married foreign wives
- built big ol’ house first
(before security or temple)
- offered sacrifices @ Gibeon

(pros)
- love God, follow David
- asked for wisdom
- riches and honor
- long life

Scripture honors legendary David.

Solomon loved God, followed David, offered sacrifices and incense at the high places.
Which is something like saying I love my wife, I keep my marriage vows, and I only sleep with other women on weekends.

Then God meets Solomon at Gibeon – where he’s just made an extravagant sacrifice to whom?

And God blesses Solomon.

• Scripture confirms that Solomon loved God and that God was with Solomon

• In fact this passages makes clear beyond shadow of a doubt that all of Solomon’s blessings are gifts from God… Solomon goes to Gibeon, God meets him there. God offers him anything he asks, Solomon asks for wisdom, God gives wisdom and riches and honor and long life.

• In the end it doesn’t matter how Solomon’s scale comes out, or David’s, or mine or yours or Michael Vick’s… If we ask for God to be a part of our lives, for God’s guidance and for relationship with God, then by the grace of Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the scale is tipped in your favor.

• & when you’ve received the gift, it pray for the desire, strength, and ability to use it, keep it for God’s glory.

• 650 Give Me the Faith Which Can Remove

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 71 in worship!
Church picnic today.

Making Amends

2009-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

August 9, 2009
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Making Amends
2 Samuel 18:33

The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son, Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” – 2 Samuel 18:33

My sermon outline:

• Poignant passage, heart wrenching. (recall death of David’s unnamed son).

• We’ve skipped much... Absalom is David’s 3rd son, son of Maacah. In the six chapters we skipped, Absalom kills his oldest half brother Amnon, the heir to the throne, who had fallen in love with Absalom’s sister Tamar... When Tamar refused Amnon’s advances, Amnon raped Tamar. In a scheme of revenge, Absalom (which means “my father is peace”) then kills Amnon, and, for fear of his father David, runs away.

• (put yourself in David’s shoes... Your oldest son has raped your daughter, and your third son has killed him for it.)

• Absalom runs away, and after a few years, David has grieved the death of his son, and longs to have meaningful relationship with Absalom. David’s general Joab persuades David to grant Absalom’s safe return, but when Absalom returns, David refuses to see him for 2 years. Absalom finagles an audience with the king, and the king offers a formal reconciliation (but David the father does not participate meaningfully).

• Little surprise, then, when Absalom conspires to usurp the throne... (scripture doesn't really tell about Absalom's older brother Kileab)

Absalom decides that his father King David is no longer fit for leadership, so he shrewdly turns troops and people to him, and amasses a formidable army against the king.

David, aware of his estranged son’s doings, get out of the way, avoids conflict, runs away, with a few loyal troops.

• Recap: Absalom slew Amnon. David doesn’t speak to Absalom for years. Absalom rebels.
Who is responsible for the broken relationship between David and Absalom?

• Today: Absalom is killed by David’s men (by Joab, actually). And David weeps. Wish it were me, he says.

Frederick Buechner writes that when David wished he had died instead of Absalom, “he meant it, of course. If he could have done the boy’s dying for him, he would have done it. If he could have paid the price for the boy’s betrayal of him, he would have paid it. If he could have given his own life to make the boy alive again, he would have given it. But even a king can’t do things like that. As later history was to prove, it takes a God.” (quoted in The New Interpreter’s Bible)

• David’s grief occupies several levels.

• loss of life of son (perhaps the 4th to die. Kileab, Amnon, the unnamed son of David and Bathsheba)
the child is not supposed to die before the parent.

• the consequences of David’s sin being played out.
Who has ever played “If only”

2 Samuel 12 David’s told this isn’t over yet...

• unfinished business with Absalom. Grudge.
Grudges are held. Grudges are nurtured. It takes work to keep a grudge alive. Negative energy.

• David had opportunity to make amends, which woulda been terrific leadership, given glory to God. But he allowed the 2-way rift to remain untreated until it was too late. Challenge: break cycle.

I often say at funerals, if you have any grudge with the deceased, any unfinished business, if you need to forgive the deceased or receive forgiveness, take care of it now... make amends. Making amends takes work, too. But it's worth it, and it can give glory to God.

• Grudge not. Be humble, and give glory instead.

• 534 Be Still My Soul

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 48 in worship. Rainy.

Jesus Bread

2009-08-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2009
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus Bread
from John 6

... Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life... John 6:27
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. – John 6:35

My sermon outline:

• (make a cup of tea in a clear container in view of congregation)

• This past week we did Vacation Bible School, Camp E.D.G.E. (Experience and Discover God Everywhere!)
It included daily Bible adventure treks (to the promised land, to Bethlehem, to a Pharisee's house, to the upper room, to Galilee), daily pledges, and fun songs.
We had as many volunteers as kids… lot of effort, time, resource (many thanks, and thanks for prayers)
Most importantly, God was there.

• There were kids who knew about God, knew the stories, and kids who didn’t.
Volunteers showed the love of God in their actions., and taught & witnessed to their faith.
I don’t know if kids’ll remember or not, but it was building faith foundation, and God was there.

• Now. in some ways, God and salvation in Jesus Christ is a concept, an idea. Not exactly tangible.

Tell a kid or neighbor “Jesus Christ is alive & loves you” then they say okay, where? how?
Well he lives in me & loves through me… okaaay…

• Talk amongst yourselves, you who profess Christian faith… how is Jesus alive, how does he love?

• Jesus says I am the bread of life. manna from heaven (Exodus 16), God’s daily saving heavenly bread.

God gave manna to the people in a time and political situation when no leader or government was between the people and God... it was the way God designed it to be.

• now in time of plenty, it can be hard to see God. It can also be easy to see what we don’t have. It takes some guidance to see Jesus.

• Know that when we have nothing, or all things, when we have confusion or clarity, depression or ecstasy, when we live in poverty or fear or pain, or life is rainbows and roses, we have Jesus.

• Like the tea has been in the water, Jesus’ love is in us, bringing color and flavour to our lives if we will let him in.

• Jesus asked why the people came to see him, whether for more bread or for signs or out of worship…

we come together to love. to reaffirm, strengthen. to send to work for God (believe). and to stay close to God, who is the bread of our lives.

• & let us remove the obstacles to our communion with God & each other by confessing…

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 55 in worship.
Communion.

David and Bathsheba

2009-07-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2009
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

David Sinned
2 Samuel 11

...But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. – 2 Samuel 11:27

...Jesus slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself... John 6:15

My sermon outline:

• Going through story of David, one of Israel’s greatest heroes. Met Samuel, Israel asks for a king. Saul (tall, dark, handsome, rich) is selected by God.
Saul falls from grace (I did it my way... not waiting for God)
David (not tall, dark, or rich, but good looking and talented) is selected (unlikely candidate)
God is with David, gives victories. David acts with integrity and humility.
Saul dies, Judah crowns David, eventually the northern tribes of Israel accept David.
God is with David, gives victories. David retrieves ark, dances.

• Last week, after David has built himself a palace fit for a king, wants to build temple.
Nathan tells of God’s “no”... God has a better plan, God will build everlasting kingdom & church (& temple along the way, yeah) through house of David.
God will grant rest to Israel. & presence. & victory.

• You should read 2 Samuel 7:18-32, an inspiring prayer of David’s praise & worship.

• Today we skip over a few chapters... David defeats enemies in battle, dedicates spoils. Shows kindness to house of Saul. Shows kindness to enemy, but is denied. We hear of David’s officers.
& as we come to today’s reading it’s easy to think that David’s getting complacent, but be careful not to add too much to the text...

(Read 2 Samuel 11:1-15) And for David & family, life will never be the same.

• episode is a warning against giving into temptation, warning against lust.

Example of abuse of power, and danger of idleness & isolation.

Example of one sin leads to another. (stop signs: idleness, look, send, act)

You know that it is hard to admit temptation (weakness!) & easier to look the other way (or keep looking)

That temptation is not limited to sexual sin or to young. (consider 71yo Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi investor scheme was begun in 1991 at age 53) (consider 88yo man who gunned down a security guard at the Holo museum last month)

• You know that we have great resources at our fingertips (prayer)

• and you know that God keeps promises, God forgives and God redeems

• prayer & connection & humility... confess

• We live in God’s world, but a world broken by our own doing. God offers us wholeness, yet we turn away, refusing God’s love because it comes through means we dislike. Let us confess our brokenness and seek to be open to God’s wholeness through whatever means it comes.

Holy God, we confess that we have sinned against you and against your whole creation...

In our brokenness God is ever near. In our time of need, God’s love surrounds us. We must simply be open to receive it. Sisters and brothers, God knows our brokenness and God is here to bring healing and wholeness. Receive the good news of God: Through Jesus Christ we are forgiven and by the Holy Spirit we are nurtured to wholeness.

• Hymn 397 I Need Thee Every Hour

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 52 in worship.

David Danced

2009-07-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2009
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

David Danced
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19 and Ephesians 1:3-14

David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might... – 2 Samuel 6:5

My sermon outline:

• Smattering of professional sports superstitions:

1. John Henderson, Jacksonville Jaguars. Has asst. coach slap him as hard as he can before each game.

2. Kevin Rhomberg, 1982-84 Cleveland Indians. Refused to turn right on the field. Had to touch a person back if he got touched.

3. Jason Terry, basketball player (Dallas Mavericks), wears team shorts the night before a game.

4. Moises Alou (NY Mets) instead of wearing a batting glove, uses urine to condition his hands...

5. Turk Wendell, MLB (did play for Phillies 8 yrs ago). “The eccentric reliever pitched for four teams between 1993 and 2004 and posted some solid seasons in that span. However, he’s most remembered for his vast collection of bizarre superstitions. Among Wendell’s more notable quirks was his requirement that he chew four pieces of black licorice while pitching. At the end of each inning, he’d spit them out, return to the dugout, and brush his teeth, but only after taking a flying leap over the baseline. Wendell, an avid hunter, also took the mound wearing a necklace adorned with trophies from animals he had harvested, including mountain lion claws and the teeth of wild pigs and buffalo. When compared to these superstitions, Wendell’s other little oddities (drawing three crosses in the dirt on the mound, always throwing the rosin bag down as hard as he could, and insisting figures in his contract end in 99 as a tribute to his jersey number) don’t seem so strange.”

6. there’s even a movie (haven’t seen it) about superstition in baseball (specifically the red sox), called The Joy of Sox

We knock on wood. Some don’t leave the house by a different door. Get nervous if a mirror is broken. Make odd deals to bargain with God...

“When you believe in things you don’t understand then you suffer, superstition ain’t the way.” (Thank you, Stevie Wonder)

Unfortunately it’s hard to define difference between superstition and religious belief. Easier when you’re closer to the source, as God’s people were to God in Moses’ day.

Ark of covenant. God’s presence among. When it was with them, they were victorious. When it was not, they were not.

Now for 20 years it’s been in hand of foreigners. God allows David the honor of bringing it back, which David does with Pomp and Circumstance.

• If David being anointed King was Israel’s Declaration of Independence, then bringing the Ark home was their Constitution, a few years later. Both are revered symbols of national heritage... David, the Ark. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution

• David danced. Not influenced / held back by what others think. (like a sports fan. let’s just praise the Lord)

• Presence of the Lord (ark) is to be celebrated, and it is for the people.

• May our relationship with God be celebratory. And may others be blessed by our relationship with God.

(Read Ephesians passage.)

• Let us confess what we believe: as found on page 80
• Hymn 126 Sing Praise to God

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.
Second week of nine in Fellowship Hall

Having a King

2009-07-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

July 5, 2009
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Having a King
Mark 6:1-13 and 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him. – 2 Samuel 5:10

My sermon outline:

• When in the course of human events... (read from the Declaration of Independence... google it if you want the text!)

• Yesterday we celebrated the 233rd anniversary of the birth of the USA. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s parallels between Independence Day and today’s reading from 2 Samuel.

Couple things to bring out of the Declaration of Independence... Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness being natural rights of people, tyrannical dictatorship violates those rights and make it acceptable and necessary to seek justice. “Governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...”

Declaration of Independence establishes choice of government, appealing to Almighty God and to mankind to judge actions and intent.

In the Declaration of Independence the people said Listen up, world: we have a leader who abuses us and doesn’t listen to us, and we submit to you that he shall no longer have authority over us, but we will choose how we shall be governed. We will choose whom we shall submit to, who shall have authority over us.

• Now. Ancient Israel had different circumstances: they didn’t have a tyrannical dictator, they didn’t even have a king! Their “rule” was a theocracy, a rule of God, a tribal system of 12 tribes without any exact central leadership. As long as people submitted to God, things were fine, but they had that pesky habit of falling away from God. God would raise up leaders among them, known as judges, who would point out where they were missing the mark, and get them on the right track.

And this would go on and on and on.

And the people of Israel who had been set aside from other nations complained to God that they wanted a king, like other nations...

Saul made king. He blew it. ... ... David made king. By Judah (southern kingdom). 7 years later all of Israel makes covenant with David, acknowledging David to be God’s chosen shepherd and ruler, and they anointed him king over Israel.

• They acknowledged that though Saul had been king, the victories over enemies had been David’s. They acknowledged that the Lord had appointed David as shepherd and ruler, and that without David they have nowhere to turn. You be our shepherd, our caregiver and protector, our ruler, and we will be your people. We submit to you and ask you to be our king.

• What we have in common with ancient Israel: simultaneous resistance to God and acknowledgement of God’s presence in his anointed one, Jesus the Christ, the great and good shepherd of God’s people, the Lamb of God and the savior of the world.

• WE appeal to Jesus Christ, acknowledging God’s presence in him and our utter dependence on him, that without him we do not have hope of reconciliation or forgiveness.

• Jesus be our shepherd, our caregiver and protector, our ruler. We submit ourselves to thy love and power, to thy spirit and guidance. Be thou the ruler of our lives.

• Let us confess what we believe: as found on p. 889 (There is one God, and there is one mediator Christ Jesus, who came as a ransom for all, to whom we testify...)

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.
First week of nine in Fellowship Hall
Communion Sunday

The Opportunity of Death

2009-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

June 28, 2009
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

The Opportunity of Death
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. – Psalm 116:15
I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. – Ezekiel 18:32
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” – Mark 5:36

My sermon outline:

• Deaths this week: Ed McMahon (86, d. tues. bone cancer) Farrah Fawcett (62, d. thurs, cancer), Michael Jackson (50, d. thurs, heart attack)

Not going to eulogize any of these, but the co-incidence of today’s readings and these “national events” do set the stage to talk about the Opportunity of Death.

People in America fear death. They don’t understand it, and they don’t really talk about it, and it’s not healthy. Death is an opportunity.

• Reading from 2 Samuel 1 David eulogizes Saul and Jonathan, and let me just say, we have really glossed over the history of Saul and Jonathan and David... we read about the anointing of David and about David & Goliath, but that’s two chapters from the middle of the “book” of 1 Samuel, and our reading today we’ve skipped over the death of Saul and Jonathan, not to mention most of their life. Read 1 Samuel chapters 17 – 31 today.

David’s eulogy doesn’t tell you much about these relationships. As eulogies are wont to do, David takes the opportunity of death to accentuate the good and turn a blind eye to the bad. Now of course you’re not going to hear a eulogy and say “boy that guy sounds like a saint”, you recognize that human decency honors the dead, perhaps even regardless of honorability.

For example: John F. Kennedy’s “ranking” among the US Presidents is inflated by his youth and the manner of his death... In the popular vote he's in the top ten... (about 15th percentile). Presidential historians rank him around the 33rd percentile, or 15 or so out of 43). JFK’s youth and the manner of his death, it’s arguable, positively skew his place in US history... His record is pumped up by the manner of his death.

Similarly, were it not for the moral failure regarding the infamous Watergate events, Nixon would probably not consistently rank among the bottom five. His contributions are forever stained by Watergate.

Death gives survivors an opportunity to paint legend.

David doesn’t bring up the number of times Saul tried to kill him, directly or indirectly... Doesn’t bring up that Saul fell from God’s grace because of his disobedience to God’s commands... David honors Saul, and honors Jonathan, who traditionally woulda been king (cept for that whole Saul’s-fall-from-grace-thing)...

• David didn’t have to honor Saul, but he recognized that even though Saul had fallen from grace, Saul had been God’s anointed one... You may recall, in fact, that D had several chances to kill S, and he didn’t do it.

David took the opportunity of his political opponent’s death to honor the man, and in doing so, showed himself to be a man whom God was with. Gave glory to God.

• As pastor, I do a fair amount of funerals. I always imagine people think it sounds odd when I say I enjoy doing funerals. Unique opportunity in death to connect with an individual or family, and honestly, sometimes the only contact some folks have with a pastor is at a funeral. I want to take that opportunity to present the gospel, to let people know about the possibility of reconciliation, the hope of eternal life, and the forgiveness of sins and salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ who died so that we might live.

• And when I speak of the opportunity of death, I mean that we – you and I alike – can use death as a way to witness to our faith... perhaps not as insensitively as “so-and-so didn’t go to heaven because they didn’t believe in Jesus, do you?” – we want to be welcoming, and not drive people away – (if you speak ill of someone when they die, people will remember... likewise if you speak well of someone when they die, people will remember)
but by saying things like “not even death can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus...”. Maybe the open ended “what do you think happens when we die?”

• I said before that death gives survivors an opportunity to paint legend. The other side of that coin, of course, is that LIFE gives the living the opportunity to paint legend. You’ve heard it said, Live so that the preacher doesn’t have to lie at your funeral. Live so that you give honor and glory to God. Because you’re aware of the possibility of death, live in such a way that you’ll have no regrets, live in such a way that other people will look at your life and say God is with that one.

• We may not understand all there is to understand about life and death, but Jesus said Do not fear, only believe. Let us confess what we believe: as found on p. 883

• Hymn 525 We’ll Understand It Better By And By

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 58 in worship.

Facing Giants

2009-06-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2009
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Father’s Day

Facing Giants
Mark 4:35-41 and 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49

David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
– 1 Samuel 17:45

My sermon outline:

• What new can I tell you about the story of David and Goliath? Read it again.

David, a teenager, has a private audience with King Saul

Philistines we don’t know their history, but they’re mighty foes.

Goliath giant (9’6” maybe just 6’6”) champion, flashy armor, defies Israelites (seems pretty tame in his taunting, but apparently he was quite fearful)

David’s response (not fear, like others) but simply God will not be mocked. Just like that.

• What else can I tell you? About other giants.

• Annual conference was last week, and we heard reports of giants… legendary enemies that your church is facing… gun shop**, gambling & video poker, (70,000slots? stats show a job is lost for every slot machine)**, triple-headed giant of relevance, membership, finances/economy**.

** each case, United Methodists are doing three things: looking past the flashy armor and loud threats, taking steps to face giant, doing so trusting in God (and not in man). David knew that his victory belonged to God.

• additionally, David’s relationship with God was such that when Goliath did his schtick, David felt personally offended, which motivated him that much more. “Are you saying that you’re greater than my God? Nobody’s greater than my God.” & resolutely, w/o reserve or fear, David went forth.

• therein has been my problem… instead of facing SC UMC’s giants resolutely, w/o reserve or fear. w/o confidence that God will deliver. I’ve been more like David’s brothers that I care to admit... I see the flashy armor and hear the threats and I play it safe by toeing the line instead of facing the giant. I look at the giant of not having a children’s Sunday school teacher, and act as though that giant is gonna stand there and taunt me endlessly. I see a giant whose name is “you can’t pull off a VBS” and I look at my shoes instead of the emptiness of its threats and the fullness of the Pentecost power behind me.

Y’know, I desire to give glory to my God. Go down swinging, at least we’re swinging. No glory in looking at my shoes, amen? Willing to face my giants, by the grace of God.

• There is no giant that can defeat God… and David went forth confident that God would deliver unto him the one who opposed God’s chosen.

There is no foe or battle we face where God is not present.

There is no storm we weather without God,
no storm can’t be calmed by his command.

• And there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
If there is anyone who believes these last few statements... if there is anyone who will join me in desiring to do something to be more like David than David’s brothers, will you join me in this confession of faith as found on p. 887 of The United Methodist Hymnal (from Romans 8)

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 57 in worship.

God Is Not Fair

2009-06-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2009
Second Sunday after Pentecost

God Is Not Fair
Mark 4:26-34 and 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
- Ephesians 2:8-9

My sermon outline:

• A woman was washing the dishes when she saw her 5-yo neighbor Jimmy headed for her back porch. The woman had just painted the handrails, and she didn’t want Jimmy to mess them up.

“Come around to the front door, Jimmy, there’s wet paint on the rails,” she hollered through the open window.

“I’ll be careful,” returned Jimmy.

“No, Jimmy, don’t come up those steps!” she shouted, knowing Jimmy’s tendency to mess things up.

“I’ll be careful,” he said again.

“Jimmy, stop!” she shouted. “I don’t want carefulness, I want obedience!”

As she shouted these words through the open window she remembered Samuel’s response to King Saul: To obey is better than sacrifice.

To her relief Jimmy replied, “Ok, I’ll go around to the front door.”

As he turned to go ‘round front, the woman thought to herself, “How often am I like Saul or like Jimmy, wanting to go my own way? I rationalize, ‘I’ll be careful, Lord’ as I proceed with my plans. But God doesn’t want carefulness. He wants obedience.”

• Okay this didn’t happen to me, but coulda... children ask “Why” all the time. My answer is often “One, because I said so, two because (dinner is in an hour)”. I desire obedience. GOD desires obedience over sacrifice.

• Obedience over sacrifice actually has to do with 1 Samuel chapter 15, the story right before today’s reading. Saul is king, but due to his pride and disobedience – he took God’s command and altered it to his own desires for his own glory – God has said that Saul’s kingdom will be passed on to another. (shame!)

• Our reading today then gives us a glimpse at a key point in Israel’s history, the establishment of the house of David. It’d be like studying George Washington in 1775.

Out of nowhere, David is chosen. We don’t know much about his family... (in contrast, when Saul was chosen king in chapter 9, we find out he’s from a prominent family, plus he’s a head taller than everyone else. David is short and pimply but handsome.)

• I am reminded that God chose Abram out of nowhere. And Mary too.

• Herein I find good news (or bad news, depending on where you are!)

God chooses in God’s way, not by human standards or expectations. We expect a Saul, from the right family and head and shoulders above the rest, not the pimply youngest brother of a family of shepherds.

Good news: God’s grace is not by merit, not earned, which makes it open to everybody, not just the specially gifted or those born into the right family.

Of course, if you’re a specially gifted one or born into the right family, that’s bad news, that’s not fair (but God is not about fairness, God is about heart, God is about obedience).

If God’s grace is by merit, then the qualified not only wouldn’t need Jesus, they’d boast in their own works. (which was what Saul did in chapter 15, against God’s wishes).

• God is above human understanding yet is trustworthy and praiseworthy. God desires obedience.

• Obedience to what? God’s Word. To let Jesus Christ be Lord, #1 in life, thy will be done. & God gives Spirit to the Church to help discern through the ages. Importance of education & community (as congregation, as connection, as annual conference). Relationship.

• Hymn 399 Take My Life and Let It Be

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 64 in worship.

It's About Relationship

2009-06-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2009
First Sunday after Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
Peace With Justice Sunday

It’s About Relationship
Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty: the whole earth is full of his glory.
– Isaiah 6:3

My sermon outline:

• Sermon on Trinity? Though the word is not in the Bible, there are passages that support it (as Great Commission, as Pauline blessing (2 Cor 13:14), not to mention Jesus’ baptism, etc.) Holy mystery, not without controversy in the first few centuries as the doctrine was formulated.

• Shield of Trinity (search for it on google image)

The Father is not The Son;
The Father is not The Holy Spirit;
The Father IS God.

The Son is not The Father;
The Son is not The Holy Spirit;
The Son IS God.

The Holy Spirit is not The Father;
The Holy Spirit is not The Father;
The Holy Spirit IS God.

• Trinity reveals something about nature of God, about nature of people. About Christianity, faith:

(Christianity, faith) It’s not about religion, it’s about relationship, stupid!

• One explanation of Trinity is God is love (1 John 4:8)… Love requires more than one, and God wanted to love, so God the Father begat the Son (begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father). & the love that flows like electricity between F and S is the Holy Spirit (proceeds from the F & the S)

• early 15th century, Russian painter Andrei Rublev painted the famous icon known as the Holy Trinity (google image Rublev trinity) in perichoresis, the figures seem to move. each one is in each one, and all are the same substance.

• Again, Relationship, not religion.

• Isaiah 6 heavenly throne room, Holy (3x) and almighty God, invites Isaiah into throne room (desires relationship) & cleanses, in order that relationship might happen.

• Romans 8 God gifts us with relationship, adopts us, invites us to the intimacy of Abba relationship & we are in debt to God. Minimum a debt of gratitude, ideally we live our lives in praise and thanksgiving and service to God.

• John 3 Jesus makes it clear that by no self merit may any earn the blessings of God’s kingdom – it’s a gift from God, and it’s a gift wherein God makes change of heart possible. One must experience inward change, be acted on from above, injected with Holy Spirit.

• Good news is grounded in God’s love

• Peace With Justice: folks motivated to serve God…

• Be like Isaiah, who responded “yes” even before knowing what was asked.

• Hymn: In the Breaking of the Bread

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.
Holy Communion

PEACE 5/5

2009-05-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2009
Pentecost Sunday!

Educate the Next Generation
Romans 10:1-15 and Acts 8:26-40

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

My sermon outline:

• Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator, violent rise to power in 1975, responsible for the death of 2 million countrymen. In addition to killing politicians, he executed doctors and lawyers and businessmen, people who could see what he was doing and threatened his power. even folks who wore glasses… glasses, read, read, not welcome in new Cambodia. Reading is power.

• Reading is Power. According to Rick Warren, half of world, (3 billion people) is functionally illiterate. RW rightly asks the question “How can people rise out of poverty and combat disease if they cannot read?” The statistics are sobering.

• 1 in 20 American adults are not literate in English. 11 million American adults lack the skills to handle everyday tasks. This translates nearly directly into poverty and welfare… Folks who have completed high school on average earn about double what non HS graduates earn. 90% of welfare recipients are HS dropouts. For every high-level reader who lives in poverty there are TEN low-level readers.

Literacy does not just affect income, welfare, and poverty. Illiteracy leads to crime. 50% of prison inmates cannot read. And if an inmate learns to read, he is four times less likely to end up in jail another time, compared to inmates who do not learn to read.

A third of inmates are HS dropouts. 85% of juvenile offenders are functionally illiterate.

Low-reading teen girls are 6 times more likely than their high-reading peers to get pregnant.

Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

The Dept. of Justice states that “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is WELDED to reading failure.” (emphasis mine)

Low-reading folks put a strain on the health care industry as well, being responsible for a disproportionate amount of ER visits and other medical calls, and not understanding dosages and hygiene.

Illiteracy is a social disease that affects everybody, that is passed on from parents to children, and it is something that is both treatable and preventable.

• The Church has historic connection to literacy, literally helping the world shift from oral tradition to written word, both with production of books and education of people. Church and family were primary educators for centuries. John Wesley essentially started schools both to teach the word, train laity to serve, and to educate the pastors’ kids as well as neighborhood kids.
The Church has historically been responsible for the establishment of schools. The Church builds schools now, and will continue to build schools.

• Two scripture passages today about the Christian’s place in educating others. Paul is speaking (Romans 10) on the eternal welfare of folks who do not know Jesus Christ, & his plea for people to share the Word spreads easily to a plea for Christians to be involved in educating the less-educated. How shall people learn to read unless there be teachers?
Same with Philip and the eunuch (Acts 8): How shall I understand unless there is someone to explain it to me? And with this response of education, the eunuch desires baptism.

• There is much to be gained from a literate population, and there is much work to be done.

• Work of Church is not merely evangelism and stewardship, hear the word, sing the hymns, give the offering, and pray (though those are all good elements) but the work of the Church is DO, is REACH OUT where people are, and teach about life eternal and life abundant as well. To steer people away from a life without God and to guide people away from poverty and crime.

• The PEACE plan (Promote reconciliation, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick, Educate the next generation) … what I haven’t talked about is how Rick Warren’s people are spreading out across the globe, in cities, towns, and villages, empowering the local people (even as the Holy Spirit empowers us!!!) tackling the giants, and teaching. RW is networking congregations like ours with congregations in other countries, empowering, building schools, churches, hospitals.

• Our hope and our goal is to give glory to God by our service, and to lead other people into fullness of life on earth, that they may experience eternal life because of their relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

• Hymn 649 How Shall They Hear The Word Of God?

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 78 in worship.

PEACE 4/5

2009-05-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

May 24th, 2009
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Ascension Sunday
Aldersgate Day
Memorial Day Sunday

Care for the Sick
James 1:19-27 and Luke 10:25-37

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27)

My sermon outline:

• Today is Aldersgate Day. On this day in 1738, John Wesley, feeling a failure from his 3-year trip to America, spiritually empty, went to a Bible Study at a society at Aldersgate Church. That evening, while someone was reading the intro to Luther’s notes on Romans, Wesley “felt his heart strangely warmed.” He believed Jesus died for his sins, and trusted him for salvation.

• Also on this day in 1931, 21-yo Agnese Bojaxhiu took religious vows in the process of becoming a full-fledged nun. Agnese chose as her saint name the patron saint of missions, St. Teresa de Lisieux. We know this 21-yo nun as the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

I mention that for Mother Teresa’s lifelong focus of caring for the poor, the sick, and the dying.

• We’ve been touching on points from Rick Warren’s PEACE plan***, ordinary people... uniquely gifted to make difference globally and locally. Today we address the Global Giant of Disease, and, in honor of Aldersgate Day, I’ll be sharing from John Wesley’s sermon “On Visiting the Sick”***

*** The PEACE plan belongs to Rick Warren.
See www.thepeaceplan.com for additional and inspirational information.

*** John Wesley's sermons are readable online.
See Sermon 98, On Visiting the Sick .

Intro: 1. The means of grace (ways in which God is uniquely present in our lives, i.e. the Sacraments) can be commands from God, too.
2. It’s NECESSARY to perform acts of mercy
3. Sadly, it’s little done.
4. Visiting the Sick:
...A. What’s it mean?
...B. How to visit the sick?
...C. Who should visit the sick?

A. What’s it mean to visit the sick?
1. Visit anyone who is unwell in any way.
2. Visit in person. The word Visit comes from the same root as the word Vision... To visit includes seeing with your eyes.
Visitation is beneficial for the sick, and for you as well (grace).
3. Especially the rich should do this, as they have the means & time.
4. Even the French do it! (PK aside: 18th century Brit/French rivalry like ancient Jewish/Samaritan relations)
5. Instruct, encourage, and assist folks (send folks out!) who are visiting.

B. How to visit the sick?
1. Prayerfully.
2. Inquire @ their physical comfort and their needs.
3. Help out if it’s applicable.
4. Reflect on God’s care & providence.
..If they know God not, lead them toward repentance.
5. Give them some recommended reading, & talk about it next time.
5.5 Don’t forget to pray with them.
6. Repeat.

C. Who should visit?
1. The earnest Christian.
2. Everybody.
3. The rich.
4. The poor.
5. The old.
6. The young.
7. Ladies (not just men).
9. Everybody who is able.

“any time is no time.” So set a time now.

• Methodism insists that personal salvation always implies Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbors and a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.

• Rick Warren’s PEACE plan takes a different tack than JW’s sermon on visiting the sick – he talks about being part of training and relief efforts to medically address the sickness, and yet the two plans work together.

• MEDICAL care may be limited to those gifted & trained, but ALL can respond to sickness with compassion, mercy, tenderness, and caring.

And to show compassion, you have to show up.

• We must be prepared to
- relieve embarrassment
- give hope
- help get the right medicines
- teach healthy habits
- ask God to heal.

Be doers of the word, and not just hearers.

• Hymn 375 There Is A Balm in Gilead

To read John Wesley’s sermon “On Visiting the Sick” go to this webpage:
Sermon 98, On Visiting the Sick

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 54 in worship.

PEACE 3/5

2009-05-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

May 10 , 2009
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Mother’s Day

Assist the Poor
John 19:25-27 and 1 John 4:7-21

Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” And he said to [the disciple whom he loved], “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. – from John 19

My sermon outline:

• Christian comedian: God must be especially fond of Chinese people, he made so many. When God looks down from heaven, he sees mostly Chinese folks. And if they’re not Chinese, they’re Indian. Nearly half of world.

Yet all the Chinese and Indians don’t equal the number of people in the world who exist on less than $2 per day.

• To illustrate the division of wealth in the world, let’s look at dividing $1,000 among the 75 people in this room.

Let’s start with most of you. three fifths of you. 60%. That’s 45 people out of 75.
Each of you has $5. ($4.89 to be a little more exact)

The poorest fifth (that’s 15) have $1 each.

That means the richest 20% (15 out of 75) have $51 each.
But since we know that even that wealth is not evenly distributed,
12 of you have $25 each, and 3 of you have $155.

• Now. Problem is NOT that we in the US have taken from others, or that we prevent others from producing (well, maybe a little).

There IS a bit of a problem that we can’t just say “C’mon up” to the other 80%... it would take six planet earths to raise the other 5 billion people to the standard of living enjoyed in America.

• Now we know that we’re called to Assist the poor, but who are we in Chester County / Montgomery? How can we possibly make a difference? what exactly does it look like, to assist the poor?

• First of all, recall the tagline of the PEACE plan: Ordinary people empowered by God making a difference wherever they are

And recall the unique characteristics of the church that make the defeat of this global giant possible:
Church includes between 1 and 2 billion people, motivated by sacrificial love.
Church is in every country, & just about every city.
Intimately present in the nitty-gritties of life.
Church is lay driven.
Church is old & lasting.

• What can we do? LOTS. Again, we are Ordinary people empowered by God making a difference wherever we are.

• Give $. Raise $. But charity by itself will fail, for it lacks relationship and accountability.

• Go, teach, build, work, give medical aid.

• Politick. Write congressman. (0.16% of US budget is in aid to global poverty. Compared to 21% defense, 21% SS, 23% medicare/aid; something like 2% education)
Ask to forgive debts owed by burdened countries.

• Shop kind – this may not mean buying cheap, but buying local, or buying fair trade, or things like 10,000 Villages...

• Adopt a child. Be involved in UMCOR or Habitat or some poverty-addressing NPO

• ...making a difference wherever you are... includes you making a difference here in Spring City or Royersford, where there are hungry people, poor people, people with limited resources. Add to your grocery habit the purchase of a couple cans of soup or cereal, or a grocery gift card (I get requests for help every week). Volunteer with a local agency. Give rides to people who can’t get to dr or appt or whatever... use your resources for God’s glory.

• How many have birthday or Christmas celebration you don’t need? Sponsor a family instead. Treat others as family.

• Gospel lesson is sentimental on the surface, but economic at its heart: Jesus commissions John to care for mother, an economically oppressed widow.

• 1 John 4 (love one another) show our thanksgiving to God in how we treat others....

And remember how Jesus, who had ALL, surrendered ALL for our sake...

A prayer of Mother Teresa:
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those throughout the world who live and die in poverty or hunger. Give them, through our hands, this day their daily bread;
and by our understanding love, give peace and joy. Amen.

• Hymn 451 Be Thou My Vision

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 76 in worship.
Communion.

PEACE 2/5

2009-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2009
Third Sunday of Easter

Equip Servant Leaders
Acts 3:11-20 and Romans 16:1-16

“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” – Romans 16:16.

My sermon outline:

• Recap of PEACE plan problems and solutions.

Spiritual emptiness – Promote Reconciliation.
Corrupt leadership – Equip Servant Leaders.
Extreme Poverty – Assist the Poor.
Disease – Care for the Sick.
Illiteracy – Educate the Next Generation.

• Some of these are obvious. But RW believes that the church is uniquely positioned to address these issues: with between 1 and 2 billion members worldwide (larger than China or India), the Church is the biggest network in the world. The Church is in every country and can be in every community, moreso than libraries or hospitals. The Church is lay-driven, and has the greatest potential for volunteerism. The Church is intimately present... birth, education, counseling, marriage, death... it has local credibility. The Church is 2000 years old, & will be there. We are part of this network.

• The PEACE plan is ordinary people empowered by God making a difference wherever they are. The PEACE plan is closely linked with discipleship: the Church teaching its members to do what Jesus did – to have the priorities Jesus had, as we studied in March.

• On Romans 16: Romans was written ca. 56, some 20ish years after the first Easter. Paul is the author, writing to the community of Christians in Rome (he has not yet been to Rome with the Word) a letter of encouragement and instruction... He hasn’t been to the church in Rome but he obviously knows some of its leaders. For us there’s always been a church in Rome, but Peter (1st Pope) not there yet either.
29 individuals named, & households. Unique list, men and women of various backgrounds, experiences, status. Presumably age.

Is Paul commending some, and invalidating others?
By and by this is what we know:

Church in Rome, birthed and nurtured by the hard and passionate work of many. Some open their homes, some support with finances or trade, some have taught with Paul around the countryside, some have spent time in prison with Paul.

When Paul gets to Rome he’ll find a functioning church there. Because of the testimony, leadership, willingness of these, the church thrived.

• Imagine the letter Paul might write to SCUMC...To the faithful... who might he mention? Who might he NOT mention? Would he mention you?

• Because of the testimony, leadership, willingness of these, the church thrived. A grassroots, organic, diaconal organization.

Grassroots: from the people not the establishment

Organic: living and natural (volunteer corn)

Diaconal: lay ministry helper

That’s why people protest or march...

That’s what US is looking for in Iraq: the grassroots organic diaconal leadership.... (hey, that spells “GOD”)

Rick Warren’s PEACE plan is training locals around the world to be leaders in their churches and communities, to locally address the Global Giants.

That’s what we’re looking for as we plan our own VBS: folks to step up and be supporters and fellow workers, servant leaders

• Jesus came to serve... to lay on the line, to model leadership.

• Hymn 593 Here I Am, Lord

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 72 in worship.

PEACE plan 1/5

2009-04-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2009
Second Sunday of Easter

Promote Reconciliation ***
1 John 1:1 – 2:2 and Matthew 18:15-20

“God reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation... so we are ambassadors for Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20

My sermon outline:

• Let’s get personal. Who’s been sinned against? Broken relationship of some sort, past or present. Who is content letting that broken relationship just “be”? Who is content waiting for the other person to move first? And (confession time) are there relationships in your life where you’re the one’s sinned against someone else? Has anyone cause to reconcile with you?

(see Matthew 5:23-24: ...if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.)

• Jesus is pretty clear in Matthew 18 on how to handle it when you’ve been sinned against by another member of the church... deal with it now (& in private) because it affects your worship. If there’s a wall between you & another, esp. another worshiper, says Jesus, then there’s a wall between thee and the Father, & thou shalt not allow such.

It requires a combination of humility and boldness, vulnerability. It requires love...

What it is NOT: judgment. Disagreement of opinion or understanding. Public airing of dirty laundry.

What it IS: edification of the body, expression of godly love.

• Broken relationship is a problem not just in our individual lives or our relatively small circles of influence... it’s a problem that exists in families and communities all around the world, inside and outside the church. Sows seeds of discontent and hopelessness and nurtures those seeds to grow into division. Can you imagine the results of unchecked offense? Can you imagine the results of more people who practiced reconciliation?

• Chances are you know who Rick Warren is. 30 years ago planted the Saddleback church outside LA. Swept the nation with the book The Purpose Driven Life 6 years ago or so, and the 40 Days of Purpose campaign that many churches participated in. During this Presidential election hosted a “Civil Forum on the Presidency”, in which he interviewed the candidates on matters of faith and moral issues. He also gave the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration.

In wake of PDL his wife developed a passion for doing something about the monumental problem of AIDS in Africa. Did you ever have a sudden realization that you were on the wrong road? RW had the sudden realization that his ministry and theology weren’t lining up with Jesus’ life and teachings, that Jesus was about ministering to the poor and sick and oppressed – he was FOR something – and that he (Rick) had little to do with the poor and sick and oppressed, that he (Rick) and the church were known for what they were AGAINST. Wake up call that the face of AIDS in the world is not homosexual white man (as it is in America) but poverty-stricken oppressed black woman.

RW’s revelation led him to seek other areas of life and theology where he might have it wrong, and in his search he identified what he calls five Global Giants, deep-seated problems that plague families cities and nations around the world.

Problem: Billions live in hopelessness. Spiritual emptiness.
Problem: Power corrupts, leaders are corrupt. Self-serving Leadership.
Problem: Half the world lives on less than $2 a day. Extreme Poverty.
Problem: Billions suffer from preventable and curable illness. Pandemic Diseases.
Problem: Half the world cannot read. Rampant Illiteracy.

Researched these problems, analyzed failed attempts at solutions and looked for a way to tie it all together.

• RW examined life & teaching of Jesus, and proposes what he believes are unique and effective ways of addressing these global giants.

Spiritual emptiness – Promote Reconciliation.
Corrupt leadership – Equip Servant Leaders.
Extreme Poverty – Assist the Poor.
Disease – Care for the Sick.
Illiteracy – Educate the Next Generation.

And you may notice that the solutions spell out “PEACE” ***

• Some of these are obvious. But RW believes that the church is uniquely positioned to address these issues: with between 1 and 2 billion members worldwide (larger than China or India), the Church is the biggest network in the world. The Church is in every country and can be in every community, moreso than libraries or hospitals. The Church is lay-driven, and has the greatest potential for volunteerism. The Church is intimately present... birth, education, counseling, marriage, death... it has local credibility. The Church is 2000 years old, & will be there. We are part of this network.

• The PEACE plan is ordinary people empowered by God making a difference wherever they are. The PEACE plan is closely linked with discipleship: the Church teaching its members to do what Jesus did – to have the priorities Jesus had, as we studied in March.

• Promote Reconciliation: Jesus says Blessed are the peacemakers... Paul reminds us that as God reconciles the world to himself so we are to reconcile one with another.

• Four part plan:

Believe reconciliation is Necessary (1 John light & darkness, we know the dark).

Believe it’s Possible (again 1 John, in God there is no darkness, & humility if we say we have no sin the truth is not in us. 2 Peter 3:9 God does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Step out in faith. Give glory to God, repeat.
In order to promote reconciliation, in order to address the global giant of brokenness and spiritual emptiness, we must practice reconciliation, bear testimony to the joy of the fruits of reconciliation that we know because we are Easter people. If God raised one man Jesus Christ from the dead, God can work in his body of two billion members the defeat of brokenness and spiritual emptiness.

Can I get an Amen?

• Hymn 539 Where Charity and Love Prevail

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 54 in worship.

*** The PEACE plan belongs to Rick Warren.
See www.thepeaceplan.com for additional and inspirational information.

The Jesus Priorities: 5/5: Spread the Word

2009-03-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2009
Fifth Sunday in Lent

The Jesus Priorities: 5/5: Spread the Word
Matthew 9:18-26 and Romans 4:13-25

"How are they to hear about Jesus without someone to proclaim him?" Romans 10:14

My sermon outline:

• We’ve spent past 4 weeks on 4 other priorities of Jesus’, gleaned by Christopher Maricle’s examination of the gospel in his book The Jesus Priorities. We looked at Seek God’s Will, Treasures in Heaven, Children Are Precious, and Live with Humility. Falling right behind the big three of love and pray and heal, today’s focus is Spread the Word.

• Jesus’ mission: reveal God’s love to the world.

In 2000 years, millions have heard the gospel, the good news, the news that God loves them and invites them to reconciliation and to fullness of life. Millions have heard the gospel, millions have not heard the gospel, and millions have rejected the gospel.

Christopher Maricle pulls a few points of focus from Jesus’ life and teachings...

• Invite everyone. Easy to name scriptures for this, Great Commission perhaps foremost (Go and make disciples of all nations). Another classic example is the great banquet Jesus tells about in Luke 14. Some who are invited make excuses cuz they’re busy.... “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.” Another just bought some cows and he wants to go check em out, and another just got married and apparently doesn’t want to bring his wife... So the homeowner tells his servant “Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When that is done and there are still seats left, the owner says “Go into the roads and country lanes and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Clear in the gospels (again, good news) that the good news is good news for everybody, it is not merit-based or based on any characteristic we can think of...

Rich poor sinners saints able-bodied crippled diseased well clean unclean male female young old with teeth without teeth long-haired bald with IRAs without IRAs fat skinny teen young adult mother father sister brother black white latin asian uneducated educated blind sighted deaf hearing dog owners cat owners

Can you imagine them all in the kingdom of heaven, and if so, can you imagine them all in worship at Spring City UMC? Jesus lived for all and died for all, and cries out that we invite all. There is ample goodness in heaven and God does not want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9) but to come to saving relationship with Jesus.

Romans 10:11-17... (read it)

• Another point Maricle brings up is that the job of gospel telling and inviting belongs to everyone. Invite everyone, and everyone invite. In the Great Banquet as recorded in Matthew 22 the master has his servants go out to bring people in.

Jesus himself recruited folks to spread the word, to go and preach the kingdom. At one time he sent 12 out, another time he sent out 70, and again, the Great Commission is for all. Jesus even welcomed the testimony of one who was not among the twelve – the disciples found him casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and Jesus blessed his work. Accepting the call of Christ does not mean simply that we have been invited to the banquet; it means that we accept the task of inviting others as well. Jesus became a servant and invites us to do the same. We are bound to extend Jesus’ invitation by serving as vessels of his love, mercy, grace, and compassion.

• Invite everyone, everyone invite, and invite well.
Servants go out where people are, they don’t stand at the door or put up signs...
Woman at the well had no special training but spoke from her heart about her experience with the Messiah. Your personal experience with Christ is the best personal evangelism tool you have (well, that and the power of the HS promised us in Acts 1:8). Edify your personal experiences with Christ the way Christopher Maricle did – by studying the gospels, immersing yourself regularly in the teachings and actions of Jesus, and then telling others. Also is the Jesus you tell people about alive in your life today, or are you telling about someone 2000 years ago?

• invite well... good news (not bad, not threat). Listen and connect, don’t forget to pray (before and after)

• Acts 5:42: And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

• Hymn 413 A Charge to Keep I Have

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 67 in worship.

The Jesus Priorities: 4/5: Live With Humility

2009-03-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

March 22, 2009
Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Jesus Priorities: 4/5: Live With Humility
Matthew 20:20-28 and Philippians 2:1-11

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:28

My sermon outline:

• I am the most humble person I know… Humility a virtue, surprising at least to me that of the 8 priorities Christopher Maricle lists it’s the last, with a “mere” nine events told 12 times. Seems more prevalent, pervasive.

We’ve spent past 3 weeks on 3 other priorities of Jesus’, gleaned by Christopher Maricle’s examination of the gospel. In addition to the big three of love and pray and heal, we’ve looked at Seek God’s Will, Treasures in Heaven, and Children Are Precious.

• One of my daughter’s nightly prayers is The Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. From Luke 18 when the tax collector knelt humbly in the temple to pray, not even lifting his eyes. I particularly like how Maricle writes about this:

The tax collector demonstrates that it is trust in God’s mercy, not in one’s merit, that assures forgiveness.

We receive mercy when we earnestly desire to be good. We demonstrate that desire by trying even though we may not succeed. In sports, we tell young people, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” We love them no matter what, and we’re proud when they give their personal best. When that best is far below everyone else’s best, we don’t punish them. We celebrate their achievement. Abba is a good, loving parent. God wants our best and rejoices when we conquer a hurdle that’s been difficult. God is also patient with us, knowing that not all our efforts will be successful. We can’t always win, improve, or succeed. Although Jesus did encourage us to “be perfect”, God knows that for us humans it’s not very likely.

There is nothing you can do to earn your way into heaven. God is perfect, and when we return to God, we shall be perfected in God’s love. That will not happen as a result of any act on our part, as if we could wake up one morning and say to the Almighty, “Okay, now I am good enough to be in your presence.” The idea is absurd. Our reunion with God is assured by God’s mercy, not by any state of holiness or grace that we can achieve on our own.

- p. 110

The practice of humility, then, requires trust in God’s mercy. The man humbly bore his soul before God, trusting that God would not trample on it, but bring him peace instead. It’s important to remember here that mercy is when a deserved negative consequence or punishment is withheld. When we cry out for God’s mercy, we say Yes, Lord, I am guilty, I have done wrong in thy sight, I have damaged the relationship between thee and me. This has caused me anguish, Lord. Please spare me from further anguish and have mercy on me. Restore me to life for thy sake, that I may give thee glory.

We also plead for and trust in God’s mercy for others when we ask that God might grant them forgiveness even though they don’t deserve it, for we know that in mercy and in forgiveness there is life, and Jesus came that we might experience life’s abundance.

• Another example of Jesus lifting up humility is in Luke 14, the parable of the wedding guest, and its parallel to today’s gospel reading. Jesus instructs us to presume the lowest place at the table with the humility that A) it doesn’t matter where you sit and B) you might take someone else’s seat of honor. This virtue of Presuming the Lowest Place is exemplified yet again in John’s telling of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, as illustrated by James Snyder here on Wednesday. I have given you an example, Jesus says. Do as I have done. For Jesus did not consider his place with God to brag about, but he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, humbling himself to death on a cross…

• Trusting in God’s mercy, presuming the lowest place, these are conducive to “right-sizing” God’s place in your life, right-sizing your own ego, which tends to be like the view in the side mirror: objects in mirror are larger than they appear… ego makes you appear larger than you are. You know what ego means: Edging God Out… Jesus calls us to sacrifice our ego, so that God might be maintained in the center of our lives. John the Baptist was in the spotlight as he proclaimed I am the voice crying out in the desert Prepare the way of the Lord. His ego could’ve gotten in the way and edged God out, but instead he recognized that when the groom appears the best man must step aside… “He must become greater, and I must become less.”

In his book Mere Christianity, CS Lewis writes “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether, or you see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.”

Now here it’s important to remember that there is a healthy sense of ego – Jesus is not saying “always remember that you are dirt” but “you are where you are by the mercy and grace of God. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are precious in God’s sight and made in God’s image, and you have been granted these things by God, not by merit, you have not earned them they have been given to you. Therefore give glory to God, shout out God’s name and God’s wonderful works in your life. Practice humility because you have received an invitation to life.

• So keep these three things in mind – Rely on God’s Mercy, Presume the Lowest Place, Sacrifice Your Ego – as you practice humility (and as you become good at it!) and as you examine the life and teachings of Jesus and follow in his footsteps… footsteps which lead to sacrifice and redemption.

• Hymn 206 I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 78 in worship.
The handbells played today.

The Jesus Priorities: 3/5: Children Are Precious

2009-03-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2009
Third Sunday in Lent

The Jesus Priorities: 3/5: Children Are Precious
Matthew 19:13-15, Romans 8:12-17

Unless you become like a little child,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. – Jesus, in Matthew 18:3-4

My sermon outline:

• Christopher Maricle, educator and author, desirous of deepening his own faith, went through the gospels, charted the actions, motivations, sayings of Jesus.
“Why did Jesus do what Jesus did?
What did Jesus consistently say and do during his public ministry that would be instructive?”

• Measure of a man is how he acts when no one is looking...

Measure of society is in how it treats its most vulnerable... its children, its infirm, its aged... It’s one of the things that separates humans from animals... where predators will seek out and attack the youth, the weak, the elderly, they are the ones we seek to protect.

• Jesus in the gospels makes no fewer than six different statements about children, their importance and how they are to be treated; six statements recounted in fourteen places in the gospels.

• Mt 18:3-4: whoever will not become like a child will not enter the kingdom...

Children are natural believers, uninhibited (& therefore must be protected, handled with care) pure in heart and love.

We would do well to learn from how children praise, how they trust, how they show affection (do you remember calling mommy daddy? I don’t. I do remember calling my mom by her first name... feels wrong how my neph and niece do so). No surprise that Jesus chose a term of endearment / intimacy to teach disciples to pray to Father God.

(childlike ≠ childish) Jesus says we must be like children

Simple, Jesus loves me, This I know. Karl Barth summed up his own volumes of theology. Also what you learn as a child stays with you (Ruthie Huzz)

• Communion, because we’re poor. SO true, debt we cannot pay except by the bailout of Jesus Christ.

• Let the children come to me. Barna 1999 First time a person makes a commitment to Christ is typically before age 15. After 14 less than 10% likelihood of a person making 1st time commitment.

Welcome the children: We could do better. Personal responsibility.
Take a cue from children: children know no strangers, that’s why they have to be taught it.

• Children must be protected. World values
1. Happiness comes from stuff.
2. Sexual attraction is the best way to start a relationship.
3. Desire is adequate justification (I want, therefore I am entitled, therefore I will acquire)
4. Coolness requires distance from family.
5. Violence is acceptable for #3.

The antidote:
1. Make God central in the family.
2. Monitor media experience.
3. Talk WITH daily.

• Spirit adopts us, helps us to relate to others and to God with that childlike trust faith and love, and to accept each other.

• Hymn 560 Help Us Accept Each Other

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 64 in worship.

The Jesus Priorities: 1/5: Seek God’s Will

2009-03-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

March 1, 2009
First Sunday in Lent

The Jesus Priorities: 1/5: Seek God’s Will
Philippians 3:7-11 and John 8:12-30

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection... Paul, in Philippians 3:10

My sermon outline:

• Christopher Maricle, educator and author, desirous of deepening his own faith, went through the gospels, charted the actions, motivations, sayings of Jesus.
“Why did Jesus do what Jesus did?
What did Jesus consistently say and do during his public ministry that would be instructive?”

Uncovered 8 themes or priorities, wrote a book. Grew in faith.

The Jesus Priorities: Eight Essential Habits, by Christopher Maricle

For the month of March I’d like to share some of those priorities with you, that we might grow in faith along with Mr. Maricle. The top three, by the way, I think we already talk about fairly frequently, so I won’t dwell on Healing, Love, or Prayer, but we’ll spend the next few weeks of Lent on the remaining 5.

• Last week Transfiguration. Following transfig, bulletin cover: Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem, toward the holy city where the Temple was, the Temple where sacrifices were made, sacrifices that bought people forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus knew the task before him, and set out resolutely to do it.

We also recall from John 4, one of the times Jesus proclaims his mission: (context) My food is to do the will of him who sent me.

• And Christopher Maricle was led to one of the 8 Jesus priorities: Seek God’s Will. This priority highlights Jesus’ commitment to being of one mind with God. Indeed Mr. Maricle finds 14 instances in the gospels that speak to Jesus’ oneness with God. We read one such instance a few minutes ago. Jesus’ identity is rooted in God the Father. The Father sent him, he tells us. If you really knew me, you know the Father as well, he said. I always do what is pleasing to the Father.

• Jesus is so close to God the Father that he knows God’s will. And while it would be the height of human arrogance to claim we can fully know God’s will, we can gain increasing knowledge of God’s will, provided we get over a few hurdles.

• One hurdle to knowledge of God’s will is our limited capacity for knowledge. God’s simply a lot smarter than we are. Psalm 139:6-7: Your knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 1 Corinthians 13:12: Now I see but a poor reflection in a mirror, but then I shall know fully...

God’s ways are infinitely above us, but we know Jesus, and Jesus knew God the Father, had unity with him, and as we study and love Jesus and live him (make his priorities ours) we make steps towards knowledge of God’s will. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection... if somehow I may attain resurrection from the dead.

• God above us? Relate to Jesus. Hurdle hurdled. Next hurdle to knowing God’s will? A little closer to home: we lack urgency... we’ll get around to it... we’ll do it when...

In addition to myriad examples of Jesus telling us Be Prepared!! Christopher Maricle suggests asking yourself the question, “When will Jesus come for me?” as a way of maintaining urgency. Being prepared for Jesus’ return is a sign of love of him. We know not when the bell will toll for us, therefore the best way not to be caught with your proverbial pants down is to have no unfinished business, to keep front-burner items on the front burners (and to employ the help of loved ones if you so need it). Ask yourself these questions: When will Jesus come for me? and Have I done my best? and you’ll find yourself nearer to knowing God’s will.

• Lacking urgency leads to another hurdle in discerning God’s will, lacking focus. Getting distracted. Discipline and prayer. Jesus often withdrew to quiet places.

I am reminded of a prayer of Brother Lawrence: “My God, since you are with me, and since it is your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that you will give me the grace to remain with you and keep company with you. But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections.” (p. 37)

• In addition to lacking urgency or focus, a hurdle to discerning God’s will is lacking motivation. We consider religious action another item on our daily (or weekly) checklist. End of the week we go over the list: went to grosh, check. Paid bills, check. Dentist appt, check. Volunteered at soup kitchen, check. Bible study, check.

As if you’d find on that list things like Kissed spouse, check. Loved family, check.

God is not ON the checklist but is IN everything on the checklist.

We have but one task, lifted up in numerous places in the Bible, to love God with all our hearts and minds and souls and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Do this and God’s will becomes clearer.

• The last hurdle to knowing God’s will Christopher Maricle lifts up is that we fear or perhaps misunderstand Sacrifice. It takes effort to discern God’s will, just as it takes effort to build and maintain relationship – with God or anyone – and we fear that something may go wrong and our efforts wasted.

Maricle suggests that people only hear half the definition of sacrifice: give up something good.

Without hearing the rest of the definition: in order to achieve something better.

OT sacrifice you gave up something good (a lamb or etc, eventually money) to attain something better: forgiveness, restoration, reconciliation.

NT Paul in Philippians realized that all his worldly achievements were rubbish, compared to knowing Christ, and that through knowing Christ was resurrection possible.

As the priorities emerged, I realized that I could not understand fully what Jesus did until I explored why Jesus did what he did.

Integrating Jesus’ priorities into our lives is not about merely imitating behavior. Behaviors flow from beliefs and principles. Significant changes in our spiritual health will be achieved when we make conscious changes in our spiritual commitments. When we ask why Jesus did what he did and reflect on Jesus’ motivation, it can only lead us to one place: Christ’s unceasing love for God and complete dedication to God’s will. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing because he never forgot why he was doing it. our own spiritual reflection and growth can begin with two questions: What am I doing? Why am I doing it? (p. 119) & so attain God’s will...
Christopher Maricle, The Jesus Priorities

• On sacrifice: Jesus gave up something of value (his life) for something of greater value (salvation of humanity). & there is cause for both sobriety and celebration...

• Hymn 367 He Touched Me

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 76 in worship.
Communion and Luncheon today.

AIM for Evangelism

2009-02-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

February 8, 2009
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

1 Corinthians 9:16-23 and Mark 1:29-39

Jesus said, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” – Mark 1:38

My sermon outline:

• Without vision, the people perish, so the saying goes (not exactly Proverbs 29:18, but true enough)

This Tuesday Larry King will interview Capn Chesley Sullenberger, who splashed into fame on 1/15/09 when he and the crew of USAirways flight 1549 successfully ditched in the Hudson river six minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia (birdstrike). Amazingly Capn Sully had the vision of bringing the aircraft down safely... he AIMed for salvation and achieved it, saving the lives of the 155 on board.

• 220 years ago William Carey AIMed to spread the gospel among “the heathen” that is to take the message of salvation in Christ to the subcontinent of India.

As Jesus in our reading from Mark, he saw that his mission was to proclaim the message beyond the walls of his own home. Wm Carey then spent the next 41 years -- more than half of his life -- in India.

As Paul in our reading from 1 Cor sought to relate to people so that he might bring them to salvation, Wm Carey got to know the people...
• published 1st newspaper in India
• founded over 100 schools (think about that alone!)
• wrote dictionaries and grammars of 5 Indian languages
• completely translated the Bible into 6 languages (parts into 29 more)
• through his witness the burning of widows was outlawed

• Paul talks a little bit about how and why he did the things he did, spreading the gospel. Lemme give you a little acronym for what he did:

First off he acknowledged that not only did he not make up the gospel, it wasn’t his idea to spread it... he is commissioned, he is sent... the word for that is APOSTLE. He is a witness of the risen Christ, apostolically sent by God to the nations.

Second, Paul imitated Christ in Jesus’ INCARNATION. Jesus Christ (who was fully God) put on flesh and lived among us. Paul sought to relate to the Jews on their terms, speaking their language as it were, following their customs (not difficult since he was indeed Jewish) in order that he might reach some of them with the good news of forgiveness of sins in Jesus. Paul sought to relate to the gentiles – those outside the faith – on their terms, speaking their language, following their customs, in order that he might reach some of them with the good news of fullness of life in Jesus. Like Christ, he put aside pride and station, seeking to relate to as many as possible, in order to save as many as possible.

Finally, Paul bore a message... he was on a MISSION, taking as his own commission the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I have made you alight for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Is. 49:6)

Paul AIMed to reach people for Christ.

• So once again we as a congregation have a need to examine what we’re AIMing at... Like Jesus, we know it involves going into the surrounding area, & like Paul we know it involves relating to people where they are, so that we may best bear to them the gospel of salvation...

It may be through children’s ministry or even VBS, it may be through a new worship service, it may be through some kind of local mission. Over the next weeks and months lets sit down at the table together, pray, put our ideas out there, pray some more. I suggest we start Wed 630 outside the church office...

• No matter what direction we end up AIMing, in the end we must always be about introduce folk to Jesus, who touches us and makes us whole.

• Hymn 367 He Touched Me

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 73 in worship. Beautiful weather

Expect great things from God.
Attempt great things for God.
- William Carey, 1792

Historical note: Tomorrow (February 9, 2009) marks the 300th anniversary of the fire at the Epworth parsonage. 5 year old John Wesley was dramatically rescued out of the burning building, "pluck'd like a brand." The saving experience was formative in his life.

On Scriptural Authority

2009-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

February , 2009
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
“Souper Bowl of Caring” Sunday

On Scriptural Authority
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 and Mark 1:21-28

Jesus taught with authority, and not as the scribes... and they were astounded at his teaching. From Mark 1:22

My sermon outline:

• Today the #1 team in football will be decided. (#1 until next year...) Steelers could take the lead (tied @ 5 championships with 49ers and Cowboys. AFC champs.) Cardinals seeking first win.

I’m supposed to mention SB. American male. No one should make SB or anything else their reason or ground for being.

• Two texts today, story of Jesus exorcising an unclean spirit and being revered as one with authority (sadly apparently out of ordinary).

Text from Deuteronomy, God laying down the rules through Moses, saying how things’ll be... I’ll provide from among you prophets who will speak my words.

@ first glance no connection, but each passage speaks to authority

& if we are to be bearers and defenders of the faith (yes we ought) we must be able to speak with authority as well.

• Common objection to Bible is why should I give any authority to a book written by a bunch of men 2000 years ago, and translated who knows how many times since then? And what about the other gospels? DaVinci Code (03) introduced the average American to the Gnostic gospels, Philip and Thomas and Mary Magdalene, even Judas – why are these writings not biblical? Do they have any authority?

Granted, I’d bet that most who are asking those questions have not read Philip or Thomas or Mary or Judas, and admittedly I haven’t either, but I have researched about them, and can answer why they are not considered authoritative scripture...

• In science: reproducibility and peer review. Can other people get same results, and draw same conclusions?

• In study of ancient texts: reliability is on age (older = better) and quantity. 4 texts from 4th century not as strong as 25 texts from 2nd century.

In general the majority of the NT books are also the earliest writings and most copied, and in general, the gospels not included are fewer in quantity and they’re not as old.

• Additionally for the most part the Early Church Fathers held to the canon we know...

By mid 2nd century the 4 gospels were in their current form, and Irenaeus had a list of 21 NT letters he granted scriptural authority. Early 3rd century Origen had a list of 27, pretty much the same, and in the 300s the church was pretty unanimous about the canon.

The Gnostic gospels are not on the ECFs lists, so they either didn’t know about them, they hadn’t yet been written, or they agreed they weren’t canonical.

• Bottom line: the Bible as we know it was selected early on and while we don’t have originals we have many early texts that agree, and it’s upon them that today’s translations are based. There is textual reliability.

• John Wesley believed the content of the Bible leads the reader to trust it’s true, by reason of its miracles, prophecies, teaching, and character.

• & we cling to the Mosaic promise of God inspiring and speaking through folks today,

And the witness that on Christ the solid rock we stand...

Furthermore that when we gather together the Lord is among us

& when we gather in Holy Communion & ask the Spirit’s blessing, God is uniquely and specially and sacramentally present.

Here, O Lord, (in sanctuary, at Communion table) we see thee.

• Hymn 623 Here O My Lord I See Thee

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 75 in worship.

On Jonah, and Jesus too

2009-01-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2009
Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 and Mark 1:14-20

My sermon outline:

• Jonah, no background. Jewish, “Dove”, son of “My Truth”. 800 years BC, northern kingdom of Israel. God asked J to go to Nin, 300 miles to the east. Nin had walls 100 feet tall (okay, 20 feet) and it would take 3 days to walk around the city.
Impenetrable fortress in the land of the hostile neighbors, the Assyrians. Oh, and their wickedness is great enough to catch God’s attention.

We know not their specific wickedness (evil ways & violence in 3:8, perhaps morally blind 4:11) but this we know: God planned to destroy them.

• What is “Ninevah” for us? What formidable powerful wicked neighbor strikes fear into our hearts and promises to defeat us? When I was a kid Nin was Russia. Before that maybe Germany. Nowadays Iraq.

Or Nin could be metaphorical for local resident evil, impenetrable. As close as Main Street or your own household or even your own self. A power that cannot be beaten.

Though contemporary society is wary of naming evil
and is perhaps more comfortable saying Live & let Live,
God does not tolerate wickedness, and would have people speak against it.

• So Jonah does what any might do. Buys a ticket in the other direction.

Yet after memorable detour, we arrive at chapter 3. God reissues his command to Jonah, Go to that great formidable city and proclaim what I have to say about their wickedness.

& he goes. 40 days poof! & they listen. & they repent in action. & the impenetrable fortress is turned by one man speaking God’s word.

• Take home points: Speak against sinfulness. Listen / Do / Repeat. Face challenges with God. Go; for the mission field may not come to you.

• Mark. Jesus collecting disciples, not a synagogue or school, but where workers are, at the dock. Normal, not specially trained.

Jesus invites Simon & Andrew to “Fish for people” & whatever that means, they do it.

Not “as soon as” whatever or “when the opportunity is right” the opportunity to follow Jesus Christ is now.

• James & John, in training to take over father’s trade, also stop & follow.

• Kingdom isn’t going to grow itself, neither are the wicked spontaneously going to turn from their ways. By trust & follow will insurmountable opposition be changed.

God calls US to spread good news of salvation & reconciliation.

• Take home points: No special training prereq. Follow Jesus now. Jesus is good news.

• Hymn 344 Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 68 in worship.

Faith for the Future

2009-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2009
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Human Relations Sunday / MLK Jr. weekend / inauguration in two days

Faith for the Future

1 Samuel 3:1-10 and John 1:43-51

My sermon outline:

• John Maxwell, pastor and business leadership author and guru, once told about a small town in Maine that was the selected site for a new hydro-electric dam that was going to be built. The electric company announced months ahead of time when the project would get underway, which would require the desertion of the entire town (because it would be underwater!).

During those months, a curious thing happened: All improvements ceased. No painting was done. No repairs were made on the buildings, roads, or sidewalks. Day by day the whole town got shabbier and shabbier. A long time before the waters came, the town looked uncared for and abandoned, even though the people had not yet moved away. One citizen explained, “Where there is no faith for the future, there is no power in the present.” That town was cursed with hopelessness because it had no future. (overwhelmed future = no present)

• “Where there is no faith for the future,
there is no power in the present.”
(opposite is also true)

• Such faith is demonstrated by Philip, who at Jesus’ command “Follow me” went and found Nathanael and told him they’d found the Messiah. Philip had faith for the future, that the savior they’d been seeking, the one who would deliver them, had been found. Philip had faith for the future, and it influenced his actions in the present.

• Nathanael raised a little skepticism – perhaps his study of Torah and the prophets had led him to look not to Nazareth but to Bethlehem for the Messiah.... “What good is someone from Naz? That’s not where we’re looking.”

(what Jesus said) carried enough power for Nat to confess Jesus as teacher, King of Israel and Son of God.

• & Jesus gives to Nathanael and to the church HOPE. A vision of the future. Where there is faith for the future there is power in the present. Jesus says you will see greater things than these.

• The faith they had for the future... discipleship (tell others)... Witness (to the resurrected Lord)... take the gospel to NSEW even as far as India, and 11 disciples were martyred for their faith.

• Martyred for the power in the present from the faith in the future: MLKjr. (I have a dream) his hope for the future led him to powerful action in the present.

• Barack Obama: I don’t know whether you voted for him or not, whether he’ll be good or not. I celebrate with many the fact that this country has elected a minority as its Commander in Chief and I pray that he will be a faithful and effective leader

• One other thing: Eli received vision of the future that wasn’t good for him or family, & he blessed God, trusted in God’s righteousness.

• What future do we see here at SCUMC: the future of Maxwell’s soon-to-be-flooded town, or of the church of Philip and Nathanael? and how will it influence our present power?

We can see, we can do, we are invited to be a part of great things by the power of Christ.

• Hymn Come Let Us Dream (a hymn written especially to honor MLK Jr)

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 64 in worship.

This is a Battery Holder

2009-01-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2009
First Sunday after the Epiphany

Spirit Batteries

Mark 1:1-11 and Acts 19:1-7

My sermon outline:

• flashlight example: this is a Christian, this is the church. Designed with the purpose of giving light to the world (and not to self, btw... designed to point away from self). Designed to house and carry within the very power that shines through. First thing God created? Light. & God’s design, desire, and plan is that the world know his light (& in turn give him glory for the light).

• Acts 19. Paul traveling through new territory doing what? Spreading the gospel, sharing the light (do you know about the light of the world? Do you know about the savior? Lemme tell you how I met him on the road to Damascus, let me tell you how he has changed my life, let me tell you of the joy I have, the peace the forgiveness the wholeness that God has given me and that he wants to give you.)

Imagine his joy to find a community of believers, a community of converts, and disciples of John the Baptist. Converts because they don’t seem to know the Spirit of God... something is amiss... like saying “I know a great knock-knock joke. You start!” something is off. Paul finds a flashlight but it ain’t lighting.

Did you receive the HS? Do you know about batteries? HS? Batteries? What’re you talking about? Tell me about your baptism. John’s baptism.

Okay. First step. A good and necessary first step, the baptism of repentance. A gift from God, even, called prevenient grace. The welcome center along the road. But you don’t vacation to welcome centers... you start there and you embark from there. You start with repentance and embark from there, into what? What’s God’s plan? Light the world! Bring it into right relationship with God & therefore with others.

Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus & lays hands on them & they receive the Holy Spirit – the batteries, & the next leg of their journey has begun. By the grace of God they’ve been justified – forgiven and cleansed and set right – and Paul tells ’em This is the first day of the rest of your life! & they begin the process of sanctification, of the God-given renewing of their minds. Luke (author of Acts) gives a few details about the wholeness, the perfection, the shalom of the event: the 12 (God’s number) new disciples (now baptized properly & in right relationship with God) speak in tongues and they prophesy – signs that God’s plan and purpose is for all the world, not just the chosen race, and that it is for individuals and for communities.

• Spirit filled church (God’s design and plan).

John Wesley: Wherever the church is being filled with the Spirit, scriptural Christianity is coming alive... people are walking in faith.

What’s this mean? Individuals and communities that have the HS, that are plugged into God’s HS batteries are increasingly in the mind of Christ, and the folks they come in contact with are growing in Christ as well. This sanctification is a lifelong process, a continually working gift of God, again for individuals as well as communities

• in 1744 John Wesley (who’d been preaching for 20 years... he’d preach another 40 years yet) took a good look at the church around him, determined that it was so bogged down in the maintenance of its own body that it no longer needed God, so JW said farewell to the Church of England and hello to the guidance of the HS, who led him to preach in open spaces and minister to the poor and imprisoned and to those whom no one would minister to, and to ensure that the believers in the New World would have a vital connection to Christ. His examination had led him to see that the folks he was around were spending more energy on how the flashlight looked than on how it worked.

• & we hear Paul’s words for us today as we examine our commitments to Christ as individuals and as a community... we examine whether we’re at the welcome center or driving down the road, whether we’re actively in our lives and in our life bearing God’s light in our little corner of the world, whether scriptural Christianity is alive & people are walking in faith & bearing the fruits of the Spirit...

• The gift of the spirit is given freely, & we cultivate it through prayer & study & action.

• Hymn 604 Praise and Thanksgiving be to God

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 60 in worship, in spite of ice storm.

Covenant Renewal

2009-01-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

January 4, 2009
Epiphany Sunday

John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service

Service outline: (taken from The United Methodist Book of Worship)

• Today we will be sharing in John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service as we re-dedicate our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service to Almighty God, with hope, confidence, and humility, seeking God’s blessings in 2009. Our hope and prayer is that you will keep this bulletin as a reminder of your covenant with God.

• OPENING HYMN: “Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine” No. 606
(Charles Wesley wrote this hymn specifically for this service)

A covenant prayer:
Let me be your servant, under your command.
I will no longer be my own.
I will give up myself to your will in all things.
Lord, make me what you will.
I put myself fully into your hands:
put me to doing, put me to suffering,
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and with a willing heart
give it all to your pleasure and disposal.

O righteous God, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
see me as I fall down before you.
Forgive my unfaithfulness in not having done your will,
for you have promised mercy to me
if I turn to you with my whole heart.

I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all,
covenanting with you that no known sin shall be allowed in my life.
Against your will, I have turned my love toward the world.
In your power
I will watch all temptations that will lead me away from you.
For my own righteousness is riddled with sin,
unable to stand before you.

Before all heaven and earth,
I here acknowledge you as my Lord and God.
I take you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for my portion,
and vow to give up myself, body and soul, as your servant,
to serve you in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

Jesus, I do here, with humbled heart, accept Christ
as the only new and living Way,
and sincerely join myself in a covenant with him.
O blessed Jesus, I come to you,
hungry, sinful, miserable, blind, and naked,
unworthy even to wash the feet of your servants.
I do here, with all my power, accept you as my Lord and Head.
I renounce my own worthiness,
and vow that you are the Lord, my righteousness.
I renounce my own wisdom, and take you for my only guide.
I renounce my own will, and take your will as my law.

I do here covenant with you, O Christ,
to take my lot with you as it may fall.
Through your grace I promise
that neither life nor death shall part me from you.

I do here willingly put my neck under your yoke, to carry your burden.
All your laws are holy, just, and good.
I therefore take them as the rule for my words, thoughts, and actions,
promising that I will strive
to order my whole life according to your direction,
and not allow myself to neglect anything I know to be my duty.

O God, you know that I make this covenant with you today
without guile or reservation.
If any falsehood should be in it, guide me and help me to set it aright.

And now, glory be to you, O God the Father,
whom I from this day forward shall look upon as my God and Father.
Glory be to you, O God the Son,
who have loved me and washed me from my sins in your own blood,
and now is my Savior and Redeemer.
Glory be to you, O God the Holy Spirit,
who by your almighty power have turned my heart from sin to God.

O mighty God, the Lord Omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you have now become my Covenant Friend.
And I, through your infinite grace, have become your covenant servant.
So be it.
And let the covenant I have made on earth be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

• Hymn 172 My Jesus, I Love Thee (with additional verses)

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.

Christ the King

2008-11-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2008
Last Sunday in Pentecost
Christ the King Sunday

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. – Revelation 1:8

• Today we remember the Christian calendar, the liturgical year, in scripture and song. Each season or holiday has a liturgical color (although many of the holidays are “white or gold”).

No sermon today, but a verse, reflection, and hymn representing each season of the Christian year.

Advent. Purple or blue.
The Christian year begins with the anticipation of the arrival of God’s Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise. We often sing Christmas carols, although some say we should wait until Christmas to sing the Christmas carols, and sing songs of anticipation before Christmas. We light the Advent candles to mark our waiting. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas (12/25).

Christmas. White or gold.
The birth of Jesus Christ. God’s promised light comes to earth. Christmas is a 12-day season, going from December 25th to January 6th.

Epiphany. White or gold.
Celebrated in the Eastern churches as Christ coming to the world. In the Western churches (that’s us) it’s when we ‘remember’ the “wise men” who traveled far to worship the King. God revealed His light to all nations. January 6th is the day of Epiphany, and the season of Epiphany lasts until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Often about five weeks.

Lent. Purple.
The 40-day (minus Sundays) season of preparation for Easter. Often marked by repentance, prayer, fasting or self-denial, Lent (which means “spring”) is also a time of Christian instruction. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (46 days before Easter) and goes through Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter.

Easter. White or gold.
The celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, his victory over sin and death. Though the date of Easter changes, it is always the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox (March 21). The season of Easter lasts fifty days, including Ascension Day (forty days after Easter) and ending at Pentecost (fifty days after Easter).

Pentecost. Red (for the day) and green (for the season).
Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival (50 days after Passover), and is now celebrated by Christians as the birth of the Church, the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost marks the beginning of “ordinary time,” the season that spans from the end of the Easter season until Advent. In “ordinary time” (aka “Kingdomtide”) the actions of the early church are remembered.

Christ the King. White or gold.
The “New Year’s Eve” of the liturgical calendar, Christ the King Sunday celebrates, well, Jesus Christ the King of Kings. Thus the Christian year begins, revolves around, and ends in celebration of God’s gift to the world in Jesus Christ.

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 64 in worship.

on Deborah and Church Leadership

2008-11-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

November 16, 2008
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Pentecost

on Deborah and Church Leadership
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Judges 4:1-7

My sermon outline:

Oddity of Judges 4:1-7 as preaching text. Little connection before, no followup. But precisely for its oddity did I choose it.

4:1 The Israelites. (who and how many) Again. Did what was evil. (worshiped other gods, neglected to pay attention to the covenant. Recall Joshua last week (we will serve the Lord!)

Deuteronomy 5:29-33, after the receiving of the 10C:
29If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever! 30Go say to them, ‘Return to your tents.’ 31But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances, that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.” 32You must therefore be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. 33You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.

4:1 continued: In the sight of the Lord. After Ehud died.
4:2 So the Lord sold them. Allowed the king of the land (whose general named Sisera basically means servant of Ra (another god) from the city Mighty foreign warrior, harosheth haggoim) to oppress them, along the lines of slavery.

The Story of Everybody...:
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done

Silly little story, yet true, and evil. Not necessarily the evil that the Israelites did, but a seductive kind of evil called complacency or status quo. Not my job, someone else will take care of it, I don’t have to be involved, I can sit back and let others get it done.

Seems harmless enough, but evil does best when people don’t think it’s evil. Or evil thrives when good folk do nothing. Recall our problem in Judges was not with some, it was with all.

Left Judges narrative with the pattern of the book of judges: People fall away from God, they suffer the consequences (you make your bed, you lie on it), God raises a faithful leader (often to military victory), the people praise God.

Recall 4:1 Again they did evil.

And God inspires Deborah, a faithful Jew, a prophetess (one who bore a message from God) and a judge (a wise woman whom people in dispute sought). Deborah is described as the wife of Lappidoth, which means torches, so there is a kind of wordpicture of Deborah as both illuminating and inspiring. She is a leader, and she speaks for God.

Speaking the word of the Lord, she inspires another Jew, Barak son of Abinoam to take arms against Sisera (arms and ten thousand children of Israel), the commanding general of the land, declaring that God will deliver Sisera into his hand.

God is at work among the characters of today’s odd reading.

And God is at work behind the story, as well. In his righteous anger (and his hurt!) God continues to be compassionate, hearing the cry of the oppressed, whether or not the oppressed are worthy of attention. And God continues to be faithful, in spite of the infidelity of his people. God, who had delivered the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and had led them into the promised land, God who had been faithful from the beginning, would continue to be faithful.

God’s compassion and faithfulness extends through the time of the judges, through the ancient monarchy, even through the exile and into the New Testament, always and everywhere there was a thread of God’s story to be found.

As Deborah and Barak and ten thousand children of Israel had their part in the story of God’s deliverance of the people, so each of us and all of us has our part in God’s story.

Paul calls us to faith and to action in today’s reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:
6So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
11Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

God calls for and provides faithful leaders in every generation. Today in our church conference we affirm those who have answered the call to leadership in this congregation...

Listen for God’s call to action even today:
• Hymn 108 God Hath Spoken By the Prophets

- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 63 in worship.

Lord, I Want to Be Like Jesus

2008-08-31T04:51:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2008
Sixteenth Sunday in Pentecost

Matthew 16:21-28 and Romans 12:9-21

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
(Matthew 16:24)

My sermon outline:

• Sometimes the lectionary texts weave together well, usually not. Today I find they do. A lot of sayings today, some difficult, some easy. Start difficult.

• Matthew. Jesus explains Passion, Peter doesn’t want Jesus to die, Jesus responds by calling Peter Satan. Get your priorities straight: divine over human. If you’d follow me Deny yourself, Pick up your cross, and Follow me.

Self-denial not a popular topic, but remember: Love God first, love neighbor as self.

Pick up cross:
what it doesn’t mean (general suffering or burden. Cross to bear, cancer, etc).
What it does mean: voluntarily shoulder a burden, at personal cost, that will help someone who couldn’t shoulder that burden. When you pay someone else’s debt... voluntarily shouldering their burden, at cost to you. (note this is a deny-self action)

Follow me. Do what I do. So far being like Jesus is not very appealing.

• Then Jesus gets weird. Those who want to save their life will lose it, those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Is survival instinct bad? Are those folks who are evacuating the gulf coast not followers of Jesus? Nah, but if you compromise your integrity, you’ve lost it.

Teachings like these are hard, and in fact in the book of John, disciples throw the towel in... say “Follow Jesus? Pick up cross? Deny self? Eh, not me.”

• Turn the page... Romans has some almost warm and fuzzy sayings. Stuff we already do, stuff we like to do. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good, love one another with mutual affection. My favorite: outdo one another in showing honor. Good, community-building stuff. The kind of stuff that prompted folks to say See how they love one another!

But the warm fuzzies start to become less warm and fuzzy, and a little more difficult... bless those who persecute you, don’t repay evil for evil, in fact show exceeding kindness to your enemies. And forget about revenge. Don’t even go there.

• Roy and Rodney:
Roy is a prison inmate who, becoming a Christian, had some hard lessons to unlearn. All his life he had been taught to hate his enemies, particularly within prison walls. One of his most vexing enemies was Rodney, who stole his radio and headphones one day while Roy was playing volleyball in the prisonyard. The radio had been an expensive gift from his mother, and the earphones a Christmas gift from his sister. Roy was angry and wanted revenge, but as he prayed about it, it seemed to him that God was testing him.

Day after day, Roy wanted to respond violently, to knock the wisecrack grin off Rodney’s face, but Romans 12:20-21 kept coming to mind: Paul’s instruction to avoid vengeance, leaving it to God to settle the score. Roy began to look at Rodney through God’s eyes and have compassion on him. He began praying for him. He began trusting God to accomplish something in Rodney’s life.

By and by, Roy’s hatred for Rodney began fading, and he found himself helping his enemy and telling him about Jesus. Then one day, Roy later wrote, “I saw Rodney kneeling down next to his bunk reading his Bible, and I knew that good had overcome evil.”

• Peace Like A River, principle of escalation.

• From the New Interpreter's Bible:
Yes, there is evil “out there” in the world. But God’s people are to meet it in the way that even God met it: with love and generous goodness. The theology of the cross, in fact, can be glimpsed under this apparently detached ethical maxim: when God came to defeat evil this was not achieved by using an even greater evil, but by using its opposite – namely, the surprising and initially counterintuitive weapons of goodness. To be consumed with vengeful thoughts, or to be led into putting such thoughts into practice, is to keep evil in circulation, whereas the way to overthrow evil, rather than perpetuating it, is to take its force and give back goodness instead.

• These sort of things make me want to be like Jesus.

• Hymn 402 Lord I Want to Be a Christian in my Heart

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: pray for New Orleans. Again.

Kingdom Statements

2008-07-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Kingdom Statements
July 27, 2008
Eleventh Sunday in Pentecost
Matthew 13:44-52 and Romans 8:28-39
"Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."(Romans 8:38-39)
My sermon outline:
• Things kids say about heaven:

Tommy, 7: I know what heaven is, but I don’t want to go there. I want to go to NC.

Scott: Heaven is up in the sky, and you could look down at circuses for free if you want to, except you have to ask God for permission first.

David, 7: Heaven is kind of big and they sit around playing harps. I don’t know how to play a harp, but I suppose I should learn how to play that dumb thing pretty soon.

Eric, 8: It is a place where there is a lot of money lying around. You could just pick it up, play with it, and buy things. I think I am going to buy a basketball, and I am going to play basketball with my great-great-grandmother.

• For as much as we believe in heaven, it’s not talked about much. Much more energy is spent talking about specific sins (typically ones that apply to other people especially) and I’d guess more time is spent talking about stewardship and giving to the church than heaven.
And today’s no different – I’m going to talk about other peoples’ sins, and then ask you for money (jk)

• How would you describe the taste of a banana to someone who's never tasted one? Blind men describe elephant. (tail, tusk, leg). How describe heaven?

• Jesus of course, had been to Heaven, not only that he was an architect of it. If any human has ever had ability to speak with authority about H, it’s Jesus.

Jesus tells a few short parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. KOH not exactly the same thing as H, which may in fact be one of Jesus’ points. 8 parables in Mt 13, at least 7 have to do with KOH. In fact about 80 times in NT. H is like a location, KOH is more a state of being. Like “house” and “household.” I live in a house (provided by you, tyvm) and I am a member of a household, which includes M & S & cats and is more a state of being than a location. I behave a certain way because I enjoy membership in that household; by that household I am glad to order many aspects of my life.

H may be a location of sorts, but KOH is that state of being where your life is guided by principles laid out by God... where your household’s priorities are set by God... where society is aligned by God the almighty king, especially in light of his saving grace.

And since KOH is not just a location but a state of being, it is something that is both future (KOH is near) and present (KOH is here). It is coming, and it has in part already arrived.

• Jesus’ parables...
KOH is familiar (growing seed, baking bread, day to day stuff) and surprising (size, yield).
KOH is sought (merchant went out looking) and stumbled upon (plowman found)
KOH is more valuable than anything else... worthy of lining life up against
KOH involves justice (as last week, a separation of good and evil, a triumph of good)

• inasmuch as we live kingdom values, work for justice, live with compassion and humility, offer praises to God, love to neighbors, KOH is among us.

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 53 in attendance.

2008-07-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

Why do bad things happen to good people?

July 20, 2008
Tenth Sunday in Pentecost

Matthew 13:24-30 and Romans 8:17-28

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest."
(Proverbs 14:4)

My sermon outline:

• Parable is a mere six verses, a mere 140 words, combined with Romans, answers the question of all questions, why do bad things happen to good people

• first, the bad stuff. God is not the source (an enemy comes in the night and sows weeds among the wheat). There is an enemy. The weeds look like wheat at the beginning. The bad permeates the good, and is distinguishable. we would do well to keep watch in the night. Romans 8: all creation is subject to the suffering.

• God allows it. (read verse 30) Why? A number of reasons.

• Why #1. Solution could wipe out the good with the bad. If you had a blood disease, you don’t solve the problem by draining the blood. Likewise you don’t treat an infection with bleach, for although the bleach will take care of the infection it’ll take care of the healthy tissue too.

• Why #2. Timing isn’t right. God plants and wants the harvest in its time, and some things take time. You can’t speed up a pregnancy. Sashi frequently asks about time, minutes… (When will my Mac and Cheese be ready?) But she doesn’t understand minutes either… When’s the harvest gonna be ready, God? God knows, but we don’t understand God’s minutes.

• Why #3. God may in fact be pleased with the process. Growth that comes through trial, or even the strength of witness when a person doesn’t come through the trial.

Prov 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

You can have a clean barn where there are no oxen. No mess. And no production, either. Oxen in the barn means a messy barn, and gives a way to reap the harvest.

• Why #4. It’s temporary. Both Matthew and Romans affirm that there is suffering and badness now, and that it will come to an end, and that goodness will triumph. Matthew: there will be a harvest, God’s crop will come to fruition, and the weeds will be burned. Romans: Our suffering now doesn’t compare to the glory to come. Sashi’s questions can be frustrating, but like the pain of childbirth is forgotten (so I’ve heard) the love and joy far outweighs the frustration. God’s glory will be revealed in his people and in creation. Our bodies will be redeemed. In hope we are saved.

• And finally, God’s spirit is with us no matta what. Present and future. Romans 8:28

• Hymn 407 Close to Thee

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 41 in attendance. There's a heat wave. Again.

God's promise is no fairy tale

2008-06-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2008
Fourth Sunday in Pentecost

Jesus vs. Beauty and the Beast
Matthew 9:18-26 and Romans 4:13-25

“God... gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (Romans 4:17)

My sermon outline:

• Stories often share themes... Since Disney was on my mind, I saw a Disney story as I read these passages. Beauty & the Beast. Disney’s version of the classic story begins with a Prince who is transformed into a hideous beast for his lack of kindness to a stranger. Only love can break the spell.

In the course of the story he meets Belle, a beautiful young woman who is initially repulsed by the Beast’s appearance, but who comes to see that there is kindness in him. In the movie we see the two of them learning to love one another, and we hear the song “There may be something there that wasn’t there before.” There may be something there that wasn’t there before.

Fast forward to the climax of the movie and there’s this battle between the Beast and a local hunter, Gaston, and the Beast is mortally wounded. He lies dying in Belle’s arms, and as he dies, Belle confesses her love for him. Magic ensues, the dead Beast is transformed into a living Prince, and they marry and live happily ever after.

• Now the reason I saw this Disney story in my readings of Matthew 9 and Romans 4 is the parallel stories of new life, of restoration, of reanimation, and of creation. B&tB includes the story of the creation: the birth of the love between Beast and Belle – something there that wasn’t there before – and it also includes the come-back-to-life transformation at the end. Creation and reanimation. And in Romans 4:17 we see a little picture of God, who gives life to the dead (as in the end-of-the-movie) and calls into existence the things that do not exist (B&tB fall in love).

• But Romans 4:17 is about more than God giving life to the dead (as in the story of Jairus’ daughter) and calling into existence things that do not exist. Romans 4:17 speaks of God’s promise which extended back before the Law of Moses all the way to Abraham and which God has even made available to people today. That promise had to do with life, the essence of life, abundant life here and beyond, in spite of contrary signs of lifelessness – Paul reminds us of Abraham and Sarah’s advanced age, and in spite of their age God was able to fulfill his promise to them...

Romans 4:17 is about God restoring life and faith to those who were a part of the original covenant, the Jews – taking a system of law that did not lead to life and transforming it in Christ into a gracious invitation to life, giving life to the dead – AND it’s about extending that invitation to people outside the original covenant – calling into existence things that do not exist. God takes the old system and breathes life into it and then goes and offers life to even more!

• Indeed, our God is a God who is stronger than death and who wants to conquer the powers of death in our lives, whether those powers be addictions, depressions, cancers or anything that functions to separate us from God.
B&tB put some effort and faith into each other, and with the magic of a fairy-tale promise, were transformed. The promise of our God is no fairy-tale promise.

• We must be willing to reach out to touch God, believing not only in his power to transform life but in his desire to. His promise is for us and it is forever, and with his touch we are made whole.

• Hymn 367 He Touched Me

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 47 in worship. There's a heat wave.

A few words on the Word

2008-05-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

May 25, 2008
Second Sunday in Pentecost

Isaiah 55:10-13, Mark 2:13-17, 2 Corinthians 3:1-6

“My word... shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” - Isaiah 55:11

My sermon outline:

• Mr. Johnson, a businessman from Wisconsin, went on a business trip to Louisiana. He immediately sent an e-mail back home to his wife, Jennifer (JenJohnson at email dot com). Unfortunately, he forgot his wife's exact E-mail address and the e-mail ended up going to a Mrs. Joan Johnson (JJohnson at email dot com) of New Jersey, the wife of a preacher who had just passed away.
The preacher's wife took one look at the e-mail and promptly fainted. When she was finally revived by her daughter, she nervously pointed to the message, which read: 'Arrived safely, but it sure is hot down here.'

• Melissa and I text message / email a few times a day, usually. To keep in touch.

• Jesus probably would’ve text messaged. God communicates in difft ways. Me & psalm 103

• Just want to say a few words about God’s word.

• As you’ll see in newsletter, pastor’s story of reading the paper, convicted to read word. Sitting there nodding my head. Yes that’s me. Class notes in mail yesterday.

• Ironic, sad, both that we live in Age of Communication & God’s word is valued so little.
So again I renew my commitment to reading scripture for me for purpose of letting it soak into me (read it 50 times before studying it!) so that I might have closer communion with God.

• Isaiah: God promises that God’s word will be successful, it will do what it’s sposed to do. what’s it sposed to do? inform & nurture people, bring forth life & strength… increase & improve life.

• we remember that the beginning of the book of John Jesus is called the word, the word became flesh and dwelt among us…
Mark 2 the simple story of Levi, simply responding to Jesus’ call “follow me”
and Jesus the living word of God sharing his purpose of what? to bring healing and salvation to people… increase & improve life, bring forth life & strength.

• then in 2 cor that word lives in us, not by our own merit or accord, but by the spirit of God. it is a living word which gives life.

• An unknown writer said, “This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.

• Tomorrow is Memorial Day. May this song allow us national pride mixed with the humility of sharing God’s earth with others.

• Hymn 437 This Is My Song

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 56 in worship.

Making the Pledge

2008-05-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

May 18, 2008
Trinity Sunday

Joshua 24:1-27 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

“Choose this day whom you will serve...” Joshua 24:15b

My sermon outline:

• The reading from Joshua. Specific national salvation history, emphasizing GOD’s actions, GOD’s works of salvation in very real ways, GOD bringing victory and prosperity, it’s all GOD.

• Jewish history with highs and lows, including the recent generation of acquiring & settling the Promised Land.

• Michael W. Smith sang “If they were to write about the story of my life / they would have to mention you in every page they’d write”. Joshua: there’s not a part of your/our history that doesn’t have God leading us, saving us.

• Following the history, Joshua the leader (btw “Joshua” = “The Lord saves” and is pretty much the same name as “Jesus”) says OK I’m dying. I’ve followed the Lord’s commands and led us this far, now it’s time for you leaders to take up the reins... you need to decide and declare whom you are going to serve.

& just as when I marry a couple I ask “will you take this person in sickness & in health, and forsaking all others keep yourself for them as long as you both shall live” Joshua asked the people, the leaders “Will you take this God, the God of your ancestors, the God who has brought you through thick and thin, time and time again, to be your only God, to love and to serve, from this day forward and forever more?”

If you’re thinking this sounds like covenant language you’re right it is.

• You gotta love the way Joshua negotiates with the leaders:

Josh: choose
Leaders: We choose God
Josh: You can’t choose God... he’s holy, he’ll hold you accountable.
Leaders: No really, we choose God!
Josh: In front of God and all these witnesses, you know...
Leaders: We know. We choose God!
Josh: Okay then. Let’s shake on it.

Then Joshua, The Lord Saves, the leader, makes a covenant between God and the people. They decide and declare how they’ll serve God. They make a commitment.

• FFWD to NT early church Paul to Corinthians  your gifts to the church are gifts to God and are a sharing in the ministry. As you are exemplary in your service to God in so many areas, be exemplary in this area too, giving generously and faithfully, sharing in ministry.

• & so I join with Joshua in challenging you to declare your commitment, with God as your witness. As much as God was a part of the history of Joshua and his people, God is a part of OUR history AND our present. God was there as our grandparents in the faith gathered at the Lyceum on Main Street, as the Union Meeting House was soon built on this location, as the need for a new building (the Old church) was built, as the congregation planted the Rford church and then built this building... God was with us as we and the town grew together. I join with Joshua in challenging you to declare & renew your commitment to our God, the God of our predecessors, with God as your witness.

& I join with Paul in encouraging your faithful giving & ministry.

• So let us sing our faith as we prepare to offer our commitments to God.

• Hymn 581 Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: xx in worship.

The Gift of Easter

2008-03-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

March 23, 2008
EasterSunday

ReConnecting Week 4:
Acts 10:34-43 and Revelation 5:1-14

“By this gospel are you saved, if you believe...” – 1 Corinthians 15:1

My sermon outline:

• Josh McDowell story. Josh could not explain away the resurrection, the defining event in history.
Could not naturally explain dead man alive. Examined the other possibilities for an empty tomb and found them all lacking. Could not refute the testimony of hundreds of eyewitnesses.
Hundreds of OT verses that point to one man Jesus Christ being God’s supernatural means of salvation for a broken world.

• Transformation of disciples is greatest evidence for resurrection. It was the resurrection which transformed Peter’s fear into courage, Thomas’ doubt into faith. Sabbath into Sunday. Saul the Pharisee into Paul the apostle. Persecuting into preaching.

• People are changed even today, 2K years later...
God who makes all things new, who put all his fullness into one man Jesus Christ and through him to reconcile unto himself all things, by making peace through his blood, shed on a cross.

• ... because Christ rose from the grave and we take his living spirit into our own in communion... our eyes opened in the breaking of the bread.

• Hymn: In the Breaking of the Bread

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: xx in worship

ReConnecting 3: Prayer

2008-03-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

March 16, 2008
Palm Sunday

ReConnecting Week 3: Going Deep: Rediscovering the Roots of Authentic Spirituality
Isaiah 50:4-9

My sermon outline:

& so we come to the final week of Lent, the last week of Jesus’ life, the pinnacle. Time for Jesus the king to do what he came for. Spent his life in preparation for this week. It is the moment of truth, the journey to the cross.

• The cross has been the inspiration for countless works of art, throughout the centuries. In 1858 Frances Havergal visited a museum and reflected on one such painting, and went home and wrote this verse:

I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might’st ransomed be,
And quickened from the dead.
I gave, I gave my life for thee;
What hast thou given for Me?

• I find an answer in Isaac Watt’s hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”:

Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.

• How are we to find the strength do give our all? How was Jesus able to give his all this famous week? Prayer is one major factor. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it is said. Start the day out right. And of course it’s not the only food you eat all day; you nourish your body several times during the day. Sometimes too much, lol.

As food nourishes the body, so prayer nourishes the soul. We would do well to have early and constant connection with God. Talk to the one who made you (Sheryl Crow)

• We watched in the ReConnecting DVD this morning about John Wesley’s prayer room, how he would begin each day with Word and prayer. I read of another Methodist minister, Edward Bounds, in the Midwest, late 1800s, who wrote about ten books on prayer. He would rise at 4am every day for 3 hours of prayer. He writes:
Those who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. Whoever fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, he will be in the last place the remainder of the day.

• Two times to pray: when you feel like it, and when you don’t.

• Philippians 2:5-11 tells us to have the mind of Jesus. Our reading from Isaiah today gives a glimpse of what Jesus was willing to go through for us. A reading through the gospels shows how often Jesus went off by himself to pray. First thing he did after Palm Sunday was to return the Temple to being a house of prayer. Last thing he did before he was arrested was to spend time in prayer.

• Rise early this week. Give an hour or half an hour or even 15 minutes to God in morning prayer, before you do anything else. Read a verse or a chapter. Reflect on the day’s ReConnecting lesson. Reflect on your day’s schedule. Pray for God to speak to you, and then listen. Take a few minutes during the day and stop what you’re doing to pray. And see if God doesn’t bless you.

• Hymn 301 Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 87 in worship

ReConnecting 2: John Wesley

2008-03-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

March 9, 2008
5th Sunday in Lent

ReConnecting Week 2: Coming Home: Rediscovering the Roots of the Wesleyan Movement
Matthew 25:31-46 and Ephesians 2:1-10

My sermon outline:

• The Parable of the Life-Saving Station (google it). Simple but powerful and painfully revealing.

• John Wesley came of age in a time when the Church was existing for itself, and few were to be found living Matthew 25, practicing scriptural holiness. What do you do? He started. “He pursued a rigidly methodical and abstemious life, studied the Scriptures, and performed his religious duties diligently, depriving himself so that he would have alms to give”. Gathered a few peers together to do the same. (rigidly methodical. yet I can keep to something rigidly methodical much better than flybynight. challenge may be to keep it alive). When JW saw how the life-saving station that was the church of England had become a Club he started to train as a lifeguard, doing the dirty work of the gospel. When the order of the Church was threatened by the number and kind of people responding to the gospel of salvation by faith that JW was preaching and he was blacklisted from the churches he began to speak to people whenever and wherever they would listen, even using his father’s tomb as a pulpit. People responded by thousands.

• The Parable of the LSS has been around for a long time. Interestingly, where perhaps a generation ago people wanted both to be in the LSClub and also do the work of the LSS, nowadays both club membership and lifesaving activity is dwindling. People are not only losing interest in the LSS, they’re actively turned off from it. Ask a non-churchgoer why they don’t go to church & what do they say? Hypocrites. Judges.

People who see the value and need for saving lives but who don’t connect that mission with the Church. They know not the power of Jesus Christ, they know not his grace, they don’t see the positive result of life in Christ.

• Trusting God – Demonstrating God’s Love… How and to whom?

• When he was a young adult JW put life of faith into practice, moved by passion to preach to those who know not the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8). Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save and heal. JW moved to overcome obstacles…

• Oddly enough JW was not doing something new, he was doing something old. Allow me to share with you a few paragraphs from his sermon “On Laying The Foundation Of The New Chapel”, preached on Monday, April 21, 1777 (JW was 74 years old).

• People hunger for community, to connect with God, to serve. These are things people are looking for & are not only vital to our survival, they’re what God wants us to do.

• Hymn 183 Jesu, Thy Boundless Love to Me, words by Paul Gerhardt, translated by John Wesley. The hymnal gives no tune for it, and honoring our getting in touch with the roots of Methodism, let us sing it to the tune of “Faith of our Fathers”

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 59 in worship

ReConnecting 1/7: Getting Our Bearings

2008-03-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

March 2, 2008
One Great Hour of Sharing

ReConnecting Week 1: Getting Our Bearings
Isaiah 45:18-25 and Acts 2:42-47 and Revelation 7:9-12

My sermon outline:

• A traveling pastor had just arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, the pastor thanked him and said, "If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven."

"I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."

• Place I like to eat, 27 miles away from here. 21 mi from Reading. 16 mi from Lanc.
Using those three points of reference you might figure out it’s Shady Maple.

• We read from three books of the Bible today, one somewhat ancient history (Isaiah, 2700 years ago) one from after the birth of the Church (Acts, 2000 years ago) and one from the future (Revelation) just as a way of referencing where we are.

• Through the witness of Isaiah (and many others) There is no other God; there is salvation in God and God alone; only in God is there righteousness and strength, and to God alone shall every knee bow and tongue confess.

We stand on this foundation.

• From the records of the early church Acts, they were devoted to teaching and fellowship and communion and prayer, and God did wondrous things and “added to the number those who were being saved.”

We bear this witness.

• God gives us a glimpse of what shall be, uncountable folks from everywhere, praising God together.

This is where we’re going.

• ReConnecting is a tool we’ll use on the journey. To find Shady Maple, a map would be a useful tool. A compass would be a useful tool. The experience of someone who had been there would be a useful tool. ReConnecting is a tool we’ll use on our journey in Christ. It’s a tool that incorporates daily readings of scripture as well as the writings of John Wesley. Like the early church it includes teaching and prayer and fellowship.

We’ll examine the original vision of John Wesley as we seek to be faithful to God in a time of rapid societal change.

We’ll examine spiritual practices and how they can give us passion and motivation and strength.

We’ll see how we can move creatively into the future, without losing connection to our traditions and history.

How can you participate?

By the grace of God we’ll reaffirm our place in God’s church, where God does wondrous things and adds to the number of those who are being saved.

A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates.

St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."

"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."

"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"

"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."

"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."

"One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."

"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.

"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!"

"Come on in!"

• Hymn insert: In the Breaking of the Bread

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 73 in worship

Water-wanting Wilderness Wanderers

2008-02-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

February 24, 2008
Third Sunday in Lent

Water-wanting Wilderness Wanderers
Exodus 17:1-7 and Romans 5:1-11 and John 4:5-42

My sermon outline:

• Read Romans 5:1-11. Read Exodus 17:1-7. And since we’re people of the book and we believe that the scriptures contain all things needful for salvation (don’t skimp!), read John 4:4-52 too.

What connection do you notice between the Exodus and the John?

• Water. Israelites’ question is valid, even if it’s not asked in the right way. Water is basic need for survival. Its importance magnified by the number of people and their location in the wilderness or desert. What we see in Exodus is that God provides water, the source of life. What we see in John is that God is the source of life. And the Israelites complain.

And it’s easy to pick on the Israelites for their lack of faith. God has rescued them, provided food and water for them and they forgot right away. This after ten miraculous signs of God’s power and involvement in their lives while they were yet in Egypt... How quickly people can forget God’s blessing. Seems the minute skies aren’t rosy they complain.

What do we do when things aren’t right, when you’re wandering in the wilderness wanting water? Seek God? Seek solution? Complain and or accuse and blame God?

We read in Romans 5 that God proves his love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. That if God is going to give his life for sinful and complaining folk, of course he’s going to save what he’s reconciled. Likewise, ye water-wanting wilderness wanderers, if God is going to redeem people out of Egypt of course he’s going to meet your needs in the desert.

Because they’re entitled? No. They deserve it or earned it? No. Because God is God. It may not be what they expect, but God redeems and sustains.

Likewise, God will provide for his church. Maybe not in the way we expect, but yeah.

God provides the source of life and God is the source of life. God will not leave us abandoned.

• God’s plan involves our participation. God told Moses go, with leaders. I’ll be there. Do this.

Jesus and the woman at the well: the woman went and told and brought many to belief.

• All while we’re covered by the stain of sin.

God is the initiator. We follow and do. Never thirst, and I will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God pours love and grace into our hearts.

• Pray: We thirst, you provide, even yourself. We complain, you offer grace. We scarcely understand your love. We thank you for cleansing us and sustaining us. Move us to do your will.

• Hymn 111 How can we name a love?

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 64 in worship

On the Parable of the Donuts

2008-02-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

February 10, 2008
First Sunday in Lent

from Romans 5:12-19

My sermon outline:

• Though the language may be complex, Paul is clear in Romans. Sin came into the world through one man, and all have eaten of that fruit... there is no one righteous. All are separated from God.

And, through the actions of ONE, the life, the choices, the strength, the willingness of ONE, there is grace and righteousness and life. Through ONE uniquely qualified individual, the opportunity of life is given to all.

• Pastors steal stories. When I first heard this story I knew it needed to be told again, so I pray your indulgence while I read it. There are a few variations, and its author is unknown, but it touches deeply:

The Parable of the Donuts

• What would you do/feel as one of Steve’s classmates? What do you think Steve would appreciate most from his classmates? Eat the donut?

• We have received an invitation to life from Jesus, who lived the life we could not live – we have been unable to resist temptation (well sure, we do have successes but not one of us has a perfect record), but Jesus resisted temptation. He willingly gave of himself so that we could live. Our place in this world and the next depends on our reception of him. Our best response is to love him above all others, to cling to him, to live lives of gratitude, and to do whatever it takes to resist temptation.

• Hymn 395 Take Time to be Holy

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 70 in worship.

Abraham and Isaac - the Test of Faith

2008-01-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2008

from Genesis 22

My sermon outline:

• pop quiz time. Take out your bulletins, write your name at the top on the back, get a pen or a pencil, it’s time for a test.
1) What is the name of Abraham’s first-born son?
2) What is the name of my first-born?
3) What did God command Abraham to do in Genesis 22?

pop quizzes are stereotypically nerve-wracking – what was your initial response to hearing you were gonna have one? – but quizzes and tests serve a few purposes: they allow both teacher and student to evaluate the student’s knowledge of the subject taught, and they can indicate the particular effectiveness of the teacher… if a bunch of people miss the same question, for example, then that’s an indicator for an area the teacher needs to go over again.

Ans 1) Ishmael
Ans 2) Alexandra
Ans 3) flip your bulletin over for that answer: God’s command to Abraham was to take Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering…

• Right off the bat, in Genesis 22, God tests Abraham. No bones about it, it’s a test. Important to remember here, though, that there’s a difference between testing and tempting. Satan tempts us to bring out evil in us and ultimately to destroy us. Satan’s goal is to get us to rebel against God. When God puts us to the test, he always does so to bring out the good in us or to help someone else have the faith and courage to do that which is right. God never tempts us to do that which is evil. When God tests, it’s to bring out good, and God is interested in evaluating our spiritual health and growth. We were not designed to remain the same all our lives, we were designed for lifelong growth in relationship to God. When we get around to Genesis 22, Abraham is over 100 years old, possibly as old as 135, and God was interested in Abraham’s commitment to God.

In our reading from Matthew today, by the way, Jesus gives the disciples a little pop quiz. He wanted to test them, see what they knew, where they stood, see how the people were receiving him. Peter passes this test, identifying and confessing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. One of the things we’re called to do in this world is tell other people that… we want lots of people to pass that test, and the answer is simple.

• My little pop quiz was simple. God’s test of Abraham was not. Nigh unthinkable, unconscionable. I don’t know if it makes it any better that God didn’t tell Abraham to kill his son but merely to “offer him as a burnt offering”, and I don’t know if I know of anyone who could pass the test God gave Abraham. Could you?

• Another pop-quiz:
1) What’s the first commandment?
2) What’s the “greatest commandment”?
3) What’s the honor code of the Marines?

Ans 1) No other gods before me.
Ans 2) love God heart soul mind strength
Ans 3) God country corps (sometimes God Country Family Corps, but always God first.)

"Anything I put before my God is an idol.
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol.
Anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol.
Anything that I give all my love is an idol."
(“Clear the Stage” by Ross King).

Children are gifts, but should we put the gift above the Giver?

• God’s command: go to the place I’ll show you (sound familiar? – God had all the details taken care of, all Abraham needed to do was trust), take your only son, whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering. And Abraham does so without hesitation. He doesn’t offer excuses or objections, he offers obedience, tempered with a faith that if God required the sacrifice of his son through whom God had explicitly promised innumerable offspring, then God would provide. So great was Abraham’s faith, remember, that he told his servants “Isaac and I are gonna go worship over there, and then we’ll be back.” We.

• Abraham passed the test. (read from God’s response)

• What does this incident tell us of Isaac, the boy whose name means laughter, the one through whom God’s promise was to be fulfilled?

Jewish legend offers that Isaac may have been even my age, based on the fact that in chapter 23 the death of Sarah is reported, and she was 127 (and bore Isaac at 90).

The only exchange we have here is Isaac’s question, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham’s answer either left Isaac ignorant of what was going to happen, or Isaac went willingly anyway. Either way, it’s apparent he was familiar with the burnt offering (perhaps it was something he’d witnessed before; perhaps he only knew about it because of this special trip) and apparently he trusted his father and his God.

A little aside about Isaac: Isaac gives us a picture of Christ… going to be the sacrificial lamb, even carrying on his back the instrument of his own death. And though Isaac didn’t actually die, even scripture tells us in Hebrews 11 that figuratively Isaac was brought back from the dead. God’s promise was fulfilled through the participation of this beloved and innocent son.

• Remember that a test assess both the student (Abraham) and the teacher (God). As I said before, God led Abraham to a place God had prepared beforehand, and provided the necessary sacrifice. God’s faithfulness to his promises is revealed here, and his faithfulness to his people is revealed here. God, who asked this incredible thing of Abraham, is willing to do exactly the thing he asks Abraham to do: just as Isaac gives us a glimpse of Christ, so Abraham gives us a glimpse of God, offering his only son, his son whom he loved.

• You’ve heard it said that “The will of God will not lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.” God didn’t test Abraham and abandon him, he stayed with him the whole way, giving Abraham the strength he needed to make the offering God had asked for. And I think of a host of scriptures that connect to God’s actions in this test, that apply to us today as well: “God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13). “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). “You are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:4).

• From this test God revealed that he would provide the lamb for the sacrifice. God proves his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). John the Baptist said Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. That is what the world needs. That is what each of us needs. Trust him today as your Lord, that he might also be your Savior. Wherever God is calling us, whatever place God has prepared for us, he will not abandon us, or lead us where he will not go. We are God’s children, and God is faithful.

• Hymn 141 Children of the Heavenly Father

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 71 in worship

In The Beginning God

2008-01-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

January 13, 2008
First Sunday after the Epiphany

from John 13:12-17 and 2 Chronicles 27

My sermon outline:

• Some scientists challenge God to a contest… “We have discovered how to make life…” God accepts their challenge. As they begin collecting some dirt from which to make life, God says “Wait a minute. Make your own dirt.”

• The other day, Sponge Bob Square Pants. Where’d he come from?

Janet M. funeral yesterday. Story of where she came from. That was the middle of an earlier story, though, one that even goes back to the physical construction of this church. And that was the middle of an earlier story.

Every story goes back to another one. Sashi sometimes asks how God made puppies…

Every story goes back to another one.

Except God’s. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There is no “before God”. Gospel of John puts it a little differently – in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The beginning of the story is the introduction of God.

• God is introduced as being supreme in power and in wisdom. Having the knowledge and the ability to speak creation out of nothing, order out of chaos, existence out of nothingness. And he takes the dust he has made and forms it into a person, then breathes life into it.

• If you ask who any one of us are, we are likely to give responses in relationship to others. I’m pastor of Spring City UMC, I’m a husband, a father, a son, etc. God identifies himself in relation to himself. Generations after creating earth, creating life, God sends Moses. Who shall I say sent me? “I AM WHO I AM”

• God declares that creation is good. “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good…” God don’t make no junk. It was good because it was made by God and it was good because it had been ordered by God. And though God rested on the 7th day, God continued to order and set plans in motion, even laying the foundation for the redemption of humanity and the reconciliation of all creation.

• God’s good creation inspires generations to awe. The psalmist wrote “When I consider… what is man that you are mindful of him?” and he answers “you have crowned him with glory and honor.” Upon the creation of mankind, God saw that it was very good.

• Made in the image of God. Not necessarily look like God, but bear the characteristics. Rational and creative, moral and spiritual, ability to be like God.

• From this beginning we see God involved with the restoration and reconciliation of creation. Restoration (returning to original new state) and reconciliation (to make good again, reunite, bring together again)

• We are what he has made us to be, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

• Hymn 117 O God Our Help In Ages Past

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 71 in worship

Abide in Me

2007-11-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2007
All Saints' Sunday

from John 15:1-9

My sermon outline:

• In church today:
Baptism of KG
Reception of new members EB (mother of CB) and JM.
Remembrance of All Saints’ Day
Celebration of Holy Communion

• A few simple touch points from this lesson: God the Creator, the Giver of Life, made us to be producers. To create, to give life. We can do this by being connected to Jesus, and therefore being connected to others who are in Jesus.

• God desires that we be disciples, that the words of Jesus be in us. Like the name of a loved one is in you, like their stories are in you, Jesus is to be in us. And that will make us fruitful, productive.

• We celebrate the connection today in the baptism of KG. There’s a new leaf on the J&P branch, and it will grow into a branch of its own.

• We celebrate the connection today in the membership vows of EB and JM, even as we reaffirm our own vows with each other and with God.

• We celebrate the connection today as we remember those who have gone before us, mothers, fathers, teachers, mentors, even spouses and children. We celebrate because in Christ we’re still connected to them and we’ll see them again.

• Be connected. Know God’s word as well as you know the names and stories of your loved ones.

Be a disciple. Produce fruit for God. And give God the glory.
Celebrate the connection.

• God of our ancestors, God of generations yet unborn: It is your will so to fill us with your own Being, so to forgive us even when we fail you, that we may be called your holy people.

For the multitude of the faithful whom we cannot remember for the vastness of their number and the distance of their days, we bless your holy name.

For the multitude of the faithful whom we do remember because they have touched our lives and given us instruction and inspiration, we bless your holy name.

We remember
Emma J. Phil Y. Dick W. Dick M. John H, Jr.
Ed K. Harry U, Jr. John H, Sr. John H. (unrelated to the other John H's) Lorin S.

We name other departed loved ones before you in our hearts.

We thank you for their lives, for their faithful witness and testimony.
Receive them all into your arms of mercy. Let your light perpetual shine upon them, and cause us to be numbered with them in your everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

• Hymn: The Church's One Foundation

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 70 in worship. All Saints' remembrance. Baptism. Reception of new members. Communion Sunday. Luncheon. Full day!

On A Scale of One to God

2007-10-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

October 7, 2007
World Communion Sunday

from 2 Timothy 1:1-11 and Luke 17:5-10

My sermon outline:

• Strange sayings of Jesus today. Ask for faith, get reminded of inadequacy, followed by strange parable of working hard without rest or reward or even thanks. “To be honest, Jesus, I prefer the ‘come unto me ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest’ kind of sayings.” Not the work all day then work some more and don’t get paid or thanked. That bugs us.

• We figure it’s like one of those legal scales. You put the worker’s outdoor labor in one pan. Put the household labor in the same pan. Fairness says that someone’s gotta put something in the other pan to even things out. Preferably payment. Thanks, at minimum. Not so in this parable.

• Consider the scale and parenting. How much to raise a child? ($200K) Put a dollar amount in the pan. Dollar amount includes cost of feeding, clothing, housing, childcare, educating, etc. More than a dollar amount, there’s the emotional cost, etc. all in the same pan.

What could a kid put in the other pan to pay the parent back? $200K? Nothing. Can’t buy it. Perhaps the best thing a kid can do is live to make the parent proud.

• That’s what Jesus’ strange story is saying. What can you put in your pan? “I’m a good person.” We’ll start there. Put your good deeds, acts of kindness and righteousness and mercy in the pan. Put in your voluntary service: you were on the school board and the borough council and every church committee imaginable. Let’s put your charity in there too: you serve at the soup kitchen, you went to New Orleans to clean up after Katrina, and you funded a school and a well in Ghana West Africa. Put your obedience to God in there. Your prayers, your devotions, your church attendance. Your tithes and offerings, your living out of Matthew 25 and Micah 6:8, your very heart. Let’s even put your suffering in there. Every time you’ve been wronged by someone else, every burden you’ve carried for God, every grief and ununderstandable pain. Pan’s pretty heavy.

What does God put in the other pan? Grace. God doesn’t owe us.

• Our obedience never puts God in our debt.

God doesn’t have to be gracious and compassionate to us, but he does it anyway. Chooses to be gracious and merciful, chooses to be self-sacrificial for relationship. & so should we.

God doesn’t owe us. God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Tim 1:9-10)

• God doesn’t owe us. God feeds us.

• Hymn: In the Breaking of the Bread (Bart)

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 76 in worship. Hot October. Communion Sunday.

There Will Be A Future

2007-09-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2007

from Jeremiah 32

My sermon outline:

• Ancient property transaction. Seller (w/in family). Deed, signed, sealed, witnessed. Money exchange in public. Record kept in a safe place.

Some context at beginning of passage (Jeremiah under house arrest, city under attack, year wrt contemporary kings)

• Additional context: year is about 587 BC (about 2600 years ago), in Jerusalem, 3 miles from Jer’s hometown of Anathoth. Jeremiah has been serving the Lord for 20-30 years (back up from now to Rev. Jenkins. Recall what this church was like 20-30 years ago...)

• Jerusalem is under siege, has been occupied for ten years by the Babylonian army. Zedekiah is king, but he was put there by the Babs, and doesn’t really hold much power. Ten years earlier (597 BC) the Babs arrested and deported the king. The queen. A number of officials and citizens. Took them six hundred miles away. And 130 years earlier (that’s our congregation’s entire history plus a bit) half of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians.

It’s not a hopeful point in history.

• Jeremiah is under house arrest for having reported the word of the Lord: that Zedekiah’s rule is about to end, he’ll be conquered by the Babylonians, and that resistance to the Babs will fail.

• And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Your cousin is gonna offer to sell you a field. Buy it.

He’s under house arrest in a city that’s been militarily occupied for ten years, under arrest for prophesying the immanent destruction of the city. Property value is not good. If you’re a landowner in this time and place (if you’re still around) it’s time to get out!

It’s not time to buy! Not a good idea. Doesn’t make any sense. Irrational. Foolish. Wasteful. Denying reality.

• “God told me to do this.” Bad idea. Bad investment. Investment: purchase something now that is expected to increase in value. You’re doing opposite. Guaranteed loss.

• Jeremiah doesn’t care about that, Jer cares about listening to God. He’ll put his money on the line. His reputation. His energy. These do not keep him from following God. Only thing that matters is what God says, and God says There Will Be A Future.

You may not be able to see it, but TWBAF. Faith is the substance of things unseen (Heb 11:1). May look foolish & irrational but TWBAF. We walk by faith & not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a new future. (Jer 29:11) God says TWBAF.

• Some of you may know who Doug Wead is. DW is an author, presidential historian, philanthropist, businessman. CoFounder of one of the largest international relief and humanitarian organizations, Mercy Corps. Back in 91 or 92, after the end of the Cold War, Doug Wead was speaking to a group of independent business owners in Kazakhstan, where free market had just been introduced. Wead tells about the motivation of these business owners, who knew that with all their efforts, they still would never get out of debt. They knew that with all their efforts, their children might not know economic freedom. They were motivated by the possibility that their children’s children might know economic opportunity and prosperity.

• God asked Jeremiah to buy a field in a land that was about to be overcome by foreigners as a witness and testimony to the not-distant future when houses and fields and vineyards would be once again bought in Israel. Jeremiah may never have seen the fruit of his investment, but that day came in the lifetime of his children, in 537 BC.

• I don’t believe we’ll have to wait that long. There are some tough and inevitable things in our future, that we can’t deny. Some of you may not see the revival of this church. But our future is redeemable. I know because God is touching people here and around us. In the last few years even in this region, churches have been born and have produced fruit – we’re not in a desert. We have the ability to affect our image and our body to the glory of God and in cooperation with God.

This text is about betting on the future, which belongs to the expectations, the make-up, the discipline of the community of faith. It is about a risky act of trust and hope, based on the promise of God that we will not be abandoned or forsaken, but that God invites us into living covenant with him. This chapter is about the marvelous power of God to effect a surprising future, to effect a radical reversal of present reality. These things, God can do and God does do.

Our job is to listen to God and not be overwhelmed by circumstances, to invest, in body, mind, pocketbook, and soul, to trust that TWBAF, that houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought in this land, that Sunday school rooms shall be filled with children and that pews shall be filled with families, because we are bought and redeemed by the great redeemer Jesus Christ, whose name we bear and whose glory we sing.

13In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus... I charge you 14to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

• Hymn 526: What A Friend We Have in Jesus

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 60 in worship.

Cry Out to God

2007-09-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2007

from Psalm 97

My sermon outline:

• Not your typical sermon fodder, Psalm 79. We tend to be more comfortable with the rose-colored glasses. I was tempted to skip this Psalm (lectionary) and I’da been in good company: John Wesley deleted Psalm 79 and 49 others from the daily devotional readings because he deemed them “highly improper for the mouths of a Christian congregation.”

However a UM worship preparation resource website suggested “Don’t skip this psalm. Lead your congregation in prayer with it.” Cuz whether or not you think Christians should feel the things this Psalmist feels, they do feel them.

• Psalm facts. 150 psalms, many types. both God’s words to humankind and humankind’s words to God. Lament (communal, individual), thanksgiving, praise, song, royal, wisdom… 79 is a psalm of communal lament. Laments make up the largest chunk of the psalms – somewhere around one-third of the psalms are psalms of lament.

Characteristic elements of lament psalms include a cry out to God, a description of trouble, a plea or petition for God’s help, a profession of faith or trust in God, and a promise of praise.

At times the laments may seem pessimistic, at times harshly judgmental, and at times they’re just what the doctor ordered, they’re statements of faith even in tones of despair. They can be cathartic, healing, as if uttering them somehow releases pressure or poison, somehow strengthens resolve. You may never think of bad news as good news but there’s times. (Tricia’s diagnosis was good news cuz it meant we knew something).

• Psalms are poetry, and while you can learn something by dissecting, there is much power in its imagery and in what it evokes within you. Without that evocative power something vital would be lost. Big difference between saying “God takes care of me” and “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

• So my re-imagining of this psalm:
World forces have conspired against you, God;
they have severely beaten your earthly body.
They’ve shamed and humiliated
your servants who love you.
How long will you let this happen, Lord?

Turn your righteous anger on those
who mock you and shame your people, Lord.
Turn your anger away from your servants and their children,
for we have been brought low.
For the sake of your good name,
deliver us, restore us, forgive us.
Don’t let the enemy laugh at you because of us – show them who you are!

We praise you, Lord;
we remember your steadfast love forever.

• As Augustine invites, so I invite thee to WRITE.
If the Psalm prays, you pray;
if it laments, you lament;
if it rejoices, rejoice with it;
if it hopes, express your hope too;
if it fears, you also fear;
for all things written herein
serve to mirror ourselves.

• How have you / your family / your community been brought down, shamed, ruined? How have you been mocked? What causes your soul to grieve? Write it down. Pray it.

• Verse 5: we often say “God is in control”. Ask God why things are the way they are. Cry out to God for help, for salvation, for deliverance. What would you ask of God? What would you ask God to do? Why should God listen to you?

• What do you have to offer to God? Not in terms of trading or bartering, but what will you give God regardless of circumstances?

• On a recent hospital visit notes of encouragement and praise for coworkers. What notes would you give to God? What praises do you have right now?

• Hymn 430: O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 66 in worship. Lovely weather.

God Delights In Doing The Impossible

2007-09-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2007
UMC Special Offering: Health and Welfare Sunday

from Luke 18:15-17 and 1 Timothy 1:12-17

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." – 1 Timothy 1:15

My sermon outline:

• Funny song I heard performed by Jim Cole once:

So the man said to God, "What's a million years to you?"
And God said, "A second."

Then the man said to God, "What's a million dollars, too?"
And God said, "A penny."

So the man said to God, "Will you give me a penny?"
And God said, "Sure, you'll just have to wait a second."

God is good all the time.

Last week SS time is funny cuz we’re in it, can’t imagine being out of it. Like fish imagining life out of water.

Time like hourglass.
We can see the past, but we can’t change it, can’t get it back. Might be able to hide it, forget it, but can’t make it go away. We can examine different parts of it, learn from it, build on it, even celebrate it...
Sometimes present rushes by we sometimes have to take conscious effort to make the most of it, sometimes we tap the hourglass to see if we can make the present go by any faster; we can use it wisely or waste it...
The future we can make educated guesses about, based on present and past, signs that we see; we can make plans for it but chances are those plans will have to be adjusted, that’s why whenever you drive a car you hold the steering wheel instead of just letting go, even going straight always adjusting...
make plans for it or worry about it, but undoubtedly the wisest thing we can do is entrust it to God.

• Paul shares a few snapshots of time with us in his first letter to Timothy, the older, experienced pastor sharing some wisdom from his past with the newer Christian convert slash pastor, examining and contrasting his own past with his now. I was blasphemer, persecutor, a violent man, the greatest of sinners, Paul says. We talk about people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley... for first century Jews, that was Saul. The last person you’d expect to be a witness for Jesus Christ (Ananias, Acts 9)

• But God delights in surprising people, in turning impossible things around. God had taken the infamous Saul, greatest of persecutors, and worked him into the greatest of evangelists. God gave mercy to Paul, so that when people looked at him they might not see the evil deeds of his past but instead his relationship with Jesus Christ. Mercy is an act of compassion when you’re set free from the wrongs you committed... Mercy says “that’s the past and this past need not be your future. By God’s grace, Paul received the free gifts of abundant faith and love. Mercy prevented Paul from getting his just reward; grace was a present aid to go towards the future, toward what God would have Paul become.

And if God could redeem Paul, if God could use him in his service, God could use anyone. God’s showing grace and mercy to Paul showed that God’s grace and mercy were deep.

• God delights in surprising people, and God delights in turning impossible things around. For the foremost sinner, the hardest human worker against the gospel to become its greatest supporter, impossible, unless you’re God. In the book of Judges, Gideon was leading an Israelite army against an enemy that was nigh uncountable – their camels numbered as the grains of sand, and Gideon had a mere 32K men. God ... whittled it down to 300, to show without a doubt that it was God who had the victory, so that the men might not boast in their own strength.

When the apostles had been spreading the good news of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem for a while, the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, wondered what to do about it, and Gamaliel, a Jewish teacher of the law stood up and advised about future actions of the Sanhedrin: “If these men who claim to be doing God’s will aren’t, it’ll come out, we’ll know cuz they’ll fail. But if they are doing God’s will, nothing we do will be able to prevent it.”

• So I look at these things, that God delights in surprising people, and God delights in turning impossible things around, and I see hope for our future. May we make the best of our present, that our future may be guided by and credited to God. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.

• Hymn: A Charge to Keep I Have

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 57 in worship. muggy.

Ask A Pastor: Who Goes There? Questions About Hell.

2007-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2007

from Luke 16:19-31 and Matthew 8:5-13

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." – Romans 10:9

My sermon outline:

• Last week on death. It happens to everyone; there is bodily conscious life beyond death; there are spiritual powers in the world that are not to be trifled with; Christ has cancelled power of death. For those in Christ, life after death is glorious and in God’s presence.

And then there’s the questions on your bulletin cover today.

• I would love to simply turn to the KJV reading of 2 Peter 3:9 (God is not willing that any should perish; cf NIV et al, 'not wanting'), justifying that eternal punishment (conscious and bodily) is inconsistent with God’s abundant mercy, and that it is disproportionate to any crime we can commit (imagine being grounded for entire childhood because you lied, yet in many ways life as we know it is childlike compared to the life that is to come); however doing so somewhat takes away not only from God’s justice but from Jesus’ sacrifice.

Barna 2003: 76% of Americans believe heaven exists, 71% believe Hell exists. 39% describe hell as state of eternal separation, 32% it’s an actual place of torment and suffering.

There’s certainly enough talk of hell in the NT, that it’s difficult to deny. However, our 21st C understanding of hell may well be very different than Jesus’ 1st C use of the concept. Words do change. There was a time if you told your parents you had a gay time at the park they wouldn’t give you a queer look.

• Have you heard other terms for Hell? Hades, Gehenna, Sheol. Different concepts, somewhat merged.

• Sheol is the older concept, the OT/ancient Jewish concept. Uncertain meaning, shadowy, grave, pit. Neutral place of dead. Something between conscious and non-existent. Not a place of punishment, although the idea of despair (at not being in God’s presence) starts to kick in, and as history brings us closer to Jesus’ time, punishment starts to figure in a bit. What Dreams May Come, Annie is in a sheol-like existence, lost in her own despair When Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man, he’s talking about Sheol, using the Greek word Hades, and we’re given a glimpse of a split afterlife: Lazarus in Bosom of Abraham, and rich man in fiery torment. It’s now that sheol/hades starts to merge with the more familiar image of hell, Gehenna.

• Gehenna was an actual place, bordering Jerusalem, and it was an unpleasant place. Today we might call certain sections of cities ghettoes, this would evoke similar images. Gehenna had in ancient times been a place where child sacrifices were made to pagan gods; naturally (or perhaps superstitiously) it didn’t morph into the high-rent district but turned into a garbage dump slash incinerator, where the fires always burned and the stench never ended. It is this word that is most often translated as hell in the NT, and just as Sheol/Hades changes meanings a few thousand years ago, Gehenna goes from geographical location to place of judgment and punishment.

Sidebar: Purgatory. Post-death place of purification, kinda grew out of concept of what if you are believer but die with unconfessed unrepented sins? You need cleansed before you can enter into God’s presence. There is scant scriptural support for this concept, plus it’s apocryphal. Sola scriptura, sola fide is enough for protestants.

• In the gospels, Jesus speaks the most about hell in Matthew (mostly Gehenna) and if you take a look at the contexts Jesus speaks about it, you find a few things: he is typically exhorting Pharisees, pointing out the differences between the spirit of God’s law and their heartless pretense. Jesus is speaking to religious leaders who should be humbled in the sight of the Lord but who have abandoned truth for power and position; it is such as these that fiery garbage pits are for. In Matthew 25:41 Jesus tells about the unfaithful, the ones who should have been examples of God’s mercy and love, being sent “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

There’s a difference between talking about being grounded for eternity for believing the wrong thing and telling stories designed to get you to change your ways and set you on the right path. Think of the bogeyman

• So there’s this muddied picture of hell, taking elements from the simple place of the dead plus the image of a burning garbage heap, plus judgment for religious leaders gone bad. Stewards. If you had two kids, and left one of them in charge of the laundry and asked the other one to help and you came home and the laundry wasn’t even started, who would you be more upset with? Jesus’ use of hell imagery was for the ones who were supposed to be in charge!
23 minutes in hell Bill Weise, went to hell, brought back by Jesus. “Some unusual things God is doing to help people awaken to the truth.”  Jesus is way, truth, life.

• Now. People of other religions? We may well be surprised at who is and who is not in heaven.
Matthew 8 centurion (outsider) sees the truth and power in Jesus and is edified/blessed, while Jesus says ‘twon’t be the case for all insiders even, for the stewards who have neglected their duty.
Psalm 71:14 I will always have hope
Revelation 20:12 the dead (sheol) will be judged by their deeds.
CS Lewis Chronicles, Last Battle. Hope.

• Bottom line, I trust there will be nothing to complain about. I trust that God’s sense of justice and mercy are far greater than mine, and that what God decides will be right.

• And cling to Romans 10:9: confess with lips JC=Lord and believe in heart that God raised him... follow Jesus, repent, believe.

• Hymn 562 Jesus, Lord, We Look To Thee

- Pastor Kerry
This Sunday: 57 in worship. muggy.