Newnan FUMC: Recent Episodes
Newnan FUMC
Genesis 32:22-31 - Jacob Wrestles With God22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Luke 7:31-35
Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
Acts 20:7-12 - Eutychus Raised From the Dead at Troas7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
Acts 8:26-40 - Philip and the Ethiopian26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Matthew 21:12-17
Jesus at the Temple12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Matthew 10:24-39
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Psalm 331 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
Genesis 1:1-2:4 - The Beginning1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Acts 2:1-36
Acts 2:1-36 - The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
John 14:15-21 - Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Faith in Action - Covering the world in LOVE! This episode features the entire Children's Sunday service rather than a clip of the message. The live stream was affected during the first ~10 minutes, but audio improves after that.
Scripture Readings from:
Psalm 118:24 & Proverbs 3:5
Matthew 18:12-13
Psalm 37:3
1 John 4:9
1 Chronicles 29:14 & Colossians 3:14
Matthew 19:14, Psalm 127:3, & Psalm 56:3
Isaiah 26:3 & Psalm 119:105
Galatians 5:22-23
Micah 6:8, Luke 11:28, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 4:32
1 Corinthians 16:14
Matthew 5:16 & Romans 15:13
John 10:1-18 - The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
John 20:19-31 - Jesus Appears to His Disciples19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Luke 24:13-35 - On the Road to Emmaus13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Matthew 28:1-10 - Jesus Has RisenAfter the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Leviticus 16:6-10, 20-22, 34
Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.
John 11:47-50
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Ephesians 5:2 (CEB)
Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God.
Galatians 2:20 (CEB)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Matthew 20:28 (NIV)
… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Colossians 2:13-14 (CEB)
…[Jesus] destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross.
Matthew 18:21-35 (CEB)
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Should I forgive as many as seven times? Jesus said, “Not just seven times, but rather as many as seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, they brought to him a servant who owed him ten thousand bags of gold. Because the servant didn’t have enough to pay it back, the master ordered that he should be sold, along with his wife and children and everything he had, and that the proceeds should be used as payment. But the servant fell down, kneeled before him, and said, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ The master had compassion on that servant, released him, and forgave the loan.
“When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred coins. He grabbed him around the throat and said, ‘Pay me back what you owe me.’
“Then his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he threw him into prison until he paid back his debt.
“When his fellow servants saw what happened, they were deeply offended. They came and told their master all that happened. His master called the first servant and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you appealed to me. Shouldn’t you also have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ His master was furious and handed him over to the guard responsible for punishing prisoners, until he had paid the whole debt.
“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if you don’t forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Colossians 2:13b-14 (CEB)
God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong. He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross.
Romans 3:25a (CEB)
Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood.
Hebrews 10:10-14 (CEB)
We have been made holy by God’s will through the offering of Jesus Christ’s body once for all. Every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices over and over, sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when this priest offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right side of God. Since then, he’s waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for his feet, because he perfected the people who are being made holy with one offering for all time.
Mark 9:2-9 - The Transfiguration
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Matthew 16:2626 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Mark 9:38-39 - Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,
Matthew 18:15-17
Dealing With Sin in the Church15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Revelation 2
To the Church in Ephesus2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
To the Church in Smyrna8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To the Church in Pergamum12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
To the Church in Thyatira18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
John 2:1-12 - Jesus Changes Water Into Wine2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Matthew 3:13-17 - The Baptism of Jesus13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 2:1-12 - The Magi Visit the Messiah2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Isaiah 7:10-16
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
Isaiah 35:1-10 - Joy of the Redeemed35 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 11:1-10 - The Branch From Jesse11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Isaiah 2:1-5 - The Mountain of the Lord2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 - Firstfruits and Tithes
26 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.
Matthew 25:31-46The Sheep and the Goats31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Luke 20:27-38
The Resurrection and Marriage27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Luke 16:1-13 - The Parable of the Shrewd Manager16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Philippians 4:1-13Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Final Exhortations4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Thanks for Their Gifts10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Matthew 25:14-30 - The Parable of the Bags of Gold14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus the Tax Collector19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 - Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
John 17:20-23 - Jesus Prays for All Believers20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Romans 8:9-17 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
John 14:25-27 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
First Reading - Colossians 1:15-20 The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Second Reading - John 1:1-18 The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Isaiah 45:5-75 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
John 17:1-3, Jesus Prays to Be Glorified17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Luke 14: 1, 7-14 - Jesus at a Pharisee’s HouseOne Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10 - The Call of Jeremiah4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Colossians 1:15-28 - The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Luke 10:38-42 - At the Home of Martha and Mary38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Psalm 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Exodus 31:16-18
16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
John 15:9-17
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Galatians 3:23-29 - Children of God23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Romans 5:1-5 - Peace and Hope5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Acts 2:1-21 - The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Revelation 22:12-21Epilogue: Invitation and Warning12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Mark 10:13-16 - The Little Children and Jesus13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Revelation 7:9-17The Great Multitude in White RobesAfter this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Revelation 5:11-14
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 1:4-8 - Greetings and DoxologyJohn,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John 20: 1-18 - The Empty TombEarly on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary MagdaleneNow Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Luke 19:28-40 - Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as KingAfter Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Luke 19:11-27 - The Parable of the Ten MinasWhile they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
“He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
“Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Luke 18:18-34 - The Rich and the Kingdom of GodA certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third TimeJesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
Luke 18:9-14 - The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax CollectorTo some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 17:1-10 - Sin, Faith, DutyJesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Luke 13:10-17 Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the SabbathOn a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Luke 9:28-36
The TransfigurationAbout eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
Isaiah 43:1-7 | Israel’s Only SaviorBut now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
Luke 6:17-26, Blessings and WoesHe went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Luke 5:1-11, Jesus Calls His First DisciplesOne day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Luke 4:21-30
He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Luke 4:14-21 Jesus Rejected at NazarethJesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:1-13 Jesus Is Tested in the WildernessJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
This weekend brought a rare Snow Day to Newnan, so in an abundance of caution Newnan First United Methodist canceled in-person services. Revs. Andrew Chappell and Connor Bell gathered to record a devotional that was live streamed, which you can listen to here!
The following was also sent out in an email:
In the life of the church, today is known as Baptism of the Lord Sunday. This is a day every year that we celebrate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. The story according to Luke is as follows:
As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John [the Baptist], whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
For Luke and the other gospel writers, this moment is the launching point of Jesus’ ministry. And from this point on, baptism becomes a key sacrament in the Christian story.
In our tradition, baptism is both an individual and a communal act. The individual being baptized (or sponsor) takes vows to uphold after his or her baptism (or upon confirmation). And the community then makes its covenant once again to uphold the vows they took at their baptism. Thus, baptism is a covenant between the individual, God, and the church community.
Baptism is also a celebration of the community of faith. Whenever a baptism occurs, it reminds us of our shared history and our ongoing journey together. Baptism strengthens our bond as Christians.
Lastly, baptism is a reminder of Christ's presence. It signifies the ongoing presence of Christ within the individual and within the community. Christ is not gone. He is with us and he is in us!
In the United Methodist Church, we have a ritual to let everyone once again hear the promises made and the blessings conferred, “A Service of Reaffirmation,” (a reaffirmation of the covenant, we call it). It’s a way of saying again what we said or was said in our name at our baptism.
I invite you to read through the vows of the Reaffirmation of Baptism liturgy below and spend a moment in reflection. Think about how it is you are living out the covenant vows of your baptism today.
Baptismal Vows and Reaffirmation.
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world,
and repent of your sin?
I do.
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you
to resist evil, injustice, and oppression
in whatever forms they present themselves?
I do.
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,
put your whole trust in his grace,
and promise to serve him as your Lord,
in union with the Church which Christ has opened
to people of all ages, nations, and races?
I do.
According to the grace given to you,
will you remain faithful members of Christ's holy Church
and serve as Christ's representatives in the world?
I will.
Let us rejoice in the faithfulness of our covenant God.
We give thanks for all that God has already given us.
As members of the body of Christ
and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church,
we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the Church
by our prayers, our presence, our gifts,
our service and our witness
that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Friends, on this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, remember your baptism and be thankful!
“Today is a grand celebration of the community of faith. It is a day of worship of the one who went into the water for us, with us, and promised to be present among us always.” -quote from UMC Discipleship
John 1:1-18
The Word Became FleshIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Luke 2:41-52 The Boy Jesus at the TempleEvery year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luke 2:1-20 The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Micah 5:2-5a
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,
Luke 17:11-19
Jesus Heals Ten Men With LeprosyNow on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
1 Kings 17:8-16
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
On All Saints Sunday, we remembered the church members who've died this year. "Let saints on earth in concert sing with those whose work is done; for all the servants of our King in heaven and earth are one." - Charles Wesley
The scripture came from Psalm 24:
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.
Matthew 5:33-37
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made." But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply "Yes" or "No"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
John 13:1-17
Pastor Appreciation Sunday was October 13, 2024
THANK YOU to Reverends Andrew Chappell and Connor Bell, who are the most visible as our preachers yet are on-call 24/7, standing with congregants and others to offer spiritual and other support in times of confusion and transition, times of heart-wrenching sorrow and times of overwhelming joy. They laugh, cry and pray with those whom they shepherd and serve.
Pastor Appreciation Month was established as a worldwide recognition time in 1992. The call to honor the contributions of pastoral leaders can be traced back to Paul, who advised congregations to give “double honor” to the elders who managed the affairs of the church well, “especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17, NIV).
Imitating Christ’s Humility - Philippians 2:1-112 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Matthew 26:36-44
Gethsemane36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8-11
Call to worship: Genesis 2:2-3
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing
So on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
Because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Amen.
The Gospel reading comes from Mark 6:30-31 - The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
When was the last time you were intentionally silent & alone? When did you last practice solitude?
Rev. Andrew Chappell talks about solitude being the "intentional and regaining of the soul," and how practicing solitude without distraction is necessary for our spiritual selves.
This week's scripture reading came from John 6:1-21.
Tabgha, on the slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes just off the shores of the Sea of Galilee, is the site of several significant events in the life of Jesus. There stands a modern church, which protects the remains of a 4th-century AD mosaic that depicts the bread loaves and two fish that Jesus multiplied to feed the 5,000. Under the church’s altar is a rock that is believed to be the rock on which Jesus laid the loaves and fish while blessing them. The special mosaic can be seen in the photo on the bulletin cover.
This week's scripture reading is from Jonah 4:1-11, and the scripture response was the full song of Jonah and The Whale.
Verse 1
In the Bible we are told
Of a prophet who was called
To a city that was steeped in awful sin
All the people in that place
Were devoid of saving grace
And the prophet seemed afraid to enter in
Verse 2
Then ol’ Jonah forth was sent
That old Ninevah might repent
But instead of that to Tarshish he set sail
Oh the sailors, they were kind
But Jonah had a stubborn mind
So off the ship he went and into the belly of a whale.
Chorus
Over there,
In that land bright and fair
Oh he’ll tell me all about it over there
On the hallelujah strand
God will take me by the hand
And he’ll tell me all about it over there!
Verse 3
In the cold and briny deep
Tears of grief did Jonah weep,
And prayed a prayer that God his skin might save;
Three long days and three long nights
Jonah bargained for his life.
God delivered him to shore from a watery grave!
Verse 4
Toward the Ninevites he still felt mean–
Didn’t want God’s grace to intervene–
So he preached the shortest sermon ever spoke.
But wouldn’t you know it, the Word took hold;
Like a fire can’t be controlled!
Away from evil turned the king and all his folk!
Chorus
Verse 5
Jonah took his seat
On a hill in the scorching heat
To wait to see God’s wrath come crashing down
But behold, God changed God’s mind
Because their hearts had been realigned
You should have seen the size of Jonah’s frown
Verse 6
Maybe there’s a lesson for me and you–
That even though it may be true
That Nineveh deserved a thunderous smite…
It may sound a bit uncouth,
But God’s grace overcomes the truth.
For those who turn, the story he rewrites!
Chorus
This week's service featured quite a bit of special music, so that has been included in this episode of the podcast for all the enjoy!
We started with a special Opening Voluntary, with Marian Steed, soprano, singing “O Gracious Light” in an arrangement by Dorothy Papadakos that features a Whale Recording by Dr. Roger Payne.
The unpublished music setting by Dorothy Papadakos offers us the opportunity hear the voice of the whale in the vastness of the ocean. The text (Phos Hilaron) from Ancient Greek praises the light that shines on all creation. Biologist and environmentalist Dr. Roger Payne (1935-2023) is famous for his discovery of whale songs while researching and recording humpback whales. The Phos Hilaron, Gladdening Light, is a Greek song of devotion and prayer. Dorothy Papadakos, Juilliard trained, has served as organist of St. John the Divine in New York City and also worked with Paul Winter. “O Gracious Light” was commissioned for the 60th Anniversary of the Alston Memorial Organ at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA, and dedicated to Paul Winter. Papadakos has graciously allowed Dawn McCord to adapt “O Gracious Light (With Whales)” for our worship today. Marian Steed collaborated on the adaptation of the choral score; Jim Leake and Jeff Williams contributed significant time to sound production.
The scripture reading came from Jonah 3:1-10, followed by the rest of the song "Jonah and the Whale" as a scripture response. This week's response was lead by Kathy Roberts, Joanna Sherer, and Henry Roberts, who also sang an anthem earlier in the service.
Verse 3
In the cold and briny deep
Tears of grief did Jonah weep,
And prayed a prayer that God his skin might save;
Three long days and three long nights
Jonah bargained for his life.
God delivered him to shore from a watery grave!
Chorus
Over there,
In that land both bright and fair,
Oh, he’ll tell me all about it over there.
On the hallelujah strand
God will take me by the hand,
And he’ll tell me all about it over there!
Verse 4
Toward the Ninevites he still felt mean–
Didn’t want God’s grace to intervene–
So he preached the shortest sermon ever spoke.
But wouldn’t you know it, the Word took hold;
Like a fire can’t be controlled!
Away from evil turned the king and all his folk!
Scripture Reading from Jonah 1:17-2:10
Scripture response is a song played on guitar and sung by Rev. Bell “Jonah and the Whale,” vs. 2 and 3
Verse 2
Then ol’ Jonah forth was sent
That old Nineveh might repent
But instead of that to Tarshish he set sail
Oh the sailors, they were kind
But Jonah had a stubborn mind
So off the ship he went into the belly of a whale.
Chorus
Over there,
In that land bright bright and fair
Oh he’ll tell me all about it over there
On the hallelujah strand
God will take me by the hand
And he’ll tell me all about it over there!
Verse 3
In the cold and briny deep
Tears of grief did Jonah weep
And a prayed a prayer that God his skin might save
Three long days and three long nights
Jonah bargained for his life
God delivered him to shore from a watery grave
Chorus
Scripture Reading from Jonah 1:1-6
As a Scripture Response, Rev. Bell played guitar and sang “Jonah and the Whale," vs. 1 and 2
Verse 1
In the Bible we are told
Of a prophet who was called
To a city that was steeped in awful sin
All the people in that place
Were devoid of saving grace
And the prophet seemed afraid to enter in
Chorus
Over there,
In that land bright bright and fair
Oh he’ll tell me all about it over there
On the hallelujah strand
God will take me by the hand
And he’ll tell me all about it over there!
Verse 2
Then ol’ Jonah forth was sent
That old Ninevah might repent
But instead of that to Tarshish he set sail
Oh the sailors, they were kind
But Jonah had a stubborn mind
So off the ship he went and into the belly of a whale.
Chorus
Philippians 2:12-12
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Colossians 3:9b-10 (CEB)
Take off the old human nature with its practices and put on the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge by conforming to the image of the one who created it.
Joshua 4:4-7
Youth Minister Paul Mosely shared the message during our 11am service as we honored our 2024 graduates.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Ephesians 4:1-6 (NIV)
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 3:14-22 (MSG)
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spiritónot a brute strength but a glorious inner strengthóthat Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, youíll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christís love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
God can do anything, you knowófar more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
Ephesians 2:11-22 (MSG)
But don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways had no idea of any of this, didnít know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ - dying that death, shedding that blood - you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.
The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all-irrespective of how we got here-in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day-a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
Ephesians 1:15-23 (MSG)
That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you - every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask - ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength!
All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
Mark 11:1-11
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
"Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Matthew 10:16-31
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
John 3:14-21 | Confirmation Sunday
It’s not just about believing God is who God says God is. It’s about believing and trusting and having confidence that God can do what God says God can do.
Movie Quote Trivia.
If you don’t know this about me, I’m a big movie fan. For some reason, I can remember movie lines better than a lot of other things. Often, I can remember movie lines after seeing a movie once better than I can remember what my wife just said to me ten times this morning. (Something about the trash.)
But I love movies, I love movie quotes. I love good lines. And growing up, my family loved to play movie quote trivia. And all that is, is simply, in the middle of a conversation, you could be doing anything, and something makes you think of a quote from a movie, and you just call out: Movie Quote Trivia! And then follow with the movie quote, seeing who might name the movie it comes from first. That’s it. It’s not much of a game. But for anyone who loves a game, or trivia, or sudden interruptions…it’s great.
Let’s try it… see if you can get a few.
Movie Quote Trivia: Some people are worth melting for. (Frozen)
Movie Quote Trivia: If you build it, he will come. (Field of Dreams)
Movie Quote Trivia: To infinity and beyond (Toy Story)
Movie Quote Trivia: There’s no crying in baseball. (A League Of Their Own).
Movie Quote Trivia: Remember who you are. (The Lion King)
Movie Quote Trivia: Show me the money (Jerry Maguire)
Movie Quote Trivia: When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming. (Finding Nemo)
Some of those are pretty easy. Others may be more difficult for you. And I think if the Bible were a movie, John 3:16 would be one of those easy ones, one of those unforgettable lines. Most could get it, right?
AND, if I were to yell…
BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: “The time is surely coming…when the one who plows shall catch up with the one who reaps and the treader of grapes with the one who sows the seed”...that’s harder isn’t it? Because not a lot of folks read the book of Amos.
How about, BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: “Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.” Maybe a little easier, because it sounds like it would come from PROVERBS.
But if I were to yell out
BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: For God so loved the world…
I think many of you could name it: John 3:16.
Those words were a part of my growing up. That was probably the first verse I ever memorized (other than John 11:35 - Jesus wept). John 3:16 is the most famous verse of scripture, the most popular, and I’m sure many of you could quote it.
Harder to recall though are the details surrounding that verse. Who Jesus is talking to, and what the subject of the conversation is. And until recently, I had no memory about the snake thing that we just read.
What is that??? What is Jesus talking about there?
A Snake in the Wilderness.
(Well confirmands, I’m glad you asked!) Jesus is in the middle of one of his more famous back-and-forths, in which he tells the Pharisee Nicodemus that he must be born again, not literally, but reborn by water and the Spirit. His inward, his Spirit has to be transformed. And Jesus reprimands Nicodemus for being a teacher of Israel and not knowing this. And then Jesus makes a weird reference to Moses.
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.
And to any of us who don’t know Moses or the stories from the Torah – the first five books of the OT – this is a bizarre reference. And one that we often don’t even remember.
I felt that way a few years ago when I traveled to the country of Jordan, and I visited Mt. Nebo, where Moses is said to have looked out onto the promised land. And in present day, at the lookout point, placed by the historical society, is a huge bronze statue of a snake on a stick. And as I got my picture next to it (because how often do you see that?!), I remember thinking, I do NOT remember this from seminary. (Probably because trying to study and cram the book of Numbers at 11pm at night is not the best way to read that book).
In the book of Numbers, Moses and the people of Israel are wandering on the road, and the people get angry at both God and Moses for continuing to allow them to wander and not enter the promised land.
They yell at God and Moses (I don’t know if you’ve ever yelled at God – don’t worry God can take it)...they yell at God and Moses:
Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us in the desert, where there is no food or water. All we have is this awful bread to eat.
And all of a sudden, in the midst of their complaining, a bunch of poisonous snakes appear and start biting people. Isn’t that a wild way to deal with complaining people? Send a couple of cobras on em? Hide a couple of rattlesnakes in their shoes?
(Makes me think of a little MOVIE QUOTE TRIVIA: “Why’d it have to be snakes?” -Indiana Jones)
So the snakes appear. And the snakes are biting people and people are dying. And so the people come to Moses and say, “Will you ask God to get rid of the snakes. We’ve sinned. Ask for God to save us?” So he does.
And God tells Moses, “Here’s what you’re gonna do. Make a poisonous snake and place it on a pole. If someone is bitten, all they have to do is look at the snake on the pole and they will live!” So Moses makes a bronze snake and puts it on a pole. And so when a snake bit somebody, they would look at the snake that Moses raised up on the pole, and they were saved from the snakes’ poison.
And the point of that story seems to be that the snake that was raised up was the method by which God chose to save the Israelites in that moment. In other words, in a sort of cooperative moment, God gave them a manner by which to be saved and the people BELIEVED that God could save them in that manner. So when they looked at it, they were saved from the poison.
Back to John.
Now–for years, after their wandering in the desert, and throughout the OT, the Hebrew people asked God for salvation from various things, from sins, from empires, from suffering…
Perhaps you’ve prayed a prayer asking God to help you or save you from something. I remember in middle and high school I always had a save-me-from-this-test-prayer: “Dear God, if there is a way for the teacher to push this test to another day, that would be great. I really don’t want to take a test today.”
Maybe you’ve prayed a prayer like that. OR Maybe there are other things you’ve asked God to save you from. Things like pain. Regret. Sadness. Busy work. Sickness. Something scary. Snakes…(Maybe even death).
The people of Israel asked for salvation from a lot of things – from Rome, from corruption, from exile.
And concerning their salvation, in John 3:14, Jesus says that similar to the event of Moses and the bronze snake, where Moses lifted up a snake and the people were saved from painful snake bites when they LOOKED at the statue, Jesus too will be lifted up on a cross as the method of God’s saving action for the world, and any who look to him (like the snake on the pole), and any who believe that God can save through that action of sacrifice will be saved.
Except this time, salvation is not from poisonous snake bites or the Roman Empire, it is from ourselves, from our selfishness, from our ability to alienate ourselves from one another, from our sin.
The founder of the Methodist movement (you remember confirmands?) John Wesley referred to sin as a sickness. An illness. And the less we do to acknowledge it, the more it works itself into our system and into our systems. It’s not just an individual thing, it’s a systemic thing too. And the more it sickens us. The worse we get. Kind of like that poison from the snake in the wilderness. If we do nothing when we are bitten, sooner or later, it isn’t going to end well. The same is with sin. If left untreated, we turn into people that God did not intend.
But we also (and Wesley too) believe in an antidote to that toxin, we believe there is a holy medicine to our sickness. And THAT medicine is the one that was raised TO SAVE US. Like the snake on the pole. But better.
And John says, just like the Israelites who believed that they could be saved by simply looking at the statue, we need to believe.
Belief.
The Greek for belief is a word that means to have faith in, to trust, to affirm, to have confidence in. And in the most famous verse of Scripture (John 3:16-17), Jesus explains what he means:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him (who affirms, trusts, has confidence in him) may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
I love that verse. I really do. But what does it mean to believe, to trust in, to have confidence in Jesus? Well, according to Jesus, and according to the comparison he is making to the snake pole, part of what it means to believe in Jesus is to trust that God can actually DO God’s saving work through Jesus!
Like the snake on the stick, the Israelites believed/trusted God that to look upon the statue was indeed the antidote to the poison that they needed. So it is for us. Jesus is inviting us to believe, to trust, to have confidence that God can actually use the torture, the sacrifice, the criminal’s sentence of crucifixion to save humanity.
It’s not just about believing God is who God says he is.
It’s about trusting that God can do what God says he can do.
But it’s also deeper than THAT.
John 3:16 says that the intention of God’s cosmic saving act on earth is love. “Go SO LOVED the world. God SO LOVED you. God SO LOVED me. That God raised up Jesus, himself, a manner by which we might be saved from the toxic sin that alienates us from one another and from God. And God invites us to believe, to have confidence in, to trust that God actually LOVES us that much.”
In our ladies Bible study on Wednesday mornings, (a few weeks ago) we were talking about capital punishment and the massive amount of people in prison and incarcerated. And someone in there made the comment about how many people in those situations have never heard someone tell them “I love you,” have never known from the beginning that they are loved.
Jesus invites us to believe that God so loves us. AND Jesus also invites us to trust that God’s love is enough to save us…from ourselves, from our sins, from our wandering, even from snakes…
Wesley at Aldersgate.
I talked about this a few weeks ago, and I’ve mentioned this a number of times from up here. (And many of you confirmands heard this story in the fall I think.) John Wesley knew Scripture, he knew how to pray, he knew how to care for the poor and imprisoned. He knew HOW to follow Jesus. He knew the right things to DO.
And then one night, when he was particularly low, he went to a prayer meeting, and something was said there, something happened, and because of it, he felt different. JW would later write that he KNEW (in that moment) that God loved him. Even him. He knew it. He trusted it. He had a new confidence in it. He believed that God SO LOVED him. He believed that God’s love was enough to save him. And out of that feeling, he wanted nothing more than to love GOD back. And he responded by letting his actions morph and transform, his inward life had been so affected by this love of God that it HAD to shape his outward life!
In John 3:20-21, Jesus says (MSG), “Everyone who practices evil, addicted to self-denial and illusion, hates the light and won’t come near it, [for fear of] painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes the light so the work can be seen for the God-work that it is.” That’s just another way of saying what Wesley experienced. Having a confidence in and a trust that God loves you causes you to want to work, to do, to live that love in such a way as to respond to God’s love with a simple, “I love you too.”
And ultimately, Paul would tell a church in Colossae, that this is what it means to be “in Christ.” The term Christian rarely appears in the Bible. People are more often referred to as ones who live “in Christ.”
What does that mean?
Eugene Peterson says, “‘In Christ’ means that [we] are those who have heard the call of God’s love and grace, responded to it, and consequently entered into a union of fellowship with God.” We are no longer spectators. We are players. And “[We] are [now] in the arena of God’s working love, redeeming grace, and delivering power. [We] are in Christ.”
And when we are IN CHRIST, we develop and pursue a trust…
1-that God truly SO LOVES us
2-that God could ACTUALLY used a cross and an empty tomb to save the world
And (3), when we are IN CHRIST, we seek to love God back in the way we live our lives.
Confirmation Introduction.
Today, in the life of the church, is Confirmation Sunday.
What that means is that for 13 students, they have been working together all year with Paul and others to better understand faith in Jesus and the vows of membership in the United Methodist Church (and these vows are how we love God back).
Confirmation is something that occurs in conjunction with baptism. For some of our students today and for many of us, we were baptized as infants. Other students will be baptized today!
For any who are baptized (whether today or years ago) through the sacrament of baptism we are initiated into the church. We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. And this gift comes without price. In baptism, God essentially embraces us, gives us a hug, and says to us, “I SO LOVE you.”
And in confirmation, we renew the covenant declared at our baptism, and we acknowledge what God is doing for us (that God is working in us, sanctifying us, and we affirm our commitment to Christ’s holy church (essentially saying, “We’re in!”)). And if baptism is God’s embrace of us, giving us a hug, telling us “I love you,” Confirmation is my decision to embrace God back, hug God back, to respond to God’s “I love you,” with our own, “I love you too.”
This is an embrace, a partnership. God wants us to know that we are SO LOVED…and God desires for us to join in on his work in the world. And if we believe, have faith, set our feet in the direction of God, then our LIVES truly will show the evidence of our heart.
The confirmands will make some promises, parts of a covenant, that don’t just focus on our heart, on our belief. They focus on the DOs and DONTs, our actions. They focus on the HOW of loving God back.
QUESTIONS LIKE: Do you repent? Do you accept the freedom God gives you to battle evil and injustice and oppression?
BUT after THOSE questions, THEN comes the confession of Jesus as savior and in our UMC Hymnal, faith/belief is characterized as TRUST in his GRACE.
In the end, what we do is important, but it cannot eclipse who God says that we are. And who does God say that we are? SO LOVED.
And for many, the question soon becomes, “How could I not want to love a God like that? How could I not want to be a partner in that? So that others might know that they too are SO loved.”
John Wesley: “What is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. …It is not a blessing which lies on the other side of death…it is a present thing…[it] might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory.” And it all stems from the fact that GOD SO LOVED YOU. AND GOD SO LOVED ME.
How could I not let that LOVE flow from me into the world?
Amen.
We welcomed Reverend Karen Kagiyama to Newnan First United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 3. She preached on the Gospel of John 2:13-22.
Rev. Kagiyama is the O. Wayne Rollins Director of Pastoral Care at Wesley Woods Senior Living. A graduate of Emory University and the Candler School of Theology at Emory, Karen is an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church.
For more than thirty years, Karen has served churches in Colorado, North Carolina and Georgia and was also the Wesley Foundation Director at The University of West Georgia. She is married to David Newton, a professor of English at The University of West Georgia, and they have two children: Kelcy, a graduate of Georgia Tech, and Caroline, a graduate of The University of Georgia. Born in Japan, with roots in Hawaii, Karen enjoys gardening, hiking, reading, and music.
John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Today is DENSE. But it’s not my fault, it’s Paul’s fault.
Romans 4:13-25
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This is the word of God for the people of God.
A Change of Heart.
One of my favorite Jesus movies is a movie called Mary Magdalene. The movie stars real life husband and wife Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix as Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth. The movie follows the ministry of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, and of course, the movie takes a lot of creative license throughout, but it does some things really well.
In one of its greatest scenes (I showed this to our women’s wednesday morning bible study), Jesus and his disciples are shown entering Jerusalem and the Temple during a festival week. The crowd is enormous. Money is being exchanged for animals and then the animals are taken for slaughter, as a means of forgiveness from God per the ritual.
You know this scene from scripture. It is in every gospel. It is typically referred to as the Cleansing of the Temple.
And the camera shows the crowd and the sacrifice, but its main focus is on Jesus, watching all of this happen. And you can tell he is getting frustrated and angry. He begins a conversation with one of the priests. And if you remember, in the gospel of Mark, this scene is short, with Jesus quoting scripture:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?
But you have made it a den of robbers.”
But the screenwriters of this movie have done their best to add additional dialogue to the scene to give it greater weight and to really show you what is going on in Jesus’ heart. Jesus questions the sacrificial practice, he questions everything that has been built around this temple ritual, the way of life and the application of this religion, and Jesus – and as he looks around at all the people purchasing and buying their forgiveness, he asks the priest this question, “(Is this how people show true repentance?) Have their hearts been altered when they leave this place?”
I think that the screenwriters capture the heart of Jesus well in that question. After all, throughout the gospels, that seems to be Jesus’ overarching concern. It’s not the practice of religion. It’s the heart. And if your religion is not affecting and altering your heart, what good is it?
Have their hearts been altered when they leave this place…?
I wonder that about this place, about us, about what we do here, day in and day out, about this body of believers. I wonder if through fellowship through relationship, through music and tradition and reading and singing, I truly wonder, “Have OUR hearts been altered when we leave this place? Or are we merely paying lip-service to some sense of duty that we feel we have?” Is there still a spark? Or has the fire died?
Have our hearts been altered?
To me, that is the central question of Paul in Romans. In his last and longest letter, written to a community he never got to know well, he is curious about the work that God is doing in their hearts. In fact, he’s written a letter to care for their hearts. Because he’s heard that there may be conflict…
The conflict is (a little bit) the result of powers beyond their control. Before Emperor Nero, who would be responsible for Paul’s death, Emperor Claudius was in charge. And during his reign, while the fledgling Roman church was in its early stages, Claudius apparently expelled some Jews from Rome because of some social disturbances. Because of the expulsion of the Jewish population, it seems that the Roman Christian community became very Gentile. And because of that, when the Jews were allowed back, they came back to a very different church.
Remember, the Christian movement was first, a Jewish movement. And as it moved into the Gentile world, there was tension. Because the Jews are a people of the Torah, of the Law. They have tradition and dogma that is very important to them…and as the church grew and began reaching out to Gentiles, some of the Jewish Christians fully expected any and all Gentile converts to adopt THEIR ways.
But a theme of Paul’s ministry is telling folks that Gentiles don’t HAVE to adhere to all the Jewish laws. This Jesus stuff is actually a whole new ball game.
And so after the return of these Jewish Christians, Paul writes this letter to help this “ethnically mixed community…knit itself back together, both practically and religiously.” He’s trying to glue this community of conservative Jews and liberal Gentiles back together.
Now we wouldn’t know anything about that today would we?
There are no conservative/liberal struggles in the 21 century!
There are no fights over differing ideas and struggles for unity today…
This Roman church conflict is one of a kind! (But in all seriousness) Romans is (sort of) a treatise on how to stick together. On how to find the simplest common ground, that we might all be one. And at its very center is a deep concern for the heart.
What is Paul Doing?
Now if you read Romans, it is dense. In fact, I recommend you use The Message translation to help. Seriously. It is hard to read.
And of course it is. Because while Paul is trying to break everything down, he has to do a lot of explaining to get there. He is trying to simplify and explain what it is that Jesus has done for us and what we are to do with that knowledge now!
Paul calls what God has done: “God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him” (Romans 1, MSG). I love that. God’s powerful rescue plan. And it is open to any who trust God.
And throughout the letter, while Paul does in fact talk about the importance of FAITH, he does so with some interesting language. You see, for Paul, belief or faith is really TRUST and EMBRACE of the way of God. You see those words a lot in the first few chapters. TRUST. EMBRACE.
And through those words, Paul is already foreshadowing where he is going, because he is using “heart” language. Embrace. Trust. And he wants the community to share in that embrace of God together.
But in order to do that, he’s gotta tear them to pieces first. He has to point out just how silly they’ve been. He has to show them how wonky their priorities have become.
And he goes after the Gentiles a little bit, but he REALLY goes after the Jewish Christians. He says to the Jewish Christians, “Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval” (Romans 2, MSG). “Don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy…(you insiders).” Did you know that “God prefers outsiders who keep God’s ways over the insiders who don’t.” Indeed, God is the God of outsider non-Jews as well as insider Jews…God sets right all who welcome his action and enter into it, both those who follow our religious system and those who have never heard of our religion” (Romans 3, MSG).
You see what Paul is doing right? He is deconstructing the importance of the institution and the material parts of religion. In the Message paraphrase of this letter, Eugene Peterson gives this section the following title: Religion Can’t Save You. And that’s what Paul is saying. He’s telling the people of the church of Rome that religious practice is no longer the main uniting force of our faith. There is something greater at work.
Chapter Four.
And in chapter four, Paul anticipates some of the Jewish Christians arguing back with questions like: “What about our being the chosen people of Abraham? What about the promise to Abraham? You can’t just do away with our religious traditions like that. Aren’t we God’s people? Aren’t we special?”
And Paul says, “Yes and no. You are indeed the people of Abraham, but it isn’t just you anymore…Because, ‘what we read in Scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and THAT was the turning point. He TRUSTED God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own”’” (Romans 4, MSG).
What Abraham received was “sheer gift.” And Paul says, “Do you think for a minute that this blessing is only pronounced over those of us who keep our religious ways and are circumcised? Or do you think it possible that the blessing could be given to those who never even heard of our ways, who were never brought up in [our disciplines, in our traditions]?...It was by embracing what God did for him that Abraham was declared fit before God...[Indeed] Abraham is father of ALL people who EMBRACE what God does for them…
Abraham…[TRUSTED] God and his way, and then simply EMBRACED GOD and what he did [and what he does]” (Romans 4, MSG).
(I told you it was dense didn’t I)
So this is Paul’s point to the Jewish Christians: “Abraham is indeed your father (feels like Star Wars).
Abraham is your father. But not just yours. Because this is not a human or racial thing, not a Jewish or Gentile thing. This is a faith thing. It’s a spiritual thing. Abraham is OUR father (Gentile AND Jew) because: “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he COULDN’T do but on what God said he WOULD do…
THAT is the faith of Abraham. It is a heart-filled embrace and trust of God – that even in the darkness, in the wilderness, God will do something. GOD WILL SAVE. That’s the thing that saved and changed Abraham. It was God’s work in the heart. And it altered the trajectory of all time.
And Paul says, “But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we EMBRACE (and TRUST) the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless” (Romans 4, MSG).
When we have the same faith, the same reckless trust and embrace of the God who does impossible things, we are to be considered children of Abraham as well. There’s nothing WE can do to earn the love and favor and mercy and grace of God. It is only what GOD does.
Ash Wednesday.
A few weeks ago, as I was preparing for our Ash Wednesday service, I knew we were down a clergy with Connor out on paternity leave, but I thought for sure that there wouldn’t be that many folks here. So I decided to have just one station for ashes. Just me.
Sure enough, there were more people here for Ash Wednesday than we’d had in a LONG time. Both aisles were backed up to the ends, people waiting to have a cross marked on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. And why? It’s not like having an ashen cross mark on your head is going to do anything. Of course not. No, people showed up to remind themselves that life is short, death is coming for us all, from dust we come and to dust we return. And that there is nothing that we can do to change that. There is nothing we can do without the grace of God.
Pete Holmes.
Comedian Pete Holmes says, “Water can’t help but get you wet. And God can’t help but love you…There’s nothing you can do to increase or decrease the infinite love of God, but there are things you can do to increase or decrease your awareness of that love.”
And that’s the point of this moment in Romans: that there are some Jewish customs and traditions and things that no longer matter. They no longer keep the fire alive. And to heap them on new Gentile Christians is a mistake. And how do you know if these customs are helping or hindering?
Perhaps a question might be asked, something like: Have their hearts been altered when they leave this place? Are the customs we are obeying altering our hearts? Or are they making it harder for us to understand and access God?
It immediately makes me think of the season of Lent. We are in that season, a season where we traditionally give up something. I’ve learned recently that if you have a baby around the same time, the baby takes care of that for you. In fact, I think I’ve given up enough for the next few lents.
BUT here’s the question: if the practice of giving up something for lent does not affect your HEART, does not bring you closer to the divine, then what good is it?
If what we do in here, if the rituals and the creeds and the hymns and the standing and sitting, and the sermons, if all that is not working to alter our hearts, to spark something bright within us, then what good is it?
Circumcision of the Heart.
In one of John Wesley’s most famous sermons, titled “Circumcision of the Heart,” a 30 year old John Wesley tackles Romans and this very thing. And in that sermon he says, “the distinguishing mark of a true follower of [Jesus], of one who is in a state of acceptance with God, is not either outward circumcision, or baptism, or any other outward form [of religion], but [rather] a right state of soul, a mind and spirit [and heart] renewed after the image of Him that created it…”
As an 87 year old, Wesley would agree with his younger self when he said, “I believe the merciful God regards lives and tempers of men [and women] more than their ideas. I believe [God] respects the goodness of the heart rather than the clearness of the head; and that if the heart of a man [or woman] be filled with the humble, gentle, patient love of God and [humanity],” God will certainly not cast them out.
That comes from a man who surely knows what God can do in the heart. After all, it was at a prayer meeting, while reading Martin Luther’s preface to the book of Romans, that a 35 year old Wesley, broken and discouraged, felt God reach into his heart and warm it in a way that made him sure that God loved him and forgave him and had some things for him to do. And his heart was surely altered that night. And for the rest of his ministry, Wesley sought to be used by God to foster a change in the heart.
A Letter to Jack.
Last week, we honored and remembered Jack Jackson. Jack and Patsy have been members here a while, and their daughter Nancy has been our preschool director for 27 years, we’ve baptized their kids here and grandkids.
Jack was a renaissance man who had interests all over the place. He was a good man. A man who knew who he was and he was good with that. Jack spent his career as a teacher. He taught history and he also developed the Drivers Ed program at his school.
Just before the service began, a lady came up and asked if I could read a letter in front of the congregation, a letter she had written to Jack. I’ve never had that happen before. Nancy told me to go ahead and do it.
So I did, many of you were there. The letter was from a student of Jack’s named Linda. The letter reads like this:
Dear Mr. Jackson,
Your passing has left a hole in all our hearts, especially for me. I will miss your laugh and your bow tie and that you never seem to age. I was one of your driver’s ed students. And through the years, you taught so many of us how to drive. To this day, I can still hear you saying slow down—you're in a construction zone.
I wanted to write to you to tell you that in high school, I didn't get to drive a lot like most other kids. I really only got to drive in your class. And I loved your class. I couldn't wait for Drivers Ed. And countless times you would skip your lunch period and take me out driving so I could get some extra time behind the wheel. And that meant so much to me.
I remember, I didn’t get a car until I left home. I was 18 years old. I bought a ‘73 Ford Maverick even though I still didn’t have a license yet. I couldn't even drive it off the lot. A friend drove it off the lot for me to my apartment complex where it sat all weekend. I could only look at my new car. But as soon as I got my license, I couldn't wait to drive to school to show you my car before anyone else.
I write all this to say thank you for everything you did for me and to tell you how I turned out. I was a shy and isolated kid in high school, but you were certainly a bright spot. And I became a police officer for 32 years and I did get into a couple of chases in my career, which you never covered in your class!
Mr. Jackson, teachers are very special people and SOME touch lives and hearts beyond words. You were one of those teachers.
The mold has now been broken. God bless you and keep you,
Linda.
Sounds to me like Linda’s heart was altered, because of Jack! Something was sparked in her long ago because her teacher recognized that what mattered most was the heart. And friends, when the heart is altered, anything is possible. Lives change. Goodness is found.
Conclusion.
In Romans 5, Paul says that when our hearts EMBRACE and TRUST God’s ability to change us, to alter us, to make the impossible possible, “We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us…[When] we have actually [receive] this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!” (Romans 5, MSG). In other words, it affects our hearts. Our hearts are altered!
Barbara Brown Taylor - “What if the real test of our success as God’s servants is not what we do but how we do it? What if the real measure of our extraordinariness as Christians is not our thoughtfulness or our friendliness and our busyness” or our worship style or our rules or our dogmas or our creeds “but our spark.”
Has your heart been altered? Has it been warmed? Has your heart embraced the possibilities with God? If not, what’s hindering you? What’s stopping you?
Amen.
Benediction.
There are lots of reasons to be divided lately. There are lots of reasons to be un-united. The world is hurting. And I think more than ever, this world needs to know that no matter what anyone does, they are loved beyond measure. That is a message that could truly produce a unity that might be unbreakable. But a message like that truly needs to begin in our hearts.
May you seek God with all your heart. And may your hearts be truly altered by the God who seeks to transform this whole world.
Galatians 6:11-18
See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Transfiguration Sunday | Mark 9: 2-9
Rev. Andrew Chappell asks this of his congregation:
Are you prepared to allow God to change you in such important and intense ways that he might be able to use you for peace?
Are you ready to allow God to transfigure your life?
Are you ready to live a life of dynamic faith?
The Transfiguration.
I’ve always viewed the transfiguration of Jesus as this weird, hard to fathom thing. When I think of the idea of transfiguration, I immediately think of the moment in Beauty and the Beast, when the beast transfigures back into a human…OR in Harry Potter’s Transfiguration class, when he transfigures animals into goblets.
I have memories when I was young of asking my father (who is a pastor) what the transfiguration meant…and he didn’t say it was magic or that it involved anything to do with Disney. He just said this: “It’s a mystery. No one really knows what this scene is or what Jesus became at that moment. But we do know that it was a response to a protest and a glimpse into the future.” Let me explain.
Answer to a Question.
In chapter 8, after Jesus feeds four thousand with a few fish and heals a blind man, he goes to Caesarea Philippi (on the northern end of present day Israel) and asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
Of course, Peter is the one to respond (confidently, as he often does), “I’ll tell you who you are…you are the Christ, the Messiah.”
And then Jesus goes on to tell them about the suffering and death that is in store for him. He shares word for word what is coming his way. And Peter, always a hot head, grabs Jesus and protests, “This can’t be! We won’t let you go this way! Don’t talk like this! We will protect you!”
That’s when Jesus exclaims, “Get behind me Satan.” And he then calls out to the crowd, but we all know he’s saying these things to Peter, “If you are going to follow me, then follow me! And let me lead! Indeed the kingdom is coming…the day is coming when the world shall see what I’m talking about, the world shall witness true glory, the splendor of God, an army of angels, the Son of Man…”
And not a week later, Mark says, they SEE a glimpse of what Jesus is talking about. And all of it occurs when they climb the mountain and three disciples have this mountain top experience.
Mountain Tops
Have you ever experienced something like that? A mountain top experience I mean? An moment between you and God that changed you? And it is seared into your brain?
It’s interesting, in film and literature, in our cultural stories, whenever there is a mountain, something big is happening, something that will change the course of the story.
(My favorite marvel movie is Iron Man, and if you remember that story)...Weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (after being injured by his own weapons), creates his first prototype of the Iron Man suit and begins a deep philosophical change of how he sees his life in the mountains of Afghanistan.
The mountains are present in the Lord of the Rings as well. Throughout and at the end of the story, Frodo Baggins contends with the destruction of evil, which has to occur at Mt. Doom, in the mountains of Mordor, and such an experience transforms Frodo in the process.
In Frozen, Elsa sings Let it Go and finally allows herself to become who she is in the mountains of Arendell.
Authors and filmmakers love to have big moments set near or on or in the mountains. Scripture is no different. The authors of Scripture continually depict God as someone who loves the mountain top.
Exodus 19-20 - God descends on Mount Sinai in fire and thunder to meet Moses and share ten commandments.
1 Kings 19 - God meets Elijah on Mount Horeb in a gentle whisper and offers renewal and strength.
Zechariah 14 - Zechariah is given a prophecy that one day, God will descend upon the Mount of Olives and establish justice and the reign of God’s kingdom. (Which is why you see graves on the Mount of Olives today - people want to be close to the action).
God loves a mountain top…and more often than not, mountain top moments are transitional experiences. They are important moments in which God introduces a change that has consequences for the future.
The Transfiguration
Jesus and his three friends go up to the mountain top, and we are told that while there, Jesus is transfigured before their very eyes. The Greek there is metamorphoo - where we get the word metamorphosis.
What does that mean? It means Jesus looks different. It means his form changes. His clothes shimmer, they glisten white. In Luke’s, the appearance of his face is altered. And not only that, but Moses of the Torah and Elijah of the prophets appear too. Jesus and these two legendary figures of the Hebrew faith are there, right before their eyes! And the disciples are amazed. They cannot believe what is occurring, what they are being allowed to see. Talk about a mountain top experience.
And naturally, what happens? Whenever we experience something amazing and wondrous, whenever human beings have a mountain top experience, we want to figure out how to keep that feeling, don’t we? We try to figure out how to experience that same thing again.
That’s exactly what Peter wants to do here. He wants to build them each a place on the ground, to keep them physically present, to maintain that amazing experience…
Poet Jan Richardson writes about the desires of Peter and the others in her poem “Dazzling”:
We could build walls
Around this blessing,
Put a roof over it.
We could bring in
A table, chairs,
Have the most amazing meals.
We could make a home.
We could stay.
I’m reminded of the title of the band Nickel Creek’s second album, “Why Should the fire die?”
Peter doesn’t want the fire to die. He wants to nail down this experience, so that he can experience it again! But it doesn’t happen. And then, responding to Peter’s previous protest from chapter eight, in which Jesus demonstrates that the end is coming, the glory of God is near…a voice from the cloud echoes onto the mountain top, “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him!” (MSG).
In other words, God says, “This IS the Christ. The kingdom IS coming. This is my guy. Hear him when he says this stuff. Don’t brush it off. Trust me. Elijah and Moses are here, but he is greater than they. So you disciples (and Peter). Listen to him. And trust him.”
But the transfiguration is not simply an answer to a dialogue between Jesus and Peter. It is much more than that.
The Transfiguration Stuff
Because for me, the climax of the story is not when God speaks. It’s the transfiguration part. It’s the metamorphosis, the actual change in form that Jesus undergoes.
Now…this story is so wild, it’s so weird, some scholars think that Mark accidentally put this story in the wrong spot. Some think that this actually happened after the resurrection, and Mark just forgot where it needed to go. Why? Because the Jesus we find here is a lot like the post-resurrection Jesus. I mean it sort of makes sense on one level. Jesus WAS different after the resurrection. His form was not as it was before. It was new. It was different. And it’s true that transfiguration Jesus and post-resurrection Jesus have a lot in common.
But I think it’s in the right place, because it seems to have a pre-resurrection purpose. And its purpose is to give us a glimpse of what the future form/glory will look like.
My favorite scholar and preacher of the 20th century, Leslie Weatherhead (you’ve heard me quote him all the time) used to get questions about Jesus’ divinity and humanity. Someone would ask, “How can Jesus be fully human and fully divine?” Remember, that is essential Christian doctrine, and has been for a very long time. But it is hard to explain and understand. And Weatherhead would answer like this: “Jesus contained as much of God as can be poured into a man without disrupting his humanity (and making him a monstrosity).” I’ve always liked that.
You see, in the transfiguration, I believe that God gives us a glimpse, a vision of the fully realized Christ, on full display. This is a vision of the future Christ of glory, of wonder and splendor, this is sitting-on-the-throne Jesus. And Jesus does this, he transfigures, he changes, I think, to show us what the end will be like. And in seeing the end, his purpose becomes clear. HOPE.
AFTER ALL, Peterson, Hope is the activity of love that reaches into the future.
That to me is the deeper meaning of the transfiguration, the metamorphosis, the change of Jesus of Nazareth to Jesus the Christ. It is that he already has the future in his hands. He already knows the end result. And he’s willing to show us a glimpse, he’s willing to transfigure, to transform, to change. To give us hope. In all aspects of our lives.
Hope that the end is not the end, that the hardship will not win, that suffering will have meaning, that though we may go through hell, we will bring something back with us, that death cannot ultimately be stronger than love. HOPE.
Our Future
There is, I think, one more thing to be gained from this story. Because Jesus is doing more than just responding to Peter. He is doing more than simply giving us a glimpse into HIS future, with the purpose of granting hope. I think Jesus, in this magnificent transformation and change is giving us a glimpse into OUR future.
I think Jesus is sharing with us that we too will be transfigured, that we too will undergo a metamorphosis of sorts, that we too will change.
In fact, I believe that he is already in the process of changing us. If you are seeking to follow closely behind Jesus today, you are being transfigured. You are being changed! Wesley called it sanctifying grace - the process by which God is working to renew the image of God in you that has been there since the beginning.
Paul confirms it when he writes in his second letter to the church in Corinth, (MSG) “And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”
It seems that in the end, Jesus is not the only one who changes…we change too.
But I’m not sure our change process will be as sudden and abrupt. Rather I think it will likely occur over time, over experience, over life, over trials, over joys, over suffering, in low valleys and in mountain top experiences.
Change Is Hard
Gardener and poet Luci Shaw says it like this in her book Water My Soul. She says:
…I've been…astonished at how [God] can transmute experiences that we can only look at with revulsion or disappointment into good use. He allows us to learn from our mistakes; just because we stumble and fall, God doesn't disqualify us from further enterprises. Though we often have to live with the consequences of our choices, those consequences are illuminating, providing us with the wisdom and experience for future decisions. On occasion, the Lord has had to let me hit rock bottom, in enough despair that life seemed to hold nothing of value for me any more. But distressing as this was, it had a clarifying effect. In the pit of desperation I could see that many of the minor issues that had so obsessed me were just that-minor. That out of the grave where I had to die to those things, God was going to resurrect me, purged clean and more prepared to face his priorities for me.
Do you know what Luci Shaw is talking about?
She’s talking about transfiguration.
She’s talking about transformation.
She’s talking about sanctification.
She’s talking about God’s incredible ability to reach into our lives and invite us to CHANGE.
And change is hard. Change is difficult and painful. When I think of the change that God invites us into, I think of Scrooge’s response to the ghost of Jacob Marley, who when invited on a journey that will inevitably lead to change, Scrooge’s reply is simply: “I think I’d rather not.”
And if I am honest, (maybe it’s just me) but I think sometimes I’d rather not. And I don’t think I’m the only one! I think that sometimes we Christians can be known more for our immovable nature than our desire to be changed. Sometimes I think that as a faith group we would rather check the box next to Christ-follower than truly be transformed. I see the evidence all the time, in myself, in others, and in an American church that occasionally seems more concerned with being wrapped up and soaked in the partisan political games of our nation, rather than seeking to be transfigured by the grace and love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
And all the while, the world is in need now more than ever. And do you know what the world needs? I think the world needs a savior. I think the world needs hope and healing. I think the world needs care and compassion. I think the world needs to know that our cultural or political identifiers are surface level compared to our original identifier, that each of us is first and foremost a child of the living God.
And I hope that anyone who walks in those doors finds exactly what they need. I hope that anyone who is in here today finds a community ready to offer those things. I hope that anyone who walks in here meets a group of people willing to say, “We don’t have it all together, but we sure are open and willing and ready for God’s Holy Spirit to shift and change and transform and transfigure us so that we might continue to look a little more like Jesus every day.”
That’s what a life of faith is. A life of faith, of following Jesus, a life lived under the Lordship of Christ is one of growth, it’s one of shedding old parts and gaining new parts. A life of faith is all about not conforming to the patterns of this world, but rather being transfigured, being transformed, being changed by the renewing of our minds.
And we certainly don’t do the changing. As LaDon Denham told me this past week, “Only God can do that.” And that’s true. But we can certainly open ourselves up to the Spirit, to God, we can unclench our fists and hold loosely the non essentials, and have willing hearts and minds, willing to let God guide and direct and do some transfiguring work within us for the sake of Jesus Christ in the world.
Leadership Morning
A few weekends ago, we held a leadership retreat on a Saturday morning for all of our folks that are on administrative committees of our church. We had a room of about 60 of our church leaders. And we spent the morning dreaming about the future of the church. It was a pretty mountain top-y experience for me at least.
At the end of the morning, I asked everyone in the room to take a sticky note and write a one word prayer.
{explain I used to do this with youth}
After we were done I went through the prayers that next week. Here is some of what was written down, here are some of the one-word prayers that the leadership of this church prayed for you and for Newnan First UMC:
Unity
Growth
Relationships
Wisdom
Guidance
Joy
Strength
Health
Inclusion
Stay United
Thankfulness
Passion
Grace
Peace
Hope
I’m so proud of the words our leadership offered to God on behalf of this church. What An amazing group of folks. And I think those are great prayers, necessary prayers. God knows we need peace in our communities, unity in our churches, wisdom in our states, grace in our nations, and guidance in our world.
But if we really want to pray for those things, I wonder, then do we know who God’s instruments of peace on earth are going to be? Do you know who God will use to be the peace-makers? Do you know who he will call to be the hope-bringers, and the unity-sewers, and the grace-givers and the includers and the strengtheners and the growers? You. And me.
And if you and I really want to be a community that exhibits those things, I wonder today what might need to change in us, that God might be able to do some of that work THROUGH us.
I’ll finish with a question:
Are you prepared to allow God to change you in such important and intense ways that he might be able to use you for peace?
Are you ready to allow God to transfigure your life?
Are you ready to live a life of dynamic faith?
After all, a life of dynamic faith is a life filled with change.
Amen.
O Holy Night
COMBINED CHOIRS“O Holy Night” Adam/RingwaldChancel Choir, Youth Choir, Carol Choir, Swingin’ Singin’ Seniors, InspirationsDawn McCord, organJulie Perkins, pianoBonnie Krider, Director
What Shall I Render to My God | The Chancel Choir | Wesley/Lovelace
(©1955 Canyon Press)
Acts 1: 1-14, Ephesians 1: 15-23, Luke 24: 46-53 | Waiting Rooms & Upper Rooms | Rev. Charles Robinson
Isaiah 43:1-7 & Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 | Passing Through The Waters | Rev. Charles Robinson
Exodus 20: 4-6, Isaiah 44: 9-20 | The Ten Commandments: Number Two | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 9:35 & Philippians 2:5-11 | Membership/Discipleship: An Unselfish Member | Rev. Charles Robinson
I Corinthians 12:12-17 | Membership/Discipleship: A Functioning Member | Rev. Charles Robinson
I John 4:7-21 | A Journey Through I John: What’s Love Got to Do With It? | Rev. Charles Robinson
I John 3: 16-24 | A Journey Through I John: Believing and Loving | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 9:2-9 | Marking Mark’s Words...And a Few Others: Don’t Just Sit There...Say Something! | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 1: 29-39 | Marking Mark’s Words… and a Few Others: Another Mother-in-Law Story | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 1: 21-28 | MARKING MARK’S WORDS… AND A FEW OTHERS: WITH AUTHORITY | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 1: 14-20 | MARKING MARK’S WORDS… AND A FEW OTHERS: IMMEDIATELY... FOLLOWED | Rev. Charles Robinson
John 1: 29-42 | MARKING MARK’S WORDS… AND A FEW OTHERS: BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD! | Rev. Charles Robinson
Mark 1:4-11 | MARKING MARK’S WORDS… AND A FEW OTHERS: BAPTISMAL CONFUSION | Rev. Charles Robinson
John 3:16 & II Corinthians 8:24 | Extravagant Generosity!: An Expression of the Heart/Gratitude | Rev. Charles Robinson
John 13:34-35, Joel 2:28, Colossians 3:1, Matthew 6:33 | Extravagant Generosity!: Matters of the Heart | Rev. Charles Robinson
II Corinthians 13: 1-13 & Matthew 25: 31-46 | United Methodist Beliefs: Christian Perfection | Rev. Charles Robinson
Romans 8:12-17 & I John 3:18-24 | United Methodist Beliefs: The Assurance of Salvation | Rev. Charles Robinson
I Thessalonians 5: 12-24 & Colossians 2:20-3:17 | United Methodist Beliefs / Sanctification: The Pursuit of Holiness | Rev. Charles Robinson
Romans 3:21-31; Galatians 3:1-14 | United Methodist Beliefs: Justification by Faith | Rev. Charles Robinson
I John 4:7-21 | United Methodist Beliefs: God’s Love for All Persons | Rev. Charles Robinson
II Timothy 3:10-17 | United Methodist Beliefs: The Authority of Scripture | Rev. Charles Robinson
Colossians 1:15-20 | O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing: Who's the Boss? | Rev. Charles Robinson
ISAIAH 40:28-31 | O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO SING: BROKEN DOWN… FIXED UP | Rev. Charles Robinson
Philippians 2:1-11 | O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing: What a Charmer | Rev. Charles Robinson
Acts 1:6-11 | O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing: Some Assistance Needed | Rev. Charles Robinson
Psalm 100 | O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing: We Could Still Use More | Rev. Charles Robinson
1 Corinthians 15:12-26 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in Eternal Life | Rev. Fede Apecena
1 Corinthians 15:12-26 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in Eternal Life | Rev. Charles Robinson
1 John 1:5-10 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins | Rev. Charles Robinson
1 John 1:5-10 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins | Rev. Maria Bowers Gardiner
Matthew 16:13-19 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in the Church | Rev. Charles Robinson
John 16:7-15 | The Apostle's Creed: I Believe in the Holy Spirit | Rev. Charles Robinson
Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27; 2:1-3 | Apostle's Creed: I Believe in God | Rev. Charles Robinson
Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27; 2:1-3 | Apostle's Creed: I Believe in God | Rev. Maria Bowers Gardiner
Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 | Worthy of Our Consideration | Rev. Charles Robinson
Exodus 24:12-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 | The Majestic Glory of Christ (Transfiguration Sunday) | Rev. Charles Robinson
Joshua 24:14-28; Matthew 8:23-27 | Wonderful Words Of Life: Obey | Rev. Charles Robinson
Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 12:2 | Wonderful Words Of Life: Trust | Rev. Vince McGlothin-Eller
2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 2 Corinthians 9:10-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 | Enough: Gratitude | Lewis Jackson
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11; Hebrews 13:5-6; 1 Timothy 6:2b-10 | Enough: Cultivating Contentment | Rev. Charles Robinson
Ephesians 5:15-20 | Take A Letter...: Making the Most of Every Opportunity | Rev. Charles Robinson
Psalm 104:14-23 | Season of Creation: Flora & Fauna Sunday | Rev. Vince McGlothin-Eller
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 | Take A Letter...: Keeping Good Intentions Fresh | Rev. Charles Robinson
Luke 12:49-56 | God Beyond Boundaries: Peace Through Division? | Rev. Vince McGlothin-Eller
Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-16 | God Beyond Borders: Strangers & Immigrants | Rev. Vince McGlothin-Eller
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 | "Take A Letter...: We're Not Doing That!" | Rev. Charles Robinson
Luke 10:25-37 | "God Beyond Boundaries: The Unexpected Neighbor" | Rev. Vince McGlothin-Eller
"Going Home by a Different Road: Inner Roads/Ways of the Heart" - Rev. Charles Robinson
"Missional Living" - Rev. JoAn Kinrade, Kate Collins, Emily Nipper, JD Brass, David Nuckolls, Julie Lee, Kim Ward, & Scott Harlan
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 5: Extravagant Generosity" - Wil Conoly & Rev. JoAn Kinrade
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 3: Risk-Taking Mission & Service" - Rev. Charles Robinson
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 3: Risk-Taking Mission & Service" - Bob & Elaine Dalton and Rev. JoAn Kinrade
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 3: Intentional Faith Development" - Jennifer Cliett & Rev. Maria Bowers
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 3: Intentional Faith Development" - Rev. Charles Robinson
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 2: Passionate Worship" - Nate Pylant & Rev. Charles Robinson
"Cultivating Fruitfulness: Week 1: Radical Hospitality" - Rev. JoAn Kinrade, Julie Daniell, & Kelley Ritter
"This Is My Story: Week 3: Life After Death" - Rev. JoAn Kinrade, Toni Steedly, Eddie Millians
"This Is My Story: Week 2: Striving, Surviving, or Thriving?" - Rev. JoAn Kinrade & David Johnston
"Even If..." - Rev. JoAn Kinrade
MercyMe - Even If: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y
Easter/Resurrection Sunday | "For Thine Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory Forever. Amen." - Rev. JoAn Kinrade
"Forgive Us Our Trespasses, As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us" - Landon Cates & David Johnston
"A Better Way to Do Christmas!: Week 1: Worship the HOPE, Not the HYPE" - Dr. Stuart Greene
"All Hands On Deck!: Commitment Sunday" - Dr. Stuart Greene, Sarah Brummett, Melinda Jones, Warren Budd, & Freeman Elliott
"All Hands On Deck!: Commitment Sunday" - Rev. Maria Bowers, Charlotte Baker, Hayes Johnston, Sally Brass, Trey Rhodes, & Lewis Jackson