Sermon Podcast: Recent Episodes
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Weekly sermon recordings and other special services from St. Barnabas Episcopal Church located in DeLand, Florida.
May God bless you and fill you with His immeasurable love and presence. We are so blessed to have served with you at St. Barnabas.
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So that I don’t assume that everyone has heard the news. On Monday night I announced my resignation to the Vestry. My last Sunday in the serving all of you will Next Sunday, May 28th. The last service I will participate in is the Worship night on May 31st. In June, I will take my vacation and use that as a time of transition.
I apologize if this is the first time you are hearing about this. But let me take the moment to say that if this is the case, you really do need to sign up for our mailchimp email correspondence through our website.
With that being said, I know that the question on everyone’s mind, is why?
I have taken a position Middleburg, Florida a suburb of the Jacksonville area. The church is called Good Samaritan Anglican Church. It is a part of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. When you look up the church you will see that it is smaller than St. Barnabas and I know you will ask again, why?
This is a fair question and one that can only be answered by saying Susan and I both feel that this is God’s call for us and for our family. Not to go would be disobedience to the direction of God’s purpose and plan for us.
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They followed Him. Surrendered in worship and God began to lead them to accomplish all that He had prepared in advance for them to do. They followed where God led, how God led, and when God led and God work in unimaginable ways that the nations of the world would come to see and hear they invitation of God’s great love in Jesus through them.
They Listened and heard Jesus Speak. They Surrendered in worshiped and prayer and God prepared them. They followed God’s leading and were filled with the Holy Spirit; The presence, the Power, and the Purposes of God. And you and I are here today because they choose to be obedient to they path God placed before them.
I know for many there are all kinds of emotions yet to be processed. But I hope you will be encouraged to listen to God speak, Surrender to him in worship and prayer, follow where God leads and you will experience God unimaginable power, presence, and purposes remaining alive and well here at St. Barnabas and in your own lives you will see experience God doing a new work in you that is greater than anything you could think or imagine for His sake and for His glory.
Listen, Surrender, and Follow I promise as you turn around and see where and what God has done, the Alleluias will resound. Amen.
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“Like newborn babies, crave for (or long for) pure spiritual milk. If you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Crave pure spiritual milk. This is momma’s milk with all the nutrients, antibiotics, and health that a baby needs. Pure Spiritual Milk was understood to be that which was life giving and pure.
Let’s stop for a second and ask ourselves, What are we craving for? Right now at this point, at this stage in our lives, what are we craving? What are the cravings that consume our minds, bodies, and souls? Where and to what do we turn to fill these cravings?
Do the answers to these questions lead us to the heart of God, that which is holy and pure/of the nature of God, right/in line with God’s desires, good/honoring to the Lord, and life giving/advancing God’s purposes in life and relationships?
Or do our answers lead us to things that gratify the flesh, that which is what we want , when we want it, how we want it. Do our answers lead us to things that gratify our self-seeking pleasures, that glorify ourselves as we live life looking out for our best interest?
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Do you remember when you were a kid and you got those walkie talkies for Christmas. What was the first things you would do? Press the button and say can you hear me? Then you would start moving farther and farther apart, checking to see how good they really worked and how far apart you could be from one another and still hear each other. Can you hear me now?
It was exciting to hear your brother or sister, mom or dad, or even a friend from around the corner or down the street when you could no longer see each other. And once you found the breaking distance, the point in which the voice no longer came in clear, you would start to walk back towards each other, closer to one another until the voices once again were clear.
Bigger toys for bigger boys right: (pull out cell phone)
Things really haven’t changed that much. Perhaps you remember those early Verizon commercials: Can you hear me now?
When you are talking on your phone and the call starts to drop, what do you do? First, you look at the phone to see if there is still a connection. If there is, you begin to move around a little bit. If you happen to be driving, you might wait a second or two and then start saying, can you hear me.
When we are connected to someone through a walkie talkie or even one of these, it is frustrating when the signal is not clear and what the other person is saying is jumbled up or just plain drops such that the message, they are intending to share is unable to be discerned or even heard at all.
When this happens, we move, hoping that the signals which we don’t really understand will somehow reconnect and will once again become clear so that we can reconnect and engage in the relationship that these devices enable us to enjoy.
What if there were devices that would allow you to hear the voice of God, would you use them? And if you did and the voice of God started growing faint, becoming broken up, or dropping out altogether, would you be willing to move, to make some adjustments so that God’s voice would again be clear, that you could engage in the relationship that these devices enable you to enjoy?
In our Gospel text this morning, Jesus clearly states that “His sheep will hear His voice”.
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What if Easter could last all year long? I’m not talking about the exhaustion that comes from cooking, traveling, or decorating the church or your home. No, I’m talking about the excitement of going to worship, the joy in seeing others, the hope a new life springing forth, the peace of knowing all is well for a moment, the love of knowing God gave all this for you and for me. The passion that we express in singing Alleluia and the anticipation of more is yet to come.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but we are living in a pretty chaotic period of history.
After years of being told “you do you” (which if you don’t know means that someone should do what they think is best, what they enjoy most, or what suits their personality, you know “you do you”)
After years of insisting that truth is relative to whatever a person determines for themselves. Is it any wonder that chaos has emerged. Sort of reminds me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Whenever, one of the kids did what they wanted regardless of the instructions they had been given, that person’s experience would end up causing their demise. Even with a promise of something much greater than they could imagine, the kids in the movie could not help but to give into what they wanted, when they wanted it, and how they wanted it.
And the chaos it created prevented them from receiving the promise that was to come.
How quick does the chaos spread when we do things according to our own understanding instead of with the heart of the one who created it all.
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Let me ask you what I think is a million dollar question?
Why did Jesus endure the cross?
You could answer as Paul describes in the letter to the Hebrews “for the sake of the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”
But how does or why does Jesus see the cross with joy?
I believe it is because he is ONE with the Father.
Jesus’ heart and mind are fixed solely on the heart and the desires of the Father.
What does it mean to be ONE with another? It means to be united together with a deep love for one another.
To be ONE with your spouse is to know their heart and to know their desires and to seek the well being of your relationship beyond all else. When you are ONE with your spouse there are things that will fall away from your life simply because your spouse does not get as excited about them as you do.
To be ONE with someone is to be united in such a way that your desires are shaped, formed, and become the desire of the one to whom you are united too.
Jesus was ONE with the Father and the way the Jesus identified this ONENESS was by knowing the fullness of God’s Love and Living with a full reflection of this Love returning to the Father. It was from this ONENESS that Jesus was then able to love others, to do the ministry that he did and share his life in the way that he did even to the point of shedding his own blood.
Jesus says many times through the Scripture that he didn’t do anything apart from what he saw or heard first from the Father.
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How many of you know, you can be totally right, but be totally wrong?
Susan and I have a rule for our marriage. We have agreed to this rule because we know it is a good rule and helps us to treat one another how we honestly desire to do so according to our marriage vows and the love we share and are committed to. And it is how we want to be treated by each other.
The rule is this. If we disagree about something, we do not have the right to raise our voice at one another to try to get our way. In other words, if we are in a disagreement and the tension starts to rise (which never really happens, right), if one or the other of us starts to raise our voice or increase the tone of our voice as if to force our view on the other. All the other person has to say to end the argument is, you don’t have the right to raise your voice at me. This most commonly comes out as “why are you raising your voice, or you don’t have to raise your voice at me”
Once one of us says anything like this the argument is over and the other person automatically wins, unless you are able to compose yourself, calm down, and begin to talk in a tone and volume that shows love and respect for the person you are talking too.
You can be totally right but be totally wrong. This is actually an oxymoron because if you were totally right you would not be expressing yourself in a way that is totally wrong.
When it comes to our faith, we often think or speak like we are totally right but yet we live our lives in a way that is totally wrong.
Right Belief is meant to guide our lives in the way of Right Practice. And Right Practice cannot exist for long without Right Belief.
Right Belief and Right Practice are not two separate things. They are one in the same and when we start to think that they can be separated from each other, we may be totally right, but we are totally wrong. And we are only fooling ourselves and need to repent of the false gospel that we have embraced.
....
Where have you seen the lack of continuity between your Right Beliefs and Right Practice?
Where have you been totally right, but totally wrong? There are far too many Christians who say they believe but their lives do not align with the Word of God. There are far too many Christians who claim to be sharing God’s love but are doing so without a truth that would bring God’s grace which is what the sinner actually needs.
What if the argument was to stop until you and I repented, until we calmed down, until we could begin to speak in a different tone and a different volume. Until you and I come to a place of agreeing, a place of seeing that God’s Truth and God’s Grace need to meet together in their fullness for the Gospel of Jesus to be communicated.
For the Gospel of Jesus to be shared in a way that the Holy Spirit changes the hearts of ruthless sinners into glorious saints as people experience their minds being transformed to a place where they no longer conform to the patterns of this world but begin to see the wisdom and will of God and align their lives Right Practice to Right Belief?
Perhaps we need to hear the call of Isaiah to repent because we have believed a false gospel that says I can have Right Belief without Right Practice. Maybe we need read, hear, mark, and inwardly digest God’s word, His Truth so we can understand and receive the fullness of God’s grace and that He has given to us in Jesus.
Maybe we need to ask God to show us what Right Belief and Right Practice would mean for the relationships we have, the life that we live, and the people we will bump shoulders with daily in our lives?
Maybe, if we ask we will hear the Holy Spirit working to align our Right Belief to Right Practice so that the World would see Jesus, through us His&nb
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Come and see, three little words that offer hope, joy, love, excitement, and opportunity.
Maybe you can remember a time when a young child; perhaps your own, or maybe a
grandchild, or a niece or nephew, or a good friend’s son or daughter came running up to you, while tapping your knee began to turn away to lead you to some unknown place only with the words come and see.
As you walked in their direction you could see the excitement in their eyes every time
they looked back making sure you were still following their lead. When you finally got
to where they were so eagerly taking you, you saw something that you did not expect; a frog on the wall, their dolls having tea. Something that surprised you or something that at least you could understand why they were so elated for you to come and see.
What is in your life that you long to share, that you long to show someone else, that if
you could so easily get their attention as a child you would say; come and see?
I would imagine it would be something of great importance, something that has made an impact on who you are and how you have experienced life. Something that filled your heart with hope, joy, love, excitement, and opportunity.
Perhaps you can remember a time when you have heard these words from God, or
someone else brought you to a place to hear and receive the mercy and grace of God, the love of God poured out for you in Jesus. Or maybe you are here today, because someone or some how you have had a sense in your heart that you were to come and see. Come and see what this place is about, who is this God that Christians worship and adore.
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Gift Giving Christmas or a Jesus Christmas
We can do without the gifts, but we can't do without Jesus
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Christmas is fast approaching and maybe you have found yourself listening to and telling stories you have heard a thousand times before. These familiar tales bring joy and laughter as you remember the moment like it was yesterday.
So here is one of mine. Some of you may have heard it before, make no mind, listen and laugh with me or at me as my momma used to say.
As Christmas comes many of us have probably generated a wish list of sorts. Things we would like to receive for gifts. In fact, some of you might even say that I am getting x, y, and z for Christmas even though Christmas hasn’t even arrived.. Others, like me, may even have a wish list of things that you know you won’t be getting, but you ask for them every year just in case.
But have you ever received something that you did not expect or did not anticipate, and possibly did not even want? 30+ years ago, when I was still in college, I made my wish list very clear. The only thing I would tell people that I wanted for Christmas was a very specific new fishing reel.
I knew I was going to get it because it was the only thing I asked for and it was within the usual price range of gifts. I even found the present under the tree that I knew it had to be.
As Christmas morning came, I was excited and ready to open this present. Even more exciting than this was that my mom kept telling me that this particular present was not even my main gift. I didn’t know what else to expect but I was ready to receive, and more than that I was ready to go fishing.
As we began to open the gifts, my mom had devised a strategy of opening up one present at a time, so we could all share in the joy of giving and receiving. I actually, do the same thing with my kids today. My mom and had a numbering system that only she knew and of course she made us wait till the end for our main gift.
Finally, I got to the box that I was eagerly waiting for and ripped off the wrapping paper and there before my eyes was a brand new VCR rewinder. (pause) I was completely confused and I thought for sure my mom had given me somebody else’s gift. My entire family could see my confusion, so they all told my mom to let me open the next gift. She agreed and pulled out this other slightly bigger box and I opened it only to find a rebuilt VCR. My main present, my last present a VCR.
This is embarrassing to even mention, but I was so disappointed that I closed the box and slide it back under the tree with a few very unthankful remarks about the gift. Had my reaction not been so over the top it would have ruined Christmas for everyone, but because it was so extreme my family told me how ridiculous I was being and went on to enjoy the rest of their morning while I sat on the other side of the room sulking.
Now I might be the only one who has been selfish enough to actually act this way, but I bet all of us have experienced some kind of disappointment, some kind of unexpected outcome to something that we were highly anticipating.
I wonder in these moments do our unexpected, do our unanticipated happenings mean that there is a lack of love from the person in control?
What about in regard to our faith and the love that God has for us. When things don’t unfold the way we hoped or the way we expected does that mean that God doesn’t care? Does it mean that God is not in control? Does it mean that God doesn’t know what we need or what is best for us? If the answer to these questions is no, then what does that say about our response to God? The way that you I respond to the things he allows to happen.
How many times do we with unthankful hearts slide the gift of life that we have been given by God back under the tree and sit in our selfish little worlds sulking instead of growing in our knowledge and love of God allowing hi
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Have you ever found yourself quickly cleaning up your house because an unexpected quest was about to stop by? Or perhaps an expected guest was scheduled to arrive?
If you have then you know what it feels like to think what and where can I hide x,y,z so my guest won’t see it and the house will look cleaned and ready to go.
Whether unexpected or expected the frantic straightening and cleaning occurs because there were things done and/or left undone that you would like to have taken care of before a guest arrives.
For those of you who keep a perfectly clean house you might not be able to imagine this. Maybe for you, it is having everything you need to bake the cookies, make a cup of coffee, or pour a glass of tea.
The panic or anxiety that arises from such a situation comes from not doing or being prepared for what you know is about to take place. If you had just a little more time, a little better warning, one more day to get ready. When we know someone coming over it moves us to a different course of action than when we don’t anticipate any visitors.
In reference to your faith, how do you see yourself prepared or not prepared for the 2nd coming of Jesus?
Today is Christ the King Sunday. The day in which the Church celebrates that which we believe will one day take place. The day when Jesus returns to judge the world with perfect judgement. The day when all evil and the spiritual forces that rebel against God are locked up and put away forever. The day when everything is made right and the Kingdom of God is fully known because the kingdom of God is fully present.
The day in which the sheep are separated from the goats, the wheat is separated from the chaff, the day where the righteous are separated from the unrighteous.
A day that Jesus says will come, but when it comes no one will know the day or the hour, but it will come and the only thing that will matter is are you prepared or not.
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The only problem with driving an old car is that there will be times that you need a good mechanic.
With that taken care of, you can save a lot of money, but you do occasionally have an interesting story to tell.
Here is one of mine. Susan’s car had a small oil leak. At first, I would check the oil every month and make sure it always had the right amount. However, over time I started to notice that every time her AC would stop blowing cold, I would need to add oil as well.
So instead of checking the oil on a regular basis, I got to the point where I just waited till the AC would stop working, then I would check the oil. Sure enough, it always needed oil. A little oil and a little freon and all was well till the next oil change. We drove the car like this for several years.
It happened so many times, I had become convinced that somehow the oil level affected the AC, such that I could trust the AC to tell me when the car needed more oil.
It was only this past summer when the car told us a different story. This past summer something different happened. The AC went out and the oil was fine. This is when my mechanic got the call. The system no longer worked, there had to be something else taking place.
Sure enough there was. The AC needed some work to get it fixed and while it was at the shop the mechanic found the oil leak and now both are fixed and running fine.
I hope you know that a car without oil will not run for long and most of you are probably thinking how lucky or blessed we were that we did not blow the engine up by following this backwards logic to automobiles.
In fact, an AC that runs perfectly is no good in a car without oil, why? Because if you run a car without oil you will blow the engine up and then you will not even be able to turn the engine on to run the compressors that make the air condition work.
So if I was to ask you, which one is more important to pay attention too, I would hope you would say the oil. And even though I know this and knew this back then, my experience convinced me to think I could allow the AC to tell me about the oil. Instead of taking care of the oil and then realizing there was an even more effective way to keep my AC running smoothly.
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We live in Florida, which means that we know a thing or two about hurricanes. Though we are in the middle of hurricane season, Praise the Lord, we have yet to have a named storm come our way this year.
That being said, perhaps God has granted us a little reprieve as we have been bombarded by a plethora of cultural hurricanes almost every day.
One of these named storms that has been brewing off the coast for some time is what people call a Post-Christian Era. Ever since I was in seminary at the turn of the century, I became aware of people from all walks of life claiming that we are moving towards a Post-Christian Society, which I believe has arrived in full force.
Hardly a reputable source, but this times gets it right, Wikipedia says: A post-Christian society is one in which Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion but has gradually assumed values, culture, and worldviews that are not necessarily Christian (it may not necessarily reflect any world religion's standpoint or may represent a combination of several religions or none at all).[3]
For years, people in and outside of the church have been claiming that we have moved to a post-Christian era. Those outside the church typically rejoice that this time has come as new “freedoms” are found and those inside the church are saddened, stunned, or see this as an opportunity for the clarification of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Here is my question for us today. Does it matter what we think? How much has our culture’s shift to a post-Christian worldview served to moved you and me away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God? Can we even see that this may be taking place? And if it has and if it is,
Do we rejoice at this?
Are we saddened by this?
Are we stunned by this?
Do we see it as an opportunity to clarify the Good News of Jesus Christ?
What an unbelieving world cannot understand is a people who are so radically in love with God and stand for a truth that sets them against the tenets of the world and yet are willing to give of themselves and sacrifice, so others that will see how strong the branches of faith really can be and how deep their roots go.
You want to rattle the world, let someone know you disagree with them and love them anyway. A post-Christian worldview has no place to put that (we see this everyday), but perhaps even if it is only one person at a time, people will come to see this as the Glory of God and His invitation to be planted the stream of living water that never runs dry, Jesus.
The Church has the answer, because it is a mighty oak, the planting to the Lord, for His Glory if we will individually and collectively deny ourselves (the things of this world) and pick up our cross to follow Jesus. Amen.
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I think I have found something that we can all agree on. You ready to hear what it is? How many you hate, now we can all agree on something we hate that is a miracle, How many of you hate unexpectedly walking into a spiderweb?
That feeling you get when you are dressed and ready for the day and you go out to get into your car and just as to reach out to open the door a spiderweb brushes across your face. Oh man, that can make you squirm.
No doubt you have seen spiderman as some point in your life. What a weapon he has to wrap up his enemies with a spider web so strong that most cannot set themselves free.
Could you image walking into a spiderweb that actual froze you in your tracks. That would be terrible
have to stop and take notice of the webs that are entangling us. We have listen to God’s word and allow God to speak truth louder than the culture around us. We have respond to the sin that is in our hearts, souls, and minds. We have to believe that Jesus is the way, truth, and the life. That no one comes to the Father except by Jesus.
We have to stop, listen, respond, and repent we would experience the power, presence, and purposes of God through Jesus Christ setting us free from the weight from entanglements of sin. And trust that God’s way does bring life and life abundantly.
Where are you this morning?
What would it look like for you stop? To stop peddling hoping to make it to the end.
What would look like for you to stop?
What would it take for you listen?
To listen to God’s word, to His wisdom and His desires instead of trusting in your own understanding? What would it take, what would it look like for you to actually ask God to reveal the fullness of His wisdom and desires for you instead of assuming you already know and especially instead of listening to the culture who denies God to define your path to take?
What would it look like to stop and listen?
What would look like for you to respond to wisdom and will of God? What is your response as you begin to see the webs that entangle you?
Will you see with God eyes and do a hippie jibbie dance getting rid of all that is not of Him in your life? Will you repent? For it is in repentance that power of God begins set you free to become all that god has designed and desired for your to be. It is here that faith comes alive and begins to work in a way that you could never think or imagine.
We are on a path. One is wide the whole world seems to be following it and this wide path will lead to destruction, the other path is narrow and few will find. But this narrow road, it leads to eternal life, and all the saints who have gone before point us in that direction.
Because of the glory of God that we have seen in those who have gone before, may stop, listen, respond, and repent that we may see Jesus as our redeemer, the sacrifice for our sins and may we experience His power setting us free that we actually become more like him and less like the world around us. Amen.
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Abraham by Josh Baldwin
(This is the song we sung before and after the sermon)
There is a mountain in between
What You have said and what I I see
Standing before this offering
My failing heart will fight to believe
[Chorus]
On this altar, on this road
You have called me from my home
The weight I carry is not my own
Spirit move this heart of stone
How can I walk in my new name?
"Father of many," a promise You gave
And on this altar, and on this road
I lay down my flesh and bones[Verse 2]
And here on this mountain I have climbed
Wrestling doubts that flood my mind
When ashes and dust are all that remain
The hope for the world still comes from my vein
[Chorus]
On this altar, on this road
You have called me from my home
The weight I carry is not my own
Spirit move this heart of stone
How can I walk in my new name?
"Father of many," a promise You gave
And on this altar, and on this road
I lay down my flesh and bones
[Bridge]
And I will sing out
Until I believe now
You're faithful to carry me
Oh I will sing out
Until I believe now
You're faithful to carry me
[Chorus]
On this altar, on this road
You have called me from my home
The weight I carry is not my own
Spirit move this heart of stone
How can I walk in my new name?
"Father of many," a promise You gave
And on this altar, and on this road
I lay down my flesh and bones
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Years ago, when I was a wee little child, I went fishing with my grandad and my brother in Arkansas in the middle of winter with snow on the ground. We were fishing in a spot that was 30 to 50 feet deep. At one point, I cranked in the anchor, grab my rod to sit down, expressing the exhaustion of hand cranking the anchor some 50 ft. When I sat down, my chair had spun without me knowing, so my flop into the seat ended up with me doing a backflip into the ice-cold water.
Fortunately, I had a life-jacket on so I bobbed up to the surface. But, my fishing pole was not so lucky, it sunk to the bottom of the lake. After my grandad and brother stopped laughing, they managed to pull me back into the boat.
My point in sharing this with you is this
If someone was drowning, would you throw them a fishing pole or a life vest?
I hope the answer of a life vest is obvious to you.
The scriptures this morning help to unravel something that I think our church and our society have gotten confused.
We know and are quick to point out that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. This is absolutely true.
However, the only way we can truly love our neighbor is to do so in a way that points them to Jesus. In other words, to throw them a life-jacket instead of a fishing pole.
A fishing pole is helpful if you are in the boat ready to catch fish or even becoming a fisher of men, but if you are drowning is a sea of sin there is only one thing you need, a life-jacket, and that is Jesus.
Jesus who rescues us from our sin, Jesus who gives us new life, Jesus who heals our sicknesses, and who frees us from the deceit of the enemy of our soul. It is Jesus who saves, who redeems, who heals, and who forgives. Now that is a rescue that all of humanity desperately needs.
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This one on my most hated signs. No U-turns. The reason why I hate this sign is because it does two things to me. First it proves to me that I am lost, that I have missed my turn, or that I don’t know where I am going.
Think about it. You never even notice no u-turn signs if you know where you are going. If you have a very clear picture of how to get where you need to go a NO UTURN sign is seldom seen.
You plan ahead which allows you to anticipate the turns you will need make.
But if you are lost, if you are not paying attention and fly past your turn, or if you are in uncharted territory, a no u-turn sign is threatening and seems to prevent you from accomplishing what you think you need to do.
The Second reason I hate these stupid signs is that I seem to always discover them when I am in a hurry and driving too fast to begin with, so when I see them, I either get mad and break the law, or I get mad and drive even faster so I can turn around at the next opportunity.
Have you ever noticed that they always place these signs at the intersections where you are most likely to need to make a u-turn. If you are in a hurry and not thinking about the safety of yourself or others this has potential to be super frustrating and I bet most of us are guilty and doing what we want to do regardless of the warning signs that have be given to us.
Have you ever stopped in the middle of such aggravation and realized that the purpose of the no u-turn sign is to protect and provide for you a safe way to travel? They are usually put up in places where making a u-turn jeopardizes your safety and the safety those around you.
Even though I have gotten a lot better: Those moments when I am lost, missed my turn, don’t know where I am going, or simply in a hurry and a no u-turn sign reminds me of my faults. I realize, I have a choice to make, will I obey the warning sign or will I push the limits because what I need is the only thing that really matters?
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How many times have we questioned God because life didn’t happen the way we wanted it when we wanted it?
How many people do we know who have even walked away from faith because things didn’t work out in a way that they could understand it?
We can easily see how this happens on the big issues that people face, but what about the myriad of small responses in life and opportunities for our faith to deepen instead of being forgotten about or viewed as an inconvenience to the moment?
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The one thing that drew me to faith, God’s love and care for His children, is also my greatest fear or doubt that challenges my faith, does God really see and care about me? It has been by wrestling with this question that I have discovered many times over the answer is yes, yes, yes. What once would rock my world or just about wreck my faith now serves as a reminder that God has not left me comfortless and if God can lead me out of the places of demise that he has already, he can and will do it again. I have hope for tomorrow because of who God is. And this changes my TODAY.
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In just a minute, I am going to ask you to think of a minimum of three things that you are thankful for, three things in which you have been blessed by God and return praise to Him.
It is a good exercise to give praise and thanks to God out loud. It is good to let our hearts open up to the praise of God. When we express thankfulness, our hearts open our minds open our souls open up to the wisdom and will of God unfolding in and around us.
We begin to see the cup as half full instead of half empty. And when we believe that God is with us and when we begin take notice how God is working in and around us, we begin to get excited, we begin to see opportunities, we begin respond to circumstances differently, we begin to see people differently, we begin understand how much God has loved us and we begin to love others as we have been loved.
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Have you ever been surprised by the response of someone who you thought was going to let you have it but instead offered you mercy?
If you have had this experience, you might remember being stunned or shaken in a way that left an impression on you forever. Perhaps, it even changed the course of your life at some point along the way.
Maybe you understand what I am talking about, or perhaps you have no understanding at all. A love so powerful that your life stands still. A place where chaos and disorder should rule the day but instead peace and hope enters in and calms your soul. A nudge of encouragement inviting you to step in a different direction one that will lead you from disorder and chaos to a more peaceful hope-filled place that brings about all that is good instead of the evil that hides just under the surface.
If your faith is not lived out of the abundance of his love for you, you have yet to take hold of what he has taken hold of to give to you.
Many of us live in denial that we deserve anything but the best. We try to live as though our sin is hidden and has no consequences upon our destiny, we are hoping we don’t get caught, afraid of what will happen if we do. Denying that we did anything bad the deserves the wrath of God.
But what God wants you know is a love so deep that life stand still in such a way that you can see clearly a choice to make. One that follows His voice and leads to peace, hope, healing, and love or one that take you down the same road you have been traveling that leads to greater destruction and even more chaos for yourself and others.
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Have you ever stood at a crossroad in life? If you think hard enough or if you remember long enough, there is no doubt that you will remember of a few moments in time that stood still. Places where you knew that whatever you did next, whatever decision you would make was going to change the course of your life forever.
I know I have a few that pop into my head. Moments lived out that have become stories of my own that are impossible to forget. In fact, most of these moments carry detailed pictures of the place where I stood as a decision was made. It took some time for the road that would be traveled to develop, but as I journey back in time these memories and these images etched in my mind represent very specific moments where I stood at a crossroad and a decision that was made changed the course of my life forever. As I take the journey back and remember the decision that was made, I can look down the paths of a different decision and though I can’t see very far, the road often gets very very dark.
There are other moments that I can remember where the path I took may have been one I thought I wanted, but where I came to discover it was not a good decision at all. These decisions led to treacherous paths that took me down roads of destruction some of which are hard to even talk about today.
On these parts of my journey, I can see sudden stops or dead ends where I would turn around to try and go back and realize that going back was not an available option, as they say there was too much water under the bridge. Although retreating back to where I had come was not an option, in turning around there was always before me a much clearer path to take that led me away from the fear, anxiety, destruction, and devastation that was no doubt ahead if I did not stop.
Sometimes this clearer path asked me to do things that seemed impossible but every time I persevered and took a step it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had thought it was going to be and every time, I found smoother more steady ground under my feet as I took those steps. In fact, as I think about these turning points, many of them are definitive moments that have become important crossroads of their own and carry significant meaning and stories I am not likely to forget.
Today we hear a story where the people who were closest to Jesus stood at a crossroad. They had traveled down a road that led them to the horrific death of their friend Jesus upon a cross.
He was betrayed by one of their own and arrested. He was tried in a mockery of a trial, and he was beaten. He whipped, he was stripped, he was insulted beyond what many of them could bare to watch. He was nail to a Roman cross and all who heard and all who saw this take place where stunned. Some in the crowd spoke out load thinking let’s see if he is who he claimed to be saying, “He healed others, let him come down off this cross and save himself.” And there on the cross the world watched as Jesus died. Some who cheered his death and who were charged to make sure he had died discovered in his final breath they had made a huge mistake. Some of the soldiers in charge of his death found no need to break his legs ensuring he would suffocate, for when they came to Jesus, he was already dead. Just to make sure one of them pierced his side with a spear and the blood cells had already begun to separate so that it looked like blood and water pouring out from his side. Everyone thought it was finished for sure.
We stand at a crossroad in life. It doesn’t matter how far down the road you have traveled. If you will turn around admitting, you are going in the wrong direction. You won’t be able to go back in time and chart a different path for all that you have lived, but you will see path full of light that is clear and p
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As I drove to the church early this morning to sit in the chapel and pray for an hour as part of the Prayer Vigil. I began to think about the glory of God and the fullness of what His glory might mean. I searched for the glory in the cross as I sat in the front of the Holy Sacrament and found Charles Spurgeon September 13, 1885 sermon on Galatians 6: 14. Eleven pages of gripping exposition of glory responding to what Paul writes “14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
If you were to define glory, what would you say?
There are some fanciful definitions, but throughout this week as I have thought about this word, stripping it down to the basics, I think I would say that Glory is the complete presence and purity of God where the trappings of the world, the flesh, and that devil have zero influence or impact.
Where do you find Glory?
This is what we carry to our Easter Celebration and have to share with the world around us if we have first placed all that is in our lives upon the cross that we would receive His glory that He would crush the head of Satan and the deceptive lies he has tried to destroy us with.
Satan might think he has won, but the only way he can celebrate is if you hold on to your glory instead of casting it down and foot of the cross. Amen.
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Holy Week an invitation to receive the fullness of God love through the cross.
Would you watch the end of an anticipated movie without watching the middle of the film?
I don't think so. Take the journey with Christ to the cross, you will get so much more out of it.
What is in your life that oppress you? Christ has died that you would be set free.
Will you walk with Christ to the Cross this week and experience the freedom from all that oppress you. His ways are so much greater.
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Pastor Sean Miles from SALM 67 Ministries shares his heart and passion for Vietnam and how the promises of God open the door for those who follow Jesus.
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Have you ever heard a story or read an article and thought to yourself there has got to be more to the story?
This morning you may have found yourself asking a question very similar to this as we read our Gospel lesson.
If not today, maybe you have read some text in the Bible before and asked yourself, is that it, is that all there is? Our minds tell us, there has got to be more to the story.
The only problem that I have found in asking this question is that when you start to look for the answer, it is usually something you wish you could have left alone. But now that you know the more, you have to respond, the more demands that you to do something.
We read our Gospel lesson and hear some things that don’t make much sense, and then there is a story about a fig tree that should be pulled up and burned, instead finding special attention by the gardener and getting one more chance to produce the kind of fruit that the gardener knows it is capable of producing. How do these stories fit together? What is missing, there has got to be more to the story.
There is indeed a whole lot more to the story. Now that you know, how will you respond? Examine the fruit of your life and see where it is that you need to repent and turn from your wicked evil ways.
Where does your life look more like the world that Jesus?
Where have your resources become more important than the kingdom of God?
Where do you spend your time finding your identity instead of being still and waiting upon the Lord to renew your strength, transforming your mind through His word and presence so that you can test and approve His will, His good, pleasing, and perfect will for you?
Seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added unto you.
Repent and turn towards Jesus.
Hold on to Jesus, seek his face, seek his heart,
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Three temptations that you can expect if you are living our your faith. For the enemy of our soul desires to see us stuck in the mud instead of reaching our end point of Eternal Life with the Father and the fullness of Life that Jesus Promises.
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Have you ever thought to yourself, God I hear what you are saying, but you just don’t understand the depths of the situation at hand?
Maybe you have heard God speak to your heart about a relationship, a family member, about tithing, or a job opportunity, or maybe even a vice you constantly struggle with, or perhaps it’s about getting involve in the church, or even giving your time to some other charitable cause.
But every time you hear God speak these words you respond by telling God he doesn’t understand what that would that really mean for you to do this or that. It just can’t happen.
But until we come to the end of ourselves, we will often place our trust in our own understanding, our own strength, our own abilities instead of trusting in God and walking where Holy Spirit has asked us to walk.
How do you respond to the things God ask of you that are not what you were wanting to hear or what you are wanting to do? And what would it take for you to say yes to Jesus instead of making a thousand excuses of why it just can’t happen that way?
Peter agrees to do what Jesus asked him to do, although his heart is definitely not in it. I like to imagine Peter rowing his boat, with just a hint of aggravation that Jesus would ask him to do such a ridiculous thing. But because Jesus has healed his own mother-in-law and many other people, Peter knows that Jesus is capable of doing things in way like no one else he has ever seen. So he rows and rows, puts out the nets all the while thinking, this is stupid and I has ruined my chance of getting a nap in today.
Peter comes to the end of himself and does what Jesus ask of him to do even though he cannot imagine any good that will come from it.
And then he experiences the beginning of what God can do. Jesus works wonders. The nets are so full that when they get the fish in the boat the boat starts to sink.
As Paul writes in the Epistle: “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.”
How has God grace been poured out towards you? What would it look like for his grace to not be poured out in vain over you?
Understanding the depths of God’s love for you and the grace that He has poured out to you through Jesus on cross is the who and the why for surrendering is only answer that makes sense.
What do you hear God, the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning or in the moments where you get quiet enough to hear?
When it comes to your time, to your resources, to your abilities; What do you hear God, the Holy Spirit speaking into your soul?
When it comes to your relationships, when it comes to your actions, when it comes to the thoughts and attitudes of your heart; What do you hear the God, the Holy Spirit directing?
How will you respond?
When you come to the end of yourself you will see the beginning of God.
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Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'Cause I get better lookin' each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a heck of a man
Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble
But I'm doin' the best that I can
I know, it may not be exactly what you expected, but it is true right. It is easy to look at yourself and image how perfect you are and how everyone else should see and understand life just as you do. And when this doesn’t happen, the problem has to be with the other person, because you know it can’t be with you.
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, When you’re perfect in every way.
The point is that it is always easier to see how someone else isn’t doing what we think or want them to do than it is to see our own foolishness. But, until we do it God’s way, all our ways are foolish. It doesn’t matter how much we believe or how hard we try if it is not God’s way, it is foolish, and the fruit that foolishness bares is rotten or maybe I should say a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.
How do we find peace in the midst of a world that does not know peace and that rejects the notion that God is real and that does not understand, believe, or even care that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to back to Him?
How do we find hope in a time when the world is in chaos everywhere we turn?
How do we find joy when the world seems to be filled with such hatred and anger?
How do we define morality when society says God does not exist and His Word has no place in our lives?
How do we experience love when love is defined as doing things my way?
But what if your thoughts, what if your actions, what if your ideology of life are not in line with God’s?
How then do we learn what God’s way is?
How do we listen to the one who is, who was, and who is to come?
How do we hear the words of Jesus and set our hearts on him?
Like the psalmist, we take refuge in him.
With everything that is your daily schedule, all that is the routines or your day, where and when do you take refuge in Jesus?
What would it look like for you to take refuge in Jesus each day?
How might taking refuge in Jesus shape the attitude of your heart and mind?
The truth of the matter is we all take refuge in something every day.
And if it is not Jesus, then whatever it is, is probably leading us down a path where me, myself, and I define or perhaps someone or something else besides God’s wisdom is defining what is good, pleasing, and acceptable. This deception may sound or feel good for a moment, but will end in foolishness rather than the sheer power of the living God bringing peace and moving in miraculous ways.
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If you were looking through some old boxes and found a letter, notebook, or diary of your mom or dad or perhaps your grandmom or graddad, what would you do?
Would you toss it out as if it was not important or worth your time to read?
How has God been revealed to you this week?
How has God been revealed to you through another person this week?
How has God been revealed to you through the reading of Scriptures this week?
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A father had two sons. He went to the first son and asked to him to go and work in the vineyard. The Son answered by saying he would not go. (You can feel the tension right from the start right.)
But later this son changed his mind and went.
The father went to the second son and asked him the same thing. This son said sure dad, I will go work no problem (that surely makes us feel good for a moment.) However, this son never did go to work.
Jesus then ask the chief priest and elders, who did the will of the father?
Of course, they answered, the first.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Don’t you just love it when Jesus talks to the people in charge like this? That is until we realize that Jesus is sharing this story 2000 years later with us. And, we have to face which son represent our life and faith?
Luke reminds of the mission of Jesus in the Gospel lesson for today as he writes: 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 thong 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."
In other words, Jesus will come with great clarity and for those who come to him, they will find the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit and experience a fire that both refines the individual and glorifies God through the person’s life as they step into the community of God’s people. And those who don’t, the fire will intensify in yet another way.
Thanks be to God that Jesus has come. And as we celebrate The Epiphany, we are truly grateful because we are reminded that Jesus didn’t just come for the Jews, but for the Jews and Gentiles alike. Epiphany is the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles.
It is because of this truth that you and I are here today. It is because of this truth that we are reminded of the hope we have in Jesus.
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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There is Power in the Spoken Word. The impact of words spoken or sung can move us in a direction that perhaps we are not quite ready to go.
Maybe you are wanting to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and prepare to embrace the Epiphany with a new vigor. But people have moved on and maybe not today, but by next Sunday you may even wonder why is the church still singing Christmas Songs?
There is Power in the Spoken Word. The impact of words spoken or sung can move us in a direction that perhaps we are not quite ready to go.
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The Power of God's Presence living in YOU
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What is Christmas all about? If you were an alien who was visiting this planet through the Advent “Christmas” season, what would you say Christmas is all about?
The message of Christmas seems to be getting more and more confusing every year. And if an alien was visiting this planet and trying to figure out why people act the way they do this time of year, it would certainly be mindboggling.
Until, until that alien wanders into a place like this and see the witness of God’s people gathered for worship to hear again the story of the blessed baby born in a humble manger to the most unlikely of parents and met at his birth by the strangest of visitors and yet Harold as a King and Savior to all by a heavenly chorus.
The story of Christmas is found as we read in a what seems to be a throw away sentence in our Gospel. “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”
What might happen in your life and mine if not just this Christmas night, but if every day we stopped to listen, if every day we stopped to hear the story, if every day we saw the baby, if every day we bowed to worship?
What might happen in your life and mine if we were to treasure all these things and ponder them in our hearts?
Perhaps we need to step back and ask if the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” offered you an invitation to know him and be known by Him would you say yes? Or would you turn away?
If you want to say yes, if you are tired of the routines of Christmas without ever experiencing the power and presence of Jesus. If you want to know what God has purposed for you to know, love, and enjoy. If you want to be reminded of God’s loving kindness poured out for you. If you want to know that there is more to life than the trappings of this world.
There is an answer, there is a better way and this is why we are here tonight to be reminded of this story, of God’s invitation to unlikely people to see, know, and love and be loved by Jesus that they would find unending joy and God’s purpose revealed in them. That we might treasure all these things in our hearts and experience the fullness of Joy that Jesus has brought into the world and for which angels do sing. Amen.
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Even if your marriage has since ended, the odds are on your wedding day you were hopeful, joyful, and excited about the future. Regardless of what has happened since, think with me for a moment about the beauty of that particular day.
Many of the brides can probably remember all the anxiety, anticipation, and planning that went into making sure you and everything was just right for that special day. I have never seen such planning of details for things that really do not matter in the course of a lifetime of marriage. But every bride in the modern era at least concerns herself with unimaginable details hoping that the day will be as glorious as she has forever dreamed it would be or perhaps watched at Christmas with Hallmark and Lifetime paving the way.
Many of the grooms remember the difficulties of those same days but amidst the chaos there is one thing that is etched in every man’s mind. It is the moment in which his bride appears. The congregation stands up and looks at the bride, but if you have ever gone against the flow and turned to look at the groom you will see an amazing sight. There in the face of this man is love, there is pride, there is hope, there is anticipation, there is a holy fear of what is about to take place.
And all of this is because he sees the fullness and beauty of his beloved coming towards him about to give everything of herself to him. Regardless if every pound was lost or every flower is in place the groom sees the purity of the moment and power of love overwhelms him.
But, What if? What if that groom could always see his bride with the image of their wedding day? What if his heart always melted when he saw her and he was always able to look past the blemishes without any reservation? What if he only saw the purity of his bride and opportunity he had to hold her life in his hand?
What if the bride was always so eager to fulfill her love that she desired everything to be perfect and would not rest until it was? What if the bride responded to the purity of love being given and at the moment as he takes her hand in his. What if the bride could forget about the blemishes or what is yet to be made perfect for no other reason except that she is assured of his love?
Hallmark and Lifetime cannot even come close to the beauty of love that this would bring.
Unlike the marriages we have thought about thus far today. Jesus offers us the invitation to be his bride. To walk down the aisle to receive the fullness and the assurance of his love, the purity of his heart. His loves that will never leave us nor forsake us. His love that will always hold our hearts and offer hope to us and bring us to the fullness of life that we long to enjoy. The invitation of His love that never fails.
And if you and I can grow in our understanding of the knowledge and love of God we will never be the same.
If you and I grow deeper in the depths of his love we would choose to do whatever is possible to prepare ourselves to join the love that will never fail us. All the while knowing that we can never be perfect, there will always be one more thing to get right, but it is his love for us, not what we do or what we say but simply His unfailing love that welcomes us and sees us coming down the aisle toward him without spot and without blemish.
It is this love that we receive that empowers us to move beyond what we know or think about ourselves to be the person, the bride our hearts long to be and forget what has been and move forward into what life with Jesus promises to bring.
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John Simmons shares his testimony of God's glory and power working in him to accomplish more than he could ever think or imagine. Stewardship becoming a generous giver is a response of all that God has done.
Fr. Brian
Do you known that the most misused tool in a toolbox is a screwdriver.
It is easy to understand why. This one is big so we might be tempted to use it as pry bar, hammer, scrapper, chopper.
This one is small and the temptation is to forget that it even exists and when we need a screwdriver this small we often try a million other ways to accomplish what this screwdriver was meant to do.
John has shared with us from his heart this morning about Stewardship and today is Christ the King Sunday, and you and I might be tempted to think why would we talk about Stewardship on Christ the King Sunday?
Very simple, I woke up yesterday morning with this illustration in my mind and actually got up to write it down.
The only way that we honor God as Christ the King, the only way we can live a life that is prepared for his second coming is to use the tools he has given us, the life he has given us in the way that the King of kings has designed and desired that they would be used and lived out.
We have the freedom to misuse our time, abilities, and our resources but in doing so they will not accomplish that for which God gave them to us to accomplish. They will not be the blessing they were designed to be. You can ask any mechanic or handyman, having the right tool for the job makes a big difference in the enjoyment, satisfaction, and quality of what gets accomplished
We also have the freedom to use what God has given to us in the way that He is according to his design and desire in a way that follows his wisdom and his will and when we do and when we are able to trust that other followers of Jesus are doing the same, it is like having all the right tools in the tool box. We begin to see God’s blessing our lives, our community, and our world around us.
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When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." John 11:44
What if the promises of God are true?
What if Jesus is calling your name to come out of the tomb that has enveloped you?
What if Jesus is calling your name and desires for you to be unbound and for you to be free from the strip of cloth that keep you in the tomb?
What if the tomb you walk out of is meant to be the greatest moment of joy and victory that God uses to bring others to a place of faith in Jesus?
To understand the promises of God we have to understand the hope that Jesus offers to those who believe in him.
Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday and during the Prayers of the People we will hear the names of all the people who have been buried from St. Barnabas in the past year. When you hear these names, you will no doubt remember some great Saints who have been a part of our story. People God has used to draw others to Jesus and deepen the faith of those who already believed.
People who believed. People who lived by faith. People who through some of life’s greatest challenges held on to Jesus and experienced the presence of God giving them peace, hope, love, and joy through those challenges.
Many of them spoke as loud as ever even in their dying days.
What is this hope that Jesus offers that brings the power of God into life’s darkest hour?
What is this hope that Jesus offers that brings the presence of God into the deepest shadows of life?
What is this hope that Jesus offers that brings the purposes of God into the places of our greatest joy and through the places of great uncertainty and pain?
What is this hope that only Jesus offers?
Jesus calls your name today. In a powerful voice that commands the cords of sin, of shame and fear, guilt and condemnation, pain and sorrow be cut away from you, Jesus calls your name and says come out. Come to me and take off those foolish clothes and but on what only my love can bring that you would live in the fullness of who God created you to be. You might even find that the story of your tomb becomes the place of His greatest glory for you to share Jesus with others.
Where are you today? Would you hear his voice and come?
The altar is here, Jesus is calling, Will you receive today? Amen.
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There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ ’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:29-33
What do you think about this text that we have now read twice? Do you believe it is true? Would you answer, Teacher you are right? Then where does this leave us today?
I don’t know about you, but as much as I might agree to the words of Jesus, my life often speaks a different story. To deny this truth is to then live according to a lie.
A lie that fools me into thinking that I am okay that I don’t need to worry about the details of what defines who I really am: How I spend my time, where I invest my resources, or how I apply my abilities. That I am good just the way I am.
This lie leads me down a road of pride, of self-seeking satisfaction, and of secrecy that may appear to make me happy for a moment, but it never seems to be enough. My soul is empty, my heart is dry, and the people around me feel used or neglected by a person who is supposed to love and care for them.
“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!” Hebrews 9:14
Moving from dead works to worship. Moving from Teacher you are right, to a love of God that changes everything about who we are and what we do.
Teacher you are right? Where does this leave you, where does this leave me today?
What is the desire of your heart as it relates to loving God with all that you are?
What would it take for you to listen to His word?
What would it look like for you to embrace His wisdom and His will for your life?
What would it mean for you to allow the Holy Spirit to move deeper then you know you needed?
If you were to experience the power of God working, the presence of God healing, the purposes of God coming alive, do you think you would know more fully the joy of your salvation, the hope of His glory, His peace that surpasses your own understanding?
Will you love God because you believe His love for you is that good, goes that deep, and is that true?
The alternative is to believe a lie and live in the foolishness of blinded eyes with ears that do not hear and a hardened heart that will not turn. But if we see and if we hear, if we allow our hearts to turn to Him, the effects of too much exposure to the world, the flesh, and the devil will be transformed to a new life of His glory that speaks a better word than the blood of bulls and goats, or any act of good will or kindness because it will be full of love of God and thus love for others. Amen.
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Have you ever wondered why we don’t walk on our hands and eat with our feet? These are the kind of question you get when you have children.
But seriously, wouldn’t that be so much more fun? Maybe for 30 seconds till all the blood rushed to your head and you were about to faint.
Ultimately, we know this would not work out so well, mostly because everything around tells us to flip over. And most importantly gravity is quick to remind us that our heart is meant to work with gravity as it circulates blood throughout our body. And when this is interrupted or flipped upside down it doesn’t take our bodies long to realize that something is not the way it was meant to be.
Although we might think it would be fun and exciting to live and see the world upside down, everyone would agree that the most productive and fruitful way to live is in being truly right side up.
What if I were to tell you that in reality, we are all living an upside down kind of life?
Maybe it would be easier for us to understand if I say it this way, that if you and I begin to live upside down we will actually begin living right side up. (say this again)
It is kind of like a pineapple upside down cake. It is really right side up when it is on the plate upside down.
I know this all sounds a little backwards and confusing, but think about this way. God made all of creation and when He had finished he said this is very good, everything was right side up. But then man and woman thought that they knew a better way and together they decided to flip upside down what God had created right side up.
The Bible describes this in Genesis 3:8-14
Once sin entered the world men and women throughout the ages have been living upside down while God has been trying to teach and lead us back to right side up living. I know it seems crazy, but today, all these many years later, we have grown so accustom to upside down living that we have actually bought into a lie and think that it is right side up.
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Is stewardship guarding your money so that you have enough to buy what you want, make it to the end of your life, and perhaps leave some for your children or others when you die? Now that is a fun question to start off a sermon with, isn’t it? Just hold onto that as we dive a bit deeper this morning.
Here is another question. Have you ever tried to argue your point about something only to come to find out down the road that the position you held was wrong? Therefore, as you trace back your argument you begin to realize how foolish you must have looked and sounded along the way?
The Word of God as the writer of Hebrews “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”
The writer of Hebrews writes this as the way in which God gets through to our hard heartedness. As Skylar said last week, we can avoid a hard heart by remembering all that God has done not just for us, but throughout history for all humanity. And God says, when your hearts are hardened, I have given you my word to pierce through the hardness so that you may humble yourself return back to me and once again find my heart and my hope for you.
Yes, indeed, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. Because of who he is and what he alone has done, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Stewardship is not managing our life and the gifts God has given us in a way that builds our kingdom and give us a good life, but it is in listening to His voice, allowing His Word to pierce our heart, humbly bowing before him, and following where He leads the way.
For He alone is good and anything short of this is accepting a hardening of our heart and ultimately going way sad.
All I was asking was did you make it right? Jesus looks and you with love. Amen.
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If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it is probably a duck
This phrase is often used to describe the obvious of what we see in a situation or circumstance.
I know my dad used this phrase many times when I was growing up. Maybe was in reference to the kind of people I was hanging around, the hopes I might have wanted to put into a get rich quick scheme, or even the direction I was heading that did not appear to be the wisest of decisions.
I might argue about how something was going to work out because x, y, and z, but my dad could see through what I could not and would simply say if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it is probably a duck. So, unless you want to be a duck, I would suggest you do something else.
I knew when he boiled down our argument to such a simplistic phrase, he was making a point that was hard to argue against and most of the time he was right. As the situations or circumstances unfolded, I discovered that things that walk like duck, quack like a duck, swim like a duck, are most often ducks.
Here is my dilemma this morning: What does a life centered on the love of God in Jesus Christ look like? Should there be an effectual impact upon the life of a person who follows Jesus?
If so, what does that look like and if not, why do we kid ourselves?
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Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
How would you know if you were ever on the side of those who were receiving resistance from the Lord because they were confiding in their own strength?
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What comes out say a lot about the condition of your heart.
There are four things that pour into your heart
You: How well do you trust yourself
The World: the society set a part from the things of God
The Devil: Whose stated mission is to Steal, Kill, and Destroy and of whose title is the Master of Deceit and the Father of all Lies
The God Stuff: That which is full of God's purpose and plan for your life
What does this mean and how do we know what we are pouring into our hearts?
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Have you ever found yourself at a Point of No Return? You know one of those moments in life where you knew whatever decision you were about to make would change the course of your life forever.
There can many of these moments in life: deciding what school to attend, who to marry, when to have children, what job to take, where to move etc. All these decisions feel like a point of no return for sure. In many ways, our lives are shaped by the decision that we make in moments like these.
But what about our faith? What about, who you say that Jesus is and the repercussions of that belief upon your life?
In today’s gospel lesson we see how everything in life hangs on this decision....
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What does it mean for us to believe and to follow Jesus especially when we are not sure we understand how?
I good place to start is to recognize our idols. What are the idols or false gods that you and I have called upon or followed or allowed to form our identity before that of being God’s own or listening to God’s word, or following God’s desire?
You might not even know what I am talking about when I ask it this way. So let expand just a bit. What has shaped your views of the world and your relationships to other people, the people you spend time with and those you don’t? What has influenced how you think about the things you own, your stuff, the money that you have? What have you guided your decision making when thinking about your career or ways in which you might relate to family or community? What tends to mold the way you think, the way you act, the way speak?
For many of us, if we take an honest look into these answers, we might just find some idols, things in which we have placed in front of Jesus. We might just find some false gods in which we have placed our hope instead of Jesus.
I know this sounds all to Christianeeze, but the truth be told many of us would rather serve the god we have created for ourselves than we would the God who created us. We would rather have God in a comfortable box we can manage than trust in God to manage the affairs of our lives. We rather express love of God than we would be enamored by His love. We would rather live-in darkness instead of allowing His light to shine upon our darkness.
We know God is bigger, but we are not sure we really want to know a bigger God.
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The battle that wages wars against our souls is far greater than you or I have known. The battle is won in Jesus. Jesus is our salvation, Jesus is our righteousness, Jesus is our truth, His word is a powerful sword, our faith in him quiches the flaming arrows of the evil one and only by him, in him, and through him can we bring the shalom of God into the world, which is the sharing of the Good News of Jesus, the Gospel of peace.
“Lord, where else shall I go, you have the words of eternal life”. “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”
May we no longer follow the false gods or hold onto worthless idols, but may we lay them down and find out what pleases the Lord and do it, may we seek the Lord while he wills to be found and call upon him when he draws near and find that his Word does in fact accomplish that which he has purposed and prospers in that for which he has sent it. Amen.
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If you ask the wrong question, you will get a wrong answer. But if you ask the right question, you might just find you get an answer the leads you to life changing opportunities and solutions.
How many of us can hear ourselves ask; how much is this going to cost verse how do I prevent this from happening? Or how little to I have to commit instead of how fully can I invest?
I get it, it is much easier to change the standard, claim ignorance, or ask the wrong question and live with the result of what that brings than it is to look deep inside, seek wisdom, and ask the right question and then respond in an appropriate way, that brings about life changing results.
How then do we begin to ask right questions so that as Paul writes in our Epistle we can “Live, not as unwise people, but wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil”.
How then do we begin to ask right questions so that we can live in the house that Wisdom has built as Solomon reflects in the Proverb?
How do we answer yes to the Psalmist question of Who among you loves life and desires long life to enjoy prosperity? And yet know that what we are doing is pleasing to the Lord.
How do we ask questions that will inspire us to live into the fullness of all that God has purposed for us?
What are the right questions? First we have to believe that God has answers to our questions.
Let me suggest a good place to begin praying for God’s wisdom and discernment to be revealed, is to start in those places that you are scared to pray for it. A lot of us might like to think that we are spiritually mature and that we are already living in the fullness of God.
However, I have found for myself and I bet you are more like me than you might like to admit, that there are some areas that we would rather change the standard, live in ignorance, or intentionally I mean “unknowingly” ask the wrong question than to actually ask God for His wisdom and discernment about it.
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How quickly we forget truth and begin to embrace lies that try to steal, kill, and destroy the very power, wonder and glory of God.
Now that is a big statement, that is a heavy statement to start a sermon with, but it is true. I don’t think anyone of us wants to live with lies guiding our lives, but unless we begin recognizing the lies and cling to the truth we are bound to go down the road of deception and fear that does not lead us to all that God desires.
How many of you have ever been mountain climbing or participated in a ropes course that required you to be tied in with climbing gear. Maybe you have repelled over a cliff or over a wall.
If you have, then you know the system only works if you lean back and trust the gear. You can always tell who has or hasn’t done this before when you see them come up to the edge. Those who have trust and will lean back into the ropes and start repelling down without concern or fear.
Those who haven’t will hug the rock or hug the wall hoping they have enough strength to keep them from falling. But of course they can’t and it doesn’t take long for them to lose control and be overcome with anxiety and fear. Once a person gets to this place, their climbing is over and the only way down is to completely let go of everything and let the gear take over.
To lean back and trust the gear is counter intuitive. But that is how the gear is designed and its full potential cannot be realized until you sit back, trust the gear, and let the ropes hold you in position.
So too is our faith. Jesus is intended to be all that we need, all that we hope for, all that we trust in. In today’s Gospel Jesus says as much, when he responds to the critics, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
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It is much easier to say we love God, it is much easier to say we love Jesus, it is much easier to say we love others than it is to actually do it. But only by trusting in the power of the cross do we find that our faith that our love comes alive with the vibrancy of all that God has promised.
If we embrace our Baptismal Covenant and continue in the Apostle Teaching, the fellowship, the breaking or the Bread, and the prayers we will see just how strong and powerful the arms of Jesus really are as he holds us and leads us to new places of God power, wonder, and glory.
May we come to the edge and with sure confidence in Jesus fall back into his loving arms stretched out for us.
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There is a lesson I have learned in being a parent. You may remember doing this as child or perhaps you can remember your children doing this to you as a parent. Either way there seems to be an unwritten rule for children these days. I am not sure where they learn it, but it seems to be standard operations for most children to give it a try.
Maybe you can help me out in understanding what to do? Here is the rule children seem to be living by: Whenever I don’t like something, I’ll just complain more and more until I finally get my way.
What I want us to think about is not how we might handle this statement being made by children, but instead to think about the question for a moment and maybe we have to change it just a bit, but how many times have we done something like this with God, how often have we lived out our faith this way?
Maybe we change the phrase to say Whenever I am weak, I will complain all the more till I get what I what or at least silence the guidance I have received from God so I can do things the way I wanted too all along.
This is a very different approach from what we see in the scriptures and it is a very different approach than what most of us would like to see our children learning as they grow and develop in life. And yet the world has shifted our cultural understanding away from a Biblical worldview to a more self-focused way of living and pursuit of life.
We all have weaknesses, we all have places where we struggle to trust that God knows what is best for us. We all have places where we wish God would just hear our prayer and answer them the way we want them to be answered. We all have areas that we struggle to understand why God say this or that when we wish He would just let us do and be who we think we want to be and do what we feel like doing.
The problem with living life this way is over time it silences the Holy Spirit and causes us to live without the power of Jesus shining forth in our lives.
Like a child complaining until they get their way. It isn’t because they are honoring their parents that they get their way it is because the parents have grown so weary they just give up and stop giving the guidance they wish their children would hear and accept.
The child’s wishes don’t all of a sudden become right because they complained. In essence, they have silence the wisdom being given by their parents and have gotten what they wanted without regard for how it might impact who they are and the family they represent.
God doesn’t give up on us, but our defiance can silence the guidance of the Holy Spirit and our ability to listen to the wisdom of God expressed through His Word.
Our weaknesses may be with us for a reason. Perhaps they are given that we might know that God’s grace is sufficient and know the power of Jesus in us and working through us for the glory of God.
Childlike faith is how we are called to come, not childlike complaining. Imagine what God might have in store for you and for me, for us if we see His grace as sufficient and allow his power to be at work in us overcoming our weaknesses instead of trying to force His hand to let us be what our weaknesses would make us.
Oh God teach us your ways that we might walk in them. For ways ways bring more life than the ways of this world. Amen.
47. For Young Persons (BCP 829)
God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lo
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There is a lot we don’t understand and yet even in these moments there is a clear call for those who know Jesus.
For we do not live as those who have no hope. But what do we do when the hope that we have seems to be stretched to the outer limits and we feel as though the string that holds us together are about to break?
Maybe it is not the death of a loved one, but some other issue you are facing, perhaps a relationship that is struggling, children that are wandering, your own health that is failing, or just life that seems to be collapsing.
What does hope bring us if the resolution is not what we were hoping for?
Our Gospel text clearly teaches us that God is able. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has just exorcised a legion of demons from a man that no one could control. He has healed a woman that no physician could cure, and he restores to life a girl when all hope is gone....
Today as we worship here in this place, what is on your heart, in your mind, a part of your life that you are struggling to hold onto hope?
Jesus is here.
Jesus is present.
Jesus says come. Jesus says come. And if by faith you come to Jesus don’t expect to leave here today the same as when you came in, because Jesus will touch your life with His Kingdom power and begin a new work in you. It might not be what you were thinking, but I promise you it will be better than what you were going to give yourself.
His presence, His Kingdom, His great love for you is intended to heal the brokenness and remove the guilt and shame to replace the sorrow and bring new life. To truly be healed so that you no longer have to live in the brokenness of who you have been and hopelessness of where you have been walking.
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A couple of weeks ago, I was driving somewhere with my son Isaac. Isaac has a way of asking questions that will make you stop and have to think before you answer. We were driving down the road and he asked: “Dad, what is the oldest trick in the book? He wasn’t asking what does the oldest trick in the book mean, he knew that but he was asking just as it sounded what is the oldest trick in the book?
What would you say? Well, I thought about saying I don’t know, and may have said as much. But then I thought, let’s see if he can catch this, and I answered: Deception: Telling a half-truth to deceive someone. Then I asked if he knew the second oldest trick in the book and he answered, hiding. And what about the third and we decided together that it was playing the blame game.
Maybe you have caught on or maybe you haven’t. But, I took this moment in the car to remind both of us that there is nothing new under the sun. Ever since Adam and Eve in the garden the enemy of our soul has been trying to get men and women to step outside of God’s will, outside of God’s design and desire for them by deception: telling half-truth that sound pretty good which then tempts us to act or live our lives according to a lie rather than by God’s truth.
The problem with being deceived is that you form a new reality based upon a lie. A lie that you don’t readily see or understand is a lie. That’s what deception is. If you and I have been deceived, it means that until we recognize the point of our deception we are in essence acting upon or living or lives based upon a lie.
We are forming what we believe, how we see life, how we respond to life, and even how we understand the world around us not based upon God’s truth but a lie told us by the enemy of our soul.
Can you imagine how destructive that might be? And yet in some area most if not all of us are doing this in some way. And we don’t even realize it.
God’s grace is so great that when we confess our sins and trust in His goodness and mercy we do find His grace to help in our time of need. God’s mercy is more than we could ever have hoped for and as He did for Adam and Eve, he covers our sin by the blood of His lamb, Jesus and cleanses us from all unrighteousness so that we can be and become all that he has designed and desires for us to be.
What a great promise of hope for those who will turn from their sin and lean into the heart of God. For those who no longer trust in themselves or try to hide from the presence of God for those who no longer lean on their own understanding but instead acknowledge God in all their ways and trust in His truth that their crooked paths will be made straight.
What if you step backwards for a moment? Can you think about times or events or even current places that arise in which you find yourself quickly blaming others?
Remember the pattern goes: Deception, Hide, Blame.
So if we reverse the film we will see Blame, Hide, Deception.
What are the areas in your life where you can look at honestly and acknowledge your cover for pain and sorrow, your cover for hurt and brokenness, your cover for shame and fear, your cover for bitterness and resentment is found by blaming others or perhaps even God for allowing such a situation to occur?
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Have you ever been glad to see someone leave? Usually, it is because they have worn out their welcome and you are feeling like you need a break from them.
But what about that person who leaves who has done so with the promise that the next time you see them they are going to be bringing you something even better than what they could have given you if they stayed. Although you might not want to see them leave you are excited when they go and filled with hope for when they will return.
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Father God, thank you for the grace and mercy that you have given me through your Son, Jesus on the cross. I believe he is the one true Passover Lamb that was slain for my salvation.
I ask you Father to reverse the curse of sin in my life and fill me with your Holy Spirit that I would become a place where the fire of your presence rest and full of everything that you have for me.
Father, help me to listen more closely and hear more clearly the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth as he guides me to being and becoming all that you desire for me to be. Fill me with your Holy Spirit oh Lord, for you are my God and I am your child. Amen.
Oh that the world would see the fire of God’s presence resting upon His people. They might think it is babbling words, but for those who hear and come to believe, they will know it is the power of God and the breath of Life that is being shared with them. For He is our God, we are His people. And it is His desire that the world would see Jesus through us His Church as we are filled with His power and presence of His Holy Spirit. Amen.
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I bet you have heard this saying before. “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
This statement might cause you to laugh, but the truth behind the statement is, the people a person calls a friend are not supposed to act like enemies. In other words, your friends are supposed to help you, assist you, walk with you in life. They know you, they know what is important to you, they know what you cherish, they know what you is your desire, they know what you need to accomplish your goals. They speak, they act, they serve in a way that helps you to become who they know you really want to be.
This morning we hear Jesus call his disciples friends, why because they know what the master desires. Jesus says that they know everything that he/Jesus has heard from his Father. Jesus reminds them that he has shared with his disciples everything that is in his heart and on his mind. Jesus has opened up his life to them in a way in which he has not kept anything hidden from them. And remember it is Jesus who calls his disciples friends not his disciples calling him their friend. Yes, it is true Jesus was their friend, but the most common title given to Jesus by the disciples was either Teacher (Rabbi) or Lord.
But Jesus calls them friends, because they have seen him, they know him, Jesus is entrusting to them what he has made know to them. Because they are his friends they have in mind or at least will come to the point where all they have in mind are the things of Jesus, not their own desires or goals, but what Jesus has entrusted to them to accomplish what he had purposed for them from the beginning.
This is so important, because the mistake that Christians often make, that we tend to make is considering Jesus to be our friend without first understanding him as Teacher and Lord. We try to make Jesus our friend without gaining his wisdom and authority over our lives. In others words, it like we are trying to get what we want out of Jesus without considering what is best for him and what will accomplish his purposes.
Jesus, says, “as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love”
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When you discover a relationship with a person that you care greatly about it changes the way you think, it changes the way you feel, it changes the things you value, it changes the things that occupy your mind, body, and soul.
When you discover a relationship with a person that you know loves you, you find peace and hope for each new day. You find joy in being together and anticipation of the times to come.
You grow and become more and more like the person who you know for certain loves you.
In chapter 13-16 of the Gospel John, John records Jesus making reference to Abiding in him; no less than 21 times.
Abiding in Jesus. In our text this morning, John tells us this is like a grape vine that grows and spreads across a trellis, all is supported by a single vine that grows deep into the ground. The leaves, the branches, the fruit, none of it can happen if it is not directly connected to vine. And yet because it is connected to the vine: nourishment, strength, beauty, and fruit will be found on it. In places where grape vines thrive many of the vines actually look more like trees because of how strong the vine has become. But everything above the vine only exists because its connection to the vine itself.
The branches, the leaves, the fruit they grow and from a distance you see the grape vine and the beauty grabs your attention, you begin to have hope as you approach the vine and soon you become filled with life as you taste and see how good and pleasing the fruit of the vine actually is.
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Children are a beautiful thing. One of the most interesting things about becoming a parent is how much our children reflect us as parents. We have four children, and I did not think it would be possible for this to hold true with four different people four different personalities that each of our children have. But it is.
It is amazing how our children have all the best qualities of Susan and me. We often laugh and enjoy seeing these parts of their lives being lived out. And as much as we enjoy seeing this in them, we have also become ever so aware that each of our children are also “blessed” with the worst parts of who Susan and I are as well. And trust me, these characteristics do not make us laugh in the same way nor are they as enjoyable as the others to watch.
But it is true. In each of our children, we can see the best and worst parts of who we are. It truly is like looking into a mirror.
Throughout the scriptures we see the effects of an unaware people living for themselves doing what they think is best without regard for what God has spoken. We read about people living as though they know more than God or that God could not possibly mean what he has said. We see people who refuse to believe and so they are shaped more by the people around them or the world around them than they are shaped by God’s design and desire for them.
Every time we see this happening, the bad of humanity gets fed. Or we might more accurately say the evil in humanity gets fed and bad things start to happen.
Fortunately, God’s love is greater than man’s disregard for God. God makes a way when there seems to be no way. Praise be to God that He invites people back into a right relationship with Him. Thanks be to God that He can reshape our lives to His image no matter how old or hard we have tried to shape ourselves or allowed the world to shape us.
We see this throughout the Old Testament, and we see it very clearly in today’s readings.
10 The Second Song of Isaiah Quaerite Dominum
Isaiah 55:6‑11
Seek the Lord while he wills to be found; call upon him when he draws near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the evil ones their thoughts; And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion, and to our God, for he will richly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as rain and snow fall from the heavens and return not again, but water the earth, Bringing forth life and giving growth, seed for sowing and bread for eating, So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not return to me empty; But it will accomplish that which I have purposed, and prosper in that for which I sent it.
Let us not be deceived little children. Our thoughts are not wiser than God’s, our ways are not holier or higher than God’s. God has always made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, to be redeemed by Him so that we can be who He has designed and desires for us to be. That we would reflect the His glory because we are His child. Therefore repent and turn to God that your sins may be wiped out forever, Amen.
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Good Morning to you and most definitely, Happy Easter to you all! I hope your morning has brought you here ready to see, expecting to hear, and willing to be embraced by Jesus. And if not, I pray that by the time you leave here today you know that this is the invitation that God has given to you today.
This Jesus invites you to encounter him this Easter morning, through out this Easter season, and into every day of the rest of your life. Will you come and see? Will you come and kneel at his feet? Will you bring whatever anxieties fill your heart, whatever frustrations control your mind, whatever confusion directs your steps and ask the gardener of your soul to touch, heal, and restore you to what God has designed and desired for you to be.
This is the work of Christ on the cross, and those who have been on this journey know it well, and those who may be hearing about for the first time or in a new way today. We who know this walk with Christ to the Cross long for you to join us in knowing just how great and glorious our God is and how deep His love is for you in Jesus.
There is always an empty egg we can hold, but the King of kings and Lord of lord invites us to be held by his love in a way that changes the orientation of our lives forever.
Would you kneel with me for a moment and consider all that you have seen, all that you and heard, and would you answer are you willing to be embraced by Jesus?
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The Cross has said it all
In other words, God told the people of Israel through Moses:
I Am the Lord
I will free you from the burdens
I will deliver you from slavery
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgement
I will take you as my people
I will be your God
I will bring you into the Land I swore to Abraham
I will give it to you
Because, I AM the LORD.
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I want to ask you to travel back to a place with me. A place where we have been slaves for multiple generations for what could be up to 400 years. I place where generation after generation has not known freedom. A place where we have only known the fear of oppression, the pain of bondage, the doubt of our own identity.
We step into this place and we get a glimpse of what life was like when Moses comes onto the scene.
Imagine the people of Israel. They had been slaves so long that thy no longer knew what it was like to be free. Moses shows up after being gone for 40 years and what you remember of this this man is a bit of a checked past. You are not sure whose side he is really on. But Moses tells you that has been sent by God to deliver you.
In Exodus 6:9 the scripture tells us that Moses told the people these amazing words, but the people would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.
In other words, God told the people of Israel through Moses:
I Am the Lord
I will free you from the burdens
I will deliver you from slavery
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgement
I will take you as my people
I will be your God
I will bring you into the Land I swore to Abraham
I will give it to you
Because, I AM the LORD.
Moses told the people these amazing promises of God, but the people would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.
They could not even see the hope that God had for them. They were sorely crushed in bitter oppression.
Think about all the grace that God has poured out to you. Not just theoretically, but specifically in all the times you have received the Sacraments of the Church, most commonly in the bread and the wine. A Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.
Think about all the grace that God has poured out to you even in just this one way.
What do you suppose a life that has received that much grace would look like?
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And you get excited about this? Tell me, why?
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What is something that you get excited about? Maybe it is a sports team, a particular college, club, or a life story. Maybe it is sharing stories about your children, grandchildren, or even your dog or your cat. What do you get excited about? Perhaps it is your career, a hobby, or even the last movie or TV show you have watched.
How great is God? How would you describe the power and love of God? How great is God?
This is an interesting question, because anyone who has been in the church for much time at all knows the “right” answer to this question.
However, the way we live our lives and even the things we make of greater importance God looks more like the people in our Old Testament text then people who have discovered the power of God presence, power, and purposes being given to them.
God has a purpose and a plan. God will make his presence known. God reveals His power still that people living in darkness would see the glory of the only begotten Son, Jesus in the lives of people who step into His marvelous light.
Where are you today? What has defined your identity? What is directing your decisions and the steps that you take? What are you trusting in to make it through the day?
Brothers and Sisters, will you step into the light? Will your fix your eyes on Jesus and experience His power transforming your body, soul, and mind?
Will come to the light and allow His presence to saturate your soul to filling you to overflowing proportions that His glory would shine from your life?
Will you move into the Light of Jesus and seek His purposes in all the you do and in all that you go through?
Will you come to the Altar today with the recognition that you are turning to Jesus, stepping out of darkness, and stepping into all that God has purposed for you to be and become?
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A. How many of you believe God exist? How many of you believe God is almighty? How many of you believe God is good? How many of you believe that God’s love is greater than your own? That God’s ways are wiser than our ways? That His thoughts are higher than our thoughts? That God’s strength is stronger than your own strength? How many of you believe these statements about God are absolutely true?
Then what’s the problem?
God does not desire for us to come into His presence only to see our stumbling blocks of sin or to hear the walls of concerns or doubt that keep us from believing.
God moves in our lives and draws us to His presence so that we might leap over the stumbling blocks and demolish every wall; that we would live in the fullness of life that He desires and find victory and hope, joy and peace coming alive within us. That the song of soul would shift from the pain of denial to the wonder of His glory.
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength does not mean to withdraw and find a safe distance from God where our faith can be comfortable with whatever we want it to be.
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength means we trust and believe that God is more powerful than our weakness and God is wiser than our deepest thoughts or greatest questions or concerns.
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength means hearing the whispers of the Holy Spirit and saying: Yes, Lord I will with your help.
To God be the glory from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.
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An opportunity to receive the fullness of what God has given to His children. All because of who He is.
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When you cross the point of no return, there is no looking back. It is too late. You are committed to go forward, you cannot return to where you were moments ago.
What if, what if God desires for us to cross a point of no return as it relates to our faith?
Will you go?
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Fr. Comforted gave a great sermon to the students this morning about why we make the sign of a cross on our heads for Ash Wednesday. He talked about our Christian Identity. How this little cross reminds us of our belonging to Jesus above and before the things of this world. Beginning today and through our Lenten journey we are intended to walk a path of closer connection to Jesus that when Lent is over our Identity does not end or morf back to a time before, but instead has become clearer and more clearly defined. That we become the salt of the earth that directs people to Jesus who is Light of the world. And for today, this cross stands as a stark reminder that we are Christ followers. And because of this we are called out from who we were to who God has called us to be.
I want to ask you, what does it mean to Repent? If you have answered this question, let me ask you another one.
What do you have to Repent of?
If repentance means to turn away from that which draws you from God and then to turn towards the way of God. What do you, what do I have in our lives that we need to Repent from?
Truth-Justice-Repentance-Compassion and Mercy
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Fr. Comforted gave a great sermon to the students this morning about why we make the sign of a cross on our heads for Ash Wednesday. He talked about our Christian Identity. How this little cross reminds us of our belonging to Jesus above and before the things of this world. Beginning today and through our Lenten journey we are intended to walk a path of closer connection to Jesus that when Lent is over our Identity does not end or morf back to a time before, but instead has become clearer and more clearly defined. That we become the salt of the earth that directs people to Jesus who is Light of the world. And for today, this cross stands as a stark reminder that we are Christ followers. And because of this we are called out from who we were to who God has called us to be.
I want to ask you, what does it mean to Repent? If you have answered this question, let me ask you another one.
What do you have to Repent of?
If repentance means to turn away from that which draws you from God and then to turn towards the way of God. What do you, what do I have in our lives that we need to Repent from?
Truth-Justice-Repentance-Compassion and Mercy
Compassion and Mercy require God’s truth and repentance. And God’s truth offers compassion and mercy because that is how great His love is for you and me.
Have we learned the lesson of Lent? We have come full circle and we have another invitation to intentional draw near to the heart of God. Do you know what His voice is calling you to repent from? Do you know how His word is speaking to you? If you want to more fully understand the depth of His love the fullness of His compassion and mercy. Harken to His voice and allow His truth to reveal everything that is in your life and mine that is not of Him that we would Repent and find that indeed God is a God of those who Repent.
That he is our God we are his people and the sheep of His hand.
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Christmas has come, and though it is actually still here, many have quickly flowed past the 12 days of Christmas and have soared into 2021 hoping something different from 2020 awaits them.
If I were to ask you, what is the greatest gift you gave to someone in 2020, what would it be.
Last Sunday, I thought about this and then on Thursday I was watching Fr. Comforted lead morning prayer and was reminded of the this again.
Fr. Comforted used a tag line, not great but grateful to describe 2020 and then shared a story of spending time with his grandkids. This caused me to think about the things I am grateful for. One of the things that I most grateful for came to fruition on Thursday night and it wasn’t the end of 2020. It centers around a gift that I was forced but privileged to give.
I can tell you as a father, there is no greater gift on earth besides my own faith, than seeing your children embracing and stepping into a living faith on their and traveling down an unimaginable road that I could have never dreamed they would go but know God has for them.
If my heart can see this now, just try and think how your heavenly Father longs to see you receive all that He has for you. If you will truly treasure what God has given you in Jesus, you will see the unimaginable take place as Jesus grows in you by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory and praise of God. Amen.
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I was reminded of the value of alarms and the noise things make to give you a heads up, a warning that something is happening that needs your attention.
How would you describe your 2020? Most people I hear seem to be describing 2020 from the vantage point of the world. Seeing dark and gloomy moments, hopes dashed against a stone or virus we might say, dreams crushed, and isolation becoming overwhelming. People are looking forward to 2021 but the only problem is that we are being told 2021 will be much of the same.
Could it be that God has been sounding the alarm intending for people everywhere to hear His warning so that we might finally pay attention to things that need attention.
What if? What if? What if we were to accept God’s invitation and take the journey we are experiencing as Holy Journey so that we can receive all that God desires for us? Are you on this journey?
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How many of you remember that game show, Let’s Make A Deal. As a kid, it was always one of my favorites to watch if I was home sick for the day.
This game show was always fun to watch because people would squirm all over the place not knowing what to do. Wanting something greater, but scared to let go of what they had, even though just seconds before they had nothing, no prize at all.
You would think that it would be an easy decision. I came here with nothing so why not give anything I might win back in hopes of gaining the greater prize.
Instead it was almost always a tough decision for the contestants to make because not knowing what promise of the next gift might be left them so uncertain about was what they had better than what they might get.
What do you think you would do if you were given something that you really did not deserve and then were given an opportunity to give it up in order to receive something even greater?
Some of us probably would and others probably would not give it back under these conditions.
But what about this, would you be willing to give away what you had if you knew that the prank was not going to be played on you? In other words, if you knew for certain that what you would receive back would be of greater value than what you gave up? Would you give up what you holding onto so tightly?
This would be an easy decision to make when thinking about it related to a game show. However, many people struggle to make this decision as it relates to their lives and trusting God with all that they are and with all that they have. Honestly, we struggle to do this in regard to our faith, in listening to God's Word, and responding with what He has place in our hearts and in our minds to do.
Today, Advent 3 in 2020, what are you holding onto that has you tied up in knots, what has squirming around wanting to give it to God but nervous or scared that once you let it go you don’t know if what you are going to get?
Will you trust the God who is holy, who covers you with His righteousness, who has called you by name and shared with you the Messiah foretold so many years ago?
Will you today, lay down the uncertainty to take hold of the promise of what God has for you?
Will you come to the altar today and experience that Divine Exchange, were you lay down what you are holding onto as comfortable as you think it might be or as painful as you know it is, as controlling as it has become, has costly as you know it to be, will you come today and lay it down at the foot of the altar and take hold of Jesus and find the fulfillment of God promise for you as you take hold of him.
Pay attention: What does God give you as you lay it down? What does living with that promise mean for you today, tonight, tomorrow, and into the rest of your life? It is okay to take it one day at a time, but don’t loose sight, his promise is forever.
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen
His Grace is sufficient and He is mighty to save. Say yes to Jesus, and welcome the promise of healing, hope, restoration, and glory. The only way you don’t receive it, is to hold onto to what you have instead of giving it up for His glory.
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Have you ever thought about how much of your life is being lived out of focus?
Maybe this morning you will think, how much you might be missing out on by living, experiencing, and processing life through a belief or understanding that is out of focus from what it was meant to be?
What are some preconceived thoughts and ideas that you have or some ways of life that live that perhaps God wants you to see differently but in order to see clearly you will have to put on God’s eyes instead of your own?
Where do you need to trust God and ask for his help to see things through with His Word as your lens instead of the context of the world in which you know so well?
What has God allowed to be in your life that doesn’t make since? Could it be that God might have plans to bring salvation to somebody else as they hear or see of your faithfulness as you hold onto His word of truth?
How has God instructed you to live through His Word, by the Holy Spirit that you have ignored, given up on, or chosen to disregard because it did not seem to fit what how you were conditioned in life?
Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. “I used to think I was right, until God showed me I was wrong” That is repentance. Amen.
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Having teenagers in the house is pretty fun. I mean it is interesting to see how they look at themselves in the mirror. I had almost forgotten that feeling, till I started noticing my two oldest sons becoming more and more aware of their appearance.
You know, a teenage boy never misses a chance to flex in a mirror and a teenage girls never passes up an opportunity to flip her hair as she passes by her reflection looking back at her. Of course, they do this undercover unless they don’t think anyone is watching then you get to see what is really going on in their minds.
It is fun to watch and to remember just how much each generation repeats itself.
Looking in the mirror can actually reveal a lot about the depths of a person especially when a person thinks no one is watching. I wonder if we were to look at our faith today as though we were looking into a mirror, what would we see?
And even more so, if we looked intently into the mirror of our faith knowing no one else was watching what how strong, how beautiful, how lovely, how powerful would our faith be reflected?
Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
Jesus is Christ the King. He is the one who was and is to come and when he comes again in great Triumph may he find in us a mansion prepared for himself. (Collect 4 Advent). Amen.
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2020 has been a great preparation for the coming of Jesus. What do I mean in saying this? No one could have predicted what 2020 would hold. In fact, I am sure if you go back to all those New Year predictions everyone would have been wrong. There have been so many twists and turns that this year feels a bit like a roller coaster that you cannot wait to get off.
As we have lived out 2020, we have been given a rare opportunity to truly evaluate where and what we have been living for. It has been a personal challenge for me, and it has been interesting see how others have struggled to deal with such a powerful look into the mirror of their soul.
For a world that does not acknowledge the power, presence, or the purpose of Jesus, the responses we have seen from people makes since. If this life was the final prize. Everyone would want to preserve as much of this life as possible. So, when this life and all its security start to fall apart, the natural reaction is fear and anxiety, control and protection, anger and frustration, deceit and manipulation. And because everyone is doing this from their own point of survival, chaos erupts. It becomes virtually impossible to distinguish a clear direction to take, for the moral code has been redefined to the survival of the fittest. The spiral of action and reaction begins to spin completely out of control. ...
...For a world that does not acknowledge the power, presence, or the purpose of Jesus, the responses we have seen from people makes since. If this life were the final prize, we could easily understand. Blaming God for the hailstones, if God exists, of course after all, why would a loving God do that? The self-surviving world has no room God, it has no room for a moral code outside of its own self-interest. Therefore, not only is God to blame but no one can tell me what is right or wrong for me because the end justifies the means.
But for people who do believe in Jesus and know his power over sin and suffering. For people who know that Jesus is alive, and his presence is very real and a tangible part of their lives. For people who understand the glory of the cross and victory of the empty tomb, the hailstones remind us of how far we have fallen from God’s holiness, how much our sin has infected our hearts and how desperate we are for God’s mercy and saving grace. As we face the days to come, we become ever so aware that the time to be prepared is now.
Like the 10 virgins in our Gospel text. ...
...God’s call to be His bride is not only the one thing we were designed to be, but in waiting for the groom to come it is possible to rejoice because we know that we are prepared for that day.
God has made a way. It is God who provides holy oil to everyone who has or will call upon the name of Jesus.
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
Our necessary and needed response is simply to call upon Jesus. To call upon His name and allow Jesus to reveal just how powerful he is over the sin and suffering we face. To call upon Jesus and experience just how he is present with us every hour of every day. To call upon Jesus and see how his victory over cross and empty tomb sets us free from death and the grave. To call upon Jesus and share with him in his glorious kingdom.
God has given us a unique opportunity in 2020 to prepare for the coming of Jesus and the church has been given a great opportunity to be prepared as the bride of Christ. May this look into the mirror lead us
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But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. 1 Thess 2: 8
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If I were to hold up a fruit with a bite taken out of the top right side, what fruit would I be holding? If I were to show you check mark what company would you think about? If I were to hold up a bucket with red and white stripes on it what would be making your mouth water?
Now that you are all ready to go watch a football game on your apple TV while eating some fried chicken, let me try to preach a sermon.
The truth of the matter is Image is Everything.
You recognized these illustrations because they are powerful images that have been used to market products that have sold who knows how many billions of dollars over the years.
Listening to and pursuing an image takes time, energy, and resources. Think through your own life: what is the image that you are pursuing?
How much time, how much effort, how many resources have you given in order to create, in order to adopt, in order to reflect this image of yourself?
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Amidst the cacophony of noises begging for our attention, where do we find PEACE? Only in coming to God's invitation of hope through Jesus.
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The blessing of St. St. Barnabas Episcopal School
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What does it mean for you and me to be entrusted with something that belongs to God?
This question can cause us discomfort. Why because we know that ultimately everything we have is from God. 7:30 At the offertory what is it we say: All things come of Thee oh Lord, and of Thine own have we given Thee.
This is quite a proclamation we are making. If it is true, which it is, what does it mean for us to be entrusted with such responsibilities that all things would include?
Perhaps we can break it down a little bit to help us all grab hold of something.
You and I, as Christians have been entrusted with the Faith that has been past down to us from over 2000 years ago.
You and I have been entrusted with the Word of God that was first delivered to Moses and found fulfillment in Jesus. This Holy Book in which people have died to protect while delivering it to nations and in which others could not die without.
You and I have been entrusted as sons and daughters to parents.
We have been entrusted as employees and some as employers.
Some have been entrusted with the sacred gift of marriage.
Some have been entrusted with the sacred gift of children.
We have been entrusted by God with millions of dollars. You may say not me, but in the course of your life with the salary you made while working or are currently making, how many millions of dollars will pass through your bank account in a lifetime?
We have been entrusted with God’s power working within us to accomplish all that He has prepared in advance for us to do.
Whether we realize it or not by coming to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, God has entrusted great riches to us His children.
In each of our text this morning, we hear that God desires for you and me. We hear God's desire for everyone who comes to know the power of His forgiveness and depths of His love. We hear God;s desire to be about His purposes in the way that we live the life of grace, the life we have been entrusted with.
In the Scripture accounts we read how the Nation of Israel often neglected what God had entrusted to them and then God had to act in some way to realign the Nation to what His purposes were. When this would take place it was painful. Painful because people had to let go of what they thought was bringing them life and get to the place where they would actually call out to the giver of life. Only by coming to the end of themselves would new life would be born.
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Life, Liberty, and Freedom
When you listen to the right person, put the right stuff in, you will find Life, Liberty, and Freedom, but when you don’t you won’t no matter how hard you try.
Weed Eater Example: I have weedeater that I have had for a number of years. As most of you probably know you have to mix oil with the gas for weedeater to work. Years ago when I used to fill up my weedeater with gas, I would just guessamated at creating the right mixture instead of measuring it out. In other words, I put in whatever I thought was right instead of following the expressed directions and specifications that the motor needed
At first, it seemed like I was pretty good at guessamating, and if I was ever in doubt I just added a little more oil because it is better to have a little too much than not enough, I clogged carburetor is better than a blown engine. As the time went by the motor began to run worse and worse and became harder and harder to start so much so that I stopped using it unless I just had too. I knew what it needed, but there was never enough time when I was cutting the grass to overhaul it.
Eventually, someone told me about this pre-mixed fuel that you can buy that is pure gas and perfect mixture of oil every time. I started using this canned fuel and I started to notice after even just one tank it seemed to make a difference but I still did not use the thing unless I really needed too. But each time I used it, it seemed to start easier and run better and so I began to use it a little more often. Now many years later I still use it, it starts right up and runs great every time. And now my kids are learning how to use it, so I don’t have too nearly as much.
By putting in exactly what the maker intended for it to have in order for it to work properly, low and behold it does. All that time I filled it with my best guess what I thought should be good enough or what seemed right because it still worked, was really causing it harm and creating a lot of frustration for me and ever for others who tried to use it or perhaps even drove by my lawn and saw the edges of my yard.
But Turning from my ways and Then putting in what the maker knew it needed brought Life to something that was otherwise becoming ineffective and about to be replaced.
If we were to apply this lesson to our spiritual lives and the level to which we are filled by the God’s intentions for us, what kind of shape would the motor of our lives be in?
This is exactly what God is saying to the Nation of Israel as he speaks through the prophet Ezekiel. Why do you say my ways are unfair. You have pursued your ways and look what that is getting you.
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The Rev. Dr. Wendell Raulerson of Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church delivers a powerful Gospel message that everyone needs to hear.
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The Rev, Dr. Wendell Raulerson, Pastor of Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church brings forth a power proclamation of the Gospel.
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What has been the most painful thing that has happened to you by another person?
Many of you would not want to answer this question but you would probably have a very specific answer.
In fact, many of us might have a hard time narrowing it down to one thing or one person.
Being physically, psychologically, or spiritually wounded by another person is painful and the scars often last a lifetime.
But what amazes me the most is the people who have these scars but are able to see them as beauty marks that the Lord uses to show forth His glory.
Forgiveness isn’t easy, but it is a key to not being controlled by the pain others have caused.
Forgiveness is what separates the church from the world. The world cannot be agents of healing when pain has been caused because the world will always look for justice to right a wrong. The world will always define a debt that must be paid for justice to be served.
In the governing of a people, there is most definitely a place for justice, but justice for justice sake does not bring the healing into the hearts of people who have been wounded.
This is why it is not uncommon for families of murder victims to say even after the execution of the murderer, justice may have been served, but we still do not have peace.
There is a place for justice, but in the hearts of God’s people forgiveness in the key that unlocks the pain and brings freedom into our hearts and souls, our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Forgiveness allows you to see how what the devil intended for evil God intends for good. It is not that God caused the evil to take place, but in spite of the evil God will bring healing and hope that will reach beyond your own pain to become the saving grace in another person’s life.
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Love is Powerful. In fact, even this morning we hear Paul echo the words of Jesus in writing “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Love is Powerful, but the way many people define love defies the message and power of love.
There is no doubt that I love my wife and my children, but there are many times when I am not so loving. Times when my actions and attitudes do not communicate love or respect to the people I honestly love the most.
If my family was to love me in my sinfulness the way many people today want to appropriate and define love (who am I to say that you are wrong), my life would be a mess. I would be given into all kinds of selfish and destructive attitudes and behaviors.
Trust me when I say that most of the things that generate this unloving response from me come from a place where in the moment; I think I know what is best, or if it is not that they come from a place were I am reacting to circumstances instead of allowing God to direct my steps and guide my feet into the way of peace.
And the only reason why my family has grown and developed as it has is because we have made a practice of truth telling to one another which leads us to repentance, a practice of acknowledging our sinfulness and asking one another for forgiveness when we mess up. It is actually in these moments of truth telling and humility that leads to reconciliation where I find the greatest assurance of love for and from my family.
But for my family to allow such attitudes and actions to control my life to go unchecked would be the most unloving thing my family could do.
Love in the way that the world tries to define it is not love at all, but instead it is a bitter seed that has been planted even the church that has brought great confusion and allowed people to settle into sinful places and patterns that wreaks havoc upon their lives and the people around them.
Did you hear what Paul said was love: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
How many marriages have ended for love sake?
How many children have never been given a chance for love sake?
How many businesses have thrived for loves sake?
How many addictions have been formed for loves sake?
How many people have been encourage to pursue destructive attitudes and actions for love sake?
For that is not love at all. It is sin and deception that has been embraced even by the church for we have not dared to define love as God defines it in the Scriptures. Instead, we have defined love in a way that removes us from actually expressing love even to the people we love the most.
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You can’t get the right answer until you have asked the right question.
this is an interesting statement because it really is true. For instance, any parent has experienced this when their child comes home and they ask, how did the day go? Or when a wife asks her husband the same question. Or perhaps as husband asks his wife, where do you want to eat?
Or maybe if you have ever got pulled over by a police officer and the officer asked, do you know how fast you were going? Or maybe the officer asks do you know what you did wrong? I mean for me the answer to those questions can be so extensive that I need a better question.
If none of that has happened to you what about when you ask someone how are you doing? How surprised would you be if a person stopped and started sharing the depths of their soul with you in that moment?
You can’t get the right answer until you have asked the right question.
Perhaps you hear this statement and think, yeah, but that just doesn’t sound like how it is supposed to work.
Bingo! And why, after all, at face value these questions are perfectly good questions. I mean there is an answer that could open the door for much conversation and relationship, honesty and integrity, even joy and comfort.
But because of who we are and the way we have been conditioned to think, our self-preservation skills kick in and we respond in ways that do not bless the people around us and many times are not even honest with our own thoughts and emotions.
But when the right question is asked, something happens, we open up, we begin to share the things on our minds, in our hearts, and the desires of our soul, or at least the desire of our stomachs. We begin to experience something much deeper than we might have expected or even knew was possible.
In our Gospel text today we hear Jesus ask the disciples a question.
The right question to ask is Lord Jesus, show me what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you. Show me Lord what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you in my relationship to my spouse, with my children, with my siblings, with my parents.
The right question to ask is Lord Jesus, show me what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you in my identity?
The right question to ask is Lord Jesus, show me what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you in the way I spend my time, money, and abilities?
The right question to ask is Lord Jesus, show me what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you in the way I treat other people: my attitude, actions, and reactions to others?
The right question to ask is Lord Jesus, show me what has been conditioned in my mind, heart, and life that is not of you in my thoughts and fears and coping mechanisms?
These are the right questions to ask because asking them reveals that we believe in the power of who Jesus is and his desire and ability to defeat the gates of hell. Listening to the words of Jesus bring us light and give us life. To whom or to what else can we turn Peter proclaims.
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When you receive something that you do not deserve, it makes you stop and think for a moment. Why in the world would that person do that or say that to me? And when you cannot think of any good reason, it then makes you realize that there must be more to life then what you perceived.
During these days of Covid-19, political campaigns, and parts of our nation in chaos, it can be difficult not to jump in and start shouting as loud as everyone else.
If there is one thing that has become abundantly clear during this time: it is that the direction, the ways of this world cannot provide the answers. The difference between the kingdom of this world and kingdom or God has not been so clearly established in a long time. I would dare to say for at least my entire life.
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1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
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I believe that in these days, God is stirring the pot. God is refining His Church. God is calling His people back to Him from the misdirected steps we have taken. God is giving us an opportunity to embrace an opportunity to encounter Him in a way that some have been longing for years to see.
What do I mean by this? Well, it is not anything new. We read how God did this over and over again through the Old Testament with the Nation of Israel. And in the New Testament, Jesus brought this opportunity to Jew and Gentile alike. The Kingdom of God had come and an invitation to become a new creation was given to all.
The Church was born and a revival of spirit and life as God designed and desired began to grow. It is nothing new. We see it throughout Church History. Great moves of God developed through the years as God stirred and called His people to back to deeper and a more intimate relationship him. Beginning with their repentance.
Monastic life of the 4th Century developed from such an experience.
The Social Justice movement of St. Francis in the 12th Century called the church back from many wild abuses
Things like the reformation took place. The rediscovery of the Word of God in the language of the people brought about an Evangelical Movement in the 16th Century much like the days of Josiah 900 years before.
The Charismatic Movement not only of Pentecost but again in the 17th Century with the Quakers and people like George Fox and of course through the 20th Century of Azusa St. and what many of our mainline churches experienced through the 70’s and 80’s. Called people to a life in the Spirit that would impact everything around them.
Great moves of God like Holiness Movement of the 18th Century where John Wesley encountered the living God after years of serving as a Priest in the Anglican Church. A movement where people were called to discipleship in ways that had largely been ignored or long forgotten but renewed a lifeless and clearly sin filled church.
The Sacramental or Incarnational Movements of Moravians in the 18th and the Oxford Movement of the 19th Century calling people encounter the grace of God in outward realities of life and worship.
These are not the only ways in which God has called his Church to repent and return to Him but these are definite places through Church History that we see people repent and the Holy Spirit breath life into the people of God when what was evolving was more and more wandering in the wilderness we might say.
In the texts we have been reading the past two weeks, Jesus is describing how God sees the world. How God has scattered seed. How God intends to bring about a harvest. How even though the enemy, Satan will try to destroy or disrupt the harvest God is planting. Yet, God will not be stopped. The fruit of the harvest will come in.
And so the question comes back to us once again. If God is producing a harvest, if evil exist and yet God has a purpose and a plan that will expose the evil and guard the holy, do we want God has for us and if so how do we discern God’s wisdom and truth from the folly that the enemy disguises so well.
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Romans 8
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
What would a condemnationless nation or at least the people of God look like? One that sows good seed. What do good seeds look like? Listen to these prayers, can you, would, will you pray prayers like these that your flesh may fade and the Spirit may shine forth.
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The celebration of our Independence as a Nation is always a great time to reflect and remember that we are nothing apart from God’s providence. Yes, there have been checked parts of our past and even in our present, but this is still the greatest Nation that has ever been. No other Nation has given hope to as many people as the United States of America. No other nation provides the freedoms that we enjoy. No other nation gives its citizens the opportunities to succeed, to thrive, and to help their brothers and sisters in need as ours. Even in times of great civil unrest as we see today, no other country allows it citizens to express so freely their discontent.
It is great to be an American.
You and I are the beneficiaries of many who have gone before, who had in their hearts to set this country on a course that would be shinning light to the world. Whatever their motives may have been there is no doubt that at its core our country was established with the understanding that God had a course, that God had a purpose for this nation at such a time as this.
1 Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Yes, even today, God calls people to this fulfill His purpose throughout the world.
And God has no doubt used groups of people called nations to be agents of His work on earth at various times and places.
The United States has been such a place as this. God has used other great civilizations in the past 2000 years. And if you have noticed they have come and gone. Many would simply state this is just the ways of the world.
But is there something more to earthly kingdoms rising and falling?
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When we seek the Lord we will find him.
Have we sought after the Lord and listened to his voice?
Or, have we sought to silence him by ignoring his voice or ignoring his place in our lives?
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Pastor Shaun Miles
SALM 67 Ministries
Vietnam
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Do you believe that God has more for you?
Perfect love cast our all fear. Love covers a multitude of sin. God wants more for his people than the chaos the world is trying to lead you by.
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The Risen Lord bring hope and life for all those who know him.
What are your tears being shed for?
What is the cry of your heart?
Will you rest your head on the chest of your Heavenly Father and hear His heart beat for you?
Will you rest and let the Holy Spirit place a song in your heart?
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Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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From Hurricanes to Coronavirus, there is one thing that I have learned. We have very little power to help ourselves.
“the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
But what does this mean? Isn’t that what we are doing when we pray, when we worship, when we do all these things that define our faith? And if it isn’t then why do we do all this anyway?
Maybe, but maybe not.
What happens when you do all the right things and then still get sick? What happens when the prayer vigils are held, and disaster still strikes? Does your soul get stifled? Are you left with doubt that shakes or shatters your faith? Do wonder what happened, because surely God should have…
How do we know we are worshiping in spirit and in truth? Because the Peace of God rules our heart and our minds.
Because we know He is our God and believe we are His people and the world around us begins to see Jesus through us His Church.
And to this the glory due His name is always given. In the good, the bad, and ugly. Amen.
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What an interesting text we have this morning. With all the fear and uncertainty that the Corona virus is causing. We have a Gospel text that relates back to a time when the Nation of Israel was wrapped in fear from a deadly circumstance surrounding them
Every Jew, especially a Pharisee knew that this story of Moses was about the power and saving grace of God. Numbers 21describes a time when God had moved mightily among the Nation of Israel and instead of continuing to trust God as a Nation the people became impatient and started complaining and speaking badly about God and Moses.
God allowed poisonous serpents to become prevalent and many Israelites died by their venom. Eventually the people repented and cried out to God to save them and he did by instructing Moses to make a bronze serpent on a pole and whenever someone got bit they would have to repent, turn and look to this serpent on a pole to be healed and saved from certain death. And that is exactly what happened.
Like Nicodemus, there may be a lot that we don’t understand in regards to faith, but God wants us to know that what we do not understand should not keep us away from faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, it is only when we take a step of faith towards Jesus that what we did not understand becomes clear because of the saving nature of what faith in Jesus brings into our lives.
Why is it always God’s glory to have mercy? Because when God gives mercy, when God does not give us what our sins deserve, and when instead God offers a way of grace, something we do not deserve but he still provides a way for us to be saved, to be rescued, to be healed, to be restored. When we understand what our sin deserves and see Jesus as this gift from God, we will repent and turn to Jesus and when we do we will experience the power of new life in Him. And this new life, this salvation, this going form certain death to life will produce a gratitude in our heart that moves us to unshakeable faith where we remember, where we listen, where we begin hear the words of Jesus and follow his voice, the unchangeable Truth of Jesus, because we know how special this man really was, is, and forever will be.
A life that encounters Jesus is always for the Glory of God.
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Moses, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God extends His invitation for us to be in relationship with Him. God reveals His purpose for us with Moses and the Law, in Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, and through the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Through Jesus we receive His power to reflect His glory to the world.
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Bishop Brewer at St. Barnabas for the Annual Diocesan Altar Guild Eucharistic
What is the purpose of the Altar Guild? How do you know if you heart and mind are in the right place as you serve in this ministry?
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Some decisions in life really are not that complicated, are they.
What about you? What if there were things in your life that you knew you could do that would make your life more full, more complete, would you do them? What if you knew that not doing these things would mean your life would take a drastic turn in a negative direction, now would you be inclined learn more about these things? How about if you knew that the difference would be as great as life or death, how would that impact the decisions that you would make.
Write down or at least think about five areas of your life that you are concerned about?
What about five things that occupy your time.
What occupies your money? In the past week or month, what are the top five places you have spent your money?
What if, What if God has a purpose and a plan for each of those five concerns in your life? What if God has direction for you concerning the places that occupy your time? What if God cares about how you spend your money? What if God is encouraging you this morning to choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore, that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
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Simeon in the Temple. For my eyes have seen the Salvation of God.
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“A bad day fishing is better then a good day at work”. How about this one when somebody starts complaining about not catching anything someone else might say “that’s why they call it fishing and not catching”.
Even to a non-fisherman there is something about these statements that rings true, that just make sense. That actually makes you want to give fishing a try or keep fishing even if nothing is biting.
And you know what else happens, if you fish long enough you will eventually catch something. After all “You can’t catch a fish if your hook isn’t in the water”
We are all fishing for something. There something that you have learned, something you have studied, something you have practiced, something you enjoy something that you eagerly and actively share this with others. There is something that has you hooked, something in your life that has captured your affections and requires your attention.
In our Gospel lesson this morning Jesus tells these men who are professional fishermen that if they will come and follow him, he will help them to catch something that is far more glorious, something that is much greater then fish.
Jesus tells these men, if they will come and follow him, if they will become his disciples and he will teach them how and they will soon become fishers of men. They will be people who help others to come to know and grow in the power and love of God.
Are you a disciple? Or maybe I should ask are you a disciple of Christ? After all, we are all fishing for something. We are all living for and sharing the message of our lives with others. We are all a disciple of something.
Maybe you can ask the people you work with, or the people you hang out with or maybe even your spouse or how about your children what do they see that you are living for? What is the message of your life?
Disciples of Jesus fish for people. Disciples of Jesus share with others the life giving power of Jesus and teach others how to live the lessons about life that Jesus taught.
One of the biggest reasons people don’t share their faith is that they don’t feel confident in what their faith is about.
It might be that you need to first learn from Christ. When was the last time you found yourself sitting at Jesus’ feet as you read the Bible or studied his teachings?
God has given us this incredible treasure of His word that teaches us, that builds us up, that reveals who he is that we would be confident in Him.
God meets us in our private times of prayer, God inhabits the prayers and praises of his people in our corporate worship, God uses our relationships with one another to strengthen us and hold us accountable to our faith. These are the ways that you and I grow and become confident in our faith, become his disciples, and fish for people.
What are the areas of your life that you are confident in? I would bet that most people around you would identify a significant part of your message of life with these areas of confidence.
When you become confident in who Jesus is and who you are in Him, when you realize the significance, the power, the healing, the freedom, the joy of what he has given to you and what Jesus has taught you, you will begin to share it with others. Your faith will become the message of your life because you have grown confident that the hope you have does not disappoint. (Romans 5:1-5)
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How Great are God's Wonders and Plan.
How do you walk in God's purposes? How do you experience God's wonder in your life?
All for you my blessed Savior...
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This morning, Luke in the book of Acts and Matthew in his Gospel want their readers to see clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. They want their readers then and us who read it today to know beyond a shadow of doubt that what was initiated in the Jesus’ Baptism was the righteousness of God becoming available for all mankind.
Righteousness is right relationship with God and neighbor. In other words, to be Righteous is to have one life aligned perfectly in body, mind, and spirit to the will of God and his kingdom purposes. In Jesus’ baptism, we see that Jesus is bowing the knee of his heart not because he needed to repent from sin as others needed to do. Jesus did not need to return to God as others were, but Jesus was affirming his life as being in tune with God full of righteousness. And through his obedience the righteousness of God would then be able to be shared with all who turned to him.
This is why John says, “I need to be baptized by you” but Jesus says Let it happen this way for in doing so God will fulfill all righteousness. There is nothing left except for what is to come in the next three years of His life. Jesus’ will has been and is set on the will of God. This doesn’t mean that Jesus knew everything that would happen or that trials and tribulations would not occur. In fact, Jesus is immediately driven to the wilderness to be tested.
But through his baptism, this act of obedience to the expressed will of God, Jesus would declare among the people and align his heart with the heart of God and nothing else would stand in his way. He would continue to learn obedience and on the cross we would hear him say “it is finished.” But perhaps through obedience in his baptism, we might hear him say, it has begun.
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Promises, Promises, Why do I believe?
The lyrics to a 1983 top 20 Pop Rock song that of course explains the inescapable hope of love and relationships. One person making promises to the other knowing they will never keep them, but it is these promises that keeps the other person tied to the relationship but asking the question why, “why do I believe? If this is love” the songwriter sings, “it breaks my heart” When “you made me promises promises that you knew you’d never keep.”
A catchy tune played on the radio, one that obviously connected to people as it climbed to number 11 on the US top 100 Billboard Single Charts. Today, its message is played out over and over again by people who hope to find love, who are looking for purpose in life, who are placing their hope in other people who can never fulfill the promises they are making, and not just in relationships of love, but in relationships of all kinds such as the promises of careers, family, business, investments, purchases, health, you name it.
But what if, what if there is a promises maker, who is a promises keeper. What if there is a person who can not only promise the hope of a better life, a more enjoyable life, a longer lasting life, more satisfying life, but deliver on his promises? I know it sounds like a pill to great to be true. But what if there is a person who can be trusted because over and over again his promises come true?
The Mathematical odds of any one person fulfilling the amount of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled are breath taking. Mathematicians put it this way:
1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies spoken over the course of centuries before they were even born: 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 quadrillion (that is the amount after trillion). 1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power 1 person fulfilling 300+ prophecies: Only Jesus!
Not only does this prophetic record set the Bible apart from any other book, but it shows us a God who is trustworthy and true. We see, we hear, we read about a God who makes promises to his people, and yes; he fulfills his promises with amazing details.
There is no God like my God. Isaiah 45:5-6
God is a promise maker, and God is a promise keeper.
Why do I believe? Tell me why I shouldn’t. And why shouldn’t you either?
All that this world has to offer cannot keep its promise to you. So why put your trust in that which you know cannot fulfill?
Maybe you need to pause to think, maybe you need to stop and reflect. Maybe you need to honestly answer whose promises are you hoping for?
It is easy to get mixed up and start placing hope in the things of this world especially after we just got all this new stuff that we anticipated would make life better. It’s easy to get mixed up and start placing hope in people you love, people you hope will love you, including yourself especially as we move into another year and make promises that we know we won’t keep.
It easy to get mixed up and place our hope in things that will let us down. The world, flesh, and the devil, and even good hearted people are going to let you down.
But what if, what if you put all your hope in God? What if you lived in such a way that you would look like or at least feel like a fool unless God proved faithful?
Who are you placing your hope in? With the relationships that you have? With the challenges that you face? With the future you desire? With your tithes and offerings to the Lord?
Brothers and sisters, this is the Gospel way. This is the Good News of Jesus. God is a promise maker and God is a promise keeper. You may go through challenging times, but God will make a way for you through it. Life may get a little crazy, but God will give you his peac
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John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
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We are all on the naughty list, and Jesus is on the nice list. So God sent Jesus who took our naughtiness so that we could be on the nice list too. Being on the nice list makes all the difference.
Naughty or nice. The standard is Jesus. Foolishness or enhancing God’s glory, how would you describe your life?
Until the curtains close, God extends his invitation to you. It is His desire to see you reflect His glory that others might see and hear. And in the glory that shines around them, come and bow down at the feet of Jesus.
it is not the society’s role to tell the Christmas story. Sure it is nice and comforting when it does. But it is the story of your life and mine that is meant to be the reflection of God’s glory, the gift that He gave 2000 years ago. Your life and mine are a Christmas play that is never meant to end. This is a truth will always remain, you and I people who believe in Jesus are to be the angelic voice that leads others to the Glory of God’s invitation.
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This year I have noticed a lot has changed in our culture. It is actually getting difficult to find a non-secularize expression of Christmas. The movies that we love to watch are more about romance or families then they are the manger scene and story of Jesus. Even on the radio there are more Rudolph tunes than “The First Noel”.
Though I was a child who thought I was brilliant beyond my years, many of us live life like I was acting in that play many years ago.
We are all on the naughty list, and Jesus is on the nice list. So God sent Jesus who took our naughtiness so that we could be on the nice list too. Being on the nice list makes all the difference.
Naughty or nice. The standard is Jesus. Foolishness or enhancing God’s glory, how would you describe your life?
Until the curtains close, God extends his invitation to you. It is His desire to see you reflect His glory that others might see and hear. And in the glory that shines around them, come and bow down at the feet of Jesus.
it is not the society’s role to tell the Christmas story. Sure it is nice and comforting when it does. But it is the story of your life and mine that is meant to be the reflection of God’s glory, the gift that He gave 2000 years ago. Your life and mine are a Christmas play that is never meant to end. This is a truth will always remain, you and I people who believe in Jesus are to be the angelic voice that leads others to the Glory of God’s invitation.
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Being prepared makes a difference.
Have you ever started to cook something, then realized after you had already started mixing up the ingredients that you did not have everything your needed to make the dish complete. Being prepared makes a difference.
Advent is the beginning of the Church year, a season in which we think about being prepared for Jesus to come, both in his birth and his promised return. Being prepared makes a difference.
Who are we in this story?
Being prepared makes a difference. Those who live prepared encounter the fullness of joy that Jesus intends to bring and when he calls us home or when he returns again he finds in us a mansion prepared for his glory. Christmas is not meant to be a stress filled holiday that we wish would hurry up and get over, and neither is our life of faith. Faith in the power and person of Jesus is meant to bring love, joy, and peace.
Throughout the ages those who have lived prepared have experienced the fullness of being a child of God. He can raise of rock to be children of Abraham, but he has invited you to be a his child, that you would know and share the glory of being a child of the King. AMEN.
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Are you Ready and not just for Christmas but for the coming of Christ?
Put on the Armor of Light.
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Mark Tiss of Webster, New York, describes an experience from his college days. An old man showed up at the back door of the house we were renting. Opening the door a few inches, we saw his eyes were glassy and his furrowed face glistened with silver stubble. He clutched a wicker basket holding a few unappealing vegetables. He bid us good morning and offered his produce for sale. We were uneasy enough that we made a quick purchased to alleviate both our pity and our fear.
To our chagrin, he returned the next week, introducing himself as Mr. Roth, the man who lived in the shack down the road. As our fear subsided, we got close enough to realize it wasn’t alcohol but cataracts that marbleized his eyes. On subsequent visits, he would shuffle in wearing two mismatched right shoes, and pull out a harmonica. With glazed eyes set on a future glory, he’d puff out gospel tunes between conversations about vegetables and religion.
On one visit, he exclaimed, “The Lord is so good! I came out of my shack this morning and found a bag full of shoes and clothing on my porch.”
“That’s wonderful, Mr. Roth!” we said. “ We’re happy for you”.
“You know what’s even more wonderful?” he asked. “Just yesterday I met some people that could really use them.”
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Jesus Remember Me
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, the end of the church year. Next Sunday, will be Advent 1 and we will once again start a journey of waiting for the promised Messiah. But today we remember, we hold fast, we celebrate as though all that is to come has and is made known.
"Be still, then, and know that (He is) I am God; * When we stop, when we confess, when we reflect that Christ is King in and over all things. We begin see things differently. We begin to hear his heartbeat and know that though the challenges of life may not fade, God is near, we are his, and He can be trusted. All we have is his and all we are is found only by being with him.
If you were to describe your faith as a child running into the arms of your heavenly Father: what would your life, what would the picture of your faith reveal?
There is more. God has more for you know, love, and enjoy today than yesterday and still even more for tomorrow. Will you, will you dare believe and confess Christ as King and run into the arms of your heavenly Father and encounter that which only God can give.
Will you, will you dare not just to run for a moment, but would be still and know? Would you rest in His arms of mercy and begin to hear His heartbeat and adjust your rhythm of life to his that you would indeed experience His presence, His power, and His purposes in and through your life?
Those who do will find that Jesus whispers into your heart and soul: today you will be with me in Paradise.
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Our belief is what drives our behavior
Asking what comes to our mind when we think of God will reveal a lot about the "why" of our lives. Could it be that our concept of God is too small or focused in a wrong direction. If God is unstoppable what does this mean for the way we live? Would we dare to be fearless because of who God is?
God is faithful and He can be trusted. Yes, He can be trusted with out lives: our family's, our finances, our pain, our sorrow, our joy, our struggles, our mess of life.
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Ever since the fall of man, ever since sin has entered the world, our humanity has been stained by it. And we might say that we have gotten used to living inside out from how God intends for us to live.
Today we celebrate All Saints Day and as we reflect on the Saints who have gone before, we are reminded of the right side out kingdom of God. We are reminded how God can and does desire for all of His people to live according to his purposes walking in his ways in order to bring glory to his name. And in the lives of the Saints, we see a glimpse of what this means and how different from the stain of sin, life is meant to be lived.
What does right side out living look and feel like?
This is the way that world begins to see something different than the inside out patterns that this world had to offer. This is the way the world understands that God loves them so much that he gave. He gave all that he had that they too might come within the reach of his saving embrace. This is the way the world begins to see that he is our God and we are his people. This is the way the world sees Jesus through us his church.
The Saints remind us that we too are called to shine his light in a darkened world and the persecuted church reminds us just how dark this world can be and the hope and new life that right side out living brings to the children of God.
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The beauty of our Choir singing a special anthem as our offertory. I hope you enjoy.
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Think about the life you live, the things you do, the conversations you have, the TV shows and movies you watch, the way you spend your time, the way you spend your money, the life you live. As you think about these things, I want to ask a very simple question.
Do you really need God to live the way you are living?
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Am I living attuned to His mercy and grace that has been given to me in Jesus or am I living more by my own desire, whims, control, or understanding of life?
Do I live with a sense that God’s presence is with me and overshadows my life that His presence has actually brought and continues to bring forgiveness to my soul, healing to my wounds?
Do I live with a sense that God’s power has brought restoration to the brokenness places and is leading me to new places and new people to share this with?
Do I live with a sense that God’s purpose for me is different than that I would give to myself or what I have tried to find in doing things my way?
Do I really need God to live the life I have been living?
Out of gratitude for what God has given us: Are we living a life of obedience to the Word of God, or even to the things the Holy Spirit has spoken to or reminded us about?
Out of gratitude for what God has given us: Are we living with a grateful heart committed to being present and joining together to worship God in unity, not because of who we are but because of who he is?
Out of gratitude for what God has given us: Are we living with grateful hearts bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse that the floodgates of heaven would be opened up upon our lives, our church, and the world around us?
If we don’t like the answer we find, what a blessing that God gives us the opportunity to hear His word and repent and return to Him that we would yet again find His mercy new every morning. That we would experience His steadfast love ready to forgive and lead us into a new direction by His presence, with His power, and for His purposes.
Oh that we would know Christ and the power of his resurrection. That we would be poured out as Paul tells Timothy. That we would fight the good fight, and finish the race, that we would keep the faith because we are so enamored by His mercy and captivated by His love. Oh that the world would see Jesus in these days through us, His people the Church, you and me because we humble ourselves before him and find His strength not only in our time of need but also in our times of plenty.
Simply because we know how desperate we are for God in all things and in every way.
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Have you ever thought about whether or not we are praying prayers that matter to God?
I know that all of our prayers are important to God because he deeply loves and cares about us. And yes, God answers every prayer that we pray. Sometimes his answer is yes, sometimes his answer is no, and still other times he says wait a while.
But have you ever considered what God thought about the prayers you have prayed or perhaps what does God think about the prayers you may refuse to pray.
As a parent, you don’t mind your children asking for things that you know you won’t give them. It is okay for them to ask and it is okay for you to say no.
But when your child asks for something that you desire to give them or show them it becomes so much more enjoyable, doesn’t it. You find that your heart begins to rejoice over them and you become eager to give them even more than they asked for.
What would happen in our lives if we began praying prayers that matter to God? Okay, I’ll concede and admit that might not be the best way to say it. But what might happen if we began to pray with a little more sensitivity prayers that God would love to hear from his children?
When was the last time you prayed that God would show you how to be the perfect husband or perfect wife instead of praying that your spouse would change? When was the last time you ask God to show you how to be a model student or model employee instead of praying your teacher would go easy or your boss would let up?
When was the last time you asked God to show how you needed to be reconciled to a child, a sibling, or a lost friend? Instead of complaining that they will never appreciate what you were trying to do.
When was the last time you ask God to give strength and courage to do something you knew he was asking you to do instead of justifying away the very word of God for you?
When was the last time you asked God to convince your mind to tithe and give what you know God has asked for you to give instead of doing the same ole thing hoping it doesn’t really matter?
When was the last time your heart went out to the least, the last, and the lost not because of what they might bring to you, but because you understood it was God’s heart to be shared with them.
When we live with grateful hearts for Jesus we begin experience and intimate relationship with God and because of his love for us we hear his word different than before and know that what he says will bring a fruitful and fulfilling life and so we respond with love in return.
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Jay Sandifer our music minister at out 9:00 service is sharing his gift of turning psalms into songs as an offertory and encouraging the congregation to develop a heart of praise in all things.
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For just $19.99 you can now find everything you have been looking for. You can find peace, you can find hope, you can find joy, you can find rest, you can find satisfaction, you can look the way you want to look. “But wait there is more!” Because, when you order today you will receive not just one, but two, so that you never have to worry again. The promise of life for just $19.99 surrounds us every day and it comes in many forms.
I don’t know what your price tag is or what the items are or have been for you, but I do know that the world and most of us have lived life looking for the “But Wait, There is More.”
We have studied in universities, we have gone to doctors, we have searched the web, we have watched the markets, we have purchased "newer and bigger" looking for satisfaction and security.
We have trusted in substances, turned to darkened secrets, joined the latest club hoping that our concerns and fears would fade away or at least be covered so no one else would see.
We have shopped till we have dropped, we have drunk like a fish, we have fought like dogs, we have cuddled like kittens. We have spent so much time, so much energy, so much money looking for the “But wait, there is more”.
Looking back on these efforts we can see what we could not see then and still may not fully understand now that these promises were empty and never can fulfill.
“But Wait, There is More”
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Jay Sandifer our music minister at out 9:00 service is sharing his gift of turning psalms into songs as an offertory and encouraging the congregation to develop a heart of praise in all things.
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We welcome Bishop Brewer to St. Barnabas. This recording includes his sermon for our students as well as the music shared by our Children's Choir.
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Faith. Virtue. Excellence
Faith is the foundation from which or virtue and excellence flow. Without faith no virtues can be found and who is to say what excellence is? It is our faith that defines us. Our faith establishes that God is in control and we are His. Our faith brings about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the character of Jesus. Our virtues, the fruit of the Holy Spirit propels us to excellence. God is an excellent God and He deserves our excellence.
True biblical faith is the basic ingredient to begin a relationship with God. Faith is the assurance of God at work in our lives no matter what the circumstances.
Virtue is a characteristic of truth and honesty that acts without expectation of a reward other than the joy of integrity.
Excellence refers to pursuing and doing the best we can with the gifts and abilities God gives, giving our best to the glory of God.
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Jay Sandifer our music minister at out 9:00 service is sharing his gift of turning psalms into songs as an offertory and encouraging the congregation to develop a heart of praise in all things.
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Two things that God has said commands His blessing upon His people. Would you be interested in knowing what these two things are?
Everyone wants to be blessed by God. God has chosen as the primary vehicle for how this will happen to be through His people as they receive His mercy and grace in Jesus and command His blessing through obedience, unity, and hence test Him to throw open the floodgates of heaven.
The 90 Day Challenge:
From now to the end of the year: would you be so bold as to command God's blessing by being intentionally obedient to what the Holy Spirit impresses upon your heart, by being committed to unity by being present to worship God as one Body, and will you test God with the one thing that God invites us to test Him with (tithe, 10% to the church) that He would open the storehouse of heaven upon us?
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Proper 20
Does watching the news or reading the paper produce a certain level of anxiety or restlessness? What if there was something that would bring comfort instead, exchange peace for fear, and hope for hopelessness? Well, there is. Our Gospel lesson today reveals that Jesus provides the answers we seek and the direction we need to find the freedom in life we are intended to live.
Collect for the Day:
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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9:00 service with Closing Music
The end of this recording includes an extemporaneous song of the Psalm 51
What made David a man after God's own heart? His life was marred with some rough patches like adultery, deceit, and murder just to name a few.
There is no sin too big, no distance too far, no pain too great that can stop God's love for you and prevent you from being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. This is the Good News of the Gospel. Do we really believe this to be true? Psalm 51 leads us to realize that we have nothing left except Jesus. In this place, we find that we too become men and women after God's own heart.
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Presentation on Honduras Mission from Fr. Comforted Keen and the Honduras Mission Team.
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