WEEKLY MESSAGE-MANUSCRIPT – Mountain View UMC

Message for October 13, 2024

Welcome
Announcements:
Giving Options-Special Offering for October is World Communion Sunday (video). If people wish to give to Hurricane Relief, write UMCOR in the memo line and drop in offering box.
Craft Sale-Set up starts at 9AM on Monday. Sign up for a time slot to help in the foyer. Drop baked goods off to the office/kitchen no later than noon on Thursday.
Charge Conference– November 8 at 6PM where we vote on leadership of church for 2025.
United Women in Faith- Baby Shower for House of Ruth collecting $$, wipes, diapers, and clothing. Bin in the foyer.

Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: Where do we turn when our cries go unanswered?
P: Where do we turn when we feel forsaken and alone?

L: We search for god before and behind us, but God is not there.

P: We search for God above and beneath us but come away empty.

L: Yet even now, we will commit ourselves to God.

P: Even now, we will put our trust in the Lord.

L: Come! Let us worship.

Unison Prayer
Elusive One, be near us in our need. For we are poured out like water and our hearts melt like wax within us. You have watched over us since our birth like a mother watches over her children. Come to us swiftly and be with us now, for the darkness threatens and the light fades. Help us in our weakness and touch us with your mercy and your grace. Amen.

L: The word of God for the People of God. P: Thanks be to God.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

¹⁹For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.

²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.

²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law.

²²To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.

²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Sermon: Moving Away from Sunday Centric

“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost…” These are the opening words of the first Lord of the Rings trilogy movie. Whenever we talk about the state of the church today, what is happening in the church world or what might be happening in other churches, this quote almost always floats to my mind. For many of us who have spent our entire lives in the church we know that things are definitely different than they were. What they are, well that’s what we may not be so sure about.

The series we are embarking on uses the book “Inside Out: Everting Ministry Models for the Postmodern Culture,” as a starting point. Each week we will be taking a look at one of the chapters, and one of the weeks we will be talking about church finance, and Lord willing, a finance letter will be going out at that time to talk about giving to the church. With everything that we have changed in the past few months I do not want our stewardship to focus exclusively on finances, instead I want us to focus on the future forward, the next step.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that churches across the board are experiencing decline in attendance, as well as struggling with bringing new people in. This series is not going to offer easy solutions, nor is its intent to provide us with a blueprint for the way forward. Instead, we are going to see what some leading people in the field of church growth are saying and how we are lining or measuring up, and what we can adapt to.

This first message is a reflection on moving away from a Sunday centered approach to the approach of being a gathered community through the week, which meets on Sunday. Since the first day I’ve come here I have maintained that we are the church outside of these four walls. The intent of being the church outside of the walls is not to grow the church, it is to embody who Christ calls us to be. The very first example of being the church outside of this building is in the example of Christ himself.

Repeatedly throughout the gospels we see Jesus spend time with people in their homes, in the public square, and interacting with them in common places. Jesus firmly embodied bringing God to the people where the people are. Some of you were here last week, and you may remember I spoke about the Psalm that we were talking about that claimed, “God I never sat with the wicked.” I cautioned us all not to take that example, because Jesus does the exact opposite of that. Jesus constantly stays with sinners. In fact, you’re more likely to find Jesus at a party than you are a synagogue.

The second biblical example comes from our scripture today. Paul claims that he becomes all things to all people. Over the years this verse has been misinterpreted many times. They take it to mean “to act fake around people to fool them into coming to church.” If I act like them, I can influence them for the church. But what Paul is saying is that in order to bring God to where people are at- you need to be willing to be with those people.

Both of these biblical examples are why we look to outside our four walls to be the church. I have been engaged in this the past few years with working with clubs at the school. In fact, I continue doing clubs because kids look for me to do watercolor with them. Some of them know I am a pastor but more importantly I am living my values as a Christian in front of them. This is happening with me teaching at the school now as well. I am being who I am, doing my best to show grace and love whenever I can, which admittedly can be hard at times. It is about living out our faith in the broader world.

I know some of you are thinking “well I’m retired, I don’t have those opportunities anymore.”
This is just not true. You have opportunities to be involved in all sorts of activities, civic communities, Lions Club, book clubs, sewing circles, part time jobs, school functions with grand kids. All of these are avenues in which you can embody the church to people. When we talk about Mountain View’s mission, we talk about sharing the love of Jesus Christ with everyone. The reality is that it is you who put feet to the ground on that.

The purpose of all of this is not to bring people to church. It is to be the church where people are. If you want our church to grow and succeed, then live out the gospel when you go out there. Being that person you will have opportunities to invite people to church. You will have opportunities to share about your faith. When those opportunities come, your faith will grow, and the other persons faith will grow. And just perhaps our church will grow as well.

Too often we have made being at church on Sunday the point. That is not the point. Church on Sunday is a way for us to come together so that we might be sent out there. The point is to be the church everywhere else besides just here on this campus. Let us embody the church together, let us continue the good things that we do and let us trust God to continue to grow us and our church. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer/ The Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Goodbye

Mesaage for Sunday, October 6, 2024

Welcome
Announcements
Volunteers are needed to help set up, clean up, and work the Angels Attic Sale-Sign up Sheets in the Foyer; Pastor Appreciation Month is the month of October-card basket in the Foyer; Baby Shower for the House of Ruth sponsored by the United Women in Faith-Needs are diapers, size 2,3,4, wipes, $$ for car seats, and baby clothing. Bin in the Foyer; Interfaith Workshops start at 2PM on Sunday, October 27^th; Pastor Appreciation Month of October; World Communion Sunday is our Special Offering-video; and giving options.

Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: Your steadfast love is before our eyes, O God.

P: Help us move in faithfulness.

L: When tests and trials come-when evil itself appears-we place our trust in you, O Knower of joy and suffering.
P: Help us move with integrity.

L: Place us on level ground, o Redeemer.

P: Move us to sing songs of thanksgiving and to proclaim your wondrous deeds.

Unison Prayer
Gracious God, through whom all things exist, we are mindful this day of siblings in faith around the world.

—

We rejoice in our oneness with them. We are mindful, too, of those at hand and those far away–

those who suffer from ills and calamities, from wars and disasters.

Be present with them and us, we pray– even as you fix our hearts on you and how we might, in faith, respond to the needs of our neighbors around the world. Amen.

Offering/Song
Scripture: Psalm 26
Of David.

¹ Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

—

² Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.

—

³ For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.

—

⁴ I do not sit with the worthless, nor do I consort with hypocrites;

—

⁵ I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

—

⁶ I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Lord,

—

⁷ singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and telling all your wondrous deeds.

—

⁸ O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides.

—

⁹ Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with the bloodthirsty,

—

¹⁰ those in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.

—

¹¹ But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.

—

¹² My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

Mediation – Unity around the Altar
Today is World Communion Sunday. I find that I rarely talk about World Communion Sunday, and that may stem from the time that I did a really unique service in the first church I was at and had people leave the church because of it. For those wondering I did communion with not just grape juice but wine and that went over like a lead balloon. This year though, I thought I would talk about what World Communion means to me, and to do that I’m using this Psalm to help guide our conversation.

Now first thing to talk about here is that this Psalm is one we have to be careful of. This psalm makes a point of putting faithful people in opposition to people who are sinners and “bad” people. The problem here is that Jesus literally tells us to do the opposite. Jesus spends time with the sinners, not separating himself from them. Our example should be him. So please remember that as we go forward here.

I want to point specifically to verse 6 of this psalm. It says ““I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Lord,”. When I read this, this week, I noticed something important. That is that there is only one altar. We all gather around Gods one altar. Here’s an example of this, just two weeks ago there was a discussion among the students of my science class. Funnily enough they were arguing about whether someone was Christian or catholic.

With the kids arguing this particular topic I sprang into action. I said, here I can answer this and I’m answering this question from a purely historical perspective. (I don’t want any parents accusing me of proselytizing.) I explained that they are the same thing. I took them through some early church history showing the split between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church but how they were all related to one another. The end result was they accepted what I had to say even if they didn’t agree.

When we approach this altar, when we approach this communion table, we are reminded that there is only one communion table. There is only one God, and we join our hearts before God together this day with women and men from all over the world. Remembering our common bond. That God loves us and wishes to be in relationship with us. This is the core of celebrating communion on this day. That we are together with the rest of the church saying, “this is who we are.”

You may not feel connected with the church outside of this location. You may be one of those kids arguing about who really counts… but the fact of the matter is that God is bigger than every one of us, and that there is always room at this table for more. Amen.

Communion Litany
L: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you
L: Lift up your hearts.
P: We lift them up to the Lord
L: Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God.
P: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

You filled the air with doves and hawks, songbirds and hummingbirds. You covered the land with shimmering aspen and weathered pine. And You blessed all the creatures of the earth:

The bugs, snakes, lizards, the lions, tigers and bears, the puppies and the hippos, the zebras and the penguins.

And You blessed all the children of the earth every shape and size, every color and complexion, every makeup and mood, every style and substance.

But we, O God, preferred to go our own way. We messed things up. We wanted to be in charge. We wanted to be in control.
We thought everything belonged to us. We polluted the environment. We destroyed each other.

We turned playgrounds into battlefields, school yards into mine fields, hospitals into death camps, and children into killers. But God, you never gave up on us. You never walked away or walked out. You always honored your promises even when we broke ours.

You always welcomed us home with open arms and a warm heart even when our fists were clenched and our minds still closed.

When we walk through sorrow and chaos, You are with us. When we live through moments of war and acts of terror, You walk with us.

When our homes are destroyed, You help us to build new homes and finally lead us home to you.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise Your name and join their unending hymn:

P: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One

who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

L: In the right time, in the fullness of your time, In the nick of time, you sent your Son to bring us back to life. He opened a window into your new creation.

HE showed us a vision of your way: where every child has enough to eat, and can sleep safely all through the night, where every graveyard is a front porch of heaven, where the untouchable and unlovable are given the seats of honor, where tears of mourning become tears of laughter, where grievous wrongs and horrid suffering are made right and fair, where children hunt Easter eggs on playgrounds made from battlefields, and where everyone is welcomed and loved.

L: In the dead ends of our lives,

Jesus clears a way ahead.

In the dead spots of our relationships, Jesus speaks words of hope and renewal. In the dead zones of our cities, Jesus calls forth a new kingdom.

L: When we are dead tired, Jesus picks us up and carries us to a place of rest. When we are dead wrong, Jesus confronts us with the truth.

When we are dead last, Jesus tells us that he has won us for eternal life. And so on the night in which he gave himself up for us…

L: Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

L: When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said,
“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

L: And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

P: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

(Congregational Response)
Send your Spirit to renew our faith and transform our souls so that we may hear your music, work for justice, delight in heavenly food, and strengthen one another in love and grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Communion/Song
Benediction
Song
Goodbye

Message for Sunday, September 29, 2024

Welcome

Announcements:

Special Offering Wrap up for Jerome, New one for October World Communion Sunday; Know a family in need that might be able to use crib, changing table or other items from our nursery area? Contact the office; Interfaith Classes-Reminder card in the foyer; Angels Attic Craft Sale-October 18 and 19th… looking for baked goods too, supplies in the kitchen; Trustee’s team looking for additional workers to do minor repairs, yard keeping etc.

Fellowship of Love

Song

Call to Worship

L: We gather to pray. P: We gather to praise.

L: May our prayers extend beyond ourselves. P: May our praise rise to the heavens.

L: May our lives be salty with love. P: May our prayers be reflections of peace.

Unison Prayer

Faithful God, inspire us to be faithful to one another. Open our hearts to meet the needs in our midst and in the wilder world. Open our minds to notice the beauty and gift of your creation. Open our mouths to sing your blessings, joyfully and gratefully. Open our lives to welcome the stranger, seek the lost, and create peace in a troubled world. Amen.

Offering

Scripture: James 5:13-20 NRSV

Faithful God, inspire us to be faithful to one another. Open our hearts to meet the needs in our midst and in the wilder world.

Open our minds to notice the beauty and gift of your creation.

Open our mouths to sing your blessings, joyfully and gratefully.

Open our lives to welcome the stranger, seek the lost, and create peace in a troubled world. Amen.

L: The Word of God for the People of God.

P: Thanks be to God.

Message: Prayerful Wrap-up

The letter of James ends differently than other letters in the New Testament. Most of Paul’s letters we see some kind of formal exit. He’s thanking people individually, giving last minute instructions and one last tidbit of a thought, but this letter doesn’t end this way. In fact, it almost seems like it just drops off. Not exactly, but it seems that the writer of James has written himself into a corner.

James has been concerned with what we do, but he has also been concerned with the comparison of God’s wisdom verses the wisdom of the world and how choosing one over the other is a choice for Satan or a choice for God. The issue here is that the subject hasn’t been exhausted. James could obviously continue to talk about it-delving deeper and deeper into it. There is just no way you could exhaust the topic of God’s wisdom. But the letter needs to end somewhere. So, what does James do? He returns to his other favorite topic in this letter, he returns to the issue of “the mouth.”

We have heard how we should control our tongues because they are like a small rudder on a ship. We have heard how we should learn to say nothing if we have nothing to add to the conversation. Here James tells us what we should be doing with our mouths. We should be praying. Now I have to admit, I am not the person to look to if you want someone who is always praying and saying praises to God every moment. What can I say, I’m just not that holy enough. But I do agree to an extent with what James is saying here, it needs to be tempered a bit.

James starts off this section by saying if there are any who are suffering, they should pray, and that if they aren’t suffering, they should sing songs of praise. Now for James these are the same action. One is introspective and solemn and the other loud and cheerful. It’s that they are both prayers but done in different ways. We do this often; we confuse prayer and other spiritual practices as only being able to be done in one way or one manner. This isn’t the case. Sometimes prayer is solemn, sometimes its joyful. Sometimes it is a petition for healing, and sometimes it is a response to how your life is going. James’ words here embody all of that.

Here is where we need to temper his words a bit. James does equate illness, or sickness with a lack of faithfulness. I am not going to do backflips in order to make what James says more palatable. In fact, what I want to suggest is that, based on James’ understanding of the world in his day, what he is saying makes sense. The root cause of many illnesses, sickness and disabilities were not understood in James’ day. They were often seen as judgments, or in this case, as a lack of faithfulness. I think it is disrespectful to ignore what James is saying to change it.

What I do suggest here is to ignore the broader implications of believing that prayer and faithfulness ward of illness and focus instead on where it might be true. What I mean by this is that we know that to ignore your mental health can cause physical health problems. Too much stress can cause ulcers or heart attacks. Learning to give that stuff up to God through prayer will help. When it comes to physical illnesses, God can and does heal people, but when we focus on those as a marker of faith, we create a problem that no person should bear. That is that it is up to you to be faithful enough to heal a person or a family member.

To me, the heart of what is being suggested by James is that we are going to turn our issues over to God by using that instrument that causes so much trouble, our mouths. That sometimes in the face of these big issues and struggles in our lives all we can do is turn it over to God. I’m not James, I’m not going to promise you that if you pray for it, you will be healed. I will say that if you pray for it, God will walk with you through whatever you are facing. That is the more critical thing to me.

So, James ends right back where we started. Except instead of warning us of our tongues one more time, he wants us to use our mouths to seek after God. To call upon God’s name. To bring our worries and our joys before God. We all tend to carry things to close and not voice them to God or to each other in the community. Perhaps James’ instructions here will help us to be the people of God, to be a faithful praying people. Amen.

Services for Sunday, September 22, 2024

Welcome

Announcements: Giving Options-Jerome Food Bank is Special Offering; We need cookies for Hospitality… and while you are baking… maybe make some for the bake sale coming at the Angels Attic Craft Sale coming October 18^th and 19^th ; Order book to follow along with sermon series-Inside Out; Interfaith Workshops start on October 27 through November 24, Sundays from 2PM to 4PM; Sign the attendance pads

Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: Happy are those who follow paths of righteousness.
P: We take delight in the wisdom of God.

L: Happy are those who reach out to those in need.
P: We find delight in the love of God.

L: Happy are those who set aside envy.
P: We draw delight in the selflessness of God.

Unison Prayer
Holy Stream of Righteousness–
as we embrace the dawn of this week and the reemergence of hope in our lives, we sing your praises. As we face the journey before us, we seek your wisdom and your strength. Erase the envy from our minds and the biases from our hearts, as we enter this space. Fill our lives with the refreshing brooks of your peace. Amen.

Offering/Song
Scripture: James 3:13, James 4:3 and James 4:7-8

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Sermon: Three Questions

Our passage from James today can seem a bit overwhelming at first. When I read it, it was one that was easy to think “hey he’s yelling at me.” The reality is James is kind of yelling at his audience. In this passage James is making a case for Gods’ wisdom as opposed to world wisdom. In order to do this James comes at us hard with what is expected of us and what we are being asked to reject.

We are going to break this down more but first I want to address something else, just a little rabbit trail. For James it is very clear that he believes that the Devil is a real force to cope with. However, any time that Satan or the powers of the world are mentioned they are not powerful evils. What I mean by this is that they aren’t “all powerful” entities that control your fate or influence you. For James to make a choice other than what God wants is to select with the Devil wants. It is your choice that results in the influence, not the other way around.

Now back to our passage. Our passage boils down to three particular questions. First is who is wise and understanding among you? Then, from what do conflict and disputes arise? And finally, what does God want? Now I know this seems overly simplistic, but the reality is we need to distill scriptures like this down if we are going to understand it even remotely. So, let’s tackle each question one by one.

Who is wise and understanding among you? For James there is a pretty clear list of the qualities we should look for in wise leaders in our community. James suggests that they are gentle, humble, pure, peaceable, willing to yield, and full of mercy. Does this description sound like anyone you know? I know me, right? Obviously not, when I wrack my brains on this there is only one person that I can think matches this job description, and that’s Christ.

It makes sense that James would look towards Christ as our example, particularly since this letter barely even mentions Jesus. Now there are people who I have encountered and I’m sure you have as well who exhibit these qualities but maybe not all the time. I’ll be the first to confess that I may strive for these various traits, but when I’m at the school and the kids aren’t listening, I don’t know that “willing to yield” is a perfect quality at that moment. We all fluctuate on a continuum of Christlikeness, and we’ll come back to this with question three.

The second question, from what does conflict and dispute arise? James has an impressive list here, it’s the sin of envy, selfish ambitions, cravings, and coveting. For me I have the opposite difficulty here from the first question. I could think of too many leaders that exhibit these qualities. These qualities seem to be the ones that the world recommends and excels at. Remember for James to make a choice for this is to choose for Satan not God.

Our society, our world, thrives on building up envy, selfish ambitions, cravings, and coveting. The entire American dream is based on comparing ourselves to our neighbors. In another couple of months, we’ll start to see the Christmas car commercials, and every other commercial, that urges us to be dissatisfied with our lives so that we buy a new product. Or on YouTube and TikTok, kids and many adults watch people and compare their lives with the lives of others. Causing them to be depressed with their own life, or they start to buy more, spend more so that they match lifestyles.

Leaders in the church and in the world today often encourage this style of living. When dressing for Sunday is more about matching social norms than getting people into the doors then we have lost sight of what is truly important. When we focus on a bigger and better church building instead of feeding the poor or watching over those who are vulnerable, we have made a choice for Satan and not for God.

Our final question is “What does God want?” to put it simply God wants us to be like God. The list in the first question, that only Christ could fully match, is our goal. Our goal is to become more like Christ. The way I was thinking about this is that God wants us to be like light. Our goal is to be like Christ. This becomes very complicated because we don’t always do it well.

Now I know some of you might think here he goes because he’s teaching science again, but the reality is I’m not teaching this subject in science yet. Light is both waves and particles. It is made up of photons which are particles, now this is quantum mechanics. We have never been able to show light as both waves and particles at the same time. We only see one, either evidence of it as a wave, or evidence of it as a particle but we know that both simultaneously exist.

This final question God wants us to be like God. Sometimes when we try, we are going to do well while we are improving in other areas. We are both a wave and a particle, we are both like God but also not like God. We are struggling to put into our lives into the call that God asks us to live up to. Being gentle, humble, pure, peaceful, willing to yield, and full of mercy was something that Christ could do all at the same time. But for us, we are only going to do one really well at a time. We have to work hard and realize that we are striving every day to make decisions to be more like Christ.

While I know that I am saying that no one can really live up to these standards, we must look at leaders, who are trying to embody these qualities. If they aren’t, then we should be really asking ourselves some difficult questions. I encourage you to strive to be more like Christ. Attempt to live up to the ideal of who we are called to be so that we can be the leaders that Christ calls us to be. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer/Pastoral Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song

Sunday Message, September 15, 2024
Scripture James 3: 1-12
Title: Power of Words

Welcome

Announcements:

Order book for sermon series Inside Out; Cookies are needed for Hospitality; Giving Options; Special Offering for September is the Jerome “Haven” Food Bank; United Women of Faith Potluck on Tuesday September 17th at 11:30AM with Guest Speaker Carol Quasula; Angels Attic sale is seeking donations of homemade baked goods. (It’s a lot…take your pick)

Special Offering-Jerome “Haven” Food Bank

Call to Worship

L: The heavens are telling the glory of God.

P: The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.

L: Day pours forth speech,

P: and night declares knowledge of our God.

L: God’s wisdom is written in stars.

P: It is seen and heard to the ends of the earth.

L: When we see God’s teachings in the clouds,

P: or hear them in the symphonies of the birds,

L: our minds are enriched,

P: our eyes are enlightened,

L: our souls are revived,

P: and our hearts rejoice.

L: Then we shall bless God’s name with our words,

P: and with the silence between them.

Unison Prayer

O God, your Wisdom speaks in our streets, cries out from our intersections, and calls our names.

Wisdom hopes we will stop…listen…and learn. Wisdom beseeches us to turn our faces and our ears to you.

Wisdom urges us to bless your name with our speaking…and our silence.

May we speak and bless your name, O God, now and always. Amen.

Scripture: James 3:1-12

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, reptile, and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can saltwater yield fresh.”

Message: The Power of Words

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. The real version of this saying is, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will forever scar me. We share the original version of that saying in an attempt to get children to not pay attention to negative words that are said to us. Unfortunately, what that does is negate the real power that words can have over us. Some of us have very real experiences with the power of negative words. We were abused, put down by those who should lift us up and were told what we couldn’t be or couldn’t do. These words live with us, and we carry them with us everywhere we go.

At the same time words have the power to uplift. Some of us remember the words of songs, poems, or sayings that have uplifted us at different times. Many of us have memorized favorite scriptures not because we were required to by the Sunday school teacher, but because God has spoken to us through ancient words that we carry with us in our minds and in our hearts.

Today we find ourselves at war with words all the time. We see it online and, in the media, words twisted into half-truths, especially in this time of politics. Double sided speech that says a lot of something but not much of anything when it comes right down to it. Sometimes we have even taken it upon ourselves to try and correct those half-truths and we seem only to find ourselves twisted up in arguments. The power of words runs through every place in our lives, yet to often we don’t take care with what we say.

A common saying in the Spiderman comics and movie franchises is “with great power comes great responsibility.” Here for James, he’s saying “with speech comes great responsibility.” James as always is concerned about what we say and believe in our daily lives. How we speak to the people in our lives matters to James and he ties that all the way back to the Old Testament. In verse 7 James talks about how humanity has named all the animals in the world. James is tying this back into the Genesis creation story. The power that God gives humanity is the power to name things.

I recently read a study that people can be shown pictures of individuals and with surprising certainty they can predict the person’s name. The younger the person being named the harder it is for people to figure out their name. This has suggested to scientists that in some form we grow into our name. In some way we become what we are named.

This issue of naming things has come to the forefront of science and biblical studies through a very important lens. That is the lens of feminism. One of the aspects of feminism in the church world is that it is important to name what is being seen in the text. How for instance, the power of naming things isn’t given to humanity as I have said, specifically in scripture it is given to man. Even to the point that women don’t name themselves, man names them. Now I don’t hold this up as saying men are better than women, I hold this up as an example of how feminist theology has been helpful in the church world. I can name the issue in scripture that I don’t think theologically holds weight and instead I can speak words of inclusion that I think bring the greater truth to bear.

Now this example is more broadly about how words have power and how we need to be sensitive to them, but there are smaller more specific examples. James’ advice is to control your tongue, watch what you say because you can do great damage or bring lasting good. In the Old Testament there is an example where saying the wrong thing brought about a family’s disaster.

The story is about Jephthah in the book of Judges chapter 11 and 12. In Jephthah’s story he is trying to free the people of Israel and makes a vow to God that if they are victorious, he will sacrifice the first thing he sees when he gets home. They won the battle and when he returned home the first living thing he saw was his daughter. According to the story in Judges he “did with her what he vowed.” In other words, he sacrificed her. Some traditions say he did not, that he found a way out doing that, I’m just reporting what the story says in Judges. Rash words, rash promises, have the power to destroy our lives and the lives of others.

I don’t believe most of you are going to make a vow of the sort that Jephthah made. But I have seen plenty of people in my lifetime who twist the words of people to make them do things that the original person had no intention of doing. Over the years Katie and I have played around with this. The dishes need doing, well it was in the wedding vows that Katie would do the dishes. Or the yard needs mowed, it’s in the wedding vows that I would mow the yard. Now this is done in play and we’ve never fought about it, but it’s easy to see how something like this can get out of hand.

James advice to us is to learn to control what we say. I know we’ve talked about this before in this series, but the really important thing is to listen before you speak. Now we don’t always do this well. We often are just busy or not paying attention and we say careless things, but that is James’s point. Slow down. Listen, and respond appropriately. Too often we respond without thinking.

I believe if we all learn and remember to slow down and listen before speaking, we might become the person who gives a positive word that uplifts someone for years to come. Words spoken to comfort, direct, and counsel are powerful words that help others to live their lives. If we are careful and seek to do that with everyone, I think we will be less like the tail wagging the dog. It’s not our tongue getting us into trouble, but instead being a blessing to others. Let us be a blessing to those around us. Amen.

Message for Sunday, September 5, 2024
James 2:1-10, 14-16 NRSV

Welcome
Announcements: United Women of Faith-Salad / Dessert Potluck on September 17^th at 11:30AM. Inside Out Book Order in the Foyer
Special Offering-Jerome “Haven” Food Bank
Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: Place your trust in God.
P: God’s faithfulness is unshakeable.

L: May our worship this day strengthen our faith.
P: May our faithfulness be unshakeable.

L: May our words and actions be good and true.
P: May we grow in godliness each and every day.

Unison Prayer
We place our trust in you, O God, for your love and faithfulness and steadfast and true. Breathe your Holy spirit into our worship and your very presence into our lives, that our love and faithfulness may be steadfast and true. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: James 2:1-10, 14-16 NRSV
“My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?”

Sermon: Living Up to Expectations

We live in a world ruled by money.
The influence of money and expectation are everywhere. This is not a reflection on those who need money, this is an observation on how money has influenced every aspect of our lives-including the world of the church. Churches and in turn ministries are ruled by budgets, budgetary restraints and by what income they are able to generate. These are thoughts that are known all too well here at Mountain View. We have had to make difficult decisions recently in order to better situate ourselves financially.

The reality of living in a money-oriented way is that individuals often expect to be treated better because of the money they have. Tipping culture is a great example of this. Tipping in America started in the Great Depression as a way for the people who were eating out to get preferential treatment by servers. What it has developed into today is a way for some businesses not to pay their workers enough, or for people to get every last cent out of you possible. Like many of you I have been caught at the register being asked to tip and the question I am asking myself is “did I really get anything worth tipping for.”

The attitude of “if I give more” or “if I have more money” infects church interactions as well. I have had people tell me if they don’t get their way, they are going to stop giving to the church. When I run into those situations, I am reminded of the scene from the Disney movie Pollyanna. Do any of you remember that movie? I don’t remember much from it, but I do remember the preacher practicing his sermon for the wealthy patron for her to approve of the message. Eventually though, through Pollyanna’s example he realizes how messed up that is. But it is really easy to fall into.

This week at home we were even watching an episode of Father Brown, we are rewatching Father Browns so that we will be caught up at the start of the new season. In this particular episode a new parishioner starts attending the church who is a newspaper baron. He promises Father Brown that he will pay for a new roof for the church, but he expects preferential treatment. Father Brown responds that his devotion is to God and that he will care for his parishioners all equally. The baron’s answer is most telling, he says “as far as you are concerned, I am God.”

We may be shocked to hear that answer, but too often in the church world we allow the ethics of the world to dictate how we are going to be the church together. In James’ letter, he is warning explicitly against the idea of preferential treatment. He is saying that if you show favoritism, you aren’t really living the gospel. Everything I just talked about was happening in James’ day as well as today. The wealthy felt they deserved more and were trying to make even the church do their bidding.

James follows this up with an idea though. And that idea is that if you break one law then you break all of God’s laws. This might be a difficult pill for some of us to swallow. James is pointing out if you have decided to live by the Old Testament laws, you can’t cherry pick them and choose which ones apply, you either apply them all equally, or you are guilty of breaking them. What we don’t see in this passage is James’ underlying intent here. You see, what James essentially says here is “love your neighbor as yourself.” If you are living up to that than you are not in danger of breaking Gods law.

We see this attitude and action today as well. People want to apply the Ten Commandments equally to everyone, but here is the problem with the law, it really is never applied equally. In the United Stated we say that justice is blind. However, if you pay attention to the justice system, you will quickly find out that we as a society are divided into two camps. Those who have wealth and can hire lawyers to find loopholes or to argue their case, or those who are poor and cannot afford the costly rigors of the legal system.

Repeatedly this is the case, now if you are worried and saying “pastor don’t be political” here are the facts. First off, the Gospel is political, and it impacts every area of our lives. Secondly, in James as we read last week, he is primarily concerned with how we live out our faith, and how we best do that with the most vulnerable in our society. The poor, the widows, the orphans. If you find yourself siding with those who would use the legal system to punish those who are most vulnerable, you are on the wrong side of your faith. If, as in some states recently, laws are passed to make it illegal to be homeless and you agree, you are on the wrong side of your faith. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Finally, I want to say something briefly about the economy that James is suggesting in these verses. James is suggesting that we don’t operate as the world operates, instead we should operate as a family; specifically, the family of God. The difficulty here is that many of us come from families that aren’t so healthy so it is very difficult to see what a family should be. Essentially for James that economy of a family is one that there isn’t a quid pro quo. While societies ethics say I scratch your back, so you scratch mine, the family of God says I do this for you because you are part of my family.

Together as the family of God we do things for one another. We support one another, we support the mission and ministry of the church together. Not because things have to be the way we want them to be, but because we are supporting one another on our journey to be more Christ like. That is our goal together. To be Christlike in all our actions and interactions. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song

Welcome
Announcements
Giving Option for September is the Haven Food Bank, New Sermon Series starting October… order your book, update your church contact information sheet-Please return to the church office by September 15 or drop it in the offering box between the doors.
Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: Creator, you bless us with the heavenly lights,
P: the moon that waxes and wanes,
L: the planets that whirl around the sun,
P: the galaxies that wink from afar.

L: In the darkness you call out, “Let there be light,”
P: and the universe is filled with heavenly light.
L: You are creator, too,
P: the One who formed us and who forms us still.
L: May the word of truth ring out today with your call to new life!
P: Amen.

Unison Prayer
Creator of the heavenly lights, there is no shadow in your divine light.
It remains unchanging across the eons, even as the starts come and go.
You are our faithful creator, the Gardener of our lives.
You plant your truth within us and inspire lives of caring and love.
We honor and worship you. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: James 1:17-27 NRSV

“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose, he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Meditation: How you doin’?

Working in the school has convinced me further of one tried and true practice that all of us engage in. That is saying we are ok and it not really being true. Every morning, I greet the kids, I ask things like “are you going to have a good day?” “Are you having a good day?” The reality is no one answers what they really feel, and even if they did, no one would take the time to come up with a solution. Adults do this too. Let’s face reality, you all don’t want me to say if I’m having a rough time at the school. It’s not because you don’t care, but because you are probably dealing with your own things and are not capable of taking on someone else’s burden.

We constantly do things in our lives that we don’t examine or take the time to consider a different way of being or doing. The Letter of James, which is considered a universal or catholic letter, takes aim at directly this issue. The issue of believing or feeling something but not actually living it out. Now I just used the term universal or catholic in reference to this letter, the terms are interchangeable, but what they mean is that this is the first letter in the New Testament that isn’t directed to a church in particular. It is addressed to the whole church, that’s what makes it universal.

Over the next 5 weeks we are going to do a short series on the letter of James, so just like Zephaniah last month I believe it would be helpful to talk about some of the background of James before we get into the material. The letter of James has two primary candidates as author. One is James son of Zebedee; one of the disciples. Or it was James, the brother of Jesus. The reason it was probably one of these two authors is that their name would have carried the weight necessary for this letter to be considered and passed on. I’m of the opinion that it was James brother of Jesus who wrote the letter. One of my primary reasons for this is because the author seems very well versed in the Torah and James had taken a Nazarite vow. This is a vow in the Old Testament, take some time to look it up to find out what it is this week.

Now even though a Jewish man writes this letter, it is heavily influenced by and encounters Greek thought. This is important because there are a few things that happen that can zoom right over our heads if we aren’t paying attention. Finally, I want to mention that this book has often been slandered by the likes of Martin Luther. Luther felt it was a book of “straw” it was only concerned with works not concerned enough with salvation by faith. Well Martin Luther is wrong. While the emphasis is heavy on ethics and what we do, the threads of faith weave their way through the letter as well.

For today, I want to reflect on three things from our passage today. First is the use of the name for God “Father of Lights.” This is one of my favorite names for God and one I don’t think is used often enough. What James is getting at by using this term has to do with Greek philosophy. In predominant Greek philosophical thought the closer you are to God, the more light that is within you. James uses this term intentionally to push back on that idea. No matter how far you feel you are from God, God only gives good gifts, God is the father of lights. And there is no shadow in him, which means there is no shadow in you. You are not separate from God; you are a part of the very light that God puts forth into the world. We’ll revisit this again in a moment.

The second thing I want you to notice is the very practical advice that James gives about listening and speaking. These verses help us to situate the letter of James as perhaps the only example of wisdom literature in the New Testament. James is giving practical advice. Advice you can live by, advice that can make your lives better. This advice is grounded in how James sees our relationship with God and how we are to live out that relationship.

James advises us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. There is a term that’s used in ministry circles as well as school circles which I hate. That term is “Active listening.” I hate it because what active listening looks like to the speaker may be different than what is needed by the student. The core of the idea I like is attentive listening. So, if you need to doodle, if you need to write, if you need to bounce your leg or look out the window, that is all fine as long as you are listening and able to engage the subject matter.

Coupled with this for James is not speaking. Too often we are forming the words of what we are going to say before the person speaking has even finished. We rush to give an answer, move to a defense or in the case of anger, move into an attack, and we don’t even know the complete picture. Men, don’t try to solve the problem you think your spouse is telling you, listen and respond afterwards. Women, don’t think because he’s working on something while you are talking, he isn’t listening, his brain just may need to keep his hands occupied so that he can actually hear what you have to say.

Finally for this passage I want to reflect on the idea of forgetting what we look like in the mirror. In the first bit I talked about how God’s light is in us. If God is light in us and never leaves us, then if we look into a mirror, we aren’t just looking at our faces, we are looking at God within us. The official theological term for this is Imago Dei, the image of God within us. So now think how ridiculous it is, that we look into a mirror, see God’s image, and then immediately forget it. So, when Luther seems to feel that there isn’t substance to James, it makes me think that he just didn’t want to read it.

I invite you to journey with me through the letter of James. A letter that wants to give you good advice and a letter that wants you to see the image of God within you. Never forget that God wants good things for you and wants to be embodied in how you live your life. Let us journey together forward in this. Amen.

Communion Litany/Communion
L: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you
L: Lift up your hearts.
P: We lift them up to the Lord
L: Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God.
P: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

You filled the ocean with clown fish and sharks, with dolphins and killer whales.

You filled the air with doves and hawks, songbirds and hummingbirds. You covered the land with shimmering aspen and weathered pine. And You blessed all the creatures of the earth:

The bugs, snakes, lizards, the lions, tigers and bears, the puppies and the hippos, the zebras and the penguins.
And You blessed all the children of the earth every shape and size, every color and complexion, every makeup and mood, every style and substance.

But we, O God, preferred to go our own way. We messed things up. We wanted to be in charge. We wanted to be in control.

We thought everything belonged to us. We polluted the environment. We destroyed each other.

We turned playgrounds into battlefields, school yards into mine fields, hospitals into death camps, and children into killers.

But God, you never gave up on us. You never walked away or walked out. You always honored your promises even when we broke ours.

You always welcomed us home with open arms and a warm heart even when our fists were clenched, and our minds still closed.

When we walk through sorrow and chaos, You are with us. When we live through moments of war and acts of terror, You walk with us.

When our homes are destroyed, You help us to build new homes and finally lead us home to you.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise Your name and join their unending hymn:

P: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

L: In the right time, in the fullness of your time, In the nick of time, you sent your Son to bring us back to life. He opened a window into your new creation.

L: In the dead ends of our lives, Jesus clears a way ahead.

In the dead spots of our relationships, Jesus speaks words of hope and renewal. In the dead zones of our cities, Jesus calls forth a new kingdom.

L: When we are dead tired, Jesus picks us up and carries us to a place of rest. When we are dead wrong, Jesus confronts us with the truth.

When we are dead last, Jesus tells us that he has won us for eternal life.
And so on the night in which he gave himself up for us…

L: Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

L: When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said,

“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
L: And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

P: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

L: Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those who now live with you. Since you have refreshed our souls from the waters of life. Help us refresh and renew others. Since you have given us strength for the journey, Help us to strengthen others on their journey.
(Congregational Response)
Send your Spirit to renew our faith and transform our souls so that we may hear your music, work for justice, delight in heavenly food, and strengthen one another in love and grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Communion and Music/ Benediction

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Message for Sunday, August 25, 2024
Title: Reversal of Fortune
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20 NRSV

Welcome
Announcements
Giving Options, Special Offering, Charge Conference This Afternoon at 1:15PM
Fellowship of Love
Music for Your Heart
Call to Worship
L: God is our sun and our shield.
P: God’s glory shines upon us.

L: God is our strength and our hope.
P: God’s faithfulness guides us.

L: God is our hope and our salvation.
P: God’s love and mercy welcome us.

Unison Prayer
God of grace and glory, pour out the power of your Holy spirit on our worship and our gathering.
Strengthen and protect us with your steadfast faithfulness.
Feed us with the bread of life, and guide our steps with the wisdom of your word. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Offering/Song
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20 NRSV

“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time, I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.”

Sermon: Reversal of Fortune

All of you are chasing a high. Now, I don’t think you are chasing a drug high, but I don’t know…pot’s legal now. What I mean by chasing a high is that we are all chasing a feeling; a feeling of happiness, a feeling of belonging, a feeling of purpose, a feeling of joy. Some people do use drugs to find that feeling. Others use wealth and the pursuit of wealth. Some use jobs and busyness, others family and friends. Some of these are healthy and some are not. I am not trying to convince you which are, and which are not, but to point out that each of us has something that we are chasing.

Rarely do we find things that truly allow us to experience joy on a normal basis. We reserve the term “joy” for Advent and Christmas not the middle of August. In fact, I think outside of the Advent and Christmas season, the only other place we may mention joy is Easter. Joy is something I think all of us want, all of us strive for, yet in our daily lives we can’t find it. Or perhaps more importantly, we cannot sustain it.

In Zephaniah today, we have moved from judgment, to love, to where we are now, a burst of pure joy. The joy that Zephaniah is lifting up to us is for a very specific reason. It is because God has reversed Gods’ judgment of Jerusalem, of the people of God. We as Christian’s can identify this joy, this is the resurrection joy of Easter morning. It is knowing that God loves us so much, desires a relationship so much with us that God is willing to overlook where we get it wrong.

There is a very tangible reality to this passage today. We have seen the movement of God telling the people what they are doing wrong, now we see the results of when God chooses to change Gods mind. This is very real and a present reality for the people of Zephaniah’s day. If you remember the beginning of this short sermon series you may remember that one of the things happening around Zephaniah’s day was that a lost copy of the book of Deuteronomy was found, and King Josiah was enacting reforms based on that newly discovered book. When Zephaniah looked around, he saw the results of the people turning back towards God and that there was joy in trying to live as God wanted them to live.

I could just kind of drop the message here. But I started thinking about how much we want joy in our lives, but when we actually experience joy, be it Christmas or Easter morn, we just can’t seem to keep ahold of it in our lives. So, I wondered what might help us to hold onto joy in our daily lives. Now I am not going to say, “just think about what God has done so you never forget it.” Personally, I don’t think that works, I’d rather give you some specific ideas you can implement in your life.

I found a 2022 Harvard Health article[1] (15 copies of article in foyer) that listed a number of ways that you can sustain joy daily in your life. So, I’d like to suggest just a few of them that may be a help to you. First is that you can sustain joy by being a part of something bigger than yourself. Here in our church this means not just coming to church but being a part of the food pantry or volunteering work at the Verde Valley Homeless coalition. It could mean becoming part of the worship team and singing, playing an instrument, learning the sound board, or becoming a liturgist. It could mean becoming a part of the trustee’s team, taking care of our building and property so that other ministries can be engaged in. You see if I were selfish, I’d just say come to church but that only works if you really feel a connection to others as we serve one another.

Second, try to learn something new. Now this doesn’t have to be a new skill or something of that sort, you can just read articles and remain curious about the world that God has created. Especially right now with teaching science I am constantly looking how to engage the material with students and that means paying attention to what is new and happening so that I can relate it to them. Too many people aren’t curious about the world they live in. Learning enables us to see God at work every place around us.

The final one I’d like to suggest from the Harvard Health list is give yourself permission to feel joy. This may sound weird to some, but I have been around plenty of killjoys. People who just seem to think no one should be happy or joyful anywhere. You are allowed to feel joy. You are allowed, for no reason at all to smile and enjoy this life that God has given to you. I’ve heard a lot of people in my time of ministry talk about the difficulties of getting old. I’m not saying it isn’t difficult, but it is a privilege denied to many. So why not enjoy whatever you can?
We are walking away from Zephaniah for now, but please always take with you that God has turned away God’s judgment so that you might be joyful. It always astounds me the number of people who focus on God’s judgment but miss the fact that ultimately, God moves away from judgement, so that you might experience joy. Let us be joyful with God and one another. Amen.

Prayer/Pastoral Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song

[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-can-you-find-joy-or-at-least-peace-during-difficult-times-202210062826

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Sunday Message for Ausust 18, 2024

Welcome
Announcements
Giving Options, special offering the ARC for August
Celebration of Music on Sunday, August 18^th at Sedona at 2PM.Naoma Tyner’s 100^th Birthday Potluck Celebration-all are welcome on Tuesday, August 20 at 12PM.
Charge Conference on Sunday, August 25^th at 1:15PM

Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: Rejoice, seekers of wisdom and truth,
P: God’s wisdom calls us here.

L: Behold followers of godly direction and guidance,
P: Christ’s love shows us the way.

L: Sing, children of thanksgiving and praise,
P: the Spirit’s presence gathers us together.

Unison Prayer
God of steadfast love, you granted young Solomon the wisdom to rule your people with judgment and understanding.
When we turn to you for answers, you grant us the wisdom to discern good and evil and bestow the courage to live in your ways.
Be with us in this time of worship, as we seek to grow in your wisdom and abide in your grace. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: Zephaniah 3:8-13 NRSV
“Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord, for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my passion all the earth shall be consumed. At that time, I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my offering. On that day you shall not be put to shame because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord— the remnant of Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.”

Message: Turn Around

We make jokes constantly about men’s inability to admit they are wrong. We’ve all heard the jokes or seen the comics. A man is driving, his wife in the passenger seat next to him telling him he should have stopped and asked for directions. With most jokes there is a kernel of truth to it. Men have a tendency to get stuck in their way’s and insist that their way of doing something is best, but here’s a secret, women do the same thing. I’ve met my fair share of women who feel that when they make a decision it is the best possible decision anyone could make, heaven forbid they should be wrong.

Larger groups of people do that too. Political parties do it. School boards do it. Churches do it. Sometimes we decide that there is going to be some set policy and we become so hell bent on making sure the policy is followed to the letter, we result in killing the “spirit” of the church. Nations do this as well. Countries decide for other nations and for other people what is best for them, with no input from the populace. When a country makes a mistake, they tend to have disastrous consequences for all involved.

Our Zephaniah passage today demonstrates a turning in the book. Last week we spoke of Gods’ judgment and wrath. This week the passage speaks of Gods’ people doing what God wants them to do, living up to the fullest potential of a relationship with God. It’s practically like the people of God realize they are wrong and turn the opposite way.

Now I want to be careful here. In the course of my research for the message this week I came across a commentary by a church online that stated something to the effect that if you were to change your heart, if you were to invite Christ into your life, then you are responsible for your turn around to God. Here’s the thing though, that is not what is going on in this passage. It is God who has changed the people. It is after Gods’ judgement, when there is only a remnant left, God turns their hearts back towards him. This is not a passage about what you can do as a person, it is a passage that ultimately it is Gods’ movement through history and time, separate from our history and time, and within all history and time that guides us all to a right relationship with him.

I know some of you are very comfortable with the wording I’ve used here. It’s very Calvinistic, it’s very predestination oriented. Of course, I don’t see it that way. This is not about God knowing everything, or even knowing the eventual outcome of everything. It is the fact that God is at work even when we don’t realize it. It is prevenient grace at work. God’s grace at work before you can know or acknowledge it. It is God wanting a right relationship with every living thing in all of creation.

This passage takes an overly optimistic view of what this looks like. It takes an almost evangelistic zeal to this relationship with God becoming a reality. It’s not just about Judah and Jerusalem coming back to God, but one of the farthest most powerful nations that they knew of, Ethiopia. Even Ethiopia would come into the fold and worship God. This is about all the bad things being made right, it is about creation and humanity fulfilling exactly what God wants it to be.

I could end this message here. A future hope, that someday in the future Gods’ will-will be worked out and we will all be able to live as God intended. But you should know by now that’s not what I’ll do or say. This isn’t exclusively about some future hope. It is also about us, as creatures created by God needing to know when we are wrong and turning towards God so that we might live in hope.

Sometimes relationship shatter. Sometimes the world seems on the brink of war. Sometimes we struggle to see the good in things in our world. Perhaps most of all, we struggle to see where God can be in these situations. Yet we should cling to hope. Hope that we might come alongside God and work towards a new creation. No, not a conformity or uniformity, but a new creation that embodies the splendor and vision of what God has intended. Hope is knowing that sometimes things look bleak, but God is still there. That sometimes we cannot see the good, but God is still there. And even when things are great, God is still there. In a moment of new birth God is there, and at the end of it all, in that moment, God is there.

I invite you this week to walk in the hope of God. That God has created you and is creating you and others to live out Gods’ perfect creation. Let us live into the hope that God gives us. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song

Sunday Message, August 8, 2024

Welcome
Announcements
Giving options, online, QR code, box in back etc. Special Offering for August-The ARC; Celebration of Music Ministry in Sedona on Sunday, August 18^th at 2PM;
Potluck 100^th Birthday Party Tyner on Tuesday, August 20^th at 12PM, all are invited;
Charge Conference, Sunday, August 25^th at 1:15PM

Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: We have gathered from different places and different back grounds.
P: May those who are grieving find comfort.

L: May those who have turned away from God and forgiveness.
P: May those who are waiting find hope.

L: May all find God’s steadfast love and grace.
P: Let us worship the One who gives us life!

Unison Prayer
Jesus, bread of life, you give us life and nourish our spirits. As your beloved children, help us walk in your ways, each and every day. May we speak words of kindness to one another and open our hearts to share comfort and encouragement. May we offer and seek forgiveness. Most of all, may we remember that your steadfast love extends to all of your beloved children. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Offering/Song
Scripture-Zephaniah 1:7, 14-18
⁷ Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is at hand; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests.

¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the warrior cries aloud there.

¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶ a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

¹⁷ I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.

¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed; for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Message: Don’t Engage!

Okay everyone, shut up and sit down! Well, that’s how this passage starts out.
The language we read in verse 7, “Be silent before the Lord,” and as with most scriptures we have cleaned it up and made it into a religious phrase of piety. We quietly and calmly invite people into our worship service and say, “hey sit down, and be silent before God.” But in this opening verse this morning that is not what is happening. In these verses, God is a priest in the temple. He isn’t inviting you to sit and quietly reflect, which should be evident by what is said next, he is inviting you to pay attention now! Be quiet because God has something important to say!

Jumping right into the verses today we get an oracle of judgment. God is announcing the “day of the Lord.” A phrase that gets tossed around that means a lot of different things that it was never intended to mean. The Day of the Lord is not a celebration, it is not a joyful day that the faithful should be looking forward to. On the contrary, remember God is yelling at the faithful to pay attention, God is saying that he is going to judge you and the results are not pretty.
“The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the warrior cries aloud there.”

The day of the Lord is a day of war. Remember, some of the history I talked about last week? This is a group of people who have been besieged by war in the past, they know what war means, and it doesn’t mean good things in fact the next section of verses follows that up. “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed; for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Zephaniah 1:14-18 NRSV

The day of the Lord is a horrible and fearful event. Now theologically what Christian’s have tended to do with this is interpret and compare it to Jesus’ second coming. This is done in part because the judgement of God here means that God is not done with creation yet. That there is more that must be done in order to bring all of creation into alignment with what God wants.

Many of you are on social media. If you aren’t on social media, you may watch or read traditional media. Whether it’s Facebook, the news, or the newspaper there is a curious concept at work and all of us have engaged in it at different times. It’s hate watching, or negative engagement. What people in the media and social media have learned is that if they can’t get you to engage in something positive, they can probably get you to engage in something you hate.

You see this on YouTube cooking channels sometime. You can watch a video of people cooking and what they do is they start the video by doing something wrong. This makes you want to watch and comment so they correct it. They get paid by the views and by the comments and even the dislikes left. Traditional media does this with the news and outrage media. Not everything is something you need to be mad about, but they thrive off of you engaging with them because you are mad.

Many of us have dealt with people like this in our lives. They always need to cause drama. Why? Because negative attention is still attention. There is a grain of truth to all of this. Did you know that the opposite of love is not hate? Hate or anger gives attention and often means in some way you still care about the person or the subject. At the end, the opposite of love is apathy. When you just don’t care enough about the person or the situation to do anything or to engage in any way.

For this scripture text, which will develop this more as we go on in the coming weeks, Gods wrath and Gods judgment is not a marker of Gods lack of love, but that God passionately cares that we should change our ways and turn back towards God. It means that God doesn’t view you or our world with apathy, but instead desires to be in relationship with you that can be positive.

There are two lessons I want you to walk away with today. The first is that in our lives so much of what we are surrounded by in the media drives to have a reaction from us. With that reaction we become increasingly numb. Know that you do not have to react to everything. You do not have to engage with something when they are deliberately trying to make you mad. It is okay sometimes to not care about something at all because it doesn’t matter to you. That does not mean it doesn’t matter at all, but you do not have to expend your emotions and energy on what everyone else wants you to.

The second lesson is that God desires to be in relationship with you. If God is coming in judgment, think twice before assuming you are not the one being judged. Instead live your life as one who desires a closer walk with God. This does not mean standing in judgment over others, it means working on your own spiritual life, it means being the person God has called you to be. Judah forgot who it was called to be by God, which is why Zephaniah is calling us back to God. It is why God is so forceful at the beginning telling you to stop and sit down!

To be in relationship with God means we are to work hard at being who God has called us to be. This week I invite you to stop responding to things in anger and look at how you can embody the relationship with God that you truly desire. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song
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Message for Sunday, August 4, 2024

Scripture: Zephaniah 1: 1

Welcome
Announcements: Special Offering for August is The ARC
Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: We do not live by bread alone, but by the life-giving word of God’s love.
P: God, give us the bread of life, today and always.

L: Too long have we lived with hunger, seeking to fill our appetites with food that leaves us wanting.
P: too long we have starved ourselves of spiritual food that truly satisfies.

L: “I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus tells us. “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.”
P: “Whoever comes to me will never be thirsty.”

L: Come, Holy Spirit. Feed us with your grace and love.
P: May we love our neighbors, ourselves, and you, so that we may never be hungry again. Amen.

Unison Prayer
Spirit of God, dwell among us and revive us. You know the deep hungers that motivate us, and the attempts we make to satisfy these hungers.
You alone know the grace and peace that can nourish us to full strength, in body and soul.
Feed us, Bread of Life, with food that lasts.
Give enough to share with others who also hunger, even if they know not what they hunger for.

We rejoice in your bread, for it truly satisfies.
Give us the wisdom to receive it, that we may taste and see your goodness, O Lord. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: Zephaniah 1:1
The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah.

Message (Meditation) Introduction to Zephaniah and Prophetic literature
I believe it was last year or maybe the year before that I was invited with Olivia’s theater group to see a group of dancers perform. I have always supported the arts. I love all sorts of artistic expressions, and when it comes to sports, I love watching sports. I’ve been staying connected with the Olympics and seeing the gymnasts perform is incredible. Despite all of that, I have trouble connecting with dance.

When I see dancers on stage, I can understand their movements as athletic. I can sometimes see the story they are telling and see how their rhythms and poses move the story along. I appreciate the beauty of the performers, the costumes and sets incorporated to give additional life to the movements. Despite all that, I just can’t seem to connect with dance. If you gave me a choice of whether to see a dance that didn’t include someone I know or not, I wouldn’t see it.
That performance a year or two ago was one of the rare times where I watched a dance and it connected with me. I understood it and I felt a part of the story it was telling. I could feel my emotions rising and falling with the dance. Sometimes, even when something isn’t out particular cup of tea it can connect in a very real way that stays with us.

Our short series this month on Zephaniah is that type of thing. Prophetic literature is a dance and not all of it will connect with us. In fact, some of you, and maybe even me, over the next month are going to struggle with seeing anything but judgment. Some of us are going to connect not with our hearts but with our minds. We are not going to feel the rhythms of the prophet, we are going to connect it with the “athleticism” of the process. We are going to start this week by trying to understand some of the background and begin to question where the background causes us to stop and think about our own assumptions.

First thing we are going to look at is when was this book written. It was probably written sometime in 630-620 BCE. The reasons that scholars think this is because Zephaniah references the Assyrian empire declining. This would have been right around this time but before the Neo-Babylonian empire rose. The book also seems to be building up to the reforms that happen in Judaism around this time done by King Josiah. King Josiah found a copy of the middle of the book of Deuteronomy. When that was discovered, it launched a reform in the community as they attempted to live up to the newly discovered words of God.
I know I’ve thrown some weird terms and kingdoms at you. There is a reason for that. This helps us to understand some of the context of what Zephaniah is trying to address. It also helps us to understand how faith was developing during this time. The Assyrian empire destroyed the northern kingdom, Israel. Jerusalem is located in Judah in the southern kingdom, and this is what Zephaniah addresses.

Theologically, the hallmark of theology in the northern kingdom was to refer to God as a warrior and holy war. In the southern kingdom theologically, the refer to God as a creator and king. In Zephaniah we see a blend of both, and this means that the faith of the people of Israel was growing together.

In addition to those theological themes, we see the continuing development of the role of a prophet. Historically a prophet is someone who interprets the events of his or her day and speaks words of truth for how God is moving. This is important because we tend to see prophecy as divine future telling, but that’s not what biblical prophecy is no matter what a televangelist might say.

I want to wrap today’s reflection on who wrote this book of prophecy. The passage says, “Zephaniah son of Cushi,” first it is unusual for an author to trace their history back by 4 generations. There doesn’t seem to be anything of real significance in this, just that we don’t know why. What I want to call your attention to is “son of Cushi.”

I very rarely do word studies. I find when we fixate on a word, we often miss the overall meaning of the passage. When we hear the name of an ancient writer what image comes to mind. We think of a Jewish person, maybe somebody with olive toned skinned sitting there writing. However, the word “Cushi” means son of Africa, in fact in other places in the Old Testament it is used as a way to talk about people with dark color skin. In other words, there is a very good possibility that Zephaniah is black.
Today I’ve undermined some of your assumptions. Perhaps you thought you knew what the writers of the Bible looked like. Perhaps you thought you knew the history of this scripture well. This isn’t a lesson to do and do something, but to take a moment and listen to your own reactions, your own curiosity. Scripture is a wonderfully complex writing. I invite you in to learn and feel something new in the next few weeks. Amen.

Communion Liturgy
L: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you
L: Lift up your hearts.
P: We lift them up to the Lord.
L: Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God.
P: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

L: O God, you created the universe with a shout of joy, a word of delight, and a big bang. You made gravity holes and antimatter, swirling electrons and dancing quarks, shooting stars and sapphire blue planets.
You filled the ocean with clown fish and sharks, with dolphins and killer whales.
You filled the air with doves and hawks, songbirds and hummingbirds. You covered the land with shimmering aspen and weathered pine. And You blessed all the creatures of the earth:

We turned playgrounds into battlefields, school yards into mine fields, hospitals into death camps, and children into killers.
But God, you never gave up on us. You never walked away or walked out. You always honored your promises even when we broke ours.

You always welcomed us home with open arms and a warm heart even when our fists were clenched, and our minds still closed.

When we walk through sorrow and chaos, You are with us. When we live through moments of war and acts of terror, You walk with us.

When our homes are destroyed, You help us to build new homes and finally lead us home to you.
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise Your name and join their unending hymn:

P: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

L: In the right time, in the fullness of your time, In the nick of time, you sent your Son to bring us back to life. He opened a window into your new creation.

L: In the dead ends of our lives,
Jesus clears a way ahead.
In the dead spots of our relationships, Jesus speaks words of hope and renewal. In the dead zones of our cities, Jesus calls forth a new kingdom.

L: When we are dead tired, Jesus picks us up and carries us to a place of rest. When we are dead wrong, Jesus confronts us with the truth. When we are dead last, Jesus tells us that he has won us for eternal life.
And so on the night in which he gave himself up for us…

L: Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,
“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

L: When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said,
“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

P: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
L: Pour out Your Holy spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.
L: Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those who now live with you. Since you have refreshed our souls from the waters of life. Help us refresh and renew others. Since you have given us strength for the journey, Help us to strengthen others on their journey.
P: Send your Spirit to renew our faith and transform our souls so that we may hear your music, work for justice, delight in heavenly food, and strengthen one another in love and grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Communion
Benediction

Message for July 28, 2024
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12, 16 b; 5:11-12 NRSV
Title: God Loved You First

Welcome
Announcements
Giving Options-Last week for Military Bible Stick, new special offering for August the ARC.
Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: May every family in heaven and on earth gather in name and spirit.
P: May God pour out courage and compassion on our congregation through the Spirit

L: May our minds be open, that Christ may dwell within. May our hearts receive the fullness of our faith.
P: From generation to generation, God’s grace is abundant! Amen.

Unison Prayer
Holy Spirit, meet us here.
Find our spirits open and our hearts receptive to your word for us this day.

With our songs and prayers, our witness and reflection, may we faithfully go where you call us to be.

In the name of our brother, Christ, we pray. Amen.

Offering
Song
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12, 16b and 5:11-12
1 John 4:7-12⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:16b

¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
1 John 5:11-12
11 And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
L: The word of God for the people of God.

P: Thanks be to God.

Message: God Loved You First

“In a social context where love has multiple and contradictory meanings, it is important to have clarity of thought around what Christian love is. However, love is first and foremost a practice; it is something we do with the whole of our bodies, not just our minds. Love demands to be seen and felt before it can be believed.”
John Swinton, Becoming Friends of Time, pg. 6

Last Sunday, after my message focusing on God’s love, and just as importantly after my Post-Church nap, I read the above quote in theologian John Swinton’s book. At the time I hadn’t read the scripture for this week yet, but when I read it-I immediately underlined it, knowing I would want to reference it sometime in the future. Later in the afternoon, I read the scripture for this Sunday and began my sermon process. As soon as I read the text, I knew I needed to share John’s quote.

Love can be difficult to talk about, especially since if you listened to last week’s sermon (or read it) you might be wondering what else is there to say? Professor Swinton’s quote though I think helps us to understand what is being said in today’s passage. Now first I want to clear something up, the passage (because it’s a lectionary reading) skips around a bit and this was one of those cases as I prepared the message that I didn’t think was really helpful.

The first section, verses 7-12 are the ones I want to focus on. If you were to look up this section of verses online for a commentary you won’t find one. They all go to verse 21 and read the whole section, but we are going to make do today. This passage contains a critical key to understanding love as God does. The primary idea is that God loves you first, there is nothing you can do, nothing you can say that will earn God’s love. God’s love is offered to you through Jesus Christ, every other understanding of love is secondary to that.

This is where Professor Swinton’s quote helps us. “Love demands to be seen and felt before it can be believed.” In our culture, we tie our love to actions in a way that tends to be unhealthy. In my entire ministry I could share story after heart breaking story of families that make demands of kids to act or be a certain way making their love of the child conditional on the kid fulfilling their side of the act. People tell stories of always trying to live up to their parents’ love, that they felt they could never do enough, that they could never be good enough or deserving enough. Yet here in 1 John we are told you already have God’s love.

For Swinton, when love demands to be seen and felt first, he is not talking about you proving your love. But that the expression of love that we experience is shown through the experience of love, not on the proof of that love. Our passage today says, “Love is from God,” meaning not that God is love, but that God is greater than love and sends that love to us. Then the passage goes on to say that God sent Jesus, to be an atoning sacrifice. But what is the reason God sent Jesus? God sent him because God loves you. Not so that Jesus died, not so that you would accept what Jesus did. God sent Jesus out of love regardless of you’re feeling towards Jesus. God loved you first.

The innocence of children is a great example of this. Children will create a piece of artwork for you and give it away waiting to see what you will do. In my experience if you take it and hang it up on the fridge, they feel that they are loved. But when a child is born no one tells them that they have to love you as a parent or a grandparent. They just do. Now that love can be lost if it’s not reciprocated or acknowledged. Yet they intuitively know that they should love you.

In our lives too often, we act as if no one loves us. We hide our lack of love behind isolating behaviors. One that annoys me, because it uses a grain of truth, is when people talk about self-love. “I need to love myself before I can do x, y or z.” While it is true you need to love yourself, what some people do is use that excuse to cut others out because they don’t feel they are being loved.

Last week I talked about how polarized our world is, and how much more polarized it may become moving into the next election cycle. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, wrote “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.” Love is love, and if our guiding unifying principle is that God loved you first, then all other differences come under that light.

I do have to offer a caveat. Where is the line? How do I know to overlook something and instead focus on love? My suggestion is to look and see if harm is being done. If you are damaging someone, their relationship, their intrinsic worth, then you are not acting in love. In my years of ministry and life, this has been the best guiding principle. If no one is being harmed, and no, your sensibilities don’t count here, because not everything has to make sense to you, then focus on what you share in common.

The migrant family seeking shelter and help does not need their hand slapped and to be turned away because they didn’t know the right process to seek assistance. They need to be loved. I can use a myriad of different examples, but you get the point. Love comes from God, and we are to act in that love to the best of our abilities. Let us love one another. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song

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Message for July 21, 2024
Welcome back Pastor Jonathan.

Scripture: 1 John 3:18-24 NRSV

¹⁸Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. ¹⁹And by this

we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before

him ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he

knows everything. ²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness

before God, ²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his

commandments and do what pleases him

²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus

Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴All who obey his

commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he

abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Message:

What do you do when the church is at odds with each other? I’ve been in this

situation more times than I would like to think about. I know scripture says, “Where two

or three are gathered together in my name, I am there.” What it should say is “where

two or three are gathered there are at least 8 differences of opinion, and somebody is

fighting with someone else.”

Any time you get a group of people together they will fight eventually about

something. Family conflicts are normal, work conflicts are normal, and church conflicts

are normal. Like many of you I wish that this were not the case. I do often feel that the

church should be better than it really is, Often times it is but it can and does miss the

boat.

This is all even more true in our extremely polarized society. Like all of you I have

been following the election coverage, and like all of you I have been annoyed and

frustrated with various things about it. People just do not seem to know how to act with

each other anymore and the result is constant fighting, putting down, and guilting

people.

We have differences of opinion here. Right now, we are wrestling with some of

the changes our congregation has to go through, and we do not all agree about what

needs to be done or how things need to be done. You are not the first church to wrestle

with this. You are not the first person to struggle with polarization. You are not the first

one to wonder what is the right answer that will keep us all together and make everyone

happy.

1 John was written to a church audience that was wrestling with what it means to

be Christian when the community is not getting along and when the wider community

does not agree with your faith. The writer of 1 John was probably not the same John

who wrote the Gospel of John, but they were a part of the same community. The Gospel

of John was a product of this community and clearly influences the whole letter. So

instead of seeing it as something written at the same time, it was probably written

afterwards. The Gospel of John wrestles with the church being pushed out of the

synagogues and having to make its own way in the world. The letters of John wrestle

with what does that look like when we do not agree.

I am not going to get into all the theological ins and outs here. Our passage

today reflects intently on what we should be doing when there are disagreements.

John’s answer is to love each other by doing things for one another. It is that our

actions are a greater testimony to a changed life through Jesus Christ than anything

else. And those actions are defined and done intentionally through love.

I have never hid my fandom of the Beatles. They are my favorite band. One of

them, I believe it was Paul McCarthy, once said something to this effect, that if the

Beatles were a band only known for trying to spread love, he would be okay with that.

John Lennon wrote many songs about love while he was with the Beatles and when he

left. He was immensely talented and passionate about his craft. Unfortunately, those

words didn’t always make it into his daily life. It is well known now that he was abusive

to his wife and children. While his words can inspire love, the sad reality is he did not

live up to those words.

Most of us never live up to the ideals of loving God and loving neighbor. We

talked about them. We hope to live them out, but then we read this passage and realize

that is who we are called to be. But there is an answer to that too in this passage.

“Whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows

everything.” You can only do the best you can. In the end God is the one who looks into

your heart and sees if you are trying to do the right thing.

I’ve often found that I am my greatest critic. That I will do something hoping that

it is the right solution only to find that I hurt someone. I will then pick apart my motives,

standing in judgment over myself that maybe I really did intend to hurt that person. Or

maybe I did move too quickly or maybe I did not want “someone like that” at the church

anyway. John here wants to remind us that only God is in the position to judge our

actions for we cannot even properly judge them ourselves. So, ease up on yourself, and

just do your best. That is all that God asks of us. God looks into our hearts and if we are

trying to show each other, if we are trying to show our community love and we get it

wrong sometimes God will forgive us. Not because he has to, and not because you said

the right things for him to, but because God is the only one that can know your heart.

I encourage you this week to show one another love. Do the best you can, and let

God worry about the rest. Amen

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No written manuscript for July 14th. Please join us for our special guest speaker, John Douglas.
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Message for July 7, 2024
Child Poverty
Special Speaker-Louise Cordova

Welcome
Announcements-Special Offering: Military Bible Sticks
Fellowship of Love
Song-Amazing Grace
Call to worship
L: Rely on God’s providential care.
P: God’s grace is sufficient for us.

L: Take nothing for the journey but faith in Christ.
P: We can trust the God of our salvation.

L: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
P: God’s steadfast love endures forever.

L: Come! Let us worship.

Unison Prayer
Eternal Spirit, you call us to set aside our scheming and place our trust in you alone. You challenge us to take nothing for the journey but our desire to do your will.

Teach us once more that your strength is made perfect in weakness, and that your grace is sufficient to meet our every need.

With the confidence of little children, we place our lives in your hands this day.

For we know that you will be with us every moment of our lives. Amen.

Offering/Song-Give Thanks
Scripture Matthew 5:1-8
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

—

²and he began to teach them. He said:

—

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

—

⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

—

⁵Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

—

⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

—

⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

—

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Message

The first six beatitudes seek to remove hindrances to the Christian life. “Hungering and thirsting after God, being merciful, and the pure in heart. The Methodist movement was one of the poor, learning to be good neighbors because of their faith. Poor mothers could die, knowing the Methodists would take care of their children. Pamela Couture tells of this in her book, “Child Poverty.” I wonder how applicable this would be today. I sense we would have to work on ‘hungering and thirsting after God.’ This would have to become a reality before we could work on being merciful and pure in heart.

Suffering by children and youth, and the adversity they would face in the future if conditions did not change, were at the center of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. He saw the poverty, suffering, and treatment of the minorities. His dream was that one day children would play together, learn from one another, and be side by side in education, job opportunities, and the benefits from society.

I was raised on the edge of Death Valley, CA. My Dad moved there to start a Church, and he also worked in the mine. I walked a mile to the reservation 2 room school, whose students consisted of Shoshone and Paiutes. I did not see the discrimination of the children, because we were a part of them. They came to our Sunday School and church. We would go early to clean the Quonset hut because the union had a dance and bar on Saturday night. Sundays always smelled like beer and cigarettes. (That’s why I always am always sniffing when I go to adult Sunday School.) We lived in the miner’s camps in an extremely small trailer. We had a communal bathroom and laundry. Most of the Indian homes had dirt floors, but they were always swept clean. When I was invited into a person’s home, I do not remember feeling that they had more or less than we did.

Couture uses the metaphor of shepherds and misuse of power in Ezekiel 34:2-6. The shepherds of Israel abuse the privilege of their position by neglecting, exploiting, and isolating those that are vulnerable, and they are responsible for. This still happens today: neglect of children is a reality. Those that leave their children in a hot locked car while they shop, those who neglect to feed and clothe them. Others exploit children through child pornography, sex trafficing, and sexual abuse. Many physically and mentally abuse their children. We victims know that God will surely hold accountable those who have abused children in any way.

Some third world countries make children work at hard labor before they are able to think for themselves. Many ask, “why don’t they use birth control?” A very complicated answer is that we do not understand a culture that believes having children is of major importance, and beliefs that children ARE not to help make a living. Will any of these cultures change to meet our standards? It is difficult to break down the barriers of how we think other cultures should live. We visit other countries and want them to serve us American food, speak English, and cater to our American ways.

We were in Brazil as volunteers in mission with UMCOR. We were there to help remodel the church. Dump trucks dumped sand in the street. We would fill buckets w/sand and carry them inside. The sand had to be sifted in order to make concrete. The sifters were larger than a pizza pan. One person put the sand on and the other sifted it. (I was usually the sifter.) They called us the 3 twisted sifters, after a rock group called the 3 twisted sisters. They showed us their garden, and we were all visiting with one another. We asked them what their impressions of Americans were. Their answers shouldn’t have surprised us, but we really didn’t like hearing it. Americans have large houses, most of them are too large. They have 2 or 3 cars. Enough to eat and throw away what isn’t eaten. To many clothes, and a job that most don’t like, even though they drive many miles to get there. They come home, turn on the TV, until bedtime. There isn’t much laughter or family time because they are too busy. They all have carpet in their homes which harbors dirt and causes for illness.

The States having the most child poverty in the U.S. are Mississippi 27.5%, Louisiana 26.34%, New Mexico 25.56%, Arizona comes in at 20%, in the high range. The lowest rates are New Hampshire, Utah, North Dakota, and Colorado.

Then highest poverty rates for cities in the United States: New Orleans, Memphis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Hartford, Rochester, and Detroit.

In her book, Ms. Couture points out that the United Methodist Church has experienced significant change. It has responded with a call to make disciples of all people, emphasizing the great commission of Matthew 28;19. She leaves us with a challenging question. “Might God be calling you to be an apostle for children in poverty?

I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do something, no matter how small, to bring some portion of misery to an end. What will you do? Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Apostles Creed
The Great Thanksgiving-Communion Litany
Communion
Benediction
Goodbye

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Message for June 30, 2024
What is Piety
Special Speaker- Louise Cordova

Welcome
Announcements: Wrap up of special offering for June (Peace with Justice) Start of special offering for July, Military bible sticks.

Fellowship of Love

Song – O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Call to Worship
L: Put your trust in God, who knows our names.

P: The Holy One does not forsake those who seek God.

L: Be gracious to us, Holy One.

P: For you are the One who lifts us from the storm.

L: We praise you every time in space.

P: We rejoice that your hand guides us.

Unison Prayer
Holy Breath of Life, we enter this space searching for sacred peace. May the winds of this hour be quiet and calming. May the waters of this day be as peaceful as a pond.

May our hearts find the tranquility we desire. May we fill the air with sweet songs of joy. Amen.

Offering/Song- Give Of Your Best to the Master

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-8, 16-21 NIV
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Message-What is Piety
What is Piety? My Webster’s dictionary defines it as “dutiful conduct, scrupulousness, devotion to religious duties, loyalty and devotion to parents and family.” Do you know someone who is pious? Do know someone who acts as though they are pious? How do we exhibit our piety when we give to the needy, when we pray or fast? Matthew 6:1 tells us to beware of how we practice our piety. If we practice our piety among a crowd, in order to be seen and recognized by those around us, the Bible tells us we will have no reward in heaven. You see, “piety is like underwear. It is a necessity, but you don’t need to show it off.”

We can have plaques installed with our names on them, we can have a dedication service in lieu of trumpet fanfare, or give a speech to receive praise. But we read in our Bible that this is what the hypocrites do in their churches and towns. Some folks live to exaggerate, they just remember everything as big. Jesus says that “The difference between a helping hand and an outstretched palm is just a twist of the wrist.” With what motive do we give our possessions? Just the things we don’t want anymore, or clothing that is out of style, missing buttons, broken zippers, or stained? Token offerings while sighing that we are finally rid of them, and maybe, just maybe they will help someone.

Jesus used 3 illustrations as he talked to his disciples. Alms-giving, prayer and fasting. Jesus is condemning these practices when they are performed for ulterior motives, and the benefit of those around him. When their righteous deeds are functioned for the praise of men, to gain the praise of men, or gain rewards of the world, we CAN gain them; but in doing so we miss the eternal rewards of God. The world’s rewards are of the world, but God’s rewards are of the kingdom. “A pessimist sees ½ glass of water as empty, an optimist sees the ½ glass as full, while a giving person sees a glass with water in it and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.” “When we ask for our daily bread, God gives us the ingredients, but we are expected to do the baking.”

Verse 3 tells us that when we give, we are not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. It implies a secrecy in the context of charitable deeds, as opposed to acting in order to impress others. “To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian, but to help them is.

Verses 5-8 tell us about prayer. And verses 16-18 talk about fasting. In prayer and fasting, we are inviting God to share with us. Fasting is a religious exercise, a voluntary time of meditation with Christ. Whatever form of prayer and fasting we use; Jesus’ emphasis is to avoid a ritual practice for merit in the eyes of others. “It has been said that we don’t seem to mind giving God the glory, as long as we can take a 10% commission. When we take for ourselves some of Christ’s credit that is God’s alone, we rob God of what is rightfully His. Our time with the Savior is sacred, and when we are with God, we should devote our entire heart and mind to that opportunity of companionship.

Look at verses 19-21. The poetic words Jesus has spoken to us this morning appeared to me to be somewhat apocalyptic. Perhaps they are prophesies. God is telling us of the rewards we will have in the kingdom. Worldly treasures do not offer us security, in that they can deteriorate, moths or rust can destroy, and thieves can break in and steal them. Treasures “in heaven” have to do with a godly personality, development of a character that dwells on goodness, and having values that are focused on long range goals, the final goal of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

How is your piety practiced? Do you enjoy long, flowery prayers that demonstrate your intimacy with God? Is your fasting a 3 act play of martyrdom? Do your earthly treasures give you long range security? Do you want your giving to be memorialized before everyone? My Grandmother always told me to “never trust and overly modest man. A guy failing to toot his own horn a little, may simply have a dead battery.” On the other hand, “to do nothing is tiresome, because you can never stop and rest.”

Whether we are giving, fasting, or praying, let your piety be humble, giving glory to God. Keep your battery charged. Amen!

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song-Victory in Jesus
Benediction

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No sermon manuscript for Sunday, June 23. Please join us in person at 9:30AM on Sunday morning to hear our special guest, Jeni O’Callaghan.

No sermon manuscript for June 16, 2024. Please join us in person at 9:30AM on Sunday morning to hear our guest speaker, Jim Kreunen.

Message for Sunday, June 9, 2024

Welcome
Announcements: Giving Options, Special Offering for June, Peace with Justice, special meeting after worship.
Fellowship of Love
Song-My Redeemer Lives
Call to Worship
L: All who need a place to belong…
P: join the family of God.

L: All who seek spiritual brothers and sisters…
P: join the family of God.

L: All who strive to grow in faith and love…
P: join the family of God.

Unison Prayer
Sovereign God, come to us when we lose our way. For we need you to be our King–to lead us on right paths, teach us the ways of life and death, and shelter us from our foes.

We need you to be our comforter– to love us as a father, nurture us as a mother, shelter us as a brother and assure us as a sister.

Welcome us into the arms of your mercy, O God, and we will be your people, even as you are our God and King. Amen.

Offering/Song-The Solid Rock

Scripture: Mark 3:20-35
and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.

When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”

And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.

But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.

A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”

And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Meditation: Defining Family

When Katie and I were first dating and married we had many discussions about our families. During that stage of our relationship, we were each trying to explain some of the oddities of our family life and one of the largest oddities in my family was who was included. You see I grew up with Aunts and Uncles that were not blood related. My parents were, in ways I’m not going to go into, cut off from their parents and families. What this meant for our family growing up was that the group of people who stayed around and who added value to our lives BECAME family.

For instance, the neighbor across the street we referred to as our aunt. She wasn’t related to any of us at all. However, we spent time at her home, did chores for her, shoveled her driveway during the winter. In turn she did things like stay up past midnight to make sure my dad got home from swing shift at the printing plant. So, when I say added value, I’m talking about relationship value not a monetary gain or something like that.

The Mark scripture today is two interrelated stories. The Gospel of Mark often does this, where it puts two stories together so that you can understand how they relate to one another, and they can help interpret each other. The focus of these two stories is family and who is in your family.

In the first story Jesus is accused of working for Beelzebub, which literally interpreted means ‘Lord of the Flies,’ which is just an alternative name for Satan. Jesus responds to this “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” In other words, Satan has a family, and if the family turns against itself then it will fall apart. Another aspect of this first story is the idea of “unforgivable sin.” Now I don’t want to get into this question too much, but I know most church people want to know what the unforgivable sin is. It is, essentially, don’t put limits on what God can and is doing. Those who do that are interpreting Gods works as evil and that is what is unforgiveable.

Let’s move on to the next story though. Jesus just taught us that family can’t be divided, now we see him surrounded by his family. His family thinks he’s crazy and wants him to come with them. Jesus’ response is to subvert the social and cultural standards of the day. Jesus responds with changing the definition of what the family is and who can be included in the family. Just like my family has family members that aren’t blood related, here Jesus is saying anyone who does what God wants them to do is a member of his family.

Now this doesn’t seem like a groundbreaking for most of us, but I want to point to the time frame not of Jesus’ life and ministry, but of when the Gospel of Mark was written. One of the hallmarks of all the gospels is that they were written to audiences that were experiencing persecution, being pushed out of their families and religious communities. The writer of Mark is telling us that Jesus has a solution for that. The church can be your family.

In our current cultural context, I have always been skeptical when an organization says they are a family. Unfortunately, when businesses and churches say that it often means that what they are talking about is the negative qualities of family, such as emotional abuse and peer pressure. In our text what is being encouraged is the positive aspects of family. That we are together, the children of God, and that together, we love and support one another to share the good news of Christ…which is that God loves us and wants us to be together.

This community is a family that you have chosen to be a part of. We are sometimes great, and sometimes not so good. It also means that like a family, sometimes we aren’t nice to each other, and we struggle to include everyone. It also means that like a family we love and support one another unconditionally. That is our goal, to embody what it means to really be the family of God. Amen.

Pastoral and Lord’s Prayer
Song-Open the Eyes of My Heart
Benediction
Song-The Unclouded Day

Message for Sunday, June 2, 2024
Welcome
Announcements:
Giving Options-use the box by the door, offering plate, QR Code, Church meeting June 9^th after Worship. Special Offering this month (has video) Peace with Justice. Leadership Council Meeting on Monday, June 3, 2024 at 5:30PM

Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: The One who called Samuel from the darkness continues to say: “Let the light shine out of darkness.”
P: The light of Christ shines all around us.

L: The One who searches us and knows us hems us in, behind and before.
P: We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

L: Let us worship a God who surprises us at every turn.

Unison Prayer
Merciful One, when life beats us down, you reach out an restore us to health and wholeness.
Surprise us once more, O God, with your never-failing grace and the light of your love. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NRSV

¹²For just as the body is: one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one bod-y—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many members yet one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, ²⁴whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Message: Disability and the Church

This message is being done with my birthday in just a few days, so that makes it my “birthday” Sunday. For those that don’t know, traditionally what I have done is preach on whatever I want for that particular day. It’s just a way for me to engage with a topic, source or issue in the manner I choose. This past year I have been taking classes at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, yes, it’s all been online. The subject of the program, which Lord willing I’ll graduate with a master’s in theology with next year, is Disabilities Studies. What this does for my job as your pastor, well, nothing really, but I did this because I was interested in the subject matter.

What we are going to do today is delve into the topic of Disability and its relation to the church with some suggestions of how we should handle disabilities. Mind you this is not a comprehensive overview, nor will it be exhaustive, this is just the beginning to the conversation. One of the things that we aren’t going to do today is look too deeply into how our society today defines and treats disability, let’s save that for another conversation down the line.

What is disability?

As with any topic the first thing we must do is to define what we are talking about. I know this seems superfluous; I mean we all know what a disability is right? One of my professors, John Swinton, says in one of his articles, “Disability is a complex and controversial term.’ It seems that everybody knows what it is until they are asked to define it.”[1] The minute we start to look at what it means to be disabled and how we define disabled we start to realize that the topic is fraught with all sorts of difficulties. From the beginning most people will say physical impairment. To be missing a leg, and arm, your hearing, right? It is something you are missing, something that doesn’t make you “normal.”

Brian Brock, a professor I haven’t had yet but who I’ve read states “Body images so deeply shape our own aspirations and self-understandings that they almost inevitably color our views of other people’s bodies, making it difficult for us to love them.”[2] We identify with our bodies and imaging disability stemming from the loss of those functions. So, if you suddenly lose your hand in an accident then that is a disability, because suddenly you can’t do things. However, if you are born without a hand, then this is just how you exist, you cope and do things in a different way than what people who consider themselves normal do.

For the past few minutes, we’ve focused on physical disabilities and haven’t even begun to address the idea of mental disabilities. Any conversation about disabilities needs to include conversation here, because there is a huge gap between someone like me who can’t hear but otherwise is no different than you and someone who is intellectually disabled who maybe functions at the level of a 5-year-old. We aren’t going to go deeply into that subject, but I wanted to acknowledge that there is a very broad area to cover when we talk about disability.

One of the key things about mental and psychological disabilities is realizing that brains process information differently. For instance, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,) it is more than just a kid who can’t concentrate or is “spacy.” It means that information comes into their brain in a different manner that needs to be adapted to in order for them to understand the materials.[3] This is also the same for people with PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder,) their brains are rewired, constantly responding to a threat that is no longer there. When this happens, it becomes debilitating. In the case of PTSD there is still work being done on whether to “rewire” people’s brains or to teach them how to live with it.

Living with disability is another key component of defining what disability is. Swinton says in the same article I quoted above, “Disability does not have to do with individual impairments. Rather, it relates to a shared experience of oppression and injustice experienced by people who are considered to be different.” A key understanding of disability today is that there are decisions made to not be inclusive, to not do things differently which results in oppression and injustice. For instance, many people who have disabilities struggle with going on disability assistance in the United States. The system has been set up so that even if they are capable of finding a job of some sort, they risk losing any help they may receive if they make to much money. Our system sets disabled people up to live in poverty and keeps them there.

What does the bible say about disabilities?

I want to move us on now into looking at what the bible says about disability. In order to do this, we are going to focus on just the New Testament, particularly in the example of Paul. From what can be gathered of Paul’s story in the book of Acts and from his letters we can deduce that Paul himself was disabled. In 1 Corinthians Paul talks about having a “thorn in the flesh,” much ink has been spilt about what that thorn is, to me it doesn’t matter much. I think it is a clear indication that Paul was disabled in some way, and he speaks of it as a challenge to his ministry. Secondly regarding Paul, we see him respond in letters “see I write this with my own hand.” Paul has failing eyesight, certainly an issue if you are writing letters and used other people to write for him.

While there is much to say about disabilities in the bible, I think it’s important to realize that perhaps the biggest architect of the church, Paul, is wrestling with his own disabilities. Our scripture reading today comes directly from Paul and is considered a key one when developing any theological perspective on disability. The idea is that when we talk about members of the body of Christ, we mean everyone, this includes the disabled in all their varied shape and form. The body of Christ is better when we include all members and don’t ignore certain ones because it may mean changing from our normal forms.

We aren’t going to go into the bible more today, perhaps that will be a subject for another time. We are leaving large gaps in this area, but I want to cover a few other things before I end this message today.

What do we do with Disability Theologically?

Theology is how the church chooses to operate and believe. No theology is 100% biblical, especially the ones that claim they are. Biblical theology is an attempt to take the bible at face value, but it doesn’t work because there are things that directly conflict with one another throughout scripture. When we talk theology today, we are talking about people who have specifically tried to develop ways to include disabled people into the conversation about who God is, what the church is, and how we should treat one another.

A titan in the field of disability theology is Nancy Eisland. Nancy Eisland, who is a sociologist and theologian and is herself disabled speaks of re-envisioning how we see God. One of the things that Nancy talks about is reading the theophany passage in Ezekiel, where she had an epiphany. Here is the scripture,
Ezekiel 1:15-28NRSV

¹⁵As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. ¹⁶This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. ¹⁷As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. ¹⁸Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

¹⁹When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. ²⁰Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²²Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. ²³Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. ²⁴When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,^[^b^] like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. ²⁷I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. ²⁸Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

After reading this Nancy realized that this image reminded her of a sippy puff wheelchair. If you don’t know what a sippy puff wheelchair is it is the wheelchairs used by paraplegics and is controlled by blowing air through a tube. Nancy read this scripture, one that has been interpreted as God showing up on a chariot and said, what if this was a wheelchair?

Now I know that sounds weird, but keep in mind, the way theology has typically operated is to interpret these types of passages from a normative perspective. Normate means normal. When this happens, we interpret God to look and sound like we do. This hasn’t been done for people with disabilities. In fact, historically disability is interpreted as being a flaw, and if it is a flaw, then it can’t be God. Nancy’s interpretation here invites us to see not only scripture differently but also God differently.

Where from here?

To wrap up our message today I want us to look at the question of where we should go from here? At its’ most basic being, the body of Christ demands that we make space for everyone. This means not only creating environments where everyone can participate but including those we want to participate in the conversation. Most often decisions are made for people with disabilities-not with people who have disabilities. This is an important distinction because if we are truly the body of Christ than everyone should be apart of the conversation.

The second thing is to pay attention to your own bias. What do you consider normal and why? Why do you react the way you do to disabilities, or why do you choose to ignore disabilities. This can be as simple as realizing the parent struggling with their autistic child needs a break, and when they come to church needs people who aren’t going to exclude them. It can be as complex as thinking about why you avoid the homeless person on the street.

In your own life you need to realize that there is no such thing as normal. You are a product of your environment, and you are able bodied only for a short time in your life. All of us need help, and all of us need consideration. Christ calls us to be a community, so let’s be a community together- in all of its diverse splendor. Amen.

[1] From Inclusion to Belonging: A Practical Theology of Community, Disability and Humanness: John Swinton

[2] Disability Living into the Diversity of Christs Body: Brian Brock

[3] Comic Image for slide

Sunday, May 26, 2024
Welcome
Announcements: Giving Options-Scan to Give, Box in the Back, QR code, or offering plate, Matt Colby Retirement Party at the end of June, send cards of caring to the address on the screen.
Men’s Coffee-Tuesday Mornings at 7:30AM, Special Offering for June will be Peace with Justice

Fellowship of Love
Song

Call to Worship
L: Who is like our God in glory and strength?
P: The voice of the Lord thunders over the waters.

L: Who is like the Lord in power and might?
P: The voice of God breaks the mighty cedars.

L: Who is like the Holy One in awe and wonder?
P: The voice of the Almighty shakes the wilderness.

L: God sits enthroned as King forever.
P: Worship God in holy splendor.

L: Come! Let us worship the Lord.

Unison Prayer
Your Spirit calls us here, O God, to behold the glory of your majesty and power.
For adopting us into your family and making us heirs with Christ, we thank you.
For freeing us from the failings of the flesh, that we may be born anew with water and the Spirit, we praise you. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-22 NRSV
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?

But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Message: Wrap Up

Quench my troubles, For no one else can soothe them;
And let my eyes behold You, For You are their light,
And I will keep them for You alone.

This poetic excerpt was written some time in 1577 or 1578 by the Carmelite reformer known as St. John of the Cross. St. John of the Cross is perhaps more well known, at least in protestant circles for writing the book “Dark Night of the Soul.” St. John decided when he was young that he wanted to be in the Catholic Church and joined the Carmelite Order. He grew to be frustrated with the lack of discipline he saw in the Carmelite Order, in this case discipline means things like how the structure didn’t support more prayer and other holy practices.

In the midst of his frustration, he was considering leaving the order for a Carthusian Order, which would require silence and constant meditation and prayer. While he was wrestling with this, he met another famous Carmelite who was reforming the Carmelite Order, St. Teresa of Avila, who encouraged him to stay and reform the order. Just as today, when there are renewal and reform movements in the church, it gets contentious to say the least. In December of 1577 St. John was kidnaped by the non-reform wing of the Carmelite Order, held in a small six foot by 10-foot cell and beaten every week in front of the entire community. Eventually he escaped with only his poetry writing with him and went on to form several more renewal communities.

St. John of the Cross suffered to do what was right. He believed strongly that people needed to be committed to the Christian walk and he wrestled heavily with the issue of suffering for his faith. Regarding suffering St. John wrote, “Do not allow yourselves to be overly saddened by the unfortunate accidents of this world…You are not aware of the benefits they bring and by what secret judgment of God they are arranged for the eternal joy of the elect.”

As we wrap up 1 Peter we peer again into the idea of suffering for doing what is right. Peter writes in our section of scripture today that the suffering of Christ enables us to face our suffering. In verse 18 he writes “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.” I want to remark on this verse in particular because as always, I want to push back on the idea that because Jesus suffered, we have to suffer, or else we aren’t really Christian. Here Peter makes clear, Christ suffered for everyone, so you don’t have to. Suffering isn’t the goal, it’s more to point out that suffering happens and because Jesus could do it, we can to.

Peter continues to develop this by looking at baptism and he makes an interesting and important claim. Baptism is an “appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” This means it is not identifying with Christ’s death in baptism that is important, it is that identifying that we are brought to life through baptism. Christ has called us to life, and a victorious life at that.

Baptism here isn’t about becoming clean to God. It is about the new life that we are brought through the act of being in community with each other and with God. Suffering is inevitable. You have or will experience suffering. You will ask why does the suffering happen? And as we talked a few weeks ago I will remind you that if you are suffering for doing the right thing, like St. John of the Cross, then that is what we are called to.

The words in this passage today don’t necessarily answer the question of why suffering happens. But point us to the call to live a faithful life for Christ. That is the goal, not to die for Christ, but to live for Christ. It’s for doing the right thing. Let’s do the right thing together, lets live for Christ. Amen!

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song
Goodbye

Announcements: Giving Options-Special Offering Verde Valley Sanctuary, Matt Colby Retiring-if you want to send a card or note use the address on the screen or call the office, United Women in Faith Swap Meet Salad Luncheon on Tuesday, May 21 at 11:30AM
Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: In the rushing wind and tongues of fire…
P: the Church is born.

L: In courage found and faith renewed…
P: the Church gains strength.

L: In visions seen and dreams made real…
P: the Church blesses the world.

L: In hopes rekindled and fears released…
P: the Church leads the way.

L: In rushing wind and tongues of fire…
P: Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Unison Prayer
God of wind and flame, ignite a fire in our hearts and fill us with your courage and power.

On this day of Pentecost, may our younger people see visions and our elders dream dreams.

Blow open the doors to our shut-up hearts and send us into the world to spread the good news of your saving love. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2-10
Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and

like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,”

and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Message: Sharing the Story

The Sandlot, a movie about kids playing baseball, was released in 1993. This film has remained popular among some circles for how funny and meaningful a story it is. It has great story telling components. You are introduced to a group of friends playing baseball with your main character/narrator who is a new kid who just moved into the neighborhood. While the other kids didn’t want him to join the game there was one person, Benny, who insisted that he be allowed to play. Now if you haven’t seen the movie, I’m not going to spoil it, it makes for a very fun watch. At the end of the movie there is a remark about how the kids moved away at different times, but the game kept being played. New people were added to the team and the sandlot was still being used. This is a fantastic end to the movie. It gives a sense of the story continuing even though we have come to the end of it for us. The beauty of this ending is that it situates you in the continuation of the story. The story doesn’t really end, it keeps going with new people added.

In 1 Peter today we take a step back. The past two weeks we have been farther into the book, but for whatever reason the people who put together the lectionary readings went back to the beginning of the letter. Paradoxically what this means is that we are now doing some of the ground work that should have went into the past two weeks of talking about personal holiness and responsibility. But just like life we don’t always do things in a very linear way.

This passage today is a familiar one for many of us. We’ve heard and seen the language of Jesus being the rejected capstone, unimportant but then at the end excessively important. Many of the commentaries I read in preparation spent an almost inordinate amount of time giving construction details and word studies about the rejected stone meaning. So much so that as I researched my eyes began glazing over from re-reading the same material. This is one of those instances (for me) that while the scholarship is important, interesting, and relevant for the interpretation of the passage, it is overall not helpful in understanding the heart of the passage. The heart of the passage is about who we are in community.

The author of 1 Peter goes about talking about community and our relationship with it by using the rejected stone imagery. I’m going to back away from that imagery and look at some of the other things going on in the passage that I think are more relevant than a theological understanding of stones. From this passage there are 6 allusions to Old Testament scriptures. This is important to note for two reasons. The first is the audience of 1 Peter is generally thought to be Gentiles, not Jewish people. This makes the allusions surprising because Gentiles would not have known the Old Testament scriptures. A result of this is that it makes me wonder why Peter would have gone through all the trouble of connecting the Old Testament.

This leads to the second important point in these scripture references. It is that Paul is trying to establish who the community, the church, is in relation to the story of God. How a community defines itself is often shown in the stories which it shares about itself and its purpose. Peter is connecting the church to the deeper story of God. Who God is and who God calls them to be. The result of this story telling is what we’ve talked about the past few weeks, how we define ourselves in relationship to God and how we act are determined by the stories we share.

The Sandlot story I shared at the beginning does this. We are told a story to which we can relate. It builds and then gives us the expectation that the story continues, the story of the sandlot itself doesn’t end even though people’s role in that story may end. Most of what we have talked about with 1 Peter has been about personal holiness, personal action, and personal responsibility. But John Wesley said it best when he said, “there is no holiness but social holiness.” In other words, while we can talk about personal responsibility and holiness it is corporate responsibility and holiness that we should also be ascribing to.

The stories we tell about ourselves matter. How we talk about ourselves matters. Where we see ourselves in the story of this congregation and of the universal church matters. Christ died and rose again not just for you to have salvation but also so that you would be a part of a unique community, a unique story of faithfulness.

Here at Mountain View for the entirety of my ministry we have talked about how we believe we are called to share the love of Jesus Christ with each other and with our community. Sometimes we live up to that spectacularly. Sometimes we fail miserably. Yet we still share the story of Christ’s love. Why? Because it is the stories that we share it! I see us as a church relating to the stories in scripture of God’s love and because those are the stories we talk about, because those are the stories we share, because those are the stories we attempt to live up to, that is how we have defined our community.

If you want to grow in Christian love. If you want to be holy as Christ is holy. If you want to live the gospel, I encourage you this week to see yourself in the stories we share. Not only see yourself in them but share them with others. Our community of faith will grow not because I’m standing up here, or because of a new program or ministry. Our church will grow because we embody, share, and tell of the love of Christ given for you, for me, and for the entire world. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song
Benediction
Song
Goodbye

Message for Sunday, May 12, 2024
Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 19-25
Message Title: Relief or Problem

Greeting
Announcements
Space available in the building for your small group or class; Special Offering for the month of May is Verde Valley Sanctuary; Decorate the church on Saturday, May 18^th at 9AM and remember to wear your red on Sunday

Special Announcement by Ron Black-Scholarship Winners-Olivia Hall and Kyla Rolfes
Fellowship of Love
Song-A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Call to Worship
L: Clap your hands and sing for joy!
P: Christ is in our midst and in our lives.
L: Clap your hands and sing for joy!
P: Christ calls us to worship and praise.
L: Let us worship together.

Unison Prayer
Risen Christ, be present in our lives and in our worship. Help us recognize and celebrate your presence.
Grant us the power of your Holy Spirit, that we may answer the call to be your disciples and bring your message of love to the world. Amen.

Offering/Song Open My Eyes that I May See

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:19-25
For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.

If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Message: Relief or Problem

Stop for a moment and take a breath. As you continue to take a breath notice the feeling of the air around you. Does it feel cool or warm? Did you feel the air move, maybe the person sitting next to you moved a little bit. Do you feel a breeze or the air stirring in some way? Is the air pushing or pulling you? Or does it feel like the air is doing nothing at all?

Air is all around us. We breathe it in, we feel its presence, but we rarely think about it. When I’m outside if it’s too warm I am hoping for a breeze, or if it’s like things normally are around here this time of year, I am hoping that the wind calms down a bit so I can sit outside and read. Or I’m trying to find protection from the wind so I can sit and read. Air is something we just don’t think about until it brings us relief or gives us a problem.

Culture operates in much the same way as the air. We are a part of a culture; we live and breathe that culture. When the culture gives us problems is when we notice it, or when it provides an outlet or escape that we need we notice it. It is just a part of who we are and where we are from. Culture differs from location to location, sometimes dramatically, sometimes in much smaller ways. Culture also often influences our religious experience and our religious expression. It’s not until cultures encounter one another that we see some of those religious aspects change.

A great example of that type of change was the development of congregational singing. There has been much research and writing on the topic, but the short version here is that it is through the interactions of Western culture with African culture (particularly when the slave culture developed), that caused hymn singing to become a popular and creative religious force.

Culture isn’t inherently good, nor is it inherently evil. Culture can be either/or given a particular context. It can even develop some extraordinary things, like congregational singing, through negative cultural experiences. The danger that we have is interpreting our faith as a cultural monolith. While our faith contains universal truths, for example God is love and God loves each of us, there are things that are not universal truths. Most people who say they interpret the Bible in terms of black and white, this is what it says and I believe what it says, often haven’t taken into account the air that the authors or the air that they themselves breathe. Cultural context matters a great deal.

Last week when I introduced the letter of 1 Peter, I said we would be focusing on sanctification, which is how to live like Jesus and be more like Jesus. Our scripture today has some serious cultural aspects we have to take into account. Some of those aspects need to be contextualized and compared to other places or traditions in scripture.

In our reading today we did not read verse 18, which is an intentional omission by the people who put together the lectionary reading. Verse 18 clearly states that slaves are to submit to their masters. Verses that we then read are an extrapolation of that, laying the groundwork to what submission to a master looks like. Culturally this section of verses has been used to cause great harm in the United States during slavery. It was used as a biblical justification of the institution of slavery. It seems to lend an air of “the Bible says for slaves to obey; it doesn’t say there shouldn’t be slaves.” And guess what, that is correct.

This passage does not make the case for there not being slaves. It doesn’t even lay the groundwork for such a position. One thing we are not going to do with the passage though is make in metaphorical. No, 1 Peter isn’t saying God or Jesus is the master and we are the slaves. This is lazy interpretation that seeks to get out of dealing with uncomfortable passages. The reality is quite different. The reality of the passage is that Peter is addressing slaves, and then later women in the household. He is essentially upholding the cultural norms of his day. Peter isn’t saying to free slaves, and he isn’t saying to be slaves, so what are we to do with this passage?

Peter is deeply concerned with the witness that we provide for our faith. Remember, the audience that Peter is directing his comments to are the marginalized, the weakest of society. Those who do not have political or social influence. The wrong lesson to take would be to say that this is the way our society should operate, the right lesson that Peter is saying is that if you get in trouble for doing the right thing that’s okay.

Historically there has been another problem here. That is that this passage has often been interpreted as being honorable to suffer. This line of reason has been applied to disabled individuals in the church for as long as the church has existed. You suffer so that God may be glorified. We hear this another way, if someone is suffering people often say, “God has a purpose to this suffering.” This is a bad theological interpretation of this passage. Suffering is not the point or the goal. The point and the goal is to mimic Jesus.

Peter uses the example of Jesus, spelling out Jesus’ life and ministry and how Jesus suffered doing the right thing. This again isn’t to say that suffering is the goal, but that if you suffer for doing the right thing than the suffering is noble. We see this theme in movies quite often. In the Disney cartoon Beauty and the Beast, the beast sees Belle’s father suffering lost in the woods and sends Belle to him, even though it means letting her go and he loves her. More recently in Spiderman “No Way Home,” Dr Strange helps people to forget Spiderman so that Spiderman can keep people safe. No one knows him anymore; he loses all his friends and family. Or perhaps you like a classic example, in Casablanca when Rick makes Ilsa board the plane, sacrificing his own happiness for others.

I know the examples I’m using are fairly trite, but I think you get the point. Suffering can happen for doing the right things and if we want to be like Jesus and do the right thing, sometimes that means we are going to suffer. What this means for us today is that we need to be willing to do the right thing even if it means suffering. The right thing may be financially helping someone even though it might financially hurt too in the short term. The right thing may be stepping out and saying that something is wrong knowing you’ll lose friends because of it. The right thing is also looking at how you walk this Christian journey and realizing where you have made decisions out of cultural convenience, not out of what is right, and I believe when it comes to the issue of slavery that in eternity Peter has had to face the wrongness of that institution.

You aren’t a good Christian by the fact that you suffer. You are a good Christian when you are willing to suffer for what is right. This is well inline with a part of scripture and tradition that we didn’t talk about with this passage and that is the prophetic tradition. Speaking truth to power, standing up and saying slavery was and is wrong, these are elements of that tradition. The result of that is often suffering for doing what is right, just look at Jeremiah who was thrown into a pit for saying that God was going to judge Judah. He did the right thing and suffered.

I’m not asking you to suffer for your faith. I’m inviting you, in this journey to be more like Christ, to realize that in order to do the right thing, sometimes we will experience suffering as a result. To be more like Christ we have to do the right thing – no matter the consequence. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song-Blessed Assurance
Benediction
Song
Goodbye

Message for May 5, 2024
Welcome
Announcements: Fran Pollock’s drop in 90^th birthday celebration at 1PM on Tuesday, May 7. Help decorate the church on May 18^th at 9AM for Pentecost and wear your red on Sunday, May 19. Giving Options: Online, in box in the back, QR code. Special offering for May is Verde Valley Sanctuary.

Fellowship of Love
Song
Call to Worship
L: Sing to our God a new song,
P: for God has done wondrous things.

L: The Holy One’s might is not found in destruction,
P: but in steadfast love and constant faithfulness.

L: These gifts are not for us alone,
P: they are for one and all.

L: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
P: Break forth into songs of praise.

L: Let all creation praise the Lord.

Unison Prayer
Holy One, we gather with grateful hearts to remember the blessings of your light and love as they flow through our lives each day.

In this moment, open our hearts to your Holy Spirit. Open our minds to the truths of your story.

Open our hands to welcome the risen Christ among us. And open our eyes to your glory–a glory reflected in the faces around us.

In the name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen.

Offering/Song

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-23 NRSV
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance.

Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Meditation: Chicken and Egg

Every once in a while, I miss having little kids. Now I know my kids, at least one of them, are still kids, but what I mean is I miss having babies and toddlers around. I don’t miss them enough to want to have more kids, but in part I miss them because I think I would be a much more patient father now than I was when my own kids were that age. I’m not criticizing my parenting abilities, though the Lord knows there are some people who do, it’s just that I realize that over the years I’ve gotten more patient with children, and I wonder what it would be like if I had them now. But here’s the rub, I have to ask myself am I more patient now because I had kids and had to learn to be patient with them?

This is a kind of chicken and egg question. Hopefully as you mature as an individual you have moments of reflection like this where you think about what you could have done better, or how you have grown throughout your life. Some people mistake this type of question as a regret but in my opinion that is not what this is about. It’s about seeing your progress in life, and by knowing what you could have done differently in the past perhaps it will help you to do better in the future.

For the next few weeks, we are going to be exploring 1 Peter, and we are going to learn some about the context of his letter as we learn. What I want us to first remember is that 1 Peter is written to a people on the margins of society. This is not the Christianity of the Roman empire when Constantine made it the religion of Rome. This isn’t the Christianity you know of today, that perhaps is too comfortable in the halls of power around the world. This is the Christianity of the early church, struggling on the outside of society, persecuted put down, and in the margins.

The reason for understanding this context is that the people of the church are struggling in their day-to-day life. They are struggling to live out their faith because doing so has very real consequences. Abandonment by their community, rejection from their families, and even the effect of limiting economic opportunities since some employments would have been tied to cultic worship practices. It is in this environment that we enter into a conversation about what it means to follow God. Now remember, some of what is said in 1 Peter won’t apply in our world today, so we are going to seek to find the kernel of truth that does apply that will help us in our own walk with God.

1 Peter is one of the epistles that is turned to so that we can talk about an important theological concept called sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus. When we talk about living out our faith, we are talking about trying to live Jesus’ example, and here is where we can have some of those conversations.

The author of this book, which tradition teaches us, was Peter, points us to how we are supposed to be holy and hopeful. Why are we called to be that? The answer is as simple as it is complex. Its because God is holy and hopeful. We are called to emulate God to the best of our ability. I started with the story of looking at my life and wondering if I would have been more patient if I had kids now because this line of reasoning lends itself well to understanding how our walk with God is. God calls us to be holy, so we try and be holy, we try to mimic God to the best of our ability. Are we holy because we mimic God, or are we holy because God is holy? The answer is yes.

Another item of note for us is that these words that Peter speaks are pulled from the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. There are many allusions in the new testament from the old, but what is interesting here is the passage that Peter is pulling from is one in which Moses addresses the Israelite people. An exiled people. Peter in essence is reminding us that our walk with God is one that is completed in exile. We are a people who don’t belong in this world but must walk in it and must see to copy God as much as we can.

We are going to talk about what it means to copy Gods’ holiness over the coming weeks. But for today I want to leave you with this idea. There is a very real psychological phenomenon that if you look for the bad you will see the bad, however if you look for the good you will see the good. These actions will uplift or tear your spirit down. (It should go without saying that I am not addressing deep psychological needs such as depression, no amount of “just think happy thoughts” can address that and you should seek professional help.) The outlook we choose to adopt can and does influence our attitudes and actions.

If we choose everyday that we are going to seek to do things the way Jesus wants us to do them, then guess what? We will find the opportunity to do that. If we want to be like Jesus and share the love of God with everyone, we should look for the opportunities they are around us every day. Opportunities like holding a door open, or offering a listening ear, or getting something off the top shelf at the grocery store for someone. It doesn’t have to be big, but we are surrounded by opportunities to live out our Christian walk, we just need to pay attention. Amen.

Communion Liturgy
L: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you
L: Lift up your hearts.
P: We lift them up to the Lord
L: Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God.
P: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

L: O God, you created the universe with a shout of joy, a word of delight, and a big bang. You made gravity holes and antimatter, swirling electrons and dancing quarks, shooting stars and sapphire blue planets.

You filled the ocean with clown fish and sharks, with dolphins and killer whales.

You filled the air with doves and hawks, songbirds and hummingbirds. You covered the land with shimmering aspen and weathered pine. And You blessed all the creatures of the earth:

The bugs, snakes, lizards, the lions, tigers and bears, the puppies and the hippos, the zebras and the penguins.

And You blessed all the children of the earth in every shape and size, every color and complexion, every makeup and mood, every style and substance.

But we, O God, preferred to go our own way. We messed things up. We wanted to be in charge. We wanted to be in control.

We thought everything belonged to us. We polluted the environment. We destroyed each other.

We turned playgrounds into battlefields, school yards into mine fields, hospitals into death camps, and children into killers.

But God, you never gave up on us. You never walked away or walked out. You always honored your promises even when we broke ours. You always welcomed us home with open arms and a warm heart even when our fists were clenched, and our minds still closed.

When we walk through sorrow and chaos, You are with us. When we live through moments of war and acts of terror, You walk with us.

When our homes are destroyed, You help us to build new homes and finally lead us home to you.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise Your name and join their unending hymn:

L: In the right time, in the fullness of your time, In the nick of time, you sent your Son to bring us back to life. He opened a window into your new creation.

L: In the dead ends of our lives, Jesus clears a way ahead.
In the dead spots of our relationships, Jesus speaks words of hope and renewal. In the dead zones of our cities, Jesus calls forth a new kingdom.

L: When we are dead tired, Jesus picks us up and carries us to a place of rest. When we are dead wrong, Jesus confronts us with the truth. When we are dead last, Jesus tells us that he has won us for eternal life. And so, on the night in which he gave himself up for us…

L: Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

L: When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said,

“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

P: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.

L: Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those who now live with you. Since you have refreshed our souls from the waters of life. Help us refresh and renew others. Since you have given us strength for the journey, Help us to strengthen others on their journey.

P: Send your Spirit to renew our faith and transform our souls so that we may hear your music, work for justice, delight in heavenly food, and strengthen one another in love and grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Communion

Message for Sunday, April 28, 2024

Welcome
Announcements:
Special Offering for May will be Verde Valley Sanctuary. This week is the last week for collection for UMCOR. Join us on Saturday May 18^th to decorate the church for Pentecost at 9AM. Remember to wear your red on Pentecost Sunday, May 19^th. Scholarship Deadline for applications is Wednesday, May 1. Fran Pollocks 90^th birthday drop in on May 7^th at 1PM
Cookies Needed for Hospitality. Last Watch Party today at 3PM.

Fellowship of Love
Song-I Could Sing of Your Love
Call to Worship
L: As members of Christ’s tree of life,
P: we are connected, in love to God.

L: As members of Christ’s tree of life,
P: we are connected, in love, to one another.

L: As members of Christ’s tree of life,
P: we strengthen our connection through worship.

Unison Prayer
Loving God, send your Spirit among us now. Bind us to you in love this day, that we may worship in unity and friendship. Bind us to you in love this hour, that we may be strengthened to bring abundant love to your world. In love and gratitude, we pray.
Amen.

Offering
Song-You are My King
Scripture
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

Revelation 3:20
Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.

Message:

Recently as a family we have begun re-watching Dr Who in preparation for the new season that will be coming out soon. If you have not seen any Dr Who episodes, it is the story of a space flying time traveling alien, who often ends up defending the world from other aliens. One of the key features of Dr Who is that people are free to make choices. In almost every episode when the Dr is stopping an alien from doing something that will harm the earth or harm people, he gives them a choice, stop and he’ll help you figure something else out, or don’t stop and face the consequences. Free choice to decide their own fate.

Theologically and philosophically for centuries there has been discussion on whether people are free to make decisions or not. The topic of free will can be seen in the writings of Aristotle, and it should come as no surprise that religiously it became a topic of conversation amongst theologians as they sought to understand our roles as created beings of God in accepting or declining salvation.

Theologically I don’t want to get in the weeds here. I am not going to go into major reflection on the differences between the two primary positions theologically on free will. One is predestination-championed by John Calvin and still the theological norm of Presbyterians, Baptist, and many congregational groups. The second is Arminianism, which is championed by Joseph Arminius and later by John Wesley and others. Methodist, holiness, Pentecostal churches, and some forms of Baptist are in this category. The only reason I’m sharing this information is for your understanding. What I want us to focus on is not the big picture of whether we have free will or not, but on the smaller picture of what does “free will” will look like.

I will add that I believe there is another form of predestination at work in our world today that doesn’t get much attention. It is a form of it that has very damaging consequences. It’s that we are genetically predisposed to certain things. Genetics are something we cannot change, but it is not the controlling source of answers it seems to be made out to be.

Let me ask you a question, when was the first time you decided you were going to date someone? This could be anyone you have dated in the past or it could be your spouse. When did you know you wanted to date them? Some of you may tell stories that make it sound like it was written in the stars. This person was a God send that you found them and it was always meant to be. Me, it was the first time I remember seeing Katie in the band room in High School. I knew I wanted to date her, and it took some pursuing to accomplish.

There are all types of reasons to want to date someone. In our society most often it’s because we find something attractive about the other person. Maybe a particular feature, their smile, their eyes. It could be their personality, they made me laugh, or they worked so intently on the project in front of them. Very little of that is written in the stars, most of it is a choice to what we view as attractive. What we learned was attractive through the other relationships in our lives or even what we chose to reject from those relationships.

Here’s another question, when did you decide it was time to marry that person? Most people I meet don’t talk about their marriages as ordained by heaven, but a relationship that developed to the point that you knew you wanted to be with that person for the rest of your life. Sometimes that even continues to grow as we learn more about the person after we are married. I’ve spoken about this before but the person you marry isn’t the same person you are with as the years build up. Things about each other change and grow, hopefully in positive ways.

I bring this all up because I believe that every step of the way in our relationships we have a choice. We have a choice in how that relationship is or isn’t going to grow. I know people talk about growing apart from one another and that is a choice as well. How you treat one another is a choice that builds up and can either be a net positive or a net negative.

In the final episodes of Miracle Workers we learn that God has a family, a mother, father, brother and sister, yeah, let’s not get to theologically deep in this right now, it is a TV a show after all. The brother and sister are sharing

negative things about earth and one of the most negative is that God gave the people free will. God’s response “with all that freedom I thought they’d be happy.” Free will is given a negative view because it means that you have the freedom to see things or do things badly, but you also have the freedom to do things well.

Off and on over the past few weeks we have been toying with the ideas of relationships and what relationships mean. I think this show gets this idea right, I don’t think we would be happy if God demanded we be in relationship with him, I think it matters that we have a choice to have a relationship with God.

So much of our theology is built around the idea that God desires relationship with us and I think we are often scared to think what if we get the relationship wrong. When we deal with our relationship with God we don’t remember what I said about marriages, that they are long term relationships that build on either a net good or a net bad. Relationships take time and investment. Over the years I’ve talked about prayer, bible studies, Sunday morning worship, and other things as ways to have a relationship with God. But what if, what if the place that relationship starts, and restarts everyday is just being open to having a relationship?

Katie and I are very open people about our relationship. We love each other, but we fight with each other too. We agree on most things and have very sharp disagreements on others. Our kids know this. Our kids know that sometimes we may argue but we still love one another. My experience with most Christians and their relationship with God, its that they would never argue with God. They would never say “God if this is your doing it’s really messed up!” but guess what? All of the prophets did that. All of the prophets wouldn’t hesitate to not only say they love God, but that Gods world is messed up sometimes, and things that God has done are messed up sometimes too.

Now I know some of you are sitting there thinking, well I don’t think God is messed up, I’d never say that. Then I would say you’ve never read your Bible. There are all sorts of messed up things in here. If you take the story of Noah-then you have to admit that God killed kids. If you take the story of Joshua-you have to admit that God authorized genocide. There are some pretty messed up things in the Bible that it says God did. In order to be in relationship with God, I think we have to stop pretending that being a Christian is sunshine and roses. Relationships are hard and we cannot, nor will we ever understand everything that God is doing.

Perhaps this week open yourself up to relationship with God. Be open to listening to God, be open to not agreeing with God and needing to wrestle with it. Because if we get a choice in this relationship that means we have to take it seriously. It means we have a stake in how this relationship will develop. An added facet of this is for me to remind you that we often encounter God through others. So be open to relationships with others this week as well. Because you never know how God is going to speak with you. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Song-They’ll Know we are Christians
Benediction
Song-King of Kings
Song-The King of Glory

Message for Sunday, April 21, 2024

Welcome
Announcements: UMCOR Video; Miracle Workers Video; Watch Party at 3PM for Miracle Workers; New Sunday School Topic-The Holy Spirit starts next weekend; We need cookies for hospitality.

Fellowship of Love

Music for your Heart-Song

Call to Worship
L: The Lord is my shepherd, I will fear no darkness.
P: We will love one another, as Christ loves us.

L: Christ, the Good Shepherd, has compassion for all.
P: We will love one another, as Christ loves us.

L: Open your hearts to goodness and mercy today.
P: We will love one another, as Christ loves us.

L: Love, not merely in thought and word, but in truth and action.
P: We will love one another, as Christ loves us.

Unison Prayer
Shepherding God, guardian of our souls, you offer us rest in the safety of green pastures.

Shower us with your love and offer us fullness of life in your name. When our spirits are parched, you lead us beside still waters and quench our thirst for righteousness; you restore our souls and heal our battered spirits.
Touch our hearts and minds, that your goodness and mercy may follow us every day of our lives.
May we abide in your love and grace for all Eternity. Amen.

Offering

Song

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11; Proverbs 19:21; Ephesians 2:10;

Jeremiah 29:11
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Proverbs 19:21
The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.

Ephesians 2:10

10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Message: Wants vs. Needs

Our priorities in life are rarely clear. What I mean by this is that we tend to know what we want out of life or out of a particular situation. We have made up our minds that this is the goal, and we are going to pursue it and it will provide all the answers and certitude it needs. Recently I was in a conversation with a young person who is college aged about how they seemed to be having trouble finding their path in life. In the course of conversation, I found myself saying something that I often say, which is I believe that there is too much of an emphasis for kids and young adults to know what you want to do with their lives. School, parents, grandparents, all tend to place an emphasis on knowing what you want to do, but rarely do we really talk about what it is the person needs to do with their life.

The idea I’m toying with here is that we often substitute our wants for what we really need. In the example of the young college student, they were encouraged to share their desires, a stable career, owning a home, making lots of money. All of those are wants, they aren’t needs. The reality is that we are complex creatures. Created by God and filled with purpose, and if we don’t understand what we truly need from life then we will never be really happy.

Episode 4 of The Miracle Workers deals with this idea of wants verses needs in an interesting way. The team of angels are expanding. Sanjay who was God’s assistant is now working with Eliza and Craig to get the couple to kiss. This leads to Craig feeling left out and he leaves the team. At the same time God finds himself in need of having a new relationship and decides to pick a new prophet on earth. The person God selects doesn’t want to have a relationship with God and when it’s suggested to God that he select someone else God says, “I don’t want someone else, I want Dave.”

The reality of the whole situation is that God needs a relationship, and Craig needs a relationship. They respond quite differently though, God gets fixated on what he wants as opposed to what he needs, and Craig is reminded by Sanjay that they need him to balance their group. I know we would expect this to be the other way around, that God would understand his needs and not fall into the want trap, but it works to show us how easy it is for us to fall into the same trap.

Our whole society is built on the idea of selling you what you want and trying to convince you that your wants are really needs. Every commercial you see is geared to that. Every person you see is wrestling with that to some degree. Even those who seem like they have everything together spiritually, I know you know the type of person who always seems so holy and in a state of prayer. They often have been sold on the idea that they need to act like that, it’s not whether they want to or not.

In scripture we are reminded that we are created to do good works. WE are created with purpose. To be in relationship with one another. To help others, to uplift others. To use the example at the beginning of this message, a young person may want a big house and everything that goes with it but what they need is to understand who they are created to be. So that you don’t think this is only geared towards young people, this is true of any age. I’ve often heard people say “I’m too old” basically implying that they aren’t able to do things like they used to, there for they don’t have a purpose. But that’s just not true. No matter your age -you were created by God with purpose. You were created by God to fulfill the needs in the world around you.

You know I’ve been around a lot of theology over the years and let me tell you an idea that I have repeatedly heard as the reason for our purpose as humans. That is that our purpose is to praise and worship God. Now I am not downplaying the importance of music and worship but if all we are created for is to worship God, I have to say that just sounds so…boring. We are created to do things, to be in relationship with one another to build and grow together.

The reality is we need one another, we may not want one another but we do need one another. The only way to be on this Christian walk is to be in community with one another. To build one another up, to work together, to play together. We are the body of Christ because we need one another. So, I want to encourage you to do a remarkably simple thing this week. Take time to give thanks to God for the community of this church. Yes, the good and the bad parts. Take the time to remember how we need one another-even if we don’t always get along. Take the time to be grateful for how we each are on this journey of meaning together. Amen.

Prayer and Pastoral Prayer
Song
Benediction

———————————————————————————————————————————
Weekly Message for April 14, 2024
Announcements: Offering options and offering time explanation. Looking for Ushers-See Dottie Reinert if you are interested in helping with Offering time. UWF Meeting on Tuesday April 16^th at 1PM, guest speaker Jeni O’Callaghan on Friends of the Verde River

Song 1

Call to Worship:
L: Turn to Christ
P: who calls us here.
L: Place your trust in God,
P: who protects our lives.
L: Lean into Spirit,
P: as we worship in Spirit and truth.

Unison Prayer
God of miracles and truth, bless us, as we gather for worship, with the power of your Holy Spirit.
Reveal your presence in our midst and open our hearts and minds to receive your miraculous love. Strengthen our faith this day, that we may go forth as witnesses of your miraculous love. Amen.

Song 2/Offering

Scripture: Jeremiah 44:29-30; Matthew 16:1-4; Luke 11:29-32
Jeremiah

²⁹This shall be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I am going to punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words against you will surely be carried out:

³⁰Thus says the Lord, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, those who seek his life, just as I gave King Zedekiah of Judah into the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.”
Matthew
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

Luke
When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation.

The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

Message: Looking for Signs

I don’t know what comedian commented on it first but there is a common joke about how when people are driving to a place and looking for their exit, road, or stop – they turn down the radio. This happens even when you’re by yourself. I know there is a reason behind this and that it is simply to help us to concentrate on what we are looking for, but comedians are smart to point out the absurdity of the process. In order to see better we turn down what we are listening to.

At this point I consider myself quite well traveled in the United States. Last year’s big vacation where we traversed the country through 25 states makes me feel like a bit of an expert. Not in our country, because there is far too much to still learn. No, I consider myself an expert when it comes to reading signs. I spent much of our trip reading road signs, billboards, warning signs, and Wisconsin cheese signs. While signs are standardized for the most part, there are some variations. One that I knew of before my trip has to do with street signs.

The standard street sign is green with white lettering. But I have lived in one place where that was not the case, and I’d be interested if some of you have had this experience as well. When I lived in the Pocono’s in PA there were so many trees that the signs were not green, you’d never see them if they were. No, they were red.

When we talk about signs in church, road signs may not be the first signs we think of. What we want is a sign from God that something will work out, or a sign that tells us what to do in a certain situation. We pretend it’s a vast spiritual process we want but in reality, we want a road sign that clearly states the right way. We want a bright green sign that stands out, so we know this is exactly what God does or doesn’t want us to do.

In the TV series we are watching, Miracle Workers, the angels are trying to answer a prayer. They are trying to get two people to fall in love with each other and to save the earth. The couple that they are trying to get together each individually pray to God that “I hope this works out, I really like him/her.” So, the angels sit down to wait and see what happens, Eliza asks Craig what they are supposed to do next. Craig responds with they need to give the people a sign, a “subtle clue to gently change their actions.” Of course, problems ensue with this because what one person sees as a sign, the other will see as a random action.

I know I have been in situations where I wanted a clear sign from God what I should or shouldn’t do. Clear guidance to help me figure out a situation, or that God will give me the right words to say to a person. Our scriptures today point out the fact that looking for signs is a basic part of the human experience. If we go back in the Old Testament, we see a rainbow put up in the heavens as a sign that God will never again destroy the earth by floods. We see in Exodus the pharaoh demanding signs from Moses to know that what Moses is asking is valid. If we move into the Prophets, we see the people of Israel looking for signs, whether they will be spared from an impending conqueror, or whether they will be delivered from the hands of an oppressor.

The scriptures we read this morning in the Gospels both point to Jesus’ frustration with the people around him, as they continually ask for signs while he was literally working miracles before their eyes. This week, there were people who ran to interpreting the book of Revelations as signs for the impending return of Christ, because one of those things is apparently-you guessed it, a well forecasted eclipse. We want signs that are blatant and obvious. We want big bright red street signs, when the reality is that the way God works in our lives is usually ordinary, easy to miss green signs.

Recently I was reminded of a psychological trick to find out what a person, or yourself, desires. If you are caught between a choice and you can’t decide, flip a coin. It’s been shown, and I have used this on my kids enough to know it works. That in the moment you see the answer from the coin you’ll know what it really is that you desire. The coin flip helps to reveal what you really want because you find yourself hoping for one particular side to win.

Sometimes people have asked me “How do you know what God wants you to do?” I usually talk about how that has worked out in my life. If deeply desire a particular action or result I work for it. I do all the planning and preparing. If that planning and preparation falls apart, then I know it wasn’t the right time or the right action. If everything works out, then I know that this was God’s intent. Now God may not work with you in that manner, we are each different. I resist the idea that God has to answer or respond in certain ways. In fact, I suspect that is part of the problem in the Gospel stories we read today. The people wanted God to act in the way that they understood God should act, yet what they got was Jesus subverting the religious and cultural norms.

There are times that things work as a sign from God, and they really shouldn’t. Years ago, when I was much, much younger, I was wrestling with the death of a loved one and I wanted comfort from scripture. So, like many bright young people I picked up my Bible, let it fall open randomly and I read what was there. I look back and realize what a silly thing to do, what I should have done was look up scriptures on comfort, care, death, and resurrection. But in my mind, I just needed something outside of myself, and so that’s what I did. The result of this experiment was that I landed in Ecclesiastes, which has then become the one book in the bible that I have read and re-read with great regularity, as well as intensely studying.

This randomized experience was meant to give me a sign from God, comfort, and surety. Surprisingly, it worked. Now I don’t recommend this process but at that time in my life it worked and since then I have benefited from the wisdom of Solomon in many areas of my life and ministry. God does work in some surprising ways, and yes even through my own stupidity sometimes.

If you are going to look for a sign from God in a situation in your life, I want to give you some pointers about what has worked for me. First write it down. We talk so much and say things in ways that we then promptly forget. I find if I write the issue down it helps me to visualize what I am asking God for. I then begin to work on, for lack of a better way to put it, a pro, and cons list. If this is answered what good can come of it, if it isn’t what good can come of that? If this is not answered what good can come of it, or what’s not good that can come from it not being answered? Write it down, gently work through it and pray through it.

After the initial writing, then go to sitting. Do not act on the list at all. Sit with it, pray about it, ask God for guidance, and quiet your mind. Very often when we want an answer so much, we don’t stop to listen. Like I said above we want the red street sign-when they are often green. Maybe a scripture, saying, or person will come to mind. Write it down and come back to it. Ask yourself why did those things come to mind? After you do this stage then I encourage you to examine your motivation.

Jesus is annoyed in the scriptures we read because the motivations of the people were on seeing the signs themselves, not on the message of love and reconciliation that Jesus was bringing. Their focus was on the wrong thing. We must examine our motivations because it is the proverbial coin flip. It shows what our true desires are.

At any stage of this process, you can receive a sign from God. When you receive it, I want to encourage you to do two things. First is take a moment to quietly pray and thank God. Don’t receive an answer and run away, even when the answer isn’t what we want, or the sign is no sign at all, being grateful to God is part of our walk as followers of Christ. The other thing is to write it down. We are forgetful creatures. We forget what God has done for us, how God has led us, how God has spoken to us and writing it down enables us to keep our focus on our relationship with God.

I am not encouraging you to walk around looking for signs this week. What I am encouraging you to do is that when you are seeking an answer from God, try and use some of the suggestions I have shared. Find what works for you and your relationship with God. I guarantee God is speaking to you, we just need to look and listen. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer

Song 3

Dismissal with Blessing

Weekly Message for April 7, 2024
Welcome:
Announcements: Giving Options, Special Offering for April UMCOR, Men’s Coffee every Tuesday at 7:30am, Sermon Series Watch Party on Sundays at 3PM in the Mingus Room on the Miracle Workers (There are two videos during the announcement period UMCOR, Miracle Workers)

Fellowship of Love
Song-Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Call to Worship
L: It is good for God’s people to gather together in unity.
P: We are here at the invitation of God.

L: In this place, God’s love, and grace flow into our lives.
P: In this place, God’s blessings abound.

L: Praise be to God!
P: Praise be to God!

Unison Prayer
Holy One, we gather with grateful hearts to remember the blessings of your light and love as they flow through our lives each day.

In this moment, open our hearts to your Holy Spirit. Open our minds to the truths of your story.

Open our hands to welcome the risen Christ among us. And open our eyes to your glory–a glory reflected in the faces around us.

In the name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen.

Song: The Power of Your Love

Scripture:

²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^[^a^] it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 NRSV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 NRSV

Meditation: Unintended Consequences

Muhammad Ali said, “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” It is often the small things that have a disproportionate amount of consequence. It’s the little things that can wear us down, it’s the little things that can make us adjust that turn out to cause problems for us in the long run.

A number of years ago my younger brother, Stephen, who is 4 years younger than me was struggling with lower back and hip issues. Stephen had already been a paramedic for close to 10 years at this point and was well aware of the many health issues that paramedics tend to face. It is extremely common for paramedics to have back and hip issues. Lifting people up, even with the proper equipment, is hard work and wears on the body.

Unfortunately for my brother he inherited my mother’s sense of health care. If you don’t go to the doctor, then you don’t have a problem. During this time, he and I went hiking and camping along a section of the Appalachian Trail. The section of the trail we were on was full of rock. The path wasn’t a smooth dirt path, but a collection of small grapefruit sized rocks sticking out of the ground, for miles. As we were hiking, he reached the point where he couldn’t lift his one foot 1-2 inches off the ground to clear the rocks. It was that day that he knew he couldn’t keep ignoring this issue.

A few weeks later he had a doctor’s appointment. He found out he didn’t have back or hip issues, what he had was a knee problem. Even though his knee problem was not severe it didn’t need surgery or replacement, instead it needed some correction so that he was lifting properly. What happened is that when he experienced knee pain his body compensated, and in compensating put his hip and lower back in awkward positions that caused them to have more pain than the knee. Once this problem was identified he corrected the issue and has been fine ever since.

In the Show “Miracle Workers” we are introduced to one of the main characters Eliza Hunter. In this creative view of heaven each part of the world has a department that works for it. Eliza works for the department of dirt, a steady and safe job, according to her HR supervisor. But Eliza wants to do more, she wants to make a difference, so she gets transferred to the department of answered prayers. Where we meet Craig Bog, played by Daniel Radcliff. Craig is in the process of answering a prayer for a person to find their keys, while more and more prayers flood in.

When Craig goes to collect more prayers, Eliza decides to answer a big one. She finds a prayer for rain, changes the weather patterns, and answers the prayer. By doing so she causes catastrophic floods and an increase in prayers to the prayer room, “Please save me, Please save me,” the prayers go on and on. In desperation she runs upstairs to God, which causes more problems than it helps.

While none of us are in a position to answer prayers. I know we have each experienced an event in our lives where the littlest thing has seemed to have the greatest impact. Where a decision we made has a greater unintended consequence and we are left grappling with the reality that we really don’t know what we are doing. In my experience this often happens when I don’t stop to examine what it is that is really motivating me.

We read two scriptures today that seem diametrically opposed to each other. In Mark, Jesus tells us to pray and ask and it will be given. While in James we are told that we ask but we do so in the wrong manner which is why they don’t get answered. What is at stake here, what Jesus is teaching us, and James is affirming, is that our intent matters. Not just in the realm of prayers but in the realm of life. I don’t want to affirm some bad theology here, the theology that says if your prayers aren’t answered its because your hearts not right. That’s not what this is about. It’s about the fact that when we pray, when we talk to God, even when we talk to others, we often do not stop to think of the why.

Children are a great example of this. As adults we can often say careless things towards children but those are moments that they will hold onto for the rest of their lives. Call a child dumb and they will remember it. I’ve been using negative examples a lot but there are positive examples of this as well. Tell a child they are talented at something and watch them bloom!

What’s important for us here is to remember that small things really do matter. A kind word to a stranger may be the only thing that gets them through the day. The server you have at the restaurant today may be struggling to make ends meet, and you being kind makes a difference in their lives. We like to praise God for those times that people are angels in our lives, where small things happen from strangers that make us better people or carry us through. But that is the calling each of you have. When I pray on Sunday “may we be your hands and feet of love.” I don’t mean “God clearly show me what to do to show love.” I mean let us share the small acts of kindness and love that bring people closer to God.

I encourage you to think about what you do and how that impacts others. You won’t get this right all the time. You will say careless things, you will be having a bad day and end up being hurtful. The goal is to follow Christs example and know how big a deal little things can be. Amen.

Communion Liturgy
Communion
Song-Blest be the Tie That Binds
Benediction

Services for Sunrise and Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

Easter Sunrise Service- Sunday, March 31, 2024
Opening Prayer

God of life,

Through Jesus Christ, you have bestowed upon the world the light of life. Sanctify this new fire, and grant that our hearts and minds may also be kindled with holy desire to shine forth with the brightness of Christ’s rising, that we may attain to the feast of everlasting light; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Opening Song: Morning Has Broken

Reminder of Salvation History

Let us hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history and pray that each of us may receive the fullness of this grace. At the end of each section, I invite you to respond with Alleluia!
With a word God creates order out of the primeval, watery chaos. God’s good creation reaches its pinnacle in humankind, the bearer of God’s image.
And all God’s People say: Alleluia

God causes the earth, overcome by sin, to be drowned in a watery deluge. Yet in Noah and his family, God saves a remnant and binds all together in a covenant with the sign of a rainbow.