“Leave You Death Cloths Behind!!…”

April 16, 2017

Stetson Memorial UMC

Resurrection Sunday!

Psalm 113

John 20:1-18 NLT

Acts 10:34-48 MSG

Isaiah 25:6-9 NLT

“Leave You Death Cloths Behind!!…”

The Lord be with you, and also with you…let us pray…(Prayer of illumination….)

Please stand as you are able from the reading of the Gospel according to John, chapter 10, verses 1-8…

It was a morning like no other. Mary trembled as she made her way to the tomb of her teach and friend. “How could all of this had happened” she thought. “How could they have called for Barabbas instead of Jesus?” She continued on her way to the place she never thought she would have to go…at least not this early in Jesus’ life. All of the sudden the earth shook with a violent convulsion. It knocked her to the ground. She got up wondering what could have caused such a ruckus.

She began to think about the events of the past 3 days and how she stood with Jesus’ mother by the cross as her world was torn apart by the last breath of her teacher. “How could have the others ran away and leave Him to be alone…let alone Peter’s actions?” Then she remembered the stone in front of the tomb. “How am I going to be able to give Jesus a proper burial? I can’t move the stone away myself. But I must try. It is the least I could to for the one who saved me from the demons inside.”

As she neared the tomb she couldn’t believe what she saw. The stone had rolled been rolled away. Then she thought “Oh no…His body!” She ran to the tomb and it was as she had feared. Jesus body was missing. Everything else was there…the death cloths and the cloth that wrapped His head. But the body…it was missing… What was she to do…where on earth could they have taken Him…?

Good morning! Happy Resurrection morning! We have come to the end of our Lenten journey and now here we stand at the empty tomb. This is the foundation of our belief. Without resurrection morning, there is no faith…without resurrection morning, there is no forgiveness of sins…without resurrection morning, there is no victory over sin and death…without resurrection morning, Jesus’ life didn’t matter. This is probably my favorite day in the Christian calendar as well as Pentecost Sunday…but don’t let me get started on that…

When I think about the empty tomb I just want to shout from the mountain tops…Christ has Risen…Christ has Risen indeed! I love this day because it is the day that humanity was given the chance to come out of their tomb, remove their death cloths and come into the glorious light of our God in and through the Light of the world, our RISEN, Lord Jesus Christ

In Isaiah 25:6-9…the prophet Isaiah talks about the day that God will remove the gloom and gloom of death and bring joy and hope. The gloom of death hung over all of humanity and there was no end in sight. But God, in His infinite love, could not leave humanity in the pit it was and is in. He alone brings salvation in and through the frailty of His Son. We now are invited to the banquet with the best of everything we can think of… Death no longer has a grip upon us and we are set free in and through the empty tomb. If we choose to come out and leave behind our death clothes…

When I think about the John scripture from this morning, what stood out for me are these facts:

1.  Jesus death clothes were left in the tomb…

2.  Reminded me of Lazareth being raised…

3.  It represents victory over sin and death…

4.  People are like Mary…not know where He is…

5.  Jesus calls our name as He did Mary’s (she was blinded by the world and what she saw that was temporal)

6.  We are to go and give the message to those who are waiting…as Mary did…

In Acts Peter…the Rock…proclaims the resurrection…read Acts 10:34-48. What can we see from Peter’s reaction that is also for us today?

·        He proclaimed Christ’s ministry of healing and peacemaking (36-39)

·        Proclaimed that God raised Christ from the dead (39-40)

·        Proclaimed that they ate and drank with the Risen Christ (41)

·        Proclaimed Christ is the judge of the living and the dead but there is forgiveness in and through His name…

Resurrection Sunday is not just the end of the Lenten journey but only the beginning of the story, the beginning of the new life…the beginning of a new age. Christ went to the cross not just to save you and me but to save all of humanity and there is so many who need the hope and forgiveness of the cross I just can’t imagine Jesus wanting us to keep it for ourselves. God wants all of humanity to be saved and we are here to share the good news so that it is. That’s part of mine and your mission here…part of the purpose of why we were created…to love, to share, to be Christ for the world. But how can we bring the Good News if we are still in the tomb wearing our death shroud?

Resurrection people. It is resurrection morn and we are now given a new life. We have come from the ashes of Wednesday and have come up from those same ashes as a phoenix into the glorious light of the Son. We are being called from our tombs to a new and redeemed life. We are given the robe of righteousness for the death cloths sin had us wrapped in. The question is…will you come out?

Amen…

Cherished, Favored and Loved...

January 8, 2017

Stetson Memorial UMC

Baptism of the Lord

Sermon Series:

 “Becoming You…”

Adapted from Marcia McPhee’

“Who Are You?” Sermon Series

Isaiah 42:1-9 NOG Bible

Matthew 3:13-17 MSG Bible

Acts 10:34-43 The Living Bible

“Cherished, Favored, and Loved…”

Prayer that God’s Word is heard through me or in-spite of me…

Let us pray: Almighty God, the life you birthed in us by baptism into Jesus Christ will never die. Your justice never fails. Your mercy is everlasting.  Your healing river flows. Your Spirit blows where you will. We cannot stop you, God!

We are dry and thirsty, O God. Come, refresh us!

Come upon us, Holy Spirit!

Come upon these waters.

Let these waters be to us drops of your mercy.

Let these waters remind us of your righteousness and justice.

Let these waters renew in us the resurrection power of Jesus.

Let these waters make us long for your coming reign.

Most Holy God, Father! Full of Truth and Grace! Glory to you!

Jesus Christ, Savior, Lord! Glory to you!

 Spirit of fire, Spirit over the waters, Spirit of holiness! Glory to you!

Eternal God, One in Three and Three in One! All glory is yours, now and forever. Amen!

Have you ever just wanted to belong to something just the way you are? I mean there are so many conditions to being part of something. I like Planet Fitness’ slogan “A judgement free zone.” You can go there and not be ridiculed by what you look like, how much weight you can or can’t lift, or even how long you can walk on the treadmill. A place where you can feel comfortable as you take care of the temple God has given you.

Today is baptism of the Lord Sunday. Now we know that you receive the Holy Spirit at baptism and it is through the baptismal waters that we receive grace. In other words, in our baptism of water…our rebirth…we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit…the flame within us. God is the Master Creator…creating and recreating His creation. God created…the earth was birthed, out of the waters that covered the earth. Something new was created out of the water. But in our baptism there is yet another element that is added to the creation. Fire is added…the Holy Spirit…to complete the new creation… It is through this same Spirit that we are guided…it is a gift given to all who believe… We are accepted into…become part of…the family of believers at our baptism.

This truth, can be very hard to understand if we don’t realize who we are in Christ Jesus. Who are we really…how does God equip us…what are we supposed to do…? We have begun to look at who we are in Christ…we have begun a deep journey into these questions and more. Let’s see what transformation happens as we become who God says we are and not who the world thinks we are. 

The first fact is this…you are God’s beloved. You are cherished, favored, and loved by God. Now this may be hard to grasp. We live in a world that we have a fear of rejection. You must have the right connections, wear the right clothes, do the right things to be “part of society” and not on the out skirts thereof. Love, for many, is conditional. We are loved if we…fill in the blank. Can you imagine what the world would be like without the human fear of rejection place that you are accepted for who you are and not who others want you to be.

Beloved this world does exist…there is a place where you and I are accepted, flaws and all. It is at the foot of the cross of Jesus… It is within our baptismal waters of Grace. Listen to what happened when Jesus came to the Jordan River where John, the baptizer, was baptizing the people for their sins…read Matthew 3:13-17…

Matthew 3:13-17 The Message (MSG)

13-14 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”

15 But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.

16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

This is my son…this is my daughter…chosen and marked by my love…she is the delight of my life…he is the delight of my life… We too are beloved…we too hear these words of love…we also hear these words of affirmation not only who but whose we are.

We are chosen…by God…to be like Peter and the other apostles to share this good news that we continue to be witness of to this very day. Listen to what Peter had to say to those who were listening…listen to the promise of acceptance…read Acts 10:34-43:

Acts 10:34-43Living Bible (TLB)

34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that the Jews are not God’s only favorites! 35 In every nation he has those who worship him and do good deeds and are acceptable to him. 36-37 I’m sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus, the Messiah, who is Lord of all creation. This message has spread all through Judea, beginning with John the Baptist in Galilee. 38 And you no doubt know that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were possessed by demons, for God was with him.

39 “And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem, where he was murdered on a cross. 40-41 But God brought him back to life again three days later and showed him to certain witnesses God had selected beforehand—not to the general public, but to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he sent us to preach the Good News everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the Judge of all—living and dead. 43 And all the prophets have written about him, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

“We see very clearly that the Jews are not God’s only favorites! Everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.” This is the message...this is the Good News…therefore we ARE BELOVED. Nothing of our own doing. We are accepted…as we are…by grace and grace alone. I would like to propose this…I would like to challenge us. Let’s live in the abundance of grace and acceptance and just see what happens when we offer that to others.

Today is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, the day when we remember not only his life changing baptism but ours as well. Through water we are saved. Through water we are redeemed. Through water we are given a new life. (Walk down the aisle with the Baptismal Bowl and sprinkle the congregation when saying remember your baptism) So when the waters of life seem as if they are about to overtake you…remember your baptism…

You are my cherished child in whom I am well pleased… When you feel as if you have no one who really cares in your life…remember your baptism…you are the delight of my life. When you feel like an outcast in this journey of life…remember your baptism… You are chosen and marked by my love. When life has thrown you too many curves and you just can’t take one more…remember your baptism… the skies opened up and God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on you. You have been sealed with love…you have been sealed with power…you have been sealed with grace…you have been sealed by the Spirit.  Remember your baptism!

Amen

Beloved

December 25, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

Christmas Day

“A Sacred Moment”

Sermon Series

Psalm 98

Luke 2:1-20

John 1:1-14

“Beloved...”

A prayer of illumination so that God will speak through me or in-spite of me…

I would ask that you would stand as you are able for the reading of the Gospel according to the apostle Luke Chapter 2, verses 1-20. Listen to the word of God for His people…you and I… (Read the gospel from the NIV Bible)

Merry Christmas. I don’t know about you but I have been waiting all year to say those words. Those two words shatter what the world around us and bring the sacred near. These two words change our lives. These two words are words of love and redemption. With these two words God shatters the strong holds of the enemy. Without these two words, there is no happy Easter…no day of atonement. Without these two words, there is no hope or light in the darkness… Merry Christmas to you all.

Over the past few of weeks, we have been talking about the sacred. We have talked about the sacredness of the season we are in…the season of Advent when we expectantly wait to celebrate Jesus’ birth and wait expectantly for His return. But at times we can get so busy that we lose that sense of wonder we had and everything becomes a chore…a box to be checked off…

We have talked about the fact that if we don’t find a way to slow down, we are going to miss the best part of this season of giving that we call Advent. We are going to miss the best gift that we could ever receive. The gift of God’s own Son in the form of a baby on a cold and silent night. When we slow down, we will see the sacredness all around us.

We know that the sacredness of something should be revered and respected but awe and wonder of this season seems to get lost in the lights and glamor. If we want to see…to feel…to touch the sacred, we need to slow down our pace and just be for the moment…lest we miss the awe and wonder of the manger.

This Advent season, we have slowed down…even if for but a moment…to see what might be missed in the hustle and bustle of the season. I pray that you and I have been able to see this season through the kaleidoscope, the display of beauty within the sacred space of Advent…

I would ask that we again would stop for a moment and just breath in the sacredness of the space we are in right now…this sanctuary where God shows up to meet us each Sunday… I have asked that each of us would continue to spend some time each day…even just five minutes and focus on…meditate upon the Sacredness we talk about each week… Let each build upon each other until we embrace genuine purpose within this sacred moment…

We rediscovered that Advent is a sacred time. The time of heaven intersecting the time of the then and now. We have even talked about sacred people within the Christmas Adventure…remember…sacred people…set apart by and for God. We heard Mary and Joseph’s stories and discovered they were just ordinary people who “showed up” and God did the extraordinary in and through them…and we too have the same chance of the extraordinary…but we need to show up…that is when the extraordinary things happen…we heard the story of Mary and Elizabeth and how when they showed up hope was birthed within that sacred place.

And so here we are today…the day of Christmas…the day that we have waited for…the day that we celebrated the that Sacred Moment that love came down and the Sacred lived among us. What joy there was in heaven. Listen again to the angels greeting to the shepherds…

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And what happened next…

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

They knew that had happened to and for humanity and they celebrated. Now I am going out on a limb here but it seems to me that they were more over joy not so much about the birth of Christ but what that birth would mean to you and to me…

I think my favorite piece of scripture about Christ’s birth is found in John 1, verses 1-14. Let me read this account for you…

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is Christmas…this is the meaning behind the sacred moments…this is the joy of season. Immanuel…God with us. This is the story we, as Christians, should be telling instead of Santa Clause and his 8-tiny reindeer. This is the hope beyond all hope. This is the reason for the season…This is the greatest gift of all that we sang about just a few minutes ago, love wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. The sacred among us…

I continue to challenge you and I to take a road far different than the highway that leads to the Bethlehem Stable and continue to go back as we begin a New Year. I continue to dare us…you and I…to allow God to make something sacred out of our ordinary lives. The Sacred still walks among us, living in you and in me. We need to take that light into a world in need of light in the darkness. We have much to tell for we are the beloved of God for He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life… You Are Loved! We are not loved because of something we can do or earn, we are simply beloved, first born of God. The proof…God took on flesh and lived among us…that’s all the proof we need…

I continue to challenge you and I to slow ourselves down and sit within the Sacredness of the manger where we can see and feel the sacredness of space not only in our sanctuary but as we take our “tent of the Meeting” out into a world that is in need of a “sacred, safe place” to be…to see the sacredness of the ordinary…and bring what we find there to the world through the sacredness of our lives, within the sacred space…the witness of what we find there…in and through the manger to the cross of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas…may you have a God-inspired New Year!

In The Business

November 27, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

1^st Sunday of Advent

“A Sacred Moment”

Sermon Series

Psalm 130

Matthew 3:1-12 MSG

Romans 13:11-12 NIV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd0UJ2IReHs

“In The Business...”

A prayer of illumination so that God will speak through me or in-spite of me…

I would ask that you would stand as you are able for the reading of the Gospel according to Matthew. We will be reading chapter 3, verses 1-12. Listen to the word of God for His people…you and I… (Read the gospel from the Message translation)

Good morning. I can’t believe that next week is December. Where has the year gone? It seems that I have been so busy with life that time has just slipped away. Now here we are at the end and not quite sure how I got here. There have been so many things to do and see that I think that I feel as if I need a vacation from life. I need a time to just slow down and take a breath. But this is not the right time to be doing that either.

We have begun the Christmas season which I am the business. Even society is ramping up on the business. Last Friday was Black Friday…the busiest shopping day of the year. In fact, it is so busy that many places have started their Holiday season on Thanksgiving Thursday…even before the turkey is cold…

We, as people, as Christians need to find a way to slow down, otherwise we are going to miss the best part of this season of giving. We are going to miss the best gift that we could ever receive. The gift of God’s own Son in the form of a baby on a cold and silent night. As we slow down, we will see the sacredness all around us.

Today we begin the season of Advent in the church calendar. It is the season we expectantly await the celebration of His birth and wait expectantly for his return. The Christmas season is a time where the sacredness of it all gets drowned out by the secular business. The word sacred itself means set apart and holy. The sacredness of something is revered and respected but this time of reverence and awe seems to get lost in the lights and glamor. In order to see…to feel…to touch the sacred, we need to slow down our pace and just be for the moment…lest we miss the awe and wonder of the manger.

This Advent season we are going to do just that. We are going to slow down…even if for but a moment…to see what might be missed in the hustle and bustle of the season. I would invite us…you and I…on a spiritual journey to see all things through the kaleidoscope…the display of beauty within the sacred space of Advent…

©     Sacred Time

©     Sacred People

©     Sacred Space

©     Sacred Knowing

©     Sacred Being

©     Sacred Doing

I would ask that we would stop for a moment and just breath in the sacredness of the space we are in right now…this sanctuary where God shows up to meet us each Sunday…By the way…in order to really enter into the Sacredness of Advent…we need to do it more than just on Sunday’s so I would ask that each of us spend some time each day…even just five minutes and focus on…meditate upon the Sacredness we talk about each week… Let each build upon each other until we embrace genuine purpose within this sacred moment…

So, Advent is a sacred time. John the Baptist spoke about time. The time of heaven intersecting the time of the then and now. The time had come for a heart and life change. The time had come…and continue today…to prepare the way of the Lord. We are that thunder in the desert. We are that message of sacredness. We are the voice calling out in the desert “make way for the kingdom of God…it is right before us…do you not perceive it?”

We, at times, let the busy-ness of the holiday season overrun the sense of sacred. In fact, setting apart time for God…for the real reason for the season…God incarnate…gets set aside to create trappings of the holiday in which we celebrate the Holy.

We are given the gift of now from God. Within this gift of now…this sacred time of now…is given to God…to family…to friends…and those who need help. Within the sacred time, we are the gift given to others in which God can be seen within the mask that we, as society, have created to hide what is sacred beneath the “sensationalism” of the season.

The Word became flesh and lived among us…that is the message of the season. Speak through the Spirit of this one truth. How are you going to spend this “holiday season”? Are you and I going for the superficial…or is there something more…is there a better way? I challenge you and I to take a road far different than the highway that leads to the Bethlehem Stable. I challenge you and I to slow ourselves down and sit within the Sacredness of the manger.

 “11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12 NIV)

Amen.

Touch...Heal

April 10, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

Sermon Series:

“When in doubt…read the instructions”

(What did Jesus instruct His disciples then and now…?)

Acts 3:1-10 AMP

Mark 6:53-56 AMP

Psalm 30

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_touch

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/reiki?q=Reiki

“Touch…Heal…”

There is a new age…a new trend in healing called touch healing. Now you don’t actually touch the person. Wikipedia tells us that:

“Therapeutic touch (commonly shortened to "TT"), known by some as "non-contact therapeutic touch" (NCTT), is a pseudoscientific energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. "Therapeutic Touch" is a registered trademark in Canada for the "[s]tructured and standardized healing practice performed by practitioners trained to be sensitive to the receiver's energy field that surrounds the body;...no touching is required."”

Also there are a lot of people who are receiving the alternative to medicine called Reiki. The Definition of Reiki is:

“A healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient’s body and restore physical and emotional well-being.”

I don’t think there is anything wrong with these alternatives. Our doctors seem to be giving all too many pills and not healing anyone. But what do these look like? What would happen if we were to go and have one of these treatments? Example time…I have had both treatments but I may exaggerate a little just to get my point across… show example of both...I think we as Christians are more hands on than hands off…or are we? OK…now think about Jesus. How did most of His healings happen?

We are all on a reading journey as we read the instructions that Jesus gave the first disciples and what He intended all to follow to do. Now Jesus wants us to “go and do likewise”…to take His example and follow it. Some of the instructions may not be words but actions that Jesus showed His disciples. Now I hope you all brought your bibles this morning. If not there are some in the pews. I want us each to look up the instructions…for ourselves…instead of me reading them to you. Who knows, maybe after we are done it is something we will continue to do… just sayin.

Let’s back track for a moment. The first instruction was on Easter Sunday to a woman called Mary Magdalene…Go, tell. Just that simple…go tell the disciples I am alive…tell them you have seen me…tell them to Galilee and they will see me. Go and tell…ministry is an action. The next were stay…wait…witness (stay where they were and to wait for the Holy Spirit, then to witness to and for Him all over the world).

Now the next instructions or actions may be kind of hard for some people, touch…heal. It can be hard to touch someone we don’t like. It can be hard to touch one of “those” people...Pastor trying to see where his congregation was at on loving their neighbor. One Sunday he entered his church…after not showing for a week, wearing dirty cloths…unshaven. He walked in and everyone just stared and avoided him. He went to sit down front and one of the ushers shouted from the end of the pew…please sit in the back. So he went to the back and sat in a pew by himself…no one would come near him. So as the service began He walked again to the front of the church and into the pulpit. Now the congregation was shocked and horrified that this dirty bum would do this and then he began to speak. “: good morning my church brothers and sisters. Today’s message is on loving your neighbor where they are and not where you want them to be. They hung their heads in shame…”

We are called to touch lives and in the touching bring healing. Now Jesus went around and people were healed either by His touching or theirs… Listen to one of these accounts… found in Mark 6:53-56…read scripture together… Everyone who touched was healed…all of these lives were touched and healed… Can you imagine if we decided we wanted to be the fringe...the tassel of Jesus’ robe? How much healing do you think would happen?

It is in Jesus’ name and by His power we are healed. The disciples knew this and Jesus had sent them out to heal…baptize…witness. I love the story of Peter and John as they were going up to the temple one day. The story is in Acts 3:1-10. Let’s read it together to hear what Jesus would have us do in His name as we follow Him…read scripture together…

Now people going up to the temple were all ceremonially cleaned and ready to enter. Maybe that is why no one ever stopped to help this man before but Peter knew a better way…The Way as they called it…Jesus’ way and even though Hhe was going into the temple they touched and healed this man and because of that…he walked…no he leaped praising God. How many do we pass in our “clean state” and feel that we would just get all dirty if we touched and healed…? Who is sitting waiting for a healing in their life?

Go, tell…stay, wait, witness…touch, heal…these seem pretty simple things to do right? So why are there so many still waiting for our healing touch…for Jesus’ healing touch through us? Why aren’t we telling of the great Physician of our soul? Why are we not witnessing to the saving Grace? We as the body of Christ…as the hands, feet, voice and image of Christ in the world…need to understand the instructions and follow them to the point of us truly being that image of Christ. Now we are not perfect and we will forget at times. But we are less apt to forget if we read the manual of Immanuel…God with us. May be if we begin to touch the lives of those around us with what we have to offer through Jesus…as did Paul and John…maybe just maybe there would be more leaping and praising God in the lives who are waiting for the Healer…our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Perhaps then we too will be touched and healed by those who we heal. I don’t know…what do you think?

Amen.

A Higher Calling

February 28, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

Third Sunday of Lent

“The High Way”

Adapted Sermon Series

 by Marcia McPhee

“The Way”

All Scripture is from the AMP Bible

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 139: 1-18

Acts 10:9-16

 “A “Higher” Calling”

Prayer for the Spirit’s leading…

A reading from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter Fifty-Five, verses one thru nine…listen to the Word’s of Life from God to you and me, pilgrims on a journey…

Eating for free…getting to drink without a cost…buying something for nothing…why that is completely absurd…you can’t get something for nothing. In the world we live…we tend to think that if it doesn’t cost there must be some sort of catch. There must be some sort of hidden agenda if I am being offered something that I need for free.

We, as humankind, seem to think we have everything all figured out. We tend to think that we know it all and at times just close our ears and eyes to a new way of thinking. Remember…we have it all figured out. Or do we? Is there another way that we do not perceive? Is there a “higher calling” on our lives as Christ followers?

We are continuing our Lenten pilgrimage to the cross. During this journey we will bring Marcia McPhee with us as we look at her sermon series “The Way”. We are going to be looking at the different “ways” or paths that we take in life. My prayer is that as we journey together we will help each other and those in our lives find “the way”.

We began this pilgrimage on Ash Wednesday as we talked about “the way back”… taking a u-turn so to speak…back towards God…back to the relationship that God intended from the very beginning. We have talked about “the wandering way”…As Marcia McPhee would put it…when we walk through that maze trying to find the way to the right path instead of hitting those walls of a wrong turn. Last week we talked about “the way around” when Erica told us about how we need to follow God’s plan in our life and sometimes we need to make a way around those in our lives that would try to tell us different.

So, the question I asked was “do we as Christ followers have a higher calling in our lives? Do we understand differently than those who are not Christ followers? And if we have a higher calling in our lives what does that look like?”  

So…how sure can we be the scripture from Isaiah I read this morning gives us food for thought. God offers us living water when we thirst, the bread of heaven when we hunger, and all of this for free. Well it is free because Jesus paid the price for us to come to the table and be fed. So technically it did cost but God offers us the result of that cost for free.

So God offers all of this for free…even if we, as creation, do not understand why the Creator would do such a thing. Now here’s the question…because we follow Jesus, should we offer to others a place at the table, as we are offered, for that same price? Does God expect us to accept the higher calling on our lives to invite others to the table for the same price that we pay? Do we follow the thought process of the world or the thought process of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

Peter, The Rock, thought he had it all figured out. He followed the rules and regulations of God and he did it with all that he was. But one day, he was shown a blind side so to speak. He was living a life that had exclusion in it even though he thought that he had it all figured out. Listen as I read Acts ten, nine thru sixteen. This reminds us of a high calling and thought process that we are challenged…commissioned to live…

9 The next day, as they were on their way and were approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof of the house about the sixth hour (noon) to pray, 10 but he became hungry and wanted something to eat. While the meal was being prepared he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet descending, lowered by its four corners to the earth, 12 and it contained all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common (unholy) and [ceremonially] unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).” 16 This happened three times, and then immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

Peter thought he had it all figured out but God had a different plan. The vision was not so much about food as it was about exclusion. Peter followed all the rules but he had this blind side that God needed to illuminate. He told God that he had never broken the “rule of man” and God showed him a better way. We too at times can be blindsided and need to have the blinders taken off to restore our vision.

We are taught that everything costs. But our ways are not God’s ways, praise God. It is a higher way that we are called. We are all invited to the table of Grace without price. This is our higher way in which we are to embody others. Hospitality is the way. Now here’s the thought provoking, higher way thought…even when we do not agree on everything, we are still one family at one table.

Is God trying to lower the sheet before your eyes to show you something new? Is God trying to spring up a new thing in your life but you are blinded by the way you think? Do you want to follow the Light of the world but the world is clouding your view? Then have I a deal for you. It costs you nothing but it will be more rewarding than all the glitter and glimmer of the world. Taste and see that the Lord is good and He will give you new eyes to see a higher way, a new heart that beats only for Him and a new song in your soul. Try it…I assure you that you will like it…

Amen

I-Am-Amazed

February 14, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

First Sunday of Lent

“The Way”

Adapted Sermon Series

 by Marcia McPhee

“The Wandering Way”

All Scripture is from the AMP Bible

Luke 1:46-49

Luke 4:1-2

Luke 15:11-32

 “I Am A-Maze-D…”

Prayer for the Spirit’s leading…

A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter four, verses one and two…listen to the Word’s of Life from God to you and me, pilgrims on a journey…

Have you ever walk through a maze? I have done several of them and boy are they confusing. You think you have it figured out and then you wind up at a dead end. So you back track to see if you can figure out where you went wrong. It is so good to get to the end of it because all the confusion has left and all you see is the exit. Ok…spoiler alert…if you keep you left hand on the wall…and keep following it…you find your way out…

Life itself can feel like a maze. You twist and turn trying the best you can to find your way through life and then it happens. You hit a dead end. Speak of some of those dead ends we come up against. You may think to yourself “how am I going to get out of this maze? When am I going to find the end? Where is the exit door? Am I lost forever never to return to the land of the living”?

We have begun our Lenten pilgrimage to the cross. During this journey we will bring Marcia McPhee with us as we look at her sermon series “The Way”. We are going to be looking at the different “ways” or paths that we take in life. My prayer is that as we journey together we will help each other and those in our lives find our way.

We began it last Wednesday as we realized that Ash Wednesday is “the way back”…we are taking a u-turn so to speak…back towards God…back to the relationship that God intended from the very beginning. In Ash Wednesday we are called to “repentance” which means to turn around and head in a new direction.

But there are times that we take “the wandering way”…As Marcia McPhee would put it…we walk through that maze and search for the way out…the way to the right path instead of hitting those walls of a wrong turn. How can we turn around and leave this wandering way? How can we know the way is wrong before we even begin?

I think part of the answer is in what Jesus did in the desert from the Luke piece this morning. Jesus was lead by the Spirit and wandered in the desert. He became hungry…as would everyone who was wandering for days on end…when we wander we to get hungry…hungry for something that will lead us out…hungry for that which is missing that caused us to wandering the first place… The first thing He was tempted with was his hunger…the next was His ego and the last was His faith in God. But every time He was tempted He answered with the Word of God. It is in the Word of God we find our strength to keep on “the way”…it is through the Word of God that we are filled…it is in the relationship with God we find our reason for living…it is the faith in God that will bring us back from the maze into His amazing love and light…

So…how sure can we be that God would accept us back after we have wandered? Have we wander too far and can’t come back? Is God so mad at us that He will not even look at us and turn His back? Are all who wander lost for good? Have you ever heard the story of the prodigal son…you know the one who wandered off on his own? Let me paraphrase the story for you…paraphrase the prodigal son story…

Is there a way home…can we make a u-turn…can we get out of the maze we are in? Yes…praise God YES! He is there watching and waiting for our figure on the horizon. He is waiting for us to come home. He is ready to put the robe of righteousness through Christ Jesus on us to warm us from the bitter cold of wandering. He wants to put the signet ring…the seal of the Holy Spirit…upon us that is sealed by the blood of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Are you in need of making a u-turn in your life? Are you needing a way to get out of the maze and become a-maze-d by the power and love of our awesome God? Come…find your way home…come and satisfy your wanderings hunger…come to the foot of Calvary and live…

Amen