Sheep or Goat?
"and he will put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left." Matthew 25:33
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Fire in the hole!
May 27, 2012 Pentecost Sunday/Memorial Day The Witness of the Holy Spirit Psalm 104:31-34 Common English Bible Ezekiel 37:1-14 NRSV Bible John 15:26-27, 16:8-14 NRSV Bible Acts 2:1-17 Message Bible A reading from the Book of Acts, chapter 2. . . verses 1-17. I am reading from the Message Bible this morning. . . Good Morning. . . today we are celebrating Memorial Day. . . A day when we remember loved ones and those who gave their lives for our freedom. It can be a day of sadness for some as they remember those who have gone before us. . . those who touched our lives in a special way. Even though there is sadness, we also have those memories of them that give us joy still. When I think of those who have gone before me, there is one who really stands out in my mind. . . our Risen Lord Jesus. Jesus came to teach you and to teach me a new way of living, a radical way of living and even though we are saddened by His death. . . there was and is great joy in His resurrection. I am sure the first disciples were saddened by His death and had great joy in His resurrection and His coming back but when He came back it was only for a short time. When He left again He promised He would always be with them and as well as with us through the Spirit that was given on that first Pentecost morn. Pentecost was the completion of Jesus’ ministry on earth. So today, we also celebrate the anniversary of the Spirit given on Pentecost as well as the birth of the church. . . Pentecost explained, short version. The readings from this morning really tell us just how powerful the Spirit of God really is. It is God’s breath within us that helps us. . . emboldens us. . . and gives us joy. . . In the Ezekiel Scripture that Teresa read this morning the Spirit of God. . . the ruach. . . the breath of God (in Hebrew). . . revived and made the dry bones come alive. WE can be like those bones at times. We can be the living dead, just walking around without hope, faith and love. We can be dead because of despair, sin and darkness. But, the Spirit of God makes us alive again and emboldens us to witness to Christ. A fire in the hole of dry bones. The John Scripture talks about the Spirit being re-supplied, so to speak. The spirit was at one time only given to just a few hand-picked people of God. Now Jesus is promising a re-supply of that Spirit but not just a chosen few but for all who believe. Humanity now has the Counselor. . . the spirit of truth to help us on the journey. . . the Witness. . . witness to/of Jesus that emboldens us to carry on that witness. . . this is the Spirit of Convince. . . it is the spirit that convinces the world. We alone cannot do it. . . we cannot change the heart of a non-believer. But, it is the Spirit within us that touches the Spirit of another, whether they know it or not. . . and we have the Guide. . . it guides us into the truth, opens our eyes in order to see the truth. . . God’s truth. A fire in the hole of humanity. And the Acts scripture. . . which I must say is one of my favorite pieces of scripture in the bible. . . The Spirit is re-fired. . . there were tongues of fire above the peoples head. It was an outward sign of what was happening inside of them. It was actually a communal thing. . . a communal experience. They were together in Jerusalem. Together they waited with anticipation for the Spirit. It was the gathering force for them. It gave the disciples, for you and me, for us the ability to witness about Christ. . . to witness to God’s word. The Spirit and the word are inseparable. . . when God’s word is preached, read and the sacraments like the Lord’s Supper. . . communion as we call it here are administered there is a re-firing. . . a renewing of the Spirit within us. And now it is for all! These men and women spoke in many different tongues that they didn’t speak before proving the Spirit is for all. A fire in hole of the soul of every believer. We need to, no, we have to, reignite that Pentecostal fire within Christ’s Church as well as in the life of every single believer. We need to begin by looking within ourselves. . . within our own mirror to begin the change. Then and only then, we can go forth in Jesus name with that fire in the hole of our own lives to spread the hills ablaze with a fire that cannot be quenched. We will be emboldened to go forth, in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel to ALL nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and yes. . . the Spirit. Then and only then we will be able to help fill the hole in humanity with the fire that burns bright. The fire of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen!
Monday, May 21, 2012
BALANCE
One...Two...Three...Go!
Good morning. Boy, it has been a beautiful week for weather. We have had more sun than rain this week. Since it has been a good week, Ray and I have been preparing the garden out back to be planted. I had forgotten how much you have to do to prepare the garden. You have to turn the soil. This year we even decided to add top sol from the compost pile so that the soil would be richer. Ray put about 20 wheel barrel’s full of the loom on the “back forty”. We weeded the stuff from last year. Then we had to buy plants and that alone took a lot of time and thought. It took a lot but because we prepared for the garden I think it will produce an abundance of vegetables. Preparing for things really does reap a good reward.
The first church was even prepared for. Before Jesus left this earthly realm, He prepared for what was to take place after He was gone. Jesus knew that it would take preparation in order for His disciples, His followers, to be fruitful. The disciples themselves had their own preparations to do…Let me explain. Because you see without theses preparations…I don’t think that the “Jesus Movement” would have taken place.
Let’s start with the Acts Scripture from this morning. You see in order for the first disciples to begin the church they needed to do some “corporate work”. They needed to fill the vacant position that was made when Judas betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide. They needed another apostle. Now this took place after the Ascension of Jesus and before the Spirit came on that first Pentecost. This person…Matthias, which means “Gift of Yahweh”, was there from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He was there from Jesus’ baptism right up to His Ascension. He was able to testify…witness…firsthand about Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. But it really wasn’t the disciples that chose Matthias, it was God. They prayed about who should take Judas’ place…they had two choices and God chose him. (How ironic that his name would mean gift of Yahweh…God. He was a nameless disciple that we don’t hear anything about until now. We too are chosen…nameless followers that accept the call of Jesus to witness to His life and resurrection…) Now that the corporate work is done…now that the position is filled…they are ready to begin.
Then we have the 1st John from this morning. These men believed the testimony of God that eternal life is found in Jesus. Through these men witnessing f the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, they were prepared to share their witness of Christ. Are we prepared, like these disciples, to share our witness? Are we ready to help prepare others hearts for the planting of God’s grace, love, hope and redemption? Are we ready to begin?
I think the most precious thing…most precious act…to prepare the disciples then and now was Jesus’ prayer for the disciples then and now. Jesus knew He was leaving earth and so in preparation of His going He prayed for the disciples that would carry on His work and share the story of His life, death and resurrection. He prayed for His followers then and now…this includes us, He prayed for you and for me… He prayed for protection from Satan and Satan’s schemes against those who would follow Him. He prayed that they, His followers, would be as one, working together for the kingdom. He prayed they would be made holy. Jesus was sent into the world to bring about change and now Jesus was and is sending His disciples…His followers…into the world. Now this call can be scary…especially for Jesus’ first followers. Jesus’ presence…His physical presence…is no longer here on earth. So…could…no…can the church get along without Jesus? The answer is YES! And this is why:
1. The church has Jesus’ prayers (John scripture this morning)
2. The church is guided by the Ascended Lord (Acts Scripture from this morning.
And
3. The church is assured eternal life in Christ (that’s eternal life in Christ from this morning’s 1 John scripture)
Beloved Disciples of Christ, the church needs to prepare in order to be fruitful for the kingdom. We have the prayers of Christ to embolden us and to give us strength. God’s word is true and His word that claims Christ and His mission is as trustworthy today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. It is on and with His word that we can truly witness to and for our Risen Lord.
Within Jesus’ prayer we find four things that equip you and me, the church, and helps us as we witness:
1. Protection from evil
2. That we be unified
3. It fulfills Jesus’ joy
And
4. That the life of the church be different from the life of the world.
Let us go forth as Matthias, leaving behind our agendas and picking up the kingdom’s agenda. Let us share our story as the first church did…The story of love, forgiveness and redemption of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be like that Faberge’ commercial and tell two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on and so on. Let us also be that gift from God to world around us as we spread the good news. Let us choose the “highway” of life that leads to the cross. The life that is eternal in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
God's Joy...
Experiencing God Through Images
Wisdom
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness
When we look at the world around us, it is evedent that there can be a lack of wisdom...a lack of God's wisdom. Humanity seems to think that they have it all figured out and that their view of things is what gives them wisdom. But humanity has it all wrong. It is through God's wisdom we see where the wrongs are and it is through that same wisdom humanity can leave how to make it right.
Friday, May 18, 2012
God knows and that's all that counts...
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
As we go though our life, we may think that all that w edo for others goes unnoticed. We may feel we will never get our "5 min. of fame." But that doesn't matter. God sees what we do and that is enough. God loves it when His children do the things He's has ordained and equipped us for. And like all good parents, He rewards us with his love, His presence, His Spirit and His guidance. What more could we ask for?
Amen?!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
The Gift of New Life
NEW BEGINNINGS
Each day, each month, each season, we are offered new beginnings.
Sight Psalms is a ministry of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church
All we need to do is ask...
Thursday, May 10, 2012
There are those days
(Sight Psalms)
TRANSFORMATION
God, weave the threads of my life into one seamless whole that is pleasing to you.
There are times in our lives when we question who we are...what we are...what we are to be. It is there...in these times...we need to lean evr more closer to our God and trust in His plan for us. His pleasing and worthy plan for our lives...
Amen
Monday, May 7, 2012
“Piety and Production?”
May 6, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Eastertide
Worship Theme: Life in Christ
Acts 8: 26-40 NRSV Bible
1 John 4: 7-12 NRSV Bible
John 15: 1-8 Common English Bible
A reading from the Gospel of John . . . chapter 15 verses 1-8 from the Common English Bible… (Read scripture)
Let us pray…
Loving and gracious God, we thank you for your word that is true and eternal. May the spirit that illuminated those who wrote down Your words illuminate our minds so that we may understand and hear the word you have for each of us today. May we have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that is open to you. Speak Lord…your sons and daughters are listening.
I don’t know about you but it seems to me that the quality of stuff these days just isn’t like it used to be. It seems to me that the more things that used to last for a long time last only a short amount of time. For instance…let’s take cars. Cars years ago would last way over 100,000 miles and keep going. Now it seems that they barely last to that point before they start falling apart. Before there was a quality to them, now it seems that now there is just a mass production and something was lost. When the production and quality were together there was a good product that lasted for a long time but now it seems that they have taken on a “micro-wave effect.” Get it done quick so that you don’t have to wait…doesn’t matter if they fall apart quick, we can just buy another…
It also seems that in the workforce production is more important than quality. If you can’t do the output then you can be replaced. It doesn’t matter if it is not the quality work that we used to do. Just need to “getter done”. What has happened to work ethics and quality? They worked so well together but now there seems to be a “parting of the ways.” It seems that society has stepped away from the pulse of America…the ethics that founded this country…its life blood so to speak. Quality and production really do work together…unfortunately we have kind of stepped away from that piece of our heritage.
So…what does all of this have to do with being a Christian you may ask…well, we as Christians have our own “quality and production”…but we call it something different. We look at it in more of a “piety and production” angle. Let me try to explain. Unless we as Christians get this right there could be a problem of just piety or just production and that’s not what we are called to do, not one or the other but unless we do both we are sunk…
In the Acts scripture this morning, we heard about Philip. Now Philip was filled with the Spirit (The Spirit abided in him…Christ’s Spirit)) and an angel of the Lord told him to go to Gaza. After he went to Gaza, as he was told, the Spirit told Philip to go over to the chariot of this Ethiopian Eunuch (He abided in the Spirit and did what the Spirit told him to do). Because the two were one, abiding in each other, Philip was bold enough in his witness of Christ to this person who was searching for answers. And what happened because of it? The man believed and was baptized. As we abide in Christ and Christ with us we are emboldened to share , to witness to others therefore fulfilling the Great Commission to “go out and make disciples.”…piety and production working hand in hand…
In the 1 John this morning, we heard that God is love. If we love one another we are born of God and know God. As we love one another God lives in us and we in Him. Without God in us we cannot show God’s love to others. If there is no abiding in each other then there is no witness of God’s love shown in and through us. Loving and abiding in God produces loving others…piety and production at its best…
Now…the Scripture from John 15 explains it all. You see, Christ is the true vine and we can do nothing unless we abide in Him and He abides in us. There is no production of the “fruits for the kingdom” without Him. What good are we to Christ if we are not “in sync” with Him? If we want to live a life of piety loving God and Christ and production producing fruit for the kingdom…we need to have both in our lives. The two are indispensible to each other. Unless we live in Christ and Christ in us we are just words with no actions or actions without words. We need both. Abiding in Christ produces good deeds…good works for God. Piety and production joining forces together.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to get this right. If we have piety alone we may just become ritualistic and ceremonial in our witness and that is not what we are called to be. If we only concentrate on production we only act the part without any meaning or real motivations…we just go through the motions. We need to put them together…being and doing…piety and production…prayer and work…worship and service. Like a hand in a glove. Out there sharing our witness of the true vine that sus tains and gives life to all who believe. Let us be offshoots of our production manager…our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen…
Thursday, May 3, 2012
“What’s so Good About the Good Shepherd?”
April 29, 2012
Fourth Sunday of Eastertide
Worship Theme: The Good Shepherd Lives
Psalm 23 NRSV Bible
Acts 4:8-12 NRSV Bible
John 10:1-18 the Message Bible
Shepherd me oh God beyond my wants, beyond my needs, from day into night… (Sing)
A reading from the Gospel of John…John 10 verses 1-18 (read from the Message Bible).
Let us pray:
Loving, merciful God, we thank you for the Good Shepherd you have given us in Christ Jesus. We thank you that you watch over the sheep of your pasture and would never let them be devoured. Speak to us this morning in that voice that we all hear and know. Thank you for bringing us to green pastures by still waters. Amen.
One of my most favorite children’s songs is Mary Had A Little Lamb. That little lamb surly loved Mary. It followed her every where she went. Even to places that it didn’t belong like to school. It must have known the voice of Mary and so whenever it heard her voice it would run right away to where she was. I am sure she must have taken good care of it because if she hadn’t, it wouldn’t have followed her wherever she went.
So…what’s so good about the Good Shepherd? In the Gospel read this morning, we hear about this Good Shepherd. This shepherd…Jesus…lays down His life for the sheep of His pasture. Jesus laid down his life for the “sheep” of God’s pasture. He took our sin in order for us to enter the green pasture that gives us new life. This shepherd knows His sheep. Jesus knows us…His sheep. We have a shepherd that watches over us and when we cry…when we bleat…in pain and sorrow… in fear, He hears us and is right there to save His sheep. He gathers in his sheep. Jesus gathers us in…His sheep…together so that we may be one flock, not divided like sheep and goats. (What’s so good about the Good Shepherd?)
Shepherd me o God beyond my wants, beyond my needs, from day into night… (Sing)
In the reading of the 23rd Psalm this morning, we hear about a Divine Shepherd. Jesus is our Divine Shepherd and because He is the Divine Shepherd:
- We shall not want ® We shall have rest, peace, forgiveness and guidance. (Green pastures, peaceful still waters, with our souls being restored and be led in the right paths.)
- We need not fear evil ® We have companionship, comfort and concern on our journey. He is with us. His rod and staff gives us comfort. He even prepares a table for us in the presence of those who are our enemies.
- And in Jesus, we shall dwell in His house forever ® We have that now. We have it in the future – life “forever”.
(What’s so good about the Good Shepherd?)
Shepherd me o God beyond my wants, beyond my needs, from day into night… (Sing)
The Acts 4 scripture from this morning tells is that there is healing and salvation found in the name of Jesus…in the name of the Good Shepherd. The words healing and salvation come from the Greek word sothenai (sow-than-a-i) which means to be saved and made whole. There is physical healing for the body and a spiritual healing for everyone who calls on the name of the Good Shepherd. We are made whole…we are made one with and in God and each other. When we are one there is peace. (What’s so good about the Good Shepherd?)
Shepherd me o God beyond my wants, beyond my needs, from day into night… (Sing)
We live in a world that has so many things trying to get our attention. There are so many people and things that want us to follow them and it that it can be very confusing. We try to follow what is right but we sometimes come up short. We try to do the right thing but sometimes what we follow leaves us just as empty and fearful as we were in the beginning. We think we hear the voice calling to us but it only ends up being an echo of the hired hand running away leaving us alone and afraid, bleating…crying out for someone to rescue and lead us into peace.
But we need to attune our ear to the voice of the One who laid down their life for us…the One who will never leave us…the One who is with us wherever we go...the voice of the Good Shepherd. Who is the shepherd that you and I are following? Are we being lead into green pastures with peaceful waters or are we following the leader of the world around us? How can we…you and I…follow the example of the shepherd and not that of the hired hand? It can be hard in a world full of noise and confusion all around us…in a world full of “wolves in sheep’s clothing”…in a world where there are things that call us out of the pasture and into the “dung heap”.
Shepherd me O God beyond my wants, beyond my needs, from day into night… (Sing)
We are called to follow the True Shepherd…the one who wants us to have a new life, restored and forgiven. We are called to know the Shepherd who calls us out of the darkness and into the light of His pasture. We are called to obey the True Shepherd who asks us to help Him find the lost sheep and to bring them into the sheepfold of His love, His mercy, His grace and forgiveness. We are called to be mirror images of the Shepherd. Kind of like apprentices to the Shepherd…learning from Him and going out to practice what we have learned… Do you know of any lost sheep? Is there anyone around us that needs the healing and restoration found in the One True Shepherd? Brothers and sisters of the pasture…It’s round up time…we…all of Christ’s sheep…need to be out there listening for the sound of those lost sheep bleating in the dark and bringing them back to the one who can make them whole and so that the “Son” (Capital “S”) can shine on their lives. What’s so good about the Good Shepherd? What’s so good is that He came to bring in the least, the lost and the forgotten into the pasture of peace…He came so that we could have forgiveness and redemption…this Shepherd became a sheep…that paschal Lamb… that sin offering for you and for me. That’s what is so good about this Good Shepherd…that’s the message we share with the world around us. Are we ready for the round up?! Now go out there and wrestle some sheep for the Good Shepherd in this world!
Amen!