Archive for category #resurreciton
Homecoming, by another way Oak Grove 2018 Matthew 2:7-12
Posted by myoikos in #2018, #connectthedots, #creation, #homecoming, #jesus, #resurreciton, Christian LIving, Covenant, Family, Holy Spirit, Marriage, Preparation, Relationship, Resurrection People, Spiritual Growth, Trust on October 13, 2018
Homecoming, by another way Oak Grove 2018
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. [NRSV]
I have such wonderful memories of racing out from Emerson to Euharlee and trying to beat the long coal train heading to-and-from the Bowen. It is so good to be back. I have been here on a cold and snowing morning when it was only two, and no more and we had Good Preaching. So I hope that is the case today. I am proud to see the growth of the ministries and good work at Oak Grove and am honored to be with you today.
I began to think back about the years I was pastor, student and neighbor. The years would have been between 1985 and 1989. Some remarkable things happened while we were in ministry together:
• The infamous “New Coke” was released, The Titanic found, The first report of Mad Cow disease
• and Madonna was holding the place Taylor Swift holds today. Michael Jackson released his “Bad” album and MTV actually played music videos.
• The Kroger in Cartersville and Town Center Mall opened. The news of the Atlanta Olympics was
• The movies out during that time included: Back to the Future, Top Gun and Dirty Dancing
• Some notable songs were: Walk like an Egyptian, The theme from Phantom of the Opera, and We are the World.
• Imagine back to the time of the start of the Internet, the first Game Boy and Nintendo, The first intel processor and MS Office and Windows debuted.
• We were witnesses of Haley’s comet, the Galileo mission to Jupiter and removal of the Berlin Wall with Mr Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.
• People were watching: “The Cosby Show”, “Cheers”, “Hill Street Blues”, Johnny Carson, Magnum PI and the start of the Simpsons.
We are not the same people today. The world has changed and is changing in a whirlwind of transformation. As our denomination looks ahead to the Winter of 2019 we know that more change is to be expected.
As important it is to look back and remember from where we have come, it is the witness of the magi that call us to look to the present and prepare for the future.
I have always found it remarkable that the Bible contains the story of people of faith who look for God in the movement of the starts, in a distant country with a different culture and perspectives and yet God is self-revealing in all creation.
I had a conversation with young man in his mid-twenties who was convinced that there was no need for God. The wonders and marvels of creation were but the finely tuned change of random variables that brought him more peace and “common sense” to his perspective. I asked him from where did the forces of gravity, fission, fusion, physics, mathematic and love evolve. He uncomfortably had no clear answer except to say they were only explained as observations that followed rather than formed the universe. He left the conversation and went home the same person. I hope that some of the conversation helped change his fears and desire to control rather than to follow and trust.
We live in a divided culture that is more segregated than at any moment in our lifetimes. The struggles leading through Civil Rights Era and the Civil War are not our finest moments. Now more than ever are we needing to make a life-giving, hope-sharing, love-trusting impact on the world around us.
When I was at Oak Grove I was married to Sarah Jane, who search the Cassville Church for a couple of the years. We enjoyed covered dish dinners, singings, and being with you in worship and in your homes. That is no longer the relationship that shapes my life. She loved the idea of being married much more than being married to me. I didn’t share that at the time, as I was immature and unwilling to share what it mean to fully share what it means to be a community of faith. I finally learned that 1) clergy are people who struggle with marriage too, 2) I’d be happier unmarried or married for a few years than to be miserable for 50 pretending a marriage. 3) I have learned that God’s path for us is only as straight and narrow as our willingness to trust. But grace goes before, with and behind us.
Now I have three children: Susanna at Stanford, Luke at 1st Leu in the AF, and Frances a sophomore studying AP Chinese and my wife Wendy is beginning her second career in Insurance. (If you ever seen the Hot-ones sign, a Hardees star, a Georgia Tourism commercial or a magazine in a plastic bag you have seen her work.) The past ten years we have cared for her parents in our home, her mom having Dementia and her father having Kidney failure, was not the road that we had planned, but God has carried us through a different way that blessed and shaped us profoundly.
Why the Wise-men passage on Home Coming?
During my years at Emerson and Oak Grove, Singer, James Taylor, released a song by David Bailey called, Home By Another Way. David Bailey was the son of a Presbyterian minister. As a fellow preacher’s kid the song resonated with me: Here was a famous hippy trippy ballad rocker singing about a bible verse: Not the paths that typically cross. Listen to the lyrics of his song:
Those magic men the Magi, Some people call them wise, Or Oriental, even kings, Well anyway, those guys
They visited with Jesus, They sure enjoyed their stay, Then warned in a dream of King Herod’s scheme
They went home by another way
Steer clear of royal welcomes, Avoid a big to-do, A king who would slaughter the innocents, Will not cut a deal for you, He really, really wants those presents, He’ll comb your camel’s fur
Until his boys announce they’ve found trace amounts, Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh
Time to go home by another way
Home is where they want you now, You can more or less assume that you’ll be welcome in the end
Mustn’t let King Herod haunt you so, Or fantasize his features when you’re looking at a friend
Well it pleasures me to be here, And to sing this song tonight, They tell me that life is a miracle, And I figured that they’re right, But Herod’s always out there, He’s got our cards on file
It’s a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch, Old Herod likes to take a mile
It’s best to go home by another way
Home by another way
What does it mean to Go Home, by another way?
To God home is hopefully a place of security, grounding and belonging.
Hear the Good News: God’s home, “Oikos”, is with us! With us!
It starts in a garden, it travels in a wilderness, it crosses paths in the crucifixion, it opens through an empty tomb, it blow as the wind around us, and surrounds us.
We are not who were once were:
In Christ we are those who make straight the paths for others
In grasp of the Holy Spirit we are those who open hearts and conversations
In the love of God we are those who God is creating new life and ways of living.
I regret that I must leave without a longer visit but I am leading a class for the district to build our skills in sharing Difficult Conversations as churches and church folks. As I look back on the Roads and Paths that God has lead, carried, and immersed me, I see at:
• Oak Grove taught me that God can take a mustard seed an make something grand and purposeful beyond our dreams.
• Grant Park I learned from one of the most diverse congregations in the Southeast what it means to share love
• In some other congregations I learned what looks like when we live in fear, pride, greed and worship of self.
• At Candler and Gammon I learned how to prepare for God to use me in changing ministry conditions.
• At Rock Spring I am ready to see how God will lead us into being a relevant part of the body of Christ in the 21st century.
The message I have received from much prayer, much prayer, much study, much conversation, much reflection, writing and reading is this:
1. Change is to be assuredly expected. (It is ok to embrace change, WHEN God leads us.)
2. What will be has not yet been revealed.
3. But when it is revealed: Count on seeing Jesus or not seeing at all.
• Therefore it is all important to make our home in God who does not change.
• Therefore it is essential that we find our way through what has been revealed.
• Therefore it is our purpose, passion and path to stick with Jesus, not for our sake but for Christ.
God Lord, we give thanks for these and all other blessing, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Luke 24:13-33 Walking, Talking, Sharing
Posted by myoikos in #2017, #easter, #forgive, #freedom, #heisrisen, #jesus, #resurreciton, #sacrifice, Uncategorized on April 30, 2017
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. [NRSV]
Imagine having a four-hour walk home?
Travel experiences: WALKING
- We walk from our homes to our cars to parking lots to our destinations.
- We might walk for “race-for-a-t-shirt” or
- a fund or awareness event to show support
- we might walk to exercise for health
- we might walk on a hike to see the view
- What about walking to be spiritual present with someone?
Many would say that’s not for me.
[Note: Honestly, I am not sure why mini-pilgrimages have not been the tradition on Easter afternoon?]
- Maybe walk home from church on Easter?
- Or, walk back to church Easter Sunday evening for communion?
Travel Stories can be very powerful.
When we travel with someone, we have concentrated time together.
- Have your ever recounted funny, interesting or challenging events?
- Past vacation?
- Meet new friends who were strangers on a previous vacation. The Hymian’s
- Events that happened where you are passing on the road?
- Anticipating what will happen when we arrive at our destination?
- Sharing common adventures
If you had four hours travel time. How would you use that time in your car?
Would your faith come up as a topic of conversation?
If it did, What verses would you turn to reveal Jesus to a stranger?
Before we get to Bible verses:
- Some people are better at striking up a conversation than others.
- Some people are slow of heart to believe.
- Some people know the details of the story yet they doubt or are still searching.
Excused assignment?
A: There is not one verse that reaches and convinces or convicts all people.
A: Some people are uncomfortable discussing their faith and spiritual life
A: I’m uncomfortable when people talk about their faith with it is different from mine.
A: Isn’t it more polite to not be pushy.
Question: What is Jesus’ model?
- He is observant, see’s the sadness and disappointment
- He is inquisitive, asking for clarification
- He is instructional, drawing on scripture to transform the sadness and disappointment.
- He is well studied, and well prepared to share.
One Easter Sunday, the first appearance of Jesus is modeling what disciples are called to do.
When the words are not enough, he resorts to actions.
There is a problem with the saying: “Your Actions may be the only Gospel someone sees”.
- It assumes we have the heart of God in all our actions
- It assumes how we act always reflects God
- It assumes we are intentional about modeling our faith in all situations.
- It assumes we know why we do the things we do in the name of Christ.
CONFESSION
All my actions are not always reflecting Jesus.
I need to know the core of my faith before I rely on actions only.
Think of Train leaving the tracks
If I see the resurrection as God’s ultimate victory over death and complete sacrifice of love for you and for me and name that as the core of my understand of LOVE:
If someone says, I love peanut butter or I love you if you agree with my world view, then are they talking about the same LOVE?
Which do we value more?
God’s heart or our freedom?
God’s word or our comfort?
God’s grace or our opinions?
God’s hope or our answers?
God’s patience or our resourcefulness?
God’s work or our work?
God’s love or
Bottom Line: Easter people need to know the scriptures, AND be ready to show them in action, AND meet people at Christ’s table.
Colossians 3:1-4 Easter: Hidden with Christ
Posted by myoikos in #2017, #cross, #easter, #findingJesus, #gotell, #heisrisen, #jesus, #mysundaysermons, #resurreciton, #rsumc, #sermons, Easter, Hope, Jesus, Joy, judgement, Meaning, Relationship, Resurrection People, Sacrifice, Trust, Truth, Witness, Worship on April 14, 2017
Revealed in Christ
The Big Change in the Meal
Who am I in Christ Jesus
Easter People Celebrate
Hebrews 2:14-18 “For Folks Like Us.”
Posted by myoikos in #2017, #conversation, #cross, #freshstart, #goodness, #jesus, #relationship, #resurreciton, #sacrifice, Communion, creation, God, holy communion, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Relationship, Sacrifice, Salvation, Sin, sinner, Trust on February 4, 2017
Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. [NRSV]
Christ Came to for sinners like us.
One of the Core faith questions is: Why did Jesus have to die for our sins? If God created the world in the first place, why not just speak the word, MULIGUN or DO-OVER and “so be it!”?
How many backyard ball games have been remedied by the power of the “do over”?
The relationship God creates humanity for is one of mutual trust, respect, and love. When we trust our own will, when we disrespect God’s rules, and when we turn “love of God” into “love of self,” we give up the innocence, wholeness, and life. We have no more than our own life to offer, and if we give it up, then we have no relationship with God.
In the Garden of Eden, once sin broke the relationship, Adman and Eve were out of the God-relationship and had to work on their relationship with God rather than only enjoy a relationship with God.
In the Flood and Noah, God tries the do-over, but sin continues to show up as quick as the remedy cleans the way, sin returns and the same as before the cleansing.
God offers to keep the relationship for us, even if we break it, if we will trust God to provide, lead and love us. But the offer is short lived and God’s will is questioned and rejected.
In the “Shark Tank” deal, God offers 100% of the profits, gives 100% of the resources, for us to choose life instead of death, knowing we will throw the whole deal away again and again. To seal the deal: God gives us the life we cannot restore, at God’s full cost, because the one thing God desires most is that you be freed from death, freed from the power of sin and free to ‘be’ with God, all of us.
Still, we listen to voices of talking snakes, tempting devils, and convincing logic within our own minds and we throw the gift away.
For us, Sin: That which distances us from a relationship of trust and love with God and the People of God.
Traditional, the Cardinal Sins our favorite, go-to list that usually needs our attention:
- Pride,
- Greed,
- Lust,
- Envy,
- Gluttony,
- Wrath, and
- Sloth
Virtue: That which helps build a relationship of trust and love with God and the People of God.
- The Old Testament virtues are to Love God with all your
- heart
- mind and
- spirit.
- The New Testament virtues are
- Faith,
- Hope, and
- Love.
We can spend all day a church, feed five hundred people and sing praises till the cows come home and with one little word, we fail God.
Look at the short list
- Pride, misplaced achievement
- Greed, the assumption that things and money are our peace and hope and joy.
- Lust, Self-gratification of power or the absence of love in our relationships, satisfying only the body or mind.
- Envy, Not being content or satisfied, but alway wanting.
- Gluttony, satisfying the body, thinking that daily bread will bring us wholeness.
- Wrath lost in Anger, anger is, at times a healthy response, but when anger seeks revenge and dominance we come to the dark side.
- Sloth. Apathy and Laziness, the waiting for what we deserve to be given to us.
The remedy and our salvation:
The Gospel Remain, Jesus Christ who dies for our sins and his resurrection for our eternal life.
Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested
- We come to communion as it is our reaffirming Christ’s life has been given for our life
- We come confession our sins and trusting God’s promise to save
- We come to the table to eat, not of gluttony, but of grace
- We come giving praise for God’s mighty acts and not our own
- We come because we see the wealth in a life of giving ourselves to God
- We trust God’s power is greater than our own.
- We come knowing that we are empty without God’s mercy
- We come knowing God would be justified in being angry with us, but instead God set’s a place for us at the table.
So come, You life is waiting at the table
- Gilligan’ s Island
pride, The Professor - greed, Mr. Howell
- lust, Ginger
- envy, Mary Ann
- gluttony, Mrs. Howell
- wrath, The Skipper
- sloth, Gilligan
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- Lion Witch and Wardrobe: Gluttony
- Prince Caspian: Envy
- Dawn Treader: Greed
- Horse and His Boy: Lust
- Silver Chair: Sloth
- Magician’s Nephew: Anger
- Last Battle: Pride
- STAR WARS
- Pride, Luke
- Greed, Boba Fett
- Lust, Han Solo
- Envy, Obi Won Kenobi
- Gluttony, Jabba the Hut
- Wrath, Darth Vader
- Sloth. StormTroopers?
Harry Potter
- Pride, professor Gilderoy Lockhart
- Greed, Dumbledore of knowledge
- Lust, Snape for power
- Envy, Wormtail
- Gluttony, Duddley Dursley
- Wrath, Voldemort
- Sloth. Horace Slug-Hornn
Show Time Series
- Gwen as Wrath.
- Bridgette as Sloth.
- Lindsay as Lust.
- Beth as Envy.
- Courtney as Pride.
- Izzy as Gluttony.
- Heather as Greed.
Acts 2:1-21 Peter: Drunk or Driven? 20160514 RSUMC
Posted by myoikos in #2016, #resurreciton, #sermons, 5 Practices, celebration, Christian LIving, Disicpleship, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Pentecost, Resurrection People, Spiritual, Spiritual Growth, Worship on May 15, 2016
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,
because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.‘ [NRSV]
Prophecy: In the last days..
Jesus instructed the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit, Comforter, to empower them. In Acts Chapter 2 we see the Holy Spirit Revealed. Peter begins explaining the scene in the context of the prophet Joel. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples this would be in last days.
Remember how Peter had the great idea to build monuments on the mountain of Transfiguration to remember Jesus, Moses and Elijah being revealed. God interrupts and says, “Listen.”
Remember how Peter promises to proclaim Jesus, even to the point of death and Jesus corrects him, no you will deny me three times tonight.
Remember how Jesus hears the Good News of the Resurrection from Mary and does not believe her, but runs to see the tomb for himself, and leaves not finding Jesus, only the empty grave.
Peter selecting a less than accurate passage from the Old Testaments prophets to make sense of the tounges of fire and the understanding of the Good News through different languages.
The Joel passage is similar to what Peter, the disciples and the great crowd of strangers experience that day. The part that Peter points is the Spirit’s presence being revealed through, men and women, slave and free, young and old.
Some say they are drunk on milky grains, new wine.
This festival, celebration that has brought the crowds into town is also known as the Festival of Weeks. This celebration was a way to serve God by bringing first fruits, the early crops, and waiting for God to provide the full harvest, as a remembrance of when Moses came down from the mountain with the law, the ten commandments. .
The youngest, most tender grains of wheat, barley and fruits like grapes and apples. These would be cooked with the old leaven or yeast and set aside to ferment. At the end of the countdown of seven weeks of seven days, the following, 50th, day would be ‘Pentecost, the 50th day.
So it would not be unreasonable for some to say, the disciples had been drinking the new wine, the freshly fermented beer, cider or wine.
The disciples had not been drinking but they were filled with something else:
The Holy Spirit.
God’s presence was poured out like liquid flames, resting on the disciples, similar to Moses’s burning bush event.
Another mis-understood part of the passage is about speaking in tongues. Actually the text suggests that they were speaking Galilean but the hearers from different regions and foreign lands, heard in thier own native language. Some translations go a step further and say they heard in their own hearts.
So Much for the History Lesson?
What do we learn about the Spirit as a take-away as modern day disciples?
First. The Spirit moves like the wind.
2nd, The power is revealed when they were all together, not a solo event.
3rd, The Spirit worked through the disciples, The disciples were vessels, hose pipes, conductors, channels, God uses to reach others.
4th, The Spirit choose the moment and venue
5th. Not everyone will understand or receive, but those who do, find God alive and at work through our willingness to serve.
Pentecost: A Season of Service
The Weeks of Counting: Are a call to serve God in the weeks ahead.
Our response might be: But school is almost over, it’s vacation time!
It is time to remember God calls us together
It is time count the ways God guides us. Review one commandment a week.
It is time to be available for the Spirit to work through us
It is time celebrate God is will with us. We are spiritual people, saved through Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Young and old, Males and Female, Oppressed or Oppressor, God is in Charge
John 10:22-30 “Faith Snatchers” 20160417 RSUMC
Posted by myoikos in #mysundaysermons, #resurreciton, 5 Practices, celebration, Communion, connection, creation, Easter, Jesus, Radical Hospitality, Uncategorized on April 16, 2016
At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” [NRSV]
The Festival of the Dedication
A Jewish Feast of Lights celebrating a time between the Old and New Testament to the Maccabean Revolt when the temple was reclaim and rededicated after the Jews were forced to give up the temple and the practicing of their faith.
This celebration is better known as Hanukkah. When the temple was reclaimed only one small jar of oil could be found to light the temple lights. The jar was enough oil to burn the lights for one day, yet the oil burned for eight days.
It is at this celebration of reclaiming the temple worship, the miracle of lights, and a restoring of the faith by the Jews that Jesus makes the claim that leads him to the cross.
John 10:30 The Father and I are One.
There it is: Jesus said it as plainly as at any other point in the Gospels.
- The I Am that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob called father.
- I am that father. I am, I Am with you.
- The I Am the Moses saw in the burning bush and the cloud guided them in the wilderness.
- The Spirit that moved over the face of the earth at creation, I was the one working that day.
- I’m the Light of the World.
So During the Festival of Lights, Jesus, the Light of the World, is Revealed.
- How are we willing to shine the light of Christ on the darkness in the world?
- When are we willing to enlighten others that we filter life through our faith
- Can you see yourself, filled with the ‘oil’ or fuel of the Holy Spirit to be a vessel for Christ?
Live as one connected to God.
- They might take my body, but not my spirit
- They might take my things, but not my identity
- They might take my position, but not my self-worth
- They might take my health, but not my eternal life
- They might take my reputation, yet God will never let go.
Why Wouldn’t we trust/reveal our Christ connection?
There are those people and things that grab at our connection.
Driving through a neighborhood, my phone wifi trying to logon to just any signal it can find. When my setting is to grab onto anything, even in the name of saving some money, I am putting myself at risk.
- Im not as pretty
- I’m not as wealthy
- I’m not as popular
- I’m not as happy
- I’m not as worthy
- I’m not as important
- I’m alone
- I’m not appreciated
- I’m not included
- I’m lost and forgotten
- I don’t have time
- I don’t have enough
- I’m not ready
Every time we listen to theise voice we pry away at God’s grip on our hearts. God will not let go, unless we ask him to let us go our own way.
How to I/Someone find the way back to God?
Ray Charles sings about it in our state theme song, Georgia on my Mind.
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you”
No peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps [Jesus] on my mind
Change lyrics of the World’s songs, hooks and teaser to reframe our connection with the one who will never let us go.
John 21:1-19 “Breakfast With Jesus” 20160410 RSUMC
Posted by myoikos in #breakfastwithJesus, #helives, #jesus, #mysundaysermons, #relationship, #resurreciton, #sunrise, Christian LIving, Intentional Spiritual Growth, Resurrection People, Spiritual Growth, Trust on April 9, 2016
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this, he said to him, “Follow me.” [NRSV]
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the first meal of the day sets the tone for your energy level and kick starts our metabolism. Like all things we are taught as children, some current research that suggests that ‘truism’ depends on what you eat, if you are trying to lose weight or the portion sizes. The one thing that has not changed is if you are going to skip a meal, Breakfast is the least helpful meal to skip. So let’s focus on ‘skippers.’
At what point do you stop to refuel your vehicle. When the red needle on the fuel indicator begins to move:
- If you have time
- If you are late
- If you have money
- If you need to get more money
- If you are looking for a better price
- If you are waiting for a favorite location
- If you participate in a rewards program for coffee and your car fuel is not your priority.
- What does all that matter if you run out of fuel before you arrive at work, school, the store or your intended location?
Instead of skipping, waiting or throwing the dice..
- What if you made the priority have the fuel you needed for the day
- What if you made the time and allocated the resources to start the day fueled.
- as that relates to your car, your body and your Spirit?
- If these three: Which most reflects our life as a Christian?
- We have responsibilities to transport ourselves and others
- We have a programmed desire to stay alive and feed our bodies
We have the most freedom and flexibility about being responsible to our God relationship and our spiritual selves.
As People of the Ressurection we have something to learn from Jesus’s breakfast buffet.
Typically we join the disciples in the boat or at the shore as they haul in after they fish on-the-other-side of the boat.
First Disciples Instruction: Work and live as if you were living on the “other side.”
- Live like you know the resurrection of Jesus applies to your life.
- Live like you would live if God’s will were done on earth as it is in heaven.
- Live, now, like you would live if you were walking with Jesus by the sea of Tiberius.
- Live as “other sided” people.
Second Disciples Instruction: Bring the fruit of our Spiritual labors to God.
- How many fish did they catch without Jesus’s help? 0
- How many fish did they catch working all through the night? 0
- How many fish did they catch looking where their skills and intuition lead them? 0
- How many fish did they catch with all their combined years of experiences and talent? 0
- How many fish did they catch at Jesus’s direction? 153, 8 plus 12 fish for 12 disciples.
What if they skipped Jesus’s Suggestion?
Jesus third instruction is to eat breakfast with him.
Bring some of the fish, let us prepare and share breakfast.
I have always wondered why the United Methodist Men are the only group that typically gathers for breakfast. Why is it that breakfast with Jesus on the beach has not become one of the rituals and practices of the church.
Maybe it’s the menu: Fish for Breakfast!
4. The Fourth instruction to disciples is to answer: Do you love me most?
Do you love me more than your car, your job, your school, your friends, your family, your body, your everything?
- your car,
- your job,
- your school,
- your friends,
- your family,
- your body,
- your money,
- your skills,
- your everything?
- your school, your friends, your family, your body, your everything?
Jesus gathers with disciples, empowers them with the power of the Holy Spirit and their gifts for ministry, they share a meal and experience the power of the Ressurection to start their lives.
This is our model of daily life as People of the Ressurection now!
Start every day in Jesus
- and we renew the power of the risen lord every day.
Start every day with Jesus
- and we set the bar for what God will do through us.
Start every day listening to Jesus
- and we set our attention in the Ressurection life we live now.
Let Jesus be our first meal of the day,
- for if we skip that we are more likely to hunger, fail and loose our way.
HOW TO:
Prayer: Jesus Let me Follow you today. Fill me with your Spirit. Feed me with your Word. Trust me with your work. Keep me in your heart and your heart in me. Amen.
John 20:19-31 NRS. “Be Believing” RSUMC 20160404
Posted by myoikos in #2016, #easter, #findingJesus, #helives, #newlife, #resurreciton, 5 Practices, belief, Easter, fear, Fellowship, Intentional Spiritual Growth, Meaning, Prayers, Scripture, Spiritual, Trust, Truth on April 2, 2016
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. [RSV]
Seeing is Believing
- Show Me, What Proof is convincing for one is not convincing for all
- Evidence might be physical, emotional or spiritual
- Understanding is the starting point
Not Seeing, yet Believing is Faith
- Faith is based in what we do not control
- Faith is Trusting what is untrustworthy
- Faith is Affirming what God provides
Faith is the Core
- Faith is generally a process
- Faith is tested as a muscle is strengthen
- Faith is hardened as steel is heated and cooled.
The Purpose of Faith is for our Relationship of Salvation
- Jesus’s Death pays for our sin
- Jesus’s Resurrection restores our life
- Jesus’s presence in the Holy Spirit is to build the relationship
Commitment to the Relationship
- Starting with the Scriptures, Feed your Faith and Belief
- Building on the faith you have seen, heard, read, experienced Test
- Take the Jesus relationship to life: Family, Work, School, Community, etc.
- Jesus makesFoundation for our Relationship with God Through Christ Jesus
- COMMIT to Intentional Spiritual Growth. Bible Study, Sunday school, Daily Devotion, Small Group.
- Disciples were Gathered, even in fear and doubt, Jesus SHOWS up.
- Disciples share their faith stories, Jesus Shows up to Confirm
- Disciples offer questions and challenges, Jesus Shows up for Faith
- Disciples meet Jesus in the process and their life is filled with Faith and Salvation, through Jesus Christ, living with them.
Luke 13.31-35 Casting Evil and Curing Relationships 20160221 RSUMC
Posted by myoikos in #forgiveness, #goodness, #jesus, #repent, #repentance, #resurreciton, #rsumc, #sacrifice, #turnaround, Christian LIving, Citizenship, Lent B, Prophets, Scripture, Spiritual Growth, Trust on February 20, 2016
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” [NRSV]
Jesus Agenda: Casting out evil, Curing the broken, and finishing his work on the third day.
- A fore telling of Jesus’ arrest, conviction and crucifixion are addressed by the disciples and Jesus.Jesus is talking back. Calling Herod by his action, a fox, cunning, callus and calculated. Skills of self preservation for the fox. Jesus’ mission, in Luke’s Gospel, requires him to be back in Jerusalem, positioned for the crucifixion.The Agenda cannot be stopped by Herod or any evil. But that will not stop evil things from happening.KEY:
God’s presence cannot be taking away, but neither are we to expect evil to disappear in the world.Prophet’s Job is Seldom Appreciated.
- Jesus points to the difficult task of being a prophet.The Prophet says nothing new. The prophet reminds us of the rails that our collective train should be running.The Prophet reminds us that God desires up to be with God.Jesus is more than any prophet. Jesus is God showing up first hand, the real deal, the actual.Jesus’s lament is how the necessary role of the prophet has never been without attack and often takes one’s life.We have at least two prophetic voices for our capital city:
I would suggest that our two leading political candidates (S&T) have tapped into the telling the people what the want to be reminded of, but their trains are running in opposing directions. Neither of them claim to be God’s prophets, but folks are desperate for a prophet and will follow until the find the prophet’s flaws or the prophet’s message becomes too personal. Mud-Slinging Campaign: (Interesting to hear from Jesus and John the Baptizer) Herod, was the secular leaders and he was a ‘fox’. The Sanhedrin were the religious leaders and they were a brood of vipers. God desires us to be together.There is a VERY powerful moment of self-disclosure and God’s heart being revealed in these words of Jesus outside of Jerusalem:The Mother Hen and her brood: How I wish my chicks would trust me. (Not just after they are in trouble, not after they are lost to evil, not just when faced with their own mortality, BUT when there was time to “walk together in the garden”) Remember the relationship with Adam and Eve, where God would walk and talk with them face-to-face, and explore the garden along side with them (Gen 3.8)The Prophets role is to remind God’s people of the relationship of Good and Evil. Helping folks remember what side of the fence they are too live.
- Are we people who put God first?Are we a people who put God 2nd or third or last?Are we people who honor our parents and their generation?Are we a people who lie, cheat, steal and murder?Are we people who choose our own agenda or God’s?Are we people who hunger and thirst to be correct or forgivenAre we people who satisfied with God or we want more?Are we people who listen to snakes and foxes?Are we people who will call out what it is evil, broken and diseased?Are we people who will turn to God or Government to define us?
These are the prophet’s questions: What are our answers?The Declaration:Blessed are those who come in the name of the Lord.
Luke 24.36-48 “What’s For Lunch?” RSUMC 20150419
Posted by myoikos in #april2015, #choice, #easter, #forgive, #forgiveness, #freedom, #itsallaboutthebase, #mysundaysermons, #newlife, #relationship, #repent, #repentance, #resurreciton, #rsumc, #sermons, #turnaround, #umc, #whatsforlunch on April 19, 2015
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself ! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses,the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. [NRSV]- Ideas don’t get hungry
- theories don’t need to eat
- collections of stories and moral teaches don’t need physical nourishment.
- We are more than our physical needs
- We are more than our material posessions
- We are more than the health of these bodies
- We are more than the suffering of this present age
- We are Spiritual people, child of God, joint heirs, brother/sisters with Jesus, God’s people, God’s family.
- Jesus keeps showing up, directing us to OUR purpose.
- We need the signs just like everyone else.
- We need reminding and encouragement
- We need Jesus to show us the same old story because our doubts and fears are real.
- forget
- let go
- look away
- taste other fruit
- wrestle
- break the commandments
- are unfaithful individually AND collectively
- THESE are the FAITH STRUGGLES in the OT, NT, and today.
The base and foundation of our relationship is expressed in the Gracious give and take of
REPENTANCE: God loves us so much we know we can ask and God will forgive.
FORGIVENESS: God loves us so much, when we ask, God sees our change of heart and forgives.
We mess us… See list above… and offers of Forgiveness when we repent, turn around.
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Vanderbilt Lectionary Weekly Texts- January 27, 2019: Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 * Psalm 19 * 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a * Luke 4:14-21
- January 27, 2019: Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year C)