Flip Flops Red Sea Exodus 14:9-16 07/08/2012

Sermon 7-8-12 Red Sea Exodus 14: 9-16

9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses(L) and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops(M)—pursued the Israelites and overtook(N) them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.(O)10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried(P) out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?(Q) What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”(R)13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.(S) Stand firm and you will see(T) the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see(U) again. 14 The LORD will fight(V) for you; you need only to be still.”(W)15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?(X) Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff(Y) and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water(Z) so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Continue in our series on Exodus - flip flops….

Tell the story

Story of deliverance – of facing a terrifying moment
Story of change, story of pain

Stages of change-
Leaving, being in between- in the wilderness, arriving- adusting.

Three stages of the exodus
Leaving Egypt
Wandering in the neutral zone
Arriving

We all face change and it is often very difficult, even painful.
As a church.
• Moving – relocating
• Capital campaigns
• Loss of a staff person
• Pastoral change
• Budget shortfalls

As individuals
• Loss of a loved one
• Divorce
• Dealing with children
• Empty nest
• Loss of a job
• Loss of a friend
• Aging

Hebrews are slaves

Hebrews are physical and mental slaves
Stockhold syndrome – Patty Hurst, JC Dugard
10 generations in Egypt……how long have you been stuck in your outlook
Almost everyone is a slave to something. Almost everyone plays the story of the exodus out in their lives.

The pain we know is better than the fear of the future pain
Romans 12- mind needs to be renewed – look it up
Liberate the mind, not just the body.


Change is necessary
Change is unavoidable

Ford station wagon 3rd seat – like a rumble seat
you only see where you have been, never where you are going.

Normal human responses include
Fight or flight
Seek comfort
I want to go back to eqypt

How do we choose to face adversity?

Fear or faith?
Demand an easy life. Get mad at God because it isn’t going so well.
Learn to trust God in the wilderness.

Quotes regarding change

1. Given the choice between facing change or proving that there is no need to do so, most of us start immediately on the proof.
2. Those who are the most comfortable in Egypt are going to have the most trouble in the wilderness
3. No one discovers new lands unless they are willing to leave sight of their boats at anchor for a very long time. [peter walking on the water]
4. Just because things are different, doesn’t mean that things are bad.

5. When you are fighting something, is it because you know God’s will is something else or because you prefer something else? Check with quote from easum audit

6. transition begins with letting go of something. – if you cant let go of Egypt, you will never enter the promised land.
7. We must always be willing to sacrifice what we are for the sake of what we might become.
Draw a box on a piece of paper…..how do things get in? how do things get out?
8. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it will bear no fruit.
We must die to one life before we can enter into another
a. A man does not want his parents to die. Yet it is his destiny to someday be the family patriarch. The oldest. The one with the most life experience. This is his destiny and it will never come to be until his parents die.
9. What does all of this say about Christian maturity….we must constantly be thinking, be open be looking for those things that take us closer to Christ. Is our life designed by moving forward or trying to keep everything the same?

Conclusion - There is an alternative
We spend our lives fighting that which we cannot control
We know what its like when we don’t, so why not try something different
Trust God

How to learn to trust
Pray. “Father, if this is the new reality; let me see the good in it. Let me learn to find the joy in that which I cannot control. Give me your peace that passes understanding.”

Flip Flops Moses and the Burning Bush Exodus 3:1-6 7/1/2012

Sermon 7-1-12 flip flops moses and the burning bush Ex 3:1-6

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

New series from exodus – flip flops

The story of moses
Pharaoh wants the babies killed
Moses floats in a basket
Moses rescues a Hebrew slave
Kills the Egyptian
Runs away to midian
Marries daughter of midianite priest
Sees the burning bush
• Could he have walked right past?
• How far away was he when he saw it?
• Is it possible to miss the leading of God
• The voice doesn’t speak until he goes to investigate
Argues
Delivers the people from Egypt

What do we take away from this story?

1. He is the great mystery Ex 3
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’(AF) Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM(AG) has sent me to you.’”

We love to label, tell, arrange, judge and gossip. We want it all under our control. Yet
god reveals himself as the great I AM unnameable and unseeable except in the flames of a burning bush -- a permanent Mystery. ...

1. He is beyond our human mind. I cant be named like other Gods – not Dagon or Baal or Zeus
2. the great gift of judeo – Christianity…. Mysterious yet close

2. What does your identity come from
I am blank years old.
o I am tall or short
o I am slim or not
o I am popular or not
o I am loved or not
o I work at such and such a place

What does your identity come from
God says “I AM WHO I AM” that you may say, By the grace of God I am what I am.
(I Corinthians 15:9-10)
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them —yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

3. Moses had a vision
After arguing with god, moses finally gets with the program. He becomes a called and determined leader. Some would tell you that he never reached the promised land.
That’s not true: He saw the promised land every day he visualized his vision.

Transition- well I kind of feel encouraged, but I kind of feel like I can never do anything like this….

4. I hear this so often….people who think they have goofed it up
moses is a murderer
runs away – fugitive from justice
marries a midianite woman
her father is a priest of midian
yet God still called moses
therefore, God can still use you

5. Burning Bush – represents gods presence in your life

5. Burning Bush – represents gods presence in your life
The possibility of an amazing spiritual exp in your life
Don’t discount it
How god leads you if you don’t have such moments
Examples
• Waves on the beach
• Night sky
• Sunrise/sunset
• You can find his peace
even when God speaks we struggle to listen
God’s “signs” invite a response…

Conclusion - So What?
Will we live n fear hiding from r past, hiding from God or will we live in faith
Will we walk past the leading of our Father or will we stop and investigate

will you continue to believe that you are too broken to be used by God, or will you finally receive his grace and get in the game?

Exodus: Leaving & Arriving - Part 1: Leaving Egypt May 17, 2009 Exodus 12:31-42

Exodus: Leaving & Arriving - Part 1: Leaving Egypt May 17, 2009 Exodus 12:31-42

today we begin a 3-part series on the exodus
Leaving - the wilderness - the Promised Land
The exodus is a famous story

• It is a great biblical story
• It is our story
• It is God's story of deliverance and salvation

Leaving
The biblical story
Joseph and his brothers are in Egypt
A pharaoh comes to power that enslaves the Israelites
Slavery, bricks w/o straw
Hebrew boy children killed - Moses in the basket
Adult Moses kills the Egyptain
Flees to midian - marries, takes a job
God appears to him in a burning bush

10 plagues

1. water into blood
2. frogs
3. lice-gnats
4. flies
5. pestilence on animals
6. boils
7. hail
8. locusts
9. dark
10. first born

departure
chased by pharaohs army

how could this story be applied to WCC?
Every church faces "ruts" difficult times
Complacency over God's vision

Every time we get off mission, we need to remember that God wants to deliver us from ourselves.

for us
That which began as a good thing has turned into bondage
Identity lost in the process
Want to leave, usually need help
Leaving old town, old school, old friends
Vices addictions something that you know is a sin

Need help...Parent, friend, Moses

Without leaving, there is no arriving
Do you want to finish college? then you must leave your present life

Easy to say that you want to change, it is hard to change
Hard to leave
what holds us back...fear of the unknown

• We like comfort
• Egyptain army
• Pharaoh - parents - us

Some people are the wind beneath our winds, Bette Middler others hold us back

3 year old at McDonalds, stuck in the stickers and the mud song - ne brought me out of the miry clay, he set my feet on a rock to stay

the fact is, you have to want to change
how many counselors does it take to change a light bulb
just one, but the light bulb has to really want to change

john 5:1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

7"Sir" the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. while I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

We can suffer with things for a long time
It is not easy, but Jesus can help you

real change is hard
but when you hear the voice of God, everything changed
many of you have this sensation
Calling us
God spoke to Moses in the burning bush
God speaks to us if we are listening
"It's just time." You have fought this thing for years and it is just time

If you have been struggling with something that has held you in bondage. If you have struggled with a particular thing that you know to be sin

Maybe this is a great day of turning for you
there is deliverance and salvation in our God.
Put your trust in him-
Let us pray

Exodus Part 2-Wilderness Numbers 20:1-11 05/24/09

Sermon May 24, 2009 exodus pt 2 – wilderness numbers 20:1-11

Exodus, pt two set up the series….leaving, wilderness, arriving
Last week we talked about leaving Egypt
How difficult it can be to change
Real change always begins with a decision to go

The biblical story of wilderness
Pharaoh’s army is destroyed
Pillar of cloud by day, fire by night
Straight to the Promised Land
Spy out the land 12 spies – Joshua, caleb
Bad report – like grasshoppers
Went back in to try and fight the battle………
The lord was not with them, the enemy prevailed.
Wandering
Death of an entire generation
Complaints
Manna, quail
Water from the rock
Complaints
Ten Commandments
Golden calf
Set parameters for worship and feasts
Moses lays down the law of relationship and society
The tabernacle is designed and built

The time of wandering is over.
On the brink of conquest
Moses dies, on a mtn overlooking the promised land.
That is picture 2 of the biblical story

For the church
Churches have wilderness times. It can be a time of lostness
Don’t know what we are about- never knew what we were about….
The church that didn’t want to grow
The church that preferred the pastor visit them in the hospital than new
people who were visiting.
Forgotten what we were about
Off mission. Onto unmission. Shadow mission
• Taking care of the beautiful building.
• Supporting historic liturgy
• Leading a particular program
• Doing a particular mission
Any time an issue, person or program gets ahead of the real mission,
We are in trouble……..

When we forget about Jesus Christ, pretty soon the Christian faith becomes more important than Jesus. Then our denomination is more impt. Then our local church. Then our particular program.

If I could show you that your pet program is causing disruption to our mission of connecting people to jesus Christ, would you be willing to drop it or change it, or do we go to the mat to save your program?

Wilderness for a church could be a time of pastoral change
A time of Conflict. Wrong agendas in play

Devastating to the life of the church
No one wants to invite their friends, and no friends want to come.

Wilderness isn’t always lost, sometimes its more like the time in-between…
This is good time…..
In-between the last season of growth and change.
Praying, looking to what is next.
People r being the church, but yet are looking for renewal
Time to clarify the vision

Where is Wcc
Very easy to enter a time of institutionalism
Must always be on guard against shadow mission
We must keep focused on the Things that help us keep on mission
• Missions- living outside of ourselves
• The ten ten branch
• The new church start

What does The wilderness mean for us as individuals?
The wilderness can be an in between time.
It happens a lot
In-between jobs, in between stages of life
In between where you are and where you want to be

The wilderness is a time of natural worry and concern
Yet, good leaders help people be ok, even in the wilderness.
When scott was sick I was mad at Cathy because she acted so stoic
I confronted her about it
She said, you’ve been acting crazy. Someone has to keep feet on the ground

Being in the wilderness can also feel like being lost
If you are feeling lost. If you are struggling

This is a normal part of life
Not our favorite part, but a normal part.

People that we admire in life are most often those who have faced hardships with grace
Hebrews 11- Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses…….. 32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Memorial day

Do you admire your parents………what wilderness did they face
Grew up in the depression
Dad was unemployed for a year in 1975. ate lots of hotdogs.
They kept it together

Three things that help us in the wilderness of change
God wants us to Listen- circumstances will get your attention

Lost on a back road in Alabama, a motorist asked the way to Montgomery. An old farmer, sitting on a fence, looked down the road, scratched his head and gave explicit instructions. Half an hour later, after following the farmer's directions carefully, the motorist found himself back at the starting point. The farmer was still sitting on the fence, in placid contemplation of the landscape.

"Hey, what's the idea?" the motorist demanded. "I did just what you told me, and look where I wound up!"

"Well, young feller," the farmer explained, "I didn't aim to waste my time telling you how to get to Montgomery till I found out if you could follow simple directions." –

God wants us Learn- once they have your attention, learn the character for success

God wants us to Trust- we usually trust God the best when we can no longer make it on our own.

There is an old story about a West Virginia lad who was sitting on a fence at the crossing of two narrow roads. A man in a very large car with New York plates roared to a stop in front of him, let down the electric window and said, "Young man, I'm lost. Can you tell me where this road goes?"

He said, "No sir, I can't."
The man said, "Well, can you tell me where that road goes?"
The boy said, "No sir, I can't."
The man said, "Well, young man, don't you know anything?"
The boy said, "I know I'm not lost."
When you find Christ, you know this: You are not lost.

Sometimes the best that we can say is that we are not alone. We are not lost. God is with us.

Trust……..Keep forging ahead.

You may not see the pillar of cloud. You may not see the fire.
But he is still there. The bush is still burning.
Trust in God. He will provide. He is with us.
Let us pray.

Exodus Part 3-The Promised Land Joshua1:1-5 5-31-09

Exodus part 3 – the promised land – Joshua 1:1-5 5-31-09

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Exodus, pt three in a series. Leaving. The wilderness. The promised land.

Just the words, “the promised land” invokes the hopes and dreams of every human. The hope that there is a place where all tears will end. Where struggle, alienation, and pain will be no more.

The images that the jewish people attach to their earthly land of promise, Christians attach to a heavenly home.
In other words, jewish people think of Israel, we think of heaven….

We sing about it……I am bound for the promised land……

I'm living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky.
I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry.
O yes! I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

Beulah land……where did that name come from?
Is 62--- No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah, [a] and your land Beulah [b] ;
for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.

Beulah land- Idyllic land at end of life’s journey in pilgrims progress

What is the biblical story
After Moses dies, Joshua leads people
Conquest- Jericho….walls came tumbling down
Settlement- battles – people to subjugate
Did not complete the conquest. Did not drive out those they conquered
They got enough and then they rested……….
After Joshua - Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Barak, Jeptha, Samson, Gideon,
Later - We want a king: saul, then david, then solomon
Disobedient kings, The coming captivity
Babylonian captivity – daniel in lions den – fiery furnace
Return
Independence

Roman occupation
Jesus is born

What does the story of the promised land mean for WCC
Nothing is perfect. There are going to be problems
Need to keep our eyes on God’s purpose
Always be in process of clarifying the vision

Some churches ask, what will it take for us to be the church…….
A building, some staff, a pastor, some programs. Ahh yes, we are now the church.
What about God’s purpose? What about God leading?
What if we had all the stuff but none of the spirit?
If we don’t have a sense that God’s hand is on our congregation, calling us to do something, then we probably aren’t listening – we have settled for comfort

Churches that enter the place where they are pursuing God’s calling on them are characterized by the following
1. Everyone understands that they have a place in ministry
2. Individual members are owning the mission and applying it to their lives
• What is a steward
• What does it mean to live a generous life
• Does the character of my life show love, joy peace, patience
3. Some are considering professional ordained ministry
4. They are no longer embroiled in conflict, but are pulling together for our mission. They have stopped pointing fingers at each other, and are pointing the way to Jesus
5. They are Rejecting territoriality and embracing the total picture of the church family
6. They are Moving past a local church perspective to a kingdom perspective
i. Where all churches are appreciated and supported.
7. They are Inviting, Welcoming, connecting, engaging, growing, teaching, training, deploying people into the ministry and mission field

Captivity awaits any church that gives up its pursuit of being this kind of church,
We must keep listening, keep praying, keep dreaming God’s impossible dreams


What does it mean for you personally
Your current place, your options, your life……….

We would like to think that if we just pray harder we wouldn’t have any problems
But the promised land is not all milk and honey…..

Ahh the promised land, where we have money for everything we want. No one is sick, my kids are understanding life, and my wife always agrees with me.

The prodigal son went running off seeking the promised land of the perfect life……..He found a mess
There is no perfect, Pollyanna life

When mom’s kids were driving her crazy, she went to her church, one of the pastors counseled her. Just keep praying, reading the bible and giving your money, everything will be fine…..
No advice, no consolation, no direction….sometimes things are not fine.
Sometimes when we think we ought to be in the promised land, it still feels like the wilderness.

If the promised land represents us being in a relationship with God,
We will still have problems in the promised land

The most important thing that I can say to you about the idea of the promised land and your life is this:
The promised land is not about the land. It is about the promise.
This is echoed in the new testament –
Romans 14:17 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

But here is good news………God is with us.
Just as the prodigal son finally came to his senses
He looked home and saw that everything that he wanted was in his fathers house. He headed home and his father was waiting

Toopta used to tell me the story of the boy who saw the golden windows in the west………traveled all day to get there, looked back to the east……

Home. That is the message of the promised land. No more wandering. We have a place where we are loved and accepted. Where we are wanted.
We are home. God our father is with us.
The promise still holds true-
I am with you to the end of the age……I will never leave you or forsake you
Let us pray.

An Unexpected Road Exodus 13:17-22 3-21-99

Sermon 3-21-99 Exodus13:17-22 An Unexpected Road

Life doesn't always turn out the way what you expect it to
Didn't get the job I wanted
Didn't make first chair in the band
Don't have hair anymore
Found out that meaningful living can be hard work

The Israelites had an idea of what the exodus would be like
Yet God led then down an unexpected road
Purge/eliminate some of their enemies
Teach then faithfulness; rely on God, not a land
Show them that men plan, but God makes it happen
Cause them to understand and love him

There were times when they did not like it
They were attacked by snakes
They were hungry and thirsty
Sometimes they even wanted to go back to Egypt

In all...God was with them
Pillar of cloud by day/pillar of fire by night
At the right moment, He would rise up and strike a blow for his purpose
they all had ideas about how it should work
God made it happen in his time
God's job was to lead. Their job was to follow

Sound familiar?

I remember when we voted to move
I didn't anticipate the emotional pain of leaving
I didn't anticipate the delays, cost overruns, challenges

this is not the path that I expected that we would take.
I believe that God has been teaching us things that we need to know
Preparing us to be successful
Helping us to learn patience, dependence on him
It is a different toad, but it is not a bad road

and like the Israelites, we do not go it alone
We do not see the pillar of cloud or fire...but I have seen it
I have felt it
We are not alone

God is still leading; we must discern his voice and follow

So it is true for us as individuals
When we decide to follow God, we agree to do things his way.
Our preconceived notions are challenged
We face things that frighten us.
Change is hard
How shocked were you when you figured out that everything isn't going to work the way you thought it should?
Following Christ means to learn to think and act differently
How many of our lives would be different if totally committed to him?
How many attitudes
How many marriages
How would our priorities change?
God's road is not always our road, it is a challenging rd, but a good one

Today Woods Chapel continues down the road
It is not the road we chose, but it is not a bad road
It is God's road, he is with us
Let's join our hearts and hands and take the next step
We are going the right direction
We are going to make it, we are making it
For our God goes before us.

Does it look the same/
Do the people look the same?
[join hands]
Does it feel the same?

Joy Exodus 9-26-04

Sermon 9-26-04

Moses and the Israelites/Moses shares the joy

Israelites in Egypt were slaves
Everything that did was about making bricks for someone else

Launch out into the wilderness…
Nothing to do
Complaining

When you are not positively engaged in making something better it is easy to look and see the things that are wrong

It doesn’t take long
Exodus 12 = exodus
Exodus 14 = parting of the sea
Ex 15-17, water food, manna and quail
Ex 18 = moses is exhausted
All within the first 3 months

Moses is beat, the leaders are beat
They need a new paradigm

Woods Chapel UMC
Used to be the pastor was centrally involved in everything
Things that we have learned
1. we want people to spend their time in ministry not committee meetings
2. it becomes your church when you are involved in some way besides worship
3. The pastor cannot be in charge of everything
4. The staff cannot be the paid Christians

There must be another way
Everyone has a role, everyone has a ministry
Divide it up
Lets go be effective

Why did this work for the Israelites?
They got up every morning and saw the pillar of cloud
At night if they wok up there was a pillar of fire

They wanted to be in the presence of god
So, with great joy, they threw them selves at the tasks at hand

Can this work here? It already is
Some things that you are involved in that have become like slavery to you
Hopefully nothing at the church
I want to ask you to see presence of God, to see work that he has done
To find a place to be connected.
To take ownership of the mission
To make this your church
Really want to feel the joy, get involved

Joy of a hug
angels cheer the touchdown in heaven of one sinner who repents.

a doctor is called to operate on a 42 year old woman with an aneurism, due to gods blessing and his skill, the woman is saved. he walks out of the operating room on cloud 9

you travel to russia. among other things, you are bearing gifts from friends. you give out candy bars to children from your friends in lees summit. the look on the kids faces is something you have never seen before, and will remember forever.

people drive onto the church property and are blessed by the beauty. the trees and flowers speak to them of Gods goodness. They walk in the door to worship and are happy.
you see them smiling and know that you have played a role.
Joy

after weeks of teaching sunday school and wondering if you were making a difference, one of the kids says thanks, and gives you a hug. the parents tell you that the kid loves sunday school. you are making a difference. joy

Joy!!!
Consider Jesus who for the joy set before him
Hebrews 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

You have these cards in your hand
There is great joy in serving giving back to God-being connected to something that is bigger than you
There is a train station in the gym today, conductors are waiting to get you connected to a ministry…..come join us on the journey of reaching out to others in Gods world.

Children are a Blessing Exodus 2:1-6 11-18-01

Sermon 11-18-01 Exodus 2:1-6
When alli was 2, Jenny was 1
3 in diapers,…..whatever this kid is, we are done.
We love children, they are a blessing, a gift

Moses in the river
Sister watches him
Children are valuable
You never know what they will become
All children are valuable

We are thankful for our children
It is our job to father, parent, raise, guide them
In order to save them, we must let them go [not in a basket]
They belong to God

They belong to all of us ...All over the world…Missions children
Easter baskets 175 – back to school 80 – fishing derby 20
Peacemaking academy 7 – this Christmas - 200
Total for 2002 582 - plus 242 bags of diapers for Rachel house
They belong to all of us…right here at home
Mine/Swansons/Emily Earnshaw/Jeff Brinkman

Paul to Timothy
Son-Phil 2-1 tim 1-philemon 10-eph 6-2 thess 3 15
we protect our egos by surrounding ourselves with those like us [pharaoh]
looking beyond the differences
little ones and big ones

Spiritual sense of brotherhood
Brother Jeff, Sister Cathy

We pause to give thanks, for our children
For one another [brothers & sisters in Christ]
For our church family

Next week, send me your cards & e mails
What are you thankful for?

Idolatry - Exodus20:1-6 - Jan. 14, 2001

Sermon 1-14-01 IDOLATRY Exodus 20:1-6

Bad words not to be said at our house

Idolatry……No other Gods
This is a bad word

The story of the wise men, here and now
Wisemen…put it where it needed to go
Didn’t waste in on the way

If there are things that the holy spirit would lead us out of, how do you know if they are idolatry?

Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution.

For us there are still the great gods Sex, money, and food/Pleasure, Possessions, and Position, / Football, the Firm, and Family
Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the object of the matter of life's basic loyalty.

Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that ought to be worshiped. Augustine.

Today's idols are more in the self than on the shelf. Idol realities
1. Every person is serving god(s) in his life.
3. We structure our lives to conform to the image of our God.
That for which I would give anything and accept nothing in exchange is the most important thing in my life. Whatever that is, is my god

Idolatry inventory

Is there something in your life that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about

Let me tell you why this is important
Sins of the fathers to the 3rd & 4th generation