Grateful: For Time, 11/22/15

Sermon 11-22-15 thankful for time Eccl 3:1-14

3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,  a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Sermon series

Grateful.  For creation, for kindness, for forgiveness, for time

I love this passage for a memorial service – when nothing else is requested

A time for everything –

to build, to laugh, to dance, to embrace, to keep, to throw out, to love

He has made all things beautiful in his time

          Oh, how many times I did not like a circumstance, only to find later

          that there was some good to come from it

God has set eternity in the hearts of men and women

          Inside of use there is something innate that knows that God exists

          Romans 1:20  ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Do you have the time? Someone would ask

Pocket watch 1500

Wrist watch – ww 1

Time:  what is it/ is not………….

Time is money.  No its not.

You can make more money.  You can never get your time back

It is valuable

It is limited

Pink Floyd-Time

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

How many days have I lived…….365 x 58 =  plus july 5-nov 22 = 21,317

Time:  spending it poorly

6 most destructive ways to waste time

1.   -Feeling guilty

Spending time being remorseful John Ferguson story

When is the best day to plant a tree? 50 years ago

2.   -Worrying

3.   -Being angry – last week w cathy’s travel

Time filled with negative attitudes takes up time that could be used for positive moments.

We can never get that time back.

4.   -Biding time

Sometimes we check out……….. get thru a difficult time.  Drinking, gambling,

Bide thru a time until we can get to a better time

Click – fast fwd thru boring life to get to the good parts

Its all the good parts

5.   -Not paying attention

It goes by fast

It gets filled with so much stuff.

Marking time autopilot

6.   -Making it about us

Our national anthem might indeed be more Frank Sinatra than Francis Scott Key: "I Did It My Way." 

Retirement………. Christians don’t get to retire.

Henry & John – Page 28

We all have our positions, don't we? And we listen from those positions. "Henry, how you've changed! You were so tall and you've grown so short. You were so well built and you've grown so thin. You were so fair and you've become so dark. What happened to you, Henry"? Henry says, "I 'm not Henry. I 'm John". "Oh, you changed your name too!"

How do you get people like that to listen?

Time:  spending it well

One greek word for time is  chronos time, from which we get "chronological" time.

Chronos Time and Kairos Time Dad’s grandfather clock          PICTURE

Ephesians 5:16  “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” KJV

Kairos is the brand of time most often mentioned in the New Testament kairos refers more to a decisive time -- the right time, the appropriate time. the moment when God intervenes

"[make] the most of the time [kairos]

kairos [timeliness] should fuel the management of our chronos.

Rather than just letting time tick away, put it to the Spirit's use

best uses of your time

1.   -Pay attention

I lost my keys.  They are right where I put them

Pay attention, kids are growing up.  Just yesterday my kids sang in the childrens choir.  Just yesterday my kids brought me Sunday school papers.  Just yesterday my kids  were in youth group.

Wake up.  Pay attention.  Its going to go by fast

A nice definition of an awakened person: a person who no longer marches to the drums of society, a person who dances to the tune of the music that springs up from within.

2.   -Savoring the time, even the painful time

-See the good

3.   -Love people

Have a life.  He is looking for a life.

What is having a life?

Knowing why you are here…… not about having money, or being married or single.

Its not about going out on Friday night.

To have a life is to touch the world for good.

And we are given a little bit of time to do so.

525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons oflove.

4.   -Do something constructive

Conclusion

Time!  There is so much to be thankful for. 

Life is a gift

Ecclesiastes – I have tried it all.  It is all vanity.  Except for one thing.  Honor god and depart from evil-

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

Making Sense of God Matthew 7:1-12 1/13/13

Series – making sense of god – 1-13-13– seeing Mt 7:1-12

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.^{(B) 2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.^(C)

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, Seek, Knock^{(D) 7} “Ask and it will be given to you;^(E) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;^(F) and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts^(G) to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,^(H) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.^(I)

We think this is a scripture about judging.  This is actually a scripture about sight, vision, what we see.

We all think we see well

Examples of seeing wrong

               The blind man who saw men walking as trees Mark 8

Being shorted at the sub shop

               After my cataract surgery

What do you see normally?

The board.  The stick.

What is that………

The board is your insistence that blue is green.  That God is mad at you

Unclear, obscure, ambiguous, blurry, cloudy, confused, dim, elusive, fuzzy, hazy, imprecise, intangible, nebulous, obscure, shadowy, uncertain, unsettled, unsure, vague

That God is not love

Something is wrong

Everybody hates me

I am not loved

See the clouds instead of the sky

We focus on the speck in our neighbor’s eye so we don’t have to deal with our stuff

We point to flaws in others to make ourselves feel better

We seek to “help” others so we can avoid personal change

          The board causes

                   Pride

                   Anger

                   Hatred

                   Greed

Take the board out……..

See that there is more good than bad

More joy than sorrow

When we no longer focus on the downers, love can emerge

Romans 8 allthings work together for good to those who love god.

Lets talk about sight and God……How do we see god

Based largely on how we were raised or what we were taught

What is the flavor of your Christianity

Methodist?  Baptist?  Pentecostal?

Jesus did not come to start a new religion, but to help us experience God

Four ways to see God – Paul Coutinho – catholic priest

1.   The God who is reached thru a priest or pastor.  We find God via the mediator.

2.   The God who is pleased when we follow the rules, live by the rules.

3.   The God who is mad because you are sinful.  You are in trouble.  All the time.  You can’t follow the rules. Curtains for you.

4.   The God who is close, intimate.  Abraham was a friend of God.  Adam and eve walked with God in the cool of the day.

What is the flavor of your Christianity

Methodist?  Baptist?  Pentecostal?

Jesus did not come to start a new religion, but to help us experience God

Most of us have some kind of baggage regarding how we see god

Fun to talk with those not raised in church….

God is bigger than our labels…more than we “see”

He is not contained by our pictures, doctrines or pronouns

                   Seeing in a mirror dimly

                   My ways are not your ways

When we seek God we will find Him

          We find Jesus = a lighthouse in the fog

Its better than that.  When we stop strving, we see that he is there.

Transcending your image of God

Take the board out of your eye

What do you see

God is love

God is mystery, beyond

God is with us

It is really very simple….sermon on the mount……

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,^(H) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.^(I)

What do you see in jesus when he walks out onto the hillside to preach the sermon on the mount

Why did people follow him

When we see God as he is – no rose colored glasses

We find joy

We find gratefulness

We want to help you find a greatful heart this year………..

Weekly practice

Ushers are coming at this time……reverse offering, an investment in you

On facebook or the prayer wall

Or these cards………….

Give Thanks-Power of Thank You Luke 17:11-19 11-5-12

Sermon 11-4-12 give thanks- power of thankyou         Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem,^(N) Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.^{(O) 12} As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[a](P) met him. They stood at a distance^{(Q) 13} and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master,^(R) have pity on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”^(S) And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God^(T) in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.^{(U) 17} Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”^(V)

New series that is not a series

Every sermon should drive a person towards gratitude

Life will bring you pain all by itself.  Your job is to create joy.

Today- the power of thank you

What is a leper

Disease, lesions, rot, lack of nerves

Sedparated from friends and family

A sign of sin

Jesus healed their disease

Restored their families

Removed the stigma of sin

What jesus did for the man.

jesus has done for you.

Do you have sin?  Are you in need of a touch from Jesus?

God has done so much for us.

Ingratitude is a sin, a very common one

Every time we act like we deserve something, we are ungrateful

9 went on, one came back

Jesus asks the question.  where are the other 9?

Has god done something for you but you didn’t take notice

Many people in this life are ungrateful

They may say thank you, but their living does not show it

Their thank you is a 2 second phrase, something they were taught to do to be polite

But they have not taken it in as a way of living

Living as entitled or living as grateful

Our team is in Russia.  They are living the reminder today that there are people in this world with much much less.  People with nothing. 

Giving the shirts to the boys in Russia.

Realizing that most of them do not have family.

Everyone is scraping, fighting their way thru life.

Do you know why you were born here instead of Russia?

What has God done for you?

During John Wesley’s student days, a poor porter knocked on Wesley’s door. It was a cold night, and Wesley suggested that the porter needed a thicker coat. “This is the only coat I have,” the porter replied, “and I thank God for it.” Wesley asked the man if he had eaten and the porter answered, “I have had nothing today but water to drink, but I thank God for that.” Wesley was deeply moved by the man’s sincerity and he said to him, “You thank God when you have nothing to wear and eat. What else do you thank God for?” The simple man replied, “I thank God that he has given me life, a heart to love him, and a desire to serve him.” After the man had left with a coat from Wesley’s closet, some money for food, and words of appreciation for the witness he had made, Wesley wrote something like this in his journal, “I shall never forget that porter. He convinced me there is something in religion to which I am a stranger.”

Are we grateful or entitled?

Driving the car.  Someone cuts in front of you.

That was my space. 

Now imagine that you couldn’t afford a car and someone gave you one with the stipulation that you must always let everyone in.  that you must appreciate the gift of driving.

Are you saying thank you or saying THANK YOU

Is it a polite gesture or is it a way of life for you, a way of thinking?

I have been reading an author who says that

Saying thank you restores us to our natural state of happiness

It takes us out of the center of the world and makes us appreciative

I am not sure that I believe in a natural state of happiness

Why do babies cry?

Why do we complain?

Seems to me that what comes naturally to us is whining.

To say thank you makes relationships right.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough.

It makes you feel full.  Bursting with delight.

When we say thank you, when we become grateful

We get our selves out of the drivers seat.

We are dependent.  We need God

To say thank you puts God in his rightful place

And it honor others

In honor, preferring one another [quote]

Romans 12:10 ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

To say thank you is to honor another person

Everything changes when you learn to say thank you.

The leper in the story goes back to thank jesus even before the priest says that he is clean

He was more interested in showing thanks than the official outcome

My guess is that before this incident, he was the happiest leper.

He was probably the glass half full leper.

The vision of our life

Do we see the joy, the goodness of the simple gifts

Do we stand in awe of the amazingness of life?

Every now and then we need to take inventory of our lives.

Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don't have.

It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately?

What I am suggesting here is not some shallow "count your blessings" platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us.

Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the song that says: "Count your blessings one by one- count your many blessings see what God has done

Meister Eckhart - Dominican monk – lived in germany 1200’s

If in this life the only prayer I learn is thank you, it is enough.

At camino.  Prayer time.  We have so much.  I ask for only one thing more.  May you give me a grateful heart

Sometimes I think that I  am not a very smart guy.  It takes me a long time to learn things.  Sometimes I can only think of one thing at a time.

What if we spent this day saying thank you.

What if the only thing on our mind today was to say thank you.

What if we stretch it to a week.  To a month.  To a year.

A year of gratefulness.

It would become a way of life.

When gratefulness becomes a way of life, everything changes.

Stop.  Look.  Appreciate.  Marvel

Learn to see the holiness in the simple things around you.

Gratitude always involves another person.  You aren’t grateful for a car, you are grateful to  god for a car.

You are not grateful for friendship, you are grateful that so and so is your friend.

I am thankful for someone in the room.

Who?

Has someone done something for you?

Do not be among the 9

See what was done.

Be the one.  Stop.  Turn around.  Give thanks.

Everything will change.