Carols: O Come All Ye Faithful, 12/13/15

Sermon Dec 13 carols – o come all ye faithful  Luke 2:8-15

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,  and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Christmas.  A time for stability.  Joy.  Merriment.  Family.  Remember the good old days.  Lights.  Trees.  Presents.  Love.  Its all  good and I am safe.  Nostalgia- Merry Christmas

What if Christmas isn’t a time of my human comfort but is rather a time of change and movement?

The shepherds said, Lets to to Bethlehem.

At Christmas everyone is going somewhere

Angels go to the shepherd’s field

Shepherds go to the manger – lets go to Bethlehem

Wisemen make a long journey

[in a little told part of the Christmas story] Joseph, Mary & baby go to Egypt

God is moving the story of the world along

Everyone seems to be going somewhere

And people are changing.

Not just mobile, but things are changing for them

Their world story is morphing

Angels change [this might be a stretch]  I don’t know, but I bet they became more popular after singing in the honors choir

Shepherds changing…. They saw the messiah.  A story that they had all grown up with was not complete

Wise men………..kings of the east……. Leave their thrones.  Leave their comfort leave their families and follow the star

Commercial – wise men from the east  --East- from the east.  Not like us.  Not jews.  Inclusive nature of the story.

          Young and old, rich and poor, jew and gentile.

Back to changing - Mary gives up her simple life of a teenager.

Joseph becomes the protector of Gods son.

Scared into it by an angel…….

This story changes people. That is the whole point.

Lets go to Bethlehem

Change is difficult, we don’t like it

And at Christmas? What about my nostalgic feelings? Christmas is about me and mine, not about me changing.

And so we run into the first enemy of change. People have to want to change I like my life the way that it is.  Go ask someone else to change. Three steps for change:

1.   Leaving the old Shepherds, wisemen, joseph and mary changed But we don’t want to change How many counselors does it take to change a lightbulb? We want to encounter the baby and stay the same In fact, many of us spend our lives praying to the baby so he will keep us comfortable. Christmas invited us to change.  To bow the knee In  order to want to change, we have to become submissive. In many Christian circles that is a bad word. I am not referring to wives submitting to husbands.  I am referring to the notion that if we would be a person of God, we must submit our will to his. The American sinners prayer.  Dear God I know I am a sinner.  Forgive me.  Jesus may your blood cover my sin.  And now back to my life, AMEN A prayer of conversion is a prayer that puts God’s will before mine. Not my will but thine be done. It means that I will listen instead of always talking It means that I submit to the story instead of ignoring the story It means that I will submit to the story instead of insisting that the story submits to me. In the biblical story everyone, almost is in submission to God’s purpose.  Sherpherds don’t argue.  They go.  Angels go.  Wisemen go.  Mary welcomes the job.  Joseph finally gets it.  The only person who is not submitted in the Christmas story is Herod. Why?  He is in charge.  He is on top.  We don’t need another king. Do we ever sound like our lives are saying  we don’t need another king? I have me. When I refer to submission and think of our lives, I am thinking of whether or not we are listening to the holy spirit.  Whether or not we are willing to be led. Take the dog on a leash. Do we stay by the side of the master? Or do we pull and tug and drag him along? Mom and barney the st Bernard Maybe we put the collar on for special occaisions, only to take it off when we want to go on our merry way. Changing who we are begins with a willingness on our part to change. 2.   The neutral zone – learning to be comfortable in a chaotic world The stock market is down?  Must be the end. War in the middle east?  Must be the end……. Friend, the world is chaotic……… and your life is going to feel that way from time to time. Point is not a life of comfort, the point is that God is with us Emmanuel Being willing to change Being comfortable in the wilderness Embracing the new The moment we do this, we hold on tight……. 3.   Embrace the new- don’t get stuck.

The moment we arrive at a level of comfort it is probably time to change again

What got you to this point may not be what gets you to the next

Peter rollins story of the 2^nd mile church

If you feel that God is troubling the waters of your spirit, it’s a good thing and it is probably a sign that the holy spirit is working on you.

We are invited to go.  To come to the manger.

So there is this hymn, this Christmas carol

"O Come, All Ye Faithful" has been attributed to various authors, including an Englishman, John Francis Wade (1711–1786),

Some question over authorship - over fifty competing versions available

So many translations that you cant discover the original

No one knows its true shape

We are a conglomeration of stuff

A patchwork of good

Who are the faithful?

They worshiped.

They went…….. everyone in this story is going somewhere

When they got there, they worshipped.

O come let us adore him

To worship is to say – you are good.  You are worthy.

You matter.  I give myself to you.  To worship is to leave the world of myself and bow at the manger.

Conclusion

Are you Trying to make it the perfect Christmas?

I hope my families feels good about themselves.  I hope they get what they want.

Trying to make a perfect Christmas?

Stop.  Its not your job.  Its not what Christmas is about

Relax.  God has already made a perfect Christmas

What do you want for Christmas? What we want for Christmas is irrelevant.

That question indicates that we don’t get it.

Christmas isn’t my birthday or my child’s birthday.

What does god want?

What does god want of me?

What do I want for Christmas?

Dinner w my kids

What does your pastor want?

For you to love God more and more.  For you to love others.  To reach out to those in need

To make it a habitual exercise of your life.

To move away from self and ever towards God

O come, all ye faithful…..come and behold him……

Lent Begins, 2/15/15

Sermon 2-15-15 Lent Begins 1 John 1:5-2:2

1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 2:1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world

Every morning I sit on a wooden stool and put on my socks.  [dave neimeyer-mercer] Every day.  I make a cup of coffee and drink it.  I drive to work…. The same route every day.  I do what I do.  I go home.  I eat.  I sleep.  And I do it all over again.  There are things that mark a life.  Monuments along the way, reminding us of what is mundane and what matters.

A river runs through it 1992 – blackfoot river

For me, ash Wednesday is such a day.  It comes once a year and reminds me that I need our Father.  It reminds me in no uncertain terms that I must repent and renew my walk with him.  It is an annual passage from death to life, from struggle to grace.  I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Lent is a time to consider the suffering of Jesus
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world -1

Lent is about the journey of self discovery
Lent asks the question
Where is god-Where are we-Where do we meet
Lent calls for self examination
Lent calls us to look at our selves

Lent is the annual reminder to remember that it is not about us
Often we think we have arrived - we can get kind of smug
When in fact we haven’t even got on board for the process yet

Lent calls us to leave the areas of superficial spirituality & give ourselves to God
Lent includes struggle, moving along the road, hard choices needed for meaning
Lent asks the hard question - Are you willing to repent of your sin
12 step program = fearless moral inventory

this is a prelent sermon

new sermon  series transformation – change - conversion
consider the stories of great men and women of the bible

transformation.  Change. Am I satisfied with myself?

Those who think they are a finished product scare me.

The nature of repentance.  Facing change.  Being honest with ones self

Real change is possible

The need for us to change.

Not top down, but heart up

What do I want to change into?

My list:

I aspire to

Not waste time

See the good

See people as god sees them.  No more value judgements

Be thankful

Q: What is Lent? Some of you grew up in churches that did not celebrate lent

if we had 20 questions regarding lent…..

1Q: What is Lent?
A:Historically, Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, it began on Ash Wednesday and ended on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday).

2Q: Why are Sundays excluded from the reckoning of the forty days?
A: Because Sunday is the day on which Christ arose, its inappropriate day to fast and mourn our sins. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ’s resurrection

3Q: Q. Why are the forty days called Lent?
A: They are called Lent because that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year during which they fall.  In most other cultures, lent is called Quadragesima, from the latin for “the forty days.”

4Q: Why is Lent forty days long?
A: Because forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation in the Bible.
Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28),
the spies were in the land for forty days (Numbers 13:25),
Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision
Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4),
Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).

5Q: how long has this been going on?
Since 400 ad- Constantine’s conversion 312

6Q: When does Lent begin? Why do we put on ashes
Ash Wednesday is this week
why, do we put on ashes on ash Wednesday?
ashes are a sign of remembrance.

Palms are burned from palm Sunday – joy changes to sorrow.
The Bible tells us that we came from the dust and to the dust we shall return. ...
These ashes are also a sign of repentance.
Ashes are a symbol of repentance & signs that we seek to follow in God's path.

What do we experience on ash Wednesday?
quiet entrance

Opportunity to give to emergency relief

Card with instructions…….on instructions on the wall

Pray.  Ashes.  communion
a chance for repentance – are you willing to repent of your sin and follow

Q: What are appropriate activities for ordinary days during Lent?
A: Prayer, Repentance, Mercy, [I reject this – should do all the time ]

Giving something up

A conversation between a father and his 10-year-old son, illustrates the problem in our attitude toward Lent. The father was attempting to explain to his young son the necessity for giving up something for Lent. Dad suggested that the lad give up candy.
Quizzed by the boy about this kind of religiosity and what it would bring, the father replied that It will improve your character. You'll be a better person on Easter Sunday if you give up candy. After all, your mother and I have given up liquor for Lent.
The boy then said: That's funny Dad. I saw you and mother having a drink before dinner last night. The father replied, That was wine. We gave up hard liquor.
The lad countered, Oh, that's good. I'll give up hard candy.

I gave up diet coke.  During lent im only going to drink coke zero

What might you give up if you were serious?
Sports? Tv? Children’s activities

We should not give up things that we should give up anyway
We should give things up because it helps us think about god [like fasting]
its not about no diet coke. We shouldn’t think about no diet coke
It is about this loss makes me think about God

and so here are some - suggestions for your lent

give something up
1“Cut back on work.” Whatever is taking the most time in your life, pare back on it so that you can find the quiet time [lack of quiet #1 issue in american life]

2.take better care of yourself – that is a spiritual exercise to take care - sleep more

3. if you are not engaged in acts of mercy, this is the time to start

4. “Have a heart-to-heart with God.” Go for a walk. Spend some time in quiet

5.  find a radical lent question….to ask yourself

        How can I think of you more God?

        How can I live for you more God?

        who can I care about for you God?

yet isn’t this what we should be doing all the time…

and so

Lent…….take time to consider the suffering of Jesus and your condition
You cannot apologize or even understand your shortcomings unless you spend some time to consider them and repent of them.

There is no Easter without lent
No resurrection without death
If there were no darkness, there would be no need for light
There is no understanding without contemplation

And being lost can lead to the wonderful experience of being found

As we begin lent, lets make time to consider the suffering of - lord Jesus Christ.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world

The Real Jesus: Passive or Visionary, 1/4/15

Sermon 1-4-15 the real Jesus- passive or visionary – mt 28:16-20

The Great Commission  Mt 28:16-20

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

New series - The real Jesus, passive or visionary

Most Christians like the Jesus who sits in church with them on Sunday

And lets them live the rest of the week as they see fit

A passive Jesus that has been conformed to our image of him

But Jesus is not passive and he does not conform to our wishes

He is a great visionary - he has a great plan

And he invites us to help him fulfill his plan

The most exciting part of being a Christian is being his hands and feet

This is not a comforting sermon

This is a charge, a declaration.  Marching orders for the year.

It should have a feel that “God calls us from our natural state to fulfill our potential”

The great commission

Jesus says “go”

Go. Make disciples.  Followers.  Teach them. 

Teach them to go and do and live.

We used to think of this as to go and tell

But especially with technology,

there are almost no unreached people groups.

Almost everyone has heard the story.

Most know the story of Jesus

The way the church told it – caustic and full of pain

But they do no know the story of Jesus love

          All the books with titles like – I love Jesus but not the church

Atheists that I meet.  Aren’t against god or Jesus

They are against the church.  God as sold by the church

Methodists often start the year with - Wesley covenant service

Wesley says that the first service was held on Monday 11 August 1755, at the French church at Spitalfields in London, with 1800 people present.

He has been at this revival thing for 17 years…..He is 52 the first time

Wesley found the service rich and meaningful, as expressed in his Journal: "Many mourned before God, and many were comforted" (April 1756); "It was, as usual, a time of remarkable blessing" (October 1765); "It was an occasion for a variety of spiritual experiences ... I do not know that ever we had a greater blessing. Afterwards many desired to return thanks, either for a sense of pardon, for full salvation, or for a fresh manifestation of His graces, healing all their backslidings" (January 1, 1775). 

In London these services were usually held on New Year's Day. Around the country the Covenant Service was conducted
whenever John Wesley visited the Methodist Societies.

To consider a covenant with God is to agree that we are
Not simply going to continue to do what we have been doing
Changing
Pursuing faithfulness and our full potential

Covenant principles – vs what a friend we have in Jesus
Greater and lesser power
What each will do
too many Christians do nothing –

parable of the talents he hid the money

He sees potential in the disciples well beyond what they see in themselves

Jesus is a visionary

They had excuses…… im just a fisherman.  I was a prostitute…..

He doesn’t care about excuses

He doesn’t see their past

He only sees their potential

He challenges them to follow the spirit and fultill their potential for the kingdom

What did he see in them

What did they do?

          Some left.  rich young ruler; John 6:66

Others stepped up to the plate and got their licks in for Jesus

Jesus also challenges us to do the same

We have excuses

I am afraid.  I don’t have confidence.  I don’t feel spiritual

I am selfish.  I am busy.

I was in jail.  I am divorced.  I was on drugs

He doesn’t care about excuses

He doesn’t see the past

He only sees our potential

He challenges us to follow the spirit and fulfill our potential for the kingdom

If we really listened and followed, what do you think we might do in 2015

Its not about what Jeff thinks

What is the spirit calling you to do?

               

Look at the great things that are...
How did they get there? How did they become?
A great country - The Lincoln memorial

The Washington monument                                                          PICTURE

A great church
Someone had a dream. Someone would not let obstacles hold them back

Why did you come here?

To learn about God?  To grow closer to him

Did you come hear to heal?

Did you come here to be served?

Did you come here to be a part of a kingdom that is reaching the world, one person at a time

There is a flavor at this place of us being the hands and feet of Christ

Signs above our doors – go forth to serve

Now entering the mission field -                                          PICTURE

There is a difference between being a good church and being a great church.

Anyone can be a church……
We have a building, we have ss, we have worship, we are a church. True

Extraordinary churches
a. the people believe what they are talking about
they believe in Gods ability to lead them and act thru them

They own it – the mission

What is our mission?

Connecting people to Jesus Christ

[they believe what  they are talking about] [it infiltrates them]
b. they exhibit extraordinary graces

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Gal. 5:22-23a

c. they act on their faith and make the impossible, possible
it doesn’t matter what you believe if you don’t act on it

great churches then

1.   Believe what they are talking about

2.   Exhibit extraordinary graces

3.   Act on their faith to live out God’s mission

How big is your God? How big are your dreams?

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us Eph 3:20

What is on line for our church in 2015

more programs……
More choirs, more classes, more recreational programs, more missions -maybe

Need to work together…..appreciate every program

end territoriality

every mission is as important as the one I am involved in
Invest in the ministry of others
Friends of upward, be also a friend of music? Friend of music, be a friend of upward. Friend of we care, be also a friend of Sunday school

I invite every small group, every class, every ministry, every team, every reunion group, to see your place in the rainbow of colors in the ministries of this church.

I don’t know what is on tap for our church in 2015.  It is not up to me

It is up to you.  It is not my church, it is your church

I am not interested in a bigger church, but I do want to win every person that we can

I am very interested in us fulfilling our potential.

More programs and more people mean change and discomfort

what does this mean? It means that our comfort has to come behind how I may feel about the changes that take place

Spiritually developed people are those who have learned to set aside their personal preference and comfort for the sake of the mission.

Erwin McManus quote: you don't get to choose your parents, your race, or your skin color. You don't get to choose your language or economic conditions when you're born into this world. You don't get any say about the beginning of your life journey, but you have a great deal to say about the destination of your journey and how that journey shapes you

people of WCC - Where are your dreams – what will God call you to?

Genesis 12 - God called Abraham to leave his homeland
To leave his comfort zone...

Jesus tells his disciples to go
That is what God does...

Maybe the most important ministry in the history of this church is today, right in your heart, just waiting to be called forth by God.
What are you doing with those ideas?"

Maybe god is calling you to start a new mission

Maybe we can build another 25 houses in Nicaragua

Maybe there is a neighbor that needs a church home

Maybe God’s hand is on you and you are being called to ministry for him

What do you see in our potential for 2015?  What do you see in your potential?

As we start the year together  may we renew this covenant with God and seek to pursue Gods potential for our lives and for our church

Communion

Wesleyan covenant prayer
:I am no longer my own, but thine.:Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.:Put me to doing, put me to suffering.:Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,:exalted for thee or brought low for thee.:Let me be full, let me be empty.:Let me have all things, let me have nothing.:I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.:And now, O glorious and blessed God,::thou art mine, and I am thine.:So be it.:And the covenant which I have made on earth,:let it be ratified in heaven.:Amen

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