[0:00] Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. If any kids would like to come up and sing, come on down and join us.
[0:16] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice.
[0:30] And be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:40] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:54] Let us rejoice. We are the Dish Pride Dish Room Cleanup Crew.
[1:05] If this is your first visit to the Pendleton United Methodist Church, a welcome gift is available for new visitors. It can be picked up at the connection site in the back in the sanctuary following worship.
[1:20] Fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list. Sign up for activities. Or list any prayers or concerns and any notes to the staff. Welcome to our church!
[1:30] And it's just as fun as it looks too. We've got an opportunity if you'd like to sign up to help with the fish fries. You can do that. There are still several weeks coming. Just last week we served 583, which was 90 more than the week before.
[1:45] So we had a very good week. We also have an opportunity to help with our mission in Niagara Falls for feeding the people up there. So those will be going around the sanctuary.
[1:56] I want to mention that the praise concert that was scheduled for tonight has been postponed. If you're interested in being part of the praise concert and helping to share a talent you might have, if you'd see Pastor Sherry, that would be a great thing to do.
[2:10] If you can't find her, just let Adrienne know. We'd love to know who would be a part of that. We're going to look to try and reschedule that. I also want to mention that next week they're going to be selling flowers for hospice here.
[2:20] And also our angel gowns are going to be continuing in their collections if you're interested in that ministry. Let's turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Dear God, there are so many things in our lives that distract us from you.
[2:33] When we come to this place, we're thinking about all sorts of things, Lord. We ask that you just take them from our minds and help us to just focus on you. Fill us with your Holy Spirit to experience God as we gather in this place.
[2:46] For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Take a moment, if you will, and greet your neighbor with the peace of the Spirit. Amen. Amen.
[2:57] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. May children come up and join me.
[3:24] want to come up? You twisted your ankle, that's not a good thing. Oh, it's hard, you've got to watch your ankle, don't you? Any other kids want to come up and join us, come on down. You know what this is? Straw, candle litter, it's a piece to a coffee pot. You see that big coffee pot over there? Yeah, I didn't have this the other night when I was cleaning up, and if I don't have this piece of the coffee pot, that big coffee pot's worthless. Can you imagine that? Whole big coffee pot depends on this little stick to make it work. Without it, it can't make coffee. So I looked and looked and looked and I finally found it. You know, people are like that. Sometimes people think that somebody's not really all that important because they're small or because they don't have a lot of abilities or whatever reason. But you know, everybody's important. We need everybody we have to make the family of God complete. You know that includes kids? Because churches without kids are miserable. They want to have kids.
[4:42] So we're glad to have you here and I'm glad you came to church today. All right? What do you, and so is God by the way. What are you guys thankful for? Raise your hand and you can share something. My mom and dad. My sister. My family.
[5:00] My dad. My sister. My brother, my mom, and my dad. All right. And I'm thankful I found this thing for the coffee pot.
[5:10] Yeah. Let's pray, shall we? Lord, we thank you for the blessings you give to us and especially the blessings of people that are important in our lives. Help us always to remember them, love them, and care for them as you've given them to us.
[5:22] Where it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, you guys go out to church school. All the kids are welcome to go out to church school now if they'd like to. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[5:36] Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Being thankful for family. You know, so many of the times that the children say what they're thankful for, they say they're thankful for their family and thankful for their friends.
[5:52] We are thankful for our church family and every once in a while our church family does something to celebrate one of our church family. I understand some folks have gotten together and put a cake in the fellowship hall because yesterday was Pastor Tom's birthday.
[6:06] So, y'all are welcome to join us in the fellowship hall for cake to celebrate Pastor Tom, one of our church family. And with just that thought in our minds and the thought of how much God blesses us, he's blessed us with a wonderful church and a wonderful family.
[6:26] We want to bless God back and just show God how devoted that we are to God in our hearts and our minds as we bring our tithes and offerings. Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day and for the opportunity to gather together in worship.
[6:42] We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings you have poured out into our lives and the gifts that you have given us. We offer back some of our gifts in the form of finances, Lord, and ask you to bless them.
[6:54] Lord God, also we lift up to you the gifts of service that you have put within us. All of those things that you have called us to use for the furtherance of your kingdom. We ask you to bless those as well.
[7:07] And to give us wisdom to know how to best use them to serve you. And to call many people to salvation in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please be seated.
[7:19] I did have the joy this morning of as I was brushing off my car. That wasn't the joy. But it was a joy that I could actually do the brushing off of the car, right?
[7:33] But as I was brushing off the car, I happened to look up and I noticed on the little, you know, the little twiggy kind of branches on the trees, there are buds forming.
[7:46] And I was hearing, as I was listening, birds singing. Did you all hear any birds this morning around about seven o'clock? Yeah? There were birds singing and there are buds forming on the trees.
[8:00] It's got to have something to do with how high the sun is in the sky, right? What a wonderful blessing to know that spring is coming, that God continues to be faithful even in the midst of all we can see is snow, all we can feel is cold, but God is moving in the midst of this. Amen?
[8:17] What a joy that is. Along with this joy and these other joys that are in your hearts, we do have some concerns to bring before the Lord this morning. June Phillips is in the hospital, so we need to keep her in our prayers.
[8:30] And we have a couple of people who are recovering from surgeries. Irene Tate was recovering from wrist surgery last week. And Dick Roseland had surgery on Monday, and he is still in the hospital.
[8:42] So we want to keep him and his family in our prayers, too. Let's see. Rick Arbor, who is Sally Acord's brother, has pneumonia and some other health concerns.
[8:53] And Phil and Sharon Hendich's granddaughter, Emily, who is 14, has some health problems that they're trying to sort out. So we want to keep all of these folks in our prayers and their families.
[9:05] I do know, of course, that you all have concerns that are close to your heart. We take them all before the Lord, knowing that God hears and answers our prayers. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer.
[9:24] Heavenly Father, we come before you knowing that you are the all-merciful, gracious, creator of all things.
[9:35] We are not worthy to come into your presence. We are not able. But you make us able in Jesus.
[9:47] Thank you. Lord God, we lift up all of these needs to you now. And all of our joys, knowing that you rejoice with us when we rejoice.
[10:00] knowing that you are concerned where we are concerned. The word tells us to cast all our cares upon you because you care for us.
[10:13] And so we lift them up to you this day. For everyone who is sick, Lord. For everyone in need of a touch of healing from you, we pray that you would touch them.
[10:29] Make them whole from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. Lord God, be with their caregivers, the doctors, the nurses, the aides, social workers, family members, friends, all those who are caring for them.
[10:46] Give them wisdom, Lord. Make each one sensitive to the needs of the person they're caring for. Lord God, we don't always have physical needs of healing or for healing in our minds or our hearts or our souls, Lord.
[11:06] But sometimes we're just overcome by the troubles in this life. The troubles that we see in our own lives, troubles in our communities, troubles in the wider world.
[11:22] We know that you know about all these things. We pray, Lord God, that you would intervene. That your will be done here on this earth and among all of the people.
[11:37] We pray that you would teach us how to use the gifts that you've given us. Teach us to be your people, carrying your presence with us wherever we go. Let us be your light that shines everywhere we go.
[11:58] Help us, Lord God, to appreciate our gifts, to value them as they have come from you. Teach us to respect and honor the gifts that you have given our brothers and sisters in Christ.
[12:17] Help us to learn to work together for the furtherance of your kingdom. Help us to work together in unity in your Holy Spirit to bring about change in this world.
[12:30] Change for good. Change for good. Change for you. Be with us now as we hear your word. Let it wash us clean.
[12:44] Let it be a transforming power in our lives. Helping us to become more like Jesus. Be with Pastor Tom. Anoint him to deliver the word as he should to deliver the word as you have called him to do.
[13:00] Let it be a blessing to us. Let it be a blessing to him. And Lord God, may all of our worship be a blessing to you. Help us to carry all we gain from you into the world this week.
[13:20] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Good morning. Good morning. Today's scripture reading is from Romans chapter 12, verses 1 through 8.
[13:33] Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.
[13:45] Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will.
[13:57] For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
[14:11] Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, who are many, form one body.
[14:23] And each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve.
[14:37] If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently.
[14:48] If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So, living the dream.
[15:08] How about this for a house? Built down in the hills of Virginia, the specifications, particular for one family. They designed the kitchen exactly the way they wanted. They had a library built.
[15:20] They had a game room built. All for their purposes. And they never lived in the house. We all have our dreams, don't we? If we could just achieve those special things that we want to accomplish.
[15:35] If we just had the talents and the abilities. Maybe if we just had enough of the money. Or if we had the right property. Or if we had a comfortable place to live.
[15:48] Or if we were... Strong. See, it is all an illusion.
[16:00] But it is not an illusion to us. We decide what we think is our dreams and we try to live for it even if it is unrealistic.
[16:12] When I was young, I wanted to be a singer. Some people wanted to be the football star that would catch the... Or throw the pass in the Super Bowl. Others wanted to be rich.
[16:24] I wanted to be a singer. And you might be surprised the guy I wanted to be like. Everybody loves somebody sometime. Everybody falls in love somehow.
[16:37] Something in your kit says maybe that sometime is now. Dino.
[16:48] Many of you are too young to remember Dean Martin. He was the coolest dude there was. All the women loved Dino. All the guys wanted to be Dino.
[17:00] And so did I. And of course, in my own bedroom I could sing just like him. But nowhere else. Nowhere else. Sometimes we want to have a talent.
[17:14] We want to have a skill or a gift. We just don't. Everybody has one. As we've been going through the book of Romans, we've been studying Paul's theology.
[17:26] And now we're going to talk about his practical ideas of how we should live as Christians. And he begins by talking about our gifts. In the book of Matthew they call them talents after the money. But the way we describe them is our abilities.
[17:40] What we do. Some of them in here are listed as prophesying or preaching or serving or teaching or encouraging. Giving. Showing mercy.
[17:52] Many different possibilities. And in fact this is just a short list. Paul has other lists. He has a number of them. Because it's not an exclusive list. It's not intended to be the only gifts. God gives all of us many, many different types of gifts.
[18:08] Some people have many gifts. Some people only have one or two. And usually the people that have one or two want to have many. But the people who have many find out. As the Bible says, for those who are given much, much will be expected.
[18:25] And we think it's our time. Something we've learned how to do. Something we've studied for. Something we've trained for. When in reality, if we really realize it, most of us are gifted at something right from the beginning of our lives.
[18:40] And most of us have things we just can't do no matter how hard we try. In high school I was in four different sports. One of them I was lousy at. Track and field.
[18:51] Now you'd think with track and field, with all those events I could find something I'd be good at. Not one event. I had to go into the coach and say I'm going to quit and go get a job. He says, but you're an athlete. I said, tell him one thing I'm good at.
[19:03] He said, go get a job. I have a strange body. You may or may not have noticed. I've got short little legs. I'm just not built like regular people. So I couldn't do track and field.
[19:15] But there's other things that we can't do. There's things that we see other people have the ability for. And we want to be on America's Got Talent. We want to be America's Idol.
[19:28] We look at what other people do. And we say, why not me? Well, the truth is God gives you those gifts. He gives you the gifts.
[19:39] So you should give credit to God. And by the way, if you're not giving the way you want, you can just blame God. Because he's the one who made you the way he made you.
[19:51] For a specific purpose. And God didn't gift us to be someone else. In verse 3 of this passage it says, For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment and according with the faith God has distributed to each person.
[20:13] God chooses what he wants us to be for what he's got in mind. And we shouldn't think that one gift is more important than another. In fact, the way we live as a culture is we actually think the things that God considers less better, and more valuable to be more valuable.
[20:31] We celebrate what's rare. We celebrate what's unusual. We desire those odd talents. The person who can run the fastest. The person who's the strongest. The best singer.
[20:42] The richest. The most beautiful. Not the people that do what anybody could do. They're gifts from God.
[20:54] And all God is expecting for us to do is to use him to the best of our abilities and not compare to other people. But we do. And the reason is because we have the wrong focus.
[21:08] We don't understand the purpose of the gifts. We think the gifts are for us because our culture has magnified ourselves. In America we call it rugged individualism.
[21:21] It's all about us. Everything we do seems to be focused on us. I want a private office so I don't need to, so I can't, don't have to be with people. I want a personal computer. We have our personal phones, which by the way you might notice, upgrade.
[21:37] I had to sign up for a two year contract, but it's an upgrade, right? Don't know how it works. We have all these concerns about me time and what we get ourselves, and it's not leading to what we really need.
[21:54] We get a personal phone so we can stay in contact with other people in multiple ways. Because that's what we're made for. Verse 2 says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[22:08] Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. We need our minds changed. Because the patterns of this world, what this world says is important, is really ultimately destructive.
[22:21] So we have people living for their own pride. And they get hurt. It's not fair. I have my right. You deserve a break today. We think it's all about us.
[22:35] We complain. We don't get enough respect. How dare they cut me off? Do you know who I am? It's all focused on us.
[22:47] And God didn't create us for that. But it's easy to fall into this trap. One of the gifts on this list is prophesying. Prophesying is to be able to preach in such a way that you can help people to see what otherwise they might not see.
[23:00] We call that vision as well. I preach. I preach for a living. You might have noticed. And I can get caught up in that trap.
[23:11] I'm going to be the greatest preacher. I'm going to replace Billy Graham. I'm going to have the biggest church because everybody wants to come and hear me. As if what I have to say would matter.
[23:24] When we all know that we come to church for who? God. That's the purpose. That's the point. And we can get caught up in it. I have friends of mine who move from church to church to church because they get a little more money, a little more prestige.
[23:41] And they're lonely and their families feel broken and they have no community, no place to belong. You know what a gift it is that they've let me stay here for 25 years? So that I can live with people in my life.
[23:58] We weren't made to be alone. This focus on self is destroying us. Jesus knew what he said to in the book of Matthew. He said, for those who would try to save their lives will lose it.
[24:11] But whoever loses his life for me will find it. Selfish narcissism is leading to loneliness and disappointment and resentment all through our culture.
[24:22] We read about this crazy group of people who would actually live our comfortable Western civilized world to go to the Middle East to fight with crazy people.
[24:34] Why would they do such a thing? Why would people join a gang? Why would people get involved in a cult? Because they're starved for the sense of belonging to something. Something that matters more than just me. It's killing our whole world.
[24:51] And even though we think we're feeding ourselves, we're actually destroying ourselves with this selfish focus. We're gifted by God for God's purpose. For God's purpose.
[25:03] Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. What you think about, what you focus on, is what you're going to become. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, mind, and strength.
[25:20] We need a change of mind. We need to think differently. We're so worried about failing. You know, if you're gifted by God to do something and you do that, you can't fail. It is virtually impossible to fail doing what God gifted you to do.
[25:36] Oh yes, the world might call you a failure, but who cares what they think about? If the Lord of the universe says you're successful, you are successful. Do you see how that works? We need our minds changed.
[25:47] We need our priorities changed. We need our focus and our idea of what success has changed. Because unfortunately, it's not even helping us.
[25:58] To have a healthy, happy, fulfilled life. So who would you say was the most important person in the New Testament besides Jesus?
[26:13] Anybody got a name? Paul, there you go. Or Peter, right? Maybe John. He wrote a lot of books. James. Let's go with Paul. Paul was an enemy of the church.
[26:26] He tried to kill people in the name of God. And so when Paul became a Christian, nobody would go near him. The leaders of the church wouldn't talk to him.
[26:38] They said, why would we go near him? He's crazy. He's a killer. Do you know the reason why Paul even became an apostle and had the opportunity to do what he did for God? Because of Barnabas.
[26:51] Oh, you might not know about Barnabas. Barnabas was a man who was named the encourager. That was his nickname. It's one of the gifts in this list, by the way.
[27:03] The encourager. He encouraged the apostles to accept Paul. He encouraged Mark when Mark failed. We talked about that a couple weeks ago, right? He encouraged Peter. He encouraged James.
[27:16] He encouraged everyone. Now, not because Barnabas was some kind of loser. Barnabas was wealthy. And he was probably big and strong. Heck, they used to say that he looked like Zeus. I'd like to look like Zeus.
[27:27] I don't know what Zeus looks like. That sounds good. Barnabas had all the marks of success, but all he was concerned about is how he could lift up other people. Encouraging.
[27:40] Mercy. Are more important than things like leadership, and preaching, and teaching. You see, we've got it all twisted around. We think that the common gifts are unimportant, and the rare gifts are what matters the most.
[27:56] But God thinks the other way. If he thought that it was important to have a lot of preachers, he'd make a lot of them. But on Sunday morning, how many do you need? How many people do we need encouraging? How many people do we need showing mercy?
[28:08] How many do we need helping people? In fact, when Paul was writing about gifts in 1 Corinthians, he ended it by saying this. These three remain. Faith, hope, and love.
[28:19] But the greatest of these is, you want to know the best gift? The best gift is love. Next to it, our faith and hope. All these other skills are unimportant in comparison, but we don't think that way.
[28:34] So we get it all mixed up. Check out this video. Check out this video. Bye. Thank you... 추가 Feedbackส� cue untuk płasz Any家ibi untuk sedang estim losku Thank you.
[29:28] Thank you.
[29:58] Thank you. Now, the video was titled, Why Moms Did Nothing Done.
[30:10] Now, do you notice what's wrong with that? You see, we're so focused on accomplishing something, when the most important thing that mom was doing was taking care of that little child.
[30:23] And that doesn't diminish anybody who's accomplishing something in life. And this isn't saying everybody has to stay at home or something like that. What this means is, those of you who are parents, the most important task you have in life is raising your children.
[30:40] Nothing is more important. There are other things we might do. They may even have great value. But there's nothing in our culture that we need more than people to raise their kids right.
[30:52] Amen? If everybody does that, we could fix 98% of the problems of the world. And yet, what does it say? Why mom gets nothing but caring for and loving for a little child done.
[31:08] See how we twist everything. We turn it all around. Barnabas gave away his wealth, his property, his strength for the life of the church.
[31:21] Some people would say, what a loser. In many ways, I think he was the most important person in the New Testament. Paul would call him the wind beneath his wings.
[31:33] We only fulfill our real purpose through community. We only fulfill what God put us on this earth for through community.
[31:45] In verse 4, it says, Just as each of us has one body with many members, and those members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
[31:57] The body parts only have value if they're together. They belong to each other. If I take my finger and stick it off by itself, does it have any value? If I were to take my foot off and put it over there in the corner, would it have any purpose?
[32:12] They only matter when they're together with each other. There's no solo faith in the Bible. That's a weird American idea. People say to me, well, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian.
[32:23] Yes, you do! You don't belong to a community of God. You can't be a part of the body. And if you're not a part of God, you're disconnected from Christ. Do you see how that works? That's like saying fingers have a purpose without their body.
[32:36] They don't. We live out our life with God in community. Together we become the body of Christ, not separately. Not belonging to a building.
[32:48] Not belonging to an organization. Belonging to each other. Separate. All we are is pieces. And those pieces really have no value by themselves.
[33:01] And without them, the community is not what God made it to be either. And we're lonely.
[33:12] We become desperately lonely because we don't have the other parts that we're supposed to work together with. The church isn't just the place where we come to worship. It isn't just an organization that accomplishes things, although those are good things.
[33:25] The church is the family we belong to. It's the place where we come, where we can have somebody who cares whether we walk the face of its earth or not. Beyond what value we add to their selfish lives.
[33:39] God makes each of us to work together. And so as a community together, we have what's called synergy. Synergy is when the parts added up separately are not of as much value as the parts added up together.
[33:57] Separately, this coffee pot, if its pieces were scattered, would be worth almost nothing. Together is how it has value. Each part exists for each other.
[34:10] God created us to work together. Which is why he starts out in the book of Genesis saying, it's not good to be alone. I will make for them, he says, a suitable helpmate. So we can work together.
[34:22] So we can be together. So we can love together. That's what the church is supposed to be. Sometimes people ask me, what's our five-year plan as a church? And I say to them, we only have sort of a working plan.
[34:35] We have an idea where we want to go. We talk about it. But ultimately, it's going to change. I know it is. Because today, somebody walked in the door, new to our church, that is going to bring some gift, some ability to the life of our congregation that will take us in a different direction than we thought we were going.
[34:51] Because you see, the church exists also for the parts to have their purpose fulfilled. So your ministry, your purpose becomes fulfilled by the church helping you to do that.
[35:03] And then that fulfills what we do. So every year, somebody does something different, goes in a different direction than when I thought we were going to go. And in doing so, we become what God intended. About five or six years ago, God gave me two words.
[35:19] Go tribal. Go tribal. Somebody asked me about that a couple weeks ago. What does that mean, go tribal? I'll tell you, at first, I didn't know what it meant either. That's all I got. Two words, go tribal. And of course, being from North America, the first thing we start thinking about is feathers and doing weird dances and things that don't fit our culture, right?
[35:36] And I wasn't sure what God was trying to say to us. But if you start looking at what tribes really are, right? Tribes in the Bible. Nothing wrong with the culture of Native Americans, by the way.
[35:49] I just figured out how that fit with our church. What I'm talking about is, if you figure out what tribes in the Bible are, they're a community of people that include everybody. Young, old, children, adults, the rich, the poor.
[36:06] I know this is going to shock some of you. Democrats and Republicans. All in the same place. Different colors. Different ideas. Different desires.
[36:19] And this is why we have different music. Some people say, why don't we sing that new music? Some people like it. And other people say, why don't we sing those old songs? Some people like it. Because our goal is not to make you happy, but to try and hold the family together.
[36:34] That's why young people are involved in our ministry so much. Because they're part of the church. What would our church be like if we didn't have the children? We'd be lost. We wouldn't be able to see in the evening like we do through them.
[36:46] What would it be like if we didn't have the people that have lived a long time and have some ability to guide us through life? Because they've seen things we haven't seen. We work together.
[36:57] Christianity is a tribal affair. Not about you. Not about me. About us. Together. Together. The body of Christ is the church.
[37:11] And the church actually creates God on earth. In 1 John chapter 4, it talks about it this way. It says, no one has seen God.
[37:21] That's what it says. It comes up. See? No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We haven't seen God.
[37:31] But if we start to work together as a family of God, we will see God because we're made in his image. By the way, not I'm made in his image. Not you're made in his image. We're made in his image. So you want to see God?
[37:42] You've got to look at a whole lot of people. And then you come to see God on earth. Ephesians says it this way. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head.
[37:55] That is Christ. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.
[38:07] We're the body. He's the head. We work together. And in doing so, we create the body of Christ. What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose their soul?
[38:19] Lose their purpose. Lose their sense of people. Lose the love of other folks. A place to belong. What would it really matter?
[38:31] I've had people say to me that they want to move south. I ask them why. You know, they don't like the cold. I can understand that, right? Or maybe they have family there. I have people say to me, well, the taxes are lower there.
[38:44] I say, okay, so you're going to give up your friends, your family, your home, everything you know and care about so that you can go south and save a thousand bucks, maybe a few hundred dollars on taxes. Really?
[38:55] That's what all those relationships are worth? We're not thinking it through. Anybody know whose house that was? Who built that house? You all know.
[39:08] Somebody's saying it. Jim Kelly. Jim Kelly built that house. He built his dream house in Virginia. Every single thing that you could imagine that he would want.
[39:19] An entertainment room bigger than our houses. And the way I understand it, a couple of months before it was completed, he and his wife Jill sat down and said, our home is here.
[39:36] The people we care about are here. Everything we love and everything we want and everything we do is here. It's not in Virginia. I believe he lost close to a million dollars selling off his dream home.
[39:52] Maybe you didn't know that about Jim Kelly. Jim Kelly's not the greatest quarterback Buffalo had because he was the best passer. We've had some good passers in the back, in the back of the day. Some of you don't remember Jack Kemp or Darryl and Monica.
[40:04] Jack Kemp, he could fade back 50 yards and throw 60-yard pass and make 10 yards. You didn't pick that up, did you? Watched him. Jim Kelly is embraced by this community because he embraced us.
[40:20] Because he chose us. Because he wanted to be here and build his life here. I don't want you to misunderstand. This isn't a sermon about you've got to stay home.
[40:33] Abraham was called by God to move somewhere else. If Jim Kelly stayed in the foothills of Pennsylvania, he never would have come here. If I stayed where I was raised, I'd never come to Pendleton. Sometimes we are called to go somewhere else.
[40:46] But let's make sure it's a calling from God. Not just something we're doing because we think it's going to make our lives a little bit better. But we're doing it because it's where God is calling us to. And even if God is calling us somewhere else, where do we become a part of God's community?
[40:58] Because God will not call you somewhere else to be alone. God will call you to be a place. You'll also be embraced. The community is more important than each of us.
[41:11] And that's the part that we're missing in our culture. Because we're losing our concept of who God is. It talks about worship in here. It says, More than anything else, that's what we do in worship.
[41:49] It's to remind ourselves of whose we are, what we are, and what we're not. And by the way, just to take a little bit of the heat off, what we're not even expected to be.
[42:02] Individualism, greed, self-focus, all it does is separates. It separates you from the people you love. It separates you from God.
[42:13] It separates you from the Holy Spirit. And ultimately, it's only as we grow close to God that our gifts get stronger and better. Our fulfillment is not in being separated, but by being held together.
[42:25] Philippians chapter 2 says this. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Can you imagine that?
[42:36] Consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. By the way, this isn't about giving away everything you have. You do that, we've got to take care of you.
[42:47] You know, that puts you a burden on us. We take care of ourselves. But we also look to other people and who they are and what they are because we need each other. Jim Kelly's son, Hunter, died a few years ago.
[43:03] Most of us know that. The last year and a half, he's been struggling with cancer. Do you really think that those neighbors he couldn't see that he had never met in the hills of Virginia would have wrapped their loving arms around him during that time?
[43:21] Do you really think anybody would have really cared in Virginia about what a Buffalo Bills quarterback was going through? But he found love here.
[43:35] A community to support him. And care for him. One of the most powerful verses in the Bible is Acts chapter 2, verse 1. It says this, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
[43:50] They flashed it real quick. Just to see how good you can do it. That's called flash, you know, projection. Just to see how good you can do it. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
[44:04] By the way, we appreciate those guys back there, don't we, eh, Matt? Because otherwise you'd all have to be looking this stuff up. They save us a lot of time and work. All together in one place.
[44:18] They were of the same mind in the same place. That's what that means. You can be of the same mind and scatter all over the place. Or you can be in one place and not agree on anything. What makes something powerful is when we're a people together in the same place, working towards the same thing.
[44:39] And that's what God does with us. Once we choose to do that, the power of the Holy Spirit breaks out. And let me tell you, there is nothing better than experiencing the wonder of God's Holy Spirit in our lives.
[44:52] It transforms us. It changes us. It gives us energy. It motivates us. It gives us affirmation beyond anything we possibly could have. And lets us accomplish things we wouldn't even think we could have.
[45:05] And then something strange happens. Even though we weren't even expecting it anymore, we find fulfillment. We find strength.
[45:16] We find community. And we might even find the answer to our dreams. So I didn't become a singer. If I did become a professional singer, I'd probably sing to 20 drunks in a bar somewhere.
[45:30] Instead, I became a pastor. I make all of you listen to me every single week. And I have a bigger crowd and audience than most singers in the world. So, there you go. God blesses us.
[45:42] And it all turns around and comes back to us. You know, it's so easy. It's so easy to get caught up in the selfishness, isn't it?
[45:53] It's so easy to start looking at our own agenda and thinking it's about us. Because we see us all the time. We experience us all the time. God calls us to go in a different direction.
[46:06] To have our minds renewed, transformed, and changed. So we come to God to remember who we are and who we're not. And to confess when we've gone the wrong way.
[46:17] So we need to change. So shall we pray to God? Dear God in heaven. I have sinned. I've been too focused on myself. I forget about you.
[46:31] I forget about others. I forget what I was made for. Forgive me, Lord. Guide me. Shape me.
[46:42] Make me. Into what I should be. Into what I should be. What you created me to be. What you created me to be. And I might live to your purpose. In Jesus' name we pray.
[46:56] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God can't change us. I've got to tell you something that's probably something people don't even realize.
[47:06] Once you start living to God's purpose. Once you start living to God's purpose. Everything the world talks about might not happen. But you won't care so much. Because God will satisfy your soul. Deep down that part of you that longs.
[47:20] That longs to matter. He will change that and transform you into somebody with confidence. With strength. With purpose. With God. So in the name of Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven.
[47:32] In the name of Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Our God calls us to come together. To come together in unity in the Holy Spirit at the table.
[47:47] It's at the table of the Lord that we remember all God has done for us. It's at the table of the Lord that we find community in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
[48:01] We remember that we were not able to do it ourselves. To come together with one another. To come together with God. But that God had to do it for us.
[48:14] And so by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been made into community. Come.
[48:25] Everyone is welcome. If you love God. If you earnestly repent of your sin and seek to live in peace with one another. As disciples of Jesus Christ.
[48:35] You are welcome at this table. You don't have to be a United Methodist or a member of this church. Just have to want God. And want to walk with God.
[48:47] So come. Join with us. Join with him. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts.
[48:58] Lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to be our place in the creation. It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere. To give thanks to you, Father Almighty.
[49:11] Creator of heaven and earth. You brought all things into being and called them good. From the dust of the earth. You formed us into your image. And breathed into us.
[49:22] The breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed. Your love remained steadfast. And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven.
[49:33] We praise your name and join their unending hymn. Holy, holy, holy Lord. God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[49:45] Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ.
[49:56] By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church. Delivered us from slavery to sin and death. And made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit.
[50:07] Spirit, now, when we, your people, prepare for the yearly feast of Easter. You lead us to repentance for sin. And the cleansing of our hearts.
[50:18] That during these 40 days of Lent, we may be gifted and graced. To reaffirm the covenant he made with us. Through Christ. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread.
[50:31] And he gave thanks to you. He broke the bread. And gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you.
[50:48] Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup. And he gave you thanks and praise. And he gave it to his disciples. And he said, Drink from this, all of you.
[51:00] This is the cup of my blood. The blood of the new covenant. Pour it out for you. Pour it out for many. For the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink it.
[51:13] In remembrance of me. And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves. In praise and thanksgiving.
[51:24] As a holy and living sacrifice. In union with Christ's offering for us. As we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen.
[51:36] Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here. And on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ.
[51:48] That we may be for the world the body of Christ. Redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ. One with each other and one in ministry to all the world.
[52:00] Until Christ comes. In final victory. And we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit in your Holy Church.
[52:11] All honor and glory is yours. Almighty Father. Now and forever. Amen. Shall we pray together? Amen. Our Father.
[52:23] Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
[52:36] And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
[52:48] For thine is the kingdom. And the power. And the glory forever and ever. Amen. And no I didn't get the memo from the choir. That's not why I'm wearing this shirt.
[52:59] My wife bought it for my birthday. So you know. She buys you a shirt. You wear this shirt. That's kind of how it works. Right? You know. Because if you're going to be in love with people. You've got to care about them.
[53:11] Not about you. And they care about you. And do good things for you as well. That's what life really is about. It's about looking after each other.
[53:21] Watching over each other. Being a part of a place where somebody notices you're there. And cares when you're not. That's the blessing God gives us. He unites together to do something amazing.
[53:33] May God bless you. May God bless you with a place to belong. With a purpose to live for. With a life worth living. And may you go in his peace and his grace and his power.
[53:43] This day and always. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.