[0:00] Good morning, everybody. 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, they're welcome to come on down and join us.
[0:18] This is the day This is the day That the Lord has made That the Lord has made Let us rejoice Let us rejoice And be glad in it And be glad in it This is the day That the Lord has made Let us rejoice And be glad in it This is the day This is the day That the Lord Has made Good morning, welcome to Pendleton Church.
[1:00] Fill out your friendship card So we can get to know you. We have a gift for our visitors Here at the Connection site. I hope you guys have a great day. Enjoy the service.
[1:11] And we are glad to have you here with us this morning. We have a couple of ministry opportunities On our clipboards this morning. So if you could pass those around. One is to help with our children's Sunday school.
[1:23] And the other is for our church picnic, Which is the last day of this month. And on that day, We only have one church service At 10 o'clock. What time? Trying to make sure you're listening.
[1:34] 10 o'clock. Has it come any other time? Well, then we have a picnic. A potluck picnic afterwards. The following week, Our services will go on Sunday To 9 and 10.30.
[1:44] So we're only going to have Two services through the summertime. Just so you're aware of that. You might find in your envelope A bullet, A envelope for Lakeview Animal Shelter And wonder why are we doing that?
[1:56] I thought that was last week. But we didn't put an envelope in this week. So if you're interested in giving And we're looking for an envelope, It's there for you. And I want to remind you That if you go to the Bob Evans On Niagara Falls Boulevard, If you like to eat there, This Thursday, Anything you eat, If you take one of these pink slips with you, Will help support our youth mission trip.
[2:15] So we do invite you to go ahead Do that if you like to eat at Bob Evans On the Boulevard. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer? Dear God, There are so many things That go through our minds And our hearts As we come to this place before you.
[2:28] Bless us, Lord. Fill us and take from us All the thoughts of everything around us And help us just to experience you. Breathe into us As we come to worship you, The Holy Spirit of God.
[2:40] For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And I'd invite you, If you're able to stand as we sing, Come Christians, join to sing. Come Christians, join to sing.
[3:15] Alleluia, amen. Loud praise to Christ our King. Alleluia, amen.
[3:27] Let all with heart and voice Before his throne rejoice Praise is our gracious choice.
[3:39] Alleluia, amen. Come, lift your hearts on high. Alleluia, amen.
[3:51] Let praises fill the sky. Alleluia, amen. He is our guide and friend To us he'll condescend His love shall never end.
[4:10] His love shall never end. Alleluia, amen. Praise yet the Lord again. Alleluia, amen.
[4:24] Life shall not end the strain. Alleluia, amen. Alleluia, amen. On heaven's blissful shore His goodness we'll adore Singing forevermore Alleluia, amen.
[4:48] The Lord be with you. Amen. Take a moment if you will and greet your neighbor with the peace of the spirit. I'd like to invite the children to come up and join me now if they'd like to.
[5:27] Any other kids want to come up they're welcome to join us. You know what I brought to show you this morning? Nothing.
[5:41] Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I know I brought you nothing. Because you know what I want to talk to you about? You know that there's people in our world that when they ask them what do you believe in?
[5:57] What kind of religion do you have? You know what they say they believe in? Nothing. Nothing. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in anything. That's kind of sad, isn't it?
[6:09] So they don't have God. They don't know about God. They don't have the experience of God. They don't have all the blessings. They don't have a church. They don't have any of that stuff. Because they've got nothing.
[6:20] So we should be glad we have something, shouldn't we? Yeah. And we should, when it's right, if we can, we should even help other people to learn about God, right? Because God's a wonderful part of our lives.
[6:33] We need to make sure he's a wonderful part of everybody's life. So that when we come we have something. Not nothing. Nothing, right? Okay. What do you guys thank for this morning? Raise your hand if you want to share something.
[6:47] My family and friends. My brother. My sisters. My mom and daddy. My mom and dad.
[7:02] My mom. Monkey. My family. Anybody else? All right. Lord, we do thank you for the many blessings you give to us.
[7:15] We thank you for yourself. We thank you for our parents and our family and the good things in our life. Bless us always and help us to be blessed by knowing you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, you guys are welcome to go out to church school.
[7:27] Now all the kids are welcome to come out and go out to church school. We're going to invite Kelly Putney, our choir director, to come on up and share with us, I think. Got that one?
[7:38] Okay. Good morning. Our church is blessed with a number of young people who give of their time and talent to serve God.
[7:50] Today I'd like to praise and thank our Heavenly Father for the blessing of one of those special young people, Kate Bobscene. For those of you who don't know Kate, she's the exceptional young woman who has been our pianist for the Chancel Choir for the past two and a half years.
[8:08] Kate is also the daughter of Mary and Louis Bobscene whom many of you know and love as well. Kate is a wonderful young woman who has literally grown up in this church and has been involved in a variety of ministries along the way, including filling in on the piano for Saturday and Sunday services, accompanying the choir, singing and playing in the cantata and playing handbells.
[8:30] Kate's also very busy at school and I'm constantly amazed by her ability to juggle it all and still have time to be a special member of our choir family. No matter what Kate had going, she was faithfully with us every Wednesday night and even more surprising every early Sunday morning that we sing.
[8:47] I truly thank Kate for her dedication and her desire to share her God-given talent at the piano with us at Pendleton Center. As we celebrate all of our wonderful graduates this weekend and thank God for the blessings that they have been to this church, we also realize that it's time for them to embark on the next chapter of their lives, including Kate who will be heading to Ithaca College in August to study music.
[9:13] The choir is hosting a cake reception for Kate right after this service in the fellowship hall and we hope you will come and celebrate and have a piece of cake. We pray that God will continue to bless Kate and her talents and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts for her ministry with the choir.
[9:30] Thank you. Go ahead.
[9:42] Go ahead. I wanted to say this at the beginning. Judy Crook, one of our members, was in a four-car accident on the 290 on Friday and we're so glad that she's here with us. A little bumped up but she's a trooper and we're just really glad that she's doing well and wasn't hurt worse.
[9:59] Amen. As we continue with our worship, let's bring our gifts, tithes, and offerings before the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[10:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[10:44] Amen. Amen. I remember when I was alive, times were hard and things were bad. There's a silver lining behind every cloud.
[10:56] Just for people, that's all we were, trying to make a living out of my calendar. We'd live together in a family circle, singing loud. Let's sing bass.
[11:07] Papa, sing together. Me and little brother will join my young man. Sing and sing to the heart of the cold soul. On these days, there won't be long.
[11:18] I'll enjoy them in a song. I'm going to join the family circle and the throne. The circle won't be broken.
[11:30] By and by, Lord, by and by. Let's sing bass. Mama, sing together. Me and little brother will join my young man. In the sky, Lord, in the sky.
[11:44] I remember that the word of the calling of us. Let's hear us sing in power, punching love. Now, with the brother and stand on my mind.
[11:56] Now, we join him in a song. Well, we'll stand and open it up every single one. Dancing bass. Mama, sing together. Me and little brother will join my young man.
[12:09] Singing in the sea to pack my drunk soul. One of these days, there won't be long. I'll be joining in a song. I'm going to join the family circle and the throne.
[12:23] Though the circle won't be broken. By and by, Lord, by and by. Now, sing bass.
[12:33] Mama, sing together. Leave the brother will join my young man. In the sky, Lord, in the sky. In the sky, Lord, in the sky.
[12:47] In the sky. In the sky. In the sky. In the sky. In the sky.
[13:10] In the sky. In the sky. In the sky. Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day and for the opportunity to gather and worship you.
[13:51] Lord God, we are grateful that we can give back some of the rich and wonderful blessings that you have poured out into our lives. We lift up, Lord God, not only these financial gifts and tithes and offerings, but also the spiritual gift you have given us for service in the world.
[14:10] And especially today, Lord God, the gift of worshiping you through music. We just ask that you would bless all of these offerings and make them to be acceptable to you.
[14:22] Make them to be a blessing not only to us, but also to you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please be seated.
[14:33] And at this time, I'd like to invite our lay leader, Jan Hodge, to come forward along with the Stowe family. Come on up.
[14:50] Brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrate the new birth by water and the Spirit through the sacrament of baptism as we become members of Christ's holy church.
[15:01] On behalf of the church, I present Addison Taylor Stowe for baptism. These questions are for the parents.
[15:17] Do you reject the evil powers of this world, repent of your sin, and accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist Satan? If so, answer, I do. And do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and promise to serve as Christ's representative through faithful participation in his church?
[15:34] If so, answer, I do. And will you nurture this child in Christ's holy church and, by teaching example, lead her to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior? If so, answer, I will.
[15:45] And will you, as the Church of Christ, renew your own vows of commitment to Christ and accept your responsibility to assist these parents in fulfilling their vows?
[16:03] If so, answer, we will. If so, answer, we will.
[16:35] Now bless your child. Pour out your Holy Spirit on this gift of water. To bless this child with your grace that leads to eternal life. Help us to know that as we die to this world, we become alive to Christ and share in his final victory over sin and death.
[16:49] Amen. Hey, Addison. How are you? I'm still a little sleepy, huh? That's good. Addison. Thank you. Addison.
[17:01] Addison. Taylor. So. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[17:11] May the Lord bless you and be with you and keep you in his grace. Amen. Brothers and sisters, shall we welcome our newest member into the family of God. Applause Applause Applause Applause Applause Applause Applause Applause Amen.
[17:46] What a blessing. What a blessing it is. You know, we have a baptism at every single service today. We had one this morning. Bill Murray. I don't know if you all know Bill Murray.
[17:57] Bill was baptized this morning. And he's going to become a member of the church at the end of the month. Praise God. And Addison. We have Addison this morning. And at the 1115, we'll also have a baptism.
[18:10] Kara Liddell is going to be baptized as well. It is just such a blessing to know that God is calling people into the body of Christ and that we can support them in their faith and help them.
[18:22] We have some concerns. Joyce, as well, our graduates. Today is the Sunday that we're going to recognize graduates. And I forgot until Pastor Tom actually reminded me this morning.
[18:32] I graduated in November. So I missed the last round. I did graduate in November. And I'll be heading on to seminary in the fall. But online. You know, you read about it in the newsletter.
[18:43] We have all of our graduates. Whether it's preschool, elementary school, junior high, high school, whatever, college. Wherever you have graduated from, would you please stand so that we can recognize you this morning?
[18:56] Come on. Where are you? I know you're out there. All the graduates. I don't want to stand up here alone. Praise God.
[19:09] Praise God. What a blessing. And we have some concerns as well. As we heard earlier, Judy Krupp was in that accident.
[19:20] But praise God, she has been protected by the grace of God. And Diane Feind is recovering from a fall. Kelsey James is recovering from surgery. And Lynn Elberson's brother Dave is in ICU after cancer surgery.
[19:35] So we have lots of joys, lots of concerns. Let's consider all that God has done in our lives. And remember that as we lift up our prayers to God, God hears us and answers us.
[19:47] Meditate on that as you hear more of our wonderful music this morning. Can you hear the prayer of the children?
[20:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. In the shadow of an unknown room.
[20:23] Empty eyes with no more tears to cry.
[20:34] Crying Jesus, help me to see the morning light of one more day.
[20:55] But if I should die before I wait, I pray my soul to take.
[21:10] And you feel the hearts of the children aching for home, for something of their very own.
[21:31] Reaching hands with nothing to hold on to. But hope for a better day.
[21:46] A better day. Crying Jesus, help me to feel the love again.
[22:00] In my own land. What if unknown roads lead away from home? Give me loving arms.
[22:15] Away from harm. As felt in half. Woman on the bike.
[22:27] Harmには your own. Yes. As felt as. Lean each door. As felt as stood as. A perfect day.isf� walk laten. People.
[22:38] Now your own land. Om had been out. O do do carnavalo Can you hear the voice of the children Softly plead for silence in their shattered world Angry God sent a message full of hate Blood of the innocent on their hands Crying, Jesus, help me
[23:39] To feel the sun again upon my face For when darkness clears, I know you're near Bringing peace again Da li chu nite Se de ce holy pe Can you hear the prayer of the children Amen. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer?
[24:31] Amen. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer?
[24:45] Amen. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer?
[25:01] Dear Heavenly Father, what a blessing it is to be in your awesome presence To lift up songs of praise To come before you Rejoicing in our hearts over so many things Knowing that you rejoice with us And concerned for many things Knowing that you hear and answer our prayers We lift up to you Lord God All of those who are being baptized today We pray in Jesus name that you continue to work in their lives We pray that you help us as your church We pray that you help us as your church To be able to minister to them In ways that will help them to grow in their faith Bless us Lord by your grace For this task For this task We pray Father for
[26:03] All of those people who are sick And who are infirm We ask that you would touch them Lord With your healing power Be with them Be with their doctors and nurses And their caregivers We know Lord That you will bring them to wholeness in you We thank you for all of those Who have been sick Who have been in need of recovering and healing Who have come to the place now Where you have been able to restore them to us We thank you that they are well And able to be here among us Thank you Father God For all of our graduates We ask that you continue to bless them Touch them and be with them Continue to lead them in their lives As they go on Wherever it is That you light the path for their steps
[27:07] Let them be blessed And let them be a blessing Father we pray for those who are Grieving losses Or having trouble with the transitions of life We just ask in Jesus name That you be a comforting presence Hold them In the palm of your hand Let them know that you are there Let them know that you are there Bring them peace Lord Father we pray in Jesus name For all of those who don't know you That we would be a light For all of those who don't know you That we would be a light That we would be a light In dark places That we would be able to share your love And grace and mercy In ways that they will be able to hear and receive Give us wisdom Lord Give us wisdom Help us to know how to reach them And we would be able to know how to reach them Lord God
[28:11] We ask that all of the blessings of this worship service Enrich us deep in our faith Draw us closer to you Help us to remember as we are here Lord Enjoying one another And enjoying the music And enjoying hearing from you in your word As the scriptures are read And hearing the message that you've given to Pastor Tom Lord God help us to remember To give all the glory to you Help us remember Help us remember The reason we gather here Is to enjoy you To enjoy being in your presence And to be a blessing to you Be with us Lord Wash over us through the words And the songs and the music Through the words of scripture And through Pastor Tom's words And through the times Lord Through the sacraments
[29:13] Bless us Lord But only so that we can bless you And be a blessing in your world In Jesus name we pray Amen Amen Amen Amen
[30:57] Amen Amen Amen Amen Thank you.
[31:38] Thank you.
[32:08] You know, this week I discovered something new about this smartphone. You might not be aware of it, but I don't have a dumb phone anymore. I actually have a smartphone. And I found out that when you start typing a text, it actually suggests three possible words that I could pick so I don't have to type out all the letters.
[32:24] I see a lot of you going like this. I thought this was so cool. I started telling people, like, do you know what my phone does? And they all went like, duh. You didn't know that? Duh.
[32:35] And I'm thinking, and you didn't tell me? I thought it was cool. I shared it with you. You don't tell me. You just say, I'm like, duh. And always, that's what we do to people with our Christian faith.
[32:49] In the book of Acts, in chapter 1, just as Jesus is ascending to heaven, he says, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
[33:06] Not you should be, not you might be, but you will be. If the Holy Spirit is a part of our lives, it should cause us to want to share this good news with other people.
[33:18] We should want to just, it should just bubble out of us because it's so exciting and means so much in our lives that we should want to share it so people can hear it.
[33:30] Can you hear it? I saw a few heads looking out the window. Really? Really? We got Mr. Softee for church this morning? I heard that the other day.
[33:44] How cool. My head just went, just like you guys, right? Wow, ice cream! Ice cream! How fantastic! That's good news! I'm so happy we like ice cream.
[33:55] And when we hear the ice cream truck, we're just kind of drawn to it. I was watching a TV show this week about ice cream trucks.
[34:07] And what it was is they wanted to see if the kids who were told to stay away from strangers would get inside the ice cream truck if the ice cream man invited them. And sure enough, as they're going through the show and watching the kids that they believed would never do this, both boys climbed right in the back of the ice cream truck as the moms went, ooh!
[34:27] Because we all know that all people who sell ice cream are creeps and weirdos and wackos that want to hurt our kids, right? Now, most ice cream-selling people are good, decent, loving people.
[34:41] They're hardworking. And most of them actually like kids. The problem is you get one or two that do something that's just a little sideways or actually wrong, and all of a sudden nobody's sure who to trust.
[34:56] We have a similar problem with Christianity. Most Christians are loving and kind and gracious. They're good people trying to do their best. But we have a few people who call themselves Christians who are mean, judgmental, self-righteous, hurtful, and walk around using that same word, Christian, to beat up on people.
[35:23] So we feel a little funny when we talk about God. In fact, in some ways, we're embarrassed to talk about God. Because it feels like people will associate us with those kind of nasty folk, if you know what I mean.
[35:41] And so we don't share about God. We're going to talk over the next few weeks about some of the walls we put up as Christians to keep people from getting to God. Some of the walls that the church puts up that we need to break down because people don't have Jesus.
[36:00] And nobody who calls themselves a Christian wants to share it with them because, well, we're embarrassed. We feel awkward. We don't know what to say.
[36:11] We don't want to be associated with these odd people. I want us to be a church without walls. One that encourages and invites people to the grace of God.
[36:25] How do we do that without looking like Christian creeps, if you will? And why do we need to do it? Well, because to tell you the truth, the church is dying.
[36:36] I know you look around our congregation this morning and say, really, Pastor Kyle? I don't think so. You know how rare this is to have a congregation like ours? I went to our annual conference meeting where 900 United Methodist churches from upstate New York met.
[36:50] And this year they announced that they had closed 10 churches. Last year it was three. The year before it was one. I suspect next year it's going to be 20. And pretty soon it's going to be 30 or 40.
[37:02] I read in the Buffalo News that in the last 10 years, 200,000 people stopped going to church. 200,000 people in western New York. Not in this country.
[37:14] Just in our community. People are walking away from the life-changing power of God that we have. We need to do something about it. We're going to talk about that this morning.
[37:25] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[38:02] Thank you. Thank you.
[38:31] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The darkness we shine Out of the ashes we rise There's no one like you None like you Our God is greater Our God is stronger God, Jedi, are you ready?
[39:01] Our God, our God is healer Awesome, your power, God Our God And if our God is for us Then we couldn't stop us And if our God is with us Then we'll get down again And if our God is for us Then if our God is for us Then if our God is with us Then our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is greater Our God is stronger Then if our God is for us Then who could have us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us
[40:01] Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us Our God is for us I'm gonna stand against And if I got his voice Then could I stop it And if I got his fingers Then I'm gonna stand against I'm gonna stand against I'm gonna screamer I'm gonna stalker God, you are higher than any other Our God's healer Awesome in power Our God
[41:02] Our God Woo! Good morning Good morning Good morning This morning's scripture reading is taken from the Gospel of Luke, the fifth chapter, verses 37 through 39 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins If he does, the new wine will burst the skins The wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins And no one after drinking old wine wants to new For he says, the old is better
[42:04] And this is the word of the Lord Thanks to God Thanks to God Thanks to God I just want to say We're always feeling so blessed And I think I speak for the whole band When we get a chance to share the music that we love But today's I'm gonna cry Today's a really special blessing Because we get to share with you an original That was written by one of our band members, Matt Ash So we hope you like it My soul has wandered like a dog gone astray
[43:17] No passion, no purpose That's the way I feel Lost and lonely at the end of the day Further from my destination With each turn of the wheel I can't find faith I can't feel alone I could use a little help From above Stargazer Staring at the sky at night
[44:18] Humbled by the endless beauty Of the creation before my eyes Lord, my virtues are wearing thin The pride inside has just about done the end So I can't find faith I can't feel alone I could use a little help From above Stargazer Stargazer Staring at the sky at night Humbled by the endless beauty
[45:21] Of the creation before my eyes Bring me back Bring me back From these sweetest things that I do Bring me back Bring me back From these shadows that cried my view And I can't do this on my own Bring me back Stand on my path just to reach for you Stargazer
[46:29] Staring at the sky tonight Humble by the endless beauty of the creation before my eyes Stargazer Stargazer Stargazer Stargazer Staring at the sky tonight Stargazer Stargazer Stargazer A new song for a new age
[47:40] New wine goes into new wineskins We can't share Christ the way we used to Back in the day The way in which we brought people to Jesus was We simply put churches up wherever people moved to So if the houses were planted in some neighborhood You put a church there You opened the doors and the people walked in Because everybody went to church Everybody doesn't go to church anymore If you haven't noticed As a drive by On Sunday morning So then we got clever We put up tents out in the yard And we have revival services And now people come by and say Is this the beer tent?
[48:20] It's not quite the same Thing Anymore Somebody when I started out in the ministry said I needed to go door to door and knock on doors You just picture that You've seen those people that come and knock door to door On your doors to share about God What do you do with them?
[48:38] Hide behind the curtains Pretend you're not home Yell at them to get off your height Really? Who wants to do that? That's just weird So we came up with this great idea We'll send buses out into the neighborhoods And invite kids to go to these cool children's programs So they send buses out everywhere So I want you to picture We're going to put buses out in the neighborhood And we're going to invite people to put their kids on a bus With some guy they never met To drive them to some place they've never been To learn about something they don't know anything about Yeah, that's going to happen If the ice cream truck driver's scary Imagine who this guy is It's changed It's just Not the same Anymore Things Are different Even the churches that seem to be growing Quite honestly their strategy was To make the best presentation possible The best music
[49:39] The best message The best everything The best seating And lights And it attracted people But to be honest with you All it attracted was people out of the churches To go to another church So we closed little churches And created big ones But people didn't come to God New wine Goes in new wineskins Now if you go to an ice cream shop You know that nowadays You can get horseradish ice cream Or lobster flavored ice cream Or wasabi peat dust flavored ice cream You can even get fig and turkey flavored ice cream How many of you have signed up for that?
[50:25] Yeah But there's people out there that want it Because people have different ideas Of how they want to be And how they want to express themselves In seminary I learned Some things change And some things remain the same The question is Which are which And why?
[50:42] In this passage it says People like the old wine better And there are some old things We need to hold on to We don't change everything we believe To make everybody happy We don't get rid of everything That's a tradition All the old songs All the old prayers We don't throw the table out in the yard We still do the things That have been ancient and with us For centuries That draw us closer to God But we have to look at some things That have become different The same message Sometimes in a different package The first thing is Our package We have to work on us New wineskins For new wine If we really have Jesus in our lives It shouldn't be something That leaves us the same Jesus said The Holy Spirit power Will come on you That should transform you And the fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Patience
[51:43] Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness And self-control And Paul says with that We don't need any laws If we live that out If we start living out The love The grace The mercy The wonder The joy That God plants in our hearts And gives to us People are going to want to come to that People want to experience that In a broken Confused Messed up Sad And dysfunctional world People are looking for someplace To experience those things So if we start living that A life that's changed People will be attracted to that They'll want to know Jesus And if we don't Then the question is Have we really let Jesus Start working in our lives at all People will hear about Jesus Through your life And who you are Can you hear it?
[52:44] Doesn't that feel good? You know just listening to that Just makes us feel like Like well Like we want to eat ice cream Right?
[52:59] And we like ice cream Even though ice cream Has become so expensive I mean it used to be 15 cents for a cone Now it's like $8.50 or something It's crazy right? We still buy it Because we love this stuff It makes us feel good It comforts us And God knows we need comfort And if ice cream Can make us feel better How about God?
[53:20] Imagine what God Could do for our broken Dysfunctional Messed up Frustrated Angry world God can do more For us than ice cream Amen? Amen And so we need to bring that out New ways to hear the grace To talk about grace New ways of doing things Somebody said to me this morning They said You know If you keep playing music like that I'm going to get up and dance They said Go for it Did David dance before the Lord?
[53:52] We were sitting in the front pew During that last song Kind of going like this You know? It's okay It's okay It's okay It's okay that we do things That weren't always church And we do things That aren't always in church Go feed people somewhere We have a dinner in Niagara Falls We just invite folks To come in and eat dinner And little by little They hear about the gospel They feel it They experience it Go over to a nursing home Go out in the playgrounds Go talk about it Wherever It's comfortable We need things That are a little different We need to shake up The dusty old stuff It doesn't mean We have to get rid Of everything old There's some wonderful old hymns And my gosh When we sing Amazing Grace We sing it better Than any song But we need something new Once in a while too And we really need To be out there Where people are We need to be
[54:53] A church without walls That goes outside the walls To offer the love of God They won't care What you know Till they know That you care They won't care What God says Till they have God You know this book Doesn't mean a thing To a person Who's not a Christian I know that bothers you But if you go Wave the Bible At somebody Who doesn't believe in God They're going to say Put that book down What's the matter with you This is for us This is our book The rules in this book Are for Christians The rest of the world Just need to experience The love and grace of God Have you noticed this new pope?
[55:32] Of course we have Everybody has The world has Why? Because he cares About somebody That's what the church Should be doing He's right I admire him What an amazing concept That we go out And feed the poor And take care of the hurting And help out folks That are struggling And visit with the lonely I think that's in the book Isn't it?
[55:57] I know it's in the book You should know that too It takes time And patience But it matters And you know why it matters?
[56:10] Because grace changes lives Because God makes people different And because we've got a broken Messed up world That needs that grace Amen?
[56:22] God changed my life God turned my world around God can turn any world around We have a gift to offer And people need it You want to know What the fastest growing Faith community is In our country?
[56:40] No faith No faith 20 years ago 5% of the people In this country Said they believed in nothing Two years ago It was 15% Now it's 25% This isn't just growing This is taking off Fastest growing faith idea In America Is to believe in nothing They call them the nuns That's kind of an odd twist Isn't it?
[57:07] Because they believed in nothing And we know the truth I gotta tell you And most of you know It took me years To accept the idea Of getting a smartphone I would literally Come to services And wander around Go I got a dumb phone Ho ho ho Aren't I cool?
[57:25] So I thought That it was smart To say I had a dumb phone I just want you To let that absorb A little bit It's smart to be dumb Because that's what I know And that's what I remember And that's what I understand And I don't want to learn Anything new I'm tired of it I don't want to learn How to do a new computer system I don't want to learn How phones work I don't want to have to figure out How my TV works now I don't want to know What the new stations are I don't want to have to deal With new people I don't want new music I just want to run away I want to get in one of those Gated communities Where all the people are old And do the same old thing They always have And they have dialed telephones You know?
[58:08] And I don't have to think anymore It's what I want to do You know, you young people Don't realize Dialing the phone Really was a dial We actually went like this Old people know this You guys have always done that We actually dialed Our parents are now out there You don't see this They're explaining to their kids About how the dial works But I have to bring one in To show it to them I have one I still own one And it works Proud to be dumb You see the problem is Though in those communities All you're doing Is just surviving Until you die God didn't call us To survive Until we die I don't want you To misunderstand I'm not worried About the church of God God said that I will build My church on this rock And the gates of hell Will not prevail against it God will make the church Survive But the point is Is I want to be a part of it I don't want to watch Things just fall apart And slowly disappear
[59:08] I don't want to be about A church that just Exists and stays alive And doesn't go up On that report At that annual meeting That we existed One more year It won't be for us I want to be about A church That thrives Please stand If you're able Here in this morning If we're in a land Where many a dream Has died Like a tree planted By the water We never will run and drive Living water
[60:11] Rolling through God, we thirst From all of you Give our hearts And flood our souls With one design But still know You and you You know We lift Your name on high Shine like the sun May come It's running high We know We know We were made For so much more Than ordinary lives It's time for us To more than just survive We were made to die To the world We're digging deep
[61:19] To know our Father's heart Into the world We're reaching out To show them Who you are To hear me Water Rolling through God, we thirst For more of you Fill our hearts And flood our souls With one design Just to know you And you May we know We lift Your name on high Shine like the sun May come It's running high We know We were made For so much more Than more Than every life It's time for us Till more than just survive We were made to die
[62:21] Joy unspeakable Faith unsinkable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Joy unspeakable Faith unsinkable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Joy unspeakable Faith unsinkable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Love unsinkable Anything is possible Joy unsinkable Joy unsinkable Faith unsinkable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Just to know you And to make you known We lift your name on high Shine like the sun May darkness run and high We know We know We were made For so much more Than ordinary lives
[63:22] It's time for us To more than just survive We were made to die We were made to cry We were made to cry We were made to cry We were made to share The wonder The amazing love of God Because he changes our lives He makes our lives alive He makes us really live Not just in the world To come But in this world And God knows That if we share That love out People will run to it Not so that our church grows So that our world Is healed Sharing our love
[64:22] Jesus Jesus You know my heart Father My peace and my life Spirit You know my soul You know Jesus You know Come Father You know I rest in your panda Spirit Open my You The heavens Ol Karma You are God, let the pundits redone.
[65:10] We all shout, cry, hallelujah, as we worship you, Lord. This is our song, O Lord.
[65:25] Jesus, you take my soul, I thank you forevermore. Jesus, you walk my life, you are.
[65:41] The heavens be glad, my God, let the mountains rejoice. The oceans cry, hallelujah, as we worship you, Lord.
[65:57] This is our song, O Lord. Jesus, I am in awe of the love that you have shown.
[66:11] Jesus, how precious you are to me. He'll be in the heavens, incredible, O God.
[66:23] Let the mountains rejoice. The oceans cry, hallelujah, as we worship you, Lord.
[66:36] This is our song, O Lord. The oceans cry, hallelujah, as we worship you, Lord. The oceans cry, hallelujah, as we worship you, Lord.
[66:46] Please be seated. I understand it, you know. I really do. Sometimes we just feel embarrassed.
[66:57] We just feel like we're going to make ourselves look kind of strange. I've got to tell you something odd about the nuns. They did a study. They don't care for the church.
[67:09] But they like Jesus. You don't have to talk about the church, although you can. They want to and say it's not so bad. Just talk about Jesus. They want to hear about Jesus.
[67:20] They want to know about Jesus. They think Jesus is a cool guy. They're a little worried about his followers. We can change that, too, by who we are and how we live. But first we've got to start changing who we are and how we live.
[67:35] And that starts by confessing we've got some things to work on. So let's pray together, shall we? Dear God in heaven, I have sinned. I've broken your laws.
[67:47] Sometimes I get judgmental and self-righteous and embarrassed to share the love of God.
[68:00] Forgive me, Lord. Fill me up with your spirit. Let your fruits pour out of me. That I might live as you want me to live.
[68:15] To love as you want me to love. Be a part of blessing the world. Through you. In Jesus' name we pray.
[68:28] Amen. If we want to change the world around us, we have to change us. Don't worry about changing the person next to you. Change you. And watch the world start to adjust to your new normal.
[68:43] The normal of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[68:53] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. This table is where God calls us to come to celebrate.
[69:05] To celebrate him. He invites us. Jesus himself invites us to come and share supper with him. As we remember what he did for us on the cross.
[69:16] We remember the body and blood of Christ. We rejoice as we receive from God. through the sacrament, all that God is pouring out for us.
[69:30] Come expecting to meet with God in a way you never had before this morning. Everyone is welcome. You don't have to be a member of the church. You don't have to be a member of any church.
[69:42] It's about where you are at right now. Where is your heart right now? If you love God, earnestly repent of your sin, and seek to live in peace, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are welcome at this table this morning to come and join with us, to join with God and receive God's blessings.
[70:08] So come. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[70:19] It is right, and a good and a joyful thing, always and everywhere, to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
[70:31] You formed us in your image, and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
[70:42] You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets. And so with your people on earth, and all the company of heaven, we praise your name, and join their unending hymn.
[70:58] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[71:10] 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. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.
[71:36] He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. 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.
[71:54] And on the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, and he gave thanks to you. He broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples, saying, take, eat.
[72:06] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[72:19] And when the supper was over, he took the cup, and he gave you thanks and praise, and gave it to his disciples, and he said, drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new covenant, poured out for you, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin.
[72:36] Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[72:59] Christ has died. Christ is risen. 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, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
[73:23] By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
[73:35] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.
[73:45] Shall we pray together with the confidence of children of God, the prayer Jesus taught us? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[73:58] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
[74:14] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
[74:26] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[74:37] Amen. Amen.
[75:08] Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[75:41] Thank you.
[76:11] Thank you.
[76:41] Thank you.
[77:11] Thank you.
[77:41] Thank you.
[78:11] Thank you.
[78:41] Thank you.
[79:11] Thank you. It's called God.
[79:43] Go and be a blessing as you have been blessed. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
[80:41] Amen.