[0:00] We will rejoice and be glad in it. If any kids would like to come up and sing, they're welcome to come on up and join us. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:21] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:36] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:52] Hi, welcome to our church. I'm Mike Maciejewski. And I'm Julie. Please fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list, to sign up for any activities, any prayers or concerns, and any notes you want to send to the staff.
[1:05] And if you're new to our church, please be sure and pick up a gift that we have for you in the back of the church at the Connection site after worship. Thank you for coming today. And welcome to Pendleton Center Church.
[1:16] We are glad to have you here at church this morning. I did want to mention that our ministry opportunity on the clipboards is to help with funerals, not a particular funeral. Just if you're the kind of person who likes to make a meal or help out with people when they're in a time of need, that's what it's for.
[1:31] And they'll give you a call if there's a particular time. So that's what that particular opportunity is about. Today, we're starting back to our regular worship schedule, which I see you all figure that out.
[1:42] We're glad to have you here at 930 this morning. We also have our Sunday schools back in their regular programs. And a lot of our ministries are meeting this week. Wednesday night, we have Bible studies and choirs and things, but not all of them.
[1:54] Like, for instance, our youth group or line dancers. There's some others. So pay attention. Take a look. If you happen to be a part of an activity starting up, we're glad to have you back in those activities.
[2:05] We have all sorts of things starting. Like, we have breakfast again this morning and, you know, go out and have something to eat. And I also want to mention the friendship cards, because I've had a lot of people say to me, we left the friendship cards out.
[2:18] No, we didn't leave the friendship cards out. They're orange and they're bigger. So you can see them and you can write on them a little more, okay? So they're in there. Fill them out. We'd love to have your thoughts and ideas and know you're here with us.
[2:30] So they're orange now. It's not that hard. They just made them orange, okay? And we're glad to have you joining us with everything that you do. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer this morning? Dear Lord, we thank you for everything you give to us.
[2:43] We thank you for the life of the church. And we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, praise you, and gather with you. Send your spirit into this place to help us worship in a wonderful, powerful way.
[2:54] For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'd like to invite you now, if you're able to stand, as we're going to sing together, praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
[3:04] Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. the Almighty, the King of creation.
[3:18] The King of creation. Praise to the Lord. The Almighty, the King of creation. Praise to the Lord.
[3:29] Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. The Almighty, the King of creation. Oh, my soul, praise Him for He is thy help and salvation.
[3:43] Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord. The King of creation. The King of счит 만들어, way it's a rock and nature after He is not so glorious. Join me in glad adoration.
[3:58] Raise to the Lord, you are all things, till wondrously rainy. There's the unheagled sweet tearing, his keeping maintaining.
[4:16] God's tear in bones, all whose to good he upholds, has thou not known his sustaining?
[4:30] Praise to the Lord, who God prospered, my work can defend thee. Surely his goodness and mercy will gain thee a deadly.
[4:47] Honor on me, what the Almighty can do, who with his love doth befriend thee.
[5:02] Praise to the Lord, who doth rest thy life and restore thee. Bidding big breath for the times that are ever before thee.
[5:20] Turn to thy knees, God and the mother of the sea, spreading the wings of praise for thee.
[5:33] Praise to the Lord, praise to the Lord, for let all heaven be seen, we adore him. All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him.
[5:52] Let me know the Lord. Amen. Thou know his people again, when he forever adore thee.
[6:06] The Lord be with you. 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.
[6:27] If any of the children want to come up and join me now. Can you join me now? Good morning.
[6:39] How are you? Any other kids want to come up?
[6:50] They're welcome to join me this morning. Does anybody know what this is? It is a hummingbird. Yeah. Because in my backyard, we have hummingbird feeders.
[7:01] And hummingbirds fly in from all over to get at those feeders. There are six different places they can eat. But I noticed that there's one little hummingbird that sits in our pine trees. And every time a hummingbird comes around, he watches, and if he sees them, he dives down them and chases them off.
[7:18] Because he figures that's his food, and they're not supposed to eat it. You know, this one actually hangs from the wind chimes out on our porch. The hummingbird even sometimes goes after him.
[7:29] But he can't chase him away because he's not real, right? Yeah. Do you think that's a nice thing for the hummingbird to do? No, it's not. I figured I'd try to fix that hummingbird with a badminton bracket or something, but I can't figure out how to do it without being mean to the hummingbird, right?
[7:44] So we just try to figure out how to encourage the other ones. You know what? God gives us a lot of blessings. All kinds of good things. And he doesn't bless us just so that we'll be happy.
[7:55] He blesses us to be a blessing to other people. To help other people, do good things for other people. Things like that. You know, out in the back of the sanctuary there's pens. Some of you might even pick one up.
[8:07] You know what these pens are for? They're for you to take and give away. Leave them. Leave them somewhere at a bank or at school or sometime when your parents go out to the restaurant.
[8:18] Give a pen to them to sign the check and leave it on the table. It's for you to give away, okay? So that other people can find about the miracles of God. So take and bless people as you've been blessed.
[8:29] What do you guys thank you for this morning? Anything you want to share? Raise your hand. Mommy and Daddy. Friends and family. My family. Yesterday.
[8:41] My friends. My friends and my family. My sisters. My brother. My friends and family.
[8:54] My mom and dad. I love my mommy and daddy. I love mommy.
[9:07] My family. All right, let's pray. Lord, we thank you for our families, our friends, our pets for yesterday and tomorrow.
[9:18] Be with us and watch over us and care for us and help this to be a great day so we can be great people for others. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Okay, all of you can go out to church school. All the kids are welcome to go out to church school at this time.
[9:31] I wanted to mention that in your offering, in your bulletin there's an offering envelope for a special offering this morning. It's for Methodist Student Day. What Methodist Student Day is about is that we actually give scholarships out to the people from our church when they go to college.
[9:47] We don't do it through a fund here, we do it through the United Methodist Church. And I have to tell you, we don't send as much money as they send back to our young people. So, if you want to be generous to our young people, this is a great way to do it and support them in their college efforts to become better people.
[10:03] So, if you want to give an extra gift to that, I call it to your attention. As we're thankful to our young people and to all the things that God gives to us in our lives, let's return our Thanksgiving with our morning tithes and our offerings.
[10:16] As we're thankful to our young people and to all the things that we're doing, we're going to be a part of our young people. Now, now is the time to worship.
[10:33] Now, now is the time to give your heart. Come, just as you are to worship.
[10:48] Come, just as you are before your God. Come.
[11:01] Come, just as you are before your heart.
[11:26] Come, come. Come, come.
[11:45] One day every tongue will confess you are God. One day every knee will bow. Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now.
[12:01] Come, now is the time to worship. Come, now is the time to give your heart.
[12:17] Come, just as you are to worship. Come, just as you are before your God.
[12:34] Come, come. One day every tongue will confess you are God.
[12:46] One day every evil love. Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now.
[13:00] Oh, come. Now is the time to worship. Come, now is the time to give your heart.
[13:16] Come, just as you are to worship. Come, just as you are before your God.
[13:33] Come, come. Come, now.
[13:43] Come, now. Come to worship. Come, now.
[13:57] Come. Come, come. çünkü Thank you.
[14:34] Thank you.
[15:04] Thank you. Thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
[15:37] Amen. Please be seated. Amen. We do have a wonderful joy this morning. Jan Gertz is back. Yay. See, I've got to take you off of the prayers for coming back, but we will continue to pray for your healing. Amen.
[15:56] For continued healing for Jan and also for Jan Faye. We do need to keep Jan Faye in our prayers for continued healing. We have some folks who are having surgeries coming up. We want to be mindful of that and be preparing in our hearts and praying for them, that their preparations and the preparations of their physicians would be good and that they would be well also.
[16:21] And I have a particular prayer request, as does Pastor Sherry. We covet your prayers as the Spirit leads. Later today, we'll both be leaving for United Theological Seminary down in Dayton, Ohio.
[16:34] We'll be gone for the week for an intensive. And just pray that we have minds to learn what we need to learn. And just that everything that we would ordinarily be taking care of here would be covered.
[16:50] We just ask for your prayers for that. And with these prayers and joys and the prayers that are on your hearts, let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Amen. Heavenly Father, we come before you humbled in the presence of such an awesome God.
[17:18] You are the God of all creation. And you come and gather and you are among us. As the word says, you are enthroned on the praises of your people.
[17:31] We do praise you, Lord. Thank you for being with us. Father, we lift up all of those folks who are in need of healing of all kinds.
[17:44] We pray that you will touch them with your healing power. That they would be made whole from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet. And their spirits, in their souls, and in their bodies.
[17:58] Lord, we pray for those who are grieving losses of all kinds. We ask that you would touch them. Your spirit of comfort.
[18:10] Father, we pray in Jesus' name. For all of those who will be encountering folks who are sick and who are in need of comfort of all kinds.
[18:22] We pray that we pray that we would be able to be the eyes and ears, the hands and feet of Jesus for them.
[18:33] Lord, we pray for those who are caring. We pray for those who are caring, especially most directly, folks like doctors and nurses and caregivers for family members.
[18:44] We pray for hearts of compassion, Lord. Lord, we pray for those who are caring, Lord. The ability to have words that come from you. Or just a simple touch that is reassuring.
[18:57] We pray for those who are caring, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name also, Lord, for all of us as we go out into this world. Lord, we pray in Jesus' name that when people encounter us, they would see Jesus.
[19:18] We pray for the ministries here in this church. The things that are kicking off today and the things that are going to be coming as the fall progresses.
[19:31] And for those things that are ongoing throughout the year, Lord. We just pray in Jesus' name that those ministries would be blessed. That we can learn and grow through them.
[19:44] And that we can be equipped to reach out to others. And that everyone who comes to this place would be blessed.
[19:56] They would be blessed, Lord, by the worship. That they would be blessed by the learning, by the fun, by the fellowship. Programs for the children and the youth.
[20:09] How we reach out. Lord God, we just ask that many would be drawn to you. Many would be drawn to faith in Jesus Christ. Because of all that you have called us to do.
[20:23] And to be for you. Be with us and bless us so that we can be a blessing. Now, Lord, we take a moment and lift up those things that have gone unspoken.
[20:34] Those things that are in our own hearts. Thank you, Lord, for hearing and for answering our prayers.
[20:59] And now, as we hear from your word, let it wash over us and transform us. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. And hearts and minds to understand and receive what you have for us this day.
[21:13] Anoint Pastor Tom to deliver the message you've given him. Let it be a blessing to us and a blessing to him. And Father, make all of our worship to be a blessing to you.
[21:25] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Good morning. Our reading this morning is from John 5, verses 1 through 15.
[21:43] Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now, there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
[22:06] Here, a great number of disabled people used to lie. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
[22:19] One who had been there had been an invalid for 38 years. When 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?
[22:40] Sir, the invalid replied, I am 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.
[22:53] Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat, and walk. At once the man was cured.
[23:05] He picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath.
[23:17] The law forbids you to carry a mat. But he replied, The man who made me well said to me, Pick up your mat and walk. So they asked him, Who was this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?
[23:33] The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later, Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, See, you are well again.
[23:49] Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. This is the word of the Lord.
[24:03] Thank you, Julene. And we're talking about miracle living for the next few weeks. And we begin miracle living by understanding the ancient confession, Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.
[24:22] We're going to talk about that this morning. As we look at this passage where Jesus went to a festival. Anybody go to a festival this summer? I mean, I don't know how you can live in western New York and not go to a festival. They're like everywhere, right?
[24:32] So picture Jesus is going to a festival, you know? They're going to have a good time. He sees the pool of water. Hey, cannonball time, right? Then he sees all these people, broken people.
[24:44] People who can't walk, can't see. Struggling people. What a depressing experience. I mean, when you go to celebrate and you find broken people, it's hard to celebrate.
[24:59] And when you're feeling broken, it's hard to be around people who are celebrating. Sometimes we struggle with the joys and the sadnesses when they mix together.
[25:15] A number of years ago, there was a movie called Forrest Gump. Some of you have seen it. And in the movie, Forrest rescues a bunch of people in the war. And so they give him the Medal of Honor and they put him on TV. And as he's walking around New York City afterwards, he actually runs into his former commander, Lieutenant Dan, who was one of the guys who he rescued.
[25:35] Lieutenant Dan had been injured in the war. And so you'd think this would be a great reunion. But Lieutenant Dan sees him and says, really, dude, they gave you the Medal of Honor? Seriously? They gave you the Medal of Honor.
[25:47] And so Forrest and Lieutenant Dan wander around New York City. Dan said he was living in a hotel. And because he didn't have no legs, he spent most of his time exercising his arms.
[26:01] Everybody is talking at me. Hang on, hang on. I don't care what they're saying. What do you do here, New York, Lieutenant Dan?
[26:14] I'm living off the government too. People stop him. Hey, hey, hey! Are you flying? I'm walking here. Ah, get out!
[26:26] Come on, come on, come on. Have you found Jesus yet, Dump? I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, so... That's all these cripples down at the VA.
[26:45] That's all they ever talk about. Jesus this and Jesus that. Have I found Jesus?
[26:56] They even had a priest come and talk to me. He said, God is listening, but I have to help myself. Now, if I accept Jesus into my heart, I'll get to walk beside him in the kingdom of heaven.
[27:13] Did you hear what I said? Walk beside him in the kingdom of heaven. I'm going to heaven, Lieutenant Dan.
[27:27] Huh? Huh? Huh? There's a guy you want to hang around with, isn't it? Real life of the party kind of a guy.
[27:38] Jesus is walking around in a festival. Everybody's having a wonderful time, and he comes across this guy who's been handicapped, it says, for 38 years.
[27:52] Unable to walk. Every day he comes to this place where they say, if you go in the pool, when the water's stirred, you'll be healed. Now, I have to imagine somebody was healed along the line, so they had hope.
[28:07] 38 years. Day after day after day. 38 years coming, and nothing happens. It's hard when we feel broken.
[28:20] Most of you know I grew up in a household with a person who had a handicap. That's what we called it back then. Now, I think we're supposed to say physically challenged. I'm not sure. The truth of the matter is, I grew up with one of those wheelchairs because my mother got polio at the age of 24 before I was born.
[28:40] What you may not know is that when I met my wife, she said, there's something I need to tell you about my father. He's handicapped. My father-in-law was driving a bread truck for work, and those doors that slide back and forth, he kind of got rocking, and his leg got taken off.
[29:01] So he went through life without a leg, and oddly enough, my wife and I met, and we understood each other. We understood that doors had to be a certain width.
[29:13] We understood that you had to keep things out of the way. We understood you don't put marbles anywhere, and you pick up the acorns when you see them because when you only have one foot, you better not roll on something on the ground.
[29:30] So Jesus comes up to this guy. In verse 6, he says to him, do you want to get well? I just watched the picture. I've been there 38 years.
[29:41] You know, unable to walk. And some guy says, do you want to get well? Are you kidding? Seriously, dude, did you just ask me that? Do I want to get well? You know, look, I sit here day after day.
[29:54] I try to get down in the water. Somebody else gets there before me. They get healed. I don't get healed. I see the miracles, but I don't experience them. And you come to me and ask me, do I want to get well?
[30:05] What do you think? You think I like being sick? You think I like being broken? You think I like hurting? Being poor?
[30:16] No work? Problems for my family, my children? But Jesus asked him. He asked us the same question, you know.
[30:29] Do you want to be well? Well, so Jesus reaches down and heals him. Because Jesus Christ is our Savior.
[30:42] He makes the man walk. Because God can do more than we can do. What's impossible with people, it says in the scripture, is possible with God.
[30:54] He heals him. And when I say he heals him, the guy hasn't walked for 38 years. Now, if you know anything about bodies, even if you have good, healthy legs, if you don't use them for 38 years, they don't work.
[31:05] They'd be like rubber. I saw a movie clip on this once where they had Jesus reaching down to basically pick him up. No, the dude must have felt the strength going through his legs, and he stood up, picked up his mat, and walked away.
[31:21] Immediately it was healed. No PT, no prosthesis, no crutches, just healed. It's a miracle. A man come to me Thursday night at our Thursday night dinner, and I say, so how you doing today?
[31:37] He says, this is a terrible day. He says, I've been in such horrific pain all day. I've got this problem with my nerves in my back. And they say that I could get surgery, but it only helped me for two or three months, so I don't see the point.
[31:50] So I just try to put up with the pain. He says, do you believe in praying for healing? Do I believe in praying for healing?
[32:01] Of course I believe in praying for healing. Do I believe miracles happen? Do I believe that people can be physically healed? Absolutely I believe it. I have seen it.
[32:11] I've seen people that they say are going to die. We had a little baby once. My wife and I went to pray for her, and the doctors all said she'll never live. She graduated high school a few years ago. I've seen people who have brain damage have it healed.
[32:23] I've seen people see their hearts healed, their hands healed, their eyesight. I've seen people cured of diseases that they were told they'd never be cured of. We don't just do these prayers up here for show or to make you feel good.
[32:36] We do them because we believe it works. I believe in miracles. They don't always happen, but I believe in them. So I pray with this man.
[32:48] that his pain would go away. Because I believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I believe that Jesus can do things that are amazing.
[33:00] I believe that the God that made something out of nothing can make something out of us. Amen? Some people don't think of God as a Savior. They only think of God as our Lord.
[33:12] You know, he's got rules. He's got order and structure. He's there to keep us in line. And if we obey the rules, then things will be okay. And if we don't, we'll get whacked.
[33:25] No healing, no hope, no forgiveness, no joy. God of religion. Religion is not a bad thing, you know. It's like the fence you put around your backyard.
[33:39] You put a fence around your backyard because you've got a little kid that you don't want them to run out in the street, right? Now the truth is, you don't have to keep them out of the front yard. You just got to keep them out of the street, right? You put up the fence to keep them from getting anywhere near getting squished, right?
[33:54] It's the same, I'm sorry, that's a phrase I learned from my daughter when she was a little girl. She said to me, she came in one day and she said, Daddy, when somebody gets squished out in the street, can we look inside and see Jesus?
[34:10] I think that's cute. Anyway, sorry about that. You put the fence up to keep your child safe. But the real danger is not the front yard, it's the streets.
[34:21] See, religion is the same way. We make these rules to keep us from getting to what's really bad, what's really hurtful. But the rules are made for us, not to hurt us, but to help us.
[34:33] Jesus said, the Sabbath is made for people, not people for the Sabbath. These people come up to the guy and go, dude, why are you carrying your mat? Fair enough question, it's a Sabbath, you're not supposed to work.
[34:44] He says, well, because, you know, this guy healed me and told me to pick up my mat. Now, what should they be saying? Really? You were 38 years unable to walk and you were healed? Praise the Lord!
[34:55] I was like, dude, that's wrong. That's bad. Seriously, can you imagine it? That's bad. See, because we put the fence up to keep us safe and then we think the fence is there to keep people out and somehow be a barrier to God's grace which is just for us.
[35:14] So the religious people got all up in his face. I'm more concerned about Jesus breaking this little tiny law which isn't even in the Bible, by the way. It just says, remember the Sabbath, keep it holy and don't work.
[35:26] And you know why? Because, honestly, if you don't have one day a week you're supposed to remember Jesus, you'll forget him. You're so busy. And if you don't take one day to stop working, some of you people work yourself into the ground.
[35:38] It's for you. It's for you. But they don't get that. So they make rules to contain the power of God.
[35:51] When my mother was younger, she'd do weird things. I remember one time she rode a bicycle. That's kind of hard when you only got one leg that works, right?
[36:01] But she did it. Another time she skied down the mountainside. She used to go bowling all the time. My father-in-law would go golfing or swimming or things like that. Now you know what they'd say today.
[36:13] If they found out that was happening, we can't have you doing that. You know how much liability there'd be having somebody who's handicapped like that going down the mountain. You're not allowed on those ski slopes. Right? We got rules against this kind of stuff.
[36:27] Got to keep people in line. Religion is good. We don't worship religion. We worship Jesus Christ who is our Savior. Sometimes we misunderstand what God's all about.
[36:43] There's a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 that drives lots of Christians nuts. It says, everything is permissible for me. That just makes the rule people go crazy. What does that mean? It can't really mean that.
[36:55] It can't possibly mean that you could do anything. Anything you've ever done wrong, God can forgive. The rules are not to contain you.
[37:06] They're to help you. Drives people nuts. No. There's got to be black and white. There has to be cause and effect. Now you want to know what's really frustrating about this story is that this guy never once said he believed in Jesus.
[37:20] Never once said he believed in God. Never once said he had faith or anything. Jesus says, if you want to be well, he says, it's not fair because I don't get through the water. It's not my fault. I'm not. Well, never once says I believe Lord or anything and Jesus says, okay, get up and walk.
[37:34] Really? Really? We got faithful people going to church every single day and doing everything they can to work for God. They don't get any miracle. This poor guy just laid on the ground and just, don't go ahead. Get healed. The Bible says God causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine and the good and the bad and the like because God is merciful.
[37:51] God is loving beyond what we can imagine. God is a savior. God is good and all the time. We need Jesus to be our savior but we also need him to be our Lord and some people don't want a Lord.
[38:09] They just want the savior part. You know? They want the one that can do all the cool stuff. Which is greater? Superman or Jesus? If they had a contest, which one would win?
[38:20] Right? You know? I mean, we do this kind of stuff. Like we'll set it up. It's religion against science. Like they're competing. They're both aiming for the truth. You know? We're on the same team. So are Superman and Jesus by the way in case you were wondering.
[38:34] But we want a super God. We want a magic genie God. It says in here that Jesus disappeared into the crowd. Not my Jesus.
[38:45] What is your image of Jesus? He's probably about six foot three. Right? Got long blonde flowing hair. Blue eyes. He kind of warped out from Scandinavia somehow into the Middle East.
[38:56] Right? Big strong guy. He'd stand out in a crowd. He's got that gaze. And besides, there's that little halo floating around his head. Right? That's what Jesus looks like, isn't it? He can't just be some guy who looks like anybody else in the Middle East with, you know, dark hair, dark eyes, and just sort of probably about this tall.
[39:14] slipped into the crowd. Man, you're messing with my Jesus. You can't do that. We want Santa Claus Jesus.
[39:26] Chief Grace. Not a Lord. Not someone who's got an expectation from us, but someone who will just give us all the bennies and not ask for anything in return. If you were healed like this guy, I mean, literally, you couldn't walk for 38 years and somebody made it all of a sudden.
[39:45] My knee has kind of given me trouble lately. Man, if somebody made my knee better, I'd be like, thank you. I'd want to go and talk to them and figure out how they did it. What do I need to know? Right? Not to mention, I'd be following around Jesus just in case it wore off, right?
[39:58] So he could do it again. Right? Because what happens if this is only a temporary thing? I need another fix. I'd be on this guy like, glue. He's like, whatever.
[40:09] Yeah. They even pay attention to Jesus. He doesn't even know what he looks like or where he went or what he's about. Jesus finally finds him. Right? In verse 14, he goes up to him and he says, you've been made well.
[40:23] Now stop sinning or something else will happen to you. Whoa, Jesus, a little rough, a little harsh here, dude. That's the way to greet me. You're not supposed to tell me not to sin. You're not supposed to get messing in my life.
[40:34] What are you doing getting up in my face? Sin, you see, leads to brokenness. God has the rules on purpose because we need to have these kind of things to keep us safe.
[40:46] God didn't make the rules to hurt us. He made the rules to guide us and help us and keep us from getting into brokenness. We don't like it when God messes with our lives, when he interferes with who we are, when you're in the wrong place with the wrong people making the wrong decisions, doing the wrong things, and God says to repent or turn around, change your ways, we say, I don't think so.
[41:10] Then we wonder why everything goes wrong. 1 Corinthians 6 says, all things are permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I won't be mastered by anything.
[41:25] Don't you like the greatness over here, by the way, you guys? Living in the dark all this time. I ain't got nice. Right? Rejective. Everything is permissible, but that doesn't mean everything is good.
[41:37] Just because God can forgive you a sin doesn't mean you should go out and start doing it because it leads to brokenness. But we don't want to hear that stuff from God.
[41:48] We don't want a Lord. We want a super Jesus, a savior Jesus, a genie Jesus, and we resent when God messes with our lives. So you know what this guy did? You know how he showed his gratitude to Jesus?
[41:59] He blew him in to the guys who wanted to arrest him, the guys who wanted to kill him. He knew they were after Jesus, so what did they say? He said, I can tell you where the guy is. Seriously, he blew him in.
[42:13] Unbelievable. We follow God so that we can do what God wants us to do in our lives? Do we only see God as our personal genie who gives us whatever we want like Christian gimme pigs?
[42:30] I had a pastor I was listening to one time. He's got a large church somewhere and he talked about how he was going on vacation and he wanted to go to this church and hear this preacher preach. We read his books and heard all kinds of things about him.
[42:43] So when he got to town, he found out that the preacher wasn't going to be in church that morning. So instead, Sunday morning, he went to the gym. He said it was a better use of his time. Seriously, a better use of his time.
[42:55] You see, that's because we think coming to church is about us. We think it's about hearing a good sermon, getting a message that inspires or helps us. It's about the beautiful music.
[43:06] It's about, I'm going to tell you the truth, the music can be awful. The sermon can put you to sleep. You can go out of here feeling like nothing really special happened and if you came here to worship God, you did what you're supposed to do.
[43:19] Amen? Amen? Not that that's what we're trying to do, but that's what it's supposed to be. We come.
[43:30] You know who the audience is in church? It's God. Not you. We're all here to worship him. Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior.
[43:46] The part of the problem is is what we want from God isn't always what we need. Do you want to be made well? That's a hard question, isn't it?
[43:59] Well doesn't mean everything's going to be perfect. Well doesn't mean that you're going to get it the way you want it. Well means that your life will be made what it needs to be made. My father-in-law lost his leg in a truck accident.
[44:14] And actually, the way I hear the story, he was bleeding out. He had lost so much blood that the doctors told his wife, he's not going to make it. He's going to die. So my mother-in-law went in to him, this young woman in her 20s, grabbed ahold of him by the collar and said, you're not dying on me.
[44:34] Leave me with this little baby. You live. I think he scared her more, she scared him more than death. And he left. I remember him telling me that in those dark days, he thought he was going to spend his life sitting on a street corner in New York City selling pencils in a cup.
[44:55] But he went back to Coward and he got himself a good job. Not only did he make a good living, a lot better than he would have driving a bread truck, but he became an example.
[45:08] Not simply because he overcame this handicap, but because he became a person people wanted to follow, wanted to listen to, wanted to learn from. Dare I say it, his handicap made him a better man.
[45:24] God gives us what we need, not always what we want. Being made well is a lot more than physical health.
[45:36] The problem with Lieutenant Dan that you saw on that clip was not that he was in a wheelchair. It was that this man was depressing. He is broken. He's hurting. He's all beat up in his mind, in his heart.
[45:50] He has no passion. He's just, done. Jesus finds this man and says, you're well.
[46:04] Don't sin anymore. Don't go back into the brokenness. Don't go back into the destruction and the pain. You're well. Bethesda means house of mercy.
[46:19] The fascinating thing is we want these miracles from Jesus so that my knee won't hurt anymore. The greatest miracle occurs every single week when God does a blessing through us.
[46:31] We pray to God. We confess our brokenness. Then the pastor says, in the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Then you say, I don't know if you know, but that's when you forgive my sins.
[46:46] I don't know if you're broken. Okay? Because I know how broken I am. And you fix me. You fix me. Through the grace of God, we become well.
[46:58] Do we want to live into that? Or do we want to live into brokenness? Are we going to let that really take heart and be well again and live in miracle living or go back into a world of pain?
[47:13] This man can walk, but he's still broken. He's not whole. He has bitterness and resentment and depression and anger. And those hold us a lot more than any physical handicap that we might have.
[47:28] Too many people want half of Jesus. They want a Lord with all the rules and structure. Or they want a miracle worker who will fix everything but expect nothing of us.
[47:40] Jesus wants us to have a complete God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. With everything you are.
[47:52] And miracle living begins. The joy of the Lord is my strength. It was fascinating because I was going to show that first clip and leave this one out.
[48:04] This is the rest of the story of Lieutenant Dan. He never actually said so, but I think he made his peace with God.
[48:27] Lieutenant Dan. Lieutenant Dan.
[48:49] Hello, Forrest. You got new legs. New legs. Yeah, I got new legs. Custom made.
[49:00] Titanium alloy. It's what they use on the space shuttle. Magic legs. This is my fiance.
[49:15] Susan. Lieutenant Dan. Got love, Forrest. It wasn't that he was standing upright, was it?
[49:29] His legs didn't all of a sudden reappear. It's that he's restored. He's made well again. You don't know the end of the story with this man.
[49:41] He walks off into the pages of scripture because really what this is saying to us is, do you want to be well today? Or do you want to walk away from Jesus? Did he repent and turn back to Christ somewhere along the line?
[49:54] Will you do that? Or did he keep walking into brokenness? Do you want to be made well? Real healing. Miracle living is when we live for God in our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength.
[50:09] We get our priorities right. We have a complete Jesus, Lord and Savior. Back when my mother was younger and I was a little boy that sometimes talked about my mother being crippled.
[50:29] My father-in-law was a cripple. They never got their legs back. They weren't able to use them. She ended up not even being able to use the crutches anymore and had to stay in a wheelchair at the end of her life.
[50:49] You see, crippled people are people that are broken. My mother lived a full life. In fact, I was born after her. My wife was born after her father.
[51:01] In fact, I wouldn't have that woman if he didn't keep going. You see? Being made well is not getting our bodies healed. It's getting our life restored.
[51:13] There's people out here who aren't broken at all physically but you're handicapped. You're crippled. You're messed up. You need to turn away from that brokenness. Repent and let God make you well.
[51:30] I know he can do it because God made something out of nothing. He made people out of dirt. If he can do that, he can fix you and me and make us something to do.
[51:42] do it. All this pain I wonder if I'll ever find my way I wonder if my life could really change at all All this hurt Could all that is lost ever be found Could a garden come up from this ground
[52:46] At all You make beautiful things You make beautiful things Out of the dust You make beautiful things You make beautiful things Out of us All the ground Hope is raining up from this old ground Out of chaos life is being found In you You make beautiful things You make beautiful things
[53:48] Out of dust You make beautiful things You make beautiful things Out of us You make beautiful things You make beautiful things You make me new, you are making me new.
[54:33] You make me new, you are making me new.
[54:44] You make me new, you are making me new.
[54:54] You make me new, you are making me new.
[55:04] You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust.
[55:21] You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust.
[55:34] Lord, I come to you.
[55:50] Let my heart be changed with you. Going from the grace that I've found in you.
[56:06] Lord, I come to know the weaknesses I see.
[56:18] Living will be stripped away. I come to know the weaknesses I see. I come to know the weaknesses I see.
[56:30] God. Open yours, let your lungs surround me Bring me here, draw me to your side And as I wait, I'll rise up like the eagle And I will soar with you, your spirit leads me young By the power of your love Lord, unveil my life Let me see you face to face
[57:30] The knowledge of your love As it is in me Lord, renew my life As your will unfolds in my life In living every day By the power of your love Hold me close, let your lungs surround me Bring me here, draw me to your side And as I wait, I'll rise up like the eagle
[58:38] And I will soar with you, your spirit leads me young By the power of your love Amen Openied Mate Don't play good I don't care When we breathe We do That definitely We send babies To empty to me We send babies To empty To empty To empty That damn The That damn Is The This To empty On ThisCL Reg 할� Oh, Lord, you're my heart and soul with all your strength.
[59:37] With all your heart and soul, with all your mind and soul. Oh, Lord, you're my heart and soul and soul.
[59:52] With all your mind and soul. I will stand apart from my heart, from my soul, from my mind, with all my strength.
[60:15] I will stand apart from my heart, from my soul, from my mind, with all my strength. With all my heart, from my soul, from my mind, with all my strength.
[60:33] I will stand apart from my heart, from my soul, from my mind, with all my strength. I will love you.
[60:48] I will love you. I will praise you. I will praise you.
[61:02] I will serve you. I will serve you. I will love you.
[61:16] I will serve you. I will serve you. I will serve you. I will serve you. I will serve you. With all my heart, from my soul, from my soul, from my mind, with all my strength.
[61:38] Amen. Please be seated. It's hard to live life crippled.
[61:51] It really is. I've seen too much of it. It's hard. It doesn't matter if you're crippled in your body, if you're crippled and broken in your mind, or your soul.
[62:04] God doesn't want to leave you that way. You don't have to be that way. God wants to make you well. We just have to turn it over to God. Let's pray.
[62:15] Dear God in heaven, I'm broken. There's things about me that aren't right. I sin.
[62:26] I'm afraid. I get angry and frustrated and resentful. I sinned. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord.
[62:37] Help me to be whole. Help me to be well. Help me to be well. Help me to be yours. Help me to be yours. Help me to be yours. In Jesus name we pray. In Jesus name we pray.
[62:48] Amen. Pray for it. Pray for it. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[63:01] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Amen. I find my rest.
[63:33] Without you, I fall apart. You're the one that guides my heart.
[63:49] Lord, I need you all. I need you every hour. I need you my one defense, my righteousness.
[64:08] Oh, God, how I need you. Oh, God, how I need you. Oh, God, how I need you.
[64:19] Your grace is born. The grace is found. It's where you are.
[64:29] Where you are. Lord, I am free. Holiness is Christ in me.
[64:41] Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you.
[64:51] Every hour, I need you. My one defense. My righteousness.
[65:03] Oh, God, how I need you. It's my soul who lies to you.
[65:14] When temptation comes my way. When I cannot stand a wall on you.
[65:26] Jesus, you're my hope and stay. Lord, I need you. Lord, I need you.
[65:36] Oh, I need you. Oh, I need you. Every hour, I need you. My one defense.
[65:51] My righteousness. Oh, God, how I need you. My one defense.
[66:03] My righteousness. Oh, God, how I need you. Amen.
[66:25] Amen. Amen. Amen. We do all need Jesus so much. We need Jesus in our hearts. We need Jesus in our lives. We need the healing that the presence of God brings into our lives.
[66:42] We find it when we seek him in the word. We find it when we seek God in prayer. We find God's presence when we're together here.
[66:54] But mostly, we find God's presence at the table. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is invited. If you love God, earnestly repent of your sin and seek to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are welcome to come to the table and receive that healing.
[67:19] Receive that health that God promises you. No one's disqualified. Everyone may come.
[67:31] If it's your first time here, you've never been here before, you've been coming all your life, you are welcome at this table. And here you will meet Jesus. Come and invite Jesus into your heart.
[67:44] Come and invite Jesus into your life. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[67:56] We just give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
[68:07] You formed us in your it, breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through your prophets.
[68:23] And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, 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.
[68:39] 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.
[68:51] 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.
[69:08] 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.
[69:26] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to you. And he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.
[69:40] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[69:56] And when the supper was over, he took the cup and gave you thanks and praise, and he 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.
[70:14] 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.
[70:35] 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.
[70:55] 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.
[71:07] 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.
[71:18] Shall we pray together with the confidence of children of God, the prayer Jesus taught? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[71:30] 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.
[71:46] 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.
[71:57] Amen. Will those assisting with serving please come forward.
[72:15] Thank you.
[72:45] Thank you.
[73:15] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[74:15] I heard an old, old story How a Savior came from glory How He gave His life on Calvary To save a wretch like me About His groaning And His precious bloods atoning Then I repented of my sins And won the victory All victory in Jesus My Savior forever He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood He loved me there I knew Him And all my love is to Him He plunged me to victory
[75:15] Beneath the cleansing blood I heard about His healing Of His cleansing blood Revealing How He made the way To walk again And cause the blind to see And then I cried Dear Jesus Come and heal my broken spirit And somehow Jesus came And brought to me the victory Oh victory in Jesus My Savior forever He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood He loved me and knew Him And all my love is to Him He plunged me and bought me
[76:17] He plunged me to victory Beneath the cleansing blood Amen So I'd like you to take a pen when you leave Okay?
[76:35] But here's the deal If the pen is still in your pocket Or your purse at the end of the week You failed You're supposed to leave it somewhere Not keep it It's not for you Leave it at the doctor's office Leave it on the table Anywhere I don't care Somebody said to me But pastor I'm going to Florida I said leave it in Florida I don't care Leave it somewhere Because you see The first commandment is Love the Lord your God With all your heart Soul, mind and strength But the second is like it Love your neighbor As yourself You know what's really sad About this story Of this man 38 years 38 years every day He went to the temple Of the Lord He was in the house Of the Lord Nobody helped him 38 years I have a good friend of mine Who just retired As a United Methodist pastor He said the hardest thing About retirement Is finding a church He said I go to churches And the pastors know me So they say hello The music is good I like the worship There's not a single person
[77:36] That says hello to me From the time I come in To the time I leave Except the pastor But I know they say It's a friendly church I told them come to our church And I was afraid to do that I'm worried What you're going to do When he shows up You know he's dressed right He'll do all the right things He's not like this Poor lame person Who you'd probably Not want to sit next to The real Real miracles happen When we start Going out And lifting the people Up ourselves You have the power To change people's lives Bring them to Jesus Bring them to The love of God Reach down Help them out That's what God Has called you to be Go out And be miracle workers Go out And bring the grace Of God to the world And live In a miracle living Don't be broken anymore Get up Take your man And walk Amen New
[78:47] To Do To To Boa To To Can