[0:00] Music Good morning.
[0:29] 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 join us, they're welcome. Come on down. Come on down. Come on.
[1:07] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
[1:17] This is the day that the Lord has made. Good morning.
[1:28] Welcome to Pendleton Church. 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.
[1:41] Enjoy the service. We are glad to have you here at church this morning. There are two opportunities for ministry on our clipboards. One is for our 24-hour prayer vigil. An hour of prayer to sign up for that might seem like a lot, but if you've never been to a prayer vigil, you can't imagine how fast it goes.
[1:56] It's just a different experience. We do encourage you to sign up if you can and spend some time. The reason why we do the sign-up is because we're looking for the places where there may be some empty spots for that.
[2:07] And there's a card to fill out if you have prayer concerns that you want to share and have lifted up in prayer at that 24-hour vigil. There's also a sheet for signing up and helping with the meals at Seneca Street.
[2:20] Today we do have a mission moment for Seneca Street. You'll be hearing from Pastor Brian about that a little bit later in the service. A lot of things are starting up this time of year. Some started two or three weeks ago.
[2:30] Some last week. Some in a couple of weeks. Keep an eye on your little good news. This week our youth ministry is beginning on Wednesday night with their Wednesday program. And there's other activities that we want to be watching for, so keep an eye on that and take a moment to consider that with your little good news.
[2:47] Now, I need to tell you, because if you weren't here last week, you didn't hear this. Those orange slips are the friendship card. Okay? I've had a lot of people say to me, you left out the friendship cards.
[2:59] No, they changed them. They're orange now, and they're a full sheet, so they're easier to write on and easier to read. So take a moment and fill those out. We appreciate knowing what your concerns and thoughts are.
[3:10] Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer? Dear God, we thank you for this morning, and we thank you for the coolness of the day. We thank you for the warmth that you give to our hearts as we gather here to worship.
[3:21] Bless us and cause us to focus our hearts and souls on you. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'd like to invite you, if you're able, to stand as we sing together.
[3:33] Guide me, O thou great Jehovah. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.
[3:52] Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art mighty. Hold me with thy powerful hand.
[4:07] Bread of heaven, bread of heaven. In me till I want no more.
[4:18] In me till I want no more. Opened up the crystal pattern.
[4:28] Whence the healing stream doth flood. Let the fire and cloudy fill her.
[4:40] Lead me on my journey through. Strong deliverer. Strong deliverer.
[4:50] Give thou still my strength and shield. Give thou still my strength and shield.
[5:01] When I tread the verge of Jordan. Did my anxious fears subside?
[5:12] Death of death and hell's destruction. Let me sing the fame inside.
[5:23] Songs of praises. Songs of praises. I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee.
[5:40] The Lord be with you. Take a moment if you will and greet your neighbor with the peace of the spirit. I would like to invite the kids to come on up.
[5:57] And the kids want to come on down. Come join us. Good morning.
[6:09] Good morning. Good morning. How's everybody doing? That's good. Any other kids want to come up?
[6:21] Come on up and join us. Have any of you ever played a game? A board game? You know, not a video game, but one that sounded like a board.
[6:32] Have you ever played this one right here? Adrian? Adrian? Adrian? There it is. What's that called? Chutes and ladder. Yeah. What happens if you get one of these chutes?
[6:43] Chutes and ladder. Chutes and ladder. Yeah. What happens if you get one of these chutes? You slide all the way down, don't you? If you get a ladder, you get to go up.
[6:53] What are you supposed to try and do in the game? Get to 100. Does it matter how many chutes or ladders you take? No.
[7:04] You know, see the thing is, we'd get all upset in the game because we've got this bad chute. Or we'd get all excited because we've got this great ladder. But really all that matters is if we get the 100 first, right? Because then we win.
[7:14] Yeah. You know, life is like that. We get all upset and all worried about all kinds of things that go on. And you know what? Most of them are things you're not even going to remember.
[7:25] Things that won't even matter down the road. Lots of stuff that will go on that you get anxious and worried about. But in the end, it's just getting to the right place with God that matters.
[7:35] Okay? So keep your focus on God. Do what he says. And the rest of it will take care of itself. All right? What do you guys think before this morning? Share something. Raise your hand. My mom and Tim and Doug.
[7:46] My family. My mom and dad. My friends and family. My friends. My mom and dad. Okay. Let's pray.
[7:57] Lord, we do thank you for our parents, our family, our friends, the wonderful things in our lives.
[8:08] Help us to focus on you and all the good blessings we have and get us to the end. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, you guys go out to church school. All the kids are welcome to go out to church school now.
[8:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'd like to invite the Reverend Brian Rotash to come up from Seneca Street and share with us now. Amen. Amen.
[8:32] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:43] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:54] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[9:05] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. But it was in an accident this summer and was totaled. But again, you folks came through because the money from these offerings for the past couple of years have been set aside and came to more than $2,000 toward the cost of getting ourselves a gently used caravan to take its place.
[9:29] There are so many ways in which our being connected to each other as United Methodists have been so powerful. We had a family in the middle of the summer program, had their house burned down. Actually it wasn't their house, it was a rental.
[9:40] They didn't have any renter's insurance so they really had nothing. But the word went out through the district and various places and we've been able to put them in a place and get themselves ready for school to start at the beginning of the year.
[9:53] Just found a mattress for mom and dad as well as all the kids. It just happens. You folks are great. You're a part of something that's so much bigger than yourselves. So I guess what I want to do is to thank you and to encourage you to continue.
[10:07] Like if there's a farmer among you, we're trying to teach some moms how to cook with some fresh vegetables. So if somebody has some fresh vegetables, please give me a call. We'll pick some up and do something like that.
[10:17] There's always ways that if you have something that's extra from your point of view, it's probably needed someplace else. So thank you for your love. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your support for Seneca Street and for all the missions that you support here from Pendleton.
[10:31] Thanks a lot. And as we continue in our worship, let's bring before the Lord our gifts, tithes and offerings, remembering to prayerfully consider all that God has called us to do.
[10:48] We pray for blessings.
[11:08] We pray for peace. We pray for peace. Comfort for family. Protection while we sleep.
[11:20] We pray for healing. For prosperity. We pray for peace. We pray for peace. We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
[11:35] And all the while you hear each spoken need, yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.
[11:50] Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
[12:08] And what if the joys of this life are your mercies in disguise?
[12:19] We pray for wisdom. We pray for wisdom. Your voice to hear. We cry out in anger when we cannot feel you near.
[12:39] We doubt your goodness. We doubt your love. We doubt your love. We doubt your love. As if every promise from your word is not enough. And all the while you hear each desperate plea.
[12:57] And long that we'd have faith to believe. Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
[13:09] What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
[13:25] What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
[13:37] When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win, we know that pain reminds this heart that this is not, this is not our home.
[13:54] It's not our home. It's not our home. It's not our home. It's not our home. Brave Sounds And Instead Welcome Where Lynch is Of My Gregory Verse.
[14:10] R ambitions come through raindrops? Wzur Why乃 What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what And sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near.
[14:24] What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life Is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can satisfy?
[14:38] What if draws of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are your mercies in disguise?
[15:08] Applause Praise God from all the blessings flow Praise Him all the blessings here below Praise Him above the heavenly host Praise Father's one and holy host Amen Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day And for the opportunity to gather together and worship you We ask that you would bless this offering, Lord God
[16:09] Give us wisdom to know how to best use everything that's here All of these resources for the furtherance of your kingdom That many would come to faith in Jesus Christ Bless especially this morning, Lord God All offerings for the Seneca Street Mission Multiply them Lord God And make them To be used to serve those folks well Draw them Show them your love and mercy In Jesus name we pray Amen Please be seated Now I have a wonderful Thanksgiving to offer up And thanks for all of your prayers in the past week I know I speak for Pastor Sherry as well But we are very much appreciative of the prayers that we received As we were away at the, you know the word intense?
[17:05] You know when things are intense in your life? Really intense? There's a reason they call what we were at at seminary last week An intensive And if, while I'm offering the pastoral prayer I fall asleep It's going to be your job It's your job to come nudge me if I fall asleep, okay?
[17:29] Great, awesome Please, attention to the prayer request cards We are having a prayer vigil coming up I know you got the sign up that was going on around that But we really do take these seriously If you have a prayer request for yourself For a family member For someone in your life For something in the world that's on your heart The prayer team and your pastors And everyone who comes to the prayer vigil Is going to pray over them And you can count on God answering those prayers Amen?
[18:01] Amen We have a couple of other concerns and joys to bring before you Teresa Zimmerman had surgery on Friday She's doing well She's home and recovering She's in some pain But she's hanging in there and doing okay We need to keep Richard Gondek And the Gondek family lifted up He is fighting cancer And it's a difficult haul for him right now And for the family And John Maracle is having hip surgery tomorrow So with these joys and these concerns And those that are on your heart Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we can come before you That you have called us to come before you To participate with you As we lift up our joys Knowing that you rejoice with us as we rejoice And those concerns that we have as well
[19:04] Because you are concerned for us Father, we lift up all those who are in need of prayer In prayer for healing Prayer for grief over losses Prayer for the desire to know direction in life Lord God, we lift those people up before you Knowing that you will touch them by your Holy Spirit Knowing that you will bring them wholeness And healing from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet And their spirits in their souls and in their bodies We pray that you would bring to them, Lord People that you have anointed That you have called to speak into their situations To be present with them As a listening ear To bring a touch, a word, a look A look that brings comfort
[20:07] In whatever their situation is Whatever their needs may be We thank you, Lord For all the blessings that you pour out into our lives And the lives of those we love and care for The lives of those for whom we are praying this morning Lord God, we pray in Jesus' name also for Those who are having very difficult times With weather, with disastrous conditions Where they're living Whether it's in our nation Throughout the world, Lord There are times there are fires happening And floods and storms There are the storms of violence Brought about by people toward each other Father, we pray in Jesus' name That you be with each and every one By your spirit Who is afflicted in this way We pray for those who have lost homes And lost loved ones We pray, Lord God, that your church
[21:13] Each and every one of its members Would be anointed and empowered To be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus That we would be able to bring your love and mercy Wherever you call us to go That we would do those things That you have called us to do Trust in That you are the one who makes us able Even if we don't feel able And now, Lord God, as we hear your word Let it wash over us and transform us Let us hear it anew as never before Let it enlighten our hearts and our minds and our spirits Be with Pastor Tom and anoint him to deliver the message you've given him Let it be a blessing to him
[22:15] And a blessing to us Most of all, Lord Let all of our worship Be a blessing to you In Jesus' name we pray Amen Shall we hear from the word of the Lord?
[22:31] Amen Good morning Good morning Good morning.
[23:03] This morning's lesson is from John chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. On the third day, a wedding took place in Canaan, Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus' disciples had been invited to the wedding.
[23:19] When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come.
[23:31] His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
[23:48] Jesus said to his servants, Fill the jars with water, so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the banquet.
[24:00] They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called to the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.
[24:19] But you have saved the best till now. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you, Tim.
[24:33] Last night I went to a wedding, and the wedding dinner started at six o'clock, and I was here in worship, so there's no way I could get there in time for dinner.
[24:45] But they mentioned that they put a little food aside for me. So my wife and I arrived. There wasn't just food set aside. There was an entire banquet table still set up waiting for us. And I know they were waiting for us, because as soon as my wife and I went through the line, the people that worked there took the whole thing down.
[25:00] So they were literally waiting for us. That's kind of cool. Just the opposite of this, to have somebody actually take the moment to take the time for you. We're looking at a sermon series on miracle living, and how God can lead us to live the lives that will cause us to feel those miracles that he wants for us to have in life.
[25:24] In this story, Jesus shows up at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. He's got all his disciples with him, you know, a dozen guys. His family's all there. He's got the whole entourage.
[25:35] It says that there's servants. So this is an expensive affair. This is not like a backyard wedding, all right? And Jesus' mother is there. And she comes up to Jesus and says, they ran out of wine.
[25:51] Now, I don't know if they ran out of wine because they drank too much wine or because they never ordered enough wine. All we know is they ran out of wine, and for some reason, Mary feels responsible for this.
[26:02] I thought that was a little odd at first. And then why would she go to Jesus and expect him to do anything about this? And I thought about it. This is one of his siblings' wedding.
[26:14] This is Jesus' little brother or maybe one of his sisters getting married. I suspect it was one of the brothers, but I'm not sure.
[26:26] Mary is looking forward to this incredible affair. She finally got one of her sons to marry. She gave up on Jesus years ago. But she's finally got one of the boys to get married. She's invited all her friends, all her family, probably the whole village is there.
[26:41] They're having this incredible celebration. She went out and bought the mother of the groomed dress, and she's got everything just right. Everything's perfect. And they ran out of wine.
[26:54] Can you feel the anxiety in this? I don't know if you've ever put on an affair like this, but can you imagine that all of a sudden there's not enough stuff?
[27:05] She is freaking out. She's embarrassed. She's stressed. She doesn't know what to do, so she turns to her oldest son and she says, fix it.
[27:19] No, husband, he passed away. Jesus is dumped on with the anxiety. Have you ever been to a wedding that didn't go right? I've actually been the cause of that as the officiant of weddings that sometimes don't go right because of me.
[27:35] One poor woman, I called her the wrong name halfway through the service. But sometimes it's just totally disastrous. Will you have keep to be your wedded husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage?
[27:54] Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?
[28:05] The rings, please. Oh, God! No! Oh, they got you!
[28:16] Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Are you okay? Oh, my God! Thank you.
[28:52] Note for future reference, no poolside weddings and put the cake in place first. Wow.
[29:06] You imagine all your friends and family are there and you knock the bride into the pool. This guy is never showing his face at any family event again.
[29:22] I've told you before that the words I use more than any other words in this church are, it's okay. It's okay. You can hear me at that wedding, can't you?
[29:33] It's okay. The cake fell down. It's okay. It's okay. But I'm freaking out here. They ran out of wine. Now what's the miracle in this story?
[29:48] We think of it as being the changing of water into wine. But I've got to tell you something. That's not anything but just science. They have powder now you can put in water that makes water become wine.
[30:01] Really. So it's not making water into wine. It's the healing that occurs. Because anxiety.
[30:13] Anxiety and stress is the number one health risk we have in our lives today. We are stressed out about everything.
[30:25] And it's making us sick. Physically sick. Ulcers. Pains. We have strokes. We have heart attacks. Because of all this stuff that's making us crazy with anxiety.
[30:41] One of the most favorite books I have in the Bible is the book of Philippians. I was preaching this sermon last night. A woman came out and said, I read these scriptures from Philippians every day before I go to bed at night.
[30:55] Let's go through them. Rejoice in the Lord always. And I'll say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. God's here.
[31:07] Don't be anxious about what? Anything. But in everything, by prayer, petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which is greater than anything, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
[31:26] Don't be anxious about anything. And we are anxious about everything.
[31:37] Now, as you read this story, you think, in the back of your mind, they ran out of wine, so they took that to Jesus. Do you think Jesus' number one concern in life is whether or not you have enough wine for your wedding?
[31:51] We don't take dumb requests to God, do we? Oh, dear God, I lost my keys. Oh, please help me find my keys. I don't know what I'm going to do. God's up in heaven going, up, up, key alert. Get all the angels together. We've got to find those keys. Get those keys found or the world will come to an end.
[32:05] Really. The stuff we take to God is pretty, you know, crazy, isn't it? God, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to be late. You've got to make the traffic lights turn green. Yeah.
[32:16] He does that. Get up for you. He does that. It's hard. When we get stressed out over these little things that oftentimes we don't remember the next day.
[32:32] A number of years ago, I went to a retirement banquet for pastors at this retirement hall in Batavia. If you know anything about banquets, they take the number of tickets, they make the number of food, right?
[32:43] Number of meals. For some odd reason, they got to our table and another table and they ran out of food. And the waitress comes over to our table and says, we're out of food. And we all said, and?
[32:55] No, that's it. We're out of food. You're not eating tonight. Seriously? We paid for a meal. Oh, well, too bad. Seriously, they gave us nothing to eat. Way to go out and buy dinner afterwards.
[33:11] I'm sure that the person putting on that banquet was feeling pretty. Embarrassed to think that one of their colleagues, a whole table, two whole tables of their colleagues went without food.
[33:25] But really, we had money to go out and buy food. Pastor Sherry posted on Facebook the other day. I thought this was interesting. She said, I caught myself complaining about a first world problem.
[33:36] Like, we do this all the time, don't we? Oh my gosh, what am I going to do? I don't have cell service. I don't know. I can't get my cell phone to get a seat.
[33:48] Really? It's a phone. Talk about first world problems. Do you know if you sold this phone, you probably get enough money to supply food for a family somewhere else in the world for a year.
[34:01] And we whine and cry because we didn't get a signal. We really got a problem. Oh, but what if the Buffalo Bills lose today?
[34:13] The whole community is going to go into depression. Oh no. It's a football game. Now, don't be throwing things at me. I like the Bills. I hope they'll win. But you really seriously think it's that important?
[34:27] I mean, really, you're going to spend the rest of your life going, oh, the Bills lost that game on September 20th. I can't believe it. My whole life is ruined. We really got to get a grip.
[34:41] We get anxious about all these things. Jesus says to Mary, what's that to me? Why is that my concern?
[34:55] You know what the answer is? Dude, everything is your concern. You said to cast all our troubles on you. Here they are.
[35:07] But I suspect this was a little different. There's a subverse in here that we don't really actually read. It comes right after verse 4 when Jesus says, what's that to do with me?
[35:20] And the subverse that you don't read says, and Mary gave Jesus the look. All you guys know what the look is, right?
[35:31] All you kids know what the look is. Men can't do the look. We have no idea how to do the look. We've tried. It doesn't work. It comes out making us look foolish. But every woman knows how to do the look.
[35:43] I've had women not related to me give me the look. When your wife gives you the look, you know you've gotten the look. When your mother gives you the look, you're in trouble. And you notice, he didn't argue anymore.
[35:56] He went right to work. What do we expect from God? What are we really looking for?
[36:07] I had a pastor friend of mine, and I told him that it would be helpful if he visited folks in their homes. I tried to do it. Our other pastors tried to do it. And so he didn't want to do it. So he started going out visiting people, and he went to their home.
[36:19] And after about a minute being in their house, he said, so how is it with your soul? He didn't get invited back much anymore. How is it with your soul?
[36:31] What are we really concerned about? What do we expect from God? Jesus says, fill up those six ceremonial jugs with water.
[36:42] Now, these really don't represent exactly the size, because they held 25, 30 gallons of water. So they'd be about this big. Like these on the wall here. Okay?
[36:54] Fill them up with water. They were used for ceremonial cleansing. And the guys filled them up. What do you think they were expecting to happen? Well, they know Jesus is kind of a religious sort of a guy, right?
[37:07] They ran out of wine. He's going to divert them. Maybe he'll do a little baptism, a little preaching or something, a little religious ceremony. Something or other, right? I mean, that's what I would expect. Then he says, take some of the water to the guy who was running the banquet.
[37:22] Now, this is weird. What's he trying to tell this guy? You had enough to drink already? How about some water? Maybe you should make a pot of coffee. Right?
[37:36] No. The guy takes a drink. And that's when we discover the miracle. The change. The twist in the story.
[37:49] See, up to this point, if you had never read this story, you would never have expected that this water would now be wine. You would have expected it's water. What do we expect from God?
[38:02] And do we trust that God will make something amazing happen? One of the most powerful verses, not only in this passage, but in the whole Bible, is when Mary turns to the servants and says, Do what he tells you to do.
[38:19] Do what he tells you to do. Don't question it. Don't ask what's in it for you. Don't avoid it. Don't delay it.
[38:30] Do what Jesus tells you to do. If we do what God expects us to do, what God tells us to do, then we can expect the unexpected.
[38:44] We can expect miracle living to occur. Even when the water turned to wine, the leader of the banquet just thought that the bridegroom had gotten some better wine.
[38:58] You've got to love this line where he says, you know, usually at a wedding, they serve the good stuff. And then when everybody's a little, then they serve cheap wine after that. But you serve the good stuff last.
[39:11] Which, by the way, and this might offend and bother some of you, but the reality is that means that they had already drank a fair amount of wine. I know you have a problem with that.
[39:21] I suspect Jesus and his disciples were drinking it too. Read the Bible for what it says. Jesus. Jesus didn't give them coffee.
[39:34] Jesus didn't give them water. He actually gave them more wine that they could possibly need. A hundred and seventy-five gallons of wine.
[39:45] Hello? I think they were taking home doggy bags of wine, don't you? Got to get some of this wine to take home for dinner tomorrow night.
[39:57] What do we expect from God? He gives us the unexpected. He keeps the best for last. And we become surprised by miracles. Have any of you ever seen water turned into wine?
[40:11] It happened for me. It was at another retirement party for pastors. You see, whoever planned this party in Batavia must have been so embarrassed they said, this is not going to happen again.
[40:24] So they decided to go to the Real Pro. So they had it out at Samuel's Grand Manor. These are people that can feed 2,000 people. They certainly can handle 150 people for a retirement banquet, right? So we're up there and they're serving everybody.
[40:37] And I'm sitting at my table and they're serving everybody. There's one table left and it's mine. And believe it or not, the waitress comes over and says, I'm sorry, we're out of food.
[40:47] I'm like, you've got to be kidding. All the tables, I've covered up. So then she said something really interesting. She said, is there anything I can do to help make it up?
[41:00] Well, this is a pastor's retirement party with the bishop. I guarantee you the strongest thing we had to drink was coffee. You know, coffee, water, and this kind of fruit punch over at the bar area.
[41:12] But I noticed behind the bar area there was something else. So I said to the waitress, a craft of wine would be nice. And bam, the water turned into wine right there. And we had a craft of wine.
[41:23] We're toasting all the other pastors with our craft of wine. And I have to tell you, within a few minutes, Samuel's Grand Manor found us food. So I'm not going to knock that. They fed us, right? They took care of us.
[41:33] It was just a short delay. We were fine. When she came over, she gave us some food. She said, okay, is everything good? And my friend said, well, another craft of wine would make it better. Bam, there it was on the table again.
[41:46] Hey, bishop, how you doing? We only had a couple of glasses. But it had a story. It changed the whole thing.
[41:58] It went from, I'm miserable, I'm depressed, I can't believe they ran out of food a second year in a row, to what a great story to tell. What a wonderful evening.
[42:09] That we laugh about and enjoy. God does the unexpected if we trust him and do what he says. God can actually take away our anxieties.
[42:23] That's real miracle healing. See, getting water into wine is no big deal. Taking away the anxieties and the worries and the fears and all the embarrassment that Mary was feeling.
[42:38] That was the real miracle. Philippians. I love this book. It says to us, don't be anxious about anything.
[42:49] Anything. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[43:06] And the peace of God says, God is still with you. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
[43:18] God is still with you. And God can bless you in unexpected ways you didn't anticipate.
[43:29] Do what he asked you to do and stop worrying about these little things. Let me tell you something. If what you're so anxious about you won't remember tomorrow, you shouldn't even think about it.
[43:42] And if in two weeks it'll be gone from your mind, it's not worth any stress at all. In fact, if it will be out of your day-to-day thinking a year from now, it's really small stuff.
[43:59] We need to put our concerns in perspective of time. Jesus said in Matthew, don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself.
[44:11] Each day has enough trouble for itself. Stop being so anxious. Don't make yourself sick. Don't create pain and hurt in your relationships with each other.
[44:26] Don't lose sleep over things that really aren't that important. It's okay. God is still here. What are we looking for?
[44:40] Miracle living is not endless quantities of wine. Miracle living is not being anxious. Living, trusting, doing what Jesus said and believing he will take care of us.
[44:52] Amen? Amen? You see, we really are focused on the wrong thing. Is it well with your soul?
[45:04] That's what really matters. Jesus said, my hour has not yet come. What hour is he talking about? What could he possibly mean? We get some clues. When they mention the third day, which is the day he rose from the dead, when he talks about his time, when he talks about wine, when we have ceremonial washing, Mary is there.
[45:24] The best for last, the bridegroom, the banquet, the wedding, an unexpected answer. They all point to the kingdom of God. Ultimately, they all point to his time on the cross.
[45:36] Take up your cross. Jesus actually knows he's going to die. And he says, put things in real perspective.
[45:49] Went to visit a guy with cancer two or three days ago. He says, well, they told me I'm dying. I said, yeah, me too. I said, I might die before you.
[46:02] We don't know. We just know we are. Ultimately, all this stuff that we're doing needs to be put in the right perspective. I was talking to my sister about miracles, just two, three weeks ago.
[46:14] And she said, she read a book that explains all the miracles, you know, how they're scientifically could have happened or archaeologically possible and all this kind of stuff. And I said, you know, let me tell you something.
[46:26] One miracle is the greatest miracle of all. And so long as there's that one miracle, the rest of it's all small stuff. She said, well, which one is that? I said, when I rise from the dead.
[46:39] That's the biggest miracle. Seriously, guys, when I get up out of the grave and I live forever, that tops everything. And I don't care about all this stuff, water into wine, red seas, parted little stuff.
[46:52] I'm going to raise from the dead. So are you. That's the greatest miracle. Amen? That's something to put your life perspective around, to get yourself wrapped up in what really makes a difference.
[47:03] Is it well enough with your soul that you can know that you're going to live forever? Forever. In joy, in peace, in wonder, in blessing.
[47:20] The wine was put into ceremonial jugs, like we put our wine into ceremonial jugs, don't we? The blood that's represented in the wine cleanses us from sin.
[47:36] Just as ceremonial jugs were used to cleanse us from sin, we're given something that satisfies more than just our palate.
[47:48] The best comes last. it satisfies our soul. Anybody here ever hear the story of Martha and Mary in the Bible?
[48:02] Now some of you are going, I hate that story. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I know it. It's you anxious people. Let me tell you about Martha if you don't know about her.
[48:13] Her and her sister were having a luncheon party for Jesus and Martha was so happy to have Jesus there. She got up fine china. You know the stuff you don't use anymore. You got to clean the dust off it and stuff.
[48:24] She got out the really good glasses and she had 14 different knives and forks and spoons all over the place. Everything was set perfect. She'd been working all day to make the meal. In the meantime, Mary is sitting there on the floor watching and listening to Jesus.
[48:41] So Martha does what most of us would do. She walks up to Jesus and she says, don't you care I've been working all day and my lazy sisters over there on her and there's an expletive there that we don't have in the Bible but I'm sure it was said, tell her to get up off of that thing and help me.
[49:02] Now this is the part that bugs us because the answer we'd expect from Jesus is Mary, you should give your sister a little bit of a hand here. I mean, after all, she'd be working very hard. You could pitch in a little bit, right?
[49:15] This is what she said. Martha, Martha, you're worried about many things. Only one thing's needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it won't be taken away from her.
[49:28] You're worried about so many things but only one thing in life even matters. Everything else pales in comparison. Is it well with your soul?
[49:39] Are you going to live into eternity? Is the greatest miracle going to occur to you that you'll raise up from the dead and live forever in joy and wonder? That's the greatest miracle.
[49:53] God calls us. Calls us to that. That time we can stand before Him by taking all these little problems, all these concerns mailing them to the cross so that we might live forever.
[50:32] Savior, I come by it, my soul. Remember redemption's is where your blood was spilled for my ransom.
[50:57] Everything I was held in, I count it all as cost. Lead me to the cross where your love poured out.
[51:12] Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down. Bring me up, my stuff. I belong to you.
[51:24] Oh, lead me. lead me to the cross. He was rude.
[51:36] Jeنica, he was delayed.Quten I play drain me down. The name lives and he says when I am僕らbury verwonderhorse world of Western熟 and world became flesh I'm glad to watch my sin and death, now your wisdom.
[52:10] Everything I once felt the air, I counted on as loss. Lead me to the cross when your love poured out.
[52:24] Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down. Rip me up myself, I belong to you.
[52:37] Oh, lead me. Lead me to the cross. To your heart.
[52:55] To your heart. Lead me to your heart. Lead me to your heart.
[53:11] Lead me to the cross when your love poured out. Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down.
[53:25] Rip me up myself, I belong to you. Lead me to the cross when your love poured out.
[53:36] Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down. Rip me up myself, I belong to you.
[53:50] Oh, lead me. Lead me to the cross. Shall we pray?
[54:06] Our confession of God. Dear God in heaven. I've sinned. I don't trust in you. I worry about my things.
[54:21] Not about my soul. I see you as the answer. To little things. And I don't do what you tell me.
[54:33] I don't do what you tell me. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord. I'm gonna be what I need to be. To do what I need to do.
[54:44] To do what I need to do. To live into the miracle living. To live into the resurrection. To live into the resurrection. Now and forever.
[54:54] Now and forever. Forgiving you, Lord. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[55:05] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Philippians tells us. Don't be anxious about anything.
[55:19] Anything. Anything. Anything. But in everything. In your prayers, your petitions, your thanksgiving. Give it over to God. God. And the peace of God, which is beyond all things you could ever imagine.
[55:35] Will guard your hearts, your minds, and your souls in Christ Jesus. And whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.
[55:47] If any things are excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. Not all this other stuff. Think about these blessings.
[55:59] God will make your soul well. God will make your soul well.
[56:31] God will make your soul well.
[57:01] Amen. Have you played with me? kill you, handling it, you understand me. Eat his wealth well. May he stay.
[57:15] My Sin only works on your head. He is dell on earth, it is dell on earth. So free of God is 이름lich nyaя. May he sweeps me in fire.
[57:28] But the whole is nailed to the cross And I bear it no more Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Oh my soul It is well It is well With my soul It is well It is well With my soul And Lord, praise the day When my faith shall be signed The clouds be rolled back like a scroll The trough shall resound
[58:32] And the Lord shall descend Even so It is well With my soul It is well With my soul It is well It is well It is well With my soul And it's well with our soul We can rejoice in the Lord always And again I'll say to you Rejoice Rejoice This town..." I'm Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is not my view.
[59:41] All of my days I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love. I conquered, I sheltered, tower of refuge and strength.
[59:58] That every breath, all that I am, never seems to worship you. Shout to the Lord on the earth, let us sing.
[60:13] Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will walk at the sound of your name.
[60:24] I sing the joy of the world of your hands. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
[60:39] My Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is none but you. All of my days I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love.
[60:58] I conquered, I sheltered, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you.
[61:16] Shout to the Lord on the earth, let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will walk at the sound of your name.
[61:33] I sing the joy of the world of your hands. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
[61:49] I will bless the Lord forever.
[62:10] I will bless the Lord forever. I will trust Him at all times.
[62:31] He has delivered me from all fear. He has set my feet upon the cross.
[62:50] I will not be moved. And I'll say, Lord, you are my shield, my strength, my portion.
[63:06] Dear river, my shelter, strong tower, my very presence, in time of me.
[63:21] Dear river, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart. Who can, are you there, may you love me?
[63:36] Who can, are you there, may you love me? Is God, I desire you, society. You have made me glad.
[63:51] And I'll say, oh, Lord, you are my shield, my strength, my portion.
[64:04] Dear river, my shelter, strong tower, my very presence. You are my shield, my strength, my portion.
[64:22] Dear river, my shelter, strong tower, my very presence, in time of me.
[64:33] My very presence, in time of me. My very presence, in time of me. My very presence, in time of me.
[64:58] God is our present health, in time of need. Whatever it is that we need. And the most important thing that we need. The one thing that is necessary.
[65:11] Is to come to salvation in Jesus Christ. To receive Jesus Christ into our hearts. So that we can share God's love with everyone we need. Amen?
[65:24] When we come to the table, we share in all that Christ has made possible for us. We share in God's love in a very unique way.
[65:36] And we can come to this table expecting, expecting to receive all that God has for us. That miracle of salvation. That miracle of salvation.
[65:48] Everyone is welcome. 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.
[66:01] Whether it's your first time here, in this church, or in any church. Or you've been coming all your life. You are welcome at the table this morning. So come.
[66:12] Be willing to receive. Expect to receive. Expect to receive. The Lord be with you.
[66:24] Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. We give thanks to the Lord our God. Thanks and praise and glory and honor are rightly yours, our Lord and God.
[66:39] For you alone are worthy. In time beyond our dreaming, you brought forth life out of darkness. And in the love of Christ your Son, you set man and woman at the heart of your creation.
[66:55] You loved the world so much that you sent your only Son to bring us life eternal. Dying, he destroyed our death.
[67:06] Hallelujah. Alleluia. Rising, he restored our life. Alleluia. And so we praise you. With the faith of every time and place.
[67:18] Joining with the choirs of angels and the whole creation in their eternal hymn. Holy, holy, holy Lord. God of power and might.
[67:29] Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
[67:41] We thank you that you called a covenant people to be a light to the nations. Through Moses you taught us to love your law. And in the prophets you cried out for justice.
[67:54] In the fullness of your mercy, you became one with us in Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us on the cross. You make us alive together with him.
[68:06] That we may rejoice in his presence and share his peace always. And on the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to you.
[68:18] He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying, Take. Take. Eat. This is my body, which is given for you.
[68:29] Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup and he gave you thanks and praise.
[68:44] And he gave it to his disciples saying, 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.
[68:56] 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.
[69:20] As we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here.
[69:32] 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.
[69:45] 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.
[69:56] And we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.
[70:08] Amen. Shall we pray together? With the confidence of disciples of Jesus Christ. The prayer that he taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[70:22] 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.
[70:38] 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.
[70:49] Amen. Will those assisting with serving please come forward.決 которая надğer by the men of God by our împ ens Deck h Sons For mule-takers, we are happy to ban this tr praxeマヅ интересно!
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