[0:00] This is the day that the Lord has made. We'll rejoice and be glad, and as soon as Sue gets back over to an instrument to play, there we go, alright. If any of the kids would like to come up and join us, they're welcome to join us now.
[0:18] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
[0:36] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:55] We're the Miss Cry Dish Room Cleanup Room. If this is your first visit to the Pendleton United Methodist Church, a welcome gift is available for new visitors and can be picked up at the connection site in the back of the sanctuary following worship.
[1:17] Fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list, sign up for activities, or list any prayers or concerns and any notes to the staff. Welcome to our church!
[1:28] We do welcome you to church, and you could go join that crazy bunch cleaning up after the fish fries. They are kind of actually like that. We do welcome you to service this morning. There's a couple of opportunities for ministry on your clipboards.
[1:40] One is for the fish fries. We served 394 dinners last Friday, which is great for a fall fish fry. Appreciate all the help and support. One more to go this weekend.
[1:51] Now, somewhere in November, I think it's the second weekend of November, we also have a rummage sale. Some people ask me, why do we do that? Well, first of all, it helps you clean out all that stuff you don't want around your house.
[2:03] But even more so, the ladies then take those things and sell them, and the proceeds all go to benefit missions and helping people around the country, in our community, around the world. So, really, they give it all away.
[2:15] So, if you want to bring something, wait until after next weekend, and you can put it in the back of the sanctuary, and we appreciate that help for our ladies. After church, we're having a homecoming celebration out in the fellowship hall.
[2:28] So, if you want to go out and join in on those activities, we're going to rock the church, is what I hear. So, you'll have to go out and figure out what that means. And if you'd like to know more about our church, you can come and attend a membership class after service today.
[2:44] It's the post-game show, and we do invite and encourage you, if you'd like to know more about the church, come and join us for that. Shall we turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer? Dear God, there are so many things that go through our mind on a morning.
[3:00] And we feel so unready sometimes to worship you. So, prepare our hearts, prepare our minds, prepare our souls, and help us to focus our lives on you.
[3:11] That we might be here to experience what you brought for us. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'd like to invite you now to stand, if you're able, as we sing together, Maker in whom we live.
[3:34] In whom we are and whom.
[3:58] The glory, power, and praise receive for thy creating love. And all the angels draw, give thanks to God on high.
[4:15] While earth repeats the joyful song and echoes to the sky. In God, it be a deal.
[4:27] And all the ransomed race. Render in thanks their lives to thee. For thy redeeming grace.
[4:40] The grace to sinners show. The heavenly choirs proclaim. And praise, salvation to our God.
[4:52] Salvation to the Lamb. And praise, salvation to the Lamb. And praise, salvation to our God. And praise, salvation to our God. Let all the hosts above.
[5:04] Let all on earth be low reborn. And fell upon thy love. When heaven and earth are blessed.
[5:17] Before thy glorious face. Sing, all the saints. Thy love that bling. Thy everlasting praise.
[5:31] The Lord be with you. Take a moment, if you will, and greet your neighbor with the peace of the Spirit. Good morning. Do you know that winter's coming?
[5:44] Some people think when winter comes, everything gets horrible and terrible. But you know what Snoopy does? He just has a good old time. Dancing. Don't you like Snoopy? We can dance, right?
[5:57] You want to dance? No? Not into dancing? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No? No?
[6:07] No? No? No? No? No? No? See, we can decide in life whether we want to be miserable about stuff going on or be happy.
[6:17] We can learn a lot of lessons from a dog. Do you know what dog is spelled backwards? Do you have any idea? God. Exactly. Perfect. Yeah.
[6:27] Because dogs act a lot like God. They love us even in spite of the fact that sometimes we're not the best in the world. So we can learn a lot from them. Let's be happy and look at all the blessings and good things God gave us.
[6:38] Okay? What are you thankful for this morning? Want to share something? By now that we can check out the satisfies this morning.habitude of being able to kind of flips it. Amen. Amen. Am I wrong? Whoevercamール retires you bring in nous, God. Where 해서 All he can pay a unit of interprofuel.
[6:52] I swear? All I know you did. Am I não a mind? Hyendogen. I don't electronic. I swear to God so I'm happy I mentioned something. Anybody else? All right. I work in nails gr mujeres. Lord, we do thank you for our parents.
[7:03] Our family. All in nails grant which you give us in life. Help us to always, always be grateful to you for these things. for it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You guys can all go to church school.
[7:14] All the kids go out to church school now if they'd like to. In your bulletin, you're going to find a mission moment. We take up offerings once in a while for ministries. We just think outside the church should have a little support.
[7:25] So if you want to give an extra gift, this is for our ministry that we're doing through a couple people in our church. And Scott Dabbs is going to share about that this morning. Good morning.
[7:40] Alive is a junior high youth group through the Christ Community Church in Lockport working with at-risk youth. Scott Jeans and I, over the last several years, have been working with this group.
[7:52] The main goal of the group is to show the kids that someone cares about them, to give them hope, and of course to teach them about God. Last year, over 150 youth came through our Friday night program where we teach them about God, play some games, sing, and one of the big draws is we feed them.
[8:16] Some of the youth have even attended the youth retreat here at Pendleton, or I should say down at Camp Finley. For more information, if you want to speak to Scott James or myself after the service, we'd be happy to tell you more about the group.
[8:34] I have some names on some cards. These kids are in great need of prayer. If you want to help out with that, see me after service, and you can grab a name and pray for some of the youth. With God's help, we're changing their lives.
[8:47] Thank you. Thank you, Scott. And we do have so many, so many things that God has blessed us with in our lives, and God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.
[9:04] Amen? Amen. Let's bring our gifts, tithes, and offerings before the Lord as God has called us to do. Amen. Amen. And you hear the prayer of the children In the shadow of an unknown room Empty eyes With no more tears to cry Turning heavenward Turning heavenward Toward the light
[10:06] Crying, Jesus, help me To see the morning light Of one more day What if I should die Before I wake I pray my soul To take Can you feel The hearts of the children Aching for home For something of their very own Reaching hands With nothing to hold on to But hope for a better day
[11:12] A better day Crying, Jesus, help me To feel the love again In my own land But if unknown roads lead away from home Give me loving arms Away from lost Away from harm紀arts Leh from harm To la... lanz... la... la... lengine... l claim O God, O God, our Lord, can you hear the voice of the children softly pleading?
[12:35] For silence in their shattered world, angry guns sent a message full of hate, blood of the innocent on their hands.
[13:00] Crying, Jesus, help me to feel the sun again upon my face.
[13:13] For when darkness clears, I know you're near, bringing peace again.
[13:25] See you inulet, can you hear the prayer of the children?
[13:52] dinosaurs. Parts.
[14:22] Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise.
[14:49] Praise for this day and praise for the opportunity to gather and worship. You are so great, Lord. You have blessed us so abundantly.
[15:03] Bless these gifts that we return back to you, Lord. Especially those that are intended for the youth ministry in Lockport.
[15:14] Lord God, you've given us so much. We offer now all of our resources to you. All of the gifts that you have given us. All of the ways that you have called us to serve you for the furtherance of your kingdom.
[15:31] Be with us and bless us, Lord, so that we can be a blessing. Give us wisdom to know how to use all that you have given us as we offer it up to you.
[15:46] So that many would come to faith in Jesus Christ and continue to grow in grace. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.
[16:00] Please be seated.
[16:13] Good morning. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. The music that we have produced here with the Meta Hymn has been a blessing to all of us.
[16:30] It's not really we get a lot of enjoyment out of singing and producing the music that we do. But the real joy that we get out of singing and out of music is how it has brought all of us in Meta Hymn very close together in fellowship.
[16:47] And also the joy that we get with sharing our music with all of you. It's been a real blessing for me over the past 12 years to be a part of the Men of the Hymn. And we've got some members in the group that have been there since the beginning as well.
[17:01] And we have some new members that have brought their talents and their fellowship to the men of Hymn. And we continue to look for other men in the church that enjoy singing and enjoy sharing their talents with us and the rest of the congregation.
[17:20] So we're always looking for new members, young and old. No musical degree is required. No operatic voices. There's no hazing involved. So there's no worry about that.
[17:33] And even women with exceptionally low voices might be considered for membership. But we thank you for all the support that you've given us over the years.
[17:44] That has been a real blessing to us. Every few years we also do a fundraiser. We're completely self-supported. But occasionally we do a fundraiser.
[17:56] And we're doing one today that I think you might enjoy. We'll have a table set up in the fellowship hall right after service. So if you could stop by and chat with us and continue to provide your support, we'd be eternally grateful.
[18:09] Thank you very much. Thank you, Paul. It's a blessing to have all of the music ministries of our church.
[18:22] And not just because, as Paul said, we enjoy hearing music and it's a wonderful thing. But because the music that we hear here in worship draws us closer to God.
[18:34] Doesn't it make you just center in and know that God is here? God is here. And God has come to hear and answer our prayers as well.
[18:46] Amen? Amen. And the joy of all of the ministries that we have. The joy of the beautiful fall weather that we've had all of September and October. And so many other joys that are in our hearts.
[18:57] And we have some concerns to bring before you as well. Melissa Gerber's mother, Ann Smith, died this past week. We need to keep that family in our prayers.
[19:08] And as well, Mary Zupo's mother, Betty. And Michelle Bullock's grandmother, Millie Bart. We have a number of people who are grieving those significant losses of people in their lives.
[19:21] We need to pray for them. We also need to pray for Debbie Parise and her family. Her mom is gravely ill. So we lift up her mother and all of her family members who are looking after her.
[19:35] And Ron McMorris has been hospitalized as well. With these concerns and those that are on your hearts as well, let's turn to the Lord in prayer.
[19:46] Heavenly Father, we come before you once again.
[20:00] So grateful. So very grateful that you hear us, that you answer us. That you are the one who draws us into prayer.
[20:14] And empowers us. God, you are so good. And pray, Lord God, for all of those in our fellowship, those in our families, and among our loved ones and our friends.
[20:32] Who are grieving the loss of loved ones today. We ask that you touch them. And bring your comfort and your peace into their lives.
[20:44] Draw them near. Near to the shelter of your loving arms, Lord. Pray also for those who are sick, who are infirm.
[20:59] Those who are having troubles of all kinds and need to be in places where they can be cared for.
[21:15] We ask that you touch them with your healing power, Lord. Draw them close to yourself.
[21:26] And make them whole. Bring the wholeness to their lives from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet and their spirits and their souls and in their bodies. Lord, that only you can bring.
[21:38] Give wisdom to their caregivers. Those family members and friends. Those professional people.
[21:49] Who are charged with looking after them and bringing comfort into their lives. Help each and every one to minister healing.
[22:06] Lord God, we pray for all of those people in our world, those people in our communities. Who are having troubles of all different kinds. People, Lord, who are without a place to live.
[22:20] Those who are hungry, Lord. Those who are in fear. Those who are in fear. Whatever kind of fear that might be.
[22:31] We pray that we would be your church. We pray that as you call us, as you bless us and anoint us and empower us, that we would go forth and be able to be an influence in this world.
[22:51] Lord, touching those lives that so need to be touched. That we would go forth and be able to be touched. That we would be your mercy and your grace into their lives. We pray for the church throughout the world, Lord.
[23:06] Bringing relief in disasters. Touching people's lives and their hearts. We pray that your church would be emboldened. That your church would remember that as members of the body of Christ, our first and foremost acts of love need to be in reaching out to others.
[23:31] Sharing your love and your grace and your mercy. Sharing the message of your salvation. Wherever it needs to be heard. And supporting those who have heard and believe.
[23:46] Who are enduring hardships. Who need to grow. Help us, Lord. Help us, Lord.
[23:57] To be the people you have called us to be. Now, Lord, as we hear your word, let it wash over us. Open our eyes and our ears and our hearts.
[24:11] To hear and receive and understand what you have for us this day. Anoint Pastor Tom to deliver the message you've given him. Let it be a blessing, Lord God, to him and to us.
[24:25] But, Lord, most of all, take all of our worship. The songs that we sing and the prayers that we pray. The word as it's spoken.
[24:36] The fellowship among each and every one of us. Make it all to be a blessing, Lord. A blessing to you. And a blessing that we can carry out of this place when we go.
[24:54] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Amen. In Jesus' name we can. Amen.
[25:06] God Good morning.
[25:36] Our scripture reading this morning is found in Luke 17, verses 11 to 19. Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
[25:52] And as he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us.
[26:06] When he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
[26:22] He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed?
[26:33] Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? And then he said to him, Rise and go.
[26:45] Your faith has made you well. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Barbara.
[26:58] This morning we're completing, we're actually in the second last sermon about our series about miracles. Next week we're going to talk about the greatest miracle, which is overcoming death itself.
[27:09] In fact, if you'd like the name of your loved one read at the memorial service next week, make a note and write it down, give it to the office or one of the pastors, and we'll read their name next week. This morning we're going to talk about having an attitude of gratitude.
[27:23] I'm thankful for you to showing up to church today. I know you had another option. Where's the score, Adrian?
[27:41] We want to know the score! Anyway. There you go. We keep you posted.
[27:53] Not to think you're left out, you know. Those of you who have made the right decision. Have you ever seen a miracle? Has God ever done an incredible thing before your eyes?
[28:07] I could talk about lots of miracles. I'll tell you a story that happened a long time ago in the beginning of our ministry. Some of you have heard this story. We had just built a little parking lot to expand our parking because we had so many people coming to church.
[28:20] And we put all our money into building the parking lot. We used these big stones to be ready to put the blacktop over the top of it. What we didn't take into account being men was high heels.
[28:31] And the women were like, we can't walk in this parking lot. We were getting all this grief and thinking, what can we do? So I sat down in my study and I said, dear God, I don't know how.
[28:41] We have no money. But we need a bunch of little stones about this big. Amen. Very specific. Two days later, this is the truth.
[28:51] A guy pulls up into our parking lot, comes up to my office. He says, I got a problem. And I thought maybe you could help me. I saw this little parking lot you have out there that you built. He says, I'm redoing a roof.
[29:03] And I had to take all these little stones off the roof. He said, and I need a place to put them. They're clean and everything. And he says, they're about, and he does this. He says, they're about this size.
[29:14] Could I please put them in your parking lot? I'll spread them around and everything. Does God answer our prayers? Of course he does. Can God do miracles? Absolutely God can do miracles.
[29:27] He does miracles. Does God heal us? These men were lepers. They were kept out of the community because they were considered contagious.
[29:40] And they cried out to Jesus, Lord Jesus, save us. Help us. Take us home. And Jesus healed them.
[29:51] He healed them physically. Their disease went away. My wife wanted me to share that she went to the doctors this week, and I was there with her. And the last doctor said that there was this stuff underneath her knee that was missing, and that she would have to go through this long, complicated, very expensive surgery to replace it.
[30:11] So he sent her to the specialist who does the surgery, and he said, well, let me take another x-ray first. And he took an x-ray. He says, I don't know what he's talking about. There's no problem with your knee.
[30:22] It seems to be fine. And she said, well, that's a miracle. Tom Gertz had the same thing with his wife, right? The doctor said, we don't know how she got healed in her heart.
[30:34] And he said, well, I do. Does God heal? Of course God heals. I've seen it time and time again. God can do more than heal our bodies.
[30:46] He can heal our souls. It says that these people were cleansed, actually, which referred to their physical condition, but more so than that.
[30:57] In Acts chapter 22, Paul says, now, what are you waiting for? Get up. Be baptized. Wash your sins away. Call on his name. We use the sacrament of baptism to physically demonstrate what's happening in our soul.
[31:12] Baptism itself doesn't actually do anything. It's our faith in God, our belief that changes the whole thing. In verse 19, Jesus said to the Samaritan man, your faith, pistons in the Greek, has made you well.
[31:33] Or Suso, which usually is your faith, has saved you, has taken away your brokenness, made you good again. Would you believe in God if you experienced a miracle?
[31:47] Would you believe more in God if you were made well? We sometimes put tests before God, don't we?
[31:57] The two guys on the island, you know, waiting to get rescued. And one guy finally says, I'm going to turn to God. Dear God, I know I haven't always done what I should in my life, but I promise that if you get us off this island, I'll go to church, and just about then his friend says, wait a minute, don't go too far, Joe.
[32:16] I think I see a ship. Do we test God? Believing that if we just could have a couple miracles, somehow it would make us believe.
[32:30] But the truth is, faith leads to healing more than healing leads to faith. Faith leads to healing. Your faith has made you well.
[32:41] See, we need to trust in God before the miracle, even without the miracle. The lepers, the lepers stood at a distance.
[32:56] They were considered contagious, not allowed to come near people. And Jesus said, go and see the priest. Show yourself to them. And it says that they went and on their way, they were healed.
[33:10] They weren't instantly healed. They didn't get healed and then go. They went. They did what God wanted them to do. They trusted in God and had faith in God, and they believed, and they were healed.
[33:24] Your faith has made you well. And faith asks us to take action before we even have proof. In fact, that's what faith is all about, isn't it?
[33:35] Before we have the proof, we take the risk. Why were they supposed to go and see the priest? Because the priest could declare them clean. See, they were considered outcasts.
[33:49] They were contagious. We put them aside so that they wouldn't infect the rest of the community. And to actually go before they're clean is a huge risk, because what if they get there and the leprosy's not gone?
[34:06] They'll be in trouble. They'll be in trouble. But they took the risk. They went even though they weren't quite right yet.
[34:21] And what would happen if we saw a leper coming near our kids? What would happen if we saw somebody who didn't measure up, who was broken, who certainly had some contagious disease?
[34:34] Would we have pity? Would we have contempt? Would we have fear? Would we hear their cries? Or would we react more like this?
[34:47] In a remote African jungle, a small monkey is captured. Bound for a pet store in America, the animal carries a deadly virus.
[34:58] Ah, that is the animal. Now, I know that some of us have doubts about what we're about to do.
[35:10] We'd be less than human if we didn't. But the fate of the nation, perhaps the world is in our hands. We cannot, we dare not refuse this burden.
[35:21] I'm confident that each of you will do his duty. God forgive us. Your town is being quarantined. We got 19 dead.
[35:33] We got 100 more infected. It's spreading like a brush fire. What are you talking about? If one of them's got it, then 10 of them have got it now. And if one of them gets out of Cedar Creek, we have a very interesting problem. If that bug gets out of there, 260 million Americans will be dead or dying.
[35:48] What would we do if this was Newfane, New York? You know, put up the barricades, call in the police, shut down Transit Road. Don't let those people out. Don't let them get anywhere near us, those Newfaneans.
[36:02] And if they try to get out, nuke them. I'm only kidding about the nuke, by the way. How would we react? People we know.
[36:14] But they're broken. We're afraid. We live in fear. We live in fear of being infected by whatever's wrong with anyone.
[36:24] You know, the truth is, back in the day, they didn't really know what leprosy was. They just knew it was some kind of a skin rash. And so, basically, if you had a skin rash, you were called a leper.
[36:36] How many of you have ever had a skin rash? You know? Some of you probably have one now. Yeah? Watch out. So, if you had a skin rash, poison ivy.
[36:47] If you had just some sort of allergy, they would put you with the lepers. Which, of course, that's right where you want to be, right? But we do that with everything.
[36:59] We've come to be a society that looks for imperfections. We look for brokenness. And acts as if we have nothing wrong with us.
[37:11] We call it. I mean, we try to hide our imperfections. We try to hide the disease. What would happen if we had a skin rash today?
[37:22] We'd actually cover it up for you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[37:41] And there was something. You see, the problem is, we've become a culture where we are judging people in a way in which we actually expect them to have no flaws.
[37:53] And we are living in great fear that if somebody finds out there's something wrong with us, we might be stuck with the other outcasts. We hide and we walk around trying to act like we're perfect, we're trying to make us self-righteous.
[38:11] We even believe that we're doing the most successful people in our nation. And we look for the tiniest flaws so we can tear them the shreds.
[38:27] As if we're perfect. We've got a culture that holds up self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, entitlement, and more fear.
[38:41] We're looking for the most faithful people in our nation. We're looking for the most faithful people in our nation.
[38:51] We're looking for the most faithful people in the world that have ever existed.
[39:02] There should be no one in our entire culture that has any other attitude but an incredible amount of faith if blessings and miracles lead to faith.
[39:14] Because we are the most blessed culture that's ever lived on the face of the earth. No one has ever lived like we have.
[39:25] But we live as if the blessings we have don't count. And we assume that we're entitled to absolute perfection.
[39:41] My computers needed one of those virus protections put on them. You know what I mean? So I went to the geek squad because I paid them to take care of my computers over at the Best Buy. And I walked in and I gave them to them.
[39:52] And the geek starts working on them, you know, working on two at a time. Bam, bam, my wife's with mine doing good here. Okay, fine. Got it down, right? And then he says about my wife's computer, okay, this one's fine.
[40:04] You can take it home. And my computer, he shuts it down and says, I've got to keep this one overnight. Whoa. It's my computer.
[40:16] I work with that computer. I got out. He didn't seem to even blink about it. It was like he's going to take my computer. He's walking in the back room with it.
[40:28] And I'm like, what am I going to, how will I find the TV shows and entertainment I want to watch tonight? I'll actually have to watch that television that has 300 channels. How am I ever going to, I might read a book or talk to my wife.
[40:41] Oh, my gosh. How am I going to do my emails and connect with people who try to reach me? After all, I'm, oh, my precious.
[40:53] 12 hours. 12 hours. I'm flipping out because I will be without a computer for 12 hours.
[41:06] Something I live without for 40... And if there's any flaw in our lives, any feeling like something has somehow not gone the right way, we feel as if we have been hurt and insulted.
[41:27] We cry out to God like they did and say, heal me now. Make my computer perfect. Darn it. You're God. You're God. And we forget who God really is.
[41:45] Ten were healed. One came back. Nine walked away saying, okay, things are good now. One came back. And Jesus says, one that doesn't even belong. Because it's true.
[41:56] The people who grow up outside the Christian faith that come to Christianity are changed and transformed and full of joy. The people who grow up in the church, in the community of faith, are like, oh, yeah.
[42:08] And we're so blessed. And we take it all for granted. And we take it all for granted. I sit with somebody in a restaurant this week and we're starting to complain about our lives and all the things that are wrong with our lives.
[42:23] And I know people have problems, right? I do too. I'm sitting in a restaurant where somebody is making my food for me, delivering it to the table, cleaning up my dishes, and I'm living like a king saying, oh, my life is so bad.
[42:38] Don't we? Don't we? Don't we do that? Don't we live with the sense of... We deserve it all.
[42:54] We earned it all. Anybody here ever see Jimmy Stewart in anything? This was one of his best seats. He actually said grace once. Lord, we cleared this land.
[43:08] We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be eating it if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We work dog bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we're about to eat.
[43:22] Amen. I work for the money to pay for the food, so thanks for nothing, God, but amen. Well, right? Because we live in this culture that somehow we feel everybody else.
[43:42] Us. We're in an in-between territory where we have different messages coming into our mind. You're entitled to it. Be self-sufficient.
[43:52] You're a self-made person. You can live a life that's absolutely perfect. But that's not the message of... Division.
[44:16] And hurt. Not being made well. Let me give you an example. How anxious as this gets. Talk about this Wednesday night in my Bible study. Driving down the road.
[44:27] This is... This is...
[44:41] This is... Anybody coming? Why are they stopping me? As if all the streetlights should be timed for us to come through when we arrive.
[44:52] and how about if you're stuck in a plaza and somebody lets you out into traffic, right? They're nice. Every once in a while people do that. They let you out into traffic.
[45:02] You know what's happening behind the guy who lets you into traffic? Why'd you let them in? I can't believe you did that. How did we become these people?
[45:22] How did we become angry, giving credit to everyone except God who blesses us?
[45:33] The doctor healed me. I made myself rich. It's because I worked on becoming educated that I know so much. God has nothing to do with this.
[45:45] In fact, sometimes we begin to resent God. You know, there's a little parable in here. I bet you've never heard it, that Jesus tells just before this. He says, suppose you have a servant plowing and looking after the field, and when the day is done and he comes in, will the master say to the servant, come on in?
[46:01] And when dinner's over, will he say, now you can sit down and eat? He'll say, no, clean up, get the rest of your chores done.
[46:13] Then you can eat. Hello, you're the servant. I'm the master. We don't read that one. As if God has a right to expect anything from us. Who does God think he is?
[46:27] I remember I used to go out with friends when I worked at Chemlon, and we got paid a reasonably good wage back then. And the guys would complain about their job, and I said, did you cash your paycheck last week?
[46:38] Oh, of course I did. Then what are you complaining about? They paid you well to do the job, and if you don't want the job, I guarantee you if you leave, there are 50 people waiting for your job.
[46:48] Why are you complaining about what you decided and chose to do and are being rewarded for it? But that's how we treat God. That's how we treat God.
[47:02] As if God has no right to ask anything from us. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says, Remember this, Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.
[47:16] Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should give what they've decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
[47:27] God wants us to want to do these things. When we give, God gives more. When we bless, we become a blessing and we are blessed. But we don't want to do that.
[47:40] We think that somehow God is interfering with our time. God is interfering with our wealth. God is interfering with our attention. God is interfering with our football game. Oh, I'm sorry. That's a different group of people. They're not here.
[47:55] Would you believe in God if you experienced blessings and miracles? Would you live for God? This man comes and says, Thank you.
[48:11] And Jesus said, He's blessed because of his thanksgiving. My next sermon series is going to be very simple.
[48:24] What does God want from you? You ever wondered that? What does God want from me anyway? What does God want from me?
[48:36] We live in a world of blessing. But the problem is we're living for a world of curses because we don't appreciate all that God has already done for us.
[48:49] Maybe it would be better if God took it all away. Maybe we'd have a better life if we had less of these wonderful blessings and great things that have occurred in our lives.
[49:00] Maybe if we struggled a little more, we would cry out to God as these lepers did. Maybe the problem is that our lives are too good.
[49:14] Maybe we should lose all this stuff so we appreciate the God who does so much for us. Or we could just have an attitude of gratitude.
[49:29] Living into the blessing. Count your blessings. Count them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done. Stop going through your day thinking of all your problems and defects and all the shortcomings and little things in your life that aren't right and start thinking of all the incredible amounts of blessings you have.
[49:52] Incredible amounts of blessings. There are people in Syria that if they were to do this, they would cut their heads off and we just assume it's a possibility for us.
[50:04] We are blessed. We are blessed with people to love us. We are blessed with houses to live in. We're blessed with food to eat. We don't go around hunting for hopefully enough sustenance so that we can survive another day.
[50:17] We're blessed. We're people with an abundance of blessing and God wants us to have an attitude of gratitude. We do that with worship, with giving, with risking, and with loving.
[50:34] Worship is when we come before God to just praise Him. Pastor Sherry asked you all to share what kind of miracles were going on in your lives, what you were blessed about.
[50:46] She's braver than I am. I didn't figure you'd even pipe up, but I hear you did, so I'm proud of her. How many of you have been blessed in your life? You know how many times I've been blessed in my life?
[50:57] I can't put my hand up so fast, right? Holy cats, we've been blessed incredible ways, and all we see is the stuff that didn't work. God's given us great blessings. We need to come before God and say, we love you, God.
[51:12] We appreciate it. He actually was shouting. Can you believe it? He says, he was shouting his praise to God. Jesus makes me want to shout. Get your heels up and shout.
[51:23] Oh, that's somebody else's song, isn't it? We worship God. It says that he came and he prostrated himself before God.
[51:35] You know what that means? This is what prostrating is. It's when you lay with your face flat on the floor like this. And I know what you're thinking. Oh, good gosh, pastor.
[51:45] That's embarrassing. Get up off the floor. What are you doing down there? People walk down there. I'm not shaking your hand. Seriously? You've been laying on the floor. Dude. How ridiculous.
[51:58] How foolish. But God calls us to see him as being so incredible that we're not ashamed of him. We want to celebrate him.
[52:10] Proclaim him. Paul says, God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. And we need to make a community love.
[52:26] Risking. Risking genuine love. Not a place where we, the people who have been somehow outed as being not as perfect as we are, are shoved off into some community of outcasts.
[52:40] But where we embrace people. Perfect or imperfect. Whether rash or not. And we risk loving as God would intend for us to do.
[52:56] What do poor, broken people look like? In this story, some were Samaritans, some were Jews. The truth is, they don't pay attention to the differences we do. The better off we are, the more we separate us from people that we don't think are quite as perfect as us.
[53:13] God wants us to embrace people. What do imperfect people look like? Look around. And look in the mirror. We all, we're all lepers in some way.
[53:26] Imagine the healing we could be in this world, in this community. We started having an attitude of gratitude. Instead of somehow thinking we're entitled to more and more and more and more if we loved instead of being afraid.
[53:46] This is what John said about love. There's no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one whose fears is not made perfect in love.
[54:01] One came to heaven. Began with faith. Lived in the miracles. Presented himself before his God and say thank you.
[54:16] That's what we do when we come to worship God. Lift ourselves up as an offering in all that we are and all that we do. Thank you. Thank you.
[54:28] Thank you. Thank you. I love you Your Son cannot compare to the glory of your love There is no shadow in your presence No portal man would bear to stand before your throne Before the Holy One of Heaven
[55:31] And it's only by your blood And it's only through your mercy Lord, I come I bring an offering of worship to my King No one on earth deserves the praises that I see Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due Oh Lord, I bring an offering to you I bring an offering of worship to my King
[56:33] No one on earth deserves the praises that I see Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due Oh Lord, I bring an offering to you Oh Lord, I bring an offering to you Before the day
[57:34] Before the night Before the world Revolved around the sun God, I rise Stand down into time And the whole story of this love for everyone He has filled our hearts with wonder So that we always remember You and I are made to worship You and I are called to love You and I are forgiven and free When you and I embrace surrender When you and I choose to believe
[58:37] When you and I will see Who we were meant to be Who we were meant to be All we are And all we have Is all the gift from God that we receive Brought to life We opened up our eyes Is He the majesty And glory of the King He has filled our hearts with wonder So that we always remember You and I are made to worship You and I are called to love
[59:40] You and I are forgiven and free When you and I embrace surrender When you and I choose to believe When you and I will see Who we were meant to be Even the rocks cry out And even the heavens shout At the sound of His holy name So let every voice sing out And let every lead bow down He is holy and all are free You and I are made to worship You and I are called to love You and I are forgiven and free When you and I am
[60:45] When you and I am raised surrender When you and I choose to believe Then you and I will see Who we were meant to be Please be seated Sometimes when we think about our sin And our brokenness with God We think about these things we've done These little sins that we've committed Which do need to be forgiven But you know there's something more than that God is calling us to repent Which means He wants us to actually change To be different than what we've been They have a different attitude To go from an attitude of entitlement and brokenness To an attitude of joy and gratitude So let's take that before God And give it up to Him Dear God in heaven I have sinned By the things I've done
[61:50] But more by the way I've been Change my attitude Change my attitude Forgive my sin Help me to see my blessings Help me to rejoice in my blessings And to thank You Help me to live my life as an attitude As an attitude of gratitude In Jesus name we pray In Jesus name we pray Amen See there was a little flaw in that prayer You see that?
[62:28] But when that happens We just kind of like That's okay We're gonna look at the good part of it Not the flaw We're gonna do that That's what we have to do Rejoice in what God does Because in the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God The music fades The song is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to breathe The song is stripped away The song is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to breathe Something that's of worth That will bless your heart And I simply come Longing just to breathe The song is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to breathe The song is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to breathe Something that's of worth That will bless your heart Longing just to breathe Something that's of worth Something that's of worth That will bless your heart Something that's of worth that will bless your heart.
[63:33] I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required.
[63:45] You search much deeper within, through the way things appear. You're looking into my heart.
[63:58] I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus.
[64:12] I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made. When it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus.
[64:24] Jesus, I. He is endless, but no wonder expressed.
[64:46] How much you deserve. Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours.
[64:59] Every single breath. I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required.
[65:18] You search much deeper within, through the way things appear. When you're looking into my heart.
[65:32] I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus.
[65:44] I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made. It's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus.
[65:58] Amen. And Jesus invites us to his table.
[66:13] Jesus invites us to receive all the blessings that God has intended for us. Amen? Amen. Everyone is welcome. If you love God, earnestly repent of your sin.
[66:26] And seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ. You are welcome at the table this morning. So come. Come expecting to receive from God.
[66:37] Come expecting that God will touch your heart. And bless you in a way that you've never been blessed before. Come to the table this morning. The Lord be with you.
[66:51] Lift up your hearts. Let us 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.
[67:08] You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets.
[67:26] 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, holy Lord, God of power and might.
[67:39] 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.
[67:51] Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. Hosanna in the highest.
[68:23] Hosanna in the highest.
[68:53] Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest. When the supper was over, he took the cup. And again, he gave thanks to you. And he gave it to his disciples and he said, drink from this, all of you.
[69:08] 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. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[69:22] 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.
[69:37] In union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
[69:49] Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here. And on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ.
[69:59] That we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit, make us one with Christ. One with each other and one in ministry to all the world.
[70:13] Until Christ comes in final victory. And we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit. With... Excuse me.
[70:25] 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.
[70:36] Shall we pray together? The confidence of disciples of Jesus Christ. The prayer he taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
[70:48] 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.
[71:00] As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom.
[71:11] And the power. And the glory forever and ever. Amen. Will those who are serving please come forward. God bless you. God bless you.
[71:35] Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[72:14] Thank you.
[72:44] Thank you.
[73:14] Thank you.
[73:44] Thank you. Thank you.
[74:16] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[74:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[74:40] Thank you. Thank you. These little things like that will go away. God has blessed you. And you should be thrilled and happy and showing it everywhere.
[74:51] If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know it, and your face will really show it.
[75:02] If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. He's not really doing this, is he? If you're happy and you know it, stop your feet. It's so embarrassing, if you're happy and you know it, stop your feet.
[75:15] If you're happy and you know it, and your face will surely show it. If you're happy and you know it, clap your feet. If you're happy and you know it, shout amen.
[75:27] If you're happy and you know it, shout amen. If you're happy and you know it, and your face will surely show it. If you're happy and you know it, shout amen.
[75:37] isn't that the way we should walk through life joy, celebration, hope, wonder recognize God has blessed you live into that blessing I know you got things to deal with, we all do deal with them, and then go back to the blessings and the joy because that's where God wants you to live and God is just going to pour on more blessings still may God go with you, may God bless you may God get the Buffalo Bills on track and may God keep you safe and help you to rejoice go out and party in the fellowship hall, amen my science is still our hope always and nad
[76:56] Amen.