[0:00] This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:35] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:50] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:05] Welcome to Pendleton Center United Methodist Church. I'm Scott Dabb. If you are new to our church, please pick up a gift at the connection site in the back of the sanctuary after worship. And please fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list, sign up for activities, and for prayers and concerns, or notes for the staff.
[1:24] Enjoy the service. We are glad to have you here this morning. I have one quick announcement. Tomorrow and Tuesday from 3 to 9, we're going to be putting down a laminate floor in the building next door.
[1:37] So if you know how to do it and want to help, or if you want to learn how to do it and want to help, we'd love to have you stop on down. Let's take a moment to turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Dear Lord, we thank you for all the great blessings you give to us in life.
[1:50] We thank you for an opportunity to come into this place and be with you. We pray, Lord, that you'll focus our hearts, our minds, our souls, and all that we are on experiencing the living God.
[2:02] 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 a word of God incarnate. I'm not better than what he said right now.
[2:16] Which was the story. O word of God incarnate, All wisdom from on high Old truth unchanged, us changing Oh, right now our dark sky We praise you for the radians And from the public page A lantern to our goods Steps, signs on from age to age The church from you, our Savior Received the empty bride And still that light is lifted
[3:17] For all the earth to shine In this most sacred castle Ragems of truth by story It is the hell-grown nature Of Christ the living world The scripture is the banner Before God's homes unfurled It is the shining beacon Above the darkly world It is the chart and compass That all life searching time In mist and rocks and crickst And to you, O Christ, your God O make your church, dear Savior A lamp of purest gold To men before the nations
[4:20] Your true light as a bolt O teach your wondering Children By lips and magic days Till clouds and dark May stand If they see you face to face The Lord be with you Take a moment, if you will And greet your neighbor With the peace of the Spirit I'd like to invite the children To come up and join me now Any children want to come up?
[4:59] Here comes one Any other kids want to come up and join me? Here comes one All right I'm going to try something out With you guys, okay?
[5:20] And see how good you are At listening, all right? So I want you to repeat Exactly what I said Now listen My bunny has blue fur No, you didn't get that right Let's try that again Now listen My bunny has blue fur Hey, he did listen Usually takes a lot longer To figure that out That's right You heard it My bunny has blue fur You get the prize Bubbles Sometimes we don't listen We just are focused On what we think we hear But not what we really hear Okay?
[6:06] If God is speaking to us And we listen We're going to hear What God himself Has to say for us All right? You guys thankful for anything? You want to share something? Raise your hand Friends and family Anybody else?
[6:20] No? Okay Lord, we do thank you For our friends Our family The blessings you give to us And even the word you share with us Be with us today And always In Jesus' name Amen Okay, you guys go out To church school All the kids are invited To go out to church school I'm going to invite Pastor Sherry To come up with Our mission trip Youth To share our thankful moment So we had a very successful Mission trip this year As all years And a couple of the youth Would just like to Share a little bit about that All right This year's mission trip
[7:21] Was truly amazing Everyone had a lot of fun New friendships were made And old friendships Became stronger And most importantly Memories were created That will last a lifetime Whether it was Completing one project On a work site Swimming after a long day of work Playing volleyball Singing praise songs Around the fire Arguing with the lifeguards About where our swim tags Should be Or watching Caitlin A woman that we worked for Develop a crush on Tucker That's a true story Each one was special That week That week of working Is more than just Signing someone's house Or tidying up Someone's garden It's about doing The work of the Lord Our job is truly done And we can 100% say As we walk off the work site The very last day That the people That we worked for Hearts are filled With the love of God Mission trip Is truly a wonderful And amazing experience And I encourage everyone And anyone To go Thank you Vince was speaking
[8:24] For all of us When he said What he did We did have a lot of fun Doing everything Just wanted to share At Karen's house The first few days We went there We were doing a lot Of house chores for her Because she wasn't capable Of doing them on her own Because of health issues And she kept asking us To do different things Like sweep the floors Vacuum for her And we're thinking Why are we doing these things Like really?
[8:48] And we realized that One of the reasons That she had us Doing these things Was because she really Just enjoyed our company And it's just really An uplifting moment When she says Like we want you I want you to come back And same thing for Caitlin Like she was really upset Seeing us leave And we feel the same way We just really grow Like close to these people Helping them And we hope that Our faith spreads onto them So it's really just A great experience And I think I speak for everyone When it's just fun Like even just as a kid So I am very thankful For this was my Fifth mission trip With this awesome church This was the first trip That I was a young adult And not just a youth Big difference guys I mentioned that Being a young adult Required me to take A stronger leadership role In the work The actual work And helping To help form relationships But for my week On the mission trip I had the pleasure To work on Millie Hardy's house Now Millie She had a fierceness That was only matched By Pastor Sherry
[9:48] Millie was supposed To be sitting down For the most part Due to some medical issues But she was always Walking around Moving things And trying to help out But until Pastor Sherry Told her to sit down Of course Millie was also Very active At their local church Which was right down The street And we also helped Paint that We painted their Little entranceway there And it looked Really nice after That week we worked On fixing her stairwell In her house A water damaged ceiling Putting in tile floors And she had a porch And some walls That needed a fresh coat Of paint And the stairwell Was made of plaster And lath And it was bubbling up And they had tape Over it And so the first day Was demo day As fun as it was To tear down a wall Which was a lot of fun As we all know It was a lot of fun But it was also Very important to realize That we weren't just Tearing up some wall We were tearing down Somebody's home So we had to be respectful And I'm thankful For that lesson of respect So Millie had a son Named Scott And Scott had gone Through a multitude Of hardships With his own health And family And I was fortunate enough
[10:49] That he felt He could share it with me And seeing him Work on the house With us Seeing him transform From quiet And helping a little bit To actually To helping and talking With us and joking And actually taking The spackle edge Out of my hand Because he could help out And it was really Amazing to see We really saw God Move through him And he taught me Another lesson Of strength and perseverance So it was really cool Seeing the big change That a fresh coat of paint Can do on a porch And it was absolutely Outstanding And that reminded me To take the small things Not take them for granted I'm also thankful For the wonderful kids That went on the trip And each of them Brought a personality And a sense of humor That all blended together So nicely Seeing them work together And build and strengthen Relationships Reminded me of how I had gone on These mission trips And how the first one Really touched me And made me go closer To God And make all these Important lessons I just shared And most importantly Grow closer to God So thank you We did another major project As well Miss Millie's house
[11:50] And Miss Millie We gutted her Living room and stairway Which were being held Together with tape And it was a real mess And our guys worked hard They got really strong Over the head And Millie Who had lost her husband A few years ago And her son had been In a major accident And had almost passed away As well And was just Under really hard times And going through A lot of physical Difficulties as well And she said At the end of it As we were gathering up For our final prayer She was just so excited We were gathering up For our final prayer And as we had laid A floor for her And she said This will be the very first time She'll be able to walk Through her house Without getting slivers In her feet Because she had never Had a floor before She just always had the wood So it was an incredible blessing The youth worked very, very hard And I thank you From the bottom of my heart That you support the youth
[12:50] In doing incredible ministry Like this And so as we reflect On all the wonderful things God has given to us Especially in including All the amazing adults Who gave a week of their time A week's worth of vacation So that they could go on This trip with the youth And work really, really long hours In very hot circumstances And we are all blessed By their sacrifice So thank you For supporting the youth Supporting the mission Supporting your church And as we reflect On how good God is Let's return our gifts Ties and offerings To the Lord Everybody falls sometimes
[13:56] Gotta find the strength To rise from the ashes And make a new beginning Anyone can feel the ache You think it's more than you can take But you're stronger Stronger than you know Don't you give up now The sun will soon be shining You gotta face the clouds To find the silver lining I've seen dreams I've seen dreams that move the mountains Hope that doesn't ever end Even when the sky is falling I've seen miracles
[14:58] I've seen miracles Just shopping Silent prayers to answer Broken hearts become brand new That's what faith can do It doesn't matter what you heard Impossible is not our word It's just a reason For someone not to try Everybody's scared to death When they decide to take that step Out on the water But it'll be alright Life is so much more Than what your eyes are seeing You will find your way
[16:01] If you keep believing I've seen dreams that move the mountains Hope that doesn't ever end Even when the sky is falling I've seen miracles just happen Silent prayers to answer Broken hearts become brand new That's what faith can do Overcome the odds When you don't have a chance That's what faith can do When the world says you can't It'll tell you most you can I've seen dreams that move the mountain
[17:07] Hope that doesn't ever end Even when the sky is falling Even when the sky is falling Falling up the sea Miracles just happen Silent prayers can answer Broken hearts become brand new That's what faith can do That's what it can do Even if you fall sometime You will have the strength to rise Thank you
[18:36] Heavenly Father, we bring you these gifts We bring them with an open heart You give us so much You give us children that sing You give us youth That go and help others We are so grateful And whatever we give Can never match The blessings you have bestowed upon us In your holy name we pray Amen I'm Adrienne Folby, I'm the leader at this church
[19:39] Brothers and sisters in Christ We celebrate the new birth by water and the spirit Through the sacrament of baptism As we become members of Christ's holy church On behalf of the church I present Brayden Thomas Grimmer for baptism These questions are for the parents If you reject the evil powers of this world Repent of your sin And accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist Satan If so, answer, I do If you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior And promise to serve as Christ's representative Through faithful participation in his church If so, answer, I do And will you nurture this child in Christ's holy church And by teaching the example
[20:40] Lead him to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior If so, answer, I will And will you as sponsors We sponsor this child's support and encourage him In his Christian faith If so, answer, we will And will you as the Church of Christ Renew your own vows of commitment to Christ And accept the responsibilities To assist these parents in fulfilling their vows If so, answer, we will They just offered to be babysitters Just so you know The whole bunch of them, okay?
[21:19] Let us pray Lord, bless this water As a symbol of your sanctifying and renewing grace As you have used water to bless the saints of history Let it now bless your child Pour out your Holy Spirit on this water To bless this child with your grace That leads to eternal life Help us to know that as we die to this world We become alive with Christ And share in his final victory over sin Amen Brayden Thomas Wonderful middle name guy Just fantastic Brayden Thomas Grimley I baptize you in the name of the Father And of the Son And of the Holy Spirit May the Lord bless you this day And always with his grace Amen That's interesting down there He must go stupid Brothers and sisters in Christ I invite you to welcome Our newest member into the family of God
[22:20] Now I'd like to invite Barb Jeffords To come up and share a moment of joy Well that's a tough act to follow Hi I'm Barb Jeffords I'm the Children's Ministry Director Here at Pendleton Center In case people don't know who I am And I have the joy of sharing with you That last week We had our Vacation Bible School program Here at our church We registered about 250 children
[23:21] And our highest attendance day Was 233 children All here in the same day Yes it was a crazy week And this doesn't include The nearly 60 teenagers Who came each and every day As well as the 50 adults Who were here helping To make this program happen Our theme for the week was sharing And the children learned about Jesus' miracle of dividing a boy's lunch Amongst thousands of people The support from this congregation Was once again provided And was very much felt And your support for Vacation Bible School Was divided amongst hundreds We could not continue to reach out To so many of the children of this church And surrounding communities Without the continued support Of this congregation We had donations come in We had financial donations come in And all in all Again we could not do it Without the support of all of you And so I thank you For your continued support And I look forward to next year's BBS
[24:21] And growing again Thank you so much It's now time for our joys and concerns Concerns Melissa Ratta is having surgery on Monday Nancy Dimmick is recuperating from surgery And we want to pray for the people of Lockport That have been affected by the fire And thanks to all the first responders Other concerns Carmen Falbo has been hospitalized And Diana Rooney is having surgery on September 1st And I have a card here that I will try and read this As best I can Leah Mump, I believe the name is 16 years old She had tumors
[25:22] Ten surgeries over the last ten years This past Monday had surgery To control her heart rate This coming Friday She will be in Los Angeles To remove a tumor Behind her right ear And will lose her hearing So we need to keep her in our prayers We need to keep each other in our prayers And we have so many joys here We have a baptism We have youth workers We have Vacation Bible School We are a blessed congregation So let us go to the Lord With our prayers and concerns Dear Heavenly Father It's Sunday morning again And here we are Here we are Asking for your continued guidance in our life You are always with us But we need that reassurance
[26:22] That you really are there It is so awesome To know the extent of your blessings We pray for each other In this congregation We pray for all those In the world Who are not as fortunate as us There are many needs Many sorrows But then there are many joys It is vacation time Many of us have been blessed To have a little respite From the daily routine We are grateful for this Wonderful response To our Bible School That reaches out to the community Lord we thank you for this staff That works so hard To promote Christ Among us And in the community We ask that you be with us each day As we go about our daily chores Our work
[27:23] Our visitation With those Who are alone And ill Thank you for this wonderful opportunity To share With you And with others In your holy name we pray Amen Good morning, everybody.
[28:30] The song that Sula's just playing is In His Time. Let me tell you something. Don't think God doesn't hear your prayers. I've had something happen to me this week within 48 hours that has just, I'm in shock this morning because I just received a text finalizing something.
[28:46] And if you want to talk to me about it later, I'll be happy to share it with you. But I am just overwhelmed. I think I could preach a sermon. I grabbed Pastor Tom in the back. He said, I've only got two minutes.
[28:56] And I'm like, so anyway. God is so good. The scripture reading this morning is from 1 Corinthians chapter 14.
[29:07] And the verses will be from 20 to 33, if I can hold it together. Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. And in regard to evil, be infants.
[29:20] But in your thinking, be adults. In the law, it is written. With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people. But even then, they will not listen to me, says the Lord.
[29:32] Tongues then are a sign that for believers, but for unbelievers. And prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers, but for believers.
[29:42] So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in, while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare.
[30:07] So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, God is really among you. What then shall we say, brothers and sisters, when you come together?
[30:18] Each of you has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
[30:30] If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or at the most three should speak one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
[30:46] Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.
[30:58] For you can all prophesy in turn, so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.
[31:13] As in all the congregations of the Lord's people, this is the word of the Lord. And thanks be to God. Come this way, with me, come on!
[31:30] Come on! Minions assemble! Oh, oh, okay, okay!
[31:43] Through! Please! This is a pity package! Ah! What's the Bew Inn!
[31:55] Oh, hi. Switch here, Liz. To the boys. Beware. Huh. Because, what is the talk? Oh, it isn't a wonder. You should look into this movie. If, you can dove in the entire longer there. Well, I wild.
[32:05] I wild. Can I be hearing you? Affordable, are you? Wshop, baby. Thankfully, old! Making no questions up its up, których means the teacher should be Whitman can't do to you pick up your subscriptions. So, yes, you should wait. Tired girl, maybe because I'm trying to even go. Oh, was it a good personal hope to hear disabled in the book. Sometimes that's exactly what people feel like when they come to church.
[32:37] I sort of understand what they're talking about. I have an idea of what they're trying to do. But I really don't know what they're saying. And it's not because they're speaking in some sort of strange dialect, some language we don't understand which we'll talk about, but because somehow it seems that Christians want to talk in such a way that they have an inside language, an inside understanding, where they're trying to impress everybody there.
[33:07] The Shema was a part of the Jewish faith. It comes from the book of Deuteronomy where we were told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. Jesus added a fourth one.
[33:19] Anybody remember what it is? All our mind. All our mind. Because you didn't want people to somehow think that faith in God is something that has nothing to do with our mind, and that only people who are unintelligent should be practicing their faith.
[33:35] But sometimes we get so caught up in what we think and what we know and what we can do that we can get confused on what we're supposed to be. This particular passage is in the book of 1 Corinthians.
[33:50] The church at Corinth was a sophisticated place. Corinth was a very wealthy and large city during Roman days. There were probably about 700,000 or 800,000 people living there, the size of a modern city.
[34:05] It was extremely wealthy because it was located on a little sliver of land between the sea that led to Asia and the sea that led to Rome. So when you wanted to travel, you had to cross that little piece of land to get to where you were going.
[34:18] So all the ships landed on one side and took their cargo to the other, sort of like Buffalo in the early days. All the ships came over the Great Lakes and everything landed in Buffalo, and from there it went throughout the world.
[34:31] Wealthy, sophisticated, rich, influential. And sometimes the Christians got caught up in the culture more than they got caught up in the faith. And so they turned worship, according to what we read into this book, in some ways more into a competition than into a spiritual exercise with God.
[34:52] They were competing to see who could put on the best show, who could look the most spiritual, who could look the wisest, who could sing the best, who could do things to make them look good.
[35:06] And this passage, it talks about speaking in tongues, which in the Bible sometimes refers to a special language people can have with God. We may not understand it, but God and that person do.
[35:21] But in this particular passage that Paul's quoting, it comes from a verse in Isaiah, which speaks about foreign languages. Have you ever noticed how impressed we are that people can speak a lot of languages?
[35:33] They can speak 28 languages. As if the sheer and simple ability to speak many languages makes somebody smarter than someone else.
[35:43] I must admit, I don't speak a lot of languages. I can say sprechen sie Deutsch. Parlez-vous Francais? I don't go too much farther than that. Expect, expect, expect, expect, never mind.
[35:59] You see, the truth is, is that it's fine if we can speak other languages, if we're trying to share something with someone who speaks the other languages. But as Paul says, if it's just something no one can understand, what uses it is, it confuses people.
[36:14] It will even cause people sometimes to think maybe we're not very intelligent at all. They're a sign, according to verse 22, a sign that God has given us that ability.
[36:29] We use it as a demonstration to share the message of God, not to confuse people. And we don't just have to use some language that people don't understand. We can use words that people don't understand.
[36:41] Pastors will get up and use words like eschatology and transfiguration and transubstantiation and things like this, and you're all going, what?
[36:51] We don't have to talk that way. Instead, we could talk about change, or we could talk about what things will be like at the end of time. Words that people understand.
[37:04] But you see, people want to use faith sometimes to impress people and show how clever they are. They even did this with Jesus. There were many times they would come to Jesus and they would try to trick him with his words.
[37:16] They would ask him questions to see if he understood the faith as well as they did. What will marriage be like? In heaven was one he asked, they asked him.
[37:28] Well, should we pay taxes was another one they asked him. A lot of you asked the same question. Jesus actually answered in one passage, you're in error because you don't know scriptures or the power of God.
[37:41] You really don't even understand what you're talking about. And you see, the reason why we have sermons, the reason why we read scripture in church is so that we can understand better.
[37:52] We've been talking about different aspects of worship through the summer. And today we're going to talk a little bit about reading the scripture and preaching sermons. The goal is to make things clear.
[38:04] In the book of Romans, in chapter 15, it says to us, everything was written in the past and it was written to teach us. So that through endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope.
[38:17] What was written in this book was written to help us understand, not confuse us. But one of the difficulties about this book is this book is old. And you don't even have to go back just as far as this book is to seek confusion.
[38:30] This is what happens when you take about three or four hundred years off our life. This is the Lord's prayer. You may not have known that the way we write English is not the way we used to write English.
[38:44] Who been? Hallowed be thy name. Well, on earth. Or whatever that is. You see, the fact is, it's an old book.
[38:55] In fact, this particular scripture was written anywhere from 7,000 to 2,000 years ago. And while it gives a complete understanding of our faith with that 5,000 year revelation of God's understanding to us, sometimes we need somebody to help us understand the culture like what it was like in the city of Corinth when they wrote this book.
[39:17] They understood, but we don't understand. So the purpose of the sermon is to help us to understand so that we can become mature in our faith.
[39:28] Brothers and sisters, Paul said in verse 20, Stop thinking like children. In regard to evil, be infants, but in your thinking, be adults. We're not meant to be simple.
[39:39] We're meant to be sophisticated in our faith and simple in our ethical conduct. In fact, in verse 26, it actually says the purpose of all worship is to build up the church to help people grow in their faith.
[39:56] So we can open the revelation of God that he wants to give to everyone through worship. Now, worship, the actual word, liturgy, means a work of the people.
[40:10] Not a person. Some people, according to verse 26, bring a hymn. Other bring a message or a sermon. Some will bring a tongue. Some will bring just some sort of witness.
[40:23] We've seen that this morning. All the different people doing all sorts of different things. It's not one person who does it. It's all of us together. God's revelation is available to all of us.
[40:37] And happens in all the parts of worship. Not one person sharing. But everyone sharing something. Barbara said she wanted to preach.
[40:48] Probably would have been interesting if we would have let it, right? Maybe we should have. But just the words she shared give inspiration. Or maybe it's the words a teenager said.
[41:00] Or some other action that helps us to feel as if we're open to God pouring out his understanding into our hearts. You see, God wants to pour his understanding, his wisdom, his knowledge into all of us.
[41:15] God is revealing it. He's raining it down on us right now. The problem is we're not prepared. Somebody said to me that they want rain, but they want a gentle rain like we got yesterday.
[41:28] Not one of these pouring rains. Because that heavy rain all of a sudden on this dry ground, it all just runs up, right? Well, sometimes we're like that dry ground.
[41:39] The problem isn't that God, it's not that God isn't giving us information. It's not that God isn't revealing to us. It's that we become hard, dry ground. We're not open to hearing what God wants to say or experience what God wants us to experience.
[41:54] So the work that we do in worship is not the work of a preacher. It's not the work of a choir. It's not the work of someone who sings or someone who prays. It's the work of everyone who comes here.
[42:06] The only audience we have here in church is one person, and that person is God. That's it. The rest of us are all doing this together.
[42:18] Which, of course, would beg the question, so then why do you need somebody like me? Why do we even need a preacher? Well, in verse 33, it says that God is an orderly God. And quite honestly, if everybody here started talking all at once, and everybody was sharing something from God all at once, we would hear nothing.
[42:36] Be too much. So sometimes we take turns. We take a little time. God is not a God of chaos, but God wants us to do it in a way that will be helpful. And it says so. If one person's speaking, the other person should sit down and let them speak.
[42:52] Because different people will bring different messages. And some people honestly are gifted by God in a particular way. We've talked about spiritual gifts. Everyone has their own spiritual gift.
[43:03] Some people have the gift of healing. Some people have the gift of teaching. Some people have the gift to help other people. Some people have the gift to share the word of God. Some people have what would be called prophecy or visionary preaching, an ability to help people to see what they otherwise didn't see, to understand what God is revealing that they didn't notice.
[43:25] 2 Peter chapter 1 says it this way, Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
[43:43] Now that doesn't mean everything I say is from God. It means that everything I say that's of any value to you is from God, and the rest of it's just me trying to do the best I can.
[43:56] Some people are gifted. We bring to worship what we're gifted to do. One brings a song. Another brings a prayer. Another brings an ability to share.
[44:09] And by the way, you also could have the gift of just being able to listen. Some of you are really good at listening, and others, well, not some of you. And I know.
[44:21] Some of that's my problem, right? I've always said, you know, if one person kind of nods off, that means that they had a long night. If two people nod off, well, maybe two people had a long night.
[44:32] If I start seeing three or four or five, it's time to quit because nobody wants to hear what I'm saying. But some are gifted. They have a better ability to share with someone else what God is revealing.
[44:44] A better ability to communicate that. It's not even something that can be taught, although learning is good. It's something you can do by nature. Have you watched the Olympics at all?
[44:56] How many of you think you're that good? I know I'm not. I tried track and field, by the way, when I was a teenager. I tried every event in track and field. I did the long runs.
[45:07] I did the short runs, the sprints. I did the jumpings. I jumped. I threw the discus and the shot put. I pole-bolted. You know which one of them I was good at?
[45:19] Not a single one. So I got a job. I was better at that. Some of us are gifted in a particular and peculiar way.
[45:31] And so we do choose people to help lead us and guide us, especially if we have a congregation like this, where they might be able to reach and teach better. And also, some people simply have more time.
[45:45] You remember the song? Some of you are old enough to remember the movie, the play, Piddle Around the Roof. Remember that? Way up with my head, I see the spring to summer. Well, there was a wonderful line in the song about if I were a rich man.
[45:59] What would I do if I were a rich man? I'd have one long staircase just going up and one even longer coming down and one more going nowhere just for show. But at the end of the song, he says the most important, the best gift he would have by being wealthy is that he could go to the temple and study about God and read the scriptures all day long.
[46:24] I'll tell you, that's one of the gifts that you give to me. Not that I have all day to do it because I don't. Sometimes I'm jumping and shouting with kids at PBS or I'm at a funeral or a wedding or whatever it might be.
[46:36] But I do have a little more time. I have a little more opportunity than most people do in their busy, crazy, rushing from here to there to somewhere else time to study the Word of God.
[46:49] I even had the opportunity to go to school and spend four years studying about God. And I continue to do it. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't people out here who have done the same and are just as equally qualified.
[47:04] It just means that there are some that can and some that can't. Some that have had that opportunity and some that haven't. And I appreciate that opportunity. I really do. And I thank you for that.
[47:14] We need the time to listen to God. Because true wisdom is not learned.
[47:24] True wisdom is revealed by God. You can learn intelligent things. If you want to know about God, simply go on the internet and Google God.
[47:35] I will guarantee you there will be more information than you could read in a lifetime. A lot more information than I have. But if you want to experience the wisdom of the living God, you need to take the time to open your heart, open your life, open your soul for God to pour it in.
[47:55] Some people have had that opportunity. So for those people, we often allow them to lead so that they can inspire us, in spirit us.
[48:05] You see what that word means? To put the spirit of God within us. We become, in churches, too concerned about egos. Will people like what I said?
[48:18] Will people appreciate how we sang? Will people think I wore the right clothes? Will people be touched by what I shared? Will people appreciate what I've done?
[48:32] Will people? But worship is about experiencing the living God. In verse 25, it says, if we do worship right, people will walk in and they will say, not that the sermon was great, they won't say the singing was wonderful, they won't say the choir was amazing, they won't even say the Sunday school was terrific, they will say, God is really among you.
[48:54] I could feel the presence of the living God in this place. That's what it's supposed to be about.
[49:04] I did a wedding yesterday. I do a lot of weddings. Have you ever noticed that the bridesmaids' dresses are all ugly? Has anybody ever noticed that? Have any of you ladies had the pleasure of wearing one of these awful things?
[49:17] I'm not talking about the wedding yesterday. They were all beautiful, right? But really, did you know that bridesmaids' dresses are meant to be ugly on purpose?
[49:40] And do you know why? We cannot have any women in the place that look more beautiful than the bride. Now, so we dress them up in these weird-looking, pastel, goofy things, and all the women wearing them say, I'm not going to wear this, I'll suffer again.
[50:00] Yeah, that was the idea! I wouldn't be caught dead in this dress except at a wedding. Because at a wedding, the whole point is to point to the bride. And in church, the point is not to point to the pastor.
[50:13] It's not to say the pastor did something great, or the music was so wonderful, or so-and-so did this that touched me. It's that God was in this place. Everything's supposed to point to God.
[50:28] And that's the point. We have to be careful. Or we could very easily become a Corinthian culture. You know, Corinth was the largest city in Greece before Rome got there.
[50:41] And you know what they did to it? They destroyed it. They wiped the city out. They eliminated all its citizens, dragged them away, because Corinth, at that time, was actually challenging Rome as the most powerful city in the world.
[50:56] And Rome would have none of it. So this city of Corinth was actually the second great city of Corinth, because they got so caught up in who they were, and what they were about, that the Romans destroyed them.
[51:15] Do you know that the United States of America has been blessed by God in more ways than anyone can imagine? I've said it before. When God was handing out blessings, he handed them out around the world, and he backed up a truck of leftovers and dumped them on our country.
[51:31] We have the natural resources. We have the energy. We have the wisdom. We have the power of the world in this country. And the reason is because, for century after century, America was the beacon of hope, sharing about God with the world.
[51:49] Do you think that God blessed us so that we could be rich? Or God blessed us so that we could be happy? Or God blessed us so that we could do crazy, immoral things, and show how much we could live out of control, or insult everyone?
[52:05] God expects us to follow him. But we have to be very careful. We don't become like Corinth, and be the kind of people who are not living as if God is the most important thing in our life. In 2 Timothy, they talk about him.
[52:17] They say, A time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they'll gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
[52:28] They'll turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. They will take the sacred things of God and turn them into nonsense. A time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
[53:08] A time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. So we've gone from a nation of silent night, holy night, to and somehow we glory in it.
[53:21] We think it's wonderful. We're just like Corinth. We're on the edge of destruction, and it isn't going to be some other nation. God himself will bring it down. But it doesn't have to be that way.
[53:34] If we open up our lives, open up our hearts, and what God would say to us. Instead of returning insult for insult and accusation for accusation, we return love and joy and hope and encouragement, as God would call us to do.
[53:53] Sermons, they say, are to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, to offer grace to those who are feeling oppressed and offer the law and judgment and offer the law and judgment to those who are feeling righteous.
[54:07] Prophecy in here talks about convicting sins. As if it says, the secrets of their hearts have been laid there. You should feel as if when you hear some message from God that is convicting you in your heart and your soul.
[54:22] I've had people say to me, they think I put microphones in their house. Because somehow I'm talking about whatever they're doing or whatever they're not doing. Don't believe that.
[54:33] I don't write sermons for any one person. These are certainly not for you. Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is something we need to live into and not just give a short little attention span to.
[54:50] People have died for this thing. They're still dying for this thing. In fact, you know there was a man named Tindall. He translated the Bible into English so you could understand the Word of God and you know what the church did to him?
[55:03] They killed him. They choked him and burned him at the stake because he wanted people to understand who God was. Do we have a desire burning within us to understand God?
[55:20] It's not just what I do when we come together for worship. It's what we do. We open our hearts to hear it. There's a story about two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus after Jesus' resurrection.
[55:34] It says, Jesus came and stood among them and they didn't know who he was, which is fascinating in and of itself that they didn't know who he was. But it says that they listened to him intently.
[55:46] And later, they knew him at the breaking of the bread. But this is one of the words they shared with their brothers. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked to us on the road and opened the scripture to us?
[55:59] Dear God, let our hearts burn. I have to tell you that I struggled right here when I was writing this sermon. Right here.
[56:12] I said, this is where I'm supposed to tell some poignant story that rips at your heartstrings so that you just, you just feel moved and open to experience the power of God.
[56:25] And I've been working on it three days looking for that story. And I said to God this morning when I finally just gave up, I said, what's the matter? Why won't you give me the story?
[56:39] And God said, did you even hear your own sermon? This has nothing to do with you. This is all about God.
[56:53] Maybe what I have to say doesn't mean anything to you. It doesn't touch you even in the least. Maybe it was when Rachel sang. Maybe it was when Raiden smiled.
[57:06] Maybe it was when Barbara got up and was ready to jump out of her skin. Maybe it was in the midst of the prayer. Maybe it was when one of the teenagers smiled about the joy they experienced on that trip.
[57:20] It doesn't matter so long as you leave this place saying, I experienced the living God. If we were to the living God, then we will affirm the message of God and worship our God using the ancient words to bring the new power of God alive.
[57:39] holy word who longs be , for our work no beauty tests Him to be Gottes holy road for our one Jesus' prayer.
[57:58] For our war, our Jesus' prayer, They redound with God's own heart, Oh, let the ancient words embark.
[58:15] Words of life, words of hope, Hear the saints, help us know. In this world of every bone, Ancient words will get us home.
[58:38] Ancient word ever true, Changing me and changing you, We have come with love in heart, Oh, let the ancient words impart.
[58:58] Ancient words of faith, And yet down to this age, And to us through sacrifice, Oh, let the faithful words of pride.
[59:11] And yet down to this age, And to us through sacrifice, Oh, let the faithful words of pride.
[59:26] Are the bloodstains, And yet down to this age, They have died for their faith, for this day.
[59:40] Hear them cry through the years. Hear these words and hold them deep.
[59:55] Ancient world and all true. Changing me and changing you. We have come with open hearts.
[60:11] Oh, let the ancient words impart. Ancient words ever true.
[60:24] Changing me and changing you. We have come with open hearts. Oh, let the ancient words impart.
[60:38] To's day and staff give us My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
[61:09] My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
[61:19] When I feel afraid, if I walk my way, still you're there right beside me.
[61:32] A day will I fear as long as you are near. Please lead me to the end.
[61:43] My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
[61:56] My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I cannot forget your love for me again.
[62:13] Our heart forever is wandering. Please don't take my time and hold me to your side.
[62:24] I will love you to the end. My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
[62:41] My word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. You're the light unto my path.
[62:59] You hear me when I call.
[63:22] You are my morning's calm. Your darkness fills in love. It cannot hide alive. Who shall I fear?
[63:40] You crush the enemy underneath my feet. You are my sword and shield. You are my sword and shield.
[63:50] Oh, troubles linger still. Who shall I fear? I know who calls before me.
[64:04] I know who stands behind. The God of angels on me. It's always by my side. The one who reigns forever.
[64:17] He is a friend of mine. The God of angels on me. He lives always by my side.
[64:32] The God of angels on me. My strength is in your need. For you alone can say. You will deliver me. Yours is the victory.
[64:45] Who shall I fear? Who shall I fear? Who shall I fear? Who shall I fear? Who shall I fear? Who shall I fear?
[64:58] I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angels on me. The God of angels on me.
[65:09] He is always by my side. The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angels on me.
[65:21] He is always by my side. And I think on your end we shall stand.
[65:32] You hold the whole world in your hand. I hold your arms to your promises.
[65:45] You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful.
[65:59] I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angels on me. He is always by my side.
[66:13] The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angels on me. He is always by my side.
[66:27] I know who stands before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angels on me. is always by my side.
[66:40] The one who reigns forever, he is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side.
[66:53] The God of angel armies is always by my side. You know, we can't help but mess up because we're human, and God knows that.
[67:17] But we don't have to mess up. We don't have to deliberately plan for it. We don't have to live into the brokenness. God gives us an opportunity to start fresh every time we turn in.
[67:28] Take the brokenness, the mistakes, the things we do wrong, and turn them into the glory of God. So I invite you, if you're willing, and if you're able to confess before God. Dear God in heaven, I have sinned.
[67:42] I have lived in brokenness. I don't always live for you. I don't always live in your promise. I have sinned.
[67:56] Forgive me, Lord. Open up my heart. Open up my soul. And pour in your grace. And guide my life.
[68:09] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God says that if we confess our sins, he will forgive us.
[68:22] So in a moment, you are about to be absolutely perfect. Perfect. And you have to live in an afternoon. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[68:35] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. . . .
[69:07] . .
[69:36] . . . im finding myself in the lost words. . . . . and the funny things, it's okay. Lynn's life's thing I need is to be heard. . . . or to hear what you do saying . . . . . . You poured out my grain Washing my eyes to see Your majesty To be still and know That you're in this place Please let me stay and rest In your holiness For God's being Finding myself In the misty moon Beyond the news day Beyond the moon All that I need Is to be in you And even while I am
[70:40] To feel your lost work on me Won't you pour out my grain Washing my eyes to see Your majesty To be still and know That you're in this place Please let me stay and rest Please let me stay and rest In your holiness Word of God's being Word of God's being Won't you pour out my grain Washing my eyes to see Your majesty To be still and know That you're in this place Please let me stay and rest In your holiness In your holiness Word of God's being
[71:41] Word of God's being Word of God's being Word of God's being Word of God's being Word of God's being
[72:55] Build of God's being You're welcome to my cake and You're welcome. So you're here for 80 years That you've shown up 80 minutes ago You even had eight minutes ago.
[73:09] What? Do you see God? He wants you here. he wants you here. He invites you to come and receive the presence of the living God in this place.
[73:23] So you're welcome, all of you, to come and join us in meeting God. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[73:40] It is right. It's a good and a joyful thing. Always and everywhere to give thanks to God. To thank him for the air we breathe.
[73:50] To thank him for the food we eat. To thank him for the life we live that we should be so grateful for. The amazing things that we take for granted that others spend their whole life seeking.
[74:03] We should thank God. We should bless God. And so with your people on earth, and all the angels in heaven, we praise your name and join the unending hymn saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[74:22] Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The Lord of the Lord is teaching us for the people On the night on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, He gave us this meal.
[74:36] They practiced this meal like corn, but they thought somehow that it was about how much food they ate or who got the most. In our church, you're all going to get just a little piece of bread.
[74:47] Nobody gets a whole loaf. And that's because we're all the same before God. He loves us. He accepts us. And he wanted us to practice this simple meal.
[75:00] Remember whose we are. He took the bread and gave thanks to God. And then he broke the bread and he gave it to his disciples and he said, Take and eat. This is my body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sin.
[75:14] Eat of this, remembering me. When the supper was over, he took the cup. He gave thanks to God and he gave it to his disciples. And he said, Drink from this, all of you.
[75:25] This is my blood of the new covenant. It's poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. Drink of this, remembering me. And so in remembrance of these mighty acts of salvation in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[75:59] Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, Lord. Fill us as empty cups. Pour into us as dry ground.
[76:09] Let us receive the power and the wonder of the Holy Spirit in this place. Move us that we might be blessed to be a blessing to this world, to transform the entire world, to live in peace and joy and wonder and hope and love as only you can bring.
[76:24] Help us to be your body to the world as we come to receive your body in this world. We pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[76:36] Amen. And now as Jesus taught his disciples to pray, let us pray together saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[76:49] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[77:02] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Will those who are assisting with the table come forward at this time, please? Amen.
[77:49] Amen. Amen. I said, y'all get the same size piece, but I just got a big one, so everyone's probably got a large one.
[78:49] Amen. You're invited now to come to the table. The rail prepares for healing and anointing to light a candle. Come and join us with the glory. Amen. With the key silence, You're suited to sorrow, and be veryish.
[79:38] Indeed, or whoever I had prepared for healing and anointing, will be dadurch, 말씀이 Wobe one hand�� of a candle. You're invited now to come to the proven ground. Thank you.
[80:14] Thank you.
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[83:56] Thank you. Thank you.
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[84:42] Thank you.