[0:00] Good morning everybody!
[0:18] There you are! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad. Any kids want to come up and join us? We'll do some now. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad.
[0:46] Any kids want to come up and join us? This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad.
[0:59] Any kids want to come up and join us? This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad. The day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad.
[1:13] This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad. I am the member of the Muscatataly team that doesn't walk around the building. I stay right here where you can find me.
[1:25] If you are new to our service, please pick up a welcome package that you can find at the back of the sanctuary at the connection site. And for everyone, we would like a beautiful little friendship card.
[1:37] If you would like to receive our new telephone, make sure to fill in your hand dress. On the back, you can put down prayer concerns, blessings, or notes to the staff. Welcome to Penderton Center Church and have a good day.
[1:51] And we are glad to have you here with us this morning. Thank you for that greeting, Julie. I did want to mention our clipboard opportunities, which is for the hanging of the greetings. The hanging of the greetings are when we decorate the sanctuary, the fellowship hall, the whole church.
[2:05] And we also have a dinner together. We have a little short service together with the carols and the scriptures. So if you can help with that, we'd love to have you. Even if you don't sign up, you're welcome to come join us. That's next Sunday afternoon.
[2:18] This Wednesday, we won't be having our Bible studies or our youth ministry or our children's ministry or our line dancing or our dinner. Lots of stuff we won't have.
[2:30] But if you're in the choir, you better show up, okay? Because they are singing and they're rehearsing. I did also want to mention that next week is Loyalty Sunday.
[2:41] We do encourage our congregation to share their commitment with God. You don't have to share it with us. You can leave your name off if you want. If you want us to keep track of it and help you with us, we're glad to do that.
[2:52] This is just an opportunity once a year for all of us to make a commitment between us and God of what we want to do with our time and our talents and our opportunities for that.
[3:03] And I want to mention that we have the angel trees out throughout the church. So if you want to tag and help some of the children with Christmas, you can go ahead and do that. Lots of stuff to talk about. But right now, let's talk to the Lord, which is the most important thing we can show and pray.
[3:17] Dear God in heaven, we pray that your blessings will pour down on us. Everything we do, all that we are, let it be an honor to you. Bless us, Lord, with your presence, your spirit, to inspire us and move us and be with us this morning.
[3:32] Words in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[4:08] Thanks. . . .
[4:41] . . .
[5:11] . . . . . .
[5:43] . . . As it was to death, and shall be evermore.
[5:56] Lord, be with you. And with you. Please sit down. I'd like you guys to come up and check. Thank you.
[6:47] Thank you.
[7:17] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:43] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:57] Thank you. Thank you. You know what this is?
[8:16] It's a toy. Did you know I have toys? I have a couple big boxes of them in my house. You know that? Now the problem is, I don't have any kids.
[8:29] So the only one who can play with the toys is me. Which is kind of goofy, isn't it? But I'm a little old to play with toys. So you know what I should do?
[8:40] I've decided that because I don't need these toys, I should give them wet. Does that make sense? Yeah, because what am I going to do with them? Do you get any toys at home that you don't use because they're like baby toys or something?
[8:54] Yeah. Well, before Christmas comes, you really should go through all your toys and get rid of the ones that you don't need because you need to make room for the new ones. And there's other kids that can choose your choice.
[9:07] And you know what? God wants us to share from the abundance that we've been given by him. All right? What are you guys thankful for? It's Thanksgiving weekend. Raise your hand if you want to share something. Friends and family.
[9:19] Friends and family. My brother and sisters. Thank you for the toys.
[9:44] My friends and family. Wonderful. Nobody's thankful for snow. All right.
[9:56] I should have done that. Let's have a blessing. Lord, we thank you for all the wonderful blessings and joys you give us. Be with us and share us with your grace and peace, colleagues.
[10:08] In Jesus' name, amen. Okay. You guys can all go out to church. Good morning. Good morning. God's peace be with you.
[10:21] And we're so thankful today because of all the blessings God pours out into our lives. And you'll find a special Thanksgiving envelope in your bulletin as well for our special Thanksgiving offerings.
[10:34] We want to make sure that all of our mission needs are covered and taken care of, especially those that we're dealing with with our annual conferences. So that's what that special mission envelope is for. And let's bring in our gifts, tithes, and offerings for the Lord in worship.
[10:48] Thank you. Thank you. More from you, all blessings flow. We honor you today. Thank you.
[11:05] Thank you.
[11:35] Thank you.
[12:05] Thank you. Thank you.
[13:05] Thank you. Thank you.
[14:05] Praise the Father, the heavenly host. Praise the Father, the heavenly host.
[14:17] Amen. Amen. Dear heavenly Father, we do need you thanks and praise for this day, and that we may gather together to worship you. Lord God, we bring before you these gifts and these tithes and these offerings and ask you to bless them.
[14:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[15:13] people to be a blessing that they have been so blessed. We ask, Lord God, that in addition to the gifts that they receive and the toys and the books and all the things that they get, we ask that they receive the most special and amazing gift of all, salvation in you, that they would know and understand how much you love them. Let your love be packed in each and every one of those shoeboxes and let it jump into the hearts of the people who receive them, each and every child. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Praise God. Please be seated. We're going to invite our lay leader, Jan Hodge, to come forward along with the Brimmer family whose children are being baptized this morning. What a blessing.
[16:06] Ma-ma. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrate the new birth by water in the spirit through the sacrament of baptism as we become members of Christ's holy church. On behalf of the church, I present Abigail Jean Grimmer and Evelyn Ann Grimmer for baptism.
[16:41] These questions are for the parents. Do you reject the evil powers of this world, repent of your sin, and accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist saving? If so, answer, I do. Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and promise to serve as Christ's representative through faithful participation in this church? If so, answer, I do.
[17:04] Will you nurture these children in Christ's holy church and by teaching an example, lead them to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior? If so, answer, I do. And will you who sponsored this child and these children encourage them in their Christian faith?
[17:19] If so, answer, we will. And will you, the church of Christ, renew your own vows of commitment to Christ and accept your responsibility to assist these parents in fulfilling their vows? If so, answer, we will.
[17:34] We take that seriously. So you were supposed to really help me, okay? Babysitting. I'm going to have to come. Let's go this way. Dye for changing, Edgar. Yes, yes, yes.
[17:44] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Let us pray. Lord, bless this water as a symbol of your sanctifying and renewing grace.
[17:55] As you have used water to bless the saints of history, let us now bless your children. Pour out your Holy Spirit on this gift of water. Bless these children with your grace that leads to eternal life.
[18:06] Help us to know that as we die to this world, we become alive to Christ and share in His final victory over sin and death. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[18:16] Amen. do you want to go first do you want to stand up or do you want to come up which one do you want to do do you want to stand come on over here I baptize you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit may the lord bless you and be with you please stand up I'm going to go first get your hair right here right there all right let her then just with you pay
[19:19] Abigail Jean Grimmer, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit.
[19:32] May the Lord bless you just the end of this. Amen. You can get your picture. Shall we welcome our newest members into the family?
[19:49] What a blessing to receive two new little ones into our home, all with their families.
[20:12] What a precious thing it is to celebrate. And as we come with all of our joy before the Lord, we also have to bring our concerns before God, because our God is the one who hears and answers our prayers. Amen?
[20:32] Amen. We are in prayer this week for Eileen Chatley and her family. Eileen's sister, Linda Rubens, passed away on Thursday.
[20:43] We want to keep her and her family in our prayers. Sarah D'Atachda, the sister of Julie Larmond, had surgery and then suffered a stroke in the midst of all of that.
[20:56] And we want to keep Sarah in our prayers, but also all of her family. Sandy Teeter's dear friend, Lou Hope, is hospitalized right now. He had a stroke and a cardiac arrest and has gotten a number of other health issues.
[21:10] We want to keep both of them and their family in our prayers. And Lori McGinn, who is usually in this service as well, is suffering from bronchitis and pleurisy.
[21:22] And we want to keep her in our prayers for healing. You are welcome to join me in prayer from your seats, or you're welcome to come and join me at the real. There's lots of room.
[21:32] Come and bless the Lord with your prayers and presence. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you.
[21:49] So humble to be your people. So humble to be called to pray on behalf of those who are in need, wherever it is that they can be.
[22:04] We know about those who are near us, those whose names and needs have been mentioned. We know about those that are in our own hearts, Lord God. And you know of the needs of all of the rest of this world that you have made.
[22:22] Father, we pray in Jesus' name that you would touch each and every one who is in need of healing. That you would make them whole from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet, in their spirits, in their souls, and in their bodies, Lord.
[22:39] Lord, you know what they need. And we pray that you would touch them. Grant them wholeness in you.
[22:50] That they will draw closer than they have ever been before to you. That they would come to rely completely on you.
[23:00] In all of your grace and all of your mercy. We pray, Lord God, for those who are grieving losses. Dear Lord, some of those losses have happened a long, long time ago.
[23:18] And the approaching of Thanksgiving and moving into Christmas, Lord, brings up those memories. There are also those, Lord, whose losses are fresh and new.
[23:36] We just pray in Jesus' name in all circumstances. That by your spirit you draw close to each and every grieving soul. We ask in Jesus' name, Lord God, that you cover them with your feathers.
[23:53] Shelter them, Lord. Bring comfort by your spirit and help them. We pray that you bring them good and beautiful memories of blessed times.
[24:09] And we pray that you bring them home of eternal life and salvation. Father, we pray for our church.
[24:21] And not only this fellowship here at Hamilton Center, Lord, but also your church throughout the world that you have made. We pray that you help us, Lord, to know how to better love you.
[24:36] With all of our hearts, with all of our souls, our minds, and our strength. That we would be the servants you have called us to be. That we would love you.
[24:48] With a deep, divine love. That out of the love we have for you. We would allow your spirit to work in us and through us to touch others.
[25:01] To care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And to reach beyond, Lord God, to our neighbors. The neighbors that you call our neighbor.
[25:15] Help us, Lord God. Help us to know how to learn. As we share your love and draw others toward you.
[25:29] As we worship this morning. Just allow the word of God as it is read. The music as it is sung. And the songs and the words.
[25:39] The prayers. Everything, Lord God. Allow it to wash over us and transform us into the people you have attended. For us to be. Be with Pastor Tom as he delivers the message you have given him.
[25:55] For us. Give us all, Lord God. Hearts to receive everything that you have for us this day. That we may share with others.
[26:08] Give us hearts of worship for you, Lord God. Of worship and love. That we may bless you. That is why we came.
[26:23] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word for the Lord? Amen. Amen.
[26:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning.
[27:03] Good morning. This morning is scripture reading from Luke chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. On one occasion, an expert in law stood up to test Jesus.
[27:15] Teacher, he asked, what must I give you to inherit eternal life? What is written in the law, he replied. How do you read it? He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.
[27:30] And love your neighbor as yourself. You answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, and he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?
[27:43] In reply, Jesus said, the man was going down to Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by the robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
[27:55] A priest happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, Levi, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
[28:07] But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was. And when he saw him, he stood and took him down. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
[28:18] Then he put the man on his donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two of the nine and gave them to his innkeeper.
[28:29] Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have had. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell to the hands of the robbers?
[28:43] The expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told himself, go and do likewise. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you, Jim.
[28:58] And the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Evelyn was struggling with self-control. She wanted to go to church school, and she had to stay in the big room longer than she wanted this day.
[29:14] And so I came up to talk to her, just started, you know, to help her to understand what was going on. And she turned to me and she said, shh. What a joy.
[29:27] Last week, we were talking about loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the discipline or self-control that that takes in the word of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit we talked about last week was self-control.
[29:40] How do we discipline our lives? How do we have the control that we can love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength? Not one of them or a few of them, but all of them.
[29:51] But this week, I want to talk about the fifth one, kindness. Kindness. And the second command, which is like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves. I don't know what your days are like.
[30:03] My days are quite scheduled, generally. It seems like I have something on the calendar from morning to night, typically. But yesterday morning, I woke up and got up a little early because I had a meeting over in Niagara Falls.
[30:15] So I got up, got myself dressed, and, you know, do the things we all do in the morning. And then my grandson was staying over, so I made him pancakes and bacon and had it sitting on the counter.
[30:26] I went in to wake him up before I left so he could eat his breakfast. And I went over to my meeting, which lasted until about 12, 30, 1 o'clock. And I came home and I woke my grandson up so he could eat his breakfast. Then we visited for a little bit, not very long, because then it was time to go over to the middle school play.
[30:44] So we went over to see the middle school play, got back just in time to drop him up, and come back over here to do worship. And then the things that followed through the day. It seems as if their breathing spaces in life have started to shrink.
[31:00] Anybody else feel that? Those spaces we used to have, where there was room, there was time to do more, just don't seem to be there anymore. We go from thing to thing to thing.
[31:11] And when an interruption comes, we find ourselves frustrated, aggravated, struggling to even be able to attend to them. But the problem is, the interruptions oftentimes are the very reason why we're here.
[31:27] We were complaining about this once on a retreat with a bishop, and he said, You need to understand, the interruptions are the ministry. We have it on the back wall of our sanctuary from Hebrews chapter 13.
[31:37] Don't be neglectful to entertain strangers, because in doing so, you might find yourself entertaining angels. Unaware.
[31:47] Unaware. The purpose of this life is, kind of got that down, right? So this fellow came up and said to Jesus, What must I do to inherit eternal life?
[32:00] Kind of an important question. But he didn't ask, What must I believe? He didn't ask, What should I think? He asked, What do I have to actually do? What are the things that I could do?
[32:11] And if I did that, I can make a claim on eternity. To follow? An inheritance. It's mine. So what do I have to do to make God give me eternal life?
[32:23] And Jesus gave him an answer. He said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. See how Luke messes it around a little bit, just confused us. And love your neighbor as yourself.
[32:34] The great commands, if we keep them all, if we do every single thing God has, every rule, and never break one of them, you can actually demand eternal life.
[32:46] If we can keep all of them. This fellow knew that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, as the Bible says. So it says he wanted to justify himself.
[32:59] And so he asked, Who's my neighbor? Who's my neighbor? How do I know if I'm loving my neighbor? See, it's easy to talk about the law.
[33:09] It's a little harder to actually live it out. And loving our neighbors means loving the people in our lives that may not be the ones we want to.
[33:21] Have you ever had a neighbor that you didn't like? I shouldn't say it, but I have. You know those neighbors that when they walk out the door, you walk indoors? Or when you see them out in the street, you wave quickly and get by them as fast as you can?
[33:37] I don't know why, but there's some people we just don't really care to be around. Maybe it's the way they look or the way they smell or the things they do. Or we don't know what it is, right? But there's some people that the very presence of them causes us to want to go, I don't think so.
[33:54] And so how do we love the people that are hard to love? How do we love people who are struggling and troubled and have difficulties in this life?
[34:07] It's easy to love the ones that we enjoy being around. It's easy to love the ones that we find are useful in our lives and we're happy to see. So Jesus gave an answer to this story.
[34:20] It was the parable of the Good Samaritan, which probably I haven't preached on in about 15 years. There was this guy. He went from Jerusalem down to Jericho.
[34:33] And Jericho was sort of like a real violent city. A lot of criminals lived there. So along the way, some robbers got ahold of him, beat him up, took off a lot of his clothes, maybe all of them we don't know, and left him a bloody mess and stole everything he had as he laid in the ditch.
[34:52] Jesus said three people walked by. The first was a Levite. Now, you may not know what a Levite is because that's a term we use a lot. A Levite is somebody who works in the church. Okay?
[35:03] So like, you know, Aiden or somebody like that. He came along and saw this guy in the ditch side and walked on the other side. And then it says a priest came along.
[35:16] Okay? So like, you know, Pastor Sherry was coming down the road. And she saw this guy's ass, I think, so walking on the other side of the road. When it says a Samaritan came along, then we go, oh, Samaritans, they're good.
[35:29] But that's the only reason we think they're good is because of this parable. In the day when this story was told, people didn't think very much about Samaritans. Samaritans were the people you want to be around the least.
[35:43] Okay? The Jewish people would go a hundred miles out of their way to avoid these people. That's true. Because they didn't like the Samaritans.
[35:54] They didn't like whose children they were. They didn't like their belief system. They didn't like their political views. You know people because you can find them real easy right now. Right? The people that believed and thought everything the opposite of what the Jewish people thought and believed.
[36:16] And one of those guys comes along. And he comes over to this guy. And he bandages him up. And I don't know where he got the bandages from him because, you know, it's not like they carried first aid kits in those days.
[36:29] So probably off his own clothes. He put him up on his own donkey, which means he had to walk. He took him to an inn. I don't think it was a spa resort.
[36:41] And probably like, you know, a super eight or something like that. One of those ones where they keep the light out all night. Right? And he paid the innkeeper to take care of him.
[36:54] Now that doesn't mean to give him room. That means to take care of a guy who just got beat up. So that comes a little extra. And he said, if it costs more, I'll pay you the difference when I come through the next time.
[37:09] Which means, by the way, he probably was a fairly wealthy guy because, after all, otherwise, the guy wouldn't have entrusted his credit. The good Samaritan. It's an interesting story.
[37:22] And whenever we hear these little stories about Jesus in the Bible, the first thing we do is we start to question, who are we in this story? Who do we see ourselves as? Maybe some of you see yourself as the guy in the ditch who just got robbed.
[37:34] You feel like life is just beating you up. That people are always taking advantages of you and ripping you off. And every time you turn around, you're being pounded down.
[37:44] And you're truly a victim of this culture and this world and this society. And you might feel that way. And I can understand why some people do feel that way. Or maybe you think you're the robbers.
[37:56] You know, maybe you'd like to take advantage of people and pound on them. And, you know, get your way and take what you want, whether it belongs to you or not. I hope not. But we're going to have some robbers in the church. It's possible.
[38:07] You know, it's good to get a big enough crowd to look. It's like some of you could even be robbers. Maybe you think you're the religious people. You know, the Levi and the priests, like Pastor Sherry and Hagrid, you know.
[38:23] I think a lot of people tend to think they're the Good Samaritan. But what that would mean is people don't like you. People don't like what you say. They don't like who you are.
[38:35] They don't like looking at you. They don't even want to be around you. But you're the person who takes time for other people. When nobody wants to take time. Who are we in the story?
[38:49] And who are we in our lives? Some of us would just say, well, we don't live in a culture like that anymore. We pay people to take care of that kind of stuff. Where were the ambulance folks? Where were the first responders when all this was going on?
[39:02] Well, they're probably busy with their schedule, right? You know, my wife is in the military. We've been talking a little bit about the military the last couple of weeks.
[39:13] The purpose of the United States military is to protect us from bad guys, right? And I'm glad they're there. Because that really makes me feel good that there's some people that keep those bad guys from hurting us.
[39:28] But that's not all they do. They do other stuff. So my wife belongs to something called the 107th Air National Guard. And when Western New York was going, well, you know, a little more than this white stuff, this is what they were doing.
[39:45] I think it was last year. They're showing off the wave of a nursing home in the South Park.
[40:02] This is what we call boots on the ground in Buffalo, New York, right? Okay, they took time out of their schedule, time out of their lives, to go and help somebody else.
[40:15] Not because it was their job, but because they felt it was needed. And they did it. And God calls us to do the same kind of thing.
[40:26] But this man wanted to justify himself. And I feel the same way. I'd like to do the right thing. I'd like to get my life so that I'm doing what's right. But I find myself often walking on the wrong side of the road in these stories.
[40:43] You know, we get so anxious and so uptight and so busy that it can cause us to feel resentment whenever we're interrupted like this. It causes us to feel that somehow the people who are in need of help or the people who are having problems that it's their own fault.
[41:03] They got themselves in that ditch. That guy shouldn't even have been walking on the road to Jericho. He should have known they'd be around for a certain time. Why didn't he have somebody helping them and going along with them? This is a dangerous thing to do. It's easy to get hanged at people who are hurting.
[41:18] And to assume it's their fault. There are people that are in trouble because of their own doing or their own decisions. But a lot of times they're just good people. And somehow life has kicked them in the face and they've fallen down in the butt.
[41:32] Because sometimes people just need a hand out of the ditch. My wife works with the people at the base and she'll come home and tell me stories. She said she's not allowed to ask for help, but I can ask for help.
[41:46] So she was telling me about this woman, for instance, that lives up in Canada. Now, she's an American citizen and she lives in Canada because her husband is going to seminary to be a pastor up there.
[41:58] So he doesn't have a job and she can't get a job in Canada because she's an American citizen. But she can't get help from the government of Canada because she's an American citizen. And she can't get help from the American government because she lives in Canada.
[42:10] You get it? So she works two days a week at the Air Force Base. Now, I don't know what airmen make, but I can't believe that any family can live on an income of two days a week.
[42:22] Jackie's telling me that she's got a little baby and a little boy. You know? And she said she needs clothes for a boy, winter clothes, particularly size 6.
[42:34] So if any of you have got some old winter clothes that are in good shape that you can bring in that are size 6 for a little boy, that would be good. And they need diapers. I know nothing about diapers. They said size 5 for a girl.
[42:45] I don't know what that means. But she needs that help. Now, you know, that woman didn't do something wrong. In fact, her husband's going to do something very right.
[42:57] But they get themselves in a jam. As some girl along along, there's a lot of people in life like that that get stuck by the side of the road. And we tend to sometimes want to look at them as if they've done something wrong.
[43:10] This man came along, and it says that he took pity on this man. We think of pity as a bad thing. But when you're starting to feel angry at someone, if we turn that to mercy, to pity, to kindness.
[43:24] See, we think pity in a bad way. But what they're really talking about is they looked at this person with compassion. In Matthew, Jesus says, learn what this means.
[43:37] I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I have come to call, not call righteous, but sinners. God wants us to have mercy.
[43:48] And I will tell you, if you have mercy, it probably will mean sacrifice as well. Do you think that those soldiers had nothing else to do? Do you think they didn't have homes that needed shoveling and snow plowing?
[44:02] That they didn't have families or jobs to do? But they went off to do this, not because they had to, but because they felt that they should. I'm kind of proud of them for that.
[44:16] This good Samaritan got himself messed up. Working with a guy he didn't get to ditch all bloodied up. He had to end up ripping his own clothes. He loaded this guy in the Lexus, I mean on his donkey, so that he hadn't been able to walk.
[44:33] He went to a motel, a motel at hand, paid for the guy to be taken care of, put his own reputation on the line. But out of his way.
[44:45] And Jesus says that's what it means to be a neighbor. Being a neighbor is not always easy. Usually when God puts angels in our pathway, we don't see it and we don't want to do it.
[45:02] Last Thursday night I was at our dinner room in Niagara Falls. And I was expecting to be back here to rehearse music at 7 o'clock for worship. So that when I play the music, that'll play weird chords or something.
[45:15] And you know, you're all going, what was that? Right? Okay? So it was about 20 after 6. And this woman came up to me and said, my friend, she's sick and she really needs a ride home.
[45:31] I think this is an easy win, right? Easy good Samaritan. Where does she live? Right around the corner. Oh, no problem I don't have a ride home. Well, she has a baby. And she has no car seat.
[45:45] So I'm going around the church asking people if they have a car seat. Like people just carry them around, right? Which they don't find a wedding. So I did that for about five minutes and said I couldn't find a car seat.
[45:58] And then I kind of made myself disappear in the crowd. You know what I mean? Like I wasn't there. Like she could have to figure out something while I disappeared. Because I've got to go.
[46:09] I've got a place I've got to be. I'm supposed to be here. People will be waiting for me. A friend came up and said, I've got an idea. I said, well, it better be a quick idea because I only have 10 minutes.
[46:22] And she said, okay, okay. What I was figuring is that you could take my friend home and get a car seat and come back while I watch the children. I said, children? Wait, I thought there was a baby.
[46:32] No, there's three of them. A boy about this big, a little toddler about this big, and a little baby. Really? There's three of them. So I said, okay, okay, let's go.
[46:44] Let's go. So we get in the car and we drove her to her house, which was about a mile away in the city. We're not talking about you. We're miles like pretty quick. We're talking in the city. It's not the goal lights in the room.
[46:55] Right? She goes in the house and gets the car seat. And I remember some people who walk so slow when you're in her. Have you ever seen that? You know, you were thinking, I can't get the ladder.
[47:08] I'm coming back down. And she's got this car seat that looks like a home with hands. I'm thinking, that's not embarrassing. I'm out of one of these. Who's going to see? I don't care.
[47:19] Put it in the car. Let's go back and get these kids. So we got the kids. All three of them. While I'm texting. Sorry, I'm going to be late. I don't want to be there. But kind of. Right? And they drove these three kids home.
[47:32] And as I'm driving back here in a hurry, I thought, you know what? That's what we needed to do. Can you imagine a young mother who's sick in cold, dark, damp weather, walking a mile through the city with three little children to get home?
[47:51] Can you just picture that? And picture that it would have been okay if I would have said, I've got music for yours because you won't like it when I play the wrong chord. Really?
[48:02] You see, it's what happens to us. We get caught up in the tyranny of the immediate. These agenda items that come our way. And we think they've got to be. And it's not that they're bad.
[48:14] There's nothing wrong with it. And it's good for me to rehearse music. Believe me. But at some point in life, God puts interruptions in our life. And we need to take a moment to do what God calls us to do.
[48:30] That's what makes us neighbors to the world. Love your neighbor as yourself. And I can tell you, I am proud of this church.
[48:40] In many ways, you do just that. You and I have a heart to change the world.
[48:57] Let the song start to sing in every boy and girl. Start to share, start to care from the heart of love.
[49:16] Let the world know that Jesus loves them. Let the world know that Jesus loves them.
[49:53] Let the world know that Jesus loves them. How will the people know? How will the people know?
[50:08] How will the people know? I must be sure of them. How will the people know?
[50:23] Let it start with me. Open up my eyes. Fill my heart with your compassion.
[50:33] Turn out my life from all distractions. Use my hands. Set the captive free. Move my feet to follow after you.
[50:44] Move my feet. Move my feet. Move my feet. Move my feet. Move my feet. Move my feet. To follow after you. Or change the world. Let it start with me. And let it start with me.
[51:04] You must be sure of them. Move my feet. Fill my hands. Grab my feet. End of your deepest abilities. Your city's a world and let it start with me.
[51:24] Let it start with me. This is what they mean by boots on the ground, right? We put out the boots and we go to work.
[51:36] Maybe we turn in a shoe box, right? Maybe we help feed a hungry person for Thanksgiving or we take an angel off a tree. Maybe we help with that, that drive, that, what is that, the rummage sale in Niagara Falls.
[51:51] You know, there's no prices on this stuff. Give us whatever they want. Whatever we have to do, wherever we have to do with our neighbors, with our friends, with the people around us, we put the boots on and do the work of God.
[52:04] When I was a kid, they used to say, your mother wears army boots. Well, my wife wears army boots. These aren't hers. Somebody asked me that. Really? Or what is being that big?
[52:16] I don't know what it's like. But I'm proud that she wears these boots. I'm proud of what she does. The amazing thing that some folks will do. The National Guard that reaches out and we're hurting to help us when we're in need.
[52:33] And when others are in need, what do we do to reach back and help them? You know, the problem is, is when I look at this story, I wonder who I am.
[52:46] Haven't you often wondered who you are? Maybe you think that you're the guy who got robbed. You know, the whole world is beating up on you and life is always miserable.
[52:59] And you're always getting kicked around and you're really hurting and struggling and everybody's ripping you off. And that may be. We have a lot of people in our culture that not only feel like victims but are.
[53:12] Maybe you're one of the robbers. Maybe you're the people who take from everybody and you take it all for yourself and you don't care what anybody else gets or who gets hurt. That could be. I hope not. But you know, it's possible. We have those folks even in churches.
[53:26] Maybe you think you're one of the religious people. The Levite or the priest. I think a lot of people think they're the good Samaritan. You know, that they'd stop.
[53:38] Take care of folks. But that means you're also one of those people nobody likes. People don't get along with you. Even if you do help other people. Myself, whether I like it or not, I know who I am in this story.
[53:53] I'm the priest. Right? I get the pre-op, this isn't it? I'm the priest. They actually tell me who I am. I'm the priest. And the problem is, is the priest walked on the other side of the road.
[54:07] Alright? And why did he walk on the other side of the road? I suspect because he had to get to some place to rehearse music or maybe there were people actually waiting in the sanctuary for him to worship.
[54:19] Imagine if on my way here somebody had a flat tire and I'm not fixing a tire. Instead of coming here, you're like, Where is he? What's going on here? The problem is, we do have things we need to do.
[54:31] And we do sometimes fail to be a neighbor to others and to help others. We're not so perfect. We don't always get it right. I'm just like, Who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor?
[54:43] Who are the people in need? And do I see them? Do I have mercy on them or not? They did a study on a college campus. I've told some of you about this.
[54:55] They said to get an A in the course you have to deliver this package to the other side of campus. It was campus like UB. And they gave the first group like 5-10 minutes. These people are like running.
[55:07] Okay? Then they gave another group, another third of the class, they told you you've got 3 hours. And then the third group they said you need to get there by the end of the day. So along the pathway to where they had to go, there were people that they had stationed that were hurt and had problems and difficulties in all sorts of different ways.
[55:26] And the people that had 5-10 minutes were like, You know, it's a bad move. Right? And the people that had 2 or 3 hours, they would stop and they'd say, Oh, I'm so sorry.
[55:38] They'd go back later and they'd take off. But the people that had all day, they said, Everyone of them stopped and helped them. See what the problem is? For a lot of it's not that we don't have any compassion.
[55:53] It's that somehow we get caught up in the tyranny of what seems to be immediately important. And we forget about mercy. Because there's so many things required of us.
[56:04] But in the book of Micah, it says in chapter 6, What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
[56:17] How do we inherit eternal life? See this passage begins with the man trying to test Jesus, in essence testing God, with a question, and in the end, it ends with God testing us.
[56:33] Will we go and do as this man did? He wanted to justify himself. We aren't justified by what we do. We're going to fall short.
[56:45] We're going to walk on the wrong side of the road, sometimes at the wrong time. We're going to make the wrong judgment because fortunately, we don't justify ourselves. In the book of Galatians, in chapter 2, it says to us, Know that a person is not justified by what they do, the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
[57:03] So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ. Not by what we do. Our justification, our eternal life, our salvation comes by our belief, our trust in God.
[57:20] Because if we tried to be perfect by ourselves, we'd fall short. But God himself has said if we confess our sins and repent, he will forgive us and make us perfect again. So, we do we follow this story?
[57:36] It's interesting that this good Samaritan, nobody knew what he was doing. Except maybe the innkeeper. I don't even think I know who got beat up. I don't know if he even realized what had been done for him.
[57:50] He didn't do it because he was going to get credit. He didn't do it because he'd get an award somewhere. He just did it because it was who he was. You see, God's mercy is something that we receive and then it causes the power of God to grow in us.
[58:11] Until it becomes natural. A lot of times I like to say that when I retire, I'm going to get out of this, you know, preaching gig. And I'm going to get myself a pickup truck and some tools and just go around and help a people.
[58:25] That's what I'm going to do for a living. I'll just go to different places and see something that needs to get help them out. My body goes out and many people do that. You know, because I believe that when I retire, I'll have all this time.
[58:37] Because you retire people, you have nothing to do, right? Amen? Where are you living? See, that's the problem. We assume that if something would just give us the time, we'd be glad to do what's right.
[58:50] But the honest truth is we will only do right if it's who we are naturally. If it's already been planted in us. In the book of Matthew, in chapter 6, it says, or 7 rather, it says, By their fruits you'll recognize them.
[59:08] Do people pick grapes from corn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree produces good fruit and bad tree produces bad fruit. By what comes out of them naturally, you'll know whose they are.
[59:24] Yes, we trust in the grace of God for our mercy and our salvation. But the proof of it is in the Holy Spirit living out of us. People say, how do I know if I receive the power of God?
[59:39] By what comes out of you naturally. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And Jesus is pointing to kindness.
[59:51] Going good to those who are in need. It's like helping God himself. You know the people. They're all made in the image of God. So when we help other people, we're really helping God.
[60:04] Sometimes it feels like the little things we do, a shoe box here, or a meal there, or helping with this program. I mean that program couldn't possibly make a difference in this huge world with all its problems and difficulties.
[60:19] Have you ever seen these shows on TV where these sea creatures get beached? Whales and dolphins and things like that. And these things weigh a lot.
[60:31] And then you get a bunch of people together and they kind of try to push them back in the ocean. There's a guy walking along the beach and he sees people trying to push this big sea creature back into the ocean. And he says, see look at me.
[60:43] Do you think you can make any difference? The way the tides are, the way the world has gone, and then the climate change and everything else. These creatures are being beached all over the place.
[60:55] Do you think you'll make any difference at all? And they pushed one off into the water and they said, you made a difference with that one. See, you may not be able to change the whole world.
[61:06] But you can make a difference with one poor young woman who needs a ride in the middle of the night. Or some little child somewhere in the world who just wants to know someone loves them.
[61:18] Or maybe it's your neighbor, real neighbor, who needs their driveway plowed out. Or your family who needs somebody to take a phone call when you don't want to talk to someone.
[61:31] Or a friend who just needs to talk through the troubles and difficulties. Maybe we can't fix the whole world. We can at least make a difference.
[61:43] And when we do that, we show what God expects us to be. And by the way, don't be surprised that when you entertain strangers, you might find that God sent an angel to them a day.
[61:58] Amen. There is a candle in every soul. Some bright and darkly, some dark and cold.
[62:14] There is a candle in every soul. There is a candle in every soul. Some bright and darkly, some dark and cold.
[62:29] There is a spirit who brings a fire. He finds a candle and makes his soul.
[62:45] He's buried a candle under the darkness. Take out a hopeless, confused and torn.
[62:58] Take out a hopeless, confused and torn. Take out a hopeless, little and cruel.
[63:13] Take out a hopeless, little and cruel. Give it more, petite. There is a dog unto love, Make an angel lose.
[63:41] There is a candle in every soul. Take out a serpent floor. It is a shining angel. Thank you.
[64:16] Thank you.
[64:46] Thank you. Thank you.
[65:46] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[66:48] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[67:26] Thank you.
[67:56] Thank you. Thank you.
[68:56] Thank you. Thank you.
[69:28] Thank you. Thank you. You know, I think I'm Pastor Sherry and I'm Adrian.
[69:41] But they see the people along the road better than I do. I try. I don't want you to think that I don't want you to go on the road. Because I do. I do.
[69:53] I swear. But I know that there's times when things just start wearing on me. And I feel like I really just can't do what I should do.
[70:05] And I fail. And I fall short. And I imagine sometimes it will be the same. And so the good news is that we don't trust in the actions of our hands.
[70:16] But in the mercy of our God. That we can fail. And God said that he can still love us. Not just here. But all the way into eternity.
[70:28] So let's confess our sins. And sing God's grace. Dear God in heaven. Dear God in heaven. I have sinned. I have sinned. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord.
[70:39] Help me to walk on the right side of the street. Help me to walk on the right side of the street. Help me to have compassion for others. As you have had compassion for me.
[70:52] Fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. Fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. And my poor heart will be. As fruit of the world. As fruit of the world. As fruit of the world.
[71:03] Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord. Change me. Change me. Make me into what you need me to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Jesus' name we pray.
[71:15] Amen. The most glorious miracle of the world is that when we confess our sins, Jesus says, In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[71:27] Glory to God. Amen. Give thanks with a grateful heart Give thanks to the Holy One Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son Give thanks with a grateful heart Give thanks to the Holy One Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son And now let the Lord say I am strong
[72:33] Let the Lord say I am rich Because of what the Lord has done For us And now let the we say I am strong Let the Lord say I am rich Because of what the Lord has done For us Dear God Dear God Dear God The Lord be with you And also with you Lift up your hearts And lift up your hearts Dear God Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right It's a good and a joyful thing Always and everywhere to give thanks to God He has blessed us with all that we have
[73:33] He is the one who cares for us And looks to us And lifts us up And so with all the people on earth And all the angels in heaven Let us praise His name And join in their unending hymn And say Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and light Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna and highest Blessed is he who comes to the name of the Lord Hosanna and highest Holy are you Blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ He came to love us To love us not because of what we've done To teach us not because we deserve it To grant us miracles and blessings and hope He had eternal life Not because of who we were But because of who he was He took care of us And nurtured us And blessed us And the people attacked him And abused him
[74:33] And hung on a cross And returned But God is always merciful He finds room for grace For all those who turned to him So even on the night When he knew he'd be betrayed He took the bread He gave thanks to God And he broke the bread 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 Eat of this Remembering me When the supper was over He took a cup He gave thanks to God And he gave it to his disciples And he said Drink of this all 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 In Jesus Christ We offer ourselves In praise And thanksgiving As a holy and living sacrifice In union with Christ Offer for us As we proclaim The mystery of faith Christ is God Christ is risen
[75:34] Christ will come again Pour out your spirit On all of us Out that hear Pour into us The spirit of the good Samaritan That we might care For the poor That we might Help those in need That we might be thankful And sure Of thanksgiving to you For all the blessings You've given to us By blessing the world In return Make us your hand Make us your feet Make us your boots On the ground And help us to be God incarnate As we offer our prayers In the name of the Father And the Son And the Holy Spirit Amen And now as Jesus taught us The disciples to pray Let us join together And say Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as dead as heaven Give us this day Our daily bread And forgive us Our trespasses As we forgive those Who trespass against us And lead us not
[76:35] Into temptation But deliver us from evil That thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory For ever now Amen For those who are Assisting at the table Come forward at this time Please We must Let us Do it Thank you.
[77:30] Thank you.
[78:00] Thank you.
[78:30] Thank you. Thank you.
[79:30] Thank you.
[80:00] Thank you.
[80:30] Thank you.
[81:00] Thank you.
[81:30] Thank you. Thank you.
[82:02] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[83:08] Thank you. Thank you.
[84:08] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[84:20] Thank you.