Why Are We Created To Desire Sin?

[0:00] Good morning, everybody. How are you all doing this morning? I got a couple quick, and let's try again. Good morning, everybody. Happy Mother's Day. Yes, I helped to create a mother, so that's good, you know.

[0:14] And I was created by a mother, so I appreciate all that. Let me just share a couple quick thoughts with you. First of all, we do have a few things coming up this week. This next weekend will be Confirmation Weekend, so that will be an exciting time at our church.

[0:28] We're going to do rehearsal on Friday night, and we encourage you to pray for all of our young people who are joining the church. I also want to mention that next Saturday the men are having a breakfast, which I think is really cool.

[0:42] So if you'd like to come out and join the guys for breakfast, you're welcome to do that. If you ordered flowers in honor of your mother, the pink ones for moms who are alive and the white ones for moms who have gone to glory, please take them after service.

[0:56] Otherwise, I take them home to my wife, and she goes, Really? You just took those from the church, so please don't do that to me. I also wanted to mention that next week, now I want you to listen to this.

[1:10] In two weeks, Memorial Day weekend, our hours change to 9 and 1045. What are they going to be? If you come at 930, we'll still be here, but it'll be a little different.

[1:24] Okay, and you'll be going, What? So 9 and 1045, starting Memorial Day weekend. And we do have something we're going to pass around about our hot chocolate with God. They're doing a dinner. They'd like a little help, so we'll pass those sheets out in a minute.

[1:36] This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Any kids who want to sing, they're welcome to join me.

[1:47] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[2:05] Ready, here we go. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[2:18] This is the day that the Lord has made. That's boldness.

[2:29] Hi, I'm Linda Barzikowski. I'm a certified lay minister and lay leader of the 1115 service. If this is your first time here, be sure to get a welcome bag from the connection site or the Welcome and Information Center.

[2:44] I hope everyone will fill out their friendship card that you find in the bulletin. If you have any updated information, please be sure to fill out the card with your address and phone number.

[2:55] If you'd like to receive the newsletter, we ask that you do the same. On the back, there's a section for prayer requests, blessings, or notes to the staff. If you'd like them to stay confidential, we can do that too.

[3:09] We hope that you enjoy the service and have a wonderful day. Shall we pray? Dear Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit would descend upon this place, light a fire in our heart, give us your blessing, and help us to be here to proclaim and to experience the wonderful name of Jesus Christ.

[3:27] Bless us this day and always in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to invite you, if you're able, to stand as we're going to sing together, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. What a Friend We Have in Jesus All our Stings and Griefs to Bear What a Privilege to Carry Everything to God in Prayer Oh, what peace we often forfeit Oh, what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in Prayer

[4:30] Have we trials and temptations Is there trouble anywhere We should never be discouraged Take it Take it to the Lord in prayer Can we find a friend so faithful Oh, will all our sorrows share Jesus knows our every weakness Take it to the Lord in prayer Are we weak and heavy laden Cumbered with load of care Precious Savior, still our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer

[5:31] Do thy friends despise forsake me Take it to the Lord in prayer In his arms he'll take and shield thee Thou will find us soulless there The Lord be with you Please be seated I'd like to invite our frogs to come up and join us this morning All right All right All right All right All right All right All right All right All right All right Sometimes we lose direction, and we can't find our way.

[6:47] But God will guide us through it when we take time to pray.

[7:00] Sometimes we feel discouraged. No one hears what we say.

[7:11] But God will always listen when we take time to pray.

[7:24] We can pray for comfort. We can pray for peace. We can pray for hunger and pain to cease.

[7:36] We can pray for many. We can pray for one. We can pray alone or with every word.

[7:49] We know that God is with us. Helping us through each day.

[7:59] God will take time to be there when we take time to pray.

[8:12] God will take time to be there when we take time to pray.

[8:23] Amen. You guys can stay right up here.

[8:35] Stay right up here, guys. I'd like to invite all the rest of the kids to come up and join us. Why don't you take a minute and share this peace of the spirit with your neighbor. Come on up, kids. Come on up, kids. Come on up, kids. Come on up, kids. Come on up, kids.

[8:47] Come on up, kids. Good morning, guys. Oh, you'll find out in a minute, won't you?

[9:01] Any other kids want to come up and join us? Come on up. Come on up. All right.

[9:17] What day is today? Mother's Day. It's Mother's Day. Is it Father's Day? No. Is it Kids' Day? No. No.

[9:28] That's why I got a spatula. Because it's Mother's Day. So guess who's got to cook today? I do. That's right. And I will say, my wife has already made the salads, already made all the side dishes.

[9:45] All I got to do is cook some hamburgers. Pretty sweet. But, you know, I might be tired. I might just say, no, I don't think I'll do it. Right? No. Because it's Mother's Day.

[9:57] Right? Because that is really rude. That is really rude. Exactly right. That would be really rude. So, we have to remember that today is the day that you don't say, Mom, would you do this for me?

[10:09] Mom, would you do that for me? Mom, would you? We got to think, what could we do for our moms to make them happy? It's Sunday, too.

[10:20] You're absolutely right. That's why we're in church, right? Absolutely. So, first we're going to thank God, and then we're going to thank our moms.

[10:31] How does that sound? That sound like a good order? Because I think right next to God is moms. Pretty much, in my book anyways, right? So, today, I want you to think about something, something.

[10:45] It's not a big deal. I'm going to cook some hamburgers. Something you could do to make your mom happy. All right? Not something you could do like saying, Mom, can we watch my video game with me?

[10:55] Or, could you make me a snack that will make you happy to make me? No. I mean, go do something for your mom. Clean your room. Or say something nice to her. I don't know.

[11:07] You know what makes your moms happy, not me, right? There you go. Okay. Now, I'm going to ask you what you're thankful for, okay? What are you thankful for?

[11:29] My mom. Me and my mom. All right. So, we're thankful for our mother, our moms.

[11:41] Yes. My mom and dad. Yeah. I'm thankful for dads, too. Because, you know, without dads, we wouldn't have moms. It kind of works that way. So, it's good to have them, too. Should just be Parents' Day.

[11:56] That's got some good possibilities. We'll have to think about that. All right. Let's pray, shall we? Lord, we thank you for this day. And we thank you for the blessings you give to us. We thank you for the chaos.

[12:07] And we thank you for the joy. We pray that you'll bless us and especially bless our moms on this day. Because she's a gift from God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, you guys go to church school now if you'd like to.

[12:21] All the kids are welcome to go out to church school. Good morning.

[12:38] And a blessed Mother's Day to all the moms out there. God bless you. Let's continue. It is such a beautiful day. We continue to worship God. We continue to celebrate with the children, with everything that's happening in our lives.

[12:52] Let's bring our gifts, tithes, and offerings before the Lord. Let's pray. Psiquid Thank you.

[13:50] Thank you.

[14:20] Thank you.

[14:50] Thank you.

[15:20] Thank you.

[15:50] Thank you.

[16:20] Thank you.

[16:50] Thank you.

[17:20] Thank you.

[17:50] Amen.

[18:20] Thank you.

[18:50] Thank you. Deanna Crawford, who is from the Niagara Falls Church and is doing some work over here at Pendleton Center now, is suffering from shingles.

[19:27] We need to keep her in our prayers as well. And Elizabeth Geary is going to have surgery on her tiny little ears on Wednesday, so we want to keep her and we want to keep her and we want to keep her and we want to keep her and we want to keep her and her mom and dad in our prayers as well.

[19:43] And those that are in your heart, whether you join me from your seat or you come on up and join me at the rail, let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you, Heavenly Father, we come to you, we want to pray for you.

[20:18] We know that all that we are, that every good thing that we are, that we are, that we are, that every good thing that we do, that every good thing that we do is a result of your grace moving in and through us.

[20:32] That there is nothing good we can do of ourselves. we do is a result of your grace moving in and through us.

[20:45] There is nothing good we can do of ourselves. We're grateful, Lord. We thank you that those things that we are joyful about, you share and rejoice with us.

[20:58] And we are grateful, Lord, that those things that bring us sorrow and pain and trouble are things that you are concerned about for us as well.

[21:13] So, Lord, we lift up to you now all of those who are sick and infirm. We pray in Jesus' name that you would touch them with your healing power, that they would be made whole from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet, not only in their physical being, Lord God, but in their spirits and their souls as well.

[21:36] that during such time of trouble they will draw close to you, and that when they have been healed and made well, that they would not turn away, that they would not forget, but that they would continue to grow in you.

[21:57] Father, we pray for all those who are caring for them as well, that they would draw close and stay tight to you, holding firmly to you. We pray for all of those, Lord God, who are grieving losses, those who are in times of transitions that are causing trouble and pain in their lives.

[22:24] For all of these, Lord God, we pray your mercy, your compassion, and your peace to come into their lives. Let them draw close to you, knowing the hope that they have of eternal life with you.

[22:42] Lord, we pray as we hear your word, let it wash over us and transform us. As we sing your songs of praise, let them teach us your ways so that we can walk in them in this world.

[23:03] Be with Pastor Tom and bless him as he brings the message that you have given to him for us this day. Help us to receive everything you have for us with gladness.

[23:15] Restore our passion for you, Lord. Help us to seek only what you would have us to do.

[23:27] Help us to know your will and give us the ability to obey you. We want this world to be transformed.

[23:41] We pray that you work that transformation through us wherever we go in this world. Be with us now.

[23:52] Be with us as we go out. Help all of our worship to be a blessing to you. And let us walk in worship every moment of every day.

[24:07] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Amen. Amen. Good morning, everybody.

[25:00] Good morning. And again, happy Mother's Day to all those that are. We're going to read this morning from the New Testament, the book of Romans, chapter 7, verses 14 through 25.

[25:15] We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do.

[25:27] For what I want to do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

[25:44] As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

[25:59] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do.

[26:12] This I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

[26:28] So I find this law at work. Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God's law.

[26:40] But I see another law at work in me. Waging war against the law of my mind, making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

[26:52] What a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death. Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[27:05] So then, I myself, in my mind, am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin.

[27:18] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Barbara. Doobie doobie doo, doobie doobie doo, doobie doobie doo. The very thing that I would do, I don't do, but it's not what I do that I don't do.

[27:31] It's what I shouldn't do that I do, and so I don't know what I do, what I do, what I do. Anybody else get caught up in that tongue twister? We were looking at questions, questions that we would have for God, and these actually were questions that came from our congregation, different people submitted them, and why do we have sinful desires?

[27:54] If God made us and created us in a particular way, wouldn't it be assumed, therefore, we should act accordingly? Secondly, I went to a seminar this week out in St. Louis.

[28:09] It was about revitalizing the church. It was very helpful, very good, and we need to revitalize the church. But while I was there, they had this table set up.

[28:20] As you walked in, every session you walked into, they had this table that had candy and cookies and snacks and sodas and pastries.

[28:31] I don't mean like a little table. I mean, we're talking about like four or five of those eight-foot tables put into this, like, and I would walk in, and I would go, away from me, evil spawn of hell.

[28:44] Poor people behind it must have thought I was horrible, you know. But really, honestly, like I needed this. They're feeding me three meals a day. I normally eat two if I'm lucky. I don't need the food, but it's like, it's drawing me.

[28:59] I've told my doctor that if I have any trouble with my weight, it's an occupational hazard. You people are killing me, literally, with your kindness.

[29:10] It's not a bad thing, but it can be bad. And the problem is, is some of the things we desire are not good for us. While they're having this huge snack thing, the guy up on the platform is speaking about how we need to work on our physical health, and I want to say, get that out of here.

[29:29] You see, the problem is, is our desires don't determine what's good. God determines what's good. Not what we feel. Not what we desire, because we can't trust our feelings.

[29:42] Just because we want something, just because we desire something, doesn't mean that it's good for us. We all know that. The very thing that I would do, I don't do.

[29:52] And the thing that I should do, you know how it works. Sin is defined by God. Not by us.

[30:03] Not by the television. Not by our government. Not even by our friends, or our teachers, or even our parents. Sorry, Mom. Or even the church. It's defined by God, because everything else that we just mentioned, is flawed.

[30:20] And broken. In the book of Genesis, in the very beginning of the Bible, God is talking to Cain, and he says, if you do what's right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.

[30:35] It's desirous to have you, but you must rule over it. There's a force called sin, that's trying to destroy our lives, and it waits, like a crouching lion, to attack us.

[30:46] It started long ago in the Garden of Eden, didn't it? Right? Where God said, you can eat any fruit from any tree you want, except that one.

[31:03] And instantly, Adam and Eve wanted to eat that one. And by the way, God didn't like take the tree, and put it on some outskirts, back corner, where they really went. Put it right in the middle of the garden, so that they could walk by it every day.

[31:16] I go, so what, we're not supposed to eat. God did it. Kind of makes us crazy, doesn't it? All you have to do to get somebody to desire something is to say you can't have it.

[31:33] We're not tempted by what we can have, right? Temptation is to have what you can't have. And I would submit to you, that I believe God actually created temptation.

[31:45] God doesn't do the tempting. He lets Satan do that. But God created the temptation, the possibility that we could do wrong. I do not understand what I do, for I want to, what I want to do, I don't do, but I do what I hate.

[32:04] We've all gone through that, haven't we? We've all had that struggle. When I was growing up, my mother had something that she required of us. It was called table manners.

[32:15] And we're doing some advice, you know, things each week. And this week, we're going to talk about, you know, what are proper manners. Anybody ever read Miss Manners in the paper? Kind of an interesting thing, you know.

[32:26] And I found a couple videos of some nice stodgy, elderly women, about 800 years old, that wanted to teach us good manners. But this one, I thought, was just precious because this was a very young person.

[32:39] And I can only show you a part of it, but it keeps going. It's great. Let's listen to her. This isn't how to host a dinner party. It's how to act at the table. So, step one, always, right when you sit down, place the napkin, you drape it across your lap.

[32:54] This napkin is your friend. You're going to use it all meals. So you place it. And the only time you use your napkin is when you need to wipe your mouth a little bit, and your fingertips. Okay? We're not going to go, no.

[33:06] It's delicate. If you go to the bathroom, there's a lot of debate on it, but you leave your napkin on the seat. When you're done with the meal and you get up, you neatly place the napkin on your finished plate. All right, number two, keep your phone off.

[33:19] Why was this number two? Number two, keep your phone off. This is impossible. I know, it's terrifying. It's like the world ends. It's nothing you ever want to do, but if you want to make a good impression, if you want to be proper at a meal, your phone doesn't exist.

[33:33] So it's off, it's on silent, it's in your pockets, it's in your purse. You don't look at it until the meal is complete and the conversation has come to a lull. Do you understand me? No phone. Number three, avoid slouching.

[33:45] Okay, this is your posture. This doesn't look like you care at all, like you're enjoying yourself. This looks like you're a grumpy little teenager hating your life. Okay? You're sitting proper. When you're conversing, you can have your elbows on the table.

[33:58] When you're conversing between courses or before the meal gets there or after you've finished, your elbows can be on the table. But while you're eating, no elbows on the table, you sit up straight and you're engaged.

[34:08] This is you caring, people. Number four, there's always bread before a meal, right? Okay, there's bread before a meal. It's a good place. So, we like to butter our bread, which is normal.

[34:19] Don't take the whole piece and just start buttering the whole thing because this doesn't look nice. What you're gonna do is you're gonna tear off a little piece and then you just butter that little piece. You leave your knife on the side.

[34:30] Maybe the knife's supposed to be over here. I don't know. I don't know where anything is. And then you eat that piece. Don't butter the whole thing at once, butter piece by piece. Does that make sense? You don't get a roll and just butter the whole roll and then just start gnawing on that like you're an animal.

[34:44] No, tear a piece, butter the piece, eat that tiny little piece. Don't put more in your mouth that you can't handle. Okay, this one, I hate with a burning passion but number five, wait until everyone has been served their food to eat.

[34:57] This is so annoying but if you're trying to make a good impression, wait until everyone has their food in front of them before you eat. Unless it's buffet style, then it's a free-for-all. It is not my fault you're taking forever to get your food, woman or man.

[35:08] I don't know what gender you are but if you're at a restaurant, make sure everyone's served before you eat. You gotta love her, right? And she goes on and on and on.

[35:18] Just a little bit of butter on a little piece of bread. Manners. I was taught manners because manners are about proving that you care about the other person.

[35:30] When the food is brought in front of me, what I want to do is I want to pick it up with my hands and shove it in my mouth. That's what I want to do. But I know that that's not a nice thing to do for other people.

[35:43] So we're taught manners so that we'll show our love towards each other. Which is why God created temptation. Temptation is to demonstrate whether or not we really love God.

[35:57] Whether we're truly faithful. Whether we can pass the test and love God more than even our desires. In the book of James, James says this, Blessed is the person who perseveres under trial and temptation because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

[36:22] Those who love Him. The problem is we don't do what we're supposed to and we give in to temptation. Just as they did in the garden.

[36:33] And when they gave in to temptation the whole thing broke. Creation becomes infused with evil. Before they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil all they knew was good.

[36:44] But God gave us a choice that we could choose evil and we did. Not only Adam and Eve did, you did, I did, we all do and everything breaks including our lives.

[36:56] It's an infection. It's a force. As Paul puts it, as it is, it's no longer I myself who do it but sin living in me.

[37:08] A struggle, a power, a force if you will that overcomes what we even desire and wages, as it says in verse 23, a war within our soul.

[37:22] Someone once said that the battle is a battle between the old person in Adam and the new person in Christ. There's a struggle inside of us as if we have the angel on the one shoulder and the devil on the other, right?

[37:37] Whispering in our ears, always there, always tempting us, I find this law at work, although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

[37:51] So the problem is that there are desires that are bad for us and God has allowed those desires to exist to see whether we can pass the test and unfortunately too often we fail.

[38:03] And we fail because we are struggling against the power of sin and the power of sin, the power of evil is greater than you. In fact, it's so great that it brought down Satan, an archangel, and a third of the angels from heaven.

[38:16] It infected heaven itself and broke the ranks of the angels. So if the angels could not resist temptation, if the angels could not overcome evil, why would we think we possibly could?

[38:30] And that's why our world is in such a struggle because the truth of the matter is on your own you cannot overcome evil. I find it kind of interesting that Christians sometimes criticize people who are not Christians because they're not doing the right thing.

[38:44] Of course they're not. They have no ability. They have already lost before they began. But the good news is that's not true for us.

[38:54] In Philippians it says to us greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. That's 1 John. I'm sorry. 1 John says greater is he that is in us than the one that's in the world.

[39:06] God has the power and gives it to all of those who choose to be his. God gives us the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and actually gives us the ability to overcome temptation because God is greater than evil.

[39:24] Paul speaks out words that just resonate with a lot of us. What a wretched person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is subjected to death?

[39:36] Thanks be to God who delivered me through Jesus Christ our Lord is what Paul tells us. We are rescued by the power of God. On your own you cannot win.

[39:49] I know that sounds completely un-American because we believe we can do everything ourselves but we can't. The reality is the only way to overcome evil is through the power of God. And today if you don't have that power within your life if you have not given yourself over to God to allow him to work within your life you are living in a life of defeat.

[40:10] You are living in a life where you will fail and you have the opportunity right now to decide that you are going to receive the power of God. You have that available to you.

[40:21] God has said that he will give it to us. In Romans chapter 8 in the beginning of the chapter right after these words he says therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

[40:40] God's Holy Spirit power will give you the ability to overcome evil if you're willing to allow God to work in your life.

[40:51] If not I can tell you right now you've set yourself up for failure in this life and in the one to come. So the very first step is to give our lives over to God so that we can have that power that God has promised he'd give us.

[41:07] Now I believe a lot of you have already made that decision so why are we still struggling right? Why do we still have trouble? Because all too often we get distracted. Even people who choose God they get distracted and they get tempted.

[41:23] There's a book in the Bible called Hosea. Anybody here ever read Hosea? You know there's not too many of you. I've had that in each of the services. You know those little books in the Bible are going to be important because when you get the glory these guys are going to come up to you like Habakkuk and he's going to say hey dude did you read my book?

[41:40] I mean did it help you? Because I put my whole life into that book. I hope it was really meaningful for you. And you're like there's a book called Habakkuk? Really? Seriously? Well this is Hosea.

[41:51] Hosea was a prophet. He was a religious guy. Today we'd probably make him a clergy person like me. We'd probably make him a pastor or something. Because he actually talked to God and God gave him messages to share.

[42:04] Well one day he was praying and God talked to him which is what you know most of us would love to have happen as God talked to us. And this is what God said. He said I want you to go down into town and find Gomer.

[42:16] Now for you old folks this isn't Gomer Pyle like you know golly sheriff it's not that guy. Gomer was a prostitute. Gomer worked in the prostitution industry.

[42:27] She sold her body for money. And he said I want you to go find Gomer and I want you to purchase her as your wife. I just want you to let that sink in a little bit. If I was single and I came back with a prostitute as my wife and said I want to introduce my new wife.

[42:41] And everybody is going we know who she is. Well you shouldn't know who she is but just assuming that maybe you would. Right? Well okay alright so it seemed to work.

[42:52] You know they had a couple kids. They were having a family. Things were going along okay. And then Gomer missed her old job. And she went back to work. I don't mean she went back to work you know working in a store taking cash.

[43:04] I mean she went and you can imagine what Hosea is thinking and then God spoke to Hosea.

[43:15] And this is what he said. Hosea I want you to go back down into town and buy Gomer back. What? Are you kidding? And God said because this is the way my people have treated me.

[43:30] He said the people who came to me and I rescued them I reached into their brokenness and I took them out of their pain. And their difficulties. And I took them out of all of that and I rescued them from the powers of evil.

[43:44] And what did they do? But they turned around and went back. They went back. Why would the people of God go back?

[43:56] And they go back because we get stuck. We get stuck as Christians. The very thing that I do I don't do.

[44:10] I don't do the good I want to. But the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing, Paul said. In seminary, some people wanted to say that this was about Paul before he was converted to Christ.

[44:25] But I got to tell you the truth. This is my struggle. Now maybe I'm worse than all of you and that's a good possibility but I hope I'm not. I believe we all wrestle with this and from time to time we find ourselves failing.

[44:41] And we fail because we think we've gotten there and we think we've arrived and we stop making the effort anymore.

[44:55] In Romans chapter 12 and verse 21 Paul says do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Do not become overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.

[45:07] Say that with me. Do not become oh you say it. I'll assume that you said it.

[45:19] Okay. We need to overcome evil not just with the power of God but daily with what we put into our lives. In the Methodist church we call it sanctification to become more holy more sanctified more like God and God gives us tools.

[45:39] So we have this book. Now I understand if you've tried to read this book it can be a struggle because it's like was written over 2,000 years ago. But this book is amazing because it has 3,000 years of people trying to figure out their relationship with God of what God revealed to people over 3,000 years.

[46:00] So there's stuff in here that will help us to understand our faith. We also come to church to worship God. We don't come to church just to learn from the pastor.

[46:13] We come to church so that we can experience the living God. Amen? Worship is a place where we get that fire turned down again so that we can get renewed in what we're doing to go out and face the world every week.

[46:25] And we need to be recharged. We come with other people. Now you know you should have all sorts of people in your life and it's important that you have people in your life that need to know about God and that you don't like discard them.

[46:40] But you need to be surrounded by people that say Pastor Tom don't eat that candy that's not good for you. As everybody that was with me said don't eat the candy. Right?

[46:52] Because we get tempted and part of the way we overcome temptation is by having people that help us and say stay away from that.

[47:03] That's a good thing. And we also have the ability to serve. To be doing good things for God. And if we're out busy doing good things for God we won't have as much time to get in trouble.

[47:18] You've heard the phrase right? Idle hands are devils. tools. We call that loving God heart, soul, mind, and strength.

[47:31] Right? And by doing that we grow closer to God. My mother would teach us manners every single meal. Mabel, Mabel, if you're able, keep your elbows.

[47:44] Really? Really? Every single meal. Not because it really mattered how we ate at home in many ways but because she knew that if we didn't learn how to pass the test day by day, little by little, when the big test came, we would fail.

[48:00] So I was at the Buffalo Club. You might not know what the Buffalo Club is. It's a club in downtown Buffalo for the most elite of elites. I don't get invited there much. But I happened to be there for a funeral.

[48:13] It was for a funeral for a woman named Mrs. Churchill. Her husband started WKBW. Now you all know what WKBW stands for, right? Well-known Bible witness.

[48:26] Did you know that? WKBW was a gospel radio station started by Mr. Churchill. So here we are sitting down for lunch with all these dignitaries at our table.

[48:40] We got the president of the Buffalo Club and his wife. We've got these prominent folks from around the city. And I'm sitting there and I know you don't touch your fork until the hostess of the table touches hers.

[48:52] It's just the way it is. Whoever's the highest ranking woman at this table will reach for her fork and then we can eat. Well, nobody's reaching for a fork. Nobody at the whole table.

[49:03] Everybody else is eating fine in this place except our table which is sitting there totally frozen until my wife reached over and picked up her fork. Who would have thought?

[49:14] My wife was the pastor of the funeral. Hello, she's the highest ranking lady at the table. Had I known that I would have said, pick up your fork. But I knew what I was supposed to do and what I wasn't supposed to do because every day, every day my mother taught us what to do.

[49:37] That's what sanctification is. It's putting the grace of God into our lives regularly, not occasionally, but all the time understanding the ways of God.

[49:50] Paul says the law is good. Of course it is. It shows us what's right and wrong. It teaches us the boundaries. I don't always like what God says is right and wrong, but it's what God says.

[50:02] So we know. Do you know what a child's job is in life? Children have a job. You may not know it. They come out of the womb with it. It's to test the boundaries. boundaries. Every single opportunity.

[50:15] They test the boundaries because children believe that their parents know where it's safe. They absolutely, totally, 100% are convinced you would never let them do something dangerous.

[50:30] So they keep pushing because they think maybe there's a boundary that's further out than the one you've told them. And so long as you don't say no, they'll keep pushing.

[50:42] And so the purpose of the parents is to set the boundaries so we know. God has set the boundaries, not because we like it. I haven't met a kid yet that doesn't want to stay up later.

[50:55] But we know the boundaries for our children and God knows the boundaries for his children and he set the boundaries for us. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

[51:06] In chapter 12 it also says don't conform to the pattern of this world. Don't pay attention to what everybody around you is saying, but be transformed.

[51:17] To be what? Transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, His pleasing, and His perfect will because God will be with you.

[51:31] But you know there's still something missing. You can study the scripture, you can surround yourself with people, you can go to worship, you go out and do some great service and you can still get yourself in a whole lot of trouble.

[51:43] And you know why? Because we lose the passion. Jesus wrote some letters in the book of Revelation to churches and one was named Ephesus and this is what he said.

[51:55] I hold this against you. You've forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

[52:13] What gets us in the most trouble, I think, as Christians, is complacency. This idea that we've arrived. It infects individual Christians, it infects churches, it infects nations and peoples.

[52:29] Christians, it goes to Christ. John Wesley, who began our denomination, said we need to have not just one conversion to Christ, we need to have little conversions again and again and again to bring back the fire and the power and the passion for God.

[52:47] Part of what this conference was about was about churches that stall, get stuck, and we're stalled. We're a good church.

[52:59] We are a good church, I have no doubt about that. Probably a better church than many churches. But God doesn't call us to just be what we are. God calls us to not be a good church but a great church, an amazing church, a church that will transform this community.

[53:15] Because it's not just about us. I don't know if you've noticed, but churches all over our area are going like this. Everywhere. They're turning them into condominiums.

[53:26] They're bulldozing them. I have a belief and a feeling that if things keep going the way they're going, in 20 years, there won't be much of them left. And God has called us to not just be good, not just to go through the motions, not just to do what we used to do, which worked years ago, but to do something different, something more amazing, something more powerful.

[53:51] Philippians chapter 3 and verse 13, Paul talks about his struggle. He says, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of perfection, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, I strain towards what is ahead.

[54:07] Our problem is, is we get stuck in the successes of the past. The things that got us to where we are are not the things that will take us to where we're going.

[54:19] that's not just true for churches, that's true for us as people, that's true for us as a nation. If we get stuck on the successes of what we did in the past, eventually we will die.

[54:34] Just look at life around you, look at nature. The truth of the matter is, is things are either growing or they're dying. They're not standing still.

[54:47] Even rocks crumble apart over time. As a church, we've done this, and we're doing that. Eventually it will lead to this.

[55:00] And as a people, if we get stuck in our faith, if we get stuck in the success of our past, and we think we've arrived, the devil catches up to us and destroys us. I really believe that God has set it up so that if we can continue to grow, if we continue to advance, if we continue to go forward, the devil will never catch us.

[55:22] He's always one step behind. And so, so long as we're going this way, we're always one step ahead of the devil. But if we get stuck and we stop, he catches up to us and he corrupts everything.

[55:33] Look at the world around you. It's true of anything. If you stop, it gets stuck. And it falls apart. The way we disciplined our children, which was absolutely right when they're three, is not the way we do when they're 13, and it's not the way we do when they're 33 or even 53.

[55:52] It has to change. It has to adjust. It has to be different. If you only read one part of the Bible, you'll get stuck. If you've never read the Bible before, if you're just trying to figure out how this thing works, read Genesis, Exodus, Luke, Acts, and Romans.

[56:10] Genesis, Exodus, Luke, Acts, and Romans. You will have a good understanding of the basic faith. But if that's all you read, you're going to miss what God wants to do with you.

[56:22] You even need to read Habakkuk. All right? Because God wants us to continue to grow in what we're doing. If we get stuck, if we lose the passion, if we lose the desire, then everything falls apart.

[56:41] Can you imagine a mother that said, well, I fed you when you were little. I took care of your diapers. You're six years old. You're on your own now. I got a spa to go to. I got things to do. I got things that are attracting me.

[56:53] I don't have time for you. We don't get stuck. We keep going. We even learn how to do 11th grade math. Not because we want to or have any understanding, by the way, young people, why they make you learn it because we don't know either.

[57:10] Shouldn't have said that, right? But it's true. We need to grow and grow with God because if we get stuck in the past, we'll get hurt in the present.

[57:22] Yesterday, I came over and the kids were playing dodgeball. They're all throwing the balls around and one of them yelled, hey, Pastor Tom, come join us. So wanting to be the cool pastor, I went to try and join him.

[57:33] I'm playing volleyball with the teenagers just thinking I'll stay off and say to the side. Now they're coming at me so I'm backing up like this and bam, right on my tailbone. There are things I can do, but they're not the things I did 20 years ago.

[57:48] They'll destroy me. It's not that it's bad what we did. It's not that people are bad and you will see changes in our church. You will see transformation.

[57:59] You will see that we're going to do things differently. That's not to say that what we did in the past or the people that led us to here are somehow wrong. It's just that we need something new to go into the future.

[58:11] And we're going there. Because God has called us to it. And God calls us as a church. God calls us as a people. God calls us as a nation to stay one step ahead of the devil.

[58:23] There's good news, folks. 1 Corinthians says to us, No temptation. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to people. And God is faithful.

[58:34] He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. When you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can endure it. God has given us the ability.

[58:45] And the ability starts with all those steps that we can go through to sanctify ourselves, but ultimately relies on the passion. I've been married for 41 years.

[58:57] And the reason I've been married for 41 years is very simple. I am totally, completely heads over heels in love with my wife. I think she is the greatest woman on the face of the earth.

[59:09] Apologies to all of you ladies, but your guys got second best. That's just the way it is. All right? I think she's the best there is.

[59:19] I always have. So why would I be interested in someone else? Why? What's that old? Oh, never mind. I'm not going to say it. I'll get in trouble. I know that. Something about when you got steak at home.

[59:30] You guys know what I mean. The truth of the matter is, is we're passionately in love with God. If we are totally, completely in love with God, why would we want to do anything that would hurt him?

[59:46] This is true about life. This is true about marriage. Church. This is true about our families. This is true about churches. This is true about our country. This is true about our faith. I don't do what I should do.

[60:02] Well, then stop and get passionately in love with God so you can do it. Can you imagine if you could never go to church again? Just, I want you to picture that.

[60:14] I think it could happen, by the way. I believe the way churches are going nowadays. There may not be a church to go to in 20 years. This is how serious this is, folks. I'm watching them collapse everywhere.

[60:27] Can you imagine if you could never go to church again? Psalm 42 actually has a fellow who couldn't go to church. I don't know if he was sick or what. And he says, as the deer pants for streams of water, my soul thirsts for you.

[60:40] My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet God? We get complacent because we take for granted the very things that are the most blessed things of life.

[60:59] The things of God, the things of our family, the things that we've been given that are great gifts. And we get stuck and the devil catches up to us and destroys everything.

[61:10] God is calling us to repent. God is calling us to restart. God is calling us to recommit to fall passionately in love with him again.

[61:28] And I want to suggest to you if you do that, then it doesn't matter what you feel about anything. You won't have these arguments and these struggles because you'll know what God wants and we need it for our lives.

[61:38] We need it for our church. We need it for our nation. We need it for our children. We need it for our community. We need it for the other churches that are out there that are depending on us to show them how this works.

[61:54] Second Chronicles chapter 7 says, Paul says, Paul says, what a wretched person I am.

[62:17] Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[62:29] God wants to reach down into our lives and pull us out of the brokenness and rescue us from the pain and restore our life again.

[62:40] if we can fall passionately in love with him once more. Our Father is still. And now up on earth and away with him Pushing on my knees in worship Giving all I am to seek your face Lord, all I am is yours My whole life had grace in your hands God of mercy, humble my bow down

[63:43] In your presence at your throne I called, you answered And you came to my rescue And I, I want to be where you are My whole life I've placed in your hands God of mercy, humble my bow down In your presence at your throne

[64:43] I called, you answered And you came to my rescue And I, I want to be where you are My life He lifted high in our world He lifted high in our love He lifted high He lifted high in our love

[65:48] He lifted high in our love He lifted high I called, you answered And you came to my rescue And I, I want to be where you are And I, I want to be where you are You are good, you are good When there's nothing good in me

[66:56] You are love, you are love I'm just safe for all to see You are light, you are light When the darkness closes in You are hope, you are hope You have covered all my skin You are peace, you are peace When my fear is crippling You are true, you are true Even in my wandering You are joy, you are joy You're the reason that I sing You are life, you are life You are life, you are death When you death has lost its sin And oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms The riches of your love Will always be loved Nothing compares to your own embrace Light of grace Light of the world Forever reigns You are more, you are more

[68:02] Than my words will ever say You are Lord, you are Lord Our creation will proclaim You are here, you are here In your presence I may hold You are God, you are God Of all else I'm letting go Oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms The riches of your love Will always be loved Nothing compares to your embrace Light of the world Forever reigns My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus

[69:03] My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing No other name Jesus, Jesus Oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms Oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms The riches of your love Will always be enough Will always be enough Nothing compares to your embrace Light of the world Forever reigns Praise God Please be seated God calls us To be passionately in love with Him Somewhere along the line though

[70:04] When we've broken relationship We need to restore it And the way we restore it Is by admitting our fault in it Our problem in it So that we can be made whole again So today I invite you to confess before God Your brokenness Your brokenness That God might reach into your brokenness And rescue you Pray with me, will you?

[70:25] Dear God in heaven Dear God in heaven Strengthen me Reach into my soul Teach me what's right Forgive me that I've done wrong Forgive me for breaking your heart Restore my soul Restore my soul Restore my soul Restore my passion Restore my passion Let it be like the first day I met you Let it be like the first day I met you In Jesus name we pray In Jesus name we pray Amen Jesus said if we confess our sins And we repent Turn away from them Change our direction He will forgive us In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Our sins are forgiven Glory to God Amen You know before we sing this next song I just need to tell you something Last night they had this 30 hour famine

[71:27] These teenagers didn't eat for 30 hours Okay, so you can imagine how hungry they were They were all sitting over there in worship Waiting to get this little morsel of food at communion You know which to them was like incredible amounts of food Even though it was just a little piece of bread And they're waiting And Pastor Sherry picked this song for them to sing before communion Thank you Let's sing for your communion Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Theenble But I know your love was not my bride So I wait for you So I wait for you

[72:28] I'm falling on my knees I'm falling on the knees Jesus, your love, this life is living for Broken eye, but to you pour Your heart's open wide I am weary, but I know your trust distorts my life So I wait for you So I wait for you I'm falling on my knees

[73:31] Offering all of me Jesus, your love, this heart is living for Jesus, your love, this life is living for Jesus, your love, this life is living for Amen Amen Are you hungry for God this morning?

[74:23] Do you want the passion of that first love reborn in your life again? Come to the table God will meet you here God desires that we come into his presence And partake of everything that God wants to pour out into our lives You are welcome at the table If you love God Repent of your sin and seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ It doesn't matter if you're a member of this church Or any church for that matter In the United Methodist Church The table is open to all Who seek to come and be filled with God So come to the table He's calling you He's made a place for you The Lord be with you Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

[75:23] It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life When we turned away and our love failed Your love remained steadfast You delivered us from captivity Made covenant to be our sovereign God Brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey And set before us the way of life And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven We praise your name and join their unending hymn Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest

[76:24] Holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ By the baptism of his suffering Death and resurrection You gave birth to your church Delivered us from slavery to sin and death And made with us a new covenant By water and the spirit By your great mercy We have been born anew To a living hope through the resurrection of your son from the dead And to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading Once we were no people But now we are your people Declaring your wonderful deeds in Christ Who called us out of darkness And into his marvelous light On the night in which he gave himself up for us Jesus took bread and gave thanks to you He broke the bread And gave it to his disciples He said take and eat This is my body which is given for you

[77:25] Do this in remembrance of me And when the supper was over Jesus took the cup And gave you thanks and praise And he gave it to his disciples He said drink from this all of you This is the cup of my blood The blood of the new covenant Poured out for you Poured out for many For the forgiveness of sin Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me And so in remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Jesus Christ We offer ourselves In praise and thanksgiving As a holy and living sacrifice In union with Christ's offering for us As we proclaim the mystery of faith Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again Pour out your Holy Spirit On us gathered here

[78:25] And on these gifts of bread and wine Make them be for us The body and blood of Christ That we may be for the world The body of Christ Redeemed by his blood By your spirit Make us one with Christ One with each other And one in ministry To all the world Until Christ comes In final victory And we feast at his heavenly banquet Through your son Jesus Christ With the Holy Spirit In your holy church All honor and glory Is yours almighty father Now and forever Amen Shall we pray together With confidence of children of God The prayer Jesus taught us Our father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us this day Our daily bread And forgive us Our trespasses As we forgive those Who trespass against us

[79:27] And lead us not Into temptation But deliver us From evil For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory Forever and ever Amen Will those who are serving Please come forward Jesus is Christian més Or non attorney την María interest Nan Thank you.

[80:38] Thank you.

[81:08] Thank you.

[81:38] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[82:43] Thank you. Thank you.

[83:43] Thank you. Thank you.

[84:43] Thank you. Thank you.

[85:43] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[86:02] Thank you. You know, sometimes we don't intend to say the wrong thing. I didn't mean to imply that Pastor Sherry intentionally tried to torture the children with that song or anything like that.

[86:18] I just thought it was an amazing coincidence as I see these hungry teenagers out here and I go, oh, we're going to sing this song. Let's come before the Lord. Was that okay? Did I apologize?

[86:28] Okay, good. Stop. Shall we stand and sing to the Lord? Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary.

[86:55] Pure and holy, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

[87:19] Lead me on, Lord, from temptation. Purify me from within.

[87:33] Fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. Take away all my sin.

[87:48] Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy, tried and true.

[88:05] With thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

[88:21] I love history. I love history. I'm a history major. And I've been in this church longer than most of you. There's a few around here. I can see that were here before me, but not too many.

[88:32] So I appreciate the past and I appreciate the wonderful things that have happened in our church, in our world, in our nation, in our lives. But if we get stuck living in yesterday, the devil will catch up to us and tear us apart.

[88:48] I'm great and glad to see people who are new, who are young. This next generation is going to really do some amazing things. And God is calling you to help us lead our church, our lives, our community, our nation into what is the blessing for the future.

[89:10] Amen. So I'm calling you out. God wants you to do something amazing with your life. Put it into practice.

[89:21] And then all this other stuff will melt away as you start to feel and experience the passion and power of God. May God's blessing be upon you. May his Holy Spirit fill your life.

[89:33] May you go forth from this place feeling the incredible energy that God can give to you. And may you do something wonderful for your mother. Go in peace. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[89:48] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.