[0:00] this morning. It's a little unusual one. It says that it's Mission Sunday. We get requests from all sorts of people to take up an offering. We do offer quite a few opportunities for you to give to different things, but sometimes we just can't meet all the requests of people that ask.
[0:15] An example, we have one of our pastors, actually they serve here, but they serve a church in Buffalo whose boiler broke down, and they asked if we could give a gift. So this is going to be a mission moment for all sorts of different missions that the church has asked to support, but we don't want to take an individual one for it. So if you can help with that, we really appreciate all that you can do to help in that effort. I want to draw your attention to the clipboards we're just passing by. Our last fish fry is coming up this Friday, so it's an opportunity to give in way of service for that. We appreciate everyone who's been serving so far. The clipboard, if you miss it, is also in the Ministry Connection Center, as well as a clipboard for the Fall Festival. You know, there's so much to be thankful for. We get opportunities to serve our church, to serve our community. What are you thankful for this morning? Sunshine, yeah?
[1:13] That you woke up. Yeah, that's always a good thing. What else? What are we thankful for? Yeah, Judy? My husband has a job. Amen to that. Yeah. What else do we think? The weather is gorgeous. Yeah.
[1:30] Anyone? We have a new steeple on the church, which is pretty darn cool. It's beautiful. Yeah, what else are we thankful? I'm thankful for family. We're thankful for friends. We're thankful for our church community. You know, when we come to worship, we prepare our hearts by thinking about and praying about all the different things that we're thankful for. We're coming here to rejoice in what God does for us. So as we would give back our gifts, ties, and offerings, let's reflect on the goodness that God brings.
[1:59] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[2:09] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[2:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[2:58] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. payer.
[3:17] Amen. On high the name of Jesus. Magnified, unglorified, Christ Jesus the King.
[3:34] Magist, majesty, Worship His majesty. Jesus who died, Now glorified, King of all kings.
[3:52] So exalt, lift up on high, The name of Jesus. Magnified, unglorified, Christ Jesus the King.
[4:09] Majesty, Worship His majesty. Jesus who died, Now glorified, King of all kings.
[4:37] King of all kings. King of all kings. Ort, Christ, Lord gl assumption, To me to return.
[5:00] Here, May I be. Lord, we worship your majesty, and we want to glorify you.
[5:34] We give back to you these gifts as a reflection of our great love to glorify your name. May they be blessed to transform the world. The people will know just how good you are, just how glorified you are.
[5:47] For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be seated. Be seated. I wanted to bring your attention to a few prayer concerns within our church family.
[6:04] Please pray for Phil Hendages and Bill Tubbs, who are both going through some health concerns. Also pray for Dan Heath, who had a heart attack yesterday.
[6:16] And for the Hanazeski family, Norman Joanne Hanazeski had a house fire, and there's severe smoke damage. And so they are being held up in a hotel, but it's a lot of damage, and it's a lot to try and handle all of that.
[6:34] So please keep them in prayer. Do we have any other prayer concerns we'd like to have lifted up? Judy. I'm sorry, what?
[6:46] Rhee. Rhee. Okay, pray for Rhee for lung challenges. Yeah. Pray that the kitty is returned.
[7:00] So with the missing cat, yeah, Melissa. So please continue to pray for Aunt Wanda, who's having some health issues still.
[7:13] Pastor Tom. So pray for Donna Virgil's. Austin went, surgery on his heart, and he's a baby.
[7:25] Okay. So please pray for her friend Tricia with a stroke and an aneurysm.
[7:43] So Tricia is the name. I can't see you. Anyone else have any prayer concerns? I know there's a lot on people's hearts that are not even being mentioned, so we know that God is good.
[7:57] Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank you for your mercies and for your grace, and we pray that you will give us strength and trust to be able to walk a path that you would have us to leave in spite of whatever may come.
[8:16] We pray, Lord, that you will give us your power to be able to overcome, and we pray that your spirit will dwell upon those in need. We pray for those who need physical healing, Lord, that you will heal them with your power, your grace, and your might, that they will experience wholeness and wellness.
[8:35] That anything that is in pain, any darkness within them, anything that's broken, that you will bind it up and make it well. We pray that they'll experience your presence in the midst of any suffering, that they'll see you in it and be drawn closer to you through it.
[8:55] We pray for those who are in the position of caregiving, that you'll lift them up and give them your encouragement. We pray for those who are mourning, those with heavy hearts, that you will give them your comfort and your peace.
[9:11] We pray for our families, Lord, that you will give us your protection, your guidance, your love. Strengthen our families, Lord.
[9:22] Help us to walk in the right direction. Help us to always be mindful of you and to put you at the center of our family. Lord, we pray for our church, that you'll set us on the right path, that we'll make decisions, that we'll glorify you, that we'll become disciples more and more closely aligned with what you would have us to be.
[9:46] We pray that we'll have a growth in our faith, that we'll proclaim your name. Lord, we pray for our community and for our nation, that we'll see a transformation happen, that we will be a part of it.
[10:02] Help us to be a blessing in this world. Lord, we pray for those who are struggling in their hearts, in their minds, that they don't know who to turn to, that they don't know who you are.
[10:19] Lord, we pray that you will soften hearts, open minds, and surround them with a community of people who will proclaim your name, who will treat them with love and respect.
[10:30] Lord, we pray for hearts to be changed, lives to be transformed, and we're placing the people we love in your hands. We pray that you'll give us your strength and your trust to continue on, knowing that you are there and you are good.
[10:48] Lord, we pray for it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now let's hear from the word of the Lord. Good morning.
[11:23] Today's scripture is from Acts 15, verses 36 through 41. Sometime later, Paul said to Barnabas, Let's go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they were doing.
[11:40] Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
[11:52] They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left. Commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord, he went through Syria, Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
[12:13] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Carol. This morning, we're continuing our sermon series on finding the great victory with God.
[12:26] In the book of Corinthians, it says to us, Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
[12:37] We love to have the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl, but it's nothing like winning the Super Bowl of life, the crown of glory that God gives to us. This morning, I want to talk to you about something that comes from Proverbs chapter 27, where it says that, Who are the people in your life that have made the difference, that have been, if you will, mentors to you?
[13:04] For some people, it's parents or friends or a boss or maybe a teacher or a co-worker, maybe even a pastor or grandparents to be your spouse.
[13:16] I want to talk to you first about number 12. Anybody know who number 12 is on the Buffalo Bills? Daryl LaMonica. You didn't know that?
[13:30] Daryl LaMonica. Absolutely. And Daryl LaMonica got a nickname that he was the Mad Bomber because he was throwing bombs all the time at that time for the Oakland Raiders.
[13:42] But he learned that from number 15. Does anybody know who number 15 was? Jack Kemp. Yes. Jack Kemp. Now, I watched Jack Kemp play football in the old rock pile.
[13:56] And he would fade back. And he would fade back. And he would even sometimes run around back there. And he would go back about 35 yards and he'd throw a bomb 40 yards to make a three-yard gain.
[14:09] Never saw anything like Jack Kemp. Forget about this. Get rid of the ball in three seconds. He's never going to let that ball go. He's going to throw it 60 yards down the field.
[14:20] Even if he's going to lose two yards. Daryl LaMonica, the Mad Bomber, learned how to play football from Jack Kemp. It's interesting how we pick up things from each other.
[14:35] People make us who we are. In this passage, we have Barnabas who takes John with him on a missionary journey. John was his cousin.
[14:48] But John, more than anything, was a young, impressionable man. Probably no more than a teenager who needed somebody to look after him. Somebody to be a mentor. Who do we mentor?
[15:01] And who mentors? Us. Proverbs 27 says that iron sharpens iron just like a person sharpens another person.
[15:14] Paul even said in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, which I always thought was kind of a little strange. Just look at me, man. If you want to know what to be, how comfortable would you be saying to other people, you want an example to follow for God?
[15:31] Look at me. Wow. Are we an example? Are we the kind of person that others look to for teaching, for nurturing, to help them to be the best?
[15:46] This is a large ministry. I have no idea how many people we really have. Maybe 2,000. Maybe more people. As a pastor of the church, I try to mentor some folks.
[16:00] But mentoring is something that requires such close attention that there's no way that I could personally possibly mentor everyone in this congregation. In fact, very few in the end.
[16:13] But you can. Each one reaches one. Each one teaches one. Last Friday night, we had a fish fry.
[16:24] We had a couple guys there. One was brand new and cooking the fish. And one was new to the position he was working in. The other guys didn't just throw him in and say, do it.
[16:36] They showed him how to do it. They worked with him. They nurtured and helped him. On the fellowship hall, I saw the same thing happening. We had people come in. They're very smart people.
[16:47] They know how to do life. But they didn't know what the system is. They need somebody to guide them along the way. And if we can do that in fish fries, we certainly should be able to do that in every aspect of the church's life.
[17:03] Mentoring is what makes us a success. Mentoring isn't all about success. We also teach people how to deal with failure. I want to show you probably what many of us would consider the most epic failure in football history.
[17:19] Second down and five. Here's Thurman Thomas swinging to the outside. Has the first down. Thurman Thomas takes it to the 30. Well, they are in Norwood field goal range.
[17:31] Collins makes the stop. The Bills are going to have to ground the ball and stop the clock. At the 29-yard line. Kelly throws it into the ground. Eight seconds. It'd be 47 yards.
[17:43] Come right here. And they have to send them in here. They can't take a chance to run another play. Norwood is right on the tip of the field range. Well, the Giants saw what it's like to lift it from the other end.
[17:55] Last week, it's Barnes. This week, it's Norwood against them. Some of them refusing to look. In the brain, Barnes was good.
[18:07] Now, Norwood tries to catch his longest ever on ground. 47 yards. Eight seconds left. Adam Winger will snap it.
[18:37] No, no. Wide line. Wide. Wide. Right. I know what you're saying. Did you really have to show us that whole thing? Did you have to put us through the agony of such a defeat?
[18:51] The only Super Bowl lost by one point. Wide right. It's hard when you fail.
[19:02] In this passage, it says that John deserted them in Pamphylia. He didn't continue in the work.
[19:14] He left. He ditched them. The thing was getting hard. It was getting difficult. There were challenges. There were even threats to their lives. And John said, I'm just not up for this.
[19:25] And he sailed back home. He was a failure. He let Paul down. And Paul let him know it. Like I said, he's probably no more than a teenager.
[19:40] You know, I've got to tell you, if you're a teenager, you're at the toughest point in your life. Amen? Most of your parents don't ever want to be teenagers again. It's not easy to be a teenager.
[19:50] Your body's changing. Your mind's changing. Your soul's changing. Your relationships are changing. You could look to your parents, but they don't know anything. So what do you do?
[20:02] Where do you go? How do you survive? You look for somebody, somewhere, to take you and guide you through this whole thing.
[20:16] We need that. We all need that somewhere. We have some young people right now going through confirmation. It's not a big class. Probably about a dozen young people.
[20:28] And Pastor Sherry's going to challenge them to find somebody to be their mentor. Imagine out of a couple thousand people, they may pick you. They're saying, out of all the people I know, you're the one that I think could help guide me closer to God.
[20:45] Are we up to it? Are we able to be a mentor to somebody, especially people who are at a formulative point in life like John was, where they're trying to figure everything out, and they're looking.
[21:01] And they're saying, I think they might know. What do we do with them? See, failing is a part of life. We all know that. It's difficult.
[21:14] And it's true even in a faith life. Sometimes we slip up. You can look around right now and see all the friends that aren't here because it's a beautiful Sunday.
[21:26] So, you know. Pastor Gene was praying for sun this weekend because we had a race yesterday. I was praying for rain. Lord, send us nasty weather on a weekend just once.
[21:38] Thank you, fair weather Christians, for being here with us. But people will say to me, well, why don't you give them a call, Pastor? Well, why don't you give them a call?
[21:48] There's more of you than me. They might actually appreciate it more from a friend saying, hey, missed you at church. Just want to make sure everything's okay.
[21:58] We need each one to reach one. Because that's how life works. We all need someone to be there for us when we fail.
[22:12] Barnabas is called the son of encouragement. That's what his name means. The son of encouragement. And he decided he wanted to give John another chance.
[22:24] Paul, let's just give the boy another opportunity. Let him try it one more time. When Scott Norwood missed that kick, he had to go into the locker room.
[22:35] Imagine that feeling. And he's sitting down in the locker room on a bench, and Marv Levy came over and said, you know, son, you didn't lose the game. It takes a whole team to lose a game.
[22:49] Darryl Talley came up. Anybody remember Darryl? Put his arm around Scott, and he said, you remember that tackle I missed in the third quarter? It wasn't you.
[22:59] You shouldn't even have been out there kicking that ball. If I would have made that tackle, Andre Reid came up and said, didn't you see the catches I missed? Dude, it's not you. It's all of us.
[23:12] Somewhere when we're broken, somewhere where we're feeling like our entire life is a failure, or we've messed up in some huge way. What we really need is somebody to turn around and say, hey, you still have a future.
[23:27] You still have a life. See, the problem is we can get so caught up in the task that we forget the person in it. Sometimes we have to remember that the person is more important than the task.
[23:39] Now, sometimes it's not that way. Paul had an idea. He was going to go back to the other churches that he had visited and see how they're doing so he could encourage them. These are the same churches that saw Mark fail.
[23:52] Does he really want to take along the guy that they saw as a failure? And what if he lets him down again? I mean, think about it.
[24:02] You know, in this case, there's some situations where it's life and death. And if John's not going to be up to the task, maybe he's not the right guy. I've got to tell you the truth. On the battlefield, it's not time for second chances.
[24:16] We need people to be there the first time. So sometimes maybe we need to make those decisions, and we need to recognize that. Sometimes we have to make decisions that aren't easy.
[24:30] Scott Norwood, rather, played for the Buffalo Bills for one more season, but the Buffalo Bills decided to draft a kicker and brought in Steve Christie. Right?
[24:40] You remember him? Scored more points than anybody else in Bill's history. And Scott kind of got retired. Sometimes we have to make a decision, and Paul went with Silas.
[24:56] And maybe Paul made the right decision. We really don't know. We weren't there. We weren't present to understand what happened. But even if he made the right decision, I'm going to suggest you do. Maybe he did it in the wrong way.
[25:08] I know it's not fair to criticize people from long ago who can't defend themselves, but I expect that when I get the glory, Paul will be working me over a little bit. Sometimes we have to learn by what people do right, and sometimes by what I don't think they do so well.
[25:24] He didn't consult the Holy Spirit. It doesn't say in here that he prayed about it. It doesn't even say in here he talked to anybody except Barnabas about it. He didn't check with all the other folks to see whether or not it would be a good idea, and he got in a fight with Barnabas.
[25:44] Now, you know Barnabas. Maybe you're not aware of it, but Barnabas was Paul's hero. In Acts chapter 9 and verse 27, it says that when Paul came from Damascus, Do you remember that?
[25:57] He was the guy who was trying to destroy the church, and he came to Jerusalem after Damascus in front of all the apostles, and they all said, No way are we giving this guy a chance.
[26:11] Not happening. He's too dangerous. And it was Barnabas, the son of encouragement, that recommended Paul to the apostles. Give him a chance.
[26:22] And now he gets in a fight with him. It's such a harsh fight that they separated and went different ways.
[26:35] Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will hurt me forever. You know, we think words don't mean anything, but they mean everything.
[26:45] Forgive us our sins. As we forgive those who sin against us.
[26:57] Or Ephesians, which in chapter 4 says, Don't let the sun go down on your anger. You know, the Bible really doesn't show Barnabas and Paul together much after this.
[27:12] They were tight. And now, we hardly see them at all anymore. It's hard.
[27:24] I think Paul did it the wrong way. I think sometimes we need somebody who will at least give it a consideration. One of my epic failures that some of you have heard about is, I went before the United Methodist Church to be ordained, and they said no.
[27:43] It's kind of a weird thing. You know, you feel called by God to be a pastor. I was actually the pastor of two churches, and I had to go back and tell them, No, they said I couldn't be ordained, but I'm still your pastor.
[27:55] Now, I don't know what that means. I didn't know what it meant. Now, really, all they wanted me to do was come back the next year. But in the process of this, there's different levels of committees.
[28:06] So there's a committee called the district committee that has to recommend me to go back. They were so embarrassed by my failure that they refused to let me go back the second time.
[28:18] The interesting part is the guy who chaired that committee is now one of my closest friends. Life's interesting, isn't it? So there was a man by the name of David Luba.
[28:29] He was the person in charge of the whole thing, and he was serving a church in East Aurora, and he called that whole committee down to East Aurora, and he told them, Send them back. We didn't tell you to stop them.
[28:41] Send them back. And I've always said, David Luba saved my career. And there's no doubt about that. I probably would have failed if not. But there was another guy by the name of Norm Parsons.
[28:53] And right after I got turned down, Norm, who I only knew a little bit, really. He had been our missionary when we were little kids, but I really didn't know him very well. I'd only met him a few times.
[29:04] Right after I was turned down, he sent me this book in the mail, Seasons of Life by Charles Swindoll, and says, Dear Tom, God is good and gives victory over all things.
[29:19] Hope this book will be helpful to you on your faith journey. Love in Christ, Norm Parsons. Now, you know, I didn't even know this guy, really. But he took the time to pick out a book, write an inscription, send it to me in the mail, and Dave Luba probably saved my career, but Norm Parsons saved my soul.
[29:42] Because I was going into a very dark place. I read that book, and I used that book. And I became very good friends with Norm and Alice.
[29:54] It's a fascinating thing, because it's important for us to have a mentor that helps us to thrive, but we also need one that helps us survive.
[30:05] Amen? In Luke chapter 6, verse 37, it says to us, Do not judge, and you won't be judged. Do not condemn, and you won't be condemned.
[30:16] Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A measure, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. Read this last line with me.
[30:28] For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. If you're loving, you'll get love. If you're compassionate, you'll get compassion. If you're hateful, you'll get hate.
[30:39] If you're hurtful, you'll get hurt. If you're angry, you'll get anger. If you offer peace, you'll get peace. Now, it doesn't happen all the time. But it's a guarantee that if all you do is put brokenness and anger and hurt and condemnation into this world, that's what you'll get out of it, too.
[30:58] It's not an easy world, but we need to invest in people and invest in each other. John was also named Mark. You might have heard of him, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
[31:10] Yeah, he wrote one of the Gospels later in life. He started the church in Alexandria, the first church in Africa. Peter referred to him as his son.
[31:24] And Paul, in Colossians chapter 4, Paul referred to him as one of the few people that was there to comfort him in prison. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, he said, Mark is so helpful to me.
[31:42] Isn't that an amazing thing? The very person that broke him is the person that now looks to him for comfort.
[31:54] A great mentor is not a hero who never fails. A great mentor is one who knows how to thrive in spite of failure. Who is the other number 12 on the Buffalo Bills?
[32:05] Jim Kelly, of course. Jim Kelly, loser of four Super Bowls. Scott Norwood lost one. Come on. Jim Kelly blew it four times.
[32:17] Really, this dude lost four times. Have you thought about this? This is the biggest loser quarterback in the history of the NFL. Nobody has lost the Super Bowl as many times as Jim Kelly.
[32:31] Oh, that's blasphemy, isn't it? Yeah. Well, why? Because what we saw in Jim Kelly is that he was never crushed. Didn't matter if his team was down 28-0.
[32:44] He's still fighting. Didn't matter if he lost four Super Bowls. He's still playing the game. Didn't matter if he got cancer. He's still proclaiming, God will give the victory.
[32:58] It's not a mentor who's really as much of a hero as we sometimes think of number 12 as it's a mentor that shows us how to get through the struggles, the pains, the difficulties.
[33:10] And that's what actually makes Jim such an amazing man. not as victories, but as overcoming the losses.
[33:24] I read something about reverse mentoring recently. Do you know what that is? That's when young people tell us old people how to do things. Because we are like from a whole different world.
[33:37] You know, people over 60 say amen. We really don't know what's going on. We're not kidding when we say we can't make these things work.
[33:49] Because we can't. We don't understand your world. We don't get how it works. We don't know what you're talking about. Half the time. We need you to help us.
[34:01] Believe it or not. To understand the parts of our life we don't understand, which doesn't mean, by the way, teenagers, that your parents don't know anything because they do. But it means that sometimes we can learn from each other.
[34:15] And Paul found someone in Mark who showed him how to love and forgive and accept even in the midst of pain. In 1 John chapter 2 it says to us, anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light.
[34:33] There's nothing in them to make them stumble. What we give out is what we get back. If we find somebody to love, if we find someone to care for, if we find someone to lift up, it can change not only their lives but our own as well.
[34:50] You know what Scott Norwood said to the press after he missed that kick for the Super Bowl? He said, the Lord doesn't give crosses to people who can't bear them.
[35:08] Wow. That wouldn't have been my quote. I can't say my quote in church. I'm impressed. Scott Norwood.
[35:19] Holy cow. He came back to Buffalo. Do you know what happened to the champion New York Giants? You know what the city of New York did for them after that Super Bowl win?
[35:34] You know what they did in terms of parades or celebrations? They did nothing! Nothing! Nothing at all! Nothing. Not even a little gathering.
[35:47] Buffalo, on the other hand, had 30,000 fans waiting when the Bills came home. And all the heroes got up to the microphone. Marv Levy was there. Jim Kelly was there. You know, Bruce Smith was there.
[35:58] They were all standing up at the microphone. And the crowd is going, Scott! We want Scott! Until 30,000 people are chanting, Scott Norwood!
[36:11] Scott Norwood! Scott Norwood! A failure to America. A hero in Buffalo. Do you know what he did afterwards?
[36:22] He started selling real estate. Think about this. He'd hand people a card and it would say Scott Norwood. And they would, he said this, and they would look at it and they'd go, oh, you're the guy who lost the Super Bowl, right? Isn't that what you want to be known for?
[36:36] For the rest of your life! You're the loser! Lost the Super Bowl, right, dude? Well, Scott Norwood has made a life for himself.
[36:49] He found himself a really nice wife. They were told that they couldn't have children, but she didn't believe it and she prayed to God. And they now have three beautiful children.
[36:59] He's got a good life. He has more money than I'll ever have. He's not a failure. He's a success and he shares his story with teenagers and churches all over the area he lives in.
[37:17] Mentoring them. Teaching them. Passing on. Guiding them. mentoring. Because mentoring is not just about what we teach and how we guide, but it's about putting our lives into the lives of someone else.
[37:33] Just like Jesus did for us. It says in the book of John in chapter 17, May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
[37:44] I have given them glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one. The truth is this. God has put his faith in us.
[37:55] God has put his love in us. God has invested in us so that we can invest in each other so that we can all have the victory of glory. Amen? So that everyone makes the train to glory land.
[38:08] So that everyone is a success. Because it doesn't matter if you win the Super Bowl. It matters if you win the crown of life. And not just you, but everybody around you.
[38:25] My dad was one of my mentors, without a doubt. For most of our marriage in the beginning, we were really, really poor. We thought a great time going out was to get in the car and drive around the block a couple times and see something new.
[38:42] The only way we went out to dinner is because my parents paid for us. You know what I'm talking about, those cheap buffalo fish fries. We'd go out for a cheap buffalo fish fry and my father would pull out his wallet and I'd say, Dad, you shouldn't be paying for me all the time.
[38:57] And he'd say, Tommy, one of these days you'll be paying for me. I remembered that for years. Hundreds and hundreds of fish fries that they would take us out to over the course of those years.
[39:12] Finally, he got to be about 80 and I started paying him back. Few here, few there. Half the time he wouldn't let us, but we got a few in there and then he died. Really? Seriously?
[39:23] How am I ever going to pay him back? Ah, by paying it forward to somebody else. Every time I buy dinner for someone else, it's for my dad.
[39:37] It's to remind me of whose I am and someone who invested in me so I could invest in someone else. And if we, as a people of God, invest in each other, there is nothing we cannot have victory about.
[39:55] Change your heart. Change our church and we'll change the world. We won't just survive this place. We won't just get a little better at what we do. We'll have the victory forever and forever and we will thrive.
[40:22] here in this warm and weary land where many a dream has died.
[40:48] Like a tree planted by the water We never will run dry It's the living water flowing through God, we thirst for more of you Fill our hearts and flood our souls with one desire But to know you and to make you know We lift your name on high Shine like the sun, make darkness on and high We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives It's time for us to more than just survive We were made to die Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh...
[42:04] Into your world we're digging deep To know our Father is high Into the world we're reaching out To show them who you are So living water flowing through God we thirst for more of you Fill our hearts and blood our souls With one desire Just to know you and to make you Only lift your name on high Shine like the sun made dark His blood and fire We know we were made for so much more Than ordinary lives It's time for us to more than just survive
[43:05] We were made to thrive Joy unseekable Faith unseekable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Joy unseekable Faith unseekable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Love unstoppable Anything is possible Joy unseekable Faith unseekable Love unstoppable Anything is possible Just to know you and to make you known We lift your name on high Shine like the sun, make darkness run and die We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives
[44:13] It's time for us to more than just the light We were made to light Hey!
[44:26] Whoa, oh, oh, we were made to light Sometimes I think What will people say of me When I'm only just a memory When I'm home where my soul belongs Was I love When no one else would show up
[45:29] Was I Jesus to the least of us Was my worship more than just a song I want to live like that And give it all I have So that everything I say in new Voice to you If love is who I am And this is where I'll stand Wrathlessly abandoned Never holding back I want to live like that I want to live like that Am I proof That you always say you are
[46:31] When grace can truly change your heart Do I live like your love is true People pass Even if they don't know my name Is there evidence that I've been changed When they see me do they see you I want to live like that Give it all I have And give it all I have So that everything I say in new Points to you If love is who I am And this is where I'll stand Wrathlessly abandoned Never holding back I want to live like that I want to live like that
[47:42] I want to live like that I'm longing for the world to know The glory of the King I want to live my life And give it all I have So that everything I say and do Points to you Departends who I am And this is where I'll stand Recklessly abandoned And never holding back I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that
[48:50] Amen, I want to live like that You want to live like that? And the only way to be living like that is to have the love of God in us And the only way to have that happen is for us to make sure that anything that is not of God is taken away And so we come here every single week to get renewed, refreshed, right on track with God Being filled once again with his love and forgiveness So won't you pray a prayer of confession along with me?
[49:17] Lord, I am a sinner Lord, I am a sinner I need your grace Fill me with your grace Fill me with your love Fill me with your love I've not always been loving I've not always shown your love People haven't known you through me Set me on the right path Fill me to overflowing That your grace would abound That your grace would abound That your love would abound That you would be proclaimed Through my life In Jesus' name I pray Amen Hear the good news Christ died for us while we were still sinners And this proves God's love for you and for me So in the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God Amen And you know we make ourselves right with God
[50:19] But traditionally in the church We also make ourselves right with one another We become the body of Christ To be able to come to the table So as we prepare for the table Let's become the body of Christ together Greeting one another With the spirit of peace Peace Let's be with you Morning peace Nice job yesterday Thanks The pace is very solid That's what holds everything together In this pace like that I don't think they can even hear me I can hear you Well you can hear me Yeah My little amplifier is not going to go Wow That's where I miss the old blues deluxe I used to have that thing that Belted out Yeah But I do use the digital effects on the superman Yeah Every soul we long to reach
[51:40] Every heart we hope to teach Everywhere we share his peace Is only by his grace Every loving word we say Every tear we wipe away Every sorrow turned to grace Is only by his grace Grace alone Without supplies Strength alone He will provide Christ in our Christ in our Upward our soul
[52:40] We will go forth And praise the Lord The table is set before us A table of love A table of grace If you are seeking God in your life You are welcome To the table Whether this is your first time here Or you've been here all along This is the table that's open To receive The love and grace of God The Lord be with you Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks To the Lord our God It is right And a good and joyful thing Always and everywhere To give thanks to you Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth You formed us in your image And breathed into us The breath of life When we turned away
[53:41] And our love failed Your love remained steadfast You delivered us from captivity Made covenant to be our Sovereign God And spoke to us Through the prophets 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 Holy are you And blessed is your son Jesus Christ Your spirit anointed him To preach good news To the poor To proclaim release To the captives And recovering of sight To the blind To set at liberty Those who are oppressed And to announce That the time had come When you would save Your people He healed the sick Fed the hungry
[54:42] And ate with sinners 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 When the Lord Jesus Ascended He promised To be with us Always In the power Of your word And Holy Spirit On the night In which he gave himself Up for us He took the bread And he gave thanks To you And he broke The bread He gave it To his disciples And he said This is my body Which is given For you Eat of this often Remembering me And when the supper Was over He took the cup And he gave thanks To you And he said This Is the blood My blood Of the new covenant
[55:43] Poured out for you Poured out for many For the forgiveness Of sins Drink of this Always And often Remembering 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 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
[56:44] 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 And now let us pray The prayer that Jesus Taught us Saying Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth As it is in heaven Give us this day Our daily bread And forgive us Our trespasses As we forgive those Who trespass against us And lead us not Into temptation But deliver us From evil For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory Forever and ever Amen Will those who are serving Please come forward Amen Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika
[57:46] Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Maika Thank you.
[58:37] Amen. Thank you.
[59:23] Take your name. Now the Lord invites you to come and join him at the table, at the rail for prayers for healing, to light a candle.
[59:40] Come and be blessed by the Lord. Amen.
[60:23] Amen. Amen.
[61:23] Amen. Amen.
[62:23] Amen. Amen.
[63:23] Amen. Amen.
[64:23] I'd like to invite y'all to stand if you're able, as we sing together.
[64:42] together, pass it on. It only takes us one to get fire going.
[65:16] The walls are up and warm up in its flowing. He's with God's love once you've experienced it.
[65:33] He's read his love to everyone. You want to pass it on. I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I found.
[65:56] You can't depend on it. It matters not where you're bound. I'll shout it from the mountaintop.
[66:10] I want my world to know the Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on.
[66:25] I played football in high school and our team lost most of the time. I was a wrestler in high school and our team lost most of the time. It was the same coach. He got all the losing teams.
[66:36] Really did. And you know, I thought about what it must have felt like for him to get up week after week, year after year, young person after young person, and say, go out there and give it your best.
[66:47] Try your hardest. Knowing we were going to lose again. Yesterday, I ran a four-mile run. I'm too old to run a four-mile run. I'm too out of shape to run a four-mile run.
[66:58] But I'm telling you, at the very end, I'm thinking, coach, I can do it. Coach, I can do it. Jesus is that coach for you. No matter what you're going through, no matter where your brokenness is, no matter what pain you ever feel, no matter how you feel defeated, know that God plans glory for you.
[67:16] Glory in this life and the one to come. So hold on to that and know that God will bless you this day and forevermore. Go in his peace. Amen.