[0:00] Seem hungering and thirsting, to hear it like the rest.
[0:10] I love to tell the story, for some have never heard. The message of salvation from God's own holy word.
[0:28] I love to tell the story, will be my theme in glory. To tell the old old story, of Jesus and his love.
[0:48] The Lord be with you. And I'll see you. Please be seated. This morning, in your bulletin, you're going to find a mission moment. This is actually for what we call the Joshua Connection, which is our outreach ministry to the community, to the world.
[1:04] We do a lot up in Niagara Falls. In fact, one of our clipboards is about helping with the dinners in Niagara Falls and LaSalle. But we also reach out to Buffalo, and we feed people on the streets of Buffalo.
[1:15] We feed people in churches. We help in Nicaragua. We help in all sorts of different ministries around the world. So if you can give a little extra gift to help with those efforts, to help people who need a little assistance in this world, we appreciate what you can do, along with your regular tithes and offerings.
[1:32] Thank you. I'm really thankful for so many things this morning. The fish fries that we're doing is the other clipboard that's being passed around, and we serve 695 dinners.
[1:43] Woo-hoo! Yeah. I'm also thankful in the Lenten season that we're having, instead of an Easter egg hunt, we're actually doing an Easter celebration.
[1:54] It's on a different day, and all the information is in your little good news. But it's something where families can share the story together, and it's going to be a wonderful time, and it includes an egg hunt. And Mrs. Hughes needs help with that, with eggs and stuff, and she's going to be in the back after worship.
[2:10] So if you're willing and able to help with some of the stuff and some eggs, that'd be really great. There's so much going on, and I'd love to hear what you all are thankful for. What are you thankful for this morning?
[2:23] Oh, come on. God is good, right, man? Amen? Okay, so what's good? Yeah, anyway. There's a bunch of folks that we were praising because they make fish fry dish washing lots of fun.
[2:40] Yeah. When you can make dish washing fun, that's a thing to be thankful for. Yeah, come on. What else? What else? Yeah. Snow is gone, and it's warmer.
[2:52] Can you imagine if all this rain was snow? Yeah. We are thankful for that. I saw another hand. Yeah. Safe trip there and back to Mexico.
[3:06] A wonderful experience. That's very good. Be thankful for that. Yeah. Anyone else want to share what you're thankful for?
[3:18] You know, we're thankful that we also have Preschool Sunday this morning, and someone from preschool would also like to share what they are thankful for. Hi. Hi.
[3:28] My family and I have always felt more than welcomed into the classroom, and we have loved being able to watch our son grow and learn.
[4:07] The other morning on our drive to school, my son exclaimed that he loved preschool and could not wait to see all of his friends. He really does love going to school and always speaks with excitement when telling us about the fun activities of the day.
[4:22] We have witnessed so much growth in him over the past two years. Not only has he learned so much information and skills to improve his knowledge and motor skills, but he has also matured and learned what it means to be a good person and an even better friend.
[4:39] He now shares well and treats others with care and respect. Next year, when our son moves on to kindergarten, it will be bittersweet for us. We will miss our interactions every day with the friendly staff and fellow parents at Genesis.
[4:52] But we are also so happy and thankful that his years here have prepared him so well for this next big step in life. Thankful for our preschool ministry.
[5:06] Amen? Absolutely. You know, God is good in so many ways and has blessed us so much, each and every one of us, and blessed this church and its ministries. And as we reflect on how good God is, let's return our gifts, tithes, and offerings to the Lord.
[5:22] We are Genesis. We are Genesis.
[5:37] Here we are, here we are, what they call, and we live each other.
[5:48] We are justice, we are justice, we are justice. We are justice, we are justice. Here we are, here we are, we want to talk about.
[6:06] Here we are, here we are, we are justice, we are justice. Yeah! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
[6:17] Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
[6:30] One, two, three, God, it's gonna be Two, three, four, I hope it's gonna be Three, four, five, five, five, six, seven, eight I think it's gonna be One, two, three, God, it's gonna be Two, three, four, I hope it's gonna be Three, five, five, five, six, seven, eight I think it's gonna be One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight He wins Three, five, four, five, six, seven, eight hingae, b Artsoree
[8:06] Redheart, Luc걸, Dess Goten Amen.
[8:47] Lord, we thank you for your goodness.
[8:58] And we pray that you will accept these gifts given back to you in gratitude and love. That they may be for the world an expression of your love. Transforming lives in your name.
[9:11] For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. I'd like to share some prayer concerns within our church body this morning.
[9:22] Please pray for Sue Wasayewicz, our accompanist. She is home with the flu. And I'm very thankful for Kathy Dick who is filling in at the last minute. So thank you for that.
[9:33] But yeah, pray for Sue for the flu and everyone with the flu. It's a horrible season. But also Sue's dad, Bill Houck, is in the hospital with a severe concussion.
[9:45] And also pray for Ellie Drake who has also been hospitalized again with health issues. Pray for Pastor Lisa. She's going to be traveling this next weekend. Going before the Board of Ordained Ministries.
[9:58] Where they're going to help her to discern the next step in the ordination process. Which is a huge thing. So pray for that as well. Do we have any other prayer concerns you'd like to have lifted up today? Anyone?
[10:11] Everybody's all good? Yeah. Knees, Alyssa.
[10:21] And suffering with cancer, the second round of it. So please lift Alyssa up in prayer. Anyone else? Okay.
[10:35] Let's pray. Gracious and loving Lord, we thank you for your mercies and your goodness and your love and your care. And we place our lives into your hands.
[10:48] The lives of our loved ones. The world, Lord. In your care, we pray that your healing touch will be upon those who are struggling physically. That they will receive your healing in a powerful way.
[11:00] That your name will be exalted and be able to say, Lord, heal me. We pray that you'll take any of the pain and the suffering away.
[11:11] That you'll take disease and bind it up and cast it out. That people will be made whole and well. We pray that you'll be with doctors and nurses.
[11:22] Give them your discernment. Guide them. Lift them up. We pray for those in the position of caregiving. That they will be encouraged and filled with your peace.
[11:36] We pray for those who are experiencing difficulties with families who are in need. Families who are just struggling.
[11:50] Lord, we pray for those who are in need of significant prayer. Families that are broken. We place that on your heart. That you will fill our families up with your love.
[12:02] And set a protective covering across it. That they may be filled up so much with your love that the families will bind together. Any brokenness will be healed.
[12:15] We pray, Lord, for people who are struggling mentally. That they will receive your peace and your wisdom. Give them clarity of mind.
[12:26] And give them the help that they need. Help us to be a supportive community in all these things. Reaching out to others and being aware of the pain in one another.
[12:37] Lord, we pray for all of our children. That you'll keep them safe. That you'll protect them, Lord. And give them more and more of your spirit.
[12:52] We pray that you'll bless this church to be a part of what you're doing in the world. That we may be a light in the darkness. That people will become transformed by you through what we say.
[13:06] What we do. How we minister. Lord, we pray for those who are grieving. Who have heavy hearts. We pray that they will experience you.
[13:20] Knowing you are there. And placing their trust and hope and faith in you. And we especially pray for those who do not know you. We pray that you'll open their hearts.
[13:32] Soften their hearts, Lord. To receive your message. Help us to be a solid witness. To welcome one another.
[13:43] Father, reach out to others. That your name may be praised. And we may be a witness to your goodness.
[13:55] We thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in our lives. For the healing that you are doing in your people. And for the healing you're doing throughout this community and world.
[14:06] We pray, Lord, that you will open our eyes to see you in the midst of all of it. We thank you and we praise you this day and always. Amen.
[14:18] Now let's hear from the word of the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[14:36] Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[15:16] Thank you.
[15:46] Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you.
[16:18] This morning, we're going through a sermon series on what does it mean to be a Christian? What's a church supposed to be? Who are we supposed to be in our lives as people of God?
[16:30] You know, in our congregation lately, we've had some discussions going back several months to last year about the safety of our church, about the safety of our children as they come here from our programs, about the safety of you folks sitting here in the congregation.
[16:47] Do we need more exits? Do we need to talk about what we would do if there was some kind of a problem, be it a fire or whatever it might be? Because we're worried about this.
[16:58] And whether we like it or not, it's starting to affect us. I think this last shooting in Florida had an impact on us, not so much even because of its specific tragedy, but because we're starting to feel like this is not right.
[17:13] This is becoming a normal we're not comfortable with. Amen? Just sort of a feeling that something has changed and the world's getting a little darker. Now, slowly and slowly, like a leak on a faucet, drip, drip, drip.
[17:31] In John chapter 3, it says to us, this is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
[17:43] There's a darkness. There's a problem in the hearts of people and not just some random person out there amidst us, but even in our own communities, in our own hearts.
[17:58] But Jesus said, you are the light of the world. It's kind of fascinating because we always think of Jesus as the light of the world, but he said, you are the light of the world.
[18:09] As Christians, as the church, we're supposed to represent God. We're God's body in this world. We have the answers to what the world needs.
[18:22] We're the light. You got your lights? This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine.
[18:33] This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. You know, we start singing that when we're about this big.
[18:45] And it's one of the most profound songs we ever sing. We're going to let it shine. We're really going to actually take that out and do something with it.
[18:56] Because the light of the world can change a person's heart. And when we start changing the hearts of the people in this world, we'll change our corner of the world and eventually we could change the whole world.
[19:10] It changed me. It transformed me from what I was. An angry young man headed in the wrong direction, probably someplace with bars on it, instead of being here.
[19:25] I wasn't a nice young man. I wasn't a good kid. I was kind of a rotten kid. But somebody, somebody showed me the light.
[19:38] Joy, love, peace, hope, faith, eternal life, blessings, healing, having a purpose, having dreams. This is what the Christian faith is about.
[19:49] This is why it's a light of the world. Isaiah said, The people living in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.
[20:03] And it's an amazing light. It's an amazing power. However, the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life was when I experienced God himself in my world.
[20:18] And I've had some wonderful things in my life. We all have our mix of tragedy and joys. But, you know, I've been married to the same woman for over 41 years. That is an incredible blessing, believe me.
[20:30] And I plan to be married to her for the rest of my life. I don't want you to give the wrong idea. I'm a great woman. I have a daughter. I have a grandson. I have people in my life to love and that love me.
[20:44] This congregation has been a wonderful place to be. I've been here for 28 years. They don't do that in the Methodist church. I think they forgot about me. Which is okay. Which is okay.
[20:55] And so I've had great blessings. Wonderful things that I can point to and say that there's areas of my life that have been blessed. But the greatest is that I experience God.
[21:08] Because that's what turned me from an angry young man to somebody who's filled with hope and possibilities. And sees the joys and the wonders that God can put in my life.
[21:19] And I believe God gave me all of those. But that's a different sermon. It's a treasure. Now, in this passage it talks about salt and light. And salt is interesting because the word solarium in Latin is where we get the word salary from.
[21:36] Salt was actually in that day seen the same way as we see money. They paid their soldiers in salt. Because salt was expensive. It was valuable. And it was translatable to any community, any culture.
[21:49] Everybody needed salt. Without salt people die. So it's an incredible, incredible treasure. The Bible talks about a treasure in the book of Matthew in chapter 13.
[22:02] It says the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a person found it, they hid it again. And then in joy went and sold everything they had to buy that field. Can you imagine if you found this huge treasure?
[22:15] What would you do with it? There's a lady who won $560 million. I don't know about you, but that's a lot of money to me.
[22:28] I mean, $56 million. $5.6 million. These are all lots of money. $560 million. And you know what her complaint is?
[22:40] I don't want anybody to know. I don't want anybody to know because it will change my life. No kidding. It will change your life. You know, I'll make a deal right now.
[22:51] If somebody wants to give me $560 million, they can tell everybody in the world. Anybody else agree with that? Yeah. You know, I mean, like, really? $560 million in her complaint is they want to be able to tell that good news to other people.
[23:07] Well, in many ways, the church has that kind of a great treasure. So incredible. So amazing that it can transform a person's life. But unfortunately, we've been hiding it.
[23:18] We've been keeping it away in our church buildings and in our little gatherings and groups that we get together where we feel safe to talk about God. And in the meantime, the world is going dark.
[23:32] Because we're hiding our light. We're keeping it away. And little by little, God is disappearing from our world.
[23:43] Did you hear they're going to tear down Eastern Hills Mall? Did you hear about that? They're going to tear down Eastern Hills Mall, and they're going to build a little village there. It's going to have little shops that you can go to out in the wintertime, walking between them.
[23:56] Of course, you know, because that's what people in Western New York want to do. Expensive little shops, by the way. Because that's what people in Western New York are looking for.
[24:08] And expensive apartments. You're picking up the point, right? And what they're going to do is they're going to model it on a little village, like you'd see. A little town. You know, like we have dotting the countryside out here that they're all running out of people, okay?
[24:21] And they're going to build one in the middle of Clarence, where Eastern Hills Mall is. And I'll tell you one thing I haven't heard that they're going to put in it. A church. You know, where is there a village without a church?
[24:35] Where is there a town without a church? Where is there a community of people in the whole world where there's nothing to do with God? Because God is essential to who we are.
[24:49] But it's not getting to be that way so much anymore. And it's not. It's not like you can blame other people. It's our fault. The church used to be involved in everything. I was talking to somebody in the medical profession the other day.
[25:01] And I said, you know, a couple hundred years ago, everybody that worked in the medical field worked for the church. Everybody that worked in what we would call social activities, helping people, worked in the church.
[25:12] All the schools were run by the church. The church did everything that was good in the culture. And you know why we don't do it anymore? Nobody took it from us.
[25:24] We gave it away. We didn't want to be troubled with it. We didn't want to be bothered with going out and helping people. In my own lifetime, we used to run Beachwood, a facility for old people.
[25:38] We used to run Gateway, a home for troubled children. We used to run agencies like that all over western New York, schools and hospitals. But I heard the argument.
[25:51] We can't stay connected to them because it's a liability risk. Really. The church is more afraid of the lawyers than they are of God. Scary thought, isn't it?
[26:04] So it's our fault. We've been hiding our light. And you know, Luke talks about that. He says, I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.
[26:19] But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. Remember this verse? Hide it under a bushel. No, I'm going to let it shine.
[26:32] Hide it under a bushel. No, I'm going to let it shine. You know, God wants us to be the light of the world. But people have become accustomed to the idea that all we have to offer is a long-term fire insurance policy.
[26:54] That's all it's about. Young man came to Jesus and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do to be able to make a claim on heaven?
[27:04] What must I do to say that you have to give me eternity? And Jesus answered the question with a question, which Jesus did a lot. Well, what do you think?
[27:15] And he said these great words, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
[27:25] And the second one is, love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus says, you've answered right. Do this and you will live.
[27:38] Somewhere along the line, this man learned the right information. He knew the answers. So he knew where he was supposed to go, which is essential.
[27:52] I have people lately who are parents that come to me. And they've got teenage children or 20-something children. And they say, you know, they used to care about God.
[28:03] They used to care about their faith. And they don't seem to have an interest in it anymore. I've talked to most of these people. They don't hate God. They don't even hate the church. They just are doing other stuff.
[28:16] You know what I'm talking about? All that stuff you couldn't do when you were young. Stay up all night. Drink a whole bottle of soda pop. Or maybe something else.
[28:29] Eat a box of donuts. Every one of them. They're just living. To see what it's like. They'll find out. They'll find out.
[28:39] Right? But that doesn't satisfy in the long run. But do they know? Do they know the answers they need to know? Proverbs says to us, start a child off on the way they should go.
[28:52] And even when they're old, they'll not turn from it. And I remind parents of that. I said, have you given them a place to come back to? Have you given them a faith to return to?
[29:04] Have you given them the knowledge to know where to go to find the answers for their life? And if you have, then trust in God and trust in what you taught them.
[29:17] But we aren't teaching it as much anymore. In Deuteronomy chapter 11, it tells us, Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. Tie them as symbols on your hand. Bind them on your foreheads.
[29:28] Teach them to your children. Talking about them when you sat at home and when you walk along the road. When you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and your gates.
[29:39] So that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land. The Lord swore to give to your ancestors. Do we teach our children? Teach your children well.
[29:53] Their father's hell will slowly go by. Teach them what they need to know. And this young man knew this. And so Jesus said to this man, Do this and you will live.
[30:08] He knew the information. He had a head understanding of it. And he liked the idea about loving God. But unfortunately, the laws and the rules and the information wasn't enough.
[30:24] That's the problem with our culture and in our world. We want to pass a law and we think that law will change everything. But it won't. We know that. Because we've seen the laws passed and the rules changed.
[30:37] And somehow people figure out a different way to go around the laws. People that want to break the laws go around the laws. And I'm not saying laws are bad. And I'm not saying we shouldn't have them. But unfortunately, they don't fix everything.
[30:51] We say, well, maybe if we can have them spend more time in school. Or maybe if we could get enough money. Or if we could put the military in charge of everything. There's a scary thought.
[31:02] Think about it. And I'm not against the military. My wife's in the Air Force. Okay. But you follow. We're trying to find answers with things that are just meant to help us along the journey and guide us.
[31:17] They convict us. They tell us that we need to change. They tell us that there's something wrong with us that needs to be fixed. But they don't have the power to fix it.
[31:30] Because all the law does is tell us what's wrong with us. Grace is what changes us. And if we change our heart, we'll change the world. But the world won't change unless they know that we care about them.
[31:45] Nobody's going to care what you know until they know that you care. Christianity is about law and grace. It's about conviction and comfort.
[31:59] As I was reading this passage, I'm thinking, what does salt have to do with light? I like salt, but I use it sparingly. I don't know about you all. But when I cook, I hardly put salt in.
[32:10] Because there's already salt in everything. Have you noticed that? And, you know, you put too much salt in there. And it's like, right? A little bit of salt goes a long ways.
[32:25] In the Bible, in Psalms, it says, taste and see that the Lord is good. The rules of God, the salt, are good. They add some flavor. They can even melt the ice.
[32:37] They can purify. But too much stings and damages and cause hurt and pain. In fact, the way the Romans destroyed a community was they would go in and salt the fields so nothing would grow.
[32:53] Unfortunately, as a church, too often, we've been adding more salt where we should be adding more light.
[33:04] We've been adding more condemnation and conviction and acting as if we don't have those problems when we know we do. And when people are having a good time, they're really not looking for somebody to come in.
[33:19] Well, let's see what Rabbit did. And if I don't eat honey from the honeypot, old Tigger will plainly see. I must be another Tigger because I couldn't possibly be me.
[33:32] I'm a fan of how to be a Tigger. How to be a Tigger. How to be a Tigger is up to you. You've got to look like a Tigger and sound like a Tigger. And act like a Tigger. Um, also...
[33:47] Oh, thank goodness I found you all here. There's a terrible storm headed for... What on earth are you doing? Stripes?
[33:58] Springs? Have you lost your minds? You should be covering the windows, counting your supplies, gathering firewood. Winter is here, and you aren't even ready.
[34:09] What are you doing, wasting your time with it? What am I doing, wasting my time? I've got serious work to do. At least I haven't lost sight of what's really important.
[34:23] Well, I want to invite him to my party, don't you? See, that's the way people see Christians. They see Christians as people who are just coming to ruin the party.
[34:36] Take away all the fun. We've talked about living inside out. I'm not going to turn my jacket inside today, but you know, that the conviction is for ourselves.
[34:48] The comfort and the joy, the soft stuff, is for the world. What would you do if you were sitting with this young man who shot up the school in Florida right now?
[34:58] What would you say to him? I wouldn't say you're okay. Oh, well, it's not your fault. Your dad died when you were young. Your girlfriend ditched you.
[35:10] Your friends at school didn't want to have anything to do with you. And then your mother died, so it's okay to go shoot up other people. I wouldn't say that. You see, what you did was wrong. It was evil.
[35:21] It was terrible. But even a man like this could have hope. That's hard for us to handle because we think we're so good.
[35:38] We think we can figure it out ourselves. This man that came to Jesus and asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Went on to say, but who's my neighbor?
[35:50] It said in the Bible he wanted to justify himself. He wanted to make his own way. He wanted to figure out a way to be good enough. To be good enough.
[36:04] To be good enough, we have to be perfect. So we need conviction, but we need a little bit of conviction and a lot of grace. We need a little bit of salt. We need a ton of light. So Jesus told a story.
[36:18] He said there was a guy going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and while he was on his way some guy sat upon him and started beating on him, took his clothes, took his money and left him in a ditch.
[36:31] And along came a pastor who saw him in the ditch and said, I don't have time for this. Went on the other side of the road. Then there was a person who worked in the church, you know.
[36:43] Different people work in the church, different types of jobs and they saw this guy on the side of the road and they saw their pastor walking up there and said, if he doesn't have time, neither do I. And then a third guy came along.
[36:58] It was a guy called a Samaritan. Now we think Samaritans are good, but the truth is they would have seen that as an oxymoron. Samaritans to them were the worst people you could imagine. In fact, they would go a hundred miles out of their way to avoid going near a Samaritan because Samaritans, they just thought wrong, they talked wrong, they looked wrong, they acted wrong.
[37:19] These were the kind of people, you don't want your kids around. You know what I'm talking about. You know who I mean. I don't have to tell you, but you know what I'm saying. And he came along and he saw the guy in the ditch and he picked him up and he put him on his donkey and he dressed his wounds and gave him some clothes, took him to the Best Western.
[37:44] Well, you know, we're not going to put him at the Hilton. I mean, come on, you know. And gave the innkeeper some money and said, look, that'll take care of the room. If you could look after him, I've got some business I need to get to.
[37:57] You know, if he needs some food, you know, here's some gift cards for Denny's. I'll stop back on the way to see how he's doing. And if there's any more need for money, I'll take care of it.
[38:11] We call it the parable of the Good Samaritan. And Jesus asked the man after telling the story, who was the neighbor to the man in the ditch? Well, that's a pretty obvious answer, isn't it?
[38:25] The guy who took the time to stop and help him. Because the challenge is not to figure out how we can bring more salt to the world. I don't think we're going to need a lot more anger and hurt and pain.
[38:41] We need joy. I went to a movie the other day with my grandson. It was called The Greatest Showman. Anybody see this movie? It's about P.T. Barnum. Well, it's supposed to be about P.T. Barnum, but it isn't.
[38:53] They made up all kinds of things that aren't true about him, really. I mean, that's the truth, okay? But the movie is fun. When you come out of there, it's like, I feel good. I'm glad I went to the movies, you know?
[39:06] I love movies like that. I watched one with my wife the other night and it sort of ended without finishing the story and I'm like, really? What was that, right? I hate movies like that.
[39:17] Don't leave me without wanting to feel good about myself. I want to feel good. How about you, amen? That's what movie's supposed to do.
[39:29] Bring the joy. John chapter 12 says to us, I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in the darkness.
[39:44] Those who believe in God can have that joy, can have that light, can have an amazing transforming life that will turn their direction around completely.
[39:57] I was in Florida at a conference and a fellow got up to speak to us and he said, I'm a murderer. And we were like, okay, I wonder what he means by that. He was in jail for killing somebody. And now, he spends his life helping people and he's actually the pastor of a large church.
[40:15] Wow, there's an idea, isn't it? Can God change people? You bet that God can. Transform us and move us in the right way. But it's because of grace.
[40:29] The reason why I change is because somebody took the time to love an angry young man and show me a different way. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
[40:46] It's the only thing that there's just too little love. Yeah, you old people are singing with me. Young people are saying, what? What? But I remember it from when I was young.
[40:59] Yes! Lord, we don't need another mountain. Lord, we don't need another skyscraper. Lord, we really don't need a town center at Eastern Mall. It doesn't matter.
[41:10] I like walking in the mall in the winter. Lord, we don't need more violence and anger and hate. We don't need to scream at each other.
[41:21] We don't need to hurt each other. We need love. We need light. We need grace. Jesus said, you, you, you, you, you, even you back there are the light of the world.
[41:42] Imagine a world where they shared the fruits of the Spirit. You know what those are? You should have. It was only a week ago, right? Love, joy, peace. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and can you imagine, it says in the Bible, there's no laws needed against that.
[42:10] Right? We don't need any laws to stop people from doing that. We're the light of the world if we allow ourselves to be the light.
[42:24] Don't let Satan us out. I'm going to let it shine. Don't let Satan it out. I'm going to let it shine.
[42:34] Don't let Satan it out. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Until it gets hard, Lord. Until it gets dangerous. Until it causes me to worry.
[42:46] I have to tell you that I am just freaking out because that school hired a deputy to guard it. And he was there. On the outside of the building.
[42:59] While he listened for four minutes to the gunshots go off inside the school. He had a weapon. And I just heard there were three more with him. Four law enforcement officers standing on the outside of a school listening as somebody is shooting people inside.
[43:18] Oh my gosh. Right? It's so easy to say not me, I would have run right in.
[43:30] So easy to say I would have been the hero until we're facing somebody who's got a rifle and shooting the bullets. That's the problem.
[43:43] We're afraid. We're afraid. We're afraid of what people will say. We're afraid of what we'll look like. We're afraid of what people will react to us about. We're afraid to offer love. But the Bible says perfect love drives out all fear.
[43:57] I don't know if we're afraid or we're just too busy. I'm thinking that pastor had a meeting to go to at church. The other day I was having a meeting at church here.
[44:08] It was about two weeks ago. And I'm waiting for somebody to show up. One of the people that works in our church. And I'm like, really? Where are they? And I get a text message.
[44:20] I'm going to be late. Oh. I hate that when that happens. You know there's other people here waiting too. You know what? This is costing the church. It was Gidget Hughes.
[44:34] Some of you know Gidget? And she came in and she said I was driving down New Road. I was driving down New Road and I saw an old man in one of those ditches.
[44:46] You know the man-eating ditches on New Road? And I thought should I stop? Well I've got a meeting to get to. And she said then I saw in my rear view mirror that the plow was coming.
[44:56] You know we're going to bury this guy in a ditch. So she said I had to turn around and make sure he was okay. I'm sorry I'm late. And I said well done good and faithful servant.
[45:08] Right? You did the right thing. You made the right decision. It's never wrong. Never wrong to stop what we're doing and help someone.
[45:21] the church isn't a club. It's not a self-help group. It's not even a moral society. It's a change the world movement. If we bring the light to the world if we show love then we can really answer that prayer that we ask of God thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth.
[45:43] Because our people are willing to share the joy. What should that lady do with $560 million? Why is she so worried about what people will think?
[45:55] Take $559 million and give it away and keep one and nobody will bother you anymore and you'll still be pretty well off. Right? Right?
[46:06] Because who needs $560 million anyways? Not her. Not anybody. But there's a lot of people out there that could.
[46:17] God wants us to bring the light. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. The joy of the Lord is my strength. That's what we come to worship for is to experience the joy, the light to take it out there.
[46:30] Amen? Amen. light of the world is set down into darkness hope in my eyes let me see.
[47:15] Let me see. Let me see. Beauty that made this heart adore you. Hope of the lives stand with you.
[47:28] so here I am to worship here I am to bow down here I am to say that you're my God you're altogether lovely altogether worthy altogether wonderful to be free King of all days I am so highly exalted glorious in heaven above humbly you came the earth you created all for the sake you came Lord so here I am to worship here I am to bow down here I am to say that you're my God altogether lovely altogether worthy altogether wonderful to be and I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin above and above that cross so now never know how much it cost to see my sin above that cross so here I am to worship here I am to bow down here I am to say that you're my God all altogether all all together worthy all together wonderful to be here I am to worship��만 yes here it cost thank amer
[50:03] 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 loved?
[50:22] No one else would show up Was I Jesus to the least of us? Was I worship more than just a song?
[50:35] I want to do my thing And give it all I have So that everything I say and do Points to you If love is who I am And this is where I stand If I have to see a thing Then I don't want to be glad I want to live like that I want to live like that Am I proof?
[51:22] In you I wouldn't say you are Could grace could really change your heart Do I live like the Lord is true?
[51:34] People who have Even if they don't know my name Is there an evidence that I've been changed When they see me do they see you?
[51:47] I want to live like that I want to live like that Give it all I have And everything I say and do Points to you Love is who I am I want to live like that This is where I stand This is where I stand This is where I stand This is where I stand I can stay abandoned And never falling back I want to live like that I want to live like that And give it all I have I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that To show the world To show the world For the love you made for you I want to show the world For the love you made for you I want to show the world For the world to know The glory of the King I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that And give it all I have
[52:50] So that everything I say and do Wipes you I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that This is where I stand This is where I stand This is where I stand The lack of faith I stand And never falling back Hold like that I want to live like that Amen We really want to live like that.
[53:41] And we have an opportunity to live like that. When we go astray and we make the wrong choices and we sin, we get off kilter. But we can live like that because God offers to us his grace, his Holy Spirit that can refill us, recharge us, transform us more and more into his likeness.
[54:00] And so I invite you today to a prayer of confession. Pray along with me. Lord, I am a sinner. I need your grace. Forgive me.
[54:13] Fill me with your love. Fill me with your wisdom. Fill me with your grace. That I may be graceful to others.
[54:26] Loving to others. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. And your love. In your name we pray.
[54:38] Amen. Hear the good news. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This proves God's love for you and for me. So in the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[54:52] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. And now as a forgiven body of Christ, let's greet one another with the peace of the Holy Spirit.
[55:04] Peace. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Pastor. Peace be with you. We're going to do come to the table? Yes. Okay. John, peace of Christ.
[55:18] He says yes. I think it's in half. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[55:29] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I can't translate it in my head.
[55:49] Come to the table of mercy, prepared with the wine and the bread. All who are hungry and thirsty Come and your souls will be fed Come at the Lord's invitation Receive from his nails your hand Eat up the bread of salvation Drink up the blood of the Lamb Amen, amen.
[56:30] You know, there are so many ways that God has given us to receive the power, to receive the strength, to receive all that we need to live the way God calls us to live.
[56:42] We can do it through prayer and through studying God's word and through worshiping God with all of our hearts. And we do it when we come to the table.
[56:53] God has invited us to the table so that we can receive more of what we need. In a unique and amazing way, God touches us when we make the decision to come forward and meet with God here at the table.
[57:12] We have all been invited. Everyone who chooses to love God, who chooses to repent of their sin, and who chooses to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ, wherever you're at right now, you are welcome to join with the body of Christ at this table.
[57:34] You are welcome to join in all Christ has done for you, for me, for the whole world. So come to the table.
[57:47] Come and receive. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[57:57] It is right and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere, to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
[58:09] You brought all things into being and called them good. From the dust of the earth, you formed us into your image and breathed into us the breath of life.
[58:20] When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn.
[58:32] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[58:43] 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. When you gave him to save us from our sins, your spirit led him into the wilderness where he fasted 40 days and 40 nights to prepare for his ministry.
[59:05] When he suffered and died on a cross for our sin, you raised him to life, presented him alive to the apostles during 40 days and exalted him at your right hand.
[59:16] 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.
[59:29] Now, when we, your people, prepare for the yearly feast of Easter, you lead us to repentance for sin and the cleansing of our hearts that during these 40 days of Lent, we may be gifted and graced to reaffirm the covenant that you made with us through Christ.
[59:53] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread. He gave thanks to you. And he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples. He said, Take and eat.
[60:06] This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[60:26] When the supper was over, he took the cup. And he gave you thanks and praise and gave it to his disciples saying, Drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood.
[60:37] The blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink it.
[60:50] 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.
[61:10] 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.
[61:31] 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.
[61:44] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit and your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen. Amen. Shall we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us?
[61:58] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[62:10] 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.
[62:25] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Will those who are serving please come forward. Amen.
[63:19] Amen. Amen.
[64:19] When we come to the table of the Lord, we come to God himself.
[64:39] That's what this is. We receive God into our lives. So you're all welcome to the grace of God. Whether you've been coming to our church all along or this is your first time here, God himself invites you.
[64:50] Come to the table, to the rail for prayers for healing and anointing to light a candle as your light of the world. Come and join us. Amen. Amen.
[65:57] Amen. Amen.
[66:57] Amen. Amen.
[67:57] Amen. Amen.
[68:57] Amen. Amen.
[69:29] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[69:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[69:53] I'd like to invite you, if you're able, to stand as we're going to sing together. Pass it on. And soon all those around, and warm up in it's flowing.
[70:36] That's how it is with God's love. Once you've experienced it, you spread His love to everyone who want to pass it on. I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I've found. You can be paid for, but you can be paid for, but you can be paid for, but you can be paid for.
[70:48] You can't depend on Him. You can't depend on Him. It matters not when you're gone. You can't depend on Him. It matters not when you're gone. You can't depend on Him.
[71:00] I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I've found. You can't depend on Him.
[71:14] It matters not when you're gone. I'll shout it from the mountain top.
[71:26] I want my world to know. The Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on.
[71:40] You know, the Bible, Jesus said to Peter, on this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I have no fear of the future of the church, because God will raise the church from stones if He has to.
[71:54] But He's called us to be the light of the world. And if we hide our light under a bushel, it not only puts the light in a way in which we can't see it, it starts to make you all nervous, doesn't it?
[72:07] Yeah, Pastor Sherry said she could smell it. Because, you know, God is going to have His way, and He will burn through our refusal to be His servants if He has to.
[72:20] And let His light, His fire shine in this world. We have a choice. We can decide to be with God or not. But let me tell you, the choice is an easy one.
[72:34] Because the blessing of the grace of God will transform your life like nothing else you've ever experienced. Today is the day. Decide for God. Go in His peace, go in His strength, go in His grace, and may God be with you now and forever.
[72:47] Amen. Thank you, O God.
[73:02] Remember the summer but tomorrow?