Creation

[0:00] I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[0:30] I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[1:00] I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[1:29] I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[1:41] I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Good morning. Good morning. I think the men of him stole that from the Three Stooges, which worries me on many levels.

[1:54] So, it's good to have you here today. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.

[2:10] Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[2:25] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[2:37] This is the day that the Lord has made. Lord, we come here this day to worship you, glorify you.

[2:51] May this service of worship exalt your name and may we be filled with your Holy Spirit, experience your presence and be moved by you. For it's in your name we pray.

[3:02] Amen. Genesis. Genesis 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

[3:14] The earth was without form and form, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

[3:26] And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that the light was good.

[3:37] And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning the first day.

[3:50] And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.

[4:09] And it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.

[4:29] And it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called seas. And God saw that it was good.

[4:40] And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth.

[4:53] And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.

[5:10] And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.

[5:34] And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars.

[5:46] And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

[5:58] And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the expanse of the heavens.

[6:17] So God created the great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.

[6:30] And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.

[6:44] And there was evening, and there was morning the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures, according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.

[7:02] And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind.

[7:16] And God saw that it was good. We are here to worship God the Creator, and so I invite you all to stand and sing along with us, all creatures of our God and King.

[7:28] We are here to worship God the Creator, and so I invite you all to stand and sing along with us, all creatures of our God and King.

[7:50] All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice who bless us sing. All praise ye, alleluia!

[8:02] All brothers, stand with golden beam. All sister mermith, silver queen. All praise ye, all great, allers, sing along with us, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, allulu ye, all praise ye, all praise ye ye, all praise ye ye, all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye all praise ye, all praise ye, all praise ye praise rejoice in light to be big kind of voice oh crazy oh crazy hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah let all thanks their creator bless and worship him in humbleness oh crazy hallelujah praise praise the father praise the son and praise the spirit three in one oh crazy oh crazy hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah do you believe in god the father almighty i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth do you believe in jesus christ i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born in the virgin mary suffered under conscious pilot was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again he ascended into heaven is seated at the right hand of the father and will come again to judge the living and the dead do you believe in the holy spirit i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen the lord be with you and also with you please be seated this is the time of year when the bishop of our conference determines how to deploy clergy all across upstate new york and we have about 900 churches and a similar number of clergy and so this time of year from time to time pastors receive a phone call and one of our pastors received a phone call and was given the option of becoming the pastor of trinity united methodist church over on the boulevard and so pastor gene edmister will be leaving us july 1st to go to the church over on trinity on the boulevard and so we want to encourage her and we want to bless her in her journey so just want to let you all know about that just something that's going to be announced in all the churches today for you to share with one another thank you we are grateful for the service that pastor gene has given us throughout many many years here and so much praise for that and i know that we are all thankful for so many things in our lives god has been so good and i'd love to hear from you today what are you thankful for how would you like to praise god today judy hey everybody oh nice amen amen

[12:03] praise god whoo absolutely absolutely absolutely yeah you had your hand here seeing a great blue herring yeah wonderful what else we thankful for yes 103rd birthday of her father wow wow that's wonderful yeah nancy okay thank you i'd love to see that there's a private amen amen anyone else would like to share this morning 5 000 boxes of girl scout cookies sold that's wonderful that's wonderful yeah you know god is just so good i mean we are so blessed so as we take up our offering today a reflection of god's goodness and our opportunity to give back as a reflection of our love and gratitude well lord i pray that you'll reflect on god's goodness god's grace and god's blessings in your life oh i've heard a thousand stories of what they think of life but i've heard a tender whisper of love you're a good good fire it's who you are it's who you are it's who you are and i'm loved by you it's who i am it's who i am it's who i am and i've seen many searching for answers far and wide but i know we're all searching for answers you provide cause you know just what we need before you say yeah when you're a good good father it's who you are it's who you are it's who i am it's who i am it's who i am

[15:42] You are perfect in all of your ways Two worlds You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways Two worlds Love, so undeniable lie I can hardly speak Peace, so unexplainable lie I can hardly think as you call me

[16:42] Deeper still as you call me Deeper still as you call me Deeper still into love Love, love, love You're a good, good father It's who you are It's who you are It's who you are And I'm loved by you It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am It's who you are It's who you are It's who you are And I'm loved by you It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am It's who you are It's who you are

[17:44] It's who you are And I'm loved by you It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am You're a good, good father It's who you are It's who you are It's who you are And I'm in love by you It's who I am It's who I am It's who I am You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways To us Thank you

[18:59] Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Luke Give us who I am Of your salted Good father loving us. And we pray, Lord, that you will accept these gifts, these gifts that we give in humility and reverence and love. Take these gifts, Lord, and make them be a transformational witness in this world, that your name, your love, your perfection will be proclaimed and praised.

[19:59] For it's in your name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. We do have some, just a couple of prayer concerns that I'm aware of to lift up within our church family. Bonnie Loring, I saw her in the hospital the other day, and she has severe bronchitis, and it made her pass out. She also has a broken rib. So please pray for Bonnie. Hopefully she'll move to rehab soon. And Sandy's doing okay. Sandy's doing okay. Okay. And anyone else have any prayer concerns you'd like to have lifted up? Yeah. Your mother-in-law just had open heart surgery.

[20:45] Okay. And what's her name? Kathy. So please pray for Kathy Heinemann. Anyone else? Open heart surgery. Yeah, Judy. Absolutely. Okay. Anyone else? Yeah, Sarah.

[21:16] Sarah Crosby's dad has stage three colon cancer. So please keep him in prayer in his name. Dick. Okay. Anyone else?

[21:29] Let's pray. Gracious and loving Lord, we are overwhelmed by your presence, knowing that you are here for us, that you love us, that you carry us. And we pray that you'll take away our fear and give us a spirit of trust as we reach out in thanksgiving. We pray that you will guide us with your wisdom and your discernment. We pray that you will have a healing touch upon each and every one of us and on those that we have named and those who are needing healing of their body, their mind, their soul, their spirit. Lord, we pray that your healing touch will be upon them. The people will be made whole.

[22:14] They'll be made well. Be with doctors and nurses. Guide their hand. And we pray for those in caregiving positions that they too may receive your peace. Lord, we pray for those who are grieving with heavy hearts. We pray that you'll give them comfort, surround them with your loving community and show them you and your presence in the midst of this time. Lord, open our eyes, open our hearts, open our ears to be able to experience you and know that you are there. Reveal yourself in a powerful way. We pray for people who are struggling with all sorts of different things, Lord, whether it be their finances or their job or they're involved with drugs and just making bad choices. Lord, we pray for you to come and indwell and guide and move. We're trusting in you. We're placing the people we love in our very selves into your hands. And we pray thanks to you for the healing you are doing, for the peace you are giving, for the comfort and love that you are sharing. We pray that you will continue and help us as you hold our hand, as lift us up. For it's in your name we pray. Amen.

[23:38] Amen. Now let's hear from the word of the Lord. Amen. Good morning. We're going to continue in the book of Genesis. Again, chapter 1, verses 26 through 31, day 6.

[24:24] Then God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.

[25:16] They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground, everything that has the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. This is the word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.

[25:46] God bless you.

[26:16] God bless you, New York. We know who we are, amen? And there are things that make us unique because we live in this part of the country. And they form a part of what we are. We're going to look at that for a little bit of fun. But really what we're preaching about over the next few weeks is who are we as Christians? If we were to distill it down into a simple explanation of a few beliefs that are essential to Christians, what would they be?

[26:47] Well, many years ago they did that for us, probably about 1,500, 1,600 years ago, and they created something we call the Apostles' Creed, a statement of faith that all the churches of the world gathered together and decided this is what we believe.

[27:05] And after that, they couldn't agree on anything anymore. John Wesley, who started the Methodist Church, said in the essentials we need to have unity, in the non-essentials we need to have liberty, and in everything we need to have charity.

[27:21] I think that's a perfect example of what we're supposed to be. So what are the building blocks? What are the ABCs of the Christian faith? We're looking at the Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

[27:37] What does that mean to us today? What does that mean in and of itself? What did it mean when they wrote that into the Creed? What does it mean with this chapter from Genesis?

[27:48] We know that it doesn't mean God is a man floating on a cloud somewhere with a white beard. Some of those images come from the Bible, but the truth is in verse 27 of this passage we read today, it says, God created mankind in his own image.

[28:04] He created them in the image of God, male and female, he created them. So if we're all created in the image of God, male and female, it means God is that as well.

[28:16] God is a reflection of who all of us are, not just one gender, but both of us. So why do we use the word Father? Why don't we just take that, what's that word?

[28:28] I can't get it out anyways, you know what I mean. That old-fashioned term and toss it out the window. Because in the context in which it was written, it meant something very powerful.

[28:39] And I understand it because of the context in which I grew up to some degree. I remember my father when I was a young man, saying that his father's hands were the size of a shovel.

[28:51] And even when he was a grown man, his hands weren't the size of his. So I put my hand up to his, and his were bigger than mine. And I know right now that if my grandson put his hand up to mine, mine would probably be bigger.

[29:03] Somehow there's this idea of Father that was meant to be. And it wasn't meant to be the image of our earthly fathers who fail and don't live up to the ideal of this.

[29:15] But it's the image of a perfect father, a protector, a provider. Father, someone who, if necessary, enforces the rules. Anybody remember that, Father?

[29:27] My dad used to walk in the house and say to my mother, who needs to get whacked? And we'd scurry away. He didn't enforce it because he wanted to hurt us.

[29:39] It was because he was trying to live to be the father that God shows to us in this image. So we look at this passage about God the Father, the creator of the universe, the ruler of all that is, someone that is so beyond our comprehension, God Almighty who can hold a world in the palm of his hand.

[30:02] How do we even get our mind around such a thing? Well, this passage helps us. The very first verse of the Bible says, in the beginning, God.

[30:16] In the beginning, God. God was in control of things in the beginning. God designed everything in the beginning. Everything came from God.

[30:27] And we believe in God, the Father, and God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit, which we will talk more about those aspects of God as we go through this sermon series. But we are a Trinitarian belief.

[30:40] It's what separates us from some other world religions that we believe God is one, but that there are three separate ways we can understand God. God, the Son, who's reaching out with salvation to all of us to try and make that connection with humanity.

[30:54] God, the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, but also God beyond. Anything we could ever imagine. In Psalm number 8, it says it this way.

[31:06] Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies to silence the foe and avenger.

[31:19] When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are people that you're mindful of them? Human beings that you care for them.

[31:33] A God so incredible that it's hard for us to imagine him, and yet, at the same time, a God so close that he loves each and every one of us. The creation story troubles a lot of people.

[31:47] A lot of times, we feel like it may not be exactly accurate, and somehow that challenges our faith. Did God create the world in six 24-hour days?

[32:00] Well, it's an absurdity, and it's not even biblical to say such a thing. The Bible says in the book of Psalms, in chapter 90, a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or even like a watch in the night, three hours.

[32:13] A thousand years are like three hours, God, or maybe even more. When they said 24-hour days, the intention was not to think in terms of our terms, but to think in terms of God's idea that it was done in an orderly way, intentionally.

[32:29] And why seven days? So that we could all understand that if God could work six days and take a day to rest, so should we. So the Bible is not trying to give you a particular scientific adventure here.

[32:45] It's trying to give you a theological understanding of the truth. In the beginning was God. And in an orderly way, God created all that you see around us.

[32:57] And oddly enough, this story from the Bible written thousands of years ago matches up to a lot of what science tells us. In the beginning was God. And then there became matter that started hurtling through the universe, and our earth was nothing but an empty rock without anything present until God started to sort out the stars and the universe, the sun and the moon, and create solar systems.

[33:25] And there was light. And eventually, an atmosphere formed, and then the water separated from the ground. And the first thing that appeared as life were the plants.

[33:38] And then after the plants were fish and birds. And then after the fish and birds, more complicated animals. And eventually, human beings. Well, isn't that exactly what I've read in the science books?

[33:49] I don't claim to be a scientist, but it's pretty darn close for somebody writing it thousands of years ago without our understanding. Sometimes we get all caught up in this, like it's a contest.

[34:03] Somebody once told me of a contest where some scientists got together with God, and they said, we don't need you anymore. We can do anything you can do. In fact, we could even create a man. And God said, okay, but we've got to do it the original way.

[34:16] So they said, all right, we can do that. So God reached down for some dirt, and the scientists reached down for some dirt, and God said, no, get your own dirt. In the beginning was God.

[34:30] And the only one who's ever created something out of nothing is God. The rest of us just put it together differently. But there is no truth that we are at war with science. Science searches for truth, and religion searches for truth.

[34:45] We are on the same quest. We are allies trying to understand this universe that God gave to us. God, the Father, who created everything in an orderly way.

[34:58] And he said that it was all good. Now, the truth is, that's an amazing concept when you think about all the brokenness in our world. And in fact, in the day that this was written, thousands of years ago, everybody believed that you go out in the woods and it's bad.

[35:15] It's not good out there. So to imply that the world was made good was an amazing concept of how we're supposed to live and reflect God.

[35:26] Because we were made in the image of God. That is so essential to understanding us and who God wants us to be. We were made to be like God.

[35:40] That doesn't mean that God sees us as somehow better than the rest of creation or more important. In fact, in the 20th verse of this passage, it talks about the birds and the sea creatures.

[35:55] And it says that God blessed them in verse 22. God cares about them. Jesus even said in the book of Matthew, look at the birds of the air.

[36:06] They don't sow or reap or store away in barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Because they matter to God. So God created us to reflect who He is.

[36:17] And He said, I want you to have dominion. I want you to rule over this world. The problem is when we hear those words, we think that means that somehow that puts us in a position of privilege.

[36:31] But in the ancient world, they understood dominion ruling as responsibility. In fact, they believed that kings were appointed by God and were divinely expected to live out as God would live out on earth.

[36:47] Now people fail. They don't do things as perfect as God. But God never intended for us to destroy or harm or cause all kinds of destruction in this world that He made.

[37:01] He created us to care for them like He cares for us. To love them like a father loves their child. A father may set up rules and a father may provide discipline, but a father does not destroy their own children and their own creation and nor does God expect us to do that either.

[37:19] God expects us to be creative and purposeful and orderly and good and loving just as God was to us. And God brought light.

[37:31] In fact, the creation of light took an entire day and God was so tired He rested after it. It was an important thing that reached into darkness and broke through that brokenness and gave us a sense of security.

[37:48] How many of you have ever been in a completely dark room? It's creepy. It gives you the eebie-jeebies. I mean, really, it messes with your brain.

[37:59] So God provides light. Not just during the day as we see it now, but even in the night He provides light. Even on a cloudy, dark day, there's still light.

[38:11] Because God knows that light gives us goodness and light gives us the ability to order things and to create sacred time.

[38:24] But we see things as being about us. We see all of creation as being a privilege, not a responsibility. Just as some parents who are not good parents see their children as being something to be there for them, not something they're there for.

[38:43] But we know that a good parent cares for and loves their children and provides light in the midst of darkness. but we don't always choose that. In the book of John, it says to us, this is the verdict.

[38:56] Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

[39:10] We walked away from the light. We walked away from our purpose in creation and we broke God's heart. Let's go back to the image of God. To be God, God has to ultimately be free and able to make choices and when God made you and I in his image, what he did was he made us in such a way that we could choose.

[39:32] Not a choice that's a false choice like do you want an orange or an orange, but a choice that was real. So real that God even made the possibility of evil. Some people have said, so did God make all the bad stuff?

[39:45] No, God made the possibility of it. God made that it could be and when we chose evil, when we made the decision to walk away from the light and walk into the darkness, it broke all of creation and now we live in this broken world and our choices create our pain.

[40:07] One of the hardest things about being a parent is knowing when to let go of your children. You know? When the real little, it's like, don't you be out of my sight.

[40:18] Right? And then we get to a point where it's like, you stay on the first floor and then don't go out of the yard and back in my day, they'd say, come home when the street lights are on.

[40:29] I don't know if they do that anymore. Okay? And at some point, at some point in time, we have to say, you're going to have to make your own choices now.

[40:43] Go and make me proud. And the problem is, is all children, everywhere, make wrong choices, just like we did. I have parents who come to me and they're heartbroken because their children have chosen to do something that they know is destructive for them.

[41:02] They've chosen to live in a life that their parents know is wrong and is going to cause them grief. It's not that the parents are concerned about themselves, they're worried about their children, but the children still choose to do wrong.

[41:15] Which wrong will your children pick? I don't know. Every child is different, every person is different, but they all choose. It's a different story of creation, but they all pick from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and they fall out of the garden and into the darkness because we get self-focused and we think that life is privilege instead of responsibility.

[41:43] We sin and we find our lives desolate, broken. It seems like winter and Buffalo seems like winter, unending winter.

[41:55] We have four seasons in Buffalo and we know that. There's pre-winter, winter, still winter, and construction. We know how to use winter to our advantage.

[42:08] We have our porches and our garages as our second refrigerator. They don't understand that in other parts of the country. We think eight inches of snow is a dusting and not a problem.

[42:21] They close cities down with one inch. We brag about surviving blizzards, but don't anybody from outside this area ever call us the land of endless winter because that's our title to use.

[42:36] Amen? We're from Buffalo. Friday, I had an appointment with the gas company to turn on our gas at Silver Lake. They gave me a nice, easy-to-fit schedule that I had to be there at 8 a.m.

[42:51] and stay until 4 o'clock in a cold house and they would come somewhere in that time frame. So we got up at 5.30 and drove to the lake and sat in a cold house.

[43:01] I actually went out and started trimming bushes and I came in and my wife said, why is your hair wet? I said, it's snowing out there. And so in our 45 degree little room that we'd heated up with a little space heater, my wife finally got tired of it at 11 o'clock and called the utility company and they said, oh, we're not coming today.

[43:20] We canceled you. There's been a storm. Don't you know that? You're not on the list. Really? We're just supposed to know this? So now I get to go out next Friday and I said, could you give me a break and give me sort of like a half a day wet?

[43:34] No. You'd be there from 8 to 4. We're the utility company. We don't have to listen to anybody. Enjoy the weather. We go through these things and they make us tougher.

[43:48] They make us harder. They help us to learn. And even our children do the same and we've all done the same. We learn from our lessons. We learn from our mistakes. But it doesn't mean that we're intended to live in the darkness and the cold.

[44:02] We're meant to live in something more. God the Father wants us to recapture the original goodness, the purpose. He disciplines us to guide us back to a good life, not to harm us.

[44:19] I remember driving out west with my family. We were going on a long ride. It seemed like it lasted for 300 years. But there were five of us kids in the back seat and we were doing what five children would do in the back seat which was basically pounding on each other, yelling and screaming.

[44:37] And our father would occasionally say those words. You've heard them before. If I have to pull this car over, right? And we would calm down a little. Well, all of a sudden the car pulled over.

[44:48] Oh my gosh! You've never seen children so quiet in your life. And when we crawled under the seat we were like hiding. We didn't know what was going to happen.

[45:00] He never pulled the car over before. I mean, that was just a threat, right? The hand came back and caught two or three of us and we drove in silence for about 45 minutes.

[45:14] Now I want you to picture five children being quiet for 45 minutes. And then the car pulled over again in front of an ice cream stand and dad bought us ice cream.

[45:26] Fathers don't want to hurt their children. Not good and loving and perfect fathers like God the Father in heaven. He wants to love us. He wants to reward us.

[45:36] He wants to give us joy. He created the world to have opportunities for blessing. And while we sometimes talk about God the Father as if he's separate from God the Son and the Holy Spirit as if God the Father is the Punisher and God the Son and Holy Spirit are the comforting and saving ones, the truth is they're all wrapped up in one God.

[45:59] In fact, they were both present here in the second verse of the Bible. The second verse of the Bible it says, the earth was formless and empty darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters and God said.

[46:16] Or in other words the Word of God was present the water was there to baptize us and the Holy Spirit was hovering over everything.

[46:27] So even in the beginning God intended to love us. John says to us in chapter 5, very truly I tell you no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they're born of the water and the Spirit.

[46:40] The baptism of Jesus Christ, the blessing of his salvation and the Holy Spirit touching and moving our hearts brings us to salvation but it's all the work of God the Father who is the Son and is the Holy Spirit.

[46:56] It's not just creation it's recreation. The Christian faith above all things is about the idea of fresh starts about the idea that yes we mess up yes we make mistakes yes we fall short of the glory of God and yes we walk into the darkness but that God still wants us to have light.

[47:17] Still wants us to have hope. God doesn't leave us in winter because as cold as it is outside we know springtime is coming.

[47:29] Amen? And people who live in Florida don't get spring and people who live in Honolulu don't understand spring but when you've lived in Buffalo spring is special.

[47:46] What time is it? I don't know. I'll check. It's spring wake up everybody it's springtime spring is here spring is here spring is here spring is here spring is here spring is here spring is here spring is finally here with the snow and ice no longer sing the leaves are finally turning green that's why it's time to sing spring is here spring is here spring is finally here spring is finally凍 here And as God didn't leave us in the desert, God doesn't leave us in the winter.

[48:54] Psalm chapter 8 says to us, What is mankind that you are mindful of them? Human beings that you care for them. You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.

[49:05] You made them rulers over the works of your hands and you put everything under their feet. God has made you a little less than the angels.

[49:17] God has made you to have dominion over the whole world because he trusts you enough to do that. You're not random. We are an act of God's love.

[49:29] The Holy Spirit breathed into life from the very beginning and breathes into our hearts too. God made it.

[49:40] God made it. Someone once said that the possibility if you work mathematical probabilities, and I'm not that much of a mathematician, to figure out how to, by chance, random chance, create this out of a rock would be like a whirlwind blowing over a junkyard and when it leaves there would be a complete operational 747 sitting on the ground.

[50:04] That's ridiculous to think that this just happened. Of course there's rules. Of course there's processes. Of course there's things we say that science has taught us that God uses.

[50:16] Who do you think made those rules, those patterns, those ideas? God is a God of order. He's a God of reason. God created us.

[50:26] God created us. But he didn't just make us randomly. He made us for a purpose. That we would live to the higher ideals. That we would reflect the goodness of God.

[50:37] That we would be like God. In fact, in verse 31, he said, we were not only good, we were very good.

[50:49] Awesome, incredible, amazing, outstanding, phenomenal. The best work God has ever done is what he thinks of people like you and me. And so God doesn't want us to live in brokenness.

[51:01] God doesn't want us to be crushed. God doesn't want us to live in darkness. He wants us to live to the capacity of goodness he's given to us. The very image of God. So we bring goodness and light and creativity and order and love into this world.

[51:22] And we change the course of what we live in. God made an entire universe. He designed it. He put it in place with all its intricacies.

[51:36] Simply for you. And so today, God calls you to live to the glory that you were designed for. Who am I?

[52:02] Let the Lord of all the earth Would care to know my name Would care to feel my hurt Who am I?

[52:18] That the bright and morning star Would choose to light the way For my ever-wandering heart Not because of who I am But because of what you've done Not because of what I've done But because of who you are I am a flower quickly fading Built today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean A vapor in the wind Still you hear me when I'm calling Lord, you catch me when I'm falling And you've told me who I am

[53:22] I am yours I am yours I am yours Who am I?

[53:34] Let the eyes that see my sin Would look on thee with love And watch me rise again Who am I?

[53:50] Who am I? Who am I? Let the voice that comes to see Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?

[54:02] I amком 2020 He isシ ghostly 222 Ores Who am I? David of the world I am denying He is souls And if your neighbor Dec Brandon Love He is multimillionaire There's a day and gone tomorrow A wave lost in the ocean A paper in the wind Still you hear me when I'm calling Lord you kiss me when I'm falling And you told me who I am I am yours I am yours

[55:05] I am yours You are not a God created By human hands You are not a God dependent On any mortal man You are not a God in need of Anything we can give By your plan That's just the way it is You are not a God created By human hands You are not a God dependent

[56:07] On any mortal man You are not a God in need of Anything we can give By your plan That's just the way it is You are God alone From before time began You are not a God dal You are not a God called Mary You're the only God who's power None can come in hand You're the only God who's David

[57:08] Praise Him everland You're the only God who's worthy Everything we can give You are God That's just the way it is You are God, O Lord From the poor time began You are on your throne You are God, O Lord And right now In the new times and bad You are on your throne You are God, O Lord You're unchangeable You're unshakable You're unstoppable That's what you are

[58:09] You're unchangeable You're unstoppable You're unstoppable That's what you are You are God, O Lord From the poor time began You are on your throne You are God, O Lord You are God, O Lord You are God, O Lord And right now And right now In the new times and bad You are on your throne You are God, O Lord You're unchangeable You're unshakable Unshakable, you're unstoppable, that's what you are.

[59:11] God created us in his image with all that goodness and righteousness and perfection and we have an opportunity to live into that.

[59:22] And yet, I don't know about you, but I fail far more than I like. I don't want to fail at all, but I am constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit saying, you know, you didn't do that right.

[59:35] And if we examine our lives, we find the times when we have done things not even on purpose to hurt people or we've actually done things on purpose.

[59:46] Either way, God still loves us and God wants to be in relationship with us, but God does want us to be holy. And so I'm going to invite you to a prayer of confession along with me as we prepare for the table of grace.

[60:01] Lord, I am a sinner. Lord, I am a sinner. I need your grace. I need your grace. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your love. Forgive me for my sins. Forgive me for my sins.

[60:12] Set me on the right path. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. That I may discern your will and be a witness to you with my entire life.

[60:27] I love you, Lord. And I thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[60:39] To 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.

[60:52] 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.

[61:03] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[61:47] Amen. Amen. Amen.

[61:59] Amen. Amen. Amen.

[62:09] O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the world's hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder I bow throughout, the universe display And sing my soul, my Savior God to me How great Thou art, how great Thou art And sing my soul, my Savior God to me How great Thou art, how great Thou art

[63:15] And when I think that God is not sparing Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in That on the cross, my burden and memory He planned and died to take away my sin And sing my soul, my Savior God to me How great Thou art, how great Thou art And sing my soul, my Savior God to me How great Thou art, how great Thou art

[64:21] God is great, amen? Amen. He did die for our sins and He rose. And one of the things that was common in those days after when He was seeing His disciples and showing Himself to them, when they were able to see that He was still alive, one of the things that was common was that they recognized Him when He broke the bread.

[64:51] And when we break the bread in Holy Communion, we recognize Jesus in a unique and amazing way that He has provided for us.

[65:03] So everyone is welcome. Jesus wants us to recognize Him in all things. If you love God, repent of your sin, and seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are welcome to be part of breaking the bread with Him.

[65:22] He invites you. It doesn't matter if this is the first time you've been here or if you've been coming all your life. Jesus Himself invites you to break bread with Him so that you can recognize Him in an amazing and wonderful way.

[65:38] So come to the table. 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.

[65:58] 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.

[66:09] You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and set before us the way of life.

[66:21] 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.

[66:36] 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.

[66:47] By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

[66:58] 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.

[67:12] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to you. And he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples. He said, take and eat.

[67:24] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

[67:36] And when the supper was over, he took the cup. He gave you thanks and praise and gave it to his disciples. He said, drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood.

[67:47] 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 in remembrance of me.

[68:02] On the day you raised him from the dead, he was recognized by his disciples in the breaking of the bread. And in the power of your Holy Spirit, your church has continued in the breaking of bread and sharing of the cup.

[68:15] 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.

[68:32] 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.

[68:52] 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.

[69:04] 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. Shall we pray together with the confidence of children of God, the prayer Jesus taught us?

[69:21] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

[69:32] 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.

[69:52] Amen. Will those who are serving please come forward. God's gracefully serve us for the Lord. Okay? Thank you, Lord. Let Lord Т Taco Thank you.

[70:27] Thank you.

[70:57] Thank you.

[71:27] God is calling you back home. God is saying, come back to the goodness, the creation, the intention that I had for your lives. And so you're welcome to come to the table, receive the blessing of God, receive God himself.

[71:40] No matter who you are, you're welcome. God made you. God wants you back home. Your heavenly father is calling. You're welcome at the rail for prayers for healing and anointing, to light a candle as your prayer.

[71:54] Come and join us with the Lord. Amen. Thank you.

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