Transcription downloaded from https://services.pcumc.org/sermons/27393/april-3-2016/.

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[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[0:46] This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

[1:08] Good morning and welcome to our church. We have a gift for our visitors at the Connection site. Please fill out your friendship card for any prayers or concern or just so we can get to know you.

[1:22] It's fun to be part of the welcoming committee here at Edmonton Center. We are glad to have you here. Somebody asked me where the clipboards were last week. Well, they're back this week.

[1:33] We have two opportunities for ministry. First is our Hot Chocolate with God, which is our children's ministry on Friday night, needs cookies. So if you like to make cookies and provide cookies, that's what that's for.

[1:44] And the other is our rummage sale, which is when the women take all our used stuff that we don't need anymore, they sell it to people who do need it, and the proceeds go to help people in our community and around the world.

[1:57] So there is a sign-up sheet to help with that. If you want to start bringing your stuff, then you can do that in about two weeks. About two weeks. I think it's the 17th after that. Also, finally, if you ordered flowers for Easter, take them home with you. We'd love to have you take them home.

[2:11] If not, we'll find a good home for them in the backyard of the pastor's house or something like that. We do hope that you can take them and enjoy them. We welcome our preschool families with us this morning. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer?

[2:23] Dear God, we thank you for the blessings you give to us. We thank you for the joy of being here, and we pray that you bless us in all that we do and all that we are to be filled with your presence and your spirit.

[2:33] For it's in Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. I'm going to invite you, if you're able to stand, as we're going to sing together, Rejoice, the Lord is King. Rejoice, the Lord is King, your Lord and King of Lord.

[3:10] More those in bags and sing, and triumph and serve more. Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, rejoice again, I say, rejoice.

[3:27] His kingdom cannot fail. Jesus the Lord reigns, the God of truth and love, when he has purged us, he took his seat above.

[3:41] Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, rejoice again, I say, rejoice.

[3:52] His kingdom cannot fail He rules all earth and hell The keys of earth and hell are to our Jesus Give it, lift up your heart Lift up your voice, rejoice again I say Rejoice Rejoice to glorious hope Jesus the judge shall call And take his servants up to their eternal home We soon shall hear The archangel's voice, the trump of God's sound Rejoice The Lord be with you Take a moment if you will and greet your neighbor with the peace of the spirit Kids come up and join me now

[5:07] If the kids want to come up You guys stay right here, okay? Stay right here Come on up guys Any other kids want to come up?

[5:38] They're welcome to join us There's a song I know And it says that we should dance We should shout And we should sing Okay?

[5:50] So everybody stand up Stand up I want to see if you can dance Can you dance? Dancing is just wiggling the music Alright? Can you shout? Go like this Hey Hey Hey Can you sing?

[6:04] We go Na na na na na na na na na na na Can you do that? Na na na na na na We're gonna dance We're gonna shout We're gonna sing Adrian? Ready?

[6:19] Ready?

[6:39] Ready? Come on Come on Come on Come on Come on Come on Let's smack Come on Move etme let's do that Come on mucha Excellent. Everybody sit down there.

[7:11] That was really cool. You know what the only thing wrong was? They weren't dancing. They weren't shouting. They weren't singing. They were just sitting there like this.

[7:24] It's so much more fun when you're dancing, you're shouting, you're singing, isn't it? And remember, God loves you, and God put it into your heart to dance, to shout sometimes in the right place, and to sing, okay?

[7:37] So keep doing that. No matter what anybody says to you, keep doing it, because God wants you to do that. That's what he made you for. What are you guys thankful for? If you're thankful for something and you want to share it, raise your hand.

[7:48] Okay? If you want to share something, just raise your hand. My mom and dad. My family and my friends. Family and friends.

[8:02] Family and friends. My family. Brothers and sisters. Family and friends. My brother. My friend.

[8:14] My family. My sister. And mom. Okay.

[8:26] Who wants to share over here? I'm thankful for my family and my cousins and brothers and friends.

[8:37] You want to share something? And mom. What do you think about it? You think about it, okay? It's about what you have. Yes.

[8:48] Liam. Liam, okay. My family. Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? Would you? I don't want to step on anybody.

[9:00] My toys. My kids. My kids. My goats. My family. Watch for the ones.

[9:12] Aiden. You got it? My brother. Your brother. Okay, great. Anybody else? We get everybody?

[9:23] All right. What? One more. Okay. Here we go. A couple more. Good take some time. Good friend. Jesus.

[9:41] Do you want to share this? Say something. I thank you for carrot. Carrot. Carrot. Carrot. Carrot. Wonderful. Very good.

[9:51] Very good. All right. Dude, you're killing me. Tyler.

[10:03] All right. My mommy and daddy and my E.T. are moving out. All right. Terrific. Terrific. Okay. We're going to pray, right? Everybody pray. Lord, we thank you for the blessings you give to us.

[10:15] We thank you for our parents, our teachers, our friends, our family, our brothers and sisters, our pets, and even our E.T. movies. Be with us and bless us today and always. In Jesus' name, amen.

[10:26] You kids stay here. You kids can go out to church school, okay? If you're preschool, come on over here. Come on up next.

[10:43] Good morning. Good morning. My name is Sean Michalski, and I was asked to speak to you today about things I'm thankful for in regard to Genesis Preschool and considering our celebration today.

[11:01] My family consists of myself, my wife Karen, my son Lucas, who's six, and my daughter Grace, who's four. We first came to PCUMC in 2012 after we heard a commercial on the radio from Pastor Tom emphasizing PCUMC's motto for looking after the least, the lost, and the little ones.

[11:23] We soon learned about the available programs for our little ones here. I'd like to say that I am thankful not only for the preschool program, but also for all the children's ministries and programs we have here at PCUMC.

[11:38] The children's ministries we have utilized are the weekly Sunday school program, the nursery, Mom's Morning Out, the preschool, and the frog singing group that my son participates in.

[11:53] All of these programs have been an integral part of our children's continued walk with the Lord. My son Lucas spent two years here in the three-year-old and four-year-old programs.

[12:06] My daughter Grace started in the Mom's Morning Out, then moved to the three-year-old program, and has almost completed the four-year-old program. The foundation in learning and socialization skills taught by the caring and Christian-minded teachers here at the Genesis Preschool were imperative to building a firm foundation leading to kindergarten.

[12:29] All the teachers and helpers provided the children with a solid foundation in basic math, reading, writing, and prepared them for the years ahead.

[12:40] We appreciate the way they encouraged the children to give thanks to God for the food they eat during snack time. Here, God is part of the learning that can't be offered in the public school system.

[12:53] That I am grateful for. Another reason I am thankful for the Genesis Preschool and its staff is the concerted effort they put forth on behalf of my son with regards to his food allergies.

[13:07] Lucas had been diagnosed with seven of the eight major food allergies, which presented us with an extreme challenge when it came to sending our son anywhere that he needed to be provided with food.

[13:17] The teachers at the preschool were very conscientious of our concerns and took great strides to be aware of the allergens in the food and play items provided at school.

[13:30] They used excellent communication with the other parents to make them aware of the risk of exposure to certain items and to assure that they were not brought into the classroom. Their concern for my child and all the children is very apparent.

[13:44] These are just some of the many reasons that I am thankful and grateful for a Genesis Preschool program here at Pendleton Center.

[13:54] If any of you have children that are or soon will be three or four years old, I strongly encourage you to speak with any of our preschool teachers and consider placing your children here in the Genesis program.

[14:10] I feel that you and your children will find it very fulfilling and rewarding. Thank you and God bless. Thank you, Sean.

[14:23] And as we're thankful for the preschool, our children, and all the blessings God gives us through all of this, let's return our Thanksgiving with our morning tithes and our offerings. Thank you.

[15:02] Thank you. Thank you.

[15:34] Thank you.

[16:04] Thank you.

[16:34] Thank you. Thank you.

[17:04] Thank you. Thank you.

[17:34] Thank you. Thank you. I have hands, watch me clap, oh what a miracle am I.

[17:55] I have feet, watch me stand, oh what a miracle am I.

[18:10] Oh what a miracle, oh what a miracle every little part of me. I'm something special, so very special, there's nobody quite like me.

[18:25] I have arms, I have arms, watch me swing, watch me swing, oh what a miracle am I.

[18:38] I have legs, I have legs, take and bend and stretch, take and bend and stretch. Oh what a miracle am I.

[18:53] Oh what a miracle, oh what a miracle every little part of me. I have a spine, I have a spine, it can twist and bend, it can twist and bend.

[19:17] Oh what a miracle, oh what a miracle am I. I have one foot, watch me balance, watch me balance.

[19:32] Oh what a miracle, oh what a miracle every little part of me.

[19:45] Oh what a miracle, oh loomily. But i'm something special, so very special, there's nobody quite like me. There's nobody quite like me.

[20:00] Thank you.

[20:30] Thank you.

[21:00] Thank you. Praise him above me, heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[21:14] Amen. Thank you.

[21:46] Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. And preschool parents and such, your kiddos have gone down to a program in the ark.

[22:02] And after worship is over with, you can go pick them up down there. up down there, because that's where they're going to be. All right? Okay. If children want to come out to school, they can go out with me. If there's any other kids who want to go out, they can come out with me now.

[22:16] All righty. Amen. We do have the blessing of, you know, having had the children with us. Isn't it amazing?

[22:27] The faith that they have. You know, we talk about it all the time. We hear about it. We're supposed to have childlike faith to enter in. Did you see it? Did you see what it looks like? I want to look like that.

[22:42] Amen? Amen. All right. We do need to go before the Lord in prayer, and we take all of our joys to the Lord, of course, because God rejoices with us as we rejoice. God is also concerned about those things that are concerns in our hearts.

[22:56] And we do have a few to lift up. We have a number of people who are recovering from surgeries. In particular, this morning, we want to lift up Rick Clapsaddle. And Shirley Pullman's friend, Stephen Smith, who has cancer.

[23:10] And we know that there are many in all of our lives who have experienced going through cancer and maybe are right now. We'll lift all those folks up as well.

[23:20] And Evelyn McAdam's sister, Eileen Mojica, died unexpectedly this week. And we also know that there are folks, other folks with us, who are remembering loved ones who they have lost recently.

[23:35] I just want to keep all of these folks lifted up in our prayers. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father, you are so good.

[23:58] We are so grateful that you are God. you are above all things. There is none like you anywhere in all of creation.

[24:10] You were before all creation. You are the one who has no beginning and no end. That, Lord, alone draws us to your presence, draws us to come together and praise you and worship you.

[24:29] But it's not enough for you. You desire to pour out blessings on us. You desire to hear and answer our prayers.

[24:41] We are so grateful, Lord. We love you. from our heart of hearts, the way the children love you.

[24:54] Help us to remember, Lord. Lord, we lift up all of those folks who are sick, who are recovering from surgeries, who are in need of a healing touch from you.

[25:07] Whether it be in their spirits or their souls or their bodies, we ask that you touch them and make them whole in you from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet.

[25:18] We pray for those who are grieving losses of all kinds, Lord. Comfort them and give them peace, your peace, that passes all understanding.

[25:29] pray, Lord God, that your spirit would move in us and through us in a mighty and powerful way wherever we go.

[25:43] We ask that we could be vessels that carry your blessing, that we can touch the people in our community, whether it's at school or at work, at our senior citizen facility, just our neighbors next door and down the street.

[26:04] Help us to touch them with your love, to share all that you have given us. As we share it, Lord, as we share your love, it's an amazing thing about love.

[26:20] We don't have less of it. You multiply it. Every time we give your love away to someone, you make more love for us and for them.

[26:37] Lord, we pray in Jesus' name now for all of those who don't know you, for those who are living lives aimlessly, wandering, wondering what they should be doing, wondering where to find hope.

[26:54] We pray that we can share you with them. We pray for all of our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world who are doing just that, who are sharing your love.

[27:07] We pray that the hearts of many will turn to you. We pray also, Lord, for all of those people in circumstances that are unsafe.

[27:20] We ask in Jesus' name that you would come in with peace. that overcomes the chaos of this world. Transform us, Lord, as we're here in your midst.

[27:36] Transform us as we worship you. Allow your word to transform us as we hear it read. Be with Pastor Tom and bless him as he delivers the message you have given him for us.

[27:50] Let it be a blessing to him and to us. Lord God, we ask in Jesus' name that you make all of our worship this morning to be a blessing to you.

[28:02] That is why we came, Lord. We came to bless you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord?

[28:15] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[28:52] Good morning. This morning's readings are from the book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 through 8 and 12 to 21.

[29:10] When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

[29:31] They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

[29:51] Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken.

[30:08] Utterly amazed, they asked, Aren't all of these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our own native language?

[30:22] Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, What does this mean? Some, however, made fun of them and said, They've had too much wine.

[30:38] Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you.

[30:49] Listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

[31:02] In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions.

[31:14] Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women. I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

[31:25] I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

[31:36] The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[31:49] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Julanne. By the way, I believe that the service will be on our website in the coming days, so if you want to check to see any of it, especially those who have children and such, that should be on our website in the coming days.

[32:09] The disciples in this passage are hiding. They're in an upper room. According to the book of John in chapter 20, it says that they were afraid because they thought that they might find themselves hung up on a cross.

[32:21] They were afraid of what the people might do to them, so they were hiding. And the problem is, is people have been hiding from the beginning of time. In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, it says, the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

[32:40] And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said, where are you? And he answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked.

[32:53] So I hid. Which I understand, if I was naked, you came to my house, I'd be hiding too. You'd want me to hide. But there's been this kind of thing going on between us and God for years, for eons.

[33:09] The people were expelled from the garden because of their sin. And so there was a separation created between God and between people. And so God became more like a mystery.

[33:23] In fact, in the old days, they had a great curtain between the Holy of Holies and the people so that the people couldn't come to God. They wore veiled faces. There was this separation from God.

[33:38] Because we were no longer in the garden. We had lost that sense of innocence that Adam and Eve had. We understand that because we go through the same process as people.

[33:50] When we're children, little children, we sing, we dance, we enjoy life. Somebody said the other day, somewhere around six years of age, the children stopped singing.

[34:03] Six years of age, they've figured out that the world has decided that they shouldn't sing. They shouldn't be making the noise. They shouldn't let their voice be heard because it's not as good as the ones that they hear on the TV and the radio and wherever else.

[34:17] Or someone told them to stop. Around eight years old, they stopped dancing. The men stopped dancing sooner than the women. But they stopped dancing.

[34:30] And we become adults. We become people who have lost the innocence, lost the sense of being children and playing and living as God created us to be in the garden.

[34:43] We become broken out of the garden. Ate from the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. Alley, alley, oxen free.

[34:54] Anybody ever remember saying that? When we were kids, what that meant is if you were playing hide and seek and somebody got caught, you'd yell out, alley, alley, oxen free, which meant everybody could come out from hiding and nobody would get tagged, nobody would be in.

[35:07] It was free. You were free to come out. That's what happened on Easter. Jesus came out of the grave. God came out of hiding.

[35:19] Came out of hiding away from us and the mystery became open. Colossians says it this way, I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present you the word of God in its fullness, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations.

[35:40] But now it's disclosed to the Lord's people. God is out of hiding. God is fully made known to the world. Peter came out and stood up amongst the people and boldly raised his voice and addressed the crowd.

[35:57] Have you ever been found out on something? My wife and I went to E.B. Green's on Thursday night. I don't know if you've ever been to E.B. Green's. It's downtown. I haven't been there in a long time.

[36:09] Truth of the matter is, I haven't been there for 31 years. 31 years ago, my wife and I went to E.B. Green's because I got a gift certificate from work, which is the only way I could afford it. And so we went out for this wonderful evening, had a great night, and I said, now, honey, enjoy this night because we are going to become pastors and we won't be able to afford this for a long, long time.

[36:32] I didn't know it would be 31 years. So there we're sitting and we're enjoying ourselves and the waitress came up and she starts talking to us as waitresses do, you know. And then somewhere she asked the question, what do you do for a living?

[36:47] Now, I've got to tell you the truth. Sometimes we just want to be civilians. We don't want anybody to know what we do for a living. We just want to be treated like regular folks. We don't want to be pastors.

[36:57] We don't want anybody to... But, you know, she asked us straight out. So what are we going to say? Well, we're in the people relationship business to kind of work on... What are we going to say? Motivational speakers?

[37:09] I mean, you know, okay. So my wife says I'm a chaplain at the air base and my husband's a pastor. We were caught out, if you will. The secret was revealed.

[37:23] The odd thing is it didn't hurt a thing. In fact, it seemed to make her closer. It seemed to make her want to talk to us more. She came around. We chatted. I told her my little story about not being there for 31 years.

[37:34] She said, I've been here 32 years. It's a long time. God is out of hiding. He's available to everybody.

[37:46] He's vulnerable even to relationship with us. We can hurt Him. There's nothing separating us. God saves us.

[37:58] The Holy Spirit. Last week, we had the gates, the pearly gates. And it's the way we normally picture them. Closed. St. Peter at the gate with the keys saying, well, how do you know? I don't know whether I'm going to let you in or not.

[38:09] But I have a tendency to think that the gates of heaven are open. The Bible says so. They're not closed. Peter's swinging the key. He's got nothing he can do because God already opened the gates so that we could go in.

[38:22] So that we could enter into eternal life so we can go back to the garden where we're meant to be. All who call on the name of the Lord, that's how they send it, will be saved.

[38:34] Saved for eternity. Saved from hell. Saved from sin. Saved from the guilt and the brokenness of our past and the things that bind us and make us feel less than what we should be.

[38:49] Saved from a meaningless life. Because God came out. And God wants us to come out of hiding too. My wife was telling me, we got on the story some reason for it, about hide and seek that night, my wife and I.

[39:03] And she told me a story I'd never heard in 40 years. She said, when I was a little girl, I did something wrong and I was hiding under the bed in my bedroom. And she said, my father came in looking for me and asked where I was.

[39:17] And when I was, said I was under the bed, he said, what are you doing there? She said, I told him I was hiding from God because I did something wrong. And my father-in-law had an artificial leg.

[39:28] So getting up and down was not an easy task for him. So when she said that he got down on his hands and knees to look under the bed for her, you can picture a father doing this, right? And he said to her, honey, you can't hide from God.

[39:42] It's okay. God loves you anyways. And she says, and I came out and he wrapped his arms around me and said, I love you no matter what. Isn't that what God does for us?

[39:54] When we come out of hiding, God says, it's okay. If Adam would have come out of the bushes, God wouldn't have said, really? He would have said, good. God wraps his arms around and loves us.

[40:09] Some people don't understand it. They don't understand God. They don't understand his salvation. They don't understand his power. So they make fun of it. It says that they were amazed. They were perplexed. They were confused.

[40:19] What does this mean? They must be drunk. Have you ever noticed when people don't understand something, they make fun of it? They mock it. They say there's got to be something wrong with them if you can't understand it.

[40:33] But God, God gives us this great gift. If we're willing to accept it as the Bible says, as a little child would accept his love and grace, the gates are open.

[40:45] that great religious theologian, Joni Mitchell, from the middle of last century, said we've got to get back to the land, set our soul free.

[41:01] We are stardust. We are golden. We are caught in the devil's bargain. And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

[41:14] That's what we need. We need to get back to what it originally was meant to be. Our relationship with life, our relationship with God, our relationship with the world. Because the hurt and the pain and the brokenness and the boredom of what we made our lives into is not healthy.

[41:34] It's not just about eternal life. It's about God empowering our lives and giving us a purpose for this life we live today. Something more than the day-to-day get up and go through the monotony of life.

[41:48] Something amazing. The Holy Spirit opens the gates. And it doesn't mean we can go in alone. It also means God came out. God comes out and gathers with us and unleashes the power of God.

[42:05] It was so amazing. It says it filled the whole room. It disrupted everything. It came suddenly and changed everything. In the Bible, John the Baptist said, I baptize with water, but the one who's coming after me is greater than I am.

[42:21] He baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit. I baptize with water. I baptize hundreds of little children and babies and adults. But the water that I put on a person doesn't do anything.

[42:35] There's no magic in it. There's no power in my hands. I don't have the ability to change a person. It's when the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power of God, comes into our lives that things change.

[42:47] Otherwise, it's just ritual. It's just religion. And religion doesn't save a soul. It's only the manger that holds the Christ child. It's important.

[42:59] But it's not the important thing. God wants to unleash His power in us. His Holy Spirit even released a language everybody understood.

[43:13] I know some people would say, well, that's not possible. There's not a language everybody would understand. Say rejoice. You see what that is? That's a language. When you do that, everybody knows what it means.

[43:27] We know what it means to smile. We know what it means to laugh. We know what it means to share a hug. We know what it means to love one another. A universal language. Children share it without thinking.

[43:41] They do it naturally. That's why I say children are so essential to a church because they give us a glimpse into the garden. We can look back at what we used to be, what we used to have and learn from the little children.

[43:56] The Bible says a little child will lead them because the children are actually living in Eden. They don't need to be fixed and turned into us. We need to be fixed and turned more into them.

[44:07] Amen? Who's having a good time? The gates are open. The kingdom of God is open to everyone.

[44:20] To everyone. We pray that prayer every week. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[44:31] Do we mean that? Do we really believe that? Do we really want that? That God would bring to this earth the innocence, the joy, the wonder, the power, the greatness of what he has in heaven.

[44:45] God wants to do it. That's his mission. The mission of God is to bring the kingdom of heaven on earth. Return to the garden, to love, to hope, a God-centered world.

[44:59] And God wants us to be part of that mission, too. God wants us to be part of that mission, too.

[45:31] and I'll turn. A listen to the of the ast mash of righteousness, too.

[45:45] The mystery of строотоap extension, too. That's her that showing the destiny of the heaven on earth. Can we change the world? You bet we can. It's not impossible, Misham. It's not impossible.

[45:55] them. If these few people back then could do it, we can do it today. There's a lot more of us than them. God is changing the world. You know, the entire world is drawing to God. I don't know if you know that. All over the world, people are coming to God. In Asia, in Africa, all over the world, people are coming to God. Turning to God is the biggest thing happening in the world today.

[46:17] Except here. Except here. We've decided we're too sophisticated for that. We're too adult for that. Simple things. God is not expecting something amazing. Maybe you are called to do something amazing. Maybe you're called to do something spectacular. In two or three weeks, we're going to gather together a group on a Sunday afternoon. You can come if you want to talk about starting new churches, baby churches. We need to start moving this movement out to other places in here.

[46:46] Maybe you're called to something like that. Maybe you're called to something simple like serving a meal or helping somebody in need. God has gifted you to do something special.

[46:59] In little baskets as you're coming into church, there was a little card. I can't find mine. I have one here. Here it is. A little card. What we'd like you to do with these cards today or over the next couple of weeks is we want you to write on there something that you think you can and will do for God. Something you'd like to see done for God. I don't want you to put your name on it. This is not a recruiting technique. This is about raising things up to God. We're going to put them up on that spider web thing in the back of the sanctuary because I believe that if we start putting these things before God, what God can do through us will be amazing. There's baskets in the front. You can put them there if you want us to hang them up or you can go back and clip them up yourself. That's fine with us.

[47:41] What is God calling you to do? Do you know that God has gifted you? God has given you a special, unique ability that's only for you. It's your mission. And it's not for you. It's for the world. In the book of Corinthians, it says, God has given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit to each of us for the common good, for the good of each other, to help each other. They went out from the upper room to help other people and bring God to other people. They could have stayed up in that room hiding. In fact, probably the wise thing to do, the adult thing to do, would have been to stay in the room hiding and just get high on Jesus. Instead, they brought it out to God. They brought it out to the world.

[48:31] And you know, if you're feeling broken and if you're feeling depressed and if you're feeling your life is struggling, if you feel like you've got problems and difficulties, you want to know the best way to feel better in life? Go help somebody else. Go help somebody else. It'll do this.

[48:47] It'll put a smile on your face and a smile on theirs. The universal language. Everyone is empowered by God. Everyone. It says the whole world came. People from all over the world, God brought for a specific time place to do something particular as God is going to do something particular if you're willing to allow it in your life in an amazing way to change the world. People came together. They heard the breath of God. The ruha is the Hebrew word of God. They heard his language. The Holy Spirit. They heard it.

[49:21] How many of you heard the wind last night? I heard it. Yeah, when God blows, people hear it. The wind. They came together. And God, it says, spoke in such a way that everyone understood it. God is speaking to everyone. Allie, allie, all are free. That's what somebody says that phrase comes from.

[49:42] It's really about saying everybody's free. Their sins won't be held against them. Or maybe this is a time when the Lord of the manor or the rich people would say all debts are forgiven. How cool would that be, right? A jubilee year. It's in the Bible. It says we're supposed to do it. Every 50 years, start over. Wouldn't that be wild if we really did that, right? Everybody's free. All the crimes, all the pains, anything you've ever done stops. And we move forward. That's what happens when we do our prayer of confession, right? We start fresh, brand new life. Everything behind us is gone.

[50:16] God becomes available to everyone. Everyone in unexpected ways. Before this, God was only available to individuals. God came, the Holy Spirit came on David or the Holy Spirit came on Saul or Elijah. But it didn't come on everybody. Here it says, in the latter days, which are the times after Jesus rose from the grave, I will pour out my spirit on everybody. We all can access this power.

[50:42] It says women and young people and old people and servants, rich and poor, powerful and weak, will all have the power of God. It says young people will have vision and old people will dream dreams. That doesn't happen, by the way. Vision comes from experience. I have seen a lot of life, so I can tell what's coming next. That's vision. You follow? Old people have that. Young people, by the way, can dream dreams.

[51:11] Because they got their whole life ahead of them. 31 years ago, when I was sitting at EB Green's, I was thinking, I got a whole life to dream. When you get to be my age, it's like, I got a little life left to dream. You follow? It says we get old, our dreams shrink, and our vision grows. But see, God says, I'm going to turn it all upside down. I don't care how young you are, God can put his wisdom within your heart, and you can know things that other people don't know, because you have the mind of God.

[51:42] And I don't care how old you are, if you're a Christian, you're going to live forever, so start dreaming, because you're not out of time. We need people young. We need people old. We need people right in the middle. Somebody said the other day, everybody wants people between the ages of 30 and 60.

[51:59] I want everybody. I want the young. I want the old. I want the in-between. I think everybody has something special that God has gifted them to do. All who call on the name of the Lord will experience this power, will be saved from their brokenness and from their meaninglessness.

[52:20] God's grace is not limited based on how poor you are or how old you are or what you've done in your life. God's come out to live with all of us. The gates are open. We need to get out of hiding.

[52:36] Olly olly all are free. When God comes back, it says that the sun and the moon will fall from the sky, that the things that we assume are so powerful will go away. The mountains will be leveled to the ground. The things we are so convinced we have to have won't matter anymore. I want you to picture you standing before God with a pile of money in your bank statement saying, look at how much money I made. God is going to go seriously. What am I going to do with that? A bunch of green paper.

[53:08] What did you bring that for? Build up treasures in heaven that moth and rust and thieves can't take. We do that through what we do to change this world for God and help other people.

[53:22] Those are the things that will remain. The things where you took the gifts, the unique gifts that God gave you and use them in such a way that God sees the world changed. You believe in the God that believes in you. Do you believe in you? Do you believe in the God that believes in you?

[53:50] God believes in you more than you believe in him. Kids are taught so many things. Some of them are told you can do anything you want, anything you put your mind to, and we know that's not true.

[54:06] We can do a certain point and we find out we can't do everything because we weren't gifted for it. Our frustration comes because we start to want to do what Sally is gifted to do or what Joe is capable of doing or what talent Betty has. When God has already given us some wonderful gift, but we don't want to do that. We want to do what somebody else does. And so we don't succeed because we're trying to do somebody else's life. You follow? We shouldn't tell our children they can do anything they want and put their minds to.

[54:38] We should tell our children you can do anything God wants. And God has gifted you to do because if you do the gifts of God, you cannot fail. You're made to do it. It fits so naturally into life. You cannot fail.

[54:53] You cannot fail. You have people have been told all along, you'll never amount to anything. You can't succeed at that. You're no good at this or that. Of course you can. If you're gifted by God, you can do anything God made you to do.

[55:08] You know, God thinks more of you than anybody else in your life. God thinks more of you than your parents do. God thinks more than your grandparents do, and that's saying a lot.

[55:20] God thinks more of you than even you think of you. He created you, and he said you were awesome. And he made you for a specific purpose, and once you start doing that, you can't fail.

[55:36] You can't fail if you do what God gives you to do. Pentecost was originally a harvest celebration. Fifty days. We call it the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost.

[55:49] I'm cheating on the church calendar here right now. But this was the 50 days between the planting and the harvesting. God expects us to have a harvest. God expects you to succeed.

[56:02] The only reason you fail is because you're trying to do somebody else's gift, instead of what God made you to do. If we do what God created us to do together, we'll change the world, and the world will be free.

[56:18] Time to let the rain fall without the help of man. Time to let the trees grow tall now if they only can.

[56:36] Time to let our children live in a land that's free. Ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali.

[56:51] Time to blow the smoke away and look at the sky again. Time to let our friends know we'd like to begin again.

[57:03] Time to let our friends in achuss. Time to be here, Jim. Time to send our message across the land and sea. Ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, brave.

[57:16] Ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, ali, am Biolstown, strong and weak, mild and weak. Nor hide and seek Time to see the fears of the children's game Time for man to stumble and learn to do the same Time to make our minds up if the world at last will be Sounds like some kind of 60s hippy-dippy song, doesn't it?

[58:04] Well, it is! I know! I lived it! But I gotta tell you, not everything that we talked about in the 60s was wrong. Love and sharing and caring and peace and hope, none of that is ever wrong.

[58:22] God says all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. We can bring salvation to the whole world. All can find the salvation of God.

[58:35] The gates are open. We can all go back to the garden. Our Heavenly Father invites you and me and everyone today. Believe. Believe in the God that believes in you and let loose the Holy Spirit and power of God.

[58:50] You know, we get so worried. Maybe God's calling you to do something magnificent and huge. But maybe not. And that's why you don't know, well, how am I supposed to do something? What am I gifted to do?

[59:01] So we're in this restaurant at E.B. Green's. And the waitress finds out we're pastors. Keeps wandering back. And she says, you know, Jocko's playing tonight.

[59:13] Anybody know who Jocko is? Some of you old people. Jocko's been playing piano in western New York for 184 years. He's a little guy. You know, you shrink as you get older.

[59:24] He's about this big. Jocko lost his partner. He used to have a fellow who played the drums with him for 71 years. Can you imagine? 71 years they played together. They ended up sharing a home together in their latter years.

[59:40] And he just died. The day before, Jocko's playing the piano. And so the waitress says, you know, I think it would mean a lot if you'd go over and pray with Jocko. See, that's what I'm talking about being out, right, you know?

[59:53] Not going to go to work. Now the TV cameras are there, Channel 4. And my wife says, when the media leaves, we'd be glad to pray with Jocko.

[60:03] If he wants us to, ask him if he wants us to. She came back all excited. Jocko wants you to come over and pray. He wants to come pray with him. So we finished our dinner, you know, our bottle of wine.

[60:15] We had a good time. And we went over to where Jocko was. Now what I didn't know was there were like 30, 40 people around Jocko. This was a whole crowd of folk. I thought it was just going to be us, a little piano guy, right?

[60:26] You know, ooh. So we went over, quietly got behind him. And we said we were the people that were going to pray with him. He said, can I keep playing while you pray? I said, sure, Jocko, go for it.

[60:37] You know, you've been praying 90 years. You've got to keep playing, right? So he's playing the piano and we're praying with him. And when we got done, as we were walking away, two things happened.

[60:48] First of all, Jocko gave us a verse, which I'll give you in a minute. And the second is I heard somebody in that crowd around the bar say, Jocko, did those people just pray with you?

[61:00] I have no idea what that did, what that accomplished, who that affected. I don't know. We just walked out. We weren't there to do anything for us. We were just going for dinner. But maybe we brought God to somebody's heart and somebody's life.

[61:12] And this is what Jocko, remember, he's been playing piano knowing we're coming to pray. So he's been thinking about what I'm going to say to these preachers when I come over. What am I going to say to these preachers? I don't know. This is what he said. He said, Jeremiah 33, 3, which some people call the telephone number of God.

[61:26] Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. It's an amazing thing. We can touch the hearts of people and they can touch our hearts if we just start sharing that love God intended for us to do.

[61:44] Believe in the God that believes in you. Dare to dream God's dreams. Because when God dreams, the sky becomes filled with stars. When God dreams, the sun comes up the next day.

[61:57] When God dreams, spring appears in winter. It really will happen. And God wants to dream through you. But you have to trust him. You have to trust him.

[62:09] Peter was the man who's got up to speak. I'm sure in the back of his mind, he's thinking of another time. A time when he started to question himself. You see, they were out in a boat and Jesus came walking across the water.

[62:22] Most of you know the story about Jesus walking on water. But did you know Jesus isn't the only one who walked on water? Peter's sitting in the boat and he says, Lord, can I come out there too? Can I do this, dude? And Jesus says, come on out, come on out.

[62:34] So Peter got up and started walking on water. That's what it says in the book. And then it's like, you know, like those cartoons when they run off the cliff and figure out where they are. All of a sudden he's like, oh man, the wind, the wave.

[62:46] And he starts to sink and he says, Lord, save me. And God reached down his hand and pulled him up and said, have faith. Have faith.

[62:58] God is wrapping his arms around you today. Trust in him. Believe in him. And you can do things that are more amazing you could ever imagine. Ali Ali Oxen.

[63:08] You call me out upon the waters.

[63:32] The grave unknown. The grave unknown. The grave unknown. Where feet may fail. And there I find you in the mystery.

[63:48] In ocean sea. My faith will stand. And I will call upon your name.

[64:02] Keep my eyes upon the waves. When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace.

[64:17] But I am yours. And you are mine. And you are mine.

[64:45] Yes. Sovereign man will be my guide. But he may fail and he surrounds me.

[65:00] He never fails. Oh, come now. And I will call upon your name.

[65:15] You leave my eyes above the waves. When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace.

[65:30] I am yours. You are mine. Spirit, lead me where my justice without borders.

[65:58] Let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.

[66:14] And my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior. Spirit, lead me where my justice without borders.

[66:29] Lord, I will call upon the waters. If we walk upon the waters wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.

[66:44] And my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior. Lord, I will call upon your name.

[67:02] Lord, I will call upon your name.

[67:14] Lord, I will call upon your name. And leave my eyes above your waves. Lord, I will call upon your name.

[67:53] Lord, I will call upon your name.

[68:23] Every single day. Every single day. To meet you in this place. See your face to face.

[68:35] Will you show me? Reveal yourself to me. Because of your mercy.

[68:46] I fall down on my knees. And I can feel your presence here with me.

[68:58] Suddenly I fall within your beauty. Caught up in the wonder of your touch. Here in this moment. And I surrender to your love.

[69:14] I will call upon your name. I will call upon your name. I will call upon your name. And I will call upon your name. And I will call upon your name. And I will call upon your name.

[69:26] I will call upon your name. I will call upon your name. And I will call upon your name. To know you and me. To know you and me. You are holy.

[69:38] And I fall down on my knees. And I can feel your presence here with me. And I will call upon your presence.

[69:50] Suddenly I falls within your beauty. Caught up in the wonder of your touch. Here in this moment. I surrender to your love.

[70:08] I surrender to your grace. I surrender to the one who took my place And I can feel your presence here with me Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty Caught up in the wonder of your touch Here in this moment I surrender to your love Please be seated.

[70:54] God wants to start our lives over. Brand new beginning from this day forward. Everything in the past doesn't matter to God. Today, today God gives us a new beginning Where we can dance, we can shout, we can sing, we can smile, we can laugh, we can live Into the life God intended Put away this brokenness and sorrow and pain and yelling and shouting And he's so upset about stuff that doesn't matter Turn it over to God As we pray to God.

[71:29] I invite you to pray with me. Dear God in heaven, I have sinned. I have broken your laws You know what I've done You see everything Forgive me Lord But help me to live A life that's free A life that's full of your power A life that's full of your power A life lived into your mission And your purpose And your purpose In Jesus name we pray In Jesus name we pray Amen God already came out He intended to forgive you before you ever came to this place All God was waiting for is for us to come and say I'm getting out from under the bed I'm coming out from behind the bush God I want to be here with you In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God Amen Amen You have called me to your table

[72:47] Lord You have called me to my name You know the hunger Within my heart I don't want to be the same Lord Light a fire again I feel new life decay How sad it tends to fall Lord This rain abounds in me Revival sets me free I am brand new You have called me to your table You have called me by my name

[73:52] You know the hunger Within my heart I don't want to be the same Lord Let your power grow Inside my heart I know I will be changed Lord Your glory will be shown My life is not my own I give it to you Lord Your glory will be shown My life is not my own I give it to you If you read on

[74:56] In the book of Acts You'll find that every time Jesus' disciples had to go out To do something They prayed Holy Spirit Fill us So we can do this Because we can't do it alone There's a part of the prayer In the communion liturgy Pour out your Holy Spirit On us gathered here Every time I pray that prayer Whenever I'm celebrating communion In this church I'm saying the words Pour out your Holy Spirit On us gathered here And my heart Is crying out to God Give them the faith They need To receive from you To receive from you Everything you've got for them Lord Let them reach out

[75:58] And grab it And hang on to it So they can go out And let it go Where you want it to go And be shared Every week God invites us To his table Everyone is welcome At the table If you love God Earnestly repent of your sin And seek to live in peace As a disciple Of Jesus Christ You are welcome At the table this morning You are welcome To receive God's Holy Spirit You are welcome To receive everything You need To do what God Has called you to do You don't have to be A member of this church You don't ever have to Have walked in the doors Before You just need to come With a heart Seeking God And God will meet you And God will fill you The Lord be with you Lift up your hearts

[76:58] Lift up your hearts Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks To the Lord our God Thanks and praise Glory and honor Are rightly yours Our Lord and God For you alone Are worthy In time beyond Our dreaming You brought forth Life out of darkness And in the love Of Christ your Son You set Man and woman At the heart Of your creation You loved the world So much That you sent Your only Son To bring us life Eternal Dying He destroyed Our death Alleluia Rising He restored Our life Alleluia And so we praise You with the faith Of every time And place Joining with the Fires of angels And the whole creation As they sing To you Holy Holy Holy Lord God of power

[78:00] 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 We thank you That you call A covenant people To be a light To the nations Through Moses You taught us To love your law And in the prophets You cried out For justice In the fullness Of your mercy You became one With us In Jesus Christ Who gave himself Up for us On the cross You make us alive Together with him That we may rejoice In his presence And share in his peace Always On the night In which he gave himself Up for us He took bread And he gave thanks To you He broke the bread And gave it to his disciples Saying take Eat This is my body Given for you Do this in remembrance

[79:03] Of me When the supper Was over He took the cup And he gave you Thanks and praise He gave it to his disciples Saying drink from this All of you This is the cup Of my blood The blood Of the new covenant Pour it out for you Pour it out for many For the forgiveness Of sin Do this as often As you drink it In remembrance of me And so In remembrance Of these Your mighty acts In Jesus Christ We offer ourselves In praise And thanksgiving As a holy And living sacrifice In union with Christ's Offering for us As we proclaim The mystery of faith Christ has died Christ will come again Pour out Your holy spirit On us gathered here And on these gifts

[80:03] Of bread and wine Make them be for us The body and blood Of Christ That we may be For the world The body of Christ Redeemed by his blood By your spirit Make us one with Christ One with each other And one in ministry To all the world Until Christ comes In final victory And we feast At his heavenly banquet Through your son Jesus Christ With the Holy Spirit And your holy church All honor and glory Is yours Almighty Father Now and forever Amen Shall we pray together The prayer Jesus Taught his disciples 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

[81:04] Into temptation But deliver us From evil For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory Forever and ever Amen Amen Those who are serving Please come forward Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Thank you.

[82:17] Thank you.

[82:48] Anyone who seeks after Jesus Christ is welcome at the table. God is at the table, not us. You're welcome to come. We take communion by intention. We ask you to dip the bread in the cup and commune immediately.

[83:00] Come by the center or outside aisles and return by these middle aisles. You're welcome to the rail for prayers for healing and anointing or to light a candle. Come to the table for us. Come to the table.

[83:15] Take communion by flute. Come to the table. Oh, I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like But I've heard a tender whisper of love In the dead of night and you're telling me That you're pleasing and I'm never alone You're a good, good father That's who you are That's who you are That's who you are And I'm loved by you That's who I am That's who I am That's who I am Oh, and I'm

[84:20] Many searching for answers Far and wide But I know we're all searching for answers Only in the provide Because you know what we need before you Say a word, you're a good, good father That's who you are That's who you are That's who you are And I'm loved by you That's who I am That's who I am That's who I am That's who I am Because you are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways

[85:20] To the world 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 the world Oh, and love so undeniable I can hardly see He's so unexplainable I can hardly think as you call me Keeper still as you call me Keeper still as you call me Keeper still into love

[86:22] Love, love, love Goodbye, goodbye That's who you are That's who you are That's who you are And I'm loved by you That's who I am but who you are a good good gobierno because you are 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're a good, good Father

[87:25] 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 I'm going to invite you to stand as we're going to sing our closing hymn I would like to also mention that for you preschool parents Your kids are in the ark So you need to pick them up over there before you go to the program in the gym Alright, so if you're preschool parents, you've got to go to the ark, get your kids And go to the gym for the program, alright Shall we stand and sing to the Lord I will make the stars of night

[88:46] I will make the darkness bright Who will bear my light to them Whom shall I stand?

[89:02] Here I am, Lord Here's the night, Lord I have loved you Calling here tonight I will go, Lord If you need me I will hold Your people in my heart I will break their hearts of song I will break their hearts of song Give them hearts of love I will break their hearts of song

[90:03] Give them hearts of all love I will speak my word to them Who shall I say?

[90:19] Here I am, Lord It's a night, Lord I have learned you Calling in one night I will hold, Lord If you hear me I will hold Your people in my heart I'm Lord Of wind and flame I will tend The poor and lame I will set A feast for them My hand Will save Finest bread I will provide

[91:19] Till their hearts Be satisfied I will give my life To them Who shall I say?

[91:35] Here I am, Lord Is it I, Lord Is it I, Lord? I have heard you Calling in one night I will hold, Lord If you see me I will hold I will hold Your people In my heart And now may God Awaken his dream Within your heart May God Awaken his gifts May he raise them up Inside of you That your life Might be filled With the joy And the amazement Of the power of God May he pour down On you And transform you To this day And fill you up So that you might dance Shout

[92:36]  Sing And be a blessing For God Alley, Alley, Unson Free Go in peace