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[0:00] This is the day This is the day That the Lord has made Let us rejoice Let us rejoice And be glad in it And be glad in it 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

[1:03] Good morning and welcome to our church We have a gift for our visitors at the Connection Center Please fill out your friendship card for any prayers or concern or just so we can get to know you It's fun to be part of the welcoming committee here at Hamilton Center We are glad to have you at church this morning We've got a couple opportunities on our clipboards going around The first is for our 24 hour prayer vigil We actually keep the church open 24 full hours and people sign up for an hour at a time to pray which might sound like a lot if you pray on your own but to be honest with you somehow in a prayer vigil that time seems to go by faster than you can imagine That's what everyone has always said so sign up for some time if you can and we'd love to have you join us in prayer The second one is about our youth retreat The retreat Yeah we're leaving this Friday and we're asking for donations for different food items so I have four different clipboards going around and it's all the stuff that no one signed up for yet and we took all of it and divided it up into four different areas so nothing is repeated so if it's on there we need it and we need it donated no later than 7 o'clock on Wednesday because Thursday we go shopping if we're missing anything

[2:16] Is there still room on the retreat for teenagers? Yes So if you're a teenager or no one that wants to go on the retreat talk to Pastor Kelly Today I also wanted to mention two new groups that are starting First the financial seminar that people enjoyed so much are going to do it again they're going to have a preview about it out in the fellowship hall and second Pastor Lisa is starting something called Christianity 101 A Beginner's Guide to Our Faith She's going to do that starting this Wednesday and next Sunday afternoon so if you want to know more about that talk to Pastor Lisa one last thing if you want a pew some of you have told me you want one of our old pews you see the one stacked against the back wall take it just take it load it in your car today take it away when they're gone they're gone don't take the other ones just the one stacked against the back wall we're going to keep a few around but those are to be taken anybody who takes them first come first serve help yourself let's pray shall we dear God we thank you for this morning we thank you for this day we thank you for bringing us here safely bless us be with us and now take away all the distractions that we might focus completely on you for worship for it's in Jesus name we pray amen if you're able

[3:24] I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing together we'll understand it better by and by we are tall and driven on the rest of the sea of time somber skies and howling tempers but succeed a bright sunshine in that land of perfect day when the mist is rolled away we will understand it better by and by by and by when the morning comes when the saints of God are gathered on we will tell the story how we've overcome and we'll understand it better by and by we are often destitute of the things that God demands want of food and want of shelter thirsty pills and barren lands we are trusting in the Lord and according to God's word we will understand it better by and by by and by when the morning comes when the saints of God are gathered on we'll tell the story how it's overcome and we'll understand it better by and by trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand all the ways that God would lead us to that blessed promised land but he guides us with his eyes and we'll follow till we die for we'll understand it better by and by by and by by when the morning comes when the saints of God are gathered on we'll tell the story how it's overcome and we'll understand it better by and by by and by the Lord be with you take a moment to share the peace of the spirit with one another

[5:57] I'd like to invite the kids to come out up and join us now any kids want to come down?

[6:09] you know what I've got?

[6:30] I have trucks look at these little trucks aren't they cool? I've had these trucks for a lot of years you know why I have these trucks? because I had a grandson and he liked these little trucks but now he's 14 he doesn't play with these little trucks anymore so at the end of the day I'm going to give them away because I don't need them anymore so somebody's going to get the trucks right?

[6:55] now you probably say I want the trucks right? even if you don't need the trucks how many of you have more toys than you need? yeah because how many toys can you play with? how many of you have toys from when you were like a little tiny baby and they're still in your room and you don't want to let them go because but you know somewhere you're better off to give them to a little tiny baby to play with right?

[7:18] because they just mess up your room and we don't mess up our rooms you know what? God wants us to get all the things we need in life but we don't need to have more than we need because sometimes it becomes too much stuff to carry around alright?

[7:33] what do you guys think before this morning? raise your hand if you want to share something everything family and friends the world friends and family my mother and father my sister and Jesus my mother my mom my mom my mom and dad friends and family my sister friends and family my mom and dad I hope Lucas Logan his arm gets better awesome okay and I'm thankful that I got a piece of the temple anybody in the red team here?

[8:30] somebody? in the red team? here take that for me and put that on the temple that puzzle piece could you do that? just give it to your teacher? no?

[8:41] okay here he's in the team we'll give it there okay alright I only had one to give out alright let's have a prayer shall we? dear lord we pray for your blessings and your strength that you'll touch us and be with us and give us all that we need this day and forever and give us your joy in Jesus name we pray amen okay you guys can all go out to church school kids are all welcome to go out to church school now this morning for our mission moment we are taking up an offering for Africa University the Methodist Church is growing in Africa faster than anywhere in the world we're bringing people to Christ everywhere and so we've built a hundred colleges and universities in this country we have one in the whole continent of Africa and we help support this because it makes a real difference in people's lives let's take a look for more than 20 years Africa University has been making good on its promise to create leaders who would enhance the United Methodist Church and Africa.

[10:12] Around the world, we see how graduates of Africa University are effecting change in areas like medicine, business, agriculture, social policy, and of course, the church.

[10:26] The university is well represented in annual conferences, agencies, and congregations around the globe. In fact, 20 delegates at General Conference 2012 were graduates of Africa University, including many others who served as monitors, communicators, and translators.

[10:47] When you give to the Africa University Fund, you are investing in the hopes and dreams of a continent and the United Methodist Church. As we continue in our worship, let's bring before the Lord our gifts, tithes, and offerings as God has called us to do.

[11:17] Thank you.

[11:47] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[11:59] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[12:32] Thank you. Thank you.

[13:02] Thank you. Thank you.

[13:32] Thank you.

[13:59] Amen. Amen.

[14:59] Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day, for the opportunity to gather together and worship you, to bring our gifts, our tithes, and our offerings before you.

[15:43] Lord, we know that this is just a small portion of all of the abundance you have poured out into our lives. We ask that you accept it and bless it. Bless especially, Lord God, the offerings for Africa University today.

[15:56] Use all of our offerings for the furtherance of your kingdom. Give us wisdom, Lord, to know how to reach people for you. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[16:08] Please be seated. We do want to bring a few concerns before the congregation so you all know what's going on with folks, and we know that you have concerns in your hearts as well.

[16:25] We come with joy before the Lord, but also remember in prayer a couple of folks who are in the hospital right now. Cindy Gaston's mom, Jerry Heller, is in the hospital, and so is Sandra Farnham.

[16:37] We want to keep in prayer Terry Shenton, who is going to be having hip surgery this week. And the family of Ellie Luca, Lynn Jacobs' mother.

[16:49] Ellie died recently, and we want to keep her family in our prayers. We also want to lift up our youth retreat. It is a huge event and very time-consuming and challenging to coordinate, and we want to keep the folks who are working on the retreat in our prayers.

[17:05] We want to keep the folks who are going on the retreat in our prayers, and especially that our youth will be blessed as we bring them up in the Lord. Let's take these concerns and all those concerns that are on your heart, along with our joys before the Lord in prayer.

[17:31] Heavenly Father, how grateful we are that we can come before you, that you call us to pray, that you hear and answer our prayers.

[17:46] We trust you for that, Lord. We're grateful that you are not some sort of distant, far-off God that is only watching. We're grateful that you care to be involved in our lives every day, from the simplest, most mundane things to the things that challenge us greatly.

[18:11] You are with us, and you want to be part of what's going on with us. You are with us as we are an influence in this world for you.

[18:25] We are so grateful. Father, we pray in Jesus' name for all of those who are sick and infirm, who are in need of a touch of healing from you.

[18:38] We ask that you would indeed touch them and make them whole from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. We pray that they would be whole, each one, in their spirits, their souls, and their bodies.

[18:53] We pray that you would give wisdom to their caregivers, whether they be the doctors and nurses and medical professionals that are working with them, or whether they would be the family members and friends who are looking after them.

[19:11] We just pray, Lord God, that you would give each one what they need to minister effectively in you. Now, Lord, we pray for those who are grieving losses of all kinds.

[19:30] Lord God, it is so challenging and sometimes leaves us feeling so empty and unsure when we're remembering those folks and those circumstances that have become as losses in our lives.

[19:46] we just pray for comfort by your Holy Spirit. We pray for your peace that passes all understanding to guard the hearts and minds of all those who are in need.

[20:02] We pray that we can trust you to fill our lives with good things that you have promised us as we remember all of the good that there has been.

[20:17] Father, we pray in Jesus' name that we would be your hands and feet, your voices, your heart of compassion for all the people we influence for you.

[20:33] Lord God, whether it be folks in our neighborhoods or our schools, our workplaces, or people far away that we reach through all kinds of different means, through prayer and through sending offerings, we just ask in Jesus' name that many would come to faith in Jesus Christ because of what you have called us to do.

[20:58] We pray that you give us the words and the timing to reach those people that we deal with directly. We ask in Jesus' name, Lord God, that people would know that we care for them not just because we may happen to be nice people, but that we care for them because you live in us and because you desire that they would come to know you too.

[21:29] help us, Lord, to remember that all of these works that we do in this world for you are nothing that we can do out of our own strength.

[21:41] We need you moving in and through us, your power, your grace, and your mercy in us and through us, touching lives.

[21:51] give us the ability, Lord, not only to do good and kind things for people, but to be able to let them know the reason why we care so deeply and to let them know that it's because you cared first.

[22:10] Now, Lord, be with us as we hear your word. Let it be a blessing to us. Let it strengthen us and transform us. Give us all that we need to know what you've called us to do.

[22:25] Be with Pastor Tom as he delivers the message. Anoint him that it would be a blessing to all of us, a blessing to him. Make all of our worship to be a blessing to you, Lord.

[22:38] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Amen. Amen.

[23:11] Amen. Good morning.

[23:25] Good morning. This morning's scripture reading is taken from the book of Exodus, chapter 16, verses 1 through 20. The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.

[23:50] In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, if only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt.

[24:01] There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve the entire assembly to death.

[24:15] Then the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.

[24:27] In this way, I will test them to see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day, they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other day.

[24:44] Then Moses told Aaron, say to the entire Israelite community, come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.

[24:55] While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

[25:07] That evening, quail came down and covered the camp. And in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.

[25:23] Moses said to them, it is the bread of the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded. Everyone is to gather as much as they need.

[25:37] The Israelites did as they were told. Some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much.

[25:49] And the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just enough as they needed. Then Moses said to them, no one is to keep any of it until morning.

[26:04] However, some of them paid no attention to Moses. They kept part of it until morning. But it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

[26:18] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Chet. This morning we're continuing with a sermon series about lessons we learned from the desert.

[26:33] The people of Israel were slaves down in Egypt and God brought them out by signs and wonders. Last week we talked about God taking them through the Red Sea and now they're out in the desert.

[26:44] What lessons can we learn about the people from the people of Israel in the desert? You see, the people of Israel had been in Egypt for so long that they had forgotten God. And I think in many ways that's what's happening to us.

[26:56] And we need to be careful that if we forget God too much, God might drive us out into the desert to learn the lessons we can learn by just paying attention to what God has to say to us.

[27:07] people of Israel who will survive to be in Egypt for the rest of their world. I have a lot of stuff. I have stuff that I collected over the years. I have stuff that my daughter ended up leaving at my house.

[27:19] I have stuff that my mother and father gave me. I have stuff that my mother-in-law and father-in-law gave me. I've got stuff from my grandparents. I've got stuff from great-grandparents. I've got stuff from great-great-grandparents.

[27:31] I've got so much stuff that my wife and I have decided that we've got about six or seven years to get rid of this stuff or it's going to kill us. Anybody else feeling that way?

[27:42] Like you're just overburdened with stuff? I need one extra day a week. You know, an eighth day that nobody else gives. You ever said that prayer to God?

[27:53] Dear God, just give me one day nobody else has and I would be fine. But God gives us what we need and in fact actually tells us to take one less day.

[28:04] In Exodus chapter 20, he says this. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God and you're supposed to rest.

[28:17] And I know what some of you are saying, yeah, how do I do that? I work six days and then the seventh day I got to do all the stuff I didn't have time to do on the sixth day so I could catch up to life.

[28:32] What we're doing to ourselves is we're burying ourselves under rotten manna. It was going along pretty good. They're going through the desert and then somebody noticed. Dude, we ain't got any food.

[28:44] And so they cried out to God and God poured down food from heaven. Manna, bread from heaven, quail. And they all went out and started collecting it up. Things looked good until some people collected too much.

[28:58] And it says the next day it was rotten, it smelled, and it had maggots. The very thing that was a blessing from God turned into a burden.

[29:11] And when we try to hoard too much, we end up burdening ourselves. God doesn't bless us when we hoard. God doesn't bless us for our greed.

[29:21] God doesn't bless us when we're wasteful. Why would we think that God would do that? We end up with rotten manna.

[29:34] Why do we think we need more than we need? Why do we think we need to have all this accumulation of stuff? The other day I had a gathering at the house and so I had to go out and buy some soda pop.

[29:50] So I went and I got my soda at the store but I had to make a decision. Do I get the big cans or the little cans?

[30:02] See, the problem with the big cans is people drink about half of it and they leave it laying somewhere and then when you're walking through you knock it over and it's all over the carpet. These little cans are cool. They're about the right amount that people want to drink.

[30:15] These are too much. Here's the problem. These cost $3.50 for eight. These cost $5 for 36.

[30:29] This makes no sense. There's less soda in it. There's less of them. But they know that people who understand that they don't need this much will pay more for less.

[30:40] It's crazy. Do you know how long I stood looking at this? Thinking, I can't pay more for those little cans than I pay for the big cans. But I realized I'm going to end up with over 100 cans of soda when all I really needed was about 12.

[30:58] So I bought after deep, difficult struggle. I bought 24 of these little cans. I got about 12 of them left over.

[31:13] See, the problem is we become a culture that doesn't realize that the excess is killing us. It's too much. God knows that we need things.

[31:26] But when we possess possessions, eventually if we get too many, the possessions possess us. How much is enough? They said, go out and collect whatever you need.

[31:37] And everybody took as much as they needed. Some took more. Some took less. We'd say, well, that's not fair. Why do some people need more? Well, some people need more. You know, when I go on a mission trip with the teenagers and I work construction in the hot sun in the summer all day long, I need three full meals just to sustain.

[31:55] And I'm still hungry at night. When I'm sitting around doing something like writing a sermon or working on something on the computer, I don't need that much food. All it's going to do is go to waste.

[32:07] Right? And seriously, we do that. We take more than we need. Some need a lot. Some need a little. Some have a big family. Some have a little family.

[32:18] Some have greater needs than other people do. The problem is not when we take our need. It's when we take more. The prayer says, give us this day our daily bread.

[32:31] It doesn't say, give us this day our daily bread. And if you could throw in a sirloin steak in a new car, that would be great. That's what we say. But Jesus told us that every day we need to pray to God to give us what we need.

[32:48] Because carrying around more than we need is hard. These people are going to go through the desert for 40 years. They needed to travel light. They couldn't carry all this stuff with them everywhere they went.

[32:59] And we have the same issue in our lives. We carry too much. Now, we're living in our desert as a culture. We call it winter. Because we don't have it out there, we made it in here for you because we thought you were getting sentimentally missing it, you know.

[33:16] And in the winter, it's important that you get it just right. All the leaves are brown All the leaves are brown And the sky is gray And the sky is gray I've been for a while On a winter's day On a winter's day Well, we might be dreaming of someplace else Like California or Florida Aruba, Bahama, come on Snap out of it, people!

[33:47] Snap out of it, people! We're here in a great area of western New York And yes, it may be cold It might even be freezing outside But that's not going to stop us from enjoying the weather, is it? No.

[33:58] We can still go on a walk on a winter's day The key to it is balance It's me again, Bob Slade I have some advice to all of you out there Dreaming away your life Wanting to be somewhere else Now, winter can be mighty chilly But we can be content and live right where we are As long as we practice balance What is that balance?

[34:16] It comes with wisdom learned From going through winter Teaching us what we actually need To be prepared for winter Now, I'm talking warm winter waterproof boots Because wet feet aren't no good And a warm, woolly winter coat A couple layers of clothing under that Of course, if you need it And it might be time to dig out That ugly sweater of yours Now, it's not a fashion show So don't be competing It's for survival A snuggly hat To keep that warmth From going out of the top of your head Or earmuffs If your ears get cold You don't want that And gloves or mittens To keep your fingers all nice and toasty And to top it all off A scarf It can be wrapped around your neck It can even cover Your little red nose Now, some folks Need all that gear in order to go out And some need even more Now, of course Some need a little bit less But when everyone is all geared up For what they need They can go out And enjoy a wonderful winter wonderland Some folks don't seem to have that balance

[35:16] They don't seem to have common sense either You can wear too little I see this craziness all the time Young ones especially Going out in the cold Wearing nothing but short sleeves Shorts And even flip-flops Now they're unbalanced And unprepared for the frigid weather They'll learn I did Then there are others Who are so wrapped up in the idea that it's cold That they get too wrapped up Layer upon layer upon layer upon layer upon layer upon layer Getting bundled up to the point that they can't move or even breathe They fall down, they can't get up Splat!

[35:53] They're stuck there They aren't toasty warm They're sweating hot And being sweaty in the frigid air isn't good either That's how we got this cold They'll learn They go through enough winters that they'll become wise enough to recognize just how much they need to prepare to go out And then no low temperatures will stop them from going out and enjoying this life Right here, right now, in western New York They'll enjoy walking on a winter's day Exhilarating isn't it?

[36:09] Woo! So if you went for a walk, let's say you had to take about a half a mile walk on a winter's day, what would you take with you?

[36:24] Would you take a bag of food and maybe some snacks along with you? You're going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit Would you take a bag of food and maybe some snacks along with you?

[36:41] You put on, of course, a scarf because that's nice to keep warm Maybe you'd add a little extra vest and you put on your coat And then, of course, you take along an extra coat in case the first coat gets wet And then you need to have an extra pair of shoes and some socks And you might want to take along a blanket in case you get stuck And if you take a shovel with you in the...

[37:04] Why do we do it? Why do we do it? Why do we overload? We think it's funny when we see it in the idea of going out into the winter, but the truth is we do it to our lives and we struggle and we're dragging it around And we're finding out that it's killing us The reason is because we don't trust God We really don't trust God We trust in everything else Somewhere along the line, we felt that we were short of something We didn't have what we needed You know, the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt It's understandable that people who were slaves who didn't own anything Wanted to grasp after anything that they could possess and take it with them We were poor in our lives as well, my wife and I So we found ourselves being the kind of people that would think you've got to save everything Because you might just need it The other day I got a new shirt and it came with a little tiny packet of thread

[38:08] Anybody get these little packets of thread lately? And I'm looking at the little, I said, oh that's cool I'm going to put that, and I thought, what am I going to do? I'm not going to sew this sweater up if I have a problem Little packets of thread all over the house, it's insane You get an extra screw in some package and you put it away I need that screw You know, we've got stuff all over the place We can't even find it So then when we go to look for that stuff, we say we have no idea where it is Because it's under a pile of rotten manna Because we don't trust God for all we need In 2 Peter it says to us His divine power has given us everything we need For a godly life Through our knowledge of Him who calls us into His own glory and goodness The focus needs to be on what God would give to us for a life God will give us what we need He gave them food From heaven We have all the food we need in this country But we panic and we're afraid we're going to run out

[39:10] You hear a storm warning on the radio And the next thing you know You've got people going to the grocery store And they're emptying the shelves Next thing you've got 12 gallons of milk in your house And you're only going to drink a quart What are you going to do with all that milk?

[39:26] Don't bet out Why did you buy it? You never know, I'm going to run out No, you're not going to run out We've got plows What, a day or so? You can go for a day or so We freak out Because we don't trust God He gave them bread Manna God's bread from heaven He gave them quail Which I understand tastes like chicken So they got chicken sandwiches Pretty cool He gave it to them And he gives it to us as well Do we believe that God Is the source of all blessing?

[40:04] Do we even remember God Is the source of all blessing? When we eat our food Do we thank God for it? Some people say Well, I did it I bought it God gave us the seeds God gave us the earth For the seeds to grow in God gave us the rain To make the seed go God gives it all to us At some level At some point It all comes from God But they forgot About God So they started grumbling Grumbling against their leaders And ultimately Moses says It's not me I've got a complaint with It's God Would you lead us out here In the desert to starve?

[40:48] They forgot that God Is in the desert With them See, part of our problem is As I've said before We don't have an everyday God We don't recognize the God Who is with us everyday We have a holiday God We've got an occasional God We've got a God That we turn to in the crisis But we can't even hear Him Or find Him Because we don't know that God Very well And He doesn't know us We take Him out And dust Him off For the special days of the year Or the special events Of our lives We remember Him When we're in trouble Beyond our abilities But do we hear His voice Every day So that we know Where to turn And don't get ourselves In so much trouble We need an everyday God Not a sometimes God And if we look We will find the glory Of God They had a pillar of fire And a pillar of smoke That went with them everywhere It was a symbol That God was with them But they didn't see God in it

[41:48] But it says in this passage In verse 10 That they turned And they saw the glory of God In the pillar They realized that God was there See part of the trouble we have is We only see God When God does something fantastic We've gotten so used to the everyday parts of God That we ignore it And so we look for something amazing Outstanding Incredible Or else we don't think God is with us The greatest prophet in the Bible Was a man named Elijah Elijah one time Felt that the whole world was against him Everybody had abandoned him There was no reason for him to even stay alive So he went off to God's mountain And it says As he was on God's mountain Feeling bad for himself God caused a whirlwind to occur Like a tornado But God wasn't in the tornado And then God caused an earthquake The whole mountain shook It says But God wasn't in the earthquake And then God caused a huge fire Which is often the symbol of God

[42:50] But God wasn't in the fire And then Elijah heard a still Quiet Small Voice And he realized God Was in the voice See we're looking for huge things We're expecting something spectacular Because we have the idea That God just comes and goes Once in a while When if we listen If we quiet our lives down If we slow down our lives If we stop looking at everything And being involved You see the junk is just not stuff It's the clutter of our schedule Some of you are going everywhere All the time We have to be here We gotta do this We gotta watch that You know there's 18 things on TV I wanna watch tonight Our problem is not that we don't have enough good stuff Our problem is we have way too much And we can't figure out what to do And the one thing we forget And we don't hear Through all this clutter

[43:50] Is that quiet voice of God Because we don't take any time for it It's right there Just like the pillar of fire was right there And the people say Why do I have so much trouble?

[44:02] Because you've forgotten God The symbols of God are everywhere We've got empty churches On street corners All over America We have crosses Built into our architecture Look at the windows You think that's by accident Look in your houses You'll see them on the closet doors We've got God built into our life At every place And we don't see Him We don't hear Him We're living in a faith desert Where we're losing God And if we keep going this way Eventually Not only will we lose God I'm afraid God will drive us out Into a desert of deprivation So we'll realize how much we need Him God will take all the good stuff away So we'll get down to understanding What we really need We need God See the real problem with this story It says It was a month and a half Into their journey Before they turned to God About this issue

[45:02] Forty-five days They went on the journey Before they noticed They didn't have enough food And forty-five days Before they turned to God To answer the problem First of all They should have been checking The food supplies And doing a little better calculation But second of all They should have been turning to God Right away God would have dropped the manna down From heaven Long before this If they would have simply asked But they had forgotten God This house short They just went through the Red Sea With God Himself leading them And they forget Him the next day Because you forget the holiday God The day after Christmas Nobody thinks about Jesus' birth We're too busy taking all those gifts We never need it back to the store So we can get some more junk We don't need to put in our houses So we can store it up in a closet Or shove it off in a storage unit somewhere It's true And we forget God God wants us to take His concerns

[46:03] Sure they were complaining But this was a legitimate Holy complaint There's no food That's fair If you're out of food It's fair It's good for you to say I have no food You have no food Tell me you have no food I'll get you some food The problem is we have food We've got lots of food I don't want to eat that stuff I want a hamburger from Grover's You ever see the hamburgers from Grover's by the way?

[46:28] They're not like this big They're not like what you could eat They're like mammoth size You know? Who needs a hamburger that big? That's enough meat to last you for an entire week Eat it all down God will listen But we need to ask sooner And we'll do that If we're living daily with God The Bible says Seek first the kingdom of God And His righteousness And everything you need Will be given to you You'll get everything you need If first you seek God But if not Why would God give it to you?

[47:08] If we seek God We have enough But if we don't seek God We never have enough We just end up with rotten manna There's a story in Greek mythology About a woman named Atalantis And a guy named Hippothothothothes Okay?

[47:28] And Atalantis was the fastest person on earth And she was beautiful And everybody wanted to marry her Because her father was a king And she said I don't really want to get married But I'll tell you what If there's anybody that can beat me in a race I'll marry them But if they lose They die Well several men tried And died Until Hippothothothothothothes Came along And he Got a gift from somebody Because he went and asked advice And they gave him three golden apples And they said Every time she gets a little head Throw one of those apples out And so they're running the race along And all of a sudden There goes Atalantis out in front And he rolls the golden apple And she stops And she sees the golden apple, and she goes to pick it up.

[48:13] And while she does that, there goes hippo-pippo-dee-bity-biminis. And this happened three times, and the third apple was right near the finish line, and it was the heaviest and the biggest of all.

[48:24] And when she saw that big old apple rolling by, she turned right off to the side, and there he went and won the race. There's a lot more to the story, which really doesn't matter to us today.

[48:35] The point is, we're running a race, and we're chasing after things that distract us from where we need to be in life. What are you going to do with the golden apple?

[48:49] I know what a lot of you are saying. Oh, sell it! We are so enamored by gold. Oh, it's shiny, it's so beautiful. Gold is almost useless. You can't eat it. You can't build much with it, because it's not very strong.

[49:02] It's probably one of the most useless things that God ever put on the earth, and yet we see it, and it's like, ooh, gold. It's crazy. And so we chase after stuff that doesn't matter, and we lose the stuff that does.

[49:22] Solomon, who had the gift of wisdom, said, when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless. A pile of junk.

[49:34] A chasing after the wind. I never got anywhere with my life. Some gathered a little.

[49:45] Some gathered much. Everyone had all that they needed. If we buy more food than we can eat, do we really have anything more than we need?

[50:00] If we have eight cars to drive, can we really drive more than one car at a time? So do we really have anything that gains value? We collect up more and more and more and end up with less and less and less until our homes and our lives and our time are crowded out.

[50:23] And I'm consumed by this. And in the meantime, the one thing that matters, our God, we forget. And little by little, as we forget God, God is forgetting us and turning to other people.

[50:41] Philippians, Paul says this, I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

[51:00] We need balance. If you're going to go out into the winter cold, you need to be dressed right. But you don't need to overdo. It's only going to make it worse. And if you've ever been all sweated up and all wet on a winter's day out in the cold, you know that's a dangerous thing.

[51:17] It can even hurt us. We need to be able to take life in a way in which we travel a little lighter.

[51:28] Unburden ourselves from the junk. Unburden ourselves from the unnecessary activity. Unburden ourselves from all this stuff that keeps us from God. And watch what God will do with us.

[51:42] One of the greatest evangelists that ever lived in the Methodist church was a guy named Harry Denman. Most of you probably never heard of him. And the interesting thing about Harry one time, I heard, is that he kept everything he owned in one suitcase.

[51:58] He had one suit that he wore everywhere he went. Because after all, he can only wear one suit at a time anyways, was his reasoning. Everything he needed, he kept in a suitcase. You've seen these little tiny houses they're building?

[52:09] This makes that look like nothing. Harry spent his life going around and bringing people to Jesus Christ. And now he's remembered as a great and incredible man of faith.

[52:22] In fact, there's an award named after him, the Harry Denman Award. And it's a coveted award because he only gives one out in every conference.

[52:32] So in our conference, there's eight or nine hundred pastors and they only give one out a year. So most people don't win this award. I actually won it a number of years ago.

[52:44] And they gave me a plaque. I said, well, that's cool. Do I get something else with it? You know, like do I get a gift certificate to the bookstore or something like that, you know?

[52:56] No, you get a plaque. What am I going to do with a plaque? I mean, really, what good is a plaque? I don't know how many of you have, but you can hang them on the wall. Takes up a space where a picture of your family could go, right?

[53:09] What am I going to give the plaque to my daughter when I die? Hold on to that plaque. You know, that's important. She doesn't even know who the guy is. Who cares? It's clutter.

[53:22] It's unnecessary stuff. Harry had it right. I got to get rid of that plaque. It's on the list. It's on the list.

[53:36] That'd be interesting. Can we throw away things we've held for so long? And we need to. When we try to take too much, it rots.

[53:52] It's as it became full of maggots. It grows weird stuff on it. You ever have it in the back of your refrigerator? It starts to grow and make its own life in your refrigerator.

[54:04] It's not good. And why? Because we've lost our balance. We don't know what we need compared to what we want. We don't know what we have to have as compared to what's his desire.

[54:17] And so we're going in every direction so fast, we don't have time to think or stop or slow down and consider things. We don't trust God. Even though he knows what we need even when we don't.

[54:31] He said this is a test. Let's see how they do with this one. Did you know that all of your life is a test before God? He's always waiting to see what you will do.

[54:42] Said you win the lottery? $800 million? What would you do with $800 million? Wow. But we got to have it! $800 million? I don't need $800 million. I mean, that's like way over the top of what I would ever need, right?

[54:55] I'd have to give it all away, pretty much. But I have people, they've told me, well, you know, if I ever win the lottery, I'll give a check to the church, you know. I said, no, you won't. Not unless you give a check now. If you give a check now, you'll give a check then.

[55:06] But if you don't give a check now, you won't give it then because I need it all! How am I going to live on less than $800 million? You know, people can't get by on less than $799 million.

[55:18] Really? Really? Ask a billionaire. The problem is, it's killing us. And what we need to do is we need to trust God.

[55:29] He says there's a rhythm to life. Go out for six days and work as hard as you can, and I guarantee you, you will get as much as you need. I'll make sure you get it. And then just take one day and give it to me.

[55:44] If I had one extra day, I could get everything done, right? Maybe it's the other way around. If we would stop for one day, if we would stop for a little part of every day, and we would listen to that still, small voice of God speaking to us, maybe we'd start to put aside all this stuff we don't need.

[56:10] Maybe life would get some balance, a time to work, a time to play, a time for God. Starting every single day.

[56:25] We think we have to chase after it. Well, maybe what we need to do is be quiet and just wait. And God will send the answers to us today, right now.

[56:38] Thank you for joining us. We will wait upon the Lord, We will wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

[57:10] Our God, you reign forever. Our hope, God's hope, we live.

[57:25] You are the everlasting God. The everlasting God. We'll do the best we've lost from weary.

[57:41] You're the everlasting end of the week. We'll come to those in me. We'll lift us up our dreams like He goes.

[57:56] In the rises we made upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. We will rise as we wait upon the Lord.

[58:07] We will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord.

[58:22] We will wait upon the Lord. You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God You do nothing to walk from weary You're not the tender of the weak You'll come to those who need Till it blesseth all the inside we know Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord We will wait upon the Lord We will wait upon the Lord I said be your name

[59:24] A land that is plentiful Your streams alone uncontrolled Blessed be your name I said be your name When I'm down in the desert place For I walk through the wilderness Blessed be your name Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be the name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Blessed be your name The sun shining down on me The world's offer as it should be

[60:27] Blessed be your name Blessed be your name On the road, our heart is suffering The pain in the offering The pain in the offering Blessed be your King Blessed be your King Every blessing you pour out Turn back to praise When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name Blessed be your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Blessed be your name Blessed be your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Lord plea Gift the Lord Beloved Blessed be your name God bless you Give and take away

[61:27] Give and take away分享ム środ facebook gift g cl Thank you.

[62:11] Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name.

[62:31] Thank you. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[63:17] Sing like never before, O my soul, worship Your holy name.

[63:29] The sun comes up, is a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again.

[63:45] Forever may pass and whatever lies before me. Let me be singing when the evening comes.

[64:01] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[64:13] Sing like never before, O my soul, worship Your holy name.

[64:25] The witch in love and your snow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind.

[64:39] For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing. Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

[64:53] Let the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[65:06] Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name.

[65:18] And on that day when my strength is failing. The end draws near and my time has come.

[65:32] Still my soul will sing Your praise on me. Ten thousand years and then forevermore.

[65:45] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[66:00] Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name.

[66:12] I'll worship your holy name. I'll worship your holy name.

[66:25] Please be seated. You know, they say you can't break one of these. Not this big fat one.

[66:36] But I did it. The truth of the matter is, it's a six-string guitar. I only needed five. It was just an extra anyways. See, we think we need more than we need.

[66:48] But when we're giving glory to God, when we're turning our hearts to God, when we seek God first, God will pour out what we need. I walked 15,000 steps the other day, according to my Fitbit.

[67:00] So I immediately thought, I can eat more. See what happens. See what happens. That's our problem. We see it. We've got to have it.

[67:11] We smell it. We've got to have it. God help you if you walk past one of those cinnamon places in the mall. Got to have it. So we eat more and more and more.

[67:22] We don't need it all. We really don't. And it's killing us. And if we don't drive ourselves into the desert, God will, just to save our souls. So let's turn ourselves over to God.

[67:34] And let's turn it over to God and surrender this up and have God forgive us for it. All right, let's pray, shall we? Dear God in heaven. Dear God in heaven. I have sinned.

[67:44] I have sinned. By some of the things I do that are wrong. And by some of the things I do that are right. But there's too many of them.

[67:58] Lord, help me to focus. Help me to have balance. Help me to know what I need. And what I really don't need.

[68:11] Forgive me when I get greedy. Forgive me when I get scared. Help me to trust you. Help me to be your door person.

[68:26] And you to be my God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

[68:39] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Our God invites us to the table.

[69:00] The table where we come and remember. Or we come and remember that it was God who made a way for us to be forgiven our sins.

[69:11] Amen. We couldn't do it by ourselves. Just by saying the prayer, we can't be forgiven unless God has already made a way.

[69:22] And God has made a way. Jesus' death and resurrection that we remember here at the table this morning are what have made a way for us to be forgiven of all our sin.

[69:35] To be able to walk the way that God calls us to walk and do the things God calls us to do. 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.

[69:57] Even if it's your first time here, come and seek God. Come and receive the blessings God has for you by the body and blood of Christ.

[70:09] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right.

[70:20] It is right. And a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Before the mountains were brought forth or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God.

[70:39] You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life.

[70:50] When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets.

[71:04] 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.

[71:21] 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, in whom you have revealed yourself, our light, and our salvation.

[71:38] In his baptism and in table fellowship, he took his place with sinners. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind.

[71:52] To set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

[72:12] 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. He said, take, eat.

[72:22] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

[72:38] When the supper was over, he took the cup and he gave you thanks and praise, and he gave it to his disciples. He said, drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new covenant poured out for you.

[72:51] Poured out for many. For the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink it. In remembrance of me. And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves, in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice.

[73:12] In union with Christ's offering for us. As we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

[73:23] And 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.

[73:34] 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.

[73:45] 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.

[73:58] Now and forever. Amen. Shall we pray together? As disciples of Jesus Christ. The prayer he taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven.

[74:11] 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.

[74:22] And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.

[74:34] For thine is the kingdom. And the power. And the glory forever and ever. Amen. Will those serving this morning please come forward. Amen.

[74:59] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[75:23] Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[75:58] Thank you.

[76:28] Thank you. Thank you.

[77:28] Thank you.

[77:58] Thank you.

[78:28] Thank you.

[78:58] Thank you.

[79:28] Thank you.

[79:58] Thank you.

[80:28] Thank you.

[80:58] Thank you.

[81:28] God will take care of you. Thank you. God will take care of you.

[82:04] God will take care of you. God will take care of you. God will take care of you. God will take care of you.

[82:18] God will take care of you. God will take care of you. God will take care of you.

[82:58] And you look so close to the earth, cause all the snow to fall south of Amherst.

[83:31]  Amen.