Transcription downloaded from https://services.pcumc.org/sermons/27573/caring-community/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Mas Bulgarian The Thank you. [0:50] Thank you. [1:20] Thank you. Thank you. [1:52] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Enjoy the service and welcome to Pendleton Center United Methodist Church. [2:07] Good morning. Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you. Thank you. [2:18] Thank you. You know this song. I'm ready to do. You know this song. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. [2:29] God, strickenip saily. Thank you. God, stricken, One Bentonippus University. This is the day that the Lord has made. And be glad in it. [2:42] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. [2:55] This is the day that the Lord has made. Okay, shall we pray? Dear God in heaven, we pray your Holy Spirit to be upon us, to touch us, to bless us, to fill this place with your presence, to breathe into us the breath of life. [3:13] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we're going to sing together Love Divine, All Love Excelling. Love Divine, All Love Excelling Love Divine, All Love Excelling Love Excelling Joy of Heaven to Earth, come down Fix in us thy humble dwelling All thy faithful mercies crown Jesus, thy heart, all compassion Your unbounded love, thou art Visit us with thy salvation Enter every trembling heart Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving spirit [4:17] Into every troubled breast Let us all in the inherent Let us find that stack of breast Take away our bent to sin Alpha and Omega be Earned a faith as it began Shed our hearts at liberty Shed our hearts at liberty Shed our hearts at liberty Rich and life of creation Pure and spotless let us be Let us see thy great salvation Perfectly restored in thee Change from glory into glory Till in heaven we take our place [5:21] Till we cast our crowns before thee Lost in wonder, love and praise The Lord be with you And also Please be seated This morning I have one joy I'm going to share And that is we have no clipboards Linda, come on We're going to go out Come on, try it go You did good Good morning Good morning I'm so glad we're all here together to worship What joys do we have to share What joys do we have to share? [6:05] Oh, come on Nothing? Yes, it is more comfortable weather Not oppressive heat And at least not yet raining That's not That's not Excuse me? [6:25] Enjoy Labor Day Yes, a nice three-day Labor Day weekend I'm thankful for that An extra day off work So I'm sure we all do have joys in our hearts So let's return our appreciation With our gifts, tithes and offerings I'm하지 I'm just thankful for it I'm just sitting I'm just元 I'm just waiting I love you. [7:37] I love you. [8:07] I love you. [8:37] I love you. [9:07] I love you. [9:37] I love you. [10:07] I love you. [10:37] I love you. [11:07] I love you. [11:37] This is chapter 12, verses 9 through 21. Love must be sincere. [12:09] as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. [12:44] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, It is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord. [12:56] On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. [13:07] Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the word of our Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Louis. [13:21] You know, as I was listening to the scripture read last night, I was thinking, I could preach an entire series of sermons on this one passages. That many things in here. But this morning I'm going to do one, just so that you know. [13:34] And I do want to start out with our Old Testament story. So let's see how good you are at figuring out who we're going to be talking about today. We have two things as clues. [13:46] We've got a red cord and a rope. She lived in a wall. Rahab, yes. [13:57] And she was a prostitute. You may not know that. And the spies of Israel went down to Jericho to check the place out and see what it was like. And when they got into the city of Jericho, some people found out they were there and started hunting for him. [14:12] And they found themselves in Rahab's house. And Rahab actually hid them. Put him up on the roof. And you've seen that scene in the movies, right? Where they come to the door. [14:23] They say, where are they? And they say, oh, they were just here. And they left. They went down that road. And you can read it in the Bible. Oh, they went all running down the road after the spies that are up on the roof. Right? And they came down. [14:35] And Rahab said to them, you know, we know that God is with you. And we know that God is going to give you victory against this city. So promise that you won't hurt us. [14:47] And they said to Rahab, if you take a red cord and hang it out your window, anybody who has a red cord hanging out their window and anyone in that house will not be harmed. [14:59] But if you're outside of the house, you're toast. They didn't say toast, but you get the idea, right? And so she let them down through a window because she lived in the wall, right? [15:11] And they snuck back to the Israelites. And then the armies of Israel came down and surrounded the city of Jericho, remember? Joshua hit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. [15:24] And the walls came tumbling down, down, down, down. I'm not quite a bass, but you get the idea. A battle, a war. [15:38] How many of you have ever heard that verse in the Bible where it says, if someone should strike you on one cheek, you should turn the other cheek. And if they hit you on that one, pow, right between the eyes, right? [15:52] That's kind of the way our culture lives these days. We have a cultural anger management problem. Misery's Child. [16:03] I really need that to complete my collection. And I really think you need to have that here. Misery. I don't have it in the store, but I can probably order it for you. I'm not interested in waiting. [16:14] I've already waited a long time for the paperback to come out. Paul Sheldon. Misery's Child. Misery. Misery in France. Misery Betrayed. [16:25] Misery in Love. You don't know any of these books? What kind of cock-a-doodie bookstore is this that you don't even know Paul Sheldon? Paul Sheldon. [16:35] Let me tell you something. I am Paul Sheldon's number one fan. His number one fan. And you can't be telling me that you don't have Paul Sheldon's books here. [16:49] Isn't there anybody here who knows about Paul Sheldon? Isn't anybody familiar with the Misery books? I'm telling you. How could any of you be in a bookstore when you don't know Paul Sheldon? [17:04] When you've never read Misery? I can't. What is wrong with you all? I don't understand what is happening. No worries, man. No worries. I am looking for a cock-a-doodie book! [17:19] I can order it for you. Or see if it was nearby. I might have it. Ma'am? Uh. Ma'am? [17:34] Oh. This looks good. Stephen King is one of our most popular authors. And this was the only one I could really show you because none of the rest of them are playable in church. [17:52] We have an anger management problem in our culture. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. [18:04] It's the only thing that there's just too little love. Some of you are going, you've sang that song before. Yes! Now we need to sing it again and again and again because we don't need anything more than we need some love. [18:19] Verse 21 of this passage starts by saying, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That's what destroys the work of Satan. [18:31] That's what destroys the work of evil. Don't be overcome with evil. In the Wesleyan faith, they talk about three simple rules. [18:42] Three simple rules. Do no harm. Do good. And stay in love with God. Say that with me. [18:53] Do no harm. Do good. And stay in love with God. On those three things you can base a life. God said that we should love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. [19:10] Right? I love my shirt. I love my shirt. My shirt is so comfortably lovely. Donovan sang that. Do you have a shirt that you really dig? [19:24] One that you feel so groovy in. You don't even mind. If it starts to fade. That only makes it better still. All together now. [19:34] I love my shirt. I love my shirt. My shirt is so loved. I love my shirt. Really? He wrote a whole song about loving his shirt. [19:47] What does love really mean? When we talk about adding more love and staying in love with God, what does that really mean? In verse 9, this passage begin. [19:59] And it says love must be sincere. But actually in the original Greek, love is a noun. And what it really means is sincere love. It's a title. [20:10] It's saying this is what sincere love is. Defined. Defined by God's love or what we call agape love in the Greek. [20:23] Because it's the most holy, the most wonderful love. A love that gives of itself and care for others. It's defined actually by the very essence of God. [20:34] In 1 John chapter 4, it says God is love. The definition of love is what God is. And the reason for that is, is because God demonstrated to us love. [20:48] In the book of Philippians, one of my favorite books, it says, Jesus, being the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a person. [21:06] He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. He didn't consider being God and staying in glory. [21:18] And staying away from us sinful creatures as the goal. He entered down into our broken, miserable, messed up world. [21:30] Because he loved us. To show us what love is. In verse 16 it says, Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. [21:44] Do not be conceited. Be willing to associate with people of low position. Because in doing so, you do exactly what God did with us. [21:55] Because compared to God, we are people of low position. And God was willing to associate with you and me. To show us what real love is. [22:10] You see, we say we should love our neighbor as ourselves. But the problem with that, first of all, is some people don't like themselves. And the second problem is, that means we're only going to love people as much as we show love towards ourselves. [22:24] And some people aren't very loving towards themselves. Jesus gave us a platinum rule. Not the golden rule. You remember the platinum rule? We'll put it up for you. The platinum rule is this. [22:36] Love each other as I have loved you. Not love each other as much as you love yourself. Love each other the way God would love you. [22:46] What is real love? Love is a willingness to care for someone so much that you'll love them as much as God has loved you. [22:58] That's not always easy to do. Because in this confusing world, it can get hard to stay in love. Verse 11 even talks about it in reference to our relationship with God. [23:12] Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Stay in love with God was one of those three rules. How do you do that? [23:23] How do you maintain it? How do you keep the passion? I was reading in the newspaper, and they had one of those Dear Whoever columns, you know? [23:34] And it was a woman writing it, and she said, we just had our third child, and we have another one that's two and another one that's four. And she said, and I work, and my husband works, and we have a dream life, but we've lost all the passion. [23:54] Do you really have a dream life if you've lost all the passion? You know, the person writing the column said, go on a date once a week. Spend some time with each other. [24:06] You're exhausted. We've become so busy that we're exhausted, and we've lost the place to be in love with the people we're in love with, nonetheless, with people we don't even know well, or God, for that matter. [24:22] We need to take time. When I counsel couples getting married, I speak to them about their children. The most important thing in raising healthy children is to have a very healthy relationship between mom and dad. [24:37] It's more important that you take care of your relationship than your relationship with your children. Because to be honest with you, most children would rather have you treat them miserable and love each other than the other way around. [24:52] Not that you should treat your children miserable. I didn't say that. I don't want anybody quoting me that way. Right? But the point is, is so long as your parents seem to be stable and happy and healthy, all of life seems okay to a child. [25:09] There's so many things we can do to keep the passion going, to add that love. And a lot of them are right here in this particular passage. In fact, reading this passage is like reading the fruits of the Spirit. [25:21] Do you remember them? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. [25:31] Everybody remembers self-control except for when they need it. Oh, never mind. That's another sermon. Verse 9 says, Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. [25:42] The first thing we need to do is do good. In verse 17 it says, Do what is acceptable and what makes people appreciate you. Everyone appreciates you. [25:54] Doing good is good. The more good we put into the world, the more love we put into the world. Wesley said it this way, Do all the good you can by all the means you can and all the ways you can and all the places you can at all the times you can with all the people you can for whenever you can as long as you can. [26:15] Do good. It will help you to have more love if you do good. People will not be mad at you for doing good. They won't get upset. They won't get angry. [26:29] They'll be more love. Now this one here is a little tricky. In verse 10 it says, Honor one another above yourselves. That's one of the keys of agape love is to actually love the other person with a concern for them that sometimes is even beyond a concern for ourselves. [26:46] We become a radically self-centered, self-focused culture. It's really all about me. We've been taught that. In fact, my generation was labeled the me generation. [26:59] The generations after us get iPhones and iPads and I whatever, right? We are becoming individualized people. And what we need to do is to look out of ourselves for other people. [27:15] If you're in any relationship with somebody else, it could be a spouse, it could be a boyfriend or girlfriend, a mother or father, children, friends. You have a job in that relationship. [27:27] Do you know what it is? It's your job to brag about how wonderful the other people are. Really. Try it a little bit. Just everywhere you go, talk about how wonderful that other person is. [27:38] And you know what that other person is going to want to do? They're going to want to hang around you. They're going to love you. Because it's really hard to brag on yourself. It really is. [27:50] You did a good job with my hair today, don't you think? I mean, really. It doesn't work. But somebody else could say good things about you and everybody's like, oh, really? Wow. [28:02] So it's your job to honor the other person above yourself. And it's their job, by the way, to do it for you, too. This is a two-way street, right? Love always has to be two-way streets. [28:14] Otherwise, it becomes abuse. If you give of yourself to someone and they don't give back, that means you're putting yourself in an abusive situation. Can you be happy, as it says in verse 15, when people are happy? [28:32] You know, it also says to mourn with people who mourn. We do that pretty well. We really are pretty good about that. When you hear that somebody has lost someone that they love or is suffering some tragedy, we're pretty good about mourning with them. [28:45] But being happy for somebody who's happy, oh, yeah, they got a new car. Yeah, yeah, their kids are on the honor roll. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got the good job. [28:58] Oh, really? It's hard to be happy for somebody else, isn't it? Try it with your own family. Oh, my brother's doing better than me? Really? [29:08] Well, let me tell you about it. Really? It's hard to be happy. We have to work at it. But when we really find ourselves to rejoice with other people, we put more love into our world, into our relationships, into our lives. [29:27] In verse 16, it tells us not to be proud, not to be conceited. Pride so often comes from insecurity. It comes from a feeling that we don't feel good about ourselves so we puff ourselves up because we think maybe if we puff ourselves up, people will think better of us. [29:47] Better to find somebody to love. Maybe they'll talk good about you and then you don't have to puff yourself up because they're puffing you up. Do you get it? I love this one that says, live in harmony with one another. [29:59] This morning was Nancy, I'm sorry Nancy, I'm going to mention you. Nancy was asking whether she should sing harmony with me because Pastor Sherry's not here, right? [30:10] Singing harmony adds to the music. Two people singing the melody, you just get the same old, same old, right? But when you have harmony, you actually get all sorts of different notes. [30:22] I was doing it the other day. I was with a group of people and somebody was singing harmony to a song and I was trying real hard to hear them so that I could sing harmony with them because I know that just makes a song sound so much fuller and more complete. [30:34] When we live in harmony with one another, what that means is we look at each other as someone who will complete us. You know, in a relationship, we're not looking for people to do their share. [30:49] Like, you know, I'll make half the dinner, you take over the other half. I'll mow half the lawn, you mow the other half. That's just weird, right? Why would we do that? [30:59] That's, that's, I would use a word but I'm not allowed to. That's just wrong, okay? What we're looking for is somebody that can do the things that we don't do well to complete us, which is the way God made us, each of us, individually and specially gifted and made so that we would complete the people around us. [31:21] So that, so that we will appreciate one another and how they make us better than we would be. So the two together gain what they call synergy, which is more than the two separate would be. [31:36] Do you follow? That's what living in harmony is about. Finding the person who makes you better. because you want them around you all the time and they'll want you around them all the time and so we have more, not that hard, we've been talking about all morning, love. [31:55] You follow? More love. Because we appreciate each other. Because we like having somebody who makes us better. So live in harmony with one another. Don't be conceited. [32:07] Consider others better than yourself. Brag on each other. Then I kind of like this one in verse 12 where it says, Be joyful in hope. [32:21] Because it's trying to figure out how you could be not joyful in hope. Yeah, I got a great week coming up. It's going to be fantastic. We're going on a vacation. [32:33] It's going to be just terrific. You know, I'm looking forward to the next few years. They're going to be outstanding. And some joy. [32:48] One of the things that bothers me about Christians is Christians have this way of wandering around like this. You know, like everybody in the world wants to be one of you. [32:59] Right? You walk around with a miserable face. Nobody wants to be near you. You're not going to get love. You're not going to give love. What we need to do is add the joy which enhances the hope. [33:11] Say rejoice. See, you had to smile. You didn't have a choice. Rejoice. You see what happens? You go into a smile, right? Joy is a great word. It makes you smile. [33:23] And we need to smile. You know, you look better when you smile. I can tell you it's true. I can see the difference of the people who are at least smiling in their heart when they sing and the people that aren't. [33:35] You know? Joyful, joyfully, I adore you. I mean, really? Really? God wants to add the joy. But we have to want to receive it and share it. [33:51] People want to be around you if you're joyful in hope. You gotta accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative. Hold on to what's affirmative. [34:03] Don't mess with Mr. Inbetween. Old song day. All right. Patience. I told you, this is like a sermon series. [34:14] I could do all of these, but we're just gonna go through them quick. Be patient in affliction. Patient in affliction. Patient in affliction. I don't like when I hurt. [34:25] How about you? I don't like when things go wrong. Last week, I was working on a project out at the lake. We're transforming a little bedroom into a big closet. [34:36] Okay? And so part of that is, is I have to replace the window, which means I gotta case it out with new wood. So that meant I had to go buy wood, sand the wood, stain the wood, stain the wood again, poly the wood, sand the wood, poly the wood, sand the wood, poly the wood, sand the wood. [34:52] Anybody ever do this? It takes like forever. So you get just the right amount of wood. You got it all figured out. And so I'm casing out the window and I put the board up. [35:06] I cut it to measure. Everything's right. Oh, I gotta take a little notch out of it. I gotta remember that. So I take the little notch out of it. I put up, oh, it's the wrong board. I cut the notch out of the wrong board. How am I gonna tell my wife? [35:18] We've gotta stain and poly, stain and poly, poly, poly, stain, sand, sand, sand for another three days because I cut the wrong board. I'm freaking out. My wife could hear me upstairs. Ah! I won't tell you the other mistakes I made. [35:33] I was just so upset. None of us like it when things don't go right. And that's a little thing. I forgot how to make the board work. [35:45] Some things are bigger than that. Sometimes we have big disappointments. Sometimes we're suffering physically. Sometimes we have a lot of hurt. But what really bothers me is the afflictions that are things that are like the cut board that we won't even remember in three weeks. [36:04] They won't even go through our mind. And yet we get in a miserable relationship with the people around us because we feel afflicted. So instead of spreading joy, we're spreading misery about something that won't matter in two weeks. [36:25] That's foolish, isn't it? But even when it's something that will matter, even if it's something that really hurts, it's really a problem, we don't gain love by simply sharing misery. [36:46] I have gone to visit countless people in hospital situations, in situations where people are actually facing death itself. And I can't tell you how many times I went in to cheer them up and they cheered me up. [37:00] Some people have a way of realizing that afflictions are just something that comes in our lives and we need to show the power of our faith by overcoming them. [37:10] And in doing so, we actually share love as compared to sharing misery. Because when you ask somebody how you're doing, they really don't want you to tell them. [37:21] You do know that, by the way, right? But if you do tell them, do it in such a way that you're giving honor to God who holds the thing in his hands because losing love of somebody you care for isn't worth sharing misery. [37:42] And that same verse, it goes on, it says, be faithful in prayer. Now, this is talking about God. I don't know if you know what prayer is. Some people get all confused about prayer. [37:53] They think prayer is some special language. Oh, thou with God in the 20th to 12th century that lived in this thou with thing kind of. [38:05] And they think they can't pray because they don't have some special words. All that prayer is is a conversation with God. Just talking to him. Hey God, how you doing? [38:19] We should be faithful. We should remember God. Has anybody here ever forgotten to pray? You don't have to raise your hand. Forgotten to pray? I do. Sometimes I'll go a couple days and then I'll be like, like, oh, I haven't talked to you, have I? [38:31] Hey, let's have a conversation. Because God wants to hear from us. It's the same with our own relationships, right? Do you think that you're going to have a strong, healthy, loving relationship if you never stay in communication with the people you love? [38:46] I carry this thing in my pocket. I bet you most of you have one of these, right? Mine's kind of old and beat up because I'm too cheap to buy a new one. Okay? [38:59] If it rings and it's a certain ringtone, which would be my wife's ringtone, it doesn't matter who I'm with. You've probably experienced this somewhere. [39:10] I always answer. I always answer. You know why I always answer? Because one of these days, you people aren't going to give a hoot about me. [39:22] I mean, the best it's going to be is, oh, remember Pastor Todd? Yeah, he used to be around years ago. I kind of liked him. You know, right? But my wife will still be there. She's going to be a part of my life. [39:36] For my life. So I stay connected to her. It really doesn't matter if you bother the person who's a stranger you're with to answer a call from somebody you love deeply. [39:50] Do you follow? So you offended somebody you don't care about to stay connected with the person you care about the most. Think about it. Same with God. [40:04] God wants to love you. God wants to care for you. God wants to be in communication with you. Don't forget to be in communication with God. Lost my Bible. There it is. So that you can stay connected. [40:18] And staying connected goes along with this next one where in verse 13 it says practice hospitality. Hospitality. You know what hospitality really is? [40:29] Hospitality is making a space for people. Making a space for people. Linda mentioned that Jean Beeger passed away. She'd come to this church for 91 years. [40:41] Anybody can beat that record? 91 years. Yeah. Since she was born. And what people told me about her when I'd mention her who remembered Jean is they'd say quite often they were the first people to ever say hello to me. [40:54] to make a space in their life for someone else. Practicing hospitality is making a space. [41:06] Making a space in your life for people. And especially the people you love and especially God. Practice hospitality. It just means being friendly. [41:18] Hello. How you doing? Good to see you today. People love to hear that. It adds to the love. One last one. [41:30] And this one's probably one of the hardest ones. I'll read the section that they talk about where it says don't repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. [41:42] If it is possible as far as it depends on you live in peace with everyone. Do not take revenge my dear friends. But leave room for God's wrath. It's hard. [41:56] It's hard. Because when people are hurtful to us we want to get them back. Have you ever had a grudge against somebody? [42:10] Have you ever like had somebody that you just I am so upset at them I just want to just take them in. Ever feel that way? You know? [42:22] Here's the problem with grudges. When you're carrying a grudge you know who loses? You do. The other person is like I'm going sailing I'm going to the lake I'm feeling good I'm happy life is good and you're like no! [42:40] It's just time of me because I just want to just I just want to explode! Who's hurting? The person you're carrying the grudge against? [42:52] No, they're having a good time. They don't care. So what God is saying is you've got to let go of that stuff. You've got to let go of it. Now if it's somebody that you know and you care about and they come and ask for forgiveness then the least you could be is as forgiving as God. [43:09] Or as you want God to be of you right? Or as you want other people to be forgiving of you. If people you love and that love you come and ask for forgiveness we should be loving but what if they don't even want to be forgiven? [43:22] I got you! Right? What if they're those kind of people? You see grudges are a demon. [43:37] What they do is they get into your life. They get into your very soul and they poison you. And so one of the most powerful things that we can do to bring love into our lives is to let go of the anger let go of the pain let go of the desire for revenge let go of the grudges let go of it. [44:02] Cast it out. in the name of Jesus Christ those demons need to be gone. Otherwise we hurt. We hurt. [44:14] Don't do it for them. Do it for yourself. Do it for your own life so you'll be healthier and you'll have more love. Do you know in chapter 13 of Corinthians it says love keeps no record of the wrongs. [44:29] If you're in a relationship with somebody you love you shouldn't be having any reason to remember anything wrong about them. Now verse 13 brings us to our conclusion because it says to practice. [44:45] Practice. Sometimes we need to do these things again and again and again to learn how to be loving because love is an action. [44:56] You know what John 3.16 is right for God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten you know what I mean right okay this is 1 John 3.16 it says this is how we know what love is Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of God be in that person how can the love of God be in that person dear children say this with me let us not love with words or speech but with actions and truth be loving the more you practice being loving the more loving you will be in our in our culture we've been teaching ourselves to start with curses it says don't curse your enemy but bless them we've been taught to start with curses get angry we need to change that reality we have a culture that has an anger management problem and we need to bring an entirely different message to this world so that people see that the love of God is truly and really in our lives this is an old song probably most of you don't remember this one praise ye the Lord killing's not a game what if they gave a war my friend and nobody came what if they gave a war and nobody showed up we wouldn't have to fight now the problem is is we live in a world where there are evil people and hurtful people and there are people that do nasty and dangerous and mean things and so sometimes we do need to fight and so if our side doesn't show up it would be devastating people do go to war the Israelites went to war against the people of Jericho because the people of Israel were living out in the desert they had nothing except a lot of weapons and the people living in Jericho had a nice land plenty of room all they had to do is what Rahab did [47:18] Rahab said come on join us what would have happened if everybody in the town of Jericho would have put out a red cord right what if the whole town of Jericho would have listened to Rahab Rahab got her friends and her relatives to join her in that room what if the whole town would have listened to Rahab what if they gave a war and nobody came what if we were the messengers of peace this to me I think is one of the most powerful verses in here it says if it is possible as far as it depends on you as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone not everybody wants the advance peace but you can does anybody know where that light is over by the Galleria Mall you know you get off the off the through way and you go around that kind of exit ramp sort of thing and they have a light that has absolutely no reason for being there do you know where I'm talking about it's right by the bridge and you just sit there why am I at this light right so I was at it a few years ago it was quite a few years ago it's when I owned that used Cadillac you remember that yellow Cadillac it was practically new for me [48:37] I mean it wasn't new but it was new to me so we were very happy in our used Cadillac we're sitting there at the light and I'm watching this car coming you know in the rear view and I realized this car was not going to stop so I put my arm over like this in front of my wife and said hold on put my foot as hard on the brake as I could so we didn't hit the guy in front of us and sure enough wham right into the back end of our car so I got out of the car looked at my car there were some parts on our car that were damaged but those old Cadillacs all they really did for that was they'd take a part off and put a new one on so it wasn't really all that serious their car of course having hit a Cadillac was half demolished all right and out comes a 17 year old kid and he looks at our car and he goes oh my gosh oh my gosh is this going to be expensive I said well it is a Cadillac oh my gosh I hit a Cadillac oh my gosh I hit a Cadillac and so then my wife tried to calm him down and says don't worry it's okay we're both pastors oh my gosh [49:45] I hit two pastors and a Cadillac I'm going to hell oh my gosh and he's freaking out now the truth is it was his fault I could have gotten out of that car and just gave it to that kid for driving too fast and not being very smart and running into my car instead we did everything we could to calm him down then we took him home we drove him home and explained to his parents what happened and told him it'd be okay it's this insurance their child did not get hurt and neither did we it's okay every once in a while we do the right thing I don't tell you the times I don't well I do but not too often as far as it depends on us live in peace with everyone bless those who persecute you love as God loved you [50:49] God wants us to be different the church the church is supposed to be a place as it says in verse 10 that is devoted in love turn the equation upside down from an anger management problem to a love management problem that's what God is calling us to do but to do that we have to look at people different why didn't the people of Jericho listen to to to Rahab she's a prostitute she's such a low level on the bottom of the barrel person they stuck her in the wall so that if the city's attacked she'd be the first one killed that's what they thought of Rahab unimportant insignificant marginal not worth a thing why would we listen to what she has to say who was Rahab well let's find out in the book of Matthew it says Solomon was the father of Boaz whose mother was oh there she is [51:50] Rahab Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth Obed the father of Jesse Jesse the father of King David and King David was the great great great great great great great grandfather of Jesus oh which means that Rahab is the great great great great great great great great great grandmother of Jesus three simple rules do no harm do good stay in love with God open up your heart open up your eyes open up your world and find more love share more love be more loving open the eyes of my heart open the eyes of my heart [53:02] I want to see you I want to see you open the eyes of my heart open the eyes of my heart I want to see you I want to see you see you시죠 how can you see youDid I know heal and continue for the news quando for the verse hear over up your 2019 Kh suns Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. [53:55] Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you. [54:08] To see you high and lifted up. Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love. [54:21] As we sing holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. [54:34] Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. I want to see you. [54:46] And we cry holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. [55:00] I want to see you. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. [55:10] Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you. [55:23] When we see God and when we know God and when we feel God, then we have the love, the real love to share. So I invite you this morning to put all the brokenness between you and God aside as we offer our prayer of confession this morning. [55:41] Dear God. Dear God in heaven, I have sinned. I've broken your loss. I've broken your heart. And I've broken other people. [55:56] People made in your image. Forgive me, God. Change me. Help me to be an instrument of your love. [56:06] help me to do no harm to do good and stay in love with you forgive my sins in Jesus name amen Jesus loved you not because you deserved it believe it or not you don't neither do I by the way but because he loved you that's what real love is in the name of Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven glory to God amen sometimes I think what will people say help me when I'm only just a memory when I'm home where my soul belongs was I love no one else would show up was that Jesus to the least of us was my worship more than just a song love [57:29] I want to live like that give it all I have said everything I say and do points to you love is who I am this is where I'll stand reckons the abandoned never holding back I want to live like that I want to live like that am I proof am I proof you are who you say you are grace can really change your heart do I live like your love is true people people cry even if they don't know my name is there evidence that I've been changed when they see me near they see you [58:46] I want to live like that I want to live like that give it all I have let everything I say and do points to you points to you love is who I am this is where I'll stand recklessly abandoned never holding back I want to live like that I want to live like that [59:52] I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that I want to live like that now as forgiven children of God let's greet our neighbor with the peace and the love of the Holy Spirit good morning good morning good morning good morning it's always the best week yes yes we are very close the weekend [61:36] I'm the Lord of sea and sky I have heard my people cry All who dwell in dark and sin My hand will save I who made the stars of night I will make the darkness bright Who will bear my light in heaven Who shall I set? [62:35] Here I am, Lord Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night I will go, Lord If you need me I will hold your people in my heart I'm the Lord of wind and flame I will tend the poor and flame I will set a feast for them My hand will save Thine is bread I will provide Till their hearts be satisfied [63:39] I will give my life to them Who shall I stand? Here I am, Lord Here I am, Lord Is it I, Lord? [64:00] I have heard you calling in the night I will go, Lord I will go, Lord If you lead me I will hold your people in my heart And I will hold my life to them I will hold my life to them I will hold my life to them Lift up your hearts Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right to hear our thanks and praise It is right and a good and a joyful thing Always and everywhere to give thanks to God The one who has given us all things Everything we have and everything we are comes from God And so with all the people on earth and all the angels in heaven We praise his name and join their unending hymn saying Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of power and might [65:03] 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 Blessed are you Blessed is your son, Jesus Christ He came to be with us Be with us Be with us Even though we don't deserve to have the glory of God in our presence He came to be with us Because he loved us He walked where we walked He did what we did And he was abused the way we're abused Until finally even The people he loved the most Denied him Betrayed him and turned against him But on that very night He took this bread And he gave thanks to God And he broke the bread And he gave it to his disciples And he said take and eat This is my body Which is broken for you For the forgiveness of sin Eat of this Remembering me [66:05] When the supper was over He took the cup He gave thanks to God And he gave it to his disciples And he said drink from this all of you This is my blood of the new covenant It's poured out for you and for many For the forgiveness of sin Drink of this Remembering me And so in remembrance of these mighty acts in Jesus Christ We offer ourselves In praise and thanksgiving And thanksgiving As a holy and living sacrifice In union with Christ offering for us As we proclaim the mystery of faith Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again Pour out your Holy Spirit On these grifts of bread and cup And on all of us Lord That we might be filled with the power of God That we might be changed from the inside out That we might be transformed Lord To be people of love To be a different message In this struggling world Help us Lord To be your hands and your feet Help us to do no harm [67:06] To do good And stay always in love with you For we pray this in the name of the Father And of the Son And of the Holy Spirit Amen And now as Jesus taught his disciples to pray Let us join together in saying Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory forever and ever Amen For those who are assisting at the table Come forward it this time pleaseée Cry bowNS Shaneee [68:26] Amen. Amen. [69:26] Amen. Peace on earth. [70:26] Amen. Amen. [71:26] Amen. You know, our anger management specialist will tell you to count to ten before you blow your top when you're angry, right? [72:14] I don't want you to count to ten, that's too much. I just want you to count to nine. Amen. Amen. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, oh, and self-control. [72:30] Do those and you'll have more love in your life and more love spread into the world. Go in the name of Jesus Christ and may his peace be upon you. Amen. Amen. [72:52] Amen. Amen. [73:16] Amen. Amen. [74:16] Amen. Amen. [75:16] Amen. Amen. [76:16] Amen.