November 17, 2013 The Ripple Effect: Giving Thanks

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Philippians 4:4-13

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable―if anything is excellent or praiseworthy―think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me―put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Heard a cute story about the habit of saying Grace before a meal:

PASTOR: Now, Simone, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMONE: No ma'am, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

(Even though we in this church are all good cooks, we will have our benediction serve as Grace for our turkey dinner!)

This is the final in my sermon series called the ripple effect ...

toss a stone into water and the ripples appear and spread out...sometimes much further than you would imagine! This series has been spread out in part because we had a couple special services recently. The topics have been prayer, bible reading, worship (communion), being together, and today Giving thanks. These are ways in which we can stay in our faith, live our faith and even grow in our faith, to help spread the vision that God has for this church! It's wonderful to say one believes in God and Jesus, but we can do more! Jesus said, “Follow me”. and these practices are how we do better at following. They enable us to do things that ripple out and benefit others..but also enable ripples within ourselves that help us learn and grow in kindness and compassion, to become better human beings and better followers of our loving Lord.

Our passage from Philippians is a prime example.

{READ lesson}

Rejoice in the Lord. No matter what's going on, God is in charge!

You know people will say, 'if God is love, how can this happen...” referring to disasters, illness, sick children. That's a fair question!! Well, if there were no God, there would be only disasters, violence, hatred, illness, devastation. There would be NO joy, no peace, no love, no beauty, no truth-because these are the qualities of God. We only know truth, beauty and joy because of God. Rejoice in the Lord...again I say rejoice.

No matter what is going on in your life, in the world, there is SOMETHING for which to be grateful. There is something that is right, admirable, true, something lovely. Focus on these, give thanks for them and for the ability to perceive them! Give thanks for a bird song and for hearing, for the colors of the sunrise and sunset, and for vision. For the aroma of food cooking, and the ability to smell...See what I mean here? This is how we maintain that attitude of gratitude that Paul is talking about here. And this attitude will help us get through a LOT.

There have been many studies that show that keeping positive thoughts help a person emotionally in many ways. It promotes resilience against stress...can help against depression or anxiety, and can even help a person sleep better! That is what Paul is saying...'the God of peace will be with you” keeping a positive attitude helps us maintain equilibrium even when things are challenging.

That equilibrium can help us to see that when things are falling apart, others are as well. That we are all in the same boat, we are all dealing with STUFF.

Author Anne Lamott says,
“we're all in the same boat. We ALL think we missed school the day that the visiting specialists stopped by our grade school to distribute the pamphlets on what is true, who we are, how we are to live with the great mystery of life, how to come through dark times, how to awaken. We're all sort of winging it, trying to learn self-love and respect, ... and live lives of meaning and joy.”

So we work on holding onto what is true, beautiful, noble, the things that help us remember the qualities of God and that bring us the peace of God.... And that equilibrium can help us to want to reach out! We can share that peace!

Social psychologists are increasingly finding that "pro-social” behavior – including expressing gratitude and giving to others – is key to our psychological well-being. Even how we choose to spend our money affects our health and happiness.

Expressing gratitude confers benefits, so too does giving to others. New research shows that people all around the world --derive more happiness from spending money on others than they do on themselves.

"For the first time, we show that giving away money or spending it on others confers the ...psychological benefit of increasing the giver’s sense of wealth,” says Michael Norton of Harvard Business School and co-author with Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia of the upcoming book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending. In {several} new studies, Norton and colleagues showed that charitable giving makes people feel wealthier.

This research follows on other work... that shows that giving time to others – from helping with homework to shoveling a neighbors’ driveway – actually makes people feel that they have more time. "In fact, giving time away ...{helps us feel we have MORE time} even more than unexpected windfalls of free time.”

Giving our money helps us to feel wealthier! Giving our time helps us feel that we have more time! Could it be that our Creator God actually MADE us that way? On purpose?

Giving is a huge key to feeling good.....when we bless others, we feel blessed. That is how the Kingdom of God works! We think we have set out to do something for someone else, and we end up feeling good, feeling that we have more time, money and we just feel better about ourselves in general!

So you want to feel realllllllly good?! How about being a blessing to our church!? You can feel more wealthy and feel that you have more time, both! We need both time and talent, and all of us have things we can do to help out.

Here in this church, we are doing wonderful things to bless others, and will continue to do so, even while we are in transition until the new Sr Minister is called here. The Sr Minister is not the only reason the church runs....it's the people! People who are committed to taking care of others, people who know how good it feels to do something, just because we are able to do so!

We give because we can. Because we recognize that we are blessed, and we can share some of those blessings. And we give because God gave...The Eternal God who Is and Was and Ever Shall be....gave God's Only Son-- For each of us! We give because we realize that we are each a child of God, an heir with Jesus Christ! Jesus, who gave ALL for us, the greatest gift of all, and we can do all things through Him, who strengthens us.

A while back, early in our merger process, I shared this quote with you all....and I think it bears repeating.

Author N.T. Wright in his book Simply Christian, writes of what the church can be:

“It’s a place of welcome and laughter, of healing and hope, of friends and family and justice and new life. It’s where the homeless drop in for a bowl of soup and the elderly stop by for a chat. It’s where one group is working to help drug addicts and another is campaigning for social justice. It’s where you’ll find people learning to pray, coming to faith, struggling with temptation, finding new purpose, and getting in touch with a new power to carry out that purpose. It’s where people bring their own small faith and discover, in getting together with others to worship the one true God, that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. No church is like that all the time. But a remarkable number of churches are partly like that for quite a lot of time.”¹

This church is partly like that, for part of the time. There is more to do, but we are on our way. I am convinced this vision of what the church can be is part of what we are called to! I was convinced of that early in our merger process, and I am convinced of it today. But I can't do it alone, nor can whomever ends up as our Sr Minister, whenever he/she comes here. It takes ALL of us. And that is who is at work right now. We are becoming that church of vision, even in this time of transition. WOW, that is amazing, it's a gift from God. Let us be generous with OUR gifts today, tomorrow and next year.

The ripples we cast here in UCB are spreading a LONG ways...thru our monetary donations and actions, we in this church are making a big difference in lives in Beloit and beyond. Through Heifer International, which helps families learn to feed themselves and their neighbors. Through other missions, we help disabled people in Mexico, translate the Bible in Mozambique. We gave school supplies to 340 kids here in Beloit, we help educate children in Myanmar. and we are collecting today to help disaster victims in the Philippines. Our ripples are spreading across the globe!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

How about a group of thoughtful, committed citizens who pray, read our bibles, gather as the Body of Christ to worship and give of ourselves and our gifts? Think of our ripples spreading out... we can help change the world! We can do ALL things through Christ who is our strength!

Let's pray

Gracious God, thank you for creating us to be giving people. Help us to be a blessing today, tomorrow and every day, through this church and in our every day lives.

1 - NT Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, p. 123

The Ripple Effect: Being Together

November 10, 2013       The Ripple Effect: Being Together              Pastor Carol P. Taylor

United Church of Beloit

Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless―
a miserable business!

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Football joke...from Reader's Digest. As a Catholic, Iam partial to Notre Dame football. As a former Michigan resident, though, I also keep tabs on Michigan college teams. One Saturday afternoon, a neighbor dropped in while I was watching Notre Dame vs. Michigan State. ”Which team do you want to win?” he asked. I replied, “Gee, I don't know,” ”I'm kind of torn between Church and State.” Robert A. Kozma

Community...sports as community building, we bond...but it can promote division too, Packers/Bears etc....

true community runs much more deeply...

Ripple effect.....the rock tossed into the pond....bigger rock equals bigger ripples! When we live out our faith, we are causing ripples that can have quite an effect on others!

And we may cause different kinds of ripples....positive or negative. The ripples we send out can effect others well, or badly. So we need to be mindful about what ripples we cause, what effect we may have on others, right?

We are all part of the body of Christ. Everyone in this church, in every church everywhere. That every single part of the body is valuable and necessary. Even the parts that don't seem special. We are all children of God.

In my extended family, my cousins and their spouses and kids, are some pretty strongly held opinions. We have Catholics and Protestants and Jews, agnostics, Democrats and Republicans, GB Packer fans, Bears fans and one Vikings fan, but he is only related by marriage....and we're praying for him.

But down deep, we are family first and foremost. We love and respect each other, even tho our discussions can get loud and lively! We enjoy being together, and that is what is most important.

People tend to label people. Most people like to have things fit into categories. That's just the way our minds work. Gender, economic status, racial background, country of origin, sexuality, dog lover or cat lover....whether as a fan of the other team, or whatever. But we need to be careful because labeling can be a way of “othering”--that is saying that the person we just labeled is different...not one of us..therefore one of the 'others'. If we focus on what is different, we fail to peceive what we have in common. It's harder to remember that we are all part of the same family, the family of God. We fail to see that the other person has had joy and troubles, has loved and has had heartbreak, has been ill and has felt fantastic...

it takes practice to keep looking for and focusing on what we have in common.

Author Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together:

Christian community is not an ideal we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our community is in Jesus Christ alone, the more calmly we will learn to think about our community and pray and hope for it.’ 

You see, we can not fully achieve true community all by ourselves.

In the Old testament lesson, did you notice something? The writer is talking about 2 people, 2 people together...then says 'A CORD of three strands is not easily broken.” two people, three strands....

it's God. The first strand is God. God who created us, out of love, God who created us to Love God and Love and take care of each other. God who so loved that God sent his Only Son....When we make sure God comes first in our hearts and lives, then we are the cord of three strands. THEN we are truly the Body of Christ, living our faith, our commitment to our family―our immediate family, our church family and the family of God.

Dallas Willard

... By relying on {Jesus'} word and presence we are enabled to reintegrate the little realm that makes up our life into the infinite rule of God. And that is the eternal kind of life. Caught up in his active rule, our deeds become an element in God’s eternal history. They are what God and we do together, making us part of his life and him a part of ours.

A Story on a pastors' website....There was a Benedictine community to whom nobody came. As the monks grew old, they became more and more disheartened because they couldn't understand why their community was not attractive to other people. Now in the woods outside the monastery there lived an old rabbi. People came from all over to talk to him about the presence of Yahweh in creation. Years went by and finally the abbot himself went into the woods, leaving word with his monks, “I have gone out to speak to the rabbi.” (It was of course considered humiliating that a Christian community had to go back to the synagogue to find out what was wrong with them.)

When the abbot finally found the rabbi's hut in the woods, the rabbi welcomed him with open arms as if he had known that he was coming. They put their arms around each other and had a good cry. The abbot told the rabbi that his monks were good men but..., and the community was dying. He asked the rabbi if he had any insight into the work of Yahweh in their lives. The rabbi replied, I have the secret and I will tell you once. You may tell the monks and then none of you is ever to repeat it to one another. The abbot declared that if they could have the secret, he was sure his monks would grow.

So the rabbi looked at him long and hard and said, The secret is that among you, in one of you is the Messiah! The abbot went back to this community and told his monks the secret. And lo! as they began to search for the Messiah in one another they grew, they loved, they became very strong, very prophetic. And the old conference ends: From that day on, the community saw Him in one another and flourished!
--Story told by Joan D. Chittister.

Among you, in one of YOU is the Messiah!

Jesus is within each of us. Look for Jesus, look for the heart, remember that there is heartbreak there too, and send out ripples that are positive, kind and loving.

Let's pray together, this is the full version of a familiar prayer.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference,

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

-Reinhold Niebuhr.

The Ripple Effect: An Open Book

Oct. 20, 2013 The Ripple Effect: An Open Book Pastor Carol P. Taylor

Psalm 119:97-105 New International Version

97 Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
102 I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.

John 17:13-19 Good News Translation

13 And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness. 14 I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16 Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world.17 Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18 I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. 19 And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you.

The Ripple Effect: we never quite know what effect we may have on another person. We have all heard those stories of how one person made a difference in the life of someone, by a seemingly small thing said or done. When we live out our faith, we are causing ripples that can have quite an effect on others!

READ GOSPEL LESSON.

I am using GNT here while the NIV is up on the screen very deliberately. In Bible study, it can be very helpful to use different translations.

I love that they use the word “Dedicated” here for “Sanctified”

To be sanctified means to be set apart, separated, saved to be used for specific purpose. In the NT this word is also translated “holy”.

...sanctification is the same Greek word as holiness, meaning a separation. Separated, set apart for a purpose!

Jesus was sanctified, separated FOR US, dedicated for our use.

Just as this beautiful baby has been 'dedicated' for God, set apart so that she can make that choice one day, so we can be dedicated, set apart for God to use for God's purposes. When I say 'we' I mean each of us as individuals, because we never know what effect we may have today! But I also mean 'we' as a church, to help our members, our community (like with Hands of Faith...Trunk or Treat, visting homebound members, and so on. so we, individually and as a church can be dedicated, set apart for God to use for God's purposes.

How do we know God's purposes.....

well, they are here...in the Bible!
Well, yes ok, but the bible is hard to understand sometimes.

Though as mark twain said, it ain't the parts of the bible I don't understand that bother me, it's the ones that I DO!

Richard Foster in Life With God

Pay attention to the recurring themes of the stories of the Bible: God loves human beings; human beings always seem to want what they can't have; God is grieved and angered when human beings rebel but pursues them and forgives them anyway; God is involved not just in the lives of the chosen people, but in the lives of all peoples, and in the concerns of every living thing in creation.

why read the bible? Its confusing, it hard to understand.

yes it is, this is not the latest popular novel or biography. And you can't read it the same way you would read one of those! The Bible is a collection of books of historical events, poetry, instructions, stories that can be hard for us to relate to! Jesus talks about seeds and wheat and chaff, fish and bread as a meal. There are stories of miracles that are just unbelievable..i mean REAALLY unbelievable! And some of the prophecies, well they are scarier than a Stephen King story!
Yes! The bible is challenging! But there's a big picture here....all those events, poems, instructions, stories, and prophecies point to one theme. God is with us!

R. Foster again.....The divine assurance thundering throughout the ages is also a divine invitation: I am with you will you be with Me? This dynamic is the absolute unifying center of the Bible. Every story in the Bible, no matter its twists and turns, whether the human characters are trustworthy or untrustworthy, whether the story is sad or happy, is built on this clarion call to relationship.  {God says} “I am with you- will you be with Me?” 

The bible has survived, parts of it, for thousands of years! There must be SOME reason for that!

And yes the bible is relevant today. There is comfort in the bible, written in beautifully poetic language...to everything there is a season,

Isaiah said that God's word WILL accomplish it's purposes and on the day the mountains will sing and the trees will clap their hands! That verse right there can get you through a tough day.

So why should our bibles be open?

Because God is LOVE. And it says Life ain't about you and me.

Oh I wish it were, I think if I were in charge of the universe for a few days, I could REALLY shape up a few things! But what God is interested in is how we care for each other, how we recognize God in each other. Yes God is in every human being...sometimes we have to look pretty hard! But God is in every single person and all of creation. That's why our covenant says we seek to reach out in God's extravagant love, we affirm!

This week I was prepping for a  funeral and one of her favorite verses is Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.”

and I looked in my bible..and was reminded that the verses immediately before that are " The stone  the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;   the  Lord  has done this, and it is marvelous  in our eyes."

Jesus referred to this Psalm when he was talking about going to the Cross. The stone that was rejected, was Jesus. He endured the rejection –the separation from God, that should have been ours! And became the cornerstone of faith, of the church, of our lives. This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!

The Bible is a LOVE story. That's why we have it, that's why we need to read it, even when it's hard to understand, even when it bothers us, because over and over God says to us I LOVE YOU, Love me and love others!

Jesus sanctified himself for us, dedicated himself, set himself apart, for US. On the cross, He was separated in another way...separated from God, his father (whom he said, “I and the father are one”) but on the cross, covered in OUR SIN, Jesus endured the full separation from God that made him the bridge between us and our perfect Holy God. Jesus became totally separate from God, dedicated himself FOR US. For you and me, purely out of Love. We are to be set apart too. Not to isolate ourselves, but to be in relationship with other believers to carry out the work of God―to make the Kingdom happen here on earth.

Let God's love ripple through you, through your life. Allow that love to flow from you to others and see what the effect is!

Let's pray

Loving Lord God, thank you for your word that challenges, inspires, teaches, scolds, but most of all, shows us your love. Help us better grasp your love and allow it to work in us and through us to better this community and this world in Your name. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.  

Come to the Table, Sermon at UCB October 6, 2013 World Communion Sunday

Come to the Table 

Exodus 12:11-17

11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord―a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Matthew 26:26-30

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the {new} covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

-----

Today is World Communion Sunday, when Christians all over the world partake in Communion, also known as The Eucharist, the Lord's Supper. So today we, here in Beloit and all over the world are truly in community with one another! In reading up on this I learned that this tradition was started in 1936 by the Presbyterian Church USA! A few years later it was endorsed by the Federal Council of Churches, now known as the National Council of Churches, and promoted worldwide. The NCC site says, “  On this day we celebrate our oneness in Christ, the Prince of Peace, in the midst of the world we are called to serve – a world ever more in need of peacemaking.”

The tradition of World Communion Sunday reminds us that we are much more than one church on one corner of one town ...that we are a part of the whole Body of Christ!

Many churches do communion in their worship service monthly as we do. Some offer it weekly, others quarterly. Some traditions offer communion every day! Which, may not be a bad idea, come to think of it, since scripture reminds us that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God....

Communion, or the Lord's Supper, is the climax of the worship service. It helps remind us of the sacrifice made by Jesus and the Grace...the unmerited favor, undeserved mercy, forgiveness, and love poured out for us daily, but especially at the table.

There is something special about sitting down to a meal together, isn't there? Jesus knew this...there are several stories of Jesus dining with friends, and of course the miracles of providing enough food for thousands of people!

But I have to confess, as a mom, and as someone who has dealt with some food obsessions, I have often thought that it would be MUCH more convienient if we didn't need to eat quite so often! Wouldnt it be easier to just eat one meal a day!

But I've come to believe that God made us this way on purpose, for a couple of reasons. One that we are supposed to recognize our dependence on God's provision. If you know you and your child are going to be hungry again in a few hours, you need to plan! And hopefully, when we have enough food, we are reminded to give thanks for God's provision. We are God's children, needing sustanence morning, noon, and night! God provides, we are able to live our lives because of it and ideally, we care for others as God cares for us. There is a lovely circle of life here!

God's provision is what the communion story is all about. It comes from the Jewish Holiday Passover, which is from the story of Exodus. Roger read a portion of that story. It's about the Jewish people's flight from Egypt, under the rule of a hard-hearted Pharoah. Moses received from God explicit instructions on the meal the people were to eat so they would have strength for their journey! It was to be eaten in haste, no time to let the bread dough rise, bake up flat breads and a young lamb, cooked precisely, and eaten quickly, with no waste. The Exodus story, including the miracles of the parting of the Red Sea, of drinking water coming from a rock, manna, food from heaven, is the foundation story of the Jewish people. The Passover Seder, one of their great holiday feasts, is the reinactment of that meal.

It was a passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples for his last meal on earth. And he took that sacred tradition and added something to it. He made it His very own...saying “take, eat, this is my body.” “this is the blood of the new covenant.”

Jesus took this sacred celebration and made it new. He brought the tradition full circle to help believers understand the circle of God's provision for us, God's children.

When I saw the description of the next topic, communion, I wanted to share a non-Christian perspective. I am of Native American ancestry; I am a storyteller and dancer. There is an ancient belief held by many First Nations people in which the act of taking and eating food is a kind of covenant between two beings. There is a transmutation that takes place when the act of eating is done consciously and spiritually; a recognition that one form of life gives itself to another as an act of the most basic form of communion; what is eaten is reborn as the flesh of another. Many Native hunters are mindful of this sacred relationship and thank the animal they kill for giving its life so that they may feed their families. Prayers are said to thank the plants for providing food for us. There is an acknowledgment of the circle, the most basic symbol of Native spirituality. The grasses grow, and the hooved ones eat. We take a hooved one and we eat; we die and our bodies return to the soil and so the circle is completed and goes on.

― Krista Tippett, host of American Public Media’s  Speaking of Faith  radio show, sharing a listener’s e-mail. (From the  Speaking of Faith  e-mail newsletter, November 18, 2004.)

Henri Nouwen In what may have been his last interview before dying of heart failure on September 21, 1996, Henri Nouwen talked with Rebecca Laird, editor of the journal, Fellowship in Prayer, about prayer and forgiveness.

"....A biblical text that has been very, very important for me is the story in Luke 6:12-19 where Jesus spent the night in prayer on the top of the mountain. In the morning, he came down and created a community of apostles around him. Then, in the afternoon, with his apostles, he ministered -- he went out and healed and proclaimed the Good News. I've been fascinated by that because it basically says: prayer at night, community in the morning, ministry in the afternoon. Now night, morning and afternoon are symbols for the vision that Jesus starts. The three areas we have to consciously focus on are: first, communion with God -- prayer -- or being in solitude with God; secondly, creating community; and thirdly, ministry."

The Lord's Supper brings these all together. We pray, asking God's forgiveness, receiving God's mercy. Then we take the elements together, in community, with our church family and today, in community with others all over the world! And we minister as we pray for one another. Hopefully, we then go out of the service and care for each other too!

We work and live and love with other people. We laugh and cry with others. We celebrate births and mourn losses, and a lot of the time we do it over a meal. Jesus knew how important it is to enjoy a meal together and turned His very last meal on Earth into one that His followers could have together to honor Him. the One who created the universe SO VERY MUCH desired to be together with the beings created in His image, that he became one of us. Utterly vulnerable, as a newborn baby, as a man, traveling with friends who couldn't comprehend what he was telling them, sometimes not even having a place to lay his head...and again, becoming totally vulnerable on a Cross, enduring the worst punishment that humanity would dole out. Simply because of Love and yearning to be completely together with us.

The table is set for each of us. Let us come to it-together :)

Praying to the One God Sermon at United Church of Beloit, Sept 22, 2013

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!

4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

1 Timothy 2:1-7

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

~~~~~~~~

A young child was asked to say the prayer before dinner. The child began, asking God to bless Mommy and Daddy, siblings, and friends, each person at the meal, naming by name. Then the child thanked God for the meal, for each food, the roast, the potatoes, the gravy, bread & butter, the milk and juice, and then there was a long pause. Very LONG pause...and the child whispered to her parents, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know I am lying?”

Paul is doing some teaching here on prayer. This is part of a lesson on correct worship.

2:5 there is one God. This is the fundamental affirmation of the Jewish religion

The phrase "there is only one God" echoes the Shema which is the central tenet of faith in Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Here Paul uses this language to compare the oneness of God with the plurality of all-the “many” of humanity.

one mediator between God and men.There is One who arbitrates between God and humanity and reconciles them.

the man Christ Jesus. Paul’s focus is on Christ’s humanity, perhaps because the false teachers had denied that Christ was truly human. The full humanity of Christ is essential to His serving as Mediator of the covenant of grace. Jesus MUST be both fully human and fully divine in order to be the bridge for us who are only human, and God who is only divine.

Paul is teaching on worship and specifically here on prayer. Interesting that he specifies to pray for “kings and those in high positions”

he specifies 4 types of prayer.

supplications, a request, sense of urgency

prayer- to pray earnestly -sincerely, also a place to pray-set apart

intercessions-literally means to come together. intercession." Paul uses the verb form in Romans 8:27 to denote the intercessory role of the Holy Spirit and in Romans 8:34 to describe Christ's intercession for believers

To pray means to turn toward God. A deliberate act..to turn our attention, thoughts and desires to God!

Psalms help us with the turning towards God process. That is why I generally use a Psalm as the basis for our call to worship each week.

When we pray, sing, “bless the lord”, we are not 'blessing” God, but we are giving recognition, Love and honor, giving God the glory, thanks and praise!

This comes right out of the hebrew tradition of saying a 'blessing prayer' of thanks for everything.

thanksgivings―giving of thanks, Greek word is Eucharista -from Charis-meaning grace..God's grace.

And Paul says to pray with thanksgivings for all people! The word in the bible for people is also translated nations, it is the word Ethnos...from which we get the word ethnic...we are to pray for ALL kinds of people aren't we!

So why pray? We are not going to change God with our prayers? God already knows our hearts, God knows our needs, why pray?

Prayer is part of our relationship with God. It is like when a small child tells parent what's on his/her mind through the day. Don't you sometimes feel better when you talk out something with a loved one? Prayer is like that too. Prayer does not change God, but it helps us in our relationship with God.

Henri Nouwen,

It is important to nurture constantly the life of the Spirit of Jesus―which is the eternal life―that is already in us. Baptism gave us this life, the Eucharist maintains it, and our spiritual practices―such as prayer, meditation, bible reading, and spiritual guidance―can help us to deepen and solidify it.

“to deepen and solidify it” that is our goal, to help our faith life which is what gets us through the daily life.

Do we NEED to deepen our faith life? Well, think in terms of what is going on around us in society....

Richard Foster

We are always being formed by something. If we remain passive, we are being formed in the likeness of our surrounding environment. That thought alone should give us pause before dismissing the importance of disciplined effort.

To follow Jesus, we need to nuture His Holy spirit within, through prayer, bible reading, other ways of 'spiritual formation'. We will talk about these over the next few weeks. The churches that are bearing fruit these days are all about this spiritual growth. It all comes out of a deep desire to follow Jesus.

THIS is how we as a church will determine our future together. This is how we will perceive our vision, move forward into our next chapter. I suspect right now many of us feel adrift, as tho we are on the water, but not moving with purpose. Maybe even without an anchor.

Personally, I don't see it that way. I see us reaching out to our community as we always have! And reaching out well, very successfully. Because of our people! You all! Recognizing a need and taking care of it. Helping to take care of each other and of our community! We are making a difference in lives of people here in Beloit and elsewhere through our mission and outreach! I see new folks coming to worship. I go to meetings, introduce myself and hear, 'Oh you are from THAT church! Tell me more!”

We are 'That church!” and we are doing a lot of things well!

There's a story about prayer...
When a nightclub opened on Main Street, the only church in a small town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility.

After hearing both sides, the judge said, It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in prayer, while the church doesn't. {-Herb Miller, Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually }

ouch...

do we believe in the power of prayer? I am NOT advocating that sort of prayer. but do we believe that it could happen!? I do! Do you!? How about if we pray to see more people here in our community, fed, clothed, sheltered, living in safety instead of fear & violence....and we pray to be part of that solution?

Now, please know that I do not always find prayer to be easy. There are times I have no idea what to say and take great comfort in the knowledge that God DOES know what is on our hearts and that the Holy Spirit does interecede for us! That we do not have to be articulate and use 'correct' words or say 'thee and thou” to make our prayers heard. Because sometimes all I can think to say is God, You know all things...you know how my friend is hurting, please, help!!! and God has shown me that a lot of times, words aren't even necessary....the best prayer can a hug, and maybe even to cry together.

Remember, Jesus wept.

I think that one sentence --that one verse, John 11:35, Jesus wept, is one of the most powerful sentences ever composed. Jesus wept, with his friends, sharing in their anguish...taking on their pain, as he would later take on our sin.

We love and follow Jesus not simply because of what he said, but because of the way he lived, died, and was resurrected. Jesus does not ask us to agree with him but to follow him. He takes us on a journey, toward truth, toward a Kingdom we would not have entered without his saying, "Follow me" (Mark 1:17).

Prayer is one of the ways we follow Jesus more closely. Today, tomorrow, this week, please make a bit more time for prayer. Pray for (5 finger prayer) those closest to you, for those pointing you in the right direction (including your pastor and church leaders!) pray for those in leadership of our nation and world, pray for those who are weak, ill, grieving, in economic straits...and pray for yourself, to follow more closely, to learn how to reach out in His love!

What's First? Sermon Sept 8 United Church of Beloit

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither―
whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Luke 14:25-33

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters―yes, even their own life―such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

What a lovely Psalm! This one is considered to be a preparation for prayer :)

so what does it mean to meditate on the Law of the Lord...the Scriptures! The Word of God! The word here in Hebrew literally means to mutter or murmer the word to oneself repeatedly.

“Blessed is the one...” in Hebrew, the word blessed means not only to have God's favor, but means also to be guided by God, as in guided along a straight line. So when one is spending time in the word of God, learning it, pondering it by repeating it, until it sinks in! Keeping a thought or devotion, or prayer in front of you can have a profound effect on your day, helping transform your thinking into positive channels.

Then, one is like a tree growing by streams of water...a tree that thrives, that will always have green leaves and bear good fruit.

Our Gospel Lesson today is from Luke, continuing the various stories and encounters from Jesus' ministry as he is traveling along on his final trip to Jerusalem.

{READ Gospel}

it's a challenging passage isn't it? I find it interesting that Luke mentions “large crowds following Jesus' and he turns and says this to them. He knows what is awaiting him in Jerusalem, the crowds will cheer for him as a King, and only days later shout “Crucify him!”

his followers of course don't get this. He has told his disciples what is coming and they don't get it.

When he says here, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate...” it is a comparison. TO love less. Much less. He is saying to come to me, you must love me SO much that everything else you love, even the love for your dearest family members, will be nothing in comparison to the love you have for me! It will seem like you hate them because you love me so much!!

which brings me back to our Psalm....What really struck me here is the word “Delight”. To delight in the word of God....to delight in prayer and bible devotional time! do we delight in our devotional time? Do we delight in our worship, in our prayer time? Or are these things to do, part of the routine, something we are comfortable with? something to tick off on the daily checklist?!

To come to Jesus, we must DELIGHT in him, in His love, so much that our love for everything else pales....because His love for us is like that!

I have a little story...when I was a kid, I had a few aunts uncles and cousins. There was one aunt and uncle who never had children of their own, so they spoiled the socks off of their nieces and nephews. And being with them, I always felt so special. I knew that they sent great gifts to all my cousins, but I always knew that I was the one they loved best.

Well, when I grew up and my uncle, then my aunt passed on, my cousins and I were talking, and it turned out that every one of us was convinced that we were the favorite. Somehow they managed to make ALL their nieces and nephews feel so special that each of us thought they loved us best.

That's how God's love is, the love of Jesus. He loves You BEST. And he loves YOU best. And he loves YOU best...and me too. Somehow, because He IS love, his love for each of us is the best. All of us is the favorite! He DELIGHTS in us!! so he asks us to delight in Him.

And Jesus says if we do not delight in him! If we do not love that much we can not be his Disciple. Because it's a hard road.

he seems to almost be antagonizing the followers?! Telling them to take up their own cross! They all knew what it meant to carry the cross, crucifixion was fairly common in these days, and the prisoner was made to carry the crossbeam on which he would be executed. Could it be that as the group was traveling along the road they passed an execution? That a prisoner was carrying his cross and Jesus used that imagery deliberately with the sight of a beaten bloodied man staggering under the weight of the load right there nearby?

I wonder if any of the followers said, oh well never mind I am outta here....

and Jesus talks about counting the cost...planning ahead, understanding what is needed. We do that with tangible things. With buildings, cars, even groceries! Well we are SUPPOSED to plan ahead, some people just use credit cards, but that's another story.... But our faith life is not tangible, so we may not 'count the cost' because we don't know how. So Jesus said we need to love Him SO very much that everything else in comparison seems like we hate it.

And we 'take up our cross' and I looked up the Greek word here for take up and it means to take up, bear, or lift up. So we bear the burden of our cross...our stuff. And I don't mean just the tangible stuff. Yes, that's what Jesus said in this text. But some of us are even more burdened by other things...frustrations, anger, unforgiveness, “if onlys” “if only-this...if only that, then my life would be perfect...” this is all stuff that can greatly impede our faith life. But other things, possessions, can and do get in the way of our faith life too. I do not believe that every one is supposed to give away all our possessions and money. But I think most of us-and I mean ME too!-- could simplify a LOT and life just as well...or better.

And yes there are other obstacles to our faith life. Your health maybe...yet you can always pray. And there is always something or someone to pray for! And maybe you are not sure you have a ton of faith...the kind of faith that someone else has. I felt that way for a long time. I actually thought I was not capable of that steady strong faith that I saw in others. And a friend said to me, 'you can pray for more faith'. And I did....and that is one of God's favorite prayers to answer!

We can pray for more faith and love, we can pray to delight in our Lord Jesus. And so to be better followers. We can pray to better live out His love. To Put Him first!

This is Rally Sunday, the start of a new program year in our church, new season of Bible study & Sunday school and choir! We can continue to pray about all those things, and pray for a new vision for this United Church of Beloit. We can pray to love our Lord and Love others as He would have us do. We can pray to help bring God's love and Shalom, that perfect peace to Beloit and beyond!

One of the best prayers for this is the Prayer of St Francis. I made copies of this lovely prayer for each of us, can we take those out and pray it prayer together.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much

seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

You Are Free Sermon given at United Church of Beloit Aug 11, 2013

You are Free

Isaiah 58:9b-14
58:9b If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

58:10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

58:12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

58:13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

58:14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Luke 13:10-17
13:10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
13:11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."
13:13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
13:14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
13:15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?
13:16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
13:17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

(opening humor)

A parishioner called his minister, very angry on a Monday morning. "Pastor" He said "I tried to get you on Friday, but you weren't in." 
"It was my day off," the pastor replied.
"Day off?" the parishioner stormed. "The Devil never takes a day off."
"Well, if I didn't have a day off," the pastor rejoined, "I'd be just like him!"

----

This text from the Prophet Isaiah reminds the people to care for one another and to honor the Sabbath.

In our Gospel lesson, from Luke, we see Jesus teaching on the Sabbath, and some of the leaders getting upset with him, (again..) this time for performing a healing on the Sabbath!

READ GOSPEL LESSON

Jesus broke with another tradition here. In the synagogues, men and women were in different areas. (today in this country, mostly that is not the case any more) So Jesus called this woman forward, most likely into the “men's area”. Can you imagine how that might have felt, to have everyone staring as you make your forward? But she went! And Jesus said to her, You Are Free.

Remember in the Ten Commandments, the 4th is “Remember the Sabbath  day by keeping it holy.” this is part of the instructions to the Hebrew people to honor God, whom they called Yahweh. The sabbath is a day of rest because after the 6 days of creation, whatever time period each of those 'days' encompassed, after all that work God rested. And people should too. God made a provision that we rest, right in with Honoring God, honor your parents, do not murder and do not covet thy neighbor's stuff.

In Jesus' time, in the Hebrew tradition, the sabbath was a Big Deal. The sabbath began at sunset Friday and went until sunset Saturday. There was to be NO work done. All the cooking had to be finished before sundown. You had a special meal, (eating is not work!) with special sabbath prayers and songs, and enjoyed a restful day on Saturday. Then at sundown, you would be renewed for a new week. In this era, the rules for this observance were followed very strictly. No work of any kind, was to be done. So the synagogue leaders complain to Jesus that he was “working” by healing this woman. And blamed her, telling her she should have come to be healed on a different day.

Jesus' response is interesting, isn't it? He calls them hypocrites, and a hypocrite is literally an actor wearing a mask, a false face. He says you hypocrites, you will untie your work animals and lead them to water on the Sabbath, that's part of your definition of work...but you care for your animals enough to break this rule. Surely this woman, a child of Abraham, is worthy of healing, no matter what day it is!

(Abraham, with whom God made the very first covenant...all Hebrew people are considered children of Abraham. (and Muslims and Christians) so he is saying, she is a child of Abraham, JUST like you... how dare YOU deny her this?

Jesus seems to be saying that care and compassion are at least as important as honoring the rules of the Sabbath. That someone who needs help is important.

I don't think he is saying 'rules are made to be broken'. I think he is saying think big picture here.

You see in this time the Hebrew people had not heard from a genuine prophet of God in 400 years. They were yearning to hear from their Yahweh, yearning to be freed from the taxation and even oppression of the Roman empire. The common belief was that they had not heard from a prophet and were struggling so because they weren't being “Good enough” So there were all these rules and regulations to follow and people eager to call you out if you slipped up just the tiniest bit! It's as if one person untying an ox on the sabbath was the SOLE reason that God was silent. And the Sabbath rules, well to disobey those is directly dishonoring God. So people became very legalistic and regimented about all the rules in their scriptures. We aren't talking just the 10 commandments, here. there are over 600 rules in the old testament, the Hebrew scriptures.

And Jesus poked holes in their legalism. Their legalist ideals are getting in the way of care and compassion for one another! For a child of Abraham! One of their very own.

He seems to be saying YOU are the ones who can only see just a little bit around you. Your focus on minutia is inhibiting your ability to look up and look around! You are ones who are bent over.

Sometimes we are all a little bit bent over. We don't look around and see the needs of others close by. We don't always remember to look at the big picture of the way Jesus lived and cared for people no matter. We forget that we are Free to look up―to Jesus.

This is one of the stories from the Gospel of Luke from Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem. He journies along, healing folks, telling many stories and talking about the Kingdom of God. And encountering leaders of that society that challenge him. There are other examples of Jesus healing on the Sabbath and talking to people over and over for their failure to put God first.

In these times, author NT Wright says,

The sabbath was the day when human time and God’s time met, when the day-to-day succession of tasks and sorrows was set aside and one entered a different sort of time, celebrating the original sabbath (when God rested) and looking forward to the ultimate one. (When we are all together in heaven-the New Jerusalem!)

The ideal for the Sabbath is the meeting point of God's time and ours. Jesus is the meeting point of God and humans. Fully human, fully divine, Jesus is where WE can begin to grasp, the infinite, omnicient, ever was, is now and ever shall be God of the universe! and we, finite, limited humans can get a sense of God's perfect love, compassion and Shalom.

Thru Jesus, God knows exactly what it's like to live in a human body, what it's like to be tired, hungry, what it feels like to hold a baby, or to slam one's thumb with a hammer. How good it feels to have someone care for you, washing your feet after a long day's journey, and how it feels to care for your friends, washing their feet.

Jesus was on his way to his destiny. To the earthly meeting point of Humankind and Creator―the Cross. On the way, he worked to convey the incredible love and compassion of God and to help us learn to follow, to honor God by sharing love and compassion to others. We are Free to do so!

Whenever we help another we are following Jesus. This is our calling! Individually and as a church. When we serve, giving a drink of water, meals, shelter, a loving ear and a shoulder to cry on, we are following Jesus. When we help with VBS, Project 16:49, Hands of Faith, Caritas, Book bag bash, when we support any local or international mission group, we are following Jesus. If we do not, we are bent over, not like the daughter of Abraham, but like those who scolded Jesus because they refused to look up to see His loving compassion.

Martin Luther King, Jr was quoted as saying, “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” 

Jesus lived Love. We are called to do so also. The One who journeyed to the cross, did so freely. He did it so we could be free too. You are Free to choose!