Monday, August 24, 2020

For Online Sermon August 23, 2020

By Pat Russell

 

 

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce on August 23, 2020

 

Acts 9:1-9  Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

 

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

 

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

 

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

 

Galatians 1:15-20  But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

 

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

 

1 Cor 2:1-5  When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

 

                   

 

“Conversion.” This word has been used many times throughout history to mark a change within a person’s deepest being. Other words that have been used are “saved,” “born again,” “washed in the blood of the lamb,” “accept Jesus as your Savior,” “receive Jesus into your heart,” to mention a few. In conservative Christian circles where I grew up, the question often was put forth, “Have you been saved?” Another one was, “Are you born again?” I often thought that if you did not know the Bible, you would have no idea what was being asked.

 

Today, Pastor Bruce expanded on Paul’s conversion experience and the impact it had on his life. The Lord came to Paul in a very dramatic way. In that moment Jesus spoke the words that Paul needed to hear; words that “knocked him off his horse;” words that caused him to re-evaluate his life’s direction; words that made him realize that he had “gotten it so wrong for so long,” as Bruce said.

 

When I was 8 years old, two important events happened in my life. One, we bought a very large, somewhat wild horse for me to ride, and two, I “accepted Jesus as my Savior.” With relief, I say that the two events did not happen at the same time. I was not knocked off my horse with words from God (I did, however, get knocked off that horse many times!). What did happen was, as I sat by my mother in a small country church during what was known as an alter call (come forward and pray at the alter to “receive Jesus into your heart”), I said to her, “I want to do that.” I had to be brave, stand up in front of everybody and walk up there alone. The voice of the Lord was a quiet yearning inside of my 8-year-old heart. I had not had enough life to have many regrets, but I did have my share. That was the beginning of my life’s ongoing conversion.

 

I have a dear friend who cannot say when she was “saved” or “born again.” She only knows that she has been a follower of Jesus her whole life from as early as she can remember. Being in her 80’s and on hospice has only brought her into deeper communion with Jesus. So, her “conversion” looks very different from Paul’s story and very different from mine. My point is that God works in us according to who we are and how we can best be drawn to him. We cannot compare the individual creative work of God within each of us.

 

The story of Paul’s conversion, however, does give us some common elements about our conversion stories, no matter how they happened and are continuing to happen. This is how I see it from what Pastor Bruce said…

 

1.      Our pride is addressed – the great Paul was blinded and had to be led around. I, as a child, had to get up in front of everybody and walk down that aisle. My friend knows that it is God at work within her not her own work.

 

2.      Our view of what is true changes – Paul’s understanding of Jesus was transformed. I knew Jesus was real, not just a character from the Bible stories I learned. My friend has found ongoing truth in Jesus throughout her life.

 

3.      Our Guide becomes someone different from before – Paul went to the wilderness to receive insight and understanding from Jesus’ Spirit. I started listening to another Voice inside of me. My friend has a strong inner sense of the Holy Spirit.

 

4.      Our life direction changes course – Paul became a missionary to the Gentiles, a people the Jews rejected. I NEVER wanted to be a missionary because I was afraid of going to places like Africa; I ended up going to China. (Being a missionary to a foreign land is not a requirement, by the way, but you may head in a way you never expected.) And my friend is following Jesus in the midst of an uncomfortable ending to life as she knows it.

 

Then, in follow-up to those common elements, these important questions come to us from Pastor Bruce’s sermon…

 

1.      To whom do we listen? Jesus’ voice or the voice of human wisdom and understanding?

 

2.      What traditions from our culture or from our human family do we need to release?

 

3.      What are we choosing to be or do because of the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit that might be very different from the opinions of others?

 

So, my friend, what is your conversion story? Dramatic, quiet, young, old, public, private, a one-time experience, an on-going experience? One thing for sure, Jesus calls each of us in the way we best require, and he keeps on calling. I have this quote on a sign in my “she-shed” AKA “My Hiding Place”: “I choose you. And I’ll choose you over and over, without pause, without doubt, in a heartbeat I’ll keep choosing you.”

 

I add, “Will you choose Me?” Paul could have gotten back up and kept going his own way thinking he simply was hit with some strange weather event.

 


Monday, August 17, 2020

For Online Sermon August 16, 2020

By Pat Russell

 

 

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce on August 16, 2020

 

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. Philippians 3: 4-6

 

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13-14

 

Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city." Acts 21:39 

 

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished." Acts 22:3-5

 

“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee." Acts 26:4-5

 

Today as Pastor Bruce spoke about Paul’s history, I was impressed with a couple of thoughts:

 

  1.  No matter how “bad” or “good” a personal history is, God is able to take the past and make something of worth in the present.  He does not waste anything in our lives!

  2. Paul was so very willing to acknowledge all that he was and did in his past in order to help those he was around in the present to grow in their faith walk.  He was vulnerable about the “bad” and the “good.”  He knew that God sooo loved him in it all!

 

So, today, I thought it would be good for us to take stock of our past – all that it was and how it continues to be a part of lives.  Donna and Frank did a bit of that today as they reflected on their music history and on Donna’s dad.  Probably you were as moved as I was to hear their vulnerability while sharing.

 

Dallas Willard in his wonderful book entitled, Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23, says, “In either case [thinking about our parents or our children and I add ourselves] we begin by asking God to help us delight in them, focus on what is good for them [I would add, FROM them for us in these days], and celebrate what is valuable within them. This may involve going back in our memories, and saying, ‘Lord, help me to remember the good.’  Because it may be that things have been so bad that you are unable to see anything good or valuable.  No one is only an unvarnished lump of bad.  We must seek to see them, to relate to them as it is appropriate and good.”

 

Here are some questions to aid in your review of your personal history:

 

  1. What are the hurts that still linger in your thoughts and feelings?  I suggest holding them up to God by actually cupping your hands in prayer.

  2. What are the places of shame that come to mind about your past?  I suggest taking your cupped hands filled with those thoughts and turning them over in prayer as you lay them in Jesus hands.

  3. What are the gifts that you have received from your past?  I suggest holding your gifts up to God by raising your hands in praise and thanksgiving.

  4. Now, how do you see God using your hurts, your shame, your gifts in your present life for good?  Read Romans 8:28 out loud “with Paul”:  “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

  5. Lastly, remembering Paul’s and Savanah Guthrie’s vulnerability, consider sharing with someone you trust, what went on in your thoughts and feeling and prayers today. Or, ask them to listen to your as you reflect on these questions.  Then, pray together.

 

May the Lord bless you today with holy remembering.

 

Monday, August 10, 2020

For Onliine Sermon August 9, 2020

By Pat Russsell

  

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce on August 9, 2020
Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21-43

Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat.

The two stories within this one episode have much in common, as Pastor Bruce pointed out and I will augment:

  1. 12-years played a part in both the older and the younger women’s lives.
  2. Both females were healed by touch; one reached out and one received.
  3. Both were daughters cherished by God.
  4. Both Jairus and the older woman had to deal with their pride and their fear.
  5. Both Jairus and the older woman acted on what they believed with all their heart.
  6. Both the older and the younger women were socially ignored in life although the older woman probably suffered much more than the child of the synagogue leader.
  7. What would you add?

Do any of these parallels add meaning to your faith?  How?  Talk with God about that insight.

We don’t often think about the structure of the Gospel accounts --why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their accounts of Jesus in the way that they did.  When we study this aspect of their writings, we can often “go deeper” in our faith because we see some truth or realize something about Jesus that may change our life.

Scholars have given us significant clues to these mysteries, and I urge you to do some prayerful commentary reading about the Gospel structure.  You will be enriched.  Yesterday Pastor Bruce revealed a very significant truth in why Mark and the other Gospel writers put together these two stories the way they did.  Jesus lived out this truth with those around him and the writers wanted to make sure others who read their accounts understood this.  The truth is, “The first shall be last and the last first.”  This is a principle in the Kingdom of God, whether here on earth or in heaven.  This is how God operates.

What does this truth mean in your life?  When have you been first?  When have you been last?  What were your heart attitudes in each situation?  How did you regard being first?  How did you regard being last?  How might you change your living pattern if you are going to live in this truth?  Spend some time talking with the Trinity about your thoughts and then, find an earthly person with whom to share your thoughts.

I am including the benediction today.

Benediction

As we go from this place, we bless you, O God.

You are the peace of all things calm

You are the place to hide from all harm

You are the light that shines in the dark

You are the heaven's eternal spark

You are the door that's open wide

You are the guest who waits inside

You are the stranger at the door

You are the calling of the poor

You are my Lord and with me still

You are my love, keep me from all ill

You are the light, the truth, the way

You are my Savior this very day.

 


Monday, August 3, 2020

For Online Sermon August 2, 2020


By Pat Russell

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce Spear on August 2, 2020
Scripture Reading:  Mark 7:31-37

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak

Then Jesus left the area of Tyre and went through Sidon. He went down to the Sea of Galilee and into the area known as the Ten Cities. There some people brought a man to Jesus. The man was deaf and could hardly speak. They begged Jesus to place his hand on the man.

Jesus took the man to one side, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus looked up to heaven. With a deep sigh, he said to the man, “Ephphatha!” That means “Be opened!” The man’s ears were opened. His tongue was freed up, and he began to speak clearly.

Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were really amazed. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes deaf people able to hear. And he makes those who can’t speak able to talk.”

I invite you to sit quietly with each of the questions below. Ask Jesus to give you ears to hear what he has for you today in our Scripture lesson from Pastor Bruce.

I was moved today by the thoughtful tenderness of Jesus in this account.  First of all, he responded to the requests of a group of people who were not the “chosen ones” of that day.  He does not seem to be partial.  How might you as a follower of Jesus be challenged to reach out to those who don’t belong to “your group?”

Secondly, Jesus “took the man to one side.”  He did not make a show of this man’s inadequacies nor did Jesus make a show of his own power.  How might you as a follower of Jesus be challenged to quietly and privately show love to another without making a big deal of it?

Thirdly, Jesus communicated to the deaf and speech-impaired man by meeting him in ways HE could understand – touching the places where HE suffered.  How might you as a follower of Jesus be challenged to reach out to another person in the way she or he might need and understand, not according to what YOU think that person needs or what that person should understand?

Amen means, “may it come to pass.”  Speak an “Amen” over your thoughts today.