Our Life Is Not An Island!

 All Saint’s Sunday!

 

(1)  Focus statement:

 

     This sermon will reflect upon the deceased persons who have been influential in our spiritual formation and growth and will challenge us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, living a life that will be an example to others whom we might influence.

 

(2)  Function Statement:

 

     Because of this sermon, the congregation will realize that Christianity came to us by the dedication of many who have gone on before and will commit to being a more positive influence to those in their circle of influence.   

                          Heb. 12:1-2

 

                            Prayer

 

1st movement

 

     I would like to read a letter from a person who has been very influential in my life.  The letter is not dated, but it is written on the same stationery as another one that I have dated in Mar. of 1969.  Based on the contents of the letter, I will say it was written in Dec. of 1968 or 1969.  This would be about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 years before my grandmother passed away. I am reading it just like she wrote it!  Bless her heart, she probably never dreamed it would be read to a congregation 55 years after she passed!

  

     Hello Mikie, Stevie, and Dana.

 

          Well how is my little grandchildren by now?  Well as common I do hope.  Well old Santa is just around the corner, just weeks off now be good little boys and girl.  You can play your Christmas record now and hear old Santa call your name, guess I'll fix up my tree this week.  I like to look at it and it brings me good cheer and brightens up the Spirit, helps us to think of little baby Jesus' birthday and what He means to us.  A little baby Jesus lay in a manger, no place to lay his little head.  He came into the world to bring us happiness and loves us so dearly.  So now we show him by being good and celebrate the day in the love and always make him happy; that's the sweetest gift of all - we can and ever have.  Baby Jesus was a Christmas gift for the whole world as the angels sing Glory to God a Savior is born come and let us adorn him peace on earth and good will to men and away in the manger.  Little Lord Jesus in the manger no place to lay his little head, and when the shepards seen the bright star in the East they knew the promised Savior was borned and went to search for him in Bethlehem and him and his mother and his Joseph all cattle sheep chickens and lambs in the barn and the light they followed guided them to where he lay and they gave them gifts so see that's why the gifts come on Christmas. He was our sweetest gift from God.  His only begotten son is Jesus and we love him so we want to make him happy.  Some people goes out and does killing and other bad things fighting, using curs words that don't please the Lord breaks his heart.  So grandma is so glad her children loves little Jesus and won't do that.  When you all grow up, you will understand what it is all about, so go to church and learn about Jesus.  He loves little children and wants to make them happy.  See God is our maker.  He made us all and He sent His son Jesus as a baby down to love us and teach us how to love and live right, so that's He lived with all and preached and stayed with all teaching and preaching and some grew jealous and crucified him on the cross killed him Easter and he gave us the Bible to go by and read and churches to go to and preachers to preach and teach but Jesus is still with us in our hearts and in spirit.  Well we will learn more on him each and every day we live.  So all ways try to please Jesus at all times he knows every thing we do good or bad he is always with us in the spirit.  So now just to try to show you the meaning of Christmas be good and enjoy Christmas and come see grandma when you all can.                                          By By

 

Grandma didn't have much education, wasn't good at spelling or grammar,  and probably didn't know what a run-on sentence was.  Christ wasn’t crucified on Easter, but he arose on Easter!  I know she probably knew that, but I read it as she wrote it. She knew the love of God and took every opportunity to tell of that love to her grandchildren or anyone else who would listen.  By this time in her life, grandpa had already gone on to be with the Lord and she lived alone.  Besides this, she was on crutches and couldn't leave the house by herself, but she still lived a very influential life.  I wasn't the little angel at this time in my life that it sounds like she thought I was , but I made a commitment to Christ and was baptized before grandma passed away, probably about a year after receiving this letter.  I can't help but think how influential this little lady was in that decision. 

 

2nd movement

     According to our scripture today, my grandmother, the others whose names we will read off this morning, and many others who have been influential in our lives and have gone on to be with the Lord are among that cloud of witnesses this morning.  I know that there is probably someone who has been very influential to us all and who, perhaps, has already gone on to be with the Lord.  You have heard my story, but I want you to think of that person who has influenced you and something that they said or did that has made a positive difference in the life you're living now.  (Pause.)  They too are among that cloud of witnesses! 

     The writer of Hebrews says, "Therefore," because we have all of these people looking on, because they are still a part of the church but have only moved on to a different place of existence, don't let anything hold us back, but keep pressing on, living for Jesus, and living a life that can be a positive influence to others.  The comparison the writer of Hebrews uses here is like we are the ones who are in action now, and they are in the grandstands applauding and cheering us on.  So the point is, because we have this crowd of witnesses, we need to give it our best effort.  But the writer of Hebrews also exhorts us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the one who makes living for God possible, the one who endured the cross, and the one who is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us.  Because Jesus is there, we can live for God, we can give it our best effort, and we can be a positive influence on those whom we leave behind and to those whom we share life with today!

 

3rd movement

     Today is All Saints Day.  We are reminded of all those who have been a positive influence to us for Christ, but it shouldn't stop there.  It has been said that we are not an island to ourselves, meaning that we all touch other people's lives.  No matter what stage of life we find ourselves in, there is someone whom we can influence and there is someone whom we are influencing with our lives today. My grandmother was a shut-in, but she wrote letters; she still reached out with a witness, not unlike Paul in prison writing letters. Our world needs some positive loving witnesses for Christ today.  It has seen enough of the negative, hypocritical, judgmental side of Christianity!  Let's make sure that our influence is one that will influence people in a positive way with the love of God in Jesus Christ.  It's possible because of what God has done and is doing through Christ. 

As we encounter Christ at the table this morning, let’s commit and determine to run the race with patience, steadfastness, grace, and love so that we can be influential in bringing others to know Christ!  As you come, after you have received communion, you are invited to light a candle in memory of the Saints who have been influential in your life, especially those you have named this morning!  Then, you are invited to go forth and be influential in taking the gospel to others! May the words of Paul from our May the words of Paul from our 1^st reading be true of us today, II Thess. 1:1-4 & 11-12 (read again). Thanks be to God!

Prayer of Confession!

Service of Communion

Building Blocks of Faith!

                                           Luke 18:1-8 & II Tim. 3:14 - 4:5

 

Movement One:

 

We all know that for us to build something we have to have material to work with.  In ancient times, stones were used a lot in building.  The pyramids were made of stones carried great distances.  Today, concrete blocks are still used I building.  It is the same as we think about building faith.  In our scriptures for today, we find some building blocks of faith.  We want to grow in faith, we can use these building blocks. Look with me as we find them today.

 

Movement Two:

 

In our text for II Timothy, Paul is giving Timothy some instruction on how to endure in his faith and to continue serving God after he is gone.  Paul says in the scripture just following our text for today, AI am already being poured out.@  Paul expected that his life would soon end.

 

Paul first says, Acontinue in what you have learned and firmly believed, know from whom you have learned it.@    (The first building block is  Apeople/positive influence.@ Place on Screen!) Timothy had been taught and influenced first from his mother and grandmother in Lystra and later by Paul himself.  People are an important first building block of faith.  People usually come to faith because someone has given them a Bible, invited them to church, told them that God is important in their lives, or taught them about God.  We all have our stories!  Some of us were taught in early Sunday School or Vacation Bible Schools.  Some were taught by our parents.  Others were influenced by a Christian friend to come to church and are getting that teaching now!  Nevertheless, for most of us, our first experience with God is passed on to us by a person of faith.  I have a grandmother who I can remember telling me about Jesus and writing messages on back of gifts she gave me about Jesus.  I can remember very early on watching my mom kneel by the side of the bed to say her prayers before going to bed.  I can remember my dad faithfully witnessing to people by inviting them to church.  I had an uncle who was one of my earlier Sunday school teachers.  I have another uncle who gathered me in and told me how proud he was of me when I decided to make a profession of faith.  I have many pastors who shared the word in preaching.  For most of us, these are our first exposures to faith!  Who can we be that first building block for?

 

Paul then lifts up the importance of the Sacred writings and says, AAll scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, ...., so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.@ (Our second building block is AScripture.@ Place on screen!)  For them the Sacred writings or scriptures were not as neatly packed as they are for us.  The Bible as we know it was not yet Canonized.   The Sacred writings would have been many of what we know as Old Testament books (esp. Isaiah, Psalms, and the first five books “the pentatuch”), and perhaps some of the New Testament letters that were circulating around were beginning to be revered with a special place in teaching God=s word.  It was somewhat subjective!   Nonetheless, Paul directs Timothy to the importance of the Sacred Writings to his faith walk.  He impresses upon him the importance of Scripture for faith development and so that we won=t be mislead. 

 

It is important to realize today that just because someone professes to be Bible believing or to be teaching the Bible it doesn=t mean they are always right!  Just because someone quotes this scripture to you and says, Aall scripture is inspired by God,@ and then shows you a scripture to support one of their doctrines or beliefs doesn=t mean they have interpreted it right!  When we say God speaks or breaths through the scriptures, we are speaking Metaphorically of how God speaks through people as they write.  We believe that through the scriptures we can come to know God!  We believe that we can come to understand God=s Word!  We believe we can come to understand God=s grace!  Does that mean that what the people write will be unaffected by their own biases and culture?  No!  We have to take the Bible as a whole, and we have to understand the context in which it was written.   Paul understood this time was coming, he says there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine and they will find teachers who will teach them what they want to hear.  That day has come today.  Sometimes the word is so cluttered with dos and don=ts that we can=t hardly see the Gospel and the grace of God who wants to take us as we are and give us new start!   Study so that you may be proficient and equipped for every good work!

Interpreting scripture is not always easy!  All people pick and choose the scriptures to support what they want to believe; they may not admit to it, but they do!  John Wesley realized that so he gave us a tool we call the Quadrilateral to help us interpret scripture.  Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience.  This is all about searching for what God is saying to us today.  For John Wesley, Scripture was primary; he was said to be a man of one book!  What do we do though when scriptures seem to say one think one place and another in another place or when what we are looking at is not addressed?  Or what if what one of the writers says does not seem to fit what we understand from the rest of the scriptures?  We then look at Tradition.  Tradition is what the early church believed about things.  Some of the traditions are the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, and other early church writings.  This is where we get many of our beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Spirit spelled out.  It isn’t just any tradition.  It isn’t recent tradition such as we’ve never done it that way before.  What if these don’t give us a full understanding?  What about women in ministry?  The scriptures kind of give mixed signals here.  One place it says a bishop should be a man of one wife, but yet, there were women who seemed to be very active in the early church.  Traditionally, women have not been priests!  The next tool that Wesley gives us is Reason.  God is a reasonable God!  Does it seem reasonable that God would lay it on a woman’s heart to serve and not be willing for her to do so?  Does it seem reasonable that God would gift women for service and not allow them to do so?  Does it seem reasonable that God would exclude more than half of the population of the world from spreading the gospel.  Doesn’t seem reasonable to me!  The third tool of the quadrilateral is Experience.  This is not just any experience;  it is experience with God.  God has used many women in my life to help me grow in faith.  John Wesley’s own mother was very influential in his life of faith.  So considering all of this, the passage about a bishop being a man of one wife must be meaning something cultural or maybe it is against polygamy?  Anyway, I think God wills for women to be able to be in the ministry.  This is a tool for finding God’s will today.  Again, Scripture is primary.  Scripture is our second building block of faith.  Study the scriptures.  Use the Quadrilateral to help interpret scriptures when the scriptures seem to conflict or not answer your question.  But as far as faith, the scriptures give us all we need to find faith in Christ.  They give us all we need to find a God who loves us and wants a relationship with us!

 

Jesus gives us a third building block in our text from Luke today.  (The third block is Aprayer.@ place on screen)    Jesus lifts up persistent prayer and faith that it makes a difference!  We need to pray in our every day lives!  We need to be praying for our church and God=s ministry among us!  Jesus lifts up praying until we get our answer!  We can and all must do that!  There are eternal consequences!  A lot is at stake here!

 

Movement three:

 

Then do something with what we=ve built!  Paul told Timothy to Aproclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.@

 

It is important for us as individuals and as a church to provide these buildings blocks: Apeople/positive influence,@ Ascripture,@ and Aprayer.@  Are we doing it?  Maybe you just want to come and seek a closer walk with God today as we encounter Christ at the table?

 

Maybe you are here and you have been influenced by someone, began to be exposed to the Bible, or prayer and have never really made a profession of faith and would like to start a journey with God today by professing Christ, I invite you to come as well as we encounter Christ at the table, and if you do, let me know so I can help you with your new walk in Christ!  Amen!

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

 

 

I'm Alright - Compared to What?

 Introduction:

     A.   Have you ever heard someone say, "I'm just as good as

          so in so; I don't need to go to church?"

 

     B.   Or maybe as a Christian you have sometimes felt

          convicted that you should change or make some kind of

     commitment to the Lord, but then remembered old Bro.

so in so, "I'm doing a lot better at this than he is;

          maybe I am alright after all!"

 

     C.   What do we use as a measuring stick?  What attitude

          does it show when we try to use people as our

measuring sticks?

 

     Trans.

          Christ once told a parable that answers some of these         questions.  Let's look at it this morning and see what         we can learn from it.

 

                              Prayer

                           Luke 18:9-14

 

I.   Let's look at the Pharisee first this morning.

 

     A.   Here we have a man who in his own eyes felt that he

Was alright, but Christ was plain that he wasn't the

One who was justified!  We got to remember the

Parisees were strictly religious, not typically

thought of as the bad guys in Jesus’ time.

 

     B.   Where was he wrong?

 

          1.   First of all, he compared himself to people

Rather than to God.

 

               a.   Compared to thieves, people that are unjust,                    or an adulterer, he was a good man!

 

               b.   When we gauge ourselves by people, we may

                     look pretty good, but they are an imperfect

                     measuring tool!

 

               c.   We gauge ourselves by God, we get a better

                     picture.  We realize how miserably we fall                       short!

 

          2.   Secondly, he became proud when he realized how

               much better he was than other people.

 

               a.   Notice how many times he says, "I."  Look

                     what I have done!

 

               b.   Pride becomes wrong when it exalts us above

                     God!

 

               c.   What does the Bible say about pride?

                     "Pride goes before destruction, and a

 Haughty spirit before a fall."(Prov. 16:18)

 

               d.   Pride heads us for destruction because pride                    causes us to trust in ourselves for

salvation rather than in God!!

 

          3.   That brings us to the third way he was wrong; he

               placed his trust in the wrong things.

 

               a.   In himself which we've already talked about

                     by noticing how many times he says "I."

 

               b.   But also in his works!

 

                     1)   "I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of                        all my income." (vs. 12)

 

                          a)   We do need those folks who tithe!

 

                          b)   The church can’t function without

it.  God’s work can’t go forth

without it!

 

                          c)   But we can’t trust that for

salvation!

 

                     2)   Works are good, but they in themselves

                          will not save us!

 

                          Read Eph. 2:8-10

 

                          (vs. 8)  Saved by grace through faith!

 

                          (vs. 10)  For good works!  The right

                                    faith will work!

 

                          But works without faith are just good                                works!

 

II.  Let's look at the Tax Collector.  Why was he justified?

 

     A.   This man simply saw himself the way God saw him! The

tax collectors were the bad guys in Jesus’ day!  They

stole from the people! This would have been real

surprising to the first hearers of this parable!

 

     B.   He saw himself compared to a Holy God!

 

          1.   He saw every little flaw in his character.  He

               didn't justify them by saying, "Oh, but look at

so and so!"

 

          2.   He saw every time he had hurt someone.  Whether

               intentional or unintentional!

 

          3.   He saw that when he tried his hardest to be good

               he still came up miserably short of God's ideal!

 

     C.   This brought him to a humble attitude.  He realized he           couldn't be good enough in himself to straighten out

          the wrongs he had already committed!

 

          1.   The only chance he had was by the mercy of God!

 

          2.   So he cries out, "God, be merciful to me, a

               sinner!"  (vs. 13b)

 

          3.   And the scripture says he went down to his home

               justified!

 

III. What does this say to us today?

 

     A.   Importantly!  We need to stop comparing ourselves to

          other people and be concerned about what God thinks of       us.  That is what matters!

 

          1.   This stands between us and God more times than

               just about anything else!

 

               a.   We have stopped seeing ourselves through

                     God's eyes!

 

               b.   We compare ourselves to other people and

                     think we look pretty good!  We don't realize                    how much we really fall short, how much we

really need God!

 

                     1)   This can keep us from coming to God in

                          the first place.

 

                     2)   And it keeps us from growing as

                          Christians because we just can't see

any place we need to improve!

 

          2.   We need to ask God to help us see      ourselves with

               God's eyes, and in our broken-ness ask God to

Help us to change!

 

     B.   We need to get our works in perspective!

 

          1.   We need to realize our works can't save us!

 

          2.   But we also need to realize that our works can

               help us to evaluate where we are, because when we               have true faith in God, we will work!

 

               a.   If our heart is right, we will want to be

kind to all people.

 

               b.   If our heart is right, we will want to share

the love of God!

 

               c.   If our heart is right, we will want to give

a tithe or more if we can to God’s work.  We

will give ourselves to God and prayerfully

seek God’s heart as to how much to give so

that God’s work can be done!

 

     C.   When we stop comparing ourselves to other people and

          get our works in perspective, we'll:

 

          1.   Realize how much we need God and trust in what

God has done for us to salvation!

 

          2.   Grow as Christians like we have never grown

               before!

 

Conclusion:

 

     A.   Is the Spirit speaking to us this morning?

 

          1.   Are we comparing ourselves to the wrong things?

 

          2.   Are we too proud?

          3.   Are we trusting in the wrong things?

 

     B.   As we encounter Christ at the table this morning, let

us bring our brokenness and trust in a God who can

make us worthy! Who can change our lives for the

better, if we will let God!

 

     C.   If you trust Christ for the first time, let me know so          I can help you in your new walk with Christ!

 

Prayer of Confession

 

Almighty and All knowing God,

     We confess that sometimes we compare ourselves to others and fail to see our sins as they really are.  We confess that sometimes we are filled with pride in our own works and have failed by trusting too much in them.

 

     God, have mercy on us as sinners!  Forgive us where we have failed and fallen short.  Free us to live and love in you because of your never ending mercy and unfailing love!

 

And all God’s people said, Amen!

 

Service of Communion