Welcome to August! This month we’re continuing with Sunday worship service, adult Sunday School (studying Matthew), Tuesday night food pantry (with Prayze Dogs on the 10th and 24th) and Wednesday night Bible Study (studying Timothy). Men meet at church for breakfast and workday on the 4th Saturday (28th), and everyone is invited to Roger and Jeannette’s for an ice cream social on August 15th at 4 pm. To help keep everyone safe, we’re pausing the Sunday fellowship time after church and kids’ Sunday School until September 12th. Book Club will resume in October.
Father in Heaven, thank you Lord for all that you are doing in our lives and in this world, to redeem and regenerate the fallen. We humbly ask for your forgiveness in not recognizing the you in all the good we find in this life. May we be your tools of good will today and tomorrow. Amen!
1 August 2021 Sunday Service; When Life Goes Beyond, What’s for Dinner!
There are times when I catch myself on auto pilot processing life on the baseline. You know just thinking in terms from base thoughts, looking for the lowest common denominator when it comes to giving others the benefit of the doubt, or when someone says something off guard attributing it to thoughts from the gutter instead of looking for the good or empathizing, sympathizing, and realizing that not everything is as I think it is in life. This is when I need to look beyond just the obvious and gleam the beauty below the surface of things.
I have noticed the older I get the more slavishly I am in to thinking about the very basics in life. Stuff like:
- A good night’s sleep.
- Hearing what’s said in a militiaperson conversation.
- Because it’s harder to do.
- Going negative when judging others and things.
- Because it’s easier to do.
(Wait, it’s always been easier to be negative)
- Thinking about the next meal and what it might be.
Yea, the older I get the more I think about eating, and what’s on the table for that next meal. Regardless of if its noon or midnight, I’m ready.
I know that since we have our Sunday Service at 11:00 in the morning this is probably a bad topic to even bring up. But Something has led me to have a title for today’s message; When Life Goes Beyond, What’s for Dinner! And really today’s topic is more than just about food so I’ll keep thefood references to a minimum.
Suffice to say today, life is more than what’s in the fridge. I am excited to talk with you about the fact that life is more than what lays at the surface of our observations. Excited, because I have hope for better things in life than three hots and a cot each day. The deeper we look beneath the surface of things with an open mind, the richer our lives may become.
On our quest to begin to have a more enlightened view of life, I am led back into scripture for clarity and guidance. In today’s Call to Worship reading from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus two thousand years ago. Where Christians just like us were struggling for clarity in life. Hear Paul’s words from Ephesians 4:4-13
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
So often, we as Christians get so wrapped up in our countless battles for words, rules and dogma, that we forget to be Christians. What does that mean? Well, my thought, you have the heavy burden of listening (and some Sunday’s that’s heavy indeed), praying, studying, and then with Him, thinking for yourselves. My thought, is that instead of us looking for things to pick apart in someone else’s faithwalk or even lack thereof, we must be in the business of living our own faith in and with the Lord and each other.
Beginning with verse 4, Paul instructs us;
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
One! Spirit, Lord, Faith, Baptism. One God who we have surrendered all to. One! Now I know that there are other faithwalks out there and other thoughts on God and our relationship to Him. But I didn’t read about a particular denomination that are followers of; The Way (what first century Christians called themselves). I have studied heavily on those other faithwalks and continue to do so, but I am right here with you today in our Chapel. That says it all!
Paul continues;
8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
I don’t read anything about a membership card into the Baptist Church, or any other, just captives. You and me. All of us who have been slaves into sin, now redeemed by His gifts, and learning to live in and with Him. We are Christians because we follow Christ, plain and simple. Children of God because we are learning to actually love other people like Christ has shown His love for us, in spite of us.
We do not have to make others wrong for us to be in the right. What we are called to do is live our faith, and by our faith; be examples of what God’s family are to be like. Really living our faith. We do not have to be engaged in anything outside of our understanding. Simply following, and then doing of what God’s word, His scripture instructs us. Beginning with what our Lord instructed outlined in the Gospel of Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If I am loving God with all that I have, then I am trusting in His word and instruction for my life. I am also trusting that He picks the neighbors in my life, and that I love them as myself because He picks who I need in the moment, to be in my life. And when I do indeed follow Him, life becomes more mystical, richer, deeper indeed, … Because He is writing the story of my life with me, instead of the tale of death when I am writing alone. By “with me”, I mean, God writes “jump”, and I ask how high, and then I fly! Even soar with eagles, angels, and other assorted Heavenly Hosts. This is our future in and with Him!
Next in Ephesians 4, Paul teaches us;
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have existed throughout scripture to serve the rest of us. Each of us in our own individual ministries (because all of you have one, believe it or not), and when we combine our ministries, we become the Body of Christ, one faith in one God who is over all.
Looking at Paul’s instruction with clarity, affords us the understanding that when we are all in tune with the Lord, all of us learn to be in Harmony with each other. And now my faith rises beyond who is giving the message, or how smooth the prayer is invoked. The person administering the Eucharist, or the articles used for Communion. The manner, or number of Hymns sung and in what key, become secondary to pleasing God, and not the world.
More important for us becomes our concern that we have praised, glorified, and magnified God’s Holy Name in our worship, and then confirmed it in our actions in life throughout the week by service, care, and love for others. When people on Wednesday see the same person in me as they see on a Sunday morning, and not the person I once might have been on a Friday night, real growth is revealed and confirmed.
Or simply living our lives as a prophet out is Israel’s past instructs us from the Old Testament. Micah 6:8 teaches us wisdom in saying;
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
This is when living in the moment with and in the Lord, rises beyond the instant gratification of the moment, living in and for the world. A world consumed with chasing power, glitter, and itself into oblivion.
It’s the difference of being fed by serving God by helping other people, and just receiving and never getting your fill. When people come to Church looking to be filled, they seldom are, because to really be filled, we must seek to fill others, serve others, love others, and glorify the one supreme and forever Deity who created them!
It is when we begin to look beyond our next meal, and ponder how to feed the people in need (in many cases) right outside the doors of God’s Church.
*Side Note: By the way, what makes this place (or any place) God’s or your church? It’s yours, when you look to serve within, it becomes God’s when your focus for service is aimed outside the church walls and into the streets, sidewalks, and parks where His people are! Needles, beer cans, and empty cigarette packages to boot.
People who need both spiritual and physical nourishment, are fed by people who need spiritual and physical nourishment. People who need help, are fed by, people who need help. In other words, the people volunteering and serving the food on a Tuesday evening are every bit as much in need of healing as the people we are seeking to help. That’s how the Lord begins to heal us all, with nourishment that last longer than the next meal.
Reminding me of today’s Message Reading from the Gospel of John. The people from last week’s message were fed on a mountainside and were hungry for more and so followed the Lord when He had moved on. Reading again from John 6: 25-37;
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
*Side Note: There were people following the Lord to get filled in the food sense, and those looking for something more. Today, the same two groups read God’s scripture and listen to His word with the same ideas as back then. May we be a part of His family that are looking for more than just getting filled. Cuz we won’t! Continuing now…
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
- Side Note Again; Life truly must go beyond what’s for Dinner, or we will never be filled because we are only looking inward and not outward to serve God, by helping other people. That’s when the feast begins!
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Perhaps my favorite line from today’s message is what you just heard in verse 37;
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
If you feel that you are on the outs with the Lord, it’s your call to end the separation. Come to Him and He will never drive you away. He has been here all your life and will never desert you.
Will you come to Him today, and learn what it means to pour yourself out into another person who is hurt, alone, scared, hungry, naked, and abandoned by; a world busy impressing itself by trying to overconsume everything and everyone while remaining empty?
More importantly, will you let Him into your life to share, build, and grow it with you.
My hope and prayer for you this week, is that all of you find more to life than just a meal. Dinner and a show are best When Life Goes Beyond, What’s for Dinner! Because when we are serving up food, God is providing through us Spiritual nourishment, for us and the other people He places in our lives. As you reach out to others, God is praised and; your Lord will never drive you away!
Amen!
Benediction; Ephesians 4:4-6, and Numbers 6:24-26
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
And
Numbers 6:24-26
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’