Read: I Timothy
Some have asked if I was planning to preach on upcoming presidential election. I said no. They wondered about my preferences and ideas. I said it would not be in the best interest of the kingdom of God to use the pulpit to share my personal thoughts. Our non-profit status also assumes we will not choose sides in the political debate. However, just because we are considered a non-profit, I sincerely hope we are also not considered a non-prophet organization. As I considered my role, our congregation, and the national figures on voter registration, I have changed my mind and decided to preach about the election.
Now before you go red or blue on me, let me assure you I will be attempting to offer a prophetic voice in regards to the Christian responsibility in voting. I will not be lifting one party or one candidate over another. As Christians, there are just some things we should be clear about before we go into the last weeks of an election which will lead us into a new place in our history as a nation.
I am looking forward to an interesting sermon. You can e-mail or text me your thoughts to the following question this week as I prepare. As a Christian, what is our responsibility in voting? I trust God the answer will bring us all just a little closer to home.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: I Timothy 2:1-2
Sermon Title: “A Word on Voting”
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Notes for Sunday October 05, 2008
Read: Luke 15
When we think of the empty nest we instinctively think of the parents and their adjustment to an empty bedroom. Our first thoughts are about the family when one member leaves and the changing dynamics of schedule and space. We consider the primary unit as the most important part. However, the one who has moved, left the family nest, is also in stress. Just perhaps we are missing the real need if we look only to the parents and the family unit.
To leave home is stressful. It is also exciting and full of promise. Most of us were scared out of our wits about leaving our homes. I remember standing on the Iowa State University campus looking out at the moving mass of people during a class break thinking to myself, “What am I doing here?” I was afraid of failure, but was also just as afraid of success. I experienced some of both. We all do.
A word from home, a note of encouragement, home-baked cookies in a foil lined box can mean the difference between lost and found. What would it cost you to write a note to the kid down the block who has left home this fall? What would it cost you to offer a note of encouragement to a young person whom you may have never met, but understand because we are all human in our feelings and emotions. Has it been so long since you were the new chick pushed out of the nest that you have forgotten the anxiety and fear that accompanies this step in life?
In the story of the lost son, there are actually two sons who are lost. One has physically left home; the other has stayed physically, but left home in his heart. Now let the sermon begin, bringing us all just a little closer to home.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Luke 15:11-32
Sermon Title: “The Empty Nest II
When we think of the empty nest we instinctively think of the parents and their adjustment to an empty bedroom. Our first thoughts are about the family when one member leaves and the changing dynamics of schedule and space. We consider the primary unit as the most important part. However, the one who has moved, left the family nest, is also in stress. Just perhaps we are missing the real need if we look only to the parents and the family unit.
To leave home is stressful. It is also exciting and full of promise. Most of us were scared out of our wits about leaving our homes. I remember standing on the Iowa State University campus looking out at the moving mass of people during a class break thinking to myself, “What am I doing here?” I was afraid of failure, but was also just as afraid of success. I experienced some of both. We all do.
A word from home, a note of encouragement, home-baked cookies in a foil lined box can mean the difference between lost and found. What would it cost you to write a note to the kid down the block who has left home this fall? What would it cost you to offer a note of encouragement to a young person whom you may have never met, but understand because we are all human in our feelings and emotions. Has it been so long since you were the new chick pushed out of the nest that you have forgotten the anxiety and fear that accompanies this step in life?
In the story of the lost son, there are actually two sons who are lost. One has physically left home; the other has stayed physically, but left home in his heart. Now let the sermon begin, bringing us all just a little closer to home.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Luke 15:11-32
Sermon Title: “The Empty Nest II
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Notes for Sunday September 28, 2008
Read: Ecclesiastes 3
Your son or daughter has gone to college, joined the military, or just moved out of the house into their own apartment. You find yourself in a new place in life. Others have walked this path before; they have named it the “Empty Nest.” All you know is that your gut is tied in knots and you weep, at the drop of a hat, like you have lost your best friend.
The empty nest is real. As we care for and love our children, we also send them off and grieve the distance we experience in this new season in our relationship. What does God have to say about this particular place in life? I am looking to the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes which speaks of relationships and seasons. I find that what is good in one season may not be so good in the next. What is appropriate in one season many times lacks any function in a new season. And so it goes that we must reconsider our lives in the midst of a new day. Any change of children in the home places us into a new and sometimes emotionally difficult season.
This sermon is designed particularly for one entering this season of change. I expect a powerful service with deeply felt emotions and feelings. This is a wonderful time to invite a friend or neighbor who may be experiencing some type or change or new season in their life.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Sermon Title: “The Empty Nest”
Your son or daughter has gone to college, joined the military, or just moved out of the house into their own apartment. You find yourself in a new place in life. Others have walked this path before; they have named it the “Empty Nest.” All you know is that your gut is tied in knots and you weep, at the drop of a hat, like you have lost your best friend.
The empty nest is real. As we care for and love our children, we also send them off and grieve the distance we experience in this new season in our relationship. What does God have to say about this particular place in life? I am looking to the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes which speaks of relationships and seasons. I find that what is good in one season may not be so good in the next. What is appropriate in one season many times lacks any function in a new season. And so it goes that we must reconsider our lives in the midst of a new day. Any change of children in the home places us into a new and sometimes emotionally difficult season.
This sermon is designed particularly for one entering this season of change. I expect a powerful service with deeply felt emotions and feelings. This is a wonderful time to invite a friend or neighbor who may be experiencing some type or change or new season in their life.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Sermon Title: “The Empty Nest”
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Notes for Sunday September 21, 2008
Read: Isaiah 43 Tool Time: Witness
Your witness gathers all your gifts into one place. In witness you make known that which is your passion. Through witness you share your goals and dreams for yourself and others around you. Everyone shares a witness. Good or bad everyone shares a witness with the world.
Think of a great big tool box. Every good work you will ever want to accomplish will have a tool, ready for you, stored in the tool box. As we reach to open the drawers, we will find tools to accomplish amazing tasks. There are always more tools than there is energy for the day. These tools allow us to accomplish our work with integrity and precision.
The prophet Isaiah shares the power of God to renew and restore all things. This God is the creator, the master builder, the keeper of the tool box. God has called us and named us. God breaks the bonds which hold us captive. We are a witness to this amazing power. We see, and then share. We experience, and then proclaim. We receive a witness, and then share a witness.
The power of witness is the power of the Spirit in at work in the world. Our witness is a tool chest brimming with potential. Let’s go to work.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-12
Sermon Title: “The Tool Box”
Your witness gathers all your gifts into one place. In witness you make known that which is your passion. Through witness you share your goals and dreams for yourself and others around you. Everyone shares a witness. Good or bad everyone shares a witness with the world.
Think of a great big tool box. Every good work you will ever want to accomplish will have a tool, ready for you, stored in the tool box. As we reach to open the drawers, we will find tools to accomplish amazing tasks. There are always more tools than there is energy for the day. These tools allow us to accomplish our work with integrity and precision.
The prophet Isaiah shares the power of God to renew and restore all things. This God is the creator, the master builder, the keeper of the tool box. God has called us and named us. God breaks the bonds which hold us captive. We are a witness to this amazing power. We see, and then share. We experience, and then proclaim. We receive a witness, and then share a witness.
The power of witness is the power of the Spirit in at work in the world. Our witness is a tool chest brimming with potential. Let’s go to work.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-12
Sermon Title: “The Tool Box”
Thursday, September 04, 2008
A Word on Service
To serve is to put love into action. Serving others offers a means of grace.
Serving may be the final lesson learned in the life of a disciple. As we serve others we become selfless and mirror the actions of our Savior. Seems to me all others actions of a disciple, like giving or praying, can be confused with a building of the self. Serving empties the self, focusing on the need of the other. Sacrificial service is the action of a mature, or at least attempting to mature, disciple.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, "...the greatest of these is love." The word here in greek is "Agape," which means a love which serves the other. Paul knew that "to love/to serve" is the greatest gift of the disciple.
What did Bob Dillon sing about in the 60’s; “You got to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you got to serve somebody.”
Serving may be the final lesson learned in the life of a disciple. As we serve others we become selfless and mirror the actions of our Savior. Seems to me all others actions of a disciple, like giving or praying, can be confused with a building of the self. Serving empties the self, focusing on the need of the other. Sacrificial service is the action of a mature, or at least attempting to mature, disciple.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, "...the greatest of these is love." The word here in greek is "Agape," which means a love which serves the other. Paul knew that "to love/to serve" is the greatest gift of the disciple.
What did Bob Dillon sing about in the 60’s; “You got to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you got to serve somebody.”
Notes for Sunday September 14, 2008
Read: Ephesians 5:1-20 Tool Time: Service
Your service to others is a light to the world. By serving, we offer grace which shows the love of God in action. To serve is to love. To serve the stranger is to love even the unlovable. When we do not choose who we are serving we offer the non-judgment of Christ Jesus.
Serving may be the last lesson learned in the life of a disciple. We can gather and have it be about us, our relationship, and our need being met. We can grow and still it is our maturity, our focus toward life which changes. However, when we sacrificially serve, without reservation, our focus becomes the good of the whole, the life of the body. It is no longer we who live and work, but Christ who lives in us. Service, more than any other of the tools of discipleship, may offer maturity in Christ.
Paul shares we should walk as children of the light. We are to expose the darkness by shedding light, the goodness of God upon the world. He says this like we are asleep and then wake up to a new day of new possibilities. Christ will be our light; we need not worry or be confused.
Serving acts as a light. Serving illumines the path toward the kingdom of God. Why work in the dark, stubbing our toes, stumbling on the uneven ground, when all we need is a little light for the journey. What did Bob Dillon sing about in the 60’; “You got to serve somebody.” You know light when you see it, so does the world. Why not let your light shine?
Your service to others is a light to the world. By serving, we offer grace which shows the love of God in action. To serve is to love. To serve the stranger is to love even the unlovable. When we do not choose who we are serving we offer the non-judgment of Christ Jesus.
Serving may be the last lesson learned in the life of a disciple. We can gather and have it be about us, our relationship, and our need being met. We can grow and still it is our maturity, our focus toward life which changes. However, when we sacrificially serve, without reservation, our focus becomes the good of the whole, the life of the body. It is no longer we who live and work, but Christ who lives in us. Service, more than any other of the tools of discipleship, may offer maturity in Christ.
Paul shares we should walk as children of the light. We are to expose the darkness by shedding light, the goodness of God upon the world. He says this like we are asleep and then wake up to a new day of new possibilities. Christ will be our light; we need not worry or be confused.
Serving acts as a light. Serving illumines the path toward the kingdom of God. Why work in the dark, stubbing our toes, stumbling on the uneven ground, when all we need is a little light for the journey. What did Bob Dillon sing about in the 60’; “You got to serve somebody.” You know light when you see it, so does the world. Why not let your light shine?
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