Efficient lead conversion services for non-profit organizations

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e [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning good morning and welcome back I see a number of people are back from traveling welcome back we're thankful you're back safely and hope you've been rejuvenated uh on your travels so we can hardly wait to hear stories over coffee um this morning I just want to call on deian to come up and and tell us a little bit about the quilting event that happened uh here yesterday a morning and uh just an exciting energy and that she's going to share with us so thank you we had so much fun there was 10 women and we got lots done and a lot of the women had never quilted before so it's also been a learning experience and Hol and Mary and our wonderful teachers so if you want to know how to quilt we're going to do it again next month or if you already know how to quilt we can use your help it the quilts are going to seeding mercy so there's I don't know I'm sure you've already heard there's a big container a shipping container 40 feet long at Bethlehem that we are going to fill so if you have um I know chip has shoes at home in his closet that he's not using so clothes shoes school supplies um just anything you can think of that we can put in this container that the people in South Sudan can use we would love to have it bring it to church and I'll take it over to Bethlehem so um that's our mission and it's really exciting we have people from other churches donating and there's just it's just been fantastic I have a question are the school supplies then for seeding mercy and it's not a separate no the school supplies that we that we are collecting are are for seeding Mercy you want them all like in a backpack or a backpack whatever we actually are putting them in a room over at Bethlehem and then packing everything in boxes and putting it in the shipping container you don't have to prepare a backpack where students no no no no no no no se separate whatever you can think of that you think those people could use we have plenty of room there's no weight limit because it's a shipping container so it's just huge yeah good so there's a box for donations in the fellowship what's the deadline as far as getting things back here to you um you know what we will I will take stuff all summer and take it over there the deadline is when we get that shipping container full okay great good thank you very much Dean we appreciate all right um friends if you're visiting with us today uh a warm welcome to you we're glad that you're here uh when it comes time for communion uh you're welcome to come to the Lord's table and participate uh in that Holy meal today um otherwise uh enjoy the service everything's printed in your bulletin or in the red cranberry book and uh we invite you to come to Fellowship afterward and have a cup of coffee and make some new friends um so again welcome I invite the congregation to stand for the confession and forgiveness as we continue blessed be the Holy Trinity one God who creates redeems and sustains us and all of creation let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another receiving God's rich and abundant Mercy faithful God have mercy on us we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves we turn from your loving Embrace and go on our own ways we pass judgment on one another before examining ourselves we place our own needs before those of our neighbors we keep your gift of Salvation to ourselves make us humble Cast Away our transgressions and turn us again to life in you through Jesus Christ Our Savior and Lord amen God hears the cries of all who call out a need and through his death and Resurrection Jesus J Christ has made us his own hear the truth that God proclaims for you that your sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ led by the Holy Spirit live in Freedom and the newness of God and to do God's work in the world Amen our gathering song is uh hymn 669 in the back of the red Himel [Music] of [Music] your of healing [Music] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all and also with you let us pray together god of the Covenant in our baptism you call us to proclaim the coming of your kingdom give us courage to give vles that we may Faithfully witness to your love and peace in every circumstance of Life In The Name of Jesus Christ Our Savior and Lord amen please be seated the first reading for today comes from The Book of Ezekiel 2: 1-5 in 597 BCE the priest Ezekiel was removed into Exile in Babylon while there he received a vision of God appearing majestically on a chariot Throne today's reading recounts God's commissioning of Ezekiel during the vision the prophet is to speak God's word to a people unwilling to hear a reading from Ezekiel a voice said to me oh mortal stand up on your feet and I will speak with you and when he spoke to me a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet and I heard him speaking to me he said to me mortal I am sending you to the people of Israel to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day The Descendants are imp pundit and stubborn I am sending you to them and you shall say to them thus says the Lord God whether they hear or refuse to hear for they are a rebellious house they shall know that there has been a propit among them word of God Word of Life thanks be to God to you I lift my eyes to you enthroned in the heavens as the eyes of servants took to the of Master and the eyes of a to the hand of mistress so our eyes to you Lord Our God until you show us your Merc have mercy upon us oh Lord have mercy for we have had more than enough of contempt of the the second reading comes from the seven book of the Corinthians chapter 12: 2-10 Christians do not boast of their own accomplishments rather Christian boasting focuses attention on how the power of Christ is present in our lives especially in times of weakness and vulnerability no matter what our circumstances in life Christ's grace is sufficient for us a reading from 2 Corinthians I know a person in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven whether in the body or out of the body I do not know God knows and I know that such a person whether in the body or out of the body I do not know God knows was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told that no mortal is permitted to repeat on behalf of such a one I will boast but on my own behalf I will not boast except for my weaknesses but if I wish to boast I will not be a fool for I will be speaking the truth but I refrain from it so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me even considering the exceptional character of the revelations therefore to keep me from being too elated a thorn was given in my In the Flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from being too elated three times I appealed to the Lord about this that it would leave me but he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power is made perfect in weakness so I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ Christ May dwell in me therefore I am content with weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities for the sake of Christ for whenever I am weak then I am strong word of God word of life thank be to God I invite children and young people to come on up now for the children's [Music] message any children or young people that want to come on up [Music] that's okay Dean we don't want to scare anybody it's okay scary uh good morning how are you good to see you this morning how's school how's school going it's already ended oh it's already ended oh I knew that I was just testing to see if you were going to tell me that it was already out of session so just a trick question to see if you're awake okay yeah so have you ever thought about how early the sun comes up in the morning uh in the summertime how early do you have blinds in your room that block the Sun out does the Sun do you know that it's coming up like really really early yeah I know sometimes it wakes me up in the morning and my wife W wonders why I'm up like at 5:30 in the morning and I'm like well the sun came up so I'm up and so I have to water the flowers and things like that um but it's interesting we don't know a lot about the sun we know some things about the Sun but it's an amazing brilliant ball of Fire in the Sky that just burns and burns and burns and it provides life for us doesn't it yeah and so our relationship with Jesus is kind of like that it it Jesus provides life for us and um and so while we don't don't understand everything about the son we don't really understand everything about Jesus either I have a lot of questions do you yeah me too so studying the Bible helps us to understand who Jesus is helps us to understand who we are um it helps us to understand the over arching plan of God's redemption or God's making the world the way God wants it in the end right so we're kind of in this middle time period um Jesus has come we know Jesus is going to come again and so what we have is our faith don't we we have faith in the Sun that the sun's going to come up because it comes up every day right so we have faith that it's going to come up and we have faith in Jesus too that Jesus is going to love us and that Jesus is going to always be there for us U which is really cool so I thought we would think about that today and just give thanks for that that um Jesus does love us and that's something we can count on kind of like the sun coming up so now when you see the sun coming up in the morning every morning get up and give thanks for your relationship with with Jesus and that Jesus is there also that you have that Faith okay and then you can go and share that with people you can share God's love and you can share about who Jesus is all right and I have a picture to show you for you to look at it's a a picture of a cross looks like that um and it on the back side has a a sun and that way you can draw your own picture about faith and and your relationship with Jesus okay let's pray good morning God good morning God thanks for this beautiful day thanks for this beautiful day thanks for the sun thanks for the sun which so Faithfully Rises every morning so Faithfully Rises every morning and thank you for Jesus love and thank you for Jesus love that is also so Faithfully there in our lives that is also Faithfully there in our lives help us to give thanks and praise to you us give thanks and praise to you each and every day each and every day help us to deepen help us to deepen our relationship with you our relationship with you and always give us more faith and always give us more faith in the name of Jesus we pray in the name of Jesus we pray amen amen all right thanks you can be seated this morning [Applause] I'm going to use this in the sermon today so we're moving into the 21st century so yeah whatever works right amen um well there's a saying when I read the gospel lesson today there's a saying that comes to mind in this text and that is that familiar familiarity breeds contempt um this idiom is often used when you know someone or something so very well that you stop respecting them because you have seen all of their bad qualities I mean it's kind of sad in a way right but as we get to know people we learn things about people that they don't present on the first day that we meet them right yeah and so as part of our life together part of that is is learning to love people for who they are and also learning to live in that rhythm of confession and forgiveness with one another recognizing that we have to forgive in our relationships and embrace the whole person and remain in love but I'm not sure that's what happened to Jesus uh in this particular gospel text uh oh maybe I should read the gospel text I boy it's worse than we thought I have an iPhone but I forgot the gospel text okay all right so let's do this let's just take a minute here we won't even sing The Gospel acclamation we'll just read the gospel text okay and you can remain seated today since I messed up it's it's it's my way of making it up okay so this is the gospel from uh St Mark the 6th chapter um and I'm going to read only half of the lesson today because uh there's really two different pericopes or two different lessons here today and I want to focus on the first half of this because next week I'll focus on the second half and you'll you'll understand why more next next week okay and next week I'll remember to read the gospel lesson at the appropriate time okay so the the gospel comes from Mark chapter 6 Jesus came to his hometown and his disciples followed him on the Sabbath day he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astounded they said where did this man get all of this what is this wisdom that has been given to him what Deeds of Power are being done by his hands is this not The Carpenter's son son of Mary and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us and they took offense at him and then Jesus said to them prophets are not without honor except in their Hometown and among their own kin and in their own house and he could do no deed of power there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them and he was amazed at their unbelief I wonder if this is a respect issue as we hear this gospel today I wonder if people just had gotten to a point where they didn't respect Jesus because they thought that they knew everything there was to know about Jesus and we think to ourselves how can you not respect Jesus Jesus has been walking the countryside healing and overcoming life destroying powers of demon possession and he's been healing people that were uh chronically ill and he's been raising people from the dead uh and it was a well-known fact that Jesus was able to heal and he was there to heal the flock that moved toward him and with him through the countryside witnessing his miracles H and so what is the problem with his hometown people what is the problem as Jesus has arrived in Nazareth his after this T this grand tour of ministering and this grand tour of healing by all accounts you know he should be embraced don't you think but he's not instead they ask questions like what is this wisdom that has been given to him isn't this a carpenter isn't this Mary's son they came at him from a very narrow perspective of scarcity and insecurity in their lives and it sound kind of sounds like someone who is a senior to someone else who's discounting the fact that they might know what they're doing right they might have uh knowledge and experiences and they might uh be able to offer something these people are basically looking at Jesus and saying that he's got nothing to offer and they aren't even open in their own minds to thinking about the possibility ities that Jesus uh might be able to offer to them and so they become Bound by their own limited understandings by their own limited understanding of their traditions and of their history and and their culture and the fact that Jesus was one of them and they couldn't possibly imagine that Jesus being one of them could possibly be anything more than Mary's son or a carpenter or this boy this Hometown boy right well it's true that he was all of those things and it's true that he was human but what's interesting is that Jesus never really overwhelmed people uh as though he was a larger than life Action Hero he appeared as just another human being like he was being viewed at by the hometown right but Jesus as we know was a lot more than that and everybody in surrounding towns knew it because they had become witnesses to his activities Jesus was a lot more than that and so I started wondering as I heard this text I was thinking about it I was thinking is it possible that we could become so familiar with Jesus that we kind of forget how special Jesus is is it possible that we could become so familiar with Jesus that we become numb to the fact that this Jesus this Lord that we come and worship and serve is the one who can provide healing and wholeness to us in our life is it possible that we could forget that Jesus is the one who heals us from all of our sinfulness and our Brokenness and allows us to experience this freedom in our life that will bring us joy it's like we know it but do we really feel it that's the question and so is it possible that we could limit God's activity in our own lives like Jesus was limited here in his own town because we don't really have the kind of faith that would allow us to embrace Jesus Remember that Jesus never changes Jesus is Jesus and Jesus offers Miracles and healings and wholeness to people but it's the people's posture that changes people throughout the countryside embrac Jesus but the people of the hometown didn't Embrace him and didn't understand and didn't want to understand and therefore his power was limited not because Jesus couldn't perform Miracles but because of their posture toward Jesus does that make sense it's a huge point in this story and so that's a question for us today it's for us to ask ourselves that question to underscore the importance of our faith in our life and our faith in the sense that how we understand who Jesus is and how we exercise that Faith toward Jesus in our lives and the question for us is this how is it that we might become so familiar with Jesus that we limit God's activity in our lives my first reaction was I don't do that at all I'm very saintly Martin Luther said that right but the reality is this we all do it we look to the world and the information that comes off of our cell phone and the internet we look to ourselves we look to other things that take our trust away from God and place that trust in our own hands and this is the point because that type of thing takes us and our faith away from God and away from Jesus and puts it upon ourselves and then we have faith in ourselves more than we have faith in God and we do it the question is are we going to be able to identify the ways that we do it and will we be able to repent or change those ways and deepen our faith with Jesus and here's the thing we know that apart from Christ that we are nothing it was funny because I went to spiritual Direction this week and out of all the things that my spiritual director could have read to me she read something that I needed to hear has that ever happened to you when you go to church and the P you think the pastor's talking to you I know it's scary isn't it she she said I said how did you pick that reading and she said well I was um you know really praying about uh our time today together and I was reading over your anagram profile again well we're digging into who I am and how I function and why right that's also scary um and so she said I was reading your profile and I was praying about it and she said I was sitting here looking around and out of all these books on the bookshelf she said I saw this one over here and it says it's it's Jesus Calling do you know that book I have it maybe I should read it huh and so she she starts in and she says now this text comes from Romans chapter 8 Psalm 56 and Isaiah 43 she says and so listen to this she said close your eyes now I have to trust her a lot to close my eyes right but I I did I I closed my eyes and I tried to listen carefully to the words and and it starts out by saying draw near to me with a thankful heart aware that your cup is overflowing with blessings gratitude enables you to perceive me more clearly and to rejoice in our love relationship nothing can separate you from my loving presence that is the basis of your security whenever you start to feel anxious remind yourself that your security rests in me alone and I am totally trustworthy you will never be in control of your life circumstances but you can relax and Trust in my control instead of striving for predictable safe lifestyle seek to know me in Greater depth and breadth I long to make your life glorious Adventure but you must stop clinging to old ways I am always doing something new within my beloved ones be on the lookout for all that I have prepared for you I think that's powerful don't you and so I said to her after the hour was over I said now read that again and then I made a little uh promise that I would I would uh continue to meditate on that and that I would continue to really uh spend time with every word and phrase in that particular devotion uh in the next 30 days and I said I I'll do a couple of things that I'm going to have you be my accountability partner which is really good right um and I said I'm going to come back and we're going to talk about the things that I've done differently as a result of my meditation on this it's pretty cool isn't it the second half of this text today is about Jesus sending the disciples out and I don't feel like we ever get to spend enough time on that and so next week I want to unpack it but what is important for us to hear out of the first reading today is the fact that this Prophet Ezekiel was given a proclamation that was regularly met with skepticism and rejection that's exciting wow don't you wish you were Ezekiel even so what does God do as Ezekiel complained and Ezekiel resists what God does is God shows up for Ezekiel and assures Ezekiel of God's continued protection and to urge him just like he did Jeremiah Was urged in his call not to fear oppression not to fear the obstacles not to fear our own selves when it comes to our ability to place trust and faith in God right and so I was looking through this text and I was thinking about it and and Scholar Mar Mark oldenberg points out that Paul seems to be speaking of his own experiences in in the reading that we heard today in the second reading describing this conversion experience that he has and unlike his opponents in Corinth Paul does not use his mystical experience to Proclaim to be some some sort of super Christian but rather he glorifies in his disability which is an eye problem that keeps him from being puffed up and links him to the suffering of Christ and he seems to really like that he connects with fellow sufferers in his life and in his very weakness he acknowledges that that's where God's power makes him perfect why because it goes back to this Gospel reading where uh we see that it's important to have faith and trust in Jesus and jesus' presence in our lives and not to rely upon ourselves and yet another reminder and an example in our lives of how Paul struggled and yet he found that as he relinquished his own power and relied upon God's power that his that what was happening was made perfect his said I I'm weak but in God's power I made perfect God encourages us like Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Paul and so many before us that God will guide us and continue to be generous to us us in our lives Matthew chapter 7 says this it describes God as a generous God that is eager to provide and so Jesus commands his followers to continually ask and seek with confidence They will receive and that they will find and God's promise is this and you're going to recognize this that when we seek we will find and when we knock on the door it will be opened and God's grace and mercy will pour into our lives in the most unexpected and exciting ways we give thanks to God for the connection and the love that God has for us we give thanks for the ability to hear God's word that inspires us to think about our lives and to repent and turn toward God in new and different ways to rely upon the Lord for all that we need in our lives even if that's small changes because we know that God's grace and compassion and mercy and Justice is with us this is the god that we should never become too comfortable with or take for granted in our lives but the god that we come and we sing loudly when we sing Our hymns and we respond loudly when we respond to our worship service that we come around the altar recognizing that this is the god God this powerful God that is in love with us who wants to be with us and who wants to bring us the joy of the Lord we pray that we would believe more and more every day that we would be credible Witnesses just like Paul and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and others to the crucified and risen Christ in Jesus name amen and to prepare us for next week we'll sing Lord you give the Great Commission hym 579 uh please stand as you're able [Music] with [Music] the US [Music] us to sh children [Music] Us toy with and prises for the world bless with words [Music] friends one in the communion of the Saints in the power of the Holy Spirit We join our voices together in prayer this morning let us pray glorious God you bend down to wash the feet of the disciples let the Servant Church arise in our teaching our praying our healing and our doing make all your faithful people powerful in weakness and strong in Grace rooted always in a faithful relationship with you in your mercy here our pray life-giving God your fingers trace the heavens and your hands mold the Earth we pray for this Earth that you would bring nourishing rain that you would end drought where there is drought that you would provide for all of of your people Lord where there is Devastation from fire and flood bring relief be with those people who have lost homes Lost Property and we experiencing grief we pray for your peace and we pray for the hands that you have called to serve them in your mercy here our pray merciful god you speak and the Nations listen we pray that you would open the hearts and the minds of those who govern to the cries of all who journey and who have no food or shelter particularly people fleeing violence we think about the conflict in the Middle East and we pray Lord God for peace in your mercy here our pray gracious God your Embrace brings wholeness to those who are troubled we pray for those who suffer in Body Mind and Spirit we pray Lord God for the things that we struggle to make sense of help us to be quiet and still in your presence we pray Lord God for healing and renewal and we remember our brothers and sisters who have asked for our prayers today we pray for Sally and Jimmy for Sarah for Kim Ashley for Ellie and Jane and those Lord that we remember before you today in your mercy our pray holy God holy and merciful into your outstretched arms we commend ourselves and all who for whom we pray trusting in the one who is the way the truth and the life Jesus Christ Our Savior and our Lord amen the Peace of Christ with you all and also with you let us share the Peace of Christ with all of our neighbors congregation may be seated we'll have a time of our offering in our our prayers today please be [Music] seated e e [Music] would you please stand with me and let us turn to our offering prayer let us pray God of mercy and Grace the eyes of all wait upon you and you open your hand in blessing fill us with good things at your table that we may come to the help of all in need through Jesus Christ Our Redeemer and Lord amen the Lord be with you also lift up your hearts lift them to the Lord let us give thanks to the Lord our God it is right to give our thanks and praise in the night in which he was betrayed our lord Jesus Took bread he gave thanks broke it and gave it to the disciples saying Take and Eat This is my body given for you do this in remembrance of me again after supper he took the cup he gave thanks and he gave it for all to drink saying this cup is a New Covenant in my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin do this in remembrance of me gathered into one by the holy SP spirit let us pray as Jesus has taught us Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen friends this is the Lord's table and all are welcome you may be seated if you prefer to have a blessing today you're welcome also to come forward for a blessing and just let us know as you come forward [Music] the body of Christ given for you this is the body of Christ the body of [Music] Christ the body of [Music] Christ the body of Christ given for [Music] you this is the body of Christ this is the body ofr [Music] body body of praise [Music] e e please stand as you're able receive the Lord's blessing the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace now and forever amen let us pray we give you thanks almighty God that you have refreshed us through this healing power of this gift of life in your mercy strengthen us through this gift in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another for the for the sake of Jesus Christ Our Lord amen the god of steadfast encouragement Grant to you to live in harmony with one another in ance with Christ Jesus the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in the Hope by the power of the holy spirit amen and the God of all Grace bless you and keep you now and forever amen our sending song is uh hymn 576 we we br strong to and together the [Music] in we all are one in Miss we all are one go in peace and share the good news thank God [Music] Amen e