US-laws Initial Made Easy

Us laws initial

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning everyone it is such a joy to welcome you to worship on this second sunday of epiphany at first united methodist st luke and lydia's place of asheboro north carolina as we begin our time of worship together this morning i'll invite you to set aside all of those things which have separated you from god this week take a deep breath and let it out join now with the holy spirit as we worship the living god [Music] [Music] walking around these walls i thought by now they'd fall [Music] waiting for change to come [Music] me [Music] your promise still stands great is your faithfulness faithfulness still in your hands this is [Music] [Applause] my [Music] jesus [Music] my heart will sing your praise again your promise still [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i'm still stands your hands this is my confidence [Music] is [Music] again [Music] i'll see you too [Music] is this is [Music] [Music] is this is [Music] good morning first kids so today i have a question for you raise your hand if you've never disobeyed and if you've never been in trouble hmm i don't see many hands raised and that's a good thing that means you're being honest we were not made to be perfect and we were not made to never make a mistake and here's a little secret sometimes adults make mistakes too and that's normal so have you ever heard the story of jonah in the whale well let me remind you jonah was a prophet of god he would listen to god and tell the people what god said one day god said to jonah go to the city of nineveh and tell the people who live there that they are a very wicked people and that they need to change their ways jonah did not want to go to nineveh so he tried to hide from god he tried to run away on a ship but god sent a big storm that made the sailors very afraid jonah admitted to his mistake and told the sailors to throw him overboard [Music] but god did not leave jonah alone in the sea he sent a great big fish to swallow jonah and kept him inside for three days and three nights during that time jonah prayed and confessed his mistake and god gave him a second chance to do what he was told [Music] so i don't think any of us will end up in the belly of a big fish for three days if we disobey but we can do what jonah did he talked to god and he prayed to god and so can we and we can use our bibles because bibles aren't just a book of rules the bible is a book of love and god cares enough to show us how to live because god loves us so let's use our time when we have it to talk to god to listen to god and to do what god tells us let's pray thank you god for this day i am your child show me the way amen see you guys soon [Music] our epistle lesson this morning is first corinthians chapter 7 verses 29 through 31. i mean brothers and sisters the appointed time has grown short from now on let even those who have wives be as though they had none and those who mourn as though they were not mourning and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing and those who buy as though they had no possessions and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it for the present form of this world is passing away may god add god's blessing to the reading of god's word please join me now as we affirm our faith as contained in the old and new testaments i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day he arose from the dead he ascended into heaven and is sitteth at the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quake and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and a life everlasting amen please join me now in praying a prayer adopted from sir francis drake disturb us lord when we are too well pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore disturb us lord when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life having fallen in love with life we have ceased to dream of eternity and on our efforts to build a new earth we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim disturb us lord to dare more boldly to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery where losing sight of land we shall find the stars we ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push into the future in strength courage hope and love and we ask all these things in the name of jesus christ who taught us to pray 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 we know that god provides an abundance for all of god's creation and so in a response to that generosity that abundance let us give back to god a portion of what has been given to us as we give of god's tithes and our [Music] offerings [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Music] praise god from whom oh blessings flow praise me lord praise god above ye heavenly hosts praise father sun and holy ghost [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] our scripture today comes from the book of jonah chapter 3 verses 1 through 5 and verse 10. the word of the lord came to jonah a second time saying get up go to nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the message i tell you so jonah set out and went to nineveh according to the word of the lord now nineveh was an exceedingly large city a three days walk across jonah began to go into the city going a day's walk and he cried out forty days more and nineveh shall be overthrown and the people of nineveh believed god they proclaimed a fast and everyone great and small put on sackcloth when god saw what they did how they turned it from their evil ways god changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it this is the word of god for us the people of god thanks be to god most of us are probably familiar with the story of jonah and usually this narrative is reduced to a almost a childlike fairy tale narrative we tell the story at bible school and sunday mornings we color in the picture of jonah in the belly of the big fish and we make this narrative into a simple lesson about sin and repentance or a simple lesson about obedience and it is about that but it is about oh so much more so today we're going to take a good look at the narrative of jonah and we're going to see what god was doing with jonah and what maybe just god is doing with us and what lessons we can learn from this narrative god called jonah to go and to preach to the people of nineveh the assyrian capital and jonah did not want to go jonah makes some excuses and he outright defied what god was calling him to do and he goes into an opposite direction he is supposed to go to nineveh but instead he turns and runs down to joppa to hop on a boat to go over to tarshish a place where many scholars think is the modern day island of sardinia a very nice beach resort where the water is clear the weather is warm the banquet table is filled with all kinds of delicacies and the drinks are overflowing preach to my enemies about grace and or go sit in the sun and drink a mata and lay on the beach all day it makes sense that jonah had a problem with these instructions from god the assyrians were the bloodthirsty enemies of israel they were the enemies of jonah's people and god tells him to go and to preach repentance to them so that they could be spared from destruction his enemies were to be destroyed and jonah was to go and tell them this good news and so that they would be of great benefit for them and they would not perish so he did not want to go to because the assyrians were israel's hated enemies and it was they were on the opposite side it would be like a duke fan putting on a fuzzy light blue wig and going to the dean dome and cheering for the toriels or maybe a carolina fan painting their face the darker shade of blue and sitting behind coach k and cheering for the blue devils so it's reasonable that jonah would not want to go to go to the other side or maybe more fitting for our context and current climate it was like republicans looking out for democrats and democrats looking out for republicans jonah just did not want to do it give a warning to the assyrians the hated enemy enemy of israel to save them from defeat and destruction it was a big assignment the task of preaching to the syrians in nineveh important to the kingdom of god important to to all that god wanted to do and what is jonah's initial response he makes excuses he goes the other way maybe that's the lesson we should teach our children from this story of jonah that the lesson is about how not to make excuses when we're asked to do something from god maybe our lesson is not to make excuses when we're asked to do something like even clean our room or do the dishes wash the dog or take the trash out or do your homework or be racially inclusive or love everyone and follow jesus why is the trash still sitting in the middle of the kitchen when i've asked you to take it out how many times i'll do it in a little while oh i've been busy [Music] why did you not stand up when your friend was being picked on it at school well everyone else was doing it if we do not prepare our children now if we do not teach them now and we allow excuses if we do not train them in the way that they should go when they get older they will not be prepared they will make excuses as adults just like we do as adults we make excuses as well i did not speak up when they told the racially charged sexist joke at work because you know it's not my business i'll exercise when it gets warmer i'll check on my elderly aunt when i get time i'll worship later i'm so tired of this online worship i'll just worship later then wednesday thursday friday comes and sunday rolls around again and we still have not worshiped sometimes we excuse ourselves and we excuse others for relying on cheap grace for saying one thing and doing another maybe it's time we stop making excuses and get down to the business of standing up for god and standing against hatred doing what god calls us to do and to be maybe it's time that we stop making excuses and stop going in the opposite direction of the gospel when we know someone around us is racist we instead of excluding them we enter into a relationship with them so that we can maybe influence them to think differently when we see our democracy at risk for extreme views and support for institutional racism we stop making excuses and we stop being silent when we encounter violence in words or deeds in whatever form that they may present themselves in our homes our community our nation we we step in and we be a presence of peace and we stop making an excuse for violence and instead we become that vessel of non-violent resistance when we ourselves are weary of doing this good work when we are find ourselves feeling so weary we stop making excuses and instead we continue doing the good work that god has called us to and we work harder for the gospel so maybe that's the lesson for our children to stop making excuses maybe that's a lesson for them and for us so after jonah makes excuses and does the opposite of what god had called him to do he experienced some consequences for his behavior because there are always consequences for how we act and for our decisions there's consequences for our attitudes maybe that's a lesson we teach our children that there are consequences when we do not own up to our responsibilities that an attitude of defiance and selfishness and that there are consequences for the sins that we command flee from nineveh head to tarshish instead get thrown into the raging sea by some strangers don't do your homework don't go to college don't do your chores don't get the car keys don't eat your broccoli get scurvy don't take a bath stink up the house there are consequences when we act out of the bounds of the gospel of jesus christ which god calls us to love and to welcome the stranger to love our enemies to pray for those who persecute us to to give with no expectation of anything in return when we act not in the accordance of the gospel when we do not abide by these things there are consequences maybe that's the lesson for our children and for us after being thrown into the sea jonah then ends up in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights and while he is in the belly of the fish jonah then prays to the lord his god maybe that's the lesson we teach our children instead of panicking when we are in trouble we instead of panicking we pray instead of just reacting to life around us we are when we are confronted with turmoil and destruction instead of panicking or reacting we live a life of prayer so that we can be a calm presence for the peace of god and then we can act that we first thing that we do is to pray asking for forgiveness from the cross promising to be an instrument of peace to be a voice for those who have no voice we pray we pray for to our lord our god for our nation our country our community our enemies our friends our church our families maybe that's a lesson that we teach our children maybe that's a lesson for us after praying and being delivered by god jonah finally does what he should have done in the first place and then he is obedient to god he goes to nineveh and does what god had asked him to do if only we would do what god asked us to do maybe that's the lesson we teach our children that obedience is not a bad word that obedience to god is because god loves us so much and god has created the world in a way that if we will follow along with what god wants for us and what god has put in place if we follow this in the way that and we are obedient then god can bring us and use us to be a world that is filled with god's goodness for god only wants good for us and then when we act out and we disobey it brings havoc and describe destruction to the very fiber of our being so when we see people attacking the capitol building with guns and carrying zip ties when we see people overtly threatening people of color when we witness violence and hatred we obey god and we do not condone or support these actions when we embrace laws and conspiracy theories and non-truths when we witness the events of our country these past few weeks we do not condone or support those acts of violence for their consequences to the things that we think the things that we say the things that we support and the things that we do maybe that's the lesson for our children and for us so then when jonah obeys god and carries out what god wants the people of nineveh are spared a great calamity they are spared from the great destruction that was heading their way they hear the one sentence sermon from jonah to repent and they heed his call and they turn from their wicked ways and god spares them from destruction maybe that's a lesson we teach our children that when we mess up when we mess up and we will that we own it and we are sorry for it we ask for forgiveness and we turn from it and god will forgive us the overwhelming and supreme power of god the overwhelming grace of god the god's remarkable mercy that god shows mercy to whoever god chooses even the hated assyrians regardless of what jonah thinks that god shows mercy to the assyrians god shows mercy to jonah god shows mercy to the republicans the democrats god shows mercy even to you and me that this grace that god has called us to and gives to us transforms our lives maybe that's the lesson we teach our children maybe that's the lesson for us and after all of this god is still not done with jonah you might think that that would be the end of the story but it's not jonah has done what he was supposed to do and with great results and jonah does not want uh the assyrians however to prosper so jonah is mad about it i knew you were and a gracious god almighty and powerful slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love ready to relent from punishing but i do not want you to give this gift to my enemies he's so angry about this that his enemies have received the goodness of god that he wants to die so maybe he thinks that if god spares nineveh that they will rely on cheap grace and repent for a day or two but then they will turn against israel with all of their army and weapons or maybe jonah has hatred in his heart that he just cannot let go of even when he himself has been delivered from the belly of a big fish even when he has experienced god's almighty power and grace and this persistent grace never letting go of him abounding in god's steadfast love and mercy maybe he does not understand that this grace is so great and it does not diminish when he gives it away that when we give god's love away it only grows god is not done with jonah nor is god done with us jonah then goes and sits under the bush and that god gives to him to shade him from the heat and the sun and even when jonah continues to fall short of the glory of god and carry resentment in his heart god is not done with him god still has work to do in jonah and god does not give up with him maybe that's the lesson we teach our children that when we mess up and you will mess up that god is always working in us and god loves us just the way we are but too much to leave us that way because god is calling us every adult and child alike to go to nineveh where people do not only dislike us but maybe they even hate us that maybe on the they may be on the complete opposite side god is calling us to go to nineveh where it is not easy it is as john wesley said we are always seeking and always fleeing from god this work is not easy god still has so much work for us to do god still has so much work to do in each of us so much there's so much love to be spread so much healing for our community and for our country i've heard repeatedly in the news politicians at the inauguration this past week i've heard it from ordinary people like you and me i've heard people say that what our country needs right now is unity for we are the united states of america we are the united methodist church and yes without doubt we need unity but there is something greater than unity that we need we need jesus we need compassion we need kindness we need justice we need god who is abounding in fast love and slow to anger we need mercy we need jesus christ who will bring unity through these things we need revival of our spirit and our soul maybe that's what we learn from jonah maybe that's what we teach ourselves so that we can teach our children no matter how much we want to run down to joppa and jump on the boat and head to the resort jesus is calling us today so let us live in a way that can bring about this goodness to all of god's people and all people across the world let us live so that god can use us and yes we might just land in the in nineveh but we also we also just might land in the land of steadfast love and god's everlasting grace we just might land in a place of love and mercy for you and me and the whole world maybe that's what we teach our children maybe that's what we learn ourselves in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit amen how can you see it how [Music] i can just stay right where i am and hope to feel to feel something again [Music] i can hold on to who i am [Music] [Music] higher [Music] me hold on to who i am [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] me [Music] i will be [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me deeper [Music] [Music] [Music] me now receive this benediction do not give up hope but instead listen to the call of god that leads us to the land of steadfast love and mercy and may you be filled with the depth of god's love the peace of jesus christ and the power of the holy spirit this day and forevermore amen [Music] [Music] [Music] you