January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Psalm 119:1-2 Gods Word Translation
1 Corinthians 1:10-16 Common English Bible
Mathew 4:18-23 Common English Bible
Matthew 5:13-16 Common English Bible
We Can Work It Out
Have you ever had an argument with someone on how to do something? I mean you are trying to help them do things a different way. . . a way that may be easier for them. . . and all they do is argue with you that your way will not work. I know that with Shanequa. . . it has to be done the way she learned from someone. There can’t be another way. I remember one time we were trying to help her with her math homework. She was having a hard time so we tried to show her another way to do it that would come up with the same answer but would make it easier for her to understand. Well. . . she was having no part in that. . . her teacher had shown her a way to do it and there was going to be no deviation from it. She actually went into a tantrum because we were insisting that our way would work too. . . she would come up with the same answer. . .
Why is it so hard for us sometimes to see the other side of things. . . to see that there is more than one way to get to the destination that we are striving for? I’m sure that Paul must have felt the same way in the Scripture we heard from 1 Corinthians this morning. There were rival groups in Corinth that was fighting over who they belonged to. . . like it really mattered. . . they all belonged to Christ. Christ was the one who died for the sins of the world. . . not Paul. . . or Apollos. . . or even Cephas. . . it was Jesus. And we still are fighting the same fight this day. Why can’t we just agree to disagree and get on with the Kingdoms work?
Let us pray. . . God of Wisdom. . . God of Might, we come into your temple of praise this day to worship you with our hearts and our soul. We pray that your Spirit would be here with us this day. Move in our lives Lord so that we may be your ambassadors of love. Teach us your ways so that we understand how you would have us act and turn away from ourselves. Speak Lord. . . your church is listening. . .
In the Church Calendar, today is Ecumenical Sunday. . . it is the Sunday in what we call “A Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”. I have put an insert in the bulletin that gives you the history of this week of prayer. It is quite interesting how this week came about. But. . . I’ll let you read about it in the insert.
We, as Christians, need to be in unity with one another. We need to not bring our own agendas. . . our own priorities to the table and have the Kingdoms priorities and agendas. Jesus didn’t come to save just to save a “few good men and women, Jesus’ agenda was the Kingdom’s agenda. . . an agenda that included all of God’s children. Jesus emptied Himself into you and into me. . . into the church. . . into the leaders of the church. It is “radical hospitality” that Jesus was all about.
I want you to listen to the word of Matthew found in Matthew 4:18-23. . . see if you here that radical hospitality being given. . . read Matthew 4:18-23 from the Common English Bible. . .
Jesus didn’t call the “leaders of the Synagogue”. . . He didn’t call the Sages and Law makers. . . Jesus called ordinary working men. . . Jesus still calls men and women today. . . men and women like you and like me. Jesus didn’t give power and authority to just a few. . . He gave it to all who believe.
Later today we are having a ground-breaking ceremony for the lift. In having the lift we are practicing radical hospitality. . . we are enabling Gods saving grace to reach those who may have been unreachable because of a disability. We are about the kingdoms work. We are putting the Kingdom’s agenda before our own. Now that’s radical in a world that is all about “the most bang for a buck” if you ask me. But you know what else is radical. . . it is a radical statement when we all work together for the kingdom. . . side by side. . . hand in hand.
Jesus came, taught, died and rose again so that we all can have a part in brig the world back to the way that God intended it to be in the beginning. . . a place where peace and harmony is abundant. . . a land of milk and honey. We all need to do our part to bring about this new earth. We need to understand that we are all on a road to a common destination. We may take different paths but the end result is the same. Now that’s Christian unity. . . this is the way we are called to live.
To end my sermon I want to try to teach you something. I hope that after you learn this principle you will continue to do it in your reading the Word. I was reading one of my devotionals the other day called The Upper Rom Disciplines and it talked about something I had first heard about in Seminary. . . Now don’t get all nervous thinking I am going to try to teach you something that only a Seminarian is able to comprehend, it’s rather easy if you ask me but it changed the way I read the bible. It’s called lectio divina which means holy reading. As I read a passage from Matthew chapter 5, I want you to put yourself in the story, listen for a word or a phrase that hits home for you. Read Matthew 5:13-16 Common English Bible. . .
Now I want you to think about what you have heard. . . how does the word or phrase that hit home for you fit into your life. . . what is this word calling you to be. . . how do you answer?
We are one in Spirit. . . we are one in the Lord
AMEN?!
Matthew 4:18-23 (Common
English Bible)
1 Corinthians 1:10-16
(Common English Bible)
Psalm 119:1-2 (Gods Word
Translation)(Call to Worship)
Worship Theme: “Working
Together for the Kingdom”
Prayer of Invocation,
from Lectionary Worship
Aids, Cycle A)
and sermon, “We Can Work
It Out”,
including Lectio Divina
on Matthew 5:13-16 (Common
English Bible)
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after Epiphany
&
Isaiah 49:1-7
John 1:29-42
Worship Theme: “Called by
God to . . .”
and sermon, “A Light to
the Nations”
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
January 16, 2011
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Human Relations Sunday
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usage. See all 40,140+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
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