Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Sermon - "New Beginnings", by Pastor Ruth Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, December 30, 2012

December 30, 2012
First Sunday after Christmas
Worship Theme: New Year
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Common English Bible
Revelation 21:1-6a Common English Bible
Matthew 25:31-46 the Message Bible

New Beginnings
A reading from the Gospel of Mark. . . chapter 25. . . verses 31-46. . . listen for a word from God to you and me, the people of God. . .

Well here we are at the end of the year and a new year approaches. I am sure, as we look back, we can see the good times and the bad times we have been through in the past year. We, as a congregation, have seen changes within our church. We have seen others step up when there was help needed from places we may not have expected. We have seen people come to know Christ as their Savior and have joined our family here at Suncook. We have seen prayers answered in ways that we never could have imagined.

We have also seen some tough times. Times when we were not sure if we, as a church, would have enough income to keep our doors open and continue ministry in the community. We have been through times of miscommunication that caused strife within the congregation.

But through this all, there is one thing that never changes. We have a time and this time is a gift from God. There are times when we feel we have too much and times when we feel we don’t have enough. Either way. . . time goes on. What we do with it is our choice to make.

The scriptures that were read this morning are all about time. They talk about there being a time for everything. . . about a time when God will make all things new. . . and about what we should do with our time here on earth. Time is a precious commodity. As I said, time is a gift from God. We can either work on God’s time or try and work on humanities time span. Listen to what the scriptures from this morning tells us and chose which time line is the best for you, for me, for all of humanity. Which one is a better way to spend our precious time. . . our extraordinary gift from God. . . ?

Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything. Can you imagine what it must have been like to hear the stories of God’s people from your ancestors? Imagine you are a young child and you are listening to the stories of your people. There were so many ups and downs it was like a rollercoaster. There were good kings and bad kings. There was time of blessings and times of exile and judgment. There were times of weeping and laughter, morning and dancing, kind of like the opening of Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities,” it was the worst of times and the best of times, but within this gift from God the mix of life happens. Good and bad. . . light and dark. . . day and night all happen. God has set a time for everything under heaven and in heaven. Time is God’s and God’s alone and our Creator chooses to share it with the created. . . even within the realities of life.

Revelations talks about a new time to come. . . a time when God will make everything new. Our God is a God of the new. Life with god never remains the same. It is always moving, changing, perfecting, and morphing into something new. But. . . it takes time. It is not as if we can change our calendars to January 1 and Boom everything has changed. But as we live our lives. . . as we “do our time” here on earth. . . we can believe by faith that God’s word is true and that little by little things are being made new so that we may know the fullness of life even though the various season of life that we go through.

Matthew tells us what we should be doing with our time. . . with our God given gift. We have been given a set amount of time here on earth. When we show compassion we are feeding the hungry, giving drink to  the thirsty, welcoming that stranger clothing the naked and visiting those in need. It is the compassion. . . the Christ-like compassion that the “King” notices. With compassion comes kindness, patience, and love for others. What we do with our time has eternal consequences.

We have all heard the phrases and may have even used them “I have no time for that. . . you’re running out of time. . . you’re wasting my time. . . you don’t use your time wisely. . . thank you for your time”. We are forever trying to have “more time.” But perhaps we need to change what we do with the time we have. Maybe, just maybe, what we do with God’s gift of time needs to be “tweaked a little” in our lives. Perhaps it is not more time that we need and what is needed is to put more “quality” in our time.

We have come to the end of one year and a new year is dawning on the horizon. What will you do with your new beginning? What will you do with the gift of time shared with you by the Creator? As a matter of fact, each day is a new beginning. . . a new day dawning for you and for me. What will you do with your new day? Will you squander it on the “me” or use it for the “thee” who gave it to you. To everything there is a season. What will you do with the season that you are in? Will you focus on the time passed or look ahead for the future?  This new time we have been given. . . this New Year. . . this gift from God. . . should be used wisely, in ways that will enhance your relationship with God. How will you celebrate this new day dawning? Will you stay looking in the past or will you boldly go forward, with our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, into a new frontier? Which will you choose?

Let us pray. . .
God of New Beginnings, we thank you for the year that has past. Even with its rollercoaster ride at times, you were there through it all. Help us to boldly face our new beginnings with the confidence that you will continue to be with us, making everything new. May we have hope for each new day as we sojourn on this journey of life. It is in the name of our Shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.


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January 1, 2013
Gratefulness for each new day
Gratitude HD - Moving Art™: http://youtu.be/nj2ofrX7jAk
&
First Sunday after Christmas
Worship Theme: “New Year”
Matthew 25:31-46 (The Message Bible)
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 (Common English Bible)
Revelation 21:1-6a (Common English Bible)
Call to Worship (Lectionary Worship Aids ©2012)
Unison Prayer (((Lectionary Worship Aids ©2012)
Prayer of Dedication (GBOD 2012 Luke 2:41-52)
and sermon – “New Beginnings
by Pastor Ruth Foss
A Handmaiden of the Lord
Suncook United Methodist Church

Suncook, NH
December 30, 2012
First Sunday after Christmas





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