September 1, 2013
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Sermon 7 of Summer Series
Worship
Theme: Fellowship
1
John 4:7-12 the Message Bible
John
15:11-17 the Message Bible
Ecclesiastes
4:9-11
The
Love Zone. . .
Let us pray. . . (Pray for the Spirit’s illumination)
A reading from the
Gospel of John, chapter fifteen verses eleven thru seventeen. (Read the
Scripture):
“I’ve told you these things for a
purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my
command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to
love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you
do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because
servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve
named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the
Father.
“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you,
and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit
bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. “But remember the root command: Love one
another.
Have any of you read or seen some of the Lord of the Rings? I think my favorite
on is called “the Fellowship of the
Ring.” They all banded together with one cause. . . to get rid of the “One Ring of Sauron the Dark Lord”. . . it
was a very powerful and evil ring. So they went on this quest together. . . They
knew they could only triumph over evil if they worked together. In the end. . .
they did triumph. . . not without any difficulties but the stuck together and
won the day.
I think I like it so much is because it
reminds me of the first church. You see they too came together. . . with one
cause, to share the Good News. . . and shared everything with each other. They
spent much of their time together praying and sharing meals with one another.
They cared for one another and even sold all they had so they could share with
those in need. . . those less fortunate than themselves. Unfortunately. . . humanity went wrong somewhere. . . I think the
essence of fellowship got distorted somehow. . . Perhaps we. . . as Christian’s
need to get back to the basics of the first church again. . . Maybe then we
will see a shift in the ripple of Christianity.
We are Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus this
summer and what and adventure it has been. We had a wonderful time learning
about our Captain. We even got rid of some of our ballast rocks as we placed
them on the altar. As you can see they are
here on the altar to remind us that we put them in God’s hands. Last week.
. . we talked about worship. . . about
how worship is the human response to God’s goodness and mercy. . . a response
to the dance. . . the music of love that comes from the heart of God for you
and for me. As we dance the dance of worship we come together. . . as a family.
. . as our spirit within us unites with the spirit within others. . . in
fellowship with each other. . . fellowship is vital for our walk and for our
growth in faith. We learn from one another as we share our pilgrimage stories.
. . We share our walk as we fellowship together.
So. . . what is fellowship? Why do we need to
fellowship any way? There is a piece of Scripture in Ecclesiastes that I think
is perfect to explain what and why fellowship is good. It is found in chapter 4
verses 9-11. It states that “two are better than one because they have a good
return for their hard work. And that if either should fall; one can pick up the
other.” Then it states “But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a
companion to help them up!” Also, “if two lie down together, they can stay
warm. But how can anyone stay warm alone?” I think this is the very essence of
fellowship. We need each other, whether we want to admit it or not.
When we live in fellowship. . . in community.
. . with one another we are able to help each other stand strong in our faith.
Each Sunday we gather as a faith community in faith. We share our concerns and
celebration with each other and we raise our voices together as we pray. We
help each other as we pray for one another and situations and we have all seen
the miracles that have come out of our fellowship in prayer. We have all come
up beside someone and helped them through a tough time. . . even if it is just
a listening ear. We enter
Gods Love Zone with each other. . .
Fellowship produces love. From the 1st John
this morning, we heard that God is love and love is God and from God. As we
begin to “get to know each other” through fellowship. . . true fellowship. . . not just the surface stuff that looks good
when you are around others but the deep down stuff that bonds us to one another.
. . we begin to see each other with a different set of eyes. . . God’s eyes. .
. the eyes of love. We begin to love just for the sheer joy of it. . . our walk
becomes one with a “spring in our step” as we twirl and whirl our part in the
dance with God and others. It’s all about love. . . it’s all about
relationships. . . worship is not temporal but relational. . . as we worship
and fellowship with God and each other a “cord is forged” that is not easily
broken. God wants us to enter into His
Love Zone as we fellowship with each other.
When we Worship and fellowship with one
another we, as the John 15 scripture states, becomes friends of Christ. . . not
just a servant but truly friends. Our fellowship with one another helps us to
come up beside those around us and work in ministry with one another. . . we
want to work together for the kingdom of God. . . we want to be that ambassador
for Christ in the world. . . as well as to those that we fellowship with. . . but
the bottom line of this relational experience is love. . . without it, just
isn’t going to happen. Our Love Zone
spreads out. Not only are we in it as we fellowship with one another but we
offer others the opportunity to join us as we share the Gospel with a hurting
world. . .
We are called. . . we are meant to be. . . we
need to fellowship with one another. We need to learn with one another. We need
to work in ministry with one another. We need to see each other through God’s
eyes and not our own distorted vision. We need to seize every opportunity to be
that unified body of Christ, serving, learning, growing with the help and
guidance of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We are about to share a Fellowship Meal with
each other as we celebrate the Lord’s Table. My question for you and I is this.
. . How have you and I lived our faith out loud. . . have we spent time with
others, learning from each other or have we said “maybe tomorrow”? Have we
chosen to fellowship with others or have we done things that have alienated
them? Are we living in God’s Love Zone?
How will you choose to live. . . as a “Lone Ranger” our on your own or as a
“Fellow Traveler” on this journey of faith and trust? Which will you choose?
May we choose warmth of fellowship over the coldness of being alone.
Amen
September
1, 2013
Worship
Theme: “Fellowship”
John
15:11-17 (The Message)
1
John 4:7-12 (The Message)
Ecclesiastes
4:9-11
“God
is Love”
children’s
message
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Communion
sermon blog
meditation blog
Sermon 7 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
September 1, 2013
&
Worship
Theme: “Worship”
Luke
4:5-8 (The Message)
(extract of Luke 4:1-13)
Matthew
22:34-37 (New Living Translation)
(extract of 22:34-40)
John
4:19-24 (The Message)
(extract of John 4:1-42)
children’s
message
how
to make good decisions
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Worship. . . It Does A Body
Good”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 6 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
August 25, 2013
&
Worship
Theme: “Do We Make Room for God . . .?”
Ephesians
2:11-22 (CEB)
“The
reconciliation of God’s people” (CEB)
“One
in Christ” (NIV)
2
Samuel 7:1-7 (NLT)
Mark
6:30-44, 53-56 (CEB)
“Jesus
feeds five thousand people” (CEB)
“Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand” (NIV)
children’s
message
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Make Room for Yahweh”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 5 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
August 18, 2013
&
Prayer
Vigil at the Park
after
worship service
7/28/2013
&
Theme:
“Do We Worship Only on Sunday?”
Worship
song – “I Sing Praises”
Ephesians
1:3-14 (Gods Word Translation)
Ephesians
1:3-14 (The Message)
Acts
2:38-47 (New Revised Standard Version)
children’s
message
sharing
our joy
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Live Your Worship Out Loud!”
“Shout
It From the Mountaintops”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 4 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
July 28, 2013
&
Theme:
“Can we see the big picture”
“Big
Picture Followers”
1
Corinthians 13:9-12 (GOD’S WORD translation)
Mark
6:1-6 (The Message)
“Just
a Carpenter”
Mark
6:1-6 (NRSV)
“Jesus
Rejected in Nazareth”
children’s
message
sometimes
our vision is foggy
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Seeing More Clearly. . . ”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 3 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
July 21, 2013
&
Luke
7:36-47 (The Message)
Mark
5:21-34 (GOD’S WORD Translation)
Matthew
13:44-46
children’s
message
We
are precious to God
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “How much does Jesus really matter?”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 2 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
July 14, 2013
&
Mark
4:35-41 (The Message)
Luke
4:16-21 (Common English Bible)
Matthew
14:22-33
children’s
message
We
are not alone
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Who Is this Captain”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 1 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
July 7, 2013
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at Ray Foss
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