February 9, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series on “The Names of God”
Sermon
6 of series-
“The
Sacred Names of God: Adonay”
Revelation
19:6-9
Hosea
2:16, 19-20
(All
Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
“Praying
the Names of God: A Daily Guide”
By,
Ann Spangler
“Hello
My Name Is Ish/Bridegroom”
A
reading from the book of Revelation chapter 19 verses 6-9. Listen for a word
from God to you and me, the beloved of God. . .
Let
us pray. . .
Loving
and Gracious God, Lover of our soul, we thank you for loving us so much that
You sent Your Son to die in our stead. We thank you that You have given us Your
Spirit to guide us in the way we should live our lives. We pray that the same
Spirit would work within us and that we would hear the Word You have for us
this day. May we have softened hearts that would hear the voice of Your Spirit
speaking to us. Speak Lord. . . we are listening for Your still, small voice
within our hearts, Amen.
Well happy Valentine’s Day a little
early. It is nice to have a day that we can honor those we love. Be it a
husband or wife, a family member or friend. It is nice to have a day that we
can express our love to that certain person. I remember when I was in grammar school and we
made our own valentine’s and would give them out to our class mates. There was
always that certain boy that I would hope to get a valentine from. It is nice
that we have this special day but I think it should be valentine’s day every
day. We should show our love for each other each and every day of our lives.
But there is another who loves us no
matter what. There is another who loves us through the good and bad times.
There is another who is always there with a word of hope and tenderness. This
One loves us more than we could be loved by anyone else. They love us with our
faults. . . our shortcomings. . . our weaknesses. . . our flaws and
imperfections. That person is our God.
We are continuing on our journey of
learning the Sacred Names of God and
praying in that same name. We have prayed to Elohim. . . the One true God. . . we have called out to El Chay, the Living God. And we have
learned that Adonay . . . our Lord is
a loving person who we love to serve. Today. . . being it almost Valentine’s
Day. . . I would like to talk about Ish.
. . the Bridegroom. Now the name Ish
is the Hebrew word for “husband”. Yes. . . God wants to be our Husband. . . the
Bridegroom in our lives. Now the name
husband may be difficult for some people. We have seen how some earthly
husbands. . . and wives. . . have acted. But God is a different kind of spouse
and I pray that we will understand that a little better today. . .
Now God is the perfect Husband. He
provides for us. . . protects us. . . as a matter of fact He refuses to divorce
us no matter how we try to push Him away. . . no matter how unfaithful we may
be towards Him. As a matter of fact, in the new Testament, Jesus is called the
Bridegroom and the church is called His bride. . . we. . . you and I. . . the church. . . is called Jesus’ bride and He is
our Bridegroom. What a wedding ceremony that must be?
From the Revelation Scripture from this
morning we can see what type of wedding that will be. There is rejoicing in
Heaven because of this marriage arrangement. He church. . . you and I. . . are
in dazzling white because of the things God’s holy people. . . you and I. . . that
has God’s approval. Just think about that for a moment. We are being made more
and more dazzling white as we carry out our call from God in our lives. God. .
. our Ish. . . our Husband. . . the
Bridegroom, makes us whiter than snow as we fulfill our call in our lives.
. .
I like the way that Ann spangle puts it
in her book “Praying the names of God A
Daily Guide”. She states that:
God’s
passionate love for Israel is reflected in the Hebrew word Ish( EESH), meaning
“husband.” When it is applied to God in the Hebrew Scriptures, it symbolizes
the ideal relationship between God and Israel. God is the perfect husband—
loving, forgiving, and faithful, providing for and protecting his people. This
metaphor of monogamous marriage between God and his people is strengthened in
the New Testament, which reveals Jesus as the loving, sacrificial bridegroom of
the church. Our destiny, our greatest purpose as God’s people, is to become his
bride. We are destined to
become God’s bride. Can there be any higher purpose in our lives. . . ?
When we think about marriage. . . the
most mismatch is the one between God and humanity. Here we have the Creator of
all and He wants to be married to His creation. God is all powerful and
humanity is weakness. . . God is perfect and we as humanity. . . well. . . I am
sure you get the picture. But from the Hosea Scripture from this morning we
hear that God wants to be betrothed to humanity forever. This is his intent,
his idea, his plan. Whether you are a man or a woman, married or single, makes
no difference. Because you are a member of his people, God wants you to know
him as your protector, as friend and provider, as the lover of your soul— as
your husband.
In Hosea’s life, God had him marry
someone who would be unfaithful to him. He married someone who would run away
from him and go to other lovers. Now I
know that sounds stranger but hear the rest of it. . . Ann Spangler claims that :
Hosea’s
life became a lived-out prophecy— a picture of God’s own experience of
faithless Israel. Hosea’s wife proved wayward just as Israel had. She provoked
him, just as Israel had provoked God. But, incredibly, instead of abandoning
the wife who had abandoned him, Hosea ran after her, pursued her, and brought
her home again. And that’s the message! God running after his people, showing
his love to us again and again, and calling us back to a faithful and fulfilling
relationship. God pursues us to
bring us back to Him. . .
There is so much idolatry in this day
and age that takes our attention from our First Love. There are so many things
that try to take our attention and woe us away from the One who loves us the
most. We, as a society, have learned to love our “things” more than anyone or
anything else. Whatever it is— even good things, even blessings— can seduce us
so that we end up spending ourselves on them rather than on God.
We hear the marriage vows ““For better
or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, ’til death us do
part.” These vows sound impressive,
solid, unbreakable. Yet it is still only a temporary promise, one that
dissolves the moment a spouse dies. In truth only God has the power to promise
us undying love. Remember this the next time you are tempted to think he has
abandoned you, the next time you are on the verge of believing he’s turned his
back on you. Remember, too, the words of Paul in Romans 8: 39 who assures us
that nothing in all creation (and nothing
means nothing) “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord”.
This is the type of love God offers. . .
this is the type of spouse we receive when we accept the marriage proposal from
God. Are you feeling as if no one truly
loves you or understands you? Is there an empty spot in your heart that needs
to be filled by a faithful lover? Do you feel as if marriage is for the birds
because of past experience? Come and take hold of the hand of the One who loves
you to the point of death. Come and be lavished with a love to wonderful to
explain. Come and be wed to the One who will love you in and through the good
times and bad. . . for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and
in health. . . until the end of eternity. Come and accept the love offered by
our Ish and bridegroom that is found at the foot of the cross of Calvary where
the marriage certificate is signed in the blood of our Risen Lord, Jesus
Christ. Come and be loved from here to eternity.
Let
us pray. . .
Lord
and the lover of our souls, call to us again and revive our love for you.
Receive us graciously and we will praise your forever, our faithful God. Amen.
February
9, 2014
Sermon 6 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Sermon Series on “The Sacred
Names of God”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
Ishà Bridegroom
Hosea
2:16, 19-20
Revelations
19:6-9
(All Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
Worship
Songs:
-
God is Good All the Time
-
The Happy Song
-
I Will Magnify the Lord
-
Bless His Holy Name
Offering
-
People Need the Lord
Prayer of
Thanksgiving
children’s
sermon, Scouting Sunday,
by
Jean Howes
-
God’s promise
by
Pastor Ruth
and sermon “Hello My Name Is… Ish/ Bridegroom”
(in the bulletin
as “Hello
My Name is . . . Ish”)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
February 9, 2014
&
Sermon 5 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Sermon Series on “The Sacred
Names of God”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
Adonay
(Adonai)à Lord
Daniel
9:9-16
Daniel
9:17-19
Daniel
9:9-19
(All Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
Prayer of
Thanksgiving
Communion /
The Lord’s Table
children’s
sermon
-
a servant is someone who serves the Lord,
using all of their talents to bring His kingdom
on earth,
serving our Master in everything they say and do.
by
Pastor Ruth
and sermon “Hello My Name Adonay”
(in the bulletin as “Hello My Name is . . . Adonay”)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
February 2, 2014
&
Sermon 4 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Sermon Series on “The Sacred
Names of God”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
El
Chayà Living God
Joshua
3:7-13
2
Kings 19:14-16
Jeremiah
10:3-5
2
Corinthians 6:15-16
(All
Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
Prayer
of Thanksgiving
children’s
sermon
“We
have a living and breathing God who is always there for us.
He
answers us when we call. Our God is not dead. . . He surely alive. . . “
by
Pastor Ruth
and sermon “Hello My Name is . . . El Chay”
(in the bulletin
as “Hello
My Name is . . . El Chay / Living God”)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 26, 2014
&
Sermon 3 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Sermon Series on “The Sacred
Names of God”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
El
à God
-
Elohimà God
-
EloahàGod
Genesis
1:2-2:3
Deuteronomy
28:2-6
(All
Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
Offering
– “I Will Bless the Lord”
Prayer
of Thanksgiving
children’s
sermon
-
“and God Created. . . “
by
Pastor Ruth
Closing
Song – “Friend of God”
and sermon “Hello My Name is . . . El, Elohim, and Eloah”
(in the bulletin
as “Hello My Name Is. . . God“)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 19, 2014
&
Baptism
of the Lord Sunday
(and
a time to celebrate and remember our own baptism)
Sermon 2 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Sermon Series on “The Sacred
Names of God”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
Yeshua
--> Jesus
-
Mashiach --> Christ,
Messiah
Matthew
1:18-21
Psalm
2
Mark
1:14-20
Matthew
3:13-17
(All Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
Reception
of new members
Offering
– “The New 23rd”
Prayer
of Thanksgiving
children’s
sermon
-
There is only One who can save us, Jesus, the one Savior
Closing
Song – “The River Is Here”
and sermon “Hello My Name is . . . Yeshua/Mashiach”
(in the bulletin as “Hello My Name Is. . . Jesus, Christ,
Messiah“)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 12, 2014
&
Epiphany Sunday
Epiphany of the Lord Sunday
Sermon Series on “The Names of God”
Sermon 1 of “What’s In A Name. . . ”
Names
of God and Definitions from Sermon today:
-
Ha-Shem ->
the Name
-
Ehyeh -> I Am
Exodus 3:13-14
Leviticus 24:10-16
(All Scripture is from The Names of God Bible)
offering
– worship your holy name
Prayer
of Thanksgiving
children’s
sermon
-
different names, different meaning – one person
-
many names for God, all one God
communion
–
-
“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
-
“Lord, You Are More Precious Than Silver”
and sermon “Our Many Faceted God”
(saved as “Hello My Name Is. . . “)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 5, 2014
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