November 2, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon
6 of Series:
“I
Am the Resurrection”
John
11:17-27 the Message Bible
“Rise Again”
Let us pray. . . Pray
for the Spirit’s leading and that God’s word would be heard. . .
Today
we celebrate All Saints Day. It is a
day that we celebrate those saints among us and those who have gone before us. Now
let me give you a little history about All
Saint Day. (From: http://www.churchyear.net/allsaints.html)
“It is when the
Catholic Church and some Protestant churches commemorate every saint, known and
unknown. The
concept of All Saints Day is connected to the doctrine of The Communion of
Saints. This is the concept that all of God's people, on heaven, earth, and in
the state of purification (called Purgatory in the West), are spiritually
connected and united. In other words, Catholic and Orthodox Christians (and
some Protestants) believe that the saints of God are just as alive as you and
I, and are constantly interceding on our behalf. Remember, our connection with
the saints in heaven is one grounded in a tight-knit communion. The saints are
not divine, nor omnipresent or omniscient. However, because of our common
communion with and through Jesus Christ, our prayers are joined with the
heavenly community of Christians.
Remembering and
honoring the saints are beneficial practices, because to remember the heroes of
the faith and follow their examples are good things. Many Christians seem to
strongly oppose remembering and celebrating the lives of great Christian men
and women, yet have no problem celebrating the lives of secular heroes like
George Washington. All Saints Day is kind of like a Christian Memorial Day or
Presidents Day, a day to celebrate the lives of all the great heroes of the
Christian faith, and to celebrate the deep communion we have with them. While celebrating
secular heroes is admirable, how much more admirable is celebrating those who
fully dedicated their lives to Christ!”
Our
church knows a lot about the saints. We have had many go before us in the past
year and we may have our own questions of what happens after we die. We may be
asking if there really is a resurrection of life. We may be asking if there is
really anything after life. It has been hard and we may find ourselves losing
hope as we have seen one after another go on to glory. But Jesus has given us
the answers to our questions. You see He is the Resurrection and the Life.
We
have entered into the Season that we begin to journey towards a manger. . . the
Season that we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
As prepare for the pilgrimage we are looking at the seven “I Am” statements
that Jesus made while He walked among us. My prayer is that as we do, we will
realize what really happened that day, how that one day changed the tide of sin
and death. It’s all about the name and what goes along with that very same name.
. . not just who a person is but also what that name implies.
We
have talked about the name I Am and that Jesus, the Great I Am, is always with
us even when we don’t feel His presence with us in those times when we feel we
are walking in a dark tunnel and not seeing the light at the end. Jesus is The
Bread of Life and Jesus fills us spiritually so that we never will hunger again
for those Spiritual things that we need for our faith walk. He is “The Light of
the World” giving us light for the journey. He is “”The Gate” that keeps us
safe in the pasture of His love and grace. Being the perfect gate. . . Jesus truly
is “The Good Shepherd” who shepherds us with His love and peace. Jesus is also
the Resurrection and the Life. It is
through Him that we rise again and have life eternal.
In
the scripture I read this morning, Jesus said the He is “the Resurrection and the Life” but what does that mean to believers? What that means is
that through Him we may die but we will have life with Him in paradise. . . in
heaven. Now does that mean we will never die? Certainly not. . . at least the
death we may think. . . that death that leads to nothingness. It means that
though we may die to our earthly bodies, we will live eternal with Him.
The
life we now live with Christ is one with promise. The life we live now gives us
hope since we have accepted His invitation to new life. When we accept that
invitation we die to self, we die to the life we once lived in order to live
out that new life in Christ. We know that we WILL have life eternal with Him
because we have the hope of His promise. Can
you imagine living your life not knowing what the future holds? Can you imagine
living life thinking that “this is it. . . it is all there is. . . ”? We
have hope about our death and the life beyond. Not just for us but for all the
saints before and after us. Can you
imagine losing a loved one and not know that there is a hope in their
“afterlife”?
We
may have all suffered some kind of death in our life. The loss of a job, the
end of a life that we are living, a situation that seems impossible, the list
goes on. But. . . but. . . we may have also seen new life come from something
we thought was dead. I am reminded of a scene in one of the Harry Potter Movies. It is one where
Harry is talking to a Phoenix and all of the sudden it burst into flames. Now
he is all upset because he thought he did something to cause it. He is happy
when he is told that the phoenix must die in order to be reborn. His face
lights up as he sees the phoenix begin to rise out of the ashes. What ashes are you sitting in waiting for
Jesus to rise you up out of?
In
the scripture Jesus does something that gives us hope. Before Jesus here talks
about eternal life in John 3:16, “Anyone
who believes in Me will not perish but have eternal life”, but here, Jesus
provides more detail saying that even though a believer experiences physical
death, he will still have life. He is referring to those who die in faith. Here
Jesus id confirming that the single qualification. . . the single thing that
has to be done, for eternal life is to believe that His death paid the entire
cost for our sins. . .
Today
we celebrate All Saints Sunday. . . we
celebrate those saints that have gone before us as well as the ones we still
have. Jesus’ words of hope are perfect for a Sunday like this. . . I Am the resurrection and the Life. . . those
who believe in me though they die they will have eternal life. . . May we go forth as the Saints of this world
bringing it the hope and joy that it so richly needs. May we bring wholeness
and healing to those who are morning their
“death situation”. May we rise above the ashes of life into new life. May
we have the persistence of the Saints as we usher in a new way of life. . . one
that brings life out of death. May we proclaim the Good News of the
Resurrection and the Life. . . our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
Pray about Jesus being
the Resurrection and the Life. . .
Amen!
====
November 2,
2014
All Saints Day
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 6 of
Series: “I Am the Resurrection”
John 11:25-27
John 11:17-27
(The Message)
children’s
message
– mystery box
–
sermon –“Rise
Again”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
November 2,
2014
&
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 5 of
Series: “I Am the Good Shepherd”
John 10:11-16 (The
Message Bible)
children’s
message
– mystery box
– shaker of salt
sermon
–“Goodness and Love”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson Memorial
United Methodist Church
October 26,
2014
&
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 4 of
Series: “I Am the Gate”
John 10:1-9
CEB
Matthew
7:13-14 CEB
children’s
message
– mystery box
– soccer shin guards, soccer cleats, water shoes, and a basketball
-
Pastor
Ruth talked about the protective gear God provides,
-
the
armor of God –
-
Ephesians
6:10-17
sermon –“The
Straight and Narrow”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
October 19,
2014
&
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 3 of Series: “I Am the Light of the
World”
John 8:22
(CEB)
John 12:35-36
(CEB)
Matthew
5:14-16 (CEB)
The Name Game
by Shirley Ellis
song, “Here I
Am To Worship”, by Chris Tomlin
children’s
time – mystery box – mirror
sermon, “Light
For Our Eyes”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
October 12,
2014
&
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 2 of
Series: “I Am the Bread of Life”
John 6:35
John 6:26-51
The Name Game
by Shirley Ellis
Exodus 16:15
children’s
time – mystery box – a throat drop and a candy mint
sermon, “Bread
of Heaven”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
World
Communion Sunday
October 5,
2014
&
Fall Sermon
Series: The I Am Statements of Jesus
Sermon 1 of
Series: “I Am”
Revelation
22:13 CEB
Matthew 16:13-16
CEB
Exodus 3:12-15
CEB
The Name Game
by Shirley Ellis
Children’s
message – mystery box
-
green
maple leaf and a colored maple leaf
-
the
green color is not the true color
-
we
are fed and nurtured in the spring and summer with the word;
-
we
shine our true colors in autumn
sermon, “The Name
Game”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson Memorial
United Methodist Church
September 28,
2014
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