April 17, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“When in
doubt…read the instructions”
Beware, Don’t
Worry
(What did Jesus instruct His
disciples then and now…?)
Mark
13:9-11
Matthew
6:25-34
Psalm
23
Philippians
4:4-7
“Be Courageous…”
Prayer
for God’s Word to be heard through me or in spite of me…
Philippians 4:4-7 Holman Christian
Standard Bible (HCSB)
4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your
graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about
anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses
every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Worry…worry…worry…how
many of you have worry in your life? It seems that so much around us can be so
dangerous. All we have to do is to read a paper or listen to the news and our
fear is fed once again our fears are fed. From bombings to hijackings, from abductions
to war…from fill in the blank…there
is a lot to fear out there. But in the face of fear, how are we to react? What
are our instructions as we face those
fears both named and unnamed? The Lord is
near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and
petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the
peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus
Let me tell you a true but tragic story:
A woman was once walking along a riverbank with her child. Suddenly the child
slipped into the river. The mother screamed in terror. She couldn't swim, and
besides, she was in the latter stages of pregnancy. Finally, somebody heard her
screaming and rushed down to the riverbank. The utter tragedy was, when they
stepped into those murky waters to retrieve that now dead child, they found
that the water was only waist deep! That mother could have easily saved her
child but didn't because of a lack of knowledge.
We are all on a reading journey as we
read the instructions that Jesus gave the first disciples and what He intended
all to follow to do. We are gathering the knowledge that we need to be Christ
Ambassador’s in a world in need of a Savior. Now Jesus wants us to “go and do
likewise”…to take His example, His instructions and follow them. Some of the
instructions may not be words but actions that Jesus showed His disciples. Now
I hope you all brought your bibles this morning. If not there are some in the
pews. I want us each to look up the instructions…for ourselves…instead of me
reading them to you. Who knows, maybe after we are done it is something we will
continue to do… just sayin.
Let’s back track for a moment. The first
instruction was on Easter Sunday to a woman called Mary Magdalene…Go, tell. Just that simple…go tell the
disciples I am alive…tell them you have seen me…tell them to Galilee and they
will see me. Go and tell…ministry is an action. The next were stay…wait…witness (stay where they were
and to wait for the Holy Spirit, then to witness to and for Him all over the
world). Last week it was touch…heal. We
may touch lives by our words or actions but either way…it…we…can bring healing
to others…
No this week’s may seem a little
confusing but once we read the scriptures it will become clear… “Beware…don’t worry”. We are to beware
but not worry as we are doing so…how are
we to beware and not worry at the same time. Doesn’t that seem a little
backwards? Shouldn’t we worry about those things out there we are to beware of?
Ok…let’s look at each of these instructions one by one. Beware…let’s read Mark
13 9-11 together as we hear Jesus telling His disciples to beware of something
that will happen in their lives and not to worry…read the Mark scripture together…
The disciples needed to be on guard
because of what was going to happen to them because of what they would go
through and continue to go through even today. Think of how many are persecuted today because they are Christ’s
followers. But when they were persecuted they didn’t fear because they laid
their faith and trust in Jesus. We, as Christ followers, are to be on guard
when those who may not believe approach us. Now I am not saying that you have
to take self-defense classes…. What I am saying is to be on guard and trust
that when we are questioned about our faith God will give us an answer for
them. You never know…in trusting God for
the answer…in letting God speak through you…there may be dancing in heaven
because another non-believer has become a believer.
The next is do not worry…do not worry…remember
that I began with worry but what was the scripture I quoted after? ‘The Lord is
near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and
petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the
peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus” Let’s read Matthew together and see what my bible entitles
“The Cure of Anxiety” is. It is found
in chapter 6 verses 25-34. Read the
Matthew scripture together…
Look
at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
Speak from the Spirit…
Learn
how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of
these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today
and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of
little faith?
Speak from the Spirit…
‘What
will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the
idolaters[b] eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and His righteousness,
and all these things will be provided for you. Speak from the Spirit…
Maybe…just maybe…if we stopped worrying
about the what if’s…our rainy day…maybe we can touch the life of someone who is
having a present rainy day with the hope and life that is found through and in
Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ…Hmmm…Perhaps if we decided to leave our lives in
the hands of God and leave it there with Him, trusting in His goodness and love
we just might not need that full
storehouse of the earth and empty our barns with the love of Christ…
Go, tell…stay, wait, witness…touch,
heal… be on guard, don’t worry these seem pretty simple things to do right? We
as the body of Christ…as the hands, feet, voice and image of Christ in the
world…need to understand the instructions and follow them to the point of us truly
being that image of Christ. There are going to be times when we forget these
instructions but if we spend time daily with the Author of the manual, Immanuel
we will have more of a chance of following the instructions for life.
May be if we begin to “be aware” and
don’t worry about the “small stuff” and
by the way with God…all of our stuff as well as our big stuff small is stuff
for Him … We will get back to our roots…You know the ones of the first
church. They shared everything…they sold everything and shared what they had
with all so that there was no one in need and if there was anyone in need, they
reached out to them. We truly can be that church again if we so choose. But it
is a choice…yours and mine. I don’t know…what do you think? Can we truly be
what our Risen Lord Jesus wanted us to be? I say yes with the help of the Holy
Spirit which guides us in all truth…the truth of our God and king. How will you
spend your life? In fear and worry? Or in the freedom found in and through the
blood of Jesus Christ? Perhaps maybe if we …fill
in the blank…
Amen.
====
April 17, 2016
April 17, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“When in doubt…read the
instructions”
Beware, Don’t Worry
(What did Jesus instruct
His disciples then and now…?)
Mark 13:9-11
Matthew 6:25-34
Psalm 23
Philippians 4:4-7
sermon, “Be Courageous…”
text:
video:
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
April
17, 2016
&
April 10, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“When in doubt…read the
instructions”
(What did Jesus instruct
His disciples then and now…?)
Acts 3:1-10 AMP
Mark 6:53-56 AMP
Psalm 30
sermon, “Touch… Heal…”
text:
video:
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
April
10, 2016
&
April 3, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“When in doubt…read the
instructions”
(What did Jesus instruct
His disciples then and now…?)
Acts 1:1-14 NKJ
Psalm 150:1-6
sermon,
“Stay…Wait…Witness”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
April
3, 2016
&
March 27, 2016
Stetson
Memorial UMC
Resurrection
(Easter) Sunday
Acts
10:34-43 AMP
John
20:1-18 AMP
sermon,
“On the Third Day”
text:
video:
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Resurrection
(Easter) Sunday
March
27, 2016
All
of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for
usage. See all 41,180+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
1 comment:
Here is the video of this sermon - https://www.facebook.com/174161846023512/videos/816833511756339/
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