June 19, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 8
Luke 9:51-62
“Home Sweet Home”
Pray for God’s words and not my own…
A reading from the Gospel
of Luke, chapter 9, verses 51 to 62.Listen to the Word of God to you and me…the
beloved of God.
Have
you ever felt lost and sort of homeless? You feel that you are out there alone
and truly don’t have a place you can call home. We see “those people” on the
streets and wonder about them at times. Are they really homeless or are they
just scamming…(we hear those stories
about those faking homelessness) If I help them will they hurt me or want
more? What did they do wrong that made them homeless? What is it that they
really need?
Who
do we see as “outsiders”? The past few weeks, we have looked at different ways
that who we consider to be “those people”…the ones we consider to be on the
outside of our acceptance, how we can change our view of others and how we can
bring them from the “outside” in. There are those who are on the outside
because they feel unworthy to be part of the inside and also about how we deem
others unworthy to be part of our inner circle. We have come to realize…we are
all unworthy and we are only made worthy in and through the blood of Jesus. There
are those who are out there lonely and afraid. We know that if we are to follow
Jesus we are to go and meet them where they are…wherever they are…and have
compassion…console them…and invite the inside where they can feel and know the
love of Jesus… We have also decided we want healing from being judgmentally
challenged and be those true ambassadors of Jesus and our homeland, heaven. We
also want to extend that healing to those who are bound in chains…to introduce
them to the One who breaks all chains and gives freedom…if the Son sets you free you are free indeed…
What
about those who are homeless? How do we treat them as we encounter them in the
world? In the world we live in it can be kind of scary to want to help the
homeless. We have heard stories of those who pretend to be homeless only to
hurt us. We hear stories of those who are homeless and have a mental illness
and they kill those trying to help them. You
may being saying to yourself…Pastor…how can you expect us to help when we look
at all these and many other reasons why not to help?
Look…there
are homeless people everywhere around us, some without a physical home and some
without a spiritual home. In the
passage read this morning even Jesus was homeless…
“Foxes have holes and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
We…like Jesus…know our
true home is not here…it is in heaven. We can feel homeless and homesick as we
traverse this land that is not our own…ad it can be hostile territory as well
at times…
Even
He was cast out and turned away…
He sent messengers on
ahead of Him, and they went into a Samaritan village to make arrangements for
Him; 53 but the people would not welcome Him, because He was traveling toward
Jerusalem.
OK reality check here…we
too are like those people in Samaria at times. We turn people away because of
how they look…where they are from…how they dress…and so on. There are those who
are looking for a spiritual home and we, as Christians, put some many rules and
regulations on them that they feel unworthy or we even tell them they are...
Look…we,
as Christ followers, need to realize and claim our new home and the reality of
it. We need to realize that we no longer function on the ways of the world but
on the way of the cross…the way of the Way, the Truth and the Life…the way of
Justice…not as the world sees but as through the eyes of God. Whether we are
reaching out to those who are homeless physically, spiritually, or both, we
need to share the Good News of our home country and help those who are homeless
find a new home of hope, of love, of forgiveness, of redemption and of grace
and salvation…
Now
here’s another thing we can grasp from the Luke scripture this morning…in order
to proclaim God’s kingdom…Kingdom time…to claim our home in the Kin-dom…we have
to let go of former things.
“Follow Me [accepting Me
as Master and Teacher].” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my
father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own
dead; but as for you, go and spread the news about the kingdom of God.” 61
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let
me say goodbye to those at my home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the
kingdom of God.”
We are to be in the
world…proclaiming the Kingdom is at hand…not of the world…falling for the glitz
and glamour over the Streets of Gold in heaven…
We
are to forget the former things because God has done and is doing a new thing in
our lives and He wants us to help Him do it in the lives of others. We are not
them ones who cause the change…we are the ones who help affect change in others
lives. God is working thorough us to affect a change not only in the lives
around us but the world around us. As we let go the world and grasp onto
eternity…look toward our home with God…we will want those around us to have the
same…we will begin to see with the eyes of our homeland and not the eyes of the
chaos and despair around us…
So…in
short…we are all unworthy but made worthy not through our own doing but what
Christ did on the Cross. We were all the unlovely until Christ came into our
lives and made us beautiful. We were all lonely on the outside until someone
asked us to come in and feel the unfailing love of God. We are now ambassadors
of our country who should have a new…uncluttered vision that can see the sacred
worth of all that we survey…of all we come in contact with. We are also healed
to bring healing to those who are on the outside of our communities…as well as
the inside of those same communities. We are to help the homeless find a home…whatever
that will look like.
We
need to get this right…there are lives depending on it. We need to be about the
Kingdom work and that includes helping others find their home in the Kingdom of
God. We are to look past the outside and be concerned about the inside of those
who are in need…whether it be physical, spiritual or both. Maybe if we could
just look beyond the stigma of being homeless and whatever the reason may be…maybe
if we could stop judging and start loving…maybe…just maybe there would be less
homelessness. Perhaps if stop and listened to the stories of the homeless we
would understand and being healing and wholeness…to help them find their “Home,
Sweet Home”.
Let
us go forth, in faith and trust, and proclaim the Kingdom is at hand. Let us
forget the past and worldly things and move forward in love and healing.
Perhaps, just maybe, as we help others find their home, we too will hold tighter
to our Legal Deeds to our Homeland, signed in the Blood of our Risen Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Amen!
====
July 3, 2016
July 3, 2016
welcome them
July 3, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 30:1-5
Luke 10:25-37
The Good Samaritan
and sermon, “He’s from Away”
text
draft text –
7/2/16
video
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by Chrissy
McCarthy
Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 3, 2016
&
July 2, 2016
welcoming to them
edited July 2, 2016
from the “outside” in – v2
June 27, 2016
from the “outside” in
edited June 27, 2016
Those People – 2 – v2
June 26, 2016
Those People - 2
June 26, 2016
do not lose focus
June 26, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 16:7-11
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
and sermon, “The Dust of the Church…”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 26, 2016
&
edited June 25, 2016
love the stranger – v3
edited June 25, 2016
love the stranger – v2
June 25, 2016
love the stranger
edited/ merged June 25, 2016
Jesus came for those who were unworthy – v2
June 25, 2016
Jesus came for those who were unworthy
June 25, 2016
do not cry, do not weep
June 25, 2016
in the midst of her pain
June 25, 2016
bring them in
June 25, 2016
no one wants to be alone
June 25, 2016
we don’t see them
June 25, 2016
Christ sought those
June 25, 2016
Lost and Alone
written June 22, 2016
May 29, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
The Lonely
Luke 7:11-17
Psalm 96
and sermon, “You Are Never Alone”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May 29, 2016
&
June 25, 2016
We are not alone - 3
Psalm 77:1-2, 1-20
Psalm 77:1-20
devotion for June 23, 2016
read June 23, 2016
“Learning from What We Would Avoid”
Disciplines June 20, 2016 to June 26, 2016
by Robert P Fugarino
Upper Room Disciplines for 2016
&
edited June 19, 2016
open our arms – v2
June 19, 2016
open our arms
June 19, 2016
let light shine in
June 19, 2016
open our doors
June 19, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 8
Luke 9:51-62
and sermon, “Home Sweet Home…”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 19, 2016
&
June 18, 2016
make this a place of welcome
anticipating tomorrow’s sermon
June 19, 2016
&
June 18, 2016
were they demons
June 18, 2016
chains that bind us
June 18, 2016
release the demons
June 18, 2016
the demons leave us
June 18, 2016
we free others
June 18, 2016
Freed of our chains
June 12, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 139
Luke 8:26-39
and sermon, “Broken Chains”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 12, 2016
&
June 11, 2016
he missed a blessing
June 11, 2016
he couldn’t see her
June 11, 2016
he didn’t see her gift
June 5, 2016
she gave her all
June 5, 2016
offering to Christ
June 5, 2016
washing His feet
June 5, 2016
dividing the flock
June 5, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
“Senior Recognition Sunday”
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 146
Luke 7:36-8:3
and sermon, “Judgmentally Challenged”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial
United Methodist Church
June 5, 2016
&
May 29, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
The Lonely
Luke 7:11-17
Psalm 96
and sermon, “You Are Never Alone”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May 29, 2016
&
merged May 26, 2016
by the grace of God – v2
May 24, 2016
we are worthy
May 24, 2016
by the grace of God
edited May 24, 2016
Jesus was welcomed by the outsiders – v2
May 24, 2016
who is unworthy of God’s grace
May 23, 2016
who is unworthy of my grace
May 23, 2016
until we claimed Jesus
May 23, 2016
I am worthy
May 23, 2016
you are worthy
May 23, 2016
by grace we are on the inside
May 23, 2016
we are all unworthy
edited May 23, 2016
we are unworthy
May 23, 2016
he was unworthy
May 22, 2016
why are they kept on the outside
May 22, 2016
who are the outsiders
May 22, 2016
are they welcome
May 22, 2016
Jesus was welcomed by outsiders
May 22, 2016
silencing his voice
May 22, 2016
who is worthy
May 22, 2016
who are the outsiders
May 22, 2016
who do we find unworthy
May 22, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Trinity Sunday
Psalm 8
Luke 7:1-10
and sermon, “Are You Worthy?”
text
video
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Children’s
Message from Mystery Box
-
Smokey the Bear and one of Pastor Ruth’s business cards
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May 22, 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 41,390+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
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