May 1, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“When in
doubt…read the instructions”
Love, the Main
Thing
(What did Jesus instruct His
disciples then and now…?)
1
Corinthians 13:1-7a
Mark
12:28-32
Psalm
67
The
Proof of Your Love by King and Country
“Love, Is A Many Splendid Thing…”
Prayer for God’s
Word to be heard through me or in spite of me…
Talk about the
video a little…
Today is May Day…every May 1st is May Day. Now
I never really remembered about May Day until I met Ray. He told me that every
year he would gather together flowers for his mom and then go to the front door
and ring the bell. He would leave the flowers there and then run and hide. OK…Then you had to not be caught and
tradition says that if you are caught you have to give a kiss to the person you
left the flowers for. The things we do
for love…maybe that is where the whole bringing flowers when you court someone
so you get the kiss…I don’t know…
But seriously…this whole love thing can be so hard. But
the bible tells us all about this thing called love…
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.
So…where have we been so far? The first instruction was on
Easter Sunday to a woman called Mary Magdalene…Go, tell. Just that simple…go tell others I am alive… 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). Another is touch…heal.
We may touch lives by our words or actions but either way we can bring healing
to others…and to ourselves. Now the one that seems against each other…“Beware…don’t worry”. We are to beware
but not worry as we are doing so…we are to “walk in the world” with our “eyes
wide open” but go into it anyway… And then there is one of my favorites…“Don’t Argue, Agree to Disagree.” Now we
decided that we, as the body of Christ, need to come together as the “body” not
just as different parts. We need to unite together so that we can see God’s
Kingdom Come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven all heaven is in agreement so is should be
on earth…
Now we have this whole love thing…we need to make love
the main thing in life. When Jesus was asked about the most important
commandment by one of the scribes His answer was all about love. Let’s read His
answer found in Mark chapter 12 verses 28-31…Read scripture together
Speak from the
Spirit…
WE know what love is not and what happens when we don’t
love. Now I want us to look at 1 Corinthians Chapter 13…the Love Chapter. Now I know what you may be
thinking… Oh no…I have heard this
scripture to death…almost every wedding I have been too has this as part of the
scripture…ugh… I agree but I really think it has something to tell us about
what happens without love. Let’s only look at verses 1-7a right now. I am
reading the message version…I love how it speaks of what love isn’t…
Speak from the
Spirit…
Maybe…just maybe…if we decided to stop thinking we have
heard this 100 times and really listen for the 101st time it just
may sink in. The way we can prove who Jesus was and is by the way we love. I’ll say it again… The way we can prove
who Jesus was and is by the way we love. Jesus was and is all about love… If
you want a powerful witness of who Jesus was…love your enemies, do good to
those who may have hurt you…love the un-lovable.
Go, tell…stay, wait, witness…touch, heal… be on guard,
don’t worry…don’t argue, agree to disagree…Love, the Main Thing…these instructions
really are as simple as that. But we as Christians sometimes forget about the
most important of these instructions…to love. We can’t follow any of these
instructions to the fullest unless we love. WE need to meet people where they
are…not where we think they should be. Unless we understand the instructions and
follow them to the point of us truly being that image of Christ our
commissioning that Christ gave all of His disciples cannot be lived out in our
lives. As I have said before…there are going to be times when we forget these
instructions. One way of remembering is reading God’s Word each day…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 listen and follow the commissioning
that Christ gave on all of our lives…maybe…just
maybe we can be the “Body of Christ”…working together like a well oiled machine
bringing about the Kingdom. But it is a choice…yours and mine. Do you think our
lives can truly make a difference in this world? Do you think that maybe…just
maybe we, as the body of Christ get it sort
of right? 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? Love really is a many splendid thing. As we
start to trust and listen to the Holy Spirits leading…our lives can truly be
the proof of our Risen Lord and Savior, Christ’s love.
The Proof of Your
Love by King and County
Amen.
May
1, 2016
Stetson
Memorial UMC
Sermon
Series:
“When
in doubt…read the instructions”
Love,
the Main Thing
(What
did Jesus instruct His disciples then and now…?)
1
Corinthians 13:1-7a
Mark
12:28-32
Psalm
67
The
Proof of Your Love by King and Country
sermon,
“Love, Is A Many Splendid Thing…”
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
May
1, 2016
&
April
24, 2016
Stetson
Memorial UMC
Sermon
Series:
“When
in doubt…read the instructions”
Don’t
Argue, Agree To Disagree
(What
did Jesus instruct His disciples then and now…?)
1
Corinthians 1:10-18
Mark
9:33-35; Matthew 18:18-20
Romans
12:15-17; Philippians 4:1-3;
2
Timothy 2:22-25; Titus 3:8-9
Psalm
148
sermon,
“Can We Just Get Along…”
text:
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
April
24, 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
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 41,210+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
