March 24, 2019
3rd
Week of Lent
Sermon Series: Christ In Me
Inspired by:
Casting Crowns: “Only Jesus” CD
“Only Jesus Devotional”
by Pastor Mark Hall
With Tim Luke
Psalm 63:1-8
Ephesians 5:13-14
Psalm 139:23-24; John3:19-21
“Awaken Me” by Casting Crowns
“Wake Up Sleepy Head”
Prayer of Illumination…
A reading from
the Epistle to the church in Ephesus written by Paul. Chapter 5, verses 13 and
14… Listen to the wakeup call Paul was inspired by God to pen for His church:
Ephesians 5:13-14 The
Voice (VOICE)
13-14 When
the light shines, it exposes even
the dark and shadowy things and turns them into pure reflections of light. This
is why they sing,
Awake, you sleeper!
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.
Good morning. I remember growing up
and having to get up for school in the morning. I was always one who went to
bed early but always hated getting up in the morning. My mom would come into the
room and say things like “wakeup sleepy head…its time to get ready for school.”
Well, like a lot of kids, I would
throw the covers over my head so that I could get a few more moments of sweet
sleep… Then the light would be flicked on. Any thought of sleeping went right
out the window at that point. With the light shining I knew it was time to get
up…my nice comfy, dark room was now illuminated with light… And I also knew it was my warning sign that
if I didn’t get up now there would be heck to pay…
We are continuing our journey to the
cross this week. I believe that Lent is a time of soul searching and confession
as we search our hearts and prepare it for the new life, we rise to on Resurrection
Sunday. We ponder over what Jesus did for us and the great love that was shown
on Calvary’s Cross for you and me.
As we journey to the place of
redemption…where God’s greatest work was done…to the place where we surrender
ourselves to the One who surrendered Himself for all of humanity, I have asked
us to ponder this, what does it look like when we begin to become the glove
that the hand of our Savior can wear for His glory? What does it look like when
we surrender ourselves and not live for Jesus but let Jesus live through us?
One thing we talked about as we begin
to let Christ live through us the fact that it is the legacy of Christ working
through us that is seen not what we do. Also the legacy that we leave is the
legacy of, well, being nobody as we point to Jesus and not ourselves that is a
sign of Christ living through us not us living for Christ.
In order to be this kind of Glove for
Jesus…for Christ to be seen in and through us…we need to come out of the
darkness into His glorious light. Let’s face it people. This world we live in
is dark for many people and we, as Christians have also been living in darkness…in
complacency… We have allowed the world to take over our church’s, our homes,
our families, our schools and even our marriages. We have gone along to get
along.
When we do this…we allow the light of
Christ diminish in us… Oh it’s still
there, we have just turned it down so that it is not quite so bright and unable
to illuminate the parts of us that needs to be removed from darkness…the part
that has fallen asleep. In order to change the tide in the world, we need
to bring the Light of the world into it. But that is impossible to do when the light
barer is not even bright enough to illuminate its own life…or dare I say is afraid of the Light illuminating what is within them…to
be awaken from their slumber.
The Ephesians scripture tells us that
the Light makes everything clear, within that Light we hear:
Awake,
you sleeper!
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.
The thing is, within this light may
also see our own depravity…our own sin… But as we are enlightened and illuminated
by God’s light all that is not of Him will be removed…the dark cannot stay where
there is light. We must look upward, not vertically or within of that light.
I love the way Pastor Mark Hall of
Casting Crowns states it in his Only Jesus Devotional:
“Only Jesus can awaken us from our self-absorbed spiritual comas.
Only the power of His Holy Spirit can give us new life when we are lost or can
bring us back to Him when we’re already His child but running from Him.”
Psalm 139:23-24 tells us:
23 Search
me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
We need to awaken from our slumber, awaken
from our complacency, awaken from our sin and transgressions. We can’t be a
light barer in the world if we are afraid of the Light. We can’t bring the Good
News to those who still sit in darkness if we are still sitting there
ourselves. If we truly want Jesus to work through in the world around us we must
first come out of our own darkness into His glorious cleansing light.
19 And
the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people
loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the
light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is
right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Play “Awaken Me”
“Awake, you sleeper!
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.”
Rise from your grave,
And the Anointed One will shine on you.”
Amen
March 24, 2019
3rd Week of Lent
Sermon Series: Christ In Me
Inspired by:
Casting Crowns: “Only Jesus” CD
“Only Jesus Devotional”
by Pastor Mark
Hall
With Tim Luke
Psalm 63:1-8
Ephesians 5:13-14
Psalm 139:23-24; John3:19-21
“Awaken Me” by Casting Crowns
sermon, “Wake Up Sleepy Head”
video – part 1 (before video)
video – part 2 (after video)
text:
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
8AM Live
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
March 24, 2019
&
March 17, 2019
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Second Sunday in Lent
March 17, 2019
St. Patrick’s Day
Sermon Series: Christ in Me
Inspired by:
“Only Jesus” CD by Casting Crowns
“Only Jesus Devotional”
by Pastor Mark Hall
With Tim Luke
Psalm27
John 1:19-27
1 Corinthians 3:5-8
Philippians 3:4-8
“Nobody” Casting Crowns
and sermon, “It’s Not About Me”
video
video, close of the sermon
text
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Departing Blessing, closing prayer, farewell
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
March 17, 2019
&
March 10, 2019
we are a legacy
March 10, 2019
how can Christ use me
March 10, 2019
all about Christ
March 10, 2019
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
First Sunday in Lent
March 10, 2019
Sermon Series: Christ in Me
Inspired by:
“Only Jesus” CD by Casting Crowns
“Only Jesus Devotional”
by Pastor Mark
Hall
With Tim Luke
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Acts 20:24
“Only Jesus” Casting Crowns
and sermon, “What Is Your Legacy?”
video
text
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
8AM Live
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
March 10, 2019
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted
by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. All
rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)
for usage. See all 49,300 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
===============
Christ, Spirit, God, Faith, grace, poem, prayer, hope,
love, Lent, journey, cross, Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church, Patten, Maine, Casting Crowns, legacy, nobody, sleeper, awaken, sermon, Christ in Me,
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