December 10 Advent candle lighting reading
[Light the first candle on the Advent wreath.]
"Blessed be the Lord God, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, saying…
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:68-70, 76-77, NRSV).
God chooses the most unlikely messengers… …a desert wild-man dressed in animal skins and eating locusts and wild honey … a poor shepherd, shunned by polite society, keeping silent watch in the fields … or today perhaps a school teacher, a waitress, a plumber, a laborer … or even a … child
Jesus comes, not just to those of us in [your church's name or city], but even to those in New York, Beverly Hills, Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, North Korea. Jesus comes to us in the words of a preacher and in the song of a choir, but also in the siren of an ambulance, in a letter opened in a prison cell, in a visit to a nursing home, and in the smile — or cry — of a child.
[Light the second candle on the Advent wreath.]
December 10 sermon – Love overflowing
Did you hear….The Energizer Bunny got arrested last week. He was sighted for Battery.
Paul and I were walking in the woods the other day when we came up on a bear. Turning to run, Paul looked down and saw me tying my shoe laces. “What are you doing?” he screamed. I said “I don’t have to outrun the bear, just you.”
Malichi is a short interesting prophet to read. He is preaching at a time when the temple has been rebuilt, but the people were not acting the way they should. Malichi is one of those prophets from the OT that no one wanted to hear. He was speaking for God.
The people thought they were doing just fine, but oh Malichi set them straight. He prophecies…I will send my messenger before me. That’s John the Baptist. Who would have thought that a guy wearing animal hide and eating wild honey and bugs would me a messenger for God.
You see those cartoons with the guy standing on the street corner with a sign saying “THE END IS NEAR”. I would think both him and John are a little crazy.
You see, the people in the OT were holding back some of their tithe money. The Lord says “You’ve been holding back.
Give 10% or the first fruits of whatever you make and I will show you a blessing.” The people were holding back on their sacrifices. Sacrifices were supposed to be a young healthy animals with no defects. The people were sacrificing the scrawny, puny animals they wanted to get rid of. And the people were not helping those around them. But we will get to that soon.
Malichi says “the messiah is coming. Look busy…here comes Jesus”. But then his next sentence strikes fear in many people. “He will purify you and cleanse you with fire and Fullers soap”.
Has anyone used Fuller’s soap before?? RAISE YOUR HAND. I bet you have. They have been in business for years making specialty soaps for B&Bs and hotels usually with custom made labeling.
Look at that…you get a bible lesson and a business lesson at the same time.
Jesus is coming back soon he says. Jesus will come to purify us with fire and cleanse us with soap. Have you ever seen those documentaries where the heat up the silver or gold to outrageous temps and then skim the scum off the top?
Have you ever heard how hot Hell is going to be? Have you ever felt that the pain and trials you are going thru is like going thru hell? Have you heard that song from Rodney Atkins?? “If you’re going thru hell, keep on moving. Don’t slow down.”
God looks at our lives and says “you know what….we need to turn up the heat a little”. I saw the other day a guy in a three piece suit, shiny shoes, all decked out. He was in a group of other men, similarly dressed. This guys was saying he had just written a check to his church for $10k and boy that was a great thing I did.
I started to think though…who cares. Oh my gosh someone is about to fall out of the pew. The pastor isn’t asking for money and doesn’t care about the $10k check.
Don’t get me wrong. I would love for someone to write the church a check for $10k-$20k-$30k. I would love for someone to come up and say “hey…I want to build a new building over here for you to use. Or I want to help you start a sister church in another location.”
All that would be great. The problem was the attitude of this man who gave the $$. He was like the Pharisees Jesus was always complaining about, standing on the street corner proclaiming how great they are. They needed to hear the song “How Great Thou Art”.
What does the Lord say? “Your going thru the fire. Trails-temptation-pain-heartache. It’s coming. If your motives are pure and your heart is right, you will come thru looking like gold. If your motives not pure and heart is dark, you will make it thru the fire with little anything but the clothes on your back and they will smell like smoke and have burn holes all thru them.”
But all thru it, God will find that spot of pure righteousness in you, no matter how big or small it is. The smaller it is, the more painful the fire and correction will be.
Wait a minute pastor. Your sounding like those prosperity preachers like Benny Hinn and Joel Olsteen. Are you saying if I have enough faith, I won’t go thru trials? Oh how I wish that were true. I am saying, without God you won’t make it thru the trials.
Oct 30, 2004, 10 year old Erin Browning lay in a bed barely able to breath because of the cancer that was ravaging her body. Starting from the toes of her left foot all the way up to the top of her head, she was riddled with cancer. It was 3 years earlier on September 11th 2001 she was diagnosed with the cancer.
Erin was 6 years old when she prayed to receive Christ as her savior; She was 7 when she was diagnosed with cancer;
She was 8 when she was traveling to area churches to give her testimony. There was a time when the cancer went away and they all called it a miracle. The cancer came back later. Laurie, her mom, asked for prayers and looked for hope.
Sometimes, she had questions I think all of us have in times of pain “what’s going on here. I feel like I’m all alone.” But her worship never changed. Her love for Jesus remained constant even though she questioned what was going on. It was a raw and rare faith, and very inspiring.
Casting Crowns wrote “Praise you in the storm” in honor of Erin. The Chorus goes “and I’ll praise you in the storm, and I will lift my hands, for you are who you are, no matter where I am, and every tear I cry, you hold in your hands, you never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm.
It’s the perfect song, for no matter how hard your troubles are and no matter how far down you go, God is there.
And that is what Paul writes to the Philipians. Paul was in chains and preaching to the guards. He was in chains and preaching to the Governor. I would say that’s pretty far down, yet Paul kept on praising Jesus’ name.
And Paul for the Philipians like Malichi for the Israelites, he was looking for their love for others to be deeper and stronger than any other love so when they went thru the refining fire on the day that Jesus Christ came back in victory, they would be seen as righteous.
Malichi and Paul are speaking against the adulterers, those who defraud their workers, perjurers, those who oppress the widows and fatherless, and those who do not fear the Lord.
Paul sums it up nicely. He says “I want you to be filled with the fruit of righteousness so that the one who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Talk about your love for Jesus Christ every day, give to the needy every day, bring canned food for the food bank next week, go to the senior center and help out, deliver meals on wheels, visit the shut ins, call the person who did not show up for church today.
I tell you now. I think my God every day for you every day when I pray. In all my prayers for all of you I pray with joy because of your partnership in the preaching of the Word of God with me. And I know, that the one who began this good work in you will complete it so on that day when Jesus comes back he will look you in the eyes and say “well done, good and faithful servant.”
If there is anyone who doesn’t understand the good work before them, or who sees their past offerings as the sludge that’s skimmed off the top of the gold, or who doesn’t know the love and passion of God underlying their current pain and wants to pray about it now, come on up to the alter rail during this last hymn.
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