Storage.googleapis.com



Worship for May 17, 2020New Thing – New Normal John 14:15-21Rob Miller, PastorWELCOME:PRAYER: Almighty God and Father of us all, you provide all that we need this day and every day. You created all things and everything belongs to you – even us. As we worship you, through this virtual worship, we come seeking your presence in our lives. Send your Holy Spirit to grant us peace and hope and joy that come only from you. This we pray through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.READING & MESSAGE: A seven-year-old asked her grandfather, “Papa in this family we are kind of serious about God, aren’t we?”Grandpa said, “Yes, we sure are.” The little girl asked, “Why?”Grandpa wrapped his arms around her and said, “So that I can hug you and tickle you and try to tell you how much I love you and how glad I am that God gave you to us.”The little girl grinned and said, “That’s cool.”I’m not so sure that hugging and tickling everybody we meet to show them our love would go over very well – especially since we are to maintain 6 feet of social distance right now with this Coronavirus. And yet - we are supposed to figure out how to show love to everyone. Love is to be our new normal according to our reading for today. Jesus said,15?“If you love me, keep my commands.?16?And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate?to help you and be with you forever—?17?the Spirit of truth.?The world cannot accept him,?because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be?in you.?18?I will not leave you as orphans;?I will come to you.?19?Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.?Because I live, you also will live.?20?On that day?you will realize that I am in my Father,?and you are in me, and I am in you.?21?Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.?The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,?and I too will love them and show myself to them.”Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me…” That means there is more to come. If this… then that… It’s not enough to simply say, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” There is so much more to it than that.We are to live by Jesus’ love. Everything we say - everything we do should be about sharing Jesus’ love. That is the greatest gift we can share with someone. Jesus loves you. Please don’t ever forget that. We are to live in such a way that others can see Jesus’ love at work in us and through us. That’s why Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In other words, Jesus expects us - his disciples to do what he says to do. To do what he did.Sounds simple enough – but love is never simple – love is never simple until we realize the difference love can make in someone’s life. Love is a game changer – a life changer – a direction maker. Loving one another is to be our new normal.A religious cynic said, “God made humanity on the last day of creation. Then God realized what God had done. So God took off and went into hiding. The search to find God is what we call ‘religion.'” Ummm, not exactly.According to what we read in the Bible – when God created humanity, God said it was “good.” God did not run off and go into hiding somewhere. Quite the opposite. From the very beginning God set things up in this world so that God would be accessible to humanity – no matter what. In the beginning God set things up for us to have a personal relationship with God. That is a hard concept for many people to grasp.God created you. God’s fingerprints are all over you. You are one of God’s masterpieces. You are a beautiful thing in God’s eyes.38252401143000As some of you know - I enjoy wood working. I had some scrape wood (2X10s and 2X4s) that I made into a table. Here is a picture of it (picture). My fingerprints are all over that table. Part of me is in that table. I have a personal relationship with that table. I will forever treasure it. I can honestly say - I love that table.That’s how it is with us and God. We are God’s treasure – God’s masterpiece - each one of us is. We have been made for a purpose.As Psalm 139 reminds us…For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13-14)The psalmist reminds us that we are God’s treasured possessions. Jesus takes us into a deeper relationship calling us family. Jesus said: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 20:50)We are family. But then there is more. Jesus takes our relationship even deeper, saying to his disciples…15?I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.?16?You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you?so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.?17?This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:15-17)There it is again. Family members love one another in a special kind of way. Friends love each other in a special kind of way too. We are to love one another like family, like friends with the love we receive from God. God’s love will never - ever let us go. Here is what that love looks like…There was a nature show on television about a black bear that gave birth to two cubs. One cub died right away. Three weeks later the mother died and the remaining cub was left to fend for itself. An orphaned cub in that condition is like a walking buffet for predators. And of course, the camera immediately showed a hungry-looking mountain lion.One day the orphan cub encountered a giant male black bear. The little cub cowered at the bear’s sheer mass. The large bear looked around and seemed to realize that the mother bear wasn’t anywhere to be found. He gave the little cub a friendly nudge. Suggesting that he was now adopted by that big black bear. The camera then showed the little bear happily following the larger one. The Papa bear proceeded to show the cub how to grub for insects and how to catch fish and how to scratch his back against a tree.One day the two bears became separated. The cub began to cry and looked frantically for his new father, but couldn’t find him anywhere. The cub approached a stream where he’d learned to fish and then something caught his attention. He looked up to see a mountain lion ready to pounce. That same mountain lion had stalked the cub for the entire show. There was no way that mountain lion would’ve gone for that cub if Papa bear was around, but now… it didn’t look good.The camera zoomed in on the cub. He mimicked the posture of his adopted father when threatened. He stood on his hind legs and bared his teeth. Then, like his new father would have done, this cub let out a growl that should have sounded throughout the forest. But only a tiny bear cub squeak came out. Oddly enough the mountain lion lowered his head and ran off in the opposite direction.The camera panned back to the proud little cub still standing tall on his hind legs. Then all the viewers saw what that little cub could not see: a few yards behind him, at full, ferocious height, his sharp, white teeth bared in a snarl, stood Daddy bear. He may not have made a sound, but he was there.Even though the cub couldn’t see his father, his father was there protecting him and providing for him. The little cub had a power available to him that was greater than anything he could have produced on his own. There was someone who loved him and “had his back” as they say.We may not always be aware of God’s presence in our lives. But God is there. No matter how frightened or alone or stressed we may feel right now, no matter how much we may feel abandoned or weak or powerless with this Coronavirus. God is still with us. We are loved.I love the saying - God be with you till we meet again. I love that saying and the song that goes with it because it is so true. God is with us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We need to be reminded of that from time to time. So let this be your reminder…Jesus made a promise to send the Holy Spirit into our lives and he continues to do so. We may think of the Holy Spirit as being this calming presence. But that may not always be so. 30784806413500A number of people posted this picture on Facebook and I had to share it with you. I love it because it is so true when it comes to living life the faith (picture). Notice it has God saying – “I have a plan for your life.” And then what it feels like… You – scared out of your wits holding on for dear life and the Holy Spirit loving the ride with you.That picture says it all…We are God’s treasure – God’s masterpiece - each one of us is. We have been made for a purpose to be the family of God - friends of Jesus. God made us to be loved and to love one another. Will you? The world right now could us a lot more love. Please - find a way to let someone know in word or deed that God loves them. You and they will be glad you did. Not only that but Jesus will be glad you did too. So be it! Amen.SONG: Beautiful Thing ’S PRAYER:BESSING: ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download