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Worship for April 19, 2020New Thing - Something Went WrongJohn 20:19-31Rob Miller, PastorWELCOMEPRAYER:Let us pray… 28041606985God of all things, your mercy endures forever. With you all things are possible. On this day - we gather separately to worship you through this online virtual experience. We worship you - because you are the source of life now and forever. We no longer look for Jesus among the dead, instead he has become the Lord of life. Open our hearts and our minds to the risen life we share with Christ Jesus now and forever. Help us to grow in faith, hope, and love during these uncertain times. Knowing and trusting in you for life and the new thing you are about to do. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. MESSAGE & READING: John 20:19-31We are starting a new worship series called, New Thing. Today’s topic is Oops! Something Went Wrong…1508760226060I’ve seen that icon a lot lately on many of our electronic devices. That’s because so many people are online - that our internet service is having trouble keeping up at times. The world has been forever changed. We have become an online virtual world.In the 1980s, R.E.M. released a song called - “It's The End Of The World As We Know It.” That song came to mind as I began to think about this message. The refrain goes like this:?(Played from… )It's the end of the world as we know itIt's the end of the world as we know itIt's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.Believe it or not - that song is getting a lot of play time on YouTube these days (over 27 million hits) as the Coronavirus continues to spread and wreak havoc around the world. We’ve never seen nor have we ever experienced a time such as this first hand. People are scared. People are separated. People are worried that it is the end of the world. A neighbor of ours even said so… with fear in her eyes.We all have real fears and real frustrations right now on a daily basis. We have family and friends and neighbors getting ill. Businesses and restaurants and schools and churches are closed indefinitely. Unemployment continues to rise. The death rate continues to rise. Our fears and frustrations continue to rise.No doubt, this pandemic is causing all kinds of disruptions - in ways that we could never have imagined. And it will probably continue to disrupt things for some time to come. No one and no organization is immune. We are all affected in some way by this Coronavirus. It can be overwhelming - if we dwell on it for too long… So just breathe (*).I read somewhere or heard somewhere that we have entered a season of tension. This season of tension is driven mainly by grief. We are all grieving and perhaps don’t even know it. The old is gone and a new thing has been thrown upon us – not thrown at us – thrown upon us. It weighs on us. I don’t know about you but I don’t like this new reality. I really don’t like this so called, “new normal.” I also read somewhere or heard somewhere that grief is an important part of the growth process. So, let’s not miss this growth opportunity. Let’s not try to move too quickly past this new season we are in, less we miss what God has in store for us.?The truth is - the Church has faced challenges like this before. The Black Death, persecutions, world wars, famine, secularism, colonialism, all kinds of other “isms” - the list goes on. No matter what happens to us as followers of Jesus, we have a gift. We have the gift of hope! That gift comes from Jesus. He is our hope. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let that sink in for a minute.It is not the end of the world - but it is the end of the world as we know it.?Let me say that again: it is the end of the world as we know it. I hope and I pray that you really do feel fine. I believe the future is full of hope and opportunities for those of us connected to the Church. We can be a message of hope for this hurting world right now. This is so important for us to consider… here’s why…COVID 19 has changed everything. Societies, governments, businesses, cultures, and churches will never be the same. There is a new thing happening. The old is gone, the new has come. There is no going back to ‘normal.’ The normal we once knew is gone. We will need to create a new normal.That’s what we find happening in our reading for today too. Let me set the stage.?Something went terribly wrong. The disciples had placed all of their hope in Jesus. They followed him, learned from him, place their trust in him as their Lord and Savior. He was their world.Then one day Jesus was arrested, accused, crucified, died, and buried. It was the end of the world as they knew it. The old was gone and a new reality had been thrown upon the disciples. They had to create a new normal. So - what did they do? They turn to each other. They meet with each other for support and encouragement. They continued to meet together weekly for support and encouragement.Reading John 20:19-31 19?On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,?Jesus came and stood among them and said,?“Peace?be with you!”?20?After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.?The disciples were overjoyed?when they saw the Lord.21?Again Jesus said,?“Peace be with you!?As the Father has sent me,?I am sending you.”?22?And with that he breathed on them and said,?“Receive the Holy Spirit.?23?If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”24?Now Thomas?(also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.?25?So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,?I will not believe.”26?A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said,?“Peace?be with you!”?27?Then he said to Thomas,?“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”28?Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”29?Then Jesus told him,?“Because you have seen me, you have believed;?blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”30?Jesus performed many other signs?in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.?31?But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,?and that by believing you may have life in his name.We learn at least 3 things from this reading when it comes to dealing with a crisis like the one, we are in right now.Together is better. The disciples got together for support and encouragement on that first Easter. What else were they going to do. They quarantined themselves at home. The risen Lord showed up sharing the gift of peace with them – restoring their hope in him.Jesus shared the gift of peace a second time – then breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Jesus did a new thing. He gave his disciples the power to forgive sins. Normally - the thinking was - only God could forgive sins. Jesus gave his disciples a new normal. They could forgive sins. They could be about God’s mission of forgiveness in the world.So too can we. One of the greatest gifts we can share with someone is the gift of forgiveness. Try it this week. Truly forgive someone. It will bring you peace like you’ve never experienced before.Weekly worship is crucial for our faith.The following Sunday the disciples met. Once again Jesus joined them bringing them the gift of peace. Time out – wait? why? Of all the things Jesus could share with his disciples, he brings them peace, which helped to strengthen their faith. Anytime we get together especially for worship in person or at home online like this - we can be assured that Jesus will show up and bring us the gift of peace. Peace between us and God and peace between us and each other. Helping to restore our faith. We are to be people of peace. Think about that for a minute.When something goes wrong - we ought not try to go it alone like Thomas did. We ought to turn to each other in faith.Truth is – things will go wrong. When they do, we can rely on the gift of peace from Jesus. Instead of looking for ways to blame someone when things go wrong - we can look for ways to bring peace to the situation by forgiving each other – restoring our faith. Like it did for Thomas.Soooooo I say to you now – peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.Believing is seeingWith eyes of faith - we can see things differently. With eyes of faith we can reach out to the Thomas’ of the world who are trying to go it alone right now. We have the gift of peace from Christ Jesus himself. We are forgiven sinners. Believe it and you will see it.So here is what I invite you to do. Take a deep breath right now and exhale (*). Join me in giving thanks to God for our time together in this new worship reality. “Thank you, God for this time together and for the technology to do so.” Think of someone, anyone, that you know who might be having a hard time right now. Say a little prayer for them. Then when we are finished with this virtual worship experience…Call that person. Check on him or her and their family. God has revealed that person to you for a reason. Let them know today that you were thinking of them – praying for them. By doing so and you will be sharing the gifts of peace and hope with them. And what a difference that will make for you and for them. Maybe invite them to check out this virtual worship experience if they haven’t done so already. I leave you with this final thought. It is not the end of the world, but it is the end of the world as we know it.?And this new world, this new reality will be what we make it - together. So be it!And now may the peace from God which surpasses all human understandings keep your hearts and your minds open to the ways of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. SONG: (played from )6019808255OFFERINGPRAYERS & LORD’S PRAYERBENEDICTION ................
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