This week we being our Lenten Series entitled "You Might be a Christian if..." with number five on the list "Self-Control". If you don't know, this sermon series was in some way inspired by jokes told by Jeff Foxsworthy that made light of "Red Necks". Since I can't really tell any of those jokes here, below are a few "You Might be a United Methodist if..." jokes instead:
*You might be United Methodist if you think "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego" is the name of a rap group from Detroit.
*You might be United Methodist if you ask who wrote the Lord's Prayer!
*You might be United Methodist if you think Gideon wrote the Bible.
*You might be United Methodist if you know that a quadrennium is not a plant.
As you can see, none of these jokes is particularly funny, and likely neither will this sermon series be very funny. Just the same we are going to explore the top 5 signs that you or another person might be a Christian and this week we are talking about self-control.
First of all, I want to point out, that as Jesus warns in Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, self-control or "acts of righteousness" (ie doing good things) should not be the end goal, but rather a means to an end. In other words while it's a good thing to sit quietly in worship and pay attention to the words, prayers, and songs, if that is your only goal, you'll be missing the whole point of being in WORSHIP!
Second it's important to remind everyone that self-control is a skill (like any other skill) and therefore requires practice in order to become succeful with controlling yourself (actions, behaviors, etc.). It's just like driving a car. When a person first learns to drive, he or she may be terrible! They might drive too slow, take turns poorly, run through stop signs, and even hit buildings! (This is an allusion to this Sunday's sermon analogy. If you missed it, you missed it.) Given the proper amount of practice a person can eventually go from being a danger to everyone else on the road, to actually becoming a safe and responsible driver. But only with practice. The same is true with self-control.
Third it's good to know that the season of Lent (which we are in currently) is a great time to practice the all important skill of self-control. Many Christians give up something or add something for the Lent. Examples of giving up could include various types of food & drink, television, the computer, certain behaviors, or pactically anything else. Examples of adding something might include increased church attendance, prayer, reading your bible, tithing, volunteering with a local charitable organization, or any number of other things. The key with practicing self-control by giving up or adding throughout Lent is to remember that the end goal should not be that which is given up or added, but rather increased relationship with God.
Therefore while you're wishing you could have that piece of chocolate, or while you're toiling away at the local food pantry remember that you're trying to improve your relationship with God, and you might even ask God to help out!
Self-Control is only #5 on our list, and isn't always the best indicator of Christianity, but certainly is a good place to begin. The next four should get us closer and closer to not only finding great ways to discern our own standing within Christianity, but also to describing the core of what it means to be a Christian. As you work on your own self-control I would encourage you to examine the other Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and see what fruits you already produce and what ones you could stand to produce in greater abundance.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Lenten Homework #1 - Go to a local athletic competition or town/village/school meeting and just listen quietly. Do not talk, do not cheer, do not interject, but merely sit and listen. If you are a person who already prefers to be quiet, then do the opposite (talk, cheer, and share your opinion). The urge you'll be fighting to either talk (if you're trying to be quiet) or be quiet (if you're trying to talk) will serve as a reminder that although we all have natural tendencies, preferences, and desires, it is we who are in control, not those tendencies, preferences, and desires. You will be practicing SELF CONTROL!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sermon Sampler (February 14th) - Love: Who and How
Valentine's day is one of those holidays beloved by some and despised by others. Typically if you're in an exclusive relationship with another person valentine's day takes on a heightened meaning and signifigance in your life, and often times you're literally willing to move heaven and earth to make it special. If you're not in a relationship with someone special, you're literally willing to move heaven and earth to avoid the day all together!
I began reflecting on this recently as my four year old daughter was preparing valentines for her pre-school Valentine's day party. She just HAD to make her own, and each one HAD to be special. This made for several long card making sessions for her and my wife, and a lot of work! After completing the final card and sending our daughter to bed, I remarked to my wife that next year we were going to buy the pre-made cards. I then proceeded to point out how much smarter we adults are in making Valentine's day only about one special person, instead of a whole class of special friends.
This whole conversation got me thinking about the main topic of Valentine's day, namely love, and if as I had assumed, we adults really had it all figured out. I started in 1 Corinthians 13 , also known as the love chapter. This particular chapter is quite famous and very popular, especially at weddings. A closer examination will show that while the subject matter of the passage is describing what love should ideally look like, it is not in fact describing love shared between two lovers, but rather the love that should exist between members of a Christian community (a congregation of people). I then turned to some of Jesus more prominent teaching about love, found in Luke 6:27-36, where Jesus asserts that love should not only be reserved for lovers or even just friends, but that we should love enemies as well!
All of a sudden my thinking that my four year old was so foolish for making all those cards, and that I was so wise for only worrying about my wife, was being turned on its head. Maybe its those pre-schoolers who really have Valentine's Day and love all figured out, and it's the adults who are crazy? My point is not that we should throw out Valentine's Day, or not celebrate those special people in our lives, but rather that we should also remember to show our love others as well.
"Love bears all things, beleives all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails"
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
I began reflecting on this recently as my four year old daughter was preparing valentines for her pre-school Valentine's day party. She just HAD to make her own, and each one HAD to be special. This made for several long card making sessions for her and my wife, and a lot of work! After completing the final card and sending our daughter to bed, I remarked to my wife that next year we were going to buy the pre-made cards. I then proceeded to point out how much smarter we adults are in making Valentine's day only about one special person, instead of a whole class of special friends.
This whole conversation got me thinking about the main topic of Valentine's day, namely love, and if as I had assumed, we adults really had it all figured out. I started in 1 Corinthians 13 , also known as the love chapter. This particular chapter is quite famous and very popular, especially at weddings. A closer examination will show that while the subject matter of the passage is describing what love should ideally look like, it is not in fact describing love shared between two lovers, but rather the love that should exist between members of a Christian community (a congregation of people). I then turned to some of Jesus more prominent teaching about love, found in Luke 6:27-36, where Jesus asserts that love should not only be reserved for lovers or even just friends, but that we should love enemies as well!
All of a sudden my thinking that my four year old was so foolish for making all those cards, and that I was so wise for only worrying about my wife, was being turned on its head. Maybe its those pre-schoolers who really have Valentine's Day and love all figured out, and it's the adults who are crazy? My point is not that we should throw out Valentine's Day, or not celebrate those special people in our lives, but rather that we should also remember to show our love others as well.
"Love bears all things, beleives all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails"
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sermon Sampler (February 7th) - What Does God Sound Like?
Have you ever noticed that whenever a person in the Bible hears from God, right away they know it's God speaking? This made me wonder, what in the world does God sound like? I mean, everyone in the Bible seems to know God's voice right away, yet in my experience most (if not all) Christians struggle to discern God's will and clearly hear God's voice. What are we missing, that those folks in the Bible seemed to know right away?
Well, as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Of course when applied to my above observations of the Bible it seems plausible that when looking back on these stories they appear to be clearer than they might have been at the time. For example the story of Elijah on Mt. Horeb (here) finds the prophet contending with prophets of the false god Baal. In short Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal (and their god) to ignite a sacrifice with prayer alone. When they fail, Elijah ups the stakes by dousing the wood with water (3 times!) and then prays that God (the true God) would light the fire. Not only does the wood ignite, but the fire is so great that it consumes the wood, the sacrifice, and the prophets of Baal! Immediately after this story we find Elijah running away in fear and doubt (here). Even after such an amazing experience, and in spite of being a prophet of God, Elijah experienced doubt and uncertainty.
So what hope is there for us, just regular, ordinary people? Well the good news is that listening to God's voice is a skill and like any skill it requires practice. The more we listen for God's voice, the better we will get at hearing it. Also there are a few techniques that Christians throughout the ages have found to be helpful:
1. The Bible - reading the Bible is the first and best way to hear God's voice.
2. Prayer - simply means communicating with God (both speaking and listening).
3. Listening to Others - often in scripture God uses other people to communicate His will. The same is often true in our lives.
4. That "Still Small Voice" - Elijah heard God's voice as a "Still Small Voice" (here). We too can hear that small inner voice, if we are quite and listen.
These four simple techniques, when practiced regularly will allow us to not only begin to listen for God's voice in our daily lives, but will help us to better recognize God's voice from all the other clutter and noice that fills our lives. If you are serious about it, and you practice more than once in a while, you will find that that "Still Small Voice" will become clearer and clearer and grow until it is the loudest voice you hear...then the question will no longer be "What Does God Sound Like?" but rather "How could I have not known before!"
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Well, as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Of course when applied to my above observations of the Bible it seems plausible that when looking back on these stories they appear to be clearer than they might have been at the time. For example the story of Elijah on Mt. Horeb (here) finds the prophet contending with prophets of the false god Baal. In short Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal (and their god) to ignite a sacrifice with prayer alone. When they fail, Elijah ups the stakes by dousing the wood with water (3 times!) and then prays that God (the true God) would light the fire. Not only does the wood ignite, but the fire is so great that it consumes the wood, the sacrifice, and the prophets of Baal! Immediately after this story we find Elijah running away in fear and doubt (here). Even after such an amazing experience, and in spite of being a prophet of God, Elijah experienced doubt and uncertainty.
So what hope is there for us, just regular, ordinary people? Well the good news is that listening to God's voice is a skill and like any skill it requires practice. The more we listen for God's voice, the better we will get at hearing it. Also there are a few techniques that Christians throughout the ages have found to be helpful:
1. The Bible - reading the Bible is the first and best way to hear God's voice.
2. Prayer - simply means communicating with God (both speaking and listening).
3. Listening to Others - often in scripture God uses other people to communicate His will. The same is often true in our lives.
4. That "Still Small Voice" - Elijah heard God's voice as a "Still Small Voice" (here). We too can hear that small inner voice, if we are quite and listen.
These four simple techniques, when practiced regularly will allow us to not only begin to listen for God's voice in our daily lives, but will help us to better recognize God's voice from all the other clutter and noice that fills our lives. If you are serious about it, and you practice more than once in a while, you will find that that "Still Small Voice" will become clearer and clearer and grow until it is the loudest voice you hear...then the question will no longer be "What Does God Sound Like?" but rather "How could I have not known before!"
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
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