Celebration Service 7/20/08

AND WHAT A CELEBRATION IT WAS!

This week was the trial run for the big schedule change...
Sometimes change is hard to embrace BUT this time it was celebrated!!!
We moved our Sunday Evening Prayer and Communion to Sunday Morning 9AM...
It was very well attended and our corporate prayer was very MOVING!!!
That time of prayer seemed to energize our 10am service...and having a baptism in the middle of service definately helped the celebration...EVEN taking a second offering for our sad parking lot didn't slow things down...

Here's my sermon notes:
Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake however, when she accused Frank, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told Frank (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
Frank, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned andwalked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny... He said nothing.
Later that evening, Frank quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's
house... Walked home... And left it there all night.
Boy, is there a msg in that one or what?!

Today we continue a sermon series entitled:Live Simply Love Generously Care Deeply Speak Kindly Leave the rest to God…Let’s AGAIN dig into CARING DEEPLY
Remember you can visit my blog for review or sign up for a CD in the foyer…
1Peter 5
I believe the LORD lead us to 1 Peter 5 for many reasons…Obviously it contains that well known verse 7…Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you…
If your taking notes…Today we’re going to take some advice from Peter for Caring Wisely…We can care so deeply that all we ever do is drive everybody around us crazy…I think this 5th chapter in the 1st book of Peter has some great wisdom for developing healthy relationships in the church…

1. Care by example
Peter admonishes the shepherds of the flock, the elders, the leadership, and I dare say it applies to all Christians…to lead by example, not by compulsion, guilt-trips, manipulation…lording over people…pushy!!!
Have you noticed how pushy us Southern Oregonians are!?
My pastor once told me his secret to peace…Don’t give your opinion unless it’s asked…
Some of us don’t know how to have a conversation without expressing every little opinion we have... Some of us don’t even realize that everything out of our mouth is SCOLDING…Is that really our job as Christians?
When you have my sickness…foot in mouth disease…When you don’t think before you speak…you could be unwittingly manipulating, guilt-tripping, scolding, yuck…
It is our job to PRAISE, to ENCOURAGE…HE inhabits the praises of His people…Look for ways to Praise Him and those around you…put away your critical eye and see how fun life can be!
If you see something that needs to change…before you bang someone in the head with the log that’s in your eye…pray about it and live it out yourself…
In case you didn’t get the whole log thing check out Jesus teaching in Matthew 7…
Better yet, let’s all go there…
Care by example and suddenly you discover how abundant life can be without the scolding without the criticalness without the judging…remember that’s not your job…that’s God’s job…

2. Care by going to God first
Please don’t misunderstand me…I don’t want to be guilty of preaching a sermon on caring deeply and act very uncaring…BUT, sometimes we cast our cares all over our friends and family while God is waiting to care for us in prayer…Meanwhile our friends, family, church, pastor is gooified by all our casting…
Did that make sense to you?
God has big shoulders…Go to Him first…then your casting of cares on others is not so gooey cause He’s taken most of the burden first…
By the way gooey is a very mature, theological word!
I want to challenge you this morning…How many times have you gone to a friend, family member, church member, pastor before you went to the LORD in prayer?
How can you care for anyone other than yourself if you do not know how to cast your cares upon the LORD?
I’ve found myself in this predicament…selfish and uncaring, consumed with my own stuff…while the world around me is crying out for love!
This is why I think Peter challenges his readers to humble themselves just before he says to cast cares upon the LORD! It’s amazing how your own problems get worked out while you’re caring deeply for others…

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root beer and he started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. He gave him his biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"He replied, "I had lunch with God." And before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, "Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." And, before his son responded, he added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected." Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

3. Care by His Strength
Have you ever felt burned out, nothing left to give, used, abused…welcome to the ministry
OR wait is that what it’s supposed to be like?
Look at verse 10 of 1 Peter 5 again…But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you…
Stop being surprised by the suffering…Let Jesus perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you
THOSE WORDS BREATHE LIFE TO MY BONES
JESUS PERFECT ESTABLISH STRENGTHEN AND SETTLE YOUR CHURCH
Despite all the suffering in the world, sometimes even because of all the suffering, we are being perfected…Can’t you feel that way down deep?...He’s establishing His Throne…He’s giving the strength it takes to survive it all…and He even promises to settle it all…that great settling day isn’t far away…

I found this great little letter from God on the net at Godswork.org… This is God. Today, as with every day, I will be handling all your problems.Please remember that I do not need your help. If the Devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it.
Kindly put it all in the SFJTD box (Something for Jesus to do). It will be addressed in MY time. . .not yours. . .please be patient. Once the matter is placed in the box, do not hold onto it. Do not become impatient and take it back out to see if you can find a solution.
Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. You must surrender the problem to me for proper resolution. If a situation that you think you can handle arises, please consult me in prayer.Together we will come up with the proper resolution. If you do not receive what you anticipate as proper response from Me.
Remember. . .some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Because I do not sleep, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest My Child. . .if you need me, I am but a prayer away.