Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Sunday - 10/27/13 Sermon - “Who gets the glory?”

Sunday 10/27/13 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Who gets the glory?”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 65                           

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18                                       

Gospel Lesson: Luke 18:9-14

                            

          Good morning and welcome again, my brothers and sisters! Welcome on this, the twenty-third Sunday after the holiday of Pentecost. The holiday of Pentecost, that day that so long that the Holy Spirit moved and the Christian Church was born. At this point the Apostles and the early Christians went forth, and they preached to gospel of Jesus Christ. They preached a message of hope, to people who had known only suffering.

          You see the early Christian Church saw amazing things happen. They saw their numbers increase like never before, they saw people’s lives and hearts changed forever. They baptized, healed, and some even raised the dead with the power of the Holy Spirit.

          With doing all of this though, I wonder if sometimes some of these Apostles or early Christians started to think very highly of themselves. Instead of talking about God’s church, instead of talking about the people that came to Jesus, they might have said, that it was “their church.” They might have said, “I led this many people to Jesus.” They might have said, “Look what I have done!” “Look at how great I do things!”

          I remember at our Upper New York UMC annual conference a couple of years ago, we had a great speaker, who preached to the soon to be ordained clergy in our conference of the United Methodist Church. He told these soon to be ordained clergypersons “to watch your usage of pronouns.” Pronouns of course, are words that take the place of nouns, like we, you, or us. When I heard this, I first thought, well this is an odd piece of advice to give to the soon to be ordained clergy on their day of ordination. Watch your usage of pronouns, weird!

You see this speaker encouraged these soon to be ordained clergy to watch how they speak of their ministry. He said, “Don’t say my church.” He said, “Don’t say my ministry.” He then said, “Don’t say what I did to build the kingdom of God.”

          Rather he said, we are nothing without the Lord. He said that God gave us everything that we have.  So all of our gifts and all of our graces, all of our abilities, all of our possessions and wealth are all from God. Yet so often don’t we forget this? Don’t we so often say “look what I have done?” “Look at how great I am?”

          Then we watch a video like the “Operation Christmas Child” video from this morning, and we realize how big the world is. We realize how blessed we are in this country, and how a shoe box full of toys and other things can change the very life of Child. That the Holy Spirit of God moves through a child receiving a shoe box, and that they hear amidst this that the God of the universe loves them. That there fear and hopelessness can end, because they are a child of God, and Jesus died for them.

          So often in the busyness of our lives, we can start to think pretty highly of ourselves, yet what are we without God? I think that this reality comes to us, not in the best of times, but often in the worst of times. You see sometimes in our lives, we feel that we are on the mountain top, but other times we feel like that we are in the valley. I find that when we are broken, that we rely on God much more. Now nobody wants to be in the valley, but so often when things are going great for us, we sometimes forget about God altogether. We sometimes forget who we are, and who’s we are. When we are flying high in life, we so often give ourselves the glory.

          In same way an NFL quarterback might be in the lime light and might be beloved by everyone one year, the next year they might suddenly be injured, and then be done playing professional football. As such, the lime light goes away for that now former NFL quarterback, and eventually less and less people know who this quarterback even is. When the quarterback was on top of the world though, they might have thought that they were hot stuff, yet in an instant they were brought to their knees. You see there are no guarantees in this life, and in this world, but one. This one guarantee is that there is a loving God that is always faithful, and who will never fail us.

          You see there is no perfect church, there is no perfect pastor, there is no perfect Christian, but there is a perfect God. On last day of this world, when all of this is gone and nothing remains but God, who will get the glory on that day?  Today, on this day, there are so many people in the world who feel that have great glory, but all glory is God’s glory. Since God is the very source of everything, we must always give God all the glory in all that we do. For if we are gifted and successful, if we are an NFL quarterback, we are so because God has allowed us to do so.

          In Psalm 65 from this morning, the Psalm begins with, “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed, O you who answer prayer!”  Further in the Psalm, it says of God, “you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” “Who gets the glory?” in our lives today?

          In the Apostle Paul’s second letter or epistle to his young friend Timothy, the Apostle Paul was talking about how he would soon be departing from this earth, to be with Lord. He told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” The Apostle Paul went on to tell Timothy that so many have deserted him, yet “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed.” So while the Apostle Paul’s pronouns of running the race and keeping the faith were used with “I,” and could be seen as somewhat focused on his strength and his glory, he then explained this more. He then said “the Lord stood by me.” He said, the Lord “gave me strength,” He said, “through me” the message was proclaimed. He then concluded this portion of his second letter to Timothy by saying, “To him be the glory forever and ever.”

          You know for me, it still catches my attention when high powered people attribute their success and blessings to God. I still admire it when a high powered person who wins an award, thanks God, and thanks Jesus Christ, the messiah. “Who gets the glory?” Do we get the glory, or do we give the glory where it belongs, in the hands of almighty God.

          In this morning’s reading from the gospel of Luke, Jesus told a story or a parable. This parable was told “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded other with contempt.” In this parable, Jesus said that “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Jesus continued “The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all income.’ Yet Jesus said that the tax collector, “would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus than said of the tax collector, “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

          So Jesus, the Lord of life said, if we exalt ourselves, we will be humbled, but all who humble themselves before God we will be exalted. Who then gets the glory in our lives? Do we get the glory, or do we give the Lord of life of Glory. Do we honestly go through life thinking that we did everything on our own? That God didn’t create us that our families haven’t loved and supported us? Do we forget ourselves and talk big talk, and try to be better than others? Or do we fall on our knees before almighty God like the tax collector, and say, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!”

          I have found that sometimes for me as a pastor that I spend so much time trying to do everything “right,” that if I am not careful, my focus on doing things “just so,” will temporarily take me away from God. That sometimes I try so hard to do things exactly right, that sometimes, I just need to be still and listen for God’s voice. That I need to be still and give God the glory.

I would like to close this morning with a story. This story is called, “Things aren’t always what they seem.” Here is how it goes: Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bedroom the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied…. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good nights’ rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “How could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. ”The second family had so little, but was willing to share everything and you let their cow die.” “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.”

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

When we glorify ourselves, when we think that we are so great and that we are so awesome, we miss the very thing that is needed, the love of God. When we cling to a love of ourselves, we lose God. So “who gets the glory?” in our lives? Do we get the glory, or does the God of the universe that gave us every good thing not get the glory? My brothers and sisters I bring this message to you this morning in the name of the one who deserves all glory, honor, and power, Jesus the Risen Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Sunday - 10/20/13 Sermon - “Do we fear God?”

Sunday 10/20/13 Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Do we fear God?”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 31:27-34                           

                                            

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 119:97-104                                       

Gospel Lesson: Luke 18:1-8

                            

          Greetings and welcome my brothers and sisters in the name of the Risen Christ! This Sunday is the twenty-second Sunday after the holiday of Pentecost. This was the holiday and feast that occurred so long ago, where the Holy Spirit moved, and the early Church was born. For on this day the early Christians finally “got it,” and finally had the courage and the conviction to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that knows him not.

In this way then, the early Church understood God more, and then fully “feared God.” Fearing God. You see this is something that for many of us, we have struggled with. I mean after all if God is truly loving, kind, and just, then why would we need to fear God? This doesn’t sound like a good thing at all. In fact, some people that I have met think that God is an angry and seeks vengeance on all people. This style of preaching is known to many of us as “fire and brimstone” preaching, wherein, God is angry, and wants vengeance for our sinful nature. In this style of preaching, we must come to God, or burn in the Lake of Fire. Well brothers and sisters, I am not a “fire and brimstone” preacher, and I want to look at to notion of fearing God a little differently this morning.

          In doing this, let us first consider what the prophet Jeremiah said about God. That at one point God over saw as Israel and Judah plucked up broke down everything that they knew and had. Yet Jeremiah then said that the Lord said, “So I will watch over them to build and to plant.” Jeremiah even said, “All shall die for their own sins.”

There are stories all throughout the Old Testament then, where many argue that the “Wrath of God” has destroyed people and places, and yet other stories where God has then protected and restored people and places. Some of my secular friends have even asked me, “Paul why is the God of the Old Testament so scary. Why should I be so afraid of Him?”

          I then have asked some of these secular non-believing friends, “Do you fear God?” They have often responded with something like, “You mean to tell me if I do everything just so, and follow every little rule that God says, than I will be blessed, happy, joyous, and not be destroyed?” I then have explained to my friends in my own words what Proverbs 9:10 says. This scripture says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

          The big problem then my brothers and sisters, is that most people have no idea what the scriptures mean when it says to “fear God.” Most people in fact immediately assume that we are to hide in terror from God. What does it mean then to “fear God” then? Historically speaking, many cultures and other language translations of the Bible have interpreted “fearing God,” as “respecting God” or “appreciating God.” In fact, in looking in the Catholic encyclopedia, it says that the fear of God "fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him." If we truly love our father in heaven and respect him this much, why would we want to offend him?

          Do we then have to hide and cower in fear from God, if we are in fact respecting and honoring him? I think that if we love God, if we love his Son Jesus Christ, if we love and call upon the Holy Spirit, and if we do our very best to serve him, then we love and respect God. Are we going to be perfect at this? Of course we won’t. You see then, in the times of the Old Testament, it was not God that turned on the people in wrath, but the people that turned on God with disrespect and disbelief. For God loved all of his people richly, as he still loves all of his Children today. When the people of the Old Testament would not stay loyal to God, he then sent one prophet after the next, like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, to call the people to back to holiness. This is the fear of God, knowing the power of God, knowing that one day we will all stand before God.

          For God grew so weary sending prophet after prophet to call people to holiness. This is why God came down from heaven and put on flesh, and walked this earth as a man named Jesus. He taught us how to live, how to love, and how to build the kingdom of God here on earth. Due to our rebellious hearts, the God of the universe came to earth, and died for us, to show us what love is. To show us what sacrifice is, and yes to show us what fear is.

          In having faith in Jesus, in trusting in him, we receive the love and blessings of almighty God. In this morning’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus told the Apostles a parable about the importance of prayer, and not losing heart. Jesus taught us then, when it gets hard, that we persist in prayer, and we trust and fear God. In this parable Jesus said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ The parable then went on to discuss how the non-fearing judge finally granted the widows request, mostly because the widow kept bugging him about her problem, not because he feared God. The gospel then ended with Jesus saying, “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Will he find people that truly love and fear him, or will people have no fear or care for God or anyone else? Perhaps a problem in our culture today is many people’s lack of respect, fear, or love for anything or anybody.

          You know I remember one time, when I was about twelve that I back talked to my father Ken at his house in Illinois. Let’s just say, I never did this again. I had a fear of my father. I did not worry that my dad was going shoot me, or beat me to a pulp, or anything like this, but I had a fear of him. You see he had rules, boundaries, and demanded love and respect. In fact, I found that if I followed the rules of my father’s house, than he was kind, he loved me, he was generous, he was just, and he would give me every good thing. Much like prodigal son, if I came back to father’s house broken and with nothing, I would hope that as I walked down his street, that he would run to me, put a ring on my finger, shoes on my feet, a cloak on my back, a fatted calf would be eaten for dinner, and a celebration would be had. I doubt this would happen though, if I was rude, disrespectful, and did not fear my father.

          In the very same way, my step-father would do the very same thing for me. In fact, I remember him telling me a couple of years ago, “I know that you love and respect me Paul, and everything I have is yours if you need it.”

          You see Jesus was teaching us that we need to fear God in this morning’s Gospel reading. Much like many of us respected our own fathers, many of us might also be able to say something like, “my father was strict, but he was fair, he was kind, he was generous.” Not everybody can say this about their fathers though, as some feel that they did not have good fathers, or some further, might have not grown up with fathers in their lives. Yet out heavenly father is perfect, is just, loves you, and wants to be your eternal father.

          So this I tell you, if we fear or respect God, it is truly the path to blessing and wholeness. Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”

I would like to close this morning’s service with reading to you “God’s Cover Letter.” Yes my brothers and sisters, this does in fact assume that God is seeking employment. Let me read you know the cover letter of God, which would go along with his resume of course. Here it is:

To Whom It May Concern....

I heard you were considering a new manager for your life. I would like to apply for the job. I believe I am the most qualified candidate applying. I am the only one that has ever done this job successfully. I was the first manager of life. In fact, I made all lives, so naturally I know how humanity works, and what is best to get people back into proper working condition. Hiring me will be exactly like having the manufacturer as your personal mechanic.

If this is your first time considering me, I would just like to point out that my salary has already been paid by my son, Jesus on the cross of Calvary. This salary covers the time prior to my hiring as well as my present and future employment. If you decide to hire me I will need to receive from you an acknowledgment that you erred in not hiring me sooner. I understand this is a strange requirement, but since you violated the manufacturer's warrantee by placing your being under inferior management, this is a necessary prerequisite to my engagement.

Lastly, I will require a carte blanche (a blank check) to reorganizing and managing your life. I intend to make some major changes and revisions. They are not for you to worry about. I need your permission to execute these changes, My way and in My time. I will establish new goals and objectives and restructure your life to meet these requirements. Please keep your hands out of the way. Don't try to help me and don't resist me and we will get along fine. I really do need your full commitment and cooperation in this. If you give me those, the process of getting your life back to manufacturer's intentions can go smoothly, without delays. I assure you: you will be pleased with the outcome.

I will require a verbal contract to all these stipulations in the presence of witnesses.

Yours

Sincerely, GOD

P.S. I created the heavens and the earth. I AM.

          “Do we fear God” my brothers and sisters? Or would we rather be the managers of our lives? Do we really believe that we can live with no love, no respect, and no devotion for anybody or anything? Loving and respecting God is the path to wisdom. When we love and respect our heavenly father, he will bless us, and we will be filled. I don’t about you my brothers and sisters, but I fear God, do you? I bring this message to you in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 10/13/13 Sermon - “We are a people of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles”

Sunday 10/13/13 FUMC/HAUMC UMC’s

Sermon Title: “We are a people of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 66:1-12                           

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 2 Timothy 2:8-15                                      

Gospel Lesson: Luke 17:11-19

                            

          Hello and welcome my brothers and sisters on this the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. Pentecost, that day that so long ago that the church was born, and the Holy Spirit filled the early followers of Jesus Christ. When this happened, the apostles and other Christians went out and preached the Gospel of the Risen Lord. Not only this, they became a people of “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.”

In fact, in the Apostle Paul’s letter or Epistle to the Hebrews 2:3-4, he said, “how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles,” not only performed by Jesus Christ our Lord, but also performed by the people early church, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

This can be seen heavily in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles, or the Book of Acts, as we often call it. This book tells the story of the early church and the Apostles.  In this book, the Apostle Peter raised Tabitha from the dead in Acts 9:40-42. The scripture says, “But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles,” all throughout the Bible, people getting healed, hearts being mended, the dead rising to life. Of course Jesus performed many miracles, and his followers through his power and the power of the Holy Spirit, also performed many miracles.

Even so, so many people have argued that in the present day that these miracles no longer occur. They say that Jesus performed miracles, they may even may even say that Jesus’ early followers performed miracles, but certainly they don’t believe that miracles still occur today. Such people in the present day attribute amazing occurrences to luck, to science alone, or simply try to pass off such things with whatever rationalization that they can think of at the time. Do miracles still occur in the present day though? Do miracles still occur today?

For many people that have ever held a new born baby, or seen a sunset over-looking an ocean, they are connected to God and his miracles that all around us. If someone is critically ill or in pain though, and then they are suddenly well again, how are we to explain this? How are we to explain such a phenomena that has doctors, scientists, and all manor scholarly people saying, “I have no reasonable explanation for what happened here?” Now I am sure many presumed miracles can be explained with science, reason, and other things, but once and awhile things happen, that I would identify as a miracle. As one definition says, a miracle “is an event not ascribable to human power or the laws of nature and consequently attributed to a supernatural, especially divine, agency.”

This means the very hand of God reaching down, healing, saying, and doing indescribable things. The Holy Spirit of God moving as it will, and people are healed, the blind can see, and the lame can walk. Now once again there will always be hoaxes, or miracles that were over stated, but I as your pastor, believe in “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.” Do you believe in them? Do you believe that it is possible for someone to be healed by God’s people calling upon the power of the Holy Spirit?

The Apostle Paul reminded young Timothy from the reading this morning, that if we are truly faithful, than we will “reign” with God. Luke tells us 10-lepers, which was a terrible disease of skins sores, deformity, losing limbs, and sometimes death, saw Jesus. As Jesus entered a village these 10-lepers then approached him, and cried out for healing and mercy. Jesus healed them, and told them to show the priests in the Synagogue that they were healed. Yet one of the Lepers went back to Jesus. He fell at the feet of the Lord, and thanked him, for he believed in Jesus. Jesus was pleased with his faith, and then sent the man off, telling him that his faith has made him well.

I have found in my own life that sometimes God choses to heal people, and sometimes healing doesn’t come. Instead sometimes people get worse or even die. In struggling with this reality, I heard an older pastor who has struggled with this reality speak once. I remember him saying, “Isn’t death, the ultimate form of healing? For when someone who believes dies, they are in no more pain, and they are with the Lord.” I have heard stories of people passing on to be with the Lord in glory with such peace, as if they knew that this was God’s plan all along.

Yet for some of us, we will be healed in the here and the now. Of course in our selfishness, we always want people to be healed in the here and the now. When we call upon the Holy Spirit for healing then, we are asking God to heal in the here and the now. Sometimes he does, yet sometimes he does not. Yet we pray for healing, restoration, revitalization, and to be made whole, as Jesus healed and restored many. That Jesus empowered the early church to heal others in this name. Further, that Jesus Christ has given us his authority and Spirit even today, so that we may perform miracles in the here and the now. I once saw a t-shirt that said, “Sometimes God performs miracles, the rest of the time he sends me.” I think that sometimes God also performs miracles, by using you and me.

In the book or letter of James 5:14, it says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” I take this scripture very seriously my brothers and sisters. In fact, even in this past week, I have visited people in different hospitals, and in doing so I anointed there head with this oil, in the sign of the cross. I called upon the Spirit of God to descend like a dove and to heal, restore, and fill such persons. You see as I heard a pastor say once, “Doctors treat, but God heals.”

In taking this seriously, I would like offer the invitation during the postlude of the service today, that if anyone would like me to pray with them, to anoint there head with oil, and to call upon the Spirit of the Lord, that I will gladly do so. Don’t we all need healing brothers and sisters? Are we all not broken?

Since I am talking about “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles” this morning, I would like to tell a couple of stories about such “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.”

Here is a story from Annette Burvick called Glory to God. Annette writes, “I have been smoking since I was nine years old and will be 50 this year. I also became an alcoholic upon the passing of my mother in 1996. I recently became aware of the fact that if I kept going at the pace I was going, I wouldn’t last much longer. My husband also a smoker and drinker was facing the same dilemma as I. We both are avid believers in the Lord and his miracle workings. We said a prayer one day asking the Lord to deliver us from our inequities so that we could be good stewards for him and his works.”

“It will be one month on May 10th of no smoking or drinking after quitting cold turkey. There has been no withdrawals what so ever in my 40 years of smoking and I give all the glory to GOD for loving me enough to give me a chance at a new life.  It even seems the aging of my body from the smoking and drinking is disappearing and a more youthful me is appearing.

My husband and I have begun working out together and we read the word two times a day. I am truly thankful of my Lord and Savior for his mercies. Thank you Lord for giving your only begotten son for a wretch like me.”  Praise God!

Here is a story by Terri Flowers. This story is about how, “just after losing her mother to cancer, Terri was diagnosed with a terminal form of lung cancer. In the midst of exhausting treatments, Terri decides it's time to bring Jesus into her life. Friends, family and Christians throughout the nation join in prayer with Terri, until one day she receives an amazing report -- her lungs are totally cancer free!” Praise God!

Now let me tell you a couple of my own stories. I was on a Christian spiritual retreat weekend, where my beautiful wife is this weekend. On this weekend, one of the men approached me and said, “Pastor Paul I have a lot of back problems. In fact, despite much medical attention, my back hurts, and seems to be getting worse.” He then said, “Pastor, can you pray for me.” In that moment, I called together all the men, of this all men retreat, I sat this man in chair, anointed his head with oil, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All the men and me then laid hands upon him, and we prayed for probably 5-10-minutes calling upon the Spirit of almighty God to reach down and heal this man. When this weekend was coming to close, this man got up at the pulpit in our closing worship service, and said his back had felt better than it had in years. He then looked right at me in front of the whole church, and said thank you for praying for me pastor, it made all the difference. In that moment tears flowed out of me, as I felt the grace and love abundantly flowing in the church.

On another such all men’s Walk to Emmaus spiritual retreat weekend, we had a very troubled Vietnam War veteran on the weekend. This man took numerous medications, had countless health problems, was exposed to Agent Orange, and reported that he was still haunted by the horrors he had seen in the war. He said that he was a “tunnel rat,” or one of the soldiers that were responsible for finding communist enemy soldiers that were hiding under the service in tunnels. He said he saw more things in those few years, than anyone should see in a whole life time.

That night we had a healing service, and the pastor anointed his head with oil, and then we put hands upon him as the Bible says, and prayer for this man. As we prayed more and more, the man began weeping, and then crying severally. He seemed plagued by the horrors that he had experience in the jungles of Southern Vietnam. We then shortly after all went to bed, and our beloved and troubled veteran went to sleep. We noticed that he fell asleep rather quickly. The next morning as we were gathering for morning prayers, the man stood up, with tears flowing down his face, and said my brothers, last night was the first full night of sleep I have gotten in over 37-years. This weekend occurred about 4-5 years ago.

I then called this man after the weekend, and he told me, “Paul, it as if God has let me forgive myself, and has healed me.” He said, “I feel like I have a second chance in life.”

“Signs, Wonders, and Miracles,” my brothers and sisters. Did they only happen in the days of Jesus, or do they happen even now, every day, all over the world? Ask yourself right now, do you need healing? Are you sick, are you broken, are you feeling like you are at the end of your rope? If so, let the elders of the church lay hands upon you, and I will anoint you with oil, and we will pray for healing together. Healing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Praise be to God!

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 10/06/13 Sermon - “Encountering the Holy Spirit” (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 5 of 5)

Sunday 10/06/12 FUMC/HAUMC UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Encountering the Holy Spirit”

     (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 5 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 137                           

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 2 Timothy 1:1-14                                      

Gospel Lesson: Luke 17:5-10

                            

          Hello and welcome my brothers and sisters on this the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit moved, and the Christian Church was born. In addition to this being the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, this is also World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday is celebrated by many Christian Churches on the first Sunday in October every year, to promote unity and love among all Christian Churches. So when we partake of the Lord’s Table on this morning, let us remember that we do so while many of our brothers and sisters worldwide do so and well. For we are all one in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

          It might be said then, that on this World Communion Sunday, that we united in the Spirit. Spirit, that word we hear so often in church. Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity, which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You see we so often in church, here about the Holy Spirit, yet how many of us truly experience the Holy Spirit? Some of us might say, “Well Pastor, what do you mean by experiencing or encountering the Holy Spirit?” To this I would say, “That this is not just the mere believing of the Holy Spirit in your head, but that it is experiencing the Holy Spirit in your heart.” That the Holy Spirit is the guiding force of the church, is our passion, and is our way to be filled by God. We accept God the Father, we are saved by Jesus Christ, and we are then filled and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

          The Holy Spirit is so important in fact, that when you come into many towns or cities, you see signs for the United Methodist Church in that town or city that says, “Catch the Spirit.” Has anyone here every seen these signs in entering towns or cities? Some might wonder, we what does “Catch the Spirit” mean?

          For me my brothers and sisters, I can say with the greatest of certainty that not only do I believe in God, not only do I accept Jesus the Son as my savior, and not only do I believe in the Holy Spirit, but I have also felt the Holy Spirit. Some that have never encountered the Holy Spirit have asked me what such an encounter of this sort is like. I tell them it is like sinking into a warm and soothing bath on a cold and blistering night. It is like a low level warmth and a peace that surges through your body that gives you unbelievable calm and peace. You see, I not only believe in the Holy Spirit, I have encountered the Holy Spirit! I not only believe in our God in three persons, I have felt God. I experience God mentally, emotionally, and in the depths of my spirit.

          For many of us we look at the state of churches in the present day, and we say, “why are many of our churches shrinking in size?” To me, among many other reasons, some of our churches are shrinking because in many of our churches I worry that we worship a biune or two-sided God not triune or three-sided God. By this I mean, in most churches in America we hear often of the Father and the Son, but many of our churches have a glorified absence of the Holy Spirit. We then teach and worship only two sides of trinity triangle, the Father and Son, and we leave out the Spirit. Some people might say, “Well why do we need the Spirit in worship anyway?”

          The answer to this is that without the Holy Spirit, we have nothing. We can believe in our heads, but if we do not have the affirmation and the Spirit flowing through our hearts and souls, we are like a dead tree. Sure we can go through the motions of faith and look alive, but we have nothing, as we are dead without the Spirit.

          With the Spirit though, then faith “the size of a mustard seed” can grow into a mighty tree. When we call upon the Spirit, it fills us; we are strengthened, we are filled, and we are given the spiritual power and energy to build the kingdom of Jesus Christ. You see Jesus said that we can increase our faith, even with faith “the size of a mustard seed,” and this requires the calling upon of the Holy Spirit. That when we call upon the Spirit of the living God, that he can take what little faith we have, and grow that faith into a might tree, that is powerful, abundant, and sets this church and this community spiritually on fire for Jesus Christ!

          Some of us, like me sometimes lift a hand or two during worship. You might say when I do this, “Is Pastor Paul waving to me?” Or if we were to have two hands us, than what does that mean. You see two hands raised in the air, is the universal sign of surrender. When we, the people of God surrender to him, and call upon the Holy Spirit to fill us, we are fully vulnerable, and trusting in the Lord. We then call upon the Holy Spirit to fill us. When put a hand or two in the air in worship we are surrendering to God, and calling upon the Holy Spirit, so that we as our United Methodist Church signs say, “Catch the Spirit.”

          For some of my friends that I attended college with though, who were in fraternities, I don’t think that they were lifting their hands to surrender to the Lord. They might have been lifting their hands, as the police were raiding there beer filled party. In fact, to reference the movie “Animal House,” I think that some of my Fraternity friends from college might still be on “Double Secret Probation.”

          On this morning then, have we encountered the Holy Spirit? Have we ever felt that warm, soothing, peaceful, and joyous feeling of the Spirit of God filling us? Some of us might say, “No that has never happened to me.” For some, they wonder if this is ever going to happen.

Yet did you know that the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley was an ordained and practicing priest in the Church of England early on in his ministry, and that he had never encountered the Holy Spirit. In addition to this, John’s brother Charles Wesley had encountered the Holy Spirit before he did. John and Charles were known to be a little competitive, like typical brothers are at times. Some think that John Wesley might have been upset when Charles had encountered the Holy Spirit in fact. Perhaps John thought, “well why does Charles get to encounter the Holy Spirit and I don’t?” Sibling rivalry can be great can’t it?

          Shortly after Charles Wesley encountered the Holy Spirit, the joy that filled his mind, his body, and his soul was so overwhelming that he wrote the hymn “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” You see Charles Wesley was so filled with the Holy Spirit, and so overwhelmed with the joy, love, and the peace of God, that he said, oh should a thousand tongues sing of the greatness of the Holy Spirit.  

          Maybe the first time that John Wesley heard this hymn he said, “Yeah great Charles, whatever!” John Wesley even went on a missionary trip to Georgia in early 1730’s that was mostly a miserable failure. It was a failure though, because something was missing from his faith and his ministry. This thing was the Holy Spirit. John Wesley then returned back to London England after this missionary trip, convinced that he was a failure in ministry. John Wesley further, felt utterly broken and thought that he was done as a minister and an evangelist. God however, was not done with his young Methodist, John Wesley.

As it turned out, on May 24, 1738 John Wesley has his famous Aldersgate Experience. Has anyone ever heard the name Aldersgate? One our United Methodist Church camps in the Adirondacks is called “Camp Aldersgate.” We have many other places named Aldersgate this and Aldersgate that. This name is all connected to the first time that John Wesley experienced or encountered the Holy Spirit.

Here is the story of what happened on May 24, 1738 direct from John Wesley’s personal journal. The entry is called “I Felt My Heart Strangely Warmed.” Here it is, “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

“I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested, “This cannot be faith; for where is thy joy?” Then was I taught that peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation; but that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth, them according to the counsels of His own will.”

“After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.”

Then the next in his personal journal John Wesley has this entry, “Thursday, 25.—The moment I awakened, “Jesus, Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him and my soul waiting on Him continually. Being again at St. Paul’s in the afternoon, I could taste the good word of God in the anthem which began, “My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: with my mouth will I ever be showing forth thy truth from one generation to another.” Yet the enemy injected a fear, “If thou dost believe, why is there not a more sensible change? I answered (yet not I), “That I know not. But, this I know, I have ‘now peace with God.’ And I sin not today, and Jesus my Master has forbidden me to take thought for the morrow.”

          So why do our United Methodist Church signs say, “Catch the Spirit” then? They say this because without the Spirit, we are dead wood, as John Wesley himself was dead wood, until he encountered the Holy Spirit. After John Wesley did encounter the Holy Spirit though, he then went on to be used by God to move the hearts and mind of millions of people. You see people like John Wesley, Bill Graham, and many others first believed, but the power of the Holy Spirit enabled them to grow from a little mustard seed, to might mighty servants of the most high God.

          On this morning then my brothers and sisters, let us seek to encounter the Holy Spirit, maybe for the first time, or maybe anew. If we are to truly to revive the greatness of Christianity in this great land, we need and must have the Holy Spirit. So when we get to our closing hymn this morning, “I Surrender All,” consider what surrendering all to God means. Consider calling upon the Holy Spirit to fill you on this morning, so that we may all have our own Aldersgate experiences. I bring this message to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and or course, the Holy Spirit. Amen.