(no subject)
for those of you that missed it, heres my sermon from sunday.
4/30/06
"Faith."
Paul once told the Galatians that the only thing that counts anymore is faith expressing itself through love.
How do we accomplish that? Express faith through the love in our hearts. What is faith? And how much of it do we have to give in order to attain his love?
I think that faith is the last tear of peace left inside of us when death has taken those dearest to us and all of the blood that previously flowed freely through our veins slows to a crawl, as we sit, broken, wondering why. But having that little bit inside of ourselves that keeps reminding us peace and love continue to conquer men daily, and we are no different.
I think faith is what makes your heart cry tears of thankfulness when you sit by the water on those summer afternoons and a soft breeze rustles through your hair, sending chills down your back as if God was right behind you. And although the sunset is more beautiful than you could even imagine, you close your eyes, just to fully embrace the way that Jesus has cradled you in his arms. And the faith that stems from your soul slowly changes to love, as what you have built up inside of yourself is irreclaimable.
…this is true faith…
…this is true love…
Nothing could ever be greater.
However, it takes all of us to attain this faith. All of us, as in, all that we have inside of ourselves. Because if we continue to offer ourselves to the things in this life, what do we have left to give to our God? The one who has given us everything. If we continue to walk on the wide road, how can we expect to follow the paths of the Lord? Every word we speak, every step we take should be taken with the father in heart. Because WE are nothing. WE are one of countless others around us. But what we CAN be is what matters. What we can accomplish, what we can love is what is felt. Because through love, we are the gasps through which he exhales his glory.
I love this church. The faith the exists in this room seems to pour from every person present today, and the smiles that we exchange will always be rooted in my heart. There is a line in the French novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo that I read one time and St. Simon Peter's bright red doors instantly jumped into mind. Hugo writes:
"This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any corner if he has a name, but whether he has an affliction…you have left a place of suffering. But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant sinner than over the white robes of a hundred good men. If you are leaving that sorrowful place with hate and anger against men, you are worthy of compassion; of you are leaving it with goodwill, gentleness and peace, you are better than any of us. Liberation is not deliverance."
I look at the world as that sorrowful place the priest speaks of, and I know at times it can take a toll on all of us. I know it can wear us down and break us apart. And we often find ourselves in spots that seem to be the last place on earth we would have chosen ourselves to be. And although we constantly try and remind ourselves that the Lord is here with us, there are times when we just simply lose heart. Times when we get impatient waiting for the sun to shine again, and our praise slowly starts to turn into question, and from question to despair. Why has God abandoned us? The God that once prized us as his own…
We must remember that although we are crippled in darkness, He is there. He is light. And if you candidly hold up that faith in the loneliest moments of life, you may find the stars will eventually start to shine through the night once again. Shining with comfort, and newness of life. Because we are not promised celestial housing, but we are promised His presence. Hold fast to what you have attained, seeing that we rejoice in our sufferings. For we know that suffering produces perseverance, Perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us. Because God has poured out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which he has given us.
I understand that life, a lot of times, gets unfair, unreasonable and difficult. But when it all seems so shattered, and we cry aloud, screaming in our sorrow about the evil that seems to take charge in the world, think back. Think back and say to Jesus, blood dripping from his scalp, side gashed, tears falling, and hands nailed to wood, all for you. You sitting there, trying to grasp the wickedness that was present that day, remind him of how unfair this world is. Of how unreasonable and difficult it can become.
I have a feeling he may tend to agree.
Robert Schuller summed it up one time when he said
"Tough times never last. Tough people do."
I ask you to open wide your arms to the love of Christ. Let him speak to your hearts as he has spoken to countless others. If a friend is someone who sees straight through you, and still enjoys the view, then how can we turn our backs on such a beautiful salvation? This isn’t about life changing moments, but rather everyday living. God told the Corinthians "I have spoken freely to you, and opened wide my heart to you. I am not withholding my affection from you, but you are withholding yours from me. As a fair exchange-I speak to my children-open wide your hearts also." Come to God with a compassionate spirit. Let love express itself into the faith which he deserves.
Paul goes on in Galatians to express how just a little yeast works through a whole batch of dough…its like, when we come up with these bizarre offerings to Jesus, these strange prayers as if He were our servant or something. We tend to throw a bunch of jumbled up words out there and plaster the word "praise" on them. We quickly throw away our momentarily appreciative moments with the father and turn our heads back into the direction of sin; and sometimes we don’t even truly acknowledge the blessings we have been given in a presentable way.
Psalm 50 puts it this way:
"I do not rebuke you for you sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle of a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
It's like God saying "I don’t find fault with your singing of songs, but do you think I am in great need of music? Do you think its too quiet where I am? Did I not hum the melodies of worship into your hearts before you were even born? Do you think I'm in great need of hearing these songs that were my breathings in the first place?"
But still, we argue. "Songs=praise, right?" I think their more like burnt offerings. But the good news is that God doesn't find fault with our singing of songs. In fact, they are some of the most beautiful expressions of praise existent. But often times they can become nothing more than ritual. And that is when worship loses what it is meant to be. That’s when we lose heart. When you sing your songs out of meaninglessness rather than appreciation, that’s when the colour that fills our music fades, and when the thanksgiving that rises to heaven starts to fall.
What is your yeast? Is it love? Or is it repetition? Is it praise? Or is it nothing more than a burnt sacrifice to our lord?
Whatever it may be, work to mold you yeast into faith and compassion. Work to paint the world from coffee black and egg white to vibrant strokes of red and yellow and green and blue. Express the gratification that you have freely received through your actions, and let it stem from the center of your heart to those around you.
Praise isn’t something we do, its something we are. Therefore, let it shine and surround us. And even stronger faith will extend from that thanksgiving. Faith, expressed through love. Because the joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.
God is always here. Always present. We are the ones who lose heart. We are the ones who put ourselves and our priorities first, and give God the leftovers from our day as we lay in bed at night. Its like, when we sit in silence, having our quiet time in the morning, and the only thing we hear is the ticking of the clock as the minutes pass by…
And when we walk in the same room later that afternoon with the television on and radio playing, do we hear the clock? Where is it? Where did go? Why cant we hear the tick tock like we did before…?
Just as the clock never stops ticking, God never leaves us. He always stands firm,
waiting for us to acknowledge Him. The clock is always there. It was here years before you were born, and will keep on ticking years after you're gone. How can we expect to find salvation if we never look? What kind of feeble faith do we have when every time we enter a quiet room we turn on the T.V. before we listen for the clock. What kind of love do we possess of we constantly ask Jesus to speak to us, but never take the time to listen?
Strengthen yourself. Strengthen your heart through Christ. Let Psalms of salvation flow freely from your lips.
"I've thrown myself headlong into your arms-
I'm celebrating your rescue.
I'm singing at the top of my lungs.
I am so full of answered prayer."
…
"Now faith is being certain of what we hope for, and sure of what we cannot see."
Faith expresses itself. Period. Faith is love. Faith is what we hold in our hearts so dearly, not to wear on our sleeve, but rather to remind ourselves that in the end, all that’s left is love. Love that was expressed through faith in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
4/30/06
"Faith."
Paul once told the Galatians that the only thing that counts anymore is faith expressing itself through love.
How do we accomplish that? Express faith through the love in our hearts. What is faith? And how much of it do we have to give in order to attain his love?
I think that faith is the last tear of peace left inside of us when death has taken those dearest to us and all of the blood that previously flowed freely through our veins slows to a crawl, as we sit, broken, wondering why. But having that little bit inside of ourselves that keeps reminding us peace and love continue to conquer men daily, and we are no different.
I think faith is what makes your heart cry tears of thankfulness when you sit by the water on those summer afternoons and a soft breeze rustles through your hair, sending chills down your back as if God was right behind you. And although the sunset is more beautiful than you could even imagine, you close your eyes, just to fully embrace the way that Jesus has cradled you in his arms. And the faith that stems from your soul slowly changes to love, as what you have built up inside of yourself is irreclaimable.
…this is true faith…
…this is true love…
Nothing could ever be greater.
However, it takes all of us to attain this faith. All of us, as in, all that we have inside of ourselves. Because if we continue to offer ourselves to the things in this life, what do we have left to give to our God? The one who has given us everything. If we continue to walk on the wide road, how can we expect to follow the paths of the Lord? Every word we speak, every step we take should be taken with the father in heart. Because WE are nothing. WE are one of countless others around us. But what we CAN be is what matters. What we can accomplish, what we can love is what is felt. Because through love, we are the gasps through which he exhales his glory.
I love this church. The faith the exists in this room seems to pour from every person present today, and the smiles that we exchange will always be rooted in my heart. There is a line in the French novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo that I read one time and St. Simon Peter's bright red doors instantly jumped into mind. Hugo writes:
"This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any corner if he has a name, but whether he has an affliction…you have left a place of suffering. But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant sinner than over the white robes of a hundred good men. If you are leaving that sorrowful place with hate and anger against men, you are worthy of compassion; of you are leaving it with goodwill, gentleness and peace, you are better than any of us. Liberation is not deliverance."
I look at the world as that sorrowful place the priest speaks of, and I know at times it can take a toll on all of us. I know it can wear us down and break us apart. And we often find ourselves in spots that seem to be the last place on earth we would have chosen ourselves to be. And although we constantly try and remind ourselves that the Lord is here with us, there are times when we just simply lose heart. Times when we get impatient waiting for the sun to shine again, and our praise slowly starts to turn into question, and from question to despair. Why has God abandoned us? The God that once prized us as his own…
We must remember that although we are crippled in darkness, He is there. He is light. And if you candidly hold up that faith in the loneliest moments of life, you may find the stars will eventually start to shine through the night once again. Shining with comfort, and newness of life. Because we are not promised celestial housing, but we are promised His presence. Hold fast to what you have attained, seeing that we rejoice in our sufferings. For we know that suffering produces perseverance, Perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us. Because God has poured out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which he has given us.
I understand that life, a lot of times, gets unfair, unreasonable and difficult. But when it all seems so shattered, and we cry aloud, screaming in our sorrow about the evil that seems to take charge in the world, think back. Think back and say to Jesus, blood dripping from his scalp, side gashed, tears falling, and hands nailed to wood, all for you. You sitting there, trying to grasp the wickedness that was present that day, remind him of how unfair this world is. Of how unreasonable and difficult it can become.
I have a feeling he may tend to agree.
Robert Schuller summed it up one time when he said
"Tough times never last. Tough people do."
I ask you to open wide your arms to the love of Christ. Let him speak to your hearts as he has spoken to countless others. If a friend is someone who sees straight through you, and still enjoys the view, then how can we turn our backs on such a beautiful salvation? This isn’t about life changing moments, but rather everyday living. God told the Corinthians "I have spoken freely to you, and opened wide my heart to you. I am not withholding my affection from you, but you are withholding yours from me. As a fair exchange-I speak to my children-open wide your hearts also." Come to God with a compassionate spirit. Let love express itself into the faith which he deserves.
Paul goes on in Galatians to express how just a little yeast works through a whole batch of dough…its like, when we come up with these bizarre offerings to Jesus, these strange prayers as if He were our servant or something. We tend to throw a bunch of jumbled up words out there and plaster the word "praise" on them. We quickly throw away our momentarily appreciative moments with the father and turn our heads back into the direction of sin; and sometimes we don’t even truly acknowledge the blessings we have been given in a presentable way.
Psalm 50 puts it this way:
"I do not rebuke you for you sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle of a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
It's like God saying "I don’t find fault with your singing of songs, but do you think I am in great need of music? Do you think its too quiet where I am? Did I not hum the melodies of worship into your hearts before you were even born? Do you think I'm in great need of hearing these songs that were my breathings in the first place?"
But still, we argue. "Songs=praise, right?" I think their more like burnt offerings. But the good news is that God doesn't find fault with our singing of songs. In fact, they are some of the most beautiful expressions of praise existent. But often times they can become nothing more than ritual. And that is when worship loses what it is meant to be. That’s when we lose heart. When you sing your songs out of meaninglessness rather than appreciation, that’s when the colour that fills our music fades, and when the thanksgiving that rises to heaven starts to fall.
What is your yeast? Is it love? Or is it repetition? Is it praise? Or is it nothing more than a burnt sacrifice to our lord?
Whatever it may be, work to mold you yeast into faith and compassion. Work to paint the world from coffee black and egg white to vibrant strokes of red and yellow and green and blue. Express the gratification that you have freely received through your actions, and let it stem from the center of your heart to those around you.
Praise isn’t something we do, its something we are. Therefore, let it shine and surround us. And even stronger faith will extend from that thanksgiving. Faith, expressed through love. Because the joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.
God is always here. Always present. We are the ones who lose heart. We are the ones who put ourselves and our priorities first, and give God the leftovers from our day as we lay in bed at night. Its like, when we sit in silence, having our quiet time in the morning, and the only thing we hear is the ticking of the clock as the minutes pass by…
And when we walk in the same room later that afternoon with the television on and radio playing, do we hear the clock? Where is it? Where did go? Why cant we hear the tick tock like we did before…?
Just as the clock never stops ticking, God never leaves us. He always stands firm,
waiting for us to acknowledge Him. The clock is always there. It was here years before you were born, and will keep on ticking years after you're gone. How can we expect to find salvation if we never look? What kind of feeble faith do we have when every time we enter a quiet room we turn on the T.V. before we listen for the clock. What kind of love do we possess of we constantly ask Jesus to speak to us, but never take the time to listen?
Strengthen yourself. Strengthen your heart through Christ. Let Psalms of salvation flow freely from your lips.
"I've thrown myself headlong into your arms-
I'm celebrating your rescue.
I'm singing at the top of my lungs.
I am so full of answered prayer."
…
"Now faith is being certain of what we hope for, and sure of what we cannot see."
Faith expresses itself. Period. Faith is love. Faith is what we hold in our hearts so dearly, not to wear on our sleeve, but rather to remind ourselves that in the end, all that’s left is love. Love that was expressed through faith in Jesus Christ.
Amen.