Galatians 2
Throughout the the weeks and months. We are opening with the song Come Thou Almighty King. And so I welcome you to come into the presence of the Lord this morning and worship with us Come Thou Almighty King.
How old are all the time now in guarded by words except.
call me by Sacred Heart now ruling in every heart and great one in three and
Auburn.
Amen, it's just a great way to start that and I think Lori for coming up with the song of the months that we can just really sing every week and have it ingrained into us so that we have those words of Praise with us throughout our days. So welcome to Hope Church. We are glad you are here and whatever way you are here whether you are online or here in the room. We are glad that you are here. And we want you to connect with us in all kinds of ways. If you're watching us on Facebook. We also have a YouTube channel. I encourage you to check that out. There's various videos put up there periodically. This week There's I didn't put a playlist out this week, but I'm back together with the good news gang, which is a group of clergy friends that we get together and and just talked about various topics during Advent. We talked about our favorite Christmas songs, and why and some of the history behind those songs. And so that playlist is out there on the good news gang channel. So I encourage you to to check that out on YouTube as well. we last week started a new series that were calling wrestling beyond the pulpit and we have a wrestling theme song and we threw around all kinds of crazy Mix Sports metaphors and we just have a good time in in wrestling topics that we might not have time to get into in the pulpit and this last week we wrestled with the controversial topic of women in the Pulpit. So I encourage those or I I think those that have always encouraged me to follow my call into the pulpit and if that's something you struggle with I encourage you to check out that that video it does run a little longer. hope to it's almost an hour, but we we have fun with it. And I think you'll have fun with it too. And it is we intend for it to be a conversation starter. So check that out. Also, check out our website Hastings. Hope umc.org you can find us there. You can give through there a thank you for your faithful giving to keep our Ministries going during this time. As we continue in worship. I just want to lift up a couple of prayer request. As I said last week we had some members on the brink of going home and two of them did indeed go home over during the the past week. So Larry plant and Kathleen beduhn both met with Jesus over the last week. And so I encourage you to keep those families in your prayers as they navigate this grief Journey. The memorial services will be later in the year when we can safely gather, but it is important to to journey through that grief now so gather safely as you can to do that also the Jim and Joanne christensen's daughter Jamie died on Wednesday, and that memorial service is next Saturday in Elkhart, Indiana. So if you could keep the christensen's in your prayers as well, that would be appreciate it. So, let's go to the Lord in prayer as we open this this time of worship. Lord we thank you for the opportunity to gather and whatever way that we can whether we are gathering digitally. Or here in the room. We just thank you for that opportunity to set everything aside set it aside for just a few minutes to just be in communion with Others others that are like-minded it is so important that we continue to gather together and whatever that might look like. So we thank you for that Lord. We thank you for being able to project. Digitally out into the world and we ask that those that need to hear what you would have to say here it and that those of us that are speaking with say what you would have us to say. We lift our our grieving families up to you Lord that they might find comfort in your grace.
And we we know that there are others that are grieving in this time. And we just live those up to you is as well Lord be with us as we put all of that we do up to you and then your glory and it is in your name that we pray.
Will continue worshiping and song with this gentle Shepherd.
Gentle Shepherd come and help us find our way.
Goodwill, shut up
your strength from day-to-day.
balls Play song
We need you to help us find our way.
Amen, I do pray that the gentle Shepherd will help us find our way in these. coming days
Sorry is it take notes is the phrase team returns to their seats then? Masks up just grateful for this big room where we can gather. Not everybody has that opportunity. And and in these days, when were I'd like to call it physically distance because we need to be socially together. And so I'm just so grateful for this big space where we can be together socially while being physically distant.
And also that we have the opportunity to to send what we do out in this room out to the world and if you were watching online last week, you know that we had some difficulties. So I apologize for that and unfortunately part of the message was cut off. But hopefully you got the gist of it technology is great when it works.
The last week we spent some time with some thoughts from Matt Reynolds who is the founder and president of spirit and Truth the Wesley and minded Ministry and that stated that 20/20 is felt like a Wilderness moment in the church. But we know that God is always used Wilderness has to refine his people before being launched into Ministry. Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit Into the Wilderness for 40 days. And after his conversion Paul spent three years in the desert preparing for his Divine assignment. There were 40 years between the time Moses fled Egypt and the burning bush. Elijah heard the still Small Voice when he felt totally deserted and was alone in a cave. How's that for that for social distancing? He was alone in a cave Moses. Was 40 years. wandering around we've had not even a year yet Moses had 40. Paul spent three years in the desert preparing for his Divine assignment. Even Jesus went to the wilderness. Before embarking on his ministry. This time is nothing new. We've been in a Wilderness and is preparing us for something. We need to keep our eyes and our ears and I'll Parts open for what we're being prepared to do.
Any 6 weeks between the celebration of a new year and the beginning of Lent. We are delving into Paul's letter to the people of galatia six chapters over 6 weeks.
and last week we well I talked about this Crossroads where we now find ourselves this Crossroads between the Wilderness and what is to come. Reynolds said it like this. In politics, you hear a phrase often credited to Winston Churchill never let a good crisis go to waste.
And I would suggest in the scriptures. You see the truth that God never lets a good Wilderness go to waste we look at all of those Wilderness Times by those that have come before what good came out of that Wilderness time. And while the Wilderness was hard it came to something good. And this last year has been hard, but I firmly believe it will come to something good something great something that we aren't even expecting.
Matt in my hope for the church today. Is that rather than trying to clamor for what used to be that we would learn from this Wilderness experience and allow God to redeem our life together. So that we can all go together to the other side.
The church has indoor challenges during 20/20 unlike that we any of us have seen in our lifetimes no matter how old we are. How experienced we are in life.
And it would be a tragedy if we emerged from this Wilderness unchanged looking back to what once was.
It would be a tragedy.
To be looking back towards the slavery that we were wants under. slavery to Ritual or to our preferences
What are we going to do with this wilderness?
If there was ever a time to work on a church that you would like to be a part of this is it this is the time to start something new. But it's it's human nature when we're faced with a crisis too long for the familiar. I won't discount that. We we do we long for the familiar. We want to see these pews filled with our loved ones and not wearing masks so we can see each other's faces. I get that. We're all tired of seeing half of each other's faces.
Hello, you know. You can wear lipstick or not. If your if your guy if you want to explore that, you know, you're wearing a mask. So nobody will know.
But we've on for the familiar, but don't let's not let the the longing for the familiar hamper us and striving for something new.
Even though the past life of slavery was far from ideal when faced with the compounding wilderness.
And weariness even Egypt sounded good to the Israelites. So let's not let that be our response. Life in the church will never be the same. Our world is different. We are different and now is the time to make new decisions at this Crossroad. God wants to redeem this life this time in the life of his people and I am Confident of that. I am so confident about that. This Wilderness time will be used for. For great things so we we can't fight against this refining work. We're being refined in this time, and we can't go back. And as we look forward to the eventual end of this world shaping pandemic now is the time for fervent prayer. Prayers that we can come together that we can be unified and going forward. The family relationships will be healed. Friend relationships will be healed.
And that we can go forward looking for what God wants us to do. To make the hard decisions in to have the courageous leadership bolstered by the Holy Spirit.
And so this week we are in Chapter 2 of Paul's letter to the Galatians. And this is where the apostles accept Paul. And he starts out by saying then 14 years later. I went back to Jerusalem again this time with Barnabas and Titus came along to he went with friends. Good to do things together. I went there because God revealed to me that I should go and while I was there. I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message. I have been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement for fear that all my efforts have been wasted and I was running the race for nothing and they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumsized though. He was a gentile. Even that question came up only because of some so-called Believers their false ones really who were secretly brought in they sneaked into spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations, but we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the Gospel message for you and the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. By the way their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me for God has no favorites on with Paul on that one. God has no favorites. big or small great leader, or
Or common person God has no favorites. We are all called to be disciples.
Instead they saw that God has given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews for the same God who works for Peter's the Apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the Apostle to the Gentiles. In fact James Peter and John in the accepted Barnabas and be as their co-workers they encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles while they continue their work with the Jews. Split it up you go here. I'll go there. We're all preaching.
Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor which I have always been eager to do.
I'm a pain that one to always eager. This church has always been eager to help the poor what I love about this congregation is the mission mindedness the the willingness to reach out and help those who For whatever reason cannot help themselves in the moment. And I look forward to more of that and continuing to do that.
HIPAA started said 14 years later Paul returns to Jerusalem. What do you suppose he was doing in that time? He was preparing for what is to come. We already heard that at least three of those years were spent in the desert preparing. He was in the wilderness and he was preparing for this Journey of Faith through Grace. He was preparing for a confrontation with a fellow traveler on the journey because don't isn't there still always some confrontation. There's nothing new and Paul confronted Peter.
But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived he ate with the Gentile believers who are not circumcised circumcision was a big thing. Then it showed that you were following the law. But afterward when some friends of James came Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore. He abandoned his new friends. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision as a result other Jewish Believers followed Peters hypocrisy and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy when I saw that they were not following the truth of the Gospel message. I said to Peter in front of all the others since you a Jew by birth have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a gentile. Why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?
Paul called Peter to account because he was living as a people pleaser. He was hanging out with those. He was called to serve building relationships with them in and helping them to hear the good news, but then his Jewish buddy showed up and he acted like he didn't even know those Gentiles anymore.
Can you think of a time in your life when you've been like Peter?
Start to build a relationship.
Then other people questioned why you were hanging out with someone.
So you're banned in those relationships?
It is through relationship that we help people come to know Christ. But if we aren't willing to step into the gentle Waters of of these days and build those relationships because our Jewish or are already saved Christian friends will call us out then how will we ever reach people for Christ if we're talking to people who already know Christ How are we going to reach others for Christ? The ones that we are trying to reach our likely not sitting in this room or watching our our online presentation. According to a Barna survey 38% of us adult Christians do not have a single non-Christian friend or family member. Nearly 40% of us do not have a non-Christian friend or family member. We are only sitting with our Jewish friends.
We are only building relationships with those who already know Christ. How is that going to get the good news out to those that did not know Christ? If we're not eating with the Gentiles of the nine Christians, and how can we say that we're Disciples of Christ that were following the Great Commission to go. To go out into the world and preach the good news to everyone. not the 99 that are already in the pain, but the one the one who is missing How can we say that? We are Christians and we are following what God has asked us to do if we're not doing that.
That same burn a survey also found that 62% of lapsed and non-christians say that someone who listens without judgment would be the best person to talk with about faith.
So it's not just talking. It's listening. It's being that listening non-judgemental ear.
People don't necessarily want to want advice. They want to be heard. They want to know that you see them that you at least are trying to understand their experience.
And I'll also add to that that it's not walking away from a friendship because other Christians look down on it. Now I'm not saying that we need to go out and Corrales and bar hop and do all these activities and D of the world.
That's that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying look at your friend group. Strike Up friendships with those that aren't like you.
Paul goes on to say this you and I are Jews by birth not sinners like the Gentiles yet. We know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ not by obeying the law and we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ not because we have obeyed the law for no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ. And then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely, not rather. I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law. I already tore down for when I tried to keep the law. It condemned me. So I died to the law. I stopped trying to meet all these requirements so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer. I who live but Christ lives in me. So I live in this Earthly Body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God is meaningless for his keeping the law can make us right with God. Then there was no need for Christ to die.
It is not by being an absolute rule follower that we are made right with God.
For keeping the law could make us right with God and there was no need for Christ to die. Has a very convicting verse.
If we could follow all of the rules and there were over 600 of them in Jewish law if we could follow every single one of those to the letter then there was no reason for Jesus to die. But Jesus did die.
And it's by the living into that freely given grace of God.
That we are made, right? We live in these Earthly bodies trusting in the Son of God and helping others to do the same.
According to Craig Spooner of alpha USA non-Christian see the Christian way of life is extremely is extremists and no longer helpful to society. If that's the case and how can we get the good news into the ears of those who need to hear it? relationships and creating a sense of belonging within our Christian communities Craig went on to say we need to be intentional about building spaces for people outside the faith to feel like they belong in this community. Even if they don't yet believe we need to ask honest questions live Broken Live share thoughts and disagreement and explore face together. Whatever that might look like, what does that look like in the Hastings? Hope UMC community? What does it look like? Glad you asked.
We will have multiple opportunities in the coming weeks and months to build a community together not just in this building but online we can have a community online often times. People are Freer feel Freer to engage in and let down their guard because they're in the comfort of their own home. And so it can be easier to build that Community online a community that is welcoming and serves all the people. Christian or not?
And we're already doing some of that a lot of that. We have Family Promise upstairs.
And his many of you know, the Family Promise model relies on other churches is not just our church. In the typical model is the families are in our day Center during the day as the name implies and then at night they rotate through area churches a week at a time where they are saddened and house overnight will during this this pandemic time. We are again not on rotation. So, what does that mean? That means the host Church volunteers come here. They come here in the families are here 24/7. They they aren't in our downstairs this time around they are upstairs. We have two families.
And they are being served by Christians called to serve in and you don't have to be a Christian. To be a guest in the Family Promise organization.
And so we are serving and building relationships with those who might not yet know Christ and we're not doing it in a worship service. We're doing it by being servants.
We are starting a clothing pantry. Going slowly with that and so I will be asking in the coming days for help with that for someone to lead that to take up the charge to help those. Who might need clothes to wear but there's so much more to it than that and and sorting donations and all things that we can do if we need to be distanced. Then we can come in and help with that.
So huge Ministry in a huge opportunity that we have the shack in Delton, the manna's market in Lake Odessa. We don't have anything in the biggest municipality in this County. to give out clothes for free clean clothes that have been sorted.
wonderful opportunity to show the love of Christ
and it but it's not just this building that creates community and I will be calling on others that are comfortable with technology to help us build the online community. If you're watching us online, what will help you feel like you are part of this community.
I want to know.
So no matter who you are or whether you're a first-time listener, and there's no first-timers in the room, but if you're a first-time listener, or you're a lifetime member of Hope. This next step belongs to you. Why does know you are here? If you're in the room grab one of the the offering envelopes and you don't even have to put an offering it it just let us know you were here put a note on there.
Just say what you're going to do this week to build relationships. If you're watching us on Facebook put a comment in the the comment feed or send us a message through the messenger program. You're watching on YouTube. There's also a comment section or you can send us an email but we want to know that you're here that you're part of this community. And we will be building this up. As we strive for something new as we come out of this Wilderness into a whole new world. Will be building a brand new. Hope Community and I want all of us matter where you are how you're watching or listening to be a part of it. This is the first step in what will be an incredible journey in all incredible Journeys begin with one stuck the first
I'm choosing to look at this crisis as an opportunity. An opportunity to do something radically different to do have some radical Hospitality to show our community that they belong with us that we all belong together that we are leaving Egypt and we are not looking back. We are focusing on the road ahead while trusting in The Amazing Grace Grace that God has already provided through Jesus Christ.
For keeping the law. Are following what we already have been doing for years and years could make us right with God. Then there was no need for Christ to die.
Let's show others why our Christ died for us? That we have freedom in a new life. If only we have the face. to accept that Amazing Grace Let's pray. Lord we thank you. We thank you for your amazing grace that is offered freely to us.
We need only to accept it Lord help us to live not as rulers followers of the the rules. Making sure all of our steps are right. but as ones that just live into our faith.
The talk about our faith freely and build relationships with those around us so that others may hear of your good news.
And if they can have a life free as well.
Lord we are struggling people and we often forget that.
All we need to do is ask for forgiveness and it is freely granted and that you were with us and you have gone before and you see the other side of this wilderness.
We need only to have the face to follow.
And we can have an incredible journey.
We lift our Journeys up to you Lord, and it is in your name that we pray. Amen.
Appraise team is going to make its way back make their way or not an IT make their way back up to the front.
We're going to sing about this Amazing Grace and this new edition of the song talks about how our chains are broken.
Our chains are broken because of this amazing grace that we have. So I encourage you to sing along.
Sing softly long here in the room. You're watching us. Spy video belt it out. Wherever You Are and remember
Sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like Me.
I once was lost but now
was blind but now I see. Has Grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace My Feet?
RI first be the my chains are gone set free my God. My savior has ransomed me on ending love amazing Gray.
Lord has promised good.
My home security will my portion as long as life endures. My chains are gone my God fights for his Mercy Reigns ending. Love Amazing Grace. My chains are gone. I've been set free my God, my son Ray's raising.
She'll like know the song forever. But God who called me here will be for will be forever.
God will be forever ours. We just need to remember that we need to embrace that Embrace The Amazing Grace and not fight against the refining work that is being done in our lives. To go for through the wilderness.
Knowing that God has gone before.
And live our lives that show that we believe that Christ has died for us and that we are living free free and God's Amazing Grace.
If you're leaving the video we will be singing a couple songs. for this month put this final blessing up to you that to go and God's peace this week knowing that his grace goes before you. I'm in and we continue.
I spent in vanity and pride he died.
Then Grace was free.
Grace was free.
Do I give dude? You just have everything. No I gladly on him as my king. Now. My raptured soul can only sing.
Grace was free and there was x 2 and 3 salvation all the Mighty God that got his fan.
Grace was free.
Ending with just a closer walk with thee which but I hope you will carry into your week wherever you are. Remembering. All we need is a closer walk with Jesus.
I am weak but Thou Art strong.
Sup, keep me from all wrong.
closer walk with thee
small enclosed
a closer walk with thee
walking.
When my feeble life is over.
They will be no more.
Start Closer Walk With Me.
Jesus is my please.
Let It Be Lord
If you're watching online, I encourage you to go ahead and send that message or write that comment. If you're here in the room. There's a prayer board prayer and praise board right outside the door that I encourage you to write your prayers and praise praise request prayer request and prices on that we can pray over during the coming week. And go forth into this week walking closely with our Lord. That is my plea. That we have just a closer walk with Jesus and that our daily walks bring us closer and closer. To him go and God's peace.