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Sermon Podcast

How to Respond with Love

He Came for You. Yes, You

Have you ever thought to yourself, God I hear what you are saying, but you just don’t understand the depths of the situation at hand?  Maybe you have heard God speak to your heart about a relationship, a family member, about tithing, or a job opportunity, or maybe even a vice you constantly struggle with, or perhaps it’s about getting involve in the church, or even giving your time to some other charitable cause.  But every time you hear God speak these words you respond by telling God he doesn’t understand what that would that really mean for you to do this or that.  It just can’t happen.But until we come to the end of ourselves, we will often place our trust in our own understanding, our own strength, our own abilities instead of trusting in God and walking where Holy Spirit has asked us to walk. How do you respond to the things God ask of you that are not what you were wanting to hear or what you are wanting to do?  And what would it take for you to say yes to Jesus instead of making a thousand excuses of why it just can’t happen that way? Peter agrees to do what Jesus asked him to do, although his heart is definitely not in it.  I like to imagine Peter rowing his boat, with just a hint of aggravation that Jesus would ask him to do such a ridiculous thing.  But because Jesus has healed his own mother-in-law and many other people, Peter knows that Jesus is capable of doing things in way like no one else he has ever seen.  So he rows and rows, puts out the nets all the while thinking, this is stupid and I has ruined my chance of getting a nap in today.  Peter comes to the end of himself and does what Jesus ask of him to do even though he cannot imagine any good that will come from it.And then he experiences the beginning of what God can do.  Jesus works wonders.  The nets are so full that when they get the fish in the boat the boat starts to sink.  As Paul writes in the Epistle: “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.” How has God grace been poured out towards you?  What would it look like for his grace to not be poured out in vain over you? Understanding the depths of God’s love for you and the grace that He has poured out to you through Jesus on cross is the who and the why for surrendering is only answer that makes sense. What do you hear God, the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning or in the moments where you get quiet enough to hear?   When it comes to your time, to your resources, to your abilities; What do you hear God, the Holy Spirit speaking into your soul? When it comes to your relationships, when it comes to your actions, when it comes to the thoughts and attitudes of your heart; What do you hear the God, the Holy Spirit directing? How will you respond?   When you come to the end of yourself you will see the beginning of God.Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

The End of Yourself is the Beginning of God

Oh Lord, it&apos;s hard to be humble When you&apos;re perfect in every way I can&apos;t wait to look in the mirror &apos;Cause I get better lookin&apos; each day To know me is to love me I must be a heck of a man Oh Lord, it&apos;s hard to be humble But I&apos;m doin&apos; the best that I canI know, it may not be exactly what you expected, but it is true right.  It is easy to look at yourself and image how perfect you are and how everyone else should see and understand life just as you do.  And when this doesn’t happen, the problem has to be with the other person, because you know it can’t be with you. Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, When you’re perfect in every way.The point is that it is always easier to see how someone else isn’t doing what we think or want them to do than it is to see our own foolishness.  But, until we do it God’s way, all our ways are foolish.  It doesn’t matter how much we believe or how hard we try if it is not God’s way, it is foolish, and the fruit that foolishness bares is rotten or maybe I should say a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.How do we find peace in the midst of a world that does not know peace and that rejects the notion that God is real and that does not understand, believe, or even care that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to back to Him?How do we find hope in a time when the world is in chaos everywhere we turn?How do we find joy when the world seems to be filled with such hatred and anger? How do we define morality when society says God does not exist and His Word has no place in our lives? How do we experience love when love is defined as doing things my way?But what if your thoughts, what if your actions, what if your ideology of life are not in line with God’s?How then do we learn what God’s way is?   How do we listen to the one who is, who was, and who is to come?How do we hear the words of Jesus and set our hearts on him?Like the psalmist, we take refuge in him.  With everything that is your daily schedule, all that is the routines or your day, where and when do you take refuge in Jesus?  What would it look like for you to take refuge in Jesus each day?How might taking refuge in Jesus shape the attitude of your heart and mind?The truth of the matter is we all take refuge in something every day.  And if it is not Jesus, then whatever it is, is probably leading us down a path where me, myself, and I define or perhaps someone or something else besides God’s wisdom is defining what is good, pleasing, and acceptable.  This deception may sound or feel good for a moment, but will end in foolishness rather than the sheer power of the living God bringing peace and moving in miraculous ways.   Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

Until we do it God’s way, all our ways are Foolish

If you were looking through some old boxes and found a letter, notebook, or diary of your mom or dad or perhaps your grandmom or graddad, what would you do? Would you toss it out as if it was not important or worth your time to read?  How has God been revealed to you this week?How has God been revealed to you through another person this week?How has God been revealed to you through the reading of Scriptures this week?Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

Praise, Repent, Rejoice, Share

Epiphany 2

A father had two sons.  He went to the first son and asked to him to go and work in the vineyard.  The Son answered by saying he would not go.  (You can feel the tension right from the start right.)   But later this son changed his mind and went.The father went to the second son and asked him the same thing.  This son said sure dad, I will go work no problem (that surely makes us feel good for a moment.)  However, this son never did go to work.Jesus then ask the chief priest and elders, who did the will of the father?Of course, they answered, the first. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.Don’t you just love it when Jesus talks to the people in charge like this?  That is until we realize that Jesus is sharing this story 2000 years later with us.  And, we have to face which son represent our life and faith?Luke reminds of the mission of Jesus in the Gospel lesson for today as he writes:  John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." In other words, Jesus will come with great clarity and for those who come to him, they will find the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit and experience a fire that both refines the individual and glorifies God through the person’s life as they step into the community of God’s people.  And those who don’t, the fire will intensify in yet another way. Thanks be to God that Jesus has come.  And as we celebrate The Epiphany, we are truly grateful because we are reminded that Jesus didn’t just come for the Jews, but for the Jews and Gentiles alike.  Epiphany is the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles.  It is because of this truth that you and I are here today.  It is because of this truth that we are reminded of the hope we have in Jesus.Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

Keeping our Baptismal Covenant

LookListenObeyPraiseSupport the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

The Joseph Exercise

There is Power in the Spoken Word.  The impact of words spoken or sung can move us in a direction that perhaps we are not quite ready to go. Maybe you are wanting to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and prepare to embrace the Epiphany with a new vigor.  But people have moved on and maybe not today, but by next Sunday you may even wonder why is the church still singing Christmas Songs? There is Power in the Spoken Word.  The impact of words spoken or sung can move us in a direction that perhaps we are not quite ready to go.Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

The Power of a Spoken Word

The Power of God&apos;s Presence living in YOUSupport the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

What is Christmas all about?  If you were an alien who was visiting this planet through the Advent “Christmas” season, what would you say Christmas is all about? The message of Christmas seems to be getting more and more confusing every year.  And if an alien was visiting this planet and trying to figure out why people act the way they do this time of year, it would certainly be mindboggling. Until, until that alien wanders into a place like this and see the witness of God’s people gathered for worship to hear again the story of the blessed baby born in a humble manger to the most unlikely of parents and met at his birth by the strangest of visitors and yet Harold as a King and Savior to all by a heavenly chorus.The story of Christmas is found as we read in a what seems to be a throw away sentence in our Gospel.  “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” What might happen in your life and mine if not just this Christmas night, but if every day we stopped to listen, if every day we stopped to hear the story, if every day we saw the baby, if every day we bowed to worship?What might happen in your life and mine if we were to treasure all these things and ponder them in our hearts?Perhaps we need to step back and ask if the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” offered you an invitation to know him and be known by Him would you say yes?  Or would you turn away?If you want to say yes, if you are tired of the routines of Christmas without ever experiencing the power and presence of Jesus.  If you want to know what God has purposed for you to know, love, and enjoy.  If you want to be reminded of God’s loving kindness poured out for you.  If you want to know that there is more to life than the trappings of this world. There is an answer, there is a better way and this is why we are here tonight to be reminded of this story, of God’s invitation to unlikely people to see, know, and love and be loved by Jesus that they would find unending joy and God’s purpose revealed in them.  That we might treasure all these things in our hearts and experience the fullness of Joy that Jesus has brought into the world and for which angels do sing.  Amen.Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

What is Christmas all About Anyway?

Advent 4

Fear, Indifference, or Worship

Even if your marriage has since ended, the odds are on your wedding day you were hopeful, joyful, and excited about the future.  Regardless of what has happened since, think with me for a moment about the beauty of that particular day.Many of the brides can probably remember all the anxiety, anticipation, and planning that went into making sure you and everything was just right for that special day.  I have never seen such planning of details for things that really do not matter in the course of a lifetime of marriage.  But every bride in the modern era at least concerns herself with unimaginable details hoping that the day will be as glorious as she has forever dreamed it would be or perhaps watched at Christmas with Hallmark and Lifetime paving the way.Many of the grooms remember the difficulties of those same days but amidst the chaos there is one thing that is etched in every man’s mind.  It is the moment in which his bride appears.  The congregation stands up and looks at the bride, but if you have ever gone against the flow and turned to look at the groom you will see an amazing sight.  There in the face of this man is love, there is pride, there is hope, there is anticipation, there is a holy fear of what is about to take place.  And all of this is because he sees the fullness and beauty of his beloved coming towards him about to give everything of herself to him.  Regardless if every pound was lost or every flower is in place the groom sees the purity of the moment and power of love overwhelms him.But, What if?  What if that groom could always see his bride with the image of their wedding day?  What if his heart always melted when he saw her and he was always able to look past the blemishes without any reservation?  What if he only saw the purity of his bride and opportunity he had to hold her life in his hand? What if the bride was always so eager to fulfill her love that she desired everything to be perfect and would not rest until it was?  What if the bride responded to the purity of love being given and at the moment as he takes her hand in his.   What if the bride could forget about the blemishes or what is yet to be made perfect for no other reason except that she is assured of his love?Hallmark and Lifetime cannot even come close to the beauty of love that this would bring.Unlike the marriages we have thought about thus far today.  Jesus offers us the invitation to be his bride.  To walk down the aisle to receive the fullness and the assurance of his love, the purity of his heart.  His loves that will never leave us nor forsake us.  His love that will always hold our hearts and offer hope to us and bring us to the fullness of life that we long to enjoy.  The invitation of His love that never fails.  And if you and I can grow in our understanding of the knowledge and love of God we will never be the same.If you and I grow deeper in the depths of his love we would choose to do whatever is possible to prepare ourselves to join the love that will never fail us.  All the while knowing that we can never be perfect, there will always be one more thing to get right, but it is his love for us, not what we do or what we say but simply His unfailing love that welcomes us and sees us coming down the aisle toward him without spot and without blemish.  It is this love that we receive that empowers us to move beyond what we know or think about ourselves to be the person, the bride our hearts long to be and forget what has been and move forward into what life with Jesus promises to bring.  Support the show (http://www.easytithe.com/stbdeland)

The Bride is Pure

Fr. Comforted Keen

Weekly sermon recordings and other special services from St. Barnabas Episcopal Church located in DeLand, Florida.