6º of Christmas

Follow the new link for the audio. You can also subscribe via iTunes from http://brimfieldfaith.podbean.com/. 

“6º of Christmas: Home Alone & Christ Alone”


Brimfield Faith UMC / December 24, 2010

Luke 2:1-20



FAMILY CHRISTMAS

For better or worse, Christmas is about family. Children come home from college or the cities in which they live and work. Aunts and uncles travel from afar to reunite. And grandparents gather everyone together. Christmas is one of the few times a year that we break the normal routines of our lives, stop work, and at times travel far distances to be with our families. Most of the time, this is a joyous experience, but there are times, if we’re honest, that things are so jolly. If you’re worried about family drama this year, perhaps you can relate to this… [HA CLIP #1- Disappear]

Of course, this clip is from the 1990 classic Christmas movie, Home Alone. Kevin McCallister is an eight year-old boy played by Macaulay Culkin who is unintentionally left by his family on their family vacation to Paris. Kevin awakes in the morning to discover that he has “made his family disappear.” Upon this revelation, his is filled with rejoicing. For a short time, he thinks his newfound freedom in the world is great.

Anybody ever feel like Kevin? I know I have once or twice. Kevin’s story in many ways is part of our story. We find our lives full of conflict and drama and we simply want to escape it all. We want to run and hide. If we don’t think we’re screw ups, we think the rest of the world is. Christmas time can often be a time of year when we just want to run away. It serves as a reminder of things lost, things never realized, and things yet hoped for. Christmas is supposed to be joyous but sometimes it isn’t.



GOD’S DRAMA

Did you know that God understands all of this? As we read the Scriptures, we learn that God’s human family hasn’t been without drama. Consider God’s first children, Adam and Eve, who disobeyed and got kicked out of the house. Or their first kids, Cain and Abel, talk about family conflict? Consider the first Christmas. We sometimes forget the kind of drama that surrounded the first Christmas. Mary is engaged but not living together with Joseph and winds up pregnant. The virgin impregnated by the Holy Spirit story undoubtedly didn’t go over well. In fact, Joseph was ready to put her aside quietly. I can only imagine what her own father and mother thought. They graciously agreed to send her away to her cousin Elizabeth’s house for the bulk of the pregnancy. Consider the drama when Joseph told Mary that she needed to travel the 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem at 8 months pregnant? It’s a miracle she didn’t have Jesus along the road. Imagine the conflict there was when they couldn’t find a place to stay and Mary started having contractions.

I don’t know about you, but this is comforting for me. I know that God will still be present even when the drama unfolds, whether it be Christmas or some other time of the year. God doesn’t abandon us at the first sign of drama. Instead, God knows drama and knows how to speak his love and power into it.



 

EPIPHANY MOMENTS

In the movie Home Alone, Kevin enjoys his freedom for a short period of time. He eats junk food, raids his brother’s room and generally lets loose. (As much as an eight year-old lets loose.) The temporary joy wears off when he realizes that two burglars are planning to rob his parent’s home. All of a sudden he begins to miss his parents and his family. While he enjoyed a few moments of freedom, he realizes they aren’t as bad as he thought. He realizes that he is meant to be a part of them.

I think we all have these kinds of moments in our lives, especially when it comes to faith. We wander away from our families and from God for a few moments of letting loose. Eventually we realize that we need God and the family of God. We realize that we are lost without our faith. We find ourselves in a tough spot, facing opposition and we know we need to turn back.

When we find ourselves having run away and ready to turn back, God is ready for us. Thankfully, God is always working behind the scenes to resolve the drama, to welcome us back and to usher heavenly joy, peace, and love into our lives. About halfway through Home Alone we seek Kevin’s Mom, Kate, pleading with a woman to get a ticket home to be with her son and we see Kevin realize how much he misses his family. Let’s watch that now. [HA Clip #2 Epiphany] There are two important aspects in this clip that I want to touch on.



#1.Kevin’s mom is desperate to get to her child.

The first is the how hard Kevin’s mom works to get on the flight back to Kevin. She gives us much of her possessions to persuade the woman to give her the tickets. The line that moves me is when she says, “I’m desperate… from a mother to a mother.” She is a desperate woman and will do anything. Kate’s actions reflect the heart of God for us as his children.

In Luke 15, we read three stories about God’s desire to find and rescue his children. First, a woman searches for a lost coin. Then, a shepherd looks from the lost sheep among the 100. Finally, a loving father rushes out to greet his wayward son. God is not a distant and impersonal God. God is a God who wants to living in relationship with his children. He will go to great lengths to bring us back into relationship with him.

The ultimate picture of God’s heart is seen on the first Christmas day, when Jesus enters into the world. In Matthew 1:23 it says, ““The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Through Jesus, God enters earth in the humble form of an infant. That child will grow to be the Savior of the world and the key to redeeming humanity, you and me. Jesus is the gift of God’s presence in the world. It is the desperate measures that God goes to in order to bring us back to him. God gives everything up when he sent his son to earth, thus setting the stage for a reunion of eternal significance.



#2. Kevin realizes the error in his ways and wants his family back.

The second important aspect of the clip is Kevin’s epiphany. As his mom is working desperately to get back to him, we watch Kevin, a wild eight year-old, realize that he needed his family. Kevin comes to realizes he needs his mom and dad. He realized that he had messed up and been a jerk. He was ready to change all of that. He was ready to be a part of the family once again. If Kevin’s heart didn’t change, Kate’s efforts would have been for naught. They would have been a waste. Although Kevin doesn’t realize it, we need to realize the extent to which God moved on our behalf. He wants nothing more than to reunite us to our heaven family and heavenly father.



THE REUNION

This brings us to the end of Home Alone. Early in the movie, Kevin asked Santa for his family to come home this year for Christmas. On Christmas morning, Kevin wakes up expectantly, hoping to see his family. When he doesn’t find them, disappointment settles in. What he doesn’t realize is that his mom has successfully hitchhiked all the way home with John Candy and his polka band. So the scene is set and the movie wouldn’t be the same without the final reunion. [HA CLIP #3 – Reunion]

Have you experienced your reunion with God and his heavenly family? When we decide to return to God’s family, there is rejoicing in heaven. God wraps us in his loving arms, just like Mary wrapped baby Jesus in swaddling cloth that night in the stable. The first Christmas and every Christmas is about family. It’s about our human families but it’s also about our heavenly family.

My hope is that you can have a drama-free love filled reunion with your family this year. Even if that isn’t possible, God really has set the stage for each of us to be reunited with our heavenly family. God has done all of the work. Jesus was born to guide us back to God. God started his new family in Mary, Joseph and Jesus and he invites us to join it. All you have to do is run into the Father’s open arms. This is the gift that God offers us this Christmas season. I hope you will open it and receive the blessings of heaven. May hope, peace and love fill you will joy this Christmas Eve and all year round.

Let us conclude this evening’s worship with the dimming of the lights, lighting of the candles and the singing of Silent Night.

Before we do that, let’s pray.

“6º of Love: Messiah Complex & Jesus, the Messiah”

Christmas is almost here! I hope you are finishing up your shopping and have plans to attend worship on Christmas Eve. Christmas, after all, isn't Christmas without the worship of the Christ Child. May you be filled with peace, hope, joy and love this week and all year long.

click for audio of the sermon or read below:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/abu3i9p3bds617x/6%BA%20of%20Love.mp3

“6º of Love: Messiah Complex & Jesus, the Messiah”
Brimfield Faith UMC / December 19, 2010
Matthew 1:18-25

GOD’S LOVE
Christmas is almost here. How many of you are done with your Christmas shopping? How many haven’t started? We are done with our Christmas shopping. Christmas shopping isn’t one of my strong suites. I pretty much have one person I am responsible for and that is Michelle. She does everyone else. The honest truth is that I’m not a good gift giver. When Michelle and I were just dating, I gave her a stuffed animal that I bought at a garage sale. I think it qualifies as one of the worst gifts ever. I’ve worked hard over the years to be better at it but it isn’t my strong suite. Giving gifts is just one way that we can show our love and appreciation to other people. I am good at showing love through words of affirmation and spending quality time.
Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to do the whole gift giving thing as a way to show our love for others. Anybody share that sentiment? Nonetheless, gift giving is an important way that we express our love to one another. We have been preparing over the past four weeks to receive the ultimate gift of God’s son, Jesus Christ. When done with the right heart, the practice of giving and receiving gifts help to reconnect us to God and his love.
This series, “6º of Advent,” has been all about reconnecting to God in the midst of a chaotic Christmas season. Each week we have started with one thing and in six degrees moved to something new. This morning, we are looking at the 6º of love: messiah complex and Jesus, the messiah. We are going to seek to reconnect with love and we seek to reconnect Christmas and Christ.

DEGREES 1 – 3
1º Messiah Complex is the belief that a person is destined to be a savior. Although it is not an official psychological diagnosis, it is a common label given to people who think they can save the world or a sports organization (no names). Many of our superhero films, such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, have helped to perpetrate the messiah complex myth. Messiah CompleX was also a character in the X-Men Comic Book Series.

2 º The X-Men are a superhero team in the Marvel Comics Universe. It is a series about humans that have mutated and possess superhuman powers. The series was made popular in the form of several movies. The epic struggle is against two sets of mutants: Professor Xavier and his school of young mutants vs. Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants. Magneto has the ability to control metal and in early issues of the story is accused of megalomania.

3º Megalomania is a delusional mental disorder that is defined by an obsession with extravagant things or actions. It is also marked with delusional fantasies of wealth, power, grandeur and feelings of personal omnipotence.

BARRIERS OF LOVE
As we beginning the journey through love, we should begin to realize there are barriers along the way. It probably is not news that there are even more barriers to love during the Christmas season than we might imagine. Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, peace, hope and love and many times is it just the opposite. We went shopping on Monday. It wasn’t a crowded day due to the storm. The lines were short and yet there was still a man vocally complaining about the lines. He was clearly missing the point. I want to identify several barriers to love, barriers that prevent us from both giving and receiving love. While there are many barriers to love, I want to suggest three this morning that I believe are pertinent during the holiday season.

One barrier to love is unresolved anger.
When we live in relations with other people, they will occasionally do things that annoy us, bother us, and even wrong us. These feelings of injustice can produce anger within our hearts. Jesus teaches us that anger in itself is not wrong, but warns us not to sin in our anger. Anger becomes a problem when we hold onto it and fail to forgive. Forgiveness can be defined as the letting go of anger towards another person or his actions. Unresolved anger and unforgiveness can produce feelings of hatred. These feelings us hatred cause us to withdraw from others and prevent us from experiencing the love of other and God. Hatred can become all-consuming and becomes a major barrier to love.
The Holiday Season is a perfect time for unresolved anger to surface. Christmas, after all, is a time when we reconnect with family members and “loved ones.” Often, we haven’t seen these people in months. The initially reunion is blissful and then you remember why you haven’t seen Aunt Suzie. Unresolved anger and unforgiveness quickly make their holiday appearance halfway through the dinner conversation. If we are going to experience love in its fullness, we must work through our anger and frustration with other people.
In Leviticus 19:17-18 it says, “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” The opposite of hatred is love. We move towards loving others and being loved by others by letting go of our anger and forgiving others.

Another barrier to love is pride.
Letting go of our anger and learn to forgive can be a difficult act. We often feel entitled to the anger we feel or think our unforgiveness is protecting us. The reality is these emotions are hurting us more than anyone else. If we are going to move past them, we must embrace humility. That is why the second barrier to love is pride.
At its root, pride is an over exaggerated sense of self worth. Pride is loving one’s own excellence above anything else. It is the belief that we don’t need God nor anyone’s help. A prideful spirit will alienate from the ability to give or receive love. Pride believes no one else is worthy of your love and that you do not need anyone else’s love and affirmation.
At Christmastime, an arrogant spirit will prevent you from graciously and joyfully receiving gifts. The arrogant people think that they deserve the best from everyone. When the gifts don’t come or aren’t as good as expected, they become anger and resentful. This creates a cycle in which a prideful person cannot receive love.
The first degree of the six degrees of love is a form a form. The messiah complex is delusional pride. The messiah complex isn’t just a desire to help the world but the belief that you are the only person that can save the world, help a person in crisis or fix a given problem. A messiah complex creates a lone ranger mentality that alienates a person from meaningful, loving relationships.
These are just two of many barriers to experience love. If you feel a lack of love, you probably have something blocking it. Therefore, it is important that you recognize the barriers in your own life to love. As we move to the final three degrees of love, we will be looking towards how we can receive the gift of love.

DEGREES 4 – 6
4º Omnipotence is to have unlimited authority and power to make things happen. Omnipotence is one of three ‘omni’ attributes of God. The other two are omnipresence, which means God can be in all places at all times, and omniscience, which means God has infinite knowledge and understanding of all things.

5 º Attributes of God are qualities that we associate with the God of the Bible. While there are numerous different attributes of God, in the New Testament, the primary moral attribute of God is love. In 1 John 4:8, it affirms that “God is love.” Since God is love, he gave humanity free will so that they would have the ability to choose love.

6 º Free will gives us the ability to reject God’s love and to be disobedient. This free will allowed sin to enter into the world. Without a remedy, our sinfulness promises to eternally separates us from relationship with God. Thankfully, God made a way to restore us through his only Son. When we accept Jesus, the Messiah into our hearts, we receive God’s ultimate expression of love.

RECEIVING LOVE - EMMANUEL
The final three degrees of love move away from self-centered, hatred and towards selfless, God love. As we seek to break down the barriers of love, we need to remember that God is the source of all love. To find lasting, true love one must look towards God. While we remove the barriers, it becomes important to understand the ways in which love is shared.
Gary Chapman wrote a book called, The Five Love Languages. In it he speaks about five main ways that people experience love. He lists them as: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. While I believe that God expresses his love for his children through all of these means, but I believe one is especially important to God. That is quality time.
In Matthew 1, we heard the story of Mary’s pregnancy. Listen to the words again. “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit… Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” One of the names of Jesus was Emmanuel which means “God is with us.”
God loves us so much that he wants to spent time with us. He could have just sent down blessings in the form of an abundant harvest. Or he could have just sent his Word to us in the form of the Bible. He could have looked to serve us by giving us good jobs. While he expresses his love in these ways, he comes down as Jesus and lived among us. He continues to give us the gift of his presence. There is no greater way to experience the love of God than through spending quality time in his presence. That is why we talk about the presence of the Holy Spirit in worship. Sure we want to hear God’s affirmation and receive his gifts, but before anything else, we want to spend time in his presence. God’s desire is to dwell among his people and to fill us with his presence. This is the gift of love in Jesus Christ. This is the point of the story, to restore relationship with us, his children.

SHARING LOVE
Are you ready to enter into God’s presence and dwell in his love there? As we conclude this morning, the last Sunday before Christmas, let us be reminded there are many people in the world that don’t know Christ’s loving presence. It is not enough to simply receive God’s love, but we need to share God’s love with the world. Invite someone this week to Christmas Eve worship and to experience God’s love in greater fullness this year. The gift is for everyone and we are called to be barrier wreckers. We can knock down others barriers to God’s love through a simple invitation.
Will you invite someone to experience God’s love this Christmas? Will you help them to pull down barriers and reconnect with God?

6º of Joy: Peter, Paul, and Mary & Mary, the Mother of Jesus

What exactly is the difference between happiness and joy? How do we sustain joy in our lives? This past week, we looked to reconnect to the eternal joy of God this Christmas season.

click for the audio:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hjzi542llly6z0j/6%BA%20of%20Joy.mp3

“6º of Joy: Peter, Paul, and Mary & Mary, the Mother of Jesus”
Brimfield Faith UMC / December 12, 2010
Luke 1:47-55

INTRO
Review the series… 6º of Advent is about finding our way back to God. We get lost in the chaos of the season. We allow the world to dictate our views of Christmas, instead of determining our focus for the season. Does it drive anyone crazy that it’s Happy Holidays or Season Greetings instead of Merry Christmas? I was watching a sitcom this week and they were talking about rediscovering the meaning of Christmas. I thought it would be interesting, but the reality was they missed the point almost entirely. They allowed each character to define their own meaning for Christmas. The reality is the meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ into a dark and broken world. There isn’t much negotiating in that but the world tries. I would propose this, let’s focus on getting back to the basic in our own lives and guide the way for others to get there. Say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanza, say whatever you want, but remember this season is about finding our way back to God.
This week we are reconnecting to joy and we are moving from the musical group, “Peter, Paul, and Mary” to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We are going to break them up into two sections today. So let’s look at the first three degrees of joy now.

DEGREES ONE – THREE

1º Peter, Paul and Mary are a musical trio known for their popular folk tunes in the 1960’s. Comprised of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers there music had a strong sociopolitical commentary in politically charged era. There songs ranged in content with many successful on the charts. Some of their most famous songs include, “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “If I had a Hammer.” [Show clip]

2º “If I had a Hammer” was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in 1949 in support of the Civil Rights Movement. The lyrics sing, “If I had a hammer / I'd hammer in the morning / I'd hammer in the evening / All over this land / I'd hammer out danger / I'd hammer out a warning / I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters / All over this land.” The Civil Rights Movement paved the way for African American music to gain popularity. One of those artists was rapper MC Hammer.

3º MC Hammer was born Stanley Kirk Burrell in Oakland, California. Hammer was a popular rapper in the late 1980’s to the mid-1990’s known for hits like, “U Can’t Touch This” and “Too Legit to Quit.” While he enjoyed great popularity for a short time, he filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Playing off of his sharp decline, he starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Nationwide Insurance in 2005. [Show clip]

WORLDLY HAPPINESS
The gift of God this week is Joy. While we could talk about how we move from a place of misery to joy, I want to talk about the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a fleeting feeling. Joy is a sustaining inner state of being. Joy is divine, eternal and a fruit of the Spirit. The world has tried to teach us that we can replace eternal joy with lasting happiness. The world has tried to teach us that we can have lasting happiness if we continual pursue the fleeting feelings. When we do this, we end up in a cycle of elation and depression. We find a moment of ecstasy that is followed with moments of disappointment. Sustaining happiness doesn’t exist in the form we have been taught. Sustaining happiness is found rooted in eternal joy. Therefore, we need to stop expecting the world to sustain our happiness.
MC Hammer had a conversion experience of sorts after he went bankrupt. He is now an ordained minister who faithful follows Christ. He learned that no matter how many millions of happiness you have it is still fleeting. He realized that the moments of happiness would continue to be fleeting unless they were rooted in Christ. As we talk about moving from worldly happiness to eternal joy, it is important to recognize how we have been chasing fleeting feelings. Instead of trying new things, bigger experiences, try looking for eternal joy that will sustain and satisfy the soul. To do this, let’s take a look at the next three degrees of Joy.

DEGREES FOUR – SIX
4º Nationwide Insurance provides insurance and financial services based out of Columbus, Ohio. Insurance is a means of risk management to help account for the potential risk of loss. It has been around since the origins of human society. A legal insurance term that describes events outside of human control, such as a flood or tornado, is called an Act of God.

5º An Act of God is also a term used to attribute an event to divine intervention. The Scriptures are full of stories of when God broken into the world and acted on behalf of his people. God primary agent by which God acts in the world is through the Holy Spirit.

6º The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead and the primary agent for God’s actions in the world. In the Gospel of Luke, an angel appeared to a young Hebrew woman and told her that she would bear a son and name him Jesus. The angel explained that, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The woman was Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and she was filled with joy at the news.

ETERNAL JOY
Many people turn to things like insurance in attempts to preserve this fleeting life. It is important and even required by law that we have certain types of insurance. It helps us to reduce the risk of losing everything but the reality is that insurance cannot remove the risk of loss and the temporal nature of the world. Having life insurance doesn’t mean you will live forever. It simply ensures that those you leave behind will have means to be provided for upon your death. Having car insurance doesn’t mean you won’t get into an accident. We cannot rely on insurance or any other earthly means to sustain happiness. When our source of joy and happiness is worldly, it will be fleeting. How, then, do we find eternal, lasting joy?

Eternal joy begins in the Hope of God.
To find eternal joy, we need to build on the last two weeks of sermons. The Hope of God is the starting place to living a life full of lasting joy. The hope of God is found by clinging to your relationship with God, especially in difficult situations. One of the most important lessons I learned in my life was when I was 18 years-old. I was struggling in college classes, had sustained a swimming injury that threatened my season, and was experiencing problems with my friends. In that situation, I realized the only thing in life that couldn’t be taken away from me was my relationship with God. And so I hung onto God and he sustained me through that season of my life.
When we cling to the presence of God, we will find sustaining joy. Psalm 16:11 says, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” If we can learn to draw into the Lord, we will begin to discover that eternal joy is rooted in the hope of God. Joy is deeper than an emotion. It is a state of being that begins by knowing God deeply. That state of being leads us to a place of feeling joyful and happy. If you are feeling depressed, sad or lack joy, you need to begin to remedy the situation by digging deep into God.
In James 1:2 James says, “Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy…” Joy is not produced by the favor of one’s circumstance but by the depth of one’s relationship with God. We can indeed find eternal joy and happiness when we cling to the Hope of God through all circumstances. Sustaining joy goes beyond clinging to the hope of God.

Eternal joy is sustained in the Peace of God.
Last week, we talked about the peace of God. If we desire to be sustained in joy, we need to live in the peace of God. In order to live into the peace of God, we need to work towards well-being and wholeness through engaging in life-giving practices. One practice that I want to highlight this morning is to actively love and serve others. Often times, we lose our joy because we become to internally focused. We dwell on our own problems and struggles. Instead of simply focusing on ourselves, there are times when we need to get outside of ourselves and reach out to others.
We can do this by sharing in meaningful relationships with others. When we get depressed, we have a tendency to withdraw. To live in the peace of God and be sustained in joy, we need to stay connected to other people. At the heart of joy is loving relationships. Worldly abundance will not sustain joy but loving relationship while not without challenges have the potential to discover the fullness of joy.
Another great way to sustain joy in the peace of God is to serve others. Whether it be here at the church, downstairs with the Food Cupboard or just your spouse, it is important to serve others. Jesus said, it is better to give than to receive. I think giving to people in service is a great way to find joy. Serving produces joy because it is life giving and connects us to God and to other people.

Eternal joy fulfilled by expressing it.
As we begin to discover joy through the hope and peace of God, it is important to express it. In Luke 1, we see Mary’s response to the news of her pregnancy. She sings a song to her cousin Elizabeth. Listen to the beginning of it. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savoir, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” It is significant that Mary expresses her joy outwardly.
The Bible is replete with examples of rejoicing through singing, dancing, leaping, and other exuberant acts. David dances with joy in the streets. In Deuteronomy the Lord calls the people to rejoice. The Hebrew people are known for the dancing and rejoicing. In Nehemiah, Nehemiah calls the people to rejoice. He says, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Acts of rejoicing will lead to greater joy. Studies have shown that if you smile, it will make you feel happy. You don’t have to feel happy before you smile. Your body doesn’t know the difference and it will respond to the smiling. While I’m not encouraging a fake happiness, there are time when we need to call ourselves into a place of joy. We do this by rejoicing and being joyful over that which God has given us. John Wesley use to tell his preachers to “Preach until you have faith.” A contemporized translation of that would be, “Fake it until you make it.” The act of joy can indeed produce more joy in your life.

CONCLUSION
It is time to learn to live a life full of joy. There are certainly going to be difficult times, challenging times, and trying times. You might even be in that place this morning. Instead of chasing temporary happiness, I would call you to find a place of deeply rooted joy in the Lord. Out of the place of hope, live into peace and be filled with joy. Express that joy and let it be contagious. Tis’ the season to be filled with joy. Christ has saved you. Christ has given you new life. Christ brings you hope and peace. Christ will sustain you into eternity.

Let’s rejoice in that together.

6º of Peace: Bagdad & Bethlehem

This week we looked at God's idea of peace. We often living life with the feeling of incompleteness and emptiness. Often what we are missing is the peace of God. The peace of God is about wholeness and completeness and not just an absence of conflict. Listen to learn more about how to discover the lasting peace of God for your life.

Follow the link for audio. http://www.mediafire.com/file/qw9ysius02fvkzt/6%BA%20of%20Peace.mp3

6º of Peace: Bagdad & Bethlehem
Brimfield Faith UMC / December 5, 2010


1º Baghdad was built in the 8th Century by Muslims and today is the capital city of Iraq. It is the second largest city in the Arab world at around 7 million people On April 9, 2003 Baghdad fell to U.S. Forces as a part of the Iraq War. Almost eight years later, it is still being rebuilt and it continues to be a place of unrest.

2 º Iraq is located in the Middle East. While the Middle East is a largely hot and dry, there are two major rivers that run through Iraq. The land between and around the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers has, historically, been called the Mesopotamia from the Greek meaning, “land between rivers.” This land is rich and fertile, especially compared to the surrounding region.

3 º Mesopotamia is where the Garden of Eden is believed to have been. While it is impossible to verify an actual location, the Bible mentions by name the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in relation to the Garden. Additional support lies in the name Baghdad, which means “the Fair Garden.”

4 º The Garden of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as a place of Paradise. The Garden was where God walked and was in perfect relationship with human beings. The first man and woman were named Adam and Eve. Life in the Garden was good for Adam and Eve until one tragic day.

5 º Adam and Eve committed disobedience by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They succumbed to the temptations of the serpent and allowed evil into the world. Their punishment was to be sent out of the Garden. Human beings have been trying to reconnect with God ever since. In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul refers to Jesus Christ as the last Adam because he was God’s redemption plan for the world.

6º Jesus Christ grew up in Nazareth but the Gospel of Matthew tells us his parents traveled to Bethlehem because a census had been ordered by the Emperor Augustus. Joseph, who was of the house of David, was required to return to the city of David called Bethlehem. Bethlehem is where Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born.

THE MISSING PEACE
So we see it is possible to move from Baghdad a place of war and unrest to a Bethlehem a place where the Prince of Peace. Moving from our own place of unrest can be a struggle. More than any other means of attack I believe Satan attempts to steal our peace. For most of us, it doesn’t take much to steal our peace. Waking up late, bad traffic, a sick child, all can easily steal our peace. There are countless numbers of things that try to sneak in and steal our peace at any given time. I think many of the problems of society are caused by people seeking to find peace in their lives. We know something is missing and we will try to find anything to replace it. As we seek to move out of unrest and into peace, I think it is important that you name that which tries to steal your peace. What casts doubt into your mind? What strikes fear into your heart? What causes you to worry and fret?
SHALOM
Once we have identified what steals our peace, the next question is how do we recover and sustain peace in our lives? I believe that finding peace begins by having a vision for peace. We must have a clear picture in our mind of where we are going if we are going to get there. The directions are only helpful if you have an address or know what you are looking for. When I say we should have a vision of peace, it is important that we have a biblical vision of peace.
The Hebrew word for peace may be one that you have heard of, shalom. Shalom isn’t the absence of war or conflict, but rather wholeness and well-being. Think of it in terms of modern day Baghdad. Seven years ago, Baghdad was invaded by U.S. Forces. Bombs were being set off, guns were being fired, buildings were being destroyed and people were being killed. There was no debate. There was no peace in Baghdad. But consider this, is there peace in Baghdad today? The majority of the violence has stopped. Buildings aren’t being destroyed. People aren’t being killed, but is there really peace. If we define peace as shalom, the answer is, no, there isn’t peace in Baghdad. The city has not been restored to a place of wholeness and beauty again. There is much that needs to be restored before the city will be a city of peace of again.
God’s heart for his children is the same way. Our vision of peace might simply be there isn’t complete chaos in our lives. We picture no one yelling when we get home from work. We envision the end of the month with a few dollars left over. God’s picture is much different than ours. God sees our families filled with love, support and joy. God envisions us living out of his abundant provision. God defines peace as wholeness and well-being where we see lack of conflict and survival.
Consider God’s picture of peace for Israel, in Isaiah 11. We see a beautiful picture of what peace was supposed to look like for Israel. Listen to some of the images. The wolf with the lamb, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear. The child will reach into the snakes den. In verse 9 it says, “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for all the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” The understanding is that God will bring peace and harmony to those things which are traditionally in conflict with one another. At the beginning of the passage, the person with peace has the Spirit of the Lord resting upon him. There is a spirit of wisdom and understanding. There is counsel and might. There is knowledge and honor of the Lord. That is a compelling vision of peace that goes beyond a lack of conflict and survival. It is marked by fullness, wholeness, and well-being.

FINDING PEACE
Peace is something that is offered conditional in our lives. While we are given freely the gift of salvation, the Lord calls us to a place of obedience if we are going to discover the peace of shalom in our lives. In Luke 11:24-26, Jesus gives an example of a person seeking peace in his life.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”
The unclean spirits in this person would have caused great turmoil and strive in his life. There would have certainly been a lack of peace until the spirit was cast out. That peace would only have been sustained for as long as the spirits were gone. From this passage, I want to draw two ideas to help us discover the shalom of God in our lives.

#1. Peace requires cleaning house.
We have to clean out our house. Disruptions of peace come from internal actions and from external forces. Internal actions that cause turmoil and unrest are typically born out of a disobedience to the ways of God. The first order of house cleaning is internal. If there are places of disobedience to the way of God, then we need to bring them into conformity. This cannot be a legalistic pursuit, but the reality is that there are things in our lives that aren’t good for us. We know what many of these things are and we know they aren’t good for us, and yet many of we continue to do them. If we want the shalom of God, we have to stop. You cannot be a serial gossip and expect to have loving, trusting relationships. You cannot smoke and expect to have healthy lungs.
Disruptions in peace are not only internal but there are also external forces as well. People, circumstances, and events can easily cause unrest. To the extent that we can control the situations that disrupt peace, I would encourage you to eliminate them. We will never be able to eliminate outside stressors, which is why it is important to reduce internal stressors as much as possible. Nonetheless, work towards resolving conflicts and stressful situations as quickly as possible. As you work towards peace, it is important to reflect on the situations and actions that are robbing you of peace. What robs your peace that you need to stop doing?

#2. Peace requires redecorating.
As we work on cleaning our houses, it is important to redecorate. In the illustration of the unclean spirits, the spirit returns and brings along his friends because the person hasn’t filled his soul with anything else. In the same way, once the house is cleaned out, it is important to bring in new furnishings. When you stop doing something harmful in your life or eliminate a stressor, it is important that you replace is with something else. As we all know, life is full of constant stressors and we must be diligent in maintain peace in our lives. When you stop a harmful action, it creates a void that needs to be filled. Redecorating is about creating a lifestyle that pursues God.
It is important not to become legalistic about this. Creating a list of things not to do won’t create peace. God really isn’t about rules. God does have a certain way that he wants us to live. While there are some don’t do’s, God’s emphasis is on finding fullness of life. God really is about loving relationships and restoring fullness into people’s lives. God wants you to be filled with joy not keep you from having fun. This is why he sets forth a model for engaging in life.
Therefore, if we want lasting heavenly peace in our lives, we need to proactively pursue it. We need to build practices and habits into our lives that will be life-giving. We need to develop defaults that will bring us closer to God and provide the centeredness that promotes peace in our lives. Jesus teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be added unto us. Personally, I have a list of things that I know bring me back to a place of peace. Things like reading, exercising, swimming, walking, regular prayer and devotional time all are life-giving for me. They bring me to a place of centeredness and peace in God. After all, peace is about wholeness and fullness so we need to decorate and fill our lives with things that foster that peace of God. I would encourage you to reflect then. What do you need to start doing that will bring you closer to God? What will bring goodness and wholeness into your life?

GOD’S GIFT
Finally, if you truly long for peace in your life, we must look to the Lord. In our own strength, we can only find so much peace. In fact, in our own strength we cannot discover the shalom of God. In John 14, Jesus teaches us an important lesson about peace. He says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace for a reason. It is part of his heart for us to live out of his peace. God wants to give us more than worldly peace, he wants to give us shalom. He wants us to have wholeness and well-being so that we won’t be afraid or troubled. If we will clean house and redecorate, if we will live obediently and pursue God, we will be given the peace of God. Many of us talk about wanting peace, but we fail to pursue it. As we conclude this morning, I would ask a simple question. Are you ready to receive the peace of God this Christmas season? There is no better gift that God would want to offer us.

Let’s pray for peace in our lives.

6º of Hope

This weekend marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Buying gifts is one of the ways we prepare for Christmas, but we must not forget to prepare our spirits to receive the gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. This week marks the first Sunday of Advent and we looked at the gift of Hope. Each week we will look at how we find our way back to God through the "6º of Advent: Reconnecting Christmas with Christ." This week we connected I am Legend & the Great I Am as we found our way back to hope in God.

click for audio:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/95wbtib5pcqk9pe/6%BA%20of%20Hope.mp3

“6º of Hope: I am Legend & the Great I AM”
Brimfield Faith UMC / November 28, 2010
Matthew 24:36-44

INTRO
Advent is always an important yet challenging time to preach. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. It is a spiritual returning to God. We hear the same story each year and try to tell it in a new way. This year I am going to try and do something different. There was a movie about 20 years ago called, Six Degrees of Separation and it is the idea that every human being can be connect with only six relationships. The invention of social media like Facebook is built somewhat on this principle. I think the large principle to life is that we are never far from anything. Whether it be hope or despair, love or hatred, peace or chaos. Life isn’t as full as opposites as we might think. We are never more than a few well timed events from our lives being forever changed for the positive or negative. This fact immobilizes some and frees others. My desire is that it will free you to discover God and the life that God intends for each of you. Over the next four weeks, we will look at the Christian ideals that God wants to give each of us through his Son Jesus Christ: hope, peace, joy, and love. As part of the series, we will do a “fun” exercise of six degrees of these ideals and then look at how we can move towards each of them in our lives.
This morning we will look at the 6º of Hope and we will begin with the movie I am Legend and arrive at the name for God, “the Great I Am.” If you don’t quite get it, just follow along and you should by the end.

SIX DEGREES
1º The movie clip we just saw is from movie I am Legend and it is about a virus initially intended to cure cancer that mutates into something terrible, unstoppable, and incurable. This movie depicts a world that showed tremendous promise only to fall into complete hopelessness. The human beings have become monsters and their only hope is scientist Robert Neville played by actor Will Smith.

2 º Will Smith is a famous actor and rapper who became popular in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Belair in the 1990’s. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor on the planet and won numerous awards for his movies. He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his roles in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.

3 º In The Pursuit of Happyness, Smith plays Chris Gardner a man who loses his job and his family and finds himself and on the streets of San Francisco. Chris is an intelligent and hardworking man who is determined to rebound from the situation and get his family back. He eventually gets back on his feet and much more through the help he finds at Glide Memorial Church’s homeless shelter and their inspiring worship services.

4 º Glide Memorial Church was founded in 1929 in San Francisco by a Methodist philanthropist Lizzie Glide purchased land in San Francisco and Glide Memorial was formed. In the 1960’s Cecil Williams helped revitalize the congregation to minister to the changing needs of the community. It continues to thrive as a progressive church in the city. Glide Memorial began and it still affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

5 º The United Methodist Church was founded in 1968 when the Methodist Episcopal and Evangelical United Brethren Churches merged. One of its defining beliefs is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which helps Christians to live out their faith. It affirms the primacy of the Bible and encourages followers to illuminate their faith through the means of tradition, reason, and experience.

6 º The Bible, at its core, it is a story about God making himself known to the world. In Exodus 3, God reveals himself to Moses and reveals his name to the people. In the Hebrew, it is YHWH and we tend to translate it into English as “I am who I am” or simply “I AM” This is where we get the name of God as the Great I Am, who is the one who is the ultimate source of hope in any situation.

FINDING REAL HOPE
So we see how in 6 º we can move from the hopelessness of I am Legend to the hope rooted in the Great I am, YHWH. And while it is fun place the game, how do we indeed move out of our own places of hopelessness. After all, the world may not have literally been turned into monsters by an evil mutated virus, but it just might feel like that. (I think I was half way there this week with the flu!)

1 º of Hope is to be rooted in reality.
We are taught there are two kinds of people in the world. There are the glass is half full kind of people and the glass is half empty kind of people. I used to be a half full kind of person. I tended to be trusting of people, optimistic, and hopeful of the world. Growing up in the 1990’s in white suburbia I didn’t know any better. I believed the world was always full of possibility and hope. Then, I got married and went into ministry. My wife could easily be labeled a glass is half empty kind of person. Early on in our marriage we would get into arguments because I thought she was being pessimistic. She would kindly inform me that she was simply being realistic. I didn’t get this nor did I like it. In my world, if you weren’t optimistic, then you were pessimistic. In Michelle’s world, if you were optimistic, then you were simply naive.
The reality is that Michelle is right. There is a third kind of person… there is the optimistic person and the pessimistic person, but then there is the realistic person… the glass has some water in it kind of person. As we look at our own hopelessness and desperate situations, it is important that we learn to see them realistically. If we want to get through difficult, if you want to learn to thrive again, then you need to see the world accurately. Hopelessness begins to be transformed by seeing reality accurately.
In Jim Collin’s book Good to Great, he tells a story about the Stockdale Paradox. The name comes from Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was the highest-ranking United States military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” POW camp in Vietnam. Stockdale survived through the worst of conditions without the hope of ever being freed. In an interview with Stockdale, Collins details the keys to who survived and who didn’t survive in the camp. The first insight he shared was that the optimists didn’t make it. They would always say things like, “We’ll be out by Christmas.” When they didn’t, they’d die of a broken heart. The key to Stockdale’s survival and certainly many others could be summarized by this quote from Stockdale, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
To live in reality means to confront the most brutal of facts. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, nothing else will do. To live in denial will lead to delusion and destruction. We aren’t equipped to respond to the actually problems because we fail to see them for what they are. For instance, if you find yourself in financial difficult or having marital problems, ignoring them won’t make them go away. In fact, they will generally get worse. Denial leads to things like debt, divorce, and worse, instead, confronting the facts, sharing your problem with others, and devising a plan of attack, with help to resolve almost any situation.
To live in reality means to abandon optimism. When I hear someone respond to a heartbreaking situation with false words of optimism it makes me cringe. The worst offenders tend to be Christians. It tends to be expressed in something like this, “God must have a reason/ purpose for it [terrible tragedy].” I think we have been programmed to respond this way because we think we are supposed to be hopeful, optimistic people. In actuality, our faith gives us the ability to be realists. We know that God will triumphant in the end, but that doesn’t mean that the world isn’t a dark and hurting place currently. My mantra when I find myself in difficult situations is “God can use this for good.” This statement allows room for the pain and heartbreak, and it clings onto a hope that has teeth. It transforms challenges into opportunities. It makes every situation full for potential in God. It doesn’t mean God brings bad things into our lives, but it does mean that God will guide us through them and use them for our good.
To fully grasp how God can accomplish this brings us to our second degree of hope.

2 º of Hope is found by waiting for the God of Resurrection.
Staring reality in the face can be a frightening and even disheartening experience. This is why it is important to know the source of Christian hope. Christian hope is not simply wishing for things to be better. It isn’t hoping the Cavs, Indians or Browns win a championship. Christian hope isn’t rooted in the temporal experience of this world. Instead, Christian hope is rooted in the Great I Am. God, the Creator and sustainer for the universe is the source of Christian hope.
In Matthew 24, we learn about the Christian hope as we hear Jesus talk about the importance of waiting for God’s return. An essential part of Christian doctrine is rooted in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus will return to usher in a new heaven and a new earth. The Second Coming teaches us that God isn’t finished with his work on this earth. The primary work that God has not yet accomplished here is the bodily resurrection of all believers in Jesus Christ. While we don’t know how, when or where God will carry this out, we do know that he will. And this fact, gives us the final score of the game. The promise of bodily resurrection and its demonstration in Jesus Christ tells us how the story is going to end. Knowing the ending, enables us to keep hope because we know that all is not lost.
Therefore, Embracing the hope of Resurrection enables us to deal with hopelessness in the world. We do not have to fear disappointment, destruction and death when we know resurrection is on the horizon. It tells us that we are playing for the winning team. We know that God will stand triumphant for eternity and that we will be able to stand by his side. And so when times get tough, we can cling to the hope of resurrection.
It is important to know that resurrection is not just going to heaven when we die, but it is much more. Resurrection, I think, is best defined by author and Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright as “life after life after death.” Resurrection is complete victory over death and sin. In resurrection, we will be transformed into the full glory of God. And while I can’t fully explain it, I believe that each experience on this earth contributes towards that full transformation at the resurrection. How do your current struggles look if you know that God will use them to transform you for eternity?
God is using this world to shape and mold you into his image if you will permit him to. Therefore, in a very real way, resurrection is not only a future hope but a present activity in the life of a believer. We can begin to live into earthly resurrection on a daily basis. In Luke 9:24 Jesus says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” When we learn to stand on the Scriptures and the promises of God, we can be strengthened through all circumstances. Each challenge becomes an opportunity for God to act in a mighty way.

NO LONGER FICKLE
I believe these two degrees of hope help move us out of a place of desperation and despair. Hope doesn’t have to be a fickle friend or a fleeting emotion. Christian hope is rooted in eternity and the Great I am. There don’t have to be six degrees of separation from your current situation to a place of hope and light. Instead, if we will be brave enough to look reality in the face and cling to the hope of resurrection, then we can overcome. We can stand victorious in all circumstances. We know how the story ends. We know who wins the game. God is and always will be the Great I Am. God will always sit on the throne. And you and I will always be called his children.
I want to conclude on a personal note and I might not make it through it. We go in for further tests this week on baby Jude to find out more about his heart condition. We covet your prayers for strength and healing as we continue to journey through this difficult time. I can honest tell you that as I look for hope in this situation my words this morning aren’t empty or hollow. They give me strength and they give me hope. I pray they will do the same for you in all situations.
Let’s pray.

Celebrate Abundance

This week's message was the culmination of our stewardship series. It looks at the connection between a strong vision and moblizing people into action. We looked at the parallels between the Israelites in the book of Exodus and the journey of Brimfield Faith United Methodist Church. May you be motivated and activated into God's mighty works!

Click here for the audio: http://www.mediafire.com/file/6r524v2prqca67e/Celebrate%20Abundance.mp3

“Celebrate Abundance”
Brimfield Faith UMC / November 21, 2010
Exodus 36:2-7

Today marks the conclusion of our series on financial stewardship. Over the last three weeks, we have heard John Wesley’s uses of money. Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. We have discussed what that looks like and learned about God’s views of money. Ultimately, God’s goal is to transform us into generous people because God is a generous God. Money is a tool that God gives us to participate in his mighty works. While much of the advice we have discussed is on a personal level, this morning I want to speak on a corporate level. I want to talk about the journey that the people of Brimfield Faith have been on over the past several years and I want to speak about where we are going and how I believe God is going to get us there.

THE EXODUS
To do that, we are going to take a running overview of the book of Exodus. As we hear the story of the Israelite people, we will also hear the story of our congregation. The book of Exodus gets its name for the pinnacle event in the book, the freeing of the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt. It is important to understand that the Exodus event is the pinnacle event in the Old Testament and the defining moment for the Israelite people. In many ways, the entire Bible is written through the lens of the Exodus event.
The Israelites had been an ancient tribe of semi-nomadic people who claimed Abraham as their founding father. It wasn’t until a man named Moses led them out of Egypt and revealed to them the name of the LORD God that their collective identity was formed. Every Passover the Jewish people retell the story of the Great Exodus. They remember the way God revealed himself to Moses and called him to set the Israelites free from slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt. They recall the 10 plagues that God sent as judgments against the Egyptians and how finally, the Israelites fled out of Egypt being chased by the Pharaoh’s army. They celebrate the parting of the Red Sea and the journey towards the land promised by God. The Exodus event defines the Israelite people because it tells the story of God’s great provision and protection. Regardless of how bleak circumstances have looked throughout the history of the Jewish people, they always refer back to the Exodus and know the God will be their faithful defender.
As I look back on the history of this congregation, I believe God has and is doing a similar work to that which he did in the Israelites. When I arrived at this church 3 ½ years ago, we found ourselves in a desperate place. The mission and vision of the church had been lost. Average worship attendance had dipped to 50. Morale was low and there were real discussions of closing the church. Just when almost all hope was lost, God blew his Spirit into our dry bones and led us out of slavery in Egypt. He raised up key people to speak a word of hope and to show us the way across our own Red Sea. God gave us a renewed mission, a new vision and a fresh hope. I tell this story because it reminds us of God’s faithfulness and provision at Brimfield Faith. God continues to be faithful to this people called Brimfield Faith United Methodist Church. This history is an important part of our DNA as a congregation of people. As we encounter challenging times in the present and the future, we can refer back to that place where God led us into freedom.


THE WILDERNESS
While the Exodus is the defining event in the story, it is also just the beginning of the story. After they crossed the Red Sea, they find themselves in the wandering in the wilderness as they sought to discover the Promise Land. The journey through the wilderness was a time of preparation and refining. While God had established in his identity to the Israelites, the journey of the wilderness was designed to prepare the people to be faithful to God. It was designed to teach them to fully rely on God. While the wilderness comes with challenges, it is primary a place of preparation. It is a time of learning to trust in God’s provision. It is a time to establish identity and solidify character. It is a time to hear from God about destiny and eternal purpose.
In the wilderness, the Israelites went through a number of experiences in the desert that helped to prepare their hearts and strengthen their character. They receive manna, bread, from heaven. They see water come up from a rock. They withstand attacks from hostile groups. Then they receive the Ten Commandments and the Law of God. The wilderness taught the Israelite people how to live as the people of God. It forever shaped their identity and character as a people.
As the community of Brimfield Faith, I believe we have been wandering in the wilderness over the past several years. We have been learning new things about God. We have been learning to trust God for our provision. We have been learning as follow Christ as disciples and to walk in faith. We have witnessed supernatural miracles and healings. We have seen a powerful and loving God move in our midst and on our behalf. And not unlike the Israelites, we have even lost a few people along the way, but God has also raised up another generation of people in this place. And perhaps most importantly, we have been learning about our destiny and eternal purpose as a people.

THE TABERNACLE
During Israel’s time in the wilderness, they learned how to be a worshiping people. How they worshiped and followed God was lived out in the construction of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the tent of God. Essentially, it was a mobile sanctuary and it was massive.
At least 20% of Exodus details the plans for construction. The Tabernacle was so important because in some real sense God’s presence resided in it. The pursuit of this vision transformed the life of the Israelites. It gave them a tangible and real way of worship and give honor to YHWH, their God. It gave them a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of other nations because every nation worshiped their own God. Other nations now knew that Israel worshiped YHWH. The building of the Tabernacle fulfilled the call to become the people of God.
In Proverbs 29:18 it says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The vision of the Tabernacle gave the Israelite people purpose and a cause on which to rally. At the beginning of this year, I believe the God gave us a clear vision of this church summarized in the words: Connect, Deepen, Engage. I believe this vision is about become the people of God again in this place. It is designed to teach us how to worship and follow Christ with our lives. The vision is intended to mobilize a people and breathe new life into them.
While we have been working on elements of connect, deepen and engage for almost two years, we have no completed it. We spent all of 2009 working on creating vibrant worship that connects our community to Christ. This vision is yielding fruit but it is not completed. This eyar we have focused on creating relationships that deepen our faith and change lives. The DIG Small Groups are the vehicle that is moving us towards this component of the vision. It continues to be a work in process. As we approach 2011, we will be focusing on the third component of the vision to creating opportunities to engage our faith to transform the community through service, witness, and mission. This is why we exist as a church. To be a part of this community of faith is to join in working towards this vision.

THE RESPONSE
In Exodus 35 and 36, we witness Moses mobilize the Israelites Once Moses had the plans, it was time to mobilize the people. The response was remarkable and overwhelming. In Exodus 35, Moses fully mobilizes the people into action. Every morning, the people brought freewill offerings to help with the Tabernacle. They brought some much that Moses finally says in Exodus 36:6-7. “So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing; 7 for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.”
I believe this was a defining moment for the Israelites. They could have complained about the amount of time and resources that it was going to take to build the Tabernacle. They could have gripped about being former slaves, wandering in the wilderness. They could have doubted and refused to respond. Instead, they embraced the vision and became the embodiment of it. They learned that God’s provision existed in the context of the community. They were transformed from a poor, enslaved people into a people filled with the blessings of God. They discovered that God was a God of abundance and this was cause for celebration.
I believe that God is calling us into a similar place as the people of Brimfield Faith. For too long, we have looked at our resources and said “We don’t have enough.” We look at small numbers at the end of the month and worry and doubt. Instead on focusing on what we don’t have, I believe it is time to respond to the vision of God. We are called to steward the vision of God for this community of faith. God is calling us to be Christ’s body in Brimfield, Ohio. There are lives that need changed, a community that needs transformed and a denomination that needs revitalized. If we will respond to the vision, God will provide in abundance.
Even though the Israelites were a nomadic, formerly enslaved people they gave in excess of the need. They were able to do this because they believed passionately in the vision. In Exodus 35:21, it speaks to this. “And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments.” Their hearts had been stirred and responded to the Lord’s vision. They knew the Tabernacle would change everything. Do we believe our vision will change everything? Will pursuing connect, deepen, engage, really change my life and transform this community? I believe it will. And if we can passionately embrace the vision, we will find creative ways to give towards this vision.
Exodus 35 lists some of the ways that the Israelites gave. They essentially brought whatever they had. Some offered gold and others sliver. Some brought fine linens and animal skins. The women spun with their hands. The leaders offered up gems and jewels. Some were filled with the Holy Spirit and gave of their skills, intelligence and knowledge. The Lord raised up a people to accomplish the work no individual could.
When you join the church, you promise to commit your prayers, your presence, your gifts, you service and your witness to the ministry of the church. Simplified a bit, I believe we need three primary things for each member of the congregation. One, attend worship regularly. If you are in town, you need you to be in worship. Average church attendance in America in regular worship attenders is 2 Sundays a month. We cannot grow fully into our vision unless we gather weekly together. Two, financially support the church and work towards biblical tithing. If everyone in the church tithed their income, we wouldn’t have shortages and our ministries wouldn’t be limited because of financial resources. Three, serve. Everyone is called to be a minister of the Gospel. Serving Jesus not a part-time commitment but rather a full-time calling. There are important roles and responsibilities that need filled if we are going to live into the vision.
A VISION FOR ALL
It is important to realize at the end of the day building a church is raising up a people. The church is not a building or an institution, it is a group of people being called out by God to transform the world. Therefore, the vision of connect, deepen and engage is a vision isn’t a stagnant, stationary. It is designed to guide a people on the journey of faith to transform the world. It is intended not to gather us as a comfortable group of Christians; instead, it is a vision to be launched out into the world. And so I appeal to you to passionately embrace the vision for this church so that we can change lives and transform communities for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
We are going to pray and then you will be given several minutes to prayerful fill out your “Estimate of Giving Cards.” We understand that this card is simply that: an estimate of what you intend to give next year. We know circumstances can change. I pray that yours will indeed change for the better and that you will need to increase your pledge next year. Remember as we commit this estimates that we are committing to the vision to build a church that changes lives and transforms communities through connecting, deepening, and engaging our faith.
Let’s pray.




SIDE NOTE:

The Tabernacle was built to travel with the people. It was never intended to be permanent but it was important to shaping the people and guiding them into the future. They would eventually come to occupy the Promise Land and build the Temple. The Temple would never have been built, if the people hadn’t first built the Tabernacle. We, as the body of Christ, are the new temple of the Holy Spirit. We are being blessed to be a blessing to the world, not just to one another. We are being launched into the world in order to transform it.

All You Can

John Wesley first called us to "earn all you can." Then, "save all you can." Now he takes it the final step with "give all you can." This message talks about the importance of learning how to give and how to be transformed into a generous person. After all, we serve a generous God.

Follow the link for audio http://www.mediafire.com/file/rd0qzsbquy4eaey/All%20You%20can.mp3

Read the text below.

“All You Can”
Brimfield Faith UMC / November 21, 2010
Proverbs 11:24-25

Over the past several weeks, we have been looking at the issue of money and financial stewardship. We have been misled by the world’s advice on finances and matters of money for too long. We have been taught by a consumer-driven society that we must earn and spend. We are slowly realizing that we have cause many of our current economic woes by the fact that we have spent too much and saved too little. If we are going to stumble our way out of this mess, then the church needs to regain a voice in the marketplace. We need to allow God to speak into our entire lives, including and especially our financial lives John Wesley attempted to do this in a 1760 sermon where he lays out three rules for the use of money. “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” As we attempt to reclaim the financial realm for the Kingdom of God, these three rules can guide the way for us.
The first rule is to earn all the money you can. And the second is to save all you can. Most of the world has no problem with these first two rules, but on occasion Christians have been taught to the contrary. Well meaning Christians warn against accumulating too much wealth or becoming rich. In fact, I was doing research this week and came across an article that suggested we pray that God doesn’t make us too rich. I thought how contradictory this is to what Wesley taught and really what God teaches. God wants to prosper us and bless us with godly money making approaches. Money isn’t the enemy and the danger is not in how much we have. The dangers of money arise when we set our hearts on money. We don’t have to be rich to have a love of money, in fact, many poor people struggle with greed and a love of money. Instead, a healthy, godly relationship with money starts with submitting our earning power and yielding our savings to the Lord.

GIVE ALL YOU CAN
The first two rules of money are just the starting point to using money in a godly manner. In Wesley’s sermon he says, “Let not any man imagine that he has done anything barely by going thus far, by gaining and saving all he can, if he were to stop here. All this is nothing if a man go not forward, if he does not point all this at a farther end…. Having first gained all you can, and secondly saved all you can, then give all you can.”
In God’s view money is not to be earned or saved simply for the sake of earning or saving. Money is to be spent, used, and given to further the kingdom of God and bring glory to God’s holy name. Money is not a virtue but rather a tool for us to utilize. This means we must be good stewards and caretakers of the resources that God has entrusted to us. Stewardship is yielding all of our resources to the Lord. As we work towards giving all that we can, Wesley suggests three priorities for our giving in this order.

Priority #1. Give to meet your family’s needs.
As you give, your first priority is to take care of your family and your needs. If you have earning wisely and saved smartly, in most cases there will be enough resources to meet your needs. You should make sure there is enough food, proper clothing, and adequate shelter. Make sure you spend enough on the family to keep all of them healthy and strong. As you seek to meet your family’s needs, remember the difference between wants and needs. You want to plan wisely for all of your family’s current and future needs as best as you can foresee.
I know many of you have struggled in this area, over the past several years. The reality is that even when we have been wise with our money, provision can be difficult. Nonetheless, I believe the Lord will provide as his word says in Matthew 6:32, “indeed, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” God provides for the birds of the air and he will provide for his children. I would speak blessings and encouragement to you. Do not feel guilty or shame. Do not feel failure. But I would encourage you to fully surrender your financial struggles to the Lord.

Priority #2. Give to support the household of God.
As I read Wesley’s sermon, he suggests that once we have provided for our family if there is anything left, that we give to the church. I found this interesting because he doesn’t say you should give to the church first and then attempt to provide for your family. I think there is a fine line to walk when it comes to giving to the household of God and providing for your family.
While there isn’t a magic formula, the act of giving to the Lord is an important faith practice. In Proverbs 3:9-10 it says, “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” When we give to the Lord, we learn how to trust God and how to receive blessings from him. The spiritual attitude of giving to God is more important than the act itself. We, then, should be less concerned about how much or how little we have to give. Instead, we should have a desire to give as much as we can to the work of the Lord through his church.
The legalist asks what is the minimum that is expected of me and shoots for that. In contrast, the Christ-follower seeks to give cheerfully. They get excited about giving to the work of God in the Church. Personally, I give to this church because I love the work that God is doing in this place. I am energized by the way lives are being changed, the way people are being healed, and the way the community is being transformed. I see it as a privilege to be able to participate in that and to support it. I would give more if I were able. I hope and pray that same excitement motivates you to give to the household of God.
A quick side note on tithing to the church: In antiquity, a tithe was, “The dedication of a tenth of agricultural products, of livestock, of goods gained in trade, or of booty to the worship of a deity or to the persons who served that worship” (Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary). For Christians tithing is the spiritual practice of giving 10% of our income to the Lord. The tithe is not a legalistic amount, but rather a reference point and starting place. Therefore, I wouldn’t concern yourself with whether a tithe is 10% before or after taxes.
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus chastises the Pharisees for missing the point of tithing. He says, ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.” Tithing helps us to keep our hearts focused on the Lord and allows us to participate in the mighty works of God.

Priority #3. Give to help those in need.
One of the questions that I frequently give to people is about giving to other organizations. They typically want to know if they can count the money they give to other charities and Christian organizations towards their tithe. Since we have already established that tithing is not a lealistic act, I cannot give you a hard and fast answer, although, I would hedge towards, no. My reasoning is as follows. First, Scriptures encourage us to give a tithe to the Lord. Second, we know that the Church is the body of Christ in the world. Therefore, the primary way we give to the Lord is through the local church. On a personal note, I would argue that our church is going to benefit more from the $50 a month you send to charity than that charity is going to. Plus, you are going to see the harvest reaped for the money you sow into this place.
Now this isn’t to say you shouldn’t give to other charities and organizations. If fact, Wesley would encourage us to do so, after we have provided for our family and given to the church. It is at that point that we should give whatever else we have for the good of humankind. Giving for the sake of others is important. In Proverbs 19:17 it says, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and will be repaid in full.” If you have a heart to give to the poor, which I hope you do, then I would encourage you to earn, save and spend so that you have enough left to make these contributions.

GIVE ALL YOU HAVE
If you live into these priorities to giving and spending our money, you may begin to realize that there isn’t much left. And that is the point. The rule to give all we can is actually the call to give all you have to the Lord. Stewardship means we yield all of our financial decisions to the Lord. We make choices with the Lord’s purposes and will in the forefront of our minds. As we do this, our motivations regarding money begins to shift and our hearts are changed. We realize the point isn’t to give a certain percentage but rather to become generous people.
We come to understand Proverbs 11:24-25: “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. 25A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.” Giving isn’t about getting your money, it is about transforming your hearts and making you in to the image of God.
We are being called to become generous people because we serve a generous God. If we don’t learn this, the message of giving is scary for many of us because we operate out of the wrong mindset. We live in a world of scarcity and fear. We are told we don’t have enough, that we aren’t going to make it, that the world is crashing down around us. We fail to hear the message of God. Instead, God wants us to hear the message of provision, abundance and trust. God wants us to move from a place of scarcity to a place of abundance, from stinginess to generosity.
The end goal of giving is to reach a place of true generosity. These is no greater blessing in life that to live out of generosity. It truly is better to give than to receive. Generosity comes out of a place of trust in the Lord. It brings joy and contentment. It focuses on others and doing the Lord’s work. Generosity is the linchpin of honoring God with our finances. It begins out of an acknowledgement that God has given us everything. It is a response to Romans 3:24, “they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” God gives to us freely and we response to his generosity we live lives defined by generosity.
I hope is that you become a person defined by generosity and that we become a church defined by generosity. People’s lives depend on it. Through our generosity, we can partner with God to change lives and transform communities. We can participate in the mighty acts of God in this place.
Let’s pray for God to give us generous spirits and the provision to give generously with our finances.

Penny Pinching

This week we continued in our financial stewardship series, "Matters of Money." This week we looked at Wesley's second use of money: save all you can. If you tend to earn all you can in order to spend all you can, then this message is for you. May it be a blessing to you and may you experience the fullness of God's abundance.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rvn85u81c7d8y7x/Penny%20Pinching%20Sermon.mp3

“Penny Pinching”
Brimfield Faith UMC / November 7, 2010
Proverbs 21:5, 20

SAVE ALL YOU CAN
Last week, we started a sermon series called, “Matters of Money,” based on a sermon Wesley preached in 1760 called, “The Use of Money.” In it he says, “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” Last week, we talked about the call to earn all we can and we learned that we are called to submit our earning potential to the Lord. While the message to earn all we can comes with certain guidelines and parameters, God does indeed want to bless us with financial prosperity. That prosperity is not for our own benefit but rather for the benefit of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we need to hear the next two messages of Wesley if we are going to use money the way God intends.
This morning, we are going to look at the encouragement to save all that we can. If you were to ask an elementary school child to define savings for you and you might be surprised at the answer you get. Many of them will answer you with, “Saving is the amount you get off the regular price of an item you buy.” While that is an accurate definition of savings, it used to mean the money that we saved and put in the bank. Before you shake your heads in disbelief at the children, realize that this is what we have modeled to them. Many adults use to save money and put it in the bank.
Now many of us, not only don’t save any money, we spend next week’s and next year’s paychecks before we get them. In fact, in 2008, 43% of American families spent more than they earned. Average credit card debt in America is currently around $9000. That means there is nothing left at the end of the month. The reality is that many people earn all they can so they can spend all they can. Essentially, they hear the first part of Wesley’s message and say, “I like that,” and off they go. They fail to learn about God’s the other uses of money. In fact, we better pray for the people that were in worship last week and not this week! The reality is that many us of live our lives as if we have only heard the message to earn all you can.
We get caught in the trap of trying to buy our happiness. If we want to discover the abundant life God promises us, we need to hear God’s entire message on finances. The second part of that message is conveyed in Proverbs 21:20, “Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it.” In other words, it is wise to save your wealth. It is foolish to earn all you can and then go out and spend all you can. By this definition, many of us fall into the fool category at times. We get that tax refund check or Christmas bonus and our first impulse is to go out and spend it. After all, there are things I’ve been wanting and I deserve that new 50” plasma screen TV. Now I’m not suggesting that we don’t spend any of our money, but there are certainly limitations to how much we spend and what we spend it on. How do we learn to overcome these impulses to spend? How do we learn to save all that we can and still be satisfied?

WAYS TO SAVE
#1. Develop contentment in your heart.
If we are going to successfully submit these to the Lord, we need to realize that our problems run deeper than outward behaviors. We can receive credit counseling, learn how to budget, and work to create margin in our lives. We need to learn to view the world and money through the eyes of God and the Scriptures. We must completely submit our finances to the Lord.
Therefore, we begin saving all we can by changing our hearts. In Luke 12:15 Jesus says, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” In order to develop contentment, you must confess the sinfulness of your heart. You must acknowledge the greed that continually creeps in. Greed has a way of eroding your soul. Two practical ways to develop contentment.
#1 – Avoid temptation. Don’t read the Sunday ads every week. They are designed to exploit your weaknesses. Advertisers are the ones teaching you that savings is the amount off of the retail price. We are already bombarded with advertisement incessantly so don’t invite more assaults than necessary.
#2 – Develop a grateful heart. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul encourages us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” When we learn to appreciate what we have and the blessings of life, we will be more content. We will appreciate life and not just the stuff of life more.
As we focus on the heart condition there are some other practical ways to steer our heart in the right direction and to save all the money we can.

#2. Create a budget.
The first is to create a budget. Jesus teaches in Luke 12:34, that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” By creating a budget, you can learn and control where your money and heart is going. It is a great way to track your spending, reduce unnecessary expenditures, and increase savings.
As you make a budget, you want to create margin at the end of the month. A good first step to doing that is distinguishing between wants and needs. We often get the two confused. We think we need a new TV or a meal at a nice restaurant. The reality is that those are often wants. It isn’t wrong to buy things that are wants but we must do purchase wants wisely. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul encourages us not to by extravagantly. The discipline of buying reasonably and budgeting will help you save more money and create margin at the end of the day. One of the pieces of advice that I personally try to live out is to give 10%, save 10% and live on the rest. In order to do this, it requires discipline and commitment, but it results in contentment.

#3. Set Savings Goals.
Finally, it is helpful to have goals to motivate us towards saving. I would encourage you to write down your goals and keep them visible. This will help you as you seek to develop a heart of contentment and to live within your budget. Proverbs 21:5 teaches us that, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.” You have to plan if you want to succeed in saving all you can. I want to share a few basic goals that can help you to stabilize your finances.
#1. Emergency fund of $1000. This frees you from having to use your credit card for every small or big emergency. You don’t panic when the car breaks down, or the kids have to go to the doctor or something else. This creates a cushion for you to respond instead of react to unforeseen expenses.
#2. Get out of Debt. The average American is in $9000 in credit card debt. If we are carrying credit card debt, this is a sign that we are spending more than we earn. If we want to pursue Wesley’s advice to save then we must get out of debt. Proverbs 22:7 states, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” If you are in debt, I would encourage you to work a plan to eliminate that debt. There are great resources out there that I would encourage you to use. They are listed on your DIG Guide and I would encourage you to come and talk to me about it if you have further questions along these lines.
#3. Save 3 – 9 months of living expenses. In an environment of unemployment and uncertainty, this is so important. Depending on your lifestyle and current living expenses, this number will be different for everyone. When we have this money saved, I think we are freed up to be able to give generously and live out of a God-given abundance.
#4. Major expenses: cars, retirement, college, etc… Dave Ramsey, financial guru, would suggest that you pay cash for major purchases like cars. This larger goals may seem unattainable but when we’ve met these other goals, they are important. We must plan wisely if we want to live our days out of God’s abundance.

HOARDING
While saving is important, we must remember that we must submit our savings to the Lord. We don’t save to save. Instead, there should always a purpose for our savings. In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable of a farmer who has a tremendous crop and has decided to save all of it for himself. The night he settles to build huge store houses to keep the crop, his life is called into account. The farmer seems to have followed Wesley’s first two pieces of advice to earn and save all that he could. The problem is that the farmer didn’t understand the purpose for which he was earning and saving. The farmer failed to recognize that he was being blessed to be a blessing. He was prospering so that he could invest in the kingdom of God and to store up treasures in heaven.
There is a show on TV right now called, “Hoarders.” [PICTURE] Anyone watched it? It is a reality, intervention show about people who have taken the exhortation to save all they can to the extreme. Saving stuff has become an idol and an obsession for them. Other people are shopaholics. If we don’t submit our finances to God, money will become our master. It is amazing how many different ways it can control us.
If you are controlled in some way by your finances, I would encourage you to listen to God’s heart on the issues. Our lives can be transformed when the Holy Spirit internalizes this message. We must hear the entire message: Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. Next week, we’ll look at how we can cultivate a heart of generosity. My hope is that you will live free and be guided by God in your finances and your entire life.

Go and Make Money

This week we started our stewardship series called, “Matters of Money.” John Wesley preached a message in 1760 called, "The Uses of Money." In it he said, "Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. Each week we'll look at each of the three exhortations. The first sermon talked about God’s call to “Go and Make Money.” In wasn't a health and wealth message but rather a call to submit our earning potential to the Lord.

Listen to the audio by following the link or read the text below.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/3yk470p355wqx2d/Go%20and%20Make%20Money.mp3

“Go and Make Money”
Brimfield Faith UMC / October 31, 2010
Luke 19:11-27

INTRO
November is typically the month that we focus on issues of finances and stewardship. In the past, people and pastors both dreaded the infamous stewardship talk. I think this dread was caused by a focus on the church “getting” enough money to keep the church running. Pastors are notoriously bad with money which is a shame because the Bible is filled with advice and wisdom on money. In fact, the Scriptures the topic of money and wealth is addressed more than any other topic. According to Crown Financial Ministries there are 2,350 verses on finances and 15% of Jesus’ teaching deals with finances. This is because God understands that where our treasures are, our hearts will be also.
While we as a nation continue to flounder in “the Great Recession,” it is time that the church to take back the realm of finances in a positive and productive way. Stewardship series can no longer be about convincing you to give your hard earned money to God. The reality is that God doesn’t need your money. Instead, we need to learn to give to God for our own sakes. It is a privilege to be able to participate in God’s mighty works. Giving back to God keeps us humble, grounded and connected to God.
The founder of the United Methodist Church, John Wesley understood the importance of money as well. In 1760, he wrote a sermon entitled, “The Use of Money.” In it he has three basic principles when it comes to money. “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.”
Each week, we are going focus on one of these ideas. We will see that the Scriptures have unique and important insights on all three of these ideas. This morning we are going to look at this idea of earning all that we can.

EARN ALL YOU CAN
When you hear that first statement, “Earn all you can,” what is your reaction? If you are like many Christians, there might be an adverse reaction to it. Perhaps think of the saying, “Money is the root of all evil.” I, of course, have misquoted the verse. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil, not money itself. Even if we know that money isn’t the root of all evil, most of us are wary about having too much. After all, the Scriptures are full of verses warning and rebuking the rich. For example, Jesus teaches us that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The Bible seems replete with anti-rich statements, stories and parables. So how then do we reconcile this, with the exhortation to “earn all you can.”
This move begins by recognizing that money is not evil but rather a tool in the hands of human beings. How we use and treat the money we have is what determines the outcome. The reality is that God wants our lives to be profitable in all facets. We need to use our spiritual resources to the best of our ability but we must also material resources wisely. God calls us to be profitable with our resources.
Consider the parable of the talents that you heard read earlier. In the story, the master gives three servants each an amount of money. The first two servants turn a profit with the money they’ve been given. This pleases the master greatly. The third servant, out of fear and probably ineptitude, puts the money under his mattress and then gives it back to the master. The master is furious with this and chastises the man. For the men who made a profit, he rewards them with more and tells them, ““Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.” In business terms, God wants us to be profitable whether it is with spiritual resources or material wealth.
This issue of profitability is actually a hotly debated topic these days. In my business classes, we were taught that the first responsibility of a company was to be profitable. The argument is that a business cannot do good in the world if it doesn’t generate revenue. The number one goal of any business is to make money, period. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Motors, wrote a book called Winning, in which he unapologetically makes the same point. Companies also have a responsibility to engage in social goods but they can only do that when they are sustainable and profitable. Struggling, bankrupt companies cannot contribute to society and cannot make a positive difference in the world.
John Wesley essentially endorses this approach when he exhorts believers to earn all that they can. As followers of Christ, we are being called to go and make money. I believe that God gives Christians money making ideas and business solutions if we will listen. Too often, we divorce the task of making money from spiritual things and we miss what God is telling us. I believe that God wants us to prosper and thrive so that his kingdom can prosper and thrive as well. Of course, there are parameters within which earning money is acceptable. While the call is to make money, there are certain guidelines within which one must operate as a Christ follower. Therefore, I want to spend the rest of this morning talking about the guidelines to help us earn all that we can.

Guideline #1: Earn Legally.
In 1 Peter 2:13-14 it teaches that we must “accept the authority of every human institution.” So the first guideline almost comes without saying. We must earn legally. We cannot break laws in order to make money. Earlier this month, the Brimfield Police Department found a marijuana farm with over 700 plants on it. The value was estimated at $250,000. This was most certainly a profitable business, but it certainly was not legal. God does not and will not bless us when we earn money illegally. Earning money legally is important because the government establishes laws in order to keep people from harming one another. There are nuances, of course, but this is the basic guiding principle to creating laws: Does it harm others or put others at risk?
John Wesley had his fair share of short sayings. One of his most famous was his “Three Simple Rules.” 1 – do no harm; 2 – do good; 3 – stay in love with God. These three simple rules go well with our three guidelines for earning money. The first one applies to earning legally. To earn legally involves doing no harm. Scripturally, this means we do not disparage, gossip, we do not injure, wound, or act maliciously. As a Christian, earning money legally and without harming others is the bare minimum. It is the starting point. There are plenty of companies and individuals that earn money legal but God is still not pleased. This brings us to our second guideline.

Guideline #2: Earn Ethically.
In 3 John 11 it says, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” The next step towards earn money God’s way is to earn it ethically. Ethical behavior can be difficult to define. To define it this morning, I would draw upon second of the three simple rules: doing good. Therefore, to earn ethically involves doing good. This means we don’t lie, cheat or mislead others. Don’t overcharge interest. Don’t exploit others vulnerability. Instead, to earn ethically means we engage honest work. We seek to look to bless others with your business. We attempt to add value to people’s lives as we earn money ethically.
Along these lines, John Wesley gives us a great and unlikely historical example of an ethical business. The story is about a business man by the name of Arthur Guinness. Legend has it that Guinness, received divine inspiration for the recipe to the famed Guinness Stout Beer as a way of saving the Irish from the Gin Craze” that threatened to destroy Ireland. This is only part of the story of Guinness though.
John Wesley preached a message at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, that we know Arthur Guinness heart. While we do not know the exact words said, Wesley would have said to the wealthy business men there, “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. Your wealth is evidence of a calling from God, so use your abundance for the good of mankind.” These words changed the course of Guinness’ life and the direction of his company. He embraced the ideas of Wesley and turned his company into the leader in societal good of the day. He started Sunday schools, gave money to the poor, and helped hospitals. Guinness employees were paid better than any others. They received medical and dental care. Families were afforded vacations into the country side. A workers family could take educational classes. The benefits were endless and the positive impact limitless. The employee perks far outweigh anything we see today.
Guinness might be most known for beer today, but in the 17th Century it was a powerful agent for the Kingdom of God. People’s lives were changed and society was transformed because Arthur Guinness embraced the mantra “Earn, Save, Give all you can” God’s way. While some companies embrace ethical business today, we don’t see the influence and prominence of the Guinness Company. Arthur Guinness embodied what it means to do good and to earn money ethically.

Guideline #3: Earn Morally.
The final guideline to earning money is to earn morally. In Colossians 2:6-7 it reads, “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” This last exhortation is probably the most challenging but certainly the most important. For the Christian, I would define moral by the third simple rule: stay in love with God. Therefore, to earn morally involves staying in love with God.
This means don’t engage in work to earn money that does harm to yourself: body, mind or soul. When we do too much work, harmful work, or dangerous work, this can harm our love for God. Therefore, we need to engage in work that can encourage our spiritual health. WE might also seek to engage in work that brings people closer to God.
This doesn’t mean we all need to be pastors, missionaries, or health care workers. Most of our jobs will permit us to earn money morally and while staying in love with God if we embrace the right attitude. This guideline to earn morally will be better flushed out in the next two sermons, so I won’t belabor it at this point. Nonetheless, as we look for a job we should consider whether it will hinder our relationship with God. Jesus says we cannot serve two masters. Therefore, if our jobs are vying for our loyalties before God, then we must seek other employment.


CONCLUSION
I hope you can hear the call of God this morning concerning money. We need not be afraid of it. We need not sabotage our earning potential. Instead we should seek to be profitable with all that God has given us. We need to submit our earning potential before the Lord. When you earn all that you can, you can serve God in a greater capacity. You can use your money to make a positive influence in the world for the Kingdom of God. So I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go out and make some money. And remember if we do it legally, ethically, and morally, I have faith that God is going to bless you in it. Have you submitted your earning potential before God?