At Centerville United Methodist Church, we are launching our summer worship series, “Love is a Mix Tape”. The idea for the series came from a book by Rob Sheffield, who is a contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine.

How many of you are old enough (or young enough) to remember the mix tape? In the 80’s and early 90’s, if a boy wanted to express his feelings for a young lady, he would attempt to craft the perfect mix tape. One of my favorite movies, “High Fidelity”, shows the pain-staking process of piecing together the perfect mix tape. You couldn’t just start off with Lenny Williams “Cause I Love You”. You had to ease into it!

For you young folks, the mix tape is like sharing a playlist. Basically, you decide the message you want to convey and find songs to communicate that message. Now, sometimes the mix tape was used to express ones love. Yet, there were instances in which the mix tape was used to let you know the relationship was over. No one ever wants to receive a mix tape where the first song is War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” or Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love”.

Throughout our “Love is a Mix Tape” series, we’ll be using Scripture and music to help set the stage for sermons on worship, doubt, unity, forgiveness, and more. We’ll use rock, folk, and country songs. This morning, we’ll be exploring the topic of worship. And, to launch our message on worship, we’ll hear Bob Marley’s “One Love”.

But, before the video, I have some quick business to take care of. Today is Father’s Day! So, that means that father’s get to do whatever they want to do, right? Therefore, in the spirit of Father’s Day, give me just one second…In fact, why don’t you watch this video while I get some things together. (While the video is playing, I will exit the sanctuary, change into shorts, sandals, grab a lawn chair and can of Ale8-1 in order to get more comfortable because, after all, it is Father’s Day)

Now, that’s better and feels more appropriate for Father’s Day! While Bob Marley was a Rastafarian, this song really gets to the essence of worship.

“One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel all right”

“Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right”

Part of worship is getting together to give thanks and praise to the Lord. Often times, a bi-product of our worship together is that we will “feel all right”. When we give thanks and praise to God, we experience peace, comfort, joy, rest, and assurance.

In the Church, we often talk about “passionate worship”. One understanding of passionate worship is that everything we say, think and do has the potential to be an act of worship. That also indicates that every  we say, think and do has the potential to not be an act of worship. So, that means we have two choices when it comes to everything we say, think, and do: sin or worship.

Worship is about ascribing worth to something. In the case of Christian worship, we ascribe worth to God. When we work, eat, drink, sleep, and play in a way that bring God glory and honor, we worship. When we work, eat, drink, sleep and play in a way that dishonors God, we sin. It really can be that black and white. We either sin or we worship. In many ways, whether we sin or worship comes down to our heart and our attitude.

Worship is so much more than our hour long gathering on Sunday mornings. Our worship isn’t just the corporate gathering, but also our private and personal worship in our daily lives. But, just for a minute, let’s talk about the hour long gathering on Sunday mornings.

Some believe that in order for our worship to be pleasing to the Lord, it has to be perfectly reverent and serious. Laughter is often frowned upon. We believe the pastor needs to wear a robe and stole or at least a suit and tie. The congregation needs to be well dressed and the children need to be well behaved. Listen, I believe part of the reason I’m still in the church is due to the fact that when I was a kid, I was allowed to be a kid. I was the one crawling under the pews, playing with his Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant action figures during the sermon, and skateboarding in the parking lot (or fellowship hall if it was raining or snowy. So, if these reverent and serious expectations aren’t met, it certainly isn’t worship. Therefore, folks with this expectation are often disappointed when “this guy” is around.

Some believe that we have to sing certain songs or it really isn’t worship. If we don’t sing a particular song, our worship just doesn’t hit the mark. (examples from churches and camp) Or if our songs don’t fit a particular style of music it certainly can’t be worship.

Some believe that the prayers in worship should be eloquent, wordy, and lengthy in order for our worship to be pleasing to God.

Some believe that worship has to be in the sanctuary, on a particular day, and a particular time in order for it to be true worship.

We could go on and on about what folks believe has to take place in order for our worship to truly be worship. Some of our differences of opinion on worship help explain the existence of the plethora of denominations around the world. Yet, all of these things are really just personal preferences.

Worship is more about our hearts and minds connecting with God than whether or not we sing a certain song, in a certain style, in a certain location, at a certain time, with a certain dress code. I’m pretty sure God doesn’t really care about our personal preferences. God might actually want us to try some new and different things in order to stretch us, grow us, and challenge us. If we’re simply doing the same routine we’ve been doing for years, we probably are just stuck!

For a number of years, we’ve experienced “worship wars” in the Christian church…people arguing about the style of music. And, get this, people have divided churches and driven out leaders because of musical preferences. Some believe one style to be superior to another. One side will say, if there isn’t an organ it isn’t worship. The other side will say, if there isn’t a band, it isn’t worship. One side will say the words of certain songs are empty and childish. The other side will say that the words of hymns are complicated and no one really understands them anyway (what’s an Ebenezer anyway and why would we raise it?) It’s really ridiculous the lengths we’ll go to in order to hold onto our personal preferences. (Elkhart Trinity- drums/organ/new drums story). God doesn’t care if we’re singing Charles Wesley, Chris Tomlin, Johnny Cash or Bob Marley, as long as our hearts and minds are connecting with Him!

We can experience powerful moments of worship in extremely formal, traditional settings.

We can experience powerful moments of worship in extremely informal, contemporary settings.

We can experience powerful moments of worship in the car, in the office, on the beach, in the middle of the mountains, wherever we find ourselves. And, we shouldn’t discredit the ways others worship, but be thankful they have found a way to connect with God.

But, back to that one hour on Sunday that we refer to as corporate worship. Sometimes we reduce our concept of worship to the singing portion of our gathering. When we join together we should sing with joy and passion as we truly think about the meaning of the words we sing. If we took a picture of congregations across the US during the singing portion of a church gathering, people would probably make the generalization that Christians are joy-less and grumpy! 

I’ll be honest…one of the most difficult roles of a pastor is to sit in front of the congregation as we sing together and keep a straight face. It’s hilarious to sit and front and watch congregations sing. We’ll sing songs like “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God” with a frown on our faces, then we’ll sing a song about the brutal death of Jesus with a big smile!

John Wesley, founding father of the Methodist movement, gave some rules for singing: (in hymnal)

• Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
• Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of it being heard, then when you sing the songs of Satan.
• Sing modestly. Do not bawl, as to be heard above, or distinct from, the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
• Sing in time. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before, not stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
• Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Worship is about honoring and praising God in all we say, think, and do. It’s not the songs we sing. It’s not that one hour on Sunday morning. It’s everything we say, think, and do.

Col. 3:15-17 

Can we find joy in all we do? Can we find ways to honor and praise God in all we say, think and do? As Christians, we should be known for our joy, our hope (even in times of trouble), and our love. That’s worship! Worship is all about our One Love, Jesus Christ, so, let’s get together and feel alright!

This message was shared at Centerville UMC on Sunday, May 31, 2015. John 3:1-17 served as the morning’s Scripture.

Can anyone say that they have lived a life free of conflict? How many of us would love to be able to say that we have lived a life free of conflict? How many of us can say that, while conflict can be difficult, we have grown, matured, and learned as a result of conflict?

The reality is that we all face conflict in some manner. Now, if everyone would just learn to agree with me, we could avoid so much conflict!

We encounter conflict in our homes, within our families and circle of friends, in our workplaces, schools, and even in the church. It seems that just about anywhere people are gathered, there will be conflict.  How we handle conflict has a major impact on our Christian witness.

Where does conflict come from? There are times that conflict stems from some kind of injustice. We see people being treated unfairly and we decide we can no longer stay silent. So, we speak up and there is conflict.

Sometimes conflict stems from having unrealistic expectations. Maybe we set the bar too high and are disappointed when those around us don’t hit the bar. So, conflict comes from disappointment because our expectations (whether realistic or not) were not met.

Sometimes conflict is birthed out of fear. It’s my considered opinion that most conflict grows out of jealousy, envy, bitterness, selfishness, pride, ego, misunderstanding, and judgmental attitudes. James 4:1 would tell us that conflict comes from the selfish desires that are at war within us.

I’m convinced that, at times, we Christians believe it’s our job to judge and condemn. Here, in John 3, Jesus makes it clear that he came to save, not condemn. We, as individuals and as the church, are called to follow Jesus’ example. That means, we are called to save, not condemn. We are called to be His agents of salvation, His agents of hope. Yet, too often, we’re more consumed with the business of judging and condemning others than the loving and saving business. If we are going to be honest with ourselves, we would be willing to admit, that at times, this rings true.

Some of the most loving, kind, caring, compassionate, joyful, peace-filled people I’ve ever met are church folk. Yet, at the same time, some of the grumpiest, most mean-spirited, gossipy, judgmental, combative and downright hateful folks I’ve met are church folk too. Why is that? Human nature? Maybe? But, it might be because we really don’t take Jesus and the Bible seriously.

It’s easy to get caught up in gossip, slander, spreading half-truth and lies. It’s easy to get caught up judging and condemning others because it’s easier to judge and condemn than to offer the saving grace and love of Jesus. Maybe the source of conflict between churched and unchurched folks is that we are more prone to judge and condemn than offer hope and love. At the very least, we have to admit that we are known more outside the church for our judgmental attitudes and hypocritical actions. Too often, we Christians are known more for what we stand against than what we stand for.

So, we often attempt to justify our judging, condemning, gossip, slander, half-truths and lies about others by saying, “Well, I’m just trying to hold so-and-so accountable.”

Listen, there is a huge difference between accountability and judging, condemning, gossip, slander, half-truths and lies. One is motivated by love and sincere concern. The other is motivated by selfishness and pride. We judge, condemn, gossip, and slander others in an attempt to make ourselves feel better or superior to the other. And, when we are judging, condemning, gossiping, slandering, spreading half-truths and lies we are avoiding the very person we are talking about. If we’re holding so-and-so accountable, we would actually go to “so-and-so” instead of everyone else! There are times that, when we finally go to “so-and-so” we’ve done so much damage, reconciliation will be much more difficult.

Our tendency to judge and condemn rather than offer love, grace and mercy might indicate that, as followers of Jesus, we don’t really take the Bible seriously. We like the Bible. We pick and choose the parts we want to follow. But, we don’t really take it seriously.

We avoid Biblical conflict resolution because it’s uncomfortable and difficult. We prefer the road of judging, condemning, gossip, slander, half-truths, and lies. Let’s be honest, it’s easier to talk about someone you are upset or disappointed with than to actually talk to them. How many of you have ever been the last person to find out that someone else is upset with you? Everyone else in town knows, but you!

So, how should we handle conflict? How should we deal with those whom we are upset with, disappointed in or with whom we disagree? Maybe the Bible has something to say about conflict?

Matthew 18:15-17. This passage gives us a great roadmap for dealing with conflict. “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.” (MSG)

1. Go directly to the person
2. Take 1-2 witnesses
3. Go to the church
4. Witness to God’s love and forgiveness – not judging, just offering Jesus

But, that’s not really how we tend to do things, is it? Here’s how we tend to deal with conflict:

1. Get upset
2. Talk to anyone who will listen, except the person we have a problem with
3. Speculate, gossip, judge, condemn
4. make a mountain out of a molehill
5. Place more concern on the splinter than the log – and we don’t attempt to take steps to understand the other person.

Matthew 7:1-5- “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. You’ll receive the same judgment you give. Whatever you deal out will be dealt out to you. Why do you see the splinter that’s in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but don’t notice the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when there’s a log in your eye? You deceive yourself! First take the log out of your eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye.”

We are called to deal with ourselves first. When we have it altogether, then we can concern ourselves with others. Seriously, who do we think we are? Most of us have enough junk to work on in our personal lives…we have enough logs in our eyes that we’ll be working on ourselves until we meet our Maker. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to work on my own junk, I won’t have any time to deal with some else’s junk. Maybe, just maybe that’s what Jesus was trying to point out!

So, how should we deal with gossip and slander?

1. Refuse it and call it out- When someone starts going down that road, stop them and politely let them know you don’t want to hear it…and then mean it! Sometimes we don’t refuse it and call it out because we all love some juicy gossip!
2. Rebuke it and redirect it- Inform the person you will not entertain the conversation. Ask them if they have talked to the offending person about the issue. 9 times out of 10 they have not and most likely won’t. Encourage them to go talk to the person with whom they have an issue or conflict. Tell them you won’t talk about the issue until they have gone directly to the other person.
3. If and when they have talked to the person, ask if they have resolved the issue. If so, you should encourage them to stop talking about it. If not, you can work through the remaining steps of Biblical conflict resolution. Many times, I’ve found that people continue to talk about situations that have already been resolved. However, the person gossiping and complaining simply did not like the resolution because either they didn’t get their way or they had to compromise. So, they continue to stir up controversy and trouble. In this situation, it might be time to do a little Biblical conflict resolution on the gossip. Now, of course, this kind of stuff would never happen in this church because we’re all good Christian folk, right?

If we would take Jesus and the Bible seriously and practice Biblical conflict resolution, we just might have less conflict. If we would actually talk with those we are in conflict with, we might better understand one another…there might be less jealousy, envy, selfishness, pride, ego trips, and judgmental condemnation. We might stop making mountains out of molehills. When we avoid the person we have a conflict with and talk about it with everyone but the person, all we do is get ourselves more and more worked up about the situation. Then, more often than not, when we finally do talk to the person, we realize we made a big deal out of nothing and wasted a lot of time and energy.

In this morning’s passage of Scripture from John 3, Jesus talked about being born again. He talked about baptism of water and spirit. Water is symbolic of cleansing. The spirit is symbolic of power. In other words, when we are born again, we are powerfully cleansed and made new.

When we have been born again, our desires will change from being hyper-critical, negative, judgmental, and condemning to having a great desire to offer the hope God’s life-transforming salvation with all we come into contact. Because of our baptism by water and spirit, we truly can embrace the ways of Jesus. We don’t have to be bound by the world’s ways of handling conflict. Jesus would not call us to a way of living He did not believe possible. And, so, through this holy mystery of baptism by water and Spirit, we have the ability to live as Jesus calls us to live. May we remember our baptism this day.

Our world and our community need hope. We don’t have to watch the national news to realize that hope is desperately needed, not just outside our doors, but in our midst. Recently in our community, we’ve seen the results of escalating domestic violence, we’ve seen the repercussions of drug and alcohol addiction, we’ve seen the pain and hurt caused by racism and bigotry, we’ve seen increases in crime, we’ve seen a rise in the number of families who are food insecure and families in need of greater amounts of financial assistance (just this morning, before church, 2 different individuals sought assistance from the church). These are no longer things that just happen to “those people” in “those places”. These things happen to these people, our families, our friends, our neighbors, right here in this place.

As the church, we have this great hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t call us to judge or condemn those in our church, community and world who are hurting and struggling or live differently than we live. Jesus called us to love and to go, to meet people where they are, to meet their basic needs in practical and tangible ways, and offer them hope. When we share our hope, our faith in Christ is strengthened.

How will you be an agent of hope in our community today, tomorrow, and in the days to come? Who will you share our Great Hope with today, tomorrow, and in the days to come? Will you practice Biblical conflict resolution? Will you choose to share hope and love, rather than judge others? Will you choose to save or condemn?

This message was shared at Centerville UMC on Sunday, May 24, 2015. The Scripture reading came from Acts 2:1-12. 

Before I get too far into this message, I feel like I should set the stage a bit. The Scripture passage we heard focuses on an incredible event that took place on Pentecost. Pentecost was one of the three great Jewish festivals, along with Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost means “the fiftieth”…it’s the 50^th day after Passover. Jews from all over would have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate this festival day. That explains the diversity of the crowd. The Pentecost festival served two purposes: 1) commemorates the giving of the Law to Moses; 2) Two loaves were offered as thanks for the harvest. Due to the events of that particular Pentecost festival we heard about in Acts, Pentecost is celebrated as the birth of the Christian church!

Prior to that moment, things had been pretty crazy for the disciples. Jesus had been crucified, then resurrected and spent some time with them. Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus told the disciples to wait for God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Of course, they had no idea what Jesus meant by waiting for the Holy Spirit. But, Jesus said wait. So, that is exactly what the disciples did. They went to Jerusalem to wait. However, they didn’t simply wait. While they were waiting, they studied and prayed. That is where we find the disciples in this Scripture reading…waiting, studying and praying.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for those gathered in the crowd to hear people just sporadically start speaking in their own language?

Talk about a powerful God experience! This was an obvious encounter with the Holy Spirit. This was a miraculous display of the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s miraculous in a number of ways. First, we have the miracle in the disciples speaking in many languages. Then, we have the miracle that the people heard and understood the disciples teaching.

The crowd was amazed and bewildered. They were awed and yet perplexed. Some attempted to explain the situation and dismissively said, “Aw, these guys are just drunk.” Now, listen folks, I don’t know about your life experiences, but, whenever I’ve been around highly intoxicated folks, the only foreign language spoken was gibberish. To me, it seems a bit peculiar to attempt to explain this miraculous phenomenon as the result of overconsumption.  Of course, let’s be honest, there are times that when I get a little excited on Sunday mornings, some of you wonder if there is more than coffee in my mug!

So, Peter stands and gives an explanation of what is taking place. Peter says, “Hey, these guys aren’t drunk…it’s 9am…they haven’t had enough time to get drunk.” Whenever I get to this point in the Pentecost story, I can’t help but think of the old blues legend, Albert Collins song “I Ain’t Drunk, I’m Just Drinkin’” (“I don’t care, what they people are thinking. I ain’t drunk…”).  Peter uses this opportunity to testify, to give a witness, and walks through the whole story of Jesus…and the results were incredible.

Read Acts 2:41-47: 3,000 people were baptized that day. 3,000 lives were changed. The spirit was moving and working in the midst of the people…and they devoted themselves…they began living together in harmony, sharing all they had with one another, worshipping and eating together, and every day, they added more people to the community of believers. The Holy Spirit changed their priorities. The Holy Spirit messed with them. God shook up their ordinary lives!

If the Holy Spirit isn’t changing our priorities, like it did those gathered in Jerusalem, if the Holy Spirit isn’t changing our priorities, the way we live, the way we work, eat, play, spend our time, talents, and money, the way we interact with creation, well, it may indicate that we aren’t following the Holy Spirit. If we harbor hatred towards another, for any reason, we might not be living in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit doesn’t mean we always have to agree, but, we do have to love…even our enemies.

One of my favorite professors at United Theological Seminary, Charles Gutenson, once said, ” If following Jesus ain’t messing with you, well, it ain’t Jesus you are following.”

If we want to encounter the Holy Spirit today, maybe we need to focus on the same things as the disciples. They waited, they studied, and they prayed. When we put ourselves in a position to experience the Holy Spirit, we just might notice it when God’s spirit moves. The spirit is continually at work all around us. Are we in a position to take notice? Are we waiting, studying, and praying?

Some of the most powerful Holy Spirit, God encounters I’ve had lately have taken place in Guatemala. When surrounded by extreme poverty, we take in extreme beauty, and God moves in mysterious ways.

• This simple house made of sticks and mud- cooking on an open fire, built on the dirt floor in the room that served as kitchen, living room, bedroom. Yet, you turn to look out from the house, and you have a million dollar view.
• Following a local politician, who was moving at breakneck speeds, while I was trying to keep up, carrying a couple of concrete blocks, walking through coffee and avocado trees, almost heavenly. Half way down, I realized the rest of the team was nowhere in sight or sound. And, here I am following this local politician. My Spanish is pretty much limited to “donde esta el bano”. So, we get down to the bottom of this trail and wind up at a house. The politician said something along the lines of, “casa equivocada”. I said, “Que?” He simplified it to “mal casa”, which meant bad house. Oh, wrong house. So, we trekked back up this trail, still carrying the concrete blocks and get to the right house, where I find the rest of my team, praise the Lord, and met this little guy, Juan. Now, Juan tried to convince us that he was 8. In reality, he was three. He was tons of fun. Here he was, living in extreme poverty, yet he was filled with joy and laughter. He didn’t know he was living in extreme poverty. He just smiled and enjoyed life!
• The next day, we actually went to “casa equivocada”, and met this little girl and her brother. The two of them were using the pits of avocado’s as their toys. I’ll never forget watching one of the guys on our team, Jeff Landis, get into grandpa mode, playing catch with the kids and their avocado pits. An avocado pit. Again, extreme poverty, yet tons of joy, laughter, and love.
• Then we visited this little stick house, right off the side of the main highway. A steep hill down. This little lady, who looks to be 115 years old, but we were informed she was 60, was thrilled to welcome us into her home. She was extremely grateful. She didn’t act with a sense of entitlement, but rather humbly and graciously accepted the help we could give.
• These experiences quickly reminded me of how fortunate I am. Yet, at the same time, I was keenly aware of God’s presence in our midst. In the middle of poverty, of struggle, of suffering, God was all around us- in the beauty of creation, in the beauty of the people we encountered, in the work God was doing in our hearts. Being in Guatemala isn’t about helping those people, it’s about God using those people and our work to radically transform our hearts.

This kind of Holy Spirit moment can happen right here. There are young boys and girls, families, and little old ladies right here in our community who are in desperate need for the church to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us- as individuals and the church. There are people right here in our community and in our midst who need to the church to offer miraculous, life-transforming words, ministries, and actions. It won’t happen if we don’t pray. It won’t happen if we don’t think and look beyond ourselves. It won’t happen if we don’t step up to the plate. It won’t happen if we don’t let go of the “well, we’ve always done it this way” attitude. It won’t happen if we are controlled by words like “can’t”, “don’t”, and “won’t”. These are just fearful and selfish excuses made in an attempt to avoid following the lead of the Spirit. We might fail- that’s okay! Peter got 3,000; in Acts 17, Paul got 2. God doesn’t care about our win/loss record; God wants to know that we were willing to follow the Spirit’s lead and give it our best attempt.

Where have you encountered the power of God? It doesn’t have to be in Guatemala, God is at work right here in our midst. We can learn from the disciples example- if we will slow down enough to wait, to pray, to study, we will position ourselves to be aware to God’s work in our midst. And, guess what? God will show up in powerful ways.

This message was shared at Centerville UMC on Sunday, May 17, 2015. Acts 1:1-11 served as the launching pad for this message. 

I love stories. I love reading biographies and watching documentaries. I love listening to Garrison Keillor tell stories on “A Prairie Home Companion.” I love hearing stories from the people I happen happen to meet. I love stories! The good news is, I don’t think we’ll ever run out of stories because everyone has one.

If I asked each person the question, “what’s your story” we would most likely get a different answer for each person. Some might tell us what you’ve been up to lately. Some might tell us what you’ve done in the past. Some might tell us what they do for a living. Some might tell us about their family. Some might tell us where they are from. Some might tell us their entire life story. The point is that we all have some kind of story.

As Christians, we have a common story that brings us hope, life, and unites us. The short story:

• God created the world & everything in it and it was good
• God set up an ideal relationship with humans, basically giving them one rule
• Man and woman settle for something less than ideal. They fall short of the standard God had set. Things are not so good
• By the 6^th chapter of the 1^st book of the Bible, God wants a re-do
• Throughout the Old Testament, we witness a continual pattern of people being in good standing with God, messing up by settling for something less that what God intends, and then God doing something to intervene and restore the relationship into good standing.
• God sets up a system of law, a list of do’s and don’ts, accompanied with sacrifices to be made to make atonement for ones errors
• This pattern of people messing up, God intervening goes on and on
• God sees the need for a new way…He realizes we can’t do it on our own.
• So, He sends His Son to live – to teach us how to live – to set the target goal – to show us what life with God truly looks like
• He sent His Son to die – to be the final and ultimate sacrifice for our sins
• He sets up a system that by believing in Jesus we can have eternal life…the law is no longer the focus…we no longer have to offer up sacrifices
• The new system is all about believing in Jesus as Lord and repenting of our sins.
• The idea is that our relationship with Jesus will motivate us, encourage us, strengthen us, and give us the ability to live in a right relationship with God…but we no longer abide by a legalistic system…we now operate on faith.

So, we have this story, this amazing story – we claim and embrace this story – we quote verses like John 3:16 and sing songs like “Blessed Assurance” that remind us of the story – and this story is what this faith is all about! But, it’s not supposed to end with our comprehension and acceptance of the story.

Jesus, in some of His last words to His followers, tried to help get the focus off of self and onto others.

1. Matthew 28:18-20 – Go and Make Disciples
2. Acts 1:1-11- Be My Witnesses

These passages imply that we will actively participate in sharing this wonderful, awesome story with the world around us. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God and love one another. If we truly love God and one another, we will be compelled to share His story.

Look at our world: there are people in desperate need of hope – our story is the greatest hope in the world – and we can’t reduce those in need of hope to only those without food, shelter, and clothing or those who are sick and so on. There are people living in mansions, driving Ferrari’s, eating in the finest restaurants, and seemingly living the high life who are in great need of hope.

We can all probably agree that our world needs our story. Yet, in an alarmingly increasing manner, fewer and fewer people are interested in our story.

Bill Maher, host of Real Tim with Bill Maher and maker of the documentary Religulous (which demonstrates the hypocritical nature of some Christians), said, “I’m a big fan of Jesus. I’m not a big fan of those who work for him.”

Movie director Woody Allen once said, “If Jesus came back and saw what was being done in his name, he wouldn’t be able to stop throwing up.”

Mahatma Gandhi has been credited with saying, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

The second largest “faith group” in the US, according to the latest Pew Research report released last week, is the “nones”. They have grown to over 56 million Americans who want nothing to do with religion. While the nones are growing, Christians are shrinking. From 2007-2014, the number of Americans professing to be Christians dropped from 78% to 71%. During the same time, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism grew.

Who do you know that needs the story? Every person we come into contact with needs the story. If all of your friends are Christians, you need to make some new friends! With the shifting numbers, certainly we all know someone who needs our story. At the very least, the potential of getting to know someone who needs the story exists for all of us.

Our story, the message of the Gospel is crucial because it offers the greatest hope, joy, love, peace, and life in this world and beyond!

Acts 17:16-34 – This is a great example on how to share our faith. What lengths will we go to in order to share the story?

Paul spoke the language of the people. He didn’t ask about their walk with the Lord. He didn’t ask if they were saved. He didn’t ask if they knew where they would go if they were to die today. He didn’t ask if they had been redeemed. Honestly, these are bad conversation starters because many people immediately get defensive & confused. And, let’s not refer to those outside our faith as lost. I’m one of the biggest offenders of that. It’s easy to do, but that’s one of the most insulting things we could ever say to someone. Most people we would classify as “lost” would probably respond, “Lost from what?” It’s one thing for me to say, “I once was lost, but now am found.” It’s another thing for me to say, “You are lost and need to be found.” Maybe we should refer to folks as unchurched or dechurched instead of lost?

Paul thought before he spoke. We need to do the same. Paul met people where they were. We need to meet people where they are at and speak in ways they will understand.

Paul quoted their poets. In this, we see that Paul did not ignore the culture outside of the “church”. Who are our poets today? Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, Zack Brown, Sam Smith, Bono…

He complimented their “religion” and their devotion. Would we compliment those who don’t believe and live like we do? Let’s be honest, we rarely compliment those who do believe like us!

Paul met them where they were at and revealed the truth to them. He showed up on their turf. He didn’t sit around and wait for them to come. Where are the unchurched and dechurched folks in our community? Are we meeting them on their turf or waiting for them to come to us?

People aren’t necessarily looking for a Biblical fact sheet with a bunch of statements concerning absolute truth that will convince them to believe in Christ. People are looking for an honest and authentic telling of the story. Speak the way you normally do…don’t use Christianese if that’s not how you normally talk…be yourself…be honest. Let people see who you really are…let them see that it’s okay for Christians to have fun, to laugh, even to mess up.

People want to hear your story. So, how do we tell the story:

• Share what your life was like before Jesus (example)
• Tell people about how you met Jesus & why you came to believe in Jesus (example)
• Tell people about your life with Jesus- what your life is like with Jesus. Don’t candy-coat it…be honest…it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. (example)

A simple way to share is to extend an invitation to church or a church function (Summer Camp Saturdays- invite families/kids- requires everyone to step up to the plate. I’m not worried about getting enough kids to come…I’m worried about getting enough of us to get our back-sides out of the pews to help… or the next pitch-in “free food”)

Some people will say, “Well, I don’t need to vocally share my faith because I live it out.” We definitely need to live out our faith (St. Francis, “preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words). But, there comes a time when we need to speak up (1 Peter 3:15- always be prepared to give an answer when asked about the hope you have)

We have this great story, this great faith If we aren’t sharing it, if we’re just holding onto it for ourselves, we run the risk of being selfish and irresponsible stewards of our faith

Coming to church and being generally good people are nice things…But, church attendance and moral righteousness fall short if we fail to share this story, our story with those around us.

Invite someone to church…share your story…say,”this is important to me, I’d love for you to discover that it’s important for you. I’ll pick you up and treat you to a cup of coffee!”

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to stroll through the beautiful campus of Ball State University prior to an appointment. It was the perfect day to walk around campus as it wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was a lovely trip down memory lane. Of course, with age, some of the memories are becoming a bit foggy.

The appointment took place at a coffee house in the village. I ordered a mug of coffee and walked over to the air pots to make a selection. They had three offerings:

• Colombian Decaf
• A Love Supreme
• Giant Steps

Now, we all know that I would quickly skip over the decaf because decaf is for sinners. However, naming coffee after John Coltrane albums is a bit vague. So, I asked the friendly baristas, “What’s the story with the John Coltrane coffee?”

This is where the disappointment sets in…Both baristas laughed and one said, “You are like only the second person in two years that has caught on to the whole Coltrane reference.”

Seriously? I’m only the second person who picked up on the Coltrane reference? Certainly not! I’m on the campus of Ball State University which has an incredible School of Music with an amazing jazz program (and, I’m not in the least bit prejudice). Certainly I’m not the second person. This cannot be! Muncie, at least in the area surrounding campus, is a decently cultured area. Certainly the folks who stop by this coffee shop own a Coltrane album or two. And, if they purchased a Coltrane album or two, chances are either “A Love Supreme” or “Giants Steps” would have been one of them. Certainly this reference has not gone unnoticed!

I’m sure BSU School of Music students drop in all the time. I’m sure BSU School of Music faculty and staff drop in all the time. It’s too convenient of a location for this coffee shop to not have high traffic from the School of Music. So, obviously, I’m disappointed that more School of Music folks have not, at the very least, acknowledged the Coltrane reference. Of course, maybe that’s not the case. Maybe School of Music folks skip the coffee shop in the village and settle for the coffee in the Coke lobby or even worse…go to Satan’s den (also known as Starbucks)…which would add to my disappointment.

Okay, I’ll cut them some slack. Maybe they caught the Coltrane reference and giggled a little. However, I remain disappointed because people should interact with their baristas!

In talking with the barista, it became apparent that not only do people not ask about the Coltrane reference, they don’t ask about the coffee itself.

I asked about the Coltrane reference because I wanted to know about the coffee. Is “A Love Supreme” some kind of blend? Is “Giant Steps” some kind of flavored atrocity? What is this John Coltrane inspired coffee I’m about to pour into my cup?

It appears that most folks don’t ask. They just walk up to the air pot and select whichever coffee they think has the most hip name. And, so I’m disappointed that people don’t show more concern about the coffee they are about to consume.

After listening to the description of each coffee, I decided to go with “Giant Steps”. Of course, that decision might have been influenced by the fact that when it comes to Coltrane recordings, I prefer “Giant Steps” over “A Love Supreme”.

So, the next time you find yourself at The Cup, if they have “Giant Steps” or “A Love Supreme”, be sure to bug the barista about John Coltrane. They will appreciate it and I will be less disappointed!