"Bringing Change & Renewal" - January 10th, 2021

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"The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words."

- Romans 8:26

Message of Stewardship from Herb Gore

How are your New Year's resolutions going?

According to surveys, around 50% of us make a New Year's resolution or several New Year's resolutions. But those same studies also show that by January 12th, the number of people following those resolutions has begun to drop off.

Then by the middle of February, 80% have fallen by the wayside. Only 8% are still keeping their New Year's resolutions by the end of the year.

Some studies have shown of those people who do keep their resolutions, that one of the main characteristics is they tend to be realistic rather than aspirational resolutions, and that they can be measured incrementally.

So in other words, rather than setting the goal:

“I am going to have the body of a Greek God by this time next year!”

I can say: “I will lose weight and lose it incrementally! I will set realistic goals based on my amount of exercise, and by my age and physical condition."

We often make resolutions regarding our spiritual life, and one of the aspects that I would like to talk about now is our contributions to the church.

We often think “I'm giving all I can.” or “I don't have anything to give.” God is totally understanding of the fact that we are in financial hard times right now. But he's also aware of the fact that there is a great deal that we can sometimes do. So I would suggest that most of us can begin to resolve to give a little or even a little more. Not a great deal but enough so that we can accommodate the works that we would like to see accomplished during this year at the church.

I would ask each of us to remember...let's see what we can do and let's see how we can do it a little bit better.

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"Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, 'The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'"

- Mark 1:6-8

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Pastor Michael's Sermon - January 20th, 2021

The other day I saw a woman staring into a baby carriage and she was looking at another woman's baby and they were both smiling, and, well I assumed they were smiling but they of course have their masks on so I'm not a hundred percent sure...

The woman was looking into the carriage and was asking all the typical questions.

“Oh, how old is he? What's his name?”

And she was pretty much just gushing about how cute she thought the baby was. And then just before she walked away, she said this to baby's mother, “Don't you wish that they could just stay that size?”

Now, of course, that's a pretty common wish for people to have about babies. That they'll just stay babies. So I've heard it said of course many times. But that day it got me thinking about things staying the same, or rather how nothing really does!

Everything is changing all of the time! Personal items that we own change, especially tech items. It seems that the minute we start using a cell phone or a new laptop, it is already outdated.

Clothing styles change, music changes, the way that we shop changes.

This past year, we saw our whole lives change. The way we do almost everything changed.

Our bodies change. Beards turn white.

Really, there isn't anything around us that isn't going through some kind of change. Even if it happens to be going so slowly that we don't really notice it.

Now today's scripture speaks about something that doesn't necessarily bring about change very slowly at all. And that's baptism.

I was baptized over at our other campus, at Church of the Valley, and there's something that I remember about it very vividly. When I came up out of the water

and I saw all those who were gathered around me and I received their energy, at that moment, I had a feeling of instant renewal. I really did feel changed instantly.

Baptism is something that can bring on an instant change in us and when we return to in-person worship, I encourage any one of you who have not been baptized to think about it. Think about being baptized. Come and talk to me about it Let's do it! Let's bring on that renewal!

Now, of course, it's wonderful to have our church family around us with all of that energy when we come up out of the water, and the briskness of the water as we emerge from it can be very rejuvenating. But I tell you, and as all of you know who have been baptized, these are not the things that bring on the renewal. Those gathered and the water itself are not what bring on that immediate newness. It is indeed the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As John the Baptist says in today's scripture, through Jesus Christ we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings on that change.

But the Holy Spirit is not done with us once we've been baptized. No, the Spirit continues to work on us throughout our lives. Of course, even if you haven't been baptized, the Holy Spirit is working within you!

Each and every day we are all being changed through the Spirit. Actually, let me rephrase that each and every day the Spirit is working to make a change within us. I say it that way because we need to be working with the Holy Spirit to make a change. We need to be aware of the work that is being done within us and we need to act upon that work. So first we need to stay connected to the Spirit within us!

Now, I said earlier that when I was baptized I was very aware of the presence of the Spirit. But when it's a regular day and when we are trying to get our errands done,

and we're fighting traffic, and dinner needs to be put on the table, really feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit can be a little bit more difficult.

But really it shouldn't be! I believe that the present of the Spirit is as rich within us at 3:30PM on a Tuesday as it is when we rise from the waters of our baptism.

This week, I was driving over to the office over at Church of the Valley and I was at a stoplight and there was one car in front of me. Now, I was waiting to make a right turn and the car in front of me was waiting to just go straight ahead. Now, finally the red light turned green, but the car in front of me didn't move.

I gave it a second and then I realized that the woman who was driving was not really paying attention. As a matter of fact, she was looking at her phone. So I gave her the polite “toot-toot” - you know “toot-toot” - the polite one in which we all know simply means, “Excuse me? Excuse me?” As opposed to the big, long, loud honking, which we all know means “Get out of my way!” or something worse.

So as I said, I gave her the polite “toot-toot” and without hesitation she gave me,

well, let's just say a one-finger salute. And then she pulled slightly forward and slammed on her brakes. And then she pulled slightly forward again and slammed on her brakes again. I think it was pretty clear she was messing with me.

Finally, she was far enough ahead that I could make my right turn, which I don't think she expected that I was going to do, and as I looked into the mirror I could see that she had stopped in the intersection and it looked like she was actually thinking about following me.

But the other car started honking and of course they were giving her the long and loud honk, and so finally she pulled away.

Now, my immediate response in my mind was to get defensive.

I began to think “How in the world did I deserve that?” and a feeling of anger began to slightly build up within me, but then suddenly I felt a wave of calm come over me. And my only thought was, “That poor woman.”

That poor woman, what heaviness must she be carrying around with her that

toot-toots of a horn could set off such anger and rage?

Clearly this was someone who was in need of prayer.

Romans 8:26 - Phone Wallpaper

And so I prayed for her.

I really do believe that that wave of calm that came over me was the Holy Spirit working within me.

I could have ignored the work and spent the rest of the day resenting the woman,

but what good would that have done? And I'll be honest with you, there was a time when in a situation like that, I would have carried resentment around with me all day long and it would have affected each and everything that I did that day.

So the fact that it didn't happen this time reminds me that the work of the Holy Spirit really does change us. The Spirit is at work for change in every aspect of our lives and as individuals.

We need to be alert and tuned in to that change the Holy Spirit is attempting to bring to us so that we can allow ourselves to be led to the change, to be led to the renewal.

The Spirit does not only work within us as individuals. I believe that the Holy Spirit is working with in all of our communities as well. Clearly the Holy Spirit has guided this church and continues to guide this church. Enriching theology, deepening compassion, and strengthening the communities drive to serve others and to care for others.

The Holy Spirit also continues to work on bringing change to our world, working to make us into a world of peace, into a world that sees one another as an Earth community rather than individual interests divided by borders. And I believe that even though it hasn't felt like it lately, the Holy Spirit is working to provide change in the community of our country.

The division that has taken place over these past years, the hate whose head has risen from the shadows, the hands and the words that have fanned the division and the hate are in direct opposition to the work that the Spirit is doing within our national community.

We cannot have one hand on the Bible and the other hand with a fan inciting violence.

The behavior of that took place this past Wednesday at the Capitol

as Christians celebrated the day of the Epiphany was in direct opposition to the

work that the Spirit is doing within our national community.

The lack of racial equity that has taken place in this country and has been taking place in this country is in direct opposition to the work that the Spirit is doing within our national community.

At a time when we continue to see black and brown people in this country killed by police officers at an alarming rate, as a country on Wednesday, we watched mobs of white rioters destroy property at the Capitol building and gain access to rooms throughout the building including the Senate chamber. Taking selfies of themselves and posting them on the internet and leaving the building, the vast majority, unscathed.

As many have pointed out by now you can bet if these rioters had been black

and brown people, the outcome would have been widely different.

Romans 8:14 - Phone Wallpaper

We have got to do a better job. We have got to find a unity. We have got to find a way to see one another as God sees us. We've got to do a better job of getting out of the way of the work of the Holy Spirit and letting the Holy Spirit bring us change.

Change from hate, change from violence, change from fear that one side of us is out to get the other.

But it's not going to happen until we all acknowledge that the Spirit is working towards change.

Until we all acknowledge that the change is for the good of each of us.

Until we all acknowledge that change will not come until we work together with one another and with the Holy Spirit.

Feel the change within you. Feel how the Spirit is working. Feel the Spirit within our world, feel where the Spirit is leading.

May we all feel the Spirit within our country. And with the Holy Spirit, may a wave of calm come over us. May the Spirit bring us a peace in our minds, in our hearts, in our actions, and in our words. May the Holy Spirit bring us change.

Let's pray.

Most Holy God, we thank you for the work that your Spirit is doing within us.

Help us to receive that work and allow that change. It's in your son's name we pray.

Amen.

"Give a Gift to Christ" - January 3rd, 2021

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"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received."

- 1 Peter 4:10

Message of Stewardship from Kevin Lewin

Happy New Year!

It’s 2021, we've had a terrible 2020, and we all hope that this year is going to be something special. And I'm sure it will be.

At some point during this year, I'd like to think that this place will be open again and filled with people. But there's one thing that I was thinking about over Christmas. About paying forward...stuff and things. One thing that we don't have to pay God for is…well, we just don't have to pay God.

When we pay for therapy, or a doctor, or a plumber, or a tree trimmer, we always have to fork out some kind of money. Even when we pick up a phone to ask advice of our parents and friends, there's a phone bill that comes through. I'm British, whenever I phone home to ask my father for anything, the phone bill is astronomical!

But we never have to do that with God.

The only expectation is that we're kind, and generous, and we give back in other ways. Volunteering is a great way to pay back God for the gifts we’re given. We've entered into this new year and though much is uncertain, as I say, the hope is that we'll all be back in this building and at Little Brown Church before Christmas comes around again. It'll hardly be a new era, but we should treat it like such.

We've all missed human contact and the church get togethers we often took for granted,

and so with the New Year upon us, I encourage each and every one of you to be more active in your church!

We will have openings on the elders board this year and on the executive board. And Rick Hall is always keen to swell his list of people with special skills who can help keep everything running as smoothly as possible on the property committee. There’s our food pantry, our green group, Sisters with Heart, and our trips to Tijuana where we build homes for those less fortunate. All of these things will come back and they'll be stronger than before. So please be part of our resurgence and let people like me, Pastor Michael, or Rick Hall know if you're interested in volunteering. We'd love to have you!

But Covid didn't end the life of the church. The elders and executive board members still meet! There are still virtual Sisters with Heart meetings! The food pantry continues, although at the moment it's on pause. There's a prayer circle every Monday here in COV where the elders gather and pray over the requests that you send in every Sunday and through the week. Bible study classes continued virtually. And Rick, myself, and others are always cleaning and fixing what needs to be cleaned and fixed. And there are still bills and people to pay, so please keep donating what you can to the church.

Any and all amounts are gratefully received! Thank you.

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"When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

- Matthew 2:9-11

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Pastor Michael's Sermon - January 3rd, 2021

Well, I've told you many times that I really enjoy shopping. I enjoy shopping for gifts for other people. Birthday presents! Christmas presents! So for me, Christmas shopping is a big part of the preparation for Christmas day. It's something that I really look forward to - going through the stores and checking people off of my lists. And I know I've mentioned to you before that when I'm shopping for someone, I usually don't know what I'm going to buy them until I see it. So I really need to walk through a lot of stores.

But that is a normal Christmas. And as we all know there was nothing normal about 2020.

So of course Christmas was very different, as well as was Christmas shopping. I still made my list of who I needed to buy for, but this time instead of heading off to the mall, I headed off to amazon.com, which I'm sure many of you did the same thing or something similar.

Now Amazon is very convenient, but it works best in a certain way. Amazon works best if you know what you are looking for. When you can just go to the top of the page and type something in like terry cloth bathrobe, or wine glasses, or wristwatch, and it takes you right to these items. It's very convenient, it saves time, and you can get some great deals!

But that's if you know what you are looking for.

1 Peter 4:10 - Phone Wallpaper

Browsing on amazon.com is a whole other ball game. If I'm shopping for someone and I have no idea what I want to buy them, I don't even know where to begin! What am I supposed to type into the search bar at the top? I mean, you can't browse everything on Amazon. There are millions of items! Even if you look through the deals of the day, that doesn't really help. I mean, my mother has no use for a two person camping hammock, or a PlayStation game controller, or fruit punch electrolyte drink tablets! So the point is, when you are on Amazon, you really need to know what gift you want to give.

Today's scripture reminds us of the importance of knowing what gift we should give.

Now the Magi knew very well what gifts they wanted to give to the baby Jesus. To us, their gifts might have seemed a little odd. I mean gold, frankincense, and myrrh is not exactly what we would choose to give a baby. If we were to search baby gifts on amazon.com, odds are none of these would show up. But for Jesus, they were perfect gifts. Each gift was appropriate for a king.

But these were very expensive gifts, much too expensive for the average person of that time to give. Do you think that other people gave gifts to the baby? What kind of gifts do you think that they would have given? What kind of gift would you have given? What kind of gifts do you give Jesus Christ today?

Matthew 2:11 - Phone Wallpaper

You know, it's an important question for us to ask ourselves. What kind of gifts are we giving to Christ? With the many gifts that we receive from him, what gifts are we giving in return?

Well, the first thing we need to know is what kind of gift would Christ want from us. Well, that's pretty easy to find out. Jesus didn't wait for us to guess what he would want from us, he pretty much spent his time here on this Earth letting us know exactly what he wants from us! And when we fulfill what has been asked of us, well, that is our gift to him.

So when we shine our light upon others, we give a gift to Christ! When we follow him, when we seek the realm of God, we give a gift to Christ. When we ask, when we seek, when we knock, when we take his yoke upon ourselves, or when we follow any of the other instructions that he brought to us through his message, we give a gift to Christ.

This is the perfect time for us to really think about what gift it is that we want to give to Christ. As we enter this New Year, let's think about the things that we can do that Christ will receive as a gift. Let's think about some of the things that Christ has asked of us.

Now first of all, one thing that comes to mind is that he said to us, “Do not judge so that you may not be judged.” As we begin this New Year, that's an important thing to think about. Actually that's an important thing to think about anytime. It can be easy for many of us to place judgment upon others. For their choices, their taste, for their beliefs. But as you know, usually when we judge others, it's probably more of a reflection of something that's going on within ourselves.

Maybe that's what Christ meant when he said, "Do not judge so that you may not be judged.” You know? That when we judge others, we're really judging ourselves.

Christ also asked for us to forgive not just seven times but seventy seven times. Boy, this is a big gift that we can give to Christ! If there's someone who you feel that you've been unable to forgive for something, maybe this is the time to do it. Carrying around something like that can really weigh us down, what good does it do us to hold on to anger and resentment?

When we forgive someone, not only do we give a gift of Christ, but we give ourselves a gift of a lifted burden, of a lighter spirit, and oftentimes when we forgive someone, we can check off another box and that's “love your enemies” - two gifts to Christ in one!

We've also been asked to go and make disciples. Now, I've always believed that the best way to make disciples, the best way to interest people in following Christ is to set an example of what that looks like. This year, we can make an asserted effort to be an example. Let's make 2021 be a year where we show the world what it looks like to follow Jesus’s message, and let it be an invitation to others to join us, and let that be a gift to Christ.

Another thing that Christ has asked us to do is to care for one another. And this unique time in our history has provided for us an opportunity to care for others in a very important way.

As you know, the end of 2020 was not the end of the Coronavirus. So as we move into 2021, even though we're frustrated, even though we've grown weary from all of the restrictions, we must continue to care for others by continuing to protect them and we must continue to wear masks. We must continue to wash our hands. Continue to distance and continue to stay home as much as possible. And when it's your turn to get the vaccine, please do it! This is caring for others.

And even though you may have heard that the Supreme Court has recently allowed houses of worship to reopen in person, we continue to worship online until we feel it is safe. And that is the leadership of your church caring for you.

Let's continue caring for one another and give a gift to Christ.

Now there are many more gifts that we could talk about today, but I want to just mention one more. We have been asked to rejoice and be glad. As we enter this New Year, count your many, many, many blessings. Look around and see all that is beautiful. See all that you have been given. Enter 2021 with a vision of hope! Find the wonder in this world, find the wonder in your life! Thank God for your family, present and passed on. Give thanks for friends, for our church community, and all the gifts that you have received.

Give thanks for love.

Give thanks for life.

Give a gift to Christ.

Let's pray.

Holy God, as we move into this New Year and receive all the gifts it holds with it, remind us to give back to you, to one another, and to your son. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.