Reflections on "What Really Matters?" Galatians 2: 1-10; 15-21

We are spending the summer preaching through Galatians and Colossians.  I have always found Paul complicated and challenging to preach - this sermon was no exception.  Eugene Peterson's book on Galatians, Traveling Light: modern Meditations on St. Paul's Letter of Freedom, has been very helpful so far (thanks to Dennis Piermont for suggesting the book to me).

I found it the section on "faith in Christ" or "faith of Christ" to be really interesting and important (see why Paul is so challenging to preach - a whole section of the sermon was on which preposition to use).  I would readily go with the "faith of Christ" argument, except that all the recent translations have opted for "faith in Christ," despite the persuasive arguments I have seen for the "faith of Christ" translation.  

“What’s Really Important” June 30, 2019; SAPC, Denton; Galatians 2: 1-10; 15-21  Richard B. Culp

2: 15-21:  We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified[d] not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.[e] And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ,[f] and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,[g] who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification[h] comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Introduction:  It is tough being a church.

It probably should not be, but we make it difficult.

When I arrived in Mt. Sterling, KY, at my first installed call, I discovered the Montgomery County Ministerial Association.  A very active group in the community.  

I think one of the reasons it played such a prominent role was the presence of several long-term pastors - the Presbyterian ministers might come and go, but these pastors stayed for a lifetime.

One of the ministers who had been in the country for a long time had started two different churches, both of which were still in existence.  Seemed sort of odd to me, so I asked him about it.

Here is the story he told me.

He had started a church.  things were going well.  Growing.  then, he went to the doctor and they found a tumor on an x-ray.  A pretty big tumor.  Expected to find cancer.  Probably would be one of those bad diagnoses.  

He made his appointment to see the oncological surgeon.  he was pretty sick.  he invited the elders of the church to come and anoint him and lay on hands in the days before his appointment.  they did.  he went to see the doctor.  No sign of a tumor.

He preached and proclaimed about the miracle of his healing.  about the power fo laying on of hands and anointing.  he became much more engaged in spirit language and how church members ought to be more spirit-filled and participate in more miracles in their midst.

Some of the congregants joined him in his new, Spirit-oriented approach to what the church should be doing.  

Others resisted. too pentecostal.  too much about they should be doing miracles.  So the church split.  The minister left with some of the members and started another church.   the others stayed in the old church.

A final note - I told the story to a Sunday school class at a Presbyterian church (most of them knew at least bits and pieces of the story).  when I asked for their thoughts, my doctor, a lifelong Presbyterian, quickly responded:  “Well, I’d like see the first x-ray to make sure it was read correctly before I announced a miracle from the second x-ray!”  You gotta love those rational Presbyterians!

It is tough being a church.  It probably should not be, but….

Paul knows it is tough being a church.  That is the context in which he was writing to the Galatians.

They were trying to figure out how to be a church, both in their local community and how to be connected to those other communities of faith to which they are connected by their belief in Jesus Christ.

Paul has some really good news for the Galatians.  They have this new found freedom in Christ.  Eugene Peterson, best known perhaps for his Message translation of the Bible, considers freedom to be the key theme in Galatians.

Freed from sin; freed from the law; freed from the power of death.

Being freed sounds like a pretty good place to start a church and to find common ground.

But, soon they re asking questions and making rules about being free:  is the freedom Jesus brings only for Jews, or is it for Gentiles as well?  Are they freed from the historic dietary restrictions?  Are they freed from having to be circumcised?  

Disagreement abounds.  In fact, we heard Paul in his letter write warn about  the “false believers[a] secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us” (Galatians 2:4)

It is tough being the church. 

But let’s take a look at some of what seems to really matters to Paul as ee writes about being the church.

Move 2: First of all, Paul is all about community.

a.  there is a temptation when reading Paul’s letters to individualize them.

1.  That is, when we read about being justified or about righteousness, we want to make it about ourself.

2.  Part of that, I suppose is because he uses the first-person a lot.  

3.  When he writes, “We,” that gets interpreted by the reader as “me.”  wE know “we” is plural, but we claim it in the first-person, which means “me” personally.

4. Part of it is probably the individualistic approach we have to life and faith.

b. For Paul, all he writes and teaches about faith and theology is communal. 

1. As Helmut Koester, who was a New Testament professor at Harvard Divinity school noted, “Paul's God is "not interested in righteous individuals," but wants "to create righteousness and justice for people, communities, and for nations. (Jaime Clark-Soles Professor of New Testament, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University; http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=603, quoting Helmut Koester)

2.  What God has done in Christ is not anyone’s personal property - God has acted on behalf of all God’s people.

c.  In some ways, that reminder should help us be better t being community.

1. the question is not whether those other people meet our expectations or our rules.

2. Instead, the question is how can we build on the common ground we have with those others, who also have been made righteous by Christ.

As we read through Paul’s letters, we are reminded that what really matters is community.

Move 3:  Secondly, go back this afternoon and reread vs. 16:  yet we know that a person is justified[d] not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. 

a.  As you read it, you will be entering into one of the great debates surrounding Paul’s letter.

1.  Should it read “through faith IN Christ,” to “through the faith OF Christ.”

2. One little preposition has led to generations of debate and study.

3.  seems like a minor issue, but there is a lot at stake.  

4. Faith in Christ, can mean believing something about Christ.  It puts the action on the person.  

5. Faith of Christ puts the action on Christ.

b. The NRSV, NIV, NKJ all choose “faith in Christ.”

1. the earliest translations from the Greek chose “faith of Christ” (see the following article for an fuller explanation of the translation argument: Alicia Vargas

Dean for Academic Affairs, Assoc. Professor of Multicultural and Contextual Studies

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

Berkeley, Calif.; http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2872;  or go to Martinus C de Boer’s commentary on Galatians, 148ff)

2.  The King James Version chose “faith of Christ.”

3. While I am inclined to trust modern scholarship, I believe the alternative translation of “faith of Christ” ought to help us understand what it means when we say, “Faith in Christ.”

c.  If faith in Christ means the freedom God gives to us just becomes a set of rules or beliefs someone must have to be made righteous or be justified, we take that freedom and make it something less than freedom.

1.  It becomes very easy to create the rules for who is in or who is out.

2.  It seems to me that if we understand “faith in Christ” to be faith in the one who came and lived faithfully, who came and gave himself over for us, who came to free us, and if we can resist the temptation to quickly make rules about what “faith in christ” means, we will find ourselves at the place where Christ calls us, regardless of how we translate that important phrase.

What really matters is what Christ has done for us.

Move 4:  Finally, notice how Paul finishes the first section of Chapter - he has been noting the differences he has and discussing how they dealt with them, and then we writes in vs. 10 They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was[b] eager to do.

a.  the common ground that superseded all the differences - remember the poor.

1.  As Eugene Peterson notes in his book on Galatians: “Our attitude toward the poor is still one of the surest tests of the health of our freedom.  The moment freedom is used to avoid acts of mercy or help or compassion, it is exposed as a fraud. A free person who finds ways to enhance the lives of the poor demonstrates the truest and most mature freedom.  A free person who diminishes the lives of the poor by dealing out ridicule or withholding gifts is himself diminished, is herself diminished” (Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light: Modern Meditations on St. Paul’s Letter of Freedom, 1988, Helmers and Howard, Colorado Springs, 66).

2.  I read recently about a church in Indiana.  It is a mega-church; ten campuses and 10K attending each Sunday; their theology did not seem in keeping with what we might espouse here at St. Andrew.

3.  But, listen to what this church did recently.  apparently, once a quarter they ask their congregants to give $1 to a special mission project.  This time, they wanted to do something bigger, so they asked for $3 for the special mission project.  they raised $30,000.  Then, they joined forces with a  company that buys debt from hospitals and parlayed their $30,000 into $4 million of debt forgiveness for people in the hospitals in the areas served by their churches.   no big deal is made - the people whose medical debt is forgiven will receive a letter saying their debt to the hospital has been paid (“This church will pay off about $4 million in medical debt in its community. Here's how it happened,”

article by Leah Asmelash and Saeed Ahmed; https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/health/church-medical-debt-trnd/index.html)

4.  Wow!

b. We may not have much in common with this mega-church, but I hope we have the desire to remember the poor like they do.  Amen.

Reflections on "Trinity Sunday" Exodus 3: 1-6; 13-16

I did not mention it, but the scenario described at the beginning of the sermon was one that has been relived too many times in the my twenty-six years or ordained ministry: the Sunday after 9/11; all the Sundays after school shootings; even Sundays after calamitous weather events evoke emotions in the gathered congregation as they (we) struggle to articulate our faith in God in the face of, maybe in spite of, what we see in our world.  I might also note that the power of the psalmist, at least for me, is their willingness to dig deep and search for, demand of, ask about, question, and give in to the God they have known but the name: "I will be who I will be."

“Trinity Sunday” SAPC, Denton; June 16, 2019; Exodus 3: 1-6; 13-16

Exodus 3: 1-6:  Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

13 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”[a] He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[b] the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

16 Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

Introduction:  Each year as Trinity Sunday arrives, I am transported back to the first Trinity Sunday in my first call in First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Sterling, KY.  

I had my sermon rolling early in the week.   I’d been waiting all my life to preach Trinity sunday, not really, but I had been hitting each liturgical day in the calendar with the zeal and gusto only a newly minted preacher could summon.  Looking back, I marvel at how that congregation put up with me!

I could not wait to preach on the Trinity.  The sermon was mostly done by Wednesday or so (another thing I can hardly imagine these days).

then, an horrific event took place.  the nephew of one of the members, who was also the grandson of the member’s mother, who attend frequently - this young man woke up, took a gun and killed his mother, his father, his two younger sisters, then went to his high school and held a classroom hostage until an assistant principal talked him into giving himself up to the authorities.

Although it took place in a community a couple of hours away, the shock wave reverberated throughout our community.

the funeral was going to be Trinity Sunday afternoon at a Methodist church a couple of hours away with the graveside taking place back over at the family burial plot a few miles from the church i served.

I knew the tragedy would hang over the worship service that Sunday morning. I also knew that several of us would be leaving immediately following worship to drive over to the funeral before returning for the graveside.  I would be driving over and back with some of their extended family.

I revamped the service with all the emotions and questions in mind.  

What to do about the sermon? I decided a sermon on a theological concept like the Trinity would seem out of touch and inaccessible to a congregation hurting and questioning in the face of this tragedy.

so off I went to redo the sermon - take out theology, put in pastoral care; take out three-in-one, put in the some word of comfort.

As I read through the sermon on the Trinity, I realized that if I thought the concept of Trinity was only a theological concept, then I did not understand the point of a trinitarian God.

The Trinitarian God we discover in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is exactly the God we need to know when tragedy confronts us, or uncertainty overwhelms us, or we struggle to make sense of your lives.

Reflect on how our Trinitarian God meets us.

move 1:  First, a comment on how God comes to us as a mystery 

a.  We join Moses at the burning bush.

1.  Moses wants to know God’s name in case when he tells everyone what God wants them to do someone asks, “Who is this god anyway? What’s this God’s name?”

Maybe Moses is also stalling a bit to avoid doing what God is asking him to do.  

2.  We want to know God’s name because we are rational people who deal with facts. We want to be able to say “1+1+1=3,” not “1+1+1=1”

Maybe we also get sidetracked by defining God and understanding God as a way to avoid accepting who we discover God is.

b. God answers Moses from the burning bush:  “i am who I am,” or “I will be who I will be.”

1.  A mysterious answer, yes, but an answer that points us to the far-reaching, hard to imagine ways in which God will find us.

2. We think we want concrete answers to fully know everything about God.

3.  But the truth is any god who can be fully known by us in our finite humanity is not god enough to handle the next great tragedy we encounter, or to cry with us, or to help us reach for those dreams that begin as endless possibilities.

4. We need the God who spoke to Moses in the burning bush because our complex lives and world need the God who is ever ready to meet us in new ways we have yet to imagine.

c.  To describe our Trinitarian God as a mystery we cannot fully understand, however, does not mean we do not know God’s desire to love us, to find us, to join with us, to save us, to transform us.

how we discover God’s desire forms the basis for what we know as our Trinitarian God.

Move 2:  God’s desire to love is first seen in God the Father. 

a.  On Father’s Day, this image has some focus for us.

1. Think of all the good things about fathers, and you begin to see a glimpse of how we view God the father.

2.  Think about the intimate relationship a father might have with his children, and you see the intimacy of the relationship God desires to have with us.

b.  But do not stop at that first glance - look deeper to be reminded of God the Father who is more than father.

1.  God, the creator, who acted out of love to create.

2.  dial up the image of God who breathes the breath (the Hebrew word for breath can also be translated as spirit) of life into us thereby calling us into being.

3. All that we are, we owe to God.

4.  when we do not know what to do or where to go, like a child who turns to his mother or father for guidance, we turn back to the one who created us, the one who has invested God’s try own breath into us.

Move 2:  We also meet God the the Son, the one we know as Jesus Christ.

a.  In Christ, we discover that when God answers Moses’ question with “i will be who I will be,” it means that God will take on human flesh and move among the world with compassion to heal the sick, with love to reach out to the children, the outcasts, the hopeless, the scared, the poor, and the wealthy with no regard for their position in life.

1.  Like a mother who puts her arm around us as we walk to car after a game, comforting us if we lost and celebrating with us in the win…

Like a father, who joins with us as we shed a tear and share the fear we feel as we look to the future….

So God chooses to live among us, to join us, to walk alongside us in our human endeavors.

2.  We often speak of Jesus in terms of his saving act on the cross, but do not ignore that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s desire to walk with us through our triumphs and trials.

b.  In Jesus, we discover the one who willingly submits to a sinless death on the cross and is raised from the dead to free us from sin and death.

1. the pain we bear in life life’s struggles is not a pain unknown to God, but a pain embraced by Christ.

2. We have to look no farther than the cross to see the power and humility of God’s embrace.

3. An embrace so broad and so grand it envelops all of us.

c.  Christ also is the one who calls us to follow him.

1. to follow him into the world to join him in ministering to the world.

2. To follow him into the waters of baptism, where we are united with him in both his death and resurrection, thereby giving us our greatest hope in life and in death.

c.  Perhaps there is not greater image of how God accompanies us in Christ Jesus than in the story Jesus himself tells about the shepherd who has lost one sheep.

1.  Most of us would be satisfied with a 99% save rate.

2. But not the shepherd Jesus describes.  That shepherd leaves the 99 and goes out to find the one lost sheep.

3. That shepherd is Jesus.  God in flesh who comes to find and save all of us.

move 4:  The God whom we meet as the Holy Spirit.

a.  Who among does not want to leave she security for our kids and grandkids - maybe a trust fund; some kind of gift that could ensure our children no matter what the future might bring.

1. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the interpreter of Scripture, and lots of other things.

2.  In the holy Spirit we discover God’s desire to be with us in new ways.

3. God’s creative sprit that pulls us, pushes us, supports us to grow into the new person God calls us to be.

b.  God’s answer “i will be who I will be” is not a riddle, but a promise - a promise of steadfast faithfulness; a promise to never forsake us.

1. A promise lived out by the Holy Spirit.

2. The world changes; the demands on God’s people change.

3. So the Holy Spirit moves among us, providing us the gifts needs to meet those demands, to minister in new ways in our ever-changing world.

4. God’s desire to love and save remains the same, but by the power of the Holy Spirit we discover new expressions of that desire.

Conclusion:  David Lose, former Biblical Preaching Chair at Luther Seminary, puts it bluntly:“Here's my rule-of-thumb regarding the Trinity: People who say they understand it aren't to be trusted.”

I promise you can trust me because I do not fully understand God in three persons as a rational  argument.

But I can tell you about the God who so desires to love you, who so desires to save you, who so desires to be with you no matter where you are or what challenge you might have, that this God meets you as three persons:  God the father, who created you; God the Son, who redeems and saves you;  and God, the Holy Spirit who is present with you even now.  Amen.

Reflections on "Listening for the Spirit" Pentecost jazz service

For Pentecost Sunday, we had our jazz service, which included having a jazz ensemble (double bass; drums; sax; piano; trumpet; and vocalist) lead the music.  They played the Prelude, Postlude, Anthem, and Offertory, in addition to accompanying on all the music.  Alan Baylock, a member and director of the 1:00 Lab Band at UNT put the music together, directed, and played the trumpet.  the music was terrific.  The first hymn, "Spirit of Gentleness" nearly brought me to tears.  

The sermon below depended heavily on the jazz music.  they played underneath all the spoken words and then had 1.5 - 2 minutes interludes in between the sections.  The goal was for the music to give space and inspiration for the congregation to discover the Holy Spirit in their lives.

We also had the Scripture readings integrated into the sermon and had two voices come from the balcony and one from the lectern in an attempt to give the feel that the Holy Spirit surrounds us and comes at us from different places.

I focused on the Genesis story (Tower of Babel) during the Time with Young Disciples so that story was heard as a prelude to the sermon.  

Not sure how well the sermon worked in allowing people to explore the Holy Spirit in their lives, but the music was a great addition to the service.

“Listening for the Spirit” SAPC, Denton; June 9, 2019; Acts 2: 1-21; Genesis 11:1-9

Richard:   Jill Duffield, the editor of the Presbyterian Outlook writes that “The war of words and battle of rhetoric rages daily in our culture” (Looking into the Lectionary, Jill Duffield, 6/3/19, Presbyterian Outlook email).  We see it daily in the media with the point/counterpoint being offered on every issue.  No sooner does one person offer their opinion, then another person offer a different, often opposite opinion.

In our own lives, how often do we find ourselves in conversations where we can barely wait for the other person to finish her conversation before we offer our correction, our spin, our different opinion.

Pentecost brings the gift of languages so God’s people can communicate with all sorts of other people, but it begins with the Holy Spirit sweeping in to redirect the followers of Christ, to send them to new places and new people as they follow God’s call.  But first, God’s people had to listen for the Holy Spirit.

This morning, we are invited to listen. 

            Listen to the Pentecost story;

                        Listen to the music. 

                                    Let your toes tap.

                                                Let your imagination wander;

Listen for the Holy Spirit.

Lisa:  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Wade:   And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Lisa: Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  

Amy:  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Richard:  Just before ascending in a cloud to heaven, Jesus had told the disciples the Holy Spirit was coming.  Not in that moment, but in just a few days.

That is how we find the followers of Christ as this story begins.

They know the resurrection.  They know Christ has gone before them to the heavens. 

Now they are looking for the Holy Spirit.  Pondering what the Holy Spirit might do in their lives?

Did they expect the Holy Spirit to arrive with violent wind?  with flames of fire? Did they anticipate suddenly being able to speak in different languages?

I suspect not, but they were looking and listening for the Spirit, willing to give themselves over to it.

Where do you see the Holy Spirit blowing into your life?  Are you looking?

Musical interlude with the violent wind, flames of fire as the mood

Lisa:  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.

Wade:   Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

Amy:  Parthians, Medes, Elamites,

Lisa:  and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

Amy:  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,

Wade:  and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Lisa:   All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

Amy:   But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Richard:  The Holy Spirit arrives, and the crowds are bewildered?  Could that be a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit?  People astounded by what happens to those led by the Spirit?

Why are they bewildered?  Because they are hearing the Galileans speaking in different languages.  In fact, the languages being spoken are the languages of those in the crowds.

Is that what the Holy Spirit does - find ways to make the good news accessible to others?

We know the crowds were amazed at what they heard, but what about those who found themselves speaking the languages? 

Imagine that you suddenly have a gift, an unexpected gift, a gift you need to do that next thing God is calling you to do.

Are you ready to be filled with the Spirit?  Invited, or pushed, to expand your horizons and do new things?

Ann Lamott reminds us in her book, Traveling Mercies, “the holy spirit very rarely respects one’s comfort zone” (Lamott, Traveling Mercies, 224).

Listen for the Holy Spirit; open yourself up to what God is doing.   

MUSICAL Interlude with bewilderment, multiple languages, surprise as the mood

Lisa:   But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,

Wade:  “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.  Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

Amy:  ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

Lisa:  and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Wade:  and your young men shall see visions,

    

Lisa:  and your old men shall dream dreams.

Amy:  Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

        and they shall prophesy.

Lisa:  And I will show portents in the heaven above

    and signs on the earth below,

        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

Wade:  The sun shall be turned to darkness

    and the moon to blood,

        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Lisa:  Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Musical interlude with the glories day of the coming of the Lord as the mood

Richard: the Holy Spirit unsettles

                        The Holy Spirit stirs things up

                                    The Holy Spirit calls us to see new visions

                                                The Holy Spirit gives us new dreams

                                                            The Holy Spirit calls us to new understandings and new relationships.

The world may look at us and dismiss those visions and dreams;  they may say we are drunk, or don’t understand; or do not know the reality in which we live.

But when we know power of God to resurrect that is moves among us now by the power of the Holy Spirit, we know that all things are possible. 

We can dare to live into the visions and dreams God gives us.

 By the way, let us not forget what the goal of the Holy spirit is as it moves among us?  That everyone who calls on the name of the Lord be saved.

Everyone.  Saved.

The Holy spirit empowers us in in diverse ways to do new things.  Why?  So that the varied and multiple needs of all the people, everyone can be met with the saving grace our Lord.

final musical interlude with whatever mood you think

Conclusion: 

Richard:  Listen for the Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit, come.  Amen!