ANNOUNCEMENTS

10 am Sunday School                    

 11 am SUNDAY WORSHIP (communion first Sunday of month) 

ANOINTED

(Acts 3:12-21, 1 John 2:20-3:7)        Pastor Carol Weist

Don’t be anointed with sin.  Sin is an oily mess.  Sin is not the godly healing anointing oil you should want to be anointed with.  That oily mess needs to be wiped out, to be blotted out so that you may have genuine times of refreshing:“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”  (Acts 3:19-21)

Those refreshing times are  kairos times, opportune times of refreshing, for the restoration of the soul from the greasy grimy mess of sin – which we may try to camouflage, cover up and try to make look decent – the mess of sin which is a far cry from the soul-refreshing of God’s anointing from our deepest within to our outermost being  – an anointing given to all believers in Christ as children of God. An anointing refreshing we can share as Onesiphorus did for Paul:  “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”  (2 Timothy 1:16-18)

Remember your trespasses have been blotted out by Christ himself:  ”And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross” (Colossians 2:13-14) 

Be one who conquers – not foolishly trying to cover up your sin –but repenting, confessing to Jesus  –  be refreshed, be restored, be anointed – your name will be in the book of life and confessed before angels, as Jesus promises: “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

JOY FULFILLED

 (1 John 1:1-2:3)         Pastor Carol Weist

Concerning the word of life, what have you heard?  What have you seen with your eyes?  What have you observed? What have you touched with your hands?  (1 John 1:1)  We were not there in the beginning with Jesus to hear, to see with our eyes, to observe, to touch with our hands.  There is a way we see, hear, touch, and observe now.  We have scripture to hear, see with our eyes, to observe, to hold in our hands and hearts.

Listen to Jesus’ words written out for us in scripture  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom  prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food,  I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me,  I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-41)

Concerning the word of life, the writers of the letter of 1 John say, we have heard, we have seen with our eyes, we have looked upon and observed, and we have touched with our hands and held in our hearts the life that was made manifest, the life that can be seen. We have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life.  (1 John 1:1-2)  We, too, can proclaim the eternal life.  We too can proclaim what we have seen and heard so that others may also have fellowship with us, That fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  (1 John 1:3)

EMPTIED

(Mark 16:1-8, Philippians 2:1-13)      Pastor Carol Weist

 Jesus emptied himself.  He “emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  Jesus came with open, emptying, sharing hands, not grasping hands, “who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Jesus humbled himself, “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point death, even death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:6-8)

Jesus emptied himself.  He died on the cross and his body was laid in a secure tomb.  Nevertheless, his tomb was emptied.  The stone securing the entrance was rolled away. No body left inside, only some graveclothes that the body had been wrapped in.  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome did find someone  in the tomb, “a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe.”  (Mark 16;5)   That alarmed them.  The young man told them not to be alarmed, that Jesus had risen.  He told them to go and tell the disciples where they would see Jesus.  “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”  (Mark 16:5-8)

They had much to work out amidst their alarm, trembling, astonishment and fear.  They understood the reality that the tomb was emptied of Jesus.  But what did that mean?  What did it mean that Jesus was raised from the dead?  How did Jesus’ death and resurrection connect with sin and salvation?  What did it mean for their lives giving forward after Jesus’ tragic death?  What did it mean that Jesus had been “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” as written later by Paul in Philippians 2:8? 

Those women who fled from the tomb in fear and trembling, would grow in understanding of what it meant that Jesus was raised from the dead as did so many of the early followers of Jesus.  They would comprehend that Jesus being raised from the dead meant as taught in Philippians 2:9-11:  “God has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  We are called upon to work out our salvation in fear and trembling,  not to save ourselves, but to work out of what God is working in us that honors God’s good pleasure.  God works in us.  He works with us on our will to willingly work at what God wants us to appreciate  doing.

Jesus is not present with us in the flesh in a way we can see him, looking over our shoulder, but Jesus is with us.  Likewise, Paul is not physically present with the Philippians, but he is present through the words he writes to them:  “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:11-12)  There is always an element of fear and trembling when the full glory of our risen and resurrected Lord is considered.  It is not a fear and trembling that permanently immobilizes us, but a fear and trembling that causes us to pause and reflect on how great our God truly is , and then spurs us on to action. 

Consider the following Easter actions encouraged by Paul:   “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2:1-7a)

TORN

(Mark 15:37-39)             Pastor Carol Weist

Are you torn?  Have you ever been torn apart inside?  What has torn you apart or tears you apart? There are times when things are torn apart, such as when Jesus was baptized:  “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:9-11) Jesus, who was without sin, who did not need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sin, but chose to be baptized for our sake, Jesus being baptized tore the heavens open.  Jesus being baptized opened the way to our forgiveness, opened the way for us to be beloved children of God, opened the way for God to be well pleased with us.  The heavens being torn open did not tear us apart.  It was part of opening the way for forgiveness, redemption, and new life.

That way was not an easy way for Jesus:  “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.” (Mark 1 :12-13) The wild animals did not tear Jesus apart.  They befriended him as the angels did who ministered to him while he was under the duress of temptation. The wild animals befriending Jesus in the wilderness give us a glimpse of what heaven is like where the wolf dwells in true friendship with the lamb.  (Isaiah 11:6, 65:25)

There is no fabric this old world can provide that can repair the tear in the heavens that lets God grace and approval through.  Trying to patch over what God has done only tears apart the sin that tears this world apart even more.  “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.” (Mark 2:21)  Trying to rip and tear the sin out of ourselves does not work either :“If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”  (Mark 9:47, 50) Our eyes do not cause us to sin.  Our hearts do.  Let God do the heart the needed heart surgery on your repentant heart.  You can be good salt again.  God will give you such salt.  Be at peace.

The high priest tore his garments at Jesus’ answer to his questions declaring Jesus to be a blasphemer.  (Mark 14:63)  Declare instead Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. (Mark 14:64) When Jesus breathed his last on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” (Mark 15:37-38)  Declare with the centurion at the foot of the cross: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)

Remember the curtain tore because  ^“we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”  (Hebrews 6:19-20) “Therefore, brothers,  since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”  (Hebrews 10:19-23)

TURN TO THE LORD’S WAY

(Isaiah 53:3-6)             Pastor Carol Weist

Are you despised?  Are you rejected?  Are you dejected, filled with sorrows, acquainted with grief?  Jesus was despised, rejected, dejected, filled with sorrows, acquainted with grief.  Many did not esteem him.  Many still do not esteem him. (Isaiah 53:3)

Turn, turn to the Lord’s way.  Don’t let others estimation of you and of Jesus stop you from turning to the Lord’s way.  What is our Jesus, our Lord’s way?  It is most certainly true that Jesus has carried our griefs and sorrows, he has born that burden for us.  Nevertheless, folks in their estimation esteem Jesus as stricken, stricken by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 54:4)

Jesus, our Lord’s way is to carry our griefs and sorrows. Turn to our Lord’s way, help others bear their griefs and sorrows. Turn to our Lord’s way, accept his help bearing your griefs and sorrows.  Our Lord’s way does not stop at helping people with griefs and sorrows.

Our Lord’s way includes being pierced for our transgressions, being crushed for our  sins, for our iniquities, a crushing burden, we cannot free ourselves from by our own resources.  Jesus takes the chastisement, the punishment, the reprimand, the rebuke that we might be purified and brought peace, cleansing us from sin and replacing the space that takes within us with the divine peace that surpasses all human understanding  Jesus heals our woundedness deep within.  (Isaiah 53:5) 

OUT OF YOUR POVERTY

 (Mark 12:41-44)             Pastor Carol Weist

What do you give from your leftovers?  I heard a lady say once that she believed others only brought leftovers to potlucks and other meals at church.  I heard a gentleman say once that he was like a goat, enjoying all the leftovers in the fridge from his wife’s good cooking.  Then there is Irish gourmet cooking, it only gets better as it is re-heated so there are plenty of good leftovers the week after St. Patrick’s Day.  To each their own.  I also knew the other ladies fairly well who were thought to be cooking with leftovers when they brought food and that like the lady who thought that, those ladies like her always cooked from scratch when they brought food to various events around the community, including church events.  Whether leftovers were served at home depended on the working agreement the cook had with those cooked for which varied from home to home. 

Then there was the woman who sought out Jesus who was satisfied with only the leftover crumbs, the abundance of crumbs of grace and mercy from our Lord’s table.  She believed those crumbs were more than sufficient to provide for her daughter’s healing.  (Matthew 15:27, Mark  8:28)  There was an abundance of leftovers, baskets of leftovers when Jesus fed the five thousand and the four thousand, more baskets of food than were started with.   (Mark 6:30-44, 8:1-10)  We are to give out of the abundance of joy that our Lord gives us, whether we have much by the world’s standard or whether we have little.  “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.”  (2 Corinthians 8:1-4)

What is your abundance? What is the abundance of your heart?  Is it envy, discontent, hate, disrespect, dishonesty gossip, slander, unforgiving anger or bitterness, holding grudges?  Repent, turn to the Lord for cleansing.  We are to give out of the abundant joy of the Lord we are given  Do we keep making room in our hearts for joy and when sin stubbornly  clings stubbornly pray for God’s forgiving help, cleansing and disentanglement from sin?  Is there an abundance of thankfulness and contentment in your heart? Give out of that, even if you are giving your last two cents out of your material poverty. Jesus praised the widow’s gift because she gave out of her poverty.  For her it was literally her last two cents.  (Mark 12:41-44)

PRAISEWORTHY

(Philippians 4:4-9)             Pastor Carol Weist

“Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely (whatever is befriending), whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (reckon on these things.)I (Philippians 4:8)

Praiseworthy.  Jesus Christ showing God’s truthfulness is praiseworthy: For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised  to show God’s truthfulness.  (Romans 15:8a)  It is also praiseworthy to show God’s truthfulness in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. (Romans 15:b8) The patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are not direct blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Gentiles are those who are not direct blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We are Gentiles. Gentiles can be children of God, just as Abraham, Isaac, and  Jacob were. All who receive Jesus, who believe in his  name, Jesus gives the right to become children of God, to be born again, not of blood or the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God.(John 1:11-12)

As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.”  (Romans 15:9, 2 Samuel 22:50, Psalm 18:49) These are the praises of King David, of the clan of Judah, of the tribe of Judah who was one of the sons of Jacob, a grandson of Isaac and a great-grandson of Abraham.  I am among the Gentiles and even among the Gentiles some clans are considered more noteworthy than others. One does not have to be part of a clan considered noteworthy among the Gentiles or by others, for it to be praiseworthy for you or me to sing God’s praises among the Gentiles along with King David.  In Christ we can all be among God’s chosen.

And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”  (Romans 15:10, Deuteronomy 32:43)  According to these words concluding the song of Moses, it is praiseworthy for Gentiles to rejoice and praise the Lord.  Who is more worthy to be praised than our Lord?  I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.    (Psalm 118:3)  What is more praiseworthy for us to do than to praise the Lord in word and deed,  deeds that obey the commandments of the Lord, deeds done that flow out of and show our love for the Lord.

And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.”  (Romans 15:11, Psalm 117:1)  Praise the Lord, all nations!   Extol him, all peoples!  For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord!    (Psalm 117)

And again Isaiah says ,“The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” (Romans 15:12, Isaiah 11:10, Septuagint)

ON BEING TROUBLED

 (John 12:20-33, Psalm 4)          Pastor Carol Weist

Even Jesus says, “Now my soul is troubled.”   He says that in John 12:27.  Jesus, the same person, who says later in John 14:1:  “Let not your hearts be troubled.”  So how are we to keep our hearts from being troubled,  to not let them be troubled?  The whole of the verse is:  (John 14:1) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;^] believe also in me”  To believe includes trust, a trust that deepens over time spent in discipleship.  Trust in God, trust also in Jesus.

Observe Jesus’ movement from trouble to trust.  Acknowledging being troubled out loud to another is an indication of trust.  Jesus states that he is troubled and then says out loud what he is troubled about, what he has a question about, and in this case he answers his own question. Listen again to the whole verse, John 12:27 as Jesus says: “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” (John 12:27) Then the prayerful proclamation, “Father, glorify your name” (John 12:28) flows from his mouth.  That confession made in trust replaces being troubled.

Jesus wants us to be bold, open, honest to him about confessing, acknowledging when we are troubled.  What we say next may not be, need not be identical to Jesus’ prayer here in John 12.  Jesus is open to hearing where we are at in any given situation, and our trust in him deepens when in the process of prayer we become open with ourselves, when one stops hiding one’s self from one’s self. That opens our ears to God’s response.  That response may not be identical to God’s response in John 12:28 which is: “Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”  God says in this case that he has indeed glorified his name and will continue to do so. As we spend time in discipleship, which means being learners, continuing to learn to hear our Lord’s responses, the Lord continues to glorify his name by continuing to help us.

Psalm 4 speaks also of the movement from being troubled to deeper trust:  The psalm starts out with a cry to the Lord for his gracious listening ear: “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!  You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!”  (Psalm 4:1)

EXCELLENCE WITH A REASON

 (Philippians 4:4-9)             Pastor Carol Weist

Excellence with a reason.  Excellent within reason.  Reasonably excellent.

An arete is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. Consider what it is like to walk such a ridge.  Life is like that at times. Arete is also the Greek word for excellent.  Consider how we are to walk that ridge of excellence, excellence with a reason, Christ-given reason and purpose, excellent within reason, in Christ, within the mind of Christ, reasonably excellent, remember the Lord knows our frame, the Lord knows how we are formed, the Lord remembers that we are dust, that we come with limitations.  (Psalm 103:14)

The Greek concept of excellence is living up to one’s purpose, living well with a reason, excellence with a reason.  Excellence and reason, excellence and prudence, excellence and moderation, excellence with effective purpose all go hand in hand. 

There is moral and immoral excellence.  Excellence at sin, for bad or evil purposes is not commendable.  Excellence with godly virtue and merit, that is what we are called to. The redemptive acts of God are truly excellent and with good purpose. We do not need to be reckoned with the transgressors.  Jesus allowed himself to be reckoned, to be counted among the transgressors so that we might be forgiven and redeemed.