[Music]
A great teacher once said
“It is better to light a single candle
than curse the darkness.”
Friends, I can't remember a time in my
life when there has seemed to be more
darkness or encroaching darkness in the
world around us
the world is filled with trouble, with
terrorists,
our own country is plagued by a pandemic
and there is political division and
divisiveness
on every airwave, on every newspaper, and
sometimes even within a single home.
As if that were not enough, we're dealing
with personal struggles, as well.
Sometimes, there are difficulties between
us; some families have been brought
together
closer because of the circumstances that
surround us, and others
are being torn apart. The good news is
that the church is intended to be a
place where we can find healing,
where we can bring hope; the church is
intended to be a place
that is filled with faith and hope and
love; it's a place where
you are welcome. And so we want to say
“Good morning”
and welcome to Grand Avenue United
Methodist church.
Wherever you may be today, I hope that
you will light a candle that will
remind you that you are in the presence
of the light of Christ
bring something of beauty into your life
like these flowers that are given
in celebration of the 50th anniversary
of Pat and Jean Penor.
Congratulations, Pat and Jean; may God
bless you as you grow deeper in love
with one another and with God with each
passing year.
Our worship today is centered on a
teaching from Matthew chapter 18 that
reminds us that when there is trouble in
relationships
that the church is a place where we can
come to to bring healing, where we can
bring
reconciliation that leads to
righteousness.
Indeed, in a way this is not so much a
museum for saints as it is
a hospital for sinners. Here is a place
where we
hold one another up when we are falling;
where we hold one another accountable
when we are failing;
where we experience communion with God
and community
with others one person at a time.
As we worship today, the words that you
need to participate will appear on your
screen.
You'll also find an order of service in
the
link that's contained in the comments
and description below this video.
Likewise, there you will find a place
where you can register your attendance,
share a prayer concern with us if you
would like, the way that you can reach
out to us, read our newest
newsletter, and likewise make
contributions either online or through
the mail.
As we're worshiping today I want to give
you an opportunity
wherever you are to remember those who
need
your prayers. I want you to remember
those who are struggling
and suffer with them; I want you to
remember those who
have reason for rejoicing and celebrate
with them.
Wherever you are I invite you to join
with me and name those people
that you personally are praying for out
loud; will you join me in an attitude of
prayer
Oh lord of light in the midst of darkness
and fear you call us to be a community
of peace
and love and hope; you remind us of the
blessings that we have and the
opportunities to share those blessings
with others.
We praise and we thank you for all these
things and for your constant presence
with us
today as a community seeking peace and
healing. We offer the names of loved ones
who are struggling with illness,
with loss, with feelings of alienation
and fear,
and we name these dear ones aloud
wherever we may be
Lord listen
and Lord just as we have lifted our
concerns
we also offer messages of love and
rejoicing
Lord listen to our prayers of
thanksgiving and joy
oh God we thank you for these healing
mercies
and for your sustaining love for us we
are confident in your abiding presence
with us
help us to be faithful to you in all
times and in all places
give us the grace to accept the
forgiveness that you have
offered to each of us and to share that
forgiveness with others
help us to know that wherever two or
more of us are gathered in your holy
name
that you are present for it is in Jesus’
name that we offer this prayer who
teaches us as your people to pray
We have the privilege today of
celebrating with Blessed be the Tie that Binds
we are going to be accompanied by Bill Kratz
who will play his accordion
and I pray that you will listen and that
you will sing along
[Music]
Good morning children of God
one of the fun things about recording
our services is that we've been able to
have children's moments from all kinds
of places
we've been out to the creek at
Miss Ellen’s and
you've been to the parsonage several
times we've been all kinds of different
places in the church
and today we're here again you've
probably come through this door a number
of times
on your way to Sunday school or church
and haven't paid much attention to this
hall
but there are some interesting things
here this is where we bring the lost and
the found
now large items are usually on the coat
rack a little bit down the hall and
people can see them as they walk by so
maybe they find them
sooner than they do the smaller things
those get put in this drawer
and actually when I was practicing this
morning I had a hard time getting this
drawer open because there's so much
stuff in it
look what's in here here's a pair of
colorful socks
and a single gardening glove I wonder if
somebody's
pulling weeds with just one hand
there's a charging cord in here that
somebody might really need
there's lots of glasses some sunglasses
reading glasses
there's even a pair of bifocals so I
would imagine somebody's really missing
those
you know what else is in here? Here's a
set of car keys -
makes me wonder if somebody drove up to
the church with these keys,
how did they get home? Well, if you see
anything
that I've shown you that's yours you
might want to come and claim it.
What happens when you lose something?
Well, if it's something like these
reading glasses that don't cost very
much
somebody might just say uh I'm just
going to go buy another pair
but if it's something valuable like car
keys or a piece of jewelry
or something else that you really love
you're going to
search and search until you finally find
that item
so that it's not lost anymore.
Well, Jesus told a number of stories
about things that were lost in the bible
one of them was about a shepherd who had
100 sheep
and one day one of them wandered off so
he still had 99 that's quite a few
but the shepherd secured those 99 and
went and found the lost sheep
that's how important that one lost sheep
was to the shepherd
and when he brought it back to all the
rest he got his friends to celebrate
with him
another story that Jesus told was about
a woman who had 10 coins
one day she counted them and she
only had nine so she lit up the house
and she swept
the floor and she looked and looked
until she found the tenth coin
and what did she do? She had a party with
her friends to celebrate finding the
lost coin
Jesus told those stories about lost
things
because he wanted to show how much God
loves us
we're children of God and sometimes we
get lost
and God loves us so much that he will
come searching for us
in fact, the bible tells us that God sent
his son Jesus to seek
and save the lost and Jesus
said that when even one person is found
even the angels in heaven rejoice
aren't you glad that God loves us so
much?
Let us pray: dear God
thank you for loving us
thank you for looking for us when we are
lost – amen.
Friends,
we all get lost during our lives; some of
us may feel like we've been lost most of
our life or maybe we're feeling
especially lost
right now. The thing to remember is that
God is
always seeking us; he's always searching
for a closer relationship with us.
I have to remind myself that if I feel
far from God
I'm the one who's moved. As you listen to
this beautiful music by Lowella,
reflect on how God is leading you;
how does God want you to serve through
this church - with your time, 
your talent, and your treasure?
[Music]
Well good morning Grand Avenue family
I'm so happy to be
joining you and reading scripture today
Today, I'll be reading from the book of
Matthew chapter 18.
If another member of the church sins
against you
go and point out the fault when the two
of you are alone
If the member listens to you, you have
regained that one
but if you are not listened to, take one
or two others along with you
so that every word may be confirmed by
the evidence of two or three witnesses
if the member refuses to listen to them
tell it to the church
and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church
let such a one be to you as a gentile
and a tax collector. Truly, I tell you
whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven
and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.
Again, truly I tell you if two of you
agree on earth
about anything you ask it will be done
for you
by my father in heaven, for where two or
three are gathered in my name
I am there among them. May God bless the
reading and hearing of holy scripture, Amen.
Will you join me in the prayer to the
Holy Spirit? Let us pray:
Years ago when I was serving a
different congregation in a town not too
far from here, I had the opportunity of
meeting another community leader who had
recently relocated to our city.
When I introduced myself and said that I
was a pastor she said that she was
deeply spiritual but not much on
organized religion
I told her to come and make her home in
our congregation - we were about as
disorganized as
it gets! All joking aside,
the church is not so much an
organization as it is an
organism - a living, breathing, growing
creation of God.
Thus, the new testament describes
the church as the body of Christ and we
are therefore constantly in the
midst of growing and changing our ways
to utilize the body's strengths to
accommodate
for its limitations and to account for
its needs
and to be all that God created us to be
that's never been more true than it is
in this season of pandemic and social
distancing
and I've got to confess I'm proud; I'm
proud of the way that Grand Avenue has
been
adjusting to this season again
and again and again. We may not be
perfect,
but in John Wesley's words we are going
on to perfection
but in the meantime what Jesus says
to his disciples in this day also
pertains to us
in our day. Most of the time Jesus speaks
in general parables that invite us to
ponder.
Here, however, to use an old adage he's
quit preaching and commenced
meddling; his words are practical and
direct, they're
easy to understand. That's not the
problem - the problem is that they leave
us little wiggle room. Jesus takes for
granted that there will be conflict
within the church.
Look, for example, at the story that he
has just told:
just before Jesus gave these
instructions, he said that
if a shepherd has a hundred sheep and
one of them goes astray
the shepherd leaves the 99 on the
mountainside and goes
in search of the one lost sheep; if he
finds it,
he rejoices more over the one that had
been lost and was found
than over the 99 who had never gone
astray.
That's what Jesus said just before
giving the rule
for dealing with trouble in the church
that is that we should do - everything
possible to help people who have done
wrong, who've gone astray
and then notice this: as soon as Jesus
finished giving instructions about what
to do in case of misunderstanding in the
church
the apostle Peter raises a question: Lord,
how many times
should we forgive? Should we forgive
seven times? And with that, he takes the
old testament rubric for forgiving, three -
doubles it, and adds one for good measure.
But Jesus says
No, not seven times but
seventy times seven! All of a sudden,
Peter, who thought he was being generous,
was put
in his place and, fortunately for him and
for us
that place is within the welcoming arms
of a gracious God
who invites us instead of counting the
cost to measure the immensity of God's
amazing grace
to receive it for ourselves and freely
to share it with others
in God's name. Jesus knew that something
as
important as woundedness within the body
of Christ shouldn't be left to chance
when it comes to forgiveness, he says do
it like this
the irony, of course, is that the church
usually does it in every way
but this way; we are among the most
indirect and passive places that you'll
ever find in the world.
In the very place where grace should be
manifest in our
interactions with others we may be even
more inclined to gossip,
to whisper behind closed doors and to
nurture old grudges in the dark while
denying them in the light. If we're to
forgive
as God forgives, we have to pay close
attention to the way that God forgives
us;
in God's economy forgiveness is not so
much a feeling as it is a choice -
something that we choose to do. If we
wait until we
feel like it, it will probably never come.
But Jesus implies that we should take
these three steps in the meantime
first, go directly to the person who's
wronged you
and speak alone before you discuss it
with others, before you harbor it so long
that it slowly poisons you against the
possibility of reconciliation
and rather than waiting until they catch
on to your subtle signals and come
to apologize go and find the one who has
sinned against you; it may not sound fair
but do it anyway - remember God so
loved you that God sent Jesus Christ to
forgive you
even before you asked for forgiveness
and if that fails the next step is to
involve others
but again, Jesus isn't saying go and talk
about the person behind their backs
Jesus is saying
bring in others to whom she or he
might listen. The proper role of having
others be a part of conflict according
to Christ
is to give some perspective to the issue
and if this step doesn't work then the
third step is to
bring the whole church to bear. The point
is clear:
the church is meant to be a mediator
in a world of misunderstanding, a
peacemaker
in a world of passive aggressiveness.
So often when we celebrate the fact that
Jesus has promised to be present
whenever two or three are gathered in
his name
we forget that that promise comes in the
context of
a discourse about hard conversations and
reconciliation
according to Jesus the church ought to
be reducing conflict through
discussion and accountability and
transparency.
When the church fails to live this out
the church fails to invite Christ into
our conflicts, we shouldn't be surprised
when it's hard to see Jesus in our midst
no matter how many people
are gathered. Oh, but when we do -
when we do it can make a world
of difference in our relationships.
And through our relationships it can
make a different world
in the name of the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit,
Amen. Friends, we thank you for
the privilege of sharing this
celebration with you.
The music, the prayers, the scriptures, the
meditations, the silence,
the words, all. We thank you for the
offerings that you are making
that are continuing to further the
mission and ministry of Grand Avenue
as we are filled with faith, hope and
love - building faith, bringing hope,
and reaching out in love, will you help
us continue to do that?
Until we meet again
