Feeding the Five Thousand

Sunday, July 22, 2012
Proper 11B
Mark 6:30-44


Good morning, everybody!


One of the many things that makes Jesus so special is how much he cares about people.  He cares about the whole person--our spiritual needs, our emotional needs and our physical needs.  Let me show you what I mean.


One day, Jesus was with his disciples.  They had all been working very hard and were tired.  Jesus suggested they all go away together to someplace quiet for a rest.  So they all boarded a  boat and went on a short trip for what they thought was going to be some R&R--rest and relaxation.


But some people saw where Jesus ad the disciples were going.  They told their friends who told their friends, and by the time the boat carrying Jesus and the disciples landed on shore, there was a huge crowd waiting for them.


Now remember, Jesus and his pals made this trip to get some rest, and here was an enormous, unexpected welcoming committee in need of a leader.  Jesus could have told the people, "I'm sorry, but this is my day off.  I just don't have the energy to speak to you today."  But he didn't.  He cared too much about the people who came to hear his teachings about God.  The Bible says, "He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."  So he taught them.  He taught them all day, sharing what they needed to learn to live a life of faith in God.


Finally, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send the people away so they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat."  Jesus answered them, "You give them something to eat."


This may have been a reasonable thing to say if there were ten people there that day, or maybe even fifty.  But the Bible counts five thousand men gathered to hear Jesus, and that doesn't even include the women and children!  There was no way the disciples had enough money to buy food for all of those hungry people, and they told Jesus that.


He told them to check and see how much food they had with them.  The disciples reported back that they had five loaves of bread and two fish.  Hardly enough tuna sandwiches for a crowd that size!  But Jesus cared about the people.  He cared that they know about God's love, and he cared that they not go home with hungry tummies.  So he ordered the disciples to have the people sit on the green grass in groups.  Then something amazing happened.


Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish.  He looked up to heaven and blessed and divided the food in pieces and gave it to the disciples to serve to the people.  And every, single person in that huge crowd had more than enough to eat.  In fact, when everyone was finished eating their fill, there were five baskets of food left over.


Then, only after everyone was full, Jesus sent them home.  Jesus cares about us in every way, just like he cared about the people gathered that day so long ago.  And Jesus calls upon the church to carry on his work to care for people in every way.  The church to this day ministers to peoples' needs--teaching about God's love; caring for the sick through hospitals and clinics; feeding the hungry in our town and around the world.  We do all of this work in Jesus' name, because we love him.


Let's Pray:  Good and gracious God, we thank-you for sending Jesus into the world to show how much you love and care about us in every way.  Help us to share your love and caring in our world today, and in Jesus' name.  Amen

Worship the King

David Bringing of the Ark of the Covenant
into Jerusalem
by David Brassey Hole

Sunday, July 15, 2012
Proper 10B
II Samuel 6: 1-19

Good morning, boys and girls!  I'm glad you came to church this morning.  When we gather together in this holy place on this special day each week, we see our friends, and we learn new things about Jesus, and sometimes we eat cookies and drink lemonade before we go home, right?  But the number one reason we all come together at church each Sunday morning is to worship God.

We are God's people, and we know that every good thing in our lives and in the world are gifts from God.  We know that God made us and we belong to God.  We know that God knows everything and God is all-powerful.  And above all, we know that God loves us and wants the best for us.  God is truly awesome.  And so we come together to honor God each week--to show the Lord our deepest, heart-felt love, respect and thanks.

Different people worship God in different ways.  In some communities, people cover their heads as a sign of respect.  Some churches burn incense.  We light candles, don't we.  Most congregations sing songs of praise, say prayers, read from the Bible and hear a sermon.  Sometimes a choir or a soloist sings a special song, called an anthem to honor God.  Sometimes various musical instruments are used in worship--such as an organ, guitars, drums, a harp or trumpet or flute.  Some congregations use none of these things in their worship.  They sit quietly in prayer and meditation.  Occasionally a member of the congregation will feel moved by the Spirit to speak and share their thoughts, but otherwise the worship service is quiet.

A sanctuary is the special, or sacred, space in which the congregation gathers to worship.  Some sanctuaries are very old, and some are new.  Some sanctuaries are super plain and some are ultra-fancy.  Some have pictures in the windows made of stained glass.  Some have banners hanging on the walls, and some are decorated with statues.  Sanctuaries are decorated in the way the people of that church believe will make God happy and help the people to worship best.

Some churches have big screens, like movie screens, in the sanctuary.  Pictures and videos displayed on the screens are used as a form of worship.  Sometimes the people of God will put on a play or a skit, or even dance as a way to worship God.

The Bible tells us about a time when King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant home into the City of David, or Jerusalem.  The Ark of the Covenant was a special box that held the stone tablets which had the Ten Commandments written on them.  The Ark of the Covenant was so important to King David and his people, it was like they were bringing God home to live.

Now, David was king of Israel, but even King David knew that God was more important and powerful than he was.  David was filled with love and respect for God.  The ark was heavy and carried by several men.  Thousands of people came out to welcome God and the ark home.  David led the parade and worshipped God as he went, dancing his heart out the whole way.  The Bible tells us that "David danced before the Lord with all his might."

There are many ways to worship God.  Not all of them have to happen in a church building or sanctuary, and not only on Sunday.  Every time you show love and respect to God, you honor the Lord with your worship.  When you pray at home, when you sing a song in the car or on the playground that you've learned at church school, when you offer kindness to another person--all of these are acts of worship and honor God.

Let's worship God now with prayer.

Awesome God, We thank-you for your many gifts to us.  Help us to live our lives in a way that shows you how grateful we are.  Amen.

Spreading the Good News

Spreading the Good News
Proper 9B
July 8, 2012
Mark 6:6b-13
Prop: A World Map or Globe

Good morning, everyone!

I want to show you a couple of things on the map (globe) this morning.  This is a map of the whole world.  We are right here, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  (Point to your location, and put a sticky note with the name of your town and country on it.)  Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus lived here.  ({Put a sticky note on Galilee.) 

Now, Jesus lived in a time before television or the Internet; before radio or telephones or even telegraphs.  Yet the message of God's love and forgiveness through Jesus, the Christ--what Christians call the Gospel message--spread from the small area of Galilee all the way to Delaware, where we live.  Today people all over the world have heard about Jesus and God's love. 

The Gospel message did not travel across the globe overnight, and spreading the Good News of the Gospel so far and wide required the hard work of many, many people.  We call these people missionaries.

The first missionaries were sent out by Jesus himself.  He told his followers to pack light and to travel from town to town, telling anyone who would listen that God loved them and wanted them to live as children of God.  Then, after Jesus' death and resurrection, the disciples travelled even further from home, sharing God's love and telling people the Good News about Jesus.

The Church grew as more and more people heard and believed the Gospel message.  Missionaries shared the love of God in many ways.  Sometimes they preached the Good News in worship services.  Sometimes they practiced God's love by giving the people they served help with hospitals and clinics, schools and farms.

For example, (fill in with an example from your own church's ministry), in Delaware, the Presbyterian churches have a sister relationship with the Presbyterian churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Africa.  It is right here on the map.  We have helped our sister churches in the Congo to build schools, to feed prisoners and to create piggeries for raising pigs, just to name a few projects.  And the churches in the Congo have sent missionaries to Delaware, to share their love of God and their enthusiasm for the Gospel with us.

There are still many people in the world who have never heard of Jesus, or who don't know that God sent Jesus for them.  And a person doesn't need to travel far and wide to be a missionary.  We don't need to do big things like building hospitals in Africa or churches in Korea, or digging wells in South America to be missionaries, either.  You can be missionaries right here in our own home town.  Every time you show another person kindness, or invite a friend to Sunday school, or show someone you care, you are sharing God's love and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It takes all kinds of love--fancy and simple--to spread the Good News.

Let's Pray.  Kind and Loving God, we thank-you for those who worked in good faith to spread the Good News of the Gospel so that we might know of your love and forgiveness in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Help us to live lives that reflect that love, and to find ways to share the Good News with others.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Teachers and Teachings We Remember

Teachers and Teachings We Remember
Proper 8B
July 1, 2012
Matthew 5:38-48

Mrs. Jones was a second grade teacher at James Madison Elementary School in Anaheim, California.  Mrs. Jones was an excellent teacher who cared deeply about her students.  One day in class, Mrs. Jones mentioned her home, which was a few miles away from James Madison Elementary School.  Some of the children were shocked! 

"What do you mean, 'home?'  Don't you live here at the school?" they asked.

"Why, no!" said Mrs. Jones.  "I work here at school.  I love being your teacher, but teaching is my job.  I also have a home and a family, just like your moms and dads have a job, a home and a family.  I am your teacher, but I am also a wife, a mother, a neighbor, a citizen and many other things as well.  I have many different roles in my life."

Jesus had many different roles in his life, too, just like Mrs. Jones; just like we all do.  Jesus was a son, a brother, a neighbor, a healer, a preacher and a Savior.  Jesus was also a teacher.  He explained to the people what the Scriptures meant, and taught people about God.  Sometimes Jesus explained the Scripture in ways the people had never heard before, and they were shocked!  For example, the Torah, which is what Jesus' students called their Scripture, the Torah said that if someone hurts you, say punches you in the arm, then you are allowed to punch them in the arm back, but that's all.  People were not allowed to do anything to hurt someone worse than they were hurt.  It's called "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."  But Jesus said that if someone hurts you, you're not supposed to hurt back at all!  We call it "turning the other cheek." Here's what Jesus said,

"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' 39 Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' ...40 If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it... Live generously."  (Eugene Peterson's The Message)

Jesus also taught his followers to not only love their friends, but to love their enemies also.  And he said that if people give you a hard time, don't give them a hard time back, but pray for them.  Jesus knew that God asks all of us to be the very best people we can be--not only good, but better than what is expected. 

There is a lot of discussion in schools and the news media today about bullying. Bullies can be pretty scary and hurtful. Jesus teaches us not to bully them back, but it is also OK to tell a teacher, your mom or dad, a coach or camp counselor when someone is being bullied. Letting the person in charge know what is going on will help both the person under attack and the bully to get the help they need to stop the bad behavior.

These lessons of Jesus' were shocking to his followers 2,000 years ago.  Sometimes they are still pretty hard for us to hear today.  When someone punches us, or calls us a mean name, the first thing most of us want to do is to hurt them back.  But can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone responded to meanness with kindness and generosity?  Jesus imagined such a world and called it The Kingdom of God.

Let's Pray:  Kind and Loving God, Help us to follow the teachings of Jesus, even when the lessons are difficult.  Help us to be the best people we can be, kind and generous.  May your kingdom come.  Amen.

June 24, 2012

Ordinary 12B
David Meets Goliath
I Samuel 17:1-49
Prop: Photo of Lion & Kitten (below--a larger version may be found using the Photo Credit link)

Who would win: a tyrannasaurus rex or an allosaurus?

Who would win: Batman or Superman?

Who would win: (Show photo) A lion or a kitten?

Photo Credit

Who would win: A heavily armed warrior or a shepherd boy?

Today's story answers that last question, at least in the case of Goliath and David.

This story takes place thousands of years ago, but the lesson it teaches is as important today as it was when the event took place.

The Israelites and the Philistines were at war.  The armies stood across from each other on hilltops with a valley in-between them.  God's people, The Israelites, watched as one huge warrior walked out of the Philistine camp and faced them.  His name was Goliath, and he was big.  He was bigger than big.  He was the most enormous person any of the Israelites had ever seen.  Goliath wore full armor and carried a huge javelin and a sharp spear. 

Goliath challenged the Israelites to send out a soldier from their army to fight him.  He shouted, "If your soldier is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I win and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us."  When Saul, the king of Israel and leader of the army and his soldiers heard this, they were all afraid.  Goliath repeated his challenge twice a day for forty days, and none of the soldiers of Israel had the courage or faith to face him.

Now David was a young boy who took care of his father's sheep.  He was a shepherd.  David's three oldest brothers were soldiers in Saul's army.  David's father, Jesse, asked David to take some food to his brothers at the battlefield.  While he was there, Goliath came forward once again and dared Israel to send a soldier to fight him.  David said, "Who is this pagan Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God/"  That was big talk for such a small person!

Saul, the king, heard about David's bold words and sent for him.  David told the king, "I will go and fight this Philistine."  Saul said, "You can't go against the Philistine!  You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior for many years!"  Then David explained to Saul that he had protected his father's sheep from lions and bears.  "The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will certainly save me from the hand of this Philistine!," the brave boy said.

So Saul agreed to let David fight.  He dressed David in his own heavy armor, put a bronze helmet on David's head and strapped a sword on him.  But the suit was so big and heavy, David couldn't move!  He unstrapped the sword, removed the helmet, stepped out of the armor and walked to face Goliath.  He was armed only with a slingshot and five smooth stones. 

When he came closer to Goliath, the warrior became angry.  He thought the Israelites were playing a joke and making fun of him by sending such a poorly matched opponent.  David said to him, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel."

When Goliath moved toward David, the shepherd boy ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.  He placed one stone in his slingshot, whirled it around several times, and then let the stone fly.  It hit Goliath right in the middle of his forehead, and the mighty giant fell flat.

Who would win: a heavily armed warrior or a shepherd boy?  The answer is: The shepherd boy who put all of his trust in God.

Let's Pray:  Dear God, Give us faith like David's, so that we might meet every challenge in life with courage and confidence.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

God's Chosen

Sunday, June 17, 2012
Ordinary 11
God's Chosen
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13

When I was a child, sometimes a bunch of my friends and I would get together to play ball.  Sometimes it was during recess at school, and other times at a park or someone's home.  Two team captains would stand infront of the group and take turns choosing players for their teams.  The biggest, strongest kids were always chosen first--the ones everyone knew could run fastest and hit and throw the ball farthest.  The smaller, slower kids were chosen last.  Everyone would have been surprised if the smallest player was chosen first.

Samuel was surprised this way once a long, long time ago.  God told the prophet Samuel that God needed a new king to rule over Israel.  God sent Samuel to a man named Jesse, who lived in Bethlehem.  God wanted one of Jesse's sons to be king.

So Samuel travelled to Bethlehem.  Jesse presented his oldest son, Eliab, to Samuel.  Samuel took one look at the tall, strong Eliab and through, "Certainly this is the man God has chosen to be king!"  But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at how handsome or tall he is, because I do not choose Eliab.  The Lord does not judge a person by how the person looks on the outside.  God looks at the person's heart."  Then Jesse called his next-oldest son, Abinadab, and presented him to Samuel.  He wasn't the one chosen, either.  Next came Shammah--NOT!  Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel.  God did not choose any of them to be the next king of Israel.

Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?"  Jesse said, "I have one more.  The youngest.  He is out taking care of the sheep."  Samuel told Jesse to send for him.

When Jesse's youngest son came in, Samuel saw that he was a boy--the youngest and smallest of Jesse's sons.  The Lord said, "Rise and annoint him king, for this is the one."  His name was David, and he was the greatest king Israel ever had.

I imagine Jesse, his seven older, stronger sons and even Samuel were surprised when God chose David, the shepherd boy, as king.  But the Bible tells us over and over again that God works that way--choosing people we wouldn't expect for service.

Even if you're young, or small, or not the first person chosen for the baseball team ever, you can be of service to God in making this world a better place and sharing the Good News of God's love, because God chooses YOU!

Let's Pray:  Dear God, we thank-you for the many wonderful surprises you bring into our lives.  Help us to be faithful servants, working to make this world a better place and sharing the Good News of your love and forgiveness.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday

June 3, 2012
Scripture: Romans 8:12-17
Prop: A Tripod w/ Collapsible Legs, or Photo

Good morning!  Today is a special day in the life of the Church.  It isn't Christmas, or Easter or even Pentecost.  Today is Trinity Sunday!  It is the day that the Church has set aside to celebrate the Trinity.  The Trinity is not an easy concept, but I will try my best to explain it.

A tricycle has 3 wheels, right?
And a triangle has 3 sides, right?
I have with me a (picture of a) tripod--a stand with 3 legs.  You may have guessed that tri means 3--tricycle, triangle, tripod--each with 3 of something.  (Set up tripod.)  A tripod is used to hold something up, such as a camera or a telescope.  The 3 legs of the tripod make it very stable, so that the camera or telescope doesn't shake when the photographer takes a picture or the astronomer looks at Venus.

But watch what happens when I take away one of the tripod's legs.  (Shorten/remove 1 leg.  Allow the tripod to lean, but catch it before it hits the floor.)  The tripod needs all 3 legs to stand--to do its job, doesn't it?  In fact, without 3 legs, it is no longer a tripod at all, because tri means 3.

The word Trinity begins with the same three letters as tricycle, triangle and tripod--t-r-i, meaning 3.  The word Trinity refers to God in 3 persons.

Sometimes when we think of God, we think of the Creator--the One who made heaven and earth, the light and darkness, the sea and dry land, the plants and animals, you and me.

Sometimes when we think of God, we remember Jesus--the special baby born in a stable, the One who cured people of their diseases, who taught people to love one another, who was crucified, who died and who rose again to live in Heaven.  Jesus, our friend and our Savior.

And sometimes when we think of God, we think of the Holy Spirit--the Helper Jesus sent to the disciples at Pentecost--the One who gives us guidance and strength to carry on God's work in the world, showing love and sharing the power of forgiveness.

All of these together--Creator, Savior and Helper, is what we call the Trinity.  One God described by Christians in 3 different ways.

(If the congregation sang or is going to sing "Holy, Holy, Holy" during the service, you might make reference to the last line.)

Let's Pray.  Gracious God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you for your presence with us this morning.  Help us throughout our lives, to strive to understand and serve you.  And when we don't understand everything, may faith fill in the gaps until the time comes when all of our questions are answered.  Amen.