tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59993485925036099242024-03-12T21:48:02.837-05:00Life at the AltarAltars are places where people meet God, and because God is everywhere we can meet Him anywhere.John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.comBlogger284125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-70777599231424864292022-11-08T09:40:00.003-06:002022-11-08T09:44:00.775-06:00WHAT TO PREACH ON THANKSGIVING SUNDAY<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_15oTxHCBdcLR61mIt2nfpj-COEBtIpvlps-D7-zOfb6Roi3kPnWrgOkHU7DuYbR4RKf3drfJNA97LNKBJ1sBfRGj5mo8O-DMNhYX6wwZnirZWGo4ULN_gaofbMTiXxek3X0TzoMsgy0QNS1f_uVIZvH5MerQz8alIqMSFnjhR15YpKo59O9uPZnCyQ/s612/Thankgiving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_15oTxHCBdcLR61mIt2nfpj-COEBtIpvlps-D7-zOfb6Roi3kPnWrgOkHU7DuYbR4RKf3drfJNA97LNKBJ1sBfRGj5mo8O-DMNhYX6wwZnirZWGo4ULN_gaofbMTiXxek3X0TzoMsgy0QNS1f_uVIZvH5MerQz8alIqMSFnjhR15YpKo59O9uPZnCyQ/s320/Thankgiving.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The holidays, even an American holiday like Thanksgiving,
are relentless. They come around every year whether we are ready or not, and we
preachers feel the need to leverage the holidays toward the gospel to help our
people keep a God-focus in a season of multiple distractions. Even if you are
in a series through a Bible book, why don’t you step out of it for Thanksgiving
and Advent. It gives your people a break and readies them to view the season through
a gospel lens. This will be the 42<sup>nd</sup> Thanksgiving Sunday I’ve preached.
I thought I’d share some Thanksgiving sermon ideas I’ve used across the decades
to prime your pump if you need it.</span><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>What a Friend
We Have in Thanksgiving</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 Thessalonians 5:18</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lifted the idea from a Fred Craddock’s sermon “Doxology.” I
personify Thanksgiving and tell stories of taking him along with me into
situations both easy and difficult. By the end of the sermon, living 1 Thessalonians
5:18 seems more possible for people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>The Richest Man
in the World</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 Corinthians 8:9;
9:15</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though rare for me in a sermon, I give personal testimony of
the riches I have in Christ: salvation, calling, church, etc. My aim is to
prime the pump for people to explore and own the riches they have in Christ …
and give thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Give Thanks for
He Is Good</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Psalm 136:1-3</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since Psalm 136 is a recitation of thanksgiving to the Lord
for his goodness evidenced by his love that endures forever, I cite stories
from the OT and consider how the story might have turned out if God is not
good. I finish that survey with Jesus. My aim is that the church gains a fresh
understanding of God’s goodness and, like the psalmist, is moved to give thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Manna Again?</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Numbers 11:4-6</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We explore the attitude of the Israelites who were beginning
to tire of manna. How often do we take for granted incredible blessings God
gives us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Thankful to the
Bone</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2 Samuel 6:12-23</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We join David in Jerusalem as he gets the ark of the covenant
into the city and breaks out into a dance of praise. We consider the responses
to his dance. My aim is to help our people realize that in the wake of God’s
blessings, sometimes you just got to dance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Count Your Many
Blessers</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Philippians 1:3</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The sermon’s aim is to help people think through the many persons
God puts in our lives to serve as his agent of blessing. I hope when folks get
home from the sermon they will make a call or a text or write a note of thanks
to someone who has blessed their lives. (A preacher could use any list Paul
makes at the end of his letters of people who have blessed him—even Romans 16.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Grateful No
Matter What</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Habakkuk 3:17-19</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A poignant text in which Habakkuk expresses his desire to
give thanks no matter the circumstances in which he and Judah find themselves
with Babylon banging on the door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>Gratitude Can’t
Wait</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Luke 17:11-19</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The classic story of Jesus healing ten lepers only one of
whom comes around to thank him. The aim is to spur immediate thanksgiving when
God blesses us. A preacher can have a lot of fun with this text.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><i>In All Circumstances?</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1 Thessalonians 5:18
or Ephesians 5:20</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">How does a person give thanks when times are hard?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">**** </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hope these ideas stir up some of your own ideas as you
preach on Thanksgiving Sunday this year. By the way, for more ideas on Thanksgiving
preaching, check out David Allen’s Preaching Coach Podcast episode on preaching
the Thanksgiving sermon.</span><o:p></o:p></p>John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-59058664661377225952022-06-14T09:46:00.003-05:002022-06-14T09:47:24.962-05:00Our Grand Old Flag<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: justify;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lg7M4CH2rwEyds2c2oMOEI5zaryK-BHu6cGnEHzEVfIxqLTogbY9G0dUDfrmcLtMYaqiW5NCFCjVvU9TGqCW9RH_UOcFgrrSDQw29C1yVCRFxKO_VbbsOt0X58zMW7wQKwBHZFh_1JNopuZp53xrO9qORXEu_iLWX3OD6mBm2NS31mCok2f4ippDZA/s3008/american-flag-wind.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3008" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lg7M4CH2rwEyds2c2oMOEI5zaryK-BHu6cGnEHzEVfIxqLTogbY9G0dUDfrmcLtMYaqiW5NCFCjVvU9TGqCW9RH_UOcFgrrSDQw29C1yVCRFxKO_VbbsOt0X58zMW7wQKwBHZFh_1JNopuZp53xrO9qORXEu_iLWX3OD6mBm2NS31mCok2f4ippDZA/s320/american-flag-wind.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress of the United States adopted the stars and stripes as our national flag. That's why we call </span>June 14<span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: justify;"> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: justify;">Flag Day</b><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: justify;">. I usually let this day pass without much thought of our flag. Sometimes I don’t even realize it’s Flag Day till the day is past. I penned these reflections in 2017, a time of growing division in our country. It's worse now. I am not a "Christian nationalist." I am a Christian American. I love our country, but I do not worship our country. Nor do I fail to notice her many flaws. In fact, I worry about our country's future. We have no moral compass or common set of moral values anymore. We have largely told God, "We got this. We don't need you anymore." I fear that much of what we're seeing today is a result of God saying, "Okay, America, you can have your wish." But in spite of our moral, economic, border, narcissistic, and political corruption problems, I still love America. I still respect our flag. So despite failing to even remember Flag Day most years, I want to to pause for a few minutes and reflect on my memories of the United States flag in hopes they will prime the pump for your memories too.</span><p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Standing in my first grade class room, facing the flag in the corner, hand over my heart, saying with my class, “I pledge allegiance to the flag ….”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The flag at Meadowcliff Elementary School in Little Rock flying at half-mast in the days after President Kennedy was assassinated in November, 1963. That’s the first time I saw a flag at half-mast—but sadly, not the last.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Images of the flag-raisers on Iwo Jima after our brave Marines wrestled Mt. Suribachi away from the Japanese at the cost of much blood and death.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Taking my turn in sixth grade raising and lowering the flag at Branson Elementary School and learning how to fold it properly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Watching fuzzy black-and-white images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin staking our flag on the moon in 1969. I understand it’s still there today.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Feeling anger and sadness as crowds in Tehran burned our flag after seizing our embassy there and taking 52 hostages in November 1979.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Watching the USA Hockey Team in the 1980 Olympics waving our flag after their improbably gold medal. “Do you believe in miracles?” Al Michaels uttered after we beat the Soviets in the semifinals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Lee’s Summit, Missouri, High School Band belting out “Stars and Stripes Forever” at their annual spring concert. It always brought everyone to their feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The uncountable numbers of little flags attached to trucks and cars in the days after September 11, 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A display in the Smithsonian of the tattered flag that flew over Fort McKinley—the very flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem during the War of 1812.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Numerous flag draped caskets at the graveside services of veterans—including the flag that draped my father’s casket, now folded into a crisp triangle that we keep in our home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The presentation of the colors at numerous ballgames and thousands of voices singing The Star Spangled Banner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Those are some of my memories. Not everything done under our flag has been good and right. But on balance, our flag has represented some of the noblest, highest ideals in human history. We have not achieved all our ideals. America continues to work out its promise of liberty and justice for all. Still, we are blessed to live in the good old U.S.A. Our freedom has been bought with the price of others' blood. I encourage you on this Flag Day 2017 to take a moment, remember, and give thanks.</span><br /></div>John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-6431787555242508242021-11-17T11:37:00.003-06:002021-11-17T11:37:30.664-06:00Thankful for the Riches of My Calling<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n3WwWkZfiT4/YZU9vCOCzcI/AAAAAAAAE7g/GXFCoMtQpoYo6Y-hGEw6oZ6Z-hsAtq87wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="199" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n3WwWkZfiT4/YZU9vCOCzcI/AAAAAAAAE7g/GXFCoMtQpoYo6Y-hGEw6oZ6Z-hsAtq87wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />In preparation for a Thanksgiving service,
I did some reflecting on my spiritual riches in Christ. Part of those riches is
my calling to serve as a local church pastor. I am 65 years old, and I’ve been
at it now for 40 years. Here are those reflections …<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">********<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On a June morning in 1974, on the grounds of Baptist
Hill Camp in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, God laid his hand on my shoulder and called
me to preach. God has never been more real to me either before or since that
moment when he called me to preach. I was heading to the University that
August, and preaching was not on my list of possible careers. I wasn't closed
to the idea of preaching, but I wasn't looking for it either and had never even
considered it. God surprised me with the calling. My salvation came like the
dawn. My calling like lightning bolt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And it’s been an interesting way to make a living. I
have been a pastor for 62% of my life and on a church staff for longer than
that. Since 1975, I’ve been on a church payroll. and it’s been a pretty cushy
gig to only work on Sundays. Not! In all honesty, it’s been a lot of work, much
of it hard work. I’ve prepared and preached a gazillion sermons. I’ve had
countless teaching opportunities in and out of the church. Had the privilege to
adjunct in “Theological Field Education” at Midwestern Seminary in the late 80s
and early 90s. Had the joy to adjunct at Ouachita Baptist University and teach “The
Story of the Bible” and “Bible Interpretation” a few times. I can’t imagine how
many hours I’ve spent in preparation of sermons, lessons, funerals, and
weddings. Some of the time flew by, some moved like molasses. Hard work, but I’ve
loved almost every minute of it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But preparation and speaking are only a piece of the
work. I’ve been invited into some of the worst nightmares people experience—divorce,
sudden death, suicide, bankruptcy, mental illness, alcoholism, child and
spousal abuse, depression, life and death decisions, infant death, AIDS, all
kinds of cancers, life-changing accidents, jail cells, Covid, you name it. None
of this is easy, and I have never felt “up” to any of it. But I’ve never
engaged any of it alone either: Jesus went before me, stood by me, and left his
fragrance behind me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But by the same token, I’ve had the joy of performing
marriages, celebrating the birth of children, and marking blessed milestones in
people’s lives. I’ve had the privilege of preaching the gospel on 5 continents,
the pleasure here, near the end of my fulltime ministry, to write a couple of
books to share some of what I have learned across the decades about being a
pastor and preacher. And nothing’s much better than leading people to Christ,
baptizing them, and watching them grow into a daily walk with the Lord. Few
things are more satisfying than watching people who have pretty much been
Sunday-focused, church-only Christians most of their lives become Jesus-centered,
24/7, serve-God-with-joy Christ-followers for the rest of their lives. I’ve
also had the joy to help two churches in these 40 years get a vision, grow, get
on world-wide mission, start new ministries, build buildings, and get out of
debt. I’ve worked with some gifted staff members and some of God’s choicest
volunteer servants anywhere who all made me look way better than I am.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sometimes I really like my job, and sometimes I wouldn’t
give you a plug nickel for it. The constant deadlines and pressure to produce
sermons and ministry and leadership is wearing over time. There are seasons
when I wonder if what I do makes any more difference than I’d make by putting
my finger in a bucket water and pulling it out again. There are times when I
get discouraged and tired and burdened, times when I question my leadership and
wonder what God was thinking when he called me to do this and what I was thinking
when I said yes. Most times I feel so unworthy and so inadequate in this
ministry. Sometimes I’m depleted and exhausted by it all. Twenty months of Covid
issues hasn’t helped. And now I just feel old and wonder how much longer I can sustain
this pace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yet in the trying times, Jesus comes to me. He lifts me
up. He gives me strength. He puts folks around me to offer prayer and
encouragement. He gathers up the dry, dusty straw of my heart, kneels beside
it, scratches a couple of sticks together, blows the wind of his Spirit on it,
and once again ignites his fire in my heart. He reminds me how helpless and
hopeless I am apart from him. That he is the vine and I’m but a branch. Without
him I am nothing. And he gets me on my feet again. And he reaffirms the calling
he put on my life that summer day in 1974. I’ve doubted my capacity to be a
good pastor numerous times, but I’ve never doubted my call to be a pastor for a
single second. Jesus reminds me of that. He reminds me that we’re in this
together, that he has been with me in this since day one, and that he will be
with me all the way home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .3in;"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So in this season of thanksgiving, I thank God today for
the riches of my calling. I give thanks for my health and longevity. I give
thanks that Jesus has never abandoned me for an instant. And I give thanks that
my labor in the Lord is not in vain. I can’t imagine doing anything else. A
prayer attributed to Martin Luther has been my prayer all along:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh Lord God, Thou
hast made me a pastor and teacher in the church. Thou seest how unfit I am to
administer rightly this great responsible office; and had I been without Thy
aid and counsel I would have surely ruined it long ago. Therefore do I invoke
Thee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How gladly do I
desire to yield and consecrate my heart and mouth to this ministry. I desire to
teach the congregation. I, too, desire to ever learn and to keep Thy Word my
constant companion and to meditate thereupon earnestly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Use me as Thy
instrument in Thy service. Only do not Thou forsake me, for if I am left to
myself, I will certainly bring it all to destruction. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-62619142454671157462021-11-10T15:14:00.003-06:002021-11-10T15:17:18.377-06:00Preaching Ideas for Advent<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PEzDZWs5icc/YYw2NNfZFCI/AAAAAAAAE6s/BiLlgbepa1I8TVSWjrJqv_wSyXQuEPsEgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="512" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PEzDZWs5icc/YYw2NNfZFCI/AAAAAAAAE6s/BiLlgbepa1I8TVSWjrJqv_wSyXQuEPsEgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Having been an every Sunday
preacher for 40 years, I am aware of the struggle to develop an Advent sermon
series that tells the old story in fresh ways. Some years I preach individual
sermons without a thematic connection. When I do, I usually follow this approach:<p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->First Sunday: Jesus’ Second Coming<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Second Sunday: John the Baptist / Repentance<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Third Sunday: Theological Theme (e.g., virgin
conception, incarnation, salvation/cross, Christmas and the problem of evil) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Fourth Sunday: Birth of Christ</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Other years, I preach a themed
series. In 2020, I preached through Revelation, and the last sermons of the
series became my Advent preaching and seemed appropriate to the theology and
hope of the season. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hello, Jesus (Rev 19)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Evil’s Last Gasp (Rev 20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->All Things New (Rev 21:1-8)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Welcome Home (Rev 21:9-22:5)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We have a Christmas Eve Communion
service every year, and my Christmas Eve sermon may or may not be part of my
Advent series. Sometimes, my Advent series extends to the Sunday after
Christmas. I offer these ideas to stimulate your thinking as you prepare an
Advent series this year. I hope it’s helpful. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Christmas Time<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Time to Obey (Mt
1:18-25)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Time to Tell (Lk
2:16-18)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Time to Celebrate
(Lk 2:8-20) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Time to Ponder (Lk
2:19)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Sounds of
Christmas<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Sound of an Old Man’s
Silence (Lk 1:5-25)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Sound of a Wise
Man’s Question (Mt 2:1-12)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Sound of Baby’s
Cry (Lk 2:1:7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Sound of an
Angel’s Song (Lk 2:8-20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Sound of a
Mother’s Grief (Mt 2:13-18)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Why Jesus Came
at Christmas<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus Came to Seek
and to Save (Lk 18:35-19:10)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus Came to Bring
Abundant Life (Jn 10:7-11)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus Came to Bring a
Sword (Mt 10:34-39)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus Came to Give
His Life (Mk 10:41-45)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Name Above
All Names<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus: A Name for
Every Need (Isa 9:6-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus: Son of David,
Son of God (Lk 1:26-38)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus: Savior (Mt
1:18-21)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Jesus: Immanuel (Mt
1:22-23)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Tis the Season<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Tis the Season to Be
Waiting (Mk 13:32-37)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Tis the Season to Be
Preparing (Mk 1:1-8; Isa 40:1-5)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Tis the Season to Be
Giving (Mt 2:1-12)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Tis the Season to Be
Filled with Wonder (Lk 2:8-20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Christmas
Characters</i></b> (monologues)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Just an Ordinary Joe
(Mt 1:18-25)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Mother Remembers
(Lk 1:26-38)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The King Gets His Say
(Mt 2:1-18)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Message from an
Angel (Lk 2:8-14)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Christmas at
the Movies<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Vacation:
Quit Chasing the Perfect Christmas (Lk 2:1-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Christmas Story: Of
Gifts and the Gift (Mt 2:10-11)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Christmas Carol:
People Can Change (Lk 3:1-17)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Surviving Christmas:
It Might Cost You Your Life (Mt 2:16-18; 10:34-39)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Miracle on 34<sup>th</sup>
Street: Believing What Matters Most (Jn 1:12)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">It’s a Wonderful
Life: What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (1 Cor 15:12-20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(What more
contemporary movies could you use?)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Christmas
Stories<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A War Story (Rev
12:1-6)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Mission Story
(Jonah 3:1-4:1)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Dark Story (Mt
2:13-18)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Jesus Story (Lk
2:1-20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Whole Story (Jn
3:16) —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(A grand narrative of
the Bible on the Sunday after Christmas)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Call His Name<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Wonderful Counselor
(Isa 9:6-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Mighty God (Isa
9:6-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Everlasting Father
(Isa 9:6-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Prince of Peace (Isa
9:6-7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Supporting
Cast Talks Christmas</i></b> (monologues)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Matthew: Not Just
Another Baby Story (Gal 4:4-5)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">John the Baptist:
Desert Storm (Mt 3:1-12)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A Shepherd: Good News
to All People (Lk 2:8-20)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Anna: The First Woman
to Preach Jesus (Lk 2:36-38)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Simeon: An Old Man
Can Die Peace (Lk 2:22-35)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Sing a Song of
Christmas<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Mary’s Song (Lk
1:46-56)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Zechariah’s Song (Lk
1:67-80)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The Angels’ Song (Lk
2:8-14)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Simeon’s Song (Lk
2:25-35)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I hope this primes the pump for
you. May God bless your Advent/Christmas preaching! Feel free to share your
Advent preaching ideas in the comment section.<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-65046476667770520422019-05-27T16:47:00.002-05:002019-05-27T16:47:44.100-05:00You Need to Know Lyndsey Beth Hargis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2BUyr3JNDeE/XOxatzTKBBI/AAAAAAAAEFc/DyU2B5Q91HAU6FoCb0OnOhknQvt43_NAwCLcBGAs/s1600/Lyndsey%2BHargis.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2BUyr3JNDeE/XOxatzTKBBI/AAAAAAAAEFc/DyU2B5Q91HAU6FoCb0OnOhknQvt43_NAwCLcBGAs/s320/Lyndsey%2BHargis.jpeg" width="233" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On Saturday, I officiated the funeral of Lyndsey Beth Hargis who died too young at the age of 30. Leukemia was the culprit. A woman who couldn't be there asked me if I'd post my comments from the funeral. You will find them below. I opened with a welcome. The obituary, music, and a beautiful tribute from her fiance Carter Harrington followed. We ended the service with my sermon and a benediction.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*******</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>WELCOME</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i>Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that
I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where
I am</i> (John 14:1-3).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Lyndsey had written these verses on a card and tucked it in
her Bible. She knew she was up against,
and she knew who was in the fight with her.
Maybe that’s why in spite of the battle, she didn’t seem to live with a
troubled heart. These verses are good
for us today because her sudden death feels like trouble. Lyndsey Beth was in remission so far as we
knew. She had some issues, but things
looked promising. And then the ER and
the ICU and a major tailspin and sudden, unexpected death.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The apostle Paul called death <i>“the last enemy.”</i> Anyone who
has lived for very long knows that sometimes death comes as a friend. It brings relief and release and peace—the
long-term hospice patient living on a morphine drip, in and out of
consciousness, mostly out; the once vibrant old man now confined to a death bed
positioned by a window, constrained to watch life instead of live it. Sometimes death comes like a friend.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But not when a young woman is in the prime of life, enjoying
life, serving others, looking forward to her wedding day. Death doesn’t wear party clothes and show up
in a welcome wagon to persons like Lyndsey; he comes shrouded in a black hoodie
with a sickle in his hand to reap a too early harvest. Death separates loved ones, steals joy and
peace for a season, and leaves the hard work of grief in its wake. Death is the last enemy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But it is a defeated enemy.
Jesus took on death and the sin that brought it into the world. He took on death by dying—by dying on the
cross for our sins. And though death
took him for a while, death could not keep him.
On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and victor over sin and death
and the grave. A victor who shares the
spoils of his victory with those who know and love him. He shares the spoils of victory today with
Lyndsey Beth. In anticipation of his
victory over death, Jesus stood at the tomb of his friend Lazarus who was
four-days-dead. Jesus said to Lazarus’
sister, <i>“I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believes in me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live. He that
lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”</i> he asked Martha. Do <i>you</i>
believe this? Because of Lyndsey Beth’s
faith in Jesus, we know she is alive and well with him today. Absent from the body, she is present with the
Lord. And that gives us comfort as we
come to mourn her death, to celebrate her life, and to worship God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>Let’s
pray:</b> Father, as we do this hard thing today, we give thanks that we do not
do this alone. We are surrounded by
friends who shared a common love for Lyndsey, and even more, you are with us. While we would have chosen for Lyndsey life
instead of death, healing in this world instead of heaven just yet, we give
thanks that we let her go into better hands than ours. Meet us in these moments and give us strength
made perfect in our weakness, grace sufficient for our needs, and your peace
that passes understanding. In the name
of Jesus, the resurrection and the life, we pray … amen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>SERMON</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Some years ago, I
stumbled across some words shared at the funeral of a military chaplain who
died of cancer.</b> What was said at his
funeral can be said at Lyndsey Beth’s today …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Cancer is so limited …</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot cripple love.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot shatter hope.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot corrode faith.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot eat away peace.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot destroy confidence.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot kill friendship.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot shut out memories.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot silence courage.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot invade the soul.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot reduce eternal life.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot quench the Spirit.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Cancer cannot do any of that and did not do any of that to
Lyndsey. Don’t think for a minute that
cancer won here. Cancer did not win this
battle. Lyndsey Beth won. Life won.
Her cancer is dead and gone forever.
Lyndsey Beth is alive and well forever.
Cancer did not win here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And though she battled cancer these last many months, cancer
did not define Lyndsey Beth’s life. <b>Her life was defined by the way she lived
it.</b> Her life was defined by her
passions, by her heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She was a young woman who didn’t stand passively on the
sidewalk and watch the parade of life pass by, she was in the parade, dancing
to the music, and enjoying every minute of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She was a young woman who was <b>full of spit and vinegar</b>, spunk and splash, bold, at times
uncomfortably unfiltered in her remarks, a woman with heart who acted and spoke
from her heart without always passing it through her brain. Her fiancé Carter’s Aunt Cathy is a bold
person herself, but even Cathy admitted, <i>“Not
many people can put me in my place, but Lyndsey could.”</i> She was full of spit and vinegar all right.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She was a young woman with <b>a heart for the stray and the underdog</b>, a heart for people on the
margins, people the rest of us either look down on or ignore. She’s been this way since she was a
kid—befriending the odd duck, the poor kid, the forgotten. Some of her popular friends sometimes gave
her the business for it. Didn’t bother
Lyndsey. She had a heart for the
underdog. Her mom usually took Lyndsey
to school and drove her home. Lyndsey
didn’t have to ride the school bus often, but when she did, it wasn’t uncommon
for her to come home and tell her mom that she saw where so-and-so lived and
knew they were poor and needed help. So
after dark, Lynn and Lyndsey would sneak by the house and leave some needed
things in a carport, on a porch. Lyndsey
wouldn’t dream of embarrassing that kid or drawing attention to her
troubles. But she had to do
something. She had a heart for the stray
and the underdog.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She had <b>a heart for
work</b>. Like her parents, Lyndsey had
a strong work ethic. And it’s no
surprise to anyone who knew her that she chose an occupation that is people and
service centered. A math teacher once
told me, <i>“I don’t teach math; I teach
students.”</i> She wanted me to know she
wasn’t so much about the subject as the student. Lyndsey didn’t just style hair, she served
people. She was attached to her clients,
and they were attached to her. She knew
more about them than hair color or style or the kind of make-up they preferred. She knew them by name, she knew particular
things about them. What made her so good
at what she did and what kept her clients so loyal to her was not her magic with
a pair of scissors, it was her knack for loving people, for making them feel
valued. for seeing beyond a haircut and a tip to the person. Her clients cared about her too. When I saw her at the hospital, it wasn’t
unusual for one of her clients to have been there to see her. Lyndsey had a heart for work and the people
she served through work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She had <b>a grateful
heart</b>. She was quick to express
thanks to the people in her life. Cancer
didn’t change that. She thanked the
docs, the nurses, even the people who drew her blood. Her phlebotomists didn’t get the gratitude: “You’re
thanking me for sticking a needle in your arm?”
She was thankful for everyone helping her fight this battle. And she appreciated every visit and every
prayer. Cancer didn’t change that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Cancer really didn’t
change anything about her.</b> Sure,
when she got the news of her acute leukemia, she faced her initial fears. Normal, human. But she didn’t live there. She got through the <i>“why me?”</i> stage quickly. And
she was the same person with cancer that she was in her health: concerned more
for others than herself, grateful for every blessing in the midst of her
sickness. If cancer changed her in any
way, it accelerated her love for the Lord and grew her to new depths in her
relationship with him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Lyndsey Beth knew and
loved Jesus. </b> I’ve known her since
she was a first-grader. I watched her
grow up. Baptized her when she was about
ten years old. She’s loved Jesus since
she was a little girl. Her mom remembers
when she took 4-year-old Lyndsey with her to get Lynn’s mamaw out of a bad
situation. Lynn was stewing over what to
do next with her mamaw. She was
dissolved in tears, and Lyndsey leaned from the back seat and said to her mom, <i>“Why don’t you pray about it?”</i> Lyndsey has always known about Jesus, knew he
was the one to turn to in your troubles.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She grew up in a family and a church where <b>she heard the gospel</b>—that she is more
sinful than she dared believe and more loved than she dared hope. She heard the gospel—that she was a sinner
who needed saving and only Jesus could save her from her sin. Jesus could save her because in love Jesus
left the glories of heaven to come to earth as the God-Man, live a sinless
life, know us from the inside out, and then bear our sin in his body on the
cross so that we might be forgiven and saved.
Jesus died for our sin, killing its penalty and power over all who
believe. And then Jesus rose from the
dead in complete victory. Lindsey heard
the gospel and believed it. She turned
from as much of her sin as she understood and put her trust in Jesus to save
her. And Jesus saved her. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Lyndsey walked with Jesus.
She had a season like many do where she strayed a bit from her
faith. But she didn’t stray too long or
too far. And through her cancer, she
grew to love Jesus more and more. Then,
at the end of her life on this earth, Lyndsey was no more passive in her death
than she was in her life. The veil
between this world in the next is thinner than we realize, and Lyndsey caught a
glimpse of Jesus coming for her and literally reached up her hands when she saw
him coming. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
She knew who to reach to in life and in death. <b>Do you
know who to reach to?</b> If you don’t
know Jesus as your Savior, he’s the only one who can save you. Good deeds can’t save you. A moral life can’t save you. Only Jesus can save you from your sin, and he
wants to save you. He loves you. He died for you. He rose for you. He stands ready to save you if you’ll turn
from your known sin and put your trust in him.
Lyndsey would want you to know that, and if God used her death to help
you find life, well, praise the Lord who takes the worst brokenness we can know
and make something beautiful out of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>And the Lord has
healed Lyndsey’s cancer with the healing from which she’ll never be sick again
and lifted her to heaven and to the life that’s really life.</b> Because she knew and loved Jesus, we can be
sure that she is with him today. As
we’ve said, Lyndsey was a good person in so many ways, but she is not in heaven
with Jesus because she was a good person.
She is in heaven with Jesus because he is a great Savior. She is there on his merit, not hers. And she is free from her cancer and well
again and dancing in heaven’s parade in glory and thanksgiving to God. She is well. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>And we are left in
our grief.</b> We’re burying a
30-year-old, a daughter, a fiancé, a friend.
We grieve. We should grieve. We need to grieve. Right now, it’s still a little surreal, but
it will get more real as our shock wears off and reality sets in. So grieve.
It’s normal. It’s healthy. It’s Christian. It’s the hurt that leads to healing. And for those of us who know Jesus, we grieve
with hope. We grieve with hope because
we know that since Lyndsey is with Jesus and Jesus is with us, we will never be
that far apart. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Lean into Jesus in your grief. <span style="line-height: 115%;">He is the resurrection and
the life; he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the one who
was dead but is alive forevermore. He is
the one who holds the keys to death and the grave. He is the friend that sticks closer than a
brother; the man of sorrows acquainted with grief, the one who promises never
to leave us or forsake us. Lean into
Jesus. It doesn’t feel like it now, but
he will see you through to a brighter day.
He’s done it for others. He will
do it for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">And remember this too: if you know Jesus,
you’ve not seen the last of Lyndsey Beth.
You’ve not seen her last smile, felt her last hug. You will see Lyndsey again on the other side
when either Jesus comes back, or you go to Jesus in death. And what a great reunion that will be in the
place where the circles that are broken on earth by death will never be broken
again. No wonder Paul could stick out
his tongue at that last enemy death and say, <i>“O death, where is your sting? O
grave, where is your victory? Death has
been swallowed up in victory in Jesus Christ our Lord.”</i> Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-67788448490643107722019-02-09T11:25:00.003-06:002019-02-09T11:25:56.652-06:00Here I Am, Send Me<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was my privilege to preach on Monday of Christian Focus Week at Ouachita Baptist University. The them for the week was "Here I Am." Batting lead off, I got to take the very text from which that phrase comes, <b>Isaiah 6:1-13</b>. Another speaker from the week posted her message to her blog. That gave me the idea to do the same thing. Here is my message: Here I Am, Send Me … </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">*********</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Excited to <u>float the river</u>, you put in your raft under
bright blue skies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not three miles
downriver, a storm blows up out of nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lightning flashing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thunder
crashing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wind whipping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rain pouring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>River rising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heart racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frigid white water splashing into your
raft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clothes soaked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feet and hands growing numb from the
cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Current</u> taking
control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Raft spinning in circles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oar ripped from your hands as you try to push
off from a rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helpless now to steer
your course, you hold on for dear life … and just up ahead, the falls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That was Isaiah in the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hear the word of the Lord … (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">read the text</i></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
wonder if Annie Dillard had Isaiah’s experience in mind when she wrote these
words …<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside
of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort
of power we so blithely invoke?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, as I
suspect, does no one believe a word of it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry
sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is madness to wear ladies' … hats to
church; we should all be wearing crash helmets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash
us to our pews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the sleeping god may
wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we
can never return.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: .4in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah had come to the temple that day seeking
the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may have been filled with
some grief and uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>King
Uzziah</u> was dead, and the whole nation was on edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uzziah had ruled Judah for 52 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the only king Isaiah had known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The splendor of Uzziah's reign, recorded in 2
Chronicles 26, was impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had <u>modernized</u>
the army, conquered territory in Philistia, extended commercial activities into
Egypt, and boosted agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
since Solomon had the nation known such peace and prosperity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had Judah been <u>a democracy</u>, Uzziah,
like Franklin Roosevelt, would have been elected over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was he a political giant, until he
got arrogant near the end, he mostly did what was right in the eyes of the
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a pretty good king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now this man who had done so much for his
country was dead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To make matters worse, <u>Assyria</u>, the new
bully on the block, was coming into her own, beating her chest, harassing her
neighbors, and slaughtering enemies in the most ruthless ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assyria was a terrorist nation: ISIS,
Alqaeda, and the Taliban rolled into one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Twisted, evil, bad to the bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Northern Kingdom was already dealing with these animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much longer till Assyria set her sights
on Judah?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And <u>why not</u>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judah’s righteousness—filthy rags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judah’s sin—off the charts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judah’s future was uncertain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, Isaiah felt his own future a bit
uncertain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uzziah was off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> throne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was God still on his?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Isaiah came to the temple seeking God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And got more than he bargained for!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <u>saw the Lord</u> seated on a throne,
high and lifted up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His train filled the
temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seraphim were flying around
tending to the Lord. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Holy, Holy,
Holy!" </i>was the anthem of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">his
glory fills the whole earth.</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God's train filled the temple, and his glory
filled the whole wide world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord is
<u>too big</u> to be held comfortably in the walls of a building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So as the seraphim sang and God's presence
filled that place, the door-posts <u>shook</u>, the foundation trembled, wafts
of smoke billowed about, and Isaiah reached to his head to make sure his crash
helmet was on good and tight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What does <u>a person say</u> in the presence of
such things?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, if he can say
anything at all, he echoes Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Woe is me!"</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's funeral language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thought he was going to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Woe
is me!"</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"I
am ruined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For I am a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the
King, the Lord Almighty."</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How <u>can
a sinner</u> stand in the presence of a holy God and expect to survive? Isaiah
figured he was a goner for sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And if the place hadn't been heaving like a ship
in a storm, he'd have probably made a run for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he tightened his seat belt and hung
on for dear life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When suddenly <u>one
of the seraphim</u>, with tongs in his hands, took a white hot coal off the
altar and made a bee-line for Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Oh, no!"</i> Isaiah must have
thought. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"If I have to die, why do I
have to be burned to death."</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fearing for his life, his eyes red and stinging
from the smoke, Isaiah hunkered down and hoped for the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seraph took the coal, <u>touched Isaiah's
lips</u> and declared, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Your guilt is
gone, your sin forgiven.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good news instead of bad news!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little cross before the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little <u>Jesus</u> before he even
came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Amazing grace!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How sweet the
sound that save a wretch like me!”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Your guilt is gone, your sin forgiven.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What an incredible turn of events!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah thought he would die because of his
sin, but God killed his sin and kept Isaiah alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And when Isaiah saw that he was going to survive,
he was so moved by the grace and mercy of God that when God <u>gave the
invitation</u>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Who should I
send?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who will go for us?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Isaiah was the first one to step out from
his pew, walk down the aisle, and say to the Lord, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Here I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Send me!"</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And with that <u>act of surrender</u>, the smoke
cleared, the temple settled back on its foundation, Isaiah took off his crash
helmet, unbuckled his seatbelt, and walked away with a job to do, his life
never again to be the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">II<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
was not an easy job.</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No cush assignment for Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t a mission trip to Maui.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Open a spiritual retreat center at the top of Mt. Hebron.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Go bring spiritual revival to the land.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
heard <u>God’s assignment</u> for Isaiah in our text: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Dull their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make them
deaf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blind their eyes … lest they see,
hear, understand, turn back to me, and be healed.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When I was <u>ordained</u>, the church told me, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Go preach the gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Preach people to salvation and shepherd them
to Christian maturity.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
commission was, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Open eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Open ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Convince minds.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God had a
different commission for Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judah
was growing sick with sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granite
hearts toward God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God had taken about
all he was going to take of their idolatry and rebellion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had crossed some line of no return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Dull
their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make them deaf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blind their eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judgment is on the way.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah was <u>confused</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked in v. 11 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Lord, how long do I have to preach like that?”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And God said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Until
cities are piles of rubble, houses are empty, the land doesn’t grow a thing, I
drive the people far away, and Judah looks like a forest of stumps.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good grief!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So much for preaching for growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Isaiah’s going to have one lousy ministry resume.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I heard an African-American pastor tell about a
church he knew that was <u>one sorry church</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pastor got so discouraged that he left
for greener pastures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church had a
hard time finding another pastor, so they asked the only <u>deacon</u> in the
church who had any commitment, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Would you
be our pastor?”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He prayed about it
and said yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In telling his story, the
pastor said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“My first act was to get the
deacons together and tell them how things were going to be and what I expected
of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They balked: ‘That’s asking way
too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not going to do
that.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“So,
you know what I did?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fired those
deacons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I preached that church down
from 50 people to 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then God
started growing that church every way a church could grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re more than a hundred now, and most of
those folks are on fire for Jesus.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God’s assignment for <u>Isaiah</u>: fire those
deacons, fire those priests, fire those idolaters, fire those leaders who lead
people astray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Preach Judah down to a
tenth, down to a forest of stumps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God gave Isaiah such a hard job to do, that on <u>first
read</u>, I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Maybe it’s a wise
thing that God got Isaiah’s commitment—'Here I am. Send me’—before God gave him
his job.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">III<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
God almost always works that way with his people.</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants
us to respond to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i>, not to a job
opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants us to worship <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i>, not the mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is God, not some headhunter in Human
Resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you get a <u>compelling
vision</u> of God, your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am. Send
me”</i> is going to be nothing more than a flash in the pan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I
am. Send me … until the job gets hard … or the job gets boring … or the results
don’t happen … or the pay’s too small … or the people to whom God sends me
don’t like me very much.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am. Send me”</i> is going to weather
storms and downturns and hard times; if it’s going to last, it must begin with
a compelling vision of God …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the
one true God<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">King
God high and lifted up on his throne <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the
holy, holy, holy God whose glory fills the whole wide world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the
<u>forgiving God</u> of grace and mercy who sees your sin and forgives your sin
not by a hot coal from the altar but by the blood of his own Son Jesus nailed
to the altar of the cross for you and for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do you know this God? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or do you worship some <u>lesser god</u>, some
little-g god, some pipsqueak god?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some
worship the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">god of my comfort</b>—the
god who exists to make me happy and keep me healthy, wealthy, and comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some
worship the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">god of my convenience</b>—the
god who never interferes with my life and who always works with my schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some
worship the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">god in my pocket</b>—the god
I can take out and use whenever I need him but tuck him away when things are
going my way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some
worship the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">god of my prejudice</b>—the
god who likes the same people I like and hates the same people I hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the odds?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Little g gods all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that all the god you want?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Wilbur
Rees</span></u><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> wrote …</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I would like to buy <u>$3 worth of God</u>, please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my
sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the
sunshine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't want enough of Him to
make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want
the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some worship <u>any host</u> of little
g-gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>False gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gods who exist for me rather than the other way around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gods who are in it for my glory rather than
their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pathetic, useless idols of my
own making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three-dollar gods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our little g gods are <u>not compelling</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t fill a temple, let alone the
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have no authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have no glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They offer no forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They inspire no obedience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t call anyone to a mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you worship some little g god of your own
making, here’s the only response your idol compels: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am. Serve me.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But Isaiah’s God, the God of the Scripture, the
one true God, our God, inspires worship, obedience, mission … <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">IV<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
hope!</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when the mission is hard like
Isaiah’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when it seems <u>beyond
us</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even after God commissions Isaiah to preach Judah
into a forest of stumps, God can’t help himself but to work in a little hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alec Motyer says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Typically of Isaiah, hope is the unexpected fringe attached to the
garment of doom.”</i></span><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s in that last line in v. 13—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The holy seed is the stump.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that hard preaching, but in the end, hope:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“the holy seed is the stump.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>What seed</u>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What stump?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe a remnant of God’s holy people through whom God could keep his
covenant, do his work, and send Messiah to do for us what we could never do for
ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hello, Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
7:14 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The Lord himself will give you a
sign: the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
9:6-7 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“For to us a child is born, to us
a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the greatness of his government
and peace there will be no end.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
11:1-2a – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Then a shoot will grow from
the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him.” </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
Isaiah 53:6 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“All we, like sheep, have
gone astray, we’ve turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The
holy seed is the stump.”</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when the mission is hard, we serve with
hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That hope is Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even <u>before the foundations</u> of the world,
as Trinity contemplated how to rescue us from our sin and the wreck we make of
our lives and God’s world, Jesus said to the Father, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am. Send me.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
when the <u>time was right</u>, Jesus put on flesh and came all the way down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus showed us the Father. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus died on the cross. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus rose from the dead. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus ascended to the Father in heaven, and
one day Jesus will come again in glory and power and prove that his mission <u>triumphs</u>
no matter what things look or feel like in the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We’re talking about the same Jesus who <u>continues
his mission</u> through you and me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
may feel God is sending you to a dry hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You may see little results as the world counts results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there’s hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because his glory fills the <u>whole wide
world</u> there is no place he can send you where he is not already there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Across the campus, across the world, he is
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get <u>a vision</u> of God high
and lifted up in the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get a
vision of the resurrected Jesus who holds the world in his nail-scarred
hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that vision will so propel
your mission that its place or ease or hardship won’t be a factor in your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am. Send me.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">V<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can you say that today?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Back in the
50s and 60s a man named Clarence Jordan used to manage a place in Georgia
called <u>Koinonia Farm</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
community to demonstrate in a most racist, Jim Crow time and place that people
of different color can live together in equality in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can imagine, they were a misunderstood
and persecuted lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarence had a
brother named Bob who was an attorney, and Clarence asked him if he would
represent Koinonia Farm in legal transactions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Clarence, I
can’t do that,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">said Bob.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You know my political
aspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I represent you, I might
lose my job, my house, everything I’ve got.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“We might
lose everything too, Bob.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“It’s
different for you, Clarence.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Why is it
different?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember, it seems to me,
that you and I joined the church on the same Sunday, as boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect when we came forward the preacher
asked me about the same question he did you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He asked me, ‘Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I said, ‘Yes.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What did you say, Bob?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“I follow
Jesus too, Clarence … up to a point.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Could that
point by any chance be the cross?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“That’s
right,” </span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">said
Bob.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“I follow him </i>to<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> the cross,
but not </i>on<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not getting myself crucified.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Then I don’t
believe you’re a disciple, Bob.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re
an admirer of Jesus, but not a disciple of his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think you ought to go back to the church you belong to and tell them
you’re an admirer, not a disciple.”</span></i><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yikes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Same upbringing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><u>Both sensed</u> something of God’s call in that worship service: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Who should I send?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who will go for us?”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think <u>Clarence</u> got a vision of a
bigger God than Bob did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarence saw
the one true God—high and lifted up, the God whose train filled the church and
whose glory filled the earth, the God who had the authority and power and
gravitas to compel even the most difficult of missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarence got a vision of the one true God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Bob</u> must have seen a little g
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because on that Sunday when the
brothers professed faith in Christ, Clarence said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am, send me,”</i> and Bob said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Here I am, send Clarence.”<span style="color: #00b050;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God
is here this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s looking out
on the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s looking at you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Who
should I send.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who will go for us?”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will you answer?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;">Annie Dillard, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teaching a Stone to Talk</i>, (New York:
HarperPerennial, 1982), 58-59. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Cited
by Charles R. Swindoll, <i>Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living </i>(Waco,
TX: Word, 1981), 29.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;">J. Alec Motyer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and
Commentary</i> (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 79. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Sermons/OBU%20-%20Here%20I%20Am,%20Send%20Me.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">I have no direct source from this
story other than to say I have heard it in more than one venue. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-71473584729943478222018-11-20T14:39:00.001-06:002018-11-20T14:39:51.594-06:00The 23rd Pastor (Excerpt from Chapter 2 "Shepherd")<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oy2WYZP5WcQ/W_Rw1fIeCWI/AAAAAAAADA4/gAedx5XldAEa8iKxkB6nslqtYcEXGa7XACLcBGAs/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oy2WYZP5WcQ/W_Rw1fIeCWI/AAAAAAAADA4/gAedx5XldAEa8iKxkB6nslqtYcEXGa7XACLcBGAs/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the second chapter of <i>The 23rd Pastor</i>, I write about the phrase, "The Lord is my shepherd," and apply that to pastoral life. Here are some excerpts …</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*******</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe you remember one of
John Denver’s biggest hits: “Thank God, I’m a Country Boy!” I love the song, but I am no country
boy. I spent the first eight years of my
life in Little Rock, Arkansas. I did the
rest of my growing up in Branson, Missouri.
I grew up in a city and a small town.
I never lived on Green Acres. I
visited a farm a time or two. And while
I have known some men who worked with cattle, I have never known a
shepherd. “The Lord is my rancher”—I
could understand that a little better.
Ranchers raise cattle, brand the calves, move them from pasture to
pasture, keep them watered, and when the time is right, they sell them to the
highest bidder so they can make a living, and you and I can enjoy that ribeye
or that hamburger. Maybe that is why
ranchers try not to get too attached to their cattle. “The Lord is my rancher.” No thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “The
Lord is my shepherd.” That’s better.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">*******</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Without minimizing the
importance of character and oversight in the pastor’s work, I am suggesting
that the <i>shepherd</i> metaphor gives key
direction to the work of a biblical pastor, especially a 23<sup>rd</sup>
pastor. The shepherd metaphor becomes
the filter through which our character and oversight passes as we lead the
congregations God entrusts to us. Our
character reflects the character of our Shepherd Lord—minus, of course, his
sinlessness and perfection. Even though
Jesus may be blurred a bit by our faults, shepherd-pastors want the flock to
see glimpses of Jesus in them. We want
to bear in our character his resemblance.
We want to offer our oversight through the heart of a shepherd, so we
lead the flock rather than drive them, we love them rather than use them, we
draw close to them rather than keep them at arm’s length, we get to know them
rather than view them as a necessary nuisance to our work, and we consider
what’s best for the flock rather than what’s best for us. The good shepherd Jesus laid down his life
for the sheep; sometimes we shepherd-pastors must lay down some things of our
own to serve the flock with a shepherd’s care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When we try
to be a shop-keeper or CEO rather than a shepherd, our character and our
oversight tends to reflect power rather than service, bottom-lines rather than relationships,
self rather than Jesus. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In his book, <i>They Smell Like Sheep</i>, Lynn Anderson
recounts an incident from some of his travels in the Holy Land. Anderson and his local guide had spent part
of a day traveling around the region learning about sheep and shepherds. Late in the day, they observed a man cruelly
driving a flock of sheep through the streets of a town. This man yelled at the sheep and whacked them
with a stick whenever they got out of line.
Although the sheep kept moving forward, they were visibly shaken. Anderson commented to his guide that this
harsh, driving man did not conform to the description of the kind, leading
shepherd that his guide had given him throughout the day. “Oh, that man’s not the shepherd,” his guide
replied. “That man’s the butcher.”<a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Shepherd-pastors will never be confused with
butchers.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*******</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember the first time I
preached the ordination service for a pastor.
Mike Roy had grown up in the church I served in Greenwood,
Missouri. God called him to ministry. And when he became pastor of a nearby church,
he asked if I would preach the service.
I was honored to do so. It was
during this time that God had been working out this shepherd image in my
heart. That image drove the sermon whose
title was “Be a Real Minister” and whose text was 1 Peter 5:1-5. In encouraging Mike to shepherd his flock
like Jesus shepherds us all, here is part of the charge I offered him that day:
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Be a shepherd
who nurtures a relationship to the flock through love. Love the people with whom God calls you to
work. It’s not easy because some aren’t
very easy to love, some don’t love us back, and some may even work against
us. Love them anyway. Don't harangue them or abuse them. Don't speak ill of them. In his book <i>Life Together</i>, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "A pastor should not
complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not
to God. A congregation has not been
entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God."<a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> You are part of them. When you accuse them you accuse
yourself. So love them with a
Christ-like love. Love them by being
with them. Be with them when the baby comes. Be with them when death barges in. Be with them in the hospital and in the home,
in the cemetery and in the study. Be
with them in good times and in bad.
Imagine them looking over your shoulder and whispering in your ear as
you seek to hear in a Bible text the word they need to hear from God. Keep them in your heart. They will try you sometimes. They may frustrate you often. You will sometimes feel like throwing up your
hands and shaking the dust off your feet.
They may even feel the same about you sometimes. But keep them in your heart. Feel for them what Paul felt for the
Philippian church: “I long for you all,” he wrote to them, “with the affection
of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:8). Love them
<i>because</i> of who they are—the bride of
Christ, the church of the living God—and <i>in
spite</i> of who they are—stubborn sinners, works in progress, but a work that
God began and will continue until the day of Jesus Christ. And in the midst of being with them, show
them Christ and point them to him in all things—even when it’s hard and even
when you don’t feel like it. For the
sheep in the flock and for those still outside, in all things and in every
situation, point them to Christ. Lean on
the staff of the Chief Shepherd and he will help you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And, my shepherd-pastor friend, he will help you too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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*******</div>
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<br /></div>
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The 23rd Pastor would make a good gift at Christmas for your pastor. You can find it at Amazon.com. Thanks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, <i>Life Together</i> (New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1954), 29.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Cited
by Blaine McCormick and David Davenport, <i>Shepherd
Leadership: Wisdom for Leaders from Psalm 23 </i>(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2003), 115.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-84651037060969967752018-11-12T15:26:00.000-06:002018-11-12T15:26:34.767-06:00The 23rd Pastor (Excerpt from chapter 1: "A Psalm for the Pastor's Journey")<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-blZwjqx5w9E/W-nvwqlfvUI/AAAAAAAADAc/67JW3OEs8nE0kLY27JWEIefsLWQAe2EmQCLcBGAs/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-blZwjqx5w9E/W-nvwqlfvUI/AAAAAAAADAc/67JW3OEs8nE0kLY27JWEIefsLWQAe2EmQCLcBGAs/s320/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
The 23rd Pastor: Shepherding in the Spirit of Our Shepherd Lord released a couple of weeks ago on Amazon.com. This is more than a how-to book; it's a book that tends to the pastor's soul. I'm using my blog to share excerpts from the book. Here's an excerpt from chapter 1: "A Psalm for the Pastor's Journey" …<div>
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*******</div>
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A gnawing sense of Inadequacy
is a daunting shroud that weighs upon a pastor’s ministry either paralyzing him
into inaction or firing up nervous feet that send him running away from the
pain and people he should be running toward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“If only I could be more self-confident,” a pastor whispers to himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 23
reminds us that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">self</i>-confidence is
not what we need; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God</i>-confidence is
what we need—confidence in “the Lord … with me … forever.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 23 reminds us that our Shepherd Lord gives
us everything we need in any situation when we lean into him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His rod and staff, they comfort us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we need wisdom, God will give it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we need courage, God will give it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we need compassion, God will give it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we need words, God will give them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important that we pastors prepare
ourselves and equip ourselves for the broad and demanding nature of our work,
but no pastor can be prepared for everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t have to be—because we are not alone when we enter these
situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Shepherd Lord is with
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experience breeds confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pastoral seasoning breeds confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Training breeds confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But nothing breeds more confidence in me than
knowing my Shepherd Lord is leading me, is with me, and will be faithful to me
all the way to the end as I depend on him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In fact, this dependence on our Shepherd Lord can keep us
from trying to play God, from trying to fix people or manage their lives in our
feeble wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have done my worst work
when I have tried to fix people: “Listen to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t do that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people get helped, but most folks get
frustrated because they either cannot or will not follow the counsel, and I get
frustrated because they don’t take my “wise” advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I sometimes wonder how many people I’ve
messed up along the way.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do my best
work when I point them not to myself but to the one true Shepherd Lord and his
wisdom and resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I can get their
hands into the hand of Jesus, if I can get them wrestling their issues out in
prayer and Scripture, he can lead them to green pastures, still waters, down
righteous paths, and through the dark valley to a better place and a brighter
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can restore their soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can get them all the way home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Lord can.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Early in my ministry, an older minister told me that I
would be called upon to enter a lot of situations that are way over my head,
situations where I would not know what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said, “You don’t have to know what to do, but you need to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">act </i>like you do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a “fake it till you make it” approach
to pastoral care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked pretty well
for me early in my ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it did
not take too many years for me to realize I do not always have to know what to
do, because Jesus knows what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have to know Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to trust my
Shepherd Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when I find my confidence
in him rather than in myself, he has a way of showing up and doing his thing in
spite of my shortcomings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is my
great hope as a 23<sup>rd</sup> pastor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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*******</div>
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<br /></div>
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I encourage you to get your copy on Kindle or in paperback at Amazon.com. Thanks!</div>
</div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-17742201244249172132018-11-05T15:53:00.003-06:002018-11-05T15:54:14.142-06:00The 23rd Pastor (Excerpts from the Introduction)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wNUO8mrst_0/W-C7wsIIQwI/AAAAAAAAC_w/TlvOBhCT12Ml0DGXXkkJZBkwoS_0GG4dwCEwYBhgL/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wNUO8mrst_0/W-C7wsIIQwI/AAAAAAAAC_w/TlvOBhCT12Ml0DGXXkkJZBkwoS_0GG4dwCEwYBhgL/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Okay, so I'm trying to promote my newly released book, <i>The 23rd Pastor: Shepherding in the Spirit of Our Shepherd Lord. </i> Here are a couple of excerpts from the introduction …</div>
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I share this to suggest that
a pastor in the classical sense—a shepherd pastor—can still pastor a growing
church. I understand that some of you
are in churches that have little potential for growth. Rural America and many of its small towns are
dying. Numerical growth is difficult to
achieve in settings where population declines, schools consolidate or close,
business dries up, Main Street looks like a boarded-up ghost town, young people
move away, and the average age of residents increases. If you pastor in a dying community, please
don’t belittle your ministry. And don’t
think this book is not for you. If God
has called you in this season to shepherd a church whose average attendance
numbers drop every year, you are there by God’s design to serve his
purpose. Give it all you’ve got. Such churches and communities need a pastor
who loves God and loves them. And
remember: churches can grow in numerous ways.
A church can grow in unity, in generosity, in mission vision and
involvement, in community ministry, in development and deployment of the
members’ spiritual gifts, in biblical understanding, and in faithfulness. If you pastor in a community where numerical
growth is not likely, shepherd the church toward whatever health and growth
look like in your setting. I was glad
that when the 80s rolled into the 90s, the language and discussion moved from
“church growth” to “church health.” If
you can shepherd your church into health, the church will grow in the ways it
needs to grow and has the capacity to grow.
Unless you see the name <i>Ichabod</i><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
written across the front door of your church building, don’t give up. God hasn’t written off you or the church you
serve. Don’t you write them off either. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And if you are in a situation where the potential for numerical
growth is more realistic, shepherd the church toward growth in healthy
ways. Avoid slick strategies. Seek the glory of God before rising
numbers. Shepherd your people toward
passionate worship, persevering prayer, evangelism, ministry, authenticity,
extravagant giving, and genuine love for God and people. Shepherd in these ways, and God will grow the
church in non-numerical ways that will likely lead to rising numbers as
well. Such numerical growth will be
organic rather than contrived or manipulated.
It will be the result of relationships and the wooing of the Holy Spirit
rather than the latest church attendance fad of the day. That is how God has grown the two churches I
have shepherded. <o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->
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<!--[endif]-->
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<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>1
Samuel 4:21. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Across the years, I have
found nurture and instruction for my pastoral work in David’s words about the
Lord’s shepherd work. The psalm has
inspired me to be a 23<sup>rd</sup> pastor—aware of the vast expanse of the
field, yet attentive to the central tasks of the work, a pastor who leads and
nurtures in the name and wisdom of the One who leads and nurtures him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This is a needed reminder. General observation leads me to believe that
the new generation of pastors does not receive much training or encouragement
in classic pastoral practices. And
plenty of mid-lifers and old-timers like me, in the weariness of decades of
ministry, may have forgotten a few things along the way. Worse yet, some longtime pastors have decided
to lean their rod and staff in a corner, take their ease, and meander their way
into retirement, leaving the flock to fend for themselves. We can do better. God expects better. Tend the flock. Feed the sheep. That’s what shepherd pastors do. And the church needs more of them. There are times when I feel like a dying
breed—a pastoral relic, a marred statue in the museum of pastoral history, a
throwback Thursday pastor every day of the week. There is so much emphasis these days on
church planting, church revitalization, and niche churches that most of the
training involves leadership skills, vision development, organizational
structure, and outreach strategies for reaching a church’s target
demographic. But whether you pastor
First Church or Split Church or Biker Church or Hispanic Church or Cowboy
Church or Duck Dynasty Church or Homeless Church, the people still need a
pastor, and the pastor still needs the Shepherd Lord. <span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The church will be forever blessed if this breed of pastor
never dies.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I am writing this book to keep this breed of pastor
alive and well.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I also want to dispel
any ideas that a shepherd pastor is a passive pastor, timid to do much more
than dry some tears, hold some hands, and try to keep the flock happy.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Shepherd pastors certainly dry tears and hold
hands, but they also lead, challenge, and grow the flock in healthy ways.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Shepherd pastors are quick to pat their sheep
on the head and willing to take their staff and poke their sheep in the flank
when necessary.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Shepherd pastors are
anything but passive.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Shepherd pastors
lead their flock like Jesus leads his.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Frederick
Buechner wrote some words that have made me smile and also haunted me a bit since
I read them: “There is perhaps no better proof for the existence of God than
the way year after year he survives the way his professional friends promote
him.”</span><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I do not want God to “survive” my
ministry.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I want God to thrive in my
ministry, in the church I serve, and in me.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Most pastors I know want that too.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And that best happens when we learn to shepherd God’s church under the
presence, blessing, leadership, and guidance of our Chief Shepherd Jesus.</span></div>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///Z:/JMcCallum/23rd%20Pastor/The%2023rd%20Pastor%20-%2015%20Final.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Frederick
Buechner, <i>Listening to Your Life</i> (San
Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), 187.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*********</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you find that intriguing, I encourage you check out the book via paperback or Kindle (you have to search them separately at Amazon.com. Thanks.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-80062363354521004042018-11-04T16:00:00.001-06:002018-11-04T16:00:08.092-06:00The 23rd Pastor<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YymopMxS6Yo/W99rP7hDX4I/AAAAAAAAC_Y/vCBXFlAiJaMdFKro2aedmHXTK8a4d5tXwCLcBGAs/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YymopMxS6Yo/W99rP7hDX4I/AAAAAAAAC_Y/vCBXFlAiJaMdFKro2aedmHXTK8a4d5tXwCLcBGAs/s1600/23rd%2BPastor.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For the last few years I’ve been thinking of writing a book
on pastoral life based on Psalm 23.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
dream has become reality with the publication of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 23<sup>rd</sup> Pastor: Shepherding in the Spirit of Our Shepherd
Lord</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not just another
how-to book on pastoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book includes
some elements of how I go about my pastoral work, but this is a book for the
pastor’s soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book combines a
lifetime of love for the psalms and for this psalm in particular with my love
for pastoring the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I take each phrase
of the psalm and consider its implications for the pastoral life based on how
the Good Shepherd shepherds us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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You’ll see what I mean with the Table of Contents:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
1 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Psalm for the
Pastor’s Journey<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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2 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shepherd: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord is my shepherd</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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3 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contentment:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I shall not want<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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4 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rest:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He makes me lie down in green pastures …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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5 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devotion:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He restores my soul<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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6 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Righteousness: </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He leads me in paths of righteousness …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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7 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shadow:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Even though I walk through the valley …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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8 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Enemies:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You prepare a table before me …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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9 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Calling:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You anoint my head with oil<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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10 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blessing:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My cup runs over<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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11 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pursuit:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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12 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Forever:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I deal seriously with the Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try encourage, challenge, and inspire newbies
and seasoned pastors to be the shepherd God called them to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you’ll check it out in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks!<o:p></o:p></div>
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John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-68188296440255637122018-10-31T15:53:00.000-05:002018-10-31T15:53:41.797-05:00The Quotable Peterson: Pastoral Work<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWFMRKdo_CM/W9oWGA2U_LI/AAAAAAAAC_A/gM5ETD_AuFI8ofGzgtJ2xuE7lzyUQhL3gCLcBGAs/s1600/Peterson%2BSmile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWFMRKdo_CM/W9oWGA2U_LI/AAAAAAAAC_A/gM5ETD_AuFI8ofGzgtJ2xuE7lzyUQhL3gCLcBGAs/s320/Peterson%2BSmile.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I saw a Twitter post the other day asking for favorite
Eugene Peterson quotes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, some of
those would would take more than the 280 characters Twitter allows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read pretty much everything he’s written
so I have a lot of quotes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps I’ll
do a couple of blog posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This post focuses
on some of my favorite quotes on pastoral life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pastors will appreciate these quotes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But non-pastors might find them educational as well …<o:p></o:p></div>
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********<o:p></o:p></div>
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America’s pastors are abandoning their posts, left and
right, and at an alarming rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
not leaving their churches and getting other jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congregations still pay their salaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their names remain on the church stationery
and they continue to appear in pulpits on Sundays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are abandoning their posts, their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">calling</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have gone whoring after other gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What they do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t
the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of
twenty centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Working
the Angles<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I had never articulated it just this way before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You are at your pastoral best when you are
not noticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep this vocation
healthy requires constant self-negation, getting out of the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A certain blessed anonymity is inherent in
pastoral work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For pastors, being
noticed easily develops into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wanting</i>
to be noticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many years earlier a
pastor friend told me that the pastoral ego ‘has the reek of disease about it,
the relentless smell of the self.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pastor: A Memoir</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastoral work consists of modest, daily, assigned work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is like farm work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most pastoral work involves routines similar
to cleaning out the barn, mucking out the stalls, spreading manure, pulling
weeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not, any of it, bad work
in itself, but if we expected to ride a glistening black stallion in daily parades
and then return to the barn where a lackey grooms our steed for us, we will be
severely disappointed and end up being horribly resentful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>— <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Under the
Predictable Plant<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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So <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sinner </i>becomes
not a weapon in an arsenal of condemnation, but the expectation of grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply to be against sin is a poor basis for
pastoral ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to see people as
sinners<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>—</span>as rebels against God, missers of the mark, wanderers
from the way—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> establishes a basis
for pastoral ministry that can proceed with great joy because it is announcing
God great action in Jesus Christ “for sinners.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Contemplative Pastor</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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It is not the pastor’s job to simplify the spiritual life,
to devise common-denominator formulas, to smooth out the path of
discipleship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some difficulties are
inherent in the way of spiritual growth – to deny them, to minimize them, or to
offer shortcuts is to divert the person from true growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the pastor’s task, rather, to be
companion to persons who are in the midst of difficulty, to acknowledge the
difficulty and thereby give it significance, and to converse and pray with them
through the time so that the loneliness is lightened, somewhat, and hope is
maintained, somehow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Most pastoral work takes place in obscurity: deciphering
grace in the shadows, searching out meaning in a difficult text, blowing on the
embers of a hard-used life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is hard
work and not conspicuously glamorous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Under the Predictable Plant<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The pastor is the one person in the community who is free to
take men and women seriously just as they are, appreciate them just as they
are, give them the dignity that derives from being the “image of God,” a
God-created being who has eternal worth without having to prove usefulness or
be good for anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pastor: A Memoir</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Your task is to keep telling the basic story, representing
the presence of the Spirit, insisting on the priority of God, speaking the
biblical words of command, promise and invitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Contemplative Pastor<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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In the disordered time in which we live, pastors can’t get
along without [psychologists] Dr. Wall and Dr. Hansen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But their work is not my work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing they are there to do their work, I am
free to do my work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And my work is not
to fix people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is to lead people in
the worship of God and to lead them in living a holy life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pastor:
A Memoir<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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*******<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are so many more quotes I’ve gathered in my files, but
these are enough for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worth chewing
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worth considering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worth practicing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-5549397179997088992018-10-25T14:58:00.000-05:002018-10-26T10:55:11.538-05:00Did God Ever Do Me a Favor!<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMPPT1nUTfs/W9If-4j6uwI/AAAAAAAAC-k/7gOSuW21PmUKw4l94Cm-i_496qGREmYDQCLcBGAs/s1600/Eugene%2BPeterson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="650" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMPPT1nUTfs/W9If-4j6uwI/AAAAAAAAC-k/7gOSuW21PmUKw4l94Cm-i_496qGREmYDQCLcBGAs/s320/Eugene%2BPeterson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I knew he couldn’t live forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I sure hate to see him go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m writing about the best pastor I ever had
but never met: Eugene Peterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died
on Monday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here’s the irony of that
for me: I was leading a pastors’ conference and giving away some of his books
on pastoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I preached that day on the
pastor as shepherd and quoted him twice in my sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here’s another irony: I’ve written a book for pastors (<i>The 23rd Pastor: Shepherding in the Spirit of our Shepherd Lord</i>) that should be released in a few days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the introduction, I wrote these words:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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While I have
learned from the pastors I served with on staff and from some of my pastor
friends, two key mentors have kept me grounded in my pastoral work across more
than three decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first is a
Presbyterian named Eugene Peterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He,
more than anyone else, has taught me what it means to be a pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peterson’s books should be essential reading
for every pastor and everyone who feels called to become a pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If you have never read one of his books, you
should put this one down and go read one of his first.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I learned a lot from and am forever grateful to the handful
of men who pastored me until I became a pastor in 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no one taught me more about pastoring
than Eugene Peterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peterson founded Christ
Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, and pastored that church for
29 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He retired to teach Spiritual
Theology at Regent College for another six years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote a lot across the years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read most everything he wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I am a better Christian and a better pastor
because of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My first encounter with his work was in the 80s, and man did
I need him then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pastoring a growing
church in suburban Kansas City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
were the days of the church growth movement, and our church was busting at the
seams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He arrested me immediately on the
first page of his book <i>Working the Angles</i>: <o:p></o:p></div>
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America’s pastors are abandoning their
posts, left and right, and at an alarming rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are not leaving their churches and getting other jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congregations still pay their salaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their names remain on the church stationery
and they continue to appear in pulpits on Sundays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are abandoning their posts, their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">calling</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have gone whoring after other gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What they do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t
the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of
twenty centuries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The pastors of America have
metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are
churches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are preoccupied with
shopkeeper’s concerns—how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers
away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the
customers will lay out more money.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of them are very good
shopkeepers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They attract a lot of
customers, pull in great sums of money, develop splendid reputations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it is still shopkeeping; religious shopkeeping,
to be sure, but shopkeeping all the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Busted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humbled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put in my place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was becoming a shopkeeper, not a
pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the book, I learned the
three angles that have historically been at the heart of pastoral ministry:
Scripture, prayer, and spiritual direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I learned how to pastor a growing church without abandoning my calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am indebted to Peterson for that, and the
two congregations I’ve served have been better-shepherded because of him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But it’s not just his books on pastoring that have had influence
in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work with the Psalms and
with David’s life have made a difference too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did my doctoral project on “Using the Psalms as a Guide to Corporate
and Individual Prayer.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of the
project I wrote a devotional book on praying the psalms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told I needed an outside evaluator on
the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took a big chance and wrote
a letter asking Peterson to be that evaluator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He quickly responded with a nice, handwritten letter, telling me that as
much as he’d like to, his work at the college kept him from being able to take
on any outside projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he wrote a
few sentences commending me on my project, encouraging me, and wishing me
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how he did it, but I’ve
never felt better about being told “No” in my life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A number of years later, I was on the verge of burning out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing my admiration of Peterson, a staff
member, Mike Pounders, went to a lot of trouble to get in touch with
Peterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine my shock when I was
given his cell number and invited to call him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We talked 15 or 20 minutes—well, I talked, he mostly listened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And invited me to come stay for a few days
with he and Jan in his Montana home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said
I could relax there, and we could visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said he did that a couple of times of years for people in his larger
congregation (people like me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could do
that in about six months, he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
told me to keep his number and call him to set up a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was an idiot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if I was starstruck or to overwhelmed
to take him up on the offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I blew a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to spend personal time with one of my heroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll regret that till I die.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He sent a nice note on my 20<sup>th</sup>
anniversary as pastor at First Baptist, Hot Springs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I continued to read his writings: always
challenged, always encouraged, always learning something, always growing in my
faith.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I’m going to miss him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He will still live in on my shelves and in my work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I suspect I’ll keep his cell phone number
in my contacts till I die.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But now I’ll have to wait to meet him personally till I get
to the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’ll have to
wait in a long line, but I will not blow my next opportunity to meet the man in
person and to thank him for the many ways his work shaped my spiritually and pastorally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when I talk to Jesus, I’ll tell him in person
what I’ve already told him in prayer: “You did a lot of us a favor when you
made Eugene Peterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the churches I’ve served thank you too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-39016405349017242212018-10-03T15:58:00.000-05:002018-10-03T16:00:19.227-05:00Gary: My Role Model for Ministry<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVr0bK5c8FY/W7UtBCyR7UI/AAAAAAAAC-E/nYSpH7vYsLQ1Eq12x9v6bqkKuVtUjw4sACEwYBhgL/s1600/Gary%2BFenton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVr0bK5c8FY/W7UtBCyR7UI/AAAAAAAAC-E/nYSpH7vYsLQ1Eq12x9v6bqkKuVtUjw4sACEwYBhgL/s320/Gary%2BFenton.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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October is Pastor Appreciation Month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure how I feel about that really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>October is also Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, Apple Jack Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Popcorn Popping Month, and Sarcastic Month. I suppose we
are all so busy that if we don’t have something to remind us, we’ll forget to
appreciate most things.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But all that aside, could I say a word about the first
Baptist pastor I ever had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His name is Dr.
Gary Fenton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wasn’t yet Dr. Fenton
when he was my pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was fresh out
of seminary and in his mid-20s then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was nine years my elder. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he made an
impact in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the pastor who
baptized me, counseled me in regard to my call to ministry, gave me the
opportunity to preach my first sermon, and preached my ordination sermon a
couple of years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dayna and I would
have liked for him to officiate our wedding too, but First Baptist, Branson,
had a new pastor then, Gilbert Spencer, and we wanted to affirm Gil's ministry too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Gary was a pastoral mentor to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s one of the few pastors I’ve known in my
life who is the complete package.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
man can preach, provide shepherd care for his people, and lead the church toward
its mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked for him for him
during my first college summer at First Baptist in Branson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took time to talk with me about Bible
texts and commentaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched how he
related to people with compassion and love—all kinds of people too, not just
the power people and the largest donors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was accessible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Gary was
the hardest working pastor I ever knew.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
From the moment of my call to ministry, I knew God wanted me
to be a pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I served in staff roles about
five years before God gave me my first pastorate, but I knew the pastorate is
where God was leading me all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
here’s one thing I distinctly remember from the year or two Gary was my pastor:
I wanted to pastor like Gary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He set a high
bar I strived to reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never
reached his bar just yet but striving for it—striving to be a good preacher, a
good shepherd for the people, and a good leader—has made me a better pastor
than I would have been without Gary’s influence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Last week, we were able to have Gary preach revival services
in the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s recently retired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was great to spend some time with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dayna and I treasure the moments we shared
together with Gary during those few days in Hot Springs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even though I turned 62 during that
revival, Gary is still teaching me and mentoring me in ministry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So in this Pastor Appreciation Month, I want to say, “Thank
you, God, for Gary Fenton, a man after your heart, the man who helped me begin
my journey toward pastoral ministry, and a man whose fingerprints are on every
good thing you’ve ever done in my nearly four decades of pastoring! And thank you, Gary, for investing in a nobody from nowhere who had nothing to offer you in return except an eagerness to serve Jesus and to learn.”</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Peter concludes a brief word to pastors in his 1st letter in the New Testament by writing, "And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." There's a crown waiting for Gary. And he's going to look really good in it. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-38674216913578286162018-07-24T19:56:00.000-05:002018-07-25T15:07:24.582-05:00Granddaddy, I Never Knew Ye<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uS8tUPl3UAI/W1fKORkXzNI/AAAAAAAAC8g/m8NbvSEPJ8ItN5-RwQUD8OAphJv60zVLQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Granddaddy%2527s%2Bgrave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uS8tUPl3UAI/W1fKORkXzNI/AAAAAAAAC8g/m8NbvSEPJ8ItN5-RwQUD8OAphJv60zVLQCEwYBhgL/s320/Granddaddy%2527s%2Bgrave.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I never knew a grandfather.
My mother’s dad was killed in a hunting accident when my mother was six-years-old. That was 1934. <i>She</i>
barely knew him. I never had the
chance. My father’s dad also died a
violent death. He was City Marshal in
Lake Village, Arkansas, when he answered a disturbance call in a local café to
deal with a man who was drunk and disorderly.
Tragically, he was also armed. He
shot and killed my granddaddy on the spot.
That happened in 1928. My dad was
only 14 at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the way back from the beach, Dayna and I passed through
Lake Village, Arkansas. That’s where my
dad’s family settled in the 1920s when they left the farm in Union Church,
Mississippi. My grandfather and
grandmother are buried there—as is the uncle for whom I’m named. I’ve passed through Lake Village a few times
across the years, but I never visited the cemetery. This time I did. I wanted to visit my granddaddy’s grave. I’ve visited the grave of my mother’s father
numerous times. My mother is buried in
the same family plot. But I’d never
visited the grave of my Granddaddy Samuel Tucker McCallum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dayna and I made the short drive to the local cemetery
though we had no idea where his grave was.
We figured it would be in the oldest part of the cemetery. We weren’t there two minutes till Dayna
spotted it. We walked to the graves and
stood over them. I took a couple of
pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I so wish I had known him.
He was obviously a man who loved his family and his community. He was a man of courage and a man of
faith. I share his name. But I never met him. Never heard his voice. Never felt his touch. Never sat in his lap. All I know of him is what I learned from his
six children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My life has been diminished, I think, because I never knew him. My father had his issues, and once my parents
were divorced we didn’t see him much for the rest of his life. It would have been nice to have had a positive
male role model in my life. A grandfather
would have fit the bill nicely. But it
wasn’t to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have two consolations in this matter. First, God has given me the pleasure of being
granddaddy to seven grandchildren. No
one is going to vote me “Grandfather of the Year,” but I think I add to the quality
of my grandchildren’s lives. They surely
add to the quality of mine. I was never
grandfathered, but I’ve had the opportunity to grandfather my grandkids. I’ve enjoyed that experience from one side
anyway. That’s a consolation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And so is this. My
grandfather is a believer. He loved
Jesus and trusted him for salvation. He
is with Jesus now. And when it comes my
time to join him on the other side, I will have plenty of time to get to know him. There are many on the other
side I so look forward to seeing again.
Strange that I may look most forward to meeting a man I never saw for
the first time. Right now, that meeting
feels a little awkward, but in that moment, it will probably feel as comfortable
as a feather bed. That’s a consolation
too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xjj9uuvffZ8/W1fKRVVXTNI/AAAAAAAAC8s/v9Z6Qzc26nUJi3OjPaXbiSIevLc1GwE0QCEwYBhgL/s1600/Samuel%2BTucker%2BMcCallum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="100" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xjj9uuvffZ8/W1fKRVVXTNI/AAAAAAAAC8s/v9Z6Qzc26nUJi3OjPaXbiSIevLc1GwE0QCEwYBhgL/s320/Samuel%2BTucker%2BMcCallum.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Granddaddy, I never knew ye.
But because of what Jesus has done for us both, because of <i>his </i>death and resurrection, and because
Jesus <i>is</i> the resurrection and the
life, that’s going to change. I’ll be
too big to sit in your lap, but I look forward to hearing your stories and sharing
with you how your faith continued to thrive in the generations that followed
you. I hope you’ll feel like I carried
your name well—your <i>two</i> names actually:
<i>McCallum</i> and <i>Christian</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-12903864271841359112018-07-03T15:15:00.000-05:002018-07-03T15:15:14.303-05:00Is It Okay to Re-Preach a Sermon?<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ft5s5BsJUY/WzvY2FYfmAI/AAAAAAAAC70/-n3cyQUFVmIiMS426x53h5-3G_XwISFxwCLcBGAs/s1600/repeat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="266" height="227" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ft5s5BsJUY/WzvY2FYfmAI/AAAAAAAAC70/-n3cyQUFVmIiMS426x53h5-3G_XwISFxwCLcBGAs/s320/repeat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">It’s
summer.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">The time of year when pastors
and church members go on vacation.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">Most
churches slump a bit in attendance.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">Most
pastors try to catch their breath.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">So
what to preach?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">A lot of pastors I know
who come up with a good sermon series idea for the year, don’t look to preach
that series in the summer.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">They want
maximum hearing and maximum impact.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">Even
in the days of live-streaming, it’s hard to get that in the summer.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">So it begs the question: is it okay to preach
a sermon you’ve preached before?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve been preaching
every Sunday since 1981, and I admit that I don’t re-preach much from those
early years of preaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when I
was still trying to find my voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
by the same token, I have preached sermons several times from the shell of a
handful of my earliest preaching even though I’m not sure some of my earliest
preaching was worth preaching the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God, who makes something out of nothing, used it then; God can still
make something of it now even if it bears little resemblance to the original.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is it okay to do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it break some kind of preacher-code of ethics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does God roll his eyes and think, “Oh no, not
that again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good thing I never sleep
or slumber, or that sermon would put me in a coma.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So far as I
know, God doesn’t weigh in on re-preaching sermons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But others do, and some think it’s anathema: “God
isn’t stuck in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a new
word for the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen for that
word and preach it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that doesn’t mean a pastor can’t re-preach
a sermon from the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t God the one
who can make all things new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t a
word that God used in the past, be a word he can use in the present?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to me the Bible is a word like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would God give a preacher a sermon that only
has a 30-minute shelf life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not
anathema to preach a sermon you’ve preached before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes
pastors are hesitant to re-preach sermons because we overestimate the power of
our sermons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We assume people remember
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate to bust your bubble, but they
probably don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I’m sorting through
older sermon titles, I can’t even remember what most of the sermons were about,
and I spent hours preparing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The folks
won’t either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tend to remember
novelty sermons and transforming stories but not the meat and potatoes of our
Sunday to Sunday preaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know this
from experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had a man say to
me, “You’re preaching just seems to keep getting stronger and stronger.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate to disappoint him and tell him that I
preached that same sermon or that same series in 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had a woman say to me, “That may be the
best sermon I’ve ever heard you preach.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hate to disappoint her and tell her that she heard me preach that
sermon in 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People hear sermons
through the lens of their current experience and needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We read that Bible that way, finding things
in old texts we never noticed the 37 times we’d read it previously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People hear sermons the same way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and every church has a few members who
record next to your text in their Bible the date you preached a sermon on that
text, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had one man in
particular who will approach me after the service, smile, and say, “You
preached that sermon on May 3, 2005.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
smile and reply, “Did you remember it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He smiles and says, “No.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have re-preached
numerous sermons and some series over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve only served two churches in 37 years:
one for about 14 years and one for 23 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you serve a church for only 3-5 years, re-preaching a sermon has
different challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I want to advocate
the re-preaching of sermons from time to time—especially in the summer time or
on holiday weekends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you serve in
one place long enough, even some repetition in Advent or Lenten/Easter
preaching can be a helpful thing for pastor and church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my view,
it’s okay to re-preach some of your sermons now and then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re thinking of re-preaching a sermon
or a series, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">here are a few tips</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Be prayerful about the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t just pull a sugar-stick; think: what
does God want to say to the church?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keep good records of past sermons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always record date and place preached on
every sermon manuscript and in my sermon file.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If it doesn’t light a fire in you, it won’t light a fire in your
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave it on the shelf.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Make necessary tweaks and changes: Do you think a bit
differently about the text than you did when you preached the sermon the first
time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If you’ve got a new commentary on
that text, check it out.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are the
illustrations (stories, stats, figures of speech) out of date?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
applications need to change to fit the current situation in your church and community?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Necessary tweaks will make the sermon feel
new to you and to one or two in the congregation who remember it. (By the way, if you’re re-preaching a sermon
you preached in your previous congregation, make sure you adapt it to your
current situation.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How could I make more of Jesus in the sermon?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there a different or better gospel
connection you can make this time around?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t be afraid to use compelling sermons from a series as
stand-alone sermons when you need them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Early in my
pastoral ministry, I heard Calvin Miller (a great preacher, longtime pastor,
and preaching author/professor) say, “I never preach a new sermon in the
summer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I go back at least five years,
find something relevant for the current day, rework it a bit, and serve it as
fresh as I did the first time around.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Miller went on to say that the hours he saves on sermon prep in the
summer he uses to plan his future preaching schedule and do some more reading
and learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miller was a wise pastor
and preacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to be one too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do you
think, pastor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for you folks who
listen to sermons rather than preach them, what do you think about a pastor
re-preaching a sermon?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-90629259912858482892018-05-20T16:07:00.004-05:002018-05-20T16:07:55.170-05:00A Graduation Prayer<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EMMTQU7jXNM/WwHjJpxg8II/AAAAAAAACFc/z4L0OLRk2gsbJJvOOM9QpTrFAkhG7yynwCLcBGAs/s1600/graduation_cap_and_diploma_vector_294288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="600" height="208" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EMMTQU7jXNM/WwHjJpxg8II/AAAAAAAACFc/z4L0OLRk2gsbJJvOOM9QpTrFAkhG7yynwCLcBGAs/s320/graduation_cap_and_diploma_vector_294288.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
attended the graduation ceremony for Ouachita Baptist University a week ago. (<span style="color: #674ea7;">Go Tigers!</span>)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pinch-hitting for the Chairman of the
Ouachita Board who couldn’t make it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
one responsibility was to say a prayer over the graduates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several people have since asked me for a copy
of that prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That has motivated me to
post that prayer to my blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So,
in this graduation season, here is a prayer that might spark your own prayers
for the graduates you know and love …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">********</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Father,
thank you for Ouachita Baptist University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thank you for faithful faculty administration and staff who love the
students and work for their best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank
you for these graduates and for the education they’ve received and the lifelong
friendships they’ve forged here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lord,
as these graduates commence into their future, would you give them … <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">gratitude enough to remember from whence they’ve come <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">dreams enough to discern and live the great dream you have for
each one <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">courage enough to try new things <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">skills enough to succeed <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">persistence enough to stay with it <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">joy enough to stay positive <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">friends enough to know they’re not in their journey alone <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">wisdom enough to give their lives to kingdom things that last
forever <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hunger and thirst enough to keep them in Scripture and prayer and
righteousness and church <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">trouble enough to keep them always leaning into you <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">peace enough to rest in you <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hope enough not to let disappointments get them down for long <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">love enough to be a blessing to many <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">faith enough to keep their eyes on Jesus in good times and in bad <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and desire enough to do all they do for your great glory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
now, Jesus, as they launch into the next steps of their lives, please go before
them as leader and guide, behind them as redeemer and love, above them as
provider and guard, below them, as supporter and strength, beside them as
companion and friend, and within them as Savior and Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In your name, amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-54518276309908248122018-05-14T15:13:00.000-05:002018-05-14T15:16:44.697-05:00A Mother's Day Prayer<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zEJaDcHS5hg/WvnsoAunX5I/AAAAAAAACE0/pFTQxiFEfcw9c1cJbzw-uiyN0yxY1Tj3ACLcBGAs/s1600/Mother%2Bpicture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="236" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zEJaDcHS5hg/WvnsoAunX5I/AAAAAAAACE0/pFTQxiFEfcw9c1cJbzw-uiyN0yxY1Tj3ACLcBGAs/s200/Mother%2Bpicture.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
the first time in I can’t remember when, I didn’t preach on Mother’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We focused on the issues of foster care and
adoption, so our Youth Pastor, Bill Newton, whose family provides foster care,
seemed like the right person to preach the sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me it would have been words alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Bill it was word and life experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did a great job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our congregation will grow in our commitment
to foster kids and support those who do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So I
didn’t preach, but I prayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent
some time fashioning a prayer for Mother’s Day. Rarely have I had more people comment on a prayer. I struck a nerve in some. And I think I know why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your family is healthy, Mother’s Day is a great day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your family is hurting, Mother’s Day is a
day you just want ignore or survive. I loved my mother and she loved me, but our relationship wasn't perfect. She was probably the most formative influence in my life, most of it good. But our relationship was a bit complicated by family circumstances and our own stubbornness. Mother's Day stirred a variety of emotions in me, not all of them the best kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So </span>I
tried to pray the range of emotions people brought with them to worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s my prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope it encourages you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">*******<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
thank you, Father God, that you understand mothering too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thank you for the image in Isaiah where
you described yourself as shepherd holding your lambs near your bosom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we thank you for that time where Jesus
wept over Jerusalem and said, “How I have longed to gather you under my wings
as a hen gathers her chicks.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
understand mothering too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You sure
picked a good one for your son Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So,
on this Mother’s Day we remember our mothers in prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who know the joy of motherhood and find parenting a delight, we ask that
you deepen their joy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who long to be mothers, yet for whatever reason cannot, we pray that you
would help them fill their empty arms with a child somehow, some way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who are brokenhearted over wayward children, children who died too soon,
or the grief of miscarriage, we pray for comfort, peace, and the confidence
that you do all things well and can bring good out of sorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who have fostered and adopted children, caring for the least of these,
may they find joy in doing for those children what you do and have done for
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give them patience and
understanding, and peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
single moms who feel like the carry the whole load of parenting, please give
them strength made perfect in their weakness, and the auxiliary help they need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
those who are challenged by difficult children marked by disabilities or
behavioral problems, we pray for wisdom, insight, patience, perseverance, and a
sense of your presence in their struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please give such mothers enough victories to keep them joyful in their
parenting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
we also pray this morning for those for whom Mother’s Day is a difficult
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are missing their mothers who
have passed in death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others have
difficult relationships with their mothers—relationships that make everything
from picking the right card to making a Mother’s Day phone call a chore and a
burden rather than a joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And still
others have mothers that are difficult to honor and recognize on this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that those for whom this day is hard
will find your peace and mercy and strength to face their difficulties with
faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
thank you again, our Father, for this day and for its meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that you’ll bless all women and make
us a blessing to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Jesus’ name,
Amen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-33422924341820657922018-03-29T08:37:00.000-05:002018-03-29T08:37:10.704-05:00Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Pastors<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJpeKw-K4xw/WrzrxwjYnpI/AAAAAAAACDk/dsvv7MzcNYkW0H23x8BZvQg4Kw0mor47gCLcBGAs/s1600/Camden%2BYards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="239" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJpeKw-K4xw/WrzrxwjYnpI/AAAAAAAACDk/dsvv7MzcNYkW0H23x8BZvQg4Kw0mor47gCLcBGAs/s320/Camden%2BYards.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It’s opening day in Major League Baseball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope reigns eternal even for my Baltimore
Orioles who play in a division that’s loaded with high-dollar players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time of year I like to reflect on how a
little baseball wisdom can inform a pastor’s ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A caveat: these nuggets sound more earthy
than divine, but God’s overarching providence and power are assumed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The team belongs to the Owner; the coach’s job
is to manage and develop the team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The coach is going to take some criticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He needs to learn what he can from it and let
the rest of it go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His primary job is to
please the owner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Our opponent is a tough out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Coach the team <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">up</i>, not down.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->There are no roster limits—you can’t have too
many players on your team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->I’d rather go down swinging than take a called
third strike.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Laying down a sacrifice to advance a teammate is
a worthy at bat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sometimes you’ve got to play small ball to
manufacture runs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small ball = don’t
swing at bad pitches, a walk is as good as a hit, bunt for a base hit,
sacrifice to move the runners, take the extra base every chance you get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small ball is neither flashy nor glamorous,
but it can get the job done.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A long fly ball to the warning track is still an
out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Every player and every team are prone to a slump
now and then—coaches too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>If you bat .300 in sharing Jesus, you are an
all-star; if you share Jesus at all, you’re a starter on the team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t forget to thank the bat boys, the grounds
crew, and the folks who clean the locker room—they’re part of the team too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Pound the strike zone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Even though you’ll probably never change the
call, it’s okay to argue with the umpire once in a while on behalf of your team
(see Job, Jeremiah, and the Psalms).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Everybody makes an error now and then, so
lighten up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Make sure the team gets plenty of practice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The positions are different but every position
matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If one is mission, you don’t
have a complete team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Shuffle the line up every now and then; change
the batting order once in a while.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The guys in the bullpen need to get their
innings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t lose touch with the players on the
Disabled List; they’re still part of the team.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Talk with each other in the field so there are
no collisions and we don’t hurt ourselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The guy who scores and the guy who knocks him in
count the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->It’s okay to let a player rest and sit out a
game now and then.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Work to maintain unity in the dugout and the
locker room.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->When you’re on a serious losing streak, a team
meeting may be in order to clear the air and get refocused on the goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t let the guy on the bench who would rather
watch than play soak up all your energy; give your best attention to the ones
who take the field.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t be afraid to bring up the guy from the
minor leagues and give him a shot at the big-time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just might become the rookie-of-the-year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Most every team member thinks he’s a free agent,
and some of them will leave your team to join another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t worry too much about that; you’ll
probably grab your share of free agents too … whether you want them or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->When team members get too old or infirm to play
and have to take a seat in the stands, tip your hat to them now and then and
honor them for all they’ve done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->In the course of a long season, some games are
more important than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
important to discern the difference.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->When on a winning streak, stay humble and stay
hungry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Eat a hot dog and some apple pie now and then
but not too much or you won’t be in shape to do your job.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->And no matter what happens with the team,
remember this: the Owner always has your back.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Go Pastors!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go Church!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And go Orioles!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
What would you add to
this list?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-84508545824865243192017-12-24T13:52:00.002-06:002017-12-24T13:52:24.901-06:00Remember the Manger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6fKrOa-q4Sc/Wj_Pam3GjpI/AAAAAAAACCg/gLJ4dQUq534pUKHUHwWXg3W0KUupuQNdQCLcBGAs/s1600/nativity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1018" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6fKrOa-q4Sc/Wj_Pam3GjpI/AAAAAAAACCg/gLJ4dQUq534pUKHUHwWXg3W0KUupuQNdQCLcBGAs/s320/nativity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said
that on Christmas, he preferred to go to a church where there was no sermon,
only music, art, and drama. <i>"Words just aren't up to it,"</i>
he said.<a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Niebuhr’s right. Words <i>aren’t</i>
up to it. That’s why we’ll keep our
words to a minimum today. But there is <u>good
news</u> in Christmas worth telling. A
few of those words are found in <b>Luke
2:8-12</b>. Mary has just given birth
and laid Jesus in a manger. They were
ready for visitors, and God invited some <u>shepherds</u> to come visit the
baby Jesus. Fitting, huh, because Jesus
is the Good Shepherd who is also a lamb.
Hear the word of the Lord … </div>
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<br /></div>
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<sup><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8</span></sup><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i>In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields
and keeping watch at night over their flock.</i> <sup>9</sup> <i>Then an angel of the
Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified. </i><sup>10</sup> <i>But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for
look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:</i>
<sup>11</sup> <i>Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the
Messiah, the Lord. <sup>12</sup> This will be the sign for you: You will find a
baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
Near the end of November a few
years ago, I was driving up Higdon Ferry and noticed the message on the sign at
what was then <u>Roland’s Barbecue</u>.
(Hated to see that place close.)
I wasn’t sure what the sign meant.
So the next time I was in there, I asked the lady who waited on me, <i>“What’s up with the manager?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“What?”</i> she asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“The manager—is
everything okay?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“You want to see the
manager?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“No, I just was
concerned that something was wrong because of your sign.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“Our sign?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i>“Yes,
your sign. You know, it says ‘Remember
the Manager.’ So I figured the manager
needed prayer or something.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<i>“Our
sign doesn’t say ‘Remember the Manager.’
It says, ‘Remember the Manger.’”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
No wonder she looked at me like I
had <u>lobsters</u> crawling out of my ears.
And you’ll be glad to know that I neglected to tell them that I was the
pastor of First Baptist Church. (I told
them I was Methodist.) You’d think if
anyone would be able to read that sign it would be a pastor. Trust me, <u>my antennae</u> are usually
pretty honed in to anything of a spiritual nature I see in our secular
world. But boy, did I miss that one!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
Well, I’m <u>not going to miss it</u>
today. It’s Christmas Eve. It’s time to remember the Savior who is
Christ the Lord and that his first bed was a manger. Remember the manger.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
We’ll remember a lot of <u>other
things</u> today: to pick up that extra gallon of milk, our favorite eggnog
recipe, to purchase a couple of more stocking stuffers, the words to the
familiar Christmas song on the radio, to make up the bed in the guest
room. There’s a lot on our minds
today. And not just adults either. Kids too: <i>“What’s
in that big box?” “How much is in that envelope on the tree?” “Will Christmas morning ever get here?”</i> Lots of things on our mind, lots of things to
remember.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b>Just don’t forget to remember the manger.</b> Eternal word putting on human flesh and
making his home among us. Deity in a
diaper. Creator in a cradle. Lion of Judah a helpless cub. Feeder of multitudes nursing at his mother’s
breast. Eternal Word unable to speak a
word. Sinless perfection trusting
himself to human beings broken by their sins.
Remember the manger.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>Remember the depths to which God would
stoop.</b> Christ has always existed,
eternal in the heavens, the Word was with God and was God. <span style="line-height: 150%;">When Christ emptied himself
to come down and save us, he didn't just do it <u>halfway</u>. Jesus checked his pride at the door on the
way down to earth. He didn't say, <i>"I'll go so far and no farther."</i> He didn't say, <i>"I draw the line at a manger." </i> He didn't say, <i>"I refuse to be born in that dump."</i> No, Jesus was willing to do <u>whatever it
took</u>, willing to stoop as low as he had to go, willing to make his
beachhead on the earth in a musty stable in Bethlehem. Jesus came <i>all</i> the way down. Now, no
one can say, <i>"Jesus, didn't stoop low
enough for me."</i> No one can say
that—not the poor, not the outcast, not the man without a home. Born as he was in a stable, Jesus
demonstrated total commitment to go as far as he had to go to seek and to save
lost humankind. Remember the depths to
which God stooped. Remember the manger!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>Remember the lengths to
which God would go.</b><span style="line-height: 150%;"> We’re not talking a mission that takes him
from Hot Springs to Dallas, or Little Rock to Paris, or even Pine Bluff to
Siberia. We’re talking <u>heaven to
earth</u>, eternity to time. We’re
talking safe house to danger zone, holy habitat to Sinville, sure thing to
risky business. We’re talking about
going from being the subject of worship to being subject to abuse and scorn and
murder on a cross. But God’s love was so
true, his promise so sure, his commitment so deep, that no length was too far
to go on his mission to rescue us from our sins. <u>James Irwin</u> was part of the crew of
Apollo 15 that landed on the moon in 1971—one of only 12 men in history to have
walked on the moon. He did a lot of
speaking in churches after that moon flight.
And the tagline for his talk and for the autograph he signed on a
picture of him standing on the moon was this: <i>“It is more important that God walked on earth than man walked on the
moon.”</i><a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Irwin’s right. Irwin and his crew traveled 238,900 miles to
walk on the moon. Jesus traveled way
longer than that on so many levels to walk on the earth. And his was <u>no triumphant landing</u> in
some exotic place like the moon, televised for all the world to see. Jesus landed in obscurity, in a podunk town
where few eyes would see him. Jesus
landed in a stable there. Jesus was laid
in an animal’s feeding trough. Remember
the lengths to which God would go.
Remember the manger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>And remember the price God
was willing to pay.</b><span style="line-height: 150%;"> You think Christmas costs you a lot? Consider what it cost God. The price of <u>condescending</u> to the likes
of us, the price of emptying himself, taking on flesh, humbling himself—the
Lord becomes the servant—the price of subjecting himself to the care of sinful,
broken people in a sinful, broken world, seems steep enough price already. But the price ratcheted <u>even higher</u>
when, as a man, he gave himself to be broken on a cross to save us from our
sins. The sinless one died for sinners,
taking our sins on himself so he could kill sin’s penalty and power for those
who put their trust in him, for those who come to him for salvation and
life. God <u>sacrificed</u> his only
Son. Jesus gave everything thing he
could give so that we could be saved, so that we could enjoy abundant, eternal
life on earth and beyond the grave.
Crucified. Dead. Buried.
And raised from the dead on the third day. That’s the price of our salvation. Jesus refused to sit on his throne twiddling
his thumbs and let you die in your sins.
No! Jesus was willing to stoop
lower than you can imagine, travel farther than you can chart, and pay a price
so high only God the Son could pay it.
Now, if you die in your sins and spend eternity in hell, it’s on
you. It’s not because God stood by and
did nothing to save you. He paid it all. I know: it’s <u>not Good Friday</u>; it’s
Christmas Eve. But hulking over the
manger on that dark night was the shadow of the cross. It’s why he came. It’s why he was born to die that we may have
life. So even here at Christmas, remember
the price God was willing to pay.
Remember the manger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b>John Shea tells a story he calls
“Sharon’s Christmas Prayer.”</b> It was
about a little girl—she was five-years-old, sure of the facts, and recited them
with dignity, convinced that every word was revelation. This is what she said:<span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
“They were poor, they
had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat and then went a long way
from home without getting lost. The lady
rode a donkey, the man walked, and the baby was inside the lady. They had to stay in a stable with an ox and a
burro but three Rich Men found them because a star lighted the roof. Shepherds came and you could pet the sheep
but not feed them. Then the baby was
borned. And do you know who he was?” Her quarter eyes inflated to silver
dollars. “The baby was God.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
And Shea says she <u>jumped in the
air</u>, whirled round, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the
cushion—which is the only proper response to the Good News of Christmas.<a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
Don’t impoverish yourself in the
face of such good news. Even in the
hectic busyness of today and tomorrow, take time to <u>remember the manger</u>. And when you do, it’s okay to whirl and twirl
and fall on your face in worship too. It’s
Christmas: God is with us. God has come
to save us. Remember the manger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cited by Leonard Sweet, <i>Giving Blood: A Fresh Perspective for
Preaching</i> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 212.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Cited
by Mark Galli, <i>The Galli Report</i>, Jan
16, 2015 ChristianityToday.com.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///N:/JMcCallum/Computer%20Files/Advent%20Sermons/Advent%2017%20-%20Xmas%20Eve%20-%20Remember%20the%20Manger.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>John
Shea, “The Hour of the Unexpected,” <i>Christianity
Today</i> (Dec 6 1999), 48.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-58068311209688010742017-11-21T13:52:00.001-06:002018-07-30T08:39:38.878-05:00Thanks, First Baptist, Hot Springs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pl0VWbvlXQc/WhSD1K2qFqI/AAAAAAAACBI/ktQQgE8RkvIM-sQhcUm5ynXKeUmhuQfNgCLcBGAs/s1600/FBC%2BBuilding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pl0VWbvlXQc/WhSD1K2qFqI/AAAAAAAACBI/ktQQgE8RkvIM-sQhcUm5ynXKeUmhuQfNgCLcBGAs/s320/FBC%2BBuilding.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed yesterday and
came across a post from a pastor that I follow, Sam Rainer. He linked to one of his recent blog posts: "Ten
Reasons I’m Thankful for West Bradenton Baptist Church." That got me to thinking about the church I
serve. God has given us more than 22
years together. There’s a lot to be grateful
for! Here are the blessings I’m counting
this Thanksgiving.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You love my family
and me the way we are.</b> In 22 years a
church gets to know its pastor. A pastor
and family could put up a pretty good front for three or four years maybe but
not for 22. Real life, real issues, and
real struggles that unfold across two decades break down any façades and reveal what
is really in the heart of a pastor and family.
They know we’re not perfect. They
don’t expect us to be. They have loved
us at our best and at our worst. They
have loved us on the mountaintop and they have loved us in the valley. Never have they asked or insinuated that we
should be anyone else than who God created us to be. When a minister’s family is loved as they
are, they find a freedom to grow and to thrive.
Thank you, FBC, Hot Springs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You love the Scripture.</b> The Bible is our textbook at First Baptist,
and our people wouldn’t have it any other way.
It provides our game plan for ministry.
We teach the Bible in multiple venues.
We give a lot of Bibles away. “Is
it in the Book?” is a question we ask a lot.
Thanks, FBC, Hot Springs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggBfDED1pbc/WhSCmidE9jI/AAAAAAAACA0/32IAabKr-xEcMbnl_QAjrU_JrNY--_irACEwYBhgL/s1600/john-easter%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggBfDED1pbc/WhSCmidE9jI/AAAAAAAACA0/32IAabKr-xEcMbnl_QAjrU_JrNY--_irACEwYBhgL/s320/john-easter%2Bpic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>You are good
listeners.</b> The church has grown a
lot over the years, but there are still a good number of folks in the church
who have had to listen to my sermons and my teaching since my first Sunday
in June of 1995. And they keep coming
back. I don’t know how they do it. In 22 years, I’ve never stood up to preach or
teach thinking, “How am I going to get and keep their attention? Will they stay awake today?” Never.
Not once. I’m sure we’ve got some
sleepers—every church does. But most of
our folks are right there with me, engaging, thinking, considering what they
are hearing. Some engage me in
conversation or via email after sermons. Knowing I’m not preaching to a brick wall
every Sunday is critical for me as a preacher.
But what makes them good listeners is that plenty of them try to put
what they learn into practice. I do not
take that for granted. It makes me a
better preacher. Thank you, FBC, Hot
Springs, for being good listeners. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You value unity.</b> We realize we can do more when we do it
together. It’s also a lot more fun. Our people work at unity. We tackle controversial matters rather than
sweeping them under the rug. That's why
our unity is more than skin-deep; it’s heart deep. Unity provides an image to our community of
the unity in our Triune God. Thanks,
FBC, Hot Springs.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b>You surround me with a great staff team. </b> All of them are as committed to the church as I am. All of them are gifted and devoted to Jesus and the Great Commission. I wouldn't be near the pastor I want to be without their hard work and dedicated service. We love each other and we love the church.<br />
<br />
<b>You have an incredible volunteer spirit.</b> We rarely have to beg for volunteer leaders. Hundreds of you serve in areas in which God has called you to serve. You're not just doing a job in the church; you're fulfilling God's calling in your life. And you make a difference for the kingdom in Hot Springs and around the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You aren’t afraid of
change. </b> No pastor can stay at a
church as long as I have if the church isn’t willing to change along the way. Our church is 181 years old but if you were
to visit, you’d never guess we were such an old lady. Old churches like ours are often on their
last legs by now. They are slow to
change. They prefer the old to the new,
the known to the unknown, the sure thing to the big risk. Churches as old as ours are often bed-ridden
or even on life-support, spending time reminiscing about days that were never
as good as we remember them. Not us! Our folks embrace change because they worship
a God who does new things, a God on the move, a God on mission. This is not to say we haven’t had to work
through some crankiness when we have made some large changes. We have.
But people come along. They get
it over time. And they get behind it
too. Thank you, FBC, that you aren’t
afraid of change.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You practice grace.</b> Our people cut each other a lot of
slack. We take sin seriously, but we
take repentance and forgiveness and holiness seriously too. We are not what one person once called a
Miranda church where anything you say or do can be held against you. Our people practice grace. My family has been on the receiving end of
that grace many times. We love
restoration stories. We love second
chances and more. We practice grace. Maybe that’s why there so much joy in the
church family. Thanks, FBC, Hot Springs,
for practicing grace.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yHf-NKF4LgM/WhSDcwnzcAI/AAAAAAAACA8/WbqE6hwvs-cj9l-PlfW76lmUbYBsn7eiwCLcBGAs/s1600/christmaseve2016-57%2Bpic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yHf-NKF4LgM/WhSDcwnzcAI/AAAAAAAACA8/WbqE6hwvs-cj9l-PlfW76lmUbYBsn7eiwCLcBGAs/s320/christmaseve2016-57%2Bpic.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>You give generously.</b> We are a people of the open hand: glad to
receive God’s blessings, glad to share them with those in need. We make budgets. We exceed mission offering goals. We support three church plants. We help those in need. We pay our ministers generously. This is a church of extravagant givers. Thanks, FBC, Hot Springs, for being a church
that gives generously.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>You love the nations.</b> Put a stethoscope to the heart of the church
and you’ll hear the Great Commission beating in our chest. Our people pray, give, and go. Hundreds of our people have traveled at their
own expense to work in our strategic mission partnerships around the
world. The nations start across street,
and our people work there too. We love
missions. We love missionaries. We love Hot Springs. We love the nations. Thanks, FBC, Hot Springs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There is so much more I could write. This is already longer than I intended it to
be, so I’ll stop here. Dayna and I are
so grateful God sent us here and has kept us here across the years. There are days when I lose sight of how
blessed I am, but that sight returns quickly.
In fact, most days, I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s not just a
dream that I get to pastor this congregation.
So in this Thanksgiving week, I want to say thank you, First Baptist,
Hot Springs. We love you! <o:p></o:p></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-30596907661533309602017-10-31T15:09:00.001-05:002017-10-31T15:09:51.789-05:00St. Jack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnfaDTmBIdE/WfjXZzy5MCI/AAAAAAAAB8c/G3xk-F6I29sMWOdPfi3O9VqcB9dyklDUwCLcBGAs/s1600/Jack%2BEnloe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnfaDTmBIdE/WfjXZzy5MCI/AAAAAAAAB8c/G3xk-F6I29sMWOdPfi3O9VqcB9dyklDUwCLcBGAs/s400/Jack%2BEnloe.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On this All Saints’ Eve, I want to say a word about one of
the saints in my life. His name is Jack
Enloe. In February 1974, in my senior year in high school, I got serious
about Jesus. I had been in church all my
life, but Jesus was more an add-on to my life than the very core of it. Not long after I made that commitment to
Jesus, I met Jack Enloe. He was the
Minister of Music and Youth at First Baptist Church, Branson, Missouri—my
girlfriend’s church. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I attended that church now and then so I could sit with my
girlfriend (who later became my wife).
Okay, I’ll admit it, my attendance was more about glands than God, but
God can even use glands to get us where he wants us. He wanted me there. He wanted me under the mentorship of Jack
Enloe. I am the better for it. Jack was the first person I told about my
call to ministry. Jack taught me how to
share Jesus with others. Jack taught me
how to minister to youth. He modeled the
Christian life for me. He taught me how
to do basic car maintenance on the junker I was driving at the time. Mostly, Jack just made time for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Jack and his wife Carol spent last weekend at our
house. We hadn’t seen them in 40
years. Dayna and I were thrilled to host
them. And we were thrilled to have them
as guests in the church. I wanted him to
see how God had used his investment in me to impact the kingdom because his
fingerprints are on every life I touch, every ministry accomplishment God
brings to bear through my life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I tried to tell him one more time how deeply I appreciate
his investment in me so many years ago.
He just sort of dropped his head, not sure what to make of my
comments. And that’s when it hit
me. I said, “Jack, you don’t get
it. I understand that. I’ve been at this ministry gig long enough to
have been for some others what you’ve been for me. And when they tell me how much I have blessed
them, I don’t get it either. It never
seems like I did much of anything. But
it sure seemed like much to them. And
Jack your investment in me means more to me than I can say. Thank you for being God’s person in my life
when I needed you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I still don’t think he gets it. But I do, and I will never forget it
either. So on this All Saints’ Eve,
2017, here’s to St. Jack. I’m a better Christian and a better pastor because God put Jack in my life. And, because Jack took time to invest in me, the kingdom of God is wider and broader too. Thanks, Jack. The impact of your ministry is so much larger than you thought it was. Your ministry was not in vain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Who invested in you that you’d honor on this holy day?<o:p></o:p></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-4823412523698754182017-10-17T13:41:00.003-05:002017-10-17T13:43:39.064-05:00So Long to a Praying Friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I buried another friend on Saturday. I miss him already. His name is Dick Wilkerson. Yes, he was a great servant in the church. He taught the Bible for more than 50 years,
beginning preparations for the next Sunday on the previous Sunday—no Saturday
night specials for Dick or his class. He
was also the Property Director at the church—a volunteer position that comes
with an office and a generous budget. He
oversaw matters of maintenance and remodeling on the church property. I will certainly miss his service in these
important areas, but that’s not why I miss him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I miss Dick because for years he and another man, Bob Deist,
joined me every Wednesday evening in my study to pray. We prayed for church matters and church
people. We prayed for the lost. We prayed for our nation and world. We prayed for each other. In recent years, we did a good bit more of
the latter because both Bob and Dick were stricken with nagging illnesses from
which they could get no cure. Across the
years, Dick went from striding into my study to hobbling in, steadying himself
on the furniture as he made his way to the chair. But it didn’t keep him from praying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And you know what he prayed?
Sometimes through tears he prayed, “Lord, you are a good God and so very
good to me.” He meant it. No bitterness over his condition. No doubting God's love for him in spite of his situation. Dick had walked with God for so long and at such depth that broken down health couldn't shake his faith in God's love for him. The man walked well through adversity. He prayed in the spirit of Job whose prayers
included lines like these: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” And, “Even though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dick taught me a lot about walking through adversity. This is what I learned: pray honestly; keep
the faith; lean on friends; keep serving God in the places he puts you;
leverage your suffering to point others to Jesus and give him glory. If God ever puts me in that level of
adversity, I pray that I will be able to live through it like Dick lived
through his.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well, no more adversity for Dick. All is well.
He is with Jesus. No more
suffering for him. No more walker. No more limp.
No more struggle for breath. No
more pills to take. No more oxygen
through a nasal cannula. Dick is just
fine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am so glad for him.
But I’m going to miss him. I’m
going to miss those seasons of prayer. I’m
going to miss his prayers for me. Sad,
yes. But it gives me something to look
forward to: that day on the other side when we join hearts again and pray around the
throne, that day when we will get to see the ways God answered the prayers we
prayed in that study, that glorious day when all our petitions and
intercessions give way to nothing but praise. <o:p></o:p></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-19678103176329803862017-10-13T17:03:00.003-05:002017-10-13T17:09:18.507-05:0040 Years Later<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaC8zGggOPM/WeE4BCuhgkI/AAAAAAAAB6k/L7jvSI1aTEM5qa7k03zssP5H4a7w-HRgwCLcBGAs/s1600/Wedding%2Bpic.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaC8zGggOPM/WeE4BCuhgkI/AAAAAAAAB6k/L7jvSI1aTEM5qa7k03zssP5H4a7w-HRgwCLcBGAs/s320/Wedding%2Bpic.PNG" width="180" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On October 8, 1977, way back in the last century, Dayna
Vanderpool became Dayna McCallum, I and became a blessed man. Two children and seven grandchildren later, I’m
still a blessed man. Forty years is a
long time—a lot of joy, plenty of sorrow, victories, defeats, seasons when the
love is strong, seasons when it’s not.
But 40 years later, we’re still making a life together. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If a person is paying attention, he or she can learn some things
in 40 years. Here is some of what I’ve
learned …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>A large part of a
long-term marriage is just showing up every day</b>—good days, bad days, hard
days, fun days. Just keep showing up
bringing whatever you can of yourself to your marriage that day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Keeping Christ at the
center of the marriage</b> is the rock that never crumbles, the glue that never
loses its stick, the peace that finds a way to prevail, and the promise that
our entwined lives have a kingdom impact far beyond our address and our years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Having a lot in
common helps but it is not necessary.</b>
Dayna and I don’t have a lot of common interests. We don’t have much in common recreationally
or even when it comes to the kinds of TV shows and movies we prefer. She’s a night owl. I’m an early bird. Lots of differences. But what we do hold in common is strong:
faith in God, love for one another and our family, love for the church, and dogged
commitment that marriage is for a lifetime.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Love grows. </b> Married love looks different 40 years later
than it did on that October day in 1977.
There’s a maturity and a comfort to it that can only be shaped by years
of living together. Love grows wider and
higher and deeper over time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Marriage will make a
Christian out of you.</b> You can’t have
a 40-year marriage without practicing patience, forgiveness, compassion,
service, mercy, perseverance, and sacrificial love.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Sometimes it only
takes one.</b> Ideally, marriages take
two to make them work—<i>ideally</i>. But in the whirlwind that is a sinner married
to a sinner trying to make a marriage in a broken, sinful world, sometimes it
only takes one—one to hold the rope, one to keep the faith, one to stay
emotionally invested. Two is always
better. But sometimes it only takes
one. Dayna has usually been that one in
those seasons of our marriage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Words matter.</b> Words carry the power of life and death. Hurtful words stick with the recipient a long
time, corroding the soul like a slow-working acid. Life words renew, build confidence, and bring
joy. Words matter. Season them with grace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Actions matter maybe
a little bit more. </b> Over time, words
without actions ring hollow. They lose
their meaning. A spouse quits
listening. Actions matter. Do for the other.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Promises are worth
keeping. </b> Because of childhood
issues, I brought more baggage into our marriage than a diva on a two-week trip
to the South of France. I had no dad to
provide a model. I had to make it up as
we went along. Dayna could have done
better. Certainly, she could have had it
easier. But she hung in there with
patience and mercy. She was determined
to keep her promise. So was I. By keeping our promises in a Christian
marriage we bear witness to a faithful Savior who keeps his promises to the church. We bring him glory in spite of our imperfect
marriage. Promises are worth keeping.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmnfbjf6o7s/WeE4KJyi5RI/AAAAAAAAB6o/5-SXHjnlZHIcatYUYcSm50km8o7AR1FqwCLcBGAs/s1600/john%2Band%2Bdayna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmnfbjf6o7s/WeE4KJyi5RI/AAAAAAAAB6o/5-SXHjnlZHIcatYUYcSm50km8o7AR1FqwCLcBGAs/s320/john%2Band%2Bdayna.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There you go—some of what I’ve learned in 40 years of marriage. I wish I had learned these things
sooner. I wish I had learned them
better. But I couldn’t wish for a better
partner in the process than my wife Dayna. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert
Frost wrote these memorable lines:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
But I have promises to
keep, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
And miles to go before I
sleep, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
And miles to go before I sleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I don’t know how many miles or years we have to go in our
marriage—certainly way less than we did 40 years ago—but this I know, we will
continue to keep our promises for the glory of the one who keeps all his
promises to us. Happy Anniversary,
Dayna. I love you.<o:p></o:p></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-30920062451813640752017-09-20T13:53:00.001-05:002017-09-20T13:57:13.442-05:00Pam Bland: Difference-Maker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-brRw-uLdsTc/WcK4_2CZcGI/AAAAAAAAB4w/DNM8PqQOwuMIV7SY4JCk_ajgjpqSNQ6twCLcBGAs/s1600/Pam%2BBland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-brRw-uLdsTc/WcK4_2CZcGI/AAAAAAAAB4w/DNM8PqQOwuMIV7SY4JCk_ajgjpqSNQ6twCLcBGAs/s320/Pam%2BBland.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Hot Springs said goodbye to Pam Bland today. For 34 years Pam Bland gave direction to
First Step, Inc. First Step develops
resources and provides care and opportunities for special needs individuals
from birth through adulthood. When Pam
started her job First Step had 11 employees and a handful of clients. When she retired a year ago, First Step had
1100 employees a couple of thousand clients and has spread to other counties in
Arkansas. Four of her friends and
colleagues spoke at her funeral and described something of the incredible
person Pam was. By all means, Pam was a
difference-maker. I want you to know her
too, so I’m attaching some of my comments from the funeral service.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***********<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-align: justify;">At the 2013 commencement speech at MIT, Drew Houston, the
founder of Dropbox said:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.4in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
When I think about it, the happiest and
most successful people I know don't just love what they do, they're obsessed
with solving an important problem, something that matters to them. They remind me of a dog chasing a tennis
ball: Their eyes go a little crazy, the
leash snaps and they go bounding off, plowing through whatever gets in the way
… So it's not about pushing yourself;
it's about finding your tennis ball, the thing that pulls you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Pam found her tennis ball.
And if she hadn’t been willing to snap the leash and chase it down
relentlessly, if she hadn’t been that bulldog that grabs hold of your pant-cuff
and won’t let go till you noticed her and heard her out, the lives of so many
people and our whole community would be diminished. She saw a need. She felt it on a visceral level, and she took
it on with the ferocity of a mama-lion protecting her cubs. There’s just something about people like
that, isn’t there? There’s something
that causes us to take note of what they are doing. I read about a small town church burning to
the ground one night. Most of the
community were there watching it burn, watching the volunteer fireman do their
best to save the foundation. A prominent
church member noticed his neighbor next to him, sort of looked down his nose,
and said, “Hmm. First time I’ve ever
seen you at this church.” The neighbor
replied, “First time I’ve ever seen it on fire.” Pam was a woman on fire for the
disabled. A lot of us watched her burn
for a long time. And her passion set
fire to many of you for the same cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And here’s the deal: Pam didn’t just see the cause; she saw
the individual. She saw the individual
that many would rather ignore. These
people matter. These people are not
accidents, not mistakes, not rejects or factory-seconds. Our disabled brothers and sisters are people
of worth, created in the image of God, with all the dignity and meaning that
goes with it. God gives them to us to
bless and to be a blessing. That’s why
Pam always steered First Step away from only taking care of the disabled to
providing them the training, the resources, and the tools to take care of
themselves to the upper limit of their capacities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Pam saw the disabled as Jesus sees them. In Jesus’ story of the judgment in Matthew
25, he describes the hungry, the thirsty, the inmate, the impoverished, the
stranger, the sick, as <i>“the least of
these brothers and sisters of mine.”</i>
Not the least in Jesus’ eyes but the least in the eyes of most of
us. Many of us view such needy people as
helpless and even a burden. In Dickens’ <i>A Christmas Carol</i>, Ebenezer Scrooge is
asked for a donation to help the poor at Christmas. “Don’t we have poor houses for such people?”
asks Scrooge. The solicitors reply, "Those who are badly off must go
there. Many can't go there; and many
would rather die." To which Scrooge
declared, "If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease
the surplus population." Though
most would never say it, that’s the way many look at the poor, the needy, and
the disabled. We are too quick to
evaluate people not in terms of being but in terms of doing. That’s not the way Jesus looks at the
them. They are his little brothers and
sisters. And Jesus said in that parable,
<i>“When you love and help them, you love
and help me.”</i> Whether she thought
about it consciously or not, Pam saw Jesus in those she served. And every time she served them, she served
Jesus.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Pam has set a wonderful example for us all. My prayer is that all of us will look at the
needy and the disabled through Jesus’ eyes, through Pam’s eyes. And maybe we could be difference-makers too.<o:p></o:p></div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999348592503609924.post-30476845533173165122017-08-25T11:38:00.000-05:002018-07-30T08:35:04.496-05:00The Wall Came Tumbling Down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7ynTsgr7rU/WaBSYBJiIMI/AAAAAAAAB3U/CksHFOwT0eElEAicbVa9qudyf29e30FUQCLcBGAs/s1600/racism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="160" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7ynTsgr7rU/WaBSYBJiIMI/AAAAAAAAB3U/CksHFOwT0eElEAicbVa9qudyf29e30FUQCLcBGAs/s320/racism.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On Saturday, August 19, three protest groups descended upon Hot Springs. Putting these groups together is like making a bomb. Thanks to much prayer, God's mercies, and excellent law enforcement, no violence erupted. I attended a couple of prayer gatherings that morning, and during those gatherings, the Holy Spirit nudged me to address racism in my sermon the next morning. It was a Communion Sunday, so we were coming to the Lord's Table. This is where the Spirit led me. This is longer than my typical blog, but a number of people encouraged me to get this out there where more could read it. I did not print the biblical text, but I encourage you to read it before you read this sermon. The fact that this is almost a week later shows my hesitation, but here it is. I hope it helps those who take time to read it.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
********</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I had planned to go a different direction today as we
prepare to come to the Lord’s Table. But
in light of Charlottesville, the event that happened in our own city yesterday,
and a couple of prayer meetings I attended on Saturday morning, the Lord changed
my direction. I invite you to open your
Bible this morning to <b>Ephesians 2:11-21</b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Grace Thomas grew up in Birmingham, married in the 1930s,
and moved to Georgia. She was an office
worker for state government but decided she wanted more. She took night classes and got a law
degree. And then, in 1954, she had the
nerve to run for governor. Unlike the
other eight candidates, Grace argued that the just rendered verdict in the
Supreme Court case <i>Brown vs. Board of
Education</i> was a just ruling. That
desegregation and equality in education opportunities for black children was a
good thing. On election day, she came in
dead last. Her family hoped she got that
out of her system.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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She didn’t. She decided
to run for governor again in 1962 as the Civil Rights Movement was heating
up. One day in that campaign, Grace made
an appearance in the small town of Louisville, Georgia. In those days, the
centerpiece of the town square in Louisville was not a courthouse or a war
memorial but an old slave market, a tragic and evil place where human beings
had once been bought and sold like cattle or cotton or any other commodity.
Grace chose the slave market as the site for her campaign speech. As she stood on the very spot where slaves
had been auctioned, a hostile crowd of storekeepers and farmers gathered to
hear what she would say. <i>“The old has
passed away,”</i> she began, <i>“and the new
has come."</i> Gesturing to the market, she said, <i>“This place represents all about our past over which we must repent. A new day is here, a day when Georgians white
and black can join hands to work together.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This was provocative talk in 1962 Georgia. Her talk riled the crowd. <i>“Are you
a communist?”</i> a heckler shouted at her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Grace paused in midsentence. <i>“No,”</i> she said softly, <i>“I am
not.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“Well, then,</i> <i>where’d you get those blankety-blank ideas?”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Grace thought for a minute, and then she pointed to the
steeple of a nearby church. <i>“I got them
over there,”</i> she said, <i>“in Sunday
school</i>.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5999348592503609924#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Apparently, these ideas haven’t been taught in enough Sunday
Schools and churches. Even though it’s
always been at least under the surface, racism is making a comeback in our
culture—even among some who claim to be racist in the name of Jesus. In case you’re not sure what Jesus and the
Bible teach about these things, let’s briefly review this morning before we
come to the Lord’s Table. Hear the word
of the Lord … (<b><i>read the text</i></b>).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>I<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Paul was dealing with
a kind of racism in his day.</b> It
wasn’t a black-white thing; it was a Jew-Gentile thing<b>.</b> When Paul planted the church in Ephesus, the
church began with a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. But like most churches in the Empire, the
Ephesian church was predominantly Gentile.
Jews referred to themselves as <i>"the
circumcision,"</i> and, in an ethnic putdown, referred to the Gentiles as <i>"the uncircumcised."</i>—probably employed
in the same spirit of today's racial slurs.
It was not a <i>descriptive</i> term,
it was an insult. It was
name-calling. It was a putdown spoken
from one who thinks he’s superior to one he considers inferior. <i>“We’re
the circumcised. They’re the
uncircumcised.”</i> You have to look
down your nose to say it just right.
Paul felt the need to address this barrier to fellowship in the
church—this barrier, this wall between Jew and Gentile Christians who both
claimed Christ as Savior and Lord. The
animosity worked both ways. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The
Jews considered the Gentiles to be pagans.
Gentiles would bow down to anything as a god. Gentiles lived by a very loose moral standard
in areas of sexual conduct. Gentiles had
little concern over all the cleanliness issues that were important to
Jews. The Jews looked down their noses
at Gentiles. They believed the Gentiles
were an inferior race. That didn’t go
away when Jews became Christian. One of
the earliest questions the newly birthed church had to resolve when God started
adding Gentiles to the church was this: Does a Gentile have to become a Jew
before he can become a Christian? An
entire chapter of Acts is devoted to a conference designed to answer that
question. Of course, the answer was no. But many Jewish believers still considered
Gentiles their inferiors in matters of religion and culture. It had been bred into them. That’s the Jews.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On
the other hand, Gentiles viewed the Jews as weird, odd, bizarre even. Jews worshipped a God they couldn't see and
couldn't reproduce in the form of an idol.
They were morally strict. They
were very picky about what they would eat.
They carried a religious chip on their shoulders. Who <i>are</i>
these people?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There
was an “us against them” mentality on the part of both Jews and Gentiles. Racism had them by the heart. A huge wall stood between them—a wall built
by a sense of racial superiority and racial hatred. That’s the way they were. Those are the attitudes they brought with
them when they came to Christ and the church.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>II<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>But Jesus changes things.</b>
Jesus knocks down the wall that divides the races. He pushes against that wicked wall with those
nail-scarred hands until it fractures and comes tumbling down. Paul is writing to a church where racial
tension was palpable. And according to
Paul, Jesus says, <i>“Not in my house! No racial walls in my house.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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People
who don’t know Christ, those who are still dead in their sins and slave to
their sins, some of them may well be racist and think little of it. Usually it’s passed down from their
parents. They are blinded by their
bigotry. They are too blind to see that
all of us are made in the image of God, too blind to see that basic human
kindness and decency trumps racism. They
don’t know Christ. The wall of racism
may still stand firm in their hearts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But
when we are in Christ, the wall comes tumbling down. It must.
There is no other option. Jesus
demands it. Jesus won’t stand for racism
among his people. It’s a sin against
God, a sin against one another, and a sin against love. If you are in Christ and you harbor racial
hatred in your heart, you need to repent. Why would you want to gather up the rubble of a wall Jesus destroyed and build it back again? Why would you want
to work against the very Savior you profess to believe and love and follow?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Don’t
you realize that we human beings are more alike than different, that we all
share a common made-in-the-image-of God-humanity? And among the things we have in common, two
are central.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>We are <i>all</i>
sinners</b>. There is no racial supremacy or
superiority. Every race is comprised of
sinners. History makes that clear. From unspeakable atrocities to intentional discrimination
to arrogant smugness, every race has done their part to build walls and hurt
others. No race gets a pass. No race is
better than another. We are all sinners. We all hold that in common. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And
we all hold this in common too: <b>Jesus
saves us all the same way</b>. He saves
Jews and Gentiles the same way. He saves
black people and white people the same way.
He saves Hispanics and Asians the same way. We are saved through the blood of Jesus
Christ. There is no black Savior, no
Hispanic Savior, no white Savior.
There’s just <i>one </i>Savior. His name is Jesus, and he loves us all the
same and gave himself for us all. Do you
think it takes more of Jesus’ blood to save people from other races than it
takes to save you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Jesus
came to tear down the dividing wall.
Don’t try to rebuild something that Jesus tore down.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>III<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Do this instead: do what you can to love all
people like Jesus loves people.</b> Be kind. Build friendships. Serve one another.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Around 1910 or 1911 a tornado swept through Union Church,
Mississippi, where my grandfather was managing his father’s farm. The twister damaged some of the farm
buildings. And when the storm was over
my grandfather, Samuel Tucker McCallum, went to check on the black families who
lived on the place. When he arrived at
one of the houses, a mother was wailing in grief. <i>“My baby’s gone! My baby’s gone! The storm blew my baby away,”</i> she
cried. Granddaddy did his best to
comfort her. He tried to give her hope
by telling her that he had heard stories of children who had survived such
things, and that he would go make careful search for the child.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And sure enough, he found the baby about fifty yards from
the house. He was under a small tree,
laying on his back in a puddle of water, crying to beat the band, trembling and
scared, but apparently unhurt. My
granddaddy scooped that baby up in his strong arms, carried him back to his
mama as quickly as he could, and turned her tears into an ear to ear grin. Mourning was turned to dancing. And that boy’s mama was so thrilled and so
grateful to get her baby back alive that she changed the baby’s name right
there on the spot. She said, <i>“From now on this baby’s name is Sam.”</i> Get it? That's my grandfather's name. And from that time forward and until his
death, that boy was known by all as ‘Cyclone Sam.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Cyclone Sam grew up to be a farmer in the area. He lived to
a ripe old age and used to bring vegetables to some of my grandfather’s cousins
who lived in Jackson. He never forgot
what my grandfather did for him and his family. Once he even made a trip to Jackson when he
heard my Aunt Martha would be there so he could greet her and personally thank
her for what her father, Sam McCallum, had done for him so many years ago. When Cyclone Sam died, my Aunt Martha and Aunt
Nettie went to his funeral. When the ushers
heard their names, they were seated with Cyclone Sam's family and enjoyed a
wonderful meal and visit with them after the service. No wonder my dad, a southern man raised in
Mississippi and Lake Village, Arkansas, taught his sons that since everybody is
equal in God’s eyes, they ought to be equal in ours. That’s what his daddy taught him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And this truth wasn’t taught through protests and
demonstrations. It was taught by word
and example. Good old Cyclone Sam. It’s amazing how simple acts of compassion,
love, and friendship open doors of relationship that transcend the color of
one’s skin or ethnicity. And what my
granddaddy did on a small scale … <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>IV<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Jesus did on a cosmic
scale.</b> And I pray he keeps on doing
it. A cyclone of racism is sweeping
through our land again. It’s tearing
apart lives and families and our nation.
God hears the cries of his people.
And he sends a Jewish Messiah named Jesus to find us and save us and get
us home. Jesus came. He ministered to anybody and everybody—Jew
and Gentile and Samaritan, every outcast, sinner, and tax collector. He loved them all and he loved them the
same. But in order to complete his salvation
mission, he had to express his love in more than healing and teaching and
kindness; he had to die. And all the
powers that be got into the act of killing him.
The Jewish leadership pushed for crucifixion. The Gentile Romans pounded the nails through
his hands and feet, all in the Passover presence of people from all over the
known world of the day: many colors, many languages. You may be thinking, <i>“How could they kill Jesus?”</i>
<i>They</i>? Just because we weren’t in Jerusalem that day,
we all took part in the lynching and the killing. Our sins killed him. Jesus was no victim here. He could have said no to the cross at any
point. But he didn’t. Our need is too great. His love is too strong. The cross was the only way to save us. Jesus had to die—to die for our sins by
taking our sins, including racism, on himself, bear their penalty, and break
their power.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
At the end of that dark Friday, it looked like sin won. On Saturday, it looked like sin won. But on Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. The penalty and power of sin was finished. The walls that separate us came tumbling
down. Jesus won. Truth won.
Love won. And when Jesus comes
again even the <i>presence</i> of sin will
be banished forever, and as brothers and sisters in one big happy family, every
nation, tribe, and tongue will sing Christ’s praise around his throne: <i>“Worthy, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to
save us all!”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Until that day, Jesus is still moving about the earth,
finding lost children and bringing them home to a Father who changes their name:
from dead in sin to alive in Christ; from lost and condemned to saved and
justified; from sinner to saint; from wall-builder to bridge-builder; from
racist to one who loves like Christ. He
changes our name to <i>Christian</i>—little
Christ. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>IV<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>That’s why we come
not to the Lord’s <i>wall</i> but to the
Lord’s <i>Table</i>.</b> Walls divide.
Tables bring us together. Walls
say, <i>“You belong on one side, I belong on
the other.”</i> The Lord’s Table says, <i>“There is a place for everyone at the same
table.” </i> That’s right. There is no Jewish Table, no Gentile
table. There is no black table, no table
just for white people. There is only one
table for us all—the <i>Lord’s</i>
Table. And regardless of your skin color
or your heritage, if Jesus has changed your name to Christian, there is a place
at the Table for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
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<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5999348592503609924#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">As told by Thomas G. Long, <i>Preaching from Memory to Hope</i>
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 19-20. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
John McCallumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05239295465786034011noreply@blogger.com4