Mark

WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?
Mark 1:4-11
Introduction:

BEFORE GEORGE W. BUSH WAS PRESIDENT, HIS FATHER, GEORGE H. BUSH SERVED IN THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE. Most of us remember the first President Bush, we remember him as the man who served as Vice-president under Ronald Reagan for two terms. We remember when he won the presidency, and succeeded Reagan. If you are a Republican you probably remember President Bush as a great leader who continued the policies of Reagan with success. If you’re a Democrat you probably remember the three little words that many political analysts suggest lost him a second term as president. Read my lips! But here’s a story about the first President Bush that you may not have heard, during his campaign to become President, Bush was visiting a certain nursing home in East Texas. After a brief speech on retirement home reform, the future president of the United States decided to retire to the rest room. While he was in the rest room an elderly man entered the fellow was in his 80’s, wearing pajamas, his hair was un-kept, and looked like his had just gotten out of bed. He was obviously a resident of the home, Bush nodded and gave a courtesy "hello." The man looked at Bush as if he were an ordinary nobody. As the two men were leaving president Bush looked at the man and said, "Sir, do you know who I am?" In a gruff voice the old man replied "No sir I don’t but If you’ll ask a nurse she’ll tell you!"  There are people in this world who have no idea who they are. The thing is, most of these people do NOT live in nursing homes. They live their lives, attempting to be what every one else expects them to be. They’ve not gotten in touch with themselves to the point that they know who they are, who they really are inside. Who we think we are is very important. It defines what we do, it defines our relationships with other people, people build their expectations of us based on who we they think we are. We respond to people based on who we think we are, our perception of ourselves, our self-image, our Identity.

THIS SCRIPTURE TEXT FOR TODAY IS ALL ABOUT IDENTITY. This text answers the question, "Who Is Jesus?" The question is answered for Jesus, and it's answered for us as the reader. And it's very apparent, The text begins with an introduction of John as the prophesied messenger who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. We hear John telling the people of one greater than he who will follow....Then, Jesus walks into the picture, He's baptized, Heaven is torn open, and we, as the reader, are allowed to hear, with Jesus, a voice from heaven...."You are my son whom I love, with you I am well pleased!" Cut and dry! Jesus is the prophesied messiah, Jesus is the son of God. In fact, we could stop the message right here and go home early. I mean, Mark just clears it all up for us. The savior, the messiah of the world is come, and we know who he is. Let's go home now, right? Except, there are some things about this text that are not very clear. Unasked questions that come to mind. Why was Jesus Baptized? The Messiah is the sinless son of God, but John’s baptism is a Baptism for repentance and forgiveness of sins. What is the meaning of the voice from heaven? Who is the voice talking too? Why does the voice say what it says? And most important, what does this mean for us? What are we supposed to do about it?

Body:

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF ORGANIZED RELIGION THE CHURCH HAS STRUGGLED WITH THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. In fact, there was a time when the church had edited Jesus baptism out of the Bible. Too difficult to explain, we preach that Jesus was the sinless son of God, and yet he was baptized by John. Who preached that his baptism was for the remission of sins. So the church did what we as human beings tend to do with that which we don’t understand, we get rid of it. So we don’t have to deal with it, but that was the early church wasn’t it. Not the contemporary church, especially not Old River Terrace United Methodist Church. So we will deal with this text, and we will deal with Jesus’ baptism. Now one way to shed light on a difficult text is to open the text by placing ourselves in the story. But if we were to place ourselves in the Baptism Story as told by Mark it would be very difficult for us to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. In Matthew’s account John recognizes Jesus and tries to dissuade him from being baptized saying..."who am I to baptize you!", and everyone hears the voice from heaven. In the Gospel of John, the baptizer actually points Jesus out to the crowd and says.. "That’s him! There's the lamb of God!" And though no one hears the voice from heaven, John hears it and tells everyone what was said. But none of this takes place in Mark, we're not told that John even recognized who Jesus was. Jesus just shows up and is baptized, just like everybody else, and the voice appears to be only for the benefit of Jesus and us as the reader. read verses 10-11 This is a significant difference in this Gospel account, the voice is not informing the crowd, but it's assuring Jesus. Assuring him that he is God’s Son, assuring him that he is sinless. That God is pleased with him.    And it just begs the question...If Jesus is the sinless son of God why does he need to be baptized? The text doesn't say, but Matthew does give us insight read Matthew 3:13-15. This phrase, "to fulfill all righteousness" probably refers to Jesus identification of himself as a devout Jew. A devout Jew would observe the law and any practices associated with a good Jewish life by submitting to Baptism, Jesus affirms this standard of righteousness as valid, both for himself and for all of humanity. To make it simple.....Jesus was providing us with an example of what we needed to do. This has been an explanation of the church for eons, you can be a Christian without having been baptized, but you can't be an obedient Christian. Because Christ was baptized, and he tells us we need to be baptized, but there's more to it than just that!

WHY THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN?  And if we're going to be true to this Gospel text we have to ask why the voice spoke only to Jesus? Perhaps the best way to find the answer is to look at the text read verses 10-11. Let’s us for a moment lay aside any preconceived beliefs or notions, let’s look at what is actually happening. God is claiming Jesus as his own, God is affirming Jesus. What God is saying to Jesus in effect is "You are my child and I love you!" In the United Methodist Church we believe that this happens every single time someone is baptized. The heavens might not be torn open, we may not hear the voice of God, but the baptism is nonetheless initiated by God. And God is saying, "You are my child and I love you!" When we are Baptized God claims us as his own. Unlike Jesus, none of us were born as sons or daughters of God, but because of Jesus, God has adopted us. We are adopted sons and daughters of the living God. Some of us were baptized as infants, some of us were sprinkled, some of us were immersed, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that your baptism represented God's action of accepting you, God was saying, "You are my child, I love you and I want you to love me by loving my son." And when we make our confession of faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, and take Christ into our hearts as the Savior our lives, we respond to God's action at our baptism. If we're an adult when we’re baptized the response is immediate. If we’re infants, hopefully we grow to make that response.

BUT YOU AREN'T BAPTIZED FOR NOTHING. God expects you to respond. When God claimed Jesus as His son and said, "With you I'm well pleased." Jesus didn't just stand there, Jesus responded to God's statement about who he was, and he started acting like the Son of God. He started acting like a Savior. Jesus’ Baptism was his calling into ministry, and so our baptism is our calling into ministry. When God baptized each of us God called us into ministry. When God said to us through the act of baptism. "You are my daughter and I love you, You are my son and I love you," God had an expectation that we would respond, and not just stand there with water dripping around our ears. God expects us to live and act like who we are, sons and daughters of God. God calls us to go out into a world that doesn't know the love of God, and live that love, proclaim that love, share that love, and spread the message to the world that they too are children of God and that God loves them. But friends, if you don’t know who you are this will be an impossible task for you. I love the words that we recite as Methodists, and as Christians in a baptism service. Most especially I love the phrase, "remember your baptism and be thankful." Remember how my Spirit entered your life, remember when I called you to my family. Remember when I called you to a life of ministry. I love these words because if we will do this, if we will remember our baptism than we will never forget who we are, and if we were too young that we can’t remember our baptism....It doesn’t matter. We can experience our baptism every time any one is baptized. That’s one of the wonders of this Holy Sacrament. And who knows, maybe that’s another reason why God placed this troublesome text in our bibles, So that we could read the story of Jesus’ Baptism and remember. Just in case we had forgotten, so that we could hear with Jesus that voice that spoke to him at his baptism, and that speaks to us at ours. That voice that says...."No matter who the world says you are, no matter who you think you are, remember You are my child, and I love you!"

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WHERE THERE'S MISERY, THERE'S MESSIAH
Mark 1:40-45
Introduction:

A MODERN DAY LEPER. Would you touch him? A man kneels before you with a deadly disease, he doesn't really know how much time he has left. He's been alone and isolated for a long time now, he can't even remember the last time he experienced someone's touch, because he's sick. Because he has a disease and people don't touch people with this disease. In fact, the common belief is that victims of this disease are sinners. They have this disease because they deserve it, it is a result of a sinful lifestyle. Truth is, many people believe that this specific disease is the wrath of God visited upon the sinner, visited upon those people who live sinful lifestyles. The thing of it is, it’s virtually impossible to contract this disease by touch alone. At least that's what the experts say, but still, people just don't touch when you have this disease. So I ask you, would you touch him? This man who kneels before you, this man who would give almost anything just for a hug? Just to be embraced by another human being.

HOW OFTEN WE HEAR THE SCRIPTURE STORIES AND DISTANCE OURSELVES? We tell ourselves, "It was a different time, a different culture." We avoid placing ourselves in the story and asking those questions that we don't want to answer. Could I be that compassionate? Would I have that much faith, or courage, or love? Would I touch him? We tell ourselves that it is a question we don't need to answer, because there are no lepers today. There is not a leper colony existing just outside the fringes of Channelview or Baytown. So its easy for us to listen to the reaction of the people in that culture and be genuinely shocked. We're shocked that they would blame the victims for their disease. We're shocked that they would ostracize them from community. We're shocked that they would banish them to die in misery and loneliness, just because they have a disease. And because it is a story of a long ago time and a far away culture we can romanticize what we might do, "I believe that I might touch him after all I have faith in God, and Jesus was there and he touched him." "I'm a compassionate person and I understand misery and loneliness." "I'm mature enough in my faith that I wouldn't blame the victim for his disease neither would I believe that God had given him his disease because of his lifestyle." "Yes, I might touch him, Jesus would be proud of me!" It can be so easy to distance ourselves, and when we do this the mandates of Christ seem easy. The Christian life becomes something that we can fit into our way of living, and it ceases to be something that changes the way we live, that changes who we are.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BRING IT INTO OUR CULTURE, OUR TIME, INTO OUR DAILY LIFE. Imagine that a new church goes up across the street from your house, couple of weeks later the pastor knocks on your front door just wants to stop by and say "Hi." Get to know the neighbors, you're shocked to find out he's an ex-con and a rehabilitated drug addict and during his visit you notice his many tattoos that snake up and down both arms. But he's not bothering you and you have no intention of ever going to his church, such you forget about it for a while. But then you begin to notice things, suspicious looking people hanging out at the church all hours of the night, loud rock and roll blaring from inside the church, large groups of people smoking outside the church. You do a little research and you discover that this particular church has an unusual ministry to the homeless, to drug addicts, to alcoholics. This is not a made up story but this church actually exists. Just north of Port Arthur Texas in a little town of 17,000 people named Groves, a man by the name of Rev. Hebert, an ex-con, a rehabilitated drug addict. Began a ministry to the homeless and addicts, in an old abandoned run-down church, and how did the people in the neighborhood react to this ministry? Large groups went to the city council to complain, because they didn't like the fact that "these" kinds of people were entering their neighborhood. In fact, here are a few quotes from some of the Christian people living in that neighborhood, "This used to be a good neighborhood now I lock my doors at night." "I don't let my daughter practice her baton twirling in the front yard anymore because I'm worried for her safety." "I'm not against this type of ministry, but in the proper place and in the proper setting." And how did the City Council respond? They refused to renew the churches zoning deed, they ordered the church to move or face fines of $200 per day. Even though the local police department says that there has been no increase whatsoever in crime, since Rev. Hebert and his congregation have moved into the neighborhood. Even though Rev Hebert agreed to stop allowing homeless people to live inside the church, even though he agreed to move the drug counseling sessions to another location. It would seem that the people of Groves don't like "those" kinds of people living in their back yard. And I wonder, "Would they touch him, do you think?" This man who kneels before them with this terrible disease?

THERE IS A QUESTION IN THIS TEXT ISN'T THERE? Something happens that makes us wonder what Jesus is really doing, because when Jesus does touch the man who kneels before him, when he has compassion on this man, and heals him of his disease. He says something to him that makes us wonder, "Don't tell this to anyone!" And we wonder at that! We wonder why Jesus would want anyone to be quiet about a great miracle of God. We wonder why Jesus would tell anyone not to tell others about himself. We wonder and perhaps even worry about the answer. Is it that Jesus doesn't want anyone to know that he touched this man? That he touched an unclean man with a terrible disease, that he touched the untouchable. Could it be that he' using some kind of reverse psychology on the man? Tell him not to tell so he will tell, kind of like teenager psychology. Or could it simply be that Jesus realizes that the one thing he doesn't need is to be publicized as a Faith Healer. Friends wanted people to come to faith with an understanding of who he is and what he is about. Jesus was not seeking to become a star, known as one who relives people of burdens and difficulties. In fact, all the way to the cross Jesus will be trying to get those people who think "where the Messiah is, there is no misery." To accept a new perspective," where there is misery, there is Messiah."

The Church Has Often Been Guilty of Feeding a Fantasy About Being Christian.  That the Christian life is a life free of misery. That where the Messiah is, there is no misery. "Come to Christ and your life will be free from pain, give to Christ and you will be free from financial burdens, live Christ and life's difficulties will vanish forever." Friends, its just not true! But this much is true, "Where there is Misery, There Is Messiah!" When terrorists hijacked those commercial airlines, when they attacked the passengers and crew members, threatening them and stabbing them, there was misery. The messiah was there! When the first two airliners crashed into the Twin Towers of the World trade center, exploding in a catastrophic ball of fire. When the people were frantically trying to make their way out of the building to safety. The Messiah was there! When the third airliner crashed into the Pentagon killing hundreds of people, destroying a symbol of our American freedom. Making it clear to every one of us that this was an attack against America herself. The Messiah was there! When the fourth airliner crashed into a field short of it's intended target, Camp David. The Messiah was there! There is Misery in New York City and Washington and all over the world. But good friends, "Where There Is Misery, There Is Messiah." Because Jesus touched the leper, he put himself at risk of having to join the leper colony. This is so important for understanding Jesus ministry, for those of us who would continue his work. Because Jesus never ministered long distance, his work of forgiving brought him in contact with sinners. His work of lifting placed him among the fallen. His words of encouragement were given among the hopeless. His healing put him with the diseased. His giving life took him to the tomb. If we're truly going to be the church, then we must know this truth, "where there is misery, there is Messiah!" As the church, this is a truth that we need to proclaim to the world. That where there is misery, there is Messiah!

Most of us know this, but there's something else that we also know, but something that we sometimes forget, something that we should be reminded of in light of today's text, God calls us, not only to be comforted, but to be comforters. As God's church entrusted with the truth of Christ we have a responsibility to those in misery. Because when something of this magnitude happens it affects people. People who have difficulty trusting people, will trust less now. People who worry if there is a God, people who worry if God really cares, will worry more now. People who hate people that are different, will hate more now. Because now they feel they have a reason to hate. As people who love God and follow the example of the life led by God's Son, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, we need to assure people that where there is misery there is Messiah. That God does not promise us a life free from suffering. But that wherever people are suffering that Christ is there, providing hope, comfort and peace. But even more than giving these words of hope, we need live this truth. We need to be a Messiah to people in misery. One of the wonders of God is that God has the remarkable ability to bring blessings out of the worst of situations. This tragedy has galvanized the American people, we've seen it on television, white's, blacks, Asians, working side by side tirelessly, digging in the rubble in New York City's Manhattan Island. Thousands upon thousands of people standing in lines for hours to give blood. Countless prayer vigils for those missing and feared dead, and for their families. Good friends, this is what we mean when we say, BE THE CHURCH! But the thing is, people are in misery all the time. There were people living in misery before any of this happened. And when it's just a distant memory people will still live in misery, because life will always have it's share of misery. And our calling as God's Holy, loving and compassionate people is to be messiah in times of misery, not only when misery comes in the thousands, but when the one is in misery.

IT'S IMPORTANT THAT TODAY, I AS A MINISTER, AS YOUR PASTOR, BRING YOU WORDS OF COMFORT AND HOPE. But it is also important, every time we gather to hear a word from God. That we leave with a challenge to BE the church. To be that to which God has called us, a message that does not call people to be great is not a complete message, and so I ask you again, "Would You Touch Him?" This man who kneels before you in misery? Would you touch this diseased man who has wished for so long just to be embraced by another human being? Can you ignore the belief system of society that says this man is a sinner, that his disease is a consequence of his life and living? Can you overcome the fear that you might catch what he has? Will you risk joining him so you can touch him, show him compassion and love? And before you distance yourself too much, before you answer this question too quickly, let me tell you about the man kneeling before you. Because he's not from another time or another place, and he doesn't have leprosy, he has aids! Now let me ask you would you touch him? This man who kneels before you?

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Don’t Wait For The Brick!
Mark 2:1-12
Introduction:

WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. That's what the text says, and truthfully, I imagine that's why some of you are here. A promise that you would see something unusual. This certainly qualifies as unusual. I can imagine what the people in the neighborhood might be thinking. A couple driving by the church in their car, "Ethel, Ethel look at that man up on that roof." "Who do you suppose he is?" "Do you recken that's the preacher?" "Wonder what he said to make the people chase him up there like that?" A preacher on the roof? Sounds like a good title for a movie, but I need your help, because I believe the Lord wants us to lift him up this morning and not me. So try for the next few moments, not to think so much about this preacher on the roof, but let's open our minds to the story of four men who were on a roof, in a small town called Caperneum.

THEY USED THEIR FINGERS TO PICK A HOLE IN THE ROOF. Once the hole was large enough, they tore the roof apart with their hands. Until the hole was large enough that they could lower their friend into the room. Into the place where Jesus was, because this man, their friend was a paralytic. He had no feeling, and imagine for a moment what it must have been like. First, you have to figure out how to get a man in a stretcher on a roof. You have to carefully lift him up on the roof knowing to drop him would most likely kill him. Then slowly, you use your fingernails to start a hole in the mud and thatch roof. People outside yell up at you, :"What are you doing up there stop that!" When the hole is big enough for you to see through into the room below, people are laughing and pointing, and you wonder to yourself, "What if nothing happens?" "What if this is just a waste of time?"  And what do you suppose the relationship was between these four men on the roof and the paralyzed man? Were they family? Were they childhood friends? Does it really matter? If we were to ask the paralytic what would he say about the four men? Who carried a man confined to a stretcher on top of a roof. Who dug a hole in that roof with their bare hands. Who then lowered his body into the room where Jesus was. Just on the outside chance that Jesus might be for real. That this paralyzed man might have feeling. What would he say about the ones who carried him up on that roof? Thank God for them! Thank God that they believed! Last Saturday night, I was at the Mall. It was closing time, and there was a lady who had a flat tire. I stopped to see if she needed help and she said she had called her husband and that he was on his way. After further investigation I discovered that although she had a spare, she didn't have a jack. And she wasn't sure if her husband was going to have a jack. So I got the jack out of my car and I changed her tire. Just as I finished the job the husband shows up, and he's very grateful. So grateful in fact that he tries to give me money. I refused the money and told him, "Just help the next guy!" He and his wife then talked a while and he comes to me and he says, "Let me do something for you, how about coming to church with us?" Now they didn't know I was a preacher, but you see they believed that there was something at their church that was of great value. They believed in their church.

FRIENDS, I AM UP ON THIS ROOF TODAY BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE. You believe in a loving God who can heal broken spirits. A God who can help people to feel again. People who have forgotten how to feel, and because you believe, you brought your friends to this place. And I know it might not have been easy, there were risks involved. What if they don't like it? What if they get offended? Will it affect our relationship? What if they don't feel God the way I feel? Sadly, we're becoming a world that seems to be forgetting how to feel. We forget that there is nothing more important in this world than our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other. But then again, that's why God has called us to this place, that why God has called us to be the church. To seek out those paralyzed people and bring them to a place where Jesus can do His thing! And friends, we can't afford to let up. We have to find those paralyzed people, the people who can't feel anything anymore, the people who need to be spiritually carried to a place where God can work in their lives. And finding these people is not easy, because they don't know they want to be found. There was a certain pastor who phoned the home of some of his church members. A voice answered the phone with a whispered, "Hello" Pastor: "Who is this?" Whisper: "Jimmy" Pastor" "How old are you Jimmy?" The whisper: "Four" Pastor: "Jimmy, may I speak to your Mom?" "She's Busy", "Then may I speak to your Dad?" "He's busy too!" "Are there any other adults at your home?" "The police" "Then let me speak to one of the police officers." "They're busy too" "Who else is there?" "Fireman" "Well, put one of the fireman on the phone." "They're busy" "Jimmy what are all the busy people doing?" "They're looking for me!" Just like Jimmy a lot of people are hiding, not only from parents and police but they're hiding from God.

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Don’t Wait For The Brick!
Mark 2:1-12
Introduction:

WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. That's what the text says, and truthfully, I imagine that's why some of you are here. A promise that you would see something unusual. This certainly qualifies as unusual. I can imagine what the people in the neighborhood might be thinking. A couple driving by the church in their car, "Ethel, Ethel look at that man up on that roof." "Who do you suppose he is?" "Do you recken that's the preacher?" "Wonder what he said to make the people chase him up there like that?" A preacher on the roof? Sounds like a good title for a movie, but I need your help, because I believe the Lord wants us to lift him up this morning and not me. So try for the next few moments, not to think so much about this preacher on the roof, but let's open our minds to the story of four men who were on a roof, in a small town called Caperneum.

THEY USED THEIR FINGERS TO PICK A HOLE IN THE ROOF. Once the hole was large enough, they tore the roof apart with their hands. Until the hole was large enough that they could lower their friend into the room. Into the place where Jesus was, because this man, their friend was a paralytic. He had no feeling, and imagine for a moment what it must have been like. First, you have to figure out how to get a man in a stretcher on a roof. You have to carefully lift him up on the roof knowing to drop him would most likely kill him. Then slowly, you use your fingernails to start a hole in the mud and thatch roof. People outside yell up at you, :"What are you doing up there stop that!" When the hole is big enough for you to see through into the room below, people are laughing and pointing, and you wonder to yourself, "What if nothing happens?" "What if this is just a waste of time?"
And what do you suppose the relationship was between these four men on the roof and the paralyzed man? Were they family? Were they childhood friends? Does it really matter? If we were to ask the paralytic what would he say about the four men? Who carried a man confined to a stretcher on top of a roof. Who dug a hole in that roof with their bare hands. Who then lowered his body into the room where Jesus was. Just on the outside chance that Jesus might be for real. That this paralyzed man might have feeling. What would he say about the ones who carried him up on that roof? Thank God for them! Thank God that they believed!

Last Saturday night, I was at the Mall. It was closing time, and there was a lady who had a flat tire. I stopped to see if she needed help and she said she had called her husband and that he was on his way. After further investigation I discovered that although she had a spare, she didn't have a jack. And she wasn't sure if her husband was going to have a jack. So I got the jack out of my car and I changed her tire. Just as I finished the job the husband shows up, and he's very grateful. So grateful in fact that he tries to give me money. I refused the money and told him, "Just help the next guy!" He and his wife then talked a while and he comes to me and he says, "Let me do something for you, how about coming to church with us?" Now they didn't know I was a preacher, but you see they believed that there was something at their church that was of great value. They believed in their church.

FRIENDS, I AM UP ON THIS ROOF TODAY BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE. You believe in a loving God who can heal broken spirits. A God who can help people to feel again. People who have forgotten how to feel, and because you believe, you brought your friends to this place. And I know it might not have been easy, there were risks involved. What if they don't like it? What if they get offended? Will it affect our relationship? What if they don't feel God the way I feel? Sadly, we're becoming a world that seems to be forgetting how to feel. We forget that there is nothing more important in this world than our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other. But then again, that's why God has called us to this place, that why God has called us to be the church. To seek out those paralyzed people and bring them to a place where Jesus can do His thing! And friends, we can't afford to let up. We have to find those paralyzed people, the people who can't feel anything anymore, the people who need to be spiritually carried to a place where God can work in their lives. And finding these people is not easy, because they don't know they want to be found.

There was a certain pastor who phoned the home of some of his church members. A voice answered the phone with a whispered, "Hello" Pastor: "Who is this?" Whisper: "Jimmy" Pastor" "How old are you Jimmy?" The whisper: "Four" Pastor: "Jimmy, may I speak to your Mom?" "She's Busy", "Then may I speak to your Dad?" "He's busy too!" "Are there any other adults at your home?" "The police" "Then let me speak to one of the police officers." "They're busy too" "Who else is there?" "Fireman" "Well, put one of the fireman on the phone." "They're busy" "Jimmy what are all the busy people doing?" "They're looking for me!" Just like Jimmy a lot of people are hiding, not only from parents and police but they're hiding from God.

WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE HIDING FROM GOD. If we really Believe than we will find them wherever they are hiding, and we will bring them to this place. To the place where we know the one is who can heal them. Who can give them feeling again. Who can not only save them in death, but who can teach them how to really live with power. And it is risky, we have no guarantees that they will feel again. We have no guarantees that they will open their hearts to God's grace and love, but our job is not to save them. Only to bring them to a place where God can save them. Not that this is the only place where God is, but it's a place where we have found God. This culture says that anything goes. And when we as the church don't buy into that, we're looked at as being judgmental. In fact, when a recent survey was done with the Buster Generation, people born between 1964 – 83, the people were asked, "why they don't attend church?" Number one reason, "Because the church is filled with judgmental people." And the truth is, sometimes we convey a judgmental image, especially when the churches continued existence focuses mainly on the physical beauty of it's building. Rather than the vital life of it's faith. Especially when sermons focus on what we must do to belong. Instead of what Christ has done to accept us. Especially when we're more interested in a perfect performance. Than a heartfelt faith. As the church we cannot buy into an anything goes moral ethic. But as the church we must say to the world, "Anywhere Goes." That we are the Body of Christ, and that we will go anywhere, to anything, to anyone, at anytime. In an effort to introduce people to Jesus Christ. Even if it means we have to dig a hole in a roof. Even if it means we have to sit in chairs on the front lawn, and have our pastor preach from the roof.

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YOUR BOAT WON'T SINK,
AND THE STORM WON'T LAST FOREVER
Mark 4:35-41
Introduction:

DON'T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN? That phrase just kind of sticks out in this text doesn't it! It sticks out because it's harsh an accusation made by scared disciples to a sleeping Jesus. Why are you sleeping? DON'T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN?! It's a foolish question. a question that separates the disciples from Jesus. How can he not care? He's in the boat with them, his fate is their fate.

DON'T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN? Truth is, their question is often our question God, don't you care? Where are you? Why don't you care about this storm in my life? Can't you see that my boat is sinking? You're called the God of love where's the love? The winds are blowing, the waves are crashing, the rains are pouring, the lightning's flashing, my boat is sinking, DON'T YOU CARE IF I DROWN? Don't try to fool yourself into believing you've never been there. It doesn't matter how strong your faith, how much you love Jesus, how calm the seas of your life are at this particular moment, their question is our question. JESUS, DON'T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN?

OF COURSE THEY KNEW THAT HE CARED. Just as we know that Jesus cares for us, but when you're afraid and you're in the middle of a moment of crisis it's easy to forget certain truths about the faith. It's easy to get uptight. There was a certain woman who went to the grocery store during a hot summer day, when she got back to her car with her groceries she put them in the back seat. Then remembered some things she had forgotten, and went back inside to finish her shopping. A little while later she was back in the car she started her engine, and headed home. As she drove down the highway, to her horror she heard three Pops! Then felt something hit her in the back of the head. Holding her hand over the wound, she managed to drive herself to the nearest hospital. She stumbled into the emergency room screaming that she had been shot. She got instant attention. When the doctor got to the scene he told her to move her hand so he could see the wound, "I can't" she said, "my brains might leak out!" Finally, the doctor convinced her to let him see the wound, and as she removed her hand from the back of her head he started to laugh! The woman was indignant, "What's the matter with you?", she said, "What kind of doctor are you?" "Don't you care if I die?" "I can actually feel my brains starting to leak out of my head!" At which point the doctor pulled some of brains out of her hair and said, "I've seen many fatal wounds in my life." And then showing her what he had pulled out of her hair he said, "but lady I've never seen anybody die from getting hit in the back of the head with canned biscuit dough!" You see the hot car had exploded the canned biscuits. The Moral of the story, be careful but don't be uptight.

THE DISCIPLES ARE VERY UPTIGHT. And on the one side they have every right to be uptight, it's dark, nighttime, read verse 35. It's one thing to be caught in a storm, in a small boat, in the middle of a lake, in the daytime. Quite another experience when it's dark, and this must have been a furious storm, remember that many of the disciples are fishermen. Men who have spent their entire life on the water, men who have seen many storms. But this storm scares them! The text calls it a furious squall. Anybody on a lake at night, in a small boat, during a storm, has every right to get uptight. But on the other hand they have walked with Jesus, they live in a part of history that sits on the other side of the crucifixion. Jesus, the living breathing Jesus, is a part of their every day life. And we who sit on this side of the crucifixion, we who live in an age where Jesus is often more real in the text than he is in our life. We sometimes look at these disciples with a sense of disdain. How can those guys be so uptight? Don't they know who it is that sits in the boat with them? If I were there I wouldn't be uptight. Man, this is Jesus in the boat, Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus who rose from the dead. What's wrong with those disciples? That they would ask such a silly, disrespectful, foolish question. DON'T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN!

BUT REMEMBER FRIENDS, THEIR QUESTION IS OUR QUESTION. And oftentimes when a squall breaks out in our life, and our little boat starts to get tossed around, like the disciples, we look up and say, "What's the deal God?" "Where are you?" "I'm in a mess, aren't you gonna fix it?" You said, "Ask and you shall receive" I'm asking Lord, DON'T YOU CARE IF I DROWN? And this happens for a couple of reasons, some people are under the mistaken impression that once Jesus gets into your boat, that everything is smooth sailing, no waves, no storms, no fears. If you read closely, you will notice that especially in Mark's gospel, in almost every page, Jesus is the center of some kind of storm. The Christian life is not a life free from storms, just the opposite. You can be certain that once you start in the path of Jesus, storms will start coming your way. And these storms will come at you from all directions, either the dark and evil forces of this earth will rock your boat because your life has become a threat, or God will send some waves to shake you. And to steer you towards God's will for your life. Either way, the path of Christ promises rough waters ahead.

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DOWNTIME, UPTIME AND GODTIME
Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56
Introduction:

WHAT TIME IS IT? Now before you answer let me give you three classifications of time; there's downtime, time when we rest and recharge our batteries, there's uptime, time when we shift into high gear to "get the job done!," and then there's Godtime, the time we set aside for God. So let me ask you again, "What Time Is It?" Well, it's August 5, 2001, 11:30 AM, on a Sunday morning. Not hard to recognize that this moment, right now, falls into the category of Godtime.

GODTIME CAN BE HARD TO COME BY THIS TIME OF YEAR. Because the summer is the time of year we usually set aside for downtime, the kids are out of school, the cruise lines are running full speed ahead, summer camps are in full swing, and everybody's ready for a break, a change. A chance for a little well-deserved personal time, a chance for some downtime. It seems that the hot, humid dog days of summer are the perfect time-off from our uptime, but the thing is we often see our downtime as not only time away from school or jobs, but also time-off from God. This is the time of year in the church when Worship attendance significantly withers, and while the church utility bills get higher church offerings are lower. It's a bad time to try to schedule meetings, or to make any future-shaping decisions. Because it's downtime, not uptime, not Godtime. But downtime.

WE SEGMENT OUR LIFE INTO THESE THREE CATEGORIES OF TIME. Downtime, Uptime and Godtime. Uptime consumes us, there's; grocery shopping, staff meetings, traffic jams to and from work, filing reports, preparing for meals. In fact, we're often so consumed by our uptime that we struggle to "find time" for God at best we schedule a half-hour of Bible study here, 15 minutes of prayer there, and a scant hour of worship once a week. And yet if we're true to what we say we believe, we will confess that God time is the most important time of all and necessary for the life of our spirits. And since we are in church, and this is Godtime, it should not surprise you that I'm putting an emphasis on Godtime.

BUT DOWNTIME IS A NECESSARY THING TOO. Since the days of Moses God has reminded his people of the need for Sabbath. We need those moments of downtime. Remember that on the 7th day even God had some downtime from the six days uptime of creation. And in today's text Jesus himself recognizes the need for downtime. The Disciples have just returned from a short Mission Trip, remember that Christ sent them out in pairs to witness to the glory of God commanding them to take nothing with them. To stay in the homes of the people they met, and to shake the dust off of their feet as a testimony against those who would not listen. The text tells us that they went out and preached that people should repent, that they drove out demons, that they healed many sick people. And in today's text they have just returned home, it's been a mission of Godtime, and it's been uptime. Jesus recognizes that what is needed now is downtime. read verses 30-31 The disciples needed some time-away from the demands of the people, they needed some time to reflect and unwind, they needed some personal time with each other and with Jesus, they needed downtime.

Sometimes we need to take care of the self. We need to recharge our batteries, physically, emotionally and spiritually. So that we can continue to do God's work with a renewed energy and improved vision. I believe in vacations, families need this time together, away from the everyday grind. Husbands and wives need downtime together without the kids! Time when they can enjoy each other, without the everyday stress of life, and remember the joy of each other's company. But allowing our engines to idle for a while is different than completely shutting down all our systems.

THE DISCIPLES THOUGHT THEY WERE ESCAPING TO A DESERTED PLACE WITH JESUS. But their downtime quickly turned into Godtime, because when Jesus saw the desperation of the people, he had compassion on them, and he taught them. And when he realized they were hungry, he fed them, and later when Jesus and the disciples would cross to the other side of the lake in yet another attempt for some well-deserved downtime. They were met by more desperate people. read 55-56 And as we study this text we might ask the question what time was it? Was It God time? Was it downtime? Or was it uptime? What do you think? Since Jesus was there performing miracles, was it Godtime? Because of the fact that` Jesus work was to heal the sick and because Jesus had called the disciples to join him in this great work was it uptime? Or was it downtime? At least for the disciples, what do you think? No matter what time you think it was you're right! But you're also wrong!

FRIENDS WE CAN'T SEGMENT LIFE INTO GODTIMES AND GODLESS TIMES.   As Christians we don't find time for God, we find God's time in all our time. If we're truly "In Christ" then Christ fills us at every moment of our day. Everything we do must be finding God and serving God. We take vacations from work and school, but we never take a vacation from being the church. And the more we grow in Christ, the more we will be able to recognize Godtime in the midst of uptime and downtime. When you're in the middle of a confrontation with your boss at work, it's Godtime! When your attempting to prepare dinner, holding a meeting on the phone, keeping the baby from slamming her fingers in the doorway, watering the lawn, stretching out in the hot sun, it's Godtime!

FOR CHRISTIANS WHO LIVE IMMERSED IN GODTIME MOMENTS OF REST AND RELAXATION DON'T CONSTITUTE DOWNTIME. In fact this can be a form of uptime, time that we refresh our spirits and breath in more deeply the presence of the Divine. Are you busy scheduling your vacation plans? Or maybe busy getting ready for school to start again? Having a hard time finding time for God? If you're living a life of discipleship and faith God is already in all the time that you have. Summer is not just an opportunity for downtime, but it is a time like all other time to build God's kingdom, to rev-up our engines for the challenges ahead. To be ever- ready to be the church, to be shepherds of hope, in a world of lost and hurting sheep. We need downtime we need the time away, we need the rest. But more importantly we need to recognize that downtime, uptime, all time, it's still Godtime!

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CLIMBING LADDERS OR RAISING CROSSES
Mark 8:27-38
Introduction:

SOMETIMES PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW WHEN THE TRUTH IS THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE. You may remember the character Cliff Clavin from the television sitcom "Cheers", the incompetent mailman who sat in a bar, drank beer, and spouted useless, questionable trivia. Time and again he presented himself as an authority on just about everything, but whenever his authority was called into question. He really didn’t have a clue. Children sometimes do this, speak with authority about something they really know nothing about. Make a judgment about something from an inexperienced and naive perspective. A little girl was crawling in the grass one day while her mother was working in the yard, the child found a snail and watched it, every move with fascination for the longest time. She was trying to figure out what kind of animal this was, and then it happened the snail raised it's feelers, and the little girl squealed in delight ran to find her mother and said, "Mommy, come look! I found a little baby reindeer!" During his entire life on this earth people were trying to figure out just who Jesus was, and although there were many who thought they knew. The truth is, most people didn't have a clue.

IN TODAY'S TEXT JESUS ASKS THE DISCIPLES WHO THE PEOPLE THINK THAT HE IS. But he's not really concerned about what the People think, he's trying to find out what the disciples think, and it should be no surprise that of all the disciples, it's Peter who gives the correct answer "You are The Christ!" Because it's always been bold impetuous Peter who steps up to the plate and swings away. It was Peter who walked on water. It was Peter who would draw his sword ready to fight when they came to arrest Jesus. And in this text it is Peter who attempts to speak with authority when Jesus talks about his impending death. Peter practically scolds Jesus, spells out to Jesus the way things are. Points out to Jesus how his negative attitude can hurt the mission, because Jesus is the Messiah. Peter believes that he knows all about the Messiah, but the truth is, Peter doesn’t have a clue. Peter has a problem, Peter is ambitious. He wants to be the best. He wants to be the number one disciple, if discipleship were a corporation Peter would never stop until he became the corporation president. And that's a large part of Peter's problem, it took the death and the resurrection of Jesus for him to understand. That Christ was not looking for people to climb the ladder of success, but he was looking for people who would raise the cross of sacrifice. read verses 34b-35

THE WORLD TELLS US TO CLIMB THE LADDER OF SUCCESS. We are taught even as little children that the goal in life is to reach the top in whatever you do. Life is a ladder and our task is to climb to the top. People sacrifice family and friends to climb that ladder. People sacrifice personal morals and beliefs to climb the ladder. People even sacrifice God and the church to climb the ladder. Only to discover that when they reach the top, and they look around, that the sacrifices they made were not worth it. That they are no closer to a meaningful life than they were when they started up the ladder. Friends at the time of this text Peter has bought into the philosophy of the ladder. We marvel at Peter because he gave the right answer, "You are the Christ!" But knowing the answer and knowing what to do with the answer are not the same thing. Peter knew the answer, "You are the Christ!" But he only thought he knew what that meant, he saw Jesus as a ladder to success, and he failed to realize the significance of the cross. In other words he saw the way of Christ not as something he gave his life to, but something that would give to his life, and friends so many people make this same mistake. We completely misunderstand the nature of the Christian faith. We see it as a ladder whereby we climb to happiness and find favor with God. There is a popular religious mentality today that says become a Christian and God will give you the perfect job with the perfect boss. The gospel is the solution to all of our problems. The resolution of all conflicts. It makes the nice people even nicer. Successful people even more successful. "My life was a mess, I was on drugs, I was addicted to sex, ate high cholesterol foods, Then I found Jesus and everything got fixed!" In other words, become a Christian and you will be blessed with health, wealth and happiness, and the truth is that's all many people want from their religion. They want a Jacuzzi Jesus, an experience that will leave them relaxed, warm and bubbly and yet, at the same time feeling fit and trim when they get out like they've just gotten in shape. The point that Jesus is trying to make with the Disciples in this text, is that a Jacuzzi Jesus is the death of the soul. Conversion without immersion into the life of Jesus Christ is perversion of the gospel. The grace of God takes you, "Just as you are," but the grace of God does not leave you just as you are. It will turn your world upside down

BECAUSE THE CALL OF CHRIST IS THE CALL OF THE CROSS. Friends if you are here trying to find some kind of favor with God, so that God will make your life wonderful. You're going to be disappointed and disillusioned with the Christian faith. Because the symbol of success in a life of Christ is not a golden altar, or a successful climb up the ladder of happiness, but the symbol of success for the Christian is a wooden, rugged cross. There was a certain woman who went into a jewelry store to buy a cross necklace the clerk asked the question, do you want a plain one or one with a little man on it. As ridiculous and pathetic as that might sound, it’s really quite a good question. Do you want a plain cross or a loaded cross? A cross that brings with it a calling? We find it difficult to hear the word of a loaded cross that says, a pure life will demand suffering and that even as we become successful in life, that we are only a step away from bearing our own cross of suffering. If we are truly being the church!

EVERY SINGLE TIME A GROUP OF CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS GATHERS TOGETHER. Jesus asks the question, "Who do you say that I am?" If you say, "You are the Christ!," then you are one of the favored ones. But remember this, your calling as one of the favored ones does not promise success. In Philippians 1:29 Paul says read text. Compared to the dangers that faced the Christians in the early churches, modern day Christians seldom ever really suffer. Especially in this country, oh you might find it sometimes difficult to voice your faith in the workplace. Kids and youth might find they have to make a choice between sports activities or church activities, but the reality is that the Christian faith, in this country is seldom a life and death matter. The question not being am I willing to die for the faith, but more often, "Am I willing to be inconvenienced?"

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GLORY DAYS!
Mark 9:2-9
Introduction:

IT MUST HAVE BEEN TOUGH DON'T YOU THINK? To experience something as glorious and wondrous as the men of this text experienced, and then be told, "don't tell anybody." Or even more confusing, "Don't tell anybody until you've seen the Son of Man rise from the dead." Which truthfully, at this point in time, had no meaning to the disciples. Jesus might as well have just said, "You can't tell anyone!," and just left it at that! But of course the time came when they did tell, the fact that we have this story is proof that they told. As a matter of fact, I imagine they told and retold this story, to their children, to their children's children, to anybody who would listen. I can see John or maybe James as an old man telling of his glory days when he walked with Jesus. And one of his grandchildren would sit at his feet and say, "tell us of the time on the mountain." And the disciple would sit back and smile and the story would roll out and the younger children would listen with a sense of awe. While the older children would wonder how much was truth, and how much was an exaggerated account of an old man reliving his glory days.

JUST ABOUT ALL OF US HAVE BEEN THERE, HAVEN'T WE? We've listened to our parents, or grandparents talk about the glory days. Memories out of a different time and place. Of moments that can seem larger than life. You ask your mother, "What was it like in the olden days?" She answers with, "stricter, poorer, more polite!" And you answer with, "No, what was it like be alive then?" She gets a far away look in her eyes and says, the smell of vitalis on men's hair, women in gloves that felt elegant touching your skin, men who whistled (with trills), and wore their hats tipped to the side, and got killed in wars. 1920's husbands who lost depression jobs and hid in their houses for shame. Barefoot LSD weddings in psychedelic wedding clothes."

The good old days, everybody has memories of them, at least everybody over 35. In fact we might even have pictures, or albums, or maybe even old movies. But do you remember what life was really like? What was it like to be alive back then? When everything seemed possible, nothing impossible. When you lay awake listening to the train whistles that weren't so much noise, as just a heightening of your bedroom silence. When you smelled wood smoke walking home in the early dark. Do you remember those moments? Or didn't you notice them? Or were you perhaps trying so hard to preserve them that you missed them? Like a tourist on vacation, who spends so much time snapping pictures, preserving the moment on film, that he misses the opportunity to experience the moment in person.

PETER WANTED TO PRESERVE THE MOMENT. Peter was absolutely awestruck by this mountaintop experience. It was meant to be a quiet little retreat, a time apart from the crowds. But an extraordinary event was unfolding a moment in history so sacred that Peter just had to do something. So he proposes building a booth or a shrine or whatever it was, to preserve the moment. We're not told what he had in mind, how he proposed to build it since he probably didn't have a tool belt with him, or what he was going to use for building materials, since all the mountains in the region are mostly barren dirt mountains. But before Peter can give the construction plans much thought, God calls Peter back to the moment! Out of cloud a voice says, "This is my Son! Whom I Love! Listen to Him!" God didn't say, "Peter grab a camera and get a shot of the three of them overlooking that cliff!" "Peter, be sure and capture the moment!" No, God just said, "listen to him!" Like tourists who see the grand canyon through view finders, Peter, who wanted to keep the moment from passing was in danger of passing the moment!

WE CAN LIVE IN THE GLORY DAYS OR WE CAN LIVE THE GLORY DAYS! There's nothing wrong with wanting to preserve every special moment, until our attempt to preserve the moment gets in the way of our living the moment. This holds true, especially, for the God moments in our life. The moments when God seems most real to us. When God’s presence so real that it seems we can almost reach out and touch the Holy Spirit. Now, truth is there are some of you here today, who have no idea what I’m talking about. Others of you know exactly what I’m talking about. But how many of us see our Spiritual Glory Days as times of the past? We hold memories of splendid worship, revival services, powerful preachers. We preserve in our hearts and minds the glory days when our image of Christ was transfigured. When Jesus became more than just a bible character, and became for us the Savior of our souls. Times when we were on fire for God and the church. When we sang in the choir. When we taught Sunday School. Participated in Bible Studies. When we actively worked in the body of Christ to build the kingdom of God. Our Spiritual Glory Days!

Friends, if your spiritual glory days are moments in history for you, if they are preserved only in your memory, than you've missed the point of the transfiguration, and you may have forgotten what made those moments so sacred in the first place. Mark's Gospel tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up this high mountain just six days after reminding them that, "those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will find it." It's not a bad idea to ask ourselves, what are we losing and what are we really keeping in the big picture? What will it profit us to preserve the memory of the glory days, if we forget the fundamental reason for remembering? If we focus so hard on the image that we forget about it's meaning? I can't tell you how many weddings I have witnessed that have been ruined by over-zealous photographers, because the couple wants to capture the moment, and capturing the moment becomes more important than living the moment! Good friends, let me let you in on a little secret

THE GLORY DAYS ARE HERE NOW. Truth is they’re always here, always present. Don’t let them pass you by. Don’t get caught 10 years from now, 20 years from now, saying, I remember the way it was when Bro. Steve was here. We're so easily distracted! Our lives are so busy and so noisy, that sometimes it's hard to hear the voice of God . We can lose our sense of the sacred in the moment of the mundane. And then we placate ourselves by reminding ourselves of sacred times gone by, of the glory days. But if we heed this text it can teach us how to make every moment Sacred, all we have to do is listen to God. We often go through life so busy trying to preserve the moment, we look but we don't see, we hear but we don't listen. So what! If you have Glory Days of times when you and Jesus were close. When you experienced moments of transfiguration. So what! if you have a baptismal certificate signed by a pastor, or a bible given to you by a Sunday School teacher. If your moments with God are times from the past, if you've forgotten what made those moments so sacred, God's advice to you is to listen, listen to the children, listen to life, listen for the sacred and the divine, listen to Jesus! There’s a young woman, twenty-eight years old after the worship service she approaches the pastor and says, "This is the first time I was ever in church." The pastor looks surprised and says, "Really?" "Yeah," says the woman. The Pastor then says, "Well, how was it?" She says, "kind of scary." The pastor looks really surprised now, "Scary?" "Yeah, scary" "Why?" And she said, "It just seems so important. You know, I never go to anything important. This just seemed so important." She was right, wasn’t she!

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WHY DON'T YOU TURN AROUND?
Mark 10:35-45
Introduction:

THE CIRCLE EXERCISE
Have 7 volunteers make a circle in the middle of the church, then ask these questions:
Can You make a different kind of circle?
keep prompting them, allow congregation to prompt them.
If they don't eventually get it then suggest
"Why don't you turn around?"

WHY IS THAT SUCH A STRANGE AND RADICAL IDEA FOR MANY OF US? From the time that we're little children we're taught to make circles that face in. And because of that, sometimes it's hard to even conceive of another kind of a circle especially a circle that faces out. And this difficulty to conceive of a different circle ought to help us understand the Disciples just a little bit better, because what usually happens is that we read of occasions like this text where the disciples seem so dense, and so ignorant of what Jesus is all about. And we scoff at their thick-headedness, why don’t they understand? Again and again he tells them what he wants. What he’s about. What it truly takes to be "one of his disciples," and they usually don’t "get it." But the truth is the disciples were just caught up in making the same old circle.

YOU SEE THE JEWS HAD A PICTURE OF WHAT THE MESSIAH OUGHT TO BE LIKE.  The traditional Jewish Messiah was to arrive in glory and power. He was to judge all and rule all, and those who remained loyal and righteous could expect some kind of recognition, some kind of reward, some kind of payoff. A great and powerful Messiah surrounded by great and distinguished disciples is what James and John and were expecting, because this is the way Messiah was supposed to be. They'd been taught this all their lives, it was the only circle they knew how to make. So we really shouldn't be too surprised that they want the high seats of honor. But you see, Jesus had a different kind of circle in mind. Jesus wanted a circle that faced out. read verse 43a-44 Jesus taught that it was only through saving other, focusing our energies on the powerless, the hopeless, the insignificant, that would make any disciple great. A truly great disciple would willingly suffer persecution, and would expect deceit and disloyalty. But would return the deceit and disloyalty with love and forgiveness. The Jesus school of "great disciples" taught that you gave of yourself for others knowing, that death might be the only reward for all your efforts. No wonder the Disciples didn't want to make this kind of circle. By nature, human beings are not self sacrificing. By nature, we are self motivated. What’s in it for me? What does it do for me? How does it make me feel? But you see, these are questions asked by people who live in inward circles. Jesus lived and taught of a new and radical kind of circle, a circle that faced out! Give up your life to save it! The first shall be last and the last first! Love your neighbors as yourself. Friends, those are facing out circles. Jesus did not teach upward mobility, he taught outward mobility. In fact Jesus warned about upward mobility, what did he say about being rich? Harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, right?! Makes you wonder doesn't it? And if it doesn't it should!

ALL OF US NEED TO STOP AND TAKE THE TIME TO ASK OURSELVES. What kind of circles do I make? What kind of circles do I make in my relationships? What kind of circles do the institutions I am involved in make? What kind of circles do the Boy Scouts? The Girl scouts? The Cub scouts make? What kind of circle does my church make? Does my church make inward circles? Many churches do, many Christians do There are far too many churches whose only goal is to survive. To serve and save itself, to form circles that look in. Friends, is there any need for a church to keep going, if it's not going anywhere? We can become so fixated on how to save ourselves, that we forget our calling is to save the world. The church, the community of believers has become too fixated on how to save itself. The calling of Christ is for us who know the message, to face the world with the message. The difference between an inward-circle faith and an outward circle faith, is the difference between Christianity and Churchianity. Christianity faces outward and sees the struggle and the pain of people. Churchianity looks inward and is often blinded to the world around them. Friends, I love this church and we are doing many great things for God’s kingdom, but let us never get so full of ourselves that we forget to look at the world around us. Forget to look at our neighborhood. Forget to look at our community. And ask ourselves the question: Are the people in our community any better because we’re here? Would this community miss this church, if we closed our doors? Are we a hospital for the sin sick? Or just another inward facing institution? Regularly we need to ask ourselves: Do I live Christianity? Or Churchianity? A bank in Chicago recently came up with a terrific marketing idea. The bank wanted to produce a public relations brochure, that would describe the bank's community reinvestment program. So they created a poster inviting elementary school children from the area schools to submit pictures and essays on the topic, "My neighborhood!" What they received completely stunned them! Tthe bank president said, "we expected brightly colored childish drawings of trees and houses, and stories about the postman and the people on the block." The first essay was by an 8 year old girl, "In my neighborhood", the little girl wrote, "there is a lot of shooting and 3 people got shot." Another essay was from a 12 year old boy named Charlie, "Hello my name is Charlie. I live in a slum. Some people call it hell on earth and so do I." And the pictures were deceptively innocent, colorful pictures of trees and buildings and kids playing, but if you looked closer you saw a drug deal going down and people shooting at each other, or a drawing with two bright suns shining over a playground with people smiling. One of whom is shooting a gun! Good friends, the problem with Churchianity is that it is blind, like the bank. Making circles that face only inward, but Christianity calls us to look outside the circle of our own familiar problems, our own concerns. And to attempt to find and provide healing and wholeness and health giving our very selves in service to others.

I'VE SHOWN YOU TWO TYPES OF CIRCLES TODAY. You've seen the inward circle, that is focused only on itself, and you've seen the outward circle that focuses on the world. But, you know, there is another kind of circle that we've missed:

      invite the volunteers to come and form another circle this time have them face sideways one behind the other

This is a movement circle a group of people who are poised to go somewhere together they can see the person in front of them, they can look inward, but they can also look outward. When a church is firing on all cylinders, when a scouting troop is doing what they do best, when we are truly answering God’s call, I'm convinced that these are the types of circles we make
                   Allow the volunteers to return to their seats
Friends, we need to reclaim what it means to be a Disciple of Christ. We need to redefine the kind of circles that we make, because if we make circles that never even make it outside those doors, what good work are we doing for the kingdom of God And that's the message today, in this text for the church, for us Christians who meet together and call ourselves the body of Christ. Now here's the message for you! Are you even in the circle? Or is your faith the kind of faith that stands back and watches while other people circle up. A faith that comes to church and sits and nods, but never gets involved that never circles up, is not much a faith. Why don't you turn around! Take a look at where you've been, then take a look out into the world, at the condition of the people around you. No matter where we are we all need to take time to turn around. Because only if you turn around can you know which way you've been facing are you part of an inward circle? An outward circle? A movement circle? Or have you been trying to live a faith outside the circle? Friends, God did not call you to this place to sit by yourself. God called you to this place to realize all that God has for you. To realize that God has called you to live an amazing life. God has called you to be amazing. But you see, you can’t be amazing by yourself! You need to circle up. That’s what the church is all about. We make circles, and when we listen to the words of Jesus. Our circles face in the right direction.

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COULD WE BE WHY?
Mark 10:46-52
Introduction:

It seems to happen about every other year, the media gets wind of a miracle story. The face of Christ miraculously appears in the cracked bathroom window of a rundown house. The image of a descending angel appears in the landscape scenery of a poorly lighted Polaroid snapshot. Or do you remember about 8 years ago, when the media reported yet another miracle the silhouette of Jesus appeared on the surface of a home-fried tortilla. Pretty puny miracles! And at times it just seems a little unfair, I mean God could appear to the Israelites as a pillar of smoke by day and a column of fire by night. Jesus could walk on water and bring a dead man back to life, in first century Palestine. But here we are today in the 21st century and people are squinting their eyes staring at a fried tortilla, hoping for some kind of miraculous sign. And it just begs the question.

Do miracles still happen today or did God stop working after the time of the Apostles? This has been one of the biggest and the longest-running debates in the Christian church. For at least 500 years believers have been asking, "Does God perform miracles today? Can God do miracles today? Will God do miracles today?"

The story of blind Bartimaeus is a miracle story. A hopeless, blind beggar sits by the side of the road, and from the depths of his misery and hopelessness there erupts such a faith that it refuses to shut up or hold still. When this blind beggar hears that Jesus is near, he calls out to Jesus in total faith. Christ has compassion on him and he is healed. A blind man receives his sight, which was a common occurrence when Jesus was walking the earth. The gospels alone record some 10 times when Jesus healed the blind. But when is the last time that you heard a news story of someone miraculously healed of blindness? I'm talking bonified totally blind to 20/20 vision miracle. It's not an every day occurrence is it? And this has caused many believers to fall into two camps regarding miracles. You either believe miracles occur every day, or you believe that the age of miracles ended with the birth of the early church. And regardless of where you stand on this question most people will have to admit, even if you do believe in miracles, that miracles do not occur today with the same regularity and with the same power, that they did in the times of ancient Israel. Whether we like it or not, the truth is that miracles are not as frequent or as awesome as they were in the days of Jesus and the apostles.
And friends we should look at this and we should wonder why? What's different? Why aren't there miracles today like there were in Old Testament times, fire from the sky, the sun standing still in the middle of the day, water turning into blood? Why can't we experience miracles the way the disciples did when Jesus walked the earth? Feeding 5000 plus people with a loaf of bread and a few fish, healing people of all kinds of deadly diseases and physical handicaps, raising people from the dead. Why so few miracles today? You may be disappointed, but the truth is, I can't answer that question. In fact, to confuse the issue a little further, I want to lift up another question. Another possibility to this modern day Miracle dilemma, could we be why?
Could there be something wrong with us that inhibits God from working miracles? Truth is, today we have become so enlightened and so educated, that often, we're just too smart to believe in miracles. People are too smart today to believe in the virgin birth, and yet virgin births happen everyday. We call the process "in-virtro fertilization," test tube babies. Skeptics will refuse to believe the possibility of God doing a virgin birth, and yet they will accept that science does it every day. You want to talk about blindness and miracles, what about cataract surgery, cornea transplants, and miracle of miracles heart transplants. Why is it that science gets all the miracle-making wonder-working powers, and yet so many scoff when we suggest that Jesus healed us when we prayed in faith? Or that Christ protected us from a tragic accident, and that it wasn't just luck, or the wisdom of a seat belt? . What is it we can't say? Are we afraid to say that God can do anything that God wants to do! But that still doesn't provide a complete answer to the question does it? Because we can believe in miracles and still never, experience any.
But again, I have to ask could we be why? Do you know what a miracle is? The Greek word for miracle is dunamis, which literally means power. That word is found 118 times in the New Testament, and in every one of those 118 miraculous occurrences, you see the same thing, an extraordinary event wrought by God through the agency of a physical human being. That's what a miracle is, a miracle is an extraordinary event wrought by God through the agency of a physical human being. With the exception of the creation, God worked virtually every recorded miracle in the bible through a physical human being. God would do it! But a physical flesh and blood human being, a real live person, would be the agent. And would either prophesy about the miracle, or follow God's commands so that the miracle would come to pass. Even In today's text, you have the flesh and blood Jesus, whom God works through to perform this miracle of healing.
Could it be, good friends, that the reason God does not perform miracles today, the way that God worked miracles in ages past, is because there is shortage of physical, flesh and blood agents? Could it be that we don't experience the miracles, because there are so few people who are willing to give themselves up to God completely, and be the physical agent through whom God works miracles? In other words, could we be why? Are we perhaps asking the wrong questions, or questioning the wrong person? Instead of asking of God, "Why don't you perform miracles today the way you did in the Old Testament, or in the times of the Apostles?" Perhaps God is asking us, "Why won't you give yourself to me? Why won't you trust me with your life? Why won't you be my miracle?"

Friends, if we would give ourselves completely to god we would see miracles. We would see more miracles in this church. You would see miracles in your life. But there are things you have to do first, you have to stop doubting you have to stop saying it won't work, and realize the truth that God can do anything. And you have to submit yourself to God, and let God do that anything through you, you have to believe. Sometimes belief is a struggle. Even for us preachers. Let me share with you something of a miracle that I experienced recently. Many of you are aware that I recently made a fact-finding trip to Monterey Mexico. I am the chairperson of the Houston East District Hispanic Ministries Committee. About a month ago, I made the trip with a Hispanic pastor and our District Superintendent. The first night of our trip we had the privilege of attending a cell group meeting of a local Methodist church, this was a small bible study group of 7 - 10 persons who would worship, pray, and then have a bible study. Now when I say they prayed you might not be getting a clear picture of what truly went on, I mean they prayed! This meeting went on for about two, a half-hours, at least an hour, and a half of that time was spent in prayer. They were praying in Spanish but one of the members of the group was bilingual so he sat next to us and interpreted everything that was said. They prayed celebrating God’s presence in their lives. They prayed giving glory to God. They prayed for their church. They prayed for their friends. They prayed for each other, and they prayed for us. They prayed for us with intensity. They gathered around us and they laid their hands on us. They prayed for our families and their welfare. They prayed for our respective churches and our ministries. They prayed for the ministries to the Hispanic people that we were undertaking, but then in the midst of their prayers they started to Prophesy. They said that God would do miracles through us. They said that God was getting ready to send a flood and that we were not to be afraid. That God was going to send a flood of people and that the ministry to Hispanic people would be like a wildfire that wouldn’t be quenched. Now I have to set the stage for what happened next. Two weeks before we went to Mexico, Dr. Waddleton, The District Superintendent, had a stint put into his heart. This was the 6th stint he has had in 8 years. Some of you know that I’ve had some slight problems with my knees. I haven’t told many of you because I’m one of those quiet stubborn men who likes to heal up in private, and I hate when people make a fuss about a physical problem. In fact, next Wednesday I’ll have some minor surgery to correct a problem with my kneecap. But I’m telling you the secret about my knees and Dr. Waddleton’s heart to tell you this; I was somewhat skeptical when they started to prophesy. Like many of you, I’ve seen too many television evangelists who have made prophecies, which were an obvious and shameless attempt to get people to send money. We all remember what happened or didn’t happen to Oral Roberts when he prophesied that God would take him home. If he didn’t raise one million dollars, but God reminded me that God is still alive today, and still works miracles. That God still works through people, because in the midst of prophesying about the success of the Hispanic ministries, these people who we never met, who didn’t know anything about us, they started to prophesy about us. They laid their hands on Dr. Waddleton and said "You will be a great leader to many people and your heart will be strong." They laid their hands on me and said, "You will lead your church with passion and fire and your knees will be strong and you will run."
Good friends miracles still happen every day. But they don't happen to skeptics and doubters, they happen to disciples and apostles. Miracles happen to people who have a faith that refuses to quit refuses to stop believing. Are you hurting financially? How about praying constantly that God will provide you with a miracle of money? This past summer, as with many summers the church's finances were low, the finance committee was worried. So, we did something we had never done before. We prayed for a miracle of money. The next day somebody who had no idea of our dilemma mailed a check to the church for $13,000. Are you looking for a job? How about praying, and asking your friends to pray that God will send you the perfect job? Are you sick or hurting, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually? How about truly and enthusiastically, reaching out to God in fervent prayer that God will heal you? Now right now some of you are saying, but I have prayed and I am praying. And maybe you have been, but have you reached out to God in desperation? With your whole heart? Giving God your whole life? Saying to God, "Your will be done?" If you say, "Yes" then it might be my turn to be skeptical. Last month we instituted a healing and wholeness service in this church. Where we laid hands on one another and anointed people with oil and prayed for their needs. Were you there? At least two persons who were there experienced miracles of healing, one was financial, and the other was physical. I’m not going to share their story with you, because it’s theirs not mine. And if you’re skeptical, that’s O.K.
But the truth is that miracles happen every day. They happen when there are flesh and blood human beings, who are willing to be God's agents in the miracles. And when people earnestly and fervently seek God with everything they are. We have people in the church who are like that, and God has and is working miracles. You see friends, the real truth of the faith, the real truth of miracles, is that God is waiting to perform miracles. Waiting to dazzle your faith, waiting to shake your spirit, but you will never see the miracles unless you a child of God, a child of the father can stand up and say. God use me! I want to be a miracle for you!

DESTINATION; GOLGATHA
Mark 11:1-11
Introduction:

WHAT IF TODAY, YOU KNEW EVERYTHING THAT WOULD HAPPEN TOMORROW? How would that change tomorrow? If you knew you would get that speeding ticket in the school zone, you would slow down. If you knew you're boss was going to call at 3:00 and ask you to come in, on your day off, you probably wouldn't answer the phone. If you knew that at 5:00PM your son would break his collar bone, you just might keep him home. And if you today, you knew what the winning lottery number would be tomorrow… Yes, if we knew today, everything that would happen tomorrow, it would change tomorrow. But the really important question, how would it change today? And taking this line of thought a step further...

WHAT IF TODAY, WE KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE REST OF OUR LIFE? What if we could see the end of our life? Every mistake we would make. Every friend who would stick by us to the end. The kind of death we would die. All of our children, all of our grandchildren, how would that knowledge change today? Would it change the way we looked at the world, the way we looked at our future. Would it change the way we ate, what we ate? Would it change today?

THE ONE THING THIS SCRIPTURE MAKES VERY CLEAR IS THAT JESUS KNOWS THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. He knows about the colt (2b). He knows the colt is there. He knows that the colt has never been ridden. He knows what is going to happen when the disciples untie it, that somebody is going to question them, "What are you guys doing untying that colt?" He knows how the question needs to be answered. So that the owners of the colt will let the disciples have it. He knows about the reception he's going to get when he enters Jerusalem. He knows the crowds will be waiting, expecting to see a king, expecting to see a messiah. Which is why he sends his disciples after the colt. Because the people would know of the prophecy of Zechariah, which says, "Your King comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9) Yes, it's obvious that the knowledge that Jesus has about the future has changed the day, but I often wonder how much Jesus really knew about the events to come.

WHAT DID HE KNOW ABOUT TOMORROW OR THE DAY AFTER THAT, OR THE WEEK AFTER THAT? As we read about this triumphal entry into Jerusalem We know everything that will happen over the course of the next week. We know how Jesus will react when he witnesses the money changers in the temple. We know how Judas will become disillusioned with the ministry. That he will strike a deal with Jesus enemies and betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We know how Jesus will pray in the garden of Gethsemene. We even know what he will say in that prayer. We know he will be arrested, beaten. As we read this text today, this text which calls Jesus, "King!" We know about the crown of thorns. We know about the sign on the cross meant to mock him that will read, "king of the Jews." But how many of the details of the events of the following week did Jesus have? As he rode into Jerusalem on that young colt? Was it just the one day that he knew about? Was he allowed only to see the events of tomorrow? Or did he know everything about his whole life? Every friend who betray him? The kind of death he would die? Did you notice the last verse of this text? (read verse 11) "He looked around at everything…" What do you suppose that means? Did he look at the place where he would eat his last meal with the disciples? Did he look at the spot where he would kneel and pray all night long? Did he look into the faces of the Roman soldiers who would place the crown of thorns on his head? Did he walk just a little ways out of town and look at the hill called GOLGATHA, the place of the skull. Because if he knew all the details than he would know that as he rides into Jerusalem that GOLGATHA would be his final destination.

OF COURSE, THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS MAKE IT FAIRLY CLEAR THAT HE DID KNOW. He says enough to his disciples throughout the course of his life to indicate that he knew everything that would happen. What would happen. How it would happen. When it would happen. But amazingly enough, although Jesus knew in advance about the events of tomorrow, tomorrow never changed. Though he knew Judas would betray him, he still loved Judas, still ate the Passover meal with him. Though he knew that when he was arrested all the, disciples would disappear and leave him completely alone, he still tried to prepare them for his impending death. Tried to give them assurance and courage to face the difficult days ahead. Though he knew he would be arrested in the garden of Gethsemene, he still went there to pray. Amazing to imagine that depth of love. Although he knows his final destination is GOLGATHA and the cross, he still sits on the back of that little colt and rides into Jerusalem. Most in the world would look at this and say a. he was a fool. But for us who stand on the other side of that cross, this is what made him the savior. Because he knew everything about tomorrow, but he didn't change a thing.

IF YOU KNEW TODAY, EVERYTHING THAT WOULD HAPPEN TOMORROW. Would it change tomorrow? Friends, that's not really the important question. The important question is, would it change today? If you knew about the end of your life; your mistakes, your death. How every choice you made today would affect tomorrow, the day after that, or the week after that. What would you change about today.

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