Overcoming Our "If Onlys"
A Sermon Series, October 6-October 27
If I Only Had the Courage
October 27, 2019 • Rev. Andy Yarnell
Sermon Notes: Sunday, October 27, 2019 Exodus 4 Common English Bible (CEB) Signs of power 4 Then Moses replied, "But what if they don't believe me or pay attention to me? They might say to me, 'The Lord didn't appear to you!'" 2 The Lord said to him, "What's that in your hand?" Moses replied, "A shepherd's rod." 3 The Lord said, "Throw it down on the ground." So Moses threw it on the ground, and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out and grab the snake by the tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a rod in his hand. 5 "Do this so that they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, Abraham's God, Isaac's God, and Jacob's God has in fact appeared to you." Do you ever feel like you have a lack of courage to do what God is leading you to do? When God sent Moses a message at the burning bush encounter, Moses was scared. Excuses where made as to why he didn't think he could do what God was asking of him. I make excuses all the time as well. We often feel like we aren't equipped for the call God has for us. Look at Moses' life. His very tribe had been persecuted and taken into slavery. Moses was raised as a price and now was working as a shepherd. God shows Moses that he already has everything he needs to help deliver the people of Israel. God would use his common everyday shepherd's staff as one of the tools to deliver the people of Israel. God has already given us what we need. Yes, those common everyday things we already have, when used with God in prayer, can be used to bring about justice, hope, and help lead people to Jesus. With God, we can have courage that we already have what we need. God will use our skills, past experiences, and those common everyday tools that we already use. For more on the topic of dreaming God's dream for your life, check out Dare to Dream, Creating a God Sized Mission Statement for Your Life, by Mike Slaughter. This book has inspired this sermon. Pastor Andy Associate Pastor
If I Only Had a Heart
October 20, 2019 • Rev. Carrie Jones
Sermon Notes: Sunday, October 20, 2019 This Sunday during both Worship Services, we are celebrating Children's Sabbath, which will highlight ALL the amazing ministries GFUMC does with and for children - Children's Church, Sunday School, Wednesday Worship, the Nursery, the Early Learning Center, Striplin Elementary School, and the CLICK After-School Program. Children will serve and lead in worship, they will sing in the Traditions Service, and we will take up a special offering to support our two Children's Mission Ministries, Striplin and CLICK. It will be a very meaningful time of worship you won't want to miss! "People were bringing even infants to him [Jesus], that He might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. But Jesus called for them and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."" Luke 18:15-17 In this passage, Jesus shows us that he was not too important for children, therefore neither should we be. Jesus was often busy at work healing the sick, feeding the hungry, teaching the inquiring, yet he made room i n His heart and time in His schedule to be with children. He did so to remind us of a child's value, but also to reveal to us their wisdom. All too often, we "grownups" get caught up in the demands of this world, losing sight of its wonders. However, young children rarely miss the wonder of a moment. They are delighted by every color, movement and detail they see. When we take the time and opportunity to remember and see the world through the eyes of a child, priorities change, barriers break, and simple joys emerge. Children also have an amazing capacity to trust. Without a thought, my children reach for me, run to me, dive into my arms. It doesn't even occur to them to doubt whether I will be there to hold them or hug them or catch them. Even though the Bible - not to mention our lives - are packed full of examples of God's great Faithfulness, we all too often doubt whether God will be there to hold us or hug us or catch us. "If We Only Had a Heart" like a child to see the wonder in God's World and to trust God as freely and wholeheartedly as they do. Join us Sunday, and perhaps the hearts of our children will help you discover a new depth in your heart for God. Carrie Jones Associate Pastor of Children & Families
If Only I Had a Home
October 13, 2019 • Rev. Sam Hayes
10-13-19 Sermon Notes “If I Only Had a Home” GFUMC I have several cousins on my dad’s side of the family who live in Wisconsin. One summer Tammy and I were visiting up there, and we went in an antique store, and I asked the clerk about something. She looked at me funny, and I realized that my accent had given me away. (What? Me? An accent?) So the clerk asks, “Where’s home?” I said, “Alabama.” She said, “What do you do in Alabama? Pick cotton?” And before I knew what I was saying, I responded… “What do you do in Wisconsin? Make cheese?” Yes, by the way, on both counts. But sometimes our “home” gets stereotyped, doesn’t it? Even the word, “home,” brings up different images for different people. Where’s “home” for you? Have you always lived in Gadsden? My family is still getting used to calling Gadsden home. Having moved around quite a bit, we’ve always tried to have the attitude that “home is where you make it.” Or maybe you have heard the saying, “Home is where the heart is.” That saying has been around for a long time. It goes back to the first century – to a guy named Pliny. He was a Roman navigator and sailor. I guess it makes sense that, “Home is where the heart is,” comes from a person who probably spent a lot of time at sea. Picturing home in his mind… If only… What if we looked at “home” from a different angle? What if we looked at it not so much in terms of geography but in terms God dwelling in us…and finding contentment there. “Home” is finding our rest in God – no matter where we on the GPS. I love the way the psalmist David puts this in Psalm 131… My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore. (Psalm 131: 1-3 NIV) If we are not content and quieted on the inside, we can be sitting inside the house we grew up in, and still not feel at home. If we do have that contentment and quiet, then we feel at home anywhere. Home is not “somewhere over the rainbow.” Join us Sunday as we continue the “Overcoming Our If Onlys” series! Grace and peace,
If I Only Had the Faith
October 6, 2019 • Rev. Sam Hayes
10-6-19 "If I Only Had the Faith” GFUMC I am a big baseball fan – in particular, an Atlanta Braves baseball fan! It’s a good year to be a Braves fan. This coming Thursday, we will play the first game of the playoffs against the St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully, this will be the year for the Braves! When you go to see a Braves game, you will notice that at different times throughout the game, there is a loud boom, boom, boom, and the Braves war-chant comes over the speakers, and everyone starts doing the tomahawk chop and going, “Ah…” well – you’d just have to hear it. Ask me the next time you see me and I’ll sing it for you… Why do something so crazy? Because we need a little extra boost!! Maybe we are behind – need to “rally.” So we chop and sing. Sound silly? Well – baseball can be a silly game, and teams and fans will do some weird things to rally! In June of 2000, a couple of video board operators for the Los Angeles Angels baseball team decided that their team needed some extra motivation. They were playing the San Francisco Giants and they were behind. So the guys on the video board threw up a video clip on the stadium’s giant video screen—a video clip from the movie “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” It featured a few seconds of Ace's monkey, jumping up and down and screeching and acting, well . . . like a monkey. Superimposed over the clip were the words, “Rally Monkey.” The fans went wild for the rally monkey. They cheered and shouted and acted like monkeys themselves and got their energy back up. And guess what? The Los Angeles Angels came from behind to win the game. Hey – whatever works… So do followers of Jesus every need to “rally?” It seems like that’s what they are asking Jesus in the Gospel lesson for this week in Luke 17: 5-10… 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8 Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (Luke 17: 5-10 NRSV) In the verses prior to this passage, Jesus had asked the disciples to do two really important, difficult things: (1) He asked them not to be a stumbling block to others. (vv. 1-2) (2) He asked them to forgive those who sin against them. (vv. 3-4) Really important…and really difficult. I say from experience. Don’t cause someone else to stumble? I know I’ve done things that I would not want someone see and use as an example for their behavior. I certainly don’t want to make someone else stumble! And to forgive…when someone has hurt you really badly… That may be the hardest thing of all! Prompting us to say something like, “Lord, increase our faith. We’re going to need to rally here if you expect us to do this!!” Jesus said (loosely translated), “You don’t need a tomahawk chop or a rally monkey. You don’t even need more faith. You just need to take the faith you have, and put it to work. Meet me at “home plate” this Sunday, and we’ll talk about it some more. Pastor Sam