Never-Before-Seen-At-SUMC...Sunday Sneak Peak
We want to offer you a sneak peak so you can be prepared to worship this Sunday. Scroll down to see YouTube Videos of our 9 AM Worship Songs and find links to 11 AM hymns. The Nicene Creed will replace the Apostles' Creed This Sunday and we will add the following prayer...
9:00 Music Preview
Today is the Day is a new song for our 9 AM Worship Service.
11 AM Music Preview
Click the hymn title for a link to cyberhymnal and hear the hymns and read along.
Promotion Sunday
Children will parade to their new grade-level Sunday School Classroom during the 10 AM hour. So, if you drop off, bring them to their old classroom, but when you pick up, go to their new classroom!
The Sermon
This past weekend Haley and I traveled to Vermont for a family wedding. It was a long overdue trip; I hadn't seen my brother, Tom, in over nine years.
That's right, nine years. I guess one of the reasons for that ridiculous gap of time is that I absolutely loathe traveling, particularly by air. To begin with, I am moderately claustrophobic; put me on a full flight and I immediately come down with a good case of the "willies." As well, it takes my ears a day or two before they finally pop and clear. For me, flying is – quite literally – a headache.
So it's been awhile since I last stepped into an airport with my own suitcase in tow. Much has changed. You have to go through security in stocking feet (or barefoot). In the newly renovated Jacksonville airport, there are two different Starbucks within 50 yards of each other. And – in general – airports look more like shopping malls. Wonders never cease.
While we were waiting for a connecting flight in Philadelphia, I had something of a revelation. I was sitting quietly at the gate, getting my aching ear ready for one last excursion to 35,000 feet. In spite of the fact that I couldn't hear very well, I suddenly heard everything at once. And I realized that today's airport is a microcosm of our culture.
All at once. I heard it. Everything. To begin with, there were two different flat panel displays: one with CNN and one with Fox News. They loudly competed for our attention. On top of that, perhaps 20% of the travelers were having (slightly loud) conversations with their cell phones. Some of them were using Bluetooth headsets and stared vacantly into the void as they seemed to channel some disembodied presence.
In the midst of this din a bright young perky voice would come over the public address system and urge us to shop at the airport mall. "We guarantee our prices reflect the honest street price." Translation: "We promise not take advantage of the fact that you are trapped in an airport and rip you off." In between these advertisements a not-so-perky voice would remind us, ". . . not to carry containers with more than 3.5 ounces of liquids onto an aircraft," and "Please report any suspicious activity to airport security."
All of this was streaming into my already aching head. Yuck!
But this is they way of the world. We are force fed information. News, advertisements, paranoia, the random conversations of complete strangers. It's all one big info stream.
As I heard all of this "stuff," it occurred to me that God does not work this way. If I had to describe the way that God most often communicates with us, I would have to use the metaphor of seeds. Instead of stuffing the Good News down our throats and into our brains, God "seeds" his Word into our lives.
In the 8th chapter of Luke's gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. God scatters his Word among us. It isn't forced or artificial. It's not contrived or absurdly delivered. No, it's very organic and quite natural. It is a process that is quite different from they way our world "streams" information at us. It is slower and more ancient. It isn't mechanical or even digital.
Nor is it automatic. Some seed won't take root. Some languishes in shallow or rocky soil. Some gets carried off by the crows.
But some of it takes root. And the results are breathtaking. Fullness and plenty abound.
So . . . my question to all of us is simply this: how is God "seeding" your life with his Word? And where is it bearing fruit? How receptive is the soil of your life to God's Word?
Make no doubt about it: God is trying to tell you something. Right now, even as you read this. But we will scarcely be able to hear him unless we prepare ourselves. The way a farmer prepares his fields for new seed. The way the soil nourishes the seed. The way the fields rejoice in the fullness of their crops.
Is this happening in your patch of ground?
This Sunday, we are presenting Bibles to our 3rd graders. I plan to talk to them about these "seeds" that God is planting in their lives. The scripture text for the sermon is Luke 8:4-15. I invite you to come and listen along with the children.