Sermon Tone Analysis

Kids

Cain and Abel story…am I my brother’s keeper?

Yes you are

brothers and sisters, best friends, and moms and dads

Announcement

Check bulletins

Shannon - Fall Fest

Thank you to deacons - 30 days, please help your kids respect those barriers

Two new deacon candidates:

Bill Ferber and Ted Domingos (stand)

Reminder of what deacons do…should be noted, these two guys have been at work with the deacons on that project out front as much as any of the current deacons.

30 day window to give the congregation the opportunity to share any concerns.

A note on this process.

You should know that the elders do not bring forward names without a lot of prayer and conversation, we do not rush the process in order to fill a slot.

At this point we have determined that we have confidence in our nomination.

We do recognize that there may be things we are missing.

That’s why this 30 days exists, and this is how we would like you to use the opportunity.

First, if you have a concern, I’ll ask you talk with them.

That’s Matthew 18 resolution right there.

How we ought to handle concerns anyway.

Because it is first and foremost about people, not leadership candidates.

If that does not resolve it, please speak to me or one of our elders so we can determine if there is any reason they not join the leadership team.

I am thrilled that both of these guys are willing to be a part of this team.

Second announcement: Men’s breakfast next Saturday (you could read that anywhere) But this is a breakfast and workday

Here’s some of what’s on the agenda:

Removing and trimming bushes and trees

mowing, weeding, cutting wood, moving dirt

It’s going to be a fun day of (manly grunts)

Please come with some tools,

Axes, chainsaws, rakes, wheelbarrows, gloves, pruners, shovels…it’s an all kind of tool day.

There will be a backhoe here, if you have big equipment like that you would like to bring, please check with our deacons to see if if would be helpful.

email the office if you don’t know who to talk to.

It’s definitely more than a half day job, but with many hands…Some guys are planning to bring sack lunches, but even if you can only help for an hour or two, thats great.

Great chance to tear stuff up and build new friendships.

Sermon

oops: Community is important

At the risk of minor ptsd, travel back with me to summertime of 2020.

I know…it’s not pleasant.

We were in about week 20 of two weeks to flatten the curve, church was online only, It was usually Dave and I and a couple others, giving space, doing the dance... (don’t miss the lights and camera right here…and you not here.)

Well on a nice morning I decided to take a walk through downtown Camas and in the distance saw my friend Brandon who owns a coffee shop down there.

I waved and walked toward him, properly trained to automatically stop about 6 feet away.

Brandon clearly hadn’t been trained and broke into the bubble with an outstretched hand.

This prompted an older training, deeply ingrained in my soul to override the more recent 6 feet and no contact training.

I shook his hand.

As I walked away I noticed tears in my eyes.

Which was weird.

I hadn’t felt any overwhelming emotions, I wasn’t exceedingly happy or sad, then it dawned on me.

That was my first handshake in months.

At an awake level, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but my heart knew how deeply that sense of connection was needed and my eyes responded.

I had the chance to tell Brandon that story a little while back.

I think it made him happy to know his subversive activity had had that impact.

Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a helper corresponding to him.””

Made in his image, means we were made for community.

God has eternally existed in 3 persons.

1 God, 3 identities.

Whole other subject matter, but when we were made in his image, we were made as “ones”

So it was not good for us to be alone.

In isolation, we are not as we were made to be.

ugh: We sometimes fail to prioritize it…or value it

But when I look at the world, when I look at my own life, I have to ask:

Does humanity see the need?

Do we look for others who have that need?

If you want proof of the need, turn on an NFL game today and don’t look at the field, look at the stands.

Strangers hi-fiving.

Yesterday watching the Oregon-WSU game...

I watched WSU fans, with their team firmly in control the whole game hugging strangers, all wearing matching maroon and grey, laughing at the out of place green and yellow people in there.

and then with three minutes left, the clock struck midnight and their coach turned back into a pumpkin and those same people were consoling each other, while the Duck fans began to seek each other out so they weren’t enjoying this improbable day alone.

We need community.

We need to feel like we are a part of connected community and that that community matters.

As just noted, we do that with sports teams

politics, the vast majority of people when given deep level questions do not agree with their political party of choice on many issues, and taking away that affiliation, (being given a scenario without names or a D/R next to it) find the behavior of most of the politicians to be unacceptable.

Yet add back in the details and they will defend the tribe they belong to and attack the other.

We do it with fandoms, books, shows, movies

If we aren’t connected, we will find connection…even if it is meaningless…or even if it’s counterfeit.

Every study on social media proves it isn’t social.

People get the chemical hit of social connection, but not the substance behind it.

Higher ratings of anxiety, isolation, and depression abound when social media becomes our primary connecting point.

But we would rather have that than nothing.

An Interesting study was done on Twitter specifically, but I think it applies accross the board.

The short of it was that those who had the most to say on social media about a particular cause were the least likely to actually do anything.

The reasons they found were that the simple typing of a statement: “Save the Whales” triggered the brain chemistry that rewards the body for actually doing something, thereby reducing the urge to actually make a difference.

We need community so much we will fake what we don’t have.

And unfortunately, much like other substitutes for the genuine, we can become addicted to it despite never receiving what it promises.

Hence we have seen an increase in offenses taken, real relationships broken, and an increse in loneliness

Not that loneliness was invented with social media.

It’s just the soup de jour.

loneliness is pervasive in our culture.

We are more mobile, families living far apart, more busy, and with the deep cultural and political division, more angry than ever.

If you are here this morning, the odds are good you recognize the need for community at least at some level.

But I still find myself wondering if I value it the way God does.

And when I look at the way God lived in the person of Jesus…I have to say no.

aha: Jesus does.

Take a look at the life of Jesus and you will see it:

Early in the gospels, you see him choose 12 guys to come with him

In Matthew 8 a man with leprosy came asking to be healed.

These were “untouchables”.

They were actually required to stay away from others, and if they had to walk the roads, they were supposed to shout “unclean” to ensure no one accidentally got close…Look what Jesus valued:

Matthew 8:2-3 “a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.”