5/5/2019 Sing Praises to the Lord

Are scripture reading this morning is Psalm Chapter 30?

I will extol you Lord for you have drawn me up and did not let my foes Rejoice over me. Oh Lord my God, I cried to you for help and you have healed me. Oh Lord, you brought up my soul from sheol restored Me to Life from among those gone down to the pit. Sing praises to the Lord. Oh you is faithful ones and give thanks to His holy name for his anger is but for a moment his favor is for a lifetime weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me I said in my Prosperity I shall never be moved by your favor. Oh Lord, you had established me as a strong Mountain you hit your face. I was dismayed. To You O Lord, I Cried unto the Lord I made supplication What profit is what profit is there in my death? If I go down to the pit Will the dust praise you will it tell if your faithfulness hero Lord and be gracious to Me O Lord be my helper. You have turned my mourning into dancing. You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy so that my soul may praise you and not be silent O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever the word of God for the people of God.

Thank you, sir.

Is this pinata back here for me to break?

I think the kids are going to do this at after after the mortgage burning over there. So if you're kidding you like candy you're in the right place.

butter spray Lord May the meditations of our hearts and the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight. Our Rock and Our Redeemer. Amen.

You know, the first time I came into Grace United Methodist Church wasn't at the pastor's intake. I was visiting Todd krost for lunch lunch is just an excuse for pastors to get together. And so I came here for lunch and I came into his office and I was like what? This is a nice building and then I was like, wow, this is a really nice office. So I have to admit before I came here. I did cut it a little bit of of the space in the facility. I brought some things to share this morning in our discussion about thankful. There's my Iowa Hawkeyes stuff. I'm thankful for that yet. I would have brought a Cardinals thing, but the way they're playing right now. I'm not really bringing that so.

I stepped in the up. The other thing that I have here is a bottle of water. Now in the talking about Thanksgiving and our church. This water isn't about water at all. It's about hospitality. And one of the things that we do really well as we do hospitality. We have served so many dinners down there and welcome to so many people including even some people gathered in the storm. over a couple days And sometimes people feel God's love simply by others being hospitable. This particular bottle of water is in my Pulpit every every morning at Toledo. And when I get there like Emily has it there with a napkin underneath and it's just always like right there. I don't always drink it, but just the presence of it reminds me that others care for me. And the good thing about it is that we know that the role of the church isn't to just care for the pastor here for everyone like all of the community all of God's creation, right? And so how many times do people come to this space and beer been refreshed by God's love that's been shown to them or to their family or to their friends simply. by the offering of what we have even if it's just a space to meet. Ministry happens When were hospitable? there's

there's also this study guide that I brought with it. It's by Max Lucado. It's before amen, and amen is is make it so And so what do we do before the amen? And there's a lot of work that we have yet to do We Gather this morning, but we gather to worship and praise God for what God is doing and continues. Did you not what God finished? Cuz God isn't done. Anytime when we think of a church generationally. We think about what it empowers the Next Generation to do. And when we cast Vision we have to think not for our immediate selves, but for 2434 40 years down the road. What are we doing? And a church with with strongly leadership in good vision isn't just planning for the now we're planning for the future, but we're not following our plan. We're trying to follow God's plan, which means that we don't have anything always all worked out. So so raise your hand this morning if you were on the building committee.

Fewer on the building committee. Thank you. Thank you. You can excellent. Thank you.

You're following where others cast Vision into giving it walls and studs and figuring out what to do with the stained-glass. The building committee is the most difficult because you're trying to Envision something that hasn't been created yet. And you're looking at other places that have done this but it might not always look like it's exactly going to look in this space.

And so when we when we follow God's Vision where God is leading us, the first step is like the building committee. You have to have a building committee that can figure out if it's feasible after your feasibility study. Who's involved with the feasibility study?

Feasibility I mean With God all things are possible, right? So we're here right? So it's feasible and sometimes that's what happens is we we follow where God is leading us with out for sure exactly what it's going to look like in the end. Maybe what was originally cast wasn't exactly how it worked out in this space one of the things I want to encourage you this morning to do if you haven't been here in a long time, or maybe you've never been here. Our home is open. Go wherever looking rooms, right? The only offices that are locked is probably Margaret's office and and in my office. You are Market. Who's mine? Okay, that's fine. That's fine. I guess so but but make yourselves at home here. Because that's what The Division cast is to make others feel God's love and tell others to feel welcome in this place. but then the other part of it is

That we're also a people that are about learning about God. And that's never easy. Like that that cause us to struggle with the text. And our God is not a god of easy answers. And so I have learned one thing about this congregation is that you will struggle with the scripture. Don't try to gloss over it. You actually dive into it and take it apart and and pull it apart. And we're thankful because God is a God that encourages Christian education. One of the things that we do really well is educating little kids in case you didn't notice. We're also really good at reproducing but we're really good with the little kid Thing 2. And so over these next years we're going to continue to do that. But we're also going to lean into what it means to invite more and more kids like this fall. We are doing a Wednesday night Community from 6 to 7:30. And it's inviting kids pre-k through 5th grade. For us to just love and care for him and his home about Jesus and it gives them relationships to help them grow. You know, the other part of that is that those kids they eventually get bigger. And so this summer we have a couple going on on a mission trip, but we're hoping that that will continue to grow for our younger like our Junior High and high school kids that they can have something to look forward to but they can also have something then to reach out to others in the living out of their Christian faith.

And the other reality is in our community. In our community, we have quite a few people over at the lake semi retirees retirees Lake people. I don't know what they're called. But but they live over there some of you live over there with them some of you are them but but they also sometimes your transplant right? And so how do we engage people that moved to a new community? You know, he's got that figured out Arizona and Florida churches in Arizona and Florida were some of y'all go in the winter. When you go down there. Don't worry. We know you love us too. But but the reality is that they do Hospitality really well and they do short-term engagement really well, so one of the things that were also going to be working on this fall is the adult the senior adult opportunities in Ministry. And so one of those things that we're also going to do is increase the connections with the Arts. But sometimes we act like people just when they reach a certain age like after you're done with high school, you're not interested in arts and crafts anymore. Hobby Lobby has proven that to be false. And so we're going to continue to do some things with that. But this this is all around this idea of what are we thankful for? And what we're thankful for is that we serve in love a God that cause us not to stay where we are but encourages us to keep drawing all the time. And so one of the things that were tempted to do is it to begin to believe into a mindset and a lens of skepticism and cynicism. Those are the two biggest counters to being thankful and grateful. skepticism and cynicism some people have allowed their mine just to constantly do well in those places and that kind of mindset just takes up space and claims more and more and more room and it edges out the Thanksgiving. I'm sure that some of you might have woke up and it or maybe you know someone that woke up this morning and everyone agrees. It's a beautiful day, right? Okay, but there's some people in the world they wake up. They look outside in the be like it's a terrible day. I was hoping to fly a kite today and it is just not a very good day for flying a kite. Is that sometimes the way we allow our minds to be is to focus on the negative and did not be thankful. And God calls us to be thankful. That's not the same as happiness. Thanksgiving is an Outlook that we have in life. It's a lens that we look through. It doesn't mean that all things are great boy. I'm really glad we we gathered to celebrate the paint off of the mortgage. No one's ever argued over our building, right? All right. I'm really glad to hear that. So the reality is that our God is so great that we God's faithfulness to us is even though we struggle with sometimes things like getting along or a green or sharing what were visiting with what others are envisioning God calls us to still be thankful. And so when we focus on that maybe what we can we can focus on instead is

we as a people of Faith continue to love each other. No matter what.

Let me tell you what I really coveted when I entered Todd's office. I didn't commit the building. I didn't cover the office. I coveted the congregation that could get it done.

The congregation that can get it done. Not everyone is as faithful to take on a new task and just step out in faith fulness. And as God is faithful. So are we and those two things together? God will do wonderful and mighty things. God has done but will continue to do. Like I said, this isn't a celebration of the building but it acknowledgement of what God has done. For us and through us not that we have earned it.

But that God is faithful. Not that we have the perfect responses to every question, but we're willing to sit together as we struggle. Wear diapers congregation and that is a good thing. The ways that we love each other. Like really support each other and encourage each other.

That's what I'm thankful for. We don't ask if we share all the same exact values who watches what kind of News Channel who's given to NPR? We don't ask any of those questions. We just know that God loves each and every one of us. And I know if we ask each and every one of you what your thankful for more likely than not what you're saying for for is the love that you have found here. the love of Christ for one another I asked Toledo what they were thankful for and I wasn't as smart as Carolyn told him they couldn't answer the same way. And so everyone said the same thing for my church family for my church family for my church family. Sometimes that's true. Like sometimes that is what God has created us in relationship with one another and that's one of the things that we're thankful for. But the thing that we're thankful most Is the God continues to call us into service to Christ to share the love of Jesus with others? And so now that we have felt that love in this building. We are also called to shape the vision that casts it forward. That's what's exciting.

But that also means that we're planning for generations to come not always just for ourselves.

One of the things I did when I came here was I had two small groups. We had small listening sessions and one of the listening sessions that we had was with young families. And I said what what do we need? You know, what it what do we need until they explain some programs? The Wednesday night program is one of those right? We're going to try to do some date night out things in the fall as well. So then went when that was selling like that's awesome that then means that we have to be able to do it. And so one of the things that that also causes Tuesday continue the model of Christian education for the Next Generation. And so one of the things that you can be in prayer about for the church is our fall programming. Pray that the way that we're going to reach new people in the community that they don't even know about us yet and we don't know about them, but there's a need there.

And so one of the things that that I just really want to share this morning is that when we see what we are thankful for we make the decision to be thankful for something there is something in your life that you can be thankful for today. Does it mean that everything's going right? It doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It doesn't mean that everything is good. But what it is is it to acknowledge mean that God is doing something in your life somewhere that you can see the love of God in. And if you can't see the love of God in those places. Look to those who were loving you. Because sometimes we share love with others just simply by caring for them and calling them and reaching out to them. And sometimes that's the only way we feel God's love for portions of Our Lives.

What are the things that really? Helps us to to feel the love of God in a space and in an area like when we look around is Aesthetics. One of the things I learned about our building is I know it's not actually Jesus but sometimes we might get mistaken and think it is but but this worship window. stained glass window and the one in the back and the one over there in this whole ship all they all came from the original structure, right? Okay, and so and some of our other things did as well if you were involved in the Esthetics. Can you raise your hand the Aesthetics company? Alright, so if you don't like the decorations blame them and it's important in a church building. Because it's one of the ways that we can experience. The love of God In Worship is what we're surrounded by. If you've ever brought your children here for programming raise your hand, I forgot to have his do that during the Christian education part, okay. If you've ever volunteered here, I didn't say you were happy about it. If you ever volunteered here raise your hand. Okay. All right.

If you love someone.

Who worships God here raise your hand?

We have gathered as a Community of Faith. Some of us have went on to various Ministries. Some of us has moved locations with jobs or for retirement, but we gather together this day thankful for all that. God has done. But also for what God is doing. And those are Mighty things. Let us pray. Lord help us to continue to be thankful for all.

The ways that we feel your love. Help us to continue to reach out to to share that Joy with others.

amen

We have the the benefit. sharing in communion