11/24/2019 Will you let Christ reign?

Almighty God we ask that you might bless these ties and he's offerings out of which you have so richly blessed us. We seek to be a blessing to others. Not only through our gifts and resources but through the very lives that we live. testimony for you Ayman

a scripture reading for today comes from Jeremiah chapter 23 verses 1 through 6.

Woe to the Shepherds who are destroying and scattering the Sheep of my pasture declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord the god of Israel says to the Shepherds who tend my people because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed Care on them. I will bestow punishment on you for the evil. You have done declares the Lord. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I've driven them. I will bring them back to their pasture where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place Shepherds over them who will tend them and they will no longer be afraid or terrified nor will any be missing declares the Lord? The days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David A righteous Branch a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land in his days. Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which you will be called the Lord our righteousness savior the word of God for the people of God.

Thank you, sir.

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

I welcome you once again to worship. Part of what we do is is what we have done and that's prayer and scripture. And now comes this lesson part where we seek to pull out some meaning from the scripture and apply it to our lives and so often times the way we look at scripture is like the way we look at Salt just enough not too much. just enough not too much

you know I want to ask you to consider looking at it more like air something we take in and something we we grow from something that helps us be alive in Christ

this Sunday is reign of Christ Sunday or Christ the King Sunday What it's talking about is that God's kingdom is coming. God's kingdom is what we want to come right by kingdom come thy will be done. Right and if we want those things then we have to live in to what they are helping us to become. It means that we no longer get to just rest on our laurels.

So this morning we're going to look at what it means to have Christ rain in our lives. But not like salt just a little bit here a little bit there. But really for it to empower us to live life. You know.

everybody

for all of my Lion King friends in the room for anyone who's who's a fan of of The Lion King show. On Disney, what is everybody want to be?

King right is that song goes everybody? Does this and everybody look right? Everybody look left. You guys will get it one day. Yeah, and so what everybody wants to be king, you know what like sometimes it's fun to be in in in control the game that you're playing whether you're playing teacher or house or King of the Hill. Sometimes it's fun to be the one in charge and you know what that doesn't go away as you get older. Isn't go away as you get older some people no matter where they are. They just want to be in charge right? Like they just want to be king. Okay? Here's a problem. Even though we always want to be king like part of us is pretty selfish. So we like to make the game benefit us and end in Jeremiah's time. That's what was going down. Like they wanted everything to benefit them. So what was happening was people were scared. They were uncertain says they were terrorized. by all of this division Maybe the adults don't understand what I'm talking about yet.

It's it's almost as if evil, like the evil that that got is talking about they've done what God is going to undo is the division in the terror and the uncertainty that people felt

so so if God wants us to come together. And God wants us to care for one another. Then that means that in order to care for you. I have to acknowledge that you're worth something to care about. But I also have to acknowledge that it's going to cost me something to care for you.

And so sometimes people aren't interested in all that and they just become a consumer mentality where everything is about them. Until Christ the King Sunday is a day where we say. No, you know who our King is Jesus? Our King is the king of kings. The Lord of lords are King. Is above all the kings. In fact, no matter where we are in the world no matter what country we live in. What unites us is Christ? What unites us is God's kingship in our lives? So there's this discussion in Jeremiah about sheep, right? Like a lot of times there's talk about sheep. And that's really, because she / not so smart. So we we share a lot in common. So cheap. We just kind of wander away we got to do our own thing. We're prone to getting on tangents or you're going this way this way or that way in life and not caring about others sometimes or worrying about ourselves as we share in common with sheep.

But Jesus uses a story about sheep. When he's talking about his coming return. In the it when it says when when Christ returns when the Son of God returns and he uses this in the Greek and I talked about it son before its future active indicative mean to stop terrible. It's not a story about the past. Okay, it's going to happen. If Jesus tells you something's going to happen. You better pay attention Okay. So Jesus says this is going to happen. Okay. Jesus says I'm son of man returns. There's going to be a division right like a separation write this my paraphrase. Okay, sheep and goats because her sheep and goats before okay, so the sheep and the goats game and in the Sheep who are convinced they're sheep because they've done everything right? They're convinced that they know God that they're convinced their sheets bait. They some of them find out that their goats because Jesus says he doesn't know then and some of the people over here are some of the goats. They're really surprised that Jesus knows their name. Because they don't know Jesus at all. But Jesus says whenever you and then you ready for it, okay? care for the Widow Close the naked feed the hungry visit the sick and imprisoned right are there any others?

I think it's a right. Okay, perfect. Good, we all agree. We think we know okay, so

Jesus says those things like that's what we're supposed to do, right? So like as a church, that's part of the things that we do like we have the missions that we do seek to do those things, right? so many times

we fail to see the connection between our lives of Faith lived out and living out for the kingdom to come but sometimes it's really hard for us to connect our job in what we do with how it can impact others for Jesus, right? K make sense like some of you like no, I totally get it and don't feel like that's that's that's pretty much right. Like how do we connect these things? Okay. Anybody involved in technology, I want to talk to you for a second. Okay, if you don't understand computers. Take a nap. I don't know what but okay, if you use computers on the everyday basis, but the reality is

There is an unspoken about a many areas in technology about the ethics behind how technology has created. Right like how Coatings done how artificial intelligence make decisions right? Here's an example. Okay. You got a car on autopilot, right? Your car and I'll pile is going ahead and it's going to do one of two things. Right? Like it's going to get an accident at knows its rate of speed. Right? It sees something in front of his hops out in front of it as to make a decision. Okay. So it's a big decision to hit whatever is in front of it to Swerve to the left was over there to Swerve the right to what's over there.

How does it justify its position in what it chooses to do at go in at a high rate of speed right now? Like the ethic behind it is if the car is in front, what does it take to do? Who does it protect right like it's not just something simple like oh, well, it always goes left because that's the luck of the draw write like there's something about the kingdom of God that says we ought to look at this a little bit and figure out how it's saying about what it's saying about how it makes decisions now, maybe you're like Pastor Rob. I'm not going to buy up. Attached but yet until they rent cars instead of buy them, right and so I'm not there. So maybe doesn't apply to me, right? Well, what about this? if you work for a company that

that hires people

There's no like foolproof way to hire somebody that's going to guarantee. They're going to be a good match. Right? So, I mean, I hate to break it to all the HR people in the room. But like from what I hear part of it's somewhat of a guesstimate right? Like you kind of just make your best guess going for a right to live algorithms. Right? Like they have algorithms. You can pay you can plug all these resumes into enough spit out the best of the best of the best applicants right Based on data, right? Guess what? They found through the study of those algorithms.

That data that's been driven that's been putting those systems is completely bias. Tazewell V gender and ethnicity think about it this way if you put all the people that have ever worked in your company that have been there the longest making them the best employee by the way some employees just going to hold a hot to eat right? And so then that makes them a better candidate right? So if you love longevity then right or it's promotions how many promotions they get, right and so it's like there's this implicit bias, right? They can be in technology. Just in the algorithms of things. Why are we talkin about this at Christ? the king Sunday because God's kingdom has something to say about the basis of how we treat one another. The kingdom of God is calling us to love one another and to care for one another. And how can we do that? If everything that we do that engages when another is somehow based on some misconception or some implied by us? God's calling us to say something in response to that now. Why is Pastor Rob talking about this on Sunday morning on Christ the King Sunday? Cuz I cannot think of a better time when I can talk to computer minded people all in the same room. That have an opportunity when the time comes to speak up about stuff like this. And scheduling software companies that use scheduling software. There's a way to check it to make sure that they don't get the benefits. Right? Like if they never work enough hours to make benefits, so they end up never being able to continue to to kind of get out of that cycle of poverty Grant and I know like some of this stuff is boring to hear but this is the kind of stuff that God cares about like, how do we love one another and how do we create a just system sea kings are supposed to do certain specific things and because we haven't

talked about it yet. Let me bring this up Kings provide protection the negotiate treaties they care for the needy. They judge disputes that carry out Justice. The advocate for future Generations. They discerned a Way Forward they create social norms.

the create laws

and the Gaba taxes in essence Kings or to provide stability the kings that Jeremiah is talking about the Shepherds that Jeremiah is talking about that scattered the flock.

They made people afraid or terrified. And some just simply left. But the king that we serve. Is a king who Reigns wisely who does what is Justin with his right his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. I don't know about you. But plenty of those I love live in uncertainty.

and fear for their safety

I was approached two weeks ago by a census worker. for the state And the census worker for the state? Came in we talked for a little bit and said we really want the church to promote the taking of Senses, right? And so some of you guys are like, yeah, it's a no-brainer right? Like we fill out the census right? Like that's not a problem. Well, that's the way most people are going to respond, right? but for some of our brothers and sisters who are uncomfortable. What Census Data would be used for? They're not going to want to share that information, right? Or if they're uncomfortable about their status as ability to it to work within the United States are not going to be comfortable filling out that information.

You know what God tells us. That we're to do for the Foreigner in our land.

careform the advocate for him Dimension to the census worker look we can do this. That's great. But I don't know if I'd always be comfortable filling it out.

seem part of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God in our hearts means that that we seek where God wants us to go everyday.

And as we live out this life of discipleship of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Where to understand that God's kingdom that we're calling to you that we're being called to is in our kingdom. But it's God's. And what does it mean? Well, we can start by doing those things. caring for the poor closing the hungry feeding the hungry clothing the naked. current to the Widow visiting the imprisoned no. A woman came to the house yesterday and she needed some help. And it took a year-and-a-half for any of y'all to tell somebody where the parsonage was, but it was okay cuz people need help so like she came and I've been in some communities where they say this. If people want to get ministerial Alliance, they can do it through the town cop as long as they have a driver's license. They can just run their info and I will be glad to help them. Okay? That is not a kingdom of God mentality. That is not then that's not how we roll here at the ministerial Alliance and I'm happy to say that. We live in a world where sometimes phimosis idea they just because people have a problem with the government and they were problem of God. Those aren't the same things. So like this idea of how we care for others and Technology. And how we live out the this calling that we have received is simply to love the people who seek God's help from us.

You know. We were able to respond in that situation the ministry Alliance here was really awesome. Like somebody came right over and and we got her the help that she needed and we do that so that people don't abuse the system in this really good. And so but the other part of it is having a system in place means that we value it and its importance in our community meeting that anybody who's just coming through should be able to find help here. And that says something about who we believe God to be.

Sonoran courage you To seek where God is calling you to live out God's Kingdom in your heart. Whatever that may be. That you may live to share the joy in the hope of Jesus Christ, so that others may not be afraid. Or so others might might not be. uncounted so that others might not feel unwelcome. To the very real work that we do is the work that was important in Jeremiah's time just like it's important than ours.

The world is going to continue to try it to try and create division. Christ seeks is to bring us together as God's creation. to worship Him

I read some of you all have already seen the Mister Rogers movie that spits out. Your pastor was doing Mister Rogers sermons long before it was cool. And so I can't plug in any sermons right now cuz I've already done them all.

But I read an article that said this was mr. Rogers last words to his wife.

sweetie Tell me I'm a sheep.

Tell me I'm a sheep.

The same verse that confounds me confounded Mister Rogers as well. But may you live your life in such a way? That others when they hear that you may question whether you were a sheep. Are speechless and response? Cuz it's pretty evident. You love God. amen