September 11, 2022 Sunday Worship Service

Hey man.

Hey everybody. Close your eyes. Now, you see what? I see on the screen up here.

And that screen has become a crutch over. And I have trouble in but I'm sure brother Larry will get that taken care of today subject.

You know.

this morning, we talked about the a time of transition for Jesus, has he came to Bethany and now In preparation for the Passover. This is a time of transition for us is leaving and And just to let you know, he's only kind of leaving. Because on Sunday nights, we're going at. We're going to try and use some video sermons. From. Other preachers, so that we can actually get input from outside our own congregation. But tonight, we're going to use brother Doug sermon that he gave it to Dallas week before last so Everybody be sure and come in and join us for that. And Royal still be singing. So the beauty of the change that we're going through that Roy is going to be leading us to sing it.

No matter what things have to change in our change, bothers you, I know it can be hard to be extremely hard for some people when things change. And some people just seem to go out and look for things to change. So, whatever your opinion about change gets here, we're going to have to do some, and we're going to try to do the best we can and I'll try to do the best I can from here for you because that's one way I can say, I love you. And I do love to do love this church and all the people in it and I hope you do too. So how do you say that to someone? How do you say I love you. We all struggle to communicate that in life. You know, some of us had parents that you never said that.

My dad was one of those. You know that he'd tell my step while he knows I love him. I don't need to tell him. Will you do? You know, you do need to tell people you love them. Maybe you don't say I love you but you need to find a way. If you got to be a way of telling people that you love them and you and you've got to share your love and we've always known that we need to share our love. Maybe maybe we can do that by hugs and kisses and bedtime stories.

Maybe, maybe you can say I Love You by including the ones you love. In special times of your life.

Notice I put that across that sailors. Say see you soon.

maybe it, maybe it's Coaching basketball teams like Deb. And I did for lots of kids that weren't even ours.

You can say, I love you and many ways, you can send an example of love and many ways. You can say, I love you by the things you do every day by teaching protecting and nurturing. Those around you, not just your family. You know. But it's nurturing all those kids.

And at some point we all need that, you know, there's a TV series called The Big Bang Theory, you know, and every time the star of the show, get sick. Somebody has to sing soft kitty warm. To make you feel better. Right. He's only 40 years old, that makes him feel better. South bucket. So that's a way you can say, I love you.

every time you pick up a kid and give him a kiss,

every time you hug someone, What college dunk? Cousins, hugs. We had to try and make up hug.

Just wanted to say why is it the idea was there. We still loved each other, we still cared about each other. Giving gifts.

I don't know who this kid is. Looks like maybe. Maybe one that got her first horse, that day.

Gifts can be deceiving you know they can be considered purchases. I'm trying to buy your love live kiss. I only reason you ever bought me anything, it's cuz you trying to buy my love and when you see it more and more in our in our society today we try to buy orchids love. We're going to make sure they had more than we had. What was some of us that one? That's not too much. I still don't have to have too much, but we just keep buying and buying and buying in the amount of stuff that some of these kids has today.

They use it to ignore us, so it's really not spreading the love. So, but gifts, Can be very special. if they're thought about,

it's a crucial question and, and We can now we can answer here if we look at the Marion are texting from John 12, verse one through eight, six days before the Passover. Jesus, therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was from. Jesus had raised from the dead, so they gave a dinner for him there. Martha.

Served and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. Mary, therefore took a pound of expensive, ointment made from Pure and Jesus and wiped his feet with your hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume.

If you're reaching to the patches in front of you there somewhere, not every pass but a bunch of them has a little ziplock bag.

Just checked in to find one.

I didn't stick them and everyone but I stuck them in some of them.

Look on down this way Carol I'm sure I put yours on the end down here.

Everybody got one of those.

Or at least every little group. Now, open that up.

I'm sure that everybody here has heard about nard before. And so, I thought I would let you know. What it was and what it smells like. He recognized the smell.

the plant that, that they took this pure nard from grew in Northern India, had to be You carried all the way across. Alexander's kingdom was when it started.

and it said an oil taken from This what they call spikenard plant, which nowadays, we call Spanish lavender. Chelsea smells like lavender to you. That's because it's lavender.

Can anybody smell it?

Probably start it. Yeah, some of us don't have good smellers anymore. It'll start taking over the whole room if we leave all those packages open. but the amount of nor did I put in these packages? Is less than half an ounce. There are just a few drops in each one of those little bags.

She? Did much more than that.

What we understand that she dumped Okay. Took a pound of expensive. Ointment made from Pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, 16 oz. And I've used less than half an ounce. Today for everybody to have their own sample of what Nord smells like.

so, can you imagine what that house smell like when she dumped 16 oz. Lavender oil. On Jesus.

course, I've been traveling for several days so it was might have been needed to

So, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas, Iscariot one of his at his disciples. He who was about to betray him. Said, why was this not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? You said that's not because he cared about the poor.

Leprechaun. She was a thief. And having charge of the money bags used to help himself to what was put into it. But Jesus said,

Leave her alone. So that she might keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor. You always have with you but you do not always have me. Jesus said,

get off her back.

So, Mary's gifted in the events in our Story begins six days before the Jewish feast of Passover. So these events are placed within the last week.

All four of the gospels indicate that Jesus had left Galilee for the final time. Headed headed south to Jerusalem. At this point, you've already passed through Jericho where he'd encountered. The key is with the matter. Fact, Doug talked about Ukiah / last week and everyone knew that this was a dangerous trip. That they had taken coming back to Bethany. Was a dangerous trip in. Jesus was aware about why he was going to Jerusalem. He was going there to die. And it came to Bethany what you that's the hometown of Mary Martha and Lazarus and on this occasion he was attending at dinner.

Can you imagine who all must have been there? To visit with I bet you because all the Jews began to concentrate at this time of year around Jerusalem and I go there for ritual cleansing. They go early to the Passover. But can't you imagine that all those that he had ever healed or trying to get there to see him and thank him and just be close to him again for the Glorious?

Healing that they had received.

Some text say that they gathered together in the home of Simon the leper. So he's one of them, you know.

But everyone is sat at that table in that house that time probably had a story to tell if you could have just been there. About how Jesus and change their life. Of course, I certainly hope that all of us also have a story to tell about how Jesus has changed our life. I know I do.

Martha. Always been a hard worker Lazar. She was serving all those gift. When Mary came in there.

can you remember Mary was The real kind of the emotional sister. Martha was a hard-working nose-to-the-grindstone sister and Mary was Kind of the flighty. I fly off of my heart sister. Both wanted to do what right, what's right Marcia? Because it was the right thing to do and Mary because of love. She operated from there. She's the one. That. Weston cried, if you would have just been here, my brother would still be alive. But she was still happy to see Jesus, wasn't she? She wept and cried not out of Grease, but out of Happiness to see Jesus.

if you put it in because of her face, she knew if he would have been there, her brother would have still been alive when Jesus resurrected Ladson. So I hurt her feelings for him on the evening. 4 put into words.

She wanted him to know. How great she thought he was. She wanted to be close to him. She wanted to give to him. Before he died. I think of all the people we come across in the Bible, Including the disciples. This is the one. That knew what was coming?

She understood that Jesus life was to be cut short.

And she felt that he would not be with them long. And we need to feel that way about all of our family. All those around us, we need to feel like we may not have them long and we need to treat them like each moment could be our last and that's what she was doing.

She was all these things going through her head. She Amor. She needed the Savior. John recorded, Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume and pure and hard. And anointed the feet of Jesus. And wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume.

This was extremely expensive stuff, it's imported, as I said, from Northern India,

And it's probably probably sealed in a jar of alabaster. It says in the Bible, one place it says an alabaster box. One place, it says it an alabaster. Bottle.

You look in the background there. That's probably what the bottle would look like now.

It says that she broke that bottle and poured everything while braking does not necessarily mean she broke this bottle. For Pete's sake, is made out of stone but she broke the Seal of the bottle. See up at the very top of its kind in the background are, you can see little black line, nose would have been sealed with wax, and they would break the seal to allow that to be poured out, but you can think they broke it, because that's just one of those things that no matter whether she broke it or not, probably don't matter. But either way, this bottle was opened in one place, causing a box box can be. And that's just a matter of probably a translation. A box or container or bottles, are all things. That hold something. And they make Alabaster boxes and alabaster bottles and they did for centuries and finally, these were replaced with glass.

Cuz these are stronger than pottery. but weaker than glass in and a lot harder to manufacturers in a glass bottle that you can. You can blower mold.

the thing about this gift is,

He was given with love.

Wheatland were thinking about Mary's gift-giving, without a sense of

Selfishness. That makes sense. We always well, I gave a gift, but is your gift selfish or unselfish.

300, denarii roughly one year's pay was what? This amount of nard would have cost, at least that's what Judas said. He seemed to know the price of everything that he could sell.

300 denarii.

So, one year's pay. For the average person in Jerusalem was the value of what was inside this jar.

This is one of the rare occasions when

And I pointed this out this morning, unless Jesus was touched. But not for selfish reasons.

He was touched. To show, love you realize how many times Jesus would walk through crowds and people push and shove just to Touch the Hem of His coat. They didn't touch that. Come for Jesus. They touched because they believe in Jesus and knew that it would heal them.

But it was for them, they touch the code. Mary ducks. This anoints Jesus wipes his feet with her hair.

For Jesus.

To anoint Jesus for his death. To say, I love you. She had nothing to be healed from. Her brother is already been raised from the dead. So she she wouldn't answer anything for herself but to give a gift to him.

That is once so important about how she said, I love you.

It was just totally out of character for any woman. To do such a thing in her time. But she was concerned only with Jesus was showing how Greater Love was for the teacher Jewish women that time just did not do this. Attitude seems to have been chairs. Jesus is all that matters.

There's another time in the Bible that Jesus that a woman. Wept on Jesus's feet. And wiped them with her hair.

And she was called a sinful woman. Because you did not touch me in. Not allowed. Women did not touch me in that, we're not their husband. Mary says, I don't care what you think of me. I want to give this to him and she did. There's nothing in the Bible says can't touch me in, but that was one of those Jewish traditions of men that carried down. Mary's gift was wrapped totally in humility.

It was not Jesus's head that she concentrated on, but his feet.

It was not a towel that she used to wipe his feet, cut her hair. There was no Pride involved. Mary was not the issue of her gift. She was not wanting while I hope you all like it and like me because of it. No, that was not her goal.

Our goal was to give to Jesus

All that mattered was expressing her. Love for Jesus and that's what makes a gift valuable.

What she actually gave. Where's your heart?

Not just 12 oz of nard. Sometimes we can flowers and rings and clothes or money to someone. And we love them.

Never chase. We give symbolizes something greater than the gift itself.

It stands for the love we're trying to express and this was the case with Mary's perfume. If your friend was not cause an aromatic way of saying to Jesus and to everyone else that she loved her special friend, she loved the Man from Nazareth. She loved her.

It's almost as if she sang Soft Kitty to him.

So, our gift. How do we give a gift like married today? How do we say? I love you to God, what kind of gift is appropriate for such a relationship? What do you give? Scriptures are full of wonderful gift ideas.

after all the greatest commandment, According To Jesus is,

love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind,

There's a gift right there. What a deal. I can never get Debbie to tell me what she wants. Whatever you want to get me all, I don't need nothing. But I want to get her something because I love her. I want to show her that special. What God tells us? that we should love the Lord, Our God with all our heart, with all our minds and call arsal.

Flash like being signed up on that gift, registry in Amazon. What do you want? Well, I want your heart. I want your mind and I want yourself. I want you to love me. That's what I want. And I wish we all love. Love God, like that.

I wish we all had that desperation that Mary had just to be close to Jesus. We need that desperation to be close to Jesus. We want to be close to God and all that we do and say.

Course, one of the most obvious ways of saying I love you God just tell him. We do the ocean private prayer.

Name songs teaches how to express it. To the Lord, I will extol you my God and King and bless your name forever and ever. Everyday, I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. How hard is that? Say, a prayer. Repeat the Bible verse.

Sometimes more. Speaking of love. How our love can be the greatest gift. Loving others demonstrates, our love for God. So loved and others tells God that God we want to honor You by loving those around us course. If we love those around us, we tell them about our greatest gift. God. We show God. We love him by telling others about God and sharing our love of God with those neighbors and Friends. The family.

Just as a husband communicates. His love for his wife by loving his children. We communicate our love of God, by loving our fellow, man. We say I love you to God by loving one. Another

The scriptures also declare that we can express our love for God. By speaking to others about God, this is called confession. By confessing our love for God to others. We can express our love for God. Jesus said, everyone there for, who shall confess me before men? I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven, but whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him

before my father, who is in heaven.

Can we tell others about our love for God? It's another way to say. I love you God. Perhaps the most difficult way to say, I love you. God is telling others. Something we cannot avoid if we truly wish. To show our love for the Lord and to give him that gift of love, is simply a bae, him and share. I'm with others. And yes, it is hard because That's when you, you're afraid you'll get really cool because you said you love God. John Wayne was never afraid to say it goes all movies that is all over in them. God will help us nowadays.

No mention of God.

But we need to get back to that to where we're not afraid to mention God. We're not afraid to tell our friends, our classmates are part of our family. That's gone astray about our love for God and how he saved us and how you can save them.

John Roach.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not burdensome. Sometimes, this is exactly what people do, not want to hear.

Cuz I want to thank. It's a big burden to share God's love. We must have made him to be pleasing to him. Love for God, is more than saying we love God involved. Just as loving parents or mates for children, involves more than merely speaking, loving words.

Being a loving parent. Would be easy, is all you have to do is get up every morning. Say Look at, look at your checklist and say, okay, say I love you. All right? Now nine more times today I'll say that you're done. You're a parent. Don't work. Cuz there's more to it. You got to show that love. Throughout her way by Gentle Touch. I hug my kiss and yes my discipline my bringing them up in the way they should go.

You know how God says, I love you.

He says it a lot of ways than he says it. In the things we have in our life. He says it in the people, we have in our life. He says it in the fact that we have another life. He said it by the sacrifices he made.

John 10-17-19 says for this reason. The father loves me because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me but I lay it down. If I own a card, I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up. Again, this charge, I have received from my father

You know how God shows his love. This was what Jesus said.

Okay, this is what happened to Jesus?

He showed his love by. Laying down his life.

He showed his love.

My doing so willingly and he showed his love by Resurrection. He showed his love by dying for us. He gave up his life on the cross King and Normandie knowing that you were giving up your life on a crack on the cross as a gift. John 3:16, we all know it for God. So loved the world that he gave his only begotten, son, that whoever believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life. If you believe In God.

You know, all that Jesus went through on the cross. He's placed in it to Heroes after 3 days. He was delivered up for us because of our transgressions. Not his he gave his life for us and was raised. Because of our justification. Romans 425 in many ways. But it specially in, Jesus death, burial and Resurrection, God says, to each of us. Love you. The Gospel of John. Has made this connection all the way through ending up with John 3:16.

Whoever believes in me shall have eternal life.

If you believe in God, do you love God? If so, are you communicating that love right now? Are you communicating that love to go? Are you doing those things? We talked about? Yes, you might need to express your love by turning from Saint or being baptized into Christ. You may need to express your love by returning to the face you once chose. But from which you have now drifted You may need to express your love simply by saying I love you. God. Mary led the way with her perfect gift given from perfect love. And slowly Out of Love, Will you say I love you to the Lord today if so come forward as we stand and see.