Sharing the Stories
Psalm 145:3-7 (verse 3 cut off)
"3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness...."
- Why we do the things we do...
- "Vacation" Bible School = A LOT of effort!
- An over-used phrase: "you planted a seed"
- "6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work." - 1 Cor 3:6-8 NLT
- What are the seeds?
- Holy actions done in Christ's name that make memories
- ...and STORIES of the Good News of God's Love in Christ
- Old and New Testaments, and personal testimonies
- The Purpose of Church
- Filling ourselves with sacred stories to have the Mind of Christ
- Preparing ourselves for and facilitating ministries of service, so that we act as the Body of Christ
- Praising and worshiping (loving!) God, culminating in that Great Day in which we all rest from our labors and worship in His Presence
- Back to the Basics today...
- In our songs and confessions we have worshipped...
- In our participation and donation we have served
- Now let us share remember the stories...
- One Life Story, one Short Story, and one Parable (and how to read them)
- With EVERY story we are called to not just gather information, but to place ourselves in the story, see ourselves in its people
- A Life Story: Abraham's Journey of Faith
- Called by God Have I had a vision that others could not see?
- Along with his wife... Have I ever had to trust in another's plans, praying they're not deluded?
- failed to trust God Have I ever struggled to trust God, or tried to fulfill God's promise through my methods?
- Lot took the better fields. Have I ever been taken advantage of; have I taken advantage of another's good nature?
- Yet Abraham argued with God to preserve Lot's life. Have I prayed for a friend who betrayed me?
- Isaac is born, Ishmael and Hagar are cast out. Have I been betrayed, or the betrayer?
- God tests Abraham Have I trusted God in times of disappointment and anger?
- A Short Story: David and Goliath
- Goliath mocked Israel. Have I faced an impossible task?
- David could not believe it. Have I ever seen something others have missed, that seems so clear to I but to no others. Have I been impatient with another unjustly?
- When David offered to fight, king Saul gave David his own armor, but it just weighed David down. Have I been weighed down by others expectations of how things should be done? Or find myself saying, "but this is the way we've always done this!"
- One slingshot, and one stone to goliath's forehead, was all it took. In a moment of crisis, have I trusted God, and been delivered? Have I ever thought, "If I had trusted God, that might have been me!"
- Saul would soon become jealous of David. Have I done the right thing, won the victory, and been punished for it?
- A Parable: The Good Samaritan
- “Who is my neighbor?” Have I justified my behavior?
- “A Jewish man was attacked." Have I been injured by life?
- “A priest came along and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over but also passed by." Have I seen others ignore my pain. Have I been to busy to see the pain of others?
- “A Samaritan came along, and felt compassion for him." Have I given extravagant mercy and grace, as was given to me?
- “Now go and do the same.” Have I heard the words of Jesus, and let them change me?
- Making the Stories Ours
- Wow preacher, I could have done that!
- But are we doing it? And not just on Sunday or during VBS...
- What are we?
- Someone has said we are the sum of what we've done (our memories). We are more than that!
- But there is something to learn here about the Gospel:
- If it is our memories that shape us
- and our memories are the pieces of our story
- then taking God's story into our heart shapes us into reflections of Him
- Let Us Make His Story Ours!!
