Ways to Learn & Grow
SERMONS
June 20, 2010: The Ideal Father, Luke 15:11-32, Pastor John Glick
This is Father's day. I always thought every day was Father's day. There was always something coming up that had to be taken care of. That is kind of the way it goes. I want to read from Luke, chapter 15, verse 11 to as far as I need to go. This is the story of a Father and his two sons. You may be familiar with it. I just think I have a lot to say for it. (Pastor Glick read the verses, then said, "May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.") You have to think on that a little before you realize what Jesus was saying in that parable. Fathers Day, and we honor ourselves. How do we honor ourselves? I would like to say, "By being obedient." I can't say I always was. I have thought much of my Father. My Father passed away at a fairly young age. I've thought of him and much of our working together. We had a good realtionship of Father and son. I don't feel in some ways that I really lived up to his expectations, or maybe treated him right. However, that would work out. I could have done more with him. I could have been a more dutiful son that I was. I enjoyed working with my Father. I can remember sitting down at the gate toward the fields under a shade tree. We sat down and Dad would smooth off about a one square foot piece of ground. Then he would pick up everything in that one square foot and explain to me that God provided that in that one square foot right there. That blade of grass. That little rock. That ant. They all belonged there because that is where God placed them. We must respect God for what He is. That's what Jesus was doing when He gave the parable of the loving Father. The parable is not of the wayward son. The parable is about the loving Father. He was talking about God. I really believe that He was. He is explaining how God would treat people. He gave the parable of the loving Father as a picture of God. If we could read that in our mind. God is dealing with us. We would have a portrait of God - really. Do you know that God loves you this morning? On Father's Day, I think I can tell you without contradiction, God loves you. God must love us an awful lot to let us do and get away with what we do, and still go on to survive and do what we do. Most of us don't really live the way God wants us to. Most of us have our own agenda, our own way to go, our own thing to do, our own way of living, and that's the way it is going to be. Jesus wanted us to see that God loves the prodical as well as the favorite. Now, we have to realize that God loves those people out there this morning as much as He loves us. Sometimes it's hard to think that way, because how can God love people who don't come to Church, and never contribute anything, and never do anything. They fight and quarrel and struggle, and do bad things sometimes. Once in a while they do good. How can God love them? But He does. In the story, the wayward son said, "Dad, give me what's mine. I'm going to go have fun." That's really what he was saying. He did. He didn't have to. The Father could have very easily said, "Son, let me invest your money. Let me take care of it for you, because you have no experience with that amount of money. Let me take care of it, and when I invest it, you will have your return. You will live good the rest of your life." But he didn't. He gave the son what he asked for. God gives us what we ask for. By our living outside God's will, God is still giving us what we ask for. We are asking for life without the restrictions that God would put on us. God allows it. God keeps His eye on us.
Something that we scarce realize is that Angels are watching over us all the time. We don't see them. We don't know they are there. Let me digress for a moment. I think back in another Church that we served. One evening, Joan was looking out the window. She saw a group of people out in front of the Church. Big men, and I think there was a pick-up truck. She called me from whatever I was doing, probably nothing. She called me, and I went out. There was nobody there. No truck. Nothing was disturbed. They were Angels. Those were Angels in working garb. We had Angels around that Church a lot. We had some problems there. Later on, not too long after that one of our members was driving by the Church. He drove in and said, "I saw someone on the roof of the Church." That would be hard to do. He saw an Angel. I saw Angels there more than once. I know you frown when I say that as if I'm some kind of nut, but I saw Angels. If you don't believe in Angels, you have a problem. You have it really tough. God sends Angels to watch over us.
The young man took his inheritance early and went off to town to spend it. He just threw it away. One day came the accounting. He ran out of money. He said to himself, "I will go to my Father and ask him if I can be a servant." He was starving. He was willing to do things. He asked for the fodder he was feeding the cattle, and they wouldn't give it to him. So he decided, I am going home. I've had enough of this. I'm not going to fight with this kind of thing the rest of my life. You know children, a lot of times want freedom from their parents. They don't know how to get it. I wanted freedom from my Dad's restrictions. I got it. I'm not proud of it. Now I never robbed a bank, or killed anyone, or did things that were really bad - not any despicable things I would have gone to jail for or anything like that. It's kind of like, a Father can give his responsibilities too. For example, he could give a rope , and with that rope he could go to a well, and tie a bucket on the end, put the bucket down in the water, and get a drink. Or if we decide to do so, we can put the rope around the neck, and hang him. It all depends on what you do with the rope. It's a good rope. There is nothing wrong with the rope. It's all our thinking on how we are going to hang it. The message is freedom. We have the freedom to do with it what we want. We have the freedom to be the Father God wants us to be or what we are going to be. I imagine most of us, or maybe all of us are kind to our children, and to the children around us. Also kind to the children who come to Sunday School. We don't fight and argue with them. We don't boss them around. We try to direct them and we try to lead them. We pray for them. I hope you pray for them, because God wants to take care of us. God wants to direct us in handling our children. We need to know that. Ideal Fathers treat their children kindly, so the children can be raised up the way they should be. Sometimes children will test our justice to the point that we could scream. Some children will test us until we can hardly stand it. His younger son asked for his inheritance. Then he went out and blew it. The prodical son returned to his Father, and asked if he could be a servant. The Father saw him coming. He never even got home. The Father saw him coming and ran to meet him.
Let me relay that just a moment to what we are doing here this morning. We are here for what reason? We are here to worship God. Do you know that God ran to meet youthis morning when you were on your way to Church? God was glad to see you coming. God really wants to be with you, as a kind Father to his son. Otherwise, the way we act sometimes, God will be in the right to just simply destroy us to get us out of the way, so we won't cause any more trouble. He doesn't do that, because He loves us. That's what really counts. God loves us. So he came back and said to his Father, "Help! Let me be your servant." The Father said, "No, you are my son. My beloved son. I love you." Maybe you have had an experience like that sometime with your son or your daughter. Let me come back, and just be yor servant. Dad would say, "No, you are my son or my daughter. I love you. You are my flesh and blood. I love you just as you are." The son came home, and the Father took him in. Some children test the Father as to how he is going to treat them, because some want to treated better than others. When the older son realized that the younger son had come back and the Father was treating him well, and killed the fatted calf, and put new clothes on him, and cleaned him up, and all of that. The older son said, "Hey, how can this be? I have been with you all this time. I have served you. Look what all I have done. You never killed a fatted calf for me. You never gave me anything extra like that." The Father said, "Hey, don't be that way. My son has come home. Your brother is here. Treat him with respect." The older son got mad, and he went away. He wasn't about to accept him. We don't do it that way at my house. If you give me gold, I am going to get rid of it. We don't do that do we? What we have to realize here is that the Father heard the begging words of the younger son and the angry words of the older son. He dealt with them both as they needed to be dealt with. That's God. God sees us here this morning dealing with Him. God, here we are. Your Sunday School crowd, your Church crowd. Your people. Out there is a group of people who won't have anything to do with you. God wants us both. It's hard for us to understand sometimes, but God loves the family out there just as much as the family in here. God wants us to deal with the family out there in His name as best we can to help them come to Him. God wants us to be God-like in our attitude as Fathers to children. Now they are not our children, but they are our responbsibility. Like a kindly Father, God says, "Hey, I love you all."
Joan and I have four children. We love them all equally. We don't love one more than another. There may be times when we do more for one than another when the need is there. It's not because we love them more. It's because we love them - period. We care. Our son with the bad foot and problems. We have dealt with him more recently more than the others. That's because the need is there. We work where the need is, and try to help. The children need the example of a good and Godly Father. How does God treat us? You have not always been a Godly person. How has God treated you? God has treated you good, hasn't He? He has never put you down. He has never cast you away. He has never said, "I don't want anything to do with you." God loves you just as much as He loves the people out there. Sometimes we will look at the people out there and see where God has done something to help them, but why? I come to Your Church every Sunday, and You don't do anything to help me. God loves those children just as much as He loves the children in here. That's what the story is trying to tell us. Jesus is trying to say, "My Father loves His children equally - all of them. He loves all of us and He wants us to love each other. He wants us to be as Fathers to others. What is a good Father? A good Father is someone who treats his children the best? Or he favors one son or daughter over another? No. The children need to see the exampe of a Godly Father. That puts the responsibility on us. That's what the story is trying to tell us. We need to be Godly Fathers, not just Fathers. Godly Fathers as best we can. I think that's what the story is all about. I pray, Fathers, for God to bless you. God bless you this day. God bless us all. I pray that God will help us to be what He wants us to be, and do what He wants us to do. It's not easy to be a Godly Father. It really isn't. We have to work at it. Let's pray that we will work at it.
Father, Thank you for your love, and strength, and blesssings. Bless Fathers this morning, and Mothers too. Bless them in every way. In Jesus Name, Amen.
June 6, 2010: The Church is Like onto --- . Mark 10:46-52. Pastor John Glick
I'm reading in the Book of Mark the tenth chapter of the Living Bible, Verses 46-52. So they reached Jericho. This Jesus and His Disciples were walking along. Later as they left town, a great crowd was following them. Now it happened that a blind beggar named Bartimaeus , the son of Timaeus was sitting by the road as Jesus was going buy. I'm going to stop right there and explain. Bartimaeus is Bar - Timaeus. Bar is "Son of." So Son of Timaeus" Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazereth was near. He began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. "Shut-up", some of the people yelled at him. He only shouted louder again and again, "Oh son of David, have mercy on me." When Jesus heard him, He stopped there in the road and said "Tell him to come here." So they called the blind man, "You lucky fellow." they said, "Come on, He is calling you." Bartimaeus yanked off his coat and flung it aside and jumped up and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?, Jesus asked. "Oh teacher the blind man said, "I want to see." Instantly the blind man could see." He followed Jesus down the road. May God add His blessing to the reading of His word.
It's an interesting story. I was reading there from the Living Bible. The other day, I was deep in the scriptures thinking about how I want to preach this morning. A word of knowledge came to me that the Church is like this blind man. As I sat there and thought about it, the Church is like onto this blind man. I sat there and thought, the more I thought about it, the Church is like that blind man. Here is the Church sitting by the side of the road begging for people to stop and worship. Do you realize that? We are just sort of asking. The Lord impressed me with this thought - The Church is like onto blind Bartimaeus who was begging for attention, for recognition. The Church is sitting here waiting for recognition. Begging for money to keep the doors open, which seems to be what we are always doing. Begging for people to join to fill the spaces. Begging for people to sit in the pews. Sitting and begging and even whining. As I say that, let me tell you the Church in general is slipping this morning in America. American Church is not as strong as it used to be, even just a few years ago. They are having problems, and people are not paying attention to the Church. It must be because the Church is not exhibiting the Spirit of Jersus Christ as much as it should be. At least that is my opinion. I think we can understand the plight of the physically blind. We can't understand the plight of the Church. The organized Church has become it's own worst enemy. So much of what the Church does these days is so petty. Worship is petty. Much of what we believe is petty stuff. It seems that we are by-passing God and starting to believe in ourselves. We are trying to find some kind of belief in ourselves if we can do it. We either rely on God or we have nothing at all. We have to believe in God or we have nothing to believe in. It's kind of like a little seven year old girl. She wasn't allowed to eat with her family at the dinner table, because she had been a bad girl. Her Mother set up a little table in the corner, away from the regular table. She had to sit there by herself and eat. She sat there and ate her dinner all alone. The rest of the family set apart and ignored her, until they heard her praying over her food. She prayed, "I thank you Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of my enemies." I mean, that is the way she saw it. I guess the Church is kind of like that. The Church is starting to say, "Prepare a table before me in the presense of my emenies - people." Instead of preparing the people for a place to go in the world. We need to get back to God. Every Church member is now so blind to the real responsibilities and realities that are always present in the Lord. There is nothing we can't do for God when God is in it. When God is with us, there is nothing we can't do. There is nothing we can't accomplish. No where we can't go. Without Him, we can't do anything. I think that's kind of where the Church is today. You know it's no disaster to be pitied today, but it is a disaster to be mentally boring. That's the way so many people are. Blind Bartimaeus was physically handicapped. He was begging for his substenance, but he was alert to what was going on around him. The scripture tells us Jesus was coming by. What woud you do if you knew today that Jesus was coming by. If Jesus was coming down the road even with a crowd with Him, what would you do? Many of us would go and hide. We wouldn't want Jesus to see us. We wouldn't want to be involved with Him. We wouldn't want Him to be near us. You know, the best thing we can ever hear is, "Jesus is here." He is here. I can tell you this morning, Jesus is here. Not because of me. Not because of you, but because of all of us. Jesus is here, because He loves us. Why are we here? Are we here because it's Sunday morning and that is what we always do? Are we here because it's the thing to do - go to Church on Sunday morning? Our family has always done it. This is the Church where my grandmother Worshipped, so I still go here.
Joan and I served many years ago, a little Church down in Hocking county. The only people who ever came were a group of children. So we had a youth fellowship of probably 25 or 30. Then that ended one day. The only thing keeping that Church open was that youth fellowship. So the Church closed. Then in a few weeks, a group took over the Church and the Church was overflowing with people. What was wrong? Somehow the Church wasn't reaching out to the community. We were beginning to. I've always felt that we made a begining. That's all. Somebody came in and had the key to get people coming. We drove by there one day some months ago, and there were a lot of cars around the Church. That was Sunday evening. The Church. Sometimes we have to change our way and do things maybe we don't even want to do. Not just to stay open, but to improve the Church. Our guiding reason for too long has been to stay open, to keep going. How about to serve the Lord? How about to meet the needs of people? How about those sitting by the roadside begging? There are peoople in this community sitting by the roadside wondering why in the world doesn't something happen to make life better. I don't know how they would put it, but that's how I would put it. Why doesn't somebody make a better way to live? Why can't we seem to get anywhere in life. I work hard. I try, but nothing good is happening. The blind man sitting by the side of the road began to yell, "Oh Jesus, Jesus. Help me." He was yelling. He wasn't just speaking. He was yelling loud enough for Jesus to hear him. He didn't quote scripture. He didn't call for the Preacher. He didn't yell for Jesus to come to him. He was yelling,"Jesus, help me." "Help". You know, Church, that is almost where we are as Church. Help. What do we do now? What next, Lord? What can we do as a Church? What we have been doing has not been successful, so we better do something different. He simply cried out to the Savior for mercy. Maybe that's what we need to do, Church. Cry out to our Savior. Mercy Lord, help us. Help us to see the light, help us to see the way, help us to see what we need to do or to be. People told Bartimaeus to be quiet. Hey, you are making too much noise. You are too loud. So he cried all the louder. He had a need and he knew it and he knew who could meet that need. He knew this was his one chance. He didn't want to miss it. We may come to that point someday too. Blind Bartimaeus saw Jesus out of his need. The crowd saw Him as just a wandering Preacher doing good things. We want to see what He will do next. Do you know something? The blind man who called for Jesus got something. The crowd who could see Him and walk with Him and hear Him got nothing. Maybe we need to be the blind man crying out. Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us. We want to be your Church, and we don't know how. We want to be something, and we don't know how to be it. We want to do something, and we don't know how to do it. God, help us. Maybe we have to ask God to pour His Holy Spirit into us. The Spirit speaks to our hearts. It's part of God. The people cried out to Bartimaeus again, "Be quiet." He cried all the louder. Suddenly, Jesus heard him. "Who is it." Bartimaeus said, "Oh Lord Have mercy on me." Then Jesus said, "Take me to him." He didn't say, "Bring him to me. He didn't put it in those words, but take me to Him. Jesus went to where Bartimaeus was. Jesus asked, "What do you want?" Blind Bartimaeus said, "Oh Lord, I just want to see." He didn't ask for money. He didn't ask for gain. He didn't ask for anything great, other than meet his need. His need was that he was blind. He needed to see. Jesus said, "I will." We can't in our heart imagine what that would be. We can't believe what it would be like to be totally blind. Then all of a sudden be able to see. So the rest of that great crowd began to "Ooh and Awe." Then they went right along blind as bats. It didn't move them any. It was great that Jesus could do a thing like that. You see, we are not blind. We are not helpless. We are here every Sunday. We are not helpless. We have been here for years. We know what's going on. We are the Church. We are going to keep it that way. That's the trouble. We are going to keep it that way. Maybe we need to make some changes. Maybe something has got to happen to change us. We ought not to listen to negative, petty, do-nothing voices of some of the people who are in the Church. We need to listen to those who are alive in the Church; come help me. How do we come alive? Come to Jesus. There is only one life in the Church and that is Jesus. Jesus is the life and gives the life, so we can come to life in Jesus. We are nothing without Him. Sitting begging, complaining, whining isn't going to bring the answer. Acknowledgment of Jesus Christ, acceptance of Jesus Christ, and asking of Jesus Christ is the answer. That's where we need to be this morning.
Calvin Coolidge was sitting with the French Ambassador one day for a meal. They sat down at the table. President Coolidgetook his glass of milk and poured some milk into a saucer. The French Ambassador watched him and thought, "Well, for the sake of privilation, I'll do the same." So he poured his milk into his saucer, and he started slurping it down. President Cooledge kind of grinned and put his saucer down beside him where the kitten was at his foot. Sometimes we think we are doing the right thing. Boy, do we mess up. Sometimes we think, this is the way it's going to be, because I saw another Church do it that way. That is the way we are going to do it. That's just not the way we do things. How do we try to direct others to do things in our way. A lady was hosting her friend and her little boy for dinner. They sat down to eat and the lady put a piece of meat before the little boy. She said, "Now I hope it isn't too hard for you." He began to try to cut his meat up. He worked and worked and sweated. He said, "It's alright lady. Sometimes we have it hard at home, too." You know, sometimes we have it that hard at home. We need to try to do something about it. The exasperated customer had not bought a thing. The clerk was standing there waiting on her to make up her mind. She said, "Why is it I can never get what I want in this store?" The clerk said, "Well, maybe it's because we are too polite." Maybe that's what it is. Mayabe God is too polite to give us what we need. Maybe God is too polite to move us the way we ought to be moved. There is only one way to get anywhere with God. That is to ask, seek, knock. Get at it. Stay at it. Keep going. That's what we need to do to be the Church that God wants us to be. Maybe we don't want to be the Church God wants us to be. Maybe we want to be the Church we want to be. Let me just play on words. Maybe we don't really want to be the Church of God in Oakland. We want to be our Church in Oakland. The Church of our Grand-parents. The Church of our future parents. The Church we seek. Not the Church of God. God wants us to be what He wants us to be. The first thing God wants us to be is obedient to Him. Until we become obedient to God - The Church is always just going to sit here and flounder. Always. It's not going to move. It's not going to do anything great until we do something. Something different.
The rich young ruler had an encounter with Jesus. Like the story said, Jesus offered to meet his needs. The rich young ruler said, "I know what I need. All I want is for you to say O.K." He went off and never got that either. Then the Bible story of Nicodemus who came to Jesus. Nicodemus asked, "What must I do to have eternal life"? Jesus said, "You have to be born again." Nicodemus said, "I can't do that. You ask a priest to get on his knees and go to the people." Yes, you can. Jesus said, "Then you can't be my Disciple." I imagine a few words can describe what I am trying to say. Are we Nicodemus? Are we blind Bartimaeus? Are we the rich young ruler? Who are you this morning? What are we doing? Are we worshipping God really? Is all there is to going to Church is to hear the Preacher expound? As you found out years ago, that is not the greatest thing. I don't want to have to sit and listen to the Preacher. I used to have to also.
Then there was Saul. Saul and the others were invited to join Jesus ministry. What do you need if you want to be healed? They were healed immediately, right there. They got up and walked with Jesus. I think the climax of the story and the thing that's important for us to understand - After the blind man got excited, it said he walked with Jesus. He became His follower. Coming down the road was Jesus, 12 Disciples, and a crowd of admirers. Leaving that spot was Jesus, 13 Disciples, and an uninterested crowd of followers. They were following Him not to follow Him in theory, but to follow Him on the road. I think that's sometimes the way with us. We are following Him on the road, but we don't really follow Him. Remember the story in Matthew where Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down on a rock and began to teach? About 5,000 came. Counting women and children, there was probably about 10,000 people there that Jesus taught. He even taught them how to pray. He taught them a lot of things. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus would come, and Oakland would say, "Teach us to pray. Speak to us and tell us what you really want to say to us." Make it plain. We read it in a black book, but we don't understand it. Tell us what you really mean. I tell you this. If you do that in prayer to Jesus, and say, "Jesus, I don't understand everything in that book."Teach me." He will do it. He will give you knowledge you never had before. It doesn't come from other books, or other people. It comes directly from your inner being, because that's where Jesus speaks to you. No matter what, you are still invited to be healed from whatever is ailing you. If it's a misunderstanding, if it's an inability to read the Bible and understand it, if it's health, or anything else. Jesus has the answer. He wants to heal. He is there to do that. We need to get with it, and get healing if we possibly can. We are still invited to be healed of whatever is ailing us.
Let me offer three things. Find your way to Jesus, listen for Him calling you. If you have to, grope your way blindly to find Jesus. Just like the blind man. He was blind, but he was the only one who saw Jesus. Out of a whole crowd, the blind man was the only one who found Jesus. I think there is a lesson there. Secondly, call out to Him. First for help. Then thank Him, praise Him, glorify Him. Call on His name and let Him know you are really grateful that He did something for you. Thirdly, when you are fully restored, follow Him. That's the hard part. Follow Him. Most people don't want to follow Him. The Church is not teaching "Follow Jesus." It's get to Jesus, but it doesn't go any farther. It doesn't teach how to follow Jesus. It doesn't teach "Hold on to Jesus." Get hold of His garment like the woman with an issue of blood. Get hold of His garment and hang on. No matter what the people around you say. No matter what your family says. No matter what the Preacher says. Hang on to Jesus. Hold on. Thats what really counts these days. We follow Him through the vehicle of His Church. In His Church is where we work with Him and for Him. His Church is important. The Church is the body of Christ. He is it's head. We are the working parts. Do you understand that? We are the working parts of the Church. We are the inner parts. Forgive me for saying it this way, but we are the guts of the Church. We are what makes it go. We are the working parts. We are the parts that really count. Are you working? You know how it is when your stomach is upset, and your system isn't working. You have to have medicine. You have to have help. You have to have a Doctor. Jesus is our Doctor. Let Him make a difference in our lives. We can't allow the blindness and deafness of the normal Church to hold us back. We can't let it quench the Spirit of the Living God. We need to keep moving. We say, "I'll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord. That is if it's going to be an advancement. I won't go backwards. Over mountain or plain or sea; I expect to have first class accomodations. I won't go second class. I'll say what you want me to say, Dear Lord, but I just want to please the people who agree with me. I'll be what you want me to be Dear Lord, as long as it doesn't cost too much." I think that's where we stand this morning. Quit begging. Start asking for our healing. I don't think it's just physical healing. I mean the healing of our minds and our Spirit. Quit griping and start doing what the blind man did, grope. He wasn't whining, "I'm blind, I'm blind." He was saying, "Where is Jesus, so I can see. If I can get to Jesus, I will see Him." That is exactly where we are Church. If we get to Jesus, we will see again. We will be able to move again. Then we will follow Him. Get with Jesus and stay with Him. Start listening to the Master. The Master says, "Come to me, or bring him to me." In our case, He will come to us. That's what really counts. Just pay attention. It's time, Church, to start listening to God, to listen for the Lord and Savior. Let Him meet our needs. Let Him lead us to resolve all these problems.
Heavenly Father, Thank you for Jesus. Help us put aside ourself and follow Him. Help us to cry out His name, then ask to believe and see as He promised. Help us Lord to pay attention. Speak to your people today. Even at this moment, speak to you people. We are here, God, and we are listening. In a moment, Lord, we are going to enter into a moment of Holy Communion, which we think of as the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who died on Calvary for us. Speak to our hearts that we might feel Him, and know Jesus personally. In Jesus Name, Amen.
In service of Holy Communion, let's remember what communion really is. The meaning is coming together as the Body of Christ to receive what He said He was shedding for us. Giving His body and shedding His blood for us. That's all you should do. Do it in remembrance of me. Do it because of what I did for you. We are remembering what Jesus did to bring us salvation. He set us free from this world of sin. He sets us free from all of that if we allow Him to. This morning, let's be set free. Remember that communion represents the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing less. With that in mind, will you come now to receive Communion? (All people in Church including the kids came to the altar for Communion.)
May 30, 2010: Am I worth Dying For? Psalm 23, Pastor John Glick
Psalm 23 is the closest scripture match to what I want to say on this special day, Memorial day. We celebrate or remember. I call it remembrance of our dead who were killed in various wars for our country. Our loved ones who have passed away. It's not just a matter of going to the cemetary and putting flowers on the graves. It's spending a day of remembering our loved ones. Some of those we don't know by name or haven't seen and never will. They died in foreign fields in places where there was a need for Armed Forces. I just wanted to touch on that for a few minutes. The closest scripture I could find to fit the agenda is the twenty third Psalm. After it was read, May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.
Sometime ago, I read a poem that was written by a Veteren. It gave me an idea for this sermon message. Let me read a few words of the poem. Dear Lord, As I continue to strive for my place in glory. Let me remember somebody out there died today. As long as there be war, I must ask a question, "Am I worth Dying for ?" That is the title of my message this morning. Am I worth Dying for? Am I worth the death and destruction that occurs in wars of our nation, so that I can live? I've had different people ask me why I didn't go into service. I can say, "well, I don't know." I don't know if it was my heart, or my lungs. I have no idea. I really don't know. I remember when all the young men in my community were drafted for Korea an I didn't go. One of the Fathers asked me why I didn't go. Did someone have you exempted? No, unless it was God. I just had a physical problem and couldn't go. I was at Fort Hayes, and I took my physical. That in itself was and experience. So I didn't go. Sometimes I regret it. Other times not. The question this morning is, "Am I worth it. Am I worth dying for?" You ask what Memorial Day is all about. It's remembering ones who gave their lives. Soldiers, and our family members and loved ones as well. I can remember my Mother always raised flowers at home. This was so she could take them to the cemetary to put on graves. It wasn't a matter of going out and buying them. That wasn't good enough. She wanted to raise them so they were fresh. She took them and put them on the graves of loved ones. I've asked myself many times. I've asked myself more than once, "Am I worth dying for? You have to think about it carefully to answer that. There is a Sailor out here sailing on stormy seas this morning, what does he think about us? The Soldiers who are overseas right now fighting an undeclared, unannounced was. What would they think of us this morning? What have we done? Why are we worthy? There Soldiers over there in fox holes and hiding behind walls. There are Soldiers over dying. What do they think of us. If they could see us as we really are. If they looked into our hearts, what would they see? Would they see gratitude? Would they see thanksgiving for what they are doing? Would they look into our minds and see not even a thank you for what they are doing. Yet everyday they put their lives on the line for their country. We are not going to be invaded. We might be hurt some like Septembe 11, in New York. We had people killed, sure. We are not going to be hurt that bad. Just think about it. They are over there every day dying for us. If you could be transported to a far off battlefield or talk to a boy on a battleship somewhere out on the sea. You couldn't find one in a hundred who would say, "I am fighting for the Atlantic Charter, or freedom in Viet Nam, or freedom in Iraq. I am not fighting for the constitution, or bill of rights, or congress, or anybody else. I am fighting for my country. I'm fighting so my little son wont have to go. If we win this war, my little boy can stay home. We have to think about that. Why in the world am I worth it? Am I worth what is going on? People are willing to die for great causes. Not just simple crazy stuff. People will die for great things. People will go out and give their life, if necessary. So am I worth dying for? Look in the mirror, Am I worth several somebodies going out and dying for me? I'm not saying all people in our Armed Forces are saints. I'm not saying they are all religious people. The vast majority want their homes to be homes that are full of life. They want their parents and families to be concered about them and to care that they are there. They war fighting for their homes and they want those homes to measure up spiritually. They expect us to be worth what they are fighting for. I don't have to go out there every morning and dodge bullets. I don't have to drive down the road every day waiting for something to blow up. I don't have to go out and keep watching the skies for a rogue airplane. We don't have to worry about those things. These soldiers of ours are going through hell for us. Not because they wanted to, no because they volunteerd. They have been drafted. They have been taken and told this is where the war is, go. They do. They do what they have to do. We do what we have to for supporting them. Do we really care? On this Memorial Day will we remember them? Will we care about them? I hope we do.
I'm going to quote a poem written by an Oklahoma boy. He came out of World War Two. This explains something of his experience. What did you see Soldier? what did you see at war? I saw much more horror than I had ever seen before. I saw men part burned, naked, and writhing in pain. I saw such courage - courage I had never seen before. What did you hear Soldier? What did you hear at war? Well, I heard the prayers on lips of men who never prayed before. I heard men telling God their souls, confessing every dark stain. I heard men speak secret things most men would not speak. What did you eat Soldier? What did you eat at war? I ate the silent bread of God. Added was the pall of fear. My lips were burning with the wine of hate. My tongue felt the bitter taste that I will not taste again. What did you think Soldier? What did you think at war? I thought how strange we have not learned from wars aged before except new ways of killing, new ways of pain. All the blood that has been shed is blood shed for us. What did you learn Soldier? What did you learn at war? I learned that we must learn sometime what was not learned before. The vicctories that are won in battlefields are victories won in vain unless in peace we kill the germs that breed war. What did you pray Soldier? What did you pray at war? I prayed that we might do the things we have not done before. That we might mobilize for peace, not mobilize for war. Must Christ be forced once again to climb Mount Calvary? Think of it. What did you learn? We didn't have to go to war. We didn't have to fight in war. This was a heart all wrapped in deep concern for people. Ask yourself - why war? Why do we have to fight wars? What are they fighting for over there now? Some Soldiers are told they are fighting for their freedom. They are fighting for their country. They are fighting to free other people. You know, we have to keep faith for those Soldiers. They have given up all for us. What would you give for them? Do we even pray for them? Do we ask God to keep them safe and bless them? Do we ask God in any way to help them? We just need to keep faith in all of them. They have given their all for us. We need to give all we can for them. Memorial Day. Let's remember what they are doing. Why isn't so important. Let's just remember what they do. Some are doing it because they were drafted. I wanted to go. I really wanted to go terribly. My Dad didn't want me to go at all. It turned out there was a reason I couldn't go, for whatever reason. 79 of us went up for our tests. 28 of us didn't pass. I was surprised there were that many they wouldn't take. The friend I was with had a bad heart. I knew he wouldn't pass. He almost died of a heart attack as we went up for the tests. That was an experience. That test.
That's why I preach we need Christian homes. We need to tell people about Jesus Christ. We need to make it plain that Christ is the answer to great problems. The problems we can't have answer for. We can't know. I can''t know and you can't know all the answers to all the great problems we face every day. God does. Therefore, we need God to answer the problems to meet the needs of our lives every day. Every moment of every day. Even at night when we are asleep. God is watching over us. What a blessing that is. Let's realize the Soldiers over there are looking to a little Church back here, and a little crowd of people to pray for them to keep them safe. In the scriptures, "Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." That's what they are doing. They are laying down their lives for their friends. That's what they are doing. They are not just laying down their lives for their country. Soldiers from California and New York are giving their lives over in Iraq for us.
Let me close with part of a short poem. Let us ask ourselves are we worth dying for? Lord, I hear showers of blessings that are scattered full and free. Showers of a thirsty land refreshing. Let some drops now fall on me. Pass me not Oh tender Savior. Let me love you tenderly. I am longing for thy favor. Pass me not oh mighty spirit that helps the blind to see. Let me be a messenger of peace this morning. Pass me not. Oh Savior, Let the Holy Spirit fall on me.
Lets pray. Holy Father, We need to be brave and strong for those who are brave and strong to protect us. Help us to realize that this Memorial Day is a day not only for us to remember family and friends, but to remember the Soldiers fighting even this moment somewhere over there. We don't understand it, we don't like it, in many ways we don't want it. But it is happening, Lord. Make us a way. Bless us one and all. In Jesus Name. Amen.
May 9: Mother's Day, Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Pastor John Glick
It's a little difficult to speak on Mother's day, not being a Mother. We can't do without Mother's. The sad fact is that not all Mothers are exactly what we expect all Mother's to be. Yet at the same time, we highly respect Mothers and Motherhood. How great it is. The scripture I'm reading this morning is not necessarily designed to Motherhood, but I think you will get the message. (Pastor Glick started reading the scripture in Deuteronomy. Then after reading it, "May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.") Mothers have had a lot to do with the condition of the world and the situation it's in today. Whether you consider that good or bad. Motherhood has a tremendous responsibility in being where it is. I'm thinking of three Mothers that I want to share with you this morning as examples of Motherhood.
The first one was not too great, Nero's Mother. Nero was Emperpr of Rome back about the time of Christ. She was something else. She was the daughter of an ambitious parenthood. She was ambitious herself. She decided she wsas going to get everything she could for herself. She decided to get her son to be ruler over the land. Then she would be the ruler through him. In other words, she would scheme to get him to become ruler. Then she would run him . She would just be the boss. Sometimes that kind of thing can happen. She said, "Nero my son, you shall be Emperor." Yet, I have always ruled, and I am going to rule yet. Your weak nature is uder my dominance. My heart as hard as diamond's will be ruler of the world. That was her description of herself. My heart is as hard as diamonds. She set out to do something. You know, she poisoned her husband, so he was out of the way. Then her son was made Emperor. Then she was going to rule him. Nero would have none of it. He said. "My Mother, the best and the worst. He was right, because she was great in what she was doing, but she was the worst possible person to be a ruler. He wasn't going to have it so, "The twig she bent she bent too far, and it came back to hit her." Nero wasn't going to let his Mother run him. She wasn't able to run a Kingdom, but he did. He wasn't subject to change as Emperor. An Emperor is all powerful. His word was law. His word was it. What I say goes. All of us have a feeling we would be like that sometimes. It doesn't work for us. Nero had it. All he had to do was speak, and it was done. That was it. In later years we realize her life wasn't very good, after she made her son Emperor. He ruled her with just the same iron fist that he ruled his Nation. Nero, you know, was the one who burned Rome. He looked out over the city one day, and decided it looked awful as a matter of fact. During the night, he set fires or had them set and burned the city down, so he could build new. So that's the way it was. It didn't make any difference about you or me. He just burned the city down and built a new city to suit him. He had all the money in the Kingdom. He had everything he needed, and he could do it. Think of his Mother. She reaped what she had sown. She murdered, plotted, and planned to make him King, so she could be a ruler. She got up to the last part of that - she plotted and planned to make him a ruler, but she didn't rule. He did. She failed at the very end. You know, there are Mothers today who are very unconcerned about their children. What kind of life they are going to live and what kind of children they are going to be when they grow up. You take the children; what kind of man, what kind of woman are those children going to be when they grow up. I think of that when I ask the children to come up and try to share something with them from the Bible. What kind of children are they going to grow up to be. When they get old will they remember that old preacher who called them up and gave them candy sometimes, and gave them lessons from the Bible. Will they remember what they learned? Will they ever remember that we should not do evil, do good? They should be loving and kind to one another. Stuff like that. I trust God to see to it that they do. They will remember, but will they do it? I can't control that, but I can teach them right from wrong. So can you. We have the responsibility as a Church to do that. We need to keep working with those children, especially the small ones. I know one time we had a group of older kids. They were fun to work with. These kids are fun too. They are great. They really are. We have a part in making them great men and women one day. So work at it. Work hard at it.
I think of a young man, John Newton. He lived a number of years ago. He was born in a Godly home. His Mother was a Christian woman. His Father isn't much mentioned, but he was under the care of his Mother. She died when he was seven years old. At age seven, he was put out into the world on his own. He tried to go his own way. He went to Africa somehow. He got involved in the slave trade. He dealt in slaves. He helped take them out of their homes to be shipped all around the world, mostly to America to become slaves in the cotton fields of the south. He never forgot his Godly upbringing. When he was about 23 years old, he was saved, and he made his job bringing delivery of slaves away from slavery. He tried to undo what he did. Sometimes we can't do that. We can't undo things that we did. We can work at it. We can help in every way possible. So he worked at this. He became an inspired preacher and a songwriter. We still sing his song, Amazing Grace. After all the evil he had done in the world. He still preached about equal rights, amazing grace. How sweet the sound to save a wretch like me. He admitted what he was. It's hard to realize a person in a sense, puts himself down like that and admits he had made a mistake. John knew what it meant. He had quite a life. He started good. In the middle it was bad. After age 23, he was a real man who would stand for something.
That brings me down to the third person. Your Mother and my Mother. What can I say about Motherhood? The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he shold go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." That's found in Proverbs. A preacher once said, "A Mothers heart is a child's school." The first things that a child learns and the first teaching that we get usually is from the Mother. Now some Dad's do it O.K., but for the most part, we learn from Mother. We are at Mothers knee for a number of years. We are under her influence for a number of years. Sometimes we find that influence is not as great as it should be. What values are you giving your children? How about the grandchildren? I am not talking about just children, but how about grandchildren? How about the neighbors kids? I am thinking this morning of children. Not just "My Child", but children. Can we have an influence on the kids around us? We better have. Otherwise, bad influence is going to get to them. Which brings me to this. What kind of influence are having on the children? Are really teaching them Christ? The Heavenly meaning of Church, the real meaning, or do we just have them in for fun and games? Do we just try to have numbers?
I had a call this past week from a young man who was converted under our ministry a number of years ago. A young man who is a musician. He sings. He loves music. He married into a musical family. He and his wife sing a lot. I am going to have them here one of these days to sing for us, and to witness. They are a beautiful couple. They have several children of their own, if I remember right. They got into youth ministry. They were in a Church in Columbus of about 1500 children. That would be a job. Can you imagine a Church with 1500 children? Just children alone besides the adults. I know the Church. I know the Pastor. I know the young man. They were called to start a ministry at one of the Chruches we used to serve. He called me to check on the situation. I'm praying that God will see him and his wife free to take over that Church and the youth ministry that is possible in that area. That doen't mean he will be successful. I am praying to God that he will be. I want him to be and I want him to do it for the Church; for the Church's sake and for the children's sake. The Church is down to nothing. The children's ministry there is nothing. They are going to have a job building it up from the bottom up. It can be done. You know, we have to work with what God gives us to work with. It's nice to think that we look out over the community, "Boy if I just had this and thus, and if I just had those people, and just that family, and whatever it is." Yes, that would be great, but we work with what God gives us. We teach and we preach and we work with and we live with what God gives us to work with. Not what we want. Not what we think.
For example, just because I went to Haiti on a mission trip one time doesn't mean I shoud be a missionery. I would make a poor missionery, I think. I don't know. Of course, Haiti is a ruined Nation right now due to the earthquake that happened a few months ago. The orphanage where I was on my mission trip was a school where we built the orphanage. All of that has been leveled. I assume there is nothing left. All the money, all the effort, all the prayer that went into it. It's gone. It has to be started over again. I just hope the manager who founded the orphanage is O.K. He is a pastor who I would like to have come here to speak to us when he is in the states. I would like for you to meet a real foreign missionery to come and present his cause. I haven't been able to reach him, so I assume he may have been killed in the earthquake. There is still something in Haiti to work with. There is a work going on, and it's ongoing all the time. There is nothing holding it back. Even the earthquake wouldn't stop Pastor Cassidy. Nothing could stop him from working with children. When I was there the orphanage had about 70 children. They went out every morning and bussed about 100 more that were taught. I was only there about a week, so I didn't teach them much. We gathered in an enclosed thatch roofed building that was about the size of this room. All of the kids were sitting together on the concrete floor. Then they bought a Church. There are a lot of Church's in Haiti. A lot of Church's that are empty, because Church's in the U.S.A. take on a mission to build a Church in Haiti. They do, but it doesn't go on. The Church's are sitting empty. Pastor Cassidy's orphanage was about three miles from the Presidential Palace, which you saw on television being torn down by the earthquake. I suppose there were 25-30 Church's on that street within three miles. All but just a few sitting empty. If they were here, it would be great. I would like to have one sitting right here. They were big beautiful Church's sitting empty. Anyway, Pastor Cassidy got one, a former Catholic Church. It was almost as big as the whole town of Oakland. It was a huge building. I preached in it. No seats. No hymn books. No lights. No electricity. We preached there. We left there on a Wednesday. Preaching is any day of the week when they can get someone to preach. People gather and listen. Later that evening after it got dark. No lights. Most of the people in Haiti are black. It's amusing to walk down the street on a black night in a black country and be bumped all the time by people. Anyway, walking all the way to a certain outside area right on the street where we decided that was where we were going to set up our preaching for that evening. Someone hung out a gas lantern. That was the only light we had. They didn't have a microphone. A bull horn was used. About 200 people gathered. It's easy to gather a crowd. Before we started to preach we were still singing. The Catholic Church up the street let out. About 500 people came down the street to join the crowd. The largest crowd I ever preached to was that 700 people. I preached through an interpreter. It's not exciting al all to preach through an interpreter. You can get excied O.K., but then you have to stop. You have stop to let the interpreter say what you said as near as he can which may not be possible in their language. They speak a Cajun-French. Some of the words I could understand, but very few. I preached that night and gave an altar call. We had five people come to the altar. It was quite a moving experience. After that we left and walked back to the orphanage in the dark. We had to hold hands for someone to lead us, because I had no idea where I was going. You don't have to worry about anything but pot-holes, because there are no curbs or sidewalks. There is just a street. That's it. People, automobiles, and busses all run in the street. It was interesting. It was wonderful. I enjoyed it. We got back to the orphanage and got in. It was surrounded by barb wire with a barb wire gate. They locked the gate when we went in. Everything there was made of cement. The roof was flat. We could hear drums in the distance. There was a Voo Doo service there. The person in charge was sending people toward us. We were behind barb wire, so we felt safe. They came down the street, an alley. They looked in and yelled at us. That's all there was to it. The next day we put a roof on the kitchen. About a month after we left, a storm came through and took the roof off. When we put it on, we had nothing but one old hammer that the head wouldn't stay on. The nails for use were bent. The tin they got from the Netherlands was so tough, it was like rubber. When you hit it with the hammer, the head would fly back over your head. All I'm saying is it was a tough situation, but we got it done. We thought we had done a good job. One little boy was just an onery little boy. He was stealing food. He was put out of the orphanage for stealing food. I felt so sorry for that little boy. The next morning, we went up on the hillside. A young lady came up to us. I couldnt understand what she was saying. It turned out she was a prostitute. We being foreignors, she was approaching us. Pastor Cassidy began to speak to her. Then a group of men came around. Together they were yelling at her. I though they were making fun of her. They were all Christians. They led her to Christ right there that day. Craig and I just backed up against the building where if we had to fight our way out maybe we could get away, and that was it. We had no idea what was going on. She was a beautiful young black lady. They led her to Christ. That's what it's all about. The thing I noticed most was the Mothers. Just about all the women, young and old alike all had babies. There were babies everywhere. Those were the babies who grew up and were killed in the earthquake. I think of that.
What can happen to us. You know, the Bible says, "God is no respecter of persons." He respects everyone equally is what it means; not that He doesn't respect anybody. He respects each of us equally. Man, woman, child, saved, unsaved, He respects. He wants us to be saved. Mother has a great part in bringing us to that point where we can have real life. Not only do we trust God, but we need to bring children to God. We need to explain to them who God is, what God is, and how God works. What God means for their life. What does God mean to you? I ask each of us individually this morning to write down just three lines of what God means to you. Would you be able to do it? What does God mean to you? It's a loaded question. It really is. Think about it. What does God really mean to you? Sometimes we can be a professing Christian, but lacking as a parent. We can be a professing parent, but lacking as a Christian. We need to put it together. Let's put our lives together. I am thinking of that in terms of Motherhood. Put it together so our children can look at us as a whole. I look at the Mother of my chidren, because of this. She is not my Mother. She is the Mother of my children. My Mother has been gone for many years, but I still call her blessed. I don't know if my Mother ever did anything great. She won't be remembered in history books, but she was my Mother. Although I wouldn't have said, "I love you." Matter of factly, I did. I remember her very well. She was a short woman. Sometimes when necessary she was very outspoken. It wasn't necessary too often, but sometimes. Sometimes when necessary she could be be very forceful. How well I remember that.
Today is Mothers day. Respect your Mother. If your Mother is living, show respect for her. Tell her you love her. Remember she is your Mother. Remember what she does for you. Remember what she has done for you. Care for her. Pray for her. It's important. I say this day, all children should be called by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of the children. Train up the child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Remember one of the commandments out of Exodus. Honor thy Father and Mother. They belong on the land which the Lord thy God has given. Respect and love them. God bless Mothers.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for Mothers who love and care. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus Name, Amen.