WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM????

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?   Sermon based on the video depiction of Jesus from the SON OF God movie, based upon Luke 9:18-22

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WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?   Jesus asked his disciples, and Jesus asks us.  “Who do you say that I am?’

In today’s video, after Jesus miraculously fed the multitudes, Jesus was all smiles until they began calling Him the Messiah.   The He looked disturbed and troubled, and He ran away.   Yet later in the video when Peter proclaims that JESUS is the Messiah, Jesus is happy. Whaaaaat gives here? 

It all has to do with expectations.  The crowd wanted  and expected a Messiah who would  feed them with food,  who would lead for a political revolution  & war against their Roman oppressors, who ran a tyrannical empire with tactics similar to that of the Nazi Germany is the 1930s & 40s.   But Jesus ran away from the crowd,  because He was not the type of Messiah that they expected.  This misconception would follow him up until the day that the same people, feeling misled by Him, would  call for his crucifixion on the day He was tortured and murdered.

Who is Jesus?  Was he a fake, as the Temple hierarchy believed?   A nuisance, as the  Romans believed?  A holy man?  A simple Rabbi?  Or maybe even a traitor against his own country? And people?

Even in our own day and time, this question persists.         WHO IS THIS JESUS?

1.    Most people rejoice that he was born at Christmas—but their belief in Him has no depth beyond the holidays.

2.    Some people believe Him to be only a man , who was a great moral teacher; but they omit the fact that Jesus taught that He was the Son of God.  So, they believe what they want to believe, and dismiss the foundation of his teaching.

3.    Muslims are comfortable defining Jesus as a prophet, who preceded Mohammad.  Yet, Mohammad’s obsession with jihad totally contradicts the teaching of Jesus, who called for Peace on earth, good will to all people.”

4.    Jews will not even consider Jesus to be a prophet.  Instead, Jesus was a heretic who perverted God’s law & word.

5.    Some near eastern religions consider Jesus to be an expression of their own religion.  In Buddhism, the Buddha performed miracles and died and rose from the dead.  Since Buddhism predates Christianity, they believe that Christianity copied Buddhist mythology.

6.    Still others consider Jesus to be a mere man, who was extraordinarily blessed by God; and that stories of His birth, His miracles, and His resurrection, are just fantasy legends from long ago. Therefore, since Jesus was just a man, He did not rise from the dead.

7.    Still others revile Jesus as the uncaring God, who stands back and lets bad things happen to good people.  Through their pain and grief, they blame  redesign Jesus to fit their own world view; and in so doing, Jesus becomes a convenient scape goat for tragedy and misery.

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?  In the video, Jesus fed the hungry people with bread and fish, to satiate their physical hunger.  But that was not his primary mission from God. Jesus’ chief mission was to satiate our spiritual and emotional hunger as the Son of God, who claimed, “I am the bread of life.”   So, what does that mean?

·       Ask Frank and Alice.  At age 12, their beautiful daughter was diagnosed with anorexia.  She had lost so much weight, that she had to be hospitalized for 12 weeks. Alice & Frank took their tragedy to their church, and asked everyone to pray for her healing.  It took years and years, but slowly and surely their daughter was healed as she grew in age and stuck to her treatment. Today she is happily married and the mother of 2. Who do Frank and Alice say that Jesus is?  He is the Son of God.

·       This past week in Oregon, various students and others boldly stood up and claimed that they were Christians, even though it meant that would be executed by an anti-Christian terrorist.  Why would they do that?  Because they know that Jesus is the Son of God.

·       George was a member of this parish.  As he navigated his middle school and high school years, he faced questions about his personal identity; his personal self -worth; and the emptiness of life.  Through our Youth Group, George made some solid Christian friends with peers and the advisors, who prayed for him and who encouraged him in the ways of God.  Before George graduated, he told me how he believed that it was God working through Jesus who had given him hope for the future.

·       Susan was a woman who came to church to enroll her son in  our Sunday school.  She was invited to attend a small group, where she studied the bible for the first time; and she learned the wonderful truth about Jesus Christ, who has a plan for all of our lives. As Susan committed her life in faith, she proclaimed that Jesus, the Son of God, had led her to find peace and contentment, like she had not experience previously.

What do all these people have in common?  They grew too comprehend and to worship Jesus as the Son of God, the King of the Universe, because in one way or another, they were fed with the spiritual bread of life, Jesus, the Son of God.

   I remember recognizing that spiritual hunger in my heart, when I was in my late teens.  I tried to fill it with all sort of emotional junk food, including a new age

“ah-ooom” religion, séances, booze, drugs, adolescent rebellion,  & wild living.  But nothing could satisfy my spiritual hunger.  The key to understanding who Jesus is, cannot be found by drifting away from the church, nor can it be found by filling up our lives with too many activities and keeping busy all the time; nor worrying about our finances; nor by withdrawing into our own safe shell, where we feel comfortable and protected.  You see, millions of people do not know who Jesus is, because they cannot admit that their lives are and will continue to be incomplete without him

And beware of you who understand that Jesus is Lord, because He once came into your heart, and then you let that relationship slide and become inactive.

Recently, there was a study done that identified how some strong church people , who were once very active, are drifting away from the church, and becoming inactive. Now if these people had gone to worship elsewhere, that is understandable.  That happens sometimes. But too often, a withdrawal from church is symbolic of a decaying relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

So, those who really know Jesus to be the Son of God are those who recognize that either God has helped us in the past or present; and will help us in the future; and in the age to come when we all leave this planet.

Last week in our video, Jesus spoke to Peter, telling Him that they were going to change the world. Ever since then, He has been changing the world—slowly, patiently, methodically, with mercy and love. May we all come to share in the mission of the messiah, who is the Son of God.  Amen.

--The Rev. John Donnelly,   October 4, 2015

Understandingthe Old Testament: Nehemiah

NEHEMIAH SERMON FOR Sunday Sept. 6^th, 2015

 By Col. Robert Knapp (Ret.), CCQF Pastoral Intern

Today’s sermon is based upon lessons learned from the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by the Israelites in 445BC while the Israelites were under exile in Persia.  In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king.  Learning that the remnant in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, Nehemia asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city.  Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild, letters explaining his support for the venture, and provision for timber from the king's forest.  Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sides—Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines—and the Lord enabled Nehemiah to rebuild the walls within 52 days. 

Nehemiah faced incredible opposition from both within the Jewish community (many were nay sayers) and from many external enemies as well.  What was it that made Nehemiah so successful against all odds?  It was his faith, prayers and perseverance which allowed him to undertake God’s work in God’s way and not his own work in his own way.  Nehemiah 1:8-9 says: “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.” 

We too often face opposition to our plans, and this is particularly frustrating when we are trying to do something we think is good for our family, for our Church, or for our community.  We often become vexed and disappointed when our good intentions, good ideas and initiatives are rejected or fall short of our definition of success.  So why do our good intentions fall short where Nehemiah’s very difficult mission met with success?  It is usually as simple as this - our plans, our timing, our location or our team just did not fit in with God’s plan, God’s timing, God’s location or God’s team.  Given the incredible (but not always obvious) importance of seeking God Almighty’s purpose and direction, should we really be surprised when plans we put together on our own just do not bear the kind of fruit for which we were hoping?  Is it wise to make plans without seeking God’s counsel and direction?  Do we set ourselves up for failure or disappointment when we try to make plans without our Heavenly Father’s direction, advice, counsel and blessing?  In spite of all difficulties there is good news – through faith, hope and prayer God can and will guide us along His good path – the only truly good path there is in this world.

Now I’d like to share a personal story where I tried to do good, where my efforts were rejected, and how God helped me overcome that rejection and move on.  A couple years ago I prepared a class on business ethics for a privately held company that was seeking military officers with experience in the field of ethics.  When I presented the class the manager reviewing it asked me to take any reference to obedience out of the presentation in favor of the generic phrase “following rules.”  I found this requirement disturbing because the obedience we learn from and want to give to God edifies us with faith, love and humility, helps us meet God’s moral and spiritual expectations and disciplines our energies and creativity – obedience is one of the cornerstones of our relationship with God.

 I was also told that, once the class was accepted, I could not present the class to anyone outside a specific circle of business clientele, and that I could not even present the class at Church.  When I declined to comply with these restrictions the manager told me that I could not work for their company.  I was quite disappointed as I had hoped to supplement our family’s income by working part time for this company presenting the class.  Little did I know that, once again, I was about to learn that God works in ways we cannot foresee, and He often uses disappointments to teach us lessons in humility, patience, perseverance and obedience. 

Shortly after this disappointment I received a call from the Rev. and Mrs. George Brower asking me if I would be interested in the new ordination process that the Episcopal Church in CT is now undertaking.  I prayed about this call to serve God, and to serve God in His way, and I am now walking down this new path.  I do not yet know the Godly destinations or all the Godly purposes for which the Father is now preparing and directing me, but I do know I am making a walk of faith, and it brings me new joys and new spiritual discoveries every day.  Our plans quite often do not line up with God’s plan, yet God is constantly pursuing a loving relationship with us that is real and personal – a relationship where we trust, believe and obey Him, and where He can then lead us in His loving ways and in His loving work.  God has invited me into His work.  I am confident that if I listen carefully to His word, and measure it against scripture, He will then lead me further into His good work and good blessings. 

How is God inviting you into His work?  God’s invitation to you will be totally unique.  His relationship with you will be totally unique.  God never changes, but because He is not limited by time or space, neither are His relationships limited in design, scope or variety.  He will call you in ways that only you will hear or recognize.  You must then measure these callings against God’s word and seek God’s will.  What does Isaiah 55:11 say about God’s word?  “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

When God calls us we are to respond immediately to His call.  His call may require immediate action or a lifetime of preparation for some future action, but we are to respond to Him just the same.  If we do not respond He may invite someone else into His work, but He will not stop seeking our love and our fellowship.  Jonah found this truth out the hard way, for it is by knowing God’s word and responding obediently to His invitations that we come to know, love, believe, trust and obey God – and like Nehemiah, King David and Jesus Christ flourish beyond human expectations. 

So who among us obeys God?  As we come to know God’s word better, and obey his commands, we show God that we love Him.  God will then reveal Himself to us in new ways and invite us into His work in new ways.  He will protect us and keep us and guide us just as a herdsman cares for his flock.  John 10: 14-16 says: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”  Let us therefore join the Lord’s flock and be of one body, one mind and one heart in Christ Jesus.  Amen.  And just a quick announcement regarding our Ministry Fair next Sunday, Sept. 13^th - where everyone is invited to have lunch with us after Church and hear from five or six of our CCQF ministry leaders about a wide variety of opportunities to serve Jesus Christ at CCQF and beyond.  Thank you.

HEALING CONFERENCE OCT. 16 -17

CCQF members and friends are invited to attend an upcoming Healing Conference.

What happens at a healing conference?

1. Teaching about healing Bible.

2. Opportunities to be prayed for by trained prayer counselors.  

3. Fellowship

To learn more, contact

 Fr. John 862-226-9197

Grace Episcopal Church, Saybrook CT 

860.388.0895 www.graceoldsaybrook.org

Welcomes

Jack & Anna Marie  are the Founders of Deep Rivers Ministry and Christ Healing Center.  Their mission is to provide a safe environment for people to receive God’s healing through Jesus Christ.  Christ Healing Center is an interdenominational ministry composed of volunteer lay and ordained ministers dedicated  to the healing of hurting people in San Antonio and the surrounding area. Jack is an ordained Episcopal Priest and Anna Marie was ordained in 2013.  

Dates:  October 16 & 17

Cost:  $15.00 (Love offering will be taken at conference)

Friday:     6:00 PM Registration

Rev. AnnaMarie Sheffield

Rev. Dr. Jack Sheffield            

    Friday      7:00 PM Session 1 

Saturday: 8:30 Coffee & Refreshments

                                                                                                                                

Session 2    9:00

Pre-R egistration & Hotel Information                                           

Contact:                                                                                              

Re v. Barbara Lachance

               

barbara@ge ne rationalsolutionsllc.com 

860.460.4716                                                                                     

Healing Conference Leaders

Understanding the Old Testament: THE PROPHET ISAIAH

Today I need a young volunteer to come up and help me.  Do you know what this is? 

Yes, it is a view master.  When you look through these holes, what do you see?  Right. Pictures.  Today we are going to play a little game.    J   I want you to pretend that this view master will actually show you  PAUSE what is going to happen   PAUSE in the future!!!!!   J J J

·       So, look in and tell me what you see? PAUSE   How about in this view master?  Okay, that concludes our game.  Thank you for your help.

Today we move towards the competition of our Old Testament sermon series, as we focus upon the Prophet Isaiah.   Prophets, in the Old Testament were people to whom God revealed what would happen in the future!!!! Isaiah has been called, “The Prince of the Prophets.”  If Matthew, Mark, Luke& John are the Gospels of the New Testament, then Isiah is the 5^th Gospel contained in the Old Testament. 

Isaiah, who lived 3000 years ago, was an unusual prophet, because he was also s priest at the temple. He was also an ambassador that was sent to represent the King to other nations.

The Old Testament Book of Isaiah is the 2^nd largest book in the Bible.  God spoke to Isaiah, inspiring Him to speak God’s Word to God’s people, calling them:

(1) To repent of their sins

  (2) To foretell the eventual defeat and exile of God’s people, as a consequence of their sins

 (3) To foretell of a time of hope in the future --- when God’s people would be reconciled with Him. PAUSE

Last Sunday, we spoke of the defeat of Israel & Judah,   and the destruction of Jerusalem, by the Babylonian empire. Isaiah and other prophets proclaimed that this was a result of the faithlessness of the people and their religious and governmental leaders.  Not only that, but God’s people were sent into exile BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON FOR 70 YEARS.

·       Not in order for us to better empathize with this  history,   SLOW we need to imagine how we would feel if our nation was invaded and defeated; PAUSE how we would feel if we lost our homes, and were exiled to Brazil. PAUSE And there we lived in tents not by the rivers of Babylon, but by the Amazon River.  Think how HEARTBROKEN we would feel for ourselves, our loved ones, and our nation. PAUSE

·       Now, the fact is that you and I do not have to be defeated and exiled to feel despair.  One psychiatrist puts it this way: We have ALL felt despair during difficult periods in our lives. We may occasionally despair about our job, marriage, love life, family, finances, world events, etc. But typically this despair dissipates in time, and life goes on. When despair doesn't dissipate but rather deepens, it may take control and become CHRONIC, diminishing quality of life, impairing functioning, and keeping us from moving toward our goals, dreams and desires. Then our despair may become pathological or clinical despair. Clinical despair can be conceptualized as a profound and existential hopelessness, helplessness, powerlessness and pessimism about life and the future. Despair is a deep discouragement and loss of faith about one's ability to find meaning, fulfillment and happiness, to create a satisfactory future for oneself. PAUSE

·       I wonder if you can think of people you know who are currently experiencing such darkness? PAUSE  I wonder how many of us in this room are in such a state now?

·       PAUSE    L   I remember long times of despair in my life, where my depression just would not lift. God seemed very far away…and discouragement and depression were my constant companions. All my thoughts were negative and self-condemnatory.

However, while God’s people cried in Babylon, the prophet Isaiah received a word from God—a word of hope for them and for us.  Please open your bulletins to page 4, looking at verse one, where God speaks and says, “Comfort, comfort for my people says the Lord. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim  to her that her punishment is over, that her sin has been paid for , that she will receive from the Lord’s hand double for sins”—meaning that God will  pardon, reconcile and give double blessings in proportion   for the amount of trouble that they endured.  And God sums up his promises, in one of the most beautiful and inspiring promises that God makes to us in all of Holy Scripture.  Let us read responsively verse 31: 

For those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

THEY WILL SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES; THEY WILL RUN AND NOT GROW WEARY, THEY WILL WALK AND NOT BE FAINT.

Now, this word of hope speaks on two levels:

1.    It was intended to bring hope to the ancient people of Israel—to serve as a light at the end of the tunnel. Indeed, as God’s people heard and meditated on this word 3000 years ago, they found God’s promised strength, power and encouragement to help sustain them through the exile, with an ANTICIPATION of their RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND and the RETURN OF GOD’S FAVOR.  As people read this word, they began to understand that God was speaking to them; and that comfort began a positive turn around, so that his people did wait upon the Lord who renewed their strength, just as God promised.  PAUSE / SLOW…..And such hope is available to us. PAUSE

·       So in my case, these words were especially meaningful to me.   While I was in the darkness….I prayed these words…and I grew to comprehend that these were not just words printed on the page of my bible-----for through these words, I heard God speak personally to me—John Donnelly. I was encouraged to seek help from my loved ones, and then a counselor.  I grew to understand, in a new way, that I could accept God’s promise and to choose to believe that He was renewing me day by day…and slowly, but surely, I began to emerge into the light, as I replaced my negativity with encouragement from Jesus Christ. PAUSE

·       Whether or not you have faced prolonged despair, you can be an instrument of God by encouraging your friends & family.  Bring a smile...a hug…a prayer...a listening ear, and your will be a ray of light. PAUSE

2.    So, our first reading today was meant to encourage God’s people then, and us in the future.  Secondly, today’s passage on the reconciliation between God and men and women is elaborated on in Isaiah’s prophecies, which followed today’s readings…that the final reconciliation with God would be accomplished by a suffering servant—an innocent, who would take our punishment upon himself…one, whom Isaiah called ,”

 Wonderful... PAUSE Counselor…. PAUSE Almighty God… PAUSE Everlasting Father… PAUSE the Prince of Peace.”   

Now,J J J  of whom is Isaiah speaking? PAUSE He is speaking of Jesus. PAUSE Now, Jesus was a great reader of scripture, and he learned of his mission on earth by reading Isaiah.   PAUSE  Indeed, in his first public sermon, as we hear in today’s Gospel, he quoted Isaiah to proclaim his identity.  Would you all please turn to page 5 in your bulletins, and let us read the portion of the Gospel highlighted in bold face italic print?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.    He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners    and recovery of sight for the blind,   to set the oppressed free, ¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

MY FRIENDS, THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR IS NOW!  We, right here at Christ Church, are the ones so fortunate to see the prophecy of the past fulfilled in the present. 

·       Aren’t we blessed by hearing the good news of God’s word explained & proclaimed PAUSE  & studied in Small Groups???

·       Aren’t we blessed as God the Holy Spirit opens up our spiritual eyes to see His hand at work in our families, church and in the world?

·       Aren’t we blessed by the forgiveness of sin, won for us at the cross by Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe?

You see, the prophet Isaiah could only the future through fuzzy pictures, like one peering through a view master.

We, however, are able to witness in our own time PAUSE  that which prophets could only dream of, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.