Sermons from "The Old Rev" Mark Matthews - Concordia Lutheran Church Berwyn

[Regularguy]

Juliets,
I and severals other people here enjoy the sermons you post here from the rev.
It is very sad indeed to see a twits like buzz crap on this holy thread, but that is
his small, unGod like intellects.
Cheers,
Stanislov

[Juliet]

We have a really neat little video of Marco at Mike and Amy's wedding. He's standing at the edge of the dance floor listening to the music. When the area in front of him opens up, he steps out to the floor, shakes his booty to the music and then retreats when the crowd gets closer. We call it the "Dancing Marco" move. He just moves to the beat of the music; his way, his beat, not caring if he looks cool, just having fun moving to the music. I admire him for that. As we older, we want to look cooler on the dance floor which keeps many of us away except for a slow one once in a while, or possibly "The Twist."

Moving to the beat of God's music is what the Christian life is all about. God gives us His tune to follow. We want to be in harmony with Him. He holds us, nudges us in one direction or the other and we flow together. At the end of the movie, Evan Almighty, after Evan has built the Ark to protect people and animals from a flood that was coming, God and Evan do "The Dance" together as a way of saying that Evan had been in harmony with God's plan, God's will, God's tune for his life. God wants to dance with each of us. Sad to say, because of our sin, we choose not in harmony with Him. We listen to the music of our world filled with greed, ego, anger, hurt. We want to lead, and when we do, we often step on God's toes, which I'm sure causes Him pain, especially if God wears sandals.

"When the Saints Go Marching In" is a famous Louis Armstrong song and the theme for the New Orleans Saints football team. We are sending a number of our young people and adults to New Orleans for a Youth Gathering. As children of God, God's Saints, they will be marching in by the thousands for new and exciting times of worship, study, and fellowship with new kids they will meet. We will want to pray for our Saints, young and old, as they leave home for a new adventure.

I hope that their march will turn into a dance with their Lord in a new setting. I pray that their words and actions might be in harmony with Jesus. I pray they won't step on Jesus' toes and hurt Him. Trusting their Lord, Who died and rose for each of them, is what "The Dance" is all about. Moving with the Lord takes a surrender of faith to His will, a willingness to let Him lead, and an attentiveness to His guidance.

Looking at that word GUIDANCE teaches us many things. The G is for God. God, U & I DANCE. We pray for His GUIDANCE in our lives. We pray to be open to His direction. We pray that we will live in harmony with His song for us. Because God Is Good...All The Time, He wants us to dance with Him every day. Go and Samba with the Savior, Flamenco with the Father, Line Dance with your Lord, and like our little guy, just enjoy the music God has for you. Amen..pastor matthews

[billyjean]

Juliets,
I and severals other people here enjoy the sermons you post here from the rev.
It is very sad indeed to see a twits like buzz crap on this holy thread, but that is
his small, unGod like intellects.
Cheers,
Stanislov

Agree Stanislov.  In your broken English there ... you said it right.

[Bonster]

Juliets,
I and severals other people here enjoy the sermons you post here from the rev.
It is very sad indeed to see a twits like buzz crap on this holy thread, but that is
his small, unGod like intellects.
Cheers,
Stanislov

Agree Stanislov.  In your broken English there ... you said it right.

LOL.  That's not broken English.
And swearing and calling someone a twit is unGod like intellect.


I'm not a true believer anymore, but I do like that she posts the sermons here.

[OakParkSpartan]

Enough people.

[Juliet]

Let's pretend that Mrs. Matthews and I are attending a wedding reception. The place is beautiful and they begin by serving the soup. I love soup. After the soup if finished, they serve a wonderful salad. The staff picks up the salad plate and serves a piece of cake and a cup of coffee. Do you think I might go to the parents of the bride and ask "Where's the main course with meat, potatoes and veggies?" "No entree with this meal?" If that's all there was, we probably would stop on the way home to get some food. Everyone would be left tired and hungry.

I mention that because our Bible story of Jesus and Mary and Martha from Luke 10 is very similar. While Mary sits at Jesus' feet listening to Him, her older sister Martha is in the kitchen getting the appetizers and drinks ready. Martha is upset that her sister isn't helping with the meal. Jesus thanks Martha for what she is doing, but tells her that Mary is doing what's most important; listening to Him.

In a Bible paraphrase called "The Message" after Martha asks why Mary can't help in the kitchen, Jesus replies, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over them. One thing is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it's the main course, and won't be taken from her." Martha is washing dishes while Mary is enjoying the meat, potatoes, and veggies of the main course, the words of Jesus.

What if Jesus came to your house? Would be Mary or Martha? I could see myself, like Martha, all excited and rushing to offer Jesus iced tea, water, pop, coffee, whatever He'd like. I'd be willing to go out and get a Pizza, Chinese, Mexican, whatever He would enjoy. I would want to do for Him, when in reality, Jesus is there to do for me. He would tell me that before I serve Him, He's there to feed me the "main course;" His message of love, hope, forgiveness of sins, and life eternal through faith.

Through His friends Mary and Martha, the Lord is teaching us about spiritual priorities. Jesus is telling us that before we can serve Him or others, we have to be fed first. A car with an empty tank goes nowhere. A child of God with an empty spiritual tank goes nowhere too. As a church, as a group, or as an individual, before reaching out with our various programs, Jesus wants us to have His "Main Course" first. We need Bible Study, worship, Holy Communion on a regular basis like we need good food. If we eat once a week, we'll get sick and maybe die. The same is true for being fed on God's Word; once a week with God's Word isn't enough.

The Christian writer, Beth Moore talks about internal combustion.  She states that when the Spirit of truth combines with the Word of truth, there is an internal combustion of faith in God's people. That internal combustion empowers us to share our faith in Jesus Who died and rose for our salvation, take food to the hungry reach out to the sick and lonely, forgive those who have hurt us, and try to live as His person. Because God Is Good...All The Time He wants you at His table and at His table, His "Main Course" will be served. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

While on vacation, Mrs. Matthews and I visited a place called the "Fantastic Cavern" in Missouri. You sit on a wagon and are taken by a Jeep into a large cavern some 90 feet underground. The people running the tour have set up electric lights along the way so you can see the stalactites and stalagmites, as well as sink holes and other mineral formations. This cave was actually used by bootleggers many years ago and they even constructed a stage for famous singers to lead the parties they had. At one place, the guide stopped the wagon and turned out all the lights. I have never seen, or should I say not seen, anything so dark in my life! I literally could not see my hand move in front of my face. It is so dark that they tell you that your eyes will never adjust to the dark so you can see. Even the little creatures that live there are all blind because of the continual darkness. Then, when you begin to get a little nervous, the guide lights a candle and there is a sigh of relief. One little candle in the dark makes all the difference.

I couldn't help but reflect on how true that is for each of us in our spiritual life too. We live with the darkness of sin all around us. We look at a dark world that kills children in drive-by shootings, kills unborn children with abortions, kills young people with war, drugs, alcohol, and neglects those who are old, sad and lonely. We live in the darkness of sin listening for the world's answers. Sadly they are apart from Jesus and we wonder why we still feel in the dark. In our dark cavern, we hold out money for an answer and it's still dark. We lift up our Rolex and we're still in the dark. We look in the mirror and see nothing at all.  There are no answers to the darkness apart from the Light Who is Jesus.

In John 8 Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness but have the light of life. He is THE light, not one of many lights. In the darkness of our caverns of sin, hurt, illness, fear, and loss, Jesus is the One light, that One flame that enlightens the darkness. Faith in Jesus, Who died and rose to eliminate the darkness of sin in our hearts is there for us.

What does this teach us? When you are frozen in fear, look to the Light Who is Jesus. When you feel doomed in the dark, look to the Light Who is Jesus. Trusting in Jesus, the Light of the world, fills us with that same light of hope and joy and peace. Faith in Jesus shows us the way out of our cavern. When we follow the Flame, we can help others find their way to His light. Psalm 109 tells us that the Word of God is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. Our prayers, Bible Study, worship, and attendance at Holy Communion all keep that Flame Who is Jesus close to us.

Because God is Good...All The Time, He wants us to live in the light, not the dark; He wants faith, not fear. The hurts of life can leave us feeling doomed in darkness, but Jesus our Lord lives to be our Light in this life and the Light that leads from the dark cavern of this life to the Sonshine of heaven. Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

here's a neat little story of a group of children watching a silversmith at work. He would heat up the silver and scrape off the dross or impurities. He did this again and again. Finally, one of the children asked, "How do you know when it's finished?" The silversmith answered, "When I can see my reflection in the silver."



Silver is a precious metal made to be pure, valuable, and to shine. Sad to say, this doesn't always happen. Like in our little story, we read that when silver is heated, the dross appears. The same is true in our lives. God made us to be His children, pure and valuable, shining for the kingdom, now and eternally. Sad to say, because of sin, we are all filled with dross, impurities that especially show up when the heat is on!



Let's face it, when the heat is on, the pressure rises, trials and troubles come our way, so often what is seen is the dross of our lives. Jobs can be lost; bills can't be paid, or we struggle with Cancer, pain, and pressure. The dross of anger easily appears. The dross of blame; blame God, blame our spouse, blame anyone we can. The dross of fear and worry rises to the top. This can lead to the dross of alcoholism, drug abuse, lying, cheating, stealing, and more. Do we just leave the dross floating there on the surface of our lives? Do we settle and keep all the impurities for all to see and hear? Are we just a dirty mess to be thrown away? I hope not!



A reading from Proverbs 25 tells us that when you take the dross away from the silver, the smith has something to work with. That Smith is our God. God can allow the heat to rise in our lives, not to punish us, but so He can scrape off the dross and help us to be who He wants us to be. No heat and the dross stays in place. Nobody likes the heat, but out of the heat can come healing. When we struggle, we are led to see how weak and dirty we are. Seeing that weakness, seeing that dirt of sin floating there, we ask God to forgive us for Jesus' sake and He starts scraping off that dross. When we feel down, dirty, and defeated, living in the dross of our lives, one thing has to change; the D in Dross has to be changed to a C in Cross.



Looking to the cross shows us that Jesus came to earth and through His death and resurrection, wants to scrape off all of our dross of sin and replace it with the Cross in our hearts, bringing forgiveness, hope, joy, peace, and a heart that is clean in God's sight. As we look at the heat in our own lives, we can seek out the cross and find the Savior Who took all the dross on Himself so that through faith in Him, we could shine for the Kingdom now and eternally. Our Bible Study, worship, prayers, Holy Communion attendance are important because God uses them to scrape off the dross of sin.



Because God is Good..All The Time, He loves you so much that He wants you to be pure and clean before Him because we can serve others best when the face of Jesus is reflected in us. We all say God is Good...All The Time, do we show it?  Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

The story is told of a little boy standing barefoot on the sidewalk looking into a shoe store. A lady approached and asked him what he was looking at. "I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," the little guy answered. The lady then took him in the store, went to the back and washed his dirty feet, asked the clerk for a pair of socks, and found a nice pair of shoes for the lad. She paid for the socks and shoes and as she left, she patted him on the head and said, "I hope you're feeling better now." The little guy took her hand, looked up in her eyes and said, "Are you God's wife?"

I like that story because the lady didn't do a loving thing because she had to or for recognition from others, she simply responded, as Tim Hetzner reminded us a few weeks ago, because "We're Christians and that's what we do!" She understood what true discipleship is about; doing God's business before we do our own.

Sad to say, with our sinful nature, we find it easy to make excuses. The lady could have thought she was too busy, could not afford the cost, didn't have the time, and it might have been a con. We understand that doing our own thing, minding our own business, is what this world is all about. We have to take care of #1; ME. People who haven't worshipped in months tell me the same thing; they can't get to worship because they are either too tired from their job, too busy with other things, or simply feel worship isn't that important. When I'm #1, minding my own business, I have my own priorities that place God way down the list after things like job, money, fun, rest, family, sports, meal preparation, parties, not feeling well, other plans, convenience, and many more. We wouldn't miss a day on our job, yet can't show up for an hour or two with Jesus. 

In Luke 14, Jesus tells us that our job as children of God is to carry our cross of faith and follow Jesus. We know He took His cross, died on it, rose from the dead to give us eternal victory. Following Jesus through faith on earth means that when we die we won't be held in the grave, we will follow Him to heaven. If we reject His job description for us, and choose to follow other people or things on earth, then when we die, we'll follow them to eternal destruction.

Jesus tells us that He wants His disciples to be like salt and bring flavor to a bland world. Faith brings us that saltiness that enlivens those in our world with a witness of our faith, actions of love and support, like the shoes for the child, food for the hungry, and an ear to listen to the lonely because we're Christians and that's what we do.

God's Word goes on in Luke 14 to tell us that if we have no time for Jesus or to live with the job description of saltiness, we are good for nothings; offering nothing to the world around us, not good enough even for a pile of manure. I guess that means we really smell up the place, huh? Holding His nose, Jesus might look each of us in the eye and tell us that those who do not...cannot.  Do not carry His cross to the world and you cannot be a disciple. Do not trust Him as your Lord and Savior and you cannot get to heaven.

Because God is Good...All The Time, I want Him to be proud of me, don't you? I want to carry His cross to the world, don't you?  I want to be salt to a flavorless, bland world, don't you? Who knows, I'll never be mistaken for God's wife, but to know that I am a child of God and the fact that He wants me to mind His business is wonderful.
Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

As a Grandfather, I have learned lots of new things. I now more about Thomas the Train that I could have ever wanted to know. Names like Thomas, Percy, Diesel, Harold, and many others are spoken quite often in our house when Marco visits. When Melanie and Michael were growing up, we had Strawberry Shortcake, Transformers, and the Sesame Street characters; Kermit, Miss Piggy, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and others.  In 1970 a man by the name of Joe Raposo wrote the song "It Isn't Easy Being Green." It was sung by Kermit the Frog. Kermit began by singing that being green is boring because people overlook him because he blends in with leaves and ordinary things. As the song goes on, he realizes that being green is pretty cool because it's the color of Spring, mountains, oceans, and trees. He finishes by saying that green is what he wants to be.

Speaking of colors, I read a story about a teacher who asked her class, "If all bad children were painted red and all good children were painted green, which color would you be? How about you? How would you answer that one? The story goes on to say that one really smart student answered, "Striped." I guess if you think about it, everyone but Jesus is striped. That's our world today.

Whether look at ourselves or others around us, stripes are the color of life. We can be good, we can be bad. We can be mean, we can be nice. We can feel incomplete, and we can feel complete. We can feel empty or we can feel full. We can be lost to God and we can be found by God. In Latin, simul iustus et peccatur, tells us that we are same time saint, same time sinner.  My other favorite Latin phrase is semper ubi sub ubi; always wear underwear. I've had a strange education. None the less, they are true, especially the struggle we have as saint and sinner, lost and found; striped!

The great message of God's Word from Luke 15 is that when it comes to us, God, wants  the lost to be found, the striped  to be green. God has a thing about chasing after striped people so that through faith, they can be green. To show how much God wants each of us to be in His family, God sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross to seek out lost sinners. Jesus became bright red as the greatest sinner of all time as He took our sins on Himself so the red of our stripes could be washed away and we are now green in the sight of God.

A parable from India tells of a man watching an old man as he was reaching out to save a scorpion trapped on a piece of wood, floating down the river. The old man reached and got stung. He reached again and got stung. Though his hand was painfully swelling up, he reached out again to save the ugly creature. The man called out to the old man telling him how stupid he was trying to help the ungrateful scorpion. The old man called back to him, "My friend, just as it's the scorpion's nature to sting, that doesn't change my nature to save."

It's God's nature to save and  because God Is Good...All The Time, He wants to save us ungrateful striped people. We sting Him over and over through our sinful words, thoughts, and actions, yet He continues to reach out in Baptism, Communion, worship, and Bible Study to save you from your lost condition, Kermit. Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

I'm not all that great with money management. I do pay off my credit cards in full every month. Cash back from paid in full balances are always nice to get. I try to save some every month with retirement around the corner. One thing I have noticed is that the interest rate on savings or checking accounts seems to be getting smaller and smaller. I actually got a credit of $.01 from one account. These so-called Super accounts really don't offer too much. None of them are anything to get too excited over; no offense to bankers in the congregation. More free pens would be nice.

I had a guy in my congregation in New Jersey who watched his bank statement like a hawk. If he thought it was even 1 cent short, he would walk down to the bank, many blocks away, and literally raise a fuss until they put the penny in for him. When your life is wrapped around a penny from the bank, the world must be pretty small and empty.

Our Gospel lesson from Luke 16 reminds us that there is only One True God for us and that god should never be money. Matthew 6:21 reinforces the message by telling us that where your treasure is, that is where your heart is also. If your heart is in a vault down at your bank, or in your home, or your car, or the plastic in your wallet, leaving very little for the Lord's work, there is trouble on the horizon. When Judgment Day arrives, bank vaults will blow open, homes will be crushed, cars rusted away, and plastic melting. What does that say about your heart? Will your heart be blown away, crushed, rusted out, and melting? Sounds like Hell to me. The things of this world will be lost....do you want your heart lost with them? Tight-fisted people discover that the gods of this world are tight-fisted too.

God offers His Own Savings Plan; Jesus. God has such great interest in you and so much interest for you that He sent His Son to die for your sins of greed, selfishness, and all the rest. Investing our hearts and souls in Jesus rather than the things of this world, brings us more dividends than we could ever imagine. Faith is invested in our Lord, assuring us of God's interest in us that forgives our sins, holds on to us, hears us, blesses us, and provides for all of our needs in this life and for life eternal. One way that faith in Jesus shows through is by donating toward the work of the Lord, to give thanks for what God has given to you. Luke 6:38 assures us that the measure we use to give to God is the measure He uses to give to us. Generous people discover a Generous God.

Because God is Good...All The Time, the interest He has in us and for us is beyond belief. I'm kind of like the guy who kept praying to win the Lottery but never won. He went to his pastor and asked why God hadn't blessed him in that way. "Well," the pastor answered, "First you have to buy a ticket." I never buy a ticket, but there are millions who do and lose the so-called Big Prize every week. When we look to Jesus and invest our time, talents, and treasures in Him and His Church, we are winners every day and we know that the really Big Prize is waiting for us in heaven. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

I read a story recently of a Dad praying with his little boy before bed The little guy was praying a prayer that I've been praying for over 60 years; "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus' sake. Amen."  This time, the little guy got confused as he was praying, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should wake before I die..." He was sad because he messed it up but his Dad assured him that what he said was definitely good with God. Our prayer for ourselves and our loved ones should be that we all wake before we die; we wake up to God's will before we die, we wake up and see our sins and ask for forgiveness and trust in Jesus as our Savior before we die.

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16 affirms the little guy's prayer. The Rich Man was asleep to the things of God and cared only of the pleasures of this world. Because he hadn't been awake to God, when he went to sleep in death, he was lost eternally in Hell. Lazarus, on the other hand, had little in this life, but Lazarus was awake to Jesus as Lord and Savior and when He went to sleep, he woke up in heaven.

The message is the same for each of us. Before we die, God wants us to wake up to not just what's around us, but who's around us. A woman came to her mother and said that she can't marry her fiancée because he's an atheist and doesn't believe in hell. Mom's advice was, "Go and marry him. With you as his wife and me for a mother-in-law, I'm sure we can convince him."  The Rich Man lived for himself and didn't see what was in front of him.. He had all the good things life could bring and even had more compassion for his dogs than for Lazarus. The Rich Man didn't wake up to the message of eternal life through faith in Jesus found in the Word of God and was lost. Because he didn't wake up to the Lord, his family could be lost too.

To wake up before we sleep is to #1. Isaiah 55:6&7, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; turn to Him and He will have mercy on you."  Seeking the Lord in His Word leads us to wake up to our sin, wake up to God's forgiveness, wake up to His promise of everlasting life through faith in Jesus as our Savior Who died and rose for our salvation. Fall asleep with Jesus in this life and wake up with Him in heaven. #2 In 1 John 3, we read that the Lord wants us to love one another as the Lord has first loved us. We also read that if we fail to help another in need, how can the love of the Lord be in us? The love Jesus has for us wakes us up to those in need and leads us to reach out with food, money, and a listening ear before we sleep.

In a cartoon, Garfield the Cat is looking outside during a snowstorm. Odie the Dog is outside, his nose on the window, freezing from the snow. Garfield says to himself, "This is terrible. Things like this shouldn't happen. How sad this is. I can't stand it." With that he goes over to the window and closes the curtain. Because God is Good...All The Time, He wants you to wake up to Jesus, and keep the curtain open to others before you sleep. Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

I read a neat story this week about the great artist, Michelangelo. It seems that one day he was chipping away with his chisel and hammer at a large piece of white marble. The work drew a large crowd wanting the see the master at work. Finally, a little girl in the crowd asked him, "What are you making?" The master craftsman replied, "There is an angel in this block of marble and I'm setting it free." Imagine how proud Michelangelo will be of the finished work.

This morning is LWML Sunday and we are reflecting on the idea of walking in the Word of God. I couldn't help but think that God, our Master Craftsman, like Michelangelo, chooses to work on each of us the same way. God will use the hammer and chisel of His Word to chip away what's not needed in our lives, and then polish, again with His Word, what is needed to help us faithfully serve Him. We all find ourselves trapped in a marble tomb of sin that could easily destroy us forever. God loves us so much that He wants to take the time to free us from our marble tomb, not to be angels, but even better, to be His children.

The hammer and chisel that God uses on us is the Bible. As we read God's Word we see Jesus hanging on the cross. God uses this horrible event to chip away at us when we realize that the reason Jesus suffered and died was for my sins. I put Him there. I was responsible for His suffering and death. Once we realize this truth, we are led to confess our sins before Him, repent of those sins, and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior Who frees us from our marble tomb of sin.

The problem is that our sinful nature tells us that we're pretty good people. We're a lot better than our neighbors, so why wouldn't God want us in heaven? We don't need a Savior; we can save ourselves by being good. God chips away with His Word to show us that this is not true. We realize from the 10 Commandments, God's hammer and chisel, that we haven't put God first, haven't worshipped faithfully, haven't respected others in our lives, have lied, cheated, been selfish and greedy. Chip, chip, chip...Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Our sins, even just one, mean we aren't perfect and can't get to heaven on our own. Does this make you sad and hopeless? Are you ready to confess those sins before God, wanting His forgiveness? If not, our sin will entomb us eternally. 

Thankfully, there is more to the Word. Once we see our sin, we realize that God has been chipping away, not to hurt us, but to free us. God's Word promises that God loves us and is ready to polish us up. What does John 3:16 promise?? That God loves each of us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us and rise from the dead to polish us up to be His people in this world. Forgiven, we learn more through worship; polish, polish...prayer; polish, polish...Bible Study; polish, polish...Holy Communion and Baptism; polish, polish.

Because God Is Good...All The Time, He shows us that He is our Master Craftsman, Who comes with His Word to chip away our sin, polish our faithfulness, so the results are children He can be proud of! How great is that?? Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Reflecting on Thanksgiving during our service that centers around the 10 Lepers, I've been really blessed by God because every Thanksgiving of my life I've had people around me who cared for me, as I cared for them, and some really great food too! I hope you can say the same, but I know it's not true for everyone. In our world at Thanksgiving, many are alone, many go hungry, many eat with strangers, and many are simply sad with empty hearts.

I'm sure that was true at Jesus' time too, especially for those suffering with leprosy. Lepers were the walking dead of that time. They were considered unclean in religious circles, contagious and diseased as they walked around with bodies maimed and disfigured, often with fingers and toes falling off and blindness setting in. Leprosy also takes away your sense of touch. Lepers could hold a hot pan while being burned and not feel a thing. People yelled "Unclean" as they passed by, rejected, isolated, even having stones thrown at them to keep them at least 50 yards from the clean people.

That's why as we read Luke 17, they stood at a distance and cried out to Jesus for pity. By pity they meant compassion and a willingness to help them. Jesus, always filled with compassion from deep, down in His heart, could have thrown them some money, could have thrown them some food, instead, He gave them the gift of being healed from this terrible disease. One came back to say thank you to Jesus; one! What does it take for us to respond to God with gratitude?

Thankfully, Jesus treats us the same way He treated the lepers. When we cry out to Him in faith, He is always there to heal us from the leprosy of our  sin. Our many sins do to us what leprosy did to those 10. Our sins often isolate us from others as they judge us or we judge them. Sin eats away at our hearts, our consciences, and our actions leaving us cold hearted and apathetic. Because of our favorite sins, we don't feel the way we should towards others. Instead of love, we judge, we yell at people, we walk away; use them, or we hold grudges and distance ourselves from them. The sad part is, as we turn our backs on people, we are also turning our backs on Jesus. 1 John 4:20 tells us that if you cannot love your brother, you cannot love God!

Jesus knows that to really understand thanksgiving, we need to forgive and be forgiven. He is waiting there to forgive and clean us up. The message of the cross is the message of compassion that Jesus has for us sin-filled lepers. Jesus died and rose to take that sin away, clean up our hearts, and give us a new life of joy. He did that for you and you respond with??? "Thank You, Jesus" or "See Ya Later, Alligator." What does it take for us to respond to God with gratitude? Are you the one or one of the nine?

Our opening hymn #36 was written by a Lutheran Pastor, Martin Rinkart in the 1600's during the Thirty years War. In his walled city of Eilenberg people sought refuge only to be hit by famine and plague. In one year, Pastor Rinkart conducted 4500 funerals, including one for his wife. He was a man who kept his faith in Jesus and a spirit of gratitude to God. In the midst of all that pain he wrote, "Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices. Who wondrous things has done..."

How can you not give thanks with your hearts and hands and voices if you truly believe that God Is Good...All The Time. How can you? Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican found in Luke 18 has always been a favorite of mine. A parable, you know, is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The earthly story is in front of us. Two men in church, one up front, head held high reminding God that he, the Pharisee, was a great guy. He was the ideal church member; YAHHHHH! He studied God's Word, lived a holy life, gave generously to the church; we need more members like that! The other guy, a tax collector; BOOOOOO. Tax collectors were known to lie, cheat and steal. He's in the back with his head bowed, confessing his sinfulness before God. We know which one is most valuable to the Kingdom of God, don't we? We know who we want to join our church.

The story is told of a city boy visiting his cousin who lived on a farm in the country. The city boy really admired that field of wheat. He couldn't help but notice that some wheat stood tall while others bent down to the ground. He told his cousin that those tall ones were surely the best. The cousin pulled some wheat from a tall standing stalk and some from one that was bent to the ground. He rubbed the heads of grain from the tall standing stalk showing they were almost empty of seeds. As he rubbed the heads of grain from the bent over stalk, the city boy could see that this was the one you want for a good harvest.

The same is true of worship. The real difference in these two men was that the tall standing Pharisee inflated himself with his worship, while he deflated God. The poor, miserable sinner of a tax collector inflated God with his worship and deflated himself. The Pharisee had an "I" problem. His prayer was filled with five "I's" telling God how great of a man he was and how fortunate God was to have him. The Publican, tax collector confessed his sin and asked God for mercy. Jesus then commented that those who inflate themselves will be deflated and those who deflate themselves will be inflated by God. God sent Jesus to suffer and die for our sins to fill us, inflate us, with His love and forgiveness.

Pride was the first sin, the father of them all. It shows up all over. A man was known to be the greatest carpet layer the world had ever seen. Everything he did, the cutting, edging, baseboards, always perfect. He charged the big bucks because he was the best ever. While finishing one job, he went outside for a smoke break. The problem was, he couldn't find his pack of cigarettes. Looking around he went back into the house only to notice this bulge in the middle of the carpet. "Oh, oh," he thought to himself; "my cigarettes." He couldn't pull up the carpet; it would make him look bad. He decided to take out his mallet and pound out the bulge and no one would know. Getting ready to leave, the lady of the house commented on a great job and handed him his missing cigarettes that had fallen out of his truck. "Here are your cigarettes," she told him, "You haven't seen my pet parakeet somewhere have you?" Pride only leads to destruction; deflation.

A man went to heaven and was met at the gate by St. Peter. "If you have earned 1000 pts. you can come in." The man began to list his accomplishments; faithful church goer, gave 10% to God, went to Bible Class, shared his faith, loved his family, worked hard, was a good neighbor, etc. "Well," Peter replied, "That about 350 pts." The man went on trying to think of one thing or another. Peter responded, "That's about 405 pts." Finally the man replied, "I can't do it on my own. I have been a sinner and I'm not good enough. The only way I'll get to heaven is by the grace of God!" "Come on in," Peter replied. 

Because God Is Good..All The Time, we don't have to be; His mercy endures forever. Jesus died to forgive poor, miserable sinners like you and me. We confess our sins, come to Him with bowed heads trusting in Jesus as our Savior and God looks at us and says "YAHHHHH! That's who I want in My heaven" amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Forrest Gump told us that "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." If that's true, then what can we say about God? "God is like Tide; He gets the stains out that others leave behind." "God is like Allstate; you're in good hands with Him." "God is like Dial Soap; aren't you glad you have Him. Don't you wish everybody did?" For our sermon today as we reflect on our Gospel reading from John 8 where our Lord encourages us to abide with Him as He will abide with us, we'll paraphrase Forrest; "God is like a tea bag, you always know what you're gonna get." Think about it! A tea bag placed in a cup of hot water brings about change. When God is in our hearts and our lives through faith, this brings about change.

The longer the tea bag is in the cup, the more to color of the water changes and the stronger it tastes. When our Lord abides in us hour after hour, day after day, week after week, our faith gets stronger and stronger, our lives change as we grow more and more to be the person the Lord wants us to be as He flavors our life with His love. The nature of abiding is hanging around all the time. When Marco is over, Mrs. Matthews abides with him to keep him out of trouble. When Jesus abides with us and we abide with Him, it's an on-going relationship of trust and love. He is always there to help, always there to listen, always there to strengthen and forgive us; always!

On the other hand, if we dip the tea bag in the water, a little here and a little there, then nothing really happens. This creates an on-again, off-again relationship with our Lord. As we dip the tea bag into our cup now and then, the water might change a little and there's a little taste of tea, but pretty bland.  Our sinful nature will let the Lord come in now and then, but just for a little dip here and there to appease our consciences. We'll worship now and then, pray now and then, give a little to the Lord now and then, but never wanting Jesus to really abide with us and change us. Just be there Jesus, like a Bayer Aspirin to bring pain relief when we need it.

Knowing that Jesus suffered and died and rose for our salvation encourages us to want to get past the dipping tea bag stage and pray that Jesus would abide with us. We want Him in our hearts and lives each second of the day. Trusting in Jesus as our Savior leads to abiding with Him in church, in prayers, in Bible Study, at school, and at work. He assures us in John 6 that when we take Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ, we abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in us.

In John 15, Jesus assures us that just as a branch will produce good fruit when it abides in the vine, so we will show good fruit as we are abiding with Jesus in faith. Abiding in Jesus through faith brings His strength into our lives and hearts as we struggle with the hurts of this life. To abide in Jesus is to remain in Him, rest in Him, and continue to be with Him. He gives us the strength of His Holy Spirit to guide us to actions of love in this life and to life eternal.

The message of the Protestant Reformation some 500 years ago was the same message. Martin Luther saw people dipping God in their lives now and then with their religion, knowing that our Lord wanted to abide in them through His Word and Sacraments in a deep, personal way and would bring them life, hope, and forgiveness through faith in Jesus. Because God Is Good...All The Time, He loves you and wants to abide with you and that will suit you to a T.
amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Perhaps you've heard the story of the man who was just very annoying. He was annoying to his wife, family, everyone around him. One day he was out in his field with his mule, annoying the mule. The mule had had enough and kicked him to death. At the funeral his widow was standing and greeting those paying their respect. To the men, she would shake her head "yes." To the women, she would shake her head "no." The Pastor noticed and went over and asked her why she was shaking her head "yes" to the men and "no" to the women? The widow answered that the men we offering their sympathy and asking if she would be all right. The women were asking if the mule was for sale.

Being an annoying person doesn't bring hope or encouragement to anyone. Annoying people make us sad, frustrated, and often irritable ourselves. Antonyms, the opposites, for annoy are words like help, make happy, and soothe. These words definitely apply to Jesus; the Ultimate Antonym to annoying. Jesus is the King of love. His words, His healing, all brought help, happiness, and soothing for hurting people. The only ones that Jesus probably annoyed were the self-righteous Pharisees. They looked only to themselves as being wonderful. They could get to heaven by being good and following their 600+ laws. Jesus annoyed them when He talked about forgiveness, humility, and a need to repent and turn to God.

Like the Pharisees, we can be annoying to God and others as we wear our W.W.I.D.
Bracelets. WHAT WOULD I DO often motivates us in this life. Looking out for #1 and forgetting about others can not only annoy people around us, but our Heavenly Father too. It's easy to think of me first. It's easy to take care of what I want before others. We hold grudges, back-stab people with unkind words, hold on to anger, refuse to forgive, and put ourselves first. Because this comes from our sinful nature, it's opposite of the Christian life Jesus wants for us. 

Our Lord Jesus is the greatest example of love and support ever! His preaching and teaching brought hope to sad people. His healing brought new life to those who were hurting. His final act of love, His suffering, death, and resurrection brings forgiveness of sins and life eternal to all who believe in Him. To live like Jesus and for Jesus is the God-pleasing thing. W.W.J.D. WHAT WOULD JESUS DO is a wonderful guide for life here on earth. 

Our Lord keeps it simple for us in John 15, "Love one another as I have loved you." He gladly gave His time, His talents, and His blood so we could be forgiven and have the hope of a home in heaven. Because God is Good...All The Time He wants us to remove the WWID bracelets that annoy Him and others and replace them with WWJD bracelets that remind us to be loving and kind to all people in our lives. We do that so He won't have to go out and buy a mule. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

I was reading somewhere that a thankful, thankfilled heart can actually be good for us in a number of ways. I read a story of a Mom taking her six-year-old to a restaurant. They began with prayer, and the little guy said, "God is Great, God is Good, and we thank Him for this food, and I'd thank You more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert." People sitting around them chuckled, except for one woman who remarked, "That's what's wrong with this Country; kids don't know how to pray. Asking for ice cream, why I never!"   

Hearing this, the little guy broke into tears, "Did I do something wrong? Is God mad at me?" Mom tried to comfort him and assure him that God wasn't mad when an elderly gentleman came up and told the boy, "I know God thought that was a great prayer, cross my heart." He then whispered to the boy, "Too bad she never prays for ice cream. A little ice cream can be good for the soul."

The meal ended and Mom bought him an ice cream sundae. The little guy looked at the sundae and without a word walked over to the lady who had criticized him and put it in front of her on the table. With a big smile he said, "This is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul, and my soul is good already."

How's your soul? We can learn lots of things from this story. We learn that if we have become angry and judgmental people; we probably don't have thankful hearts. Thanking God each day for our blessings, no matter how many, can keep us focused on Jesus our Savior from sin Who died and rose for us and not anger and bitterness. Proverbs 15:1 assures us that "a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger." Do you need ice cream?

If you feel discouraged, lost, and frustrated, you probably don't have a thankful heart. Sin focuses on what we don't have, what we've lost, what we've been cheated out of, rather than giving thanks to God for what we have. Sin tells us the cup is half empty while faith and a thankful heart show us that it's half full. Sin focuses on the thorns on a rose, while faith and a thankful heart look at the beautiful flower. 1 Thess. 5:18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances...not necessarily for all things, but in all circumstances for God can turn sad situations into good. Do you need ice cream?

When our own ego, pride, and arrogance take control, we focus on how, pardon the term, lucky, we are and forget to be thankful for what we have that comes from our loving God. A thankful heart will focus away from myself to our generous God of love. Psalm 105:4 tells us to "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always."  Give thanks because God Is Good...All The Time and you can cut back on the Bryers.
Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Evangelist Dwight Moody used to tell the story about a swan that came down from heaven to a pool where a crane was wading around looking for snails to eat. Looking up from snail searching, the crane asked, "Where did you come from?" "I came from heaven," the swan replied. "Where is heaven?" asked the crane. "It's the place where we are in God's presence, the streets are gold, it's beautiful and sunny, and the water is crystal clear." The crane listened and asked, "Are there any snails there?" "No, no snails," answered the swan. As the crane kept looking along the slimy banks of the pool, it replied, "You can have your heaven. I want snails."

As John the Baptist came to preach his message of repentance, he discovered that the people of his time were happy going after their own snails. The religious leaders and certainly others, didn't need to repent, they had their snail of pride. They were children of Abraham and that meant they were special. They kept their many commandments as their snails which made them better than others around them. They had the snail of fame and fortune so obviously God liked them the way they were. 

This Advent season can affect us the same way. Worship on Sunday and Wednesday encourages us to shape up, repent, wait for Jesus' coming, turn to the Lord in faithful, thanksgiving, and service....but....we have our own snails to make us happy. Why change what we're doing? We like the comfort of the snail of sleeping in on Sundays. Our snail of money goes for gifts, clothes, and food for our family. We don't have the time or energy to worry about church needs or others. We've worked hard for these snails, why not enjoy them? Holidays are spelled with a capital I for all the snails I want or I need.

Because of our sinful nature, we like the snails that this world offers; fun, parties, stuff, lots of alcohol, and all the rest. Like the crane, we're more interested in looking down for what we can scoop out of the dirty waters of this life, so we miss out on the cool, clear, spring waters of heaven. The bugs of this world beat the blessings of God. We choose snails over the Savior and slopping around in dirty pools of this life rather than trusting in Jesus and looking forward to a heavenly home. 

Times haven't changed from 2000 years ago. John would still have lots to say to each of us. John would condemn us as sinners who need to repent, turn their lives around, and  see Jesus coming as Lord and Savior. Repent means more than sorrow for sin, it means to turn your life around, 180 degrees; to go in a new direction. To repent is to ask God for His forgiveness for our snail seeking and lead us to trust in Jesus, Who died and rose for our salvation, and look up to God rather than look down for the snails. Peter preached in Acts 3, Repent, turn to God, so your sins will be wiped out and that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. God wants us out of the slimy pool of sin and into the water of repentance with Jesus.

Because God Is Good...All The Time, He wants us to look away from the escargot and up to Jesus so to heaven we'll go! Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

You probably remember, "Humpy Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.  Just a little FYI, I was reading that the possible background to that poem goes back to the English Civil War in the 1640's when a large cannon, called the Humpty Dumpty was placed on a wall to defend the town. The wall was hit by a cannon ball and the huge cannon fell. There was no way they were strong enough to fix it and replace the cannon, so the battle was lost. No matter how powerful that cannon might have been, unless it could have been fixed and replaced, the cannon was useless.

Speaking of feeling useless, there is a story of a young woman who looked to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale for help after her husband had been killed in a car accident. She felt lost, sad, broken, and useless. To help her, Dr. Peale told the story of a famous English violinist, Peter Cropper. Cropper had become such a great violinist that he was honored as the Royal Academy of Music loaned him a 258 year old Stradivarius to play at a concert. This is the Super Bowl and World Series all wrapped together for violinists. Sadly, as he was performing, he tripped and fell on the Stradivarius. Cropper was a sad, broken man as his dream became a nightmare. A violin dealer came to him and told him of a master craftsman who could help. Taking all the pieces of the precious instrument to the craftsman, Cropper was beside himself with joy after this man put the pieces together so beautifully that you couldn't see any of the broken pieces and the instrument played even more beautifully than before. The broken parts found healing in the hands of the master.

In Matthew 11, John the Baptist is in prison. He had told Herod the King that he knew that Herod had killed his brother so he could marry his brother's wife and that this was a sin in the sight of God. This Herod was the son of the Herod that had killed the babies when Jesus was born. Like father, like son, huh? While awaiting execution, John needed reassurance that Jesus was the coming Messiah. John sent his disciples to Jesus for an answer. Jesus, the Master Healer told them to assure John that He was the Savior; look at how He had fulfilled Scripture with His healing power. A broken John the Baptist found the healing he needed in the hands of his Master Jesus.

Like the young lady, Peter Cropper, and John the Baptist, the hurts and cares of this life can break us down too. Like a band-aid over cancer we search for the world's answers to our brokenness. We spend money on psychiatry that often tells us to blame our parents. We spend money on all sorts of drugs or alcohol that only numb the pain. We spend money searching for a guru to lead us to a false joy. Sadly, like Humpty Dumpty, none of these horses and none of these men can put us together again. But, like the master craftsman that fixed the violin to be better than ever, our King Jesus can fix our brokenness as well. Faith puts our broken pieces in His hands for healing.

God sent His Son, born in a stable, to be our King. King Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to heal our brokenness. Isaiah 53:5 assures us that Jesus was crushed, broken, for our sins and by His wounds we are healed. The message of the Manger is a message of healing for broken people. Psalm 147:3 tells us that our God heals the brokenhearted. Because God is Good...All The Time, when you fall, the King's horses and men can't fix you, but the King, King Jesus can. Amen...pastor matthews