Acts 16:6-15
6-8 They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.
9-10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.
11-12 Putting out from the harbor at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days.
13-14 On the Sabbath, we left the city and went down along the river where we had heard there was to be a prayer meeting. We took our place with the women who had gathered there and talked with them. One woman, Lydia, was from Thyatira and a dealer in expensive textiles, known to be a God-fearing woman. As she listened with intensity to what was being said, the Master gave her a trusting heart—and she believed!
15 After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, “If you’re confident that I’m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests.” We hesitated, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
We are in a preaching series that invites us to connect with Our Creator – to become co-creators with God - creating beauty and love in our world. Today’s theme is called “Listen”, and is about how, when we listen to the Creator, amazing creative space can open up. 
So here is our story from Scripture: 
Paul, Silas and Timothy are traveling through what today is the country of Turkey – back then it was the Roman province of Asia. Paul has been here before – his first trip took him south of the province Asia into the coastal region of Pamphilia. 
It seems that Paul had decided to expand his missionary travels into the central regions of this province, when the Spirit of God stepped in and blocked this route. Paul then thought to turn north, and again the Holy Spirit stopped him So he travels to the coast and arrives at a sea port called Troas: and I suspect Paul spent the night in prayer asking God where to go. 
 “Lord, we are at a port city – we can take a boat anywhere. My plans have changed twice: where to now?”
Pause at this point and ask us a question about change: How easily do you adapt to change? Paul had his plans changed – how would you respond? 
Test yourself: 
• When you go on vacation – do you like to have everything planned out – or do you make it up as you go along…
• Try this one: when your cellphone company tells you that they have upgraded you phone – do you try to hang onto the old one, or are you first in the line for the new one.
Here is Paul, a pedantic, rule-following Pharisee, one who described himself as faultless in keeping the rules: having his plans turned upside down. 
Now this was not the first time that this happened: you might remember the story of how, a few years earlier, Paul thought his life’s work was arresting Christians – and how, on the road to Damascus, God changed Paul’s plans. And this disruption opened up God’s creative possibilities in using Paul as a missionary to the Gentiles. 

Here's something to think about: when your plans are disrupted – before getting angry or frustrated, pause and ask if this might open up space for God’s creative possibilities in your life.

And so back to Paul: his plans are changed – again. He has a vision that tells him Don’t go West, don’t go North – go across the sea to Europe.
And this is the moment when the narration of this story changes:
Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.
9-10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” …. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia.
Language has changed from “they” to “we”: many suggest that this is the moment that Luke joins the group: Luke is the writer of the Book of Acts…
Paul and his missionary team (now including Luke) had to sail across the Agean Sea, from the continent of Asia to the continent of Europe. 
This was a big step, perhaps bigger than Paul even knew.

Paul’s missionary group sailed to New City/Neapolis and travelled to the Roman garrison at Philippi. It is the sabbath and so Paul and his friends look for somewhere to pray and to complete their Sabbath washing ceremony. And again Paul’s plans are disrupted – here is a Pharisee who has ritually cleansed himself – who is ready to say his prayers. 
Paul’s religious training would be to keep away from women when you are praying – and at this moment God’s creativity breaks through. There are women present for Paul’s prayers. 
And this time it is Lydia who listens! Lydia listens to Paul’s prayers and gives her life to following Jesus. And the first church in Europe opens in her home. And today there are 450 million Christians in Europe.

Here is the lesson from this story: when someone pauses to listen: God’s creative Spirit gives birth to a new thing.
• Paul makes plans, but he learns to be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit – and when Paul is willing to change: God’s creativity has space to work.
• Then Lydia listens: and because Lydia was willing to listen to the prompting of the Spirit of God, she became part of God’s new, creative work in Europe.
 
So what can we take away from this?
This story challenges us about our capacity to listen…and to change.
We live in a culture that struggles to listen – and struggles to change:
We have become polarized into “us” and “them” / “my people” and “their people”. 
And once I have identified who my people are – it becomes very hard to listen to anyone else….or to adapt to doing things differently from my group. And we have become angry, and mean, and bitter…
 If we had less human opinions and more listening for God’s guidance, places such as the Ukraine, and the Middle East, and  Central Africa, would have the tools to work for peace. 
 If the politicians, and the business leaders of our country would have less opinions, and listen more – we would discover God’s liberating creativity providing space for people to be fulfilled at work and in society.
 And if we would listen more carefully in our relationships, and in our friendships, and in our human interaction – we would discover a kinder and more loving community.

I am pleading with us to learn to listen; and to be open to things being different.
- Pause and take a breath…allow our pulse to slow down and breathe: we have allowed ourselves to become angry and defensive…and so have stopped listening.
- Before answering someone - Pray. Not the kind of prayer that tells God to fix someone else: but Ask God if this might be an opportunity to learn something new.
- Be open to change. Not one of us is perfect! Let me speak for myself: I have blind spots – I have many weaknesses – and I have much to learn. And so, like St Paul – I discover that I need to change my plans so that God’s creativity is set free.  
I know that sometimes it is tempting to say to myself: I am only one person – what difference can I make: this does not take our partnership with God into account: 
There is a well known quote from Thomas a Kempis:   "Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit"  - “Man Proposes, but God disposes” 
This quote can be paraphrased as “we might propose our plans – but it is God’s prerogative to change them”. 
Which leaves us with the invitation: when we encounter change, let us  pause, and listen / and see if God has something creative that is about to be born. 
​

Hover
By: Pastor Krista Ducker
​2/6/22

The 2022 Winter Olympics have only been going on for a couple of days, but already the US is making a strong showing. Do you have a favorite winter Olympic sport? I love following the Jamaican bobsled team, cringing every time a luger takes a sharp curve, or appreciating the curlers’ mad sweeping skills. But I have to admit, my favorite sport has always been figure skating. I am just mesmerized by the way these incredible athletes can marry artistry and musicality with amazing feats of athleticism. 
We are only a couple of days in, and Nathan Chen from the US team is already dazzling the world with his near-perfect performances. You would think that someone like him would be laser-focused on skating, spending endless hours in the rink at the expense of any sort of normal life. But as the 22-year-old Chen has recently shared in an interview with CNN, that’s actually not the case. In fact, Chen says that, after spending much of his childhood years from the age of three on on the ice, he has found that it is what happens outside the rink that has helped him to succeed over the long haul; specifically, the time he has taken away to rest, to recharge and spend time with his loved ones. Chen says; "A lot of being able to perform well is resulted upon being able to spend time off the rink and recovering, giving yourself the time to be a human and friend and fill the role that's not an athlete all the time.”
At just twenty-two years of age, Chen has learned something that many of us take a lifetime to realize; we need time away. We need time simply to be human; to be; apart from our producing, our doing, and our succeeding.
In our “Drawn In” series this week, we have been thinking together about the practice of being away; taking time to simply rest in God’s loving presence, instead of focusing on our own ambition to get ahead.
Today, we will visit a key moment in the life of Jesus; when he is led away to the wilderness, tempted and challenged. In this powerful account of Jesus’ wilderness temptation, we will discover together a few key truths that can help us to remain faithful and effective followers of Jesus over the long haul. Let’s look at the scripture together:
Henri Nouwen was a renowned Catholic priest and scholar, student of psychology and minister for many years at a home for people with developmental disabilities. As he navigated these vastly different vocational settings, he began over the years to recognize some of the great temptations that befall us as human beings living in a broken world; and the great grace we receive as we live into our true identity as beloved children of God.

In 1989, a few years after he arrived at L’Arche, the community for the disabled where he ministered until his death in 1994, he published a book of reflections on Christian Leadership, called In the Name of Jesus. This book is an extended meditation on the temptations of being human--because after all, that’s what we all are, Christian leaders or not. His story follows Jesus’ wilderness temptations; and the treasure Nouwen’s meditation offers to us is his recognition that with each temptation Jesus faces from the Devil, Jesus offers a way out--a discipline that draws him back to his center in God.

I’d like to spend our time today reflecting on these temptations and disciplines, with Nouwen’s help; and I also want to take the time to let you know that next month, we will begin a lenten study on another book that contains Nouwen’s reflections: Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, along with our Dakotas Conference Cabinet leadership. If something grabs you from our talk today, you will likely get a lot out of our lenten study in a few weeks.

Nouwen’s reflections from In the Name of Jesus
So as we begin, let’s set ourselves in the story of Jesus, at this point in  his ministry. The gospel writer tells us that Jesus has begun his earthly ministry, having been announced by John the Baptist his cousin, Baptized and named God’s Beloved in the river Jordan, and then led by the Spirit (who had just called him the Beloved of God) into the wilderness. All three of what we call the synoptic gospels, Mathew Mark and Luke, tell this story, and all three make clear. This was not a gentle time of retreat and quiet reflection. It was a time of trial. For forty days, all three gospels say, Jesus was tried, tested, and tempted by the Accuser; our English translations captialize the Greek word Diabolos almost like a proper name--but the sense of the word is that this figure who tests Jesus is an adversary; an accuser; on who has come to slander or unjustly criticize and malign Jesus; literally one who “casts through”; slinging verbal arrows to wear Jesus down. 


For forty days Jesus is subjected to the accusations of this diabolos. And at the end of this forty days, the Accuser unleashes his final salvo--three temptations; when Jesus is starving and at his weakest. Three things Jesus could easily do; three temptations that reach to the very core of our human prides and fears. The first of these comes to us in verses 3-4; the temptation to be relevant:

The first temptation: To Be Relevant (4:3-4)
Like Jacob did with Esau in the early days of Israel, the accuser appeals to Jesus’ hunger; “make yourself useful!” he says; “there are rocks everywhere. Take one and make yourself something to eat, if you are who you claim to be.”

But Jesus resists the temptation to perform; he recognizes that any “doing” in his life of service must first come out of being rooted in God first. The adversary is not in charge. The many demands for useful productivity do not dictate his vocation. And so Jesus responds in a way that leads him back to God; for us, an inspiration to the discipline of contemplative prayer:

The discipline: Contemplative Prayer


We are not required to be “all things to all people” at the expense of our integrity; to chase after productivity and usefulness at the expense of our rootedness in God. 

“Beneath all the great accomplishments of our time” Nouwen says, “there is a deep current of despair. While efficiency and control are the great aspirations of our society, the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression, and a deep sense of uselessness fill the hearts of millions of people in our success-oriented world.”

Whatever useful things we may do over the course of our lives, Jesus reminds us in this moment of testing that what will matter eternally is our rootedness in Christ. When we are tempted to chase after the demands of the day, frantically trying to make ourselves productive, Jesus says to us; “stop. Do not be a stranger to God’s heart and your own. Lay down your armor of productivity. Come away and be nourished by God’s word of love to you. This is your daily bread.”

The second temptation: To be Powerful (4:5-7)
The adversary goes on to say; “if you then will worship me, it will all be yours.”
The adversary is up to his old tricks. Remember Adam and Eve in the garden? They are met with the same temptation; importance. If we eat the fruit, we will be like God! We will have hidden knowledge! We will be spectacular. This is the temptation to idolatry. Here the accuser offers quite a deal; “You can be like God; all you have to do is make me your god.”  It is such a human temptation. We are constantly tempted to play God; to put other things in the place of the God who loves us; to take the quick fix, like the one the Tempter offers Jesus. 

Idolatry: to fall into the trap of Adam and Eve; to try to be God. In so doing, we chase after any and every juicy enticement that the latest thing or the newest celebrity will make us like God. (cf. Genesis 3:6) 

But Jesus’ response is different; Jesus allows the temptation to drive his thoughts back to God; when tempted, he turns to worship and to humility:

The discipline: Theological Reflection
Have you ever wondered at what moment Eve and Adam chose to turn aside from God? What was the first choice to set them on the path toward separation from God? I would submit to you that it was NOT when Eve bit into that fruit. It was NOT when she recognized its enticing power to give her secret knowledge or make her like God. No, it was when she was first tempted and she chose NOT to turn her heart back toward God. It was when she chose to turn away. When she first heard the tempter’s lie-- “God is trying to deceive you because he doesn’t want what’s best for you”--she didn’t immediately recognize the deception and turn her heart and mind back to God. This was the first mistake. Once the path of separation was chosen, all the other effects flowed from it; until finally Adam and Eve found themselves ashamed and hiding from the God who had lovingly formed them from the dust of the earth. 
God is still asking us; “where are you?”. When we are tempted, Jesus says in these moments of great temptation, turn to worship. Turn your heart and mind to the things of God, and allow God to re-center your being in God. You do not have to hide from God. You do not have to put your trust in the deceivers around you, hoping falsely that they will make you special. You are already of infinite worth. Through the discipline of careful reflection on God’s word and work in the world, you will recognize the tactics of the deceiver when you see them.

The third temptation: To be Spectacular (4:9-12)
​In his book, Nouwen notices the pervasive cultural inertia around celebrity culture; “Stardom and individual heroism, which are such obvious aspects of our competitive society, are not at all alien to the church. There too the dominant image is that of the self-made man or woman who can do it all alone.”

Yet this is not unique to our time. Jesus encountered the same temptation, even as he neared the beginning of his earthly ministry--he had just been called God’s Beloved in front of everyone. Surely the temptation to be “spectacular” was strong. And the Accuser plays it up even further by taking Jesus to the very pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple, urging him to prove just how special he is; surely if he threw himself from the parapet, the angels would rush in to catch him. It is the temptation of specialness and control. But Jesus realizes the danger in playing God, and instead, he reminds the accuser of God’s ultimate lordship; when tempted to be spectacular, he chooses humility. Here is where we find our third discipline: Confession and forgiveness.

The discipline: Confession and forgiveness

We do not need flashy stunts and theatrics to prove how special we are; we are already of infinite worth. And when we are tempted to make things all about us, our salvation can be found in humble confession. Running to God, pouring out our hearts, our mistakes, our missteps, our sins; and receiving God’s grace, freely given. 
There is a pattern in Jesus’s responses to the devil; 


It is so striking that it almost seems as if Jesus has practiced this himself; surely since Jesus was human, temptation was a part of his life all the time, as it is a part of ours. Almost as if by habit, when Jesus faces the arrows of the accuser, he comes back with centering scriptures, as one conditioned by hours and hours of prayer, reflection and confession over the course of his life. 
This wilderness sojourn was not a retreat; it was not a peaceful getaway. This was a time of trial. And he was prepared.
Are we?
Let us cultivate habits of prayer, reflection and confession so that when temptation come, and they will, we will be prepared.




To allow our acting to follow from our “being” we must take time away from the noise and busyness--to be re-centered in God.. We must recover the sweet fellowship with God that Adam and Eve once enjoyed. God still asks us today; “where are you?” God still desires our presence. God is always with us; that is the promise of scripture. But how often do we commit to be with God?




And one final thought; we must remember that these practices are not only individual practices. We navigate our lives in a very individualistic culture--and as Nouwen tells us, this individualism often bleeds over even into our thinking about God and our spiritual life; we may think about prayer, reflection and confession as purely private, inward, individual practices. And they are--but they are not ONLY solitary practices; they are also communal.

Like the wise olympian who recognizes the need for community, rest and fellowship along the journey of training and diligent work, we must recognize our need for community in these pursuits. When we join together as a community of believers, whether in twos or threes, or larger groups, around coffee tables or in sanctuaries, we pray together. We learn about God together through scripture. We even practice our confession together, as we are vulnerable with one another in safe, honest conversation.

In his book, Nouwen reminds us of a stark truth; “It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.” For each of these temptations, God offers us a way of escape, as the Apostle Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 13; a way to bear up in the struggle--not by gritting our teeth alone, but by sharing our lives with God and with each other in prayer, reflection, and confession. We are not left to face our struggles alone. God is with us; and we are here for each other, in Jesus’ name.

This morning we have had the opportunity to practice these disciplines together; prayer and reflection. And on this Communion Sunday, we have the chance to share in the third; confession and forgiveness. The Lord’s Supper is one of our sacraments; outward signs of God’s good inward work of grace in us. As Christ’s body in the world, we receive these elements individually, as reminders of God’s forgiveness to us, and corporately as a sign of God’s faithful guiding in this community of believers and a reminder of Christ’s gift of life given for us and for our salvation.

As we receive the sacrament this morning, I invite you to take a moment with each element, confess your burdens to God; your sins, your moments of faltering, and as you take the bread and juice, receive God’s grace and forgiveness, accepting the new start God gives you in Jesus Christ. This is a moment of incarnation; of embodied faith. Let us celebrate it together.

Risk
By: Pastor Pete Grassow
1/30/22

Matthew 25: 14-19 & 24-29
14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. 15 To one he gave five valuable coins,[a] and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey16 “After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. 18 But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them…. 24 “Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. 25 So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? 27 In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. 28 Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. 29 Those who have much will receive more, and they will have more than they need. But as for those who don’t have much, even the little bit they have will be taken away from them.
We are in a 6 week Teaching Series that reminds us of the creativity of God. Today’s theme is all about “Risk”. Devotional booklets are available at the information desk.
 
 
Text: Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given. (Luke 12:48)
 
 
Intro: Do you like receiving gifts? Did you get your gift at the door (Raise your hands if you did not & an usher will give you one – come to the church office and collect your gift)
 
Jesus tells a story about gifts: different translations of the Bible use different words – such as coins, or bags of gold - the original word is talanton, which has been translated into the English “Talent” – and which we use today to refer to someone having a talent for something like music, or numbers, or basketball.
 Ancient Greek τάλαντον, talanton 
 
Jesus says that talents are given to three different people. These are gifts from the owner: and the first two used their gifts and saw them grow bigger. One did nothing with his gift – and returned it.
The one thing that all three gifts had in common was that the people who received them had done nothing to deserve their gift.
They were called in and given a gift.
 
So here is my thought for the day: life is like the gift of talents in the story.
We did nothing to deserve our lives – we just showed up and discovered that God had given us this amazing gift of life.
 
Note one thing about Jesus’ story: the gifts were different –
 15 To one he gave five valuable coins,[a] and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability.
 
It is obvious that we are not all given the same lives –
We look at the lives of other people – and it is not long before we spot that they have more than us:

• some people seem to have opportunities that I do not have
• Some people seem to have talents and skills that I do not have
• Some have better health than me, or are brighter than me, and most are better looking…..

The story told by Jesus acknowledges this – some get five talents, some get two, and some get one….
The point is not how much advantage or disadvantage we get in life: it is what we do with what we have.
Remember the text?
Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given. (Luke 12:48)
There will be a greater accounting for those who have more – so let them get on with their lives – and let me rather focus on my own life.
Because there will come a time when each of us will be called to account for the way we used this gift of life….
 
Jesus told this parable in the temple: and was challenging the religious people of his day – many of the Scribes and religious teachers in the temple believed that their task was to preserve the faith and protect it from the eyes of the world. Jesus is saying that  the life of the faithful is a God-Given gift to the world that should multiply and grow and become a blessing to the world. I do not believe that Jesus has changed his mind – we continue to receive talents from God that are given so that God’s love can be visible in our world.
 
The question is: are our lives being lived in a God pleasing way or not?
Did you see the really sad moment in the story? The man who did nothing with his talent said this:
“I was afraid. And I hid my talent” (Matthew 25:25)
Fear prevented this man from using his talents.
It would be a pity if all we ended up like this man: saying to God “I did not my life boldly because I was afraid.”
 
Today’s story reminds us that we have been given this amazing life by God – and it challenges us to get out into the community and multiply the love that God has shown us. I found this quote by Benjamin Franklin: “Hide not your talents. They for use were made: What’s a sundial in the shade?”


Practical application:
You have been given a gift: (At home you can collect your gift at the church office)
You can do whatever you please with it:

• Can put it in your pocket and forget that it is there
• Can go to the store and buy candy if you like

Or you can use it to increase the love of God in our community –
 
How about you think of a way to multiply the gift?
+ Maybe you add something to it and bless someone who is struggling
+ Or you use it to take someone out for coffee and let them offload on you
+ Or you buy a card for someone who needs encouragement
Invite you to become creative – and plan a way to use this gift to spread the love of God:
 
And collectively as a congregation we can impact the life of our city…
This is the week for us to make a difference to our community!
I dream of the city speaking about the way Brookings First United Methodist Church members are God’s blessing to the community….and passing on that blessing to even more people!
 
We want to collect the stories – so please send them in to the church office….

​ Intro to Sermon: Return to the idea I gave us earlier: Anyone remember the text?
God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased.
(Genesis 1: 31)
Before the world was made God dreamed a dream over your life – and when he was finished he was very pleased…
Today we begin a teaching series called “Drawn In”. It teaches about our Creator – who draws us into the Divine Creativity of Life (Books available)
 
Can you hold a picture of God taking great delight in planning you?
God happily whistling as he sorted through eye colours – and landed on exactly the right colour for you
God thinking about your skin color – giving you a skin that is exactly right for you “I don’t mind my skin color – I just wish that it was a bit thicker”
And God chuckling as he gave you your ears – or your crooked smile – or your amazing figure.
You bring a smile to the mind of God!
The Book of Genesis tells us that when God finished making you he stepped back and “he was very pleased”!
 
Sadly – we forget that God has dreams for us: because there are times when we listen to people who crush our dreams. And we allow the opinions of other people spoil the dream that God has for us:
And people can be really unkind:
People tell you that you need to fix your face, or fix your figure, or change the way you speak,
And we anxiously change our appearance, or dress in clothes that make us uncomfortable, or we shrink into a corner and hope not to be noticed.
Sometimes this runs deeper:
We suppress our creative joy, or we give up on something that is life-giving because someone disapproves, or we pretend that we are not LGBTQ in order to keep everyone happy.
And in the process we lose the sound of the voice of God saying that we are the way we are – because God made us exactly like that.
Here is the good news for today:
Jesus comes to remind us of the dream of God:
Let us go back to the words I read earlier:
 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
 
Jesus speaks of “the year of God’s favour”: God’s favourite year! –
But Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah: and Isaiah’s words in Hebrew do not limit this to a year: it is better translated like this: “Proclaim God’s favourite time”
And here is the truth:
God’s favourite time is when our poor hearts leap at good news
God’s favourite time is when people who are captive to their fears, or oppressed by the people around them, (God’s favourite time is) when such people are released to be who God made them to be
God’s favourite time is when people who are blind to God’s creative work have their eyes opened to see the beauty of God all around us
 
Here’s the core idea for today: We serve a creative God: but this is not something that happened at the beginning of time: God is constantly speaking new creative life into our world
Every sunrise – is God creating a new day
Every rainfall is God speaking new life to our plants
And every moment of laughter and joy is God speaking new life into our souls.
And we are part of proclaiming this creative time of God…..
Do you know someone who needs to be released / someone who’s captivity prevents them from flourishing:
Ask what you can do to make a way for God’s love to break through.
Do you know of someone who is so blinded by their circumstances that they cannot see any sign of God’s love
Be the love of God that breaks into their world and lets them know that they too are God’s favourite.
 
Today I am inviting us to be part of God’s favourite time:
 
First of all: to be open to God speaking new life into us. Be open to God creating new things in your life in 2022…
Say to yourself: God was pleased when he made me!
 
Secondly: In the same way, let us be open to the people around us who need to hear God’s creative invitation: say to others: “I love the way God has made you!”
 
Remember the oilcan – nothing is ugly or useless – everything can make beautiful music for God.
 
Song: Jesus loves meIntro to Sermon: Return to the idea I gave us earlier: Anyone remember the text?
God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased.
(Genesis 1: 31)
Before the world was made God dreamed a dream over your life – and when he was finished he was very pleased…
Today we begin a teaching series called “Drawn In”. It teaches about our Creator – who draws us into the Divine Creativity of Life (Books available)
 
Can you hold a picture of God taking great delight in planning you?
God happily whistling as he sorted through eye colours – and landed on exactly the right colour for you
God thinking about your skin color – giving you a skin that is exactly right for you “I don’t mind my skin color – I just wish that it was a bit thicker”
And God chuckling as he gave you your ears – or your crooked smile – or your amazing figure.
You bring a smile to the mind of God!
The Book of Genesis tells us that when God finished making you he stepped back and “he was very pleased”!
 
Sadly – we forget that God has dreams for us: because there are times when we listen to people who crush our dreams. And we allow the opinions of other people spoil the dream that God has for us:
And people can be really unkind:
People tell you that you need to fix your face, or fix your figure, or change the way you speak,
And we anxiously change our appearance, or dress in clothes that make us uncomfortable, or we shrink into a corner and hope not to be noticed.
Sometimes this runs deeper:
We suppress our creative joy, or we give up on something that is life-giving because someone disapproves, or we pretend that we are not LGBTQ in order to keep everyone happy.
And in the process we lose the sound of the voice of God saying that we are the way we are – because God made us exactly like that.
Here is the good news for today:
Jesus comes to remind us of the dream of God:
Let us go back to the words I read earlier:
 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
 
Jesus speaks of “the year of God’s favour”: God’s favourite year! –
But Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah: and Isaiah’s words in Hebrew do not limit this to a year: it is better translated like this: “Proclaim God’s favourite time”
And here is the truth:
God’s favourite time is when our poor hearts leap at good news
God’s favourite time is when people who are captive to their fears, or oppressed by the people around them, (God’s favourite time is) when such people are released to be who God made them to be
God’s favourite time is when people who are blind to God’s creative work have their eyes opened to see the beauty of God all around us
 
Here’s the core idea for today: We serve a creative God: but this is not something that happened at the beginning of time: God is constantly speaking new creative life into our world
Every sunrise – is God creating a new day
Every rainfall is God speaking new life to our plants
And every moment of laughter and joy is God speaking new life into our souls.
And we are part of proclaiming this creative time of God…..
Do you know someone who needs to be released / someone who’s captivity prevents them from flourishing:
Ask what you can do to make a way for God’s love to break through.
Do you know of someone who is so blinded by their circumstances that they cannot see any sign of God’s love
Be the love of God that breaks into their world and lets them know that they too are God’s favourite.
 
Today I am inviting us to be part of God’s favourite time:
 
First of all: to be open to God speaking new life into us. Be open to God creating new things in your life in 2022…
Say to yourself: God was pleased when he made me!
 
Secondly: In the same way, let us be open to the people around us who need to hear God’s creative invitation: say to others: “I love the way God has made you!”
 
Remember the oilcan – nothing is ugly or useless – everything can make beautiful music for God.
 
Song: Jesus loves me