Sermon: Chap 5

Intro  

One time and only one time can I remember my parents washing my mouth out with soap. (Yes, I was a goody-two-shoes, without a doubt. I used to cry when they even threatened to spank me!)

On this fateful day, I happened to say a word, in their presence, which I probably learned on the bus but didn’t yet know was not the kind of word that should be repeated. So as a reminder not to say that word EVER AGAIN, they washed my mouth out with soap.

(For the record, washing my mouth out with soap was a very effective punishment--I don’t think I’ve ever said that word again. Maybe if you ask me nicely after church, I’ll tell you what the word was--but I’m NOT going to say it in the pulpit for fear that one of YOU will want to wash my mouth out again!)

At any rate, in our Scripture reading today, we find the inspiration for every parent’s favorite punishment when unsavory language comes out of a child’s mouth--washing it out with soap. Well, it’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s awfully close, which you’ll see in a second.

We’re going to look at the incident of the Golden Calf. While Moses is up on Mt Sinai, hanging out with God and receiving the 10 Commandments, his co-leader and brother Aaron is left alone trying to manage those pesky Israelites. Moses is gone so long, the people begin to feel abandoned by him … AND by God. So in their minds, they do the next logical thing--they ask Aaron to build them a god to worship since the one they WERE worshiping seems to have disappeared.

Chap 4: sermon recap

SCRIPTURE  “The Story” bottom p56 - p57 (Ex 17:1-7)

17 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah[a] and Meribah[b] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.

SERMON—introduction

In chapter 4 of “The Story,” we read about how when God’s people cry out for deliverance from slavery in Egypt, God answers by providing Moses, who leads them into freedom.

And we read about how when God’s people cry out for deliverance from hunger, God answers by providing manna (stuff to make bread in the morning) in the morning and quail in the evening.

And at the very end of the chapter, we read about God’s people crying out for deliverance from thirst, longing for a drink of water as they follow Moses, wandering through the wilderness.

Now, this is not your ordinary kind of thirsty. This is not the kind of thirst every kid gets before bedtime, wanting just a little sip of water. And it’s not the kind of thirst you get from being out in the hot sun, working in the yard. It’s not even the kind of thirst you get after running a marathon.

For the Israelites the kind of thirst goes deeper than just a drink of water. The Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, wondering if and when their journey will ever end. And more than just a place, this wilderness is becoming a state of mind--a state of being hungry and thirsty lost and wandering and wondering if life will ever get back to the way it was.

Their physical thirst may be for water … but their spiritual thirst is for hope and assurance.

Chapter 3: Sermon (Allison)

[“The Story” page 39, bottom of 41-top 42  

(Gen 45:1-8, Gen 50: 15-21)]

    

SERMON—introduction

We’ve been reading “The Story” now for three weeks. And this chapter about Joseph has proven to be one of those chapters that I couldn’t stop reading. Even though I know how it ends, I couldn’t put it down.

So that makes me wonder. What makes a good story, the kind you can’t put down? What makes something the kind of story that you’ll stay up all night reading? Or so that you’ll read it again?

Or, if reading’s not your thing, what kind of story does it take that you HAVE to buy a movie when it comes out on DVD so you can watch it over and over again?

Or, what kind of story will you listen to grandparent or maybe a great-grand parent tell again and again and again?

What is it about a good story that makes you not want to put it down?

(wait for answers--the story touches you or changes you in some way; you learn something new about life or yourself; it has substance, it’s not just about fluff--usually; it’s the kind of story that’s perfect for you but maybe not for everybody else)

#1

One thing you must, must, MUST have for a good story is conflict and resolution, right?[1]

There’s got to be a conflict between good guys and bad guys. And most of the time, the bad guy (or bad girl) is created in such a way as to be SO evil, SO rotten, SO despicable that it’s OBVIOUS we want to root for the good guy (or good girl), who is usually created to be an underdog, a common person who rises to an uncommon level of bravery or courage or even physical strength in order to swoop in and save the day.

Think Batman and the Joker; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shredder; Jerry Seinfeld and Newman or the Soup Nazi; James Bond and any of the villains he pursued; Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker … the list goes on and on. You can fill in your own favorite here/villain duo.

Chapter 2 Sermon (Allison)

SCRIPTURE  (from “The Story” book page 13; Genesis 12:1-5) 

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

SERMON—introduction

There’s an old wives’ tale that suggests that if your ears feel like they’re burning, it’s because someone’s talking about you. And apparently, if it’s your LEFT ear, someone’s saying good things but if it’s your RIGHT ear, someone’s saying something not so nice.[1]

I’m pretty sure this is all a bunch of baloney … but for the purposes of today’s sermon, I gotta ask: were your collective LEFT ears burning this week? Because I was talking about you … and rest assured, it was all good stuff!

Tina, the pastor from the Paris Church, and I were pondering what part of this week’s chapter from “The Story” we might use for worship. And we ended up talking about how a lot of people from both of our churches have lived here forever.

#1

In my mind, as I thought about you--picturing where each of you usually sit on Sunday morning--I was pretty sure that most of you have lived here or somewhere nearby your whole lives. Or, if you were born somewhere else, you’ve now lived here for a significant part of your life. This has become home to you.

And whenever you find a place to call home, more often than not, you are reluctant to leave it. I’m not talking about vacation; I’m talking about uprooting the life you’ve come to know and moving somewhere you’ve never been before. I’m talking about packing up your house and your family and moving across country to a place you’ve never seen before, don’t really know anything about, and don’t really know what to expect.

Leaving behind your friends and family and friends who are like family. Leaving behind your social network and those who support and encourage and love you. Leaving behind your doctors and dentist and the plumber, electrician, and car mechanic you’ve come to know and trust.

What would it take to get you to leave this place and stay away? What kind of a promise would God have to make to you get you to start a completely new life with no looking back?

SERMON: Chapter 1 (Allison)

Introduction

Imagine a beautiful place. But not just any beautiful place … imagine the MOST beautiful place on

earth. Maybe it’s the most beautiful place you've ever been. Or maybe it’s a beautiful place that’s on your bucket list to visit one day.

Maybe the beauty of this place isn't so much about what it looks like physically but maybe it’s more about how it makes you feel when you’re there: calm, peaceful, content, rested, full of energy, happy.

Take a moment and imagine this beautiful place—the one place where, if you were able, you would stay forever.  

If you wouldn't mind sharing your answer with the rest of us, where do YOU think is the most beautiful place? And why?

(wait for answers)

Imagine what it would be like if you actually COULD stay in that place forever on one condition. You could stay in this beautiful place FOREVER and EVER … if you only could do this one thin. And that one thing is … to resist your greatest temptation.

Would you be able to resist your greatest temptation in order to stay in the most beautiful place in the world?

Sermon: "THEN You Will Know ..."

[What follows is Allison's "The Story" kickoff sermon (on Ex 16:2-15) given at Frankfort Church on Sun, Sept 21, 2014.]  

Introduction  

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about how God’s people, called the Israelites, ended up as slaves to the Egyptian Pharaoh. And when they cried out to God to save them, God sent them Moses to lead them out of slavery.

When Pharaoh refused to let them go, God sent some plagues to help pharaoh change his mind--the frogs, the gnats, the darkness, the cattle diseases, the itchy sores on their bodies. Nothing worked.

Finally, God created the Passover and the Israelites were saved by the blood of a lamb just as we Christians are saved by the blood of THE Lamb, Jesus Christ. The awfulness of that last plagued convinced Pharaoh to let Moses lead the people out of slavery.

But that fickle Pharaoh changed his mind AGAIN and sent his army chasing after the Israelites. And God opened the sea for them to cross safely to the other side, away from Pharaoh forever.

So, you’d think after all these pretty miraculous things, the Israelites would trust God whenever life started to go in an unexpected and difficult direction.

Before when life was difficult, they cried out to God and he answered their cry. But now that they were free from that last difficult situation, they somehow managed to find OTHER things to complain about.

They forgot everything God had done for them in the past, all the ways he showed his love for them. 

They forgot about the big picture and only focused on their own little problems.

This morning, we’ll be reading about one of their little problems that was causing them so much grief starting at verse 2 of Exodus chapter 16.