Jamesville Community Church
...embracing all Christians who wish to share the love of Christ!
Latest Sermon
Sermons are written in conversational style and include notes and directions to the preacher. Sermons are always better when heard rather than when read, but if you missed last week's, here it is:
"Guilty!" (Freedom from Guilt and Sin)
Hebrews 10:11-18
November 15, 2009 - 25th Pentecost
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hannah prayed and said,
‘My heart exults in the Lord ;
my strength is exalted in my God. *
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in my * victory.
2 ‘There is no Holy One like the Lord ,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honour. *
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord 's,
and on them he has set the world.
9 ‘He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
10 The Lord ! His adversaries shall be shattered;
the Most High * will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king,
and exalt the power of his anointed.'
Hebrews 10:11-25:
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ * had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God', 13 and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.' 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
16 ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds',
17 he also adds,
‘I will remember * their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19 Therefore, my friends, * since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Children : Pencils with eraser and clipboard:
What is SIN? Name an example of sin. Hate. Write it down.
Is there any way for us to ERASE sin? Bible tells us there is. All we have to do is pray to God. Lord, I am sorry for my sin (hate). Please Forgive me… and help me to sin no more. In Jesus' name, Amen.
And guess what? God FORGIVES us and remembers our sin no more. (ERASE hate). That is GREAT news!
Notice something. We can still see a little mark.
That's the way it is with sin. God forgives us… and loves us…
but there is still a little mark. A little pain or hurt that other people feel or that We feel… because of our sin.
It is always Better… to NOT sin in the first place…
But when we DO sin… we can ask for God's forgiveness in Jesus' name… and God will ERASE our sin… and Love us no matter what. Give each a pencil with eraser. Remember… God Forgives.
There is a SIGN along Interstate 95... in Florida...
That reads simply:
"NARCOTICS INSPECTION AHEAD" (repeat)
Now... in Actuality... there IS NO Narcotics inspection...
It seems that it is ILLEGAL for the police to just Stop people and Search their cars with OUT Probable Cause...
And so there is no Real Inspection station...
Just the SIGN...
But it Also seems that people with a GUILTY CONSCIENCE
Often PANIC when they see the Sign...
(They then) make an ILLEGAL U-turn... and Speed Away...
NOW... they CAN be stopped.
(pause)
The American Civil Liberties Union is Objecting
(pause)
A Guilty Conscience... is a POWERFUL thing.
(pause)
Noel Coward once sent identical notes to twenty of the most prominent men in London.
The note said simply: "All is discovered. Escape while you can."
All twenty are said to have immediately left town. ( www.sermons.com )
(pause)
And Finally...
Elizabeth Brinton, a 13-year-old Girl Scout, explained how she sold over 11,000 boxes of cookies:
"You have to look people in the eye” ... she said...
“and make them feel GUILTY." ( www.sermons.com )
(pause)
A LITTLE Guilt is not necessarily a BAD thing...
We Need a Healthy sense of Guilt… to keep us on the right Path
Garrison Keillor put it this way:
“A strong sense of personal guilt is what makes people willing to serve on committees.”
-Garrison Keillor, quoted in U.S. Catholic, March 2000, 6.
(pause)
ALL of us need a HEALTHY sense of guilt…
It keeps us from harming others…
Guilt encourages us to do the Right thing…
Even to Serve on Committees.
(pause)
But Guilt can ALSO be a Hurtful thing…
We are told that people who feel Guilty...
Are more susceptible to Disease...
Several different studies have concluded that years of Self Blame... have a Cumulative physical effect on people...
(pause)
Guilt can make us change our behavior for the better...
OR it can Run us down... Depress us… and make us SICK.
(pause)
Unfortunately... for Many of us...
There is MUCH that we feel Guilty ABOUT.
(pause)
If we don't work hard enough...
We feel Guilty about being Lazy...
If we work Too hard... we feel Guilty about Neglecting Family... or Self.
There is always one More Good thing...
That we SHOULD be doing...
And one Less BAD thing...
That we should NOT be doing.
And our FAITH... is never Quite what it Ought to be.
(pause)
Guilt Separates us from other people...
Guilt Separates us from GOD...
It slowly Gnaws away at us...
And makes our bodies and minds... and Spirits... SICK.
(pause)
But is there... any ESCAPE ? ...
Is there any Freedom from this Guilt...
that ALL of us experience ?
(pause)
The Bible tells us... there IS.
(pause)
The Bible speaks of Guilt... and Freedom from Sin and Guilt ... in many different places...
The Place that we are looking at TODAY...
is the 10 th chapter of the book of Hebrews.
TRADITION has it… that the Book to the Hebrews was written by JAMES… the brother of Jesus.
We are not CERTAIN about that…
But we ARE certain about who it was written TO.
It was written to the HEBREWS… the JEWISH Christians…
People who were feeling GUILTY about their past Sins...
and their present Doubts.
You see... these Christians were facing great opposition and were beginning to consider... Giving Up on their Faith.
They KNEW they SHOULD be doing Better... but they Weren't.
(pause)
Now... the OLD JEWISH way of dealing with Guilt...
Was through Animal Sacrifice.
It was actually quite Barbaric.
(there'll be No Power Point pictures of THIS)
If one felt Guilty... One would go to the Temple...
With an Animal.... or the money to Buy an animal...
The Priest would cut the animal into pieces...
Splash the blood on the altar...
And perhaps Burn it ...
As an OFFERING for the Sins & Guilt... of the people.
This had been done for nearly a Thousand Years...
A never ending cycle of Sin... Guilt... and Sacrifice
And then of course... more Sin... Guilt... and Sacrifice
(pause)
But times were CHANGING...
For Jews... The One Temple in Jerusalem... where the sacrifices occurred...
Was being replaced by Many Smaller... Synagogues...
Throughout the known world...
(there were no Sacrifices Allowed at these Synagogues) ...
And Most of the Jewish Christians… were meeting in these Synagogues.
(pause)
Perhaps the people were beginning to see just how barbaric these animal sacrifices were...
Or maybe it was just too difficult to make the long journey to Jerusalem.
(pause)
And then... in 73 AD... the Temple in Jerusalem... was DESTROYED... by the Roman army.
There was no longer ANY PLACE...
to hold the Ritual Sacrifice that took away one's GUILT.
(pause)
This was on the minds of people of Faith in the early Church...
ESPECIALLY… the Hebrew (Jewish) Christians…
With no more Temple…. And animal sacrifice...
How could they deal with SIN ? ...
How could they be Healed... of their GUILT ?
(pause)
JESUS... showed them How...
JESUS... showed ALL of us how to DEFEAT the Guilt of Sin...
Once and for all.
Let me read from the Letter to the Hebrews:
"... Every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins."
(In other words: We all see the Futility of the Old Religious system of Animal Sacrifices).
"BUT… (he continues)… Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins..."
"And God's Spirit tells us: 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.' ...
'Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.'"
(pause)
There is no NEED for these Sacrifices any more...
Because we are FORGIVEN... once and for all.
(pause)
When God Forgave Humanity
For Killing his own Son on the cross...
God showed us... that We are Forgiven... of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.
(pause)
And when Jesus was Raised Again...
WE were given the chance ... to Live Again also...
To Try again the next day... and again the next...
Every day... FREE of the Guilt of the past...
And Empowered to Rise Again... to do better ... in the Present.
(pause)
For We are… FORGIVEN!
(pause)
Garrison Keillor… whom I mentioned earlier…
Also wrote about a man named Larry…
a resident of the fictional town of Lake Wobegon.
Now Larry… it seems… was saved 12 times at the Lutheran Church, an all-time record for a church that never gave altar calls.
There wasn't even an organ playing "Just As I Am Without One Plea" in the background.
Regardless of that, between 1953 and 1961, Larry Sorenson came forward 12 times, weeping buckets and crumpled up at the communion rail, to the shock of the minister, who had delivered a dry sermon on stewardship.
But now he needed to put his arm around this person, pray with him and be certain he had a way to get home.
"Even we fundamentalists got tired of him," Keillor writes.
God didn't mean for you to feel guilty all your life.
There comes a time when you should dry your tears and join the building committee and grapple with the problems of the church furnace and the church roof.
But LARRY…
Larry just kept repenting… and repenting… repenting.
--Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home (New York: Viking Press, 1987), 182.
(pause)
SOME of us… may need to REPENT more than Others…
But you know…
ALL of us… really DO need to repent… pretty much every day.
Larry wasn't all that far off…
If we NEED it… we can have God's forgiveness every day!
(Long pause)
God IS sad... even Angered... when we sin...
And like that mark… that a pencil makes…
Something is still left behind… even after it is Erased.
The Memory… and the Consequences of Sin
Don't just… Go Away…
But as far as GOD is concerned… we are FORGIVEN...
We are Freed from Guilt...
And given the power to move on…
Even if we have to do it OVER… and OVER... And OVER again.
(Long Pause)
A man called his mother in Florida. (mothers are good at guilt)
"How ARE you?” he asked
"Not so good.” She answered… “ I've been very weak."
"Why are you so weak?"
"Well… Because I haven't Eaten in 38 days."
The son… shocked… asked,
"Why in the world haven't eaten in 38 days!?"
"BECAUSE…” (she answered)… “I didn't want my mouth to be filled with food when my Son finally called!"
--From Cleopas55@aol.com quoted in www.homeliticsonline.com
(pause)
A LITTLE Guilt is not necessarily a BAD thing...
It keeps us from harming others…
Guilt encourages us to Call our Mothers…
Even to Serve on Committees.
But Guilt CAN be a Hurtful thing…
TOO much Guilt... is BAD for the Soul.
(pause)
I feel GUILTY about not Exercising enough...
I feel GUILTY about Teasing my Wife.
I feel GUILTY about that DESERT I had yesterday...
(BOTH of them)…
(I don't know if it's a Sin or not... but it sure Tasted Sinful.)
That was just YESTERDAY!
(pause)
I feel Guilty Also... about the things still left UN Done...
The CHORES around the house...
The Programs and Activities and Calls ...
That I could be Doing at Church...
The BAD habits I wish I could Break... and
The GOOD habits I know I should START.
And Tomorrow... I am sure there will be MORE to feel Guilty about...
If I had to sacrifice an Animal every time I felt Guilty about Sin... There would be no animals Left in Jamesville!
(pause)
Thank God... God has shown us a Better way.
When God Forgave us
For Killing his own Son on the cross...
God showed us... that We are Forgiven... of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING… Once and For All.
And so... we can say with Confidence... the words James, brother of Jesus:
"Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins..."
"And God's Spirit tells us: 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'
Thanks be to God! ( Amen)
PRAYER : Loving and Forgiving God,
Each of us... have parts of our lives... that we are Ashamed of.
... Sins we have committed... Feelings of Guilt that Haunt us.
We try to IGNORE it, Lord...
We try to Convince ourselves that its no big deal... that we are no Worse than anyone else.
But it IS a big deal, Lord.
Each time we sin... we cause our Selves and Others and YOU pain...
We ARE sorry, Lord...
By the saving grace of Jesus, we pray that you would ERASE our sin…
That you would Forgive us...
That you would Cleanse us from all Guilt...
And Empower us to Live again...
As your Faithful Servants... who Sin no more.
In Jesus' holy name. Amen.
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