Theological Status: COMPROMISED (Worldly/Sloppy)
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Pergamum
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
The Compromised Parallel
Pergamum
Teaching that parallels churches tolerating the "doctrine of Balaam" through cultural accommodation (Rev 2:14), characterized by weak boundaries, sloppy theology, and worldly compromise.
Why strictly "Mark & Avoid"?
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
🧐 Overview
Theological Verdict & Summary
Sermon Summary: True faith is not just knowing what God can do, but having the courage to act on it. This sermon challenges believers to move beyond passive belief into active, risky love.
Pastoral Analysis: The sermon offers a compelling call to action and critical thinking, using vivid illustrations to define faith as courageous trust. However, the homiletical structure relies heavily on moralistic exhortation, commanding the congregation to 'act' without sufficiently anchoring this duty in the prior reality of Gospel grace and the Holy Spirit's enablement.
Biblical Parallel (Archetype): Pergamum — The sermon exhibits homiletical compromise by substituting the Gospel of grace with moralistic exhortation. While the doctrinal content is not heretical, the preaching relies on human effort and behavioral commands rather than the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, resulting in a 'Pergamum' state of compromised boundaries and weak spiritual vitality.
Big Idea: True faith is not merely intellectual belief but a courageous trust that compels us to take risks and act in love, even when our understanding of God or circumstances is imperfect. 00:34:23 ▶️ 📄
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
- Primary Text: Mark 9:14-29
- Usage Classification: Thematic
- Text-to-Talk Ratio: High
- Pulpit Decorum: ✅ PASS - No coarse language or pejoratives detected.
✝️ Christological Focus: Moralistic/Imitative
"Christ is presented primarily as the model for action and the object of trust, rather than the source of power for that action."
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 16 | Referenced: 3 | Alluded: 0
📖 View 1 Passages Read Aloud
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Mark 9:14-29
00:31:06 ▶️ 📄
"When Jesus and the three disciples came to the other disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw Jesus, they were immediately overcome with awe and they ran forward to greet Jesus. And he asked him, what are you guys arguing about with them? And someone from the crowd answered him, teacher, I brought you my son. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. And whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. And I ask your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so. And Jesus answered them, you faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit inside the boy saw him, It immediately threw the boy down into convulsions. And he fell on the ground and he rolled about foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked the father, how long has this been happening to you? And the father said, from childhood. It often casts him down into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, have compassion upon us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you are able, all things can be done for the one who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out, I believe. Help my unbelief. When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit and saying to it, You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it did come out. And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said he is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? And Jesus said to them, This kind can come out only through prayer."
Key References: Apostles' Creed, United Church of Canada Statement of Faith, Matthew 5:39
🎙️ Sermon Content & Delivery
Word Count: 3,570 words
📌 View 16 Key Topics Addressed
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Distinction between Belief and Faith
00:34:29 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor distinguishes belief (intellectual assent) from faith (trust and action) using the analogy of a tightrope walker. -
Memorization vs. Understanding
00:36:52 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor discusses how young people can memorize creeds but may lack deep understanding or application, citing his daughter's ability to memorize and forget. -
Critical Thinking in Faith
00:37:25 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor explains how teenagers use critical thinking to question religious teachings, such as turning the other cheek, moving beyond simple memorization. -
Apostles' Creed Analysis
00:37:46 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor describes an assignment where students circle parts of the Apostles' Creed they do not understand to encourage deeper inquiry. -
The Apostles' Creed and Statement of Faith
00:37:50 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor describes an assignment for Confirmation students to compare the Apostles' Creed with the United Church of Canada's Statement of Faith, noting differences in language and interpretation. -
Personal Creed Writing
00:41:35 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor explains an exercise where youth write their own creeds answering who God is, who Jesus is, and the church's mission, often revealing their struggles and creativity. -
Faith vs. Belief
00:43:13 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor distinguishes between belief (articulating what we know) and faith (trust in God), noting that trust can remain even when beliefs change or are damaged by life's challenges. -
Jesus' Impatience and Human Unbelief
00:46:18 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor analyzes the biblical story of the father asking Jesus to help his unbelief, noting that Jesus' impatience triggers a response that validates the human struggle with trust amidst suffering. -
Christian Nationalism vs. Gospel
00:49:08 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor critiques the use of Christian faith to justify war and claim God is on 'our side,' labeling it as Christian nationalism and contrasting it with Jesus' call to love enemies. -
Red-Letter Christianity
00:49:52 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor advocates for interpreting scripture through the lens of Jesus' words and actions (red letters) rather than Old Testament judgments, emphasizing Jesus as Prince of Peace. -
Possession by Destructive Spirits
00:48:19 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor uses the metaphor of being 'possessed' by a spirit of misinformation and destruction that kills compassion, linking it to the biblical exorcism story. -
Maturity of Faith
00:52:50 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor concludes that faith matures through active engagement: reaching out, stretching minds, enlarging hearts, and binding up broken parts, rather than static belief. -
Faith as Action
00:52:52 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor argues that faith matures through reaching out, stretching minds, and sharing struggles, defining it as an action rather than just mental acceptance. -
Empowerment and Responsibility
00:53:27 ▶️ 📄
> Using a community organizing analogy, the pastor explains that power must be actively taken by the individual to be effective, rejecting passive reception. -
Adult Faith and Risk
00:53:56 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor calls for 'adult children of God' who take responsibility and risk, contrasting this with being mere recipients of grace. -
Justice and Institutional Compassion
00:55:58 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor defines justice as raising compassion to the level of institutions and calls for standing against forces that deny love.
🖼️ View 8 Illustrations & Stories
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Sermon Illustration
00:34:23 ▶️ 📄
> A story about a famous tightrope walker who demonstrates his skill across Niagara Falls and then asks a person from the crowd to hop on his back to cross, illustrating that belief is knowing he can do it, while faith is volunteering to be carried. -
Sermon Illustration
00:37:04 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his daughter memorizing material for a test and then forgetting it the next week, illustrating how memorization does not equate to retention or understanding. -
Sermon Illustration
00:42:24 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor shares a personal anecdote about a young man who wrote an entire rap song as his personal creed and performed it for the church. -
Sermon Illustration
00:44:13 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor recounts a story of talking to someone interested in joining the church who expressed doubt about believing all the doctrines, which the pastor views as a positive sign of serious faith seeking understanding. -
Sermon Illustration
00:46:18 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor references the biblical story of Jesus healing a boy possessed by a spirit, noting that the father's desperate plea 'I believe, but help my unbelief' triggers Jesus' impatience, highlighting the human struggle with trust. -
Sermon Illustration
00:48:19 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor uses the metaphor of being 'possessed' by a spirit of misinformation and destruction that seeks to kill compassion, linking it to the biblical exorcism story where Jesus frees people to hear and speak. -
Sermon Illustration
00:52:35 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor references a hymn sung in the early service, specifically its last verse, which describes faith maturing through reaching out, stretching minds, and binding up broken parts. -
Sermon Illustration
00:53:27 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor shares a personal lesson from community organizing: there is no such thing as empowerment unless the individual actively reaches down and picks it up for themselves.
🚀 View 2 Calls to Action
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Pastoral Charge
00:49:18 ▶️ 📄
> The pastor urges the congregation to critically question and reject interpretations of Christianity that align God with nationalistic or war-like agendas. -
Pastoral Charge
00:55:31 ▶️ 📄
> Call or visit someone in need, make a commitment to repeated acts of love, and join with others to hold each other accountable to the work of justice.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Compromised / Weak
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Gospel Framework | ❌ FAIL | The Gospel Framework is compromised. The sermon omits core elements of the Gospel, such as justification by faith or the substitutionary work of Christ, instead emphasizing human effort and moralistic imperatives. |
| Soteriology | ⚠️ WEAK | The sermon presents a synergistic view of faith, implying that human action is the primary driver of spiritual maturity rather than the monergistic work of God. |
| Bibliology | ✅ PASS | Scripture is referenced appropriately, though the application leans heavily on moralism. |
| Hermeneutic | ⚠️ WEAK | The hermeneutic prioritizes behavioral application over the indicative of grace, leading to a moralistic interpretation of the text. |
| Theology Proper | ✅ PASS | No explicit errors regarding the nature of God were detected. |
| Sacramentology | ✅ PASS | No sacramental errors detected. |
| Confessional Depth | ❌ SHALLOW | The sermon lacks depth in explaining the theological basis for the commands given, relying instead on emotional appeal and moral exhortation. |
⚙️ The Core Gospel Framework ⚠️ Incomplete / Compromised
What is the Gospel Framework? This section audits whether the sermon proclaims the essential foundation of the Gospel: Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, humanity's spiritual need, and salvation by sovereign grace alone.
How this is evaluated:
How this is evaluated:
- Essential Gospel Pillars: The framework is verified intact when the sermon substantively preaches Christ's atonement, declares human inability (articulated through either Total Depravity or the Law's condemnation), and guards salvation by grace alone against works-righteousness.
- Historic Confessional Depth: Deeper theological distinctives (such as the Active Obedience of Christ) enrich theological depth when expounded, but their absence in a focused topical or expository message is not an error and does not compromise the Gospel Framework.
🏛️ Essential Gospel Pillars
❌ The Cross & Atonement (Penal Substitution): Not observed in the sermon.
❌ Human Inability & Need: Not observed (neither human inability nor divine judgment was contextually proclaimed).
❌ Sola Gratia (Salvation by Grace Alone): Compromised
Soteriological errors detected regarding salvation by grace alone.
📜 Historic Confessional Depth
⚪ Active Obedience of Christ: Not explicitly expounded in this sermon.
Assessed under Confessional Depth diagnostic (SHALLOW). Its absence does not compromise the Gospel Framework.
⚠️ Theological Concerns
🟠 Major Assumed Gospel (Thematic/Moralistic)
Root Cause: Moralism
The Belief/Behavior: The sermon assumes the Gospel as a backdrop but fails to explicitly preach it, instead focusing on human effort and behavioral change.
Why It's Dangerous: This creates a moralistic framework where spiritual growth is dependent on human willpower rather than the Holy Spirit's power, leading to spiritual exhaustion and despair when efforts fail.
Biblical Correction: Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
✅ Commendations
Illustration | Vivid Analogies
The use of the tightrope walker and the rap song creed provides memorable, accessible illustrations for the concept of faith.
Application | Call to Action
The sermon effectively challenges the congregation to move beyond passive belief into active engagement with their community.
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:00:00] Good morning, you guys. Happy Sunday. We'd love if you'd stand as you're able and sing a couple with us.
[00:00:15] Come set your room. Christ be with y'all.
[00:05:03] Y'all take a moment to...
[00:09:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:45] Friends, welcome all of you to the service of worship today.
[00:09:51] We also want to welcome our friends who are joining our service via live stream.
[00:09:55] We hope this service is meaningful to you at home.
[00:09:59] If you are visiting in person today, thank you for coming.
[00:10:01] In the pews, we have a visitor card. It is easy to fill out.
[00:10:05] and there's even a QR code if you want to fill it out online.
[00:10:08] We would love to know you are here and perhaps be in touch with you.
[00:10:11] On Wednesday of this week, the Congregational Care Team is meeting at 1.30 p.m.
[00:10:18] We are always looking for extra care Teamsters, so if you would like to come and find out about how you can help us provide care for people inside the congregation, please come.
[00:10:27] You can also talk with Mary Jo Brewer or Pastor Kelly.
[00:10:31] We are in the midst of our annual school supply drive, This year, we will be giving supplies to the Forest Park Elementary School.
[00:10:39] You can see the list of items that we are looking for, and you can grab a list at the boxes near the exits of the building.
[00:10:48] We will be giving updates on how we are doing over the next month.
[00:10:53] The flowers up front were left by the family of Vivian Bercleo.
[00:10:57] Her service was held on Friday.
[00:10:59] Let's keep David and his family in our prayers.
[00:11:02] Oh, in the back. That's wonderful.
[00:11:04] We hope everyone stays cool these days.
[00:11:06] please hydrate. Pastor Kelly will now come and lead us in a time of prayer.
[00:11:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:11:23] Morning. Is it hot enough for everybody? Some of you might have come in here and say, not enough air conditioning. I'm going home. It's great to see everybody. I want to say a few words
[00:11:40] about Vivian's service. We had a nice gathering, a good send-off. Back there, you ought to take a look at that flower arrangement. It's filled with Swedish flags. And, you know, she was big on her
[00:12:00] Swedish heritage. And I meant to get a picture, a copy of the, a photograph of the picture with the candles that she wore in her hair. She was big on the tradition of St. Lucia Day and where
[00:12:13] she would wear a crown full of candles, real candles, like fire from her head. We're going to try this for advent and maybe for lent it's gonna be cool but um but it was on on december
[00:12:25] 13 that was uh i guess for a while and sweden thought to be the darkest night of the year and uh in at that time and so um her story saint lucia was that she would go down to um
[00:12:41] uh feed the poor she gave away her wealth and she wore this candle of crowns uh of of candles um a crown of candles and she would go down into the catacombs and there she would feed the people
[00:12:56] and uh that would scare me i know uh when they were hiding from the romans right before uh rome converted and then you know messed up a whole lot of things about church but yeah it was really it was really touching and I you know I think about that with Vivian
[00:13:12] she came to our outdoor worship service she was there for that and and if her body would have let her be here every time she would have been here and she would have probably sang in the choir she
[00:13:26] probably would have gotten up here but she was a beacon of great light in a world that's filled with darkness, and so we miss her presence. And praying for you, David, and for Vicki, and David's
[00:13:38] son is here with us today. Just a good send-off, but know that, you know, we're grieving with you in this. So, all right, so let's talk a little bit about prayer concerns that you might have
[00:13:53] that we can kind of lift up. Any prayer concerns? I'm concerned because we have three retired Methodist ministers here.
[00:14:01] I did not count among them Jim who snuck in because he's unretired now working.
[00:14:11] It makes me a little nervous.
[00:14:16] Yeah?
[00:14:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:14:16] Safe travel.
[00:14:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:14:20] Especially this time.
[00:14:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:14:27] Is that right?
[00:14:29] You survived to tell the tale so we need to hear that.
[00:14:34] Others?
[00:14:38] Yes.
[00:14:38] Karen? So prayer for Karen's grandson. He's joined us sometimes and he's having some real struggles and we want to hold him in our love and care. I've got another one for you all. David Hicks.
[00:15:03] I got a text today from Amy. He's in the hospital. He has a kidney stone, which he's struggled with in the past. He is also getting ready for cancer for his prostate surgery. So he is in the hospital,
[00:15:20] went in last night, and she's really asking for prayer. It looks like they're going to make, do a procedure for the kidney stone. And he is very uncomfortable. So just to let you all know,
[00:15:32] I may try to go see him tomorrow. So others? Yes. Yeah. Ann Presley was in the hospital this past week. She got to rehab over at Homestead Hills, and so we want to pray for her.
[00:15:55] Her husband came to the early service today. It was good to see him, but we know that that's a difficult place for her to be, so yeah. Ann Presley. Others? I want to say, too, just I went
[00:16:18] to pride yesterday and uh i am always moved when i go to pride of the diversity of people in ways that uh you're not even expecting diversity and it was so very very powerful and the streets were filled with love i even saw love uh surrounding the two or three people that
[00:16:45] showed up to preach Bible verses at people, and they were surrounded by rainbow flags and trans flags and all kinds of things, and a woman behind them whistling, using a large whistle, and I was moved by that, because it wasn't violent, but it was about protecting
[00:17:03] people from messages of hatred, and again, I was very moved by just all that I saw, and That was beautiful.
[00:17:12] Disturbed by some things I saw.
[00:17:15] But that was good exercise for me.
[00:17:18] So it's like, wow, that made me blush.
[00:17:20] Yeah.
[00:17:22] Anyway, I just wanted to say that.
[00:17:24] And thanks for Scott being out there with the Pride March as well.
[00:17:29] Any others?
[00:17:36] Friends?
[00:17:38] Casey, would you come and put some music down so that we could center ourselves and enter into this time of prayer together.
[00:18:56] Gracious God, we gather as your community of faith.
[00:19:00] We gather to remember, to remind ourselves, to celebrate your presence in our midst.
[00:19:12] You call us to these acts of worship and then you call us to acts of community, to work alongside one another.
[00:19:21] we pray that you will sharpen our minds develop our beliefs but more importantly open our hearts up so that we can trust in you so that we can step out of our comfort zones and take your love to places where
[00:19:47] and to people who do not know it some with just a few steps outside the door of this place mobilize us and move us so that we may be your disciples called by faith into action.
[00:20:16] God, as we gather to clarify what it is that we believe, remind us once again of the story of your gospel and how you call us beyond ourselves through compassion to care for one another.
[00:20:38] God, this day we pray for the Berklio family.
[00:20:44] We pray for David Hicks in the midst of great pain.
[00:20:48] remind him that he is not alone and that you are with him suffering alongside him and we pray for taylor touch him in the way that he may feel alleviated of his struggles and for ann presley
[00:21:10] as she continues to find strength to return herself towards health god for the ways in which our community needs one another and we do not know it for all of the people who have not found
[00:21:31] a sense of love of your divine love of love from other people we pray that you will send us in their direction and that you will refine your work in us so that we may be conduits of the love that
[00:21:50] you have blessed us with we pray for our world that is war-torn that seems to thrive on violence seems to be misguided in its priorities.
[00:22:05] It needs a realignment according to the ways in which you have shown us by example in Jesus and by his teaching.
[00:22:20] Be with us and remind us once again of how you are our guide and you are still acting as our creator, still creating.
[00:22:34] We're not yet done.
[00:22:35] grow us back into the image that you of you that has been set inside of us all this is our prayer and we make it in the name of Christ Jesus who taught us to
[00:22:50] pray together our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and lead us not
[00:23:13] into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen
[00:23:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:23:23] scrolling through facebook and i saw this guy really really lovely picture it's a perfect
[00:29:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:26] picture of him he was holding a fish he was in a boat doug caught a really nice fish it was pretty cool yeah but i'm telling you it's a really good picture of you you should put that i mean that's
[00:29:42] really good yeah fish was pretty too but you know yeah it was kind of cool what'd you say a day on the river is a good day something like that um so just to remind you what we're doing
[00:30:03] because some of you have already forgotten what we talked about last week some of you weren't here some of you were away and did not watch the service and so you know not naming any names
[00:30:16] because i don't know but for the summer we are looking at parts of the creed from the united Church of Canada. And you're going to see that here in a little bit. We're going to say it
[00:30:28] together. And you can study it and look at it because it's a really good statement of faith.
[00:30:34] If I had my way, I'd make all of you memorize it because it is an important thing to have for yourself, to remind yourself of both who we are, who God is, what the relationship is like,
[00:30:48] and what we are called to be about and to do. It is filled with both comfort and challenge.
[00:30:55] And so we're looking at that today. I'm kind of hoping to set this up again.
[00:31:01] And so anyway, I've chosen a scripture passage. This is from Mark chapter nine.
[00:31:06] And this is Jesus's encounter with a boy who suffers from epilepsy and some and possession.
[00:31:18] So listen for the word of God. When Jesus and the three disciples came to the other disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.
[00:31:32] When the whole crowd saw Jesus, they were immediately overcome with awe and they ran forward to greet Jesus.
[00:31:38] And he asked him, what are you guys arguing about with them?
[00:31:41] And someone from the crowd answered him, teacher, I brought you my son.
[00:31:47] He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.
[00:31:50] And whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
[00:32:00] And I ask your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.
[00:32:04] And Jesus answered them, you faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you?
[00:32:10] How much longer must I put up with you?
[00:32:13] Jesus is not having a good day.
[00:32:16] Bring him to me.
[00:32:17] And they brought the boy to him.
[00:32:18] And when the spirit inside the boy saw him, It immediately threw the boy down into convulsions.
[00:32:26] And he fell on the ground and he rolled about foaming at the mouth.
[00:32:29] And Jesus asked the father, how long has this been happening to you?
[00:32:36] And the father said, from childhood.
[00:32:38] It often casts him down into the fire and into the water to destroy him.
[00:32:43] But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, have compassion upon us and help us.
[00:32:51] And Jesus said to him, If you are able, all things can be done for the one who believes.
[00:32:59] Immediately the father of the child cried out, I believe.
[00:33:04] Help my unbelief.
[00:33:08] When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit and saying to it, You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.
[00:33:23] And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it did come out.
[00:33:28] And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said he is dead.
[00:33:33] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.
[00:33:40] And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out?
[00:33:47] And Jesus said to them, This kind can come out only through prayer.
[00:33:54] The word of God for the people of God.
[00:33:58] Would you pray with me?
[00:34:05] God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of the hearts of all of us be acceptable in thy sight.
[00:34:11] O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
[00:34:23] There's a story that I have told young people going through confirmation.
[00:34:29] And I tell it to them so that they can make a distinction between belief and faith.
[00:34:35] Those words are often used synonymously.
[00:34:37] They are in the scripture as well.
[00:34:39] But I distinguish them.
[00:34:41] Here's the story.
[00:34:42] Once there was a famous tightrope walker who strung a rope across the Niagara Falls.
[00:34:49] He walked out onto it with grace and ease and the crowds from all of the world came to see him.
[00:34:56] And as he would walk across, first he walked across with a pole to balance himself and then without a pole and then blindfolded and then juggling fruit.
[00:35:05] and then he took out a two-legged chair and a lap table where he had his lunch and he swayed there in the wind.
[00:35:16] And one time he came to the platform at the end of the rope and he addressed the crowds that were gathering and he said, friends, for my next feat, I will attempt to carry a living, breathing human being
[00:35:28] across the rope to the other side.
[00:35:30] Do you believe that I can do it?
[00:35:33] Of course, the people had been watching him and they turned to one another and said, I believe he can do it.
[00:35:36] Yeah, me too, I believe he can do it.
[00:35:38] Everyone could believe that he was able to do it because he had seen with their own eyes what he could do.
[00:35:46] But then he walked over to someone in the crowd and he tapped you on the shoulder and he said, hop on, let's go.
[00:36:00] Belief is knowing that he can do it.
[00:36:04] And faith is volunteering to be carried across the falls.
[00:36:07] When I think about beliefs, believing is what we think we know in our heads.
[00:36:16] But faith is what we trust in our heart.
[00:36:22] Belief is our theology, the words about God, what we know about God, about God.
[00:36:28] But faith is trust in God, how much we are willing to take a risk.
[00:36:38] Last week I spoke about the Latin word credo, which means I believe, such as I believe in God the Father Almighty.
[00:36:47] That's where we get our word creed from.
[00:36:50] And we talked about the statement of faith.
[00:36:52] Most young people, you know, when they're 12, they have no problem memorizing.
[00:36:57] Well, some of them do, but some are really good at memorizing things.
[00:37:01] Anything, and they can spit it back to you.
[00:37:04] My daughter could memorize so much material before a test, and then she could immediately perform it and forget it the next week.
[00:37:13] A 12-year-old can memorize Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them left as well.
[00:37:24] They can memorize that, no problem.
[00:37:25] A 15-year-old, though, will read it and say, if I turn the other cheek, I'm going to get hit again.
[00:37:35] I mean, do I believe that?
[00:37:38] Because they're using the critical thinking skills that have emerged.
[00:37:46] One of the assignments that I give to Confirmance is to look at the Apostles' Creed.
[00:37:50] You all remember this creed? You guys got it?
[00:37:54] that one. So the one on the right there, the Apostles' Creed, you probably have had to read that before, which is why you came to the contemporary service, so you wouldn't have to anymore. So the Apostles' Creed, I have them look at the Apostles' Creed, and I say, the first thing
[00:38:10] I want you to do is to circle everything that you don't understand, or you have a question about.
[00:38:16] I believe in God the Father, or might we understand God as a mother? So you circle that.
[00:38:23] What does it mean to be conceived by the Holy Spirit?
[00:38:25] And, of course, I would let somebody else answer that question.
[00:38:28] Why does it say or mention Pontius Pilate?
[00:38:33] Why is Jesus sitting at God's right hand?
[00:38:36] Why does it say, sitteth?
[00:38:40] What is quick and the dead?
[00:38:43] And why does it mention the Holy Catholic Church?
[00:38:47] What is a saint, after all?
[00:38:48] And do our bodies really resurrect?
[00:38:51] Getting these questions going, I'm wanting them to think about these words and not just say them.
[00:38:57] And some of these questions, you know, that they raise have straightforward answer.
[00:39:01] Like, you know, Pilate is mentioned to place Jesus really in history because Pilate was a real person in history.
[00:39:07] The quick means the living.
[00:39:10] You see, because when you are living, you, you know, can go fast, right?
[00:39:16] But when you're dead, you can't go anywhere.
[00:39:19] So you're not very quick, right?
[00:39:20] So the quick and the dead.
[00:39:21] And then, you know, the Holy Catholic Church.
[00:39:26] The reason why we say that is, notice that it's, at least here I think it's not, it is not capitalized in our Protestant versions of it because we're not talking about the Roman Catholic Church.
[00:39:38] Catholic itself means universal, right?
[00:39:41] So we say this as we are part of the universal Christian church.
[00:39:48] It's not capitalized.
[00:39:49] Other questions that are part of this, you know, part of it's the language, but they're theological.
[00:39:55] They're sometimes very mysterious.
[00:39:57] Sometimes I would say even mystical in their meaning.
[00:40:01] The next thing I ask the young people to do is to take the Apostles' Creed and the Statement of Faith over here from the United Church of Canada.
[00:40:10] And by the way, if you want to look at some history in that, there's a paragraph in the bulletin.
[00:40:14] I know you guys don't like reading bulletins, but take a look at it.
[00:40:16] And it's in there, and it explains to you a little bit of the history about the United Church of Canada, which is a combination.
[00:40:22] There was a time when churches didn't just divide, but they actually got together.
[00:40:26] Isn't that weird?
[00:40:28] But the United Church of Canada came up with this statement, and we have it in the back of our hymnal.
[00:40:35] It's in there.
[00:40:36] We don't have one creed.
[00:40:37] We have many.
[00:40:39] And we didn't think that any one creed said all that needed to be said.
[00:40:45] So I ask them, what are the differences and the similarities between the two creeds?
[00:40:51] And, you know, they'll come up with things like, well, in this one we say we believe, not I believe.
[00:40:57] And also the language seems easier to understand.
[00:41:01] It's more clear in some ways, but it's also, in other words, in other places, vague, and it feels more open to some interpretation.
[00:41:11] The word made flesh.
[00:41:13] I mean, we know what that is, but, you know, it's symbolic.
[00:41:16] It explains what the purpose of the church is.
[00:41:21] This is what the church is supposed to be about.
[00:41:23] It also tells us why we need to believe, because, you know, sometimes we feel alone.
[00:41:31] The last part of their exercise is for them to write their own creed.
[00:41:35] I give them a few weeks on that.
[00:41:37] I meet with them afterwards, you know.
[00:41:40] They could write whatever they want, you know.
[00:41:42] But they have to answer just a few basic questions.
[00:41:45] And the questions are, who is God?
[00:41:47] Who is Jesus?
[00:41:49] And what is the purpose and the mission of the church?
[00:41:51] What do they believe the purpose and the mission of the church is?
[00:41:53] Let me tell you something.
[00:41:55] When the kids really get into it, they tell us a whole lot about what the church is not doing.
[00:42:02] It's impressive.
[00:42:05] Sometimes the youth just try to find an answer, to fill in the blank, to anticipate what it is that I want them to say so that they can finish the assignment.
[00:42:13] Other times, though, they ponder, they think about it, they struggle, They take it seriously, and if they're ready, they get creative, and they end up writing even a little poetry.
[00:42:24] I had one young man wrote an entire rap for it, performed it for us at church.
[00:42:29] They try to capture their thoughts and feelings about God in the language of the heart.
[00:42:37] What would your creed say?
[00:42:47] Would it sound like the one on the right or the one on the left?
[00:42:50] Would you add a few things in there, take a few things out?
[00:43:00] When you write a creed, it is an exercise in what I've called belief, right?
[00:43:04] Trying to articulate what we know, what we think we know.
[00:43:08] But the goal for all of us is something more that's beneath the words and the ideas.
[00:43:13] The goal is faith.
[00:43:15] Faith, which is different.
[00:43:17] It does involve belief.
[00:43:19] But it's faith which involves really at its core trust.
[00:43:23] Trust in God.
[00:43:25] to hop on God's shoulders and let ourselves be carried over moments of danger and challenge.
[00:43:33] Beliefs are going to change all through our life, or at least our understanding of those beliefs.
[00:43:38] But as soon as faith and trust, but not always the same.
[00:43:43] Sometimes you can carry your faith and trust along even while you change all of the words about what you believe because you're still trusting that source, that connection with God.
[00:43:55] When life throws us challenges, sometimes our trust is even damaged.
[00:44:02] And so that capacity that we have to trust is injured.
[00:44:07] You want to know what brings me joy?
[00:44:09] I'll tell you what it does.
[00:44:11] I mean, it just shows you how much of a nerd I am.
[00:44:13] But when I'm talking to somebody who is interested in joining the church, but they pull up beforehand and they say, wait a minute, not ready to take that plunge.
[00:44:21] They say, I'm not sure I believe all that stuff.
[00:44:25] I love that moment.
[00:44:28] It's not just the critical thinking that they have.
[00:44:31] It's how seriously they're taking what it means to be part of the church.
[00:44:36] Or really, maybe they're asking questions, I don't really want to join you guys.
[00:44:42] You know?
[00:44:44] They don't want to be locked into something.
[00:44:47] They don't want to be a hypocrite about what it is that they believe.
[00:44:51] They may not be able to say these words.
[00:44:55] They have real struggles with the language of the creed.
[00:44:58] and this is a sign of faith at work faith that is seeking understanding and i love that moment and you know if you come and talk to me about that at 9 p.m at night when it's usually i'm
[00:45:13] starting to fade off and i will wake up and talk about that with you for four or five hours i will wear you out did you know because that gets me excited because i don't really care what people
[00:45:29] believe, but I do care that they're growing in what they believe and that they're exploring and asking them. The gospel story I read for you takes place when Jesus is coming down from the mountain
[00:45:46] from the transfiguration. You may remember it. We have Transfiguration Sunday every year.
[00:45:51] It's easy to believe and trust in Jesus when you see his robe becomes a dazzling white, when he's talking to Moses and Elijah. I mean, who wouldn't believe in all of that?
[00:46:01] But when you are a parent of a child who is suffering, it's a lot harder to believe.
[00:46:12] The father says to Jesus in desperation, If you are able to help us, then give us compassion.
[00:46:18] And this triggers Jesus. Did you notice that?
[00:46:22] Jesus is a little impatient.
[00:46:24] If, Jesus says, and the father says, I believe, but help my unbelief.
[00:46:34] And I love the Father for saying that because most of us are like that, right?
[00:46:41] We believe, but when something happens, the ability to trust becomes hard and it's called into question.
[00:46:53] It's a wonderfully human response.
[00:46:56] And this is what I want to tell you about this story which really strikes me is in all of the stories of Jesus' healings.
[00:47:04] It's not just an account of a person being healed.
[00:47:09] It's about the community around the person that is healed.
[00:47:13] And more often than not, the people have a condition that is similar to the condition of the one needing healed.
[00:47:24] They're paralyzed, or they're blind, or they can't hear a thing, right?
[00:47:29] And in this case, I think they're possessed.
[00:47:35] Jesus goes to the young man and there's a spirit of possession within him, throwing him down, trying to kill him.
[00:47:44] And Jesus says, do not, to the spirit, do not prevent him from hearing or speaking.
[00:47:51] Jesus is talking not just about that community.
[00:47:55] I think he's talking about us too.
[00:47:59] Jesus is trying to free us all from our possession and so that we can hear, we can speak.
[00:48:05] Jesus is talking about us.
[00:48:06] You know, in a world where we are flooded by misinformation, superhighway, it has become harder for us to hear the call of faith.
[00:48:16] More difficult for us to know how or what to say.
[00:48:19] We're all in some way possessed by a spirit that is, well, frankly, it is seeking destruction.
[00:48:26] If not for us, then for people we love.
[00:48:33] I want to be clear here.
[00:48:37] Beliefs are important.
[00:48:38] I do care what you believe on one level, but I don't care if they're orthodox beliefs.
[00:48:46] I do care that they line up a little bit with Jesus.
[00:48:51] We are called to apply some critical thinking to what it is that we believe.
[00:48:56] We live in a time when people are using what we believe, the Christian faith, and they're making us become heretics.
[00:49:06] They're teaching us to.
[00:49:08] Using the Christian faith to say that in the middle of a war, that God is on our side.
[00:49:16] It's a ridiculous notion.
[00:49:18] And you ought to pull up real quick and say, wait a minute.
[00:49:23] Because that is Christian nationalism speaking.
[00:49:25] And it is not the gospel of Jesus.
[00:49:30] Now, even earlier today, we read a psalm, and it was praying for protection from God against our enemies.
[00:49:39] and sure sounded like God was on our side, sure.
[00:49:44] You can read that in lots of parts in the Bible.
[00:49:48] But that is why I think we all ought to be identifying as red-letter Christians.
[00:49:52] You know what I mean by that?
[00:49:54] Some of our Bibles used to have Jesus' words all in red letters.
[00:49:58] To be able to look at any of those kinds of understandings through the lens of what Jesus says and what Jesus does.
[00:50:08] You remember Jesus? You've heard of him, right?
[00:50:10] Jesus, the Prince of Peace, called other people to be peacemakers, taught us to love our neighbors.
[00:50:17] And then when he was asked who is our neighbor, he picks the person who's our enemy, right?
[00:50:22] The people that we like the least.
[00:50:25] His teaching to love the stranger, or shall I say immigrant, because that's the way it was referred to.
[00:50:31] His call to love our enemies.
[00:50:34] He's not saying you don't have enemies.
[00:50:36] We've got enemies.
[00:50:39] But our enemies, you know, are children of God.
[00:50:42] And they are made in God's image.
[00:50:44] And they are people whom God loves.
[00:50:51] And when we forget these core beliefs of what it means to be a follower of Christ, then no wonder people are not sure they want to join the church.
[00:50:59] Why should they?
[00:51:01] When they hear that God is on our side, as if God wants to destroy our enemies.
[00:51:09] It's being said. You can hear it.
[00:51:16] We are often blind to the suffering of others.
[00:51:19] Death to the cries of Jesus among those who are suffering from warfare.
[00:51:25] Possessed by a spirit that seeks to kill off inside ourselves any compassion or empathy for others.
[00:51:33] We are possessed by that spirit that wants to do that.
[00:51:38] Beliefs are important and they should be critically examined.
[00:51:41] Especially by what we know about Jesus.
[00:51:44] Because belief shapes what kind of action we will or will not take.
[00:51:51] Perhaps a faithful cry for all of us would be, God, we believe, help our unbelief.
[00:51:58] That would be a good way to start a creed, by the way.
[00:52:02] We believe God in your love, help our refusal to love others.
[00:52:13] In the early service, we had a hymn that we sang.
[00:52:18] We imported it, I don't know, Presbyterians, Lutherans, somebody.
[00:52:22] And the words, you know, we knew the tune, but we didn't know the words.
[00:52:26] and this was the last verse of it.
[00:52:28] It's in your bulletin if you want.
[00:52:29] We have bulletins, by the way.
[00:52:30] You should look at them sometimes.
[00:52:31] There's stuff in there.
[00:52:33] The last verse says this.
[00:52:35] Faith matures by reaching out, stretching minds, enlarging hearts, sharing struggles, living prayer, binding up the broken parts till we find commonplace, ripe with witness to God's love.
[00:52:49] Listen to that.
[00:52:50] Faith matures.
[00:52:52] How?
[00:52:52] Reaching out, stretching, enlarging, sharing living binding up you hear all those verbs what is that telling you about faith faith is not a belief that's just lying there that you can mentally accept to it is an action
[00:53:12] that we are called to we just sang about that heard that singing about that same power is in us let me tell you something about power it does not work unless you take a hold of it
[00:53:27] I learned that in community organizing, that there's no such thing as empowerment.
[00:53:34] I can empower you all day, but if you don't reach down and pick it up for yourself, it's not doing nothing.
[00:53:41] That same power is in us that it has to be taken.
[00:53:50] This is difficult, difficult stuff.
[00:53:56] Mature faith requires action.
[00:53:59] It requires both trust, to trust God enough that God is going to be with us, but it also requires risk the danger of maybe it costing us something otherwise you know is it really trusting you know we are all god's children and as i've you know been saying but but i think
[00:54:23] jesus really wants us to just grow up i mean be adult children of god you know what i'm saying take some responsibility the ability to respond that's what an adult does we're not just recipients here. We're participants. Critical thinking can help us from being possessed by
[00:54:45] the spirit of vengeance that is kind of running through all of social media. We see it all over the place. But God is asking more from us. Not that we're not going to have enemies. We're going
[00:54:56] to have enemies. But you don't treat your enemy like they often treat you. You're better than that. You reciprocate with love. This is hard stuff, not easy. God is asking more from us.
[00:55:15] Right now, right in this moment, ask this question of yourself. How can I take a risk by taking action on love? How do I do that? Is there somebody in the world that you need to call,
[00:55:31] better yet visit is there a stranger among us that needs that needs you to reach out in love is there a need in this world a group of hungry hurting people that need a healing touch lonely
[00:55:46] people that need a visit those are one-time things maybe but you could make a commitment to do it you know more than once be accountable to somebody else maybe you could take it further maybe it's
[00:55:58] not just about these one-time events of love. Maybe you can join in with others and hold others accountable to the work of love. When we can raise up compassion to the level of institutions, that's a definition of justice. Then you're doing the work of justice. We're
[00:56:22] called to that as well, to stand up against any and all forces in the world that would deny love to others in whatever form they may be. I feel very strongly that it's time for us to
[00:56:38] measure our faith. And faith isn't really something you can measure easily because, you know, it's hidden, it's invisible. But when you measure your own faith, it's not about how clear your beliefs are or how well it lines up with a creed. Rather, it's about how big a risk for love you are willing
[00:56:58] to take. Jesus is inviting us to climb up on his shoulders and to venture out on the tight rope of faith and to work alongside him to share that love with others. Would you pray with me?
[00:57:22] Gracious God, help us to make our deeds and our creeds as one. Align ourselves with good beliefs so that we may be efficient and challenging and risk-takers in our loving other people.
[00:57:45] Help us to leave this place inspired and loved as your beloved, made in your image, but ready to treat all people that we know as those who are also created in your image, to respond and pass on the love that we have received from you.
[00:58:07] This is our prayer.
[00:58:08] And we make it in your holy name.
[00:58:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:58:13] Stand and join us.
[00:58:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:58:15] Let's go from this place, being filled with God's love,
[01:02:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:02:36] to go out and to share it with others, to find someone in need, and to fulfill that need with your presence and with your love.
[01:02:45] So we go from this place, and trying to put our deeds and our creeds in line with one another.
[01:02:51] We go from this place in the name of God, who is our creator, our sustainer, and our redeemer.
[01:02:56] Amen.
[01:03:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:03:01] That your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:00:00] Good morning, you guys. Happy Sunday. We'd love if you'd stand as you're able and sing a couple with us.
[00:00:15] Come set your room. Christ be with y'all.
[00:05:03] Y'all take a moment to...
[00:09:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:45] Friends, welcome all of you to the service of worship today.
[00:09:51] We also want to welcome our friends who are joining our service via live stream.
[00:09:55] We hope this service is meaningful to you at home.
[00:09:59] If you are visiting in person today, thank you for coming.
[00:10:01] In the pews, we have a visitor card. It is easy to fill out.
[00:10:05] and there's even a QR code if you want to fill it out online.
[00:10:08] We would love to know you are here and perhaps be in touch with you.
[00:10:11] On Wednesday of this week, the Congregational Care Team is meeting at 1.30 p.m.
[00:10:18] We are always looking for extra care Teamsters, so if you would like to come and find out about how you can help us provide care for people inside the congregation, please come.
[00:10:27] You can also talk with Mary Jo Brewer or Pastor Kelly.
[00:10:31] We are in the midst of our annual school supply drive, This year, we will be giving supplies to the Forest Park Elementary School.
[00:10:39] You can see the list of items that we are looking for, and you can grab a list at the boxes near the exits of the building.
[00:10:48] We will be giving updates on how we are doing over the next month.
[00:10:53] The flowers up front were left by the family of Vivian Bercleo.
[00:10:57] Her service was held on Friday.
[00:10:59] Let's keep David and his family in our prayers.
[00:11:02] Oh, in the back. That's wonderful.
[00:11:04] We hope everyone stays cool these days.
[00:11:06] please hydrate. Pastor Kelly will now come and lead us in a time of prayer.
[00:11:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:11:23] Morning. Is it hot enough for everybody? Some of you might have come in here and say, not enough air conditioning. I'm going home. It's great to see everybody. I want to say a few words
[00:11:40] about Vivian's service. We had a nice gathering, a good send-off. Back there, you ought to take a look at that flower arrangement. It's filled with Swedish flags. And, you know, she was big on her
[00:12:00] Swedish heritage. And I meant to get a picture, a copy of the, a photograph of the picture with the candles that she wore in her hair. She was big on the tradition of St. Lucia Day and where
[00:12:13] she would wear a crown full of candles, real candles, like fire from her head. We're going to try this for advent and maybe for lent it's gonna be cool but um but it was on on december
[00:12:25] 13 that was uh i guess for a while and sweden thought to be the darkest night of the year and uh in at that time and so um her story saint lucia was that she would go down to um
[00:12:41] uh feed the poor she gave away her wealth and she wore this candle of crowns uh of of candles um a crown of candles and she would go down into the catacombs and there she would feed the people
[00:12:56] and uh that would scare me i know uh when they were hiding from the romans right before uh rome converted and then you know messed up a whole lot of things about church but yeah it was really it was really touching and I you know I think about that with Vivian
[00:13:12] she came to our outdoor worship service she was there for that and and if her body would have let her be here every time she would have been here and she would have probably sang in the choir she
[00:13:26] probably would have gotten up here but she was a beacon of great light in a world that's filled with darkness, and so we miss her presence. And praying for you, David, and for Vicki, and David's
[00:13:38] son is here with us today. Just a good send-off, but know that, you know, we're grieving with you in this. So, all right, so let's talk a little bit about prayer concerns that you might have
[00:13:53] that we can kind of lift up. Any prayer concerns? I'm concerned because we have three retired Methodist ministers here.
[00:14:01] I did not count among them Jim who snuck in because he's unretired now working.
[00:14:11] It makes me a little nervous.
[00:14:16] Yeah?
[00:14:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:14:16] Safe travel.
[00:14:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:14:20] Especially this time.
[00:14:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:14:27] Is that right?
[00:14:29] You survived to tell the tale so we need to hear that.
[00:14:34] Others?
[00:14:38] Yes.
[00:14:38] Karen? So prayer for Karen's grandson. He's joined us sometimes and he's having some real struggles and we want to hold him in our love and care. I've got another one for you all. David Hicks.
[00:15:03] I got a text today from Amy. He's in the hospital. He has a kidney stone, which he's struggled with in the past. He is also getting ready for cancer for his prostate surgery. So he is in the hospital,
[00:15:20] went in last night, and she's really asking for prayer. It looks like they're going to make, do a procedure for the kidney stone. And he is very uncomfortable. So just to let you all know,
[00:15:32] I may try to go see him tomorrow. So others? Yes. Yeah. Ann Presley was in the hospital this past week. She got to rehab over at Homestead Hills, and so we want to pray for her.
[00:15:55] Her husband came to the early service today. It was good to see him, but we know that that's a difficult place for her to be, so yeah. Ann Presley. Others? I want to say, too, just I went
[00:16:18] to pride yesterday and uh i am always moved when i go to pride of the diversity of people in ways that uh you're not even expecting diversity and it was so very very powerful and the streets were filled with love i even saw love uh surrounding the two or three people that
[00:16:45] showed up to preach Bible verses at people, and they were surrounded by rainbow flags and trans flags and all kinds of things, and a woman behind them whistling, using a large whistle, and I was moved by that, because it wasn't violent, but it was about protecting
[00:17:03] people from messages of hatred, and again, I was very moved by just all that I saw, and That was beautiful.
[00:17:12] Disturbed by some things I saw.
[00:17:15] But that was good exercise for me.
[00:17:18] So it's like, wow, that made me blush.
[00:17:20] Yeah.
[00:17:22] Anyway, I just wanted to say that.
[00:17:24] And thanks for Scott being out there with the Pride March as well.
[00:17:29] Any others?
[00:17:36] Friends?
[00:17:38] Casey, would you come and put some music down so that we could center ourselves and enter into this time of prayer together.
[00:18:56] Gracious God, we gather as your community of faith.
[00:19:00] We gather to remember, to remind ourselves, to celebrate your presence in our midst.
[00:19:12] You call us to these acts of worship and then you call us to acts of community, to work alongside one another.
[00:19:21] we pray that you will sharpen our minds develop our beliefs but more importantly open our hearts up so that we can trust in you so that we can step out of our comfort zones and take your love to places where
[00:19:47] and to people who do not know it some with just a few steps outside the door of this place mobilize us and move us so that we may be your disciples called by faith into action.
[00:20:16] God, as we gather to clarify what it is that we believe, remind us once again of the story of your gospel and how you call us beyond ourselves through compassion to care for one another.
[00:20:38] God, this day we pray for the Berklio family.
[00:20:44] We pray for David Hicks in the midst of great pain.
[00:20:48] remind him that he is not alone and that you are with him suffering alongside him and we pray for taylor touch him in the way that he may feel alleviated of his struggles and for ann presley
[00:21:10] as she continues to find strength to return herself towards health god for the ways in which our community needs one another and we do not know it for all of the people who have not found
[00:21:31] a sense of love of your divine love of love from other people we pray that you will send us in their direction and that you will refine your work in us so that we may be conduits of the love that
[00:21:50] you have blessed us with we pray for our world that is war-torn that seems to thrive on violence seems to be misguided in its priorities.
[00:22:05] It needs a realignment according to the ways in which you have shown us by example in Jesus and by his teaching.
[00:22:20] Be with us and remind us once again of how you are our guide and you are still acting as our creator, still creating.
[00:22:34] We're not yet done.
[00:22:35] grow us back into the image that you of you that has been set inside of us all this is our prayer and we make it in the name of Christ Jesus who taught us to
[00:22:50] pray together our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and lead us not
[00:23:13] into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen
[00:23:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:23:23] scrolling through facebook and i saw this guy really really lovely picture it's a perfect
[00:29:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:26] picture of him he was holding a fish he was in a boat doug caught a really nice fish it was pretty cool yeah but i'm telling you it's a really good picture of you you should put that i mean that's
[00:29:42] really good yeah fish was pretty too but you know yeah it was kind of cool what'd you say a day on the river is a good day something like that um so just to remind you what we're doing
[00:30:03] because some of you have already forgotten what we talked about last week some of you weren't here some of you were away and did not watch the service and so you know not naming any names
[00:30:16] because i don't know but for the summer we are looking at parts of the creed from the united Church of Canada. And you're going to see that here in a little bit. We're going to say it
[00:30:28] together. And you can study it and look at it because it's a really good statement of faith.
[00:30:34] If I had my way, I'd make all of you memorize it because it is an important thing to have for yourself, to remind yourself of both who we are, who God is, what the relationship is like,
[00:30:48] and what we are called to be about and to do. It is filled with both comfort and challenge.
[00:30:55] And so we're looking at that today. I'm kind of hoping to set this up again.
[00:31:01] And so anyway, I've chosen a scripture passage. This is from Mark chapter nine.
[00:31:06] And this is Jesus's encounter with a boy who suffers from epilepsy and some and possession.
[00:31:18] So listen for the word of God. When Jesus and the three disciples came to the other disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.
[00:31:32] When the whole crowd saw Jesus, they were immediately overcome with awe and they ran forward to greet Jesus.
[00:31:38] And he asked him, what are you guys arguing about with them?
[00:31:41] And someone from the crowd answered him, teacher, I brought you my son.
[00:31:47] He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.
[00:31:50] And whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
[00:32:00] And I ask your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.
[00:32:04] And Jesus answered them, you faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you?
[00:32:10] How much longer must I put up with you?
[00:32:13] Jesus is not having a good day.
[00:32:16] Bring him to me.
[00:32:17] And they brought the boy to him.
[00:32:18] And when the spirit inside the boy saw him, It immediately threw the boy down into convulsions.
[00:32:26] And he fell on the ground and he rolled about foaming at the mouth.
[00:32:29] And Jesus asked the father, how long has this been happening to you?
[00:32:36] And the father said, from childhood.
[00:32:38] It often casts him down into the fire and into the water to destroy him.
[00:32:43] But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, have compassion upon us and help us.
[00:32:51] And Jesus said to him, If you are able, all things can be done for the one who believes.
[00:32:59] Immediately the father of the child cried out, I believe.
[00:33:04] Help my unbelief.
[00:33:08] When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit and saying to it, You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.
[00:33:23] And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it did come out.
[00:33:28] And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said he is dead.
[00:33:33] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.
[00:33:40] And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out?
[00:33:47] And Jesus said to them, This kind can come out only through prayer.
[00:33:54] The word of God for the people of God.
[00:33:58] Would you pray with me?
[00:34:05] God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of the hearts of all of us be acceptable in thy sight.
[00:34:11] O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
[00:34:23] There's a story that I have told young people going through confirmation.
[00:34:29] And I tell it to them so that they can make a distinction between belief and faith.
[00:34:35] Those words are often used synonymously.
[00:34:37] They are in the scripture as well.
[00:34:39] But I distinguish them.
[00:34:41] Here's the story.
[00:34:42] Once there was a famous tightrope walker who strung a rope across the Niagara Falls.
[00:34:49] He walked out onto it with grace and ease and the crowds from all of the world came to see him.
[00:34:56] And as he would walk across, first he walked across with a pole to balance himself and then without a pole and then blindfolded and then juggling fruit.
[00:35:05] and then he took out a two-legged chair and a lap table where he had his lunch and he swayed there in the wind.
[00:35:16] And one time he came to the platform at the end of the rope and he addressed the crowds that were gathering and he said, friends, for my next feat, I will attempt to carry a living, breathing human being
[00:35:28] across the rope to the other side.
[00:35:30] Do you believe that I can do it?
[00:35:33] Of course, the people had been watching him and they turned to one another and said, I believe he can do it.
[00:35:36] Yeah, me too, I believe he can do it.
[00:35:38] Everyone could believe that he was able to do it because he had seen with their own eyes what he could do.
[00:35:46] But then he walked over to someone in the crowd and he tapped you on the shoulder and he said, hop on, let's go.
[00:36:00] Belief is knowing that he can do it.
[00:36:04] And faith is volunteering to be carried across the falls.
[00:36:07] When I think about beliefs, believing is what we think we know in our heads.
[00:36:16] But faith is what we trust in our heart.
[00:36:22] Belief is our theology, the words about God, what we know about God, about God.
[00:36:28] But faith is trust in God, how much we are willing to take a risk.
[00:36:38] Last week I spoke about the Latin word credo, which means I believe, such as I believe in God the Father Almighty.
[00:36:47] That's where we get our word creed from.
[00:36:50] And we talked about the statement of faith.
[00:36:52] Most young people, you know, when they're 12, they have no problem memorizing.
[00:36:57] Well, some of them do, but some are really good at memorizing things.
[00:37:01] Anything, and they can spit it back to you.
[00:37:04] My daughter could memorize so much material before a test, and then she could immediately perform it and forget it the next week.
[00:37:13] A 12-year-old can memorize Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them left as well.
[00:37:24] They can memorize that, no problem.
[00:37:25] A 15-year-old, though, will read it and say, if I turn the other cheek, I'm going to get hit again.
[00:37:35] I mean, do I believe that?
[00:37:38] Because they're using the critical thinking skills that have emerged.
[00:37:46] One of the assignments that I give to Confirmance is to look at the Apostles' Creed.
[00:37:50] You all remember this creed? You guys got it?
[00:37:54] that one. So the one on the right there, the Apostles' Creed, you probably have had to read that before, which is why you came to the contemporary service, so you wouldn't have to anymore. So the Apostles' Creed, I have them look at the Apostles' Creed, and I say, the first thing
[00:38:10] I want you to do is to circle everything that you don't understand, or you have a question about.
[00:38:16] I believe in God the Father, or might we understand God as a mother? So you circle that.
[00:38:23] What does it mean to be conceived by the Holy Spirit?
[00:38:25] And, of course, I would let somebody else answer that question.
[00:38:28] Why does it say or mention Pontius Pilate?
[00:38:33] Why is Jesus sitting at God's right hand?
[00:38:36] Why does it say, sitteth?
[00:38:40] What is quick and the dead?
[00:38:43] And why does it mention the Holy Catholic Church?
[00:38:47] What is a saint, after all?
[00:38:48] And do our bodies really resurrect?
[00:38:51] Getting these questions going, I'm wanting them to think about these words and not just say them.
[00:38:57] And some of these questions, you know, that they raise have straightforward answer.
[00:39:01] Like, you know, Pilate is mentioned to place Jesus really in history because Pilate was a real person in history.
[00:39:07] The quick means the living.
[00:39:10] You see, because when you are living, you, you know, can go fast, right?
[00:39:16] But when you're dead, you can't go anywhere.
[00:39:19] So you're not very quick, right?
[00:39:20] So the quick and the dead.
[00:39:21] And then, you know, the Holy Catholic Church.
[00:39:26] The reason why we say that is, notice that it's, at least here I think it's not, it is not capitalized in our Protestant versions of it because we're not talking about the Roman Catholic Church.
[00:39:38] Catholic itself means universal, right?
[00:39:41] So we say this as we are part of the universal Christian church.
[00:39:48] It's not capitalized.
[00:39:49] Other questions that are part of this, you know, part of it's the language, but they're theological.
[00:39:55] They're sometimes very mysterious.
[00:39:57] Sometimes I would say even mystical in their meaning.
[00:40:01] The next thing I ask the young people to do is to take the Apostles' Creed and the Statement of Faith over here from the United Church of Canada.
[00:40:10] And by the way, if you want to look at some history in that, there's a paragraph in the bulletin.
[00:40:14] I know you guys don't like reading bulletins, but take a look at it.
[00:40:16] And it's in there, and it explains to you a little bit of the history about the United Church of Canada, which is a combination.
[00:40:22] There was a time when churches didn't just divide, but they actually got together.
[00:40:26] Isn't that weird?
[00:40:28] But the United Church of Canada came up with this statement, and we have it in the back of our hymnal.
[00:40:35] It's in there.
[00:40:36] We don't have one creed.
[00:40:37] We have many.
[00:40:39] And we didn't think that any one creed said all that needed to be said.
[00:40:45] So I ask them, what are the differences and the similarities between the two creeds?
[00:40:51] And, you know, they'll come up with things like, well, in this one we say we believe, not I believe.
[00:40:57] And also the language seems easier to understand.
[00:41:01] It's more clear in some ways, but it's also, in other words, in other places, vague, and it feels more open to some interpretation.
[00:41:11] The word made flesh.
[00:41:13] I mean, we know what that is, but, you know, it's symbolic.
[00:41:16] It explains what the purpose of the church is.
[00:41:21] This is what the church is supposed to be about.
[00:41:23] It also tells us why we need to believe, because, you know, sometimes we feel alone.
[00:41:31] The last part of their exercise is for them to write their own creed.
[00:41:35] I give them a few weeks on that.
[00:41:37] I meet with them afterwards, you know.
[00:41:40] They could write whatever they want, you know.
[00:41:42] But they have to answer just a few basic questions.
[00:41:45] And the questions are, who is God?
[00:41:47] Who is Jesus?
[00:41:49] And what is the purpose and the mission of the church?
[00:41:51] What do they believe the purpose and the mission of the church is?
[00:41:53] Let me tell you something.
[00:41:55] When the kids really get into it, they tell us a whole lot about what the church is not doing.
[00:42:02] It's impressive.
[00:42:05] Sometimes the youth just try to find an answer, to fill in the blank, to anticipate what it is that I want them to say so that they can finish the assignment.
[00:42:13] Other times, though, they ponder, they think about it, they struggle, They take it seriously, and if they're ready, they get creative, and they end up writing even a little poetry.
[00:42:24] I had one young man wrote an entire rap for it, performed it for us at church.
[00:42:29] They try to capture their thoughts and feelings about God in the language of the heart.
[00:42:37] What would your creed say?
[00:42:47] Would it sound like the one on the right or the one on the left?
[00:42:50] Would you add a few things in there, take a few things out?
[00:43:00] When you write a creed, it is an exercise in what I've called belief, right?
[00:43:04] Trying to articulate what we know, what we think we know.
[00:43:08] But the goal for all of us is something more that's beneath the words and the ideas.
[00:43:13] The goal is faith.
[00:43:15] Faith, which is different.
[00:43:17] It does involve belief.
[00:43:19] But it's faith which involves really at its core trust.
[00:43:23] Trust in God.
[00:43:25] to hop on God's shoulders and let ourselves be carried over moments of danger and challenge.
[00:43:33] Beliefs are going to change all through our life, or at least our understanding of those beliefs.
[00:43:38] But as soon as faith and trust, but not always the same.
[00:43:43] Sometimes you can carry your faith and trust along even while you change all of the words about what you believe because you're still trusting that source, that connection with God.
[00:43:55] When life throws us challenges, sometimes our trust is even damaged.
[00:44:02] And so that capacity that we have to trust is injured.
[00:44:07] You want to know what brings me joy?
[00:44:09] I'll tell you what it does.
[00:44:11] I mean, it just shows you how much of a nerd I am.
[00:44:13] But when I'm talking to somebody who is interested in joining the church, but they pull up beforehand and they say, wait a minute, not ready to take that plunge.
[00:44:21] They say, I'm not sure I believe all that stuff.
[00:44:25] I love that moment.
[00:44:28] It's not just the critical thinking that they have.
[00:44:31] It's how seriously they're taking what it means to be part of the church.
[00:44:36] Or really, maybe they're asking questions, I don't really want to join you guys.
[00:44:42] You know?
[00:44:44] They don't want to be locked into something.
[00:44:47] They don't want to be a hypocrite about what it is that they believe.
[00:44:51] They may not be able to say these words.
[00:44:55] They have real struggles with the language of the creed.
[00:44:58] and this is a sign of faith at work faith that is seeking understanding and i love that moment and you know if you come and talk to me about that at 9 p.m at night when it's usually i'm
[00:45:13] starting to fade off and i will wake up and talk about that with you for four or five hours i will wear you out did you know because that gets me excited because i don't really care what people
[00:45:29] believe, but I do care that they're growing in what they believe and that they're exploring and asking them. The gospel story I read for you takes place when Jesus is coming down from the mountain
[00:45:46] from the transfiguration. You may remember it. We have Transfiguration Sunday every year.
[00:45:51] It's easy to believe and trust in Jesus when you see his robe becomes a dazzling white, when he's talking to Moses and Elijah. I mean, who wouldn't believe in all of that?
[00:46:01] But when you are a parent of a child who is suffering, it's a lot harder to believe.
[00:46:12] The father says to Jesus in desperation, If you are able to help us, then give us compassion.
[00:46:18] And this triggers Jesus. Did you notice that?
[00:46:22] Jesus is a little impatient.
[00:46:24] If, Jesus says, and the father says, I believe, but help my unbelief.
[00:46:34] And I love the Father for saying that because most of us are like that, right?
[00:46:41] We believe, but when something happens, the ability to trust becomes hard and it's called into question.
[00:46:53] It's a wonderfully human response.
[00:46:56] And this is what I want to tell you about this story which really strikes me is in all of the stories of Jesus' healings.
[00:47:04] It's not just an account of a person being healed.
[00:47:09] It's about the community around the person that is healed.
[00:47:13] And more often than not, the people have a condition that is similar to the condition of the one needing healed.
[00:47:24] They're paralyzed, or they're blind, or they can't hear a thing, right?
[00:47:29] And in this case, I think they're possessed.
[00:47:35] Jesus goes to the young man and there's a spirit of possession within him, throwing him down, trying to kill him.
[00:47:44] And Jesus says, do not, to the spirit, do not prevent him from hearing or speaking.
[00:47:51] Jesus is talking not just about that community.
[00:47:55] I think he's talking about us too.
[00:47:59] Jesus is trying to free us all from our possession and so that we can hear, we can speak.
[00:48:05] Jesus is talking about us.
[00:48:06] You know, in a world where we are flooded by misinformation, superhighway, it has become harder for us to hear the call of faith.
[00:48:16] More difficult for us to know how or what to say.
[00:48:19] We're all in some way possessed by a spirit that is, well, frankly, it is seeking destruction.
[00:48:26] If not for us, then for people we love.
[00:48:33] I want to be clear here.
[00:48:37] Beliefs are important.
[00:48:38] I do care what you believe on one level, but I don't care if they're orthodox beliefs.
[00:48:46] I do care that they line up a little bit with Jesus.
[00:48:51] We are called to apply some critical thinking to what it is that we believe.
[00:48:56] We live in a time when people are using what we believe, the Christian faith, and they're making us become heretics.
[00:49:06] They're teaching us to.
[00:49:08] Using the Christian faith to say that in the middle of a war, that God is on our side.
[00:49:16] It's a ridiculous notion.
[00:49:18] And you ought to pull up real quick and say, wait a minute.
[00:49:23] Because that is Christian nationalism speaking.
[00:49:25] And it is not the gospel of Jesus.
[00:49:30] Now, even earlier today, we read a psalm, and it was praying for protection from God against our enemies.
[00:49:39] and sure sounded like God was on our side, sure.
[00:49:44] You can read that in lots of parts in the Bible.
[00:49:48] But that is why I think we all ought to be identifying as red-letter Christians.
[00:49:52] You know what I mean by that?
[00:49:54] Some of our Bibles used to have Jesus' words all in red letters.
[00:49:58] To be able to look at any of those kinds of understandings through the lens of what Jesus says and what Jesus does.
[00:50:08] You remember Jesus? You've heard of him, right?
[00:50:10] Jesus, the Prince of Peace, called other people to be peacemakers, taught us to love our neighbors.
[00:50:17] And then when he was asked who is our neighbor, he picks the person who's our enemy, right?
[00:50:22] The people that we like the least.
[00:50:25] His teaching to love the stranger, or shall I say immigrant, because that's the way it was referred to.
[00:50:31] His call to love our enemies.
[00:50:34] He's not saying you don't have enemies.
[00:50:36] We've got enemies.
[00:50:39] But our enemies, you know, are children of God.
[00:50:42] And they are made in God's image.
[00:50:44] And they are people whom God loves.
[00:50:51] And when we forget these core beliefs of what it means to be a follower of Christ, then no wonder people are not sure they want to join the church.
[00:50:59] Why should they?
[00:51:01] When they hear that God is on our side, as if God wants to destroy our enemies.
[00:51:09] It's being said. You can hear it.
[00:51:16] We are often blind to the suffering of others.
[00:51:19] Death to the cries of Jesus among those who are suffering from warfare.
[00:51:25] Possessed by a spirit that seeks to kill off inside ourselves any compassion or empathy for others.
[00:51:33] We are possessed by that spirit that wants to do that.
[00:51:38] Beliefs are important and they should be critically examined.
[00:51:41] Especially by what we know about Jesus.
[00:51:44] Because belief shapes what kind of action we will or will not take.
[00:51:51] Perhaps a faithful cry for all of us would be, God, we believe, help our unbelief.
[00:51:58] That would be a good way to start a creed, by the way.
[00:52:02] We believe God in your love, help our refusal to love others.
[00:52:13] In the early service, we had a hymn that we sang.
[00:52:18] We imported it, I don't know, Presbyterians, Lutherans, somebody.
[00:52:22] And the words, you know, we knew the tune, but we didn't know the words.
[00:52:26] and this was the last verse of it.
[00:52:28] It's in your bulletin if you want.
[00:52:29] We have bulletins, by the way.
[00:52:30] You should look at them sometimes.
[00:52:31] There's stuff in there.
[00:52:33] The last verse says this.
[00:52:35] Faith matures by reaching out, stretching minds, enlarging hearts, sharing struggles, living prayer, binding up the broken parts till we find commonplace, ripe with witness to God's love.
[00:52:49] Listen to that.
[00:52:50] Faith matures.
[00:52:52] How?
[00:52:52] Reaching out, stretching, enlarging, sharing living binding up you hear all those verbs what is that telling you about faith faith is not a belief that's just lying there that you can mentally accept to it is an action
[00:53:12] that we are called to we just sang about that heard that singing about that same power is in us let me tell you something about power it does not work unless you take a hold of it
[00:53:27] I learned that in community organizing, that there's no such thing as empowerment.
[00:53:34] I can empower you all day, but if you don't reach down and pick it up for yourself, it's not doing nothing.
[00:53:41] That same power is in us that it has to be taken.
[00:53:50] This is difficult, difficult stuff.
[00:53:56] Mature faith requires action.
[00:53:59] It requires both trust, to trust God enough that God is going to be with us, but it also requires risk the danger of maybe it costing us something otherwise you know is it really trusting you know we are all god's children and as i've you know been saying but but i think
[00:54:23] jesus really wants us to just grow up i mean be adult children of god you know what i'm saying take some responsibility the ability to respond that's what an adult does we're not just recipients here. We're participants. Critical thinking can help us from being possessed by
[00:54:45] the spirit of vengeance that is kind of running through all of social media. We see it all over the place. But God is asking more from us. Not that we're not going to have enemies. We're going
[00:54:56] to have enemies. But you don't treat your enemy like they often treat you. You're better than that. You reciprocate with love. This is hard stuff, not easy. God is asking more from us.
[00:55:15] Right now, right in this moment, ask this question of yourself. How can I take a risk by taking action on love? How do I do that? Is there somebody in the world that you need to call,
[00:55:31] better yet visit is there a stranger among us that needs that needs you to reach out in love is there a need in this world a group of hungry hurting people that need a healing touch lonely
[00:55:46] people that need a visit those are one-time things maybe but you could make a commitment to do it you know more than once be accountable to somebody else maybe you could take it further maybe it's
[00:55:58] not just about these one-time events of love. Maybe you can join in with others and hold others accountable to the work of love. When we can raise up compassion to the level of institutions, that's a definition of justice. Then you're doing the work of justice. We're
[00:56:22] called to that as well, to stand up against any and all forces in the world that would deny love to others in whatever form they may be. I feel very strongly that it's time for us to
[00:56:38] measure our faith. And faith isn't really something you can measure easily because, you know, it's hidden, it's invisible. But when you measure your own faith, it's not about how clear your beliefs are or how well it lines up with a creed. Rather, it's about how big a risk for love you are willing
[00:56:58] to take. Jesus is inviting us to climb up on his shoulders and to venture out on the tight rope of faith and to work alongside him to share that love with others. Would you pray with me?
[00:57:22] Gracious God, help us to make our deeds and our creeds as one. Align ourselves with good beliefs so that we may be efficient and challenging and risk-takers in our loving other people.
[00:57:45] Help us to leave this place inspired and loved as your beloved, made in your image, but ready to treat all people that we know as those who are also created in your image, to respond and pass on the love that we have received from you.
[00:58:07] This is our prayer.
[00:58:08] And we make it in your holy name.
[00:58:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:58:13] Stand and join us.
[00:58:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:58:15] Let's go from this place, being filled with God's love,
[01:02:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:02:36] to go out and to share it with others, to find someone in need, and to fulfill that need with your presence and with your love.
[01:02:45] So we go from this place, and trying to put our deeds and our creeds in line with one another.
[01:02:51] We go from this place in the name of God, who is our creator, our sustainer, and our redeemer.
[01:02:56] Amen.
[01:03:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:03:01] That your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
