The Danger of an Open Table: A Pastoral Correction

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I'm a little sad to be here today, but I'm going to be a little bit more sincere and say, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow,
[00:07:55] The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:08:45] Amen.
[00:09:04] Good morning!
[00:09:20] Good morning!

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Welcome to worship at Williamson's Chapel United Methodist Church.
[00:09:25] It's good to be with you this morning.
[00:09:27] Great to be with you if you're joining us online as well.
[00:09:29] We are delighted to have all of you here and worship with us this morning.
[00:09:34] If you are a guest with us, we're so glad you're here.
[00:09:37] Welcome to worship.
[00:09:38] We would love a chance to greet you and to share with you a little bit about our church.
[00:09:42] So on the way out of church, if you'll look to the left, you'll see Pastor Monica Humple, and she's there to wear a red shirt.
[00:09:50] She is there to greet you, and she's got a gift for you, so we hope you'll take advantage of that.
[00:09:55] For those of you who are worshiping with us online, you can go and there's on the Omnu page, there's a place where it says connect and you can connect with Pastor Monica online and we hope you'll take the opportunity to do that.
[00:10:09] Friends, this morning we are continuing our series of sermons based off the questions that you all brought to us.
[00:10:17] So while you are starting the next three sermons, we're going to be answering the question, why do bad things happen?
[00:10:24] Good people.
[00:10:26] Why is there suffering in the world?
[00:10:28] And the answer is, that's a hard question, thanks for asking.
[00:10:32] So Pastor Wes is going to start tackling that this week and we're going to be exploring that together.
[00:10:38] But we're always going to remember that no matter what we go through, God is always faithful and God is always good to us.
[00:10:43] Amen?

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
And this morning we especially want to give thanks for one thing that's happened to a lot of our church.
[00:10:48] Lynn Leonard, who is Tony's mom, is a member of our congregation and Lynn is celebrating her 100th birthday.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Yay!

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We should all be so lucky to live to 100, and how many of us can say that our parent is still living to over 100?
[00:11:08] That's wonderful.
[00:11:08] What a blessing.
[00:11:09] So please tell Lynn, from us to her, how very much we love her, and happy is her birthday.
[00:11:17] Alright friends, we are grateful for the opportunity to worship on the mic with you right there, and to breathe it out, and let's plan to worship.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Please stand.
[00:11:34] Brothers and sisters, the extravagant love of God has called us together.
[00:11:39] For long before we were even aware of it, God knew us.
[00:11:44] God had already chosen us to be part of the family, children of God.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
And having chosen us, God called us.
[00:11:52] And having called us, God justified us.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
And having justified us, God gave us God's own glory.
[00:12:00] What extravagant love is this?
[00:12:03] So come, let's worship together.
[00:12:07] Our opening hymn is, Can it be that I should gain one of the most prominent Charles Wesley hymns in our hymnal?
[00:12:17] And many churches don't sing it.
[00:12:19] Sadly, it is an incredible hymn.
[00:12:21] It speaks of the ways that we are experiencing God's grace.
[00:12:27] Before we even know God,
[00:12:29] There is that grace before.
[00:12:31] And then there's that place where we realize how much God loves us and has died for us, that justifying grace.
[00:12:40] and then we continue in the rest of the hymn going forward knowing now that Jesus is alive and walking with us as we were talking about today in suffering he says I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own it's on page 363 words are also on the screen let's sing together

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Piano Concerto

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The Lord is with me, that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood.
[00:14:02] Died he for me who caused his pain, for me who him to death pursued.
[00:14:04] The amazing love, how can it be That thou, my God, should die for me?

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Tis day, sweet home, where Lord God lies, Where death and hell explore His strange design, In way of birth, for several joys, To stand on the day

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
You may be seated.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning.
[00:19:38] As we prepare to hear the word of the Lord,
[00:19:40] Join me with the prayer of illumination.
[00:19:44] God of all power, open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts with the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
[00:19:53] Help us to hear your voice, to see your ways, and to receive with joy your truth.
[00:20:00] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:20:03] Today's reading is from Psalm 6, verses 2 through 7.
[00:20:08] Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing.
[00:20:11] O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
[00:20:16] My soul also is struck with terror.
[00:20:19] While you, O Lord, how long?
[00:20:22] Turn, O Lord, save my life.
[00:20:24] Deliver me from the sake of your steadfast love.
[00:20:28] For in death there is no remembrance of you.
[00:20:32] In Sheol you can give praise.
[00:20:35] Who can give you praise?
[00:20:37] I am weary with my moaning.
[00:20:39] Every night I flood my bed with tears.
[00:20:42] I drench my couch with weeping.
[00:20:45] My eyes waste away because of grief.
[00:20:48] They grow weak because of all my foes.
[00:20:51] This is the word of our God, the people of God.

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Thanks be to God.
[00:20:57] Amen.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, church.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
So, we are continuing our series based on questions you all submitted to us over the summer, which sounded like a wonderful idea at the time, but then we read your questions.
[00:21:33] I'm going to start every week we're looking at some ground rules.
[00:21:37] So I'm going to start with some ground rules.
[00:21:40] We have those up.
[00:21:41] There we go.
[00:21:44] Just a reminder of kind of how we're going to start.
[00:21:47] Some of the questions you guys asked are some of the most difficult questions for us as Christians to grapple with.
[00:21:58] So we thought we would establish some ground rules.
[00:22:00] Here they are as a reminder.
[00:22:03] We're going to engage these questions and these topics with humility, remembering that we don't know everything, and that my job and Pastor Tony's job as pastors and preachers, it's not just to dispense answers.
[00:22:21] I think part of our task is to help us learn how to wrestle or grapple faithfully with some of these issues.
[00:22:32] So we do so with humility.
[00:22:35] We also are thinking about these questions and addressing them grounded in Scripture.
[00:22:40] That we're putting our trust in the Word of God and that we're building our faith on God's Word.
[00:22:47] So we're grounding everything we talk about in Scripture.
[00:22:50] And then, so a few weeks ago, I think I mentioned this at 11 o'clock, as we would say where I grew up in Rowan County, we're going to wrestle.
[00:23:02] We're wrestling with some of these issues, but we're doing so trusting in God.
[00:23:08] So we're asking God to help us understand, but when we don't understand, we ask God to help us trust, trust Him as we think about these things.
[00:23:17] So those are our ground rules that we'll remind you of those each week.
[00:23:22] So this week's question, you all might, a lot of you might know, if I say God is good all the time,
[00:23:33] So that familiar kind of call and response thing.
[00:23:38] How can we say God is good all the time in light of suffering?
[00:23:45] How can we say that God is good and all-powerful in light of suffering?
[00:23:54] Now folks, there's simply not enough time this morning to engage this huge and important question.
[00:24:00] So we're going to be talking about this basic question this week and in the next two.
[00:24:05] But also this week I'm going to...
[00:24:07] Do some unpacking of some of what I say this morning with some videos that we're going to post online and it'll probably show up in my e-alert on Friday.
[00:24:16] And so I'm going to unpack some of this for us later this week.
[00:24:22] And I've spent much of the past week trying to figure out how to organize my thoughts this morning in a way that honored both the topic at hand and the time we have together.
[00:24:32] So the format of this morning's sermon is unlike any sermon I've preached up to this point in my ministry, so I'm going to request your patience and understanding because this is a… I'm going to try something new this week.
[00:24:46] All right, so here's the way this is going to go.
[00:24:49] I'm going to share… I'm going to make five points about suffering.
[00:24:53] Then I'm going to share four truths about suffering.
[00:24:56] And then we'll end with three, don't do that, do this instead statements.
[00:25:01] So some practical ways that we maybe can address or think about the suffering of other people.
[00:25:09] So five points, four truths, and three don't do that, do this.
[00:25:15] All right, so we're going to pray first though before we dive in.
[00:25:18] So everybody take a deep breath.
[00:25:23] Let's pray.
[00:25:25] Holy God, we thank you for the gift of this time, the gift of your Word, the gift of your truth, and the gift of your presence.
[00:25:33] God, as we think about suffering and what that means for us as Christians, God, we pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts will be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
[00:25:52] Amen.
[00:25:54] Okay, so here goes.
[00:25:55] Point number one about suffering.
[00:25:58] Any answer we give to the question of why suffering exists in light of God's goodness and all-powerfulness, omnipotence, any answer we give to that question will be incomplete and inadequate.
[00:26:16] Now, I'm not saying that to be dismissive.
[00:26:19] I'm only saying that to highlight our limitations.
[00:26:22] We are finite and our perspective is limited.
[00:26:27] And so any answer we give to a question like that is going to be limited as well.
[00:26:33] And any answer we give will not really be satisfactory to us.
[00:26:36] And here's the thing, if you're suffering, knowing why you're suffering doesn't change the reality of that suffering, does it?
[00:26:45] Knowing why really doesn't alleviate that.
[00:26:48] So that's point one.
[00:26:51] Point two, and this is really important.
[00:26:54] Just because something happens doesn't mean that God is responsible or that it's God's will.
[00:27:03] Just because something happens doesn't mean it's God's will.
[00:27:07] Methodists, historically, we don't believe in what is known as predeterminism, which is the idea that God has predetermined what will happen at every moment.
[00:27:18] We don't believe that God micromanages every little thing in our lives.
[00:27:23] and that God is responsible for every single thing that happens.
[00:27:27] primarily because if that were the case, then God would be responsible for sin.
[00:27:32] And I'm not willing to make that claim.
[00:27:35] The Methodists believe what we call free will, that God is at work at all times and in everything inviting us to deeper relationship, inviting us to accept love and grace in our lives.
[00:27:46] We are free to reject or accept that invitation from God, but we do not believe in what is known as predeterminism.
[00:27:54] So God doesn't cause everything.
[00:27:57] That happens.
[00:27:59] All right, point number three.
[00:28:01] The question, if God is good and if God is all-powerful, then why is there suffering?
[00:28:08] That's basically a philosophical gotcha question.
[00:28:14] Here's the thing, the God of the Bible, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, our God is not a logic problem.
[00:28:23] Our God is not a philosophical puzzle to solve.
[00:28:27] Our God is relational.
[00:28:30] Our God is revealed fully in Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:28:35] And this God is present with us and in relationship with us through the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:40] God is revealed in Jesus, not in a logic problem, not in a mathematical formula.
[00:28:49] God is, as I said, relational, just as we are relational with one another.
[00:28:53] So I know that we're spread out a little bit, but look around at one another.
[00:28:57] Look to the people to your left and your right.
[00:28:59] Look at each other, especially if you're really close to somebody.
[00:29:03] Could you learn everything about that person, like completely everything you would ever want to know about that person?
[00:29:10] No, aren't we in some way mysteries to one another?
[00:29:15] So why would we expect that we could fully and completely figure God out?
[00:29:23] Again, like God is some kind of math problem.
[00:29:26] That's not the God we see revealed in Jesus.
[00:29:30] God is relational and has created us to be relational as well.
[00:29:35] And so this idea that if God is all good and all powerful and the wise are suffering, that's not going to get us anywhere in terms of understanding.
[00:29:44] There's a quote from C.S.
[00:29:46] Lewis who wrote the book called The Problem of Pain, grappling with just this issue.
[00:29:52] And Lewis writes, the problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves is only insoluble or unsolvable so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word love.
[00:30:06] and look on things as if man were at the center of them.
[00:30:09] Man is not at the center.
[00:30:11] God does not exist for the sake of man.
[00:30:18] That's a little bit direct, but there's truth to that, that God does not exist.
[00:30:26] We're not at the center of the universe, in other words, so maybe we need to take things just a notch down when it comes to this.
[00:30:35] The fourth point.
[00:30:36] When it comes to suffering, there are several possible answers we might give to the question, why?
[00:30:43] Now on a basic level of cause and effect, our suffering can be caused by our own choices.
[00:30:49] For example, if someone smokes for 50 years and then they develop emphysema or lung cancer, why they're now suffering is not really a valid question, is it?
[00:31:03] We know why.
[00:31:05] If I smoke for 50 years and get lung cancer, I know why I'm suffering.
[00:31:07] I smoked for 50 years.
[00:31:09] Fill in the blank with any number of things.
[00:31:12] Our suffering can also be caused by other people.
[00:31:16] And suffering can appear to be completely random.
[00:31:19] We can kind of chalk that up maybe to living in a fallen world.
[00:31:24] And so even if, though, we know the reason why, we know why I might know why I'm suffering, there's a deeper question behind this basic cause and effect.
[00:31:36] Why suffering at all?
[00:31:40] Why is there suffering at all?
[00:31:43] Scripture does provide some insight, but here's the thing, it provides insight maybe in ways we don't like.
[00:31:54] Scripture's answers may not be as comforting as we imagine them to be.
[00:31:59] I had a woman in a previous congregation and Jenny had been diagnosed with cancer and then for her treatment there was an extended hospital stay.
[00:32:09] The treatment was very painful and she said, I've got like weeks in the hospital and I'm really hurt and I'm suffering.
[00:32:15] I think I'm going to read Job.
[00:32:20] Because she had heard Job was about suffering.
[00:32:23] Here's what she said.
[00:32:24] I thought I would read Job.
[00:32:26] I got a few chapters in and realized that was a mistake.
[00:32:32] I decided to read the Psalms instead.
[00:32:35] Wise move, Jenny.
[00:32:37] Job's answer to wise suffering.
[00:32:41] It reflects what people in that time in the ancient Near East thought and there's something for us to grapple with there about God's power.
[00:32:50] God's response to Job is basically, it's none of your business.
[00:32:55] Who are you to ask these questions?
[00:32:56] Again, I'm approaching this with humility.
[00:32:58] But, and I love the Psalm that Karen read for us earlier, I love that verse 3, how long
[00:33:10] Oh God!
[00:33:12] How long, God?
[00:33:14] And many of us have asked that very question.
[00:33:17] So, Scripture acknowledges that we ask these questions.
[00:33:20] Sometimes the answers Scripture gives aren't as... maybe it points us in a different direction.
[00:33:27] Jesus teaches us that to be a disciple, a person must take up their cross and deny themselves, willingly choosing a path of suffering for the sake of the Gospel.
[00:33:38] Now, do you want to hear that when you're suffering?
[00:33:39] Probably not.
[00:33:41] But Jesus is telling us that following Him is going to bring some of this onto disciples.
[00:33:47] And there are other, several other scriptures we'll get to in a moment.
[00:33:53] But we don't get a clear, just like a few weeks ago we talked about hell, that scripture maybe is not as clear and descriptive as we might imagine it to be.
[00:34:01] The same is true about suffering.
[00:34:05] Point number five.
[00:34:06] Suffering to greater or lesser degrees is for most of us inevitable in this life.
[00:34:14] It might be caused by disease or chronic pain.
[00:34:20] Suffering might be caused by mental illness or emotional distress.
[00:34:23] Our suffering might be caused by external circumstances or by the choices of other people.
[00:34:29] Or our suffering might be caused by the loss of people we love and our grief in losing them.
[00:34:34] No matter what is the cause and what form it takes, suffering is inevitable.
[00:34:41] So those are five points about suffering which leads us to four truths about suffering.
[00:34:48] Truths that might help us in suffering and help us get some context in our suffering.
[00:34:56] So, truth number one.
[00:34:58] God is with us in the midst of suffering.
[00:35:02] God is with you in the midst of your suffering.
[00:35:06] God does not abandon us but is with us, loving us, even in the darkest times and most painful situations.
[00:35:14] And as Psalm 34, 18 reminds us, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.
[00:35:22] God is near to the brokenhearted.
[00:35:23] Not in judgment, not in anger, but in love and in mercy.
[00:35:31] Truth number two.
[00:35:33] Jesus knows our suffering and has borne all of it on the cross.
[00:35:39] Jesus took on our suffering in the cross.
[00:35:42] We read in Isaiah 53, 4, Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering.
[00:35:48] And we read in Hebrews 4, 15, We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are,
[00:35:59] Yet without sin the writer of Hebrews goes on to talk about Jesus experiencing suffering really looking at the Garden of Gethsemane through to the cross that Jesus knows suffering and he knows our suffering and he bore it on the cross so again we are not alone God is with us but we are also not alone and that God in Jesus has experienced and bore that same suffering
[00:36:28] Point number three, truth number three.
[00:36:32] Suffering that is not transformed by God is transmitted.
[00:36:41] Thank you.
[00:36:42] Suffering that is not... Now, as a preacher, I think I'm contractually obligated to use a certain amount of alliteration.
[00:36:52] So, transformed, transmitted, just got the wheels turning.
[00:36:56] Whatever is not healed is handed on.
[00:37:00] Whatever we don't allow God to heal, we hand that on to other people.
[00:37:04] Whatever we don't process is passed down.
[00:37:07] That's enough.
[00:37:08] Three is enough, I think.
[00:37:11] I like that middle one.
[00:37:12] Whatever we don't let God work on healing, we hand to other people.
[00:37:18] So that pain, that suffering, that trauma that we experience in this life, if we're not allowing God to work on that in us, if we're not letting God in to help that heal, in some way we're going to give that to other people.
[00:37:34] We're going to put that on other people.
[00:37:35] We're going to hand that down.
[00:37:36] That's generational trauma.
[00:37:39] That explains generational trauma.
[00:37:42] Parents hand down to children who hand down to children who hand down to children until somebody says enough and works through that and then allows that there to be healing and transformation to take place.
[00:37:59] This is an idea that's shared by Richard Rohr, a theologian and spiritual director who says, quote, suffering can lead you in either of two directions.
[00:38:08] It can make you very bitter and close you down.
[00:38:11] Or it can make you wise, compassionate, and utterly open.
[00:38:16] It often takes you to the edge of your inner resources where you fall into the hands of the living God, even against your will.
[00:38:24] Rohr suggests that when we ask God in the Lord's Prayer to deliver us from evil, we are praying, when the big trials come, God, hold on to me and don't let me turn bitter or blaming.
[00:38:38] So in asking God to help us and not turning bitter or blaming, we're going a long way in not handing that on to other people.
[00:38:46] And number four, last one.
[00:38:48] This is my least favorite one.
[00:38:49] I don't like this, but it's true.
[00:38:53] Suffering is a teacher.
[00:38:55] Suffering is a teacher.
[00:38:57] That's a tough pill to swallow.
[00:39:02] Personally, when I was in school, I liked nice teachers.
[00:39:07] But sometimes the mean ones can be really effective.
[00:39:09] You know what I mean?
[00:39:11] And especially the ones who didn't put up with any nonsense from me.
[00:39:14] Those are the most effective teachers.
[00:39:16] Suffering is a teacher.
[00:39:18] If you've experienced suffering in your own life, you know that this is true.
[00:39:23] And you know that you learn far more in the hard times than in the easy ones.
[00:39:32] That's just how it goes.
[00:39:33] And that suffering
[00:39:36] Test us and helps us to grow and we find resources and maybe inner strength that we never knew we had and we learn that there are people who are dependable and faithful.
[00:39:48] All this other stuff.
[00:39:48] Suffering can be a teacher for us if we are open to learning.
[00:39:55] Here's how Paul puts it in Romans 5.
[00:39:58] We know that suffering produces perseverance.
[00:40:02] Perseverance, character, and character, hope.
[00:40:06] In other words, suffering can form us into a certain kind of orientation.
[00:40:15] Suffering can form us in such a way that our dependence upon God grows.
[00:40:22] Paul says,
[00:40:23] That hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
[00:40:32] So suffering can be a teacher but God is at work in the midst of that through the presence of the Spirit.
[00:40:38] Okay and then lastly there are three don't do that do this instead statements and I'm primarily thinking about if like in my life right now I'm not suffering.
[00:40:52] I do know people who are suffering.
[00:40:54] So if you know people who are suffering, who are enduring something, who are facing some kind of difficulty or pain or trial, here's maybe some things that might be helpful in trying to help them.
[00:41:08] Well, first of all, number one, don't inflict suffering.
[00:41:13] Don't be the cause of somebody else's suffering.
[00:41:17] A few years ago,
[00:41:20] Bishop named Reuben Jobe, Methodist bishop, released a book called Three Simple Rules.
[00:41:25] And the second rule there was do no harm.
[00:41:30] You're based on the general rules of going all the way back to John Wesley.
[00:41:34] Do no harm.
[00:41:35] That's what I'm saying here.
[00:41:36] Don't inflict suffering.
[00:41:38] Instead, acknowledge and work to alleviate the suffering of other people as you have ability and opportunity.
[00:41:48] When my kids were little,
[00:41:50] and one of them would be doing something they shouldn't and the other one will want to inform me about that situation.
[00:42:02] The question I would ask them, are you being part of the problem or the solution?
[00:42:09] Do you want to be part of the problem, especially when one of the kids was doing something that was obviously getting them in trouble?
[00:42:17] Are you part of the problem or the solution?
[00:42:18] When it comes to other people's suffering, are we wanting to add to their suffering or help them in their suffering?
[00:42:25] The Jesus answer is obvious here, is it not?
[00:42:29] So don't inflict suffering on other people.
[00:42:33] Number two, don't minimize other people's suffering or your own.
[00:42:39] Don't minimize suffering.
[00:42:41] Instead, empathize with people and be present with them in ways that express God's love and mercy.
[00:42:49] Now, sometimes you'll hear in like the political environment or in the culture, you'll hear things that are just so profoundly wrong that it boggles your mind.
[00:43:08] As a Christian, from other Christians, sometimes you'll hear other Christians say things that are just so not Jesus that it staggers your imagination.
[00:43:18] There's this idea going around that empathy is a sin.
[00:43:21] I don't have time to tell you how many ways that is wrong, but it has nothing to do with Jesus.
[00:43:35] We just read from Hebrews that Jesus, one of the primary things we know about Jesus is Jesus empathizes with us and calls us to show empathy for one another, for other people.
[00:43:48] To try to understand what other people are going through and what they're dealing with so that we can help them, pray for them, show compassion to them and express God's love and mercy.
[00:44:00] Don't minimize, empathize.
[00:44:04] And number three, I keep reaching up here, I'm wearing contacts today and I usually have my glasses, so I keep reaching up here expecting glasses.
[00:44:13] It's disconcerting.
[00:44:14] Number three, don't pass judgment or explain away someone else's suffering.
[00:44:20] In other words, if someone is suffering, do not say it's just God's will.
[00:44:28] Should I repeat that?
[00:44:31] Someone else is suffering.
[00:44:32] Do not say, it's just God's will.
[00:44:34] This is why we talked about predeterminism a few minutes ago.
[00:44:38] Did God cause their suffering?
[00:44:40] You don't know that.
[00:44:42] You don't know that.
[00:44:43] You're not God, neither am I.
[00:44:45] Do not tell somebody, well, it's just God's will.
[00:44:47] I know we say that because we don't know what else to say and we want to sound kind of pious and helpful.
[00:44:53] All you have to do is say, I know that hurts, I'm sorry, I love you.
[00:44:56] Can I bring you a casserole?
[00:45:00] Or, in my case, can I ask Tony Ruth to make something for you?
[00:45:04] Or can I pick something up at Publix?
[00:45:06] You know, you get the idea.
[00:45:10] Don't try to explain it away.
[00:45:13] And it's okay to say things like, if somebody's really struggling to say things, God is with you in the midst of that, and it doesn't make sense right now, but I know that God loves you.
[00:45:23] But the best thing to say is, I love you and I'm sorry, how can I help?
[00:45:27] Let me help.
[00:45:30] Paul reminds us when it comes to things like passing judgment or explaining things away, Paul reminds us we should not claim to be wiser than we are.
[00:45:41] Do not claim to be wiser than you are.
[00:45:45] Instead, try to offer encouragement and a listening ear and pray for people who are suffering.
[00:45:52] If somebody tells you that they're having a hard time and when they say, can you pray for me?
[00:45:57] And you say, I'll pray for you.
[00:45:59] Do that.
[00:46:02] Follow through with that.
[00:46:03] Pray for them.
[00:46:05] And trust that God is with them in the midst of what they're going through, just as God is with you in the midst of everything you go through.
[00:46:15] So this, I really kind of solved this morning as an introductory kind of beginning of a longer conversation.
[00:46:24] And as I mentioned at the beginning, in the next week, probably the next several weeks, there are going to be different ways that we're going to, either through video or through things we write and send out, engage some of these questions because we don't have time to really
[00:46:39] Let's tackle these questions in the fullest way on a Sunday morning, especially not on a communion Sunday.
[00:46:48] So be looking for that.
[00:46:50] And as you come forward for communion today, we come to the table remembering what Jesus has done for us, remembering that Jesus took our sins and our suffering on Himself.
[00:47:06] and paid that price for us so we come, remember that, and we come to the table in a spirit of gratitude.
[00:47:13] Thankful to God that God has taken, in Jesus, God has taken our sin and our suffering onto Himself and that God is with us in the midst of everything that we're going through.
[00:47:24] And friends, I invite you today, when you come for communion, after you receive, you're invited to come and pray at the altar.
[00:47:30] If you know someone in your life who is in a situation of suffering, or if you're facing that yourself, I invite you to come and to take a moment of prayer here at the altar.

[00:47:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Christ our Lord invites to His table all who love Him.
[00:47:50] who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.
[00:47:54] Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
[00:48:00] Let us join together.
[00:48:01] Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
[00:48:09] We have failed to be an obedient church.
[00:48:13] We have not done your will.
[00:48:15] We have broken your law.
[00:48:17] We have rebelled against your love.
[00:48:21] We have not loved our neighbors.
[00:48:23] And we have not heard the cry of the needy.
[00:48:27] Forgive us, we pray.
[00:48:28] Free us for joyful obedience.
[00:48:32] Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[00:48:34] Amen.
[00:48:35] I invite you now to say your own prayer of confession in silence.
[00:48:54] Hear the good news.
[00:48:55] Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
[00:48:58] That proves God's love toward us.
[00:49:01] In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

[00:49:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Glory to God.
[00:49:09] Amen.

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Friends, I say, forgiven people.

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
See how we're calling our friends, I'll see you.

[00:49:21] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
A dollar.

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
This is how we're going to work the church in here.
[00:49:28] Okay, so we have been forgiven.
[00:49:31] When we move the scale, we seek to reconcile to one another.
[00:49:34] Jesus says, before you come to the altar, if you or your brother or something against each other, make a right, and then you will be able to come and receive freely.
[00:49:42] And maybe you don't have something against somebody who says to you you're not just harboring some bitterness and anger.
[00:49:48] Maybe your spouse is next to you and you are harboring all of those things.
[00:49:53] And you need to say some forgiveness.
[00:49:55] So, I'm going to invite you to stand and treat your neighbor with a piece of love of Christ that goes like this.
[00:50:00] A piece of Christ for me to keep.
[00:50:03] And your actual prayer is that God's piece of Christ on the other person.
[00:50:06] So let's stand and greet one another.
[00:50:33] You may be seated.
[00:50:34] As we prepare to receive our offering today, I want to share with you one of my favorite ministries here at Williamson Chapel.
[00:50:42] All of us go through hard times, right?
[00:50:44] And as Wes just told us, it's inevitable.
[00:50:46] We're all going to go through it.
[00:50:48] But one of the things that makes it worse is when you go through it by yourself.
[00:50:51] So here at Williamson Chapel, we have a ministry called Stephen Ministry.
[00:50:55] Stephen Ministry is a ministry where we have lay people who have been trained.
[00:50:59] They do about three hours of training.
[00:51:02] Train to walk with someone through a difficult situation.
[00:51:07] It could be that they're grieving the loss of a loved one, or they've lost a job, or they're moving to town, or they're just going through a difficult season, or they're struggling with a decision they have to make.
[00:51:17] It could be a short-term, it could be a longer-term situation.
[00:51:21] In all of those situations, we offer these human resources to kind of just be a companion.
[00:51:26] Someone that can listen and hold your worries and your burdens and your suffering with you, pray with you, journey alongside you.
[00:51:35] And we believe that this is one of those ministries that really makes a difference in people's lives.
[00:51:41] It's confidential.
[00:51:42] The only people that would even know that you were in, that you have been ministrated, the person that's been ministered, you and the pastor.
[00:51:49] And that's it.
[00:51:49] And it's just a beautiful, beautiful ministry that is intended to help people just have that friend and walk alongside of that and be loved and compassionate that Beth was talking about.
[00:52:02] If you think that's something that would be meaningful to you or someone that you know, kind of talk to me or Pastor Mark or Whitney or you'll see some of the words that they have to say to you in the ministry.
[00:52:13] I'm going to encourage you to do a free job for them.
[00:52:16] All of that is ministry that is offered, as we're told, through our offerings.
[00:52:20] Because of your generosity, we're able to offer this opportunity for people to just have someone to love them and to walk beside them that you wish to love.
[00:52:27] So thank you for giving.
[00:52:29] Whether you're scanning your gift, or you're mailing your check, or putting it in the offering plate, know that everything that you give goes to the ministry, lies in the ministry, that is offering God's love and compassion to the world.

[00:52:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
He doesn't clean it.
[00:52:56] In Christ we pray.

[00:53:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I once was lost, but now I'm found I once was found
[00:53:39] But now I see God's grace that dawned
[00:54:08] My fears relieved, my fears relieved
[00:54:24] Thee are when I first believed Through many days
[00:55:02] Let me safely come, Disgraced and proud, Be safe thus far, And surely dreams will lead me home.

[00:55:38] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.

[00:56:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
To sing God's praise, this is the day we first before.
[00:56:44] And since our day we first begun,

[00:57:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
I invite you all to stand for the great Thanksgiving.
[00:57:28] When we get to the responses, will you sing following me?

[00:57:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Lord be with you.
[00:57:45] And also with you.
[00:57:47] Lift up your hearts.
[00:57:49] We lift them up to the Lord.

[00:57:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
[00:57:55] It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
[00:58:05] In love you made us for yourself, and when we have fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, your love remains steadfast.
[00:58:14] You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Easter feast.
[00:58:20] That, renewed by your word and sacrament, and fervent in prayer and works of justice and mercy, we may come to the fullness of grace that you have prepared for those who love you.
[00:58:30] And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn.

[00:58:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Holy, holy, holy Lord.
[00:58:41] Holy, holy, holy Lord.

[00:58:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
God of power and might God of power and might

[00:59:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

[00:59:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Holy are you and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ, whom you sent in the fullness of time to redeem the world.
[00:59:47] He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in our likeness.
[00:59:53] He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
[00:59:58] He took upon himself our sin and death and offered himself a perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.
[01:00:05] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread.
[01:00:09] He gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said, Tame, eat.
[01:00:15] This is my body, which is given for you.
[01:00:17] Do this in remembrance of me.
[01:00:20] When the supper was over, he took the cup, and he gave thanks to you, and he gave it to his disciples, saying,
[01:00:34] This is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[01:00:41] Drink this as often as you do it in remembrance of me.
[01:00:45] And so in remembrance of these your mighty eyes in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of our faith.

[01:01:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Christ has died.
[01:01:03] Christ is risen.
[01:01:08] Christ will come again.
[01:01:10] Christ will come again.

[01:01:15] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
We're having the Holy Spirit.
[01:01:19] We're not scared of fear.
[01:01:20] The Holy Spirit is praying for us.

[01:01:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Make them be for us the Body and Blood of Christ, that we may be for the world's Body and Christ, your King and Light.
[01:01:39] By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry through all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we be satisfied in the end.

[01:01:46] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Through your Son Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit and your Holy Church, all honor and glory to yours, Almighty God, now and forever.

[01:01:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
And now, with the confidence of children of God, let us pray as Jesus has taught.
[01:02:23] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

[01:02:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

[01:02:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

[01:02:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[01:02:48] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[01:02:52] Amen.

[01:02:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one.
[01:03:01] The bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
[01:03:07] And the cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.
[01:03:13] You may be seated.

[01:03:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Friends, we receive in the United Methodist Church, in our church, by way of intention.
[01:03:22] You'll come forward, you'll receive a piece of bread, and then dip that into the cup.
[01:03:27] If you are not comfortable sharing that common cup, we have little packs here in the middle.
[01:03:33] And also, if you require gluten-free, we have that just come straight down to the middle for either the pack or the gluten-free elements.
[01:03:42] This is not the Williamson's Chapel table or the United Methodist Church table.
[01:03:47] This is the table of the Lord.
[01:03:48] And all who would come are welcome to come and receive.
[01:03:52] The servers will please come forward.
[01:03:55] And friends, the table is prepared.

[01:04:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
As we receive, we'll be singing together our first hymn is Jesus United by Thy Grace on 561.

[01:07:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Will you stand?
[01:08:19] Let's sing together.

[01:09:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The Word of the Lord.
[01:10:38] Saintly

[01:11:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Friends, we are continuing to give out.
[01:11:11] If you didn't give out last week, we have our fall book out.
[01:11:14] This is how you'll find out how you can do any and everything at Brigham's Chapel.
[01:11:18] How you can grow, how you can serve, how you can...
[01:11:21] Be involved and engaged in the lives of the ministry of the church in so many different ways.
[01:11:26] I want to just point out a couple of them to you.
[01:11:30] Coming up on the 20th of this month, we are having a poverty simulation.
[01:11:35] Again, that is in this book.
[01:11:37] You can send a QR code or they have a website on there as well.
[01:11:41] Call and type Kevin Ward if you need some more help.
[01:11:44] A poverty simulation is just an opportunity you'll be given when you walk in a persona.
[01:11:48] You might say, they might say,
[01:11:49] You are a single parent with three children at home.
[01:11:53] Or you are a two-parent household and one of you has just recently lost your job.
[01:12:02] Or it could be you are an elderly person living on a fixed income.
[01:12:07] Poverty simulation is intended to help you understand the challenges that are faced by those living in poverty.
[01:12:13] Most of us who've never had to be there, we don't know.
[01:12:16] It's easy to judge.
[01:12:18] It's easy to imagine that we understand.
[01:12:20] So in line with what Valdez was just telling us, it's an opportunity for us to sort of build up our compassion muscle a little bit and to build up that empathizing ability to understand.
[01:12:31] So, poverty simulation is coming up on the 20th.
[01:12:33] There are just three hours, man.
[01:12:35] It will change your life.
[01:12:36] Please, please, I'm encouraging you to please sign up.
[01:12:39] It will really change your walk with Jesus.
[01:12:41] So that's in here.
[01:12:43] If you and your family starts tonight, excuse me, and in the coming weeks all the Bible studies start, and all of that you can register for online, and you may be like, I have no idea, you keep talking about this church app and I don't have any idea how to use it.
[01:12:56] Okay, so also in this book is information about how to download the church app, and if you're like, I downloaded that stupid thing and I can't figure it out, I have a solution for you today.
[01:13:07] At 4 o'clock, Pastor Monica is going to be in room A204, and she's going to teach you how to use the church app.
[01:13:13] Bring your computer, bring your phone.
[01:13:15] If you just don't understand, you need some help, Monica is here to help you.
[01:13:19] So you can do that today, and you can stay for dinner, or have dinner with your family.
[01:13:22] So that's coming out, but that's also in the book.
[01:13:26] Also in the book is our golf tournament coming up, and I think we have a video about that.
[01:13:30] Morning Church, me again.

[01:13:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Don't forget about men's golf tournament coming up.
[01:13:36] It's going to be in the States, so it's for men, for women, all levels.
[01:13:41] I've got my team set up.

[01:13:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
I know you can play like us, but try to keep up.
[01:13:46] So if you can get a team, and maybe it's been a long time since you played, it's okay.
[01:13:49] It's been a long time since Pastor Westlake, and he's going to go out there in two years.
[01:13:52] He's going to go out there and make a fool of himself for Jesus.
[01:13:55] This is going to be a full result for Jesus.
[01:13:58] I want to encourage you to do that.
[01:13:59] Do you have the thing about the t-shirt?
[01:14:01] Okay, so we have had people ask us, I want to be able to tell other people about my church.
[01:14:07] So we are, we've created this shirt for you.
[01:14:10] You can scan it in free order now.
[01:14:12] You let us know what size you want and if you want navy or blue or light blue.
[01:14:17] It says, waitress chapel in front and the back has a QR code.
[01:14:20] And somebody can just walk behind you and scan that QR code and it's going to go to a website that says, you belong here.
[01:14:26] And Auburn can play a show tale and take you to places where they can get involved in life and ministry here.
[01:14:30] So, if I see a QR code, I'm almost always going, what are you trying to tell me?
[01:14:35] I'm going to look at it.
[01:14:38] I'm going to look at it.
[01:14:39] So, if you're like, a QR code?
[01:14:41] I don't even know what that is.
[01:14:43] That's okay too.
[01:14:43] That's the great truth.
[01:14:45] It'll be okay.
[01:14:46] Alright, I think that's everything that I have.

[01:14:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I would be offended about the golfing, but you're absolutely right.
[01:15:01] I'm here.
[01:15:01] We're going to be playing a couple of buddies, and we already decided what to turn in our scorecard.

[01:15:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Anyway, so all that really great stuff happened here at Winston's Chapel.
[01:15:06] We're so glad you were here with us this morning.
[01:15:09] And now, friends, go with this benediction.
[01:15:11] May the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:15:13] May the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[01:15:16] May the Lord...
[01:15:17] I got that wrong.
[01:15:17] We're going to start over.
[01:15:19] May the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:15:21] May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
[01:15:24] The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

[01:15:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Amen.

[01:15:54] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thanks for watching!