Muddy Water

Have you ever run across a pond or creek that was so muddy that you would dare not jump in? The muddy water is scary because you cannot see the bottom or what is in front of you. A few years ago I was doing a triathlon where the swim portion was in the Ohio River. There had been a huge flood in Upper Ohio and it had dumped tons of garbage and mud into the river. I remember two days before the triathlon, I went down for the Gatorade practice swim and the water was murky and dirty. It was so polluted that you could see garbage and dirt floating around the banks. Luckily because of the rapid water it washed a lot of the mud and garbage down stream before the race. But I was still a little worried about that muddy murky water. Have you ever heard the statement "Don't muddy the water"? Sometimes with our words we can make things more confusing even when we are trying to explain something or clarify a question. Many times we are scared to share our faith because we are scared that we will muddy the water rather than lead someone to clarity. Many people refuse to teach Sunday School or Bible Studies because they are scared that they will not have all the answers. Some others are scared that there may be someone that is smarter or more Biblical literate than we are in those studies. Sometimes people are even scared to share there faith because they are scared that they will muddy the water. This Sunday we will learn some things that will give us the confidence to share our faith without fear that we will muddy the water. I promise this message will be clear as mud.

Fishing Buddies

Do you remember the movie Grumpy Old Men? In the movie the two men were always at each others throats but they were fishing buddies. No one really likes to fish alone. Jesus never intended for us to fish alone. The Church was set up and established to give us someone to fish along side. When you go fishing with someone you learn a lot about them and they learn a lot about you. While you are out on the water you begin to talk about what is going on in your life and you ask questions about the other person's life. To have a fishing buddy means that your are going to let someone in to parts of your life that they may have never known. You can also get more work done when you have a fishing buddy. Jesus sent 72 disciples out and he did it two by two. He did so that they would challenge, comfort , and support one another. Sometimes when we fish with someone else we learn from one another. Sometimes when we fish with someone we teach them things and sometimes they teach us things. We all need a fishing buddy to help us with the boldness we may need to share our faith. This week we will examine what it means to have fishing buddy as we continue our "Go Fish" series.

Fish Guts

The other day I asked my wife if she ever went fishing as a child. She told that she went one time with her grandfather and that she really did not enjoy it. She explained that the part that she disliked the most was baiting the hook because you get worm guts all over you. She then said that after they had caught some fish that she watched them being filleted and she could not stand looking at the fish guts. I really do not think that anyone enjoys filleting fish. As a matter of fact, one of the things that I like about deep sea fishing is that you get someone to clean your fish for you. Today we are talking about guts but literally about "fish guts". We are talking about fortitude and gumption. Has anyone ever said to you, "You don't have the guts to do it". What they are doing is calling you to a dare. They want to know if you really will do it. They are in a sense calling your "bluff". You know why most people do not share there faith with others? They do not share there faith with others because they are scared. They just do not have the "guts" to do it. I do not know what it is but we are just scared to share the good news of Jesus. I think that it has more to do with rejection than anything else. Let's face it no one likes rejection. What if I share with them and they do not receive it well? We may also be scared that someone might asked questions that we really don't have the answers too. To follow is to fish and we fish because we love and care. But it is a hard calling because we sometimes just do not have the guts to share our faith. We also may find it easier to share our faith with a complete stranger than to share our faith with someone that is close to us. Just this week I was talking with a student who shared that her father was not a believer and she just did not know what to say or how to go about sharing the gospel. This week in worship we will look at how to overcome some of these stomach butterflies and anxieties. We see that prayer can help us to have the guts to share what God has done in our lives. I will see you Sunday, "If you have the guts to come".

Why Fish?

Last week we talked about to the principle "follow is to fish". If we signed up to follow Jesus so that we could be better people then maybe we signed in for the wrong reason. Jesus asked the disciples one question will you follow me? He then said, "If you follow me, I will make you fishers of men." I do not know what they expected but they got exactly what he told them they would receive. Everywhere they went they learned how to fish for men. Some of these men where demon possessed, some where lame, others blind or deaf. But the disciples encountered them all and they fished for them all. Some they caught and others got away. But what does it mean for us to fish? I mean should we not mind our own business. I mean the world had told us that Jesus and religion is a private manner for each person to decide on their own. I mean does it really matter if I share my faith, after all should I not really only worry about my own salvation. Well I wish that were the case but the reason that Jesus ministry' went public is because he expected us to share the good news with everyone, everywhere. It is the reason that the book of Matthew ends with the Great Commission. Jesus intended for us to share our faith not hide it within our own heart. In the forth chapter of Acts, the two brothers that were first called to follow Jesus were confronted by the magistrates to keep there witness to themselves. There response was how can something so special as Jesus not be shared with the whole world. It is like when you get something new that you are so proud of. You want to show it off. People can tell by the look on your face that you have received something special. Why do we fish? We fish because we have been given the opportunity. We fish because God has given us the proper equipment. We also fish because we love others because God loved us so much that he let his son die for us. To follow is to fish. Lets go fishing.

Go Fish: Because of what is on the line.

A few years ago I got the opportunity to go fishing with a professional bass fisherman. I must tell you that it was quite the experience. This guy taught me more about fishing in 2 hours than I had learned in a lifetime. I remember him telling me that during different climates, temperatures, water clarity and different wind conditions called for different bait. He explained that when the fish were not biting it was just a matter of what attracted them. I remember he switched bait and then it seemed that every time he cast he caught a fish. It was so much different than the fishing my father had taught me. I remember getting up very early in the morning to travel about 45 minutes to a friends farm that had 4 big ponds on it. We would stop by the bait shop and pick up crickets and night crawlers. We would then embark on a day of watching Bobbers, bob up and down. We would catch fish, throw some back and keep others to be cleaned later. You see this fishing is so different than the fishing that B.J. did. The fishing that we did was more of a luck of the draw. B.J. was very intentional about what he wanted to catch. He could almost be positive that a bass was going to be on the line. He taught me that there is fishing and then there is fishing with intent. This week we will begin a sermon on becoming fishers of men. We will talk about the strategies in who to fish for and how to fish. We will look at what it means to fish with intent. Join us as we go fishing.

Whose Party is it?

Every year we look forward to that day that honors the day we entered this world. That being our birthday. All of these special days are celebrated a little differently. For some it is a surprise party that was never expected. For others it is a day off of work or a celebratory dinner at your favorite restaurant. For others it may be an Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen. We all celebrate Birthdays in different days. The other thing we like about our Birthday is the gifts that we receive. Some opt for money over gifts. For others a gift card is great because it allows one to choose when, where, and how it will be used. Then there is the common card that just sends you a blessing and a greeting. Some people like to be totally surprised and others give you every detail down to the size and color of the item that they hope to get Today, we celebrate the Birthday of the catholic Church, this is the day that the Church received the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the day that the Church was established and people began to reach out to lost around them The question that we asked as a Church is how are we doing as we celebrate this Birthday?. With each Birthday have we become more mature? Have we come to a place where we worry more about those outside the Church than we do those inside the Church? Have we really tapped into the Birthday Gift that we received on that day? That gift being that of the Holt Spirit. Are we exclusive only opening our doors to those that we send special invitations to or do we send an open invitation to all. Do we have a certain dress code to get into the party and do we require a gift? This week we will look at how we are doing as we celebrate another Birthday.

Consider this your invitation to attend the party.

Where; Lakeview UMC
Time: 10:00 Am
Theme: The Holy Spirit.

Carry On Wayward SIbling

Since the beginning of time siblings have been in competition. It started in Genesis with Cain and Abel and then there was Jacob and Esau, that list could be extended right into your own family . This week we will revisit the story of the prodigal son again and talk about the sibling rivalry that is taking place here. The prodigal son has returned home to an overwhelmed ecstatic father. But the brother does not want in part of this celebration and reunion. His theme for the day is this is just not fair. The brother saked these questions: "Why did he not get a party, why did he not receive nice clothing, and why was the fattened calf not killed for him?" After all he was the one who had fattened the calf. The problem witht the brother is an inward problem that all of us toil and fight with. It is the problem of "whoa" is me. Sometime in life we all feel that we have not been treated equally. We have been shafted, scorned, passed over and left out. The world has not been fair to us and neither has God. We ask the question, "God do I not deserve what they just received." Then we begin to throw all our good deeds at good. He begin to pat ourselves on the back and wear a green peace t-shirt. Not only that, we feel that we have been faithful, tried and true. Let's face it we all at some point just want to yell at the top of our lungs, "This is not fair". But God did not promise anywhere that life would be fair. Had the brother not already received all that he had been promised. The brother had not known what it was like to go hungry or to sleep outside. The only thing that he could say was that his brother had gotten what he deserved and now he was receiving what he did not deserve. You know one day we will all be glad that we do not get what we deserve. Jesus was blameless in the sight of the Lord and yet he got what he did not deserve so that we would not get what we deserve. The point that Jesus is trying to make here is that when someone is Lost and then they are found we need to rejoice that they have been found and not remind them of where they have been. This week we will find out what it truly means to put aside the sibling rivalry that is fought everyday. Not just with our birth siblings but also our brothers and sisters in Christ.