Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
No good morning.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Please join me in they call to worship. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
lie down and green pastures. He leads me besides still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
(04:13):
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of
my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
(04:34):
my life, and I shall dwell in the House of
the Lord forever on.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It S S S.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
S S.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
S. S.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
Pray with me, Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.
Thank you for being our shepherd and leading us to
this place. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to fellowship
in this season of new life. Lord, you are our shepherd.
You raise and tend us for your purpose. You keep
us on the right path and bring back those who stray.
(07:33):
You protect us from danger, but from the outside world
and ourselves. With you, Lord, we lack for nothing. Father,
we are thankful. We gather here today to show our gratitude.
Help us to remember, Lord that an easy life was
not what was promised, but rather than in the darkest
valleys and on the highest mountaintops. We are not alone,
but you are with us. We affirm our love for you, Lord,
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with the prayer that you taught us our father, who
are in heaven. I'll be thy name, my kingdom.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Come.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bird, and give us
our trustpasses as those who trespass against us know. It's
not much temptation that deliver us from you. There's the
kingdom and the power and the glory of brown.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Almen.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I'd like to write the children down at this time.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I'd beat you.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Good work.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Good morning, Hello friends, so many friends coming down. It's
so good to see everybody. How is everyone this morning?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Is everybody good? Good? You're okay?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Well, I'm glad you're okay, Good morning ella, Hello friends.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
All right.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, just a few minutes ago we heard in the
call to worship Psalm twenty three, and this song was
written by Now if you're in Sunday school, you should
know who wrote this psalm. Thank you He was written
by David, wasn't it, And we've been learning about him.
We also know he started out as a shepherd boy
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and became an unexpected king. Well, while he was a shepherd,
he learned how much shepherds love their sheep and rely
on them. He wrote this song comparing God's love for
us how much a shepherd loves and takes care of
his sheep. We also know that Jesus said he is
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the good what shepherd Parker, you are on a roll.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Good job.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. Well, we're going
to go through Psalm twenty three, and after you hear
a line, Jacob, are you ready, After you hear line,
I'm gonna show you a word that sums up that line. Okay,
And then you guys can each have a word to hope.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
All right?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Are you ready to listen? Are you ready?
Speaker 7 (10:07):
All right?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The Lord is my shepherd. I can have we can
all have a what. Who can help me read? If
you're a good reader, help me read? Relationship, good job,
We can have a relationship with God. I shall not
I shall not want what God what He supplies all
(10:28):
of our needs.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He makes me lie down in green pastures. God can
give us rest in Him. When we are tired, he
leads me besides still waters, God can help us fill refreshed.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
Good job.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
He restores my soul. God gives us feeling. He leads
me in the paths of righteousness. For his namesake, God
gives us good guidance.
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Guidance.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You know that one good job. Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, of death, I
will fear no evil. He gives us protection.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Good job, for you are with me.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You're Rod and your staff comfort me. God always shows
his faithfulness. You prepare a table before me. In the
presence of my enemies. We can find hope in all situations.
Because of God. You anoint my head with oil. My
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cup runs over. Well, this is a hard one.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
You're ready.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
God provides an abundance, an abundance of all that we need. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life. We will receive blessing. Let say, do you
need one? I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.
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We can find security. You want know what?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
We can find security. Knowing we will be with the
Lord and the last word is forever, and that means
that we will spend eternity.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Iris.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Do you know one, you know what eternity with God,
with Jesus and God. If you have a word, come
sit with up here with me. Do you all see
all of these.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Special hold them up so everybody can see.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Okay, special and amazing things that God gives us just
in this one passage.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're all kind of like lost.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Sheep, aren't we, stumbling around in the world. So David
wrote this for all of us to remind us we
are all members of God's flock, and when we rely
on him and lean into him, he will provide all
of these words that we have said out loud. And
Jesus the Good Shepherd said we can trust him the
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same way like sheep trust their shepherd. He will provide
for us and protect us.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
He said that a good shepherd would even lay down
his life for his sheep, and that is exactly what
Jesus did for us. We can rejoice that our good
shepherd has rescued us from sin and death.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Let's pray, Dear.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
God, thank you for being and sending the good Shepherd.
Help us listen for your voice and follow and trust
you and thank you for guiding and protecting us. Amen.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Amen, you guys can hold.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
On S S S S.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
S S.
Speaker 9 (15:26):
S S S S.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Song Time, song, song, So.
Speaker 10 (17:15):
Please pray with me. Heavenly Father. We know that you
are here with us today, present and providing.
Speaker 11 (17:24):
We know that you hold the world and that you
also hold us.
Speaker 10 (17:29):
You are calling us and you know our names. Because
of that, we are committed to you for eternity. We
have too many blessings to count and are filled with
love for the one who has blessed us. Help us
to be the best that we can be, remembering to
share all that we have. Now, bring your peace and
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calmness over us, and hear our prayer as we honor
you by returning a portion of our blessings.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Amen, storm.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
A necessary prayer.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I want to continue prayers for our interim search committee
and our pastoral search committee. You want to continue to
pray for those and our congregation who are in need
of our immediate prayers.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
So let us go to the Lord in prayer.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Blessed, Heavenly Father, we give you all the grace, all
the honor, and all the glory Lord, for who you
are and how you are working in and amongst Fifth
Avenue Baptists.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
It's people to reach.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
A community that is hurting for you, to show love,
mercy and grace to those who need to see it
and feel it the most. Lord, we thank you for
the partnerships that we have. We thank you for the
blessings bestowed.
Speaker 7 (22:19):
Lord.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
We thank you for the constant reminder that we must
be a blessing to those around us. Lord, we lift
up to you those who are in pain, those who
are healing from surgeries, those who are in the hospital. Now, Lord,
we ask that you God, the doctors and the nurses
has on their case. We ask that you provide expedient healing. Lord,
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that you work in amongst them, that they understand who
you are.
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Even in this matter. Lord, we lift up to you.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Jake Sharp's family. We ask that you be with his
family as they mourn his death. Lord, that is going
to impact a community. We asked that you be with
his wife, that you be with his one year old child,
that you be with the New Baptist Church community, that
you be with the walk FM community as they mourn
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his death. Lord, we lift up to you now our
interim search committee. We ask that you continue to guide them.
We lift up to you our Pastoral Search Committee, that
you continue to guide them, that you be a lightened
to their feet and a lamp into their path during
this time. Lord, we praise you for a wonderful weekend
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to retreat, to spiritually grow, to grow closer to you.
And Lord, now we ask a special blessing. When doctor
Guy sells as he brings your word. We ask that
you continue to work in him and through him. And
may we glean what you have for us this morning,
and may it not fall on death ears. But we
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can take what we learn out through the walls of
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, that we can be your hands
and feet to those around us. Lord, we love you,
and we praise your holy name. All God's people said, Amen,
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Oh the Lord.
Speaker 9 (24:37):
See story.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I haven't heard. It might be people.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
I'm manding the mass blind who would be too sho.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
He is.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Is d.
Speaker 7 (25:35):
Of co.
Speaker 13 (25:40):
F on thes few schools being most.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Storms are storms.
Speaker 12 (26:29):
And pass school commuter.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
S I.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
I was, I was sad.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Listens I understand.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Two all three sons.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I would be.
Speaker 9 (28:04):
Story.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
Life is gift. It's all gift, Jesus's gift. Love is gift.
It's all gift. That's the theme we've been exploring together
this weekend, the gifts of God for us, the people
of God. And it's a gift to me to be
able to be back in Huntington and with you. There's
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something reorienting and rooting about being able to be back here.
Thank you. I'm really glad that Tim More is serving
you now as your interim pastor. Such a good guy
and another one who knows the tug of home here.
(30:12):
I want to read from John chapter ten, verses one
through eighteen. Very truly, I tell you, Jesus said, anyone
who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but
climbs in by another way is a thief an end.
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The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd
of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him,
and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. When he's brought
out all of his own, he goes ahead of them,
and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
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They will not follow a stranger. They will run from
him because they do not know the voice of strangers.
Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they
did not understand what he was saying to them. So
again Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you,
I'm the gate for the sheep. All who came before
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me are thieves and bandits, But the sheep did not
listen to them. I'm the gate. Whoever enters by me
will be saved, and will come in and go out
and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. I came that they may have life,
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and have it abundantly. I'm the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand,
who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
seize the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf snatches them and skins them. The hired
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hand runs away because a hired hand does not care
for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd. I know my own,
and my own know me, just as the Father knows me,
and I know the Father. And I lay down my
life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do
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not belong to this fold. I must bring them also,
and they will live in my voice. So there will
be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father
loves me because I lay down my life in order
to take it up again. No one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord. I
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have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it up again. I have received this command
from my Father. This is the word of God for us,
the people of God. Thanks be to God. I have come.
Jesus said that they may have life and have it abundantly.
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Life with a capital L eternal life, eternal life that
begins now, lively life, glad life, good life, generous life,
life as God means it to be. I have come
that they might have life and have it abundantly. And
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one of Jesus' followers in the second century, Ireneis of Leone, said,
the glory of God is a human being fully alive.
And I know that you and I yearn for that
kind of fullness of life, that sense that we are
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as vitally engaged with existence as we can possibly be.
We yearn for that kind of life, but we don't
always experience it, do we. I remember an old Peanuts
cartoon in which Linus said, you know, it sounds like
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forrest come to me. But Linus said, life is like
a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we
never use. Or I know you've heard the old saw
about You know, life is like a piano with eighty
eight keys, and we're content to play chopsticks. There's just
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something about us, something in us that holds us back,
that causes us to resist the fullness of life that
God intends for us. We limit our range and potential,
We use only a fraction of our possibilities. What is
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it that's behind that resistance, What keeps us from the
fullness of life God so wants to give us as
a gift. Well, I think shame certainly fuels that resistance.
Shame shuts life down. Shame is a deep down sense
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of disase about ourselves, sadness about who we are, and
regret over who we failed to become. You know, many people,
many of us, feel kind of embarrassed about ourselves decades ago.
Now almost every story I tell these days is a
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decade a ghost story decades ago. George Goebels Money if
you don't even remember him, appeared on The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson and in a moment of real sadness
and melancholy. He looked over at Johnny and said, do
you ever feel like a man with brown shoes in
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a room full of black tuxedo? Just not quite right
with the way things are? Shame gives us this feeling
that we ought to apologize for the space we're taking
up on the earth. Shame makes us keenly aware of
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all those things we could have should have done better.
It shuts us down, It closes our hearts, It sends
us into hiding. That's one of the barriers, one of
the fuels of resistance to the fullness of life God
wants for us. And closely related, of course, is guilt.
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Guilt all so shuts us down. Guilt over the wrong
and hurtful things we have done, Guilt over the good
and right and loving things we have failed to do.
Growing up, I was clear that God was opposed to
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and upset over human sin. I got it that there
were things we should be guilty for. I got it
that there were things we should feel ashamed about. I
got the message God is against sin, but I don't
remember getting an explanation of why it is God is
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so upset about human sinfulness about the ways in which
we go wrong. And I have learned that God is
against sin because God is for us. It's because sin
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damages us, and God does not want us damaged. Evil
diminishes and debilitates us, and God doesn't want us diminished
and debilitated. God is for us, not against us. God
is against whatever is against us, against life, as God
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means it to be. So, Jesus comes to give us
abundant life, and to liberate us from everything that distorts
and demeans and diminishes and disfigures us. Jesus comes and
sets us free from whatever shuts us down and holds
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us back. I have come that you might have life,
and have it in all its fullness. The glory of
God is a human being, you fully alive. Many summers ago,
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now I took a brief retreat along the Hudson River,
about an hour north of New York City. It was
a small Catholic retreat center run by an order of
very hospitable and welcoming nuns. I was the only Baptist,
I was the only Protestant. I was one of just
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a handful of males who were there. And it was
a kind of necessary disorienting experience. I was in a
different religious culture, I mean, it's shame faith, but different
brand of the same faith.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
And I.
Speaker 7 (40:05):
Fell into a kind of helpful quietness and a kind
of unexpected surrender of all my well, not all, and
who knows if we ever get rid of all, but
most of my pride in how it is, I had
done faith up to that point. And there was a
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little magazine, a little magazine published by this order of
Catholic Nuns, and in it there was a prayer from
the twelfth sory figure, Anselm of Canterbury. And he said,
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in this prayer, Oh my God, teach my heart where
and how to seek you, where and how to find you.
You are my God, and you are my all. You
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have made me and remade me. You have bestowed on
me all the good things I possess. Still I don't
know you. I haven't yet done that for which I
was made. And that line, that last line, in particular,
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I still have not done that for which I was
made brought tears running to my eyes, tears of recognition
and grief for myself and for all the people I know,
all the people I love who have been living life
and running fast and doing all they can and still
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have this sense we have, don't we that we haven't
done what we were put here to do, which is
primarily to become who we were put here to become.
We have this nagging sense that God wants more for
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our lives than we have yet been willing to open
ourselves too for whatever reason. In an interview, Stephen King
responded to critics who question the quantity and the quality
of his work. Primarily, I think, and it's understandable. It's
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the quantity that causes the question about the quality, and
it's the inconsistent anyway. But question him about the This
is not a literature course. This is a sermon. Question
him about the quality and quantity of his work, he answered,
a lot of people have suggested that the stuff that
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I do may be second class because there's so much
of it. My response to that is, I'm gonna be
I'm gonna quit and be dead for a long time.
I'm gonna quit and be dead for a long time.
This is the time I've got, and I want to
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use it to the max. I really want to try
and mine everything I've got. I really want to try
and mine excavate everything I've got. I know that feeling.
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I know that feeling that there's more to mine, there's
more to excavate, there's more to realize, more to experience,
And it's the gifts of God that make life worth living.
I get that. I get that sense that we have
music in us. We haven't played truth, we haven't spoken mysteries,
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we haven't explored love, we haven't given and received joy,
we haven't danced. There are possibilities we haven't realized. And
there's the promise I have come that you might have
life and have it in all its fullness. It's a
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surprise of grace to me that I have come to
believe that Ireneus saw into the heart of Jesus, in
the heart of God when he said that God is
glorified when we become everything God made us to become.
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Our fullness, our radiance, our joyfulness, our love. These are
what make life worth living. And they are what make
us like God. And what makes us like God makes
us shine the glory of God. Is you fully alive? Now?
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In the text I read from John's Gospel, Jesus calls
himself the gate of the sheep, the gatekeeper and the
good Shepherd. All these things. He says he's the gate
and the gate keeper. Anyone who enters another way is
a thief and abandon I've come that you might have life.
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And then he says that he is also the good Shepherd.
He also says that the sheep know his voice. I
love this piling up of images and metaphors. In those days,
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Palestinian shepherds would, as night fell heard their flocks into
sheep folds, which nestled usually against the hill and hard
rock wall borders, and there was an opening in front
of the sheepfold through which the sheep passed, and once
the sheep were safely in the fold, the shepherd would
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lie down in the opening and become the flesh and
blood gate as well as the gatekeeper, to protect the
sheep from thieves and bandits from predators. The Sufi poet
Hafiz wrote something that I can imagine Jesus the good
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Shepherd saying to us, someone put you on a slave block,
and the unreal bought you. Now I keep coming to
your owner and saying, this one's mine. You often hear
us talking, and this can make your heart leap with excitement.
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Don't worry. Don't worry. I will not let sadness possess you.
I will gladly borrow all the gold I need to
buy you back. I'm not going to let the slavers
keep you. I'm not going to let the bandits kidnap
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you from life as I mean it to be. And
Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. A child was
overheard praying her version of the Lord's prayer. It went
like this. At the beginning, our father, who art in heaven,
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What would be my name? What would be my name?
Jesus says, I call my sheep by name, which means
I know who they really are. I know what identity
truly is. I call my sheep by name so that
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they can realize what I know about them, the beauty
and wonder for which they were made. I know my
sheep's name, and my sheep know my voice. My sheep
know my voice. Often, multiple flocks of sheep belonging to
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different shepherds would corral together for the night, and when
morning came and it was time for them to separate
out and find pasture together, the sheeps would hear the
voice of their own shepherd and travel to where that
shepherd was. I know my sheep's name, I know their identity,
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I know who they really are, and they know my
voice and they come and follow me. What voices are
you listening to? Anne Lamont says that she's often tuned
into what she calls rap songs of self loathing. What
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we're invited to is to hear the voice of tender love,
who is ready to lead us into fullness of life,
God's gift to us. The African American Christian and mystic
Howard Thurmann said, don't ask what the world needs, Ask
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what makes you come alive, and go do it, because
what the world needs is people who have come alive. Amen.
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We sing together this song of celebration, joyful, joyful, We
adore thee. Will you stand as we sing?
Speaker 3 (51:05):
S S S S.
Speaker 7 (52:20):
S S. Thank you for being in worship, and thank
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you for the invitation that allowed me to be back
in worship with you. It's so wonderful to see you. So, friends,
we go from this place forgiven, free, beloved, graced and held.
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So let's live, really live the life God has given us. Amen.
Speaker 9 (55:03):
Fa
No good morning.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Please join me in they call to worship. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
lie down and green pastures. He leads me besides still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
(04:13):
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of
my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
(04:34):
my life, and I shall dwell in the House of
the Lord forever on.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It S S S.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
S S.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
S. S.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
Pray with me, Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.
Thank you for being our shepherd and leading us to
this place. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to fellowship
in this season of new life. Lord, you are our shepherd.
You raise and tend us for your purpose. You keep
us on the right path and bring back those who stray.
(07:33):
You protect us from danger, but from the outside world
and ourselves. With you, Lord, we lack for nothing. Father,
we are thankful. We gather here today to show our gratitude.
Help us to remember, Lord that an easy life was
not what was promised, but rather than in the darkest
valleys and on the highest mountaintops. We are not alone,
but you are with us. We affirm our love for you, Lord,
(07:56):
with the prayer that you taught us our father, who
are in heaven. I'll be thy name, my kingdom.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Come.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bird, and give us
our trustpasses as those who trespass against us know. It's
not much temptation that deliver us from you. There's the
kingdom and the power and the glory of brown.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Almen.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I'd like to write the children down at this time.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I'd beat you.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Good work.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Good morning, Hello friends, so many friends coming down. It's
so good to see everybody. How is everyone this morning?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Is everybody good? Good? You're okay?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Well, I'm glad you're okay, Good morning ella, Hello friends.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
All right.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, just a few minutes ago we heard in the
call to worship Psalm twenty three, and this song was
written by Now if you're in Sunday school, you should
know who wrote this psalm. Thank you He was written
by David, wasn't it, And we've been learning about him.
We also know he started out as a shepherd boy
(09:25):
and became an unexpected king. Well, while he was a shepherd,
he learned how much shepherds love their sheep and rely
on them. He wrote this song comparing God's love for
us how much a shepherd loves and takes care of
his sheep. We also know that Jesus said he is
(09:46):
the good what shepherd Parker, you are on a roll.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Good job.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. Well, we're going
to go through Psalm twenty three, and after you hear
a line, Jacob, are you ready, After you hear line,
I'm gonna show you a word that sums up that line. Okay,
And then you guys can each have a word to hope.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
All right?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Are you ready to listen? Are you ready?
Speaker 7 (10:07):
All right?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The Lord is my shepherd. I can have we can
all have a what. Who can help me read? If
you're a good reader, help me read? Relationship, good job,
We can have a relationship with God. I shall not
I shall not want what God what He supplies all
(10:28):
of our needs.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He makes me lie down in green pastures. God can
give us rest in Him. When we are tired, he
leads me besides still waters, God can help us fill refreshed.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
Good job.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
He restores my soul. God gives us feeling. He leads
me in the paths of righteousness. For his namesake, God
gives us good guidance.
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Guidance.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You know that one good job. Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, of death, I
will fear no evil. He gives us protection.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Good job, for you are with me.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
You're Rod and your staff comfort me. God always shows
his faithfulness. You prepare a table before me. In the
presence of my enemies. We can find hope in all situations.
Because of God. You anoint my head with oil. My
(11:41):
cup runs over. Well, this is a hard one.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
You're ready.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
God provides an abundance, an abundance of all that we need. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life. We will receive blessing. Let say, do you
need one? I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.
(12:05):
We can find security. You want know what?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
We can find security. Knowing we will be with the
Lord and the last word is forever, and that means
that we will spend eternity.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Iris.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Do you know one, you know what eternity with God,
with Jesus and God. If you have a word, come
sit with up here with me. Do you all see
all of these.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Special hold them up so everybody can see.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Okay, special and amazing things that God gives us just
in this one passage.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're all kind of like lost.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Sheep, aren't we, stumbling around in the world. So David
wrote this for all of us to remind us we
are all members of God's flock, and when we rely
on him and lean into him, he will provide all
of these words that we have said out loud. And
Jesus the Good Shepherd said we can trust him the
(13:08):
same way like sheep trust their shepherd. He will provide
for us and protect us.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
He said that a good shepherd would even lay down
his life for his sheep, and that is exactly what
Jesus did for us. We can rejoice that our good
shepherd has rescued us from sin and death.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Let's pray, Dear.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
God, thank you for being and sending the good Shepherd.
Help us listen for your voice and follow and trust
you and thank you for guiding and protecting us. Amen.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Amen, you guys can hold.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
On S S S S.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
S S.
Speaker 9 (15:26):
S S S S.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Song Time, song, song, So.
Speaker 10 (17:15):
Please pray with me. Heavenly Father. We know that you
are here with us today, present and providing.
Speaker 11 (17:24):
We know that you hold the world and that you
also hold us.
Speaker 10 (17:29):
You are calling us and you know our names. Because
of that, we are committed to you for eternity. We
have too many blessings to count and are filled with
love for the one who has blessed us. Help us
to be the best that we can be, remembering to
share all that we have. Now, bring your peace and
(17:50):
calmness over us, and hear our prayer as we honor
you by returning a portion of our blessings.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Amen, storm.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
A necessary prayer.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
I want to continue prayers for our interim search committee
and our pastoral search committee. You want to continue to
pray for those and our congregation who are in need
of our immediate prayers.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
So let us go to the Lord in prayer.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Blessed, Heavenly Father, we give you all the grace, all
the honor, and all the glory Lord, for who you
are and how you are working in and amongst Fifth
Avenue Baptists.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
It's people to reach.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
A community that is hurting for you, to show love,
mercy and grace to those who need to see it
and feel it the most. Lord, we thank you for
the partnerships that we have. We thank you for the
blessings bestowed.
Speaker 7 (22:19):
Lord.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
We thank you for the constant reminder that we must
be a blessing to those around us. Lord, we lift
up to you those who are in pain, those who
are healing from surgeries, those who are in the hospital. Now, Lord,
we ask that you God, the doctors and the nurses
has on their case. We ask that you provide expedient healing. Lord,
(22:43):
that you work in amongst them, that they understand who
you are.
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Even in this matter. Lord, we lift up to you.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Jake Sharp's family. We ask that you be with his
family as they mourn his death. Lord, that is going
to impact a community. We asked that you be with
his wife, that you be with his one year old child,
that you be with the New Baptist Church community, that
you be with the walk FM community as they mourn
(23:16):
his death. Lord, we lift up to you now our
interim search committee. We ask that you continue to guide them.
We lift up to you our Pastoral Search Committee, that
you continue to guide them, that you be a lightened
to their feet and a lamp into their path during
this time. Lord, we praise you for a wonderful weekend
(23:37):
to retreat, to spiritually grow, to grow closer to you.
And Lord, now we ask a special blessing. When doctor
Guy sells as he brings your word. We ask that
you continue to work in him and through him. And
may we glean what you have for us this morning,
and may it not fall on death ears. But we
(23:58):
can take what we learn out through the walls of
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, that we can be your hands
and feet to those around us. Lord, we love you,
and we praise your holy name. All God's people said, Amen,
(24:35):
Oh the Lord.
Speaker 9 (24:37):
See story.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I haven't heard. It might be people.
Speaker 12 (25:01):
I'm manding the mass blind who would be too sho.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
He is.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Is d.
Speaker 7 (25:35):
Of co.
Speaker 13 (25:40):
F on thes few schools being most.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Storms are storms.
Speaker 12 (26:29):
And pass school commuter.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
S I.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
I was, I was sad.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Listens I understand.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Two all three sons.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I would be.
Speaker 9 (28:04):
Story.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
Life is gift. It's all gift, Jesus's gift. Love is gift.
It's all gift. That's the theme we've been exploring together
this weekend, the gifts of God for us, the people
of God. And it's a gift to me to be
able to be back in Huntington and with you. There's
(29:48):
something reorienting and rooting about being able to be back here.
Thank you. I'm really glad that Tim More is serving
you now as your interim pastor. Such a good guy
and another one who knows the tug of home here.
(30:12):
I want to read from John chapter ten, verses one
through eighteen. Very truly, I tell you, Jesus said, anyone
who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but
climbs in by another way is a thief an end.
(30:32):
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd
of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him,
and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. When he's brought
out all of his own, he goes ahead of them,
and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
(30:57):
They will not follow a stranger. They will run from
him because they do not know the voice of strangers.
Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they
did not understand what he was saying to them. So
again Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you,
I'm the gate for the sheep. All who came before
(31:18):
me are thieves and bandits, But the sheep did not
listen to them. I'm the gate. Whoever enters by me
will be saved, and will come in and go out
and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. I came that they may have life,
(31:39):
and have it abundantly. I'm the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand,
who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
seize the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf snatches them and skins them. The hired
(31:59):
hand runs away because a hired hand does not care
for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd. I know my own,
and my own know me, just as the Father knows me,
and I know the Father. And I lay down my
life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do
(32:20):
not belong to this fold. I must bring them also,
and they will live in my voice. So there will
be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father
loves me because I lay down my life in order
to take it up again. No one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord. I
(32:43):
have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it up again. I have received this command
from my Father. This is the word of God for us,
the people of God. Thanks be to God. I have come.
Jesus said that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(33:07):
Life with a capital L eternal life, eternal life that
begins now, lively life, glad life, good life, generous life,
life as God means it to be. I have come
that they might have life and have it abundantly. And
(33:31):
one of Jesus' followers in the second century, Ireneis of Leone, said,
the glory of God is a human being fully alive.
And I know that you and I yearn for that
kind of fullness of life, that sense that we are
(33:53):
as vitally engaged with existence as we can possibly be.
We yearn for that kind of life, but we don't
always experience it, do we. I remember an old Peanuts
cartoon in which Linus said, you know, it sounds like
(34:13):
forrest come to me. But Linus said, life is like
a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we
never use. Or I know you've heard the old saw
about You know, life is like a piano with eighty
eight keys, and we're content to play chopsticks. There's just
(34:38):
something about us, something in us that holds us back,
that causes us to resist the fullness of life that
God intends for us. We limit our range and potential,
We use only a fraction of our possibilities. What is
(35:00):
it that's behind that resistance, What keeps us from the
fullness of life God so wants to give us as
a gift. Well, I think shame certainly fuels that resistance.
Shame shuts life down. Shame is a deep down sense
(35:26):
of disase about ourselves, sadness about who we are, and
regret over who we failed to become. You know, many people,
many of us, feel kind of embarrassed about ourselves decades ago.
Now almost every story I tell these days is a
(35:48):
decade a ghost story decades ago. George Goebels Money if
you don't even remember him, appeared on The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson and in a moment of real sadness
and melancholy. He looked over at Johnny and said, do
you ever feel like a man with brown shoes in
(36:13):
a room full of black tuxedo? Just not quite right
with the way things are? Shame gives us this feeling
that we ought to apologize for the space we're taking
up on the earth. Shame makes us keenly aware of
(36:38):
all those things we could have should have done better.
It shuts us down, It closes our hearts, It sends
us into hiding. That's one of the barriers, one of
the fuels of resistance to the fullness of life God
wants for us. And closely related, of course, is guilt.
(36:58):
Guilt all so shuts us down. Guilt over the wrong
and hurtful things we have done, Guilt over the good
and right and loving things we have failed to do.
Growing up, I was clear that God was opposed to
(37:23):
and upset over human sin. I got it that there
were things we should be guilty for. I got it
that there were things we should feel ashamed about. I
got the message God is against sin, but I don't
remember getting an explanation of why it is God is
(37:49):
so upset about human sinfulness about the ways in which
we go wrong. And I have learned that God is
against sin because God is for us. It's because sin
(38:10):
damages us, and God does not want us damaged. Evil
diminishes and debilitates us, and God doesn't want us diminished
and debilitated. God is for us, not against us. God
is against whatever is against us, against life, as God
(38:36):
means it to be. So, Jesus comes to give us
abundant life, and to liberate us from everything that distorts
and demeans and diminishes and disfigures us. Jesus comes and
sets us free from whatever shuts us down and holds
(39:00):
us back. I have come that you might have life,
and have it in all its fullness. The glory of
God is a human being, you fully alive. Many summers ago,
(39:24):
now I took a brief retreat along the Hudson River,
about an hour north of New York City. It was
a small Catholic retreat center run by an order of
very hospitable and welcoming nuns. I was the only Baptist,
I was the only Protestant. I was one of just
(39:46):
a handful of males who were there. And it was
a kind of necessary disorienting experience. I was in a
different religious culture, I mean, it's shame faith, but different
brand of the same faith.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
And I.
Speaker 7 (40:05):
Fell into a kind of helpful quietness and a kind
of unexpected surrender of all my well, not all, and
who knows if we ever get rid of all, but
most of my pride in how it is, I had
done faith up to that point. And there was a
(40:26):
little magazine, a little magazine published by this order of
Catholic Nuns, and in it there was a prayer from
the twelfth sory figure, Anselm of Canterbury. And he said,
(40:47):
in this prayer, Oh my God, teach my heart where
and how to seek you, where and how to find you.
You are my God, and you are my all. You
(41:07):
have made me and remade me. You have bestowed on
me all the good things I possess. Still I don't
know you. I haven't yet done that for which I
was made. And that line, that last line, in particular,
(41:28):
I still have not done that for which I was
made brought tears running to my eyes, tears of recognition
and grief for myself and for all the people I know,
all the people I love who have been living life
and running fast and doing all they can and still
(41:51):
have this sense we have, don't we that we haven't
done what we were put here to do, which is
primarily to become who we were put here to become.
We have this nagging sense that God wants more for
(42:18):
our lives than we have yet been willing to open
ourselves too for whatever reason. In an interview, Stephen King
responded to critics who question the quantity and the quality
of his work. Primarily, I think, and it's understandable. It's
(42:43):
the quantity that causes the question about the quality, and
it's the inconsistent anyway. But question him about the This
is not a literature course. This is a sermon. Question
him about the quality and quantity of his work, he answered,
a lot of people have suggested that the stuff that
(43:05):
I do may be second class because there's so much
of it. My response to that is, I'm gonna be
I'm gonna quit and be dead for a long time.
I'm gonna quit and be dead for a long time.
This is the time I've got, and I want to
(43:25):
use it to the max. I really want to try
and mine everything I've got. I really want to try
and mine excavate everything I've got. I know that feeling.
(43:48):
I know that feeling that there's more to mine, there's
more to excavate, there's more to realize, more to experience,
And it's the gifts of God that make life worth living.
I get that. I get that sense that we have
music in us. We haven't played truth, we haven't spoken mysteries,
(44:10):
we haven't explored love, we haven't given and received joy,
we haven't danced. There are possibilities we haven't realized. And
there's the promise I have come that you might have
life and have it in all its fullness. It's a
(44:39):
surprise of grace to me that I have come to
believe that Ireneus saw into the heart of Jesus, in
the heart of God when he said that God is
glorified when we become everything God made us to become.
(45:03):
Our fullness, our radiance, our joyfulness, our love. These are
what make life worth living. And they are what make
us like God. And what makes us like God makes
us shine the glory of God. Is you fully alive? Now?
(45:24):
In the text I read from John's Gospel, Jesus calls
himself the gate of the sheep, the gatekeeper and the
good Shepherd. All these things. He says he's the gate
and the gate keeper. Anyone who enters another way is
a thief and abandon I've come that you might have life.
(45:45):
And then he says that he is also the good Shepherd.
He also says that the sheep know his voice. I
love this piling up of images and metaphors. In those days,
(46:07):
Palestinian shepherds would, as night fell heard their flocks into
sheep folds, which nestled usually against the hill and hard
rock wall borders, and there was an opening in front
of the sheepfold through which the sheep passed, and once
the sheep were safely in the fold, the shepherd would
(46:29):
lie down in the opening and become the flesh and
blood gate as well as the gatekeeper, to protect the
sheep from thieves and bandits from predators. The Sufi poet
Hafiz wrote something that I can imagine Jesus the good
(46:50):
Shepherd saying to us, someone put you on a slave block,
and the unreal bought you. Now I keep coming to
your owner and saying, this one's mine. You often hear
us talking, and this can make your heart leap with excitement.
(47:14):
Don't worry. Don't worry. I will not let sadness possess you.
I will gladly borrow all the gold I need to
buy you back. I'm not going to let the slavers
keep you. I'm not going to let the bandits kidnap
(47:36):
you from life as I mean it to be. And
Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. A child was
overheard praying her version of the Lord's prayer. It went
like this. At the beginning, our father, who art in heaven,
(48:00):
What would be my name? What would be my name?
Jesus says, I call my sheep by name, which means
I know who they really are. I know what identity
truly is. I call my sheep by name so that
(48:21):
they can realize what I know about them, the beauty
and wonder for which they were made. I know my
sheep's name, and my sheep know my voice. My sheep
know my voice. Often, multiple flocks of sheep belonging to
(48:48):
different shepherds would corral together for the night, and when
morning came and it was time for them to separate
out and find pasture together, the sheeps would hear the
voice of their own shepherd and travel to where that
shepherd was. I know my sheep's name, I know their identity,
(49:10):
I know who they really are, and they know my
voice and they come and follow me. What voices are
you listening to? Anne Lamont says that she's often tuned
into what she calls rap songs of self loathing. What
(49:36):
we're invited to is to hear the voice of tender love,
who is ready to lead us into fullness of life,
God's gift to us. The African American Christian and mystic
Howard Thurmann said, don't ask what the world needs, Ask
(50:03):
what makes you come alive, and go do it, because
what the world needs is people who have come alive. Amen.
(50:23):
We sing together this song of celebration, joyful, joyful, We
adore thee. Will you stand as we sing?
Speaker 3 (51:05):
S S S S.
Speaker 7 (52:20):
S S. Thank you for being in worship, and thank
(53:30):
you for the invitation that allowed me to be back
in worship with you. It's so wonderful to see you. So, friends,
we go from this place forgiven, free, beloved, graced and held.
(53:52):
So let's live, really live the life God has given us. Amen.
Speaker 9 (55:03):
Fa
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