May 26, 2025 • 24 mins
Join Pastor Tom Helmich as he delivers his first message as "Pastor Tom."
This message was for our graduates in high school, college, and post-graduate studies - and truly, for all believers. On this Memorial Day weekend, Pastor Tom explores Jesus' prayer in John 17, unpacking the gifts of God's Word, Christ's intercession, and our mission in the world.
Key highlights:
- Understanding our role as Christians in the world
- The importance of staying rooted in faith
- Finding mentors and community
- Living as witnesses of Christ's love
Whether you're a graduate, parent, or anyone seeking spiritual guidance, this message offers wisdom and encouragement for your journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Helmich (00:03):
Good morning neighborhood church,
first of all, for the youth arehere and everybody else who who
signed this, I spent quite a bitof time reading all the comments
and the signatures in here, andonly a few people that have
handwriting that is as bad asmine. But thank you again for
everything, all the support, andthis will will tie in towards
the end of the message. Buttonight, today or tonight, last
(00:25):
time I got and talked in frontof people was Wednesday night,
and I thought it was morning. Sothis morning, first thing I want
to acknowledge is that this isMemorial Day weekend, and it's a
rainy day, and I think that kindof fits the mood of it a little
bit. And I just want everybodyto recognize and remember that
the reason why we have a threeday weekend, three day weekend
is not just for us to enjoybackyard barbecues and have more
(00:46):
time at home with family, but torecognize and honor all the
people have gone before us topay the ultimate sacrifice for
this great nation that allows usto be here and worship in the
way that we feel called. So Ihope that you keep all them in
your prayers and thoughts thisweekend and remember it the
holiday for what it represents.
So but jumping into the messagepoints, we have a reading today,
and I picked this readingintended for our high school
(01:08):
graduates. It also fits forcollege graduates. It fits for
me and it fits for everybodyelse out there this morning,
whether you're on Facebook orhere in the building. And so
this reading is going to be fromJohn chapter 17, verses 14 to 23
I have given them your Well, letme introduce this first. This is
(01:29):
Jesus talking. If you have a RedLetter Bible, this is all in
red. It's not the entire prayer.
It's a section of it. But thisis Jesus praying to God, the
Father, the Creator, on behalfof all of us. He says, Jesus
says, I have given them YourWord, and the world has hated
them because they do not belongto the world, just as I do not
(01:50):
belong to the world, I am notasking you to take them out of
the world, but I ask you toprotect them from the evil one
they do not belong to the world,just as I do not belong to the
world, Sanctify them in thetruth. Your word is truth. As
you have sent me into the world,so I have sent them into the
(02:13):
world. And for their sakes, Isanctify Myself so that they may
also be sanctified in truth, Iask not only on behalf of these
but also on behalf of those whowill believe me through their
word that's all of us, that theymay all be one, as You, Father,
are in Me and I am in you, maythey also be in us, so that the
(02:38):
world may Believe that you havesent me the glory that you have
given me, I have given them, sothat they may be one as we are
one in them and you in Me, thatthey may be completely one, so
that the world may know that youhave sent me and have loved them
even as You have loved Me. Sobreak some of this stuff down a
(03:03):
little bit, because it's kind ofa long reading, but it fits what
we're talking about with sendingour seniors out. So Jesus says,
I have given them your word.
Well, Jesus is the word in thebeginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Wordwas God. So Jesus is the word
he's given us, not only the Wordof God in Scripture, but in
(03:23):
himself that he poured out onthe cross.
And I noticed also he says thathe asks that God not take the
disciples out of the world,because there's a lot of stuff
that's kind of rough out theresometimes. And Jesus could have
(03:44):
said, Father, I pray you takethem all out of the world and we
just all go to heavenimmediately. And that's it. But
that's not what happened, andthere's a reason for that, and
we'll get into that here in alittle bit. So of the message,
message points. I titled thistwo gifts, one warning and a
mission. Two gifts, one warningand a mission. And this is
(04:04):
primarily for high schoolers,but it's true for all of us. So
the first two gifts, I thinkit's the next slide, the yes
Jesus has given you the Word ofGod. Remember that that is a
gift the Bible that you have onyour phone or in your lap, that
(04:24):
is a gift from God for our use,for us to strengthen our faith,
to have an idea of what the willof God is for us in our lives,
what we're supposed to do, howwe're supposed to treat each
other, how we're supposed toview ourselves in the world.
That is a gift that we shouldcherish and treat as a precious
gift. The other gift is thatJesus has prayed for us. This is
(04:47):
Jesus in this reading, and he'spraying for his disciples and
all of those who come to believethrough their word, and that
follows through like anapostolic tradition. So. From
from the original disciples ondown all the way to all of us.
That is who Jesus is prayingfor. Jesus has prayed for you,
(05:08):
for you, for me, for you. Jesushas prayed for all of us. And
what better prayer can we everhope to get than from the Word
of God incarnate? If Jesus isgoing to pray for us, what
better strength can we possiblyhave in the world. Prayer is
important. He set the examplefor us, but he has prayed for
us, and that is a huge gift. Heprayed that God protect us from
(05:31):
evil, because there is a lot ofevil out there. As a cop for 25
years, I've seen it, but Jesusprayed that the Father in heaven
would protect all of us fromevil. And he didn't, and he said
he didn't pray for us to betaken out of the world, just to
be protected from the evil thatis in the world. He also prayed
(05:55):
that we be one with the TriuneGod, that that we be one with
God, the Father with Jesus, justas Jesus is one with the Father,
we're all part of the gatheredBody of Christ. We're all part
of this church that is not abuilding. The people in the
church are the the people seecaught myself, the people are
(06:16):
the church. The people in thebuilding are the church. This
building can all go away, and wecould be sitting in lawn chairs
in the middle of a field and isstill very much the church, and
remember, he prayed these thingsfor each and every one of you.
Now we have the one warning.
Jesus said that the basicallytold us, the world will not
(06:37):
always be kind to you. Anybodyhere ever had the world not be
kind to them? Yeah, the world isnot always a kind place, but
being a Christian isn't abouthaving an awesome life in the
world. Otherwise, Jesus wouldhave just prayed that the world
(06:58):
be kind to everybody. Jesuscould have called us out of it
right then, but he left us herebecause we have something to do.
The world will not always bekind to us, but we have to
remember that we don't belong tothe world. Jesus said that twice
in his prayer, we do not belongto the world. Remember who we
belong to. We belong to God, theFather in heaven. That is where
(07:19):
we belong. We are here, awayfrom home on a mission. We have
to be careful that we don't giveourselves away to the world and
all the temptations and the sinthat's in the world and that we
hold true to our Creator and toour Savior. And now the mission.
There is a mission. This is theclosest I can ever think to get
(07:42):
with what is the meaning oflife. Anybody ever wondered,
like, what's the meaning oflife? What's the point? Why are
we doing this? Like, what'swhat? Why? Why are we here?
Right? If there's no point, thenwhy didn't Jesus just call us
home? Then? Well, because wehave a mission. Jesus says, I am
as you have sent me. I amsending them. We have been sent
(08:03):
out into the world that we arein. We all have a purpose out
there, and it's not necessarilya vocational purpose, because we
can change jobs and still beChristians. You can be a
Christian in just about any job,but we have a role to play for
(08:26):
the kingdom. That's that we liveour life in relationship with
God, in relationship with theother people around us, and
through that, we show ourselvesas a witness to the love of
Christ, to remember that, thatrecognizing that Jesus has loved
me despite my sin, and then whenwe do our best to love the other
(08:48):
people around us like Jesus hasloved me, we show them the love
of Christ that they may neverhave experienced, may have never
heard that is our mission outthere, to Go out into the world
as Christians and to live asChristians. So I'm wearing this
kind of funny piece of clothing,right? It's not cold, it's not a
scarf, and it's burlap. Iwouldn't want to wrap it around
(09:10):
my neck. It was a gift at myordination. I got a bunch of
signatures from folks in thechurch, a bunch of the kids. I
wondered when on a Wednesdaynight, Joe kept snatching kids
out of the warehouse andsecreting them kind of over to
little neighbors. And now I knowwhy. So this is called a stole
and you'll see somebody, maybeeven me, wearing the black shirt
(09:33):
with the little white collar. Iknow you've never seen Joe in
one I checked the pic. I checkedthe picture at the seminary. I
found Jess picture and Joe'spicture, no black shirt with a
little white collar. So you knowwhat that shirt symbolizes? It's
just like a dedication to thechurch. You don't have to be an
ordained pastor to wear it. Iwore it for years before I was
ordained, but that's kind ofcome to mean to people see it as
(09:56):
a symbol of somebody like apastor. Or a priest. This is the
symbol of the vocation ofPastor, and it's The stole
represents a yoke. Not manypeople it's not an agricultural
area anymore, so not many peopleknow what a yoke is. It's not
the orange, yellow part in anegg. It's close. Anybody know
what a yoke is? Some of the kidsprobably do, because we've
(10:18):
talked about it in church,right? You know what a yoke is?
Yell it out.
Yes, absolutely. When you yokesomebody with a burden, like a
beast of bird, not a horse or anox, and it's just either wood or
I've seen some that are leatherhave a like a leather coating,
(10:40):
and that goes around theirshoulders, and you hook the
ropes or the chains to it, andthey use it to pull something.
It's how they shoulder theburden to pull something. And
this is kind of what this, thissymbolizes, is the yoke that
goes around the neck. RememberJesus said, My burden is light
and my yoke is easy, or My yokeis easy, My burden is light. I
may have that backwards, but I'mless Dixie. So it happens it's
(11:04):
the light burden and the easyyoke, right? It took y'all a
minute, didn't it? It's thefirst it's the early service. I
bet the second service get alittle quicker, because they've
had time to drink a little morecoffee. But it symbolizes that
yoke where we shoulder theburden of things. But I'm not
the only one that has this. Thisis just an outward symbol so
that you can see it, to knowthat it's my role to stand up
(11:25):
here and do this, even thoughI've only seen Joe wear his
twice. But you don't have tohave it to do the work, and it's
just to make it visible.
Everyone of you has a yoke as aChristian, everyone of you has a
yoke around your neck, aboutaround your shoulders, and a
burden to bear, but it's a lightand easy burden, because all of
you are part of the priesthoodof all believers. Now this is
(11:50):
something that may not gettalked about a whole lot. So
early on, you know, around theProtestant Reformation, there
were the priests, and then therewas everybody else, and it
created this class system insociety and in the church, where
the priests were seen as aboveeverybody else. And what, what
one things Luther said is thatwe are all on equal ground. I
(12:11):
have people ever heard the joke.
I've heard this a few timeslately. Hey, now that you have a
direct line to God, can you likepray for the rain to hold off?
Haven't gotten that number yet.
That's not how that works. Ihave no more authority over God
or the Holy Spirit than any oneof you. No difference between
you and me. The only differenceis I'm the one that's been
(12:34):
delegated to dedicate my time todoing this while you go out and
do you know, dedicate your timeto doing other things that are
in support of society. You havethe same yoke that I do as a
Christian, because everyChristian is a member of the
priesthood of all believers,every one of you has a
responsibility to be a witnessto the love of Christ in the
(12:57):
world. And for high schoolers,this is a new thing for them to
kind of understand, because highschoolers, especially, they've
lived their lives in theirparents households, and when
they graduate high school, nomatter where they go, whether
it's the military or college orstraight into the workforce,
they are now a little different.
(13:19):
Technically, they're an adult.
Emotionally, they're stillgetting there. Life experience
wise, they're definitely justgetting started, but they're
moving into that new role astheir own person. But for the
high schoolers out there, orgraduate fresh graduates, you
gotta remember, you are nowstepping out into the mission
field, no matter what you do,whether you're picking up trash,
whether you're cooking in arestaurant, whether you're
(13:41):
taking care of kids, buildinghouses, digging ditches, working
on computers, no matter whatyou're doing, you are doing that
in the mission field. You'redoing that out in the world as a
member of the priesthood ofbelievers, as a representative
of Christ's Church in societyand on Earth. And you don't do
it by necessarily standing upand preaching, because, face it,
(14:03):
I came here. You all came hereto meet Joe and I anybody in
here, not a Christian, don'traise your hand. I don't want to
dime you out if you're justwondering. You know that was a
bad idea. I just thought aboutthis for the moment. We can talk
afterwards, if you want, nopressure, right? But who comes
to the church, the people weneed to witness to, are still
(14:25):
out there, and who's going to goout there and meet them? I can
only meet so many people, andmost of the people I interact
with are already Christians. Thereality is all of you will do
more for the kingdom of God andfor Christ's Church on earth
than I will, because there's oneof me, there's a couple 100 of
(14:48):
you, not this morning in thehouse, but you know, it's
raining and it's, you know, it'sa holiday weekend, but you know,
out there on Zoom and the churchas a whole, you all will. Do
more to witness to the love ofChrist than I will, and you'll
do it in your everyday life. Youdo it in the moments that you
show kindness to other peoplebecause you're compelled to love
(15:12):
your neighbor as Christ, Jesushas loved you. Means when you
see people doing something thatyou don't necessarily approve
of, you love them anyway. Youdon't have to like them. You
just have to love them. And theeasy way to do that sometimes is
just being kind. Somebody whodoesn't look like you, sound
like you, think like you,believe like you, live like you.
No matter how much youdisapprove or approve, you just
(15:36):
greet them with a smile and bekind. Jesus said that they will
know you by my works. If youlove me and you love others,
they will know you as mydisciples. That's how you should
you don't have to wear a crosson the outside of your shirt for
people to see. You don't have towear, you know, a stole or
(15:57):
something like that. You don'thave to be over the top. You
just have to go out into theworld as a Christian and live
your life according to whatJesus has commanded you the best
you can, and treat people withkindness and dignity and take
care of those that need help andcan't take care of themselves.
And for the high schoolers, it'srough because a lot of high
(16:19):
schoolers, I'm not going to namenames, but a lot of them, that's
a point, and a point in my life.
Anyway, it was a very selfishseason in my life, because now,
all sudden, you get thisfreedom, and you can do whatever
you want, and shortlythereafter, take this as a
warning comes the consequencesof doing whatever you want, and
the hope is you eventually comeback to center a little bit.
(16:42):
Staying rooted in a communityfaith is a big part of that. It
keeps you from going too far offonto the margins. It puts you in
a community of other believersand of mentors that can help
you. Because there's a point asa graduating senior, at least
for me, where I was trying todifferentiate myself from my
home of origin a little bit, andI'm sure it's frustrating for my
(17:05):
parents, and I've experiencedthis where I'm sure they were
telling me, like, what I neededto do, and I've told my kids
what they need to do, andthey're like, hey, whatever, you
don't know anything. And thensomebody else tells them the
same thing, and they think, Oh,that's a great idea. And I'm
like, Oh my gosh, but it's real.
You need that mentorship thatyou will get from other
(17:26):
Christians in the gathered bodyin the church, no matter what
church it is, here's here'sanother truth. I'm a big
advocate when we do the apostlescreed of leaving the word
Catholic and not changing it toChristian lowercase c, I don't
want to give that over to onespecific tradition of the
church. We say we believe in oneholy Catholic and Apostolic
Church, because Catholic meansworldwide. Not everybody's going
(17:48):
to like this. But whether you goto a Baptist church, a Methodist
Church, a Presbyterian Church,an Episcopal Church, a Lutheran
church, that is part of the oneholy Catholic and Apostolic
Church. We do it different ways.
It sounds different, it looksdifferent, but it is all part of
Christ's one worldwide church.
So for the high school seniors,no matter where you go, be a
(18:09):
part of that church, no matterwhat tradition or style it is,
because this is where you cometo be empowered to go out into
the world to witness to the loveof Christ in the world. This is
where you come to worship as anact of worship and sacrifice.
It's also where you come to beenabled and empowered and and
(18:30):
trained to go out there and dothe real work. And I can only do
a small amount of that in theworld, 99% of it's going to be
done by all of you. And for thehigh school seniors, that means
you now too, because you are nowgoing out into the world, stay
devoted to God's word, studyingthe scriptures, coming to
(18:56):
church, listening to sermonsfrom whoever you want,
participating in the sacraments,taking communion and staying
rooted here, when you go out,not necessarily here, here, but
like, you know, in a church,wherever you are, and when you
have moments where you feel likeyou screwed up, just know that I
have. I'm 49 years old. I havescrewed up more than you, you'll
(19:19):
be okay. There's grace for that.
As long as you keep after allyour screw ups, you keep coming
back, turning back to God. Apiece of advice for the high
school seniors, find a mentor.
Sometimes it's a little easierif you hear the exact same
(19:42):
thing, unfortunately, fromsomebody other than your mom or
dad. Find an adult that you lookup to, that you trust, that you
can have a relationship with andtalk with, and that somebody
who's going to hold youaccountable and say to you, Hey,
what the heck are you doing?
You. Because the other teenagersyou're hanging out with, they
(20:04):
also do not yet have a fullyformed brain.
For the boys, especially you gotabout seven, eight more years
guys, I have a theory highschool kids, especially boys,
they grow so fast. You've seenboys grow just incredibly fast.
My theory is, and I'm not abiologist, is that the human
spinal cord is the slowestgrowing part in the male body,
(20:27):
and as their body grows and getstaller and taller and taller,
their brains way up here, butthe spinal cord is still down
around here somewhere. And about26 oh, hey, the lights come on.
And now we're all sudden, we'refiguring out what's going on,
right? So just know that youwon't have all the answers. You
don't even have all thequestions yet, find somebody
(20:48):
that's got the experience tohave done that and to give you
some honest feedback and to holdyou accountable, and that you
can go ask the hard questionstoo, because you're going to
need that. And for the adultsout there. I heard this piece of
advice from somebody years ago.
Have a good, close friend that'sin the generation before yours
and the generation after yours,because you are also learning to
(21:08):
be part of the priesthood ofbelievers in the world. It's
something we have to continuallywork on. We never stop learning.
We never stop learning. Nomatter what you're doing,
there's still stuff I'm tryingto figure out, but together, we
support each other as we go outto do this work. So remember
(21:29):
guys, especially guys and gals,especially the high schoolers.
You don't necessarily have oneof these around your neck for
people to see, but you have aninvisible one that's part of
your faith. It's part of who youare and who you believe in, and
what your role is in the world.
Represent the church in theworld, and stay rooted in your
(21:52):
faith. Thanks be to God, ifyou'll pray with me, please,
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks that you have sent people
out into the world and Lord, Igive you thanks that you've come
to us to show us how to do thisholy work. Lord, I pray that you
help all of us, me especially,to stay rooted in the Scripture
(22:12):
and to stay devoted to studyingthe Scripture and to know how
we're to go out and to be yourhands and your voice in the
world around us. Lord, help usto put our own our own
prejudices and our and our owndesires and our own selfish
ambition behind us, so that wecan go out and witness to the
(22:33):
true Christ, to the Word of Godout into the world. Lord, pray
you help these, these highschool seniors, especially as
they're learning to try toadult, that they find a guide
and a mentor to help them, andthat they go out and to live
their lives as a witness to yourlove, remembering always that as
you have sent Christ, Christ hassent you, for Christ has sent
(22:58):
them, Lord, I Pray that you helpus to always recognize and
remember and focus on the lovewe have and the mission we have
out in the world. And we praythese things in your holy and
precious name. And all God'speople said, Amen. Amen.
Good morning neighborhood church,
first of all, for the youth arehere and everybody else who who
signed this, I spent quite a bitof time reading all the comments
and the signatures in here, andonly a few people that have
handwriting that is as bad asmine. But thank you again for
everything, all the support, andthis will will tie in towards
the end of the message. Buttonight, today or tonight, last
(00:25):
time I got and talked in frontof people was Wednesday night,
and I thought it was morning. Sothis morning, first thing I want
to acknowledge is that this isMemorial Day weekend, and it's a
rainy day, and I think that kindof fits the mood of it a little
bit. And I just want everybodyto recognize and remember that
the reason why we have a threeday weekend, three day weekend
is not just for us to enjoybackyard barbecues and have more
(00:46):
time at home with family, but torecognize and honor all the
people have gone before us topay the ultimate sacrifice for
this great nation that allows usto be here and worship in the
way that we feel called. So Ihope that you keep all them in
your prayers and thoughts thisweekend and remember it the
holiday for what it represents.
So but jumping into the messagepoints, we have a reading today,
and I picked this readingintended for our high school
(01:08):
graduates. It also fits forcollege graduates. It fits for
me and it fits for everybodyelse out there this morning,
whether you're on Facebook orhere in the building. And so
this reading is going to be fromJohn chapter 17, verses 14 to 23
I have given them your Well, letme introduce this first. This is
(01:29):
Jesus talking. If you have a RedLetter Bible, this is all in
red. It's not the entire prayer.
It's a section of it. But thisis Jesus praying to God, the
Father, the Creator, on behalfof all of us. He says, Jesus
says, I have given them YourWord, and the world has hated
them because they do not belongto the world, just as I do not
(01:50):
belong to the world, I am notasking you to take them out of
the world, but I ask you toprotect them from the evil one
they do not belong to the world,just as I do not belong to the
world, Sanctify them in thetruth. Your word is truth. As
you have sent me into the world,so I have sent them into the
(02:13):
world. And for their sakes, Isanctify Myself so that they may
also be sanctified in truth, Iask not only on behalf of these
but also on behalf of those whowill believe me through their
word that's all of us, that theymay all be one, as You, Father,
are in Me and I am in you, maythey also be in us, so that the
(02:38):
world may Believe that you havesent me the glory that you have
given me, I have given them, sothat they may be one as we are
one in them and you in Me, thatthey may be completely one, so
that the world may know that youhave sent me and have loved them
even as You have loved Me. Sobreak some of this stuff down a
(03:03):
little bit, because it's kind ofa long reading, but it fits what
we're talking about with sendingour seniors out. So Jesus says,
I have given them your word.
Well, Jesus is the word in thebeginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Wordwas God. So Jesus is the word
he's given us, not only the Wordof God in Scripture, but in
(03:23):
himself that he poured out onthe cross.
And I noticed also he says thathe asks that God not take the
disciples out of the world,because there's a lot of stuff
that's kind of rough out theresometimes. And Jesus could have
(03:44):
said, Father, I pray you takethem all out of the world and we
just all go to heavenimmediately. And that's it. But
that's not what happened, andthere's a reason for that, and
we'll get into that here in alittle bit. So of the message,
message points. I titled thistwo gifts, one warning and a
mission. Two gifts, one warningand a mission. And this is
(04:04):
primarily for high schoolers,but it's true for all of us. So
the first two gifts, I thinkit's the next slide, the yes
Jesus has given you the Word ofGod. Remember that that is a
gift the Bible that you have onyour phone or in your lap, that
(04:24):
is a gift from God for our use,for us to strengthen our faith,
to have an idea of what the willof God is for us in our lives,
what we're supposed to do, howwe're supposed to treat each
other, how we're supposed toview ourselves in the world.
That is a gift that we shouldcherish and treat as a precious
gift. The other gift is thatJesus has prayed for us. This is
(04:47):
Jesus in this reading, and he'spraying for his disciples and
all of those who come to believethrough their word, and that
follows through like anapostolic tradition. So. From
from the original disciples ondown all the way to all of us.
That is who Jesus is prayingfor. Jesus has prayed for you,
(05:08):
for you, for me, for you. Jesushas prayed for all of us. And
what better prayer can we everhope to get than from the Word
of God incarnate? If Jesus isgoing to pray for us, what
better strength can we possiblyhave in the world. Prayer is
important. He set the examplefor us, but he has prayed for
us, and that is a huge gift. Heprayed that God protect us from
(05:31):
evil, because there is a lot ofevil out there. As a cop for 25
years, I've seen it, but Jesusprayed that the Father in heaven
would protect all of us fromevil. And he didn't, and he said
he didn't pray for us to betaken out of the world, just to
be protected from the evil thatis in the world. He also prayed
(05:55):
that we be one with the TriuneGod, that that we be one with
God, the Father with Jesus, justas Jesus is one with the Father,
we're all part of the gatheredBody of Christ. We're all part
of this church that is not abuilding. The people in the
church are the the people seecaught myself, the people are
(06:16):
the church. The people in thebuilding are the church. This
building can all go away, and wecould be sitting in lawn chairs
in the middle of a field and isstill very much the church, and
remember, he prayed these thingsfor each and every one of you.
Now we have the one warning.
Jesus said that the basicallytold us, the world will not
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always be kind to you. Anybodyhere ever had the world not be
kind to them? Yeah, the world isnot always a kind place, but
being a Christian isn't abouthaving an awesome life in the
world. Otherwise, Jesus wouldhave just prayed that the world
(06:58):
be kind to everybody. Jesuscould have called us out of it
right then, but he left us herebecause we have something to do.
The world will not always bekind to us, but we have to
remember that we don't belong tothe world. Jesus said that twice
in his prayer, we do not belongto the world. Remember who we
belong to. We belong to God, theFather in heaven. That is where
(07:19):
we belong. We are here, awayfrom home on a mission. We have
to be careful that we don't giveourselves away to the world and
all the temptations and the sinthat's in the world and that we
hold true to our Creator and toour Savior. And now the mission.
There is a mission. This is theclosest I can ever think to get
(07:42):
with what is the meaning oflife. Anybody ever wondered,
like, what's the meaning oflife? What's the point? Why are
we doing this? Like, what'swhat? Why? Why are we here?
Right? If there's no point, thenwhy didn't Jesus just call us
home? Then? Well, because wehave a mission. Jesus says, I am
as you have sent me. I amsending them. We have been sent
(08:03):
out into the world that we arein. We all have a purpose out
there, and it's not necessarilya vocational purpose, because we
can change jobs and still beChristians. You can be a
Christian in just about any job,but we have a role to play for
(08:26):
the kingdom. That's that we liveour life in relationship with
God, in relationship with theother people around us, and
through that, we show ourselvesas a witness to the love of
Christ, to remember that, thatrecognizing that Jesus has loved
me despite my sin, and then whenwe do our best to love the other
(08:48):
people around us like Jesus hasloved me, we show them the love
of Christ that they may neverhave experienced, may have never
heard that is our mission outthere, to Go out into the world
as Christians and to live asChristians. So I'm wearing this
kind of funny piece of clothing,right? It's not cold, it's not a
scarf, and it's burlap. Iwouldn't want to wrap it around
(09:10):
my neck. It was a gift at myordination. I got a bunch of
signatures from folks in thechurch, a bunch of the kids. I
wondered when on a Wednesdaynight, Joe kept snatching kids
out of the warehouse andsecreting them kind of over to
little neighbors. And now I knowwhy. So this is called a stole
and you'll see somebody, maybeeven me, wearing the black shirt
(09:33):
with the little white collar. Iknow you've never seen Joe in
one I checked the pic. I checkedthe picture at the seminary. I
found Jess picture and Joe'spicture, no black shirt with a
little white collar. So you knowwhat that shirt symbolizes? It's
just like a dedication to thechurch. You don't have to be an
ordained pastor to wear it. Iwore it for years before I was
ordained, but that's kind ofcome to mean to people see it as
(09:56):
a symbol of somebody like apastor. Or a priest. This is the
symbol of the vocation ofPastor, and it's The stole
represents a yoke. Not manypeople it's not an agricultural
area anymore, so not many peopleknow what a yoke is. It's not
the orange, yellow part in anegg. It's close. Anybody know
what a yoke is? Some of the kidsprobably do, because we've
(10:18):
talked about it in church,right? You know what a yoke is?
Yell it out.
Yes, absolutely. When you yokesomebody with a burden, like a
beast of bird, not a horse or anox, and it's just either wood or
I've seen some that are leatherhave a like a leather coating,
(10:40):
and that goes around theirshoulders, and you hook the
ropes or the chains to it, andthey use it to pull something.
It's how they shoulder theburden to pull something. And
this is kind of what this, thissymbolizes, is the yoke that
goes around the neck. RememberJesus said, My burden is light
and my yoke is easy, or My yokeis easy, My burden is light. I
may have that backwards, but I'mless Dixie. So it happens it's
(11:04):
the light burden and the easyyoke, right? It took y'all a
minute, didn't it? It's thefirst it's the early service. I
bet the second service get alittle quicker, because they've
had time to drink a little morecoffee. But it symbolizes that
yoke where we shoulder theburden of things. But I'm not
the only one that has this. Thisis just an outward symbol so
that you can see it, to knowthat it's my role to stand up
(11:25):
here and do this, even thoughI've only seen Joe wear his
twice. But you don't have tohave it to do the work, and it's
just to make it visible.
Everyone of you has a yoke as aChristian, everyone of you has a
yoke around your neck, aboutaround your shoulders, and a
burden to bear, but it's a lightand easy burden, because all of
you are part of the priesthoodof all believers. Now this is
(11:50):
something that may not gettalked about a whole lot. So
early on, you know, around theProtestant Reformation, there
were the priests, and then therewas everybody else, and it
created this class system insociety and in the church, where
the priests were seen as aboveeverybody else. And what, what
one things Luther said is thatwe are all on equal ground. I
(12:11):
have people ever heard the joke.
I've heard this a few timeslately. Hey, now that you have a
direct line to God, can you likepray for the rain to hold off?
Haven't gotten that number yet.
That's not how that works. Ihave no more authority over God
or the Holy Spirit than any oneof you. No difference between
you and me. The only differenceis I'm the one that's been
(12:34):
delegated to dedicate my time todoing this while you go out and
do you know, dedicate your timeto doing other things that are
in support of society. You havethe same yoke that I do as a
Christian, because everyChristian is a member of the
priesthood of all believers,every one of you has a
responsibility to be a witnessto the love of Christ in the
(12:57):
world. And for high schoolers,this is a new thing for them to
kind of understand, because highschoolers, especially, they've
lived their lives in theirparents households, and when
they graduate high school, nomatter where they go, whether
it's the military or college orstraight into the workforce,
they are now a little different.
(13:19):
Technically, they're an adult.
Emotionally, they're stillgetting there. Life experience
wise, they're definitely justgetting started, but they're
moving into that new role astheir own person. But for the
high schoolers out there, orgraduate fresh graduates, you
gotta remember, you are nowstepping out into the mission
field, no matter what you do,whether you're picking up trash,
whether you're cooking in arestaurant, whether you're
(13:41):
taking care of kids, buildinghouses, digging ditches, working
on computers, no matter whatyou're doing, you are doing that
in the mission field. You'redoing that out in the world as a
member of the priesthood ofbelievers, as a representative
of Christ's Church in societyand on Earth. And you don't do
it by necessarily standing upand preaching, because, face it,
(14:03):
I came here. You all came hereto meet Joe and I anybody in
here, not a Christian, don'traise your hand. I don't want to
dime you out if you're justwondering. You know that was a
bad idea. I just thought aboutthis for the moment. We can talk
afterwards, if you want, nopressure, right? But who comes
to the church, the people weneed to witness to, are still
(14:25):
out there, and who's going to goout there and meet them? I can
only meet so many people, andmost of the people I interact
with are already Christians. Thereality is all of you will do
more for the kingdom of God andfor Christ's Church on earth
than I will, because there's oneof me, there's a couple 100 of
(14:48):
you, not this morning in thehouse, but you know, it's
raining and it's, you know, it'sa holiday weekend, but you know,
out there on Zoom and the churchas a whole, you all will. Do
more to witness to the love ofChrist than I will, and you'll
do it in your everyday life. Youdo it in the moments that you
show kindness to other peoplebecause you're compelled to love
(15:12):
your neighbor as Christ, Jesushas loved you. Means when you
see people doing something thatyou don't necessarily approve
of, you love them anyway. Youdon't have to like them. You
just have to love them. And theeasy way to do that sometimes is
just being kind. Somebody whodoesn't look like you, sound
like you, think like you,believe like you, live like you.
No matter how much youdisapprove or approve, you just
(15:36):
greet them with a smile and bekind. Jesus said that they will
know you by my works. If youlove me and you love others,
they will know you as mydisciples. That's how you should
you don't have to wear a crosson the outside of your shirt for
people to see. You don't have towear, you know, a stole or
(15:57):
something like that. You don'thave to be over the top. You
just have to go out into theworld as a Christian and live
your life according to whatJesus has commanded you the best
you can, and treat people withkindness and dignity and take
care of those that need help andcan't take care of themselves.
And for the high schoolers, it'srough because a lot of high
(16:19):
schoolers, I'm not going to namenames, but a lot of them, that's
a point, and a point in my life.
Anyway, it was a very selfishseason in my life, because now,
all sudden, you get thisfreedom, and you can do whatever
you want, and shortlythereafter, take this as a
warning comes the consequencesof doing whatever you want, and
the hope is you eventually comeback to center a little bit.
(16:42):
Staying rooted in a communityfaith is a big part of that. It
keeps you from going too far offonto the margins. It puts you in
a community of other believersand of mentors that can help
you. Because there's a point asa graduating senior, at least
for me, where I was trying todifferentiate myself from my
home of origin a little bit, andI'm sure it's frustrating for my
(17:05):
parents, and I've experiencedthis where I'm sure they were
telling me, like, what I neededto do, and I've told my kids
what they need to do, andthey're like, hey, whatever, you
don't know anything. And thensomebody else tells them the
same thing, and they think, Oh,that's a great idea. And I'm
like, Oh my gosh, but it's real.
You need that mentorship thatyou will get from other
(17:26):
Christians in the gathered bodyin the church, no matter what
church it is, here's here'sanother truth. I'm a big
advocate when we do the apostlescreed of leaving the word
Catholic and not changing it toChristian lowercase c, I don't
want to give that over to onespecific tradition of the
church. We say we believe in oneholy Catholic and Apostolic
Church, because Catholic meansworldwide. Not everybody's going
(17:48):
to like this. But whether you goto a Baptist church, a Methodist
Church, a Presbyterian Church,an Episcopal Church, a Lutheran
church, that is part of the oneholy Catholic and Apostolic
Church. We do it different ways.
It sounds different, it looksdifferent, but it is all part of
Christ's one worldwide church.
So for the high school seniors,no matter where you go, be a
(18:09):
part of that church, no matterwhat tradition or style it is,
because this is where you cometo be empowered to go out into
the world to witness to the loveof Christ in the world. This is
where you come to worship as anact of worship and sacrifice.
It's also where you come to beenabled and empowered and and
(18:30):
trained to go out there and dothe real work. And I can only do
a small amount of that in theworld, 99% of it's going to be
done by all of you. And for thehigh school seniors, that means
you now too, because you are nowgoing out into the world, stay
devoted to God's word, studyingthe scriptures, coming to
(18:56):
church, listening to sermonsfrom whoever you want,
participating in the sacraments,taking communion and staying
rooted here, when you go out,not necessarily here, here, but
like, you know, in a church,wherever you are, and when you
have moments where you feel likeyou screwed up, just know that I
have. I'm 49 years old. I havescrewed up more than you, you'll
(19:19):
be okay. There's grace for that.
As long as you keep after allyour screw ups, you keep coming
back, turning back to God. Apiece of advice for the high
school seniors, find a mentor.
Sometimes it's a little easierif you hear the exact same
(19:42):
thing, unfortunately, fromsomebody other than your mom or
dad. Find an adult that you lookup to, that you trust, that you
can have a relationship with andtalk with, and that somebody
who's going to hold youaccountable and say to you, Hey,
what the heck are you doing?
You. Because the other teenagersyou're hanging out with, they
(20:04):
also do not yet have a fullyformed brain.
For the boys, especially you gotabout seven, eight more years
guys, I have a theory highschool kids, especially boys,
they grow so fast. You've seenboys grow just incredibly fast.
My theory is, and I'm not abiologist, is that the human
spinal cord is the slowestgrowing part in the male body,
(20:27):
and as their body grows and getstaller and taller and taller,
their brains way up here, butthe spinal cord is still down
around here somewhere. And about26 oh, hey, the lights come on.
And now we're all sudden, we'refiguring out what's going on,
right? So just know that youwon't have all the answers. You
don't even have all thequestions yet, find somebody
(20:48):
that's got the experience tohave done that and to give you
some honest feedback and to holdyou accountable, and that you
can go ask the hard questionstoo, because you're going to
need that. And for the adultsout there. I heard this piece of
advice from somebody years ago.
Have a good, close friend that'sin the generation before yours
and the generation after yours,because you are also learning to
(21:08):
be part of the priesthood ofbelievers in the world. It's
something we have to continuallywork on. We never stop learning.
We never stop learning. Nomatter what you're doing,
there's still stuff I'm tryingto figure out, but together, we
support each other as we go outto do this work. So remember
(21:29):
guys, especially guys and gals,especially the high schoolers.
You don't necessarily have oneof these around your neck for
people to see, but you have aninvisible one that's part of
your faith. It's part of who youare and who you believe in, and
what your role is in the world.
Represent the church in theworld, and stay rooted in your
(21:52):
faith. Thanks be to God, ifyou'll pray with me, please,
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks that you have sent people
out into the world and Lord, Igive you thanks that you've come
to us to show us how to do thisholy work. Lord, I pray that you
help all of us, me especially,to stay rooted in the Scripture
(22:12):
and to stay devoted to studyingthe Scripture and to know how
we're to go out and to be yourhands and your voice in the
world around us. Lord, help usto put our own our own
prejudices and our and our owndesires and our own selfish
ambition behind us, so that wecan go out and witness to the
(22:33):
true Christ, to the Word of Godout into the world. Lord, pray
you help these, these highschool seniors, especially as
they're learning to try toadult, that they find a guide
and a mentor to help them, andthat they go out and to live
their lives as a witness to yourlove, remembering always that as
you have sent Christ, Christ hassent you, for Christ has sent
(22:58):
them, Lord, I Pray that you helpus to always recognize and
remember and focus on the lovewe have and the mission we have
out in the world. And we praythese things in your holy and
precious name. And all God'speople said, Amen. Amen.
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