Month: December 2019

Sermon
First Sunday after Christmas
Year A
December 29,2019

First Reading: Isaiah 61:10—62:3
Psalm 147
Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7
Gospel: John 1:1-18

For some people, Christmas was over on December 26^th, after all the presents were opened, the big meal was served and clean up was out of the way. They were done! But we still celebrate Christmas a couple week’s more. That’s a good thing, because after all the chaos, we now have time to absorb and celebrate what has been given to us. The greatest gift from God was the birth of Jesus and God becoming human…God becoming flesh and living among us.

Before I get into the sermon and the scripture; let me say a few words about Frosty the Snowman! I was listening to the song, like I have done before for most of my life, and had one of those one of those haw ha moments!

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman, He’s a jolly happy soul with a corncob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made out of coal.

Frosty the Snowman is a fairy tale they say, He was made of snow, But the children know, how he came to “life” one day.   

There must! have been some magic in that old silk hat they found, for when they placed it on his head, He began to dance around.

Frosty the Snowman was alive as he could be, and the children say, he could laugh and play, just the same as you and me.

The lyrics tell us he has a happy soul, a fairy tale, yes, but he had a magic hat and he is alive, he led us with playing, dancing and having fun, until he needs to go, He waved goodbye, saying don’t cry I’ll be back again someday.

I will say more at the end.

The Word… Life… and Light

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

God’s creation was not just in the beginning and it’s not meant to be in past tense, God’s creation is ongoing! The earth and God’s creation, is so much a part of us, that when it breathes and moves, we breathe and move with it, God’s creation bringing us Joy, Love, Hope!  Is this, the earth, God’s magic hat? 

“He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”

What has come into being… in him was… Life AND the life… was the light of all people.

God’s Word is “a lamp for my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119:105) 

The light in the Bible, stands for spiritual illumination and truth and it encompasses all that is pure, good, and holy……… “as opposed to the darkness of evil.” 

The light that Jesus brings, guides us into, following his commands throughout our lives. 

In the ancient days of religion, it was a dark time, the people have been hearing the old prophets and believing that a savior would come and reveal himself and he would save them. 

If Jesus would have just showed up and “said” — here I am! The one who you have been waiting for! — I am sure more people would have been reluctant to believe that He was “really” the savior.

In the OT

(Isaiah: 19-20) 700 years before Jesus “It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them”.   

In the NT

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. (John: 1-6)

After the birth of the Messiah!

On Christmas Eve the Romans occupied Jerusalem as the Jews desperately waited for the Messiah, and later you hear how Harold has innocent children killed because of his jealousy of the Savior’s birth. God has plans for Jesus, his son:

 “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave them power to become children of God.” (John 1:9-12)

Forerunner:

God sends John the Baptist and he “catapults” us into the future. He is the forerunner to Jesus…to pave the way…so when Jesus reviles himself, people might believe. John is crying out in the Judean wilderness, yelling…” He is here, He is here”.  

I woke up the other night at 3:00 am, thinking about John. Mary Pregnant with Jesus, had visited, Elizabeth, John’s mother, he (John still in his mother’s womb) leaped for joy! John has been preparing for this moment and waiting for the right time, when he could announce that Jesus was here, saying:

“This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me”.

Conclusion:

As we celebrate this Christmas season, we should be humbled to think how God has become human and how he is trusting us with this Holy of Holy intention of becoming part of God’s family and becoming children of God. When you think about it, we humans are beings of God’s inward and spiritual presence in our lives. We are the outward and visible signs of God’s inward and spiritual presence, in each of us.

Can you imagine how different life would be if we all realized that WE are the image of God and every time we look at someone, we also see them as God!

God has trusted us, thousands of years later, to carry on like John and remind people that “Jesus” is here! He has been born; he brings new light into our world. He is your hope and your salvation. He is there for you when things get dark. You just have to ask and believe that “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

So, let’s also rejoice and like Frosty, be a happy soul, put on the magic hat of God, dance, be joyful and sing praises to the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath

Sermon
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Year A
December 22, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80: 1-7,16-18

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Three Angel’s…. A Dream, Obedience and the Birth of a King

“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.”

On this Forth Sunday in Advent, we are just two days from Christmas Eve, the night a Child is born, but not any Child, “The Messiah.”

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save the people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Before the story begins let’s talk about Angels the “Messengers” from God. 

The first angel visited Mary of Nazareth.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph.

A descendant of David, the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:26-28) 

Mary goes on to tell; what the angel of the Lord, told her, she was going to conceive a child, and this child was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. In two thousand years, no other story of a birth, has ever captivated us like this one. This is no ordinary child, this was the Son of God, sent from Heaven to save us from our sins.

The second angel was a visit to Joseph, the soon to be the Father to Jesus. 

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 11: 20)

The third angel I would like to talk about, who becomes part of the story later on, is the Angel that visited the Shepherds.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you; he is Christ the Lord. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

The Holy Family:

Mary had been engaged, promised to Joseph and now, she has to tell him that she is carrying a child, a child conceived from the Holy Spirit. Joseph is taken back a little by the news, and what man wouldn’t be. All of a sudden, she is pregnant! Now what? Like anyone he would have been angry and upset.

Joseph is a carpenter from Nazareth, he is considered to be an honorable man with an honorable trade. The gospel says, Joseph being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. “God” has other plans for Joseph, “The Son of David.” 

Just when Joseph thought he had the answers, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” 

Why did God choose Joseph? Was it because he was a descendent of David? Was it because God knew he would be obedient to him? 

Here is a young man, he is betrothed to a very young women…she is promised to him.  The decisions they both had to make at such a young age, is beyond what we could ever imagine doing.  I feel Joseph realizes; he doesn’t have to worry about Mary. “No blame there! God choose Mary, just like God chose him, to be a father to Jesus, to raise him as his own, and to be the savior to all of us. 

Joseph and Mary both know that God will help and direct them. You see, they were both young, Mary a child herself, Joseph a young man, but God chose them! they were touched by an Angel, a messenger from God 

In the Old Testament, the book of Daniel, he speaks to the angel Gabriel and referred to him as the man. In Luke’s Gospel, Mary speaks to the angel Gabriel and he appeared as a stranger, a stranger with no wings. In today’s Gospel, Matthew, the angel speaks to Joseph in a dream.

I don’t know about you, but I pretty much forget my dreams and if I happen to remember a dream after waking up, I do not take it seriously…it’s a dream! Joseph took it seriously his dream! And he listens to the angel more than just once.

In Matthew’s Gospel, the angel speaks to Joseph four times in his dreams. The angel not only tells him about Mary and the Holy Spirit, the child that was to come, but also in the second dream, Joseph is to take his family to Egypt to save the child, thirdly, the Holy Family are in Egypt and Joseph is told to go to Nazareth, and the forth time, Joseph is warned not to return to Judea.  

“They shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”

Why do I look forward to Christmas, the birthday of our Lord and Savior? Because, no matter how dark things are, and there is darkness, either in someone’s life or the world. Every time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are reminded that He always brings hope, Joy, Love and our promise of salvation. 

God’s greatest gift to us is Jesus, He was not born in a palace, but in a manger. If we connect the thread, we find the Holy Spirit, we hear from the angel, “Don’t be afraid”. 

God intervenes in our lives, He cares, He came and manifested himself by reviling himself through the birth of Jesus, as scripture tells us! God is with us!

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath

Sermon
Third Sunday of Advent
Year A
December 15, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm: 146: 4-9
Second Reading: James 5:7-10
Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11

A Messenger:

Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year; the season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on the day before Christmas. It may be a time for new beginning for us as Christians; it lets us focus on the promise that God made to his people and how that promise was fulfilled in Jesus.

Change is among us in this time of Advent expectation. Many of us may have already experienced the kinds of change that faith can bring, but that doesn’t mean the change is over, we will continue to grow. 

Advent is also that unchangeable season when the same concepts, the same words rise over and over again, year after year, to challenge our hearts and minds as we wait in expectation and preparation for the coming of the Lord. We know that Jesus will be born soon and it’s a time to rejoice!

John the Baptist:

Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11 

In the past two Sunday’s of Advent, our attention is turned to John the Baptist in our Gospel readings.  

John, the last of the old covenant prophets, is the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth who preached a message of repentance and salvation. John also saw himself as the forerunner of God’s promise, and to the savior of the world, who will be coming soon. He was what we might call today… a little quirky; a character that is peculiar, with unexpected traits. He wore camels’ cloths and ate locust’s and honey.

After paving the way for Jesus to come, John was arrested and is in prison and he has been there for quite some time. He hears rumors about Jesus, his ministry.  

Gossip! He begins to have doubt’s, is this the Messiah, that he expected? Perhaps another Messiah was coming and he was mistaken.

“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for anther?” (Matthew 11:2-3) 

John had been preaching and prophesying and waiting for Jesus the messiah to come with a fiery of judgment and even, possibly to come over and get him released from prison. After all, look at what he had done for Jesus.

He is puzzled, because he expected another King like David, a King that would deliver Israel, but here he finds out that in Jesus is out in the country side, performing miracles, and preaching mercy and compassion and love.

“John, look at the evidence of what I have done, it will match what has been promised hundreds of years before, that God’s arrival to redeem his people, and yes! that is me”. 

After John’s disciples question Jesus, He says to them. 

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receives their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” 

Jesus goes on to remind and reaffirm to the crowd of people that John the Baptist was the voice sent out in the wilderness. He wasn’t dressed in soft robes and lived in royalty,  but he was the prophet the one about who it is written…

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.  

John’s purpose was to prepare the people for the arrival of Jesus who would be coming. Jesus was not coming to destroy Rome, for later they would do that all by themselves, Jesus was coming here to establish the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. But now my kingdom is from another. (John 18:36)

Conclusion:

Be patient, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.

Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. (James 5:7-10)

In this Advent season we are reminded that we are also called to be messengers for Jesus Christ the one who is coming.  How will we receive him? God looks to us to fulfill his mission in this world, in this town and in this state.

This Advent, we pray for forgiveness and we wait with patience’s, for the coming of Christ our Savior, who is the greatest gift that God has given us. 

May you be happy, joyful and in good spirits this Sunday in Advent.

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath

Sermon
Year A
Second Sunday of Advent
December 8, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7,18-1-19
Second Reading: Romans 15-4-13
Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

A New Hope We have in Jesus Christ:

Advent

The word Advent means “coming” it is a time to slow down, be quiet and mediate about the real meaning of Christmas.

There are two and a half weeks before Christmas and we still have time to prepare our hearts and our lives as we wait for the coming of Jesus. 

Let’s focus on the promise that God made to his people and how that promise was fulfilled in Jesus.

Advent is also the beginning of the liturgical year. The season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on the day before Christmas. It may be a time for new beginning for us as Christians. 

Change is among us in this time of Advent expectation. Many of us may have already experienced the kinds of change that faith can bring, but that doesn’t mean the change is over. 

Yes, a year older this Advent season, one more year of knowledge, another year immersed in the life of faith. Advent is a reminder that change is upon us, and while those changes may cause some temporary tears, they also will have moments of joy! 

Advent is also that unchangeable season when the same concepts, the same words rise over and over again, year after year, to challenge our hearts and minds.

Advent is the season of waiting. And who hasn’t waited? As children we waited to open presents, although as adults I think we are just as impatient about gifts. We wait in lines at the bank, the store and DMV.

But really in the season of Advent, it is important that we slow down, wait patiently and realize the real Christmas gift in Advent is the process, as we learn to calm our hearts and minds and focus on Gods promise. The birth of a baby, the savior born in Bethlehem. 

John the Baptist

The Second Sunday in Advent and our attention is turned to John the Baptist in our Gospel reading today. 

John the Baptist is the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth who preached a message of repentance and salvation, John saw himself as a forerunner of God’s promise of the savior of the world, who will be coming. 

John is the last of the old covenant prophets. Since he was in his mother’s womb, he was chosen by God and he has been expecting Jesus, so why shouldn’t he be the one in Advent to help us prepare the way? 

In a book called Peculiar Treasures, describes John the Baptist with a little humor. 

John the Baptist didn’t fool around. He lived in the wilderness around the Dead Sea. He subsisted on a starvation diet, and so did his disciples. He wore clothes that even the rummage sale people wouldn’t have handled. When he preached, it was fire and brimstone every time.

The Kingdom was coming all right, he said, but if you thought it was going to be pink tea, you’d better think again. If you didn’t shape up, God would give you the axe. 

Your only hope, he said, was to clean up your life as if your life depended on it, which it did, and get baptized in a hurry as a sign that you had. Some people thought he was Elijah come back from the grave, and some others thought he was the Messiah, but John would have none of either.

Our reading in Isaiah: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1)

The spirit of God and the branch a new life, is Jesus, the new life that is coming into the world, becoming incarnate in the womb Jesus is the one appointed King of Kings and Lord or Lords.

God didn’t come into this world with a fortune of money and power and influence, God chose to become human and live among us. 

and 

The Savior of the world was born a vulnerable child. He entered this world, with a very humble family, born in a manager, lying on straw surrounded by animals. The King who will rule all of creation lies in a humble manger. The world He entered was far from perfect, full of sin, pain and darkness.  But he was sent with promise of a new life of hope. 

The Apostle Paul explains it in his letter to the Romans (Romans 15:13)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.

Advent and Christmas calls us to praise God as we actively await the coming of Christ, prepare our hearts and lives for his arrival, and claim and celebrate the new hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Amen

Rev. Lola Culbreath

Frederick Buechmer, Peculiar Treasures

Sermon
Year C
Last Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 29
November 24, 2019

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Canticle 16
Second Reading: Colossians 1:11-20
Gospel: Luke 23:33-34  

The Feast of Christ the King
The Final Walk

Jesus in his last three years, had been on a walk from Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum to Jerusalem, north to Tyre to Sidon and south to Jerusalem, thousands of miles covered on foot.

Sometimes Jesus was in a boat on the sea of Galilee and on donkey in Jerusalem. 

But most of the time he walked, this was the only way he could get his message out to the people, otherwise they would not have known him. 

The word spread around the region, he was healing and teaching and He had disciples that followed him everywhere. He was as genuine as the people whom he met. A kind humbly man with great strength and courage, he would go off by himself and pray for long periods of time. But wait, he was different…he was able to change water into wine at a wedding in Cana? I can’t do that! 

Throughout the Gospel’s, His signs or miracles were many. Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum and healing the paralytic at Bethesda. We can’t forget, He helped a blind man from birth, see for the first time and Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. 

Jesus walked on water and then fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish all the while teaching about love, compassion, forgiveness. He said to his followers, How the one who sent him, is in him, and in you. And throughout the Gospel of Luke, how to depend on God through prayer and how to pray!

Thousands of people witness his miracles and followed him from place to place to see him, to touch him, to ask questions and some were curious and angry and perhaps jealous.

Who is this King? The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of trying to make himself a king. A name that was given to him and a title that hung over him on the cross. He did not claim to be a King, besides, when do we treat Kings or Queens like this?

(John 18:36), Jesus says “My kingdom is not from this world”.

What he is saying is his kingdom is eternal. He is not! The temporal king…but he is an eternal king.

And now, Jesus this man believed to be the Son of God and the second Person of the Holy Trinity, has been turned over to Pilate, by some of those people who followed him. Instead of the leaders and the people who followed him, giving him praise and glory. They are mocking him, taunting him, hitting him and forcing Pilate to crucify him. 

His Final Walk:

“When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals one on the right and one on his left.”

But not before he was asked by the criminal who was also suffering in pain, Jesus “remember me when you come into your kingdom” 

Jesus doesn’t hesitate, He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Conclusion:

St. Paul wrote to the Colossians (1:12-13)

Giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the lights.

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

Through suffering, redemptive, love and forgiveness, we are led from darkness into the power of light. This is why Jesus’ was sent into this world, because of his death and resurrection, we will find salvation and eternal life. “And now”, we are waiting for: The Prince of Peace to be born.

Next week starts the Advent season. And for four weeks we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ.  It is a time of reflection and a time set aside to renew our connection to Christ.

Story:

Dad and Mother had four children. My sister Glenda was 10 years old when my sister Shirley was born.  Three years later, I was born and three years later, mom was expecting again. They didn’t have anyway in those days of knowing the sex of the child.

Daddy was waiting in anticipation, hoping that this baby would be a boy.

Traditionally, when mom was in labor, dad would stand outside the room.  He always worn a big cowboy hat and when the baby was born, he could hear the cry of the new born baby. His tradition was to throw the cowboy hat on mom’s bed, if it was a girl, she kept it, if it was a boy, she tossed it back at him. Three times mom kept his hat, “but” this time she was able to toss it back at him. 

Joy filled the room; their little prince was born.

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath