Connection

• 25th Sunday after Pentecost
All Saints Sunday
Holy Communion
with Ephesians 1:11-23  and   Luke 6:20-31
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

• The “Sermon on the plain” in Luke chapter six contains some basic soundbyte teachings of Jesus, to shape disciples both now and in life to come.
As in Exodus, Moses ascended the mountain to receive the Law and descended the mountain to tell the people, so did Jesus ascend the mountain to pray and descend the mountain to tell the people. These are God’s expectations for the faithful.

• On this week’s election: I echo Eph 1:17. Pray for wisdom.
We are all in this together. Be kind to one another. We are family.

• The Cubs won the 2016 World Series, their first WS win since 1908, narrowly defeating the Cleveland Indians, who last won the WS in 1948.

I’m a Cubs fan, like my folks, like their folks.
I have no personal connection with Cleveland.
We care about what we’re connected to.

• Therefore intentionally remain connected to God.
To the world. To people.

• The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet. – Frederick Buechner

• Today is All Saints Sunday, and we remember seven saints connected to our congregation. Think about those connections. Shared time. Activities. Working together. Many connections are strengthened not by accident but by intent.
ILYATNYCDAI.

• On Saturday 11/5 a CabMid HS student took his life. RIP SW.
I didn’t know him, don’t know what was going on in his life.
But he had a family and a church. He was my brother, as you are.

Imagine if connection was so strong, intentionally,
that no person would take their life.

Imagine making the connection strong.

• Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US.
Greatest risk: elderly white men.

My challenge to you: intentionally connect with 5 people this month.
Write a letter. Go for coffee. Go to a Herd basketball game.
Work together at church. Rake a lawn.Tell your story.

• Hymn 529 How Firm A Foundation (vs 1, 2, 5)

Remembering our saints

We remember, and we look forward to seeing again in the kingdom:

Arley H, Millard K, Delmo R, Everett C, Sheila C, Spence S, Charlotte S, Ron S, Stephen W.

Ephesians 1:11-23        (CEB)      

11 We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design. ¹² We are called to be an honor to God’s glory because we were the first to hope in Christ. ¹³ You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ. ¹⁴ The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.

¹⁵ Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that ¹⁶ I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, ¹⁹ and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. ²⁰ God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, ²¹ far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. ²² God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, ²³ which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way. X

Luke 6:20-31    (The VOICE)        

20 Jesus looked across the faces of His disciples, and spoke:

All you who are poor, you are blessed
        for the kingdom of God belongs to you.
²¹     All you who are hungry now, you are blessed
        for your hunger will be satisfied.
    All you who weep now, you are blessed
        for you shall laugh!
²²     When people hate you, when they exclude you
        and insult you and write you off as evil
        on account of the Son of Man, you are blessed.
²³ When these things happen, rejoice! Jump for joy!
        Then you have a great reward in heaven
        For at that moment, you are experiencing what the ancient prophets did when they were similarly treated by the ancestors of your detractors.
²⁴     All you who are rich now, you are in danger
        for you have received your comfort in full.
²⁵     All you who are full now, you are in danger
        for you shall be hungry.
    All you who laugh now, you are in danger
        for you shall grieve and cry.
²⁶     And when everyone speaks well of you, you are in danger
        for their ancestors spoke well of the false prophets too.

²⁷ If you’re listening, here’s My message: Keep loving your enemies no matter what they do. Keep doing good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Keep speaking blessings on those who curse you. Keep praying for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other cheek too. If someone steals your coat, offer him your shirt too. ³⁰ If someone begs from you, give to him. If someone robs you of your valuables, don’t demand them back. ³¹ Think of the kindness you wish others would show you; do the same for them. X