One With Authority

• Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
with Mark 1:21-28
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found here: https://youtu.be/p_y0pABTnEU

• Do you remember when email came out? Then the internet. WWW in 1983. It took over 25 years for the internet to reach a zettabyte of information. I never heard of zetta. Kilo mega giga tera peta exa zetta. Twentyone zeroes. For scale: number of seconds since Jesus was born: about 63 billion. Only 9 zeroes. Some estimates age of universe at 13.8 billion years. 435 quadrillion seconds. Only 15 zeroes. 435 quadrillion microseconds, that’s the scale of a zettabyte of data, and it took 25 years to reach that level.

How long to double that? 2 years. Expected 2 zettabytes by end of 2019. That’s just counting to 100,000 in a second, every second of imagined time.

All that information and we still don’t know what to make of a story about demons. 

We’re skeptical and seek to rationalize, put into terms that we can understand, but even if I explain a zettabyte to you do you really understand it? I don’t. I don’t understand internet. Or even electricity. But I approach them with caution and with knowledge of who/whose I am, also speaking in tongues. Can’t explain it, can be faked, but… could be genuine.

• We learn about Jesus: He’s different from the rest. Not like the others. Unique (Before Christmas I shared that Christ was Sufficient, Unique, Necessary, here comes the SUN). Innate authority. Not described, but you just know, that’s the impression.  Jesus has authority, & here’s a mic-drop example.

By the way, recall I will be with you always…
that power is not far off but it is near.
There is no situation where we should be saying,
Yeah not even God can handle this one…

• We learn about power of evil, & it recognizes good & is afraid. Hollywood scream? Dono. Maybe. But point is spiritual powers acknowledged one another, & knew Jesus was the victor.

• A father said to his child they went to church to make God smaller. God is so big, beyond understanding: go to church, make God smaller, understand God.  The child: I think to make God bigger. What do you mean? Smaller doesn’t make you go Oh!

Experience God, be amazed, be changed & change your life, and tell.

What happened after this? People told This is what happened. It was Jesus.

• Hymn 371 I Stand Amazed at the Presence

Mark 1:21-28 (HCSB)  

²¹ Jesus and his disciples left the Sea of Galilee and went into the village of Capernaum, and right away they entered the synagogue. It was the Sabbath and Jesus began to teach. ²² Everyone was astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority.

²³ Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, ²⁴ “What do You have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?** Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit convulsed him, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

²⁷ Then they were all amazed, so they began to argue with one another, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ News about Him then spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee. ò

**Nazareth is about forty miles from Capernaum

Let's Get Political

• Third Sunday after Epiphany
with Mark 1:14-20  and Jonah 3:1-10
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found here: https://youtu.be/t_bJBmHOvRc

• For the first time I’m going to talk about politics.
Not really. “Political” has to do with government, laws,
how society is ordered.

I am NOT telling anyone how to vote,
or affirming or deriding any individual or party.

I will not change my interaction with you
based on either one of our political affiliations.

Politics are part of our daily landscape, and
to be a follower of Jesus is a political decision.

• A year and a day ago Donald Trump took the oath of POTUS, and it is not partisan to say that it’s been a year with a lot of attention and tension and that political fervor is elevated. It’s not partisan to report that presidential approval polls show President Trump with record low numbers and that our nation is in the historic situation of a govt shutdown with exec, sen, and house in R party.

Why did the gov’t shutdown? Because parties and elected officers stalemate, not budging, and it’s arguable that a good number are not budging not because of principle but because of party.

• We just read from book of Jonah, 3rd chapter.
You remember chaps 1&2, God’s call and Jonah’s response. 

Why did Jonah flee? He was afraid of the people.
He knew how they were going to respond, right?
And rather than go with God, he fled.

Jonah ended up repenting – changing his heart
and mind and action – and we pick up on reading today

And we are surprised to see his message is received immediately and genuinely! There is not a stalemate, there is a turn to the Lord, and there is relief from the Lord!

Following God is a political decision.
It will affect how we relate to society, individuals, events.

• Earlier we read from Gospel of Mark, Jesus preaching the good news that the kingdom of God has come near, preaching repentance, calling Peter and Andrew and James and John to change their lives and follow him.

The kingdom of God has come near. Good news. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. God is now here and our job as disciples is to figure out what has God done in Jesus, and what does it mean that Jesus lived among us 2K years ago?

• One thing is teachings of Jesus. Learn them, follow them, live them, teach them.
(again, this is political. We’re talking about where authority and life influence are, and the political powers of Jesus’ day opposed him because people following Jesus threatened their credibility and power)

I’ve seen the fruit of worldly leadership,
and I want God in Jesus as my leader.

Following God is a political decision.
It will affect how we relate to society, individuals, events.

• The good news is not about a moral code or personal piety or “spirituality”
it’s about discipleship and life transformation,
patterning my life after Jesus, come what may.

The disciples we read about today, Jesus met them in the midst of their business, and they walked away to follow him.
They had something that was worth changing their lives for.

• And by the grace of God we can be disciples too, and have new life.

• Hymn 365 Grace Greater Than Our Sin

Mark 1:14-20 (HCSB)

¹⁴ After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: ¹⁵ “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”

¹⁶ As He was passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.

¹⁷ “Follow Me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people!” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in their boat mending their nets. 20 Immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. ò

Jonah 3:1-10 (HCSB)

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.”
³ So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely large city, a three-day walk. ⁴ Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!” ⁵ The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

⁶ When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ Then he issued a decree in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No man or beast, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. ⁸ Furthermore, both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from the violence he is doing. ⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.

¹⁰ Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it. ò

The Body and the Gift

• Second Sunday after Epiphany
with John 1:43-51 and 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found here: https://youtu.be/k7nGdUxhbmc

• Christmas is over and we waste no time jumping into beginning of ministry of Jesus. Already called some of JtB’s disciples, Andrew and Simon, now Philip and Nathanael, and Jesus says some odd things (no deceit? Angels ascending and descending?), and Nathanael makes an astounding confession (you are the Son of God, the King of Israel). And we learn about Jesus, but more about that later. Let’s skip back to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

• “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” Paul is dealing with a church that is maturing, and people that are maturing ask questions and test limits, seeking definition. Yes, freedom in Christ, No, not a burden, and Yes, there are things you can and can’t do.

You need to use judgment, discernment, discipline.
You cannot think only of yourself.

No man is an island. We are one.
You represent me, I represent you, we are part of the same body, we represent GOD, we are not alone, we are not our own.

A part of the body cannot be unconcerned about other parts of the body.

• Vaccinations. Some folks are anti-vaxxers. But in a society, part of the reason to get vaccinated is to protect those who are susceptible, and to eradicate the disease in society. You make a small personal sacrifice for the greater good.

• In at least four places in his letters, Paul writes about taking a collection for the church in Jerusalem. Lifting up the body.

One of the ways we are part of the body is through our offerings. We tend to our local body, of course, and we tend to our regional and global body as well, through apportionment givings and through special offerings like today’s Human Relations offering.

Remember the hurricane damage done in the Caribbean and Florida this past year? We’re there, through our offerings.

But the need of the body is too great! We can’t do it!
Eat an elephant one bite at a time, and many hands make light work.

• You are not your own, I am not my own, we are a part of the body

which carries with it, by the way, God’s redemption of the body. Including us.

• Jesus to Nathanael: Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Huh?
ISRAEL was formerly known as Jacob. What’d Jacob do? Deceived father Isaac for birthright and blessing. There was guile and deceit in the original Israel.

Here at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry we have a new beginning, a redemption of Israel.

Another thing Jacob was known for? Jacob’s ladder: angels ascending and descending, signifying to him that God was there, with him.

God is here now. God is doing new thing. God is with us.

• I want to be part of that, Jesus making new, redeeming.
I AM part of that, by the grace of God, the gift of God.

• By the way: know what the name Nathanael means? Gift of God.

• Hymn 451 Be Thou My Vision

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (NIV)

¹² “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ^{[Gen 2:24] 17} But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. ò

John 1:43-51 (NRSV)

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” ò

Covenant Renewal Service

I believe I have been celebrating the Wesley Covenant Renewal Service on the first Sunday of the year since 2007. Mostly I alternate scriptures used, and the hymns sometimes change as well, but the bulk of the service remains the same.

In 2018 the scriptures were
2 Chronicles 34:29-33
and
John 15:1-8

The service can be read by clicking --> here

If you have any questions about Christianity, or United Methodism, 

or if you have any confession to make, 

or if you would like to be part of a United Methodist Church, 

or if you would like to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, 

or if you would like to talk about Baptism,

please let me know. 

You can email me at kerrfunk1 at gmail dot com

God bless you

Here Comes the SUN - Advent3B

• 3rd Sunday of Adventwith John 1:6-9
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found at https://youtu.be/_seglqsQnc0

• John 1:7 John was sent from God as a witness concerning the light so that everyone would believe.
Why was John sent? As a witness. So that people would believe. This is my hope as well. & that’s why we have the Bible: people shared witness. Testimony.

• This past week two homicides in Huntington, up to 19 for year.
We're doing a Bible study on gun violence, looking at Micah 4:1-4. Two pronged approach: legislation, transformation. Neither is sufficient.

• Spiritual sickness in world, brokenness. Christ is perfectly sufficient to address/cover/deal with the world's brokenness. It's all over the Bible, Colossians 2:9-10 in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and in him you are filled.

Not only that but perfectly filled, perfectly fit, perfectly covered.

Isaiah 53:5-6 by his wounds we are healed, and the Lord has lain on him the iniquity of us all.

• Went to Alaska this summer with brothers and dad, to get his 50th state. No other state could complete his map, this venture was unique to Alaska.

Regarding the healing of the brokenness, the sin-sickness, Christ is the only one provides healing. None other. Unique. So says Peter in Acts 4:12 Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved. He has become the cornerstone! 

Unique. Jesus: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

• My daughter turns 15 in 3months. We already have plans to pick her up from school early to go to DMV for permit. Need permit to drive. But absolutely necessary if you hope to drive: a key.

Christ is necessary. God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)

• Sufficient: completely perfectly enough covers our sin.
Unique: our brokenness can be addressed perfectly by none other.
Necessary: There is no righteousness apart from Christ.

SUN = sun. It’s advent and here comes the SUN. The true light was coming into the world.

And we are witnesses. So that all may believe. And have transformation.

• Hymn 188 Christ is the World’s Light

John 1:6-9 (CEB)  Third Sunday of Advent

⁶ A man named John was sent from God. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. ⁸ He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light. ⁹ The true light that shines on all people was coming into the world. ò

Engage

• 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
with James 5:13-20
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found at https://youtu.be/3VrHR9Fjslw

• Question: How do you evaluate your own work?

Now imagine you’re God. You create world, stuff, critters, people. You enter world for a season to teach, redeem.
How do you evaluate your work?

I won’t say it’s the only or the best measure,
but by one measure, you evaluate your work
by what your disciples do, how they live their lives.

Your work is measured by what your students produce.

• We come to the end of James’ sermon, James’ call to action.

Yes, James says, pray, and Yes, James says, do something.

You cannot separate the two.

Are things going well? Pray! Praise!

Are you sick? Pray! In company! And do something to treat the illness. Don’t just pray. Our response to brokenness in the world must include prayer and it must include action. ENGAGE.

There’s two times to pray: when you feel like it and when you don’t.

Likewise there’s two times to take action…

• Perhaps you’ve seen the cartoon / bumpersticker
“Jesus is coming! Look busy!” And there is something to that...
When you’re at bat, go down swinging.  ENGAGE.

• James says to confess to each other (verse 16). Be honest with yourself and with others. We’ve seen this week when you hide something it can come back and destroy. Confess the secret sins and get clean on the inside.
“We are as sick as our secrets,”
(secrets prevent wholeness) and the goal is wholeness.
“A secret kept in the dark grows and becomes more harmful,
but once it is exposed to light or released, its power is lost.”

• James talks about Elijah. Just a man like us. There is no celebrity. Elijah did not have something special that you don’t have. You are as beloved of God as Elijah.

• James closes with help a brother. Engage.
Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens,
and in this way fulfill the law of Christ.
Luke 15:7 There is much rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents…

• May your life benefit others. The measure of God.

• Let God lead you.

• Hymn  142 If Thou but Suffer God to Guide Thee

James 5:13-20 (NIV)

¹³ If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. ¹⁴ If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve. ¹⁷ Elijah was a person just like us. When he earnestly prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. ¹⁸ He prayed again, God sent rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if any of you wander from the truth and someone turns back the wanderer, ²⁰ recognize that whoever brings a sinner back from the wrong path will save them from death and will bring about the forgiveness of many sins.ò

(here ends the book of James)

Everyman and Trust

• 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
All Saints Sunday
Holy Communion
with James 5:1-12 and Rev 7:9-17
www.FirstChurchBville.com    @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

A video of this sermon can be found at https://youtu.be/4nt_wCPvN8w

• Go ahead and complete the sentence “I am a…” a few times for yourself. What are some of your personal descriptors?
(I am a pastor, I am a biker, I am a runner…)

I went to a workshop a few weeks ago, and the presenter was talking about ministry with the aging, and how many of those descriptors get taken away as abilities are lost. (someday I will lose the ability to run, someday I will no longer bike…)

What does that do to a person’s self-esteem and sense of identity? And what is the core of your sense of identity?

• No beating around the bush in the book of James, he lays it on strong: Don’t place your identity your hope in gold, in accoutrements, in lifestyle.

At best, they’ll fail you.
At worst they’ll corrupt you and harm others too.

Instead, says James, be humble and patient,
and in harmony with creation.

• I’m reminded of the ancient morality play Everyman.

Our main character – who is called Everyman – is summoned by Death to reckon for his life. Everyman is distressed, and looks for a companion to accompany him to Death. Asks his faithful companion Friendship, and even Kindred and Cousin, but none will accompany him.

He asks his companion Material Goods (hear from James 5: gold, accoutrements, lifestyle) but Goods will not go. (I’m the “it” in “you can’t take ‘it’ with you)

Lamenting, Everyman finds only one who will accompany him to Death, but it is Good Deeds, and Good Deeds is weak having been long neglected.

Good Deeds is strengthened by Confession, and Good Deeds summons her sisters Beauty and Strength and Discretion and Five Wits and together they all approach Death, although in the end only Good Deeds goes into the grave with Everyman (unlike Goods, who was the ‘it’ in “you can’t take ‘it’ with you”, the play ends with the moral that you can only take your good deeds with you. (see also Rev 14:13, Blessed are the dead that died in the Lord, “Yes,” says the Spirit, “They will rest, for their deeds will follow them.”)

• Who are some of your life companions, and how do you trust them?  For example, I know I can trust my 14-yo daughter for fashion advice. (saints of the congregation named)

Trust is built on honesty, humility, hope, shared experiences.

In today’s reading from Revelation 7, John sees a holy gathering, and humbly and wisely humbles himself. With John we witness the faithful who have been humble and patient and enduring, and they are spending all of themselves in praise of God.

• Let us trust those faithful, who, having finished their course in faith now rest from their labors and they are praising God.

• We remember and we look forward to seeing again in the kingdom: Nancy M, Shirley J, Gae E, Anne T, Ron R, Maryse R, Nancy W, Ann F

• Hymn  insert  In the Breaking of the Bread.

James 5:1-12 (Common English Bible)

5 Pay attention, you wealthy people! Weep and moan over the miseries coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted. Moths have destroyed your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you. It will eat your flesh like fire. Consider the treasure you have hoarded in the last days. ⁴ Listen! Hear the cries of the wages of your field hands. These are the wages you stole from those who harvested your fields. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of heavenly forces. ⁵ You have lived a self-satisfying life on this earth, a life of luxury. You have stuffed your hearts in preparation for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who doesn’t oppose you.

⁷ Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must be patient as you wait for the coming of the Lord. Consider the farmer who waits patiently for the coming of rain in the fall and spring, looking forward to the precious fruit of the earth. ⁸ You also must wait patiently, strengthening your resolve, because the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Don’t complain about each other, brothers and sisters, so that you won’t be judged. Look! The judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of patient resolve and steadfastness. ¹¹ Look at how we honor those who have practiced endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job. And you have seen what the Lord has accomplished, for the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹² Most important, my brothers and sisters, never make a solemn pledge—neither by heaven nor earth, nor by anything else. Instead, speak with a simple “Yes” or “No,” or else you may fall under judgment. ò

Revelation 7:9-17 (CEB)

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out with a loud voice:

“Victory belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
            and to the Lamb.”

¹¹ All the angels stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
        and honor and power and might
        be to our God forever and always. Amen.”

¹³ Then one of the elders said to me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

Then the elder said to me, “These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. ¹⁵ This is the reason they are before God’s throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶ They won’t hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, ¹⁷ because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ò