Minister: Rev. Olon M. Lindemood

January 29, 2012

Enough with the message of this Good Samaritan already!  Let us go back to Synagogue. Let us get back to doing church as usual!  Let us walk with the priest and Levite already!

Enough with the acts of Mercy too.  How is it that we get back to the familiar of our faith and not have to pay attention to Samaritans … No more paying attention to the beaten, naked, robbed, the dying… Give us a break and let us get back to business as usual.

Enough with the Loving God with heart, soul, strength and mind… and our neighbor as ourselves… #Enough# …

Tell us some more of those stories about The Kingdom of God is like a banquet and a mustard seed and a bunch of sheep!  Help us out here as we are trying to be a faithful person… We are trying to be a faithful church.

Yes, Lord, Help us to turn our hearts to the teachings we learned as Children: 

Remember… Here is the church / Here is the steeple / open the doors / and see all the people!  (Using hands for that …

How is it that You, Lord want us to live that in reverse…

See all the people … open the doors … can you see the steeple … well there is the church

We are your followers, you call us together, you open your doors … you point us to our heavenly father, and you lead us in prayer… (that is the way we do this…)

We really are like the disciples in Luke 9: 46… we squabble about greatness and are unable to have the ears to hear your message… Help us Lord!

This is one of those moments when John, Jesus beloved disciple, learned many things… So he wrote as witness to us in 1 John 1:5-10

We cannot live into the joy of Jesus Salvation when we walk in Darkness… Walking in the light is getting our souls out there and listening to Jesus in our daily lives…

You see our challenge is not on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho… it is here in Colorado Springs… it is here … when our hearts awaken to the joys of Christ calling us into the forgiveness or our sins…

Catch the teaching of today…

You know what to do…

You know mercy!  You know love!

You know that what we are to do is not in this building…

You know that you cannot claim to be sinless! Instead, you are forgiven in Jesus name!

You know that your life shines light because Jesus Christ has forgiven you!

You know that you have to Seek out Ed or Lynn Young and start sharing ministry at the Sunrise Thrift Store, you know that you are being called to answer the phones at Northern Churches Cares … you know that you have to pay attention to the neighbor across the street who just moved to town.

You know that Our Lord … is hungry to be recognizable to you!

Eric Fellman and his wife Joy…

They moved to Texas from New Hampshire … Ella Grace was to visit for the first time since they had left … Joy was worried about Ella Grace remembering her… They wanted everything to be perfect … Shopped for perfect high chair, perfect sippy cup, perfect books and toys …. Grandma worried that the little girl would be worn out after a day of travel … she would be all tears and fears (Eric said … he was trusting her mom and dad and the technologies of phone and computer video calls they were connected) 

So the moment came… Joy was at baggage claim… There was a moment … joy was not wanting to rush in … so from a distance as Ella Grace was in a stroller, she said … “Hi Ella, do you remember Grandma?”  her little eyes scrunched up … and her nose wrinkled and through the squinting eyes… , wonder of wonders, reached up her arms to Grandma to be hugged and held…!

Then Eric reflected:  “Watching the thrill on Joy’s face and knowing the agony of anticipation she had gone through, I wondered if God doesn’t feel like that sometimes.  At times we seem to be far from him, and days go by without much communication. Does God wonder if we’ll remember him?  Does He long for that face –to – face meeting when we reach up to be held and loved?  Would it make God’s day today if you paused right now and asked him for a hug?  Want to give it a try?”

Ever wonder How patient God is as we wait, as we don’t do our love and mercy, as we avoid what we know …

You know that our Lord is outside these walls… and He is waiting for a hug!

Like the disciples listening to Jesus tell them about a man in a ditch …

Those disciples started tell us: (1JOHN1: 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.)

BEFORE YOU LEAVE HERE TODAY… Declare before our Lord… I have sinned against you Lord, Please offer your forgiveness and purify me from all unrighteousness!...

Luke 10: 25 -37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.* ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ 28And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 30Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii,* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 37He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

1 JOHN 1: 5-10

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.