Minister: Olon M. Lindemood

Jeremiah 1:4-10

4  Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
5  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
6  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."
7  But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you,
8  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD."
9  Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10  See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Bible Basics:  The Old Testament begins today.
 
Are you ready to be a real person of faith?  Real people of faith awaken the core of our faith in the scriptures.  Contained in the Bible is our faith story.  Salvation History is the what God provides us in this wonderful thing called the Bible.  Remember it is not a book … it is a library!  One of the two main sections of this book is called the Old Testament… It is also the Holy Scriptures for the Jewish faith… many call the Old testament the Hebrew Scriptures …
These next few weeks we will be viewing the Old Testament as God’s invitation for our own salvation.

This first sermon Has two big parts… Pastor Kerry’s part that you will hear next week.  And my part now.  We felt it would be fascinating to offer the introduction to this study from our own perspectives.  I trust you will too.

Now … hope with me that this message has four parts:
God’s World
My World
Our World
Yes… God’s World

God’s World
We begin with our Bibles… You have yours …  Or you don’t … You might locate one in the pew near by? We have a library of 39 books … for the Protestant Bible…

ON Wednesday NIGHT FOR THE BIBLE BREAK AT BRIARGATE we will do much more detail about understanding the collection of these various books of the bible…

Today … you gotta know that there is a collection of writings that were never in book form … instead they were ancient scrolls… They say they were Collected of 1500 years… they last one about 400 years before Christ appeared.  These scrolls don’t read like a book … talk about technology … the book!  Wow…  Well … these scrolls … The Torah (big heavy / awkward / sacred!)  … only men could read … Paul was a wild man and innovative because he said women could be there to hear the readings!  Contained in multiple scrolls are the Torah / the Law … and then the Writings (they contain History and Wisdom) and then the Prophet Scroll!  We now have them in a form that is far beyond just the isolated scrolls…

 in my pocket … I have the “you Version” of scriptures android APP. It will access nearly any language. In English there listed 22 English translation options.  The Bible is accessible to us in ways that are amazing …  

God’s world is revealed to us through this library that has Stories and Law codes and poetry and mysteries and intrigue and delightful calls and claims on the most unlikely sorts of human beings… (sort of like you … sort of like me)

 How do we know more about what God’s world is like…?

Our stories help us be together and know who we are and when we are loved and  they bond us together in our laughter and our tears … we know we belong to God.



My World
When my family gathers …we have some amazing ways that we identify ourselves… Multiple generations of fun and identity!

If my brothers and I get together … we will remember stories … our stories …
REMEMBER when Mark talked back to dad and he was chased down the alley with a 2 by 4?
REMEMBER the night mom and dad went out and the chair hit the chandelier in the dinning room?
REMEMBER when we all got together in Scottsbluff, NE for Grandpa Olon’s funeral in ’74.
REMEMBER when we drove across the country in a Volkswagen bug from Idaho to Long Island?

Or when my daughters will talk … they will say: do REMEMB ER when dad chased Bridget around the house because he was so mad at her.
Or REMEMBER when grandpa belched at the dinner table on Thanksgiving dinner?
Or REMEMBER when our dog Cinnamon had to be put down because he could see or stand any more.
REMEMBER when dad went on the mission trip to Mexico and drove the church van into the mud?  Remember the kid who brought water to us to rinse our bodies after we were all covered in mud trying to get it out?

Our stories help us be together and know who we are and when we are loved and  they bond us together in our laughter and our tears … we know we belong to God.

Our World
As people of faith … do your remember the stories that make us to know our faith?
REMEMBER John Wesley … going to a bible study / a class meeting in a meeting group at Aldersgate … and while listening to Luther’s commentary on the Book of Romans, His heart was strangely warmed!

REMEMBER How Charles Wesley, the brother of John, would take bar / pub songs and change the words to sacred songs ….
REMEMBER when Sunrise People gathered at the Zieder Zee … an old bar / night club / and had worship?
REMEMBER when Sunrise Church risked building a gymn that became a fellowship hall that used to house the worship sevices … people had to get their own chair and then put it back when church was over ?
REMEMBER when Sunrise Church did 40 days of purpose and how many people found the Lord again?

REMEMBER when That boy went home after a Christmas Choir and Orchestra celebration and told his grandfather, “you will want to go to this church with me grandpa, it’s not what you think.”

REMEMBER The dark days of conflict and how people struggled and looked for reasons to be upset?

And do you REMEMBER the day children sang this little light of mine?

REMEMBER when my daughter was baptized in the pastors arms at the Woodmen campus?

REMEMBER when we had that picnic at Fox Run park and new families came for the first time…
REMEMBER that time when Jesus called me to the kneeling rail for prayer …?

Our stories help us be together and know who we are and when we are loved and  they bond us together in our laughter and our tears … we know we belong to God.

Yes… God’s World

REMEMBER when God Created everything in 7 days and then Rested on that last day… He kept saying, “there was evening, and there was morning, day 3…”

REMEMBER that story of Adam and EVE and how they should not eat from the one tree in the center of the garden… remember a snake convinced EVE to eat … then she convinced Adam … and because the ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil … they were banished from the garden …
REMEMBER when God was tired of the wickedness of people and wanted to start over and he told NOAH  (NOT … Joan of Ark) … But Noah to build an ark a big boat for all the animals and his family and … then it rained 40 days and 40 nights and drown all the world until a dove offered a branch …
The Rainbow is in the heavens even now to remind us that God will not destroy us that way ever again…
REMEMBER Abraham and Sarah … an old old couple were told that they would be the ones to give birth to a whole new people in a promised land far away… and remember how Sarah laughed because she was so old and would never have a child!  
REMEMBER how Jacob and Rebecca his mother plotted to steal the blessing from his brother Esau … and he actually put an animal skin on his arm to trick his father Issac when he was blind into thinking he was his burley hairy brother….
REMEMBER Moses standing before pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and warning him to LET MY PEOPLE GO!
REMEMBER How the people escaped through the red sea as Moses lifted his staff and the waters parted … and all of pharaoh’s army did the dead mans float … as the sea fell back in on them…
REMEMBER the woman Rahab who was a prostitute who hid the soldiers of Israel’s army … spies … and who … she is even listed in the genealogy of Jesus…
REMEMBER Jonah … he was suppose to go Ninivah and preach repent to those people, but he got on a different boat instead … and the Lord put him in the belly of a fish and spit him out at Ninivah anyway …
REMEMBER the Prophet Jeremiah … He was told by the Lord that he was created for the purpose of speaking for the Lord… He did not think so … the Lord touched his lips and said, and said … yes you are, I will be with you to plant and pluck … thus says the Lord!

“THUS SAITH THE LORD…”
Our stories help us be together and know who we are and when we are loved and  they bond us together in our laughter and our tears … we know we belong to God.

Just a few of Bible Basics … Old testament!
As for me and my house, we will trust the Lord!