A CLOSER WALK

            Genesis 5:22-24 ²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

            If we continue to walk in a half circle only, we must turn back and continually walk and retrace our steps and we never get to see the whole circle.  If we stay in the half circle we do not grow and we are subject to live over and over the same mistakes until the path we walk becomes a rut that swallows us up to an extinction.

            Now if we complete the circle we might find that it is not a circle that we walk but actually a spiral that continues on forever.  Rather than say we walk in a circle of life, we can say we walk in a spiral of eternal life unfolded for us by God.  This happens when we walk with the word of God which gives us strength, for it is a part of the bread of life as Christ is the word and the bread from heaven.

            Pauline Bitonti did not consider her age a limitation but rather an opportunity to help in other ways; she walked with God and kept His word close to her always.  And now Pauline lives entirely on the bread from heaven waiting to see us there too.

AMAZING GRACE

            John 1:16-17 ¹⁶ And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

            God saves a wretch like me?  1 John 1:8 says we should have the truth in us and admit that we are sinners.  As painful as it is to look back and surely as we do look back on our lives we can see that this is true; we are sinners.  But God calls us to be His through grace and mercy knowing of our captivity that we suffer as we are still shackled by our sin.  God holds the key to set us free.

            This is amazing grace as we kneel at the base of the cross that painfully took away our savior as He died for our sin.  Jesus cries out "Forgive them, for they know not what they do" and His Father listens and through amazing grace adopts each of us to be His children. God turns the key and the Son says we are free indeed.

CHILDRENS MESSAGE

            And now I introduce to you the Giant of the Philistines.  "Fee-Fry-Foe-uh-Big Shoe, I smell the coffee of a He-Brew," the words bellow out as the Giant from the Philistines comes closer to the crowd.  There stands a little giant who re-introduces himself to the crowd.  "Hello, I am Goliath the giant of the Philistines,” He continues to say there is no need to be afraid I came not for you but for the puny little Hebrew called David.  For those of you who claim to have faith I am a giant because I am bigger than this whale you see before you.

            Those Hebrews talk about faith in their God and how even a little faith can move mountains.  That is ridiculous, you need a giant to move mountains.  Well maybe in the future when they have bulldozers, but everyone knows us giants can do the big things.

            I think this puny Hebrew David is a no show, can't say that I blame Him...  Where did that little mountain come from?  Then David comes up and says I brought it with me!  Then David with his sling hurls the mountain at Goliath and the giant is knock out for the count.  David says yes even a little faith can move mountains when it serves God's purpose.

FOR THE FRUITS OF HIS CREATION

            Matthew 25:35-40 ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

            Where are our fruits to appear and for what reason should we have fruits of labor.  The second verse of the hymn we just sang (For the Fruits of His Creation LSB 894) says our fruits are the works of God through us, it is His will.  How does this happen? 

            Our fruits when we listen to the word of God is the will of God.  His will is that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and our actions speak of this tithing together.  We are all of one Church, we are all of one Body of Christ, and we are all one family under the Fatherhood of our God, Yahweh.  Do we just sing the words or listen to them, or just read them to say we did?  No! We hear them inwardly digest them and then give action to them because that is the will of God.

            What else is the will of God?  It is God's will is that He chose us to be His adopted children and it is His will to give us full pardon for our sin and even better full inheritance to the same gifts He gave His only begotten Son, and that is eternal life and relationship with Him.  That is eternal life and relationship with our Father in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

            Malachi 3:8–15 ⁸Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

            Do you know why we tithe and then sing "Praise and Thanksgiving"?  Our tithing is to help the ministry of God.  This ministry is not just the minister or even the upkeep of this building and property.  Though our tithing gives to these needs too, our tithing is to help us give out the ministry of the fruits of God's creation. 

            Those fruits of God's creation are the outreach God is calling us to do for our neighbor that we are surrounded by.  But here it is; do you give because you feel you have to, or do you give because you feel in your heart that you joyfully want to. 

            Cain did not walk with God and grumbled as he gave because he felt he had to and God shunned his giving.  Able gave an abundance out of joy from his heart because He walked with God and God blessed Able for his giving. 

            Let me tell you; if you were to look at the books there are a few that give an abundance and keep this church alive and there are others who give a little like the woman who gave all she had.

            Luke 21:1-4 The Widow’s Offering.  Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, ² and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³ And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

            God owns all things because He created all things including the paper and metal we print out money on.  What we are doing is not giving to God because God has everything, rather we are giving to the ministry of God that He has called us to share alike in.  God does not expect us to give everything but only asks for a joyful portion of your time and monetary gifts.

            God also calls us through His tithing which was giving His Son up to pay the ransom to free us from the clutches of the law and the evil one who demands we pay an eternal punishment for our sin.  God does not want us in eternal punishment and suffering; God wants us in eternal relationship and life with Him living in joy.  God gave us the way to that eternal joy through our Savior Jesus Christ.

WITH YOUR BLESSINGS

            John 3:16-17 ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

            So it is, we come together and worship our Lord to receive His blessings.  Through our loving God who rose His only begotten Son from the dead and punishment of sin, we can now receive the gift of eternal relationship and life and joy.  This is the blessing we walk out of this building with, and retain as we walk with God, with the help of the Body of Christ we are sharing in His Grace and Mercy forever and ever Amen.