Fifth Sunday in Lent
Message brought by Rev. Dr. Jimmy Watson
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Okay Ni L good morning good morning welcome to United Church W United Church uh our worship leaders this morning Reverend Dr Jimmy Watson uh Dicky Mir Joan hunsicker and I’m Cory Morrison not camon Morrison um sorry I’m filling in this morning for him he’s little under the weather so I’m
Kind of behind here uh prayer concerns this week uh uh please keep these members in your in your uh prayers Ryan Kim Brandt and Chloe and Hadley Ted Brandt and Julie berer uh also prayers to ask for all those who are suffering alter flowers are in memory of Jerry and chudy bear
Orell and Milton bacon Ford bacon uh Mr Mr and Mrs William or WM bear Lily Bear by Warner and Nancy bear uh dates to remember uh Easter eggs need pre-filled eggs for our annual egg hunt after worship on Easter Easter lily signup sheet is in the foyer deadline is noon Monday March
25th lent soup and soul food Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall all are invited to bring your favorite soup Elder Fest Thursday March 21st at 11:30 a.m. potluck meal served and all are invited to join uh the members roster working on updating the members roster
If you recently joined the church or plan to join the church and have not given your contact information to the office or if you have a change of address phone number or email address uh please update information with church office or Pastor Jimmy by March 31st newsletter articles are due Friday
March 22nd by noon uh the one for one offering in March is earmarked for ladies evening Circle the wymer food pantry is in need of our donations canned vegetables are requested for March however any and all donations are greatly appreciated please note that no outdated food items are
Accepted and then also children’s and adults Sunday school held every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. uh are there any additional announcements if not let us prepare our hearts and mind for worship by listening to the Prelude Please stand if you’re able and join with join me with the call to worship the days are surely coming says our God the day is here to affirm a New Covenant call on God’s steadfast love and mercy we strong and V relationship with our God God’s law be written on our
Hearts our creator claims us and forgives our faithfulness know God who loves us to God’s intention for us God offers us the joy of Salvation our Brokenness can be healed and wholeness restored we are open to the new and right Spirit God offers we guidance for our daily living
Amen you all feel like singing this morning well I do let’s let’s sing number 108 Lift High the Cross the world of God through we the Christ Ser the cruci world oh Lord all the etern so Shall CHR and now let us join together in a humble Creed written specifically for the season of Lent I believe in God the creator of Heaven and Earth who gave man and woman Free Will and entrusted this precious world to us I believe in Jesus Christ
His son our Lord who was born in a manger by Mary a woman of humble beginnings refusing to seek power and turning away the sword he died for us the Lamb of God he descended into the darkest of all places but rose again on the third day bringing life and hope to
All I believe in Christ’s humble Spirit conceiving the holy Apostolic and Universal Church which is Among Us and Beyond us before us and after us I believe in a church comprised of Sinners and Saints imperfect and in need of Grace yet bless the body of Christ I
Believe in the Forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life Everlasting amen GL to and to the son and to the in the begin Shall you may be seated prayer for illumination loving God in whose service service there is both risk and honor who want to see Jesus not to prove a theory but to experience a presence not to observe from a distance but to become involved not to just listen but to
Follow and to serve lead us Beyond a quest for personal security to a passion for the lifting up of all human life to the promises of Eternity amen all right do we have any youngsters here this morning like to invite you to come forward got something to show
You Pastor Jimmy yeah I want you to know that Tate right there Tate are you hold up your hand he went to the state free throw Championship a couple of weeks ago those lessons I gave you paid off didn’t yeah wow that’s great how many of you made in a row
What’s your record do you know 25 cool we’re not talking like the goal you put on the back of your chair in the living room a little Nerf ball we’re not talking that okay all right thanks for coming down now I know there’s not a lot of
Green up here but no pinching allowed okay or as I used to say pinch pinching okay now what are these right here anybody know what they are what if I did that yeah you ever seen a magnet huh I have maget do you really here take them
And like play with them show them around let’s see here go ahead and give that give one of those little ones there give one there all right however yall want to pass it around what do they do what do the magnets do huh things kind of they attract things
To it right things stick to them do you have any magnets at your home anywhere in your house yeah I have where where is it you have any on your refrigerator that seems to be where most magnets end up these days right on the what do we do with them on the
Refrigerator put pictures and papers yeah isn’t that funny how we do that like a on the the rare opportunity you might make an A on a paper your parents put it on there right like look at what my kid did no um so anyway yeah we have a lot of magnet
Refrigerator magnets in our house any other place you might have a magnet you know I I uh I looked around everywhere for magnets they’re hard to find just plain old magnets like that there really are we don’t use them like we we used to I guess I don’t know but
Uh some people you know some people are magnetic what what do I mean by that if I say um somebody is has a Magnetic Personality what does that mean they’re likable yeah right yeah uh it’s a it’s a quality that some people have that make you very um um attractive
To other people and I’m not talking about looks I’m just saying like people that you want to be around right you’re you’re you’re drawn to them and so sometimes we feel that way about um uh famous people even though we don’t know them personally we’re drawn to them like
They might be a musician you know want to listen to all their music or they might be an athlete or an actor or something like that so um but some of you might have like a best friend why are they your best friends there’s something magnetic there’s like a pool
Between you or some day you might have a girlfriend or something you know that would be an that would be a magnetic thing right um there uh there’s a lot of Elections going around going on right now everywhere I go uh before I left on vacation came back there’s all these
Signs everywhere so people are trying to uh these candidates who are wanting to go into office uh they’re trying to be like magnets are they not they’re trying to draw people to them at the same time what are they trying to do they’re trying to repel you from their opponents
And subm magnets will do that won’t they they’ll repel uh one another okay well my message today is Jesus was like a magnet uh in our reading today you’re going to hear in a minute where uh John John’s Jesus says when I am lifted up
From the earth I will draw all people to myself how was he lifted up from the earth in what way anybody know how was he lifted up there’s actually more than one right answer he was number one he was lifted up on the cross right that’s when he was crucified that’s a a
Horrible story but it happened he he was he was executed by they lifted him up and they nailed him to a cross so he was lifted up and that that may be one way he’s saying I will draw people to me they’ll see what I’ve done for them that
I’ve allowed myself to to be killed like that without without fighting back or anything the second the second thing that might mean is at his resurrection at his resurrection when he says I will be lifted up when I’m lifted up I will draw people to myself the
Resurrection is a way of being lifted up he was lifted up out of the Grave okay now there’s the third way that he was lifted up that we often forget we don’t talk a lot about it but it’s called the Ascension the word Ascend means to go up
So there’s a story at the end of the gospels where this is after the resurrection Jesus is hanging around with people for a while and then he says his final goodbyes and he’s around all these people and and and God lifts them up into the heavens and you know our
Imaginations run wild with that like oh he’s just floating up into the sky whatever but he was they call that the Ascension so he was lifted up and the point is Jesus uh was like a magnet uh even today he draws people to himself The church
Here is also a magnet people feel drawn to come here why because in some way they see Jesus here they want to learn about Jesus here and so they feel drawn to be here and our job really as Christians as followers of Christ is to be magnets for God magnets for God to
And for Jesus to bring people into the church right that’s our task let’s pray loving God we thank you for uh Jesus being lifted up and drawing people to him uh and we are thankful that we are among those those folk who have been drawn toward him we pray that you will
Help us to become uh magnetic in the same sense drawing people into your kingdom we pray this in his name amen thank you you can keep the magnet our children’s song this morning is number 344 344 let’s sing it I have decided to follow Jesus I have DEC decided to follow
Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back the World Behind me the cross before me the World Behind me the cross before me the World Behind me the cross before me no turning back no turning back go n Go with me I still will
Follow though none go with me I still will follow though none go with me I still will follow no turning back no turning back will you decide now to follow Jesus Jesus will you decide now to follow Jesus will you decide now to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back thank you
Our scripture readings this morning come from Jeremiah Jeremiah 31: 31-34 uh can be found the Old Testament uh page number 691 the days are surely coming says the Lord when I’ll make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah it will not be
Like the Covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt a covenant that they broke though I was their husband says the Lord but this is the Covenant that I will make with the
House of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people no longer shall they teach one another or say to each other know the
Lord for they shall know all they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest says the Lord for I will give for for I will forgive their inequity and remember their sin no more our second reading comes from Hebrews 5: 5 through1 found the New Testament page 206
S so also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by the one who said to him you are my son today I have begotten you as he says also in another place you are a priest forever according to the order of meel
Madc in the days of his flesh Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his reverent submission although he was a son he learned obedience although what he
Suffered and having been made perfect he became the source of Eternal salvation for all who obey him having been designated by the by God a high priest according to the order of meel mzc this is the word of the Lord thanks be our sermon Heaven this morning is number
197 beneath the cross of Jesus please stand and let’s sing the cross of Jesus my Fain would take my stand the shadow of the mighty Rock within a wey land a home within the Wilderness a rest upon the way from the burning of the new T Heat and the birden of the
Day upon the cross of Jesus my ey at times can see the for of one who suffer there me and from the Sten cour with tears to one wers I confess the wonders of redeeming love and and wear I take across the sh for my Abiding
Place I ask for the sunshine and the sunshine of his cont to let the world go by to no no G or L my S self my only shame my glory all the cross you may be seated Our Gospel lesson is from John chapter 12 I’ll be reading verses 20 through 33
You can find it on page 100 in your New Testament now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks they came to philli who was from Betha in Galilee and said to him sir we wish to see Jesus Philip went and told
Andrew then Andrew and Phillip went and told Jesus Jesus answered them the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified very truly I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains just a single grain but if it dies eyes it Bears much
Fruit those who love their life lose it and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life whoever serves me must follow me and where I am there will my servant be also whoever serves me the father will honor now my soul is troubled and what
Should I say father save me from this hour no it is for this reason that I have come to this hour father glorify your name then a voice Came From Heaven I have glorified it and I will glorify it again the crowd standing there heard it
And said that it was Thunder others said an angel has spoken to him Jesus answered this voice has come for your sake not for mine now is the Judgment of this world world now the ruler of this world will be driven out and I when I am lifted up from the earth
Will draw all people to myself he said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die by the way I hope you didn’t not come here today expecting to hear a sermon in the German language kind obviously I don’t speak German very well although I did study it
Uh how to read it a little bit in grad school because as my German language Professor told us uh German was the theological language of the last 200 years quite a statement but what he meant by that remark is that the German mind has been some of the most fertile soil for theological
Creativity on this planet for quite some time and so when I hear the names SCH marker Bon Hofer Bulman Schweitzer tiik neber or bramon I get as excited as some of you do when the price of beef goes up that’s just my world now I get the irony
Of a Scots Irish American without a trace of German ancestry spending an entire career as the pastor of congregations with German immigrant roots and preaching a German sermon on St Patrick’s Day there’s some irony in that and by the way why am I calling it that a German sermon
Especially since what I really want to talk about today are germs threw you off on that one didn’t I now other than the fact that German and sermon rhyme which was too good to pass up I had to use it my original assumption was that the words German and
Germ had to be linguistically connected in some way or another I was absolutely wrong they have nothing to do with one another the words German and Germany go back at least as far back as Julius Caesar and therefore that those words are not connected to either the 17th century
English word germ that ref refers to seeds which is my topic this morning which I’ll eventually get to or the 19th century English version of the word germ that refers to those little tiny disease manufacturers the germs so German and germ are not gerine to one another at
All you see what I did there and I certainly do not want to give the impression that Germans are somehow more germy than everyone else people of German origin do not carry any more or less dangerous microbial organisms than any other group of people on this planet
Now take that back I I’ve never been to Germany but I hear that it is one of the cleanest countries on Earth and most people that I have known over the years in my congregations of German descent were and I assume are faithful bathers you look like faithful bathers
To me but I’m digressing a little bit what I’m here to share about to share with you does not apply only to the geric peoples who sprang up from the soil in the western region of Central Europe what I’m about to say to you applies to everyone so for you U Dallas
Cowboy fans as Dak Prescott likes to say just before the center hikes the ball here we go here we go which by the way that kind of tips off the opposition doesn’t it I don’t know why it does that but the idea for this sermon germinated you see what I did
There the idea for this sermon began in my reading of the words of Jesus found in John 12: 24 here Jesus famously says very truly which means listen up I’m about to say something important I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains just a
Single grain but if it dies it Bears much fruit now the word grain in that verse in that passage could also be a kernel could be a seed a sprout and yes a germ because the word germ is a synonym for all those other little tiny things from which plants
Arise now I’m not by any means an expert in the agricultural Sciences so I’m not exactly sure how the words grain kernel Sprout seed and and germ are similar or dissimilar but I just know that they all represent the beginning of a plant that with a little sunshine a
Little rain a little encouragement will soon blossom into life so pardon my pun but what Jesus says here in John chapter 12 is the kernel of Christian Theology and that’s no small thing this is a big moment this is a big idea Jesus is using the common image of
A tiny grain in this case of wheat to illustrate to illustrate how his death will bring life to others so just as a mature plant dies and scatters its seeds the Christian faith germinated in Jesus’s death and burial or planting although he wasn’t literally put into
The ground but we could say maybe he was put into a pod so to speak and then in agricultural terms Jesus’s resurrection refers to the blossoming or the flowering of what he calls the kingdom of God so if he’ used an agricultural metaphor for kingdom of God he might have called
It the crop of God planted in what I refer to one Sunday here as the sod of God obviously I like things that rhyme right are we not part of God’s crop that would play into other agricultural images scattered like seed throughout the scriptures such as sewing
And reaping the fruit of the spirit a Shute from the stump of Jessie The True Vine the the the Tree of Life The Living Water all of these things these Nature images now I’m not a German Theologian but on my better days I can be just as creative as schl marker or or
Bugan and based on what Jesus said here in John chapter 12 I would like to introduce to you a new theological term you’re hearing it here first so you’re very lucky people the first time here we go taking my cue from science’s germ Theory which I’ll discuss in a moment I
Want to introduce A New Concept called germ theology germ theology now germ Theory as you know says that specific microscopic organisms are the cause of specific diseases a and germ theory of course was developed it was proved it was popularized in Europe and North America back in the the 19th
Century it is no longer a disputed notion we know about germ Theory everyone understands it it’s why we are told to wash our hands so the premise though of germ theology on the other hand the other washed hand is that Jesus’s death his burial or planting and his resurrection or
Flowering was the beginning of the Kingdom or the crop of God taking root in human soil that is the human soul and since then it has spread like blue bonnets on Texas roadsides so germ theology says that God planted a seed in Jesus and from that seed millions of people have become part
Of the crop of God you heard it here first now the one and only thing that germ Theology and ger and science is germ Theory have in common is that something spreads when human beings are in close contact with one another so according to germ Theory and science diseases spread when people
Are too close to one another and according to germ theology the gospel spreads when people are close enough to one another little difference there too close and close enough and if and when some critics of Christianity see the gospel as a contagious disease I would tell them that they need to find a
Church that does not create disease disease among their people okay so what does all this have to do with Germany to make this more of a a German sermon I’m going to make three very very quick points points first as I mentioned earlier historically the German mind has been
Very fertile soil for theological creativity if you don’t believe me just come check out my library look at all the German names there the contributions of people of German descent have been extremely fruitful in terms of spreading the seeds of Christian theology for a very long time second
When I think of the German immigrants who came to the United to the United States and spread their Pious Faith germs the ancestors of many of you they did so as they settled in some of the most fertile land in the country most of the former German Evangelical and reformed congregations
In the United Church of Christ are located in agric cultural communities like wymer they were and they are people of the land and so they know a thing or two about growing things and the third reason this is a German sermon is because Germany is a poignant
Example of Jesus’s words in John 12 verse 24 in the 20th century Germany was like a grain of wheat that fell into the Earth and die twice so that it could bear better fruit Old Germany had to die for New Germany to be born and today Germany is one of the most Forward
Thinking prosperous and clean yes clean Nations on Earth that’s what makes this a German sermon very truly I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains just a single grain but if it dies it Bears much fruit what Jesus says here applies in so many ways
In our Universe dying Stars give birth to new planets Nations die so that something better can emerge Seasons die so that something new Can Begin Again according to scripture the old self needs to die so that a new self can be born again this is the foundation for Christian ethics and if
Scripture is right about the end of life our mortal bodies must die in order to create Immortal Souls this is all true whether we emerged from the soil of the western region of Central Europe or not amen I just want to let everyone know that today we have another uh soprano singing
With us and Patty probably doesn’t like me saying this but anyway Patty and Richard are brother and sister and Patty’s joining us today and we’re glad to have her Chch To thee th lamb of Calary now me while I pray take all my guil away me from Holy toing heart my ins th for me oh may my love to thee and Change [Applause] Liv me [Applause] bless in love And [Applause] the text is to step for our prayer concerns I I I want to uh lift up um eron again and how’s how is she doing she did okay liquid diet okay yeah so she’s having a rough time um so uh and uh great grandchild doing fine Joyce great
Okay so if I missed someone forgive me but um let let me know if you have something going on in your family or whatever and good to see the McDonald’s back from their hiest yeah oh yeah yeah yeah C over here well your son C uh had
That nasty uh injury and sounds like he’s going to be out for a while so that’s going to be hard on a kid his age being a junior in high school and having to miss out on a lot of sports and stuff so obviously our prayers go with
Him anyway I’m going to do something a little different um when I was uh researching ing uh for this sermon on the worldwide web I did something accidentally um for some reason well I just trying to get information and I accidentally uh uh accessed a uh a new artificial intelligence program on my
Computer I didn’t know it was there I don’t many did you put it on there I don’t know what happened uh an AI program I I don’t know anything about these things but um and it it created a poem for me me which is kind of
Interesting I didn’t ask for one but it did I didn’t when it was just like jet speed the words are coming out like what in the world kind of answer is it given here and um so what I’m about to share with you is the very first AI poem that I have ever
Produced uh and what’s funny at the end it said that the author because I thought do somebody write this poem and you know who so I tried to find out but it said the author is the poet of the cosmos and I thought you know that’s just the internet
Bragging right the poet of the cosmos okay but remember the germ of this idea came from me but this is what came out I didn’t even ask for but I’m going to share it with you as our prayer this morning in the garden of existence where Seasons intertwine life pettes with
Death a Walt both Divine why must petals fall leaves crumble and hearts ache why does the sun Kiss The Horizon then gently forsake Autumn arrives a painter with a golden brush stroking the foliage in Hues of russet and blush leaves once vibrant green now whisper their goodbye drifting downward a symphony of
Surrender to the sky beneath the surface Secrets stir in the soil decompositions Alchemy a transformative coil the fallen leaves cradle life’s paradoxical truth death nourishes life a cycle of Eternal youth from Decay emerges the Phoenix of flame resurrected from ashes it Bears no shame life’s tapestry rewoven threads of
Loss and gain each ending a beginning a cosmic refrain so why must things die to live a new perhaps it’s the universe’s way to renew in death’s Embrace Life Finds Its fertile ground and from the void Sprouts hope Unbound remember this dear seeker of life’s rhyme death is but a threshold A Passage
Through time for every with Leaf a bud awaits its chance and in the dance of life and death we find our dance amen now let us pray as Jesus inspired us to pray saying Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom
Come thy will be done on Earth as it in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for th is the kingdom the power the glory forever amen here our prayer oh
Lord here our prayer oh Lord here our prayer oh Lord and grant us thy peace amen our operatory invitation what are we ready to die for how much of ourselves and our resources will we risk for the sake of the Gospel Jesus invites us to follow as disciples and servants
Risking everything for the sake of God’s Love Yes Praise God from whom all blessings fall Praise Him All Creatures here below praise him up the Heavenly Host bless Father Son and Holy Host please join me in Unis and offertory prayer we dedicate these offerings to the proclamation of your word that teaching of your ways and the living of your will for all humankind we reach out with the joy and gladness to offer your love to the world may these gifts enable the sharing of
Your presence with many who have not experienced a sense of their own value as your children as we keep Covenant with you we would also share Joys and obligations with our neighbors amen and now please join in our closing hymn number 439 God dismiss us with your blessing let’s Sing God dismiss us with your blessing fill our hearts with joy and peace let us Fe Your Love possessing Triumph and Redeeming Grace oh refres oh be precious traveling through this Wilderness thanks we give and adoration for your gospel’s joyful sound May the fruits of your salvation in our hearts and lives
Abound ever faithful ever faithful to the truth may we be Found I’ll meet you all in the fellowship hall today we have a um reemergence of the poppy seed cake from Jean hey Jean Jean’s here it’s back we’re going to give now an old Irish blessing so put your Irish on May the road rise up to meet you May the
Wind always be at your back may the sun shine warm upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand Amen Amen amen A you may be seated have a great week and come join in the fellowship Paul Patty glad you’re here with us today just so you all know go ahead go ahead Joan is not going to be with us for about a month because they’re going to Japan no they’re going yes she’s going
To Japan so anyway she’ll have lots of stories for us when she comes Back we wish you well you I told