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Sermon: We trust each other best when we first trust God. |
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Luke 2:41-52 " Is it Trust or Wishful Thinking?" A sermon by the Rev Roland Kubke January 3, 2010
Anyone here who has been a parent would very likely agree that parenting can have some very anxious moments. Parents can find themselves anxiously listening to the breathing of their baby because they know that small babies sometimes forget to breathe. They are anxious when their babies first start to roll or to crawl or to walk. They are anxious when the children first go to out to play at someone else’s house. The first day of school, the first friendship, the first signs of independence, the first job, or girlfriend or boyfriend, leaving home the first time – all these things can be a great source of anxiety for parents. Why? Because they challenge parents to find an answer to the question, “Is it trust or is it wishful thinking?” You see, a very key part to any relationship you have with anyone, no matter how young and helpless that person might be has to do with trust. You trust that the baby is developed enough to breathe on its own and from there on, you trust that your child is capable of handling not just increased independence, but the increased responsibilities that go along with it. It is wishful thinking if you let a child face life without the proper preparation and simply assume your child will be alright. It is trust when you have done everything you can to equip that child and then allow your child to test out the things that he or she has been taught. For that reason, when a parent allows a child to actually do something on their own, it is really a test of trust. It is not just the child who is being tested, either, but both. Our Gospel lesson this morning is an example of this. Mary and Joseph endured a very painful test of trust as they found themselves anxiously looking for their boy, Jesus. In the end, they learned that they certainly could trust Jesus because they were reminded in this to trust in God! |
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Sermon: A person who truly believes is eager to learn and to grow. |
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Luke 2:22-40 “Tourist or Traveller?” A sermon by the Rev Roland Kubke December 27, 2009
1st Sunday of Christmas: Exodus 113:1-3, 11-15; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:22-40
Have you ever been to some spot that is also an international tourist attraction and then found yourself surrounded by a bus load of Japanese tourists on a sightseeing trip? It can be quite annoying, really. They can be very loud as the speak to each other and as they giggle and then stop right in front of you to take pictures of each other posing in front of this thing or that. It can leave you feeling like you are nothing more than a prop in some scene. On the other hand, the experience of Japanese visitors can be quite different when they are on an exchange trip, especially if you are hosting them. In that situation, you are more than just part of the setting. There is a real exchange of information and ideas and you even can be left feeling that you have made a friend. The difference between those experiences is the difference between a tourist and a traveller. Tourists are there to see things, but not necessarily to really take in what they are seeing. A traveller is there to be more than just a tourist. A traveller is there to marvel at things, to consider the things that they have experienced. A traveller is open to being influenced and even to being changed in some way by what they encounter. Travellers are open to the idea of making the things that they have discovered while visiting another country or another part of the country a part of who they are. Mary and Joseph were in Jerusalem for the rituals of purification and consecration that were part of religious life in their day. This would have been about 40 days after Jesus was born. They had come there from Nazareth, which was a four day trip, but they were far more than tourists. They were travellers. They were people who were committed to participating fully in what they had to do. They were committed to making their experiences in Jerusalem a part of who they were. This was about more than just Jewish customs, though. Mary and Joseph where committed to hearing the Word of God. Luke tells us that, when Simeon prophesied about Jesus, , “The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about Him.” Mary and Joseph were not spiritual tourists, but true believers whom God had sent on a journey of discovery. God has set you on a journey of discovery, too! May He move you in faith so that you are more than just some spiritual tourist, but a true traveller in the journey of faith that has come to you for the sake of Jesus Christ! |
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Sermon: A Love Only God Can Own |
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Isaiah 43:1 “You are Mine” A sermon by the Rev Roland Kubke January 10, 2010
The Baptism of Jesus: Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22
Do you own something? Chances are pretty good that you own a number of things. Chances are also good that the more things you own, the more independent you are. If you don’t own your home or your condo, your life can be put into turmoil as soon as some other person decides that you no longer qualify to live where you live. The banker can refuse to extend your mortgage. The landlord can decide to sell the house out from under you. The housing authority can tell you that they won’t accept you back from the hospital when the doctor’s assessment says you can’t look after yourself anymore. Your routines and your choice of doctor or dentist or congregation and even your chances of keeping a job or a friendship can depend a great deal on where you live. The less control you have over where you live, the more likely that your entire life will be uprooted by someone else’s choosing. It’s not just that. Ownership has a great influence on how you feel about things. Home ownership provides security. Owning a car makes greater freedom possible. Owning nice clothes and nice things makes you feel competent and capable. Owning an heirloom makes you feel connected to your past. There are such strong feelings that can be attached to owning something that it shouldn’t come as a surprise when people bring ownership into their personal relationships. Consider this: people who love one another don’t just say, “I love you”. They often also say, “You are mine.” Loving someone who loves you back makes you feel secure and free and competent and capable. If all those feelings are so much like the feelings you get from owning something, is it any wonder that people talk and act like they own their loved ones? In our Old Testament lesson this morning, we come across a very interesting point. Love and ownership truly go together, but there is only one way when you can put those two together and have a genuine blessing out of it. What is that way? It is in God’s own words, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name. You are mine.” God owns you. God owns you and He is the only one who has any right to own anyone. Any person whom you could possibly love belongs to God. Thank God that He blesses your love by reminding you that we all belong to Him! |
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Sermon: Children help us to understand God's love |
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Zephaniah 3:17 “What Comfort!” A sermon by the Rev. Roland Kubke December 13, 2009
Other Readings: Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18
Have you ever noticed how big a role children have when it comes to making Christmas the Christmas you expect it to be? A child’s anticipation of the season is so much on the surface that children drive the season along with all that impatient energy they show. There is more to it than that, though. You could say that children are an important part of Christmas because they depend on you so much as a parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle. It makes you feel good to be able to nurture someone who so obviously needs you. It is somehow easier to show kindness and warmth and generosity to a child that it is to an adult, who too easily feels indebted to you or too readily doubts your motives. You might also say that the reason children are such an important part of Christmas is because they are such a great example of an open and trusting faith that is not clouded by the things that can tarnish an adult’s faith so much. Isn’t such a faith the reason that the Sunday school Christmas message as we were blessed by it this morning is such an endearing presentation of the Gospel? A person could speculate for quite some time as to why children make Christmas special, and the reasons could end up being different for every one of you. Our Old Testament lesson this morning offers us an interesting point to ponder when it comes to the example that children can offer us in faith. Zephaniah wrote: “The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) Children are an important part of Christmas because they show us how to do something that adults can too easily forget. They show us what it takes to be comforted by love! A child can be comforted with the presence of an adult who loves that child and delights in that child and shows open affection to that child. This is the kind of comfort that God offers to you. God offers you the privilege of climbing into His lap because He delights in you. He offers you the comfort of His love. Thank God that He lifts you up like a child in His arms, and offers you the comfort of His love! |
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