South Roanoke United Methodist Church
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2330 South Jefferson Street |
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TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY
AFTER
PENTECOST
NOVEMBER 14, 2004 As Christ cares, we care…
we care about all people. ORDER OF SERVICE-11:00 A.M. + Indicates the people standing
ENTRANCE
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
SENDING FORTH +Indicates the people standing THOSE SERVING TODAY: The Altar Flowers Are Given *CHILDREN
(ages 3 through 1st grade), may meet the acolyte to recess to Children’s
Church. Please ask your child to line up behind the acolyte who will lead all
children out together. After the worship service, WELCOME! We're glad to
have all who have joined us for this time of worship. Especially to our
guests and visitors, we welcome you to South Roanoke and to our fellowship.
We invite those who have no church home to make South Roanoke your church and
add your witness to ours. NEXT WEEK’S SERMON will be
delivered by Paula Coker-Jones. OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES HAS
PURCHASED OUR NEW BUS! As of November 9 contributions “CHANGE
FOR A QUARTER” - Sept., Oct., Nov. save your loose pocket change, put it
in a sandwich bag with identification label you received in the mail, and
place it in the collection plate each week. Help erase the budget shortfall
for mission—GOAL $9,000. To date we have received $2,190.59. THE
ROANOKE DISTRICT CONFERENCE will be held TODAY from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at
Cave Spring United Methodist Church. All delegates and reserve delegates are
urged to attend. THERE
WILL BE a meeting of the Finance Committee on Monday, November 15, at
7:00 p.m. in the library/conference room. THE
UNITED METHODIST MEN will meet in the Fellowship Hall for breakfast and a
program on THE
ADULT FELLOWSHIP GROUP will meet in the Fellowship Hall for lunch on
Thursday, NEWSLETTER
CHANGE! The deadline for articles for the December/January issue
of the Tower Times is November 15. Send articles to Joe Kennedy, or email to
joesrumc@aol.com. Articles can be sent at anytime prior to the deadline.
Please keep in mind this will be a combined December/January issue. THE
ANNUAL “HANGING OF THE GREENS” will take place on Friday, November 26th
at 9:00 a.m. If you would like to help, please call Natalie Rude (345-1634)
or Tallulah Gregory (982-2535). THE
CHARGE CONFERENCE will meet on Monday, November 29 at 8:00 p.m. in the
Wimmer THE
NEW FLOWER CALENDAR for 2005 is on the bulletin board by the church
parlor. If you would like to remember or honor someone on a special day,
please sign up on the calendar, or call the church CONGRATULATIONS
TO DAVID BURROWS who recently received the Philanthropist of the Year
Award for the Roanoke Valley. For those not familiar with the word, it means
“Good Giver!” In receiving this award they mentioned his devotion to
South Roanoke UMC, the columbarium and Camp Alta Mons. WHAT
IS THE STATUS OF OUR CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP SERVICE? Our Council on THE
WIMMER CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY will be held at Brandon Oaks on Friday,
December 17 at 6:00 p.m. Cost of dinner is $14.00 per person. To make a
reservation please call Anne Danahy, 776-2116. All checks should be made
payable to Natalie Carter. Deadline for reservations is December 13. THE
FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE of the United Methodist women will have their “Ladies
Christmas Lunch” at the Roanoke Country Club on Tuesday, December 14 at 11:30
a.m. The cost is $17.00, which includes everything. Your reservation may be
made by sending your non-refundable check, made out to “UMW”, to Doris
Cutright by December 8. Doris’ address is: 2755 Lofton Road, Roanoke 24015.
For any other THE
UPPER ROOM CIRCLE will meet on Tuesday, November 16, at 10:30 in the
Aldersgate Room. They will continue their study of the book The Lord is My
Shepherd by Harold Kushner and go out for lunch together. All women in
the church are welcome to attend! AN
INVITATION IS EXTENDED TO OUR CONGREGATION to attend an Open House to
honor Daren Gunter, departing Director of Roanoke Valley Interfaith
Hospitality Network, today at Roanoke Catholic School Cafeteria 2:00-4:00
p.m. ____________________________________ SERMON |
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November 14, 2004 23rd Sunday after
Pentecost Don’t
Underestimate What God Can Do
Isaiah
65:17-25; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19
It’s finally getting to be my time of year again! If you have come to know me at all by now you know how much I look forward to the winter. Now I know some of you assume that I probably have never recovered from some childhood disease I contracted in my native Ohio (!), but I really like the cold. I especially enjoy the kind of weather the cold sometimes brings. That is why our move to Roanoke after 22 years in the southeastern part of Virginia excited me so much! And you didn’t let me down, at least as I remember last winter! And now here we are again: we have moved out of the heat of summer, a chill develops in the air, the autumn colors have come and gone, and the wind and clouds begin to tease us with the hint of snow. But there is another reason I like this time of year. I love this time of year because it brings the first hint of what is to come. It won’t be long now before we gather around the Thanksgiving table and in Advent we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. I love this time of years because it anticipates for us in the church a season of anticipation and hope! So I rejoice in the anticipation of these days whenever
the All three passages of Scripture today witness to the truth of what God can do. The Word of God clearly proclaims this morning that God is active, alive, and doing things among us. God is doing it right now in each of us, in our community, and in all creation. God is in this very moment restoring life as it was originally created, life as it was always intended to be--a life of fullness, provision, peace, justice, and love. And people of God brought this every year—even the lean years. Sometimes the world in which you and I live doesn’t seem so full of that life. Too often our world seems to have so much more sickness, poverty, war than fullness, justice, and peace. Sometimes we just have to believe this truth despite the evidence around us to the contrary. No one knew this more than our Lord Jesus. In the 21st chapter of Luke, Jesus is on his way to do just that: redeem creation for fulfillment and to empower all of life as God intends it to be. He is on his way to Jerusalem to accomplish that redemption and he overhears people speaking of the temple—the beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God. The temple--the very sign itself of the presence and activity of God among them. And he says to them, As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down. He went on to talk about wars and insurrections, nations rising against nations, earthquakes, famines, plagues. All these occurring before the ultimate fulfillment of creation or even signs that that fulfillment is right on course and inevitable. Jesus says sometimes we just have to trust in the absence of clear evidence of God’s presence. The ageless message of the bringing of the first fruit every year (whether it looked like the harvest was going to be plentiful or not) and the timeless truth expressed by Jesus here is this: don’t ever put your ultimate trust in the earthly evidence of God’s presence among us. Jesus said the temple is not forever and it was destroyed within a generation of the time Jesus spoke these very words; only God is forever. Now in our day we put our commitments, place our hopes, and express faith life in the church, but this earthly institution itself which represent our life in God are not permanent. The temple wasn’t forever, the United Methodist Church is not forever, South Roanoke Church is not forever, only God is forever. These are all temporal gifts of God for the earthly living out of our faith. We give ourselves to them as appropriate, meaningful, and empowered vessels of the activity of God among us but they are not the only places where God is active in creation. We do not put our ultimate trust in them. Jesus reminds us our ultimate trust is in God. That way our trust in God does not rise or fall with the successes or failures of the Church. God is always there whether we rise to the occasion or not. Sometimes God works in the culture despite us, thanks be to God! Jesus says the temple is not forever; only God is forever. Jesus shared another reason why we cannot depend upon outward evidence to assure us that God is active and alive among us—that evidence is sometimes lacking, but more often it is misunderstood. Wars? Insurrection? Famine? Earthquakes? Plagues? What kind of evidence is this but the sign that God is losing and losing badly day by day? Jesus says the temple is not forever. But Jesus also says the principalities and powers of this world are not forever—only God is forever. Jesus surely knows this even as he makes his way to the cross; he knew that all these things are but the final death throes of a culture that has already been defeated. Evil, pain, death—all these things are on the way out, they will all ultimately lose in the end and pass away but they do not go quietly, do they? Jesus understands these hard and tragic realities of life to be the last desperate attempts of the forces and powers of this world to stave off their inevitable defeat at the cross of Christ. The resurrection will not be stopped; all things will become new. But we Christians know that the way through the resurrection is the way of suffering and Jesus goes with us all the way through. Jesus says indeed, Not one stone will be left upon another and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven The temple is not forever; the principalities and powers of this world are not forever. We cannot put our ultimate hope in the evidence around us of God’s presence. Our hope, you see, in the end is not in always having our health and avoiding disease; managing to hold off death as long as we possibly can; the political victory of one position of moral values over another in a divided nation; the growth or fading away, rise or fall of the United Methodist Church or even of South Roanoke Church. Our hope is in God. Yes, sometimes we just have to trust that God is active and alive and doing things in creation despite the evidence to the contrary. And when things get tough, when evil and pain and death seem to press so hard upon us, we have to trust that Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about when he said things may well get a lot worse before they get better. That’s why Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians urges them to stay away from those who live in idleness and to not grow weary in doing what is right. Whether times are good or times are bad we are called to work, work hard, give ourselves fully to this life and faith that is before us. The gathering of the very first fruit at harvest time—is a sign of what God can do. The people brought the first fruit to God at harvest time even in the lean years for they came in thanks and they needed a sign of what God can do always before them, often despite the evidence to the contrary. Don’t ever underestimate what God can do. Sometimes you just have to believe God is active and alive among us despite the abundance of evidence around us to the contrary. Yes, sometimes the glimmer of God’s presence shines brightly for all to see. In either case we never ultimately trust the evidence. We trust the God. This hope and promise is boldly envisioned by Isaiah. As I conclude with his words focus your attention on these truths as pictured before us (painting of lion and lamb together).
Isaiah 65:17-20, 23-25 I love this time of year. And it is announced whenever the people of God begin to gather the first fruits of the harvest—a sign of what God can do. Brothers and sisters, God is active, alive, and doing things among us. God is doing it right now in each of us, in our community, and in all creation. All creation is moving toward that promised fulfillment in God—life as it was originally created, life as it was always intended to be—a life of fullness, provision, peace, justice, and love. God will do it—don’t ever underestimate what God can do! William G. Davidson |
season
starts to change at this time of year.
For
I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not
be remembered or come to mind. Before they call I will answer, while they are
still yet speaking I will hear.