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Dana Chau
Some of you might be familiar with the song, "Cat’s in the Cradle": (A father retracing the growing up of his son)
My child arrived just the other day;
He came to the world in the usual way,
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay,
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talkin’ ’fore I knew it and as he grew,
He said, "I’m gonna be like you, Dad.
You know I’m gonna be like you."
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon.
"When you comin’ home, Dad?"
"I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then;
You know we’ll have a good time then."
My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on, let’s play.
Can you teach me to throw?"
I said, "No, not today,
I got a lot to do."
He said, "That’s okay."
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed.
It said, "I’m gonna be like him, yeah,
You know I’m gonna be like him...."
And he came from college just the other day;
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
"What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later, can I have them please?"
I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away.
I called him up just the other day,
I said, "I’d like to see you, if you don’t mind."
He said, "I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time.
You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kids have the flu,
But it’s sure nice talkin’ to you, Dad,
It’s been nice talkin’ to you."
And as I hung up the phone
It occurred to me,
He’d grown up just like me,
My boy was just like me.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon,
"When you coming home, Son?’
"I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, Dad.
We’re gonna have a good time then."
Workaholism is destructive to the family and to personal health. (I’m preaching at myself.) If we find ourselves constantly working unusually long hours, pause and ask ourselves, "Why?" Am I doing this because I want to get a promotion and make a name for myself? Am I doing this because I want to achieve a certain level of wealth? Am I doing this because I want to satisfy a certain pleasure or to fill an emptiness? Was one of my parents a workaholic?
In a movie classic - National Lampoon’s Vacation - Chevy Chase - otherwise known as Clark Griswold - leads his family across the country to their dream vacation at Wally World. Along the way, Clark gets lost several times. One time happened to be in St. Louis. After several wrong turns, the houses got dirtier and the skin color got darker, leaving Clark and his family more and more scared. As time wore on, Audrey and her mom started having a very distressed look on their face and asking, “Are you sure you know where we are?” Confidently Clark gave the answer every husband knows by heart, “No problem kids, we’re just getting to see a part of America you don’t see every day.” Right after that, several gun shots went off, and he quickly said, “Roll 'em up.” Their trust in their fearless leader evaporated, and they were scared to death.
Isn’t that the way we end up with our Good Shepherd. At the beginning of the trip like good sheep we say to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go!” But then Jesus says to kids - “I want you to go the honest way - don’t cheat.” He says to teens - “I want you to take the high road - don’t have sex.” He says to adults - “I want you to take the faithful way - bring your children up in the nurture of the Lord. Have devotions. Be regular in attendance.” And we say, “are you sure Lord? That’s kind of hard.” Then things start getting more difficult, Jesus says to spouses, “be willing to turn the other cheek. Don’t be so judgmental of your spouse.” He says to kids, “don’t be so lazy with your parents. Do your chores.” So we say, “are you sure, Lord?”
The true sign of a sheep is one who is willing to follow - even through the valley of the shadow of death. Sheep are so trusting and so dumb that they don’t really think about where they’re going. They’re so enamored with their Shepherd’s voice that they’re willing to follow him ANYWHERE! Are you a sheep? Are you willing to follow?
SOURCE: From Matthew Haynie’s Sermon: Called To Be A Bondservant
VACATION: WILLING TO FOLLOW
In a movie classic - National Lampoon's Vacation - Chevy Chase - otherwise known as Clark Griswold - leads his family across the country to their dream vacation at Wally World. Along the way, Clark gets lost several times. One time happened to be in St. Louis. As time wore on, Audrey and her mom started having a very distressed look on their face and asking, "are you sure you know where we are?" Confidently Clark gave the answer every husband knows by heart, "No problem kids, we're just getting to see a part of America you don't see every day."
Right after that, several gun shots went off, and he quickly said, "Roll em up." Their trust in their fearless leader evaporated, and they were scared to death.
Isn't that the way we end up with our Good Shepherd. At the beginning of the trip like good sheep we say to Jesus, "I'll follow you wherever you go!" But then Jesus says to kids - "I want you to go the honest way - don't cheat." He says to teens - "I want you to take the high road - don't have sex." He says to adults - "I want you to take the faithful way - bring your children up in the nurture of the Lord. Have devotions. Be regular in attendance." And we say, "Are you sure Lord? That's kind of hard."
Then things start getting more difficult, Jesus says to spouses, "Be willing to turn the other cheek. Don't be so judgmental of your spouse." He says to kids, "Don't be so lazy with your parents. Do your chores." So we say, "Are you sure, Lord?" The true sign of a sheep is one who is willing to follow - even through the valley of the shadow of death. Sheep are so trusting and so dumb that they don't really think about where they're going. They're so enamored with their Shepherd's voice that they're willing to follow him ANYWHERE! Are you a sheep? Are you willing to follow?
From Matthew Haynie's Sermon "Called To Be a Bondservant"
Rent-a-Kid" starring Leslie Nielson. The opening segment shows a dream sequence. Little Molly is an orphan who just gets adopted. Her new family is extremely wealthy and has everything a child could want materialistically speaking. They even have their own merry-go-round in the house. The new parents tell Molly she can have anything or go anywhere in the house she pleases. She’s just not allowed to go into this one room. It’s off limits! Molly let’s curiosity get the best of her and opens the door. On the other side she finds it is an exit to the outside with her new parents standing by a car waiting to take her back to the orphanage. Her parents are ta...
SIMON BIRCH: A PURPOSE IN LIFE
How many of you remember a movie by the name of Simon Birch that came out in 1998?
It tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy named Simon Birch who, despite his physical disabilities, believes that God has a plan for his life. "Simon was born tiny and with an abnormally small heart. He was expected to die within the first twenty-four hours of his life. He surprises everyone, though, when he lives to be an adolescent.
"A disappointment to his parents and the target of many childhood pranks because of his miniature size and odd-sounding voice, Simon has every reason to question his self-worth and purpose for living. But he embraces his condition and believes that God will use him in a unique, possibly even heroic, way.
"Joe, Simon's best friend, doesn't believe in God, and he is not the only one who doubts that God has a plan for Simon. Simon's schoolmates mock him relentlessly, believing his assertions to be one more indication of his strangeness. On one occasion his Sunday school teacher hurriedly tries to hush him so he won't 'frighten' the other children with his musings.
"The small town's forlorn minister also doubts that God could have a plan for small Simon Birch. In a poignant conversation between Simon and the minister, Simon asks, 'Does God have a plan for us?'
"The minister hesitantly replies, 'I'd like to think he does.'
"Simon enthusiastically says, 'Me too. I think God made me the way I am for a reason.'
"The minister coolly states, 'I'm glad that, um, that your faith, uh, helps you deal with your, um, you know, your condition.'
"'That's not what I mean,' Simon states. 'I think I'm God's instrument. He's going to use me to carry out his plan.'
"Dumbfounded by Simon's confidence, the pastor says, 'It's wonderful to have faith, son, but let's not overdo it.' With that he waves for Simon to leave, shakes his head in disbelief, and whispers with an air of cynicism, 'God's instrument.'
"A short time later Simon is riding with his classmates in a school bus traveling down an icy road. Suddenly the bus driver veers to avoid a deer, loses control, and the bus plunges into an icy lake. Everyone in the front of the upright bus quickly evacuates out the door, but Simon and a handful of other students in the back of the bus are trapped as the bus begins to sink.
"Simon takes charge. He opens a window and commands his classmates to climb out. Last of all, Simon escapes through the window.
"In the hospital following the accident, Joe assures Simon that all the kids are all right. Simon asks, 'Did you see how the children listened to me because of the way I looked?'
"Joe, with tears in his eyes, replies, 'Yeah.'
"With satisfaction, Simon says, 'That window was just my size.'
"'Extra small,' Joe utters with a smile.
"A few seconds later, Simon dies, knowing that God used him. But what Simon doesn't know before he dies is that because of his unwavering faith, his friend Joe now believes in God.
"Some twenty years later, standing at Simon's gravestone, Joe says, 'I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice, not because of his voice or because he was the smallest person I ever met... but because he is the reason I believe in God. What faith I have, I owe to Simon Birch -- it is Simon who made me a believer'"
(Craig Brian Larson & Andre Zahn, Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2003), 160-161. From a sermon by Eric Lenhart, Sunday -- "Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem" 8/13/2010)
POPULAR DEMONS
Witchcraft and demonic figures like vampires are being popularized today as being very acceptable. The movies "Twilight" and "New Moon" not to mention the Harry Potter series, have captured the minds of this generation of young people. We have tried to sanitize demons by putting them in love stories, and Harry Potter is seen as a good witch. Kids know more and more about the practices of actual witches and demons through these movies than they know about what the Bible has to say about them. Does Genesis 6 speak about a demonic lovestory?
Genesis 6:1-4 says "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
In a movie classic - National Lampoon’s Vacation - Chevy Chase - otherwise known as Clark Griswold - leads his family across the country to their dream vacation at Wally World. Along the way, Clark gets lost several times. One time happened to be in St. Louis. After several wrong turns, the houses got dirtier and the skin color got darker, leaving Clark and his family more and more scared. As time wore on, Audrey and her mom started having a very distressed look on their face and asking, “are you sure you know where we are?” Confidently Clark gave the answer every husband knows by heart, “no problem kids, we’re just getting to see a part of America you don’t see every day.” Right after that, several gun shots went off, and he quickly said, “roll em up.” Their trust in their fearless leader evaporated, and they were scared to death. Isn’t that the way we end up with our Good Shepherd. At the beginning of the trip like good sheep we say to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go!” But then Jesus says to kids - “I want you to go the honest way - don’t cheat.” He says to teens - “I want you to take the high road - don’t have sex.” He says to adults - “I want you to take the faithful way - bring your children up in the nurture of the Lord. Have devotions. Be regular in attendance.” And we say, “are you sure Lord? That’s kind of hard.” Then things start getting more difficult, Jesus says to spouses, “be willing to turn the other chee...
As a kid, I loved this Gilligan’s Island! I would jump off of the school bus, race across the yard, bolt through the door and down the hall to dump my books off on my bed, get back to the living room just in time to plop on the floor 12 inches away from the screen (yes mom, I know I’ll hurt my eyes that way) just as Gilligan’s Island would begin at 4:00 on KPLR channel 11. What a great show! Two weeks ago I was flipping through the channels and guess what I found? It was the episode where Gilligan hurt his nose, the professor was going to do plastic surgery on him to give him a new one, but it was all a hoax to make Gilligan think he had surgery so he would leave it alone and the nose could heal naturally. And I thought to myself, “What a stupid show!” As ridiculous as the storyline of each episode was, I see in this small community of seven castaways several clear illustrations of what the idea of community means to us as a church.
First, you have seven people from all over the country, all different backgrounds, with different life stories all somehow finding their way to this one harbor to board a ship together and share a common experience. The wealthy Howell’s from New York, sweet, innocent MaryAnn from Kansas, Movie-star Ginger from Hollywood. As I look across our congregation I see people from the south, people from the north, people from right here. I see children, teenagers, college students, twenty-somethings, singles, married couples, middle-agers. I see people from catholic backgrounds, all different varieties of protestants, people who’ve been in church their whole life, people who are experiencing church life for the first time right here. I see people who have had relatively smooth peaceful lives. I see people bearing the scars of devastating trauma. And here we are, all somehow brought together at this moment in time to share a journey together.
We are much the same as that massive group of people who were gathe...
