Nov 14

Send Me?

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the World War II movie Fury, Shia LaBeouf’s character, appropriately nicknamed as “Bible,” because of his penchant for quoting biblical verses, sits at the gunner position of a Sherman tank during the final weeks of World War II.1

As the crew awaits near-certain death from an approaching German battalion, “Bible” quotes to the crew:

“There’s a Bible verse I think about sometimes; many times; it goes, ‘Then I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ (Troubled, LaBeouf’s character pauses and clears his throat). And I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’”

The sermon’s text this week is often called the “Call of Isaiah.”  Isaiah is probably in despair and confusion.  The righteous king has died and the future does not look as good.  But instead of looking at the circumstances, God gives Isaiah a vision of his holiness from the Temple.  Then God asks who will go and speak for God.  Isaiah, with his failures and flaw volunteers to be God’s messenger.

How many times are we are so caught up in our circumstances that we can not look up and see the greatness of our God?  Yes, God wants to use us, to use you.  Even with all our lacking, we are the ones that God wants to fulfill the tasks that need to be done.  The real question is, “Are you a willing volunteer?”

The character from the movie realizes that he and his crew are the ones that are called to face the enemy and keep them from advancing.  Jesus quotes Isaiah 6 in Luke 4:17, and says his task is the call of Isaiah 6.  So, each one of us that follow Christ, must also face the call if Isaiah 6.

Pastor Greg

Nov 08

When God is too Gracious

Jonah 3

This is the third sermon dealing with God’s acceptance of those beyond Israel.  Human conflict is often fueled by a fear of “the other.”  And it was easy for the ancient Israelites to assume that God approved only of them.  Yet, over and over again, God breaks the barriers down that keep God’s love and God’s grace from reaching those that are not, in our opinion, worthy of God’s love. 

Jonah’s experience again is another challenge to God’s intention to send his grace to those beyond the pale of God’s light.  First, he refuses to go, then he gets mad when he is successful, then he has to be taught a lesson by God in the end.  Then we are not told if the prophet changed his mind about God.

Again, our church’s decision to be Open and Affirming is a difficult position.  Not because it conflicts with the gospel (which it doesn’t), but because we must be continually searching our heart to root out any prejudices against someone different from us.  This is the hardest position for us to live up with: because it requires us to continually to be humble.  Humility is a character of Christ that we are invited to also take upon ourselves.  Matthew 11:28-30:

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Pastor Greg

Oct 31

Jesus Shows God Does Not Fit in a Box

“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land.  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon.  [Luke 4:25-26 (NLT)]

Last Sunday’s sermon was noticing how God breaks out of any boundary we try to impose on him.  Solomon said that the Temple in Jerusalem was a place for those outside of Israel.  This week’s story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:1-16) shows God’s provisions beyond the borders of Israel.  This was so significant that Jesus noted it in a sermon at his home synagogue in Nazareth.  His inclusion was so radical that his hearers took him out of town to push him off a cliff. 

That is often the reaction that inclusion provokes from even the faithful church attenders.  But this is not a “them” problem (the people opposed to inclusion), but it is a “us” problem.  We fall into this trap too often.  We have our views of who God loves, and who is doing it the right way, and those who don’t do it the right way, we judge and even condemn. 

When we practice getting God out of the box, it calls us to have compassion on those who are demanding God get back in the box.  I see that only God can change their hearts and their attitudes.  We must have an inclusive attitude toward them too.  This calls for humility.  Only through humility can we throw away all the boxes we demand God to fit into and allow God to do the amazing work of grace in this world.

Pastor Greg

Oct 25

Promise for All Nations

1 Kings 8:27-30, 41-43

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27)

This question, asked by Solomon in his prayer of the dedication of the Temple, pushes our human understanding of God.  In early 1 Samuel, the idea was that God was only present with the Ark of the Covenant.  That is why the Ark was taken into battle, and eventually lost to the Philistines.  Now the Temple is built, the Ark is in its place, and we are told that God is not just there, God cannot be contained by the highest of heaven.

That challenges us today in our understanding of God.  What limits do we place on God?  There is a passage in 1 Kings 20, where the Syrians were trying to pin God to a certain area of operations.  They concluded that the Lord is a God of the hills, so they wanted to battle against the Israelites in the valley; where they thought the Lord would not be able to help them.  How many times do we put such limitations on God?

No, we do not say the Lord is the God of the hills, but maybe we say that God is only for my private life.  We do not acknowledge God, nor God’s truth in our public lives.  The God that is the Creator of the Heavens and the earth, that cannot be contained in the highest of heavens, nor does the sovereignty of God limit itself to matters of religion.  God is not the God of just the inner life, God is the God of our morals, our relationships, our work, and our opinions.  The Syrians wanted to put God in a box, and they learned that could not happen to their own peril.

Also, Solomon addressed the issue of who is God for.  He anticipated the foreigners would come to seek the Lord and to pray at the Temple, and God would hear them.  Because God is not just the God of the Israelites (or Christians).  God is the God of all people, whether they conform to our expectations or not.

We do not push our understanding of the God that Paul presented to the Athenians: “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ (Acts 17:27-28)”

Jesus, talking of the Temple in Jerusalem agreed with Solomon, “‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.’ (Mark 11:17).  We need to get God out of the box we have created for him, stop restricting him to only a narrow area of influence, and discover the God that speaks to all of life and human existence. Pastor Greg

Stewarship time:

Last week’s Bible verse about Jonah and the Whale makes an easy lead into Stewardship Sunday. While Jonah at first refuses to follow God’s wishes, after being rescued by the Whale that God sent, he fulfills God’s wishes and warns the Ninevites to repent, which ends up saving the lives of the people – that’s a pretty big “gift”. During this time of the year, as we are coming upon the Thanksgiving season, I would like to take a moment to talk about our pledge cards. They can be found, out in the narthex, as you fill out your card it can be placed in the offering plate. The pledge cards are also available on our website. The pledge cards help us establish a sense of what our budget will look like in the coming year – we have been very diligent with all our finances so as to make the gifts given to the church stretch as far as they may. All of us know that we are a small church, but we are a mighty and wonderful church. I saw an unusual example of that just yesterday. While we were outside finishing the leaves, an entire wedding party rolled up to the church, piled out and spent about 15 minutes getting pictures outside, on the stairs – they didn’t want to come in, just using the beauty of the outside. I also wanted to take a moment to recognize all of gifts of Time and Talent that so many of you make to keep our church so wonderful. From something as simple as adjusting the timing of the tower bell and mounting the new AED devises, to all the time and effort that went into last Saturday’s SupperMarket, and of course I can forget to mention our continued serving of meals on the 4th Sunday of each month. These are just a few examples of what our small but wonderful church does. So on Stewardship Sunday, as we hopefully reflect on and commit to being more grateful and generous – grateful for all God’s gifts to us and generous in sharing those gifts with others. I’d like to close my Stewardship message with a short prayer – O Lord, Giver of Life and Source of Freedom We know that all we have is received from your hand. Gracious and loving God, you call us to be stewards of your Abundance, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us. Help us always to use your gifts wisely and teach us to share them generously. Send the Holy Spirit to work through us, bringing your message to those we serve. May our faithful stewardship be a witness to the love of Jesus Christ in our lives. We pray with grateful hearts in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen .

Here is your 2025 Pledge Card!!

The church depends on your talents and financial help.

Please download your card
below and help with our missions.

You can turn them in via the offering plates at church
or you can mail them to us at:

First Congregational Church
9050 Church St.
Twinsburg, OH  44087

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Your support is vital to the ongoing missions for our church.

These are due into the church by 12/15/2024