Sermon Notes February 1, 2009

Reading: MARK 1.21-28

Jesus reminds us in this passage that speaking with Authority is important. We begin by hearing that this is different from the way of the Scribes, and other teachers in the Temple. So we take a moment to explore why that is. The Scribes of the time were a bunch of scholars who knew their history very well. They would trot out their favorite ancestor and quote him in Biblical Study, and then they might throw out another favorite ancestor, with a counter point. One could hardly pin down the Scribe about what their own views were, and what view was correct. Jesus began to teach in just such a way...and often when quoted in Scripture we hear it start, "You have heard it said, but I tell you..."

We know that Jesus had the power of the Holy Spirit in him, and we know that he gave that Spirit to us when he left. So we can put the pieces together and find that what Jesus does we also have capability to do. When taken with the reminder Jesus gives us that we will be able to do all that he has done and more I must sit up and listen. God gave us gifts to use for the building up of the kingdom. I have been passing out Spiritual Gifts Inventories for several months, and now I am going to get more serious about doing so.

Doing church without knowing the gifts of the people is a little like knowing how many buildings you have but not what is inside of them. We must be proud of what we have from God, and be unafraid of using those gifts God has given us.

I was affirmed, and chastened for hiding my own abilities, in this regard from a poem shared this week at the National Camp and Retreat Leaders' Gathering at Mt Hermon Retreat Center, near Santa Cruz, CA.

We need to be unafraid of using our gifts, and we need to use the gifts we have at hand. [See the post on MacGyver Church for more of those thoughts.]

We need to recognize that if we are not going to use the gifts God gave us, then we have about 50 years until everyone in the church dies, we bury them and we have nothing left. We were given a purpose, to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We need to work on building relationships, with each other and with the community. Check out these questions to find your way into the conversation.

Begin with asking the person's name and then two other questions follow.
The two questions

1) Do you go to church?

Once answered: ask the next question

If "yes", 2a) Why do you go there?

If "no", 2b) Why not?