Sermon Notes May 24, 2009

John 15:9-17

When I began I was reminded of sacrificial love stories

-Russian Mother who fed her infant from her finger she cut to draw blood as they lay trapped beneath a pile of rubble.

-Pelican

I want to affirm where we have managed to love without giving so severely of ourselves.

Love One Another: Where Ojai UMC has succeeded.

-Hospitality

-Generosity

-Care/Helps

And in doing so we have come to display the Spiritual Fruit of Joy. A true gift from the God who reminds us by Jesus we are to love, "So that my Joy may be in you; and your joy may be complete"

We have been called to be no longer servants but friends. Friends do things in the open, because we care. The choir is not here each week because they are here to serve us. They offer their friendship displayed through the music they sing. Others give of time and money to make things more presentable, that we may take a deeper pride in our place of worship. See the Memorial Garden benches, the garden area behind the altar, and even the new cement work in the preschool as examples of this.

We are appointed to go and bear fruit -fruit that will last: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Our care for one another, through living the 4 Rs of our Vision statement, through the Congregational Care Circles.

Good fruit bears more fruit, as well as being used by the existing community for sustenance. Thank you for the fruit you have shared here to keep us sustained. Go out, drop your seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the world, that all might be sustained by Him.

Peace,