Monday, March 28, 2022

March 27 Sermon and Announcement

 

CERRO GORDO CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

March 27, 2022

Don’t Give Up!

Luke 18:1-8

 

Jesus is continuing to teach his disciples as the time gets closer to when the perfect sacrifice will be made. This time we read Jesus is talking just to the disciples. The teaching moments are soon going to end, and then the disciples will have to stand on the their own. So here we see Jesus pointing out the most powerful tool God has made available to his people. Prayer.  Jesus gives a unique example of how they should go about it. Actually, first of all, this example was given to the disciples, but from the time this teaching moment was written down to today, it is available to all believers. Jesus is, in some ways, comparing God to the judge in this story. Obviously with a couple of big differences. First, Jesus said the judge in this parable did not fear God. Then he said the judge also did not care about what people were going through. Clearly, the exact opposite of the loving God we believe in.

 

In Jesus’ story there is a woman who apparently had been treated unfairly by someone. For the woman to bring it before a judge would seem to indicate it was definitely a legitimate complaint. The judge, to begin with, ignored the woman’s request for justice because as Jesus said the judge really did not care. In fact, it seems he was irritated that she was bothering him with the problem. Apparently, day after day, week after week, the woman came to the judge for help. Time after time the judge ignored her request. Finally, the judge said to himself, “The only way to get this woman to stop taking up my time is to agree to solve her problem.” So that is what the judge finally did.

 

Now in the 6th verse Jesus tells how God the Father will listen and meet the needs of his people. Jesus is basically saying that if this uncaring, godless judge will rule in the favor of someone who keeps asking for help, how much more will our Heavenly Father meet the needs of his children? After all, God purposely created us because he wanted to have fellowship with us. Jesus then gave an important tip, if you will, of how we should make our request known to God in the 7th verse. Jesus says God will bring justice to his “chosen ones” when they cry out to him day and night. Do you want to see God move in your life? Do you want to see prayers answered for yourself and loved ones? Do not make it a one and done request. Pray to God in the morning. Pray to God in the afternoon. Pray to God in the evening. Pray until you get an answer from God. Do not just pray once a day, once a week, once a month. Stay persistent until you undeniably hear from God. How many of us are that persistent? I also want to say what scripture also tells us; be specific. Do not offer generalized prayers. If there is a health problem, name the problem. If it is relationship problems, pour it out on God what exactly the problem is and how you think it can be resolved. Whatever the problem or concern is, be specific. And do not give up. I cannot say it enough. Jesus is giving us the green light to keep the pressure up on God. I wish I could honestly say I have done this in every situation I have faced or a loved one has faced that I was concerned about. Jesus is making it clear. You want to see God move in your life in this world, pray and do not give up.

 

Jesus closes out these verses with a promise and a question. The promise is if you are persistent in prayer, you will see results. The question Jesus presents to the disciples and to us today, however, is very sobering. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Jesus asked this question because he knew if you are going to be persistent in prayer, that will show God you have faith that your prayers will be answered. Otherwise, you may say a one-time prayer and be done because you do not have faith that God will answer.

 

We are now 3 weeks from Easter, the single most important event that has ever happened on earth took place on the cross 2000 years ago. Do we have faith that it really happened as the Bible says? And do we believe it changed the direction of mankind forever? These are some of the questions you and I must answer for ourselves. I believe everything changed when Jesus died on the cross for my sins, for our sins. I believe Jesus gave the disciples valuable lessons that stayed with them the rest of their lives. The disciples clearly used the power of prayer to transform their lives and the lives of so many others. Clearly the majority of the disciples did not give up. I believe those of you here today and those joining us on Facebook also have not given up. My only question for you and, yes, for me is, are we using all the tools God has given us? Are we like the persistent widow? As we see things happening in this world that are oftentimes troubling, are we flooding heaven every morning, afternoon, and evening with our concerns? That is what Jesus is saying we have every right to do. Let us change our families, our community and our world by being persistent in prayer. Do not give up! The victory has already been won!

Pastor Larry


Announcements:

 

Bible Study 9:30 Tuesday

 

March 30 11:30 Women’s Fellowship luncheon and meeting;

Bring a covered dish; meat & drink provided; a time of visiting and reconnecting

 

April 10 – 17 Holy Week

 

April 13 Executive Committee

 

April 16 Food Bank Distribution at Kirby Medical Group, Cerro Gordo, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

 

Offering plates are in the back of the sanctuary. Thank you for your continued giving!

 

Donation Box: Camp Emmanuel

First Sundays: food donations for food banks

 

Pastor Larry Traxler- (217) 454-2362

 

To keep up on Church of the Brethren news:

Denomination: www.brethren.org/news Sign up for Newsline by clicking link on left side of page.

District: iwdcob.org (click on newsletter link) and on facebook

Our pages: cerrogordocob.com (printed sermon, announcements, & calendar) and on facebook

Keep in Your Prayers

Oren Wright; Devon Wright; Leah Flory; Joe Waltz; Doug Larrick; Anna Rose Larrick; Ron Petersen; Anna Gentry Thompson; Louis & Carol Sulwer; Maralyn Heckman; Debbie Leibrock; Dorthea Wood; Sonna Hall; Tina Wilhelm; Baby Gemma; Baby Tate; Bryce Ashenfelter; Mindy Sawyer; Marlene Schultz; Sarah Rudelick; Sydney (Nancy Gorrell’s niece); Carl and Wilma Cable; Marge Starr; Mike and Carol Seidenstricker; Clyde and Nancy Fansler; Adiline Young; Kim Lehmann; Doug Fansler; Liza Yore; Candy Dobson; Shawn Cain; Robert Cripe; Mayo & Darlene Hanaver; Zola Copeland; Patty Cripe; Lauren Gross; Stacie Warren; Nancy Gorrell; many unspoken requests; Coronavirus crisis; healthcare workers and first responders; the families of those who have died from COVID-19; those who are ill from the virus; school teachers, staff, and students; victims of disasters; victims of shootings; nursing home residents; the Nigerian church; Haitian Brethren; Ukraine

Military and Other Services and their families

Brethren Volunteer Service workers; Disaster project workers

District Prayer Calendar: Pray for the Canton congregation and their ministry in Fulton County. Also pray for Andrea Garnett, the district’s administrative assistant.

 

Church of the Brethren vision statement:

Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.

                       

Our Mission Statement:

Love God, grow with others, serve faithfully, reach the lost, find peace.

Monday, March 21, 2022

March 20 Sermon and Announcements

 

CERRO GORDO CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

March 20, 2022

What price are we asked to pay?

Luke 14:25-35

 

Jesus is seeing large crowds following him. As was mentioned before, many are following because of the incredible miracles that are occurring, sometimes on a daily basis. Either many have things they are hoping Jesus will take care of, or maybe some just want to see what happens next. Some truly recognize Jesus as a special man of God and, for that reason, want to see where it all leads. Jesus, sensing many may be following for the wrong reasons, has this very direct conversation with the large crowd that is there at the time. Jesus says something that seems to go way over the top. In verse 26 we read, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters –yes even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” How many of those there in that place would agree that anything Jesus just said could be true? What would be our reaction if someone from behind this pulpit authoritatively said, “This is how you must think and behave.” If the person seemed to really mean it, some, maybe most, would get up and walk out. What kind of crazy man would say such things, let alone expect you to really live your life that way? Jesus completes the 27th verse by saying, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” So, it seems to imply if you will not turn your back on our family and carry your own load, you will never be Jesus’ true follower.

 

In the next six verses Jesus goes on to explain further what he means. Jesus gives two totally different examples of what he means. The first talks of building a tower and how a person will understand what it will take and how much it will cost before they would ever start such a project. The next talks of a person actually about to wage war.  Jesus actually uses an example of when the one preparing to wage war has half the size of army as the one he is about to fight. In that case, you better know you can win before you start the war or you will be defeated and humiliated. Jesus even goes as far as to say if once you assess your chances, and if it looks like you probably will lose, you better make peace before anything ever happens. Jesus is explaining one must be willing to give up everything in order to be victorious.

 

So, what does it all mean? Jesus, once again, claims that you must be willing to hate everyone important to you in life, even yourself, if you want to be his disciple. Does that make any sense at all? As we now know, Jesus is getting closer and closer to his appointment with the cross. Jesus also knows lots of people that have been following him think everything is always going to be easy. After all, Jesus has made the lame walk, the blind to see, driven demons out of people, even raised people from the dead. As long as we stay close to Jesus, nothing can hurt us is what many were thinking. Jesus knows it is about to change. The cost of following Jesus is going to be going way up. The question is what are you prepared to do? What price are you willing to pay to be a full time, forever follower of Jesus?

 

Jesus closes out these verses by again comparing his followers to salt.  Jesus is saying that salt adds flavor or nutrients to life, but if it no longer is salty, it is good for nothing and is thrown out.” Jesus believes the time for honesty is here. The free and easy ride the people that have followed Jesus have been on is about to end. While they have seen some opposition, things have been good. It is time to begin thinking about just where you stand and what you are willing to do when it gets hard. Jesus gave as tough an example as he possibly could when he talked of the need to actually hate everyone near and dear to you if you are to be a disciple. Jesus wanted everyone to know that opposition is coming. It will come from all sides. Even your own family may not understand why you are staying loyal to God through Jesus. When you stand for God’s truth and his word, people will disagree with you. That is why it is so important to understand before the pressure comes. What are you willing to do for the cause of Christ? God wants us to have our priorities in the right order. Our faithfulness to God must be number 1 in our life. God does want us to love our families as well, but sometimes that may mean there will be disagreements, especially when it comes to our allegiance to Jesus Christ.

 

As we continue to get closer to Easter, we should continue to understand our relationship with God and with one another. Who truly has first place in our lives? That can be a tough question to answer. God wants us to be willing to honestly know the answer. We are sometimes challenged to know the answer to that question. What is the price God is asking us to be willing to pay? And are we willing to pay it? As disciples of the Living Savior, our life will be the best it can be and our families will reap the benefits as well if we are willing to surrender all to Jesus.

Pastor Larry

Announcements:

 

Bible Study 9:30 Tuesday

 

March 20—One Great Hour of Sharing offering—envelopes are in the back.  Make checks out to our church.

 

March 30 11:30 Women’s Fellowship luncheon and meeting;

Bring a covered dish; meat & drink provided; a time of visiting and reconnecting

 

April 10 – 17 Holy Week

 

April 13 Executive Committee

 

April 16 Food Bank Distribution at Kirby Medical Group, Cerro Gordo, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

 

Offering plates are in the back of the sanctuary. Thank you for your continued giving!

 

Donation Box: Camp Emmanuel

First Sundays: food donations for food banks

 

Pastor Larry Traxler- (217) 454-2362

 

To keep up on Church of the Brethren news:

Denomination: www.brethren.org/news Sign up for Newsline by clicking link on left side of page.

District: iwdcob.org (click on newsletter link) and on facebook

Our pages: cerrogordocob.com (printed sermon, announcements, & calendar) and on facebook

Keep in Your Prayers

Leah Flory; Joe Waltz; Doug Larrick; Anna Rose Larrick; Ron Petersen; Anna Gentry Thompson; Louis & Carol Sulwer; Maralyn Heckman; Debbie Leibrock; Dorthea Wood; Sonna Hall; Tina Wilhelm; Baby Gemma; Baby Tate; Bryce Ashenfelter; Mindy Sawyer; Marlene Schultz; Sarah Rudelick; Sydney (Nancy Gorrell’s niece); Carl and Wilma Cable; Marge Starr; Mike and Carol Seidenstricker; Clyde and Nancy Fansler; Adiline Young; Kim Lehmann; Doug Fansler; Liza Yore; Candy Dobson; Shawn Cain; Robert Cripe; Mayo & Darlene Hanaver; Zola Copeland; Patty Cripe; Lauren Gross; Stacie Warren; Nancy Gorrell; many unspoken requests; Coronavirus crisis; healthcare workers and first responders; the families of those who have died from COVID-19; those who are ill from the virus; school teachers, staff, and students; victims of disasters; victims of shootings; nursing home residents; the Nigerian church; Haitian Brethren; Ukraine

Military and Other Services and their families

Brethren Volunteer Service workers; Disaster project workers

District Prayer Calendar: Pray for the District’s Church Revitalization & Development Team & other District teams.

 

Church of the Brethren vision statement:

Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.

                       

Our Mission Statement:

Love God, grow with others, serve faithfully, reach the lost, find peace.


Monday, March 14, 2022

March 13 Sermon and Announcements

 

CERRO GORDO CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

March 13, 2022

 

The Parable of the Great Banquet

Luke 14:15-24

Having finished our look at the Sermon on the Mount, we are now 5 weeks away from Easter. This morning we see Jesus is making his way toward Jerusalem. Jesus will soon have his appointment with destiny. On his way to Jerusalem, he stops off at many towns and villages and also finds himself eating with a variety of people. When we pick things up this morning, he is eating on the Sabbath at the home of a prominent Pharisee. Over the past several weeks Jesus has been sharing with the disciples as well as others in parables, telling short stories, one might say, to share the message that he feels needs to be told.

 

On this occasion he has already said some things that probably raised some eyebrows; now he shares the Parable of the Great Banquet. Someone in the group there sitting around the table said something that got Jesus’ attention, so Jesus began to tell of this Great Banquet. Jesus explains the banquet is ready so he sends a servant to invite all of this person’s friends to come and join in the meal and fellowship. (They had already been told the banquet would occur.) But something happened that caught those hosting the banquet by surprise. Friend after friend declined the offer to come! The first said he had bought some property and needed to go check it out. The next said he had bought some oxen and needed to go make sure they would work out. The next said, “I just got married so I am sorry but we are busy.” Friend after friend came up with excuse after excuse for why they could not come. The owner of the house was outraged and flat out angry. So, the servant was sent out again to bring people to the banquet. This time he was instructed to bring the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Bring basically whomever you can find that is willing to come. After the servant did this, there still was room. He sent the servant out again to bring whomever he could because he wanted his house full. There was one condition, none of those first invited were allowed to change their minds and join in the banquet.

 

As Jesus drew closer with his appointment with the cross, he was getting more and more blunt about what was about to happen. Jesus was at a meal being given by, as we read to begin with, a prominent Pharisee. Jesus came to first and foremost speak to what has been called the Lost Sheep of Israel. Most of the Pharisees rejected the fact Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of the world promised in the Old Testament. The Pharisees knew God’s word better than anyone, yet they refused to accept Jesus as the one sent by God to redeem first of all the Jews but also all of God’s creation. Jesus understood the hearts of most of those at the meal he was sharing in. So, Jesus was predicting the outcome for most all who were listening to Jesus on that day. The Jewish people were the first invited to embrace what God was doing in the world then ultimately through Jesus. Yet he just did not look or act or match up with what they wanted the Messiah to be. So, like those invited to the Great Banquet in Jesus’ story, most of the Jewish people and definitely the Jewish leadership rejected Jesus. Jesus was predicting their fate. Soon they would be on the outside looking in and maybe wishing things could have turned out differently.

 

As we consider the parable does it have any meaning for us today? Jesus is the host of the Greatest Banquet ever given, and we are all invited to attend. The question for you and me is whether we too are too busy to make it. Are we saying to God, “If I can squeeze you in, I will be there, but I am just so busy!”

 

As we draw closer to Easter, God is asking us to his Banquet Table. He wants us to attend and enjoy all the benefits, but we must be willing to say, “Yes God you can count on me.” I pray we are like the ones who joyfully took advantage of the offer to come. The door is open, the invitation is there, come and enjoy!

Pastor Larry


Announcements:

 

Bible Study 9:30 Tuesday

 

March 20—One Great Hour of Sharing offering—envelopes will be provided. See this week’s insert.

 

March 30 11:30 Women’s Fellowship luncheon and meeting;

Bring a covered dish; meat & drink provided

 

April 10 – 17 Holy Week

 

April 13 Executive Committee

 

April 16 Food Bank Distribution at Kirby Medical Group, Cerro Gordo, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

 

Offering plates are in the back of the sanctuary. Thank you for your continued giving!

 

Donation Box: Camp Emmanuel

First Sundays: food donations for food banks

 

Pastor Larry Traxler- (217) 454-2362

 

To keep up on Church of the Brethren news:

Denomination: www.brethren.org/news Sign up for Newsline by clicking link on left side of page.

District: iwdcob.org (click on newsletter link) and on facebook

Our pages: cerrogordocob.com (printed sermon, announcements, & calendar) and on facebook


Keep in Your Prayers

Maralyn Heckman; Debbie Leibrock; Dorthea Wood; Sonna Hall; Tina Wilhelm; Baby Gemma; Baby Tate; Bryce Ashenfelter; Mindy Sawyer; Marlene Schultz; Sarah Rudelick; Sydney (Nancy Gorrell’s niece); Carl and Wilma Cable; Marge Starr; Mike and Carol Seidenstricker; Clyde and Nancy Fansler; Adiline Young; Kim Lehmann; Doug Fansler; Liza Yore; Candy Dobson; Anna Rose Larrick; Shawn Cain; Robert Cripe; Mayo & Darlene Hanaver; Zola Copeland; Patty Cripe; Lauren Gross; Stacie Warren; Nancy Gorrell; many unspoken requests; Coronavirus crisis; healthcare workers and first responders; the families of those who have died from COVID-19; those who are ill from the virus; school teachers, staff, and students; victims of disasters; victims of shootings; nursing home residents; the Nigerian church; Haitian Brethren; Bridgewater community; Ukraine

Military and Other Services and their families

Brethren Volunteer Service workers; Disaster project workers

District Prayer Calendar: Pray for Chicago First Church and their work in the city.

 

Church of the Brethren vision statement:

Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.

                       

Our Mission Statement:

Love God, grow with others, serve faithfully, reach the lost, find peace.