Called and Sent: Witnesses for Our Time

Angels function in the gospel narrative as the emcees. They announce that God is up to something, and it's huge. It's always huge. Men of Galilee, they say, don't just stand there. Do something. That's what the angels say. They say, men of Galilee, why are you staring up into the sky? Men of Galilee, why are you just going, Wow. They're saying, do something. Don't just stare up in the sky. Do something. Men of Galilee, this Jesus who you have been with for the past three years, he's gone, and now it's yours. Here's the keys, say the angels. [00:55:07] (49 seconds)  #AngelsSayDoSomething

And the answer was then and is now. Nope. But together, we can move forward. Together, we can see where God is calling us and leading us for this time in ministry If we were all to have a time machine and the time machine were to magically go back to 1971, the church is in a good position to be exactly what the community needs for that time. But I don't know of any time machines, and so we're working with twenty twenty six. We're working with what we've got now, and so we're not going back. We're moving ahead. We're moving ahead to where God is calling us now for this time. [00:52:50] (60 seconds)  #MoveForwardNow

And what do the powerful do in the kingdom of God? What will the powerful what will the power of the spirit enable them to do? They will do God's work. They will be witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ. That's what the powerful do. They will speak the name of Christ where they are in Jerusalem, where there are challenges in Judea, and where there are people that we don't like, in Samaria, and wherever we go to the ends of the earth. That's what the powerful do in the kingdom of God. They are witnesses in the places where they are. They're witnesses in the so called secular places, and they're witnesses in the places that they're scared to go where the other is. [01:02:30] (56 seconds)  #WitnessEverywhere

And so, god, we pray that you would empower us to become the answer to our own prayers, to as the angels say in scripture, to do something, to do something about the pain that we see, to do something about the injustice that we see. God, we thank you for the ways that you will use us, that you have used us, and that you are currently using us. Allow us to to share your word and your love to a world that is desperate to hear it. We pray this in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray. [00:22:51] (39 seconds)  #BeTheAnswer

Does it sound familiar? Because it sounds familiar to me. I'm tired of waiting for a lot of stuff. How long, oh god, will racism be present in our society? Because I thought it would have been ended by now. How long, o god? I'm tired of waiting for that day. How long, oh god, will children die in their classrooms because lawmakers refuse to pass even the most basic common sense gun reform. How long, oh lord, I'm tired of waiting, and so are you at this time speaks to me. We're impatient people. I am an impatient person. This question is within us. [00:49:41] (65 seconds)  #TiredOfWaiting

Our love for the past sometimes prevents us from seeing the future that God has for us. But Jesus is patient, and Jesus is kind, and Jesus is laser focused. Jesus doesn't wanna talk about all of that stuff. Jesus wants to talk about them, the disciples. Jesus says to the disciples, don't worry about that. Let's talk about you. You're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, and then and then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. [00:53:49] (39 seconds)  #ReceiveThePower

School's a great example of this because sometimes we tend to get in a huff about removing prayer from schools. But I'm gonna tell you, we couldn't remove prayer from schools if we tried. We couldn't do it. We couldn't do it if we tried. We couldn't remove God from anywhere if we try. Whether we carry love wherever we go, we carry love, grace, and mercy. We carry Christ with us, and so school can be a great Judea because we have this misconception that there are secular places in this world, and I submit to you that there is no such thing as a secular place. There's no such thing. [00:59:23] (56 seconds)  #EveryPlaceIsHoly

And then Samaria, the ultimate those people place. Go and lift the name of Christ in the places that have people we don't like. Where are our Samarias? Jesus prods the disciples. He nudges the disciples. He challenges the disciples, and he gives it all to them. Jesus tosses the disciples the keys. But just like my uncle that day, Jesus didn't send the disciples alone. Jesus said, he tells the disciples and us that the holy spirit is coming, and we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. We will receive power when we say yes to the nudges and prods and challenges that the spirit provides. [01:01:18] (72 seconds)  #GoToYourSamaria

Are you, pastor Jason, going to take us back to when we had the advantage, to when Elm Park United Methodist Church was the king church in the Wyoming conference? Are you, pastor Jason, at this time going to take us back? And the answer was then and is now. Nope. But together, we can move forward. [00:52:22] (41 seconds)

Does it sound familiar? Because it sounds familiar to me. I'm tired of waiting for a lot of stuff. How long, oh god, will racism be present in our society? Because I thought it would have been ended by now. How long, o god? I'm tired of waiting for that day. How long, oh god, will children die in their classrooms because lawmakers refuse to pass even the most basic common sense gun reform. How long, oh lord, I'm tired of waiting, and so are you at this time speaks to me. We're impatient people. I am an impatient person. This question is within us. [00:49:40] (66 seconds)

School's a great example of this because sometimes we tend to get in a huff about removing prayer from schools. But I'm gonna tell you, we couldn't remove prayer from schools if we tried. We couldn't do it. We couldn't do it if we tried. We couldn't remove God from anywhere if we try. [00:59:22] (29 seconds)

wherever we go, we carry love, grace, and mercy. We carry Christ with us, and so school can be a great Judea because we have this misconception that there are secular places in this world, and I submit to you that there is no such thing as a secular place. There's no such thing. There's nowhere in this world that is separated from God. There's nowhere. And so, there's nowhere in the world that is a secular place. No such thing. [00:59:54] (37 seconds)