Howard Eblin, Foothills District Certified Lay Speaker
April 22, 2012. Youth Sermon for Worship Service.
Ask about their Bible memorizing projects in their Young Disciple Classes. A couple that I memorized when a kid are Matthew 7:12 (Golden Rule) and the 23rd Psalm. Today, I am still applying these verses in my life. The 23rd Psalm relaxes me when different words are emphacized while reading it. Today, I'm adding an easy verse for you to memorize and apply in your lives. It is Hebrews 10:24. (Read in the Bible) "Let us think of ways motivate one another to acts of love and good works." This is a verse you can memorize and start applying in your life today.
We celebrated Easter two weeks ago. The gift for you today is GLADIOLI bulbs. The former Pastor's wife was Joan Glick. She led Sunrise Service a few years ago. She said that it was a GLAD DAY when Jesus arove from the grave, and gave each of us a gladioli bulb. These are a gift for you to make the Church yard look prettier, or you can take them home to make your yards look pretty. The flower bulbs are a way to put Hebrews 10:24 into action in your life.
Close the Youth part of Worship with Prayer, then tell them they can go to the other room for Young Disciple classes with their teachers if they want.
Sunrise Service, April 4, 2010: Sunrise Surprise, Mark 16:1-7, Howard Eblin
(Instead of a live piano prelude, a CD of "You Raise Me Up" with spiritually moving violin and singing was used in the prelude time. Thomas Eblin, a young person who is gifted with the ability to pray "spiritually moving" prayers gave the invocation.)
The Church has white "Easter lillies" today, and one pink/mottled to represent the blood of Jesus. As I was walking up the lane to get the newspaper today, God reminded me of the comics from last year where the little girl in Family Circus was telling her Mother that the Church should be filled with roses. That is because Jesus "arose" from being dead.
I am going to read the in book of Mark, chapter 16, starting at verse one. When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. This is the first surprise for them on this special day. God had moved the stone before they arrived.
Here is what I told the kids during Church part of the Stepping Stones project. These are the stepping stones you see along the walk-way outside the Church. Who will roll away the stone? We have "stones" in our life today. Stones are symbolic of problems that block us from having the wonderful, awesome kind of life our loving God wants for His loved children, all people. There was a stone in front of the tomb. God moved it; the earthquake and angels in the scripture. There can be stones in your path today that can trip you. Stones that are too big for you. God still speaks to us today. He comes into our world. He comes to do what you can't. He comes to move the stones you can't budge. Stones are no match for God. Not then at Jesus resurrection from the dead, and not now. God still moves stones. Do you see Jesus as a close friend? Jesus desires to relate to us as a friend. Talk with the Lord, and tell Him of all your needs. Don't forget to thank and praise the Lord for His help.
Let's continue on in the book of Mark, chapter 16, verses 5-7. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. Look, there is the place they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you." After the surprise of the stone being rolled away from the tomb, the next sunrise surprise was the angel. The biggest and best suprise of all would be when they finally realized that Jesus had been resurrected from being dead.
I have a carton of eggs here that has a dozen plastic eggs in it, each has a different color. Each egg has a different symbol of Easter in it. Pastor Glick had Easter symbols as part of his talks with the young disciples during Worship each Sunday before Easter Sunday. Each week he put another Easter symbol on the cross in the Church, right over there. For example, you see the money bag that was put on the cross the day he talked about Judas betraying Jesus, and the crown of thorns they put on Jesus to mock Him, and other symbols. These plastic eggs have the symbols in miniture form. My very favorite one is the empty egg that represents the empty tomb due to Jesus resurrection.
Let's read some of the resurrection message in the book of John, verses 11-16. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (Which means teacher). In verse 15, Mary didn't know Jesus was there until He spoke her name. Through tear dimmed eyes she just glanced at a human form standing there, and didn't know that it was Jesus. I can relate to Mary not knowing Jesus at first. When I was younger, I almost always saw people we knew before they saw me. Now it's the other way around, they see me first and come to speak with us. That may be because I am more preoccupied now with shoving Rose around in a wheel-chair, along with trying to manage a grocery cart, and so on. Mary was preoccupied with tring to find Jesus body to anoint it in respect for Him. She was sad and crying. Imagine what surprise and joy she felt when Jesus spoke her name, and she realized that Jesus was alive. She was weeping until Jesus said her name.
Jesus the Risen One knows your name too. Be very still and use every one of your senses. Listen for your name lovingly spoken. Listen. Sense, think, and feel what it means for you to hear Jesus Christ, the Risen One, say your name. We will pause a moment for this.
What's in it for you? Let's read what the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 19-26. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead had also come through a human being, for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after He has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
In Heaven, there will be no more death. Heaven is the end. It's the end of things like Mary's mourning and crying at the tomb. Mary will have only joy and praise for the Lord in Heaven. Let's read the closing scripture. This is in Revelations chapter 21, verses 1-5. Then I saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first Heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them, they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this for these words are trustworthy and true."
God raised Jesus up then. He can still raise you up today to a better life now and forever. All you need to do is accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Confess to God all your sins, and tell Him you will change yor life to live for the Lord.
Lets pray. Heavenly Father God, Thank you for your plan for salvation and eternal life through repenting of our sin, and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Thank you for giving us all the joy of Jesus Christ's coming to life again after death. Help us all to live for Jesus, Son of Man, and Son of God. Help us find ways to serve the Lord. Give us opportunities to tell others about this wonderful resurrection of Jesus Christ. Father God, we ask you to bless the food prepared for breakfast this morning, and please bless the people who provided the food. May it nourish us and give us strength to love You more and to serve You better. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Following is a sermon that I prepared for Oakland UM Church in September 2010. It was saved to be used in case Pastor Glick was unexpectedly unable to come to Church. Every time this happened, God always gave me a different revelation about what He wanted me to present to the people in Oakland. My influence for this one was the Baptist Preacher we had in the Church I attended with my Mother when I was a kid. It's here in case there is ever a need for it to be used - It can just be printed out.
Bible verse: I Peter 3:8-10. Ways to have Good Days.
The King James Bible was used in preparing for this month's devotion/sermon. That is the Bible I started with as a kid going to a Baptist Church with my Mother. I am convinced that we have a perfect Word of God in the Bible. Let's open the Bible to I Peter 3, verses 8-10, and you can read the Bible verses as I read them. Please God, bless the reading of Your Word. Let's lift up verse ten, "For he that love life, and see good days." The text fits everyone here. Which one of us doesn't love life? I pray that you never get to the place where you don't enjoy life - or love life - or appreciate life. Every day is a precious, golden opportunity to serve the Lord. The most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, apart from being saved, was the gift that God gave me for being able to speak to you in Worship. Yet I don't think of myself as a natural born preacher. My Dad and Mother were farmers. Nobody in my family ever preached. My first experience of speaking in Church was memorizing the 23rd Psalm, and then reciting it in Church. My Mother encouraged me to do that. She dressed her 6 year old son in a suit. My Dad said, "you are going to be a preacher some day." Many years later, Pastor Baer of the Methodist Church said that God gave me a gift for speaking to others, and he asked me to pray about using it in the Oakland Methodist Church.
I can stand before you wonderful people and say that I love and appreciate life. I'm glad to still be living, glad to be walking on the green grass, and not to be under it. You may not be wealthy, but if you are still breathing, you have been blessed. You are a lot better off than those in the cemetery if you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, and they didn't before they died. "He that love life---". And then a companion statement is: "and see good days. "No one wants to have a bad day. We would like to have a good day every day - But we do have some disappointing days, some heart-breaking days, some difficult days. People sometimes break our heart and part company with us. This is never pleasant.
"He that love life, and see good days." We should do all that we can to make good days for ouselves, good days for our families, good days for the Church, and good days with the people we fellowship with many times and appreciate so much. "He that will love life, and see good days." Surely you too want that. I've seen people have hard days, difficult days, heart-breaking days. Many times, I have seen somebody with a borken heart, somebody I must try to comfort or console.
"He that love life, and see good days." Although not a psychiatrist, I want to show you ways in the Bible in which you can see good days. If you went to a psychiatrist, he couldn't tell you a thing more than what I'm going to tell you. Yet he would probably charge you $100 or more. My speaking today will cost you nothing. The Bible verse in Philippeans 4:19-20 means that, "Better than any Psychiatrist is the Word of God."
"He that love life and will see god days." Each of the ways can be introduced with the same phrase, "Let Him". He that will love life, and see good days, let him do something about it. The Bible has what God commands us to do. If you will follow God's way, you can love life, you can see good days, and life can be a blessing to you and to others. Even when you grow old, days will not altogether be hard days. I am 72 years old and have more fun, do more laughing, enjoy more than you can imagine. I enjoy myself in the Lord. God added blessings to me down through the years that young people know nothing about. To experience these things is wonderful. God gives us so many good people dear fellow believers who worship, pray, and serve the Lord along with me. What a benediction from the Lord.
"He that will love life, and see good days.". The first way to have a good day is in the last part of verse ten. (I Peter 3:10). "Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile (Lies). My opinion is that some people talk too much. My belief is that simple points should be used so they can be remembered. That idea came from a book, "Why nobody learns anything at Church and what to do about it." Some people talk more than they listen. They gossip, they carry tales, they judge. They commit themselves sometimes in a bad way. He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and let his lips that they speak no lies.
Verse ten has the first basic principle of loving life and seeing good days. If you want to leave a trail of enemies behind you, just disobey that verse. If you want to lose friends, disobey that first thing. Now a second way to have a good day is in verse eleven: "Let him eschew (turn away from)) evil, and do good." There we see the positive and the negative in one short sentence. "Let him eschew evil. Let him despise evil; let him separate evil and start out on the positive side of the ledger doing good - not in order to be saved, but because he did accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Do good that you might see good days and long life. This is the prescription God writes in his book. "Let him avoid evil." Avoid evil communications. Then, "Let him turn away from evil, and do good." In order to have long life and see good days, set out to do good. Find something to do for somebody. Provide some food for someone needing help. Go visit a shut-in. Do good to them. Find some young person that you can help. For some of you, this is an encouragement to continue what you are doing. Set out to do good. Would you love life and see good days? That will bring them, for God said it would. Turn away from evil and do good.
Now those are the ways that God says in His precious book that a Christian can do to see good days and love life. The Christian life is a good life. Glean the most you can from it. Get as much as you can from it. Feed yourself upon it, and God will bless you right to the very end of your life.
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This devotion for the month of February is a tribute to Hopewell UM Church Pastor Erladean Heffner. She died January 8, 2012. Erladean was my mentor, and she taught me how to grow spiritually to be more like Jesus every day. She led me in how to handle the conflicts and power politics of Church and family people. Erladean gave me some verses that I use often. One of them is James 4:7, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." One of the many tricks of the devil is to divide or separate people from each other, because that gives him more strength like a lion separate a calf away from the rest of the herd. I pray to resist the devil in Jesus Name. This gives me the strength of God to help me stay on the right track to help people know the benefits of Jesus. At a 4-Church Prayer Service in the Hopewell UM Church near to Valentines Day, Erladean gave us the following "Father's Love Letter."
My Child, You may not know me, but I know everything about you. (Psalm 139:1). I know when you sit down and when you rise up. (Psalm 139:2) I am familiar with all your ways. (Psalm 139:3) Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. (Matthew 10:29-31) For you were made in my image. (Genesis 1:27) In me you live and move and have your being.(Acts 17:28) For you are my offspring. (Acts 17:28) I knew you even before before you were conceived. (Jeremiah 1:4-5) I chose you when I planned creation. (Ephesians 1:11-12) You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. (Psalm 139:15-16) I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. (Acts 17:26) You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) I knit you together in your mothers womb. (Psalm 139:13) And brought you forth on the day you were born. (Psalm 71:6) I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. (John 8:41-44) I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. (1 John 4:16) And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. (1 John 3:1) Simply because you are my child, and I am your Father. (1 John 3:1) I offer you more than your earthly Father ever could (Matthew 7:11) For I am the perfect Father. (Matthew 5:48) Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. (James 1:17) For I am your provider, and I meet all your needs. (Matthew 6:31-33) My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) Because I love you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3) My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. (Psalms 139:17-18) And I rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17) I will never stop doing good to you. (Jeremiah 32:40) For you are my treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5) I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah 32:41) And I want to show you great and marvelous things. (Jeremiah 33:3) If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. (Deuteronomy 4:29) Delight in me, and I will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) For it is I who gave you those desires (Philippians 2:13) I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. (Ephsians 3:20) For I am your greatest encouager. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17) I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) When you are broken hearted, I am close to you. (Psalm 34:18) As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. (Isaiah 40:11) One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. (Revelation 21:3-4) And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. (Revelation 21:3-4) I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. (John 17:23) For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. (John 17:26) He is the exact representation of my being. (Hebrews 1:3) He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. (Romans 8:31) And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. (2 Corinthians5:18-19) Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. (1 John 4:10) I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. (Romans 8:31-32) If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. (1 John 2:23) And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. (Romans 8:38-39) Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen (Luke 15:7) I have always been Father, and will always be Father (Ephesians 3:14-15) My question is ---Will you be my child? (John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you. (Luke 15:11-32) Love, Your Dad Almighty God
Father's Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications Copyright 1999-2011 www.FathersLoveLetter.com
On October 15, 2011, I completed Local Church Lay Speaker Renewal at Immanuel Church in Logan, and I led Worship and preached four times in 2011 when Pastor Glick had pneumonia. My Christian growth plan for 2012 is learning to compile and share information here with you. The information on this page will be changed each month. The next change is scheduled for February 1, 2012. Oakland UM Church Lay Speaker Howard Eblin.
Following is a sermon I preached at the Four Church Prayer Service in the Oakland UM Church on January 9, 2012.
Songs: You Raise Me Up instrumental as a youth lit 4 candles, one for each of the 4 Churches in the Prayer Service. Then (Acapulco) Lets Just Praise the Lord. Then on the television, Dale Schoten Down Home Bluegrass group led our singing of Just a Closer Walk with Thee.
Bible verse: Philippians 3:12-16
What's Next - In the television series "The West Wing", fictional president Josiah Bartlet regularly ended staff meetings with two words, "What's Next"? It was his way of signaling that he was finished with the issue at hand and ready to move on to other concerens. The pressures and responsibilities of life in the White House demanded that he not focus on what was in the rear-view mirrow. He needed to keep his eyes ahead, moving forward to what was next. In a sense, the apostle Paul had a similar perspective on life. He knew that he had not "arrived" spiritually and that he had a long way to go in becoming like Christ. What could he do? He could either fixate on the past, with its failures, disappointments, struggles, and disputes, or he could learn from those things and move on to "what's next".
This year 2012 - What's next for you? What's next for the Church you attend and serve the Lord in? Oakland Pastor John Glick retired at the end of 2011. Hopewell Pastor Erladean Heffner died yesterday. What's nest? Although they are out of the Church. Jesus is still in the Church we serve the Lord in. We still have the "prize" of Christian life that Paul wrote about in Philippians. We still have God's promise in Revelation 21:4. We need to keep moving in our spiritual journey. We need to keep learning how to become more like Jesus this year.
What's next, apostle Paul? He kept moving. In 3:13-14 Paul tells us how he chose to live his life - "Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching for those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ." It's a perspective that speaks of moving on - of embracing what's next. It is where we too must focus as we seek to be shaped into the image of the Saviour while we look forward to eternity with Him.
I'm going to give you some words of encouragement and challenge that will help you to grow spitiutually. What could you do to encourage renewal in yourself and the people in the Church you attend?
First, pray. Prayer is an important part of your preparation. Ask God to come and move and touch your life. Don't stop praying. Pray that God will guide you and direct you in the way He wants you to go. Pray for the people who need Jesus - Turn to the North and pray for those people, turn toward the East and pray, turn to the South, then the West - pray for the people who don't know Jesus and how God wants to use you to reach out with love to help them know Jesus.
Last Fall, I was praying for peope East of where I live - the Zion UM Church side of the home where I live. God guided me to a young woman with two kids one three years old and a younger one. God gave me some pumpkins that grew in my garden from old pumpkins that I threw in the garden the year before. I carved a 25 pound pumpkin per the pumpkin devotion that I used in the Young Disciple part of Worship at the Oakland UM Church in October - the one where you carve eyes in a heart shape to represent God's love, and the ears in a box shape for the Bible, etc. They were delighted. I keep praying for these people to know Jesus and how I can help them come into the Church. Keep on praying. We should pray that God will guide hard hearts into joy and enthusiam. Thank God for what He has done, and begin to listen for the next step He wants you and the Church to take. Take the time to come into God's presence with no agenda - just to listen, and feel, and be rather than speak or ask for something.
Next, Have a long term plan to use for changes in your life for continued renewal. The Devil has a plan for you in 2012. He wants to use changes that put people against each other or divide them away from the Church. We need to have plans in place that will keep the Devil out of our lives. Keep things going and growing rather than just looking back and celebrating the wonderful things that happened in the past. See the start of this year 2012 as another step on your journey rather than a destination. In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus doesn't tell his followers to stand there and watch him. He doesn't tell them to cheer him on and root for him. He tells them to follow him. You can't follow someone standing still. You need to be moving to follow someone.
My college class was graduating on a hot, windy day. As we walked across the platform to receive diplomas from the President - he smiled and shook our hands and said congratulations! Then in a much smaller voice, he said, "Keep moving." He was only trying to keep the line moving across the stage. But his words are good advice for a lifetime. Keep moving. After every achievement - growing up, graduating, marriage, job promotion, even retirement. Carol was baptized on December 18. Congratulations Carol! Keep moving. The best advice is congratulations, keep moving. We will have a different Pastor and changes will be made. The advice is congratulations on getting a Pastor. Keep moving and trying to learn new things about the Lord with his help.
There is more to life than you have found thus far. In the Gospels, Jesus said, "Come, follow me." following Jesus is made up of many individual steps, many important steps. Meet Jesus, give your life to him - keep moving. You may be deeply touched in a Worship Service - keep moving. You may become filled with the Holy Spirit - keep moving. You will find daily acts of cross bearing that He calls you to do - keep moving. You will perform daiy acts of obedience - keep moving. You may experience a great healing - keep moving. There are many important steps that you will take, but there is always another step. You must keep moving. In a very real sense, the most important step you can take is the next one. It's not the one you have already taken in the past. It's your next step. The next step that God is calling you to take. The health of our relationship with God hinges on our response to Jesus call to take that next step.
Where you are with God is not as important as the direction in which you are going. Are you going toward Christ, following him, moving in his direction? Are you standing still, just looking at him, and fearing to take the next step? Are you circling around him, holding him at arm's length, afraid to allow him to come any closer? Are you going away from him, rejecting his call on your life? What direction you are moving is the most important question. What's the next step that you need to take? Begin to plan now for those steps, and work toward your new goals now.
In John 16:12, Jesus tells his disciples, "I have more to say to you - more than you can now bear." He says that he would send the Holy Spirit to bring the disciples into the more that he has for them. Jesus has even more in store for my life, and for your life, and for the life of the Church. There is more of God than you know about at this time. We all need to be seeking the more that God is offering. Give the new Pastors a chance to help you grow spiritually. Keep moving toward the "prize". God's promise of this "prize" is in Revelations 21:1-4.
In getting read to conclude, I'll tell you about a friend in Pharmacia who gave me a shirt for Christmas when I worked there. It has a picture on it of a classroom with a teacher and some kids. One of them had his hand up and was saying, "Teacher, may I be excused - my brain is full." (Not bladder - brain). As we read through the Gospels in the New Testament, that's the way the disciples were when Jesus was teaching them. Jesus had to give them a little at a time then some more later as he was teaching them to be more like him. He was teaching them step by step to higher levels of spirituality. We are the disciples of today. We can grow spiritually to be more like Jesus this year. We can pray and plan for using the changes in our Churches for continued growth into a higher Christian level.
Going back to he opening songs: This year 2012, as we have "Just a Closer Walk" with God, and "Just Praise the Lord" - We can be "Raised Up to be More than We could ever be" without Jesus. "You Raise Me Up" song words: When I am down and oh, my soul so weary. When troubles come and my heart burdened be - Then I am still and wait here in the silence - Until You come and sit awhile with me. You rase me up so I can stand on mountains. You raise me up to walk on stormy seas. I am strong when I am on Your shoulders. You raise me up to more than I can be.