MAY 17, 2009

STEWARDSHIP

PRAYER

PREMISES/PRESUPPOSITIONS/GIVENS

A.    Created for relationship (with God and others) – Genesis

B.   This relationship is driven by love (Greatest/Second Greatest Commandment; Matthew 22:  36 – 39) 

 

QUESTION:  How do we have a relationship with God?

 INTRO

A five year is walking up stairs to go to bed, he turns towards his parents and brothers and sisters (his family) and says, “I am going up stairs to go to pray, does anybody want anything?”

QUESTIONS

What is our attitude concerning prayer?

Why do we pray?

Does it work?

Does it do any good?

What’s in it for me?

Why pray?

 THE GREAT DIVIDE

Voltaire, Thomas Hardy, Richard Dawkins & Christopher Hitchens & others:

             prayer is useless “

            Psalmist (Psalm 14:1)   “1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

 INTRO TO SCRIPTURE

The Talmud says, “Honor the physician before you have need of him.”

So it is with prayer.  Honor prayer before you have need of prayer.

 

There is a desire within us to commune with God, to have access to God, to talk with God, for us to say what is important and for us to hear what God thinks is important.

 

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, teaches the listeners the pattern for prayer.  This pattern we know as the Lord’s Prayer.

 

INTRO TO LORD’S PRAYER

The Lord’s Prayer is recorded in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Gospel of Luke 11.  It is there when the disciples initiated the lesson by asking Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  In the Sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer in response to his observation of the religious clergy of the day,

 

Matthew 5:20

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

Thus, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with the prayer that we now pray every Sunday.  This prayer is a model for prayer then and today.

 

Jesus said, as introduction to the Lord’s Prayer,

 

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 6:  5a

 5"And when you pray, do not be like the HYPOCRITES,

 HYPOCRITES

This Greek word comes from the theater describing the character who wore a mask.  In this passage it is referring to those who pray for credit are like those who are wearing a mask and playing a role for entertainment and show.  Not revealing the true self.

 SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 6: 5b

for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their REWARD in full.

 REWARD (wages/hire)

The credit the hypocrites receive from their reward is recognition of others.  Do you want credit for your prayers?  I certainly want tax credit for my offerings.  Has the concept of credit fallen into our prayer lives? 

 SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 6:  6

6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 6:  9 – 13 (THE MODEL OF PRAYER)

1.  Putting God First (the proper place for God)

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Ex:  When Jesus prayed to God in the Garden of Gethsemane(Mark 14:36)

“Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

 

                        QUESTION:  how do we do this?

                        Psalm 46:10  “Be still, and know that I am God.”  (Laybrinth)

 

2. Hallowing of God’s name

Hallowed would be thy name

            POINT:  We know we are not to use the Lord’s name in vain (Ex 20:7)

                           This is a reminder to use the name of God reverently (Holy).

            HISTORY:  in the Hebrew culture, the name means the nature, the charcter and the personality of the person.

 

3. Coming Kingdom

Thy kingdom come,

                        NOTE:  Kingdom is both in the present and future.  To live in the kingdom is to submit to the rule of the king.

 

4. Obedience to God

Thy will be done

NOTE:  Accept the will of the King (our way vs God’s way)

 

NEEDS

1. PAST 

Give us this day our daily bread

 

2. PRESENT

Forgive us our sins/debts/trespasses as we forgive those who sinned against us

Nietzsche, “Show me that you are redeemed and then I will believe in your redeemer.”

NOTE:  at the end of the prayer, Jesus said, “14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 

 

C.  FUTURE

                        Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

 

NEED TO PRAY

Only if we got to get closer to God, establish and strengthen a relationship.  Our relationship with God begins rooted in prayer, we pray at baptism, we pray at the receiving into membership.  We pray when we are alone with God and we want back.

 

BENEFITS OF GOD AS “OUR FATHER”

1. Personal relationship
2. God as Father means God is love (I John)

 

QUESTION:

If you were guilty of a crime who would you like to see on the judgment seat,, stranger or daddy?

 

PRODIGAL SON (Luke 11) – Return to Prayer/God

 

STEWARDSHIP CARDS are a time to recommit to God in prayer.  On the back, if you would like to make a commitment to greater:  TIME (SERVICE),  GIFTS, PRESENCE and   PRAYER’ please use the card.

SCRIPTURE

9"This, then, is how you should pray: 
   " 'Our Father in heaven, 
   hallowed be your name, 
 10your kingdom come, 
   your will be done 
      on earth as it is in heaven. 
 11Give us today our daily bread. 
 12Forgive us our debts, 
      as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
 13And lead us not into temptation, 
   but deliver us from the evil one.^[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

NOTE

Prayer begins with “Our Father.” Prayer begins with the recognition of who God is and where God is (“in heaven”). Prayer begins with the realization that all prayer is focused on God and our relationship with God. In this model, our relationship with God is “Father.” This relationship is a personal relationship. It is not a relationship of the Deist, who proclaim that God is the watchmaker and has now left the watch behind and continues with no relationship with the watch (creation). Our God, continues the relationship.

THOUGHT TO PONDER

When in prayer, remember the relationship we have with God.

Sermon Notes
May 10, 2009
Mother's Day
Presence

INTRO - TODAY IS MOTHER'S DAY
Here are some pictures/objects that remind us of mom.
Question: When you think of mom, what do you think of.
Note: We are all different. Some may think of positive thoughts, neutral thoughts, and negative thoughts.

INTRO TO SCRIPTURE

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 13: 1 - 3
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

POINT
We can have fame and everything, but if we have not loved we are nothing.

LOVE - agape
Was a greek word that was not highly used and when the Christians wanted to describe Christian love, they dusted off this word and changed it's meaning to a love that is unconditional and implying action (i.e. more than a feeling).

QUESTION
Who is the most loving person you know?
Since this is Mother's Day, you may consider your mom as one of the most loving persons you know.

INTRO TO SCRIPTURE: I COR 13: 4 - 7
QUESTION: Which of these words describe your mom?
QUESTION: What is Love?

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 13: 4 - 7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

QUESTION: Which of these words describe your mom?
Which of these words describe YOU?
Does this text make a good description of mom?

PROBLEM - For some, Mother's Day is difficult
What happens when the above scripture does not paint a picture of mom. 

QUESTION: In your relationship with your mom, what did you want most from mom? Love?

If so, what do you do if mom wasn't loving?
Or, if mom wasn't there for you (a sign of love)?

If so, then Mother's Day can be a difficult day.

NEED - Brokenness
If there is brokenness, then what is needed?
How can you respond? Can the words of 1Cor 13 that describe you help in your response?
How can the church respond?
Can the church be PRESENT in the lives of those people who are in need. 
Is PRESENCE required?

Question: How do you respond, when you see someone having a difficult time on Mother's Day

Question: What's the greatest commandment? What are we suppose to be doing the most?

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22: 37 - 39
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

POINT: We are called to be LOVE DRIVEN

POINT: We are called The church is called to respond in LOVE.

SCRIPTURE: I John 4: 7 - 12
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

(T/F) Love requires PRESENCE
There is no love without PRESENCE.
Question: If I say "I love you." And spend all my time elsewhere, would you feel loved?

POINT
This Sunday is Mother's Day. Think of your mom. Remember all of those wonderful moments that you spent together with her.

Perhaps you will be thinking about mom this Sunday. What memories will be brought back? For me, all of the memories of my mom will focus on the time she spent with me, PRESENCE. How she sacrificed time in one realm so she could spend time in my realm. As I think about my mom, my only regret is that I did not spend more time with her. PRESENCE is crucial in a relationship. It is difficult to have quality without quantity. The quality of our relationship was based on the quantity of time, that PRESENCE she was in my life.

POINT: Because of PRESENCE, the broken have a place like home.
The church is like home, when it is present in the lives of others.
When we are family, driven by love. 

PRESENCE
Is one of the four membership vows (Hymnal, p. )

PURPOSE OF LIFE - RELATIONSHIP built on LOVE

POINT
We are in a relationship that is love driven, they will know we are Christians by our love, we are the family/body of God. 

Therefore, we need to spend time with each other, in worship and beyond worship, a relationship built on love, and there is no love and there is no quality of time, without the quantity of time.

POINT - LOVE and the quality of love cannot exist without quality of love
There is no such thing as quality without quantity when it comes to love and time.

If you say "I love you" but spend no time, where is the love?

PRESENCE is crucial in love.

No one on their death bed is going to say, "I wish I spent more time playing video games, or watching TV; spent more time shopping/at the mall; gong to the movies; playing outside. but the will say, "I wish I spent more time with others."

Some of us here this morning, wished we spent more time with mom.

When people spend time with others (relationship) and it is founded and rooted in love it becomes a meaningful relationship in our lives