This summer
– Virginia Beach – Tour of the Air BNB
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Orientation
-
Orient
– East – If you know one point on the compass, you can figure out the rest.
When we come
to church, part of what happens here is a re-orientation of our hearts.
-
American
Christianity – Worship Service – that word worship means to declare
something/someone worthy (of praise, honor, glory, etc.)
o
Is
that part of what we do? Yes!
o
Notice
– the orientation though – us to God.
-
Old
tradition in Lutheranism to call this time the Divine Service
o
Worship
– we serve the divine One, but there is more
o
The
Divine One, our Lord God, serves us – Forgives sins, Strengthens and teaches us
by the Word, delivers forgiveness, life, and salvation in the Lord’s Supper
o
Different
orientation – Begins God to us, we get re-oriented to declare God’s praises
(primarily because of His salvation).
That God
serves us sounds strange, but it is a service of necessity
-
Born
in bondage
o
Everyone
who sins is a slave to sin.
o
Apart
from Jesus we are bound to serve the devil, the world, and our own sinful
nature (they’re aligned)
-
But
God in His love has intervened in that relationship and by Jesus’ death and
resurrection He has set us free
o
But
remember – our sinful nature is aligned with the devil and the world!
o
Only
in this new life and forgiveness are we free to serve God
o
But
the bondage seems like freedom – that’s where our hearts are inclined!
§ But service to ourselves leads to
death
§ Jesus frees us to serve him – and
that service leads to life.
We are alive
in Christ – Free! – But free to serve -
and that looks a lot like love
-
Love
God
-
Love
Neighbor
-
But
love binds – it limits (last cookie)
The
situation is this – Bound to death or bound to life.
In this
stewardship series, I feel that the texts we have read have asked us the
question, “What will you do with all that God has entrusted to you?”
Today, we
are being urged to receive and use it to serve God with an attitude of
humility.
-
The
attitude of one who has been saved from slavery and death to find ourselves
serving the loving Lord of Life.
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Humility
– Not thinking less of self; thinking of self less.
-
Heart
turned toward our savior and shaped by his love – for us and for others.
-
Our
lives become aligned to God’s purpose
o
At
GDLC – Gather, Build, Serve
This is what
we are asking you to tithe toward
-
Kingdom
work
-
An
eternal kingdom filled with God’s love
-
An
everlasting kingdom we were saved to serve in.
-
A
kingdom where God serves us with His grace, His love, His blessings.
Next week,
we are going to put some numbers on the earthly cost to do some of that kingdom
work here on earth. We’re not going to just look at what we need to make ends
meet and maintain what we’ve got, but we’re also going to look at some of the
opportunities God is giving us for growth and discuss how we might take hold of
those blessings.
The week
after that, Lutheran Women in Mission, quilts – but also pledges. Pray.
-
You
know God’s will for you – look at what He has done!
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Ask
what His will is for all the blessings He has entrusted to you. Amen.
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