The following is Allison (Barnes) Potratz's sermon on 10/4/2009.
Intro:
-I want to start by re-reading a part of the readings for today. “What is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man you that you care for him?” Looking back on your life, I’m sure there has been a time in your life that you have asked “Why me? What purpose do I have here on earth? Why did God create me? Does God really love me?” I know I have. I often think about these questions when I hear the song by Casting Crowns that says “Who am I that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt. Who am I, that the voice that calmed the seas would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me.” My hope today is that I can help you realize how much our God really loves and cares for us! I just finished asking the children what kind of things they consider to be “big.” And, yes it is really interesting what some of their answers are, but we can really learn a lot about our God and how much he loves us by looking at the gigantic and marvelous things that he has created for us as humankind! It’s through these creations that we can somewhat understand how big and majestic our God is and ultimately how important we are to him! I want to share with you some things that I think are “big.”
Mount Kilimanjaro-Located in North-Eastern Tanzania
-One of the highest mountains in the World, highest peak in Africa
-15,100 feet high from its base
-It is one of the largest stratovolcanoes in the world.
-Covers an area of 157,200 acres.
-Peaks on this mountain reach between 5,000 and 6,000 meters above sea level.
-Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach, SC-Total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles).
-It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface.
-The average depths of the Atlantic, ranges anywhere from 10, 936 feet to 28,232 feet deep!
-Visited there about a month ago and saw the Ocean for the first time! It was unbelievable! I remember when were driving towards Myrtle Beach I kept saying “I’m nervous to see the Ocean!” Then, when we turned on the road where our hotel was (which was right along the Ocean) I looked on the GPS and saw that there was land, and then BLUE, lots of BLUE (which meant Ocean!) And I kept thinking to myself-we are on the coast, beyond this point there isn’t land for thousands of miles! My husband stood on the beach and pointed out to the middle of the Ocean and said “How weird is it that the next piece of land beyond this body of water is Africa??” IT’S CRAZY! When I stood on the beach I looked right and all I saw was ocean, I looked left and all I saw was ocean! I was in such shock that I was standing next to a body of water that literally goes for miles and miles, has billions of gallons of water, and is miles deep! I was so intimidated. However, our God created this huge body of water, as well as so many other deep bodies of water. Our God is bigger and even more powerful than this huge body of water!
-SOHO MissionThe SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) project is a cooperative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, and its extensive outer atmosphere.-This image captures a sweeping prominence -- Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun's hot, thin corona. At times, they can erupt, escaping the Sun's atmosphere. Emission in this image shows the upper chromosphere at a temperature of about 60,000 degrees Kelvin.
-The hottest areas appear almost white, while the darker red areas indicate cooler temperatures.
-The mean distance of the Sun from the Earth is approximately 149.6 million kilometers (1 AU) (93 million miles), and its light travels this distance in 8 minutes and 19 seconds.
-Mean diameter of the sun is 109 × Earths diameter.
-The Whirlpool Galaxy-Approximately 20 million light years from Earth
-Radius of about ~38,000 light-years
-The Whirlpool Galaxy (looks so cool because it has a cross in the middle of it when you look at it from this angle.
-The cross in the middle is actually a black hole with dust rings surrounding the hole-but how cool is it, that something so beautiful and so far away, could bear the sign that brings so much hope to Christians. A sign that we believe demonstrates God’s ultimate love for us?
-6.786 Billion-Estimated World Population as of September 23, 2009
-Of course we can’t guarantee that this number is 100% correct, but all I can say is that God loves every single one of these people, including you! And can you imagine the billions of people who have lived since the beginning of the Earth? Generation after generation after generation, etc! Well, God loved them too! You see, Genesis tells the story of creation and talks about how God created the entire world (including magnificent things like Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ocean, the Sun, and beautiful galaxies so far from earth in outer space) and said that it was good, but when he created humankind, he said that it was very good! We are the crown of creation. God adores us and longs for us! Let’s read it!
-Genesis 1:27-31 “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it….(God tells humankind that earth was made for them to live)….{verse 31} God saw all that he had made, and it was very good!”
-We mean more to God than all these beautiful things that are part of creation. He created us to belong to him and made this world to live in! God was thinking of us long before we were even born! Let’s read it!
-Psalm 139: 13-16 “For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full and well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
-God had a plan for every single one of us when he created the earth and knit us together. He is the ultimate creator (his works are wonderful (we saw some of them in the pictures today) )but most of all WE are the wonderful part of creation because we get to have a relationship with God! We get to experience God! We get to see him move on this earth and show his love for everyone! We witness miracles and experience connections with him when we read his Word and pray in his Name and worship him every day. We experience his love for us through all the gifts that he’s given us. But there’s one gift that makes our relationship with God even more meaningful-it’s the ultimate gift and sacrifice that he made for US to show his LOVE for US! It’s the gift of salvation that he offers through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ! Let’s read it!
-2 Corinthians 5:14-21 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now one we regard no one from a worldly point view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
-The first part of this section talks about how Christ’s love “compels” us because Christ died for us. Christ’s love “compels” us (drives us) to no longer live for ourselves but to live for HIM! It’s not about us…not at all! It’s all about Christ!
-Compare to the movie “Fireproof.” Both couples were so involved in their own lives and so selfishly looking for their own benefit that their relationship was failing. Both so deeply involved in their careers and own interests, they didn’t even know or understand each other. It wasn’t until Caleb started trying to win his wife’s heart back that he realized that he wasn’t able to love his wife because he wasn’t loving the Lord. There is a part in the middle of the movie when Caleb is talking to his father about how he is ready to end it with his wife and get a divorce and give up on trying to win her heart back. He says:
"In fact, when I come home, she makes me feel like I'm an enemy. I'm not even welcome in my own home, Dad. That is what really ticks me off! For the last three weeks I've bent over backwards for her. I've tried to demonstrate that I still care about this relationship. I bought her flowers, which she threw away. I have taken her insults and her sarcasm, but last night was it. I made dinner for her. I did everything I could to demonstrate that I care about her—to show value for her—and she spit in my face. She does not deserve this, Dad! I'm not doing it anymore! How am I supposed to show love to somebody—over and over and over—who constantly rejects me?"
-The thing is, we are like Caleb and Catherine. We are the ones who are constantly involved in our own lives that we spit in God’s face and reject him. We have to realize that we mean more to him than anything else on this Earth. We have to surrender to him and live according to his will. Let’s continue reading.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
-First of all, we are FORGIVEN! We are reconciled of our sins and God has wiped them clean. They are on the bottom of that ocean floor (which we learned is miles deep!) We are also called “ambassadors.” The word ambassador means to be a representative. In Hebrew, the word is interpreted as “one who goes on an errand,” ultimately making US messengers of God! We are to LIVE for him! Turn away from sin! Live according to God’s righteousness. Realize how much our God loves us and how much he desires us to submit our lives to Him and Him alone! Live according to the righteousness that is described in these verses. Be reconciled in Christ and become New Creations!
-Let’s look back at pieces of the readings from today:
-The cross in the middle is actually a black hole with dust rings surrounding the hole-but how cool is it, that something so beautiful and so far away, could bear the sign that brings so much hope to Christians. A sign that we believe demonstrates God’s ultimate love for us?
-6.786 Billion-Estimated World Population as of September 23, 2009
-Of course we can’t guarantee that this number is 100% correct, but all I can say is that God loves every single one of these people, including you! And can you imagine the billions of people who have lived since the beginning of the Earth? Generation after generation after generation, etc! Well, God loved them too! You see, Genesis tells the story of creation and talks about how God created the entire world (including magnificent things like Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ocean, the Sun, and beautiful galaxies so far from earth in outer space) and said that it was good, but when he created humankind, he said that it was very good! We are the crown of creation. God adores us and longs for us! Let’s read it!
-Genesis 1:27-31 “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it….(God tells humankind that earth was made for them to live)….{verse 31} God saw all that he had made, and it was very good!”
-We mean more to God than all these beautiful things that are part of creation. He created us to belong to him and made this world to live in! God was thinking of us long before we were even born! Let’s read it!
-Psalm 139: 13-16 “For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full and well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
-God had a plan for every single one of us when he created the earth and knit us together. He is the ultimate creator (his works are wonderful (we saw some of them in the pictures today) )but most of all WE are the wonderful part of creation because we get to have a relationship with God! We get to experience God! We get to see him move on this earth and show his love for everyone! We witness miracles and experience connections with him when we read his Word and pray in his Name and worship him every day. We experience his love for us through all the gifts that he’s given us. But there’s one gift that makes our relationship with God even more meaningful-it’s the ultimate gift and sacrifice that he made for US to show his LOVE for US! It’s the gift of salvation that he offers through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ! Let’s read it!
-2 Corinthians 5:14-21 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now one we regard no one from a worldly point view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
-The first part of this section talks about how Christ’s love “compels” us because Christ died for us. Christ’s love “compels” us (drives us) to no longer live for ourselves but to live for HIM! It’s not about us…not at all! It’s all about Christ!
-Compare to the movie “Fireproof.” Both couples were so involved in their own lives and so selfishly looking for their own benefit that their relationship was failing. Both so deeply involved in their careers and own interests, they didn’t even know or understand each other. It wasn’t until Caleb started trying to win his wife’s heart back that he realized that he wasn’t able to love his wife because he wasn’t loving the Lord. There is a part in the middle of the movie when Caleb is talking to his father about how he is ready to end it with his wife and get a divorce and give up on trying to win her heart back. He says:
"In fact, when I come home, she makes me feel like I'm an enemy. I'm not even welcome in my own home, Dad. That is what really ticks me off! For the last three weeks I've bent over backwards for her. I've tried to demonstrate that I still care about this relationship. I bought her flowers, which she threw away. I have taken her insults and her sarcasm, but last night was it. I made dinner for her. I did everything I could to demonstrate that I care about her—to show value for her—and she spit in my face. She does not deserve this, Dad! I'm not doing it anymore! How am I supposed to show love to somebody—over and over and over—who constantly rejects me?"
-The thing is, we are like Caleb and Catherine. We are the ones who are constantly involved in our own lives that we spit in God’s face and reject him. We have to realize that we mean more to him than anything else on this Earth. We have to surrender to him and live according to his will. Let’s continue reading.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
-First of all, we are FORGIVEN! We are reconciled of our sins and God has wiped them clean. They are on the bottom of that ocean floor (which we learned is miles deep!) We are also called “ambassadors.” The word ambassador means to be a representative. In Hebrew, the word is interpreted as “one who goes on an errand,” ultimately making US messengers of God! We are to LIVE for him! Turn away from sin! Live according to God’s righteousness. Realize how much our God loves us and how much he desires us to submit our lives to Him and Him alone! Live according to the righteousness that is described in these verses. Be reconciled in Christ and become New Creations!
-Let’s look back at pieces of the readings from today:
-The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word
Hebrews 1:3 "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet."
Hebrews 2:5-9 In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
- Like it says in Hebrews, he made him a little lower than the angels and sent him to save us. “Who is man that you are mindful of him??” Can’t you see HOW mindful our God is about us???
Let’s read John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.”
-God loves and cares so deeply for us! We know that and see that through the gift of his Son. So now, when we find ourselves asking “Why me?” We won’t even question our purpose here on earth! We are truly loved and God created us and has a plan for us. Remember that as you look around this earth and find yourself in awe of magnificent and marvelous things! Remember that our God created it, but he also created us and loves us!
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