Scripture Romans 16:21-27, 1-16
Greenless Child
I watched her go uncelebrated into the second grade,
A greenless child,
Gray among the orange and yellow,
Attached too much to corners, and to other people’s sunshine.
She colors the rainbow brown
And leaves balloons unopened in their packages.
Oh, who will touch this greenless child?
Who will plant alleluias in her heart,
And send her dancing into all the colors of God?
Or will she be left like an unwrapped package on the kitchen table –
Too dull for anyone to take the trouble?
Does God think we’re her keeper?
Do you know people like that? People who are not the life of a party but they aren’t a down and outer either? The person who could be described as a wall flower because most people just don’t notice?
Mike Murphy - At Greenlake one year…“Nobody likes me!”
Donovan Norton - A former youth pastor grew up in a Christian home but became rebellious until one day he literally found himself lying on the street in a gutter…and someone crossed the street and said, “God loves you!”
Jesus shows us how much he loves the individual as well as the church as a whole Zacheaus, Woman at the well, Widow of Nain, and on and on…ALSO, when the Holy Spirit had Paul write a letter to the church at Rome. Romans is Paul’s systematic theology and covers sin, salvation, grace, faith, righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption, death, and resurrection. It is also his least personal letter, yet it ends very personal. Let’s look at the last full page of that 16 page (chapter) letter.
Romans 16:21-27
(Paul) Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. 25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Rom 16:1-16
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. (Maung Nau) 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
The letter is from individuals who make up some of the leadership at the church in Corinth or Chencrea
The letter is to individual members of the church in Rome.
Show the list of names of the members of Ashland Church.
Illustration:
A Group Of Believers
A group of believers gathered in a church.
They believed in one God, God Almighty, who made the world and everything in it.
They believed in God the Creator.
And they believed that God the Creator sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to save the world.
They believed these things and they said them every Sunday at ten o’clock.
They were very busy and did the things most churches do. They had church dinners and they inquired about each other’s families.
And they read the Bible and they sent a check to missions every year, And at Thanksgiving they
collected canned goods for the poor.
And on Sunday mornings things were done decently and in order.
They were good church people.
But one Sunday morning during the service of worship, a little boy came running in the church door, ran right down the center aisle, and stood under the cross screaming, “Help me!”
He was a thin child with dark, sunken eyes. The clothes he wore were no more than rags.
His feet were bare and he shivered and then, with a cry, fell – under the cross.
Everything was quiet – and then a voice yelled: Get him out of here! And another said: We don’t want to get involved with his kind. And a third said: He’s interrupting our worship.
But the rest of the congregation arose quietly, in unison, and walked as if they were in step until they, too, stood under the cross. They bent and lifted the child gently and ministered to him.
And then, as if for the first time, they noticed each other.
They smiled and their hands reached out to one another and they began to dance.
Some people laughed, and said: They’re drunk! But others asked: What does this mean?
And the people answered: The Lord’s Spirit has been poured out upon us. The Lord has anointed us to care for God’s children everywhere who are crying, “Help me!”
And now this church is decorated in the bright colors of joy. The people wear robs of caring and commitment. The call to worship is: “Help them!” Then entire congregation dances together.
Jonathan coming to Christ
Reaching for Rainbows
I keep reaching for rainbows ….
Thinking one God’s morning I will wake up with rainbow ribbons in my hair,
With hurts painted over in hues that only angel wings could brush,
Black obliterated, chaos hurled beyond the rainbow and my vision,
The world created in a myriad of colors:
The hungry fed, The dying held, The maimed walking, The angry stroked, The violent calmed,
The oppressed freed, The oppressors changed,
And every tear wiped away.
I keep reaching for rainbows,
But instead of colors in our storm, Gray and black infiltrate, dirtying the sky,
And I hear human voices wailing in the darkness, The never-ending darkness …
Just the same…I know the promise of the rainbow.
I keep thinking I’ll turn a corner one day And find a litany of rainbows Flung across the sky,
Hosannaing back and forth Through all the ages and Out into eternity forever amen!
Every tear wiped away –
It’s a promise – When we become rainbows to each other.
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