Scripture John 10:1-10
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Prov 15:30 A cheerful
look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful
heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
WORKING ALONE
A letter to the insurance company
called “Doing the Job Alone”.
Dear Sir, I’m
writing in response to your request for additional information. In block 3 of
the accident report form I put trying to do the job alone as the cause of my
accident. In your letter you said I should explain more fully, and I trust the
following details should be sufficient.
I am a brick layer by trade and on the
date of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new six story
building. When I had completed my work, I had about 500 pounds of brick left
over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand or having someone to help me, I
decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley that was fortunately
attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor.
Securing the rope to the ground level
I went to the roof, swung the barrel out, loaded the bricks into it and then I
went to the ground, untied the rope while holding the rope tightly to insure a
slow descent of 500 pounds. You will note in block 2 of the accident report
that I weighed 160 pounds. CHUCKLE
Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my
presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. CHUCKLE Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather
rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the 3rd
floor I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and the
broken collar bone. LAUGHTER
Slowing down only slightly, I
continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until my hand was two knuckles deep
into the pulley. Fortunately, I regained my presence of mind and was able to
hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time,
however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the
barrel. LAUGHTER Devoid
of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds. I
refer you again to my weight in block #2. CHUCKLE As you might imagine, I began a rather
rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the 3rd
floor I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for my two fractured ankles and
the lacerations on my legs. CHUCKLE
This encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I
fell on the pile of bricks. LAUGHTER
I’m sorry to report, however, that as
I lay on the bricks in pain, unable to stand, watching the empty barrel six
stories above me, I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. LAUGHTER The empty barrel
weighed more than the rope and so it came down and broke both of my legs. LAUGHTER
ACTUAL CHURCH BULLETIN ANOUNCEMENTS
1.
Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30
pm. Please use the back door.
2.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. Please use the large
double door at the side entrance.
3.
The audience is asked to remain seated until the end of the
recession.
4.
The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without
musical accomplishment.
5.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition
of several new members and to the deterioration of several others.
6.
The choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys
sinning to join the choir.
7.
Stewardship Offertory: “Jesus Paid It All”
8.
During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege
of hearing a good sermon thanks to Rev. Johnson who filled in.
9.
Due to the Pastor’s illness, Wednesday’s healing services will
be discontinued until further notice.
10. The sermon this
morning: Jesus Walks on the Water. The sermon tonight: Searching for
Jesus.
11. Barbara remains
in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also
having trouble sleeping and requests recordings of Pastor Jack’s sermons.
12. Ladies, don’t
forget the rummage sale. It is a good chance to get rid of those things
not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
13. The
peace-making meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
14. The Associate
Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I
Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”
15. Applications
are now being accepted for 2-year-old nursery workers.
16. For those of
you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
17. This afternoon
there will be a gathering in the north and south ends of the church.
Children will be baptized at both ends.
B.C. Stands for Baptist Church
Mrs.
Clifton Hord of Baird, Texas relates a rather strange reply to a request for a
campground reservation. Mrs. Hord says that it actually happened to one of her
friends, but we’ll let you be the judge. Here’s her story:
“My
friend is a rather old-fashioned lady, always quite delicate and elegant,
especially in her language. She and her husband were planning a weeks’ vacation
in Florida, so she wrote to a particular campground and asked for a
reservation.
“She
wanted to make sure the campground was fully equipped, but didn’t quite know
how to ask about the toilet facilities. She just couldn’t bring herself
to write the word “toilet” in her letter. After much deliberation, she finally
came up with the old-fashion term “bathroom commode”. But when she wrote
that down, she still thought she was being to forward. So, she started all over
again, rewrote the entire letter, and referred to the bathroom commode merely
as B.C. “Does the campground have its own B.C?” is what she
actually wrote.
Well
the campground owner wasn’t old-fashion at all, and when he got the letter, he
just couldn’t figure out what the woman was talking about.
After
worrying about it for a while, he showed the letter to several campers, but
they couldn’t imagine what the lady meant. So, the campground owner, finally
coming to the conclusion that the lady must be asking about the location of the
local Baptist Church, sat down and wrote
the following reply:
“Dear
Madam: I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take
the pleasure of informing you that a B.C. is located nine miles north of the
campground, CHUCKLE
and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. CHUCKLE I admit it is quite a distance away if you
are in the habit of going regularly, CHUCKLE but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great
number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it. LAUGHTER They usually arrive
early and stay late. CHUCKLE
“The
last time my wife and I went was six years ago, CHUCKLE and it was so crowded that we had to stand
up the whole time we were there. LAUGHTER It may interest you to know that right now there is a
supper planned to raise money to buy more seats. They’re going to hold it in
the basement of the B.C. GROAN
LAUGHTER
“I
would like to say it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, LAUGHTER but it is surely
no lack of desire on my part.
CHUCKLE As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly
in the cold weather. SINGLE
LAUGHTER
“If
you do decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the
first time you go, sit with you and introduce you to all the other folks. LAUGHTER Remember, this
is a friendly community.” LAUGHTER
John 10:1-10
I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep
pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of
his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his
voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought
out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because
they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will
run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. Jesus used this figure of speech, but they
did not understand what he was telling them.
During the
Palestinian uprising in the late 1980’s the Israeli army decided to punish a
village near Bethlehem for not paying taxes. The commanding officer rounded up
all of the village animals and placed them in a large barb-wire pen. Later in
the week he was approached by a woman who begged him to release her flock of
sheep., arguing that since her husband was dead, the animals were her only
source of livelihood. He pointed to the pen containing hundreds of animals and
laughed as he said it was impossible because there was no way to find her
animals. She asked if she could separate them herself, would he be willing to
let her take them? He agreed. A soldier opened the gate and the woman’s son
produced a small reed flute. He played a simple tune over and over – and soon
sheep heads began popping up across the pen. The young boy continued his music
and walked home, followed by their flock of 25 sheep.
THE SHEPHERD BECOMES THE GATE
7 Therefore Jesus said again, I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who
ever came before me were thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me
will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the
full.
When Jesus is
speaking here it is during the festival of Hanukkah, also known as the festival
of Dedication commemorating the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after
Israel’s leaders contributed to the demise of Yahweh worship and the Greek
soldiers desecrated the temple with pig’s blood, burned scripture scrolls and
erected a pagan idol in the temple. Imagery
used to describe Israel’s leaders were that of a bad shepherd compared to a
good shepherd. Jesus is using that same imagery here going so far as to call
Israel’s current spiritual leaders – thieves, and pointing out that he is the
good shepherd. The thieves steal the joy
of the people and the good shepherd brings joy.
As
shown earlier, shepherds of Jesus day would often have a flute and play a
particular tune that would make that shepherds sheep come out from among the
larger flock. Sometimes it would be the voice of the shepherd alone that would
call them out. Note that (unlike herding
cattle) the shepherd does not drive the sheep – he is out front and leads the
sheep – they willingly follow him.
The
most important thing to take from this portion of scripture is = who Jesus is
and how Jesus is toward us is made known. He is the one, who in the darkest of
nights will protect us and watch out for us and in the light of day will lead
us to water and green pastures. Knowing we have someone like that looking out
for us allows us to have joy and not have it stolen away by what the thief has
taken from us.
The
problem is, the world allows the thieves in, often encourages the thieves, seek
out the thieves. In a study George Barna asked high school students where they
would turn in times of tension, confusion or crisis. Fathers were ranked 25 on
the list. Mothers were ranked 11. Music and personal friends topped the
list. That means in a time of tragedy or
difficulty, young people are looking in all the wrong places for help when
trying to get out of the desert and find pasture and clean water.
THE SCRIPTURE POSTLUDE
John 10:11-16
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So, when
he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf
attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep
and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I
lay down my life for the sheep.
You
may be asking what John 10 and Jesus being the good shepherd has to do with
JOY.
The answer EVERYTHING: Because we
are sheep who have no idea when or if this Coronavirus will end. But God does,
and He is the only one who cares for us like a good shepherd helping us to go
in and out and find green pasture and clean water. And, knowing he is like that
toward us allows us to live in His joy.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I
shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD for ever.
Happiness
(like my humorous stories at the beginning) is fleeting; but JOY come in the
morning!
PICNIC
with the Pastor
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Have a gentle attitude toward
everyone. The Lord is coming soon.”
We try to get joy the wrong ways sometimes by putting things
into our lives that are not good for us.
GREEN = Envy, Jealousy,
Money
RED = Party – Temporary Happiness, Better than
others
YELLOW = A light for others
PURPLE = Jesus is the King of kings
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