<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body ><div>Forwarded:</div><div><br></div><div><div style="font-size:8px;color:#575757">From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.</div></div><br><br>-------- Original message --------<br>From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org> <br>Date:04/10/2016 10:47 AM (GMT+09:00) <br>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> <br>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Easter 3C <br><br><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “God So Loved the
World” or “Eternity- Smoking or Nonsmoking?” and deals with all the lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">Here it is: </font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Do you remember the story of
the kindergarten teacher who asked her students, “What is the shape of the
earth?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">One little girl raises her
hand.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“Yes, Sally, what is the shape of
the earth?”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Says the child, “According
to my daddy, it's terrible, because he cusses every time he watches the news on
TV.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Jesus would agree.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">John 3: 16-17 reminds us- “God loved the
people of this world so much that he gave his only Son ….God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn its people, but to save them.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The thought for the week also fits in to this
idea- “How will you spend eternity -- Smoking or Nonsmoking?” (Anonymous)</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">This morning I’d like us to focus on
evangelism- bringing other people to Jesus through his church, because we’re
not just thinking of how we ourselves will spend eternity- heaven or hell; but
how our friends and loved ones will spend eternity and what kind of life they
will have right now.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Jesus said, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life…Without me, no one can go to the Father” (John
14:6), and we have to take him seriously.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000">
</font></span><font color="#000000">Two of our Bible lessons give us insights into what Jesus expects of us
when he tells us to “Go to the people of all nations and make them my
disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
and teach them to do everything I have told you” (Matthew 28: 19-20).</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We just heard “why.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Our gospel lesson tells us “who” and our
lesson from Acts about the conversion of </font><font color="#000000">St.
Paul</font><font color="#000000"> tell us “how.”</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-layout-grid-align: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: normal;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">We’ll start with the Gospel
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“who.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font><font color="#000000" size="3">Does anyone know that old children’s song- “I
Will Make You Fishers of Men” (or People if we’re trying to be nonsexist)?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Those fish Jesus helped the disciples catch
represented people- all kinds of people.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3">
</font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">How do I know that?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Because in
Jesus’ day, people thought there were 153 different kinds of fish in the world,
so the 153 fish represented all the different kinds of people that existed on
this planet.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">In other words, here was
one more instance of Jesus trying to impress on his disciples (and us) that
when he said “Go to the people of all nations,” he meant EVERYBODY.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">So when you start thinking about whom you can
invite to church, don’t worry about race or age or money or health or schooling
or past mistakes or anything.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">If they’re
breathing and human- they qualify!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font></span><font color="#000000" size="3">Try
to get them to church to be saved and discipled.</font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">The Bible lesson from the
book of Acts tells us <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“how.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">Ananias had one of the most dangerous jobs
possible at that time- allowing a known terrorist to go to his house so he
could cure him of his blindness.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Paul
had been going from town to town torturing and killing Christians, yet Ananias
trusted God enough to obey him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What can
we learn from Ananias?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Some kinds of
evangelism are one-time efforts that take a lot out of you- like a sprint in track.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Paul, on the other hand, shows us the other
“how”- the evangelism effort that is like a marathon.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">You stay at it and at it and at it.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">You find different ways over the years of
inviting someone to church, and one day- it works.</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Last, let’s look at the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">focus</b></font><font color="#000000"> God expects us to use for His Kingdom work.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">I’d like to close with a story you heard a
while ago, so if you remember it- you’ve got a good memory.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">A ten-year-old boy was failing math. His
parents tried everything from tutors to hypnosis, but to no avail. Finally, at
the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a
private Roman Catholic school. After the first day, the boy's parents were
surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very
determined expression on his face, and went right past them straight to his
room, where he quietly closed the door. For nearly two hours he toiled away in
his room - with math books strewn about his desk and the surrounding floor. He
emerged long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight
back to his room, closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until
bedtime. This pattern continued ceaselessly until it was time for the first
quarter report card. The boy walked in with his report card -- unopened -- laid
it on the dinner table and went straight to his room. Cautiously, his mother
opened it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red "A" under the
subject of MATH. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room,
thrilled at his remarkable progress. "Was it the nuns that did it?” the
father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, "No." "Was
it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?" "No." "The
textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?" "Nope," said the son.
"On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy they
nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant business!"</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">(jokeswarehouse.com)</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">My friends- God meant business when he sent
his Son; and Jesus meant business when he said to go to the people of all
nations and make them his disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font color="#000000">May
God bless us as we take him and his expectations seriously.</font></font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes; tab-stops: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes; tab-stops: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">For anyone who is
interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are
posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: </font><a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</font></u></a><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> .</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Blessed preaching,</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Judy Boli</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></div>
<p></p>
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