<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><font face="sans-serif">Forwarded: </font><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org> </div><div>Date: 4/27/18 9:08 PM (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> </div><div>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Easter 5B- “Jesus said, ‘I AM the Vine- Stay Connected’” </div><div><br></div></div><div dir="ltr">
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Jesus said, ‘I AM
the Vine- Stay Connected’” and deals with the gospel (John 15: 1-8).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Here it is:</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This morning I’d like us to think through the implications of Jesus’
statement that he is the vine and we are the branches; so we are to stay
connected to him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Look at the bulletin
cover.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I have no idea why the picture is
so small, but do you see the pink flowers?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>If they were real and if I cut some flowers and leaves- what do you
think they’re going to look like by next Sunday?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure, they’ll be dried up and falling
apart.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>These healthy green altar plants
have been thriving for a few years now.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Why do they last, week after week, month after month, year after
year?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure, because they’re connected to
their strong root system.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That’s why
Jesus said to stay connected to him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A
couple of days ago, someone with a real problem called to discuss something
very important.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>All of a sudden, it was
like I was talking into nothing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Our
phones disconnected.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We had to redial so
we could talk.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The same thing happens in
our relationship with Jesus, if we aren’t careful.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Many behaviors threaten to interfere with our
connection to Jesus, the Vine.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There are
three that especially seem to affect us if we don’t stay on guard. </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Have you ever said to a child you love from the bottom of your heart,
“I love you; but I surely don’t like what you’re doing right now!”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Christian love has absolutely nothing to do
with feelings, otherwise there is no way we could love our enemies!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Christian love is wanting what’s best for the
other person; and never gets revenge- that’s God’s business.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>John reminds us, “If we say we love God, and
don’t love others- we are liars!” (1<sup>st</sup> John 4:20a)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Not
loving our neighbor separates us from the Vine.</b></font></font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">Handling negatives impulsively (letting
it all hang out) separates us from others in God’s family and also the
vine.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></b><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">We haven’t reviewed this for ages, so now’s a good time: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">T-H-I-N-K</b> before you speak or act: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">“T”</b>= is it true? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal">“H”</b>= is it helpful?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">“I”</b>= is it important?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">“N”</b>=
is it necessary? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">“K”</b>= is it kind and
loving?</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">If I showed you a plastic flower it
would remind us of another way we separate ourselves from the Vine- having an
exterior, fake focus. </span></b><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Plastic flowers are beautiful!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They may even look better than real flowers-
no insect holes, all the colors exactly even.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>And they last and last and last.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>But except to look at, what good are they?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Real flowers contribute to the life power of
God’s amazing creation. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Real flowers
change carbon dioxide into oxygen.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Their
roots hold the soil so it doesn’t erode with the wind and water.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Butterflies and bees use them for food.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then, when they die, the plants turn into
mulch to enrich the soil, and their seeds spread far and wide to make new
flowers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What does the fake flower
do?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Just sit there and look pretty-
unless we look too closely and see where the plastic isn’t quite right.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The lesson for us?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Be real!<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Stop worrying so much about what’s on the outside.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure- pretty clothes and a fancy hairdo and
well-done nails are nice; but what’s really important is what’s on the
inside.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Are you a Christian through and
through, or are you just a fake Christian?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Do you only come to church or serve God or reach out and touch or share
your offerings when you feel like it and it’s not too inconvenient?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Be real; so the inside looks even better than
the outside.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Live what you believe.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">The thought for the week (“Life is ten percent what happens to you and
ninety percent how you respond to it.”- Lou Holtz) reminds us of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">third behavior that can separate us from
the Vine- having a pity-party</b>.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t
let every little problem have you so depressed feeling sorry for yourself that
you don’t feel like saying your prayers or going to church or reaching out to
others. </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">I’d like to close with a familiar story (last July) that reminds us of
why we need to stay connected to Jesus.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>A family had been renting for years and finally saved up enough money
for a down-payment on a house- a home of their own.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>After moving in, they decided to renovate the
yard, since it had been neglected for years.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>They planted and watered, so the flowers grew and the grass became green
and lush.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Everything responded to their
loving care- everything that is, except the row of bushes that separated their
yard from the neighbor’s property.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
family gave those bushes lots of attention, watered and fertilized them
regularly, and hoped they would thrive; but all their work seemed useless. No
matter what they did, the bushes remained spindly and nearly lifeless.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They finally lost patience and decided to
uproot those pitiful, unresponsive bushes. When they pulled the first one up,
to their amazement- they found it still had a plastic bag from the nursery
wrapped around its roots!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Would you
believe- each plant was this way.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>With
great care, they removed the plastic and replanted each bush.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In a few years, the bushes were the most
beautiful in the neighborhood.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">May God bless us as we remove all the sins and distractions and
attitudes that encase our souls like those plastic bags; and may our lives be
rooted and connected to Jesus, the source of our wisdom and power.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Amen.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">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">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</font></u></a><font color="#000000"> .</font></font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Blessed preaching,</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Judy Boli</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></p>
</div>
<p></p>
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