http://www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com/
Check out the church site too!
http://www.frankfortpresbychurch.com/
Sunday Sermon: "Fish Stick Jesus"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
People look for God in all kinds of places. And in that looking for God, they seem to find God in some of the strangest places. While some people find God in nature . . . in church . . . in the kindness of a stranger . . . other people find God in fish sticks.
Seriously, in November 2004 a guy named Fred Whan, who lives in Ontario, burnt a fish stick he was having for dinner. As he pulled it out of the oven and looked at it, he found the face of Jesus on his fish stick. He kept it in his freezer for a year, then put it up for auction on www.ebay.com.
In that same year, a woman in Ft. Lauderdale said she found an image of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in her grilled cheese sandwich. Later that year, she sold it for $28,000.
Now, the point of me telling you this isn’t so we get in a debate whether or not we think these faces really did appear in these foods. The point is . . . people are looking for God. People are yearning to find God in the everyday, ordinariness of their lives.
We know we’ll see God in church on Sunday; but we want to see God the other six days a week, in the places we go every day.
But I don’t want a God who lives in fish sticks or grilled cheese sandwiches. I want a God who is so much more than that—I want a God who is wise and strong and loving and just and merciful.
I want the kind of God we read about in Psalm 100.
#1
I want a God who is worthy of praise and thanksgiving, not just random appearances in food.
This God that the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because he made us. God is our maker—the fish sticks, the grilled cheese, all these things were made. But not God; God made us.
The God the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because he loves us. We love our cars and our houses and our toys, but they don’t love us back. But God loved us first, long before we loved him. And God continues to love us, even when we are most unlovable.
Psalm 100 also tells us that God is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because God owns us. Fish sticks and grilled cheese belong to us, but we belong to God. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. “For God so loved the world that he gave up his only begotten Son” and now we belong to him.
The God the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because God really is all around us but in more than fish sticks and grilled cheese. God is around us because WE are his people, so when we look at the other people around us, we can see the face of Jesus. We can see Jesus on the face of the people we live with and work with. We can even see Jesus on the face of strangers, those in need and those in prison, those who live in big mansions and those who live in cardboard boxes.
#2
We all want a God who is found somewhere other than fish sticks and grilled cheese. We all want a God who is wise and strong and loving and just and merciful.
THAT God is the God who deserves our praise and thanks.
At this time of year, we often spend too much time thinking about all the gifts we have been given and too little thinking about the Giver of the gifts.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s good to be thankful for the blessings God has given us. But I think we spend too much time focusing on the stuff, instead of focusing on the God who gave us the stuff.
It’s good to be thankful for material blessings, but we have to remember that God surrounds us with all kinds of people who reflect God’s face to us.
So here is how we’re going to give God our praise and thanks. At the end of your pew is a pile of what I hope look like maple leaves. And on some of those leaves it says “People I’m Thankful For” and on the other “Reasons I’m Thankful for God.”
Working with the other people in your pew, or with people in front of or behind you—your choice, try to fill up each of these leaves with either people you are thankful for or reasons you are thankful for God. For example on the “people” leaf, you could write the names of your family members or friends or coworkers or the garbage man who comes to your house each week. And on the “God” leaf, you could write, you’re thankful for God’s forgiveness or love or mercy—some thing God has done for you that you are grateful for.
I’ll give you four minutes to try to fill each leaf up. Anyone have any questions? Alright, go!
#3
Could I have all the kids come forward?
(Have taller kids stay down front to tape up leaves, smaller kids go into congregation to collect all the leaves.)
If you’re finished, hold you leaves up in the air and the kids will come and collect them and add them to our Thanksgiving tree.
CONCLUSION
Judging from the number of leaves on the tree—and how much writing is on them!—we don’t need to look very far to see God. We can see God on the face of those around us, those special people that God has placed in our lives, just for us.
So, don’t go looking for Jesus in your turkey leg on Thanksgiving or in your mashed potatoes the day after Thanksgiving. Instead, look for Jesus in the faces of the people who are gathered around the table with you.
As you look on their faces, give thanks and praise to God because God is constantly revealing himself to you, in the faithful believers around you.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Check out the church site too!
http://www.frankfortpresbychurch.com/
Sunday Sermon: "Fish Stick Jesus"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
People look for God in all kinds of places. And in that looking for God, they seem to find God in some of the strangest places. While some people find God in nature . . . in church . . . in the kindness of a stranger . . . other people find God in fish sticks.
Seriously, in November 2004 a guy named Fred Whan, who lives in Ontario, burnt a fish stick he was having for dinner. As he pulled it out of the oven and looked at it, he found the face of Jesus on his fish stick. He kept it in his freezer for a year, then put it up for auction on www.ebay.com.
In that same year, a woman in Ft. Lauderdale said she found an image of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in her grilled cheese sandwich. Later that year, she sold it for $28,000.
Now, the point of me telling you this isn’t so we get in a debate whether or not we think these faces really did appear in these foods. The point is . . . people are looking for God. People are yearning to find God in the everyday, ordinariness of their lives.
We know we’ll see God in church on Sunday; but we want to see God the other six days a week, in the places we go every day.
But I don’t want a God who lives in fish sticks or grilled cheese sandwiches. I want a God who is so much more than that—I want a God who is wise and strong and loving and just and merciful.
I want the kind of God we read about in Psalm 100.
#1
I want a God who is worthy of praise and thanksgiving, not just random appearances in food.
This God that the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because he made us. God is our maker—the fish sticks, the grilled cheese, all these things were made. But not God; God made us.
The God the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because he loves us. We love our cars and our houses and our toys, but they don’t love us back. But God loved us first, long before we loved him. And God continues to love us, even when we are most unlovable.
Psalm 100 also tells us that God is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because God owns us. Fish sticks and grilled cheese belong to us, but we belong to God. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. “For God so loved the world that he gave up his only begotten Son” and now we belong to him.
The God the psalmist talks about is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because God really is all around us but in more than fish sticks and grilled cheese. God is around us because WE are his people, so when we look at the other people around us, we can see the face of Jesus. We can see Jesus on the face of the people we live with and work with. We can even see Jesus on the face of strangers, those in need and those in prison, those who live in big mansions and those who live in cardboard boxes.
#2
We all want a God who is found somewhere other than fish sticks and grilled cheese. We all want a God who is wise and strong and loving and just and merciful.
THAT God is the God who deserves our praise and thanks.
At this time of year, we often spend too much time thinking about all the gifts we have been given and too little thinking about the Giver of the gifts.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s good to be thankful for the blessings God has given us. But I think we spend too much time focusing on the stuff, instead of focusing on the God who gave us the stuff.
It’s good to be thankful for material blessings, but we have to remember that God surrounds us with all kinds of people who reflect God’s face to us.
So here is how we’re going to give God our praise and thanks. At the end of your pew is a pile of what I hope look like maple leaves. And on some of those leaves it says “People I’m Thankful For” and on the other “Reasons I’m Thankful for God.”
Working with the other people in your pew, or with people in front of or behind you—your choice, try to fill up each of these leaves with either people you are thankful for or reasons you are thankful for God. For example on the “people” leaf, you could write the names of your family members or friends or coworkers or the garbage man who comes to your house each week. And on the “God” leaf, you could write, you’re thankful for God’s forgiveness or love or mercy—some thing God has done for you that you are grateful for.
I’ll give you four minutes to try to fill each leaf up. Anyone have any questions? Alright, go!
#3
Could I have all the kids come forward?
(Have taller kids stay down front to tape up leaves, smaller kids go into congregation to collect all the leaves.)
If you’re finished, hold you leaves up in the air and the kids will come and collect them and add them to our Thanksgiving tree.
CONCLUSION
Judging from the number of leaves on the tree—and how much writing is on them!—we don’t need to look very far to see God. We can see God on the face of those around us, those special people that God has placed in our lives, just for us.
As you look on their faces, give thanks and praise to God because God is constantly revealing himself to you, in the faithful believers around you.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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