Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Us and my at.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
A good morning. Please join me in the caudal worship.
(06:28):
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God,
my Savior. For the Mighty One has done great things
for us, and holy.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Is God's name.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Indeed, God's mercy shares everlasting love from one generation to
the next. God lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry
with good things, and sends the rich away empty handed.
God scatters the proud to the fantasies of their imaginations.
The powerful God brings down from their friends. My soul
(07:05):
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
S soun.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Scene seen scene say so.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Please pray with me. Dear Lord, we thank you so
much for another beautiful day. As we journey through this
advent season, may we open our hearts to your boundless love.
Let us be a reflection of your grace and mercy,
sharing your love with everyone we meet. Guide us to
live in harmony and peace. Following the examples of your word.
(10:04):
We ask that you open our hearts and mind to
receive the message today as we begin by praying the
prayer that your son taught us.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Our father who are in heaven.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
How to be thy name, Thy Kingdom. Come, Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who truspass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
(10:40):
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Oh Man.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
S s.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
So s.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
To long stork.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
S time.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Sposus step.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Six.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Now I see I do.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
It's I see it's.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So se s.
Speaker 7 (13:08):
Let us pray together Heaven the Father teach us to
be generous and give, not count as we celebrate this
Christmas season, Help us remember the love, hope, joy that
the birth of your son Jesus Christ gave us all.
(13:32):
Take these generous offerings today to continue to use them
to bring hope to those in need. In glory to God.
Amen s.
Speaker 8 (15:14):
Small tis.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Good morning. Let us pray.
Speaker 9 (17:28):
Almighty and everlasting God. Your faithfulness to us is unfathomable.
The way that you love us, the way that you bring.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Us peace, joy and hope in times of uncertainty, sometimes
stops us at our feet. You are so faithful. You
are faithful when we are struggling with illness.
Speaker 9 (18:02):
You are faithful when we struggle with not knowing what
tomorrow will bring. You are faithful when we have moments
of joy that we can't even comprehend.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
In all of it, you are faithful this morning.
Speaker 9 (18:21):
We pray that this time of worship will be a
time when we recognize that your faithfulness is a result
of your faithfulness alone and not our own. We ask
you to increase our faith so that we may know
(18:42):
you more deeply, love you more intently, and live as
your hands and feet in this world. We place it
all at your feet, the King of Kings, the Lord
of lords.
Speaker 10 (18:58):
Amends SSS.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
S s s s s.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Sh it's.
Speaker 11 (20:37):
Sounds so.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
It's so.
Speaker 11 (21:39):
Still, so dast s.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
S s.
Speaker 11 (23:12):
S s s s.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
S s s s.
Speaker 11 (24:14):
S s s s s s s s s s.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
S s.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
S.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Thank you, Thank you, choir.
Speaker 9 (26:48):
One of the best things about performing a wedding ceremony
is watching the groom when the bride walks down the
aisle and being able to watch your all's faces as
those children sang That song gave me so much joy.
So thank you so much for leading us in worship
(27:08):
in that way this morning. Our scripture reading comes from
John chapter one, verses one through fourteen.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
Speaker 9 (27:26):
He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all
things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has
been made. And in him was life, and that life
was the light of all mankind. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There
(27:51):
was a man sent by God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all might believe. He himself was
not the light. He came only as a witness to
the light. The true light that gives light to everyone
(28:13):
was coming into the world. He was in the world,
And though the world was made through him, the world
did not recognize him.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
He came to which was his own, but his own
did not receive him.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor
of human decision, or of husband's will, but born of God.
(28:52):
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son who came from the.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Father, full of grace and truth.
Speaker 9 (29:10):
Maybe it is like this every year, but I feel
like the journey to Christmas has been an overdrive? Anyone
else feel that way? How are we already at December
twenty second? In two days, the sanctuary will be filled
with candlelight to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child.
(29:33):
How in the world did we already get here? This
feeling seems to be elevated when there isn't a Sunday
between Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
This was the case this holiday season. When we feel.
Speaker 9 (29:49):
Overwhelmed with the speed of time, it's important in those.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Moments to rest and to remember.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
What actually did happen, where we have gone, and how
we have gotten here, looking back at the beginning of
Advent season, beginning with the Sunday of Hope. The Sunday
of Hope, we began this Advent season with the story
of Mary visiting Elizabeth. This is an example to us
(30:21):
of how we show up as the we in the church.
Discerning what God is doing is not meant to be
done alone. We are meant to walk side by side
with one another. As we ponder and question all that
God is doing in and through our lives and our
joys and also in our struggles, we asked ourselves, are
(30:46):
we showing up for one another the way that Mary
and Elizabeth showed up for each other during the Advent season,
and we heard the words that both Mary and Elizabeth
collectively heardually from the Angel that nothing is impossible with God.
(31:07):
While still searching for hope, we also found the Sunday
of Peace where Isaiah's seven ten through seventeen and Jeremiah
twenty nine four through eleven were the center of our
time and worship. Doctor Moore shared that Isaiah's message of
hope is bad.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
News before it is good news.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
For hope to be real, it's got to be based
in reality. False hope only deceives us and mocks us.
I was also encouraged to hear about fab's Wednesday Night
series on the welfare of the city led by Kathy
Burns and Bradsmith from Marshall University, and how you all
(31:52):
will continue with this theme in the new year as
you hear.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Of local mission partners on Wednesday Night.
Speaker 9 (32:01):
It's important that Fifth Avenue Baptist Church and the other
faith communities are asking what is the reality of what
is happening in Huntington and how can we as a
church better understand this so that we can follow in God's.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Direction for the welfare of our city. It is then
where we will find peace.
Speaker 9 (32:29):
Doctor Moore shared that transformative ministry only happens through real hope,
hope that faces real reality. Transformative ministry dies when false
hope tries to lead it. As someone who works with
(32:49):
nonprofits every day across our region, I agree with doctor
Moore's assessment. There's a lot of good happening in our communities,
but the only way that we can seek hope and
peace for our community is if we base it on
the reality of what is taking place and asking ourselves
(33:13):
how we can show up and be the hands and
feet of Christ to transform our community.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Hope, peace. And then we found ourselves on the Sunday
of Joy.
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Last Sunday, through joy, we read the scriptures in Isaiah
and the Book of Mark. Doctor Moore challenged us to
try to see the world through the eyes of children during.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
This Advent season.
Speaker 9 (33:44):
Like I said, just a moment ago, I certainly saw
that through each of your faces as you witnessed children
leading us in worship. He shared a part of what
makes children and youth so alive is that they're always
facing new experiences, new experiences that make them nervous and
(34:05):
afraid of failure, but also teaches them, helps them to
gain new insights and opens them to accomplishments in perspectives.
We adults, however, often find an equilibrium and.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
We want to stay there. That way, we don't have
to be nervous.
Speaker 9 (34:25):
Or challenged or even vulnerable. We're safe and we're comfortable.
But here's the thing with hope. Hope breaks through to
us in new ways. If we think we are already there,
if we think we've already figured everything out, we won't
(34:46):
be able to see the.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Joy and hope that God has for us.
Speaker 9 (34:52):
Hope is born to cultivate wonder, to see the future
through the eyes of a child, to believe. Doctor Moore
challenged us to become like children this Christmas to experience
real joy. Looking back on our Advent season is important
(35:15):
for us as we move forward to the Sunday of Love.
Looking back is always important to know where it all began,
and that is certainly true with our scripture this morning.
This past week, my mom and I took a trip together,
just the two of us. We had it planned several
(35:39):
months ago, a time where she and I could go
back to where I grew up in some of my siblings,
to visit some of our friends and enjoy the Christmas
season together. It is a rarity to get one on
one time with my mom. She has a lot of
people demanding her attention these days. She and I traveled
(36:02):
back to Wheeling, West Virginia, where I saw the hospital
where I was born, took a drive to our old
home on thirteen Finch Avenue, drove to my four room
primary school K through three at the end of our street,
walked through the park that my family used to picnic
(36:23):
at in the summertime, met up with old friends of
my mom and dads that could have told stories of
my siblings and I from when we were in diapers,
and most importantly, we ate De Carlo's pizza out of
a box.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
While sitting in a car.
Speaker 9 (36:41):
In an instant, I was brought back to my beginning,
visiting neighbors on my street, learning cursive in second grade,
singing songs at church prior to Sunday school, and eating
at Christopher's Cafeteria after worship, sitting on Santa's lap at
(37:02):
a Christmas party my parents hosted.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
For years for our neighbors and their dearest friends.
Speaker 9 (37:09):
On our drive home, we decided to go through my
mom's hometown of clarks of Clarksburg to grab some dinner
at her favorite restaurant, and as we drove, I asked
her questions about my grandmother and grandfather, what it was
like for her to grow up in her hometown where
(37:31):
my grandfather owned two pharmacies, and my grandmother dedicated her
life to taking care.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Of my grandfather and my mother and her brother.
Speaker 9 (37:42):
She also told me stories of her grandparents on both
sides of her family, stories that I had never heard before,
and personalities that I never got to get to know.
She even shared stories about family members she had only
heard about herself but never had a chance to know.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And although her memory only.
Speaker 9 (38:04):
Goes back so far, there are still people who are
a part of our story, that have shaped us, that
have helped us become who we are, that neither of
us have ever met. There is even something beyond our
most distant memory that is what is true about the
(38:30):
Gospel of John. John the gospel writer gets that Fred
Kradick one of my favorite theologian rites. The Gospel of
John does not have a Nativity song, as does Luke,
but John does have a hymn to Christ. The Gospel
(38:52):
of John does not have a birth story, but John
does proclaim that the Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. The Gospel of John does not say
that one conceived of the Holy Spirit would be the.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Son of God.
Speaker 9 (39:11):
But John does say that the one who became flesh
was with God from the beginning, and what God was,
he is. The Gospel of John does not say that
God's son was wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger,
but John does say that the revelation of God in
(39:34):
Jesus was conceived, if not hidden, in flesh. John one
fourteen one through fourteen then is an appropriate text for Christmas.
The scripture says, in the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was God, and the Word was with God.
Speaker 12 (39:57):
In the beginning.
Speaker 9 (40:00):
Story does not begin only at a manger. It does
not begin in a single moment of the birth of Christ.
The story is much bigger than that Jesus was with
God at the very beginning, the beginning of creation, when
(40:22):
God said, let there be light, Jesus was there. When
God separated the waters from the sky. Jesus was there
when the dry ground was called land. Jesus was there
when Earth began to yield vegetation, plants, seeds, and fruit.
(40:46):
Jesus was there when the stars and the moon and
the sun were put into the sky and chosen to
govern the day and the night. Jesus was there in
the beginning. When dolphins and fish of all kinds, sea turtles, sharks, whales,
(41:06):
and clams filled the oceans, Jesus was there. And when
animals started walking on dry ground, Jesus was there. And
when God decided to.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Create in his image male and female, Jesus was there.
And when centered sin entered.
Speaker 9 (41:34):
The world through temptation to be like the Creator, Jesus
was there. So who better to restore our broken relationship
with God that took place in the Garden of Eden
than the one who's with God, the creator of all.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Things, since the beginning and find hope and love.
Speaker 9 (42:02):
Because the creator God has been working to restore his
creation back to himself since the beginning, through the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus. What is tragic is that the
world and the people who were created by God did
(42:24):
not recognize him. Scripture says he was in the world,
and though the world was made through him, the world
did not recognize him. He came to which was his own,
but his own did not receive him. Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
(42:48):
he gave the right to become children of God, children
born not of natural descent, nor human decision or husband's.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Will, but born of God.
Speaker 9 (43:03):
I met one of my best friends about eight years ago.
You may have heard me talk about him before. My
friend has a complicated life that was only further complicated
by complex systems. My friend spent the majority of his
teenage years in the foster care system after his mother
(43:27):
passed away from cancer, and after he graduated from high school,
he aged out of the foster care system and found
himself on the streets of several cities for the next
thirty years. I've been privileged to hear some of the stories.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
And from being from.
Speaker 9 (43:48):
I've heard several stories from him, including being an extra
in the movie Forrest Gump, to hearing some of the
deepest pains of how he was treated over the years
he experienced homelessness. But no stories struck me harder than
when I asked if he was willing for me to
take him to the eye doctor. You see, this gentleman
(44:11):
often squints whenever he is around and he needs to
see something because his eyesight is so bad.
Speaker 3 (44:21):
I really wanted him to get glasses.
Speaker 9 (44:25):
He told me that he was not interested in getting
glasses because he had spent the last thirty years not
wanting someone to see the way that people looked at him.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
He told me.
Speaker 9 (44:37):
Stories about teenagers throwing water at him while he was
sitting on a park bench.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
He told me.
Speaker 9 (44:43):
Stories about how people would go out of their way
to not have to talk to him. He lived an
unrecognizable life to the point where he didn't even want
to be recognized by people. Jesus came to this world,
a world that he created, and he was not recognized,
(45:08):
just like my friend. But the hope in all of this,
and the best news of all, is that even though
that was the case, that that was the truth. God's
love for you and for me for my friend was
much bigger than our shortcomings, our limited views, our selfishness,
(45:34):
and our sins, And that, my friends, is love, Love,
that from the beginning, from the creation of the world,
he saw you and he saw me, and he wanted
us to be called children, children of God, children deeply
(45:58):
loved by the one who created them. The scripture says,
the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son who came from the Father, full of
(46:19):
grace and truth. He gives you and I grace, He
gives us truth. He gives us love from the beginning
and for always. Amen, Almighty God, help us to recognize you,
(46:43):
Help us to know that you are with us.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Help us to know that you love us.
Speaker 9 (46:51):
And out of that love, we pray that you will
continually transform our heart to love that way that you love.
In this hurting world. May this Advent season, may we
continue to become like children, children who are in all
of your wonder, in all of your creation, in all
(47:15):
of what you have done for us. Help us to
recognize you, because we know you recognize us. In Christ's name, Amen,
we will sing our final hymn, Hymn number two fifty five.
And if there is a way that I can pray
for you today. If there is a way that we
(47:37):
as a church can welcome you into this family of faith,
I will stand here to greet you. And if not,
I pray that you will sing this song and just
know how deep God's love is for you. Let's stand
and sings as.
Speaker 11 (48:18):
S S.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
S scat from Step Speak.
Speaker 7 (49:53):
S.
Speaker 9 (50:28):
I'd like to invite you all back this Tuesday for
the Family Christmas Eve service that will be at eleven
o'clock in the morning in the chapel and then at
nine pm for the Christmas Eve Service. We look forward
to a time of worship and a time of communion.
Speaker 3 (50:48):
Together.
Speaker 9 (50:51):
Receive this benediction from Love has come. Love has come,
a light in the darkness. Love explodes in the Bethlehem skies.
See all heaven has come to proclaim it. Hear how
their song of joy arises. Love, Love born unto you
(51:16):
a savior, Love, glory to God in the highest.
Speaker 12 (51:22):
Women dating.
Speaker 6 (53:59):
I think.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
School school St.
Us and my at.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
A good morning. Please join me in the caudal worship.
(06:28):
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God,
my Savior. For the Mighty One has done great things
for us, and holy.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Is God's name.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Indeed, God's mercy shares everlasting love from one generation to
the next. God lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry
with good things, and sends the rich away empty handed.
God scatters the proud to the fantasies of their imaginations.
The powerful God brings down from their friends. My soul
(07:05):
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
S soun.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Scene seen scene say so.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Please pray with me. Dear Lord, we thank you so
much for another beautiful day. As we journey through this
advent season, may we open our hearts to your boundless love.
Let us be a reflection of your grace and mercy,
sharing your love with everyone we meet. Guide us to
live in harmony and peace. Following the examples of your word.
(10:04):
We ask that you open our hearts and mind to
receive the message today as we begin by praying the
prayer that your son taught us.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Our father who are in heaven.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
How to be thy name, Thy Kingdom. Come, Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who truspass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
(10:40):
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Oh Man.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
S s.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
So s.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
To long stork.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
S time.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Sposus step.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Six.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Now I see I do.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
It's I see it's.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So se s.
Speaker 7 (13:08):
Let us pray together Heaven the Father teach us to
be generous and give, not count as we celebrate this
Christmas season, Help us remember the love, hope, joy that
the birth of your son Jesus Christ gave us all.
(13:32):
Take these generous offerings today to continue to use them
to bring hope to those in need. In glory to God.
Amen s.
Speaker 8 (15:14):
Small tis.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Good morning. Let us pray.
Speaker 9 (17:28):
Almighty and everlasting God. Your faithfulness to us is unfathomable.
The way that you love us, the way that you bring.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Us peace, joy and hope in times of uncertainty, sometimes
stops us at our feet. You are so faithful. You
are faithful when we are struggling with illness.
Speaker 9 (18:02):
You are faithful when we struggle with not knowing what
tomorrow will bring. You are faithful when we have moments
of joy that we can't even comprehend.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
In all of it, you are faithful this morning.
Speaker 9 (18:21):
We pray that this time of worship will be a
time when we recognize that your faithfulness is a result
of your faithfulness alone and not our own. We ask
you to increase our faith so that we may know
(18:42):
you more deeply, love you more intently, and live as
your hands and feet in this world. We place it
all at your feet, the King of Kings, the Lord
of lords.
Speaker 10 (18:58):
Amends SSS.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
S s s s s.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Sh it's.
Speaker 11 (20:37):
Sounds so.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
It's so.
Speaker 11 (21:39):
Still, so dast s.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
S s.
Speaker 11 (23:12):
S s s s.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
S s s s.
Speaker 11 (24:14):
S s s s s s s s s s.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
S s.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
S.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Thank you, Thank you, choir.
Speaker 9 (26:48):
One of the best things about performing a wedding ceremony
is watching the groom when the bride walks down the
aisle and being able to watch your all's faces as
those children sang That song gave me so much joy.
So thank you so much for leading us in worship
(27:08):
in that way this morning. Our scripture reading comes from
John chapter one, verses one through fourteen.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
Speaker 9 (27:26):
He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all
things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has
been made. And in him was life, and that life
was the light of all mankind. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There
(27:51):
was a man sent by God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all might believe. He himself was
not the light. He came only as a witness to
the light. The true light that gives light to everyone
(28:13):
was coming into the world. He was in the world,
And though the world was made through him, the world
did not recognize him.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
He came to which was his own, but his own
did not receive him.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor
of human decision, or of husband's will, but born of God.
(28:52):
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son who came from the.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Father, full of grace and truth.
Speaker 9 (29:10):
Maybe it is like this every year, but I feel
like the journey to Christmas has been an overdrive? Anyone
else feel that way? How are we already at December
twenty second? In two days, the sanctuary will be filled
with candlelight to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child.
(29:33):
How in the world did we already get here? This
feeling seems to be elevated when there isn't a Sunday
between Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
This was the case this holiday season. When we feel.
Speaker 9 (29:49):
Overwhelmed with the speed of time, it's important in those.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Moments to rest and to remember.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
What actually did happen, where we have gone, and how
we have gotten here, looking back at the beginning of
Advent season, beginning with the Sunday of Hope. The Sunday
of Hope, we began this Advent season with the story
of Mary visiting Elizabeth. This is an example to us
(30:21):
of how we show up as the we in the church.
Discerning what God is doing is not meant to be
done alone. We are meant to walk side by side
with one another. As we ponder and question all that
God is doing in and through our lives and our
joys and also in our struggles, we asked ourselves, are
(30:46):
we showing up for one another the way that Mary
and Elizabeth showed up for each other during the Advent season,
and we heard the words that both Mary and Elizabeth
collectively heardually from the Angel that nothing is impossible with God.
(31:07):
While still searching for hope, we also found the Sunday
of Peace where Isaiah's seven ten through seventeen and Jeremiah
twenty nine four through eleven were the center of our
time and worship. Doctor Moore shared that Isaiah's message of
hope is bad.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
News before it is good news.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
For hope to be real, it's got to be based
in reality. False hope only deceives us and mocks us.
I was also encouraged to hear about fab's Wednesday Night
series on the welfare of the city led by Kathy
Burns and Bradsmith from Marshall University, and how you all
(31:52):
will continue with this theme in the new year as
you hear.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Of local mission partners on Wednesday Night.
Speaker 9 (32:01):
It's important that Fifth Avenue Baptist Church and the other
faith communities are asking what is the reality of what
is happening in Huntington and how can we as a
church better understand this so that we can follow in God's.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Direction for the welfare of our city. It is then
where we will find peace.
Speaker 9 (32:29):
Doctor Moore shared that transformative ministry only happens through real hope,
hope that faces real reality. Transformative ministry dies when false
hope tries to lead it. As someone who works with
(32:49):
nonprofits every day across our region, I agree with doctor
Moore's assessment. There's a lot of good happening in our communities,
but the only way that we can seek hope and
peace for our community is if we base it on
the reality of what is taking place and asking ourselves
(33:13):
how we can show up and be the hands and
feet of Christ to transform our community.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Hope, peace. And then we found ourselves on the Sunday
of Joy.
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Last Sunday, through joy, we read the scriptures in Isaiah
and the Book of Mark. Doctor Moore challenged us to
try to see the world through the eyes of children during.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
This Advent season.
Speaker 9 (33:44):
Like I said, just a moment ago, I certainly saw
that through each of your faces as you witnessed children
leading us in worship. He shared a part of what
makes children and youth so alive is that they're always
facing new experiences, new experiences that make them nervous and
(34:05):
afraid of failure, but also teaches them, helps them to
gain new insights and opens them to accomplishments in perspectives.
We adults, however, often find an equilibrium and.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
We want to stay there. That way, we don't have
to be nervous.
Speaker 9 (34:25):
Or challenged or even vulnerable. We're safe and we're comfortable.
But here's the thing with hope. Hope breaks through to
us in new ways. If we think we are already there,
if we think we've already figured everything out, we won't
(34:46):
be able to see the.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Joy and hope that God has for us.
Speaker 9 (34:52):
Hope is born to cultivate wonder, to see the future
through the eyes of a child, to believe. Doctor Moore
challenged us to become like children this Christmas to experience
real joy. Looking back on our Advent season is important
(35:15):
for us as we move forward to the Sunday of Love.
Looking back is always important to know where it all began,
and that is certainly true with our scripture this morning.
This past week, my mom and I took a trip together,
just the two of us. We had it planned several
(35:39):
months ago, a time where she and I could go
back to where I grew up in some of my siblings,
to visit some of our friends and enjoy the Christmas
season together. It is a rarity to get one on
one time with my mom. She has a lot of
people demanding her attention these days. She and I traveled
(36:02):
back to Wheeling, West Virginia, where I saw the hospital
where I was born, took a drive to our old
home on thirteen Finch Avenue, drove to my four room
primary school K through three at the end of our street,
walked through the park that my family used to picnic
(36:23):
at in the summertime, met up with old friends of
my mom and dads that could have told stories of
my siblings and I from when we were in diapers,
and most importantly, we ate De Carlo's pizza out of
a box.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
While sitting in a car.
Speaker 9 (36:41):
In an instant, I was brought back to my beginning,
visiting neighbors on my street, learning cursive in second grade,
singing songs at church prior to Sunday school, and eating
at Christopher's Cafeteria after worship, sitting on Santa's lap at
(37:02):
a Christmas party my parents hosted.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
For years for our neighbors and their dearest friends.
Speaker 9 (37:09):
On our drive home, we decided to go through my
mom's hometown of clarks of Clarksburg to grab some dinner
at her favorite restaurant, and as we drove, I asked
her questions about my grandmother and grandfather, what it was
like for her to grow up in her hometown where
(37:31):
my grandfather owned two pharmacies, and my grandmother dedicated her
life to taking care.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Of my grandfather and my mother and her brother.
Speaker 9 (37:42):
She also told me stories of her grandparents on both
sides of her family, stories that I had never heard before,
and personalities that I never got to get to know.
She even shared stories about family members she had only
heard about herself but never had a chance to know.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And although her memory only.
Speaker 9 (38:04):
Goes back so far, there are still people who are
a part of our story, that have shaped us, that
have helped us become who we are, that neither of
us have ever met. There is even something beyond our
most distant memory that is what is true about the
(38:30):
Gospel of John. John the gospel writer gets that Fred
Kradick one of my favorite theologian rites. The Gospel of
John does not have a Nativity song, as does Luke,
but John does have a hymn to Christ. The Gospel
(38:52):
of John does not have a birth story, but John
does proclaim that the Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. The Gospel of John does not say
that one conceived of the Holy Spirit would be the.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Son of God.
Speaker 9 (39:11):
But John does say that the one who became flesh
was with God from the beginning, and what God was,
he is. The Gospel of John does not say that
God's son was wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger,
but John does say that the revelation of God in
(39:34):
Jesus was conceived, if not hidden, in flesh. John one
fourteen one through fourteen then is an appropriate text for Christmas.
The scripture says, in the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was God, and the Word was with God.
Speaker 12 (39:57):
In the beginning.
Speaker 9 (40:00):
Story does not begin only at a manger. It does
not begin in a single moment of the birth of Christ.
The story is much bigger than that Jesus was with
God at the very beginning, the beginning of creation, when
(40:22):
God said, let there be light, Jesus was there. When
God separated the waters from the sky. Jesus was there
when the dry ground was called land. Jesus was there
when Earth began to yield vegetation, plants, seeds, and fruit.
(40:46):
Jesus was there when the stars and the moon and
the sun were put into the sky and chosen to
govern the day and the night. Jesus was there in
the beginning. When dolphins and fish of all kinds, sea turtles, sharks, whales,
(41:06):
and clams filled the oceans, Jesus was there. And when
animals started walking on dry ground, Jesus was there. And
when God decided to.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Create in his image male and female, Jesus was there.
And when centered sin entered.
Speaker 9 (41:34):
The world through temptation to be like the Creator, Jesus
was there. So who better to restore our broken relationship
with God that took place in the Garden of Eden
than the one who's with God, the creator of all.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Things, since the beginning and find hope and love.
Speaker 9 (42:02):
Because the creator God has been working to restore his
creation back to himself since the beginning, through the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus. What is tragic is that the
world and the people who were created by God did
(42:24):
not recognize him. Scripture says he was in the world,
and though the world was made through him, the world
did not recognize him. He came to which was his own,
but his own did not receive him. Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
(42:48):
he gave the right to become children of God, children
born not of natural descent, nor human decision or husband's.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Will, but born of God.
Speaker 9 (43:03):
I met one of my best friends about eight years ago.
You may have heard me talk about him before. My
friend has a complicated life that was only further complicated
by complex systems. My friend spent the majority of his
teenage years in the foster care system after his mother
(43:27):
passed away from cancer, and after he graduated from high school,
he aged out of the foster care system and found
himself on the streets of several cities for the next
thirty years. I've been privileged to hear some of the stories.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
And from being from.
Speaker 9 (43:48):
I've heard several stories from him, including being an extra
in the movie Forrest Gump, to hearing some of the
deepest pains of how he was treated over the years
he experienced homelessness. But no stories struck me harder than
when I asked if he was willing for me to
take him to the eye doctor. You see, this gentleman
(44:11):
often squints whenever he is around and he needs to
see something because his eyesight is so bad.
Speaker 3 (44:21):
I really wanted him to get glasses.
Speaker 9 (44:25):
He told me that he was not interested in getting
glasses because he had spent the last thirty years not
wanting someone to see the way that people looked at him.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
He told me.
Speaker 9 (44:37):
Stories about teenagers throwing water at him while he was
sitting on a park bench.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
He told me.
Speaker 9 (44:43):
Stories about how people would go out of their way
to not have to talk to him. He lived an
unrecognizable life to the point where he didn't even want
to be recognized by people. Jesus came to this world,
a world that he created, and he was not recognized,
(45:08):
just like my friend. But the hope in all of this,
and the best news of all, is that even though
that was the case, that that was the truth. God's
love for you and for me for my friend was
much bigger than our shortcomings, our limited views, our selfishness,
(45:34):
and our sins, And that, my friends, is love, Love,
that from the beginning, from the creation of the world,
he saw you and he saw me, and he wanted
us to be called children, children of God, children deeply
(45:58):
loved by the one who created them. The scripture says,
the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son who came from the Father, full of
(46:19):
grace and truth. He gives you and I grace, He
gives us truth. He gives us love from the beginning
and for always. Amen, Almighty God, help us to recognize you,
(46:43):
Help us to know that you are with us.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Help us to know that you love us.
Speaker 9 (46:51):
And out of that love, we pray that you will
continually transform our heart to love that way that you love.
In this hurting world. May this Advent season, may we
continue to become like children, children who are in all
of your wonder, in all of your creation, in all
(47:15):
of what you have done for us. Help us to
recognize you, because we know you recognize us. In Christ's name, Amen,
we will sing our final hymn, Hymn number two fifty five.
And if there is a way that I can pray
for you today. If there is a way that we
(47:37):
as a church can welcome you into this family of faith,
I will stand here to greet you. And if not,
I pray that you will sing this song and just
know how deep God's love is for you. Let's stand
and sings as.
Speaker 11 (48:18):
S S.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
S scat from Step Speak.
Speaker 7 (49:53):
S.
Speaker 9 (50:28):
I'd like to invite you all back this Tuesday for
the Family Christmas Eve service that will be at eleven
o'clock in the morning in the chapel and then at
nine pm for the Christmas Eve Service. We look forward
to a time of worship and a time of communion.
Speaker 3 (50:48):
Together.
Speaker 9 (50:51):
Receive this benediction from Love has come. Love has come,
a light in the darkness. Love explodes in the Bethlehem skies.
See all heaven has come to proclaim it. Hear how
their song of joy arises. Love, Love born unto you
(51:16):
a savior, Love, glory to God in the highest.
Speaker 12 (51:22):
Women dating.
Speaker 6 (53:59):
I think.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
School school St.
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