Worship Preview 7.27.25 "Made You Alive"

This Sunday: 10:30am –  7^th Sunday after Pentecost – “Made You Alive”  Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching. Scriptures: Isaiah 30:8-23, Colossians 2:6-19

“Every day is a new day/ I'm thankful for every breath I take/ I won't take it for granted (I won't take it for granted)/So I learn from my mistakes” (Lyrics to P.O.D’s 2001 crossover hit “Alive”). Last week we read from Deuteronomy 30 where Moses is telling the people that set before them is “life and prosperity, death and destruction” and they are called to choose their path. The call to “choose life” has been reduced to a political bumper sticker on one issue these days, but it’s really about everything that we do. In the preceding chapters, Moses has talked about what God requires as the people end their time in the wilderness and prepare to enter the promised land. They are told that this choice - acting according to the fullness of Gods’ instruction on worship, ethics, economic and social justice that has been given them through the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, also known as the Law of Moses) – is “not too difficult” for them and “not beyond your reach.”

The Bible is full of times when God’s people choose poorly and get in trouble. They do wrong - or fail to do what is right. And so we read things like this week’s passage from Isaiah 30, where God, through the prophet, rebukes them. They get told what they have done is wrong and they face consequences. During Children’s Time this week, I’m going to say that the consequences aren’t because God doesn’t love his people, but because He does! AND – every time the Bible is scary like that – it turns back to God’s Grace. God’s Love. God’s promise to restore – but God waits for us to respond. To say yes to that grace.

In late 1995 I was having a bad day. I was angry! I was frustrated… I was working a tech support job that I hated and that I felt trapped in. I was a new father, with my eldest a few months old. And I was not active in church. One day coming back from lunch, driving along Rock Road – a busy suburban street in Wichita, the radio DJ for T95 (“Wichita’s Rock Station”) introduced a new song by a new band. Jars of Clay – not yet known as a Christian band - had released their first single, entitled “Flood” on the mainstream charts. The driving alt-rock beat got airplay and the lyrics, full of both despair and hope, instantly captured my attention. I pulled over into a parking lot to really listen. “Rain, rain on my face/Hasn’t stopped/raining for days./My world is a flood./Slowly I become/one with the mud.” The song is a modern Psalm. It acknowledged the despair I felt and called out hope using the biblical metaphor of the flood. “But if I can't swim after forty days/and my mind is crushed by the crashing waves/lift me up so high that I cannot fall/Lift me, oh…”  We talked about hymns last week. It’s not too much to say hearing this Jars of Clay song helped change my life. Over next few years several other Christian acts scored crossover hits, in particular P.O.D’s “Alive” that I quoted at the opening. That song continues  “So I trust in love (So I trust in love)/ You have given me peace of mind… I, I feel so alive/for the very first time/ And I can't deny You/ I feel so alive!” I thought of both of those songs, and especially my experience hearing Flood for the first time, as I read our focus text this week from Colossians 2. Paul calls those who have heard the gospel and who hear the letter to embrace the gift we’ve been given, to live to our potential as “fully alive ones.”

In the end, our text argues, the only thing that brings this aliveness is the Christ at work in us. There are various practices that can open our eyes and hearts to that divine work within us. But the key word here is various. Some disciplines have long histories of effectiveness; some practices are needed to bring a sense of belonging and community, and others are uniquely suited to various personality types. But none are transformative in and of themselves. Paul argues against those who say you must engage in this practice or perform those disciplines to be a “true” follower of Jesus. These practices are good and helpful and healing, but they are not the substance of our faith. The substance, says Paul, belongs to Christ (Col 2:17). Our call is to hold fast to the head, to Christ, in all things. And then to know life, abundant life.

Oh, by the way, that parking lot I pulled into to listen deeply to “Flood”? I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the overflow lot of a place called Calvary United Methodist Church, which, some 18 years later, would turn out to be my 2^nd church appointment as a Pastor. God is endlessly patient – and has a tremendous sense of humor!

If any of the above intrigues you, we invite you to explore the hope and presence of Christ together with us at 10:30am each Sunday. 301 S. National here in Fort Scott. Blessings on your journey! For week 3, our series writing prompt is: “How have you encountered God in the fullness of who you are—body, mind, and spirit—in this church community (or beyond it)?”

Upcoming Events: 

Wednesday, July 30th, Feeding Families in His Name: A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:30-6:30pm each Wednesday, prepared by our members as well as area churches and community groups who each take a week. If you would like to support this ministry, you can make donations online at: http://www.firstumcfortscott.org/onlinegiving. Thank you.

Community Office Hours are back! – would you like to chat with the Pastor, perhaps about this column, or share a time of prayer, but you’re not comfortable coming to the church? He totally gets it! So - Monday afternoons Pastor Christopher will be at a local location with open time to visit with you. This week join him at Common Grounds Coffee Shop anytime between 2pm to 4pm.