Sermon Notes: Mail Call

(I don't think I ever received any mail quite like this
while away at camp...)

"You've Got Mail!"... In this age of social media and modern technology, "Mail Call" seems to have taken on a whole different meaning.  I can remember how, when I was a teenager away at summer camp, mail call was something we looked forward to every day.  We'd line up at the window, waiting for the camp volunteer to open up and call out, "Mail Call"...and then we would anxiously get closer in to hear if our name would be called to pick up any letters that day...it was always exciting to get mail...no matter who it was from.







Nowadays we get mail mostly via our computers or our smart phones, and once in a while we might actually receive a real piece of mail in our mailbox.  Happy the day when it is a real letter or card as opposed to the overwhelming amount of "junk mail" we receive that just ends up in the trash.




Back in Bible times, mail...better known as messages, were usually sent by a courier of some kind...a servant most likely would be sent out to seek the desired recipient of the message, and then that messenger would be sent back to convey the response to the one who sent the original message. This could take days or weeks, depending upon location and how easy it was to find the person.  No phones, no telegraph, no GPS...just human beings seeking one another by whatever means possible.

And so we come to our Scripture text for today's sermon.  Acts 10:23-43.  A Gentile in Caesarea, a Centurion named Cornelius, who was a devout man who feared and prayed to God, had a vision (see Acts 10:1-22 for the background) from an angel of God...who told Cornelius to send for Simon Peter.  And so he did as he was told.

In the meantime, Peter had also had a vision from God, telling him (see verse 15) "What God has cleansed you must not call common."  (referring to Gentiles...)

Therefore, when Peter was asked to go to Caesarea to meet Cornelius, he went without fear, knowing that God must certainly have a plan.

The Prophet Isaiah had a message from God for the The Messiah way before He, Christ came to earth...see Isaiah 49:6

"Indeed He says, "It is too small a thing that  

You should be My Servant 

to raise up the tribes of Jacob, 

and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;

I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,

That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth."

God has spoken to man throughout the ages via His creation, nature, angels, the Prophets of Old, His Word the Bible...His Son...

God wants to send us a message every day...to every one...What is it?

God wants us to know about His Son, Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:36  "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ...He is Lord of all..."

Acts 10:38  "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him..."

We can do NOTHING significant without the help of God and His Holy Spirit.

We must be anointed by and praying for God's Holy Spirit to help us...

Why was Jesus sent to our world in the first place?

John 3:16  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

 but have everlasting life."

Because God loves us and cares about us...

God sent Jesus because we needed help...and Jesus wants to help us.  Jesus spoke encouraging words to those who had no hope.

The Church...what is our mission? Serving others...

People may ask, "Why are you doing this?" when we pass out food or clothing or other things to help them...

Why? It's because of a five letter word:  GRACE.  Grace refers to a kindness given but not deserved.

God's Grace...given to us who don't deserve it.

Because of God's Grace...He wants to break the bondage of sin that binds us.

He wants to help us be all that He has created us to be...because He loves us...

Read Acts 10:39-42

Why did Jesus allow Himself to be executed on the cross?

• Because He knew His death was our only hope...nothing else could satisfy the cost for our redemption.
• Trusting in what Jesus did for us is enough to take away our sins...and to know God and enjoy Him forever...
• If Christ did not rise from the dead our sins are not fully forgiven...
• If He was an impostor everything we are trusting in would be a fake.  
• But He was seen by many witnesses after His resurrection...He was seen by Peter, who is sharing all of this with Cornelius...

Go to your mail box...open it up (God's Word, the Bible)..sit down and read about God's Grace...

• Jesus died for our sins
• He was raised from the dead
• God wants YOU to know where you stand in relation to Jesus Christ...
• God appointed Jesus to be Judge of the living and the dead (Verse 42)
• God wants you to know, from all the prophets who witness that, Verse 43:

"Through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

You've got mail...don't delete this mail from God...read it...ask questions...open your heart to God...hear His words of Grace and Mercy...

Where do YOU stand in relationship with the Lord?

• Are you putting your messages from God in the junk mail pile?  
• Or are you willing to serve Him...to be changed by His Word...
• Humble yourselves and see what God is calling you to do...
• Search your spirit...
• Is there anything blocking you from receiving God's message of love and forgiveness?
• Open your heart...receive His message for your life. 
• 
  
• You've Got Mail!

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given.  I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously.  Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said.  Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear...  That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts.  So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 7/8/2018

Side Note: You may be asking yourself what this funny looking purple-haired troll doll has to do with this message.  Well...not really anything in particular.  But this funny looking purple-haired troll doll was a special gift to me today from a friend at church. Why? you may ask.  Maybe it does have to do with the message after all: GRACE.  A special gift that I didn't earn...I didn't deserve any gift, but a friend wanted to extend this gift of LOVE to me today. I had casually mentioned to her on Facebook, when she posted a picture of a troll doll that she collected, that I used to have troll dolls when I was a kid, but they got lost along the way.  Today she presented this doll to me, all wrapped up as a gift. I was overwhelmed. She said, "I figured since you had 3 sons you probably had someone who did Karate or something like that. " Little did she know, my adult son who passed away from cancer had been learning Tae Kwon Do, (along with his young son) and because of his cancer he was unable to complete his course for the Black Belt.  When our son died his teacher  *Correction: Before our son died his teacher presented him with a Black Belt, saying that our son earned it by showing such courage in fighting the battle for his life.  I shared this with my friend, and then we hugged each other as we share in common the sad fact that we both have had a son pass from this earth way too soon.  What a touching, beautiful moment. My friend did not know how much her gift would mean to me, but God did. And that's grace, my friend.  *After I posted this I realized that I had remembered this incorrectly.  Here are some pictures from that presentation.  I am sorry for the confusion. It's been four years, and I guess my mind just wasn't remembering like it should. 

Perhaps this message today is also a reminder to extend God's grace to others we meet along the way. Yes...I think I needed that message...Thank You, Lord.

What Do YOU Do with Christmas Cards after Christmas is Over?

This blog will be short and sweet...I just have one question: (Ok, I may have a few more than just ONE question...)

What do YOU do with your Christmas cards that you received for Christmas after Christmas is over and packed away?  Do you:

• Throw them away?
• Put them away for safe-keeping?
• Use them in a craft project?
• Save them until next year so you are sure to send cards to those people?
• Be sure to write down their address in your address book for next year?

And, IF you save them....for how long do you save them? 

• Do you ever look at them again?
• Do you have a special box, file, drawer where you keep them for year after year?
• Do you catalog them by name, date, year?

And, IF you save them,

• Do you ever ask yourself WHY you saved them?
• Do you actually ever DO what you thought you'd do with them?
• Do you finally decide to throw them away some day?

I know you are probably saying, "What's the big deal about Christmas cards, or birthday cards, or get well cards, or anniversary cards, or congratulation cards...JUST THROW THEM AWAY!"

Well, I have an issue with this...I inherited this tendency to keep things for "posterity", or for a "future plan to do something with them", or, to just plain look at them again someday and say,

• "Oh, I wonder how that person is now", or,
• "I wonder WHERE that person is now," or,
• "I wonder if that person is still living...",   or,
• "Oh, that person is no longer living, so I need to keep this card...", or,
• I really LOVED this card and I just hate to throw it away," or,
• "I really LOVED this person, and I can't bear to throw this card away..."

Ok, friends, help me out here... I have this little stack of cards that I have re-read to make sure I didn't miss something important in their notes, etc.

(Thank you, those of you who took the time to actually write us a note and tell us about your lives...I actually DO enjoy reading those and look forward to hearing from you year after year)

 I've pulled out the pictures of family and friends and put them in a safe place...thank you for sending those pictures of your kids and grandkids and yourselves...it's fun to see how we ALL are changing through the years...

And, I've noticed that we didn't really get nearly as many cards this past Christmas as in years before...but that's probably because so many of us are now communicating on Facebook regularly and didn't feel the need to send cards too...and because we are conserving money on postage and on the price of cards that seem to go higher and higher each year...

And, I've noticed that I know I sent out many more cards than I received this year, so I may also be trimming my Christmas Card list for next year...and pretty soon none of us will have this dilemma of what to do with our cards when the season is well over and we are trying to clean up and make room for, yes, you guessed it: VALENTINE CARDS!!!   Not to mention, my husband's birthday is coming up right after that, and so on and so on...

Thank you for your helpful suggestions...feel free to respond either here or on facebook....I'd really LOVE to hear from you...you may even send me a card! I do still LOVE to get mail...don't you? And I KNOW the Hallmark people really appreciate it as well.

Have a nice day...and why not send someone a card today and let them know you are thinking about them?  Maybe they will save it in a scrapbook or drawer for posterity and to look at over and over again when they are feeling blue and missing you.

Bye for now...