POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON – Not Living Split in Two

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First Sunday in December – Celebrating our anniversary of free spiritual serve to our world.

First some fun:

These are actual letters to God from children

(Note, it is good to open with humor, you can pick and choose as you want, use as many or as few as your congregation is enjoying. I’ve been to some churches where you could use them all – you will know if they are working.)

Dear God, Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? Norma

Dear God, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t You just keep the ones you have now? Jane

Dear God, Who draws the lines around the countries? Nan

Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay? Neil

Dear God, Thank you for my baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. Joyce

Dear God, It rained for our whole vacation and is my father mad! He said some things about you that people are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. Your friend (but I am not going to tell you who I am)

Dear God, Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up. Bruce

Dear God, If we come back as something, please don’t let me be Jennifer Horton, because I hate her. Denise

Dear God, I want to be just like my daddy when I get big, but not with so much hair all over. Sam

Dear God, I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions. Ruth

Dear God, I think about you sometimes, even when I’m not praying. Elliott

Dear God, I bet it is extremely hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family, and I can never do it. Nan

Dear God, Of all the people who worked for you, I like Noah and David the best. Rob

Dear God, My brother told me about being born, but it doesn’t sound right.

Dear God, If you watch me in church Sunday, I’ll show you my new shoes. Mickey

Dear God, We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday School, we learned that you did it. So, I bet he stole your idea. Sincerely, Donna

Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God. Well, I just want you to know that I am not just saying this because you are God already. Charles

Dear God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was cool! Eugene

Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. Larry

(PAUSE)

As you are beginning this week, are you filled with enthusiasm? Can you sense the God-given potential that is in front of you?

We have a God-given opportunity to take a look at our life, to see where we have been, and what we have accomplished in the past, and to take a real honest look at where our life is now.

In other words, we have a reality check. We take a look to see if we are on track and doing what we want to do. How many of us take the time to check to see where we have been, and perhaps release a few things from the past?

Every single day we have the opportunity to begin, again, and to create a whole new pattern for our lives if we desire.

Shel Silverstein, in his writings speaks of the opportunity that is at hand in a little quip entitled “Magic Carpet.” He said:

You have a magic carpet
that will whiz you through the air
To Spain or Maine or Africa
if you’ll just tell it where.
So will you let it take you
where you’ve never been before?
Or will you buy it drapes to match,
and use it on the floor?

Are you on that magic carpet of life now? Are we ready to take off this week?

Within each one of us lies that beautiful God-given potential, as children of God.

The keys to the God-given kingdom are within us now. That perfect pattern each of us needs, and the tools with which to open the opportunity doors are within, if we would just take a little time to look and seek what we desire.

Your Divine purpose is to grow spiritually and to uplift those around you, to be able to fully express whatever God-given talents that have been given. God’s will is not necessarily that you should do this, or that, but that you will just allow God to express through you in whatever way is yours, uniquely, to express.

Are we are handling challenges, efficiently?

How is the challenge-handling going in your life? Are you still try to handle challenges alone, or are you relying more on God’s help daily?

I have found that dealing with challenges is a little like white water rafting.

When you are in the midst of the rapids, you know what to do as you are paddling that rubber raft through the rapids. You stay in the moment and are highly alert to challenges.

But then, do you know what happens? In the moments after we get through that tough time, we take a deep breath and say, “Everything is fine now,” and then we often forget about what we need to do.

We sometimes find we are whirling around in an eddy, just on the other side of the rapids. We laugh and say, “Whoops. I let go and I didn’t stay in the flow, in the current.”

You found you would have to do a little bit of retracing of your steps, get back in the flow again, and then your experience would be off and going again.

That is what challenges are for each one of us. Every time we are facing a challenge, we often get up and get going, and then we forget who and what we are. Shortly, we find ourselves whirling around in that eddy.

Maybe some of you sitting here are whirling around, today. But as soon as you do a little back-tracking – spiritually that is getting in touch with God again – you will find yourself back in the current, in the flow of life again, with God’s ever present help.

One of the beautiful keys to the kingdom is we can set our sights on target for the life each one of us should be living, make that spiritual and mental adjustment, and get back on track.

John the Baptist was speaking about mental adjustments when he said, “Repent, repent.” Change your thinking.

The word “repent” comes from the Greek word, Metanoia, meaning “change your direction of attitude.” Take a look at what you are experiencing right now with the eyes of God, with the eyes of that perfect pattern, God-given within you. As you ask, the guidance and direction will come directly to you from God.

A family had the father’s boss over for dinner. As the evening wore on, little Ryan persisted at staring at the boss. Finally, the man was becoming a little uncomfortable and he said, “What are you looking at?”

Little Ryan said, “Daddy said you were a self-made man.”

He beamed and said, “Of course I’m a self-made man.”

Little Ryan said, “Why did you make yourself like that?”

We are co-creators with God. God has given each one of us the beautiful, perfect way to go – all the skills and tools needed to achieve that desire in our hearts, which is intended to be expressed by us. But we need to take a step forward in our lives by making goals and allowing God to express through us, to create the life we really want.

Jesus tells us about the keys to the kingdom, in Matthew 6:24-36. Hear these beautiful words for you, particularly, if there is a thought in your mind today of anything that is out of order, or if you have a concern about your life. Jesus was specific when it came to giving us clear guidance as to what we can do and how our lives can be.

Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

We cannot focus on the life we desire to live – the success, happiness, joy, and beauty – and also serve other things; we cannot live a split life. We need to turn to one or the other. Jesus continued by saying:

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your span of life?

“And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself.”

“Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

As I looked at that word kingdom and began to meditate on it, I found that, to me, the kingdom was not necessarily a place off somewhere else. I discovered that the kingdom of God is a continuous spiritual journey. Daily we take the kingdom with us wherever we are.

Luke 17:21, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

It is an inner journey through prayer and meditation in which you make that conscious contact and really find that kingdom of God within.

That is where the kingdom truly is. That is what seeking the kingdom of God is about – looking within through prayer.

” … and his righteousness.” This is the right use, the full expression of God in every area of our lives – placing God first in your life. How many of us take the time every morning to turn our attention, our heart, and our love to God through prayer and meditation and action? Even just to say, Good morning, God. I am ready to go.” As we begin to take those steps forward, a beautiful response is found.

The kingdom of God is a spiritual journey that we can experience within every single day. Put your life on this continuous spiritual journey as you walk into the office each morning, and the phone will ring before you can even dial the number for the person you need to contact, or somebody will walk into your office and the answers will be there for you. That is putting God first and living in the kingdom.

In the kingdom of God, there are no religions. This is above the four walls of any church or the ways that we choose to separate ourselves as human beings. The kingdom is an umbrella that covers all people everywhere in God’s love. What people don’t realize is that we are living in the kingdom of God.

A great verbal prayer you can use is, “My heart is filled with God’s love and my body responds in health and wholeness.” I am going to say that again, because I want you to get a picture of the process. My heart is filled with God’s love … that comes first, and then my body responds in health and wholeness.

Jesus did not say to seek first to heal the body, or the emotional hurts, or to gain riches, and THEN seek God. He said, “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God.” Turn first to God, and then all else shall be added for each one of us.

The degree in which we place God first in our lives is directly proportional to the amount of ease, joy, and success we are seeking in our lives, to the degree that we allow our lives to flow out of God and our relationship to God, rather than trying to use God to “fix” our lives after we have done it our way. As we begin to turn to God and just ask, that radiant process is there to respond.

Finding God is easy; serving God is the challenge. Each one of us probably knows more about the Bible and God, intellectually, to keep us busy for an entire lifetime. However, if we have not placed God first in all areas of our lives, we are not serving God’s truth, and there is little joy in it.

Try to be how God would want you to be.

Open your hearts. Feel that presence and power of God. It is here right now in this precious moment. Live within the kingdom.

A minister tells a story, “A while ago I had an experience with some keys at an ocean resort. As we were fishing, casting out into the water, we were talking about how excited we were about life. We were having a wonderful day! The sun was shining, and the tide was way out. All the while I had my keys in my pocket.

All of a sudden, I looked down and the keys were gone. I want you to know, for a few moments, my joy was also gone because on that key ring were all of the keys of my life.

He said, I went home and ended up having to break a window to get into the house. Yet, a little voice, within me, kept saying, “Nothing is ever lost in God. The keys to kingdom are at hand.” Do you know what it is like to lose the keys in the ocean with the tide coming and going?

For the next few days as I was walking that beach, the message kept going around and around my head. You are in the kingdom of God.

As I was walking down the beach, quite some distance from where I had lost those keys, and as I was in awe of the beauty of the day, I saw the tide was way out. The beach was the most beautiful I had ever seen it. I was in the kingdom of God.

I was just rejoicing again and thanking God, when, all of a sudden, as one of the waves receded, I looked down and saw what looked like it might be the tip of a car key. I made a dash like you would not believe and grabbed (because the waves come in faster than you would believe); and there were my keys.

The keys to the kingdom are never lost! They are right there within you. As we let go and let God, they will be there for you in the moment you ask.

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” To know God and the operation of spiritual principles, take time for prayer and meditation.

Acknowledge God every morning when you awake. In fact, as we are starting this new week, you might even make a little mini checklist of where you are. Are you on track with your life purpose of letting God express through you and show you and guide you into that next arena for you to live and express in your life?

God relies the most on the ones who rely the most on God.

Take time to do that in your prayer and meditation. Then, develop a willingness to let go of those things, people, or situations that really are not productive in helping you accomplish that which you are seeking.

In John 4:35, Jesus said: “Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest?’ But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. Your field, your life, is already ripe for the harvest.” Right now, today, God’s good is yours. Are you ready to receive it? Can you see it clearly? Can you feel the energy, the presence of the Lord ready to guide you and lift you up?

The keys of the kingdom are at hand, and they are ready, right now, for you to open that spiritual door and live in a new realm of opportunities and possibilities.

No longer split your attention between worry and God. Give all attention to God, and you will find the true kingdom of heaven here on earth.

God bless you!

PRAYER / MEDITATION_______________________

I invite you to take a deep breath, relax, and feel the spiritual beauty in the silence of prayer.

Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.

Dear God, we open our minds and hearts to you this day like little children, so eager to step out and see the world. Yet, as we enter into this new day, this new week, this land of opportunity, we are looking in a new direction – to see Your kingdom.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Like a little child, we, perhaps for a moment, think of our favorite fairy tales and what we had envisioned a kingdom to be – the knights in shining armor, the perfect, beautiful castle.

God, now in our wisdom, we know that God’s kingdom is spiritually within us; that perfect pattern, all the strength and all we have need of is right here, within us, within the temple of the living God. We feel the joy and the excitement as we think of our lives at the beginning of this new week the gateway to all possibility and opportunity given by God to us.

For a moment, I invite you to pray your deeply held desire. It might be in the area of healing – to be able to fully express the health and wholeness of God. Get in touch with that wonder and joy as you say, “Yes! I am a beloved, perfect, beautiful child of God. The fullness and allness of God expresses now, through me as the kingdom unfolds. Thank You, God.”

Rest in the silence of prayer …

Perhaps there is a dream, a vision that you are holding in prayer – that opportunity to fully express those talents and gifts given to you directly by God. Can you believe? Can you spiritually open the gift? God is here and that perfect pattern is now unfolding. For a moment, hold that vision, that heart’s desire. Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place. Feel that energy. Right now in this moment, the key is unlocking the door to that wonderful possibility.

Rest in the silence of prayer …

God, how grateful we are as we open our minds and hearts to Your radiant goodness. We are filled with Your perfect love with which we can give and fully express, to share the essence of what You are, with others. We have all the faith we need to shape and mold the lives we are intended to live, the strength we are seeking in this moment, as we are moving in new directions, and the wisdom with which to create goals toward the lives we would express, as Your beautiful children.

God, on this beautiful day, how grateful we are!

For a moment, again, we rest in the silence of prayer and feel Your presence and power responding to us in a very personal way, in the silence within, as we let go and let God …

Rest in the silence of prayer …

God, how grateful we are, for we know that, as Your beloved children, there is never a time when You are not there guiding and directing us. The keys to the kingdom are at hand, and God, we are ready to open that door today.

We are so grateful. We rejoice and say, “Thank You, God!”

In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.

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