Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
June 29, 2008 - 7th Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 22:1-14
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42

Extreme Makeover

There is no sermon per se today ... just an encouragement to think about spending some time this summer reading and studying the Bible for instruction on how to live a Godly life ... and see if we don't find our own spiritual homes experiencing an "extreme makeover."

I would encourage us all to read A. J. Jacobs book "The Year of Living Biblically:  One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible."

By his own admission, A. J. is an agnostic at best - and he undertook this project so he would have material from which to write a book. 

By the end of the year, while he was glad the year was up, he realized that he had become a different person.  He had a renewed appreciation for the prophets and their willingness to not care about how they looked to the rest of society nearly as much as they cared about being faithful to God's instructions to them.

He developed an appreciation for a "forced day of rest" every week:  "Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it holy."

He also realized that the Bible is full of expressions of gratitude ... and he developed the habit of being more grateful than complaining - focusing on the majority of his life that was "right" than those minor things that were "wrong."

Finally, he realized that the Bible is full of responsibility, and that life is richer when we think about our responsibilities than ourselves ... "Ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God." 

This is a funny, thought-provoking book ... that - if taken seriously - might well result in an extreme spiritual make-over ... and the discovery of God's will for all of God's children to learn to live life and experience it abundantly.

This summer is a good time to begin the process!

SERMON IN A SACK:  A tennis racket.  Talk about how we get to be good tennis players:  practice, practice, practice.  Matthew talks about "welcoming" ... and the way we get good at welcoming is to practice, practice, practice.  The children were then invited to go up and down the aisles, shaking hands and saying "Welcome to church!" to folks.