Psalm 81:11-16; Matthew 7:24-29
 
A Mom was out walking with her 4-year-old daughter.  The child picked up something off the ground and started to put it into her mouth.  The mother took it away and said, “Don’t do that!”  “Why not?” asked the child.  “Because it’s on the ground,” said her Mom.  “You don’t know where it’s been.  It’s dirty, and it’s probably loaded with germs that could make you sick.”
The child looked at her mother with total admiration and said, “Mommy, how do you know all this stuff?  You’re so smart.”  The mother said, “All Moms know this stuff.  It’s on the Mom’s Test.  You have to know it, or they don’t let you be a Mom.”  There was silence for a minute or so as the child thought this through.  “Oh, I get it,” she said at last.  “And if you don’t pass the test, you have to be the Daddy?”
 
Happy Father’s Day to all the fine Dads in our midst and to everyone who has provided a father’s love and care.  Today, I have a short message to honor all the Dads and Dad figures in our lives.  I also want to acknowledge all single parents and grandparents who patiently play the role of a Mom or a Dad when a Mom or a Dad is not present.
 
I have been thinking about what is the best thing we can offer to our children as Dads and Moms.  As members of a family, whether a blood-related family or church family, what is the best thing we can offer to those around us?  A few weeks back I came across a recent study that showed that human’s greatest problem in the 21st century is loneliness.  The study suggested that the solution for such problem is simple, easy, affordable, yet, profound, transformative, and amazing.  The answer is listening.  It is paying attention and being there for each other.
 
Listening is never easy, is it?  All of us are so easily distracted -- even in church!  Do you know what are the top 10 things people think about while signing a hymn?  1. How many more verses?  2. Are there donuts at coffee hour?  3. I wish someone could tell that new visitor not to sit in my seat.  4. How many people have lost more hair than I have?  5. What is the likelihood of the ceiling light or fan falling and hitting me on the head?  6. Did I turn off the curling iron?  7. Ninety minutes till kickoff.  8. Will the person behind me ever hit the right note?  9. Hope the sermon is not too long today.  10. What is for dinner tonight?  Friends, the truth of the matter is that we are a very distracted people live in a very distracted culture!
 
First: We Won’t Know Others Unless We Listen to Them
We wont’s know others unless we get to spend some time with them and listen to them.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus expresses frustration at being misheard and misunderstood.  Frequently the people who should be the ones who are most attuned to His message ~ His disciples ~ are the ones who just don’t get it.  For example, in Matthew 15:16 Jesus said to the disciples, “Are you still without understanding?”  In Mark 7:18, He speaks to His disciples in parables, but they do not understand what Jesus is saying.  “Don’t you understand either?”  Jesus asked.  The disciples couldn’t grasp what Jesus was saying.  Psalm 81:11 states, “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.”  No wonder that often times Jesus invited and challenged His audience to listen, understand, and discern.  “Whoever has ears, let them hear,” said Jesus in Matthew 13:9.
 
Paying attention and listening will continue to be the best gift ever we can give to each other.  Let’s never forget this profound truth.  We pass on our values to our children when we listen to them and wrestle with them.  We instill the faith in the younger generations when we get to spend some time with them.
 
And for those of us who want a better walk with Jesus, may we also strive to listen to His Word, allow it to search our heart and examine our mind.  God still speaks to us.  Are we listening?  Day after day after day, God is trying to make a room for His presence in our lives.  Week after week after week, God is trying to interrupt our busy lives and bring us back to Him.  Sometimes God whispers, other times He screams.  But the truth is, as a faithful Father, God will never give up.
 
Second: Someday, You will Need that Foundation
Someday, our children will fly away on their own, and they will need that solid foundation we have built with them over the years.  someday, our own faith will be tested, and we will need a solid foundation.  Yes, someday, the rain will fall, floods will come, and winds will blow and beat against your house.
 
That’s what basically Jesus is saying in Matthew 7: 24-27.  “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
 
Is your house safe?  Is your boat secure?  Have you placed your anchor in the right place?  May we value today the gift of listening to someone and over all, may we value the gift of listening to God’s Word.  Here is what God says through the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 48:18-19, “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.  Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Amen!

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Father’s Day ~ Sunday June 16th, 2019)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor  

Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:1-13
 
According to Church calendar, today is Pentecost Sunday.  Pentecost is not as well-known or as popular as Christmas and Easter, though it commemorates a watershed event in Christian history.  In many ways, Pentecost is the birthday of the church.  The English word “Pentecost” is a transliteration of the Greek word pentekostos, which means “fifty.”  This day became especially significant for Christians because, fifty days or seven weeks after the resurrection of Jesus, during the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Weeks,[1] the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Christ’s first followers, thus empowering them for their mission and gathering them together as a church.
 
What Actually Happened on the Day of Pentecost?
So, what actually happened on the day of Pentecost and why it is so important for us today?  The account of this day is recorded in the book of Acts chapter 2.  Acts 2:1 begins this way, “And when the day of Pentecost had come, the first followers of Jesus were all together in one place.”  All of a sudden, a sound came from heaven, like a strong wind, filling the house where the people had gathered.  Something like tongues of fire rested on their heads.  Acts 2:4 continues, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.”
 
The languages given to the followers of Christ that day were the languages spoken by thousands of Jewish pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks.  In Acts 2:7-8 we read, “Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?”  The content of the miraculous messages had to do with God’s mighty works, the wonders of God (2:11).  
 
At some point, Peter, one of the leading followers of Jesus, stood up and preached his first sermon.  He interpreted the events of that morning in light of a prophecy of the Hebrew prophet Joel.  In that text, God promised to pour out His Spirit on all flesh, empowering diverse people to exercise divine power.  This would be a sign of the coming of the “day of the Lord” (Acts 2:16-21; Joel 2:28-32).  Peter went on to explain that Jesus had been raised and had poured out the Spirit in fulfillment of God’s promise through Joel (2:32-33).  When the crowd asked what they should do, Peter urged them to turn their lives around and be baptized in the name of Jesus.  Then they would be forgiven and would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:37-39).  Acts reports that about 3,000 people were added to the church that day (2:41).  Not a bad response to Peter’s first sermon!
 
Pentecost is a central event in the history of God’s Church.  What is the message of Pentecost to our lives as followers of Christ today?  What is the message of Pentecost to the Blackwood Presbyterian Church as it carries on its ministry and mission in this community?  In Acts 2:12, the Bible says, “Amazed and perplexed, they (the people present at Pentecost) asked one another, “What does this mean?”  Three important lessons from the first Pentecost Sunday:
First: Relaying on the Power of The Holy Spirit
Someone said, “The Holy Spirit is the forgotten God.”  Pentecost is the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples of Christ were very discouraged as they saw Jesus taken up into heaven before their very eyes on the Mount of Olives.  Before He was taken up into heaven, Jesus promised them in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  On Pentecost morning, the promise was fulfilled, and the followers of Christ received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
 
The gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s very presence with us, that treasure in jars of clay (2 Corn. 4:7), was the gift that made the whole difference.  Who could’ve imagined that those new believers could stand firm in the Lord in spite of severe persecution?  Who could’ve imagined that those new believers would endure trails and tribulations joyfully for the sake of Christ?  How could this happen?  It is the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christ’s followers.  Zechariah 4:6, the reminds us that, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.” 
 
Second: A Witnessing Community
From the day of Pentecost to this day, authentic Christian communities have become witnessing communities.  That is the challenge I’ve put before you since I became your Pastor.  My hope is to revitalize our calling, our vocation as Christians, people who have been set apart by God for a specific purpose, “You are my witnesses.”  I am not asking you to quit your job and be a Minister.  I am asking you to “plant seeds”, to “seize the opportunities”, to “intentionally share the good news with others.” Some of you are on board on this one and some are not.  This is the very best outreach a church can have, is one that is lived by its people as they go on their way.
 
Robert G. Lee, (1927-1960) once said, “God never intended for the church to be a refrigerator in which to preserve perishable piety…He intended it to be an incubator in which to hatch our converts.”  That’s how Christianity spread all over the world.  On the day of Pentecost, there were people from the four ends of the earth as we see in Acts 2:9-11.  Those very people, regular people like us, took the Christian message to their homeland; those from Asia, took it to the Asians; Europeans took the message of Jesus to Europe; Africans to Africa; the Middle Eastern to the Middle East and north Africa. The native people of so many nations who were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost returned to their home countries with a new message; a message that was too deep for words. But finally, on the day of Pentecost, we see a miracle of understanding.
 
Third: A Miracle of Understanding
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled the followers of Christ to speak the languages of the people around them.  In Acts 2:11 we read the comment of the people we heard Peter, the Galilean fisherman, preaching that day, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  It is indeed a miracle of understanding!  We are called to speak a language that those around us can understand.  Have you ever had one of those...ah-hah... moments when all of a sudden--something you had not understood--some great truth---suddenly, miraculously makes sense?  One of my favorite Scripture verses is Isaiah 11:2, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”
 
Friends, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding will enable us to know the difference between what is important and what is less important; between what is permanent and what is temporary; between what is lasting and what is passing.  When we do so, we will be living the real meaning of Pentecost.  In the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!


[1] Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, was the second great feast in Israel’s yearly cycle of holy days.  It was originally a harvest festival (Exodus 23:16), but, in time, turned into a day to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai.  This name comes from an expression in Leviticus 23:16.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Pentecost Sunday June 9th, 2019)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 

Jeremiah 18:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:20-26
 
The prophet Jeremiah spoke for God to Israel 600 years before the birth of Christ.  He was called to be a prophet during one of the most difficult periods in the history of Israel.  To understand the words of Jeremiah 18, a little Biblical history is helpful here.  Let me take you back some 3,000 years ago.
 
Israel was a small nation, about the size of New Jersey, surrounded both to the north and south by larger and more powerful nations.  For a brief period, the nation flourished.  It went from a loose federation of tribes, to a monarchy under King Saul, then King David, and flourished under King Solomon.  But after Solomon, things fell apart.  As a result of internal struggles and political violence, the nation divided into two kingdoms, northern Kingdom of Israel with Samaria being the capital, and the southern Kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem its capital.
 
In the eight century B.C. E. a powerful nation, Assyria, conquered and destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel.  Its cities were destroyed, and its people were taken into exile.  Then, in the sixth century (586 BC), the time of Jeremiah, Babylonia was growing in power, devouring smaller nations, and was threatening to invade Judah.  As did Assyria, Babylonia would destroy cities, ruin the fields, and move entire populations, sending them into exile into foreign lands.  People of Judah lived in fear, wondering if they would be next and if God would protect them.
 
That is the climate in which Jeremiah receives his call to be a prophet, and in which Jeremiah 18 begins: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come down to the potter’ house and there I will let you hear my words.”  So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.”
 
Jeremiah goes down to the potter’s house and begins to watch the potter work.  While he is watching, the vessel the potter was making was spoiled.  It begins to tilt, to get out of round.  So the potter reworked it into another vessel.  Basically, he broke it down and started over again.  The word to Jeremiah became clear: the nation of Israel was like clay in the potter’s hands.  God had called the nation into being, created it with a purpose in mind, just like clay on the potter’s wheel.
 
Israel was chosen not for privilege but for service.  They were to be a nation through whom others would come to know the way and the beauty of the living God.  They were to first of all be people who worship the ONE God.  They were to be people of mercy, justice, and compassion, and above all, of peace.  They were to be a light to the nations.  They were to make visible God’s care for all people, especially the poor, the orphans, the widow’s, the aliens residing among them. Through them, by their obedience to Torah, others were to see what justice, mercy, and compassion looked like.  That was their role, their place, their calling, and their mission.
Second: The Sad Reality
But here is the sad reality.  Jeremiah, like the prophets before him, was painfully aware of this reality: the nation had failed to live up to its calling.  Instead of worshiping YHWH, they turned to the worship of foreign god’s who promised power and wealth.  Arrogance, greed, violence and injustice became common.  The poor were pushed off the land.  The leaders became more concerned about their own wealth, power and position, than about justice and compassion.
 
Friends, at times, sin and failure spoil what God is creating us to be.  We all have character flaws and weaknesses.  We are tempted, and we succumb to patterns of sin.  We yield to temptations.  But God doesn't throw out the clay.  Even though our sin may frustrate God’s purpose for us, He is never discouraged.  He doesn't give up.  And that takes me to the second half of the equation.
 
Second: There is a Living Hope Where is None
Jeremiah watched as the potter remake the vessel on the potter’s wheel.  The potter would simply take the lump of clay, breaks it down, and begins working with it again.  He keeps working with us until He is pleased.  That phrase at the end of verse 4 “as seemed good to him” literally means, “until we are right in His eyes.”  God has a vision of what we are going to be.  He is an artist, and like most artists, He is not satisfied with something less than what He wants to create.  So He molds, shapes and remolds until we are perfected, until we become what He is creating us to be.
 
Jeremiah then spoke God’s word to Judah: you are like clay in the potter’s hands. You can now choose to become once again God’s people.  You can begin to live the way God has taught you to live. 
 
God is in the business of taking men and women with impurities and blemishes, spoiled vessels, and skillfully shaping them into something useful.  He knows our flaws and our possibilities and, like a true artist, He creates something beautiful out of us.  Sometimes that can be a painful experience.  God has to apply pressure, like a potter does with the clay.  It hurts when he has to work out the blemishes in us or remove a stone.  Our circumstances on the wheel of life may not be pleasant at times, but we have to remember that God knows what He is doing. 
 
Jeremiah chapter 18 is a message of HOPE, of GRACE, and of MERCY!  Even when Jeremiah delivered those words to the kingdom of Judah, he made it clear that there is still a chance to escape and to spare God’s judgement.  These verses are actually a comforting reminder to all of us that no matter how badly we have messed up in life … no matter how many mistakes we have made … no matter how miserably we have failed........GOD DOESN'T THROW AWAY HIS PEOPLE!  Instead, God takes us, all the broken pieces, and remolds us and reshapes us into a new creation.  2 Timothy 2:21 reminds us that we are to be “instruments for special purposes, dedicated, made holy, useful to the Master, and prepared to do any good work.”
 
Jeremiah chapter 18 should be read less as a threat and more as an invitation.  Am I, are we, willing to become like clay in the hands of the potter?  Are we willing to let God get a hold on us, to shape and mold us, so that we might be people who can be God’s servants in the world today?  May it be so.  Amen. 

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday June 2nd, 2019)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor