Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
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Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
God Signs - Pastor Steven Usry
God Signs - May 21st, 2023
In today's sermon, we explore how Jesus used signs to teach us about the kingdom of God, inviting us to come as we are - with all our brokenness, doubts, addictions, and sadness. Through stories of the Samaritan woman, Peter and Matthew, and a church-going clown, we learn about the power of grace and belief in our lives. Discover how Jesus always shows us grace, even in our darkest moments, reassuring us that we matter to God.
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You are listening to the Dalton First United Methodist Church podcast. To learn more about Dalton First United Methodist Church, visit us online at DaltonFUMCcom. We hope that today's message from Pastor Stephen Usry inspires and encourages you. I want to invite you if you have your worship guide with you, just to turn close to the back and you'll find a message outline on the very back of your worship guide. Each week, i try to share a message outline. I've been doing this for probably over 25 years. That message outline helps me, but I think it also helps you.
Speaker 1:It helps other people to be able to read those scriptures that will read this morning. Maybe I would invite you this morning to engage in however you would. There's always a pin located in the little seat back in front of you there and there's going to be some fill-in-the-blanks. There's going to be some scriptures that I'll be reading. I invite you to engage in whatever level you will, but one of the things I know is that some people are auditory learners, some people are visual learners That's why we're going to use the screen and some people are kinesthetic learners. So take some notes if you will. You know, maybe one of the most important things you would write on that outline is nothing that I say at all. It's maybe just the quiet whisper of whatever the Holy Spirit would speak over you That you would just want to write that thing down.
Speaker 1:Well, i've only been with you a short time, but my wife and I Julie by the way, babe, i don't normally introduce you, but my wife retires from 31 years this week I'm very excited. Would you stand up just for a minute and let everybody see you, julie? This is my wife, julie. We've been calling Mae Julie's month because she finally gets retired after 31 years. Very proud of her. But anyway, julie and I were so new to the area. We're getting to go to new restaurants. We went to Tijuana's last night for the very first time. Some of you guys you can't remember the first time you had Tijuana's right. We're getting to go to a lot of restaurants. We're getting to see new things. We're still learning our roads and today I wanted to use a metaphor.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you recognize it. Jesus was a master of taking objects and showing people the kingdom of God. He would take a child and put them before people and he would say this is like the kingdom of God. He would talk about seeds. He would talk about mountains. He would talk about plants. Jesus used metaphors all the time. I've been thinking a lot about signs lately, so the metaphor that I want to use today is a sign.
Speaker 1:I brought me some signs, but I want to talk to you about signs. By the way, you might have been living in this area so long that you forget how many signs you'll have around here. You forget it because you get so used to seeing all of the signs. I mean driving up 75 guys. You have an inordinate amount of signs trying to communicate something. Have you noticed it? Carpet flooring signs to boot. Right, they're everywhere. There's signs for lawyers, there's signs for restaurants. My favorite is this beaver sign that y'all have up here called Buckeys. Are there enough of those signs around? They have those about every half mile. I want you to know. Signs are everywhere up here, and I've been thinking a lot about signs. Y'all probably passed by them. You don't even recognize them anymore, but signs are what I want to talk to you about today.
Speaker 1:When I was born I'm gonna date myself when I was born in 1970, okay, 1970, there was a band called the Five Man Electrical Band. They came out with a song called Signs. I don't know if anybody remembers it. Y'all remember this song at all. Well, i'll sing a little bit of it for you, if you remember it, you can. You can kind of join me on the chorus, all right. But the song went something like this And the sun said long-haired, freaky people need not apply.
Speaker 1:So I took my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why. He said you look like a fine, upstanding young man. I think you'll do. And then I took off my hat and said imagine that Me working for you. Now you can sing Sign, sign everywhere with sign Blocking out the scenery, changing my mind. Do this, don't, do that. Can't you read the signs? Y'all did pretty good, didn't you? Signs? You know signs are effective because they communicate something.
Speaker 1:I came across some funny signs that I wanted to share with you. There was a government sign that I found that says due to economic uncertainty, the light at the end of the tunnel will be temporarily shut off. Communicate something, doesn't it? Now there's an animal clinic in Napierville, illinois, that has this sign sitting in the lobby. Doctor will be with you soon. Sit, stay. Here's another one. And this one is found at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, montana, for gasoline sales after dark. Honk once, then keep your shirt on while I get my pants on. I like that sign. Just a couple more. A Home Depot paint. This is actually probably my favorite. This is the last one. I'll show you A Home Depot paint section in Warsaw, indiana, has this sign up Absolutely no paint colors mixed without a note from your wife.
Speaker 1:Guys, signs are effective because they communicate something. They communicate a message to the people who read those signs. But not only that, they communicate something about the people who put those signs there. So, for example, let's just say you're driving down the road, you stop at a stoplight and you look in the car in front of you and they've got a little fish symbol on their car little ichthus. What does that sign? what in your mind? what does that sign tell you about the person driving that car? Help me out. They're a Christian. They would say I'm a Christian right Now. If you pulled up behind another car and there was this little ichthus symbol and it had little legs coming out of it, what would that tell you about the person driving that car? This person believes in Darwin's theory of evolution. Right, signs communicate something to the people who see those signs and they communicate something about the people who put those signs there. If you pull up at a red light and you see a car sitting in front of you and it has a bumper sticker and it says my child is an honor student of, what does it tell you? right, this person is a proud parent of their child and their accomplishments. The other day I pulled up behind a car and it said my child beat up your honor student. What does that tell me about that person? right, it tells me something about that person. So signs are effective, now listen, because they communicate something to the people who read those signs, but they also communicate something about the people who put those signs there.
Speaker 1:So the question I want to ask you this morning is a pretty simple question What kind of signs are hanging up around churches When people come into churches? now, i know sometimes they're not real signs, right, but they are on display, something to communicate with people right Now. I know I'm talking about figuratively, not real signs, but they're unspoken messages And, by the way, this happens all across churches all over America. There's signs, there's signals about the people who put those signs up in their churches. They're not real, but they're very much tell something about the people who hung those signs there. So this morning I brought some signs with me and these are some signs.
Speaker 1:I've been to a lot of churches. These are some signs that I've seen hanging up around churches And, if you don't mind, i'm going to put them up. I bet you've seen signs probably like this as well. So the first sign is this Who the heck are you and why are you in my seat? Now here's the question. Is that hanging up around some churches? Yeah, oh, from the front row. Yes, it is Absolutely, it is right, some churches. I mean, i've been there before, right, i won't ask you to raise your hand. I've sat in the wrong seat and I bet some of you have too. Right, and somebody walked up and you knew that you needed to move over.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying there are some signs that churches hang up. People hang up. Communicate something to those people, right? Here's another one. Oh, i've seen this one before. Go home and change your clothes, then you can come back. Now here's the question Do you think this hangs up in some churches? Go home, change your clothes and then you can come back. I've got a friend who pastors a church down in Florida and when he got there he said in the lobby in the North Ex they have coats and ties, so that if you show up at church and you're not properly dressed, there's a coat and there's a tie for you, right? I just want to point out that sometimes we have the churches have some signs hanging around. Here's a couple more. Okay, brace yourself Sometime in this service, we are going to embarrass you Now.
Speaker 1:Do you think that hangs up around some churches? Yes, it does. There are some churches that if you're brand new, if you're a newbie man, you've got to be careful, because they'll ask you to stand up while everybody else is sitting down. If you're new, well, why don't you stand up, you know, and you're the only person standing in the whole crowd, right? I've even been to a church before where they told me stay seated if you're new, because everybody else is going to stand up. You want to talk about feeling weird? You're the only person there and all these people are walking around you, right? Here's the big point. I think that there are sometimes that people, when they show up to a church, they want to feel anonymous and nothing's wrong with that right. They want to just kind of blend in the crowd, see if that place is for them. But there are some churches that it's almost like they have a mission that they're going to try to embarrass.
Speaker 1:Just a couple more and these might really get a little bit more, a little tough to hear. Okay, i cut myself by the nail on that thing. Here's another. Your skin is the wrong color. Go find your own church.
Speaker 1:Now I'm just asking a simple question Are there some signs hanging up around some churches in America? There are, aren't there. Yeah, yeah, and this sign right here, boy, it hangs up all over the big US of A And unfortunately it has hurt a lot of people. Here's another one. I've heard a lot of people. I'm going to need a tissue. I've literally cut myself, but it won't stop bleeding. Somebody, there you go, thank you, it'll work in a minute. How about this one? I'm supposed to bring this one closer to you out here. I'm sure those camera men are freaking out right now. All right, let's be honest. We only care about your money. Have you ever felt that before? Have you ever felt like that sign was up in a church somewhere?
Speaker 1:There are some people. You know the only reason that they won't come to churches? because they are convinced that the churches the number one thing is. They say church is full of hypocrites, but the number two thing is the church is just after my money. You know, guys, this sign right here is I think that sign really has to grieve the heart of God. All right, i don't have a lot more signs, just one more. If you've got questions or doubts, don't bring those in here. We are already convinced. Now there are some churches. This is the way they treat it. We don't want to have questions, we don't want to have dialogue, we don't want to have debate. No, no, no, that's that's. You do that somewhere else In this place. You just come in and catch up to where we are.
Speaker 1:Here's what I want to share with you. If you would agree that there are signs like these hanging around churches all over America, you're probably in a good place, because now you have an image of the world that Jesus walked into. You see, god came to the planet in the flesh and there were signs hanging up everywhere, everywhere. They were in the synagogue, they were in the tabernacle, they were in the temple, and Jesus saw these signs. He saw signs that were kingdom signs. He saw signs that didn't reflect his father's heart. He saw signs that wounded people and, make no mistake, jesus started ripping signs down. Jesus started all across the ecclesiastical landscape taking signs and going no, no, no, that's not my father. And Jesus began to rip so many signs down that the Bible says the religious leaders, they got upset with them. They started planning how they could stop them, how they could put an end to this radical rabbi who was tearing signs down. And, make no mistake, the reason Jesus went to the cross is because he tore the signs that some people were really, really fond of.
Speaker 1:Now, what I want to suggest to you today is two things. The first one is simply this We have to be real careful about the signs that we have hanging around this place. They're not real signs, they're figurative signs, but they communicate all the same, and they will communicate something to the people who read those signs and they will communicate something about the people who put those signs there. And see, what I want to recommend to you is that Jesus didn't just tear down signs, jesus, he began to put up signs. Jesus began to put up some very clear signs about the kingdom of God, and I brought a few of those with me today. Is that all right? As a matter of fact, i would like to say it this way there are some Jesus signs, there are some kingdom signs that we need to make sure we prominently display all the time around this place That when people come into this place, they feel it, they see these signs and these are kingdom signs. And so, if you have your pen, i want to invite you just to write these signs down.
Speaker 1:The first one is simply this Come just as you are. Come, you know, when we. You don't have to watch Jesus' ministry very long to see that Jesus is one of the first signs that Jesus starts putting up. He says come just as you are. Every one of the disciples. He says come and follow me. Come and follow me, come. He does not say go get your act together. He doesn't say go get perfect. He doesn't say you've got to follow all the religious laws. He doesn't say I need you to have an education and then you can come and follow me.
Speaker 1:Jesus, just, person after person after person, says come just as you are. I mean, think about the people that Jesus communicates us to, a Samaritan woman whose life is just ruined, right? She's been after marriage, marriage, marriage, marriage, marriage. And Jesus just meets her by the well, he's communicating. Come just like you are. You don't have to have it all straight and figured out Jesus, person after person. He says come like you are. Peter zealot, you know fanatical. Come on, peter Matthew, tax collector, probably a thief of sorts. Right, come on, matthew. Come on, come to me Church. I've got a friend out in California. He pastors a church in Southern California and I'll never forget a story He told me that I want to relate to you. That, for me, speaks right to that sign.
Speaker 1:There was a young man in the body who would come to know Christ and given his life to Christ and he was really enjoying the life of the church. He was growing in his faith and he came to the pastor, my friend, one day and he said pastor, i like coming to church, i need this church, it's life for me, but I also have to work on Sundays. Is that okay? Pastor said, absolutely. He said my job requires me to work on Sundays. Pastor said sure, that's fine. He said, as a matter of fact, i need to come to the early service and then go to my job. Is that okay? And the pastor said absolutely, we're just glad to have you. And he said but you don't understand, i need to wear my uniform for work, is that okay? And the pastor said, absolutely, come, come just like you're going to go to work. Come to the early service and then go to work. We're glad to have you Next Sunday.
Speaker 1:That guy was sitting on the front row and the pastor hadn't thought to ask what he did for work. He was a clown for children's parties And he sat on the front row with a big tie and rainbow wig, white makeup and he had his big old clown shoe crossed over with his Bible land on his leg and he was sitting there taking notes. And you got to get this. My pastor friend said that. He said I'm telling you he was so bright, it was so hard to preach because there he was, all of his clown glory, right. But he said you need to understand something. He said he sat there completely comfortable, he could come just like he was. You see, somehow, somewhere, someway, that church had put up a sign And people in that church understood they could come just like they are. They could come with their brokenness, they could come with their doubts. They could come with their addictions. They could come with their sadness and their grief. They could come with whatever and wherever they were. And this is a sign. It's a kingdom sign that we must prominently display around this place. And, by the way, it's biblical.
Speaker 1:Read that scripture I've put in your outline today. The Bible says this in Matthew Come to me. These are Jesus's words. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, come to me, i'll give you rest. The prophet, speaking the word of the Lord, said Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come and buy and eat. You see, across the tenor of Scripture, the message has been just come. Come wherever you are and find healing and hope and life. Come just as you are. Even the Bible closes in the book of Revelation, chapter 22. The Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him who hears say Come And whoever is thirsty let him come, and whoever wishes let him take the free gift of the water of life. You see, guys, this is not only the heart of Jesus that says Come as you are. This is the heart of our Father who says Come just as you are. Now. That's a sign. It's a sign we've got to prominently display around this place because it's a kingdom of sign.
Speaker 1:Here's another one. I call this one Grace Happens, grace happens. You know, a few years ago there was a bumper sticker everybody put out It was something else happens. I don't know if y'all remember that, anyway, but see what I saw happening in the ministry of Jesus and what I think you see happening is that just grace happens everywhere he goes. I mean, wherever Jesus goes. God's grace, let me out. God's grace just shows up. Let me remind you what grace is. Grace is the unmerited. You can't do anything to deserve it. Unearned, you cannot earn it. Free gift of God's love, that's what grace is. And when Jesus shows up, there's a lot of earning going on. There's a lot of people following rigid laws and all kinds of codes And grace just starts happening, person after person after person. They don't do anything to deserve it, they just start experiencing the love of Jesus and the love of Christ. I mean, there are crippled people who've been crippled their whole life and Jesus' grace shows up. They're blind people, they're deaf people. Grace shows up.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite places maybe you remember this story there's a woman called an adultery and they throw it down at the feet of Jesus And they say what should happen? The law of Moses says this and that. What should happen to this woman? This soops down the sand And what happens? Grace, grace happens. That's what happens. Jesus stands up and says Let those of you who have no sin cast a first stone. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All the rocks start hitting the ground and all of them disappear until it's nobody left but Jesus and this woman. You remember this? And Jesus looks at her and he says Woman, where are all your accusers? They're all gone. And he looks at her. Because grace happens. Grace says go and sin no more. Guys, it's a beautiful thing, this thing called grace, and we got to make sure that grace is just happening all the time around this place.
Speaker 1:The Bible says this in Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews. I love this verse See to it that no one misses the grace of God. It's this beautiful picture of what, if this church could be a place where everybody you, just everybody's life was being touched by grace. You couldn't miss it. Not one person could say I haven't heard about that or is not touching my life. Not one person, the prophet Isaiah. God, when God spoke to him, said This is the word of the Lord. Come, let us talk this over. No matter how deep the stain of your sins, i can take it out and I can make you as clean as the freshly fallen snow, which makes me say Wow, wow. Who can do that? but God, only God can make us new again. Only God can forgive us of our sin. This happens.
Speaker 1:Another passage from the Psalmist as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us. I read that scripture one time. I looked out in the crowd and there was this young girl sitting about five rows back and she was trying to figure out how far the east is from the west. She was doing like this and she was thinking how far is the east from the west? And here's the beautiful picture The east and the west never touch right.
Speaker 1:It's this idea that when God, when grace happens, god removes our sins so far from us, it's not coming back. Okay, the grace has removed your transgressions from you forever. I know it's not in your outline, but can I just share one more scripture? I've got it in my notes here. Micah 719, you will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot. It's the idea. Can you imagine what it looks like for God to tread your sins under his feet? I think I don't know. God must have big feet, right. I mean, you will tread our sins underfoot and you will hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea. This is beautiful picture of grace happens. Your sins are gone. I don't know how big God's arm is, but he can hurl our sin into the depths of the sea. You know, corey Ten Boom one time about that particular scripture says and then God goes out there and puts up a no-fishing sign. Don't you go digging them back up. They're into the depths of the ocean.
Speaker 1:Grace happens. Dog, first I wanna say to you that we gotta make sure that we have a prominent sign that says come just as you are, and we have to make sure this kingdom sign up and that nobody misses the grace of God. Grace happens. It happens on a Sunday and a Monday and a Tuesday. It happens all during the day. Grace, grace, grace, grace has happened, because that's the ministry of Jesus. Just one more you matter to God. Well, this is certainly a sign that Jesus prominently displayed.
Speaker 1:You matter to God, and I think many people in the culture that Jesus stepped into had heard that God was some kind of figure that was removed and far away. And, matter of fact, jesus started calling God father and that was so weird to them. They were like how can he call him something so dear and close? Jesus knew something that many people didn't know and that was how much they mattered to God. So many people didn't think they mattered to anyone And then all of a sudden, jesus comes into town and he catches eyes and he starts touching people he's not supposed to touch and he starts interacting with people he's not supposed to interact with. All the rules. He broke all the rules. He started talking to Samaritans and lepers and touching lepers. He started. Jesus knew that people mattered to God and so they mattered to him, and if you study the teachings of Jesus, you will see this sign on prominent display over and over again. I mean, just think about the parables.
Speaker 1:Jesus said there was a man who had 100 sheep. What happened? One of them, just one of them, wandered away. What did he do? He left the other 99, he went after the one. Why? Because the one mattered, and when he found the one, he threw a party because the one mattered. Jesus told the story about a woman who had 10 coins and she lost one of them. What did she do? She tore her house apart. Why? Because that one silver coin mattered. And when she finally found it, what did she do? She threw a party because that coin mattered.
Speaker 1:You know what God, what Jesus, was teaching about. He wasn't teaching about coins and sheep, he was teaching about people. He was teaching about God's lost things. He was teaching people that they mattered to God And that God will be on a relentless pursuit. Augustine saying Augustine called it. He can be the hound of heaven. He would be on a relentless pursuit after them until they would hopefully open their heart to a relationship with him. You know, the Bible says it this way when we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape, christ came at just the right time and he died for us sinners, who had no use for him. Even if we were good, we really wouldn't expect anyone to die for us, but God showed his great love for us. I'm gonna say that again God showed his great love for us You matter by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Speaker 1:By the way, it occurs to me that maybe you came to church this morning and you really aren't convinced that you matter. You know a lot of people are raised in homes that tell them that they really don't matter, that they're never going to mount up, that they're this and that and they're not worth this, and that I hope you are hearing the message of the Gospel this morning. You matter. You matter to God. As a matter of fact, can we do a little exercise here? I want you to say a couple of words. Okay, i want you to say I matter. Say it out loud, i matter. Yeah, now let's make it even better. You ready? I want you to repeat after me what I say okay, i matter to God, i matter to God, and that's all that matters to me. That's all that matters to me. You do matter to God. The Bible says you're the apple of His eye. He knows everything about you. Come just as you are. Grace happens. You matter to God. These are just a few signs that I think Jesus put up, and I think that there are some signs that we have to make sure that are kingdom signs around Dalton.
Speaker 1:First, as I close this message, let me share with you a little bit of what I think happened on the cross, called Calvary. You see, calvary was a sign. Jesus was communicating that He would go the distance. He came after us. He lived a perfect life. Not one of us have ever deserved it, but He died for us. You will never deserve, you will never earn the right to be called a child of God, but because of what He did, you can still come just as you are. Pastor Stephen, i blew it again. I made another mistake. I fell. Come, hear the words of Scripture and listen to the ministry of Jesus. Come just as you are. You'll meet Him at the foot of the cross.
Speaker 1:Here's another one. You want to talk about grace happening? My goodness, how about the thief on the cross? You know I got to do that better. Let me just. Oh, ah, ah. Y'all are going to give me a minute. My daddy is a carpenter. He would be so mad at me. All right, all right, here we go. Hold, no, ah, okay, okay, hold. All of our lives are a little crooked. Oh, my goodness, ah, okay. You get the idea, grace. Oh, i heard you. I heard you.
Speaker 1:Somebody out in the crowd said give the boy grace. You know what We don't talk about, that thief on the cross. Enough, He didn't ever go to church. It wasn't that he went through some kind of catechism or through some confirmation like I did, you know, in the last moment of his life he prayed a very simple prayer Have mercy on me. You know what happened on the cross. Grace, grace, even at the last minute, happened on that cross. Right Today. You will be with me in paradise And church. Oh, my goodness, is there any better symbol of how much we matter to God than the cross of Jesus? where Thank you, hmm, where the God of the universe came and paid our debt? So the news was that Jesus had come back to life. He was appearing in different places, but a few of the disciples had not had a chance to see Him yet.
Speaker 1:There was one, to this very day, we call Doubting Thomas. And this is the story. Because Thomas, the Bible says, says I won't believe it. I won't believe it until I put my fingers in His holes and His hands and into His side. I just can't believe. And you know what happened. Jesus showed up And when Jesus was there, he looked at Thomas and called him by name And He said put your fingers right here, put your finger in my side. And Thomas did. And then Jesus looked at him and said Stop doubting. Believe. I don't know where you've been, i don't really know what your story is And I don't know if you've been told you don't matter that you matter to God. And if you've ever doubted that, here's Thomas' story. God brought you a word today to remind you. Stop doubting, believe. You can come just as you are And grace happens, you will always matter to God.