Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

True Christian Hospitality

Pastor Sherry’s message for 9/13/26

Scriptures: Ex 14:19-31; Ps 114; Ro 14:1-13; Matt 18:21-35

Two weeks ago, I preached on what Scripture has to tell about how we should try to live out our Christian walk. Once again, our passages appointed for today provide great guidance for daily living:

A. Our Old Testament lesson, Exodus14:19-31, reminds us of God’s miraculous interventions on behalf of His Chosen People. The free Hebrew slaves are caught between all of Egypt’s chariots (“the devil”) and the Red Sea (“the deep blue sea”). Pharaoh has rethought letting his slave labor force leave the country. He has pursued them with all of his considerable number of chariots (more than 600). The Pre-Incarnate Jesus appears as a cloud toward the Egyptians, keeping them in the dark (miracle #1); and a pillar of fire toward the Israelites, so they could see overnight (miracle #2) to walk thru the parted Red Sea (miracle #3), on dry ground (stated 3 times in the passage, and comprising miracle #4). God effects a massive rescue of His people, drowning Pharaoh’s army without a single military battle between Hebrews and Egyptians (miracle #5)–>The battle belongs to the Lord. This divine rescue is recalled again and again in Scripture so that we will be grateful to God for His providence and protection.

B. This divine rescue is also memorialized in Psalm 114. The psalmist wants us to realize that the Lord (v.3) “rolled back the Red Sea…” and “held back the Jordan River.”

(J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on the Psalms, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.76.)

McGee claims it is “a call to remembrance of God’s mercy and power on behalf of His people.” We want to live our lives in awe of and believing in God’s miraculous, redemptive powers on our behalf.

C. Paul asserts in Romans 14:1-13 that we should not criticize one another (Christians against Christians) for differences in on issues that are not critical to salvation. Some people dress up for church and others, more casually. This shouldn’t matter because our heart attitudes and beliefs about Jesus are more important than the way we dress. Some believe we shouldn’t dance or play cards, while others do both. Some prefer organ music, while others, the piano or guitars and drums None of these is critical to salvation, but we do want to be aware of how our behavior influences nonbelievers. The point is that our behavior as Christ-followers should not be a stumbling block to new Christians or to those seeking the Lord (we shouldn’t cuss, get drunk, view porn, etc.).

D. Finally, Jesus makes it very clear, in Matthew18:21-35, that we are to forgive whoever offends us. Because of all that God has forgiven us, we are to offer to others the same grace. And we are to do so again and again and again—because our God forgives us innumerable times.

There we have it: Some really valuable advice on how to live if we want to please Jesus.

Now I want to depart from my usual style of “sermon-izing” and ask you to bear with me as I read an excerpt from a modern novel that is making the rounds today: Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi (Simon & Schuester, 2023). Three friends mentioned this book within a single week, and one even lent me her copy. I knew then the Lord meant for me to read it. It’s an excellent book and I recommend it.

The novel concerns an elderly man named Theo who transplants himself from New York City to a small town in southern Georgia along the banks of the Oxbow River. He is quiet, observant, and friendly, and—over the course of a year —makes many friends in Golden. One of these is a homeless woman with mental problems, named Ellen, who tenaciously holds onto her bicycle. She calls her bike, “The Noble Invention”—a reference from a story by author William Saroyan, titled “Rescue the Perishing.” Ellen may be mentally off but she has clearly been educated and is well-read. The portion of the novel I want to read you this morning concerns her initial visit to a Sunday service at St. James Episcopal Church (See pages 153-157).  As I read, try to think about what the passage says about the congregation of St. James. And try to imagine how we would behave if someone like Ellen visited us for Sunday worship.

The excerpt: (Warning: the passage contains some cussing)

As the last note of the song faded, Father Lundy rose to welcome the congregants and make his opening remarks. He had just begun reading a passage of Scripture when to the complete and utter shock of everyone present, a loud disturbance erupted at the back of the room. The sound of breaking glass, a falling vase, sounded through the high rafters. That shock was heightened when the words being spoken became audible and distinguishable.

“You get your blue blood hands off of me, you pin-striped whore of Babylon! Touch me again, and I’ll ride this Nobel Invention right over your hypocritical ass! Get out of my way.

An usher, fighting an onset of total astonishment and embarrassment, was trying to restrain a wild-eyed woman wearing a blue hat from bringing her bicycle into the sanctuary. She had forced her way through the door, bicycle in tow, and was intent on joining the congregation assembled there.

Or, more precisely, intent on finding and joining Theo.

Every head turned her way. A number of the leaders and others moved immediately toward the disturbance and encircled the intruder. Any semblance of order or sanctity fled the room as Ellen, not to be deterred by another act of bureaucracy, railed against her opposition. She was equal parts prophet and whirling dervish.

“Your sign outside says ‘Visitors welcome.’ Well, St. Smartass, I’m a visitor, so get out of my way. You touch my property one more time and see what happens, you throne-sniffing Pharisee. Get the hell out of my way! All of you. Right now!”

Her fist was raised and ready.

St. James had never experienced, and likely never would again, such a display of righteous indignation on its premises. Some of the congregation watched or ducked down cautiously behind their pews, horror-stricken at this unexpected visit from an uninvited guest. After all, there had been killings in churches in recent years. Others, who recognized the woman from having seen her around town, were curious and even amused that an actual sinner had entered the elegant premises of James, the saint. The biblically literate among them might have expected a finger to start writing on the wall at any moment: Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin.

Panicked cell phone calls, many from the sanctuary floor, were made to 911 with the expectation that, in a matter of seconds or minutes, officers would arrive, arrest the troublemaker, and restore dignity to the meeting. In the meantime, Father Lundy implored parishioners to remain seated and be calm. Few paid him any attention. The main event was clearly at the back of the sanctuary. Across the room, people gaped, craned their necks and whispered excitedly about the scene unfolding before them.

And then came a voice.

“Darling, Ellen. Ellen, darling. Hello, dear. Good morning, dear.” Mrs. Ocie Van Blarcum, her white hair shining like a nimbus, stepped between Ellen and the others and touched her hand. There was no sense of alarm or urgency in her voice. But her forceful presence made it abundantly clear who was now in charge.

Immediately, the confusion began to subside, affirmation that a gentle answer (still) turns away wrath.

“Ellen, please come sit with me, sweetheart. We’ll find a place for your bicycle. Would you like to sit with me and my family?”

Ellen stood silently for a moment, still defensive against the bodies that surrounded her. It took a moment and several hard blinks, but eventually a glimmer of recognition filled her gaze. Her hands relaxed.

“Hello, Miz Ocie.”

Mrs. Van Blarcum was a matriarch of St. James, a venerated and lifelong member whose family name was empaneled in the grand window that covered most of the sanctuary’s west wall. She knew well and lived devotedly the ethic of St. James: “Faith without works is dead.” She was not merely capable of saintliness. She was saintly. Some would have argued she was a saint.

While she fit in comfortably in the highbrow world of St. James, Ocie Van Blarcum was no stranger to the soup lines and homeless shelters in Golden. She and Ellen had seen each other often at such places.

She understood the difference between “troubled mind” and “troublemaker,” and she recognized in Ellen all the signs of the former—a wounded soul, a lost sheep, a “least of these my brethren.”

The sound of sirens had grown in strength until they were just outside the building. Clearly, more than one police vehicle had responded to the disturbance. Mrs. Van Blarcum instructed several of the ushers and vestry members, in a tone of voice that would not be denied, to tell the policemen to leave. Her eyes blazed with an authoritative “right nowness.”

“Ellen, come this way, darling. My family is right here. On that row. We have room for you.”

Ellen shook her head. “No ma’am. I’m looking for Mr. Theo.”

At that moment, he smiled and stepped forward into the small space that belonged to Ellen and Mrs. Van Blarcum.

“And Mr. Theo has been looking for you,” he said cheerfully. “Good morning, Ellen.”

Theo and Mrs. Van Blarcum knew each other only vaguely. They had met on a previous Sunday and had crossed paths occasionally since then. Standing there together with Ellen, they were the embodiment of goodness and mercy. And for the moment, the room belonged not to Father Lundy but to Ocie and Theo, surrogate shepherds of the flock.

No one shaving or dressing or selecting shoes or watching television before driving to St. James earlier that morning would have guessed that a church service could be as engrossing as this one was shaping up to be. No one could have anticipated the sight of an old man guiding a garishly attired homeless woman and her bicycle down the center aisle, eighth pew from the front, and helping her find a seat at the end of the row.

Ellen kickstanded the Noble Invention, sat and patted her blond dress, touched her necklace, rested her hands in her lap, smiled at Theo, then directed her attention to the pulpit.

Father Lundy began to speak. By then he had regained his composure. He knew a teachable moment when he saw one. He also knew that the congregation, if only they could see it, had just witnessed and participated in a sermon. Need he say more?

The organist, in a stroke of musical eloquence, played a simple rendering of “All Things Bright and Beautiful” as a never-before, widely-enlarged sense of reverence filled the room. Some still looked at Ellen. Most, “the oldest first,” had redirected their attention away from the spectacle of her strange appearance and had turned their gazes inward.

One could almost hear the sound of stones dropping to the ground.

After the morning service, it was agreed that, in the future, Theo would sit in the last row, on the outside aisle, so that when and if Ellen attended (which, in fact, she began to do regularly), her bicycle could be parked beside her. That way the Nobel Invention would not impede movement up and down the center aisle when collections of the offering and celebration of Holy Communion took place. It was the practice at St. James to dispense the bread and the cup at the altar to all in the faith who were able to walk forward., After the first week, when Ellen insisted on wheeling her bike with her to the Communion rail, Theo was able to convince her that it would be safe at the pew. He and Mrs. Ocie would guard it.

He also encouraged Ellen to be on time for the service. She was never late again.

This is such a lovely story and a great example of true Christian hospitality. I wept when I read it at home. We should welcome any and all visitors to our church. We want them to get to know Jesus. We want them to participate in our church family. It shouldn’t matter how they dress or even if they are disruptive. As Paul would say, we abandon our critical attitudes/ or judgments. While we can understand the shock of the ushers, we need to be as kind as both Mrs. Ocie and Theo. Remember when 18 Year old Dakota (who is autistic) wondered aloud, right in the middle of my sermon, where two missing couples were, one by one, and by name? I told him they were on vacation and that they would be back. He was worried about them, but my calm response reassured him and quieted his anxiety. Remember when toddler Annie wandered the sanctuary during both the readings and my sermon? I recall lifting her up and holding her in my arms as I finished my remarks.

We want all to feel welcome. We can offer grace to our members, but we can also do the same for the stranger—and even tolerate the presence of a friendly, 3-legged hound dog who joined us for worship Thursday night. Let this be our consistent response to anyone who joins us. AMEN!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

God is love

Pastor Sherry’s message for 9/6/26

Scriptures: Exodus 12:1-14; Ps 119:33-40; Ro 13:8-14; Matt 18:15-20

The story is told of an old grandmother who had decided that Christmas shopping had just gotten to be too much for her. Now she still wanted to do something nice for her kids, grands, nieces, nephews, etc., so she decided to send each a nice Christmas card with a $50 Visa card inside.  Granny selected the Christmas cards, addressed the envelopes, added stamps, and deposited them at the post office, innocently assuming she had taken care of Christmas gifts for all of her family in a way that could not help but please each one. The problem, however, was that–being a little forgetful–she had neglected to include the Visa cards (probably also forgot where she had put them), and had happily written next to her signature, “Merry Christmas! Go get your own presents.”  We laugh, but this could all too easily be any one of us!

Her intention was loving, but the result indicated neglect or even insult…until her oversight was discovered.

When I was in college, there was a foreign language requirement for graduation. There were 3 stipulations: (1) You had to be able to read it; (2) You had to know the grammar, vocabulary, and correct sentence structure; and (3) then you had to demonstrate you could speak it by passing an interview with the language Professors. I managed to make it through the first courses, but put the speaking part off until my Senior year…YIKES! The first day of class, a stereotypical French woman came into class—wearing a beret, fishnet stockings, a tight skirt with a slit up the side, and carrying her own ashtray (in 1967, professors could smoke in class as they lectured). She propped herself on the front of the teacher’s desk, told us we could not speak English for the rest of the semester, and asked us in French to respond to the question, “What is love? I knew my goose was cooked! Before I had even begun to formulate an answer in English, then laboriously translated it into French, she had gone on to the next deep question.

I survived conversational French, praise God, because I paid a very proficient underclassman to tutor me. Back in 1968, I was able offer a student a cup of coffee and a piece of pie to talk with me in French for an hour 2-3 times a week. By the end of the semester, this young man had me contributing to class discussion in French and also thinking and dreaming in French! It was, to me, a miracle for which I will always be grateful!

But I have never forgotten that French professor’s question, “What is love?”  Our Old Testament lesson, Exodus 12:1-14 gives us some good answers to a timeless question.

Let’s first consider the context: Back in Exodus 3:7+, God had told Moses:  

“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” That was God’s promise. He would create the situation that would compel the stubborn Pharaoh to let His people go. The Hebrews had been in Egypt about 400 years—long enough for the Canaanites to have time to come to love the true God–which they refused to do. So God was ready to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery with 10 plagues.

Each plague was actually a put down of some Egyptian god. Yahweh had declared war on the gods of Egypt: 

1st, He turned the Nile to blood—fish died and no one could drink from it. They so depended on the river for their water supply and commerce that they equated it with life. In rendering it fully polluted, God was essentially saying to them, “I, not your river god, Hapi, (the so called bringer of fertility) am the true source of all life.”

2nd, He sent a superabundance of frogs. Seven days later, millions of frogs leave the polluted river and invade Egyptian homes, businesses, and even Pharaoh’s palace. The frog-headed Egyptian goddess, Heqet, was equated with fruitfulness. God is saying, “I, not Heqet, can deploy millions of frogs at will.”To those who considered frogs to be demons, He declared, “And I also exercise control over demonic entities, even the entire supernatural realm.

Similiarly, out of dust Moses tossed into the air, God produced 3rd, a plague of lice (in opposition to Geb, god of the earth), and 4th of biting flies, the servants of Khepri, god of the morning sun. Again, God was asking, Why aren’t your gods powerful enough to counter Me and to destroy these pests?

5th, God sends disease on their cattle, rams, sheep, and goats, many of which die. The Egyptians had gods for each of these animals. But God is saying, “I have complete control over animal life, not Osirus, the bull or Apis the ram god, or Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of motherhood and childbirth. None of them can counter Me.”

6th, He afflicted the animals that remained—and this time, the people too—with boils. Even Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t prevent them, nor could Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of healing, heal them.  God was saying, “Only I have power over physical health.”

7th, He sends hail—a form of ice clumps accompanied by fire. Egypt normally gets very little rain. God was essentially saying, “I—not Hephaistos, your god of fire or Porphry, your god of rain, or Nut, your god of the sky—have complete authority over forces of nature.”

8th, God sends locusts to eat up any vegetation left over, then sends them off to drown in the Red Sea. Egypt’s gods of nature were helpless, including Shu, their god of the wind. God was saying, “I can raise up hordes of any creature, deploy them, and then destroy them.”

By now, the Egyptian economy is in ruins, but still Pharaoh will not let his slave labor force go free. God then sends the 9th plague, 3 days of completedarkness—except over where the Israelites live. God was saying, Your sun god, Ra, is powerless before Me.

Finally, God sent the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn person and animal. The Egyptians believed their god, Horus, was the god of life, and Bes, another god, would protect their households. They also believed that Pharaoh was the divine author of life. With this final plague, God was saying, “Not so! Yahweh is the giver of life and He can take it away when it is in rebellion against Him.”

(New Living Translation of the Bible, Tyndale House, 2024, p.89.)

This brings us to the Passover: In the 10th plague, God intended to and did take the life of every 1st born. Those who loved Him, however, could and would be spared. They were to select a perfect male lamb around one year old; they were then to slaughter it on the 14th of Nisan, and paint their door frames with its blood. The blood of the lamb would signal the angel of death that they were true believers and their lives would be spared. They were to remain inside their homes all night, eating the roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. This was a hasty meal. They were to be dressed for travel as they would soon be free to leave Egypt. The first born of those with no blood over their doors did in fact succumb to death, even Pharaoh’s son. By the next day, all of Egypt wanted the Israelites gone!

This series of plagues was tough on the Egyptians, but so effective for the Hebrew slaves! Look at how God manifested His love for them!

He provided a way for the angel of death to distinguish His Chosen People from Egyptians. While every Egyptian house contained at least one dead person, the blood of the Passover Lamb signaled to death, pass over, pass on by every Israelite. This final plague broke the back of Pharaoh’s resistance. He capitulated to Moses’ demands following this event. He finally let the people go. And the Egyptian people were so glad to see them leave that they gifted them with gold and silver coins and jewelry, what my Old Testament professor in seminary called “back pay.”

This is such a great, dramatic example of God’s love: He ground down the Egyptian resistance with 10 plagues, then rescued His people without a single military battle! The historic Jewish Passover finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus—it foreshadows pr predicts Jesus’ blood shed for us on the Cross. He too was a perfect male lamb. John the Baptist calls Him, in John 1:29  …the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus was the only sinless human ever, which qualified Him to be our sinless Substitute, our Savior. He was also God–the only Son of God, so His blood–the blood of God–was a perfect satisfaction or atonement for our sins. Paul later tells the leaders of the Ephesian Church in Acts 20:28  Be shepherds of the church of God, which He [Jesus] bought with His own blood. No mere person would have been capable of atoning for our sins. Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf was totally acceptable to the Father. The writer to the Hebrews calls Jesus is the once and for all perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Peter, on trial before the Sanhedrin, testifies in Acts 4:12 (NLT) that  There is salvation in no one else [meaning Jesus]! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. John tells us in 1 John 3: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.

So what is love? The 10 plagues and the Passover were God’s strategies for motivating a despot to let go of a free labor force of 1-2 million people. The plagues and the Passover demonstrate how far God will go to redeem those He loves. Jesus’ death on the cross proves the same truth again: Our God has died an undeserved but agonizing penalty to obtain our freedom from sin and death; like His Father before Him, He has gone to extreme lengths to redeem us.

 As the apostle John tells us, (1 John4:10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. If I could go back in time, I would tell my French Conversation professor, “Your question can be answered a number of ways…

But the best and most complete answer to what love is is this: God is love!

Jesus Christ loving me (and you) so much that He died so you and I could have abundant life!

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory thru our Lord

Jesus Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

How Now Shall We Live?

Pastor Sherry’s message for 8/30/26 

Scriptures: Jer 2:1-13; Ps 81:1, 1-16; Heb 13:1-8, 15-16; Lk 14:1-14

Back in 1999, Chuck Colson (former President Nixon’s Special Counsel and considered an attack dog for Nixon against any of his enemies), having served time in prison for obstruction of justice, wrote a book titled, How Now Shall We Live, coauthored by Nancy Pearcey (Not to be confused with Francis Schaeffer’s How Then Shall We Live, 1976). Colson came into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ while serving his prison term.

The book reflects his resulting radical change of heart. In it, he attempted to answer 4 significant, essentially existential questions:

1a. Who or What do we come from? 

1b. Who are we?

2. What has gone wrong with the world?

3. What can we do to fix it?

4. And How should we live, based on these answers?

As I was praying this week about what the Lord would have me preach, the answer He gave me was Colson’s book title: How Now Shall We Live. I had not read it, so I downloaded it to my Kindle and checked it out. When I perused the readings appointed for today, I figured why. Please review this with me:

1a. Who or what do we come from? We come from a Who, not a what. We live because our God called each of us into being.

1b. Who are we? If we believe in Jesus, we are each, as a wonderful old prayer says…a sheep of His own fold, a lamb of His own flock…a sinner of His own redeeming.

(The Book of Common Prayer, Church Publishing, 1986, p.499.)

Through the saving work of Jesus on the Cross for us, we have been adopted into His line and are now children of God the Father. We know from the Bible that God choose the Jews to be a people set apart for Him, through whom He intended to bring about His plan for the redemption for the world. God chose them–and through their legacy and Jesus’ sacrifice–we have each chosen to follow Him.

2. What has gone wrong with the world? The short answer is that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s willful disobedience. And ever since, we have struggled between our spiritual nature that wants to please God and our fleshly or carnal nature that wants to please ourselves (Romans 7 and 8).

Let’s look to our readings to find deeper answers to this and Colson’s other two questions:

A. The Jeremiah 2:1-13 passage also provides answers to what has gone wrong with the world. In verses 1-5, God reminds His Chosen people of how much they loved Him and followed Him after He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. In verse 5, God asks His people through Jeremiah, What did your ancestors find wrong with Me that led them to stray so far from Me? The Lord sounds puzzled, but we know He knows all things! He wants them to think about it…They didn’t remain grateful to Him for having shepherded them through the wilderness for 40 years, protecting and providing for them the whole time. No, they wandered into idolatry. Even their priests, (false) prophets, and rulers ignored God and turned against Him. In verses11-12, the Lord expresses His disappointment and grief-→Yes my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay.

He boils their sins down to two: They have abandoned God (the living water), and they have taken up with false, evil, pagan gods, who are empty, broken cisterns that hold no water. I think we could make a very good case that America has done the same thing. Our founders gave our nation a solidly Christian foundation. But over our 250 years, we have pushed God away or ignored Him entirely. We, like the folks in Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time, have settled for broken cisterns of money, power, fame, material things, riskier and more daring experiences, and more and more depraved sexual behaviors. We have embraced sin and called it good. Thank goodness, this was not God’s last word for the Jews or for us!

(J. Vernon McGee, Throgh the BibleCommentary on Jeremiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.30.)

B. Our psalmist, Asaph (81:1, 10-16) reminds us all in verse 9 that our Lord never wanted us to pursue false gods. We were always meant to follow the Lord and Him alone. He rescued His people from bondage in Egypt and hoped to have deep fellowship with them. Through Jesus, He has rescued us from our bondage to sin, and He desires today to bless us abundantly! But we (and they) dismissed Him and did what we wanted; He, in response, said (v.12)-→So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. (See Romans1 for a similar message.) Our willfulness, our pride, our insistence that “I know better than God,” brings us to low, painful, and discouraging places. And all the while, the Lord is ready to protect and bless us—if we will only turn back to Him.

C. Well, there’s the answer to the question about how we go about fixing the mess we are in: We turn back to Him. We admit, with AA, that we are powerless to turn our lives around by ourselves. Remember the caterpiller caught in the ring of fire? We cannot rescue ourselves. We need a divine rescuer, and we have one, Jesus! We confess that He is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and we are saved by faith in Christ. Then we go on to cooperate with the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. He molds and shapes us through our experiences, our prayers, our Bible reading, perhaps a sermon or two—and even our pain. Through it all, He helps us to become more and more like Jesus.

The writer to the Hebrews (13:1-8, 15-16) finishes out his/her book by sharing a list of recommended Christian practices. Remember, the 4th of Colson’s questions was how we should live. These suggestions all demonstrate love…we don’t just love other people as if they are brothers and sisters in Christ, but we love them because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ: So we show hospitality/kindness to strangers. We remember those in prison and those who are mistreated. When we can’t do this in person, we provide donations to ministries who do. If married, we remain faithful to our vows. We don’t love money, recalling that God cares for and provides for us. Since God is our helper, we don’t have to be afraid (His perfect love drives out all our fear). We respect and appreciate our spiritual leaders and mentors. And we hold fast to the truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are to offer to God a sacrifice of praise. I could be wrong, but I believe this means we come to worship even if we would rather not. We offer the Lord our time. We also offer Him our gratitude, even if we are not feeling very grateful or happy or a given day. Again, it’s a sacrifice we offer to Him. And we continue to prompt ourselves to do good to others and to share with those in need.

D. Jesus Himself gives us some practical pointers on how to live the Christian life in today’s gospel, Luke 14:1-14. First He demonstrates that love trumps law by healing a man on the Sabbath. No doubt this was a set up, a trap on the part of the Pharisees to make Jesus look bad. But as usual, He demonstrates that their zeal is to have others strictly obey the Law, rather than to relate lovingly to God and to others. They won’t self-incriminate by answering His questions, but they clearly would do work to rescue a child or an animal that fell into a pit on the Sabbath. Then He rescues a man from “the pit” of a chronic illness, dropsy. The point is that the Lord desires mercy over strict adherence to their interpretations of the religious rules.

Next, He gives them a seminar in etiquette, in the “Parable of the Ambitious Guests.” Since they didn’t use place-cards in those days, as one commentator puts it, once dinner was announced, there would be a rush to commandeer the seats of honor. Younger, impolite pharisees might even push aside a slower, older cleric in their rush to be prestigiously seated. Jesus recommends each one take the least valued seat, then feel blessed when the host moves them to a better place. Imagine their chagrin when their rudeness and selfishness is pointed out by the honored guest, Jesus. What if one of them was publically asked to move and make way for Him? Our Lord was teaching humility—in God’s Kingdom, humility trumps arrogance and entitlement. (See Micah 6:8.)

(J.V. McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Luke, Thomas Nelson, 1991, pp.176-177.)

Finally, in verses 12-14, and in a nod to our Hebrews lesson, He recommends they feed those who cannot repay them, the poor, the lame, the blind, instead of their successful, well-off peers.

So How Now Shall We Live? Like we know and acknowledge that the Lord created us, that we owe our lives to Him. Like we appreciate and follow Him, despite the fact that we all too often turn away from Him and follow the devices and desires of our own hearts. We want to follow Him, but we too often succumb to the pull of the world, our flesh, and the devil. As St. Paul states so eloquently (Romans 7:24-25, NLT)-→Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. We embark on the solution to our sin-problem, just as Chuck Colson recommends, when we turn our lives over to Jesus. He, and the lessons from His word, the Bible, show us How Now We Shall Live. Amen!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Keep Your Eyes on the Lord

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 9, 2026 

Scriptures: Gen 37:1-35; Ps 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b; Ro 10:5-15; Matt 14:22-33

Have you ever noticed that Scripture gives us about as many lessons on how not to live as it points us to the best ways to live? Our Old Testament lesson is a prime example of how not to manage a family. Genesis 37:1-35 reads like a daytime soap opera or a reality TV show. We’ve got a family that that’s a hot mess . Let’s count the ways:

(1) First, there is the matter of choosing favorites: Jacob, the favorite of his mother, has to run for his life to escape the murderous wrath of his twin Esau, the favorite of his father. You would think Jacob would learn from his experience and not repeat it with his own family . But no . He breeds jealousy and discord by favoring one wife over another—the beautiful Rachel over the prolific Leah. And he compounds his trouble by favoring Rachel’s son, Joseph, over all 10 of his other, older sons. To make matters even worse, he gives Joseph a costly and gorgeous coat, fit for a prince, thereby indicating that Joseph is a prince in his father’s eyes. I just want to talk to Jacob and ask him, “Did you not take Developmental or Child Psych in college? Did you never learn to treat your children as equally as possible? (similar clothes, shoes, backpacks, the same amount of money spent on birthdays and Christmas, and the same size cookies or pieces of cake?) They often tend to think you favor one over the other anyway, but you don’t ever want to be as overt as you were .

(2) Then there is the really odious behavior of his eldest sons: Reuben, the first born, carries on an affair with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine, and the mother of his half-brothers, Dan and Naphtali. Yuck! Even if she was a lovely “cougar,” he let his carnal instincts short-circuit his brain. His behavior implied he wished his father, Jacob, were dead. Next, Simeon and Levi are so incensed that Jacob would not punish their sister’s rapist, the Prince of Shechem, but rather have her marry him, that they slaughter the men of Shechem while they are laid up, recovering from adult circumcision. I’ve known some guys in the Navy who had to undergo circumcision as adults and they tell me the recovery period is pretty rough. These Canaanite men were willing to endure this procedure as a condition of the marriage contract Jacob had put to them. In other words, these pagans were converting to the One, True God . Perhaps Jacob intended to make things right through the marriage, but Leah’s sons are furious and want revenge for their sister Dinah’s rape. (This all foreshadows King David’s family issues, in the rape of Tamar by her half-brother Amnon.) Jacob is furious with his sons and also ashamed of them, believing they went too far and made God and their family look bad among their Canaanite pagan neighbors.

(3) Finally there is Joseph’s naivete regarding sharing his dreams openly with his brothers, and their father’s using him as a snitch. Joseph, at 17 years old is not yet sophisticated enough to realize how he added to his brothers’ enmity toward him, but Jacob should have been wiser than to pit his favorite against his jealous and embittered other sons. Unfortunately, the stage is set for horrendous sin and grief . Joseph had already told Jacob that 4 of his brothers had barbequed some of the sheep they were supposed to watch over, thus defrauding their father. In today’s passage, Jacob unwisely sends Joseph to again report what they are up to, and the 10 brothers are now so angry and enraged that they plot to kill him. Reuben apparently hoped to regain his father’s regard by saving Joseph, gathering materials to rescue him from the pit. But Judah, in Reuben’s absence, convinces the others to sell him to Ishmaelite and Midianite traders heading to Egypt. They sell him for 20 pieces of silver, and assume he will die as a slave—but not directly by their hands. Now they also have to lie to their father, Jacob, leading him to believe Joseph was killed by a wild animal. And they have to live with Jacob’s resulting, unrelenting grief. In Chapter 38, Judah becomes so distressed by his father’s grief (and his own guilt) that he leaves the family and goes to live among the Canaanites. Having learned nothing about the dangers of favoritism, Jacob now treasures Benjamin, his last child by the beloved Rachel who died while giving him birth.

This family is in a world of hurt . Last week we considered how God had been working on Jacob: Jacob had learned to love someone beyond himself, Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin. He had developed perseverance, grit, and a good work ethic. He had also become grateful to God for his protection and his acquired wealth. But he was still a work in progress. He had not yet learned to turn to God in every circumstance (Dinah’s rape; his sons’ perfidy). I have to wonder what kind of example of faith he set out for those 10 bitter, resentful, and murderous sons. None of them checked with the Lord before selling their own flesh and blood into slavery. None of them appeared to consider the effect of Joseph’s death on them, their consciences, or on their father–or even Benjamin. They each had to go through a personal hell on earth before they would learn to keep their eyes on the Lord.

Nevertheless, the Good News is that even though they have created an ungodly mess, our God is in the business of redeeming our messes—if we will let Him. God had given to Joseph two dreams that were very similar to each other: In one, his brother’s sheaves of wheat bowed to his sheaf; in the other, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed before him. None of them realizes this yet, but Joseph will be elevated by Pharaoh to command of all the resources of Egypt. His brothers will indeed bow before him. God will eventually use him to save his entire family, and many others, from a 7 year famine. Our Psalm 105:16-22 recalls God’s purposes behind Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt. The remaining chapters of Genesis deal with Joseph’s trials while enslaved; his rise to power through keeping his eyes on God; and his brothers’ journeys to repentance, reconciliation and faith.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the two lessons that teach us how to live:

A. Paul wants us to be sure we understand that is not by following the rules of religion that we are saved—but rather by having a personal relationship with Jesus. He famously states in verses 9-10 (NLT)-→If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. And he further adds in verse 13-→For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We are saved by our faith in Christ. We are saved by keeping our eyes on Jesus and His Cross.

B. And this precious and exceedingly important fact is demonstrated by Peter in today’s Gospel text, Matthew 14:22-33. Recall that Jesus wanted to go away somewhere private to pray, but was prevented from doing so by the crowds following Him. Now He has healed all the sick, taught them the wisdom of God, and even miraculously fed them. Then he sends the crowds away and the disciples to their boat, and he goes up into the hills to pray most of the night. The disciples encounter heavy seas in a storm, just as Jesus returns to them on the water. Peter wants to walk on water too, so he asks Jesus to allow this, which he does. Peter does fine as long as he keeps his eyes on the Lord. He starts to sink as soon as he puts his eyes on his circumstances. Perhaps the heavy winds had not yet diminished; perhaps the huge waves had not yet calmed. Once Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, he sinks. But he is saved from drowning when Jesus reaches out and clasps his hand.

This is such a great reminder for all of us: Keep our eyes on the Lord, not on the circumstances that either frighten us or frustrate us. We are safe in His hands. We are safe in His care. No circumstance in which we dwell is too great for Him . He heals; He provides (jobs, peace, financial well-being, family unity, etc.); He saves; He blesses; He either helps us overcome adversity, or He helps us persevere through it. God saved Jacob, and his unruly sons, so they might see and be reunited once again with Joseph. In the meantime, he molded and reformed their characters. Jacob drew closer to the Lord in his faith. Joseph’s brothers grieved their sins and experienced being forgiven—a lesson for next week. Again, the life lesson is for us to keep our eyes on the Lord.

When I was in seminary, my best buddy and I—a woman named Amanda from Chicago—heard about a church south of Sarasota with a powerful healing ministry led by the Rev. Sharon Lewis. Our field worksite church paid for us to attend a weekend healing conference there to learn what they were doing. After having met up with my brother (who lived near there), I had come back to the room we shared on Saturday night to find Amanda asleep. At about 4am, I awoke to hear her weeping. When I asked what was wrong, she told me she was sure she would never be ordained. Now I knew her pretty well, and had observed her over time, so I was clear she was called to be a pastor. But I think the Holy Spirit must have inspired me to tell her to not pay any attention to what men or women said to her about it, but to keep her eyes on the Cross of Jesus. I said she should not look to the left or to the right, but to look to Jesus alone. She calmed down and we were able to get back to sleep. The next day, we attended the Sunday communion service. When Amanda stepped up to receive the bread, Pastor Lewis said to her, “You are not to look to the left or to the right, but to keep your eyes on Christ .”—almost verbatim what I had said earlier that morning. We both took that to mean she would eventually be ordained (and she was).

I attended a wedding in Gainesville, Florida, yesterday that was just awesome. The precious daughter of my son’s best male friend (from age 3 to college), Kaiti, had taken a gap year between high school and college. She worked with a youth missions agency that sent her to Jerusalem. While there, she met a fellow named Sterling from Colorado. They became friends and talked for hours about their faith in Christ. During this time, she came down with covid and was quarantined. Sterling brought her snacks and notes daily. They continued to correspond when he returned to Colorado and she went off to begin college in Pittsburgh. Their friendship grew into love during their four year, long-distance relationship, culminating in yesterday’s lovely and deeply heart-felt ceremony. The church was packed. Their precious relationship is truly a testimony to what can happen when God provides the foundation for a marriage. They both kept their eyes on the Lord and their example ministered to each of us who attended.

In the days ahead, and always, let us keep our eyes on the Lord. Watch and see what He will do. Amen.

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Sowing God’s Word

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 12, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 25:19-34; Ps 65, Ro 8:1-11; Matt 13:1-9, 18-23

The story is told of a pig farmer:

“A woman was visiting a farm and saw a pig hobbling around with a wooden peg for a hind leg. Intrigued, she asked the farmer what happened. The farmer beamed with pride: “That is an amazing pig! Last month, a fire broke out [in our home], and that pig ran into the burning house, woke up the sleeping family, and carried the baby to safety!” Shocked, the woman asked, “But what about the wooden leg?” The farmer shook his head and replied, “Well, a pig that special… you don’t eat him all at once!”

(Borrowed from www.sermonillustrations.com, 7/8/26)

I repeat this story because we live in an agricultural area, though none of our farmers would be this foolish. Jesus, too, lived in an agricultural area, and often told parables based on the experiences folks in a rural area might have found familiar. Our Gospel lesson (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23) presents one such story.

Now the context for this parable—The Farmer Scattering Seed”–is that Jesus has turned His attention away from Israel and is now focusing on drawing believers from among the gentiles who lived near the Jews. Matthew reports that He (v.1)-→left the house [of Israel] and sat beside the sea [symbolic of the Gentile nations]. Our Lord was turning toward the world, toward us. In His story, the sower is Jesus (or us), the seed is the Word of God, and the field is the world.

(J.Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Matthew, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.177.)

Jesus describes 4 environments into which the farmer’s seed lands:

(1) Some falls on the path, where the soil has been compacted over time so the seed does not germinate. Birds come along and eat it up. Later, Jesus will explain that the birds in this case represent Satan. People with hardened hearts will not take in, understand, or continue to respond to God’s Word. (2) Some seed will fall on rocky ground and not develop deep roots. These folks will drop out as Christ followers when they experience personal problems or persecution.

We could say their baby faith is choked out by the demands of their flesh. (3) Other seed lands in among weeds, competing for the same nourishment. Their spiritual development is stunted by the cares and concerns of the culture.

We could call this the seductions of the world. So the world, the flesh, and the devil pull many away from following Jesus. (4) The 4th environment is the best-→Hearers of God’s Word accept it, develop in their faith, and lead others to Jesus.

We want to be this 4th type of environment, having hearts in which the Gospel takes root. And we even bring others to Christ, through the word of our testimonies—that is, how knowing Jesus has changed our lives (and how we live our lives)–and by the blood of the Lamb. This is an active, resilient faith.

Our other passages this morning also speak to the need for a resilient, trusting faith in response to God’s Word.

A. In Romans 8:1-11, Paul continues to emphasize that we believers cannot overcome sin (the urges of our carnal bodies/minds) on our own. Remember last week, at the end of Chapter 7, he bemoans (v.24, NLT)-→Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Our old natures are carnal, riddled with and controlled by sinful impulses. And our new natures have no power to help us overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. He concludes that being yoked to Jesus will empower us, though the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. He uses the word sanctification 19 times in this chapter alone. He’s talking about becoming holy and more like Jesus. Now none of us but Jesus is perfect, so holy in this context means the opposite of carnal, set apart for God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit delivers us from the power of sin over us, And the Holy Spirit assists us to perform God’s will in us. The Holy Spirit acts like a booster rocket that helps us escape sin’s gravitational pull. 

(McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Romans, 1991, p.141).

This is why Paul can exclaim in verse 1 (NLT)→So now there is now condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation for believers because our sinless Lord Jesus became sin for us and atoned for all of our sins—past, present and future–on the Cross. The Holy Spirit wants to help us become the best we can be, this side of Heaven. The Holy Spirit wants us to develop a strong, unshakable faith in Jesus Christ so that we can sow God’s word by our deeds as well as with our speech.

B. Our Psalm (65) is a prophetic psalm of praise concerning Jesus’ majestic return at the end of time. At that time, He will restore Israel.

Thus, we should praise and revere God both for His almighty power and for His merciful care of the universe. Verses 1-4 focus on His forgiving nature; verses 5-8 extol His power; and verses 9-13 praise Him for His marvelous provision.

Recognizing these facts reiterated in this psalm, we can partner with God in sowing God’s Word among nonbelievers.

C. Finally, we have the examples, from Genesis 25:19-34, of several types of soil into which God’s word was sown: First we see that Isaac and Rebekah experienced infertility for 20 years! Rebekah, like Sarah, Isaac’s mother, was barren, which would have been very difficult for them for several reasons:

(1) Remember, before Rebekah had left her home to marry Isaac, her parents had prayed that she would be “the mother of thousands” (Gen. 24:60).

No doubt the couple had great expectations, which made her barrenness all the more disappointing. They probably thought, “If we’re going to fulfill God’s plan of forming a great nation, we need to start popping out kids yesterday!” Additionally, women in that culture were expected to birth children in order to preserve the family name; develop a workforce; and provide for the care of elderly grandparents and parents (they had no nursing homes!).

But notice Isaac’s response to their disappointment: He prayed for his wife to conceive. Isaac is a man of faith—he had been good soil. Similarly, Rebekah conceives, then when she becomes alarmed over the turbulence in her womb, she takes her concerns to the Lord as well. God speaks to her and tells her she is carrying twins who will be very different from one another, fraternal twins. We know from modern research that identical twins—even if raised separately– often think the same way, like the same things, and dress the same way—but not these two! The firstborn, ESAU’s name meant hairy; he later was called EDOM=red due to his lusting after red stew. He became the father of the Arabs. God said his descendants would be more numerous., and that he would be a skillful hunter, an athletic outdoorsman. He also become Isaac’s favorite.

The 2nd twin, JACOB was named heel-grabber; another accurate but unfortunate meaning of his name was deceiver. He would become a quiet, contemplative man, his mother’s favorite, and God will have his elder brother serve him because the Lord determined that Jesus will be descended from Jacob’s line.

As the boys grow and develop, we see their characters diverge as well. 

Esau proves to be a man driven by his fleshly appetites and the seductions of the evil one. We could equate him with rocky ground. He gives little thought to God. Trading his birthright for one meal proves his lack of spiritual depth and wisdom—short term gain for long term pain. His birthright would have entitled him to the inheritance of the first born (twice what Jacob would have received).

It also would have made him head and priest of his family.

Jacob seems the more godly of the two—until he defrauds his brother. He must have coveted the birthright, but was unwilling to wait on God to provide it for him. He takes the matter into his own hands, ripping off his own brother (Rev. Jack Miller would have termed this pernicious self-reliance).

It would seem he resembles the weedy, worldly ground in that whatever faith he had was choked out by worry and ambition, and Satan’s seductions.

These twin brothers represent a lesson/example in how not to respond to God’s Word. As we shall see in the Jacob narratives in the weeks to come, Jacob does go on to develop a deep, abiding faith in the Lord, but only after he has suffered for his deceit and his willfulness. His mother’s brother, Uncle Laban, is one of the means God uses to accomplish this transformation. A night spent wrestling with the pre-incarnate Jesus will bring him to his knees. And his grief over losing his beloved Rachel and his favorite son, Joseph, will complete his surrender to God.

Let’s hope that each of us will come to Jesus with less trauma and drama. Let’s save ourselves a lot of heartache, and behave like we are good soil, that we know to praise God for His grace and provision; that we cooperate with all attempts of the Holy Spirit to bring us into step with Jesus; and that like Isaac and Rebekah we take all our concerns to Christ, trusting in Him to act of our behalf.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Transformed by Love

 Pastor Sherry’s message for July 5, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 24:34-67; Ps 45:10-17; Ro 7:14-25a; Matt 11:16-19, 25-30

I read the following story the other day and was pretty amazed by its content:

“A couple of weeks ago [in 1977] Eldridge Cleaver was telling me about his days as a Black Panther. He said that while he was a Black Panther, he was filled with a terrible, roiling feeling of hatred and violence against any law enforcement agency [and against Whites].. He couldn’t help himself. Every time he would get with them he would feel this terrible sense of anger and murderous rage within him. It made him the leader of the Black Panthers, the violent militants of the early 60s.

“But a year or so ago [around 1976] , in the south of France, in a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, he had a vision, an inner view of the face of Jesus Christ, coming out of his boyhood to him. It drove him to reading the scriptures. He read Psalm 23 over and over again. He said that ever since that time on the balcony, he never had a feeling of hatred again. He has looked for it and expected it but instead there has been a feeling of love for everyone he meets.”

(Sermon by Ray C.Stedman, “The Night is Nearly Over,” 4/10/77, as cited in www,ThePastor’sWorkshop.com, 7/2/26.)

How many of you remember the Black Panthers? I was a newly minted high school social studies teacher when I first encountered a Black Panther in 1970. I was entertaining a small group of seniors at my home, serving them sodas and cookies. One of my favorites, an African American named Valerie, brought her older brother, Kenneth along. Kenneth told me he was a member of the Black Panthers, so I asked him what they were about. He told me they hated white people and had sworn to kill them. Now I was only 22 at the time—so I cannot claim I had developed much wisdom and discernment—but I sat there digesting what he said and wondered, “What’s wrong with this picture?” So, I said to him, “Kenneth, do you mean to tell me you are in my home, eating refreshments I have set out for you, and enjoying my hospitality, but you intend to murder me?” I was asking him to help me understand because that just made no sense to me. He thought it through and admitted he had no animosity towards me personally (praise God!). His sister, my student, later told me he had dropped out of the movement shortly after our dialogue. In a similar vein, I was heartened to hear that Eldridge Clever encountered Christ 20 years before he died in 1998.

Our Scripture lessons today all comment on the transformational power of love:

A. In our OT passage, Genesis 24:34-67, we read of the love story between Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac, Abraham’s “child of promise,” born to him when Abe was 100YO, is now about 40. It’s almost beyond time for him to marry. Abraham calls forth his loyal and trusted steward, Eliazar, and sends him to Haran to locate a bride from his extended family.

Eliazar, arriving in Haran, prays to Abraham’s God to ask for a sign so that he might recognize God’s choice of a bride for Isaac. The sign is that the young woman will give him water and offer to water his camels. Watering the live stock (and the household) was a task delegated to women in those days. We know that camels are uniquely qualified for that arid climate in that they can go long distances without requiring additional water. Apparently each one can take in about 200-300 gallons of water at a time (weighing about 2085 pounds!) (See New Living Translation of the Bible, p.38.) Imagine how long this would take and how many times a young woman would have to dip up buckets full of water to fill up 10 camels. It’s a “big ask,” but Rebekah takes it on.

Eliazar goes home with her to ask for her hand in marriage for Isaac. She probably overhears the wedding negotiations—they lived in tents, so eavesdropping was pretty easy–and is intrigued by Isaac’s miraculous birth, the fact that God saved him from being sacrificed, and that the family is very wealthy. Her brother Laban (the same one who will eventually cheat her son, Jacob) tries to forestall her departure, but she is willing to leave immediately (Smart girl! No telling what that wiley man was up to!). After days on the road, she sees Isaac at a distance, and literally falls for him (the Hebrew implies she fell off her camel at the sight of him). And Isaac falls in love with her as well-→beautiful love story!

She becomes a beloved bride, and Isaac is comforted by her when his mother, Sarah, dies.

B. Our Psalm (45:10-17) describes the love of the princess bride (Rebekah) for her prince (Isaac). It’s actually a maschil [instruction] psalm, and a love song, predicting the love of Christ’s bride, the Church, for our Messiah, Jesus. Verses 1-9 deal with Jesus’ person and kingly power at His 2nd Coming.

But the portion we read this morning deals with the Bride: Verses 10-11 read-→Listen to me, O royal daughter, take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away [Rebekah]. For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord. It also predicts Jesus’ delight in His bride, the Church, but the “nearer fulfillment” probably refers to Rebekah and Isaac. Nevertheless, both the near and the far fulfillments speak to the transformational power of love.

C. I don’t know about you, but I feel a great sense of relief to know Christ’s love is transformational! As Paul points out in Romans 7:14-25a, we appear to caught in a horrible dilemma: We love Jesus and want to please/obey him, but our old fleshly natures keep on dragging us/clawing us back into sinful behaviors. YIKES! It’s true, isn’t it?!! We do the very thing we really don’t want to do, and we don’t do the thing we want to do, the thing we know would please Jesus. Paul writes, (NIV v.24)-→What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Poor Paul and poor us! Then, knowing the answer, he goes on to say (v.25)-→But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

D. Jesus provides us with the antidote to our sinful natures in the Gospel lesson from Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. First, though, He points out that we are doubled-minded, exactly as Paul contends in Romans 7. We don’t know what to do—weddings vs. funerals—and we don’t know how to discern properly, both with regard to John the Baptist, nor to Jesus. As Jesus’ half-brother, James will go on to write (NIV,1:8)-→…[a double-minded man is] unstable in all he does. Again, we do what we don’t want to do and can’t seem to make ourselves do what we know we should do.

Jesus’ loving solution for us begins in verse 28 (NLT)-→Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. That’s where our transformation begins. We have to stop trying to do things in our own power and take our burdens to Jesus. He goes on to say (v.29)–>Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. We are to surrender to Jesus, becoming yoked to Him. He then promises us to teach us (He’s currently in Heaven, but He will teach us through His Holy Spirit.) If we can take in His lessons for us, we will find rest, because (v.30)-→…My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. When we pull in the same direction He is going, the going is both easy and light.  He is our burden-bearer. His help and His love make what frustrates both us and Paul less difficult and more doable.

It all really comes down to obedience, doesn’t it? But we are not being obedient to Someone who will abuse us. Nor are we capitulating to a cosmic killjoy! We are allowing ourselves to be mentored or tutored by the Lover of our Souls! Because of His great, transforming love for us, He will truly bless us!

Jesus’ great love for Him transformed Eldridge Cleaver’s murderous hatred into love. If we are yoked to Christ, we can let go of hatred, rage, jealousy, a desire for revenge, the need to gossip, addictions of all sorts, and that carnal body of flesh that Paul bemoans. The love of Jesus truly transforms people if we will allow Him to work in each of our hearts.

Consider the example of Fred Stallard:

“Turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Even his teacher, Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen — as she placed Xs beside his many wrong answers. If only she had studied his records more carefully. They read:

1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation.

2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home.

3rd grade: Ted is good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.

4th grade: Ted is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest whatsoever.

“Christmas arrived. The children piled elaborately wrapped gifts on their teacher’s desk. Ted brought one too. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch Tape. Miss Thompson opened each gift, as the children crowded around to watch. Out of Ted’s package fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half of the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The children began to snicker. But she silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist, and letting them smell it. She put the bracelet on too.

“At day’s end, after the other children had left, Ted came by the teacher’s desk and said, “Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother. And the bracelet looks real pretty on you. I’m glad you like my presents.” He left. Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her and to change her attitude.

“The next day, the children were greeted by a reformed teacher — one committed to loving each of them. Especially the slow ones. Especially Ted. Surprisingly — or maybe, not surprisingly, Ted began to show great improvement. He actually caught up with most of the students and even passed a few.

“Time came and went. Miss Thompson heard nothing from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received this note:

Dear Miss Thompson:

I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my [high school] class.

Love, Ted

Four years later, another note arrived:

Dear Miss Thompson:

They just told me I will be graduating first in my [college] class. I wanted you to be first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it.

Love, Ted

And four years later:

Dear Miss Thompson:

As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year.

“Miss Thompson attended that wedding, and sat where Ted’s mother would have sat. The compassion she had shown that young man entitled her to that privilege.”

(Jon Johnston, Courage – You Can Stand Strong in the Face of Fear, 1990, SP Publications, pp. 111-113..)

This lovely story demonstrates so clearly the transformative power of Christ-like love. This week, let us be mindful of seeing others through the eyes of Jesus and loving others as Christ loves us. Amen! 

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Let God Be God

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 10, 2026

Scriptures: Acts 17:22-34; Ps 66:8-20; 1 Pet 3:13-22; Jn 14:15-21

I came across the following list on the internet this week:

“Why God Will Never Get Tenure At Any University:

1. Only published one book.

2. It was in Hebrew.

3. It had no references [footnotes or citations from other sources].

4. He did not publish it in referenced journals.

5. Some doubt He even wrote it Himself.

6. He is not known for His cooperative work.

7. Sure, He created the world, but what has He done lately?

8. He did not get permission from any review board to work with human subjects.

9. When one experiment went awry, He tried to cover it up by drowning all the subjects.

10. When sample subjects do not behave as predicted, He deletes the whole sample.

11. He rarely comes to class and just tells His students to read the Book.

12. It is rumored that He sometimes lets His Son teach the class.

13. Although He only has 10 requirements, His students often fail His tests.

14. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.”

(Source unknown)

I wonder if the author of this list was a believer. It doesn’t seem like it, does it? If the list is meant to be tongue-in-cheek humor, it puts us in the position of negatively judging the Great High God of the Universe! Speaking humbly, who are we to do that? What would make any human bold enough to believe we are justified in thinking we know better than our Creator and our Redeemer? Frankly, as Job learned, judging God is above our pay grade, isn’t it?

If we are going to let God be God, without our interference–which is hard for many to do—we have to allow Him to reveal Himself to us as He is, not as we might like Him to be. We have to take Him at His Word (made flesh, Jesus—the face of God the Father–and written, the Bible). My daughter and I had a friend in Pittsburgh named Mrs. Wilson. She told me that she was a Christian but she also believed in reincarnation. Like many, she thought she could pick the most appealing aspects of the world religions and decide what she liked best, thus fashioning her own religion. But if we make up our own god, and the rules through which he operates, then who is god? Reincarnation is a Hindu concept whereby if we don’t learn in one lifetime what the multitude of gods want from us, we come back after death as another life form to try again. This goes on and on until we finally get it right. She thought this idea was delightful until I asked her what she would do if she were reincarnated as a rat or a cockroach. Hinduism is a “works’ righteousness” religion, in which believers are responsible for their own salvation. She was a non-practicing Catholic who didn’t realize we can’t save ourselves—we all need a Savior to do it for us. So I gently asked her, “Mrs. Wilson, why would you want to go through all that risk and all that work when Jesus Christ has already won salvation for you?”

I think this is what Paul was getting at in our Acts 17:22-31 lesson.

He’s in Athens, at the Parthenon on the highest hill in the city, and he notices all the altars the Greeks have to their many gods. Built in 500 BC, it was originally dedicated to Athena (after whom the city was named), the goddess of wisdom, the arts, literature, and war. In Paul’s day, it contained altars to all the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon. It was also the place to which Greek philosophers came to debate and discuss the great ideas of their day. Paul noticed they had also included one altar to “An Unknown God.” Were they hedging their bets? Trying to appeal to any god they hadn’t yet discovered? Paul wisely went on to tell them they were “too religious”—too caught up in their own ideas about god without knowing the One True God. He identified their unknown God as Jesus Christ and tells them he both knows of Him and knows Him. He tells them, essentially, that when he came to believe in Christ, he lost many of his ideas about religion.

He wants them (and us) to let Jesus Christ be the One and Only God in their lives. He tells them that God created everything (v.24); that He meets all of His own needs and does not live in man-made temples (v.25); that, in fact, He gave us life and we are His children. He asserts that In Him we live and move and have our being (v.28). He means that we should all have a relationship with Him, as He is, as He has revealed Himself to us. He cautions them to realize that prior to Jesus’ incarnation, God(v.30)…overlooked peoples’ ignorance…but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him [meaning Jesus, the One He raised from the dead].

And He warns them that this God, Jesus, (v.28) is not an idol—He is real! He want us to repent of our sins and turn to Him. As the judge of all humans, He will one day return to earth to evaluate how well they (and we) have obeyed Him.

The Greeks of Paul’s day did not believe in a resurrection—this was a critical tenet of their religion. So some of them laughed at Paul, rejecting what did not agree with their religious notions. But others, including Dionysius, an influential man, and Damaris, a woman, believed him, and accepted Jesus then and there as their Lord and Savior. These two, and hopefully others, were willing to let God be God. This means letting go of what they (and we) may have held as treasured human concepts (like Mrs. Wilson’s fascination with reincarnation), and taking our God as He is, as He has revealed Himself to be.

Our Psalm (66:8-20) is one of thanksgiving, both as a community of faith and as individual believers. We thank God for historically protecting His people, testing us, purifying us, ransoming us from slavery in Egypt (or bondage to sin), and for showing us the way forward. We also individually thank Him for hearing our prayers and for answering us.

Even in Old Testament times, this psalmist knew God answers the prayers of those who confess their sins. If we don’t experience God answering our prayers, it could be because we come to Him as unrepentant sinners. I was in my early 40’s before I realized that the Lord had answered one of my prayers. He had not saved a baby I lost at 5.5 months into the pregnancy; nor did He put my damaged marriage back together. But as my mother lay dying in the ICU from cirrhosis of the liver (she had been a long term alcoholic), I began to pray at her bedside that the Lord would forgive her of her sins and take her home to be with Him. I asked the nursing staff if a Catholic priest had been called, as she had converted to Catholicism back when I was a teen. They called for an anonymous fellow from the Orlando phone book. When he arrived and began to ready himself to pray over her and anoint her, he asked me where I lived (Tallahassee, Florida, at the time), and shocked me when he said he had daughters who lived there. It turns out he was an Episcopal priest who had been accepted into the Roman Catholic religion and was able to remain married to his wife and connected to his children. He said at that time (1988), he was one of only 7 such priests in the country! I realized shortly thereafter that the Lord had sent an Episcopalian for me (my denomination then) who was a Catholic for my mother. She died about 45 minutes after he ministered to her. Prior to 1988, I had not lived a very Christian life style. I was not in the habit of keeping short sin accounts with the Lord. But I had learned to do so by then. If we are going to let God be God, we might want to preface all our prayers with an admission of and repentance for the ways we have offended God.

The Gospel lesson this morning is from John 14:15-21. In this particular passage, Jesus teaches His disciples about the Holy Spirit. (V.16) He is our Advocate, like a defense attorney who will always be there for us. (V.17) Another of His jobs is to lead us into all truth. If you don’t know how to interpret a passage of Scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to open up its meaning for you. If you don’t know who to believe when the news differs from reporter to reporter, ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern who is speaking the truth. The Holy Spirit is God’s still, small voice, speaking wisdom to us in any situation. Jesus wants us to know, however, that our ability to hear from the Holy Spirit depends on our being obedient to His commandments. Just as with Psalm 66, if we are letting God be God, we demonstrate our love for Him by our obedience to Him.

Finally, in our New Testament reading from 1 Peter 3:13-22, the Apostle wants us to remember our Christian lives will not always be smooth—and he should know! As with Peter, the Lord tests us through trials and hard times. He is present with us during our suffering, but He never agrees to always protect us from it-→someone has wisely said, “He invites us to a banquet, not a picnic.”

(J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on 1st Peter, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.16.)

Peter wants us to (v.15)-→worship Christ as Lord of your life….if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember It is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, then to suffer for doing wrong! Someone else has opined, “The answer is yes, Lord; now what’s the question?”.

(J. Fairless and D. Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, 2013, p.120.)

May we always let God be God, and trust in Him, even when things are not going well in our lives. May we also frequently confess our sins and remain in right relationship with Him. Amen, may it be so!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Important Questions

Pastor Sherry’s message for 4/19/26

Scriptures: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Pet 1:17-23; Lk 254:13-35

Those of you who have had children probably remember the stall tactics they used to delay their bedtime. They would need another story; a drink of water; one more trip to the bathroom; their favorite plush toy (Heaven forbid if it has been misplaced!); one more hug and kiss; maybe another person or thing to pray for….When my now 51 year old son was a little guy, he had to ask one more “questing,” meaning he had one more question for me to answer before he would close his eyes. It worked pretty well until I caught on that it was less about a need to understand the world than to delay sleep. At this point I began to say, “One more questing,” or “No more questings tonight.”

All of our Scripture readings today present important questions and their answers. Let’s search them out together:

A. I have always loved today’s Gospel lesson from Luke 24:13-25.

These two sad and disappointed followers of Jesus are walking home from Jerusalem, so distressed about the fact that their Lord has been crucified.

Without realizing His identity, they encounter the risen Christ on the road and He asks them, (v.17)-→What are you discussing so intently as you walk along? In other words, What are you talking about? (or What are you worrying about?) Now, Jesus is God, right? As the Omniscient One, He would of course know they are skeptically talking about the claims that He has been resurrected. They have not seen Him for themselves so they don’t yet believe that He is alive.

Then they essentially ask Him this humorous question: Are You the only one in all of Jerusalem who has not heard the improbable stories that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead? Poor folks! They don’t realize Who they are talking to. So then He takes them on a trip though all the Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah’s death and resurrection. What a Bible Study that must have been! Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there to hear Jesus explain how He fulfilled all that had been prophesied about Him.

Notice when they finally discern Who He is: It was when He blessed and broke the bread at supper….He, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Heaven, was showing them that He had to be broken on the Cross to redeem us from our sins.

The Important Question, for them was, What (or Who) are you talking about? They were skeptical about the reports that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. And He proved to them that He had. Christ asked the important question and He answered it. Blaize Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician (1623 – 1662) once said, “Human knowledge must be understood to be believed, but divine knowledge must be believed to be understood” (McGee, Luke, p.300)

B. A second very important question is asked by Holy Spirit inspired new believers and answered by Peter in Acts 2:36-41. In this continuation of his famous sermon on Pentecost morning–when 3,000 were led to Christ—Peter proclaims v. 36, NLT)-→So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, Whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah! The minds and spirits of many in his audience were convinced by his testimony. Scripture says (v.37)-→Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

What a great question! If we believe Jesus is Who He said He was—God Almighty—what should be our answer? Peter spells it out: First, repent of all your sins; second, be baptized; and, third, receive the Holy Spirit, Hopefully, each one of us here has done exactly that. If not, please speak to me after the service so we can remedy that.)  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the people ask the important question and Peter answers it.

C. Then Peter goes on to add in his letter (1 Peter 1:17-23) the following–as if he is still answering, “What should we do? He said we should live reverently, daily, hourly, keeping in our minds on the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself for us. In v.19, he coins the phrase-→…the precious blood of Christ—we are washed clean of our sins by Jesus’ precious blood. We tend not to think of blood cleaning up anything. But God set it up such that our sins could only be washed away by the death, the blood of some animal—like a lamb, a calf, a bull, or even some birds. Something had to die to atone for our sins.

Peter proclaims that Jesus was and is (vv.19-20) …the sinless, spotless, Lamb of God…God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake. He goes on to say that because of Christ’s great love for us, we should pass that love on to others; and we should spend time in God’s word, the Bible, getting to know our Lord more intimately.

What should we do? is obviously in Peter’s mind a very important question. So he asks it and answers it.

D. Finally, our Psalm (116:1-4, 12-19) asks the question, What can I offer the Lord for all He has done for me?” In verses 1-2 the composer writes🡪I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live. Whoever wrote this psalm was a person in distress who chose to call upon the Lord for help. He or she believed the Lord did hear and did help. So this psalmist composed this love song to God—it is actually a hymn of Thanksgiving.

As the psalmist teaches us, we respond to God with praise; by keeping our promises to Him; by submitting to His will for us; and by offering to Him gifts of thanksgiving (like tithes and acts of service). We respond with love for Him because He replies to our heartfelt prayers.

The truth is that God needs nothing from us. He has created the universe. He lives in constant loving fellowship with the other two members of the Trinity. He meets His own needs! The best gifts we can give God are our love for and our faith in Him. Other great gifts we can offer Him are our gratitude and praise.

So, the important questions/”questings” in our passages today are the following:

1.) Who are we talking about? Do we really know Jesus? Would we have believed He had risen back then? Do we today?

2.) Realizing He has risen and is alive, What should we do? St. Peter advises us to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. He also says we should live into Easter, allowing the knowledge that He died and rose again lead us into lives that are transformed/changed, becoming more Christlike. Love others, even if they aren’t very likable—because Christ died for them too. And work on drawing closer to Jesus through Bible reading.

3.) And What can we offer the Lord for all that He has done for us?

Consider the following story:

A man dialed a wrong number and got the following recording: “I am not available right now, but I thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”

(Borrowed from www.Ministry127.com, 4/16/27)

The truth is that all these important questions invite us to change. Isn’t it true that we often think of important questions we want to ask God? I have a whole list of questions I want to ask Jesus, St. Paul, King David, Old Testament Joseph, and Mary, Jesus’ mother when I get settled into heaven. If you are like me, we tend to think of what we want to ask the Lord rather than the questions the Lord wants to ask us. Because we believers are covered by Christ’s righteousness, God the Father, at the judgment seat is probably going to ask us how well we did at loving others and how we used the gifts He gave us in service to Him and humankind.

What other important questions might God ask of us? Our lectionary editors today chose several passages for us in which our God—through followers inspired by Him—asks important question of us. How do you intend to respond?

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Good Friday Meditation

Pastor Sherry’s message for 4/13/2026, 

Scriptures: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; John 18:1-40.

Some years ago, I provided some psychological (as a licensed psychologist) and spiritual (as an ordained pastor) training at a nearby Christian residential treatment center for those suffering from mental health issues or addictions. In response to something I said, one young man wanted to know what made me think Christianity is superior to any other of the great world religions. The treatment center is avowedly Christian, so I was surprised that he appeared to believe that Jesus is just like any other religious figure, one among equals. I also soon realized he was less interested in discovering an answer and more committed to being provocative. I have to credit the Holy Spirit, but as I thought for a minute, He led me to say, “It is the only world religion in which God chose to die for His people.” That answer seemed to have caused him to think. I hope it also opened a way for him to draw closer to our Lord.

On Good Friday, today, we commemorate the day our God died. We say, “Christ died for us,” and that is true. Over 2000 years ago, on a hill just outside the city of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ—God in the form of a man–died on a cross. As Revelation 13:8 (NLT) tells us, He was…the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. In other words, this was not a “Plan B,” devised by the Trinity when it became evident that people could not, on their own, sustain an intimate relationship with a holy God. It had always been God’s plan that His Son would die as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all of us. At the Cross of Christ, we see our God at His most loving and at His best. We also see human beings at our worst. 

Our Scripture passages appointed for today are all appropriately solemn. The Apostle John’s “Passion Narrative” (please read it now) takes us through Jesus’ arrest; His trials before the former high priest, Annas, the current high priest, Caiaphas, and the Roman overlord, Pontius Pilate; then finally to His actual crucifixion. What is stunning in John’s account is how calm Jesus appears to be. We know He had been so stressed earlier that, as He prayed, He sweated blood. Now that His time had come, however, as a huge detail of men arrives to capture Him, He seems to be firmly in control. Twice He tells them who He is—“I Am He” (meaning He is God) almost prompting them to proceed. Though the lynch mob was armed, Jesus would not allow them to become violent toward His disciples. He even chastised Peter for cutting off Malchus’ ear and heals the damage. One would think this might have alerted them that Jesus is who He says He is, but they are so bent on destroying Him that they ignore that evidence. Instead, they tie Him up and haul Him off to see Annas.

Now Annas had displeased the Romans, so, though legally out of power, he nevertheless still operated as the chief religious broker of Jerusalem. Biblical scholars say he was both brilliant and evil. Many credit him with the final plan to eliminate Jesus. He has his troops wait until the cover of night, when all those who loved Jesus would be home sleeping. Annas interrogates Him and an official of some sort strikes Jesus for what he interprets as insubordination. Jesus challenges them honestly (verse 23, NLT) If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating Me? The most just and honest person in the crowd calmly but firmly reminds them that they—and this kangaroo court–are out of line. By Jewish law, no court trial could begin or be held at night. Additionally, no one could legally strike a person on trial without a verdict. Finally, Jewish Law prohibited sentencing a man on the day he was brought to trial. Annas then sends Jesus to Caiaphas, the Roman’s choice for “high priest” and Annas’ son-in-law (an early example of nepotism).

John reminds us in 11:50 that Caiaphas had previously said to the Sanhedrin—when they were plotting how to eradicate Jesus—You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. The puppet high priest did not realize then that he had spoken prophetically. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that by this point, He had totally recommitted to laying His life down for the sins of Israel and for us. Caiaphas and Annas find Jesus guilty of blasphemy because He honestly admitted He is the Son of God. They would have liked to have stoned Him, but the Romans forbade any other nation to invoke capital punishment but them. So Jesus is next sent to Pilate.

Pilate tries every which way to free Jesus: He knows the Jewish religious establishment is just jealous of Him. He has Jesus scourged (39 lashings with a whip, one lashing short of killing Him), hoping this will satisfy their blood-lust. He offers to set Him free, but hands Him over to be crucified when the Jews threaten to report to Caesar that Pilate has let a man go who claimed to be the king of the Jews. And so, trading the sinless Son of God for a murderous insurrectionist, the Jewish leadership has their way and Jesus is crucified. Ironically, the sign on His cross identifies Him as King of the Jews in three languages: Hebrew, the language of religion; Greek, the language of culture and education; and Latin, the language of law and order. The Jews want it reworded, but for once Pilate would not give in. 

Notice that John does not tell us much about the crucifixion. The soldiers gamble over who will get His clothes, and John relates three statements Jesus makes as He is dying: (1) He asks John to care for His Mother, Mary; (2) He says He is thirsty; and (3) He asserts, It is finished (meaning the work of salvation He was set to do is complete). Lastly we learn that Jesus’ body was removed and buried just before the Sabbath began at sundown.

All four Gospel writers were all rather circumspect about Jesus’ six hours on the Cross. They each highlight His dignity, but they did not want us to focus on the grusome details of His agony. J. Vernon McGee (Through the Bible Commentary on John, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.106) says the Father deliberately made darkness come over the land from noon until 3:00pm so that curious observers could not witness Jesus’ intense suffering. McGee writes so eloquently, “It was during that time of darkness when men could no longer do anything, the Son of God was working on the Cross. It was during those 3 hours in blackness that the Cross became an altar and the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, paid for the sins of the world.” Jesus was of course suffering from extreme physical torment, but also because He had taken on all the past, present, and future sins of the world, spiritual torture—as well as experiencing for the first time–being totally separated from His Father, emotional and cognitive anguish.

To get a sense of what the crucifixion was like, we have to turn to the Isaiah (52:13-53:12) and Psalm (22) lessons. The Isaiah lesson appointed for today (please read it now) is the 4th Suffering Servant Song. It is a Messianic prophesy, written about 700 years before the events actually transpired, but fulfilled perfectly by Jesus. It is a prediction of how Messiah would be treated prior to and during His execution. Isaiah tells us that Jesus will be raised high, lifted up (on the Cross), but also highly exalted (when it is all over). No one who viewed Him carrying His Cross would think this could ever be so. He will, in fact, startle the whole world—render them speechless—because it will be through the loss of all things that He gains all things.

To begin with, He looked ordinary, not model or movie star handsome. Isaiah foretold that He would be (v.3, NLT) :…despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief….He was beaten beyond recognition; pierced, crushed, oppressed, afflicted; executed in the worst possible way, like a common criminal, hanged between two true felons; and he died childless, cut off—a condition the Jews would have regarded as evidence of a tragic, futile existence. People will think He got what He deserved, but He didn’t: (vv.4-5, NLT) :Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Verse 9 tells us He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave. The Father will richly reward Him (v.11, NIV) :After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life [resurrection], and be satisfied…Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong.  In other words, God intends to reward Him as though He were a king sharing in the spoils of a great military victory. His rewards derive from having gone willingly to death and from having interceded with His body for our sins.

Psalm 22 (please read it now) reveals to us Christ’s thoughts from the Cross. He feels forsaken by His Father—even though the Father had been present with Him as He was arrested, subjected to His ludicrous trials, beaten, and nailed to the Cross. But the Father turned His back on Him when He became sin for us, from noon until 3:00pm. He admits to feeling like a worm. This was a specific type of worm, called a “Coccus,” which emitted a substance used to make red dye—symbolic of Jesus’ blood poured out for us. From the Cross, He feels surrounded by His enemies: The soldiers are the many bulls…the strong bulls of Bashon (a place where cattle were raised); His tormentors from the foot of the Cross (Scribes, Pharisees, the hostile Jewish mob) resemble (v.13) :roaring lions tearing their prey; and (v.16) :dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evil men has encircled Me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. Nevertheless, He trusts in the love of His Father.

Biblical scholars tell us Jesus fulfilled 28 prophesies of the Messiah from the Cross (McGee, p.159). We can recognize them from our Psalm and Isaiah readings. The sinless Son of God laid down His life for us, paying the penalty for our sins, clothing us in His righteousness, and reconciling us to God the Father. These sacred writings prove to us that Jesus—and only Jesus–was and is the Messiah, the Son of God. 

Psalm 30:5 says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. The only way to the joy of Easter is through the agony of Good Friday. In God’s economy, suffering often appears to precede satisfaction, trial comes before triumph, clouds before sunshine, rain before flowers. Today, let’s remember that salvation is free for humankind, but it cost God and Jesus everything! Let us remember our Lord today with gratitude and abiding love! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory—over sin and our death penalty–through our Lord, Jesus Christ! AMEN!  

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Pedaling in Tandem

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 25, 2026 

Scriptures: Amos 3:1-11; Ps 139:1-18; 1 Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-23

Think about the following stories and see if you can discern the point of each:

(1) The story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top of the hill. The front rider said, “That was a tough ride.” To which the second rider replied, “Sure was, and if I hadn’t kept the brake on we might have slipped backwards.””

Don’t you just know that the front rider was ready to scream at the guy in the back?

(2) “Intending to raise cattle, a family from New York bought a ranch out West. When their friends visited and inquired about the ranch’s name, the would be rancher replied: ‘I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one of our sons wanted the Flying-W, and the other liked the Lazy-Y. So we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.’ ‘But where are all your cattle?’ the friends asked. ‘None survived the branding.’”

(Story sources are unknown, Ministry 127.com, 1/20/2026) 

What’s the point of both stories? It’s important to come into agreement.The ranch family needed to agree on a brief name so their cattle weren’t killed. And the tandem two needed to agree to pedal without the brake on so their friendship wasn’t destroyed.

This is where the LORD, through our readings today, is directing us as a church. We are to be a united body focused on our Lord Jesus Christ:

A. This is what Paul is saying to the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18), isn’t it? They are feuding over which of their leaders/teachers is the best. They have split into factions based on who they favor most. It would be the same if you compared me to the pastors who came before me, or to pastors who have a TV ministry. I am so grateful that you don’t appear to do that. I’m different from all of them—just as they differ from me–and we each have our own special giftings from the Lord. Incidentally, please pray for my continued growth and spiritual maturation.

Our LORD wants each of us to grow and mature spiritually by (1) learning to put Jesus first in all we do—a tall order; (2) learning to love others at least as well as we do ourselves—also a tall order; and (3) by following or obeying Jesus, just like James, John, Andrew, and Simon Peter. We’re not here to compete with one another—like reading faster than anyone else, singing louder, or cooking more dishes to bring to church meals. We’re here to learn a kind of self-giving cooperation not seen enough in our world today. We are to celebrate the centrality, the incomparable importance, of Jesus Christ.

B. Psalm 139:1-18 conveys such a message of reassurance, doesn’t it? It makes the point that our God is omniscient (knows everything), omnipresent (is present everywhere) and omnipotent (is all-powerful). As a result, He knows us intimately our behaviors and our thoughts—even before we speak or write them. We don’t know how He does this, but we know that He does (v.6, NLT)->Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! (Isaiah 55:8-9, in the New Living Translation, says it this way: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”) It also means there is no place we can take ourselves that is beyond God’s awareness—i.e., there is no hiding from God! Wherever we go, God’s (v.10)->hand will guide me, and [His] strength will support me. He can even see us in the dark (vv.11-12).

Next, the psalm informs us that God created our bodies. It was He who decided our gender, our nationality, even the era during which we would live. If we have always hated the size of our hips, or the color of our hair, etc., we might do better to just accept that this is how the Lord meant us to be. The psalmist, King David, writes (v.14)-.Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous. He created us and watched us develop in the womb. 

Better yet, (v.16)-→Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. This is indeed blessed assurance! None of us need ever think we were an accident or that we should never have been born! God called each one of us into being. And our lives have meaning because He had a plan and purpose for us.

C. God’s plan and purpose for James, John, Andrew and Simon Peter was that they would follow Jesus and become fishers of men. In our Gospel lesson today, Matthew 4:12-23, we note that Jesus moved his base of operations from His hometown of Nazareth to Capernaum. This move was precipitated by the fact, as Luke records it, that His hometown friends and relatives rejected His claim (from His reading of Isaiah 61:1) to be the Messiah.

However, God the Father seems to have orchestrated events so that Jesus would locate in this fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was home to a large number of Roman citizens and folks from other countries—Gentiles all. And, since it was located on two major trade routes—one running East to West, and the other going North-South, connecting Arabia and Egypt to points north of Israel—it was large enough for Jesus to remain relatively anonymous as He interacted with many, and it fulfilled prophecies from Isaiah 9:1-2 and 42:6-7 that Jesus would be… a light to guide the [Gentile] nations.

It was here in Capernaum that He called His first 4 disciples. As He assembled and trained the 12, He cultivated deep relationships with them and sent them out to carry the light of His truth to Jews; and to rescue Gentiles from the darkness of paganism and unbelief.

D. Our Old Testament lesson from Amos 31-11 spells out two important concepts for us:

(1.) First, God is trustworthy and true. The prophet supplies 7 examples of cause and effect, including the following: Unlike the tandem bicyclers, two people who intend to walk together must be traveling in the same direction–not one braking while the other pedals as hard as he or she can. The hunting lion only roars after she has found her prey—if she roared before, the prey would be warned and run off. To trap a bird, the snare must hold some bait. The people of a city in those times realized there was danger approaching when the watchman blew the ram’s horn. The prophet is making the point that God is not capricious!If He punishes His Chosen People, He does so because they deserve it. Not only had they become idolaters, but (v.10)-→”My people have forgotten how to do right,” says the Lord. “Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence.” What do you think the Lord would say today about the $9 billion Somali immigrants who have defrauded American taxpayers? Or the $23 million by the California guy who was to have used the funds to feed and house 600 homeless? Instead, one man spent $23 million on his own lavish lifestyle.

(2.) Our God is a good and righteous Father. He definitely knows who the bad actors are. He provides a just punishment for their sins, and He furnishes consequences for their selfishness. Notice, like an effective parent, He also warns them of the punishments to come if they don’t alter their behavior.

I believe the messages the LORD has for us in our Bible passages today are as follows:

We are to focus on Christ Jesus—that’s part of God’s plan for our lives—and this fact should reduce conflict between us.

We can be comforted by the knowledge that each one of us was created by God to fulfill a plan and purpose He set out for us.

It is He Who has called us to be “a light to the nations,” a witness to unbelievers.

And, though He warns us beforehand, He also disciplines those He loves who stray away from His ways.

In his book, The Pursuit of God, Christian thinker and author A.W. Tozer (a Christian Missionary Alliance pastor from the 1920’2 to the 1960’s) wrote the following:

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

This is a powerful image—100 pianos all tuned to the same tuning fork, all in tune and all sounding the same. This is what we become when we worship in unity, focusing our hearts on our Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we are transformed when we pedal in tandem with Him.

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams