meals and mission

8/14/2019 Meals and Mission

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INTRODUCTIONS

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Because of time constraints, this will have to be limited to name along with a brief descriptionof my background. Ideally, we would have enough time to have everyone answer thequestion, Why are you here?


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Where did you have your

favorite meal?3


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How about authentic

American cuisine?5

It could be that you simply adore those out of the way places with their authentic Americancuisine. You might love the greasy spoon that only a select few know about. They serve abreakfast of eggs and hash browns to die for. Another popular choice is the icehouse. Youknow the one that I am talking about. It is out on the farm to market. It still lacks air

conditioning and uses all those garage doors along with a handful of shop fans to keep theplace cool during the summer. Here you go to for a hamburger with hand battered 1015onion rings. A long neck washes all of this down. Then there is that BBQ joint with the smellof mesquite permanently embedded into every inch of the building and probably every one ofits owners. You cannot go wrong if you try the brisket, ribs, or sausage and then grab aDublin Dr Pepper to go with the meal.


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How about home cooking?

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Maybe you are particular to home cooking. Nothing fancy for you. You know there is noreason to go out when you can get better food at home. Here in the south, this wouldtypically include lighter than air biscuits and butter along with chicken fried steak, mashedpotatoes, and it goes without saying gravy. Certainly, a Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings

is best when it is made at home. (This is for the men. You can decide who makes the bestmeals, your wife or your mother.)


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How would you describe

this event?7


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Emotionally charged

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Fine Dinning

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You might think that this way of dining has completely disappeared from the face of theearth, but you would be wrong. Come and enjoy the good life that still exists. The matre dwill greet you at the door. Walk in. Look at the luxurious linens that grace the table. See howthe fine china glistens in the candlelight. From the freshest food available, the chief has

carefully prepared today's menu. An ample wine menu is also available if you choose toenhance your dining pleasure. When the food comes to the table, you will first eat with youreyes because of the plates stunning presentation. What comes next is dicult to describebut rest assured that your palate will be pleased.


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Hidden Treasure

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Come very hungry and prepare to be amazed at what you will find here. Something in theatmosphere produces foods here that defy ordinary expectations. All by itself, the quantity offood makes it worthwhile to take a trip to this restaurant. But just you wait. The food is out ofthis world. That is not all. You will be surprised at the people you will see. Seated next to the

biker will be a high priced lawyer. They all come of one reason: good food.


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Home Cooking

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By nature, people are very passionate about home cooking. If you do not believe me, just askwho makes the best homemade bread, chili, or pecan pie. I am even willing to bet you that itwill be dicult to find two unrelated people that agree on who makes the best homemadefood. This diference of opinion seems to raise its ugly head during first weeks of a marriage.

Well, you do not feed me like my mother!


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How do we hear the Bible?

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These two diferent ways of looking at the world can also be applied to the way we read theBible.


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Using emotion

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Every part of our lives has been touched by storms. At work, we are worried about thefinancial troubles that surround the market and we wonder how much longer we can hold on.Our families face the same type of tempests. Forces right outside our houses threaten tochange our way of live. Children find many things that draw them away from home and

hearth. Parents want more and more. Obviously, our families are hurting.

Christ has experienced storms in His ministry and He knows just what to do. He will calmthem. Call out to Him and experience His peace. That is His gift to you: Peace in the middleof the worst storms of life.


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Cold Hard Facts

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It is not a particularly long trip from one side of the lake to the other since the distance isonly four and one-half miles. Normally, the boat that carried them would have been about 26feet long, 8 feet wide, and been able to hold 12 to 15 people. Jesus and the disciples were inthis sort of craft because He had been teaching the crowds all day long. At evening, Jesus

commanded them to go to the other side of the lake. Somewhere on the way, a great tornadolike storm struck the boat. This storm did not bother Jesus' sleep even though the discipleswere terrified. They woke Him and informed Him that they were about to die. He stood upand calmed the storm.

The Creator of the universe can control every aspect of His creation. That is why the stormobeyed Him. It knew its Creator. All of the is world under Christ's command. So, when

storms threaten you, remember that Jesus is the Lord of all.

Technical details from The Gospel of Matthew, Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Sacra Pagina, TheLiturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1991.


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Something is missing

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While it is very likely that you have heard both sermon styles during your time in the church,you will have to admit they both come up short. Additionally when we go back and carefullylook at the two diferent ways of explaining to someone else your favorite dining experience,the same problem occurs. Neither one is all that good.


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It just does not work.

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The basic reason for these shortcomings is that we want to base our faith on somethingcertain. We want something that we can experience or something that we can grasp with ourminds.


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How we got here.

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Gods Word

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The Bible is the foundation of conservative theology, thus all of the teachings of theScriptures must be completely free of any error for the conservative. All doctrine andtheology must be drawn from the Bible. The manner in which conservative theologians studythe Bible in turn causes the theologians to be cautious in changing any words in Scripture

since language is used to make precise statements about God. If any of the words werechanged, these changes would establish a new and diferent God.


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StrengthEverything is in complete agreement.

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Because this method of study places everything firmly on the Bibles foundation, both historyand science must both completely agree with the Bible. When history or science are not inagreement with the Bible, the conservative will work to either bring the diferences intoalignment with the Bible or they will mark the diferences as being incompatible with the

Word of God, thus these diferences must be false.


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WeaknessGod becomes just a force among forces.

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Modern physics research and theory teaches that everything in the universe can beunderstood by understanding the functioning of each individual part. A major theologicalproblem with this understanding is if physics gives an account of all actions, how can God actin creation?

Conservatives normally assume that God's supremacy includes the ability to override naturallaws. These laws of nature only indicate God's normal way of action in creation. Thus,miracles are both welcomed as signs of Gods power over creation and these miracles poseno problems to the conservative theology. However, conservative theology does not have agood defense against the argument that God is reduced to a force among forces.


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Experiencing God

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Liberal theologians favor the other starting point, experience. David Hume not only pointedout that a master designer was only one possible explanation of the origin of the universe buthe also argued that reason can never be used to support religion's understanding. Next,Friedrich Schleiermacher stated that the foundation for theology must be the feeling that is

universal in all religions and that this feeling must be available to every human. It is thesefeelings that must be used to examine all doctrine. Therefore, for liberal theologians,Scripture is not the foundation for theology.

Because of the approach of preferring experience, the preachers job is to translate theobsolete words, phrases, and ideas of the Bible into something that contemporary audiencescan understand and thus feel. This translation can also include the use of feminine language

for God.


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StrengthEverything is distinct.

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Since the foundation for liberals is experience, theology, history, and science do not have toagree between themselves since all three areas for liberals are completely distinct.


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WeaknessEverything is preordained.

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Baruch Spinoza's stated the conservative theory of God's actions in creation was self-contradictory since God cannot both create the laws and then break them. The liberalsexpanded on this work and they normally emphasize that God is in all natural laws and Godworks through these laws. In this theory, Gods intellect and power were used during creation

to accomplish everything that God desired to do. Since God has planned for every possibleoutcome, miraculous events are not needed. Thus, for a liberal theology miraculous eventsare discounted to the point of being ignored since these events are dicult to account for.

There are two problems with this liberal theology. First, since God has preordained allactions, every action is Gods will. Thus, God is just as responsible for the birth of Jesus andthe systematic murder of the Jews during World War II. A second problem is that since God

has given God's will to the natural laws, God does not need to be involved with creation. Wetherefore no longer have a God who interacts on our behalf; we have a God who does not careabout our situation.


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Why we are hereWe want certainty and not faith.

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The basic reason for this failure is that we want to base our faith on something certain. Wewant something that we can experience or something that we can grasp with our minds.

It is hard to believe that God wants us as an integral part of His story. That is why we

continually leave others and ourselves out of the work God does in the world. Trusting in theOne who makes and keeps promises is even more dicult than seeing our place. Instead ofbelieving God, we put our faith into something that we can understand, the facts and figuresfound in the Bible.


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People are leavingWe are not speaking the truth.

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Somehow people know something is wrong. They feel something is missing. In their minds,they go over the lists time and time again but it just does not add up.

The efects of not telling the whole story have been devastating. Across this country, families

are not raising their children in the faith. All over the US, adults stay away from Christianity.The destructive cycle continues for the next generation.

The results are easy enough to predict. Fewer people believe in God. The numbers in ourown tradition prove this. Since 1986, 200,000 fewer people worship God in the ELCA. From1970 to 2004, almost 900,000 children have left our Sunday education programs.


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What would trusting in God

look like? 27


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Taste and see

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O taste and see that the LORD is good. Psalm 34:8a


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Invite themTrust that God will work in them.

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There is another way to tell others about what you like. Bring them along. Trust that theymight have a good time. Invite them to come and eat with you.


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Theological IssuesFirst a definition

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Theology is nothing more than making accurate statements about our relationships betweenus and God, us and others, and between ourselves. When I wonder why the world is that waythat it is, I am making a theological statement. When I want to know how others feel, this isalso a theological inquiry. When I cannot come to grips over an issue, I am wresting with a

theological problem.


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Fundamental

Commandment 31Love God and your neighbor.

37 He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all yoursoul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second

is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang allthe law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with allyour mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is this, You shall love your neighbour asyourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31)

27 He answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself. (Luke10:27)


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There are no exclusions.

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Every bit of our existence is covered under the commandment to love God and others. Thiseven includes the strangers living among us and all of our enemies.

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