VBS 2016: Barnyard Bible Tales

4 Things We Should Learn from Jonah

A segment from Sunday's Sermon...   Posted due to popular demand.

Jonah ran from God's call, spent 3 days and nights in the belly of a big fish, went to preach to his enemies at Ninevah and the entire city repents. His odds are better than the most convicting preacher! Jonah should be ecstatic, but Jonah is mad. Mad as a June bug tied to a piece of string. He'll pull his own leg off flying away before he'll join this party.

This story is meant to be humorous, poking fun at a certain perspective of the world-- that there are good people and bad people and God loves the good and hates the bad. That there are categories so simplified, like an old Western movie, where the good guys wear white shirts and the bad guys wear black shirts and masks. But life and the world and people are more complex than that. And it is only God who knows just how complex.

What can we learn from Jonah today?

4 Things We Should Learn from Jonah 
   Themes borrowed from the words of A.A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh.

1.  You are braver than you believe.  Its never about the task itself. When we focus on how big the thing in front of us is, we forget to see how God has equipped us to tackle it.  Like the little girl who climbed a ladder one rung at a time, never looking down to see how high-- instead she shook from the top when she looked out at the view and down at all she accomplished.  It easy to stand at the bottom and shake in our boots.  Jonah could not stomach the thought of facing his enemies and chose instead to flea across the Mediterranean Sea.  Facing in the right direction, no matter the climb, it can all be boiled down to one foot in front of the other. 

2.  You are stronger than you look.  If, like Jonah, you can run in the opposite direction with every ounce of your being from what you should do or who you should be, you are strong enough to run full force in the direction of God's future for your life.  Stop wasting so much energy saying "no" to that tug on your heart.  Stop wasting so much time and breath telling God who you are and who you are not. If anyone knows what you are capable of, its God, the one who fearfully and wonderfully knit you together in your Mother's womb.

3. You are smarter than you think.   Too often we spend our time comparing ourselves to everyone around us-- they are so much smarter, they know more than we do, they are better liked by others, they always get a break.  You are who you are for a reason, and your life has purpose.  God used Jonah, even though the smart thing would have been to find someone more obedient (the first time).  God spared the Ninevites, even though the smart thing in Jonah's estimation was to destroy them.  God promises to equip us and give us the tools we need for our life's journey, smart is not our issue, as the phrase goes, "work smarter not harder."  It is time to look down and see what God has placed in your hands and on your heart.

4. You are loved more than you know. God's love and grace is always bigger than we imagine.  And God doesn't always follow the rules.  This was Jonah's big beef with God, God should have hated the Ninevites for all that reasons he hated them, and Jonah spent a lot of effort hating. There is no group of people, and no place, not even Nineveh, can properly be called God-forsaken. Thanks be to God that we are loved more than we can earn or deserve.

Now Hiring! Positions to be filled...

St. Paul UMC, Fountain City is seeking a part-time Music Director to lead the music program and direct the Chancel Choir, experience with Handbells is preferred but not required. Please submit a cover letter and resume to stpaulinfo@bellsouth.net, or call the office for additional details at 865-687-2952.

St. Paul UMC, Fountain City is seeking a part-time pianist/organist.  Responsibilities include accompanying the Chancel Adult Choir, and being the primary instrumental musician during Sunday morning worship.  Please send a cover letter and resume tostpaulinfo@bellsouth.net, or call the office for additional details at 865-687-2952.

 St. Paul UMC, Fountain City is seeking a nursery worker.  Responsibilities include: caring for children Sunday mornings from 9:00am-12:00pm.  Additional opportunities for work may be available with notification. Background check required and First Aid training preferred, but can be provided.  If you are interested, please contact the church office for more information: (865) 687-2952 or email: stpaulinfo@bellsouth.net

For more information, see our website: www.stpaulftncity.org or see our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/StPaulUMCFountainCity/

From a Choir Member's Perspective...

       Sitting in the choir is the best seat in the house.  One can see all the members of the congregation. There are long-time friends and new members.  There are visitors and previous members sitting with their parents.  Each one special and each one loved, old friends and new members and some waiting to become friends.

      Communion is a very special time.  From the choir one can silently name and pray for each St. Paul family member.  As each individual comes down the aisle and kneels at the rail, a prayer is lifted to God for the ones receiving the gift of His Son.  We thank God for each one.  And we can't help by remember the ones no longer with us. 

Sentiment aside: From the choir we see and enjoy the children and babies of St. Paul.  What a blessing! 

      Does it matter that one little redhead runs up the aisle while Sarah is speaking?  Does it matter that Sarah's own girls interrupt her children's time?  Does it matter if a baby fusses?  "Don't take them out!" They are part of the family too.  Seeing young children in their father's arms puts an "ahh" in each heart of those watching.  Seeing mothers touch their daughters and sons with gentleness is an added joy in the heart of the beholder.

Sitting in the choir means singing and praising God.  And we do this with pleasure and commitment.  Everything said above is an additional blessing. 

 

                                 --From the heart of Dot Conner, St. Paul Historian

 

 

Current Sermon Series!

Stories from Sunday School (Uncensored)

 

April 3         Trouble in Paradise: Cain and Abel

"I'm not my brother's keeper," words spoken by Cain to God when God asked about Abel's whereabouts.  So, the question is, are we one another's keeper?  What is there to learn from this story of family rivalry and violence? 

 

April 10       Sheep Patrol: Psalm 23

     These words are recited and most every Christian funeral, so often that even people

     Who do not have a connection with a faith community can recite portions of it...      

    "The Lord is my Shepherd."  Why is this passage so meaningful? 

 

April 17       Parenthood and Modern Family: Abraham and Sarah

     Parenthood, family  and marriage can be difficult at any age.  Infant loss and  

     fertility is a silent grief. The drama behind closed doors is not usually the story we

    know.  Can you relate? 

 

April 24       Warrior Nation: Story of Gideon

     God is with you!  Then why is there so much trouble?  God will see you

     through!  Then why hasn't God already done something?

     God can use you! Haha... who, me? 

 

May 1         Beauty is More than Skin Deep: Esther

     Body image issues, women's liberation, identity, low expectations, feminism, female

     leadership...need I say more? 

 

May 8         A Whale of a Story (or is it big fish?): Jonah

     I love this story!  Jonah in the belly of the whale because he wouldn't go where God

    was sending him!  Wait, the belly of a whale?  That's a horrible place to be... and the    

    people God wants Jonah to speak truth and repentance to are not good   

   people.  What is the point of this story again? 

 

May 15     Special Worship Celebration of Pentecost!

     Pentecost is the birthday of God's church!  In honor of this very momentous occasion, we will have as our guest, John Purifoy, a local composer and musician.  The sanctuary will be specially adorned in celebration of Pentecost, and much of the liturgy and music will be composed specifically for the worship service. You won't want to miss this very meaningful time of worship and community.

Good Friday: The Passion of Jesus Christ

  Mark 15:16-20

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

What follows are the words of N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, to read the entirety of his lecture, click here...

 

What, after all, would it look like if the true God came to deal with evil? Would he come in a blaze of glory, in a pillar of cloud and fire, surrounded by legions of angels? Jesus of Nazareth took the total risk of speaking and acting as if the answer to the question were this: when the true God comes back to deal with evil, he will look like a young Jewish prophet journeying to Jerusalem at passover-time, celebrating the kingdom, confronting the corrupt authorities, feasting with his friends, succumbing in prayer and agony to a cruel and unjust fate, taking upon himself the weight of Israel’s sin, the world’s sin, Evil with a capital E. When we look at Jesus in this way we discover that the cross has become for us the new Temple, the place where we go to meet the true God and know him as saviour and redeemer. The cross becomes the place of pilgrimage where we stand and gaze at what was done for each one of us. The cross becomes the sign that pagan empire, symbolized in the might and power of sheer brutal force, has been decisively challenged by a different power, the power of love – and that this decisive challenge shall win the day.

The question is then posed to us in the strongest and clearest possible way. Dare we stand in front of the cross and admit that all that was done for us? Dare we take all the meanings of the word ‘God’ and allow them to be recentred upon, redefined by, this man, this moment, this death? Dare we address the consequences of what Jesus himself said, that the rulers of the world behave in one way, but that we must not do it like that? Dare we thus put atonement-theology and political theology together, with the deeply personal message on one side and the utterly practical and political message on the other, and turn away from the way of James and John and embrace the way of Jesus himself? Only so, I believe, can we even begin the task, to which the subsequent lectures will return, of working in our own day with mature, Christian and sober intelligence to address the problem of evil which still haunts the world which God loved so much.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, Easter is coming...

Maundy Thursday: Footwashing and the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17)

As a child, I thought this day was called "Monday-Thursday," and even though that didn't make very much sense, I accepted my pastor at his word.  When I discovered it was "Maundy" I was even more confused.  Do you know why it is Maundy Thursday? #ChuckKnowsChurch briefly shares more about this day in Holy Week...

Over the course of time an out of convenience, many churches have developed Maundy Thursday into an evening that includes Good Friday remembrance as well.  This is true for St. Paul-- we will celebrate the Last Supper, participate in a service of Tenebrae (with special music from the Parish Adult Choir), and strip the altar of liturgically significant items. Hope to see you and yours for worship tonight at St. Paul at 7:00pm! There is a nursery available for children under the age of 5 years old.

Dear sisters and brothers, Easter is coming...