Friends Run Church of the Brethren

05/29/2023

We're mostly settled in our new apartment. It feels so good to rest for a little while.

11/19/2018

The Hankses will be leaving December 11.

08/21/2016

If you missed being at Friends Run Church of the Brethren this morning, you missed this cool video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RjndG0IX8

Followed by this sermon:

Scripture Text: Psalm 103:1-8
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

Sermon
An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.
Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!
Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.
Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.
What’s the moral of this fable?
The truth of the matter is that most of us spend far too much energy trying to please others. Children try to please their parents and later their teachers.
Teenagers try to please their peers and their potential boyfriends or girlfriends.
Young married people try to please their mates.
Everybody tries to please their employers.
By the way, do you know who my employers are?
So if I have 40 bosses at Smith Creek and 40 bosses at Friends Run that’s a total of 80 bosses. But I actually have 81 bosses. That last boss, the one who is actually the most important, is the LORD.
Well you probably don’t have 81 bosses, but if I were a betting man, I would wager that most of you are trying to please a whole list of people:
• People at work.
• People at church.
• People on your bowling team.
• People in your clubs.
• People who depend on you.
• Your spouse
• Your children.
Do you see how that if you think about it long enough, your list of people whom you try to please gets longer and longer.
And if you try to please them all, it won’t be long before some catastrophe might befall you as a result of trying to do it all. It may not be a donkey falling into the river, but it can be just as great a loss.
But of course, we want to please all these people. After all, many of them are important to us. They provide benefits for our lives. For example:
• Our bosses provide income on which we depend to support ourselves and our families
• Our spouses provide a support system which provides us with love, friendship, companionship, and fulfillment, as we raise our children together.
• Our children fill us with delight as we watch them grow. They become for us our connection with the future.
Obviously I could go on to explain why each person in our lives is important to us and why each one provides us with personal benefits. In the workplace we would call them fringe benefits. The little extras that your employers provide in addition to your actual salary.
Remember a little earlier when I told you that one of my 81 bosses was God? In actuality, God is the most important one to me and to you. After all, God’s fringe benefits package is far grander and far more satisfying than any that another human being could provide for us.
That’s what Psalm 103 is all about. The hymns which we sang earlier today are the same kind of songs as Psalm 103. Yes, Psalm 103 was written by David to be sung! It’s kind of hard for us to sing the psalms because when they were translated from Hebrew into English, they lost the rhythm of their original language.

In 1 Samuel 13, we read that David was a man after God’s own heart. That means that above all else, David wanted to please God. And he sometimes worked to please God even when others thought he was being foolish or behaving at a level that was below his dignity as King of Israel.
However, King David, whose wife Michal once berated him for dancing before the LORD, was not a man who was likely to listen to anyone who was trying to deter him from his devotion to his God.
Psalm 103 speaks of this devotion to the Lord. First, singing to himself, David exhorts himself to Bless the LORD with all his being. You will remember from the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus says those who exhibit the characteristics of Kingdom people are blessed. That means that they are happy. They have a sense of well-being and wholeness that makes them content, regardless of the circumstances of their lives. So David telling his soul to make GOD happy.
The second half of the verse shows the second meaning of bless, and that is to praise the Lord!
We don’t know why verse two starts out with exactly the same words as the first half of verse one. Is it a repetition for emphasis as some scholars suggest? Is it a declaration that David should bless the Lord with both meanings of the word? Is it a function of the music itself, where the notes and rhythm of the song require another line, which David fills with a repeat? I don’t know. I can tell you one thing, though. It must have been the theme of the psalm, and it must have been important to David, because he repeated the words, “bless the LORD,” three times in the first two verses.
In the second half of verse two, David exhorts himself to remember the fringe benefits of putting our trust in God and blessing him. GOD rewards the faithful. Those who bless GOD are in return blessed by GOD
• He forgives our iniquities – this word occurs in KJV and in some other modern translations. Some translations use the word sin instead. But sin alone does not get at the meaning intended in the psalm. Iniquities are actions which are grossly unfair or evil. Nevertheless, the LORD forgives even these!
• He heals our diseases.
• Redeems our life from destruction
• Crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies
• Satisfies our mouths with good things
• Renews our youth
• Brings justice and righteousness to the oppressed
• He revealed his way to Moses and provided a way and a home for Israel
• Finally, he is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
If we were continue in our reading of Psalm 103, we would soon see that his mercy is not unlimited. Yes, he may be slow to anger, but he does eventually get angry. After a while of our rejecting the LORD, he returns the favor. The incredible hulk used to say, “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” All the destruction that the incredible hulk could accomplish would be but a mere thimbleful of the wrath of the LORD.
So how do we continue to receive His benefits without incurring his wrath, by making the LORD happy. By blessing him in both meanings of the word. In case you might have forgotten, that means both praising his Holy Name and doing things which make Him happy.
You know, of all the bosses, family members, and friends whom we try to please, the most important one whom we should be pleasing is the LORD. After all, it is he who forgives us. It is He who provides each breath. It is he who causes each beat of our hearts. It is he; it is he; it is the LORD!
So, how do we please him? We please him by obeying his commandments. The video which we watched this morning during the children’s story suggested many ways that we might bless the LORD.
And it’s simple. We have to do something that pleases God. Salvation is the free gift of God. Yet, people who are grateful for that free gift will want to reciprocate. They will want to do something that will please the LORD.
It’s kind of like when a friend invites you over to supper. After the good food and good fellowship is over and you return to your own home. You want to call up your friend and invite her over, too.
When we do something which promotes justice, which cares for the needy, which demonstrates love and good will, we are blessing the LORD! And when we do things which bless the LORD, He wants to bless us in return.
For all the evil that we might encounter on television. There are the Sunday morning preachers and gospel music shows. For all the sin we might find in surfing the internet, there are some great websites like www.dosomething.org. A website dedicated to helping young people make a positive difference in their world.
All of the positive things that we can think of to do, and then do them, are things that make God happy. They bless God. And guess what? If we do these things with the goal of pleasing God, instead of ourselves, we find that there are many benefits.
I’ll never forget the story I heard once at a business convention about a man who was working for the railroad. He was cleaning a refrigerated boxcar, preparing it for it’s next load. A locomotive coupled to it just a little too hard. It slammed the man against the wall and caused the boxcar’s door to slam shut with him inside and no way to get out.
He knew that if he couldn’t get out he would freeze to death. So he screamed and pounded on the door for someone to let him out. After a while, he realized that no one would be coming to help. He found a nail and started scratching messages on the floor of the the boxcar. Messages like, tell my wife and my children that I love them. It’s getting colder now. I’m beginning to feel my skin get cold and my fingers stiffen. I can hardly write, anymore. I guess by the time you find this, I’ll be gone.
Sure enough the next morning someone opened the boxcar to load it. And found the poor man frozen to death on the floor of the boxcar. They read the notes he had scratched on the floor. Then someone looked at the controls and realized that the refrigeration unit had not even been on. The poor man’s mind was so convinced that he would freeze to death, that he actually did freeze to death even though it was a warm evening.
One benefit of blessing God is that we feel happier. Do you remember all the faces in the video. Almost all of them are smiling. And if they weren’t smiling in the beginning, they were smiling when someone else came into the picture to show that they care.
I think that when we are content and happy, it makes God happy. When we bless one another, we bless God.
Of all the posters in the video, my favorite is the one that says “Smile.”
I read in the June 24, 2014 issue of National Geographic, that a smile is a powerful thing. It can bring much needed cheer to someone else’s day. It can express a heart-felt emotion. By the way, did you know that children often smile 10 times as frequently as adults. I guess Jesus was right. We really can learn the joy of the Kingdom of God from our little children.
I have found that even a forced smile can help. If you don’t believe me, put on your silliest grin and turn towards the people around you and watch what happens.
I’m serious, do it.
When our telephone rings and the caller ID tells me who is on the other end of the line. And I don’t always want to talk to that person. Still, if find that if I put on a happy face, before I know it, I’m glad that the person called.
It’s like the song from the musical “Bye, Bye Birdie:
Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face
Take of the gloomy mask of tragedy
It's not your style
You'll look so good that you'll be glad
You decided to smile
Pick out a pleasant outlook
Stick out that noble chin
Wipe off that full-of-doubt look
Slap on a happy grin
And spread sunshine all over the place
And put on a happy face
Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face
And if you're feeling cross and bitterish
Don't sit and whine
Think of banana splits and licorice
And you'll feel fine
I know a girl so gloomy
She’d never laugh or sing
She wouldn't listen to me
Now she's just a mean old thing
So spread sunshine all over the place
And put on a happy, happy face
Put on a happy, happy, happy face
Oh, come on bubby, smile it's your birthday!
So isn’t it a lot more fun to bless God and be happy than it is to complain and whine and be unhappy? As for me and my house, we will be happy!
Will you pray with me?

Pastoral Prayer
Lord, thank you for reminding us to bless you in everything that we do. Help us to bless you in our words, in our worship, and in our living, that we may be your people and you may be our God. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Invitation Hymn # 475 “We’re Marching to Zion”

Get "Do Something" on iTunes HERE: http://smarturl.it/iTunesITLDeluxe?IQID=yt Lyric video by Matthew West performing Do Something. (C) 2014 Sparrow Records

01/23/2016

Sunday School and worship at Friends Run Church of the Brethren are cancelled for January 24, 2015. Don't forget Joint Worship at Smith Creek next week.

05/27/2015

Coming Soon to Friends Run:
Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.: Bible Study and Choir Practice
(June 9 at Pendleton Manor)
June 28: Joint Worship with Smith Creek Church of the Brethren
9:45 a.m. at Friends Run, featuring special presentation
on Nigeria Crisis by Larry Glick.

05/24/2015

I truly feel sorry for you if you don't live in Franklin, WV! Because if you don't you cannot attend worship at the Friends Run Church of the Brethren or the Smith Creek Church of the Brethren. And if you can't, here is a taste of what you'll miss this morning:

Friends Run and Smith Creek Church of the Brethren
May 17, 2015
“The Brilliant Colors of Heaven” (An original sermon by Thomas Patrick-Joseph Hanks, ©2014 Friends Run and Smith Creek Church of the Brethren, Franklin, WV)
Psalm 1:1-6r

Hymns
# 193 “The Light of the World Is Jesus”
# 99 “The Beautiful Garden of Prayer”
# 536 “Mansion Over the Hilltop”
# 533 “When We All Get to Heaven”

Scripture Texts
4 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spiritsa of God. 6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.

Sermon Text

The candles are lit. The red parapets are back. It must be Pentecost again. Each of the two previous Pentecost Sundays which I have preached here at Friends Run/Smith Creek I have urged fasting and prayer in anticipation of a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Today, I want to begin with a short story about Pentecostal faith.

One day, a young mother told her five-year-old son that he was grounded for misbehaving and he would not be able to go to the Sunday School picnic next week.

As the day of the picnic drew near, the mother repented and told her son, “Since you’ve been such a good boy, you can go to the picnic after all."

“Too late, Mommy,” he replied, “I already prayed for rain!” (http://www.javacasa.com/humor/seasonal.htm)

In previous Pentecost Sundays, you’ve heard me describe the events which are outlined in the second chapter of Acts. And this morning, our Sunday school lesson certainly did a fine job of presenting these events.

The booming sound like a mighty rushing wind.

The cloven tongues which looked like fire alighting upon the heads of the apostles

Each member of the multinational crowd which had gathered to worship in Jerusalem, being able to hear and understand the apostles preaching in their own native language.

A stirring sermon by Peter which led to the conversion of 3,000 souls.

If you’ve been watching “A.D.: The Bible Continues” on television on Sunday nights on ABC, then you can probably attest that the episode which portrayed the events of the first Pentecost Sunday was very well done.

I thought that it was so thrilling when the Pentecostal fire descended upon Peter and the others who were praying the Lord’s prayer in the upper room. And in the succeeding weeks episodes, every time the Holy Spirit works through the church, that same ethereal fire appears. In fact the story is so well done and so exciting, that I almost can’t wait for Sunday nights to see the next episode.

In fact, if I had to describe the first Pentecost Sunday again to someone who had never been to church before or who had never heard the Pentecost story, I would describe it like this:

Pentecost is the first day when heaven broke through onto earth.

That’s why for today’s sermon rather than reading Acts 2 again, I felt led to talk about heaven. When you stop to think about it, the descriptions of Pentecost in the book of Acts are similar in description to the scenes of heaven described in the book of Revelation.

On the first Pentecost, some of the wonder of heaven broke through and manifested on earth. And ever since that first Pentecost, every once in a while the church experiences a little heaven on earth.

It makes sense doesn’t it? Especially when Jesus preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. In other words, it was so close that you could reach out and touch it. Jesus’ ministry was kind of like that. He taught us how to live as Kingdom people. He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, made the lame walk and caused the blind to see. Then he taught his followers to do the same. He actually sent them out on mini-mission trips and told them to do the same things that they had seen him doing.

That’s why I go out to the Flea Market every Saturday morning. To be among ordinary people who don’t go to church but who need to be healed. Because Jesus said to go. He sent his disciples out. And I really pray that before long, you will begin to come out with me and let a little of heaven break through right here in Franklin.

I found an old Compact Disc last week in my bedroom. I’m actually certain that the Holy Spirit led me to it, because as I listened to it for the first time in years, I heard a song by Chris Rice called, “Deep Enough to Dream.” It tells the story of a lazy summer afternoon when heaven broke through to earth for Chris Rice in the form of a dream. Well, instead of my trying to describe the song or the dream for you, why don’t I just sing it:

Lazy summer afternoon
Screened-in porch and nothin' to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin' in a plastic chair
Rakin' my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave 'em there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant
Colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion
People for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the one who made me
Oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin' around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
'Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant
Colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion
People for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the one who made me
Oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

'Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin'
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I'm breathin'
My faithful heroes break the bread
And answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart's held hostage by this love
and these brilliant Colors I have never seen
And I join a billion People for a wedding feast
And I reach out and touch
The face of the one who made me

Deep enough to dream in brilliant
Colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion
People for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the one who made me
Oh, the love I feel and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up, do I ever have to wake up
Do I really have to wake up now

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors (Chris Rice, "Deep Enough to Dream" ©1997 Clumsy Fly Music [ASCAP] Used by permission. All rights reserved. CCLI # 1776461.)

Heaven, breaking through to earth in a dream.
You may remember that part of the Pentecost Story is Peter quoting the prophet Joel who says that in the last days, the Holy Spirit will fall on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Old men will dream dreams and young men will have visions.

Heaven, breaking though to earth in a dream.

Then in today’s scripture text, Heaven, breaking through to earth in a vision. You know the difference between a dream and a vision, don’t you?
In a dream, God speaks to you while you are sleeping. Heaven breaks through while you are sleeping.

In a vision, heaven breaks through and God speaks to you while you are awake. And as we can tell from the passage from Revelation 4, in a vision, the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings of heaven can be very real for a time.

In fact, just as Luke had to describe the first Pentecost with many similes, because nothing like that had ever happened on earth before, and it was so unusual that he could only describe the events saying that it was like a mighty rushing wind, it was like fire. Similarly, John tries to describe his vision of the throne of God in ways that we can understand because there is nothing like it on earth.

The first time I read the account of the throne of God and the rainbow which surrounded the throne, my imagination was completely blown away. First of all, the rainbow surrounds the throne. It doesn’t just arc over the top of the throne like rainbows on earth, it completely surrounds the throne. Like a rainbow orb which surrounds God’s throne. It blows my mind.

And even more so, the fact that he called it an emerald rainbow. Can you imagine all the shades of yellows and blues that could be seen in an emerald rainbow? It just blows my mind.

And out of the throne come lightnings and thunderings. If God can take an ordinary rainbow and turn it into and emerald rainbow orb, can you imagine how much brighter, how much louder, and how awe-ful sounding the lightnings and thunderings which proceed from the throne of God must be?

And how do the elders who stand before this magnificent throne of God react? They worship! How can they help but do anything except worship in the presence of our awe-inspiring God. They begin to praise him for all his great and marvelous works!

I don’t know, maybe after this sermon, you may just conclude that your pastor has lost his mind, that he is just crazy. But isn’t that the point of being a Christian. Aren’t we supposed to be crazy enough to preach the Gospel to all creation? Doesn’t Paul call himself a fool for Christ? The life of a Christian could never be as dull as going to church on Sundays, and singing a few songs out of the hymnal, or muttering a few litanies or reciting the Lord’s prayer.

Would you believe that there are some poor unfortunate souls who think that all there is to being a Christian is going to church on Sundays. There are others who think that the only place they can worship is at the church’s meeting house.

Not me! That’s not the kind of church I want to be a part of. I want to be in a continual state of worship. A continual sense of peace and joy permeating my life to such an extent that I become contagious.

I’m tired of just singing a few old hymns. I want every waking and sleeping moment to be a time when heaven breaks through to earth for me and for the people who are lucky enough to be around me. I want to see heaven break through to heal the sick, to make the blind see, to cast out demons, and to share the Good News of Jesus with everyone I meet.

I don’t know about you, but I want to worship every time I see my wife or my daughter. I want to worship every time I meet a brother or sister in the Lord. I want to worship every time I talk about God, because God is so magnificent, so awe-ful, so loving, so merciful, so demanding, so generous, so gracious. Do you get it. I’m worshiping God right now, Hallelujah! I’m worshiping God right now, because I can’t help myself. Just reading about this vision of John gets me going.

Last night as I was finishing up my sermon for today, I got so worked up, I couldn’t even sleep after I finished. I had a severe case of Santa Claus syndrome. I was so excited, I could not wait to see you this morning and share it with you. I couldn’t wait to sing that song. I was so excited, I just started worshiping right there at my desk. Of course it was about midnight, and I didn’t want to wake up Adele, so I had to do it quietly. It felt like I was having a stroke because I had to keep quiet and there was just so much of God inside of me trying to get out.

I hope that you have caught just a little bit of the Holy Spirit, today. I hope you have caught some of the excitement of being a follower of Jesus. Because Jesus never meant for the spiritual life of his followers to be a humdrum experience. He never meant for worship to be four songs, two prayers, an offering, and a sermon. He never expected that worship could ever be confined to one hour.

And I have to tell you, sometimes I wish that every Sunday we worshiped jointly. So we could worship for a longer period of time. I wish that worship could be like this for everyone, everywhere, all the time.

Somehow, I don’t expect that after heaven broke through on that first Pentecost Sunday, that life was ever the same for the apostles or for the rest of the church for that matter. If you don’t believe me, go home today and read the whole of the book of Acts and try to imagine what it must have been like to be a part of that first Christian community.

There are some Biblical scholars who believe that Pentecost is a thing of the past. That the power filled the apostles no longer fills the church today. But I think that such scholars have had too much book learning and have not spent enough time walking with God.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus declares that there will be signs that will follow his believers. He doesn’t say that the signs will only last for twenty years and then it will all be over and the church will have to muddle through with humdrum worship, or uneventful living. In fact, when Peter declared that in the last days old men would dream dreams and young men would see visions, If it was true, then, those signs and wonders must follow us because we are closer to the last days today, than Peter was 2,000 years ago.

So let’s get up, church! Let’s go out! Let’s meet with the people of our community, Let’s share the Gospel.

And If you suddenly find yourself caught in an indoor tornado and your scalp on fire, it just might be a new Pentecost.

So you should know what to do:

First, notify the pastor and the pianist immediately.

Second, Fight the urge to stop, drop and roll - You ain't puttin; this Fiyah out!

Third: Make disciples of all nations! (http://www.javacasa.com/humor/seasonal.htm)

Let’s Go, Church. Let’s help heaven break into our world, today. Let’s obey Jesus, and let his signs follow us. Let’s teach the world how to recognize all the brilliant colors of heaven.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, I thank you that Friends Run and Smith Creek have a lunatic for a pastor. I thank you for the contagious spirit that you have given me. And I pray that you will help me and the rest of your congregation to live a Pentecostal life. A life of Power. A life of Miracles. A life of wonders and signs where heaven breaks through into Franklin. Not just on Sunday, but every day. Not just for an hour but twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. When we are awake, give us visions. When we are asleep speak to us through our dreams. Every minute until Jesus comes again. For it is in his holy name that we pray. Amen.

See what I mean?

Seasonal Humor for Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, New years, Joke, and Comedy Site, featuring hundreds of jokes, joke-a-day, funny photo of the week and clead comedy video of the week