{"id":80,"date":"2016-05-12T05:48:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T09:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northcanaancongregationalchurch.org\/weekly-sermons\/"},"modified":"2017-09-13T11:47:30","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T16:47:30","slug":"weekly-sermons","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.northcanaancongregationalchurch.org\/_wpez\/weekly-sermons\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Sermons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find Pastor Frieze’s sermons on<\/span><\/p>\n

facebook
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/northcanaancongregational<\/span><\/p>\n

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SERMON ARCHIVE<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gift of Service\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark 10:35-45\u00a0<\/p>\n

October 18, 2015<\/p>\n

by Pastor Savage Frieze
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n A man says: Since I was a child, I’ve always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him:
\n \u00e2\u0080\u009cI’ve got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there’s somebody under my bed! I’m scared. I think I’m going crazy.\u00e2\u0080\u009d
\n \u00a0
\n \u00e2\u0080\u009cJust put yourself in my hands for one year\u00e2\u0080\u009d, said the shrink. \u00e2\u0080\u009cCome talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears.\u00e2\u0080\u009d
\n I asked\u00a0\u00e2\u0080\u009cHow much do you charge?\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cEighty dollars per visit\u00e2\u0080\u009d, replied the doctor.\u00e2\u0080\u009d
\n \u00a0\u00e2\u0080\u009cI’ll sleep on it\u00e2\u0080\u009d, I said.
\n Six months later I met the doc on the street. \u00e2\u0080\u009cWhy didn’t you come to see me about those fears you were having?\u00e2\u0080\u009d He asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u009cWell, Eighty bucks a visit, three times a week for a year, is $12,480.00. A bartender cured me for $10.00. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought myself a new pickup truck.\u00e2\u0080\u009d
\n \u00a0\u00e2\u0080\u009cIs that so?\u00e2\u0080\u009d With a bit of an attitude the shrink asked, \u00e2\u0080\u009cAnd how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?\u00e2\u0080\u009d
\n He told me to cut the legs off the bed. Nobody is under there now.<\/p>\n

There are many different ways to serve aren\u00e2\u0080\u0099t there?\u00a0 And people are better served in different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week I ended the sermon by saying:<\/p>\n

Solving the problem of violence in our society is about teaching ways that lead to peace. It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s about teaching understanding and learning to agree to disagree.<\/p>\n

I believe we can find a solution to the problem of violence in our society and that solution starts with God and communication.<\/p>\n

This week I\u00e2\u0080\u0099d like to talk about the solution to all the social ill there ever has been and ever will be:\u00a0 Service.\u00a0 What do you think is better for society, for America and the world: Opening up with the courage born of faith to help others, even in dangerous circumstance, or arming and hiding in a fortress, waiting for the world to attack you?<\/p>\n

Many of us remember John Kennedy, saying:\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cAsk not what your country can do for you.\u00a0 Ask what you can do for your country.\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The image of Kennedy delivering that line is seared into my memory.\u00a0 I remember watching the speech live on tv, and knowing he was talking about service!<\/p>\n

Service to God and country was big among the WWII generation.\u00a0 Men and women from all walks of life dedicated to making the world a better place to live for everyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the world was made a better healthier stronger place by all those people who were dedicated to serving, giving, and reaching out; instead of being served, getting, and building a fortune or a fortress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A long time ago, before I met Anne, I dated a woman who had been the victim of violent crime.\u00a0 To feel safe she wanted me to carry a gun.\u00a0 I took the classes, I got the concealed carry permit, and then said no.\u00a0 I refused to live life in fear, barricaded behind a physical and emotional barrier that separated me from the people who needed to experience the love of Jesus.\u00a0 Even the thought of having a gun changed the way I interacted with people.\u00a0 I was not able to give of self in the free and unencumbered manner needed for true ministry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Personally, I knew that I wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t use it, it was a liability, and the likelihood was that it would be taken away from me and used against me. \u00a0So I refused.\u00a0 I choose to live by faith, practice love, and Christian service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before going out on the streets I would get down on my knees and pray for Gods guidance and protection.\u00a0 And God always provided.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those of us who live in faith and try to spread the love of God by being the presence of Christ, by feeding and clothing others, by trying to make the world a better place for our having been there, were protected by the homeless, the alcoholic or the mentally ill who came to our sides when others threatened us.\u00a0 I was safe because I was their minister.\u00a0 I was their priest, their connection to God and to normal life.<\/p>\n

When Jesus sent the disciples out, two by two, they experienced amazing and miraculous things and people took care of them, housing them and feeding them.\u00a0 They weren\u00e2\u0080\u0099t in danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The question was and is: How do you want to live?\u00a0 Do you want to live in fear? Or, do you want to live in faith?<\/p>\n

My father and grandfather used to say things like: \u00e2\u0080\u009cLeave the world a better place than you found it\u00e2\u0080\u009d. Or Make the world a better place for your having been in it\u00e2\u0080\u009d.<\/p>\n

The only way I know to do that is to serve.\u00a0 People serve the world by creating art, by creating and playing music, by planting and maintaining beautiful gardens, by being farmers, nurses, doctors, social workers, electricians, plumbers and ministers.\u00a0 We want the world to be better.\u00a0 And we live our lives to make the world a better place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We as a church have to chose every day how will we live!<\/p>\n

When John and James asked to be first in the Kingdom of heaven the other disciples got angry at them, Jesus said to them \u00e2\u0080\u009cit isn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t about power, it isn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t about position, it isn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t about being first or sitting on the left or right hand.\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00a0 It is about serving each other.\u00a0 Making the world a better place for each other.<\/p>\n

So I ask: How will we live today?\u00a0 How will we serve?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our church has a proud history of service. And our church has been through a great deal.\u00a0 Our church has had it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s fair share of conflict and struggle. Many people have left the church because of conflict.\u00a0 But I see a church that time has brought a lot of healing to. A lot of the old angers have passed away and I don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t have people coming to me saying things like \u00e2\u0080\u009cyou need to have a come to Jesus talk with her\u00e2\u0080\u009d any more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I haven\u00e2\u0080\u0099t seen anyone leave the building in tears, vowing to never return because of how \u00e2\u0080\u009cshe treated me\u00e2\u0080\u009d in a long time.<\/p>\n

I haven\u00e2\u0080\u0099t heard in the broader community, in quite a while, things like: \u00e2\u0080\u009cI won\u00e2\u0080\u0099t go to your church because so and so goes there.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seems to me time has healed many past wounds, peoples perceptions of us have changed and we are free to change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now is the time to start growing again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We start by confessing our sins of the past and letting go of them. Apologizing to our selves, and the people we\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve hurt, and by inviting the alienated to return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We start by rededicating ourselves and our gifts to God and service.<\/p>\n

We start by inviting those we know we\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve hurt back to church with a renewed understanding we are here for the same purpose: To serve God and the people of God. \u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Confession and service are basic Christian values.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we are to live into the Kingdom of heaven, we must let go of the past, forgiving our selves and others, and renew our sense of purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Service is the gift we give to God, to each other, and to the broader community. May God help us to serve and grow.\u00a0 Amen<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Gift of Prayer<\/span><\/p>\n

September 27, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

By Reverend Savage Frieze<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prayer comes in many forms.\u00a0 Consider the woman on \u00e2\u0080\u009cwho wants to be a millionaire: Sally had reached the final plateau.\u00a0 If she answered the next question correctly, she would win $1,000,000.\u00a0 If she answered incorrectly, she would pocket only the $25,000 milestone money.\u00a0 Sally said silent prayers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The million-dollar question was,\u00a0 ‘Which of the following species of birds does not build its own nest, but instead lays its eggs in the nests of other birds ?<\/span>
\n \u00a0 Is it:\u00a0 A) the condor\u00a0 B) the buzzard\u00a0 C) the cuckoo\u00a0 D) the vulture<\/span><\/p>\n

\n All that remained was her Phone-a-Friend Lifeline.\u00a0 She hoped she would not have to use it because her friend was, well, ditzy.\u00a0 But Sally had no alternative.\u00a0\u00a0 Holding her breath and praying silently,\u00a0she called her friend and gave her the question and the four choices.\u00a0 The ditz responded unhesitatingly:\u00a0 ‘That’s easy.\u00a0 The answer is C: the cuckoo.’<\/span>
\n Her ditzy friend had responded with such confidence, such certitude, that the Sally could not help but be convinced.<\/span>
\n \u00a0So saying a prayer and crossing her fingers, the contestant said, ‘C: The cuckoo.’\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Is that your final answer ?’ asked Meredith. ‘Yes, that is my final answer.’<\/span>
\n Meredith said: ‘That answer is…\u00a0 absolutely correct !\u00a0 You are now a millionaire !’<\/span><\/p>\n

Three days later, Sally hosted a party for her family and friends, including the ditzy friend, Joni.\u00a0 She said to Joni, I just don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t know how to thank you!\u00a0 ‘How did you know the right answer ?’<\/span><\/p>\n

Joni said ‘Everybody knows that cuckoos don’t build nests.\u00a0 They live in clocks.’<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I read this week that confession is currently the in thing in preaching.\u00a0 What others call confession seems to me to be a lot like witness and testimony.\u00a0 Two old time church traditions, as is confession.\u00a0 Apparently it is a good thing for pastors to be vulnerable, confess and give testimony.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While I know many people here have been through harder times that I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve ever even contemplated, I am going to be vulnerable today.\u00a0 I want to overtly share with you some of my some of my personal struggle and testimony about prayer and faith and why I lift my hands up when I pray:<\/span><\/p>\n

It says in1 Timothy 2.8:\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cI desire, then, that in every place people should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Up raised hands are open.\u00a0 They\u00e2\u0080\u0099re not defensive.\u00a0 They\u00e2\u0080\u0099re not offensive. It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s a way of being open physically and spiritually to the Holy Spirit of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I pray a lot, in all sorts of situations, and probably don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t pray enough.\u00a0 Prayer is a gift from God and I believe miracles have happened in my life because of prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0I have laid hands on people in prayer and some have been healed in God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think of my close friend Bill, who was in a coma for 18 months.\u00a0 I laid hands on him and prayed during my days off from work.\u00a0 I was the only living person he saw in that coma.\u00a0 It was a miracle he lived at all.\u00a0 When he was operated on, 18 hours of operation, he emerged as a medical miracle having the least amount of bowel someone has ever lived with.\u00a0 The atheist Dr. came out of the operating room shaking his head, because he couldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t understand why he felt so energized the whole time he was operating and yet knew it was because he was held in prayer without ceasing. He consider his experience and Bill\u00e2\u0080\u0099s survival a miracle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Truth is, prayer has sustained me my whole life.\u00a0 From birth.\u00a0 From my birth defects and disabilities.\u00a0 It was faith, prayer and hard work that took me from being so uncoordinated my father refused to play catch with me to being the starting La Crosse goalie in high school and college; from being the last one picked to play on any team to being the first one picked when playing Frisbee and other games; from not talking at all until I was four, to being a horrible stutterer and finally to acting on the stage and doing voice work on the radio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was faith and prayer and hard work that took me from being left back in first grade, because I couldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t write my own name, to earning a masters degree and passing national exams.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was so awkward as a kid my grand parents underwrote a play group of sorts so I\u00e2\u0080\u0099d have other guys to play with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many people think I was a spoiled rich kid.\u00a0 Truth is when I was a child one of the best days was the day I went to the thrift store. Why was that a great day? Because it meant I didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t have to wear my sister\u00e2\u0080\u0099s hand me down cloths anymore.\u00a0 When I was old enough to know better I refused to wear my sister\u00e2\u0080\u0099s underpants and went commando until my mother caught me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many people think my parents were the most wonderful of people, but those people never lived through the alcohol fueled rages and fights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When I first moved to Seattle in 1980 I thought rice and beans were a gourmet treat and I liberated toilet paper from public restrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faith and prayer sustained me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether it was dying as a child because of a bee sting and going through the tunnel of light, or recovering from a broken neck, or recovering from cardio-myopathy, or going through chemo therapy, it has been faith and prayer that sustained me.\u00a0 And I believe Jesus saved me for a reason!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I believe sometimes God answers prayers in the ways we humans want and sometimes not.\u00a0 But I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll keep on praying cause I believe that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s one of the things God wants of us. \u00a0I believe it works, even if it only works on our hearts and minds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miracles happen in our lives when we are open to them, and the way we become open is through prayer. Verbal prayer, silent prayer, or contemplative prayer, it doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t matter which one.\u00a0 What matters is taking everything to God in prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a miracle I am alive today!\u00a0 And I pray in gratitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prayer changes our hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u0080\u0099s not just words.\u00a0 There have been many times while handling my fathers affairs I was foolish enough to read my emails before coming to church and would be absolutely devastated by what my sisters wrote.\u00a0 I would sit on the stairs and weep.\u00a0 But sustained by faith and prayer I would come to church anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s been a challenge simply to breath in the Canaan Valley during the summers because I seem to be allergic to the mold that grows in the manure spread on the fields. I thank God for Flonase and Zyertec. \u00a0I am sustained by faith, prayer and medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we moved here, we were in debt to the medical establishment and to debt collectors.\u00a0 Our debt was compounded by short selling the house we\u00e2\u0080\u0099d thought was a good investment.\u00a0 And it was, until the housing market collapsed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When my Dad died I thought I\u00e2\u0080\u0099d inherit a little bit to pay off debt and save for the future.\u00a0 But now I have reason to believe I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll be paying off lawyers for years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But we are sustained by prayer, by faith in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, and by the good will of others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just the ability to lay everything at the foot of the cross helps.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Just the knowledge that Jesus is carrying me through life\u00e2\u0080\u0099s challenges helps me go about my day.\u00a0 Prayer makes life livable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prayer helps me remember God put the doctors and nurses in my life who caused my cancer go into remission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God kept us in Seattle an extra night so that the pipes in the house wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t freeze so we could short sell it.<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave me the chance to be here, with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave me the chance to be with my father when he died.<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave me friends who would rent beautiful houses to us for less money then we might have paid for two bedroom apartments in Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

God has given me the strength to overcome many obstacles.<\/span><\/p>\n

God has given me gifts beyond measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes I believe in prayer.\u00a0 And I believe the church is at its very best when it is open to God, vulnerable to each other, and when it is praying with hands lifted up in praise and thanksgiving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks be to God! Amen.<\/p>\n

Good News!<\/span><\/p>\n

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8 Mark 9:30-37<\/span><\/p>\n

September 20, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

Reverend Savage Frieze
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u009cSugar,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Dorothy said to her Husband of 60 years, \u00e2\u0080\u009cwhy don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t you sit down by the table and we\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll start supper.\u00e2\u0080\u009d \u00e2\u0080\u009cSure thing,\u00e2\u0080\u009d said her husband settling himself down. \u00e2\u0080\u009cNow darling, would you like the soup first or the salad?\u00e2\u0080\u009d asked Dorothy. \u00e2\u0080\u009cUmm I guess I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll take the soup.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Her husband responded. After a whole meal of one endearing term after another, their guest Bob couldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t contain his curiosity any longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Bob snuck into the kitchen and asked, \u00e2\u0080\u009cDorothy do you always talk to your husband like that?\u00e2\u0080\u009d \u00e2\u0080\u009cWell Bob, I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll be honest with you,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Dorothy said. \u00e2\u0080\u009cIt\u00e2\u0080\u0099s been five years now, I just can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t remember his name, and I am just too embarrassed to ask him!\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s grace and Good News that 60 years seemed like 5 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Love takes different forms doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t it?\u00a0 God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s love shines in many ways, and there are many forms of Good News.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Friday I listened to the radio story of a Lutheran pastor in Colorado.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was, before she became a pastor, a comedian, an alcoholic, a woman with oddly cut short hair and tattoos and earings everywhere.\u00a0 As open and accepting as I consider myself, this is someone I, by appearances, would not ever think of as a pastor.\u00a0 That is until I closed my eye and just listened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

By her own admission she still isn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t a very nice person and is pretty sarcastic.\u00a0 So when she was approved for ordination she had a conversation with her Bishop that boiled down to:\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cBishop I don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t really fit in your churches, maybe I should start my own\u00e2\u0080\u009d. To which the Bishop gave a sigh of relief and said \u00e2\u0080\u009cgreat!\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was Good News to the Bishop, to the newly ordained woman, and although they didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t know it yet, to the people who felt like outcasts in Denver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And she\u00e2\u0080\u0099s been building a church among the social misfits and outcasts ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everyone who felt rejected by society felt accepted in her church.\u00a0 Including a lot of drug addicts and alcoholics.\u00a0 And the 12 steps of AA play a big role in her church.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a Christian and someone who tries to be a pastor, I got to tell you I love 12 step groups.\u00a0 AA, NA, OA, ACOA, CDA, and the list just keeps going on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You might wonder why I as a Christian minister, someone who really, really, loves the Christian community, also loves 12 step groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You see my experience of 12 step groups is that the people in them are honest about being really imperfect people.\u00a0 They are honest about needing the grace of God.\u00a0 They know that they cannot do it alone and they have to rely on God every single day.\u00a0 They know that to stay in recovery they have to be open and honest with themselves; with other people; and they have to rely on god and other people to help them stay straight and sober.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another thing I love about 12 step groups is that there is often more honest talk about God, and the need for the God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s help in the group then in many churches I know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

People in 12 step groups know the Good News that they are saved by grace through faith even if they don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t call it that or say it that way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This interview reminded me why I used to like going into street level bars, as a pastor, where people who were really needy drank themselves into oblivion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, I didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t like that people were drinking themselves silly. What I liked was that when people in the bar saw me walking in wearing a clerical collar and ordering a glass of water or soda, they sat up, took notice and were often willing to say things like \u00e2\u0080\u009cI don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t go to church because the church wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t accept me,\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009cGod couldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t possibly love me.\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cI am such a sinner no one in church would want me around.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I was able to say \u00e2\u0080\u009cI know a church where you will be loved and accepted!\u00e2\u0080\u009d\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cI know where you can experience the Good News of God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s love.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was often horrified and stunned by the stories young men and women would share with me.\u00a0 People walk up to \u00e2\u0080\u009ctheir priest\u00e2\u0080\u009d, because that\u00e2\u0080\u0099s what I was for them, and say things like \u00e2\u0080\u009chow can I believe in God when I was abused in nine different foster homes?\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or the young gay or lesbian who walked up to me and ask \u00e2\u0080\u009cwhy did God make me this way?\u00e2\u0080\u009d \u00e2\u0080\u009cI hate God for making me a person that my own family and my own church won\u00e2\u0080\u0099t even let in the door.\u00a0 I didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t ask to be this way.\u00a0 I didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t ask to be hated and rejected.\u00a0 Why doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t God love me?\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is one of the saddest things I have ever heard.\u00a0 But I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve felt that way and maybe you have too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But today\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Gospel lesson is good news to every single person I met on the streets and every single person I meet today who needs the Good News of god\u00e2\u0080\u0099s loving grace and salvation through faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a promise to each and every one of us that we are loved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the way the Bible is translated, it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s hard to see the Good News.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But every person I know, or have ever known the heart of, has wondered the same things.\u00a0 How can I believe in God? Why doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t God love me?\u00a0 Why am I this way? Why don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t people love me just as I am?\u00a0 Why doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t the church love me just as I am?<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost everyone is scared on the inside that if folks really knew them they wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t be accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n

And you know, Jesus could have felt the same way, he could have asked the same questions!\u00a0 Instead he is telling the disciples, again, that the world was going to kill him and that the world didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t accept him.\u00a0 We often confuse acceptance by society and the world with acceptance by God.<\/span><\/p>\n

We all know Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 stories:\u00a0 The Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the woman caught in sin, the woman at the well.\u00a0 All people outcast by society, all people who became examples of God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s loving grace that led to true faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which is Good News to the rest of us who feel like outcasts and social rejects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every person whose heart I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve ever gotten to know knows what it is like to be in Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 shoes and rejected by the world.\u00a0 Even people who seem to have led a charmed life, at heart feel unlovable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every single person whose heart I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve ever had the honor of knowing needed to hear the Good News:\u00a0 God Loves you.\u00a0 God accepts you.\u00a0 God created you and you are perfect in God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s eyes because he sees you through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everyone needs to know not to confuse rejection by \u00e2\u0080\u009csociety\u00e2\u0080\u009d with rejection by God. Society rejected Jesus, while God loved and accepted his only son.\u00a0 And God adopted each and every one of us through his loving grace and our faith, in Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that is Good News.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 12 step community, people know they need God\u00e2\u0080\u0099s love and acceptance because they deal with their own imperfection every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every day of my own life I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve had to deal with my own imperfections too, my own insecurities, and my own fears of not being loved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That God loves me just the way he created me is Good News!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like that little child in Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 example today:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you know why that story was so powerful to the disciples that it was remembered and passed on?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because back in ancient times children were the lowest rung on the social ladder.\u00a0 If a man\u00e2\u0080\u0099s house was on fire he was supposed to save his father first, then his mother, then his wives and servants, and then, if there was time, he was supposed to try to save his children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Children didn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t count until they were old enough to serve adults.\u00a0 They were just a necessary pain, inconvenience, and nuisance. No child grew up feeling loved. No one got attached to a child because so few lived long enough to matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So when Jesus said love this child he was completely going against everything people knew and believed!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 love for that child is Good News that changed the world by teaching us that to love and accept a child, was to love and accept Jesus, and was to love and accept God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If a little child could be loved then you and I could be loved, just the way God made us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This was and is indeed Good News.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amen \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

True Religion<\/span><\/p>\n

James 1:17-27\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23<\/span><\/p>\n

September 6, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

By Reverend Savage Frieze<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remember the good old days when blue jeans were cheap solid work clothes? So many jeans are neither anymore.\u00a0 Carhartt\u00e2\u0080\u0099s are too expensive, solid but too expensive, a workers status symbol.\u00a0 Levi\u00e2\u0080\u0099s and Wranglers? The pants our mothers put on us because we wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t wear them out very easily? Now they\u00e2\u0080\u0099re made overseas for pennies on the dollar, cost a fortune to buy and wear out. You just wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t want to just work in them anymore!\u00a0 People wear them to the theater. I don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t buy them!\u00a0 Give me a thirteen dollar pair of Costco jeans any day.<\/span><\/p>\n

But True Religion Brand?\u00a0 They are expensive. $170 for knee length shorts that have a raw edge\u00e2\u0080\u00a6\u00a0 Give me a pair of scissors and I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ll make you a raw edge!<\/span><\/p>\n

$200 for a pair of five pocket jeans at Macy\u00e2\u0080\u0099s? Give me a break!\u00a0 I guess True Religion is costly in more ways than one.\u00a0 I wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t pay that much money for dress pants. Good suits can cost less.\u00a0 They aren\u00e2\u0080\u0099t true jeans in my book if I can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t wear them in the garden, or get them greasy and oily in the garage.<\/span><\/p>\n

True Religion always has a cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this morning\u00e2\u0080\u0099s readings Jesus and his brother James have a word or too to say about true or pure religion.\u00a0 Pure religion they want us to know is a matter of the heart. \u00a0It is also a matter of what you do and not what you wear.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had the privilege of visiting with my niece and her dad, my former brother in law, this week.\u00a0 We\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve been talking and sharing for some time now.\u00a0 My niece has been trying to come to grips with issues from her childhood and I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve been doing whatever I could to help her.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve shared with them all sorts of family records.\u00a0 Written notes from the participants, financial histories, basically helping her piece together the truth of her mother\u00e2\u0080\u0099s unhappy and destructive personal activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately my sister has behaved a great deal like an addict who will do anything for money to support her habit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She seems to exemplify the list of evils Jesus mentioned in the Gospel lesson:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u0080\u009cFor it is from within, from the human heart\u00e2\u0080\u009d, Jesus said, \u00e2\u0080\u009cthat evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m not saying that my sister is guilty of all of Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 sins.\u00a0 Some of them? Absolutely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And my brother in law? \u00a0Yes he has been guilty too. He used to drink.\u00a0 He is a recovering alcoholic.\u00a0 And in the days he was drinking his behavior was not good. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither one of them ever had a pure heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is from the heart that evil intentions come.\u00a0 Intentions.\u00a0 Not even actions, but the intent to do something.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In today\u00e2\u0080\u0099s law \u00e2\u0080\u009cintent\u00e2\u0080\u009d is often a critical issue.\u00a0 Do you intend to hurt someone?\u00a0 Did you intend to steal? Did you intend to do this or that?\u00a0 On the TV crime dramas if the lawyers can prove intent the penalty is always higher. People rarely do anything they don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t intend to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Truth is, my former brother in law had issues and angers when he drank but I never believed he had evil intent.\u00a0 He always seemed like a nice, mild mannered man, but we all have some darkness inside us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some pretty nasty things slipped out on occasion.\u00a0 He may not have intended them to come out. But the nasty in his heart did come out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My sister, well let me just say that I believe intent was all too often there.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Jesus says, the nasty baggage we hold in our hearts will come out when our hearts are far from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

She has, so far, has lived the life of the seed that feel on rocky ground.\u00a0 She tried to sprout.\u00a0 Read books by Joel Osteen, went to church for a while.\u00a0 But, as Jesus\u00e2\u0080\u0099 brother James said in his letter, when she looked in a mirror and learned something she\u00e2\u0080\u0099d forget it when she walked away.<\/span><\/p>\n

She never became a doer of the word.\u00a0 Everything she did in church, even reading, watching and listening to Joel, was for the prosperity Joel promised she\u00e2\u0080\u0099d get, and never to serve the Gospel or anyone else.\u00a0 She was not quick to learn or slow to anger, and she for darn sure wasn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t slow to speak angrily.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her anger let her grow in all the wrong ways.\u00a0 James called it wickedness.\u00a0 She has become like the very tall and big hemlock tree, when no longer surrounded by a support network propping her up, toppled over with the first strong wind because its roots are shallow; instead of staying rooted like a maple or oak whose roots run deep.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her heart has never changed.\u00a0 When you have a real change of heart, what you think and what you do changes also.\u00a0 It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s a beautiful thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My brother in law had a complete change of heart.\u00a0 He went back to God.\u00a0 He started doing Gods work. \u00a0He bridled his tongue, started practicing love instead of rehearsing his anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

He truly seems to have taken root.\u00a0 He\u00e2\u0080\u0099s in recovery and has been for years now.\u00a0 He quit smoking and hasn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t smoked in years.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is not only proclaiming the Gospel of Peace, he is practicing it, he is living it and breathing it and sharing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is living a pure and true religion, following James\u00e2\u0080\u0099 words, by caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and trying to keep himself unstained by the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

All it takes is a change of heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, it starts with a change of heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we change our hearts we change our thoughts and we change our actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

As James said, show me your faith apart from your works and I, by my works will show you my faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

James\u00e2\u0080\u0099 big brother was right.\u00a0 Whatever is in us, in our hearts, will show.\u00a0 When Christ is in our hearts it shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I change my heart?\u00a0 You might well ask.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For some it comes through life experience and aging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully we all get a little wiser with age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe we learn that getting angry and upset at other people or circumstances doesn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t do any good and It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s better for our physical, mental and spiritual health to take a deep breath and tell ourselves to relax.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes we simply practice saying to ourselves: \u00e2\u0080\u009cOh Well\u00e2\u0080\u009d when we realize we just can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t do anything. Like when we\u00e2\u0080\u0099re stuck behind a tractor trailer on rt. 44. And we relax and let the universe, or God take over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes change of heart is forced upon us by life circumstance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We meet someone, have an accident, or something really good happens, and sometimes we just realize in our hearts that we are loved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes God touches our hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

For my brother in law it was finding his bottom and hitting it hard.\u00a0 Then opening his heart to God in prayer because he couldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t do anything else.\u00a0 A simple prayer like \u00e2\u0080\u009chelp me Lord\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009cI can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t do it alone lord, be with me.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, you can usually see God had a hand in whatever it is that changed you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And God gave you the strength to bridle your tongue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave you the strength to let go of your anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave you the courage to love.<\/span><\/p>\n

God gave you the ability to listen to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Somehow you found the word of God in your heart,<\/span><\/p>\n

you found the love,<\/span><\/p>\n

you found the divine gift.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people, like my former brother in law, have to hit bottom and open their hearts to God before they can change their lives in anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

So many of us have to have a change of heart before we can change our minds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When our hearts change our behavior changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we can choose to look ourselves in the eyes in the mirror.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we can choose to understand ourselves and others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can choose to accept the things we can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can choose to change the things we can.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can choose to let go and let God.<\/span><\/p>\n

They call it religious practice for a reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We often have to practice it every day before we get it right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every day we make choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

True pure religion is choosing to believe God every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is choosing to listen instead of talking, yelling or screaming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

True religion is choosing to care and love instead of being angry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s choosing to accept or say \u00e2\u0080\u009coh well\u00e2\u0080\u009d when you can\u00e2\u0080\u0099t control something.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

True Religion is striving to imitate Jesus, for the more you do, the more you will become like Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

You have to choose to put on True Religion everyday just like you choose to pull on your blue jeans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I choose to pull on jeans I can work in, grow in and change in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I pull on the garments of faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amen<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Playing With Fire
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

James 3:1-12 \u00a0Mark 8:27-38<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

by Reverend Savage Frieze<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

September 13, 2015<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Edwards Senior and Junior were great New England preachers.\u00a0 They even preached here in Litchfield County. There is a house in Colebrook that was built for Jr.\u00a0 and I know he was the preacher in Litchfield for a while.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Most of us measure sermons in the number of pages and or the number of minutes we preach.\u00a0 The Edwards measured sermons in the number of hours preached.\u00a0 Three hours seemed about average.\u00a0 I\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve started wondering if they had bathroom breaks, or if the preachers were at all scared people would leave if given a break.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Did the audience come and go during the sermon?\u00a0 How can anyone sit still for three hours on the benches of New England churches?<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, one Sunday, Junior, near the end of one of his great three hour long sermons, which was about the most thoroughly evil, disgusting, corrupt, filthy, dirty, licentious part of the body, asked the congregation if they wanted him to show them the part of his body responsibly for all evil.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

He told them he was going to show them the most evil member of his body.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Shall I show you the most evil and corrupt part of my body?\u00a0 Who wants to see the source of evil in my life?<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When Junior asked those questions ladies started to swoon.\u00a0 They fainted dead away.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Now I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m going to show you. Are you ready? I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m going to it to you!<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

(stick out tongue)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course today I\u00e2\u0080\u0099d have to show my typing fingers or thumbs because those too are primary communication tools.\u00a0 People miss speak or communicate badly through every medium.\u00a0 It seems to me that all too often, when you write texts, emails, and face book postings you don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t actually say what you mean to say. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0I don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t know about you but my fingers don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t say what my brain thinks they are saying.\u00a0 Words are missed, pre-fixes and suffixes are missed, word orders are rearranged to make meanings different.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I may mean well.\u00a0 But others get upset because I don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t say it right.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do any of you press send, then re-read what you wrote?\u00a0 When you re-read it does it mean something different then what you intended?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the reasons I decided to try to use my computer in the pulpit is because I keep re-writing sermons.\u00a0 Write, re-write, re-write again and again.\u00a0 It uses a lot of paper and ink if I print it out every time I think I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m done!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

James seems to really understand!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He is pretty obviously an experienced preacher.\u00a0 When he says \u00e2\u0080\u009cthose who teach are judged with greater harshness or strictness\u00e2\u0080\u009d, I hear someone who has been around the block a few times and who is finding a lot of people who decide to be judgmental instead of having clarifying conversations.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

<p class=”yiv<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find Pastor Frieze’s sermons on facebook www.facebook.com\/northcanaancongregational \u00a0 SERMON ARCHIVE The Gift of Service\u00a0 Mark 10:35-45\u00a0 October 18, 2015 by Pastor Savage Frieze A man says: Since I was a child, I’ve always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him: \u00e2\u0080\u009cI’ve got problems. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nWeekly Sermons - North Canaan Congregational Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northcanaancongregationalchurch.org\/_wpez\/weekly-sermons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weekly Sermons - North Canaan Congregational Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find Pastor Frieze’s sermons on facebook www.facebook.com\/northcanaancongregational \u00a0 SERMON ARCHIVE The Gift of Service\u00a0 Mark 10:35-45\u00a0 October 18, 2015 by Pastor Savage Frieze A man says: Since I was a child, I’ve always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him: \u00e2\u0080\u009cI’ve got problems. 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