Tinney Chapel Today

MORNING SERVICE, 9:00 A.M.

Pastor: Rev. Duncan Graham

Greeter: Roger Schneider

Sound: Bob Deitering

Ushers: Roger Schneider & Bob Deitering.

MUSIC

Pianist: Pat Hollingsworth.

Songleader for hymns: Angela Wylie.

Songs: Tell Me The Story Of Jesus, Blessed Assurance, Sanctuary, Rock Of Ages.

SPECIAL MUSIC

In The Presence Of The King, by the Tinney Chapel UMC Choir.

Today’s choir singers, included Pat Hollingsworth, director; Jami Smith; Marcella Salter; Alice Deitering; Angela Wylie; Ronny Ellison; Clay Spears; Josie Garrett; Judy Spears; Stacey Stanley; Randy Stanley; David Stanton; Derrell Hollingsworth; George Jordan and Sadie Jordan.

Call to Worship & Opening Prayer

Morning Prayer & Lord’s Prayer

LITURGY

Offertory Prayer

Doxology

Gloria Patri

Apostles Creed

CHILDREN’S SERMON TODAY:

Pastor Duncan Graham began today’s children’s sermon by talking about his own love for fishing, and eventually emphasized John 10 and its reference to Jesus as The Good Shepherd.

“A shepherd’s sheep know his voice, and if we recognize the voice of Jesus, we will be led by The Good Shepherd,” declared Pastor Graham. “On the other hand, we hear many things that might not be right and good, and such things can destroy us. Sometimes such destructive messages may come to us through peer pressure, and from friends. In those instances, we should discipline ourselves to listen for the voice of Jesus to tell us what to do. A WWJD (what would Jesus do?) bracelet really is a good idea. Jesus sees us as the sheep of His pasture, and we are to follow Him.”

The Pastor distributed pages for coloring and a puzzle before his closing prayer: “Oh, gracious Lord, we thank and praise You for being our Shepherd, and leading us in Your Way according to Your Wisdom that we can use in our daily lives. Bless, guide and cover our children in all they say and do during all the days of their lives. Amen.”

ADULT SERMON TODAY:

Pastor Duncan Graham’s sermon today was based on another in his series of post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus, this one from John 21:15-19. To set the stage, Pastor Graham said, “Jesus had gone to the Sea of Galilee, built a fire and cooked fish while the Apostles were fishing in a boat. From the shore, Jesus guided them to a big catch of fish and invited them to a big breakfast. Peter jumped out of the boat and swam ashore.”

To view the New King James Translation of today’s Scripture Lesson, click HERE

“Jesus does some interesting things in this Scripture Lesson,” reminded Pastor Graham. “We can speculate about some of them, but we don’t want to miss the obvious. As some of you will recall, I have preached before about the various Greek words, at least four of them, that are translated as love. Two of those words are used in this Scripture Lesson: agape, for a high and devoted Godly love; philia, a word signifying a more humble form of love for a friend.”

For a linguistic analysis of these two Greek words, begin by clicking HERE.

“Jesus is asking Peter: Do you agape Me? This is a Godly love, a love of the volition of the will, a self-sacrificial kind of love such as Jesus displayed. So, Jesus is here asking Peter: Do you love Me with a determined volitional act of the will? Peter answers: I philia You. This means I have feelings and emotions for you in a brotherly kind of love.

“So, Jesus again asks Peter: Do you agape me? And Peter again responds: I philia You. Finally, Jesus drops the agape question, and asks Peter: Do you philia Me? Peter tells Jesus that since He knows all things, He knows that Peter loves Him.

“Today, we live in a culture that depends more on other kinds of love than on agape,” adds Pastor Graham. “Today’s use of the term love is understood as more one of emotion than of will. I will philia you means an emotional love: As in I will love you as long as you do what I want, compared with the type of agape love demonstrated by Jesus. This is a love that says I will love you even when you do not do the things that are the right things to do: a love not based on worth or emotion, and I will rescue you from your sins. It is a love that will not go away even when you do sinful things.

“We are called to be like Jesus in this same way,” said the Pastor. “We are to love others even when they do things that we don’t agree with. The love of God stretches beyond these things. Jesus told Peter: I want you to have a Love that stretches beyond. The text doesn’t specifically say that, so I am speculating a bit. He wanted Peter, and us, to say that we choose to love and care for Him and each other. Choosing to love is something you and I can do at any time, no matter our circumstances.

“I hear some at Whispering Pines nursing home say they don’t know why they are still living,” said Pastor Graham. “My thought is that I don’t care if someone is physically incapacitated, one can always choose to love and pray; pray to be a blessing, even though others do not recognize it. God does! He answers, and will bless, so that you have been a blessing, and your reward will be great in Heaven.

“Jesus said: Peter do you love Me more than these? By these, Jesus might have meant the other disciples, the fish that He was cooking, Peter’s fishing tackle and equipment, the worldly thrill of fishing, or something else entirely,” pointed out Pastor Graham. “Scripture does not tell us exactly what Jesus meant, but we know that Peter was a leader. That the others followed Peter when he decided to go fishing proves that he was a leader. If Jesus was referring to the fishing tackle, then the reference was to worldly things, and all of us have some of those that are important in our lives. So, perhaps Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than these things, which is a most important choice all of us have to make.

“Peter denied Jesus three times,” reminded the Pastor. “Peter professes his love for Jesus three times in this Scripture Lesson. The text does not specifically say this, but Jesus seems to be attempting to get Peter to come to the point, and say something like I forsake all to do Your will. And Jesus tells Peter that His will is for Peter to tend His lambs, feed His sheep, to take care of all that Jesus gives Peter. So, Peter at once is given a responsibility to follow the Lord in guiding the sheep given to him to guide and direct.

“Peter seems quite willing to do the will of Jesus,” added Pastor Graham. “If you are a leader type, you are always ready to take on responsibility, which is easy to do when the sheep follow. But when the sheep scatter, a leader wonders what he got himself into. Yet, Jesus says to remember agape love, and that you are called to a self-sacrificial calling and service: It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s all about Jesus! Therefore, what we have to do is be like Peter: Say yes, Lord, You know that I love You, and I will do what You have for me to do.

“Jesus says to Peter: When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish,” explained the Pastor. “This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, Follow Me. Church tradition has it that when Peter was martyred, he asked to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to suffer the same fate as Jesus. So, Peter goes from denial to ultimate sacrifice dedicated to his faith in Jesus Christ.

“Peter had made great claims to a strong faith in Jesus, but when the chips were down, Peter learned how difficult it was to live up to that,” added Pastor Graham. “But then Jesus sealed Peter’s redemption when Peter lived, served and died for Jesus Christ. We might think of that as telling us what Jesus was really asking Peter in this Scripture Lesson, and it raises the same question for us. Are we willing to live, serve and die for Jesus Christ? Opportunities will abound for you and me to serve Jesus Christ. He was willing to go where needed to reach and touch those who failed Him, and you, too, will be failed by people. All of you have been failed by others. The question is how will we respond to those who fail us? Jesus responded by laying down His life for those who failed Him. His question to Peter might have been: Are you willing to lay everything on the line for My lambs?”

In his closing prayer, Pastor Graham called upon our gracious, and loving Heavenly Father to do what it takes in our lives to re-mould us, re-shape us and renew us so that we may serve Him and do His glorious work.

CLASSES TODAY:

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS TOPICS:

WISE ONES, Frankie Brewer: Living The Christ Life.

LADIES BYKOTA CLASS, Peggy Boyd: Lead Others To The Lord.

TINNEY CHAPEL MEN, Bill Knoop: The Case For Christ, a study by Lee Strobel.

OVERCOMERS, Jenna Nelson: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

YOUTH, Ronny Ellison: Life Lessons from 1 & 2 Peter, a study by Max Lucado.

CHILDREN, Linda Hallman: Fishing.

REMNANT, Joe Dan Boyd: Proverbs 5: Ring of Fire: I Walk The Line.

The Remnant handout is below:

REMNANT RIGHTEOUSNESS

Life Lessons # 263 from studying Proverbs 5 and related Scripture:

1. The effort of listening is part of the requirements of wisdom, say commentators Roger Hahn & Dennis Bratcher.

2. They also say that part of wisdom is the ability not to talk too much.

3. The Old Testament, as indicated in Proverbs 5, stands firmly in favor of marrying within the religious tradition. Marriage outside the faith puts a person at risk, assert Hahn & Bratcher.

4. In addition, the pair suggests the reason that few people today warn against marrying outside one’s religious faith is because it reflects a cultural assumption that religious faith plays only a small role in a person’s life.

5. Whether a man succumbs to the invitation of a prostitute or the flirtatious appeal of a foreign wife to worship her idol, the result is devastating, according to analysis by Hahn & Bratcher.

6. They conclude that life-shattering consequences may result from making wrong sexual choices.

7. The first of these serious consequences is death itself.

8. Stay out of the neighborhood of the adulterous woman, warns The Message Translation. Come not nigh the door of her house, advises the King James Translation.

9. A man has only so much strength, time, energy and passion to give, remind Hahn & Bratcher, and it is tragic to bestow those limited resources on empty relationships.

10. The result of doing so is bitterness directed against yourself because you know you made the choices.

11. Another consequence of such poor choices is a reduced ability to form and participate in healthy relationships that sustain Christian marriage.

12. God designed sexual intimacy as the most obvious expression and symbol of the unity of a husband and wife, emphasize Hahn & Bratcher.

13. They say the shared joy and sense of belonging that result from such a relationship produces emotional intimacy and bonding that is more powerful than the sex act itself.

14.Enjoy the wife you married, says The Message version.

TODAY’S DATE: 04-10-05

The Remnant

Sunday School Class

Tinney Chapel UMC

Winnsboro, Texas

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT SUNDAY: 04-24-05

READ PROVERBS 6

Afterwards, reflect upon these things:

1. Snared with the words of your mouth.

2. Consider the ways of the ant & be wise.

3. Six things the Lord hates.

4. Seven are an abomination to Him.

5. Adultery destroys the soul.

6. Keep your father’s commandment & don’t forsake the law of your mother.

BIBLE READINGS TODAY:

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10.