Pastor Scott's Musings

 Not Ready The deadline for writing an Advent devotional is a few days away and I can't even think of Christmas yet. Already Christmas decorations are being erected around town and shopping malls, because Christmas is the greatest retail season of the year. I’m not ready and I’m not in the mood.  The funny thing is recently I was listening through a worship music playlist and Christmas music keeps popping up! I skip them, but the "random" selection keeps pushing Christmas. I finally gave up! Ha! But truthfully, when are we ever not celebrating Christ and His time upon earth? When are we ever not awaiting expectantly his glorious return?  Jesus gave this parable as an encouragement to be ready for the coming great day of the Lord.   “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom th...

  God is visiting you. The time for judgment is now! You are being weighed and measured. [Title Slide] Judge for Yourself (Luke 12:48-59)   A farmer was out working his fields one day when he spotted something strange in the sky. He saw in the clouds the letters S.P. [Slide] It was as plain as day, the letter S, followed by the letter P, right up there in the sky. He was awestruck and wondered what it could mean. That night while he was praying, he had a sudden epiphany. S.P. means “Start Preaching!” He told his wife, “The Lord is calling me to start preaching!” So he enrolled in a Bible College and soon after he was invited by his hometown church to be the guest preacher. He was so excited he could hardly stand it. He worked real hard preparing for the big day. And when the day came to preach, he worked up a sweat he gave so much of himself. And he was sure to tell everyone the story about the letters S.P. in the clouds. After the service was over, one old farmer came ...

  "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit."  Luke 12:35 [Title Slide] Being Ready (Luke 12:35-48)   [Slide] The owner of a stockyard noticed one of his employees asleep at his desk. The boss yelled at him, "If I catch you sleeping on the job again, you're fired!" The clerk jumped up and apologized, "I understand, sir! Won't happen again." Then the boss said, "Now go… take inventory of the sheep."   I’ll wait... Are you awake? Did you get the punchline?   We’re continuing our study of the gospel of Luke. [Slide] In our passage reading this morning, Jesus encourages the church to be ready, stay awake, keep your lamp light burning. Exactly how do we ready ourselves? How do we stay alert and be ready to serve?   The King James Version begins verse 35 by saying let your loins be girded about. To gird yourself is to tuck your loose clothing in tight under your belt, so that your movement is not restricted in any way, ...

Joshua at Gilgal   [Title Slide] Roll It Away (Joshua 5:9-12)   Good morning! I suppose you might like to learn a little bit about your speaker for this morning. I am Scott Tyring, a United Methodist elder having served Indiana churches since 1994. [Slide] My wife Michele and I have been together since 1984. We have three children in the midst of adulting, and [Slide] three young grandchildren.   I was drawn to the Old Testament reading from the lectionary for this morning. The passage includes the practice of circumcision, a sign in the flesh of belonging to the people of the covenant. It’s not a pleasant topic, but circumcision is a continuous theme that appears throughout the Law and Prophets as well as New Testament writings. A good example comes from Moses. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. (Deuteronomy 10:16)   It might be helpful to give you the highlights of the story so far, as we are jumping into a s...

  What’s in Your Heart? (Luke 6:36-49) [Slide] Do your remember the Capital One commercials with the tagline, “What’s in Yor Wallet?” I always liked the one with the pirates. A wife comes home from shopping and says, “I found a lot of good deals!” The husband replies, “I hope you didn’t put all that on the credit card. Those interest rates are gonna get us!” Pirates appear wielding swords and knives. As they approach the couple, the wife says, “Don’t worry. I used our new Capital One Card.” The pirates freeze and all of them groan with disappointment. Then the pirate captain yells, “To the neighbors!” The cannon balls fly and mayhem ensues because I guess the neighbors didn’t use the right credit card. If today’s message was a commercial for Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain at the end of Luke 6, the tagline might be, “What’s in Your Heart?” [Title Slide] Last week we learned about loving our enemies. Jesus continues by teaching us to not judge others. It seems Luke has collected a s...