Sun 23 November 2014

[ Introduction: leader picks child to knock on bin, everyone calls 'come out Stinky!', Stinky comes out singing his intro tune ]

STINKY: [Comes out singing sad song] Hello little monkeys!

LEADER: Hello Stinky! You sound sad today...

STINKY: I am really sad. I'm so sad, I'm going to do the special puppet dance of sadness...

[ Stinky does dance ]

LEADER: That's really sad. But why are you so sad?

STINKY: I heard you were having a thank you very much thingy.

LEADER: Ah, you mean a thanksgiving service. Yes! We are taking the time to thank God for all His goodness to us. But why are you sad?

STINKY: Because I have nothing to say thank you for.

LEADER: [Skeptical] Really?

STINKY: Yes! I wish I was stinkier...

LEADER: [Sniffs, yuk face] Oh... I don't...

STINKY: I wish my brain wasn't made of foam -- so I could think lots of clever things for God.

LEADER: Hey Stinky...

STINKY: [Ignoring leader, in a bit of a rant] I wish I was blue like a smurf and be famous -- so I could tell lots of people about God.

LEADER: Stinky...

STINKY: I wish I was bigger and stronger -- so I could do big things for God. Ohh I'm so tired

LEADER: Stinky!

STINKY: I wish - Yes?

LEADER: I've got good news!

STINKY: Really?

LEADER: Yes. God doesn't need your help.

STINKY: Oh... And the good news?

LEADER: God is so strong and big and wise -- He doesn't need anyone's help to do his work.

STINKY: But what if He doesn't get to finish his work?

LEADER: Ah, more good news Stinky -- it's already complete. [Dave add more here] Jesus came to complete God's work. And when he was on the cross and said "It is finished" guess what was finished?

STINKY: S His homework

LEADER: No, He finished God's work -- God, from the beginning, has wanted to see everyone who trusts in him be able to know him really, really well. And now we know we will be with God forever and nothing can separate us from God's love.

STINKY: Oh, so we should do nothing then?

LEADER: More good news - He lets us be part of His great work. Not because He needs us, but because He's kind. It's amazing to work with God in his great work. This ministry (that's another ways of saying work) this ministry we are doing, will always be worthwhile because 'this ministry' that we are apart of is about what God has done and is doing

STINKY: So I don't have to be big and strong

LEADER: No

STINKY: I don't have to be as popular as the smurfs

LEADER: No

STINKY: What about the foam brain thing

LEADER: God will use us all in different ways and in different circumstances to let everyone know what he has done and is dong.

STINKY: That's lots of good news... So what should we do then?

LEADER: Say thank you to God!

[ Slide (verse): So because of God's mercy, we have work to do. He has given it to us. And we don't give up. (2 Co 4:1) ]

LEADER: This Ministry is talking about [Dave complete] Let's see our Bible Bite:

[ Slide: Bible Bite: We thank God that he lets us be part of Jesus ministry ]

STINKY: I'm so happy and thankful, I'm going to do the special puppet dance of happiness!

[ [Stinky does dance] ]

STINKY: Oh, I better go now. Bye bye little monkeys! Enjoy your thank you very much thingy!

You know when Paul wrote those words that we read with Stinky he was being accused of losing heart. There were people who thought he was barking up the wrong tree. They didn't really believe that Jesus had completed God's work completely. They liked Jesus, but they still thought that the only way to be right with God was to follow the rules.

So when Paul says you need to trust in Jesus alone to be made right with God. They thought that he was crazy. They thought that he was a 'flash in a pan'. That he wouldn't last long because how could you last long if you didn't talk about all of God's laws that needed to be fulfilled (you understand they are the people Paul is talking about as you read the section just before this bit). They thought that he must be losing heart and sooner or later and he would soon crawl back into the hole he came out of.

Now you would think that Paul would be losing heart. After all look what has been happening to Paul in verse 8 and 9. Hard pressed on every side -- but not crushed; perplexed (he was confused as to what God was doing -- but never in despair. He was abandoned; struck down. But he kept getting up again.

Why did he do that. Was he like some prised fighter who was so determined to win, that he just kept pulling himself off the canvas. Was he determined to show that he was right and they were wrong. Was this kind of dogged determination a unique attribute of Paul. He seems a pretty focused kind of person. He seemed to be one of those people who succeeded in all he put his mind to. He was fairly high up in the Sanhedrin before his Damascus road experience.

NO! Paul kept getting up because 'the ministry' he was involved in. This ministry he speaks about in verse 1 is this very ministry we have.

This ministry doesn't require clever deception, but it does require awareness. The god of the age wants to blind people. Paul knows this blindness very well as some of us do also. We were all blind to God's truth.

But on that Damascus rd, Paul saw the light. He saw the glory of God. He saw the resurrected and ascended Jesus. He saw the LORD of glory. And that changed everything for him. And as we come to see God in his glory. As we come to see Jesus as LORD, it changes everything for us as well.

This is the context of our Thanksgiving Service Today. The Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ, has revealed himself to us. It may have been through family, friends, a sermon, many sermons, small groups study. However God chose to reveal his glory to us, he has.

We trust in the resurrected and ascended Lord. The one who bore the cross so that we can be forgiven. For us the light has come upon us and we can see. That Jesus has done all that needs to be done. That the mission in one sense is finished because the promises of God are sure. Clearly seen as sure in the resurrected and ascended Jesus.

This is our ministry -- together seeing the name of Jesus is proclaimed. As we do this, with all our frailty, God's name is glorified.

You see it doesn't depend on our success, nor does it fail if people's hearts are turned against us. All this goes to God's glory.

The question in that back of our mind can be then - why bother if it doesn't matter either way. Our continual talking about the light -- glorifies God. It testifies to all around us that he can be seen. It is the privledge position we have been put in, as God's church. To share in this victorious ministry of God.

What if they beat us for it? what if they take our homes? What if we financially suffer? What if I can't pursue my dreams to make my name great in this world?

It's not like none of that stuff doesn't impact us. Sometimes I know first hand, along with Paul, this ministry can be difficult. Sometimes this ministry of telling others about Jesus can make us feel lonely, even a little crazy at times.

Sometimes I feel like I just want to fit in and not try so hard.

But this is a victorious ministry. This is a ministry of truth. This is a ministry that brings glory to God and in that will ultimately bring our glory as we stand in him.

So we keep on getting up off the canvas. We keep on battling with all our energy, no matter our feelings of capability at the time.

And we keep on celebrating. Because this is not our ministry, but our Lord's. And for that we give thanks for all that he does through us. That's what we do today.

Category: scripts Tagged: Jesus Ministry Thankfulness