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Trinity Sunday 2016

by Jason Hess on May 22, 2016

The following is a copy and paste of my notes from my message on May 22, 2016 (Trinity Sunday) at Bellamy UMC’s 8:30AM and 11AM services. The Lectionary suggested another Gospel passage, however I went a different direction.

John 14:15-27 NIV
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Trinity Sunday – I always took it to be a day set aside to celebrate and acknowledge the collaborative work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit throughout history, the Church, and the life of the believer.

Bishop N.T. Wright:

Trinity Sunday is the day when we stand back from the extraordinary sequence of events that we’ve been celebrating for the previous five months—Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost—and when we rub the sleep from our eyes and discover what the word ‘god’ might actually mean…a god who comes to us…in bread and wine, in flesh and blood: a god who says to us, ‘You did not choose me; I chose you.’ (Excerpt From: For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church)

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Intersection Moments

by Jason Hess on February 22, 2016

The following is a copy and paste of my notes from my message on February 7, 2016 (Transfiguration Sunday, and Holy Communion Sunday) at Bellamy UMC’s 8:30AM and 11AM services.

Luke 9:28-36 NIV
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

First let’s set the backdrop for this passage. Jesus has been out and about, doing his Father’s business. So far according to Luke he’s cleansed a man with leprosy, healed a paralytic, restored a young boy to life, calmed a storm, cast out a legion of demons, healed the woman with the issue of blood, empowered the twelve, and fed five thousand.

Then eight days before he asked his disciples who he was. There was a variety of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, even possibly another prophet from long ago… all of which are wrong. So he turned to Peter and asked “Who do you say I am?” to which Peter said, “The Christ of God.” This was followed up by Jesus telling them about his departure, his death. Eight days later Jesus, Peter, James, and John ascended a mountain to pray which brings us to our passage and the events of the Transfiguration. [click to continue…]

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Back to the Basics

February 13, 2016

The following is a copy and paste of my notes from my message I spoke on August 30, 2015 at Bellamy UMC’s 8:30AM service. James 1:17-27 NIV Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.He chose to give us […]

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Climbing back into the Saddle… or rather the Pulpit.

February 11, 2016

My hope is to bring some life back into this old blog and now that I’m a Certified Candidate in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church my pastor has graciously offered me the opportunity to begin speaking more often. So, I’ll be posting my sermon notes here on eckSermonator for your edification. In […]

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Help Jason Fund His UMC Candidacy

September 12, 2015

In December of 2014 I began the process of seeking entrance into the Candidacy program of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. I’ve embarked on this adventure in hopes of eventually becoming a Licensed Local Pastor. That said, I’d like to extend the opportunity for you to partner with me on this journey.

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Finish Line Review – Day 30 of 30(40)

December 14, 2014

Today is the end of the 30(40) Days of Blogging. While I could press on for the ten extra credit days I’m not going to. That said, I’ll probably take a break from blogging until after the New Year. I’m grateful for the readership, and the comments over this past month…thank you! To close out […]

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