Worship Service for February 20, 2022
ANNOUNCEMENTS
As you are probably aware, our leaders voted this past week to make mask-wearing optional. However; for the time being, we are asking that should you choose not to, please sit to my right.
I am so sorry that those of you who were looking forward to jumping into the freezing waters of Chippewa Lake yesterday were disappointed. The Medina County Park District closed the lake due to flooding. However; the remainder of this Year’s Chippy’s Back event went off without a hitch. I thank all of you for participating so generously. A special thanks to Alan Robbins for all the hours of planning that went into making this such a successful event. Thanks also to Annie Dean for all the communications and for coordinating the volunteers.
Even though the event itself is over, we’re not through. As in years past, the Lions’ Club looks to us for help in retrieving yard signs and policing the beach area. So if you have the time today after worship, please see Annie for a list of sign locations. We also need two persons to walk the beach area and one person to drive along Beachside to pick up any trash that may have been left behind. Thank you.
OPENING WORSHIP SONGS
As We Gather
Coomes, Tom/Fay, Mike
As we gather, may Your Spirit work within us.
As we gather, may we glorify Your name.
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship,
We’ll be blessed because we came.
We’ll be blessed because we came.As we gather, may Your Spirit work within us.
As we gather, may we glorify Your name.
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship,
We’ll be blessed because we came.
We’ll be blessed because we came.We’ll be blessed because we came.
©1981 Maranatha! Music (admin by The Copyright Company)/
Coomesietunes (admin by The Copyright Company)
CCLI License No. 1843349
SCRIPTURE
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:1-7
Sing
Morgan, Reuben
It used to be darkness…without You.
I lived my life in blindness….but now I’m found.
And I’ll sing….sing….I love You so.
And I’ll sing…because the world can’t take away…
Your love.You found me in weakness…broken.
You came to me in kindness…and now I live.
And I’ll sing….sing….I love You so.
And I’ll sing…because the world can’t take away…
Your love.
And I’ll sing….sing….I love You so.
And I’ll sing…because the world can’t take away…
Your love.I’ll give my life…. for You Lord,
For all You’ve done
I’ll give my life…. for You Lord,
For all You’ve done
I’ll give my life…. for You Lord,
For all You’ve done
I’ll give my life…. for You LordAnd I’ll sing….sing….I love You so.
©2003 Hillsong Publishing (Admin. in U.S. & Canada at EMICMG Publishing.com)
And I’ll sing…because the world can’t take away…
Your love.
And I’ll sing….sing….I love You so.
And I’ll sing…because the world can’t take away…
Your love.
CCLI License No. 1843349
More Love More Power
Del Hierro, Jude
More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;And I will worship You
With all of my heart,
And I will worship You
With all of my mind;
And I will worship You
With all of my strength
For You are my Lord….
You are my Lord.More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;More love, more power,
More of You in my life;And I will seek Your face
With all of my heart,
And I will seek Your face
With all of my mind.
And I will seek Your face
With all of my strength
For You are my Lord.And I will worship You
©1987 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing (admin. by Music Services)
With all of my heart,
And I will worship You
With all of my mind;
And I will worship You
With all of my strength
For You are my Lord….
You are my Lord.
CCLI License No. 1843349
OPENING PRAYER
Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, we thank You ever so much for Your marvelous grace. We were lost, now in Christ, we have been found. We were blind, now we see. Your love for us is beyond our comprehension. But we pray that as a result of our being here today, You would fill us with more of Your love and power that we might worship You with all of our hearts, all of our minds, and all of our strength, through Jesus, amen.
OFFERING
If you would like to send your offering through the mail, our mailing address is:
CrossPointe Community Church
P O Box 126
Chippewa Lake, OH 44215
OFFERING/PRAYER SONG
In His Time
Ball, Diane
In His time, in His time.
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me ev’ry day
As You’re teaching me Your way,
That You do just what You say in Your time.In Your time, in Your time.
©1978 Maranatha! Music
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing
Be to You a lovely thing in Your time.
CLI License No. 184334
MORNING PRAYER
Brad Winter
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this beautiful winter morning and for bringing us safely together to hear your word our pastor has prepared for us today.
We thank you for volunteers and staff members who work so hard to make every Sunday worship such a welcoming and wonderful experience.
God, we know that you are constantly on the move and changing lives every day. Everything you do is beautiful and those beautiful things are done in your time! We know a day for you is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. It is patience we lack. We know you hear our prayers. Help us to be patient and understand that you have a purpose and reason for everything. Your plan for us is in your time.
We pray for the lives that are touched by each of us who participate in community events such as the polar plunge. We want our work in the community to glorify you! We hope the people we meet and inspire will be moved by your spirit and will come to CrossPointe to learn about you and be saved!
Bless Pastor Randy as he shares your word! Quiet our minds and open our hearts so we are filled with your word and spirit.
Empower us to keep our eyes focused forward – focused on you and focused on serving and loving others. Please keep us safe.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE
Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”
He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
Luke 13:18-21
MESSAGE
Everything Matters
Randy K’Meyer
Things you don’t want to hear on fasting Sunday: Faith is like a mustard seed, a mustard seed made into mustard and drizzled over a juicy patty of barbecued hamburger with ripe tomatoes and melted cheese tucked inside a toasted sesame seed bun.
The mustard seed is one of the tiniest seeds found in the Middle East, and yet when that seed is planted and watered it is capable of growing into a large enough tree that birds can actually make a home in it. Now I am sure those disciples grew up understanding that fact of nature. But what they didn’t understand, up to that point anyway, is that God’s Kingdom operates in a similar fashion. For the point of the mustard seed parable is that little, (something as small as a mustard seed) becomes much, a bush, when God is in it.
Then again, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to how just a pinch of yeast will permeate 50 pounds of flour. Again, little is much when God is in it.
These ‘little is much when God is in it’ parables can be applied to many spiritual situations. Perhaps Jesus had in mind that the disciples though few in number and seemingly not very capable of accomplishing much in the world’s eyes will, though their faith, go on to spawn a worldwide movement. Or maybe, He is thinking about how offering a small cup of water to a little child is capable of bringing great blessing.
I believe the truth of this parable encompasses both kinds of situations. For in both, even the smallest action can yield significant results when God is in it.
Some of us may have heard of the “butterfly effect.”
Back in 1961, MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz discovered that seemingly tiny and insignificant changes in his data could produce huge differences in the final result. In 1972, Lorenz presented a scientific paper entitled, “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set off a Tornado in Texas?”
According to Lorenz’s theory, the butterfly’s wing-flapping doesn’t directly cause a tornado, but it can start a chain reaction leading to giant changes in weather patterns. In other words, even tiny, insignificant movements or actions can produce huge changes that affect millions of people. 1
The Bible is replete with stories that demonstrate the butterfly effect; both positively and negatively. As it concerns the latter, is there any negative butterfly effect story more consequential than the story of how one little bite of the forbidden fruit led to far-reaching consequences for the entire human race? Little things matter; little things can matter in big ways.
I was watching a Youtube video about a guy who decides to use the last tomatoes in his fridge to make a salad for lunch. Unbeknownst to him his roommate had invited friends over for dinner and planned on having a salad with tomatoes. So he goes to the grocery store for more tomatoes and gets behind someone in the check-out line who is extremely slow, delaying him by about 3 minutes. Because he’s running a little late, he comes upon a car accident that just occurred. Because he’s an off-duty EMT, he stops and administers first aid that ends up saving the life of the victim. The man who was saved goes on to get married and have children; one of whom becomes a doctor who makes a key medical discovery that ends up saving hundreds of lives. And who knows all the positive impact those hundreds of people had? All because a guy decides to have a tomato salad for lunch. 2
Little things can make a huge difference.
Gail and I watched a DVD of motivational speaker Andy Andrews in which he posits that everything we do matters. “Every time we do something,” he says, “it matters.”
Andrews tells the story of Union Civil War hero Colonel Joshua Chamberlain
who played an important role in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. He was told by his commanding officer to hold a certain hill, Little Round Top,
no matter what. He and his men were able to hold off three charges by the 15th Alabama Regiment of the Confederate forces. By the time the Confederates began a 4th charge, Chamberlain had lost many men and his troops were out of ammunition. One of his sergeants suggested he signal retreat. But instead, Chamberlain ordered his men to fix bayonets and then the brave colonel actually led a charge against Johnny Reb. The remaining 80 Union soldiers so surprised the enemy that 480 Confederate soldiers surrendered to 80 Union troops without ammunition. That little skirmish on Little Round Top paved the way for a Union victory at Gettysburg.
Colonel Chamberlain’s split-second decision to charge saved the Union. If the South had won the battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War, the United States of America would not have been united at all. Some historians say that there would have, at minimum, been two divided countries. And that perhaps when 75 years later, Germany and Japan flexed their war muscles there would have been no United States of America to take them down. And Andy Andrews says, “It’s quite likely that we exist as a nation today because one guy made a decision.” 3
Everything we do matters; and everything we don’t do also matters.
Every time we make the seemingly small decision to attend a worship service I want to believe that something good will result somewhere down the line.
I really believe, “We’ll be blessed because we came.”
Every time we make a God-honoring decision to love someone or serve someone, or encourage someone, it matters. We may not always see it, and often don’t see the result of our action, but we need to remember that even the smallest action can have a consequential influence in God’s Kingdom somewhere down the road.
In His time, in His time; He makes all things beautiful in His time.
This little is much when God is in it kingdom principle is most impactful in two practical areas of Christian ministry.
One, as you have already guessed, is prayer. Little mustard seed prayers on behalf of other people can yield great results.
Prior to my decision to become a Christian, there was a faithful group of six men who met at the McDonalds on St Rt. 224 in Willard, Ohio every Tuesday at 6 am to pray for about 20 men on a list. And they would go down the list, and how long does it take to say, “Randy K’Meyer?” It takes about one little ‘mustard seed’ second.
Never underestimate the power in a mustard seed prayer on behalf of someone you are hoping to reach for Christ’s sake.
Closely related to praying mustard seed prayers is planting mustard seeds of faith in one of three ways:
- when we share a little about how our faith in Christ enables us to live well,
- when we invite someone to worship or some other ministry of the church,
- and/or when we simply allow God to use us to be Like Jesus.
Chuck Colson was standing in a long line in the airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. He and some Prison Fellowship colleagues had been traveling all night. It was now early morning, the terminal was hot and steamy, and they were tired. As Chuck relates in his book, The Church, Being the Body, “Passport in my sticky hand, I was exhausted and exasperated at the long, inefficient line snaking ahead of us. I was worried we would miss our next flight and the ministry friends who were waiting for us.” But, he adds, “I was also determined not to let my frustration get the better of me. I talked with my friends; we laughed and made the best of a bad situation.”
Two years later, he received a letter from a businessman who lived in Singapore. The man had been a follower of Confucius, but he sent his children to a Presbyterian church for moral training. One Sunday, as he picked up his kids, he caught the end of the sermon. A visiting missionary held up a copy of Colson’s first book, Born Again. On the cover was a picture of Chuck. A month later, this guy was stuck in a long line in the steaming Jakarta airport. Glancing over into the next line, he spotted the same face he’d seen on the cover of Born Again. He was so impressed by Chuck Colson’s calm demeanor and cheerfulness that when he got back to Singapore, he got the book, read it, and committed his life to Christ. 4
Everything we do matters.
And everything we don’t do matters.
Back in the 1980s, a businessman went to a Billy Graham crusade and after hearing Rev. Graham explain the gospel and offer an invitation he received Christ as his Savior. The next Sunday he went to a church where he was surprised to see one of his business associates. After the service, he said to his friend, “I was at the Billy Graham meeting last week and received Christ.”
His friend replied, “I heard about it and I am so excited for you.”
Then the new Christian asked his associate, “How long have you and I been associated in business?”
“About 23 years,” the other answered.
“Have you known Christ as your Savior all that time?” the businessman asked.
“Yes, I have,” he proudly smiled back.
“Well, I don’t remember you ever speaking to me about Christ or His church
during those years.” The other man didn’t know quite what to say. So his friend continued, “I have always thought highly of you. In fact, I thought so highly of you I felt that if anyone could be as fine a man as you and not be a Christian, then I didn’t have to be one either.” 5
Ouch.
Everything we do matters.
This is a message that is meant to encourage us. No matter who you are, no matter what’s going on in your life, no matter how dejected you might be as a result of whatever, no matter how many times in the past we didn’t do something we could have God can use each and every action we take on His behalf to bring about a positive Kingdom impact. And that truth should stir us up to love and good deeds!
Think of what could possibly happen if you or I would just speak one little mustard seed word of hope to a brother or sister in Christ who is discouraged?
Perhaps they could find the courage to keep the faith?
Or what if you or I encouraged someone and enabled them to step into their destiny?
Or what could possibly happen if you or I shared a little mustard seed of our faith with someone who doesn’t know Christ?
Everything we do matters. The little things we do today will mean something tomorrow. There are generations yet unborn whose very lives will be affected by the little decisions you and I make today, and tomorrow, and the next day.
“In His time, in His time; He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord my life to you I bring, may each song I have to sing
Be to you a lovely thing, in Your time.”
Little is much when God is in it. And I’m here to tell you God is in it! The only question is what are we going to do in our future that will have a significant Kingdom impact on someone else’s?
PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO THE MESSAGE
[I encourage you to pray as you feel led by the Spirit of God].
CLOSING SONGS
Little is Much When God is in It
Brock, Dwight/Suffield, Mrs. F.W. Kittie Louise
In the harvest field now ripened,
There’s a work for all to do;
Hark, the voice of God is calling,
To the harvest calling you.Little is much when God is in it,
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it
And He’ll not forget His own.Little is much when God is in it,
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run;
He will say if we are faithful
Welcome home, my child well done.Little is much when God is in it,
©1969 Stamps-Baxter Music (Admin. by Brentwood Music Publishing, Inc.)
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.
CCLI License No. 1843349
In My Life Lord
Kilpatrick, Bob
In my life Lord, be glorified,
Be glorified.
In my life Lord, be glorified today.In Your church Lord, be glorified,
Be glorified.
In Your church, Lord, be glorified today.As we serve, Lord, be glorified,
©1978 Bob Kilpatrick Music
Be glorified.
As we serve, Lord, be glorified today.
CCLI License Number 1843349
BENEDICTION
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
I Corinthians 15:58
1 Edward Lorenz and the Butterfly Effect
http://scihi.org/edward-lorenz-chaos-theory/
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBxjNJ9ckMk
3 Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain – Officer & Politician …
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/joshua-chamberlain/
4 Mark Earley, “BreakPoint with Charles Colson” (5-16-03)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2003/june/14467.html
5 Lorne Sanny, “The Key to World Evangelism,” Discipleship Journal (Jan/Feb 1982)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2002/may/13682.html