Worship Service – January 2, 2022

Scripture: John 1:1-18

Message: “Resolution of Realization”

John 1:1-18

The Word Became Flesh

(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning.
(3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
(6) There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. (7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. (8) He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (9) The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
(14) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” (16) From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (18) No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, , who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

This is the word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God.



Welcome on this first Sunday in the New Year. Did you know that New Year’s Day is the one holiday that is almost universal? It is the world’s most observed holiday.
As most of you know this message will be posted on our website at; http://franklinhillpresbyterian.org/ and available for the world to read. It’s my prayer that all may start this New Year with the “Resolution of Realization” of their potential.
I trust you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions one of which is to be in church each week. If so, well done. For this first Sunday your on your way to keeping that resolution. I won’t ask you if you’ve resolved to lose the weight you gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or if you’re planning on joining a health club, or if you’re going to run five miles a day. Five miles, by the way, is probably my total of a lifetime of running. Not one of my strong suites.
I often remember what a fellow once told me, about New Years resolutions. He would say: “Don’t worry about keeping those, News Year’s resolutions. You only have to deal with them until February and then you can give them up for Lent.” I think many of us make New Year’s resolutions with that in mind. And if that’s the case. What’s the use of making them anyway?
Resolutions are good, especially if there are changes we need to make in our lives. I heard about one poor guy who dialed his girlfriend and got the following recording: “I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”
That story reminded me, that I need to tell you, that if you have recently tried to leave a message on my cell phone. I recently changed phones and I seem to have a problem retrieving voicemails. That’s one of my New Year’s resolutions to resolve that issue.
It’s good to make changes, for the most part. As we are often reminded by our critics, our spouses or our children, none of us are perfect. In fact, some of us might have some deep regrets about the way we’ve lived our lives.
I once read about a guy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was convinced people could get rid of their regrets. So each New Year’s Eve he would set up a booth there in Fredericksburg where those celebrating New Year’s Eve can come for a moment of sober reflection. Put the emphasis on “sober” reflection. Those who come write their regrets on a scrap of paper, then they set a match to them and turn them to ashes in an adjacent canister. Literally, their regrets go up in smoke. At least, that’s the general idea.
We could do that. We could make a “Resolution of Realization” and write our regrets on a piece of paper and bring them to the altar light them and watch them go up in smoke. That might be very therapeutic for some of us as we begin a new year. But our text for today, from the Gospel of John puts the emphasis not on our past, but on our future. Not on our regrets, but on our possibilities. Let me read just a few selected verses from this magnificent passage again:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made . . . He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
What a positive theme for this New Year! The introduction to John is focused not on what we have been, or even what we are now. Rather it focuses on what we can yet be: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God . . .”
Isn’t that what you really want as you begin this New Year to know deep in your heart that you can be more than you are today. That you have a right to become a child of God? Isn’t that what you really want to know that you can live the next 365 days confidently aware that your life matters, to know that God is with you and that you can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you? “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
All of us have unrealized potential. That’s the first thing these words say to me. We are children of the dust who have the potential to be children of God. When each of us came into this world, we brought with us an amazing amount of potential.
Someone tells of seeing a young man pedaling around a college campus on a bicycle. He was wearing a T-shirt. On the T-shirt it said, “I’m going to be a doctor.” There was also a sign on the back of his bicycle. It proclaimed: “I’m going to be a Mercedes.” There was a young man who understood his potential.
As a example of the potential each of us brought into the world. I found a story of the origins of the Suzuki method that has helped millions of children learn to play the violin. It begins with a Japanese teacher, musician and instrument maker named, of course, Suzuki. Suzuki had two moments in his life when he gained life-changing insights. Two moments when he committed to resolutions of realization of how all people have potential.
Suzuki’s first revelation came when he was visiting a building that served as a giant incubator for thousands of Japanese songbirds known as larks. The breeders of these larks take literally thousands of eggs and incubate them in giant, warm, silent halls that act as a gigantic nest. There is only one sound that the tiny songbirds hear as they break through the shells of their eggs. It is the sound of another lark, a very special adult lark, that is chosen because of its singing ability. Suzuki noticed to his amazement that every little chick that hatched automatically began to copy the master singer lark. Even more remarkable, after a few days he observed that each chick, having started out by purely copying songs, began to develop its own variations on the original Master Song. The breeders wait until the chick musicians have developed their own styles, and then select from them the next Master Singer, and so the process continues.
“Astounding!” thought Suzuki. “If a bird’s tiny, tiny brain can learn so perfectly, then surely the human brain, with its vastly superior abilities, should be able to do the same and better!” This line of reasoning led Suzuki to his next revelation every Japanese child learns to speak Japanese! When Suzuki pointed this out to his friends they laughed and assured him they already knew that. “But No! No!” declared Suzuki, “they really do, and it’s amazing!”
Suzuki was correct, “Like Newton before him, he had discovered something that was so obvious no one could see it that any baby, born in any country, automatically learns, within two years, the language of that country. This means that every normal baby’s brain is capable of learning millions of potential languages.”
Think about that a few moments and you will realize what an amazing thing that is. Given the proper environment, the human creature is capable of acquiring an amazing amount of information and skills in a short time. It is truly sad that so much of this potential is neglected.
By the way, parents should not give up on a child who seems lacking in potential. Albert Einstein couldn’t speak fluently even when he was nine years old. His parents actually thought he might be mentally challenged. Children develop differently and children are gifted in different ways. You and I came into this world having enormous mental and physical potential, much of which is never realized.
John’s gospel is helping us to realize something more. We also have enormous untapped spiritual potential. Now this is a concept that many of us will not quite grasp, but it is so vitally important. Notice, the text doesn’t say that Christ came into the world so that we can improve our I.Q. or that we will be able to run the 440 in record time. It says that whoever receives Christ and believes on his name has the potential to become a child of God. What does that mean? It means that you and I have the potential to be like Christ. We have a potential within our hearts and souls for peace, a potential for joy, a potential for hope, a potential for love, a potential for forgiveness that is greater than we can possibly imagine.
Try to grasp the significance of that truth. We no longer have to live lives filled with inner conflict, anger, resentment, fear, hatred, guilt or rejection. By the power of God’s Holy Spirit we can become new people, God’s people.
Maybe, as fellow believers you’ve seen this. Sometimes when someone is converted, immediately they begin to follow Christ. Then again sometimes it happens very slowly over time. But know this, you and I can be more than we are. And it doesn’t depend on our background; it doesn’t depend on our physical or mental limitations. It doesn’t depend on our age. Many older people may find themselves slowing down physically, and sometimes even mentally. But there’s no slowdown in our ability to be children of God. This is a gift from God that never fades nor ever fails!
It’s a gift! The right to be children of God is not something we earn. It is a gift from a loving, merciful God! Note again John’s words: “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
It’s not a matter of how often we come to God’s house, it’s not how often we read our Bibles, it is not how often we pray. We don’t earn the right to be children of God. It is a gift.
I hope you begin this New Year with a “Resolution” to open the gift that never fades or fails. The “Realization” that you can be an heir to the throne, a child of God. You can make and keep a; ”Resolution of Realization”, not because of anything you have done, but because of what Christ has done in your behalf.
You have enormous potential physically and mentally. You have even greater potential spiritually. You have the right to become a child of God. As we read in the gospel of John; ”Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” and, indeed, by your belief in Jesus the Christ, you are a child of God.
Start this New Year with a;”Resolution of Realization”. You can have the right to live like Christ, the right to have God as your Father, your Counselor, your Guide. Start this New Year with a “Resolution of Realization”, aware of who you are, and to Whom you belong.
In His Service,
Pastor Joe
Listen To Audio: Sermon 20220102
Listen To Audio: Service 01022022

Prayer of Confession:  Almighty and Merciful Father, we are sorry that we have not rejoiced in Your way, Your will, and Your Word. We sometimes deceive ourselves and think that You’re not actively living among us. Help us to now know, what You already know. Open us, bare us, and reveal our sins now to Your merciful forgiveness. In Your name Jesus we pray, Amen.

ANOUNCEMENTS

 

Pastor Joe will be available at the church on Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4. If you need to speak to him, contact Pastor Joe at 570-267-4570 (cell) or Email: joe.s.travis@gmail.com

Social Hour TODAY following church. Greeting cards for signature are in the Community Building.

Loose change goes to General Fund

Sunday School starts at 8:30am

Choir practice will be on Thursday at 1:00! Please come a join us in singing praises to Jesus!

Corporation Meeting after church on January 9, 2022

PW will meet on January 13th at 11:00 A.M.

Men’s Breakfast Wednesday January 19th at 8:00 A.M.

Session Meeting Saturday, January 22nd at 9:00 A.M.

Newsletter Deadline – Tuesday, January 25th, 2022.

Please sign up to host one of the social hours on the Sunday after Communion Service on the first Sunday of the month.

Listen to WPEL 96.5 for church cancellation if your internet is down during a storm this winter.

Pastor Joe and Bonne want to thank you for your Christmas gift, your support, and your love over the past year. May 2022 be filled with good health, God’s blessings and a deeper relationship with God.

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