Peace Seymour Weekly Messages

Beloved : The Blind - John 9:35-41

Our sin often clouds our faith and our spiritual vision. When we are preoccupied with what matters to us or what God does not desire for us, we start to not see clearly. We become confused, lost, and eventually, we can become spiritually blind. We retain our spiritual vision and faith, by seeing Jesus love for us, and realizing he came to save us. Jesus came to make things clear to those who are walking in sin. He came to reveal himself so that we as sinners, may not only see the error of our ways, but the trust of who Jesus is: our savior and God. Jesus comes to make things more clear to us. To show us who he is. He is the one who comes to blind those who are arrogant and proud, and make those lost in sin, able to see him clearly. We see with spiritual clarity, when we avoid sin, see Jesus for who he truly is, and trust in Jesus' word over what we think we can understand and see ourselves.

Beloved : The Outsider - John 4:5-26

All of us are outsiders to God. We do not follow him as well as we should. We do not live as he calls us to. We are outsiders in many ways, to God's love and his calling to live as his people. We walk in the darkness of sin, do what we please, but we also crave something more. Jesus loves even the outsider. He loves the Samaritan woman, though she is undeserving of his love. He takes time to talk with her, to care for her, to love her, and to tell her who he is. Jesus shows love to the outsider, by welcoming them into his presence, and into his kingdom (his rule and reign). As he did for the Samaritan woman, he does for you and I. We are outsiders, but his kingdom is for the outsider. We are all outsiders welcomed into the kingdom of God, by Jesus, through his love, called to welcome others into his presence and kingdom.

Beloved : The Doubting - John 3:1-17

Some things are difficult to believe. What Jesus offers, can often sound too good to be true. How can water and word in baptism do everything that we claim? The Holy Spirit really works and acts in us? I believe in Jesus, but it's easy to doubt and get confused with some of these teachings. They sound like a fairy tale. Too good to be true. God's power and work is not capped at our earthly, human understanding. We truly cannot fully grasp all of who our God is. He is more impressive and powerful than we could ever imagine. Yet, what we can see and understand, is Jesus' love for us. God showed us love in Jesus, who went to the cross, suffered, and died, so that we could have eternal life! Faith is believing and trusting in Jesus and his word, in spite of our weakness and understanding. When we doubt, we trust in Jesus and his love for us, believe his promises he has given us that are beyond our understanding, and live a new life of following him.

Beloved : The Nobody - John 1:43-51

Often in life, we feel like nobodies. We feel as if we are simply another face in a world that does not really care. Most of us are not famous, or well-known, or important. We even feel as if no one cares for us. We feel alone. We feel unimportant. What could God really even want with us? Jesus sees you. He cares about you. He loves you. He calls you to come and follow him. In his calling, Jesus does more than just make you feel loved or known, he reveals truth to you. He shows you the big picture in life. He makes you his own, and opens your eyes to the most important thing in the world: who he is and what he has done and will do for you. In Jesus' eyes, you're not just another nobody, you're his beloved disciple. When you feel like a nobody, remember that Jesus has seen you, loved you, and called you to follow after him.

Beloved : The Sinner - Ash Wednesday - John 1:29-34

We are sinners. We are born, live, and die, in sin. As enfleshed humans living in the aftermath of the fall of humanity into sin, we are in a condition of sin. This means death. Our flesh will one day break down, fall apart, and we will die. This is the reality of the world. This world is in sin. We are in sin. We will die because of our sin. Jesus came to take away our sin. As John the Baptist said he is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". He does so, in the water of the Jordan. By being baptized in the dirty waters of sin in the Jordan river, where John the Baptist washed clean those repentant who came to see him, Jesus took out of that water, all our sin and suffering. He received the Holy Spirit, and so began the redemption of humanity, that we may also be washed clean. We are sinners who will die, but Jesus has taken on our sin, given us the Holy Spirit, and has called us to live a life of repentance following him.

What You Love : Our God Who Loves Us - John 15:1-5

We allow all kinds of things to shape and change us. We are formed and conformed by and to the world. Our sinful hearts look for something to worship, and we end up worshipping all kinds of things around us. This is evident in how we live apart from how God has called us to. We are slaves to our hearts, and we live according to what we love, which is often, not God. By the Holy Spirit, God gives us a new heart. A heart that trusts in God's truth, that Jesus has come to save us from our sin, and call us to live for him, rather than for ourselves. We are to rejoice and abide in this truth. We hear God's Word, rejoice with the community God's made for us in the church, and live by the Holy Spirit, as Jesus has called us to. Our God loves us and calls us to abide in him, when we hear God's word and promises, bear fruit by the Holy Spirit, and look to Jesus for all things.

What You Love : The Entertainment We Consume - Colossians 3:1-4

We are to put to death the sin that lives inside of our hearts. Yet, we constantly give into the sins of the world when we allow our phones, or the entertainment industry, or the music we listen to, or the shows we watch, shape and form who we are and what's important. What we hear and listen to influences us. While it's not bad to engage with media and the world around us (as long as we do not give in to sin), we should not allow these things to control and consume our lives, our thoughts, and our minds. Jesus calls us to look to higher things in life. He died, rose again, and killed and raised you to life through your baptism, so that you and I could live a new life. We would not be consumed by the sin and the things of this world, but rather we would live new lives that prioritize not what we think is important or what the world says is important, but what Jesus calls us to look to and how to live. We refuse to allow media today to consume us when we remember our baptism, set our minds on the things of God, and look forward to Jesus' soon return.

What You Love : The Politics We Follow - Matthew 22:15-22

We easily get swept up into playing political games. We follow the news and listen to it every day. We only vote for this party. We argue with each other and make snap judgments about others because of their political leanings. We hate and even fight with others, and slander our leaders that God has appointed. We even look to these political figures as messiahs who will save our country. In other words, we allow politics to become the most important thing in our lives. Jesus upholds the importance of political leaders, while at the same time, pointing to what's truly important: faith in God and following him. Who Caesar is or whether you should give him your tax money is far less important that following your God and giving him what he deserves. Jesus came to show us who is our true king, and he calls us to give to God what he deserves, our faith and our lives. Politics should not shape our lives, but rather Jesus' kingship and his calling for us.

What You Love : The Traditions We Inherit - Matthew 9:14-17

We love our traditions, in church and at home. These traditions are good. Yet at times, they can obscure the good news of Jesus. We fail to teach our traditions well to our children and others. We refuse to change our old ways when they no longer convey the same message. We hold on to the things that we like or that we prefer, and we fail to pick up new practices that are more helpful. We do not honor our traditions or the important truths they teach, when we fail to explain and teach their purpose, and when we refuse to change them when necessary. Jesus has brought us into a new covenant. A new thing that God has done, where he has saved us in Jesus! No longer do we need to do everything God's people did before, because God has done a new thing in Jesus, where the law has been fulfilled, the price for sin has been paid, and old practices need not be done. Jesus has brought us the good news of the Gospel that has saved us from our sins, that we point to with our traditions, and that will one day bring us into perfection of life with him.

What You Love : The Glory We Seek - Mark 8:27-35

We think of glory from a human perspective. We want to have glory and power and control in our lives and in the eyes of others. We want to be lifted up, talked up, and looked up to. We want earthly glory. The problem is, earthly glory is not the same as heavenly glory, and we are seeking that which is not life. We don't want to suffer or be 'weak' or experience difficulty for the sake of the Gospel. The glory that Jesus was thinking of, was not a glory that was pleasing in the eyes of the disciples. It wasn't a glory that was attractive in an earthy sense. Rather it was brutal, ugly, and ended in his death on the cross. Yet through the ugliness of the cross, we see our salvation that Jesus has won for us! We often want to live glorious lives, but the true glory comes in the cross of Jesus, and in quietly, faithfully, bearing our crosses while trusting in Jesus and his promises of future glory with him at his return. True glory for us comes in the cross of Jesus, denying our own desires and wishes, and rejoicing in the truth that Jesus has saved us through his own death and resurrection.