Sermon for February 3rd, 2013
Contents
Jeremiah 29:11-14
11For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
John 1:1-8
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
1 Peter 2:9-11
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. 12Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
The Hobbit
Three Minute Film Summary
Today's three minute movie summary is actually brought to you (at least in part) by the good folks at IMDB, the Internet Movie Database.
In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. That's how J.R.R. Tolkien begins his classic novel, upon which the film is based. For those who are not familiar with Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth, a Hobbit is about half the size of a normal person, and has large, hairy feet. Hobbits are clean, tidy, cautious creatures, who enjoy the comforts of home, and live quiet rustic lives in small corner of Middle Earth known as "The Shire." The central hobbit in this story is Bilbo Baggins, a respectable fellow who leads a very ordinary life until a Wizard Gandalf arrives at his house one day, asking Bilbo if he would like to go on an adventure. Bilbo, of course, says no. "Adventures," he says, "are nasty, uncomfortable things" that "make you late for dinner."
Eventually, however, Bilbo is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Bilbo finds himself joining Gandalf and a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, Giant wolves, Trolls and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets a wretched, pitiful, but deadly creature that will change his life forever ... Gollum. Separated from the dwarves, alone with Gollum on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring--a simple, magical, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
After defeating Gollum in a riddle contest, Bilbo escapes and rejoins his party, who are then ambushed by goblins and forced into a tall tree dangling over the edge of a cliff. Just as they can no longer hang on, they are rescued by giant eagles and flown to the safety of a large rock, where far off in the distance they catch their first glimpse of their final destination, the Lonely Mountain and their ancestral home of Erebor.
The Magic of J.R.R. Tolkien
Let me begin with a confession: The book "The Hobbit," which predates the movie by about 75 years (it was first published in 1937), is probably the only book which I have read more times, and am more familiar with, than the Bible itself. That's because my father read the Hobbit to me when I was four or five years old. Then when my sister was born, he read it to her (and I listened in), and also to my two younger brothers each in their turn. I read it on my own a few times in high school and college, then again shortly after my father passed away. I read it to my oldest son, Grady when he was three, and when we finally got to the very end of the