NO SHOW SUNDAY

Today, Worship is a lot different from a normal Sunday.

If you are a guest today, normally, you would have had:

• people helping you in the parking lot
• folks meeting you at the door and helping you find a seat.
• The grass would have been mowed.
• The Student Center would have been unlocked! Teachers would have been over there to welcome your family, check in the kids and teach them about Jesus!
• Loving Volunteers in the Nursery that have passed an extensive background check would have been loving on your babies and changing their dirty diapers while you worshipped over here.
• There would have been a band and singers up here!
• There would have been words on the screen when we tried to learn that new song.
• There would have been some lights turned on

WHAT HAPPENED?? Jesus came back and raptured all the real Christians! We are the only ones left.

Actually, TODAY IS CALLED NO SHOW SUNDAY.  WE ASKED ALL THE VOLUNTEERS TO NOT SERVE TODAY!  Our goal is to have the worst worship experience of PromiseLand San Marcos.

If your kids get a little antsy, we understand.  We provided some colors and a piece of paper for them to do some artwork. AT THE END OF SERVICE, EVERYONE GETS ICE CREAM THAT LISTENS INTENTLY.

If you are a guest, we invite you back next week. It will be awesome!

Two objectives today!

1. The current volunteers will hear our heartfelt thanks! We could do it without you, but it would really stink.

2. That we will recruit the potential of some of you.

Let me show you this in the Bible:

John 2:1 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

Honor was everything in their culture. In our culture, profit or success or achievement is everything.  In their culture, you were supposed to honor each other and when you ran out of wine you had failed to honor your guests.

TODAY, we had no wine for you. We did not honor you or God today.  This happens a lot in churches in America. Churches fail to honor God and guests.

We have always made it a priority at PSM to honor our guests and make them feel welcomed in our home.  When it doesn’t happen, we do everything in our power to make it better. Guests are a big deal at PSM.

Over the last 13 years, we have had 9467+ of people walk through our doors!  Our Question is:  Will we have wine at the party? Will we honor our guests.   When they get here we need to be able to give them the very best!

When we honor guests, we honor God!

We have some big weddings in our day and time. (bridezillas)  Weddings in Jesus’ day were HUGE. They could last up to a week.   This was an opportunity for a wedding, but also for gift giving.   For us to not have order, excellence, joy is a disgrace, dishonor.   We are the church of God. We are serving the bread of life.

God is great and greatly to be praised!

Our culture here at PSM  is one that honors God and serves His people!

• Every member is a minister (everyone represents God to others)
• Every task is important
• Everybody is a 10 at something.

Some today might say, I like this environment, it is quieter, we don’t need the lights and loud music. If God wants to save them, then he can save them.  If you are leaning that way, make sure you aren’t using God’s sovereignty to hide your apathy.   Just because he can doesn’t mean he will. HE CREATED YOU FOR A PURPOSE. Get in the game!

Mary had just hinted that Jesus should do something about the wine problem.

4 “…woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

KIDS, this is the one time you can not do what Jesus does.  Do not use this verse.   You can’t use this passage as WWJD.  – “Son, do your homework…woman, my time has not come.”

Jesus says that this has nothing to do with him.  He could have every right to say that about all of earth including our sin.  “I’m pure, spotless. They are unholy. What does this have to do with me?”  Instead, he empties himself for us. Jesus is about to turn water into wine.  It seems like is a bit out of place.  Making wine at wedding?

Some might think that they are over qualified to serve.  Look at Jesus. Do you think that you are better than Jesus?  Jesus was doing quite well separated from humanity but instead lowered himself to become like us and then to die a gruesome death in our place.

In a few minutes, I will give you all the opportunity to jump into serving here at PSM and we will all have to face One of the biggest barriers to serving: PRIDE.

Shaking hands, smiling at people, parking cars, picking up trash, serving coffee.

YOU ARE OVERQUALIFIED FOR ALL OF THESE TASKS.

Jesus was way over qualified to take your sins on his back and carry them to the cross.  He was way over qualified to turn water into wine.

You are never more like Jesus than when you are serving (giving).

Even Jesus, had to be prompted to act!

5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.”…

Jesus takes something very ordinary and puts ordinary water in them.  See God make something supernatural with it.

This happens every week at PSM: I want to CELEBRATE our volunteers for a moment! We have 180 volunteer positions on each Sunday.   That encompasses: 360 hours per Sunday, 1512 hours per month, 18,144 hours a year! At minimum wage that is a value of: $3000/week and $156,000/year!  Many are doubling up multiple jobs and many are working both services.

And these are not minimum wage jobs! We have

• business owners that are open doors and park cars.
• ‘stay at moms’/professional moms that sing and prepare Sunday School lessons
• IT guys that work all week at the office and then get here and make this place look amazing!
• We have single parents that get here at 7:00am on their day off with all their kids dressed well and get ready to serve you. (Parking in top lot)

7… When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over.

 

All the guests at the wedding had no idea of what happened to make the miracle happen. But the servants knew!

Every week Jesus is turning water into wine for people at PSM!

You may not see it, but every week we get responses from people who have gone through divorce and yet God has given them peace.

• Jenny diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and then a turnaround where there is no treatment needed.
• Paul on the edge of a breakdown and God turns around his situation, emotions, marriage.
• 2 weeks ago 82 people were baptized! What about the dozen volunteers who were at the church at 6am getting speakers loaded in trucks?!
• Last week, 115 School Backpacks given out! What about the volunteers who gave, went shopping, stuffed the pack, handed out the packs!?
• Over 200 have attended the Growth Track this year. Who served the food, put up the tables, sat down for 1-on-1 counseling?!

Everyone gets to taste it. But only those that serve get to see the transformation.

PromiseLand has some fine tasting wine!  In order for God to produce the wine, he is working through a lot of servants who are faithfully taking ordinary clay pots and filling them with ordinary water.

God is doing some amazing things around our house and those that are serving are participating in the miracle!

STARTING TO SERVE IS SIMPLE: 

• Take the piece of paper in the seat in front of you and circle ONE box.
• Another way is to go on the CITY this afternoon and all of the specific spots available will be listed.
• If you are ready to make a move, then follow through. If you are feeling guilty here today and sign up and then we try to reach you and you won’t ever call or email us back, then don’t waste the time filling out the card.

If you have been here a while and have been drinking the wine and you are ready to start carrying a jar then, we need you to start carrying a jar!

We have spots available with kids, in social areas, in private areas, cooking meals, shaking hands, cutting grass, working in the dirt!

Carry a jar!  There are some servants that are carrying your dead weight.  If you are only wanting to social sip at the PSM spiritual wedding, then it’s time to move along! Either move spiritually deeper or move to a church were sitting around is acceptable.

I’m hoping that we will never take for granted what happens here at PSM. We need to treat everyone like a VIP.

Let’s do John 2:5-  God is going to continue to turn water into wine! Will you be a part?

1. What happens at PSM changes lives forever. This is not a social club or a religious death trap.
2. Faithful people humbly make a difference every week. Some every week, some biweekly. Some once a month.
3. It takes a little jolt or ‘ask’ from someone else to motivate.