In the Beginning

IN THE BEGINNING
John 1:19 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
July 4, 2010

In the beginning when God created the heavens
and earth, the earth was a formless void and
darkness covered the face of the deep. …Then
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Everything we have, everything that is good, is from God.
If you can remember that, say: “Yes!”

That was Genesis; now the gospel of John. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with God. Then John
says, not one thing was made without him.

And who is He? He is Jesus.
And this is the second lesson—Jesus is the
Light that enlightens every one of us. Christ is
our hope and our salvation.

If you can remember that, say, “Yes!”

When I came to Santee in 1979, where I am standing was just dirt. There
was nothing here. Actually there was a flower garden and
worship was in the fellowship hall. Our son Jeremy was
two years old and Aaron was not born yet. This was the
first home Jeremy remembers and this was the first
home for Aaron. This was a great home for us, for nine years
and over 30 years later, I can tell you, You were good to us…
so Thank you! Mahalo! Merci! You gave us a luau when we left.

When we came to Santee, by the third week,we had nine shovels
painted gold and we were breaking ground. Let me ask you,
how many of you were in 1979? This building was completed
in February, 1981. How many of you came after 1981?
I want you to know: This church was built on hard work, sweat,
generosity, and lots of goodwill. …Most important of all—
faith in God.

The apostle Paul reminds us, the
the cornerstone of the Church is Christ who we
know as Jesus of Nazareth.

Kennon Callalhan says, when people come to a church, they
are looking for two things: home and hope.

For me, this place is full of memories.
One day I was serving bread to the little children and when
I got to a boy named Richard. He shook his head and said,
“I already had breakfast.”
…When you receive the bread and the cup today—remember that
the sacrament of Holy Communion is a spiritual meal… receive
if even if you had breakfast.

Many of you probably heard of Gelene Harritt. Gelene used to live in a
red house down on Park Street. She had a guard dog named
Gilbert. One day she and I were talking about
a couple that stopped coming to church so I asked her, “What happened?”
She said that when the church had a potluck, the woman brought a
dish, but nobody touched it. She was hurt and she never came back.
From then on, at every potluck, we made sure that every dish was
eaten from. I went to visit the couple several times and they
eventually came back.

The apostle Paul teaches us that the Church is a body of Christ. When one
part of the body hurts, whole body hurts. For the church to be
healthy, it needs understanding. It also needs the spirit of
forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus, “How many times must I forgive,
seven?” Jesus said, “Seventy times seven.”

In the beginning, Genesis teaches us, everything was good.
Then the world got messed up.

For thousands of years, the world was ruled by kings and emperors,
and dictators. In 1776, a group of men decided that they needed a
new kind of government. They wrote the Declaration of Independence
which said, “Alll men are created equal” (All people) and we all
share the same goal in life, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness.”
As a nation this is our beginning and as Lincoln said, It is a government
of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Tom Brokaw, in his book talks about the Greatest Generation. The Greatest
Generation is made up of those who lived through the Great Depression
and those who helped us through World War II. They were leaderswho led with
courage and sacrifice. Some of those members include: John Kennedy,
Walter Cronkite, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Daniel Inouye, Charles Schultz, and
Billy Graham. Each one of them brought to us a value in living.

The trouble with most of us in this world is that,
we think we are self-sufficient and we can solve
all the problems ourselves. …Not so.
When we were growing up, in school, every day we
recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Then the phrase
“One nation under God” was added. Today there are
people who still believe we can live in this world
without God. If we continue the way we are going—
this is what I believe—there will a Great Collapse.

I have here a handful of marbles. I grew up playing with marbles. They
say, when you grow old, you’re going to lose some of your
marbles. I am going to scatter these marbles on the floor
and I want your help. We can’t solve our problems by
ourselves. In the Fourth Gospel, chapter 4, the woman
at the well was confused about life. Jesus said to her, “I am
the living water. “ Drink of it and you will never thirst again.
Then he said to her: “Worship God in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus taught us that the highest office we can
hold is to Serve Others. And when Jesus was breaking bread with
his twelve disciples, he said to them “A new commandment I give
to you, just I have loved you, you should love one another. “
(John 13:34)

I have in my hand, one, two, three, …..twelve marbles. I am going to
scatter these marbles on the floor and I need twelve people
to retrieve these marbles and bring them up to me.

Jesus began his ministry with only twelve disciples.
And here we are!
When you receive the bread and the cup this morning,
Jesus reminds us again and again:
Do this in remembrance of me.

Amen!