Grits and the Gospel - May 3, 2026

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of grits on the gospel. My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths It is good to be back with you this May 3rd Sunday the fifth Sunday of Easter. I was at the 200th The 200th anniversary of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church being in mission and ministry on the corner first in Mulberry and Macon Georgia last Sunday, it was a beautiful weekend of praise and prayer and worship and fellowship it is Just Mind-boggling to think that there are churches any churches in this country that have been Doing the work of God for 200 years and it was great to be a part of and great to witness And I'm so thankful for that opportunity that I had to go and do that But it is good to be back with you this week And I am thankful that we get to worship together Today let us come together now in a time of worship the Lord be with you and also with you Today's epistle lesson comes from the Acts of the Apostles chapter 7 verses 55 through 60, this is the martyrdom of Stephen here now the word of the Lord But filled with the Holy Spirit he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Look he said I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God But they covered their ears and with a loud shout all rushed together against him Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him and the witness laid their coats at his feet of a young man named Saul While they were stoning Stephen he prayed Lord Jesus receive my spirit Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice Lord do not hold his sin against them When he said this he died The word of God for us the people of God. Thanks be to God As we come together today, let us be mindful of those things in our faith that show us How not to be afraid Friends what do we believe I? Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day He rose from the dead he ascended in his heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the Resurrection of the body and the life everlasting Amen, let us pray together dear Lord. We come to you today in a world full of fear Help ease those fears help remind us of how we can live a life not out of trembling but out of Rejoicing that you are the way to live a life of hope and love Here's now as we pray those words that your son the way the truth in the life taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and lead us Not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever Amen Today's gospel lesson is from the gospel according to John We are in the 14th chapter verses 1 through 14 here now the word of the Lord Do not let your hearts be troubled Believe in God believe also in me in my father's house There are many dwelling places if it were not so I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am there you may be also and You know the way to the place where I'm going and Thomas said to him Lord We do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? And Jesus said to him I am the way the truth and the life No one comes to the father except through me. If you know me you will know my father also From now on you do know him and have seen him and Philip said to him Lord Show us the father and we will be satisfied and Jesus said to him Have I been with you all this time Philip and you still don't know me Whoever has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? Do not believe do you not believe that I am in the father and the father is in me The words that I say to you do not speak. I do not speak on my own But the father who dwells in me does his works Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me, but if you do not Then believe because of the works themselves Very truly. I tell you the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact Will do greater works than these because I am going to the father. I Will do whatever you ask in my name so that the father may be glorified in the son if in my name you Ask me for anything. I Will do it The word of God for us the people of God Thanks be to God Would you pray with me? To Lord as this message Comes to me. Let me be a vessel so that the world may know how to live and light Let the words of my mouth and meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in my sight Oh Lord our strength and our Redeemer. I'm in I am not a fan of scary movies I've never watched any of the popular horror films that have characters with chainsaws or knives for hands I'm not a fan of scary books. I've never read any Stephen King books I'm sure that they're amazing works of art and not that I'm scared of a lot of things as we all know Snakes is about all I'm scared of But my psyche doesn't like things that are too suspenseful or scary, especially right before I go to bed If I read or watch anything that is scary I have to reset my brain before I go to sleep or I'll have nightmares I usually watch cooking shows They aren't scary at all that separation from the things of nightmares helps to make my sleep more restful and less stressful The book of John was written as a great evangelism tool Simple phrases that the people in ancient times could hear and remember easily and then go out and use to tell people About Jesus and his life and salvation The I am statements are a great example. I am the door. I am the good shepherd I am the vine all familiar things to the agrarian people that lived at the time of Jesus and the early church John goes one step further too. He gives a great example of a three-point sermon Do not be afraid he says and then he tells you how and three easy steps the way the truth and the life I Don't usually follow the three-point sermon formula Life is more complicated than any three points life is also more full and beautiful to limit yourself to three points But in this case I think it's a great way to start to reset our hearts and our thoughts When you have things in life that cause fear Because the world has lots of things in it to be afraid of And they don't come in the form of a scary movie or a suspenseful book the way The disciples start by asking him a question The disciples start by asking him a question asking a question of Jesus to calm their fears Lord We do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? Then Jesus tells them the way No one comes to the father except through me. If you know me, you will know my father also for now From now on you do know him and have seen him Knowing God Loving Jesus Believing in him and his resurrection is the way to heaven believe in this Unbelievable and hopeful life eternal of sacrifice and love and joy the truth This time it's Philip that has a request lord show us the father and we will be satisfied Jesus then tells them how to believe in the truth Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me if you do not then believe because of the works themselves The truth comes in the way that Jesus lived his life If you do not believe this wild story of resurrection that was ahead of them Then he points to the fruits of his ministry the truth the holiness The belief can come when you look at the life and ministry of Jesus If you have seen all the miracles and good works, then you have seen God in the flesh the truth made flesh the life Jesus ends with how we can live a life of faith Very truly. I tell you the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact Will do greater works than these because I'm going to the father You will do I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the father may be glorified in the son If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it How do we live a life of faith? Talk to Jesus Ask him what your heart's desires are build a relationship with him follow the way believe in the truth Live a life of the love of God When chaos is happening all around you look to those three simple ideas to help calm your storms It reminds me of those first verses of John Remember those in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God He was in the beginning with God all things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being What has come into being In him was life and the life was the light of all the people The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overtake it The truth at the heart of the scriptures is that God came down among us in the person of Jesus Do you hear the words of John 14 reflected at the very beginning? The life that is in all of us the light of Jesus is the reason that those hard times will not overtake us The life and love in us lived out in the person of Jesus Is the reason that evil and chaos will not win in the end The first few verses of John can seem like a weird word salad But what they are saying is so beautiful and simple All of the I am statements seem simple But they're very layered and beautifully complex The three-point sermon outlined centuries ago can still be beautiful and relevant Because Jesus is still simple in his love and complex and layered and beautiful and relevant in his life Do not be afraid Some days it seems like a pipe dream South Georgia is literally on fire There are wars that directly affect this congregation Illness has struck many of our members trials and hard times are nothing we can avoid All those things can seem too hard to overcome so Jesus made it as simple as possible To remind us that we can survive anything When life is complicated it helps to have the solution be easy to follow Or we can get too overwhelmed Jesus is the way Because of how he lived And what he told us was the truth In our lives The hard times that will always come Can be easier to navigate if we focus on Jesus and not on the Lord If we focus on Jesus and not on our troubles The help he gives can be easier to spot when we're looking to him And not to the world or to our own selves We are in the season of working our way toward Pentecost We've been reflecting on the time that Jesus spent on earth between his resurrection and his ascension into heaven Stories like doubting Thomas and the road to Emmaus are amazing stories of belief That the resurrection happened and that Jesus was indeed the savior that he claimed to be Today's text reminds us of those times that start with belief in Jesus But it also helps us to start to think about how to navigate life beyond that The Disciples lived it out in real time The chaos and ridicule and hardships that they would face trying to establish the early church were very difficult They would be persecuted and questioned as they spread the truth around the world Those same lessons can be helpful for us today Simple reminders of the basics of what we should be doing as a church from the start Telling people not only that they do not have to be afraid but how to do it Showing them the way the truth and the life that was laid out so beautifully in the gospel of john Showing people that they can reset their lives and their brains so that the nightmares are a little less frequent And they don't have to do it by watching a cooking show They simply have to believe in Jesus And who he was as a part of the trying god And the example that he set in his humanity and the savior that he is for all of us today amen As we go throughout our week this week, let us be mindful of the way the truth and the life How we share it with others and how we live it for our own selves and the fruit that we produce Because in life In death In life beyond death god is with us We are not alone Thanks be to god amen