My First Sermon

This past Sunday I was blessed to give my first sermon to the Hill's Church congregation of Export, PA.  I had my wonderful friends and family there to support me.  The following is the sermon but a video will be uploaded soon.  A sermon is available here for the audio format.


Ryan Lucas
Hill's Church - Export, PA
Student at Penn West Academy for Ministry

Good morning, it is a blessing and an honor to have you all here today.

Perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, firm, precious, and sweeter than honey, these are all attributes that were used in Psalm 19 to explain the Ten Commandments but they explain God’s character even better. One characteristic that we do not commonly think of with God is anger. This is not our kind of temper-raging anger but righteous anger. God wants us to get angry about evil acts but to not sin in our anger. We should let it motivate us to change what has been corrupted.

Have you ever got angry or done something foolish?

          In John Chapter 2, Jesus goes to Jerusalem and finds a market place inside a temple. In a righteous anger he makes them leave the temple with their goods. God’s anger is also shown in the old testament various times but never got angry in spite but instead had a purpose, a righteous purpose. This powerful control of his emotions shows the awesome wisdom that can be learned from God.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he says “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. Wisdom is a great characteristic of God and us too as believers. It enables us to learn from those before us and to teach others that will come after us. Our wisdom that we obtain from life and faith must be positive to those who we teach it to. It is important for us to learn aspects of life that are difficult and portray solutions and guidance based on our pasts. Like the old saying goes, “We learn history so that we gain from our past and don’t make the same mistakes twice.”

One of the saddest parts of American History is slavery. The disregard for human life was a disgrace to our country. In 1839 a small boat of slaves was being transported in the oceans around Cuba. The group gained control of the small boat and tried escaping back to Africa but was intercepted by a U.S. naval ship. The group was charged with mutiny and faced a certain death or even a return to their “owners”. The group was represented by the Amistad Committee formed by the Connecticut Congregationalists. After a long legal battle they were eventually released back to Africa to live in freedom. The committee went on to do other great things for civil liberties in the U.S. creating the American Missionary Association. Today, we as part of the United Church of Christ celebrate Amistad Day, remembering what happened in 1839 and celebrating the diversity and acceptance of different races in our culture. I am dressed like this today to show that we are all a little different. We have our strengths and weaknesses, shortfalls and achievements but regardless we are all accepted by God.

Man and God are naturally different. We may know of god’s loving characteristics but we still live within our own social norms, narcissism, greed, and our own self gains.

I want to tell you about a young man that I once knew. He was smart and was blessed with a loving family but he was not fully content with life. You see this kid didn’t have many friends and lived a somewhat lonely life. One clear and dark summer night this young man decided that the friends he had were not friends at all and life wasn’t worth living. He drove his little car as fast it could take him down some dark back-country roads. Whipping around turns at breakneck speeds he didn’t care about where he was going as long as it wasn’t where he had been. He was on a mission to run away from it all, he wanted a break from life as he knew it. Better judgment got a hold of him and he parked his car on the dirt road in a wide open field. He got out of his car and sat on the hood sobbing at the thought of his mere existence. He thought to himself, “Is life really worth living and does God care about me?” He thought about his past and remembered one thing: God sent Jesus so that our sins would be forgiven and we could live a righteous life through him. He prayed for a while and soon witnessed a miracle. Getting into his car, he noticed a flash of light in the corner of his eye. Fireworks were filling the horizon to the north in a display at God’s celebration of my life. That night I accepted Jesus as my savior.

          I told you this story to show you two things; people are not perfect but God is perfection. God judges people by their characteristics that they portray in life. We all have different attributes that make up who we are and so does God.

          As believers in Christ, we should be asking ourselves what great goals we should be achieving to further God’s kingdom on this planet. When we evangelize in the community, some people play it safe and don’t take chances to spread the word of God. They take the easy route to their goals. I challenge you to untie your safety line that holds you close to your comforts and take some risks. Remember that God is always with you and he is always there to grab your hand when you need it.     

Outdoor Adventures

From 2006 to the present, I spend most of my free time in the outdoors one way or the other.  I first acquired the backpacking bug from my Uncle when we did a short section of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in August, 2005.  I then went on a rock climbing and whitewater rafting trip to the New River Gorge, West Virginia in 2005 with my high school Outdoor club where I was the president.  My love for rock climbing grew and so did my passion for whitewater.   On a road trip with my mom later in 2005 in New England we decided that it would be a great idea to go ocean kayaking in Bar Harbor, ME.  This turned out to be an amazing trip and it opened our eyes to adventure.  The next day we headed west towards the mountains and went with Moxie Whitewater down the Kennebec River. Our guide Ben and the other crew made an amazing steak lunch in the middle of the trip. After graduation from high school I went on a trip with my dad and step-mom to Colorado where my dad and I hiked to the top of Pikes Peak.  The ascent was a two day trip in which we stayed at Barr Camp where we received an excellent place to stay, enjoyed some friendly company from the resident staff at the camp, and had a great breakfast before our "summit bid". I received a kayak from my dad for a graduation present soon after the Colorado trip.  The next few years in college were a lot of fun as my girlfriend Trista (now wife) and I did a lot of hiking and kayaking in western Pennsylvania.  I acquired some rock climbing gear one year for Christmas and Trista and I took rock climbing classes at Exkursion Outfitters in Monroeville, PA.  These classes proved to be a great experience and I soon started taking others climbing including the Outing Club at IUP.  The club's president soon graduated and I thought it would be a great experience for me to share my love for the outdoors with others so I acquired the leadership of the club. In 2009 I acquired a whitewater kayak and began to take classes at Rocky Mountain Outfitters in New Stanton.  Time and training constraints led to me eventually selling my boat but I am committed to getting back into the eddies.  After graduating from college, I got a job, a wife, a house, and now I have a daughter born on January 26th, 2011.  Although the 2011 season was a bust for adventure I am now working on getting youth involved in the outdoors through the United Church of Christ in western Pennsylvania.  I am working on being a licensed minister through the UCC church where I plan on starting an outdoor ministry program that will spread the word of God through parts of the community that typically do not go to church on a regular basis.