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[ Silence ] [ Music ] God is good. Is good.

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God is good. Is good. My God is good. God is good all the time.

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Oh, God is good. Is good. Yes, he is. God is good.

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My God is good. My God is good all the time. Oh, God is good. Is good.

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God is good. Is good. My God is good, all the time. God is good, yes he is.

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My God is good, all the time. Even though sometimes you may have to cry. God is good. But he'll wipe the tears from your eyes.

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♪ All the time ♪ ♪ We've been made in due for a night ♪ ♪ But the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ It will come in the morning light ♪

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♪ God is so good ♪ ♪ He is good ♪ ♪ Yes, he is ♪ ♪ God is good ♪

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♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ He is good ♪ ♪ All the time ♪ ♪ Church, God is good ♪

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♪ God is so good ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ My God is good all the time ♪

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♪ Even though sometimes it seems that you can't make it ♪ ♪ For his healing will come ♪ ♪ He'll give you a way to escape it ♪ ♪ All of the time ♪

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♪ He may not come when you want him to ♪ ♪ But I guarantee ♪ ♪ I'm right here on time 'cause God is good ♪ ♪ He's good ♪

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♪ God is so good ♪ ♪ God is good ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ He's good ♪

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♪ All the time ♪ ♪ God is so good ♪ ♪ God is good ♪ ♪ He's good ♪

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♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ My God is good all the time ♪ ♪ When I woke up early ♪ ♪ When I woke up early ♪

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♪ This morning I thank the Lord ♪ ♪ For a brand new, a brand new day ♪ ♪ Yes I know, I know ♪ ♪ That my God is still in control ♪

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♪ My God is so good all the time ♪ ♪ 'Cause when I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I thanked the Lord ♪ ♪ For a brand new, a brand new day ♪

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♪ And I know, I know that my God is still in control ♪ ♪ My God is so good all the time ♪ ♪ God is so good ♪ ♪ My God is so good all the time ♪

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♪ My God is so good ♪ ♪ Yes he is ♪ ♪ He is good ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪

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♪ He is good all the time ♪ ♪ Yes he is ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ He is good all the time ♪

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♪ Do you know he's good ♪ ♪ My God is good ♪ ♪ He's good all the time ♪ (audience applauding)

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Amen. Amen. Hear this word. It's recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the seventh chapter, verses 28 and 29.

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Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

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The next passage is Luke, the tenth chapter, verses 33 through 35. A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds,

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pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an end and took care of him. And on tomorrow, when he departed, he took out two pets and gave them to the host and "And said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee."

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subject of the message on being careless and careful--on being careless and careful. Ours is a world sorely in need of Ministries of Mercy. Millions are programmed to die from AIDS.

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Multitudes suffer malnutrition and also slowly dying because of starvation. We spend more for weapons of destruction than on food and health care in many nations. We have yet to learn how to beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.

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We have not learned to care for each other. We build barriers based on race, region, and religion. as well as gender and age. We dream of a classless society,

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but it continues to be an elusive hope. Synagogues and churches are burned and bombed in our time. Klu Klu Klan is still alive and well. Recently, a Klan leader was fined $6 million by the courts.

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People suffer needlessly and die unnecessarily at an early age because of the lack of proper care. It is imperative that we focus more and more on caring for one another,

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that we celebrate our humanity by treating each other as persons created in the image of God. - Oh yes, yes Lord. It's not enough to have isolated care groups.

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Caring should be a way of life. So let us consider in this message what it really means to care. I'm not talking about putting on make-believe in order

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to comply with what is expected or required, but to really care, to be sincere, to really mean it. As one of the elderly sisters in my childhood used to say, "Show enough." So let us analyze what it means to be careless, since this message is concerned about being

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careless and careful. It's a paradox, and much of Christian truth is expressed in paradox. Jesus does that himself. He says one should be--those who lose will win, and those who win will lose.

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So it's a paradox, a truth expressed in contradictory terms. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Paradox. Being careless and careful.

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Careless. Early in life, you know, most of us are warned about being careless. I can remember hearing the words, "Put your shirt tail in." "Pull your breeches up. Tie your shoes."

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You know, because there's always a temptation to neglect those things and to be careless. Now there seems to be a new emphasis, you know, those trousers that are all torn with your knees out and everything, they seem to be very popular and you pay more for those. And I see young men going around with their shoelaces all out, you know.

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So we celebrate carelessness in the measure today. To be careless is to take no pains, have no concern about how you look and how you dress. To be courteous and respectful of self and others is to be caring. So a not-caring attitude is frowned upon.

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It's not the stuff from which strong character is made. Careless, careless. I remember when I was a teenager, Gone with the Wind was out as a movie, and near the end of the movie when Miss Scarlet is faced with the fact that Rex is going to

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leave and she is he's about to leave she says to him what about me and he responds frankly my dear I don't give a damn that was near the end of about a a four-hour movie and there were many teenagers in my group who sat through the second time just to hear those words.

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Just to hear those words. But those are words that when I was growing up they were rather shocking words to hear. But now it's just a matter of course. say that in ordinary conversation. I don't give a damn. Very popular and it's

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just an accepted thing not to care, not to really care. So you have this I don't give a damn attitude over against what one group in Waco just before I left, a poverty group, or anti-poverty group it was to be exact. They selected as their motto, "I give a damn."

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And they had buttons made and people were wearing them. So you have this attitude that I don't and I do, as far as caring is concerned. Now when Jesus is discussing with his disciples earthly cares, he talks about the lilies of the field.

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You don't worry about what you're going to put on, what you're going to eat, where you're going to stay. Don't worry about those things. You see, because the Father knows that you have need of these things. So don't worry about it.

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And consider the lilies of the field. Lilies of the field. While I was meditating on this message, I was in Indonesia, and I at the hotel saw a lily.

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They're in a little pond, near where I was living, in the hotel, in the courtyard. There was this-- and in this pond, there was a lily. Now, the pond was muddy.

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Look, very dark waters. But the lily was just this white. And then there was another lily. I hadn't seen a lily of that color,

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sort of maroon-colored lily, along with the white lily. But both of these lilies were shining for being, being what God made them to be, a lily. Fulfilling the will of God, a lily.

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Not worried about the mud in the pond, but just being a lily. And that's what Jesus is saying. To be careless in that sense, not to be all wrapped up.

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Most of us worry about how we're going to make the note on this payment of the car and all this and that. No, not all these things. Just wear the world as a loose garment because God knows and God takes care of the lily and

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that if you really trust him, he will take care of you. Now to be careless is to be reckless, like the prodigal son who wasted his substance with the right he is living. To be careless is to pollute the environment and to be irresponsible stewards of God's

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creation. That's the negative side of carelessness. But let us look at the positive side of what it means to be careless. But it really means not to be so wrapped up in these earthly concerns that I've mentioned,

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but to find glory in just being the person God made you to be. So the glory of the lily is its uniqueness as a lily. The glory of the lily is its attractiveness as a lily, and the glory of the lily is its beauty as a lily.

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Jesus says Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed as a lily. to be free, to be absolutely free to live the life God designed for us means to wear the world as some people put it, as a loose garment and not to be burdened by worldly concern.

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That's what it means to be careless in a positive sense. And you know sometimes we say, "I could not care less about such and such a thing." More often you hear that. To care, to see, to feel, to do, that's one approach, but many times we say, "Well, I

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could not care less." And I guess when I grew up, I had that attitude, particularly when I was in college, we had requirements at Bishop that you had to have a tie on. When you came to the meals you had to have a tie. Sometimes when you wake up, meals are being served at

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whatever time, seven o'clock. You had to bell the ring at 15 minutes to seven and then again at seven and you were supposed to be in the dining hall and sometimes the fellow would grab, would just grab whatever was available. and it made no difference whether the time matched what he had on or not.

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He could care less. He just wanted to get there for the meal and I was in that number. And so what really is important here, a man is to live a meaningful life by not finding himself in a position where he is absorbed in earthly cares, earthly cares. Now let's look for just a moment, as we move on, at the other part of our Scripture.

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Jesus tells a story about a man on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now he has a purpose, he has good intentions, no doubt. We really don't know, we don't know his race.

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We may assume his nationality and his religion, but we really don't know. We just know that it was a man. on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho.

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And that's the important thing. He's a man. He's an individual. He's on a journey.

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And he falls among thieves who strip him of his clothing. They take all he has. They take his Rolex watch. They take his wallet with all of his money.

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And he has on his fine suit, his Hickey Freeman suit. They take that and leave this poor fellow naked and half dead. There he is in a pool of blood. Along comes a priest.

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And this priest sees the man. I don't need to emphasize the fact that the bandits didn't care about this man. Everything they did to the man shows

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that they could care less about what happened to this man. But here comes the priest. Here's one. whose task it is to mediate between people

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and the deity, priests. And he comes along that way. He hears the dying groans of this man, but he passes by.

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He sees, he gets close enough to see, but he passes by on the other side. He doesn't even want to get too close. He doesn't want to be too well informed about it. He passes by on the other side. The

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Lord does not require him to act on this man's behalf, so he doesn't. Along comes the Levite to the same place. He observes the same condition, he faces the same situation, and he does not care. He looked at the man, but after close observance--he gets

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a little closer--he passes by on the other side. He didn't care. He was attached to the priestly function. He was a Levite. He representative of God on earth, but he really did not care about the wounded stranger. He did not care about his wounds. He did

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not care about his suffering. He did not care about his future. It did not matter to the Levite whether this man had a future or He just did not care. Oh, how sad that those who parade their holiness before men do not stoop to minister to the profane

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conditions of humanity. How tragic. But there comes a merited." On the same road, he sees, he comes to where the man is, he has compassion, he is moved to action, he's concerned, He cares. He binds up his wounds, anoints them with wine,

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sets the man on his own beast, and brings him to an end," to a hospital, so to speak. He took care of him. He provided first aid. He took him to a place where he would continue to receive help. And he said to the innkeeper, "Take care of him."

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And he provided for his care in the future. He left some money there and said, "And when I come back, whatever I owe you more, I I will pay it. Oh, today we have one of the burning issues

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of the election is healthcare, medical care. Another concern in the world is, particularly in the Christian family, is pastoral care. And we have a growing concern for childcare

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and for elderly care. Care for all people. And here in our congregation, We emphasize what we call congregational care.

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We have congregational care leaders. But how effective is it? We need to question that as we think about this message. And D. Elton Trueblood says that the church needs spiritual renewal, demonstrated in what

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he calls "fellowship of the concerned," that we constitute a fellowship of concerned people. We are concerned about each other. That's what the church needs to demonstrate more and more. And we often say to one another, "Be careful," or "Take care."

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And we say that without fully understanding or sometimes meaning the meaning of the words. We are called to be caregivers, to care for each other, to care about God's world. We are called God's caring community. storm Jesus was awakened by his disciples who asked him this searching question, "Master,

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carest thou not that we perish?" God cares. The psalmist says, "God cares." He cares for us. And in the epistle of Peter, we hear the words, "Cast your burdens upon him, for he cares for you." So Jesus was careless in a sense. He was careless about a house. He could care

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less about that. He said, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nest, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." He was careless about earthly dwellings, yet He gave His life for us to have a mansion in the sky. Jesus was careless about

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clothes. He didn't have a great wardrobe. He just had one robe. His only attire was that robe, and the executioners gambled for it at the foot of the cross. Yet, He--He says to us that if we follow in His train, that as His disciples, we will have a

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righteousness. Jesus cares. He cares about you. He cares about me. Jesus cares. That's why He provides for us. He cares. He protects us. He cares. Yes, He cares, and that's why He strengthens and sustains us. Jesus cares. So in the midst of

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the midst of all of our trials and all of our tribulations, there is the comfort of knowing that Jesus cares. Does Jesus care? Well, when we ask this question, angels may answer from the balcony of heaven, "Oh, yes, He cares." It's validated in

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history, he cares. And as we look at the testimony of Christian experience, the word is, Jesus cares. He cares enough to endure the opposition of the Pharisees. He cares enough to experience the chicanery of the Sanhedrin

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in court. He cares enough to endure the agony of Calvary. He cares. He cares enough to die for us. He cares enough to rise from the grave. He cares, I tell you. He cares enough that the good news that we are to spread through all the earth is that He

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cares. Yes, He cares. That's the good news that the church has to proclaim, that Jesus cares. In the midst of it all, He is the one that is represented in the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan comes that way, and He picks up this wounded traveler.

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Jesus has done for us. Somewhere along the way, He picked us up as travelers on the road of life. We've been wounded and we witness not only misery and despair, but He comes and He lifts us and not only does he lift us, he anoints our wounds and he takes us to a resting place where we will continue to be nourished.

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Jesus cares. He does that when we are discouraged. He does that when we are disappointed. He does that when we are defeated.

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He cares. And that's the good news for us on this journey of life, is to know that Jesus cares. So there is an advantage in being careless and careful. To be careless about the things of the world and to be careful about those things that

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are most important. Some people close their prayers, say, "Lord, if you do all of this, then we will be careful to praise your name forever." So as we sing the invitation here, we extend the privilege of the church.

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Jesus, does Jesus care? There's an open door he sets before us. To accept him as Lord, as your guide, as your governor, we invite you to come.

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By letter, by Christian experience, or on professional faith. It's an open door. We invite you to come.

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You may come by letter, by Christian experience, on Professional Faith, we invite you to come. - Hymn 238. Or 237.

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♪ Does Jesus care when my heart is broken ♪ ♪ To leave me no further song ♪ ♪ As the burden's pressed and the cares distressed ♪ ♪ And the waves go weary and long ♪

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♪ Oh yes, he cares, I know he cares ♪ ♪ His heart is touched with my weeping ♪ ♪ And the waves go weary, the long night weary ♪ ♪ I know my Savior cares ♪

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Number two. [MUSIC - "HOW JESUS CARES"] How Jesus cares when the day is dark, when the angels pray and give.

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As the dead and grave, in deep and shame, has been bearing unto the new. ♪ Oh yes, he cares, I know he cares ♪ ♪ His heart is as still as reef ♪

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♪ When the day goes weary, I know ♪ ♪ And truly I know ♪ ♪ My Savior cares ♪ - Three and four.

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♪ Does Jesus care ♪ When I tried and failed to resist some temptation strong When my deed I did grieve, but I know, We leave the peaceful on the shore.

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Number four. ♪ Now Jesus Christ has sent him back ♪ ♪ To give his Son earth to me ♪ ♪ And the sacrifice will be given grace ♪

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♪ And unto him does he say ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ He cares ♪ ♪ I know ♪

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♪ Together, our hearts are touched with my grief ♪ ♪ When the days are weary ♪ ♪ 'Cause of my spirit ♪ ♪ I know I'm safe again ♪

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♪ In your care ♪ (music) I see. [ Silence ]

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[Silence] Right, alright. That's the new couple. But I want him to, I want you all to know him. He didn't stand during the visitor's period, so I saw you at this time so you didn't get away.

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Brother Wheeler, we're glad to have you here. - Amen. - Amen. - Would you bow your heads?

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Lord, we thank you that you care. Direct our feet as we travel through another week. Leave us not alone in the way that we take. Peace, mercy, and love be with you.

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From God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. ♪ Amen, amen, amen ♪ Amen. Amen.

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Oh, yeah. Yeah. Let me announce that we have made a mistake on the-- [Music]

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