As some of you may remember in my last sermon, I spoke about the lack of the good news of the gospel message in the bible readings for that Epiphany 6 Sunday. As I began thinking about the message for todayís sermon, I concluded also that there was very little good news about the events occurring in my own life over the last few weeks. Perhaps you have been or are experiencing such times in your own life.

To be more specific, I have been battling a severe case of bronchitis for over a month now. This illness has sapped my energy, lowered my morale, and affected my outlook on life in a negative way. This ailment has cost me a chance to play in the NORCAL tennis Sectionals and perhaps the Nationals coming up soon. Further, the team of which I am Captain had lost its last two matches playing in a stronger 4.0 league. Instead of winning the Nationals, which we did last year, it looks like we will be fortunate if we qualify for the South Bay League playoffs.

When I first read the Bible readings last week in preparation for writing today's sermon, I didn't have a clue as to what I was going to say about these readings. Indeed it was a most helpless and uncomfortable feeling. And last weekend, Pat and I went to the City to enjoy one of our few planned baseball outings for this season. The result was that we watched the giants lose two very poorly played games to the New York Mets.

Based on these events, then, I think you could reasonably say that there has been very little good news in my life over the past few weeks. Needless to say these events did not put me in a very good mood to write a sermon whose main theme was obviously the "good news" in the gospel.

But at this point I took another look at the bible readings for today, and found that there were some real nuggets of good news there for me and perhaps for you. Maybe I have been so absorbed by my own trivial problems that I was missing the spiritual messages from god that might just help me turn my noted "lemons of difficulty" into a "lemonade of blessings".

And so what were some of these nuggets of good news. In the epistle we heard how god has given each of us his spirit and that this spirit abides in each of us to guide us and empower us so that we can become all that we can be and so that we can help others become all that they can be. In the gospel we heard Jesus say that he came into the world so that his joy may be in each of us and so that our joy may be complete. For me this is an important truth I sometimes forget. Sometimes I get so absorbed by the trivial problems in life, that I forget one of the most important truths about life. And that truth is that we are here to enjoy this wonderful world, this wonderful creation, and all of the wonderful creatures of this creation. And especially we are here to enjoy the marvelous and diverse human beings that we encounter each day in our lives. In todayís gospel we also heard Jesus say that god will give us whatever we ask in the name of Jesus. What an astounding statement this is! That we will be given whatever we ask in the name of Jesus.

So as this last week went by I decided that I would test this promise of Jesus. I decided to see if I would be given whatever I asked in the name of Jesus.

So first, I asked god to help me get well so that I could get on with doing those things that I feel called to do at this time in my life. I asked to get well so that I could move towards becoming all that I can be. Second, I asked that my 4.0 league team would begin to play up to their potential and become all that they can be. Third, I asked that my health would improve enough so that I could begin playing tennis again and support my teams in the process of becoming all that they can be. And lastly, I asked that the spirit of god within me would support me and give me some guidance in the preparation of this sermon.

To my amazement things began to happen for the better in my life and the lives of those around me as the week went by. On Tuesday night my 4.o team decisively won their 4th match of the season. On Wednesday the congestion in my chest began to break up and I started to feel better. On Wednesday this sermon began to come together based on thoughts I began receiving on Sunday night. On Thursday I played tennis for the first time in 3 weeks and I felt fine. I knew then that I would be ready to play my scheduled match tomorrow vs. our key rival, the Villages. It turned out, then, that every single thing I had prayed for in the name of Jesus had come to pass.

So where does this leave us? It leaves me with the firm belief that god will support us in all those endeavors that enable us to become all that we can be and that help others become all that they can be. It leaves me with the firm belief that God wants us to have great joy in our lives here! It leaves me with the firm belief that this joy will come primarily from fulfilling our own destiny and in helping others to fulfill theirs. And finally it leaves me with the firm belief that the spirit of God within us will support us in doing all those things that we ask in the name of Jesus!

This is all summed up so well for us in these words of Jesus from todayís gospel. Jesus said, "I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last," and "I have come so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete."

So be it! Amen!