1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

                                                                                       I Corinthians 1:1-9

God is faithful. God will strengthen us to the end. Wonderful statements. True statements. And keep in mind that God strengthens us so that we might carry out God’s work in our world.

God always blesses us to be a blessing to others.

How many of you grew up with a Teddy bear? There is something very comforting about going to sleep holding a Teddy Bear.

I brought the bear that my parents gave me on my first Christmas in 1948 – no name – just “bear.” And here is the bear, Willie Fairbrother, that I received when I had my first birthday in 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, the birthplace of my father. What comforting little friends!

By the way here’s a brief history of the Teddy bear that I found on the internet:

“In America, the teddy bear, according to tradition, got its start with a cartoon. The cartoon, drawn by Clifford Berryman and titled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," showed President Theodore Roosevelt, (26th President of the USA -1901-09) refusing to shoot a baby bear.

According to this often told tale, Roosevelt had traveled to Mississippi to help settle a border dispute between that state and Louisiana, and his hosts, wanting to please this avid hunter, took him bear hunting. The hunting was so poor that someone finally captured a bear and invited Roosevelt to shoot.

Roosevelt's refusal to fire at such a helpless target inspired Berryman to draw his cartoon with its play on the two ways Roosevelt was drawing a line—settling a border dispute and refusing to shoot a captive animal.

The cartoon appeared in a panel of cartoons drawn by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post on November 16, 1902. It caused an immediate sensation and was reprinted widely.

The cartoon even inspired Morris and Rose Michtom of Brooklyn, New York, to make a bear in honor of the president's actions. The Michtoms named their bear "Teddy's Bear" and placed it in the window of their candy and stationery store.

Instead of looking fierce and standing on all four paws like previous toy bears, the Michtoms' bear looked sweet, innocent, and upright, like the bear in Berryman's cartoon.

Perhaps that's why "Teddy's Bear" made a hit with the buying public. In fact, the demand was so strong that the Michtoms, with the help of a wholesale firm called Butler Brothers, founded the first teddy bear manufacturer in the United States, the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.”

Now, aren’t you glad you came to church this morning!!!!

When we hear the words in I Corinthians 1:1-9, we hear the introduction to the Apostle Paul’s letter that was written to a church divided over many, many issues and problems….not unlike churches today!

The word I want us to hear this morning is that word of encouragement…. “God is faithful, God will strengthen you to the end.” God will take us through the difficulties of life as we trust and follow Christ. God will not let us go.

In the book Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life the following story is told:

“During the bombing raids of WWII, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care.

But many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night.

They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food.

Nothing seemed to reassure them.

Finally someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime.

Holding their bread these children could finally sleep in peace.

All through the night the bread reminded them, “Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow.”

God is faithful. God will strengthen us to the end. Now remember -- God strengthens us so that we might carry out God’s work in our world. God always blesses us to be a blessing to others.

Tomorrow our nation observes the birthday anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 16, 1963, Dr. King sent his Letter from the Birmingham Jail to eight of his fellow clergymen who had accused King’s activities as unwise and untimely and called King an extremist. Dr, King responded to them with a powerful letter. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so.

In part, the letter read:

“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

What a statement. Every time I hear those words I am convicted of my apathy towards action I know needs to be taken. May God strengthen us to act on our convictions. May God enable us to be extremists for love.

Finally, I quote the Reverend Clay Cook, pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Kirk. Clay is retiring at the end of January. Clay has a number of witticisms and sayings which have been compiled in a little book entitled, “Little Sparks of Wisdom: The Sayings of C. Alfred.” Here’s one of Clay’s sayings:

 “Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not it okay, it’s not the end.”

God is faithful. God will strengthen us to the end.

Amen