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SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
March 21, 2021 Gathering MUSICAL OFFERING WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety. Attendance was taken by ushers as you entered Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors. The bulletins were placed specifically for social distancing, one household per pew. Please sit exactly where you found your bulletin. Please keep your masks on and remain seated through the whole service. There will be no singing but songs will be played, and no physical contact. You may read along silently, Schedule reminders: The office and the rest of the building remain closed, but you can contact Karla during her office hours. March 21st will be a Session Meeting right after Church PRELUDE WORDS OF WORSHIP Leader: Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made the heavens and the Earth. Response: We will trust in His blessings and seek His grace in our lives. Leader: Our world and our country are in perilous times due to the pandemic; but even more because of sin. Response: God is stronger and more wonderful than any peril we may face. Let us trust Him with our lives and faith. GATHERING PRAYER As we reach the first Sunday of Spring, we are filled with a sense of hope for a better, warmer, and more blessed future. The past months have been an extreme trial for us all, and many have suffered much during these times. We pray that our love for You, o God, and our faithfulness to Your scriptures will lead us into a stronger future and more harmony and peace in the days to come. Amen. HYMN “O For a Closer Walk With God” No. 397 CONFESSION AND PARDON. Gracious God, we come before you in need of forgiveness and grace. You call us to trust in you completely, but we do not. We are timid and fearful as we follow your lead. We justify our actions and words, though we know they are not what You require. We struggle to understand the new life Christ offers, preferring old habits to risky change. Forgive us, we pray, Help us to be born again into the life of Christ, trusting that you have included us by grace in the family of faith. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen. ASSURANCE OF PARDON The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast mercy. In the precious name of Jesus, I declare to you that our Savior, Jesus Christ, will forgive the sin that you confess and sustain your effort to walk in newness of life. Amen. THE PASSING OF THE PEACE THE OFFERING AND OFFERTORY As our Lord has provided everything we need and much of what we can imagine; so let us provide for the needs and the desires we have for our church family, the larger Church, and the world. OFFERTORY PRAYER We present our best gifts to You, o Lord, in order that genuine ministry may proceed from this place into our community and into the larger world. Bless them, and the givers, with Your mercy and love. Amen. INTERLUDE Word PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION God of wonders and signs, we come to Your word again and again, seeking understanding and the new life it offers. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, illumine our hearts and minds so that we may believe this testimony and have eternal life. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our teacher and Savior, we pray. Amen. SCRIPTURE LESSONS Isaiah 6: 1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Acts 9: 1-7 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. I Corinthians 12: 4-14 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines .12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. SERMON “The Call Of God.” Welcome! This is the Facebook broadcast of the morning worship service of the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton, Iowa. To watch this video, go to Facebook, type in “Dale Dykstra videos” on the subject line and it should pop up. I am the Rev. Dr. Dale Dykstra. I am a candidate today to become the Interim Pastor of this congregation. I come to you from 48 continuous years of ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA), serving in Pennsylvania for 23 years and Illinois for 25 more. My most recent service has been a 17-month Interim Pastorate at the First Presbyterian Church of Milan, Illinois. It ended at the last Sunday of February as they called a full-time minister beginning March 1, 2021. I have studied your Annual Report from last year, and spoke with your Clerk, Elders, and members about your parish and its needs as they gave my wife Donna and me a tour of your church buildings. If you do employ me, I will want to hear from as many of you as I quickly can about your hopes and dreams for our future together. I have been impressed with all that you have to work with! These are truly magnificent facilities –full of beauty and of meaning. You have an important sense of the rich history of your family of faith and a respect for the saints who have gone before. I have been assured that there are sufficient funds available in your endowed accounts to enable future programming to reach and attract new members. Truly, if this were a New Church Development, I would say we were blessed beyond measure! What it seems that we need are people! We need to energize the members we have with hope and the desire to work hard at church building. We need to form a positive approach and mindset about ourselves to approach prospective new members. We will need to find ways to invite the larger community into our building and into our programming to acquaint them with us. We will need to welcome new members and involve them in our ministries. THAT’S ALL!!! We have various types of people- I don’t know you just yet, but my experience in ministry allows me to make some assumptions. We have leaders who are currently serving and have served for a long time. We have newly elected or appointed folks who are bursting with new ideas and energy. Those who have served, but have “graduated” to “retired” status. Guests who seek a church that welcomes new people and ideas. Others blessed by our worship but avoided further service. But excuses may abound! “ I have had my turn”; “ I have all I can handle”; “I don’t want to get involved.” WHY SHOULD WE SERVE NOW?? BECAUSE IT IS OUR CALLING!!! As for me, I fully believe that God called me to ministry 53 years ago. After two more years of college and 3 of Seminary, I have answered with 48 years of service. ANYTHING A CHURCH NEEDS ---THAT’S MY JOB!! What does the Bible say? I have given you four citations. In Isaiah, God confronts him with a vision asking a key question ---OUR question! “Who will go for us?” The correct answer is “Here Am I”. Paul was an enemy outside the new “Way” family of faith—not a believer, but a persecutor. God knocked him off his animal, blinded him and spoke to him. “Saul, why do you persecute me?” Paul’s life was changed for every day from then on. The disciples of Jesus were regular fellows – townsmen, fishermen, tax collectors, etc. Jesus charged each of them “Follow me!” –that is OUR charge too! They left their usual patterns to make Jesus’ work the center of their lives. Now I come back to us, Paul speaks of US using our spiritual gifts for the good of the body of Christ—OUR CHURCH. He uses the picture of the body –hand, feet, ears, eyes to show how we are to blend our particular assets and talents together. WITH 82 PEOPLE WE ARE GOING TO NEE TO ALL GO FORWARD TO RE-GROW OUR CHURCH. It is my fervent prayer that we will say “Here We Are – Send us!” and become disciples of our Lord in His Service. MANY PARTS—ONE BODY. Amen. ‘ HYMN “Christ if the Upward Way” No. 344 “Christ of the upward way, my guide divine, AFFIRMATION Apostle’s Creed, Ecumenical Version Sending HYMN “Called As Partners In Christ’s Service” No 343 . CHARGE & BLESSING And now, may the grace, mercy, and peace which proceeds from God the Father, through Jesus Christ, the Son, and into the Holy Spirit within you and me, may it rest and abide within us, now and forever more. Amen. POSTLUDE SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
March 14 2021 Gathering MUSICAL OFFERING WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety. Attendance was taken by ushers as you entered Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors. The bulletins were placed specifically for social distancing, one household per pew. Please sit exactly where you found your bulletin. Please keep your masks on and remain seated through the whole service. There will be no singing but songs will be played, and no physical contact. You may read along silently, Schedule reminders: The office and the rest of the building remain closed, but you can contact Karla during her office hours. March 14th will be the annual congregational meeting at 9am March 21st will be a Session Meeting right after Church PRELUDE WORDS OF WORSHIP L: O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. P: Snow melts, birds sing, buds burst forth and the air is crisp and sweet. L: God’s steadfast love endures forever. P: We feel God’s presence in springtime gifts and in his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. L: Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim God’s glory. P: God is good. His love endures and pours forth this day Let us worship our God of grace and our God of goodness. GATHERING PRAYER We pause this day to consider our lives against the backdrop of your amazing love and grace, O Lord.us to be honest with ourselves and with you .Allow us to hear the words of life that have become so familiar that perhaps they have lost the sparkling abundance of their meaning .you did so love this world that you sent your Son so that all who believe might receive the gift of eternal life .we glimpse that gift in new ways this day. Amen. Hymn God of Grace and God of Glory 420 . CONFESSION AND PARDON In the wilderness the people grumbled to Moses about the dangers they encountered and the manna which had grown monotonous. Nicodemus grumbled that Jesus’ words made no sense. Yet God bent low in both of these situations to hear and address the needs of his people. Let us come to God with confidence that we, too, can know the joy of God’s touch upon our lives, God’s gift of grace upon our soul. Please pray with me. Prayer of Confession Hear the prayers, Lord God, of your grumbling servants. We can relate to those ex-slaves wandering in the wilderness. We, too, are working at shedding chains of bondage--to the norms of our world that seem so right and sensible, to security and comfort that has often become a false idol. We want to truly believe and to receive your gift of eternal life. But, it’s hard; we resent it when our expectations are not met. You ask us to trust ourselves into your care. Help us, Lord, to look to you for truth and love so that we can experience new hope and new opportunities for all. Amen. Assurance of Pardon L: Jesus reminds us that God so loved the world-- P:The world-- that’s us! L: God sent his only Son so that we can believe and receive the gift of eternal life Christ is lifted on the cross to take away our sins. Let us claim this gift. P: We are the forgiven people of Christ. ALL: Praise be to God! Peace of ChristSong of praise Gloria Patri 579 INTERLUDE Word PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION O God, giver of all good gifts, we come now to hear of your grace and love. Help us to open our hearts as scripture is read and proclaimed. Help us to accept the truth of your blessings and to know the blessing of your truth. Amen. SCRIPTURE LESSONS Numbers 21: 4-9 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. John 3: 14-21 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. SERMON Lifted Up for ALL Lifted up for ALL! It’s a beautiful, crisp October day, and your college football team is playing its archrival. A traveling trophy is on the line, and the excitement in the air is buzzing with electricity. The band is playing, cheerleaders are out in front warming up the home crowd, the teams are about to take the field. You look to your right and there are three people holding up signs that collectively read, “John 3:16.” ---familiar image isn’t it? Or how about this? You are driving on a two-lane state highway in a rolling Midwest county where you pass a beautifully kept farmstead. At the edge of the property in front of a vibrantly green field of corn waving in the light breeze is a large sign that reads, “JOHN 3: 16” We’ve all seen these signs. Maybe you’ve held up such a sign yourself! It’s an affirmation of our faith, for sure. It encapsulates much of our understanding of our God’s plan in sending his Son, Jesus Christ into our world. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, SO THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY NOT PERISH, BUT MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. This single passage says a lot. 1. God loved. 2. Jesus is God’s Son. 3. God sent him for the benefit of the world. 4. Everyone who believes is given eternal life. But here’s what I notice. Many people seem to take this passage either at a surface level, not digging any deeper than the top level of meaning OR they use it as a club against others whom they perceive don’t believe in Jesus or who believe in inferior ways. So today, let’s spend some time digging into these passages just a little deeper. To begin with, this most quoted passage arises from the story of Nicodemus, the Pharisee who sneaks into the house where Jesus is staying to test the things he has been seeing and hearing about this travelling rabbi. In other words, to see for himself if this Jesus might be the Messiah sent by God but at the same time not risking his standing in the community. But he has great difficulty understanding this “Kingdom of God” that Jesus comes to offer. It’s a kingdom that is radically different from the law-based order in which Nicodemus has been schooled. It comes when we allow God to present to us a completely new paradigm for faith. Nicodemus expect the locus to be on humans who earn God’s favor and thus salvation. Pretty straight forward. God’s gifts for people who deserve them. But Jesus is pointing to something radically different, and Nicodemus can’t get his head around it. “God so loved the world that he gave.” No earning anything. No deserved blessings. No power or goodness that comes from what we do or who we are. In fact, Jesus lifts up an Old Testament story to illustrate. Those Hebrew slaves who had been led out of bondage. They had been protected, given manna to eat. They’d drank sweet water that poured out of a rock. They were led by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They had a leader who was intimately connected to God, and they’d even been given the law as a tool to live godly lives. Do you think they earned those gifts? All of the people? Each and every one? Do you think that there was no quarreling over position or chores or even too much noise in camp? Do you think everyone was on board with this moving from place to place in the wilderness? Do you think that wives didn’t complain about their husbands or that fathers didn’t become angry with their children –or wives? Of course not. They were human. They doubted, were afraid. They jostled for position and advantage, they carried petty grudges and blew up in anger at times. And at the point of this story they were grumbling to Moses and God. God said, “Let’s show them how good they have things.” Enter serpents—poisonous serpents who bit several of the people, and many died. The people immediately recognized the error of their ways and asked Moses to pray for them. (They didn’t have much confidence in their own ability to pray, I guess.) And God heard those prayers and told Moses to create a bronze serpent and put it on a pole so that anyone who looked upon the serpent would be saved. EVERYONE. Not just the godly ones. Not just the ones who followed all the rules. Not just the ones who were truly sorry for their grumbling or who understood this faith thing. EVERYONE who looked upon the serpent lived. Sometimes it feels like those who most point to the JOHN 3:16 passage want to use it as a litmus test. “Do you believe?” they seem to ask. “Do you believe in the right way? Can you say the right words when asked?” If so, you are saved, and if not, “Sorry Dude, you’re on the naughty list and you’re going to perish.” But doesn’t that diminish the part of the passage where it says, God so loved THE WORLD? There were no qualifications offered, no, “but first you must….” No reservations. It’s a no-holds-barred-love that is poured out for all, even to Nicodemus who probably didn’t deserve it. Even to us. That kingdom that Jesus is talking about becomes ours just for allowing ourselves to glimpse upon this Son of God who was lifted up –same as with the bronze serpent. He was lifted up for us, for you and for me and for that other person who doesn’t deserve it, not at all. We can’t earn it. We don’t even totally understand it. But it’s God’s amazing gift, none the less. When we glimpse upon it, God offers a new reality that we can’t discover on our own. It’s called ETERNAL LIFE. I’m not talking about rewards for good people when we die, or streets paved in gold. I’m talking about a lived reality that happens right here, right now. It’s a new way of seeing things such that beauty and goodness and love sparkle around us like the sun on newly fallen snow. There’s no room in this passage to pat ourselves on the back for being among the saved. There’s no room to look down our noses at others who either don’t know God or who know God by a different name and who haven’t yet met Jesus. This passage doesn’t speak to that. It speaks only to us, inviting us to gaze upon a savior on a cross and to allow God to give us the gift of life that takes hold of our lives to transform us right now. Will we instantly understand scripture after this? Of course not. Will we understand what we are to do in any given situation? Nope. Will we be free of doubts or difficult questions? Huh-uh. Will we be given exactly the right words when we are asked to explain our faith to others? Probably not, at least not always. Will we be able to avoid sin and live godly lives? No, not without a lot of prayer and a lot of forgiveness from God --and even with that we will fail a lot. But here is what we can expect. That this kernel of hope and joy and love will continue to grow within us. It will call us into communion with God and with others who are also growing in faith. It will open doors to new possibilities that we couldn’t otherwise imagine. It will allow us to see goodness and beauty instead of just fear and darkness. It will offer us courage to risk ourselves for God’s love to others. It will allow us to feel God’s presence in the darkness of our lives. In other words, we will be changed, given an eternal life that shines a new light of God’s love upon our world. Maybe we’ll even be a part of that life-giving love. Like in Houston, Texas-- a few weeks ago when a devastating cold snap hit Texas with subfreezing temps. It taxed the power grid to the point they had to shut it down. Thousands were left to try to keep themselves warm and fed in long days of brutal, unrelenting, and dangerous cold. But there were people who stepped up to offer help. James McIngvale was one of those. He was called Mattress Mack because he owned 2 large furniture showrooms. He opened his showrooms as warming and feeding sites so people could get out of the cold and have a hot meal in comfort. They could come in, sit on one of his couches, even spend the night sleeping there to keep them safe. Did some of them come with dirty feet and get his furniture a bit grimy? Most likely. Did anyone spill a cup of coffee on upholstered furniture? Probably. Was there the risk that someone would slip a knick-knack from a display rack in his or her pocket as they left? Maybe. But Mack understood that all of that was a minimal risk compared with the good that would come of his generosity. He said, “It was my obligation to help because I could.” He didn’t speak about this being an outgrowth of his faith, but doesn’t it have all the earmarks of an act of faith? That’s the meaning of JOHN 3:16. That we both receive these amazing gifts of Jesus Christ—even though we don’t deserve them, AND we find ways to offer that gift forward in ways that bless our world. God lifted up his Son for you and for me—because he loved us. Let us receive this love. Let us delight in it, but let’s don’t assume we have earned it. Then, let’s live it forward so our world might be blessed. Praise be to God. AMEN. Hymn: My Faith Looks up to Thee 383 AFFIRMATION Apostle’s Creed, Ecumenical Version I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, He is seated on the right hand of the Father, And he will come again to judge the living 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. COMMUNION WITH PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THANKSGIVING AND THE LORD’S PRAYER Holy Communion Liturgy (in the pews) INVITATION TO THE LORD’S SUPPER THE GREAT THANKSGIVING L: God who offers us life and hope and forgiveness, we praise you, Lord. P: We offer our joyful thanks for your gift of life. You, in Christ, were obedient unto death on the cross for us. Help us to remember that we can’t do it ourselves. We need you! L: We need your strength and your wisdom, your love and your guidance, your salvation and your unending grace. P: You offer all these things to your people You call us just as you called disciples long ago. L: With those disciples you sat to share your last meal on earth. You used that meal to offer to them, and to all of us, participation in your life and in your death. You took the bread and broke it P: Calling for us to remember not only the unleavened bread that the Hebrew slaves ate as they fled from Egypt L: But also you, our Bread of life, P: Your body broken on a cross for us. L: You poured out the cup P: Calling for us to share in the drinking of it. P: But it is also the power in your blood to offer to us the new covenant in which God writes his laws upon our hearts. L: As we eat this banquet, your body broken, your life-blood poured out, we know ourselves to be the children of the living God. P: We are freed from bondage to We are lifted to you by the power of your Holy Spirit. L: Thank you, Lord Jesus. Be our host in this banquet of life. P: Come Lord Jesus into our hearts and our lives. Amen. THE LORD’S PRAYER 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 debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Communion will be served in the pews today. Both wafer and juice are in the cup holder in front of you. When directed please, remove the top plastic piece and remove the wafer. Then when directed, remove the foil and drink the juice. So we can take it together, you may either place the empty cup in the holder before you or dispose of them in the trash as you leave. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Sending Hymn O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go 384 CHARGE & BLESSING POSTLUDE SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
March 07 2021 Gathering MUSICAL OFFERING WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety. Attendance was taken by ushers as you entered Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors. The bulletins were placed specifically for social distancing, one household per pew. Please sit exactly where you found your bulletin. Please keep your masks on and remain seated through the whole service. There will be no singing but songs will be played, and no physical contact. You may read along silently, Schedule reminders: The office and the rest of the building remain closed, but you can contact Karla during her office hours. March 14th will be the annual congregational meeting at 9am March 21st will be a Session Meeting right after Church PRELUDE WORDS OF WORSHIP Leader: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, People: To the temple, to the God of Jacob. Leader: He will teach us his ways, People: So that we may walk in his paths. Leader: Come, descendants of Jacob. All: Let us walk in the light of the Lord. GATHERING PRAYER- O God, we trust in Your power, even as it is often found in weakness; in Your wisdom, even as it is expressed in seeming foolishness; in Your wholeness, even as it comes to us amid brokenness. We do not ask this day for dazzling displays of strength, electric exercises of intellectual prowess, or marvelous manifestations of miracles. We come simply to worship You. Touch us this day, O Lord, that we might become Your saints, Your body, Your children, Your church. For this Temple of Your Spirit is built not upon our own abilities, knowledge, or restorative skill, but upon You, in Jesus Christ. Amen HYMN My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less 379 CONFESSION AND PARDON – God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The proof of God’s amazing love is this: While we were sinners Christ died for us. Because we have faith in him, we dare to approach God in confidence. Rom. 5:5, 8; Heb. 4:16 Confident in God’s grace, let us pause for a moment to recall our sins and lay them before God. PAUSE The assurance of God’s grace is declared in the name of Jesus Christ. We accept God’s forgiveness, confident that in dying to sin, Christ raises us to new life. "Hear the good news! Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun." (Rom. 8:34; 2 Cor. 5:17) Believe the good news of the gospel: In Jesus Christ you are forgiven. All: Thanks be to God! OFFERING OF PEACE INTERLUDE Word PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION- Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. All: Amen SCRIPTURE LESSONS 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. John 2:13-25 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. SERMON- How is your Temple By Elizabeth Heard "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus said this in response to the Jews who felt he didn't have the authority to clear out the Temple area. Later in the scripture it says that Jesus was speaking about the "temple of his body." Have you ever thought this? Your body is the temple of your spirit. This spirit came from God at our conception. We also have within us the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit of God received when you were Baptized into the faith, and reignited when you were confirmed. Our spirit makes us unique. There is no on who has the same spirit, it is our individuality. Our body as the container of our spirit, combined with the Holy Spirit or advocate that Jesus gave to humanity when the tongues of fire came down from heaven on Pentecost. This makes our bodies temples as well. Many read this story and get caught up in the actions of Jesus before this comment. They talk about his getting angry. So, lets take a moment to look at that. Think of your home. Now imagine you are going to have a huge family gathering at your home. You have family coming from all over the country and they are going to celebrate some occasion with you. Imagine if you will 25-50 people coming. That is what happens when my family gets together. Some of your relatives are businesspeople who think this would be a great time to put up a table in your yard and sell what they have. Others are wanting to sell some food that they have. Some come to sell ingredients for the food you will be eating during the celebration. All these people are scattered in your front yard and driveway, and maybe some are even along the sidewalk next to the road. There may be an adventurous child that has set up a lemonade stand. How would you feel. How is this crazy activity going to impact you? You would probably become a little upset with these people and as the day goes on and people are making money off their own relatives you may want to stop this in anyway you can. That is a human response, right? Isn't Jesus human? He was born into this world as a human and lived among us. He was seeing all these people cluttering up this sacred space what was his Fathers house. These people should have known better. They should have been able to understand his feelings on this issue. After he has chased out all the people who were there to capitalize on the event, he was approached by the Jewish people and they asked him for a sign to show them he had the right to do this. Jesus was already upset, and they asked him again for a sign. They always needed signs. They just could not get who he was unless he gave them a direct sign. His answer was the one I started with. If they were smart they would have listened more to his words from that day forward. They would have tried to understand what he was teaching. Jesus did give them a sign, but that sign was not recognized. The sign was right there in his statement, "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again." If we move on to the understanding of the body as the temple that holds God in us, we can recognize the sign. We can see clearly what the people of his time missed. They didn't listen to him. He gave them a sign, yet they refused to see even when the resurrection happened. They could not see beyond that moment. If the sign was not what they wanted, they would not see. What does that say about their faith? Faith is believing with out seeing. It is a knowing that is set deep inside of you that no one or nothing can take away from you. The Jewish people of Jesus time need to be stirred up. They needed to be tested and pushed. God knew this. God knew that the people were just following the laws to the letter, or at least the leadership was pushing for that. They have forgotten what the spirit of the Law was. They were in a situation that was not desirable, and they wanted to have a Messiah come who would overthrow the Roman rulers and give them back their "Promised Land". But what did God give them? What was God's plan? What did God want the people to see and do? He didn't want them to fight, he wanted peace among his people. He wanted them to understand that he would go to the harshest end for them if they would only turn back to him. Not by following and reciting laws and edicts. But by living according to his number one commandment of all: to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and all that is in you." And he wanted them to also uphold the second law: "Love your neighbor as yourself." God wanted to show his love and to receive love in return. That was what his covenant with Abraham was all about. And when he has destroyed the land with flood waters, he gave Noah a rainbow as a covenant that he would never again treat his creation so harshly. He freed them from slavery by sending Moses to them. He did all these things and they would not be faithful. So, he sent his son and made him a sign to show us, all humanity then and in the generations since then, just how much he loves us. He had created us to be company for him. He doesn't want us to end up away from him. He wants us all to get back to him. This is our charge this is our goal. To do this you have to look inward, within the temple of your body. How is it doing? Are you feeding it healthy foods? Are you taking care of any ills that come along? Are you moving around and keeping it fit? Are you loving God? Are you loving your neighbor? Is your temple in the need of a little reconstruction? You have come to the right place. God wants you to take some time between now and Easter to get your temple in order. He wants you to give up the things that are keeping you from being the loving person that he knows you to be. He wants you to share your excess with those who are in need. Just do one thing for someone between now and Easter and you will have fulfilled this. Most of all God wants you to remember that the covenant created by Jesus is one of love and relationship. It doesn't matter which of the three aspects you think of, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, the important thing is relating and being able to relate to God. We do this through prayer. Take a little time each day to spend with God the Father/Mother, God the son (our brother Jesus), or God the Holy Spirit. Be intentional each day to set this time aside. If you already have a strong prayer life add an extra 15 minutes till Easter. If you are needing to begin, then just start with 15 minutes of quiet time that you dedicate to God. I want to end with saying that the body as a temple is really a strong image and one that will help you to do more to keep that body healthy. But the most important thing we learn from Jesus is what Paul said in his letter to the church in Corinth: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." We are blessed to be part of the family of God, washed by the waters of baptism and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. He is our sign that we are to care for our spirit and the body it inhabits. We are to care for and love ourselves so that we can love others. How is your Temple? HYMN Now Thank We All Our God 555 AFFIRMATION Apostle’s creed Ecumenical version I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living 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. Prayers THE LORD’S PRAYER 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 debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Sending HYMN Just a Closer Walk With Thee 2158 CHARGE & BLESSING- Finally, brothers and sisters, as we go forth take with you these words from Paul: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." POSTLUDE |
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