10/30/2022
Gathering
 
MUSICAL OFFERING
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety.                   
· Attendance was taken by Ushers as you entered.
· Masks are required by those not vaccinated  as well as social distancing
· Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors.
· Please write your prayer request on the Yellow cards.  An usher will pick them up during the 1st hymn.
· Please join us after service for fellowship in Calvin Hall
 
PRAYER REQUESTS
Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston has been moved into a Hospice unit, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur  Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Kay Werner, Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers , and  Deb Weller, Gaulrapp Family.
 
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP
 
L:  Today we encounter a sinner who climbed a tree to see the Lord.
 
P:  Today we observe a forgiven man who came down from that tree to
      welcome the Lord into his life.
 
L:  Come.  Let us climb our own trees.  Let us seek the Lord, for he comes this
      way.
 
P:  We, too, want this encounter with God’s beloved son that we might
      accept his invitation to come into our hearts and homes.
 
L:  Let us praise the Lord and through God’s grace may we bless our world as
      transformed sons and daughters of Abraham.
 
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
 
Sometimes we feel small and despised, troubled and anguished, afraid and alone.  But we are assured that God stands with us, offering us grace and healing.  Let us draw near to our Lord and lay our failings before him.  Let us be released from our guilt that we might start anew and live into the hope of our faith.
 
 
*HYMN                       Come Sing to God                                                                 #181                                                 (You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION
 
Sometimes we feel small and despised, troubled and anguished, afraid and alone.  But we are assured that God stands with us, offering us grace and healing.  Let us draw near to our Lord and lay our failings before him.  Let us be released from our guilt that we might start anew and live into the hope of our faith.
    
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
 
Gracious Lord.  How easy it is to look with disdain upon those whom we brand as sinners.  We excuse our own transgressions while harshly judging others.  We stand at a distance from strangers and block the door of our church against those whom we view as unworthy.  Forgive us for our arrogance and hard heartedness.  Forgive us for ignoring your call to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Help us to open our arms and our hearts to your beloved and to forgive as you have forgiven us.  Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
 
Hear the good news.  In Christ Jesus we have been washed clean and offered new opportunities for love and faith.  As God has welcomed us into his grace, we are called to bring that joyful invitation to all.   Praise be to God. Amen.
 
SONG OF PRAISE Gloria Patri #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE
(Please greet those around you as we all say these words in unison.)
May the peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
 
 
INTERLUDE
 
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
 
Lord God, you invite us to watch and to learn, to write your vision upon tablets so clearly that even a runner speeding past can take note.  That means we need to listen carefully to your word.  Help us to hear and to grasp your truth and your love that is poured out before us this day.  Amen.
 
 
Now it was a rich man, a sinner who needed him (even if Zacchaeus maybe didn’t know it.”  Jesus had restored sight to the blind man, and now he restored something even more precious to Zacchaeus.  “Zacchaeus,” he said, ”hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  He gave Zacchaeus the opportunity to be restored to the community.  The next few moments would tell the story of whether the little man, the tax collector would accept this gift or not.  Would he choose the wealth and power of his position, or would he choose righteousness and community?
The next thing we hear is that Zacchaeus is climbing down that tree (in all his undignified glory!)  But now the townspeople are upset.  “What?—You can’t go to his house.  Don’t you know who he is?  What he does?  He’s a sinner!”
Zacchaeus, of course, hears all of this.  He IS a sinner.  He knows it, but he also knows that Jesus has just thrown him a life line.
“Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
That must have made the townspeople’s jaws drop!   The Biblical mandate when one is making restitution is to return the original amount plus 20%.  Or in the most grievous cases, 50%.  But Zacchaeus has pledged 400%.  That’s 166% more than is required.
Jesus ends the discussion by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Blessings had arrived for Zacchaeus.  He had been forgiven and restored to his rightful place in the community.  I want to suggest that blessing had arrive in that community, too. The resources that Zacchaeus had pledged would ripple through the local economy, lifting them all, and if they will give this sinner a chance, who knows what more he can offer them.
Luke seems to be telling us that Jesus is for all people—the poor blind beggar all the way up to the very rich and despised tax collector.  All are sons and daughters of Abraham.  All are worthy of God’s forgiveness and inclusion in the community.
We need to pay attention here, because we ARE Zacchaeus.  Don’t we want to see Jesus?  Aren’t we willing to even climb a tree?  Aren’t we rich (at least by the standards of our world) and aren’t we sinners?  But we’re also the crowd, the ones who want to judge which sins should be forgiven.  The ones who want to exclude those whom we judge unworthy.
Jesus accepted Zacchaeus, Even Zacchaeus!  He knew who he was, but he offered an opportunity to this sinner to be received back into the warmth of the community.  And Zacchaeus said YES.  He would have to give up some things.  He might have to drive a used car instead of that fancy BMW in his garage.  He might have to make his own macaroni and cheese from a box at home instead of going out for a fine dinner every night.  He might have to release his servants or pay them a better wage.  But look at what he would gain.  Friends, companions, a sense of God’s presence and blessing.
On the other hand the community would need to allow him to become the new Zacchaeus, forgiven just as each of them had been forgiven, able to share his talents and abilities with them and to offer praise and thanksgiving to God.  And if they can do that, perhaps they, too can hear Paul’s words to the Thessalonians.  Praise is offered.  Thanks for their faith is lifted up.  Their ability to serve God and to feel God’s presence in their lives is growing, and they love one another.
My friends, if we want to be that community of faith that is growing and loving one another, we will need to forgive as Jesus forgives.  We will need to accept as Jesus accepts.  We will need to remember our own tree climbing and how Jesus looked into our eyes and said, “Come down, for I’m going to your house today.”
We can’t have it both ways—to know the love and joy and forgiveness of our Savior without working to offer those same gifts to others.
Jesus calls Zacchaeus out of that tree and restored his place in the community.  Even Zacchaeus, Even such a sinner, and he calls us to receive others, as well, to rejoice in them, to receive them and teach them and walk with them along the way.
Let’s welcome the wee little man.  Let’s welcome the sons and daughters of Abraham and rejoice over them.
 
Praise God.  Amen
 
 
 
 
*HYMN             O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go                                                  #384                          
                                         (You may be seated.)
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
OFFERING OUR LIVES
 
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Apostle’s Creed (Ecumenical) p. 14
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 into hell. 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 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 life everlasting. Amen.
 
*HYMN                               What a Friend We Have in Jesus                      #403
 
Sending Forth
*CHARGE & BLESSING
 
POSTLUDE
* Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.

​10/23/2022
Gathering
 
MUSICAL OFFERING
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety.                   
· Attendance was taken by Ushers as you entered.
· Masks are required by those not vaccinated  as well as social distancing
· Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors.
· Please write your prayer request on the Yellow cards.  An usher will pick them up during the 1st hymn.
· Please join us after service for fellowship in Calvin Hall
 
PRAYER REQUESTS
Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston has been moved into a Hospice unit, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur  Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Kay Werner, Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers , Deb Weller, The Wagner family as they morn the loss of Karen (Knight) Wagner this week .
 
* PSALTER Psalm 65, NLT
What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers.
    All of us must come to you.
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.
What joy for those you choose to bring near,
    those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us inside your holy Temple.
 
You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,
    even those who sail on distant seas.
You formed the mountains by your power
    and armed yourself with mighty strength.
You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves
    and silenced the shouting of the nations.
Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy.
 
You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
    it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.
You drench the plowed ground with rain,
    melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops.
 
You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
    even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
    and the hillsides blossom with joy.
The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
    and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!
 
*HYMN Oh God of Earth and Space #274
(You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION       Luke 18:9-14, GW
9 Jesus also used this illustration with some who were sure that God approved of them while they looked down on everyone else. 10 He said, “Two men went into the temple courtyard to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people! I’m not a robber or a dishonest person. I haven’t committed adultery. I’m not even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my entire income.’
 
13 “But the tax collector was standing at a distance. He wouldn’t even look up to heaven. Instead, he became very upset, and he said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
 
14 “I can guarantee that this tax collector went home with God’s approval, but the Pharisee didn’t. Everyone who honors himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be honored.”
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Let us spend a few moments in honest silent confession, humbling ourselves before the Lord our God.
(Pray silently.)
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE Luke 14:11, NLT
Jesus said, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” If we humble ourselves with honest confession, Jesus is the one who will lift us up. Through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!
 
SONG OF PRAISE Gloria Patri #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE
(Please greet those around you as we all say these words in unison.)
May the peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
INTERLUDE
 
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Almighty God, as we receive your Word, may our hearts and minds be open to receive a rich blessing and produce a bountiful harvest of spiritual fruit. Amen.
 
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON         Joel 2:23-32, NIV
23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains  because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten--
    the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm--
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness  and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance,
    as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
 
NEW TESTAMENT LESSON 2 Timothy 4:6-8, NCV
6 My life is being given as an offering to God, and the time has come for me to leave this life. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now, a crown is being held for me—a crown for being right with God. The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give the crown to me on that day—not only to me but to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.
 
SERMON A Plentiful Harvest
 
One of the things I enjoy in the autumn is driving through the countryside to see the changes in crops as they approach time for harvest. Serving in rural churches made me aware of how many color changes soybeans go through, and it was fun to guess when that shade was dark enough for harvest. I’ve also ridden along on a combine harvesting soybeans, and the sound is fun as they kick up into the machine.
 
Whether we live in the countryside or in town, we might hope for a plentiful harvest. My dad was disappointed he didn’t get many tomatoes this year. He had plans for canning. If there’s a shortage of certain crops, be they grain or vegetables or fruit, we might experience that difference later at the grocery store. Even the rabbits in my yard might be disappointed that I had the tall grass cut down, because it won’t be sticking above the snow for them to nibble as they did last year.
 
The psalm we read as we began worship today reminds us that it is God who enriches the soil and waters it well to sustain the growth for a plentiful harvest. Animals as well as humans depend on that harvest to get through the coming year. Most cultures throughout time and many nations today have some sort of harvest festival that gives thanks for what our Creator provides.
 
Our Old Testament Lesson today came from the prophet Joel. We read from Joel on Ash Wednesday and Pentecost traditionally, but have you ever taken the time to explore this book of the Bible? Let me give you some background.
 
Joel speaks to the southern kingdom of Judah at a time when swarms of locusts have devoured everything. It brings to mind locusts as one of the plagues in Egypt at the time of Moses. From that standpoint it was seen as a warning from God that people needed to change their ways. In the case of Egypt, it warned that Pharoah should let the Hebrews leave. In Joel’s time, it was that the people had wandered too far from God’s ways and needed to turn back to God. The swarm of locusts could also figuratively represent the invading Babylonian armies, because that fits the timing of Joel’s prophecy.
 
The first section of Chapter 2 is that call to repentance. It begins with the reading often read on Ash Wednesday calling us into the season of repentance known as Lent.
“Blow the horn in Zion; give a shout on my holy mountain!
Let all the people of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is near—2 a day of darkness and no light,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread out upon the mountains,
    a great and powerful army comes,
        unlike any that has ever come before them,
        or will come after them in centuries ahead….
12 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your hearts,
        with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;
13 tear your hearts and not your clothing.
    Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate,
        very patient, full of faithful love, and ready to forgive.
 
14 Who knows whether he will have a change of heart
    and leave a blessing behind him,
    a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”
(Joel 2:1-2, 12-14, CEB)
 
What follows then in the section we read from Chapter 2 is the promise God makes to those who do change their ways, change their hearts and lives as the CEB usually translates the word repent. Those promises reverse the devastation wrought by the locusts, and to the exiles it also promises an eventual reversal of the devastation caused by the Babylonians. It echoes the same themes as later chapters in Isaiah or other prophetic promises.
Those promises include an abundant harvest. The rains will come. The grain will grow, and the vines will bear fruit; wine and oil will overflow.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten--
    the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
(Joel 2:25-26)
 
This is followed by the promises we read on Pentecost, the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit on God’s people without regard to gender or age. Just as soil needs to be prepared with nutrients, aeration, and water, seeds planted, cultivated, and tended before there can be a harvest, so too our inner spirit and minds need preparation to reap a spiritual harvest that will bring joy to the Lord, to those around us and even to ourselves.
 
We know that spiritual preparation comes through many spiritual disciplines for us individually: through worship, Bible Study, devotions, prayer, and also through giving and serving. As a congregation in the Body of Christ those disciplines are equally important to do together and to that we add Christian fellowship as well as witness and outreach in our community. Just as God has gifted individuals with unique talents to share, so God has blessed each congregation with resources and abilities to serve others. God’s work takes place within the church walls and among congregants as preparation, but the harvest comes when we go beyond the walls into the community to offer what God has given us to our neighbors and friends and others in need. Every person and every congregation has something to offer that someone else needs.
 
One contemporary commentator on Joel looks ahead to what this prophecy will mean on Pentecost:
Joel prophesies the inauguration of the age of the church—a time when all people everywhere can call on the name of the Lord, be saved from their sins, and become participants in the kingdom of God. Through the indwelling
​of the Holy Spirit, the church becomes the body of Christ in the world. The redemptive purposes of God are therefore extended and made available through every Spirit-filled believer.
 
That’s what God asks of us, to be Spirit-filled believers fulfilling God’s purposes in the world. We are the workers sent out to plant seeds, to cultivate and tend to others with a growing faith, to become mature believers who work toward the harvest of new believers.
 
I invite you to share with each other how you came to believe. Someone told you or taught you about God and Jesus. Someone was an example to you of what it means to be a Christian. Hopefully that was a positive example! The Holy Spirit worked through all that, and you became part of one season of harvest as a new believer.
 
Now ask yourself who has God put in your path that you can nurture in the faith. Who needs help or encouragement? Who needs to know a little bit more about our God? Ask the Holy Spirit how best to reach that person and for the courage to do it. It may be as simple as a message or a card with a verse of scripture. It may be asking if you can pray for them or maybe even saying “I believe God can get you through this.” The choices that person makes are between them and God. Your only job is to be obedient to the nudging of the Holy Spirit and faithful to God as you plant seeds, water, and nurture them.  May you reap a rich spiritual harvest as individuals and a bountiful harvest as a congregation in the community.
 
 
*HYMN                                Let All Things Now Living #554
(You may be seated.)
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
OFFERING OUR LIVES
God who blesses us with all that is good, receive the lives we offer in return for the life you have given us. May we be a plentiful harvest of blessings to honor and serve you. Amen.
 
*DOXOLOGY             Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                  #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Apostle’s Creed (Ecumenical) p. 14
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 into hell. 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 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 life everlasting. Amen.
 
*HYMN As Those of Old Their First Fruits Brought #414
 
Sending Forth
*CHARGE & BLESSING
 
POSTLUDE
 
* Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.

​10/16/2022
Gathering
NNOUNCEMENTS
Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety.                  
· Attendance was taken by Ushers as you entered.
· Masks are required by those not vaccinated  as well as social distancing
· Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors.
· Please write your prayer request on the Yellow cards.  An usher will pick them up during the 1st hymn.
· Please join us after service for fellowship in Calvin Hall
 
PRAYER REQUESTS
Gary Iverson's Family as they Mourn the Passing of Gary, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd,    Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston has been moved into a Hospice unit, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur  Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Kay Werner, Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers and family her brother’s dementia has taken a turn for the worse, Deb Weller, The Wagner family as they morn the loss of Karen (Knight) Wagner this week .
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP
 
L: Oh Lord, How sweet are your words to our taste.
 
P:  Sweeter than honey to our mouths.
 
L:  Your decrees give us understanding.
 
P:  Your commands help us to avoid the traps of evil.
 
L:   We gather to worship and praise.
 
P:  We gather to sing and celebrate our Lord.  Amen.
 
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
 
We come, Loving Lord, to hold ourselves to you.  You have promised to use our hearts as a tablet on which you write your laws, and you assure us that you will be our God for all time.  Help us to absorb these truths and to take another step towards truly knowing you as you know us.  Amen.
 
 
**HYMN              From All that Dwell Below the Skies                                           #229       (You may be seated.)
CALL TO CONFESSION    
                                           
We are a beloved people, called to feel God’s words of life written on our hearts.  May we let go of our failings and guilt in order to receive the power to begin again.  Let us pour ourselves out to our Loving Lord.
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
 
Precious Lord,  How you challenge us to be better, more just, more loving, more forgiving!  But too often we resist the call to reflect your grace into our world.  Forgive us, Lord, and forgive us for itching ears that seek a more palatable word that is easier to follow.  Help us to hear and respond to your call that we might follow in the footsteps of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.
 
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
 
God loves us so much that after putting his law within us, he then forgives our iniquity and remembers our sins no longer.   God sent his Son to redeem us.  We are washed clean!  That is God’s amazing gift!  It calms our itching ears and enables us to joyfully offer life and hope in the name of our Parent in Heaven. Praise be to God. Amen
                                                
 SONG OF PRAISE Gloria Patri #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE
(Please greet those around you as we all say these words in unison.)
May the peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
 
INTERLUDE
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
 
This morning we come to hear your promises again, O Lord.  How hungry we are for a holy word that can help us get back on track, to find new energy for reaching out in your name or simply to let go of our anxiety.  Open our ears and write upon our hearts, O Lord, that we might hear what we most need from you.  Amen.
 
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Jeremiah 31: 27-34
27 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals.
 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster,  so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.
 29 “In those days people will no longer say,
‘ The parents have eaten sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband to[a] them,[b]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
    and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”
 
Luke 18:1-8
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth
 
SERMON                         A Grandma Millie Kind of God
 
             You know the rules.  No dessert before you eat your vegetables.
             Make your bed before you come downstairs for breakfast.
             Don’t talk with your mouth full.
             Don’t interrupt with adults are talking.
             Pick up your toys before you get out the crayons.
             No juice in the living room.
Sally’s Grandma Hazel was a good one for reminding her granddaughter about the rules.  You didn’t talk back to Grandma Hazel either.  She called it sass, even if it was just to ask why she couldn’t take juice in the living room or why she needed to pick up her toys before getting out the crayons.  Sally loved her Grandma Hazel, but she was a little afraid of her, too.  The older woman was so stern and so uncompromising in her rules for the grandchildren.
But Grandma Millie—She had almost the same rules at her house.  The difference was that Grandma Millie assumed that Sally knew the rules.  Once in a while she had to be reminded, but most of the time Sally could just look at Grandma Millie and know what she needed to do. The difference:  Grandma Millie pulled Sally into her lap and called her, “My bestest little girl.”  Grandma Millie read stories and helped Sally bake cookies.  She listened to Sally tell her about what was happening in school, and she even came to school once in a while to have lunch with her. Grandma Millie called to ask Sally to come help her carve pumpkins at Halloween and to dye Easter Eggs in the Spring.
Sally loved both of her grandmas, but Grandma Millie, Sally would do anything for Grandma Millie!
So which was your grandma?  Was she a Grandma Hazel who made sure you obeyed the rules because the rules were what made you strong and able to function in society, or was she a Grandma Millie?  Rules are not to be ignored, but the avenue of importance was relationship first and rules somewhere down the line.
Rules ARE important.  Rules help us to know what is expected, what is acceptable and what is polite.  But if a child has only rules and not the love, then rules are pretty second rate!
I think that goes for our relationship with God, as well.  God loved the Hebrew people.  He had led them out of slavery.  He loved them with a mighty love that carried them through dangers.  He fed them with manna in the wilderness, and even gave them quail when they hungered for meat.  He provided water, leaders, and even land.  It was a good land filled with milk and honey.  Rules were important, but God had loved this ragtag group of wandering ex-slaves.  God had given them a new covenant on top of the promise he had made with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  We call them the 10 commandments.
But the people came into this new land and they prospered.  They called for kings so they could be like their neighbors.  They built cities and developed commerce and gradually as they grew more independent, they didn’t need their God in the same way as before. They were living the rules, but they had moved into a Grandma Hazel mode of trying to obey the letter of the law without really embracing the letter of the law or paying much attention to the giver of that law.
So slowly and painfully they slipped away.  At first it was a growing divide between rich and poor with those living in poverty growing even more desperate.  Many even resorted to selling themselves into slavery in order to have what they needed to live, Foreigners were treated badly.  They began to be suspicious of any outside of their circle.  A Civil war had divided God’s people into two nations who despised one another.  Then came the Assyrians and the unthinkable happened.  Israel, the northern nation, was wiped off the face of the earth.
Still the people of Judah maintained their way of life.  And then here came the Babylonians, and suddenly their beautiful temple was demolished and their city was in ruins.  People were being rounded up and led away.
God said, “You blew it.  I was your God, but you ceased to be my people.”  The exiles looked at one another in shame and dread and despair.  Had God truly and for all time abandoned them?
It was the big question, and for some time they stewed in it.  But when that despair was about to overwhelm them, God came to his people with another word.  “The days are surely coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.”  It’s a repopulating, a reclaiming, a restoring word.  But it’s more than returning things to the status quo.
“The days are surely coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.  But this is the covenant that I will make.  I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God.  No longer shall they teach one another or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more.”
Suddenly God had bent down to hear their cry.  Suddenly the feelings of despair and abandonment could be cast aside.  Suddenly there was hope and the promise of new life.  God had heard.  God had not abandoned them.  God made new promises, and they were promises that could be relied upon.
That’s the good news that I bring you today.  Our God has fulfilled that promise.  He fulfilled it at the perfect time when once again human despair was high.  He sent his son.  Not just a son to remind them of the rules. In fact, this son would wipe away at least some of those rules.  But in the model of Grandma Millie, Jesus would be God’s way of pulling us into God’s lap. Jesus would fulfill the promise of God’s new covenant.  He shows God’s incredible love and care for us in a way that allows us to live God’s rules because they are the joy of our being.
Just like Grandma Millie teaches her grandchildren how to be strong and healthy, Jesus wanted to give his disciples, and us, the tools to further live into God’s grace.  And how do we do that?  With prayer.  Just like Grandma Millie spent time listening, God listens to us.  He hears our weeping; he knows our worries; he listens to our requests; he knows us inside out.  We might not feel God’s listening ear as we pray, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t there.
The key is to keep praying.  Keep laying it out there.  Keep asking.  Keep knocking at that door.  So Jesus told a parable.  It’s about a corrupt judge who refuses to bring justice for a widow.  (Now a widow would have been the most lowly and powerless of all in Jesus’ day.)  But this widow had grit.  She didn’t give up.  She kept coming, kept asking, kept pestering the judge until he finally grew tired of her and gave her what she asked, which was justice!  So the logic is this, if one who is corrupt, who doesn’t care, who is selfish and immoral—if even he can be convinced by the persistence of asking, then surely we will recognize that our God who is righteous, loving and who wants good and joyful things for us, will hear and respond to us.
Keep praying.  That’s Jesus’ message.  Prayer is God’s way of writing his love and grace upon our hearts!
This morning as we pray for our world in need, for our families and loved ones, for our church and for one another.  We pray for God’s word to be written on all our hearts so that his love can flow through us.  God hears our prayers and answers in God’s own way.
Sometimes it feels like God has left the building, that he doesn’t hear or care about our concerns.  He doesn’t answer the way we wish.  But we need to remember that God is not our fairy god mother who comes specifically to grant our request.  God sees the big picture, and sometimes the best answer to our prayer is very simply “No.”
I believe that prayer works because it gives God an avenue to work on us.  God touches our hurts, gives us new insights, shows us the doors to address our concern, brings new healing into our lives.  Prayer is a conduit between us and God, and God is always at work in that process to bring new life and healing to us and to our world.
You know, Sally often sat with Grandma Millie after school.  They would have a snack and Grandma would listen as Sally told her about her day.  One day she told her grandma about the mean girls who were calling her “Long Tall Sally.”  It hurt.  But Grandma was able to say, “But my Darling, that’s a good thing.  Being tall is good.  Models are tall, Basketball players and other athletes are tall, movie stars and many other important women are tall.  Don’t be ashamed of being tall.  Stand straight and thank those girls for giving you a compliment!”  Suddenly, Sally saw things differently.  She was able to respond in a different manner, and that changed everything.
God works on us in exactly that same mode.  He loves us so much that he writes that love on our hearts and helps us to navigate our world.  Pray.  Pray often.  Pray for what you want, what you need, offer your hurts and struggles.  God is there, and God answers.  
Thank you, Lord for the family of faith who gathers before you this day.  Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers and answering them in your wisdom and grace.  Thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the new covenant written upon our hearts.   AMEN.
 
*HYMN                  God of Grace and God of Glory                                                #420                                                       (You may be seated.)
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
 
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
 
OFFERING OUR LIVES
 
 
*DOXOLOGY                 Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                    #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH  (From the Brief Statement of Faith)
 
We trust in God…
In everlasting love,
The God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people
       to bless all the families of the earth.
Hearing their cry,
      God delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
      God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
      Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
      Like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
      God is faithful still.
                                             
*CLOSING HYMN:                I Want Jesus to Walk with Me                                 #363
 
Sending Forth
*CHARGE & BLESSING
 
 *POSTLUDE
​Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.
Some of today’s liturgy comes from the Book of Common Worship