September 18, 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
Gary Iverson, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston has been moved into a Hospice unit, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur and family as they mourn the loss of Thomas Mulholland was a postman since 1963, 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.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 113:1-4, CEB
Praise the Lord! You who serve the Lord—praise! Praise the Lord’s name!
Let the Lord’s name be blessed from now until forever from now!
From sunrise to sunset, let the Lord’s name be praised!
The Lord is high over all the nations; God’s glory is higher than the skies!
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Lord of Creation, Lord of the Nations, we do indeed praise your sacred name. We give thanks for all the ways you have blessed us. We seek to honor you as we live each day sunrise to sunset, may we truly praise you with our worship and with our very lives. Amen.
 
*HYMN All Creatures of our God and King                      #455
(You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION                                                   Deuteronomy 30:16-18, NCV
Hear this plea of God’s people in ages past, “Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Have mercy on us now; we have lost all hope. Help us, O God, and save us; rescue us and forgive our sins for the sake of your own honor.”
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Let us confess the sins of the past and the sins of today that God might bring healing and forgiveness to our land.
Almighty God who knows all things past and present.  We acknowledge that our ancestors did not always follow your path or understand your intentions. We acknowledge that crimes were committed by various people against others. We acknowledge the hurts of your people who suffered at the hands of others. We acknowledge that in humanity’s march toward progress, our forebearers did not always stop to count the cost of that progress in terms of damage done to creation or to humankind. We acknowledge that human insecurity and greed for some led to other lives being were trampled.
 
We confess, O God, that we don’t always know what to do with the sins of those who went before us or how to change the consequences we live with in the present. But Lord, we also confess that humanity’s propensity for sin is still within us. We confess the times we fail to lift one another up, to protect someone else’s worth, to bear one another’s burdens, to be good stewards of creation, to listen without judgement, to forgive as we are forgiven, and yet…And yet we come before you today as your people, seeking forgiveness and guidance to begin yet again and live a better way walking humbly with our God. For the healing our world needs, we seek you our God. Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                                       2 Chronicles 7:14, NCV
“Then if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.”
 
This has been God’s plan all along, and it was accomplished through Jesus’ sacrificial love, if we will but turn back to God and receive it. Through 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
Lord, today as we hear your Word proclaimed help us to see and understand how we may also assist in the mission you set before us on this earth. Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE LESSON John 6:1-13, NCV
6 After this, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). 2 Many people followed him because they saw the miracles he did to heal the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a hill and sat down there with his followers. 4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast.5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?”
6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he planned to do.)
 
7 Philip answered, “Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread for each person to have only a little piece.”
 
8 Another one of his followers, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.”
 
10 Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
 
12 When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the leftover pieces of fish and bread so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves
 
SERMON Mission Assists
 
When I came up with today’s sermon title, I was thinking about team sports when someone scores a goal and another player might be credited with the assist. They weren’t the one to score the goal, but they helped make it possible, probably with a good pass. Well that’s how I want to think about Andrew in today’s story. Andrew did not feed thousands of people. Jesus did. But Andrew was the one team player who helped make it possible with a good pass by bringing to Jesus a little boy who was willing to share his lunch.
 
Note that it is again Philip and Andrew who are the named disciples in this story as they were in the Invitation story of John 1 when they brought Simon Peter and Nathanael to Jesus. But in today’s story, while they are both skeptical about Jesus’ insistence that they feed the crowd who have come to listen to Jesus’ teachings, Philip thinks it is impossible. Andrew offers one available resource of which he was aware, even though he knows logically it won’t be enough.
 
We aren’t talking about a handful of people, a synagogue, or even a temple full of people. Jesus is outdoors in an area that had to serve as a natural amphitheater. There were not hundreds in attendance but thousands. As many scholars and preachers will point out, based on the same story told in Matthew, the estimated count is of the men in attendance, but they mostly had women and children with them. It was a young boy who offered to share his lunch. MacArthur estimates this could bring the total up to as much as 20,000. (NKJV MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition) Now we are talking a stadium or arena sized crowd for a sold-out ball game or concert. Have you been in a venue like that? Can you picture that size crowd? How many vendors and concession stands would it take to feed them? Perhaps then you can empathize with Philip’s response. It would take several months wages to give them a snack let alone a whole meal. But this is Jesus in charge. As Max Lucado writes simply, “Jesus demonstrated his power to meet spiritual and physical needs.” (NKJV Lucado Encouraging Word Bible)
 
This is the only miracle story told in all four gospels, so it’s worth paying attention to it. Notice that they are in the wilderness not in town or village. It parallels God’s provision of manna and quail in the wilderness of the Exodus. The faith statement of both stories is that even when you think it is impossible because you cannot see any resources are available, God has the power to provide. Sometimes it may be through a miracle. Sometimes it will be through sharing. The miracle was not the point, however. What Jesus wanted was for people to trust God through him.
 
I like two more points made by the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible. First, Jesus paused to give thanks to God for what had been offered. Whether it is meeting our own needs or gathered resources offered to meet other needs, it is important to give our thanks to God who is the true source of it all. Second, there were leftovers! Twelve baskets of scraps were collected, because Jesus didn’t want anything to go to waste. The leftovers demonstrate that there was more than enough to feed all those thousands of people. There was enough! The study bible suggests this “may symbolize that the Lord has enough to supply the needs of the 12 tribes of Israel.” It also reminds us that Jesus can supply all that we need.
 
So let me return to my analogy that Andrew can be credited with an assist by bringing the boy to Jesus. The boy also deserves credit.
 
Missions are a team sport. You can have an individual mission such as helping a particular neighbor or raising a rescued animal, but even that becomes a team event if you think about others helping in the neighborhood or others involved in the rescue. Then multiply that by many neighborhoods and many rescue efforts. It takes a team to do missions.
 
Some of my friends have been involved in mission teams. One in particular who comes to mind a few of you may have met when she has spoken here. Rita Wolf is a retired nurse, retired pastor, retired hospice chaplain, who with her husband now participates in mission projects wherever needed living out of their RV. They have met a lot of people and done repair work on a lot of homes. I enjoy following their work as Rita posts pictures on Facebook. Recently they have been in Kentucky doing cleanup and repairs after the flooding.
 
Through the Presbyterian Church USA, you are also part of a wide team doing missions around the world. Let me share some things from your mission agency’s website. First, similar to what Rita and Ken do, there is disaster response. Listen: When natural or human-caused disasters impact communities, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is poised to respond and work closely with congregations and local mission partners to bring Christ’s love and healing.
Through the PDA you are also at work in Kentucky working with local churches in the area coordinating volunteers and resources for the work of cleaning up and rebuilding. In addition to this physical assistance, there is a powerful yet intangible component as the physical support also brings encouragement and hope to people who have survived these disasters. It is a big team effort no matter how you look at it. You assist this work when you contribute to One Great Hour of Sharing, because that special offering supports the work of PDA.
 
You could also assist this type of work putting together flood buckets. I remember doing that here years ago. People donated all of the ingredients from buckets and mops to sponges and cleaners. Then we incorporated a mission moment into a concert we hosted having the attendees put those buckets together. It would be fun to select items to donate with help from the Mission team, then assemble them after worship and dedicate them before sending them to the supply depot. That would be a great assist to the volunteers who then go to help with the actual cleanup and the persons who receive the buckets to clean their own homes and neighborhoods.
 
These are just a sample of ways you can be like Andrew, giving an assist as Jesus, through his Body, the Church, reaches out to meet needs.
 
Since there is so much information available on the Presbyterian Mission Agency website, I wanted to take this opportunity to increase my own knowledge and yours about the ways your mission agency is at work. One area I hadn’t thought about is Advocacy and Social Justice. I expect Social Justice to be a concern, and I should have expected advocacy to be part of raising those concerns just as it is in my own denomination. Several agencies within the church approach social justice issues including the Office of Public Witness. Concerns are addressed by educating local congregations as well as witnessing to public officials and in the corporate arena. Concerns noted on the website include environmental justice, hunger, and human trafficking. That’s a pretty diverse range of issues.
 
One story on the Hunger and Poverty section of the website is about Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in North Carolina where this question is engraved on the front of their communion table, “Have you been fed?” One parishioner sees it as a constant reminder of their mission. This congregation is among 100 churches recognized as a Hunger Action Church, meaning they participate in at least three of the following: “hunger alleviation, development assistance, hunger education, lifestyle integrity, corporate and public policy witness, and worship.” They work with local community programs because, as we said before, missions are a team sport and require team effort. Church members support this work through food collections, volunteering, adopting a family for the holidays, gardening, and even letter writing campaigns. They are actively involved and collaborating with others in many ways to alleviate hunger in their community.
 
Another article was about a couple from Southminster Presbyterian in Waukesha, WI who bring donations and work with Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It reminded me of several things. At the time I was attending Dubuque Seminary the Chaplain was a Native American who kept a connection with seminary students from the reservation.  The teacher of whom I have the fondest memories along with his wife were our Missionaries in Residence one semester. He was a Presbyterian Pastor who had served 27 years on a reservation to that point. I also remember Heather and Harold going with a group from Second Reformed in Fulton one summer on a mission trip to a reservation. In the article I read, Gloria and Steve Klomsten participate in similar mission trips often.
 
On a recent trip the group fixed up a community building used for various events so that it can additionally serve as a homeless shelter and for an after-school program. They also set up a food bank. These trips focus on interaction with the people of the community. While striving to bring hope and help to others it is often that case that those who came to help are the ones transformed by the experience.
 
I like Gloria’s quote regarding teamwork:
“I just can’t emphasize enough that any project we do is a ‘we’ project,” Klomsten said, stressing the importance of teamwork and collaboration. “Even the people that don’t give material things, they pray for us. The prayers and the moral support — to me that’s just as important, if not even more important, than any monetary or material donations that we get.”
It’s a reminder that not only is the team important in missions, but so are those cheering on the sidelines. This gave me a couple more ideas while editing today’s message. What used to be the Presbyterian Prayer Calendar is now online with a daily story, Bible readings, and names of mission workers with a prayer. Perhaps we could start supporting these mission workers by praying for them. I was also thinking in October, which is clergy appreciation month, what if we appreciated some of our missionaries by sending cards with a brief note from our congregation? If either of these ideas sound good to a few of you, I’d be happy to work on them.
 
Another upcoming opportunity through the Presbyterian Church is the Peace & Global Witness offering usually taken in October for World Communion Sunday. According to the website:
By giving to the Peace & Global Witness Offering your gifts work to restore communities through peacemaking and reconciliation.
You may recall that this offering supports the mission of the church at many levels including your own choice of a local project with 25% of what is received.
In that true team spirit, your mission agency and its staff around the world including missionaries in 80 countries have this concept:
Presbyterians do mission in partnership. We believe that doing mission in partnership broadens our awareness of how interconnectional God’s mission is at the local, national, and global levels. The one table around which we gather is God’s table and the one mission to which we are called is God’s mission.…
True mission partnership is about building relationships, learning from one another and walking together in faith and friendship. Together we can build the body of Christ around the world.
 
What about locally? Over the years I have known you, this church has supported food pantries, Information & Referral Assistance Services, distributed Christmas baskets, purchased Christmas gifts, donated countless hats, scarves, mittens, etc., and supported teachers with school supplies. Individuals have served with Associated Benevolence Society, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Salvation Army, and I’m sure many other agencies and projects I don’t know or remember. You have been giving mission assists faithfully in many arenas. It’s part of how you live out your mission statement to “Receive Christ, Reach Out, and Share Love.”
 
I’m simply reminding you to continue that important aspect of what it means to be a church of Jesus Christ. We give mission assists now as Andrew did then by looking around us for the resources at hand and offering them to Jesus, letting him put them to work to meet the needs of others. It may not seem like we have much to offer some times, but the quantity is not the point. If Jesus can feed thousands of people with an initial offering of a couple fish and a few loaves of bread, what can Jesus do with what we have available. Remember, it isn’t our own efforts alone that accomplish the task. It’s a team sport, but that still requires us to do what we can do. The point is not to sit on our hands but to get in the game.
 
What is it we can still do as a church to assist mission needs locally and around the world? Celebrate that! And stay involved where you can. Amen!
 
*HYMN Open My Eyes #324
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 of Mercy and Grace, God of Abundance and Joy, with grateful hearts for all your blessings we offer our lives back to you in service and in praise. Amen.
 
*DOXOLOGY                 Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                    #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe in “the sovereignty of God,
the authority of Scripture,
justification by grace through faith
and the priesthood of all believers.”
 
We believe “that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe.”
 
We believe “Our knowledge of God and God’s purpose for humanity comes from the Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ.”
 
We believe “Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments.”
 
We believe “It is everyone’s job — ministers and lay people alike — to share this Good News with the whole world.”
 
We affirm our “conviction that neither the Church as the body of Christ, nor Christians as individuals, can be neutral or indifferent toward evil in the world.”
 
We affirm our “responsibility to speak on social and moral issues for the encouragement and instruction of the Church and its members, seeking earnestly both to know the mind of Christ and to speak always in humility and love.”
 
We affirm that as a Church our “duty is not only to encourage and train [our] members in daily obedience to God’s will, but corporately to reveal God’s grace in places of suffering and need, to resist the forces that tyrannize, and to support the forces that restore the dignity of all [people] as the children of God, for only so is the gospel most fully proclaimed; . . .” (see credits at the end of the service notes)
 
May God strengthen our faith commitment and help us to fulfill our mission as God’s Church and God’s People.  Amen.
 
*CLOSING
HYMN                                   Lord, You Give the Great Commission     #429 
 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.
The affirmation today is based on quotes from the Theology section and Social Issues section of “What We Believe” on the PC (USA) Presbyterian Mission website. (https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/) The Social Issues section also quotes (1958 Statement – PC(USA), p. 537).
 

​September 4, 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
Gary Iverson, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, 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.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP          Psalm 139:1-6, GNT
Lord, you have examined me and you know me.
You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts.
You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions.
Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.
You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power.
Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
We come to praise our God who is our Creator and our Redeemer. We give
thanks to our healer and our deliverer. We seek renewal and inspiration to go
on with our lives, to be God’s people, to offer God’s love and compassion to all God’s people. Amen.
 
*HYMN  Oh For A Thousand Tongues                                       #466
(You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION                                                   Deuteronomy 30:16-18, NCV
Long ago Moses warned God’s people before they entered the promised land: “16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods,  18 you will be destroyed—I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.” The message is not that different for our own day. If we love God and live according to God’s intentions we will be blessed, but if we turn away from God to other priorities, we will not long survive as a people.
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
  Let us, therefore, confess our sins to the Lord.
 
God of mercy, we confess that we do not always obey your commandments. We do not always listen to the voice of your Holy Spirit whispering your truth in our inner being. We do not always care for our neighbor or care for the earth. We are not always good stewards of the resources you provide. We are not always grateful for the blessings you bestow. Though we may try our best, we can do better. Give us your grace to live more and more according to your will for our lives and forgive the times we have fallen short of our intentions to live for you. Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                                          Ephesians 1:7-8, CEB                                         
“7 We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood, and we have forgiveness for our failures based on his overflowing grace, 8 which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding.” Through 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
  Lord, as we come to hear your word, reveal to us the message you would have us hear and give us courage to pursue it. Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE LESSON    John 1:35-51, GW
35 The next day John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 John saw Jesus walk by. John said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God.” 37 When the two disciples heard John say this, they followed Jesus.
 
38 Jesus turned around and saw them following him. He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “teacher”), “where are you staying?”
 
39 Jesus told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went to see where he was staying and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about ten o’clock in the morning.
 
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). 42 Andrew brought Simon to Jesus.
 
Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon, son of John. Your name will be Cephas” (which means “Peter”).
 
43 The next day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me!” 44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.)
 
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth.”
 
46 Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
 
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
 
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, “Here is a true Israelite who is sincere.”
 
48 Nathanael asked Jesus, “How do you know anything about me?”
 
Jesus answered him, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
 
49 Nathanael said to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!”
 
50 Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 Jesus said to Nathanael, “I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God’s angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”
 
SERMON                                              Invitation
 
 
 
Among their favorite memories of their grandma, my daughters both shared grandma’s “tea” parties which were hot chocolate and marshmallows instead of tea and sugar cubes. But the happy memory begins long before sitting at the table. What they especially liked was the hand written and decorated invitations. They would each receive one, and they say it made them feel very special. It made the tea party feel grown up and made them feel important to receive that invitation to it.
 
There is power in a personal invitation, and that is a theme in today’s Bible lesson from the gospel of John.  
We begin with John the Baptist who was preaching and baptizing in the region of the Jordan River. John had students who were following him even before Jesus began his ministry. Two of them were with John the Baptist when Jesus passed by. One of them was Andrew. Most scholars believe the other was our gospel writer, John. They assume he was being modest by not identifying himself. If you think about it they were the younger sons of two fishing families who often worked together. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two of them went together to listen to John the Baptist whenever they had time.
 
John the Baptist had been teaching that someone greater than he is coming. When Jesus approached John to be baptized, the Holy Spirit indicated to John the Baptist that this was the One he had been waiting for. He proclaimed, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29b) Perhaps Andrew and the other disciple were not present that day, for it was the next day that they were with John the Baptist when Jesus passed by. Again John the Baptist proclaimed, “Look! This is the Lamb of God.” (John 1:36) That proclamation captured these disciples’ interest, and so they sought Jesus to learn more from him.
 
Let me add an aside here. You may have noticed that our gospel writer included some vocabulary lessons in our story. Since John’s was the last gospel put into writing, perhaps by then these reminders were needed. How fortunate for us because we need them even more than the late first century audience. So we learn that Rabbi means Teacher, and in particular in that age in usually meant a scholar who taught and interpreted the scriptures of the Old Testament to whatever students gathered around him.  Disciples was the word for these students. One Bible dictionary translates Rabbi as Master indicating it is “a title of dignity given by the Jews to their doctors of the law and their distinguished teachers.” (Easton)
 
Andrew believed from the start that Jesus was the Messiah, which John tells us means the same as Christ. This is usually translated into English as “anointed one.” In scripture it specifically refers to “the Anointed One” of God who was promised by Old Testament prophets. That one word Messiah in Hebrew or Christ in Greek when capitalized in our translations represents all the hopes and dreams of God’s people since the exile, to have a shepherd, a savior, one who would be sent by God to deliver them. Another Bible dictionary states, Messiah “denotes someone who has been ceremonially anointed for an office.” It goes on to say, “In the OT two office-bearers are expressly described …. as anointed (with oil): the high priest (the one responsible for the official cult) and the king …. In both cases the anointing… was essential for the conferring of the authority connected with the office and for the resulting responsibility before God.” (New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology) In the New Testament, Jesus is understood to be the fulfillment of those promises and those centuries of longing. Jesus is referred to both as High Priest in the letter to the Hebrews and as King in many places in the New Testament. Therefore Jesus receives the title of Messiah or Christ from those who believe.
 
One more vocabulary relates to Jesus giving a new name to Andrew’s brother when they meet. This fisherman had been known as Simon, a fairly common name at the time. There are many Simons in the New Testament. But Jesus gave him a new name, and that usually indicated a new identity or even mission as when God gave new names to Abram and Sarai or to Jacob. Simon’s new name was Cephas in their native Aramaic or in the Greek, Petros which we call Peter. We’ve often been told it means stone or rock, but I like the fuller description given in Easton’s Dictionary, "a mass of rock detached from the living rock." I ponder what Jesus meant by that. I can imagine Jesus or God as the living rock because the Psalms often refer to God as the Rock. To me that represents a solid, sturdy, stable foundation. Was Peter then to become a separate mass representing the living rock? Jesus did say that on the Rock named Peter, Jesus would build his church. I think Jesus was announcing that he would turn Simon into a solid, sturdy, stable foundation for his future Church, though it would take a long time to get Peter to that point. As we head back to our story, let me specifically point out, it was younger brother Andrew who invited Simon Peter to come and meet Jesus.
 
Now then, back to our story. Andrew and friend went to Jesus to ask a simple question, “Where are you staying?” It showed their interest not only for that encounter but expressed a hope for further interaction. Jesus response was to extend an invitation, “Come and see.” This invitation was in one form or another made four times within this story. First Jesus invited these two who expressed interest. They took him up on the invitation and spent the entire day following him, listening to him, seeing what Jesus was all about from the very beginning of his ministry.
 
Andrew, extended that invitation then to his brother, Simon. “We have found the Messiah!” Since Andrew brought Simon with him to Jesus, there was an implied sense of “Come and see.” Depending on what that sibling relationship was like, I can picture a younger brother tugging on the older brother’s sleeve, as if he was urging, “We really did find him, you have to come and see and hear for yourself. The chores you are trying to do aren’t that important. Come on, you don’t want to miss this!” Perhaps there was even a polite, apologetic nod to his sister-in-law as he pulled his brother away from the house. I imagine she would have shrugged or shook her head used to their antics. Whether it was a playful exchange or a calm, sedate one, I still imagine gentle Andrew had some urgency in his voice as he invited his older brother to come and meet Jesus.
 
Not long after, Jesus invited another friend, Philip who was from Andrew and Simon Peter’s hometown. “Follow me!” which again I believe implies “Come and see what I have to offer, what I have to teach you.” Philip accepted that invitation and came to the same conclusion as Andrew, that Jesus was the one they have been hoping to find.
 
Philip went to his friend Nathanael and described Jesus as the one Moses and the prophets taught about. Philip was eager for Nathanael to join them, but Nathanael was a skeptic. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” he asked. Philip’s response was once again the simple invitation, “Come and see.” In other words, don’t just take my word for it, but come and decide for yourself.” Of course, Jesus was more than prepared to meet Nathanael. Jesus’ few words of foresight were enough to convince Nathanael that Jesus was the One.
 
So I ask, what was being offered in these invitations? When my daughters received those special tea party invites from their grandma, they expected hot chocolate and marshmallows and probably cookies served in a fancy tea set at the dining room table. That is exactly what mom gave them. What did Andrew and John or Philip expect when they accepted Jesus’ invitation? They believed he might be the Messiah, the long awaited anointed one who would fulfill God’s promises to God’s people. This is why Andrew invited Simon and Philip invited Nathanael to join them.
 
John the Baptist to whom Andrew and John had been listening, was the first prophetic voice in a few hundred years. It stirred up their hopes based on the ancient teachings. It meant to them that God was on the move and something new was going to happen. It meant hope in a time when it was not easy to be a Jew. They expected Jesus to offer meaning and purpose and probably much more.
 
Jesus did come to offer that along with interpretation and understanding of what was written in the scriptures up to that point. Jesus offered a realignment for those who had gotten more focused on human tradition and protocol than on the intentions of God’s Word and covenant. Jesus offered a way of life that fulfilled the biblical message for their relationship with their Creator. Jesus did this through his teachings and by his own example. Becoming his disciples gave them a front row seat for all he would share, so that they could learn and grow and become people God could use to build the future.
That building process is always based on two things: observing Christ and striving to live by his teachings, and then inviting others to join you.
 
The Church (big C) as the Body of Christ and Community of Faith, is always in that building process. Through generations of disciples and apostles, evangelists and writers, preachers and teachers, but especially through ordinary people with ordinary lives, Jesus has continued to build his Church adapting as needed along the way. Peter’s letter put it this way, “Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5, GNT) We become more useful in this process when we learn all we can of Jesus through scripture and study and when we put what we have learned into practice in our daily lives. But don’t stop there!
 
If Jesus’ Body, God’s Community is going to grow, going to endure, and going to fulfill its purpose, we have to remember it’s not just for us. When Andrew invited Peter and Philip invited Nathanael, the number of believers doubled. The potential for future disciples and hence future apostles doubled. The church grew exponentially in the first century because in spite of all obstacles, those who believed Jesus was sent by God, continued to live out and share what Jesus taught. They continued to invite others to join them.
 
Did everyone invited choose to believe, choose to join the fellowship, choose to become a disciple themselves. No. When we get brave enough to talk about God, to talk about Jesus, to talk about Church to those around us, we need to remember that it is our mission only to share and to invite, but it is the Holy Spirit’s work to convince.
 
 
If we want to be like Andrew and Philip, to invite others to meet Jesus, to meet God, then we are simply finding our own version of “Come and see.” You might invite someone to worship or to a Bible study or you might share a book or a devotional with them that you have found helpful. Or perhaps the person you want to invite might not be ready for study. Then you want to start with fellowship. You might begin with a lunch group or a breakfast group that includes others from church. If we have a game day or movie night again, that might be a safe place to begin or if the church hosts an event. If the person is community minded, invite them to participate in a local mission project with you. All of these and many more ideas are potential entry points. Perhaps you can see that over time, if we want to invite more people to meet Jesus with us, then we have to offer multiple opportunities to extend such invitations. While worship is a priority for those of you sitting in our pews on Sunday morning, it is not always the starting place for others. When you are extending an invitation to someone to connect with Jesus through the church, you’ll want to know about that person and have an idea of what is going on in that person’s life. You also want to know what is going on in the life of the church. Then you choose the invitation by finding the best match available of an opportunity that will meet something that person needs.
 
Let me go back to our Bible story to make that example. Peter and Nathanael each in their own way had for much of their lives been waiting for the Messiah. What they heard in the synagogue made them long for God’s promised deliver. What they experienced under Roman occupation made it feel even more urgent. They lived their daily lives but with one ear cocked or one eye searching for the movement of God in their midst and the fulfillment of all their hopes as a culture, as a people, as well as their dreams individually. When Andrew and Philip extended their invitations they included their excitement in finding the one they had all been looking for all this time.
 
What are people in the world around you looking for today? They may indeed need God’s anointed one, but that is not how they are expressing their need. That is not the teaching or the language of the culture around us. However, people are aware and can sometimes voice a need to belong, a need for fellowship, a need to be accepted, a need for something to believe in that won’t let them down, a need for healing, a need for peace, a need for hope, a need to do something that makes a difference. People around us all have needs. So, next ask yourself how might Jesus through the church meet some of those needs? If there is something we are already doing that might be the right opportunity, you know where to invite the person you have in mind. If it’s something we aren’t offering in any way right now, is it something we could potentially offer? Instead of making excuses why we can’t, ask God “What if…” Then after lifting it in prayer several times, if you are still pondering the possibility, take your “What if…?” to Pastor Joyce. She can help you explore the maybes. It might just be an opportunity we can create with God’s help for another way to meet someone’s needs.
 
Let me give you an example from my own ministry here. Over a decade ago, when I was the one preaching upstairs for New Hope Lutheran’s closing worship service, I recognized a need. Not everyone knew where they wanted to go to church after that Sunday. I wanted to offer something to tide them over until those decisions could be made. So I tossed out the idea of a Bible Study. Four women took me up on the offer. That’s how God Sighting Gals started. Out of that Bonnie and Deb worshipped with us for several years, Karla followed me in the office. Sadly, Carol passed away. Eventually Judy Welcher became part of the group. After several years of Bible Studies, we no longer met regularly but to this day we are still a support group and prayer circle by text messages.
 
What I am saying is, if you see a need and a way the church might meet it, extend the invitation. You never know what God might choose to do with it or who might say “Yes.” Don’t worry about the rest. Perhaps God didn’t intend that particular invitation for them. Be content to meet the need of those who choose to participate. God may meet far more needs through those connections than you can imagine.
 
 
*HYMN                              Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds                             #412
(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
With thanks for the grace of Jesus Christ in our lives, we offer ourselves to share the good news of Christ with others and invite them to come and see for themselves. We seek the courage to do this whenever God gives the opportunity. Amen.
 
*DOXOLOGY                 Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                      #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH  Nicene Creed (Ecumenical)          p. 15                                                      
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
 
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
​
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
 
*CLOSING HYMN  Go, Ye, Go, Ye                                      STF #2239
 
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.

​ 
08/28/2022
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
Gary Iverson, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, 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.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                                
     L:  We are surrounded by the amazing gifts of God.
 P:  Big gifts, small gifts, healing gifts, gifts of sustenance and life.
 L:  We are witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ,
 P:  The most amazing gift of all.
 L:  So we gather this day to sing God’s praise,
 P:  And to offer our hearts in response to God’s goodness.
 L:  Come, Lord Jesus.
 P:  Be among us this Day.  Amen.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
We come to praise our God who is our Creator and our Redeemer. We give
thanks to our healer and our deliverer. We seek renewal and inspiration to go
on with our lives, to be God’s people, to offer God’s love and compassion to all God’s people. Amen.
 
 
*HYMN                     All Creatures of Our God and King                                 # 455
                                           (You may be seated.)
 
 
CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                   
     God knows our hearts and our minds.  God feels our deep distress and is          aware of the guilt that weighs us down.  God invites us to come that we might      know the release offered in his amazing love for us.  Let us come and lay our broken selves before our Creator.
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
O Lord, We know that we have fallen short of your call to grace and generosity.  We’ve turned a blind eye to the needs around us, claiming that our own security and comfort was primary.  We’ve done harm to others in the pursuit of our advantage.  We’ve been a fearful people, closing ourselves off to those around us.  Forgive us for our self-centered thinking that closes our fist and prevents us from reaching out in your name.
 
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                                   
    O Lord, We know that we have fallen short of your call to grace and generosity.  We’ve turned a blind eye to the needs around us, claiming that our own security and comfort was primary.  We’ve done harm to others in the pursuit of our advantage.  We’ve been a fearful people, closing ourselves off to those around us.  Forgive us for our self-centered thinking that closes our fist and prevents us from reaching out in your name.
 
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
Savior. In so many ways you offer blessings to your people. But we often struggle with our own impatience and blindness. As your word is read and proclaimed, may we hold open our hearts and minds to receive your presence, your healing and your love.  Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Genesis 27: 30-36a, 41
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared savoury food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, ‘Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.’ 32 His father Isaac said to him, ‘Who are you?’ He answered, ‘I am your firstborn son, Esau.’ 33
Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, ‘Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all[a] before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and blessed he shall be!’ 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, ‘Bless me, me also, father!’ 35 But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.’ 36 Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? 41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.
Genesis 32: 22-32
22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ 27 So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ 28 Then the man[a] said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ 29 Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.
 
 
SERMON                                       Wrestling with God
 
In today’s world we might call Jacob a grifter. My dictionary defines grifter as a person who engages in small scale swindling and deceit. Although, I bet Esau wouldn’t consider Jacob’s thefts small scale! First, he manipulates things such that his older brother is forced to trade his birthright for a bowl of stew. (Although, one might wonder at the wisdom of such a trade! ) As the eldest brother, Esau was entitled to the largest share of his father’s estate, but by his manipulation, Jacob was able to get his hands on that much larger share.
In our reading for today, we learn that Jacob and his mother, Rebekah had pulled one over on an aging Isaac. They had deceived the blind, old man into giving to this younger son, the blessing-- that which would ensure that Jacob’s offspring would inherit the promises that God had made to his grandfather, Abraham. Land and children as numerous as the stars, and perhaps most importantly, God’s claim and blessing to rest upon Jacob.
No, Esau wasn’t happy. We can tell that by the way he was plotting Jacob’s death!  Perhaps Jacob and Rebekah had thought he would accept this loss in the same way he seemed to have acquiesced to the loss of his birthright. But that wasn’t the case.
Esau was hot, and that meant Jacob had to get out of Dodge--fast. Just as Abraham had left his father’s house and gone out into the unknown, Jacob would have to go. BUT, he did it without a wife or household, without livestock or time to plan. Without a farewell party or time to gather provisions or even say a proper goodbye. He’s off. He’s in the wind.  He’s running for his life.
How frightening and lonely it must have been! I wonder if Jacob would have given back that blessing if he could. But that’s not the way these things work.
Jacob ran to his mother’s brother, to Laban, who was every bit as shifty and devious and out for his own advantage as Jacob. And he stayed there for many years. He did OK. He acquired two wives and their maid servants as his concubines, eleven sons and at least one daughter. ( A 12 th son would be born later.) He had flocks of sheep and goats, camels and cows and donkeys. He had servants and all that went with these things. Jacob was a rich man. God had, indeed, blessed him!
But now God was calling Jacob home. His father’s home was where the land was. It was the land that God had promised to Abraham. Home was where he needed to be. There was only one problem. Esau. The wrath of Esau was likely still burning hot. He had pledged Jacob’s death, and he was a powerful man—a manly man! Just because many years had passed, it didn’t mean that Esau had mellowed.
 
So Jacob, the schemer, the grifter, began to develop a plan. He divided out a portion of his livestock—sheep, goats, cows, donkeys, camels. Five species of animals, and he put them into herds of each species. He then had servants drive each herd along the path towards where his brother would come. He spaced them so that there would be maximum impact. Five times Esau would encounter a herd of animals, and each time the servant would tell this angry, older brother that these animals belonged to Jacob and were sent as a gift to Esau. It seemed that Jacob was well aware that the guilt was on him. He was well aware that it was up to him to fix this thing, and he hoped that with some generosity, Esau might calm, and they could co-exist in peace.
But there was no guarantee. So Jacob, the crafty person that he was, divided the remaining part of his livestock and sent them in opposite directions. Perhaps if Esau was determined to get his revenge on Jacob, at least half of the livestock would survive. He also took his family and put them in a safe place so they wouldn’t be harmed.
And then there was nothing to do but to wait. Dark was falling, and it looked to be along and uncomfortable night. How anxious he must have been! How lonely! How filled with dread was his racing mind!
But suddenly, Jacob wasn’t alone. There was a man who tackled him, who struggled to dominate him. Now WE know it wasn’t a man at all. It was God. But Jacob didn’t seem to know that. God had entered the picture at a moment when Jacob was most vulnerable. God sought to reclaim, not just Jacob’s mind, but his heart and his conscience and his daily reliance upon the Almighty. So all night they wrestled. Jacob was wrestling not just with this stranger, but with his guilt, his fear, his need to be in control of his life and even his pride. They must have been fairly well matched, or more likely, God paced himself to keep Jacob engaged. I think of it like a horse trainer who runs that stallion in a circle in the corral until the beast is so tired he doesn’t resist the
saddle. He’s just too exhausted to fight anymore. That was Jacob.
At one point God struck Jacob in the hip and put it out of joint. And then as the sun began to rise, God said, “Let me go.” But by now Jacob has an inkling about the identity of this opponent. He replies, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” O Jacob? Again? But God is quite able to side step that one. He asks Jacob’s name. Now remember, the name Jacob means one who takes what does not belong to him. God says, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.”
A new name. A new identity. A new way of connecting with God and with the world around him. But Jacob’s not quite ready to let go of his old way of being. He asks God’s name. The ancient understanding was that to know the name of God was to have power over God. He doesn’t get an answer to that one, though. It would be Moses at the burning bush who learns God’s name – Yahweh. What Jacob got was better. He got a new lease on life. No longer the schemer or grifter. Now he was one who had striven with God and prevailed.
Think about the power in that. To wrestle with God and to hold one’s own. To lay all of our self out there. To finally relinquish what had been in order to become a new and healthier person—one with more integrity, more capacity to love, more awareness of God’s presence, more confident in his ability to serve God. That was the gift of God to Jacob that night. It was a gift that would serve him well when Esau finally did arrive.
I propose that many of us—perhaps most of us—have had similar wrestling matches with God. “No, God,” we say, “I want to be in control of my life. I want this. You owe me that. O, God my guilt and my conscience won’t let me have any peace. You have to let me go. O, God, I am so afraid. You have to step in and help me. Let me tell you exactly how you must do this.”
And here’s the thing. I think there’s value in that wrestling. I think there’s strength to be gained. I think that wrestling is holy work. After all, God already knows our hearts and our minds. To fully engage with God is to invite the Lord into our struggle, to ask God to be a participant in that struggle. Like Jacob, or rather Israel, we might limp as we walk away, but in that wrestling we’ve gained something pretty priceless. We’ve been changed. We’ve been touched by God.
My Friends, we live in a world where God is inviting us to that type of full engagement.  God desires to rename us—not from a given personal name, but from a generic, anonymous identity to know ourselves as a child of God, one who has been blessed by the Almighty and who now walks in the pathways of God’s grace and healing. To get there we need to relinquish certain things, and that’s where the wrestling comes in. Sometimes it’s hard to let those things go.
 We need to let go of me-first thinking. We let go of the assumption that we are in charge of our lives. We let go of guilt and learn to forgive ourselves for past mistakes, even for those times when we’ve hurt others whom we love. We let go of the assumptions about the way things have always been or should be. We let go of fear that paralyzes us and refuses to let us move forward. All of these things fall away as we wrestle with God.
They fall away for us as individuals, and they fall away for us as a collective group who are Christ’s church in a particular time and place. We seek new directions that God has for us, and that means we need to let God have his way with us. It might feel
like our hip has been knocked out of its socket as we consider paths that are new and strange and frightening. But just as God wouldn’t tell Jacob his name allowing this servant to have some control over God, God doesn’t allow us to be in charge, either, and that’s a good thing because God is God and we are not!
And then the sun will rise, exhausted we break away from our wrestling, and we limp away. But do you feel the calm? Do you feel the sense of confidence, the underlying assertion that it will be OK. This wrestler might be tired, but he’s not alone, and that makes all the difference in the world. He’s gotten on board with God and God is navigating things now.
My friends, we are in the wrestling phase of our quest for a new path for this congregation. It’s a frightening time, but it’s also a holy time. I commend you in this struggle. I believe God is also fully engaged and working to bring you life and hope and well-being.
So struggle well. Wrestle on. Lay it before the Lord, and allow God to rename you, too. In the process you will become a blessing to one another and to your community and your world. Jacob became a wonderful servant of our God. Let’s follow in his footprints and serve our Lord.
Praise God. Amen.
 
 
*HYMN                              Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing                               #356
(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 Belhar Confession:
​     We believe that God has revealed himself as the One who wishes to bring about           justice and true peace among people;
 
…that God, in a world full of injustice and enmity, is in a special way the God of the      destitute, the poor and the wronged; that God calls the Church to follow him in this; for God brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry.
                                                      
 
*CLOSING HYMN:               My Hope is Built on Nothing Less                      #379
 
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.
 
 
 
 
 

​ 
08/14/2022
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
Gary Iverson, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, 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.
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                
L: In a world where division is a way of life, we are asked to
     choose whom we will follow.
P:  We choose the Lord!
L:  There will be challenges in that choice.
P:  We choose the Lord!
L:  Come people of God.  Let us worship and praise our Author of Life.
P:  We choose the Lord-- We offer our lives to you, Gracious God.
All:  Praise and glory to God.  Amen.
 
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
O Lord.  All around us is the great cloud of witnesses, your saints who have gone before us. They urge us to lay aside the sin that clings and to run the race before us with perseverance and humility.  Give us, this day, the tools and assurance we need to run well and strong in your glorious name.  Amen .
 
 
 
*HYMN                                 Morning Has Broken                                         #469    (You may be seated.)
 
 
 
CALL TO CONFESSION                                     
God has planted a vineyard.  He’s tended it, given rain and blessing upon it.  He’s built walls to protect it.  But, too often, we, the vines so tenderly nurtured, refuse to produce the sweet grapes our Lord seeks.  Let us recognize our own failings and turn to our God for forgiveness.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
How often, O Lord, we pat ourselves on the back for the success and blessing that you have poured into our lives.  We put on blinders of self-interest, focusing on our own comfort and desire.  We fail to offer our care to others.  We nurse resentments while feeling superior to our neighbors.  Lord, we know that these are not the things you expect from the vineyard you have planted and nurtured.  Have we produced wild grapes that are bitter to your tongue?  Forgive us, Lord and help us to do better.  Amen
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                 Isaiah 1:18, NIV
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish by may have eternal life.  God did not send his son to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Hear the good news.  In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and once again invited to grow the sweet grapes of righteousness and faith.  This is our Savior’s love for all the world.
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
 
Quiet our hearts, Loving Lord.  Put away the distracting thoughts from our minds.  Allow us to hear the gift of life and hope that you offer to us.  May the words we hear strengthen our soul and allow us to serve you with all our being.  Amen
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Isaiah 5: 1-7
1.Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.  2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?  When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?  5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.  I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.  6 I will make it a waste;  it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.  7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
 
 
        Luke12: 49-56
 
I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
 
SERMON                                       Choosing Yes.  Living Yes
 
All families have stories.  A popular story in my family is of my dad taking my three children to the small-town general store when he and Grandma were caring for them while my husband and I were out of town.  He told them they could have any candy they chose.  The oldest two quickly picked out the treat they wanted, but my youngest daughter who was about 3 or 4 at the time couldn’t choose. There were too many options:  M&Ms, Snicker bars, Milky Way, Milk Duds, Three Musketeers or even a Pay Day.  With every possible selection she would say No to all these others.  Finally, she got so frustrated that she sat down and cried.  And Grandpa was baffled about how to help.
Have you ever had so many options before you that selecting was difficult?  That it paralyzed you and sent you into a panic?  I believe some of that is at the base of our scriptures this day.
Faith is actually all about making a choice.  It means saying “yes” to God and also saying “no” to many things that are a normal and attractive part of our society. I’m not talking about drugs or gambling or infidelity or alcohol.  I’m talking about things that are much more subtle. To say “yes” to God means saying “no” to self-absorbed consumerism that doesn’t consider how our accumulation of resources contribute to the abuse of others, or at least it doesn’t contribute to their well-being.  It means no to thinking we have complete autonomy regarding our time or our bank account.  It means no to playing fast and loose with the truth, even if what we’re saying is not Technically a lie!
Yes to following Jesus, and no to putting our own comfort or our own bank account as our highest goal.  Yes to accepting God’s forgiveness, and no to holding on to our resentment towards our neighbor.  Yes to feeling the comfort and healing of God, and no to supporting practices that harm others—even those whom we will never know or meet-- locked at the edge of society.
Yes to Jesus means we reorient our lives.  We let go of me-first thinking and our blind acceptance of racism and prejudice.  We pay attention to the way our practices impact our earth and fellow creatures.  We let go of radical independence because God is now the boss.  We no longer think of our time or our money as strictly our own.
There are lots of positive, joyful reasons to say Yes to God.  It’s an incredible blessing that is poured into our lives, but at least at the beginning, some of the Nos seem difficult and problematic.  How attractive these things might seem.
And that’s the problem we call sin.  God invites us to accept his gift of life and faith and healing and presence. There’s meaning and joy in the yes that we offer to God.  But that doesn’t mean that all those other things quit calling our name, quit winking at us and motioning us forward.   “Just this once,” it whispers.  “No one needs to know. You deserve this. You have to go along with things.  It’s your job or you might offend others, or you don’t want to be the stick in the mud, do you?”  The whispers can be subtle.  It is so seductive.  It seems so reasonable, but ultimately it’s asking us to say “yes” to the very things that God to which has asked us to say “no.”  It’s not because God doesn’t want us to have fun or enjoy the moment, but rather because these things destroy life and health in some capacity.
That was the problem in ancient Israel.  These ex-slaves whom God had called out of Egypt and given a land and so many wonderful opportunities had wanted to have things both ways.  They wanted their faith and God’s blessings, but they also wanted more and more and more.  More wealth, more land, more livestock, more servants, more comfort, more power.  And to acquire more, they needed to look out for their own advantages.  They couldn’t squander their money on orphans and widows, on foreigners and sick people.  They couldn’t let go of the reins that drove their lives to allow God to guide them.  To acquire more meant that they needed to jump at every opportunity, big or small.  They needed to keep the goal of MORE foremost in their focus.
They were saying “yes” to all these things, not even realizing that in so doing they were saying “no” to the most basic principles that God had asked of them.  They were turning away from centering their lives on God.
When Isaiah came forward telling the story of the vineyard, there were people nodding happily. They understood completely the situation of putting in the hard work and not seeing it pay off.  It was a business venture that had gone sour.  They understood about pouring their hopes and their sweat into a project to see it fail.
And then we hear God’s voice inviting the people to judge what he should do.  He did everything possible and expected sweet grapes, but instead got wild and bitter fruits.  What should he do? Then God answers for himself.  He will tear down the protective hedge.  He will eliminate the walls that protected it.  The vineyard will be trampled.  No longer will he pull the weeds or prune the vines.  It will grow up in thorns and brambles.  He won’t even waste his rain upon it.  It will become desolate.
And then, if they hadn’t figured out the metaphor yet, God makes himself explicit.  The vineyard is them!  It’s Israel and Judah, the two nations of God’s people.  They had turned away from God’s desired justice.  They had said “yes” to sin which means they hadn’t really said “yes” to God.  Punishment is coming. Armies will begin swooping in.  Israel will soon be wiped off the map by Assyria.  While Judah will survive a bit longer, Babylon will have their way with the southern nation in years to come.  Isaiah will cry out against their sinful ways, but the people won’t really be able to hear him-not yet, not until disaster strikes.
“Yes” to God means “No” to selfish ambition, even if that self-centered way of being has become a standardized way of life for a whole society.
In our New Testament reading, Jesus is on the way to the cross so that the people of God can witness the power of God for life and for forgiveness and for joyful community.  In the section for today, Jesus is attempting to teach about God’s call to us.  About what it means to say “yes” to God.  But he also recognizes and warns that saying “Yes” does not always come easy or without a price.  It’s not a new thought.
Even when Jesus was still a tiny baby being brought to the temple for the first time, Simeon said, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.”  In other words, his message is of God.  His message is life, but not everyone will be able to receive this message in its fullness.  When that happens in families there will be division.  One side won’t understand why the other is now turning away from things that seem so central to our way of life—so rational, so accepted. “Don’t give money to the poor.” They might say.  “The poor don’t deserve it, and you can’t afford it.  Don’t waste your Sunday morning going to church—Don’t you want to spend it with me?  Don’t go on that mission trip.  Let’s go on vacation, instead.  Don’t talk to those people. What will our friends think?”  And the list goes on and on.
Jesus seems to want us to know that there is often a cost to this faith thing.  He wants us to be prepared for the fact that others might not understand our “Yes,” even those who are closest to us.  He wants us to be ready to stick by our “Yes” which means we offer our “no” to other things.  He wants us to stay the course even when it’s tough.
But here’s the good news.   If we can clearly understand the “yes” we have made to God and realize that it also means some “Nos,”  then we are in a much stronger place to keep the faith even in the midst of conflict among those closest to us.  In some cases that conflict might be short lived—once others see the way we are living in communion with God and the joy and meaning it brings, they might get on board—but not always. The fact of the matter is that they, too are free to choose and it’s their right to choose another way other than God.That’s the sad and scary part.  Sometimes our “Yes” to God means we lose relationships.  Sometimes.
The good news is that God walks through the fire with us and helps us find the path that will either allow us to retain these important relationships or to find new ones that feed us.  I think that’s one of the most valuable parts of being in a church community—there are others around us who understand our struggles and who can support us.  When we say “yes” to God we learn that those other things that we thought were important and valuable lose their appeal.
I’m not sure my daughter ever got her candy that day.  There seems to be some disagreement between her memory and that of her grandpa who said he did select for her.  What she did get was a loving Grandpa, a big nap and a story that continues to be told, sometimes to her embarrassment, even 40 years later.  I hope that we can do a better job of choosing and then living with our choice than she was able to pull off.  I believe that recognizing the meaning of “Yes” to God which also mean “No” to things that harm our world and the way of life for many is a basic faith task.
 God’s vineyard is carefully tended, let’s grow sweet and abundant grapes for the Lord. Choose well me friends.  Choose “Yes” and experience the joy of walking with our God. Amen.
 
*HYMN                                                      Precious Lord, Take My Hand                       404
(You may be seated.)
 
Eucharist
 
OFFERING OUR LIVES
 
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                   #592
 
*HYMN                             Be Known To Us in Breaking Bread                             #505
(You may be seated.)
 
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
 
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
 
L:  Lord God we seek to be your vineyard, fruitful, abundant, and filled with life.
P:  We want to produce the sweet grapes of your righteousness, the fruit that     sings your grace to all the world.
L:  So we come before you this day to eat and to drink,
P:  To share in your death, to know the joy of your resurrection.
L: Jesus gathered his disciples in an upper room.  He broke the bread declaring that it was his body broken for them.  He poured the cup, saying that it was the blood of the covenant poured out for the forgiveness of sin.
P:  He offered these to his friends gathered at the table with him.
L:  ‘Eat and drink’ he said, and ‘do so in remembrance of me.’
P:  We eat and we drink and we remember the great love that Jesus offered into      our world.
L:  We eat and we drink to be a part of that love and to be filled with a spirit that   
enables us to faithfully live as God’s people.
P:  Thank you, Lord.  Amen.
 
RECEIVING THE BREAD AND CUP
 
COMMUNION 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.
 
*CLOSING HYMN:    O Jesus I Have Promised.                                           #388
 
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.
Presbyterians practice open communion which means anyone who seeks to be in a relationship with Christ is welcome at the table regardless of denomination, age, or status. The communion elements are already in your pew, and you will be instructed when to eat the wafer and when to drink the juice.
 

​ 
08/07/2022
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
Gary Iverson, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur, Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Werner & Kelly Families, Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers, Deb Weller.
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                 Psalm 33:18, 20-22, GW
The Lord’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy.
We wait for the Lord. He is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts find joy. In his holy name we trust.
Let your mercy rest on us, O Lord since we wait with hope for you.
 
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Lord, we come with hope seeking your mercy. We acknowledge that you are the source of all that is good, and we give thanks for those people you have put in our lives to help us along the way. May we truly put our trust in you as we seek joy and strength for living our days. Amen.
 
 
 
*HYMN                                 O God, Our Help in Ages Past                            #210
(You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION                                 Isaiah 1:16-17, NET
16 Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my sight.
Stop sinning. 17 Learn to do what is right. Promote justice. Give the oppressed reason to celebrate. Take up the cause of the orphan. Defend the rights of the widow.
 
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Our society is too often guilty of these same things that caused God pain in Old Testament times. Therefore, Let us confess the sins of our world to the Lord.
 
Merciful God, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world.  Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression. Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                 Isaiah 1:18, NIV
“’Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be clean as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Through Jesus Christ we are cleansed, forgiven, and set free.
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
 
As the scriptures are read, may our hearts and minds to open to receive your Word, O God. Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Colossians 1:1-14, NLT
 
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
 
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.
 
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
 
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
 
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
 
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
 
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
 
Luke 10:25-37, CEB
25 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”
 
26 Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”
 
27 He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
 
28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
 
29 But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
 
30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way.
 
 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
 
37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
 
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
 
SERMON                                       Thanking God for You
 
I don’t usually recycle sermons, but July 10 I had the opportunity to preach at the Church of the Brethren in Lanark IL. I wanted to also share that message with you.
 
The week I might have started preparing for July preaching appointments, I was instead back home in Beloit, WI, sitting either in my motel room or in my mother’s hospital room. The call had come that mom wasn’t expected to last more than another day or two. I booked a room, packed quickly, did what absolutely had to be done at home, called my daughters, and drove home.
When I got to the hospital mom had just been moved into the special care unit where there were fewer patients, quieter private rooms, and nurses trained for this last stage of life. Over the next week, mom hung in there on nothing but ice chips and occasional pain meds. Tali and Sean came for a couple of days, Jessika called twice, dad and I took turns with our meal breaks. Two pastors visited and a couple of close neighbors we had known since they were born. There were prayers and expressions of love from many. The nursing staff were exceptionally kind, gentle, caring, and compassionate not only toward mom but also toward us.  Mom slipped away peacefully when she was ready to let go.
 
In the midst of this experience, there were people who lived out the greatest and second greatest commandments and those who became good Samaritans for us. There were also many people in my life for whom I want to thank our God. They became living examples for me of where I could do better as well.
 
Let me tell you first about a couple of women whose living expression of their faith made a difference for me that week. As mom lingered, my motel plans had to change a couple of times. When I was set to go home a second time, I could tell mom was declining rapidly and the end was near. It didn’t make sense to go home that night, so I booked another room in a third motel only a couple hours before checking in. When I arrived the room was reserved but the pre-payment hadn’t gone through yet. The warm-hearted woman behind the desk told me not to worry. She’d try again in a bit. I told her why I was there; she gave me kind words of encouragement and said she would pray. When I told her the next day that mom had passed, she extended her sympathy with a genuine warmth and kindness that felt like a verbal hug. I thank God for this woman and for the rest of the staff who were the best examples of motel hospitality I have ever experienced.
 
That first night when mom was moved into special care, the nurse who had just come on duty was Jolie. She settled mom into her new room with gentle care as well as expressing her compassion and concern for dad and I. Jolie was with mom again her last two nights, continuing that gentle care and compassion. Jolie was the one who called dad and I at 6:00 in the morning. Jolie was the one sitting with mom when mom couldn’t hang on any longer. I thank God for Jolie, for the faith she expressed, but especially for the way she lived that faith for mom and for dad and myself. I also thank God for the rest of the nursing staff who were caring and gentle and kind and did their best, even when they were busy, to keep my mom as clean and comfortable as possible while also being considerate to us and to our guests. They made those last days so much easier than they might have been.
 
I thank God for those who came to visit. I thank God that my daughter and son-in-law could be flexible with work to make a quick trip to Beloit from Chicago spending a couple days with us. They really were a big help. I thank God for the former neighbor who drove up from Chicago to sit with dad, so I could go home for a night. I thank God for the friends and churches who prayed for us. I thank God for the women who took care of my home while I was away. I thank God for the support and love I felt from family and friends.
 
Most of all I want to thank God for the mom who raised me, who taught me many things, who took me on trips, who did crafts, who worked hard, who shared her faith, who gave me so many wonderful positive life lessons and memories, who loved me without question or judgement. I thank God for my mom, but I also thank God for my dad, who became my stepdad when I was 17. I thank God that he accepted me and did his best for me in spite of our differences. I thank God for what he brought to my mother’s life, for the faith and church service they shared, and especially for how well he took care of my mother as her health declined. I could not have asked God for a better man to love my mother.
 
As you can see, there are many people in my life for whom I give thanks to God, not only as my mom was dying, but throughout our lives.
 
In Colossians, Paul expresses his thanks to God for the people of Colossae even as he prays for them. Think for a moment about the people on your prayer list. You might have family or friends you pray for regularly. Perhaps you offer a traditional God bless prayer. Dad and I prayed one with mom at night in her hospital room, just as she used to pray with me at my bedside when I was little. You might also have a list of prayer requests, people you pray for when they are ill, distressed, in crisis, in transition, or in grief. As you are praying for them, are you also giving thanks for them? Are there individuals or groups of people who are part of your grateful list? For example, in my neighborhood Monday is garbage day and also the day the park across the street is cleaned up and mowed, so on Mondays I pray for and give thanks for sanitation workers and other city employees.
 
As Paul prayed for the Colossians he went on to mention their faith in Christ and their love for others. We know these are important as Jesus expressed the greatest commandments to love God and love others. From whom did you learn about Christ? Who set an example for you by living out their faith and inspired you to do the same? Who do you see helping others without demanding recognition, but quietly caring for others out of their love for the Lord? I invite you to bring some of these to mind this week and take the time to offer God thanks for each of them. If you have the opportunity, you might also say thank you to them for being that kind of blessing and example in your life. Paul was aware that the message the Colossians heard from Epaphras had born fruit in their lives. He prayed they would continue to grow in loving and serving God, to live faithfully and joyfully, forgiven and loved, as heirs to the kingdom of light. May we also pray these blessings on those for whom we give thanks to God.
 
The NIV Biblical Theological Study Bible claims, “The gospel continues to grow because it speaks to the universal condition of all people regardless of their cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic background.” This means our living witness for Christ is meant for whoever crosses our path, whether they are just like us or just the opposite. God loves and cares about all peoples and all creation; therefore we are called to extend God’s love without labels or exclusion.
 
If we live out the grace and mercy we have received by how we treat others, they too will come to know Christ through us or be encouraged to grow in Christ along with us. As I heard recently in another sermon, preachers can’t take the gospel everywhere by themselves. The world is reached by how each one of us live in front of those whose lives cross paths with ours. What kind of message does your life offer?
 
In the midst of all the encouragement I received after mom’s death, God offered me a challenge. One area where I could definitely grow is to be more compassionate and caring in my encouragement to others. I could take time to offer a word of comfort or blessing on that social media post as so many did for me. I could be more intentional about sympathy cards. I could call someone who I know is grieving or discouraged. It’s not that I don’t do these things sometimes, but I know I could do more and I could extend my circle of caring wider when the Spirit is nudging me to do so.
 
Did you notice Paul was praying for and thanking God for people he had not personally met? It was Epaphras who taught them about Christ. Paul “heard” about their faith and their love. He was writing to strengthen and encourage them. Our compassion wasn’t meant to be limited to immediate family or a tight circle of our closest friends. On the other hand, I am not suggesting invading someone else’s privacy for the sake of “your” mission. What I am saying is we can all learn to listen for the Holy Spirit and watch for the opportunities God puts before us. Then respond to the situation as Jesus might have responded: to love people as you find them and lend a helping hand when you are able.
 
The story of the Good Samaritan reminds us that our “neighbor” whom the commandment asks us to love could be anyone. It could be a complete stranger. It could be someone we think is an enemy. As the Believer’s Bible Commentary puts it, “To the Samaritan, a Jew in need was his neighbor.” Though Samaritans and Jews did not get along, in fact did not trust each other, this man put all that aside to help the person in front of him. He had the means to help, so he did. Nothing else got in the way.
 
So many things divide us. People disagree about politics and ethical issues. People argue about what should be legal and what shouldn’t. People distrust those whose background, status, or opinions differ from their own. We humans have a long way to go toward being of “one mind in Christ” as Paul prayed for in another letter. But our differences don’t need to get in the way of extending the love of Christ to another person. What we have in common is a better starting point. Even if we cannot find any other point of agreement, at least this much is true. We were all created by God, and we are all loved by God. If I am offering my love to God by showing God’s love to my neighbor, what else do I need to know?
 
The people who cared so well for my mom in the hospital didn’t know her. The people who helped me at the motel didn’t know me either. We might have guessed some of our differences by the way we look, but we had no clue about each other’s politics, opinions, lifestyle, or background. None of that mattered. They could have done their jobs just to meet requirements, but they went beyond that because of who they were in their inner being. Some of them expressed a faith that might be similar to my own; I have no way of knowing what the others believed. But I can tell you that their behavior honored their creator by giving their best to take care of the person in front of them without bias or prejudice. That is an example any of us can follow.  But for us, there is more to it.
 
I believe there is a significant reason Jesus put these two commandments together out of all that is recorded in the Torah, the Law as it is written in our Old Testament. I think Jesus was teaching us that we love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength precisely when we share God’s compassionate, caring love with the people around us in the same ways we want to be loved. As you go into your daily lives this week, I invite you to sincerely give thanks to God for the people around you and to pray for them. But I also encourage you to pay attention to the opportunities God is giving you to show your love for God by sharing God’s love with others.
 
 
 
*HYMN                                                                 Jesu, Jesu
(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
Lord, in gratitude for the many ways others have enriched our lives and helped us, we offer ourselves now in service to be a blessing to others. Amen.
 
 
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow #592
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
In life and in death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.
 
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth,
​praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
 
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen
 
 
*HYMN                              Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing                            #538
(You may be seated.)
 
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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

​ 
July 31st, 2022
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.
·   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, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur, Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Werner & Kelly Families, Kolleen’s , Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers, Deb Weller, and Linda Wenzel.
PRELUDE
 
*PSALTER Psalm 107:1-9, NIV
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story--
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Lord, as you have gathered us from many backgrounds and places to be your people, so we gather this day to honor and worship you. We come singing your praise, listening to your words, offering our prayers and our lives to your service. Be present with us. Fill us once again with good things that our spiritual hunger and thirst might also be filled this day. Amen.
 
 
*HYMN                     Sing Praise To God Who Reigns Above                                  #483
 
 
*INVITATION TO CONFESSION                                    Colossians 3:1-11, NIV
“Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above—where Christ holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 2 Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things. 3 You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.  5 Therefore, put to death whatever is worldly in you: your sexual sin, perversion, passion, lust, and greed (which is the same thing as worshiping wealth). 6 It is because of these sins that God’s anger comes on those who refuse to obey him. 7 You used to live that kind of sinful life. 8 Also get rid of your anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, and all similar sins. 9 Don’t lie to each other. You’ve gotten rid of the person you used to be and the life you used to live, 10 and you’ve become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator. 11 Where this happens, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, uncivilized person, slave, or free person. Instead, Christ is everything and in everything.”
 
Let us confess our shortcomings to the Lord:
 
Merciful God, you intended us to live as new creatures in Christ, and yet old habits are hard to break and the ways of the world around us are hard to avoid.  We slip into thought patterns and behaviors that don’t suit our new nature, because they do not honor you. We may easily say we don’t have any of the sins named in one particular scripture, but we might just as easily ignore some other attitude or habit that is equally disrespectful to you our Creator and Savior. Forgive us once again for all that is sinful within us. Cleanse us and heal us that we may better live as your children in this world. Amen.
 
 
*WORDS OF ASSURANCE                                  Colossians 3:3-4, NIV
Let us remember scripture’s promise. “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.” It is through Christ we are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!
 
*SONG OF PRAISE Gloria Patri #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE (facing those across the aisle from you)
Left: May the peace of Christ be with you.
Right: And also with you. May the peace of Christ be with you.
Left: And also with you.
 
 
INTERLUDE
Word
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS        
Hosea 1:1-11, GNT
11 The Lord says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him  and called him out of Egypt as my son.  2 But the more I called to him, the more he turned away from me.
My people sacrificed to Baal;  they burned incense to idols. 3 Yet I was the one who taught Israel to walk.  I took my people up in my arms, but they did not acknowledge that I took care of them.  4 I drew them to me with affection and love. I picked them up and held them to my cheek; I bent down to them and fed them.  5 “They refuse to return to me, and so they must return to Egypt, and Assyria will rule them. 6 War will sweep through their cities and break down the city gates. It will destroy my people because they do what they themselves think best. 7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them.  8 “How can I give you up, Israel?  How can I abandon you?  Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah,  or treat you as I did Zeboiim?  My heart will not let me do it!  My love for you is too strong. 9 I will not punish you in my anger;  I will not destroy Israel again.  For I am God and not a mere human being.  I, the Holy One, am with you. I will not come to you in anger.  10 “My people will follow me when I roar like a lion at their enemies. They will hurry to me from the west. 11 They will come from Egypt, as swiftly as birds, and from Assyria, like doves. I will bring them to their homes again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
 
Luke 12:13-21, CEB
13 Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”14 Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me as judge or referee between you and your brother?”  15 Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, even when someone is very wealthy.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “A certain rich man’s land produced a bountiful crop. 17 He said to himself, What will I do? I have no place to store my harvest! 18 Then he thought, Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. That’s where I’ll store all my grain and goods. 19 I’ll say to myself, You have stored up plenty of goods, enough for several years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren’t rich toward God.”
 
SERMON                                  “The Danger of Greed”
 
“Mine!” It’s a word humans seem to adopt early in life, even as toddlers. Eventually it is followed by the word “More!” because we never seem to be satisfied.
 
We want more; we want better. Then in pursuit of the most and the best; we accumulate stuff. We stuff our lives with stuff!
 
The parable Jesus told about our accumulated stuff always reminds me of my dad’s friend, Leonard, once teasing me that my dad was looking at a property with three barns on it. Three barns will hold a lot of stuff. But dad already has a property with two houses. The little house mom and I used to live in is filled with stuff, and the basement of the house they built further back is full of stuff. I can’t blame dad for too much of this though. While the appliances he acquired when he was a Frigidaire repairman or some of the clothes he has never used are dad’s responsibility, not all of the stuff is his. Some of it is mine, my grandparents’, his mother’s, and his aunt’s. We all left our stuff in his care, and he is stuck with it. Mom and dad worked hard in their 80s to start sorting through all this stuff. There were rummage sales and donations and trash bins. Her last few months dad would bring mom a box of old papers: letters, magazines, and such, because she could still work through that from her chair. I give him credit for working away at it, but I don’t honestly see an end to it, even when it becomes my task or my daughters’.
 
But as I picture all of dad’s stuff in my mind, I have to look at my own. As my favorite pastor back home used to say, “When I point a finger at you; there are three more pointing back at me.” I also have too much stuff though I cut it in half leaving the parsonage, more moving into the apartment, and lots more leaving the apartment. But there is stuff from a storage locker I need to remove from your room upstairs. Some of it landed in my garage along with stacks of boxes from moving to the house. Then my basement filled up with stuff from Jessika’s apartment. I need to be working at sorting through my stuff just as much as dad does.
 
If you look again at the parable from Luke’s gospel, he uses the word greed and describes it with the barns full of stuff in this story. Ouch! I don’t think of my family as greedy. But I would have to question that when I open a shopping website in search of something I want. “No Kolleen you don’t need another shirt, you have dozens!” And I close the tab, well except this week. So, confession: I bought shirts, shorts, and pjs this week, but I will wear them for a decade or more. The concept behind my annual search for things to donate out of my cupboards and closets is based on this principle. “If I’m not using it but someone else could, why is it in my closet?” A recent purge of accumulated jewelry felt great since I hardly wear jewelry in my retirement.
 
We don’t think of ourselves as greedy, and yet…Jesus tells us to “guard against all kinds of greed,” because “life does not consist of an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15) The Greek word for possession refers to property or wealth. I found a curious phrase in one definition, “indulged in.” It is true that I indulge in more than I need. The word used here for abundance means “overflowing” and “excessive.” It can mean “lavished” or summarized as “more than enough.” (All these definitions come from NIV Exhaustive Concordance.)
 
Do you begin to see some distinctions? There is nothing wrong with having the stuff we need. But when we become obsessive about possessions and accumulating more, then we have a problem. There is an attitude issue here. It might be worth asking “Why do I want more? Why do I think I need more?” In fact a common question to ask oneself when making a purchase would be, “Is this a want or a need?” I might go on to ask myself, “Is this just going to sit on a shelf? Or is it going to improve my quality of life?” What may seem like a waste of money and space to someone else, might improve my quality of life. The indulgence I see that way in my own life is music, but as I treat myself to the next Kpop album I want, I wonder what my daughters are going to do to get rid of them someday.
 
One concept I want to convey as a Christian exploring the sin of greed comes from Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:12. The Contemporary English Version reads like this, “I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little.” The word translated here as plenty is the same Greek word as in the parable meaning wealthy. It is that overflowing abundance which is more than enough. The word translated here as poor also means humble. The word used at the end of this verse, “want” has a harsher meaning: to be lacking or deprived. It is having less than enough. Paul knew both extremes of this continuum. He learned how to live at either end or in the middle. But most of our society dreams of living on the upper end of that scale and pities those at the bottom. The culture around us has taught us to value abundance and wealth rather than humble means. I was surprised when I looked at the verse in Greek to discover that the word included in many translations, the word “content” doesn’t have a Greek word behind it. Many English translations have added that concept because the next phrase means whether I’m satisfied or hungry. Let me share a couple more translations that might be closer to the original intent. “I have learned the secret of how to live through any kind of situation.” (ERV) or the full clause, “I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (ESV) What I get out of this discovery is that Paul wasn’t telling the Philippians to stick a happy face on a painful situation. His emphasis was more on learning the secret to survive it. His secret of course comes in the next verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Multiple versions translate Phil. 4:13 this way.
But I like this realistic version, “I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.” (CEB) That verse got me through the first half of this month and will hopefully get me through the PET scan on Friday.
 
We too may know times of want and times of plenty, or find we are lacking something in one area of life while we have abundance in another. Paul has shared with us his secret for surviving what we lack. So the next question is what do we do with our abundance. Luke tells us Jesus’ answer is NOT to build bigger barns. I think the obvious biblical answer is to share with those who have less.
 
Possessions are not the only things about which humans are greedy. If I think about what else is listed among the seven deadly sins, I think greed is behind many of them. If envy is wanting what someone else has not only in terms of possession but also characteristics, talents, status, etc., then that is also a kind of greed. Isn’t gluttony being greedy about food? Isn’t lust being greedy about the gift of our sexual nature? What about the lust for power? It is the greedy desire for excess that leads us to sin in various areas of our lives.
 
But this is not only true for individuals, it is true in society among groups and structures. Think about it historically. Greed drove the acquisition of power and empires. Greed divided people into classes or caste systems. Greed accumulated great wealth while driving others into poverty. Greed decided my way is best, so let’s invalidate yours. Sadly those attitudes still exist all around us.
 
There is nothing wrong with influence or property or intelligence or education or money or anything of the sort. It is how we think about it and how we use it that makes the difference between serving God or being greedy. Whether it is as a person or as a people, if we use the resources with which we have been blessed to bless others or to care for the earth, that is mission and service. But if we horde them for our own pleasure or to be better than someone else, worse yet in a way that would abuse someone else or the earth, that is greed!
 
In the parable of the barns, as I am going to call it, the morale of the story seems to be that all the accumulation and hording was pointless. The person in the parable did not live long enough to use what was saved. It calls to my mind the stewardship parable of the talents. What was invested on the master’s behalf increased and those servants were praised for using it wisely. But the one who buried the small portion he had received just wasted it. Burying it was of no use to anyone. In this story the amounts given to each steward are not the point. The point is whether each one wasted or invested whatever they were given. So too it would seem that what is stored in the barns of our gospel story is also wasted, for it is never put to use. Greed did not accomplish much.
 
What follows the parable of the barns in Luke 12, is Luke’s version of a favorite section of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel. “And life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap; they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” (Luke 12:23-24) This passage invites us to trust God rather than worry too much about our needs. It’s the lesson God tried to teach the Hebrews during the Exodus. Gather what you need for today, but don’t be greedy about it. It’s good stewardship to be fiscally responsible for the future, but not to be obsessive and miserly about it. God was the one who gave Egypt seven years of abundance to store up and survive seven years of famine. But God was also the one who made sure the widow of Zarephath had just enough oil and flour each day to share a meal with Elijah.
 
I think the antidote to greed is generosity. When you have more than enough then you can spare something to share with others who are in need. That should be true of power and influence and a voice in decisions as well as sharing from any abundance of food or clothing or shelter. The spiritual gift of generosity includes not only the e to share but also the ability to earn and manage resources. Again those resources can be anything from food to influence. There’s a Wesleyan principle related to all this; in short form is recommends, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
 
I invite you in coming days to consider the variety of resources at your disposal. How did you earn them? What do you save for future needs? What can you give to meet another’s need? Remember that not all of your resources are tangible items, some are your gifts and abilities. Take inventory of what you have as a household, as a church, as a community, as a wider society and people. Then invite the Holy Spirit to guide your use and investment of all you have. In the process may you notice how truly blessed you are by God!
 
 
*HYMN                                    More Love to Thee, O Christ                             #359
 
 
*PASTORAL PRAYER AND 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
Gracious God, you have provided all we truly need in this life and oft times blessings far beyond just those needs. We give you thanks and praise for loving us and caring for us as now we offer all that we are and all that we have back to you in lives of thanksgiving and praise. Amen.
 
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                 #592
 
*AFFIRMATION 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 Take My Life                                        #391
 
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 came from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
 

​July 24th, 2022
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.
·   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, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur, Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Werner & Kelly Families, Kolleen , Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Bonnie Pillers, Deb Weller, and Linda Wenzel.
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP
L:  God is doing a new thing.  Can you see it?  Can you hear it?
P:  It settles in our midst.  It makes our hearts tingle!
L:  A new path springs forth, a way in the wilderness--
P: Life and hope and healing!
L:  Let us gather before our God of new possibilities.
P:  With confidence may we step onto this path of new hope,
L:  Where rivers in the desert give drink to God’s people.
All:  Glory to our God.  Amen and Amen.
*GATHERING PRAYER
O Lord, as we pray “Your Kingdom Come; Your will be done.” Let us experience a hint of that new realm as we gather this day.  Let us sing your praise and invite your healing into our lives and within our community.  May we be nourished and equipped in your power and glory forever more.  Amen.
 
*HYMN Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty                                  #482
 
Call to Confession
Like children stomping in mud puddles, we come before you, Lord, dripping with sin and despair.  How we want to be washed clean, but we can’t do it of our own accord.  Hear our confessions, Loving God, and help us to be scrubbed afresh.  May the blessing of your grace offer us the new life we seek this day. Amen
Prayer of Confession
 
           You stand at our shoulder, Lord.  How you want to give us the gifts of life      and hope and healing!  Yet we turn away to the clamor of our world.  We            pour our energies into things that do not satisfy; we support practices that diminish life for others; we carelessly abuse your good earth for our personal comfort.  Still you open your arms to invite us in. You listen for our cries and point us in directions of healing.  Forgive us for our stubborn refusal to lay our whole lives before you.  Help us to embody the prayer you taught us and to experience the joy of your kingdom come-- on earth as it is in heaven. Amen
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
 
The heart of God rejoices when his children open to the gift of forgiveness.  We are God’s by grace.  We are washed clean in our Lord’s amazing love.  Let us rejoice in the new life given through Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Thanks be to God.                     
 
PASSING THE PEACE (facing those across the aisle from you)
Left: May the peace of Christ be with you.
Right: And also with you. May the peace of Christ be with you.
Left: And also with you.
 
Prayer of Illumination
 
Lord, quiet our hearts and still our thoughts as your holy word is read and proclaimed.  Help us to hear and recognize that we are raised with Christ in the power of new life and new possibilities. May we discover the possibilities you have for us and rejoice in your amazing love. Amen.
 
INTERLUDE
 
 
Word
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Isaiah 43: 16-21
 
16 This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again,   extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
 
                   Luke 11: 1-13
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:” ‘father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.  9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
 
SERMON                                  “Prayers for New Beginnings ”
I am so pleased to be your new interim pastor!  I am an interim.  I think that’s an important distinction.  Certain parts of being a pastor are universal—preaching on Sunday (even though I am only able to be here 2 or 3 Sundays per month)—loving you, helping you to feel God’s presence in the different moments of your life.  There are also some things that are unique to the role of interim.  Primarily it’s walking with you in the midst of the unknown, in a transition time.   You are moving from what has been towards what will be.  That’s always a little scary because we humans get really comfortable with our habits and traditions.  We claim our own spot in the sanctuary and our own way of doing things and it’s hard to think about changes to that.  We ask, “will it be OK?  Will we each find our place in the new design?  Will we be able to have what we need?  I think transitions in ministry is even more challenging because our entire society is in transition about the way we think of church.  Church has fallen out of vogue for much of our society.  That means we have to do things differently on many different levels.
A couple weeks ago when I was visiting with one of your more senior members she told me about the incredible number of children who attended your Sunday School brought in the palms and the long parade of bright shiny faces waving those branches.  She lit up when she told about that and mentioned that everyone had to arrive early to get a seat in the sanctuary.  Latecomers had to sit on chairs around the edges and couldn’t see as well. 
Today those youth programs have gone away, so we might well ask, NOW WHAT?  Now how do we do the important work of teaching the faith to our children and grandchildren?  Or do we?  Maybe we just throw up our hands and consider it an impossible task!
Seeking the new way of doing things in order to accomplish the goals of our faith is the work of the church today, and it’s absolutely the work of a church in transition between pastors.  That means I will need to learn about what has been, as well as what energy you have for being the church in the future.
The people to whom Isaiah is writing have a rich and vital history.  They are God’s people, the ones whom the Lord had selected for himself.  They are the sons and daughters of Abraham.  They are the fulfillment of God’s promise made to this pillar of the faith.  They are the offspring of the Hebrew slaves whom God led out of bondage—through the Red Sea, giving manna in the desert.  They are the recipients of the law which God spoke to the people and then wrote with his own hand of stone tablets.  They are the powerful nation that King David established.  But all of that is in their past.  Now they sit in Babylon, a defeated people.  God had allowed these heathens to conquer them as a punishment for their lack of compliance to God’s laws of justice and compassion.  The Babylonians had rounded up any who had any leadership capacity and marched them across the desert.  It was a brutal march, and new they sat in a foreign land watching foreign gods bless their captors.
OK.  The punishment was deserved, but what now?  Had God turned his back on them for all time?  Had God selected a new people?  Would they ever know the pride and the joy of worshipping in their temple?  Oh wait, the Babylonians had destroyed it!
Some of the priests and visionaries were saying that God would allow them to return to their beloved Jerusalem—even after all these many years.  But how would they be able to return?  It was a desert, a wilderness with no roads, harsh and difficult to pass without massive support.  How could they even think about returning?
That’s where the prophet who we now call Second Isaiah  comes in (This Isaiah is actually writing some 100+ years after the first, so probably not the same guy.)
Isaiah brings a new word from God.  Earlier he had spoken God’s comfort upon the people.  Now he brings a word about their future.  In chapter 43 he tells the people that God will gather them from all the corners of the earth.  He would claim his people, “whom I created  for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
He then reminds them of their own experience, how God was a critical part in their escape  from slavery.  “Thus says the Lord who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior”  He’s talking, of course about the Red Sea corridor which opened to allow the escaping slaves to walk across on dry land.  Then it closed over top of the pursuing army.  “They lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick.”  This was such a celebrated part of their history.  Can’t you just feel the people settling into this story that was so important to them?  This was a part of their identity, so what comes next must have been quite a jolt.
God said, “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.”  Wait a minute God had said they should always remember these things.  They had a whole feast day to remember this.”  God said, “I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth.  Do you not perceive it?”
This new thing has been framed in the richness of their story, escape across the Red Sea.  God said, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches.”
Do you notice anything?  This is a reverse Red Sea Crossing.  Before, God had carved out dry land in the midst of water.  Now God is making a highway in the desert, offering the presence of life-giving water and calm in a hostile land.  It’s a new thing, but it’s another version of the Red Sea!  God gives life and hope and meaning to his people.
Sometimes we think about such stories as all in the past.  That’s what God did then!  But I maintain that it’s just as present today.  How will God call us forward to live in new ways to experience his grace and goodness and to offer it to the world around us?  I doubt it will be a massive Sunday School, plays that celebrate Christmas or Easter, or a parade of palms.  But what will it be?  How will God call us forward to serve him right here in Clinton, Iowa?  Discovering that will be our task together in the coming months.  And then, of course we will need to work with imagination and courage to put one foot in front of the other to enact that new reality.
Remember the folks who sat in Babylon?  They would need to put on their shoes, grab their babies and elderly, and put one foot in front of the other to get back to Jerusalem where they would need to rebuild the temple and a new way of life.  They likely encountered road construction along the way. Detours caused by poor signage, weather delays, a few flat tires, even unscheduled bathroom breaks.  There were likely times when they needed to retrace their path to a juncture where they would take the other fork in the road.   At other times they would need to wait for God to clear the rock slide that had blocked their path.  They were active participants.  They weren’t sitting on a train or a plane allowing someone else to drive the vehicle.  They were out there moving forward with God.
And that will be our task—to listen, to discern, to participate, to recheck our bearings to make sure we haven’t wandered off course.  There will be times when we find ourselves at a dead end.  Things didn’t go as planned.  That’s not a reason to throw up our hands.  It’s a new learning that leads to the next step forward.  I happen to believe that we learn more from our mistakes than for our success!  But either way, God is leading us!
Prayer will be essential.  Prayer is the act of laying our lives before our God.  Prayer allows God to make adjustments in our software so that we are better able to follow where he leads.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to pray.  One might ask, doesn’t everyone know how to pray?  Don’t you just open your heart and mind and allow all that is there to pour into God’s lap?  You don’t filter.  You just put it out there.  But that’s personal prayer.  The disciples are asking about corporate prayer for the entire community.  Jesus offers what we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer.  We pray it almost without thinking.  The words feel polished and comforting because we’ve said them so often.
But this is a radical prayer.  To fully delve into it is a whole other sermon, but suffice it to say that it’s a prayer that invites God’s design for our world to fully come into being.  Many of us might struggle with whether that were a good thing.  There would be a leveling of our society and our world.  There would be a completely new way of thinking about our culture, our economic system, governmental system and so much more.  Daily reliance upon God becomes the norm, and that leaves a lot of anxiety about what happens tomorrow.
As a congregation in transition, we invite God’s realm into our ministry.  So there will be ambiguity, questions, discomfort and likely difference of opinion.  We need to expect that and to recognize that it’s a part of the process.  We need to work hard to lift up one another—even when we disagree because those disagreements will often create a better product than when everyone is gung ho on a plan.
God is in our midst.  God is our wagon master as we move along this path in the desert.  God will provide streams of water and manna to nourish us—body and soul, but to make this journey we will need everyone to come along.   You are each an important part of the process.  Your thoughts and dreams, your hopes and struggles will inform us and help us to find God’s way for us.
In the coming weeks we will be asking you to answer some questions.  We hope to invite you in to think together in groups so we can build relationships, as well.  I hope you will find those opportunities instructive and fun.  I think fun is an important part of this process, so that’s my plan, too!!!
 
God is good.  God is doing a new thing here at First United Presbyterian Church and I’m so please that I get to be a part of it.  I think I speak for Kolleen, too, that we look forward to the journey.
 
Praise to our Lord of new beginnings and new life.  Amen
 
 
*HYMN   Today We All Are Called to Be Disciples                                            #434
 
Prayer of Dedication
How you bless us, Lord, with life and opportunities, with our daily bread and gifts beyond our imagination!  As we bring our offerings before you, our hearts sing with gratitude and praise. May these gifts  bring your kingdom to earth and    glorify your holy name.  Amen.
 
Litany of New Beginnings.
J :  First United Presbyterian Church, let us claim our identity.
P:  We are a people of God; blessed by our Creator; Called by our Lord, Jesus Christ; Equipped and accompanied by the Holy Spirit.
K:  We call ourselves the stone church with a warm heart! We are God's people Receiving Christ, Reaching Out, Sharing Love.
           P:  Our history is rich and filled with faith and joy.  We have been a part            of God’s love, breathing life into the community around us.
           J:  We are at a crossroads, but your call has not been revoked.  Your mission            has not been set aside.
P:  God holds our future and is preparing us to take the next steps into a new ministry, a new way of being, a new call to service in Christ’s name.
K:  As part of that preparation, this congregation has stepped into a relationship with a new interim pastor.   Pastor Joyce, will you accept this opportunity to serve this congregation and walk beside the good people of First United Presbyterian Church?
J:   I will.  I will love them, pray for them, encourage them, and do my best to help them to know God’s presence in their midst.  I will ask questions, listen carefully, pray diligently and strive to faithfully serve in ways that open the doors of God’s new beginnings and new hope for First United Presbyterian Church.
P:  We thank God for all that has brought us to this point and for God’s presence as we move forward with Pastor Joyce.
J:  Pastor Kolleen, you have been a much beloved part of this congregation, and now you step back into the pulpit on a part time basis.  Will you speak God’s word of grace and goodness to God’s people?
 K:  I will.  I will preach with imagination and love.  I will seek to be open to the Spirit’s guidance, and I will pray for this church to find those new roads in the wilderness.
J:  People of God, Kolleen and I are but 2 voices, 2 pray-ers, 2 energies for Christ.  Will you be a part of this movement?  Will you speak your love?  Will you pray for this congregation?  Will you offer your energies that together we might march the pathway God is preparing for us?
P:  We will actively participate, share our hopes and dreams, pray our faith and love, and offer our energies to serve Christ and to discover God’s new mission for us.  We will listen and care for Pastor Joyce and Pastor Kolleen.  We will invite others to join with us, and we will hold out our hands in friendship to our fellow members and new people alike.
K:  God is not finished with us.
J:  God is doing a new thing, and we will be a part of God’s design and God’s grace.
ALL:  Praise be to our God of New Beginnings.  Praise be to our Savior who calls us forward.  Praise be to the Spirit who walks with us along the way.  Amen and Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER AND 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
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*HYMN                      Arise, Your Light is Come                                                   #411
 
 
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 came from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
 

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July 17th, 2022
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.
·   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, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Annette Conzett, Jo Lefleur, Judy Welcher, Dr Dyke, Harlan Marx, Lois Seger, Jon Ryner, Abagail Niles, Helanah Niles, Werner & Kelly Families, Kolleen’s family with the loss of her mom, Ukraine, Arlene Pawlik, Angela and Tristan, Karla Singer (Rich Lewis Niece), Bonnie Pillers, Deb Weller, Barbara Russell and Family, Manon Family, and Linda Wenzel.
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 84:1-4, CEB
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!
 
My very being longs, even yearns, for the Lord’s courtyards.
My heart and my body will rejoice out loud to the living God!
 
Yes, the sparrow too has found a home there.
The swallow has found herself a nest
 where she can lay her young beside your altars.
 
 Lord of heavenly forces, my king, my God!
    Those who live in your house are truly happy; they praise you constantly.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Oh, Lord, our God, our Creator and Savior. You indeed are our dwelling place. You have provided the world in which we live and everything we need to sustain that life, but you also invite us to dwell with you in sacred space, in a relationship of trust and love. You covenant to be our God if we will choose to be your people. You encourage us to live as in your kingdom here on earth, and you welcome us to your eternal home when this life is complete. For our life in you we offer our thanks and praise. Amen.
 
HYMN          Oh Worship the King                                          #476
 
CONFESSION          from Colossians 1:21-22
“Once you were separated from God. The evil things you did showed your hostile attitude. 22 But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in his physical body. He did this so that you could come into God’s presence without sin, fault, or blame.”
Since Christ has made a way for us, let us confess our sins and shortcomings to God.
 
Gracious and most merciful God. We confess that we have separated ourselves from you by the way we think, by our attitudes, by our actions, and by our inaction. Though we profess our love for you, we do not always live in agreement with your teachings. We do not always understand what you want from us or for us. We get lost in the ways of the world and fail to hear what the Holy Spirit would remind us. As a society we wander down many paths that are not your intention for us. Father, forgive us for the times we do not know what we are doing. Lord, have mercy upon us for the times we know too well but choose our own way instead of yours. Open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to better live for you. Amen.
 
 
*WORDS OF ASSURANCE                       from Colossians 1:20
Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.
 
Through Christ we are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!
 
*SONG OF PRAISE Gloria Patri #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE (facing those across the aisle from you)
Left: May the peace of Christ be with you.
Right: And also with you. May the peace of Christ be with you.
Left: And also with you.
 
Prayer of Illumination
You ask us, Lord to bear one another’s burdens in gentleness.  But to do that we need first to understand the nature of your hope for our world.  As scripture is read and proclaimed whisper that hope into our ear and give us the wisdom and courage to reach out to our neighbor that we might share their struggle and offer your grace. Amen
 
INTERLUDE
 
Word
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS          Genesis 18:1-10a, Good News
 
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day, 2 he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground, 3 he said, “Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you. 4 Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree. 5 I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honored me by coming to my home, so let me serve you.”
 
They replied, “Thank you; we accept.”
 
6 Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread.” 7 Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready. 8 He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.
 
9 Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
 
“She is there in the tent,” he answered.
 
10 One of them said, “Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”
 
Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening.
 
 Luke 10:38-42, CEB
 
38 While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. 40 By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
 
41 The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. 42 One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”
 
SERMON                                  “A Ministry of Hospitality”
 
I’ve always thought Abraham’s care for his three visitors to be a prime example of hospitality. It fits the hospitality culture of a nomadic desert people. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible notes that Abraham offered protection in the form of shade, amenities in the form of foot-washing and nourishment by preparing a meal. The notes go on to explain, “Custom mandated such hospitality from a host when travelers passed through since public accommodation was scarce and the climate threatening.” (Notes for Genesis 18:5) Similar hospitality today whether in our home or our yard would likely include shade, air-conditioning, or a fan this time of year. We don’t offer foot washing, but the availability of a bathroom is essential. If not a meal then typically a beverage is offered and perhaps snacks. Our guests may not require all of these, but making them available if needed is pretty standard hospitality. It is worth noting, however, that Abraham’s hospitality goes beyond standard. It is the finest flour, wheat not barley which would have been more common, and enough to bake several loaves of bread. The meat would be freshly butchered from a tender calf. This represents a feast, not their daily diet.
 
“Hospitality was one of the most highly regarded virtues of the ancient world” (NIV Quest Study Bible Notes) and continued to be significant throughout biblical stories. Among those who offered hospitality to Jesus, we are familiar with the story of Mary and Martha whose brother was Lazarus. Jesus often came to their home at Bethany when he visited the area. These sisters each offer hospitality in their own way according to their “gifts and graces,” by which I mean the strengths and personalities God gave them. These sisters might seem to us to be polar opposites. One is in the kitchen and one in the living room. One is on her feet; the other is seated, on the floor no less. One is busily preparing a meal; the other is listening with respect and reverence. But would I ever say one is offering hospitality and the other is not? No! I would not say that! Martha’s hospitality is in a form we expect. She is preparing food for her guest, and we know going back to Abraham’s story that is a standard practice of hospitality. But Mary’s hospitality is also important. She is giving her guest her full attention, listening intently to what the teacher has to say. When Jesus chides Martha for expecting Mary to join her in the kitchen, I think Martha’s fault was in not recognizing that Mary’s hospitality was of equal worth. I believe Jesus appreciated the meal being offered, but appreciated the devotion of Mary’s open heart even more. Martha was intent on feeding Jesus’ body. Mary was focused on letting Jesus nourish her soul. Both are valid hospitality, but while one is standard perhaps the other is rare. We might also note that “Women in ancient Judaism were usually not permitted this privilege.” (NIV Study Bible Notes)  So, for Mary to have the courage to sit and listen as a disciple and for Jesus to acknowledge and praise her choice is significant for the times. Martha did what she believed she was expected to do. Mary took a rare opportunity to heart. Both did so with sincerity and genuine love for Jesus.
 
I want to look at three perspectives on hospitality. From these Bible stories let’s consider how we offer hospitality to God and to others, but let’s also take a moment to consider the hospitality God offers to us.
 
Our opening Psalm declared “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord.” (Psalm 84:1) The dwelling place where God resides and provides hospitality is not only in the heavens, but also here on earth. Whether we are talking about the paradise God intended our world to be, the Eden described in Genesis 1 or God’s heavenly realms described in Revelation 21-22, the dwelling to which God invites us a place of beauty and peace where everything we need is already provided. Psalm 104 speaks of God’s hospitality in creation, food for all creatures, wine, oil, and bread for human beings to enjoy, trees for bird nests, rocky shelters for other animals. God’s hospitality is rich in God’s plan for this planet Earth on which we live, but God also has an eternal plan for our life beyond this. A favorite funeral text from John 14:2-3 tells us that among the many rooms in God’s house, one is prepared especially for each of us, and Jesus will bring us there.
 
Sometimes when we focus on the things that don’t meet our expectations or desires we miss God’s hospitable providence. Even in the flood God had Noah build an ark. Even in the wilderness God provided water and food. Even when Jonah was tossed overboard in a storm God gave him shelter in the belly of a whale in spite of Jonah’s disobedience. Even during a famine or when Elijah was on the run God saw to it he had food and shelter, sometimes directly but also through the widow of Zarephath.
 
In your own quiet time today, I invite you to think of all the ways God has provided hospitality on this earth for you whether directly or through human hands. You might push yourself to consider your own “Even when…” list. How has God still offered you hospitality even in the midst of adversity?
 
Even though they were nomads in an arid place, God made sure Abraham and Sarah had tents and shade and grain and meat. Genesis 18 claims it was “The Lord [who] appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre.” When Abraham offered hospitality out of that bounty to the three travelers before him, he was offering it back to the Lord.
 
I think again of Mary and Martha and see the balance they suggest as we offer God both our service and our reverence. Sometimes we work hard serving the Lord not only in the church but also in our homes and in the world around us. That is our Martha hospitality. Sometimes, however, we just sit in God’s presence and listen to God’s Word or to God’s Spirit or simply witness the beauty of God’s world. These worship filled moments are more like Mary’s hospitality.
 
In a relationship such as we have with God, the hospitality we receive we can also return. If we accept God’s covenant proposal to be our God, then we respond by being God’s people. We offer God a place in our lives. We make room for God in our busy schedules. We invite God’s wisdom into our decisions. We seek God’s assistance as we go about our work. We welcome God’s Spirit to nudge and guide us. We hold God’s Word in our minds to influence and to comfort us. We put physical reminders of God’s spiritual presence around us in our homes. We let God’s teachings inform our actions.
 
I think the art of hospitality is making a bit of room in our lives for someone else to occupy. It is essential that we make such room for God because it is God who makes it possible for us to offer such space to anyone else.
 
Sometimes what we offer to others will be physical space, just as Abraham offered under the shade tree to his visitors or Martha offered in her home to Jesus. It’s like the kitchen table next door when I was growing up, where everyone gathered for Georgia’s chocolate chip cookies and a whole lot more. It’s like Wednesday night youth group at our home in Albany when my daughters were in high school. An assortment of teenagers showed up after school and hung out for a while, then ate together, and even learned a bit more about life and Jesus. It’s like my high school friends welcoming me into their home the evening after mom died, even though it was late after their grandkids’ ballgames, and even though I hadn’t been in their home for a few years. It’s like your upstairs kitchen now being used to prepare summer meals and Calvin Hall hosting a PEO or an AAUW meeting. All of these are examples of hospitable physical space.
 
But sometimes we offer more than space. Sometimes we offer food or drink. Rebekah showed hospitality when she drew water for Abraham’s servant and even his camel. It was the sign that servant wanted to find the right woman for his master’s son, Isaac. Another woman, this one of Samaria, was willing to draw water from the community well for Jesus when he asked. Her hospitality was rewarded with an offer of living water. Think how many more stories in the Bible relate to sharing a meal together. Joseph fed his brothers when they came for help in Egypt. Esther prepared a banquet for King Xerxes before presenting her request. Jesus was notorious for eating with “tax collectors and sinners.” He also told many parables that involved feasts.
We remember Jesus for feeding thousands and for sharing a special meal with his disciples. Think how many times you have enjoyed a meal with your family or friends. Table hospitality is significant and something any of us can offer whether we cook or cater or take a friend out for a meal.
 
But hospitality can also meet more than physical needs. There is a concept of hospitable space that is less tangible but equally important. It goes beyond giving our time or a listening ear, though it includes both of these. It is sometimes referred to as holding space, sacred safe space for another person. It can be a place to unburden oneself of grief or guilt or fear or doubt or frustration. It can be a place of learning or healing or maturing. It is what God offers us in the gift of prayer. It is what my coach offers me when I receive Spiritual Direction in our monthly phone call. It is what we can offer each other over a cup of coffee or sitting on the porch, leaning over the backyard fence, or in a desperate phone call. When we allow another person that safe space to be themselves whatever their needs or hurts might be in that moment, we have offered a significant gift of hospitality. This kind of hospitality is to be offered without judgement or scolding, but simply accepting, perhaps even sharing another person’s pain. Everyone needs that hospitality of safe, sacred, space. I think it is the truest meaning of the word sanctuary.
 
A favorite parable reminds us that the hospitality we offer to others is as if we have given it to the Lord. You probably know the one I mean, where those who offered the hospitality of food or drink or clothing or being present with someone who was sick or in prison were told that as they did for the least of the people around them, they did it for the Lord. God has offered the ultimate hospitality to us, making space for each of us in this vast universe, but also in the intimacy of a relationship with God. If we choose to belong to the Lord, we will make hospitable space for the Lord in our daily lives. In the midst of that, we also share hospitality with the people God puts in our lives, as another way of returning our love to our God. One more example of what hospitality can do is the story of Zacchaeus, that wee little man who climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus walk by. When Jesus asked Zacchaeus to share the hospitality of his home and dinner, Jesus also extended to Zacchaeus that sacred hospitality that allowed Zacchaeus to become a new man, no longer a tax collector who cheated people for us own wealth, but a generous man who relearned how to love God and neighbor, because Jesus took the time to meet him.
 
Jesus taught us that the greatest commandments of our Old Testament law are to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. There are many ways to interpret this and live it out in our own lives. One such expression of this love is hospitality as we offer space for God to permeate our whole being and as we extend that hospitable space to the many neighbors of our world just as we also accept that hospitable love for ourselves.
 
 
 
*HYMN               Lift High the Cross                                                                                                #407
 
PASTORAL PRAYER AND 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
Lord, as you have provided for all our needs, may we also learn to provide hospitality to those who come our way. By doing so may we be offering the best of ourselves to you. Amen.
 
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow #592
 
AFFIRMATION 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                      Called as Partners in Christ’s Service                         #343
 
 
 
 
 
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 came from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
 
 
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