Order, Words, & Voices

Order, Words, & Voices 06.04.23

Order, Words, & Voices

06.04.23, Genesis 1:31

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy/Linda

Lord I Lift Your Name on High

Morning Has Broken

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Songs Billy/Linda

God Will Make a Way

Change My Heart O God

Message Everything is Good Rick

Music Billy

Change My Heart O God

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction/Closing Peace Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides) – Billy/Linda

Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Verse

Lord I lift Your name on high

Lord I love to sing Your praises

I’m so glad You’re in my life

I’m so glad You came to save us

Chorus

You came from heaven to earth

To show the way

From the earth to the cross

My debt to pay

From the cross to the grave

From the grave to the sky

Lord I lift Your name on high

Morning Has Broken

Verse 1

Morning has broken

Like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first bird

Praise for the singing

Praise for the morning

Praise for them springing

Fresh from the Word

Verse 2

Sweet the rain’s new fall

Sunlit from heaven

Like the first dew fall

On the first grass

Praise for the sweetness

Of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness

Where His feet pass

Verse 3

Mine is the sunlight

Mine is the morning

Born of the one light

Eden saw play

Praise with elation

Praise ev’ry morning

God’s recreation

Of the new day

Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick

Leader: Today is the day that the Lord has made.

Response: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader: The heavens declare the glory of God in a glorious technicolor light show.

Response: They shout in a wordless language declaring that the Almighty God, created all.

Leader: “Morning has broken, like the first morning, blackbird has spoken, like the first bird. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, praise for them springing, fresh from above.” (Eleanor Farjeon)

Response: May the melody of both be heard around the globe.

Leader: Look at how God cares for the birds of the heaven, may we take a lesson from their message of life.

Response: The ostrich spreads her feathers to laugh at the horse and rider.

Leader: “The universe lies before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are letters addressed to us to make us ponder the invisible things of God.” (Belgic Confession)

Response: May the lilies reveal God’s providential care and love for all creation.

Leader: When Jesus walked the earth, his feet were dirty with the dust and His sermon illustrations were about flowers and trees and seeds and vineyards and birds and fish and sheep and goats and pigs.

Response: May we lie down in green pastures beside still waters and find peace.

Leader: We are gathered this morning to worship the creator of the universe. Response: God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was good.

Leader: God sees all of creation and declares, ‘It is good.”

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’ – Rick

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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Music (Slides) Billy/Linda

God Will Make A Way

Chorus

God will make a way

Where there seems to be no way

He works in ways we cannot see

He will make a way for me

He will be my guide

Hold me closely to His side

With love and strength

For each new day

He will make a way

Verse

By a roadway in the wilderness

He’ll lead me

And rivers in the desert will I see

Heaven and earth will fade

But His Word will still remain

He will do something new today

Change My Heart Oh God

Chorus

Change my heart oh God

Make it ever true

Change my heart oh God

May I be like You

Verse

You are the potter

I am the clay

Mold me and make me

This is what I pray

Message – Everything is Good (Slides)

I stood in our front yard recently looking over at my neighbor’s truck sitting in his driveway. I thought how, to most that drove by, it must appear to be junkie and even trashy. In the bed of the truck there was a large piece of tin, the type that was probably the covering of someone’s patio or carport, folded and cut up but still too big for the bed of the truck. To me, however, it was evidence and proof of the good person that lived in the house attached to the unruly looking truck. I thought this for many reason, but at that moment, my reason was that the trashy piece of tin was officially my trash. That tin had landed in my front yard a couple of nights earlier as my family, neighbors, along with myself, sat in our tornado shelter while hearing the loud winds and nearby tornados, and in the midst of all of that, we heard a loud bang which we would later be the tin crashing on the street and our front yard. The next day it was obvious that the tin did not come from any house on our street so it became my responsibility. I was a bit overwhelmed. I asked Dave, my neighbor with the truck, if he had any ideas of someone who could deal with the tin and before I knew it, he had his adult son over and the two of them were folding and cutting it up and eventually squeezing in the truck. The son also felt that my Berkenstocks were probably not the appropriate attire for folding and cutting tin so I stood back grateful for people who had the appropriate shoes. Good people.

It got me thinking about the good people on my street. Our Jewish neighbors up the street, son of a rabbi, who, in our first year on the street, brought us Christmas cookies during the holiday season. Or another elderly neighbor who attempted to join me on our ice covered roof when I needed to cover up holes created by a falling tree. In addition there is Tom, the banker, who went out of his way to help Grace Fellowship find the best return on our investment when the church sold the 60th Avenue building…even when his findings was that his back could not help us as much as another bank, also there is Jim, who helps me with, or honestly takes care of, any snakes I find in my yard – another task I don’t have the appropriate shoes to deal with. He says they are all fun to let wind in and out of your fingers, I say they are all Rattlesnakes. Good people.

I look at the fruit growing on our apple trees which will eventually be lunch and dinner for the squirrels, the pollinators beginning to attract the Monarchs and Humming Birds, and see the intricate threads throughout God’s good creation enable it to function.

As God, at the end of the sixth day of creation, looked over all of creation, everything that had taken place throughout the full six days, he took a careful look, evaluating every element, then God, with a confident and satisfied look on his face, said, “this is good.”

This word ‘Good’ is a lukewarm type of word. “How was your day?” “Oh, it was good.” How is the food?” “Oh, it is good enough.”

At the close of my first day of Seminary, I sat down at a cafeteria table filled with a group of students. We were mostly all strangers and were quick to introduce ourselves and asked questions seeking to know the other students. When I said I was from Oklahoma, two students, from Arkansas chimed in “Oklahoma is Okay.” I knew that they were talking about our Liscence Tags, which, at that time, had the slogan ‘Oklahoma is OK’ – I also knew that, by the tone of their voices that they were belittling our state. Obviously they had never heard that slogan when proclaimed by an orchestrated and choreographed groups of cowboys and cowgirls on near a train depot in the middle of a wide and dangerous terrain. I smiled at the sacrcastic comment all the while telling myself, “They are from Arkansas, what are you going to do?”

And God looked at the whole of his creative work he said, “This is good.”

[Slide – Leave Screen Share until note to end]

This word, ‘towb’, translated in Genesis 1 as ‘Good’, is translated elsewhere as:

[Slide] Pleasant – as in ‘God, the grand architect and the builder of creation says to the others, “Every detail of what I we have created pleases me.”
[Slide] Agreeable – as in, ‘God, the grand architect and the builder of creation looks at the blueprints and engineering specs of creation and says, “Every detail of what we have built agrees completely with the specific details, demands, and looks of the approved blueprints.”
[Slide] Good – as in, ‘God, the grand architect and the builder of creation looks at the blueprints and engineering specs of creation and says, “This is exactly what I envisioned creation to be.”
[Slide] Finished – as in Jesus hanging on the cross and saying, “Into your hands I commit my Spirit because I have completed the plans, I have done what was required of my life, there is no more for me to do in regard to this part of my Journey.”

[Slide] “This Looks right, this Feels right, this Is right, this is Complete, it is Finished – let’s rest.”

[End Screen Share]

It is vital that we, as believers, understand the work of creation. Not to prove it as a science book or to persuade our version, for that causes us to miss the mystery. Not as a fairy tale, because that causes us to miss the majesty. But, to recognize all of creation was, and is, good. Every aspect, every creature, every provision, every surprise – it is all to point us to the creator. It is the stories told to allow us to see God’s compassion and mercy played out from the beginning of our story.

Now, lest we consider ‘good’ to be a naive fairy tale, let’s look as reality collides with this ‘good story’.

[Slide] ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

[Slide] Then the Lord God said, “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

[Slide] The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept;’ – and as the man slept, God created a partner for the man. (Genesis 2:15-21)

[End Screen Share]

So, God gave creation to the man, Adam, was given the guidelines to take care of the earth, to take and use God’s provisions, and to always allow God to provide wisdom and insight (‘do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil – do not look for and find what is counter to holy).

Man begins on a good path, he names the animals – a monumental task. Then God gives man a partner, and then, we see man disobey God. The first act we see of man is obedience – he takes care of creation. The second act of the man is to disobey God.

God, then confronts the serpent, Adam, and Eve. To the serpent there is a pronouncement of enmity and strive. To the woman there is the pronouncement of the pain of bearing and caring for children in a world of disobedience and the effects of disobedience. And, to the man, God says,

[Slide]

“cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

(Genesis 3:17-19)

[End Screen Share]

Cursed. This is not an action of God toward the ‘good’ creation he has just made. This is not a fairly tale antagonist. This is a pronouncement of fact of what the impact will be on the earth because man is no longer listening and following God’s instruction on how to care for creation. This is what happens when we do not do what the creator says about caring for creation.

However, none of this annuls God’s pronouncement that the creation is ‘Good”. In fact it is just the opposite, paves the way for us to see God’s character. Even though man himself has cursed the earth, God continues to provide good to good. God has given the seed, now God will continue to to leave the sun in the sky, the water above and below. In a way, even the eventual great flood is a continual display of God’s provision and water is allowed to come down on the earth.

[Slide] What does Creation, and ‘It is Good’, teach us?

[Slide] God sees us as good even though we bear the brokenness of our struggles and pain – Jesus came to heal us.
[Slide] God sees us as good even though we are battered and bruised as a result of living in a tarnished world – Jesus came to give us hope.
[Slide] God sees all of creation as good even though it has been neglected and abused – Jesus came to call us back to our opportunities to till the soil and to respect the gift.
[Slide] God sees all of creation as good even though it has been scarred and dismissed by our egos and entitlement – Jesus calls us to pray “God, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
[Slides] God calls us to see that all of creation is good, everything from day one through day six.

[End Screen Share]

God still sees creation, including us, as good – which is why “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life beginning now.”

Order, Words, & Voices 05.28.23

Order, Words, & Voices

05.28.23, Acts 2:1-24

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy/Linda

Thank You Lord

Jesus Lover of My Soul

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Acts 2:1-24 OnLine – Peyton

Songs Billy

How Great Thou Art/Your Love is Deep

Message The Voice Rick

Music Billy

How Great Thou Art

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction/Closing Peace Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides) – Billy/Linda

Thank You Lord

Verse

For all that You’ve done

I will thank You

For all that You’re going to do

For all that You’ve promised

And all that You are

Is all that has carried me through

Jesus I thank You

Pre-Chorus

And I thank You thank You Lord

(And I thank You thank You Lord)

Thank You thank You Lord

(Thank You thank You)

Chorus

Thank You for loving

and setting me free

Thank You for giving

Your life just for me

How I thank You Jesus I thank You

Gratefully thank You thank You

Jesus Lover Of My Soul

Verse

Jesus lover of my soul

Jesus I will never let You go

You’ve taken me from the miry clay

You’ve set my feet upon the rock

And now I know

Chorus

I love You I need You

Though my world may fall

I’ll never let You go

My Savior my closest Friend

I will worship You until the very end

Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick

Leader: From the opening movement of creation, God’s Holy Spirit moved on the waters, bringing to life the creative love that is God.
Response: As the people forgot God, the Spirit called them back.

Leader: In times of fear and tumult, the Spirit sang the song of hope through the prophets, calling the people back to God with melodies of redemption and forgiveness.
Response: The Spirit sang the song of hope at the birth of Jesus.

Leader: The Spirit called to the regular people, starting with some fishermen, a call to come and follow God. These witnessed God’s miracles of merciful compassion.
Response: Hanging on the cross, Jesus forgave those who crucified Him.

Leader: Early in the morning, the women were startled by the news of Jesus’ resurrection. They were called to be the first preachers of the hope of the resurrection.
Response: While hiding in fear, the disciples were astounded by Jesus’ presence.

Leader: The Spirit gave hearing, understanding, and even a voice to those witnesses of the empty tomb.

Response: The Spirit opened their hearts to the hope in emptiness.

Leader: May we listen for the voice that crosses lines of division, speaks hope in the midst of hopelessness, unites in midst of division – may we know the voice that speaks Peace.

Response: May our voices communicate love, may our lives speak joy, may our walk reveal mercy and justice.

Leader: Amen.

Response: Amen

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’ – Rick

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Reading (No Slides) Peyton – Online

When Pentecost Day arrived, the disciples were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house. Individual flames of fire landed on each one of the disciples. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

On that day, there were pious Jews from every nation in Jerusalem. The crowds were mystified when they all heard the disciples speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Aren’t these who are speaking all Galileans? Yet, we all hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!”

Peter and the other eleven apostles stood before the crowd of foreign speakers. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone currently in Jerusalem! This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:”

“God says, ‘In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Even upon my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit and they will prophesy. I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be changed into darkness, and the moon will be changed into blood, before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene was a man whose credentials God proved to you through miracles, wonders, and signs – which were all performed through Jesus while he was among you. You yourselves know this. In accordance with God’s established plan and foreknowledge, Jesus was betrayed. You, with the help of wicked men, had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. God raised him up! God freed him from death’s final grip, since it was impossible for death to hang on to him.

Acts 2:1-24 (CEB)

Music (Slides) Billy/Linda

How Great Thou Art/Your Love Is Deep

Verse 1

O Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds

Thy hands have made

I see the stars

I hear the rolling thunder

Thy pow’r thru’out

The universe displayed

Chorus

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Verse 3

And when I think

That God His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die

I scarce can take it in

That on the cross

My burden gladly bearing

He bled and died

To take away my sin

Verse

Your love is deep Your love is high

Your love is long Your love is wide

Your love is deep Your love is high

Your love is long Your love is wide

Chorus

Your love is deeper

than my view of grace

Higher than this worldly place

Longer than this road I travel

Wider than the gap You filled

Deeper than my view of grace

Higher than this worldly place

Longer than this road I travel

Wider than the gap You filled

Bridge

So who shall separate us

Who shall separate us from Your love

Nothing can separate us

Nothing can separate us from Your love

Chorus

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Message – The Voice (Slides)

Growing up, I can remember that there was always a blue vase sitting on my grandmother’s table, and most of the year, that vase was filled with stems of wheat. Eventually, as the wheat became brittle, the stems would disappear until the next harvest when new fresh stems would fill the vase. I never really gave it much thought, and, as I got older, I remember looking at a top shelf in a closet and finding many of these crisp and fragile wheat stems. I thought of that wheat as I was preparing for today, Pentecost Sunday, I was reminded of those wheat stems and my grandmother’s tradition of cutting a small bundle to sit on her table as a reminder of another successful harvest.

[Slide – Screen Share – leave up until note to close]

Three times a year, the Israelites, would also recognize and remember God’s provision at their Harvest Festivals. Even though we non-Jews know little of these holidays, they were, nonetheless among the most important Holy moments. one following the fall harvest called Pesach (pay-saak), the second following the winter harvest called Shavuot (shuh-voo-owt), and the third, following the summer harvest called Sukkot (soo-koat). First born males, fifty days after the planting of their fields, would travel to Jerusalem, bringing the first fruits of their harvest to the temple as offerings of recognition of God’s provision of the seeds, sun, and water – elements that only God could providee.

[Slide] This second harvest festival, Shavuot, after the destruction of the second temple, would carry the added emphasis of remembering God’s provision of the Guiding Law to the Israelites. This holiday, Shavuot, the holy moment of remembrance of God’s provision of sustaining harvest and the guiding Law, is the setting for us today.

[Slide] Shavuot in the greek language is the familiar word Pentecost. Today, 50 days after our recognition of Jesus’ resurrection we recognize God’s provision of the Spirit.

[Slide] Today, 50 days after our own holiday remembering God’s provision of the resurrected Jesus (Easter), we remember the day the Jewish followers of Jesus were given the Spirit. The day the waiting disciples of Jesus were pushed out of their hiding places and into the streets where Jewish foreigners from over fifteen countries, speaking over fifteen different languages, were walking the streets of Jerusalem remembering God for holy provision. This was a group that probably, due to language and geographical differences, had not heard of Jesus.

[End Screen Share]

I have to wonder what went on in the minds of the disciples who, at Jesus instruction, were confined to a room while they waited for the arrival of the Spirit. They had seen the resurrected Jesus. While almost everyone else assumed Jesus was still dead, these waiting and silenced disciples knew Jesus was alive, they had walked, talked, and continued to learn from Jesus. Yet, here they sat, stuck together, having to learn how to live out what they exclusively knew – while being confined to these others who had the same experience and insight. It must have been comparable to being forced to be silent, not telling the outcome of an athletic event, or the end of a Netfix show, because someone had not seen it yet, because others were not yet ready to hear it. Maybe this was their time to live out Mercy, Compassion, Justice, Selflessness, Hope, and Peace.

All the wild, just outside the door where these men hid, thousands walked the street who did not know what the disciples knew, thousands who needed to hear the stories of the followers of Jesus. But, Jesus had told them to wait.

So, what were they to do cooped up in this room together. No telling of stories because everyone else in the room had their own version of those same stories. They were aching to tell others, but, instead they had to wait.

I wonder if this excruciating wait was orchestrated by God. Jesus, earlier, had breathed the Spirit on these men, maybe that was to enable them to wait. Maybe, this time of waiting was their time of doing. To play out the life of Jesus in the midst of these possibly annoying associates. Maybe it was their time of immersion into reality so they were ready to speak with the perspective of God, with the eyes and heart of God, so that they could speak to these unknown others.

The disciples could not speak until they were given the voice to tell their story. A voice that would be uniquely given for the audience of each disciple. Words, cultural understanding, Empathy, and Love.

Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN, shares a holy moment he experienced after he lost his voice and was ordered by his doctor to remain completely silent for six weeks, not even humming was aloud.

[Slide – Screen Share – leave up until note to close]

Glenn writes, I was scared out of my mind. What was I going to do if I couldn’t speak? What good is a preacher who can’t talk? The doctor said something I thought was curious. He said, ‘Speaking is a secondary function.’ That means that talking isn’t necessary to live. We have to breathe. Our hearts have to beat, but we don’t have to speak. That means if speaking gets in the way of living, your body will simply stop speaking. As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep well during that time. I got up at night a lot. I walked around the house and wondered how I would take care of my family. What would I do if I couldn’t speak? One night when I couldn’t sleep, I walked into my study and began to write in my journal. [Slide] The first sentence I wrote was, ‘What will I do for God if I can’t preach?’ [Slide] The next sentence I wrote was the answer. ‘Then, you’ll find another way to praise Me. God is still God.’‘ That doesn’t change with my circumstances or whatever situation I may be in. God is still God. Jesus is still our hope.

[End Screen Share]

The disciple asked themselves, how do we do the work of the apostles when we cannot speak?

So, on this particular day of Shavuot, or Pentecost, thousands of foreigners who did not speak the language of the Hebrews were in the streets of Jerusalem. They were all making their pilgrimage, which they did three times a year, to remember that God, once again, had provided the provision of the Harvest, and the guiding Law.

Then something unusual happened. A strong wind and a loud burst got the attention of those in the streets. But it was not just a wind in the streets, it was also a wind in the room where the disciples were hiding. Jesus had told them to wait now the Spirit pushed them out onto the street.

Flames of fire, the Spirit, landed on the head of each of the disciples who were now on the streets, the streets, immersed in the crowd of foreign pilgrims. The disciples began to speak, but this was a different voice. It was a voice aimed at each pilgrim that shared the cobblestone streets with the disciples. The voice the Spirit came was not a prerecorded message from God, it was truly the experience of the disciples who had witnessed the life, teachings, and death of Jesus – it was the voice from each of the disciples genuinely sharing their own experience of life as seen in the life and resurrection of Jesus. It was not a just the ability to translate but it was the ability to speak in an understandable way, to the hopes and cultures of the foreign listeners.

Then, Peter, spoke to the entire crowd. He did not speak about guilt, he did not really speak about death, he didn’t even really speak about heaven, he spoke about life. He spoke of the life of Jesus, he spoke of the resurrection, he spoke of the impact of Jesus on his life.

As the door swung open to my daughter’s preK classroom on the last day of school before Christmas break, Hannah was the first of the children that ran down the ramp to us, the parents. Hannah grabbed hold of me and began excitedly telling me about a visit of santa to their classroom that day. I was half listening while trying to finish an ongoing conversation with another parent. Hannah was undeterred by my conversation and began to speak louder and with a greater urgency. I was equally undeterred and continued my conversation, until the teacher’s assistant also became undeterred saying, “Rick, Dad, you need to listen to your daughter.” The aid spoke not just words I should have heard, but with an understanding of me and my distraction, I listened. Hannah, who now had my complete attention, began to enlighten me that Santa was tired of milk and cookies and would prefer to have a slice of pizza, he didn’t care which kind because he loves all pizza, and a glass of water, because mild does not go well with pizza and Mrs. Clause would not let him drink sugar cookies because his weight and cholesterol was too high. So, every day until Christmas Eve, our daughter spoke from a personal experience, that we had to have at least one piece of pizza left over for Santa to eat. Later she would learn that it was actually her dad who liked pizza and that, he too, needed to pay attention to his weight and cholesterol.

This was the experience of the disciples, they had a story they were aching to tell, but up until this day, their voices did not have the ability to be heard or understood. It was an urgent story of life, a story of hope, a story that would change their perspective, a story that would let them see through God’s eyes rather than their own self centered eyes.

This was not a voice of a preacher, it is the voices of those who have a story to tell, their own story to tell. A story told through how we live our lives, a story that tells of life, a story that explains our striving for peace through our reality of chaos, a story that explains why we hang on when all we want to do is give up. Our story reveals our imperfections and trials while at the same time sharing our hope and perseverance.

In Peter’s second moment of speaking he emphasizes that this same Spirit is ready to reside in the hearts of those who choose to follow Jesus, to let Jesus be their shepherd and Lord. Those who heard the voices given to the disciples, would eventually return to their homelands where they, too, would received their own understandable voice that would affirm the message of their lives.

In the book of Acts, we see the arrival of the Spirit, and then the Spirit taking up residence in the lives of those who choose to follow, have an immediate impact. There is an unquenchable hunger for truth, there is an undeniable unity, and, for those who continue to allow the Spirit to be their guide, there will be unhindered sacrificial lives lived.

[Slide – Screen Share until end of verse]

‘So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

[Slide] God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness.

[Slide] God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin.

[Slide] He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness.

[Slide] People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit.

[Slide] The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you.

[Slide] If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness… (Romans 8:1- 6, 9–10a CEV)

[End Screen Share]

Music (Slides) Billy/Linda

Verse 1

O Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds

Thy hands have made

I see the stars

I hear the rolling thunder

Thy pow’r thru’out

The universe displayed

Chorus

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Community (Slides) Rick

Summer Series – ‘Good’ (Return to Narrative Lectionary looking at the OT September 11 through until Advent)
Next Sunday, June 4, Rick, ‘Everything is Good’, Genesis 1:31
Summer Bible Study – James, Let Rick know if June or July, and day of week, that best fits your summer calendar, Lunch time or Evenings for four weeks
Armageddon last chance (only 1 response) – possibly one session discussion?

Benediction (Slides) Rick

As we go forth from this place and enter a new week, may we each experience God’s presence. May the wind of the Spirit startle our senses and blow through our lives; may the fire of the Spirit scorch our complacency and light our way. And may the blessing of the Holy One – the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, rest with us now and forever more.

May the Spirit immerse our heads, hands, and feet, our thoughts, hearts, feelings and emotions, resulting in compassion for all others and ourselves. May the Spirit give us the voice to live and communicate our unique stories of hope and life. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with each of us; Amen. (Borrowed and adapted from CMB, CPC, & Joanna Harader)

Closing Peace Rick

Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices

Order, Words, & Voices

05.07.23, Mutually Encouraged, Romans 1:1-17

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy/Linda

Father of Love

Faithful One

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Romans 1:1-17 Cricklins

Songs Billy/Linda

Be the Center

Jesus Lover of my soul

Message Mutually Encouraged Rick

Music Jesus, Lover of My Soul Billy/Linda

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides)

Jesus Lover Of My Soul

Verse

Jesus lover of my soul

Jesus I will never let You go

You’ve taken me from the miry clay

You’ve set my feet upon the rock

And now I know

Chorus

I love You I need You

Though my world may fall

I’ll never let You go

My Savior my closest Friend

I will worship You until the very end

Faithful One

Verse

Faithful One so unchanging

Ageless One You’re my Rock of peace

Lord of all I depend on You

I call out to You again and again

Chorus

You are my Rock in times of trouble

You lift me up when I fall down

All through the storm

Your love is the anchor

My hope is in You alone

Ending

My hope is in You

Our hope is in You alone

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: The gospel is about God

Response: The gospel is about what God did in sending the Son

Leader: The gospel is proven in the resurrection of the crucified Son

Response: What God did in enthroning Jesus at His right hand

Leader: The gospel is mirrored in the human sphere

Response: May what is in heaven be also on earth

Leader: The gospel is the story of God’s faithfulness

Response: God was faithful to the faithful Christ

Leader: The gospel is the call to us to be faithful to the resurrected Messiah

Response: God was first faithful to us

Leader: May we be a reflection of God’s faithfulness

Response: May we be a reflection of Jesus’ faithfulness

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Reading (Slides)

A letter from Paul to the believers in Rome – ‘I am a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for God’s good news. God promised this good news about his Son ahead of time through his prophets in the holy scriptures.

Jesus was a descendant from David. He was publicly identified as God’s Son with power through his resurrection. God’s Son is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus’ descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, which identified him as the Messiah.

Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to you, the gentiles, who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,everywhere I go people keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank God.

And every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask God to clear the way for me to come and see you.

Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, you have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome but something always prevents my trip.

I am determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you. I want to be with you so we can mutually encourage each other. We can be encouraged by the faithfulness we find in each other, both your faithfulness and mine.

That’s why I’m ready to preach the gospel to everyone. I’m not ashamed of the gospel: it is God’s own power for salvation to all who have faith in God, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

God’s righteousness is being revealed in the gospel, from faithfulness for faith, as it is written, The righteous person will live by faith.

Romans 1:1-17 (CEB & The Message)

Music (Slides)

Be The Center

Verse 1

Jesus be the center

Be my source be my light

Jesus

Verse 2

Jesus be the center

Be my hope be my song

Jesus

Chorus

Be the fire in my heart

Be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live

Jesus Jesus

Verse 3

Jesus be my vision

Be my path be my guide

Jesus

Jesus Lover Of My Soul

Verse

Jesus lover of my soul

Jesus I will never let You go

You’ve taken me from the miry clay

You’ve set my feet upon the rock

And now I know

Chorus

I love You I need You

Though my world may fall

I’ll never let You go

My Savior my closest Friend

I will worship You until the very end

Message – Seeing Good (Slides)

About 2-3 years after the resurrection of Jesus, the Pharisee named Saul, met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul was headed to Damascus as a passionate official of the Jewish institution on a mission to stop the rise of Jesus’ believers. As Saul met Jesus, Jesus redirected Saul’s passion and purpose from defeating a movement to being a leader of that very Jesus’ movement.

After this conversion, Saul became better known by his Roman name, Paul. Soon, he was a preacher of the resurrection, and of the life he himself had found in Jesus. For a decade Paul traveled to Jewish communities teaching of the resurrection, leading people to the hope and peace of Jesus Christ. In most of the places, as a group of Jesus followers coalesced, Paul would stay long enough to teach them the basics and prepping leadership for what would soon be known as churches. Then, Paul would leave to the next community, often writing letters to those followers in the places he had left – letters encouraging them and sometimes confronting them based on the news that had come to him.

As we saw last week, after that first decade, Paul and Barnabas were ‘set aside’ to begin preaching to the gentiles, mostly in gentile cities. This was quite a shift for this former passionate anti-Jesus Jewish official.

As Paul began his third decade he began hearing of a group of followers in the city of Rome. A group of Jesus believers that included Jewish believers and Gentile believers. Paul desperately wanted to go to Rome and meet this church for the first time. Especially after hearing about their growing gentile membership – Paul wanted to meet this church and these believers.

While Paul had heard of the successes of the church in Rome, he also had heard of their troubles. Years before, the Jews had been kicked out of Rome, this included the Jewish Jesus followers. During their five years in exile the church in Rome had continued to grow but now primarily with gentile believers and leaders. So, when the Jewish members were allowed back in Rome, the Roman church had lost its Jewishness and the practices the Jews expected. Naturally, there were tensions – the gentile believers had become the church leadership as well as the majority of membership.

It is important to also know that, while Paul had not met them, they too, had not met Paul. The church at Rome did not really know Paul or about Paul. This is Paul’s purpose in the first 17 verses of Romans as he seeks to introduce himself to these people. It is also key for us to understand the basics of Paul’s heart in approaching them.

The church at Rome was a surprising success yet also now a fragile mess, Paul wanted to be a part of strengthening these followers while at the same time growing from time spent with them.

As Paul begins with an introduction of himself, and then proceeding to the shared belief he has with the believers in Rome, he is faced with a quandary. First, which Saul/Paul do these people know? Did they know the fervent and passionate Jewish official set on protecting the sanctity and holiness of the Jewish institution no matter the cost – including the persecution of the Jews believers. Or, did they know of the Saul/Paul, still fervent and passionate protector of the sanctity and holiness of the God whose promise had now reached beyond the Jews to now include the gentiles?

(Slide – screen share through ‘end screen share’ note)Then, Paul closes out this opening introductory section of his letter with his famous line, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” This is probably an intentional address to the different perspectives the believers had of Paul. Is he speaking to the changes in his own perspective where he was first trying to stop the Jesus’ movement but now he is advancing the Jesus’ narrative? Was he addressing his own Romaness, Hebrewness, and now his own Jesusness? Whatever their perspective of Paul was, he just wanted to get to Rome.

(Slide) ‘One of the first things we discover in Romans 1 is that the gospel Paul proclaims is part of a larger story. It is an act of God that God had previously promised in scripture. Before the gospel is about our faith toward God, it is about God first keeping faith with us.

(Slide) The inclusion of the Gentiles is a crucial component of Paul’s message. Human obedience to God must be as broad as Jesus’ lordship is to the world.

(Slide) It is not enough for God to save Israel, as fulfillment of God’s promise in scripture; instead, both Gentiles and Jews must live into the new reality that has begun with Jesus’ resurrection-enthronement.’ (J.R. Daniel Kirk)

(Slide) Paul says, ‘I’m always asking that somehow, by God’s will, I might succeed in visiting you at last. I really want to see you, to pass along some spiritual gift to you, so that you can be strengthened. What I mean is that WE can mutually encourage each other while I am with you. We can be encouraged by the faithfulness we find in each other, both your faithfulness and mine.’

(Romans 1:11-12)

(Slide) Listen again as Paul’s emotions almost fumble through his attempt to convey how much and why he wants to be with the believers in Rome, ‘Here is what I mean to say…I want to be with you so that we, you and I, can be mutually encouraged by each other. We can all be encouraged by the faithfulness we find in each other, me through your faithfulness and you through my faithfulness.’

(End Screen Share)

Although Paul places such an emphasis on his desire to be with them, he then writes them the letter we call the book of Romans. Romans is Paul’s presentation of the Good News, the gospel – written as evidence of the shared common ground of Paul with the church at Rome. It is also a reminder to this church experiencing division of their common ground, the core sameness, that these gentiles and Jews share with each other.

What is the Good News, the Gospel? Traditionally in the life of protestant evangelicals, the idea of sharing, spreading, the gospel has meant converting people to institutional Christianity centered on the concept of heaven – ‘Will you go to heaven when you die?’ The dynamic result of that has been a form of discipleship based on control, controlling behaviors of those converts while here on earth, oddly, through a focus on the OT law, primarily those areas of behaviors, morals, focus on the current things considered most evil. Then this control is the underlying foundation of all the human discipling efforts that take place.

This would not have been the definition of The Gospel expressed by Paul, nor would it have been the core of the life and teachings of Jesus.

The first question would not have been about death, but about life – primarily about life lived now as well as eternally.

For Paul, Good news is…

(Slide) Revelation of God’s Righteousness in Jesus/Proven in the Resurrection – through life. Testified in our lives.
(Slide) Creation of New Humanity out of Diversity – discipleship for all
(Slide) Fulfillment of God’s Promise to Israel (Paul’s personal pain)
(Slide) Unified Jesus believing Church

But, none of this is our primary emphasis for these first 17 verses in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. The message of this introductory section is a message of connection. It was not so that he could build his ‘convert’ statistics – Paul wanted this true human connection. He had heard about their faith and wanted to experience their faith. Paul had heard of their increasing numbers of gentile believers and he wanted to learn from the testimonies the believers had established in their community. A testimony 95% accomplished through their lives and not with their voices. He wanted the Roman Jesus believer experience.

Paul understood that he was not an island. If you read his travel journals you will quickly notice that he is almost always accompanied by another apostle or church leader. Paul is a lifelong learner. Just because he has been commissioned by the Church, he is still in pursuit of more knowledge and in the journeys of other believers. He doesn’t go into a town to fix them but to know them, to learn from them, to help and assist them. He goes, as he defines in his introduction to the Romans, he goes to be encouraged by them and to be an encouragement to them – Mutually Encouraged.

Our human nature conditions us to aspire for an ultimate moment of no longer needing to learn, to a state of being – when we know it all and we only need others in order to teach and correct them while bossing them around. This is largely how religious institutions operate, ‘We Know, Stick With Us and Learn Everything From Us’ philosophy. We have seen this as churches get a new pastor or leader, the one who knows exactly how to fix everything. Policies and practices are altered and people are dismissed. Businesses and politicians do the same thing – I would say that they have learned from the church. Never listening to the people that are already there, or those who have done the work before, just coming in, building a bubble, and doing everything their way.

If there is anything to learn about Paul, anything that is a epiphany to those who have studied any of Paul’s writing, anything new in Paul’s opening is that we all need others.

(Slide – leave up until ‘exit screen share note’) Percival Lowell was an astronomer and mathematician in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It was his work that theorized the existence of a ninth planet Pluto discovered after his passing. Lowell spent most of his career focused on Mars though. He moved to Flagstaff Arizona and built one of the premier observatories where he spent the next 25 years mapping the surface of Mars. Even with the best telescope, it was not an easy task so he developed techniques and a special lens that let him narrow the aperture of the telescope far more narrowly than previously possible allowing him to see the surface of Mars. His maps were accepted by some and not accepted by others, his analysis that martians did exist was the basis for many scifi books and movies including the classic ‘War of the Worlds’. When the Mariner orbiter was able to get close enough to Mars in 1964 it proved Lowell’s mapping and theories to be false. Researchers, later while trying to figure out why Lowell was so mistaken, discovered that when you narrow your lens as much as he did, to such an extreme, then the image actually reverses, meaning that Lowell spent 25 years mapping the inside surface of his own eyeball.

When our perspective is too narrow, our religion is too narrow, our worldview is too narrow, our experiences are too limited, then we don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. We map our own self onto the world. We think we’re looking at Mars, but we’re really mapping our own eyeballs unknowingly. We think we’re looking at society, but society is really just reflecting back to us what is already within us.

(Exit Screen Share)

The Gospel is about opening us up wider, to see more of the world as it is and not as we wish it were, and not as we already are. The Gospel teaches us how to live in reality, and it reminds us that our perspective with which we see is good but limited, and because it is so limited, there is reason to exercise grace and mercy gratuitously in life both with ourselves and others.

Music (Slides)

Jesus Lover Of My Soul

Verse

Jesus lover of my soul

Jesus I will never let You go

You’ve taken me from the miry clay

You’ve set my feet upon the rock

And now I know

Chorus

I love You I need You

Though my world may fall

I’ll never let You go

My Savior my closest Friend

I will worship You until the very end

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, May 14, Guest Speaker – Kyle Tubbs, Matthew 9:27-31
Book Study Interest, Armageddon, Speak, email, or text Rick if interested.

Benediction (Blank Slide)

May we walk securely in the confidence of the defeat of death on the cross. May we release our burdens at the wonder of the empty grave. May we continue forward in our hope proven through the resurrection. May we meet our world understanding the blessedness and struggle of humanity. May we live in our reality with the challenge to be salt and light. May we show Jesus through our lives. May we see others with God’s eyes. May we glorify God in our lives.

Closing Peace

Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices 04.30.23

Order, Words, & Voices

04.30.23, Seeing Good, Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Lynn

Better Is One Day

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading 2 Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18 ?

Songs You’re the One Lynn

Gratitude

Message Seeing Good Rick

Music Rising (Hosanna) Lynn

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides)

How lovely is Your dwelling place
O Lord almighty
For my soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Chorus

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
(Than thousands elsewhere)

Verse 2

One thing I ask and I would seek
To see Your beauty
To find You in the place
Your glory dwells
(REPEAT)

Bridge

My heart and flesh cry out
For You the living God
Your Spirit’s water to my soul
I’ve tasted and I’ve seen
Come once again to me
I will draw near to You
I will draw near to You to You

Bridge

Better is one day better is one day
Better is one day than thousands elsewhere
Better is one day better is one day
Better is one day than thousands elsewhere

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: It was in Jerusalem that the Holy Spirit spilled out from the disciples’ hiding place.

Response: It was on the streets that the resurrection was proclaimed.

Leader: It was on a roof that a hungry apostle learned that nothing, and no person, created by God is profane.

Response: It was in the home of Cornelius that the Spirit spilled out on the gentiles.

Leader: It was in the city of Lystra that a man lame from birth received the hopeful news of the resurrection.

Response: It was in the city square that a lame man arose and danced in the streets.

Leader: It was in there that a crowd was amazed by a miracle yet refused to hear the truth that was the foundation of the moment.

Response: It was there that few heard the good news of life.

Leader: May we be ready to see and to hear truth.

Response: May we be ready to believe.

Leader: May we have open ears, open eyes, open minds, open hearts, all ready to hear, see, and receive truth.

Response: May we be ready to recognize the truth given to us.

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Reading (Slide)

In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been lame from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk.

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.

When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, “People, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

In past generations he allowed all peoples to follow their own ways, yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

Acts 14:8-18

Music (Slides)

Lord the people praise You
(Lord the people praise You)
Lift You up and raise You
(Lift You up and raise You)

Chorus

You are the Holy One
(You’re the Holy One)
You’re the One You’re the only One
(You’re the only One)

Bridge

Halle halle hallelu
(Halle halle hallelu)
All the glory is due You
(All the glory is due You)

Verse 2

Lord the people love You
(Lord the people love You)
Place nobody above You
(Place nobody above You)

Verse 3

Bless Your name Lord Jesus
(Bless Your name Lord Jesus)
Only name that frees us
(Only name that frees us)

Verse 4

We will praise You right here and now
(We will praise You right here and now)
Lest the hills and the rocks cry out
(Lest the hills and the rocks cry out)

All my words fall short
I got nothing new
How could I express
All my gratitude

Verse 2

I could sing these songs
As I often do
But every song must end
And You never do

Chorus

So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a hallelujah hallelujah
And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing hallelujah
Hallelujah

Verse 3

I’ve got one response
I’ve got just one move
With my arms stretched wide
I will worship You

Bridge

Come on my soul
Oh don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song
‘Cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord

Message – Seeing Good (Slides)

When I was a youth minister I found that there were certain Bible stories which immediately held the attention of my younger teen guys. One of those stories is the story of the death of Isrealite King Herod – killed, not by a warrior but by an angel of the Lord who struck him down after which he was subsequently eaten by worms dying a slow death. The telling of Herod’s death begins as the people of Tyre and Sidon recognized that King Herod was upset with them, which was concerning because Herod held the keys to much of their food supply. So, they came before Herod, treated him like a god, and in accepting their praise, Herod refused to give the real God the glory leading to his disgusting death.

So,when the apostle Paul healed a lame man and the people proclaimed them as gods, both apostles quickly attempted to quickly squash this misunderstanding. The apostles understood the enormity of being a false god. Even the priest of Zeus brought oxen and garlands to the gates to offer sacrifice before Paul and Barnabas.

(Slide – leave up until ‘Exit Screen Share’)

The quick reaction of the apostle’s response to the crowds rush to crown these 2 men is found in Paul’s articulate words

“In past generations, ‘Paul said, “God allowed all peoples to follow their own ways, yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

Paul told the people that up to the recent revelation of Jesus, God had blessed all people and peoples in a way which they could visualize. They could see the good of the rains and the sun that grew and nourished their crops. They could expect the different seasons of the year in which they would see the need to plant. The season during which they could see that they need to care for the sprouting plants. They could see the season of death when the fields needed to be tilled allowing them to once again enter the season in which they would plant. Each of these seasons, as well as the miracles of water, soil, seeds, and sun all reminded them of a God that cared.

However, even in seeing these consistent acts of goodness, those who were not Jews, only knew OF the true God. Only the Jews, up to the point of Jesus, had accepted and received the knowledge and explanation of the Law, the proclamation of the one true God. So, during those years of intellectual ignorance about God, God allowed the gentiles to respond to God/or gods in whatever way they developed – they created gods, heroes, images, practices and sacrifices.

Their lack of knowing the true God had not been unexpected in the past. The gentiles had rejected the gift of God’s law, they did not, and would not, and probably could not, hear from the prophets, and they did not know of the leading of the spirit, so correcting the gentiles prior to Jesus was, basically, a waste of time. But, now, it was different. Whereas before they were on their own, living a life apart from God, only to know of a very vague something or someone who provided the blessings of life. Now, after the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, after the resurrection and the empty tomb, after the proven aliveness of Jesus up to the ascension, after Cornelius and the gentile pentecost, after Paul and barnabas were sent to the gentiles, the gentiles stood in the shadow of the opportunity to live a life of hope, peace, and promise here on earth and for eternity. However, now, it was essential that all humanity understand the one true God – and that only through Jesus comes hope, peace, and promise.

(Exit Screen Share)

It is our human tendency to make gods out of those who are not God. We do it with politicians, with religious leaders and religious celebrities, we do it with those we respect and/or fear, and, possibly in our current times, we are most prone to make gods out of political pundits, religious doctrines, and even moral and political agendas. Just this week I heard it said that political talking heads, as well as our political agendas, have become the new disciplers who humanity has given god-like power and authority.

Ironically, in making these individuals, doctrines, and agendas into gods, we have lost our ability to see the true God as he blesses, moves, and acts all around us. I’m concerned humanity is losing the basic ability to see the true God in God’s most base provisions of water, sun, seeds and soil.

Knowing and following the true God, as opposed to human institutions, and mankind’s presentations of god/God, is the difference between a life of hope, peace, and love now as well as eternally – or a life much like that of the descendants of Noah who expected the mighty tower of Babel to provide them with life fulfilled.

Let’s refocus on this story of the events in Lystra. This is not really a story about the crowd. The crowd that was so amazed when Paul healed the lame man. This crowd that quickly declared Barnabas to be the greek god Zeus and Paul the greek god Hermes – which were probably the only gods they had ever heard of. This crowd that, after there were convinced not to make sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas, began listening to the enemies of Jesus, Paul, and Barnabas. This crowd, that quickly changed sides at the persuasion of those enemies and stoned Paul until they thought he was dead – this is not a story of a crowd that was not really looking to see truth.

This is a story about one man who was willing to believe and ready to trust. Not trust with wild abandonment of reason like the crowd did. This man was willing to trust truth, his eyes were looking for good which he believed would be revealed to him. This is the story of a man who was born unable to use his feet and his legs, a man who could not stand yet, even in adulthood, was still holding onto hope and looking for God.

This was a man who listened to Paul’s words. And then Paul, looking at this man intently, saw that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk.’ (Acts 14:8-10)

(Slide – Leave up until ‘Exit Screen Share) Look at the elements of this story, it begins not with Paul or Barnabas but this man who was sitting in the city square seeing life all around him. As he sat there he watched, there he listened, there he didn’t give up on hope, whatever, at the end of the day, hope would look like. And as this stranger began to talk he looked at the man intently and saw that he had faith to be healed.’ Some translations say that ‘the man had belief that he could be healed.’ In his paraphrase The Message, Eugene Petersen, chose the words, the man was ‘was ripe for God’s work, ready to believe.’

‘Ready to believe,’ what a magnificent way to describe this moment – this man went to the city square every day for decades ready to believe. This was not a silly vulnerable readiness, this man was using the assets he had, he could hope, while at the same time, using his ability to rationally think on the words of this stranger – so he watched and he listened, and he considered. He had probably done this hundreds of times prior to this day. Each day considering, and each day recognizing that other words he had heard were hollow. But on this day, what he heard and what he saw, allowed him to Give into that Readiness To Believe.

(Slide) Even in his readiness, his hope, eyes, and ears were going to be needed. Paul looked at the man and without speaking to the man about his lifelong condition, Paul, instead said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.”

Let your mind place you in this position. Paul was putting himself out there trusting enough to do this in a loud voice for all to hear. Paul, himself, was ready to believe enough to let everyone in on his words. Words that would either prove God or make a mockery of God. With these words leaving his mouth, the listening man heard. He too, surely having lived a very guarded life, determined not to look like a fool, also knowing that his feet, nor his legs, had ever supported his body to stand. Still, in this moment, he did not stand, instead he sprung to his feet and successfully stood.

(Exit Share Screen)

Now this is not a story about ‘having enough faith’ as many false prophet preachers and religious celebrity evangelists have proclaimed over the centuries since Jesus’ accession. This was a moment when a man who had an inquisitive yet critical mind was sitting on the precipice of a rare moment of truth, ready to believe, in this moment he took the risk of standing. And the Spirit took him beyond standing, he jumped up.

All that the Spirit revealed to Paul was that this man was ready to believe. It was not that he was going to be healed, but that he was ready to believe. Paul did not make a promise of healing to the man, possibly because Paul had not been told, by the Spirit, that this would be a healing. All the Spirit had told Paul was that this man was ready to believe. I’m not sure that Paul had any expectations of the outcome of his command to the man to stand – Paul only expected the man to believe because the man was ready to believe.

There are so many questions such as ‘what was it like for the man the next day when his ordinary routine of sitting in the city square begging was no longer acceptable? ‘Was he then devastated by his fellow citizens’ stoning of Paul?’ How was he now perceived among his people?’ All we get to hear was that the man was ready to believe and when the time came he acted out of that readiness.

What keeps you and us from being ready to believe?

Music (Slides)

Praise is rising
Eyes are turning to You
We turn to You
Hope is stirring
Hearts are yearning for You
We long for You

Pre-Chorus

‘Cause when we see You
We find strength to face the day
In Your presence
All our fears are washed away
(Washed away)

Chorus

Hosanna hosanna
You are the God who saves us
Worthy of all our praises
Hosanna hosanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here Lord Jesus

Verse 2

Hear the sound of
Hearts returning to You
We turn to You
In Your Kingdom
Broken lives are made new
You make us new

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, May 7, Romans 1:1-17, ‘Mutually Encouraged’
Book Study Interest, Armageddon, Speak, email, or text Rick if interested.

Benediction (Blank Slide)

Closing Peace

Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices 04.23.23

Order, Words, & Voices

04.23.23, Prayers and Alms, Acts 10:1-17, 34-48

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy/Linda

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Amazing Love

Reading 1 Pettys

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading 2 Acts 10:1-17, 34-48 Musgroves

Songs Billy/Linda

Draw Me Close

Eagles Wings

Message Prayers and Alms Rick

Music Draw Me Close Billy/Linda

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Chorus

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning

New mercies I see

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Lord unto me

Verse 1

Great is Thy faithfulness

O God my Father

There is no shadow

Of turning with Thee

Thou changest not

Thy compassions they fail not

As Thou hast been

Thou forever wilt be

Chorus

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning

New mercies I see

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Lord unto me

Verse 2

Summer and winter

And springtime and harvest

Sun moon and stars

In their courses above

Join with all nature

In manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness

Mercy and love

Chorus

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning

New mercies I see

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Lord unto me

Verse 3

Pardon for sin

And a peace that endureth

Thy own dear presence

To cheer and to guide

Strength for today

And bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine

With ten thousand beside

Chorus

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning

New mercies I see

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Lord unto me

You Are My King (Amazing Love)

Verse

I’m forgiven

Because You were forsaken

I’m accepted

You were condemned

I’m alive and well

Your Spirit is within me

Because You died

And rose again

Chorus

Amazing love

How can it be

That You my King

Would die for me

Amazing love

I know it’s true

It’s my joy to honor You

In all I do I honor You

Ending

You are my King

Jesus You are my King

Reading I (Slide) Acts 10:1-18

In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One

afternoon he had a vision seeing an angel of God saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?”

The voice answered, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a Simon who is called Peter.” When the angel left, Cornelius called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything he sent them to Joppa.

Acts 10:1-18

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: Jesus has commissioned each of us to live like him, actions lived out loud.

Response: To live the life he showed us how to live.

Leader: Jesus called us out of our religiosity and legalism to live freely in the same way he lived.

Response: The Spirit stretches us to love all, to welcome all, to accept all.

Leader: God presented an array of food for the hungry apostle Peter to eat.

Response: Peter refused, he said “the food is profane.”

Leader: God said again, and again, eat the food I have set before you.

Response: Peter continued to refuse.

Leader: God said, “That which I have created is not profane.”

Response: God said, “All that I have created is blessed.”

Leader: God created and then proclaimed that all of his creation is good.

Response: How can we then say anything, or anyone, is profane?

Leader: May we see those considered profane through the eyes of God.

Response: May we love those considered profane with the heart of God.

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Reading II (Slide) Acts 10:34-48

Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his family: “God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears God and practices righteousness is acceptable to God. God sent his message to the people of Israel, in the preaching of peace by Jesus Christ—the Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, the message told how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that Jesus did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses – we ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” As Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles. Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered Cornelius and his household to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:34-48

Music (Slides)

Draw Me Close (will probably repeat)

Verse

Draw me close to You never let me go

I lay it all down again

To hear You say that I’m Your friend

You are my desire no one else will do

‘Cause nothing else could take Your place

To feel the warmth of Your embrace

Help me find the way bring me back to You

Chorus

You’re all I want

You’re all I’ve ever needed

You’re all I want

Help me know You are near

Eagle’s Wings (will probably repeat)

Verse

Here I am waiting

Abide in me I pray

Here I am longing for You

Hide me in Your love

Bring me to my knees

May I know Jesus more and more

Chorus

Come live in me

All my life take over

Come breathe in me

And I will rise

On eagle’s wings

Message – Prayers and Alms ( Slides)

Chapter 10 of the book of Acts takes place around a decade, give or take a year or 2 – After the resurrection and the Ascension have taken place. During this time God has been busy among the believers – doing a work of which they did not fully comprehend.

The community of followers of Jesus were becoming a thing.

(Slide – Leave up screen share until notified to close it)

Organic community

Community of faith begin relating to each other daily and listening to the apostles’ teachings – Share Their Possessions. Barnabas Sells a Field and Contributes the Money. Devisiveness/Selfishness – – Ananias and Sapphira crave the attention Barnabas gets, so they too sell a field and then lie and subsequently die when they boast of giving all their earnings to the apostles

(Slide) Spirit Involvement

Pentecost, 3,000 new followers,
Healings and Miracles -Peter and John Heal a Lame Man
Philip Preaches to the unacceptable Samaritans and to the Ethiopian Eunuch/Transgender

(Slide) Becoming Noticeable

Peter and John Arrested, More believers join the community and more miracles take place. Apostles Arrested and then Freed by an Angel
Stephen Arrested and Stoned
Saul, soon to be called Paul, Persecutes the Believers
Saul, soon to be called Paul, joins the Believers
Saul, soon to be called Paul, Preaches everywhere

(Slide) Institutional Necessity

Matthias is chosen to replace Judas
Office of Deacons formed to take care of widows
Establishment of a governing type group

(Slide – ‘Acts 10 brings us face to face with the practice of exclusivity’)

In this passage we see a major moment which will be Peter’s greatest challenge, a moment that could probably be marked as the Pentecost for the Gentiles. We see the Jewish Jesus believers community now stretched in ways they did not expect. Diversity had arrived, it was an act of God, whether Peter and the Jewish believers were ready for it or not, the tent was about to be drastically enlarged, and the great commission to show Jesus through their lives was about to intersect with the discomfort of God’s greatest commandment to love God and everyone else. For the apostle Peter this would be scary, for Cornelius this would be encouraging, and for the community of faith, which would ultimately become the church, this would be a never ending challenge that is still a challenge today – possibly confronting the church today with the question, ‘have we gone backwards?’

The historical moment detailed in Acts 10 brings us face to face with the practice of exclusivity – restricting certain persons or communities from being a part of the followers of Jesus. Along with the question inclusivity – ‘will the church ever accept all peoples?’ Why was Peter, and the leaders, so steeped in the laws of separation and exclusivity?

(Slide) Pastor Jakob Topper is answering that question with his congregation this morning by explaining it like this: ‘[The law] set the people apart, preserved their heritage and identity when that was the highest goal. As they were prisoners in Babylon, and earlier in Egypt, Israel did not go quietly into the night, when they so easily could have.

(Slide) The law code was essential in that. But now, Jesus says that the law has served its purpose. The role of the law is complete. It did its job, and it did it well, but that stage is complete, and the next stage is going to be less exclusionary and more inclusive.

(Slide) It’s going to be less about purity and more about mercy. Less law and more love. That’s what Peter’s vision is all about this morning. No animal is unclean. That was for a specific time and place, but it wasn’t the animals themselves that were unclean.

(Slide ) It was the season of life that demanded those measures, but that season of life is over. Where you once needed to button down the hatches and huddle tightly to survive,

(Slide) now it’s time to throw wide the gates and announce from the rooftops that God shows no partiality and everyone, no matter who, no matter where, no matter when, everyone is welcome in the family of God.’ (Rev. Jakob Topper)

(End Screen Share)

With that in mind, let’s take a look at Cornelius. Cornelius was a centurion of the Italian Cohort, meaning that he was in charge of eighty soldiers. In particular, Cornelius was from Italy, the home base for the Roman Empire. This is probably an indication that Cornelius is a ‘somebody’ he is ‘going somewhere.’

While Roman Centurions play a significant role in the death of Christ, we also see a handful of Centurions who play a positive pivotal role in the identification of Jesus. In addition to Cornelius, one centurion caught Jesus’ attention verbalizing his understanding of Jesus’ authority, another centurion pronounced, at the cross, that Jesus was most definitely the Son of God.

Centurions were usually, at least publicly, gentiles although there was possibly a very small margin of those who believed in the God of the Jews – openly living out the ‘how to live’ belief, combined with not really knowing what to do with it, what direction to go, a faith that was a constant conundrum.

Two significant points we see about Cornelius.

He was a devout man who feared God with all his household.
He gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God.

While there were those Gentiles that were conditionally welcomed into the Jewish community, Cornelius was not of them by choice or invitation. He was not a Jew and therefore would not have been able to participate in the usual practices of Judaism, so he did what he could. He lived a life of witness in view of his family including all in his household, as well as to his community. Plus, he was a man of prayer. He is described as a Devout man. Basically, Cornelius may be one of the most significant examples of a follower’s grasp of Jesus’ command in the Great Commission – ‘Go and live out the life of Jesus for the world to see.’ A commandment that Cornelius probably had never heard.

Peter, on the other hand, was Jewish, steeped in the traditions and teachings of Judaism. As a Jewish follower of Jesus, Peter considered Jesus to be the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. For Peter, as a follower of Jesus, he was still a Jew, and therefore he was still confined by the law and practices of Judaism. As God began the process of expanding Peter’s understanding of faith and the practice of faith, Peter found this growth process to be a struggle.

“God, have you forgotten Leviticus 11?” Peter must have thought as God instructed him to kill and eat that which was considered to be unclean. Three times God told him to do this and three times Peter resisted on the grounds of adherence to his religion.

Peter was stuck in his literal interpretations of his religious obligations and the accepted legalistic paths. Cornelius, however, was free in his pursuit of a God he did not know, and along the way, his family, his servants and slaves, and even some of his employees/soldiers, joined him on this journey because of what they saw in his life.

Cornelius does as God directed him to do – he sends 2 of his slaves, plus a devout soldier, and shares with them everything the angel said. This fact is significant, none of these men needed to hear, it was their job to obey. However, the relationship they had with Cornelius reveals that they also were on this faith journey with him, knowing the details was essential as this was their path also.

Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen and especially confused by God’s words, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” As Peter questioned the answer began to unveil itself through a knock on his door.

Upon arrival at Cornelius’ home, Peter began to speak to Cornelius and his family and household: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.”

‘As Peter spoke truth, even he was shocked by the response of the people, ‘the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.’

This entire experience was huge. Not long after this, Peter would have to go before the governing council in Jerusalem to explain the baptism of gentiles and there, he will just recount the appearance of the Holy Spirit as a justification. Accepted by council. Gentiles, who just a short time before were unacceptable, were now a part, and essential part of the community of believers.

No one likes to have their basic faith thinking challenged, it is even more discomforting to have that thinking confronted by God. Peter, nor the Jerusalem council enjoyed that. However, once they heard of the arrival of the Spirit to the Gentiles they humbled themselves. It is not foundational doctrine that is being challenged, it is humanity’s interpretation of God’s truth that is ready to be considered.

Let’s now take a final look at the work of the Spirit by taking a couple of steps back in the story, even before we first meet Cornelius. The work of the Spirit witnessed by Peter was just a tip of the iceberg. God had been at work long before our telling of the story takes place. The Spirit had been doing a work in Cornelius, directing a faith journey, guiding his life. The Spirit had been doing a work in the household of Cornelius, opening the eyes of his family, his slaves, servants, and employees. The Spirit had been doing a work in Peter, challenging his exclusionary religious practices and beliefs, softening his heart, showing him what loving others really means (this will be a continual struggle for Peter). And the words on the pages of Acts 10 bring us, midway, into the story of this pivotal moment of the sharing of the good news of Jesus.

But, some time before we were welcomed into the story, Cornelius gave an offering to God. It was a memorial offering. For those able to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to make offerings, they sometimes would make a memorial offering. This often would be done through a grain offering ultimately given for the priests, but this would be a small section of the grain offering, separated out as a set aside request that God would notice the person giving the offering, that God would remember them. This is not like our practice of making a memorial gift of memory of another person. It is an offering of a gift asking God to ‘remember me’, or ‘remember my love ones’ – for Cornelius it was a offering made asking God to remember that he believes even though he cannot go and make a gift in the temple, a gift asking for God to reveal himself, even though Cornelius in unable to take part in the moments of teaching and learning about God and about Jesus. It was an offering to God from Cornelius asking that God show himself more, to give Cornelius and his household more understanding, more knowledge, more God.

The angel told Cornelius his memorial offering was noticed and received – what took place with Peter, and for Peter as well, was a response from God to the truth seeking gentile named Cornelius.

Music (Slides) (will probably repeat)

Draw Me Close

Verse

Draw me close to You

never let me go

I lay it all down again

To hear You say that I’m Your friend

You are my desire no one else will do

‘Cause nothing else

could take Your place

To feel the warmth of Your embrace

Help me find the way

bring me back to You

Chorus

You’re all I want

You’re all I’ve ever needed

You’re all I want

Help me know You are near

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, April 30, Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18, ‘Seeing Good’

Benediction (Blank Slide)

Closing Peace

Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices 04.16.23

Order, Words, & Voices

04.16.23, Always, Matthew 28:16-20

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy/Linda

Thank You Lord

Hallelujah He Reigns

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Matthew 28:16-20 Andrea

Songs Billy/Linda

Revelation Song

I Will Never Be

Message Always Rick

Music I Will Never Be Billy/Linda

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Music (slides)

(Be ready for some verses, etc. repeated)

Thank You Lord

Verse

For all that You’ve done

I will thank You

For all that You’re going to do

For all that You’ve promised

And all that You are

Is all that has carried me through

Jesus I thank You

Pre-Chorus

And I thank You thank You Lord

(And I thank You thank You Lord)

Thank You thank You Lord

(Thank You thank You)

Chorus

Thank You for loving

and setting me free

Thank You for giving Your life

just for me

How I thank You Jesus I thank You

Gratefully thank You thank You

Hallelujah He Reigns

Hallelujah

He reigns in majesty

Hallelujah

He reigns in glory

Hallelujah

He reigns in righteousness

Oh hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah

He reigns in righteousness

Oh hallelujah

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: The resurrection inaugurates the enhanced realization of Jesus’ mission.

Response: The cross and the empty tomb were not the end.

Leader: Even though his disciples failed Jesus their calling was not at an end.

Response: Their calling was now renewed and expanded.

Leader: Following the cross, the men went into hiding while the women ran to the tomb.

Response: All were filled with Joy and Fear.

Leader: Mary received the calling to go and preach to the men.

Response: Along the way, Jesus appeared and Mary worshiped.

Leader: The men heard and believed Mary’s message.

Response: The tomb was empty, Jesus was alive.

Leader: They had denied and abandoned Jesus, they had fallen asleep in his time of great need.

Response: Jesus was alive, they were free to release their shame.

Leader: All were now called, called to go and meet Jesus in Galilee.

Response: They were called to live all that they had learned.

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Reading (Slide) Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20

Music (Slides)

Revelation Song

Verse 1

Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain

Holy holy is He

Sing a new song to Him Who sits on

Heaven’s mercy seat

Chorus

Holy holy holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing

Praise to the King of kings

You are my ev’rything

And I will adore You

Verse 2

Clothed in rainbows of living color

Flashes of lightning rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor

strength and glory

And power be to You

the only wise King

Chorus

Holy holy holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing

Praise to the King of kings

You are my ev’rything

And I will adore You

Verse 3

Filled with wonder awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your name

Jesus Your name is power

breath and living water

Such a marv’lous mystery

Chorus

Holy holy holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was and is and is to come

With all creation I sing

Praise to the King of kings

You are my ev’rything

And I will adore You

I Will Never Be

Verse 1

I will never be the same again

I can never return

I’ve closed the door

I will walk the path

I will run the race

And I will never be the same again

Chorus

Fall like fire soak like rain

Flow like mighty waters

Again and again

Sweep away the darkness

Burn away the chaff

And let a flame burn

To glorify Your name

Verse 2

There are higher heights

There are deeper seas

Whatever You need to do

Lord do it in me

And the glory of God fills my life

And I will never be the same again (3X)

Message – Always (No Slides)

This may or may not be true for you as it is for me but I think since probably just a week or two before Covid there there were some elements of my brain that just disappeared. For instance, the piece that gives me perspective of time – as in how long ago something was or how soon it will happen, and there were definitely chunks of my memory that dropped out of my skull. But there’s one thing that I can definitely remember and that was just a few days before the world shut down, before businesses closed, before the campus became a desert, before we started doing church on a small screen, a time when hugs still existed and masks were not a reality. I was driving south on Lahoma Street between Boyd and Lindsay and looking at the street. I love that street I love to drive down it and I love to walk down it, all the trees lining both sides of the street, the leaf canopy the covers the street during every spring, summer, and early fall, flowers, and color, and no dead looking branches and no gloomy looking sky. On this day though I remember driving along, seeing no life, and just longing for the leaves, flowers, color, and life to return.

Then, when covid hit I think that I just settled into the world of gloominess. I moved my office to the house, specifically our back patio, my desk was the patio table – While it was still cold I dragged a small heater out, and when it got too hot I brought out a fan. One day I went out to my new office and began to clean off my new desk. Most of what I had to clean up was the seed helicopters that had fallen from our backyard trees. I had a fist full of the seed and as I clenched my fist they all crumbled, they were dead. Then it occurred to me that once the seeds fall the leaves show up. I looked around and they were already there, the trees were full, the color was back, I was even excited to see all the new weeds in the back yard flower beds. They had been there for weeks, maybe days, but I had not looked up, or even in front of my assumption of death.

For months, all I could see was what I thought was reality. I had watched as my nurse daughter, less that a year into nursing, carried on through an under resourced medical system navigating unchartered waters, she, and so many other medical professionals, surrounded by physical death and grief daily, as well as hostility and hatefulness, conspiracies and lies. It was as if God’s creation had joined humanity overwhelmed by pandemic and the accompanying politics of denial and blame. I could only see death so I assumed death had taken over, but I was wrong. Life was there, and life had been there. Life had been brewing under the exterior of death and misery, life was busting out and all I had to do was open my eyes.

Understandably, after the cross, the followers of Jesus could only see death – they had seen it on the cross, they felt it in their hearts, they experienced it in their minds. And, justifiably, fear consumed them. The eleven remaining disciples hid in their fear, holding onto the shame of failing to be there for Christ when he needed them most., Mary, and some of the women headed to the tomb as soon as possible expecting to only see a dead body. No one expected life to show back up, no one expected the resurrection, they had accepted that life was over.

However, God was not absent, life had continued even though everything looked like death, the unseen reality was that life was already spilling out from the tomb. Life looked different now and life was moving forward and the followers had to scramble to catch up. Jesus continued forward in very Jesus’ form, he chose a woman, in the middle of a misogynistic world to teach the men about the resurrection in order for them to be able to teach the world – the world has still not caught up, religiosity still resists believing God calls women to be called by God to preach.

Mary who had previously been defined by her past struggles was soon be the first commissioned to preach the message of the resurrection. Peter the disciple who had fallen asleep in the garden and then denied Jesus three times would soon find his testimony of Jesus to be the rock on which the church would be built. James and John who had hid behind their mother as she campaigned for them to have position and power would soon be known by their humility and their testimony of the resurrection. Life was moving forward, and sometimes forward is scary.

Jesus redefined each of them as he said, ‘You are an apostle, or, you are a preacher, or, you are to carry hope and peace, and to everyone Jesus said, you are to live like I lived in front of you, merciful, compassionate, truthful, graceful, vulnerable, full of life now and forever. Living on earth in the manner you will live in heaven. Others, all over the world, will gain voices as well, as they learn from your life of living like Christ. Words they see proven through your existence.’

And, even though the shame and fear would still be there to distract, they had all received forgiveness rather than rejection. They had all be given purpose instead of constant judgment. They would follow the love of God as commissioned witnesses of the compassion, mercy, and grace that falls and flows out of God’s love for all of humanity.

Our passage today takes place about 40 days after the resurrection. The passage itself is often called the Great Commission. Ministries and denominations have built entire evangelical strategies around these final words of Jesus.

“Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 18:20)

Let me first be honest with you about this passage – I think we have gotten it wrong. So be ready…

It is with an amazing concise, challenging, comforting, and with an intentional finality to Jesus’ human relationship with the eleven men to whom Jesus speaks. The words of Jesus reminded the men what is most important in their new role of apostles – to Make Disciples of all believers, to Baptize those who choose to follow Jesus, and to Teach those new baptized believers everything Jesus taught through his life. Oh, and to remember that even though they wouldl not be able to see Jesus anymore, he would still always with the/us.

Three simple instruction

Take those who choose to follow Jesus, based on the apostle’s testmony, and bring them into the faith community.
Symbolically embrace these new followers through a practice they would already understand – baptism for cleansing and repentance. Note: At this time they had no idea their audience would go beyond other Jews, it wouldn’t take long however for this group to grow in diversity – ie. Next week with a guy named Cornelius.
Teach them about the resurrection, teach them about Jesus.

One Promise

I am going to still be with you.

Here is the basic reality of Jesus’ command.

People will choose to be followers of Jesus. The command is to let them be a part of this faith community, which at the time, the apostles still thought this was going to still be a Jewish faith. It would be decades before the apostles would recognize that this was not really the Jewish faith any longer, and, around that same time they would receive a new name ‘little Jesuses” meant to be a insulting but instead it was a badge of honor that verified they understood the commission of Jesus.
Those individuals who choose to follow Jesus, were to be embraced through the ritual of baptism.
They were to learn about the life of Jesus so they could then live more and more like Jesus.

Simply put, the great commission is a call to live life like Jesus. Pure and Simple. Follow Jesus, his words, his actions, his life. Follow Jesus – Change the World. Let people learn how to live by us living like Jesus. A commitment for us that will change the way we relate at work, home and play, a calling that will change the way we handle our money, the way we vote, the way we relate to friends, acquaintances and even to enemies. It will change our willingness to allow others to see our flaws and our vulnerabilities. It will change us.

That is what attracted the early followers to Jesus. The apostles did not preach large evangelistic rallies, they used the lives of followers living like the one they followed, Jesus, to speak the news of Jesus, the news of life, life resurrected. In fact, apostle’s usual message were to the small communities of faith to whom they would teach the resurrection and how Jesus with love lived in an evil world.

About 250 years after the after the the final words of Jesus, Christianity became acceptable and powerful due to collusion with political powers. Evenutally, Jesus final commissioning to his apostles, became ‘evangelism’ focusing solely on the word ‘Teach’, while misinterpreting it to mean ‘Convert.’ Soon, this became a method of control by the government and the church. Crusades were fought with warriors sent to force entire cultures to ‘convert to Christianity’ to give up their own faith in exchange for our faith. In our own United States, slaves were not only forced from their homelands but also forced to convert to a God they did not know – forced by those who claimed to be of the Christian faith who diminished these humans’ dignity and humanity in order to hold control. The first Americans had their children taken by force, their native language taken away, traditional haircuts forbidden, all in order to be indoctrinated into the white man’s ugly version, and very unChristlike portrayal, of Christianity. Many of those children have recently been found in unmarked graves even here in our own state. Throughout the 20th century and marginally even into this century, we have staged mass rallies, children and youth camps, and human manipulated revivals, all using death and an emotional mix judgement and fear to aggressively persuade others to join our religiosity.

Jesus call is not one of aggressive persuasion, it is a call for us to all live lives of compassion, empathy, mercy, grace, respect, peace, vulnerability and honesty, lives marked by selflessness and humility, live from which love flows. That is our calling, that is our commission.

It is really pretty simple. Accept all people. Embrace all people. And Live out the life of Jesus in front of people. And, remember that Jesus is always with us even though we cannot see him.

Together for Hope, Jason Coker

Music (Slides)

I Will Never Be

Verse 1

I will never be the same again

I can never return

I’ve closed the door

I will walk the path

I will run the race

And I will never be the same again

Chorus

Fall like fire soak like rain

Flow like mighty waters

Again and again

Sweep away the darkness

Burn away the chaff

And let a flame burn

To glorify Your name

Verse 2

There are higher heights

There are deeper seas

Whatever You need to do

Lord do it in me

And the glory of God fills my life

And I will never be the same again (3X)

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, April 23, Acts 10:1-17, 34-48, ‘Prayers and Alms’

Benediction (Blank Slide)

Closing Peace

Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices 04.09.23

Order, Words, & Voices
04.09.23, Unexpected the Sequel, Matthew 28:1-10

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Everlasting God Lynn
Christ the Lord Is Risen today

Lord’s Supper How Deep the Father’s Love Lynn/Rick

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Matthew 28:1-10 Cricklins

Songs When I survey the wondrous cross Lynn

Message Unexpected…the Sequel Rick

Music My Living Hope Lynn

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides)

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
Wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
Wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God, You reign forever
Our Hope, our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God,
The everlasting God.
You do not faint, you won’t grow weary.
You’re the defender of the weak,
You comfort those in need.
You lift us up on wings like eagles.

Christ the Lord is risen today alleluia
Sons of men and angels say alleluia
Raise your joys and triumphs high alleluia
Sing ye heavens and earth reply alleluia

Love’s redeeming work is done alleluia
Fought the fight the battle won alleluia
Death in vain forbids Him rise alleluia
Christ hath opened paradise alleluia

Our God, You reign forever
Our Hope, our strong deliverer

Lord’s Supper/Song (no slides)

Description of order of Easter Worship
Observance of Lord’s Supper

Music
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Verse 2Behold the Man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Verse 3I will not boast in anything
No gifts no pow’r no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: Jesus teaches us that a king isn’t what we expect a King to be. For Jesus the King, a crown of gold became a crown of thorns, a symbol of power was turned into a symbol of suffering, a cross constructed for brutality became the avenue of Hope.
Response: This is the good news of our lord Jesus Christ.

Leader: The cross was devised to be a symbol of degradation and subjugation, reserved for insurrectionists, political criminals, and your run of the mill scumbags. It was designed to be a humiliating way to kill someone leaving them naked, alone, and in excruciating agony.
Response: It was designed to be a curse.

Leader: Jesus took the curse upon himself. The cross was where the forces of evil, the powers and the principalities, the delegates of Rome and the Jewish religious elite, all converged together against Jesus in a collision of injustice & brutality.
Response: Humiliation, violence, pain, abandonment, betrayal, and death.

Leaders: However, evil was outmatched. Jesus was able to call on legions of warrior angels to defend him in his most vulnerable moments, but he didn’t do it. He didn’t need to do it. Divine power doesn’t work like that.
Response: Divine power doesn’t return violence for violence.

Leader: No matter how brutal, evil, or inhumane, Jesus could withstand it. There is no amount of evil that Jesus cannot endure, absorb, and transform. Jesus does not get tired and weary, we will not stumble and quit, he stands with us, cries with us, bleeds with us, and heals with us.
Response: That’s the power seen on the cross.

Leader: At the cross, Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus absorbs our sin so, even if we could, we don’t have to. Our call is to believe. Our call is to trust God.
Response: This is the good news of our lord Jesus Christ.
(Adapted from the works of J. Topper)

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’
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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.
And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Reading (Slides) Matthew 25:31-46

Following the crucifixion and entombment of Jesus, as the sun was rising on the first day after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see Jesus’ tomb.

Suddenly there was an great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone that had been blocking the tomb and sat on it. The angel’s appearance was like lightning – his clothing was white as snow.

The guards were terrified of the angel, as well as all that was happening, and they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, he has been raised, just as he said he would. Come and see the place where Jesus was laid after the crucifixion.

After the women looked, the angel instructed them to go quickly and tell Jesus’ disciple that he has been raised from the dead, and that he has ‘gone ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’

So the women quickly left the tomb; they experienced both fear and joy as they ran to tell Jesus’ disciples. Then, on their way Jesus met them saying, “Greetings!” The women went to him, they took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; now go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:1-10

Music (Slides)

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Verse 2Above all kingdoms above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure
What You’re worth

ChorusCrucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a present (an offering) far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all

Message – Unexpected…the sequel, Rick (Slides)

(Screen Share/post slide as music ends – leave screen share up until notice)
“Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord’s Prayer is about.”
N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

(Slide) “Easter is very important to me. It’s a second chance.”
Reba McEntire

Easter is very important to all of us, it is evidence of our only chance. It was, and can be, a very emotional realization.

(Slide) Writer Eileen Benthal asks the question, “Does God cry when we cry?”

I think the bigger question is, “Does God experience the emotions, and emotional turmoil, that we experience?” Does God experience pain, disappointment, frustration, fear, anger, shock, surprise, joy? Is God ever overwhelmed. If so, then the question becomes, ‘How do our emotions present in the person of the God of Peace?

This was the question that stirred a recent conversation I participated in with a group of pastors as we discussed Jesus and his time in the Garden of Gethsemane. A discussion that began with Jesus’ request of his disciples to stay awake with him as he prayed, “Is it okay to say that Jesus was overwhelmed, even more, is it possible that Jesus was experiencing a panic attack, and, if that is true, can we say that to our congregations without offense?”
(End Screen Share)

Since we know that we are made in the image of God, our emotions and our mental frailties are not out of the question – it would make sense that Jesus would grieve, and hesitantly face emotional and physical pain just the same way that we humans innately do.

It’s kind of a minefield. Messing with peoples’ stoic emotionless images of God can quickly stir up a lot of contentious and angry responses. This is a shared common response across the spectrum of religiosity, even across different religions – we do not want anyone challenging our set perspective and image of our God.

Nevertheless, emotions are a constant in scripture, as well as the holy writings of most religions. Even in our Old Testament we witness God call on Jeremiah to speak to the people through God’s tears that would be reflected on Jeremiah’s face. Jesus, God in the flesh, cried with Mary at the tomb of Lazarus, and then Jesus shed more tears for the city and people of Jerusalem. Then, in the Garden, Jesus begged his disciples to stay awake, to not leave him alone and isolated before his arrest.

Unexpected emotions are a shared element of the birth story of Jesus and, then again, in the death and resurrection narrative of Jesus. Surprise, fear, joy, anxiety, shame, are prominent aspects of both moments in history. Also, in both stories is the encouragement, “Do not be afraid…”

Both stories, the birth and the death narratives, present the element of surprise. While everyone was awaiting a Messiah, few expected Jesus to be a baby. A baby brings smiles, joy, and exhaustion, not the image of a conquering King which they were looking for. And then, while the Isrealites understood the concept of the sacrifice, no one anticipated the cross. Even more, while everyone heard Jesus speak of Life, everyone held to a reality where death is death, an unquestioned understanding that death is the end.

Fear, grief, and panic set in the moment their anticipations and expectations did not match their reality. Over two thousand years later, the same is true for us as well – fear, grief, and panic sets in at the moment when OUR reality does not match OUR anticipations and expectations. It is a human frailty that we all struggle with. Consider current laws being created in the capitals of over half of the states in the US – legislation to try to control and prevent those realities that do not match the anticipations and expectations of the politicians. It is our nature to want to rid our surroundings of anything we are uncomfortable or disagree with.

The male disciples’ response was to be afraid and hide. Mary, and some of the female followers of Jesus chose to travel to the tomb as soon as they possibly could regardless of their fear.

Let’s go back a bit to earlier actions and words of Jesus.
(Slide – leave screen share up until notice)

(Slide) Matthew 16:21 – ‘Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.’

(Slide) Matthew 17:22 – ‘Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” The disciples were greatly distressed.’

(slide) Matthew 20:18-19 – ‘Jesus said, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, there the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”’

One cannot help but wonder how no one expected the cross or the
resurrection. Afterall, Jesus said it over and over. Honestly, this is the question I ask every year at this time. “How is it possible that the followers of Christ, the hearers of these words, how did they not anticipate both the cross and the resurrection?”

(Slide) ‘“We preach Christ crucified, the cross, which is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles”’ I Corinthians 1:23

Jesus had warned them, he had prepared them for this truth of what had to happen, but still, they were not ready for this collision of their reality with their anticipations and expectations. They were not ready for the cross and they were even less prepared for the resurrection.
(End Screen Share)

Jesus had to go through the cross to arrive at the resurrection, but the disciples and followers got stuck at the cross. Many say that the cross was Jesus’ final and ultimate purpose, I think they are wrong. No, walking away from an empty tomb was Jesus’ earthly destination. Allowing his very alive physical presence to show his unexpecting followers that death had been defeated, to let them all see that hope was not gone – this was his purpose, providing us the ability to see the final proof of his words was his final and ultimate purpose. Final moments of physically walking with those who he had walked with before the cross – and serving witness to us thousands of years later that Jesus still walks with us today. This was the reason Jesus had to walk away from the tomb.

The cross was a roadblock that became a stumbling block even for Jesus’ believers – they, on their own, could not get past it, it was impossible to think that death was not death, that death was not the end. They could not understand it, death was permanent, death was final, this was their expected reality…But, Jesus did walk through the cross, Jesus did walk beyond death, and in doing so, Jesus defeated death, the very thing we can not do – Jesus absorbed the weight of sin, in order to show us hope in the reality of his resurrection.

And, that same cross absorbed the shame of those that abandoned Jesus. Just as it still absorbs the sin and shame in our lives, and the empty grave and the resurrected Christ is the evidence we still need.

(Slide) “If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.”
― A.W. Tozer, Preparing for Jesus’ Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope

Music (Slides)

How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished the end is written
Jesus Christ my living hope

Verse 2Who could imagine so great a mercy
What heart could fathom such boundless grace
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ my living hope

ChorusHallelujah praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ my living hope

Verse 3Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
(REPEAT)
Jesus Yours is the victory whoa

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, April 16, Matthew 28:16-20, ‘Always’ (Final week of our study of Matthew)

Benediction (Blank Slide)
May we walk securely in the confidence of the defeat of death on the cross.. May we release our burdens at the wonder of the empty grave. May we continue forward in our hope proven through the resurrection. May we meet our world understanding the blessedness and struggle of humanity. May we live in our reality with the challenge to be salt and light. May we see with God’s eyes and glorify God in our lives.

Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.

Order, Words, & Voices 04.02.23

Order, Words, & Voices
04.02.23, Cleaning Up, Matthew 25:31-46

Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song   Lord, I Lift Your Name on High            Billy
          Hosanna Hosanna
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer                Rick
Reading        Matthew 21:1-17   (Rick will introduce)   Online – Abbie
Songs            Show Me Your Ways              Billy
            I Will Never Be the Same Again
Message      Cleaning Up                     Rick
Music        I Will Never Be the Same Again    Billy

Community/Peace Rick
Benediction Rick
Post Worship Music

Music (slides)

Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Verse
Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You’re in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us

Chorus
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high

Hosanna Hosanna
Chorus
Hosanna Hosanna
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
(Repeat)
Prepare ye the way of the Lord (2X)
Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna
Prepare ye the way

Call to Worship (Slides)
Leader: Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Response: Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Leader: Jesus said, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’
Response: God asks us, “What are we doing for the least of these?”

Leader: Doing for the least of these calls for sacrifice.
Response: Love calls for sacrifice.

Leader: Nine year olds Evelyn, Hallie, and William, along with adults Katherine, Mike, and Cynthia, were murdered this week because they went to school.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?

Leader: While her mother was at the hospital delivering her new brother, 2 year old Aubrey, along with almost 25 others in Mississippians, died in the wake of a tornado last week.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?

Leader: 29 year old Paola, a mother of two, mourned outside of the deportation center in Ciudad where she had just survived the fire which took the lives of 39 of her friends.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?

Leader: Jesus said, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’
Response: God asks me, “What are you doing for the least of these?”

Reader – Abbie in Nashville, just miles away from Abbie’s school. Face to pain.

When Jesus and the disciples came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And the owner will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple – overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Jesus said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that Jesus did and heard the children crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became became angry and said to Jesus, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?” Jesus returned to the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

Matthew 21:1-17

Music (Slides)

Show Me Your Ways

Verse
Show me Your ways
That I may walk with You
Show me Your ways
I put my hope in You
Chorus
The cry of my heart
Is to love You more
To live with the touch
Of Your hand
Stronger each day
Show me Your ways

I Will Never Be

Verse 1
I will never be the same again
I can never return
I’ve closed the door
I will walk the path
I will run the race
And I will never be the same again

Chorus
Fall like fire soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters
Again and again
Sweep away the darkness
Burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn
To glorify Your name

Verse 2
There are higher heights
There are deeper seas
Whatever You need to do
Lord do it in me
And the glory of God fills my life
And I will never be the same again (3X)

Message – Cleaning Up, Rick

In the mid 80s, I attended a 3 day youth ministers conference. Upon check in I was given a conference schedule along with a guide to all the small sessions that would be offered. One thing that particularly caught my eye was a preview of a new movie made by a popular Christian artist. The reason that this caught my attention was that I was not really a fan of this artist. It wasn’t anything personal but it was that I just didn’t understand his art-especially his music. I was in my mid twenties, still considered myself rather hip and with it, but this guy’s music was just too loud, and too weird. The style of music was weird, the lyrics were weird, and most of all, he just seemed kind of weird. But mostly, I didn’t like the fact that during the conference large group sessions, he would attend the large group sessions along with his huge group of fan boys, and fan girls, who would flock to him the minute he entered a room – and, more reason to dislike him, it seemed that everyone at the conference was a fan boy or girl, and that all of them understood this guy’s art and his music. Everyone but me. I would hear them talking about the real meaning behind his bizarre lyrics – and… part of me really wanted to be a part of the fan club.

The night of his movie premier, I decided to give it all a chance, but I went late after the lights were off so I could slip in late so I could sit in the back with an exit nearby. Shortly after I had sat down, and after the movie had played for maybe 20 minutes, a guy came in the back entrance and sat right by me – empty seats all around and he sat by me. We didn’t look at each other because I was annoyed but then I realized that this must be the one other person who shared my opinions of the artist and also wanted to be able to make a quick exit. A few minutes later, he leaned over and whispered, “What do you think?” I answered with a less than enthusiastic, “It’s okay.” To this, the unknown man softly laughed. As the movie ended and the lights came on, I looked over at him thinking we could share a special judgemental moment, that is when I realized that this was the guy, the artist, the one that I just critiqued his movie by lukewarmly declaring is ‘Okay.” As the audience clapped enthusiastically, the host called my new ‘friend’ up to the stage to talk about the movie and answer questions. As he stood up, he patted me on the knee as he stood, smiled at me, and headed up to his fans. I still didn’t understand. The worst thing was that now the lights were up and he knew where I was sitting and could see me if I left the room – So here I sat, still on the other side of the fanboy/fangirl wall, but now I couldn’t sneak out unnoticed.

As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem he was facing a wall. A physical wall and a metaphoric wall. On one side of the wall, the side Jesus was on as he approached the city, marched the fanboys and fangirls of Jesus. They knew Jesus from a first hand perspective, many had been there when Jesus first declared that they, a bunch of outcasts and undesirables, were blessed. There were those who had met Jesus during the course of his ministry on the road, and many who had been present when Jesus called for Lazarus out from the tomb. Their lives had been changed by the words of Jesus but mainly from the life Jesus lived out in front of them. Now, they could not help but rejoice and praise Jesus. Even when the officials asked that they silence there voice they couldn’t. This was their natural response to their own life transforming experiences with Jesus.

On the other side of the wall were those who did not know Jesus, they could not understand the excitement of those outside of the gates into Jerusalem. They did not have the joy of a personal encounter with Jesus, they had not watched him live out peace and freedom. This was the same wall that had been crushed by the Babylonians over 500 years earlier, the same wall that Hezekiah rebuilt following the release of the captives. They were walls built to protect, to defend, to sustain, but also to silence, to control, and even to keep a people ignorant and divided.

Most recently these walls had been used to keep those inside from fully learning and experiencing Jesus. Jesus’ visits were usually spent inside the temple, a well controlled atmosphere where the officials could monitor and restrict what Jesus did and taught. To the people inside the walls, this Jesus was just another rabbi taking up space in a corner of the temple. They heard little of the miracles, the teachings, and virtually none of the mercy and compassion that flowed from Jesus. The ignorance of the people was an intentional effort of the religious officials and the Roman government. Jesus was a radical, an outlier, a threat to the religious and the political systems. Those in control worked to control the voices that spoke of Jesus, or at least to control what those voices said. Rabbis, teachers, Pharisees, and all in authority knew the consequences to stepping out of line. The officials had established a “Don’t Say Jesus” policy in order to keep the people ignorant and to limit the followers and the growth of this movement led by Jesus.

This is why it would be so easy for the crowd to scream for Jesus’ death later in the week. All they knew about Jesus was the conspiracies told about Jesus – moving them to hostility and brutality against Jesus was easy for the political and religious leaders.

As Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem, most of those cheering remained on their side of the wall. That was their place, Jesus was now on the other side, advocating for them even to death.

Jesus’ manner of entry into Jerusalem was totally intentional. Riding a donkey instead of a war horse, surrounded by the outcasts who had been the theme of his ministry since the beginning, the message of peace conveyed in his presence none of this was a surprise – this was Jesus. The response of the crowds outside the gates, however, was organic, it could not have been planned, it was natural, authentic, and real. It could not be silenced, the words had to be shouted, the praise had to be sung.

In many ways, Jesus’ approach to the gates of Jerusalem, was a parody of the entry of Roman battle heroes and feared oppressors and political figures. They came as powerful warriors and Kings who received praise and exaltation because of brutality, marching through a fearful crowd, and repeating a constant threat of war.

Jesus’ entry not on the backs of suffering people, his entry underscored a peace that came out of justice, kindness, mercy, compassion, and love. Jesus did not enter as a royal but as a liberator, a radical riding in on a humble donkey submitting himself to the cross that stood ahead.

Once inside, Jesus remained Jesus. Standing up for the outcast and calling out the oppressors. Acting according to the call of God to be just, kind, and humble, entering in obedience to the commandment of God to love others as yourself. Jesus went straight from the entry gates into the temple, confronting the abuse of the religious leaders and a religious system that abused those who traveled to Jerusalem to satisfy their religious obligations.

The vendor system in the temple was set up to target the most vulnerable. Those, especially those who traveled a distance, came needing to purchase their required sacrifice were not only victims of those selling the sacrificial animals but also of those who would break their money down into amounts that allowed them to pay for those overpriced sacrifices. Both types of vendors charged inflated amounts as they were aware they held a monopoly.

After Jesus confronted the corrupt religious system, he then went to the downtrodden inside the gates of Jerusalem. Healing the blind and the lame – giving hope and spreading kindness.

Jesus was Jesus in the freedom and praise of his entrance, Jesus was Jesus as he walked the oppressive and threatening paths in Jerusalem, the other side of the wall. This is why, until his arrest, he would leave the city for the night.

For us to fully understand this moment, we go back to the moment just before Jesus passed from one side of the walls of Jerusalem to the other. After hearing the praises from those who praised God as Jesus walked to the gates, Jesus paused and Jesus wept. Much like when Jesus identified with the pain of the loss of Lazarus, Jesus now wept as he entered a city in pain, the children of God who had been unwilling, or unable, to hear, and to encounter, Jesus in a personally impacting way.

‘As Jesus came near and saw Jerusalem, he wept over the city, saying, “If you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now those things are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children even those within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within the city, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Luke 19:41-44

Jesus has the compassion to transcend any walls that we are locked behind, walls they are built around us or which we build to hide us. His love opens the gates freeing us with his sacrificial love, inviting us to enter into true peace of his presence.

Music (Slides)

I Will Never Be

Verse 1
I will never be the same again
I can never return
I’ve closed the door
I will walk the path
I will run the race
And I will never be the same again

Chorus
Fall like fire soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters
Again and again
Sweep away the darkness
Burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn
To glorify Your name

Verse 2
There are higher heights
There are deeper seas
Whatever You need to do
Lord do it in me
And the glory of God fills my life
And I will never be the same again (3x)

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, March 9, Matthew 28:1-10, Unexpected…the Sequel (Easter)
Wednesdays Noon Bible Study, continues this Wednesday @ noon, Matthew 26:6-25 , 27:1-10

Benediction (Blank Slide)
May we go with Jesus’ radical words ‘Happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gentle, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted. May we go with the challenge to be salt and light, to be a light shining before others and in so doing, may we see with God’s eyes and glorify God in our lives.

Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.

Order, Words, & Voices 03.26.23

Order, Words, & Voices

03.26.23 Brian Foreman Guest Speaker, Matthew 25:31-46

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Lynn

O Worship the King

What a Beautiful Name

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Matthew 25:31-46 Online – Peyton

Songs Shout to the Lord

Enough Lynn

Message Guest Speaker – Brian Foreman Rick

Music Take My Life Lynn

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Slides Note: There is a blank title slide between each Section – except for message/sermon slides.

Music (slides)

O worship the King all glorious above

And gratefully sing His power and His love

Our Shield and Defender the Ancient of Days

Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite

It breathes in the air it shines in the light

It streams from the hills it descends to the plain

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain

Frail children of dust and feeble as frail

In Thee do we trust nor find Thee to fail

Thy mercies how tender how firm to the end

Our Maker Defender Redeemer and Friend

You were the Word at the beginning

One with God the Lord Most High

Your hidden glory in creation

Now revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a beautiful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

You didn’t want heaven without us

So Jesus You brought heaven down

My sin was great Your love was greater

What could separate us now

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a wonderful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

Death could not hold You

The veil tore before You

You silence the boast of sin and grave

The heavens are roaring

The praise of Your glory

For You are raised to life again

You have no rival

You have no equal

Now and forever God You reign

Yours is the kingdom

Yours is the glory

Yours is the Name above all names

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a powerful Name it is

Nothing can stand against

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

Call to Worship (Slides)

Leader: God, we ask, ‘When we saw you hungry, did we feed you?’

Response: When we see you thirsty, will we give you a drink?

Leader: We ask, ‘When we saw you as a stranger did we welcome you in?’

Response: When we see you naked will we clothe you?

Leader: We ask, ‘When we saw you sick did we care for you?’

Response: When we see you in prison will we visit you?

Leader: God, you ask, ‘What did we do for the least of these you created?’

Response: What will we do for the least of humanity?

Leader: God, you call us to see others through your eyes.

Response: Will we see the value that you see?

Leader: God, you call us to always be ready to see you.

Response: God, you call us to be your light through our lives.

Leader: God, you call us to be salt in our world.

Response: God, you call us to be light.

Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’

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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.

And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Reading (No Slides) Matthew 25:31-46

Reader – Peyton Cavnar, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, with the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats – sheep on His right, goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’”

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’

Then they will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’

Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

Music (Slides)

My Jesus my Saviour

Lord there is none like You

All of my days I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort my shelter

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath all that I am

Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord

All the earth let us sing

Power and majesty

Praise to the King

Mountains bow down

And the seas will roar

At the sound of Your name

I sing for joy

At the work of Your hands

Forever I’ll love You

Forever I’ll stand

Nothing compares to the promise

I have in You

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For ev’ry thirst and ev’ry need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

You’re my supply my breath of life

Still more awesome than I know

You’re my reward worth living for

Still more awesome than I know

And

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For ev’ry thirst and ev’ry need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

You’re my sacrifice of greatest price

Still more awesome than I know

You’re my coming King You are ev’rything

Still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For ev’ry thirst and ev’ry need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For ev’ry thirst and ev’ry need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

Message – Guest Speaker (No Slides)

Brian received a Master’s in Religious Education from Duke University Divinity School, and a Doctor of Education from the University of North Carolina. Now, as CBF Coordinator of Congregational Ministries, Brian oversees support for congregations helping congregations thrive and to strengthen their capacity to know and respond to evolving needs of congregations.

Music (Slides)

Take My Life And Let It Be (Hendon)

Verse 1

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated Lord to Thee

Take my moments and my days

Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Verse 2

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee

Verse 3

Take my voice and let me sing

Always only for my King

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee

Verse 4

Take my silver and my gold

Not a mite would I withhold

Take my intellect and use

Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose

Verse 5

Take my will and make it Thine

It shall be no longer mine

Take my heart it is Thine own

It shall be Thy royal throne

Verse 6

Take my love my Lord I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store

Take myself and I will be

Ever only all for Thee

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, March 2, Matthew 21:1-17, Cleaning Up (Palm Sunday)
Wednesdays Noon Bible Study, continues this Wednesday @ noon, Matthew 26:6-25 , 27:1-10
Impact – Samples Event with Refugees
Impact – All Tribes Food Ministry in Geary OK

Benediction (Blank Slide)

May we go with Jesus’ radical words ‘Happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gentle, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted. May we go with the challenge to be salt and light, to be a light shining before others and in so doing, may we see with God’s eyes and glorify God in our lives.

Closing Peace

Leader: May the Peace of the Lord go with you. Response: And also with you.

Order, Words, & Voices 03.19.23

Life Long, Matthew 25:1-13

Order

Pre Worship Music

Opening Song Billy
Glory to His Name (hymn)
Hallelujah He Reigns

Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick

Reading Matthew 25:1-13 Segun

Songs Billy
Shout to the Lord
Sometimes By Step (chorus only)

Message Poor Etiquette & Bad Manners Rick

Music Sometimes by Step (Chorus Only) Billy

Community/Peace Rick

Benediction Rick

Post Worship Music

Music (slides)

Glory To His Name

Verse 1
Down at the cross where my Savior died
Down where for cleansing
from sin I cried
There to my heart
was the blood applied
Glory to His name

Chorus
Glory to His name
Glory to His name
There to my heart
was the blood applied
Glory to His name

Verse 2
I am so wondrously saved from sin
Jesus so sweetly abides within
There at the cross where He took me in
Glory to His name

Chorus
Glory to His name
Glory to His name
There to my heart
was the blood applied
Glory to His name

Verse 3
O precious fountain that saves from sin
I am so glad I have entered in
There Jesus saves me
and keeps me clean
Glory to His name
Chorus
Glory to His name
Glory to His name
There to my heart
was the blood applied
Glory to His name

Verse 4
Come to this fountain so rich and sweet
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet
Plunge in today and be made complete
Glory to His name

Chorus
Glory to His name
Glory to His name
There to my heart
was the blood applied
Glory to His name

Hallelujah He Reigns
Chorus
Hallelujah
He reigns in majesty
Hallelujah
He reigns in glory

Hallelujah
He reigns in righteousness
Oh hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah
He reigns in righteousness
Oh hallelujah

Call to Worship (Slides)
Leader: God, we come with hesitant steps to sweep out the corners where sin has accumulated
Response: We work to uncover the ways we have strayed from Your truth

Leader: We desire to expose the empty and barren places where we don’t allow you to enter
Response: Reveal our own struggles and indifference to the suffering of others

Leader: Nurture the faint stirrings of new life where Your spirit moves
Response: Let your Spirit transform us into the image of Your Son

Leader: For You alone can bring new life
Response: Only You, God, can make us whole

(Written by Christine Sine)

Reading (Slides) Matthew 25:1-13
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten maidens, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.

When the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps.

While the groom was running late, all the maidens became drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’

The maidens got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish maidens said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

The prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’

While the foolish were on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.

Later, the foolish maidens also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But the groom answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

Be on the alert because you do not know the day nor the hour.“

Matthew 25:1-13

Music (Slides)

Shout To The Lord

Verse
My Jesus my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath all that I am
Never cease to worship You

Chorus
Shout to the Lord
All the earth let us sing
Power and majesty
Praise to the King

Mountains bow down
And the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy
At the work of Your hands

Forever I’ll love You
Forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise
I have in You

Sometimes By Step (Chorus)

Chorus
Oh God You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God You are my God
And I will ever praise You

And I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my day

Message – Life Long (Slides)

I hate to wait. I hate it at the Doctor’s office, at the grocery store, at the theater, in traffic, at food trucks… I hate waiting anywhere. I am always impressed by people that can do something productive while waiting, knitting or crocheting, business calls, and even those who, in stand-still traffic, can be seen shaving or apply mascara. I usually just spend waiting time looking for a loophole to avoid waiting.

Author Khaled Hosseini writes, “Of all the hardships a person has to face, none is more punishing than the simple act of waiting.”
(Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns)

In our passage for today we are again waiting for a wedding – that period when the bride is almost getting in the car to be transported to the wedding venue. Waiting.

The wedding tradition in today’s passage involves that moment between the Bride waiting at her home and the moment she and the groom enter the wedding hall. The bride would wait, prepared and ready to go until the groom would arrive at her door to go together to the wedding. Her bridesmaids, also referred to as the virgins since they were typically unmarried, would wait with her. And, since weddings usually began after dark, the bridesmaids, once the groom arrived, would light their lamps and lead the wedding processional to the event. As they would make the journey, other invited guests would join the parade.

The waiting time for the Bridesmaids could have been a multi day. Think of this as a calm bachelorette party that would sometimes go much too long. They all came to the place of waiting together with the proper clothes, snacks, and with their lamps or torches and the needed oil. At this wedding, however, not all the bridesmaids focused on their mission to light the way to the wedding.’ Instead, some of the bridesmaids may have stayed up too late talking with their lamps lit, so when the groom arrived, they had no oil left – therefore no light to shine.

(Start Screen Share – Leave up until after MLK Speech)

Important context truths…

(Slide) Although Matthew is the first book in our New Testament, it was not the first New Testament gospel or epistle to be written. The people had already received the gospel of Mark as well as the letters from Paul.
(Slide) Matthew’s gospel was written decades after Jesus, when Roman oppression and brutality was increasing and the temple had probably been destroyed. Life was very difficult for the Jews and the Jewish Christians.
(Slide) Followers of Jesus were hanging on by a thread to the promise that Jesus would return. Paul had previously corrected some believers in Thessalonica who had quit working while they waited for Jesus’ return – they had become a burden to the working believers.
(Slide) This parable begins with a similar introduction as the other parables, “The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to…” These parables have an eschatological focus, details about Heaven and God. However, they also lead us to a way of living now, not a call to wait and live this way later.

With these contextual facts in mind, Jesus’ words serve as a reminder to the waiting followers of Jesus how to wait, and how to be ready for Jesus’ return.

(Slide) “The preparation that Jesus is speaking of does not mean unceasing, conscious, visible, or verbal, anticipation of Jesus’ return. We are not to be continually peering up into the heavens like an air-raid sentry. Nor are we to be forever meeting and singing or discussing the Lord’s return.

(Slide) Such meetings can be helpful due to our human tendency to forget, but what Jesus is indicating is that waiting calls for a continuation of life.

(Slide) Money must be earned, investments looked into, food must be cooked, babies washed, school lessons studied, weddings held and funerals attended-all the usual activities of life must go on.”
(Ray Stedman, The Wise and the Foolish)

(Slide) The earliest readers of this Gospel are in time of painful waiting for Christ’s return, which they assume will be their rescue out of their pain. However, Jesus’ call ”to live in vigilance means for the disciples to do the tasks that they have been appointed to do in preparation for the Master’s coming.

(Slide) In Matthew’s Gospel, those tasks include bearing witness to God’s kingdom by welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and making disciples in all the world.”
(Carla Works, Professor of New Testament, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.)

(Slide) The apostle Paul states that in this time believers must, “Encourage one another and build one another up. Live in peace with one another. Admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

(Slide) Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit, examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, and abstain from evil.”
(I Thessalonians 5:9-22).

Jesus’ parable is a call to wait for Jesus’ while living like Jesus for as long as the wait takes.

(Slide) In 1872 a bookseller named Joseph Maria Bocabella visited the Vatican in Rome. While there, after seeing the churches and cathedrals in Italy, he returned home inspired to build Sagrada Familia, a church in his home town of Barcelona. In 1882, over one hundred and forty years ago, the first shovel pierced the earth as the church began to be built. It is a project that continues to the present. During that time they lost their initial architect, survived wars, ideologies, and most recently covid. Billy and Renee took us to see this massive building last summer, and while I do not understand many of the practices, traditions, customs, and disagree with much of the theology of the Catholic Church, I was impressed. Impressed by the structure and aesthetics of the church, but what really impressed me was the ‘stick with it’ attitude of those who had helped with the continual financial needs, those who had continued the work of the actual construction, and even the parishioners who held to a hope even though all those original participants were long gone and even many alive now recognize that they may not live to see the completion. They did not continue to support the project because they would sit in a seat inside the complete church, but still, they continued. Even though they knew they would not be present for the completion, they hung in there because they held to the hope of completion.

(Slide of MLK) A week after the brutality in Selma, Alabama took place – just seven days after law enforcement used violence and brutality to stop the inspired civil rights marchers from walking to Montgomery, Alabama, Martin Luther King stood before a church filled with those still bearing the visible cuts and bruises, still visibly bearing the pain from the Sunday before. King told them that they would continue, continue to strive for justice, to continue to example love and peace, all the time recognizing that they themselves may not see the fulfillment of their hope here on earth, but eventually their descendants would live in that peace. Ironically, like the church members in Barcelona, they too, are still in the process of this calling, a calling to persist. King preached to this audience

“They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, We ain’t goin’ let nobody turn us around… Today I want to tell the city of Selma, today I want to say to the state of Alabama, today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now….

Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. … The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us….The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. The wanton release of these known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. …Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us.We are moving to the land of freedom…

I know you are asking today, ‘How long will it take?’ – ‘How long will prejudice blind the visions of men?’… I come to say to you, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth has crashed to the earth and will rise again.

How long? … Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Our God is marching on. Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.”

(Stop Screen Share)

Yes, this parable is a story about the Bridesmaids, these women who were called to be a light in the darkness. To light the way to the wedding hall where all would participate in this celebration of union. It is a story about the bridesmaids – but it is also a story about the groom.

Why was the groom running late? Customs dictated that the groom and his family were responsible for the wedding planning and provision. As with weddings in our time, things still need to be done right up until the parents of the bride and groom take their seats for the ceremony. Even at that moment there are still probably folks working on the feast, preparing the table. The goom may have been finalizing the dowry negotiations with his new inlaws, maybe there was a hiccup with the ceremony or the feast that only he could resolve, maybe there was a situation like last week’s parable where the groom and maybe his dad had to address a problem with the guests. It wasn’t for the bridesmaids to know, except that the groom was delayed by essential matters.

Jesus is not just talking about his return, Jesus is talking about the union of himself with the church. In Jesus’ parable the bride groom is Jesus, and the bride is us – us corporately, us the church, us the waiting believers. However, the bridesmaids are also us – us as individuals, the individuals called to be salt, called to be the light. Not called to hurriedly and aggressively pressure others to enter the wedding hall through our words and voices, instead, we are called to persistently and consistently live out the justice, kindness, and humility of Jesus. We are the waiting bridesmaids, waiting and lighting the way, not quitting, continually waiting for whatever is holding up the bridegroom while diligently remembering our calling, our purpose.

A calling to not quit, a calling to not give up, a calling to not forget, a calling to reflect Jesus to the world in the same way God revealed himself through Jesus. A lifelong 24/7 calling to all believers to live on earth like we will live in Heaven – to be the light through our actions, our lives.

A calling initially to the oppressed who were present when Jesus first spoke. A calling to those hearing Matthew’s words now living in the midst of brutal oppression. A calling to us, over two thousand years later, to us who live in a dangerous and comfortable peace and freedom, to still live like Jesus, even though we are holding to a promise that may not be seen in our lifetime. It is our purpose.

Music (Slides)

Sometimes By Step (Chorus)

Oh God You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God You are my God
And I will ever praise You
And I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my day

Community (Slides)

Next Sunday, Special Guest, Brian Foreman, CBF Coordinator of Congregational Ministries
Wednesdays Noon Bible Study, continues this Wednesday @ noon, This Wednesday, Matthew 23:1-36,

Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace of the Lord be with You
Response: And also with you

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Chorus

Verse 2

Bridge

Bridge

Chorus

Bridge

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 2

Chorus

Verse 3

Bridge

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Verse 2

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: