Order, Words, & Voices
09.03.23, Adding Good, I Peter 1:3-10
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song The Joy of the Lord Lynn/Linda/Segun
All Creatures of Our God and King
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading I Peter 1:3-10 Isaiah
Songs Lynn/Linda/Segun
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Refiner’s Fire
Message I Peter 1:3-10 Rick
Music The Jesus Way Lynn/Linda/Segun
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music
Music (slides) – Lynn/Linda/Segun
The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not falter I will not faint
He is my Shepherd I am not afraid
The joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
Is my strength
The joy of the Lord will be my strength
He will uphold me all of my days
I am surrounded by mercy and grace
And the joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
Is my strength
The joy of the Lord will be my strength
And I will not waver walking by faith
He will be strong to deliver me safe
The joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
The joy of the Lord
Is my strength
All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him O praise Him
Alleluia alleluia alleluia
Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heav’n along
O praise Him alleluia
Thou rising moon in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening find a voice
O praise Him O praise Him
Alleluia alleluia alleluia
Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick
Leader: By his glory and through his honor, God has given us all that we need to live this life.
Response: By his glory and through his honor, God has given us all that we need to live a life of godliness.
Leader: God has called us to a life of faith, a faith that is not passive or dormant, but a faith that is alive and active.
Response: We are called to live out a faith that thrives on an intentional building of knowledge and an increasing understanding of God.
Leader: God has given us his promises, he has shared his divine nature, he has offered us relief from the struggles and pains of this life. We are called to live in peace and harmony.
Response: We are called to lean into this world which is fully loved by God.
Leader: It is our calling to add good to our faith, knowledge to our moral excellence, self control to our knowledge, endurance to our self control, and to endurance we are called to add godliness.
Response: To godliness we are to add affection, and to affection we are called to add love.
Leader: For it is in this effort to grow in our knowledge of God, we are then able to continue to have a faith that is active.
Response: It is in this we are fruitful reflecting the glory of God.
Leader: May we add these things, may we add to our faith, may we not forget we were cleansed of our disobedience.
Response: May the hope of Jesus be seen in our faith and our faith in our existence.
(I Peter 2:3-10)
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.
Reading Isaiah
By his divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory.
Through his honor and glory God has given us his precious and wonderful promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces.
This is why you must make every effort to add good to your faith; and to moral excellence, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, endurance; and to endurance, godliness; and to godliness, affection for others; and to affection for others, love.
If all these are yours and they are growing in you, they’ll keep you from becoming inactive and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whoever lacks these things is shortsighted and blind, forgetting that they were cleansed from their past sins.Therefore, brothers and sisters, be eager to confirm your call and election. Do this and you will never ever be lost.
I Peter 2:3-10
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
My faith looks up to Thee
Thou Lamb of Calvary
Saviour divine
Now hear me while I pray
Take all my guilt away
O let me from this day
Be wholly Thine
May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart
My zeal inspire
As Thou hast died for me
O may my love to Thee
Pure warm and changeless be
A living fire
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
And precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
Pure gold
Refiner’s fire
My heart’s one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You my Master
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within
Message (Slides) Rick
It was the fictional story of a widowed puppet maker named Gepetto who had, in addition to losing his wife, also lost his only child, a son. The story, written by Carlo Collodi and first published in 1881 in a children’s magazine, with the title, The Story of the Marionette, 2 years later the story was rebranded as ‘The Story of Pinocchi ‘and published as a self standing book. The story was intentionally dark with the marionette, Pinocchio, dying in the end. Collodi was bombarded with young people entranced with the story, begging the author to bring the puppet back to life for more stories. So, Pinocchio was declared immortal, that he could never die, until, of course, he became human, to whom death is inevitable.The book, in all its translations, is considered to be the most published book ever only behind the Bible.
[Slide – leave slide up notice to remove] The book at the time was considered by most to be a warning to children to obey their parents in the centuries since the story has become a story of political protest. The thrust of the story is the tale of a puppet who desires to be alive, and then an alive puppet, who desires to be a real boy. In the story, a fairy tells the alive puppet that to become a real boy he had to “Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.” Then, as the alive Pinocchio makes some tragic choices, the fairy tells him “You must learn to chose between right and wrong.” Eventually, Pinocchio, makes a sacrificial act to save Geptepto’s life concluding his journey at which time he becomes a real boy.
Basically the fairy told Pinocchio that he was now alive, but to fully experience being alive, to truly be human, he needed to add bravery, honesty, unselfishness, to his life. The fairy was saying, you have life, now have real, real, life adding this.
[remove slide]
In our final look at this word ‘Good’, we are eavesdropping on a message from the Apostle Peter to the followers scattered who are in great need to some reassurance that they are not as alone. They need Peter’s comforting words that they have not been abandoned by God regardless of how bleak their lives have become. They are outsiders culturally, religiously, ethnically, and in any other word you can use to describe the fact that they do not belong. This was probably not a result of political persecution as much as an attititude toward them from those living in their communities. The believers were dismissed, treated as outcast, not allowed a place in line, unwanted and unnoticed. This feeling was infecting their minds, but even worse, it was infecting their faith community. They are at a justified state of mind & heart that we all possibly feel at one time or another.
[Slide] Peter is reminding the believers that, ‘God’s has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and in knowing God we must lean into his honor and glory. God has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that we may share in God’s divine nature and therefore escape the human frailties inherent in our humanness and the struggles that naturally accompany it.’
This is a suffering people which Peter can understand, he too has been isolated and rejected. He too has lived life as an ‘other’, an outcast, an unacceptable. He too has lived with his own mistakes, frailties, and failures. It was Peter who understood disappointment, shame, and desperation. Peter understood that we all fail, we are all subject to situations and environments that are painful, we all struggle even in God’s presence.
[Slide] ‘The suffering of Peter’s audience is challenging their faith. In these few verses we understand something of the past, present, and future. The writer asserts that the audience had been given a new birth and a living hope. Their inheritance, their future, is currently being protected by the power of God, even if for now, in their present, they have to suffer for a little while. Their past and present trials must serve to strengthen their faith. Trials can reveal the beauty of our faith.
[Slide[ There will be a new birth. New birth, anagennesas, life bursting forth in the spring as the flowers bloom and the trees blossom or a mother delivering a child, birthing elucidates an entanglement with life and death; old and new; perishable and imperishable. The act of regeneration. The writer is emphasizing the renewing of the living hope that God has given then, and us. Renewal and regeneration are not one-time events; they are ongoing processes. Therefore, when we feel challenged by difficulties, our faith reminds us that our living hope can, and will be, renewed.’ (Jennifer T. Kaalund, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Iona College, New Rochelle, N.Y.)
In the mid eighties a book written for Christians was becoming popular. I traveled around the western US one summer, individuals, in every state I visited asked me if I had read the book. The title of the book was Why is it Taking So Long. The title was referring to faith, and how it often seems that we do not have enough to make it through the trials and struggles of life. This was the same audience as Peter’s letter, individuals feeling that they did not have enough to make it through the trials and struggles of life. Interestingly though, Peter’s response is not to read the Bible more, or to go to more Bible study groups, or to give more, or to attend church more, or to listen to more Christian music,… all good practices but, Peter tells the people that they have enough to live the life of a follower of Jesus and that they have enough to be godly. Peter tells the suffering followers of Jesus to, much like the fairy told Pinnochio – add bravery, honesty, unselfishness to your life – Peter says to the believers to add ‘Good’ to their life, to their faith. To practice good, to make good a core in their lives. Good, right, rightness, righteousness. It is a supplement to that which God has already given them. It is a challenge to begin thinking and living like Jesus, to seek to see others in the way Jesus saw everyone, to be the feet, hands, and heart of God in their day to day lives regardless of the situations, struggles, and trials.
We like to think that anything to do with our faith, and our lives of faith, happen automatically because we ‘surrender’ to Jesus, because we pray a prayer, because we carry the title ‘Christian’, we like to lean on the fact that Grace is given and not deserved. While this is true, Jesus came to show us how to live. Us – followers of Jesus, Us – those who have already trusted and still believe in God, Us – who have a third hand witness to the hope of the resurrection. Truth is that, just like Jesus, faith has an Us element. As Peter says, we have everything we need to live and to be godly, however, it is instilled and applied in our lives through our earthly choices, a choice that begins with ‘Good.’
[Slide] Peter enhances this call to live good as he says, “add good to your faith; and add moral excellence to knowledge of God; and to knowledge of God add self-control; and to self-control add endurance; and to endurance, add godliness; and to godliness add affection for others; and to affection for others, add love.” Bringing us back to Jesus’ summary of the law.
A faith that is as small a mustard seed is activated by our own ability to see and trust the God of that faith. It takes work, not to choose following Jesus, but to being a follower of Jesus.
God chose Saul to be the first King of the Israelites because he was everything the people thought they needed in a King and God would provide everything Paul needed to be that King. God gave him the ability to be a success and to nurture the people individually and corporately. However, Saul did not put in the work, he did not seek to add good to his faith. Soon he struggled with insecurity and a lack of confidence, soon he was guided by the public opinion rather than God. Soon, in the end, Saul could not even function mentally.
On the other hand, almost at birth, Jesus sought to know God, to learn about God’s creation, as well as those God created. As a child and then as an adolescent Jesus was in the temple listening to the religious leaders. Jesus navigated the religious education and training system. As an adult Jesus chose his disciples carefully as he learned through them and in the midst of the journey with them. Jesus was not hard wired with all the knowledge and understanding he would need at birth. He was fully human, like us, he had to add good to his faith. He had to seek to know, and he had to search to understand.
Every aspect of our lives is touched by the God. Every element of our lives, interactions, investigations, paths, and struggles includes God if our faith is going to be allowed to function. God is not an outsider in in our lives, God is present.
This past summer director Guillermo del Toro challenged the story of Pinocchio by changing the ending. Whereas the Disney version, in their ending of the story when Pinocchio became a real boy, he was automatically flesh and blood and no longer a wooden puppet. His outside, his situation, his environment, what he looked like, changed for the world to see. In del Toro’s version, Pinocchio remained a wooden looking puppet, for the people around him had already seen that he had become ‘real’ – they had washed him turn from his selfish ways to be sacrificial, he had become brave, honest, and unselfishness. He had become real, and this realness had been seen by those around him, long before he was pronounced ‘real’.
Peter is calling his suffering readers to let their faith carry them through. To intentionally grown in, and into, their faith that God had given them to how they lived their lives and by how they had sought to know God allowing them to trust God. This calling by Peter to the people would probably not be noticed by many, only those around to see their hope in hopeless times, their peace even in the most chaotic and fearful times imaginable, their God that was not always evident in their words but always visible in their lives.
[Slide] Peter ends this section of his letter to the suffering believers with the warning that this will not be his last mentioning of this subject of adding to faith. This possibly reveals to us our own human propensity to forget God’s gift of ‘enough’.
[Slide] “I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” (II Peter 1:12-15)
Peter knew this truth, Peter wanted those who were suffering to have a grasp of this truth. Peter wants us to add to our faith so we are ready for the times ahead.
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
If you curse me then I will bless you
If you hurt me I will forgive
And if you hate me then I will love you
I choose the Jesus way
If you’re helpless I will defend you
And if you’re burdened I’ll share the weight
And if you’re hopeless then let me show you
There’s hope in the Jesus way
I follow Jesus I follow Jesus
He wore my sin I’ll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure He is the answer
Oh I choose the Jesus way
If you strike me I will embrace you
And if you chain me I’ll sing His praise
And if you kill me my home is heaven
For I choose the Jesus way
I follow Jesus I follow Jesus
He wore my sin I’ll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure He is the answer
Oh I choose the Jesus way
I choose surrender I choose to love
Oh God my Savior You’ll always be enough
I choose forgiveness I choose grace
I choose to worship no matter what I face
I follow Jesus I follow Jesus
He wore my sin I’ll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure He is the answer
Oh I choose the Jesus way
I choose the Jesus way
Community (Slides) Rick
- Next Sunday, New Series ‘Becoming’ – Next Sunday -’River[s]’, Genesis 1:4-25
- Summer Bible Study concludes this Wednesday @ 6:30pm. This week – James 4:13-17; 5:1-11, 13-16
- Next Book Discussion Luncheon, ‘Making Sense of the Bible’, Some Books available in entry was -$15, or link on web page will take you to Amazon order page (audio, or library app), luncheon will take place in October (date – TBA), ‘[I wrote this] in the hope that [you] will come to love the Bible, and that in it [you] will find [your] defining story.’
Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we leave this place we walk in a world that is not perfect but nonetheless a world that God has proclaimed is good. We continue because the breath of God still inflates our lungs and because God’s life sustaining gift continues to course through our veins.
Regardless of our gender, or any other label we wear, we are all called to live lives that preach and pastor the good news of Jesus to all of creation. A call to allow Jesus to be seen in every situation every time. To forgive others and to forgive ourselves. To love God and to love others as we also love ourselves.
May we continually choose to grow in our own understanding of the resurrection hope which carries us in peace while giving us the mercy, compassion, and grace to live confidently in God who loves us and calls us to life.
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 