Worship
for the Lord’s Day
Happy
Father’s Day
June 21,
2020
A Note
before we begin this day’s worship:
Our sessions from both congregations
at Bethesda United Presbyterian Church and Olivet Presbyterian Church met and
made the decision to return to corporate worship on July 5, 2020 barring no
significant increase in cases of the coronavirus in our area. We’ve decided to hold a joint service at 10am
at the Bethesda church building for a number of reasons and may continue to do
so throughout the summer.
I
will continue to offer this posted version of our service each Sunday and we
may (key word – MAY) offer a YouTube version or a Streaming version of the
service as well. If you’ve been
following along with this on-line version of our services and would like to
join us in worship, please drop me a note at revwaltp@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to give you any details you
might need to know for joining us.
I want to wish all those Dad’s out
there a Happy Father’s Day. For all of
you who are celebrating this day in recognition of your Father, those who are
still with us and those who have gone to be with our Heavenly Father, I hope
this day also finds you well and remembering good memories of him.
Let’s
begin:
Opening
Prayer
Holy
God who created all that exists, we praise You. We open our hearts and our spirits this day to
Your eternal love and forgiving mercy. Be
with us as we participate in this worship service, although we can not be
together yet, Your Spirit unites us. Remind us again of Your all-seeing eyes that
watch over us. Remind us again that
Jesus Christ gave his life that we might fully understand the depth and breadth
of Your love. In all things and at all
times we praise You. AMEN.
Prayer
of Confession
Forgiving and gracious Lord, we come before
this day with so many things on our hearts.
We’ve managed to get through a most unusual spring and are heading
toward the complexities of the next summer months. These months for many will be times of
transition; children graduating from school and heading out into the world;
young people getting married; families planning vacations; some people planning
retirement and moving away from the place they’ve called home. We confess that we haven’t always paid
attention to these transitions, unaware of the spiritual and emotional
adjustments that they require of those in the process. Forgive us when we get so busy with our own
lives that we don’t take time to reach out to someone who is ill; someone who
is mourning the loss of a loved one; someone who feels lost and alone. During these most unusual moments in life,
remind us that Christ offered His whole life that we might live. He taught us how to be people of compassion
and reconciliation. Be with us as we
seek to turn our lives around, back toward You, O Lord; for it is in Jesus’
Name that we offer this prayer. AMEN
Words
of Assurance
Dear friends, listen to the good news! Christ came to give us new life; to redeem
and heal our brokenness. We are made
whole through His boundless love. AMEN
Affirmation
of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
I believe
in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His
only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin
Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He
descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended
into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from
thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Pastoral
Prayer
Gracious Lord, You reach out to us in our distress and lift us up. You
give us new life and we are grateful. For
some of us this has been a wonderful week; but for others trials and troubles
seem to crowd into our lives. We ask Your
loving presence with all Your people, O Lord.
Heal our wounded spirits; restore a sense of joy in our lives. Today we name in our hearts those who are in
need of Your healing love. (Take time to name people or situations in need
of God’s healing love…..).
We thank You that You reach out to them, to all
those whom we have named during our worship time with You. Help us to be witnesses to the power of Christ
to make any necessary changes in our lives to be more holy, to be more
compassionate, to be more like Your Son.
Jesus,
Your Son, taught us a prayer that we often say together; Our Father, who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Scripture
Readings
Old
Testament: Genesis
21:8-21
8The child grew, and was weaned;
and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the
Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10So she
said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this
slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” 11The
matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12But God
said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your
slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through
Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. 13As for
the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is
your offspring.”
14So Abraham rose early in the
morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it
on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and
wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15When
the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the
bushes. 16Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about
the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of
the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and
wept. 17And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called
to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid;
for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18Come,
lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great
nation of him.” 19Then God opened her eyes and
she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the
boy a drink. 20God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the
wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. 21He
lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the
land of Egypt.
New
Testament: Romans
6:1-11
What then are we to say? Should we continue in
sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in
it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so
we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we
will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the
body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to
sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also
live with him. 9We know that
Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him. 10The death he
died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to
God. 11So you also must consider
yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Anthem – The God Who Sees – If you do nothing else with today’s worship,
listen and watch this Song/Film. It is
12 minutes long, but I guarantee it is well worth it. I’ve copied the lyrics below.
Hagar was
a single mother
She was abandoned by the family she belonged to
And there in the wilderness with her son alone
With very little provision
She was wondering
She was questioning
Does anyone care?
She's crying in the desert
She's lost in her despair
She thinks nobody loves her
Hagar thinks nobody's there
But God says
I will be a ring of fire around her
And I will be the glory in her midst
And the power of my presence
Will bring her to her knees
And I will lift her up again
For I'm the God who sees
I'm the God who sees
Then He speaks in gentle whispers
And He softly calls her name
She feels His arms enfold her
As He holds her
And she'll never be the same
'Cause I'm the God who never changes
And My promises are true
And when this world deserts you
This is what I'll do
And there is another woman named Ruth
She was from the land of Moab
And she was met with grief and heartache
She was a widow and she lived with her mother-in-law, who was also a widow
And now it was time to move on
But Ruth had never been to Bethlehem
She had never tasted of the House of Bread
But now she had heard an inner invitation to come and taste and see
And so she vowed herself to her mother-in-law
And she said where you go I will go
Where you lie I will lie
Where you die I will die
And she begins a journey to the Promised Land
She's traveling through the desert
And she's leaving her despair
She's hoping for a future
Praying God will lead her there
And He says
I will put a ring around you finger
And I will bless a child within your womb
And the Savior will be born through you
To free the world from sin
And He'll make all things new for you
And love you back to life again, again
And then from Ruth who gave birth to a son
Obed who gave birth to a son
Jesse who gave birth to a son
Named David
Now the same, once shepherd boy
Mighty warrior, anointed king is alone
Terrified in the darkness
He's hiding in the desert
He's battling despair
David thinks his life is over, it's over
And God, He doesn't care
But God says
I will be the Rock of your salvation
I'll hold you up by the strength of My right hand
And the power of My Spirit
Will free you from all fear
In the hour of your deepest need
You'll find that I am near
I am here
And I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
Then I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees
And then from the line of David
Finally, Jesus the Messiah
The Anointed One, Yeshua, the Christ
Born in the same House of Bread to be the Bread of Life
In the town of Bethlehem
And He would grow
And He would be called the Son of God
He would be called Emmanuel, God With Us
And He would heal, and He would reveal
And then He had an encounter with a woman
Named Mary of Magdalen who was plagued by demons
Tormented by evil spirits, and Jesus set her free
And Mary followed Him, she listened at His feet
She served Him, and she loved Him
Oh how she loved Him
But then she watched as they nailed Him to the cross
And as they placed His body in the tomb
In that moment her hope died, it died
She's crying in the garden
She's broken in despair
She's searching for her Savior
But His body isn't there
Then He says, Mary
Glory, glory, glory, Hallelujah
I will be the glory in Your midst
And every knee will bow to Me
And every tongue confess
Yes all the world will worship Me
In all My Holiness
I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
And I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees, who sees
I'm the God who sees
Oh I'm the God who sees, I see you
I'm the God who sees you in your wilderness
Sees you in your brokenness
When you're feeling lonely, I'm the God who sees
In the desert places, in your empty spaces
I'm the God who sees
I'm nearer than you dare believe
Here in the very air you breathe
I'm the God who sees
You
She was abandoned by the family she belonged to
And there in the wilderness with her son alone
With very little provision
She was wondering
She was questioning
Does anyone care?
She's crying in the desert
She's lost in her despair
She thinks nobody loves her
Hagar thinks nobody's there
But God says
I will be a ring of fire around her
And I will be the glory in her midst
And the power of my presence
Will bring her to her knees
And I will lift her up again
For I'm the God who sees
I'm the God who sees
Then He speaks in gentle whispers
And He softly calls her name
She feels His arms enfold her
As He holds her
And she'll never be the same
'Cause I'm the God who never changes
And My promises are true
And when this world deserts you
This is what I'll do
And there is another woman named Ruth
She was from the land of Moab
And she was met with grief and heartache
She was a widow and she lived with her mother-in-law, who was also a widow
And now it was time to move on
But Ruth had never been to Bethlehem
She had never tasted of the House of Bread
But now she had heard an inner invitation to come and taste and see
And so she vowed herself to her mother-in-law
And she said where you go I will go
Where you lie I will lie
Where you die I will die
And she begins a journey to the Promised Land
She's traveling through the desert
And she's leaving her despair
She's hoping for a future
Praying God will lead her there
And He says
I will put a ring around you finger
And I will bless a child within your womb
And the Savior will be born through you
To free the world from sin
And He'll make all things new for you
And love you back to life again, again
And then from Ruth who gave birth to a son
Obed who gave birth to a son
Jesse who gave birth to a son
Named David
Now the same, once shepherd boy
Mighty warrior, anointed king is alone
Terrified in the darkness
He's hiding in the desert
He's battling despair
David thinks his life is over, it's over
And God, He doesn't care
But God says
I will be the Rock of your salvation
I'll hold you up by the strength of My right hand
And the power of My Spirit
Will free you from all fear
In the hour of your deepest need
You'll find that I am near
I am here
And I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
Then I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees
And then from the line of David
Finally, Jesus the Messiah
The Anointed One, Yeshua, the Christ
Born in the same House of Bread to be the Bread of Life
In the town of Bethlehem
And He would grow
And He would be called the Son of God
He would be called Emmanuel, God With Us
And He would heal, and He would reveal
And then He had an encounter with a woman
Named Mary of Magdalen who was plagued by demons
Tormented by evil spirits, and Jesus set her free
And Mary followed Him, she listened at His feet
She served Him, and she loved Him
Oh how she loved Him
But then she watched as they nailed Him to the cross
And as they placed His body in the tomb
In that moment her hope died, it died
She's crying in the garden
She's broken in despair
She's searching for her Savior
But His body isn't there
Then He says, Mary
Glory, glory, glory, Hallelujah
I will be the glory in Your midst
And every knee will bow to Me
And every tongue confess
Yes all the world will worship Me
In all My Holiness
I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
And I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees, who sees
I'm the God who sees
Oh I'm the God who sees, I see you
I'm the God who sees you in your wilderness
Sees you in your brokenness
When you're feeling lonely, I'm the God who sees
In the desert places, in your empty spaces
I'm the God who sees
I'm nearer than you dare believe
Here in the very air you breathe
I'm the God who sees
You
Sermon
– The God Who Sees
I
came across this song that inspired today’s sermon a couple of months ago and
it has been a life-changing song for me.
Music has always been the medium, the vehicle, the way in which God touches
my spirit. It is what lifts me up when I
am down. It is what carries me when I no
longer have the strength. It is what
wraps me in its embrace when I am lost and afraid. I have encountered, witnessed, participated
in, and heard inspiring music throughout my life. But this song, its story, its message has
touched my heart like nothing else. The visuals
of the wilderness land in Israel and Jerusalem help bring the stories we’ve
read in scripture to life. Since we are concentrating
on oppression and systemic racism this month.
I want to frame today’s sermon and the message in a particular way.
There’s
a quote from Ronald Rolheiser, that a friend of mine Graham Standish posted on
Facebook:
"Ultimately,
how we conceive of God will color how we conceive of everything else,
especially justice and peace and the road that leads to them. If we conceive of God as somehow violent, however
redemptive we imagine this violence to be, we will conceive of the road to
peace as also lying in violence."
Another
quote from Erna Kim Hackett:
“White
Christianity suffers from a bad case of Disney Princess theology. As each individual reads Scripture, they see
themselves as the Princess in every story.
They are Esther, never Xerxes or Haman.
They are Peter, never Judas. They
are the woman anointing Jesus, never the Pharisee. They are the Jews escaping slavery, never
Egypt. For citizens of the most powerful
country in the world, who enslaved both Native and Black people, to see itself
as Israel not Egypt when studying Scripture, is a perfect example of Disney
Princess Theology. And it means that as
people in power, they have no lens for locating themselves rightly in Scripture
or society – and it has made them blind and utterly ill-equipped to engage
issues of power and injustice. It is
some very weak Bible work.”
These
two quotes and the inspiring song/story of The God Who Sees have informed my work
on today’s sermon. We must learn to inhabit
the stories of the oppressed, the stories of depression, anxiety, loneliness in
Scripture. Many of our heroes were
flawed and many of our biblical figures in the stories we read were lost and without
hope. But if we begin to rightly see
them and their true stories, we might also begin to rightly see ourselves in
the eyes of the God Who Sees; who has seen and witnessed everything we do, say,
believe, act upon, and feel. We are all
both saints and sinners – and God sees us in our weakness, God sees us in our
glory. But, what we sometimes fail to
see is that God sees all of us.
In
its verses there is a sweeping saga of biblical characters, those who have
faced difficulties in life. We spend a
great deal of time
Hagar
– a slave girl, thrown out of her home because of Sarah’s jealousy. Lost and alone in the wilderness burdened
with a child to care for, she believes no one cares.
Ruth,
a widow, bound to her mother-in-law, Naomi, for the only reason of
survival. She travels to Naomi’s
homeland of Israel as an immigrant for she was from Moab. Ruth is afraid and alone among people who are
not her people, worshiping a god who is not her god and yet there is something
compelling about her new homeland, something yet to be discovered but not yet
grasped in the God of the Israelites.
David,
chosen by God to be King of Israel, comes from this immigrant line from
Ruth. For Ruth gave birth to Obed, who became
the father of Jesse, who became the father of David. But David, King though he was, wasn’t always
proud and strong, noble and true. David
was also often frightened and felt alone.
He cowered in the darkness, afraid that God had abandoned him.
From
David a descendant was born - Jesus, the Messiah, the Promised One who would
save the people from their sins. During
his earthly ministry, he touched the lives of all he met. And one of those lives was Mary.
Mary,
from Magdalena, was tortured by demonic spirits. Her mind was not her own. The demon dwelled within her, offering up her
soul until she met the man of Nazareth.
A man who set her free. He cast
out her demons and freed her mind of the torture she experienced. In thanksgiving, she gave her life to
learning from him and following him. She
loved him with all her heart. But then
he died, crucified on a cross like a common criminal. And she felt lost and alone, frightened that
he’d abandoned her. Afraid that the
demons would return, she cried and prayed in the garden, utterly devastated
until he called out her name.
And
here is where the song swells with its final refrain, not just for those characters
we read about in the scriptures, but for each and every one of us.
Glory,
glory, glory, Hallelujah
I will be the glory in Your midst
And every knee will bow to Me
And every tongue confess
Yes all the world will worship Me
In all My Holiness
I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
And I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees, who sees
I'm the God who sees
Oh I'm the God who sees, I see you
I'm the God who sees you in your wilderness
Sees you in your brokenness
When you're feeling lonely, I'm the God who sees
In the desert places, in your empty spaces
I'm the God who sees
I'm nearer than you dare believe
Here in the very air you breathe
I'm the God who sees
You
I will be the glory in Your midst
And every knee will bow to Me
And every tongue confess
Yes all the world will worship Me
In all My Holiness
I will be a ring of fire around you
And I will be the glory in your midst
And the power of My presence
Will bring you to your knees
And I will lift you up again
For I'm the God who sees, who sees
I'm the God who sees
Oh I'm the God who sees, I see you
I'm the God who sees you in your wilderness
Sees you in your brokenness
When you're feeling lonely, I'm the God who sees
In the desert places, in your empty spaces
I'm the God who sees
I'm nearer than you dare believe
Here in the very air you breathe
I'm the God who sees
You
In the midst of any pain, any
suffering, any feeling of loneliness, remember that God sees you in your
loneliness. God sees you in the
wilderness. God sees you in your brokenness. He will place a ring of fire around you and
will be the glory in your midst. He will
be in the very air you breath, for He is the God who sees – you!
Hymn The God of Abraham
Praise This is actually a choral arrangement of this
popular hymn. But I think you’ll enjoy
it.
Benediction
God has given you all that you will need as you
reach out in love and care to others. Go
into God’s world bringing the good news of redemption and hope. In Jesus’ Name, may the God Who Sees go with
you always. AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment