You can find our live worship service on Facebook at 11:15am Sunday morning.
Worship
Service for February 12, 2023
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: We are crucified with Christ.
P: It is no longer we who live, but Christ
who lives in us.
L: For to live is Christ and to die gain.
P: Come, Lord Jesus. May Your loving Holy Spirit fill us in this
time of worship.
Opening Hymn – Near to the Heart of God Hymn #527/617
Prayer of Confession
How often, merciful God, have
we acted to please others rather than acting to please You! How often have we thought first of ourselves
and only then, if at all, of You! We
repent, for You alone must be the highest priority, the supreme goal of our
lives. We must live for You alone, all
we say and do must be out of love for You.
Yet, Lord, You know how hard this ideal is for us to achieve. We need Your help, Your grace, Your strength,
and Your wisdom to sustain and guide us, or we will fail. We turn to You to teach us to love You with
all our hearts and minds and souls and strength. Be with us always. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Friends, hear the Good News! We share the promise of God with His people
through the sacrifice of Christ.
P: Though we are unworthy, we are granted
God’s favor in Jesus Christ, and are baptized into the church of His beloved
Son.
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/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 and Lord’s Prayer
Holy God,
This day we are
reminded of the suffering of those in our own community. We pray for their health and safety. We pray for their healing and finding
solutions to their problems. And as we
expand our view to those outside of our community, we pray especially today for
those who have suffered greatly in Syria and Turkey. We pray what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 10:
Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely, you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed.
Comfort the people whose family members and friends have died as a result of these earthquakes. Draw close to them. Equip believers in Syria and Turkey to show the love of Christ to their neighbors by helping in tangible ways. Inspire generosity in the hearts of people across the world. In the face of such destruction and loss, empower us to show radical love to our own neighbors who might be experiencing grief of the loss of life, beauty, and peace. Let us not turn away, but help those in need those who are suffering and bear witness to Your presence with them.
Today, we also pray for our own loved ones…
And now listen to the voice of our hearts as we pray in silence.
Aloud, we pray together saying…
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.
Hymn – A
Mighty Fortress Is Our God Hymn #260/151
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Psalm
119:1-8
Second Scripture Reading – Matthew
5:21-26
Sermon – Forgiveness and Redemption
(based on Matthew 5:21-26 and the story from Genesis 27-33 regarding brothers
Jacob and Esau)
Have you ever been hurt by someone else, and
wanted to hurt them back? Or get even
with them? Or seek some kind of revenge?
Or retaliate against them for what they
did to you? Or maybe, worse, it kept
eating you up inside in silence so that you couldn’t eat or sleep?
Our New Testament Scripture reading this
morning from Matthew says "So, if you are offering your gift on the altar,
and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother
or sister…then come and offer your gift".
Asking for forgiveness and admitting that you’ve done something terribly
wrong to another person or being willing to forgive the person that has
offended you are never easy tasks. But
what’s even harder is being reconciled to that person – being in a restored
relationship with them. And yet, this is
the most important part of forgiveness.
The Old Testament actually gives us a
wonderful example of this in Jacob and Esau.
It covers about 5 chapters in Genesis from chapters 27-33. The story of Esau and Jacob reads like a
juicy novel. The brothers were born to Isaac, the son of Abraham. When Isaac was near death, he desired to give
to Esau, the older of the two brothers, his blessing. In biblical times, a
blessing was to grant another a place of honor and status, to publicly declare
that this person being blessed was, in essence, to replace you. And, usually, the blessing is given to the
firstborn son. In this case, that would have been Esau. Yet, as the story unfolds, Jacob, the younger
son, tricks and deceives his father, Isaac, so that the blessing is given to
Jacob, instead. Imagine the shock and
horror that Esau feels when he learns of the deception.
Unfortunately, because of Esau’s anger towards
his brother, Jacob has to leave town. At
some point in Jacob’s travels he lays down to sleep and is met by visiting
angels in his dreams. I think those
angels showed up for a reason. I think
it was to convict Jacob that before things can be right with God they have to
be right with his brother.
Jesus said that very thing in our lesson this
morning from Matthew. If you are
offering a gift at worship - of money, of praise - and you remember somebody
has ill will or hard feelings against you, go to that person and make it right,
make amends, seek reconciliation.
I wonder if sometimes our worship is
meaningless, our work is ineffective, our prayers are unanswered is because we
have not reconciled with our brothers or your sisters? And the phrase brother or sister in scripture
is simply shorthand for any other person.
It could be a child or a parent, it could be a cousin or an aunt or
uncle. It could be the neighbor down the
street or an old best friend. It doesn’t
matter who the person is.
Jacob knew that he had done wrong. Now he knew
he had to make it right. He had to take the first step. Restoring a cracked relationship is like
mending a broken arm. If your arm is broken you take initiative to get to a
doctor so he can set it, put a cast on it, so healing can take place. Broken
relationships, like broken arms, are never mended accidentally. They require
purposeful and intentional action. We
may try to deny the pain or ignore the split. We may think that time heals all wounds, but
it only moves the pain below the surface, where it will always affect future
relationships.
Now, of course, the relationship is easier to
mend when the offender apologizes to the offended. But, what if the offender
does not admit their wrong? What then? Too often, many of us resort to our
Junior High days when someone has hurt us or offended us. We go to everyone
else to plead our side of the story, to validate our feelings, to justify our
anger, and we don't go to the person who has offended us. But the Bible tells
us to go directly to that person and talk to them in private. That’s easier said than done, but it’s
necessary if you want to restore the relationship, because even the offended
has a role to play.
So when we go to that person, what do we say? Well, mathematics teaches us that "the
shortest distance between two points is a straight line." The same
principle is true in reconciling relationships. The shortest distance between
two people is a straight line. A straight line like: "I was wrong,"
or "I haven't been honest with you" or "Your actions hurt
me," or "I love you too much to allow our relationship to
crumble." Get right to it.
The most important part at this stage however,
is to clarify not confront. Often when
we’ve gotten up enough strength to come to the other person, it is in an
attitude of confrontation, in an accusatory or revenge seeking mode. I would suggest that, instead, you seek to
clarify first. Not always, but often,
the issue at hand is a misunderstanding. Someone said something that was taken
out of context or stated incorrectly. So
seek first to understand, to clarify.
In our story with
Jacob and Esau, you’ll find that after being convicted of his own behavior Jacob prayed, now granted, he prayed for the
wrong reasons, but, he, nevertheless, prayed. He prayed that Esau would spare his life. Prayer is always the best place to start, it
can be the salve for wounded parties and the lubricant for friction in
relationships.
This process of reconciliation is not a cake
walk. It will often be messy. Hearts
have been hardened. Feelings have been
hurt. Emotions are on edge. Wounds are gaping. The offended when approached by the offender
may look for an ulterior motive and may feel that the offender is disingenuous.
The offended may be thinking, "Why
after all these years do you want to get together now? Why do you want to make things right
now?"
God needs time to soften hearts, to ease
emotions, to heal wounds, to bring understanding to the reconciling parties. And there is no greater power available to us for
that to happen than prayer. Because prayer
changes us.
On that morning after all those years had gone
by, Esau and Jacob met. Jacob humbled
himself before his brother by ". . . bowing to the ground seven times
until he approached his brother" (Genesis 33:3). He came with the right spirit and the right
attitude. He acknowledged that he had
done the wrong. He was the deceiver. He tricked his brother out of his blessing. He was at fault.
Every action of reconciliation requires that
someone in the hurting relationship, preferably both parties, admit their fault
and their desire to repair the damage.
At the face to face meeting Genesis tells us
that "…Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and
kissed him. Then they wept"
(Genesis 33:4). The two brothers
embraced, throwing their arms around each other. The action of both Jacob and Esau is a picture
of vulnerability. To embrace someone else
is always to expose your heart, especially in a broken relationship. And to expose your heart is to reveal your
part in the damaged relationship. Here,
you reveal the hurt and the pain you caused. You admit that you were wrong.
Now, here is the rub. Whenever you expose your heart you stand the
chance of having your heart broken, again. People will let you down, disappoint you, and
trample your emotions. Crawling into a
shell, living in isolation would be easier. There, safe from the pain and hurt of
relationships, you could shut out all of humanity.
Could it be that you have been hurt so deeply
that you don't want to expose your heart again? But do you really want to live that way? Do you want to go through life living in a
cocoon, safe from the hurtful arrows of others, but cut off from the
relationships that give you love and life and joy?
Jacob wanted to find favor in the eyes of
Esau. He sought peace. He desired to put the past behind him. He humbled himself before Esau. He opened up
his heart. He wanted most of all
forgiveness. And Esau embraced
Jacob. As they held each other, I'm sure
that Jacob said, "Please forgive me, brother." Then, Esau spoke those
life-changing words, "Brother, I forgive you." Forgiveness is not optional in reconciling a
broken relationship. Forgiveness
involves letting go so you can get on with the rest of your life. Forgiveness means that there will be no
continuing resentment or bitterness. We
hope for the best for the other. Forgiveness
is a long healing, not a momentary one.
Jacob wanted to make things right. He had harmed and wronged his brother. He had stolen his birthright and all the
inheritance that goes with it. So, he
brought with him droves of herds and flocks to make restitution for the wrong
Esau had suffered. Restitution is
attempting to restore that which has been damaged or destroyed and seeking
justice whenever we have the power to act or to influence those in authority to
act.
Restitution is much easier when it comes to
physical property. If you have taken
physical property, you give it back or you pay for it. However, restitution is much more difficult
when you have said words that have damaged a person's name and character.
Here's the question: In what ways do you need
to restore that which you have damaged in the broken relationship?
Jacob acknowledges his wrong; he reconciles. Esau forgives. The once broken relationship is mended. Wouldn't it be nice if all broken relationship
ended that way? It can.
If you want to know what the face of God looks
like, go to the brother or sister you have offended, ask for their forgiveness,
then, hear them say, "You are forgiven." When forgiveness is extended to the brother or
sister who has wounded us, we are like God. The absence of this process of reconciliation
robs the church of the power of unity. As
God has forgiven you, you are to forgive those who have hurt you. As God has reconciled with you, you are to
reconcile with others.
May the kingdom of God begin with us and if
any harbors resentment or harm, let us ask for forgiveness and be
reconciled. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Gracious
God, as we present these offerings, may we be reminded of the many blessings
You have shared with us as individuals , and as a community of believers. You have nurtured us with a love that knows
no limits or boundaries. May our sharing
this day reveal our priorities and our promises, for we belong to You and offer
You our gifts, that they may be used in mission and in ministry to bring glory
to You. Amen.
Closing
Hymn – Precious Lord, Take My Hand Hymn #404/684
Benediction –
As we journey
out into the world, may each of us walk in the light of God’s ways, striving to
be blameless and just. Hold us fast to
not be led astray, but may God’s unconditional love cover us when we do. Go in peace!
Postlude
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