Worship
Service for November 19, 2023
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: O Sing to the Lord a new song for He has
done marvelous things.
P: His right hand and His holy arm have
gotten Him victory.
L: Let the sea roar and all that fills it;
P: The world and those who live in it.
L: Let the floods clap their hands;
P: Let the hills sing together for joy.
L: For the Lord is coming to judge the earth.
P: He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the people with equity.
L: O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has
done marvelous things.
Opening Hymn – Come, Ye Thankful People, Come #551/797
Prayer of Confession
Father, we thank You for the
promise of a new heaven and a new earth.
We praise You for the wonders You have declared You will perform. As we wait, O Lord, we ask that You cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Forgive us,
Lord, for the times when we doubt; when we let our hands lie idle and our
hearts focus on the wrong things.
Forgive us, Lord for the times when we have sinned, for when we have
deliberately ignored and broken Your law, or turned away from You due to
ignorance and neglect. Help us, Lord, to
overcome the evil one as we wait for Your revealing. Put within us a new spirit of commitment,
dedication, and joy. Touch us and make
us whole. (Silent prayers are
offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: If anyone is in Christ, there is a new
creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God to whom we have been
reconciled by Christ.
P: Thanks be to God!
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
Gracious and loving
God, we lift to you our prayers and praises for all of your people. You alone are Lord over all the earth. The nations are in your hands, under your
judgment, at your mercy. For the whole
creation, and all who dwell within it, we pray.
Care for those who are ill, for those who suffer at the
whim of disease, for any whose bodies are weakened by illness, for all those
who face surgery and its recovery. As we
pray for those who are ill, we also keep in prayer those who care for
them. Give them strength Lord in their
caregiving…
We especially pray
for….
O God, we pray for the nations of the earth and for their
leaders. Come to them in the midst of
their leadership, their power, their opportunities for change. Show them the things that make for
peace. Grant those same blessings, we
pray, to the leaders of all the institutions of the world, in the realms of
business and education and service.
Grant that those who labor in those organizations that they may be just,
honorable and respectful.
Hear the inner groanings of our spirit as it reaches out to
listen to Your Spirit that dwells within us and hear our silent prayers this
morning.
Hear our prayers this day O Lord, for it is in the name of
Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray 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 – We
Gather Together Hymn #559/790
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Psalm
123
Second Scripture Reading – 1
Thessalonians 5:11-28
Sermon –
As we approach the end of the
Christian year and start a new one on December 3 with the first Sunday of
Advent, we’ve recently covered a lot of passages on the purpose of Church, the
outward example of being a Christian, and the role we play in society. A large variety of those passages have come
from 1 Thessalonians. This morning we
finish with the last chapter and final verses in the first letter Paul wrote to
the new church in Thessalonica.
As I was going through some of my
reference material for this letter, I reached for my sister’s Bible. I remember when she bought it. She was so excited. She bought it in 2019, a year before she was
diagnosed with cancer. She called me and
said, “I just bought a new Bible today.
Did you know that they have a Study Bible out there that explains all
the cultural significance surrounding the passages? It makes everything make so much more sense
when you put it into context of when it was written.” I told her that I actually didn’t know that
there was a Study Bible out there for that specific purpose, but knew that it
is always important to put context to the passages that we read from the Bible.
Having always been a
cultural and history buff, I knew this kind of thing would reinvigorate my
sister’s reading of scripture, so I was very happy that she’d found it. It’s put out by Zondervan and is called the
NRSV (which stands for the New Revised Standard Version) Cultural Backgrounds
Study Bible.
Hearing anew her excitement in my
head, I picked up her Bible and went to the first letter Paul wrote to the
church in Thessalonica. It is believed
that this was nearly the first if not the very first letter Paul wrote to one
of his churches, perhaps written as early as 50 CE (the Common Era - which is
the more generic term for what we used to call AD, Anno Domini. In other words, this letter was written
roughly 20 years after Christ’s death.
So, to put that
into context, we have the events of Pentecost shortly after Jesus ascends to
heaven. The first disciples begin a new
movement within Judaism following the teachings of Christ. This movement starts to receive unwanted
attention by the Roman government and Saul, a Jewish Pharisee, did not want the
Roman government to come after Israel, Judea or Jerusalem in oppression or
subjugation any more than was necessary, as a province of Rome. So, Saul began to persecute the followers of
Christ, putting them in jail and probably having many of them killed as
blasphemers and insurrectionists. A few
years now have passed since Christ’s resurrection, Ascension, the coming of the
Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the persecution of Christ’s followers and then Saul
of Tarsus receiving a vision; a conversion experience that changes his
life. He is now called Paul and after a
year or more of study with the disciples, he becomes the movement’s most
prominent missionary/evangelist.
Historically, the Imperial Roman
Empire lasted for about 500 years. It
was nearly at its peak during Paul’s lifetime.
Its empire spanned three continents; Asia Minor, Northern Africa, and
most of Europe. Because of this vast
empire, the Romans built a network of roads in order to connect all of its
kingdoms from east to west and north to south.
Major arteries, such as the Via Engatia which passed through
Thessalonica, conveyed enormous amounts of traffic. Cities along the routes of these roads became
prosperous and cosmopolitan because they brought Roman military units and
provided safe trading. The mobility made
possible by these excellent roadways (many still in use today – 2,000 years
later) contributed greatly to the spread of Christianity as well.
From the journeys recorded in the book
of Acts, scholars estimate that Paul must have covered over 10,000 miles during
his missionary career, bringing the message of Christ’s gospel or the Good News
in person to people in every city along the way. Thessalonica was one of them. He then spent time writing letters to those
newly established churches roughly 5-15 years after his own conversion to
following Christ.
Due to the time period in history, the
expanse of the Roman empire, the network of easily traveled roads, and safer
sea voyages (although Paul still experienced three shipwrecks), the message
spread quickly and a whole new church movement, one separate from Judaism,
began. I write all of this because we have
at our disposal another, new network available for spreading the message of
Jesus Christ. Paul and the early
Christian believers had the vast Roman roads to go to places all over three
continents. It was the first time in
history that information, goods and services, and people could travel so easily
and so readily. Together, we have the internet
that can do the same. For the first time
in history, people can avail themselves of our information that we also send
out into the world, at the click of a button.
However, as Christians, what information are we sending out?
Here in this closing part of the
Thessalonica letter, Paul lays out what being a Christian means.
1.
Encourage
one another
– One young boy said to his father, “Let’s play darts. I’ll throw and you say, ‘Wonderful!’ Did you also know that it is a medical fact
that hearing and receiving words of encouragement can actually make someone
feel better physically? You are 9/10’s
more likely to get better or have a more rapid recovery rate if, when you are
ill, a doctor spends time with you giving you encouraging words. So, we as Christians should use soothing and
encouraging words with one another. The
next suggestion Paul makes takes that encouragement one step further.
2.
Build
each other up
– Building each other up isn’t just about saying encouraging words, it goes one
step further. Years ago, a young man
named Johnny Agar made the news. Johnny
had cerebral palsy, which makes physical activity difficult. But he and his dad, Jeff, had teamed up to
compete many 5K races – Dad pushing and Johnny riding. But one day, Johnny wanted to complete the
race by himself. Halfway through the
race, his dad took him out of his modified wheelchair, helped him to his
walker, and assisted Johnny as he completed the race on his own two feet. Building each other up is a habit of
encouragement that leads to people accomplishing things they’d never even
attempt on their own because there are people behind them rooting for them,
encouraging them and supporting them, even if they should fail.
3.
Respect
those who work among you
– I heard a line once in a movie, can’t remember what movie it was, but it was
a dad talking to his son after an incident had occurred. The dad told the son that he was to live his
life giving the same respect to the janitor as he’d give to the
superintendent. There might be a
difference in pay scale, they might circulate in different levels of society,
but each person warrants the same respect, no matter their pay, level of education,
color of their skin, or even gender.
Each person, and every person on the planet, should receive respect.
4.
Be
at peace among yourselves
– This can sometimes be difficult. As a
culture we haven’t been taught well how to dialogue and debate without feeling
personally attacked. Social media has
only made it worse. In spite of our
differences, we need to find a level of decorum that allows us to live
peaceably with others. At the Parliament
of the World’s Religions I learned that this doesn’t mean we give up on our own
core values for those of others, but instead we seek to understand, find common
ground, respect one another, and eventually that peace comes.
5.
Admonish
the idlers –
admonish can mean to reprimand someone firmly, but it can also mean to advise
or urge someone. Since the Bible passage
in this case would seem to warrant a positive approach, I’d say that the second
definition is more in line with what Paul was trying to convey. To urge someone who has lost their spirit and
unwilling to do something, someone who has become habitually lazy. Paul isn’t seeking retribution against
laziness. He is trying to say, first use
words of encouragement, build them up with your support, show everyone respect,
and be at peace with them. Finally, if
someone is still “not pulling their weight” so to speak – urge them to break
such a bad habit and join the team in making something great together.
6.
Encourage
the fainthearted, Help the weak, Be patient with all of them, all of these just
take the previous suggestions to new levels for those whom we’d do well to act
with generosity – the fainthearted, the weak, giving them our patience.
7.
Do
not repay evil for evil, but instead seek to do good – one of my favorite
Dr Suess books is the Butter Battle Book.
How those on either side of the wall looked at those on the other side
of the wall with suspicion and they began to fight, repaying each round of
fighting with a worse round of fighting until the ultimate nihilation was
considered. That certainly is not what
God’s wants. Do good to one another.
8.
Rejoice
always –
I find it interesting that the two shortest verses in Scripture are; “Jesus
wept” John 11:35 and “Rejoice always” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16. They seem so diabolically opposed. However, Paul often uses the word, “to
rejoice” when it comes to a greeting or an ending in his letters. He is happy for people and their
circumstances. He is happy to greet them
again. He is encouraged that they are
trying to live their lives by following Christ.
His is happy to be in contact with them and to send this letter on its
way for more teaching. It is because of
this that he asks the people of Thessalonica to “rejoice always”.
9.
Pray
without ceasing
– the only way we become close to understanding God’s will and lean on the
courage, support and strength that God gives us is by praying and to do it
“without ceasing” and finally,
10.
Give
thanks in all circumstances
– regardless of what is happening to us or around us, we know that God is in
control and knows everything that is happening.
For that we can give thanks.
Dear
Friends, in this season of Thanksgiving know that you rest in the very palm of
God’s hand. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
There
are no limits to the gifts You have given us, gracious Lord. Now we return our thanks to You for these
gifts and we bring these tokens to you, asking for Your blessing on givers and
gifts. Help these gifts and givers to be
Your witnesses throughout the world. AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – Now Thank We All Our God Hymn #555/788
Benediction –
As you have
been blessed, now go to be a blessing to others. Go, bringing the news of peace and hope, of
healing and love. Go and the God of
peace will always go with you. AMEN.
Postlude
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