Tomorrow we begin our free lunches for kids 18 years old and under at Bethesda Church from 12-1pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Worship
Service for June 9, 2024
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: In all times and in all places, God is
with us.
P: God’s love flows over and around us,
lifting us in hope!
L: Shout for joy!
P: Sing praises to God!
L: Get ready to become disciples for Jesus.
P: Lord, make us ready to serve You. AMEN.
Opening Hymn – All People That
On Earth Do Dwell #220/101
Prayer of Confession
Lord, forgive us when we see
Your miracles all around us and still doubt Your power, presence, and
love. Forgive us when we treat this
world and each other with careless indifference or with malice. You, who have created the most wondrous
things from the smallest of particles, can create in our hearts confidence and
hope. From our lives You can fashion the
most delightful miracles that can serve You through acts of mercy and
kindness. Free us, O Lord, to receive
Your blessings and, having received them, to find the numerous ways in which we
can serve You. Hear our cries. Come to us and bring us home. In Jesus’ name we pray. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Do not doubt. It is God who has created all that is! It is God who has called to your hearts and
spirits. God is with you.
P: We
give thanks to God! AMEN.
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
Mighty and
Holy God, we are thankful for the life You have given to us and for Your
renewing Holy Spirit that meets us with challenge and comfort. Thank You for gathering us here with others
who share faith with us. We pray for the
community of faith, that we may be instruments of peace on earth. Guide our church and all believers around the
world to extend the grace of Jesus Christ through service and commitment to
faith and understanding.
Make us
mindful of those from whom the goodness and abundance of your creation are
hidden; of those who have been dispossessed from their homes and lands; of
those unable to find food and bread.
Strengthen our hands to reach out to those living in fear and in the
shadows of violence. Give us Your Holy
Spirit to turn our wishes for justice into expressions of concern. Make our prayers into efforts on our own part
towards justice and grace.
We lift up
to You our requests for healing, comfort, compassion and understanding for our
neighbors and loved ones. We especially
prayer for….
And in
silence we offer up to You our deepest prayers that we cannot find words to
express. Enter, O Lord, into our hearts
and hear us…
We offer
these petitions in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who taught us
to 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 – Open My Eyes #324/563
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Psalm
138
Second Scripture Reading – 2
Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Sermon – Extend
Grace
We
celebrated Pentecost three weeks ago. Peter,
the rock upon which Christ said that he would build this church, stood up among
the assembly of thousands in Jerusalem and gave an eloquent speech about the
life of Christ; who he was and why these people were behaving the way they
were. When people in the crowd heard
what Peter said, the scriptures tell us in Acts that “they were cut to the
heart” meaning that they were overcome with emotional anguish about Christ,
surrounding their own grief for him and understanding the suffering that he
went through in order to show the world his purpose. In coming to this, they also wanted to know
what they could do. Peter replied,
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that
your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your
children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to
him.” He spoke longer and showed them
more and more about what Jesus taught.
And on that day three thousand people were baptized and joined in the
work of the disciples.
But no one knew, at that very moment, what was
in store for this new church. No one
knew what journey they would be embarking on, now that Jesus was gone and they
were left with something called the Holy Spirit that was supposed to pour out
gifts to each of them; understanding, wisdom, justice, fortitude, wonder and
awe. And as this new community of
believers worked together under this power using those gifts, they would
eventually produce fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits
of the Holy Spirit, all poured out for them on the day of Pentecost. In order for us to comprehend all of that, I
think we need to review them first.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are:
Understanding, wisdom, justice, fortitude,
wonder, and awe.
When those gifts are used well, there are
fruits that are born from them, so, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If the gifts of the Holy Spirit are wasted or
misused, then the fruits of the Holy Spirit simply do not come. EVER.
We are now more than 2,000 years separated
from that moment in history. A lot has
changed. The world has changed. Christianity was an isolated religion,
scattered by the diaspora when Rome invaded and struck down Jerusalem in 70
A.D. It did, however, grow among those who
were scattered, who shared the good news of Christ.
But, as it grew, it embraced empire/politics/power. It was adopted by Constantine who then made
Christianity the legal religion of all people in the known world at that
time. People who didn’t believe were
executed/murdered/outcast/exiled. Approximately
500 years later, the world entered the dark ages of the 11th through
13th Centuries and Christianity, as a religion, nearly
vanished. It remained as a practiced
faith only in hushed/secret and isolated monastic communities. But, as the rising power and feuding of the
European monarchs grew, the church once again found an ally and embraced empire/politics/power
and intertwined where it didn’t belong. Christianity
almost died again, but as world domination and exploration into new lands grew,
a new brand of Christianity also found new lands to conquer, exploiting the
native peoples and their homelands, claiming the right to abscond land as a
divine right. Since the time of the
Reformation in the 16th Century, we saw new Christian churches with
different ideas, beliefs, and doctrines crop up in every village, town, city,
and corner of the world until Christianity truly became a World Religion, but
at tremendous cost to its own reputation.
In the past 50 years or so that has begun to
change again, while we witness more and more churches closing their doors. I believe that we are now dealing with the
backlash of that reputation, several hundred years later. Time, has a long memory. Kenda Creasy Dean, a United Methodist pastor
said, “We, in America have come to believe that Christianity allows us to
dictate our values to the world, rather than demonstrating our values to the
world through lives of engagement and service.
We have forgotten that we serve a crucified Lord whose only crown was a
crown of thorns not one of gold. Perhaps
now that Christendom is over and ended, the church can be the true church again
and seek the kingdom of God.”
I’d like to add this statement to hers,
“Christianity was never intended to be like the world – it was always intended
to be different.” And I’d like to
closely examine the words she uses.
“We’ve come to believe that we can dictate our values to the world,
rather than demonstrate our values to the world.”
These comparisons are difficult to distinguish
between – demonstrating rather than dictating.
And yet, they are so very different.
When we look at the gifts of the Holy Spirit
and the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it comes down to a word used in today’s
Scripture passage; grace.
The author of this letter to the Corinthian
church writes in verse 15, all that we do, all that we show you, is for your
sake, “everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and
more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” And the following verse, verse 16 tells us,
“Do not lose heart.”
In can be easy to give up, to say, “What can
we do if the tide is so strongly against us?”
It’s time to re-fashion a vision for the future, to truly live into the
purpose and meaning of the church and Christianity, to extend grace to more and
more people, to no longer be of the world, but rather to set the world aside
and engage the world in a new way.
Three years ago, at the May meeting of the
session, the elders of both congregations chose this as the driving task of our
partnership together, as we look to the future.
This past year, that work of the session has now come down to the work
of the church, of your membership, of all of us working together.
And as we work together, as we form a
discernment of our life as the church for he future, what is God’s vision for
us? What will define us? What will our focus be? What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? How are we caring for the physical well-being
and the spiritual life of our members?
How are we proclaiming the fullness of God’s good news to those outside
the church? What is God doing in the
world at-large that he wants us to participate in? What opportunities is God showing us
regularly; monthly, weekly, daily that we should grasp hold of and know that
this is our mission? How are we
extending grace to more and more people.
That is the journey we are on. Often times, as churches struggle for a
vision, entering that journey, they turn inward. Beginning that journey can be frightening and
scary. No one knows what lurks behind
the bushes, or what is around the bend, or what potential threats may come. So, we huddle together and walk cautiously
forward. We could be on defense mode
only, ready to attack or flee depending upon the event that comes.
I would like us to enter this new journey with
the innocence of a child, looking around at what amazing things God is doing,
an openness to the fantastic wonder of God’s world and seeing how grace can
strengthen us, define us, and shape our vision for the future. A grace that extends to more and more people.
But what exactly is that grace?
We can extend grace with our words: Be kind and gentle in what you say and how
you say it.
We can extend grace with our actions: Look for
opportunities to do a kindness, such as extending a helping hand. Or you can choose not to respond in kind when
someone is rude to you.
We can be present: Be there when someone needs
help or support.
And finally, we can forgive unconditionally:
Forgive others just as God has forgiven us.
Kathleen Norris, in her book called Amazing
Grace, talks about the biblical character Jacob as an appealing tale of
unmerited grace. Here’s a man who has
just deceived his father and cheated his brother out of an inheritance. But God’s response to finding Jacob
vulnerable, sleeping all alone in open country, is not to strike him down for
his sins but to give him a blessing.
Jacob wakes from his dream of angels ascending
and descending on a stairway to heaven, in awe and wonder, exclaiming, “Surely
the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” For once his better instincts take hold, and
he responds by worshipping God. He takes
the stone that he’d kept close by all night, perhaps to use as a weapon should
he be attacked by an animal or his furious brother Esau, and sets it up as a
shrine, leaving it for future travelers, so that they, too, will know that this
is a place of awe and wonder, the dwelling place of God.
Norris goes on to say that she was reminded of
this story about Jacob when she came across a young couple with an infant at an
airport departure gate. The baby was
staring intently at other people, and as soon as he recognized a human face, no
matter whose it was, no matter if it was young or old, pretty or ugly, bored or
happy or worried-looking he would respond with absolute delight. She said, “As I watched that baby play with
any adult who would allow it, I felt as awe-struck as Jacob, because I realized
that this is how God looks at us, staring into our faces in order to be
delighted, to see the creature he made and called good, along with the rest of
creation.”
She suspects only God, and well-loved infants
can see this way, but it gives her hope to think that when God gazed on the
sleeping Jacob, he looked right through the tough little schemer and saw
something good, if only a capacity for awe, for recognizing God and
worshipping. That Jacob will worship
badly, trying to bargain with God, doesn’t seem to matter much to God. God promises to be with him always.
Peter denied Jesus, and Saul persecuted the
early Christians, but God could see within those apostles what they could
become. God does not punish Jacob as he
lies sleeping because he can see in him Israel, the foundation of a
people. God loves to look at us, and
loves it when we will look back at him.
Even when we try to run away or attack as Jacob did and was ready to do. God will find us, and bless us, even when we
feel most alone, unsure if we’ll survive the night. God will find a way to let us know that he is
with us in this place, wherever we are, however far we think we’ve run.
On our journey together we will take the gift
of the Holy Spirit of wonder and awe in the Lord and while we travel, we will
cast a vision that becomes clearer and clearer to us as we are open to the ways
of God, offering grace to more and more people.
And as we go we will begin to see our surroundings the way God sees it
and more importantly, we will see one another and those whom we come across on
our journey the way God sees us; extending grace. In doing so, my hope is that we will find
thanksgiving and glory in the Lord and not lose heart. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Holy
God, may the offerings we bring and the service we offer lift the Holy Spirit
into the midst of our church and our community, so that Your good news may be
proclaimed and realized. May your grace
pervade our work, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing #237 2 vs.
Brown
Hymnal
Benediction –
Go now in
peace. Bear witness to God’s love to all
you meet, extending grace as you go. AMEN.
Postlude
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