Happy Mother's Day!
Worship
Service for May 11, 2025
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: Jesus Christ the Passover Lamb who was
slain, lives!
P: Worthy is the Lamb to receive power and
wisdom and glory and blessing!
L: Myriads of the faithful, freed and called
to be a nation of priests of God, sing praise:
P: Blessing and honor, glory and power be
unto God, forever and ever. AMEN!
Opening Hymn – Come, Thou Fount
of Every Blessing #356/11
Prayer of Confession
God of life and death, we
confess that sometimes we are not alive to the possibilities You offer. In the midst of pain, unfairness, and fear,
we find little reason for hope. We feel
despair or blame others, but we do not turn to You for help. Forgive us, show us how to share the new life
You offer through Jesus Christ. (Silent
prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to
you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Your sins are forgiven, and your future made
new.
P: Thanks
be 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
God of all creation, we bless you for
calling the world and all its peoples to come and share your love, blessing,
forgiveness, and healing. We praise you
for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, for his ministry and passion, for his
dying and rising to free us from sin, and for the gift of your holy church that
lives to tell the whole world this good news.
We
give thanks, O Lord, for women everywhere, who look to you for guidance and
strength, or have fashioned their very lives after that of a compassionate
savior. We especially pray today for
women everywhere, those who have been mothers to their own children as well as
those who have played a motherly role in the lives of boys and girls who are
not their own. We pray for women who
have taught us the meaning of love, and have shared with us the lessons of
wisdom and grace.
We
pray for the gift of peace with liberty and justice for all people
everywhere. On this Mother’s Day, as we
celebrate our own mothers and honor all moms around the world, we also pray for
the children of the world who have been victimized by war, trapped in many
kinds of slavery, orphaned and left motherless and homeless, who need your
loving care. We pray for refugee
families, separated from one another, struggling for food and housing, for the
sick, the helpless, and the lonely.
Remember them and deliver them.
We
pray for those who are ill in body, mind, or spirit. Be with all who fight chronic disease or
crippling disability. Ease suffering
from pain, stress, and isolation.
Comfort the despairing. Renew
caregivers so they may continue their healing ministries to those under their
care.
We
especially lift up to you in prayer….
In
the following moments of silence hear our inner groanings, listen carefully to
our heartfelt wishes and prayers O Lord and heal us, as well…
All
these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior, who
taught us to prayer 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 – Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken #446/400 3 vs.
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Psalm
23
Second Scripture Reading – John
10:22-30
Sermon –
The
Crucible
(based
on John 10:22-30)
The scene that is captured in our
scripture reading this morning evokes the image of a crucible. A crucible is a heat resistant bowl or cup
used to melt metal. The word is also
used to describe a severe test. Some of
you may recognize the word from Arthur Miller’s 1956 play by the same title
which was about the Salem Witch Trials when a group of young girls accuse
several townspeople of witchcraft and the mass hysteria and accusations that
arose during this time period as they were increasingly consumed by fear and
suspicion. As well as the severe test of
character that enveloped those accused.
Our scripture
today finds Jesus, likewise, in a severe test of character – the crowd’s
emotions have become very heated because of what he is saying. As we listen to the text, we become
witnesses, watching to see how Jesus responds to and handles the anger of the
crowd and how the crowd reacts to his responses.
There is high drama in these verses
that test both Jesus and those who oppose him.
On the one hand, it tests the human part of Jesus to stay on task – to
stay committed to that purpose for which he came. It tests his courage in the midst of
immediate danger, and his ability to reason in the heat of the moment. On the other hand, it is a severe test of the
intellect and heart of those who assail him.
They must withstand Jesus’ bold, compelling defense as they look to trap
him into saying something for which they might use for accusation before
Pilate.
We’re probably not used to speaking
about Christ in terms of his courage, but we need to remember that he was
indeed human. He had been born, just
like the rest of us, as a child, was part of a family, and he loved life. Though his destiny was authored and ordained
by God; though he knew his mission and purpose was to ultimately die; though he
voluntarily took on this role; still, it took great courage, I think, for him
to follow through with this – keep in mind his outbreak in the Garden of
Gethsemane when he prayed to his Father in heaven for this cup to be removed
from him. We see a foreshadowing of that
courage in these verses in John.
This crowd is a different crowd than
the usual throngs on the mountainside or by the shore; this crowd wants Jesus
dead, even as he promises to give eternal life to those who follow him. He speaks boldly of his authority and power
even as he is outnumbered by those who seek to overpower him. It definitely creates the image of the Lamb
of God surrounded by hungry wolves. It
is a test of his courage and love.
Many of our English words are borrowed
from other languages and our English word courage comes from the French, which
means “large heart.” And that is exactly
what Christ has, a heart large enough to love each one of us completely and
unconditionally. A heart large enough to
love even his enemies and face the coming suffering of the cross, because of
his compassion for everyone, for all humanity.
Jesus has a heart with courage born of love – a heart large enough to
face this dangerous crowd and still speak the truth to them.
This scene comes after Jesus had
already made some pretty bold, if indirect, statements concerning his deity – a
couple of chapters earlier in John he spoke with a Samaritan Woman about
spiritual matters and she tells him that she knows that the Messiah is coming
and when he comes, he will explain everything.
His response to her was, “I who speak to you am he.” And in an earlier scene with pretty much the
same crowd who had tried to stone him the first time, he said to them, “If I
glorify myself, my glory means nothing.
My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like
you, but I do know him and keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it
and was glad. I tell you the truth,
before Abraham was born, I am!” It comes
as the culmination of a speech where Jesus states that he is the good
shepherd. Jesus doesn’t say to the
crowd, “I am the Messiah,” directly. Instead,
he uses symbolic language that speaks to the heart of each listener. While it is true that belief can be achieved
through intellectual persuasion, it is, ultimately, the heart of a person that
accepts Christ.
When we pull back and take a long view
of what has been said and done immediately before this present scene, we see an
inspiring progression. When Christ says,
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them and
they follow me,” Jesus is saying he wants us to hear. Now, he speaks of belief, which employs the
heart. Jesus wants us to believe. Jesus wants us to believe with our own hearts
of what he says and does.
That being said, the Jews (here in the
gospel of John, this word is usually used to refer to the Pharisees, members of
the Sanhedrin, and other leaders) – they want Jesus to end all the suspense and
state plainly if he is, in fact, the Messiah.
They want clear, precise language; and it’s what Jesus provided. His statement, “I have told you, and you do
not believe,” is precise. It allows
Jesus to avoid the trap they are trying to set for him making a statement for
which they can then accuse him before Pilate.
In addition, it gives their hearts one more chance to receive the truth
of who Jesus is, if they would only hear and listen. There was no suspense, just an unwillingness on
their part to believe all that Jesus had done and said up to that point.
Christ doesn’t make anyone
believe. Eyes can be open, yet
blind. Ears can be open, yet deaf. Hearts can be open, yet unwilling. Jesus states in vs. 26 that the Jews do not
believe; not that they couldn’t, they simply wouldn’t. Jesus, in essence says to them, “Look at my
works. Actions speak far louder than any
words I can say; seeing is believing, is it not? What do my actions and all the signs and
wonders I’ve provided, tell you who I am?”
Jesus boldly deals with their lack of
faith, and states quite succinctly the rewards for those who believe. But because of who and what they are, they do
not believe. Jesus does not ask us for
blind faith. He doesn’t say, “Believe
because I tell you to believe.” He wants
us to fully know, to fully comprehend by listening and seeing, because he
demonstrated his deity over and over again.
But the Jews’ hearts, in this crowd, where unable to do that.
The reasons for their disbelief were
many. For these religious leaders, there
was much at stake. If Jesus indeed was
the Messiah, the prestige of their positions as religious leaders would
certainly suffer, be in question, or simply be eliminated. Their income would be lost as their flock
turned to Christ. Their power and
influence would suffer, as Christ gave believers power through faith in
him. They could not afford for Jesus to
be who he said he was, even though his coming was prophesied, even though
everything about him fit the prophecies.
And, I think, more importantly, everything they interpreted about God,
the Messiah, and their beliefs would be in question. Because this Messiah wasn’t the ruler they
were expecting.
Jesus places the consequence of their
disbelief squarely on the shoulders of their refusal to believe his works. Now, angered even more, the Jews try again to
arrest him, but Jesus manages to escape.
We aren’t told how he manages his escape this time, but it demonstrates
the power of Christ to avoid capture until the time is right, until he himself
is ready, according to God’s purpose.
Now the biggest question is what does
this story mean for us today? I think it
lays out the very serious situation that every person faces – belief in Christ
or not. We should all have courage
enough to speak our faith in Christ.
Jesus gives us an opportunity to
recognize who he is; not based solely on what he says, but also by what he has
done. He challenges us to open our
hearts and he wills us to see and hear the truth around us for what it is. I think that is the heart of evangelism. It’s not simply passing out flyers or tracts,
knocking on people’s doors to ask them if they believe in Jesus Christ. It’s not about getting up on some soap box
and shouting that the end of the world is at hand and you better believe. It’s not about giving someone a talk about
the four spiritual laws. NO! It’s about being active in other people’s
lives, showing them Christ. It’s about
having open and honest conversations about your own faith journey with others,
allowing them to see Christ in you, just as Jesus showed the power and love of
God in him to those who were willing to see and learn. It’s about doing and being so that people can
see the power of Christ in you. We can’t
do these things unless we are active in the world, unless we are out in and
among the community, being part of their everyday lives.
Ultimately the questions become: Do we
see? Do we hear? Do we believe? But maybe also, as a Christian, “Can Christ
be seen in me?” And sometimes that takes
a great deal of time, effort, and courage.
AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Giver
of life and all the gifts of our lives, receive now these tokens of our
appreciation which we set before you as signs of our love and
thanksgiving. We rejoice with thankful
hearts for all your blessings. Help us
to live our lives in service to you as our continuing gift of thanks. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – Blessed Assurance #341/572 3 vs.
Benediction –
May the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all. AMEN.
Postlude
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