A God for Everyone

October 19, 2025 Jeremiah 31:27-34 A God for Everyone 19th Sunday after Pentecost Prelude Greeting Call to Worship We have gathered once again, Lord of all and Lord of us. We come to lift our prayers, and to sing your praises once again. We come to ask and hope and long to see your justice in the land. We worship in that hope and will work in that Spirit. Derek Weber, March 2025 Opening Prayer Holy God, we turn to you this morning, aware of the gift you give us in scripture. You offer us your truth in story, in song, and in hard teachings. Help us recognize the goodness of what’s offered. Encourage us to seek what you offer. Challenge us to discipline ourselves to learn. Inspire us celebrate the love which expands in us as we draw closer to you and to your ways. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart UMH 500 A Sermon for all Ages Grapes and apples Good morning, everyone! Have you ever eaten a grape that was really sour? (Make a funny face—pucker up!) Yeah, it makes your mouth wrinkle up, doesn’t it? Let’s pretend I gave you a sour grape, and then your friend’s mouth puckered up instead of yours! Wouldn’t that be strange? That’s what the people in the Bible were saying in Jeremiah’s time. They said, “The parents ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth were set on edge.” That means, “We’re having a hard time because of what someone else did.” But God said, “No more sour grapes! I’m going to plant something new.” God wanted each person to take care of their own heart and choices. God said, “I will plant and watch over you.” Isn’t that wonderful? (Chat GPT.5) Object: an apple for display and apple seed packets, enough for everyone Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like apples? I do, too. I want to tell you a little story today about a famous man named Johnny Appleseed. His real name was John Chapman. Back around 200 years ago, John Chapman traveled all across the United States planting apple orchards. Everywhere he went all across America, John Chapman planted apple seeds. He loved apples, and he believed they were healthy for people, and so he planted them wherever he went. And soon people started calling John Chapman by the nickname of Johnny Appleseed. We can be thankful that Johnny Appleseed decided to spread good stuff like apple seeds wherever he went. But Johnny also spread a weed called dog fennel everywhere he went. Johnny thought that dog fennel was a good plant, but actually it's not. The dog fennel weed gets into gardens and crops, and keeps the good crops from growing. Also, dog fennel weed is really smelly. So everywhere Johnny Appleseed went, he spread a good thing, apples, and he spread a bad thing, dog fennel weed. You know, you and I are like Johnny Appleseed. Each day, we choose whether to spread good stuff or bad stuff in other people's lives. If we are nice to other people, if we share our things, if we tell other people about God's love, then we are spreading good things in their lives. If we are mean to other people, if we are rude, if we don't show God's love to others, then we are spreading bad things. We can choose what we spread. This new year, let's choose (start handing out the apple seed packets) to only spread the apple seeds. Let's spread goodness wherever we go. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Prayer for Transformation and New Life Beloved God of All, We often feel deserted by Divine Justice and Peace, especially after absorbing the news each day. We allow ourselves to fully walk away from spreading Good News of your love and grace after feeling the lack of mercy in our world. We would rather be silent in places of comfort instead of shining your light in our pain-present reality. Our hearts can not bear knowing of any further wrongdoings. Open our souls to your healing. Embolden us to be persistent in our quest to do justice and love kindness. May we follow your light when the shadows attempt to swallow our resolve. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michelle Torigian)) Words of Grace Our souls continue to open to the healing and hope of God. May we embrace the glow of God’s grace as we seek ways to care for our neighbors. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michelle Torigian) Testimonies Joe and Joellyn Byers Scripture Jeremiah 31:27-34 Sermon A God for Everyone The Blame Game Sour grapes culture in the bible Jeremiah’s use of the blame game The last chapter of Jeremiah – change of heat and a change of tone. Very heavy seems like there is no hope A town with no hope A Little town in Maine, flagstaff was scheduled to be flooded in order to make way for a new damn. People knew for months that their town was doomed. Roofs needed to be repaired, buildings needed to be fixed. But no one was willing to spend on a house that they knew was going to be destroyed in the future any way. People noticed that as time got closer for the town to be destroyed – thinks started to look more and more bedraggled. No one was willing to fix anything or clean up anything. There was no hope, there was no freedom, no reason to try to do anything different. If God doesn’t love you, if God is threatening to divorce you and to forget all about you – what is the point of living in God’s will? Why obey laws that are designed to mess you up? Jeremiah knew that he had to create a new future, a future with hope, a promise that if you mess up, God will let you start all over again. God wont hold sin against When we have no hope, we don’t try. Song that God loves you. Gives us three promises – thus says the lord 3 promises. Final message that god loves you, and will be with you Boy and the comic books Son moved by fathers tears Wangerin has a wonderful story, called "Matthew, Seven, Eight, and Nine" about how he tried to stop his son Matthew from stealing comic books. He tried various uses of the law over several years and continued to fail. Finally, he resorted to something he rarely used: a spanking. He did it deliberately, almost ritualistically, and he was so upset when he finished that he left the room and wept. After pulling himself back together, he went in to Matthew and hugged him. A number of years later, Matthew and his mother were doing some general reminiscing, and Matthew happened to bring up the time when he kept stealing comic books. "And you know why I finally stopped?" he asked. "Sure," she said, "Because Dad finally spanked you." "No!" replied Matthew, "No, because Dad cried." He cared for me, and his tears made all of the difference. Tone of the Hebrew religion starts to change. Less about blame shame and guilt and more about love, forgiveness, mercy. Jeremiah’s story is about hope through God’s love. Understands us – wants us to succeed. So that we can show love to others Piano teacher A piano teacher once told her students, “My goal isn’t that you play from memory—it’s that you play from the heart.” Years later, one student became a nurse. During a long night shift, she sat beside a dying patient and quietly hummed that same piece she’d learned years ago. She said, “I didn’t need sheet music. The song was still in me.” Finally all familiar with passwords – if you don’t write it down, you lose it Don’t need a password for Gods love - inside of us. Mission We are God’s co-gardeners. The mission field isn’t just “out there”—it begins in the soil of our hearts and spreads wherever God plants us. When we invest our prayers, presence, gifts, and service, we join God’s renewal project. Discipleship True discipleship is not memorizing commands but embodying Christ’s compassion. It’s when forgiveness flows naturally, generosity feels joyful, and service springs from love—not duty. Stewardship Stewardship is not a program—it’s a response of people whose hearts are alive to God’s presence. When the covenant is written on our hearts, generosity becomes second nature. We give, serve, and care because we know God personally. Let us pray….. Song Love Divine, All Loves Excelling UMH 384 Prayers of the People (Do not print) O Lord our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You created the heavens and the earth and placed us in your world to glorify and enjoy you forever. And yet we have recognized the despair, dismay, and injustice; the violence and the disasters of the world in which we live. We seek to be faithful to you and your glory and yet, our hearts and souls are unsettled and troubled. We come to you in need of the healing and peace that only you can provide. And so, we pray for rest. We pray for rest for those weary from the demands of a culture that has turned us into consumers. Rest for those weary from unmet requests and unjust treatment. Rest and healing for those weary from illness, grief, loneliness, and loss. We pray for attention. We pray for attention for those distracted by too many good things. We pray for attention for those who feel like a pinball instead of a plant with roots running deep. We pray for attention to your gifts of grace that we might know delight. We pray to say no. We pray to say no to destructive forces and idols that pull us away from you, O Lord. We pray to say no to the ways we take your creation for granted and destroy what you have placed in our care. We pray to say no to all that addicts us to unhealthy behaviors and relationships. We pray for nourishment. We pray that we might nourish our souls with your Word. We pray that we might nourish our bodies with fruits, vegetables and exercise. We pray that we might nourish our minds with the truth. We pray for the log in our eyes. We confess that we are overly concerned with the behavior and belief of others. We confess that we fail to accurately see our own faults and failings. We confess that we pull back from others instead of working together for justice, freedom, and peace. We pray that you might speak to us. We pray that your Word might dwell within us and be engraved upon our hearts. We pray for the right words to speak in troubled times. We pray that your Spirit might give us eyes to see and ears to hear the new Word you are still speaking today. We pray for wonder and awe. We pray that beyond our hope and imagination, you might bring peace to war-torn lands. We pray that you might surprise us in the ordinary after long waits. We pray that we might see your fingerprints in our own. Finally, we pray for all those needs unnamed that trouble and unsettle our souls, needs known to you and bigger than we can handle on our own. Into your hands, O Lord, we place these prayers, longing for the day when you will make all things new. As we wait with anticipation and hope, we join our voices with disciples of all the ages to pray as Jesus has taught us, “Our Father …” (Presbyterian Outlook, Matthew Rich) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Jesus asked the question in Luke 18: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Today as we come to our time of offering, let’s recognize this is one act which demonstrates our faith. We give because we have faith, expressed through the ministries and work of this congregation (name one or two). We give because we have faith, knowing our financial support will help build up this congregation, allowing us to show God’s love in the midst of apathy, distrust, and selfishness. We give because we have faith in Jesus, the one who taught his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the least – to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So this invitation is for each and all of us to give financially, to give our talents, to give our time. Give in response to the abundance we have received: life, air, water, food, and so much more! Let us share our morning tithes, gifts, and offerings. Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, thank you for your abundant gifts by which our lives are blessed. Thank you for the ways you offer us your commandments and decrees to support the destitute and care for the widows and orphans. Thank you now for these gifts and for each one who has given, that we might use these resources to help create life on earth as it is in heaven. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May the God of Hope stir us to awaken to Divine dreams. May the Christ of Light embolden us to use our voices May the Spirit of Peace fill us with the resolve to transform our world. With help from the Holy One, we will never lose heart! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Michelle Torigian) Community Time – Sharing of Joys and Concerns Benediction Here in this place, God transforms us into disciples, so we may share the grace etched upon our hearts. Here with these people, compassion is written on our hearts, so we may join Jesus in bringing justice to all. Now, in these moments, the Spirit is breathed into us, so we can be as persistent as God in bringing hope to the world. © Thom M. Shuman Additional illustrations You could answer every question on the Jeopardy board in the Bible category and still not have a living relationship with God. That's knowledge about God. And it has very little use in life. But personal knowledge of God comes from a relationship with the Lord. We get this knowledge when we invite Jesus to become the Lord and Savior of our lives. Only when we make that commitment do we begin to know the Lord in a personal way. A father took his young son to a major league baseball game along with one of the father's friends. The father's friend had a son who was a pitcher for one of the major league teams. It was the father's intention to stay after the game and have his friend's son introduced to his own boy. After the game, the trio made their way to the locker room door and waited for the players to come out. As they waited for his friend's son to come out, some of the star players pushed away the fans and made a dash for their cars. Other players came out and signed autographs, but the boy didn't really get to talk to any of them. But when his father's friend's son came out, because the lad was with his dad, the player took the time to shake his hand, to talk to him, and to greet him as a real human being. After that experience, the young boy paid a lot of attention to that player's career. He did so because he felt he had a relationship with the player. He had met him face to face, and that made all the difference. A symbol of God’s love A baby bird asked his mother, that is air – she said no words to her baby, she just spread here wings and flew. A baby fish asked its mother- what is water – she said nothing, she just swished her tail and started to fly. A baby ant ask his mother what is dirt, she said nothing she just dug a little more. A baby child asked her mother what is love – she opened her arms and hugged the baby. A God fearer asked God what is forgiveness – he sent his son to the cross to die for you. What better promise do you need of God’s love for you? Live your live dwelling in the love of God.