The Endurance of the Spirit

May 3, 2026 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 7:55-60 The Endurance of the Spirit Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship (in response to Psalm 31) One: In challenging times, we turn to God, our rock and our refuge. Many: Our lives are in God’s hands – the One who will still our fears. One: We can trust God who blew Spirit into each of us, and guides us to full life. Many: May God’s face shine on us and on all who worship the Lord. One: The Lord provides redemption for each and for all. Many: Thanks be to God, who shows steadfast love to all creation! All: Today we praise God and take courage as we wait for the Lord. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Opening Prayer Abundant and Generous God, we’ve come to honor you in this hour, grateful for the gifts you pour out on us day by day. Accept our praise. Fill us with your Spirit so we might act in love toward those who stand in need all around us. Renew in each of us the recognition of Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life.” Turn our hearts to scripture to inspire us, even as we grow into salvation, encouraging us to taste and see that the Lord is good. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song A Sermon for all Ages The Apostles Creed – Ecumenical Version. UMH882 Prayer for illumination Your Word, O God, is a source of refuge and guidance. Lead us, and inspire our hearts and souls as we engage holy Scripture with our minds and spirits. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Jimmy Hoke) Scripture Acts 7:555-60 Sermon The Endurance of the Spirit The theme for our lesson today is rocks. We can find rocks everywhere. Rocks can be very useful, they absorb water, they can keep weeds from growing. Rocks can also do some damage, if they hit your windshield while driving, or someone throws it at your window. In our scripture for today – Steven, a prophet is killed by people throwing rocks at him. This story is important because Steven is the first Christian martyr. A martyr is someone killed for practicing their faith.. martyrs are our example of how to keep the faith in difficult situations. Remember the book of Acts is all about how the goodness of Christ spread throughout the world the work of the Holy Spirit. In this case, the hs uses death to encourage the disciples to move further out into the world. After Easter, they were couped up in one room. Eventually it became safe to meet in people’s houses. The houses got so crowded that they had to move to public spaces. And even that got crowded. Every time they met, they had a meal. People were coming for the free meal. It got too overwhelming for the apostles to do everything. To cook, serve, cleanup and also prepare a worship service. So they had the first church council meeting ever in order to get more help. 7 men were appointed to be helpers. IT was their job to prepare and serve the meal, while the apostles worked on worship. Steven was one of those 7 men. He became a deacon – literally a server. The word deacon is just a fancy word for helper. So that is how we got our offices of the church – apostle, elder, deacon. Today every denomination uses these words, but they give them different definitions. A deacon is usually a lay person who has been given a responsibility to forward the mission. The story does say that hands were laid on steven, so he may have been ordained. In church we all have a part to pay – whether it is cooking, mowing the grass, visiting, giving, or singing int eh choir, or sitting in the pew. The helpers are the most important part of the church. As I said, steven had hands layed on him – he also felt called to preach. His first sermon was a little long – that is why we don’t read all of chapter 7 today. He was honest with the people – telling him they were not living up to his faith. They were so insulted that they stoned him to death. As he was being killed – he prays for the crowd and forgives them. Just before he dies, he looks up and sees a dove, and he knows the holy spirit is with him. If you ever see a picture of a man crying and looking up at a dove – that is Steven. Also in that moment he says that he sees Jesus standing at the right of God in heaven. Most people see Jesus sitting. Steven’s unique vision of Jesus is our inspiration to not be afraid to stand up for our faith. They don’t stone people anymore. So we don’t have to be afraid to help out. We can live as Christians, to help those in need, to serve the church, to look for the dove in our lives. We don’t have to be afraid to respresent Christ, even if it means giving a tough sermon to someone. Willie James Jennings, Acts: “The church was born in the tight space between faith and fear and forever lives in that space. Only the Holy Spirit keeps that space from collapsing in on us.” Do we feel that tension? Do we fear only the loss of institutional power, or do we fear something more existential, more rooted in God’s justice and shalom? If our only fear is to keep the budgets filled and doors open, then perhaps our fear is misplaced, and we are no longer “The Church,” but a club grasping for relevance in a world that no longer needs us. The holy spirit is still working today. The disciples left Jerusalem and went throughout Europe, the word crossed the ocean and came to America and spread like wildfire – even here to Wilmington. The spirit is leading us to keep spreading the word whereever we go. Evangelism, stewardship, worship and music, aiding society, youth work - these are your ministries, ministries which laypeople can do well. If you accept those ministries, then the same thing that happened to Stephen will likely happen to you. I don't mean you'll be stoned to death - few Christians make such a sacrifice today. I mean what happened to Stephen before his death. Remember? Acts says, "And Stephen (became) full of grace and power (and) did great wonders and signs among the people." So enthused did he become by practicing his faith, he couldn't resist gathering people to preach to them. In doing this he discovered the secret to a vital faith - acting in the name of Christ will lead to a fervent love of Christ. My friends, I give you the same commission Peter gave Stephen. Accept the ministry God offers you. Accept it for the faith-lift it will give you. Accept it for what you can give him, his church, his world. CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, Prayer of the Day Our Way: you call us to celebrate your peace in a world which worships war; to celebrate your freedom in the face of oppression; to celebrate the seed of faith planted in the doubts of our hearts. Our Life: you would have us celebrate the safe ground of hope emerging from the flood of our tears; celebrate those who love us in the midst of hurt and hatred; celebrate our salvation as we struggle with sin. Our Truth: you teach us to celebrate our new life in the gift of the Risen Lord; to celebrate the grace of your heart which melts our fears; to celebrate that all our moments are cradled in your hands. Our Way, our Truth, our Life, we lift our prayers to you as we pray, saying… (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman) Lord’s Prayer A Moment for Stewardship As the sun’s presence lengthens in the northern hemisphere, trees burst into full green and flowers blossom in field and forest, we recognize the blessing of these days. Many feel the bubbling up of joy in response to Jesus’ resurrection. Many know the gifts of light, laughter, and love which confirm our growing into abundant LIFE. And we’re eager to taste and see the Lord is good! Sometimes that happens as the foundation of relationships grows more real in our congregation. Sometimes it happens as serendipity when we welcome strangers and find they become dear friends. Sometimes it happens as one gift inspiring another and soon the box is overflowing with what is offered. Today, you’re invited to share what you have already received: your time, your talent, your treasure (including moments of your life translated into the money). Let’s use this opportunity as one way to celebrate the One who calls us into marvelous light! Prayer of Thanksgiving Provider God, Thank you for offering your Realm to us here and now! In the resurrected Jesus, you show us the way, the truth, and the life. With these gifts, we cast our vote for that life: days of generosity instead of fear, hours of hope instead of daily despair. So help us use these offerings, trusting you to show your Way through our congregation, our community and throughout your cosmos. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Invitation to Communion You shape a safe place for us, Imaginative God, as you sent your Child, Jesus, to show us the Way. Born a tiny baby as we are, he showed us how to grow into your people. The cornerstone of your Realm, Jesus uses us to build a spiritual home for all. Committing his spirit to you, he entered the emptiness of death, so we might stand on the solid ground of the resurrected life. Once, we were nobodies, alone and hopeless, but by your mercy, we are now living your Truth, gathered in your love around this Table, where your Spirit shows us the Life of his bread and cup. You lean over to serve us the bread, enveloping us in your grace so we might be filled and sent to be your people. You offer us the cup of hope, which can heal our troubled hearts and strengthen us to serve your world. And when the Way leads us home to you, when your Life gathers us around the Table which is prepared by your Truth, we will sing glad songs of praise to you forever. So we come, eager to share this feast and live fully in you! (Lectionary Liturgies, thom Shuman) Communion Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in the power of God in you and through you. Do the work of loving God, neighbor, and self. Do the work of holding the complexity of life in tension with compassion and care. Do the work of believing a future with hope is possible. Do the work of nurturing that hope into a vision and vision into reality. Do the work of glorifying God by following the way of Christ and praying with our lives. Do the works. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction May God bless you as you leave this place to follow the Way, to seek after the Truth, and to rejoice in the Life of the Triune God who draws us together and sends us out to be agents of Resurrection life in a hurting world. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, October 2025. Indeed, all our lives we admire people who appear to be strong. At nine that may be the tough little kid who challenges his classmates on the playground. At 17 it could be the guy who has a hot car and breaks all the girls' hearts. At 25 it might be the aggressive young executive already climbing her way up the corporate ladder. But at some point, earlier or later, hopefully we begin to see an inner strength, and appreciate its superiority. Might, the promised gift of the Spirit, is that inner strength and the courage to act upon our convictions. Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah still comprised the earliest Christian community as Luke describes it in Acts. But among them were Greek-speaking Jews, and there were complaints that their needs were being neglected. So the disciples chose seven from that group to serve as their designated assistants. One of those seven was a man named Stephen. All we know of Stephen is Luke's description that he was a man "full of grace and power" and that he did "great wonders and signs among the people." And we know the incident that leads up to today's lesson: how the Jews challenged his preaching, had him arrested and placed before the council where he preached passionately and eloquently. They only became more deeply enraged, and dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. According at least to Luke's account, this then was the first Christian martyr. What had Stephen expected? The seven had been chosen to assist in the distribution of food to the widows. They were to wait on tables in order to free the apostles to devote themselves to prayer and to serving the word. To this end they received the laying on of hands from the twelve. Stephen's gifts were broader than that. So he preached. And his preaching was powerful enough not only to encourage believers but to threaten enemies. Had Stephen heard how Jesus had reassured his disciples the night before his own death? "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me...Peace I leave with you...not as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Such invisible realities are expressed in more startling language in ancient times and by primitive peoples. A story in the Baltimore Sun about such a primitive tribe deep in the Lacondon Forest on the border of Mexico and Guatemala quoted one of the elders regarding such a truth. The old man observed that long ago his people had behaved properly in the homes of the gods. He told how everyone said -- and knew it was true -- that a person who would desecrate the homes of the gods by breaking a stone would die. "But now," the old man lamented, "our young people break the stones and shout, 'It is not true! See! I break the stones in the house of the gods and I do not die.' But they do not see that every time they break a stone, they die!" We die too each time we deny our Lord, whether we realize it or not. In so many familiar places, in routine situations, with people we know well, we have an opportunity to give witness to the love of God. Or, we deny, betray, make excuses, fail; then our faith is shaken and we die inside. None of us is fully, consistently faithful. So constantly we seek forgiveness, recon There is an old story about a rabbi who, while in Persia, found a great ruby. This was not just any ruby. It was a ruby that belonged in the emperor’s crown. An official crier was sent out who went about the capital with this message: “Whoever returns the emperor’s jewel within thirty days will be rewarded.” But then he added an ominous warning: “If it be found on him after thirty days his head will be cut off.” On the thirty-first day--a day after the deadline--the rabbi brought the ruby to the palace. The emperor asked, “Did you not hear the proclamation that the ruby must be returned within thirty days or the possessor of it will be beheaded?” The humble rabbi responded, “Yes, your majesty, I did on the first day.” The emperor asked, “Then why did you not return the ruby until now, the thirty-first day?” The rabbi responded, “I did not return it within the thirty days so that you could not say I returned it because I feared you. I returned it because I believe in God.” The emperor was impressed by the rabbi’s witness to his faith and he exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of these Jews.” (1) Clyde Reed, in his book, Celebrate the Temporary, writes, “One of the most common obstacles to celebrating life fully is our avoidance of pain. We dread pain . . . We would do anything to escape pain. Our culture reinforces our avoidance of pain by assuring us we can live a painless life. Advertisements constantly encourage us to believe that life can be pain free. But to live without pain is a myth . . . This is an unmistakable, clear, unalterable fact. Many of us do not realize that pain and joy run together. When we cut ourselves off from pain, we have unwittingly cut ourselves off from joy as well.” t is interesting that a few years ago manufacturers were able to produce iodine that did not sting. They thought this was the most wonderful product that could possibly be offered on the market--antiseptic iodine that had no sting. They began imagining the millions that their innovation would bring them. Unfortunately stingless iodine bombed in the marketplace no matter how effective it was as an antiseptic. Many people seemed to feel that without the sting the iodine must not be working. They refused to buy it. The company had to add an ingredient to their iodine to put the sting back in so that people would have confidence in their product. An old Scottish story tells of a man who feared he was on his death bed. He sent for an acquaintance with whom he had had a bitter quarrel and asked that they put away their feelings of enmity. The acquaintance agreed and started to leave the room. The old man rose up on his elbow and spoke one final word, “But remember, if I get well our old quarrel still stands.” We can understand his attitude. The need for revenge is a powerful emotion. However, compare his attitude with a woman in Florida who was raped, shot in the head, brutally mutilated and left to die. Astoundingly, she survived the ordeal--though she was left permanently blind. In a television interview the host of the show was reflecting on the bitterness she must feel because of the many scars she had from this experience that she would have to deal with the rest of her life. Her astonishing reply was something to this effect: “Oh, no! That man took one night of my life, I refuse to give him one additional second!” (3) Most of us are not as wise as that woman. She realized that forgiveness is more beneficial to the person who offers it than the person who receives it. Bitterness and resentment eat at the soul. Forgiveness is healing and a key to lasting joy. It is very difficult for us to identify with Jesus praying on the cross in behalf of those who had magine the scene. So rapidly had the church in Jerusalem been growing the Christians had long since moved out of the small homes in which they had met each night for dinner. Now they meet in a social hall which strives to be a family-style restaurant, but is degenerating into a soup kitchen. Scurrying about are the waiters - Philip and Matthew, Bartholomew and Nathan and most of the other disciples, juggling stacks of dishes in their fishermen's hands and undoubtedly dropping many of them. In the center stands maitre d' Peter, so busy telling stories about Jesus that he never sees the line of people standing at the door waiting to be seated. In the corner is James, shuffling from one foot to the other. Peter may be the center of attention, but James is the proprietor of the place. As Jesus' brother he's been appointed Bishop of Jerusalem. But he knows no more than the rest how to run a restaurant. Finally comes the explosion. "My widowed mother didn't get dinner!" explains someone in Greek. "We're not charging enough to make ends meet!" says another. "The food's burnt," comes another Greek voice. Leave it to the sophisticates who speak Greek to complain. "Enough!" says Peter, throwing up his hands. "Find someone else to do the cooking and serving. That's not the job of disciples." Then comes the watershed event. Stephen and six other levelheaded laypeople are quickly elected to run the meals. They roll up their sleeves, grab some aprons, and jump in, never realizing they have become the world's first church council. A while ago I attended a three-day seminar at a nearby seminary. While there I stayed with a friend of a friend, a young man my age named Bob. Bob is in his first year of preparing for ordination. For eight years he was a high school history teacher and had established a reputation for brilliance - he could motivate the most intransigent and expand the horizons of the slowest. Bob was also a dedicated Christian layman; he taught Sunday school, served on council, and was adored by all. Therein lay the problem. People could not resist the temptation of telling Bob, "Any young man, as dedicated to the church as you, should be a pastor." Finally he couldn't resist the pressure, and entered the seminary. He's not wildly enthused about his preparation for ordination, but he'll make a good pastor. The tragedy is, he was a great teacher. Peter did not ask for the appointment of Stephen and the others to do things the disciples simply did not have time for - unimportant things not worthy of disciples. Peter wanted them to perform functions which the disciples could not do well. They had bungled the administration of the church's welfare system; they didn't know how to feed the hundreds of people who came for dinner each night. So they turned to a group of people who could offer a ministry better than the disciples - laypeople. Things haven't changed greatly in 2000 years. There still are many ministries for laypeople to perform; many of them still can be done well only by laypeople. Consider some of the ministries laypeople can do better than pastors. The value of the laity's personal speaking of faith was recognized in the book The Total Image: Selling Jesus In The Modern Age. Author Virginia Owens writes, "It really is a very simple and obvious proposition I make: A person, whether human or divine, cannot be known - as a person rather than an image - except by immediate presence. If we want to project an image, either of Christians or the church, we can do that by means of television, magazines, books, billboards, movies, bumper stickers, buttons, records, and posters. If we want people to know Christ, we must be there face-to-face, bearing Christ within us." Our lesson from Acts says Christians were multiplying daily. There were not enough disciples to lead many people to Christ so quickly. Only laypeople could have done it. Stewardship is another ministry depending almost entirely on laypeople. A sanctuary for worship, books for Sunday school, professional musicians, newsetters - almost all of the programs of the church are possible only when funds are available. The more you give, the more programs of ministry we can offer. Many people consider the giving of money an embarrassing subject which should not be mentioned from the pulpit. They're often the same tight-fisted people who should be embarrassed by such a discussion. The Bible is very forth-right in its mention of money. It claims we own nothing and hold all we have as a trust from God. The instinct to acquire that makes America tick made the prophets furious. Jesus, whom the Bible records more often talking about money than about prayer, said wealth always is one of two things - dangerous or damnable. To soft-pedal stewardship is to concede the field to mammon. There are no luggage racks on hearses, goes the old adage. You can't take it with you. And why should we want do? After all, we are never more like God than when we give.

The Apostles' Testimony

April 27, 2025 Second Sunday of Easter Holy Humor Sunday Acts 5:27-32 The Apostles Testimony Year C Prelude Greeting Knock, knock. Who's there? Ya. Ya who? I'm happy to see you too. Call to Worship (inspired by Colossians 1: 19-22) In the face of a culture of death a world of killing fields a world of the walking dead Christ is at the head of the resurrection parade transforming our tears of betrayal into tears of joy giving us dancing shoes for the resurrection party And this glittering joker who has danced in the dragon’s jaws of death now dances with a dance that is full of nothing less than the fullness of God this is the dance of the new creation this is the dance of life out of death and in this dance all that was broken all that was estranged all that was alienated all that was dislocated and disconnected is reconciled comes home is healed and is made whole ~ excerpted from targum 2: subversive poetry in a postmodern world col 1:15-20, published in Colossians Remixed: Subverting The Empire by Sylvia C. Keesmaat and Brian J. Walsh Song Lord of the Dance UMH Affirmation of Faith We believe in a God who enjoys a good laugh, who made platypuses and penguins just for the fun of it. We believe in a Savior who knew how to surprise people— with healing, with hope, with resurrection. We believe in the Spirit, who gives us the gift of holy giggles and grace. We believe that joy is a form of resistance, and laughter is a taste of the kingdom to come. Amen. (Thom Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies) A Sermon for all Ages Twin seven year old boys were always getting into trouble. Their parents knew if any mischief was reported in town, the twins were probably involved. Their mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. The mother sent one boy in the morning, with the other boy to see the preacher in the afternoon. The preacher, a huge man with a deep booming voice, sat the boy down and asked him sternly, “Do you know where God is, son?” The boy made no response, sitting there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. So the preacher repeated the question in an even sterner tone, “Where is God?!” Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. The preacher raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, “WHERE IS GOD?!” The boy screamed, ran directly home and hid in his closet. When his twin brother found him in the closet, he asked, “What happened?” His brother replied, “We are in BIG trouble this time! GOD is missing, and they think WE did it!” Baptism Responsive Reading Psalm 150 UMH 862 Scripture Acts 5:27-32 Sermon The Apostles’ Testimony Our bible is full of stories about the relationship between God and the devil, and their constant battle for the hearts of people. Both of them are known for their tricks, they seem to love to go back and forth, somehow with the destiny of creation caught in the middle of the game. Now just because they play games with one another, that does not mean that they are equals. The devil in not omnipotent, or omni present. The devil is not able to create anything but chaos out of thin air. But he is always trying to get one over on God. He needs to feel in control. He makes himself feel superior, by demeaning others. The games start at the beginning of the biblical story in the book of Genesis. God creates the world, and realizes that he needs a steward to take care of creation. He creates Adam, then Eve. God entrusts them with all of the knowledge to take care of the world and everything in it. Everything seems to be going well, until the day the devil shows up to question Eve. She starts to think that may God didn’t tell her everything , perhaps God is keeping secrets from her. She plays into the devil’s games and gives in to temptation. Life becomes a struggle for her and for her family. In the beginning she always felt connected to God, but eventually she was not even sure if God was even there anymore. For God, this was a major setback. He was not mad at Eve or Adam, or humankind, he was just disappointed. But he would not give up on creation not his stewards, he would continue to work in spite for their free will. But for humankind, trusting the devil turned out to be catastrophic. It changed our quality of life even until this day. We are still struggling to find our connection to God. The devil is full of himself, he has just as much power of creation, and some people are so easy to influence. If he can control the hearts of men, then he can take over all of creation, even if that means running it into the ground. In the meantime, God loves us, God is determined to make things right. Even if it means working with one person at a time. God is always working in silence. God remains a gentleman – even to the devil. The devil is busy too, but there are still people who choose to follow God. The bible mentions the wager between the devil and God again in the book of Job. Job is a righteous man who has caught the attention of the devil. The devil barters for the heart of Job, God says do what you will, just don’t kill him. It appears that Satan wins once again by gaining control of the situation. But he never captures the heart of Job. Job chooses to stay faithful to a God that he sometimes does not understand. God is still in control – but the war is not over. The devil won’t quit until he has complete dominion. Even if that means destroying all that God created. Satan would have known something about the birth of the messiah, he could read the bible just like anyone else, He would have read in Micah 5:2 that the messiah would be coming to Bethlehem. Perhaps that is why he sent so many demons there. The New testament is full stories of demons thrawting the lives of humans. But God is always at work in the background turning things around in spite of peoples lack of jugdement. God chooses a family Nazareth to slip into Bethlehem quietly. Satan has his eye on the king in charge, making sure that he is jealous, territorial and prone to corruption. God sends the presence in to form of an unassuming child. Satan knew that God’s son was accustomed to the finest of luxury while living in heaven. He would never have thought that the messiah would come into the world to ordinary people in a stable. When the devil catches on to the fact that the messiah had been born into the world. God sends the family away to live in secrecy for 30 years. Unbeknown to us, God does Gods best work in secret and silence. God prepares his only Son for the work of redeeming creation. One day Jesus steps into the waters to be baptized into the work of his cousin, and the secret is revealed. God proclaims his son, and the devil knows he has to do something to stop him. He meets Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him, and yet Jesus remains faithful to his mission for God. For three years, God’s secret weapon is reaching the hearts of men. People are listening, lives are changing. It all comes to a head – on a hill in Jerusalem. The devil is prepared for this all or nothing game with God. The devil is convinced that this will be his final victory. If he can get rid of this messiah, then he will have control of all of creation. Even if it means destroying all that God worked so hard to create and build. God full of grace and always a gentlemen – takes on the devil’s challenge. May the best man win, but the cross, a tool of torment is just a part of God’s plan. The passion story has a lot in common with the George Forman/ Muhammed Ali boxing fight for the world championship fight in 1976. I actually remember the fight very well. Muhammed Ali was the underdog. It was a pretty ugly fight. George Forman soon knew that he had the best of Ali. He pummeled Ali. He was winning so ugly, that he thought that he had gone too far. In the midst of it, Ali just remained silent. In his silence, and his pain, Ali whispers in Foreman’s ear – is that all that you got. Forman realizes in that moment, that he had been fooled and that he was about to lose. He had indeed used all of his signature moves, he was tired and Ali was just beginning. On the cross, the devil has used all his signature moves – control, torture, meanness, shame, guilt, pain, death. He had used all that he had, and God was still at work. The messiah was just getting started. By being willing to lose, Jesus became the ultimate winner. By being strong enough to take the punches, Ali became boxing champion of the world. By standing faithful through the devil’s greatest tricks Jesus became the world’s champion. He didn’t just win for himself, he won for all of us. Through are darkest moments he gave us the strength to remain faithful. The devil is still busy, But God is working too – behind the scenes. Through Christ, he opened to doors of eternal life for us. He finally beat the devil at his own game. Finally in our scripture – the apostles are challenged by the religious authorities to stop proclaiming the power of the resurrection. In their eyes, Jesus had not overcome anything. Yet they knew that the messiah had finally won. HE won for all of us. God is still at work for those who are faithful. In the days to come let us be witnesses to that faith to endure the fight and to proclaim the victory. Amen. Song I Love to tell the story UMH 156 Prayer O Lord, giver of joy and laughter, we thank you for giving us these gifts. For the moments of laughter and unbridled joy you give to us: for opportunities to laugh at ourselves, for the belly laughs of children, for friends and family who love us because of our quirks, and not just in spite of them, for artists who give us the opportunity to see the world through the surreal, for the courage to smile even when difficulties arise, for those who have hope even when others think there is no hope, for saints in the Lord who overflow with laughter and spread your joy to all of us. For the words of Jesus that defy our logical minds; for teaching us that we can be born again, for the woman who finds a lost coin and calls her friends and neighbors to celebrate, for the absurdity of a camel trying to fit through the eye of a needle, for the father of the Prodigal Son who is willing to look like a fool as he runs to greet his son, for the generosity of the landowner who will pay workers a whole day’s wage when they only worked one hour, for tiny bits of faith that can move entire mountains, for the reality that nothing can live unless it first dies. For the great reversal of the Gospel: that the last shall be made first, that the rejected stone became the cornerstone, that those who wish to become great must serve, that the lost will be found, that the small will become great, that though you are Wisdom, you choose to forget our sins, that when we are weak, your strength shines through us. O Lord, giver of joy and laughter, we thank you for giving us these gifts. Thank you for the gift you give us that allows us to enjoy these things to the full. We can laugh because of the most amazing thing of all – that you conquered death, that the tomb is empty, that light shone so bright that it overcame the darkness. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Amen. (April Fiet) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (Do not Print out text) Scripture reminds us to be stewards, caring for all God has entrusted to us. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10 A young child recognized we’re not often able to live up to what God does. He told his Sunday school teacher: “When you die, God takes care of you like your parents did when you were alive — only God doesn’t yell at you all the time.” — via Rev. Dennis R. Fakes Lodi, CA Tithe if you love Jesus. Anyone can honk! And remember, our church is open to all denominations – but it prefers 20s and 50s. The Lord loves a cheerful giver…..but God also accepts from the grouch. How is your giving a faithful response to the abundance God has provided? God doesn’t yell…but cares for each of God’s beloved ones. Let’s let our gifts be full-hearted! (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Prayer of Dedication Generous God, you’ve filled our lives with laughter, our hearts with hope, and our pockets with more than enough loose change and holy possibility. We bring these gifts not out of guilt, but out of gratitude— because you keep surprising us with love, grace, and the kind of joy that makes us snort when we laugh. Use what we offer— our coins and our kindness, our time and our talents, our dollars and our dancing— to tickle the world with resurrection joy and to spread your love like laughter in a quiet room. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Thom Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go now— we will go with pockets full of laughter, with eyes squinting from the brightness of grace, with hearts wide open to holy surprises. Be bold in your joy. Be generous with your giggles. We will tell the good news with a grin, and live like resurrection is the punchline that changes everything. May your steps be light, your burdens be lifted, and your spirit be as free as a kid on a swing in the sunshine. The world needs our joy. Let us go to share it. (Thom Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies) Community Time Sharing of Joys and Concerns Benediction May the God of Isaac, that is "laughter," the Christ, who for the joy set before him endured the cross and the Spirit of Joy be with you both now and forever. Amen. — from the God is Still Laughing website.