Encouraging one another through good deeds

Prelude Greeting Welcome to our worship service this morning, this is the 26th Sunday of Pentecost, third Sunday in November. Welcome to those joining in person, and those who are all over the globe joining us on Facebook. Today is a very special service – both the choir and the bells are a part of our service. But we also have special guest with us this morning as we have the priviledge of commemorating the 150th Annivsersary of Aoyama Guikin in Japan. Welcome to all of our special guest. We will have a special prayer service during this service to honor that anniversary. The organization which educates people of all ages started from the efforts of one Methodist missionary – Dora Schoonmaker. She was commissioned to go to Japan in 1874. She began her school on November 16, 1874. As we honor Dora’s spirit, begin our time of worship. Call to Worship (1 Samuel 2, Mark 13) Let our hearts rejoice in the God of hope and faithfulness. Our strength is in the maker of heaven and earth. Our foundation is the cornerstone that never fails. The rock of ages is a foundation like no other. Hope arises, as the tools of war are broken and the weak are given strength. Hope lives when the hungry are fed and the poor are lifted up. God comes bringing judgment to the ends of the earth, calling us to hope and faithfulness. Come, rock of ages, come quickly now. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Mary Scifres) Opening Prayer (1 Samuel 1) God of possibilities, fill us with your hope and faithfulness. Listen to us as we pour out our souls before you. Grant us the grace to be your people and to live your teachings. Live in us, that we may arise with hope and walk in love. In the name of Christ our rock, we pray. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Mary Scifres) Song My Lord what a Morning UMH 719 A Sermon for all Ages Dora’s family moved here to Wilmington when she was 5 years old. Her family lived near Phelan Acres. She spoke fondly about going to Sunday school every Sunday with her mother. Many of the churches all over Illinois started as Sunday schools. Even at a very young age she had a relationship with God. At about 8 years old – she read a pamphlet about a woman who accompanied her husband to India as a missionary. She was so inspired by the womans life, that she told her mother that she was going to be a missionary. As she got older, and she started to learn her place as a woman in this society, she thought it was an awful idea. She got so frustrated that she threw the article in the Kankakee River. But the dream lived on in her heart. Her family moved on the Channahon when she was about 11, and she became a teacher in Morris. But that dream never left her heart. She really did become one of the first missionaries sent to Japan at age 23. Dora’s story speaks wonderfully to our lesson today in the book of Hebrews. Jesus talks about the laws of God written down in our hearts and not on a piece of paper. Dora thought that if she threw the words of her calling away that they would disappear. She didn’t realize that God had written down the calling inside of her in her heart. That way, no matter what happened in her life, they would not be lost. She shared those words in love. A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition UMH 607 Before missionaries are sent out into the field, they go through a commissioning service – where they are prayed over, and they say a covenant to serve God faithfully in everything that they do. Dora was commissioned in Evanston in 1871 by the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Here at the Wilmington Church, a unit of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society was formed in 1900. This church has several women’s missionary groups. In 1940 – they all united into the Women’s Society of Christian Service. I will share with you their pledge from 1940. Pledge I desire to become a member of the Woman’s Society of Christian Service of the WILMINGTON Church. As such it is my purpose to join in helping to develop and support Christian work among women and children around the world; to develop the spiritual life; to study the needs of the world; to take part in such service activities as will strengthen the local church, improve civic community and world conditions; to enlist others in this Christian fellowship, and secure funds for the activities in the local church and the support the work undertaken at home and abroad for the establishment of a World Christian Community. To this end I will give prayer, service and an annual contribution to the total budget of the Society. Thus I will contribute to educate for, and promote the threefold program of the women of Methodism. Now I invite us to read part of the John Wesley Covenant Prayer that would be said by current United Methodist missionaries. Passing of the Peace Scripture Hebrews 10:10-25 Sermon Encouraging one another through Good Deeds Some years ago an English journal ran a contest. A prize was offered for the best definition of a "friend." A friend. How would you define a friend? Thousands of replies poured in: A friend is someone "who multiplies joys, and divides grief!" said one. No, thought another; a friend is someone "who understands our silence." A third person suggested: "A friend is a volume of sympathy bound in cloth." But the publishers picked this one as the winning entry: A friend is "the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out."That's it, isn't it? One who comes in when the whole world has gone out. The ancient Jewish wiseman, Ben-Sira, said a faithful friend is a sure shelter ” a rich treasure. (Ecclesiasticus 6:14) There's no better way to describe the idea of "faithfulness" than that. The fruit of the Spirit, says Paul in Galatians 5, is faithfulness. When God takes hold of our lives, when His Spirit molds and shapes us, there's a quality about us that people call faithfulness. There's a faithful person, they say. They might just as well say: She knows what it means to be a good friend! But faithfulness tends to be a tedious word in our society. Not long ago, the best-selling book across North America was HABITS OF THE HEART by Robert Bellah. He said individualism has won our hearts today. We honor the kingdom of self, and resent the claims others might try to lay on us. We lie to gain ” not just financially, but even in our relationships. If I don't think I'm getting anything out of a friendship, then it's my duty to myself to move on. If a marriage isn't working for me, there are no moral holds that bind me! I'm a free person! I have a right to my happiness, and the bonds of fidelity may not cramp my style! Friendship is costly. Faithfulness in our relationships, to each other, and even to God, requires a lot of us, and we're not so ready to pay the price! But a world without faithful friends takes its toll on us But a world without faithful friends takes its toll on us. A funeral director notes funerals have changed a lot in the last decades. People don't come to funerals anymore. Years ago you couldn't have a service at the funeral home for someone who had died; there just wouldn't be enough room for the family and the friends and the business associates who showed up. In fact, it was strange when somebody died alone, friendless, without someone to pay last respects. But now, he says, it happens all the time. We live for ourselves, and we die by ourselves. Those are the habits of our poor hearts. The message of the book of Hebrews is that when we have Christ in our lives, that we should never get tired of being friends. The whole point of church is to be a place where people can come and no matter who they are, they can be among friends. They are welcomed, they are loved, they are free to be faithful. The book of Hebrews talks about Jesus as our high priest. Except Jesus is different from other priest. Other’s had to keep doing rituals over and over again to have any power. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice one time – and not only did he have the power to change things, he passed that power on to his followers. If Christ is our savior- we have that power today in our everyday lives. With Jesus power in our lives, we can have a bold relationship with God and go an live our lives in confidence. The book of Hebrews encourages us to come together and to be the church for one another and for the world. The book of Hebrews encourages us to not be afraid to pester one another into doing good works for the world. We don’t have to ever be afraid to be a friend. I could have imagined that for Dora Schoonmaker, it would have taken a lot of courage at 23, to travel alone to a foreign country- but her faith has told her that she was not alone, and that whatever the challenges – not to be afraid to be a friend. Over the summer, the Grundy County Historical Museum opened a permanent exhibit honoring Dora. There were several women from the Northern Illinois Conference Women of Faith Organization attended the ribbon cutting. They were inspired by Dora’s boldness. Many of them had the same concern. Today, when missionaries are deployed – they go through extensive cultural and language training before going to a country. Dora had little to no preparation. Many of the women asked how did she survive, without knowing Japanese. While on the tour of her life, I was able to ask, the author of the book about her, Rev. Keiko Tanamura, that question. She explained that she would have had an interpreter with her all of the time. She also said that when she was teaching her students – her would have communicated with them through love – the language of the heart. She taught the students how to be productive in life, but she also taught them about the love of Christ and her faith. Many of those students carried on her faith, long after she returned to America. An effort that started with a few girls, spread to an organization that educated thousands of students a year from kindergarten to grad school. Her story is an example of the power of Christian friendship. Christian Friendship is a bold combination of living in faith, holding on to hope and caring for one another in love. The greatest of these is love. Let us Inspire one another, give each other hope Create a space where people can come together, Gather, care, do goods deeds Let us pray…… Song Here I am Lord Prayer Service honoring the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo Japan, through the missionary efforts of Dora Schoonmaker Anthem Invite us to say the Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (inspired by Hebrews 10:19-25) In the letter to the Hebrews we read how the death of Jesus gives us assurance that our own lives are built up by faith, hope and love. Coming together for worship allows us to encourage each other to good deeds. Here we have opportunity to share our passion and enthusiasm for the work to which we are called. Today, let me describe one way this congregation acts out our faith. (describe one mission/outreach ministry, hopefully with a strong story of how a life has been strengthened because of what this congregation does.) OR, if you don’t have a particular ministry you can lift up from your congregation, speak for a minute of a ministry of the larger Church (your region, area, or a collection of congregations in your community). This might be your appeal for a special Thanksgiving offering. Your financial gifts, your time, and your “good talk” about this ministry all work to strengthen the witness we make as disciples of Jesus, the Christ. Let your energy, your financial support and your positivity come together today to build up not only this ministry, but also all the people who are impacted by the work which goes on week after week! With confidence, let us offer our gifts, knowing they support not only this particular piece, but also the work of the whole Church. Prayer of Thanksgiving Giver of all good gifts, thank you for this opportunity for each one of us to offer back a portion of what you give to us. Help us find ways to faithfully give from our resources as a sign of our faith, our hope and our love. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Charge and benediction May we leave this house of worship reconciled, redeemed, and renewed by our time spent in the presence of God. May we leave this house of worship full of the hope our Savior provides. May the grace, hope, peace and love of the God the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us now and always. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri McDowell Ott) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Pat Wise has several issues, Jean Stickel is recovering from a fall Benediction May the Spirit that leads through fire and flood The Spirit that baptizes with power The Spirit of expectation and hope Lead, strengthen, and guide you This week and always. Amen. Written by Valerie Bridgman in The Africana Worship Book, Year B (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007), 221.

Welcome Home family of God

June 10, 2012 Friends and Family Day Jeremiah 31:6-17 Luke 15:1-9 A World with no home We live in a world today, where most of the world lives away from their home. In our understanding of the world – home is the place where you grow up, it is the place where you feel safe, it is the place where things make sense, it is the place where your family and friends live, and oftentimes it is the place where we will defend with our lives, in order to keep it as our home. Something is happening in our world – where people are no longer living in their homeland. They have had to move elsewhere. In 1990 there were 154 million people who lived outside of there homeland. In the year 2000 there were 175 million people outside of home, in 2006 that number grew to over 200 million, today it is 214 million – and it continues to grow. There are one in 30 people who have been displaced from their homes. If the number of immigrants in the world had their own country- the population would be the fifth largest company in the world. We live in a diaspora Something is definitely happening in the world. The world is changing. As as the world changes, our definition of what it means to be at home has to change with it. The words of the prophet Jeremiah become not just a story of the jews- but a story of all of us. all of us who ask the question – how can I sing the songs of God in a strange land – how can I celebrate home – when I am not at home? Jeremiah wrote words of hope for his people in a difficult situation. Today, thousands of years later, diaspora is not just a reality for the jews, but for most of the world. Learning how to be at home- in a strange place. Learning to make new friends and to claim new family. Jeremiah reminded the people that in the midst of being uprooted that God would be with them. That God would be their friend. God would take care of them. How can I sing a song in a strange land – by knowing that where ever I am – god will take care of me. Jeremiah’s message of hope But God also wanted to give them a message that they were not alone. That home is not just about a place, and a time, it is about those whom god sends to be with us, with whom we go through the events of life with. Friends and family day is a special day, a sacred day for us to remember what it means to be at home. Some of us know what it means to live in the diaspora - home away from home and some of us not. Being at home is more than a place it is a feeling. We all know what it means to live in adversity, turmoil. We all know what it means to live in changing circumstances. I don’t think that there is one area of our lives, where we don’t have uncertainty in a place that used to make sense.- it may be our health, our jobs, our family, the neighborhood, just in the world itself. Jeremiah’s promise to the people- is that things will get better. The day will come when you will be able to go home again. That means in most cases that we will have to redefine what and sometimes where home is. Jeremiah’s promise of friends But the thing I want to point out to you today – in the midst of that promise. That Jeremiah made another promise. He made the promise of friends and family to go along with you in the journey. He said that people will come from the North, from all over to make this journey together. Sometimes we can be sure that God sends us people in the world to help us along that leg of the journey. A young boy was asked if he would rather have a million dollars or a million friends, he said that he would rather have a million friends. Because if I ever needed money- than I could ask each one for a dollar – and have all of the money I need. An old man was among those who were in the jewish concentration camps – he made friends with many of the people there. They were all in the same boat, going the same place. One their way to death, one little girl came up to him to ask if he would hold her hand. I am not scared, she said, but it makes me a little stronger. I tell that story because she told he man that she believed that god had sent him into her life – for that moment. To walk along side of her in a difficult time. The good news is that as long as we have jesus in our lives – no matter how bad the circumstances, we are never headed toward death – but God does send people in our lives to make things easier. It is our friends and our family that is our greatest asset in life and in church. James S. Hewett tells of a neighbor he had who was trying to put a TV antenna on his roof, but was having a terrible time. Hewett decided to give him a hand. He went over and took with him his best tools and soon had the antenna up. His neighbor asked him what he made with such fancy tools. Hewett replied, “Friends, mostly.” This is a sacred day for us – because the greatest tool that we have is the ability to make friends. Friends are wonderful for what they can do to help us, to support us, to walk with us. But friends are also important in helping in the mission of building the kingdom for God. The more friends we have, the more we can do for one another and for God. Friends are important for who they are During the reign of Queen Victoria, a London doctor visited a 72-year-old lady named Martha Vincent. Her husband had abandoned her some years earlier. She was poor and lived in very humble surroundings. She was undernourished and had neither warm clothes or wood for a fire. The doctor couldn’t believe her friends would allow her to live like that. When asked about it, Maria said she had no friends. Later in the discussion she corrected herself. She admitted that there might be one, but was sure that she had forgotten about her. The doctor pressed her for the identity of the friend. And finally Maria told him that it was the Queen herself. She said that the two of them had been childhood friends. The doctor left, not sure that he believed Maria, but when he got home he wrote the Queen a letter relating the incident. A few days later he received a letter from the Queen. The story was true. The Queen had not forgotten. Enclosed in the letter was enough money to provide for all of Maria’s needs. For the remaining years of her life, Maria Vincent lived comfortably as a friend of the Queen. Wouldn’t we all like to say that we have a famous friend, a friend with lots of money that will take care of us – the good news is that we do. Friends are important for what they do. One of the ancient kings of Persia loved to mingle with his people in disguise. Once, dressed as a poor man, he descended the long flight of stairs, dark and damp to the tiny cellar where the fireman, seated on ashes, was tending the furnace.. The king sat down beside him and began to talk. At meal time the fireman produced some coarse black bread and a jug of water and they ate and drank. The king went away but returned again and again for his heart was filled with sympathy for the lonely man. They became very good friends as time passed. At last the king thought, “I’ll tell him who I am, and see what gift he will ask.” So he did, but the fireman didn’t ask for a thing. The king was astonished and said, “Don’t you realize that I can give you anything—a city, a throne?” The man gently replied, “I understand your Majesty. You have already given the greatest gift a man could receive. You left your palace to sit with me here in this dark and lonely place. You could give nothing more precious. You have given yourself and that is far more than I could ever deserve.” I visited Mrs. Jackson of Englewood church for the last two Sundays. She always gets mad at me, because I cant understand what she is telling me, but lately, she just wants me to hold her hand – for an hours at a time. But it means that in the midst of our misunderstandings, we are still friends, still connected. But friends are most important for what they give in return. The best friend that we can ever have is God. But we always have to ask ourselves are we a friend to God. Who is a friend of God?  Someone who know Him personally  Someone who loves Him  Someone who shares His interests  Someone who enjoys being with Him  Someone who is loyal to His cause A man went to lunch one day with a friend who was a delivery man. After lunch he went to the store, and bought pototo chips based on what his friend delivered. Being on relationship with a friend was a deciding factor in the choices he made. The more time we spend with god – the more god affects our choices. It is in recognizing God as our friend, that we learn to be friends. We celebrate today – because we have to remember that the greatest celebration of our lives is the day that we realize that we have true friends. The greatest celebration of God – is the day he finds us a friend. My last story is the story from the gospel. Jesus tells the story – of how a woman celebrates when she finds a lost coin, she calls everyone together and has a party. And he asks the question, if a woman can celebrate because of a lost coin, then surely God can celebrate because of a found friend. When Jeremiah says that the people will gather together – what do they do – they sing and praise god and celebrate. Today is a special day – a day to acknowledge our friends, today is a special day – a day to praise god for our blessing. But most importantly – you know that you always have a friend in Jesus – but how are you truly being a friend to Jesus? Loving God is the only true way to go home. – wherever we may be in life. We learn that home is wherever our friends are, and the best friend that we can ever have is God. Let us pray….