Sent out into the Wild World

June 14, 2026 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 9:35-10:23 Sent out into the wild world Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship God meets us in surprising yet ordinary places—under a tree, in the smile of a stranger, in a refreshing breeze that comes at just the right time. God, open our hearts to notice your presence all around us. God speaks to us in surprising yet ordinary ways—in a well-placed word from a friend, in a prayer that comes at just the right time, in a song that resonates through our entire being. God, open our minds to recognize your voice all around us. God fulfills God’s promises in surprising yet ordinary ways—in an unexpected act of kindness, in providing just what we need at just the right time, in sending someone to listen when we feel alone. God, open our hands to receive your blessings all around us. Beloved, in the surprising and ordinary ways that God shows up among us, may we meet God and our neighbors with open hearts, minds, and hands, ready to encounter God’s miraculous work. God, open our lives to receive your blessings, that we may share together in the joy, wonder, and laughter of God’s miraculous works all around us. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2025. Opening Prayer God, as you met Abraham in an ordinary moment of hospitality, meet us today in the ordinary moments of our lives. Open our minds to recognize your presence among us; open our hearts to receive your promises; open our arms to embrace your miraculous works with joy, wonder, and laughter. As we gather to worship, help us find the courage to hope, the wisdom to trust, and the perseverance to cooperate with you as you fulfill our promises as you work for abundant life for all creation. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2025. Song Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life UMH 427 A Sermon for all Ages Children's Sermon: Looking Through Jesus' Eyes Object: A pair of binoculars (or pretend to use your hands as binoculars) Good morning, boys and girls! I brought something with me today. Do you know what these are? (Hold up binoculars.) That's right! They're binoculars. What do binoculars help us do? They help us see things that are far away. If I were looking for birds in a tree or a boat on a lake, binoculars would help me see them better. Let's all pretend to look through binoculars. Can you do that? What do you see? In today's Bible story, Jesus was looking at people. He didn't use binoculars, but he saw something very important. The Bible says that when Jesus looked at the crowds, he had compassion for them. Compassion is a big word. It means caring so much about someone that you want to help them. Jesus saw people who were sad, lonely, sick, worried, and confused. He said they were like sheep without a shepherd. Have you ever seen a lost pet? A lost puppy or kitten doesn't know where to go. It needs someone to guide it and care for it. Jesus saw people who needed help, and because he loved them, he wanted to help them. Then Jesus did something surprising. He told his disciples to go and help people too! And guess what? Jesus tells us the same thing. We don't have to go far away. We can help people right where we are. Maybe there's a new kid at school who needs a friend. Maybe someone in your class feels left out. Maybe a neighbor needs help carrying groceries. Maybe your parents need help around the house. Maybe your grandparent would love a phone call or a picture you drew. Jesus asks us to look through eyes of compassion and notice the people around us. The good news is that we don't have to help everyone in the whole world today. We can start with one person. This week, I want you to ask yourself, "Who needs kindness from me?" Maybe Jesus will help you notice someone who needs a smile, a helping hand, or a kind word. When we do that, we become part of Jesus' mission. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving us and caring for us. Help us see people the way you see them. Help us notice those who are lonely, sad, or need a friend. Give us kind hearts and willing hands. Help us share your love wherever we go. Amen. Call to Reconciliation If you are looking for proof of God's love, here it is: at the very moment we realize we cannot help ourselves, that is the time we discover God has saved us in Christ Jesus. Join me as we pray to our God, saying, Unison Prayer for Forgiveness How easily we pat ourselves on the back, Listening Love, for the lives we lead. We welcome the praise of others, but have little compassion for those who have failed us. We assume that a comfortable life is our birthright, yet believe poor choices produce suffering for those around us. We boast of the good we do, but forget to thank you for all that you have given to us. Forgive us, Companion of Compassion, for breaking your heart, and disappointing your hopes for us. As we seek to follow your Child, may we be found with those whose lives are barren, with those who know little laughter in their day, with those who have received no love from others - for in their presence, we will find Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Assurance of Pardon Listen to the good news - the kingdom of God is very near. As close as a child's laughter, as embracing as a father's love, as enfolding as a mother's caress. We are God's people: called, that we may follow; gifted, that we may serve; forgiven, that we might bring hope. Thanks be to God. Amen. (Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman) Passing of the Peace Scripture Matthew 9:35-10:23 Gracious and loving God, Open our eyes to see the world as Jesus sees it. Open our hearts to feel the compassion of Christ for those who are hurting, lonely, hungry, frightened, and lost. Open our ears to hear your call and our hands to do your work. Remind us that we are not spectators in your kingdom but participants in your mission. Give us courage to follow where Jesus leads, wisdom to recognize the needs around us, and faith to trust that you will provide all that we need for the journey. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Shepherd and Savior, we pray. Amen. Sermon Sent out into a Wild World Our scripture begins with a simple but powerful description of Jesus: "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." Jesus was paying attention. He was looking. He was listening. He was noticing people. He saw what others overlooked. He saw the sick, the poor, the struggling, the grieving, the forgotten. He saw the crowds not as interruptions but as beloved children of God. Then Matthew tells us something very important: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless. Different versions of the bible use different words – like distressed and dispirited, weary and scattered, worried and helpless. Whatever the word, Jesus goes on to say that they were like sheep without a shepherd." Everything begins with compassion. Jesus basically told the to have compassion for the people around them. Before Jesus sends disciples, before he commissions workers, before he gives instructions, before there is a mission, there is compassion. The mission of Christ does not begin with a strategy meeting. It begins with a heart that breaks for people. Jesus looks at the world and sees sheep without a shepherd. Does that image sound familiar today? We live in a world full of people searching for direction. People are anxious. People are lonely. People are divided. People are overwhelmed by problems they do not know how to solve. Many are looking for meaning, purpose, hope, and belonging. Many are still sheep without a shepherd. And Jesus sees them. The good news is that Jesus is not only talking to the twelve disciples in this passage. Jesus is speaking to us. Just as he commissioned them, he commissions us. Sometimes we think mission work means traveling to another country or going somewhere far away. Those ministries are important, but Jesus reminds us that there is plenty of work right where we are. There are people in need in our neighborhoods. There are people in need in our schools. There are people in need in our workplaces. There are people in need in our families. There are people in need sitting next to us in church. Jesus says, "Pay attention." Look around. Notice people. See them. Listen to them. Love them. The mission field is often closer than we think. Jesus tells the disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." That statement is just as true today as it was two thousand years ago. There are countless opportunities to share God's love. There are hungry people to feed. Lonely people to visit. Children to encourage. Seniors to care for. Neighbors to help. Friends to support. People searching for hope. The harvest is plentiful. The need is great. The laborers are still few. The question is not whether there is work to do. The question is whether we will answer the call. Notice that Jesus does not simply ask the disciples to admire the harvest. He sends them into it. Faith is not just something we believe. Faith is something we do. Each one of us has been called to something. God has given each person gifts, opportunities, relationships, and abilities that can be used for the kingdom. Some are called to teach. Some are called to serve. Some are called to encourage. Some are called to lead. Some are called to pray. Some are called to give. Some are called simply to show up and be present with people who are hurting. Not everyone has the same assignment, but everyone has a mission. Jesus sends all of us. One of the beautiful things about this passage is that Jesus sends a group. The disciples were not identical people. They had different personalities, different backgrounds, different strengths, and different weaknesses. Today we often find ourselves divided into groups, factions, coalitions, political parties, generations, and competing viewpoints. We spend a lot of energy focusing on what separates us. When we think of factions, we think of tiny groups of people who are united together for a very small purpose. But in reality the church started in factions, very small groups taking care of a small purpose. Jesus was able to call these small factions together to work for a common cause. Jesus reminds us that the mission is bigger than our divisions. The disciples did not always agree with one another, but they shared a common purpose. The church does not have to think alike about everything to work together for Christ. We can still feed the hungry together. We can still visit the sick together. We can still share the gospel together. We can still care for our community together. We can still work side by side in the name of Jesus. The mission unites us. Jesus also teaches the disciples something important about receiving help. He tells them to depend upon the hospitality and kindness of others. That can be difficult for many of us. We like being the helpers. We are less comfortable being helped. Yet Jesus reminds us that God's work is often accomplished through mutual care. Sometimes we are the ones giving. Sometimes we are the ones receiving. Both are acts of grace. When we accept kindness from others, we acknowledge that God is working through them too. No disciple serves alone. No Christian walks alone. God provides companions along the way. Finally, Jesus speaks about urgency. The mission cannot wait forever. There are people hurting today. There are people struggling today. There are people searching for hope today. Jesus does not tell the disciples to wait until conditions are perfect. He sends them now. The church has often waited for the perfect plan, the perfect budget, the perfect leadership team, or the perfect moment. But Jesus says the harvest is already ready. The time is now. Someone needs encouragement now. Someone needs a phone call now. Someone needs forgiveness now. Someone needs hope now. Someone needs to hear about God's love now. The mission of Christ begins with compassion and continues through ordinary people who are willing to answer God's call. We do not have to travel far. We do not have to have all the answers. We do not have to be perfect. We simply have to notice what Jesus notices and care about what Jesus cares about. The sheep are still looking for a shepherd. The harvest is still plentiful. The laborers are still few. And Jesus is still calling. May we hear his voice. May we see the world through his compassionate eyes. And may we go wherever he sends us, serving those around us in his name. Ministry to People in Need There's a wonderful legend about Saint Francis, the kindly thirteenth century monk, who one day informed his brethren that he planned to go into the nearby village on a preaching mission. He invited a novice to go along. On their way, they passed an injured man and Francis promptly stopped, saw to the poor fellow's needs and arranged medical care for him. They went on and soon passed a homeless man who was near starvation. Again, Francis stopped his journey and ministered to the hungry, homeless man. So it went, through the day: people in need, Francis lovingly caring for them as best he could until the sun was low in the sky. He told his novice friend it was time for them to return, now, to the monastery for evening prayers. But the young man said, "Father, you said we were coming to town to preach to the people." Francis smiled. Then he said, "My friend, that's what we've been doing all day." That's evangelism at its most faithful. Ministry to people in their need. Not worrying about numerical growth, or adding to one's own conversion record, or winning acclaim within the denomination. Evangelism is sharing the love of God in concrete form among God's people. E. Carver McGriff, Times of Refreshing, CSS Publishing Company. Amen. Song Fill My Cup Lord UMH 641 – sing twice Prayers of the People – Do not print Let us pray. God of Laughter and Joy, we give thanks for the everyday miracles around us. For the laughter shared between friends, for the love shared in community, for the beauty of the world that leaves us speechless with joy. But even as we give thanks, we are aware of those who struggle to see a bright future, a world full of blessings, a reason to laugh. We lift up the concerns of this world. We pray for the travelers in our midst, for immigrants finding their way in a new place far from home, for refugees fleeing instability and war, for those forced to leave homes because of violence and intolerance. Journey with them, Lord. Lead your children to places of safety and welcome. Make us as quick to offer hospitality, opening hearts and homes to those in need, until all live in safety and peace. We pray for the hungry, for those who have no idea where their next meal will come from, for those who struggle to scrape together a simple meal for their family, for those who go to bed with grumbling stomachs. Bring an end to hunger, Lord. Lead your children to tables of plenty. Make us as quick to share our abundance, setting tables and feeding each other, until all are fed by your great abundance We pray for the lonely, for those whose relationships with family are frayed, for those on standing in shadows, yearning to be seen, for the divisions between neighbors born of fear and greed. Mend the threads of community, Lord. Lead us into places of beloved community, where our diversity is seen as a gift, where our uniqueness is valued, where dignity is respected. Make us quick to be peacemakers, breaking down barriers and building bridges, until this world is the way you want it to be for us. We pray for those who hardly dare to hope, for those whose dreams seem woefully out of reach, for those whose lives have been turned upside down by illness and loss, for those who suffer from depression, addiction, or patterns of self-harm. Embrace them, Lord. Lead them to places of comfort. Make us quick to reach out, offering a loving presence when all seems lost, until all know your peace. Holy God, birth a sense of laughter and joy within this world. Help us to trust what you can do and call us into the dance of reconciliation and healing. Strengthen our hands and feet for service and our hearts and voices for proclamation. (Presbyterian Outlook, Rae Watson) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Psalm 116 asks, “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?” The psalmist answers, “I will lift up the cup of salvation…I will call on the name of the Lord…I will pay my vows to the Lord…I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice.” Does this sound like what happens in worship? Here the Psalmist provides a cup, a promise made and honored, an offering! Today, we’re reminded to give back to God a portion of what God has given us. Together, let’s offer a portion of our praise, a portion of our thanksgiving, a portion of what we recognize as coming from the blessings of our lives. The psalmist offers these things to God “for the Lord inclined his ear to me.” We present our gifts to God, who not only notices us, but embraces and blesses us. With what we’ve received and what we’ll give, we find ourselves anointed as agents of God’s remarkable love. With our gifts of time, talent, and treasure, we’re equipped to act in love for siblings right here and across the world. There’s no telling what positive actions are possible when we step up as partners working to build up God’s Realm on earth. Please join God’s active community as we share our tithes and offerings! Prayer of Thanksgiving Loving God, You have called us into the mission fields right here and around the world. We’re willing to show our brothers and sisters what your love looks like, so may these gifts we offer today be fuel for the fire that burns because of your Spirit at work within us. Ignite our desire to work with one another, with other people yearning for love and peace, and with you! Help us use these gifts as one way to live out our promises as followers of Jesus the Christ. Amen. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Friends, we cannot stay here. There is work to be done out there. Go, be the church in the world. Love boldly. Speak bravely. Laugh joyfully. And trust in what the Lord can do. May the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit uplift and uphold you now and forever. Amen (Presbyterian Outlook, Rae Watson Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Go now, in the blessing of God who meets us where we are and surprises us with new life where none seemed possible. May we be a people who embody God’s miracle called laughter as we work for the flourishing of all creation as the family of God. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2025. Additional Illustrations

The Value of One

September 14, 2025 Luke 15:1-10 14th Sunday after Pentecost The Value of One Year C Prelude Greeting Call to worship (based on Luke 15:1-10) Have you come here to grumble? No! We are here to rejoice! Oh. Are you lost? No! We are found! Okay, I see. Do you seek a welcome at this table? Yes! We are here to let go of the past and begin fresh. We are here to celebrate the joy of heaven. We are here to feast with Christ, our Lord! Wonderful! You are in the righ place. You are welcome here. Let’s worship God together! (Presbyterian Outlook, Walter Canter) Invocation Maker of Heaven and Earth, we rejoice in your presence. In you, we find joy and strength, comfort and courage, truth and insight. Speak to us again. Reveal your power in and through us. Show us your glory and be glorified in our worship. May your glorious light shine through hidden spaces. May your blessed darkness make space for rest. Fortify us for this journey and make us instruments of your kingdom. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Song Come Thou Font of Every Blessing UMH 400 A Sermon for all Ages "'Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?' " Theme: Separation from God; children of God. Visual Aid: A cardboard box containing lost and found items (perhaps a sweater or cap, a pencil, a comb, and so forth). "How many of you have ever heard of a lost and found box, at your school or daycare center?" Several children raise their hands. "Have any of you ever lost anything and then found it again?" Again, several children raise their hands. One of the more outspoken ones says, "I lost my blanket once; it took two days to find it!" I suspect there is an interesting story here, but rather than get into unknown territory I just tell him I'm glad he found it after it was lost. "It's difficult to lose something you really care about, isn't it -- especially if you don't ever find it again. When I was your age, the whole idea of a 'lost and found' box just didn't make any sense to me. Obviously if something was lost, it was lost; if something was found, it was found. How could something be both lost and found? "Finally it dawned on me one day that in order to be found and get taken to the 'lost and found' box, an item first had to be lost by someone else. And since the person who lost it didn't know it had been found, it was still lost. Then the combination of 'lost and found' at last began to make sense. "Have any of you ever gotten lost in a department store or a grocery store?" Once again, several hands go up. Acknowledging their responses with a nod, I continue. "It's a frightening experience, isn't it? I used to be afraid that I might get lost like that when I was your age. I knew if I did, someone would eventually take me to the store's office. Then the store manager would use a microphone to ask in a loud voice, throughout the store, 'Would Kathleen's parents please come to the office. We have your child.' I did NOT want that to happen, so I was careful not to let my parents get away from me whenever we went shopping. Besides, if I did get lost and taken to the manager's office, what guarantee did I have that my parents would even know how to find the office? And if they couldn't find it, I'd really be stuck! It was better not to get lost in the first place. "You know, sometimes people get lost from God, just like in the store. At first I thought, 'God doesn't have a lost and found box to look in. And God doesn't have a store manager either.' Can't you just hear the announcement? 'Would God please come to the office? We have your child.' "However, I was talking with a friend the other day about these ideas and she said, 'But God DOES have store managers, lots of them!' She pointed out that every time any one of us knows of a friend who is hurting and feeling alone and we ask God in our prayers to be with that person, we are, in effect, doing the same thing the store manager would have done. We are saying, 'God, my friend is feeling lost and needing you right now. Won't you please come be with my friend?' "Well, eventually I did get lost in a store -- but it was only a couple of years ago." The children greet this confession with looks of surprise. "That's right!" I assure them. "I was an adult! I had been shopping with my husband and we had gotten separated. I really didn't want to go to the manager and hear the announcement: 'Would Mr. Fannin please come to the office. We have your wife!' "While I was looking for my husband, it occurred to me that he was probably looking for me too. Therefore, it would make more sense if I just stopped where I was and waited for him to find me. I did; he did. "I think sometimes our relationship with God is like my experience in the store. Something catches our attention and we wander away; often we don't know how to find our way back. But we are all children of God, and we need to remember that God is searching for us just as we are searching for God. Sometimes all we have to do is stand still and stop looking long enough to be found." CSS Publishing Company, Inc, Cows In Church, by B. Kathleen Fannin Unison Prayer for Forgiveness Although we believe we are experts at faithfulness, Holy God, we must confess we are unskilled workers at doing good for others. Too often, we turn a deaf ear to the cries of people we have judged to be fools. We easily scoff at those we believe have nothing to teach us or share with us. How foolish, Searching God, how foolish we are! Forgive us, and restore us to your goodness. Then, send us forth to search for all who sit in the shadowed corners of our world, yearning for someone to come and find them, even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, came to find us. Amen. Silence is kept Assurance of Pardon Our actions sometimes show we do not know God. Our words and lives show we do not understand God's hopes for us. But with utmost patience, God sets aside our foolishness, and fills us with mercy. Mingled with faith and love, grace is poured into our sin-parched souls, giving us new life, restoring us as God's children. Thanks be to God. Amen. ( Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman) Scripture Luke 15:1 – 10 Sermon The Value of One Many years ago a friend of mine who was a high school teacher went to the nearby city for a Saturday shopping trip. She and her young son, who was about 4, were in Woolco and they became separated. By the time she discovered that he was not where he was supposed to be an announcement came over the loud speaker - it was his voice - he gave his name and where he was from (though not exactly as an adult would pronounce the names) My name is ............. and I’m from ............. (adult translation My name is ............ and I’m from .................) for privacy reasons the names have been removed from the internet version and then said, “My mother is lost”. Well, by the time she arrived at customer service to collect him, every colleague from her school was there waiting for her and laughing. Seems that everyone from ............... went to Woolco to shop on Saturdays (I shopped there too, except I went on Mondays!) “My mother is lost” - as far as the little boy was concerned, that was the truth. His mother had wandered off and left him all alone in the aisle with the cars and trucks. All of us are familiar with the feeling of losing something or someone in our lives. All of us are familiar with the feeling of finding something or someone in our lives. I think losing something is one of the hardest things for me to do. Whenever I lose something, there is this urge to replace it, I don’t want to feel the emptiness of doing with it. I am learning to deal with it, sometimes you cant replace every single thing that you lose. I really do hate to lose things. I have a system of making sure that whenever I get home, I check to make sure that I have the important things that I left with – my keys, my cell phone and my wallet. Lately that system has been failing me. Two weeks ago, I left my cell phone in the basket while putting my groceries in the car. Luckily, when I got home I was able to go online and use my find my phone app and see that it was still in the cart at Jewel. It was certainly a celebration when I found the phone. Interestingly when I found my phone, I discovered someone else had lost their wallet in the same way. Just last week, I discovered that I lost my credit card in the same way, and I have not had the same luck in tracking it down. Until I find it, nothing else in life matters, all of my attention goes to searching for my credit card. The good news for us – is that in God’s eyes, we are far more valuable than a cell phone or a credit card. When we are lost, God will do everything in God’s power to find us. God will not rest until we all are found – that is why God sent Jesus in the world to show us how important we are. Luke is actually the only person who reports these three stories of lost things. I think Mark or Matthew reports two of these stories. But Luke 15 is a story of a shepherd losing a sheep, a woman losing a coin, and a father losing a son. Apparently God hates to lose things also, because Jesus uses these stories to tell about God’s love for us. God always loves us, sometimes some of us, as a matter of fact, all of us get lost in the store by ourselves and we lose our way. Jesus wants us to know that is the whole purpose of Jesus mission here on earth. God feels a sense of emptiness when we are not close to him in relationship, and Jesus came to bring us closer to God. Life is a story of being lost and getting found. It is a story of grumbling in emptiness and celebrating when found, it is a story of feeling empty and then rejoicing. We all have a place in that story. But I think just like to little boy in the first story, sometimes, especially in the church we may be a little confused about where we fit in in the story. Are we the one who is lost, or are we the one who lost something. I wasn’t going to use this story, but it makes a wonderful point. What the World Expects of the Church On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered at a large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the Christmas season. I had gone down a long hallway to help a small boy who was pushing against massive oak doors trying to get outside. The boy appeared to be about 2 years old. He was crying as if his heart would break. I picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the Christmas parties. Investigation, however, revealed nothing. I rushed outside and spotted an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually, it began to dawn on me that the child had been abandoned. I made a few calls, and soon the church was filled with people wanting to help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV stations interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the identity of the little boy. The next morning, one of the city's newspapers had the child's picture on the front page. Under the picture there was an article describing the events of the evening before. The reporter began his story with this striking line: "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!" It will be a long, long time before I can forget that newspaper headline. So much of the world's future depends on the faithfulness of the "People of God" to the "Great Commission." There is a deep hunger across our land as countless people grope for answers to the deepest questions of the human spirit. The message of Christ speaks to these questions, bringing hope and light to people who now stumble in the dark and live in despair. Our world will be changed as the hearts of people are changed. Evangelism is no longer an option for the church. It is essential to the survival of our world. The line in that Winston-Salem newspaper is a haunting reminder of what the world expects of the church. "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!" May that always be true! Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, "Someone Trusted the Church," Michigan ChristianAdvocate, May 5, 1997, p. 8. Unfortunately, sometimes in the church, we get convinced that we are the ones who find everyone, and that everyone else in the world that is lost. We know everything about Christ and it is our job to find everyone else. We become like the pharisees that Jesus would have been telling this story to. Even we in the church get lost sometimes. Jesus wants us to rethink what it means to be lost and found. Jesus is telling these parables of lost and found to the pharisees and religious authorities who were convinced that they were the ones found, and that everyone else was lost. Jesus wanted them to know – that all are valuable in the eyes of God. Which Color Would You Be? Ralph Milton tells of the teacher who, for reasons of her own, asked the kids one day, "If all the bad children were painted red and all the good children were painted green, which color would you be?" Think about it. What color would you be? Red or Green? It is a tough question isn't it when you pose only two options. One very wise child answered the teacher: "Striped" The reason I am going on about this point is simple. It seems to me that in the frame of the story - everyone but Jesus is striped. It is the same in the world today. We are a curious combination of the lost and the found. We are striped. We are, in some sense, not completely complete. It is hard language, this language of lost and found, especially for folks in the middle, as most of us are most of the time. It seems too absolute. Rarely are we completely lost. And rarely are we completely found. There is always a part of us that needs to be dragged and cajoled into the light, and there is always a part of us that is already there in the light. For some it is more and for some it is less, but always some part. The wonderful thing is - that God wants us to enter fully into the light. The wonderful thing is that God wants to bless us all richly to keep us safe, to make us strong, to help us be like a Shepherd who really cares for his sheep, or like a poor widow who really values all her coins. Richard Fairchild, Seeking the Lost I know that I have told this story before. As a matter of fact, I preached a similar sermon in 2019. Not everyone was here at that time. But I also think that sometimes it is a good idea for us to hear the same sermon again. Afterall, we can’t think about God’s grace in our lives too many times. When I went to visit the Vatican, I took a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. Even though it is the center of the Catholic Church, there is also a worshipping congregation in the building. The sanctuary as you can imagine is huge and has a lot of history. I don’t remember all of the technical terms of the parts of the sanctuary. I think it is over the altar, there are these four huge post in a square with a dome over it. I want to say there is a fence the connects the post, and there is a opening in the front for one person to come and kneel and pray. As each of us kneeled in that open space, the tour guide encouraged us to look at the fence and to notice that there were 99 candles on the fence surrounding us. The 99 candles represented the sheep in this story who were found, and as we kneeled next to the candles, we were the hundredth sheep that the shepherd has found – welcome home. At some point in each of our lives – Jesus says to each of us – welcome home. I have been looking for you all of this time, I am so glad that you returned to the fold. We are all sinners, Jesus welcomes us all home. Create Him Not The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel of Holiness stood and said; 'Create him not … he will follow that which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.' Brett Blair, Sermons.com There is just one more thing that I want to point out about this story of being lost and being found. First of all the first two stories, of the sheep and the coin, neither intentionally ran away, and neither of them did anything to get found. Jesus did all of the work. But the other thing in common in all of these stories is that these were not lone items. The shepherd had 99 other sheep, he could have done without the 100th one. The woman has 11 other coins, if she lost one she would not have been totally broke. Even the father has two sons, one who was very faithful. But they could not deal with the emptiness of losing something. The Paradox of Christian Life There's a strange paradox about the Christian life. Often, it's more about being lost than found. It's more about feeling incomplete than whole. It's more about feeling excluded than included, because many of us live in those places most of the time. • These stories are about sin and repentance, righteous and sinner, and grumbling and rejoicing. Who is the one that needs to be found? It seems as if the tax collectors and sinners have already found Jesus. They have done so, and are still considered on the outside. It seems as if it is the ‘righteous’ that actually need to be found. Is it possible to be righteous and still need to be found? David Lose asks: o Might the parents who want their children to succeed so much that they wrap their whole lives around hockey games and dance recitals be lost? o Might the career minded man or woman who has made moving up the ladder the one and only priority be lost? o Might the folks who work jobs they hate just to give their family things they never had be lost? o Might the senior who has a great pension plan but little sense of meaning since retirement be lost? o Might the teen who works so hard to be perfect and who is willing to do just about anything to fit in be lost? o Might the earnest Christian who is constantly asking whether people have accepted Jesus into their hearts be lost? But that's why we need redemption. That's why conversion is at the heart of who we are, because we all get lost in the desert, even when we're part of the fold. And we all need someone out there, willing to go looking for us. We're always in the process of trying to turn back, to find our way home again. And it's a struggle. But it's a joyful struggle, because repentance is a joyous activity. It's the endless way that we turn back toward the truth and wholeness. How great is that? And life becomes this process of shouldering one another, of walking each other home. And sometimes we're the carrier, and sometimes we're being carried. But all the time, it's a movement toward wholeness, toward being included again, toward being under one roof again. A sheep. A coin. Two sons. Us. And what joy at being found. Edward Beck, The Joy of Being Lost and Found Finding that one, made the situation whole and complete. That missing son coming home meant that they could be family again. We are found in the spirit of God – God is happy, but we are whole and complete. And that is ultimately all that God wants for us – is wholeness in mind, body and spirit and even in the community of the church. Jesus has given us a lesson of what it means to be lost and what it means to be found, a lesson of being sinful and finding repentance, of celebrating and of grumbling. After each instance of finding what was lost, there was a celebration. The owner called everyone they knew and had a big party. I am probably not going to call you all if I find my credit card, but we all should celebrate when a new person finds salvation. Whenever someone seeks God, or wants to get closer to God – we should rejoice. These stories encourage us to see others as God sees them, join in the search for new people, and to celebrate grace every time that we can. Conclusion Luke 15 reminds us: God doesn’t settle for ninety-nine. God doesn’t shrug at one missing coin. God’s love is personal, persistent, and joyful. And here’s the good news: you are that sheep. You are that coin. And so is your neighbor. So is the person you’re tempted to give up on. Heaven rejoices when the lost are found. May we rejoice, too. Amen. Song Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling 348 Prayers of the People (Don’t Print) Holy One who creates, liberates and loves, we are your creation. You have set us free, and you have sought us out with love. Trusting in your character, hoping in your memory, and believing in the movement of your Spirit, we ask that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Open your ears to your creation, to your people, to your children, who you have called, who you have rescued, who you love and who now bow p2before you and open the contents of our hearts to you in prayer. (Depending on the culture of the congregation, either hold an extend- ed period for silent prayer or offer a time for the congregation to share prayers aloud.) God, who seeks us, who offers us grace, and who celebrates our pres- ence, hear us as we join together in prayer using the words Jesus taught his disciples, “Our Father…”. Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment In Luke’s gospel, we hear Jesus tell two parables of finding what’s lost: the lost sheep and the lost coin. In both, people rejoice when the lost is found. A found sheep and a recovered/found coin call for sharing JOY! About 14 years ago, an 11-year-old Southern California girl, Jessie Rees, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Instead of focusing on her own struggles, Jessie began to share toys with other children with cancer. Jessie’s middle name, Joy, gave her the idea of naming this effort “JOY JARS,” which she personally packed and delivered while she was able. Since that time, her family has created a foundation which continues to pack and share JOY Jars to honor Jessie’s life and her vigorous desire to care for other children by challenging them to “Never Ever Give Up (NEGU).” Jessie discovered her own short life took on greater meaning when she was able to help others by sharing her joy. Her family now has continued that with over 500,000 jars sent around the world. Sounds like that shepherd with 100 sheep! Sounds like that woman with 10 coins! Sounds like what Jesus continues to teach us. How will you share your joy today as we offer our morning gifts? (Is there someone in your congregation who can share their own “lost & found” story of joy? Invite them to offer that in a 2 minute form!) Prayer of Thanksgiving Giver of all good gifts, we offer these symbols of our daily living to the glory of your name: gifts of our hands, our hearts, our hope! Use them. Use us as true disciples of Christ, Christians who are known by our love. AMEN. (Disciple of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Sending for Prayer Sending Prayer foe Face We have been found by our God, so now we will go to search for those forgotten by the world. We have been welcomed by Jesus, so now we will go to embrace the ones people look down their noses at. We have been gathered as a community by the Spirit, so now we will go to be a family to the people who long to draw near to hope. (c) Thom M. Shuman Community Time Benediction May God bless you with the clarity to recognize the world as it is, the hope to dream God’s dream together, and the power to make God’s dream a reality here and now. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, April 2025. Additional Illustrations

On Behalf of Others - revise of They will know we are christians by our love 4/28/13 - update of Sharing our Differences 5/2/10

May 18, 2025 5th Sunday of Easter Acts 11:1-18 On behalf of Others Year C Revised - They will Know we Are Christians By our Love 4/28/13 Updated version of 5/2/10 – Sharing our Differences Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Leader: More than kind or charitable, or even humane this Love that calls us takes on flesh and bone and vulnerability Assembly: we gather here to practice Love’s solidarity, rising up in the valleys and shadows of death. Leader: More than nice, or agreeable, or even polite this Love that forms us risks siding with the last and the least Assembly: we come together to become Love’s liberation building collective power to resist injustice. Leader: More than tolerant or accepting, or even affirming this Love that guides us opens to new stories of harm and new visions of flourishing Assembly: we join together to embody Love’s accountability laying down our defenses to grow beyond the edges of our knowing. Leader: More than peaceful or unifying, or even friendly this Love that compels us dares to imagine beyond empire Assembly: we worship to remember Love’s future praying, praising, and protesting until Love’s kindom comes. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Sharon Fennema) Invocation Inhale: Open our hearts. Exhale: Love, dwell among us. Song They Will Know we are Christians by our Love TFWS 2223 A Sermon for all Ages Good morning! Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “when pigs fly”? It sounds sort of silly, but is basically an expression that means something is impossible. Pigs don’t fly, since they don’t have wings and they’re too bulky to get off the ground. But do you know what? The awesome thing about the Bible is that a lot of times, we see the impossible happen… So watch out for flying pigs! (Gently toss the stuffed animals into the air or towards—not at—the kids, playfully. If it is not too distracting, you can allow them to hold one during the chat. Or if you have small give-away items, they can keep them). Well, the lesson for today sort of involved flying animals…it was about Peter. Remember him? The disciple who denied Jesus, but was forgiven, and worked hard for the church. Well, some people were criticizing him because he was hanging out with what they thought was the wrong sort of crowd. You see, back in those days there were a lot of rules. They had rules for what to wear, who to talk to, things they could or could not eat, places to go…rules for everything. Some leaders approached Peter because they thought he was disobeying by talking with people who were not following the Jewish rules. So Peter told them about something that happened to him. He had been praying on the roof, and saw a vision. In it, a whole bunch of animals was coming down, and a voice told him to go ahead and eat them! Well, these were the animals that Peter knew Jews weren’t supposed to have, so he thought it was a little strange and confusing. But as he kept praying, it happened again! Was he just hungry? A third time he had this vision and heard the voice (three seems to sort of be Peter’s special number…). And then he received a visit from someone who wanted to know more about Jesus, but was not one of the rule-following Jews. Peter realized that God wanted to let him know the good news of the Gospel is for everyone! It wasn’t just for those who followed the rules or did what the Jewish people did. Peter was explaining that the message of God’s love and grace needed to be shared with everyone. He knew it wasn’t about your background, but about life now. In John 13:31-35, Jesus said the same thing. If you heard the Gospel lesson, He was reminding his disciples that they needed to love one another. He told them that they would not be recognized by words they said but by actions they did. The “new” commandment wasn’t so new at all, but is something we must always remember is important We need to demonstrate true care about people. This does not mean we have to accept and embrace things they do, or join in if they are acting negatively. But we can still show God’s love because He has made everyone and called us to value them. Let’s practice love for one another, and thank God for the good news we have. Prayer: Offer thanks that we have the good news, and ask for help in sharing it: (Have kids repeat each line, if desired) Dear God, Thank you for the amazing stories of the Bible Thank you for helping us share your good news with others Help us understand and do that Help us love one another Thank you for Jesus! In His name, amen Affirmation of Faith UMH 883 Passing of the Peace Scripture Acts 11:1-18 Sermon On Behalf of Others The sandwich swap as a story of how food separates us Salma and Lily were best friends at school. They drew pictures together. They played on the swings together. They jumped rope together. And they ate their lunches together. But just what they ate was a little different. Lily ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for lunch. Salma ate a hummus and pita sandwich every day for lunch. And although Lily never said it out loud, she thought Salma's sandwich looked weird and yucky. She felt terrible that her friend had to eat that icky chickpea paste every day. EW. Yuck. And although Salma never said it out loud, she thought Lily's sandwich looked strange and gross. She felt just awful that her friend had to eat that gooey peanut paste every day. EW. Gross. That is an excerpt from a childrens book coming out by the Queen of Jordan called the “sandwich Swap”. It is about her experiences as a child, where she at one type of food and her best friend ate another. Both felt uncomfortable with what the other was eating. But it was through food that they came to understand one another and developed a closer relationship in the process. It is a cute little story that talks about how food separates us, and keeps us apart. The realize that their feelings about food is deeper than that, our feelings about food oftentimes harbor our personal predjudices about certain people. In the end, as they come together as friends and agree to try each other’s food, they get the whole school involved in a sandwich swap, in order to learn to be more accepting of each other. This story is a perfect example of how what we eat is one of the greatest expressions of who we are. Food can divide us and tear us apart. And food can bring us together in a very special way. When God says that we will come together in heaven with him, he says that it will be around the table at a great feast, where we share each other’s food. Scripture says that God’s greatest expression of love and care for us is to feed us. This is a perfect story for our scriptures this morning. Peter prided himself on being a good jew and making sure that everything that he ate was kosher. He considered that to be a part of what God called him to do – that is until he heard from God – which told him something different. That in the name of trying to understand others, he was free to eat whatever god’s people ate. There was nothing wrong with it But not everyone of the disciples heard that same voice, and they criticized Peter, until he explained it for them. Once again this is a demonstration of how the holy spirit works in our lives It takes something that makes sense to us (in this case food- we all understand food) in order to explain something that doesn’t make sense to us. (in this case how to get along with other people) This fits in with the gospel lesson which talks about love- Jesus tells his disciples to strive to love one another as you have been loved. – we know that there are 10 commandments – many say that this is the 11th commandment from God – to love. Love is not a concept unique to Jesus – because there are many commandments to love – love the lord the god with all of your heart, mind body and soul. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, there is even a commandment for Esau and Jacob to love one another as brothers. Jesus is just trying to get them to follow the law of love in a brand new way. Not to love because you are supposed to, but to love because you have been loved. Not to guess what love means, but to know what love means. To realize that love is not about what you do – it is about the relationship that you have. In order to love somebody, you have to identify with that person, get into their lives and know what it going on, and be willing to eat with them. For instance Peter could very well have refused to eat with the gentiles and kept his kosher habits. But somewhere along the way he realized that his relationship was more important than his beliefs. And that it was the relationship that changed him and transformed the situation. The gentiles became a part of the family, the outsiders became insiders. All because the holy spirit took something that made sense and used it to teach something that they otherwise would not have understood. Commentators point out that the story of how Peter met Cornelius and baptized his whole family is one of the longest stories in the book of Acts. It shows just how close Christianity came to being just another faction of Jews. If Peter had not had the dream, if Peter had not listened to God to try something different, If Peter had stuck to his tradition – we would have no access to the good news of Jesus. Learning how to accept love and be loved is an important mark of what it means to be a Christian. If you read and listen to the book of Acts this Easter season, you will learn the marks of a true Christian as one who follows Jesus, who trust in the teachings of Jesus, one who looks for the presence of the holy Spirit in their lives and is willing to follow it, and one who puts Christ as the center of their lives, allowing the spirit of Christ to dwell and live in them. Love is the 11th commandment. Moses gave the 10 commandments to the children of Israel so that they could live together in a community of peace. Jesus gave the 11th commandment to his disciples. – love one another as I have loved you. Love can be painful – but it still makes a difference, it still transforms people – one relationship at a time. Love is a way of speaking, a way of doing, love is who you are in Christ. Love is the one mark of a true Christian. And yet it is hardest thing in the world to love one another. Have you noticed that as Christians, we are like the two girls in the sandwich swap story – we claim to like each other and yet we find things to continue to keep us apart. And what is Jesus doing with his disciples as he is teaching them love – he just fed them as the host of the Passover. Eating is such an important part of our faith. In Acts, Peter not only encourages us to love one another, but he also encourages us to go beyond our boundaries and understanding in order to understand and accept one another. In ElkhartCounty, in the state of Indiana, there is a famous corner, the meeting of the rural two-lane highways known as County Roads 11 and 38. On three of the four corners there is a Mennonite church, but each one is different. All three share the same history of religious persecution that led them to seek America as a place of religious freedom. Each one believes in and practices simple living, peace, and service to all humanity in the name of Jesus. But one of them, the Beachy Amish congregation, refuses to use electricity in the homes. The members come in horse and buggies, and there is an outhouse and shelters for horses next to the simple, white meeting house. The people dress in the plain garb — and are pretty proud of it! The folks across the street are popularly known as the Black Car Mennonites. Each one drives an American car, and each car is black. Their building is also plain and white, and the people dress in garb that is plainer than their neighbors, although they do not conform with the fashions of the church across the street. The third church is very large, and accepts believers who dress in many different fashions. There are cars of all makes and models, and the congregation is very active in ministry to all ages, and to people around the world. Some of the women wear head coverings. This church probably has the fewest number of hoops for believers to jump through. Their influence is far greater in the community and in the world. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a place where the old ways matter. The Amish still ride their buggies up and down the green hills. Most churches have spires, and they frame the landscape with the proclaimed piety of their people. Change comes slowly. Sometimes that's good, especially when we're talking about the basics of the faith. Sometimes that's bad. Like when people refuse to change the little things. A lot of the churches, especially the Plain People like the Amish, Brethren, and Mennonite, practice a three-part communion service that includes the feet washing, a full meal called the love feast, along with the bread and cup. The story is told how a new pastor tried to lead an old, established church in the feet washing. The men were seated around one set of tables and the women around other tables. The pastor gave the instruction for the person at the front left corner to wash the feet of the person to the left, and then to continue in a counter-clockwise fashion. No one moved. There was absolute silence. The pastor wondered what he had done wrong. The silence stretched longer and longer and the situation got more and more uncomfortable. It turned out that in that particular congregation the feet washing took place in a clockwise, not a counter-clockwise fashion. For the people in the church this was close to heresy. Even next to impossible. Finally one of the elders rescued the situation by standing up, clearing his throat, and saying, "All right. I guess we can do it this way just once." And the evening was saved. Some churches resist change. And some do more than just resist it — they fight it, clawing, kicking, and screaming the whole way. Usually we're not talking about the Virgin Birth, the Divinity of Christ, and the Resurrection. It's about practices in the kitchen, where people sit, who controls the purse strings, who's allowed in women's fellowship, and things of that nature. How open are we to accepting others? How closed are our churches, whether we admit it or not? Lots of churches say, "We're a friendly church," but what they mean is that they are friendly to each other. If a newcomer arrives, that person may not be greeted and welcomed, nor invited to return. It is possible to go to some churches and never shake a single hand or share a single word with another believer. And, it's not just because they are unfriendly at heart. Some people say, "I don't want to greet someone because I might have already met them and I don't want to make a mistake." Which is worse — to admit a mistake and laugh over it, giving time to get know a person better, or taking the chance on ignoring someone who is sincerely seeking Jesus, and who discovers that the church is every bit as unfriendly as they were told? Once people are in the church, the question is whether we have the grace to allow them to become new creatures in Chris But seriously, we truly have to be careful about how we treat one another as Christians, especially within these walls. We forget that the world is watching us. they are watching how they treat one another, and coming to a decision about whether they want to be associated with us. Love is not about who we feel about one another. It is a commandment. It is an act of obedience. Jesus had some reason for pointing to the disciples and telling them that if you don’t learn anything else from me, you need to learn how to love one another. Love is not a feeling it is an action. You cant tell someone how to feel about a situation, but you can tell then what to do and how to act. Jesus commanded us to love one another – to pay attention to our actions toward one another. A woman got a divorce and lost her family. She sank into a deep depression, and was in desperate need. The people in her church only shook their heads and pointed their fingers at her failure, so she left and began frequenting a bar. One day the preacher came and asked why she had done this. She replied, “The people at the bar smile when they see me.” We have to do the same when we come to church. Finally I just want to say – that learning to love one another is not a new commandment. We are all taught from an early age to learn to love. As jews the disciples would have been taught the importance of love for others in your community. Even as Jesus was talking – he didn’t say that you needed to love the whole world – he just said love your fellow disciples. There is nothing new about love- it has been around from the beginning of love. What is new about the commandment to love is that Jesus says to love as I have loved you. Jesus gave everything he had, so that you would know how to love. You may not have to love everyone in the world, but The world is watching us, so that they can see that example. What is it that they see – Let them know we are Christians by our love. Peter’s message to us – love one another, let the church be known by the love it shows to others, and finally let love be the bridge to reach those who we may consider different then us. If I were to start a sentence with the words, “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” how would you finish that sentence? “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” Somebody once said, “There are two types of people in the world—those who divide the world into two types of people and those who do not.” What say you? I think if I were to divide people into two types, I would say, there are rule keepers and rule breakers. Some people just have an internal compulsion to follow the rules, even if those rules are questionable. There are others who seem only to enjoy life when they are breaking the rules. There’s an old joke about a little boy named Johnny whose mother had just returned from the grocery story. Johnny pulled a box of animal crackers out of her grocery bag and spread those animal crackers all over the table. “What are you doing?” the mother asked. “I’m looking for the seal,” Johnny explained. “It says not to eat them if the seal is broken.” Little Johnny is definitely a rule-keeper. I can respect that. People like him keep society from descending into chaos. But sometimes we keep rules that no longer serve any purpose. Sometimes our rules only serve to put up walls between ourselves and others. For instance, how many Christians—consciously or unconsciously—make up rules to decide who is or is not acceptable to God? Here’s a powerful question: Are there times when you and I could be standing in God’s way? Are our beliefs, attitudes, prejudices or actions interfering with the work of God in our community? Are we withholding the love and truth of Jesus Christ from certain people or certain groups because we think they are unacceptable to God? Are we standing in God’s way or standing in God’s will? Dr. James Forbes, a pastor in New York City, came from a family of 10 children. He grew up in South Carolina, and he tells the story of how his mother would call the Forbes children to the dinner table each night. Each evening, Mrs. Forbes would stand on the front porch and yell, “Are all the children in? Are all the children in?” The meal couldn’t be blessed or eaten until all ten of the Forbes children had taken their place at the table. As Dr. Forbes says, “That is how God calls to each and every one of us in the church. ‘Are all the children in? Are all the children in?’” (3) That’s the whole reason Jesus came into this world, shared the message of God, and died on the cross—it was to gather all God’s “children” into the kingdom of God. And now that’s our job too. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus, that’s your calling, that’s your mission, that’s your life’s greatest goal and priority now: to bring as many people to the love and truth of Jesus Christ as possible. In order to do that, we have to ask ourselves the question, “How big is my spiritual family?” Actually, in God’s eyes, there’s only one type of person: greatly loved and worth dying for. In the book of Galatians 3:28, the apostle Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are not God’s bouncers; we are God’s ambassadors. It’s not our job to put limits on God’s love. It’s our job to share the love and the salvation of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet, so that all God’s children can someday be gathered into His kingdom. Let us pray…. Song Help us Accept Each Other UMH 560 Pastoral Prayer Community Graduates All of our children, youth, young adults, family, others Sick and struggling Seeking God and not finding it, show love All those affected by tornadoes and the strange weather we have had St. Louis and southern illinois During mental health – pray for those affected by trauma, grief, and medical conditions Peace wherever there is violence Pray for Gaza, Ukraine, inda and Pakistan, sudan places where there is active conflict Pray for those within our hearts, pray for prayer spoken and unspoken Help us to show love, listen to places and people your are calling us to love Church – the mission of Jesus Christ which continues today Pray for the pope on first day of installation Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Peter is one of my favorite Bible figures! Why? Peter followed Jesus from early on, giving up his identity as a fisherman. Peter gave up his resistance when Jesus offered to wash his feet, blurting out, “Not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” Following a dream which showed him “unclean” animals he could eat, it’s Peter who gives up his life-long discipline of eating only “clean” animals, as a way of opening faith life to those not called to follow Jewish food laws. Peter responded to Jesus’ call to become a follower, and then grew to recognize Jesus’ call for him to build relationships with Gentiles as well as Jews. Today, we’re invited to follow in Peter’s footsteps, not necessarily by leaving our work, nor changing our diets, but with our financial resources. Today it’s a marvelous time for each of us to reach deep into our wallets, tap our savings, share our set-aside resources, giving financial symbols of our whole lives as we receive our morning offering. When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, as Peter was, we’ll find ways to respond to this 21st century call, and come to see what God-inspired ministries can emerge from our shared resources. Prayer of Thanksgiving (Inspired by Acts 11:1-18 & adapted from UMC Discipleship) Generous and Ever-giving God, we offer these gifts today in gratitude, knowing you have given us so much more. You gave your Son, Jesus, to us. You offer the wonder of creation to meet our needs for food and shelter. You provide your love to all. You allow us to claim “the repentance that leads to life!” Although our giving pales by comparison, we pray you will use these gifts and use each of us to build up your Realm on earth. Amen. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook People of Love, as you go from this place, let love be what blesses you, love that is not nice or polite, but knows how to sing in the midst of despair how to rise up in the midst of death how to hold fast in the midst of chaos Let love be the blessing you share, love that is not tolerant or charitable but knows how to care when all seems hopeless how to listen when others are silenced how to come alongside when no one else will. People of Love, let love be your blessing, this day and every day until glory comes. (United Church of Christ, Sharon Fennema) Community Time Joys and Concerns Benediction Here is the commandment…love one another! Here is the commandment…love the planet that sustains us. Let this love flow through the ordinary and the miraculous as we help bring into being the kin-dom of God, renewing the world. So be it. Amen. Written by Sally Johnson, United Methodist Creation Justice Movement Additional Illustrations There is the fable of the church who placed a “for members only” sign on their front lawn. No one was ever invited to attend the church. If strangers showed up for service they were harshly turned away and discouraged from ever coming again. As the congregation aged, members began to die until finally the last three members posted a notice in the obituary column which read: Dead. Forty-five-year-old, middle-class church that once had 200 members. Address: 1888 Temple Street. Cause of death: unfriendliness towards strangers, for-members-only attitude, disdain for all people who weren’t our kind of people. God forgive us for t Peter and the apostles refused to stay in the box. Paul refused to stay in his box. Even if Jack refuses to stay in his box, why do Christians want to stay in their boxes? Christ was crucified and resurrected so that we could come out of the box. Jesus refused to allow hatred, prejudice, class, race, age, ethnicity, money, power, influence, sickness, affliction, trouble, sorrow, pain, or death to keep him in a box. Jesus came and died and rose so that we would come out of the box. The box of narrow-mindedness and provincial thinking, the box of limited vision and opportunity and the box of the seven last words, “We never did it that way before,” all kill the forward movement of the spirit’s power and presence. Jesus calls us to come out of the box. The empty box is the empty tomb. Jesus is out of the box and we as disciples of Christ should come out of the box too! When Peter saw how the Holy Ghost had come, his mission to the Gentiles was confirmed. Peter knew he had the presence and power of the Holy Ghost which emboldened him to come out of the box others tried to force him into. This is our commission, to go into the world to preach, teach, and reach others for Christ; to come out of the our little boxes to spread the Good News of Christ. We can do it when the Holy Ghost comes upon us. When we are baptized by the Holy Spirit, we can come out of the box. We no longer have to allow things to box us in and keep us from taking a message of hope to all people. Come out of your box and give him the glory! CSS Publishing Company, Deformed, Disfigured, and Despised, by Carlyle Fielding Stewart I want you to think of possible times in our history when Christians actually stood in God’s way. Are there times in the church when we have behaved like Wile E. Coyote? Perhaps, for example, when we persecuted Galileo for his scientific discoveries? Or perhaps when many Christians opposed the Civil Rights movement? I’ll leave it to you to fill in the blanks of all the places we as an institution or as individuals might have been standing in God’s way. I don’t know why some religious people have such an affinity for the status quo why do we have such fear of change? Not all, of course. The church has been at the forefront of many of the positive changes that have occurred in society. However, to be fair, I don’t know of any significant progress that has taken place in human society that some religious group or another hasn’t been against it. Over two hundred years ago, in Gloucester, England, a man named Robert Raikes started a movement which was to have a far-reaching impact on the moral and religious life of the Western world. He began the Sunday School movement. He selected four women who gathered a group of children together on Sundays to instruct them in reading and in the church catechism. Believe it or not, the Sunday School movement was strongly resisted by the established church. The ruling classes, who had much influence in the church of that day, feared that such a program would lead to popular education which in turn would lead to revolution. And then there was a legalistic wing of the church that believed strongly that the Sabbath day was for worship and rest only, not for recreation or for school. One Scottish preacher feared that such Sunday Schools would “destroy all family religion.” (1) Imagine that. Sending children to Sunday School would destroy family religion. Every progressive step that has ever been made in human society has first of all been opposed by somebody in the name of Christ. Dr. R. Steven Hudder tells about a legislator in Georgia, Donald Ponder, who decided he wanted to be on God’s side. A representative to the state legislature he stood on the House floor of this conservative Southern state and implored his colleagues to pass a bill that would impose extra penalties for hate crimes committed against ethnic and racial minorities, as well as against gay and lesbian people. He confessed to the state Legislature that all his ancestors in the nineteenth century owned slaves and that his great grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy. He told his fellow legislators of how his college fraternity had ostracized six members because they were gay. He told of his nanny, an African American woman who had raised him from birth, who had taught him more than anyone else the difference between right and wrong. He told of how one day when he was a boy about to leave for school, she had leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, and how he had averted his head because he had been taught all his life that black people were not supposed to kiss white people. He spoke of the shame that he had carried since that day. Then Representative Donald Ponder spoke these unforgettable words: “The day came not long ago when we buried the magnificent woman who had raised me. I pledged to myself that day that never again would I look in the mirror and know that I had kept silent and let hate, prejudice, and indifference negatively impact another person’s life. I finally have figured it out. The only way we are ever going to make progress in this world is when somebody gets up and takes a stand. And so I stand before you today, my distinguished colleagues, and I urge the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia to pass this hate crimes bill.” And you know what? They did. (3) God is at work in this world anytime someone is willing to be used of God. If we will be used of God, we can see miracles occur. The way will open in front of us and we will see God’s victory. t reminds me of a story that a preacher tells. He was driving his car one time traveling north, trying to get to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Suddenly his lights went out while he was driving in North Carolina. His alternator had quit working. There he was, hundreds of miles from his destination on a dark night with no way to see where he was going. He prayed, “I don’t have an alternator, Lord, but I want to get back.” After that, he says, a Greyhound bus came by just flying. He thought to himself, “There’s my ticket to Fredericksburg.” He got right behind that big bus and laid right on the bumper of that bus and it carried him all the way to Virginia. About that experience, he says, “I just believe God. You say, weren’t you afraid of the highway patrol? No. Because the highway patrol should have been concerned about the bus as fast as it was going. They didn’t need to be concerned about me.” He concludes by saying, “Have faith in God! And believe that God is able.” (4) God is able. And God will do what he has promised. When it comes to justice and righteousness, we are either on God’s side or in God’s way. I heard somebody ask a humorous question. The question was based on archaic language in our legal system. The question was, “Can a church be insured against acts of God?” Maybe it’s not so humorous after all. A church that stands in God’s way will be flattened like Wile E. Coyote. No insurance policy in the world can protect a church or a nation that chooses to ignore the oncoming locomotive of God’s Kingdom. 1. Warren Wiersbe, The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching (Moody Press, 1984), p. 185. 2. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010). 3. http://www.christ congregational church.org/Sermons/Life%20Light%20and%20Love.htm. 4. When Black Preachers Preach: Leading Black Preachers Give Direction & Encouragement to a Nation That Has Lost Its Way, Vol. 2 (Kindle Edition). ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Dynamic Preaching Second Quarter 2013, by King Duncan III. One Step At A Time The Third Step is to remember to take it: ONE STEP AT A TIME. A baby learns to scoot before it can crawl. It learns to crawl before it can walk. And it learns to walk before it can run. Why should the Christian life and parenting be any different. One of the things we learn from creation, is that God took it one step at a time. It was a Step By Step process of creating and growing a world. We have to do the same thing in raising our children. Over the long haul, what we hope our children learn from us is: A sense of destiny: We want them to know they are unique, special, so they can have confidence for daily living; We want them to have a sense of purpose; a sense of mission in life; We want them to have a sense of love and we want to leave them a legacy of love; We want them to have a sense of security. We want them to know they are safe; that their family is their refuge; no matter what. We want them to be filled with a sense of hope and a hope filled sense of the future which will allow and challenge them to take risks. And most of all, we want them to have a desire for godliness. We want them to have a deep passion for God and the gospel. But they learn these things Step By Step, not by our lecturing, not by our dropping them off at church and Sunday School, not by our teaching but by OUR EXAMPLE, AND THE STEPS WE TAKE. You see, what we do, proves what we think is important. IV. Sow Love And finally one of the most important steps is that we SOW LOVE. Someone has written A Mother's Version of 1 Corinthians 13. "I can read bedtime stories till the cow jumps over the moon and sing "Ten Little Monkeys" until I want to call the doctor - but if I don't have love, I'm as annoying as a ringing phone. I can chase a naked toddler through the house while cooking dinner and listening to voice mail. I can fix the best cookies and Kool-Aid in the neighborhood, and I can tell a sick child's temperature with one touch of my finger, but if I don't have love, I am nothing. Love is patient while watching and praying by the front window when it's 30 minutes past curfew. Love is kind when my teen says, "I hate you!" It doesn't envy the neighbors' swimming pool or their brand-new minivan, but trusts the Lord to provide every need. Love doesn't brag when other parents share their disappointments and insecurities, and love rejoices when other families succeed. It doesn't boast, even when I've multitasked all day long and my husband can't do more than one thing at a time. Love is not rude when my spouse innocently asks, "What have you done today?" It doesn't immediately seek after glory when we see talent in our children, but encourages them to get training and make wise choices. It's not easily angered, even when my 15-year-old acts like the world revolves around him. It doesn't delight in evil (is not self-righteous) when I remind my 17-year-old that he's going 83 in a 55-mph zone, but rejoices in the truth. Love doesn't give up hope. It always protects our children's self-esteem and spirit, even while doling out discipline. It always trusts God to protect our children when we cannot. It always perseveres, through blue nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes and crossed arms, messy rooms and sleep-overs. Love never fails. But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labor(s), they will fade away. Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease. (Please, Lord?) Where there's a teenager who thinks he knows everything, there will one day be an adult who knows you did your best. For we know we fail our children, and we pray they don't end up in therapy, but when we get to heaven, our imperfect parenting will disappear. (Thank you, God!) When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us. Now that we're parents ourselves, we have a heavenly Father who adores, shelters us, and holds us when we need to cry. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (2) A mother's job is to SOW LOVE. Most mothers do that quite well, some do not. In a perfect world all mothers would SOW LOVE. But for those that do not, we're called lift them to God. And we're called to offer forgiveness. And being forgiven ourselves, we're called to follow Jesus STEP BY STEP into wholeness and to SOW LOVE. St. Francis of Assisi understood that, His whole life was dedicated to spreading the joyous love of God through Jesus Christ and he wrote this prayer. Follow Jesus Step By Step both as a parent and as a Disciple and SOW LOVE. Conclusion Parenting isn't easy. Being a mother is hard work. And we owe so much to our mother's. Peter really did know the secret to being both a good parent and a good disciple. And that's taking it STEP BY STEP and remembering: IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME, AND SOW LOVE. 1.Adapted; www.preachingplus.com, Dave Stone Motherhood: "It's Not a Job, It's an Adventure" 5/12/2002 2. Reproduced in Joyful Noiseletter, May 2004. 1 Corinthians 13 for Moms was first printed as The Story of Encouragement, an e-newsletter CSS Publishing Company, Inc., From the Pulpit, by Billy D. Strayhorn At a family gathering, a grandmother was coaxed into doing something she had never done before. After much friendly badgering, she climbed slowly up on an exercise bike. She took her time getting in just the right position. She waited a few moments. Then, nervously, she said, "All right, you can turn it on now." If only work in the church could be handled like that. If we could magically flip a switch, and then watch as the work is done for us. But work in the church requires a delicate blend of divine inspiration and human perspiration. I know a young minister who was called to a church in a small town. The church had been in decline for several years. The search committee had expressed that the church was eager to experience growth in its membership and its programs. It was also expressed that the church had a special need to reach young families and children. The church had not been effective in its ministry to young families for a number of years. The young minister brought in new energy and new ideas. Within six months worship attendance had grown forty percent! People began joining the church. A new Sunday School class was started for young couples. A new choir was started for young adults which had the added benefit of offering more contemporary music for worship. People were excited about the growth and especially all of the young families that were attending. But then a concern was raised. What could the concern be? One of the elders of the church, in all seriousness, said, "I'm concerned. All of a sudden, we have so many young people joining the church. Actually, I think we have too many young people joining the church." Is it any wonder why churches can struggle to reflect vitality? In so many ways we seek to guard the status quo. That limits the work of the Holy Spirit and it impairs our ability to be effective witnesses within the community. A young woman was eight months pregnant; she had a two-year-old son. Her son locked himself in the bathroom. This frightened his mother. The woman got a screwdriver and tried to take the door knob off. She got most of it off, but she still could not get the door open. She could see in the bathroom, though, and it scared her. Her son was trying to turn on the water in the bathtub. So, she talked him into coming away from the bathtub. Then he started climbing up on the sink, trying to get in the medicine cabinet. Finally, she was able to get him to sit still on the stool while she went to call her husband. Her husband frantically raced home from his office. He rushed in the front door to find his wife laying on the couch exhausted and his son sitting in the rocking chair, rocking away as nonchalantly as you please. He turned to his wife and said, "What happened? I thought he was locked in the bathroom." His wife said, "Well, when I hung up the phone, I had a good idea. I got an Oreo cookie, I held it up for him to see through the hole, and he opened the door just like that!" The boy had the ability to open the door all along. All he needed was the proper motivation. The same is true of the Church. We have the ability to fulfill Peter's vision of a Church that draws all people together in unity but we must be properly motivated. It will require that we set aside our personal agendas and seek God's agenda for the Church. If we can work together to determine God's vision for the Church, there is no limit to what we can accomplish for the good of God's kingdom. Who are we to stand in the way of God and God's desires for the church? So often our biases prevent us from opening our lives to the renewing presence of God. We are fearful of changes that might be required so we close our hearts. Out of fear of the unknown or a stubborn refusal to grow in new directions, we refuse to risk the vulnerability that is required if we are to be truly open to God. A woman went to her minister for counseling. She had personal problems that had been going on for several years. After the minister had met with her several times, he suspected that she was not as eager to genuinely work through her problems as she was wanting someone to listen to her. Even more than that, he sensed that she had problems beyond that with which he could help her. So he advised her to seek professional counseling. He even suggested a couple of counselors she might consider. The woman went away angry that day. The minister told her things she did not want to hear. For several years their relationship was cool at best. Then, one day, about three years later, the woman came into church and gave him a big, heartfelt hug. She said, "I want you to know that I was really angry with you when you suggested that I seek professional counseling. But in the last few months, I have been seeing a counselor and it is helping. I also want you to know that my counselor has told me that I ought to thank you because you did the absolute best thing you could do for me. I will always appreciate you for standing up and saying what I needed to hear, even though I didn't want to hear it." With that, she gave him another hug. I wonder how many blessings we miss out on because we stubbornly refuse to hear the messages God sends our way. Instead of seeking to determine God's will for our lives, we seek God's approval for what we want to do. We limit God's purpose for us with our lack of vision and our lack of expectancy about what God can do in and through us. Do you remember what Peter said? He asked, "Who am I to hinder God?" We could ask the same question of ourselves. Who are we to stand in God's way? A couple of years ago a group went on a mission trip to Honduras. They traveled to a remote village in the hills. They took medical teams to provide medical care for people who normally were not able to receive any. They also worked to put in a clean-water system that would provide good water for several villages. Clean water was the thing they identified as having the most dramatic impact on the people's health. They dug ditches and laid PVC pipe to carry water from a running stream to the local villages. The work was difficult but it was very gratifying. And the people were extremely grateful. On the last day, all the people of the village gathered together to honor the group in a special ceremony. People rode horses and walked for miles to be in attendance. The leaders of the village got up one by one to express their appreciation. Even with interpreters, they didn't understand all that was said. Finally an elderly gentleman stood up to speak. He was not an elected official. He was not a dignitary scheduled to appear in the program. He was simply a man who had lived all of his eighty years in that village. But when he spoke, everyone listened. The respect of the people was readily apparent. He began by expressing appreciation to the group of Americans for coming to his village to help. He talked about how the government had talked about developing programs to help. The president had talked about helping his people. But that's all it ever was -- talk. Then he expressed how special it was that this group of Americans had not talked about helping his people. They simply had come and done their very best for them. He concluded by saying, "You have come in the name of Christ. You have acted in love. And you have given to us what we could never earn. Because of that, we have seen in you the grace and the very spirit of Christ. Because of that, you are the most important people to ever visit our village." The entire group was moved by those words. It is so rare to be able to reflect the spirit of Christ's grace to another. As one of the doctors would later say, "That is one of those rare nights that I went to bed feeling within my soul, 'I know the Lord is pleased with me on this day.' " We must expect the unexpected with God. We too will receive unexpected blessings if we can develop God's vision for the church, if we will respond to God's leadership, and if we will have a high level of expectation regarding what God can do in and through us. With these objectives, our experience in the church will be meaningful and fulfilling. And we can work together to build a Church that fulfills Peter's vision of unifying all people in the body of Christ. What if the ones we would exclude from the fellowship of the Church are the very ones with whom God intended to bless us? Let these words of Paul be our guide: "There is one body and one Spirit ... one hope ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, Returning To God, by Douglas J. Deuel . People, especially in small towns, have long memories. In the Acts of the Apostles there is a reference to the "Synagogue of the Freedmen" (6:9). Freedmen were former slaves, and probably the descendents of former slaves as well. Roman society was class conscious, and the fact that one had been a slave, or that one's ancestors were slaves, was never forgotten. These believers had been marginalized into their own little ghetto, and could not escape the taint of their past. The passage says that they argued with Stephen over the good news of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the fact that they had been categorized as Freedmen, recognized for their station in life instead of who they were, that made them resentful of others doing well, and of the life-giving message Stephen had brought. The eloquent preacher Tom Long tells the story of a small church-related college that held an annual event called Christian Emphasis Week. It was the task of the Christian club on campus to invite a speaker who would come and lead a college revival. This particular year they invited a preacher who had come highly recommended. They were told of his dynamism and his unique way of communicating the gospel. The first night of the revival the chapel was filled with the faithful. There were no “animal house” type fraternity characters in attendance, just the faithful. The speaker began the service the way most preachers would: he read a passage of scripture. But when he finished reading, he did something which shocked the audience. He closed the Bible, threw it across the stage and out an open window and said, “There goes your God.” Then he proceeded to preach a sermon on the difference between worshiping the Bible and worshiping the God of the Bible.[1] Imagine the surprise those students had when the preacher turned their bibliolatrous religion upside down The membership of the Christian Church is all God's doing. Have you noticed that in our readings in Acts? It was God who sent his Holy Spirit on the Gentiles and converted them to the faith. It was God who changed a Saul into Paul, and who converted a Roman centurion named Cornelius, just as he changed that Ethiopian eunuch to whom Philip preached, and that multitude on the day of Pentecost. God is at work through his Holy Spirit, multiplying his faithful throughout the world. And that action of God of which we read in Acts is still going on today. God is on the move, advancing toward his kingdom, and in all of our difficulties and sufferings, we need to keep that in mind. There’s a grand old story that many of you are familiar with of a missionary physician working in the interior regions of mainland China. One day, he performed cataract surgery on a blind man. For the first time in years, the man could see clearly, and he was overjoyed. A few weeks later, the previously blind man returned to the missionary compound. But unlike the first time he had arrived, this time he was not alone. He came dragging a long rope and holding on to this long rope were more than 50 men, women, and children—all of them blind. Some had come from as far as 250 miles away, journeying through the wilderness, holding on to the rope for their guidance. The healed man wasn’t just grateful for his own healing; he was determined to lead as many people out of the darkness as he could. And that’s exactly what Peter and the apostles were called to do when they shared the message of God with the Gentiles. When we really understand the greatness of God’s grace, we realize that we can’t leave anybody out. Do you want to be in God’s way or in God’s will? The best way to ensure you are in God’s will is to ask yourself the questions, “How big is my spiritual family?” and “How great is God’s grace?” 1. "How legalism betrays Christ, violates the Gospel and destroys people" by Joe McKeever, https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/joe-mckeever/how-legalism-betrays-christ-violates-the-gospel-and-destroys-people.html. 2. Cal and Rose Samra, Holy Humor, p. 140. 3. St. Paul’s Letters to the Philippians by The Reverend Eric S. Ritz. 4. “Leonard Knight, artist at Salvation Mountain, dies at age 82” by Tony Perry, February 10, 2014, Los Angeles Times,https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-leonard-mountain-20140210-story.html. 5. “Salvation Mountain,” Atlas Obscura, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salvation-mountain ChristianGlobe Network, Inc., Dynamic Preaching Second Issue Sermons, by King Duncan ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬____________________________________________________ WE REQUIRE LOVING A little girl was making but poor progress toward recovery, though the ailment had been checked and there seemed to be no reason why she should not rapidly improve. But it didn’t happen, and the doctor in charge was keenly interested to know why. She was a very sensitive child, easily scared, responding quickly to kindness. Perhaps she was afraid of Nurse or Sister or her unfamiliar surroundings. The doctor decided it was the lack of understanding which was retarding recovery, and so wrote a directive upon the temperature chart: "This child requires loving every four hours." God is even better than that: He says, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." (Winship Storey in his Methodist Recorder. From a sermon by Bill Butsko, God’s Infinite Love, 12/25/2010) CATHERINE LAWES: A STORY OF COMPASSION Max Lucado relates this story. When Catherine Lawes’ husband, Lewis, became the warden on Sing Sing prison in 1921, she was a young mother of three daughters. Everybody warned her never to step foot inside the walls. But she didn’t listen to them. When the first prison basketball game was held, in she went, three girls in tow, and took a seat in the bleachers with the inmates. When she heard that one convicted murderer was blind, she taught him Braille so he could read. Upon learning of inmates who were hearing impaired, she studied sign language so they could communicate. For sixteen years Catherine Lawes softened the hard hearts of the men of Sing Sing. The prisoners knew something was wrong when Lewis Lawes didn’t report to work. Quickly the word spread that Catherine had been killed in a car accident. The following day as the acting warden took his early morning walk, he noticed a large gathering at the main gate. Every prisoner pressed against the fence. Eyes awash with tears. Faces solemn. No one spoke or moved. The warden made a remarkable decision. "All right, men, you can go. Just be sure to check in tonight." These were America’s hardest criminals. But the warden unlocked the gate for them, and they walked without escort or guard to the home of Catherine Lawes to pay their last respects. And each one returned. Real love changes people. That’s genuine love. That’s true love.

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.