The Celebration of the Gospel
Reign of Christ Sunday
November 23, 2014
8:15 & 10:30 am
Christ in Majesty, Fra Angelico
Christ is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
— Ephesians 1.20-21
______ We Gather as The Body of Christ________
GREETING
PRELUDE 8:15: The King Of Love My Shepherd Is Tune: ST. COLUMBA, arr: David Cherwien
10:30: We Gather Together arr. Joel Raney (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: From the Spirit who was, the Rock who is,
All: the Strong One yet to come,
grace and peace to you!
Come before God with joy and thanks.
Let us worship God.
* SONG Rejoice, The Lord is King Blue hymnal #715
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG My Eternal King Jane Marshall
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God of Love, you have put all things under the rule of Christ, the Lord of Love. Bring us under your sway, that we may be faithful citizens of your Empire of Grace, and obedient to the spirit of love you birth within us. Speak your Word to us, and make us yours, in the name of Christ, our friend and our Sovereign. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Ezekiel 34.11-24
[God promises to give us a shepherd who will truly care for us and enable us to live in harmony. God has harsh words for those who live in greed.
Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will feed them with good pasture, and they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.”
As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats: Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?
Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
PSALTER Psalm 100 Blue hymnal, page 821:1
[A simple song of praise to God, celebrating God’s care: we are God’s sheep.]
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into God’s presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is God that made us, and we are God’s;
we are God’s people, and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving,
and God’s courts with praise.
Give thanks to God, bless God’s name.
For the Lord is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever,
and God’s faithfulness to all generations.
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 1.15-23
[Paul wants us to have the wisdom to clearly see God’s grace and power. God has put that power in us—the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and the power with which Christ rules all Creation, and is the head of the Church, which is Christ’s body.]
God accomplishes everything according to God’s wisdom and will. And according to God’s will, we who trusted in Christ have inherited a great gift from God, so that our lives might be acts of praise for God’s glory. In Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and trusted in Christ, you were marked with the Holy Spirit as a seal. This is the first installment of what is coming to us: our redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of God’s glory.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Mother and Father, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know God more deeply. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope to which God has called you. May you know the riches that God’s beloved ones inherit and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe. That is the power by which God raised Christ from the dead, and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. So Christ is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, above every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. God has put all things under Christ’s feet and has made Christ the head over all things, including the church, which is Christ’s body, the fullness of the One who fills everything in every way.
GOSPEL Matthew 25.31-46
[Jesus describes God’s final judgment based not on our morality or faith, but how we treat the poor. We don’t readily see that our true Sovereign is not found among the trappings of power, but among the poor. God does not just care about the poor; God is among the poor. To worship God, we therefore love and serve the poor. ]
At the appointed time the Human One will come in glory, with all the angels, and sit on the glorious throne, with all the nations gathered below. Then the Promised One will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, putting the sheep on the right and the goats on the left. Then the ruler will say to those on the right, “Come, you that are blessed by my Abba God, inherit the realm prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
Then those who did justice will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the ruler will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my sisters and brothers, you did it to me.”
Then the ruler will say to those on the left, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and the fallen angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then the ruler will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the just into eternal life.”
SERMON Christ is the King Kai Chur, Intern
SONG I Love to Tell the Story Blue hymnal #156
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH The Nicene Creed Blue hymnal # 880
RECEPTION OF NEW MEMBERS Blue hymnal page 38
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
RESPONSE: This is my prayer. All: This is our prayer.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
PASSING THE PEACE
______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
MISSION MOMENT Imagine No Malaria
OFFERING OUR GIFTS O Worship The King Tune: LYONS, arr: Larry Shackley
* OFFERING SONG Doxology Blue hymnal #95
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Reign over us in love and stir up your Spirit in us, that we may be loyal subjects of the Realm of Grace, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Let Us Now Depart in Thy Peace Blue hymnal #668
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Jesus Shall Reign Tune: Duke Street, arr: Douglas E. Wagner