Love Actually

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

February 16, 2014

First, be reconciled with your sister or brother.

—Matthew 5.24

——————————— We Gather as the Body of Christ

GREETING
PRELUDE   Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God    Karen Lafferty, arr: Fred Bock

* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of Creation, we come in awe.
All: In wonder, we praise you.
Christ, our brother, our savior, we come in gratitude.

In joy, we thank you.

Holy Spirit, spirit of life, we come in humility.
In faith, we give ourselves to you.
Receive us, change our hearts, and give us in love to the world.
God of love, we are yours.
Alleluia!

* SONG   Your Love, O God   Blue hymnal # 120

(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME

—————————————————— We Attend to the Word

(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Give Me Jesus rr. Moses Hogan 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of love, help us to see ourselves with the eyes of love,
to see all that is in us that is loving,
and all that is not loving.
Forgive us for our sin, and make us new.
By the grace that we know in Christ,
receive us, heal us, and perfect your love in us.
SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE Alleluia Black hymnal # 2014

PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of truth, we have heard your law, and we seek to be faithful. Our obedience falters; our understanding is weak. Speak to us and write your law on our hearts, that we might truly be faithful not in duty, but in love and joy. Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT Deuteronomy 30.15-20
[God sets before us a choice: God’s ways, which lead to life, and the world’s ways, which lead to death. God implores us to choose life.]

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in God’s ways, and observing God’s commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying God, and holding fast to God; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

(10:30) * PSALTER Psalm 119.1-8

[A celebration of the life and power of living in faithfulness to God. (Each verse speaks of God’s Word or law using a different metaphor: God’s ways, testimonies, precepts, commands, statutes…)]

Happy are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord.
Happy are those who keep God’s decrees,
who seek God with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong, but walk in God’s ways.
You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word

(10:30) NEW TESTAMENT 1 Corinthians 3.1-9
[The apostle Paul is troubled to hear of divisions in the church in Corinth. He reminds them that it is God who creates and grows the church, not any individual. We are all God’s servants, God’s tools—we are God’s farm!]

 Brothers and sisters, earlier I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people controlled by selfish desires, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still controlled by those desires. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not controlled by desire, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? But what is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

GOSPEL Matthew 5.21-37
[Jesus examines the laws of God not as legal requirements, but as guides to love. The point of the law is not to technically avoid wrongdoing, but to actually love people—even those who hurt us.]

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder’; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be “Yes, Yes’ or “No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
“You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

SERMON

SONG The Gift of Love Blue hymnal # 408

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

PASSING THE PEACE

——————We Are Sent in Ministry to the World
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Adagio Arcangelo Corelli

* OFFERING SONG Doxology Blue hymnal # 94

* PRAYER
Gracious God, here are our lives. Receive us with love, bless us with grace, and use us according to your will. May we have the same tender regard for all people that you have for us,so that you may use us for the healing of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD

* SONG
O God of faithful love, in every time and land,
the human race with tender grace you hold in gentle hands.
So may we love as well, with gracious tenderness, the love you give we too will live, and thus our faith confess.

To those who cause us hurt, when anger calls our name,

we show the face of loving grace, for you treat us the same.
O God, you know our flaws, yet you forgive and heal;

and may we so, to friend and foe, your steadfast love reveal.

* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE [Please turn across the aisle and sing to one another.]

Now go in peace, my friends, with God’s deep love in you,
God’s gentleness, God’s grace to bless in all you say and do.
Go forth in Christ to serve, go forth, beloved friends,
still bound in prayer and loving care until we meet again.

POSTLUDE Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

John Hughes, arr: Pierce Dickens