The Celebration of the Gospel November 11, 2018 — 25th Sunday after Pentecost
A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. — Mark 12.42________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE God Will Take Care Of You W.Martin, arr: Lyndell Leatherman[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: Eternal God, you who are more vast than the universe, we come with our tiny words of praise, All: and you receive them with love and delight. Loving Jesus, we give to you our small and broken lives, and you receive them with love and delight. Holy Spirit, we bear the gifts you have given us out into the world, each in our own way, and you receive them with love and delight. We worship you, and give thanks for your grace. Alleluia! * SONG Without Seeing You Black hymnal # 2206____________We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Great Is Thy Faithfulness Wm. Runyan, arr: Christine Anderson (Sue Lee, Handbells) (10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME PRAYER OF CONFESSION Pastor: The grace of God is with you. Congregation: And also with you. Trusting in God’s tender mercy, we open ourselves in honesty to God. God of love, help us to see ourselves with the eyes of love, to see what is in us that is loving, and what is not loving. God, we recall when we have been in harmony with you, or with life, and we give thanks. [silent prayer…] We recall when we have been out of harmony, and we seek your grace. [silent prayer…] God of mercy, in Christ you have shown us your grace. Forgive us, heal us, and perfect your love in us. SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE RESPONSE In the Lord I’ll Be Ever Thankful Black hymnal #2195 PRAYER God, a poor widow offered two tiny coins to you. We come to offer ourselves to you. Set us free from judging ourselves or our gifts, and enable us freely to give, in the spirit of Christ. Amen. (10:30) THE BELLS OF PEACE One hundred years ago from this moment, at 11:00 on November 11, 1918, armistice was signed to end the First World War. It was called the “war to end all wars,” but of course no war will end wars. Only peace will end war. With houses of worship across the country, we ring these bells today to honor members of our military who served in that conflict, including the 116,516 who died. We also remember members of the military who have served since then. We remember civilians who have died in war. And we remember those who have resisted war because of their faith. Most of all, we ring these bells as a prayer for peace. May kinship and compassion displace our pride and fear. May wisdom replace our violence. May the grace of God bring an end to all conflict. May peace prevail on earth. (10:30) OLD TESTAMENT 1 Kings 17.8-16 [Elijah visits a poor widow who is starving during a severe famine. He asks her to share her last bit of meal and oil, which she does. Yet by God’s grace her oil and meal never run out.] Now there was no rain in the land. Then the word of God came to Elijah, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Holy One the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said—and she as well as her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word that God spoke by Elijah. + (10:30) * PSALTER Psalm 116 Blue hymnal, page 837:1 [We thanks to God for God’s grace in hard times: “I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.”] I love the Holy One, because God has heard my voice and my supplications. Because God inclined an ear to me, therefore I will call on God as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of God: “O Mighty One, I pray, save my life!” Gracious is God, and righteous; our God is merciful. God protects the simple; when I was brought low, God saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for God has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I walk before God in the land of the living. I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.” What shall I return to you, God, for all your bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on your name, I will pay my vows to you in the presence of all your people. Precious in your sight is the death of your faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on your name. I will bear witness to your goodness in the presence of all your people, in the courts of your house, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise God! + NEW TESTAMENT 1Corinthians 12.4-11 [The Spirit gives each of us different gifts, all valuable.] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of services, but the same Christ. There are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit. To another is given faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. + GOSPEL Mark 12.38 – 13.2 [Jesus criticizes the temple rulers for keeping for themselves the gifts that are for the care of widows. Despite this abuse, a widow gives all she has to this fund, doing what she can for others. Jesus prophesies that the temple—not just the building, but the system that scorns justice— is doomed.] As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” + SERMON Your two cents worth SONG Breathe on Me, Breath of God Blue hymnal # 420 THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE [Anyone who wishes may share a prayer at the microphone.] THE PRAYER OF JESUS Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS: Touched by the Grace of God OFFERING OUR GIFTS 8:15: Great Is Thy Faithfulness Wm. Runyan, arr: Christine Anderson (Sue Lee, Handbells) 10:30: My Faith Looks Up To Thee Lowell Mason * OFFERING SONG Doxology Blue hymnal #94 * PRAYER Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You have given each of us gifts of infinite worth and power. Send us into the world to give of those gifts, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen. THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD * SONG I Have Decided to Follow Jesus Black hymnal #2129 * 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 Amazing Grace Traditional, arr: Christine Anderson (Sue Lee, Handbells)[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]