The Celebration of the Gospel
May 26 , 2019 — Sixth Sunday of Easter
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,
and not according to Christ..
—Colossians 2.8
________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE
I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord – Tune: ST THOMAS, arr: Robert W. Thygerson
[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 noise and demands of the world,
All: we come to be made alive in God,
to be rooted and built up in Christ,
to be nourished and held together in the Spirit,
united in Christ’s body, the Church,
abounding in gratitude and love.
* SONG – Jesus Calls Us – Blue hymnal # 398
_________ We Attend to the Word____________
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG – How Great Thou Art – Stuart K. Hine, arr. Lloyd Larson
PRAYER
Ever-present God, you understand the pressures we face. We can’t watch the news, turn on a computer, or walk past a display of magazines without being bombarded with information: contradictory data and advice about how we should live. We can’t help but doubt ourselves – is what we’re doing ok? Are we ok? Should we change ourselves to fit in or stand out? Cut through the cacophony of voices seeking to influence us. Remind us that you have supplanted human knowledge and disarmed human authorities. We give thanks that you accept us unconditionally, and have united us with the resurrected Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
GOSPEL – Luke 12.22-34
[Jesus warns us not to put the energy of our lives toward material things, but toward the receiving-and-giving of God’s love that is the Realm of God. Trusting God to provide, we focus on love. For “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”]
Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
Do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Abba God knows that you need them. Instead, strive for God’s commonwealth, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Abba God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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* PSALTER – Psalm 139.1-18
[God knows us intimately and perfectly, not just as if God is watching us, but from within. God is present everywhere and aware of us and participating in our lives, no matter where we are or in what condition. The psalmist prays, “God, you created me.” (Knitted and woven, specifically, which were women’s work). “You know me; you are always with me. Help me to avoid doing evil.”]
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts,
O God! How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
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NEW TESTAMENT – Colossians 2.6-19
[A description of life in Christ. “Christ” refers not only to the person of Jesus but to the cosmic-yet-intimate presence of God that Jesus models. And the Church is the Body of Christ. Paul describes how we let Christ be the guiding power in our lives: other forces have no power over us.]
You received as a gift
God’s presence embodied in Jesus,
the captain of your soul.
Live as part of God’s embodied presence.
Root yourself deeply in Christ.
Grow and become more whole in your trust,
true to your experience, overflowing with gratitude.
Don’t let anyone hijack your faith with fear and lies, with selfish agendas,
with human prejudices and power structures.
Keep your trust in Christ.
Christ is a higher power than any ruler or authority.
Christ is the physical presence of divinity, in whom your lives are whole.
In Christ you have received God’s Covenant
through a transformation by the Spirit:
stepping out of the limits of your fleshly bodies,
you became part of the Body of Christ
when you were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Christ,
trusting in the power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
When you were dead, buried alive under your sins,
disconnected from the Covenant,
God gave you new life together with Christ:
God forgave all your sin,
ignoring all accounts of your failure to meet legal demands.
God destroyed these accounts, nailing them to the cross.
God disarmed all oppressive powers and spirits
and made a public display of them,
triumphing over them in the cross.
So hold fast to Christ, the head,
from whom the whole Body,
nourished and joined by the Spirit’s ligaments and sinews,
grows with a growth that is from God.
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SERMON – Rev. Natalie Hill
[Rev. Natalie Hill is a United Methodist Deacon. In the UMC, Deacons are uniquely called to serve as a bridge between the church and the world. Rev. Hill serves in the church through her work at Harvard-Epworth UMC and MIT’s protestant chaplaincy, while also serving in the world as a clinical social worker. She has spent most of her clinical career specializing in eating disorders, and her ministry is an extension of this work, with a specific focus on incorporating Christian theology and practice to help people experience a transformed and transforming relationship with their own bodies.]
SONG – For the Healing of the nations – Blue hymnal # 428
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – from 1 Corinthians 15 and Colossians 1 – Blue hymnal # 888
* RESPONSE – Lord, Listen to your Children Praying – Black hymnal #2193
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
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_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – Blessed Jesus, At Thy Word – J. S. Bach
* OFFERING SONG Doxology – Blue hymnal #94
* PRAYER
Generous God, as you have not withheld yourself from us, help us not withhold ourselves from you. Sustained by our inclusion in your body, we offer our gifts, our tithes and our offerings in abundant gratitude and in faithful hope for the fulfillment of your kin-dom. In Jesus name, Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG –In the Midst of New Dimensions – Black hymnal #2238
* 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 – The Prayer – Carol Bayer Sager & David Foster, arr: Albert Mendoza