The Celebration of the Gospel
February 24, 2019 — 7th Sunday after Epiphany
Love your enemies.
—Luke 6.27
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE
8:15: I Want Jesus To Walk With Me – Traditional Spiritual, arr: Larry Shackley 10:30: Seasons of Heart – Karen Lakey Buckwalter (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: God, you who are love, you create us in love.
All: We are the body of your love.
Christ, love made flesh, you come to us in grace and healing.
We are your Beloved, blessed and embraced.
Holy Spirit, energy of love, your fire in us alone is our life.
We are bearers of your love to this world.
Fill us with your love, fill us to overflowing,
for the sake of the world you love. Amen.
* SONG Your Love, O God Blue hymnal # 120
____________We Attend to the Word__________
PRAYER
God of love, you who created us in love, and for love, fill us with your love.
Fill us to overflowing with love even for those we oppose or dislike.
Fill us with the self-giving love of Christ.
Give us hearts of peace, not war.
God of love, fill us with your love. Amen.
(10:30) HEBREW BIBLE — Genesis 50.15-21
[Joseph, who has been sold into slavery by his brothers, forgives them.]
Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.”
But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
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(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
THE WORD IN SONG
8:15: What Wondrous Love Is This – arr. Jason Krug (Ringtones)
10:30: His Eye Is On The Sparrow – arr. Mark Hayes (Chancel Choir)
NEW TESTAMENT 1 Corinthians 15.35-38, 42-44
[Paul speaks of death and resurrection as letting go of one kind of “body” to be given another.]
Some will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” It’s foolish not to realize: what you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
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(10:30) * PSALTER Psalm 37.1-11
[Don’t be jealous because some people seem to get away with evil; commit your way to God, and God will act on your behalf.]
Do not fret because of the wicked;
do not be envious of wrongdoers,
for they will soon fade like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
Trust in God, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Holy One,
and God will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to God;
trust in God, and God will act.
God will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
Be still before the Holy One, and wait patiently for God;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
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GOSPEL Luke 6.27-38
[Jesus lays out the heart of his message: God loves us perfectly—“God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked”—and so we are to have that same love for others, even for our enemies. This is the love of the cross.]
I say to you that listen,
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
pray for those who abuse you.
If anyone strikes you on the cheek,
offer the other also;
and from anyone who takes away your coat
do not withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you;
and if anyone takes away your goods,
do not ask for them again.
Do to others
as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
For even sinners love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
For even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.
Your reward will be great,
and you will be children of the Most High.
For God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as God is merciful.”
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SERMON Love Only
SONG Love Only Steve G-H (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)
God, may your deep love shine bright in my heart,
may it be always your love I impart.
In ease or conflict, your love be my stay,
as your Beloved, your love to convey.
When with others I feel afraid or alone,
help me see they, too, have wounds of their own.
Help me surrender my sword and my shield,
love and love only by your grace to yield.
God, by your Spirit, fill me with your grace, to
love and to heal in each moment and place.
Love and love only, through conflict or strife,
sets us all free and gives healing and life.
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 those times we have acted in love, and we give thanks. [silent prayer…]
We recall when we have not acted in love; we call to mind those relationships in which love comes harder for us, 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 Make Me a Servant Black hymnal #2176
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer at the microphone.]
RESPONSE: This is my prayer. All: This is our prayer.
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 Be Still, My Soul Jean Sibelius, arr: Brian Buda
* OFFERING SONG Make me a Servant Black hymnal #2176
* PRAYER The Prayer of St. Francis Blue hymnal # 481
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Lord, I Want to Be a Christian Blue hymnal #402
* 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
8:15: Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Sky – arr Jason Krug (Ringtones)
10:30: Inception – arr. Jason Krug (Bells of St. Matthew’s)