Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. -Hermann Hesse, author

Transcription

1 (Promised Land from Mt. Nebo in Jordan, used with permission by Benjamin.) Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. -Hermann Hesse, author :15 a.m. June 29, 2014

2 2 The Colonial Church in Prairie Village United Church of Christ Losses and Gains Sunday Worship Service in the series Blessing and Letting Go Please silence your mobile phone in preparation for worship. * Please rise in body or spirit. WE GATHER AS GOD S PEOPLE ORGAN PRELUDE Nimrod -Elgar WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (Please sign and pass pew pads and fill out Prayer Request cards you may have. You can place the Prayer Request cards in the offering plates later in the service.) MOMENT TO LAY YOUR BURDENS DOWN * OPENING HYMN #58 Spirit of Love CALL TO WORSHIP MATTHEW 5:43-48 PRAY AS JESUS TAUGHT Leader: Jesus taught: "You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. People: But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. Leader: If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? People: Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete. Leader: Gracious God, we have read that Jesus said, You shall love your neighbor. Hear our prayers for our neighbors. People: (Pray for your neighbors in silence.) Leader: Jesus also said, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Hear our prayers for our enemies. People: (Pray for your enemies or for people who persecute you in silence.)

3 3 All: Grant us the grace to become your children, LORD. Endow us with the wisdom and strength to let go of our fears and prejudices. May we know the light of your love and the gentle rain of your blessings. In Christ we pray. Amen. * SONG OF PRAISE GLORIA #759 ADAPTED Glory to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. Amen. (We ll be greeting later ) CHILDREN S CONVERSATION (Children of all ages are welcome to come forward to the chancel steps. Following the Conversation, children are welcome to remain to worship or to attend our Sunday School.) This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. WE HEAR GOD S WORD * THE WORD IN SCRIPTURE Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Moses hiked up from the Moabite plains to Mount Nebo, the peak of the Pisgah slope, which faces Jericho. The LORD showed him the whole land: the Gilead region as far as Dan's territory; all the parts belonging to Naphtali along with the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as the entirety of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea; also the arid southern plain, and the plain including the Jericho Valley, Palm City as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to Moses: "This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I promised: 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have shown it to you with your own eyes; however, you will not cross over into it." Then Moses, the LORD's servant, died right there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD's command. The Lord buried him in a valley in Moabite country across from Beth-peor. Even now, no one knows where Moses' grave is. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn't impaired, and his vigor hadn't diminished a bit. Back down in the Moabite plains, the Israelites mourned Moses' death for thirty days. At that point, the time for weeping and for mourning Moses was over. Joshua, Nun's son, was filled with wisdom because Moses had placed his hands

4 4 on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did exactly what the LORD commanded Moses. No prophet like Moses has yet emerged in Israel; Moses knew the LORD face-to-face! That's not even to mention all those signs and wonders that the LORD sent Moses to do in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his entire land as well as all the extraordinary power that Moses displayed before Israel's own eyes! THE WORD PROCLAIMED Fix You lyrics by Coldplay When you try your best but you don't succeed When you get what you want but not what you need When you feel so tired but you can't sleep Stuck in reverse When the tears come streaming down your face When you lose something you can't replace When you love someone but it goes to waste Could it be worse? Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones I will try to fix you High up above or down below When you're too in love to let it go But if you never try you'll never know Just what you're worth Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you Pastor Aaron Roberts Tears stream down your face When you lose something you cannot replace Tears stream down your face And I Tears stream down your face I promise you I will learn from my mistakes Tears stream down your face And I Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you Express your thoughts by Tweeting to #ColonialUCC. WE RESPOND WITH THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER * HYMN #476 My Life Flows on in Endless Song (How Can I Keep from Singing) CALL TO OFFERING AND OFFERTORY Prospect -Walker * Doxology (#780 adapted; tune Old Hundredth) Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, you heavenly host: Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen.

5 * Prayer of Dedication As we support your church, Lord, we also offer you our animosities and the anger we feel. We do this because we trust that by the power of your Holy Spirit, we can let go and be released from their chains. By the power that comes from you, we pray. Amen. TIME OF PRAYER Prayers of the People Believing that each joy and/or concern expressed is indeed a prayer, after each expression, the pastor will say: Lord, in your mercy. And the people may respond: Hear our prayer. Praying in Silence Our Lord s Prayer 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. 5 WE DEPART TO SERVE * SHARING GOD S PEACE * RENEW OUR COVENANT (Turn towards the center aisle as we bless one another with the promise of our covenant.) We covenant with the Lord and with one another and do bind ourselves in the presence of God to walk together in Christian Love. We seek to worship God in spirit and in truth and to love our neighbors as ourselves. With God s help we will honor Colonial Church in our conduct, support its program, and extend the influence of Christ throughout the world. * CONGREGATIONAL SONG OF BLESSING ON BULLETIN PAGE 6 Shalom Chaverim * POSTLUDE My Inmost Heart Now Raises -J.C. Bach

6 6 Pronunciation: Shah-loam khah-vair-eem ( hah will do if you can't make the "kh" sound); Luh-heet-rah-aut. 2 nd time: Hello, my dear friends, hello, my dear friends Hello, Hello. Hello, my dear friends, hello, my dear friends Hello, Hello. 3 rd time: Peace my dear friends, In peace, my dear friends May you go in peace. 'Til we meet again, 'til we meet again, Shalom, Shalom 4 th time: REPEAT HEBREW VERSE (Used with permission from musickit.com)

7 7 Colonial Church Study Guide Monday Losses and Gains Although we sometimes like to divide life into positives and negatives pluses and minuses rarely do things split into categories that are that neat and tidy. Especially in the Christian view, each sorrow is scented with hope; each stride forward has its cost. The cross and the empty tomb are good examples of this mysterious, miraculous mixture. Out of the shame, pain, and sorrow of the cross came the triumph of the empty tomb. Yet, in celebrating the resurrected Christ and what that means for our own lives, we are reminded of the enormous cost of that triumph. In this context, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat are not so much opposite ends of a continuum as they are recurring components that are both present in most of the changes and transitions we encounter in life. Loss and gain almost always coexist and are seldom absent from the vast majority of life s pivotal experiences. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. On one half, write the heading Letting Go / What Was Lost. On the other half, write the heading Embracing and Blessing / What Was Gained. Read Deuteronomy 34:1 12. Identify the two most significant changes that, according to this passage, were occurring at this time in the life of the people of God known as Israel. Consider the following changes: Moses, whom God called to bring the people out of Egypt, died; Joshua, Moses former lieutenant and the person God called to lead the people into the promised land, was embraced as the new leader of the Israelites. What are some of the things that this passage might suggest for inclusion under the two headings. For example, Moses death meant that the Israelites lost a familiar, trusted leader. In the midst of letting go, however, Israel also learned something about its growth, resilience, and strength as the people of God. They had grown enough to be able to welcome and bless Joshua as their new leader. Rather than fracturing into rival factions and coming apart at the seams, they came together under Joshua and moved toward crossing the Jordan and beginning to take possession of the promised land. What might this passage say to us about the melding of letting go and embracing, grieving and rejoicing, and loss and gain elements of many transition experiences? What transitions in your own life have presented you with both deep losses and undeniable gains? What does the gospel of Jesus Christ have to say to us about death and resurrection, loss and gain?

8 8 Wednesday Blessing Envy For most of us, one disappointment in our lives is not that we fail to receive any blessings, but that we do not always receive the blessings we anticipate or want. One thing a disciple must learn is to grow in Christ so that the gratitude for what we have becomes greater than our disgruntlement over what we do not have. That is not to say that our disgruntlement should be denied or that it makes us a bad person. Disappointment is a natural part of life. Even for the believer, what it is never quite measures up to what we d hoped for. That is where time and the grace of God can, over time, help us to deal with the dissatisfaction and grief and learn to more consistently embrace a fuller measure of contentment and joy. Consider your own disappointments and how well you have made peace with the ways in which your life has been blessed. Read Genesis 27:30 41 and Genesis 33:4, 8 9. Consider the following points: Jacob conspired with his mother to receive his father s blessing, which normally would have been given to Esau as the eldest son. In order to receive the blessing from his father, whose eyesight was impaired, Jacob disguised himself as Esau. In the thought of the times, once blessings were given they could be neither rescinded nor redirected to another individual. Esau was enraged and begged for a blessing of his own. Even though he received a blessing from his father, Esau determined to seek revenge by killing Jacob. Jacob fled for his life. After many years had passed, Jacob and Esau were reunited. By then, each had experienced a fair degree of prosperity. Whatever the degree of Esau s bitterness had been toward Jacob at one time, he forgave his brother and embraced him. Ask yourself: To what extent have you ever felt that your blessings were not quite as desirable as the blessings of others? To what extent have you at times resented or envied blessings that others have received? To what degree, if any, does blessing envy undercut the gratitude we express for and the joy we take in the blessings we receive? As growing, journeying followers of Jesus Christ, how might we come to a new, deeper appreciation for the blessings we experience regardless of the blessings that others receive and we do not? (Used with permission by UCC Faith Practices)

9 9

10 10

11 11

12 12