(Used with permission by Wonderlane.) Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. -Jalaluddin Rumi www.colonialucc.org 913-362-7735 10:15 a.m. July 13, 2014
2 The Colonial Church in Prairie Village United Church of Christ Wealth without Work Sunday Worship Service in the series The Seven Deadly Social Sins Please silence your mobile phone in preparation for worship. * Please rise in body or spirit. WE GATHER AS GOD S PEOPLE ORGAN PRELUDE Variations on All Glory Be To God on High - Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 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 #516 O Grant Us, God, a Little Space CALL TO WORSHIP BIBLICAL REFLECTION ON LIVING WISELY Leader: People: Leader: People: Leader: People: Be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly. Take advantage of every opportunity because these are evil times. Because of this, don t be ignorant, but understand the Lord s will. In our time, Holy Spirit, help us learn to live wisely. Precious treasure and oil stay in the home of the wise, but fools swallow them up. LORD, help us learn to use only what we need. The plans of the diligent end up in profit, but those who hurry end up with loss. God, share your wisdom with the powerful and leaders that longterm investment is better than short-term profit. By living in your Way, may we give you glory and live in health. * 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.
3 * SHARING GOD S WELCOME (Greet everyone in the hope of peace and friendship.) 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 Pastor Aaron Roberts 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 Brothers and sisters, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother or sister who lives an undisciplined life that is not in line with the traditions that you received from us. You yourselves know how you need to imitate us because we were not undisciplined when we were with you. We didn t eat anyone s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked night and day with effort and hard work so that we would not impose on you. We did this to give you an example to imitate, not because we didn t have a right to insist on financial support. Even when we were with you we were giving you this command: If anyone doesn t want to work, they shouldn t eat. We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren t working, but they are meddling in other people s business. By the Lord Jesus Christ, we command and encourage such people to work quietly and put their own food on the table. Brothers and sisters, don t get discouraged in doing what is right. THE WORD PROCLAIMED Matthew 20:1-16 [Jesus taught:] The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion, he sent them into his vineyard. Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and I ll pay you whatever is right. And they went. Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long? Because nobody has hired us, they replied. He responded, You also go into the vineyard. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the
4 workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first. When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun. But he replied to one of them, Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn t I agree to pay you a denarion? Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. Don t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I m generous? So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last. Express your thoughts by Tweeting to #ColonialUCC. WE RESPOND WITH THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER * HYMN #173 Tú has venido a la orilla (You Have Come down to the Lakeshore) CALL TO OFFERING AND STEPPINGSTONES MISSION MOMENT * 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. * Prayer of Dedication As we share a portion of the wealth that we hold today, may it go towards helping build a better world. Today particularly, we ask your blessing on what we give to the Steppingstone ministry here in Kansas City that works by your teaching to give justice to children in need. In Jesus name 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 * HYMN #565 God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending * 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 #809 God Be With You God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. O God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. * BENEDICTION AND POSTLUDE Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken -Joyce Jones Liturgist: Children s Conversation: Greeter: Head Usher: Ushers: Ancel Neuburger Pastor Aaron Roberts Lyn Jandt Jim Jandt Tim and Marion Taylor, Jim and Lyn Jandt
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7 Colonial Church Study Guide Monday Hoarding Read Luke 12:15-21 Hoarding is a spiritual and emotional sickness. Sometimes hoarding is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Other times, it is a person s desire to find fulfillment in things. Hoarding s root is a sense of poverty in which having more of some things will lead to contentment. Jesus warns against hoarding as a spirit-killing way of living. Have you witnessed a person who hoards? It is heartbreaking when you see children who are food insecure hoarding. What was your reponse? Hoarding in the United States is very common. Why do you think that is the case? Jesus warns against hoarding and advocates living richly toward God. What does that mean to you? Tuesday Splurging Read Matthew 26:6-14 Living frugally is wise. However, Jesus also warns against the extreme of living without knowing that there are times to splurge. In this story, Jesus is eating at the home of a man with a skin disease and an unknown woman comes and extravagantly anoints Jesus with perfume. It s a strange scene to imagine. Jesus followers ask Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor. Good point. It s consistent with Jesus teaching for sure. But Jesus honors the woman s decision to splurge. Why? Did Jesus know intent of the woman s heart? What was special about this event? When is it appropriate to splurge, to be extravagent? When is it foolish? How do you know the difference? Wednesday Lavish Lifestyle Read 1 Kings 6:37-7:1 Most people would quickly read this passage and not glean the author s intent. This is a criticsm of Solomon. King Solomon was given the honor and duty of building God s Temple in Jerusalem. However as the years went by, Solomon s opinion of himself grew. He became arrogant. Although he did his duty and built a wonderful temple for God in seven years, he spent 13 years building a palace for himself. How do you find a balance between living abundantly and just being greedy? How do you know when it s too much? Who has the right to judge another person s spending? It s not a sin to have wealth, but hoarding and greed damage a person s spirit. Who do you think has the right to say?
8 Thursday Earning Your Keep Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 As we considered on Sunday, this passage is a favorite of big government Communists and small government Libertarians. It s a stretch to take Paul s meaning in this letter and apply it to how nations govern. It is aimed at Christians who have gotten lazy people who don t think that God has any real expectations of how they live, only what they say they believe about God. Christianity is about a way of living richly toward God. It involves growing in your understanding of how to imitate the living of Jesus Christ. Christ s Way involves finding a path of compassion, concern for the good of all people, and finding true joy and fulfillment. How do you picture this life for yourself? How would Jesus walk the path of your life differently? How do you deal with the thought that God blesses the righteous and the unrighteous so why be righteous? Friday Finding the Middle Path Read Matthew 20:1-16 Life isn t fair. Some people make more money than others with less work. Some people were born into money; some into poverty. Jesus knew this. God doesn t reward or curse people by their personal economic situation. However, there is a baseline that all people should receive what they need for their daily bread. No one should be without access to food, shelter, and the basic needs of life in God s vision. Often, people meddle in other people s business and make judgements. There are people living in beautiful homes living with anger because another person is receiving benefits funded by their taxes. What is going on with that? Going back to yesterday s reading, Christians are expected to work for their daily bread, but not because we didn t have a right to insist on financial support. How do you find the middle path between these ideas? At the end of the day though, Christians are told not to get discouraged in doing what is right. If however you find your middle ethical path leads you to anger or harsh judgment, you re not there yet. You haven t found Christ s Way. Here s the key get more generous and see what happens.
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