Sermon Tone Analysis

Call to Worship  (inspired by Psalm 15)

Gathered to worship the Lord our God, let’s celebrate

those who walk blamelessly and do what is right.

United in our desire to love one another, let’s claim

we do not slander with our tongues, but honor those who fear God.

We rejoice with those who stand by their oath, even to their hurt.

Those who do these things shall never be moved!

Opening Prayer

Holy God, we’re steadfast in our desire to root ourselves in honoring you.

Thank you for this opportunity to be joined as one part of the Body of Christ, gathered to praise and worship you.

Help us grow in wisdom, and in favor with you and with this congregation.

Strengthen us to plant our feet, walk blamelessly and do what is right not only in this hour, but in every hour of our lives.

Stewardship

Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, clearly identifies the believers’ call as a call directed to those who were not powerful, wise or strong.

Rather, the people in that congregation might be a lot like we are!

We have no basis on which to boast except to boast in the Lord.

Once we recognize ourselves as stewards, then we instinctively know we’re responsible for the best use of all the resources we’ve been given.

We have this moment in worship to offer back a portion of what we’ve been given.

What will you offer?

Because it all belongs to God, perhaps you’re ready to offer your time.

Because God has endowed you with particular talents, perhaps this is the day to offer some of your talent.

Because God makes financial resources a symbol of your life, surely this is your moment to offer financial support for the use of this congregation.

As you prepare your offering, may you find joy in boasting in the God who has given you time, talent and treasure.

What a mighty God we serve!

Prayer

Loving God,

we come this morning

seeking to abide in your presence.

Open our minds to your spirit of wisdom,

that we may know how to live as your people.

Open our hearts to your spirit of truth,

that we may love all your people with a love

that speaks of justice, kindness,

and radical grace.

May this time of worship

be authentic and pleasing to you.

Amen.

Deuteronomy 24:10-21 New International Version

10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.

11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession.

13 Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it.

Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.

14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.

15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it.

Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.

17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there.

That is why I command you to do this.

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.

Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.

Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.

21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again.

Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.

Benediction (Micah 6, Psalm 15, Matthew 5)

Those who live lives pleasing to God

shall not be moved.

Go now to embrace the kingdom values—

values of love, justice, and truth.

Go now with God’s blessing,

to live those values through the power

of our challenging, faithful, loving,

empowering God.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

Amen.