"Take a Good Look"

Call to Worship  (inspired by Isaiah 58) Welcome to worship!   Here we seek to let our light break forth like the dawn. Here we come to call, trusting the Lord will answer. Here we’re welcome to cry for help, believing the Lord will  respond “Here I am!” We’re gathered, eager to gain courage to do as God directs:  to share our bread with the hungry,   to bring the homeless poor into our homes,  to provide clothing for those who are uncovered.  As God’s own beloved children,   let us worship God in this time,   and in our actions toward “the least” of our sisters and brothers.

Opening Prayer

God of Community, we rejoice in this time to worship you in this holy place, and through the wonder of technology which gathers us from many places. Help us reach out beyond the walls of this building, eager to see LIGHT emerging as we share bread and clothes, and welcome others to safe spaces.  Inspire us always to open our hands, our hearts, our minds, that we might truly be followers of Jesus, the Christ, who shows us  “the Way”.

Stewardship  (inspired by Matthew 5:14-16)

In a world in which we can so easily turn on a light, it may be challenging to remember Jesus was speaking to his disciples out on the mountain side, with no electric lights, no lighted pathways, no flashlights.  When the sun went down, everyone knew it would be DARK!

So describing the disciples “light of the world” would have had a deep significance.

What about for you?   If you can, imagine how YOU are “the light of the world”.

How do you let your light shine?   What good works can be seen when you’re around?   What happens because of you that allows others to give glory to God?

Each week, we provide an opportunity for each one of us to shine some light as we share our financial offerings.  With our gifts, this congregation is better equipped to _________________________ (provide food for the food pantry?  Bring children and youth into community through youth groups?  Help people claim their identity as followers of Jesus?

Imagine how bright the light shines when we all provide resources!

Let your light so shine so we are not hidden or under a bushel basket, but so others from all around can see and rejoice in the Light!

Invocation

God of wisdom and righteousness, your standards and expectations of us have not changed. Fill us with the desire to know your truth and to follow your commandments. Amen.

2 Samuel 12:1-9 New International Version Nathan Rebukes David 12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

Benediction

Go, as a forgiven and holy people, to do the will of the one who loves us unconditionally. 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.