Sermon Tone Analysis

2~/14~/99

 

ORGAN PRELUDE    ANNOUNCEMENTS            Psalm 62:5-12 -- *God is my Rock, my salvation, my fortress* (v.

6)         CALL TO WORSHIP

~*OPENING HYMN                            Holy, Holy, Holy                                  # 2 v.1,3,4

~*INVOCATION AND LORD'S PRAYER                 O God, we thank you for loving us with your whole being in Christ and for making us wholly yours through the forgiveness of sins.

Make us wholly holy that we might love without limit and reach the fullness of the stature of Christ, in whose name we pray.

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.

~*GLORIA PATRI

SCRIPTURE READING   Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18  Leviticus 9:1The Lord also said to Moses, 2  “Say this to the entire community of Israel: You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

3  Each of you must show respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest, for I, the Lord, am your God.

4  Do not put your trust in idols or make gods of metal for yourselves.

I, the Lord, am your God.5“When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it properly so it will be accepted on your behalf.

6  You must eat it on the same day you offer it or on the next day at the latest.

Any leftovers that remain until the third day must be burned.

7If any of the offering is eaten on the third day, it will be contaminated, and I will not accept it.

8If you eat it on the third day, you will answer for the sin of profaning what is holy to the Lord and must be cut off from the community.9

“When you harvest your crops, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop.

10  It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground.

Leave them for the poor and the foreigners who live among you, for I, the Lord, am your God.11“Do not steal.

“Do not cheat one another.

“Do not lie.12“Do

not use my name to swear a falsehood and so profane the name of your God.

I am the Lord.13“Do

not cheat or rob anyone.

”Always pay your hired workers promptly.14“Show

your fear of God by treating the deaf with respect and by not taking advantage of the blind.

I am the Lord.15“Always

judge your neighbors fairly, neither favoring the poor nor showing deference to the rich.16“Do

not spread slanderous gossip among your people.

“Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor’s life, for I am the Lord.17“Do

not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.

“Confront your neighbors directly so you will not be held guilty for their crimes.18“Never

seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord.

Barbara Hodgkins                                           READER

“Do not . .

.”

Some people think the Bible is nothing but a book of don’ts.

But Jesus neatly summarized all these rules when he said to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.

He called these the greatest commandments (or rules) of all (Matthew 22:34-40).

By carrying out Jesus’ simple commands, we find ourselves following all of God’s other laws as well.

MISSION MOMENT

OFFERING                       God instructed the Hebrews to provide for those in need.

He required that the people leave the edges of their fields unharvested, providing food for travelers and the poor.

It is easy to ignore the poor or forget about those who have less than we do.

But God desires generosity.

In what ways can you leave the “edges of your fields” for those in need?

Exodus 19:5-6  Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me.

6And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’

~*DOXOLOGY

~*PRAYER OF DEDICATION            We thank you, O God our Father, that you have given us a special role on your earth.

May we accomplish your purpose by our prayers, our offerings, and our lives, so that your truth and love may be known by people everywhere.

CHILDREN'S STORY TIME

CHORAL ANTHEM

PRAYER         Heavenly Father, Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to love our enemies, to do more than others who do not know you.

He wants us to be perfect, like you are perfect.

We would brush aside such impossible demands, if we had not already experienced the perfection of your love.

Your perfect love does not impose rules and regulations, rather, your love opens the impossible to our doing.

When we know our sins are forgiven by your love, we are then able to turn the other cheek, forgiving those who have done evil to us.

When we consider all the times we have begged from you, and have received more than we ever dared to request, it dissolves our resistance to going a second mile for others.

When we remember how we have rejected, betrayed and fought you, only to be loved perfectly by you in return, our hearts are opened to loving enemies who have fought us..  Open us to doing what is impossible for those who do not know perfect love.

Let your love penetrate every nook and cranny of our hearts, softening their old hardness and awakening us to the new ways of your kingdom.

Amen

             ~/~/ O God, You have called us to walk in ways very different from the world around us.

Grant us the strength and the courage, Lord, to be different in a world that values conformity.

Lord, so often as we have struggled in life we have failed to see Your mercy and grace around us.

Instead too often we have tried to think of ourselves as being worthy before You on our own merits and we have denied in our hearts the message of the Cross.

Forgive us, Lord, and help us to be strong witnesses of Your love in the world today.

In Christ we pray.

Amen.

~*PREPARATIONAL HYMN             Love Divine, All Loves Excelling           # 71

SCRIPTURE TEXT     Matthew 5: 38-48           38  “You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘If an eye is injured, injure the eye of the person who did it.

If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person who did it.’

39 But I say, don’t resist an evil person!

If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too.

40If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.

41If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.

42Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow./

Jesus Teaches about Loving Enemies /

43 “You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.

44But I say, love your enemies!

Pray for those who persecute you! 45In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too.

46If you love only those who love you, what good is that?

Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.

47If you are kind only to your friends,  how are you different from anyone else?

Even pagans do that.

48  But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

SERMON        Normal and Expected or PERFECT?

   "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself" (Lev.19:18).

This command is based on the assumption that it is natural for people to love themselves.

If you didn't love yourself you wouldn't care for yourself.

You wouldn't eat properly, brush your hair, exercise and so forth.

But loving yourself does not come through the genetic codes; it is taught or caught.

The opposite of loving is loathing.