Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b (C) -- "Seek the Lord and His  strength."

~* Hymn of Praise                                  Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart                     # 111

Invitation to the Celebration

     In the Name of the living Christ, we come to worship, not as passive spectators, but as active participants.

We participate through prayer, expectancy, listening, alertness, disagreeing, anticipation, challenging, giving, loving, confronting.

This means getting out of the boat into the water.

Are you ready for a God-event in your life, in the church's life?

Ready or not, we plunge ahead!

P: Please repeat after me:

1.

We are here!

2. We are ready!

3. We know that God is here!

4. We know that God is ready for us!

And, all the people said, WOW!!!

~* INVOCATION AND LORD'S PRAYER    Holy and Loving God, make this act of worship a life-giving event in our lives.

Grant that your Spirit will cleanse us at the center of our being; freshening the springs of life; probing the hidden depths of our hearts; searching our secret brokenness, alienation, self-justifications; teaching us about stepping out of boats into water; and purifying our aims and ambitions.

May Christ claim us anew, and the Holy Spirit receive and empower us, in the name of the Christ.

SCRIPTURE READING                     Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.

4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.

13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them."

He answered, "Here I am." 14 So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me."

So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?" 16 "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."

17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'"

So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.

20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."

22 Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"--that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit.

The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.

26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh."

And his brothers agreed.

28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

And they took Joseph to Egypt.

READER  Greg Bond

OFFERING                 Raymond B. Fosdick has said, "It is always through those who are unafraid to be different that advance comes to humanity."

~* DOXOLOGY

~* PRAYER OF DEDICATION           "Grant, O Lord, that what we have said with our lips, we may  believe in our hearts; and that what we believe in our hearts, we  may practice in our lives."

CHILDREN'S STORY TIME  Message with the Children of All Ages

     How many of you have walked on water for one minute?

Thirty  seconds?

Twenty seconds?

One second?

Doesn't seem possible, does  it, unless David Copperfield is around.

(Show the children that  taking risks is something they can do, rather than just going  along with the crowd.

Perhaps you can apply this example to your  own situation: A high school girl moved to town.

Her clothes were  delayed in shipment.

After wearing her one dress to school the  first day, she returned home and insisted that her parents  provide her with a new wardrobe.

"Your clothes will arrive in a  day or so," her mother consoled her.

But the girl exclaimed, "I'd  rather die than go to school wearing the same dress tomorrow.

What would everyone think?

How can I possibly face everyone at  school?"

She preferred the boat to the water.

You, too?

CHORAL ANTHEM

PRAYER                     Storms beset us, O God.

We pray for those in whom the tempest beats against their fearful hearts, for minds troubled by anxiety and doubt, and those for whom fear is a constant companion.

We pray for them the reassurance of your constant presence and your calming love.

~* PREPARATIONAL HYMN                        A Mighty Fortress Is Our God              # 1

SCRIPTURE TEXT                 Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.

25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!"

And they cried out in fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

29 He said, "Come."

So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

14:30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

SERMON                                            Set Your Goal On Jesus

     They said it couldn't be done.

People for decades had said it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes.

The great American miler Glenn Cunningham had held the world standard of 4:06.4 in 1934, but it was a Swedish  runner, Gunder Haag, who clocked an amazing time of 4:01.4 in 1945, a record which stood for nearly a decade.

Although the four-minute mile appeared physically and more importantly psychologically unattainable, the standard did fall on May 7, 1954, when a British medical student, Roger Bannister, in a dual meet at Oxford University, broke the tape in 3:59.4.

Roger Bannister had proved the world wrong.

In many ways Bannister had spent his whole life running.

Born and raised in England, Roger ran from those who told him that the lofty dreams he held were impossible.

He came from a poor and less-educated family and thus his dream to become a physician seemed remote at best.

But Roger Bannister did not allow obstacles or outside influences to derail him from the goal which he had set.

He gained admission to one of the world's most prestigious universities, Oxford, and then went on to St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London.

Bannister ran track at both schools, earning British championships in the mile run in 1951, 1953, and 1954, and a European title in the 1500 meters in 1954.

Bannister was a gifted athlete who studied the mechanics of  running.

This knowledge helped him run faster, but it was his determination to keep his mind fixed on the goal that resulted in the first sub-four-minute mile.

Roger Bannister's ability to keep his objective in focus and not allow the overly pragmatic to influence him made the impossible possible.

The setting of goals and the pursuit of their accomplishment is an integral part of our daily human drama.

Everyone sets goals, some of which are accomplished and others which we fail to achieve.

It is appropriate when speaking of something as basically human as the setting and attainment of goals that Peter, who the Gospels depict as the most human of apostles, is at the center of today's reading.

Peter demonstrates his humanity most visibly in his failures and faith.

The apostle many times does not understand Jesus and the mission which the Lord must undertake.