Our First Day

Welcome & Announcements

Good morning, everyone. It is such a joy and a privilege to be standing here with you today.

As I was thinking about what to say on this first morning, a funny thought popped into my head. The very first church I can clearly remember my dad serving was a small, white country church, right across the street from our parsonage.

Now, since those days, life has taken me on quite a journey. I've had the blessing of traveling, living in different places, and seeing different parts of this beautiful world God has made. It's been a wonderful adventure.

But it reminded me of that old Jeffrey Archer novel, As the Crow Flies. Because I did the math, and after fifty years of life taking me all around the globe, I've realized that I have moved roughly 120 feet... as the crow flies.

(pause for a chuckle)

And I think there's something truly wonderful about that. Something that feels like coming full circle. Something that feels like coming home.

I am so incredibly honored and overjoyed to be here, to come home in a way, and to begin this journey as your pastor. I am so looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you.

And now, let us prepare our hearts to worship God together

Prelude

Call to Worship

Leader: We gather this morning not as strangers, but as a family of faith.

People: We come to offer our strength and to find strength in each other.

Leader: We come seeking the God who does not grow weary.

People: Who is the source of all our strength and grace for the day.

Leader: Let us join our hearts and voices, for we are in this together.

People: Let us worship God!

Opening Hymn

Opening Prayer

Creator God, on this new day, we thank you for this new beginning. You have gathered us in this place, from different paths and with different stories, to be one people in your name. Open our hearts to your word for us today. Open our spirits to the movement of your Spirit among us. Shape us, guide us, and bind us together in love, that we might truly become a new creation, ready to serve you and our world. We pray this together, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture Reading 1

Psalm 30 NIV

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Hymn Sing/Anthem

Scripture Reading 2

Galatians 6:1–16 NIV

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

Sermon: Our First Day

Introduction

Good morning. It is a genuine gift to be with you today, to look out and see your faces as we gather for worship.

I wonder if you can take a moment and think back with me. Think back to a 'first day' in your life. Maybe it was the first day of a new school year, walking into a classroom full of unfamiliar faces. Maybe it was the first day at a new job, trying to figure out where the coffee pot was and what your new boss was really like. Or perhaps it was the first day in a new neighborhood after a move, watching the neighbors and wondering, 'Will we be friends?'

There’s that unique mix of feelings on a first day, isn’t there? A little bit of excitement. A healthy dose of nerves. And a whole lot of questions. Questions like: 'Who are these people?' 'How will I fit in?' And especially, 'What are we going to do together?'

In many ways, today is a 'first day' for all of us. It is our first Sunday together as pastor and people. We are standing right here at the beginning of a new chapter for Ashtabula First, looking at one another with that same mix of hope and anticipation, and maybe asking some of those same questions.

As I prayed this week, asking God, 'What do we need to hear on our first day? What is your word for us as we begin?', I was led to the very end of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia. After all the deep theology and passionate arguments, Paul finishes with some of the most practical, down-to-earth advice in all of Scripture. He essentially gives us a blueprint for how to answer that fundamental question: 'How are we going to do this life together?'

And as I listened to his words, one powerful truth rose to the surface, a truth I believe is God’s word for us on this first day, and for all the days that will follow. It’s this: My life is now part of your life, and your lives are part of mine. We are in this together, and God’s goal for us is to become a 'new creation'.

II. The Foundation of Our Life Together: Carrying What's Heavy

So, if we agree that we are in this together, what's the first step? Where do we begin building this 'new creation'?

Paul lays the foundation in the very first verses of chapter six. And it might surprise you. He doesn’t start with a command to be perfect. He doesn’t start with a list of rules we must all follow. He starts with what to do when things inevitably go wrong.

Listen to what he says: "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Think about that for a moment. The very first instruction for our life together isn't about avoiding failure, it's about how we respond to it in each other. It begins not with judgment, but with gentleness. It begins not with pointing a finger, but with offering a hand.

The foundation of our new creation together is this simple, profound promise: we will carry what is heavy for one another.

And what are these 'burdens'? They are the burdens of mistakes and regrets, yes. But they are also the burden of grief when a loved one is lost. The burden of loneliness that can feel so heavy in a quiet house. The burden of a frightening diagnosis from a doctor. The burden of worry over a child or grandchild. The burden of just trying to get through the week when you are bone-tired.

Paul says that carrying these for one another isn't just a nice idea; it is the very fulfillment of the law of Christ. The law of love.

And notice who he gives this command to. He says, 'you who live by the Spirit'—that’s all of us. This is not just the pastor's job description. This is our shared work. It is the sacred covenant we make as a church family. It is the bedrock of what it truly means to be 'in this together.' It's the promise that when you are struggling, you will not be left to struggle alone. This community, our community, will be here to help carry the load.

III. The Fuel for Our Life Together: Sowing and Reaping Grace

Now, carrying burdens is noble work. It's holy work. But let's be honest—it's also hard work. It takes energy. It takes patience. And if we try to do it on our own, we will eventually run dry. The promise to "carry each other's burdens" can quickly lead to the feeling of being burdened ourselves.

So, how do we sustain it? How do we keep going without giving up?

Paul knows this is the next logical question. And he gives us the answer with a powerful image from the farm fields of Galatia. He says, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow... So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up."

Sowing and reaping. It's a law of nature, and Paul says it's a law of the spiritual life, too. If we sow seeds of selfishness, gossip, and division, we will reap a harvest of bitterness and brokenness. But if we sow seeds of the Spirit—seeds of kindness, patience, encouragement, and forgiveness—we will reap a harvest of life, joy, and peace.

But how does that keep us from growing weary? The secret is in the very next verse. Paul says, "So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith."

At first, that word "especially" might make us a little uncomfortable. It sounds exclusive, like we're supposed to be a private club that only takes care of its own. But that’s not what Paul means. What he's giving us is a strategy for spiritual sustainability. He's telling us how to refuel.

Think of it this way: this church, our community, is meant to be a field where we intentionally sow seeds of grace into one another's lives. We pour ourselves out in service to the world, but we come back here, to the family of faith, to have our own spirits cultivated. We come here to be refueled.

When you offer a word of encouragement to someone after the service, you are sowing a seed of grace. When you forgive someone who has hurt you, you are sowing a seed of grace. When you pray for the person sitting in the pew next to you, you are sowing a seed of grace.

This is the fuel for our life together. Our shared life of sowing and reaping grace within these walls is what gives us the strength to go out and carry the burdens of a watching world. Our life together fuels our work together.

IV. The Goal of Our Life Together: Becoming the New Creation

So, we have our foundation: carrying what's heavy for one another. We have our fuel: sowing and reaping grace. But that still leaves the most important question: Why? What is the ultimate point of all this?

Paul builds to a powerful crescendo at the very end of his letter. He gets personal, writing in his own hand, and you can feel the passion in his words. He says, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In a world that boasted in power, status, and religious purity, Paul says his only boast is in the cross—an instrument of weakness, suffering, and radical love. And then he delivers the line that is the entire point of our life together. He says, "For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!"

All the things the Galatians were fighting about—all the things we are often tempted to fight about, the things that divide us into insiders and outsiders—Paul waves them away and says they are nothing. They don't matter.

What matters? What is the one thing that is everything? A new creation. Now, it's important we understand what that means. A 'new creation' doesn't erase the past; it redeems it. It's only possible because of the faithful foundation built by generations of saints right here in this church. This isn't about God starting from scratch; it's about God taking all the love, all the prayers, all the service that has come before, and breathing new life into it for this new day.

And this new creation isn't just a promise for someday in the distant future. The new creation isn't just heaven. It is the reality God is building right here, right now, in us and through us. Every time we choose gentleness over judgment, every time we help carry a burden, every time we sow a seed of grace, we are participating in God's creative work. We are becoming that new creation.

This is the goal. This is the vision for our shared ministry. My deep hope and prayer is that we, here at Ashtabula First, will be a living, breathing workshop for this new creation. A place where people can come and see what it looks like when we truly live as though we are in this together, and a place from which God’s creative, healing love flows out into the world. Amen

Offertory & Doxology

Friends, Paul calls us to become a new creation by sowing seeds of grace and carrying one another's burdens. Our offering is one of the most tangible ways we live out that calling.

It is a collective act of sowing, a practical sign that we are truly in this together, providing the fuel for our ministry of healing and hope in this community and in the world.

Let us now continue our worship as we joyfully present our tithes and offerings.

Will the ushers please come forward.

Prayer of Dedication

Compassionate God, who strengthens us for the journey of faith, we bring these gifts in response to your call to sow seeds of love and justice. May our offerings build up the family of faith and extend your grace to the world beyond. Help us not to grow weary in doing good but to serve with joy and perseverance, trusting that the harvest of your Spirit will bear fruit in due season. Unite us as your new creation, made whole through Christ’s love and empowered by your Spirit. In gratitude, we dedicate all that we have and all that we are. Amen.

Morning Prayer

With gratitude and trust, we have presented our tithes and offerings—the tangible seeds we sow together for the work of God's new creation in our church and in the world.

But our worship, our response to God's love, does not end there, for God desires not only the work of our hands, but the whole of our hearts.

And so, we move seamlessly from one act of faithful trust to another. We move from offering our treasure to offering our truest selves—our deepest joys, our most persistent worries, our fragile hopes, and our silent heartaches. This, too, is how we carry one another's burdens. This is how we live as the family of faith.

Therefore, let us continue in this spirit of worship as we unite our hearts in prayer.

Let us pray.

(Movement 1: Adoration & Thanksgiving)O God of new beginnings and steadfast love, we come to you this morning with hearts full of gratitude. We thank you for the beauty of this summer day, for the light that shines on the lake, for the simple gift of breath in our lungs. We thank you for this church, for the generations of saints who have prayed in this sanctuary, who built the foundation of faith upon which we stand today. And we thank you for gathering us here, for the gift of one another, as we begin the holy work of becoming your new creation together.

(Movement 2: Petition & Intercession)Lord, in our gratitude, we also recognize that we are part of a world that is hurting. We pray for our nation on this holiday weekend. We pray for leaders in every land, that they would seek peace and pursue justice for all their people. We pray for places torn by violence and for those affected by disaster, that they might find comfort and receive aid. Remind us, O God, that we are called to bear their burdens, too, through our prayers and our actions.

We pray now for our own community, for the city of Ashtabula. Be with our neighbors, our leaders, our first responders, and our teachers. Help us to be a church that sows seeds of grace and goodness right here where you have planted us.

And now, we lift to you the prayers that are closest to our own hearts. Lord, on this my first Sunday with you, I do not yet know all the names or all the needs, but you do. You know each heart. And so we pray together for those among us who are walking through illness or recovering from surgery. We pray for those who are grieving a loss, feeling its emptiness in a fresh way this morning. We pray for those who are lonely, for those who feel forgotten, and for those who are caring for a loved one day in and day out. We pray for those facing difficult decisions and for those celebrating quiet joys that only they know. Wrap them all in your loving arms, and let them feel the strength of their church family praying for them now.

(Movement 3: Committal & Closing)Gracious God, you have heard all our prayers, the ones spoken aloud and the ones known only to you. We place them all into your loving hands, trusting in your power to heal, your wisdom to guide, and your grace to sustain us.

And now, with the confidence of your beloved children, we pray together the prayer your Son taught us, saying...

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father...

Closing Hymn

Benediction

And now, receive this blessing as you go.

On this, our first day together, God gives us this beautiful and simple plan. Our life together will be founded on the promise to carry each other's burdens. It will be fueled by the practice of sowing and reaping grace. And its ultimate goal is to join God in the holy work of becoming a new creation.

As your pastor, I walk this path with you.

For Paul says this is the rule to follow. And for all who follow it: Peace be upon you, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Amen.

Postlude