Responding to the Heart of God (Ashtabula)

Welcome

Good morning, and welcome to First United Methodist Church. I am so glad to see each of you here today.

This is a very special Sunday for me, and I hope, for all of us. As your new pastor, today marks the first time I have the profound privilege of presiding at the Lord's Table with you. It is a moment of deep joy and, if I'm being honest, a little bit of holy awe.

As I was preparing, I was thinking about the history we step into when we come to this Table. For nearly two thousand years, ever since Jesus shared a final meal with his disciples in an upper room, Christians have gathered just as we are today. They have taken bread, and blessed it, and broken it. They have taken a cup, and given thanks, and shared it. They have done this to remember Christ's life, his death, and his resurrection.

Our founder, John Wesley, believed this act of remembering was absolutely essential to the Christian life. He called Holy Communion a 'means of grace.' He saw it not just as a symbol, but as a real, tangible way that God reaches out and gives us the grace—the love, the strength, the forgiveness—that we need to live as his people. For Wesley, coming to the Table wasn't something we did because we were perfect; it was something we did because we needed God's help to grow.

And that is especially true today, as we explore our theme of 'Responding to the Heart of God.' Here, at this Table, we will not only remember God's incredible love for us, but we will be fed and strengthened by that love, so that we can go out and share it with the world.

So I invite you to enter into this time of worship with open hearts, as we prepare to meet Christ at his Table. Please stand as you are able as Jeff brings forth the Light of Christ to illuminate our gathering.

Prelude

Call To Worship

Let us quiet our minds to hear God's call.

Let us open our spirits to receive God's grace.

We gather today to seek the heart of God.

Come, let us worship together.

Opening Hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” UMH#140

Opening Prayer

All: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen

Scripture Reading 1: Hosea 11:1-11

Hosea 11:1–11 NIV

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man— the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities. They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. They will come from Egypt, trembling like sparrows, from Assyria, fluttering like doves. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.

Hymn Sing “Lonely the Boat” UMH#476

Scripture Reading 2: Colossians 3:1–11

Colossians 3:1–11 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Sermon: "Responding to the Heart of God"

Introduction: A Picture of Love

Good morning. I want you to picture a scene that most of us have witnessed, even if we don’t remember it from our own lives. It’s the picture of a toddler, learning to walk. See the wobbly steps, the arms outstretched for balance, the look of intense concentration. And see the parent, beaming, kneeling just a few feet away, cooing, "That's it, you can do it, come to me." The child takes one more shaky step, then tumbles. And in an instant, the parent is there, scooping them up, checking for scrapes, wiping a tear, and holding them close to their cheek. The parent remembers that moment forever. The child, most likely, will not.

The prophet Hosea tells us that this little snapshot, this moment of tender, pursuing, unforgettable love, is a picture of the very heart of God. And today, I want us to explore that heart, and to ask ourselves a crucial question: How do we respond to a love like that?

The Heart of God (Hosea)

In our first reading, from Hosea chapter 11, God speaks like that parent. God says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him... It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms... I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks, and I bent down to feed them.”

This is not the language of a distant, cosmic rule-maker. This is the language of a deeply personal, passionate, and invested parent. This is the God who is not above getting down on the floor with us, guiding our first steps, and delighting in our growth.

But as with so many stories of parents and children, the story takes a painful turn. God says, "The more I called them, the more they went away from me." They started chasing after other things, things they thought would make them feel secure or powerful—what the Bible calls idols. They took good things—like security or well-being—and tried to make them ultimate things, and those good things collapsed under the weight. They were like children running away from a safe and loving home to build a rickety fort in a dangerous place.

And God’s heart breaks. You can hear it in verse 8, which I believe is one of the most powerful passages in all of scripture. God cries out, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? ... My heart recoils within me; my compassion is aroused.”

Listen to that. This is not the cold anger of a judge. This is the fiery, anguished cry of a parent who cannot bear the thought of letting their child go. And then comes the reason, the foundation of our hope: "For I am God, and not a man— the Holy One among you."

We often think God’s holiness means God is separate from us, far away from our mess. But Hosea tells us the opposite. God's holiness is the very thing that makes God's love so different from ours. A mortal parent might give up. A mortal parent might say, "I've had enough," and walk away. But God says, "I am not a mortal. My love doesn't run out. My compassion is not like yours. I will not abandon you." This is the story not of a prodigal son, but of a Prodigal God, who will spend everything, whose love will roar like a lion, to call His children home.

The Pivot: How Do We Respond?

So we are left breathless by this passage, standing before this God of overwhelming, relentless love. And we have to ask the question: So what? If this is who God is... if this is the heart that beats for us... how do we even begin to respond? What does a life lived in response to this Prodigal God even look like?

For that, we turn to our second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

Our Loving Response (Colossians)

If Hosea shows us God's heart, Colossians shows us our response. Paul gives us this powerful command: "Set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things."

Now, that can sound like Paul is telling us to be so heavenly-minded that we're no earthly good. To just float around with our heads in the clouds, ignoring the real world. But that's not it at all. Setting our minds on things above is like putting on a new pair of "grace glasses."

It means choosing to see this world, our neighbors, and even ourselves, not through the lens of fear, or greed, or anger, but through the lens of God's heart. It means seeing with the values of heaven: "compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."

And notice what Paul says we should do with our old ways of seeing—the anger, the malice, the greed. He says, "put to death" or "get rid of them." That sounds harsh, but think of it this way. If you’ve been working in the garden all day and you’re covered in mud and grime, you don't wear those filthy clothes into a clean house. You take them off at the door. Paul is saying that in response to God's incredible love, we joyfully strip off all the mud and grime of our old selves—the things that hurt us and hurt others—so we can live fully in the clean, loving home God has made for us. We are being renewed, he says, "in the image of its Creator." We are being shaped to look more like the loving God we just met in Hosea.

Conclusion: The Bridge to the Table

This is our calling. It is simple. But as we all know, it is not easy. We try to wear our grace glasses, but they get smudged. We try to live with compassion, but our patience wears thin. We hear the voice of our loving God calling us, and yet, just like that toddler, we get distracted by something shiny and wander off again.

And if that were the end of the story, it would be a frustrating one. But it's not. Because the God of Hosea, the God who bent down to feed his children, knows we can't do this alone.

That is why God gives us more than just instructions. God gives us a meal. God gives us this Table.

In a few moments, we will celebrate Holy Communion for the first time together as your pastor and as your congregations. This sacrament is the place where our two scriptures meet. Here, at this Table, we are reminded of the Prodigal God of Hosea who refuses to give up on us. And here, we receive the very grace of Christ that makes the new life of Colossians possible.

This is not a meal for people who have it all figured out. It’s a meal for people who know they need help. It is spiritual food for the journey. It’s the grace we need to clean our glasses, to put on our new clothes, and to walk, even if we wobble, toward the one who calls us by name.

So today, we come to this Table as beloved children, responding to the heart of God, who calls us home again and again.

Amen.

(The pastor moves from the pulpit to the Table.)

Pastor: Let our first response to God's incredible love be in song. Please rise as you are able, and let us sing together of the unity we find in Christ.

The Service of the Table

Response to the Word: “One Bread, One Body” UMH# 620

Morning Prayer

Pastor: Christ our Lord invites to his Table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore,

Let us pray. O God whose heart is always open to us, we now seek the courage to open our hearts to you. We stand before this Table of grace knowing the distance between your perfect love and our imperfect lives. Help us to name the ways we have turned from you and from our neighbors, so that we may be washed clean and made ready to receive you. Let us now confess our sins together as it is written in your bulletin.

Confession and Pardon

All: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Pastor: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

All: Glory to God. Amen

Having been assured of God's amazing grace, let our first tangible response be one of generosity. Let us now worship God through the giving of our tithes and offerings. Will the ushers please come forward?

Offertory

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, all that we have is a gift from you. In response to your great love, we offer back these tithes and offerings. Bless them, and bless us, that they may become tangible signs of your heart for this community and the world. Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving

Pastor: We continue our worship with the Great Thanksgiving. If you would like to follow along, the words for this ancient prayer can be found on page 13 in your hymnal. Please join in on the parts printed in bold.

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Pastor: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Pastor: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

All: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pastor: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever.

All: Amen.

Pastor: And now, with the confidence of children of God, let us pray together:

The Lord’s Prayer

All: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Sharing of the Elements

The pastor breaks the bread while saying:

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

The pastor lifts the cup while saying:

The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

"We will receive communion by intinction. I invite you to come forward by the center aisle. I will give you a piece of the bread, which you may then dip into the common cup. After you have received, you may return to your seat by the side aisle."

(As people receive):The body of Christ, given for you. The blood of Christ, given for you.

Eternal God, we give thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Now, filled with grace and strengthened by this holy meal, let us prepare to take this good news into the world. Please rise as you are able, and let us sing our closing hymn.

Closing Hymn “Help Us Accept Each Other” UMH#560

Benediction

Go forth in Peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen

Postlude