Set Yourself Free

Sunday Worship & Spring Communion 11am, May 2, 2021 In the Sanctuary, Online at Zoom & https://www.facebook.com/centrechurchpa/ Thank You for Your Generosity! Norm & Gail McElwain with a SUV stuffed with supplies to go to Mason-Dixon Community Center in Delta, PA http://mason-dixon.org/ 83 New Park Road, New Park, PA 17352 https://centrechurchpa.org 1 Spring Communion Fifth Sunday of Easter Welcome Announcements May 2, 2021 Pastor Don Hackett Worship Hosts – Elder Paul McPherson Prelude Call to Worship (James 4:4-10) You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. Hymn #434 What a Friend We Have in Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi1-5kmbkyQ Prayer of Confession & the Lord’s Prayer James chapter 5 encourages us to: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. We come, O Lord, hear are silent prayers of confession. (silence) Hear us as we pray the prayer your risen Son taught us: 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. 2 Sharing of Prayer Requests Prayers of the People The Offering (online donations at https://centrechurchpa.org/) Offertory Prayers of Dedication and Illumination Scripture Text - James 4:13-17 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. The Word of Our Lord. Thanks be to God! 3 Sermon “Get Yourself Free” Rev. Dr. Don Hackett Hard words Did you ever have to say something the other person did not want to hear? Our passage today is like that. This fourth chapter of James is short, just 17 verses, but it carries a punch. After reading it you can feel yelled at or like your hand has been slapped. James has had three chapters to warm up and now he is on a roll. Before we read what James said, let’s remember why he said it. James wants these new followers of Christ to grow and thrive. He wants God’s best for them. James is acting out of love. As we know, love sometimes has to say and do some difficult things. James has these churches step back and look at themselves. What is going on in their hearts? What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:13) Hard hearts As we look at this passage, we realize this is nothing new. From the beginning of human history, this has been our story. In Genesis 4, Cain was jealous of his brother, Abel, so he killed him. In 1 Samuel 18 we read that Saul was jealous of David, so he tried to impale him with a spear. King Herod was threatened by the news of a baby king, so he massacred the innocent children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2). This is not a new story. Our unchecked selfish desires are always looking for a way to rule the day. This can lead us to cheat, gossip, steal, use violence, and even kill to get our way. This is the news that greets us in the media each day. The truth about you and me is that deep down inside of us there is something that is yelling: “I want it my way. Now!” I have heard those words come out of the mouths of little children. I have heard those words come out of my own heart as well. I call this, Ego, the little dictator. Inside us is the desire to rule over everyone and everything. We like control. We like it when we get our way. James repeats this phrase three times, “you want it your own way.” 4 We may ask, “What is wrong with having things my way?” I am smart. If you listen to me, then things will go a lot better, at least for me. That is the problem, isn’t it? When our selfish desires and pleasures are ruling the day, others most likely will suffer. We may prosper for a while, but we too will be undone by our own self-centered lifestyle. We can make our plans, but if we leave out God, we will get into trouble. Way of world or God James wants us to see that this way of the world and is not the way of God. In the way of world, we come first. We are number one. You and I are your own gods. We decide what we want to do, then do it. If someone gets in our way, we move them aside. The more we have the better. Our desires and pleasures lead the way. The Devil knows that this is the way to distract, deceive, and then destroy us. There is a saying that goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I feel the way to our own demise happens when I believe that I come first. In the way of God, God comes first. God is the one who made us. God is the one who put his spirit inside us to love. God designed us to live by his love and Spirit. God wants to write on our hearts is the royal law of love. God knows that when we are in sync with God’s will and love, we all flourish and are blessed. Get yourself free How do move away from being controlled by our own desires? How do we blossom into people who are free to follow God? There is an old song released in 1975 by Paul Simon called, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” "The problem is all inside your head" She said to me. "The answer is easy if you take it logically. I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free. There must be fifty ways to leave your lover." You just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. You don't need to be coy, Roy. Just get yourself free. Hop on the bus, Gus. You don't need to discuss much. Just drop off the key, Lee. And get yourself free. There is wisdom there for us. Selfish living has become our lover. We have a hard time saying goodbye to Ego, the little dictator inside of us. There are choices we can make each day to go a different direction. We can slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. Hop on the bus, Gus, and just drop off the key, Lee. James 4:7-10 says: 5 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Road to freedom “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Is not that the key to freedom? There are ways to do that each day: 1. Put God first. Declare at the start of each day, “This day is yours God. I am here to serve and love you.” 2. Asking God for guidance. “Lord, I need your help. I want your will and not my will to be done today. Guide me, please.” God will give us wisdom when we ask. 3. Listening. We can grow in humility by choosing to be better listeners. To really listen to someone else, we need to put aside our agendas and opinions and focus on the other. What a wonderful gift to give each other! 4. Gratitude. We grow in freedom and humility when give thanks. As we stop to see all the blessings in our lives and acknowledge to God’s goodness, holy freedom expands inside of us. Friends, we come the Lord’s table today. It is the table of freedom. Here the Lord Jesus Christ invites us to come, put our burdens and worries down, and be free. It is at this table we realize that God has loved us from the beginning. Even though we have each gone our own way, Jesus is here to welcome us home. Do we deserve to be at this royal feast? By no means. We have nothing to offer God except our broken lives and hearts. All of our plans fail, but not God’s. The love of God experienced in the life, teachings, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the plan that worked. Come to table and let us celebrate this great love. Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, we come now. You alone have the words of life. Help us follow you each day. Amen. 6 Confession of Faith [from Apostles’ Creed, 390 AD] I believe in God, the Father Almighty, The Creator of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into Hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. *that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places Hymn Create in Me by Acappella https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noUeQQ64Q1I Celebration of the Lord’s Supper 1. Instructions for Communion - - We will be celebrating communion today in your homes and our sanctuary. In your homes you will first serve each other the bread. You will then serve the cup. 2. Invitation to the Table - Friends, in the name of Holy Trinity, we welcome you to this table. We come because the love of God, the grace of Jesus the Christ, and the encouragement of God’s Spirit all invite us to come. This Lord's Supper is a remembrance of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, a time to experience the Living God in our midst, and an expectation of the joy of being with Christ in his kingdom. This table, these elements, these words come directly from the mouth and hands of Jesus. They are tangible expressions of his love for each one of us. 7 3. Words of Institution - On the night in which he gave himself up for us, Our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks to God, 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." Likewise, when the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to God, 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." The Apostle Paul reminds us that as often as we eat this bread and drink of this cup we proclaim his death until he comes again. 4. Prayer - Let us pray: Gracious God, come meet us face to face, heart to heart. May your life flow into our lives as we share this supper. Open us to you healing, freeing grace in Christ we pray, Amen. The Gifts of God for the People of God. Let us receive them together. Serve the bread to everyone, then everyone eats the bread together. Pour cups for each person, then everyone drinks the cup together. 5. Partaking of the Elements Serve the bread to everyone, then everyone eats the bread together. Pour cups for each person, then everyone drinks the cup together. 6. Prayers of Thanksgiving - Bountiful God, at this table you graciously feed us with the bread of life and the cup of eternal salvation. May we who have reached out our hands to receive this sacrament be strengthened in your service; we who have sung your praises tell of your glory and truth in our lives. We offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice through Jesus Christ our Lord. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work for your praise and glory in Jesus’ name, Amen. Benediction Let the majesty of the Father be the light by which we walk, the compassion of the Son be the love by which we live, the presence of the Spirit be the power by which we serve. Amen. 8 Hymn #434 What a Friend We Have in Jesus 1 What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer! 2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged— Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer. 3 Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In His arms He'll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there What a friend we have in Jesus take it to Lord in prayer Hymn Create in Me (from Psalm 51) by Acappella Create in me a clean heart oh God Let me be like you in all my ways Give me your strength, teach me your song Shelter me in the shadow of your wings For we are your righteousness If we die to ourselves and live through your death Then we shall be born again to be blessed in your love! 9