All will be Well Week 4

Call to Worship

Come and worship Christ,

the visible image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of creation,

the eternal God:

the one through whom all things were created,

and in whom all things are held together.

This is our God!

Let’s worship together

Pastoral Prayer

God we pray this morning that we might be met with Julian of Norwhich’s words that all is well. That you love us, that you know us, that we can trust you, and that you send us out to be a part of your redemptive work in the world. God let you light shine through us so that others can know you.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

God we remember how you blessed the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, and even the oppressed. God we pray that we would be able to embrace the upside down kingdom where the first are last and the last are first.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Lord we know that you are here and now

You are with us, and all those who inflict pain on others and on our world,

through our selfishness or greed,

through our brokenness or anger,

through our rigidity or need to be right.

Help us and restore us, O Lord, we pray.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

O God,

give Your love of justice to those who rule our land.

Help them to rule with wisdom and compassion, so that the poor and powerless may be treated fairly and with justice.Give them wisdom to know how best to respond,

and courage to do the right thing

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Lord God, you are a God that reconciles

We long for reconciliation with those we have harmed with harsh words or harsh actions, and for peace among our warring nations.

Fill us, enliven us, to be ambassadors of life abundant, breathing out your song in harmony, singing to you, our Creator, whose glory shines through all the world

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Creator God, We thank you for the beauty of your Creation, and for giving us the privilege of caring for it. We confess that we have not cared for the earth with the self-sacrificing and nurturing love that you require of us. We mourn the broken relationships in creation. We repent for our part in causing the harm. Help us we pray

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Loving we know that you care about not just the creation, but about us. A God of the both/and not the either or. We know that we are always able to come before you and in this moment specifically we bring before you our joys, frustrations, griefs, celebrations, and everything in between in this moment of silent worship.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Faithful God, your power and your righteousness reach the heavens. Hear us, your servants, as we follow you to the day when faith, hope, and love will be upon the lips of all of us, your children. These things we pray in the name of your Son who taught us to pray saying…

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 and ever.

Amen.

Celebration

Ankeny First provides $1000 per month that comes from your generous mission giving for the Thrive Program at Impact. The Thrive Program can provide gas cards or other necessities such as money toward eyeglasses, water bills, car repair, etc.  One man needed steel-toed boots in order to begin his new job. He got the boots through the Thrive Program and was able to go to work to earn a paycheck.  So let’s celebrate the blessing that this is for our community

Offering

Through our offering we get to be a blessing to those around us. When we offer our prayers, pressence, gifts, service, and witness to glorify God in all that we do.

Sermon

Review

All is Well

God can be trusted

God loves us

Jesus does not abandon us

We learn a much greater and larger perspective on the person and the work of Jesus through our scripture today.

Scripture

Colossians 1:11–20 NRSV

11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Scripture exegesis

trying to counter every argument

15-17 is about Christ’s role in creation and 18-20 is about Christ’s role in redemption

the larger narrative of the letter is to show Christ’s supremacy over absolutely all things

God made it, God loves it, God will redeem it

For Julian it was God will sustain it

Context

Julian Quote - hazelnut seed

Humanity

created by God

Image

ie the very substance - the form of God

“That they may be one just as I and the father are one”

Creation was started with a triune God, God is working tirelessly to involve humanity in the community that is God

And taking such dramatic steps to do so that God would in fact dwell among humanity

The grand narrative is that all things will be redeemed and reconciled to God

You

first born

first created connected

to the specific rights of the first born

Also means that Christ was born before creation

God could not create God’s own self

Christ preceded creation, but also Christ is sovereign over all creation

God has a claim for the firstborns this is true whether it is animals or offerings

reconcile

re-establish

restore

Maybe even to reconcile again

Because God is in us and all things, all will be well.

counter gnostic view - God had to stay distant from matter

All/everything/pas - occurs 11 times in 9 verses

image using a word every single sentence for 11 sentences straight

All knowing

God does not just know all things but Jesus is IN ALL Things

total complete, whole

focus on totality

Not that we worship the creation....we worship the creator

Cosmic Christ

So often we see Jesus only as one person at one moment in time.

Christ that was at the beginning behind and before all things

Christ that will be at the end

God’s understanding of Salvation seems to transcend our understanding of salvation

This is not the sinner’s prayer idea, this the belief that God cares about the redemption and the RECONCILIATION of ALL things

The very God of the universe not only cares about but working for the redemption of the whole world

The God that is in all, is in these elements

Jesus is before, beyond, beginning, ending, throughout, and beyond our lives

The grand narrative is that all things will be redeemed and reconciled to God

We are a part of that redemption and that reconciliation here and now

Rant on communion

This is all you really need

If you don’t understand it that is okay neither do I fully

It’s a holy mystery after all

When we accept the grace that is offered to us in this meal...

we are strengthened by it

Barclay - deal with people without loosing love

We are invited to take that God man and build yourself into this type of Glory

Not only are we invited to build ourselves, we are offered the very substance of a God like that, how crazy is that!

Communion

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

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.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. 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."

(Pastor speaks.) 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.

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

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.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

Derrick Grubb - take to the world

“May the bread on your tongue leave a trail of crumbs

to lead the hungry back to the place that you are from”

Knowing that the full kingdom of God all that you need for reconciliation is offered to you in this cup and this bread so go forth from here