"A More Excellent Way"

Call to Worship (Jeremiah 1, Luke 4)

Come! Hear the call of God: “Speak of me to my people.” But we are just ordinary folks. Who will listen? “I will give you the words. I will always be with you as you speak my words of truth and justice and love.” We gather here to worship you, to praise you for your loving presence, and to be strengthened for the calling you have given us.

Opening Prayer (Jeremiah 1, Psalm 71, 1 Corinthians 13, Luke 4)

O God, in the midst of the cacophony of voices that crush our spirit and deny our calling, voices that say, “Who do you think you are?” we come to hear your voice of affirmation; we come to hear your voice calling us to be and do what you have called us to be and do. Let this time of worship quiet our fears, soothe our bruised souls, and energize us for ministry in and with your beloved world. Let faith abide. Let hope abide. Let love abide— here in this sanctuary, here in our community, here in our world, but most of all, here in us.

Offertory

Ephesians 4:7-“But to each one of us was grace given according to measure of Christ’s gift.”

I want to challenge every member to make thoughtful determinations on how much their regular sacrificial offerings would be. As Paul directs at 1 Corinthians 16:2,”set aside a sum of your offering.”

Pastoral Prayer

"If I speak in the languages of humankind or the angelic host, but do not have love I am just like a noisy clanging cymbal. If I have wonderful powers to see all the great possibilities in serving the Lord, and the wondrous journey which God has placed before us, but don't have love in my heart and in my actions, I am just making empty noises." Lord, too often we are like loud clanging cymbals or empty promises. We say we want to do things, but we back away because we think things will be too tough for us. We don't believe that you will be with us, guiding, healing, and strengthening us for service. So rather than doing your work, we just go through the motions. You are LOVE. In you resides all hope, peace, and justice. Your love has been poured out on us and all creation from before the beginning of time. Teach us again the great message of hope. Remind us that love is also risk. We risk censure and alienation from people who don't understand. Let us know that you are with us, through this time. Give us courage to be your faithful witnesses, by the kinds of loving service and care we give to others. For we ask this in Jesus' Name. AMEN. Prayer

Gracious God, we come to you with day, seeking your guidance and strength. You have called us to ministries for which we feel inadequate. Help us to understand that it is your love that will support and sustain our efforts. Give us the courage to place our trust in your abiding presence. We ask this in Jesus' Name. AMEN.

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version 13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Benediction (Jeremiah 1, Psalm 71, 1 Corinthians 13, Luke 4)

Go forth, celebrating faith. Go forth, celebrating hope. Go forth, celebrating love. Go forth to be the transformed people that God calls us to be. Go forth to transform the world— in times of prosperity, but most especially, in times of disbelief, hostility, fear, and rejection. Go forth with the knowledge that you are always surrounded by the presence of our steadfast, loving God, our rock and our redeemer. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.