July 31, 2022
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Next Sunday, 8:30 AM Worship 4:00 – 6:00 PM Summer Gathering with the Bishop, Tilton United Methodist Church Gathering Song The Change Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/T0lzY-Vgz90 Opening Prayer God-with-us in life and in death, we come to you with gratitude for this day that we were not promised. We thank you for this community. We ask that you pour out your Holy Spirit among us. We come to seek your wisdom. We come to learn your way, not the easy way. Strip us of our old selves an clothe us anew in Christ. Help us loosen our grip on the things we have and open our hands to reach for you. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Colossians 3:1-17 (The Message) So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ – that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life – even though invisible to spectators – is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too – the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk. Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, civilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ. So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives – words, actions, whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Sermon Serious About Christ One of the celebrities that I most respect is U2’s lead singer, Bono. He is someone who has chosen to use his wealth and his celebrity status to do good in the world. Back in 1982 he was involved in the Live Aid and Band-Aid concerts, which raised money for Ethiopians who were suffering through a famine. Bono not only helped to raise money by performing in the concerts, he actually went to Ethiopia himself to be sure that the funds were being used honestly and effectively. For six weeks, Bono and his wife worked in an orphanage there. What he saw changed his life forever. He said, “You wake up in the morning, and the mist would be lifting. You’d walk out of your tent and you’d count bodies of dead or abandoned children. Or worse, the father of a child would walk up to you and try to give you his living child and say, ‘You take it, because if this is your child, it won’t die.’” And Bono didn’t stop with that one trip to volunteer in Ethiopia. He has been working to change the policies of governments and organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund so that funding for public health, education, and essential social services will increase. Politicians including Bill Clinton and Jesse Helms have worked with Bono in successfully reducing the debts of Third World countries. And he has helped to compel wealthy countries to make financial contributions towards addressing the AIDS crisis in Africa. Tony Campolo refers to Bono as an instrument of God. I would agree with that assessment. In this letter to the church in Colossae, the apostle Paul was addressing the issue of how Christians should act, how they should live out their faith. Paul wrote this letter from prison in Ephesus sometime in the mid-50s. He had never been to Colossae, a city about 100 miles from Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. The church had been started by a man named Epaphras, and he had reached out to Paul about threats to the church. The threat came from some questionable religious practices that had been going on, including a belief that human destiny was controlled by the stars. As Paul confronted these issues, he instructed the Colossian Christians to live their new resurrection life with Christ and to act as if they were followers of Jesus. They were to stop looking at what was going on in this world, and pay attention to what was going on around Christ, who is in heaven. They were to live a new life, their real life, which was in Christ; in fact, Christ WAS to be their life. In some ways, they were to live now as if they were already in heaven. Scot McKnight, a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Illinois, writes, “For Paul, the Christian life is more than ethics or morality … it is Christ himself who defines the Christian life, and it is defined by who Christ is. The crucified and raised Jesus … redefines what the Christian life is … [It is] being ‘formed’ by the whole life of Christ: his life, teachings, death, burial, resurrection, and glorification.” So what does it mean to live in Christ, to act like we have faith? Paul used the metaphor of changing one’s clothes. He instructed the Colossian believers to take off their old lives and put on their new lives in Christ. They were to leave behind their sins when they professed faith in Christ, and then they were to live in a way that they imitated Jesus; McKnight says that Jesus exhorted his followers to live in a world where “reconciliation, righteousness, peace, justice and love … [reshape] our every word, deed, and thought.” First, Paul wrote, they had to take off their old lives as if they were filthy clothes that did not fit, but were only good to throw in the fire. The old life – the way of death – included things like sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, profanity, dirty talk, lying, having a bad temper, being irritable, being mean, doing whatever they felt like whenever they felt like it, and grabbing whatever attracted their fancy. They did those things before because they didn’t know any better. But now they were to reject those kinds of immoral behavior and live in a way that demonstrated a Christ-like life. Second, they were to live a Christ-like life. So what would a Christian life look like? Paul said that it was a life defined by Christ. It was like being dressed in a whole new wardrobe custom made for you by the Creator. It meant embracing and living out such things as compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, even-temperedness, contentment with being in second place, being quick to forgive, and, above all, practicing love. They were to cultivate thankfulness in their hearts and then sing their hearts out to God. In sum, they were to let every detail of their lives – their words and their actions – be done in the name of Jesus. And third, they were to create a community where their social identities no longer mattered, only their shared identity in Christ. They were to live in community “where social identities [were] no longer the ultimate or solely defining feature of one’s identity,” according to Joshua Jipp, an associate professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He goes on to refer to this kind of community as “one new people composed of all kinds of people.” The things that typically separated people were no longer in play. There were to be no distinctions between Jews and non-Jews, religious or irreligious people, insiders and outsiders, civilized or uncouth, slave or free. From now on, believers would be defined by Christ. David E. Gray, Senior Pastor at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, points out, “We face divisions today along ethnic, social, racial, gender, economic, political, military, familial, and geographic lines … If Christ is in all of us, then we all are guided at some level by the same Spirit, larger than us … Our faith in Jesus Christ unites all believers.” Another prominent figure with whom I have long been impressed is former President Jimmy Carter. He is a man who truly practices that faith that he professes. And he has lived out his beliefs from the Oval Office to the Sunday School classroom, from Washington, D.C. to Habitat for Humanity construction sites in this country and over-seas. In his book, Living Faith, Carter writes that “there are basic principles that, for me, have never changed. For a Christian, the life and teachings of Jesus offer a sound moral foundation that includes all the most basic elements that should guide us. Since these highest standards are eternal, we have an obligation to comprehend what they are and what they mean for us. Our faith can provide enough courage to apply these biblical lessons to our daily lives.” Later in the book, Carter talks about how Jesus set the example for us to follow. He states, “His ministry was tangible proof of his love for everyone, including the sick, the ostracized, and even those who were believed by their neighbors to be suffering the punishment of God for their sins. This was a powerful witness. Christ was a doer, one whose faith took the form of action, not merely words.” Jimmy Carter has certainly put that kind of faith into practice. He has used his political connections and the respect of foreign leaders to try to broker peace in the Middle East. He has been used as a diplomat in many instances for Presidents who came after him. He has continued to teach Sunday School in the Baptist church that he and Rosalyn attend in Plains, Georgia. And he and his wife have continued to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, picking up their tools and doing physical labor into their old age. When you get serious about Christ – about living a Christ-like life – you become a witness to the gospel message. When people look at you, they don’t just see you, they also see Jesus. They see how much being a Christian affects the way you live your life. They see a role model and a living testimony to the truth of what we believe. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not for the half-hearted; it is serious business for those who are willing to commit themselves to be disciples. I’d like to close by reading a paraphrase of Colossians 3 written by Leslie Brandt in his book, Epistles/Now: I wonder if we really understand it, that we are the people of God, that He loves us and chooses that we be His people. Now we are really alive! As Christ was raised from the dead, so we have been brought from death to life and shall live forever. We must set our hearts and fix our minds on this fantastic truth. Faith means that we begin to live and act as if this is the truth, that this really happened, whether we feel it or not. There are, however, still some things within us which must not be permitted to control our thinking or activities. They are those things that come between us and God and are capable of causing harm to our fellow person. Still rising out of the darkness to haunt and tempt us are the shadows of greed and lust and hostility and deceit, booby traps that can destroy us and anyone close to us. We must, by God’s grace and His power at work within us, blast these insidious demons out of our lives. And we must do so again and again, for they die hard, these agents of death. Thus we must grow in the faith, allowing the Spirit of God to captivate and subordinate every aspect of our being under His purging love. We must plug up these loopholes in our lives by focusing continually upon God and His love and permit Him to flood our hearts with His love. And we must determinedly and actively exercise that inflowing and outgoing love by reaching out to others in concern and compassion. We are to begin doing this with those who are near us. We must start right where we are – even with our comrades in Christ – by being open, honest, truthful, nonjudgmental, manifesting patience and understanding, forgiving them as God indeed forgives us, allowing God’s love to spill over our lives into the troubled lives of others. But God forbid that our love be limited to our own kind. It is God’s love that reaches out to others through our love, and God’s love is destined for all [humankind], the whole human family, slave and free, rich and poor, black and white. What we do in our interpersonal relationships we are to do as the children of God, the disciples of Jesus Christ, in the spirit of celebration and thanksgiving. Let us give ourselves over to prayer and thanksgiving and conduct ourselves like the children and servants of God, acknowledging that the hours of our days and the words of our mouths are under contract to our Savior and Lord. And may God so guide us and control us that we always speak and act in accordance with His will for our lives. Amen. Song Holy Spirit, Breathe on Me Anne Jernigan https://youtu.be/eScVk6zRIAs Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Prayers of Intercession O God, we come to you this morning asking that you grant us your favor. In your fierce tenderness, hear our prayer. We pray for the church … We praise your name but stray to other gods – gods named greed and fear, gods named race and class. Release us from their clutches so we may seek you alone. In your fierce tenderness, hear our prayer. We pray for the nations … Let governments stop pretending to be gods, and faithfully carry out their duties as your servants, caring for the least. In your fierce tenderness, hear our prayer. We pray for creatures of the earth, plants and animals … Help us to remember that they are our siblings, that we humans are stewards, so that we might joyfully care for them and the environment that takes care of all of us. In your fierce tenderness, hear our prayer. We are confident our prayers have your attention – that we have spoken the words you have placed in our hearts and that you will answer them with fierce tenderness. (David Gambrell) We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Prayer of Dedication O God, sometimes we look at all we have, but we see only what we lack. As we come to this time of offering, we choose instead to look at the abundance you have given us and to consider how it might be shared. Remind us that we are not called to store up treasures for ourselves, but to be rich toward you. Amen. Song You’re the Only Jesus The Imperials https://youtu.be/qDDgv7nOS8o Benediction Go out to the world, children of the Most High! Go with the confidence of children who know they are covered by a great love. Amen.
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July 24, 2022
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Book Study Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Book Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq Sunday, 8:30 AM Worship Gathering Hymn Love the Lord Lincoln Brewster https://youtu.be/EAbeFfsqLdc Opening Prayer Compassionate God, whose riches have been poured out among us in unrecognized abundance, lead us to appreciate the plenty you have entrusted to us. Help us to ponder the meaning of this bounty for our shared life of faith. Help us to think, not according to our society’s agenda, but as people already living in your kingdom, where all are loved and valued, and what is needed is shared among people. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Luke 12:13-21 (NIV) Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Sermon You Can’t Take It With You It was a typical evening commute on August 1, 2007. People were in a hurry to get home, to get to the restaurant, to get to the gym or the driving range or the swimming pool. Some were talking on their cell phones, concluding business for the day, confirming social plans for the evening, or getting the list for the grocery store on the way home. Traffic was backed up more than usual, with two of the four lanes closed for road work. Probably a lot of people were getting hot under the collar, frustrated by the delay, waiting until the last possible moment to merge into the open lane, hoping to get in front of the slow-moving school bus or smelly garbage truck. It was just a typical evening commute. But then the unthinkable happened. The I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed. Those Minneapolis commuters felt the road beneath them disappear. Some cars fell into the river. Others rolled downhill toward the water. No one knew what was going on; it all happened so fast. As of the next morning, there were seven people con-firmed dead and over sixty injured. Officials expected both numbers to rise. Not one of those people got in their car expecting to die that day. Death came when nobody expected it. Death happens like that sometimes. A sudden disaster, a heart attack, a stroke, a car accident, a flood or tornado or hurricane. No one expects when they get up in the morning that they will die before the day is over. But when accidents do happen and tragedies do come our way, all of a sudden our priorities get rearranged. We make a different assessment of what is most precious, most valuable to us. All of a sudden, it doesn’t really matter what kind of car we drive, or what kind of house we live in, or how much money we have in the bank. What if we knew that this was the last day we would spend on this earth? Would it make a difference in how we lived it? Would we make different choices about how we spent our time and our money? Consider the story from Luke’s gospel. A man came up to Jesus one day and asked him to settle a family fight. He wanted Jesus to talk to his brother and tell his brother to give him his fair share of the inheritance. In the ancient world, it was the custom that the older brother would get twice the share of the younger son. But, people being what they are, there were likely occasions when arguments broke out after a death in the family over who would get what. When those kinds of disputes happened, the parties involved would often consult their rabbi for advice. So when this man approached Jesus, he may have been in that situation. But from the way he framed his question, it sounds like he was hoping Jesus might take his side against his brother, to get him a larger share of the inheritance than he might have been entitled to. Nothing is more heartbreaking than siblings fighting over an inheritance. You’ve probably all seen it, or maybe even experienced it in your own families. People are willing to sacrifice their family relationships over material possessions or money, and there are wounds that are inflicted that sometimes never heal. In this case, Jesus refused to get involved in the dispute. Instead, he raised a deeper issue than this one man’s inheritance. He told a story about greed. A few years ago, there was a great commercial where a guy started taking things out of his garage and putting them on the front lawn. There were Christmas decorations, trash cans, yard tools, cardboard boxes, bicycles, toys, and sports equipment. At first it looked like he was setting up for a yard sale. But it turned out he had bought a new car and it was too good to park in the driveway; it had to go in the garage. But first the man had to make room for it in there, because his garage was filled with all kinds of stuff. How many of you have a garage? How many of you can actually get your car into the garage? How many of you have so much stuff in your garage that you can’t park your car in there? Most Americans have more stuff than they need. It fills the closets, the guest rooms, the garage. Some people even pay rent on storage units for their overflow stuff. We are a people addicted to stuff and our houses are stuffed with our stuff. It may remind us of a man in the story who had stuffed barns. Jesus told this story about a rich man who had some land that produced a bumper crop one year. There was so much, in fact, that his barns couldn’t hold it all. “What do I do now?” he wondered. Then the answer came to him: the wisest course of action was to build big-ger barns. That way he would have room to store it all. And then he could just sit back and enjoy the fruit of his labor. He could take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy himself. Maybe this man is your role model for retirement planning. He had worked hard and made more than enough to provide for himself and his family, assuming he had one. He’d set up college funds for his kids, set aside money for travel, had a more than adequate 401K, and enjoyed a diversified stock portfolio. Everything had been account-ed for. Life was good and would only get better. His plan was working beautifully. Until suddenly it didn’t. God told him, ‘You fool! You’re going to die tonight! And then who’s going to get all this stuff you put in storage? Because it’s really true that you can’t take it with you!” That’s what happens when you have a lot of material riches, but you don’t have a deep and rich relationship with God. The problem here, of course, wasn’t that the man was wealthy. There’s nothing wrong with reaping the rewards of your hard work. The problem was the man’s attitude towards his wealth. In spite of the fact that he had way more than he needed, it never even occurred to him to that his abundance might have been a gift from God. It never occurred to him to say thank you for his many blessings. It never occurred to him to share it with anyone else. In 1st-century Palestine, most people were poor; instead of building bigger barns the man might have considered giving away the surplus crops to those who were hungry. But it never even crossed his mind. He never thought of any-thing or anyone but himself and his pleasure. He never gave a moment’s consideration to what would happen to him when his life was over. No one can save enough money to prevent death from happening sooner or later. And no one can avoid standing before God one day to give an account or their life. So what does this story have to do with us? What might we learn from this rich fool and his stuffed barns? Well, we might remind ourselves to be grateful for all that we have and to remember that it is all a gift from God. We might ask ourselves how generous we are with the blessings that are ours. We might think of those who have less than we do, or nothing at all, and ask how we might help them. A few years ago, there was a story in the Boston Globe about the 50% League, a group of people who had committed themselves to giving away at least half of their in-comes, business profits, or net worth to charity. The ninety members of this group came from all across the country. Not all of them were wealthy; some were from the middle class, but had chosen to live on less so that they could give more. Some gave out of a sense of fairness, others for personal satisfaction. Others were motivated by their reli-gious faith or a dedication to some cause. Many chose to give anonymously. They wanted to encourage people of all income levels to consider their giving potential, to help close the gap between rich and poor, and to support economic justice and social change. It is doubtful that many of us could give away half our money or possessions and still have enough to provide for our needs. But there are ways to share what we have. We could go through our closets and drawers once a year and give away anything we haven’t worn in a year. We could consider sharing ownership of some possessions with a neighbor, such as a lawn mower or snow blower, and use the money you save to help someone else. Make a list of what you need to live and a list of what you want; then commit to buying only what you need for a year. Donate the money you save to a community ministry or church. Don’t rent a storage unit, and if you have one, consolidate your possessions until you only keep what will fit in your home. For the next month, every time you find yourself coveting something that someone else has, say a prayer to be content with what you have. John Wesley serves as a good role model for us. His policy was to earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. He lived that out in his own life. He figured out what he needed to live on, and he gave the rest of his money away. No matter how much his income increased over the years, he still only kept what he needed to provide for his necessities and gave away the rest. Are your closets full to overflowing? Is your garage too crowded for your car to live in? Are you actually paying rent to store your extra stuff? Is your bank account looking like a stuffed barn? Maybe it’s time to give away some of what we are storing up. Maybe it’s time we shared our abundance with those in need. Maybe it’s time we let go of our desire for the good life for ourselves, and worked at making life good for someone else too. Take care that your possessions don’t possess you. After all, it’s just stuff. And you can’t take it with you. Hymn First Lauren Daigle https://youtu.be/RbWQV3OiRqA Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Prayers of Intercession Holy One, we are dust and ashes, stardust and earth embodied, here for a short time and often thrashing about, toiling away under the sun. But for now we stop. We breathe slowly. We remember that life is finite but that you are infinite, and we lift our prayers to you. For a world that pushes barn building rather than kingdom building, here our prayer. For a church that worries about its own death more than about living for you, hear our prayer. For those who work in jobs that do not pay them fairly, hear our prayer. For those who do not choose to pay a living wage but gain from the toil of others, hear our prayer. For those whose decision to leave their home is less a choice and more a necessity, hear our prayer. For those who spend their time causing division rather than multiplying blessings, hear our prayer. For those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward you, hear our prayer. For this earth, which falls prey to the vanity of its occupants, hear our prayer. For the sick who are unsure of how to pay for their medications, procedures, or treatments, hear our prayer. We release to you these concerns and all the prayers of our minds and hearts. Guide us so that our lives may become prayers. And at the time of death, may we be at rest as we come to join you in the now and forever. (David Gambrell) We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Prayer of Dedication O God, sometimes we look at all we have, but we see only what we lack. Help us to see instead the abundance you have given us and to consider how we might share it. We are not called to store up treasures for ourselves, but to be rich toward you. Bless these gifts use them in your service. Amen. Song Take My Life Chris Tomlin https://youtu.be/agROj9nTQP4 Benediction Whatever riches we have – silver and gold, love and compassion, food and shelter, friends and fellowship – may they be gifts we offer freely to all we meet, in the name of our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. Amen. July 17, 2022
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Book Study Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Book Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq Sunday, 8:30 AM Worship – Stephanie Bray St. John will lead the service. Gathering Hymn Sweet Hour of Prayer Radiance Acapella https://youtu.be/Ph43J3pnBDo Opening Prayer Gracious God, it is a privilege to be here in your presence. And it is a wondrous thing to realize that you hear our every prayer, whether it is a loud cry of praise or a quiet whisper of grief or a desperate plea for help. We bring to you our hearts and our minds and our souls, just as they are, knowing that they are acceptable to you. Meet us where we are, touch us where we are broken, celebrate with us where we are joyful, and strengthen us for the week ahead. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Sermon Don’t Forget to Pray Guest Preacher: Michael Brown Hymn Precious Lord, Take My Hand Wintley Phipps https://youtu.be/xWMcqZRujks Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Prayers of Intercession Invisible but ever-present God, we bring to you today the concerns that are in our minds and our hearts. We put aside distractions and take time to stop and focus on those concerns now. We bring forward all those we love, O God, who are sick or near to death. May they feel the comfort and certainty of your presence. And not just those whom we know, Holy One, but also for the strangers who bring your presence to our doorstep. May we recognize your presence in them and offer them welcome. For those in positions of power – those who govern, those who hire and fire people, those who are allowed to say yes or no – may they wield that power responsibly, honoring you and seeking your wisdom. We bring forward this community and the wider communities of which we are a part. May we listen both to you and to our neighbors, so that we may know how to offer hospitality and grace to those around us. For our partners in mission, may we together serve Christ, as the head of the church, and follow in the way of Jesus. For the wider world, may your grace and peace remove all fear and want, and may we find ways to embody that grace and peace. We are grateful for this chance to offer our prayers. We know that listening to you will fill us and guide us. May we be and do in accordance with your wishes. (David Gambrell) We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Song Every Time I Feel the Spirit Iowa Wesleyan College Choirs Mt. Pleasant Chorale https://youtu.be/M6AcJWPhSnI Benediction Go forth into the world in peace; have courage; hold onto what is good; return no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak, and help the suffering; honor all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. July 10, 2022
Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Book Study Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Book Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq Saturday, 9:00 – 1:00 Sunapee UMW Summer Sale at Lake Sunapee UMC Sunday, July 17 – Sunday, July 24 Pastor away at training event Gathering Hymn To God Be the Glory Fountainview Academy https://youtu.be/5WmQmL77WkE Opening Prayer Merciful and loving God, open our minds, peek inside our hearts, and lead us along highways of grace as we follow the example of Jesus Christ, whose mercy knows no end. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Luke 10:25-37 (NIV) On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’: and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and go likewise.” Sermon Saved By the Enemy The man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho alone that day never had a chance. He was either very careless or very reckless to have been traveling that road alone. It was known as “The Bloody Way,” because of all the violent incidents that occurred there. The dirt road wound its way through a barren wilderness, dropping about 3,600 feet in twenty miles, with lots of sharp turns and narrow passages. It was the perfect place for bandits to hide behind the rocks and attack anyone foolhardy enough to be caught on the road alone. And this man never had a chance. A group of robbers jumped him, beat him up to the point of unconsciousness, took his clothes and his money, and left him for dead in the ditch. It was a brutal attack. The man had virtually no chance of surviving. But then along came a priest. Surely help had arrived! A hero to save the day! The law made it clear that it was his duty to stop and help someone in need. But instead, when the priest saw this man lying there, naked and beaten up, bleeding and unconscious, he hurried by on the other side of the road. He didn’t even get close enough to see if the man was still alive. Whatever this was, he wasn’t going to get involved in it! And then, a little later in the day, a Levite made his way along this same stretch of highway. Levites were assistants to the priests in the Temple. He was a little more curious than the priest; he actually walked over and took a good look at the man lying in the ditch. He must have realized that the man was still alive, but he also chose to walk away without offering any help. Maybe he was afraid the bandits would come back and attack him, too. I don’t know. But he hurried off, just like the priest had done. By this time, the people listening to Jesus tell the story must have been trying to guess who the hero was going to be. It would seem like the next most logical person to come along the road would be an average Jew, since the priest and the Levite had both failed to do anything to help the man. But they couldn’t have been more wrong in their assumption. Because the next man to come along was a Samaritan! Samaritans and Jews had been enemies for about 450 years. They hated each other! Jews considered Samaritans to be the lowest of the low, even lower than slaves. In Jewish synagogue services, Samaritans were publicly cursed. But here was a Samaritan stopping to give help to a Jew. He felt compassion for his enemy. And he stopped to help him. He took care of the man’s wounds, gave him a ride to the next inn, and made arrangements for his future care, to be paid for out of his own pocket. Jesus asked, “Who was a neighbor to the man in the ditch?” The only answer was, “The Samaritan.” And how it must have pained the expert in the law to admit that. To admit that a hated enemy was the one who was a neighbor, someone who showed compassion and kindness to his enemy. He wouldn't even say it was a Samaritan. He just referred to him as "the one who offered help." When you hear the story of the good Samaritan, which character do you identify with? Do you imagine yourself to be the priest or the Levite, who passed by on the other side of the road, not wanting to get involved, afraid to take the risk, unwilling to be inconvenienced? Or maybe you picture yourself as the Samaritan, very willing to get involved and to help anyone in need, even your enemy, even at personal cost to you, because you see everyone as a neighbor. Well, it’s kind of easy to imagine yourself as the Samaritan, isn’t it? It makes you feel good. You can kind of pat yourself on the back. And you get to feel superior to the priest and the Levite, and especially to the man in the ditch. Here is your enemy, the man who belongs to the people you have hated all your life, and you gave him help, he depended on you for his survival. You have something now to hold over his head. You can feel proud about it, maybe even gloat a little. It would only be human nature. But I want you to imagine for just a moment that you’re the man in the ditch. You have been viciously attacked and left for dead. You can’t help yourself; you can barely even move. You can’t even call for help apparently. You have heard two travelers come close, and you have gotten up your hopes that help was on the way, but both times the men only slowed down enough to look at you, and then walked on by, not even offering you a cup of cold water. And then a third traveler came by. He slowed down and he stopped. He came over and saw that you were in bad shape. He took some provisions out of his pack and treated your wounds. Then he put you up on his own donkey and took you to an inn, to a nice soft bed. He made sure that your needs were taken care of and even paid the bill in advance. You should be grateful, right? But the man who helped you is a Samaritan! You have hated Samaritans all your life! You don’t talk to Samaritans. You don’t do business with Samaritans. You avoid all contact with Samaritans. You certainly don’t want a Samaritan touching you, helping you. Maybe you get angry about it. Maybe you’re offended. You might even rather be dead than accept help from a Samaritan. Who would you rather die than accept help from? A Muslim? A member of Al-queda? A person of another race? A person of another political party? A drug addict? A rich person? A poor person? An undocumented immigrant? A skinhead? A member of the Proud Boys? When Clarence Jordan wrote his Cotton Patch Version of Luke in the 1960s, the Samaritan was a black man and the man in the ditch was a white man. Who would the Samaritan be for you? J. Ellsworth Kalas is a United Methodist pastor. One day, when he was serving a church in Cleveland, Ohio, he was in a hurry to get to a lunch appointment with a church member. He had forgotten that he needed gas in his car until he started across town, and he was hoping that he had enough to make it to the restaurant. But his car ran out of gas, just when he was in one of the worst parts of town. He got of his car and noticed two men across the street standing in front of one of the girlie shows that were in the area. The men hurried over to where he was standing to see if they could be of any help. Kalas explained that he had run out of gas. One of the men offered to siphon some gas out of his car into Kalas’ tank, enough to get him to the next gas station. He went to get a container and a hose, and then started to siphon the gas. Kalas struck up a conversation with the other man. The man told Kalas that the two of them worked for the guy who ran the girlie shows. “He buys a building and we fix it up for him and then we run it,” he said. “He gets a few pretty girls, you know, who put on about three shows a night. They take off all their clothes and dance around naked, while we shine colored lights on them. It’s a pretty good business. Lots of men come in.” When the gas was poured into Kalas’ tank, he tried to pay the two men for their help. “Not on your life,” they said. “We were just going for a late breakfast and had time on our hands.” So Kalas offered to buy them breakfast. But by this time, they were al-ready walking away. “We wouldn’t think of it,” one said. “This is just the sort of thing one fellow ought to do for another.” As Kalas drove away, he thought about how much the two men had done for him and how cheerful they had been about doing it. And he thought about the kind of work they did for a living. And he thought to himself, “How come the person who stopped to help me wasn’t someone with a bumper sticker that reads, ‘Honk if you love Jesus’? Or maybe one of my friends who was driving downtown for a meeting of the United Way? Why did my good Samaritan have to be two fellows who run a girlie show?” The story that Jesus told about the Samaritan who stopped to help the Jewish man in the ditch teaches us that we are all neighbors to each other. Maybe it would make us feel better to be the one who offers help to our enemy than to be the one who receives help from our enemy. But the truth is, both are neighbors to each other. And we need to allow the walls that stand between us to fall down. What if we really considered every other human being our neighbor? What would happen if we acted neighborly towards every person we meet? What would happen if we allowed others to be neighborly to us? Sometimes we just have to accept the fact that we might be saved by the enemy. And be grateful. Hymn Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Fred Rogers https://youtu.be/AQS3JGqx46U Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Prayers of Intercession God of mercy, God of grace, it is to you that we lift up our souls. It is in you we trust. It is to you we turn. We turn to you because it is hard for us to wrap our minds around mercy. We understand revenge; we are quick to judge. But mercy too often eludes us, so we need your help, God. We hold in our mind’s eye someone who has asked us to show them mercy. It may be someone we know well: a loved one, a friend at school, a coworker, a neighbor. It may be someone we have only seen or heard about: an undocumented immigrant, a former felon seeking a job, a returning veteran with PTSD, a gay kid who is scared to come out of the closet. We hold them in the light of your mercy, O God, as we hold them in our hearts. (A moment of silence.) Let your river of mercy flow through us to heal broken hearts, including our own. May we be guided by your humility and seasoned by your grace. May we let the light of your mercy lead us into greater compassion. May your kingdom truly come. (David Gambrell) We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Song What Now? Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/AfBC8A035ho Benediction There is a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea. Let us swim in that sea and play in its waves! The love of God is broader than the measures of the mind. May we trust today in God’s unfathomable kindness. Amen. July 3, 2022
Independence Sunday Welcome! We’re so glad you have joined us today! Give us hearts to live into your risky miracles. (Walter Brueggemann) Gathering Announcements Thursday, 7:00 PM Zoom Book Study Here is your link: Elisabeth Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Book Study Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066732644?pwd=emorNUc2RlJkWEN4UUdrZHJZY0o2Zz09 Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (New York) +13017158592,,86066732644#,,,,*762435# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 860 6673 2644 Passcode: 762435 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcyTFEtQFq Sunday, 8:30 AM Visioning Board 10:00 AM All Church Worship and Picnic Following Gathering Hymn God Bless America Sandi Patty https://youtu.be/XD-aXtcUEOs Opening Prayer O God, like fireworks against a night sky, may your love for us explode within us, that our lives would burst forth with the flame of your Holy Spirit, and shower the earth with celebrations of the freedom we find in Jesus Christ. Amen. Hearing the Word Scripture Galatians 5:1-15 (NIV) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Sermon “God Bless America” and Call Us Back to Our Best Selves When I was a kid, we celebrated the Fourth of July with a big cookout. We had foot-long hot dogs with chili and slaw, baked beans, French fries, and homemade ice cream. We burned sparklers and set off bottle rockets, which were legal because we lived outside the city limits. And we watched the Boston Pops Fourth of July Concert on PBS, which always built up to the 1812 Overture and the firing of the big canons. Some-times we would go and watch fireworks being set off at the mall or ballpark. It was a great day that I always looked forward to. I was proud to be an American, and I believed that the United States was the best country in the world. I thought we were a people that had succeeded in the great experiment of democracy and that we were respect-ed and admired by other countries around the world for our generosity and willingness to lend a helping hand. When I moved to New England, I found out that many small towns hold big parades on the Fourth of July, with fife and drum corps, tractors and fire trucks, high school bands, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, old cars, Shriners in their mini cars and trucks, military veterans, and politicians making their way down the parade route. A real slice of Americana that I enjoy immensely. And still capping the day off with the concert broadcast from Boston or Washington and fireworks displays. But somewhere along the way, I realized that the America I used to celebrate doesn’t seem to exist anymore. At least not in what I see on the evening news. And certainly not in Washington, D.C. Politics has turned nasty, with elected officials refusing to work with anyone on the “Other Side,” so that nothing gets done. And the divisions between people are many and deep. I think, for me, the beginning of my sense of losing the America I thought I knew came on August 11-12, 2017 as I watched the news coverage of the Unite the Right Rally that took place in Charlottesville, VA. I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing: white men walking around boldly carrying assault rifles, Nazi symbols, Klan symbols, anti-Semitic signs, Confederate battle flags, and signs of the alt-right, just feet away from police officers who let them pass by without detaining them in any way. There were many counter-protesters who also gathered, and as the two sides clashed about thirty people were injured. On the second day, a man drove his car into the crowd, killing 1 women and injuring another 35 people. I guess I had known that there were still many people in our country who were racists, but I never realized how many of them there were, or that they were so well-organized. And I absolutely could not believe that people who hold to such ideas would dare come out in public and let it be known that they were in support of this kind of thing. I mean, it was like every racist from anywhere around Charlottesville, or even from farther away, showed up to support this rally, and there were hundreds of them. And they’re not just in the South. I see people in New Hampshire flying the Confederate battle flag on their houses or sticking it in the back window of their pickup trucks. It’s rather frightening, actually, to think about. The second thing that really caused me – and still causes me – grief, was the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd was handcuffed and face down on the ground, but Chauvin pinned him by kneeling on his neck for 9 and a half minutes. Floyd was heard saying, “I can’t breathe” a number of times. Those would be his last words. His death led to protests around the United States and around the world, the likes of which had not been seen since the Civil Rights Movement, and maybe not even then. People were united in their calls against the excessive use of force by police officers and the lack of police accountability. Again, I was made to see, up close and in all of its ugliness, the reality of the race problem in our country. Yes, we’ve come a long way, we’re not where we used to be; but we’re not where we ought to be, either. Third, we faced – and are still facing – the COVID crisis. Since the first case was diagnosed in the US in January of 2020, there have been 87,152,356 cases reported as of June 29, and 1,012,166 deaths. Think about how big those numbers are for a minute. Over 1 million dead Americans in less than 2 years. And the crisis, instead of drawing us together, pulled us further apart. While we lived through lock-down and reopening, and masks or no masks, and vaccines or no vaccines, and being almost afraid to be together for fear that we might become a super-spreader event, and the selfishness that went on as some people resorted to hoarding of toilet paper and other hard to find items, I became more and more disappointed with the people in our country. I saw grocery store clerks being raked over the coals by irate shoppers who were angry that they were unable to find the items they needed on the shelves. I heard people complain about having to wear masks when I knew that older people and others at-risk depended on people being careful to not spread COVID because of their weakened immune systems. I knew of some people who complained over activities being canceled, but couldn’t seem to grasp that it was not out of some political influence that the decisions were made; it was due to the scientific and medical advice being given about gathering in crowds. People were more upset that they couldn’t hold birthday parties for their children than they were that thousands of people were dying alone in hospitals with not a single family member allowed to be with them at the end. The final straw, though, was the assault on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2020. It was no less than an armed insurrection. It was the attempt to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden as the next President. It was an attempted coup. As I watched in horror as the events unfolded that day, the thing that really bothered me the most was how many Christian symbols and banners were on prominent display. Many people wore shirts or hats with Christian symbols or messages on them. There was even a wooden cross. And a group of people calling themselves the “Jericho march” blew shofars and prayed that God would bring down the walls of government. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “That preacher has quit preaching and gone to meddling. She shouldn’t be talking about politics.” Well, let me be clear about one thing: Jesus talked about politics all the time. Every time he mentioned the Kingdom of God, he was being political. Because he was talking about the coming reign of God on this earth. In her essay, The Kingdom Heresy, Diana Butler Bass writes, “When you proclaim prison abolition, the end of slavery, debt cancellation, and people dwelling in peace, you’re talking politics … Jesus preached politics all the time, everywhere.” John Dominic Crossan stated that “the Kingdom of God is inextricably and simultaneously 100 percent political and 100 percent religious. ‘Kingdom’ is a political term, ‘God’ is a religious term.” And so, if Jesus spent his career addressing political issues, then I feel that it is a pastor’s job to do that on occasion also. And it certainly falls within the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament. So what am I to do? How do I fall in love with my country again, a country I hardly recognize, a country I’m not even sure I like anymore? I find part of the answer in reminding myself that for every white supremacist out there, there are thousands of people working for racial justice and equality; that for every Derek Chauvin, there are thousands of good police officers doing a great job; that for every person behaving badly with COVID fatigue, there are thousands more who have shown greater compassion and consideration and care for others; and that for every insurrectionist or would-be insurrectionist, there are thousands more Americans who would defend our democratic processes and our country to the death. And I find part of the answer in the reading from Galatians. Paul was writing to churches that were deeply divided over an issue. Paul advised the Galatians that, no matter what, they must love each other. He reminded them, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Unless they learned to love each other, they would devour each other with their fighting and their divisiveness. Love was the answer. Diana Butler Bass asked herself, “What to do? Paint on a happy face? Control my emotions? Love those Supreme Court justices or the January 6 insurrectionists? Do I summon every power of will? I love them. I love them. I really love them … I really do. I may as well call my therapist now.” But it is possible to love them, in the sense of wanting the best for them, of showing them mercy and compassion and understanding. It is not an easy thing to do; it is perhaps the hardest thing you and I will ever do: to love our enemies, some of whom are also our friends and neighbors and family members. But it is the most necessary thing we will ever do. The answer to loving my country again is to somehow learn to love the people again. I hope I am up to the task. Because when I can love – only when I can love – I am learning to be my best self. And I hope that I am calling others to be their best selves again, too. Hymn America the Beautiful Hillsdale College Choir https://youtu.be/EmP9LvHgcaA Praying Together Concerns and Celebrations: Please share any concerns or celebrations you may have with Pastor Elisabeth. Please note if you do not want this shared with this faith community. Pastoral Prayer God of all nations, we thank you for the life and history of our country, for its vast beauty, its wilderness, and wealth of forest, mine, and sea. We praise you for its people, the peoples whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years, and those who have just arrived. We thank you for the variety of our traditions and our cultures, the riches of our spiritual and religious heritage, the strength of our democratic institutions. We pray for our nation, for our citizens, residents and governments that working together we may face the future with confident hope and faith in your purpose for our world. (J. Allan McIntosh) We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples: The Lord’s Prayer 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. Responding Offertory: You may send your offerings to Grantham United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Grantham, NH, 03753. Doxology UMH #95 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. Song America The Soldier’s Chorus The United States Army Field Band https://youtu.be/DqiOBbRzEgI Benediction May the God who dances in creation, who embraces us with human love, who shakes our lives like thunder, bless us and drive us out with power to fill the world with justice. Amen. (Janet Morley) |
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