What are you holding onto?

Posted on August 4, 2024August 4, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
4 August 2024 10:00 am
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev. Brad Childs
Music Director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Loretta Lee
Elder: Gina Kottke

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: God’s love for us is great!
P: God is like a loving parent, who watches over us.
L: God’s mercy for us is great!
P: God reaches out to us in healing patience and peace.
L: Praise be to God who has called us here.
P: Praise be to God whose love and mercy is given to us. Amen.

Opening praise: I lift my eyes up …

Prayers of approach and confession

God of majesty and mystery, you are the source of all that is.

Your breadth and depth are beyond our imagination.

Your grace defies our explanations.

You touch us with comfort or challenge when we least expect it.

Receive our prayer and praise this day as we seek the Bread of Life in this hour of worship.

We come to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, while your Holy Spirit prays within us and lifts our hearts to you.

God of mystery and mercy, you know the details of our lives.

You see the sin and the sorrow we bear.

You see how we take advantage of each other, and how we overlook one another.

We confess we do not always see what you see, O God, so open our eyes to the truth of our lives and cleanse our hearts with your grace.

Response: Glory, Glory, Hallelujah

Assurance of God’s grace

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ – and Christ died for us; Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and set free by God’s generous grace.

We listen for the voice of God

Scripture readings (NRSV): Mark 10:17-23 & Luke 15:11-20 & 18:18-30

Response: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: What are you holding onto?

Today we continue our Anchor series together. And as a quick refresher from last week; an anchor is a simple invention used by fishermen and sailors for thousands, of years. The basic concept of an anchor is that it is used to secure a drifting vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from succumbing to the winds or currents.

An anchor is simple in its design, but very powerful in its function.

As you can imagine, an anchor needs to be strong enough to hold no matter how much tension and pressure is being put on it by the boat.

Bible commentator Alexander Maclaren says this about the strength of an anchor:

“A sure anchor is one which does not drag. It is not too light for the ship that rides by it. It has found its firm ground, its flukes are all right, and its belch. It does not deceive. The ship’s crew may trust it. An anchor which is steadfast, or, as the original word might be rendered, ‘firm,’ is one that will not break, but is strong in its own substance, made of good tough iron, so that there is no fear of the shank snapping, whatever strain may be put upon it. We may then say, generally, that this object of the Christian hope is free from all the weaknesses and imperfections which cleave and cling to other objects.”

Today we are going to look at what Maclaren calls the “weaknesses and imperfections which cleave and cling to other objects.” Because the truth is that there is only one firm and secure anchor in which we can put our hope. And that’s Jesus.

Main Teaching

Life is filled with false hope and security. We live in a world that wants to pretend as if all views are equal. We are told to celebrate everyone’s personal truth and experience. And while I can agree to that, to some extent and want to be open I would still remind you that if you get on an airplane destined for Alaska, your belief that it’s going to Hawaii won’t change where the airplane lands. Sometimes the reality is that you can believe whatever you want, but you still better pack your long underwear.

T.V., radio, movies and billboards… In this modern world, we are met with a constant barrage of promises; promises for health, promises for wealth, and promises of well-being from every source imaginable. From an early age, we begin to learn that if we can get strong enough, smart enough, and save enough money then everything will be alright. You just need to drive the right car or have the right job or get that new purse or take that vacation or get this injection or ask your doctor about that pill. But does it last?

In the book Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, his main character says, “We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact.”

Similarly, Marilyn Monroe rose to the highest heights of fame but when she reached the top, she warned those who might follow in her footsteps stating that “Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

If you can just get that date, that raise, that dream car, that whatever you will be content. And that’s all fine and dandy, until of course, it’s not. And then the things you own end up owning you.

My dad used to say that the best boat is your neighbour’s boat, and the best camper is your friend’s camper. Yeah, toys are great, but you also have to clean them and store them and fix them and to some extent at least – they end up owning you.

It affects all of us. And we all fall for it, hook, line and sinker. All of us have, at one time or another, put our hope in things that couldn’t deliver.

This is one lesson we’ve all had to learn the hard way. Judas was the first person to drop Jesus in favour of a little money in his pocket, but he wasn’t the last.

So what is that thing in your life that calls for your allegiance and loyalty? Is it strength, smarts, or possibly saving accounts? Is it a job title, position, or a relationship? The good news today is that no matter what that thing is, I can promise you Jesus is better, stronger, more firm and secure. And He’s always ready for us to return to Him.

Billy Graham once famously addressed this saying The great question of our time is, “Will we be motivated by materialistic philosophy or by spiritual power?” But it’s actually even a little bigger than that and more specific.

If your anchor is a car, you’re gonna need a mechanic, but if it’s prayer, you won’t fare much better. If prayer were my anchor, then why didn’t I end up married to that nice girl in homeroom all those years ago? Because God says “No” to dumb ideas sometimes even if we cry about them.

Jesus Christ is himself the anchor and not how God answers our every whim and prayer.

I’m sure many of you have heard the story of the prodigal son before. And in it, we can clearly see how the younger son misplaces His hope. He chases after earthly things, transient pleasures, and experiences. But eventually, all the money and energy are gone, and he is left with nothing. For all the hope he must have had in creating a new life apart from his family and away from his father, it all ended when the hope he was holding onto slipped through his fingers. It wasn’t firm or secure.

Through this story, we get an amazing picture of divine love and acceptance. As the son realizes what he’s done, he decides to head home. His father, who had apparently been waiting and watching, saw him a far way off and ran to meet him. Embracing his wayward son, he welcomed him home. In the story, the father doesn’t scold or shame his son. He hugged him, kissed him, and eventually threw a massive dinner party to celebrate his return.

How many of us here today are tired of trying everything the world has to offer only to find it meaningless and hopeless? How many of us are secured to the anchor but bring it up from time to time so we can attempt to navigate the winds on our own? How many of us simply need to head home, to our heavenly Father? To the place where our hope, faith, and love have a firm and secure space to thrive. How many of us need to take stock of things, drop anchor and make sure we’re tied on tight?

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus goes into a lengthy teaching about our motivations, anxiety, fear, and then, of course, the hope we have in the kingdom. Let’s look at what Jesus says about earthly treasures.

Matthew 6:19-21 says, 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Earthly treasure is easily destroyed, or worse, stolen.

Some of you know this already but we bought a house a number of years ago when living in Regina. It was a dream come true, brand new, felt like we’d arrived somewhere, we’d made But then we moved. And the house market crashed. It didn’t sell. And so, we attempted to rent it out while trying to pay $3000/month rent in Steveston Village. It was a hard situation, and we hired a management company to take care of it. But the people they rented to never paid a full month’s rent. They stayed for quite a while and we gave them free Christmas/no rent to help out, and we paid to replace things that were still on warranty because the management company “took care of it” by buying new items and simply sending us a bill. Eventually, however, the tenets had to be evicted and after about 8 months of that, the tenets took sledgehammers through the house and bashed up the center island and the walls and destroyed the place. I’ve still never agreed to look at the pictures.

In the end, we had to borrow a lot of money just to fix the place up do that we could sell it at a loss. And I had a full-on mental breakdown. I was destroyed. What a failure of a husband and father I felt I was. To me, we were 20 years behind where we should be financially and at this point things had compounded into the question of whether we might ever be able to own again. In our new neighborhood, we would need to pay 3000 a month in rent but still save $200,000 for a downpayment. It would be impossible. And it had become clear that our kids would never be able to move out on their own.

My story is unique to me, but this is not an exclusive story in that this kind of thing happens to all of us at some point or another. Things get lost, damaged, or stolen all the time, important things.

Sometimes, you can do everything right and a “bad actor” can come in and tear your life apart.

That is, if you anchor is anything other than Jesus.

We can so easily be holding onto the wrong things… and this is why Jesus offers us so many correctives throughout Matthew chapter 6. In Matthew 6:31-34 Jesus tells us, “31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Many of us are worried about what to eat or what to wear. We’re worried about property values, sporting events and stocks.

Jesus offers us a divine solution to it all. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Seek the Kingdom.
Wrap your arms around the kingdom of God. Around Jesus, His teachings, and His people.

This is the divine corrective for misplaced and displaced hope. There are so many “weaknesses and imperfections which cleave and cling to other objects.” Things that are too easily destroyed, damaged, or stolen. In fact, as Jesus mentions, every single day we are alive has more than enough worry of its own.

It’s time we let go of all the false security and hold tight to Jesus. He is our hope, He is a firm and secure anchor for our souls. But it’s not always easy to do is it?

… You may recall the story of the “rich young ruler” in Mark’s gospel. In Mark 10:17-22 it states, “17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’[a]”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.

In this story, we see another passionate young man who has a desire to follow Jesus. He claims he’s held tightly to the teachings of the law, and observed the commandments since he was a child. But Jesus, in his perfectly Jesus-y way, identifies another thing in the young man’s life he’s got an even tighter grip on. When Jesus shows him he needs to let go of all his wealth in order to follow Him, the young man becomes very sad and he leaves. But it’s not because he’s rich. It’s because he doesn’t trust Jesus and he doesn’t trust the Father with his finances.

You see, this story highlights something we all struggle with, and it’s not necessarily money, although that could be it for you. No, it’s the fact that we grow attached to the things we place our hope in. Our treasure and our heart reside in the same places.

This young ruler clearly had a lot of attachment to his wealth. So much so, that he was unable to put it down in order to follow Jesus.

Or said another way, he was unable to loosen his grip on money in order to tighten his grip on Christ. And this specific picture leads us to turn our attention back to our own lives.

It’s a personal question to be sure but…

What are you holding onto today just a little too tightly?

What do you need to let go of so that you can grab hold of Jesus?

What time do you need to spend this week to get your priorities straight? How and when do you plan to do that?

And finally, how can you tighten your grip on the anchor of your soul making sure you are holding on to the only anchor that can keep you from drifting away – Jesus Christ? Amen.

Song: We have an anchor

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: The Letter to the Ephesians challenges us to lead a life worthy of the calling we have in Christ Jesus. We offer our gifts to God to support the calling we share to build up the body of Christ in the world God loves.

Good and generous God, bless the gifts we offer you this day, as well as our efforts to serve others in Jesus’ name. Use what we have and what we do to support the work of the Church here and around the world. Amen.

Prayer for our world

The world is filled with your goodness. All nature sings your praise.

We give you thanks for the stillness of night and the rest it brings, and for days filled with energy and creativity. Thank you for summer with its changing rhythms that renew us. We thank you, too, for new opportunities you create among us, and for new relationships that enrich our lives.

God of grace and goodness, Renew our trust in you.

You hold the future in your hands, O God, and so we put our trust in your guidance for these changing times. We pray for those who work on the seas and in the fields, providing food the world needs. We know their work is uncertain these days, so give them courage and strength to meet the challenges. We pray for those who work in essential services, often in demanding or dangerous situations. We depend on their willingness to serve, so encourage them, O God. Help them remain trustworthy as they face so many different calls for service.

God of grace and goodness, Renew our trust in you.

We pray for leaders and policy makers in our country and around the world. Make them alert to the temptations of their offices so that power is not abused. Awaken them to the needs of vulnerable community members. Keep all leaders trustworthy, so that justice is maintained without discrimination or favoritism.

God of grace and goodness, Renew our trust in you.

Gracious God, As we have received, free us to give.
As we have been loved, open us to love others.
As we have known peace, help us make peace.
In the freedom we enjoy, use us to work for freedom with justice for all.
These are gifts of your reign taking shape among us, and so we pray as Jesus taught us, that your kingdom may come:

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. According to Luke, when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples, he took the bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. This is the Lord’s table. Our Saviour invites those who trust him to share the feast which he has prepared.

Song: Let us break bread together (548)

The Lord’s Prayer (sung – 469)

The Communion Prayer

It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise, eternal God, our creator. You have given us life and second birth in your Spirit. Once we were no people, but now we are your people. You claimed Israel as your chosen nation and raised up the church as a witness to the resurrection, breathing into it your life and power. From worlds apart, you gathered us together. When we go astray, you welcome us home. Always, your love has been steadfast.

You are holy, O God of majesty, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In love with you and in compassion for all, Jesus healed and taught, challenged and comforted, welcomed and saved. He formed a community, promising to be with his disciples wherever two or three were gathered, and sending them on his mission of hope and healing in the world. Jesus trusted his life to you, and went freely to his death, so the world might be set free from suffering and sin. You raised him from death and raise us also to live a new life with him. In the power of the Holy Spirit, you send us out to make disciples as he commanded.

Remembering all your mighty and merciful acts, we take this bread and this wine from the gifts you have given us and celebrate with joy the redemption won for us in Jesus Christ. Accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as a living and holy offering of ourselves, that our lives may proclaim the One crucified and risen.

Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit unite us with the living Christ and with all who are baptized in his name, that we may be one in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.

Sharing of the bread and wine

The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.

Song: One bread, one body (540)

The prayer after Communion

Gracious God, may we who have received this sacrament live in the unity of your Holy Spirit, that we may show forth your gifts to all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hymn: Worship the Lord (555)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go in gratitude, relying on the presence of Christ as bread for your journey. And may the God who made us, The Christ who mends us, And the Spirit who gives us life bless you with peace and purpose each and every day. Amen.

Response: The Blessing

Music postlude

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The Communion liturgy is based on the liturgies of the PCC’s 1991 Book of Common Worship. Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2024) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Anchored by Hope

Posted on July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am     28 July 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia     Vocalist: Vivian Hough
Children’s Time: Fionna McCrostie     Elder: Jane de Caen

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: In the midst of life’s storms, God is there
P: What have we to fear?
L: In the darkness and terror, God is with us.
P: Of whom shall we be afraid?
L: Rise up, people of God, for you are loved and saved
P: Thanks be to God who cares deeply for us. Amen.

Opening praise: Forever God is faithful

Prayers of approach and confession

Lord, we come before you at this time and in this place because we see a world that is not right. And if we were honest, we’d have to admit that we are part of that. We are also not right. We make mistakes and help build more problems in the world too. When we do something wrong, however, we tend to excuse it. We see our own reasoning but not others. We allow ourselves leeway but hold others to account.

Our work lives home lives and political lives are not pure of wrongs and mistakes.

But we do know what few people in the world are prepared to do. We come and we admit that we are all sinners. We acknowledge that we are not above others. We admit that we see people in need and don’t always jump to help. Our hearts are loving and our lives beautiful, but we don’t always do everything we can.

Father, we confess our wrongs. We search our hearts, and we silently confess to you the things we could or should do better with.……

For our sins, we ask forgiveness.

And for the rest of our journey, we ask for clear vision, strength to do what is needed to be done and lives that turn from mistakes to service as you slowly make us more like the image of Christ our Lord.

Turn our deeds to you, our hearts to you and our lives to you. Amen.

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s grace
According to the scriptures, the Lord forgive us our debts and takes our sins upon himself. But consequently, we are also told to forgive others just as we have been. In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. Now we must forgive as well. Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: Jesus loves me (371)

Story: Going on Vacation (Fionna)
I am a student just like some of you. I go to school, and I work hard to get good grades.

Just like some of you I am on my summer vacation. For part of my summer vacation, I went to Asia! I visited Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

Have any of you taken a vacation already this summer? Are some of you going on vacation later this summer? Where to?

Sounds relaxing!

Did you know that Jesus taught his disciples that it was important for them to take a vacation? Jesus’ disciples traveled from town to town telling others about God and His love for them. They traveled everyday preaching, teaching, and healing the sick. They worked so hard that they often didn’t even have time to stop to eat or sleep. They became very tired.

When Jesus saw how tired they were, he said to them, “Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest.” The Bible then says, “So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” I think it is important to notice a couple of things about what the Bible says.

First, Jesus said, “Come with me.” When we take a vacation, we need to remember to take Jesus with us. Some people never give Jesus a thought when they go on vacation. We should include Jesus in all that we do, even when we are on vacation.

Second, the Bible says the disciples went away to a quiet place. Their main purpose was to rest and renew their strength. Some people plan a vacation that is so full of activities that when they come home, they are more tired than when they left!

I hope that you have a great summer vacation. Don’t forget to take Jesus with you, and don’t forget to set aside some time for rest and relaxation. Then come back home refreshed and renewed!Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for vacation time when we can rest and renew our strength. Help us to remember to include you in everything we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Jesus, Lover of my soul (676)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Hebrews 6:19 & Matthew 14:25-31

Response: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: Anchored by Hope

Welcome everyone! It is an interesting day since we’re starting a new 4-week series called Anchor. Anchor, get it? Ship, anchor, Dayspring a Ship. Ships have anchors, our Session has anchor groups.

I’m “beating the dead horse”.

In part, I would like to see how some of these things work or don’t. Now, please just rush to tell me you love or hate it. Know that it’s a test. In this world, we are increasingly on our screens. Younger people tend to be much more visual learners than auditory learners. So if you are one of those people who thinks having a greater impact on the young people you know and wish were more apt to attend, then you should give this a fair shake. On the other hand, you should also know that the church is not McDonald’s catering to every whim and will. And an argument can be made that the less use of screens, the more unique a worship service is from the world around. I suspect, not to commit the fallacy of the middle ground, but in this case, the middle ground is probably best.

Or amazing volunteers in the media booth and Dr. Carr with those online, with music and with Lynn and others, the full staff and I, Communications, Inclusion and Worship committee will all have conversations around this.

This week we begin our series of four Sundays of being Anchored. You should know it’s built around a single Bible verse; Hebrews 6:19 which says;

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…”

Actually – that’s not even the entire verse…I know it sounds pretty ambitious or perhaps odd to talk about one-half of one Bible verse for the next four weeks. But this is the power of the Bible, the living word. And I think lately I’ve been getting a little too deep and focused on minutia.

I don’t ever want anyone to think that they can’t read and understand the bible. Yes, doing word studies and research often gives you much deeper insight, but even on its surface, the Bible is a love story that almost anyone can read and understand easily.

It speaks to us in every season of our lives. Every circumstance, suffering, and victory. The Bible is truly amazing, and I hope one of the things you take from our series is a renewed interest in scripture and the practice of reading it whether that’s reading the narratives of the first five books or the History of the early church in Luke and Acts or the miracles of Jesus in Mark, the wisdom addressed to young people in the Proverbs or the poetry of the Psalms (the single most influential text world-over in all human history). In the next four weeks, I hope everyone will take some time to delve into the scriptures at home, as a part of how we all seek to hear God speak directly to our innermost being.

Now, getting back to anchors… most of us have seen one of these at one time or another. An anchor is a simple but amazing invention, used by fishermen and sailors for thousands, of years. The basic concept of an anchor is that it is a “device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current.”

An anchor is simple in its design, but very powerful in its function.

As believers, we are encouraged to remain steadfast and committed to our faith through every trial and storm that life may bring. While storms rage around us, emotions heighten, and bad things happen, we as followers of Jesus Christ are anchored in a common hope… and as you may have guessed, that hope is a man called Jesus.

This idea is far from new. As one Bible commentator says the anchor “was an ancient Christian symbol for safety, security, and hope. It has been found on the walls of the Roman catacombs. Even within the first century, the cemetery of St. Domitilla includes them. Epitaphs from the third century abound. In the cemetery of St. Priscilla, there are seventy archaeological examples serving much in the way tombstones do today. Along with the ancient fish symbol we see (sometimes backwards) on the back of cars, the ChiRo, the Anchor was used specifically to mark Christian graves and carved during burial ceremonies as a sign of hope for families facing the loss of a loved one.

Of course, different people use different symbols. Today the Roman Catholic church tends to use the Crucifix (Jesus’ suffering on the cross). Protestants tend to use the empty cross in order the focus on Christ off of the cross and after the resurrection. Early worshipers tended to use fish, a shepherd’s crook and the anchor. All speak to hope.

But What is the specific “hope” the author of Hebrews is referring to in verse 6:19? What actually inspired the ancient church to use an anchor? Yes, of course, the answer is Jesus, but why is the conclusion being drawn that we have “this hope” and not another one?

To better understand what’s going on in Hebrews 6:19 is simple and it’s the same with almost any verse. We simply look at the context. We read the section of verses that come before this one, and at some point also read the first six chapters of Hebrews altogether which preceded this one. But for now, let’s start with Hebrews 6:13

Hebrews 6:13-17

¹³When God made his promise to Abraham since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”^[^d^] ¹⁵And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

¹⁶People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all arguments. ¹⁷Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Okay so a long time ago God promises that Abraham was to be the father of the Hebrew nation, and since God couldn’t swear on anything greater than himself He simply said, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” In the Scriptures, God made a simple promise to Abraham, and He stayed true to His promise.

Promises of course are easy to make, easy to break, and hard to keep. Regardless of the reason why people break promises, it is undeniable that promises frequently get broken. We’ve all had it happen to us, and we’ve all done it a time or two—or more—ourselves. We know firsthand that sometimes it’s hard to keep promises, and sometimes people don’t keep promises. That’s why when someone does keep his promise—-especially one that really costs him something—-we tend to sit up and take notice.

In his book, Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington tells of meeting an ex-slave from Virginia who exemplified the kind of sacrifice that is sometimes involved in keeping promises. This man had entered into a contract with his master whereby he would be allowed to purchase freedom for himself by paying so much for so many years to his master. And, while he was earning the money to pay for himself, his master released him from service on his plantation, so that he would be able to labour wherever and for whomever he could earn the most money.

Well, the slaves went north to Ohio because the wages were better there. But each year, he would return to his master’s plantation to present that year’s payment to his master. After a few years, the U.S.A was embroiled in the Civil War, and President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery and brought freedom to all the slaves, including this man. But he still owed his master three hundred dollars.

Now, think about this for a minute. This former slave was free. He didn’t have to pay his former master the final three hundred dollars to purchase his freedom—-he had already been made free by the Emancipation Proclamation. But he had made a promise. And he was a man of his word. And so he walked from Ohio back to Virginia and presented his former master with the full amount he had promised him, down to the last dollar.

Our God is a promise keeper even when it’s not deserved, even when it hurts. Like when he promised to be a final sacrifice for all and died upon the cross. Luckily, as Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He’s not going to have a midlife crisis or go on some crazy existential journey. He remains the same. And this is incredibly good news in a world that’s constantly changing and moving.

Be encouraged today. Especially those of you who fled from the sin and slavery of the world to take hold of Jesus. He is the hope, the specific hope that we have. He is firm and secure. He is an anchor for the soul.

To point here is that once we have committed ourselves to Jesus, we are able to “anchor” ourselves to Him.

This is how Albert Barnes, a biblical commentator, beautifully describes this reality: “Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the ship holds to the anchor, the ship is safe, and those aboard remain safe. So, with the soul of the Christian. In the tempests and trials of life, his mind is calm as long as his hope of heaven is firm. If that gives way, he feels that all is lost.”

In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about the storms and tempests of life in addition to the temptation to hold fast to other things that we think may keep us safe. But for now, let’s consider how peaceful it must be to sleep and work on the deck of a ship whose anchor is steadfast and secure.

It’s obviously not a perfect metaphor, but this is in some way how it feels to be anchored to hope. If you are anchored, firm and secure – if your connections are strong and the anchor is trustworthy then… what room is there left for anxiety or fear?

With so much uncertainty in the world… excessive worry, trouble sleeping, illness, war, abusive governments, career and money worries, physical safety, broken relationships, depression, turmoil, confusion, division, death and dying … is it any wonder that our cities and cultures are struggling with epidemic levels of stress, and why nearly 60% of Canadians have been prescribed antianxiety or antidepressants at the same point? Friends, family, and neighbours, ourselves, we are literally grasping for anything firm and secure to hold fast to. But everything we grab gives way. Hope, wrongly applied, will often leave us worse off than when we started. These are not solutions in and of themselves (DO NOT STOP TAKING THEM). But these are not our ultimate hope.

The Apostle Peter knew this. You probably remember this story. It’s from Matthew 14:25-31 and it goes like this. ²⁵Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear. ²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Everything was going well for Peter until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to have doubts. He forgot he needed to be connected with the anchor especially when things are all out of wack.

An anchor is simple in its design, but so very powerful in its function. Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue talking about anchors, boats, hope, and Jesus. In the meantime, it would be good for all of us here today to take some time this coming week to slow down and spend some time thinking about the things or people we’ve put our hope our hope in. Has someone you trusted ever let you down in the past? Has someone ever lied to you, misled, or manipulated you? Are you anxious or depressed? Have you ever felt fearful of people, places, and situations? Do you ever say, “If I get into heaven” instead of “When I get to heaven”? If you identify with any of the situations I just described, or possibly something I’ve missed, it doesn’t mean you’re weak, dumb, gullible, or broken. It means you’re human. I have felt all of these things and probably made others feel them too. And that makes me exactly the type of person Jesus came and died for.

In Mark chapter 5, there is a story about a woman afflicted with bleeding for 12 years. She spent all her money on doctors, with no relief. She was ostracized from her community and family, set aside and forgotten about. According to the levitical law of the time, everyone she touched and every place she sat became unclean, because she was unclean.

But then, Jesus shows up.

She pushes her way through the crowd and touches the very edge of His garment. Thinking to herself, “If I can just get to Jesus, He can heal me.” And He does. He heals her completely. Physically and socially, He restores her.

She is not alone.

Jesus is our hope, firm and secure.

And it is THIS HOPE we grab hold of.

Even if all you can muster right now is to grasp at just the very edge of His garment, then you’ve got more than enough. AMEN.

Song: We have an anchor

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: We acknowledge all the gifts and offerings that are given – the sacrifices of love that people make to each other and to this congregation. So, whether that is your prayer life – whether that is your phone calls to others – whether that is a cash donation or an offering ot time – we thank you and we offer that up to God.

Prayer for our world

Lord our God, we come into your presence, pleading with you to bring the world what it needs, so that people may be freed from all their pain and enabled to serve you. Let the power of Jesus Christ be revealed in our time. For he has taken on our sin that justice might arise on earth, that all might have life and might see your salvation, which you will bring when the time is fulfilled. Let your power be revealed in the world, and let your will be done, your name be kept holy, and all wrongs be righted in this turbulent and difficult age.

O Lord our God, you alone can help some things. You alone are the Savior of all peoples. In your great mercy you can bring peace. We look to you. And when we consider your Word, we remember the mighty promises you have given, promises which are to be fulfilled in our time and all times.

Father, especially today we pray a prayer of thanksgiving for Ruth’s celebration of 100 years.

We pray thanksgiving on the good news that new life is springing forth. We praise you for our homes and loved ones for leading couples together and for moments of grace and calm.

But, Lord, be with and aid us as we seek to be with those who suffer. For those who have lost a baby, we pray for care.

For those soon to conceive, we beg for safety.

For women in places where they are subject to unfair treatment, we ask for change.

Where people seek help for their children or others, provides strength to all.

Where votes are counted, we pray for wise thoughts.

Wherever people feel unloved, send your people to prove them wrong.

Where war rages on we ask for peace. Brighten the days of the people of Jasper.

Where tragedy arises, point out the helpers.

Where photos are lost, aid the people’s memories in their place.

While these things are beyond us, we also know that we have roles to play. While only you can address the fullness of these issues, we ask for the gifts and resources to do more than simply speak or pray. Aid us as your body in the world, but Lord, where only you can act, please do.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Our anchor holds. Let us hold firm to our anchor in you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray Amen.

Song: I, the Lord of sea and sky (592)

Sending out with God’s blessing

The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forward and for evermore. Go … with Christ. Amen.

Response: Benediction (as you go)

Music postlude

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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

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Mental Health Care Resources

Brad has asked that I provide a listing of mental health resources. The list below is not exhaustive, and I am not recommending any of them. Rather, I am just providing information. Addresses and phone numbers can be found via the internet using your search engine (e.g. Google) or in your phone book. Websites give you a good sense of what kind of services are offered and of how they are provided. I am happy to assist you to find a resource that meets your needs.

Alberta Health covers the cost of some therapeutic resources (ER, Soluna, and CASA – also private practice psychiatrists). Others offer services for varying levels of payment, including a sliding scale based on client income. Psychologists and some other services may be covered by private healthcare insurance and/or First Nation healthcare provisions). – (The Rev.) John C Carr, ThM, PhD

A. If you have a critical mental health issue (suicidal thoughts, heightened levels of anxiety, acute depression, etc.) go immediately to the Emergency Room of the nearest hospital.

B. Here are some counselling resources on the south side of the city of Edmonton.

Soluna Wellness Centre (Trauma Healing for adults)
Terwillegar Counselling Centre (Individual, Couple, and Family Counselling

C. Here are some other Edmonton resources for Individual, Couple, and Family Counselling.

Cornerstone Counselling
Catholic Social Services
The Family Centre
Community Counselling Centre
CASA: Mental Health Services for Children & Families

D. For problems with alcohol or non-prescription drugs, contact Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

Young Mr. Gartrell and a Problem with Arrogance

Posted on July 21, 2024July 24, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 21 July 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Ann May and Sam Malayang
Elder: Lynn Vaughan

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.
Lighting of the Christ candle

Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: All God’s works give thanks to the Lord.
P: We will lift up our voices in praise.
L: The Lord is near to all who call upon God in truth.
P: We will sing of God’s power and speak of God’s loving kindness.
L: Let us worship God who is faithful in all things.
P: Let us praise God’s holy name forever.

Opening praise: Here’s my heart Lord

Prayers of approach and confession
Gracious and generous God, we gather with grateful hearts, amazed by the abundance in your creation, abundance to share in food, in friendship and in faithfulness.
We gather with hopeful hearts, seeking another taste of your love for us.
Your love is both mysterious and miraculous, O God, with the power to transform times that overwhelm us and lives that hunger for hope.
By the power of your Spirit, move among us in our worship.
Open before us the new possibilities you create for us in Christ, the Bread of life, bread for our journeys.
Gracious and Generous God, we gather each week to be fed by your love, trusting that you will embrace us.
We confess we are not nearly so generous with our love.
We are often suspicious of others, fearful of what they seek from us.
We criticize what others do, but rarely question our own motivations.
Forgive us, O God, and awaken our generosity toward others.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s pardon

The Letter to the Ephesians declares that Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, for we are being rooted and grounded in his love. The forgiveness he offers is a gift of this love that is wider and deeper than we can ever imagine. Receive God’s forgiveness and be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

Musical Offering: Sam and Ann May Malayang

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: Open our eyes, Lord

Story: During WW2 an engineer at General Electric named James Wright was searching for a rubber substitute. In one of his experiments, he poured boric acid into a test tube filled with silicone oil and it became a soft malleable substance.

Imagine his surprise when he dropped a handful on the ground, and it bounced back. With a little more investigation, wright discovered that the substance could also be stretched, flattened, rolled and sculped into all kinds of different shapes. Around the labs, the substance became something of a novelty. It was fun. Soon many employees were taking some home to show their family, kids and friends.

Unfortunately, the new substance proved to have a rather short shelf life which made it useless for the purposes of a car. It was dismissed as interesting but worthless.

However, a writer named Peter Hodgson became interested with it and took it to a party. Hodgeson was a copywriter for a toy catalogue, had a feeling that the failed rubber substitute would make a good toy for kids.

After testing the material for safety, they packaged the stuff in little plastic eggs and added a name. Within months Silly Putty © became one of the hottest toys in American history.

Sometimes in life people can be treated as if they have no purpose but you just never know. In Jerimiah God says, “I have plans for you.” Even when you feel like you can’t do anything right or you don’t really matter – know this: You do. God has something amazing waiting for you.

Prayer: We thank you for our kids. We thank you for our parents. We thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: O love divine, how deep, how broad (205: vss 1, 2, 3, 6)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Ephesians 3:14-21 & Psalm 14

Response: Glory to the Father

Message: Young Mr. Gartrell and a Problem with Arrogance

A great many years ago as we were painting the upstairs youth room, when a young Will Gartrell chose to paint the first line of Psalm 14 on the wall. I had asked the youth to put someone of meaning to them on the wall. The message reads Ps 14 “A fool says in his heart there is no God.” I was thinking about that line the other day and as I started looking into it, I discovered that although I thought I knew what that meant, I really didn’t. So, I decided to talk about it today.

Atheism is on the rise these days although not as much as one might think. Poll after poll throughout the Western world actually reveals numbers for “unchurched,” “unaligned,” or “non-religious.” When I was in high school the line was generally about being “spiritual but not religious” which to me sounds more like a fortune cookie than a stance. Similarly, many friends of mine were raised Christian and love Jesus but don’t much like the church. Sometimes it’s stronger than that. A friend told me “I love Jesus, but I HATE the church”.

It’s a difficult line to balance on, no doubt, but I understand it. Still, it strikes me as a little disingenuous. The Church scripture says, is the Bride of Christ and in fact, that’s the imagery Jesus uses most often for those who love him. So it has to be asked, if someone told you that they love you but they really HATE your spouse or your child, would you trust that they mean it when they say that they love you?

I sort of doubt it.

Now of course there are people to claim no particular belief in the divine. While that idea seems to have barely existed until the 5th century CE it took on some traction in Western Europe just after the Enlightenment. So is that who this verse is talking about?

In 2005-2006 Gallup Poll surveyed many countries for their religiosity and suicide. And as it turned out, the more religious, the less suicidal. This is particularly true of teens. Teens who regularly attend worship services are significantly less likely to fall into depression (the highest rate of suicide) “Religion/Spirituality and Depression: What Can We Learn from Empirical Studies?” Dan Blazer, M.D., Ph.D. [The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 169, No. 1 (1/1/12)]

Atheism isn’t all bad though – You get an extra day to play. You get to proclaim that there is no “Capital T” Truth in any real sense, so even contradictory ideas are fine. Morality exists in many forms but it’s always subject to the moment. Christianity is definitely not (or at least isn’t supposed to be) a cookie jar from which you can take what you like and leave what you don’t. To be surrendered to God through Christ is to lay down your life every day • Every Ambition • Every Relationship • Every Moral Standard • Every Value.

Plus, with Atheism — you get to keep a little extra change in your pocket. Your understanding of a possible afterlife can be whatever you want, you can reject Heaven (the idea of being in the presence of God) but hey, keep Heaven without him. Masses of people like to keep the idea that your loved ones exist on some godless plain but in some vague ways seem to believe that all the people they like get in.

Please note that Atheists aren’t bad people! And religious traditions without a deity like Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism (which is not about polytheism but rather moving beyond all possible gods to a need for none) all produce moral people. Still, I have to pick on them a little because they are a really loud squeaky wheel for such a small group.

Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this one.

An atheist was rowing out on the lake when suddenly the Lock Ness Monster appeared and attacked the man, grabbed him from the boat and held him high in the air about to eat. The man panicked due to the seriousness of the event and shouted, “God help me!” But just then the monster as well as everything else around the man went still. It was as if someone had just hit the pause button on all existence except for him. Next, a voice boomed from the heavens saying, “You don’t believe in me and yet now you beg for my help?” The man looked up to locate the source of the voice but found nothing discernible. So, he responded to the sky itself “Well,” said the man, “until 10 seconds ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness Monster either.”

Certainly, tragedy has a way of calling us home. As the adage goes: In 1954 war correspondent Ernie Pyle said, “There are no atheists in the foxholes,” And it’s generally been seen as ringing pretty true. And while famed atheist Richard Dawkins was stated that he could not guarantee he wouldn’t have a death bed change of heart he did add a section to his website for soldiers to respond to the quotes.

I’ve met a lot of people in my life, but true atheists seem to be pretty hard to find for me. When push comes to shove most people have an idea about God, they just have a hard time with a lot of other parts of religious life and particularly, specificity and structures.

As the bible makes clear, if there is no Lord we should all just “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” for death comes to all. Most troubling to me is that some individuals will never feel the same kind of peace and hope that I feel. Second to this is the idea that without a created purpose, there are no laws which can be deemed true or eternal. Everything is subject to whims, whether personal, governmental, collective and they are always temporal. We should not forget that when collections of people make their own rules we end up with Hitler and Stalin. It is the inevitable end when any society determines what is good and what is evil for itself.

Jeffery Dahmer killed 17 human beings and ate them! In a statement before his death, he said, “If a man is a product of blind chance and there is no God and there is no meaning to life then who are you to tell me what is right and wrong?” And he’s got a point. But here’s the part that’s really uncomfortable. Interestingly Dahmer made this statement to challenge another inmate. By this time he had become a Christian and had been meeting weekly with Rev. Roy Ratcliff for bible study and come to believe in Jesus, see the wrongs he had done and was baptized. And yet he had no way to put right what he had put wrong. God was his only possible refuge.

Now if you want to know how loving and forgiving God is, consider the possibility we might share heaven with sinners worse than us. But also, thank God for that possibility because if God can bring Dahmer back to the light just imagine what God can do for people who cheat on their taxes and spread rumors.

Not long ago, famous disturber and comedian Ricky Gervais went on late-night TV with Stephen Colbert and made an argument he makes quite frequently. He asked Colbert, a Sunday School teacher and practicing Roman Catholic why Colbert had rejected some 3000 other gods from Zeus to the giant spaghetti monster in the sky but accepted just one. Gervais then follows this up with a pointed statement further stating that “then I just believe in one less god than you do” to the roar of the audience. And it’s a clever line (as long as you don’t think about it much). imagine for a moment that John Smith is murdered by a man named Phil. At the court case, the lawyer for John said, “You believe Phil killed John Smith and I don’t. Well, I don’t think anybody killed Phil; he died accidentally and without any explanation. There are 8 billion people on earth, and you don’t believe that 7,999,999,999 of them didn’t killed John Smith. So, I just believe in one less murderer than you do.” Do you think people might see the problem with that line of reasoning a little clearer?

Now here’s a rather significant issue:

In ancient times, there do not appear to be any people who didn’t believe in the existence of a God. In fact, the English translations here are often lacking. Likely the author is not speaking of someone who outright rejects God’s existence so much as they have no regard for it. The idea was more like saying “There is no God for Me.” In this way, it is not really about belief and disbelief in God but rather ambivalence about the impact of such a possibility.

In addition, the term used here for God is the generic word for God “Elohim” rather than the covenant name specifically used for our God “YAHWEH.” In other words, it’s like saying, I will have none of these gods tell me what to do.

On top of that, a fool in biblical language was not a description of mental ability but of one who was morally deficient. A fool is a person who leaves God out of their consideration even if there might be one.

Another problem with the way I first read these words arises because Psalm 14:1 says, one thing but the rest of the psalm fills in the details. I am sure most of us have and can quote the first portion of the text. The second half of the verse deals with the fool’s characteristics and we can’t understand the fool until we read about the fool described in that portion. The second half of VS. 14:1 says, “THEY ARE CORRUPT, and THEIR DEEDS ARE VILE.” In verse 4 it states that they “confound the plans of the poor” meaning mistreatment and moreover rejecting the idea that God cares for them.

Again, this sounds very harsh. And at first, you might think the “They” are those who disbelieve in the existence of God and because of that do VILE things. However, the end of the verse says, “THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD.” That’s why Psalm 10:13 says, “Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, ‘You will not call us to account’?” It is because the wickedness proceeds the godlessness. They are wicked and SO they renounce God. This does not mean that people who say there is no God are evil. It says that evil people believe there is no God, no consequences, no laws that one cannot explain away.

Worse still, the chapter adds that “None” or “No person does good” not just the fool. Verse 3 says that when God looks on humanity God sees that “They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; none does good, no, not one.” That’s why Psalm 10:13 says, “Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, ‘You will not call us to account’?” Why is all of this important to me? Well because the Psalmist is talking about everyone (at least at one time or another).

The psalm reveals that “Those who say there is no God” do not have a mental problem, but rather those who have a moral problem will proudly proclaim that there is no God because they get away with doing evil things. It is not that a person does not believe in God, so much as that they won’t believe in God. And considering there really weren’t many if indeed any people at this time and place of the world who didn’t believe in some or more likely a great host of gods were all evil because they rejected God, these verses must by nature speak to rejection rather than reasoned objection. The fool is instead those who are evil rejecting God so that they can enjoy sin, indulge in it, excuse it, and prefer it more than the knowledge of God.

In 1972, a song reached the Top 40 in the United States by the R&B group the Main Ingredient. The group consisted of a trio with Cuba Gooding Sr. (father of the actor), Tony Silvester and Luther Simmons Jr. Their version of the hit song “EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL” rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1972 and would go on to reach Certified Gold Record Status.

Some of you may know the tune. This song describes how everyone has their heart broken at some point, and the chorus goes like this:

And You Brave People! You Can Sing It with Me If So Bold.

Everybody plays the fool, sometimes
There’s no exception to the rule
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I ain’t lying
Everybody plays the fool

Today just as in the Psalmists’ time everybody plays the fool. We all mess things up and we generally do it thinking we won’t get caught – as if no Lord is not watching over us.

And that’s the big mistake I made before looking into these verses. The mistake I made before I started looking into this Psalm is that I figured a “fool” is defined as a stupid person or someone who does a senseless act or can’t admit the miracles they see each day and with their own eyes. They poke fun at, rob, and make miserable those who are trying to live obedient lives before God; they do it “as easily as they eat bread” says the Psalm.

But it’s clearly much more about arrogance than it is about belief.

–Imagine someone with an exaggerated sense of his own self-importance, maybe the richest and best-known businessman in town.

–He drives off in his car knowing he has a system full of narcotics. And he puts the pedal to the metal, driving well beyond the speed limit.

–His friend is with him. His friend says: “You’d better watch out, or the police will catch you!” “Huh!” says the driver roughly, “There are no police, at least none who would dare to give me a ticket.” It’s not so much that the man doesn’t believe police exist, it is that he discounts them. He knows the laws, but he’s flaunting them and disregarding those whose job is to enforce them.

“They don’t count. They won’t change what I want to do,” he says. But someday if he doesn’t crash and die first, his luck is gonna run out.

This Psalm likewise addresses the dangerous folly of those who deny God, who live as they please, believing neither God nor anyone else will ever hold them to account.

But don’t we all do that to some extent? I know I do.

Now just in case it isn’t clear by now, I am not saying, in fact, I am not saying because the text is not saying, that people who don’t believe in God are all kinds of evil. That’s not it. And if you meet a kind atheist, please don’t attempt to argue them into faith. It wastes their time, and your time and makes us all look silly. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to ask them about the kind of god that they don’t believe in because chances are, you won’t believe in that kind of god either. Try it and see. And really listen and feel free to tell them about the God you do believe in. But just leave it at that and afterward, close your one mouth and open your two ears and keep listening closely asking them to share more.

Do you know the origins of the word fool? The English words “fool,” and “folly,” come from the Latin “follis,” which means “bellows.” It described a person’s puffed-up cheeks. Follis indicates that a fool is what some might call a windbag. I kind of like that image.

In the end, it is a fool who says there is no God because the fool knows deep down that there is but chooses to act as if there is not. And her is the really hard part: to some extent that’s all of us; that’s why the verse reads “none are good, not even one”. Because everybody plays the fool, sometimes. Our job is to make those foolish moments as few and far between as possible. Amen.

Song: We have an anchor

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: The story of Jesus feeding the crowd with a few loaves and fishes is a parable of God’s power to multiply our gifts offered in Jesus’ name. So make your offering to God as you are able, and trust that God will create abundance from what we have to give.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

God of mystery and miracle, You offer calm in our storms and challenge in our satisfaction. We give you thanks for all the ways we have tasted your abundance, in friendship and fellowship, in food on our tables and protection on our streets.

Amid these everyday satisfactions, keep us mindful of those who lack the necessities of life and who find each day unpredictable and anxious.

Like Jesus’ disciples caught on the rocky sea, we fear the storms of life.

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

Throughout the world and in our own communities, we witness increased divisiveness and hatred toward those considered a threat. So many people face turmoil in war and upheaval.

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

In so many countries and in our own neighbourhoods, we witness great inequity and deep need for even the staples of life.

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

In our communities, congregations and families, we witness uncertainty about the future and hope for leaders who are wise and trustworthy.

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

In our own lives and the lives of so many others, we witness depression and anger, anxiety and despair. We pray that you will calm the turbulence within and around us.

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

We hold before you in these moments of silence the people and places in need of your healing presence this day.

(Silence for twenty seconds)

In the unrest around us, call out to us.

Come near to us and overcome our fear.

In the face of what all that may trouble us, we thank you for your steadfast love and faithful presence, the calm centre we can claim in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Song: Crown hm with many crowns (274)

Sending out with God’s blessing: Responsive Benediction

All: For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

L: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Response: Benediction (as you go)

Music postlude

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Yours, Mine, and Ours (Lynn Vaughan)

Posted on July 15, 2024July 24, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 21 July 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Minister: The Rev Brad Childs S ervice led by: Lynn Vaughan
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Glynnis McCrostie
Elder: Shirley Simpson

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: God asks, “Why have you not attended to my creation and shared the abundance of this world?”
P: God notices the chaos and destruction occurring in the world. We have been scatted and driven apart from each other.
L: Isolation and fear keep us at a distance from each other, and from God.
P: We have drifted from God’s fold in search of creature comforts,
L: only to discover that we have forgotten the promise of God’s provision.
P: The Lord promises to gather the lost and lonely, bringing us back to safety:
L: “I will raise up leaders who will care for my creation and for each other, and they shall know fear no longer.”
P: Sing for joy today as God’s righteousness is at hand, and we are witnesses to God’s justice.

Opening praise: Here I am to worship

Prayers of approach and confession

Giving and Generous God, who created all things and called them good, wee delight in the vast diversity to life.

At your invitation, we gather today for worship and prayer, we gather in awe, that you have called us to care for your creation, as stewards of your world, surrounded by people whose generosity inspires us.

Too often, we are preoccupied by looking after ourselves and caring for others, and we forget that the future is created by actions we take today.

Things we consume and acquire draw us away from your beloved community.

We settle for worldly pleasures and treasures, when you have promised us the power to create, to love, to heal.

Forgive us for so easily squandering these gifts.

Move our hearts, O God. Help us loosen our grip on all we claim to be “mine.”
Open our hearts, Holy Spirit, to receive the gifts and power you offer us. Align our hearts, Christ Jesus, to faithfully steward the creation that is “ours.” Amen

Response: We come to ask you forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s love

Be not dismayed by what we have left undone or neglected in this lifetime, for we are forgiven. God’s promise is that plans have been made for us; plans that include hope and a future. Hope springs from unexpected places, from the gifts of grace and forgiveness, given and received. As forgiven Children of God, the Love of God flows through us so that we can offer this same gift to others.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: My Lighthouse

Story: A Handful of Love

Good morning, Children of God! Today, I have something to share with you. Can you hold out your hand so I can share a small gift with you? Hold out your hand and let me place something in your palm. (Place one of the small items in each child’s hand.)

Hold your hand out so we can all see what you have in your hand.
Now, what happens to your hand when you say the word “Mine”?
(Many will clench their hand around the item. You may want to demonstrate and see if they copy you. Move your clenched hand to your heart.)

Yes, this is how we often think of things – that they are mine and that I need to hold them tightly and keep them safe. What else do we do to keep things safe?
(Typical responses: hide them, hug them, put them in a drawer, etc.)

Recently, I was looking for something I had hidden away for safe keeping. Of course, by the time I needed it again, I’d completely forgotten where it was … so the treasure I was keeping is still hiding somewhere in my house. Has that ever happened to you? (Receive responses…)

Okay, you still have something in your hand, right? Is it really yours? Where did it come from?

It came from me! But ultimately, it came from, or was made from, God’s creation.

Now, say this with me: Not Mine, But Ours
(Hold your hand where everyone can see it, clench fist on “Mine” and open up your hand on “Ours”. Let adults and children see what you are doing – repeat several times – invite children to join you. Invite congregation to join you.)

How do you feel when you open your hand? (Receive responses…)

Since God is the creator of all things, including these (items), can we really call them “Mine”? Are we to hide and tuck away God’s treasures so that no one can see them?

I want you to think of this as a gift from God that is given to us so that we can share it with others. I shared it with you and now you can share it with someone you love. And they may share it back with you! God’s love is meant to be shared – so thank you for helping me share these gifts – and not hide them away so they can’t be used.

Prayer

Let’s pray together. This is a repeat after me prayer …

Dear God, Thank you for all your gifts.
Thank you for sharing with me.
Thank you for helping me share with others.
Thank you for loving me.
Help me to love others by sharing your love.
Every day.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee (637)

Today’s Message

Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:12-22 & Luke 12:16-21

Response: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: Yours, Mine, and Ours

The Presbyterian Church in Canada encourages each congregation to focus at least one service during the year on Planned Giving and Legacy gifts. Dayspring has chosen to do that today, as we have recently revived our Stewardship & Planned Giving Task Force after a few years of inactivity. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that we all need to support the church financially, along with our time and talents, IF we want it to thrive and continue to be here for years to come. I have taken a pre-written sermon provided by the national church office and will be presenting that, for the most part, but with a few extra little tidbits of my own thrown in. I understand that this topic can sometimes be a bit of a prickly subject, but here we go …

I read somewhere that most people spend the first half of their lives collecting things and the second half of their lives trying to get rid of things. As I can attest after spending the summer of 2022 cleaning out my mom’s home when she moved out, and even as I look in dismay at my own dumping ground of a house, it appears we do a far better job during the first half of our lives than the second in this regard!

Do you have a piece of furniture that you have been saving – just in case your kids might need it when they finally move out? Or maybe you have a few sets of shoes or socks stashed away – just in case you run out? OR … maybe your dear husband has an entire box (or two!) full of broken shoelaces, ready to go in the event of a natural disaster or some type of emergency. BROKEN shoelaces! Seriously? How are they going to save the day, exactly? (Don’t get me started!?!) But there they are: taking up valuable space in the cupboard.

Have you noticed that we sometimes have so many things stored up that cleaning out our closets feels like Christmas, as we discover items we forgot that we’d even put away? I’ve lost track of how many things I stashed for safe keeping … and then never saw again. They are in my house somewhere – I’m pretty sure!?!

Our consumer culture skillfully motivates us to want more, newer, faster, better. You know what I mean. And yes, this drives our economy, so we just have to play along, right? Consumerism impacts people at all economic levels — it is an equal opportunity addiction! No matter how much we have, we just don’t feel like we have quite enough.

Yes, I said addiction. And this addiction often comes with a powerful word we utter almost unconsciously. I remember with a mixture of awe and dismay when my young children first grabbed hold of a toy and with vigour and conviction uttered that powerful word: “Mine!”

What does our faith say about living a life dedicated to the care and protection of material things? What does our faith say about this idea of “Mine!”?

Today, in our scripture lesson, we heard about a person who is collecting and storing up treasures. He is given the moniker: the Rich Fool. I wonder, and suspect you are wondering, what they were storing these treasures up for? Was it for personal gratification or planning for a rainy day? Some families, communities, and even churches store up resources for a rainy day, and then act as if that rainy day will never come/has never come, even as we wonder how to connect with a community where the message of God is viewed as ancient and irrelevant . . . but that is a sermon for another day. A sermon for Brad to tackle, perhaps.

Back to the person enjoying and feasting on stored-up treasures. Aren’t we all inclined to store up treasures, if we are able? Aren’t we told that good financial planning requires thinking ahead, saving and preparing for a yet-to-be-lived future, especially through these rollercoaster-like times in which we are living? It gets to be very confusing, sorting through all the messages.

So, this person is happy with their accumulated goods. We don’t know exactly what they have accumulated—maybe grain, cloth, jewels, who knows—but we do know that this stored up treasure is the source of great satisfaction and pleasure.

But then, the person learns that they will die that very night! No retirement. No bucket list. It doesn’t seem fair, and yet it is a good reality check.

The past few years have been a jarring reminder that every day is a gift. Whether we are talking about the upheaval of the pandemic, or the chaotic state of global affairs, or whether we are remembering loved ones who have left us too soon, we know that tomorrow is uncertain and our journey home to God can occur at any time. TODAY is all we can be certain of.

What if the calling of a disciple of Christ, as Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying, is to “live simply so that others may simply live”?

Marie Kondo offers similar wisdom in her 2014 book titled The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. In addition to tips on how to de-clutter your home and organize your schedule, she offers a ritual to offer things back into the cycle of life. Whatever clothing, books or knick-knacks you are ready to give away, she suggests that we simply hold them in our hands and say: “You have served me well—I release you back into creation.” How liberating that could be to free ourselves from objects that fill our drawers, closets and physical space! This can be a radical experience. I think I REALLY need to start doing this more, for my own peace of mind.

A few years ago, a campaign to fight malaria in Africa used this tag line: If anyone has malaria, we all have malaria. This powerful mind shift acknowledges that our needs – and blessings –are not just “MINE” – they are OURS.

Here is one example of how the shift from mine to ours can impact a simple church program.

A minister discovered that benevolence donations were being collected and stored in a church member’s home, to be distributed when needed. While the member felt that the funds were her responsibility to protect, the minister knew that it wasn’t a safe practice for either the church or the individual.

To shift the church’s culture around benevolence funds, the minister bought a small wooden box shaped like a church and placed it in the sanctuary. All were invited to offer gifts into the box as they were able. The collection process became public—it became ours. The minister was astonished to discover some very significant donations in the box shortly after introducing it. By making the discretionary/compassionate/benevolent offering process part of the whole community—it not only became ours— it also grew exponentially!

Today, we honour generosity through planned giving, stewardship and legacy gifts. We celebrate the impact of shifting stewardship of life’s blessings from mine to ours. Whether we are talking about the offerings that we present every week or whether we are referring to legacy gifts that come at the end of one’s life here on earth, the impact it has on the mission and the work done by the church is undeniable.

In today’s parable, we are warned about the temptation to build barns to store what has been accumulated during our lifetime. We don’t know how or why the person in the story became wealthy. It could have been from good luck, possibly hard work or maybe built on the exploitation of others. What we do know is that his actions focused on protecting treasures rather than sharing them.

Financial planners talk about the concept of our “short-term and long-term time horizon”. Are we looking to just get through today or are we thinking about what life could be far into the future? Both scenarios can be equally important, and equally challenging. An example of long-term planning is the person who plants a tree, recognizing that they may never experience its full impact and that they are starting something that will primarily be a blessing to others in the future!

I invite you to think about planned giving as any action that connects our decisions today with the promise of a positive impact on the future. The spiritual gift of generosity through planned gifts is a future blessing, not a short-lived pleasure. It is a way to share the treasures we have built up – from the gifts that God himself has bestowed on us – when we no longer need them.

It doesn’t even take a lot of treasure to bless others. You don’t have to be wealthy to make an impact on future generations. Every gift offered is a step toward a brighter future for someone who needs it.

In the end, what does the Lord require of us? We hear that answer in our Old Testament scripture … to love and serve God with all our hearts and souls. What is important to our God? Executing justice for the orphan and the widow and caring for the stranger. What if we think about how our lives and our estates – whatever is left when we eventually go home to God – care for our community and continue to share God’s love with the world.

Imagine what a different ending Jesus’ parable might have had if the Rich Fool, rather than storing up treasure for personal pleasure, shared even a portion of those resources for the benefit of God’s creation. What if the Rich Fool had left a plan to distribute some of the remaining treasures after this life, to participate in mission works done in God’s name. Jesus could have made mention in his parable to some funds perhaps titled: the Widow and Orphans Feeding Ministry, or the Home for Desert Wanderers, or maybe even the Camel Care and Protection Fund – all founded by the one we know now as the “Wise Planner” rather than the “Rich Fool”.

What will delight your heart and soul in 20, 50, or 100 years from now because it exists—because you planted the seeds of your generosity with a vision for something that could exist in the future? Like an apple tree that bears bushels of fruit in its maturity or the mighty oak that provides needed shade for those during a heat wave, it starts out small like the little acorns you hold in your hands … and grows for years to come!

Rather than barns (or basements, or closets) to store our stuff, what if we shifted our focus to using our gifts as seeds for the future? What might be your legacy?

The empowering message of this parable is that we do not need to settle for barns when we have a future to create! Jesus invites us to see beyond the stuff of this world to the future we are creating in our hearts and minds—a future where hunger, sickness, economic injustice, homelessness and war no longer exist because people have invested in sharing and caring, in equity and security for all persons and in building God’s beloved community.

Are we ready to change our focus from what is MINE to what is possible when we see God’s way, and see the world as OURS? God and the world are waiting for us to choose. May each of us discover the power of generosity in this life! Amen.

Song: We give Thee but Thine own (661)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!

God’s goodness fills the world, equip our eyes to see it.
God’s goodness fills the world, inviting our hands to share what God has given us. All our gifts come from God’s goodness. Today we pass that goodness along to others in Jesus’ name.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Abundant God, your giving knows no end.

We thank you for the gift of life. Each breath we have is from you. inspire us to live our lives with hope and purpose and with a desire to respond to your call to follow you.

We thank you for what is known and unknown that abounds throughout your creation – help us to care for such a legacy of beauty and wonder and to work to heal creation where it has been degraded and spoiled.

We give thanks for those who came ahead of us – help us appreciate their gifts of wisdom and knowledge and love passed down to us. And we are grateful for community that is around us: family and friends, strangers, and companions on the journey. Help us unfurl our fingers and open our hands, to move from a mindset of “mine” to “ours” and to give and receive support more generously.

For joy and laughter, for treasured memories and for dreams and plans for the future, we give you thanks.

We thank you for the gifts of those who labour in many ways – in our church, across our communities and around the world – help us to be filled with sincere appreciation and gratitude.

Ever Loving God, you know where the edges in our lives and our world are fraying and where they are strong and resilient. You know the depths of our delights and our sorrows. We come to you in prayer and ask that you look upon us with mercy.

We pray for all those whose burdens and struggles are heavy.

We pray for all people and countries in conflict that they may come to know your justice and be at peace; and that leaders will use their power wisely.

We pray for those who are grieving, mourning, and are bereaved. May each person be lifted on wings of love and hope and receive your healing and comfort.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Song: One more step along the world we go (641)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Know that we do not walk this journey alone, for we are always surrounded by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the companionship of the Holy Spirit. The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be kind and gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favour, and give you peace.

Response: Go forth into the world

Music postlude

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This 2022 Legacy Sunday worship service was adapted from material written by Bonnie Ives Marden, leadership consultant and financial stewardship practitioner for the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Lynn Vaughan retains the copyright (©2024) on all original material that she prepared. As far as she is aware, all of the other material is her own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

All I really need to know, I learned in Sunday School (Lynn Vaughan)

Posted on July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
07 July 2024    10:00 am
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by Lynn Vaughan      Communion Liturgy: The Rev Brad Childs (via video)
Music Director: Binu Kapadia           Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie
Elder: Heather Tansem

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Great is the Lord;
P: and greatly to be praised.
L: Praise God in cities and towns,
P: praise God in all quiet places.
L: Praise God on mountains and hilltops;
P: praise God in every valley, on every plain and in the deeps.
L: Let us raise our praise with all God’s creation;
P: We will praise God’s holy name, here and everywhere, now and always.

Opening praise: This is amazing grace

Prayers of approach and confession
Great are you, O God, and greatly to be praised.
You have made all things and called them good.
You created humans in your image and gave us a calling and a purpose.
You lift up leaders and send out disciples to take part in your reconciling work in the world.
Your love is endless, your mercy without measure.
And so, we praise you with heart, mind, strength and soul, in the name of Jesus, your Son, blessed by your Spirit, working in us, with us, around us and beyond us.

God of overflowing grace, we confess we often take your blessings for granted.
Forgetting life is a precious gift, we waste time on things that don’t matter.
We complain when things don’t go our way, ignoring those who face even steeper challenges.

Forgive us, O God. Renew our calling to share your abundant love for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s Pardon

While it is true that we have all sinned, it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ. Receive the mercy of God this day, and be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

We listen for the voice of God

Scripture readings (NRSV): Ezekiel 2: 1-5 & Mark 5:1-13

Response: Behold the lamb of God

Message: All I really need to know, I learned in Sunday School

When I was last standing up here a couple months ago, I told you a story about a group of fish in a puddle that were being challenged to jump from their safe and familiar life and take a leap of faith into the unknowns of the river and the sea … and the great big world that awaited them. My talk today could be considered the next step for those who chose to go along with that colourful fish when he asked them to follow him.

We live in a confusing and complicated world, and somewhat depressing, if you read the headlines every morning. There are wars in pretty much all corners of the globe, there are natural disasters one right after the other, it seems, and there are never-ending stories of people complaining about pretty much anything and everything. There are many different forces pulling at us from different directions and so much is happening, that it is sometimes difficult to make sense of it all. And even though our world has made incredible progress in many ways, and we understand so much more about our universe and about ourselves than we ever have before, there are still so many things that are puzzling.

Even something as simple as reading the Bible or following Jesus can be confusing, and Christians often disagree about what the Bible teaches us about certain topics, or what we as followers of Jesus should think about when it comes to this pressing issue or that one. But it seems to me that the BASICS of what the Bible teaches, and what Jesus teaches, are not confusing. Sometimes, it is good to simply get back to the basics.

There was a popular book written some years back with the catchy title, “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” Do you remember that one? It was popular, I think, because it offered life lessons that were not only true, but they were simple … and ultimately, hopeful. They reminded us that sometimes we adults can get in the way of ourselves by making things too complicated. So, Robert Fulghum, the author of the Kindergarten book, reminded us of some simple rules, like:

Share everything. Play fair. Put things back where you found them. Take a nap every afternoon. And when you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. (Robert Fulghum)

Today, I thought I’d take inspiration from this book to offer some simple lessons from our gospel reading on how Jesus wants us to live as his followers. We’re going to get back to the basics, like we teach our children. So, I’m calling the message this morning: All I really need to know, I learned in Sunday School.

As Jesus got ready to send his followers out on their first mission trip, he gave them some clear instructions, found in Mark 6:7-13. From these instructions, I’m going to highlight five simple rules that we can hold onto as followers of Jesus.

Lesson #1 – Don’t Be a Christian Alone

In our reading today, Jesus has identified his 12 apostles, and now he is getting ready to send them out on a mission. The first thing that he does is pair them up. It’s kind of like when you’re in pre-school classes or on a field trip in elementary school, right? Jesus teaches us to stick together. Don’t try to be a Christian alone.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, when he calls disciples – when he calls US! – the first thing he does is make us part of a community called the church. He calls us into this community because he knows that it is too hard to be a Christian alone. We need each other!

The recent experience of the pandemic was a powerful reminder of the gift and blessing of this community of faith. We truly need each other, and we are better together. In Matthew 18:19-20, it reminds us that ‘two people in tune with God’s way have a power greater than the sum of one and one’.

Jesus gathered his disciples together, and he gathers us together, too. And even when he sends us out into the world, we know that we are not facing it all alone.

For Jesus, there is no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian. Life is too hard to go it alone. Being a follower of Jesus is often too hard to face by ourselves. We need his help and his presence in our lives; but, we need each other’s help, too. Don’t be a Christian alone.

Lesson #2 – Remember that Jesus Is the Boss

In the next verse of our focus scripture, we find this second lesson. We read that “Jesus gave them [his apostles] authority over the unclean spirits.” This is the same power that Jesus himself has! This also means that when we go into the world, we go because Jesus has given us the authority to do so. Jesus is the boss.

We can go out in confidence – literally, with faith – because Jesus has given us the authority which is only his to give. He’s the boss, but he’s put us in charge. He has entrusted us to do his work: the mission of the church, growing God’s kingdom here on earth.

For anyone here today who has grown up in a household with siblings, maybe you remember back when your mom and dad would go out and leave the oldest one in charge. I remember my oldest brother, Greg, was a bit of a terror when it came to looking after the rest of us. Actually, my mom used to tell a story about visiting our elementary school during an open house one year and seeing a note posted on the classroom wall written by my other brother with his definition of what sadness was: the answer, “When Greg babysits us”. Just as a bit of a sidenote, his answer for the question about what happiness was: “When mom broke the wooden spoon”.

Anyway, back to my brother’s leadership abilities: my point is that sometimes the boss/the parent/the supervisor – whoever – leaves another in charge and gives them the authority to oversee things on their behalf.

As Christians, we are something like the older children of the world. We have been put in charge. Jesus has given us authority over the unclean spirits of this world, and we should embrace that. We should take that responsibility seriously and do a good job. But, we should also remember that we aren’t the parent. WE aren’t the boss. We are just in charge until Jesus returns.

Lesson #3 – Travel Light

The third lesson Jesus gives us is this one: “He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.”

In other words, we are supposed to travel light when we go on the mission that Jesus sends us on. Traveling light means that we are trusting in Jesus to meet all of our needs. Traveling light means that we don’t need a back-up plan. We only need to follow instructions and trust our boss.

No matter how little or big we are, we already have the tools that God has given us to be able to do his work. Tools such as:

our love for God, which we show whenever we care for others,
a welcoming smile,
• a listening ear,
• a healing touch, like a hug or an arm around someone’s shoulder, a handshake, or a helping hand,

When we go out into the world and use these tools, we are spreading God’s love and helping to grow his kingdom!

Traveling light means that we already have everything we need in order to serve our Lord. We don’t need to read another book, make more money, have more time, solve whatever problems we face in our life right now, or do anything else before we start. We don’t need to procrastinate. We don’t need to find excuses. We have everything we need, right now, to do what Jesus is asking. So, we can and we should travel light … and start immediately.

Lesson #4 – Don’t Get Discouraged When You Fail

The fourth lesson that Jesus offers is found in verses 10 and 11. He said to the twelve, “If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.“

In other words, we go on this mission with a bit of a caution: Not everyone will accept us, or our message, with open arms. Even Jesus experienced this with the people in his home town. There will be some that will refuse to hear us, for whatever reason. All we can do with them is entrust them to God … and move on.

It is our task to enter a community, do as Jesus asks, and if we are not welcomed there, to shake the dust off our feet and move on. We are responsible for delivering the message; we are not responsible for how others respond to that message.

So, the simple lesson here is to not get discouraged when we fail. If the 12 apostles were told that they would sometimes experience failure, then we should expect nothing less than that for ourselves. I’ve read that it’s beneficial to think of the word “FAIL” as an acronym which stands for “Faith Active In Love.” When our faith is active in love, then we are serving our Lord. When we seem to be failing, we shouldn’t get discouraged. Failure in the eyes of the world might just be overwhelming success in the eyes of God. The cross proved that to us in the most powerful way.

Let me say that again: failure in the eyes of the world might just be overwhelming success in the eyes of God. Let God be the judge of your successes in life. When you feel discouraged, know that He is with you and is ready to help you move on to bigger and better things.

So, don’t get discouraged when you fail. Travel light. Remember that Jesus is the boss. Don’t be a Christian alone. And, finally …

Lesson #5 – Don’t Be Afraid to Tell the Truth

When the apostles were sent out, it was to cast out demons and heal the sick, but it was also to proclaim “that all should repent.” Repent. Turn away from your sin. Turn from your false hopes and your false gods. And turn, or re-turn, to the Lord. Our only God, and our only hope.

Our world is quick to offer false gods and false hopes. It always has, and it always will. So many celebrities are put up on pedestals. There are so many distractions all around us. So much glitter and glam everywhere. As followers of Jesus, part of our task is to point this out, and to remind the world that there is only one God, and only one source of hope.

God, our Creator, has given us a world in which to spread His kingdom.
Jesus, our Savior, came to rescue us from our sin and brokenness.
The Holy Spirit was given to us to help in the mission work to which we are called. Together, this trinity shows us the way to live in these confusing and challenging times.

It’s not always easy to live as followers of Jesus in this world, but that’s what we are commissioned to do. So, as we are sent out to do God’s will, just as were the 12 apostles, remember these basic lessons:

Don’t try to be a Christian alone.
Remember that Jesus is the boss, thankfully.
Travel light, trusting that Jesus has given us all the tools we need to accomplish his mission.
Don’t get discouraged when we fail.

And don’t be afraid to speak the truth.

Five simple lessons we can learn from today’s gospel reading. Five things we can do to get back to the basics … just like we do in Sunday School. Amen.

Song: Lord Jesus, you shall be my song (665)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Faithful God, we bring our gifts with trusting hearts, seeking your blessing on the ministries these gifts support. Work through our gifts to touch the world with your healing grace through Christ, in whose name we offer ourselves to you. Amen.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves
Holy God, In Jesus, you reached out to so many different people, with so many different needs, in so many different situations.
We thank you for all the ways you have reached out to us, in the embrace of prayer, in the energy of a song, in thought sparked by a sermon, and in the wisdom of Scripture or the words of a friend.
Sometimes, your healing brings comfort; Sometimes, it brings challenge and the call to respond.
Hear us as we seek your comfort and your challenge for the world, for the church and for our own lives.

Bring comfort to those facing struggles this summer: those whose crops wither by the extremes of weather; those who cannot find enough workers for their businesses and workers who can’t find secure employment; those whose housing is insecure, and any who are losing hope that things will ever improve.Bring challenge to those whose decisions affect the well-being of the vulnerable, to those who guide planning for housing and employment, and those who respond to the changing climate and lives and livelihoods at risk.

May your wisdom and compassion guide them.Bring comfort to those who are lonely or shut in, and to all who have lost beloved family members or friends in recent months.
Bring comfort to those who feel pain or anxiety without relief, and those who wait for diagnosis or life-restoring treatment.
Offer peace to those who know there is no treatment and wait in hope for your eternal welcome.
Comfort your church in places where ministries struggle, whatever the reason.
And challenge your church to renew our vision for ministry so that our witness is faithful to your all-embracing love, expressed not only in words but also in the actions we take.
Challenge us to embrace those who differ from us and yet have a place in your heart and your eternal care. Amen

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

Song: Here is bread, here is wine (546)

We affirm our faith: The Apostles Creed

Communion Prayer

Sharing of the bread and wine

Song: One bread, one body (540)

The prayer after Communion

Hymn: Who’s goin’ to tell the story (761)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go in faith into whatever the week ahead may hold, assured that Christ walks with you. And may the God who made us, the Christ who mends us, and the Spirit who gives us life bring you joy and peace, now and always.

Response: The blessing

Music postlude

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Lynn Vaughans retains the copyright (© 2024) on all original material in this service. As far as Lynn is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is her own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Jesus is the gardener of our lives (Raymond Baker)

Posted on June 30, 2024June 30, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 30 June 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Minister: The Rev Brad Childs Led by: Raymond Baker
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Rom Rhoad
Elder: Iris Routledge

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Out of the depths, we cry to the Lord.
P: We will wait upon the Lord.
L: Hope in the Lord!
P: For with God, there is steadfast love;
L: With God, there is great power to redeem.
P: So we offer prayers and praise to God in whom we trust.

Opening praise: Forever God is faithful

Prayers of approach and confession

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

In Jesus’ Powerful name we pray. Amen.

Response: We come to ask you forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s pardon

Scripture teaches that there is a time for every matter under heaven.

A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.

In confessing our sins to God, we have offered God our tears of regret.

Now is the time to rejoice in God’s mercy:

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

In Jesus Christ, we can make a new start. Thanks be to God.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

Story

Story: The Apple Tree

How many of you like apples?
Apples not only taste good, they are good for you. Apples are fat-free, salt-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, and a good source of vitamins to help you grow.

There are a lot of different ways to enjoy apples. Can you give me some examples?
* apple juice or apple cider
* applesauce, maybe in your school lunches
* have you ever had some tasty apple butter on your toast in the morning?
* apple slices dipped in caramel are a delicious treat
* my all-time favourite, of course, is apple pie. So yummy!

I am sure that all of you know where we get apples: they come from apple trees. Well, what would you do if you planted an apple tree in your garden, watered it, and took care of it and it never produced any apples? It wouldn’t be much good as an apple tree, would it?

I planted an apple tree in my yard about 10 years ago, and I was looking forward to harvesting bushels of delicious apples each summer. It started out as a bit of a twig, of course, but I had high hopes that it would grow strong and healthy in no time. Unfortunately, the ground where it sits is pretty tough AND my dogs decided to use it as a bit of a chew toy. In the first few years, it mostly just sat there looking like a bare post in the ground. Maybe it had a few leaves on it, but definitely no apples. I debated whether or not to just take it out and try again.

I decided to just keep watering it often and see what happened. After about five years, I noticed a new shoot was growing out of the part of the wee trunk that was closest to the ground. Still, there has never been any hint of an apple on this tree … and it’s ten years later!

Last week, I was walking around the yard and decided to take another peek at my sad, little tree, and this is what I saw – a bunch of small buds that are showing to be the beginnings of what will become full-fledged apples at the end of the summer!! This will be the very first time a piece of fruit has grown on this tree – as long as the dogs don’t decide to have a feast, of course!?! I’m so excited! I can’t wait to taste the apples this fall; I can’t even remember what brand they are, at this point.

This reminds me of a story that Jesus told about a man who had a fig tree in his yard that didn’t produce any figs. For many years, he waited for the tree to produce fruit — but it didn’t. He was going to have it cut down, but the gardener convinced the man to wait one more year and, in the meantime, he offered to give it some extra care and attention. The owner agreed to give the tree another chance. And guess what? The tree started producing fruit.

Jesus was really talking about us – and about God. God has “planted” us on this earth, and he expects us to produce good fruit in our life. What kind of fruit does God expect? Things like loving one another, living peacefully with our neighbours, having patience, and showing kindness. When God doesn’t see us doing these things in our life, He is very disappointed — but He is willing to give us another chance. He’s not going to give up on us. Just like the trees we talked about: they were not cut down, and they were given another chance.

Jesus is like the gardener. He wants to care for us and help us to be the kind of fruit-bearing children that God wants us to be. If we will trust in him, read the bible, and pray — Jesus will help us to produce a lot of good fruit.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank you for giving us another chance, help us to have the kind of fruit in our lives that would be pleasing to our Heavenly Father. And now, together, we will say the prayer that you taught us.

Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Lord Jesus, think on me (207)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Luke 13: 6 – 9

Response: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: Jesus is the gardener of our lives

Today I want to begin with a story.

Let’s go way back in time to when I was nine years old. My father had a special box on his dresser and told me not to touch anything in this special box. One day, however, I looked in that box and found a pocket watch that was once owned by my Grandad. Carefully, I opened this special watch and found it very interesting. While I was examining it, Dad came home, and I did not have time to put it away. I rushed out of my parent’s bedroom, leaving the watch open and lying on the ensuite floor. Trying to pretend nothing was going on I quietly walked to my bedroom.

Minutes later, I heard my Dad’s footsteps entering my room and he looked me straight in the eye, and asked, “Raymond, did you disobey me by taking Grandad’s pocket watch out of my special box?”

I was guilty and immediately confessed. I asked my father to please forgive me and I promised never to go into his things again.

Years ago, when I was nine, I was remorseful about not respecting my father’s possessions and learned from my mistakes. Now, years later, my father sees me as a responsible and mature son. In light of this story, I find it interesting that just recently, he gifted me with his entire watch collection. It actually includes a 1950’s Rolex and other important watches to our family. As I reflect, the watch collection resembles the fruit that God bestows on us when we humbly repent.

The story I just told reminds me of today’s parable.

Let us read Luke 13:6-9,

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So, he said to the gardener who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

“‘Sir,’ the gardener*9 replied, ‘Please leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Most mornings I listen to the news while I am getting ready, so I know what is happening in the world. Did you know that some local news was reported to Jesus in the Bible? This is found just before today’s scripture.

Jesus reflects on the news with a question for the people in Luke 13:1-3. Let me read it–

“At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. 2 Jesus answered them, “Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then Jesus tells about a tower that collapsed in Luke 13:4-5.

4 “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’”

Jesus’ news update, as I am calling it, tells about two incidents where people were killed. Jesus then asked his listeners if they think these people died because they were more sinful than others. He answers his question with a resounding, “No!” Jesus then goes on to say that unless people repent of their sinfulness they will die spiritually or physically without everlasting life.

It is important to note here, that Jesus told the parable of the barren fruit tree right after emphasizing the need for repentance when the upset Galileans came to him with the sad news update.

The first point of my sermon is: we should repent and then we will be fruitful.

Before we repent, we have to humble ourselves and believe we have sinned. The word for ‘sin’ in koine Greek is HAMARTIA. The definition of HAMARTIA is to miss the mark. In the Bible the mark is the Will of God.

One summer I was a camp Pastor at Brightwood Youth Ranch just west of Edmonton. I remember telling the camp children that sin was doing something bad. Through my studies, I have learned that this explanation may have been too simplistic. In fact, everything we do that is not in God’s will, is sinning.

According to the Bible, the result of sin without repentance is death.

In Luke 13:5, Jesus says, “if one does not repent, one will surely perish,” and Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Repentance is key!

The word for repent is the koine Greek word METANOIA.

Thayer’s lexicon defines METANOIA as: “To change one’s mind.” In other words, to repent, is to change one’s mind to the Will of God. Some pastors have used the word turn for METANOIA. In other words, we turn from sin to God’s Will in our minds.

Luke 3:8 states that we are to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Repentance is key!

Another important place repentance is found is in Matthew 3 where John the Baptist is baptizing people around him. John the Baptist states in Matthew 3:2, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

These people were repenting and confessing their sins and John baptized them in the Jordan River. John noticed that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to where he was baptizing. John said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance…”

In other words, the Pharisees and Sadducees were not saved because they were descendants of Abraham, just like we are not saved because our parents were saved, and we go to church.

Did you notice John described the Pharisees and Sadducees who knew the scriptures as Vipers? They did not produce fruit in keeping with repentance and they must flee from the coming wrath. This parallels the parable of the barren fruit tree in today’s reading. God, being depicted as the owner of the vineyard, wants to cut down the tree that is not producing fruit and put it in the burn pile. Wow! This is serious.

Charles Spurgeon, a prominent pastor in England during the 1800s wrote a book called, “Turn or Burn.” In the book he said, “Trees that bring not forth fruit must be cut down; and sinners who bring not forth repentance, faith, and holiness, must die.

OK, now, I feel like I am preaching a fire and brimstone sermon that announces if we don’t repent of our sins, we will be put into an eternal fire.

Let’s slow down here. There is a solution to all of this: it is to repent, not out of fear, but out of understanding the transformation that takes place when we are repentant to God.

Repentance is key!

If we are to look for fruit, what is the fruit?

In Genesis and Leviticus, we find the phrase ‘be fruitful and multiply’. Fruitful here, means to have children. In the New Testament the meaning of ‘fruitful’ seems different.

An example of being fruitful is given in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Fruit is evidence of genuine repentance. In Acts 26:20, Paul preaches that people should repent and turn to God. They demonstrate their repentance by their deeds or /fruitfulness.

Fruit also is an indication of the expanding of the Kingdom of God.

Repentance is key!

The next point of this sermon is: through Jesus we are given another chance.

The fig tree in our reading today is given another chance, but it is not just left to produce fruit on its own. No, the gardener fertilizes it, and digs a ditch for good irrigation. In other words, it is the hard work of the gardener or Jesus/and the Holy Spirit who makes the most of the second chance given to the tree or to us, the sinners. All we have to do is humble ourselves, repent and accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and to commit to live Godly lives.

Peter states in 2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

When we focus on Christ and read our Bibles, we slowly show Godly characteristics or fruit.

The third point of this sermon is: Jesus and the Father can be the Gardener of our lives.

Jesus actually describes the Father as the gardener of our lives in John 15:1-4.

Let me read it. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean, because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

In today’s parable found in Luke 23 the orchard owner is the Father and the gardener is Christ or the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Both Luke 13 and John 15 focus on Christ being the source of transformation in our lives.

Continuing with the gardening idea, let’s think about what Jesus was getting at in this story as he describes the gardener watering and fertilizing the tree for one more year to produce fruit. The writer of Hebrews writes in chapter 12 how God disciplines us. It draws out the similarity we have with our human fathers. The intent of our human father’s discipline is to teach their children to make good decisions, but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in God’s holiness or sanctify us and make us more Christ-like, exhibiting the fruit in our lives.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. God does not discipline us because he is being mean, rather he is pruning us to be more fruitful. One might naturally think when we repent, we stop sinful actions. That is true, but with repentance to God, we not only stop our sinful actions, we also develop fruit in our daily lives.

This brings me back to the story I told at the beginning of this sermon about my dad’s prized pocket watch and my disobedience to him. At the time, my father told me how disappointed he was in me, relating this to Scripture, I was being pruned. Later, after many mistakes, my continued repentance and years of maturity, my father has finally gifted me his prized watches.

The focus for repentance should not be that we will be blessed with fruit. Rather, we should understand that, because Christ forgives us, we can have a relationship with God, our Father. If we humble ourselves and repent of our sins we become new creatures and are slowly sanctified and show fruit in our lives. Let me read what Jesus tells his disciples that are being persecuted in John 15:1-27

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned… 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Jesus is saying that with Christ, we can bear much fruit, because He is our source, like a vine is to the branches.

To be fruitful means to live a life that produces good works and reflects the character of Christ. It means remaining connected to Him in relationship and allowing Him to work through us to accomplish His purposes.

The final point of this sermon is: the patience of God is limited.

It is imperative that we understand God to be a merciful God who is full of grace, but we have to repent of our sinfulness. Peter 3:9, it says that the Lord is not slow about His promise. He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

In the parable of the barren fig tree, the owner of the vineyard allows one more year for the gardener to nurture the tree in hopes that it will produce fruit. It is interesting that the vineyard owner noticed the tree was barren for three years. Some scholars think this number is significant, because Jesus’ earthly ministry was three years. The hearers of this message may have listened to Jesus preach many times during the three years, but some still did not repent. Just like us, we have the Bible in our own language, but we still do not repent. It has been made clear that we either repent of our sins or find ourselves at odds with God. Time is of the essence; we do not want to find ourselves barren like the fig tree, wasting soil. Instead, starting today, let us repent regularly, admitting that we need God every moment of our lives. Use the gifts he has given us to be fruitful in the kingdom of God.

Throughout the New Testament, the illustration of being pruned, so we can grow into God’s will is repeated.

Like me, you probably say, “I have already repented, so this sermon is not relevant to me.” The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do; for I don’t do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate.” Later in Romans 7:24-25 Paul writes “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Paul kept sinning even while trying his best to do God’s will. I can truly relate to him in this regard. Every day, we can repent of our sins and through Christ, the gardener of our lives, we will be transformed into new creatures and will bear godly fruit.

Also, we do not know when our lives will end. Matthew 25:13 states, ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” We do not know the timing of Christ’s return, nor do we know when our lives will come to an end. So, repentance and making Christ Lord of our lives is critical.

To conclude

Repentance is the key. As we repent, God will bless us with fruit in our lives. We should not repent to be blessed, rather we should repent, because we believe that Christ will redeem us and transform us to be fruitful in the Kingdom of God.
Every day, through Christ we are given another chance. Everyday becoming more mature in Christ. We may have repented of our sins and accepted Christ as saviour, but like Paul in Romans 7 We may find ourselves sinning many days but like Paul says through Jesus Christ who delivers him over and over again; all one has to do is repent.
Jesus and the Father are the Gardeners of our lives. If we have repented and accepted Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, He will feed, water and prune us, so we become fruitful and the person He created us to be. The father also prunes us so that we can be more fruitful. We can get to know God better by reading His Word and praying. Jesus and the Holy Spirit will do a good work in us, to help us mature in Christ and be fruitful!
God is waiting.

The owner of the vineyard allowed one more year for the gardener to work with the fig tree. Our Lord patiently waits for us to repent, but we do not know when our lives will end. The time to repent is every day.

The barren fig tree parable does not have an ending. I believe the reason Jesus does not tell us what happened with the fig tree after the year of grace is that the hearers need to decide how the story ends in their own personal lives.

So, will you repent and focus your life on Christ and use the gifts he has given you to be fruitful in the kingdom of God? Even though Jesus is your Saviour, continue to focus on him every day. If you are here today and you do not know Christ as the Saviour of your life, I would be happy to talk with you about that after the service.

Brothers and sisters of Dayspring, let us go forth and be fruitful.

Song: When we are living (630)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Lord, we come before you today to say thank you. Thank you for all you have given us–for all the blessings that we can and cannot see. With a grateful heart we thank you Lord for saving us from darkness and delivering us from evil. We accept what you did on the cross as you took our sin and shame. You can take away our sickness and can heal our pain. We thank you for all you have done and are about to do in our lives. Thank you, Lord.

Song: Go ye, go ye unto the world (755)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Repent and focus your life on Christ everyday resulting in being more fruitful for the Kingdom of God. Let us go forth and be fruitful.

Response: Benediction (As you go)

Music postlude

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Raymond Baker retains the copyright (© 2024) on all original material in this service. As far as Raymond Baker is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Demons in the sea

Posted on June 23, 2024June 23, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 23 June 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Lind F-B
Elder: Renita MacCallum

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Give thanks to the LORD, for God is good.
P: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
L: We see God’s wondrous works all around us,
P: so, we come to praise God’s holy name.
L: Open wide your hearts in this time of worship!
P: We lift our hearts to God with thanks and praise.

Opening praise: Graves into gardens

Prayers of approach and confession

Gracious Father in heaven, we come into your presence with adoration this morning in the name our risen Savior Jesus Christ through whom we have eternal access to you. We make a joyful noise to you, O Lord, and we bring our songs of praise because you are a great God and a great King above all gods. In your hand are the depths of the earth, and the heights of the mountains belong to you. Even the sea is yours, for you made it and prescribed limits for it and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed.”

We also praise you because you graciously sustain the world you have created by the word of your power. In your tender care, you provide for the needs of your creatures and us, your people. Lord, to man, the pinnacle of your creative works, you have given your law which is perfect because you are perfect. Your law can make the foolish wise. It is able to make the one who walks according to it like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season. It is a lamp unto our feet and light for our path.

Yet the light of your law, O Lord, also reveals the darkness in our hearts. We confess that the guilt we incurred through Adam’s first sin as well as the guilt we have earned through our own trespasses make us liable to your judgment. We confess that we have sinned against you even this week and even this morning. We have said words that are hurtful to others. We have been sinfully lazy and left undone the things to which you have called us. We have had selfish, hypocritical, and insincere motives even in our deeds which appear outwardly righteous. We have gossiped, lied, and broken promises; all the while excusing our sin or attempting to cover it by our means.

Yet, Father, we bring you praise this morning not only as our Maker and Sustainer, but also as our Savior, who has given us the free gift of righteousness, the forgiveness of our sins, and the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We know we can confess our sins to you without fear because you have set aside the record of debt that stood against us by nailing it to the cross of Jesus. Thus, we may approach you boldly and with confidence. For it’s in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

Response: Glory, Glory, Hallelujah

Assurance of God’s love
In the words of Christ our Lord, “I come to seek and save the lost”. It is not the righteous that need salvation but the sinners. To all of us who approach the throne with boldness… We are forgiven.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s Time & Presentation of Bibles

Response: Open our eyes, Lord

Story and Presentation: Darlene Eerkes

Prayer: Brad

Transition music

Song: Saviour, like a shepherd lead us (485)

Today’s Message

Scripture: Psalm 107: 23-29; II Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

Response: Behold the lamb of God

Message: Demons in the sea

The Sea of Galilee is Israel’s largest freshwater lake, approximately 110 square miles. It is situated deep in the Jordan surrounded by hills and right between the African and Arabian tectonic plates. As such, the area is subject to earthquakes and, in the past, volcanic activity. Although it is referred to as a “Sea”, it is just a little bit smaller than Calling Lake. The Sea of Galilee is also pretty deep with a depth of approximately 150ft. That’s enough to bury a thirteen-story building.) At about 600 feet below sea level, it is the lowest in Israel and the lowest freshwater lake on planet Earth. And it is the second-lowest lake of any kind in the world.

At the time of Jesus, the Sea of Galilee was the location of one of the world’s busiest fish markets. Even today the waters are known for their fish and the lake holds a variety of over 20 common species. When the disciples travelled the Ancient Near East, boats were the most common way to fish and nets were the most profitable by far. The boat that Jesus and the disciples went out onto the Sea of Galilee with was probably typical of the time: about 25 feet long 8 feet wide and 4.5 feet deep. These boats would usually hold 5 people with four in control of the one large sail as well as the four oars and with one person sitting on the cushion (the place of honour) steering the ruder at the stern (back of the boat).

(*Based on the Kibbutz Ginosar discovery). In 1986 a very well-preserved (typical of its time) 2000-year-old Lake Galilee fishing boat was uncovered. This is what it looks like.

According to first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, it is reported that the activity of the lake usually included around 230 fishing vessels on an average day. Most of these would tread only so far. It was few and far between that fishermen would cross the lake, with most boats straying only just a short distance from shore; staying far away from the deepest portions of the sea. They were afraid of it.

In the verses read from here today, Jesus is out in the boat with his disciples. What is important to note is that at least 4 of these men were fishermen by trade. They had worked at the Sea of Galilee, and they knew it very well. Although the sea was known for its cruel winds, high waves and quick drops in temperature at least 4 of the disciples would have had an intimate knowledge of this. But that is one of the things that makes this story a bit odd. You see, in verse 41 it says that the disciples were “terrified”. In verse 38 they say to Jesus, “Don’t you know that we are perishing?”

“Terrified”, Perishing” … really?

Why…They’re on a lake.

The Sea of Galilee is dangerous. It is almost completely surrounded by hills with deep ravines and gorges. When the wind hits the natural rock formations, they essentially act just like massive funnels that rush cold winds downwards onto the surface of the water causing strange shifts in wind direction. Small, ancient boats that dared to roam too far from shore could easily be overturned or flooded. But as dangerous as this all is, there’s something more to this story than just that.

See, the strangest thing about this story is that the sea and storm are not treated like your average force of nature. The lake is not talked about as if it’s just a mass of water or if the waves are normal. And why would it be? The story wasn’t written in 2024. These people were people of their time. And the way they understood the world was different from us.

To them, the Sea of Galilee wasn’t just a lake. A lot of people today wrongly sometimes assume that everyone in biblical times thought that the world was flat, but that simply was not the case. In fact, for most people at the time (and particularly the Hebrews), the world was thought to be a kind of bowl shape (the sides of which were called the pillars of the earth). These “pillars” then held up the land that kind of floated in the ocean. And more importantly, they held back the waters on the other side of the pillars. Space as we know it was thought of very differently. It was not an empty mass or vacuum. They believed that it was filled with water just waiting to smash through the pillars and destroy everything. Here is a well-known Hebrew Cosmological drawing.

This is what is described in the opening chapter of Genesis for example.

In creation, God brought order to the chaos of water and separated the water from the dry land. You may recall that God separates the “water from above from the water from below”. This is why the waters in the Noah’s Ark story are told to come from both above and from the ground.

Now, over the top of the bowl-shaped world is this kind of pasta strainer (called the firmament). It was thought to be rock-hard. But it was also thought to have these holes called “doors” and “windows” and so when God wanted it to rain it was said that He would just open and close them up to let rain in or to stop it.

And although there are seas both salt water and fresh water out there, for the Jews, the only safe water comes from wells or streams. Everything else (every large body of water) at some point connects to the “waters of the deep” underground (to the waters of evil or chaos just begging to break through). Interestingly, they were very scientifically correct in this regard. Lake Galilee is fed from several underground springs in addition to the Jordan.

Now, in the deep, under the land was Sheol (the place of the dead). The monsters of the deep that guard Sheol were a common part of popular understanding for both Jews and Gentiles. For the Greeks, it was the stories of Baal vs. Yam (the monster of chaos) for others Marduk and the demon serpent Tiamat. For the Jews, it was Rehab and Leviathan (great sea monsters said to stir up the water and sink ships).

Though these monsters were usually said to confine themselves to the Red and Dead Seas you have to remember that all of the waters were thought to have connected to each other under the ground by “the waters of the deep” and so these great beasts were thought to move from sea to sea by travelling under the land. And this meant that they could pop up at any time in any large body of water.

The monsters can appear from lake to lake and when they come, they are thought to bring with them massive storms and waves.

For Mark’s original audience, this story was not just about a simple natural occurrence. It wasn’t just a storm on a lake. It wasn’t only the worry of mortality. It was about the demons in the sea.

In the book of Mark, in the very next paragraph after what we have read today, we find another interesting story that makes most modern readers quite nervous. The story takes place just after Jesus and the disciples arrive safely on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is the story of a man possessed by evil spirits and in this story, a large number of demons begs not to be cast out into the countryside (away from home). Instead, they plead with Jesus that they might be sent into a herd of pigs instead. This crazy story from Mark 5:13 records this wild detail. It says, “Then the unclean spirits went out of the man and entered the swine (there were about two thousand), and then the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea…”.

For modern readers, this seems a strange tale. Why don’t the demons want to go out into the countryside? And when they find themselves inhabiting the bodies of the pigs why do they immediately run for the water?

But see, for Mark’s audience, the answer was simple… the evil spirits didn’t want to go out into no man’s land (back out into the country). They wanted to go home. They wanted to go back to the Sea of Galilee because that’s where they came from. The demons came from the sea.

In our story at Sea, Jesus doesn’t just calm the storm. That’s certainly not how Mark tells it. He’s not talking to an inanimate object.

In verse 39 it says that Jesus “stood and rebuked the wind and the waves”. (the word used for “Rebuked” here literally means “gagged”). It is the same word, by the way, that was used to describe the muzzling of an animal. And it is the same word used in Mark 1:25 when Jesus “rebuked” the evil spirit. Here out at sea, Jesus “rebuked” the wind and the waves as if the storm were itself a living thing.

Out on the water in that boat, they were afraid. They were afraid of dying because of the true storm… but more than that… when the waves spilled over the boat and the wind slapped them in the face, they were absolutely terrified of falling (not just into the water) but into the hands of evil and chaos itself.

In the middle of the storm, far from the safety of the shore, right in the middle of evil’s territory, where the Leviathan might lurk, and the underwater channels lead straight down to Sheol (the place of the dead), Jesus brings peace back to the water and the waves… And the people cry out, “Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him”.

It’s at this point that most sermons on this topic begin to ask, “What are the demons in the sea in our lives”. They might speak of troubles with marriage or addictions, poor health or just about anything to make this story relate better to today. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But this story is not just about the demons in the sea. Its main topic is not about fear or the amount of faith we have. It’s bigger than that. This story is about the question Mark asks throughout his gospel. It’s not about what Jesus does so much as who he is. Is this guy the Psalmist said would come?

This story is about that question that the disciples ask out on that boat. This story is about who is really in control of things, “who can conquer evil” and “who can hold back the chaos”. It’s about that question the disciples ask, “Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?”

And now for my little twist: This sermon is not about the calming of the sea in the book of Mark. This sermon is actually about our reading from the book of Psalms (107:23-20 ) and its depiction of God. Because it’s the answer to the question the disciples ask: “Who is this?”

Song: We cannot own the sunlit sky (717)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Prayer for our world

From hunger and unemployment, and forced eviction:
Good Lord, deliver us.

People in our city need help. People in our congregation need help.
From unjust sentences and unjust wars:
Good Lord, deliver us.

For the innocent caught between waring forces, the children, infants, the infirmed and aged. For those forced to fight, without choice or deluded to believe violence rules. From neglect by parents, neglect by children, and neglect by callous
institutions:
Good Lord, deliver us.

Many of us are confined, some have children who do not call or visit. Our programs come with strings and are difficult to navigate.

From cancer and stroke, falls and fractures
Good Lord, deliver us.

From stubbed toes to Parkinsons disease, to hospital beds, blessed physicians hands, and long term care;
From famine and epidemic, from pollution of the soil, the air, and the waters:
Good Lord, deliver us.

Corporations have shifted blame from long damaging practices of their own to the average person. For honesty, fair application and a better understanding of our world we pray.
Free us Lord,

From segregation and prejudice, from harassment, discrimination and brutality:
Good Lord, deliver us.

We need not all be the same, think or act the same, but there is no place in our faith for hate. And for those working for peace.

From time eaters and family distracters and idols
Good Lord, deliver us.

Do not let us be led into foolishness by every shinny object we see. Make us humble and thoughtful and agents of healing in our homes.
From the concentration of power in the hands of ignorant, threatened or hasty leaders:
Good Lord, deliver us.

For Prime Ministers and Presidents and local peoples. Bring wisdom and judgement to voters and better character to our limited choices.
From propaganda, fads, frivolity and untruthfulness:
Good Lord, deliver us.

Our worth Lord is in You. No title and no idea of self more central than “Child of God”.

From arrogance, narrowness and meanness, from stupidity and pretense:
From boredom, apathy and fatigue, from lack of conviction, from fear, self-satisfaction and timidity, thinking to little or self, too much of self to distracted by self:
Good Lord, deliver us.

From self-satisfaction and self-abuse
From the consequences of our own folly
From resignation and despair, from cynicism and manipulation:
From all unmerciful suffering, our own and that of others:
From empty refrigerators, little closets, and tiny/empty tummies
From broken parts of life, and pain and loss of a baby in the whom.
Lord, From the unending cry of all peoples for justice and freedom:
Good Lord, deliver us and calm our storms.

Good Lord, deliver us. Deliver us, Good Lord, by opening our eyes and unstopping our ears, that we may hear Your Word and do Your Will and attempt to do ourselves all that we have asked of you as well.

Thy will be done. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Song: How firm a foundation (685)

Sending out with God’s blessing

May the God of endurance and encouragement
Grant you to live in such harmony with one another, and in accordance with Christ Jesus, that together you may, with one voice,
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
through the Spirit of God who resides within all of you. Amen.

Response: Amen, we praise your name, O God

Music postlude

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The Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2024June 16, 2024 by John

Worship on the Father’s Day and National Indigenous Sunday
10:00 am       16 June 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs    Elder: Sam Malayang
Music director: Binu Kapadia    Guest Pianist: Gail Lundquist
Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: It is good to give God thanks, to sing praises to the Most High!
P: We will sing for joy to God who has made us glad.
L: Let us declare God’s steadfast love in the morning,
P: and God’s faithfulness by night.
L: So come to worship God with thankful, joyful hearts!
P: Let us praise God’s holy name together.

Opening praise: O come to the altar

Prayers of approach and confession
Living God, from you come vitality, love and joy.
Your peace is our companion, your love is our strength, your Son is our hope.
Your Spirit nurtures tiny seeds of purpose and potential, hidden deep in the soil of life, to surprise us with new life.

While the earth begins to bloom around us, we bring you our prayers and praise, trusting that your Spirit will renew in us the gifts we need to serve you in faithfulness in the example of Christ our Lord.

Living, loving God, as we watch our gardens and our children grow, we confess we often resist the change growth can bring.
We form opinions about many things – and cling to them.
We fear new insights and new directions.
Forgive us when we think already know enough.

Grant us faith like the mustard seed, able to grow with your blessing to become a mighty sign of your lively kingdom among us. Amen.

Response: I will trust in the Lord

Assurance of God’s love
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn us?
Only Christ – and Christ died for us;
Christ rose for us.
Christ reigns in power for us.
Christ prays for us.
Believe the good news of the gospel.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven
And once forgiven it is now our job to forgive someone else.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: Jesus loves me (373)

Story: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:40-42 (NIV)

Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: This is my Father’s world (328)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Genesis 22:1-4

Response: Glory. Glory hallelujah

Message: The Father’s Day

Abraham and Issac… what stranger story can be found than the story of God asking a father to sacrifice his son? But it’s not only the idea that troubling it’s also the individual verses themselves that present a problem.

See, right from the start we are told that the whole thing is just a test. It says in verse 1, “Now it came to pass that God did test Abraham” and God said to Abraham, “Abraham!” and right away Abraham responds, “Here I am”. The story continues as God speaks to Abraham and says, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac, and go to the place of Moriah and bring him there for a burnt offering.”

Now there are a couple of problems here. See, the first one is this, God says, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac” but the problem is simple. Abraham actually has two sons.

Long before all of this happened God had promised Abraham something. God told Abraham that his descendants would be “as numerous as the stars”. But Abraham has some trouble with this because he and his wife don’t seem able to have a child and so Abraham has a child (Ismael) by another woman. Yeah, Abraham seems to believe the promise but on his own terms. Have you ever looked at God’s promises or your understanding of them and then, tried to make it all happen on your own? I’m pretty sure I have.

But God says that this is not what he meant and tells Abraham in Gen. 12:3 that it is through Isaac (the one he didn’t plan for) that he will become the father of a nation.

See, God says, “Only son”, because by this point Ismael had been sent away. Isaac was the only son that Abraham had left. And that’s because Abraham messed up! He messed up. He tried to control the blessing and make it make sense. But it didn’t make sense. God didn’t need it to make sense.

Because of Abraham’s weak faith things didn’t get better, they got worse. And now only one child remained. And so, Isaac was Abraham’s last chance.

And so, with only one son left; without Isaac, there could be no nation (no descendants as numerous as the stars – no promise).

After sending one son away, Isaac became dearer to Abraham than we could possibly imagine. All his hopes were now pinned on this one child. Isaac was Abraham’s only son (LEFT), but more than that, Isaac was proof of God as well. He was a miracle that shouldn’t have existed at all. Abraham tried to do things on his own, but God had other plans. God didn’t need Abraham to do what God wanted to do.

Now, I just want everyone to think about this for a second. God has rejected Abraham’s attempt to do things on his own. And still, God has given Abraham a son (just as promised) and promised that he will be the Father of nations through him… that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky – but there’s a catch.

In Gen 17, God says that in order for this to come to pass Abraham must, “Walk before God and be blameless”. Isaac will be the father of many nations but ONLY if Abraham can “walk before God and be blameless”.

But we’ll get back to that.

The story continues. In verse three it says, “Abraham arose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son… and split the wood for the burn offering and went to the place God had told him”.

Again, there are two interesting things here. One is silly and bit unimportant and then the other is serious and very important.

The first (silly and unimportant one) is this: At this point in the ancient near east, a man in high standing (an important man) always took 2 servants with him as a status symbol.

Does anyone know why? …

It’s because the servants are meant to protect you… and if you only took one servant, then who would be there to protect you if that one servant might need to use the washroom? This is true folks.

It sounds crazy but this is true.

If you had money… then you took two servants with you because one servant – might have to pee. That is dead true.

And so, respectable men in high standing (like Abraham) took two servants with them when they travelled. It was kind of like a status symbol, like having a large SUV for the winter and a sports car for the summer. It’s probably not necessary but it’s nice to have. The second (the grotesque but important thing) that begs mentioning… is this: How much wood, do you think it takes for a burnt offering of a lamb? Have you ever built a fire for a small fish or a few hot dogs? How much wood does that take?

How heavy a load do you think you might need, to cook something that’s 50 or maybe 200 pounds? What would that bundle of wood be like? What strength might that take to carry that amount of wood on a long walk up the foothills? How hard would it be to bring that load of wood all the way up to the top of a mountain?

In verse 5-6 it says, “Abraham said to his servants ‘stay here with the donkey, and I and the LAD will go over there’” (and then it says this) “and WE will worship and WE will return to you.” “Then Abraham took the wood for the offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and Abraham took the fire and the knife and the two of them walked on together.”

Do you see what happened there?

Again, there are two more strange things worth noting.

First, Abraham says, “WE” will worship” and way more interestingly “WE will return.”

Now I don’t know exactly what Abraham thought would happen. I guess it’s also possible that he just attempted to lie to his servants so they wouldn’t stop him. I don’t know. Maybe he thought God wouldn’t make him go through with it. It is a crazy request. Maybe he thought God would bring Ishmael back from banishment or maybe even thought God would bring Isaac back to life.

But what I do know is that after Issac was born, Abraham never wavered. God called Abraham and Abraham responded, “Here I am” and that was it. God had told Abraham that he would be the father of a nation and that it would be through his son Isaac. And though Abraham once doubted God’s power, now he believed in it with his every fiber of being.

Second, remember Abraham has two servants.

He also has a donkey. But who carries the wood on this final part of the journey up the mountain top? Isaac!

Abraham piles it up and piles it up in Isaac’s hands and the two of them head off into the distance leaving the donkey and the other two men behind.

Something strikes me odd about this. In fact, it’s bothered readers of this story for at least the last 3,500 years. One might speculate that while Abraham calls his son a “lad” that Isaac is actually a rather large “LAD”.

Remember, Isaac is going to walk a long way into the distance; up the foothills and up the mountain with a heavy load (enough wood for a large sacrifice). That is a big LAD. And in fact, this is part of why the Jewish Talmud refers to this story not as the “Faith of Abraham” but rather as the Binding of Isaac and claims that Isaac and not Abraham is the real hero of this story.

But again… we’ll get back to that.

It’s an interesting picture, isn’t it? In fact, it’s a beautifully told story and a picturesque scene. A father and a son walk calmly off into the distance together. It’s so nice. But also, it’s not. It’s horrible. And the readers are shocked. And maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe it’s to tell the people in a region of the world where child sacrifice was common, that the true God would never make you do something like this.

When I’m on a long car ride, I talk. And when I read this story, I picture a father and son in some very important kind of conversation. And that is exactly what happens here. In verse 7 it says, “Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘my Father’?” And just as Abraham responded to God in love, he now responds to his son Isaac the same way, “Here I am.” And in response, Isaac says, “Here is the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for the offering?”

Then in verse 8 Abraham answers in a very interesting way, he says, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the offering, my son. And so, the two of them walked on together”. But again, things are not always what they seem.

The question arises, where does the emphasis lie? See the Hebrew language has no punctuation. Translators are left to figure emphasis out for themselves. And this often changes the way we read the texts before us.

In other words, does Abraham say, “God will provide for himself the lamb my son” or does he say, “God will provide the lamb for himself, – My son” Does Abraham say, to his son that God provides, or does Abraham say to his son, “it’s you – my son” and Issac knows exactly what is about to happen. The story can and has been read both ways and it seems that this was the intent of the author. I think the confusion is on purpose.

I personally feel that in this one line’ Abraham tells Isaac that Isaac is the sacrifice. But I might be wrong. Still, that is what I think.

The story goes on. In verse 9 it says, “Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the alter there and arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the alter on top of the wood.”

Now let’s go back to something for a second. God tells Abraham that he will have a child. Neither Abraham nor his wife believe and say, “We are far too old”. Abraham and wife make other arrangements. Ishmel the first child is sent away. Years later we are told that Isaac was born, and Abraham is now said to be 100 years old (when Isaac is born). Now while numbers in the bible may not always be exactly what they first appear, one thing is for sure – we are being told that this guy is Very Old. That’s when Issac was born. By the time that this story takes place, Isaac is called a “LAD”.

The term, “lad” can have a variety of meanings in Hebrew. It is used for a small boy but also describes a newlywed. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus claims that Isaac is 25 years old, and the Jewish Talmud (an ancient commentary on the Jewish texts) says that Isaac is 37. The idea that Isaac is a young boy is relatively modern. But most ancient commentators agree that Isaac is most likely at least in his late teens or early twenties. What’s more, he’s a farm boy; not some city slicker.

Isaac’s a guy that grew up knowing how to put in a hard day of manual labour and he is big enough to carry all that wood through the foothills and up the mountain for his elderly father. Does anybody here want to do the grouse grid with a 50lb pack? And then Abraham is said to have just casually tied Isaac up and laid him on the altar??? No, no I don’t think so. I think we are meant to read something else into this story. I think we are supposed to see between the lines.

I think not only did Abraham respond to God “Here I am” and Abraham respond to his son “Here I am” but Isaac too responded to His father and to his God in the same way. I think Isaac might be the hero of this story. I think Isaac also said, “Here I am!” I think the conditions of the covenant had been met, that the test was over; that the two of these servants had indeed Both – “walked with God” and had been “found blameless” as the covenant commanded.

In verse 10 it says, “Abraham stretched out his hand and took his knife to slay Isaac” but then the angel of the LORD called out from heaven “Abraham, Abraham” to which Abraham responded one more time, “Here I am”.

The story concludes, “And God said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the LAD and do nothing to him; for I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld even your son, your only son, from me.’ Then Abraham looked and saw behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns and Abraham took it and offer the ram instead of his son.” Because of this they named the place, God provides.

Our world is full of tests. Some are easy. Some are more than a little challenging. Some like Abraham and Isaac’s seem downright impossible. And the tests we face in life will be different for all of us. But no matter what the test might be, like Isaac and Abraham before us we are called to walk with God and called to be blameless. And when God calls out to us, we should respond just as they did. Whatever the test, “Here I am” is the answer. “I’m ready”. Because if we stay true to God, God still provides.

May we all walk with God, calling out always “Here I am” and may we be found blameless in all the tests of life. – Amen

Song: My shepherd is the King (691: vss. 1-4)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

O Eternal one, we thank you for the record of the biblical witness which documents your love affair with our humankind. We thank you for these words of Jesus which remind us of our need to be welcoming. We thank you that you continually stretch us to reach beyond ourselves.

Stretch us to widen our souls to include others of your children whom we might naturally exclude.
Stretch us to grasp for more than we can reach.
Stretch us to believe in ourselves and others.
Stretch us to support and encourage others.
Stretch us to offer a cup of cold water, food, shelter and a safe haven in your name.

We pray that we might learn the lessons of Christian community. Help us to be instructed by the errors of the past in order that we may be saved from repeating them. Help us to learn exciting new behaviours and new ways. Temper our penchant for holding resentments.

Teach us that life does not have to be marred permanently by resentments.
Teach us that life is much more positive and meaningful and satisfying when it is focused on love.
Teach us that forgiveness is not a sign of weakness but of strength.
Teach us to build more expansive souls which can reach out and embrace the least of your little ones.

Send your peace and love and overwhelm and transform all of the bitterness and anger which we so often want to hold close. So lead us in your higher way.

For all who suffer and need your special grace we lift up our prayers today. Amen

Song: Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us (647)

Sending out with God’s blessing

May you go out into the world
Blessed and ready to bless
Fed and ready to feed
Forgiven and ready to forgive
Tested and found blameless and faithful

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

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You are Salt … or Beef Jerky (Youth led service)

Posted on June 9, 2024June 9, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 09 June 2024
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Youth-led Service: Rom, Wesley, Matthew, Felix, Godfrey, Cohen, Marilyn, Maddie, Bianca, Kaye, John, Sam, Arghavan, Nejabastian, Corrie, Shaylynn, Tassen, Noah
Minister: The Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan
Elder: Rom Rhoad

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Welcome to this place of grace and care; of hope and perseverance
P: God invites all of us to be a part of the beloved community
L: God invites us to share in the good news
P: We are welcome just as we are
L: And loved too much to stay that way
P: Let us praise the One in gratitude for all things.

Opening praise: Bless the Lord, O my soul

Prayers of approach and confession
God of all creation, we are amazed at the details in your world around us.
You care for the fragile beauty and balance in the world.
You receive praise from the depth of the sea to the tops of the mountains.
God of love – you have seen your Church grow from tiny beginnings into a worldwide community, full of diversity.
Open our eyes to your purpose for each of us, all of us.
Help us to be guided by your Holy Spirit to do your will in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
God of purpose and possibility, you give us work to do.
And you give us the skills we need to do what you ask of us.
Yet we prefer to follow our own ways and to do our own thing.
We think we know better than you.
Forgive our stubborn natures and our unwillingness to love and care for all creation as we should.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, create in us a teachable spirit so we can learn new ways to serve you, becoming the people you know we can be.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness, O Lord

Assurance of God’s love
The prophet Micah reminds us that God requires three things of us: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.
To all who love God and seek to love our neighbours in kindness and humility, God offers forgiveness and peace.
The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you all.

We listen for the voice of God

Response: Jesus, we are gathered

Story Time

Story: More than Salt (Corrie)

Introduction: As you entered the sanctuary you were given a little packet of salt… take that in your hand now and imagine if you were compared to salt! How would that feel? (pause)

You are loved more than salt! Really?

Now let’s hear a story –

Once upon a time, a long time ago, when most stories begin, there was a kingdom far away, where most kingdoms are. In this kingdom, there lived a king with three loyal knights. Now, this king was a fairly ordinary man, sometimes wise, sometimes foolish. He trusted his knights and made certain they wanted for nothing. One day, the king wanted to know how much his knights loved him.

He put the question to them.
“My loyal knights, I crave to know how much you love me. Pray, tell.”
The first knight to speak said. “My liege, I love you more than gold or silver.” (place a bar of gold/silver on sidestep of platform?)
The king was pleased that he loved him more than such valuable things, and smiled at him.
The second knight, spoke next. “My liege, I love you more than diamonds and pearls, more than rubies and emeralds, or any other gem.” (place jewels on sidestep of platform?)
Again, the king was pleased to be loved more than such precious things.

He looked to his third, and most beloved, knight.
“My liege, I love you more than salt.” He spoke simply, quietly. (Place a bag of salt on the communion table in the centre)

More than salt? More than salt?! The king was displeased. He couldn’t believe his most beloved knight had compared him to something so common and coarse as salt. The king was angry, thinking of all the gifts he’d lavished on this knight. Such was his rage that he exiled him from the kingdom. The knight left without saying a word, simply carrying away small packets of salt in his pocket.

The Knight traveled to the next kingdom, where he worked as a shepherd.

Meanwhile, in the king’s kingdom, something strange happened. As soon as the knight had crossed the border, all the salt began to disappear. At first, no one noticed. There was NO salt for their meat, NO salt for their broth, NO salt for their bread. Soon the people realized that NO new salt was coming into the kingdom. No matter how hard the caravans, ships, or gypsy traders tried, they could NOT bring salt beyond the border.

After a while, the king fell ill. As he grew weaker, sicker, the royal physicians puzzled out what could be wrong. Finally, they decreed that the king needed salt, or he would perish. Until then, no one knew that salt was necessary for life. Tales of the king’s plight reached beyond the borders, from town to town, and finally to a simple shepherd’ hut. When the knight heard of his king’s illness, he went to him. He carried nothing with him but the clothes he wore and his bag of salt. For long days, he walked, until he reached the palace. He made his way to his king’s room, where he slept fitfully, close to death.

The knight kissed the king on his boney hand and sat beside him. He cut a piece of bread, buttered it, and sprinkled salt over it. He managed to sit him up and coaxed the bread into him. The king slept again, and woke a short time later, a little stronger. The knight called for broth, sprinkled salt in it, and encouraged the king to eat. He regained his strength slowly, after that, until he was well. He again sat on his throne and kept his knight close by.

“My loyal knight, can you forgive a foolish king?”
“Of course, my liege. I cherish you.” The knight meant it, too.
From that moment on, salt flowed freely into the kingdom once more.
The king never looked down on salt again, and he knew that his most beloved knight loved him best of all, for when he said “I love you more than salt.” he meant that he loved him more than that which gives life, which is a great love indeed.

Silent Actors:

King – Matthew (special chair, crown, sceptre, ice bag when ill…)
Knight #1 – Felix (spear/sword, knight vest, gold bar

(after bringing the king his treasures, Knight #1 stands beside the king… and will help the king when sick)

Knight #2 – Godfrey (spear/sword, knight vest, jewels – gems

(after bringing the king his treasures, Knight #2 stands beside the king… and will help the king when sick)

Knight #3 – Cohen (knight vest, salt… will need to pretend for bread…)

(after bringing king salt, he is banished. Pointed out by other 2 knights… comes back)

Song: Jesus bids us shine (773)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:13-16

Music Offering: Binu, Arghavan, John, and Sam

Message: You are salt … or Beef Jerky

Part 1 – Wesley

About 2000 some years ago a very special guy named Jesus, was walking around Palestine. JESUS was a common name for Hebrew boys, but this Jesus was extra special! Matthew was one of his closest friends, and it is believed that Matthew wrote a book about his friend Jesus. This is the Gospel of Matthew that we just read from this morning.

Mathew shows Jesus to be a pretty regular guy, but he gives this outrageous story about his birth and magi coming to visit. Then Matthew talks about John the baptizer, and he says Jesus was tempted like any other person. Matthew talks about Jesus calling his disciples (a word for student-learners) and then the next thing Matthew remembers is that Jesus is up on a mount giving a group of ordinary people small sermons. We call this the Sermon on the Mount. Over the past few months, the youth here in Dayspring have been learning about some of these ideas in this sermon on the mount.

This sermon begins with the words of the beatitudes (which is Latin for “happy). This peasant-teacher – Jesus – is telling the crowd that’s gathered that people who feel sad, are blessed… that people who have lost someone they love can find comfort… that people who have no power will inherit a Kingdom… that people who seek peace are called “children of God”… and that even when people are tortured for their faith that they are blessed.

The people listening to Jesus were ordinary people – the peasants, the poor, the farmers, the people who were under the domination of another nation, forced to obey the Roman law and they did not have many freedoms. Jesus is telling them things that they had never heard before. In their minds rich people were blessed. But this crazy Jesus, from Nazareth guy told them… “Blessed are the poor”!

It was crazy, unheard-of, shocking, life-altering things that Jesus was saying.

Part 2 – Maddie

Today these words sound simple, and we don’t pay much attention to them. But think about how wild this is… “Blessed are you, who people insult, and hurl insults at”. Blessed are the people that the world makes fun of?!

But that’s what Jesus said. These common, everyday people are blessed, even when they are poor or sad or sick or judged or dominated by the Romans, needing justice or whatever…

Jesus tells them that they are blessed because GOD loves them more than they can ever imagine. Being loved by God makes them as important to God as salt is to humans, as beef jerky is to me.

After Jesus tells them how much he loves them, he reveals something even more spectacular. People are important! Jesus said,“You are the salt of the earth. Or, as I like to say, “You are beef jerky!”

Part 3 – Marilyn

Now really! Why is that spectacular? Who wants to be compared to salt?

Do you?

Maddie responds: “I do!”

Wesley responds: “Me too!”

Marilyn:

WHY do you want to be “salt of the earth”? (pause)

Salt is the mineral that God created to be a necessity of life. Salt is essential for the survival of living things. We heard the importance of salt in the story about the King and his 3 knights. Living things – animals such as cows and horses, lick blocks of salt to obtain the nutrients and minerals they require to live.

In Jesus’ day salt was a precious and valuable commodity. Indeed, salt was so valuable that it was sometimes traded ounce-for-ounce with gold. At times, Roman soldiers were even paid in salt. The word salary is derived from the word for salt. According to some people, If a Roman soldier didn’t do his job, he wouldn’t get all of his salt. That’s where we get the phrase, “He is not worth his salt,” if someone doesn’t do a good day’s work. In the Palestine of the past, much of the salt came from the Dead Sea or in Hebrew it means, “The Sea of Salt.” It was like a pool of gold.

In cultures lacking refrigeration, salt was the key preservative which allowed a thriving fishing industry to flourish. In an age before modern drugs, salt was a critical disinfectant which saved untold numbers of lives. For example, I would use salt in warm water to rid myself of a throat infection.

Maddie: Salt is a seasoning spice that transforms food from distasteful or bland to palatable and delicious. When I make chocolate chip cookies I make sure to add a little sprinklin’ of flaky sea salt on top.

Are there other ways that salt is special?

Marilyn: This wild Jesus character just says “You are the salt of the earth.”

Let’s take a moment and open those brown bags you were each given when you came into the sanctuary today… (hold up a brown bag)

Does anyone not have a bag?

(Have a couple of youth ready to distribute some bags to people who might not have received them…WAIT here – take time for everyone to open their bags.

You will notice there are baggies containing popcorn but one has NS written on it – “NO salt on the popcorn.” Please take this baggie first – and eat it (WAIT!!!! For people to do this…)

Now take the second baggie of popcorn and eat it; it has salt on it. (WAIT for people to do this)

Maddie: I like this one with salt on it.

Wesley: Yes, this one is better!

Marilyn: Which one did you like better? (Pause… there may be some responses…) I think MOST would agree that the salted popcorn tastes better.

Part 4 – Wesley

“You are the salt of the earth”.

Jesus looks out to a crowd of people and says, “You know that thing that preserves our food and keeps us from dying. That thing that takes a dull life and bland food and makes it exciting… That thing that is more precious than silver or gold – that’s you! You are that salt!

You are the salt of the earth. This is how we are to BE – salting the earth…sharing God’s love with everyone, preserving the goodness, taking care of God’s world and God’s people. As salt we will make things better, bring joy into sadness, give understanding instead of judgement, accept all our neighbours whomever they are.

But then Jesus puts to the people a small challenge. He says “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything.”

Part 5 – Maddie

For those of you not on familiar with the land of Palestine – The Sea of Salt is more than a mile and a half below sea level. The waters of The Sea of Galilee flow into the Jordan River and from there go to their final resting place in The Sea of Salt – the lowest land elevation on earth. So once the water gets there, there’s no place to go. The hot sun evaporates the water and leaves behind a chunky white powder made up of a combination of salt and minerals. That powder contains enough salt to season meat or to flavour soup, and that’s why people used to get their salt from The Dead Sea. But it’s also mixed with minerals and it’s not pure sodium chloride – it was a quite unstable compound. When it was stored in a damp environment or even when mixed with a little dampness in the air it would frequently begin to dissipate. That’s the surface meaning of Jesus’ word. That’s how the salt “loses its seasoning.” Jesus goes on to say, “It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Part 6 – Marilyn

But honestly that Jesus fella was on to something. I mean if we are really, actually, truly blessed… then why not share that love? Why would we NOT be salt of the earth? Why would we NOT help to make this world a better/brighter place filled with Gods’ love? Why NOT be salty?

At the same time Jesus never said that you BEING salt gives you your worth. Living as the salt of the earth does NOT make us more important. Jesus never says that you gain anything by your sharing. He does say that people will see God in you and that is a great thing. But Jesus never promises to add blessings to you because you live as the salt of the earth.

And Jesus would never ever say that… because to JESUS, we are already Salt. There are no conditions to God’s love. WE are already, no matter how normal or lowly we think we are – WE are blessed because God loves us more than we can ever imagine.

No matter what you do or don’t with this message: You are Salt.

Maddie: You are beef jerky!

Marilyn: You are loved! Amen

Song: Lord, the light of your love is shining (376)

Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: When we look at God’s world around us, we see the beginning of new growth and our gardens will soon be plentiful. We see God’s abundant care for us. We also know that God asks us to care for all Creation. We know that there are many people around the world that do not have enough food or clean water. Through World vision, we are sponsoring Joshua and his family who live in El Salvador.

Today we will take up two offerings.

Our regular offering can be given in as is our normal practice.

If you are able, please feel free to add some coins to this can or donate by putting an envelop in the offering plate labelled with this special donation. May we give out of our abundance to those in need.

Prayer of Dedication

God of growing gardens and growing hope, receive our gifts and our thanks this day. Bless what we bring and what we do, so that we become salt of the earth, in Jesus’ name. AMEN

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves.

Embrace the world you love.

Bianca

God of grace and compassion, We offer you our thanks for all that we have, for our friends and families, our neighbours and fellow citizens. We name before you those whom we love. We are thankful that they are in our lives. We know that your love touches the depths of their needs and celebrates the joys of their journeys:

Keep silent for 6 seconds.

God of grace and compassion,

(Together: Bianca and Kaye) – Embrace the world you love.

Bianca

As part of YOUR Church, we celebrate our Dayspring community, where we worship together and grow in our faith in Jesus Christ. We are challenged to live what we learn and what we believe you ask of us. Make us aware of opportunities to serve you both in this church and in the world beyond these walls. Give us the courage to reach out to more neighbours where there is human need. Help us to BE salt of the earth, in Jesus’ name.

Keep silence for 6 seconds.

God of grace and compassion,

(Together: Bianca and Kaye) – Embrace the world you love.

Kaye:

God of all people, we think of neighbours in Canada and in other places in the world who are facing ongoing conflict and violence, those who crowd together in refugee compounds and homeless encampments, or who face the consequences of nature’s unpredictable destruction (fire, floods, violence wind, earthquakes).

We join our prayers with those who are desperately seeking to survive, wherever they find themselves: Give us courage and commitment to meet the greatest challenges. Inspire our hope to work and live as we seek to love all our neighbours.

Keep silence for 6 seconds.

God of grace and compassion,

(Together: Kaye and Bianca) – Embrace the world you love.

Kaye:

As summer approaches, and your creation changes around us, we give you thanks for beauty in your world, for the living and nonliving things.

Thank you for the chance to participate in your creation – walking, biking, camping, swimming and all the recreational activities we can enjoy.

Yet we know that we sometimes forget how we are guilty of misusing these gifts and we damage your creation with our selfish ways and careless actions.

Show us how to act for justice with compassion so that all your creation is precious, and all your peoples are cared for as we show love to all our neighbours in the world.

Keep silence for 6 seconds.

We know in our hearts that you love us and that you offer us your grace and compassion. So, loving God, we offer these and all our unspoken prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to say together …

The Lord’s Prayer

Song: I’m gonna live so God can use me (648)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Friends – Keep your eyes open as you walk in God’s world. Look for ways to share God’s love. And may the God who loves you more than Salt, The Christ who flavours you as salt, And the Spirit who gives us life, empower you to BE salt of the earth. Amen.

Response: Go forth into the world

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

The Rev. Brad Childs and Elder Darlene Eerkes retain the copyright (© 2024) on all original material in this service. As far as they are aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is their own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Jars of Clay

Posted on June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 by John

Worship on the Lord’s Day
02 June 2024    10:00 am
The Sacrament of Holy Communion & General Assembly Sunday
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev. Brad Childs     Elder: Lynn Vaughan
Music Director: Binu Kapadia           Vocalist: Glynnis McCrostie
Guest Pianist: Darolyn McCrostie
Guest Violinists: Rob Hryciw & Thomas Schoen

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Raise a song of joy and gladness before God.
P: We will make music and sing God’s praises.
L: Sing aloud to God, our strength!
P: We will shout for joy to the God who made us.
L: Worship God who makes all things new!
P: We will celebrate God’s goodness in prayer and praise.

Opening praise: Everlasting God

Prayers of approach and confession

God of all life and each life, you created us in love to enjoy your presence in creation.

You made us in your image so that we would find purpose and possibility in our lives.

You gave us Sabbath rest to breathe in your grace and peace week by week.

In Jesus, you show us how to share grace and peace with one another.

Refresh us in this time of worship, so that we may leave with a deep sense of well-being at our core, for we offer ourselves to you through Christ, our Saviour. Amen

God of all life and each life, you created us to enjoy your presence, yet we confess it is easy to lose track of that joy.

When times are tough, we feel resentful.

When someone else succeeds, jealousy creeps in.

Some days bad news is all we hear.

Draw us back to your goodness and grace.

Response: Glory, Glory, Hallelujah

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Jesus said, “Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” Friends, trust that peace and forgiveness are God’s gift to you this day. Be renewed by the power of the Spirit that moves with you into each new day.

Music Offering: Rob, Thomas, and Darolyn

Hymn: The clay-stained hands of love (296)

We listen for the voice of God

Scripture readings (NRSV): I Samuel 3:1-20 & II Cor 4:5-12

Response: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

Message: Jars of Clay

Paul is the King of Metaphors. Or perhaps it is young coauthor Timothy.

Let me try it this way and see if it makes it a little more clear what the bible is saying here. This is the Brad Version: We have this Good News inside us. Something from the Divine with the power to change people. It is inside us: fragile, broken people, harmed, attacked, complex, beautiful people. But we continue on, in our brokenness; with the good news of the resurrection shining through us even in our weakness.

Paul and Timothy, in Macedonia in 56 AD, wrote a letter to the congregation in Corinth. In this section, they say that we, as Christians everywhere, have this special treasure kept in jars of clay—meaning our fragile human bodies, complete with scars, sins, contradictions, mixed emotions, and everything else that also makes us beautifully human.

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. It is power from God and something beyond ourselves. This treasure is the Good News: we do not need to be perfect, shining, golden examples of Christ. We cannot earn God’s love because we already have it; it is simply given.

But still, we beat ourselves up for sins already forgiven. We consider our pain, marks of shame and nothing else, even if we were victims of them.

We get beat up by life and think it degrades our worth. We beat on each other. We could, like this congregation in Corinth, (also be physically afraid of our government, from persecution or abuse).

In Paul’s day Jars of Clay were extremely common, extremely useful but also easily broken.

And yet just like the $100 bill that gets torn or wrinkled or wet or stuck in the mud, yet it’s value remains the same. Our value lies so heavily upon what we contain within these easily damaged but very useful jars of clay.

John Newton once said, “I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am.” We are not made on a potter’s wheel but in the image of God, the perfect Potter. He is the one moulding us, shaping us, and filling us with His treasure, His grace, and His power.

God’s grace is most powerfully demonstrated in flawed people, in our weaknesses and imperfections. The metaphor of a clay jar is significant: clay jars in Paul’s time were common, everyday items. They were not particularly beautiful or strong. They were prone to cracks and easily broken.

Our flaws provide the perfect backdrop for His grace to shine. In our weaknesses, His strength is made perfect. In our brokenness, His healing power is displayed. In our sinfulness, His forgiveness is magnified. The clay jar, with all its cracks and imperfections, does not subtract from the treasure it holds.

Here’s the thing: His power is not dependent on our strength. It is often most evident in our weaknesses. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” God’s power is not diminished by our frailty; it is magnified. You need not be perfect to be His. It appears the more fragile you are, the more useful you can be.

It’s a sad fact and it’s insane, but for some reason, there is this theory that if a Christian person doesn’t live up to absolute perfection, we believe that Jesus Christ upheld, then we are hypocrites. But what’s the alternative? Be perfect. Because it’s a bit late for that. We aren’t perfect. We are just following the one who is.

What a sad situation it is when people believe this. But it’s worse yet when we Christians do it to each other.

You know, there is this logical fallacy called the No True Scotsman fallacy. If you haven’t heard of it, it goes like this: Say a man called Alex makes this statement, “All true Scottish people love haggis. It’s part of who we are!” But his friend Hill replies, “But Alex, you know none of the guys in the neighbouring town like haggis.” To which Alex then replies, “Then they aren’t true Scottish people.” In short, if a person is proven wrong after claiming everyone in a particular group acts equally, they insinuate that “those people” aren’t truly a part of the group. And of course, it’s always they who are evil, never us.

But look, the physician comes for the sick whether that’s because you did wrong or you got beat up by the world. And listen, if sinners and struggling and broken people cannot also be “real Christians” despite their faults, and their wounds ‘s left. Or as Canadian musician Matthew Goode put it, it heaven’s for clean people, it’s vacant. It would be nice if we could stop doing this to each other but I also do it and don’t see it. It’s that whole “plank in the eye”/”speck in the eye” thing.

You may recall that Moses was a likely stutterer, yet God used him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. David was an adulterer and a murderer, yet God called him a man after God’s own heart. Peter denied Christ three times, yet he was chosen to lead the early church. Paul himself was a persecutor of the Christians before he became one of the most influential ones of all time.

God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. He does not look for perfection; He looks for willingness. He does not require us to be strong; He asks us to lean on His strength. His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness.

We have these fragile lives, and they are breakable. But inside us is a powerful message. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Not gold vaults, not diamond-strong containers, but imperfect, flawed, breakable clay jars like you and me.

If the famous Director Steven Spielberg is making a movie you can pretty well guarantee it will have an estranged father-and-son relationship involved.

Saving Private Ryan, Poltergeist, ET, Lincoln, War of the Worlds, Close Encounters, AI, Sugarland Express, Hook, Catch Me if You Can, Jurassic Park, BFG, and of course the most obvious to me, Indian Jones and The Last Crusade.

In the film, a group of Nazis force Indy to determine from a mysterious treasure room, what cup Jesus used at the last supper. As a kid, I remember that pivotal scene being very impacting. The Nazis chose the biggest, most gold and richest cup and died from the curse eliciting the phrase “You have chosen poorly” from the thousand-year-old Knight of Templar who guards the sacred cup’s location. Indiana on the other hand looks around the room quickly before wrapping his hands around a small dirty wooden and copper cup exclaiming “That’s the cup of a carpenter”. The audience is then treated to the phrase, “You have chosen wisely”.

It is the usefulness and not the shine that God loves.

This doesn’t mean pain is good. Don’t get me wrong but I do have a very good quote for you because I could never put it this well.

Theologian J.I. Packer once said, “God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away.” Charles Hadden Spurgeon adds, “The Lord’s mercy often rides to the door of our heart, upon the black horse of affliction.”

In our lives, we may feel like we are too flawed, too broken to be used by God. We may feel like our mistakes and failures disqualify us from His service. But the truth is, our flaws do not disqualify us from God’s grace; they qualify us for it. God’s grace is not for the perfect; it is for the broken, the flawed, the sinful. It is for people like me.

Twice in the chapter, the authors proclaim, “Therefore we do not lose heart,” showing the clear theme of this message. Even if our status is taken away or we are thrown in prison or beaten or abandoned, God still uses us and blesses us. It says we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

We all, Christians everywhere, carry the death of Jesus with us, which shines through all the cracks in these fragile jars. The treasure that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 4:7 is the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and the salvation that comes through Him. This treasure is of immeasurable worth, far surpassing any earthly riches. Because it is the message that while Love is not God, God is Love and you are God’s beloved. Made of clay, yes and yet, God has chosen to place this priceless treasure in us, frail and flawed human beings. Clay jars were not the kind of containers one would typically use to store something of great value. Yet, this is precisely the point Paul is making. God deliberately chose what is weak and ordinary to carry the extraordinary message of His love and salvation.

God does not wait for us to rid ourselves of flaws before He can use us. Instead, He uses our imperfections to display His power and grace.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Song: We have this ministry (590)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Prayer for ourselves and for our world

God of communion and community, we give you thanks for our life together in Christ, and for the work of the Spirit that draws us closer to you and each other.

We pray for the life of our denomination as it meets in the General Assembly throughout the next few days.

Send your Spirit to work in and through the commissioners, opening minds and hearts to your leadership.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ sustain us in communion and community, even when we differ over decisions and directions.

God of compassion and concern, Thank you for the ministries and mission Presbyterians undertake together in Canada and throughout the world you love.

Thank you for the lessons learned and hope inspired by all the partners we have worked with in different cultures and on different projects.

We pray for all who serve in ministries supported by Presbyterian Sharing and Presbyterian World Service and Development.

Open our hearts to support their work with generous giving and ongoing prayer, so that lives will be healed, transformed, and strengthened according to your compassionate concern.

God of our hearts and our hopes, We pray for those you have given us to love.

Hear us as we name them before you in silence.

We pray for those who serve our nation and communities as leaders in business and politics, in health care and education, in the military and all emergency services.

Grant them wisdom and resilience when resources are stretched, so, their choices address the needs of the most vulnerable.

We pray for those who face uncertainty, unrest and threat from violence day by day.

In this moment of silence, we bring before you people in our community and those in places around the world where injustice and deprivation are unrelenting.

God of the earth and all its fullness, in this season of planting and growing, nesting and nurturing, we pray for the environment and all the creatures it supports.

Protect species and habitats at risk,and make us better stewards of all you have entrusted to us.

But above all, aid us as we reach out with the good news of Salvation in Jesus Christ and his incomparable saving love found in the next life yes, but also in the now. Amen.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

All those from any place, with faith in Jesus Christ are invited to table. Let us not return to God the offerings of our lives and the gifts of the earth.

Song: All who hunger, gather gladly (534)

We affirm our faith: The Apostles Creed (539)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living 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.

Communion Prayer

Almighty and merciful God, in the face of much that seems to deny your presence, we give you grateful thanks for the victory of Christ, that has become our victory in him.

We thank you for revealing yourself in Jesus our Saviour.

He blessed little children when adults thrust them aside.

He touched lepers and made them whole; wept at the death of a friend; confronted fear in the darkness of a garden; was subject to the torturer’s lash and the scoffer’s tongue; and he suffered as we suffer.

We thank you that in his death and resurrection Christ has overcome all that can destroy us.

We thank you that nothing in our lives, no power or principality, no occasion of pain or fear, can ever separate us from your love.

In our weakness your strength is shown.

Help us, gracious Lord, so to bear our infirmities before the world that we may testify to your strength and become to others a means of grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

The words of Institution

The Lord Jesus, on the night before he died, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it and said, “This is my body, that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in remembrance of me.”

Every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Sharing of the bread and wine

The bread of heaven. Amen.

The cup of salvation. Amen.

Song: One Bread, one Body (540)

The prayer after Communion

Rejoicing in the communion of saints, we praise your name, most holy God.

We give you thanks for all your servants who lived for you, departed in the faith, and are now at peace with you.

We thank you for all saints of every age and especially those who have been dear to us,mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in the faith who have led us to you.

Believing that we are still at one with them we pray that we may follow their faith and example until that time when we feast with them in your heavenly kingdom.

Hear us heavenly Father, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn: Let us talents and tongues employ (563)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go in the strength of the Spirit, to greet those, you meet with gifts of nderstanding and friendship, serving gladly in Jesus’ name.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

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