Happy February! Church is open this week Sunday 11 am for worship service and Tuesday 5 pm for Food Pantry.
Call to Worship; Psalms 147:1-5 and Isaiah 40:21-22, 28-31
Psalms 147:1-5
1 Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
Isaiah 40:21-22, 28-31
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
and
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlastingGod,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Prayer Invitation, Praises, and Concerns: Father in Heaven, today we come to you humbled by your incredible majesty and grace and give deep thanks. For our very being. Lord today we ask that you would continue to grow us into tools for your use in this world.
Amen!
Message Readings: 1 Cor. 9:19-22 and Mark 1:32-39
Mark 1:32-39
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
Message; “Back to Basics”
Today, I am excited to try out something new for us this week in our ongoing learning about our Lord, our Church, and our Christian traditions. First I want to emphasis that it is only the Lord who we come to praise, glorify, and magnify, to worship. Church and tradition are tools to that end. And we use both as the Body of Christ, the people of God on this corner of 25th and Jefferson.
As a general rule each week as I prepare for the Sunday message. In the past, I have just been led by the Spirit opening my mind and thoughts to where God was leading us, and the events going on in our lives to form what we needed to look at in scripture as we explore the mysteries of our Lord, our Faith walk, and our Church. (Some weeks I listen better than others) Today is no exception, except that instead of being led to scripture passages alone, I was led to what many other churches / denominations use on a weekly basis. I was led to the Lectionary.
A lectionary is what a church, denomination or group of denominations use to determine church readings, hence what to study throughout the church and liturgical year. A missal is a book containing all that is said or sung at mass during the entire year (kind of a Catholic version of what I’m talking about).
You might have wondered about why I had so much scripture inserted into the Call to Worship reading and the Message reading for this week. Well, all four citations were from the lectionary for today’s worship, and as long as they were, I reduced them down to a manageable readable length for today. On any given Sunday, the lectionary will have a reading from the Old Testament, a Psalm passage, New Testament, and a passage from the Gospel. All are God’s word! Some churches use something from all four sources, some will get a sampling from a couple and switch around to get a balanced diet of all scripture throughout the year.
Why am I telling you this? God’s word is life. Within scripture coupled with humble; study, prayer, and grace, resides the blueprints of a relationship with your Lord. You need to know not only the scripture that I am using (because I’m accountable to you in where my material comes from: Scripture!), but you need to know that your Pastor is trying to provide a balanced diet of all of God’s word available to you.
There are different lectionaries out there on a three year cycle, using A, B, and C years (we are in year B right now). There are Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodist to name a couple, the one I reviewed was the Revised Common Lectionary from Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The idea of a lectionary is to help keep a denomination, a church, or a pastor moving through scripture so that the people of God get that balanced diet of the Word.
Along with the scripture selections, some lectionaries will also give you a breakdown on the colors being used in the Sanctuary. We will drape our Cross with different colors throughout the church year to reflect what’s going on; gold or white for Christmas, red or scarlet for the week leading up to Easter, Green at common times, and it varies by church. So in the future if you are wondering if something extra special is going on, look at the Cross.
So what does any of this have to do with today’s reading from all over the Bible, or our message for this week “Back to Basics”? Well, if we know why we read certain parts of the Bible for specific occasions (sacred occurrences, joyful times, periods of hardship and affliction), it teaches us how to apply scripture to meet our needs in the future.
In answering the question about all that reading this morning, let’s begin with today’s Call to Worship from; Isaiah 44. Isaiah quotes God as he often does or should I say God speaks through Isaiah and explains who the Lord is, what He has created, starting this time at verse 25-26;
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
And finishing Isaiah with 29-31;
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Or Psalms 147 this time verses 1-9
1 Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
Indeed, our Call to Worship from both Isaiah and David’s Psalm, instructs us in the basics of who God is;
- Great and mighty in power
- Creator of all, He determines the number and even names the stars, calls them by name and they do not go missing
- He supplies the rains that
- Makes grass grow
- Food for the cattle
- Feeds the young ravens when they call
- He heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds
- He gives strength to the weary, and we sore on wings like eagles
Yes, Scripture tells who God is and what we must do;
- Which is why we should
- Remain humble
- Sing with grateful praise
- And hope in the Lord
Once we start to get a grasp of who God is, and what we are not, then we are ready for more in our relationship in the Lord. All of us, including Paul grow exponentially as we mature in the Lord.
Jesus continues to teach and lead by example throughout the Gospel. We have the teachings of Mark 1:29, 32-39, which will teach those who are receptive to the word;
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
The Lord is not too good to go to church, how about you? That night the Lord (God) is serving the needy and afflicted instead of watching the game, reading the latest thriller, or kicking back with the boys. How bout you? The next morning when there is time by getting up early to be alone, the Lord is in prayer. After the disciples catch up with Him, instead of remaining stationary, they are off to serve other people in need. Jesus is showing that we must not be content with leaving things as they are or resting on our laurels when there is more to be done. Which is determined each time by time place, and situation in a prayerful relationship in God.
In other words, there are more basics to be digested here; like living by example, through worship prayer, and service to others, and share the wealth. Not just with the people in your neighborhood that are like you but the people God provides in your Faithwalk!
This leading by example is what Paul will take to heart as he learns to emulate the Lord in his missionary journeys, and witnessing to the first century churches of the New Testament. We have a more from today’s “Message Readings, this time from 1 Corinthians 9:16, 19-23;
16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
This aint the same Paul noted in the beginning of the Book of Acts. Paul has matured and has learned from his mistakes. He like you, is a life in progress and I hope like him, you continue to grow each day of your life not willing to rest on laurels and not seeking retirement from sharing the Gospel!
We indeed can be like the poor to serve the poor, we can empathize for those who have dietary constraints, understand where people without the Gospel are coming from, know what it’s like to be hurt, abandoned, and abused, for those who are. And do all the above as Paul once did in life without watering down the Gospel. Not one iota, one fraction, or an inkling need be lost from our faithwalk to be there to support, understand, and walk with those less fortunate that ourselves. Caring for people who lack the Gospel, the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And woe to me if I don’t try!
Today, in our quest to go back to the basics, we looked at how others in our larger family of God in other houses of worship organize their scripture readings, and sanctuary decorations through the use of various lectionaries. All the above are tools that we can use to help us praise, glorify, and magnify God’s holy precious name. They are available to help us worship God more effectively by learning more about Him and ourselves.
Our sample lectionary readings from Isaiah, Psalms, Mark, and First Corinthians gave us an instruction of who God was and is (from God’s scripture in the Old Testament), how the Lord walked as a man (in God’s Gospel of Mark), and then how mankind may follow in the Lord’s footsteps (from Paul’s letters in God’s New Testament).
I hope this is a foundation that you can build upon, and give you a greater insight of what your brothers and sisters are doing in their own churches across this incredible land. Amen!
Benediction; Based on Psalm 23
1 May the Lord be your shepherd, and you not want.
2 May He make you lie down in green pastures,
lead you by still waters,
3 May He restore your soul.
May He guides you along paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though you walk
through the darkest valley,
you will will fear no evil,
for He is with you;
His rod and your staff,
May they comfort you.
5 May He prepare a table before you
in the presence of your enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
your cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow you
all the days of your life,
and may you will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Amen!