07/24/2022 – 07/30/2022 – 7th week after Pentecost
Morning prayer: God, Our Holy Parent, There are moments we feel as though we are separated from You, times where we have chosen our own agendas over You. As we gather to worship today, remind us that despite our wandering souls, You are still “home” to us. Thank You, nurturing God, for welcoming us into this space today. Amen.
Hymn: #98 To God Be the Glory
- To God be the glory, great things He hath done!
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the lifegate that all may go in.
Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done!
- O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
to every believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
(Refrain) - Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.
(Refrain)
Call to Worship Psalm 138
138:1 I give You thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing Your praise;
138:2 I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness; for You have exalted Your name and Your word above everything.
138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; You stretch out Your hand, and Your right hand delivers me.
138:8 The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.
Children’s message Scripture: Hosea 1:9-10 Children's Bible Lessons: Lesson - Hosea (childrensbiblelessons.blogspot.com)
Then the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
Hosea was a prophet of God who lived at the same time Isaiah lived and God's people were disobeying Him constantly. There were always a few people who were trying to live the way God wanted them to live, but the majority were disobedient. A prophet's job was to tell the people what God was telling him. He did not tell part of what God told him or just the parts that were good. A prophet of God always said exactly what God wanted him to say and was not afraid to say it, no matter the consequences. A prophet of God was very brave.
Hosea's name means "salvation" and that is what he preached to the people. He warned the people that if they did not repent or turn from their wicked ways, then they would go into captivity. We have already learned that the books of the Bible, especially the prophets, were not written in chronological order, so Hosea was written back during the divided kingdom when there were kings of Israel like Jeroboam and kings of Judah like Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We also have already learned that the people did not repent and they went into captivity, but at the time Hosea lived, they were living a life of prosperity. Things were good. They had food to eat, there were not too many wars, and, as we have studied before, when times were good, the people forgot God. They had not learned that God was serious about allowing the people to be captured, even though God's prophets were constantly telling the people to repent or they would go into captivity.
Hosea, also, told the people that they were going to be destroyed because they had a lack of knowledge of God. This meant that they did not know anything about God, they did not want to learn of God and His ways, so God was going to reject them. The people had forgotten God, and, as a consequence of their sin, God was going to forget His children.
Hosea's life and the words that he spoke illustrated a picture of the relationship that God had with His people. When times were tough, the people remembered how good God was to them and they would pray to Him, asking Him to help them. But, when times were good and they began to believe that they were the ones who were independent and could do things their own way, then they forgot God. God would then send something--a war, pestilence, famine--to remind the people that He was in control. It was a vicious cycle. That's how it was in Hosea's time. One important thing to remember: whenever the people repented, God always took them back.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: LUMC Missions Team selects charitable organizations that meet the needs of people while fostering discipleship. They are mindful of being your representatives while focusing on Jesus Christ.
Offering prayer: Compassionate God, You know us in every step of our lives and in every misstep. We all have stories that we tell with pride and those we would hide and long to forget – but You know them all. We bring our gifts to You this day, knowing that Your love is not dependent on our best moments but on how we have persevered in finding the discipleship path after we have fallen short. May our gifts and our lives themselves be a witness to Your relentless love. We pray in the holy name of Christ, our redeemer. Amen.
Hymn of Preparation: #405 Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and ye shall find.
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Allelu, alleluia!
Message scripture- Luke 11:1-13
He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught His disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Message: What Is It That You Need? Pastor Becky Cuddeback
Imagine for a moment, you are walking along with Jesus, and Jesus does what Jesus does what He is recorded doing often – He has just finished praying. You, along with the other disciples, finally work up the courage to ask Jesus one thing – teach me how to pray. It only makes sense, you have the authority on prayer standing with you, the One the Father always hears, it only makes sense to ask Him, so you do. And this is His response, He says pray like this:
Father, hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come
Give us this daily our daily bread
And forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.
Father: Jesus instructed them to talk to God as their Father, He is offering them and us a relationship. Jesus is telling them to come as their true selves, no high and lofty titles for God – no – Ruler of the universe, Adonai, El or other name – just Father.
Hallowed be Your name: Holy is God, above all else and all others, remember, even in the intimate nature of Father, it is father of all.
Your kingdom come: Jesus is naming the vision and reminding us to keep that front and center in our prayers and in our living.
Give us this day our daily bread: Sustain us, feed us and also it is a charge for us to keep. In our need, we are also to be mindful of the needs of others.
And forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us: this part is a bit damning, at least for me. We almost need to speak it with our fingers crossed behind our backs, because we can never live up to this measure of forgiveness, yet we want to receive this kind of forgiveness. It is the ideal; it is meant to instruct and inspire us to do better than the day before and to remind us of maybe what we have not released to God. Yet, imagine how freed we could each be from the baggage we carry of unforgiven offenses, sins and grudges?
And do not bring us to the time of trial: to a time of temptation or a dealing with evil.
These are brief and concise words. There isn’t any fluff or diversions here. Jesus wants us to stay focused. Here is the prayer we pray together each week and countless times a week in our personal devotions.
The disciples and dare I say, we, are looking for that “right formula”, the “right” recipe, the “RIGHT” way to come to God in prayer; we want to get heard and to get what we want. We want our desires, no matter how well intended or well meaning, to align with God’s will, the living into and the realization of the Kingdom of God. That is why we pray, right? To get answered, the way we want, to get what we want?
But Jesus is redirecting our want, to what it is we need, which is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Verse 13b is very clear of what we get in prayer: how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
In all our prayers, what we receive is the sustaining of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit Jesus promised when He returned to heaven – John 14. The Advocate will come and teach you everything and remind you of all I have said.
It is through constant prayer, constant conversation with God, that brings us closer and sustains us. This is especially true, when we don’t get what we want, the Holy Spirit holds us as we walk through disappointment, discouragement, and disorientation.
In giving us these words of prayer, Jesus is lifting up to us our two greatest needs.
1- a relationship with God, Jesus is pointing us to God as our Father and through Jesus we receive this Father/child relationship. This is not a relationship of disinterest or annoyance, but a relationship of nurturing mercy and grace.
2- is the Holy Spirit for our living. The Holy Spirit enables us to live with the ability to see with God’s sight, so we can see injustice, oppression and inequity and then be able to act against those forces.
Ask, seek, and knock are prayers in action. Whether you believe this about yourself or not, you have been, are or will be the answer to another’s prayer, just by being a praying people, because you are enabled by the Holy Spirit. The gates of hell will not stand against the church of Jesus Christ, that is Jesus’s promise and the expectation of us – His church.
SO be grateful, you get what you need. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #384 Love Divine All Loves Excelling
- Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down;
fix in us Thy humble dwelling; all Thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art;
visit us with Thy salvation; enter every trembling heart. - Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit; let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. - Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all Thy life receive;
suddenly return and never, nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
pray and praise Thee without ceasing, glory in Thy perfect love. - Finish, then, Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee;
changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.