For the week of November 26 – December 2 – Christ the King!
Morning prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, It is Your will to restore all things to Christ, whom You have anointed priest for ever and ruler of creation. Grant that all the people of the earth, now divided by the power of sin, may be united under the glorious and gentle rule of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. (UM Hymnal 721)
Hymn #154 All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
- Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from the fall,
hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all. - Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget the wormwood and the gall,
go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all. - Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball,
to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
- Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
- O that with yonder sacred throng we at His feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God. It is He that made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.
Children’s Time Luke 6:9-11
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, He (Jesus) said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Children’s Message
Have you ever needed help? Of course you have, we have all needed help at some time or another. But have you ever thought you wouldn’t get that help because what day of the week it was?
Our verses for today come from a bigger story of Jesus healing a man with a withered hand. Jesus healing isn’t really the problem, the problem came because Jesus did the healing on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the day of rest according to the 10 Commandments. “You shall honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.” The view of Jesus’ day had widened the interpretation of that commandment to being able to do anything considered work and healing was work. The religious leaders were looking for a reason to be mad at Jesus.
Jesus responded to them by asking, “Is it legal to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or destroy it?” Jesus knew that by healing this man He would be saving his life and to leave him unhealed would destroy his life and Jesus chose healing.
We have to be like Jesus too. We have to always decide to do good and not harm, no matter what the belief or thought of our particular time is. It is always the right time to do the right thing.
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: Lightstreet United Methodist Church shines Christ’s light through connections to the community and around the world through the connections of the United Methodist Church. As you dedicate this offering, and as you recite your commitment vows with the new members, remember and renew your commitment to serve Christ in this church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness.
Offering prayer: God of all our yesterdays, our todays, and our tomorrows: we bring our hearts this morning; we bring our gifts; we bring our desires to be a part of Your love revolution in this world. We long to be Your lights of hope in a world filled with despair, the trumpet of victory to Your people, who too often feel outnumbered and overwhelmed, and the voice of confidence to those who have already conceded defeat. Dedicate our gifts; dedicate our hearts to shaping a world with love so that Christ won’t feel a stranger on His return. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who gave in love all there was to give for us. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #327 Crown Him With Many Crowns
- Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne,
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
and hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
- Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o'er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
- Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
from pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His pierced feet
fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
- Crown Him the Lord of love; behold His hands and side,
those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.
Message Scripture: John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him; yet the world did not know Him. He came to what was His own, and His own people did not accept Him. But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Message: Christ Our King Pastor Becky
This morning we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the church year, and next week begins Advent. The entire church year is based on Jesus – the anticipation of His coming, His birth, His teachings, His death and His resurrection and His return. It moves in a cycle. It is a rhythm, just as the earth’s orbit around the sun produces seasons, the church year orbits around Jesus as an eternal clock until Jesus’ final return.
I believe everything has the potential to teach and the church calendar is one aspect I lean on heavily. This is because it is always moving in this cycle. We don’t skip a season or neglect an aspect. The church calendar is reliable and steadfast. It is consistent in a world that is not. Not matter what is going on in the world, the church follows the cycle to keep us in rhythm with Jesus and what God has done, is doing, and will do. I focus heavily on the calendar of the church with the confirmands and use it to teach within worship so that even if we should find ourselves outside the church, we can always step back into the rhythm of Jesus. Yes, it can seem boring, ancient, or uninspiring – it is stable when we aren’t.
We’ve come to the end of this cycle and we remind ourselves of what we have built our faith upon, what we model our lives after and the grace we have received and the grace we should be offering. It is a time of reflection and seeing where Jesus has been with us all along and how He vows to remain with us in the waiting for His return. We also look to remind ourselves why Jesus is King of the Kingdom of God. This year to lead us through this reflection, we turn to John 1:1-14.
We praise Jesus because He is eternal, He was with God before there was time and will be with God long after there is time. There wasn’t a time without Him.
Because He was there in the beginning of creation, He is within the imagination of God that brought forth all that is, was, and will be created. All things came into being through and for Jesus, as the Son of God. Nothing created or anything that happened has gone unseen by Jesus.
Jesus brought forth life. In its very inception at the first, continuing through to His first coming as a babe in Bethlehem and then brought forth eternal life in his death and resurrection. He brings life to each new believer and sustains our lives as the fortifier of our faith.
Jesus gives us a relationship to God. He makes us into a family where before there was no relationship to God or to each other. He covers the gulf between the Divine and the common, grants us equal footing with Himself and with each other. In Jesus there is no hierarchy, only family. No grandparents or cousins, we are all brothers and sisters, from the youngest to the oldest.
In His taking on flesh, becoming both fully human and fully divine, He became our model and our Savior. He took the words of the prophets and completed the narrative in His life, showing us how to live into the words of life given to us by God, but only perfect in His coming. He shows us how to live into the Kingdom today by loving our neighbor, caring for the sick, and releasing folks from their demons. He gives us work for our hands and prayers for our hearts as we pray for ourselves and for others. He taught us where we would find Him and the preciousness of those not valued by the world, yet priceless to God.
We get to relive, reread these stories and teachings, not only for our benefit, but the benefit of the world as we look to the parallels in our world today, because Jesus wasn’t a one-time king, but the King of all time.
Closing Hymn: #666 Shalom to You
Shalom to you, now, shalom, my friends. May God’s full mercies bless, you, my friends.
In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
