For the week of October 9-15, 2022 – 18th week after Pentecost
Morning prayer: We give praise to You, O God, for You are awesome and amazing.
We remember Your deeds and faithfulness—deeds that have brought us to this day, faithfulness that has helped us weather life’s storms. We have gone through fire and water, and stand before You today in gratitude and praise. How awesome are Your deeds, O God! Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn: #57 O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
- O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace! - My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name. - Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health, and peace. - He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me.
Psalm 111
111:2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
111:3 Full of honor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.
111:4 He has gained renown by His wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
111:9 He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name.
111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
Children’s message Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…. 4Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Children’s Message
How many of you got to decide where you were going to live? Did you get to pick the town or even the state? Don’t feel bad, I haven’t gotten to choose much about where I get to live either. The only times I had any say was when I decided to come to Bloomsburg for college and Washington DC for seminary.
Jeremiah is talking to those who have been exiled to Babylon. They had been living in the Southern Kingdom of Israel, but they were overtaken by surrounding forces and moved to Babylon against their wills. Exile means you can’t live in a certain place due to religious, political, or environmental reasons.
Now, we aren’t in exile, but I still believe God gives us a good directive through Jeremiah. Basically, God tells them to treat the place you live well and you will be treated well.
Can you think of some ways we can treat our area well? Not littering, planting trees, smiling at people and helping people would be a good start. And also sharing Jesus with them and Jesus’s love for them.
I think this is a good start to treating our area well and when our area is treated well, we are treated well.
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: Thank you for donating so many t-shirts. The Press Enterprise recently featured our work to supply the John Buck Food Bank with reusable cloth bags. Thank you for giving t-shirts, for cutting and sewing, for packing the bags with food, and for assisting the clients of the Food Bank. Thank you for being good stewards of resources and time.
Offering prayer: God of love and compassion, the need for Your presence in this world is often overwhelming. Confrontation and division are everywhere we look: in communities, in our countries, in our church, and in our world. We have endured much, and others have had to endure so much more. The apostle Paul reminds us that if we endure, we will reign with Jesus. May the gifts we give help all Your children endure in these strange and challenging times. In the name of Jesus, the Christ, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn #382 Have Thine Own Way, Lord
- Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still. - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now, as in Thy presence humbly I bow. - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray! Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine! - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway. Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
Scripture Lesson Luke 17:11-19
Message: One in Ten Pastor Becky Cuddeback
Our greatest learnings, our greatest transformations come from being able to accurately locate ourselves in scripture. To our detriment, we tend to place ourselves where we wish or desire to be. We hear scripture and in the case of today’s scripture we want to believe we are the one who would have turned back and thanked Jesus. That’s the ideal, right. That we are also thankful and giving thanks for all things. This thanksgiving is how we as a community write our story with God, because we have to acknowledge God has never stopped working on our behalf. I realize the Bible has to have a cover on both sides, but it also tends to give us the impression that Revelation is God’s last word for us which isn’t true.
John writes in the 21st chapter at verse 25 “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Now this is just of Jesus’ earthly ministry and what John could understand of what the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus would mean for them and for us. This is the stuff of great theological debate between theologians and preachers since the beginning of the church.
And even to this day as we come to worship, part of our worship is thanking God for all God has done on our behalf. That thanksgiving takes many forms, some of it is singing God’s praise, speaking and hearing God’s word, and lifting our praises and joys. Our coming together is always to advance our relationship with God so that our relationship with God’s creation advances. All of that to say: Have you thanked God today?
Take just a moment and recall, if you can pinpoint, your most life changing, transformational interaction with God, Jesus, or Holy Spirit. Can you see it or feel it? Can you see it all in vivid detail? Now, was there someone else that was vital to your encounter? A friend, spouse, family member, co-worker, church member or even a stranger? Do they know of your thankfulness to God for them?
The Samaritan didn’t know Jesus to be Jesus, the Jesus we know Him to be. The Samaritan saw Jesus as one who stepped in for him, that interceded for him. The history of the religious life of Samaria is incredibly complex. It isn’t as simple as they weren’t Jews or that they were Gentiles because, in some cases they were Jews. All this man wanted to do was thank the one who healed him. This healing is more than just curing him of leprosy. It is healing him fully – emotionally, spiritually, returning him to his family and community and restoring his dignity as a human being. He is no longer relegated to the shadows and his testimony is immortalized forever. Yet, Jesus did this for all ten. Why didn’t the other 9 return to Jesus? For all the same reasons the Samaritan did. They were human and in their astonishment and joy, they forgot or got carried away in the euphoria of being healed and all that would mean for them and for their families. For the same reasons we forget or neglect to thank those who also interceded for us and participated in our healings. Let us not forget to thank God and thank those who helped bring about our healing. Because those are our stories that continue to inform and affirm God’s great love for us and all creation. Amen.
Closing 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)
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
