For the week of October 5 – 17th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: For the gift of faith which sees beyond the present moment and looks to an eternity, we thank You.
For the gift of faith small as a mustard seed, which has power within its simplicity, we thank You.
For the gift of faith bestowed on those who would simply come, hearts open in humility, we thank You. Amen.
Written by John Birch, and posted on his Faith and Worship website. Reposted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/09/prayer-of-thanksgiving-for-gift-of-faith.html. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn: #314 In the Garden
- I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses,
and the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.
Refrain: And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own;
and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.
- He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing. (Refrain) - I'd stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling,
but He bids me go; thru the voice of woe His voice to me is calling. (Refrain)
2 Timothy 1:7-10
7 God didn’t give us a spirit that is timid but one that is powerful, loving, and self-controlled.
8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about the Lord or of me, His prisoner. Instead, share the suffering for the good news, depending on God’s power. 9 God is the one who saved and called us with a holy calling. This wasn’t based on what we have done, but it was based on His own purpose and grace that He gave us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 Now His grace is revealed through the appearance of our savior, Christ Jesus. He destroyed death and brought life and immortality into clear focus through the good news.
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: Dwell Orphan Care is one of the sponsored missions of this church. They are in great need of newborn baby items; things like newborn pacifiers, bottles designed for newborns, newborn onesies. They LOVE the handmade animals and toys that our crafters have made, particularly those from Sally Chamberlain’s hands. What will you purchase or make to support these babies and their families?
Offering prayer: Faithful God, our source and sustainer, You call us to believe beyond what we see and serve without seeking reward. Take these gifts as seeds of trust, planted in hope and watered with gratitude. Even when our faith feels small, You multiply our offering into acts of healing, welcome, and justice. So, increase not only our faith, Lord, but also our willingness to serve—with humility, joy, and confidence that You are at work through every generous act. In the name of the one who came to serve, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of preparation: #399 Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated
- Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
- Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
- Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
Scripture: John 13:1-17 (CEB)
13 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that His time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them fully.
2 Jesus and His disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into His hands and that He had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So He got up from the table and took off His robes. Picking up a linen towel, He tied it around His waist. 5 Then He poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He was wearing. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”
8 “No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 He knew who would betray Him. That’s why He said, “Not every one of you is clean.”
12 After He washed the disciples’ feet, He put on His robes and returned to His place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? 13 You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. 14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. 16 I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. 17 Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.
Affirm your faith by reciting the Apostles’ Creed: 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, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again 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. (UM Hymnal #882)
Message: Pastor Becky
We are continuing our discussion on discipleship and the dimensions of discipleship. Last week we discussed the dimension of belonging to the body of Christ. This morning we are going to pick up on another dimension, becoming more like Jesus.
First though, I want to ask you this question. Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Now, I'm sure the answer has changed through the stages of your life. Very rarely do we become what it was we wanted to be at the tender ages of 3, 4 or 5 years old. Experience and exposure have a great effect on our aspirations. Sometimes the reality of life presents itself. Humans cannot be dolphins or bears or unicorns. We can't become what we aren't programmed to be so we have to give up the idea of becoming something other than human. We also can't be inanimate objects. We can't be a race car, but we can drive one, and while we may not be able to become a dolphin or a bear, we can study them.
Yet once we got serious about what we wanted to do, we began to think about it, visualize ourselves doing that work. We spent time talking to and being with someone that we knew and respected who was doing the job. We may even have been able to do some job shadowing to spend a day in the life of someone who was doing what it was we thought we wanted to do and got a better idea for what it would or could be like to be doing what it was we wanted to do.
We know that we can't just merely show up on day one trained and qualified. But then we really begin to set our mind on what it is, and we begin in earnest to become what we want to be or to be trained in what it is that we want to do. We find that this may mean additional schooling, on the job training, apprenticeships, mentorships. We may find our time taken over by reading technical journals, watching training videos, all of this effort to become what it is that we want to be or to be able to do what it is we want to do.
Foundationally, this is characteristic of seeking out a vocation or a job. It also accurately depicts how we work into our hobbies, our passions and our personal relationships. We invest ourselves in what it is we want to be.
In our lives, in a relationship with Jesus, Jesus is calling us to be disciples. Our foundational verse is Matthew 4:19. “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” What I want you to notice about this relatively simple verse is your name can so easily be inserted after the word come. Come ___ follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. I encourage you to try out putting your name in that spot directly after the word come because it is Jesus' invitation to you. An invitation to join Him in a life of discipleship.
And to be a disciple is to become more like Jesus. A disciple is one who becomes known by the reputation of their teacher. The teacher shapes the teachings, the learnings, and the expectation is the student, the disciple, will learn these lessons, not just collect head knowledge but heart knowledge. The disciple would be able to apply the teachings of their teacher in their ordinary, everyday, walkabout life.
You see, we can know all the facts about Jesus and we can know all the Jesus stories, yet discipleship is calling us to live as Jesus lives and love as Jesus loves. Peter reminds us that, “you were called to this kind of endurance because Christ suffered on your behalf. He left you an example that you might follow in His footsteps” (1 Peter 2:21). Paul goes on and tells us to “adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 2:5).
Our becoming more like Jesus isn't merely for our benefit, to make us good people, for us to be able to be remembered well, or for us to gain esteem. It is for the transformation of our lives. It is for the transformation of our families and our communities, and that would then filter out into the world. Our lives are not our own once we come into personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus is sending us out into the world. As that bit of leavening, that bit of justice, compassion and grace. The idea being the Jesus you are becoming changes the world.
I think that we can agree things are a mess in the world, and on more than one occasion lately, I have heard you say the world needs Jesus, or Jesus needs to come back soon to clear up all of this chaos. I too would love to see a big smothering of Jesus. Yet I think we forget that Jesus is here. We have invited Him into our hearts and we need to live into that invitation. If we lament that we aren't seeing Jesus, I think we have to reflect and look deep into ourselves. Are we becoming more like Jesus or have we settled, tolerated, endorsed something other than the Saviour we hail on Sunday morning? Jesus said, “Put on my yoke and learn from me. I am gentle and humble and you will find rest for yourselves.” (Matthew 11:29). I contend not only will we find rest in yoking ourselves to Jesus, but by our very yoking the world would find rest. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #400 Come, Thou Fount of every Blessing
- Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love. - Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood. - O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
