COVID Worship 4-26-20
Third Sunday of Easter
Welcome and Introductions
Good morning, dear friends who are looking for Jesus Christ! On behalf of the members of the First Church of Squantum, welcome to another of our COVID worship services. In case I haven’t had the chance to meet you yet, my name is Rev. Doug Gray—please just call me Doug. I am so blessed to be pastor and serve with these extraordinary people. It’s a little weird for me to be worshiping with you like this. I expect it’s a little weird for you too. I don’t know about you, but I am so glad that the Lord we see today is bigger than anything we face, greater than our limitations, and more loving than we could ever imagine. It’s in that spirit that I welcome you today, on Jesus’ behalf. Wherever you are today, I pray that as we worship, God would come to you.
I should also welcome you to the third Sunday in Easter. In the ancient church, Christians would gather on Easter and a leader would say, “He is risen!” to which the congregation would respond, “He is risen indeed!” and then everyone would say together, “Alleluia!” which means “Praise God!” So let’s bring this ancient tradition, full of joy, alive with our new technology today. Shall we try it? Here we go!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
Let us worship God!
**Heart-Opening Song More Precious Than Silver
**Call to Worship
One: We have been invited to change and turn to God.
Many: We have been invited to turn over our stressed lives and our endless lists of tasks.
One: We have been invited to turn away from our prejudice, our judgmental behavior, our self-righteousness.
Many: We have been invited to turn away from fear and toward love.
One: We have been invited to turn toward laughter and delight, toward wonder and joy, toward amazement and surprise.
Many: We have been invited to turn our lives around and turn to God.
One: He is risen!
Many: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Opening Hymn Thy Word
Opening Prayer
Divine Joy, we confess that all too often we are motivated more by fear than love, and we don’t know why. We know how to build walls, make rules and set boundaries. We know how to feel guilty. We are good at trying to make ourselves (and everyone else) conform to some ideal we have fashioned, not You. We confess that too often we don’t know what to do with Your unconditional love and joyful surprises. We are afraid to stand under the flood of Your miracle and wonder, goodness and healing. Fold us into Your comforting embrace and bless us into courage, so that we can join the dance at Your side. Drench us in trust in the Name of the One who trusted You even on the cross, and who still teaches disciples to pray, saying, “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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.”
Stewardship Reminder
As a young teen, I was struck by the story of Jacob as a young man. Jacob has to leave his family, get out of town, and truly alone for the first time, when he has a dream of God making promises to him. Jacob says, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God…and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” I thought, “Great! That’s how you do this!” So I tried making promises like that—you do this for me God and I’ll do this for you. It’s not a bad approach to getting to know God, but for me, it was a way I kept God at arm’s length, tried to keep God from penetrating my whole life. In fact, I had the whole idea of giving and God backwards and upside down! God had already given me more than I could ever have asked for or deserved—life and resources, talents and relationships, sorrows and joys and opportunities. God had even been willing to die on a cross for me. In discovering faith was a relationship, not a transaction, giving become pure joy and a source of great peace in a way I crave for you too. We give, not to pay for what we have received—as if we could ever give enough!—but in joy out of grateful hearts. If God is moving in your life like that, could you a take a minute to head to our website, firstchurchsquantum.org and give as God leads you. If you just want to continue to enjoy worship, beautiful! You are receiving another example of God’s grace today!
Prayer Song Your Grace Finds Me
Old Testament Psalm 116
New Testament Luke 24:13–35
Devotion
Can I make a confession? This is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible! Jesus comes up to these two followers—and we know it’s him, but they don’t! The tension starts to build as Jesus asks them what’s been happening in Jerusalem, and it’s just too rich that they are trying to explain to Jesus what He just went through. Here they are in their confusion trying to explain to Jesus when Jesus could actually tell them (and does) what it all means and why. And still the tension rises. Still Jesus’ followers don’t recognize him. What I love about this story is that in it, first we see how Jesus finds us, and second we learn how to find Jesus ourselves.
Most of us learn to find Jesus as these two disciples do. Did you see how it worked for them? 1. In prayer. The disciples shared their devastating grief and profound confusion with Jesus. Straight up. What they were really thinking and feeling…and then they listened for Jesus’ response. I’m telling you: that’s great praying right there! What if you and Jesus went for a walk today? What would you talk about? Imagine how this person who loved you enough to die for you, enough to show up in your life—imagine how this person would look at you and what Jesus would say to you. If you haven’t tried this way of praying, give it a whirl. If it helps, try actually talking out loud, though you might want to do it where other people can’t hear you…it looks weird to people. 2. Spending time with God and the Bible. Jesus led what must have been one heck of a Bible Study with these two disciples on the road, so great they said afterwards, “Were not our hearts burning within us…while he was opening the scriptures to us? If you’re looking for a place to start reading the Bible, pick the Gospel of Mark maybe, or Genesis and Exodus. If you’re caught up in emotional or troubling times—and who isn’t right now—try Psalms. The writers of Psalms lay all their raw emotions out there—good, bad and ugly—trying to find a faithful path. Like the two disciples on the road, Jesus comes to us in the Word of God. 3. Through worship and especially communion. When Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks and gives it, those four things he did at the Last Supper! It was how Jesus’ followers always ate together, but especially that last night was very special to everyone there. Have you ever heard of Solomon Stoddard? He was a pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts during the 17th and 18th centuries. The story was told me—and I’ve not been able to confirm it though I’ve tried…but it’s a great story—anyway, the story is told that Solomon Stoddard was really worried about his people, really worried about his town. At the time, in order to have communion or the Lord’s Supper, you had to first prove that God had claimed you—often in front of everyone, but certainly at least to the pastor. Stoddard had a special heart for teen-agers and, like lots of us, some of these teens weren’t sure what they believed. They were not allowed to have communion. So the story goes that Solomon Stoddard was mulling this over, and one day while he was leading worship, as he took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the people, his eyes were opened. Like our disciples, Solomon recognized that Jesus was in that act, that it was so powerful an act, that it could open the eyes of anyone who knew what it meant, and help them recognize Jesus in their lives. Communion was not just for folks who had arrived. Communion was for folks who trying to find their way. Communion was not a seal on those who were called. Communion was a way God could touch and change the heart of someone, so they could hear God’s call better. That’s why in our church, you don’t have to prove you’re a good enough Christian to be able to share in communion. Like Solomon, we believe that we can experience the grace of God not just through prayer or the Bible or worship, but that God can come to us in ways that can catch us by surprise.
As cool as it is to find Jesus, Jesus finds us in the middle of our life’s turmoil and imperfections. Did you ever resist coming to God because you didn’t think you were good enough? I know I did. The more I knew about Jesus, I knew I wasn’t good enough for Him. But just as Jesus comes to the two disciples on the road in the midst of their sorrow and confusion, Jesus comes to us. We don’t have to be good, or have our act together, or even have a clue. Jesus finds us as we are, in the middle of our messy, chaotic, confusing lives. And then, as we walk together, we will find Jesus has been with us for longer than we thought. In fact, as you look back over your week, you might discover Jesus was there, and is here, and will walk us from here. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer
Closing Hymn He Lives
Benediction
We gathered in hope today, and now we head into the rest of our lives. We trust that You will go with us, Jesus, and that Your guidance and strength will come when we most need it. May others see Your grace shining through us, and know the power of the new life we are finding in You. Amen.