COVID Worship 5-10-20

Welcome and Introduction

Good morning! On behalf of Jesus Christ, welcome to worship with the First Church of Squantum. We are scattered across our community and our state, but we are still meeting together this way. I hope you had a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather this week. Spending more time inside means I really crave the open air and clear sunshine. And Happy Mother’s Day! Today I’m thinking about my mom and the other important women of faith who have mothered me. Have you thought about the women who have made a difference in your faith walk lately? Who are the Sunday School teachers or youth ministers? Who are the people who have helped you have clarity and called you to your best self in Christ? If you’ve got a minute, why not pause this video and write a few of those names down. Go ahead…I’ll wait. [pause] I’m going to give a shout out to a few of the folks on my list

Eldyne Johnson Gray (my mom)

Evelyn Pearson Johnson (my mom’s mom)

Helen Lorbeer Gray (my dad’s mom)

Karen Gwinn Barger (my mother-in-law)

Rowena Baker, my Sunday School teacher who never had more than 3 or 4 kids in class. You changed my life with your faith.

Emily Wallace, who directed my leadership camp experience, and taught me how loving and leading go together

Pam Smith, who taught me so much about loving God with all my resources

and you know, once I started, I found more.

Wherever you are today, however you are celebrating those who have mothered you, however you are coming to this time of worship, my prayer and the prayer of my fellowship is that God would be powerfully present with you.

Call to Worship

One: We love You, O Lord, our strength.

Many: The Lord is our rock, our fortress and our deliverer;

One: The Lord lives! Praise be to our Rock!

Many: We lift You up in praise, for You are God our Savior! Let us worship God!

Opening Hymn Faith of Our Mothers (AB Patten)

Verse 1

Faith of our mothers, living still,
In cradle song and bedtime prayer;

In nursery lore and fireside love,
Thy presence still pervades the air:

Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

Verse 2

Faith of our mothers, loving faith,

Fount of our childhood’s trust and grace,

Oh, may thy consecration prove
Source of a finer, nobler race:

Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

Verse 3

Faith of our mothers, guiding faith,

For youthful longing, youthful doubt,

How blurred our vision, blind our way
Thy providential care without:

Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

Verse 4

Faith of our mothers, Christian faith

In truth beyond our stumbling creeds,

Lead us in service and save the Church,
And breathe thy spirit thro’ our deeds;

Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

Opening Prayer

King of kings and Lord of lords, we have come out of hope, hope that today You will again keep the promise You made—to come wherever people gather in Your Name. Help us put aside what holds us back and turn to You. Show us the way of hope and open us to Your transforming Holy Spirit. We pray all these things in the Name of Jesus the Christ, who teaches his disciples to pray, saying, “Our Father…”

Song How He Loves (John Mark McMillan)

Verse 1

He is jealous for me loves like a hurricane
I am a tree bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Pre-Chorus

Oh how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us so

Chorus

(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves

Verse 2

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we’re all sinking
So Heaven meets earth
Like a sloppy wet (unforeseen) kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way that… [Chorus]

CCLI Song # 5032549 John Mark McMillan © 2005 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 11151618

Stewardship Minute

It’s not uncommon for people who come to worship on Sundays to think of following Jesus as something separate from real life. For a while that was true for me. I thought worship was great, but when I left worship, I was leaving church and going back to my real life. I was trying to keep God in a manageable compartment—God could have this much of my life, or work on this much of me, but not more. When my life reached points where it became unmanageable—we will talk about some of those in my devotion today—that’s when I had to let God out of the box and have free-rein in my life—all my life. What I found was that God was really part of my real life all along, and that letting God into all the most tangible, real, measurable parts of my life changed everything. One of the places I held onto the longest was my finances. A mentor of mine once said, “God didn’t really get into my heart until I let Him into my wallet.” When we give what is real, tangible, measurable, to God, give in a way that stretches us, then our heart knows it, and we are changed. I long for that for each of us. If you would be willing to take a moment, to make your gratitude and joy toward God real, tangible and measurable, would you write us a check and send it to the church, or log into www.firstchurchsquantum.org and click on the donate button.

Song Oh How He Loves You and Me (Kurt Kaiser)

Verse 1

Oh how He loves you and me
Oh how He loves you and me
He gave His life
What more could He give
Oh how He loves you
Oh how He loves me
Oh how He loves you and me

Verse 2

Jesus to Calv’ry did go
His love for sinners to show
What He did there
Brought hope from despair
Oh how He loves you
Oh how He loves me
Oh how He loves you and me

CCLI License # 11151618

First Scripture John 14:1–14

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Second Scripture 1 Peter 1:2–9

1Pet. 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

1Pet. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Devotion

Most of us know the expression, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” One of the great blessings I experience as a pastor is the chance to be with people when things happen in their lives that take them out of the pan and into the fire. Anyone here ever experience that? What are some of the things that can make us feel like we are being thrown in the fire? [death of a loved one, taking care of someone who’s sick or hurt, losing our job, worrying about our children or grandchildren, etc.] I’m willing to bet that right now, most of us feel like we are in the fire, feeling the heat rise and not sure how long it will go on, how hot things could get and whether or not we can make it through the fire without being consumed. Writing from a time when lots of Jesus-lovers were feeling the heat, Peter offers us three critical lessons.

First, stand on your foundations. When we are in the fire, we find we just don’t have the energy to do everything or be everything to everyone. The hotter things get, the more we realize we have to get back to basics, to do only what really matters. Peter lists several but the first verses 1 & 2 is also perhaps the most important—God chose you! When I was a scrawny kid playing on the playground, whenever we would choose up sides to play kickball, I was always one of the last. I hated it! So it floored me when I discovered God wanted me on His team. In fact, we are all starters for God. Out of all the talented people in the universe God looks deep into your eyes and heart and says, “I choose you!” God loves you and chose you. When the fire burns white hot and everything else is swept away—on this you can stand and not be moved.

Second, keep your eternal perspective. We cannot pretend that the fire is not there, but just because it’s hot does not mean we have to jump. Peter writes in verses 4-5, that we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.” The decisions we make today are not what’s good for just ourselves or even for just our loved ones, but the decisions that fit into God’s ultimate plan for the universe. So when we are in the fire, we cannot let ourselves be pressured or overwhelmed into making decisions that take us out of God’s way. We need to keep the big picture before us. Charles Hobb tells the story of a ninety-five year old woman who invited a young man to visit. They were having a marvelous conversation when the phone started ringing. As soon as it started to ring, the young man started getting anxious, while the woman kept right on talking as if she didn’t hear a thing. Finally, on the fifth ring, the young man couldn’t stand it any longer: “The phone is ringing. Aren’t you going to answer?” “Oh no,” she said. “I’m having much too good a time talking with you.” “But what if it’s important?” the young man asked, disbelieving. She said, “They’ll call back.” We cannot let what is urgent keep us from doing and being what is eternal.

Third, put all you are and all that’s going on into God’s hands. Part of what makes the fire hot is that all too often we are trying to control things that are beyond our control. Peter is talking about this in verses 6 and 7, “though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” There is always a way through. When we place our lives and all we are becoming into God’s hands, we can have a great, powerful peace that our ever-loving Father and Lord will be at work for our good.

So how do we make it through the fire? Sometimes just outlasting the fire is all we can do. But if we stand on our foundations, keep our eternal perspective, and put all we are in God’s hands, then something amazing happens. Peter says, “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Somehow, when we find ourselves in the fire, we find Jesus Christ is there with us. As we give ourselves over to him, and let his life and teachings live and guide us, people begin to see Jesus in and through us. Yes, something amazing happens, because we discover that though we do not have to give thanks for the fire, we can rejoice that Jesus is there with us and find that good can come even from the fire. Indeed, the promise of the resurrection is that no darkness is so great, that God’s light cannot chase it away. And no fire is so hot, that God cannot keep us cool in it. And no evil is so awful—even a wrongful death on a cross—that God cannot use it to bring some good, perhaps even the greatest good of all. Out of the frying pan, into the fire…and still we are in God’s tender care We worship an awesome God who wields an awesome power to show us his awesome love, so that even in the fire, he can give us abundant, peace-pumping, jump-for-joy life..

Prayer

I’d like to do something a little different for our prayer time. In fact, believe it or not, we started our prayer time at the beginning of our worship, when we were thinking about the women who have mothered us into deeper faith. If you didn’t take a moment to make a list of the women of faith who have helped you grow closer to God, would you do that now? Really. I don’t care if you do it on your phone, a piece of paper, your computer, or just want to say them out loud. If you are worshiping with more than one person, why not take a moment to share your lists between you. Go ahead. We’ve got all the time you need. Just pause me for a bit.

[pause]

Lord God, there are no accidents in our lives. Sometimes the women in our life have not mothered us well, and so we are grateful that You are the Mother who has never failed us. Some of us had had women who called us to account, and who loved us enough not to let us get away with things. We are grateful that they embodied Your Truth. Some of us have had women who called us to our best selves, encouraged us to give all we are and are becoming to You, O God, and then lived out lives of deep and abiding faith. For all these women, Lord, we give You thanks and praise. We ask that You would make us mindful of the women in our lives today, and how we treat them. May we be more thoughtful of their needs and wishes. May we be more mindful if we have prejudices against women or certain types of women that You are calling us out today, calling us to recognize that women are made in the image of God, gifted by God for ministry, called by God to high purpose. Call out our whole society, great God. Call out all those who think women’s work is worth less than a man’s, or who think women have less to contribute, or who give women less credence. You are the God of us all, and You are even now, nurturing us, leading us, sacrificing for us, that we might come to You and find clarity and hope.

Closing Hymn Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Benediction