Greetings!
Important upcoming events: a Juneteenth Event will be held on June 19, 5-8pm in the Large Hall. There will be Red Velvet cupcakes and snacks. There will be a guest speaker and a movie. The sponsors are Troup 51 and the Youth Group.
We have two Celebration of Life services now scheduled. The service for Bonnie Anderson is on Saturday, June 27 at 2pm. The service for Irene Munter will be on Sunday, June 28 at 2pm .
The weekly schedule is as follows:
14 Jun, Sun
9:30 – 10:30am Adult Bible Study
10:45 – 11:45am Livestream Worship in-person
12 – 1pm Education Committee https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
3 – 4:30pm Zoom Bible Study
5:30 – 7:30pm Youth Group
16 JUN, TUE
9 – 11am Streams Food Pantry
10:30am – 12pm Bible Study, Office Conference Rm
12:30 – 3:30pm Charity Bridge, Streams Sm & LG Halls
5 – 6:30pm Council Meeting, Office Conference Rm
17 JUN, WED
8:30 – 11:30am Workday
9 – 11:30am Quilters – Large Fellowship Hall
18 JUN, THU
9 – 11am VdC Grouping, Office Conference Rm
5:30 – 7:30pm Young Adults
19 Jun, Fri
5 – 8pm Juneteenth Event hosted by Girl Scouts Troup 51 & Youth Group, Streams Large Hall
20 Jun, Sat
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE
9:30am – 1:30pm Charity Bridge, Streams Small Hall
21 Jun, Sun
9:30 – 10:30am Adult Bible Study
10:45 – 11:45am Livestream Worship in-person
12:20 – 1:20pm Worship & Music Com. – Office Conference Rm
3 – 4:30pm Zoom Bible Study
And remember: you are blessed to be a blessing!
Pr Tom
Welcome
PRELUDE
GATHERING SONG Come Thou Fount ELW #807
1. Come, thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
While the hope of endless glory fills my heart with joy and love,
teach me ever to adore thee; may I still thy goodness prove.
2. Here I raise my Ebenezer: “Hither by thy help I’ve come”;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
3. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be;
let that grace now like a fetter bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.
Text: Robert Robinson, 1735-1790, alt.
LORD, WHOSE LOVE in humble service ELW #712
1. Lord, whose love in humble service
bore the weight of human need,
who upon the cross, forsaken, worked your mercy’s perfect deed:
we, your servants, bring the worship not of voice alone, but heart;
consecrating to your purpose ev’ry gift which you impart.
2. Still your children wander homeless;
still the hungry cry for bread;
still the captives long for freedom,
still in grief we mourn our dead.
As you, Lord, in deep compassion
healed the sick and freed the soul,
by your Spirit send your power
to our world to make it whole
3.As we worship, grant us vision, till your love’s revealing light
in its height and depth and greatness
dawns upon our quickened sight,
making known the needs and burdens your compassion bids us bear,
stirring us to ardent service, your abundant life to share.
4. Called by worship to your service,
forth in your dear name we go,
to the child, the youth, the aged, love in living deeds to show;
hope and health, good will and comfort,
counsel, aid and peace we give,
that your servants, Lord, in freedom
may your mercy know and live.
Text: Albert F. Bayly, 1901-1984 Text © 1961 Oxford University Press.
Come, Now Is the Time to Worship
Verse
Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God
Come
Chorus
One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains
For those who gladly choose You now
Repeat verse and chorus
Repeat first line of verse
THE CALL TO WORSHIP
Pastor: Great God , your love has called us here,
People: Great God , your grace has named us yours,
Pastor: Great God, your mercy has brought us to this new day.
People: We come to worship you for you are a loving God,
Pastor: We come to worship you for you are a God who calls,
People: We come to worship you for you are a God who brings new beginnings.
WELCOME TO WORSHIP
Equip
PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Pastor: Gracious God,
People: when we have closed our ears to your call and when we have wondered what is in it for us, forgive us. When we have assumed you would not want to name us as disciples, when we have forgotten that you love each one of us so much that you know our names, forgive us. When we have turned away from your new beginnings, and when our words, actions and attitudes have denied new beginnings to others forgive us. Give us a new beginning this day in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Silence for reflection and personal confession)
Pastor:God’s love for us is proved in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, freeing us from death’s grip, and giving us access to grace and peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Sisters and Brothers, your sins are forgiven; be at peace.
People: Thanks be to God!
SONG OF PRAISE FREELY, FREELY
God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name,
I’ve been born again in Jesus’ name,
And in Jesus’ name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.
Chorus:
He said, “Freely, freely you have received; Freely, freely give.
Go in my name and because you believe, Others will know that I live.”
All pow’r is giv’n in Jesus’ name,
In earth and heav’n, in Jesus’ name;
And in Jesus’ name I come to you
To share His pow’r as He told me to.
Chorus
TODAY’S BIBLE READINGS
First Reading: Exodus 19:2-8a
At Sinai God assured Israel, “You shall be my treasured possession,” and commissioned them to serve as mediating priests for the nations. The people commit themselves completely to God’s will.
2 [The Israelites] journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.3 Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now, therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses went, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8a The people all answered as one, “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
Psalm 100
1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all you lands!
2Serve the LORD with gladness; come into God’s presence with a song.
3Know that the LORD is God, our maker to whom we belong; we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.
4Enter the gates of the LORD with thanksgiving and the courts with praise; give thanks and bless God’s holy name.
5Good indeed is the LORD, whose steadfast love is everlasting, whose faithfulness endures from age to age.
Romans 5:1–8
We are no longer God’s enemies but have peace with God, because we were brought into a right relationship with God through Christ’s death. A tested character has been forged for us which empowers endurance in the midst of suffering and hope for final salvation.
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (repeat)
and a light unto my path, you’re the light unto my path.
Matthew 9:35—10:8
The mission of Jesus’ followers is to continue the mission of Jesus himself. Here, he instructs his first disciples how they might proclaim the gospel through their words and deeds.
Chapter 9
35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Chapter 10
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
SPECIAL MUSIC by Tucson Copper Stars
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
ADULT MESSAGE 3 PENTECOST – 6.14.26 – ROMANS 5:1-8
There’s a story going around about a man trying to cross the street. However, when he steps off the curb a car comes screaming around the corner and heads straight for him. The man walks faster, trying to hurry across the street, but the car changes lanes and is still coming at him. So, the guy turns around to go back, but the car changes lanes again and is still coming at him. By now, the car is so close and the man so scared that he just stops in the middle of the road.
The car gets real close, then swerves at the last possible moment and stops next to the man. The driver rolls down the window. Lo and behold, it’s a squirrel driving the car. And the squirrel says to the man, “See, it’s not as easy as it looks, is it?”
Well, it’s not easy. No matter how fortunate any of us may feel and how virtuous we are, there comes a time when our luck runs out and life slams us in the face. At such times we feel like a squirrel trying to cross a busy street and it seems like there is nowhere left to turn. Some of you have already been through such times. Others of us don’t like to think about it, but we know our time is coming.
St. Paul deals specifically with life’s difficult situations in our lesson for the day from Romans: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
Now, pay particular attention to these words, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
What a remarkable statement: “we glory in our sufferings.” How can we possibly do that–glory in our sufferings? Sufferings hurt. Sufferings are inconvenient. Some of us spend our lives trying to avoid suffering. This is a good time to talk about the role of suffering in our lives.
First of all, St. Paul is saying that bad times are not designed to destroy us but to make us stronger. We dealt with this theme during our Lenten messages. All of our struggles in life are designed not to defeat us, but to make us stronger.
One author compares the Christian’s response to suffering to the term Y-A-C which is a designation used in the National Football League. It means “Yards After Contact.” This phrase was coined by legendary Monday Night Football Analyst John Madden. It is a measurement that counts the number of yards a runner gains after an opposing player hits him.
“When an opposing player hits a running back,” says pastor Kenneth Squires, “he doesn’t throw the ball down. He doesn’t just stop. He doesn’t announce, ‘I’m taking my ball and going home if you are going to play that way.’ What does he do? He keeps his legs going when he gets hit, he keeps moving forward; he keeps heading toward the goal line. The best runners in the NFL make their most important yards (touchdowns, third down conversions) after they have been hit.”
That’s what God means for His people to do–to keep moving forward when life strikes us a blow. That is how we become stronger. That is how we build up the spiritual resources we need to successfully deal with life. Bad times are not designed to destroy us but to make us stronger.
Times of adversity also make us wiser. They help us take stock of our lives and make changes that can propel us forward. As St. Paul writes, “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Sherwood Wirt, in his book Jesus, Man of Joy has a very helpful section on the positive role that pain can play in our lives. He tells the story of a young boy growing up in a Christian home in Ohio. One day this boy leaves home to work on a canal boat. While on that boat he injures his foot chopping wood. He contracts blood poisoning and soon becomes an invalid.
During the long, painful months in bed he resolves that upon recovery he will seek an education and he does exactly that. He studies for the ministry but then becomes a teacher, then a school principal. During the Civil War he joins the 42nd Ohio Volunteers where he becomes a hero during the fighting at Shiloh and Chickamauga. He rises to the rank of major general. After serving in Congress as a Representative from Ohio and a U.S. Senator, James Abram Garfield, a boy who was once considered an invalid, was elected President of the United States. Notice that it was while lying in bed in pain that he decided to change the direction of his life.
There have been many people who have discovered that a time of pain, adversity or suffering marked a turning point in their life . . . for the better. A time of adversity or suffering should always be a time of emotional and spiritual growth.
If nothing else, going through a time of adversity will teach us that we can survive.We’re told that in World War I, sailors whose ships had sunk floated around in lifeboats, cold and hungry, for days, sometimes for a week or so. Then they’d start to die. The mystery was that a greater proportion of the younger sailors died first. How could this be? The young mariners were fitter and should have lasted longer. Then why did they die first?
Here’s what researchers discovered: Many older men had been sunk before, or knew a colleague who’d been sunk and had been rescued alive. “Simply knowing that they’d been saved before reinforced the will to live. They knew there was a route to survival. They didn’t fret or worry. They knew that hanging on to life worked.”
Once the Navy knew this vital fact they decided to brief all subsequent crews that they might be stuck in lifeboats for many days, yet that they would then likely be rescued alive. When told that, their survival rates soared.
St. Paul writes, “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Knowing that you have been in difficult times before can increase your odds of surviving later even more difficult situations.
The story is told of a Sunday class that was asked the question, “In your time of discouragement, what is your favorite Scripture?”
A young man said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1.”
A middle-aged woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.”
Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. John 16:33.”
Then Mr. John, who was 80 years old . . . stood up and said with as much strength as he could muster, “and it came to pass 85 times in the Bible.”
The class started to laugh a little thinking that old Mr. John’s memory was starting to fail. When the laughing stopped, he said:
At 30 I lost my job with six hungry children and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I would make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65 she died. I still miss her today.
“The pain I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered where God was. But each time I looked in the Bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, ‘and it came to pass.’ I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.”
Then he said, “And it came to pass.”
That’s an important lesson to learn. We can endure more than we think we can. With God’s help we will survive. Of course, for some of us, this truth will not be real until we actually go through a difficult time. Then we will know for certain that with God’s help we can make it through terrible storms, and we will be better people for it. “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Popular author and speaker Charles Swindoll tells about having lunch with a businessman who runs his own company. As they talked, the subject of wisdom kept popping up in their conversation. So Swindoll asked this businessman, “How does a person get wisdom? I realize we are to be [people] of wisdom,” commented Swindoll, “but few people ever talk about how it is acquired.” The businessman’s answer, Swindoll writes, was quick and to the point. “Pain.” He said. He said only that one word. Pain.
Swindoll paused and looked deeply into this man’s eyes. Without knowing the specifics, he knew his one-word answer was not theoretical. This man and pain had gotten to know each other rather well. It was then Swindoll quoted from the first chapter of James: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
You could make a very good case for the proposition that without difficulties in our life, we would remain spiritual and emotional infants. You could make a convincing case that parents who make life too easy for their children do them a great disservice. In a sense they are stunting their growth. We learn our greatest lessons and experience our greatest growth during times of testing, during times of pain. Even though life can sometimes hurt, we can embrace those hurts if we understand that God is using them to make us into a new creation–one fit to live with Him forever in the Kingdom of God.
Monica Dickens, in her book Miracles of Courage, tells a touching story about David, a 2-year old with leukemia, who was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman’s prognosis was devastating. “He has a 50-50 chance [of surviving],” he said. Many painful procedures need to be done. Young David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of his mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got.
When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. “If it hurts, remember it’s because he loves you,” Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”
There are some hurts that you and I may experience for which we will never be able to find any good purpose. We will never be able to say “thanks for the hurting” in this life. But Scripture tells us, don’t give up. In the world to come, our understanding and perspective will be opened up and all of God’s graces will be revealed.
None of us understand why God created a world in which there is suffering. I’m not offering this message today as a full explanation. I’m simply making some suggestions as a possibility based on our scripture lesson and my own reflection. I do know there is no gain without pain.
Roman 8:28 says that “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Maybe we will find out someday that in our struggles God was seeking to do something wonderful in our lives. When that day comes we just might one day whisper to our Heavenly Father, “Thank you for my hurting.” AMEN.
Illustrations and ideas of King Duncan used by permission from
Sermon and Worship Resources @ sermons.com
SERMON SONG I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY ELW #661
1. I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, because I know it’s true;
it satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.
Chorus
I love to tell the story; I’ll sing this theme in glory
and tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.
2. I love to tell the story: how pleasant to repeat
what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet!
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
the message of salvation from God’s own holy word. Chorus
3. I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
I’ll sing the old, old story that I have loved so long. Chorus
Respond
AFFIRMING OUR FAITH APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come 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
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: With the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, let us pray for the church, those in need, and all of God’s creation.
A brief silence.
Pastor: Preserving God, we pray that your people would be the voice of hope in the world. Bless us to be forthright in our love for others. Hear us, O God;
People: our mercy is great.
Pastor: We pray for those who live with frailty and illness (especially). Send dedicated people to show them delicate care. Hear us, O God;
People: your mercy is great.
Pastor: We pray your love for those who are called to the roll of fathers. Grant them joy and understanding in all they do, and extend your love to those who have no fathers. Hear us, O God;
People: your mercy is great.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
Pastor: Into your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
People: Amen.
WE WORSHIP GOD THROUGH OUR GIVING Next, we will receive the gifts of forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation from our Lord Jesus, and respond gratefully with our offerings. Offering plates are in the front next to the aisle for your gifts. You may also donate online on the website, by text (the phone number is on the website), by mail, or personally deliver it to the office. Lives are changed through the ministry enabled by your gifts. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in the Gospel. Let us pray
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Leader: Risen Christ, receive these gifts, with our hopes, dreams, and prayers. Reveal yourself to us in the breaking of the bread, that our eyes may be opened to see your presence among us, and our lives filled with the new life of your resurrection.
People: Amen.
HOLY COMMUNION
LORDS PRAYER 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 and ever. Amen.
COMMUNION SONG Sing Alleluia
1. Sing alleluia to the Lord, sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia, sing alleluia, sing alleluia to the Lord
2. Jesus is risen from the dead
3. Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth
4. He’s coming back to take us home
5. We give thanks to God our King
6. He died for us, we’ll live for Him
CCLI-License# 1366369
Send
Benediction Song As You Go on your way
As you go on your way may Christ go with you.
May he go before you to show you the way;
May he go behind you to encourage you;
Beside you to befriend you;
Above you to watch over;
Within you to give you peace.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen.
Announcements
Streams Theme song
See the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love,
well supply your sons and daughters,
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever will their thirst assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the giver,
never fails from age to age.
SENDING BLESSING
Pastor: Greet your worshiping neighbor. Go in peace and
Serve One Another!
People: Thanks be to God!!!