[0:00] putfter for kids putbajp begeg on video patrons cheeré˘ Thank you.
[0:50] Thank you.
[1:20] Thank you. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
[1:55] This is the day that the Lord has made.
[2:37] We will rejoice in the faith of our fathers.
[3:09] We will rejoice in the faith of our fathers.
[3:49] Let our hearts be high with joy. Whene'er we hear that glorious word. Faith of our fathers, holy faith.
[4:05] We will be true to thee till death. Faith of our fathers, we will strive.
[4:17] To win all nations unto thee. And through the truth that comes from God.
[4:27] We all shall then be truly free. Faith of our fathers, holy faith.
[4:39] We will be true to thee till death. Faith of our fathers, we will love.
[4:51] Both friend and foe in all our strife. And preach thee too as love knows how.
[5:02] By kindly words and virtuous life. Faith of our fathers, holy faith.
[5:13] We will be true to thee till death. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Please be seated.
[5:24] This morning for our mission moment, we have an offering, if you'd like to give an extra gift, to help children with their back-to-school needs. We have people out there in our culture that can't afford the pencils, the supplies, the various things that I don't really know much about because I haven't gone to school in a long, long time, but that young people need.
[5:43] So if you can help with that, we would appreciate the efforts you can give. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. We are here to celebrate God in our lives. And so I'd love to hear from you today.
[5:54] What is God doing in your life? What are you thankful for? What are you celebrating? Yeah. I'm thankful for my reflection. I have 59 years together.
[6:06] 59 years together. Woohoo. Nice. Okay. So thank you. You're the one who has been told in our relationship. 40 years of friendship. Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.
[6:17] Love, the long-term relationships bound in love. Yes? 80th birthday. Woohoo. Nice. Nice.
[6:28] Anyone else want to share this morning? Whoop. Yep. Becky. Oh, yep, Becky. I'm sorry. Last weekend I saw that I'm here and three-quarters of them, class is still alive and everyone is still as committed as only as a student.
[6:56] That's wonderful. So high school graduation or reunion? Wonderful. And three-quarters still around and connected. That's fabulous. Anyone else want to share?
[7:10] Well, please take this time. Take this time to reflect. Take this time to really consider the many blessings in your life. God is so good.
[7:21] God is to be praised and take this time as we give back as gratitude offering to God with our gifts, tithes and offerings. Amen.
[7:35] Amen. We get closer.
[7:55] Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise.
[8:10] Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I go from your presence?
[8:23] If I rise on wings of the dawn. If I said I am on the speed of sea.
[8:38] Even though your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast.
[8:52] If I say surely darkness will hide me.
[9:03] And the light will guide me. How deep in darkness dark to you.
[9:17] Night will shine like the day. And if I rise on wings of the dawn.
[9:30] And if I said I am on the speed. Even there your hand will guide me Your hand will hold me fast So I'll praise you Lift up my voice and I'll praise you Father, I praise you Praise you Yes, I'll praise you Lord You created me within
[10:30] You knit me in my mother's womb I praise you for I am fearfully made Your works are wonderful And if I rise on the wings of the dawn If I set up on the side of the sea Even there your hand will guide me Your hand will hold me fast Rise on the wings of the dawn Rise on the wings of the dawn Rise on the wings of the dawn
[11:34] Praise God, I will hold you Praise God, I will hold my sweet soul Praise God, I will hold you Lord, we thank you for your goodness We thank you for your many blessings And we pray that your power will come And infuse these gifts That they may be magnified in the world Sharing your gospel message of love and grace Peace to others in Jesus' name
[12:36] Amen Please be seated Let's pray Lord, we humbly come to you today Opening up ourselves Humbly Revealing our vulnerability We feel so small in this world, Lord As pressures are coming in on us And things in this world that are just so broken We pray that you will take these burdens, Lord And share your peace and your healing Among all of us and among the nations Lord, we pray for you to come And fill us up with your presence, with your spirit We pray for your healing presence To come upon all of us And especially those who are struggling with their physical bodies Healing, Lord, for people who are struggling with cancer And diabetes, Lord
[13:38] And so many other things wrong in bodies In the name of Jesus Christ We cast out the diseases that are breaking bodies Away from the creation you've made them to be We bind that up, Lord And we pray for your healing to come upon people in their mind We pray for people with mental illness People that are struggling with so many ways That we pray that you will send your peace upon people's minds That you will give direction and discernment Wisdom and strength Heal our minds Heal our bodies Lord, heal our very souls We offer ourselves up to you, Lord We pray for protection We pray a hedge of protection over us As the enemy slings all of these things at us, Lord That try to tear us down Give us your strength Give us your power Give us your protection That we may stand firm in our faith Knowing that you are God
[14:39] And you love us no matter what Lord, we pray for people Who are struggling in their relationships We pray that you will send healing in relationships Any brokenness Broken hearts And broken trust Lord, we pray that healing will abound Draw them together in your love We pray healing upon people With grieving hearts today We lift them up to you For your comfort And your care Wrap those who are grieving in your loving arms Lift them up and carry them Make yourselves known To make yourself known to them And help us to be there As a supportive community Sharing your love with them We pray that you'll continue To send your guidance to all of us Your discernment in the way we should live
[15:40] The direction we should go That you'll continue to take us by the hand And may we follow, Lord Give us courage Give us your boldness And your strength We pray that you'll bless this church Send your blessings, Lord That this church may be A beacon in the darkness The brokenness of the world, Lord That this place may be a place of refuge And a place of praise A place of renewal And a place of strength Lord, we pray that you will also be upon our nation In the brokenness of our nation, Lord Your power only will heal We pray power and healing for the nation And for the world, Lord Your peace in people's hearts Transformed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ For it's in your name that we pray
[16:41] Amen Now let's hear from the word of the Lord Romans chapter 11 Verses 1 and verses 17 through 24 I ask then, did God reject his people?
[16:59] By no means I am an Israelite Myself a descendant of Abraham From the tribe of Benjamin If some of the branches have been broken off And you, though a wild olive shoot Have been grafted in among the others And now share in the nourishing sap From the olive root Do not consider yourself to be superior To those other branches If you do consider this You do not support the root But the root supports you You will say then Branches were broken off So that I could be grafted in Granted, but they were broken off Because of unbelief And you stand by faith Do not be arrogant But tremble For if God did not spare the natural branches He will not spare you either Consider therefore the kindness And sternness of God Sternness to those who fell But kindness to you Provided that you continue in his kindness Otherwise you also will be cut off
[18:00] And if they do not persist in unbelief They will be grafted in For God is able to graft them in again After all, if you were cut out Of an olive tree That is wild by nature And contrary to nature Were grafted into a cultivated olive tree How much more readily Will these, the natural branches Be grafted into their own olive tree This is the word of God Thanks be to God Thank you Terry By the way, I also keep Pastor Bob Frank in your prayers This week he's starting Cancer treatments So we want to do prayer For a successful series of treatments We've been looking at the book of Romans And specifically going through each week Chapter by chapter And we've come to chapter 11 Chapter 11 is a passage that talks to us About the history of the nation of Israel
[19:02] And this morning we're going to talk A little bit about religion And about the church I run across a number of people Who will say to me they're spiritual But they're not religious It's an interesting thing Spiritual, not religious And of course being somebody Who works in the religious business They're looking to get a rise out of me Obviously Religion is good Religion is the shell That holds the egg Or if you will It's the manger That holds the Christ baby Without the manger The baby would be flopping around On the floor in the mud Religion Is what gives us This building we worship in Religion Is what gives us this book That we learn from Religion is what Shares with us The rituals And the Actions that we do That can bring us closer To God I grew up in a religious world
[20:05] Some of you old people Like me grew up in a religious world too Remember it? We actually said the Lord's Prayer In school How many of you remember that?
[20:15] We had religious release Now this is kind of interesting Most of you would find this really fascinating If you're younger On Mondays They would let us out of school An hour early And bus us On public school transportation To the church So that we could get instructed In our religion How many of you went to religious education?
[20:36] Yeah Don't do that anymore It was a very religious world Everybody Belonged to church That I knew We all shared a common story We saw our differences As between the Methodists And the Presbyterians And the Roman Catholics And the Baptists We Thought of the world In the same way I grew up in a Church that was Much like this one It started in the Basement Of the Parsonage And Grew to be one of the Largest churches In this area In fact for a while It was the fastest growing United Methodist church In our region We had Sunday school And we had Youth groups And we had Bible studies And we had All sorts of activities And things we did We were a very active And alive congregation With hundreds of people Attending worship Each week A few months ago
[21:39] My wife and I Went back On a day off When we were on vacation To visit our old church And we were surprised To see that they were Down to A few dozen people It had Wilted Away Because a lot of people Think that's what's Happening to the church In general The church is Dying The church Has lost Its edge And the church Is disappearing From the conversation In America And it is true That we have Many different Conversations We never had before Paul talks about What he would have Considered his church At the time He says Did God reject His people By no means I am an Israelite Myself A descendant of Abraham From the tribe From the tribe of Benjamin Paul is saying That even in the midst Of what looks like God rejecting The nation of Israel For the people We call Christians God was still Drawing some people
[22:40] Closer to him Like Paul himself But religion In and of itself Doesn't have the strength It needs To drive a life Religion is a lot Like patriotism Have you ever seen The soldiers march by And when they Give the command And they salute And you go Anybody else have that feeling I do That's what religion Can often do It can give us That feeling When we hold those candles Up on Christmas Eve We all go It's so fun It's so great You don't even have to Believe in anything To enjoy that moment Religion Without the baby It's just an empty Wooden box An empty symbol It's interesting That the people of God For some reason Have a history Of coming to God And then turning Away from God It's been going on
[23:40] For centuries And I'd like to talk To you about A different time In the life of Israel When the people Were turning away From God And I want to use As our illustration This morning The greatest prophet ever That should give you a clue He was the greatest prophet That ever walked The face of the earth In fact When he left He actually took His mantle His coat And shared it With a young prophet That's where we get The term Passing the mantle Alright He actually talked to God On a mountaintop Anybody know Who I'm talking about Nobody Elijah Elijah The greatest prophet Ever And he lived in a time When it seemed That people were Turning away from God And in this very chapter Of 11 of Romans
[24:40] Paul talks about it In verse 3 and 4 He says Lord They've killed Your prophets They've torn down Your altars I'm the only one Left And they're trying To kill me And what was God's answer to them I've reserved for myself 7,000 Who have not bowed The knee to Baal You're not the only one Elijah Elijah's saying I'm the only one Left And they want to Kill me now And I'm going to die I wish Because I'll go eat worms We feel that way sometimes As if God has somehow Taken his blessing away And the whole idea Of a people of God Will vanish and disappear Because it's happened The culture seemed To drift away from God And Paul Is not just talking About his history He's not just talking About his people He's sending a warning To the people Who are in the church At Rome A church that was alive And vital Where people were coming
[25:43] To hear about God And they were excited About God And he's saying You know this could Happen to you If you're not careful And it could happen to us If we're not careful As well In verse 20 It says that we can be Cut off Because they were Broken off Because of their unbelief Broken off Because of their unbelief If we don't believe If we don't continue To live for God We could be Broken off It happened to Israel Several times They turned away from God And God withdrew His hand of blessing It happened For a while To the church at Rome And God withdrew His blessing There was a time In our history As Methodists When we were the fastest Growing faith community On the face of the earth People were coming To God All over the place Every two days
[26:44] We built a new church Every two days And we had people Filled with the power of God They were changing their lives They were going from a life Where they were Where they were dependent On drugs And addictions To alcohol And gambling And brokenness All over their life And they cleaned their life up And they became So filled with God That they became Hard working Industrious people And they became Actually wealthy And John Wesley said We've got a new problem Now the people Don't need God And they're turning away And it could happen to us This is a great church We're not a church That's dying We have a wonderful story When I came to this congregation The people of this church Would have fit in one of these sections Comfortably Some of you remember that day
[27:45] And we grew tremendously As the power of God Started to work through our people And through our congregation And transforming people But we could become complacent And God could withhold His blessing too The difficulty is Is sometimes We change culture And change the world around us And sometimes The culture starts to change us Elijah lived in a time When the world was changing around him There was a king named Ahab And he decided to marry A princess Because he thought If he married this princess He would have an alliance With another nation And they would be strong Anybody have any idea What the princess name was?
[28:34] Jezebel Yes, Jezebel We think of Jezebel in a different way But that's from the book of Revelation Jezebel was a princess And she came from a foreign nation And brought not only the power of her nation To be an alliance with Israel But she brought 400 prophets of their religion Abbaal And encouraged the people of Israel To change their religion To mix in all sorts of beliefs That didn't fit With the faith that was revealed to them On the mountain And people started turning away from God Because they were enamored by Jezebel They were afraid of Jezebel Because they wanted the wealth that came From doing what Jezebel wanted They turned from God Paul was in a time When his nation was invaded By an empire Known as the Roman Empire That brought in all kinds of other people Different religions Different ideas Different cultures
[29:35] All sorts of things That mixed in And the people in his time Forgot about God They were more concerned about their safety They were more concerned about How they could make a couple of dollars They were more concerned about What the Romans thought And so when Jesus came They didn't listen to him They listened to the powers That seemed so powerful In their world And today We have a world Where we struggle With all sorts of ideas All sorts of opinions And world views That I never even heard of When I was young Concepts and ideas That can transform our world In amazing ways But can also transform our world In very dangerous And difficult ways And we have to decide Whether we're going to be The leaven Within this culture That changes and transforms Or we're going to be Taken over by it
[30:37] And transformed by it These days the church is In many ways struggling Because it's focused on Surviving It's focused on Trying to recreate yesterday It's focused on How do we pay the bills It's focused on How do we attract enough people Sitting in the pews It's focused on How do we get the work done It's focused on Simply existing for itself Trying to recreate the religion That I grew up on And it's struggling And it's not because God Isn't still offering The same mercy In verse 32 It says God has bound everyone Over to disobedience So that they May have mercy He may have mercy On them all It's God's intention To have mercy On everyone He wants to show us Our disobedience Our struggles Our troubles But he does that So that we can be Drawn closer to him The church is not Going to die In fact
[31:38] In the book of Matthew In chapter 16 Jesus said You are Peter The rock And on this rock I will build my church And the gates of Hades Will not overcome it Nothing Nothing can prevail Against the church of God But the church Can get mixed up And messed up And following the wrong trail The church I grew up in Has become so Focused on the wrong things That it's It's almost faded away Completely And I don't mean One congregation I mean the whole Thing we call church Reminds me of an old story And I've told some of you This before About a baptism That was occurring And the people In that day and age Had gotten so divorced From the idea Of baptism Having anything to do With God That they didn't even Have them in churches anymore They had them In people's homes Because it was more About the party That went with baptism And so all the people Gathered at this big Wealthy home
[32:38] And said we're all Going to celebrate The great baptism Of this little baby They came from All over the place There were hundreds of them And it came Time for the baptism And the wife said To the husband Where's the baby?
[32:54] He says Oh I laid him down Upstairs on the bed In the bedroom On the right She said You mean the bedroom On the right Where we've been Telling everybody To put their coats?
[33:06] And they ran up the stairs And there Piled under a pile Of coats Was the baby As they pulled Frantically the coats away The baby Was almost gone And almost died They had forgotten The very reason Why they were gathered there Because they were Focused on Other things And so many times We can be like that And Paul is warning us In this chapter 11 Not to forget Who we are And whose we are Just as he said To that church In Revelation At Sardis Where he said The angel of the church To the angel of the church At Sardis Right by the way Did you know we have an angel?
[33:49] We've got an angel To the angel of the church At Pendleton Doesn't that sound good? I like that We've got an angel To the angel of the church At Sardis Write these are the words Of him who holds The seven spirits of God And the seven stars I know your deeds You have a reputation Of being alive But you're dead Wake up Strengthen what remains And is about to die For I have found Your deeds unfinished In the sight of my God Remember therefore What you have received And heard Hold it fast And repent But if you don't wake up I will come like a thief And you will not know At what time I will have come To you Church is asleep Wake up Fortunately I didn't see Anybody go like this Sometimes I look out And that's what I see You know I've always said I have a three head rule If one of you Nods off I figured it was A late night last night If two of you Nod off I assume it's a coincidence If three That's my sermon Time to wrap it up
[34:50] But who cares If the church dies Actually Nobody in this culture Cares If a self-focused Self-centered Organization That seems to be Judgmental And is only concerned About their only existence Disappears Nobody needs a church Like that But a heart-changing World-transforming Place that introduces People to God Now that's a place That not only Needs to be alive But God himself Will keep alive Matthew chapter 17 Has Jesus talking To his disciples And these disciples They were afraid They fell face down To the ground Terrified But Jesus came And touched them Get up he said Don't be afraid And when they looked up They saw no one Except Jesus The touch Of God The hand of God Reaching in That takes away All our fears
[35:51] And reminds us Of what matters What the church needs Is to see No one Except Jesus Amen Because when God Touches us Everything changes It's amazing What a touch Can do Achacha Thank you.
[36:54] Thank you.
[37:24] Thank you.
[37:54] Thank you.
[38:24] See, the goal of the church is to bring people to God. If they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again, Paul says about his people.
[38:41] The people of God can be woken back up again. We can bring people to an amazing experience of God. I went to church when I was young, but religion didn't change me.
[38:56] It didn't really adjust my behaviors. In fact, I was a quite upset and angry, not very nice young man. I felt like the world had done me a disservice for no reason at all.
[39:08] Then one day, God actually touched my heart. You know that old song? He touched me. Oh, he touched me.
[39:20] And all the joy that floods my soul. Something happened. And all of a sudden, the anger, the frustration, the misdirection, the confusion, melted away.
[39:36] It wasn't because of religion. Not that the religion was bad. Without the religion, I never would have experienced that. But religion doesn't change anyone.
[39:49] It's a touch of God that changes us. God made room, according to this, for people who were not even part of the faith.
[40:01] The Romans. The people who had nothing to do with the children of Israel. The people Elijah wouldn't even recognize. We're opened up to an understanding of God.
[40:16] That's most of you. You weren't here. You not only don't remember the church up on the hill. You don't even remember that little church next door. Because the world was opened up to make a place for you.
[40:34] And not by us, but by God himself. Because the amazing thing is, is God can take people that come from anywhere, from any background, from any ideas, from any belief system, and he can graft them in to the faith story of God.
[40:51] I think one of the most amazing pieces of grafting we have right in front of our church. Has anybody ever seen this? We've got this weird tree growing out there. Here's a picture of it. If you look closely, you'll realize that on the bottom, it's a bush.
[41:05] And on the top, it's a tree. That's right out in front of our church. It shows what grafting is about. It's not supposed to come out this way. But what we actually have is we have two different trees growing together.
[41:20] We have the people who grew up in my religious world, and we have the people who are growing up in a whole different way of looking at life that have come to the same God, the same faith.
[41:30] Paul says that we're either sacred or we're profaned. Consider, therefore, the kindness and the sternness of God, sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.
[41:47] We have a choice to make, life or death, blessings or curses. A double-edged sword, as Hebrews describes it, where we either find the salvation of God, or we turn ourselves in for condemnation.
[42:04] Because salvation is a gift that God gave to us. As it says in here, because of our faith, because we believe, not because of what we did, but because of what God does. Not because of how we put together a good religious experience, but because of how God touched our very souls, our very hearts.
[42:24] Faith powered by the Holy Spirit. The touch of God. People are impressed with power. People are very impressed with power.
[42:36] It's understandable. This morning, anybody hear the lightning and the thunder? Yeah, woke us up. What the heck was that? Well, it just went down, right? Elijah, the prophet, went up on a mountaintop.
[42:52] And he was up there complaining to God. It's not fair. I'm the only one left. It's not right. It's not right. I'm going to go eat worms. And God says, go stand out in front of the man.
[43:03] Let me show you something. And an earthquake came. Shook the whole mountain. Power. But God wasn't in the earthquake.
[43:13] Then a whirlwind came. Sweeped up everything around it like being in the midst of a hurricane. Impressive as you can imagine. But God wasn't in the hurricane. Remember what happened next?
[43:29] And then God spoke in a still, small voice. And Elijah felt the presence of God.
[43:40] And it says he took his cloak and he covered himself. Because of the power he felt of God. And that's the voice that's speaking to each of us, too.
[43:54] Don't be impressed by the earthquake. Don't be impressed by the thunder and lightning. Don't be impressed by the bluster and blow of the culture around you. Listen to that still, small voice speaking to your heart.
[44:08] Because God hasn't stopped speaking. We've just stopped listening. And God will speak quiet. So that we have to bend in.
[44:21] And pay attention to him. And if we do. It will change everything about our world.
[44:33] This is old, but I'm going to share it with you anyways. It was battered and scarred, the auctioneer thought. It hardly worth a while. To waste his time on the old violin.
[44:44] But he held it up with a smile. One of my good bid, good people, he cried. Who starts a bidding for me? One dollar, one dollar. Do I hear two? Two dollars, who will make it three?
[44:55] Three dollars once, three dollars twice. Going for three, but no. From the room far back, a gray-bearded man came forward and picked up the bow. Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings, he played a melody, pure and sweet.
[45:10] As sweet as the angels sing. The music ceased. And the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said, What now am I bid for this old violin? And he held it aloft with its bow.
[45:23] One thousand, one thousand. Do I hear two? Two thousand. Who will make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice. Going and God said, The audience cheered, but some of them cried. We just don't understand.
[45:35] What changed its worth? Swift came to reply. The touch of the master's hand. God wants to reach out and touch us.
[45:50] And then he wants us to reach out and touch our neighbor. And then he wants that neighbor to reach out and touch another one. And then the fire of God will spread throughout our whole world and transform and change everything.
[46:02] We had some people talking the other night about should we cut down that tree in front of our church. It's kind of weird looking, you know. Maybe we should get a normal tree.
[46:14] You know what I'm talking about? Because we want to look like other normal churches. You know what I'm saying. Except the problem is a lot of those normal churches aren't doing so good. So I think we'll keep the old weird tree.
[46:28] Because the old weird tree is us. It says whether you've been religious all your life and you grew up in a world like mine. Or this is something brand new to you that you've never experienced and is amazing and you just heard about it.
[46:41] You belong here. In the place of God. So that we can all experience what God wants to do in our lives.
[46:53] I'll tell you, I've been doing this thing for quite a while in this church. Almost 30 years now. Now, I'm not ready to give it up yet. But what I want to do is I want to hand you the cloak.
[47:07] Pass you the mantle. And say, what are you going to do to reach out and touch someone else? With the power of God to transform this world.
[47:19] Because I come from an old world. And I can speak to these old people. But I need someone with the fire of God who can speak to the next generation.
[47:36] And turn this world upside down for God. Because we're still on a mission from God. Amen? And we're going to change the world.
[47:47] If we remember to always keep that hunger for God. That fire for God. Alive in our hearts.
[47:58] And in our souls. Love in our hearts. Looks like we're going to last while we're here. Love in our hearts.
[48:08] Hungry I want you to hold I know you're satisfied I am empty but I know Your love is not gonna dry So I wait for you So I wait for you I'm falling on my knees Offering up of me Jesus you're on this time This living hope Broken I want you to hold
[49:16] Your arms are open wide I am weary but I know Your touch restores my life So I wait for you So I wait for you I'm falling on my knees Offering on of me Jesus you're on this time Is living hope Is living hope I'm falling on my knees Offering on of me Jesus you're on this time
[50:21] Jesus you're on this time Is living hope With hungry hearts we come to God For redemption As sinners in need of grace Won't you pray a prayer of confession Along with me Lord I am a sinner Lord I am a sinner I've not always loved The way you would want me to I've not always loved The way you want me to I've not always lived The way you would want me to I need your grace Forgive my sins Hold me strong That I may be holy And live into your holiness By your power By your grace Through your love In Jesus' name we pray Amen
[51:21] Hear the good news Christ died for us While we were yet sinners And this proves God's love For you and for me So in the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God Amen You are good You are good There's nothing good in me You are love You are love On display for all to see You are light You are light In the darkness So does His name You are hope You are hope You have provided all my sins You are peace You are peace You are peace
[52:21] You are me You are peace When my fear is crippling You are truth You are truth You're in my wandering You are joy You are joy You're the reason that I sing You are life, you are life And you death has lost its name Oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms The riches of your love will always be enough Nothing compares to your embrace Light of the world forever reign You are more, you are more Than my words will ever say You are Lord, you are Lord Our creation will proclaim You are here, you are here In your presence I'm made whole You are God, you are God
[53:23] All my love I'm letting go And oh, I'm running to your arms I'm running to your arms The riches of your love will always be enough Nothing compares to your embrace Light of the world forever reign My heart will sing no other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing no other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing no other name Jesus, Jesus My heart will sing no other name
[54:27] Jesus, Jesus I'm running to your love I'm running to your arms The riches of your love will always be enough Nothing compares to your embrace Light of the world forever reign We are the body of Christ Filled with God's love And we prepare ourselves for the table Where God gives us grace Won't you greet one another In this body of Christ With the peace of the Holy Spirit Haker enh 1930 104 3
[55:44] Because Our Thank you.
[56:16] Love her of my soul. Jesus, I will never let you go. You've taken me from the miry clay.
[56:32] You set my feet upon the rock. Now I know. I love you. I need you.
[56:44] Though my world are far, I'll never let you go. My Savior, my closest friend.
[56:57] I will worship you until the very end. Jesus, love her of my soul.
[57:09] Jesus, I will never let you go. You've taken me from the miry clay.
[57:21] You set my feet upon the rock. Now I know. I love you. I love you. I need you.
[57:33] Though my world may fall, I'll never let you go. My Savior, my Savior. My closest friend.
[57:46] I will worship you until the very end. I love you. I love you. I need you.
[57:58] Though my world may fall, I'll never let you go. My Savior, my Savior. My closest friend.
[58:12] I will worship you until the very end. I will worship you until the very end.
[58:49] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. Give us right to your thanks and prayers.
[59:02] It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Elijah heard you, O Lord, in the gentle whisper and took on the mantle for your service.
[59:18] And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[59:35] Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. He opened your love to all the world.
[59:50] By the baptism of a suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
[60:02] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to you. And he broke the bread and he gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[60:18] When the supper was over, he took the cup. And again, he gave thanks to you.
[60:38] And he gave it to his disciples and said, Drink from this, all of you. This is the blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[60:52] And so in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[61:09] Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Amen. Amen. Oh, pour out your Holy Spirit in us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
[61:21] Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at the heavenly banquet.
[61:40] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit and your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.
[61:52] And now, with the confidence of the children of God, we are bold to pray the prayer that our Lord taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[62:05] 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.
[62:20] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
[62:32] Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body. For we all partake in the body of Christ together.
[62:44] The bread which we break is a sharing of the body of Christ. Glory be to God. Our sins are forgiven.
[62:57] The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation, shed for all of us for the forgiveness of our sins. For those who are serving, would you please come forward at this time?
[63:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[63:32] Amen.
[63:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[63:57] Thank you.
[64:27] Thank you.
[64:57] Thank you.
[65:27] Thank you. Thank you.
[65:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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.
[67:03] Take my voice and let me sing. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee. Take my silver and my gold.
[67:33] 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.
[68:00] Take my love, my Lord, I pour. At thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be ever only all for thee.
[68:20] The only way a church dies is if they just get caught up on the inside on the religion. This isn't the church. You are the church. The church isn't about what we do in here. That's just a piece of it. That's about what we take out in there.
[68:35] reach out and touch somebody's hand make this world a better place if you can that's not a phone commercial song as some of you younger folk think it's a story about how we're supposed to live out our lives we have a whole world that god is bringing to us a world diverse and amazing and interesting where god gives us the opportunity not just to reach into this congregation but into this community into this nation and through that to the world in ways we never could have done if we were all stuck in our own little corners where everybody thought like us looked like us and acted like us god is blessing us for an amazing new adventure be a part of that adventure read out shout and touch someone with the love of god you might be amazed at the earthquake you start may god go with you and bless you and be your strength your joy and your courage this day and always amen so so so so so so you
[70:57] Thank you.