Do Not Fear What They Fear

Opening Announcements — Rev. Johan Dodge

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship!

Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact

with this growing community of faith. And so if you are joining us for

the first time, I say to you what I say every Sunday. You are welcome

here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of

God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Almighty God, in Christ you have shown us the way, revealed to us your truth, and offered to us everlasting life. Keep our eyes upon him, that we may see your path more clearly, know your truth more fully, and receive your life more abundantly; through Christ who dwells with you and the Holy Spirit in eternal glory. Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us give thanks to God who listens and gives heed to our prayers.

We praise and we bless you, our true and loving God.

We pray for all who search for you: may they find their way in you.

Bless us with lips that sing your praise and lives that tell the stories of

all that you have done for us. Open our eyes to find you among us as

we share your love with others.

Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.

We pray for all who are oppressed by governments or institutions: for

those whose voices are not heard or believed, those with no one on

their side. Bless us with a joy for justice and the strength to persevere

as we work toward your coming realm.

Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.

We pray for all who hunger, and those who worry each day how they

will care for their families. Bless us all with meaningful work and fill us

with good things, as we love and care for each other and find our

sustenance in you.

Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.

We pray for all who suffer the violence and scars of war, for all —

soldiers and their families, and all who live and serve in war-torn

places. Give them courage in the face of fear; in times of trouble, do

not let their feet slip. Bless us with your vision of peace, for you have

made us one family by giving life and breath to all.

Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.

We remember before you all who have died, and pray for all who will

die today, that they may know your peace. Bless us with the gift of

faith, that we may know you and love you, and enjoy life eternal

shared with you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Come Holy Spirit and open our hearts and minds this day, entice us with your presence. Spark in us your Word of life and give us a message that we may share with others as we seek to live Christ’s love in the world. All this we ask in the name of God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.

Acts 17:22-31 22Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ²³ For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷ so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ²⁹ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think I that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰ While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 1 Peter 3:13-22 13Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, ¹⁵ but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16vet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷ For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. John 14:15-21 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷ This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18] will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Questions for Reflection: Rev. Johan Dodge

What story do you tell of the ways that God is blessing you? What

story does your faith community tell of the ways in which God is

blessing them?

INVITATION TO THE OFFERING — Kelly Frankiewicz M.Div

God, the divine giver, gifts us with life and breath and all that is. In

gratitude, let us offer our gifts in return for the goodness and grace of

God in Christ.

O loving God, we give you thanks that you have placed in the hearts of your faithful people the gift of generosity and the desire to keep your commands. Bless these gifts and use them to reveal to all tribes, nations, and peoples your love in Jesus Christ. Amen.

May God, who creates, redeems, and sustains, keep you steadfast in faith, buoyant in hope, and abounding in love. Go in peace to serve Christ, and always be eager to do what is good; and the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Blessed Be the Tie that Binds Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.