All Things Work Together for Good

Opening Announcements — Kelly Frankiewicz M.Div

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 is said 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.

Responsive Psalm: Kelly Frankiewicz, Jeanette Williams

Psalm 105:1-5, 45b

Leader: O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name,

People: make known his deeds among the peoples.

Leader: Sing to him, sing praises to him;

People: tell of all his wonderful works.

Leader: Glory in his holy name;

People: let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Leader: Seek the LORD and his strength;

People: seek his presence continually.

Leader: Remember the wonderful works he has done,

People: his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.

ALL: Praise the Lord!

Jesus invites us into the life he shares with you Holy God.

Receive us now in our frailty, our complacency, our desire.

We pray for your church all over the world, that we would be seed

and yeast where life has grown barren and heavy.

May the life we discover in you bind us to each other and to the

world you love, for no need is beyond the strength of your cail,

and no child of yours is expendable.

We pray for friends and strangers in the grip of addiction.

Make us able companions for each other, and bless us with

hope that bears fruit.

We pray for unsettled economies and those whose needs are

overlooked in the choices of the powerful.

May we, who know so much privilege, bear our responsibilities

with open hearts and open hands.

We pray for all who stand at the thresholds of life: for your children

who are soon to be born and your children who are soon to go home.

We give thanks for new faces to love, ideas to ponder, work to

do— and we marvel at the sturdy friendships and persistent

memories that sustain us when the way is hard. May each be a

reminder of your love and your provision.

We pray for our leaders, our teachers, and mentors.

Give strength to leaders who call forth the best from us and

invite us to breathe together.

Holy One, keep calling us into the world—your world— as seed and

yeast and treasure.

Equip each of us for the challenges we will face until we learn to

worship in the most unlikely places, for you are the source of

our song and the well from which we pray, wherever we are

planted. By the power of your Spirit, we make our prayer with resurrection

hope, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Spirit of life, we do not know how to pray as we ought. Meet us in words written, in words spoken; intercede for us with sighs too deep for words, until we shine with the hope that is hidden in our hearts, for we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Romans 8:26-39 26_ ikewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36A\s it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 31He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³² it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” ³³ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” 44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; ⁴⁶ on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. ⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁵¹“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” ⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Questions for Reflection: Kelly Frankiewicz M.Div

For what challenging situation in your life will you give thanks anyway

to assure God you believe that “All Things Work for Good”?

This week, with whom will you share what little you know of God’s

love and greatness?

How could your witness spread reverence for God like yeast in our

community?

To what cost are you willing to go to acquire God’s wisdom?

INVITATION TO THE OFFERING — Jeanette Williams

The apostle Paul promises that all things work together for good for

those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. We

trust that God will bring forth good from that which we offer today. It is

our privilege to participate in the unfolding of God’s grace in the

world. Let us give with grateful and expectant hearts.

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.