Stop Acting in Ignorance

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 God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Almighty God, we give you thanks for the love poured into our world through Christ Jesus, who opened our minds to understand what you have made, whose appearance among his followers brings peace, and who still encourages us through the Spirit to create faith through touch and taste. Show us Jesus, even now, through the mystery of your threefold presence, one God, abiding now and forever. Amen.

God has made the One who was rejected the cornerstone of a new community.

Holy One, as the risen Christ opened the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures and gave them power through the Holy Spirit to walk boldly in this world, open your people today to the healing, wisdom, and faith given in your Word; hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Prince of Peace, as Christ Jesus showed his wounded hands and feet to the terrified apostles, reveal to your church, and to people of prayer in every faith, the wounds of our neighbors, the fears of individuals and families, and the avenues toward healing; hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Author of life, we beg for peace among nations, peace throughout communities, peace within families. Guide leaders and voters, legislatures and parliaments, judges and juries. Teach diplomacy and let our ways be formed so that all creatures, plants, and people may have plenty; hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Light in our darkness, let your brightness burn in places shrouded in violence. Reveal the pains that are hidden in secret. Unveil the needs of our own hearts so that we may know the power of vulnerability. Your Son was raised to life even from the grave. Show us again that life comes from death; hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Healer of our every ill, we pray for all who are in need, for refugees of war and all who are displaced by storms, for rescue workers and medical teams, for those whose bones are weary, for those who show us the power of community to give hope to the frightened, and for all who have asked for our prayers; hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Trusting in your abundant mercy, O God, we commend into your care all for whom we pray, and our own lives; through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Holy God, by your Spirit reveal your radical, surprising love; come to us through your holy word, and let us hear what you are saying. Amen.

¹²When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. ¹⁷“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

When Jesus appeared to the disciples, “he opened their minds to understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45). To have our minds opened to understand the Scriptures is to go beyond our minds and not simply read the Scriptures but use our God given gifts of rational thought and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to understand the deeper teachings of Jesus. Have you sought to understand the Scriptures, or have you simply been reading them? How does understanding move you from believing in Jesus to acting like Jesus? In the coming week, take note of one new understanding that comes to you from something you hear or read or realize through another person.

As Jesus gave himself fully for us and then appeared to the disciples bringing peace, so let us now bring wholeness and healing to others through our tithes and gifts.

Lord God, we offer to you only a portion of what you have given us. All that we have is from your creative hand. All that we can give away we do through Jesus’ love. All our renewal comes from the Holy Spirit’s wisdom. Deal graciously with these gifts so that others may have joy; in Jesus’ name. Amen.

My siblings, the Lord has blessed you and God’s grace and mercy shine upon you. Live, therefore, with hope, share your joy, withhold your anger, shed your disappointments, turn to all people with gentleness. Amen.